Chapter 302: Acting Like a Snob
The person-in-charge could only say helplessly, “Then there is no problem. Wait for a moment, I will bring the contract over. There will be two copies of each form. After the signature has been stamped it, you may leave.”
After Xiao Chen did all that, he gave the twenty mission contracts a cursory glance. Then he placed them in his Universe Ring and returned to the great hall.
Within the great hall, a group of core disciples was heading for Xiao Chen. They all had angry expressions on their faces, but none of them dared to take a step forward.
When Xiao Chen was only an Inferior Grade Martial Saint, he already dared to face off against the Gangyu Peak’s people. Now that his strength had improved by leaps and bounds, he would definitely not be afraid of them.
Xiao Chen looked at the twenty or thirty people blocking his way and said indifferently, “Can you please make way? I want to go out.”
The person leading them was a core disciple from Qianduan Peak called Zhang Sheng. He was a Superior Grade Martial Saint, but had not reached the peak yet.
“Ye Chen, given your strength, we have nothing to say if you take high-level mission. Will you be willing to take out your mission contracts and show them to us? We can redistribute them properly,” Zhang Sheng said.
Xiao Chen frowned slightly, he found this funny. Why should he show his missions to others?
“My apologies, that is not possible. There is no need for me to tell you what missions I have taken. I am rushed for time, are you getting out of my way or not?”
“You…” Zhang Sheng felt angry. He had already humbled himself, yet the other party was not showing him any face.
Seeing that the other party was not willing to step back, Xiao Chen felt a trace of anger stir in his heart. He glared at Zhang Sheng and interrupted him in a cold voice, “Moving or not?”
Zhang Sheng saw Xiao Chen’s cold gaze and remembered the scene of Xiao Chen fighting against Murong Chong. He was not confident of himself. He clenched his fist tightly and stepped to the side with an unwilling expression.
When the other core disciples, who were all weaker than Zhang Sheng, saw him step aside, they sighed softly. They also took the initiative to make a path for Xiao Chen.
Xiao Chen ignored the expressions of the group and quickly left the Hall of Contributions, vanishing from everyone’s sight.
When Zhang Sheng and the others went up to the second floor, Zhang Sheng flew into a humiliated rage. He said, “ That bastard! He actually took twenty Black Rank missions, leaving us all with only ten Black Rank missions!”
Xiao Chen could not hear the angry voices of these people. Even if he could have heard them, he would not care. They were simply a bunch of trash. They took the Hall of Contributions as their home, making everyone seek approval from them before letting others take missions.
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After Xiao Chen left the Heavenly Saber Pavilion, he took out the contracts and took a closer look. He said, “Let’s start with the nearest one first. That would be this one. The Clear Wind City was being harassed by a peak Rank 6 Spirit Beast recently. There were countless casualties. They came to the Heavenly Saber Pavilion to seek help.”
The Clear Wind City was a small city within the Xihe Province. Its size was very similar to the Mohe City that Xiao Chen had once resided in. The strongest cultivator in the city was only a Superior Grade Martial Saint.
When they gathered the strength of the entire city, they had no ways to eliminate a peak Rank 6 Spirit Beast. Every time a Rank 6 Spirit Beast came, it would severely disrupt the city’s order.
After Xiao Chen took out the map and verified the direction of Clear Wind City, he executed the Azure Dragon Cloud Soaring Art. He turned into a purple beam of light and went on his way quickly.
Under Xiao Chen’s full speed, the outline of a small city appeared before him three days later. When he saw this city, Xiao Chen smiled faintly and said, “I finally arrived. Let’s finish this quickly, it is just a peak Rank 6 Spirit Beast.”
Xiao Chen caught a glimpse of five notices on the city walls. Xiao Chen could not help but stop and take a look.
The drawings on the notices were all of his former appearance. They were put up by Dongming Province’s Duanmu Clan and Hua Clan, the Nanling Province’s Ji Clan, the Xihe Province’s Yan Clan, and the Royal Clan’s Guiyi Marquis.
The rewards from each clan already reached at least a thousand Medial Grade Spirit Stones. When added together, there was a total of six thousand Medial Grade Spirit Stones. Such a horrifying amount held an attraction to any cultivator.
“Hero, you have looked at these notices for a long time. Do you have news of this person?” asked the City Lord’s guards standing in front of the notices.
Xiao Chen smiled faintly and said, “No, I was just curious.”
The guard smiled, “Everyone reacts like you. When they first see it, they all feel astonished. This fellow actually lived after offending four of the four inherited Martial Spirit noble clans. He even offended the Guiyi Marquis!
“For ordinary cultivators, offending just one of them would be the end of them. This fellow seems to have offended half the powers in the Great Qin Nation.
“However, it seems very strange as well. This fellow has not appeared for more than a year already. It is like he has completely vanished. This has caused the noble clans to keep raising their rewards.
“As long as one knows the whereabouts of this person, he will be able to claim ten thousand gold taels and one thousand Inferior Grade Spirit Stones. If I see this person than I will be rich; I won’t have to work for the City Lord anymore.”
Xiao Chen smiled and said, “You will have an opportunity to see him someday.”
After Xiao Chen spoke, he did not linger and entered the city gates, quickly heading for the City Lord’s Residence. After he reported his purpose to the guards, they immediately showed him in, bringing him to the secondary hall.
Xiao Chen had only just sat down and took a sip of tea when he heard urgent footsteps. The doors opened with a “zhi” sound.
The middle-aged man came in from outside, they were both Superior Grade Martial Saints. However, the person on the left side clearly had a deeper cultivation; his aura was much stronger than the other.
When Xiao Chen took a look at what he was wearing, he was sure this was the City Lord and the other person was his assistant or something like that.
The Clear Wind City Lord’s originally excited smile immediately turned sullen when he saw Xiao Chen.
He was filled with suspicion as he asked, “Are you really the cultivator the Heavenly Saber Pavilion sent? Why is your cultivation so low? Furthermore, you are alone. You are not a fraud, right?”
Xiao Chen smiled faintly, then he unhurriedly took out his identity token and showed it to the City Lord. Then, he took out the mission contract and said, “Heavenly Saber Pavilion core disciple, Qingyun Peak’s Ye Chen. The contract and identify token are proof of my identity, replacement guaranteed if not genuine!”
[TL note: Replacement guaranteed if not genuine!: This means real/authentic. It is still funny in Chinese as well though, I believe it is meant to be an attempt at humor.]
The assistant beside the City Lord said angrily, “What is the point of sending a Medial Grade Martial Saint? There are still many people waiting to be saved in the Clear Wind City. There is no need for your Heavenly Saber Pavilion to skimp on resources like this!”
“Boom! Boom!”
As the few of them were talking, the ground suddenly trembled. The Clear Wind City Lord could not help but change his expression. He said, “Damn it! That Black Flame Snake is coming again. Let’s go quickly!”
“Hu Chi!” A strong wind blew by the two of them. Xiao Chen made the first move, opening the door and quickly leaving. By the time the two of them left, they could not see Xiao Chen anymore.
The City Lord said in astonishment, “What speed! Did we see wrongly?”
The mouth of the assistant at the side twitched, “There is no point no matter how fast he is. The skin of the Black Flame Snake is even harder than regular Frost Iron. Both you and I are Superior Grade Martial Saints. Yet, we have no way to break through its defenses. As a Medial Grade Martial Saint, how can he do so?”
Xiao Chen executed the Gravity Spell and headed for the origin of the sound, flying quickly over. After a short time, he discovered the Spirit Beast causing the commotion.
Xiao Chen saw a huge black snake about three meters thick on the broad street in the city. It was currently digging its way out of the ground quickly. Black flames were being spat out from its mouth, burning the surrounding houses down to ashes.
The crowd in the streets were fleeing in all directions in horror.
“Peak Rank 6 Black Flame Snake!” Xiao Chen recognized the name of this Spirit Beast at one glance. He said indifferently, “However, it is only about two hundred years old. It is far from being mature. It is far from being comparable to the Scarlet Crown Snake in the underground world.”
There were also differences in strength amongst peak Rank 6 Spirit Beasts. Aside from the difference that results from bloodline, the other deciding factor was the age of the Spirit Beast.
The longer they lived, the more horrifying their strength. If this was a thousand-year-old Black Flame Snake, it would require a Martial King to come and deal with it.
A two-hundred-year-old Black Flame Snake was not even comparable to the Black Tune Snake. Xiao Chen could deal with it easily.
“Xiu!”
When Xiao Chen saw a ball of fire being launched at a small girl, he did not hesitate. His body flashed and he quickly landed and picked up the girl before turning around.
“Bang!” The black flame crashed into Xiao Chen’s body and exploded intensely. The shockwave was surging, engulfing him entirely.
This caused everything to take a deep breath of cold air. When the flames scattered, the crowd was astonished to discover that the blue-robed Xiao Chen was completely fine.
A middle-aged woman came running out quickly. She took the little girl from Xiao Chen’s embrace and said gratefully, “Thank you, hero, for saving my daughter.“
Xiao Chen replied, “There is no need to thank me. Quickly leave this place, it is very dangerous here.”
As Xiao Chen spoke, a gentle energy enveloped the two civilians, pushing them to a safe distance.
“Hu Chi!”
Just as Xiao Chen pulled back, the two hundred meters long Black Flame Snake finally wormed its way out of the ground. Then, its body soared into the air.
Its jaws were wide open and bit down towards Xiao Chen. Its sharp teeth were gleaming with a cold light. Strands of black Qi circled its body, the sight of it made the crowd tremble in fear.
Xiao Chen’s expression did not change. He circulated his Essence and took a step forward just as the huge snake mouth descended on him.
Xiao Chen shouted and clenched his five fingers into a fist. Then, he punched the huge snake violently in the neck.
“Boom!”
A dull sound rang out, and the huge body of the Black Flame Snake immediately tumbled backward. This resulted in the rocks on the street being smashed asunder.
Xiao Chen had not held back in his punch. After the Dragon and Tiger Body Sculpting Art reached the threshold of the fifth layer, he had achieved a force of ten thousand kilograms. How could his opponent withstand such a force?
As the Black Flame Snake tumbled over, it immediately smashed its huge tail toward the ground.
“Drawing the Saber!”
A resplendent saber light lit up and the Black Flame Snake’s tough body was chopped apart instantly. A stream of scarlet blood spurted out in the air and a three-meter-long snake tail fell to the ground.
“Glittering Wukui!”
Xiao Chen leaped into the air. Thunder clouds gathered in the sky instantly. His wrist flicked nine times and nine strands of purple saber Qi struck the Black Flame Snake.
Horrible wounds were inflicted on the Black Flame Snake, and pieces of flesh and blood flew out. The Black Flame Snake writhed on the ground in pain, incessantly rolling around and wailing in anguish.
When the Clear Wind City Lord and his assistant rushed over and saw this scene, they were extremely astonished.
The assistant, who said Xiao Chen had no way of breaking through the Black Flame Snake’s defenses earlier, immediately felt his face go hot. He muttered, “How could it be? He is clearly only a Medial Grade Martial Saint. How could he break the defenses of the Black Flame Snake?”