Chapter 17: Completing the mission
The Spirit Forest was endless, majestic, and primal. Its canopy was ruled by huge trees that let just enough light shimmered through their crowns for scattered Spiritual Plants to grow and cover the ground below.
Curving branches waved from every tree, and an array of Spiritual Flowers, which were seen occasionally, highlighted the otherwise green backdrop.
A mishmash of wild sounds, which were caused by bugs and wild animals, echoed in the air, and overpowered the trickling sounds of a gentle river stream.
Among the trees, a beautiful young girl holding a map in her hands could be seen walking at a leisurely pace, her eyes shone as she looked around her. The curiosity and excitement visible in her eyes made it looked like she was discovering the world for the first time.
In a sense, that was the case since the soul inhabiting this young girl was from another world. 'She' was indeed Song Yang.
If Song Yang was walking so casually, it was because he had heard that the outskirts of the Spirit Forest were protected by an Array Formation that prevented Demonic Beasts from entering it, meaning that it was relatively safe. Wild animals still lived there but posed no threat to cultivators. Of course, the other sect disciples could be a potential threat as well, so he wasn't one hundred percent reckless either and always maintained his vigilance.
Song Yang followed the direction of the west with the help of his interactive map. The description of the mission he had taken indicated that the Spiritual Plants he had to pick up were located in the western part of the outskirts of the forest.
On the way, he had to control his gamer reflexes to not pick up the exotic plants on the ground. After all, he didn't know anything about the plants of this world and didn't want to accidentally pick one that was poisonous. It would be a very stupid way to die!
After several minutes of walking, Song Yang arrived in the west part of the Spirit Forest and started looking for a river or a pond. Since the Water Spirit Flowers were supposed to grow near a water source, he believed that he would easily find them. Thankfully, the interactive map indicated that he was near a long stream.
When he arrived in front of the stream, he immediately spotted the blue flowers on the ground and a smile appeared on his face as he walked towards them.
Song Yang was about to pick up one of the flowers when something caught his eyes, a few feet away on his left.
It was a young girl who seemed to be the same age as him. She had long black hair that reached her back and a beautiful cute face that gave her an innocent air. However, what attracted Song Yang's attention was the fact that the girl was wearing a blue Taoist robe, indicating that she was an inner disciple!
Realizing that, Song Yang decided to talk to her to learn more about the sect and to know what it was like to be an inner disciple.
"Hello." He said as he approached her.
The girl, who was picking up a Water Spirit Flower from the ground, looked up at him. She seemed surprised for a second but eventually smiled.
"Hello." She said.
"Are you also here to complete a sect mission for the Alchemist Hall?" He asked.
"That's right. I have to pick ten Water Spirit Flowers and ten Black Earth Roots." She answered, nodding.
"Me too! I didn't know that inner and outer disciples had the same missions." Said Song Yang, surprised.
"I didn't know that either. This is actually my first sect mission."
"This is also my first mission. Oh, sorry, I didn't introduce myself. My name is Song Yu Qi."
"And I am Chen Meng Meng, nice to meet you." Said the girl.
The two girls started picking up the Water Spirit Flowers from the ground while continuing chatting. Song Yang was relieved that Chen Meng Meng was a nice girl and not an arrogant one. He had read so many xianxia novels with arrogant people that he couldn't help but think that every person he would meet in this world would also be arrogant.
"Are you also going to use your Contribution Points to enter a Cultivation Room? I'm really excited to finally be able to use it!" Said Chen Meng Meng, smiling.
"Cultivation Room? What is it?" Asked Song Yang, curious.
"You don't know? There is no Cultivation Room in the outer sect?"
Chen Meng Meng joined the sect just a few months ago and because she had a B-grade talent, she was directly accepted as an inner disciple. That was why she knew nothing about the outer sect.
"I don't think so. I never heard about it." Answered Song Yang, shaking his head.
"A Cultivation Room is a special room equipped with a Qi Gathering Array. Cultivating one day inside that room is the same as cultivating two weeks outside!" Explained Chen Meng Meng.
"Wow, it sounds amazing!"
"Yes, but you can only enter a Cultivation Room in exchange for Contribution Points."
Song Yang nodded and started imagining how fast his cultivation speed would be if he could cultivate in a Cultivation Room in addition to his S-grade talent and his Divine-grade Cultivation manual.
After a few minutes, Song Yang and Chen Meng Meng each finished collecting ten Water Spirit Flowers. They both agreed to continue the mission together so now, they needed to find the location of the Black Earth Roots.
"The Black Earth Roots grow in dark places so we should probably look for a cave or something like that." Said Song Yang as he took out his interactive map.
Chen Meng Meng nodded and also took out her interactive map.
"There is a cave not far from here, to the north. We should check it out." She said, pointing to the north.
Having decided their next destination, the two girls hit the road.
...
"Ooooowhoo!"
A few minutes of walking later, the two of them were suddenly surrounded by four wild beasts.
It was a pack of wolves that looked no different from wolves on Earth, other than the fact that their fur was pitch black and that they were bigger.
Wild beasts couldn't feel nor use Qi. For them, there was no difference between a weak human and a powerful cultivator.
"These wolves probably think that we are just two weak girls. I will teach them a good lesson! Yu Qi, you should take a few steps back or you risk getting hit." Said Chen Meng Meng, smiling.
Song Yang nodded and jumped backward a meter away. He was so fast that the wolves hadn't noticed that he was not in front of them anymore.
Chen Meng Meng started spinning on herself at very high speed, creating a powerful tornado around her. The tornado had a pulling effect that drew the four wolves to its center, causing them to spin around it. Then, a second later, the wolves were sent flying away in all directions with all the bones of their bodies completely shattered!
After that, Chen Meng Meng stopped her attack and turned to Song Yang, smiling. There was no need to check if the wolves were still alive or not as their bodies were lying motionlessly on the ground, covered with cuts and abnormally twisted.
"Good job! Was that a Martial Art?" Applauded Song Yang.
Even though it was the first time he had seen someone kill a beast, Song Yang oddly didn't feel disgusted. On the contrary, he wished he could have fought the wolves himself to test his strength.
"Thank you! Yes, it was an Earth-grade Martial Art called 'Bones Shattering Tornado'." She said.
Song Yang smiled and nodded. He was truly impressed but at the same time he couldn't help but wonder if it was really necessary to use a Martial Art to kill these weak wolves. Maybe Chen Meng Meng wanted to show off in front of him?
"Alright, let's resume our walk and find these Black Earth Roots." He said.
With the help of the interactive map, it didn't take them long to reach the cave even though it was hidden behind many bushes and trees. The entrance of the cave was rather large and it seemed quite deep.
Once they entered it, their attention went directly to the strange noises coming from the back of the cave.
The two girls immediately circulated Qi through their eyes to enhance their sight and be able to see in the darkness of the place.
"Oh, it's just some red spiders..." Said Chen Meng Meng.
Song Yang widened his eyes when he saw the spiders. They looked nothing like the ones on Earth! These ones were huge, probably around a meter tall, and their fur was as red as blood. Moreover, instead of having eight thin legs, the red spiders had four thick legs!
'These things are normal beasts in this world? They are not even considered Demonic Beasts!' He thought, dumbfounded.
"The red spiders are not dangerous, we can just ignore them. If we fight here, we risk destroying the cave along with the Black Earth Roots." Explained Chen Meng Meng.
Song Yang nodded and could only trust the girl since he didn't know anything about these spiders.
Thanks to their enhanced sight, they quickly spotted the Black Earth Roots on the ground and started picking them up.
"And ten! I collected everything I needed." Exclaimed Song Yang, smiling.
"Shhh! Don't talk so loudly or you will attract the spiders' attention." Whispered Chen Meng Meng.
"Oh, sorry." He said, putting his hand over his mouth and looking around him. Thankfully, the red spiders were still at the back of the cave doing god only knew what.
"I have also collected my ten Black Earth Roots. We can leave the cave." Said Chen Meng Meng.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone