Evening of June 11, 2017
When Wang Jiu casually finished writing the answer to the last test question, a large crowd had already gathered in front of the VIP window.
The two tasks with a reward of fifteen thousand Spirit Stones were undoubtedly the focus of today's association. Just the hardware requirements like gender and age were enough to exclude over 95% of the cultivators, and the subsequent test questions were even more baffling.
Before Wang Jiu, more than a hundred brave individuals had challenged it, but without exception, they were defeated by those tricky test questions, leading most people to begin doubting the sincerity of the issuer, suspecting it was malicious flaunting of wealth.
Unexpectedly, someone was actually able to meet all the conditions perfectly!
Although the final result needed to be submitted to the issuer for confirmation, with hundreds of cultivators gathered in the hall, pooling their ideas, it was clear that Wang Jiu passing the test was just a matter of time.
"My god, although I've long heard that QingCyan Cloud yun City has countless wonders, this is just too bizarre! I've really opened my eyes seeing someone meet these strange requirements."
"Fifteen thousand Spirit Stones, this girl really hit the jackpot... Even an average cultivator at Rain Cover Realm would find it difficult to handle such a large sum, unless they were a descendant of a prominent family or a bestselling author."
"Or bought property in QingCyan Cloud yun City years ago."
"Ah yes, the recent housing prices really are…"
While people were fervently discussing, suddenly a petite figure rushed in from the doorway, her face pale and blood seeping from the corner of her mouth, yet she moved swiftly with determination.
"I'm here to claim those two tasks!"
Seeing this petite woman, many people were taken aback.
Zhang Zhixi, a Cyan Cloud Wanderer, was somewhat of a minor celebrity—known for less than virtuous reasons—in the first-floor hall of the Cyan Cloud Association.
Though she was born to be an Independent Cultivator, young and keenly profit-minded, ruthless and unrecognizing of kin in the face of interest. On the other hand, at 12, she broke through the Wind Barrier, and by 14, reached the Peak of Cloud Surge Realm—an absolute prodigy. Coupled with her good looks and graceful figure, she even sold portrait collections in the past two years, gaining quite a following.
Seeing her, a tall man in the hall laughed and said, "Hey, Zhang Zhixi, other conditions aside, you, a cultivator at the Peak of Cloud Surge Realm, should not add to this commotion, right? The requirement is the initial realm of Cloud Surge, you know."
Zhang Zhixi sneered coolly, "Open your eyes and take a good look. What realm am I in now?!"
"Does it even need a look? Just a while ago, you were pestering a wealthy heir for Miraculous Elixirs to breakthrough into Cloud Surge Realm. Everyone still remembers vividly!" The man halted midway through his laughter, "Eh, you are actually at the initial realm of Cloud Surge?! How is that possible?!"
Zhang Zhixi gave a cold laugh, "If you ever go wrong in your cultivation, suffer backlash, you could return to the initial realm of Cloud Surge… ugh!"
As she spoke, the girl could no longer hold back and started coughing up blood…
"Damn, you better see a doctor first! Is it really worth it for fifteen thousand Spirit Stones? Didn't a wealthy heir already fancy you?"
"Nonsense, fifteen thousand Spirit Stones! Earn that, and the wealthy heir will be fit to be my son! Ugh ugh ugh!"
Zhang Zhixi barely managed to wipe the blood from the corner of her mouth, struggled to walk to the VIP window, and was just about to ask for the test questions when the clerks inside exclaimed, "Over there confirmed through, both tasks can be claimed!"
Zhang Zhixi looked incredulously at the clerks inside the window as they chattered, then turned her head to see Wang Jiu calmly accepting the task number plates, and instantly felt the world spinning…
"Quick, someone, Zhang Zhixi fainted!"
"What? Let me do CPR for her!"
"You shameless old pervert, get lost!"
"Lives are at stake, can you bunch of hooligans figure out which matters are urgent?!"
——
Amidst the chaos, Wang Jiu silently took the certified documents, waded through the crowded hall, heading to the designated location to complete the tasks.
The work was extremely simple, even somewhat perfunctory. A black-clad cultivator with a blank face awaited Wang Jiu in a secluded courtyard, tossing him a stack of calculating manuscript paper and a Recording Talisman Stone. Wang Jiu completed both tasks in less than half an hour, and the black-clad person didn't even seriously inspect them, just stamped the form and directly handed the reward to Wang Jiu.
When Wang Jiu returned to Shen Garden with three small bags containing five thousand spirit stones each, it was not even dinner time.
Upon seeing his ride, Li Qingming, she seemed in high spirits, hopping and bustling in the kitchen.
Seeing the dwarf shaped by Wang Jiu's Illusion Sword Technique, the girl laughed and said, "Back? Dinner will be ready soon, haha, I found lots of wild vegetables under the tree in the backyard, tonight we can have wild vegetable soup!"
"..."
"Hmm, too bad it's the wrong season. Grandpa Tree hasn't started yielding fruits yet, otherwise a bit of fresh tree fruit could counter the bitterness and earthy taste in the wild vegetable soup. But as long as you hold your nose, you can still eat it."
"..."
"Oh right, you're good at drawing, help me draw a few banquet pictures to decorate the table, so when I hold my nose and drink the soup, I can imagine I'm eating Buddha Jumps Over the Wall..."
Wang Jiu was silent for a moment, then said, "Although I don't quite understand what makes you happy, as long as you like it, I've got no objections…"
Moments later, Wang Jiu had finished the drawings, and Li Qingming's wild vegetable soup was also ready.
The young girl sighed, pinched her nose with her left hand, picked up the spoon with her right hand to start drinking the wild vegetable soup, while her eyes stared directly at the painting of chicken, duck, and fish. In her mind, the budding divine sense ran at full power as she tried to connect her vision with her taste...
After this meal, Li Qingming felt dizzy and overexerted her divine sense, feeling even more exhausted than practicing cultivation techniques! And in her daze, she suddenly smelled an alluring aroma of meat.
Wait, the mental imagery just now still has an aftertaste lingering till now!? Since when did my imagination become this strong?
However, the next moment, Li Qingming discovered there was really a lavish table of delicacies not far from the dining table! And Wang Jiu's White Sword was lying on the table, absorbing the essence of the food...
"Wh-where did this come from?!"
Wang Jiu replied, "Takeout."
"Take... where did you get the money?!"
"The hundred-family task."
"The payment got dispatched that fast!? Wait, you had money for takeout, yet watched me drink wild vegetable soup with wide eyes! Do you have any conscience?!"
"I helped you with a painting, allowing you to smoothly imagine yourself eating Buddha Jumps Over the Wall while eating." Wang Jiu calmly said, "I think you should thank me."
"I... I really thank you!" Li Qingming gritted her teeth for a moment, then remembered the main topic, "You've already received the hundred-family task payment? How much?"
"Fifteen thousand spirit stones." Wang Jiu said, throwing three mustard seed pouches to Li Qingming.
"Fif..." Li Qingming almost flew on the spot, "How is that possible!? Even for tasks of a Rain Cover Realm cultivator, it's rare to get such a high reward at once! This, did the association list the wrong order? No, even if it's the wrong order, but since the issuer actually handed over the payment to you, which royal family from a spirit stone exporting country came to show off in QingCyan Cloud City?"
Wang Jiu said, "According to the task brief, the issuer described themselves as: sincere parents trying to restore family ties."
"What the heck?!" Li Qingming was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized, her expression instantly turned gloomy, "Sure enough, it's them! I knew it was all a conspiracy!"
Wang Jiu asked, "What conspiracy?"
"…I don't know, but it must be a conspiracy. How could Lu Xin, that woman, inexplicably give me fifteen thousand spirit stones?"
Wang Jiu thought for a moment, "Maybe it's to repair family ties?"
"What a joke! To repair family ties, does it require fifteen thousand spirit stones!? Whose family ties are so valuable?"
"Just yesterday, you asked for a price of a hundred thousand spirit stones."
"…" Li Qingming was choked for a moment, then slapped the table, "But she only gave me fifteen thousand spirit stones, this is outright humiliation! This is saying that, in her eyes, I am worth only 15%!"
"In fact, she initially paid in full, and then you returned it as an insult."
"…Can't your memory be less good!"
"Considering that both full payment and 15% payment insulted you, can I understand that you prefer self-inflicted insult?"
"It's you who likes self-inflicted insult!"
"So, is this money to be returned?"
Li Qingming painfully weighed between the wild vegetable soup and the delicious dishes for a while, then firmly said, "Yes, if I succumb just like that, all previous persistence would be meaningless."
Wang Jiu said, "Objectively speaking, the original offer was a hundred thousand spirit stones, now it's only fifteen thousand, your persistence has indeed reduced your income by 85%, which is indeed meaningless."
"So annoying!"
——
Persistence is persistence, after all, Li Qingming was fed up with the taste of wild vegetable soup, so early the next morning, she went to the Central District by herself, to the Cyan Cloud Cultivator Mutual Aid Association, to take the third hundred-family task.
The side effects of the Immovable Tyrant Body finally fully alleviated, and she has now regained her mobility, so she no longer relied on Wang Jiu and prepared to work for herself.
However, when she arrived at the third-level tower, she found people around her pointing and gossiping.
With some confusion, Li Qingming approached the counter, ready to apply for the task, but found the service girl also wore a peculiar expression.
"Um, Cultivator Li Qingming, may I ask, do you still want to apply for the task issued by 'sincere parents trying to restore family ties' today?"
"Huh?"
The girl said, "It's the same generous reward as yesterday, two tasks, each with a reward of ten thousand spirit stones. Of course, the application conditions are as stringent as yesterday, probably no one else but you can qualify for them."
Li Qingming was inexplicably confused, "What do you mean?"
Before she finished, she heard an indignant voice from the hall.
"What do you mean? You people from big families just love to play this 'self-reliance' game to fool the commoners! Clearly relying on family resources to succeed, yet insist on claiming self-reliance, then write some self-help books to scam money!"