Chapter 4: The F-Rank Cultivator
The Adventurer's Guild smelled like sweat, alcohol, and desperation.
Li Wei pushed through the heavy wooden doors and immediately regretted it. The main hall was packed with cultivators—some chatting loudly at tables, others studying mission boards covered in paper slips.
Everyone looked dangerous.
Scarred faces. Weapons strapped to backs. Auras that made the air shimmer with barely-contained power.
And then there was Li Wei: Mortal Realm Stage 3, wearing a borrowed cloak and trying very hard not to look like a wanted criminal.
He took a deep breath and approached the reception desk.
The receptionist was a middle-aged woman with sharp eyes and sharper cheekbones. Her name tag read: SISTER HONG.
"Help you?" she said without looking up from her ledger.
"I'd like to register," Li Wei said, trying to sound confident.
Sister Hong glanced at him, unimpressed. "Cultivation level?"
"Mortal Realm Stage 3."
She raised an eyebrow. "That's... weak. You sure you want to register? This isn't a charity."
"I need the money," Li Wei admitted.
Something in her expression softened slightly. "Fair enough. Name?"
"Li Wei." He'd keep using his original name. Safer that way.
"Id token?" She held out her hand.
Li Wei blinked. "I... don't have one."
Sister Hong sighed. "Lost it? Ran away from home? Let me guess—family drama?"
"Something like that."
"Ten silvers for a replacement."
Li Wei's heart sank. "I don't have ten silvers."
"Then you can't register."
"Wait!" Li Wei scrambled for a solution. "Can I... work off the fee? Take a mission and pay you from the earnings?"
Sister Hong studied him for a long moment. Then she pulled out a blank token—a small wooden disc—and pressed her thumb to it. Qi flared briefly.
"Fine," she said. "But you owe me ten silvers. Plus interest. Five percent weekly."
Li Wei did quick math in his head. That was... terrible. But also his only option.
"Deal," he said.
She handed him the token. "Welcome to the guild, Li Wei. Don't die on your first mission."
"I'll try not to."
Sister Hong pointed to the far wall. "F-rank and E-rank missions are over there. Given your cultivation level, stick to F-rank. Anything higher will kill you."
Li Wei nodded and headed to the mission board.
The F-rank section was sparse—mostly gathering quests:
Gather 20 Spirit Grass - Reward: 5 silver taels
Collect 10 Moonlit Mushrooms - Reward: 8 silver taels
Hunt 5 Horned Rabbits - Reward: 6 silver taels
Li Wei grabbed the Spirit Grass quest. Seemed straightforward enough.
Then he noticed the warning at the bottom: Western Woods - Mortal Realm Stage 5 beasts reported.
WARNING: Quest Location Dangerous
Your Cultivation: Stage 3
Beast Cultivation: Stage 5
If you fight them, you WILL die.
Recommendation: Stealth + Traps
"No fighting. Got it," Li Wei muttered.
He took the mission slip back to Sister Hong, who stamped it without comment.
"Quest location is marked on the token," she said. "Return before sunset or the quest auto-fails."
Li Wei checked his new token. A faint glowing line appeared on its surface, pointing west.
Convenient.
He left the guild and headed for the city gates.
The Western Woods were exactly as ominous as advertised.
Tall trees blocked out most of the sunlight. Strange sounds echoed in the distance—howls, rustling leaves, something that might've been screaming.
Li Wei walked carefully, eyes scanning for both the grass and potential threats.
Zhao Tian's memories helped. The villain had spent years in places like this, hunting beasts for sport. Li Wei inherited that knowledge—what tracks belonged to which creatures, which plants were safe to touch, how to move quietly through underbrush.
Still didn't make him less terrified.
SPIRIT GRASS DETECTED
Distance: 30 meters, northeast
Also detected: Mortal Realm Stage 5 Ironback Boar
Distance: 25 meters, northeast
...This might be a problem.
Li Wei crept forward, moving from tree to tree.
There—a patch of glowing blue grass growing near a fallen log.
And there—a massive boar the size of a cart, covered in thick gray hide, snuffling around the same log.
Perfect.
Li Wei considered his options.
Fighting was suicide. Running would alert it. Waiting for it to leave could take hours.
Or...
He remembered something from Zhao Tian's memories. Beast lures. Simple formations using spirit stones and bait to draw creatures away.
But he didn't have spirit stones.
Or bait.
Or formation knowledge.
Damn it.
Think. What did he have?
The cloak. The healing pill. His new Cooking Mastery skill.
...Cooking Mastery?
An idea sparked.
Li Wei grabbed a handful of wild berries growing nearby—the sweet-smelling kind that beasts loved. Using his new knowledge, he crushed them between his palms, releasing their scent, and smeared the juice on a rock.
Then he threw the rock as far as he could in the opposite direction.
The boar's head snapped up.
It snorted, sniffed the air, and lumbered toward the smell.
Li Wei held his breath.
The boar disappeared into the undergrowth.
Now!
He rushed forward, pulling Spirit Grass by the handful. The stems glowed faintly, warm to the touch. He stuffed them into his cloak pockets.
One. Five. Ten. Fifteen—
The boar roared somewhere behind him.
It was coming back.
Twenty!
Li Wei grabbed the last few stalks and RAN.
Branches whipped his face. His lungs burned. The boar crashed through the forest behind him, enraged.
SPRINT MODE ACTIVATED
Burning stamina for speed boost!
Duration: 30 seconds
RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN
Li Wei burst out of the tree line, stumbled onto the main road, and kept running.
The boar stopped at the forest edge, pacing angrily but not leaving the woods.
Li Wei collapsed on the roadside, gasping.
He'd done it.
Twenty Spirit Grass. Mission complete.
QUEST COMPLETE!
Collected 20 Spirit Grass
Return to guild for reward!
Reward: 5 silver taels
Bonus: Survival Instinct +1
Li Wei limped back to the city, exhausted but triumphant.
Sister Hong counted the grass bundles, nodded, and handed him five silver coins.
Real money. Finally.
"Not bad," she said. "Most newbies die on their first gathering quest."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Li Wei muttered.
She almost smiled. "Come back tomorrow if you want more work. We always need gatherers."
Li Wei pocketed the coins and left.
Five silvers. Not much, but it was a start.
Minus the ten-silver debt (now growing at five percent weekly), he was... still broke.
But he'd survived.
That counted for something.
DAILY EARNINGS:
+5 silver taels
CURRENT DEBT:
-10 silvers (+ interest)
NET WORTH: -5 silvers
You're poor! :)
Li Wei found a cheap inn—three coppers per night for a room the size of a closet. He paid for one night, bought a steamed bun from a street vendor, and collapsed on the thin straw mattress.
Tomorrow he'd do more quests. Build up funds. Get stronger.
One step at a time.
As he drifted off to sleep, the System chimed one last time:
NEW QUEST AVAILABLE:
Visit the guild tavern tomorrow
Reward: ???
Trust me on this one! ;)
Li Wei was too tired to question it.
Tomorrow.
He'd deal with everything tomorrow.