Chapter 9 Why don't you become a sword cultivator? You do!

[Ding! Host detected to have completed a "wicked" triple act: monopolizing the source of tasks, exploiting cheap labor, and imposing various pretexts to deduct fees!]

[Moral Value +1500! (Base 500 points, triggers triple critical hit bonus!)]

[Current Morality Points Balance: 2000 points.]

[Host, you are... truly a talent!]

The system's voice, though slightly cheeky, carried a genuine sense of admiration: "[2000 points, enough for you to break through two minor realms. Want to break through now?]"

Shen Zhaozhao lowered her eyes and pondered for a moment.

"Need not."

Her mental answer was crisp and clear: "Money should be spent wisely. I can improve my cultivation level on my own, so why waste my precious 'moral points'?"

The system paused for a moment, then said, "You're so stingy."

"Come!"

Shen Zhaozhao immediately exploded, displaying the characteristic irritability of a sword cultivator, "Why don't you become a sword cultivator? You come! You experience this epic poverty firsthand! It's easy for you to say that when you're not the one suffering!"

"See, you're in such a hurry again." The system replied slowly, "That's why I say I don't like talking to you sword cultivators. Not only are you poor, but you also have terrible tempers."

Shen Zhaozhao: "..." Your fists are hard now!

Having just finished calculating this windfall of moral depravity points, the disciple of the Hundred Knowledge Pavilion next to him seemed to finally recover from the shock, and a little color returned to his pale face.

He looked at Shen Zhaozhao, his eyes filled with gratitude for surviving such a calamity, even glistening with tears, his voice trembling: "Thank you... thank you so much for speaking up for me today and rescuing me from this perilous situation, but..."

He sighed heavily, his voice filled with worry: "In this way, you've completely offended the Tianyan Sect and that Yun Wan'er. She's the Tianyan Sect's personal disciple; she'll exaggerate the situation when she gets back..."

Shen Zhaozhao, with Xiao Jingrui's handsome and refined face, simply waved her hand casually upon hearing this, her demeanor carefree and her tone even more nonchalant: "It's alright. We cultivators only seek to act with a clear conscience. How could we be the kind of people who are timid and cowardly, afraid of the powerful?"

Anyway, even if the Tianyan Sect saw Yun Wan'er's memory stone, they would still go to settle accounts with the wronged second senior brother who had that face.

What does Xiao Jingrui's mess have to do with me, Shen Zhaozhao?

When the disciple saw that this fellow Daoist was so upright and fearless of power, he was so moved that he almost burst into tears on the spot.

While vigorously wiping away the tears welling up in his eyes with his sleeve, he shakily and carefully pulled out a palm-sized, warm and translucent blue jade pendant from the inner pocket close to his body.

The jade plaque has a simple and ancient design, with the two characters "百晓" (Bai Xiao) engraved in relief on the front, written in a vigorous and elegant style.

"Fellow Daoist!"

The disciple's voice choked with emotion as he presented the jade tablet with both hands, saying, "I cannot express my gratitude for your great kindness. If you think highly of me, please accept this!"

"As you said, within Lingzhou, from the capital city to the small border town, all those issuing cultivator missions are branches of my Baixiaoge. This jade token... is the token of my Baixiaoge's internal personnel."

He sniffed and said solemnly, "From now on, no matter which town's branch you go to to accept a mission, as long as you show this token, you will be exempt from the commission that you should have paid to the branch. You can take as much of the mission rewards as you are entitled to!"

Shen Zhaozhao blinked, looking at the jade pendant handed to her, and her heart was instantly filled with tremendous joy!

Is there really such a good thing?!

What a windfall!

She maintained the same indifferent smile as Xiao Jingrui, but her hands moved with lightning speed as she naturally accepted the jade token. In imitating Xiao Jingrui's tone, she said gently, "Fellow Daoist, your kindness is admirable. It would be impolite of me to refuse."

The disciple was even more excited to see her accept it, and patted his chest to assure her: "Fellow Daoist, don't worry, when those guys who just accepted the mission come back to report, I will definitely send you your share of spirit stones, not a single one!"

"Those few orders you sent out, you should get at least this much commission!"

He held up two fingers and gestured forcefully: "Two thousand low-grade spirit stones!"

two thousand!

Shen Zhaozhao's eyes lit up instantly, as if she could already hear the beautiful tinkling sound of the spirit stones.

She subconsciously rubbed her hands together, almost losing her composure, and nodded repeatedly, "Then I will await good news."

After chatting with the disciples of Baixiaoge for a while, Shen Zhaozhao bid them farewell, prepared for a moment, and then headed to the northern foot of Luoxia Mountain.

Luoxia Mountain is covered with ancient trees that reach for the sky, their gnarled branches intertwined, blocking out the sun.

Shen Zhaozhao had only taken a couple of steps into this gloomy place when the previously dim light suddenly darkened, and an extremely fierce demonic aura, like an invisible giant wave, crashed down upon her.

"Zheng—!"

Shen Zhaozhao reacted with astonishing speed. Her sword was drawn instantly, flashing cold light as it was held horizontally in front of her. The tip of the sword trembled slightly and emitted a clear, melodious hum, carving out a small foothold in the raging wave of demonic energy.

The eerie wind gradually subsided, but the oppressive feeling that made one's heart pound grew heavier.

Ahead, on a moss-covered boulder, a huge figure was crouching.

A yellow mouse, its entire body covered in glossy, smooth, golden-brown fur, shimmered with a dark golden luster in the dim light.

Its long, narrow eyes were a chilling, eerie green, with vertical pupils that were cold, cruel, and carried an air of superior disdain.

The yellow-skinned rat, unaware of its fate, was looking down at Shen Zhaozhao, who was holding a sword and on guard, with the same gaze one would give a pitiful little insect that had strayed into a tiger's den.

"Oh."

A voice filled with sarcasm rang directly in Shen Zhaozhao's mind: "A mere Foundation Establishment cultivator dares to be so reckless as to block your Grandpa Huang's bright path to immortality?"

The air seemed to freeze.

“Little one, since you’ve come to my door, it must be fate that we’re connected.”

The yellow-skinned rat spirit's voice carried a strange, seductive rhythm: "Come, lift your head and take a good look at your grandpa. Do I look like a human? Or like a god?"

The last two questions were like thunderclaps, carrying a strange power that connected to the rules of heaven and earth.

The moment the words left her lips, Shen Zhaozhao felt the air around her suddenly freeze, and an invisible, heavy force of cause and effect suddenly pressed down on her, as if as long as she opened her mouth to answer, no matter what the answer was, she would fall into an abyss of no return.

The weasel's attempt to obtain a title was its most crucial, yet also most perilous, step in breaking free from its constraints and seizing the bounty of heaven and earth.

If you say it resembles a human, it can shed its demonic form, transform into a human, and condense a golden elixir.

It's said to be like a god, capable of ascending to heaven in a single step, rising into the clouds.

But regardless of the answer, the immense karmic burden of defying fate will be borne solely by the respondent, with no chance of survival.

The yellow-skinned rat demon grinned, its eerie green vertical pupils filled with a mocking and cruel anticipation, as if it could already see the miserable state of the weak cultivator before it, whose soul would be scattered under the backlash of the rules.

A gust of wind whipped up Shen Zhaozhao's clothes, but despite the powerful demonic energy and the pressure of the rules, her hand holding the sword remained remarkably steady.

Faced with this deadly question that would send chills down even the spines of a Golden Core cultivator, Shen Zhaozhao showed not a trace of panic. Instead, she took a deep breath, and then—

"I think you're the kind of contract worker who works from 6 am to 9 pm, earns a monthly salary of 3 low-grade spirit stones, and has no days off all year round. You're hardworking, conscientious, and willing to work for me until the next life."

"..."

"…………"

"………………"

Yellow-skinned rat spirit: "What the hell?!?!"