Chapter 29: Trouble
The tranquility of Yundan Peak was like a thin layer of ice covering a deep pool, seemingly smooth as a mirror, yet beneath it swirled undercurrents. Ye Li's first-place finish in the assessment was too dazzling. Even though she had chosen the relatively remote Yundan Peak, she still couldn't completely avoid the attention and... hostility from the other peaks of the sect.
Today, it was time to distribute the monthly resources. Outer disciple Zhao Xiaoyi arrived outside the courtyard on time, but his expression wasn't as natural as usual; instead, he looked a bit nervous and resentful.
"Senior Sister Ye..." Zhao Xiaoyi handed over the cloth bag containing spirit stones and pills with both hands, his voice a little low.
Ye Li took the bag and immediately felt the weight was off. A quick scan with his spiritual sense brought a slight frown to his face. There were only thirty low-grade spirit stones in the bag, and only five each of Qi Gathering Pills and Spirit Concentrating Pills. It was a full forty percent less than the stipulated "optimal allowance"!
"What's going on?" Ye Li's voice was calm, and it was impossible to tell whether he was happy or angry.
Zhao Xiaoyi gritted his teeth and said angrily, "It's from the Merit Hall! Deacon Liu, who's in charge of distributing resources, said... that you've just entered the sect and your cultivation is still shallow. Giving you too many resources at once might destabilize your foundation and be detrimental to your long-term development. So... so, for now, they're distributing resources according to the standard for ordinary inner disciples! They also said... this is for your own good!"
"For my own good?" Ye Li's lips curled up in a cold arc. This lame excuse was nothing more than a pretext for withholding resources. It seemed that some people had lost their patience and started to take action. I wondered if this Deacon Liu was instructed by someone or if he was acting on his own initiative to show his power.
"Senior Sister, how about... how about we go and tell Elder Muyun?" Zhao Xiaoyi said in a low voice with an indignant look on his face.
"No need," Ye Li said calmly. "It's just a few spirit stones and elixirs. No need to trouble Master." Complaining was the most incompetent sign; it would only make her appear weak and vulnerable. She didn't even care about this small loss. Furthermore, while Monk Muyun might seem gentle, he was no simple figure to rule the entire peak. He might not be unaware of this minor disturbance; perhaps it was a test of her character.
"But..." Zhao Xiaoyi wanted to say something.
"It's okay, you can go down." Ye Li waved his hand.
Zhao Xiaoyi had no choice but to bow and retreat, still feeling sorry for her.
Ye Li looked at the bag of withheld resources with a slightly cold expression. It seemed the sect's contribution point system existed not just to motivate disciples, but also to, to some extent, constrain those like her who, despite being "less talented," received preferential treatment due to their outstanding performance, leaving room for those with strong family backgrounds to operate.
The minor resource manipulation was just an appetizer. The real trouble soon followed.
A few days later, Ye Li decided to go to the Merit Hall to take on some simple tasks to earn contribution points, and at the same time go down the mountain to gain some experience.
The Merit Hall was still bustling with activity. She carefully scanned the task jade discs and quickly locked onto one that seemed suitable: "Gathering Shadow Grass. Location: Misty Valley, north of the sect. Requirements: Fifty plants. Time limit: Three days. Contribution points: One hundred and fifty."
Shadow Grass is a first-grade spiritual herb that prefers shade and often grows deep in foggy valleys. While it's not particularly rare, gathering it requires patience and a certain level of skill. The quest is moderately difficult, and the contribution points are reasonable.
She walked to the window to accept the task and showed her identity token: "Brother, I accept the task number C37 for collecting shadow grass."
The deacon disciple behind the window took the token and operated a compass-shaped magic tool. His brows suddenly furrowed, and he looked up at Ye Li with a strange look in his eyes: "Junior Sister Ye Li? This mission... has just been accepted."
"Accepted?" Ye Li's eyes narrowed. The information on the mission jade disk was updated in real time, and it was clearly still there when she looked at it just now.
"Yes, just now." The deacon disciple said perfunctorily, "Junior sister, please look at other tasks."
Ye Li gave him a deep look, then turned back to the quest jade disc without saying anything. She noticed that several of the previously active gathering and patrol quests, all of moderate difficulty and contribution, had, while she was watching, suddenly changed to the "Accepted" status one after another!
Obviously, someone was secretly watching her and deliberately taking over the tasks that might interest her!
She remained calm and continued to wait. A moment later, a new quest appeared: "Clear the low-level corpse puppets from the West Mountain Mine. Location: West Mountain Abandoned Mine. Requirements: Clear twenty corpse puppets. Time limit: five days. Contribution points: 200."
The abandoned mines in Xishan? The place is filled with a sinister aura. Rumor has it that there were accidents there in the past, resulting in the deaths of many miners. It's no surprise that corpse puppets are bred there. The quest offers high contribution points, but the risks are also significant. While individual corpse puppets aren't particularly powerful (roughly mid-to-late Spirit Awakening Realm), they often appear in groups and carry corpse poison, making them quite troublesome.
After a brief pause, Ye Li decided to take it. Risks and rewards coexisted, and she needed contribution points.
However, when she walked to the window again, the deacon disciple didn't even wait for her to speak, and directly said: "Junior Sister Ye, this mission has just been taken away."
This time, Ye Li clearly saw that when the deacon disciple was speaking, his eyes subconsciously glanced at the rest area in the corner of the Merit Hall.
Ye Li followed his gaze. Seated at the tea table in the lounge area were several impressive young disciples, all dressed in inner sect attire, their cultivation at least at the early stages of Condensing Veins. One of them was none other than Shi Feng, the man she had defeated in the arena that day! Shi Feng was gazing at her with a smug expression, his eyes unconcealed with defiance and delight. The young men around him, too, regarded her with a mixture of amusement and ill will.
Seeing Ye Li looking at him, Shi Feng even deliberately picked up his identity token and operated it as if to show off. Obviously, all the tasks just now were taken away by him or the people around him!
Next to them sat a young man with a haughty expression and cold eyes, whose cultivation had surprisingly reached the late stage of Condensing Veins! He hadn't participated in the quest, but simply watched them coldly, as if observing a farce. Ye Li had some impression of this man; he seemed to be a follower of a well-known true disciple (recorded as a name) of Zhan Kuangfeng, named Gao Sheng.
It was him! Unwilling to accept his defeat at her hands, he resorted to such despicable tactics to harass her! He even brought in some powerful backers to back him up!
The other disciples in the Merit Hall also noticed the undercurrents, casting glances of curiosity, sympathy, or gloating. Many recognized Shi Feng and Gao Sheng and immediately understood the reason—this was Zhan Kuangfeng's people deliberately suppressing the rising talent!
"The people from Zhan Kuangfeng are going too far..."
"Shh! Keep your voice down! Do you want to offend Senior Brother Gao?"
"Alas, what a pity! Junior Sister Ye Li might have a hard time accepting missions in the future..."
"Who made her offend Shi Feng? And she chose the insignificant Yundan Peak..."
Whispering sounds reached my ears.
The deacon disciple behind the window obviously knew Gao Sheng and the others, and he looked embarrassed, but he didn't dare to speak out to stop them. He could only whisper to Ye Li, "Junior sister, how about... come back another day?"
Shi Feng was even more pleased with himself upon seeing this. He laughed heartily, his voice piercing his ears. "Ye Li! Didn't you get first place in the assessment? How come you can't even get a single mission? Do you want me to give you a few contribution points, brother? Hahaha!"
The people around him also started laughing.
Goldman Sachs glanced at Ye Li coldly, his eyes like a venomous snake, full of warning.
Faced with such blatant provocation and humiliation, Ye Li stood where he was, his face still calm, but the aura around him seemed to have suddenly dropped several degrees, and ice condensed deep in his eyes.
She ignored Shi Feng's shouting and instead turned her gaze towards Gao Sheng, who had been watching coldly. Her voice was cold, yet clear enough to drown out all the noise:
"Senior Brother Gao, as a follower of Zhan Kuangfeng's True Disciple (Named), you allowed a fellow disciple to abuse the rules of the Merit Hall, maliciously snatching missions and hindering the normal cultivation of your fellow disciples. If this matter were to be brought to the attention of the Law Enforcement Hall, I wonder if the elders would think that we, the disciples of Yundan Peak, are incompetent, or would they think that Zhan Kuangfeng... is bullying and disregarding the sect's rules?"
Her voice was quiet, but every word was like a knife, tearing through the hypocritical cover and revealing the essence of the problem! Moreover, she specifically pointed out the identity and background of Goldman Sachs, while elevating the issue to the level of "Zhan Kuangfeng" as a whole!
The arrogance on Gao Sheng's face froze instantly! He hadn't expected Ye Li to be so sharp. Instead of arguing with Shi Feng, he went straight to him and accused him of "disrespecting the sect rules" and "bullying others with power"! If this matter really got out of hand, although he wasn't afraid, it would ultimately bring unnecessary trouble to his master, making it seem like they, Zhan Kuangfeng, were narrow-minded and suppressing newcomers.
The atmosphere in the Merit Hall froze instantly! All whispers stopped abruptly!
Shi Feng's laughter got stuck in his throat, and his expression became extremely ugly.
The deacon disciple behind the window was sweating profusely. He had never expected things to develop to this point.
Gao Sheng stared at Ye Li with a sinister look, as if trying to see a hint of fear on her face, but he was disappointed. Those eyes were terrifyingly calm, like a bottomless cold pool.
After a while, Gao Sheng snorted coldly, his voice hoarse: "You are so sharp-tongued! Shi Feng, let go of the mission."
"Senior Brother Gao!" Shi Feng shouted unwillingly.
"Hmm?" Goldman Sachs glanced at him coldly.
Shi Feng suddenly felt like a rooster with its neck strangled. He dared not say anything more and operated on the token a few times in a sullen manner.
Gao Sheng then looked at Ye Li and said with a forced smile, "It's just a misunderstanding. Since Junior Sister Ye needs a mission, the task of cleaning up the corpse puppets is yours. I hope Junior Sister... everything goes well, and don't die in the abandoned mine in Xishan." There was an undisguised threat in his words.
Ye Li seemed not to hear his threat, and said calmly to the deacon disciple at the window: "Brother, can we process it now?"
The deacon disciple felt as if he had been pardoned, and quickly took action, entering the task information into Ye Li's identity token.
Ye Li took the token, without even looking at Gao Sheng, Shi Feng and others, turned around and left the Merit Hall.
Behind him, there came Shi Feng's suppressed roar and Gao Sheng's cold reprimand.
Everyone in the Merit Hall watched Ye Li's departing figure with complicated expressions. This new junior sister not only possessed astonishing talent and strength, but her calmness in the face of adversity and her sharp counterattacks were also unmatched by ordinary disciples!
After this incident, Ye Li's name will probably spread in another way within the inner sect.
The task of the Xishan abandoned mine is obviously not as simple as it seems.
Ye Li walked out of the Merit Hall, looked up at the slightly gloomy sky, and a cold arc appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Suppression? Making things difficult?
It's just a grindstone.
She wanted to see what kind of dangers were waiting for her in this abandoned mine in Xishan.
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