Chapter 156: Newcomer's Gift Pack

The Alliance branch was also located in the Central District, not far from the trade market.

Huli steered the cloud boat, and in less than the time it takes to burn half an incense stick, they arrived at the entrance of the branch courtyard.

The branch courtyard was also a massive compound with dark green tiles and red walls, encompassing five times the scale of the outer affairs courtyards. In front of the gleaming black double doors stood an even greater number of stone crane sculptures. Having spent a few days knocking around South Spirit Continent, Feng Keer already knew that these cloud cranes were mounts assigned by the Alliance to the errand runners beneath its command.

As soon as Huli approached the main gate, he was challenged by a bronze-armored guard holding a halberd: "State your business!"

"Reporting to the Esteemed Envoy, this humble one is a newly ascended false immortal, wishing to visit the Alliance branch to accept missions," Huli replied, cupping his fists.

The guard slanted his eyes and looked him up and down, his gaze ultimately landing on the green lotus mark between Huli's eyebrows. Extending a hand, the guard rumbled, "Identity jade token!"

Even though he was facing a spirit beast whose cultivation realm was a full two grades lower than his own, Huli hurriedly offered his identity jade token with both hands.

The guard took it with one hand, gripped it, and channeled his spiritual power to verify it. Seeing that everything was in order, he tossed the identity jade token back and snorted, "For accepting missions, go to the side courtyard." He pointed toward a small side door on the right and pursed his lips, "Enter from there. Considering you are a newcomer, young master here will offer you a word of advice: this main entrance is for the comings and goings of high-ranking lords, so leave quickly and do not offend any nobles."

Huli naturally bowed repeatedly with cupped hands to express his gratitude, then briskly entered the side door.

Following a bluestone path along the base of the wall for a dozen or so zhang, he turned a corner, and a large room appeared before him.

Above the door hung a black plaque inscribed with three gilded characters. In the Spirit World, Master Hu was an illiterate bumpkin, so he could not recognize a single one of them.

"The Mission Hall," Feng Keer informed him.

"This must be the place," Huli communicated with her via divine sense. "It is highly likely that the missions inside are also posted using Spirit World script. When the time comes, I must ask my master to read them out for me."

Feng Keer agreed.

Only then did Huli lift the hem of his robe and ascend the steps.

The Mission Hall was not wide, measuring about forty square meters. Inside, figures were bustling about, making it quite lively.

Seeing someone enter, the people inside all looked over simultaneously.

Huli took a deep breath, cupped his fists, and bowed to the occupants.

As a result, upon realizing he was merely a seventh-rank, first-tier demon immortal, they simply ignored him and went right back to what they were doing.

Huli did not take it to heart either; a faint smile remained on his face as he unhurriedly surveyed the hall.

The interior was stark, with almost no furniture. Hanging on the four walls were long black wooden boards. Those boards were about two feet long and half a foot wide, covered in many small red characters that he could not recognize.

Presumably, these were the mission boards. Huli casually walked up to a wooden board and looked up at it, putting on a show of studying it.

Feng Keer read it out to him word for word: "Go to West Spirit Continent to slay ten fifth-rank demonized beasts. Reward: ten merit points."

Huli stroked his chin and muttered to himself, "This mission doesn't look too difficult." A higher realm of cultivation completely crushed a lower one. With his seventh-rank cultivation, slaying ten beasts two grades lower than himself shouldn't be much different from slicing melons and vegetables, right?

Before his voice had even faded, a snicker came from behind him.

He turned around.

The one laughing at him was a middle-aged female cultivator in green robes.

He could not discern her cultivation level, which meant there was a very high probability that her cultivation was superior to his own.

"This humble one is ignorant and narrow-minded; I boldly ask the senior for guidance," Huli said respectfully, bowing deeply all the way down.

The middle-aged female cultivator also intended to offer him a pointer or two, and seeing this, she laughed heartily, "No need for such formalities, friend. We are fellow Daoists of the same rank; I truly dare not accept the title of 'Senior.' My surname is Zeng."

Huli seized the opportunity to climb the pole, adapting to the situation by changing his address while pointing at the wooden board and asking, "Daoist Zeng, may I ask, what manner of creature is this demonized beast?" He guessed that this female cultivator surnamed Zeng must have overheard his words and was laughing at his overestimation of his own abilities.

Sure enough, the female cultivator surnamed Zeng glanced at the green lotus mark between his eyebrows and explained, "Demonized beasts are simply beasts that have been mutated after becoming contaminated with demonic qi. Their dispositions are fierce and vicious; they are fond of feeding on human blood and flesh, and their battle prowess is thousands of times greater than spirit beasts of the same rank. However, if one were only to slay a single fifth-rank demonized beast, with my cultivation, I could still easily dispatch it. But demonized beasts usually live in clans. The moment one of them is attacked, the rest will fight to the death to rescue it. Therefore, slaying ten demonized beasts is actually no different in difficulty from slaying hundreds of demonized beasts. For false immortals like us, if we do not call upon four or five companions, it is truly difficult to accomplish."

So that was how it was. Five or six people teaming up to complete this mission, only to receive a pitiful ten merit points in return—it really wasn't enough to split among them. Huli came to a sudden realization, cupping his fists in gratitude: "I am Huli, having just ascended from the lower realm. Being completely new here, I am exceedingly ignorant and shallow in experience. Thank you very much, Daoist Zeng, for your unselfish guidance."

"You just ascended from the lower realm?" His attitude was exceedingly respectful, which pleased the female cultivator surnamed Zeng immensely, and her impression of him improved a great deal. Pointing at his green lotus mark, she couldn't help gossiping, "Your master is still in the lower realm?" The color of the contract mark was cyan, which indicated that his master was not yet a false immortal, with a cultivation level at highest being the Great Circle of the Ascension Stage.

Huli smiled slightly and shook his head with utter honesty, "No, my esteemed master is also in the Spirit World."

The female cultivator surnamed Zeng was slightly startled, but she quickly reacted, and the look she gave him grew much warmer: "Then—might I ask if Young Master Hu has already set up a new immortal dwelling?"

Huli nodded: "My dwelling is in the Eastern District."

The female cultivator surnamed Zeng thought to herself: It couldn't be wrong. A flash of understanding crossed the depths of her eyes. Suddenly stepping forward, she leaned close to his ear, covered her mouth with her hand, lowered her voice, and whispered, "Could Young Master Hu's trip here today be for the Newcomer Gift Pack?"

"A Newcomer Gift Pack? What sort of thing is that?" Huli was completely baffled. The Manual of Essentials didn't mention it a single time.

"Well, every ascended false immortal can claim a Newcomer Gift Pack at the Mission Hall. However, the time limit is within ten days from the date of reporting one's ascension. If it is not claimed past the deadline, it will be considered automatically forfeited." The female cultivator surnamed Zeng glanced at the red-robed Alliance errand runner standing not far away, and grunted as she spilled some gossip, "However, they would never let the gift pack become void and go to waste for nothing."

The implication was that if the newcomer did not claim it, the errand runners within the Mission Hall would naturally fraudulently claim it in their stead.

"Still, your esteemed master must be either noble or wealthy, and surely wouldn't care about such petty trifles." Before Huli could reply, the female cultivator surnamed Zeng stepped back, putting a wide distance between them, and chuckled behind her hand.

Huli smiled awkwardly and said, "To not keep it from Daoist Zeng, my esteemed master is currently in secluded cultivation and has no time to look after me."

The female cultivator surnamed Zeng let out a prolonged "Oh," cupped her fists, and quickly changed the subject: "Young Master Hu, I have a few friends over there I need to go greet, please excuse me."

Huli cupped his fists and smiled, "Daoist Zeng, safe journey."

A Newcomer Gift Pack? Hehe, it would be foolish not to claim something free for the taking! He walked straight up to the red-robed errand runner who was currently hanging wooden boards, cupped his fists, and asked, "Pardon me, Esteemed Envoy, this humble one is a newcomer who has just ascended. I wonder where one goes to claim the Newcomer Gift Pack?"

The fat on the red-robed errand runner's face twitched twice. He put down the long wooden board in his hand, knitted his brows impatiently, and asked, "Just ascended? Where is your identity jade token? Hand it over and let me take a look."

Huli naturally offered it with both hands.

Just like the halberd-wielding guard before him, the red-robed errand runner also gripped it in his hand, channeled his spiritual power, and instantly tossed it back to him: "Huli, follow me." With that, he turned around and walked toward the small black-painted door in the northeast corner.

Behind this small door was a small room. Placed near the window was a long red-wood table. On the left side of the table lay a few scrolls of jade slips.

The red-robed errand runner walked over, knelt down behind the long table, looked up at Huli, and snorted with a mirthless smile, "Since Young Master Hu knows about the Newcomer Gift Pack, you should also know that claiming the gift pack requires paying a certain drafting fee. The fee isn't much—just one hundred spirit stones."

This was blatant extortion! Feng Keer scoffed mentally.

Huli smiled and said, "That is only natural." As he spoke, he took one hundred top-grade spirit stones from his storage bag.

After the red-robed errand runner finished counting the spirit stones, he finally picked up the topmost jade slip, unrolled it on the table, produced a spirit brush from thin air, and began frantically writing in the blank space.

After finishing, he laid down the spirit brush, pointed to the blank space at the end of the line of text, and instructed, "Young Master Hu, please press your thumb right here and channel your spiritual power into it."

Feng Keer quickly read aloud: "On the eleventh day, Huli claims one Newcomer Gift Pack."

Indeed. Huli smiled faintly, rolled up his sleeve, stepped forward, and did as he was told.

The red-robed errand runner suddenly produced a square red-wood box from thin air and slammed it onto the table with a sharp clack: "Here, this is the Newcomer Gift Pack. Cover it with your identity jade token and channel your spiritual power into it, and you can open it."

The box was not large, measuring only three inches square.

Hopefully, this so-called gift pack was worth one hundred spirit stones. Huli cupped it in both hands, placed it into his storage bag, expressed his thanks, and walked out of the small room.

Immediately, the surrounding gazes converged upon him like searchlights.

Good grief! Feng Keer pressed a hand to her forehead.

Keep a low profile, keep a low profile... Huli shivered and instantly teleported back to his dwelling.

Once the Newcomer Gift Pack was opened, the items inside dazzled Feng Keer's eyes: several stocks of five-hundred-year-old ginseng, polygonatum, and the like—precisely enough ingredients for ten cauldrons of Inedia Pills; two pieces of fine iron the size of fists; a piece of crystal stone; a piece of fifth-rank water-attribute spirit beast hide; and ten sheets of blank talisman paper.

All in all, from her perspective, spending those one hundred top-grade spirit stones was an absolute bargain.

However, Huli held those ginseng roots and polygonatum plants, sighing repeatedly.

"What's wrong?" Feng Keer felt immensely puzzled; these medicinal herbs were clearly good items. In the lower realm, who would be so extravagant as to use five-hundred-year-old herbs to refine the most common of Inedia Pills?

Huli tossed the herbs back into the wooden box and said with vexation, "I don't know how to alchemy, and while these herbs are exceedingly rare in the lower realm, they are the most commonplace things in the Spirit World. If I exchanged them for spirit stones, it wouldn't even be enough to buy a single cauldron of Inedia Pills." The most crucial issue was that his personal stock of Inedia Pills was nearly running out—he had originally thought that miraculous medicines were everywhere in the Spirit World, and that mundane pills like Inedia Pills would be the cheapest of all. However, he had never imagined that the Inedia Pills of the Spirit World were also genuine spirit pills, where a single pill was worth a whole bottle in the lower realm. The price was even more horrifyingly expensive: a bottle of ten pills cost five hundred top-grade spirit stones. A grave miscalculation! Had he known this earlier, he definitely would have stocked up heavily before ascending.

Yet Feng Keer clapped her hands and laughed, "You don't know how to do alchemy, but I do!" Now she finally understood why the quality of pills in the Spirit World was so much higher than in the lower realm: the medicinal ingredients were N times better!

(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to cast recommendation votes or monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation!)