Sword Sovereign of the Celestial Emperor-Chapter 40, Unpredictable Weather

This situation lasted for ten days. On the tenth day, Chu Ming opened his eyes, looked at the withered tree in front of him, and a confident smile flashed in his eyes. He suddenly took his sword in hand and slashed at the withered tree.

At this moment, the wind seemed to stop, time stood still, countless green sword auras shot out from Chu Ming’s hand, leaving rippling marks in the space as if water waves had frozen.

Puff puff puff...

The withered tree, which could be hugged by one person, directly turned into powder and scattered in the air with the breeze, disappearing without a trace. This was a move Chu Ming comprehended from training the thirty-six sword techniques, containing the Wind Realm and Rain Realm. He had just slightly exhibited a bit of it, and if he used the Silver Light Sword to perform it, its power would completely not be weaker than the Starfire Swordsmanship, possibly even stronger, enough to be Chu Ming’s trump card now.

"Since it contains the Wind and Rain Realm, I’ll call it... Unpredictable Weather!" The current Unpredictable Weather was not yet perfected. What Chu Ming needed to do was continuously improve Unpredictable Weather, only then its power would grow stronger and stronger.

There were still nearly ten days left until one month. In the remaining time, Chu Ming continually cultivated, turning each Lower Grade Spirit Stone into powder. After absorbing all the hundred remaining Spirit Stones, his cultivation had reached the peak of the Second Layer of the Transcendence Realm, much faster than others.

In the morning, Chu Ming opened his eyes, two beams of light flashed from his eyes, and the aura around him became purer. Today he must go to the Task Hall to pick up missions, otherwise, he would be stripped of his Inner Sect disciple status.

The Cyan Yang List incident had spread within the sect. Though most disciples focused their attention on Zhang Quan and Liao Wu, Chu Ming entering the Cyan Yang List could not be ignored. Thus, on the way to the Task Hall, any disciple who encountered Chu Ming respectfully called out, "Senior Brother Chu!"

Task Hall.

Inner Sect disciples came and went, a bustling scene. Task Elder dozed at the counter. Chu Ming’s arrival did not attract any attention. Upon entering the Task Hall, Chu Ming headed straight for the sect’s Gold Level tasks. Tasks below Gold Level presented no challenge to him, and their rewards were far from matching those of Gold Level tasks.

Chu Ming needed a large number of Contribution Points. To improve his strength, he had only two choices: breakthrough in cultivation or practice a Middle Tier Profound Level martial technique. The latter was faster but required at least seventy to eighty thousand Contribution Points, which was an astronomical number for Chu Ming now.

Gold Level sect tasks were prepared for disciples above the Seventh Layer of the Transcendence Realm, and thus offered generous rewards.

"Kill the Single-horned Rhinoceros, take its horn, reward: 5000 Contribution Points, 250 Lower Grade Spirit Stones! Suggested: One Eighth Layer Transcendence Realm or two Seventh Layer Transcendence Realm."

The Single-horned Rhinoceros was a Middle Tier Fourth Level demon beast, but even among such beasts, its strength was much greater than the Black-winged Eagle, akin to an overlord among Middle Tier Fourth Levels, comparable to an ordinary Eighth Layer Transcendence Realm. However, the 5000 Contribution Points reward deeply attracted Chu Ming.

Without immediately accepting, Chu Ming looked further.

"Collect Fire Cloud Flower, reward: 3000 Contribution Points, 120 Lower Grade Spirit Stones. Suggested: Cultivation above Seventh Layer Transcendence Realm!"

"Escort Wang Family’s trade team, reward: 4000 Contribution Points, 150 Lower Grade Spirit Stones. Suggested: Eighth Layer Transcendence Realm martial artist."

"Wipe out Black Cloud Bandits, reward: 3500 Contribution Points, 150 Lower Grade Spirit Stones. Suggested: Eighth Layer Transcendence Realm martial artist."

...

There were over a hundred tasks listed, making Chu Ming’s eyes dazzle. All offered high Contribution Points, above 3000. Sect disciples eligible to take Gold Level tasks were all listed on the Cyan Yang List, indicating that Low Tier Profound Level martial techniques were insignificant to them, completing a few tasks would suffice to exchange for a book of Low Tier Profound Level martial techniques. But Middle Tier Profound Level martial techniques required some time to accumulate enough points.

Chu Ming took a deep breath, then quickly took down seven task sheets, including the task to kill the Single-horned Rhinoceros and eradicate the Black Cloud Bandits. Most were time-saving tasks, with the total Contribution Points estimated to be nearly thirty thousand, and about a thousand Lower Grade Spirit Stones.

"Look at that senior brother, he took seven Gold Level tasks in one go. It seems he’s crazy for Contribution Points!"

"Hehe, you can tell you weren’t there a month ago to challenge the Cyan Yang Tower. That senior brother is Chu Ming, who ranked 64 on the Cyan Yang List a month ago, astonishing everyone."

"Even for disciples in the top fifty of the Cyan Yang List, taking seven Gold Level tasks at once is very stressful, it’s unwise."

"Maybe entering the Cyan Yang List has inflated his confidence. However, countless Cyan Yang List disciples die every year because of tasks."

In the Task Hall, Chu Ming’s crazy action quickly attracted many Inner Sect disciples’ attention, and several pointed at Chu Ming.

"All these tasks are yours?" Task Elder looked at Chu Ming and then at the seven task sheets in front of him, asking in surprise.

"Yes, Elder!" Chu Ming said respectfully. Task Elder looked deeply at Chu Ming and said, "Be careful!" Chu Ming nodded, took the tasks after registration, and left.

...

Blue Snow City was not far from Cyan Yang Sect, closer than Ironblood City last time.

Chu Ming rode the Blue Star Horse rented from Cyan Yang Sect, speeding along the official road from Li Family Town to Blue Snow City. The previous day, he arrived at Li Family Town, got the armor commissioned by Li Lin, which was supposed to take ten days to forge but was delayed twenty days due to Chu Ming’s one-month retreat.

Chu Ming named this armor "Flowing Light Armor," top-tier Yellow Level defensive armor, worn underneath his clothes. With this armor, Chu Ming’s survivability greatly increased.

At night, Chu Ming reached the eastern part of Blue Snow City.

The night was late, and the outline of a small town appeared in Chu Ming’s sight under the sunset glow, looking peaceful and serene.

In the small town’s only inn, several martial artists were drinking.

Seeing Chu Ming enter, their eyes flashed with curiosity.

Being so young and exploring the martial world, either he was extraordinarily strong or inexperienced.

Not dining in the hall, Chu Ming asked the inn staff to deliver his dinner to his room.

"Young hero, your dinner has arrived!"

The inn staff knocked on the door.

"Leave it on the table!"

In the bathroom, Chu Ming soaked in the bath.

"Alright!"

The inn staff opened the room door, placed the dinner down, backed out, and closed the door.

Narrowing his eyes, Chu Ming comfortably lay in the wooden barrel.

The reason for taking seven tasks at once was not only the reward of a large amount of Contribution Points but also that Chu Ming didn’t want to become too complacent.

There’s a saying: Born out of distress, die in comfort.

Training with one’s head down may seem energy-saving, but it’s far from reality.

A martial artist needs a fighting spirit against heaven, earth, and people. Without this spirit, no matter how great the talent, potential cannot be maximized.

And in Cyan Yang Sect, though mutual combat was allowed, sect rules forbade killing each other, hence the necessity for sect tasks.

But if sect tasks were too simple, they wouldn’t serve as training, Chu Ming needed to find his limits now.

No word spoken all night.

The next morning, Chu Ming departed for Black Cloud Mountain.

Black Cloud Mountain, the largest mountain in Blue Snow City, bordered several other cities.

Within Black Cloud Mountain, peaks rose and fell, and caves were numerous. Whenever the City Lord of Blue Snow City sent troops to eradicate the Black Cloud Bandits, those mountain bandits would escape through the caves. Over time, the City Lord stopped exerting effort and only did it for show.

Along the way, Chu Ming saw villages in ruins.

Upon inquiry, he learned that the Black Cloud Bandits came a few days ago, not only robbing all their money but also taking the village’s most beautiful women.

"These Black Cloud Bandits are very arrogant!" Chu Ming thought. Generally, the Five Great Sects rarely meddled in bandit affairs, which were handled by each city’s City Lord. As long as these bandits didn’t commit atrocities like massacring villages, and were cunning enough, they could live carefree for a long time until one day disaster struck, leading to their downfall.