Chapter 374: Unprecedented, Level Five Mission
Jiang Chen was rather satisfied by this point accumulation rate.
However, what he didn’t know was that his title as a freak genius had made the rounds among all the pill area examiners overnight.
All the examiners had heard of his phenomenal accomplishments by now.
He’d beaten the proud and unbridled Tang Hong in a bet, and the latter was now wholeheartedly become the freak genius’ follower.
He’d crashed through a level two mission as if splitting bamboo, completing it in fifteen minutes when allotted two hours, and completed it in stunning fashion, with no flaws to be found at all.
He’d then displayed divine potential in the third mission; Eight examiners had used 32 hours to finish simulating a mission, but he’d used only two hours to thoroughly do so by himself.
What was this if not divine-class potential?
When Jiang Chen appeared again the next day, he was greeted by the complicated gaze from an examiner. There were hints of appraisal in the examiner’s eyes, as well as subtle traces of anticipation.
“What level mission? Four?” When Jiang Chen handed over his candidate token, the examiner responded warmly and enthusiastically, without even waiting for him to speak.
Jiang Chen had indeed intended to request a level four mission, but found it rather strange when the examiner asked him like this. The examiners swapped out every day, and their constantly changing reactions threw Jiang Chen for a loop.
The difficulty of the fourth level mission had indeed increased by quite a bit once again.
Jiang Chen returned to the main entrance four hours later and handed over his mission token.
Level four mission, success!
His successful challenge of a level four mission spread throughout the entire sky quadrant in the blink of an eye.
A secular cultivator had accomplished such stunning feats in the sky quadrant, becoming the second to complete a level four mission since the beginning of the exams!
If it were the original person who’d completed a level four mission, people may not have put much thought into it.
But this feat had been achieved by a secular cultivator! This drew quite a bit of suspicion and disbelief in these results.
“What? Level four pill mission?” Long Juxue also thought it incredible when she received this news. “How could that dumb animal’s potential in spirit medicine have increased so much, so quickly?”
Her thoughts traveled back to the Hidden Dragon Trials of the Eastern Kingdom.
She remembered how the Pill King Garden had once attempted to usurp the Hall of Healing’s position and held an exhibition, trying to slap the latter’s face.
Yet, ultimately the Hall of Healing had hit back soundly in return, introducing a few pills that completely destroyed the Pill King Garden and causing it to disband.
This matter had stunned the capital back then, and naturally Long Juxue had been aware of it as well. However, no one knew what brought that about.
“Could it be that the pills the Hall of Healing had marketed at that time had come from Jiang Chen?” Long Juxue suddenly felt enlightenment dawn on her.
“Why did the Third Hallmaster Qiao Baishi of the Hall of Healing harden his resolve to associate with Jiang Chen, even though he was the successor to the Hall? Was it really because of Jiang Chen’s potential in pills?”
The more Long Juxue thought about this, the more likely she thought it to be.
“That dumb beast has hidden himself rather well. I hadn’t imagined that his potential in the area of pills is so high. Could it be that his mysterious backer truly is spirit king protector Ye Chonglou of the Skylaurel Kingdom?”
Although Ye Chonglou wasn’t someone of the Precious Tree Sect, he had a myriad of connections with the sect. If he had truly started raising Jiang Chen since young and focused on pills, then everything laid out before her would have a reasonable explanation!
Whenever Long Juxue heard Jiang Chen’s name now, it felt like a thousand, nay, ten thousand vipers gnawing on her heart. It was incredibly unsettling.
Her deep, burning hatred made her itch to immediately destroy Jiang Chen and scatter his ashes to the four winds after burning him to the ground.
“Hmph. Talent in the dao of pills is still an unconventional side path in the end. Even if he can deploy this potential to the utmost, it’ll never be able to measure up to my advantage of an innate constitution.”
Long Juxue had great confidence in her azure phoenix constitution. The overbearing atmosphere now present in her bearing was something that had been accumulated over time.
“Jiang Chen, I’ll let you strut around for now. You best not let me select you in the challenges. When that day comes, it will be your last on this earth. Go and have your little fun for a few days!”
Chilling killing intent suffused Long Juxue’s hate filled eyes, akin to the passage of autumn to the arrival of bitter winter as the surrounding temperature plummeted.
“Haha, boss, big happenings, big happenings! You’re now a celebrity in the sky quadrant!” Tang Hong grinned and laughed loudly.
“Is being a celebrity a good thing? Someone’s just trying to set me up as the public enemy. There’s nothing good about it. Haven’t you seen that those preeminent sect disciples are all the very epitome of a low profile?”
Tang Hong chuckled, “They are they and you are you. Those fellows like to flaunt a mysterious air and pretend that they’re all that. You’re my boss and so you should be a bit more arrogant. You’ve got the skills and talent and so you should put those sons of b*tches in their place! They need to stop acting like idiots with eyes on the top of their heads that don’t look properly at anyone!”
It was evident that Tang Hong was quite disdainful towards those premier experts. This was the core reason why he’d been unable to become part of the most select social circles.
“Forget it, I have no desire to compete with anyone right now. My most important mission currently is to grind out points. Everything is as fleeting as the winds if I don’t raise my score.”
There was no point in erupting in full hostility before the moment to battle arrived.
“Boss, are you really going to challenge the level five mission tomorrow?” Tang Hong rubbed his hands and changed the subject.
“Yep.” Jiang Chen answered shortly and simply nodded his head.
“Heh heh, then things will be even more fun tomorrow. No one’s requested a level five mission in the pill area thus far. Boss, you’re heaven-defying! No matter whether or not you succeed, this step will absolutely own all your opponents.”
Tang Hong kept rubbing his hands in excitement and his eyes gleamed when he thought about the scenario at hand.
If it’d been anyone else requesting a level five mission, Tang Hong’s first thought would’ve been—an idiot seeking death.
His second thought would’ve been—the hell does it have to do with me?
But Jiang Chen was different. Jiang Chen was his boss.
Tang Hong had an almost blind faith in Jiang Chen at this point. One had to know that despite with Tang Hong’s potential, he’d never challenged a level four mission.
But boss was going to challenge a level five mission and set a new record in the sky quadrant!
Tang Hong wasn’t the only one making these speculations. The entire sky quadrant was discussing whether or not the secular genius would really challenge a level five mission.
A level five mission!
This was a mission that that even the most preeminent geniuses didn’t dare attempt, despite reward of 160 points upon completion being quite alluring.
However, the same thing applied both ways. If he failed, he would be docked 160 points.
Prior to attempting the level four mission, he’d already had 160 points. Now that he’d completed it and been rewarded with 80 points, he had 240 points.
This score was past the minimum requirement for requesting a level five mission.
After a few days of hard work, Jiang Chen’s score had passed the minimum requirement of 160 points.
Tang Hong scratched his ears and head and sat for a bit, then remained there for a bit more. He appeared quite fidgety and brash. He sometimes had a lively expression on his face, and at times mumbled to himself.
It looked like this perverse genius of the Precious Tree Sect had long since grown used to life as Jiang Chen’s follower, and would be so worked up about his boss’ affairs that he wouldn’t be able to sleep.
This night was quite long for Tang Hong.
He arrived early next day to find Jiang Chen and watch over him.
Jiang Chen found it funny when he saw Tang Hong’s intensely anxious attitude. Challenging a level five mission was a simple matter for Jiang Chen.
But to Tang Hong, this was an incredible, earth-shaking and heaven-shattering matter.
In fact, it was a monumental event for the entire sky quadrant.
“Boss, take a few deep breaths in and don’t be too nervous. Remember, this is a level five mission. It’s no joke!”
Tang Hong chuckled.
“The hell am I nervous about? What’s there to be nervous about?” Jiang Chen hadn’t been nervous at all. Thanks to Tang Hong fooling around, it actually looked like Jiang Chen was putting on a front.
“You’re really not nervous? Boss is boss alright. This is a transaction of 160 points! You gain 160 points if you win, but if you lose, you’ll be back in poverty when your points are docked.”
Having lower than 100 points in the sky quadrant was absolute poverty.
But in Jiang Chen’s heart, he’d never even considered failure. The level four mission had still been completed with ease last time.
Then using the difficulty of the level four mission as a barometer, even if the level five was double of that, it would still be no challenge to Jiang Chen.
“If I take home 160 points, then my total score will be 400 points.” Jiang Chen’s heart was full of longing.
400 points was indeed nothing in the eyes of the higher level candidates. But to Jiang Chen, this was an exceedingly good starting point.
He had to keep grinding out points in the pill area until his points were greater than a thousand. He could even look forward to two thousand points.
Although the other geniuses were also grinding out points in their strong areas, no one was a bigger cheat than Jiang Chen in the sky quadrant.
The others could gain points because of their superior strength and their unique advantages in the sects.
But Jiang Chen’s gains were based on using the memories and experiences of his past life. This was something that no one else would have apart from him.
He could use a single move to take everything.
It was evident that the exams of the sky quadrant were used to uncover geniuses in any areas.
The two of them had arrived at the pill examination area as they chatted.
Rumors were flying thickly in the outside world that he was about to challenge the level five mission. There were many gathered to witness the show and take in the means of this challenge.
Therefore, there were at least double the number of disciples here than normally present.
When they saw Jiang Chen appear in the lobby, things became quite lively. The star of the show was here! This was good news for those waiting to watch the show.