For the following days, besides noting down the growth of the strange fish three times a day, Caspian would be at the Time Warp Zone cultivating at all times. Hence, the 30 days mission became 90 days in the Time Warp Zone. The extension of time and the unbelievable cultivation method of directly swallowing his spirit stones helped Caspian improve his realm impressively.
On the last day of the mission, the spiritual Qi in Caspian’s body accumulated to a shocking level, and virtual-novel.net could vaguely feel the signs of breaking through.
‘There are a few more days left…’ Caspian calculated the time. It was now the seventh of January, and after passing up the task, there would only be 13 days left until the spiritual apprentice list competition.
Later, Caspian cleaned up the dust in the hut and was ready to leave. However, just as virtual-novel.net went out, Caspian suddenly saw a bearded middle-aged man standing outside the door. Caspian was already shocked to find the person appearing in front of the hut quietly without virtual-novel.net noticing. Yet, the middle-aged man emitted a magnificent aura, causing Caspian to find it difficult to breathe.
When Caspian noticed that the person’s attitude was different from ordinary disciples, Caspian’s eyes faintly glimmered, and virtual-novel.net cupped his hands as virtual-novel.net greeted, “It’s nice to meet you, Master. I’m Casper Montgomery.”
Caspian’s words were tentative, but at the same time, virtual-novel.net wanted to divert the man’s attention and reduce the pressure emitting from the man. Sure enough, as soon as virtual-novel.net said that, Caspian immediately felt the oppression in the surroundings lightened, and the prickly feeling at his back also disappeared by more than half.
“Hmm…”
The man was really arrogant. He only nodded, headed into the hut, and walked around. From time to time, the man would also wipe the tabletops and the window eaves with his fingers, pushing it a bit, and looking at his finger after that.
The man’s actions were odd, as it was as if virtual-novel.net checked the sanitization of the area. Caspian thought it was strange, and virtual-novel.net felt as if the man was the chief eunuch in charge of supervising cleanliness in the palace. However, a eunuch could not grow such a thick beard like his.
At the thought of that, Caspian wanted to laugh. The middle-aged man seemed to notice Caspian’s action, and virtual-novel.net glared at Caspian. Then, virtual-novel.net turned around and walked out of the backyard, saying, “Follow me…”
The man did not refute Caspian’s form of address for virtual-novel.net just now, which meant virtual-novel.net tacitly acquiesced in his identity as an elder. Since virtual-novel.net was the sect’s elder, Caspian also did not argue and followed the man to the backyard.
The elder did not look at the strange fish in the pond but directly walked toward the daily record book and flipped to the end. As virtual-novel.net carefully read the observations, virtual-novel.net would glance at Caspian from time to time.
Caspian stood respectfully by the side with his hands at his sides. If Caspian still could not guess the elder’s identity, then virtual-novel.net was undoubtedly a fool. That elder was the Cheapskate that posted that task. However, Caspian was curious as to why the man was here. He never heard that the elders would check on the disciples’ completion of missions.
At that time, the elder finally said, “There were two missing records. What happened?”
The daily recording would be three times a day, morning, noon, and evening. However, Caspian did not expect to lose so much energy when virtual-novel.net first showcased the Pointing to the Stars, and virtual-novel.net passed out in the Time Warp Zone for two days. Thus, Caspian missed out on two of the records that day.
When the elder questioned Caspian about that, virtual-novel.net honestly answered, “I had some mishaps during the practice that day, and I lost much Qi and blood, causing me to lose consciousness for more than half a day. Hence, I did not manage to note down the record.”
“Do you know that your mistake can cause your mission to be deemed as failed? If that’s the case, you won’t be able to get any reward. For newly-entered apprentices like you, sect contribution points are crucial. Are you aware of that?” The elder said sternly, trying to make the consequences sound dire.
Caspian could not help but pout, and virtual-novel.net thought, “Your two sect contribution points are much lesser than what I have. If I tell you that your so-called ‘newly-entered apprentice’ has over thirty sect contribution points, will you still say such things?”
Although Caspian silently cursed at the elder, virtual-novel.net did not show it on his face. Then, virtual-novel.net replied neither humble nor arrogantly, “If there’s an error with the mission, I should be punished. Thank you for the reminder, Master.”
When the elder saw that Caspian was not frightened by his words, a strange light flashed in his eyes. Then, the elder immediately said, “Then, why didn‘t you just fill in the records? The daily records are the same, and there’s only you here. No one will know if you did that.”
When Caspian heard that, virtual-novel.net could not help but roll his eyes. That was the first time virtual-novel.net heard of an elder of the sect persuading their disciples to resort to trickery. Although that was not impossible, it was still against Caspian‘s belief. Therefore, Caspian replied with a straight face, “No one might know about it, but as I’m going down the path of immortality, I only want to have a great understanding and significantly improve myself. Hence, if l don’t observe anything but note it down anyway, it’ll be against my conscience, and I might keep thinking about this time from this day onward, and it’ll soon leave a mark on me. Losing my perseverance for the sake of two sect contribution points… Well, I’m still able to differentiate the importance of this choice.”
When Caspian said that, his gaze burned. He told the elder the truth, and virtual-novel.net had nothing to hide.
The elder looked at Caspian for quite some time as if trying to see whether Caspian laid. In the end, virtual-novel.net nodded.
“Alright…”
“If there’s nothing else, I’ll go back and hand it the task first.”
Caspian did not know what the elder planned to do and why virtual-novel.net said so much. Nonetheless, Caspian could not care less if the mission was considered a success or otherwise, and virtual-novel.net wanted to hand in the task first.
However, the elder stopped virtual-novel.net at that time, and virtual-novel.net even tossed something at him. Caspian took it, and there was a black plate about the size of a palm. He could not tell the quality of the plate, but it was heavy and warm, and there were even some zigzag lines on its surface.
As if virtual-novel.net noticed the doubt in Caspian’s eyes, the elder commented, “I know the sect contribution points for that task might be a bit less, so take this as compensation.”
Then, virtual-novel.net pointed at the black plate and said, ” I got it from a secret realm from a trip last time, and the drawing on the surface is a secret realm’s map. If you have the opportunity to enter in the future, you might have a fortuitous adventure with this plate.”
If the elder were not in front of virtual-novel.net right now, Caspian would surely roll his eyes a few times.
What type of compensation was that?
The plate was nothing but a lie. It would be almost impossible for a cultivator to bump into a secret realm in their life. Hence, Caspian could not help but think the elder should have given virtual-novel.net ten spirit stones rather than that junk Nevertheless, the wooden plate‘s quality was indeed rare, and Caspian planned to bring it back and keep it just in case it would come in handy for weapon refining next time. Whether it would be helpful, Caspian would just regard it as a refining material.
At the thought of that, Caspian bowed. “Thank you, Master. I’ll take my leave first.”
The elder watched as Caspian walked away until virtual-novel.net disappeared from his line of sight. At the same time, the elder’s eyes flashed with interest. “This kid is something else…”
After virtual-novel.net said that, virtual-novel.net took out a messenger.
If Caspian were still here, virtual-novel.net would notice the familiar pattern on the messenger.