Tea smoke curled within the pavilion.
Hearing the young girl's words,
True Lord Linghan's relaxed brow twitched slightly.
He held his teacup, his expression becoming a bit more serious. After pondering for a long while, he finally spoke slowly, "An object of dao integration is quite precious, but if it is not of the top grade, a common object of dao integration is actually not that difficult to produce."
"It is just a pity that objects of dao integration have always been proactively bestowed by the Elders of each peak to their own Disciples. Since Junior Friend Jiang is a Guest Elder... I'm afraid..."
He didn't finish his sentence, but the meaning was clear.
Jiang Yuechu's expression remained normal, and she didn't feel surprised.
She had long been prepared for this.
Although one could see that the Nine Great Dao Sects did not forbid other Human Race forces from entering Immortal God Cave Abodes, showing that the Dao Sects were not stingy and even possessed the demeanor of great Sects, truly considering the Human Race...
This did not mean the Sect was willing to give away its own foundation for nothing to an outsider without an official status.
It was like a friend asking for ten million; you would naturally agree readily.
Promising to give it once you have it in the future.
Anyway, you don't have it now.
But if they asked for ten thousand, you couldn't agree so easily.
Because you really do have ten thousand in your pocket.
Since the object of dao integration was unobtainable, Jiang Yuechu turned and asked, "Then what about the Five Qi Treasure Land?"
"Five Qi Treasure Land... the Sect currently has several of them."
True Lord Linghan put down his teacup and said solemnly, "Ordinary Inner Sect Disciples, if they have accumulated enough merit or have items of equivalent value to exchange, can all go to a Five Qi Treasure Land to perform Condensing the Chess Piece. Since Junior Friend Jiang is a Guest Elder, you naturally can be treated the same as an Inner Sect Disciple."
"But... with your talent and foundation, why be in such a hurry to settle for a Five Qi Treasure Land?"
True Lord Linghan sighed, his words carrying a bit more sincere advice: "If you are willing to join under any Elder in the Sect, this object of dao integration would be nothing more than a single sentence."
"For the world's Cultivators, after Condensing the Chess Piece, every step becomes harder and harder. If you seek speed and choose those ordinary Five Qi Treasure Lands, wouldn't you be cutting off your future Great Dao for nothing?"
After speaking,
True Lord Linghan looked at Jiang Yuechu with burning eyes.
He truly did not want to see such talent be wasted so mediocrely on the two words'settling for'.
But was Jiang Yuechu an ordinary person?
As long as she could condense a dao chess piece, there would be plenty of opportunities to improve its quality in the future.
If there were enough demons and monsters, even possessing sixteen Celestial-grade Dao Chess pieces wouldn't be difficult.
Why would she need to care about these things?
Having thought this through,
Jiang Yuechu ignored the other's advice and instead asked casually, "Tell me about the treasure lands in detail."
Seeing that she wasn't listening, the worry in True Lord Linghan's eyes grew deeper.
However, he still explained honestly, "The Five Qi Treasure Lands are managed by the Deacon Hall. As long as you show your identity token and hand over enough exchange items, someone there will naturally take you there."
"I see..."
Having obtained the answer she wanted, Jiang Yuechu did not plan to stay any longer.
She stood up and cupped her hands slightly, "Thank you for the reminder. Farewell."
Seeing the young girl get up to leave,
True Lord Linghan couldn't help but remind her again, "Uh, Junior Friend Jiang... Condensing the Chess Piece is no small matter. You should think it over carefully."
Jiang Yuechu didn't look back, only waving her hand casually.
"I'll consider it."
...
Jiang Yuechu did not linger elsewhere and went straight to the Training Hall.
The hall was extremely vast.
Inside, the noise of voices was bustling, and various colors of light rose and fell intermittently.
Although the Jieqing Sect had suffered from a lack of successors in recent years,
it was still one of the Nine Great Dao Sects, with strict Sect rules.
Inner and Outer Sect Disciples shuttled back and forth, either handing in training tasks or exchanging for Medicinal Pills and Magic Treasures, their steps hurried and in an endless stream.
Jiang Yuechu, in a snow-white robe, stood quietly in a corner of the hall.
Such a cold and peerless new face naturally drew many subtle, observing gazes.
But seeing her cold expression and hidden aura, and with no one recognizing which peak she belonged to,
no one rashly approached to strike up a conversation.
Jiang Yuechu stood in place, not in a hurry, but instead lowered her eyes slightly, falling into thought.
The two paths True Lord Linghan mentioned were actually not that difficult to take.
Either exchange Sect merit for it, or exchange items of equivalent value.
But for Jiang Yuechu right now...
If she chose the first path,
she was a newcomer and had no merit points at all.
During her only trip to Huangshan City, she had found it troublesome and was halfway coaxed by that girl Lin Feiyan to go to Liuxian Valley.
She hadn't returned to the Sect with Senior Brother Chen Yuan and the others to report the mission.
It was equivalent to working for nothing, without gaining even a bit of merit.
That left only the second path.
Jiang Yuechu raised her hand slightly and inconspicuously pressed the Storage Pouch at her waist.
Don't be fooled by her usual ruthless strikes and her air of a high-level expert untainted by the mundane world.
When it came to her actual net worth,
she was dirt poor.
Most of her belongings had been left in the world of Great Tang.
Now, the only things she had that were worth showing were that ten directions mountains and rivers staff, a Medium Grade Spiritual Artifact robe, and that High Grade spiritual sword.
But to exchange these for a spot in an ordinary Five Qi Treasure Land,
she really couldn't bear to.
Thinking of this,
the corner of Jiang Yuechu's eye twitched slightly.
Damn it...
Jiang Yuechu, oh Jiang Yuechu.
You're poor as a dog, so why are you still acting so grand?!
If she had known this earlier,
she should have honestly followed Senior Brother Chen Yuan and the others back to report the training mission.
Now, she was empty-handed, without even the qualification to go to a Five Qi Treasure Land.
She let out a soft breath of turbid air.
She suppressed that nearly imperceptible trace of regret in her heart.
Looking at it now, it seemed she still had to go do some training missions first.
And while on the training missions, she could scavenge a bit to accumulate more belongings.
With this thought,
she no longer lingered, stepped forward, and walked straight ahead.
Figures moved within the hall.
Long lines formed in front of several long desks.
Jiang Yuechu glanced casually and picked a line to join at the end.
After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn,
the few Disciples in front took their wooden plaques and left.
It was finally her turn.
Behind the long desk sat a Disciple in green on duty, flipping through a register without looking up.
"Cultivation level, name, identity, what training mission do you want to take?"
Jiang Yuechu took a step forward: "Chess-Player Two-Piece, Jiang Yuechu, Guest Elder... Are there any demon-slaying training missions?"
The green-robed Disciple's movement of flipping through the register paused slightly.
He looked up, a flash of astonishment in his eyes.
However, being on duty in the Training Hall, he naturally knew the Sect's internal affairs and didn't dare to ask too much.
His attitude immediately became a bit more respectful.
He searched through the records at hand for a moment and pulled out several wooden plaques.
"To answer the Guest Elder, there are several demon-slaying missions recently. There are demons appearing on the outskirts of Luoyun City, requiring five Disciples to clear them out..."
Jiang Yuechu listened quietly.
Her brow gradually furrowed.
Most demon-slaying missions had a requirement for the number of people.
And those without a requirement were all relatively simple tasks.
Not only did they give very little merit, but there weren't even any demon remains.
Adding the time spent traveling back and forth, it was a pure waste of time.
Jiang Yuechu rubbed her brow with a bit of a headache.
"These training missions... can't I just go by myself?"