Heavenly Fragrance Sect, rear courtyard of Tianxin Pavilion.
A beam of white light descended from the sky, landing in the pool.
Chen Xiaoyan opened her eyes and looked around—the surroundings were the same enchanting pool from yesterday that looked like a paradise on earth.
“Unlucky, my skirt is all wet now.”
She frowned slightly, pouted, and climbed ashore.
She took off her pink embroidered shoes, shook them, and set them aside to dry.
Then she turned back and sat on a stone platform, trying to wring the water out of her skirt.
“Xiaoyan.”
A familiar gentle voice sounded from behind.
“Sister Shen.”
Chen Xiaoyan quickly stood up, patted the wrinkled skirt, and gave an embarrassed smile.
But she didn’t dare to look directly at Shen Qingqing—whenever she saw her, she was reminded of that embarrassing moment from yesterday.
Shen Qingqing noticed the wet spots on the ground and smiled slightly.
Raising her hand, a pink halo instantly enveloped Chen Xiaoyan, lifting her slowly off the ground.
“Xiaoyan, spiritual energy has many uses. You still need to explore its potential.”
“Disciple understands.”
The pink halo was very warm, but before she could savor the feeling, it ended.
Landing on the ground, Chen Xiaoyan touched her skirt, quite surprised.
It was dry—so fast!
Spiritual energy can be used this way?
“All right, tell me what happened yesterday?”
Hearing this, Chen Xiaoyan’s heart skipped a beat.
The main topic was coming.
She quickly lowered her head, adopting an apologetic posture.
“Sister Shen, I was too exhausted yesterday, I just couldn’t hold on anymore and went back to rest.”
She was nervous because there were many loopholes in that answer.
For example, why was she back in the pool today?
She couldn’t answer that question herself.
Fortunately, the NPC didn’t ask.
“I’ll believe you this time.”
Saying this, Shen Qingqing waved her hand.
【Congratulations, player Chen Xiaoyan has completed the sect training task, reward received: Spiritual Energy ×100, Experience ×10,000】
【Congratulations on leveling up】
Currently level 18.
“You’ve improved your spiritual energy a lot with this training task, but don’t be arrogant. The world is vast; with your current strength, you’re not yet on the big stage.”
“Don’t worry, Sister Shen. I will work hard in my cultivation and won’t disappoint you.”
Shen Qingqing smiled, clearly pleased, and nodded.
“You may leave. Remember not to neglect daily cultivation and sect tasks.”
“Yes.”
【Today’s sect tasks have been issued】
【① Clean Tianxin Pavilion, reward: Spiritual Energy ×2】
【② Eliminate a wild beast in the back mountain, reward: Spiritual Energy ×3】
【③ There have been reports of monsters near Muxiang Village at the foot of Tianxin Mountain. Investigate promptly, reward: Spiritual Energy ×50】
Huh?
Why were the rewards for the first two tasks reduced by ten times, but the third task’s reward was normal?
Could sect daily tasks also have a “first-time effect”?
But the cleaning task seems too unrewarding.
Might as well skip it.
Better to prioritize the third task first.
As for the small spiritual energy rewards for the first two, they provided zero motivation.
【Chongchong: Sister Xiaoyan, did you submit the training task?】
【Chen Xiaoyan: Mm-hmm】
【Chongchong: What rewards did you get?】
【Chen Xiaoyan: Spiritual energy, experience points】
【Chongchong: No wonder you suddenly jumped to level 18. Guess what I got?】
【Chen Xiaoyan: A skill? Or cultivation technique?】
【Chongchong: Hehe, I got a piece of equipment—a main weapon called Spring Breeze Umbrella.】
【Chen Xiaoyan: …】
So mysterious, I thought it was some treasure.
Turns out it’s just a useless umbrella.
Well, the Spring Breeze Umbrella has no attribute bonuses.
If it weren’t needed for activating skills, it’d have long collected dust in my inventory.
【Chongchong: When I turned in the task last night and saw this umbrella, I was so happy I couldn’t sleep all night.】
【Chen Xiaoyan: This Spring Breeze Umbrella has no stats—what’s the point of it?】
【Chongchong: It looks pretty!】
【Chen Xiaoyan: … Fine, you win. Join the team, let’s do the sect tasks.】
【Chongchong: Sect tasks only happen once, right?】
【Chen Xiaoyan: Who told you that? These are sect daily tasks—notice the word daily. That means every day. Hurry to Tianxin Pavilion and get them from Shen Qingqing.】
【Chongchong: Okay, I’m on my way.】
***
At the foot of Tianxin Mountain lies a village called Muxiang Village, famous for trading incense wood.
The incense wood tree is unique to the Tianxin Mountain range. Its core emits a faint, elegant fragrance, highly favored by the nobility and dignitaries in the mortal world.
Chen Xiaoyan and Chongchong rode their horses, familiar with the way, arriving at the village entrance.
A few days ago, they had come to Muxiang Village’s market to buy horses, so the place was somewhat familiar.
At the village entrance, a dozen soldiers from the Great Song Dynasty stood guard, manning a barricade and watch post.
There hadn’t been such security before.
Could it be because of the monster sightings?
“Stop!”
Two soldiers crossed their long spears over the barricade, blocking their way.
“Yū~”
Chen Xiaoyan tightened the reins and looked toward the soldier in different attire who clearly led the others.
“I am a disciple of the Heavenly Fragrance Sect, sent by the sect to investigate the monster sightings. Please allow us passage.”
“Show your sect identification,” the lead soldier shouted.
Identification?
Chen Xiaoyan was momentarily stunned.
The Heavenly Fragrance Sect hadn’t issued any kind of player ID.
But…
She wasn’t without options.
Chen Xiaoyan took out the Spring Breeze Umbrella from her bag and tossed it forward, activating the Umbrella Dance Heal skill.
The emerald-green umbrella spun wildly on the ground, its surface emitting a faint pink glow.
Because these soldiers were not teammates, the Spring Breeze Umbrella had no healing target and just spun silently.
But they still felt that warm aura.
The soldiers savored this feeling.
Only when the skill duration ended did they slowly exhale.
After that, the soldiers looked at them with deep respect.
With excitement, they saluted together: “Great Song Demon Extermination Army Centurion Liu Jiang greets the two Heavenly Fragrance Fairies.”
“Greetings, Heavenly Fragrance Fairies.”
Chen Xiaoyan put the umbrella back into her bag, dismounted with Chongchong, and lightly raised her hand.
“No need for formalities.”
The soldiers all looked up, their eyes shining as if seeing idols.
“Uh… do you guys really like the Heavenly Fragrance Sect that much?”
Chen Xiaoyan tried to ask.
They shook their heads.
Chen Xiaoyan was speechless.
Then why do you look like such big fans?
“Because fairies deserve our respect, we mortals,” Centurion Liu Jiang said earnestly.
“How so?”
It turns out the Demonic Transmission Points in the endless Demon Domain are not fixed; they randomly appear in various locations, making them impossible to defend against.
When a Demonic Transmission Point appears, the local humans often suffer heavy casualties.
The worst cases become no-man’s lands.
The Heavenly Fragrance Sect
The sect’s purpose is to save lives and heal the wounded.
Naturally, they cannot bear to see such human tragedies, so all disciples board spirit boats to descend the mountain and offer aid.
Countless mortals, grievously wounded or near death, are resurrected under the hands of Heavenly Fragrance disciples.
Over time, the sect earned a household name and a great reputation in the mortal world.
One might ask:
Are there no other sects with merits?
They do have merits, but most of their achievements are unseen by the common people.
One is witnessed firsthand, the other just hearsay.
Any sane person naturally favors the first.
【PS: Thanks again to big supporter Liudao (dazed gaze) and Blackde for the monthly tickets】