"Stop, who told you to leave? Did you just pass the Outer Sect assessment?"
Li Mu was about to leave the Outer Sect station when he was suddenly called out by a Managing Disciple.
"Yes, Senior Brother, may I ask why you still need me to stay?" Li Mu asked awkwardly.
"You think you can just leave after collecting your things? Don't you need to be assigned a duty? Every Outer Sect Disciple has to do work; there's no such thing as just receiving benefits without doing anything! Hurry up, follow me to the Contribution Hall, Guo Senior Brother has been waiting for you!" The Managing Disciple glared at Li Mu impatiently, then turned and walked away.
Li Mu quickly followed.
Soon, they arrived at the Contribution Hall.
Inside the main hall, a Managing Disciple, about thirty years old, was flipping through an account book, checking something.
"Guo Senior Brother, I've brought him. This kid was wandering around everywhere and even went to the Hall of Dharma Transmission, making me search for quite a while," the Managing Disciple said, bringing Li Mu into the Contribution Hall and complaining.
"Hmm, Junior Brother Lin, you've worked hard. You can go back to your duties now!" Guo Changming smiled and nodded, reassuring him.
The Managing Disciple nodded and left as ordered.
"Guo Senior Brother, I apologize, I didn't know I needed to receive a Sect duty after the assessment!" Watching the Managing Disciple who had complained about him leave, Li Mu quickly apologized.
"It's alright, it's your first time, so it's understandable. Just don't make the same mistake again in the future. There are many courtyards in the station that strictly prohibit other Outer Sect Disciples from entering, such as: the Beast Taming Courtyard, the Artifact Refining Hall, the Alchemy Workshop, the Boat Controlling Courtyard… These places are important Sect grounds, and Disciples not from these halls are not allowed to enter or exit freely. It's not a big deal that you went to the Hall of Dharma Transmission," Guo Changming smiled and explained.
"Thank you, Guo Senior Brother, for the guidance. I've noted it," Li Mu nodded, expressing his gratitude.
"You were a spirit rice farmer before, mainly focused on cultivating Sect Spiritual Fields. Now that you've passed the Outer Sect Disciple assessment, do you have any intention of changing your duties? During the martial arts assessment, I observed that your sword control skills were quite proficient and your combat talent was excellent. Are you willing to join the Outer Sect Hunting Team? It just so happens that…" Guo Changming looked at Li Mu, speaking with considerable regard.
"To be honest, Guo Senior Brother, I also tried to be a hunter cultivator, but whenever I encountered a Yao Beast, I would feel timid and too nervous to fight. I tried many times but still couldn't overcome this heart ailment. It was only out of necessity that I became a spirit rice farmer; otherwise, how could I be content with digging for food in the fields!" Hearing Guo Changming's words, Li Mu quickly made up an excuse to interrupt him.
"Thank you, Guo Senior Brother, for thinking highly of me, but I have a heart ailment and am not suitable to be a hunter cultivator. I'd still prefer to continue farming! Please, Guo Senior Brother, help me arrange some farming-related duties!" After speaking, Li Mu looked at Guo Changming with a grateful expression, pleading.
"How could this be? I saw you duel with Junior Brother Fan, and you were particularly outstanding and composed. You didn't seem to have a heart ailment!" Guo Changming frowned, scrutinizing Li Mu.
"Guo Senior Brother, that was a normal sparring match, and Senior Brother Fan isn't a Yao Beast, so I could treat it with a normal mindset. However, this heart ailment is related to being injured by a Yao Beast when I was young. If I were to fight against a Yao Beast, the symptoms of this heart ailment would appear," Li Mu quickly explained.
"So that's how it is. Then there's no other way! I'll have to arrange tasks related to the Planting Department for you. There are quite a few tasks in the Planting Department. Which small town would you like to go to?" Guo Changming flipped through a beast hide map on the table.
The beast hide map depicted the geographical information of a hundred Spiritual Mountains and over a dozen small towns near Gangyang City.
"Guo Senior Brother, I'm more familiar with Qing'an Town. Are there any duties available in Qing'an Town?" Li Mu quickly inquired.
"Qing'an Town has no more tasks. Wang Feng and Lin Qiuyan just went there for duty. Let me assign you to a different place; you can go to Qingshui Town! This town is sixty li away from Qing'an Town, situated by the Tai Mo River and bordering Mount Tianling. This mountain range contains a large Spiritual Vein, rich in spiritual resources, and the terrain is relatively gentle. Many new Spiritual Fields have been cultivated, so this will be it! This town just happens to have an opening, and you'll definitely be able to achieve something there," Guo Changming said, pointing at Qingshui Town on the map and praising it effusively.
...
Looking at the geographical location of Qingshui Town, Li Mu frowned, feeling somewhat tricked.
Qingshui Town was indeed nestled by mountains and rivers, and its terrain was extremely suitable for cultivating fields and large-scale planting. However, this town was located at the southernmost tip of Gangyang City. Further south, there were no towns governed by the Qingxuan Sect, but rather the vast Ten Thousand Demon Mountain Range. Once Yao Beasts crossed the river and entered, Qingshui Town would undoubtedly be the first to suffer, becoming a natural warning outpost for other small towns and Gangyang City.
"Guo Senior Brother, can I change places?" Li Mu pulled out two Mid-Grade Spirit Stones and secretly slipped them to Guo Changming under the table.
"Junior Brother, what are you doing? Put them away quickly, or don't blame me for being impolite!" Guo Changming's face darkened, and he glared at Li Mu, scolding him angrily.
Seeing that Guo Changming was not feigning anger, Li Mu was slightly taken aback and somewhat puzzled as he put away the Spirit Stones. Were there still Disciples who weren't 'greedy'?
"Junior Brother, what are you afraid of? Is there a problem with Qingshui Town? Are you worried about Yao Beast attacks on Qingshui Town? You can rest assured about that!" Guo Changming smiled at Li Mu, comforting him: "The Demon Hunting Team of Gangyang City often enters the mountains from this town to regularly clear out nearby Yao Beasts, and Inner Sect Disciples also come to this town to gain experience in the mountains. Furthermore, the Heavenly Evolution Sect, the Yu Ling Sect, the Tianhe Sect, the Hundred Refinements Sect, and our Qingxuan Sect—the five Sects are jointly developing the Ten Thousand Demon Mountain Range, and it's now imminent... Qingshui Town is protected by the Tai Mo River, so this town will not be in danger! You can go to your post with peace of mind!"
"Guo Senior Brother, is there really no other place I can switch to?" Li Mu frowned, trying to ask.
"Switch? How can we switch? If everyone were like you, how would these duty arrangements be carried out? Besides, you're going down to be responsible for the Planting Department's work. You only need to complete the Sect's collection of Spiritual Plant resources in this town, and that counts as fulfilling your duty. If you can exceed the task, there will be Contribution rewards. The Sect isn't asking you to guard Qingshui Town, so why are you so worried?" Guo Changming tried to persuade him again.
"I understand, Guo Senior Brother. May I ask how many mu of Spiritual Fields Qingshui Town has, and how many Spiritual Plant resources need to be collected?" Li Mu nodded clearly, looking at Guo Changming and asking.
He feared that it wasn't that Guo Changming was unwilling to accept bribes, but rather that this task arrangement was probably more troublesome than he imagined. Since he had refused Guo Changming's request to join the hunting team, he must have offended him now. Guo Changming would rather not accept a bribe than not assign this task, otherwise, within his duties, how difficult would it be to switch to a safer small town?
Li Mu felt a bit angry and somewhat helpless.
Fortunately, he wasn't at the Qi Refining Seventh Level; he would soon be able to Foundation Establishment. He must achieve Foundation Establishment as quickly as possible so that he wouldn't be so passive.
"Qingshui Town was established thirteen years ago. It has 4750 Utility Disciples, Foundation Establishment Families: the Chen Family, the Ling Family, and the Wang Family, developing in this town, as well as nearly ten thousand Loose Cultivators. The development momentum is good, but it is also in need of revitalization. The Spiritual Plant collection task is not difficult. This town has a total of 1136 mu of Low Grade Spiritual Fields and 265 mu of Medium Grade Spiritual Fields; the Low Grade Spiritual Fields mainly cultivate: spiritual corn, hundred spirits grass, water spirit flowers… and the Medium Grade Spiritual Fields cultivate: scarlet sun flowers, blood ginseng…" Guo Changming flipped through the account book, introducing it to Li Mu.
After explaining most of it, Guo Changming took out another account book and handed it to Li Mu, introducing: "This is Qingshui Town's Spiritual Plant ledger. It records all the Spiritual Field information. Some of these Spiritual Fields are leased to Sect Utility Disciples, some are leased to Foundation Establishment Families… and there are also the amounts of tenant rent to be collected, as well as the matters you are responsible for. Take it and look!"
Li Mu took the account book and began to read it carefully, feeling a headache coming on.
Damn it!
His purpose in taking the Outer Sect Disciple assessment was just to quietly cultivate, so why did he also have to manage the collection of tenant rent from Utility Disciples?
However, after Li Mu read for a while, he was immediately tempted.