Chapter 34: Chapter 34 Conscription
Just after Old Lady Wang left, now comes an elderly grandpa.
Standing before Wang Chen’s door was a white-haired old man, with a beard that hung down to his chest, clasping a wooden cane, his waist adorned with a large silver-mouthed copper-skin gourd.
Wang Chen hurriedly paid respects, “Old Master Sun, what brings you here?”
This old grandpa was no ordinary person; within dozens of miles, there was no cultivator of higher status than him.
He was also the Village Chief of this area.
Although tens of thousands of mu of Spirit Fields had been cultivated at the Cloud Sun Sect’s gate with thousands of tenant and peasant farmers,
they hadn’t established the type of villages commonly seen among common mortals.
To facilitate management, the Outer Sect Main Hall had organized several dozen Defense Areas on a household basis.
A Defense Area typically governed three to four hundred households.
At the same time, a Village Chief and Guard Chief were appointed.
The cultivators serving as Village Chiefs were generally of high Human Virtures and respected reputation.
It was said Old Master Sun was over ninety years old, and as a Qi Cultivation practitioner at the seventh tier, his life was nearing its end, but he still looked hale and hearty.
His voice was even more full of vigor, “Wang Chen, I need to see you about something.”
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Wang Chen did not dare to be negligent, “Please come in and talk.”
He respectfully invited Old Master Sun to enter and take a seat in the small courtyard.
Old Master Sun did not stand on ceremony and directly handed Wang Chen a piece of silk paper, “This is the conscription order from the Guard Hall; you are being drafted into the Night Patrol Team.”
Wang Chen took a careful look and sure enough, it stated he was being drafted into the Fourth Night Patrol Team of the Yi Ten Defense Area.
He was required to report to the Defense Area before 9 a.m. the following morning.
He was actually drafted into the Night Patrol Team?
Wang Chen couldn’t help but be surprised, “Old Master, could there be a mistake here?”
Within his Yi Ten Defense Area, there were over four hundred households and nearly a thousand Qi Cultivation cultivators.
Under normal circumstances, Wang Chen, a seventeen-year-old boy, would never be called up to join the Night Patrol Team!
As the name suggests, the Night Patrol Team is a squad that patrols at night, mainly to guard against Monster Beasts, Evil Wraiths, and Loose Cultivator invasions.
This job carries considerable risk, and is generally taken up by cultivators with abundant experience and strong combat abilities.
Wang Chen didn’t fully meet these criteria.
“Your name is written here, and there isn’t a second Wang Chen in our Defense Area.”
Old Master Sun said with a wry smile, “The conscription order has been stamped with the Guard Hall’s seal; even the Guard Chief must comply.”
The Double Chiefs of the Defense Area, nominally the Village Chief is senior to the Guard Chief, but in reality, the Guard Chief, who controls the patrols, holds higher authority.
Because the Guard Chief is a cultivator who is directly appointed by the Guard Hall!
With this conscription order, Wang Chen’s inclusion in the Night Patrol Team is a done deal.
Unless he defected from the Cloud Sun Sect, he had no chance of refusal.
Old Master Sun sighed, “Recently, the situation on the ground has been unstable, and the Defense Areas are drafting cultivators to expand their patrol teams; you are just one of them.”
Having paused, he added, “According to the rules, tomorrow when you go to the Defense Area, you can select two mid-tier Qi Cultivation Spells. Think it over carefully today so that you don’t make a hasty decision tomorrow.”
“Also, joining the Night Patrol Team earns you Merit Points, and if you slay Monster Beasts or Evil Wraiths, you can claim their spoils.”
The old man went on and on, talking a lot about the Night Patrol Team and the Night Watchmen.
Cultivators of the Night Patrol Team are also known as Night Watchmen.
Wang Chen listened very carefully.
Being suddenly conscripted by the Guard Hall was completely unexpected.
Since he couldn’t resist, Wang Chen wouldn’t blame fate or others, nor would he complain excessively.
It would only add to his own troubles.
He tried to look on the bright side—at least he wouldn’t be working for nothing.
The guidance from Old Master Sun was also very helpful, ensuring that Wang Chen wouldn’t go into his role as a Night Watchman blind.
He committed everything to memory.
After finishing his instructions, Old Master Sun stood up, “I must be going; there are more conscription orders to deliver.”
For him to run around to dozens of households was quite a strenuous task for an old man.
As Wang Chen was seeing the old man out, he happened to meet Old Sun passing by.
Old Sun hummed a tuneless ditty, looking proud and pleased with himself, giving off a rather sleazy impression.
Old Master Sun’s eyebrows immediately knotted in anger as he raised his cane and swung it, “You rascal, not working the Spirit Fields in broad daylight, are you thinking of sneaking off to the Numerous Fragrances Pavilion to seek the company of female cultivators from the Hehuan Sect again?”
Old Sun was caught off guard and hit on the head with a cane, clutching his head in pain.
Seeing that Old Master Sun was the one who hit him, he was so frightened that he nearly lost his soul, “I didn’t, I didn’t…”
Usually, in front of others, Old Sun liked to act superior due to his age, but in front of Old Master Sun, he reverted to a true grandson, trying hard to defend himself while scurrying away with his head in his hands.
The sorry sight left Wang Chen speechless.
Old Master Sun was swinging his wooden cane.
Chasing and running after him all the way.
Old Master Sun shared a close kinship with Old Sun, being two generations his senior.
Old Master Sun probably felt a sense of disappointment, as if hating iron for not becoming steel.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been so infuriated.
Having sent off Old Master Sun, the repeatedly disturbed Wang Chen no longer felt like continuing his cultivation of techniques.
He began to ponder.
Which spells should he choose tomorrow that would be most appropriate.
The Merit Points needed to exchange for mid-tier Qi Cultivation spells in the Dharma Transmission Hall were quite high.
Now he had a chance to get them for free.
And not just one, but two opportunities.
If he didn’t carefully select them, it would be a real loss!
Struggling to recall his knowledge about mid-tier Qi Cultivation spells, Wang Chen called up his Immortal Cultivation panel.
He looked over his skill list.
Cleansing Technique (Beginner): 99/100
Mighty Strength Technique (Beginner): 99/100
Geng Metal Finger (Great Achievement): 37/400
Cloud Rain Jue (Mastery Level): 19/200
Spiritual Perception Technique (Beginner): 99/100
Object-Controlling Technique (Beginner): 99/100
Vajra Fist (Beginner): 37/100
In the past half month or so, Wang Chen devoted a lot of time to grinding skill proficiency.
He had now achieved quite significant results.
Cleansing Technique, Mighty Strength Technique, as well as Spiritual Perception Technique and Object-Controlling Technique, which he had mastered not long ago.
They had all reached the bottleneck of the Beginner level.
Wang Chen also had 14 points of Human Virtue.
If he wanted, he could break through these four spells to Mastery Level in one go!
But Wang Chen didn’t do that.
Because the Human Virtue point addition rule he knew was incremented at 10 times the points.
The first time costs 1 point, the second time 10 points, and the third time is very likely to be 100 points!
If all followed the same pattern.
By the fourth, fifth, sixth time…
The required points could only be described as terrifying!
So Wang Chen’s idea was to try his best first and add points to Breaking Threshold only if really necessary.
He aimed to postpone the first level of Human Virtue points as much as possible.
Greatly reducing the consumption of Human Virtue points.
For example, for Geng Metal Finger, Wang Chen broke through to the Mastery Level on his own, then used 1 point from Mastery to Minor Achievement, and 10 points from Minor to Great Achievement, with Breaking Threshold costing only 100 points.
Totally within his capacity to endure.
Spiritual Perception Technique and Object-Controlling Technique, among others, are low-tier Qi Cultivation spells, and breaking through to Mastery Level should not be a problem with 3 points in Root Bone and Comprehension.
Adding points now would not be the act of a wise man!
Moreover, he needed to save Human Virtue points in preparation for the new skills he was about to acquire.
As for which two spells to pick, Wang Chen already had some preliminary ideas.
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