Li Muyang walked shoulder to shoulder with Guan Xiaoshun on the dusty yellow road of the Refinement Demon Sect’s Outer Sect. After a brief chat, the two parted ways at a fork in the road, Guan Xiaoshun carrying his huge water jug that was as tall as a man.
Guan Xiaoshun was a Spirit Farmer, the most unique profession in the Outer Sect.
The main task of a Spirit Farmer was to take care of their contracted Spirit fields, ensuring an abundant supply of Spiritual Energy by practicing the “Cloud and Rain Technique” daily. When harvest time came, they would hand over the required amount of Spirit Rice and keep the rest for themselves.
This was the most lucrative job in the Outer Sect, but also the one with the highest threshold; after all one must understand the “Cloud and Rain Technique” to become a Spirit Farmer.
In the Outer Sect, all the menial work disciples had average talents. For these disciples, even cultivating the most elementary Cultivation Technique was exceptionally difficult, let alone comprehending a Spell.
For most Outer Sect disciples, the “Cloud and Rain Technique” was akin to advanced calculus, not something everyone could learn.
Li Muyang also envied Guan Xiaoshun’s job as a Spirit Farmer. Although he had the opportunity to cultivate the “Cloud and Rain Technique”, he had just joined the Outer Sect and his cultivation was low. He could only herd sheep and was not yet exposed to the Cultivation Technique of the “Cloud and Rain Technique”.
After collecting his identity tag, a bell Magic Artifact, and a mask, Li Muyang drove the eerily two-legged sheep toward Blood Mist Valley.
“Soul, return~ soul, return~~”
The spooky and ominous soul-calling chant echoed with the clear ringing of Li Muyang’s bell as the two-legged sheep lined up and entered the Blood Mist Valley.
In Blood Mist Valley, a type of purple plant grew which was the main food for the two-legged sheep. Li Muyang’s only task was to herd the sheep into the valley, then keep watch over them beside the valley.
It was an extremely leisurely job, with the only drawback being the pervasive stench in the air that was enough to make one nauseous. The crow mask provided by the Sect could only block half of the smell.
If it were any other day, Li Muyang would have found it unbearable.
But today, he was just too sleepy.
Li Muyang, who hadn’t slept all night, herded the sheep into the valley and then simply closed his eyes and fell asleep at the entrance to the valley.
He slept in a daze for an unknown length of time until he woke again to see the fierce sun at its zenith in the sky.
Inside the mist-filled Blood Mist Valley, the herd of peculiar black-haired sheep was browsing quietly for food, everything was so peaceful.
Li Muyang looked at the herd of sheep and the noonday sun outside, and sighed.
“Another half a day has passed…”
Accustomed to a rhythm of life filled with studying, working, and always having tasks to do, Li Muyang now found himself in a different world, herding sheep as an Outer Sect Disciple, the idle days making him feel somewhat unaccustomed.
It felt like wasting his life away doing menial tasks in the Outer Sect.
The Demon Path Cultivation Techniques taught by the Outer Sect were the most inferior entry-level spells with an easily perceived ceiling.
Even if he worked diligently in the Outer Sect for decades, at best he would become a manager, earning a little extra on the side.
Such a wretched life was truly undesirable!
Li Muyang did not want to spend his whole life in the Refinement Demon Sect’s Demon Path Sect, nor did he want to be a shepherd forever.
The world was so vast and interesting; having come to this world, he did not necessarily have to become an Immortal or ascend to greatness, but at the very least, he should enjoy a carefree life and travel everywhere. How could he be trapped in this little Demon Sect?
Suddenly sitting up, Li Muyang took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
“The Game with the Fairies, activate!”
This game system was now his only chance to change his fate.
Li Muyang had to seize it with all his might!
…
At dusk, the clear sound of a bell rang outside Blood Mist Valley.
Li Muyang, wearing the crow mask, shook the bell vigorously, chanting morbid soul-calling sounds while driving the black, two-legged sheep towards the huts at the foot of the mountain.
On the flat plain at the foot of the mountain, thatched cottages and wooden houses were neatly arranged, looking like a small town.
Li Muyang efficiently herded the sheep into the pen, checked the number of sheep with the manager, handed over his identity tag and Magic Artifact, and then returned to his own thatched cottage, reeking of stench.
Having played the game all afternoon in the valley, he was now so hungry that his front felt glued to his back.
I always felt hungrier after I started playing the game.
Li Muyang quickly cooked a pot of rice, too lazy to scoop it into a bowl, he simply sat on the doorstep clutching the pot to eat.
Swiftly finishing a pot of Spirit Rice, Li Muyang wiped his mouth, stood up, and washed the pot till it was sparkling clean.
Finally, glancing at the nearly empty rice bin, Li Muyang sighed.
“Never thought I’d become a real glutton one day.”
Rations were distributed monthly! Most people could never finish them, and the leftover Spirit Rice could be sent back home or sold for money.
Yet, Li Muyang had eaten his share within half a month.
The growing appetite and the diminishing stockpile forced Li Muyang to break through the tutorial as soon as possible.
An A-level reward included five bottles of Jade Marrow Spirit Liquid; Li Muyang dared not even think what a perfect score might entail!
He lay on the hard, plank bed, closing his eyes.
Load game!
The surrounding darkness receded like the tide, and Li Muyang suddenly sat up in the moving carriage, said,
“Fairy, may I borrow your Immortal Sword?”
Most Blood Demon Beasts, Li Muyang could kill with his own waist knife.
Only the colossal creature that appeared first, it was necessary to use the Immortal Sword of the Glass Immortal Maiden to break its defense.
Familiar with the task, Li Muyang took the Immortal Sword of the Glass Immortal Maiden and climbed onto the roof of the carriage; he didn’t even need to stop time. As the huge monster’s head materialized out of thin air, Li Muyang’s Immortal Sword precisely sliced it in two from above its head.
The guide behind him let out a shocked scream, while Li Muyang immediately turned back into the carriage, one by one killing the Blood Demon Beasts that emerged around him.
The whole process was smooth as flowing water, each sword stroke precisely killing a beast as it appeared, making it look as though the monsters were actually throwing themselves onto his sword.
The scene was incredibly eerie, both the Glass Immortal Maiden and the guide stared with wide eyes in astonishment.
This time, perhaps because he had just had his meal, Li Muyang was in excellent form and managed to protect the guide until 08:19 before he died.
For the first time in so long, the guide’s survival time exceeded eight minutes!
Li Muyang was instantly invigorated.
Although the guide still died a second later under the gaping maws of the beasts, the hopeful Li Muyang was not discouraged.
He laughed heartily with his arms outstretched, letting the swarm of creatures engulf him.
Reload game!
And so, through countless deaths and failures, Li Muyang came to memorize almost the entire location and number of the Blood Demon Beast horde through brute force repetition.
Standing on the precarious roof of the carriage, he directed the Glass Immortal Maiden’s sword strokes with uncanny foresight each time.
That flying sword, with which the Glass Immortal Maiden had a life-bound connection, wielded far greater power in her hands than in those of Li Muyang.
When Li Muyang directed her swordplay, the efficiency of her strikes against the Blood Demon Beasts was much higher.
With this strategy of one person directing and one slaying demons, Li Muyang finally managed to hold back the endless tide of beasts.
The guide’s survival time gradually extended beyond 8 minutes and 19 seconds.
Until the sky outside the Refinement Demon Sect brightened and the rooster crowed again, Li Muyang at last saw the survival countdown in the upper right corner of his view hit zero.
Next to him, both the guide and the Glass Immortal Maiden were unharmed and intact, neither dead nor injured.
Ahead on the street, the army department’s residence and fully armed soldiers came into view, allowing Li Muyang, who had been tense all night, to finally take a deep breath.
He clenched his fists tightly, his eyes filled with sheer exhilaration.
Perfect score!