Chapter 281 - Senior Brother, I am not afraid of hardship

  "When another batch of water fireflies mature, we will be able to enter the middle stage of foundation building steadily."

  After Lu Xuan digested the increase of more than 20 years of cultivation, he felt the spiritual liquid filling up in his dantian, and had an intuition that he was about to touch a new realm.

  From noticing that the cultivation bonus brought by the spiritual firefly grass was drastically reduced, he began to improve its variety, and got the second-grade water firefly grass. Lu Xuan has received no less than 40 years of cultivation bonus.

  However, due to his ordinary bones, he is still a long way from breaking through to the middle stage of foundation building.

  With his talent, he is definitely among the last in the Tianjian Sect. For

  those gifted geniuses in the sect, it usually takes 10 to 20 years to break through from the early stage of foundation building to the middle stage. Those with true inheritance level talents are more likely to break through in less than 10 years.

  If Lu Xuan concentrates on hard work, I am afraid that he may not succeed in breaking through even after 50 years.

  Fortunately, the existence of the light ball has greatly shortened the talent gap between each other, and there is even a tendency to strike back.

  It has only been three or four years since he started planting water fireflies, and the new batch has only been a short distance. The middle stage of foundation building is only a stone's throw away.

  "Farming makes people progress, I love farming."

  Lu Xuan looked at the spiritual plants all over the mountains and smiled.

  He did not use the green wood source energy to ripen the remaining thirty or so water fireflies, but let them grow naturally, and then used them to condense spiritual seeds after they matured.

  "Thirty-five water fireflies should be able to get no less than 150 spiritual seeds, which is enough. If there are more, the spiritual power will not be able to support the needs of spiritual plants."

  Lu Xuan returned to the house with a full reward of light balls.

  "Brother Lu Xuan, are you there?" After

  resting for half a day, a low voice came from outside the talisman formation.

  "Yes."

  Lu Xuan hurried to the foot of the mountain and opened the flowing light talisman formation. At a glance, he saw a square-faced, serious middle-aged cultivator standing upright in front of the formation.

  He scanned the middle-aged cultivator's cultivation level at least at the middle stage of foundation building, and his expression suddenly became more solemn.

  "I wonder what my name should be? What's the matter with you, Senior Brother?"

  "Junior Brother Lu, you can just call me Senior Brother Huang."

  "I came here this time to give you a task. I've been promoted to an inner disciple for several years, and it's time to complete the sect's garrison mission."

  "Sect's garrison mission? Please tell me in detail."

  Lu Xuan's heart tightened, and he said respectfully.

  "Yes, this is the obligation that every foundation-building disciple should fulfill."

  "The sect has many garrisons in various parts of the cultivation world, which are used to collect resources, guard dangerous places, protect independent cultivators, etc. Most of them require foundation-building cultivators to be stationed there to suppress some villains, so as not to damage the interests of the sect."

  "Senior Brother Huang, can I not choose this sect's garrison mission? Or extend it for dozens or hundreds of years."

  Lu Xuan asked tentatively.

  "Brother Lu, this won't work. The garrison mission is usually assigned to inner disciples who have been in the sect for a few years. After all, the early stage of foundation building is completely sufficient. It would be a bit of a waste to use fellow disciples in the middle stage of foundation building."

  "If you don't want to go, it may cause the brothers from the Discipline Hall to come and solve the problem, and you may be punished for it."

  Lu Xuan's mouth twitched. Although he seldom went out and didn't communicate much with his fellow disciples, he also knew the reputation of the Discipline Hall. Once they came, he would at least be skinned.

  "What are the general punishments?"

  He still had a glimmer of luck in his heart. If it was only a fine of spirit stones or sword seals, it was not unacceptable. It was money to avoid disaster. But

  the words of the middle-aged cultivator made him feel cold inside.

  "Disobeying the sect's orders is usually punished by confinement for ten years. You are not allowed to go out for ten years, and you will still be forced to complete the mission after the end."

  "Ten years of confinement?"   

  Lu Xuan shook his head. If they were really locked up for ten years, most of the spiritual plants on the mountain would have withered their mature flowers and fruits.

  "Brother Lu, there is no need to resist. The sect will not let you waste a few years of effort in vain."

  "During the garrison period, there will be at least 300 sword seals per year, and the garrisoned places are generally small families and independent cultivators. There is almost no risk, and it is rare to hear that fellow disciples have lost their lives because of this."

  The middle-aged cultivator explained when he saw that Lu Xuan was somewhat reluctant.

  "300 sword seals per year? That means you can get at least three fourth-grade spiritual seeds."

  Since he couldn't refuse, Lu Xuan could only accept it. Fortunately, the number of subsidized sword seals did not disappoint him.

  "Please also introduce me to the details of the place where I can be stationed."

  "Okay."

  The middle-aged cultivator nodded.

  "There are currently three places for you to choose from, Junior Brother Lu."

  "The first one needs to be reached within three months. It's a city for independent cultivators that produces several kinds of rare minerals. It's less than a thousand miles away from the Luoyan Mountains and can subsidize three hundred sword seals every year."

  "Although the number of sword seals is the least, it's more popular because it's located near the Luoyan Mountains, surrounded by many secret realms, and monsters and evil spirits often appear. There are other inner disciples vying for this opportunity."

  "The second place is located in Xuanyin City, which is home to many large forces. The sect's say in the city is average. You need to arrive there within one month."

  "Xuanyin City is more than a thousand miles away from the Jiyin Sect. It's easy to encounter evil cultivators. It's the first choice for fellow disciples who want to hone their combat capabilities."

  "Due to the higher danger, the subsidy for sword seals will be more, with three hundred and sixty sword seals every year."

  "What about the last one?"

  Lu Xuan asked with a frown. He was not very satisfied with these two garrison locations. One was close to the Luoyan Mountains, and the other was not far from the Jiyin Sect. It sounded like both of them had considerable risks.

  "The last one is located near the Boundless Sea, on a large island, where some special spiritual objects, sea fish and sea beasts, and some rare spiritual herbs are produced."

  "It is said that rare spiritual liquids can be found occasionally on the surrounding islands."

  "But there are not many opportunities there, and it cannot achieve the purpose of tempering oneself. In addition, it is located in a bitter and cold place, so it is usually semi-mandatory to entrust an inner disciple to go there, and the number of sword seals subsidized each year is 320."

  "Special sea fish and sea beasts, rare spiritual herbs, and the possibility of finding spiritual liquid?"

  "The most important thing is that there are no secret realms or sinister sect cultivators, which means that the safety is more reliable."

  Hearing this, Lu Xuan's eyes lit up.

  "Brother Huang, then I will choose the island near the Boundless Sea."

  "I am a casual cultivator, I am not afraid of hardship or fatigue, please help me, brother, and let me go to the island to train for a few years."

  Lu Xuan said to the middle-aged cultivator with a sincere face.

  Safe, reliable and risk-free, you can also see various sea beasts and spiritual herbs, and it is possible to find spiritual liquid that can cultivate dragon skeleton grass. Where can I find such a good job?

  "Brother Lu, are you sure?"

  the middle-aged cultivator asked doubtfully. There were too few inner disciples who chose that island. Everyone wanted to stay away from the bitter cold island. Lu Xuan's behavior made him feel uncomfortable. They

  all wanted to find opportunities and fight demons to defend the way. How could they take the initiative to move closer to the bitter cold island?

  "Yes, yes."

  Lu Xuan responded quickly.

  (End of this chapter)