Request Pavilion Master

"So you do work here every day. Sounds like a boring job." The girl who was dozing off at her station leaped awake as her eyes darted around. It only took her a second to notice Lin Tao, the moment she did she relaxed. She had thought her superior caught her sleeping.

"Sir Wukong, It's a pleasure to see you again." Putting on her customer accommodation face.

"Likewise, so far you're my favorite receptionist here." Note she's also the only one he bothered talking to. All the other women acting as receptionists were either old women or chubby men. No offense but it really helped him narrow down his options.

"Oh, well thank you. My name is Lai Wen for the record." Taking the compliment, Lin Tao went into explaining he wanted to take up more requests. She wasn't surprised about that, she had guessed he wasn't in a sect and was simply after making money.

But what she hadn't expected was that he wanted a request as hard or harder than the one regarding the Yin-Yang Snakes.

"Well, there might be an issue there. We don't usually have requests that involve dangers above the Spirit Profound Realm. At that point, the Imperial Family would deal with it themselves." Hearing that Lin Tao frowned a bit, what she said basically confirmed the fact the Yin-Yang Snakes were an accident.

The government ruling over the city should have dealt with such an issue themselves. Yet somehow it managed to make its way down into the Request Pavilion.

"So you're saying there's nothing I can do?" Lin Tao pressed as Lai Wen thought to herself for a moment.

"Actually there might be away. Wait here for a second." Without a word, Lai Wen ran off from her desk heading to the back area of the pavilion where only staff were allowed. After a few minutes, she came walking back with a calm and encouraging look on her face.

"Gr- I mean the Pavilion Master would like to meet you." She tripped over her words a bit as she gestured to Lin Tao.

'The Pavilion Master? He's basically the highest authority in the Request Pavilion, right? What did she say to him to make someone like that want to meet me?' Still, he did follow her. Only the front half of the Request Pavilion was used for customers. The other half was purely for staff, housing offices, rooms for storage and banking, etc.

At the very end of a long hallway, Lin Tao saw a double door. It was clearly different from the others. Lai Wen knocked on the door before an old voice came piercing through it.

"Send him in." Lai Wen gestured for him to go inside while smiling. That helped him relax a bit, if it was bad news he doubted she would be smiling carefreely. Walking inside Lin Tao was met with an ancient feel of luxury. Wood decorated the room from the bookshelves to the tables and cushioned chairs.

Sitting behind a large desk on the opposite side from the entrance was an old man. He was dressed in light green boarding on the color white. His hair and beard were gray, the latter stretching down to his mid-chest. His eyes were calm and delicate yet held a sense of stability.

From his brief observation, Lin Tao could tell one thing right away. This old man was strong. Not only that, but despite not being able to sense Profound Energy he could still feel the air being pressured. He was way beyond the Spirit Profound Realm perhaps even surpassing the Earth Profound Realm.

"I see you're the one who killed the Yin-Yang Snakes. You truly don't have any Profound Energy in your body…" The Pavilion Master's eyes and senses were drilling into Lin Tao's body trying to understand him. However to his surprise other than the surface he couldn't observe any further.

It was as if Lin Tao's body was an endlessly deep abyss, unfathomable and impossible to deconstruct.

"You called me here?" Lin Tao took a seat as he spoke to the Pavilion Master. In response, he smiled and nodded.

"Indeed, I heard from Lai Wen that you wished to take up requests far beyond the average difficulty we offer. Normally there would be nothing we can do, but in your case, I'm making an exception." Lin Tao was confused to hear that. He was relatively strong, but not to the point a Pavilion Master would make an exception for him.

Seeing Lin Tao's expression the Pavilion Master continued.

"All of these requests will be coming directly from me, instead of the city. Also, you might as well know that all of them bear a resemblance to the one involving the snakes." Normally a person would just assume the Pavilion Master was referring to the difficulty when he said that. However, Lin Tao felt he was referring to the nature of it instead.

'This old man… He knows something. Perhaps he knows someone who controls the Yin-Yang Snakes? If so then he's sending me to deal with similar cases?' This was all just a guess but he felt he was pretty close and spot on. Either way, something was fishy about all of this he couldn't lie.

Yet almost as if he sensed Lin Tao's hesitation he said something.

"Of course befitting the danger I'll be personally paying you three or four times more than what you received last time." Hearing that Lin Tao's expression froze before a smile grew on his face. This old man was crafty but knew exactly what to say.

We were talking potentially two hundred or even three hundred thousand Profound Coins from a single job. This wasn't an amount of money even a Pavilion Master could toss around. Still, Lin Tao would be lying if he said he wasn't drawn to the idea.

What could he do? He was a sucker for a good payout.

"Sure, I'll do it, so what's the request?"

…

"I have to offer my thanks. I didn't imagine you would end up speaking directly to the Request Pavilion Master on my behalf. Although it's strange how willing he was." Lai Wen shook her head.

"He was already interested in you the day the incident occurred. However, directly contacting you would cause issues due to his status. Luckily you came forward on your own." Lin Tao listened to her and nodded. At the same time, he noticed how casually she was speaking about the matter.

"I see. Still, I am wondering why you're coming with me." Currently, the two of them are riding southeast nearing the walls of The Asura Imperial City.

"Seeing what happened last time the Pavilion Master thought it would be better if I came with you. That way any issues could be cleared up." Basically, she was here to keep an eye on him.

'Sounds like he trusts her a lot, for just being a receptionist…'

To the south were the rocky mountain ranges he went to before. To the east and west, you would find large plains and other areas. However, to the north of The Asura Imperial City, you would find a massive forest.

This was known as the Bloodied Ground Forest. It was a dangerous place littered with Profound Beast. In the areas with the most conflict between Cultivators and fellow Profound Beast, the ground was quite literally doused in the blood. It was how this immense forest stretching for hundreds of miles got its name.

Luckily the Profound Beast did not seem to leave the area of the forest. However, that changed a few months ago. A Profound Beast had been seen slowly moving their way out towards the edge of the forest. This has been reported by travelers who were attacked or saw the Profound Beas themselves.

However, like with the Yin-Yang Snakes, a strange occurrence was happening within the city. No experts or forces of any kind had been sent out to deal with these ever-advancing Profound Beast. It had gotten to the point where everyone simply stopped heading north of The Asura Imperial City.

As for why the Imperial Family would be ignoring such an issue, Lin Tao and Lai Wen had no clue. Lin Tao wanted to inquire more, however, the Pavilion Master refused. It seemed this issue went deeper than he was willing to explain. Either way, he wanted Lin Tao to look into it for him and Lai Win.

'Though I'm a bit confused on why he would send his own people to investigate instead. Surely trusting an outsider like me isn't the best idea.' As he thought that he felt the carriage stop. The driver said this was as far as he was willing to go. Not just that but even the horses seemed apprehensive.

Getting out of the carriage Lin Tao looked ahead. A massive forest stood just a few thousand feet away. The trees were in no way small and stretched up to the sky like towers; they were at least as big as a ten-story building.

Their leaves and branches formed a carpet of greenery that blocked out a majority of light and the sky.

Just their trunks alone would require four or five people linked together to wrap around it. It was a pretty eerie place. But to Lin Tao's surprise when he looked over at Lai Wen he saw she looked pretty calm, actually even a bit excited.

"You know normally people would feel a bit scared going into a creepy forest, especially with a stranger they just met. But you look happier than anything." Hearing him Lai Wen sighed with a strange expression.

"Well this is my first time leaving The Asura Imperial City, how could I not be?" Lin Tao was surprised to hear that.

"Really?" It sounded unbelievable, Lai Wen was at least eighteen yet she had never left the city before? She nodded as she saw the disbelief on Lin Tao's face.

"Honestly you're the only person who's ever talked to me properly since I started working there. Normally, it's my superior scolding me for dozing off. Trust me it's boring as hell. This is finally my chance to experience something exciting!" Her excitement seemed to cap out as she began to make her way towards the Bloodied Ground Forest.

Following her, Lin Tao wanted to say he was a lot calmer than her, but that was a lie. Despite how the forest looked the moment he saw it and heard about the potential Profound Beast his fighting urge had kicked in. This body of his was just itching to fight any chance it got, he couldn't contain it no matter how much he tried.

'Well whatever, I did enjoy fighting those snakes before. Who says you can't have fun while making money?'