The Quest Guild in Bluecloud City was jointly established by the city's two largest families, the Zheng Family and the Longbow Family. Cultivators could come here to accept quests, and upon completion, receive corresponding rewards.
The quests in the guild were either issued by the guild itself or commissioned by other cultivators. Most involved gathering specific materials from demon beasts or rare natural treasures, tasks that required venturing into dangerous areas outside the city. Cultivators needing spirit stones or seeking experience would come to the Quest Guild to find suitable quests, then form adventure teams to leave the city together. These cultivators were generally at the mid-stage of Qi Refining or above. Early-stage Qi Refining cultivators who dared to go were practically courting death.
Bluecloud City was situated in a remote area, only a low-level cultivation city. The surrounding ambient spiritual energy was merely slightly denser than ordinary mortal regions, far inferior to the spiritual energy-rich lands where major cultivation cities stood. Consequently, the city only housed low-level cultivators at the Qi Refining and Foundation Building stages. Those with good aptitude or who had reached the late Foundation Building stage mostly left here for elsewhere, seeking better opportunities.
Relatively speaking, the demon beasts living in the deep mountains and forests outside Bluecloud City weren't high-level either. They were basically all first-grade; second-grade were uncommon. Rumors spoke of third-grade demon beasts deep within a few mountain ranges, but no one had ever seen them... or rather, those who had seen them never returned...
The Quest Guild was located in the north of Bluecloud City, right next to the North Gate. It was an extremely large building, somewhat resembling a modern Earth stadium. Upon entering, one found a hall comparable in size to a football field.
The hall was incredibly lively, bustling with people coming and going. However, it wasn't as noisy and chaotic as the free market. As soon as one entered, a huge 'screen' stood in the center of the hall, much like an Earth LCD screen, displaying many lines of text. This was an Illusion Light-type magic tool crafted from special materials.
Around the perimeter of the hall was a circle of counters, set up as service points where detailed quest information could be queried. Additionally, there were dedicated quest delivery points where one could exchange quest items for the corresponding rewards.
...
Lin Feng strolled around the Quest Guild with keen interest. The scene couldn't help but remind him of online games back on Earth.
Watching the cultivators coming and going in the hall, Lin Feng couldn't help but sigh that even this small Bluecloud City had quite a few powerful cultivators (compared to himself, at least). The cultivators here were generally more formidable than those seen in the free market, almost all at the mid-Qi Refining stage or above, with quite a few who appeared to be Foundation Building cultivators.
After observing for a while, Lin Feng chose a less crowded service point and walked over. He asked the delicate-looking girl behind the counter, "Excuse me, I'd like to purchase two first-grade fire-attribute demon cores. Does the guild have any?"
"Purchase demon cores?" The girl was slightly taken aback, then apologized, "I'm sorry, a batch of materials was just collectively shipped out from the guild yesterday. There are no first-grade fire-attribute demon cores for sale right now. If you want them, you can come back in a few days, or you can directly commission a quest. If someone accepts it, you should be able to get them quite quickly."
"None?" Lin Feng frowned, pondered for a moment, and was just about to say, "Then please help me commission a quest," when a voice abruptly sounded beside his ear...
"Friend here, you want fire-attribute demon cores?"
Lin Feng, startled, turned his head to see a handsome youth about his own age standing nearby, looking at him with a smile. Lin Feng asked doubtfully, "That's right. Do you have some?"
The handsome youth smiled, "I don't have any right now... but we happen to have just accepted a quest to hunt Fire-tailed Scorpions and are recruiting teammates. If you're interested, you can come out of the city with us to hunt them, and then you can get the demon cores. How about it, interested?"
"Go out of the city to hunt demon beasts together?"
Lin Feng's eyes lit up slightly, tempted. He scrutinized the youth carefully. The other wore luxurious brocade robes, clearly a wealthy young master. He was tall and straight with long flowing hair and a handsome face—in Earth terms, he was the typical 'rich second generation' and 'tall, rich, and handsome'.
Moreover, Lin Feng faintly sensed a trace of pressure emanating from the other, indicating his cultivation level should be considerably higher than Lin Feng's.
Forming a team to venture out and complete quests was the most common and safest approach. Lin Feng was also very curious about the world outside the city and had originally planned to find an opportunity to go see it. So, after only brief consideration, he nodded and said, "Alright then, I'm willing to join your team. Where are the others?"
"Right over there." The handsome youth pointed towards three young men and women conversing not far away and smiled. "Let's go over now. I'll introduce them to you."
"Okay." Lin Feng nodded, smiling as he extended his right hand towards the youth. "My name is Lin Feng. Pleased to meet you."
The youth was slightly taken aback, looking somewhat puzzled at Lin Feng's outstretched hand. Then, understanding dawned, and he also extended his hand, smiling, "I'm Zheng Kai. Pleased to meet you."
Their hands clasped, and thus, they became acquainted.
...
Lin Feng followed Zheng Kai over to the two men and one woman. After brief introductions, he learned that the steady-looking youth with a long spear strapped to his back was named Duanmu Rui. The short-haired woman beside him holding a long sword was named Qin Ye. The two were probably a Daoist couple. The other youth, with a sharp chin and a long saber hanging at his waist, was named Lu Cheng.
After the simple introductions, the group left the guild, exited through the North Gate, and headed out of the city.
It was still morning. Their destination was the 'Seven Peaks Forest', about a hundred li outside the city. The walk there itself would take some time, which was perfect for everyone to get to know each other better on the way.
To coordinate better, everyone also disclosed their cultivation levels. Lin Feng then learned that Zheng Kai was actually two years younger than him, yet his cultivation was already at the Great Perfection of Qi Refining. In Bluecloud City, he should be considered quite talented. As for the others: Duanmu Rui was at the eighth layer of Qi Refining, Qin Ye at the seventh layer, and Lu Cheng, like Lin Feng, was also at the sixth layer.
Three late-stage Qi Refining and two mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators—such a team could be considered somewhat powerful. At least in the outer regions of the Seven Peaks Forest, they shouldn't face much danger. Dealing with a single late-stage first-grade demon beast wouldn't be a problem, and even encountering two or three should be manageable.
"What?! Zheng Kai, you're the Young Master of the Zheng Family?!"
During the journey, Lin Feng overheard a conversation between Zheng Kai and Duanmu Rui, who seemed to have known each other for some time. Only then did he realize that Zheng Kai was actually the eldest young master of the Zheng Family, one of the two great families in Bluecloud City. He couldn't help but be quite surprised.
Zheng Kai gave a faint smile and nodded, "Heh, what Young Master? Brother Lin, don't mock me. In the eyes of true powerhouses, even my Zheng Family is nothing more than a 'local tyrant' from a small place, hardly worth mentioning."
Duanmu Rui laughed, "A'Kai, you're too modest. Your Zheng Family ancestor was a disciple of the ninth-tier sect, the Distant Immortals Sect! That's something even the Longbow Family in Bluecloud City can't match. If your ancestor ever returns one day, the Zheng Family would soar to the heavens!"
"What?! The Zheng Family ancestor was a disciple of the ninth-tier sect Distant Immortals Sect? That's incredible!" Lin Feng was immediately filled with curiosity and pressed, "Brother Zheng, is that true?"
It had to be known that among the Four Great Continents of the Mooncloud Continent, each continent had only one ninth-tier sect. The ninth-tier sect of the Eastern Dragon Continent was the Distant Immortals Sect—the absolute pinnacle existence in the entire cultivation world. Every disciple was a genius, and the number of powerhouses was countless. It was said the strongest person in the entire Eastern Dragon Continent, the one with the greatest hope of ascension, was an Ancestor of the Distant Immortals Sect.
In the cultivation world, sects were ranked from one to nine tiers. The criterion was the realm of the strongest cultivator within the sect. For example, a fourth-tier sect had a Nascent Soul stage cultivator as its strongest. If a Soul Transformation stage powerhouse appeared, it could be promoted to fifth-tier, and so on.
Of course, although divided into nine tiers, the lowest actual sects were third-tier, meaning sects with Golden Core stage cultivators presiding. Because only at the Golden Core stage did one truly possess the qualification to establish a sect. How could Foundation Building or Qi Refining cultivators have the ability to form a sect? At best, a gathering of cultivators could only be called a 'gang'.
For instance, the sect that Bluecloud City nominally attached itself to was the only fourth-tier sect in the area, the 'Green Spring Sect'. The Green Spring Sect recruited disciples in Bluecloud City once every twenty years. Whenever that time came, it was the most exciting period for the city's cultivators. Being chosen by the Green Spring Sect meant development opportunities several times better, or even more, than staying in the city.
Lin Feng vaguely remembered witnessing the grand occasion of the Green Spring Sect's disciple recruitment when he was seven years old. The city's excitement at that time surpassed even the liveliness of New Year celebrations.
Seeing Lin Feng's look of astonishment, Zheng Kai smiled and said, "Hmm, it's true that two hundred years ago, an ancestor of my Zheng Family was recognized by a wandering senior from the Distant Immortals Sect who happened to pass by here. He was taken away from Bluecloud and joined the Distant Immortals Sect. However, there's been no news of him since then... no one knows if that ancestor is still around..."
At this point, Zheng Kai sighed inwardly. The Zheng Family had always been hoping for that ancestor's return to bless future generations. But after waiting for two hundred years with no result, the family had almost given up. After all, the cultivation world was fraught with countless dangers; even disciples of the ninth-tier Distant Immortals Sect perished during training...
Lin Feng also felt that the Zheng Family ancestor not returning for over two hundred years likely meant he had truly fallen. So he didn't pursue the topic further and changed the subject, "Brother Zheng, why is the Young