Chapter 61: Chapter 61: Outer Sect Cave Mansion

Inside the Merit Pavilion Hall, there were three floors on each side, with many rooms on every floor.

Outer Disciples, and even Inner Sect Disciples, were on duty inside the rooms. As long as one completed a sect mission, they could go to these rooms to have it verified, exchange it for merit points, and then redeem various necessary items.

These disciples on duty were responsible for contacting the Elders who issued the missions. They also coordinated with the Elder overseeing the Merit Pavilion’s Treasure Vault to retrieve various items from it at any time.

Of course, being on duty at the Merit Pavilion was also a popular mission!

Many disciples used this opportunity to become familiar faces to the Elders, and occasionally, they could even obtain significant opportunities.

Therefore, whenever a mission to stand guard at the Merit Pavilion was posted, it would inevitably be snatched up instantly.

Fang Cheng looked around and accepted a wine-brewing mission.

He beckoned with his hand, and a leaf from the vine ball floated down, slowly landing in his palm.

He channeled his Magical Power into the vine leaf.

A light flickered on the vine leaf, and new text appeared.

It was a wine recipe!

The so-called mission was to follow this recipe and brew one thousand catties of Spirit Wine.

Upon completion, he would receive three hundred merit points.

’One catty of Tier One Upper Grade Spirit Wine is worth anywhere from one to five Spirit Stones... A thousand catties of Spirit Wine would be worth five thousand Spirit Stones at most. Most of the time, you could get it for a thousand Spirit Stones... Let’s take the middle value and calculate it as Three Thousand Spirit Stones!’

’Three hundred merit points for Three Thousand Spirit Stones... I’ve heard that merit points are worth about ten times as much as Lower-Grade Spirit Stones. It’s true!’ Fang Cheng mused to himself.

However, things that could be redeemed with merit points could not necessarily be bought with Spirit Stones.

But anything that could be bought with Spirit Stones could definitely be redeemed with merit points!

This was the true foundation of all the great sects in the world.

The art of brewing Spirit Wine was quite niche. Even if some Loose Cultivators knew how to brew it, they would only stick to the recipes they had mastered.

Switching recipes randomly was not only a waste of time that could be spent earning Spirit Stones, but it also came with a high chance of failure. The potential losses outweighed the gains.

Unless the recipe had immense "commercial value."

It seemed that this recipe was likely posted by some Elder who had a craving for wine and wanted to try something new and exotic.

Fang Cheng’s reason for accepting the mission was simple: he planned to exchange merit points for Dao Pattern Spirit Jade in the future!

Even if he couldn’t get Dao Pattern Spirit Jade, merit points were no less useful than Spirit Stones.

The Merit Pavilion was bustling with Yinluo Sect disciples in their sect robes coming and going. Fang Cheng stood in the crowd, completely inconspicuous. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

All the disciples were hurrying along; few were as leisurely and curious as he was.

Fang Cheng left the Merit Pavilion and activated his Identity Token, causing a map to appear on it.

He followed the map’s directions and arrived in the sky above a small island at the edge of the Dragon Spine Archipelago.

The Cave Mansion assigned to him by the sect was on this island.

The island was over ten li in circumference, with a small, lushly vegetated mountain in the center, surrounded by sandy beaches. The scenery was quite nice.

He landed his Escape Light in a forest on the southern side of the mountain. Amidst several huge boulders, an ancient stone gate came into view.

A faint spiritual light enveloped the stone gate, forming a restrictive barrier that sealed it from the outside world.

Fang Cheng activated his Identity Token, and the barrier on the gate silently opened.

With a hint of curiosity, he pushed open the stone gate and walked inside.

The Cave Mansion was cold and clean, yet completely empty. It wasn’t very large; besides the central hall, there were six other stone chambers.

Any furnishings for the Cave Mansion had to be procured by the Outer Disciple themselves.

The Spiritual Qi inside the Cave Mansion was quite dense, several times stronger than in the small courtyard in Spirit Wind Alley in the marketplace, but it couldn’t compare to the Jade Tower given to him by the Ye Family on Cangwu Mountain.

Most disciples from prominent families would probably look down on this kind of Cave Mansion.

Fang Cheng walked a lap around the Cave Mansion and ended up simply digging out all six stone chambers another three zhang deeper, setting up restrictive barriers, and turning them all into Gu Pits.

He hadn’t refined Gu in a long time. The situation on Cangwu Mountain hadn’t been suitable, but this sect-assigned Cave Mansion was perfect!

Of the six Gu Pits, Fang Cheng planned to raise Vajra Gu in three and Wine Gu in the other three. They didn’t need daily maintenance; he just had to check on them every so often.

For this purpose, he made another trip to the Yinluo Sect Marketplace. He bought a large quantity of Gu-refining materials and also purchased all the necessary ingredients for wine-brewing according to the recipe.

...

Fang Cheng stayed in his Cave Mansion for several days, finally getting the Gu Pits and the Spirit Wine brewing set up properly.

This time, to cultivate the Vajra Gu, he started them off with the Demon Beast Flesh and Blood of Tier One Late Stage Demon Beasts!

He could afford to be so extravagant only because he wasn’t short on Spirit Stones right now.

This way, many of the Gu Insects in the three Vajra Gu pits were bound to mature, with the potential to advance to Tier One Late Stage in the future!

One day, the Identity Token hanging from his waist suddenly emitted a crisp chime.

Fang Cheng looked down and saw that the restrictive barrier outside his Cave Mansion had been triggered, and his Identity Token was sending him a notification.

’I’ve been living in seclusion these past few days. How could someone find me here?’ he wondered, his brow furrowing slightly.

Then, a pleasant voice came from outside the Cave Mansion:

"Is Fellow Daoist Fang present? This is Chen Yu Yan. I have come to see you about a matter."

Hearing this voice, Fang Cheng’s expression shifted slightly. He then closed off the six secret chambers, waved his hand to deactivate the barrier on the door, and walked out of the Cave Mansion.

He saw a tall, slender Female Cultivator with a delicate, cold-yet-stunning face standing under a tree outside the gate.

She wore a long purple dress and had an elegant air about her. Her beautiful eyes shone like stars, and she was exceptionally beautiful.

It was none other than Chen Yu Yan.

Of the five people who had entered the Dragon Elephant Wanderer’s Abandoned Mansion to hunt for treasure, Yang Heng had left the Abyssal Marsh, and Wen Qianqian had gradually fallen behind the others.

Now, only Fang Cheng, Wang Xingzhi, and Chen Yu Yan were left, still walking forward on the path of the Dao.

Fang Cheng looked at Chen Yu Yan’s pretty face and smiled. "Fellow Daoist Chen, what wind blew you here?"

He usually didn’t interact much with her, and since Chen Yu Yan’s background was rather mysterious, the two had never grown close.

However, having gone through a life-and-death crisis together, there wasn’t a great sense of distance between them.

Chen Yu Yan gave a faint smile, a playful look appearing on her beautiful face as she said, "Fellow Daoist Fang, you’ve been living on Xiaocang Island for so long, I thought you weren’t coming over to this side."

Fang Cheng answered honestly, "I just came to take a look. I’ll be leaving in a few days."

Chen Yu Yan nodded lightly and said in a gentle voice, "Fellow Daoist Fang, did you know that among this batch of Outer Disciples, including you and me, only five of us came from the ranks of the Servant Disciples?"

"I’ve already met the other three. Since you happen to be here today, why don’t we all get together and get to know one another? In the future, we can watch out for each other, share information, and even tackle some sect missions together..."

The disciples from prominent families have their own circles.

The former Servant Disciples also have their own circle.

There was a saying from his past life that put it well: the world of cultivators isn’t just about fighting and killing; it’s about connections and favors.

Anyone who could stand out from the ranks of Servant Disciples must have some skill. There was no harm in getting to know them.

On the other hand, among those disciples from prominent families, there were quite a few "frauds" who had only passed the trials by relying on their family’s influence.