Poison God's Heritage

I walked to the commission board and looked around. There were many missions to take and each gave a different amount of points.

This frankly reminded me of those 'guild' requests in fantasy world stories.

Especially with the condition under each and every request.

Some start with needing only the cultivation level of Soul Formation. And some rose all the way to needing to have an Ascendant level or having a different color of a badge or even a specific number of points in one's badge before they take the request.

From the looks of it, the badge I have, which is white, is the lowest level. And it changes the level like a rank-up, allowing me to take more difficult requests.

"I need to know how I can upgrade my badge's color," I sighed.

"You don't even know that?" some busybody laughed next to me.

"And I suppose you do?" I asked.

"It's common knowledge. You have to pay ten thousand Contribution Points to rank up silver. And a hundred thousand for gold, then a million points later for platinum. Most cultivators stay in the silver rank, and only those who overwork themselves to death can become gold rank. As for the Platinum rank, there are only three cultivators who have that badge." He said.

"Besides taking higher-level missions, what's the advantage of having a higher badge rank?" I asked.

"Resources. The Sect rewards merit and effort. The higher your badge, the more resources you're allowed to take from the sect. Basically, those who have a platinum rank can take whatever they need from the sect's treasury free of charge. As for the rest, you'll receive a discount based on your own badge rank."

"Platinum, huh," I said.

"Don't even dream about that, the three cultivators who have the platinum badge are the sect's Direct Disciples, and are the ones who'll be leading the sect in the future. Not to mention their combat prows and talent, they're unrivaled in the sect. Just the fact that they obtained a million contribution points should be enough for your to understand how much work they put into gaining such a position," the guy shrugged.

"Well, thank you for your time, I learned a lot," I said as I took one of the commissions on the wall.

"Hey, are you insane, I know you're new to the inner sect, but why are you taking a request like that?" the busybody said.

"What, it's just collecting some Poison Herbs, shouldn't be that difficult," I said.

"Did you not see the difficulty? Although all white badges can take it, this is the hardest of the White commissions! You'll have to venture into the Dark Heavenly Tiger's territory, no one comes back out alive once they're there! Take something else, start slow unless you want to die!" he said.

"Oh… this is in the territory of the Dark Heavenly Tiger…" I mumbled.

"Yes, it had killed many disciples, the only reason the Sect didn't act out and got revenge is that the Dark Heavenly Tiger's territory is closest to the sect, the tiger alone acts as a barricade against all the monsters and creatures inside the Demonic Forest. you'll be wasting your… what the hell are you doing!" he shouted.

In my hand were several more mission papers, and once the guy looked at the destination and location of these missions he facepalmed.

"You really don't fear death, do you, no matter I advised you the best I can, it's your life," he said shrugging.

"Thank you for worrying," I said and walked out towards the door.

I heard the same foot tapping on the floor. I didn't need to turn to know who that foot belonged to. But that also helped me realize something.

Many cultivators here had placed a marker on me. It was obvious from their ill will aimed at me. No, more like aimed at my badge.

Sixty thousand points, that's a huge chunk, enough for someone with decent enough achievements and enough points to climb all the way to the gold rank.

I stood at the door's entrance, smiled at the crowd, and pulled out two different pills from my holding bag.

The first I chugged down.

And the second I threw at the entrance.

A massive smoke screen came surging out from the spilled pill content. It spread in purple smoke covering a massive area.

"CATCH HIM! DON'T LET HIM ESCAPE!" someone shouted.

Several cultivators chased after me, moving through the smoke. That was their first mistake.

I had already retreated far enough to be at the entrance of the inner sect before the cultivators could even fully emerge from the Merit Hall.

And soon enough, those who were the fastest of the bunch arrived right next to me.

"You're not going anywhere, the moment you step-"

The young man's words suddenly became jumbled up, his eyes rolled and he fell on his ass.

I smiled as I ignored him and continued my walk down the stairs.

It didn't take long for me to arrive to the inner sect's exit.

Thankfully, as an Inner Sect member, I don't need to show any sort of reason or permission to leave the sect grounds. Since all Inner Sect members leave the sect for missions, my black inner sect robes were indicative enough of my status.

So I ran past the inner sect guards and rushed my way to the outer sect gate.

"You've grown," I heard.

Turning to the gate, the same man was sitting on the boulder at the sect's entrance.

"It was all thanks to the senior's guidance," I said clasping my hands.

"Go then, you have many trials up ahead of you child," he said and closed his eyes.

With the vast open space in front of me and many disciples who will soon be chasing after me, there was no reason for me to keep some of my cards hidden.

I pulled out my hoverboard and hopped on it.

The man at the gate's entrance opened one eye and looked at the hoverboard in interest, but soon closed his eye and went back to his cultivation.

I blasted the hoverboard's engines and shot forward to the forest.