Chapter 225: Four Stars Assessment
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The status of an Executor of Huatian Palace was equivalent to that of a country’s special forces. Their ranks were very high. In comparison to military ranks, a Three stars Executor had the same power as a major general.
Of course, military ranks were all insignificant. They were just a façade, and there were a huge bunch of powerless generals in the country. However, Executors of Huatian Palace were generals with power. They had many special privileges in their hands, and to an Executor who often took action around the country, it was quite convenient.
If Mo Wen’s level as an Executor could be higher, there would naturally be many benefits for him. After all, a Two stars Executor in the context of Huatian Palace was not even good enough to be at the very bottom. He was completely a special case.
“Can you lend me some Contribution Credits?”
Mo Wen blinked, and his gaze sparkled as he looked at Mo Qingtian. He looked at him for so long that Mo Qingtian started to feel panicky inside.
He could even ask to borrow Contribution Credits!
“I can… lend you a few…” Mo Qingtian laughed loudly, and he looked at Mo Wen as if he were defending himself against a thief.
Mo Wen looked Mo Qingtian up and down and asked with interest, “How much do you have?”
“Don’t have any designs on me. Contribution Credits are not enough for anyone. At most, I can only lend you a few Contribution Credits for the assessment. As for the rest, don’t even think about it.”
Mo Qingtian’s mouth twitched a little. Why did Mo Wen seem as though as he were a wolf who was stalking his prey…?
Lending Mo Wen a few Contribution Credits for his assessment was still acceptable to him. However, if he wanted to continuously take up the Savages List missions and get Mo Qingtian to compensate the fines, even selling himself off would not be enough to pay it back!
“Petty!”
Mo Wen pursed his lips and spread his hands as he said, “Then lend me the Contribution Credits I need to take the Four stars assessment.”
“What? You want to take the Four stars assessment?” Mo Qingtian widened his eyes.
“That’s right.”
“With your skills?”
Mo Qingtian looked sidelong at Mo Wen. Mo Wen was not even of the Qi Nucleation realm. Yet, he was thinking of taking the Four stars assessment! He had to be dreaming!
Mo Qingtian rolled his eyes and said, “You should be more realistic. Don’t be so impractical. If you fail the assessment, the Contribution Credits will not be returned to you. Do you know how many Contribution Credits you need to take the Four stars assessment?”
The Contribution Credits required to take the Four stars assessment was basically equivalent to the remuneration from a the Four stars mission. He did not want to just let Mo Wen waste it all for nothing.
To an Executor of Huatian Palace, there was basically no difference between Contribution Credits and money from the outside world. They were both used in transactions and were not limited to the exchange system within Huatian Palace. They also used Contribution Credits for transactions between Executors.
Hence, Mo Qingtian could lend Mo Wen the Contribution Credits just like how one would lend money to another.
“Are you looking down on me?” Mo Wen let out a light humph. He took a step out and appeared before Mo Qingtian immediately.
In the next moment, a fist had already appeared in front of Mo Qingtian’s eyes as it flew at him, whistling with a scary force.
Eh!
Mo Qingtian let out a sound of surprise. He extended his slender palm to grab a hold of Mo Wen’s fist. That strong pressure suddenly diffused, and everything became calm. Only a fist was still in Mo Qingtian’s hand.
“The Cultivation of Inner Qi is at the peak of the Qi Nucleation realm!”
There was a stunned look in Mo Qingtian’s eyes. The moment Mo Wen had attacked, he had immediately tested the waters, and there was actually the Cultivation of Inner Qi at the peak of the Qi Nucleation realm! It was a whole realm of difference from what he had guessed beforehand.
What was going on? Could it be that there were errors in his previous information?
No matter how talented Mo Wen was, it wasn’t possible for him to skip so many levels within just a few days’ time.
Mo Wen shrugged his shoulders and retrieved his fist from Mo Qingtian’s grasp. Internally, he wondered why Mo Qingtian’s hand was as soft and smooth as a lady’s.
In their previous exchange, it had been clear that he had lost. Although he currently had a rather high Cultivation, in comparison to Mo Qingtian, who was a master with the Embryonic Breathing realm, there was still a significant gap in skills.
After all, the difference between the Qi Nucleation realm and the Embryonic Breathing realm was almost insurmountable. Realistically speaking, Mo Wen was only in the intermediate stage of the Qi Nucleation realm. When he became an ancient martial art practitioner with the peak of the Qi Nucleation realm, he would then perhaps be on more equal ground with an ancient martial art practitioner with the beginning stage of the Embryonic Breathing realm.
But at the moment, it was still too big of a gap.
Previously, Mo Qingtian had received his fist so casually, which emphasized this point.
However, Mo Wen did not feel discouraged. To date, he had only been training for less than half a year. With sufficient time, he would definitely be able to catch up to Mo Qingtian and even surpass him.
“I’m actually looking down on you.”
Mo Qingtian put his hands behind his back. His lips curled upwards. This Mo Wen seemed to give him a new surprise every time.
His background was definitely not simple. Otherwise, a normal youth would not possibly have such a profound Cultivation.
Even with Huatian Palace’s environment and resources, there were very few 17 or 18-year-olds who would be at the peak of the Qi Nucleation realm.
It was not impossible that he would be able to break through into the Embryonic Breathing realm, perhaps even before he was 20.
It had already been four to five years since a master of the Embryonic Breathing realm below 20 years of age had been produced. Beforehand, when Mo Qingtian had broken through into the Embryonic Breathing realm, he had already been 21. He had missed the cutoff of 20 years old by a little bit.
“Lend me the money for the assessment.”
Mo Wen understood the fact that in Huatian Palace, the higher his level, the more beneficial things would be for him. Thus, he did not want to drag things out any longer. If he could raise his level, why would he not want to be promoted? After all, the higher his level, the more benefits he would get.
“Let’s go,” Mo Qingtian said helplessly. Although both the Three stars assessment and Four stars assessment were similar, the payment of Contribution Credits required varied greatly.
The amount of Contribution Credits required for the Four stars assessment was basically ten times that needed for the Three stars assessment. It would be fine if Mo Wen was able to pass it in one attempt. However, if he failed, the Contribution Credits would have been wasted as if they had been thrown into a river.
The venue for the Huatian Palace Executor assessments was at the top of Jade Mountain, where the Mission Palace Hall was. However, it was at a very faraway mountain valley.
On Jade Mountain, there was a rather big mountain valley. Inside, the terrain was smooth, and it had a rather large area, almost large enough for a huge park to be built.
In the center of the mountain valley, there was a huge pagoda. It was at least 100 meters tall. From afar, it looked mighty and boundless.
There were nine floors in that huge pagoda. It had a regal construction, and on it there were scars from the winds and rain. It emanated a very experienced aura, clearly having gone through quite a bit of history.
Mo Qingtian pointed at the huge pagoda in the middle of the mountain valley as he explained to Mo Wen, “That is the place for the Huatian Palace Executors assessment. It is a huge pagoda with nine floors, and each floor is dedicated to a level of assessment. The first floor is for the Four stars assessment. Later on, you will be sent to the first floor for your assessment.”
There were no assessments that catered to Three stars and below in the headquarters of Huatian Palace. That was because the Executors who could come into contact with Huatian Palace were basically Three stars and above. Hence, the first level of assessments in the headquarters was for the Four stars Executors.
If Mo Wen were taking the Three stars assessment, he would have had to head to a sub-branch of Huatian Palace to take the assessment externally.
“Then which levels of assessments are the seventh, eighth and ninth floors for? Are there actually Twelve stars Executors in Huatian Palace?” Mo Wen asked curiously.
If the first floor was for the Four stars assessment, the sixth floor would be for the Nine stars assessment. Previously, Mo Qingtian had mentioned that Nine stars was already the highest level of an Executor in Huatian Palace.
“At Nine stars and above, they would no longer be considered Executors. You will know about that stuff in future.”
Mo Qingtian did not seem to have the intention of explaining any more to Mo Wen.
He led Mo Wen to the base of the huge pagoda. Looking at that huge pagoda, a person standing below was like an ant.
In reality, the base of the pagoda at the bottom was already dozens of meters tall. There were seemingly no stairs or such pathways in the surroundings. A normal person would definitely not be able to climb his way up.
Mo Qingtian walked up to the huge pagoda and extended his hand to place it on the stone wall, which was glowing white. In the next moment, a bright screen shot out.
Mo Wen looked at that screen curiously. On it, there was all kinds of information about Mo Qingtian. However, there were some things that he could see and others that he could not.
In the middle of that screen, the most eye-catching area had five and a half stars. That was Mo Qingtian’s level as an Executor. Other than that, there were also many other pieces of information about Mo Qingtian as an Executor that were displayed.
At the bottom right corner, there were a bunch of blue numbers. Mo Wen looked at it briefly, and there were at least six digits in it. The first number was a seven.
After Mo Qingtian had fiddled with it and swiped the screen, that bunch of numbers immediately dropped by 15,000.
“The Four stars assessment cost 15,000 Contribution Credits. Don’t forget to return it to me in future,” Mo Qingtian said, looking a little pained.
Externally in the sub-branches, the Three stars assessment would only cost 1,500 Contribution Credits. In the headquarters, the Four stars assessment was a whole ten times more expensive.
It was 15,000 Contribution Credits! How could his heart not feel pained from that!
“Can you not be so petty?”
Mo Wen pursed his lips. Mo Qingtian had collected six digits worth of Contribution Credits totaling over 700,000! Now, he was only reducing it by 15,000.
“If you’re so magnanimous, when you’ve earned your Contribution Credits in the future, remember to pay me more.”
Mo Qingtian rolled his eyes at Mo Wen. What attitude was that? It was as if 15,000 Contribution Credits was very little. If he were to take up a mission, he was afraid that even a month would not be sufficient to earn that much. A person who had never undertaken a mission would not know how hard it was to earn Contribution Credits.
“Go and prepare. The assessment will start in no time. You had better not fail the assessment. Otherwise, I will never lend you Contribution Credits ever again,” Mo Qingtian said with a solemn expression. It was a very common thing to fail the Executor assessment. It was not easy for anyone to pass the assessment. If one failed the first time, the next round of assessment would require a payment of another 15,000 Contribution Credits.
“Don’t worry.” Mo Wen shrugged his shoulders.
Just as he was talking, a bright white light suddenly shined down from the huge pagoda onto Mo Wen’s body.
In the next moment, Mo Wen’s body disappeared.
Mo Qingtian leaned on the huge pagoda’s white stone wall. He did not find Mo Wen’s sudden disappearance odd at all. He simply crossed his arms and waited silently for the results.
Mo Wen had only felt an odd suction force immediately pulling him along. There was a bright, blurry white light before his eyes, and he could not see anything. It was just like falling into a world that only had white light.
He did not know how much time had passed, but the white light before his eyes started to dissipate. His sight had also started to gradually become clearer. Meanwhile, the surrounding view was starting to return.
He had seemingly appeared in a cave abode. The area was very big. He did not know how big it was exactly, but he could not see the ends at a single glance.
In front of him, there was a stone staircase. It spiraled upwards and extended a very long distance, as if it led to the end of the cave abode.