Chapter 45: An Angry Master Su
The sound of a pen 'skritching' across the paper in a hurry, was all that could be heard in Master Su's room.
Sitting at her desk writing, Master Su didn't look as tired as she felt; instead, she looked as beautiful as an ethereal and delicate as a fairy in her rich purple gown adorned with embroidered clouds.
Glancing at the pile of work stacked on her desk, Aura Su clenched her jaw, rolling her eyes in disdain.
With several of Drizzle Peak's masters off today, she was left to handle it all herself.
Master Su was well aware that the work was left to her on purpose. Did they really think she would surrender just because of the heavy workload? Never!
While Master Su was engrossed in the task at hand, Zen appeared in the doorway and saw the purple figure bent over the desk. He knocked on the door.
“Rap, rap, rap,”
the sound startled Master Su, and her head shot up. Zen's appearance was unexpected and she was caught off guard. Her face took on an unnatural hue briefly, and she quickly recovered and asked, “Hello Zen, what can I do for you?”
Stepping into the room, Zen replied, “Hello Master Su, I am here to claim some assignments.”
“Assignments?” asked Master Su as she blinked. She smiled as she looked up at him. “Actually, you don't need to be so eager. The outer disciples will soon be given some pills, and that should be plenty for you to use to refine yourself.”
Ordinarily, there was no rush for a new outer disciple recruit to do a task.
Since the outer disciples' strength was relatively low right now, even if they accepted a task, it would only be simple ones they would be able to manage.
Because the points for these simple tasks were relatively small, and the loss outweighed the rewards, it was better to train at Drizzle Peak.
Shaking his head in disagreement, Zen said, “I don't want pills, what I need are points.”
Since he had a body as strong as a mysterious weapon, Zen ignored the conventional pills. He knew the Cloud Sect was rich, after all, even the pills that the outer disciples received were much better quality than the ones other families had.
But, regardless of how good the pills were, they weren't better than the Magical Pill. When Zen was being beaten, it was as if he was taking a Magical Pill. So, naturally, he didn't need any pills.
“What's the rush to obtain points?” asked Master Su.
“I just need the points,” asserted Zen, thinking about how his need went far beyond 'a rush to get them, ' as Master Su said. He needed a million points!
Naturally acquiring that many points would take a reasonably long time, and at this stage, he was still working at getting his first hundred points. In his current situation, he lacked the resources and force to rescue Yan from Hell Mountain, but perhaps, he could visit her, right?
Seeing how stubborn Zen was, Master Su remained silent. Reaching out, she opened a pamphlet that was lying next to her and handed it to Zen. Then, in a crisp tone, she said, “This pamphlet contains the most elementary tasks, choose one of them.”
Examining the booklet closely, Zen discovered that the tasks were all handwritten.
“Serve the Li family in the Imperial Capital by taking care of the house. Three days, three points...”
“Serve as a bodyguard to help the Howe Escort Agency in transporting cargo. Seven days, seven points...”
“...”
Seeing the point amounts took Zen's breath away.
The rewards for each task was too small, and at one point a day, it would take well over three months to accumulate a hundred points to perform these tasks.
At this rate, it would take a million days for Zen to earn enough points to rescue his sister, Yan performing tasks like these.
“What? Not enough points being offered for you? At first, you might think that, but you get used to it after a while,” commented Master Su smiling brilliantly.
Although her smile appeared sweet, Zen saw the shrewd look of a businessman behind her eyes.
The fact of the matter was that the number of points wasn't too small, considering that three points could be converted to six cubic crystals, which was a tremendous sum of money to some families. What was more, since the Cloud Sect received a portion for expenses, they actually spent more money on these tasks.
“Are there any tasks that offer more points?” inquired Zen.
“Yes, there are. but unfortunately, you can't accept them,” remarked Master Su while waving her hand dismissively.
All Zen had on his mind was how many points there were. He didn't care whether or not he was able to accept them. Hurriedly, Zen asked, “How do you know that, if I haven't tried? Can I at least look at them?”
While the request was unorthodox and even unreasonable, Master Su produced a second pamphlet, placing it in front of him.
Not bothering to check out what each task was, Zen looked at the row of points, and saw that the first task offered two hundred points!
Glancing over to what was required, Zen's first reaction was shock.
“The assignment is to hunt a shadow beast, skin it, and bring back the whole hide intact”
In the eastern part of the Eastern Region, shadow beasts were a unique species that lived in the Shadow Forest. Since the species was less fertile, they were rare. But, the strength of a single beast was so fierce, that it was rumored if someone at the nature refining level hunted one of these creatures, they would find it almost impossible to make it back alive...
Skimming the next task, Zen saw the reward was two hundred points. This time the requirement was to track and apprehend an infamous prisoner who escaped many years ago.
The tasks in this pamphlet were beyond Zen's capabilities.
Even though it seemed senseless, Zen continued to scan the pages and came on another task.
There was no set amount for this task. Instead, it offered a range between a single point and many thousands of points.
Reading this task through carefully, Zen noted the mission was to resist an insect assault.
Insect attacks were a big problem plaguing the southern part of the empire.
From April to May every year, a massive influx of blade locusts carried devastating disasters to the south.
There was no such thing as simple where blade locusts were concerned. Unlike common insects, each blade locust was the size of a human adult.
In order to resist an invasion of blade locusts, the Empire dispatched large numbers of troops yearly to travel south and eliminate them.
But, the Empire's forces weren't enough, and many were sent south from the Cloud Sect too.
That was why the task was offered in the pamphlet.
“For killing twenty blade locusts, you receive a point. If you slay a blade locust leader, you will get another point...” Zen calculated the numbers in his head quickly. Shortly after that, he said, “Master Su, I'd like to accept the task of repelling an insect invasion!”
When Master Su heard Zen, she gave a subtle yet sly grin and blinked in an exaggerated manner while she asked, “You're wise to pick that task. It's the only task in that pamphlet you're able to handle, isn't it?”
Zen smiled but didn't deny it.
He couldn't afford to care about how he earned the points, Zen just needed to obtain them.
A moment ago, Master Su was still laughing, but as quickly, her face changed. “No, don't go!”
The smile on Zen's face was stiff as he asked, “Why not?”
“Do you believe it's easy to kill blade locusts? Some refiners who were half-step into the nature level accepted this task, but, only forty percent of them came back! Did you know that?” demanded Master Su as she stared deep into Zen's eyes. With the strength that Zen possessed, how would he kill blade locusts? He would die.
“I know!” replied Zen as he nodded firmly.
“Great,” said Master Su, as she nodded back. Satisfied, Master Su reached to take the book from Zen.
When Zen saw her reaching for it, he gripped the pamphlet. “That doesn't change the fact that I need to take this task.”
Suddenly, Master Su burst into laughter so hard, that tears rolled down her face and gracelessly, she chided, “You know squat! In any event, don't go!”
Furrowing his brows, Zen's eyes were dark and grave as he said in an earnest timbre, “Master Su, I know you're only thinking about my safety, but, I really need to earn points. So, I have no choice but to accept the task at hand, whether you want me to or not...”
Looking up into Zen's eyes, Aura Su saw how serious he was. Her beautiful eyes shone with intense color as well as skepticism. “Why are you so zealous to get points?”
Reluctant to tell her, Zen pursed his lips and shook his head. He stood as motionless as a wooden pestle. Even if she wouldn't assign him the task, Zen wasn't ready to leave.
“No? Then, you can't take on this task,” snapped Aura. This guy was as stubborn as a mule.
“But? Master Su, I must accept this assignment!” repeated Zen as the pitch of his voice rose in a panic-like sound.
Not wanting to argue with Zen, Master Su picked up her pen, bent her head back over the work littering her desk, and resumed working.
That only left Zen one option, and he would kill time waiting.
For the whole day, the two shared the space, but neither shared any more words.
Busy with her work, Master Su treated Zen as though he didn't exist.
Standing next to her, motionless, Zen resembled a statue.
This strange situation lasted through the day and into the evening. Finally, Master Su moved and gave Zen a sharp look.
In all honesty, when Master Su met Zen, she liked him very much.
Now though, she felt disgusted.
It was true that Zen's strength, the speed of his progress and his tenacity facing enemies were all outstanding traits.
It seemed to Master Su, that Zen wanted the task as soon as possible so he could train and prove himself faster.
This wasn't wrong, but Master Su thought Zen was too eager for instant gratification.
As Master Su prepared to leave for the day, she continued ignoring Zen and headed toward the door.
Just when she got to the door, Master Su spun around and flung a shiny token at Zen. “Go ahead, if you want to die! Nobody's standing in your way!”
Master Su was proud that she could spot talent by sight. She knew from the start that Zen's strength was much more than he had shown. Still, insect invasions were deadly. Among them, were not only normal blade locusts but, there were also much more powerful creatures, increasing the likelihood of Zen perishing from wounds.
If Master Su remained calm, she could talk Zen out of taking part in this task.
The problem was Zen was too eager for instant rewards and success which annoyed Master Su and she wasn't able to stay calm.
Throwing the token at Zen was just an act of emotion, and women were known to be emotionally driven creatures.
Immediately, Master Su regretted snapping at Zen. After all, he was the disciple she worked so hard to get into her Peak, and it was counterproductive to let him go off to die.
Turning her head with the intention of speaking to Zen, she saw Zen's beaming face, thrilled at the sight of the token, which sparked her temper once more and she shot Zen an angry look and disappeared through the courtyard.
Not being a fool, Zen knew very well he had made Master Su mad.
But, he couldn't be concerned about that right now. He needed to earn points so he could save his sister, Yan.