Small-tier missions offered merit rewards between one and ten. Medium-tier missions, on the other hand, granted merit anywhere from eleven to one hundred.
Fang Yuan had exchanged for the title of "Good Person," which allowed him to accept medium-tier missions.
Medium-tier missions were entirely at the Gu Immortal level. The Tiger King Salamander Fang Yuan had just dealt with was a Sixth Transformation wild beast, though in truth its combat strength had already reached the Seventh Transformation.
This level of difficulty was absolutely beyond what any mortal could endure.
High difficulty naturally meant high reward.
"So my merit reward this time is ninety..." Fang Yuan mused silently. "The reason it didn't reach the limit of one hundred is that I took the Tiger King Salamander's corpse. If I had left it there, the dao marks on the corpse would have dissipated, greatly elevating the surrounding environment's standard."
Fang Yuan had done this on purpose.
He was very curious about the cause of the Tiger King Salamander's rampage.
So he kept the corpse on his person, intending to conduct a thorough investigation.
In his previous life, Miao Mingshen and the others had encountered this situation many times. They had pooled their efforts to study it, yet never discovered the specific cause. This time, Fang Yuan wanted to try on his own.
The assembled immortals watched Fang Yuan, then glanced at the ranking stele, their expressions and mood equally dismal.
They had painstakingly completed mission after mission, each one granting no more than ten merit at most. Meanwhile, Fang Yuan had completed a single mission and earned ninety.
The comparison was enough to make one's blood boil.
Small-tier missions were simple, sure, but they wasted time. The efficiency of earning merit through medium-tier missions was far superior.
Watching Fang Yuan approach the Merit Stele, the Gu Immortals present felt varying degrees of envy, excitement, or even a touch of despair.
At Fang Yuan's pace, it was as though he were striding forward while they crawled like snails. How could they ever catch up? They would only fall further and further behind!
Flower Butterfly Fairy glanced at Miao Mingshen, wanting to approach Fang Yuan and ask him directly, but Miao Mingshen gave her a slight shake of his head.
Shen Congsheng glanced sidelong at Shen Xiao.
Shen Xiao had no choice but to force a smile and walk toward Fang Yuan.
"Brother Chu," he clasped his fists, his tone exceedingly sincere, his attitude impeccable. "Name your price. As long as it's within my ability, I will do everything in my power to satisfy you."
Fang Yuan smiled knowingly. "You want to know how I earned such a large sum of merit?"
"Exactly." Shen Xiao clasped his fists again. "Please, Brother, do not be stingy with your guidance. Just name your terms — with the full resources of my Shen Clan, I guarantee you won't be disappointed. Moreover, what you'll gain isn't just my friendship, but the friendship of the entire Shen Clan as well!"
The Shen Clan had previously tried to pressure Fang Yuan, only for him to refuse and respond with an overbearing, defiant attitude. This time, Shen Xiao had changed his approach, offering generous inducements — a tactic that could hardly be called unwise.
Fang Yuan chuckled. "Sure. How about your Shen Clan's true inheritance as payment?"
Shen Congsheng's eyes lit up. He hadn't expected Fang Yuan to actually agree. He couldn't help but speak up: "What kind of true inheritance are you looking for?"
"Dealer's choice. Or if you'd rather not part with one, handing over an Immortal Gu would be fine too," Fang Yuan said carelessly.
Shen Congsheng's mouth twitched. Give you an Immortal Gu? You've got some nerve!
After a moment's deliberation, he produced a mortal Gu worm of the Information Path and tossed it over.
Fang Yuan caught it and swept it with his spiritual sense. Inside was a Transformation Path Gu Immortal true inheritance — naturally incomplete, with deliberate gaps left to create suspense. The truly valuable content still resided with Shen Congsheng.
Fang Yuan curled his lip and tossed the Information Path Gu worm back to Shen Congsheng. "Try another one."
Shen Congsheng took the Gu worm, wiped its contents clean, and infused a new batch. Again, naturally, it was incomplete.
Fang Yuan received it, glanced it over, and nodded — but once more tossed the Gu worm back to Shen Congsheng. "Another one."
Shen Congsheng caught the Gu worm and looked at Fang Yuan, his voice low: "Chu Ying, you inspect one left and right — you certainly know how to drive a hard bargain."
Fang Yuan's expression turned serious. "Rest assured, when I, Chu Ying, act, I adhere to my principles and do not consider myself a petty man. The ones who truly take others for fools are the greatest fools of all. How about this — give me a Sound of Waves Continues, and I'll tell you the reason my merit income skyrocketed."
"Fine. I'll trust you this once." Without hesitation, Shen Congsheng produced a conch shell from his immortal aperture and tossed it to Fang Yuan.
The conch was palm-sized and was itself a wild beast.
Inside the conch was stored a wave of sound — a Seventh Transformation Sound Path immortal material, a specialty of the Shen Clan, capable of echoing ceaselessly year after year without ever fading.
Fang Yuan inspected it, found no suspicious tampering, and tucked the immortal material into his Supreme Immortal Aperture.
He looked at Shen Congsheng and let out a soft laugh. "Then I'll tell you this secret. But would you prefer I tell you alone, or announce it to everyone?"
Now it was Shen Congsheng's turn to wear a grave expression.
But after only a brief hesitation, he smiled. "What is there to hide? Go ahead and say it directly."
A veteran who had guided the Shen Clan for many years indeed.
These words even earned Shen Congsheng a measure of goodwill from the Gu Immortals on Miao Mingshen's side.
Miao Mingshen scoffed inwardly: This place doesn't allow the binding of covenants, so Shen Congsheng has no way to constrain Chu Ying. Chu Ying is driving a wedge between us! If he can tell Shen Congsheng alone, he can just as easily tell someone else in the future. Shen Congsheng has seen through this — even if unwilling, he had no choice but to opt for a public announcement.
"Very well, Lord Shen Congsheng's magnanimity is truly admirable." Fang Yuan turned and pressed his palm flat against the stele's surface.
The text on the stele pertaining to the mission began to sink and vanish, then re-emerged once more.