Jiang Chen browsed the tasks one by one. These supreme tasks were surprisingly numerous — well over a hundred in total, and some had been sitting around for over a thousand years.
Tasks with such lengthy histories had likely been forgotten by most people ages ago.
However, in the Merit Hall, every task that had been posted but never completed was recorded here, and every single one remained valid.
Valid at any time.
Forget a thousand years — even after ten thousand years, a task would still be as good as new.
Jiang Chen scrolled through the list once, then a second time.
After the first pass, a few tasks had caught his attention, but he needed to filter through them again, weighing the pros and cons, the severity and the stakes.
A short while later, Jiang Chen had his answer.
"This one. Supreme Task Number Seventy-Two." He pointed at the task number on the scroll and said firmly, "I'll take this one. Twelve hundred thousand contribution points."
Gu Yunjin was mildly surprised at how quickly Jiang Chen had made his choice.
Ziche Min leaned in as well, craning his neck toward the task scroll.
"Flames of Revenge!"
The name of this task was quite evocative. One look and you could feel the murderous intent, thick with the weight of grudges, vengeance, and tangled enmity.
Gu Yunjin was no stranger to this supreme task. The moment Jiang Chen cited the number, he already knew which one it was.
He looked at Jiang Chen with some astonishment. "Young friend Shao Yuan, this task hasn't been posted all that long — only sixty-three years. But the person involved at the time is no longer among the living."
"No longer among the living? Does that mean the task has already expired?"
"No, no, no — the task has not expired. It was formulated by the Sacred Land's senior leadership. To be honest, it was a humiliation for our Sacred Land. Brother Ziche should know about this."
Ziche Min's expression shifted, and a sharp gleam flashed in his eyes. He blurted, "Could it be — the grudge of Elder Zimu, from sixty or seventy years ago?"
"Yes, it's him." Gu Yunjin sighed. "Brother Ziche, you are now the foremost alchemy master of our Sacred Land, but sixty or seventy years ago, it was Elder Zimu who held that title — and he was the undisputed number one. Surely even you wouldn't deny that?"
At the mention of Elder Zimu's name, Ziche Min's expression turned solemn, almost reverent. It was clear that he held the man in the highest regard.
He let out a soft sigh and nodded. "Elder Zimu's attainment in the Dao of Alchemy surpassed my own. Even I received a great deal of his guidance back in those days. In terms of age, experience, seniority, and prestige, Elder Zimu was far beyond me. He spared no effort in nurturing me and supporting me, hoping to help me rise to the position of the Sacred Land's foremost alchemist. Speaking of Elder Zimu's noble character — it would take three days and three nights and still not be enough to tell it all."
Gu Yunjin's expression darkened as well. "It's a tragedy that such a towering pillar of alchemy should have fallen. The blow to our Sacred Land was devastating. Under Elder Zimu's stewardship, our Eternal Sacred Land's alchemy was finally showing signs of improvement. But just as that momentum was building, his fall brought everything crashing down again. The Sacred Land was furious over his death — which is why this task exists, why it's called 'Flames of Revenge.'"
The so-called Flames of Revenge was, plainly, about avenging Elder Zimu.
Through Gu Yunjin and Ziche Min's reminiscences, Jiang Chen came to understand the broad strokes of Elder Zimu's history, particularly as it related to this revenge mission.
It turned out that many years ago, Elder Zimu had been traveling the world when he received an invitation from the Myriad Gods Kingdom.
The Myriad Gods Kingdom was among the ten great divine kingdoms the one with the highest level of alchemy, its mastery far outstripping all the rest.
The Myriad Gods Kingdom frequently hosted grand alchemy conventions, and Elder Zimu had attended many such events.
Even Ziche Min had gone numerous times.
But on that particular occasion, Elder Zimu happened to cross paths with a young alchemy prodigy from the Myriad Gods Kingdom. The two clashed over a particular point of alchemical theory.
The young prodigy was brash and aggressive, bold from his youth, and publicly declared that he would settle the matter of their disagreement once and for all. Back and forth they went, their debate growing increasingly heated, and in the end — egged on by the crowd surrounding them — the two agreed to an alchemy duel.
In that duel, Elder Zimu's state of mind had been thrown off. What's more, the young genius was fighting on home soil, backed by the full support of the Myriad Gods Kingdom behind the scenes, which only fueled his arrogance. Riding that wave of momentum, he actually managed to edge out Elder Zimu by a narrow margin.
By rights, such sparring matches were meant to end with a polite exchange of knowledge, no hard feelings.
But after his victory, the young prodigy heaped further insults upon Elder Zimu, heaping sarcasm on top of mockery, arrogant and domineering to the last.
In the end, he backed Elder Zimu into a corner so thoroughly that the old man's dignity was utterly shattered.
After that duel, the young prodigy's reputation soared, while Elder Zimu became a humiliated stepping stone for his rise to glory — a source of unspeakable shame.
When Elder Zimu returned to the Eternal Sacred Land afterward, he was consumed by gloom. The memory of being humiliated by that young man gnawed at him from time to time, eventually forming a heart demon.