1913 Dull Days

Kang Reiyun was a thin man with no hair or beard, seemingly in his late 30s. He had been on an escort mission with a couple of elders where he had to go with them to another city to purchase in bulk some poisons.

The mission had come at the perfect time when he had all but confirmed that his poison plants were going to die. He was bound to be punished for it, but if he could get some other disciple to take some of the blame, he could get away with it.

There were always some newcomers who fell for it, so he had hoped one would do the same right now.

As soon as he entered the sect, his nameplate buzzed with some information. His mission had been accepted, and he needed to confirm whether or not the job had been done in a satisfactory manner.

'Some idiot actually took this job?' he was a little surprised, but he didn't show much of that emotion on the outside.

Now, it was time for him to go back to his courtyard, check the status of the plants, and complain to the sect that the caretaker who had taken up the mission had failed to do the duties.

His nameplate mentioned that there was someone in his home, so he quickly went inside and arrived at the garden. As he went in, Alex was on his way out.

Alex stopped by the door when he saw the man walk in.

"Greetings, Are you senior Kang?" Alex asked.

"Yes… I am," the man said. His eyes were on Alex, but his senses were somewhere else. He stared at his poison garden, at the vibrant leaves and the budding flowers.

The Dark Poison moss no longer seemed so dull. The Striped Dogbane appeared to be full of life. The Red Climbing Ivy was strong and had grown even further.

All of the plants that he had left on death's door were back to being vigorous with life.

"Senior, if you wouldn't mind, can you mark the mission as complete? I am done here," Alex said.

"Wait! This isn't my garden, is it?" Kang Reiyun asked.

"Not… your garden? I don't know what you mean, senior," Alex said.

"These plants. They should have been dead. Did you steal these plants? Grow some new ones? What did you do?" the man asked.

"I just took care of them as I was asked in the mission," Alex said.

"How?" the man asked. "They should have been dead."

"They weren't dead," Alex said. "Merely dying. As long as they were alive, they could be reared back to health."

"And you did that?" the man asked.

"Yes, senior," Alex answered.

"How?" the man asked.

"Oh, I'm used to taking care of plants," Alex answered. "I'm an alchemist, so sometimes I have to grow my own ingredients. I know a few things about plants as such."

The man did not seem to care about Alex's explanation beyond the fact that it made sense to him. "What's your name? You should be new here, right?"

"Dawnblade," Alex answered. "And yes, I joined the sect a month ago."

Kang Reiyun waved his hands. "You can go now. I'll mark your mission as complete."

Alex smiled. "Thank you, senior," he bowed a little before walking out of the house and making his way toward the Mission Hall.

Alex didn't think much of his interaction with the man even after he got the contribution points. After getting the 20 points, he went on to get another mission.

This time, there was someone else who had put up 25 contribution points worth of mission to take care of another garden.

Alex wondered if he should skip this one.

"What happens if I take this mission and find that the plants are already dead?" he asked the elder in charge of the missions.

"If they are dead, you can skip the mission. But if they aren't dead, you'll have to complete it or face punishment for not completing the mission."

Alex was sure he could keep a plant alive as long as it wasn't dead, so he took the mission again.

Instead of going to check the mission, Alex wandered around the valley, searching for a location that sold formation plates. The items in these shops could only be purchased through contribution points, so now that he had some, he wanted to see if there was one he could buy.

The thing he wanted to purchase was a concealment formation plate. He simply did not trust his house to be secure from the prying eyes of the elders, so he more than wanted something to conceal himself.

There were still a few things he had yet to do that he hadn't done just yet because of the seeming lack of privacy.

Unfortunately for Alex, the type of formation he wanted cost him 360 contribution points for a mediocre one. It would take him over a year to gather that sort of contribution point.

'What about the plate itself?' Alex wondered. He could make the formation as long as he got a good metal plate.

That cost a little less at around 50 contribution points. 'So 3 months of work,' Alex thought. 'I can work with that.'

After that, Alex went on to go complete his new mission.

A few weeks passed by in a flash for Alex. He cultivated during the night for a while before going to complete his mission for the day. He wanted to cultivate for a long time, but his mission did not allow for it.

He wanted more than anything to cultivate for a few long days.

After about 3 weeks of work, Alex completed his other mission too. Even though it was supposed to be a month-long mission, by the time the owner came back, the plants were back to being healthy once more and didn't need him anymore.

The woman who had put up the mission was more than willing to accept a week less of work for what Alex had done.

Alex got the contribution points, now a total of 45, and went on to look for something quick and simple he could complete. He planned to take a longer rest after this one to cultivate.

The shortest one he could find was a maintenance request for some Outer Sect disciple at 10 contribution points. It was a week-long job at best, so Alex took it.

As he walked out of the Mission Hall, someone spoke to him from the distance.

"You right there, stop!"

Alex could feel the person's Intent on him and turned around to see who it was.

There was a group of around 5 people coming toward him, of whom Alex recognized Kang Reiyun. However, Kang Reiyun and 3 other cultivators stood behind the young man who had called out to Alex.

Alex looked at the man, a golden-haired youth with a handsome face and narrow eyes. He walked up to Alex, standing tall before him.

"Are you the one called Dawnblade?" he asked.

"I am indeed, senior," Alex said.

"You're the one who healed his garden?" the man asked, pointing to Kang Reiyun.

Alex nodded.

"Come with me. I need your help."