Chapter 7: Demon Pond Forest (3)

Ja Sun looked at the pitch-black crystal in his palm. The crystal had a rugged appearance and was the size of an index finger. To the naked eye, the crystal felt completely ordinary, something that could be purchased from a stall casually. But right now, he had a strange expression.

30 days were up.

He was still in his makeshift shed.

This was the last reward of the mission— Devil's Blood Crystal.

But there was a question in Ja Sun's mind.

Why?

"Hrrr..." The Lone Bone lied on the ground with a defeated expression and medical sap over its surface. Even though Ja Sun had yet to reach the second stage of Gentle Palm Technique, he could defeat Lone Bone easily. Even now, his breathing was rhythmic. Every time he inhaled, he would absorb a wisp of spirit energy and subconsciously refine it, increasing the quality of his spirit energy. Even at the same level, Ja Sun felt that his spirit energy should be greater than ordinary individuals.

He was extremely close to mastering the Concentric Spirit Technique and the technique would only dissolve if Ja Sun is attacked suddenly or his mind is instantly tranced by something. In due time, the breathing pattern would simply become a part of his being.

But right now, instead of joy for completing his mission, Ja Sun fell into a ponderous state.

'The rank of the mission is primarily divided by the difficulty of the mission. Very rarely, in exceptional cases, the rank of the mission will surpass its difficulty. This happened only twice to me in my previous life. In fact, killing teach's daughter was around the difficulty of D-rank but the mission's rank was S-rank and it gifted me that reincarnation technique.

So, I think that these rare cases are affected by the subsequent consequences that bring drastic change to my surroundings. Killing the President of the Federation, despite the ease, qualifies to be an S-rank mission in this manner.

This situation wouldn't apply to my current mission. Instead, all I had to do was stay in the periphery of the 25-kilometer radius and that's it. There were no difficulties in surviving the outskirts of the Demon Pond Forest. This means that the potential danger which matches the true rank of the mission is based on me. If there are no imminent external threats then clearly, the mission trait considered internal threats and the greatest threat to me is...'

As he thought till here, something clicked in Ja Sun's mind and he looked at the back of his right palm.

Evil Title!

"Set Mission."

[Set Parameters.]

"Survive in the Demon Pond Forest for a year."

[Objective: Survive within the 25-kilometer radius of the core pond inside the Demon Pond Forest.

Mission Rank: A

Rewards: Guide to Immortal Herbs

Time Limit: 365 days]

Ja Sun looked at the mission with a deviant smirk. Of course, he declined it. But he understood that his Martial Soul— Evil Title— was a blessing in disguise.

It is considered as a threat by his trait and he could use this as a bug to exploit this world!

'Still, it's time for me to leave this forest,' Ja Sun sighed softly and glanced towards the defeated Lone Bone.

Not minding its presence, Ja Sun began packing up. He took off the ragged cloak and dusted it off. He threw away his old boots. There was no point in carrying it anymore. Then, he strapped the bundle of books to his back and wore his cloak to cover his face and body.

This past month has been the freshest period of Ja Sun's life. Bathing every day... is almost a luxury to him but now, he needed to move on.

*Hoo Hoo*

Lone Bone began hooting as if calling for him but Ja Sun silently stashed away the herbs and left the fruits as compensation for the Lone Bone's efforts.

Still, before leaving, he looked towards the constantly shouting monkey and smirked, "I don't know if you're gonna understand me. Well... I win, you suck! Ha!"

With that, Ja Sun left.

He came to this forest dirty and on weary boots.

He left this forest anew. Fresh, stronger, and with a sturdier pair of boots!

---

"Let's see... aside from Green Star Village, there are three more villages nearby. But most of them should be indirectly oppressed by the Green Star Village for their recent growth. Hmm, the closest one to the Green Star should be to the west of Demon Pond Forest.

But all of these villages are small by a large margin. There's no sense of personal space as back in the Green Star Village and there may be a chance that my identity will be discovered."

Ja Sun hummed while thinking. Not only that, if he wanted to stop running around, he would need to find a great support and thanks to Spirit Hall, not great power would actually support him.

While walking over the edge of the plain, following the patched, muddy road, Ja Sun witnessed something interesting. The carriage far away from him looked extremely small. The area Ja Sun was in was quite plain so there was no place to hide but from the distance, he saw a bunch of covered figures suddenly jumped out from the large rocks and a small thicket surrounding that particular section of the road.

Bandits!

Ja Sun had a few close counters with such beings. Most bandits are ordinary individuals. But rarely, a group of bandit is controlled by a spirit master, and most of the time, the said spirit master has a martial soul that can cause deviant tendencies. In other words, evil cultivators. But what Ja Sun was interested in was the capabilities of the bandit group. How they functioned? Did they threaten others? And if they did, what was the result?

Ja Sun had never acted as a bandit before. He had stolen, yes, but he had never robbed.

He stopped in his tracks and observed from the distance.

The driver of the carriage was pulled down while the group of four bandits seemed to be aiming their weapons towards the entrance of the carriage.

*Bang*

Suddenly, a figure shifted out of the entrance of the carriage. A beautiful yellow halo moved around him and even from a distance, Ja Sun could see that the ring was mystical.

A spirit ring and from the color of it, a hundred-year-old spirit ring!

What excited Ja Sun further was that the bandits instantly escaped after seeing the ring. This only meant that they were ordinary men.

The spirit master, however, wasn't content with just scaring them. Since the bandits escaped in different directions, the spirit master chased towards the bandit that was running towards him.

'Well, that's rather boring but I also don't know if there's another spirit master in the carriage soo...' Ja Sun already understood a few circumstances and instantly made a decision.

"Set Mission."

[Set Perimeters.]

"Stop the bandit from escaping further. Additional objectives:

1)Survive the attack of pursuing spirit master in case of aggression from the party."

[Objective: Stop the running bandit.

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Optional Objectives:

1) In case the pursuing party turns hostile, survive the encounter.

Mission Rank: F-E

Rewards: Plate of Spicy Tofu—Plate of Ginger Chicken Wings.

Time Limit: 30 minutes.]

'Ah... it's like that,' Ja Sun suddenly chuckled. There were two entities he would trust with his life— his trait, and his enemies.

Since his trait thinks that surviving would be quite easy instead of escaping, then Ja Sun was sure that even if there are other opponents inside the carriage, they would be lacking.

Declining the mission after learning the information he needed, Ja Sun began jogging towards the Bandit's direction.

"Brother! This bandit is a scourge! Please, stop him!" The pursuing spirit master had a small knife in his hand which was covered in flames. Meanwhile, his entire body seemed to be covered in some form of red mist.

On the other hand, Bandit was quite a runner. Spirit Masters are still, for the most part, 'normal' at the beginning of their cultivation.

The fact that relieved Ja Sun the most was that the spirit master was middle-aged which indicated his lack of talent.

"Set Mission."

Ja Sun whispered while jogging towards the running duo.

[Set Perimeters.]

"Rob the Carriage. Additional objectives: Rob the members of the carriage except for their inner garments."

[Objective: Rob the Carriage to Green Star Village.

Optional Objectives:

1)Rob the members of the carriage except for their inner garments.

Mission Rank: E-E

Rewards: Blue-silver Enchanting Robes—Scarlet Necklace.

Time Limit: 1 hour.]

"Get the fuck away!" The man covered in dark robes and a lowered hood growled. He gripped a wooden blackjack and raised his hand slightly to intimidate Ja Sun.

"How dare you rob so openly?!" Ja Sun growled and increased his pace, "Do you think there's no justice?!"

With that, his steps turned overbearing and his speed increased momentarily. Dodging the blackjack, Ja Sun accurately struck the nape of the Bandit's neck and caused him to fall unconscious with a grunt.

*Thud*

Seeing the bandit solved so easily, the man sighed in relief. But he still kept his martial spirit activated. However, the blue knife wasn't covered in flames and the red mist around the man receded.

"Thank you, brother," the man clasped his hand and nodded, "This group of four bandits call themselves Bronze Jacks but they only know how to bully the weak. Today, you have greatly helped the surrounding villages by taking care of one of the four. Once I take this guy back to the Village, we'll find their hideout."

'Bullying the weak? Says the man with a spirit ring chasing down a man holding a blackjack,' Ja Sun noted the irony. He loved these moments.

Seeing Ja Sun nod faintly and observing the rather youthful set of eyes behind the cloak, the man felt that Ja Sun is some sort of young genius trying to gain experience.

After all, the moment Ja Sun used Storm Steps, even the man found Ja Sun's speed astonishing.

At this point, the glimmering yellow ring around the spirit master's body disappeared and the knife in his hand actually shrunk back into his palm and disappeared!

"I don't know who these bandits are. I don't know you, either. I just wished these bandits justice. I'll take my leave now," saying that, he began walking towards the man with the intention of walking past him.

"Brother, I'm hired by the chief of Green Star Village. He will reward you for your assistance. Although it wouldn't be much for spirit masters like us, I'm willing to share—"

"That's a kind offer," A cold whisper blew near the ear of the spirit master. Ja Sun in front of him had vanished and instantly, the spirit master's gaze turned dark.

Not even sparing the spirit master a glance, Ja Sun shot towards the carriage with utmost speed, and seeing the terrified expression on the driver's face, Ja Sun felt an extraordinary amount of glee!

He loved bullying.

Strong or weak didn't matter to him!

He passed the driver but not before making him unconscious. Ja Sun's mind was already filled with various weak points of a human and even if this was a different world, certain similarities do exist. For instance, a blow to the chin would effectively immobilize a target.

The carriage was led by a grey-furred ox. The beast couldn't cultivate since Ja Sun sensed nothing from it. Instead, he dragged the driver to the back of the carriage. The entrance of the carriage was still covered with a thick curtain.

"Heave— Ho!"

Picking up the driver by clenching his robes, Ja Sun barely threw the suspended driver into the entrance of the carriage.

The curtain moved due to the force, letting Ja Sun see that the Carriage was without any other passenger.

'Ah, so this carriage was a bait for the bandits.'

Thinking till here, Ja Sun returned to the spot where the spirit master and the bandit were rendered unconscious and dragged them back to the carriage. Unlike the unfortunate driver, Ja Sun set the two next to the front wheel of the cart.

After searching the entire cart, the valuable materials were actually the large piece of cloth that covered the passenger side of the carriage. It could be fashioned as a tent. Next, the Spirit Master himself didn't have any valuables on him except for the pouch of coin. The driver, too, had a pouch of coin belted to his waist.

Once Ja Sun stripped the driver and the spirit master, leaving them in their underwear, he looked towards the bandit and hesitated for a moment.

Then, determination flickered in his eyes.

'If I'm gonna do it, I'll do it right!'

Ja Sun stripped the bandit and left him next to the unconscious duo.

"Now, we take you away!" Ja Sun smirked and sat on the front seat of the carriage. Holding the leash around the ox, Ja Sun shook it as the Ox grunted crudely.

This entire time, the ox didn't panic or move at all. Clearly, the beast was thoroughly domesticated for transportation purposes.

Once he was far away, the mission was deemed completed and the rewards were clearly not something he expected.

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