Immortal Starry Sky-Chapter 144 - 140 Abandon

Time flashed by in the blink of an eye, and the designated day arrived.

"Junior Brother Wang Xu." Wang Xu was sitting cross-legged cultivating when suddenly the voice of Senior Brother Red Sword came from outside the palace mansion. Wang Xu immediately got up and walked out.

"Senior Brother Red Sword." Wang Xu saluted.

"Let’s go. Today is the day for the distribution of designated tasks." Senior Brother Red Sword said.

Immediately, the two of them soared into the air, flying towards the grandest main hall.

Along the way, many senior brothers who were wholeheartedly focused on their hard cultivation were also making their way towards the main hall.

The designated task, once a year, is a task that every disciple of the Heaven-Reaching Pavilion must complete. Of course, if it cannot be completed temporarily, it can be delayed for several years, only that if the time limit becomes too long, it will be immediately considered a task failure, and punishment will follow.

"Senior Brother Red Sword, what are the designated tasks approximately, and why couldn’t you complete them?" Wang Xu asked along the way.

Wang Xu was always worried about the distribution of the designated task, fearing that he might be assigned to some remote corner of the cosmos and have to stay there for decades or even hundreds of years, which would be terrible.

"There are many types of designated tasks, some are easy, others are difficult." Senior Brother Red Sword said.

"Easy tasks, at most, involve running around, delivering messages, transmitting passwords, or handing over certain items. Such tasks can be completed in ten days to half a month."

"The difficult ones involve finding a mineral, a treasure, or killing a heinous existence. The former requires a long time to search, the latter requires fierce fighting and dueling, and the difficulty is quite high. I failed because I was given a task to kill the ’Demon Overlord’." Senior Brother Red Sword shook his head and sighed, "It’s not that I couldn’t kill the Demon Overlord, it’s just that this guy’s body technique speed is extremely fast and he is adept at concealment. I pursued him for ten years, only a little away from killing him, but unfortunately, he ultimately escaped..."

"Helplessly, I had to accept the punishment."

Wang Xu nodded thoughtfully.

"Senior Brother Red Sword, are there even more difficult designated tasks?" Wang Xu asked curiously.

"Of course, but these tasks are only for powerful disciples. In Cyan Yang Hall, my strength is only considered mid-level, so such tasks are not my turn." Senior Brother Red Sword said.

"Do you know the specific content of these tasks, senior brother?" Wang Xu asked quickly.

Senior Brother Red Sword shook his head: "These tasks are given privately by the Hall Master to those powerful senior brothers, I don’t know them."

"However, I did hear that among these tasks, it might involve the ’Forbidden Area’." Senior Brother Red Sword said.

Wang Xu was greatly surprised, he didn’t know much about the cosmos, but he did know that there is a ’Forbidden Land’ in the universe.

Similar to Earth’s restricted areas, these Forbidden Lands contain terrifying dangers, where one might lose their life if not careful. Some Forbidden Lands are so perilous that even Celestial God Realm powerhouses dare not tread lightly.

Yet the Hall Master actually assigns brothers to enter the Forbidden Land, evidently, the Hall Master already believes they have the ability to protect themselves in the Forbidden Land.

The ability to venture into the Forbidden Land... how terrifying is such prowess?

But indeed, there is such a figure in the Cyan Yang Hall.

Upon entering Cyan Yang Hall, Wang Xu had heard of the strongest disciple in Cyan Yang Hall, "Wen Huo".

Wen Huo is the chief senior brother in Cyan Yang Hall and a Mixed Universe Realm Cosmic Martial Artist. Senior Brother Wen Huo is famous in the ranking of the Heaven-Reaching Tower. Although his rank is low, he is indeed a Cosmic strongman.

Wang Xu can imagine the Mixed Universe Realm strength of Senior Brother Wen Huo, able to slay even a Celestial God Realm opponent!

This is what marks the disciples of the Heaven-Reaching Pavilion, exceptional among exceptional.

However, there has been no news of Senior Brother Wen Huo for tens of thousands of years recently. There are many rumors, some say he accepted a task and went to the Forbidden Land, perishing there, others say Senior Brother Wen Huo is merely trapped in the Forbidden Land, his Life Talisman remaining unbroken, and even some say Senior Brother Wen Huo has long emerged but is wandering the cosmos and unwilling to return to the Cyan Yang Hall...

Opinions diverge, but Wang Xu can be sure, for strong individuals like Senior Brother Wen Huo, wherever they are, they only recognize one goal—to become stronger!

...

Step.

Soon, Wang Xu, Red Sword, and a group of arriving senior brothers landed at the main hall, listed on both sides of the hall.

The time has come.

All eyes gathered at the grand hall, focusing on a white-beard elder wearing a golden crown and a golden robe, carrying a five-foot-long sword on his back.

"Hall Master!" everyone saluted in unison, their eyes filled with deep respect and fear.

The longer they stayed in Cyan Yang Hall, the more they understood the Hall Master’s might.

Although they never conversed with Qing Zhang except to receive tasks on the designated day, they understood the strength of each Hall Master in the Seventy-Two Halls, all being mighty existences in the cosmos!

"You are all here." Qing Zhang’s voice, boundless and majestic, echoed in the hall.

"Alright, I will begin assigning tasks." Qing Zhang didn’t waste any words, as this was the annual task assignment. Even if the disciples never tired of hearing it, Qing Zhang himself was weary of saying it.

"Du Mu, head to the Cosmic Union and deliver this item. Remember, handle it with care." With a wave of Qing Zhang’s hand, a white light fell into Senior Brother Du Mu’s hand. The light was cloaked with special means; without lifting the concealment, it was impossible to know what it truly was.

"Yes." Senior Brother Du Mu put away the light and turned to leave the main hall amidst envious gazes from the crowd. freёnovelkiss.com

Delivering items or letters, these were the easiest tasks. Once completed, one could be free for an entire year.

"Feng Du, head to the Winter Arrival Cosmic Country and eliminate ’Ming Yong’." Qing Zhang waved his hand again, and a jade slab fell into Senior Brother Feng Du’s hand.

The jade slab recorded the crimes of Ming Yong, along with all information about him. After arriving, Feng Du only needed to find Ming Yong with the help of the Guard Army of the Cosmic Country and kill him.

"Yes." Feng Du accepted the order and left.

"Dong Qu, gather a Cinnamomum Dragon Pattern Grass that is ten million years old." Qing Zhang stated directly.

Upon hearing this, many senior brothers couldn’t help but shake their heads, looking at Dong Qu with sympathetic eyes.

Senior Brother Dong Qu wore a look of helplessness, fearing the tasks of finding ancient medicine the most, especially a Top-Grade ancient herb that is ten million years old. Even possessing a Cosmic Crystal might not be enough to purchase it. It requires spending time and effort to find.

"Hall Master... I give up." Senior Brother Dong Qu clenched his teeth and chose to abandon the task.

The other senior brothers nodded, clearly agreeing with Dong Qu’s decision. Searching for such rare ancient medicine was too difficult. Sometimes, after decades of searching, nothing could be obtained, resulting in a waste of time.

One might as well abandon it outright, preferring to accept punishment rather than waste time and effort searching.

"Dong Qu, this is the second time you’ve given up on a task. If you choose to abandon it this time, you must guard the Star Ore Vein in the Qu Mu Cosmic Country for a thousand years. Have you thought it through?" Qing Zhang asked.

Dong Qu nodded. Guarding the Star Ore Vein for a thousand years, although long, would still yield some rare Ancient Ore. This punishment was acceptable.

Immediately, after accepting the punishment, Dong Qu turned and left the main hall.

As Qing Zhang continued to assign tasks, some were cheerful while others were distressed. Those who received easy tasks naturally rejoiced, whereas those entangled in difficult tasks lamented endlessly. Some senior brothers even abandoned the tasks, opting for punishment, complaining of the hardships they faced.

"Wang Xu." Qing Zhang’s voice reached out, and Wang Xu’s spirit jolted, immediately perking up his ears to listen intently.

Praying in his heart that it wouldn’t be a difficult task, hoping for something easy and simple...

"Proceed to the Tai Long Cosmic Country and participate in the border war with the Wind Forest Cosmic Country."

With these words, all the remaining senior brothers looked over, eyes filled with undisguised shock.

Senior Brother Red Sword was also honestly taken aback. Recalling Wang Xu’s dejected appearance upon his first day at Cyan Yang Hall, he sighed.

The border war, a task caught between difficulty and forbidden land, matched the difficulty of the Forbidden Area. It was well-known that in war, even the strongest faced mortal danger.

The Heaven-Reaching Pavilion supported certain Cosmic Countries, sending people to aid them in their border wars. However, other Cosmic Countries did the same, requesting support from the Cosmic Alliance or the Mercenary Martial Arts Hall. Consequently, the situation became more dire, with greater life-threatening risks.

Wang Xu, being a new disciple, according to the usual practice, would be assigned easier, simpler tasks, giving him ample time to gather White Jade, exchange it for Secret Techniques, comprehend the Will, and strengthen his power. Only after growing stronger would he receive difficult tasks.

Yet Qing Zhang immediately gave Wang Xu such a perilous task. It was clear he intended to "abandon" Wang Xu.

Heaven-Reaching Pavilion would not publicly expel disciples, as each who could enter were prodigious, and expulsion equated to insulting them, which would lead to dissatisfaction and eventually becoming opponents.

Thus, if a disciple’s strength lagged, they would be assigned to remote areas, staying for thousands of years, only to be re-assigned once back, cycling repeatedly... this was abandonment.

Throughout its existence for many years, Heaven-Reaching Pavilion abandoned numerous disciples, many of whom honed their strengths in difficult situations, while others quietly left the Heaven-Reaching Pavilion to join other organizations. Others claimed the name of Heaven-Reaching Pavilion, establishing themselves as kings in remote areas.

However, no one had ever seen a case like Wang Xu’s, being abandoned immediately upon entering Heaven-Reaching Pavilion, marking it as a first in its history.

Wang Xu was stunned as well.

He knew full well what the border battlefield was like. Anything could happen during wartime, and he could die on the battlefield at any moment.

He had never heard of a new disciple being sent to carry out a border battlefield task.

Wang Xu’s heart plummeted into despair.

He couldn’t afford to abandon the task. Once abandoned, he would face punishments lasting hundreds to thousands of years, which Wang Xu couldn’t afford!

"Yes... Wang Xu accepts the order." Wang Xu replied in a forlorn manner and turned to leave the main hall.

Senior Brother Red Sword watched his lonely back, feeling an indescribable sorrow.