Chapter 11 Training Mission
Wu Qi, well-versed in the development of the continent, knew perfectly well that the next Soul Master Tournament had never been held!
In the future, Bibi Dong's strength would gradually increase, she would wield considerable power within the Spirit Hall, and ultimately launch a continental war.
Eight years later, due to the undercurrents in the continent's situation, to protect the safety of the participants, both empires and the Spirit Hall tacitly agreed not to hold the Soul Master Tournament.
If he couldn't participate in the next tournament as a key member, wouldn't he be forced to watch Tang San win the championship and Tang Hao shatter the Spirit Hall's myth?
For now, Wu Qi didn't object to Qingluan Douluo's arrangement.
One must take things one step at a time; haste makes waste.
Completing the training mission in the Death Canyon was the most urgent task.
Early the next morning, he and Qian Gu Changkong arrived at the Spirit Hall's Mission Pavilion.
Staff within the Spirit Hall generally received missions directly from their superiors.
Of course, in their spare time, they could also receive missions through the Mission Pavilion to earn merit and exchange them for more cultivation resources.
The tasks available here are mostly long-term exploration and reconnaissance missions. Time-sensitive missions are not included.
Training missions are also obtained from the Mission Pavilion.
Hu Liena described the Death Canyon training missions in great detail in her letter, which are divided into several types, including survival, escort, and target hunting.
The simplest is the survival mission.
With enough food supplies, you can find a secluded place and survive the mission time.
Hu Liena provided detailed descriptions of the other mission types.
Wu Qi felt that the escort mission was the most difficult.
After all, the escort route is fixed, and the dangers along the way are unknown. If supplies are stolen, they need to be retrieved and delivered to the designated location.
Escort missions were far more troublesome than other missions. Therefore, Wu Qi could only pray to avoid them.
The Hall of Offerings had instructed beforehand that when Wu Qi and Qian Gu Chang Kong arrived at the Mission Pavilion, someone would immediately lead them to a separate room.
A staff member handed them a fortune-telling box, saying, "Please draw a mission type. We will then draw the corresponding mission based on that type."
The difficulty of missions for Soul Masters and Great Soul Masters differed; even if both participated in the training simultaneously, they would still need to draw their own missions.
Wu Qi drew first.
The fortune-telling box was designed to prevent mental energy from being detected; what he drew depended entirely on luck. Moreover, there were no corresponding characters on the fortune slips; after drawing them, a specialist would interpret them based on their shapes.
Wu Qi drew a short slip, and before seeing the interpretation chart, he didn't know what it corresponded to.
Next, Qian Gu Chang Kong drew a long, thin slip.
The staff member smiled at Wu Qi, "You're lucky."
Looking at Qian Gu Chang Kong, he shook his head helplessly, "Good luck."
After the interpretation chart was presented, Wu Qi finally understood what the staff member meant.
Wu Qi drew the simplest survival task, while Qian Gu Chang Kong drew the second most difficult collection task.
A staff member added, "Most survival tasks are simple, but some have extremely high mortality rates. Collection tasks seem difficult, but some are easy to complete."
In short, the difficulty level will be determined by the tasks drawn next.
A minute later, Wu Qi drew "Survive in any location for one month."
Death Valley has many dangerous areas, and being able to survive in any location makes this the easiest task.
Qian Gu Chang Kong was exceptionally unlucky today, drawing a collection task that involved collecting badges.
The Lost Canyon is where the Spirit Hall exiles criminals. Criminals of different strengths are marked with badges corresponding to their levels.
White badges are worn by Great Soul Masters, and so on, with colors ranging from yellow, purple, black, and red, all the way up to Soul Emperors.
Qian Gu Chang Kong needs to collect one hundred white badges, meaning he must kill one hundred Great Soul Masters.
Leaving the mission hall, Qian Gu Chang Kong slumped, utterly exhausted. "Brother Wu, what should I do?"
There are only a few hundred people in the Death Canyon. Killing one hundred Great Soul Masters... even if there are that many, killing so many at once will inevitably attract the attention of other powerful figures, leading to their pursuit.
"If you're lucky enough, one purple badge will be enough."
One purple badge is equivalent to ten yellow badges or one hundred white badges.
But purple badges correspond to Soul Masters; how easy are they to deal with?
Wu Qi is only a beginner Soul Venerable, and with Qian Gu Chang Kong, a Great Soul Master, dealing with a Soul Master is extremely difficult.
Qian Gu Chang Kong wailed, "How could I possibly defeat a Soul Master? Even a Soul Venerable would be a tough opponent."
Wu Qi frowned. "The mission didn't forbid others from helping you."
Lowering their expectations, if it was just about hunting a Soul Venerable, the two of them had a good chance of teaming up.
Hearing this, Qian Gu Chang Kong relaxed slightly.
After a pause, he couldn't help but complain, "This collection mission is harder than an assassination mission. I don't understand why Grandpa and the others made the mission system so complicated back then."
The original Death Canyon only stipulated a training period; there weren't so many tedious missions, and there was no element of luck.
Wu Qi understood their good intentions. "Adaptability is a required course for every strong person. Different types of missions may seem to vary in difficulty, but they are tests in themselves."
"Perhaps Master and the others wanted to use this to hone everyone's strategies for dealing with different situations."
"Let's go. Prepare the supplies tonight, and we'll set off later."
Hu Liena mentioned in her letter that entering Death Canyon during the day would easily lead to being discovered by the criminals there, thus incurring a pursuit.
For these criminals, the golden badges worn by those undergoing trials were the ladder to freedom.
Entering at night, the darkness made them difficult to detect.
That night, escorted by the Thousand-Pound Douluo, the two entered the Death Canyon.
From the air, the canyon resembled a man-made basin, with powerful members of the Spirit Hall guarding the surrounding cliffs to prevent any escape.
The golden badges they possessed were their only proof of escape.
Losing them would mean truly becoming one of the criminals.
Before setting out, he had speculated about the canyon's conditions, but being there in person proved his assumptions wrong.
First, the Death Canyon had a considerable population.
Many criminals exiled there married and had children.
Because of the lack of spirit beasts, there were many spirit masters with spirit power levels of ten but no spirit rings.
"It seems screening criminals with badges is quite a task," Wu Qi murmured.
Even if the descendants of criminals born here acquire spirit rings and advance to higher levels, they will have no badges, making their deaths pointless.
(End of Chapter)