Chapter 37

Of course, going to the Foreign Affairs Hall was not just for the monthly salary of five spirit stones and two small qi-nourishing pills.

Hu Donghan remembered that when he first checked the tasks in the Foreign Affairs Hall, there seemed to be a task to oversee the medicinal fields. However, at that time, Hu Donghan had no confidence at all and naturally did not have the courage to accept the task casually.

At the Foreign Affairs Hall, Hu Donghan, dressed in the attire of an enforcement disciple, still attracted a lot of attention.

The monthly salary area was still as sparsely populated as usual. After Hu Donghan went over, the two Foundation Establishment cultivators responsible for distributing the monthly salary were still the same. However, these two Foundation Establishment cultivators no longer recognized Hu Donghan at all and called him "Senior Brother" with particular warmth. Indeed, people rely on clothes, and horses rely on saddles. If Hu Donghan were still dressed in a common outer sect disciple's attire and had only the cultivation of the first level of Qi Condensation, these two Foundation Establishment cultivators would probably have their noses up to the sky.

Hu Donghan collected his monthly salary and then ran to the task area.

The outer sect disciples in the task area, upon seeing someone dressed in the attire of an enforcement disciple, naturally avoided him like the plague.

Hu Donghan did not mind, picked up a search jade token, and started checking. After searching for more than a minute, Hu Donghan's face showed a smile, as he indeed found the task he wanted in the search jade token.

"Stacked Peaks Peak's Disciple Task — Overseeing the Medicinal Fields. The medicinal fields in the Small Green Meadow of Stacked Peaks Peak need to be overseen by a disciple of this peak, and 200 spirit herbs must be submitted monthly. Task rewards are determined by the quality of the submitted spirit herbs; if there are any extra spirit herbs, the disciple can dispose of them as they see fit. If the task cannot be completed, it is considered damage to the peak's property, and the enforcement disciples will impose penalties."

This task, with its rewards, is highly tempting for cultivators who lack cultivation resources. Submitting 200 spirit herbs will earn a reward, and if there are extra spirit herbs, the disciple can handle them themselves. The rewards are so rich that they can make one drool. Of course, there is also a "penalty" clause, which is quite severe. This clause is to prevent those who do not know how to take care of spirit herbs but want to take a chance and muddle through. Such a penalty is enough to make them think twice.

Damaging the public property of the sect is generally punished quite strictly. In most cases, the disciple must compensate for the property and also receive a whipping. In short, once the task is not completed, it is truly a disaster for most cultivators.

Of course, this is not a problem for Hu Donghan, who has a medicinal spirit ghost.

"I have a medicinal spirit ghost, and the medicinal spirit ghost has a natural sensitivity to spirit herbs, which can definitely take good care of them. Moreover, the medicinal spirit ghost has a remarkable talent for cultivating spirit herbs, doubling their growth rate. If given special attention, it can even accelerate the growth by thirty times. Submitting 200 spirit herbs is not difficult for me at all. Additionally, while reviewing the ghost descriptions in the sect's jade token these past two days, I unexpectedly discovered a ghost called the Fragrant Medicinal Ghost. This Fragrant Medicinal Ghost can also accelerate the growth of spirit herbs, but only by less than 20%. Compared to the medicinal spirit ghost, it is far inferior, but if someone notices the accelerated growth of the spirit herbs in the medicinal field, it can be a good excuse..." Hu Donghan was delighted and accepted the task.

Hu Donghan selected the task and then went to report to the steward.

The Foundation Establishment steward, upon seeing the task Hu Donghan chose, glanced at his enforcement disciple attire and said with a somewhat strange expression: "This... Senior Brother, if you want to take on the task of overseeing the Small Green Meadow medicinal fields, there is no problem. However, this task requires reporting to the peak master."

"What? This task also requires reporting to the peak master?" Hu Donghan's face turned sour upon hearing this—just accepting a task, and it needs to be reported to the peak master? Could someone be trying to trip him up?

The steward, seeing Hu Donghan's sour face, quickly explained: "Senior Brother, any task related to the medicinal fields, whether it is overseeing, weeding, or pest control, must be reported to the peak master! This is not targeting Senior Brother alone but applies to everyone. If Senior Brother does not believe it, you can ask others."

Hu Donghan immediately turned his gaze to the other stewards. Indeed, these stewards, upon meeting Hu Donghan's gaze, all nodded. Clearly, this matter was not someone targeting Hu Donghan.

Hu Donghan then said, "Alright, if that's the case, how should I go about reporting to the peak master?"

The steward quickly replied, "Since Senior Brother has accepted the task, I am willing to accompany you. I believe that since you have a certain level of confidence to take on this task, the Ancestor will not disagree."

Hu Donghan nodded indifferently and let the steward lead the way.

The steward, with a fawning smile, led the way. They walked through a valley and then entered a cave, walking for about half an hour until they reached a gloomy and desolate burial ground.

On the way, the steward finally informed Hu Donghan of the reason why the medicinal field tasks could only be executed by disciples of the same peak and required reporting to the Ancestor.

In the Yin Soul Sect, although there are few visible conflicts, they do exist, just not seen. Different peaks actually have competitive relationships. After the Yin Soul Sect established the sect, the sect's laws were strictly enforced, and the visible conflicts among sect disciples disappeared, gradually turning into covert sabotage. In the early days, the management of the medicinal fields of each peak was not as strict as it is now. Once a task was issued, it was a sect task, and any disciple could accept it.

Later, some bastard came up with a wicked idea, deliberately accepting the medicinal field task of an opposing peak and then wreaking havoc in the medicinal fields, pulling out all the spirit herbs and planting weeds. In short, by the time the task was completed, not a single spirit herb was submitted, and the medicinal fields were completely destroyed. At that time, the medicinal field tasks did not have the current strict penalties; if there was any damage, the spirit stones would be confiscated, and the Enforcement Hall would intervene, but it would only be treated as a task failure with no punishment. Therefore, once this method appeared, many people from various peaks immediately followed suit, and for a time, almost all the medicinal fields in the Yin Soul Sect were destroyed!

It should be known that although there are many spirit herbs that can be collected in the wild, some common spirit herbs are easier to cultivate within the sect and can be conveniently allocated when needed. This incident in the sect led to a significant reduction in the stock of common spirit herbs within the sect, and even a shortage of materials for the cultivation pills of low-level Qi Condensation disciples.