Chapter 22: The Bounty Pavilion

Chen An took the mystic ginseng and carefully tucked it into his storage pouch. He patted the opening to make sure it was secure, but couldn’t help wondering.

A spirit herb of that level, a thousand-year seven-leaf mystic ginseng, would normally be kept for personal use or sent to an auction house for a good price. People in a hurry to sell one were rare.

Unless… he really needed spirit stones.

He tested the waters. “Fellow Daoist, are you in urgent need of spirit stones?”

Yan Li glanced at him and gave a faint “Mm.”

Chen An understood. He rubbed his chin. “If that’s the case, I have another place to recommend.”

Yan Li raised an eyebrow. “Where?”

Chen An pointed toward the depths of Yulu Market. “The Bounty Pavilion. That’s the fastest place to earn money.”

His smile faded a little as he mentioned it.

“But none of the tasks posted there are simple. They’re either very dangerous, very troublesome, or both. If you take one and can’t finish it, they deduct your deposit. If you mess it up, you have to pay compensation. So most people just watch for fun.”

He took half a step back to give Yan Li room to decide.

“If you’re interested, fellow Daoist, I can take you to look. Whether you take one is up to you. I just lead the way.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Yan Li had already fished out a low-grade spirit stone and handed it over.

“Lead the way.”

“Got it.” Chen An grinned, took the spirit stone, tucked it into his clothes, and turned toward the depths of Yulu Market.

“The Bounty Pavilion is at the very back. Tasks update every day during the Si hour, nine to eleven in the morning. If we go now, we should still catch it.”

Yan Li carried Yan Shu and followed behind him, while Xuan Shiyan walked at the very back.

They passed through several alleys and skirted a busy row of spirit beast stalls. Ahead appeared a small two-story building of gray brick and gray tiles. Many cultivators were going in and out.

A plaque hung above the door with the words “Bounty Pavilion”.

Chen An led them inside. The first-floor hall was open and bright. The entire right wall was a huge, smooth white jade wall, covered with countless golden characters.

The characters weren’t carved. They were condensed from spiritual light and flickered from time to time. Clearly, someone was updating them in real time.

Below the jade wall, many cultivators stood craning their necks to look. Some whispered to each other. Some took out jade slips to record.

“That’s the bounty board.” Chen An jerked his chin toward the jade wall. “You two take a look first. I’ll wait nearby.” Then he slipped over to the wall, pulled out the half-eaten flatbread from his clothes, and kept chewing.

Yan Li walked to the jade wall and looked up.

The tasks on the board were densely packed. A single glance showed almost all were [Accepted], [In Progress], [Completed].

His brows rose. He had thought the Bounty Pavilion would be full of tasks no one wanted. Now he realized even taking bounties was fiercely competitive.

The ones with terrifyingly high rewards were things like “capture evil cultivators” or “venture deep into the Demon King Mountains”. Those who took them were all Golden Core or above, some even joint applications from sect squads.

As for slightly lower-paying ones, herb gathering, escorting, demon beast hunting, mining, though not as difficult, most were still [Accepted] or [In Progress].

Yan Li’s mouth twitched as he watched.

‘Was the cultivation world this desperate now? Even more cutthroat than outer sect disciples fighting over monthly stipends.’

Just as he was dazed, a rogue cultivator nearby sighed heavily. “A step too late again. I haven’t even taken out my jade slip yet.”

Another laughed. “You still want to take out your jade slip? I just saw a task refresh, and someone rushed over to register. Earning spirit stones isn’t easy now. If you’re slow, you won’t even get soup.”

Yan Li: “…”

He looked up and scanned higher. In the blink of an eye, the only tasks still open were the three lonely ones at the very top.

First: Qingfeng Gorge caravan robbery, capture the bandits. Reward: three hundred high-grade spirit stones. Difficulty: B-upper. Status: Open.

Second: Sunset Valley ruins, purchase Sunset Crystals, priced by quality and weight. Reward: depends on harvest. Difficulty: B-middle. Status: Open.

Third: bounty for the spirit herb Nine-Turn Soul-Returning Grass. Reward: five hundred high-grade spirit stones. Difficulty: A-lower. Status: Open.

Yan Li slowly scanned the three tasks. Each was harder than the last. No wonder they stayed firmly at the top. But the spirit stones offered were indeed generous.

“Fellow Daoist, finished looking?” Chen An took a big bite of flatbread and walked over from the corner.

Yan Li tilted his chin toward the top of the jade wall. “No one’s taken these three?”

“How should I put it…” Chen An hurriedly swallowed the flatbread and wiped his mouth. “It’s not that no one wants to take them. It’s that no one dares to.”

Yan Li looked at him.

Chen An sighed.

“That group of bandits at Qingfeng Gorge comes and goes without a trace. They’ve been committing crimes for a while. They say the leader is a ruthless character in late Foundation Establishment. He has a dozen or so men, and even the weakest is at late Qi Refining. Three hundred high-grade spirit stones sounds like a lot, but if you really chase them, you might not catch a glimpse for ten days or half a month.”

He jerked his chin toward the second task. “Sunset Valley is even stranger lately. A while ago, something happened in there, and the demon beasts suddenly went berserk. I heard several Foundation Establishment cultivators have died. And purchase-type tasks don’t guarantee a minimum. Many people go in for half a month and can’t even earn back their capital.”

Finally, he looked at the third task, his expression turning stranger. “As for Nine-Turn Soul-Returning Grass… the thing itself is valuable, but it grows in too remote a place, and its maturity period is short. There’s almost certainly a third-rank demon beast guarding it. Golden Core cultivators think a trip is too troublesome. Foundation Establishment cultivators think it’s too risky. So it just hangs there, neither up nor down.”

These three tasks, plainly put, were ones high-level cultivators looked down on and low-level cultivators couldn’t handle. They were stuck awkwardly on the board.

Yan Li narrowed his eyes. “I’ll take them.”

Chen An’s hand shook, and the flatbread nearly fell. “…Take them? All of them?”

He hadn’t controlled his voice, and many cultivators in the hall looked over.

Yan Li was unmoved and only gave a faint “Mm.”

A rogue cultivator nearby who was looking at the board laughed outright.

“Miss, are you serious? That’s an A-lower task, not going to the back mountain to pick spirit fruits.”

Another couldn’t help shaking his head. “Pretty face, but quite bold. Probably your first time at the Bounty Pavilion, huh? You’ll be heartbroken when you have to pay the deposit.”

Someone else muttered under their breath. “…Taking an A-rank task while carrying a child? Could she be some young lady from a major sect out for training? She doesn’t look like a rogue cultivator. Carrying a kid and still coming to take an A-rank task. That’s impressive.”

The discussions rose and fell, and eight out of ten sentences mistook him for a female cultivator.

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