Chapter 405: Chapter 289: Is the Superior Slacking Off and Not Interested in Advancing? (Part 2)

“You’re not joking, are you?”

“Is there a task this time?” Gu An asked.

He indeed wanted to take on a task.

After all, he still needed a few more token fragments.

Once acquired, he could ask that woman to let him work part-time at the Luo Sheng Hall.

This way, he could have access to special types of wood.

It could allow him to soar to great heights.

“You never seemed keen to do tasks before,” Chu Meng said while picking up a piece of pastry.

*In the past, he felt compelled. Later he realized there was no punishment whether he did them or not, so he naturally stopped caring*, Gu An thought to himself.

Moreover, he had now rid himself of the poison.

*Though he didn’t understand why someone would poison someone at his Qi Refinement stage, it seemed beneficial for now.*

*Whether there was more scheming to come, that was unknown.*

Overall, he needed to improve himself quickly.

“Recently, the tasks involve some sect disputes, battles among various true inheritors. You can’t get involved,” Chu Meng said.

Gu An understood what the other meant.

He was an inside agent, a very secretive one.

Only a few people knew about him.

To maintain the element of surprise, he had to continue hiding for the time being.

“But you’ve been particularly dazzling lately, and people will surely try to recruit you. Handle it yourself, but don’t take sides with anyone,” Chu Meng said, adding, “Do you know what the vortex of the Six Institutes is?”

Gu An shook his head, looking at Chu Meng with some curiosity, “Do you know, Senior?”

“I do,” Chu Meng answered lightly. “Isn’t it just treating you all like pigs to be slaughtered at the right time?”

Gu An fell silent.

*That seemed unlikely.*

*However, Chu Meng might indeed know.*

*If he completed the next task, he wondered if he could exchange it for this reward.*

*He didn’t lack much at the moment.*

*Just the wood.*

*The moon tree’s effect would probably be minimal.*

He had to first try it out.

After chatting a bit more, Chu Meng stood up and left.

Gu An didn’t mind much, as Chu Meng didn’t ask about the underground palace either.

If she had asked, he wouldn’t have been able to answer because he didn’t know anything about it.

Once Chu Meng left, Gu An went to the courtyard.

At that moment, Fat Tiger appeared in front of Gu An, fawning, “Big brother, you’re back?”

Looking at Fat Tiger, Gu An was silent for a moment and then asked,

“Have there been any messages from the Eight Sounds Divine Monarch?”

The Blood Demon Divine Monarch shook his head.

Gu An then handed some magic techniques to him, asking him to distinguish them.

Meanwhile, Gu An began to learn alongside him.

The more he studied, the more Gu An understood.

He could easily detect issues in other magical techniques.

Of course, he also gained a deeper understanding of his own magic.

Although he relied on numbers to advance his cultivation, understanding was necessary after advancement.

The more minute the details, the more they needed to be grasped.

Only then could he better mobilize his body’s power, unleashing its full potential.

Otherwise, he would just use brute force and sooner or later suffer losses.

If he failed to understand his own strength, it might even cost him his life.

One night passed quickly, and the Blood Demon Divine Monarch finished explaining all the techniques.

He pointed out the fabricated parts too.

Half of them were fake.

It seemed the new batch of people was quite creative.

After collecting the techniques, Gu An didn’t linger any longer and left quickly.

He needed to learn about the First Institute and then the sect and Qingmu City.

Only then could he make proper plans.

As for the report, he had to submit it too.

*How long the competition among the Six Institutes would last, he wasn’t sure.*

*Why they competed, Gu An didn’t know either.*

He could only await the next task and then learn the answers from Chu Meng.

*Additionally, for the next task, there might be a follow-up interrogation.*

He had to prepare for that as well.

…

Spirit Bamboo Peak.

The courtyard where Chu Meng resided.

At that time, she was sitting in a chair, sorting through freshly picked spiritual medicine.

Before long, Chunyu walked in and respectfully bowed, “Miss.”

“Mm,” Chu Meng responded, then asked, “Have you received any news?”

“Which news does Miss refer to? A letter from the family? Since the last letter, there hasn’t been any from the family,” Chunyu replied.

“Not those.” Chu Meng put down the spiritual medicine and looked at the person next to her, “Any special news from the royal family lately?”

Chunyu was puzzled.

Chu Meng continued, “Like a princess lost among commoners or a princess actually being a commoner.”

At this, Chunyu was taken aback, somewhat incredulous, “How could this be possible? How could a princess of the royal family end up among commoners?”

Chu Meng laughed and said, “Have someone investigate, see if there’s news like this. If it turns out true, find the princess.

See what she’s like; also, identify which one is the fake princess.”

Chunyu nodded immediately.

Chu Meng then took out a few bags of peanuts and said, “Also, shell these peanuts; I’ll be eating them later.”

“Cooked ones?” Chunyu looked at the peanuts and said, “But hasn’t Miss always avoided cooked ones?”

“And now I want to eat them, is that a problem?” Chu Meng said calmly.

Chunyu lowered her head immediately, “Forgive me, Miss.”

She wanted to mention that the plain peanuts might not taste good.

In the end, she didn’t dare to say it out loud.

“By the way, write a letter back,” Chu Meng said with a smile. “Just mention the rumor of a princess among commoners; the family seems excited.”

“Should I include Miss’s wishes? They seem to want you to marry soon,” Chunyu asked.

“No need to mention that,” Chu Meng said casually.

Chunyu nodded.

After a pause, Chu Meng asked again, “Did you investigate Hua Jiyang?”

Chunyu immediately replied, “I did. He’s likely a disciple of a Peak Master in the sect. It’s hard to trace his background; he seems highly valued and is currently out completing a task.

The specific task is unknown.

He has been to some places and had some interactions with Gu An from the Heavenly Suspension Peak.

However, when he was in the Outer Sect, Hua Jiyang seemed to have offended a Direct Disciple, causing everyone to distance themselves from him.

Gu An also cut contact with him around that time.

Further investigation encountered obstacles.

The person backing him has significant influence in the sect.”

Chu Meng nodded casually, “Mm, no need to check any further. It might alert him.”

Chunyu nodded and then went off to do her tasks.

Chu Meng continued dealing with her spiritual medicine.

….

Outer Peak.

Gu An submitted two reports in one go.

One was for the First Institute’s report for last month, and the other was about the tasks he had completed while out.

The First Institute’s report was routine, submitted once every month.

For tasks, he had to write about the process upon completion.

This enabled the Main Court to know what he had done, which helped determine what to do next.

Otherwise, things would turn chaotic.

Having completed those, Gu An had no other tasks to do.

He then recalled Chu Meng from the previous night.

He still couldn’t see through her cultivation level.

“Is she really twenty-five years old?”

*Gu An found it hard to believe.*

*It’s possible to have a twenty-five-year-old with a Primordial Spirit, but a twenty-five-year-old Returning to Void would be excessive.*

*Either she was concealing her cultivation level, leaving him unable to discern it.*

*So he thought she was highly cultivated.*

*Or she lied about her age.*

*If neither was true, there was only one possibility left.*

*She was similar to him.*

*With certain opportunities.*

*As for which it was, Gu An couldn’t reach a conclusion yet.*

*For now, the only thing he could do was continue to improve his cultivation.*

*Maybe one day he could discern her strength.*

*It wasn’t that he had any special ideas; he just wanted to know.*

*After all, the unknown always unsettled people.*

That night.

Gu An continued logging.

After a whole night, he only had one warm current.

Magic plus one.

No increase in hard cultivation.

The second night, Gu An continued logging.

This time, he didn’t gain any warm current at all.

On the third day, he continued.

He finally got a warm current.

Again, magic plus one.

The fourth day, there was none.

The fifth day, still none.

*Gu An was a bit startled.*

*Two days in a row with nothing?*

*That was quite exaggerated.*

Then he continued logging.

On the sixth day, he finally got a warm current.

Hard cultivation plus one.

Six days, two points in magic, and one in hard cultivation?

*Why had it suddenly decreased so much?*

*Before, it didn’t seem to decrease this much.*

*Could it be that his cultivation level increased considerably?*

*So he required more traces of time and spiritual energy?*

Gu An perceived carefully and found that he was now different from before.

The Qinglian Xuanhuang Scripture was several times harder to enhance than his previous cultivation technique.

This way, the amount of logging needed would also multiply.

*It seemed that even if he maxed out the Fifth Volume of the Qi Sea Sky Gang, he might not attempt to advance?*

*Was this a good thing or a bad thing?*

*Indeed, joining Luo Sheng Hall was still necessary.*

*Why hadn’t Chu Meng issued any tasks yet?*

*This superior seemed a bit complacent.*

*Didn’t she want to progress?*

*The more tasks he completed, the more benefits she, as his superior, would receive.*