"A thousand merit points..."
Wan Lei pondered. He currently held no official position and received no regular merit points. This left him with only one path: to obtain missions from the mission hall. If he worked tirelessly, even if each mission only awarded ten points, he could still earn enough by completing a hundred of them.
"I can go to the mission hall and pick up tasks, right? It's better to have something to do than just cultivate all the time," Wan Lei concealed his true intentions.
"Of course not."
Lei Xin refuted Wan Lei again.
Wan Lei looked up, surprised. Why was everything he wanted to do being denied?
"New disciples are not allowed to collect missions from the mission hall within their first year. They can only receive tasks assigned by the sect. This is to prevent new disciples from being overconfident and taking on dangerous missions. It also serves to protect them from external harm and allow them more time to understand the Five Elements Hall. Furthermore, it prevents disciples who deliberately infiltrate the Five Elements Hall for specific missions or to abuse their authority for unspeakable deeds, thereby harming the sect's interests. After all, newly admitted disciples have not yet undergone trials, and no one can guarantee their character."
Wan Lei's face darkened. 'Can't you just give me my ID number directly?' he thought.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about you."
*No, you are talking about me,* he thought.
"Didn't Senior Sister just mention that the sect only assigns three missions actively per year?"
"Yes."
"Then, are our missions dangerous?"
Wan Lei actually wanted to know if their missions awarded high merit points.
"They are not dangerous. How could the sect possibly assign dangerous missions to new disciples? However, the difficulty of our missions is linked to the merit points awarded, as equivalent exchange is an eternal principle. Mission difficulty is divided into five levels:入门级 (Entry-level), 简单级 (Simple-level), 中等级 (Intermediate-level), 困难级 (Difficult-level), and 炼狱级 (Inferno-level). You can easily understand their meaning from their names. Just half a year ago, those Fire Hall disciples who went to the Molten Lava Death Zone had an Intermediate-level mission, but because of your appearance, it was forcibly upgraded to Inferno-level. Hahahaha, those unlucky Fire Hall disciples..."
Wan Lei looked at her with surprise. 'We are fellow disciples, is it really appropriate to be so schadenfreude?' he wondered.
"Entry-level and Simple-level missions generally pose no life-threatening danger, it all depends on whether you can complete them. They also award few merit points, usually only a few or a dozen. Intermediate-level missions award more, perhaps twenty or thirty, and you might even receive additional bonus merit points based on your completion. For example, in the Molten Lava Death Zone mission, the more rogue cultivators you kill, the more merit points you get, but there's still a twenty percent mortality rate. Difficult-level missions award even more, typically over a hundred merit points, but they are either extremely challenging or have a high mortality rate, as high as fifty percent. It's generally not recommended to take these missions, after all, living is good. Inferno-level missions are formidable, awarding at least two hundred merit points, with no upper limit, but the mortality rate starts at eighty percent. The higher the reward, the greater the risk. Besides some lunatics, no one wants to take such missions; they are usually forcibly assigned by the sect. Of course, if you receive such a mission, first check the merit points awarded. If it's between two hundred and five hundred, you still have a sliver of hope. If it's above five hundred, unless you are a Son of Destiny with immense luck, you will surely die."
Wan Lei nodded. This was logical. Without such a high mortality rate, it wouldn't be classified as Inferno-level.
"But you don't need to worry at all. As a new disciple, the sect will definitely give you Entry-level missions, which are usually simple tasks that earn a few merit points. That would be quite good. However, considering your Origin-level aptitude and your brilliant record, they might even assign you a Simple-level mission. As for Intermediate-level, you can forget about it unless the sect's higher-ups have gone mad."
After "comforting" Wan Lei, Lei Xin nodded with satisfaction. Seeing her junior disciple's unpleasant expression, she assumed he was afraid of difficult missions.
"Alright, thank you, Senior Sister. I have no more questions."
"Mmm, I see you're eager to get things done. You must be someone who can't sit still. It's good to be willing to work; young people should have drive. After a year, you'll be able to take on missions, and perhaps we can form a team then. I'll be going now. If you need anything, come find me."
Without trying to keep his Senior Sister, Wan Lei headed directly into his cave... no, not a mansion.
He set up formations at the entrance for protection and then arranged formations throughout the cave, effectively trapping himself in a cage. He didn't have a good impression of the Five Elements Hall, and he was infiltrating to do something illicit, so he had to remain vigilant.
After ensuring his safety, Wan Lei took out a meditation cushion from his storage bag, threw it on the ground, and sat down casually. His thoughts began to wander.
According to the intelligence provided by Lei Xin, to be assigned to the prison, one needed a thousand merit points. To earn merit points, he had to wait for a year and then take on missions. The three missions assigned by the sect were not difficult and wouldn't award many merit points, so he couldn't rely on them. Merit points could probably be traded, but if he openly tried to buy them, he might not have enough money, and it would easily expose his eagerness to take up the post. If he then applied to work in the prison, and they became suspicious, investigated, and discovered his close relationship with that Fang Xiaoyu, suspecting him of attempting a jailbreak, they'd likely imprison him too. Wan Lei was certain that the prison would seal cultivators' abilities, otherwise, it would have descended into chaos long ago. If both he and Fang Xiaoyu had their powers sealed, they would essentially be waiting to die. Therefore, his path was essentially blocked. He could only wait until after a year to frantically earn merit points by completing missions. During this year, he couldn't do nothing and just cultivate peacefully. He had to find out about Fang Xiaoyu's situation in the prison, whether the Five Elements Hall had tortured her, performed soul-searching, what Fang Xiaoyu had confessed, and what the Five Elements Hall knew. Only with this information could he proceed with his future plans. If possible, he wanted to grease some palms and have people in the prison look after Fang Xiaoyu, at least so she wouldn't suffer too much inside. The thought of Fang Xiaoyu in prison, bound hand and foot, her cultivation sealed, being tortured and beaten, tore at Wan Lei's heart, making him wish he could rush into the prison to save her immediately. After all, prisons in all universes were like that. Although he hadn't been to many, he had been imprisoned before, such as when he rescued Selena in the Golden Immortal Secret Realm. How terribly Selena had been tormented! He forced himself to endure, no longer the impulsive young man he once was, knowing that small impatience could ruin great plans. But he had to do something...