Chapter 524: Chapter 0519: Summoning Flame Realm

“Copper Badge Holy Guards and Silver Emblem Holy Guards, come out. The Holy Land has a new mission.”

A resonant, time-worn voice echoed, clearly audible to all whose cave abodes hadn’t activated their Array Barriers.

Moments later, from seventy-eight cave abodes, except for those deeply engaged in closed-door cultivation, nearly everyone came out.

Among them, only the first three abodes housed Silver Emblem Holy Guards; the rest were all Copper Badge.

“What is the mission this time?”

The three Silver Emblem Holy Guards were somewhat anxious.

In the Holy Land, neither Copper Badge nor Silver Emblem Holy Guards could decline a mission. If selected, they must go!

Having stayed in the Holy Land for many years and survived several missions, they were already quite fortunate to be alive.

Among the newly appointed Copper Badge Holy Guards of the Three Kingdoms, a few had participated in a mission once and held some fears in their hearts.

But only by completing the Holy Land’s missions could they earn contribution points to exchange for various Spiritual Artifacts, treasures, Cultivation Techniques, Spirit Pets, and more.

For example, becoming a Copper Badge Holy Guard entitled one to a day of cultivation in the relics of the Sky Sea Realm each month–only twelve days in a year. However, with sufficient contribution points, one could cultivate for much longer if they wished.

Thus, a mission from the Holy Land represented danger but also opportunity and resources.

“You, you, and you.”

Elder Long-bearded’s gaze indifferently swept below and began to point people out.

The first one he pointed to was the portly man, the second was Li Xiaoyun, and the third was Yunhai Zhen.

“You.”

Elder Long-bearded suddenly pointed at Chen Yu.

In fact, this had been his real intention, but to not make it too obvious, he had casually chosen a few others first.

Then, he pointed to two more Copper Badge Holy Guards and concluded.

“Come with me.”

Elder Long-bearded did not care whether these individuals had any questions or disagreed and turned to fly upwards.

Li Xiaoyun, Chen Yu, and others followed behind.

“It seems this mission is not an easy one.”

Li Xiaoyun’s eyes flickered.

At this moment, they had already crossed the midpoint of the Holy Land and were nearing the upper end.

Elder Long-bearded showed no signs of stopping, and soon, they arrived at the top of the Holy Land!

Under normal circumstances, Copper Badge Holy Guards were not permitted to come to the top of the Holy Land on their own!

They passed through palaces and pavilions, and the crowd arrived at an underground palace that was heavily guarded. At the entrance stood a Golden Emblem Holy Guard and two Silver Emblem Holy Guards.

The palace was surrounded by a powerful Array Barrier that isolated it, vibrating with heart-palpitating spatial energies.

“Transmitting forbidden land, could this be a punitive mission?”

The stout man’s chubby cheeks quivered slightly, and a hint of panic flashed through his pupils.

Exploration missions were dangerous, but the mortality rate was nothing compared to punitive missions.

“Elder Chang.”

The three Holy Guards saluted and opened the Array.

Soon, Elder Long-bearded led the six Copper Badge Holy Guards inside.

The interior of the palace was dim and vast, filled with Array Barriers, each containing a massive Ancient Transmission Array.

At the sixth barrier on the right, three Silver Emblem Holy Guards were already waiting.

“There they are!”

Chen Yu glanced at the three, feeling very familiar with them. One of them was Jiang Boxiong.

The other two Silver Emblem Holy Guards were also personnel from outside the Tongyun Tower, one of whom had failed the attempt to advance to Golden Emblem Holy Guard and had previously admonished Chen Yu.

Jiang Boxiong also spotted Chen Yu and was puzzled. Had Elder Chang casually chosen Chen Yu?

“This time, you six will follow these three Silver Emblem Holy Guards to the ‘Summoning Flame Realm,’ assisting the Holy Land’s powerhouses there in attacking the realm.”

Elder Long-bearded finally clarified the mission.

A punitive mission!

“Don’t be afraid, everyone. There are two Golden Emblem Holy Guards inside the Summoning Flame Realm, and with us three Silver Emblem leading the way, there won’t be any problems!”

Qian Guang stepped forward, his face calm, smiling as he spoke.

“Brother Chen, you’ve advanced to the Mid Stage, congratulations. Was it thanks to the Pure Essence Pills you bought from me?”

Jiang Boxiong greeted Chen Yu with a smile.

Beside them, Qian Guang was stunned to see Jiang Boxiong treating Chen Yu so politely.

Chen Yu was their target for this mission, why was Jiang Boxiong being so polite to him?

Right, Qian Guang suddenly remembered. To prevent leaking information, he hadn’t told the others who the target was.

Realizing this, Qian Guang’s mood stabilized, he looked at Jiang Boxiong and transmitted coldly, “Brother Jiang, you aren’t very close to this person, are you…”

Jiang Boxiong was taken aback and felt odd; his eyes shifted slightly, and after a moment of thought, he sensed a deeper meaning in Qian Guang’s words.

Could it be that when Chen Yu was at the Tongyun Tower, he had embarrassed Qian Guang and he still harbored resentment?

“Not very familiar,” responded Jiang Boxiong vaguely.

“That’s good. He is our target for this mission.”

Qian Guang sneered.

Hearing this, Jiang Boxiong’s mind reeled.

“What? Brother Qian, your target is Chen Yu?”

Jiang Boxiong hadn’t expected this.

“Brother Jiang, since you know him, it’s even better. You can easily gain the trust of this lad…”

Qian Guang continued transmitting.

Jiang Boxiong fell silent.

A year and a half ago, he had decided to befriend Chen Yu, a promising Holy Guard, and for this reason, had given Chen Yu an eighty percent discount on the purchase of cultivation materials, personally covering the cost of ninety thousand low-grade Essence Stones.

He had not expected that the person Qian Guang wanted to kill was Chen Yu!

Now, Jiang Boxiong was faced with two choices.

The first option: To tell Chen Yu everything which essentially meant saving his life. If Chen Yu achieved something significant in the future, he certainly would not forget the favor of saving his life.

The second option: To deceive Chen Yu, exploit their relationship to gain his trust, and thus increase the success rate of killing him.

But once Chen Yu was dead, his potential was gone, and all his previous efforts would be wasted.

“I’ll choose the second option.”

Jiang Boxiong made his decision quickly.

First off, by killing Chen Yu, his gains would surely exceed those ninety thousand low-grade Essence Stones.

Moreover, he would have exerted more effort and might even obtain that middle-grade Spiritual Artifact with explosive properties.

Additionally, if he leaked this information to Chen Yu, causing Qian Guang’s plan to fail, Qian Guang would certainly not let him off. This punitive mission would be dangerous for him.

“Don’t worry, leave this matter to me.”

Jiang Boxiong sent a message to Qian Guang.

Qian Guang sneered a few times, inwardly sighing that Jiang Boxiong had made the right decision.

“The transmission channel is about to open.”

Elder Chang reminded everyone.

“Summoning Flame Realm was discovered by the Holy Land thirty years ago. It’s a small realm very far from Kunyun Realm. The cross-realm grand array is not yet fully established, but the range of your transmission will not be too far from the Holy Land’s base, and it’s safe.”

Elder Chang began to explain matters concerning the Summoning Flame Realm.

“This mission is an occupation task. Killing an aboriginal of Summoning Flame Realm in the Early Guiyuan Realm counts for ten contribution points, killing one at the Peak of Early Guiyuan Realm accounts for thirty contribution points…”

“Additionally, there is a major treasure within Summoning Flame Realm–the Primordial Spirit Flame Crystal. Obtaining this crystal and handing it over to the Holy Land, one kilogram is worth one hundred contribution points.”

“One hundred contribution points!”

The six Copper Badge Holy Guards in attendance flashed looks of excitement.

Especially those who had executed missions before felt the rewards in contribution points were indeed quite bountiful.

For instance, killing someone in the Middle Stage of Guiyuan Realm would also garner one hundred contribution points.

However, handing over one kilogram of Primordial Spirit Flame Crystal would also yield one hundred contribution points.

“If the complete takeover of Summoning Flame Realm is successful, all of you will also gain a substantial amount of contribution points.”

“Alright, the transmission is starting.”

Following Elder Chang’s words, a spatial vortex formed above the Ancient Transmission Array, slowly twisting and gradually tearing open a dark and deep space passage.

Then, the nine individuals entered it one by one.

…

Boom!

Suddenly, a spatial disturbance appeared in mid-air, creating a twisted silver-gray halo, from which a figure suddenly fell.

Chen Yu operated his True Yuan to stabilize his body, floating mid-air.

“So this is the Summoning Flame Realm.”

Chen Yu sensed the unfamiliar world around him.

The temperature here was higher than in Kunyun Realm. The concentration of Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi was only slightly higher than in Beiyuan, and it was no match for Yun Zhao Country.

“In such an environment, it should be very difficult for a practitioner of the Sky Sea Realm to emerge.”

Based on the concentration of Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi in a world, one could generally determine the upper limit of cultivation for creatures in that world.

Of course, it’s hard to estimate the era when this world was birthed. It might even be older than Kunyun Realm and had nurtured many unique treasures of heaven and earth, such as the Primordial Spirit Flame Crystal.

From what Elder Chang had mentioned, the Primordial Spirit Flame Crystal was extremely precious, one kilogram being worth one hundred contribution points.

And as far as Chen Yu knew, one hundred contribution points could allow him to cultivate in the relics of the Sky Sea Realm for twenty days.

“I wonder what this crystal is used for.”

Chen Yu pondered to himself.

He took out a map that Elder Chang had distributed; it only had some simple and vague lines.

In a short while, Chen Yu had figured out his location. He was still some distance from the Holy Land base marked on the map.

After traveling for a while, Chen Yu encountered a person, one of the six Copper Badge Holy Guards from his trip, the short, plump man.

Elder Chang had mentioned that their transport would drop them near the base, so it was normal to meet a Holy Land member so soon.

Being fellow Holy Land members, Chen Yu rushed over, planning to head to the Holy Land base with him.

“Hold on, are you really planning to go to the base?”

The short, plump man asked with a smile.

“What do you mean by that?” Chen Yu looked puzzled.

“Once we enter the Holy Land base, us Copper Badge Holy Guards will be incorporated into the Silver Emblem Holy Guard’s team, subject to their dispatch. Even if we obtain treasures, they’ll get more of the split, and we’ll be the ones facing dangers on the frontline.”

The short, plump man explained.

“So what should we do?” Chen Yu followed up.

“Actually, in these non-fixed point punitive missions, most of the Holy Guards do this. Only those newbies who don’t know better rush to the Holy Land base.”

“Explore on our own. Killing an aboriginal at the Peak of Early Guiyuan Realm alone nets thirty contribution points, enough for six days of comprehension in the relics of Sky Sea Realm.”

“And if we get the Primordial Spirit Flame Crystal that Elder Chang mentioned, one kilogram is one hundred contribution points!”

The short, plump man’s expression grew excited as he spoke.

Although the punitive mission was dangerous, the freedom of movement afforded by non-fixed point transmission was critical.

Most importantly, during this punitive mission, collecting certain heavenly and earthly treasures could earn substantial contribution points.

This was the best punitive mission the short, plump man had encountered so far.