I Have Medicine

Chapter 538 - (Task of the Eight Desolations City) Mandatory Task

Gongyi Tianheng no longer teased Gu Zuo. Since the two had finished selecting their items, they returned together to the front of the private treasury.

The Blood Transformation Palace Master, Xue Li, was waiting there.

Upon seeing the two, he smiled and asked, “Did you find anything you liked?”

Typically, Gu Zuo and Gongyi Tianheng wouldn’t hide anything from the Blood Transformation Palace Master.

So, they quickly took out the items they had chosen for him to see:

“Please take a look, Master.”

“Master, please examine this.”

The Blood Transformation Palace Master was well-versed and, with a glance, he understood the context, feeling slightly moved by the deep bond between the two.

However, being a person of strong will, he quickly brushed aside that moment of sentiment: “You two could have chosen something more precious.”

To be honest, while the items before him were good, their value was still far inferior to what the two had presented.

Gongyi Tianheng replied, “These six items are the most suitable and are what the disciple and Gu Zuo need the most.”

The Blood Transformation Palace Master nodded and praised, “To not be swayed by external things and to stay true to one’s heart—my disciple, you and Gu Zuo are indeed remarkable. You will surely achieve great things in the future.”

Gongyi Tianheng smiled, “Master, you flatter me. I will do my utmost.”

Gu Zuo also expressed his gratitude, “I am grateful as well.”

After that, the Blood Transformation Palace Master stopped elaborating and led the two of them out of the private treasury.

As they exited, it was strange that the blood pool and the people within it, along with the smell of blood that they could sense moments ago, had all vanished.

Gu Zuo was a bit surprised, “Is this… an illusion?”

The Blood Transformation Palace Master hadn’t expected him to react so quickly, and replied, “That’s not entirely wrong. However, this is not a common illusion. It’s a projection created by my father using the power of the Cosmic Realm to bring everything from the secret chamber to you, so that you could communicate smoothly.”

Gu Zuo was taken aback, “A projection?”

The Blood Transformation Palace Master nodded, “Indeed.”

Gu Zuo felt even more shaken.

Just a moment ago, he could clearly smell the stench of blood and felt the pervasive blood energy and the pressure from the Heaven Lord in the air… all of it had felt incredibly real!

Could it be that all of this was created by the Blood Transformation Heaven Lord’s power, so lifelike that even he, a rather competent pharmacist, was deceived?

If just one Heaven Lord possessed such ability, that would be one thing. But if all Heaven Lords had such power upon reaching this realm, then they would indeed be terrifying!

Terrifying enough to inspire a sense of despair…

Gu Zuo quickly suppressed these thoughts, knowing that it wasn’t suitable for him to pursue every detail, so he didn’t voice his questions. However, the Blood Transformation Palace Master looked at Gongyi Tianheng with a hint of gravity in his expression.

Seeing this, Gongyi Tianheng straightened up, listening intently.

The Blood Transformation Palace Master spoke, “There’s another task this time, one that you need to complete.”

Shortly after, the three returned to the main hall of the Blood Transformation Palace, where the Blood Transformation Palace Master relayed the details of the matter to Gongyi Tianheng and Gu Zuo.

The Blood Transformation Palace Master continued, “In our sect, all inner disciples who reach the Ascendant Realm are required to complete a specific task, and the content of these tasks is uniform.”

The Ten Ultimates Sect, as a silver-ranked force, possessed an expansive territory within the Ten Ultimates Territory, containing countless unranked cities, as well as numerous black iron and bronze-ranked cities. Some cities, originally of bronze rank, had later gained Cosmic Realm experts under the sect’s protection. Due to the limited number of these experts, these cities could not easily stand independently and thus hadn’t advanced in rank. Although still classified as bronze-ranked powers, they were, in truth, shallow-rooted silver-ranked forces.

For these silver-ranked cities to establish true independence, they would need sufficient resources, strength, and a considerable “ransom” to effectively “buy back” their autonomy from the Ten Ultimates Sect.

But to return to the point—

With so many cities, it was naturally essential to send people to each one to maintain the sect’s authority and secure critical information within these territories. The best choice for these guardians was often a disciple whose reputation and honor were closely tied to the sect. However, the ambient spiritual energy in these distant places was far less concentrated than within the Ten Ultimates Sect’s borders, making these locations less suitable for cultivation. Consequently, capable disciples were generally reluctant to spend their time there. Furthermore, certain cities posed more challenging assignments, as the role of a guardian often demanded taking action when disturbances arose. In some cases, these assignments could cost the guardians their very lives.

However, the sect didn’t train these disciples to let them leisurely cultivate within its walls and turn them into sheltered hothouse flowers.

The abilities of those in the Immortal Realm and the Atomic Realm were insufficient. Once a disciple attained the Ascendant Realm, they were required to rely on their own capabilities to undertake such a compulsory mission.

Of course, the duration of the assignment wasn’t long—the sect had many disciples, so with each one spending three years, there were enough to safeguard all the cities.

For someone like Gongyi Tianheng, who had advanced rapidly and was already a Ascendant Realm martial artist, this compulsory mission had arrived, as he was a high-priority, full-star prodigy under intense cultivation.

He was to guard Eight Desolations City!

Eight Desolations City was the place where Gongyi Tianheng had to fulfill his mission… and it was also the reason for the Blood Transformation Palace Master’s grave expression.

At this point, Gu Zuo couldn’t help but ask, “Palace Master, what’s unique about Eight Desolations City?”

The Blood Transformation Palace Master sighed, “Within the vast Central Continent, every major silver-ranked or higher force has regions that border foreign tribes.”

Gu Zuo was taken aback.

The Palace Master’s expression turned serious: “These aren’t slave tribes; rather, they’re ancient races, non-human groups whose relations with humans are not exactly friendly.”

In that instant, a mental image unfolded in Gu Zuo’s mind like a map, capturing everything the Blood Transformation Palace Master had described, roughly sorted and categorized.

Gongyi Tianheng then asked, “What tribe does Eight Desolations City border?”

The Blood Transformation Palace Master replied, “The Blue-Eyed Clan, the Giant Rock Clan, and the Demon Wolf Clan.”

Gu Zuo thought privately: Just from their names, none of these sound like particularly friendly groups…

And indeed, these tribes were anything but amicable.

The Blue-Eyed Clan had members who, upon awakening their bloodline, possessed eyes vastly different from regular clan members. These ancestral eyes, sometimes in one eye, sometimes in both, held a soul-capturing power. Anyone who met their gaze would fall under its control, compelled to carry out the commands of the Blue-Eyed Clan.

The Giant Rock Clan had members who, upon bloodline awakening, developed rock-hard bodies with incredible strength, standing between three and five zhang tall. A distinctive trait of this clan was their taste for human flesh, considering it a delicacy of unmatched flavor within their society. They often hunted humans to bring back for feasting and to serve to guests. Undoubtedly, this clan was a mortal enemy to the human race.

The Demon Wolf Clan had awakened members with ancient ancestral blood from the long-extinct primordial Demon Wolf Clan. With a high concentration of this bloodline, they could revert to their ancestral form as primordial demon wolves, unleashing immense power. Once awakened, they could control packs of wild wolf beasts and origin wolves to attack and could access the strength of their ancient wolf ancestors. Unlike the Giant Rock Clan, they didn’t have a particular hunger for human flesh, but they still considered it a delicacy worth savoring. Due to their nature, they inflicted irreparable damage on humans even without a deliberate intent to harm.

Right outside Eight Desolations City, an iron-ranked city, these three tribes maintained branches in the primordial wilderness, causing constant disturbances that left the city’s inhabitants in perpetual unrest.

Without question, anyone assigned to Eight Desolations City would inevitably face attacks from these three tribes. They would need to rally the city’s defenses and safeguard its people against these assaults.

If the person assigned to this mission lacked sufficient skill, they wouldn’t be able to command the city’s forces, and they might even fall while attempting to defend it.

In the past, those assigned to guard Eight Desolations City were mostly martial artists at or above the advanced stage of the Ascendant Realm. Even so, Eight Desolations City was among the cities with the highest turnover rate for its guardians and one of the most difficult to defend. Typically, once a guardian was assigned to a location, they weren’t permitted to return until their task duration was complete. The reason for this increased turnover… was essentially due to the guardians’ demise.

Gongyi Tianheng was only at the entry level of the Ascendant Realm, so he didn’t necessarily need to complete his mandatory task immediately; delaying it would have been an option. However, Eight Desolations City’s previous guardian had recently fallen during a beast tide, requiring the urgent dispatch of a replacement. Coincidentally, Gongyi Tianheng had just advanced and gained considerable renown from his achievements in the Prodigy Monument battle…

Thus, Gongyi Tianheng was entrusted with this mission during a critical moment. Moreover, as a full-star prodigy who had received substantial support from the sect since the beginning, it was expected that he would willingly step forward when the sect faced difficulty.

At this point, Gu Zuo understood and asked, “Palace Master, when will my big brother take up his post?”

Since the mandatory task had already been brought up by the Blood Transformation Palace Master, refusal was no longer an option, and Gu Zuo was certain that his big brother wouldn’t decline.

The Blood Transformation Palace Master replied, “Eight Desolations City is quite distant from here. Even with a teleportation array, it would take several days to arrive. Therefore, the sooner, the better.” He paused briefly, “At most, there will be only two or three days to prepare.”

Gongyi Tianheng smiled at the Blood Transformation Palace Master upon hearing this and said, “Master, rest assured. I’ll make the necessary arrangements and head to my post immediately. Once there, I’ll do my utmost not to bring shame to you.”

The Blood Transformation Palace Master sighed, “I would actually prefer if you could stay and develop yourself further before taking on this task.” He added, “This guardianship duty is not merely a test of one’s martial prowess—though the stronger one’s martial skills, the better their chances of survival. I believe you will accomplish great things, Tianheng. However, once you depart, if there comes a time when success is out of reach, I hope you’ll prioritize survival above all. Three years from now, I wish for us to meet again.”

Gu Zuo was deeply moved by the Palace Master’s concern for his big brother.

Hearing his master’s words, Gongyi Tianheng nodded solemnly and replied, “Rest assured, Master. I will survive.”

The Blood Transformation Palace Master then instructed Gongyi Tianheng on several matters, such as taking his battle slaves along to form a personal squad that would support his authority in Eight Desolations City and help him defend it. There was no limit to the number of battle slaves he could bring, so he should bring as many as possible. As for matters in his estate, the Palace Master promised to watch over them and ensure that his assets would remain secure.

Gongyi Tianheng expressed his gratitude once more.

Finally, the Blood Transformation Palace Master said, “Disciple, after you depart this time, there is another matter you must pay close attention to.”

Gongyi Tianheng asked, “What would that be, Master?”

The Blood Transformation Palace Master replied, “It concerns the matter of the Cuckoo Body.”

Gongyi Tianheng felt a slight shiver in his heart.

“Tianheng, the daughter of Eight Desolations City’s lord was abducted as a child but was quickly recovered and has been cherished by her father ever since. She is exceedingly beautiful. Although her aptitude didn’t seem remarkable at first, she grew stronger over time after repeatedly fighting off the foreign races’ attacks. With her seemingly modest abilities, she has surpassed many of her peers. It’s said that, now over twenty years old, she decided to hold a martial competition to find a husband in the wake of a recent defeat. This event aims to bring some cheer to the city and to find someone capable of defeating her, who would then marry her and help protect Eight Desolations City alongside her…”

“This young woman has earned considerable renown in the city. Her father treasures her, and many outstanding men both admire and adore her. Such a woman would naturally be respected by our Ten Ultimates Sect. However, our spies in the area have discovered some subtle anomalies. Tianheng, as you go this time, try to investigate whether she is somehow connected to those operating in the shadows.”

Gongyi Tianheng listened carefully to the Blood Transformation Palace Master’s final instructions and solemnly agreed, “Rest assured, Master. I will carefully examine the matter. If there is indeed anything amiss with this woman, I will respond accordingly.”