I Pick up a Lost Godhood-Chapter 38 - 36: Secret Crush

After leaving Zhou Qian’s courtyard, Wang Meng pondered who the fifth person should be. He didn’t know many people, but he needed to fill the roster. He thought of someone who would probably agree.

Ma Tian’Er.

"Me?" Ma Tian’Er pointed to herself, her face flushing. "S-Senior Brother, can I really do it? I don’t know how to do anything."

"The important thing is to participate. Don’t worry, we’ll do our best to beat them three to zero!"

Wang Meng said, though that line could probably only fool a kind-hearted girl like Ma Tian’Er.

"Okay, I’m willing to do my part for Thunderlight Hall!"

The senior sisters nearby gave the two of them teasing looks. They thought Wang Meng’s strength was only average, but he had the redeeming quality of being a real man. He wasn’t a coward. What was the use of a man who didn’t dare to step up when it mattered?

"So brave!"

Wang Meng gave a thumbs-up.

"Oh, right, Senior Brother, you left this Wind Cloud Talisman here last time. It doesn’t seem to be the one I made. The skill level is leagues beyond mine."

"Haha, did you learn anything from it?"

"I learned so much from it. The senior brother who made this is a true genius!"

"That’s good. It’s yours. Don’t argue, or I’ll get mad," Wang Meng said with a smile.

"Okay, Senior Brother. I’ll treasure it." Ma Tian’Er tucked it away with extreme care. She knew the one she had made was basically useless; her senior brother had found one made with the complete Wind Cloud Technique just to help her.

Wang Meng waved and left, and Ma Tian’Er saw him all the way to the door.

A hand waved back and forth in front of Ma Tian’Er’s face. "Hello? Still staring? You can’t even see his shadow anymore!"

"Tian’Er, you have good taste. That guy isn’t exactly top-tier handsome, but he definitely has his charm. We support you!"

Thanks to Wang Meng’s outstanding performance a couple of days ago, he had earned the unanimous approval of the sisters. You could improve your strength through cultivation, but there was no cure for a lack of courage.

"By the way, what were you two chatting so happily about?"

"Oh, nothing much. Senior Brother Wang just invited me to join the Hall battle and do my part for Thunderlight Hall." Ma Tian’Er clenched her small fists.

"And you agreed?"

"I did. Why wouldn’t I?" Ma Tian’Er said, looking baffled.

A chorus of feminine shrieks and sighs immediately erupted. "Xiaotian, you’re hopeless!"

"How could you agree to that? Oh, my god!"

"That damn Wang Meng, tricking our naive Xiaotian who doesn’t know any better!"

"Exactly! That bastard! This won’t do. We’ll refuse for you. You’re a Technique Cultivator going up against those Body Cultivators—isn’t that just asking for death? Besides, Hengshan Hall is full of ruffians. It’s like sending a sheep into a tiger’s den!"

The senior sisters all chimed in at once, and the brilliant image Wang Meng had just established came crashing down.

A lot can happen in half a year.

"Have you heard? Hengshan Hall is starting a Hall battle with Thunderlight Hall!"

"Damn, Hengshan Hall just keeps sinking lower. Picking a fight with riffraff like Thunderlight Hall... I guess they’re birds of a feather," a disciple from Fire Cloud Hall said with contempt.

"Without the Sword Tomb, Thunderlight Hall is as worthless as a roadside pebble. They might as well just disband. Letting them stick around is a waste of resources. It’d be better if their assets were just divided up among the rest of us."

"Just watch. If they can’t even produce a single decent disciple for the annual grand competition, that might actually happen."

The Holy Hall’s Wind Cloud Pavilion. Here, one could buy and sell cultivation supplies far exceeding the quality found in the Sub-Halls. It also listed missions from the Main Hall. These were more varied, offered different rewards, and naturally, came with different levels of difficulty.

The experts from every hall naturally enjoyed coming here. They came to see if there was anything suitable for them, to exchange information, and to make an appearance to broadcast their status.

Another benefit of this place was that you weren’t confined to your own Sub-Hall; people could team up to complete major missions. Besides, anyone who dared to come here had to be reasonably skilled. Such was the way of cultivation: the strong worked with the strong, making the strong even stronger and the weak even weaker.

The Wind Cloud Pavilion, usually marked by clear divisions between its various cliques, suddenly erupted in a commotion. Five people walked in. The leader was someone no one could fail to recognize: Mingren of Lingyin Hall, one of the Nine Heroes of the Holy Hall, who had placed fourth the previous year. Yet he wasn’t the most conspicuous one. The young man beside him was the most eye-catching of all—Li Tianyi.

No one knew who started the rumor, but Li Tianyi was hailed by many Elders and Ancestral Masters as a once-in-a-century genius of the Holy Hall. If it were just talk, that would be one thing. Even seniors could make mistakes in judgment, and besides, talent didn’t equate to actual strength.

But Liangyuan of Immortal Origin Hall had suffered a crushing defeat at his hands, which immediately scared off all other potential challengers. Liangyuan had been ranked third in the previous competition. If even he had lost, this was clearly no laughing matter.

Regarding this "rumor," everyone in Immortal Origin Hall, from top to bottom, remained silent. But the Immortal Origin Hall and Lingyin Hall were now mortal enemies. From the looks of it, the rumor was almost certainly true. At the very least, Liangyuan had suffered a tremendous loss.

"I heard they took on a big one a couple of days ago!" a disciple from the Beast Hall said, pointing a finger toward the ceiling.

The gesture indicated that the mission was one of astronomical difficulty. To encourage the Sub-Halls, the Main Hall would occasionally post missions that were nigh-impossible to complete.

Mingren walked to the mission submission counter and said calmly, "Lingyin Hall. We’re here to complete a mission: the slaying of the Mixed Element Sea Poison Toad King."

The Wind Cloud Pavilion instantly erupted in an uproar. That was the ninth-ranked mission on the list of impossible tasks.

The Elder at the counter was stunned for a moment. He inspected the damaged Poisonous Toad Inner Core—it was authentic.

"Mission completion confirmed. The reward is one thousand contribution points, ten Middle-Grade Spirit Stones, and one hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones."

Zhang Liang was also in the crowd, his heart pounding with excitement. ’Holy hell, so that’s the almighty Li Tianyi? Damn, he’s handsome, has a powerful background, has incredible strength, and looks to boot... tsk, tsk. A guy like that is probably the only one worthy of a fairy like Senior Sister Yang Ying.’

Mingren glanced at Li Tianyi, whose gaze was resolute and unwavering.

"Elder, we wish to post a mission," Mingren said. "Use everything we just earned as the reward for it!"

The Elder across from him was stunned. That was a substantial reward to offer for a new mission. While not unheard of, a bounty of this magnitude was a first.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Tell me the mission details and the time limit."

"We are looking for someone, about six feet tall and around twenty years of age. There are two key points. First, he has a friend who is fat. Second, he is capable of breaking the Nine Heavens Separation Fire Sword. The time limit is half a year."

The Elder’s interest was piqued. He glanced at Li Tianyi, whom he of course knew by reputation. ’Break the Nine Heavens Separation Fire Sword? How is that possible!’

"Very well. The mission is posted. A service fee of ten Low-Grade Spirit Stones will be deducted, regardless of the outcome."

"That’s fine."

The members of Lingyin Hall came and went in a flash, but their departure left the entire Wind Cloud Pavilion in an uproar. Zhang Liang was so excited he felt like he was going to lose his mind. ’There really is a hidden genius in the Holy Hall! The rumors were true after all!’

’But who could it be?’

’There were only two real clues to go on. One: he has a friend who is fat. But... while overweight people weren’t common in the Cultivation Realm, there were still quite a few of them, and they usually have lots of friends. The second clue was much more definitive: he can break the Nine Heavens Separation Fire Sword. Damn, even Liangyuan couldn’t do that. It couldn’t be one of the Nine Heroes of the Holy Hall, so who the hell was it?’

Zhang Liang was dying of curiosity.