A light knocking sound suddenly came from outside his door.
Li Jian frowned slightly, stood up, and walked over to open it.
Standing outside was a young man wearing the robes of the outer sect, but with a distinct black token hanging at his waist.
And the token was engraved with the mark of the Discipline Hall.
Li Jian’s brows immediately furrowed.
’A Discipline Hall disciple? What does the Discipline Hall want from me?’
Before he could speak, the Discipline Hall disciple looked at him with a cold, indifferent expression and directly unfolded a jade slip in his hand.
"Outer disciple Li Jian," the man said in a flat, official tone.
"According to sect records, your contribution points for the past three months are severely lacking. As an outer disciple of the Purple Shade Sect, failing to fulfill the minimum contribution requirement is a violation of sect rules."
Hearing that, Li Jian’s heart sank slightly.
Before he could explain or argue, the Discipline Hall disciple continued coldly,
"Therefore, you are required to immediately head out and complete a contribution mission. Pack your things and prepare to depart."
"Wait—"
Li Jian had only just opened his mouth when the man suddenly smiled coldly.
"There is no need for you to choose. The Discipline Hall has already accepted a suitable mission on your behalf."
He tossed a mission paper toward Li Jian.
Li Jian caught it and lowered his eyes to read.
The moment he saw the contents, his expression froze.
Mission: Eliminate the Ironback Demon Wolf near Qinghe Village.
Estimated Strength: 8th Stage of Qi Refinement.
Reward: 30 Contribution Points.
Li Jian’s face instantly darkened.
"...8th Stage of Qi Refinement?"
He looked up at the Discipline Hall disciple with an ugly expression.
"I am only at the 3rd Stage of Qi Refinement. Sending me to hunt an 8th Stage demon wolf... isn’t this just telling me to go die?"
The Discipline Hall disciple showed no change in expression.
He only looked at Li Jian with open disdain and spoke coldly,
"An outer disciple who does not contribute is already dead weight to the sect. Whether you complete the mission or die trying... that is your own business."
With that, he turned around and left without giving Li Jian any chance to argue further.
Li Jian stood at the doorway, tightly gripping the mission paper, his face ashen.
’These bastards...’
They are clearly trying to push me into a dead end.
Li Jian stood at the doorway for a long time after the Discipline Hall disciple left, the mission paper still tightly clenched in his hand.
At first, anger filled his chest.
An 8th Stage Ironback Demon Wolf.
With his current cultivation at only the 3rd Stage of Qi Refinement, this was not a mission... it was a death sentence.
Even a normal 5th or 6th Stage outer disciple would have to be extremely careful when facing such a beast, let alone someone like him.
But the longer he stood there, the more a different feeling slowly rose in his heart.
’Strange...’
The more he thought about it, the more something about this situation felt off.
His lack of contribution was real.
That much he could accept.
Many outer disciples who focused only on surviving or being used as test subjects often fell behind on contribution points.
The Discipline Hall using that as an excuse to force missions onto weaker disciples was also not unheard of.
But the problem was the mission itself.
Why specifically assign me an 8th Stage demon wolf?
There were plenty of lower-level contribution missions available... gathering herbs, cleaning certain areas, escorting low-value goods, hunting weaker beasts.
Any one of those would have been enough to make up for his lack of contribution.
Yet they had directly assigned him a mission that far exceeded his cultivation level.
Li Jian’s eyes slowly narrowed.
This doesn’t feel like a simple matter of enforcing sect rules...
’It feels more like someone deliberately wants me dead.’
The image of Zhao Ming’s disdainful face from the day before flashed through his mind, followed by Han Jin and Su Qin, and even Zheng Qingyao’s cold indifference.
Is it related to one of them?
Or is there someone else behind this?
Just as that thought settled in Li Jian’s mind, a familiar mechanical voice suddenly rang out.
[Ding!]
[Detected: Indirect harm caused by Zhao Ming.]
[Zhao Ming has secretly influenced the Discipline Hall to assign Host a fatal mission.]
[Favor Debt from Zhao Ming: 70 → 100]
Li Jian’s eyes instantly turned cold.
Zhao Ming... So it really was him.
That handsome inner disciple who had mocked him inside Zheng Qingyao’s alchemy room had not simply let the matter go.
After seeing him as nothing more than disposable trash, Zhao Ming had actually gone a step further and used his connections to push a death mission onto him through the Discipline Hall.
Thirty points of Favor Debt had been generated just from this plot alone.
Li Jian slowly tightened his grip on the mission paper, the corners of his mouth curling into a cold, dangerous smile.
’Using the Discipline Hall to send me to my death... Zhao Ming, you really think highly of yourself.’
Li Jian stood there for a while longer before slowly calming down.
No matter how unwilling he was, directly rejecting a mission assigned by the Discipline Hall was not a good idea.
In the Purple Shade Sect, the Discipline Hall held real authority over outer disciples. Refusing an official contribution mission would only give them a legitimate reason to punish him even more harshly.
He first tried another approach.
He lowered his eyes to the system panel once more.
[Favor Debt from Zhao Ming: 100]
[Favor Debt from Zheng Qingyao: 150]
[Favor Debt from Han Jin: 1,945]
[Favor Debt from Su Qin: 1,950]
[Favor Debt from Nangong Mei: 100]
Focusing on the system, he silently issued a request.
Zhao Ming, cancel the mission you arranged for me through the Discipline Hall.
The system responded almost immediately.
[Request failed.]
[Insufficient Favor Debt points.]
[Required points: 200]
[Current Favor Debt from Zhao Ming: 100]
Li Jian clicked his tongue.
’200 points... and I only have 100.’
As expected, making an inner disciple cancel something he had already arranged was not cheap.
He frowned and began thinking of other methods.
Relying on himself to kill an 8th Stage Ironback Demon Wolf was almost impossible with his current strength.
Running away would also leave a record of mission failure, which would only bring more trouble later.
Just as his thoughts were turning, a sudden realization clicked in his mind.
’That’s right... I still have a massive amount of Favor Debt with Su Qin and Han Jin.’
His eyes lit up slightly as he immediately asked the system,
"If I request Han Jin and Su Qin to protect me and help me slay the Ironback Demon Wolf and escort me back to the sect, how many points will it cost?"
The system calculated for a brief moment before responding.
[Request Evaluation:]
[Han Jin – Protect Host and help slay the Ironback Demon Wolf and return to the sect: 500 points]
[Su Qin – Protect Host and help slay the Ironback Demon Wolf and return to the sect: 500 points]