Wan Lihan stood before the table, his expression completely blank as the heavy reality settled into his mind. I have no other choice, he calculated coldly. In this sect, if I do not accept the assigned labor, I will be immediately stripped and removed from the mountain. To survive, I must endure.
"I accept the contract," Lihan said smoothly.
Supervisor Meng let out a low, mocking chuckle from the shadow of his office door. His wrinkled face curled into a vicious grin. "Good. You have exactly five days to fill that fifty-ton pond to the brim. If it is short by even a single drop when the deadline hits, you pack your bags and leave."
The moment the supervisor turned away, Fe Tian rushed over, his face tight with guilt. "I'm so sorry, Brother Lihan... we want to help you right now, but the three of us are forced to go up the far ridges for a Level 4 plant-gathering contract first. The moment we finish harvesting our quota, we will immediately run down and help you carry the load!"
Lihan gave them a short, neutral nod. "Focus on your own mission."
Walking over to the tool rack, Lihan gripped the handles of the two massive wooden buckets. The moment he lifted the empty structures, a flash of surprise crossed his eyes. Even without a drop of water inside them, the raw density of the wood was heavy.
Descending the thousands of steep stone steps on foot, Lihan arrived at the roaring riverbanks. He set the buckets down, filling them to the surface with the crashing river water. Before lifting them, he didn't waste a single second of his isolation; he drew his iron blade, executing a hundred rapid physical sword swings against the air to keep his muscle memory sharp, before dropping into a short cross-legged stance to nourish a thread of Qi.
Once his meridians stabilized, he balanced the heavy wooden yoke across his neck, lifting the two filled buckets.
The sheer, weight drove his balance violently . He began the grueling walk back up the mountain trail, but by the time he had navigated only halfway through the ascent, his chest was heaving erratically. His muscles screamed in agony, and his limbs felt like dead weights. He was completely exhausted.
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Lihan stopped on a stone step, panting heavily as sweat caked his black robes. It's not heavy but the steps are thousand , his mind calculated rapidly. At this physical pace, filling a fifty-ton pond on foot within five days is mathematically impossible. Think... how about I inject my internal energy directly into the base of the buckets to counteract the gravity?
Shifting his focus, he channeled a thin thread of his hidden 4th Layer Qi Cleansing aura into his boots, creating a localized lifting force and light walk. He lifted the yoke again.
It worked. The pressure instantly turned lighter, the weight manageable enough for his legs to drive faster forward.
Lihan sprinted up the remaining steps, dumping the contents into the colossal stone basin at the peak of the ridge. He looked inside. The massive storage pond hadn't even filled up by half a percent. The volume was simply too enormous. By the time the sun hit the noon apex, Lihan’s hands were raw, but he refused to give up. He ran and sprinted back down the mountain, filled the buckets, channeled his Qi, and hauled them back up.
He repeated the agonizing cycle loop after loop. The afternoon bled into twilight, and twilight bled into pitch-black midnight. By the time the moon reached its peak, the pond was still nowhere near the halfway mark. The friction of the wooden handles had completely torn the skin off Lihan’s palms, leaving his hands caked in fresh, dripping blood.
Suddenly, the rustling of leaves echoed as Fe Tian, Rou Zhou, and Chu Tang finally burst into the plaza, dropping their herb sacks to hand Lihan a basket of warm food.
"Step away from the water!" a freezing, high-pressure voice roared through the dark.
Supervisor Meng stepped out from the trail, his formidable 14th Layer Qi Cleansing aura exploding outward like a physical wall. The sheer spiritual weight crashed down onto the three roommates, pinning their legs to the stone. "The contract belongs to a single recruit! Anyone caught assisting him will be instantly removed from the Xinwu Sect by my hand!"
Fe Tian gritted his teeth against the suffocating pressure, his face turning red with absolute fury. "Bullshit! You're not enforcing rules—you're intentionally torturing him!"
"Silence, insect!" Supervisor Meng barked, flicking his wrist to unleash a concentrated blast of Qi that instantly overpowered Fe Tian, sending the 3rd Layer disciple crashing violently into the dirt.
Before a bloody brawl could erupt, Lihan stepped directly between them. He gently pushed Fe Tian back, his face returning to a perfectly calm, expressionless mask despite his bleeding palms. He looked straight into Supervisor Meng's greedy eyes.
"Senior status is absolute," Lihan said, his voice a flat, freezing whisper. "I can do this myself. Tsk."