Chapter 573: Fortress of the Fang Clan

"Really?! What kind of news?" Shi Mu asked with surprise and joy.

"I have a younger brother on duty at the Convention Pavilion. I just called him and asked about the Millennium Burning ginseng. He said that the ginseng is currently being offered as a reward for successfully completing a certain mission," Xu Yuan said.

"Well, in that case, I'll leave for the Convention Pavilion," Shi Mu stood up to leave as soon as he heard his words.

"Brother Shi Mu, you're going to take on this task?"

"Of course," Shi Mu replied without a second thought.

"Based on what my brother said, the task is difficult. The reward attracted countless disciples, but all were either unsuccessful or fell in battle. If brother Shi Mu is going to pick up this task, you must be extra careful."

"Thank you for your reminder, brother Xu Yuan," Shi Mu nodded.

"There's no need," Xu Yuan smiled lightly.

"I won't forget about your help today. If you ever need a hand, please don't hesitate to look for me," Shi Mu's expression turned serious as he bowed before hastily leaving.

...

After a while, Shi Mu appeared in the Convention Pavilion.

The number of people here seemed to be a lot less than before. The entire hall looked almost deserted.

Seeing this situation, Shi Mu could not help but think of the mysterious sacred mission Qi Feng mentioned. Perhaps most disciples were out on that mission.

He shook his head from thinking about it too much as he went to the stone wall to browse through the lists of tasks.

Soon, Shi Mu's eyes lit up and a small line of words caught his eye.

The mission was to explore a mine. One must be able to sneak into it and retrieve a particular item. The reward would be the Millennium Burning ginseng and a hefty amount of spirit stones.

The publisher was from the Fang Clan located in the Jade Waving Sea Star and the mines one would have to explore were located in the Jade Waving Sea Star as well.

"Jade Waving Sea Star..." Shi Mu murmured.

The Jade Waving Sea Star was a planet belonging to one of the four major starfield dimensions of the Holy Land of Qinglan. However, it was still a distance to East-Saint.

In the case of the Jade Waving Sea Star, he had read in some classical books that the Heaven and Earth aura was extremely special. This particular place had a very unique spiritual land and it was especially good for cultivating various spirit herbs. Due to its rich aura, growing medicinal herbs took less time, so it was given the name "Green Orchid Medicinal Garden". It was no surprise that such rare materials like the Millennium Burning ginseng could be easily rewarded as a gift.

Unfortunately, if someone tried to obtain soil from the Jade Waving Sea Star, it would immediately revert back to ordinary soil like any other.

There were some explanations behind the mission. The mine was deep underground. Due to the existence of many special metal deposits nearby, the ground was filled with a strange kind of magnetic field which greatly limited the operation of Real Qi.

Shi Mu's eyes showed a slight flash of surprise.

There was such a natural magnetic field that limited the true mana and Real Qi of a place which was similar to some type of array effect.

This task was not easy. Since one's Real Qi would be limited and physical strength was not enough, it was no wonder so many disciples failed.

However, no matter how difficult this task was, Shi Mu was determined to go through with it.

Moreover, he had an advantage.

Shi Mu thought about it for a moment then turned his hand around to unleash his Xuanling Wall. A ray of bright blue light flew out of the stone tablet and landed into his Xuanling Wall.

After picking up the task, he did not stay in the Convention Pavilion any longer. After half an hour, Shi Mu arrived at a huge hall in the Xuanling Tower.

Among the halls was a large transporter portal that emitted radiant light.

This was the transportation portal of Qinglan which connected the major planets. The Jade Waving Sea Star was included in one of the major planets as well. However, the cost was not cheap. Each time he was to travel to the Jade Waving Sea Star, it would cost him five Xuanling points.

Shi Mu went in and saw a number of squadrons.

"Brother, are you heading to the Jade Waving Sea Star?" asked a woman in a green robe standing next to the portal. She seemed to be a disciple who was still in her early stages of Earth rank.

Shi Mu nodded and took out his Xuanling Wall to make his payment.

"Oh, it turns out you're brother Shi Mu of the millennium disciples. Forgive me if I disrespected you in any way," the woman said respectfully.

"No problem, but please make it quick. I'm in a hurry."

Shi Mu waved his hand as he set foot into the transporter portal.

He looked around and noticed that there were dozens of transmission portals in the hall that connected to all the planets of the Magnum Solis. He could not help but be amazed at the power and strength the Holy Land possessed.

The woman in the green robe immediately took out a token and began chanting a spell as she waved for a ray of white light.

The entire portal shook violently as a glaring light flashed in Shi Mu's eyes.

He became dizzy, and as soon as he snapped back to reality, he realized he had arrived at another stone temple.

In the open space next to the stone temple was a young man with a pale face and two horns on his forehead. He had a cold expression as he locked eyes with Shi Mu before closing his eyes again.

Shi Mu did not pay attention to this person and quickly walked out of the stone temple.

Outside the main hall was a city, comparable in size to the district city of East-Saint.

The city was quite lively, with various shops located on both sides. There were more rare herbs and spiritual materials compared to the Holy Land of Qinglan.

On a weekday, Shi Mu would likely take the time to stroll around the city and purchase some spirit medicines, but right now all he could think about was the Millennium Burning ginseng.

He first purchased a map of the Jade Waving Sea Star to identify the location of the Fang Clan. After that, he quickly summoned a green-winged flying carriage toward the direction of the Fang Clan.

As part of the planet of the East-Saint Star, the Jade Waving Sea Star was not as far and wide as East-Saint. In just a full day of traveling, he arrived at the residence of the Fang Clan.

On the way, he discovered a lot of abandoned mines and he could not help but think about the Cerulean Sea Star.

For now, he had no time to look after these.

A huge fortress was built among the rolling peaks. The castle covered an area of ​​twenty to thirty miles.

The entire fortress was shrouded in a huge barrier array with an illusion effect. Even if ordinary people were close, they would still have difficulty locating it and breaking through.

With Shi Mu's golden eyesight, however, no magical effect or illusion could get by him.

He stopped outside the fortress as his golden eyes glanced through the surroundings. He looked around in circles for a moment then waved a beam of red light toward an array somewhere.

Bang!

The barrier outside the fortress trembled slightly.

A moment later, a sharp scream came from inside as a gap broke through the barrier, from where a large green eagle flew out. It was seven or eight feet in size, and its eyes were like a torch.

Two young men in gray robes were standing on top of the eagle's back. Both of them seemed to be human.

One of them had a long narrow face. His eyebrows were fine, with a cold expression. The other man was shorter and his face was slightly fatter, but he wore a warm smile.

Both of them were in their early stages of Earth rank, and they had small swords around their belts.

The young man who stood in front was in his last stage of Earth rank. He was not so different from Shi Mu.

"Who are you? What's your purpose for coming here?" one of the young men looked at Shi Mu from head to toe and asked in an unpleasant tone.

Shi Mu let out a sigh as he forced a bitterly awkward smile.

He rarely wore the robes of the Qinglan disciples, but at the moment it seemed necessary.

"I am Shi Mu, a millennial disciple of Qinglan. I received a task from your clan so I've come here today to deal with it," Shi Mu said as he took out his Xuanling Wall.

"A millennium disciple of the Holy Land!"

The two looked at each other in shock. Although Shi Mu dressed casually, the Xuanling Wall in his hand proved his words were true.

"But..." the young man with a fine eye turned and said.

"It turned out to be sect fellow Shi Mu. My name is Jing De and this is Jing Hai. Sect fellow Shi Mu, please follow us inside."

After introducing themselves, the young man gave a warm smile as they rode back on the back of the eagle, leading the way toward the barrier.

Shi Mu nodded and followed closely behind.

The fine-eyed youth named Jing Hai seemed somewhat unhappy, but he kept his feelings to himself and urged the eagle to fly toward the inner fortress.

The three of them soon passed through the barrier to the inner fortress.

With his visions, Shi Mu was able to see the situation inside the fortress before he even physically came in. The magnificent fortress in front of him was huge and shining brightly. The ancient fortresses that were scattered around added a mysterious vibe to it.

"Such small places are an embarrassment to sect fellow Shi Mu, I suppose," Jing De said.

"Oh no, the fortress is quite extraordinary! It's such an eye-opener," Shi Mu laughed.

"Sect fellow Shi Mu, it seems that you're in your late stages of Earth rank, am I right? Forgive me for being blunt but for the past three months, there have been several groups of disciples who came over, accepting the task. All of them were already in their early or mid-stages of Heaven rank but the result wasn't good. Some gave up and some even perished. Are you really confident you're able to complete this mission?" Jing Hai asked in a stern tone with a hint of sarcasm.

"Jing Hai, this is a guest of the Holy Land. You dare speak this way?!" Jing De said.

"I'm only telling him the truth. If he met an unfortunate end in the mine, our clan would have to spend a lot of time explaining what went wrong to the higher-ups of Qinglan," Jing Hai sneered as he looked at Shi Mu. His body turned into a beam of gray light as he went down toward the fortress, leaving both Jing De and Shi Mu behind.

"Sect fellow Shi Mu, please forgive me. This is Jing Hai's character. I'd like to apologize on his behalf," Jing De said.

"It's no problem," Shi Mu replied.

The two quickly landed on a square in the old fortress. Several gray-robed clansmen with imposing expressions came out and greeted them. Standing among the clansmen was Jing Hai, who looked at Shi Mu with disdain.

Shi Mu's eyes flashed as the oldest clansman caught his eye. He was a warrior already at Heaven rank.

The others seemed similar to brother Ling Feng.

Jing De and Jing Hai both exuded the same vibe but Shi Mu did not pay much attention.

It seemed this clan possessed a mastery of sword techniques.

"You must be the millennium disciple of the Holy Land of Qinglan named Shi Mu. I am Fang Bozheng, the head of the Fang clan. Welcome to our fortress," the Heaven-ranked old man said.

"Thank you for your generosity. I'm only here to help complete the task of the Fang clan. There's no need to be so polite," replied Shi Mu.

Fang Bozheng looked at Shi Mu from head to toe with a flash in his eyes. Still, he invited Shi Mu into the fortress politely.

After exchanging pleasantries, Shi Mu began asking for more information on the task.

"Sect fellow Shi Mu is indeed a resolute and vigorous person," Fang Bozheng said with a faint smile on his face.

Seeing this, Shi Mu sat politely and paid attention.