It was already morning in the outer sect.
The sunlight seeped through the windows.
Li Wei was already awake before the sun rose.
The small room he sat in was quiet. He sat on his meditation cushion, his eyes closed, his breathing slow and steady.
The room was plain, with a small bed made of wood against one wall and a small table with the oil lamp he had used the night before. There was nothing in the room to indicate he was a cultivator with any status.
He opened his eyes again, his breathing steady, and closed them once more, focusing on the faint spiritual energy in the air.
Though in a sect where spiritual energy flowed through the ground beneath the mountain, the energy in the outer sect sleeping quarters was a fragment of a cultivation chamber. But it was enough for Body Tempering.
Slowly, he drew a thread of qi towards himself.
The energy flowed through his meridians, along the channels towards his dantian.
As soon as it reached the damaged core in his abdomen, the familiar pressure reappeared.
Li Wei guided the energy through the damaged structure of his dantian, allowing it to circulate instead of building up.
The system responded, but it was silent.
[Cultivation Active]
Body Tempering – Stage 1
Qi Cultivation Stability: 34%
Li Wei maintained the circulation.
The energy made one full cycle through his meridians before it thinned out and dissipated.
He opened his eyes.
Thirty-four percent stability.
It was still awful, compared to what a normal cultivator might have.
But it was an improvement over what his dantian had been like a few days ago.
Back then, any attempt at controlling the qi resulted in immediate collapse.
Now the energy could at least circulate once or twice before dissipating.
Li Wei stood up from the cushion.
His muscles were slightly stronger than before, having been strengthened by the slow buildup of Body Tempering energy cultivation. The difference was small but sufficient that the effects of the earlier injuries were forgotten.
He walked over to the window and opened it fully.
The cool morning breeze came in through the window.
The outer sect was stirring to life.
Several disciples were already cultivating in the courtyard below. One group was performing sword techniques at the edge of the stone platform, their swords cutting through the mist in clean arcs. Another pair was sparring with wooden staffs, while a third disciple looked on from the sidelines, offering loud and mostly unuseful advice.
Li Wei looked over at the group.
The outer sect was full of disciples seeking progress in small steps.
Some of them would eventually achieve Foundation Establishment.
Most of them would not.
He closed the window and stepped outside.
-----
The hallway outside his room was already bustling with disciples. They went by with weapons or small storage pouches, going towards the training grounds or the mission hall.
Li Wei went down the stone stairs that led towards the main courtyard.
The air had the scent of damp earth and wood smoke coming from the kitchens in the lower part of the dorm.
When he arrived in the courtyard, a sudden outburst of speech caught his attention.
A bunch of outer sect disciples stood near a stone table, talking in hushed but lively tones.
"They raised the rewards again...."
"Of course they did. No one wants to take it."
"Thirty spirit stones is outrageous for an outer sect mission."
"That's because the last two teams did not return."
Li Wei slowed down slightly.
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"Black Fang Valley is too dangerous."
"Someone said they saw a second-rank spirit beast there."
"Second-ranked?"
"Then isn't that a mission for Qi Gathering cultivators?" said another cultivator from the group.
"Why does the elder keep posting the mission?"
The group talked for a while before eventually dispersing, each disciple going to different sections of the courtyard.
Li Wei continued to stand there for a moment.
Black Fang Valley.
The name sounded familiar.
There were spirit beast suppression missions occasionally posted on the sect bulletin board when the spirit beasts were roaming too close to the sect grounds.
Thirty spirit stones, however, was a high price for the mission.
Li Wei looked in the direction of the path leading to the mission hall.
-----
The mission hall was busier than usual.
The large wooden hall was located to the east of the outer sect, close to the courtyard, and to the north of his dorm. The wide entrance was open to the courtyard, and inside the hall, there were dozens of disciples gathered around the bulletin boards mounted on the walls.
Some of the disciples ripped the notices down the moment they were put up, while others debated the risks involved in the missions.
Li Wei stepped inside the room.
The instant he did, the sounds of the disciples increased in intensity.
"I told you we should have taken the escort mission."
"That one only pays eight spirit stones."
"At least it doesn't involve us fighting any spirit beasts."
Li Wei did not pay any attention to the conversations and walked closer to the main mission board.
There were a few notices put up recently:
Herb collection
Material transportation
Escort missions
His eyes moved over the board until they came to rest at a notice placed somewhere in the middle of the board:
Black Fang Valley – Spirit Beast Suppression
Reward: 30 Spirit Stones
Maximum Participants: Five
Risk Level: High
Li Wei read the notice carefully:
The Black Fang Valley was located several miles beyond the outer sect territory. The area was heavily forested and was notorious for the presence of spirit beasts.
Normally, the missions involving spirit beasts were undertaken by the disciples of the inner sect.
The fact that this mission was put up here indicated that the spirit beasts had started causing problems in the area.
Li Wei activated the system interface.
He started to scan the surrounding disciples.
[Target Analysis]
Name: Wu Liang
Cultivation: Body Tempering – 6th Layer
Fate Grade: White
Potential Ceiling: Peak Foundation Establishment
Another.
[Target Analysis]
Name: Chen Bo
Cultivation: Body Tempering – 5th Layer
Fate Grade: White
Potential Ceiling: Peak Foundation Establishment
Most of the results were similar.
White fate.
Limited potential.
Next, another panel appeared.
[Target Analysis]
Name: Sun Jian
Cultivation: Body Tempering – 10th Layer
Fate Grade: Blue
Potential Ceiling: Late Golden Core
Li Wei paused briefly.
Sun Jian was at the front of the board, speaking with two other disciples. His posture was confident, and the others surrounding him slightly bowed their heads when he talked to them.
Blue fate was extremely rare within the outer sect.
Harvesting fate from someone like that would give a much higher reward than harvesting it from any other disciple.
Li Wei looked away.
Across the hall, another person had entered.
Zhao Tian.
The noise level inside the mission hall had decreased slightly as people made room for him.
The level of cultivation energy emanating from Zhao Tian alone was enough to attract people's attention.
Qi Gathering cultivators were not common among the outer sect disciples.
Zhao Tian headed straight towards the mission board.
He scanned through all the mission notifications quickly before locking eyes with the Black Fang Valley mission parchment.
He read it once, then ripped it off the board.
Several disciples immediately approached him.
In no time, a small group had formed around Zhao Tian as they began discussing the mission.
Li Wei watched him from across the hall.
Then, Li Wei activated the system again.
[Target Analysis]
Name: Zhao Tian
Cultivation: Qi Gathering – 3rd Layer
Fate Grade: Purple (Unstable)
Potential Ceiling: Core Formation
Li Wei made a slight expression.
Before, Zhao Tian's potential had been rated as Nascent Soul.
Now, it had decreased.
Another line had appeared under the panel.
[Fate Instability Detected]
Li Wei read it over for a moment.
There were consequences to using Fate Command on Zhao Tian's destiny.
Removing part of Zhao Tian's fate had caused instability in the overall structure of Zhao Tian's fate.
This meant that Zhao Tian's opportunities might not be unfolding as they should.
Across the hall, Zhao Tian had finished choosing his team members.
Five disciples in total.
More than enough to deal with an ordinary spirit beast hunting mission.
Zhao Tian and his team members had spoken briefly with the supervising elder before exiting the hall.
Li Wei stayed where he was.
The moment Zhao Tian exited, however, the system interface flickered.
A new notification had appeared.
[Future Event Detected]
Location: Black Fang Valley
Karmic Probability: High
Li Wei looked at the message once.
A new message appeared under the last one.
Fatality Risk: Detected
The message stayed for a few seconds and then disappeared.
Li Wei stood quietly in the mission hall.
If the system was correct, something important would happen in Black Fang Valley.
And someone might not make it through.
Meanwhile, outside the mission hall, Zhao Tian and his team were already moving towards the sect gate.
Li Wei turned and began moving towards the exit.
The mission hall still sounded noisy with disciples quarreling over some mundane matters.
But Li Wei went past all of them without stopping.
Because if a major karmic event was about to occur, he wanted to be around when it happened.
