บท 4: Chapter 4 Taking Orders
Jiang Cheng never expected that Cao Wang's "channel" would actually refer to an official Task Hall set up in Wuyue City by one of the Five Great Immortal Sects—the Tongtian Sect.
But thinking about it, it made sense.
According to the worldview of the game "Immortal Gods," the vast Skypend Continent is jointly ruled by the five top Immortal Sects of the righteous path.
Among the Five Great Immortal Sects, there is both cooperation and competition.
Mortal powers are free to choose any side of the Immortal Sect for protection.
That is to say, if the Tongtian Sect's branch in Wuyue City does not perform well, allowing all kinds of "irregular" places to spread wantonly, then the cultivators of Wuyue City would naturally seek the shelter of other righteous sects.
If this goes on for long, Wuyue City might change hands from the Tongtian Sect to become the domain of another righteous sect.
Under such a policy, peace and stability replaced the struggles for treasures and magical duels, becoming the mainstream of the Cultivation World.
The branches of the righteous sects in all places are working very hard, fearing that any turmoil within the city would lead to a change of ownership.
For the "irregular" places, efforts were made to suppress and eliminate them as much as possible.
Although it was impossible to eradicate them completely, for an unsophisticated high school student like Jiang Cheng and Cao Wang without anyone to lead the way, finding an irregular place was obviously not easy.
Inside Wuyue City's Task Hall, various types of tasks were written on wooden plaques, sorted, and hung neatly on racks.
There were those like "My family's Spirit Cat has a litter of nine kittens, and I can't afford to feed them all, seeking adoption."
And there were others like "1.8 meters tall, handsome features, gentle temperament, not picky eater."
Such tasks related to spiritual pets were all hung in the special "Spiritual Beast Area" for the convenience of cultivators who needed spiritual beasts.
Jiang Cheng went straight into the "Talisman Area."
The tasks posted here were mostly related to talismans.
Talismans were categorized by strength, from first-grade to ninth-grade. First-grade was the weakest, ninth-grade the strongest.
To correspond to the levels of talismans, the tasks in the Talisman Area were also divided by grade.
Tasks related to first-grade talismans were placed in the space marked with "first-grade."
Jiang Cheng had a second-place level in the national middle and high school students' talisman drawing competition, which was equivalent to a Talisman Master of the first-grade, capable of drawing only first-grade talismans. Thus, he didn't even consider other areas and only looked in the first-grade section.
Common, sought-after talismans would generally have shops seeking professional Talisman Masters for mass production, to then be sold in stores.
Those talismans that appeared in the Task Hall were mostly rare or of the less popular variety.
With the uncertainty in production difficulty, the scarcity of Talisman Masters who could make them, low success rates, potentially unorthodox methods, and the potential for being illegal, these rare and unpopular talismans could often fetch higher prices.
[Urgently seeking a Voice-Changing Talisman!!! Must turn my voice into a cute girl's!!! I have a friend who likes his senior brother...]
A regular Voice-Changing Talisman randomly alters a cultivator's voice, and a talisman like this, which requires specific voice changes, is much more challenging and demanding than the generic type.
Jiang Cheng glanced at the price tagged on this task.
[Thirty low-grade Spirit Stones]
Here's to hope you and your senior brother end up being together.
Next.
[Wisdom Talisman. Not sure if it exists, but I'll ask anyway. My dog is ten years old and still hasn't learned to speak. Every time we go out, I have to translate for it, which is very annoying. I'm looking for a Wisdom Talisman that could increase its intelligence, so my dog can learn to buy groceries and cook...]
Jiang Cheng doesn't know of any Wisdom Talisman, but he can draw a Somnolence Talisman, which causes people to dream during the day.
If this cultivator needs it, he could draw a few extra to give away.
Next.
[Powerful Immobilization Talisman needed! Note that I'm asking for a Powerful Immobilization Talisman, not just an Immobilization Talisman! Look carefully! It should be a first-grade talisman that can immobilize someone for a minute. Those common Immobilization Talismans that only last for a few seconds, don't even bother!]
Jiang Cheng can draw a first-grade Immobilization Talisman.
When used on cultivators of the same realm, it should immobilize them for about five seconds or so.
This duration varies and is generally divided according to the strength of the cultivator. The stronger the cultivator, the shorter the immobilization lasts, and vice versa.
If a Qi Cultivating cultivator uses a first-grade Immobilization Talisman on a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, the enormous difference in strength means it will hardly have any effect.
Jiang Cheng, as a numerical balance designer for "Immortal Gods," was very familiar with various game mechanics for judgements.
In "Immortal Gods," spells of the "control," "attack," and "curse" categories all follow the principle of "might makes right."
Lower-level spells are unlikely to affect higher-level targets, but the reverse can greatly enhance the effect.
Immobilization Talisman is a well-developed "control" type talisman, and its potential had been nearly exhausted by generations of Talisman Masters.
No matter how much a first-grade Immobilization Talisman is optimized and strengthened, it will still only have a few seconds of effect.
If one wishes for a longer immobilization time, it is necessary to increase the level of the Immobilization Talisman to second-grade or even third-grade.
A first-grade Immobilization Talisman that could immobilize someone for a full minute is impossible in the current Cultivation World system.
It would be akin to expecting Stephen Hawking to knock out Uncle Dragon in a furniture store with a single punch.
If someone could create a first-grade Immobilization Talisman that lasted a minute, all Talisman Masters would probably exclaim:
"The laws of Cultivation have ceased to exist!"
Jiang Cheng was about to skip this task, but gave it another thought and glanced at the price tagged on it.
[Fifty Low-grade Spirit Stones](crossed out)
[One Hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones](crossed out)
[Five Hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones](crossed out)
[Three Thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones]
Jiang Cheng: !!!
Draw an Immobilization Talisman and earn three thousand Spirit Stones!?
The constantly changing price indicated that the cultivator who posted the task was truly in a hurry.
Moreover, Jiang Cheng wasn't worried about random price markings, as task posters had to deposit the task reward in advance at the Task Hall of the Tongtian Sect, managed by them, eliminating the possibility of false claims or refusal of payment.
Three thousand Spirit Stones for a rank one talisman, that price is more expensive than many rank three talismans.
If he could take on a few more tasks with such high rewards, the money Jiang Cheng had been longingly thinking of for buying a house might be achievable within three months!
Making money to buy a house was not entirely hopeless!
Jiang Cheng stood before this task lost in thought.
He tried to use his experience as a game designer to judge whether "a rank one Immobilization Talisman that can immobilize for one minute" was at all feasible within the game mechanics of "Immortal Gods".
After all, it was worth three thousand Spirit Stones.
Even if "the existence of Cultivating Immortality was denied", Jiang Cheng still wanted to give it a try.
Half an hour later, Jiang Cheng reached a conclusion.
If the client's requirement was:
[Name: Immobilization Talisman
Rank: Rank One
Type: Control
Effect: Immobilize the target, preventing them from moving for one minute]
Then there was no chance.
Under the current mechanics of "Immortal Gods", it was impossible to achieve.
But if the client's requirement was:
[Name: (Tentative)
Rank: Rank One
Type: (Tentative)
Effect: Prevents the target from taking any effective action for one minute]
Then Jiang Cheng was confident he could create it.
His confidence stemmed from the self-assuredness of being the lead game designer for "Immortal Gods"!
Jiang Cheng took the task plaque for the "Immobilization Talisman" and headed to the registration counter in the "Talisman Area" of the Task Hall.
The registrar in the Talisman Area was a beautiful female cultivator with a polite smile.
She wore the Outer Sect disciple uniform of the Tongtian Sect, primarily in blue and white colors, which wrapped her attractive figure completely in the snug-fitting uniform.
Being an Inner Sect Disciple of the Tongtian Sect meant hope for pursuing the path of Cultivating Immortality, while being an Outer Sect Disciple meant a stable job with high welfare and good treatment.
"Hello, I'd like to accept this task," Jiang Cheng said politely.
Most cultivators who came for tasks were not good folks, and a sunny and polite young male cultivator like Jiang Cheng was indeed very rare.
The beautiful female cultivator checked Jiang Cheng's credentials, and her eyes twitched when she saw the junior high school graduation certificate and the college entrance exam admission ticket.
He didn't even have a high school diploma? Was he joking around by taking up this task?
Out of caution, the beautiful cultivator asked, "Do you have a Talisman Master qualification certificate issued by the Talisman Association?"
Jiang Cheng presented his second-place certificate from the National Primary and Secondary School Talisman Drawing Competition, proving his ability to draw some basic talismans.
Although Jiang Cheng's certificate was acceptable, it made the female cultivator question his level of talisman drawing even more.
He didn't even have the professional qualifications of a Talisman Master…
Could he really complete this task worth three thousand Spirit Stones?
This task, which many high-rank Talisman Masters wouldn't accept, was continually increasing in price.
"May I contact the client?" Jiang Cheng inquired.
The female cultivator smiled and said, "The client has not chosen to hide their information, so it is possible. However, He suggests that you don't modify task conditions and rewards outside of the Task Hall. Agreements reached privately are not protected by the Tongtian Sect."
After listening attentively, Jiang Cheng nodded and replied, "Okay, thank you."
He was taken aback for a moment; ordinary cultivators didn't deign to listen to her talk about tedious rules, and impatience was usually the best response she got while explaining them. A cultivator like Jiang Cheng who listened attentively and even thanked her, could such a person really exist?
She made a mental note of Jiang Cheng's appearance and said with a smile, "You're welcome~"
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