Chapter 21: New Mission

Sun Yuan entered the courtyard with a triumphant look on his face.

At the moment, the entire One Heart Church was in a dejected rut, but he couldn't be in a better mood!

He hadn't taken part in that battle as he had been out searching for natural treasures for his disciple, the type that could consolidate his foundation, enhance his cultivation base, improve his learning ability, and enhance his physical constitution.

However, his trip was cut short when he received a summons from the pope, informing him that a new mission was to be assigned.

Sun Yuan hadn't found anything yet, but he could only return in a reluctant manner, only to be greeted with a massively pleasant surprise.

The pope had prepared all of the natural treasures that Fang Che needed!

It was an even more comprehensive list than what he had imagined, and all of the items were of an even better quality than what he could've hoped to gather!

With all of these resources at his disposal, Fang Che was set to spread his wings and soar to the heavens!

Fang Che and Ye Meng were training upon his arrival, so he decided to stand by and watch for a while.

He couldn't help but be taken aback by Ye Meng's aptitude, and he was struck by the urge to test her.

There was no way that Ye Meng would be able to keep her cultivation base a secret if a King were to conduct an examination on her, and with that in mind, an anxious look flashed through her eyes.

Fang Che noticed Sun Yuan's presence, and he approached the latter in an elated manner as he asked, "Master, guess what my current cultivation base is!"

Sun Yuan's attention was instantly diverted away from Ye Meng. This disciple was currently the most important person in his life, and Fang Che's cultivation base progression was even more important to him than his own.

"What is it?" he asked in an eager manner.

Fang Che put on a mysterious and braggadocious expression befitting someone of his age as he asked, "I was a fifth-rank Warrior when you left, right?"

"That's right, you had only just reached the fifth rank. Have you already reached the sixth rank?" Sun Yuan asked in an excited manner.

"I made a breakthrough to the seventh rank just last night!" Fang Che declared in a triumphant manner.

Sun Yuan was astonished to hear this.

Two ranks in six days? That's impossible! Do you take your master for a fool?

With that in mind, he dragged Fang Che into the room with a skeptical look on his face.

"Let me take a look."

Upon examination, Sun Yuan was stunned to discover that Fang Che was telling the truth.

His hands began to tremble from astonishment and excitement as he asked, "What did you eat these past few days?"

"Nothing special," Fang Che replied in an innocent manner. "I just constantly feel spirit qi entering my body when I cultivate, to the point that I can even hear it, and the influx of spirit qi is becoming greater and greater with each passing day. Compared with when you left six days ago, I feel like the current rate of influx of spirit qi into my body is a little more than twice of what it was back then."

This was not an absurd notion to Sun Yuan.

Upon reaching the Warrior Tier, even the average warrior would be able to sense their rate of spirit qi intake. The only difference was that prodigies would be more sensitive to this due to superior spirit qi resonance.

However, it was completely unheard of to have this rate of influx double over the course of just six days!

"Do you feel anything else?"

"Yes!"

Fang Che was eager to show off his aptitude in order to secure attention and resources from the One Heart Church, and thus, he declared, "When I reached the second rank, I could clearly sense that my rate of spirit qi absorption had increased by half from when I was at the first rank, and I observed the same change when I reached the third rank.

“With each breakthrough that I've made, my rate of spirit qi absorption has continued to increase by half, and the compounding effect has really added up over time. I don't know if this is normal, and I was waiting for you to return so I could ask you if this was a problem.

“I didn't dare to bring this up to anyone else, but from what I've heard, such a drastic increase in the rate of absorption of spirit qi should only happen after a breakthrough to a new tier. Is there something wrong with my body, Master?"

Fang Che's voice trailed off as he feigned an anxious expression.

Sun Yuan was completely speechless from astonishment.

Is there a problem with your body? Yes! Your bodily aptitude is way too fucking good!

"You did the right thing to not tell anyone about this," Sun Yuan said in a serious manner. "If I'm not mistaken, you seem to possess the Limitless Heavenly Ladder Constitution!"

The legendary Limitless Heavenly Ladder Constitution was said to be able to double one's rate of spirit qi absorption with each breakthrough.

The increase with each breakthrough was only half of that at the moment as Fang Che was still only a warrior, but once he fully came into his own, he would be able to enjoy the constitution's full benefits.

With each major tier breakthrough, this enhancement effect would be even greater, perhaps twofold, threefold...

Sun Yuan didn't know exactly what it was going to be as he had only ever heard of this legendary physical constitution.

In fact, he hadn't even seen anyone else with anywhere near this level of aptitude.

Prior to meeting Fang Che, these had all been faraway legends to him.

Those who possessed this type of physical constitution were blessed by the heavens, and as long as they didn't suffer premature deaths, they were all but certain to reach the pinnacle of the world in the future!

I have to report this matter to the pope! The church must invest even more resources into Che'er! There's a very good chance that my disciple could become a leading figure in even the main church, so we must treat him with the care and attention that a generational prospect deserves!

Sun Yuan was so excited that his heart rate had spiked through the roof, and he was feeling a little dizzy.

Such was his excitement that it took him a while to recall the purpose of his visit.

"I almost forgot why I came here. I've brought you some fantastic resources to enhance your cultivation base, and the church has also assigned you a new mission."

"What's the mission, Master?"

"I must preface this by telling you that this is a death mission, which means that failure is not an option, and upon completion, you'll receive an additional two hundred merit points," Sun Yuan replied. "There are three rivals that you must defeat at all costs during the warrior academy entrance examination. That is your mission!"

"Who are they?"

"They are Ding Jieran, a direct lineal descendant of the Ding Clan, an eighth-tier clan of Fallen Phoenix City, Huo Churan, a direct lineal descendant of the Huo Clan, an eighth-tier clan in Resting Wave City, and Ximen Xuri, a direct lineal descendant of the Ximen Clan, a ninth-tier clan of Divine Cloud City.

“All three of them are top prodigies, and it's said that Ding Jieran and Huo Churan are already first-rank Warrior Masters, while Ximen Xuri is only an eighth-rank Warrior at the moment, but he's extremely proficient in the use of hidden weapons. On top of that, he keeps a Crimson Blood Snake as a pet, a type of extremely elusive and lethal demon beast. Hence, you really have your work cut out for you this time."

Fang Che carefully committed this information to memory, then asked, "Do Ding Jieran and Huo Churan have any noteworthy traits?"

Sun Yuan stroked his beard with a pleased smile as he said, "I didn't elaborate on them because I wanted you to ask, and you haven't disappointed me. In order to maximize your chances of victory, you must know your enemy just as well as you know yourself."

"Yes, Master."

Sun Yuan pulled out three sheets of paper and said, "These are the files on Huo Churan, Ding Jieran, and Ximen Xuri."

Fang Che carefully read through the files as he asked, "These three must all be seeded prodigies from the Hall of Protectionists, right?"

"No."

To Fang Che's surprise, that was not the case.

A perplexed look appeared on his face as he asked, "Are they allies of ours then?"

"Not exactly."

Fang Che was left scratching his head.

"They are pawns planted among the Protectionists by the Night Demon Church, the Three Saints Church, and the Divine Heavenly Church."

"Why have I been tasked with targeting them?"

A look of schadenfreude appeared on Sun Yuan's face as he lowered his voice and revealed, "As you're already aware, the pope and the three top elders of our church recently came to the southeast. They came here to oversee an operation, but unfortunately, the operation ended in failure and severe casualties.

“The pope was furious, and to add insult to injury, the Night Demon Church, the Three Saints Church, the Church of Light, and the Divine Heavenly Church sent mock congratulatory messages to the pope to insult him."

Fang Che's expression darkened slightly upon hearing these four familiar names.

All four of these were subsidiary entities to the Church of the Self-Righteous, and there were countless such organizations littered throughout the entire continent.

The four churches that Sun Yuan had just mentioned were among the most powerful of the subsidiary entities under the Church of the Self-Righteous, ranking alongside the One Heart Church.

"While all of us serve the main church, there has always been a great deal of competition and bad blood between our churches, and all of us want to get the better of the others in all areas," Sun Yuan explained. "If one of their seeded prodigies secures the top rank in the entrance examinations, then our church will have been knocked down two pegs, in light of the recent defeat, and that would place us firmly below them on the pecking order, at least on a temporary basis.

“However, if you can secure the top spot over their prodigies, then we'll be back on even footing with them, and we'll be able to show the main church that we've unearthed a new prospect with limitless potential.

“Whenever you do anything noteworthy in the future, people will inevitably be reminded of your victory over the prodigies of the three churches, thereby allowing you to surpass them on the pecking order as well. The more you make a name for yourself, the more attention you'll receive from the main church, and the more willing our church will be to support you, understood?"

"Understood," Fang Che replied with a nod.