The First Legendary Demonic Scholar

Chapter 89: Chapter 89: The Value Of Missions

"It is only natural that you do not know about it." A brief look of understanding flashed through Gu Ren’s eyes. ’To think this year’s batch had such a talented individual.’

He leaned back against the wooden wall before continuing.

"The servants of the sect aren’t all equal."

Shen Yuan remained silent, allowing him to speak.

"Most of us spend our days doing ordinary labor. Cleaning residences. Transporting supplies. Maintaining courtyards or Running errands."

"But..."

"The older servants don’t want to remain like that forever."

"They’re desperate to climb."

Gu Ren’s eyes drifted toward the empty bed where the tallest servant had slept.

"The higher your value in the sect, the greater your chances of eventually becoming an outer disciple."

"Or at the very least... you’ll receive more cultivation resources."

Shen Yuan’s silver eyes narrowed slightly. "So the missions determine your worth."

Gu Ren shook his head after nodding it briefly. "It is all about making connections."

"There are several types of servant missions."

"Most are ordinary like cultivating spirit herb gardens, tending special spiritual lands, feeding demonic beasts, transporting supplies, cleaning important residences, managing ordinary records."

"They’re all considered decent assignments."

"Nothing glamorous but they are considered safe. Something servants love when they want to cultivate or train in battle arts."

Shen Yuan listened quietly.

Gu Ren raised another finger.

"Then there are the missions everyone fights over."

"Hm?"

"Serving the elders or the inner disciples." His voice unconsciously lowered. "Those are considered the highest-ranking servant missions."

"They’re opportunities most servants would willingly kill for." His words weren’t exaggerated. "They allow you to interact with the true powers of the sect."

"If you perform well, perhaps an elder remembers your face. Perhaps an inner disciple takes a liking to you and they might reward you with cultivation pills."

"Or recommend you when disciple recruitment begins. For people like us... that single opportunity can completely change our lives."

Shen Yuan slowly nodded.

It made sense to him.

Gu Ren let out a quiet laugh.

"You’d be surprised what people are willing to do for one of those assignments."

"They bribe the supervisors or spread rumors about their rivals. I’ve even heard of servants crippling one another before an important selection."

As if thinking of something, Gu Ren warned Shen Yuan about something else, "Also there is another mission you should be wary of. It is a mission of writing down documents the people of the sect ask you to."

"Seems like an easy mission right?" Seeing the confusion on Shen Yuan’s face he smirked. "But you should know while normal documents are easy to scribe but if you get tasked to scribe something confidential, know that you are done for."

"It will be your last mission."

"The Sect does not leave loose ends behind. Especially not servants who know something they should not."

He passed and looked in Shen Yuan’s eyes before delivering the final line. "Only dead man tells no tales."

"I see." Shen Yuan tilted his head. "If the mission is so grand, why does everyone look at him like he’s already dead?"

He merely stored the information in the back of his head without showing any deep reaction Gu Ren was hoping for.

The dorm went quiet for a moment.

Gu Ren let out a long disappointed sigh.

"It’s not the mission." He glanced toward the door, as if the walls themselves might be listening. "It’s the person who issued it."

"Bang Fu."

"He’s an inner disciple," Gu Ren continued. "Talented. Favored by the elders. The kind of person who could crush any of us without lifting a finger."

"That’s not surprising for an inner disciple, is it?"

"No." Gu Ren shook his head slowly. "What’s surprising is the reputation that follows him."

"What kind of reputation?" Shen Yuan asked, curiosity creeping into his voice.

Gu Ren’s expression darkened.

"Every other month, without fail, he requests a personal servant." He held up a finger, tapping it against his knee like he was counting something invisible. "Always someone new. Always someone who just became a senior servant."

"That servant—" he nodded toward the empty bed, "—he’s only been a senior servant for a few months. He wouldn’t know."

"But I’ve been here for five years." Gu Ren’s voice dropped lower, almost a whisper. "Long enough to notice the pattern."

Shen Yuan waited.

"They call him the servant killer."

The words hung in the air like smoke that refused to clear.

"No one knows exactly what he does to them." Gu Ren’s fingers curled slightly against his knee. "But whoever takes that mission ends up dead within a month. Every single time. Without exception."

Shen Yuan’s silver eyes narrowed. "Could it be because of his cultivation technique?"

"Do you think he is a disciple of Red Peak which is famous for training in blood draining techniques and creating Blood Expansion pills?" Gu Ren laughed, but there was no humor in it. Just a tired, bitter sound. "He belongs to the Hall of Secret Affairs which has the most tame cultivation technique of them all."

"So, no. It has nothing to do with his cultivation technique."

Shen Yuan said nothing. There was nothing to say.

’No wonder they looked at him like that.’

He turned his gaze toward the other sleeping servants, their breathing slow and even, blissfully unaware of the conversation happening just a few feet away.

’Do they know?’

Maybe they did but did not care.

Everyone in this room was older than him.

Every one of them had spent at least a year within the servant quarters.

Some, like Gu Ren, had survived here for several years.

Naturally...

They possessed knowledge that a newcomer like Shen Yuan lacked.

’I should establish a way to gather information like this.’

Shen Yuan silently made a mental note.

He did not know whether Candy could be of help to him for long. Sooner or later, he might have to discard her or maybe find a way to get her into the ranks where she could be of help of him.

But even then, she alone was not enough.

He needed eyes and ears within the sect and also people to spread words whenever he wanted.

Shen Yuan focused on Gu Ren and asked, "Why are you tell me all this even though you could have just refused to share such valuable information?"