77: Chapter 77 The Laborer Carrying Bathwater
Yang Lan let out an exclamation. Instantly, it attracted the other six people over.
Pei Luohan walked over. "It's that! It's the blue plant mentioned by that student team!"
The group gathered around the edge of the sand pit, squatting down one after another to observe carefully.
"Captain, is this that blue tentacle? It doesn't look dangerous at all." A tall, thin youth craned his neck, his tone filled with curiosity.
"Don't be careless. Since that student team specifically mentioned it, it must have its peculiarities." Pei Luohan warned in a deep voice.
Immediately recalling the information from the intelligence report, she added, "Use shovels to dig it out. Whatever you do, don't touch it directly, or it will slip away."
The team members immediately picked up their shovels. "Heave-ho, heave-ho," they began to dig.
In no time, the sand pit was over a meter deep, and a segment of the blue tentacle about half a meter long was exposed.
"Hmm, look, doesn't this look like an octopus tentacle..." Yang Lan stared at the slippery blue body and asked in a low voice.
"Bring the box over." Pei Luohan commanded one of the members, while she herself leaped into the sand pit.
Soul Power surged in her palm, and an ice-blue longsword quietly appeared.
She intended to sever this segment and bring it back.
"Everyone, spread out. If anything happens, retreat immediately." Pei Luohan held up her longsword, her expression grave.
Facing this kind of unknown creature, she dared not be the least bit arrogant; after all, among those who had gone missing before, there were many Soul Emperors.
"Puchi!" The ice-blue longsword cleanly and decisively severed the tentacle.
Almost simultaneously, the half of the tentacle underground "whooshed" and retracted into the sand. Immediately after, the entire patch of sand trembled slightly.
Pei Luohan's heart tightened, and she quickly leaped out of the sand pit. The other team members also activated their flight talents, soaring into the sky.
A moment passed, and there was no unusual movement in the surroundings. Only then did the group slowly land and gather around the sand pit again.
They saw the severed tentacle writhing continuously on the sand, splashing blue sap everywhere.
"Quick, put it into the culture dish!" After processing the sample, the seven of them gathered together again.
One member couldn't help but say, "It doesn't seem that dangerous, does it? Look, isn't everything fine?"
"Don't be careless." Pei Luohan frowned deeply. "The intelligence report says this thing is only active at night. We need to hurry and map the location."
She still felt that since so many people had gone missing here, this blue tentacle could not possibly be this simple.
Meanwhile, on Lin Mo's side. After accepting several missions to the Black Wind Canyon, the team headed north.
Because it was a training exercise, the six of them had to travel on foot.
"Teacher An Nuolan, why didn't we accept missions in the secret realm?" Lu Mengmeng was getting tired from walking and couldn't help but complain.
"There are no suitable missions for you in the secret realm; you'll have to do these ones outside."
"What do you mean none? Isn't that Earth-tier secret realm in Linjiang City just right?"
Lu Mengmeng felt that hunting those brainless zombies was quite fun.
"You girl, do you never read the announcements? The Wasteland Secret Realm has been temporarily closed to the public; what missions could there be for you to take?" Teacher An Nuolan retorted impatiently.
"Even if there were, I wouldn't want to take them. That secret realm is extremely eerie. How long has it been open? Several sophomore teams from the academy have already gone missing inside!"
Teacher An Nuolan had also heard the news about the Wasteland Secret Realm. Therefore, she had her own opinion on it.
"Isn't it just those blue tentacles? Back when we just graduated, the boss and I saw them; they aren't that scary."
Upon hearing this, Lin Mo was rendered speechless. What do you mean "not that scary"? When we were being chased like dogs, I didn't hear you saying that?
"Teacher, don't mind him; this girl is just an idiot."
Teacher An Nuolan, however, caught a different meaning. "You wouldn't happen to be the team that reported the information about the tentacles, would you?"
"Yeah, yeah! That time, we were chased for an entire night by an overwhelming number of blue tentacles. If it hadn't been for the boss, we wouldn't have made it back!"
As Lu Mengmeng spoke, a look of fear appeared on her face.
Damn it, she was just saying she wanted to go in and do missions, and now she's showing this expression? Lin Mo didn't even want to speak.
Amidst her shock, Teacher An Nuolan was also curious about how Lin Mo had managed to bring everyone out safely.
After all, the three of them were only at the First Order back then, yet they were able to escape from those tentacles. Conversely, those teams led by Fourth or Fifth Order members couldn't return at all.
"Alright, now let me talk about our mission this time." Teacher An Nuolan suddenly interrupted the topic.
Lin Mo and the other four immediately perked up their ears to listen. After all, Teacher An Nuolan had gone to accept the missions herself, and they didn't know what missions had been accepted.
"Before talking about the missions, you need to know where our academy's missions actually come from."
"I'm curious too." Lin Mo nodded.
"Actually, these academy missions are resources provided to our school by the authorities and the Martial Soul Association. They are allocated from a bounty system established by the authorities and the Association..."
So, the mission system in the academy was just resources allocated to the academy by the state.
To obtain these resources, teachers and students needed to complete them, then convert them into academic credits, and then exchange them for resources.
These missions included bounty missions, exploration missions, collection missions, and all sorts of small, miscellaneous tasks.
It was a system established by the authorities and the Martial Soul Association, then distributed to each academy, and finally completed under the leadership of teachers.
After listening to Teacher An Nuolan finish, the five of them finally understood that the danger they had known about in university stemmed from this.
"Alright, there are a total of three missions we've accepted this time. All three are collection missions. They aren't simple, but they aren't hard either. Anyway, I feel they are quite suitable for your training."
"Great, great, great! This is good. I love hunting exotic beasts." Lu Mengmeng nodded quickly.
"Are all three of these missions in the Black Wind Canyon?"
Lin Mo had heard of the Black Wind Canyon. It was a large canyon filled with primeval forests that appeared after the world mutation.
It was about 100 kilometers away from the East Sea. It was also the largest breeding ground for exotic beasts around the East Sea.
The levels of the exotic beasts were generally between the First and Fifth Order. If one were unlucky, they might even encounter rare exotic beasts above the Sixth Order.
"That's right, they are all within the Black Wind Canyon area." Teacher An Nuolan took a map out of her backpack and spread it out on a flat stone.
"The first mission is to collect 100 jin of Wisteria Orchid flowers. They mainly grow on the shady slopes on the west side of the canyon, where a large number of Second Order Iron-backed Spiders are active."
"Wisteria Orchid flowers? Isn't that an ingredient for expensive perfume?" Lu Mengmeng immediately thought of the perfume her sister often bought.
Teacher An Nuolan glanced at Lu Mengmeng, her tone serious: "Remember, how the mission items are used is the employer's business, and it has nothing to do with us. We are only responsible for collecting them and handing them in to complete the mission; we don't care about anything else."
Her fingertip traced over a shadow on the map: "The second mission is to collect 50 skins of Black Wind Bull Pythons."
Finally, she pointed to a lake at the northernmost end of the map: "The third mission is the simplest, and also the most dangerous. You need to go to Moonlight Lake to collect lake water. There are quite a few exotic beasts above the Fourth Order lurking there, so everyone must be careful."
"What? Collect lake water? Why is there such a mission?" Lin Mo was a bit bewildered.
"Heh, Boss, you don't understand this, do you? This Moonlight Lake water is very popular in the circles of the rich."
"Popular? Can this lake water enhance male potency or something?" The girls rolled their eyes at him simultaneously.
"Ha, Boss, you guessed right. That's just one of its effects. It can also moisturize and whiten the skin, and delay aging."
"And those rich people like to use it for making tea or bathing. It's sold by the jin now."
Holy crap! To think they'd post a bounty mission just for tea and bathing; these rich people are way too damn decadent...
Lin Mo was stunned. Looking at it from another angle, he had become a coolie transporting bathwater for the rich...