Chapter 71 – Task assignment

After leaving the training ground, Su Xin was in a great mood.

He had just participated in two consecutive betting battles at the training ground, where he not only gave Jiang Yan a harsh lesson and restored Duan Yunfeng's honor, but most importantly, he won a total of seven thousand fire points from the bets.

Although he later gave Duan Yunfeng thirteen hundred points, he still had fifty-seven hundred points in hand.

His previous ten thousand fire points had almost been used up, and he was worried about not having enough points to enter the Trial Tower again. But with these two betting battles, he now had a comfortable amount of fire points, enough to enter the Star Hall once more.

"No rush, it's only been two months since my last visit to the Star Hall. According to Dao Master Jiuchen, I should wait at least three months before entering a second time. I still have to wait another month," Su Xin thought to himself.

A month later, he entered the Star Hall for the second time.

Once again, he faced the nine stars and, under external guidance, fell into a state of 'enlightenment.'

This second comprehension couldn't compare to the first, but Su Xin still managed to grasp the essence of the fifth sword intent, and even made significant progress on the sixth and seventh.

Afterward, Su Xin continued his cultivation.

Time flew by.

In the blink of an eye, Su Xin had been in the Heavenflame Palace for half a year.

...

In a delicate pavilion within Heavenflame Palace, the elegant Palace Master Diyue sat quietly brewing tea.

"Diyue." A figure walked into the pavilion.

"Qingyang, what brings you here today?" Palace Master Diyue continued brewing tea without looking up.

"I just saw Xia Mang and Yuan Song's battle at the training ground. Yuan Song has comprehended the essence of five concepts, while Xia Mang has only grasped four, yet they ended up evenly matched?" Palace Master Qingyang smiled, "Xia Mang's talent is truly extraordinary."

"Indeed," Palace Master Diyue nodded slightly.

From the batch of geniuses who entered Heavenflame Palace after the previous hunt, Su Xin and Xia Mang were the most dazzling, with the highest talent, followed by Duan Yunfeng.

In half a year of cultivation, although Xia Mang initially lagged far behind Su Xin due to a lack of fire points and guidance from Dao Master Jiuchen, his progress accelerated after exchanging his treasures for fire points and gaining a thorough understanding of Heavenflame Palace.

He also visited the Star Hall, greatly enhancing his concept comprehension.

After half a year, Xia Mang was close to comprehending the essence of five concepts, and with his spear skills and other techniques, he could compete head-on with the veterans of Heavenflame Palace.

"Diyue, the batch of geniuses who entered Heavenflame Palace after the last hunt have been training here for over half a year. According to tradition, you should assign them their respective training tasks, right?" Palace Master Qingyang looked over.

"It's time to arrange that," Palace Master Diyue nodded.

Training tasks are something every Heavenflame Palace disciple must undergo.

Only after completing these tasks can they take on the regular tasks released by Heavenflame Palace to earn fire points.

In Heavenflame Palace, apart from the new batch of disciples like Su Xin, most other disciples earn fire points by completing regular tasks.

"As far as I know, nine out of the ten new disciples have broken through to the Void Shattering Realm. Their training tasks are simple and can be arranged according to the usual standards. But Su Xin... he's still at the peak of the Sea Transformation Realm, which makes arranging his task a bit tricky," Palace Master Qingyang said.

"Do you have any good suggestions?" Palace Master Diyue glanced at Palace Master Qingyang.

"I just received some information you might want to see." Palace Master Qingyang handed a note to Palace Master Diyue.

Palace Master Diyue took it and glanced at it.

"Oh, Iceheart Valley has opened again? You want him to go there and kill those guards?" Palace Master Diyue raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, the competition in Iceheart Valley usually involves strong individuals at the early or mid-Void Shattering level, with very few at the late stage. The guards there are just puppets, and with his strength, he can definitely kill them," Palace Master Qingyang said.

"Hmm, that's a good suggestion. I'll consider it," Palace Master Diyue nodded.

"Take your time to think about it," Palace Master Qingyang smiled and left.

After Palace Master Qingyang left, Palace Master Diyue's expression immediately turned cold.

"This Qingyang is getting more and more presumptuous, even wanting to meddle in my affairs," Palace Master Diyue was very displeased.

The three palace masters of Heavenflame Palace each had their own responsibilities, managing different affairs.

Palace Master Qingyang was mainly responsible for recruiting disciples, including the annual hunt and deciding whether to grant special admission to certain talented disciples. It was because of his opposition that Su Xin couldn't get special admission and had to participate in the Imperial Capital Hunt to enter Heavenflame Palace.

Palace Master Diyue was in charge of disciple tasks.

Whether it was assigning training tasks or the regular tasks within the palace for earning fire points, she decided and issued them.

"Iceheart Valley? Hmph, sounds easy. With Su Xin's strength, he can indeed venture there and kill those guards, but Iceheart Valley is full of unknowns. The strong individuals who venture there are uncontrollable. Who knows if a peak Void Shattering expert might suddenly decide to explore it out of boredom?" Palace Master Diyue sneered.

Palace Master Diyue even suspected that Palace Master Qingyang had already set a trap in Iceheart Valley, waiting for Su Xin to fall into it.

Otherwise, why would he, who never cared about disciple tasks before, suddenly come here today and offer a suggestion? How could he be so kind?

"Qingyang, I've warned you before, but if you continue to scheme against the disciples of Heavenflame Palace for your old master, don't blame me for being unkind," Palace Master Diyue's expression was icy.

Soon, Palace Master Diyue personally wrote a letter and sent it out in a very discreet manner.

...

Within Heavenflame Palace.

"Xia Mang, here's your training task. Take a good look, and if there are no issues, set off as soon as possible."

"Yes," Xia Mang nodded.

"Duan Yunfeng, here's your training task."

"Mo Bing..."

Palace Master Diyue found the batch of geniuses who entered Heavenflame Palace after the previous hunt and assigned them their respective training tasks all in one day.

After arranging tasks for nine people, Palace Master Diyue finally found Su Xin.

"Palace Master Diyue."

Su Xin stood respectfully in front of Palace Master Diyue.

Looking at Su Xin, Palace Master Diyue slightly furrowed her brows.

"Su Xin, I asked Dao Master Jiuchen, and he said you've comprehended the essence of six concepts. With such a high level of comprehension, you should have broken through to the Void Shattering Realm by now. Why are you still at the peak of the Sea Transformation Realm?" Palace Master Diyue asked.

In the past, new disciples in Heavenflame Palace could easily break through to the Void Shattering Realm in such a superior cultivation environment.

Among the ten geniuses in Su Xin's batch, including Xia Mang and Duan Yunfeng, nine had recently broken through to the Void Shattering Realm.

Only Su Xin remained at the peak of the Sea Transformation Realm.

"I... I'm not sure," Su Xin replied with a wry smile.

The spiritual energy in Heavenflame Palace was much denser than outside, and with his Bloodline Inheritance Cultivation Art, his cultivation speed was indeed fast.

In less than a month of training in Heavenflame Palace, he smoothly broke through to the peak of the Sea Transformation Realm. Over the past six months, his cultivation had reached the extreme of the Sea Transformation Realm, but he just couldn't break through to the Void Shattering Realm. Given his high level of concept comprehension, he should have met the breakthrough requirements.

Su Xin suspected that perhaps due to his unique bloodline, the conditions for breaking through to the Void Shattering Realm were more stringent for him than for ordinary people.

"Never mind, although your cultivation hasn't broken through, according to Heavenflame Palace's rules, I still have to assign you a training task, and its difficulty won't be lower than those of Xia Mang and Duan Yunfeng," Palace Master Diyue said.

"I understand," Su Xin nodded, unconcerned.

In terms of cultivation, Xia Mang and Duan Yunfeng were indeed higher than him, but in terms of strength, honestly, even if the two joined forces, they probably wouldn't be his match.

Palace Master Diyue waved her hand, and three scrolls flew towards Su Xin.

"Your training task is divided into three stages."

"I suggest you complete the first stage task before opening the second scroll to see the contents of the second stage task."

"Also, remember that the training tasks assigned by Heavenflame Palace come only once, and the fire point rewards are very high. So, make sure to complete the tasks as much as possible, and the higher the completion, the better."

"Yes," Su Xin nodded.

He had heard that the training tasks assigned by Heavenflame Palace offered very high fire point rewards, much higher than regular tasks.

This was a rare opportunity for disciples to earn a large number of fire points after entering Heavenflame Palace.

But this opportunity came only once for each disciple.

If missed, it would be gone.

"Prepare well."

After saying this, Palace Master Diyue left.

Su Xin looked at the three task scrolls in his hand, his eyes shining with excitement.

"The training task has finally come!"

Su Xin had been eagerly anticipating this.

After half a year of cultivation, the fire points he had previously obtained, including those won from betting battles, were almost exhausted. This training task was his chance to earn fire points.

Soon, Su Xin returned to the Trial Tower.

"Set opponent: First level of sword intent comprehension, comprehended seven sword intent essences."

"Number of opponents: Three!"

In just a moment, three black figures, skilled in swordsmanship and having comprehended seven sword intent essences, appeared in the Trial Tower.

The three black figures attacked simultaneously, surrounding Su Xin.

Su Xin, with one sword, countered with his swordsmanship.

"Fleeting Dream!"

"Break of Dawn!"

"Ephemeral Bloom!"

Su Xin executed the Flying Snow Sword Art to its fullest, unleashing one sword light after another.

Even when facing three opponents who had comprehended seven sword intent essences, he held his ground without falling behind.

In half a year, with two comprehensions in the Star Hall, his progress was immense.

And only he knew how strong he truly was now.

Dao Master Jiuchen, during his lectures, guessed from the questions Su Xin asked that he had comprehended six sword intent essences. However, he didn't know that three days ago, Su Xin had already comprehended the seventh sword intent essence.

He was only two sword intent essences away from reaching the second level of sword intent.

...

After a whole night of intense battle.

Su Xin fought fiercely until the early morning of the next day, then returned to his residence, took a bath, and had a good sleep.

During the day, Su Xin set off for the location of his training task.