I Just Won't Play By The Book
chapter-9

"Brother Kong?" Liu Zijin shouted with some surprise after seeing the visitor.

At the same time, the surrounding disciples of the Order of Blue Heart, who were just about to disperse, instantly focused their gazes on the handsome senior brother who had suddenly descended from the sky.

"Brother Kong?" A disciple of the Order of Blue Heart in the crowd muttered before suddenly widening his eyes. He said, "Could it be the one who is known as the Army Breaking Spear is Kong Annan of the Order of Water Mirror, Brother Kong?"

"Army Breaking Spear? What's his story?" a few disciples next to him asked curiously.

"How do you all not know this? Three years ago, this Brother Kong went to the Huailin region to cultivate. On the way, he suddenly encountered a chaotic war. To protect the citizens who were escaping, he breached the army of the rebels alone, wielding a Tiger-headed Gold-chiseled Spear. He directly took the army general's head, causing chaos in the army, and bought time for the people to escape. After the incident, he received the title of Army Breaking Spear."

"So impressive!" The disciple's eyes shone as he listened, and he looked at Kong Annan with some admiration in his gaze.

"Of course! Brother Kong can definitely be considered the most outstanding disciple in our Sect of Returning Hearts in the past two years, but I have only heard about him before. I never thought I would see him in person today, and he is indeed magnificent and extraordinary."

Hearing the surrounding disciples whisper about him quietly, Kong Annan smiled, put a hand over his fist in a salute toward the surrounding people, and said, "Greetings to my fellow brothers in the Order of Blue Heart. I am indeed Kong Annan of the Order of Water Mirror."

Upon hearing this, the disciples of the Order of Blue Heart hurriedly bowed and shouted, "Greetings, Brother Kong."

After joining his hands in a salute toward the surrounding disciples of the Order of Blue Heart, Kong Annan turned to look at Liu Zijin and said, "Sister, aren't you going to descend the mountain for your trial in two days? What brings you here to the Order of Blue Heart instead of preparing for it in the Order?"

Without waiting for Liu Zijin to speak, Fang Qiuyao answered first, saying, "We are here to find that… Eh, where is he?"

Fang Qiuyao looked to where Jiang Beiran had originally stood in puzzlement, wondering how such a big target of a person could just disappear.

Just when she was about to ask the other disciples of the Order of Blue Heart if they had seen Brother Jiang, Liu Zijin pulled Fang Qiuyao behind her and bowed to Kong Annan. "Greetings, Brother Kong. Qiuyao and I just came here for some errands and are about to go back. What brings you here, Brother?"

"Oh, I…I…I was just passing by and happened to sense your presence, so I came over to take a look," he replied.

"I see. Then if you have something going on, please feel free to be on your way, Brother. Qiuyao and I are also about to go back to the Order," she said.

"Actually, I am also planning to go back to the Order, so it's just nice for me to go back along with you two."

"All right, then let's go back together." Liu Zijin nodded and took another look at where Jiang Beiran had stood before turning around and leaving.

On the other hand, Jiang Beiran, who had long since slipped away, had already arrived at the entrance of the Pavilion of Blue Heart.

"Phew… Indeed, a sister who can trigger an option with an Earth Grade Middle Tier reward is really terrifying," he said.

The moment Kong Annan had landed just now, while everyone's eyes were focused on the man, Jiang Beiran left the place of potential disputes at a speed so fast that no one noticed.

As for why he ran away so fast, it was entirely because he had suffered a great loss in this regard before!

…

The Sect of Returning Hearts had a rule that all disciples had to abide by. That was, they must descend the mountain for a trial every two months. Firstly, it was so that the disciples would not just stay on the mountain all the time, not knowing anything about the human condition and the world other than cultivation.

Secondly, it was to improve the local reputation of the Sect of Returning Hearts. To put it simply, it was to promote the brand name of the Sect of Returning Hearts.

For example, some great heroes would perform good deeds without leaving behind a name, but the disciples of the Sect of Returning Hearts could not leave no name behind.

If a disciple of the Sect of Returning Hearts had gotten rid of a group of mountain bandits, it would be necessary to spread the story so that everyone in the region would know that the members of the Sect of Returning Hearts were the ones who had gotten rid of them.

Jiang Beiran couldn't help but lament in his heart that the Sect of Returning Hearts was indeed very good at playing the game when he just learned of the rule and that it was no wonder that the Sect could recruit so many disciples every month.

After receiving the quest of the trial that one would be completing after descending the mountain, generally, the disciples would find some like-minded brothers and sisters to travel together. In addition, the most important thing was to find an Iron Seal to lead the team.

In the Sect of Returning Hearts, as long as you had stayed for a year, it meant that you had descended the mountain at least six times for your trials. This in turn meant that you were already a mature disciple of the Sect of Returning Hearts. From this moment onward, you had a new obligation. That was, you must serve as an Iron Seal and lead the disciples who had just joined the sect in their descent from the mountain for their trial every two months.

So being an Iron Seal was a tough job that involved being both a bodyguard and a nanny to those new disciples.

The first time Jiang Beiran descended the mountain for his trial, Lu Bogui served as his Iron Seal and brought him to chase away a fierce beast that had often attacked the village. It could be said that the difficulty level was almost nonexistent.

After all, as long as one had learned the Rhymed Formula of Returning Hearts, one's capabilities would have already far exceeded that of ordinary people, and it was still very easy to fight against a few lions or tigers.

Soon, a year of such peaceful days passed. Regarding the great loss that Jiang Beiran suffered, it all started when he became an Iron Seal.

That time, he became an Iron Seal for a five-member team, consisting of three men and two women. A junior sister among them had very lovely looks and also a very good character, causing the other three male disciples to fawn over her like crazy.

But the junior Sister kept expressing her affection to Jiang Beiran, who gave her a great sense of security, which caused the other three male disciples to be jealous.

Later, on the way back, the junior sister plucked up the courage to pull out the handkerchief she embroidered and confessed to Jiang Beiran, and it was in front of the other four disciples. It triggered the other three male disciples so much that they were about to explode!

As for why Jiang Beiran knew they were blowing up from rage, it was because he saw the three options that popped up in front of him.

[Option One: Say yes directly to the junior sister. Reward for completion: Homage Paying to the Phoenix (Earth Grade High Tier)]

[Option Two: "Sister, I am entirely focused on my cultivation right now, and I don't want to discuss relationship matters for now." Reward for completion: Palm of Four Symbols (Earth Grade Low Tier)]

[Option Three: "Sorry, I just see you as a sister." Reward for completion: Ring of Coiled Dragon (Yellow Grade Medium Tier)]

After reading the three options, Jiang Beiran was completely in shock. It was the first time he encountered three options whereby none of them offered the reward of basic attribute points! Even the poorest one offered a reward of Yellow Grade Medium Tier!

"Men are… really all animals dominated by their lower body!!!"

Roaring in his heart, Jiang Beiran tearfully chose Option Three, and rejected the junior sister by saying, "I just see you as a sister." However, the junior sister was not the least bit discouraged by the rejection and firmly stated that she would one day make him see her differently.

This also made Jiang Beiran understand why there was no option with basic attribute points. It was because the question was a killer in itself! No matter how he answered, the three male disciples would hate him!

But no matter how depressed Jiang Beiran was, after making the choice, the corresponding task followed, which was to dispel the three disciples' hostility toward him or just kill them directly.

"I must have really screwed the pooch!"

After reading the content of the mission, Jiang Beiran once again roared in his heart.