FVN Chapter 600 Making things difficult at the government office? We're about to draw our swords!
Chapter 600 Making things difficult at the government office? We're about to draw our swords!
Two days later, Qin Zhan set off to return to Dayu.
Chen Fan escorted the Eighth Prince to Lingzhouping outside the post station.
As they parted, Qin Zhan stood on the gangway of Yu Wang's ship, glanced back at him, and suddenly grinned: "I'll be waiting for your good news in Da Yu. When you make a name for yourself in Da Qin, don't forget that Da Yu still has a friend like me."
Chen Fan bowed respectfully but didn't say anything more.
Yu the Great's boat rose into the sky and disappeared into the distance, gradually transforming into a barely perceptible point of light in the sky.
He stood alone on the empty Lingzhouping, watching the point of light disappear completely into the sea of clouds before turning back to the imperial city.
Now it's time to get down to business.
The next morning, Chen Fan changed into a clean robe, hung the gold offering token on his waist, and walked straight towards the offering hall.
The offering hall occupies a very large area. In addition to the main hall and the alchemy room, there is also a public hall specifically for handling the daily affairs of offering.
The government office is located on the east side of the main hall. It is a three-story pavilion with an ebony plaque above the door bearing the three neat seal characters "Government Office".
When Chen Fan stepped into the hall, several stewards were sitting around a long table, drinking tea and chatting.
Upon seeing someone enter, a plump steward dressed in a blue official robe raised his eyelids and glanced at him.
Her gaze lingered for a moment on the gold medallion at his waist before shifting away, and she continued to slowly blow on the tea foam while holding her teacup.
The manner in which it entered made it seem as if the person entering was not a high-ranking official, but some insignificant nobody.
"Who goes there?" the fat butler asked in a drawn-out tone, his voice carrying a deliberate air of laziness.
Chen Fan remained expressionless as he untied the gold medal offering token from his waist and placed it on the table: "Chen Fan of Da Yu, Gold Medal Offering Token, here to receive your mission."
The portly deacon put down his teacup, picked up the gold medal, examined it twice, then placed it back on the table, a forced smile on his face: "Oh, Venerable Chen. I've heard so much about you. But you've come at an inopportune time. The Hall of Official Affairs has finished all its tasks recently, and what's left are just scraps, which I'm afraid won't meet your standards."
Chen Fan's gaze swept around the hall of official business.
On the wall opposite the long table hung a huge jade tablet with mission information. Dozens of missions were densely arranged on the tablet, ranging from hunting down demonic cultivator leaders to spying on Gu cultivators, from refining military supplies pills to repairing border defense formations. The categories were complete and the quantities were plentiful, which was definitely not the case that the fat deacon had described as "already claimed".
"What's on that jade disc?" Chen Fan asked casually.
The portly deacon glanced at the jade wall following his gaze, gave a nonchalant "oh," and said in his unhurried tone, "Those... those all have restrictions. They either require a certain number of years of service or a certain threshold of contribution points. You've just joined the Hall of Offerings, so you don't meet either of those requirements. However... let me check the inventory to see if there are any tasks suitable for a newcomer."
He pretended to flip through a thick booklet, only stopping after a long while, and pointed to two lines of text, saying, "I've got it. The border army is in dire need of a batch of Grade 5 Returning Origin Pills and Grade 5 Concentrating Spirit Pills. Since you are a Grade 5 alchemist, these two tasks are perfect for you. You can earn 2,000 contribution points for each batch of qualified pills you refine. The two tasks together will earn you a total of 10,000 contribution points."
10,000 contribution points.
Chen Fan silently did some calculations in his mind.
According to Han Cen's previous statement, activating the interdimensional teleportation array once consumes millions of spirit stones, which translates to at least a million contribution points.
Ten thousand contribution points are just a drop in the ocean, not even enough to fill a tooth gap.
"Only these two?" Chen Fan's voice remained calm.
"Only these two." The fat butler closed the booklet, his forced smile remaining unchanged.
You can receive a task once a month, with a maximum of 10,000 contribution points per task. It would take nearly ten years to accumulate a million contribution points.
You must know that Chen Fan only has a hundred years. Every day that is delayed means that the resurrection of the Soul Refining Sect's ancestor is one day closer!
He couldn't wait ten years.
Chen Fan took a deep breath and forcefully suppressed the chill that was about to rise to his throat.
His expression remained calm, but his eyes narrowed slightly when he looked at the fat butler before returning to normal.
"We've taken it."
He took the mission jade slip, infused it with spiritual power to complete the registration, and walked out of the office without looking back.
For the next three days, Chen Fan stayed indoors.
He opened several furnaces in the golden bowl space and refined the fifth-grade Returning Origin Pill and Concentrating Spirit Pill one by one.
There are three Guiyuan Pills with six-line Dan patterns and two Ningshen Pills with five-line Dan patterns, all of which are of superior quality.
On the morning of the fourth day, he delivered the pills to the Hall of Official Affairs. After examining the pills, the fat steward did not say much, but simply made two marks on the mission jade slip with a blank expression, indicating that the mission was completed and the contribution points had been added to his offering token.
Ten thousand contribution points have been credited to your account.
We are still 990,000 short of a million.
Chen Fan stood in the hall, looking at the dense writing on the jade tablet of missions on the wall. He remained silent for a moment, then walked up to the fat deacon again: "I'd like to receive the next mission."
The portly deacon, who was drinking tea, put down his cup upon hearing this, wiped his mouth with a handkerchief, and said slowly, "Lord Chen, I forgot to mention that a Lord cannot accept two consecutive missions within a month. This is a rule of the Hall of Lords, and I have no authority to change it. If you disagree, you can appeal to the elders of the Hall of Lords."
He said this with an undisguised sneer on his lips.
Chen Fan stood in front of the long table, remaining silent for a long time.
The other deacons in the hall had stopped chatting at some point, and several pairs of eyes fell on him, some gloating, some watching the show, and some indifferent.
The fat butler picked up his teacup again and slowly blew on the tea foam, as if Chen Fan was nothing more than a wisp of air not worth a second glance.
You can only receive a task once every few months, and each task gives you at most tens of thousands of contribution points. How long would it take to accumulate a million contribution points?
This is not following the rules, but blatantly making things difficult!
It's like using a soft knife to slowly cut away at his flesh, gradually wearing down his time, his patience, and his bottom line.
If this were in the Great Abyss Imperial Palace, he would have dragged this person out and beaten to death long ago, without even giving him a chance to beg for mercy.
Chen Fan's fingers twitched slightly, and the hilt of the sword in his sleeve touched his fingertips.
But at that very moment, a hand suddenly pressed down on his shoulder.
It wasn't very powerful, but it was as steady as a rock.
"Master Chen." Han Cen appeared behind him without him noticing.
The fifth-grade peak alchemy master's expression remained gentle, but the hand on Chen Fan's shoulder did not loosen.
He nodded slightly to the portly deacon, his tone casual as usual, "I have some things to discuss with Elder Chen; we'll discuss the official business another day."