Just like the last time that he and Liu Mei came here, Shun Long saw more than a hundred disciples standing in front of the Mission board looking for missions that they wanted to choose.

Without needing him to say anything, Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian both took a few steps forward at the same time, as they focused their eyes on the huge black board in front of them.

Seeing that Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi had turned their eyes towards him, Shun Long looked at the 2 peerlessly beautiful women who instantly attracted a lot of attention from the disciples around them and said

''Mei'er, Xingyi, don't choose any missions where the enemies are above the early rank 5 of the Nascent Soul.''

Although Shun Long was certain that both Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi wouldn't choose any missions that were impossible to complete, he still decided to remind them to be careful about this.

For Xie Xingyi who had already broken through to the early rank 4 of the Nascent Soul and had entered the middle stages of the Nascent Soul, Shun Long knew that it was possible for her to defeat a normal peak rank 4 Nascent Soul stage cultivator that didn't come from a sect without many issues. As for where her limits lied, Shun Long guessed that she could probably defeat an early rank 5 Nascent Soul stage cultivator as well in a head-on fight, albeit with some difficulty.

After all, in the cultivation world, it was common knowledge that cultivators who belonged to sects or powerful clans and families, would almost always be much stronger than other cultivators at the same level as them who had no backing.

The reason behind that was the rare cultivation techniques and martial skills that they could use, that normal cultivators that didn't belong to powerful forces would almost never be able to touch in their lives.

This was also the reason why Dong Ai looked down on Shun Long and Liu Mei for being rogue cultivators.

After all, the difference between a Mystic-grade and a Saint-grade cultivation technique was much more important than one would think.

Just the difference in speed of the absorption of qi between a normal Saint-grade cultivation technique and a Mystic-grade one would make countless cultivators willing to kill for it, as a single Saint low-grade cultivation technique allowed a cultivator to absorb qi 50 percent faster compared to someone who was training in a Mystic high-grade cultivation technique.

This 50 percent increase may not sound like a lot, but it would make an enormous difference if one had to cultivate for 2 years or 3 years in order to breakthrough to the next stage.

And yet, it wasn't just the speed of advancement that made Saint-grade cultivation techniques so valuable.

The purity from the qi that a Saint low-grade cultivation technique allowed a cultivator to absorb was also more than 50 percent purer compared to the qi that a Mystic high-grade technique.

This increase in the purity of the qi may not allow a cultivator to advance faster, but it directly affected their combat strength, making them even stronger.

This was why, every time that a Saint low-grade cultivation technique appeared in an auction or a place that wasn't controlled by a huge power, cultivators who didn't belong to huge powers would do everything they could to get their hands on it.

Of course, even Saint low-grade techniques had their own differences as well.

For example, a Saint low-grade cultivation technique like the Moonlight Sigil that Shun Long had obtained from Cui Guoliang's collection back in the Vermilion realm, was actually at the absolute bottom among Saint low-grade cultivation techniques and would at most be categorized as a Mystic high-grade cultivation technique in the central region.

The reason behind that was both its slow qi absorption speed compared to other Saint low-grade cultivation techniques, as well as a huge flaw that this technique actually had: That whoever trained in it could only practice at night since they had to absorb the moonlight.

As for the Saint middle-grade cultivation technique that Dong Ai obtained from Elder Xuan as her gift, its effects whether it was in the speed of qi absorption or the purity of the qi, were more than 2 times better compared to a Saint low-grade cultivation technique!

This was why Shun Long believed, that someone like Xie Xingyi who belonged to the Xie family and was most likely training in a Saint low-grade cultivation technique, could fight against a weak early rank 5 Nascent Soul stage cultivator who didn't come from a peak power head-on, albeit most likely with a lot of difficulty.

Of course, if by some crazy scenario, Xie Xingyi's opponent was not only cultivating a Saint low-grade cultivation technique but he even knew a Saint low-grade martial skill as well, then forget about an early rank 5 Nascent Soul stage opponent, Xie Xingyi would even have trouble fighting against a peak rank 4 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, even with her unique physique!

After all, even most outer disciples of the Holy sect were at that level as well.

And yet, Shun Long knew that the chances of something like that happening were practically zero.

Additionally, he also knew that Xie Xingyi's real strength didn't lie in head-on fights, but instead in assassinations. Her Vanishing Shadows unique physique was practically the perfect physique for an assassin who wanted to lie in the shadows and wait to strike. If Xie Xingyi really went all-out to assassinate someone, Shun Long couldn't estimate how high her killing potential could reach.

Perhaps even peak rank 5 Nascent Soul stage cultivators would die in her hands before they realized what was going on.

However, assassinations were always risky, both for the victim as well as the assassin. In case that an assassination attempt failed, the assassin would then be in a vulnerable spot, and in that case, Xie Xingyi would be the one who would be risking her life.

At the same time, Shun Long's words were also a hint to Liu Mei as well, for her to not try and choose any missions that were impossible either.

Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi both nodded their heads as they looked at him before their eyes started to scan the huge Mission board in front of them.

Smiling slightly Shun Long also did the same, as his gaze focused on the personal D-rank missions while he looked for a suitable one. At that moment, Shun Long's eyes suddenly fell on a single mission that seemed perfect for him to test his current strength

''D-rank personal mission: Kill the peak rank 5 Nascent Soul stage slave traders Dai Lim and Dai Hao and destroy their shop in the Yanzhu city.

Reward: 190 sect points.''

Author's note: Starting on July we will be returning back to 2 chapters a day <3