8 -Another Merit Quest-

"Kaw!!!" a crazy roar came as a red claw print headed for Long Jun who was on a sword draw position. His opponent this time was a huge eagle of pure white feather and a wingspan of a meter and a half.

Just as red claw was about to touch Long Jun, he drew his sword, "One Stab. Fire Saber Qi…Go!!"

A saber qi generated from his saber tip and easily pierced through the red claw print, disintegrating it to nothingness. It didn't stop there, it went for a huge bird behind. Long Jun had aimed for its head. The saber Qi was faster than the speed of sound before the eagle could realize it, the saber qi already pierced through its head. It died without even realizing it.

"+12,000 EXP."

"Ding!! You have leveled up."

"You have become 4th Rank Martial Elder. +500 to all stats."

"Profound Qi increased by 1000."

While the notifications were flashing, Long Jun was in a special state where he felt his meridians and internal organs being nourished by very warm energy, feeling extremely comfortable. At the same time, he felt a change occurring in his dantian. He felt the space within expanding slightly.

After the feeling vanished, Long Jun opened his eyes from the euphoric state he was before. Looking at himself, he sighed, already missing the special state he was in just before. Looking at himself, he mumbled, "So this is how it feels when having a breakthrough!! Such a nice feeling. I could never get enough of this."

After that, Long Jun sheathed the saber in its scabbard and went deeper and deeper. He had two motives today, to find and kill Hao Teng and level up as much as possible. His second objective was going on nicely, only he had yet to find that Hao Teng to complete his first objective and gain merit points.

"I wonder where I can find that worm!!" Long Jun mumbled to himself and regretted not asking someone back in the town. He should have asked someone before leaving the town, no he was here randomly searching for someone whom he had never seen in his life. Despite that, he was sure before the end of today, he would be finding him. After all, what he had done in that bar wouldn't be kept hidden forever.

So, not thinking about that Hao Teng, Long Jun focussed fully on the level up. The enemies he had were many, with some being hidden pretty well. Unless he grows strong, he couldn't do anything about them. But, Long Jun wasn't entirely willing to fight with brute force, he had a few plans. But that required to first know who his enemy was. As of right now, except for that family at the foot of his sect's mountain, he didn't know anyone else.

So currently, he was in light while his enemies were in the dark, taking turns to nibble away his strength.

He can think of three ways to fight with his enemies. First, bulldozing with brute force. It was the most efficient way to fight as well as protect himself. Unfortunately, he didn't have enough strength. Second, to use connections and relationships to suppress them. Again, he didn't have any of such. Third, to use money and deception and defeat them with their own game. But for this happen, he had to know who his enemy first.

As such, he could only pretend to be a sheep and wait for the wolf to bare its fang. And while doing, so, he must try his hardest and sharpen his horns as much as possible. He could always abandon this sect and run away, after all, he had next to nothing do with this world's people. But Long Jun felt it would be detestable to just leave like that. Besides, after seeing his system's prompt about Sect Management, he had a brilliant idea to how to earn more merit points and level up at the same time.

After a long walk, Long Jun heard the faint noise of someone conversing. Feeling happy at the prospect of seeing humans finally, he ventured towards the direction of the sound. Soon a small clearing was visible at his field of vision.

"Elder brother, are we really doing this?" a faint voice of someone entered his ears as he neared to the clearing.

"Shut up! You know how long it had been since the last time we had such a sumptuous meal? I don't understand why the queen would bar us from feeding on them, they are delicious and very nutritious. We can even increase our cultivation level by feeding on them…such a waste!!" another deep voice came from there. Long Jun frowned in confusion.

'Are they talking about some food? And why would this queen bar them from eating something?' Suspicion rose in Long Jun's heart as he moved closer. Finally, stopping near a tree, he hid behind it, and stealthily peeked on the clearing to see what's happening.

Two huge men(?) with pinkish-brown skin tone were squatting on the ground while surrounding something furry. What startled Long Jun was that these two men(?) didn't have a human head, rather pig heads, literally. They were wearing green rags, and a long crudely made spear could be seen laying at their sides.

"Orcs!?" Long Jun mumbled as his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. He could recognize them from miles away, they were indeed orcs. Not only him, but any kid from his world would also recognize them at a mere glance. Pig head, sturdy body, crudely made weapon, rags, and a pungent smell, all these are a signature character trait of an Orc. And these two guys have'em all.

Suddenly, a prompt appeared in front of him.

"Ding! A new Merit Quest has been triggered."

"Save the Possum Bear's Cub from the two orcs."

"Condition 1: Save the cub without killing the orcs. Rewards: 20 Merit points."

"Condition 2: Save the cub after killing the orcs. Rewards: 5 Merit points."

"Oh! Another Merit Quest? Nice. But isn't the rewards are a little stringent?" Long Jun smiled in satisfaction, despite complaints coming from his mouth. He didn't mind much about the two conditions. After all, he was talking about Merit Points here, and killing innocent living beings was akin to angering the heavens. Although he didn't think these two were completely innocent as he would still gain 5 Merit points even after killing them, he wouldn't argue much.

The system asked him to save the bear's cub without killing them. And he would do exactly that. As for whether to kill them or not after that, he would think about it after seeing their reaction.

Long Jun executed his agility martial skill and arrived before the two unsuspecting orcs in a flash. Using his sheathed sword, he bashed it on their necks while coating it with a bit of Qi. The two orcs were thrown two different directions while squealing like pigs.

Exactly at that moment, a burst of fragrance assaulted his nose. Looking for the source, he found a small furry creature with a flower on its head and big round eyes looking at him while shaking like a leaf.

"So this is a possum bear cub!?" Long Jun muttered as he inspected it. Except for the flower and the strange fragrance, everything else about this bear cub was the same as back on earth.

"Hey, kid. Run along…shoo…shoo!" Long Jun tried to shoo it away with the wave of his hands. But, as expected, it's a bear cub. It couldn't understand him at all. Instead, it only looked at him with its big round eyes.