Chapter 427: Comparing Merits

Everyone was surprised.

Not because someone dared to challenge Jin Zhongming, but rather...

Who had the audacity to compare their task to Jin Zhongming's? After all, Jin Zhongming was undertaking the most dangerous Heaven-level task. It wasn't an Earth-level task, let alone a Mysterious-level one!

However, upon seeing the newcomer, everyone froze.

"Jiang Fan?"

"The Jiang Fan who undertook the Taihu Lake rescue mission?"

"How is he back?"

Nangong Xiaoyun immediately spotted her familiar Xiaobai. Then, looking up, she saw Jiang Fan standing there with his arms crossed. Overjoyed, she dropped her pen and quickly ran over: "Junior Brother Jiang, you're back!"

"I was so worried about you!"

Jiang Fan smiled as he jumped down, teasing, "Were you worried about me, or about your Xiaobai?"

Nangong Xiaoyun's smile faded. "You! How could you be so ungrateful?" But seeing Jiang Fan's half-smile fixed on her, she couldn't maintain her composure and awkwardly said:

"Alright, I admit, I was very worried about Xiaobai."

"But I worried about you too!"

"Really, I swear!"

Jiang Fan patted her head and chuckled, "Don't worry, Xiaobai is doing great with me." Xiaobai was a spirit beast that Nangong Xiaoyun treated like family. How could she not worry about it?

Nangong Xiaoyun quickly examined Xiaobai, whom she hadn't seen in days. She found that not only was it unharmed, but its cultivation level had also significantly improved, subtly showing signs of breaking through to the fourth layer of Core Formation.

"Ah? Xiaobai! You... you're about to break through!" Nangong Xiaoyun exclaimed in surprise. Given Xiaobai's previous condition, it would have taken at least another year to reach the verge of a breakthrough. Going out with Jiang Fan seemed to have given it a stroke of luck, directly leading to signs of a breakthrough.

Xiaobai pranced its hooves, happily saying, "Brother Jiang Fan fed me a... a good thing I can't talk about!" That was naturally the clam meat. However, it smartly remembered Jiang Fan's instructions: not to tell anyone, including its master.

Nangong Xiaoyun was overjoyed, holding Jiang Fan's hand and saying, "Thank you, Junior Brother Jiang, thank you, Junior Brother Jiang." Her eyes darted around, then she said, "When will you go on your next mission?"

"Remember to take Xiaobai with you again!"

If anyone else borrowed Xiaobai, she would be extremely reluctant. Now, she wanted to beg Jiang Fan to borrow it more often. Then next time it came back, it would break through to the fourth layer of Core Formation, the time after that, the fifth layer... and then, the time after that, it would break through to the Nascent Soul realm. Then she could rely on a Nascent Soul spirit beast and live a wonderful, relaxed life from then on.

Jiang Fan playfully retorted, "I just got back, my behind hasn't even touched a seat, and you're already hoping I'll go out again."

"Hurry up and register my mission."

Nangong Xiaoyun then remembered the main business, asking with concern, "Oh right! How did your mission go?"

"Did you fail?"

"Actually, it doesn't matter if you failed. In the few days you were away, this mission was upgraded to a task for the elders."

"It's not shameful to fail; it's a blessing to come back alive."

Perhaps the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets had suddenly received some intelligence, urgently elevating that mission to elder-level. This was no longer a level that disciples could handle.

Jin Zhongming's gaze sharpened, radiating an oppressive aura: "Do you have an issue with my mission?"

The entire hall suddenly fell silent. Many people looked at Jiang Fan with schadenfreude.

"Saving people is a noble act; how dare he criticize it?"

"If he's so capable, he shouldn't have failed; he should have rescued people from Taihu Lake too!"

"Even if he had rescued just one, I would accept his questioning of Jin Zhongming, because the Taihu Lake mission was harder. But the key is, he didn't!"

"I really don't know what he's thinking, openly questioning Jin Zhongming's credit for saving people. Wouldn't that discourage everyone else?"

Nangong Xiaoyun even started to feel anxious. Jiang Fan's words just now were truly offensive. Not only did he offend Jin Zhongming, but also many disciples who had worked hard on their missions. Even Ye Cangyuan slightly furrowed his brow. Originally, he had some admiration for Jiang Fan's courage in undertaking the Taihu Lake mission. But hearing these words, he couldn't help but feel that Jiang Fan was too narrow-minded.

He said indifferently, "Then what do you think should be done?" From his tone, it was clear that Ye Cangyuan was somewhat annoyed. Jiang Fan even questioned the suggestion of him, a dignified Deputy Pavilion Master. Perhaps Jiang Fan should decide then.

Jiang Fan did not look at the murmuring disciples, nor did he even glance at Jin Zhongming. Instead, after cupping his hands to Ye Cangyuan, he called out to Xiaobai's back, "Everyone, come down."

Who else was on Xiaobai's back? Wasn't Jiang Fan supposed to have gone on the mission alone?

*Clatter*

As five figures successively jumped down, after recognizing their faces, the entire hall gasped.

"Liu Qingxian and Wang Chengjian of Qingyun Sect!"

"Wang Yan of Qianlian Sect, Qin Huai of Zhenglei Sect, and Wei Sanqing of Tianyin Sect!"

"These... aren't these the Taihu Lake patrol team?"

"They've all returned... all of them have been rescued!"

A tumultuous clamor erupted in the hall. The disciples from Qianlian Sect, Zhenglei Sect, and Tianyin Sect present surged forward excitedly, cheering in surprise.

Nangong Xiaoyun's mouth fell open: "Ah? You rescued everyone?"

"That was an elder-level mission."

"Didn't you encounter any danger?"

Jiang Fan nodded: "I encountered a little."

Subsequently, he cupped his hands to the visibly moved Ye Cangyuan, saying, "Deputy Pavilion Master Ye, this junior has fulfilled the mission. All missing team members have been brought back safely."

"Please inspect them, Deputy Pavilion Master Ye."

Ye Cangyuan was also somewhat disbelieving. As the Deputy Pavilion Master of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets, he naturally understood why this mission had been urgently elevated to elder-level. Because the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets had received a secret report: the Demon Emperor had dispatched demon generals to Taihu Lake, which was the reason for the disciples' disappearance! Jiang Fan had actually brought everyone back right under the generals' noses! This was nothing short of a miracle!

He re-examined Jiang Fan, and deep joy appeared on his aged face:

"Good! Good! Good!"

"Indeed, heroes emerge from the young!"

"That you could bring everyone back, not a single one missing, from such a dangerous place, truly exceeds this old man's expectations!"

"Xiaoyun, what are you waiting for? Full credit! Undisputed full credit!"

At this moment, he suddenly realized why Jiang Fan had an issue with Jin Zhongming's mission evaluation. If Jin Zhongming, whose task was incomplete, was given full credit, then how much should Jiang Fan, who perfectly completed the rescue mission, be given? Full credit? That wouldn't be fair. More credit on top of full credit? Would there still be rules then?

Only then did he realize that what seemed like a commendation for Jin Zhongming was actually undermining fairness. He immediately retracted his previous decision and said, "Jiang Fan, full credit. Jin Zhongming, eighty percent credit."

No one had any objections, because this was the most fair.

"No wonder Jiang Fan questioned Jin Zhongming's rating; he truly had the right to. I was too hasty just now."

"Me too. In comparison, Jin Zhongming should only receive eighty percent credit."

"The same rescue, the same number of people, but Jiang Fan's difficulty was higher. If they received the same credit, it would be too unfair."

Jin Zhongming's gaze turned sharp! The full credit he had earned was gone, simply because of Jiang Fan's interference! Eighty percent credit meant not only that he would only receive eighty percent of the mission's merit points, but more importantly, he had been trying to challenge Xia Chaoge's Heaven-level mission record. He had finally completed it, but an eighty percent rating would greatly reduce the persuasiveness of this mission's claim. It simply couldn't compare to Xia Chaoge's.

"Kid! You're quite good at completing missions, aren't you?" Jin Zhongming said coldly.

Jiang Fan had no good feelings for disciples of the Giant Sect, and replied bluntly, "Better than you."

*Thud*

Jin Zhongming grabbed the Fangtian Huaji spear stuck in the ground and pointed it at Jiang Fan from a distance: "Oh really?"

"The Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets' merit ranking list will be released tonight!"

"Dare to compete with me?"

Jiang Fan's eyes showed a hint of pleasant surprise. The merit ranking list he had been anticipating for a month was finally coming out! He was waiting to exchange for the legendary spatial storage device and the Ethereal Lotus.