Chapter 11: Mission, Flight

Spiritual Excellence Peak has the greatest area, and the cultivators on its summit are the most numerous among the outer disciples of Azure Moon Sect.

After all, the Mission Hall is located here, where tens of thousands of Qi Refining cultivators come to receive missions.

When Wang Ping arrived at the front of the hall, the inside was crowded and bustling, noisy and lively, giving the immortal's abode a hint of mortal vitality.

This left Wang Ping feeling somewhat dazed, as he hadn't seen such a lively scene in a long time.

Seeing this, he couldn't help but think of his past life's red lights and green wine, the bustling city with flowing carriages and horses.

In the blink of an eye, he had been in this world for five years; now, looking back, those memories have become somewhat fuzzy.

These thoughts arose only for a moment before Wang Ping suppressed them deep in his heart.

If one day he truly could cultivate to the realm of an immortal, perhaps there would still be a day to return—but when that time comes, would he really want to go back?

Wang Ping did not know.

The Mission Hall was built on the peak west of Spiritual Excellence Main Peak, occupying a vast area, and the entire hall was cast from rare blue-green stone.

This stone is extraordinarily hard; a slab five chi long, three chi wide, and three chi high can only be split by a mid‑Qi Refining cultivator striking with all his strength using a low‑grade magic artifact.

Seeing this stone, Wang Ping couldn't help but think of those fragments in the Spirit Realm.

They might be ordinary stones in the Spirit Realm, but in the lower realm their hardness is probably dozens of times greater than this stone.

If they could really be refined into magic artifacts, who knows how powerful they would be?

This only strengthened Wang Ping's resolve to bring those fragments back and forge them into magic artifacts.

Inside the Mission Hall, missions are divided into inner‑sect and outer‑sect tasks.

Inner‑sect missions refer to tasks completed within the sect, like the Pure Heart Grass he previously cultivated.

Outer‑sect missions are mostly killing tasks—either slaying demonic cultivators, heretical cultivators, or monster beasts.

Outer‑sect missions carry extremely high risk, and correspondingly, the merit points earned are very substantial.

Additionally, one can reap unexpected wealth, such as the possessions of demonic or heretical cultivators.

Among Azure Moon Sect's outer disciples, those who accept outer‑sect missions are the most richly rewarded, and the foundation of those who survive to break through to late Qi Refining is astonishing.

Everyone usually gives these disciples a wide berth.

These disciples share a common trait: their bodies are filled with killing intent.

Within the hall, Wang Ping saw several such disciples; no other disciple dared to linger within a zhang of them.

Whenever one of these disciples took a liking to a mission, no other disciple dared to contend for it.

In the inner‑sect mission area, a huge screen hovered in midair, with information constantly scrolling across it.

Most inner‑sect missions involve managing spiritual fields, spiritual medicines, spiritual herbs, and the like; the rest are mostly miscellaneous chores.

Wang Ping's eyes swiftly scanned the information; after the time it takes to finish a cup of tea, his eyes suddenly brightened, and his gaze stopped on a notice recruiting artifact‑refining apprentices.

The poster was a Foundation Establishment Elder who wanted to recruit an apprentice to sort materials, with the reward being the chance to observe from the side.

This condition is undoubtedly tempting, but it could also be a trap; if you lack talent for artifact refining, you might end up working for free.

Checking the posting time, this task has been hanging here for a year.

From this one can see that everyone is uninterested in such tasks, or someone might take the mission and then quit midway.

Wang Ping thought it over, first marking this task as a backup, then continued browsing.

After another span of time to finish a cup of tea, Wang Ping gave up searching, walked straight to the mission‑collection desk, and clearly told the steward which mission he wanted to take.

The steward in charge of the Inner Sect Mission Hall, surnamed Zhang, whose cultivation had reached the great perfection of Qi Refining, was now suffering a terrible headache.

A Foundation Establishment Senior from the inner sect had posted here a task recruiting an artifact‑refining apprentice, claiming it was for an apprentice but in reality it was just menial labor.

This wasn't the cause of his headache; the real source of his anguish lay in the reward.

If you were just recruiting someone for hard labor, that would be fine—people would vie for the chance out of respect for your status as a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

But your reward is utter nonsense—it merely allows one to watch artifact‑refining techniques from the side.

Even that would be tolerable, according to the lamentations of disciples who had taken these tasks and returned.

That Foundation Establishment Senior simply didn't treat them as human; from the moment they entered the artifact‑refining room, he kept them working nonstop, leaving them no chance to learn anything.

They were exhausted every day, with no time to observe artifact‑refining matters.

The crucial point is that once you accept this mission, you cannot withdraw within a month, or else you will incur the wrath of a Foundation Establishment cultivator!

Such missions quickly spread among the disciples, and everyone hurried to avoid them.

Steward Zhang had overseen the Inner Sect Mission Hall for many years; he was used to this, and every two or three years a task would appear that caused many disciples to steer clear.

But this Foundation Establishment cultivator is not only stingy, he also has a thick skin, showing up every few days to have someone find him helpers.

Steward Zhang truly fears this Foundation Establishment cultivator; lately he has been considering whether to pull strings and change jobs.

"Steward Sir, I want to take this mission!"

Steward Zhang, who had been sighing, suddenly heard someone taking a mission, calmed his emotions, and asked:

"Which mission are you taking?"

"The artifact‑refining apprentice recruitment mission in the Ding Section!"

Steward Zhang replied impartially: "Oh! The Ding Section, let me look…"

He had barely spoken when he suddenly shouted loudly:

"What? The artifact‑refining apprentice recruitment mission in the Ding Section?"

His voice was so loud that it not only startled Wang Ping, but also made the nearby disciples picking missions jump in surprise.

Those disciples all turned angrily toward the source of the sound.

Huh?

Steward Zhang!

It's nothing, the many disciples withdrew their gazes and went back to checking the missions as if nothing had happened.

"Uh… yes, Steward Sir, could it be that this mission has already been taken?" Wang Ping asked, somewhat bewildered.

Steward Zhang just came to his senses, hurriedly shook his head and denied: "No, no."

Just now still wearing a worried frown, Steward Zhang is now overjoyed; heaven knows how harshly that Foundation Establishment cultivator has been pressing him these past few days.

He almost wanted to transfer out of his post, but he never expected that a savior would actually appear now.

Steward Zhang looked at Wang Ping and found him increasingly pleasing; even his tone became unusually gentle.

"Come, handle the paperwork, good kid, work hard, I, the steward, have high hopes for you!"

After Wang Ping handed over his waist token, Steward Zhang's eyes flashed: "You just broke through as a Dao disciple? Great! This kind of disciple is easy to swindle."

He, while processing the information, said:

"Wang Ping! You've picked a good job—among the hundred arts of cultivation, the four professions of formations, elixirs, artifacts, and talismans; mastering any one of them lets you make a foothold in the cultivation world."

"Artifact forging is a great line! Every cultivator has a couple of magical weapons at their side. I myself lacked that opportunity back then; otherwise I would have gone to study forging. Remember, seize this opportunity, train hard—maybe one day I'll beg you to forge something for me!"

Wang Ping gave verbal assent, but secretly laughed: 'This mission must have been unclaimed for a long time; Steward Zhang is surely under great pressure, otherwise he wouldn't be so affable.'

Hearing his words made my blood boil!

Someday he'll still ask me to forge artifacts—hehe, who knows how he'll be laughing at himself inside.

Although Wang Ping is only twenty years old now, counting his two lives he is actually over forty.

How could he not understand the steward's meaning?

The formalities were quickly finished, and then Steward Zhang personally escorted Wang Ping to the gate of the sect's inner area.

Wang Ping respectfully bade farewell; many people saw this and privately speculated which big shot's disciple he was, to have Steward Zhang personally see him off at the gate.

After seeing Wang Ping off, Steward Zhang looked relieved, then suddenly thought of something and immediately took out a message-transmitting jade slip to send this news to that Foundation Establishment senior.

Otherwise he'd fear being sought out in the middle of the night.

"Hehe! Steward Sir, just now that person—could he be a disciple of some big shot, a Dao disciple? To have you personally see him off!"

Before Steward Zhang could return to the counter, a disciple had already rushed up, fawningly smiling, obviously here to fish for information.

Steward Zhang originally intended to deny it, but then thought this disciple had also helped him a lot, so he'd give a little help—just a word.

Looking at the disciple's expression before him, he knew who knows how many ears nearby were listening; amused, his playful spirit rose.

The smile on his face instantly vanished, replaced by a wary look, and he spoke up in reproach:

"This is something you can inquire about? You don't want to take a mission, huh?"

As the Mission Hall steward, his authority over assignments is great, and with his Qi Refining Great Perfection cultivation, his sudden stern tone filled some disciples with dread.

That disciple gave an embarrassed smile, apologized repeatedly, then slunk away.

However, the news that a disciple with a mysterious background had the Mission Hall steward personally see him off spread like wildfire.

Leaving the Mission Hall, Wang Ping naturally didn't know these things; he now stuck a speed talisman on his feet and rushed toward Bamboo Green East Peak.

Having obtained the long-desired magical implement—a flying sword—and finding in the jade slip the art of Qi-riding flight and some evasion techniques, all this made him itch.

He couldn't wait another moment to return to Bamboo Green Peak to practice the art of controlling his sword.

After an hour.

Wang Ping stood in his courtyard, forming hand seals and chanting; suddenly his body levitated, and soon he was a zhang above the ground.

Hahaha!

Wang Ping laughed triumphantly; he had finally taken flight.

Just as he began the wind-controlling technique, his grasp was still a bit unskilled; elated, he couldn't fully control his inner spiritual power, and his floating body immediately started to wobble.

Before Wang Ping could again seal his hands to stabilize his spiritual power, his body had already fallen from that height of one zhang.

Wang Ping brushed it off, patted his rear, and again performed the wind-controlling art; this time he had learned, steadily maintaining control of his inner spiritual power to execute it smoothly.

One try, two tries familiar; on the second attempt of the wind-controlling technique, Wang Ping's body steadied and rose higher as he flew.

Soon his body surpassed the bamboo grove and flew upward again.

Wang Ping looked down; the ground's objects had become tiny, his body hung suspended in midair, now level with Bamboo Green Peak.

With a thought, Wang Ping flew toward the summit of Bamboo Green Peak; this sensation of flight made him feel that all his cultivation had finally been rewarded.