Profound Bone Mountain (Seeking Follow-up Reads, Seeking Votes)

As expected, it was Gu Zheng Shun calling for him. The man seemed eager to tie him to his war chariot. Considering their agreement, there was no need to fall out for now.

Wang Yu smiled and said,

"Senior Brother Gu, it has been many days. Your bearing remains as impressive as ever."

"Not at all. Just look at these people, Junior Brother Wang, and you will understand why I am so set on Profound Bone Mountain."

Wang Yu nodded along. To any observer, they looked like the very picture of harmonious senior and junior brothers.

The plaza where the crowd had gathered was the Front Hall Plaza of the Central Halls District. The Profound Bone Mountain assignment was sect business. With two groups undergoing handover, the Mission Hall had to handle it as well.

Thus, quite a few people were standing there.

Gu Zheng Shun discreetly pointed out two figures surrounded by admirers and introduced them in a low voice.

"Junior Brother Wang, look at that woman in black with green hair. She is an Inner Disciple of the sect's Third Peak, Poison Gu Peak.

"Her name is Liu Jin Xian, Qi Refining Eighth Layer. Her father is the Core Formation Elder True Person Azure Serpent. She has a share of the Profound Bone Mountain Lord Tokens. Those around her are all Poison Gu Peak subordinates, over two hundred in total—the largest group among the three mountain lords of Profound Bone Three Mountains."

Wang Yu raised a brow... Liu Jin Xian, now that was one hell of a name. "And the other one?"

"Situ Hong. He is an Inner Disciple of the Seventh Peak, Five Yin Peak. His foster mother is also a Core Formation Cultivator, known as Peach Blossom Ghost Mother. She is far stronger than True Person Azure Serpent.

"He himself is only at Qi Refining Seventh Layer and only recently entered the Qi Refining Late Stage. There are one hundred and twenty-nine Five Yin Peak Disciples around him."

Good heavens. The two groups totaled exactly four hundred people. If he had come to this appointment knowing nothing, then among the three mountain lords, he would have been the only lone wolf. They probably would have dealt with him on the road.

That dog Zhao Shang deserved to eat his flesh every day!

Then again, although Gu Zheng Shun had a Core Formation grandmaster, their relationship certainly could not be as close as that between Wang Yu and his master. Besides, in the Demonic Path, master-disciple relationships were not as important as one might imagine.

Compared to Liu Jin Xian and Situ Hong, Gu Zheng Shun's status was much lower.

Thus, when Wang Yu looked behind him, he saw only a scant twenty people. Their cultivation levels varied wildly, the weakest only at Qi Refining Third Layer. Even the coffins on their backs were made of elmwood, looking utterly shabby.

This foundation... and he wanted to compete with those two?

Wang Yu gave Gu Zheng Shun a puzzled look, said nothing, and walked away.

"Cough, cough—

"Junior Brother Wang, do not be hasty. The sect issued over five hundred Profound Bone Tokens. There are still around eighty ordinary disciples. We can recruit at least some of them. You agreed that we would weather wind and rain together~"

Wang Yu halted. Rather than leaving, he slipped into the group of Heavenly Corpse Peak disciples, asked someone for a spare coffin, and strapped it onto his back with convincing form.

Starting today, he was a Heavenly Corpse Peak disciple~

Conceal oneself and blend in.

Seeing this, Gu Zheng Shun did not stop him. In fact, he was delighted. Wang Yu was one of his trump cards, so naturally he had to hide him first.

Gu Zheng Shun went instead to the group of ordinary disciples, putting his eloquence to work recruiting people. At the same time, he asked the old disciples rotating back for information.

Five years was not a short time for Qi Refining Cultivators.

There might be discrepancies with the intelligence he possessed, so he had to get things straight. Asking more questions could not hurt.

A province covered vast territory. Blood Abyss Province was roughly twenty million square kilometers. The Inverse Spirit Blood Sect stood at its center, and several hundred li away lay the holy land for cultivating Blood Dao Cultivation Methods—Blood Abyss!

This journey would take them north out of the sect, across Jade Night Province, and straight to Feng Province. It was a remote place in the far north of the Red Kite Demon Domain, farther to the west.

Farther north lay the vast, uninhabited Endless Ice Field. Not only was it devoid of human traces, it also contained a natural disaster known as the Ice Storm. Even Nascent Soul old monsters found it difficult to cross.

The straight-line distance for this journey exceeded fifty thousand kilometers, longer even than the equator in his previous life. It truly counted as a long journey.

At the speed of a Qi Refining Cultivator, even if they rode Flying Magical Artifacts for the entire trip, it would take at least twenty-six days, averaging eighty kilometers per hour.

But that was only the straight-line distance. They would have to detour around dangerous areas and stop to restore Magic Power and rest each day. It was perfectly normal for travel time to multiply severalfold. It would take nearly Three months at the very least to Arrive at Profound Bone Mountain.

By then, they would be welcoming the new year. Their garrison term would also begin upon arrival.

Fortunately, they would be passing entirely through Inverse Spirit Blood Sect territory. Otherwise, let alone making it there, merely not dying halfway would be a blessing from heaven.

Someone like Wang Yu could hardly obtain a Map of the Red Kite Demon Domain. Maps were also precious resources, highly valued by every sect. Ordinary maps were useless; they had to mark Spirit Veins, factions, dangerous areas... etc. The risks of mapmaking were extremely high.

Thus, the lower a cultivator's standing, the more "blind" they were. He knew how to reach a place, but he only knew One or two things about the dangers he might encounter and could not glimpse the full picture.

For cultivators, long journeys were difficult affairs as well.

The time spent waiting always felt long.

When Gu Zheng Shun returned to the group, he had not recruited a single person. Instead, he held a scroll in his hand as he said,

"Junior Brother Wang, the handover at the Mission Hall has been settled. The reward for five years is five hundred Contribution Points and five hundred Spirit Stones. You only need to leave your mark with your Disciple Token."

This amount was very little. Compared to the missions taken at Ice Snow Tower, it was downright shabby. No wonder those people would rather be exploited for sixty percent and only take missions from within the tower.

"Fine."

The gains at Profound Bone Mountain did not lie in the assignment itself, but in the opportunities of that place. Thus, having more or less made no difference.

After completing the mark, Gu Zheng Shun handed the items to the others one by one, then turned back to submit the mission scroll. Only then did he say,

"Alright, everything is settled. Let's go."

Wang Yu's expression shifted as he pointed at Liu Jin Xian's and Situ Hong's groups.

"We are not going together?"

"They do not think much of us. Let's go."

"Fine..."

Just as he was about to take out Black Silk, the Flying Magical Artifact he had never used since obtaining it, Gu Zheng Shun instead produced a White Bone Boat. He tossed out several dozen Mid Grade Spirit Stones and embedded them into it. In an instant, the bone boat expanded, large enough to carry all twenty-two of them.

He had been ignorant.

As they departed, Liu Jin Xian and Situ Hong immediately displayed their own methods. One had a pavilion wreathed in Poisonous Smoke, containing a Universe within. The other had a Skull howling with yin souls, which rapidly grew after Spirit Stones were embedded within it.

What surprised Wang Yu was that there were no Foundation Establishment Cultivators traveling with them. Instead, the disciples who had obtained the "Mountain Lord Token" were allowed to go freely on their own.

On the bone boat, Gu Zheng Shun was flying them out of the sect when he seemed to see what Wang Yu was thinking. He teased,

"Feng Province is remote, and the Profound Bone Mountain we are going to is close to the Endless Ice Field. There are not many Foundation Establishment Cultivators willing to go there, and once they settle in, they cannot move for forty or fifty years."

"So that was it—"

Two words summed it up: exile!

After leaving the sect, Gu Zheng Shun handed control of the bone boat to one of his subordinates. He sat drinking with Wang Yu on the upper platform, telling him information about Profound Bone Mountain and what they would need to do afterward.