Training Mission

Wu Qi, who was well versed in the continent's development, knew perfectly well that the Spirit Master Competition after the next would never be held at all!

In the future, Bibi Dong's strength would gradually increase. She would seize vast authority within Spirit Hall and ultimately launch the Continental War.

Eight years later, with undercurrents surging across the continent, the Two Great Empires and Spirit Hall would tacitly agree not to hold the Spirit Master Competition in order to protect the contestants.

And if he could not participate in the next competition as a main team member, would he not have to watch Tang San win the championship and Tang Hao shatter Spirit Hall's myth?

For now, Wu Qi did not argue against Azure Luan Douluo's arrangements.

Rice had to be eaten one bite at a time, and matters had to be handled one at a time. There was no rushing it.

His top priority was to complete the training mission in Death Grand Canyon.

Early the next morning, he and Qian Gu Changkong arrived at Spirit Hall's Mission Pavilion.

Under normal circumstances, Spirit Hall staff received assignments directly from their superiors.

Of course, they could also accept missions through the Mission Pavilion in their spare time, earning merit in exchange for more cultivation resources.

Most of the missions available here were long-term exploration and investigation assignments. Time-sensitive missions would not appear here.

Training missions were also collected from the Mission Pavilion.

Hu Liena had described it in great detail in her letter. The training missions in Death Grand Canyon came in many forms: survival, escort, target hunting, and more.

The simplest of them was the survival mission.

As long as one brought enough food supplies, they could simply find an uninhabited spot and endure until the mission time was over.

Hu Liena had given detailed introductions to the other types of missions as well.

Wu Qi felt that escort missions were the hardest.

After all, the route for an escort mission was fixed, while the dangers along the way were unknown. If the supplies were stolen, they would have to be recovered and delivered to the designated location.

Compared to the other missions, escort missions were exceptionally troublesome. Therefore, Wu Qi could only pray that they would avoid one.

The Worship Hall had made arrangements in advance. When Wu Qi and Qian Gu Changkong arrived at the Mission Pavilion, someone immediately led them to a private room.

A staff member placed a lottery box before them. "Please draw for your mission type. Afterwards, missions corresponding to that type will be drawn."

The mission difficulties for a Soul Elder and a Soul Grandmaster were not the same. Even if the two trained together, they still had to draw their own missions.

Wu Qi drew first.

The lottery box could block spiritual power from probing it, so what one drew depended entirely on luck.

Furthermore, there was no writing on the slips. After drawing one, it would be interpreted by a specialist based on its shape.

Wu Qi drew a short slip. Before seeing the interpretation chart, he had no idea what it represented.

Next, Qian Gu Changkong drew a long, slender slip.

The staff member looked at Wu Qi with a smile. "Your luck is quite good."

When he looked at Qian Gu Changkong, he helplessly shook his head. "Good luck to you."

Only after the interpretation chart was brought out did Wu Qi understand what he meant.

Wu Qi had drawn the simplest survival mission, while Qian Gu Changkong had drawn the second-most difficult collection mission.

The staff member added, "Most survival missions are very simple, but some survival locations have extremely high death rates. Collection missions may seem difficult, but there are also missions among them that are easy to complete."

In short, only the specific mission they drew next would determine its actual difficulty.

A minute later, Wu Qi drew: "Survive for one month at any location."

Death Grand Canyon contained no shortage of dangerous regions. Being able to survive at any location was undoubtedly the easiest mission to complete.

Qian Gu Changkong had exceptionally bad luck today. The collection mission he drew was actually to collect badges.

Lost Grand Canyon was Spirit Hall's place of exile for criminals. Criminals of different strengths wore badges corresponding to their rank.

Soul Grandmasters wore White Badges on their chests. From there, the colors progressed through yellow, purple, black, and red, all the way up to Soul Emperor.

Qian Gu Changkong needed to collect one hundred White Badges, which meant he had to kill one hundred Soul Grandmasters.

After leaving the Mission Pavilion, Qian Gu Changkong slumped his shoulders, completely listless. "Brother Wu, what am I supposed to do?"

There were only a few hundred people in Death Grand Canyon altogether. Leaving aside whether there were even that many Soul Grandmasters, killing a hundred of them in one go would inevitably draw the attention of other Experts, leading to them being hunted down.

"If we're lucky enough, one Purple Badge will be enough."

One Purple Badge was equivalent to ten Yellow Badges or one hundred White Badges.

But a Purple Badge corresponded to a Soul Ancestor. How could that be easy to deal with?

Wu Qi was only an entry-level Soul Elder. Even with Qian Gu Changkong, a Soul Grandmaster, dealing with a Soul Ancestor would be extremely difficult.

Qian Gu Changkong said mournfully, "How could I possibly beat a Soul Ancestor? Even against a Soul Elder, I'd struggle."

Wu Qi frowned. "The mission never said that others were not allowed to help you."

If they lowered their target to hunting Soul Elders, the two of them would have a great chance if they joined forces.

Hearing this, Qian Gu Changkong relaxed slightly.

After a pause, he could not help but complain, "This collection mission is even harder than an assassination mission. I really don't understand why Grandpa and the others made the mission system so complicated back then."

At the beginning, Death Grand Canyon only had a set training period. There were no such cumbersome missions, nor was there any talk of luck.

Wu Qi understood their intentions. "Adapting to circumstances is a required lesson for every Expert. Different types of missions may seem to vary in difficulty, but they are tests in themselves."

"Perhaps Master and the others want to use this to temper everyone's strategies for dealing with different situations."

"Let's go. We'll prepare the supplies tonight and set off later."

Hu Liena had mentioned in her letter that entering Death Grand Canyon during the day made it easy for the criminals inside to spot them, which could then trigger a pursuit.

After all, the Gold Badges on the trainees were, to those criminals, steps toward freedom.

Entering at night, however, meant that darkness would obscure their movements, and few people would notice them.

That night, the two entered Death Grand Canyon under Thousand Jun Douluo's escort.

Viewed from above, the entire canyon resembled a man-made basin. Spirit Hall Experts guarded the surrounding cliffs, eliminating any possibility of criminals escaping.

The Gold Badges in their hands were their only proof that they could leave this place.

If they lost them, they would truly become one of the criminals.

Before setting out, he had made some guesses about the situation within the canyon. Yet now that he was personally standing within it, every one of those guesses had proven completely wrong.

First of all, Death Grand Canyon had quite a large population.

Many criminals had been exiled here, where they married and had children.

Since there were no soul beasts here, quite a few Soul Masters had reached Soul Power Level 10 without obtaining a Soul Ring.

"Looks like sorting through the criminals with badges will be quite a task too," Wu Qi said quietly.

Even if descendants of criminals born here obtained Soul Rings and advanced to higher levels, they had no badges in their possession. Killing them would be pointless.