Guo Zhao

"Spirit-Suppressing Cover."

Shen Mo took a transparent, dome-shaped object from his robes.

The object was exactly as its name suggested. Its greatest function was to prevent spiritual energy from leaking out.

"Just as I thought, it works quite well. Those two Spirit Stones weren't wasted!"

He placed the Spirit-Suppressing Cover over the table, completely shielding the Purple Sun Vermilion Fruit in the spirit soil.

Before long, the spiritual energy that had been constantly leaking out vanished without a trace.

"That settles it. Now I can leave without worry."

A faint smile crossed Shen Mo's face as he murmured to himself.

River-Facing Sect, mountain gate plaza.

As agreed, Shen Mo soon arrived beside the Weapon Forging Hall.

"Not bad. You're not late."

When Chen Mengze saw Shen Mo arrive, a slight smile appeared on her face.

"Let me introduce you."

She pointed to the burly, simple-looking man beside her and said, "Senior Brother Guo Zhao. Like me, he's an Inner Sect disciple."

"His background is no small matter. He comes from a great Aristocratic Clan, and his younger brother, Guo Xun, is a direct disciple of our River-Facing Sect. This time, we were able to get the assignment to guard the mining area thanks entirely to Senior Brother Guo's influence."

"Greetings, Senior Brother Guo."

After hearing this, Shen Mo hurriedly clasped his hands and bowed.

However, when Guo Zhao saw him, he didn't return the greeting. Instead, he looked at Chen Mengze in surprise. "Wasn't it supposed to be just the two of us? How come..."

"I'm sorry, Senior Brother Guo. I forgot to tell you beforehand."

"This is Shen Mo, Junior Brother Shen. He's a friend of mine. His late parents once did my father a great kindness, so my father asked me to look after him."

"I thought this assignment would be a good fit, so I invited him along without asking first."

Chen Mengze explained.

"But..."

Guo Zhao looked troubled. "The reward for guarding the mining area only covers two people. How are we supposed to divide it among three?"

"Don't worry about that, Senior Brother Guo. Since I invited him, I'll pay his share myself."

"Guarding the mining area for a month pays one hundred Spirit Stones. You and I will split it in half as agreed. You won't lose out on your share."

Chen Mengze spoke earnestly.

After hearing Chen Mengze's faultless answer, Guo Zhao didn't feel any relief. If anything, he was even more at a loss for words.

A month ago, he'd met Chen Mengze in Cloud Sky City and fallen in love with her at first sight.

He had specifically asked his younger brother, who held a prominent position in the River-Facing Sect, to help him get this assignment guarding the mining area.

He'd invited her along to create a chance for the two of them to be alone and find a way to grow closer.

Now that someone else had suddenly joined them, his original plan was bound to fall apart completely.

"It was presumptuous of me to invite someone else without asking."

Seeing Guo Zhao's troubled expression, Chen Mengze gazed at him with her beautiful eyes and said earnestly, "If you're unwilling, Senior Brother Guo, then let's just forget about guarding the mining area this time."

"I'll take him somewhere else to gain experience."

"No, it wasn't presumptuous at all. Having one more person along is no problem."

Hearing from Junior Sister Chen that she wouldn't go if he refused to let Shen Mo join them, Guo Zhao hurriedly said it was fine.

Three people traveling together was better than Chen Mengze not going at all.

"Then I'll have to thank you, Senior Brother Guo."

Chen Mengze smiled sweetly.

After hearing their exchange, Shen Mo finally caught on.

So Chen Mengze hadn't invited him because she wanted to do him a favor.

She'd brought him along as a third wheel!

Though Guo Zhao hadn't said it outright, Shen Mo could see what he was thinking.

He could also tell that Chen Mengze wasn't interested in Guo Zhao.

"Guo Zhao arranged this assignment so he'd have a chance to get close to her. She doesn't really want to be alone with him, but she also thinks the reward is generous and doesn't want to give it up."

"So she thought of me and invited me along, which also helped ease the awkwardness."

In the blink of an eye, he'd pieced together a whole string of events.

He couldn't prove it, but Shen Mo thought his guess was almost certainly right.

No wonder this assignment was so good. They'd pushed me straight into the fire!

Shen Mo thought to himself, If he's the jealous type, won't he end up hating me for this?

He'd heard that Senior Brother Guo had powerful connections. If Guo Zhao came to hate him, it could spell serious trouble.

At the thought, Shen Mo grew anxious.

"You're Junior Brother Shen, right? We'll be eating and staying together at the mining area for the next two months. I hope we can look out for each other."

Fortunately, Senior Brother Guo didn't seem like the sort of arrogant young master who threw his weight around. He smiled at Shen Mo and spoke amiably.

"Mm. I hope you'll look out for me too, Senior Brother Guo."

Shen Mo nodded, feeling a little less anxious.

After exchanging a few words, the three set off with Guo Zhao leading the way, bound for the Mystic Crystal Mining Area.

As one of the Red Flame Kingdom's great sects, the River-Facing Sect had a vast array of holdings spread across the land.

The Mystic Crystal Mining Area where Shen Mo and the others were headed was one of them.

It lay more than two hundred li south of the sect, along the banks of the Lancang River.

"Stand steady, and be careful not to fall."

Chen Mengze summoned her flying sword and took Shen Mo aboard with her.

After reaching the Qi Gathering Realm, cultivators could fly for short periods, but they usually needed to rely on magical objects.

Once they reached the Spirit Sea Realm, however, they could soar through the air without relying on anything.

Shen Mo hadn't yet broken through to the Qi Gathering Realm, so he could only ride with Chen Mengze.

It was his first time flying. Looking at the hazy brown land beneath his feet and the mountains and rivers below, Shen Mo felt rather nervous.

"Truly... magnificent."

Once they had flown high enough to look down upon the earth, it seemed that all the myriad things between heaven and earth were gathered beneath their eyes.

The sight captivated Shen Mo, and the journey didn't feel dull at all.

About an hour later, they arrived at their destination.

They were moving nearly twice as fast as when he'd attached a Light Body Talisman and rushed at full speed with Thunderbolt Quickstep.

The group dismounted from the flying sword and walked to the entrance of the mining area.

There was a cave dwelling here specifically for those assigned to guard the area.

"Senior Brothers, it's time for the shift change."

Guo Zhao walked to the cave dwelling and sent out a burst of spiritual awareness.

Before long, two River-Facing Sect disciples who had previously taken the guarding assignment came out.

"Here is the sect token. Please take a look, Senior Brothers."

He handed over the token representing the sect's assignment.

The two Inner Sect senior brothers examined it briefly. Once they confirmed it was in order, they quickly completed the handover.

"Our two-month term is over. We're returning to the sect."

"Starting today, these three will take over the night patrol and guard duties."

"Remember who they are. If you run into trouble while mining, you can come to the cave dwelling and find them."

They gathered the miners and gave them their instructions.

"We'll remember."

The miners nodded repeatedly to show that they'd understood.

Most of the miners in the Mystic Crystal Mine were collateral relatives of cultivation families affiliated with the River-Facing Sect.

They spent the whole year mining the Mystic Crystal Mine, offering their blood, sweat, and labor to the River-Facing Sect.

It was grueling work. They never saw the sunlight, and the dense metallic aura inside the mine meant that staying there for a long time could shorten their lives and cause all kinds of illnesses.

If they were unlucky enough to encounter an Illusionary Stone Spirit in the mine and the guarding cultivators failed to rescue them in time, it wasn't uncommon for them to lose their lives on the spot.