The Mission

At noon, in the lobby of the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall, Zuo Yuning propped her head up with one hand and yawned boredly.

This job was nice, but it was just too quiet most of the time.

She held her phone in her other hand, flipping through a recently popular novel.

She couldn't help wondering when she'd get to become a great cultivator like the one in the book, sword in hand, roaming free and easy, vanquishing demons and defending the Way.

Knock, knock!

The sudden sound made her jump.

She turned around. A strange figure stood outside, its head wrapped in bandages with not so much as a crack showing.

Zuo Yuning sprang to her feet.

"Foul fiend! How dare you cause trouble in the Sword Sect's Miscellaneous Affairs Hall?"

"???"

Did the new generation of Sword Sect disciples all talk like this?

Li Fengping took out the blue jade token that identified him.

"I'm no fiend. I'm here to take care of something."

"..." This was awkward. "So you're a Martial Uncle. What can I do for you?"

Zuo Yuning's face flushed. Her toes curled against the floor, and she wished she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into. She hurriedly took the jade token and pulled up his identity information.

[Name: Li Fengping]

[Realm: Nascent Soul]

[Identity: Inner Sect Disciple]

Then she took out the device used to verify spiritual power.

"Martial Uncle, please infuse it with a trace of your spiritual power to confirm your identity."

Li Fengping had completed plenty of missions before, so he knew the process well. As soon as he infused a trace of spiritual power, text appeared on the computer screen.

[Authentication successful]

That was pretty fast, Zuo Yuning thought to herself.

"May I ask what you need, Martial Uncle?"

"My two senior brothers and I came to Mystic Sword City for a mission, but something went wrong on their end. So I'd like to contact some fellow disciples in the area who are in the Nascent Soul Realm and ask them to help."

As he spoke, Li Fengping took out the Lin Family's token as well.

"We can discuss the details of the mission and the compensation after we meet."

Something from the Lin Family?

Emm...

Among the people who were caught speeding last night, there seemed to have been someone surnamed Lin. Could the two senior brothers he mentioned be the two sword cultivators who'd been caught speeding last night?

"All right. I'll notify the Nascent Soul Martial Uncles nearby. Please wait a moment." Zuo Yuning wore a professional smile.

"Sorry for the trouble."

Li Fengping nodded, turned, and walked out, planning to sit in the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall lobby and wait for news.

There was no way he was going outside. He and his two senior brothers seemed to have had terrible luck lately.

In the Sword Sect's villa district, Xu Xing had spent the whole morning using Xu Sandao's identity to get everything sorted.

At that moment, he was sitting on the sofa, browsing the Spirit Net.

But Xu Sandao was publicly known as an outer sect steward in the Nascent Soul Realm, so he had naturally received the message from the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall as well.

"An inner sect disciple is looking for people to join a mission?"

The photo attached to the message showed an exquisite golden jade token, with the character "Lin" engraved on it.

Xu Xing got up from the sofa and looked outside.

"Sounds good."

After replying to the message, he headed straight out.

The Miscellaneous Affairs Hall.

"Martial Uncle Sandao, please come this way."

Zuo Yuning was outside the building. As soon as she saw Xu Xing, she stepped forward to lead him in.

But... why was she calling him Martial Uncle Sandao?

Wouldn't Martial Uncle Xu be more appropriate?

It was a minor matter, so he didn't pay it much attention. He followed Zuo Yuning into a reception room that had been prepared for them.

Li Fengping's unusual appearance caught his eye. The Lin Family's name carried a lot of weight; aside from him, five other Nascent Soul sword cultivators had come.

Their auras varied in strength. The strongest was a burly man in a suit who had already reached the Nascent Soul Late Stage. His muscles stretched the suit tight, and without the sharp sword intent around him, people might have mistaken him for a body cultivator.

The other four had strong auras too. Two of them seemed to be brothers, their faces as alike as if they'd been cut from the same mold.

They were all sizing up everyone else in the room.

Seven Nascent Soul sword cultivators made for an exceptionally powerful force in Mystic Sword City.

"Greetings, senior brothers and sisters. I'm Li Fengping." Li Fengping cupped his hands.

Even the youngest person here was older than him, and their cultivation realms were about the same, so there was nothing wrong with addressing them that way.

"You're not from the Lin Family?" the burly man asked bluntly.

"I'm not, but my senior brother is. He said that if you're willing to help, all the contribution points from this mission will go to you, and you'll receive additional compensation as well."

That good?

Was a pie falling from the sky?

"Junior Brother Li, if I'm not mistaken, you seem to be injured."

The speaker was a sword cultivator with a deathly pale face. He must have practiced a sword art of yin-baleful energy; a baleful aura lingered between his brows.

"Does your injury have anything to do with this mission?"

"It doesn't." Li Fengping gritted his teeth. Just thinking about it made him seethe with frustration. "I got beaten up by some lunatic who came out of nowhere."

"If that's the case, how can you be sure that person wasn't after you because of the mission?"

"..." He really didn't want to say, but in this situation, he had no choice. "Because after attacking me, that person said they'd mistaken me for someone else. They even gave me a pill to take. Otherwise, my injuries couldn't have healed so quickly."

So it was true. Xu Xing could barely keep from laughing. This unlucky kid really had gotten beaten up.

Sneaking around after someone's little sister? Who wouldn't beat you up?

But from Li Fengping's point of view, the whole thing really had come out of nowhere.

Xu Xing knew the whole story, but the others didn't. They all thought Li Fengping was keeping something from them.

In the end, a strikingly bold female sword cultivator spoke up. "Please explain the mission first, Junior Brother."

A black longsword was strapped to her back. Her features were sharp and handsome, her eyes a lovely amber, and divine light flowed through them. She had clearly cultivated a related divine ability.

"All right." Li Fengping hurried to explain, afraid everyone would leave. "My two senior brothers and I took on an investigation mission issued by an elder. He once discovered a Secret Realm in Mystic Sword City."

"After painstakingly entering it, he found nothing. When he returned to the sect, he studied the sect's ancient texts and discovered that someone was actually using the Secret Realm to nurture a sword."

"He wanted to investigate in person, but there was something he had to take care of in the sect, and he couldn't get away, so he issued this mission."

"If you're willing to go, I'll send you the information about the Secret Realm."

He gave a simple explanation of the mission, without any extra details. He really wasn't good at dealing with people. Usually, Senior Brother Feng handled this sort of thing.

"I'm not interested." The burly man shook his head and turned to leave.

The two sword cultivators who looked remarkably alike exchanged a glance, then turned and left as well.

"I'm not interested either." The pale-faced man left too.

The terms were good, but he didn't trust him. Besides, Li Fengping wasn't from the Lin Family, so there was no point risking anything for a few contribution points.

Li Fengping could only turn to the two who remained. If they left too, he really wouldn't have any options.

"I'm quite interested." Xu Xing had no intention of leaving.

"Count me in." The female sword cultivator showed no sign of leaving either.

Phew~

Good. With them, he'd just managed to gather three people, himself included.

"Thank you, Senior Brother. Thank you, Senior Sister." Li Fengping said solemnly.

"You're welcome." The female sword cultivator nodded, then reached out to Xu Xing. "Jiang Jing."

Xu Xing shook her hand. "Xu Sandao."

Hmm?

Jiang Jing and Li Fengping both froze, just like Zuo Yuning had earlier.

You're a sword cultivator, and that's your name?