Shortly after, Zhao Jiuge landed unsteadily. This was the peak where Duty Hall was located. This short flight had used the majority of Zhao Jiuge’s spirit force. In the end, his cultivation was still lacking. Once he formed his spirit core, he would be able to fly without worrying about the spirit force consumption.

Bai Qingqing clearly looked more relaxed than him. Although she had also exhausted a lot of spirit force, she looked much more skilled than Zhao Jiuge.

Zhao Jiuge took a long look at Bai Qingqing’s sword and sighed in his heart. “Let’s go, there is only a bit over a year until the inner sect selection. Let’s strive to earn more sect contributions and gain more practical experience.”

Bai Qingqing slowly put away her flying sword and said, “I think you just want to earn more sect contributions.”

Zhao Jiuge didn’t care that his true intent was revealed and grinned. “I have free labor, so it would be a waste not to use it. You promised to give your sect contributions to me since you’re not lacking these things.”

Strangely, Bai Qingqing didn’t argue with him this time. Bai Qingqing understood Zhao Jiuge’s mentality, so she could not help him directly. Instead, she had decided to help him in this roundabout away.

“Walk fast. You’re the one in a rush, yet you’re standing there for so long.” After speaking, Bai Qingqing took the lead. Zhao Jiuge revealed an apologetic smile and followed.

There was a vast, open space at the peak, and the Duty Hall was to the east. The two of them followed the road in the middle that led to the Duty Hall.

At the entrance of the Duty Hall, Zhao Jiuge slightly looked up. Whenever he saw the Duty Hall, a sense of excitement appeared in his heart.

While Zhao Jiuge was looking at the entrance, a few figures came out from the Duty Hall. When they saw Zhao Jiuge, they all had smiles on their faces and were a little excited.

“Jiuge!” A voice echoed and then a figure rushed forward. His fist bumped Zhao Jiuge’s chest.

Zhao Jiuge was startled for a moment. When he saw who it was, he revealed a happy smile and replied with a similar fist bump. “You brat, when I came back the other day, I was wondering where you were. It seems like you’re taking a mission here. Looks like you finally stopped slacking off.”

Luo Xie revealed an embarrassed smile. “How can I keep slacking off? Otherwise, I’m afraid I won’t even have the opportunity to participate in the inner sect selection in a year.”

Zhao Jigue observed Luo Xie and felt happy from the bottom of his heart. “Not bad, you have reached the Spirit Transformation Realm.”

Hearing Zhao Jiuge’s praise, Luo Xie just chuckled. When he saw Bai Qingqing, his laughter became softer. Then he said, “After we drank last time, I didn’t see you again. I wanted to call you to do some missions together, but I didn’t expect you to find a companion already.” His voice contained a hint of ambiguity.

Bai Qingqing had a calm expression and didn’t say hello—it was like they couldn’t see each other. She had no relationship with them and they didn’t have any relationship with her, so she naturally wouldn’t take the initiative to say anything.

Zhao Jiuge smiled and didn’t explain anything. At this moment, Leng Rufeng walked up and the two smiled at each other. Everything was spoken without any words.

Zhao Jiuge saw clearly that these people were all old acquaintances, so he asked, “Are you guys moving in groups when you take missions now?”

Leng Rufeng nodded. “That’s right, going out together means we have companions to help each other out. After all, it is too dangerous to go outside. Sometimes, having more people gives us peace of mind. I wanted to call you, but I couldn’t find you. Luo Xie and I often take missions, it helps accumulate experience and cultivation while earning some sect contributions. By the way, all the brothers in the group go out in groups of three to five people. Few people go out alone.”

Many of them lacked cultivation and didn't have families supporting them. While the disciples of influential families might not care too much about sect contributions, taking missions was still very important for them. Also, not everything could be bought with spirit stones—there were treasures that could make even the disciples of influential families burn with passion. Therefore, they were also taking missions to desperately earn sect contributions.

Zhao Jiuge understood a bit about the current situation after talking with Leng Rufeng. Zhao Jiuge measured them, and all of them had improved a lot. They were all at the Spirit Transformation Realm, and only Leng Rufeng was at the late stage of the Spirit Transformation Realm. Zhao Jiuge had his aura withdrawn, so they could not see through his cultivation.

Leng Rufeng looked at Bai Qingqing and said to Zhao Jiuge, “In order to save time, we will go out first and not delay you. There are also people waiting for us. When you go out to complete missions, be careful. The selection is only a bit over a year away. We’ll all work hard.” After he finished speaking, he patted Zhao Jiuge’s back and then left with the others. Leng Rufeng knew a bit about Bai Qingqing and knew that she wasn’t simple. He felt some dread towards her.

Luo Xie was about to say something to Zhao Jiuge, but when he saw Bai Qingqing, he swallowed those words back.

Bai Qingqing calmly stood there. She felt too much disdain to talk to them, and they also felt disdain toward taking the initiative to talk to her. For this group of poor disciples, their self-esteem was sensitive, but their feelings were simple. When they were looked down upon by the disciples of influential families, they could only struggle in silence until the day they could reverse the situation.

Seeing them leave, Zhao Jiuge’s heart was burning with passion, and he also felt more pressure. If even Lou Xie was working hard, he had to work even harder. He felt a sense of urgency with the selection being so close. He clenched his first and shouted in his heart, 

“I must enter the inner sect.”

Zhao Jiuge turned and said to Bai Qingqing, “Let’s go.” Bai Qingqing somewhat coldly nodded and then walked toward the Duty Hall.

Seeing Bai Qingqing’s expression, he noticed that something was wrong. He felt like something was clearly a little strange, but it was not a good time to ask. He had a general guess that it was related to what had just happened. Zhao Jiuge thought that he should have a good talk with Bai Qingqing when they were on the road. After all, the friction between the disciples in this generation was still there.

The Duty Hall was filled with people and was very lively. Many of the new disciples had returned after completing their missions. Some were here to receive their sect contributions, while others were like Zhao Jiuge, who had come to continue getting missions.

Bai Qingqing coldly walked forward and talked with an old man inside. Zhao Jiuge saw the old man hand a jade tube over to Bai Qingqing. Zhao Jiuge felt the change in Bai Qingqing’s mood, but he still walked up to her.

Bai Qingqing’s beautiful eyes carefully looked at the information inside the jade tube. She felt Zhao Jiuge standing next to her, but she ignored him. Bai Qingqing looked at the jade tube for a while before she expressionlessly said, “There are two missions suitable for us. We can pick one, finish it, and then come back for the second one. Or we can take both now and finish both before coming back.”

Zhao Jiuge pondered a bit and said, “Let’s pick one first and finish it and then come back for the second one. The selection is only a bit over a year away. I’m afraid that there will be some critical information missing from the mission description that we will only learn once we arrive. After all, there might be accidents during the mission, which could cause inevitable delays.”

According to the rules of the Duty Hall, one person could only take one mission at a time. Once they completed it, they could take other missions. Although Zhao Jiuge and Bai Qingqing were going out together, according to the rules, they could each take a mission.

Many disciples would invite friends to join them for missions due to their difficulty. This way, not only could they earn sect contributions, but their safety would increase greatly. After all, many cultivators would begin a slaughter without a word, and there were also many spirit beasts and dangerous locations. There was more security in having more people come along. That’s why many people took missions together like Luo Xie and Leng Rufeng.

Perhaps Bai Qingqing thought that what Zhao Jiuge said was reasonable, so she nodded and said, “One mission is to kill a late stage Foundation Realm cultivator, the other is to kill a Late Stage Foundation Realm spirit beast. Which missions should we take first?”

Zhao Jiuge frowned slightly and asked with some doubt, “Why are there only two missions? Last time I came, there were a lot of missions.”

Bai Qingqing impatiently frowned and said, “The first floor mainly contains the lowest rank missions. Once we reach the Spirit Core Realm, we can go up to the second floor. However, we are currently at the late stage of the Foundation Realm, so there aren’t many tasks for us here.”

Zhao Jiuge suddenly realized the situation and began to ponder. Which one should they pick? Considering the difficulties, both were about the same. Although spirit beasts had powerful bodies, cultivators could use various methods to increase their power. After killing the Three-Tailed Yin Cat, he had been able to sell its body for a lot of sect contributions. Having tasted the sweetness of success last time, Zhao Jiuge wanted to choose the spirit beast mission.

However, his cultivation had increased a lot and his spirit force had undergone a transformation ever since he tempered his body inside the spirit vein. He was feeling a bit hard-headed and wanted to kill evil cultivators to gain some experience. After pondering a bit, Zhao Jiuge said, “Then let’s kill that cultivator.”

After Zhao Jiuge spoke, Bai Qingqing immediately returned the jade tube to the old man and chose the mission. She did everything quickly and cleanly. After she finished picking the mission, she still didn’t pay much attention to Zhao Jiuge. Her face was as calm as a deep pool of water as she walked out of the Duty Hall.

Zhao Jiuge quickly followed her. He decided to have a talk with her once they were outside the sect.

After leaving, Bai Qingqing saw that Zhao Jiuge was still silently following her, so she looked up and said, “Should we leave now or wait for you to recover your spirit force? Can you still blade soar in your condition? I don’t want to walk out of the sect.”

The Mysterious Heaven Mountain Range was very large. Last time, it had taken Zhao Jiuge several days to leave by foot. Now that they could fly for a short period of time, they could travel a lot faster.

Bai Qingqing’s expression was still cold, so Zhao Jiuge didn’t want to delay her. He somewhat softly said, “No need, we can fly until my spirit force is used up and then take a break. Tell me about the mission.” In truth, Zhao Jiuge had used ⅔ of his spirit force on the way here, so he was merely acting tough.

After hearing Zhao Jiuge’s answer, she didn’t say anything. She directly went to the main point and told Zhao Jiuge the detailed information for this mission.

There was a cultivator named Han Songcheng at a place called the Yellow Flower Ridge 350 kilometers away from the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect. He had done many evil things and occupied the entire Yellow Flower Ridge. He was discovered by the people of the Enforcement Hall, and a mission was created to kill Han Songcheng to help train the new disciples. The only information was that this person was at the late stage of the Foundation Realm and was very bloodthirsty. He had once slaughtered an entire village, but there was no other information.

Zhao Jiuge patiently listened to the information about this mission and didn’t have any thoughts. They needed to go to the Yellow Flower Ridge to get some information first. The two of them walked back along the stone path to the edge of the peak.