Chapter 50 Sect Missions

"You received a recommendation from Elder Luo to cultivate within Immortal Yan's Blessed Land? She is Ancient Soul Sects Fire Path Gu Immortal, so having the chance to cultivate under her for a year would do your comprehension on the Fire Path a great deal!".

Yu Xiaolong, Lu Guo, Jia Yufei and Xuanyuan sat in the Wood Soul Hall, eating a meal at one of the many tables scattered about the gardens and ponds. The sound of running water echoed throughout the Wood Soul Hall, flowing down from the mountains peak, towards a stream which eventually joined up with the Heavenly Falling River.

Now that they were no longer new disciples in the Ancient Soul Sect, all disciples were now required to complete various missions, tasks and quests at the behest of the Ancient Soul Sect. Xuanyuan was familiar with the concept, which promoted unity and friendship between disciples, perpetuating the morals and ethics that a member of a righteous sect should possess. 

Even if Xuanyuan was considered an Abyssal Child candidate, he was not immune to completing these missions. He didn't want to attract any unwanted attention from the higher ups for not completing these missions, even if he just wanted to cultivate and research Gu accordingly.

Over the past week, the four Rank 2 Gu Masters chatted and discussed the possibility of going on Sect required missions together, Yu Xiaolong and Lu Guo eagerly asking Xuanyuan if Jia Yufei had any friends that she might want to invite.

The Shadow Path Gu Master just gazed at his two friends, waving them off an rolling his eyes.

"If you two want to flirt with girls, then be a man and ask them yourself. You want to make primeval essence stones right? Don't get distracted".

At the mention of primeval essence stones, both of their desires suddenly shrunk back, remembering how poor all of them were. Even Yu Xiaolong, with his father being a Rank 3 Gu Master didn't have the resources to purchase an entire set of Rank 2 Lightning Path Gu for his son, instead gifting him two valuable enhancement type Gu for him to use.

Yu Xiaolong had in his possession a Rank 1 Lightning Piercing Gu, and a Rank 1 Thunder Burst Gu. In addition to these two, he had a Rank 1 Gathering Static Gu, which could temporarily charge up the next Lightning Path Gu he used.

His father had purchased a Rank 2 Blue Thunder Bones Gu, and a Rank 2 Sparking Muscles Gu. With these two Gu alone, Xuanyuan suspected that his Father must have spent a few thousand primeval essence stones on his son, elevating his physical strength beyond that of regular Rank 2 Gu Masters.

Blue Thunder Bones Gu transformed his bones into Blue Thunder Bones, capable of resisting extremely high temperatures. While Sparking Muscles Gu transformed his muscles into Sparking Muscles, capable of handling lightning flow through them.

It made using his Gathering Static Gu and Thunder Burst Gu much more tolerable, even over extended durations. Yu Xiaolong was currently trying to obtain the resources to refine a Gu of his own, a recipe that his father had given to him. 

Jia Yufei possessed a Rank 2 Fire Fox Gu and numerous other Rank 1 Gu gifted to her by her mother. Xuanyuan wasn't sure how many other Gu she had received after the tournament, but from the smile on her face, there was at least one more Rank 2 Gu.

Lu Guo only had his sister to rely on, and wanted to walk the Sword Path, despite being a Lightning Path Gu Master. His Vital Gu was a Rank 1 Lightning Sword Gu, which his sister begrudgingly accepted. She had given him another Rank 1 Lightning Slash Gu, which complemented his initial choice.

Lu Guo was currently the weakest member of Xuanyuan's group. His sister was annoyingly righteous, and didn't believe in nepotism like Yu Xiaolong's father or Jia Yufei's mother. He was the one who wanted to on missions the most, trying to figure out a way to earn more primeval essence stones.

He was also the one who organized this group, having gone on missions with his sister and other members of the Burning Soul Hall before. Even as a Rank 1 Gu Master, he went on missions to earn primeval essence stones from the Sect.

"There are four of us currently. Yu Xiaolong is our front line offensive Gu Master, while Jia Yufei is our ranged offensive Gu Master. Xuanyuan can provide a mixture of both with his scorpion stinger, shadow strings, and shadow blades. I know that I am currently... well, I am weak in comparison, but I have already prepared immensely beforehand!".

Lu Guo clenched his fist, raising it in the air above his head. The fake Sword Path Gu Master summoned a small looking jellyfish which floated gently in the space above his palm.

Before he got a chance to speak, Xuanyuan blinked, interrupting him in surprise.

"Is that a Rank 2 Pocket Jellyfish Gu?!".

Lu Guo didn't mind the interruption instead nodding, patting the small jellyfish with all the love and affection he could muster.

It looked somewhat weird, but these three didn't mind the young man's eccentricities. 

"I told my sister that I would be forming a group to go on missions with. She gave me my Lightning Slash Gu and said that I had to work hard for the righteous path if I wanted to obtain more Gu. However, after pestering her last night, she eventually gave in, and gave me her Rank 2 Pocket Jellyfish Gu!".

Xuanyuan rolled his eyes again at Lu Guo but could understand why.

Pocket Jellyfish Gu were a type of rare Space Path Gu which possessed one of the largest sizes of storage of any Gu. Elder Luo had told Xuanyuan that he himself was in possession of a Rank 5 Ancient Continent Pocket Jellyfish which possessed roughly a hundred cubic meters of space.

A Rank 4 Elder Country Pocket Jellyfish possessed roughly fifty cubic meters of space.

A Rank 3 Old Province Pocket Jellyfish possessed roughly twenty five cubic meters of space.

While a Rank 2 Pocket Jellyfish possessed about ten cubic meters of space.

It was enough to contain enough dried food and water to sustain more than a dozen Gu Masters, and their Gu for about a month. Feeding their Gu while on missions was something that all Gu Masters needed to experience, and storage type Gu were necessary when voyaging long distances away from the protections of a large city.

With this Gu, Lu Guo was perhaps the most important member of the group, especially for Yu Xiaolong and Jia Yufei. Xuanyuan had his own Shadow Pocket Gu, but was limited in that it had a storage space equal to the size of Xuanyuan's shadow.

He was roughly a hundred and ninety centimeters at this point, so had a shadow larger than the average person. Still, he would be able to store some of his own Gu's food if need be.

Lu Guo placed several sheets of paper on the table, pointing to them one by one.

"The most common type of mission in the Sect is acquisition. Gu Masters are requested to go out to a certain location and find a specific resource which can be handed back in for a reward. The rewards for these missions are varied, depending on who is requesting the material, and the scarcity of the material itself".

"Second is security. The Earth Soul Hall routinely patrols Earth Soul City however, some members of the Earth Soul Hall are sent to other nearby Cities under the protection of the Ancient Soul Sect. These missions are usually longer than the previous type, on average ranging from one month up to three months before the shift is rotated and replaced".

"Thirdly is trading. There are Gu Masters within the Sect that are official trading partners of our subsidiary Sects. They travel in large groups through the wilderness to the territories of these other Sects and then trade goods and services with them. They usually recruit security as well, however these caravans only travel once a year, sometimes at the same time. There are enough of them to be commonplace, but we can only do one at a time".

"Lastly are not missions per se, however do give a reward if completed. These are the most valuable missions, which are essentially trades between Gu Masters who desire a specific Gu, or a specific service. Bodyguards, Gu refinement, even experiments with Gu are all done this way".

Lu Guo's voice suddenly became low, drawing the other three in.

"I heard that the last type of mission is particularly rewarding. The is a Rank 3 Gu Master in the Burning Soul Hall who took one of these missions, something about experimenting on how the Wood Path can mimic the effects of the Cloud Path. The Gu Master received some sort of Rank 3 Wood Path Gu which could mimic the effects of the Cloud Essence Gu. There was an uproar in the Sect for a month after it happened".

Xuanyuan raised an eyebrow.

'Using the Wood Path to mimic the Cloud Path? That requires a Grandmaster level attainment in the Wood Path! So even Gu Immortals must put up requests for Gu Masters to help them, that is certainly good to know...'.

Yu Xiaolong scratched his chin, looking down at the different missions in front of him. Peering at them one by one, he pointed to an acquisition type mission, specifically one relating to the acquisition of Water Path Gu materials.

"This one... It requests that we head to Lonely Lake Marsh and retrieve Fallen River Bark. My father has told me about the Lonely Lake Marsh. It is a place filled to the brim with Water Path Gu materials. There are also quite a number of beasts hidden beneath the waters surface, the strongest being a beast equal in strength to a Rank 3 Gu Master".

Jia Yufei nodded somewhat but then pointed to another mission.

"What about that one? It's asking for us to travel to the Sky Valley Gorge to acquire Wind Path Gu materials? I've been to Sky Valley Gorge before, there are tunnels and vines extending from one side of the gorge to the other, being plentiful in Wind Path and Wood Path Gu materials. There are quite a number of beasts there as well, mostly avian species".

Yu Xiaolong shook his head at that mission.

"Avian Beasts are took difficult to fight in their natural habitat. Even with your knowledge of the area Jia Yufei, it is too dangerous. One wrong slip, or one wrong move could send us plummeting down to the depths of the gorge".

The three Gu Masters just gazed at the missions, narrowing their brows as they examined them all closely. 

Xuanyuan just gazed down at the selection of missions on the table, a mental map of the territory of the Ancient Soul Sect appearing in his mind. The Ancient Soul Sect was close to the heavenly qi wall which separated the Central Continent and the Western Desert, the latter of which sometimes leaked over, sending enormous sandstorms throughout the region.

The last time it happened was two years ago, so there was still sometime before the next one.

Xuanyuan hummed for a moment before reaching for five distinct missions, laying them all out flat in front of them.

His actions garnered the attention of the other three beside him. All of them gazing at the missions with curious expressions.

Smiling he looked up at his friends.

"All five of these are acquisition type missions, however the rewards are not necessarily the most important part. We are all Gu Masters who require materials and food to nurture and refine our Gu. As such, we should plan for the future accordingly".

Yu Zhong Er and Long Xi had inspired Xuanyuan to choose his missions complimentary to each other, in order to maximize benefits and the greatest number of rewards earned. 

Due to Huo Jin, the two beautiful girls only had each other to rely on in the Ancient Soul Sect, so the pair were limited in the number of resources they could carry, and how far they could travel before it became to dangerous for the two young women, even considering that both were Gu Masters.

Pointing to the first mission, Xuanyuan continued.

"We travel to the North, towards Wind Blade Mountain. The area is plentiful in Blade Path and Metal Path Gu materials, and from what I understand, is relatively peaceful, with a tributary of the Ancient Soul Sect present so it is without the presence of powerful or aggressive wild beasts. The mission requires only Metal Path materials, so Blade Path materials will be ours to keep or trade. While the Blade Path is not as prevalent as the Sword Path, it is still a strong, common offensive Path".

Xuanyuan then pointed to the second mission.

"From there we will travel to the East, towards Daydream Flame Forest. It is a location which produces Illusion Path materials and Fire Path materials. There are a number of beasts in the area, however we only need to acquire the bare minimum in Illusion Path materials, and the rest of the Fire Path materials will be ours".

"We continue travelling East towards Dream Garden City. There, we can sell all of the Blade Path and Fire Path materials we have accumulated, exchanging them for materials of another Path, allowing us to potentially purchase Gu using some of the funds we have acquired. We still have the other materials from the previous two missions, and with Pocket Jellyfish Gu, we should be able to store plenty during our journey".

Xuanyuan continued onto the third and fourth mission.

"We then travel South through the Cold Night Desert, an area filled with Ice Path Gu materials. It will save time on our journey and increase our gains in the long run. Once we are through, we will reach the Wondrous Milk River and then complete the third mission, collecting Water Path Gu materials. From there we travel up along the river towards the site of the fourth mission, the Ancient Verdant Wood. We collect Wood Path materials and then travel to the site of the final mission".

Xuanyuan tapped the last mission.

"The Twilight Mountains are just south of Earth Soul City. In terms of distance, about a weeks journey on foot, with Gu of course. There are filled with Moon Path materials and Earth Path materials, albeit to a much lesser extent. From there, we gather up the Moon Path Gu materials and then head back home. Completing all five missions and trading in the resources that we have acquired".

Yu Xiaolong, Jia Yufei and Lu Guo all went wide eyed as Xuanyuan finished his explanation. They somewhat expected him to stop after the third one, but the longer he spoke, the more his words made sense.

Jia Yufei nodded, doing some mental calculations.

"The time it takes to travel between Earth Soul City and Wind Blade Mountain is roughly three weeks. So there is a six week travel time minimum if we go there. But the distance between Wind Blade Mountain and Daydream Flame Forest is about ten days considering most of it is downhill".

"The distance between Dream Garden City and the Wondrous Milk River is six weeks, but if we go through the Cold Night Desert our travel time will be cut down by two weeks... assuming there is no desert snowstorm?".

The three of them looked towards Xuanyuan who just smiled nodding his head. Gesturing to Yufei, the other two turned towards her instead.

"We have a Fire Path Gu Master here. We can survive such a thing... And... I have an idea, you will just have to give me a week to finish it".

Jia Yufei completed her calculations, assuming that everything went smoothly.

"We will be gone for about five to six months. It is summer now, so the weather won't be a problem until the second half of our journey. But by the time enter the last leg of the journey, it will be winter by then".

Xuanyuan just gave Jia Yufei another look, causing her to roll her eyes in exasperation.

"I am not some portable heater Xuanyuan!", she exclaimed, face slightly red.

The Shadow Path Gu Master just hummed for a moment, ignoring the girl's words while nodding his head slowly. A smile threatened to pull at the corners of his mouth. 

"Well, luckily for us, I know another heater who might be inclined to come along with us. And, he comes with the added bonus of an additional party member!".