The Outer Mission Hall was one of the busiest places in the Outer Hall.
By the time Wu Feng arrived, there were a few hundred disciples queuing to take mission or submitting their report.
There were mission boards not far from the entrance, filled with mission lists issued by the elders.
Wu Feng and the others went to a mission board straight away. Upon reading the lists, Wu Feng found some missions he wanted to try.
"Alchemy assistant, spirit beasts caretaker assistant, medicine garden assistant... Have you two decided what to take?" He turned his head to Wu Leng Jing and Wu Feng reading beside him.
"I'll take this librarian assistant mission." Wu Leng Jing muttered.
Wu Feng nodded. "It suits you."
"Ah Feng, I think I will take either medicine garden assistant or weapons forging assistant mission. Will you take the mission together with me or not?" Wu Yong asked after he decided on his choice.
Wu Feng did not need to wonder much to reply. "Let's take it together. It will be less boring if we take a mission together."
"Good." Wu Yong smiled joyfully.
They walked to the mission reception counter when suddenly a combination broke out.
"What do you mean I can't take this mission? Isn't there still a slot available?"
A boy at the same age as them shouted in protest in front of a mission counter.
Wy Feng frowned his brows. Attracted by the commotion, he changed his direction to watch it.
Everyone in the hall also stopped what they were doing and walked towards the commotion.
"What happened?" Wu Feng asked a disciple in the crowd.
The disciple replied without turning his head. "He wanted to take an alchemy assistant mission but he was rejected. It seems he had offended Wang Chao."
"Wang Chao? From the Wang Clan?"
"Un," the disciple nodded. "Wang Chao wanted to take the mission too with his followers."
Wu Feng nodded in understanding. However, the disciple that was protesting said there was still an empty slot, so what happened?
"Hmph, what are you yelling here for? Noisy! A country bumpkin like you wanted to be an alchemy assistant? What if you caused an accident and wasting the efforts of Elder Tong? It would be an unforgivable deed!" A ten years old boy with a dashing appearance and haughty posture swiped his sleeve arrogantly.
The disciple being reprimanded shouted angrily. "I won't make a mistake! Who are you to make a decision for the elder? All of us are disciples of Mountain Pilgrim Hall! Why are you making things difficult for me!"
Wang Chong glared at him. He rebuked with a loud voice, "Who am I? Look at yourself! Who are you to act unbridled and making trouble here!"
He then turned to the senior disciple in charge of Mission Counter. "Mission Commissioner, he should be thrown out from this Hall for making a commotion and acting without decorum!"
Sound of gasps came from the crowd.
"What?"
"Isn't it too harsh?"
Wu Feng frowned his eyebrows. He looked around to see that disciples who clustered in small groups wore various expressions. Some were sneering, some showed sympathy, and some have nonchalant expression as if this was just a usual occurrence. He noticed that they seemed from great clans or sects.
He also noticed there were smaller clusters of groups or cultivators standing alone that wore angry expression while others clenched their fists and showed sympathy with helpless expression, but the majority seemed to not care. It seemed that they were vagrant cultivators from their weapons and lack of accessories they wore on their bodies.
The vagrant cultivators that were admitted to the Mountain Pilgrim Sect tend to carry standard sword commissioned by the sect, while disciples from other clans and sects prefer various weapons they had obtained from entering the Mountain Pilgrim Sect.
It was not that the sword commissioned by the Mountain Pilgrim Sect had low quality, but
The mission disciples from other clans and sects carry the hope of the power behind them so naturally the power behind them did not spare effort to give superior weapons to their disciples.
The Mission Commissioner sitting behind the desk stood up lazily and walked to the disciple confronting Wang Chao. He spoke with a lazy voice.
"Don't make trouble here. Take other missions or leave. If you are still adamant in disturbing the Hall, I will ban you from entering the Hall for a year."
"I..." the disciple widened his eyes in disbelief. His body trembled, but he finally answered with clenched teeth.
"Alright. I will take another mission."
Being banned from the Mission Hall for a year meant that he will automatically fail his assignment of completing at least one mission every year. He will get a penalty of being delayed to enter the Inner Hall for a year. So he chose to relent.
At this time, Wang Chao said with a sneer. "For a country bumpkin like you, rearing spirit beasts is the most fitting job!"
"You!" The disciple's face flushed red, but the Mission Commissioner interrupted him.
"Alright, the rearing spirit beasts mission it is. Here is the jade token to record the progress of your task. Don't lose it."
The Mission Commissioner tossed a green jade casually. He seemed bored and did not take the incident seriously. Rather than offending a disciple from the Wang Clan, he would rather treat this disciple with disregard.
Wang Chao sneered watching the result unfold.
"Next time when you see me, get lost far away before I caught you in my sight!"
The disciple only drooped his head and walked away dispiritedly. But no one saw the resentment in his eyes.
Wu Feng shook his head. When he first entered the sect, he saw the grand buildings and majestic sceneries. He saw many cultivators from different backgrounds. He saw the powerful elders and the Sect Master who left a deep impression with his speech.
He has the impression that the Mountain Pilgrim Sect is like an immortal sect, far from worldly affairs, and offered freedom and refugee for all cultivators, an ideal place to pursue cultivation.
Who knows that in here is still the place where the strong prey upon the weak with impunity. Once again he felt the urgent need to increase his cultivation.
If he did not come from a great clan, maybe his fate will be the same as the disciple that was just left.
Even with his status right now, he might still lose his standing in the future if his cultivation is too weak.
The crowd dispersed after the spectacle is over.
Wu Feng and the others also went with their original intention. They successfully registered their missions.
"Alright. We will meet again in half a year." Wu Feng and Wu Yong bid farewell to Wu Leng Jing.
They went back to their caves to take their necessities then went to their assigned places.
After an hour of flying, Wu Feng spotted a small mountain peak with pure spiritual qi. There were lush greeneries spread from the valley up to the peak in a coordinated manner. There were almost a hundred disciples were working on the spiritual plants below.
They landed on the mountain foot and entered the gate after showing their mission jade token to the guards.
One the guard took them to a small hut not far from the gate and told them to wait. Not long after, the guard came back with a middle-aged man with a plump belly.
The middle-aged man waved his hand to dismiss the guard then inspected Wu Feng and Wu Yong from top to bottom.
Wu Feng and Wu Yong quickly paid their respect.
"Disciple Wu Feng and Wu Yong paid respect to Elder Zhou."
Elder Zhou raised one of his eyebrows. "Too clean, too weak, too impatient. Haizz... Just because the disciples quality had been dropped lately they send you two over."
He then asked and walked to the table to pour a tea which he sipped slowly.
Wu Feng and Wu Yong were very displeased with the contempt Elder showed, but they did not dare to speak a single sentence. They still stood on their spot respectfully.
Elder Zhou threw a thin book to each of them.
Wu Feng read the title. 'Basic Manual.'
Elder Zhou said, "memorize it in two days. You have three days after that to prove your worth. If you make any mistake I'll throw you out."
He finished his tea then walked out. His belly wobbled along his step. It was a funny side, but Wu Feng and Wu Yong did not have the mood to laugh.
They grimaced instead. It seems this mission will be tough. Failing the mission will score zero that will be deducted from their contribution points at the end of the year.
After the elder had gone, Wu Feng opened the book. After flipping a few pages, he understood.
"What the heck? He is even too lazy to properly write the title?"
The book was a basic manual and rules list for a mission taker as a guide in how to conduct themselves inside the medicine garden and tending the spirit plants. It seems Elder Zhou was the one who wrote the book given that there were some sentences listing the penalty warning for a list of mistakes.