Time flew by and the sky started to light up once again, as the sun slowly rose up in the distance.
Xuan Hao was sitting in a meditative position inside one of the inns in the Flame Mountain City, quietly cultivating.
"Hah… I hope that girl Qing Yi is fine. After all I ran away just after accepting her as a disciple…" Xuan Hao opened his eyes and stood up.
Yesterday, before he had left the Flying Sword Sect, he informed Qing Yi that he would be leaving to find the Infernal Heart Grass to help awaken her Divine Physique. Other than that, he had also left a few instructions on how to train her Autumn Wind Sword.
Thinking about it, the servant that he requested from the servant quarters should arrive today, so at least Qing Yi wouldn't be left alone for that long. Maybe they would even be able to get along well enough to be friends by the time he came back.
"Haha…" Chuckling to himself at the idea, Xuan Hao made his way downstairs and quickly checked out of the inn before making his way towards the south gate of the Flame Mountain City.
The south gate was located just next to the Burning Mountain Range and was one of the busiest spots in the entire Flame Mountain City, it was also the place that Xuan Hao would meet up with the rest of the investigation team from the Explorer Union.
"Why do we even have to join this investigation…? All that ever happens is us wandering about a bit before returning back anyways…"
"That is what happens, both of us became pathfinders for the Explorer Union. You should be happy that we only have to go investigate a few disappearances in the outskirts of the Burning Mountain Range every now and then. From what I heard, a few pathfinders like us perished in an exploration mission into the deeper parts of the Burning Mountain Range… At least the investigations are safe…"
"Hah, guess you are right…"
Hearing someone talking about the investigation, Xuan Hao looked over and spotted two men talking among each other as they both stood in front of the south gate and waited. The badge that both of them had was different from the normal explorer's badge, signifying their higher rank inside the Explorer Union.
"Hello, is this perhaps where we are gathering for the investigation team?" Walking up to them, Xuan Hao asked politely as he smiled slightly, while trying to be polite.
"Hm? Ah, yes. You are… Bright Sword? Interesting alias… With you here we can head out immediately." Glancing at him, one of the two higher ranked people from the Explorer Union nodded slightly before giving the command to head out towards the Fire Rock Mountain.
Bright Sword was the alias that Xuan Ha decided to register with at the Explorer Union and also served as a way to make sure that the Raging Flame Sect did not find out that one of the Core Elders from the Flying Sword Sect had entered their territory. After all, the Raging Flame Sect knew the name of all the Flying Sword Sects Nascent Soul experts and having someone with the same name appear suddenly would cause them to be suspicious.
That was even more so if the one in question was a cultivator.
The journey to the Fire Rock Mountain went smoothly and Xuan Hao managed to find out what the name of the two Core Formation experts were.
Apparently, they had managed to raise their rank from a normal explorer in the Explorer Union to a pathfinder. The rank above explorer.
Both of them had thought that they would get a lot of benefits after raising their rank, but all they ever saw was forced missions like the current investigation mission.
At most they would get paid a few spirit stones every month, but nothing much. Apparently, both of them heard that if they managed to raise their rank one more time and become elites of the Explorer Union, they would be able to get a large amount of low-grade spirit stones on a monthly basis!
That was not to mention the other benefits that came along with it, like access to high-level cultivation mantras and combat techniques!
"But how long would it even take for us to become elites of the Explorer Union… I heard that most of the elites from the Explorer Union are at the Nascent Soul Realm… The number of elites at the Core Formation Realm is so scarce that they almost don't exist!"
"Easy, Chen Yang, we will be able to become elite members at some time in the future. Worrying about it will not help at all!"
"You are right Gui Hu if I keep worrying about it nothing will happen. For now, let's just focus on the mission and get back as quickly as possible…"
"Ah, Bright Sword was it. How come you wanted to join this investigation? Any special reason?" As both of the Core Formation experts talked with each other, one of them, suddenly turned around and asked Xuan Hao.
"Hm? Me? I heard that an herb I'm looking for might be growing around the Fire Rock Mountain, so I thought it would be convenient to just take the investigation mission from the Explorer Union and have a free guide there."
""Hah… Indeed convenient… Free guides are nice…""
Both Chen Yang and Gui Hu repeated each other as they turned and looked at each other exhaustedly.
It was not the first time that they were used as a form of free guide and it wouldn't be their last.
The only reason why Core Formation experts would ever join them on their investigation missions was so that they could get a free guide and get paid a few spirit stones on the way.
Truly a great service that the Explorer Union provided free of charge…
"Hm, well, you can just go off and search for the herb that you need and report back to us if you come across anything unusual. The search area is the north west side of the Fire Rock Mountain." Gui Hu said as they arrived at the foot of the Fire Rock Mountain.
"Well, then I will be going." Xuan Hao smiled slightly when he heard what Gui Hu said, having someone who gave him free reign to search for himself was great.
"Beside we don't need to look after you like these Foundation Establishment cultivators and it would be more effective if you searched for yourself anyway…" Chen Yang commented.
"…"
"Damn babysitting job…!" Gui Hu grumbled something from side as he looked menacingly at the Foundation Establishment cultivators, who in turn started shivering a little.
With a few last words of goodbye and the location of the meeting spot noted down, Xuan Hao quickly made his way towards the north west side of the Fire Rock Mountain.