5 months had passed since the conclusion of the Spectral Moon Festival.
It was early in the morning; the fake sky of the sanctuary lit the area brightly as a gentle breeze caused the shrubbery to gently sway.
*CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG*
A loud, metallic sound echoed out from near the main building, Shu He held a metal symbol in his hand as it hit it with a stick making the noise.
Very quickly, the bushes near him shook and out came a small horde of animals of varying types, some looking like pigs, some dog like animals and even some bears and horses, they ran enthusiastically towards the source of the sound with a glint in their eyes.
When they arrived they barely even spared Shu He a glance as they stuffed their mouths into the large troughs that were laid out here and there, the food inside them varied from grains, fruit, vegetables, and meat, even bones in one of them.
The animals in the sanctuary act freely as they please and there's plenty of small game for them to hunt and fruit bearing trees or vegetable patches to eat off, but some species either struggle to hunt or don't want to hunt the others here so the disciples here regularly feed them, just in case.
Shu He stood cross armed as he watched with a smile on his face, his hair that was now long enough to reach past his neck fluttered in the wind, his face was beginning to lose its roundness as he had hit his growth spurt just after turning 13, he just passed over 5''1, or 1.55 meters.
"Kreeeeee!" Suddenly, from above, a cry sounded out and Shu He looked up to see a large bird like animal almost divebombing him from the trees, he sidestepped it as it landed kicking up dust causing some of the other animals to growl, upset.
"I told you not to do that…" Shu He sighed, turning to the newly landed bird.
It was nearly the same height as Shu He, it had red feathers with multi-coloured feathers covering the tips of its wings almost like a parrot, but its head was more raptor like save for its long beak.
It was a Cloaked Skystrider, and it was the very same one that Shu He had met on his first day in the Beast Taming Division! It had undergone a small transformation since then, it had more feathers and a more graceful form, one might think this was a normal thing for this species as it grew up, but that was incorrect.
The Cloaked Skystrider glanced as Shu He expectantly making him chuckle a little.
"I guess I can give you some, I'm going to be away for a while after today after all" He reached out with his index finger turned upwards and controlled his Qi, very quickly an incredibly small droplet of golden Qi grew on the top of his finger, the bird turned starry eyed as it gently approached and licked up the droplet, swallowing it and closing its eyes like it was savouring the taste.
Shu He gently moved his hand afterwards and stroked its head, causing it to clack its beak slightly as if purring before it started nuzzling against his arm.
"She's really grown to like you" A voice came from behind, Elder Bai strolled out of the bushes, his long white hair as majestic as ever as he grinned as the two.
"Me? Or what I'm feeding her?" Shu He turned to him, laughing slightly.
"Aren't they the same? Birds like her are quite simple after all" Elder Bai walked up to the Cloaked Sky strider, attempting to pat her but she turned and snapped at him causing him to flinch "Maybe not…"
"It's been great having someone else here to do these tasks though, little Jian can spend more time improving his cultivating because of it" He said, walking up to the other animals and patting them like he was checking something.
"It would be nice if Senior Sister did some work around here as well…" Shu He couldn't help complain, picturing Na Xue who spends her time perpetually eating or sleeping.
"Well, that's just how she is" Elder Bai just shrugged, clearly used to her shenanigans by now.
"It would also be nice if you'd both stop scaring off new members with your streaking".
"…There are some things in nature you can't change" Elder Bai nervously replied while looking away.
"I'll be sure to tell Senior Brother about that" Shu He spoke monotonously.
"Now now! No need to tell him anything, okay? Ah, that's right! You're setting out today aren't you Shu He?" The elder stuttered as he changed the subject.
"…Yeah, I'm to go pick up my mission from the Sect Gate in a bit then I'm off".
"Your first mission! Do you know how long you're going to be?" The elder asked with interest.
Shu He shook his head "Not entirely, from what I've heard it'll still take place in the Metal Region, but I'll have a few different objectives, so it could take more than 6 months…"
"Hm, they're really laying it on you aren't they? Most disciples only go on a hunt near the sect at first".
Shu He shrugged "I guess it's the price of becoming an Inner Disciple fast".
"Right, I think you might even be on track for the record of fastest promotion" Elder Bai said as he rubbed is chin with a smile "Anyway, are you all set? You might be a cultivator but travelling such a long distance alone can be gruelling".
"I'm prepared".
"What about taking one of these beasts with you? You can form an outer heart contract with some of them can't you? Like this one?" He said as he pointed at the Cloaked Skystrider.
However Shu He shook his head "I don't know the details of the mission so I'd rather not…. And I'd feel bad if something happened to one of them." He said, stroking the birds head.
Elder Bai sighed "Well, that's fine then, but you should remember to bring out the full potential of our technique you need to trust your companion, treating them like dead weight is the opposite of that".
"I'll take over from here, you should get going, it's better to get moving while it's the morning". He said, taking the symbol off of Shu He.
"You're right, I'll get going then" Shu He nodded and dusted off his robes, picking a feather from them.
"Then, I'll tell the others you've left since they're not here, see you later".
"Yeah, I'll be back".
…
The location for disciples to pick up missions was the Sect Gate, the very same place that the Vice-Sect Master Wu Zhong was stationed, it was the main entrance to the sect and was also one of the most bustling places in the sect usually.
This was because there were multiple massive boards lined up filled with missions plastered on them, and at the end of the massive hall was a line of receptionist desks with many disciples exchanging materials obtained on their missions or handing in, taking on the missions that they had taken off the board.
Each mission slate was placed in a small indent in the wall, it contained a description of the mission, the rewards and estimated cultivation level required, to take the mission you remove the slate and take it over to the front desk where you'll be assigned it with your token.
However, today Shu He was not going to do this since his mission is to be assigned to him directly from the sect, so he was once again in front of Wu Zhong's desk patiently waiting for him to arrive.
*Click* The door opened, and Wu Zhong strolled in, his expression dull like he'd been forced to write an essay 1000 times over, he then reached his seat and flopped on to it.
"Busy?" Shu He couldn't help but ask.
"Hardly, checking sect finances is just a chore" The Vice-Sect Master complained before he realised who he replied to, sat up and cleared his throat "Ahem, Shu He, right, you're here for your mission aren't you?".
"Yeah".
Wu Zhong opened his desk draw and pulled out a scroll "We actually decided on it quite a while ago, but we decided to give you the full 6 months to prepare… well, and we added something extra since it's near where you'll be going".
Shu He's mouth opened slightly to complain a little before he shut it.
'I haven't even started and you're adding more to it?' He wanted to say.
"Well, your main objective is to investigate a suspicious rumour in the outskirts of a small town called Sunnyside, it's to the far west of our region so it'll take a couple months of travel by foot to reach there if you're fast".
"What's the rumour?"
"I'm just getting there!... The rumour is about a wolf like beast that protects a region near the city, it was normally fairly docile in the past but apparently it's suddenly turned incredibly territorial preventing trade, it's also begun to grow in size, so the town became worried and asked for us to deal with it".
"Do we know what species the animal is?" Shu He questioned.
"A greyback mountain wolf, or so they say".
'They'd call a cultivator for one of those? Mortal mercenaries should be able to deal with it… no!'
"It begun to grow? Did it undergo ascension?"
"It doesn't seem like it, but it's far larger than it should be, that's why we were called."
"…Okay, seems like it shouldn't be too hard" Shu He nodded.
"That's not your only objective, rather while what I'm about to say might be a side objective we also want you to put some effort in to it" Wu Zhong looked at Shu He, his eyelids thinning.
"We?"
"Me, and the Sect Master" Wu Zhong's words caused Shu He's heart to skip a beat as he swallowed his saliva.
'Side objective my ass, this is the main point isn't it!' he thought as he waited for the Vice Sect-Master to continue.
"Along the way you are to visit a certain village and a town, the village is called Redaloy, and the town is called Bronzeveil, to keep it short you should investigate the town for traces of any of the Black Sects".
"?!" Shu He's pupils shrunk to a pin; he didn't expect this at all.
"We're asking you because you seem to have a certain perception towards their techniques, the truth is we have already sent other members to the two places and swept them but found nothing obvious; Yet we know dealings involving them have taken place at one point in the past". He explained.
"We don't expect you'll find anything, but just in case you should leave and report it immediately, don't try to follow up on your findings alone, nor should you try to engage the members if you encounter them; You'll be going alone, so don't be foolish".
He then pulled a light blue charm from his draw and pushed it towards Shu He.
"Take this, it's an emergency contact charm, you can use it to send a short message to me by just channelling your Qi into it, it's one time use so only use it in important situations".
Shu He nodded and stored the charm in his robe, this mission had quickly begun to feel important now, before he was considering it as a chance to stretch his legs.
"Is there anything else you need to ask?"
"No, I'm fine".
"Very well, then go ahead and set off, we'll be awaiting your return" Wu Zhong nodded steadily, watching Shu He leave.
'Black Sects….' Shu He brooded silently as he headed down the stairs.
He wasn't sure how he felt about this revelation, his heart was split.
On one hand, he knew how dangerous they could be, and he was in a risky state right now, he didn't want to have to push himself past his limit like before.
But at the same time, deep in his heart, a flame alight with anger waiting to burn those people smouldered brightly.