When put together, the words clearly pointed to a particular location.
Duyuan Empire – that was the empire where the Black Tortoise Sect resided.
However...
Thousand Autumn City? Blueflag Mountain?
Zhao Yunxiao had never heard of these places.
But that was not a big issue either, for he just so happened to be at a place where information was readily available!
Like the good librarian that he was, Zhao Yunxiao dutifully returned the manuals to their respective shelves before moving to another section of the Sect Library – where the historical documents could be found.
From there, it was not difficult to find what he was looking for.
Thousand Autumn City was a major city in the northern regions of the Duyuan Empire.
Coincidentally, Black Tortoise Sect just happened to be located in the northern regions of the empire as well.
The corner of Zhao Yunxiao's lips curled up upon seeing this.
It would appear that the location stated in the manuals was not impossible to reach.
Of course, considering the sheer size of the Duyuan Empire, the northern regions alone spanned across a vast area of land.
Simply being in the same region did not mean that it was close.
But still, it was a good start.
The question was... was it really worth checking out in the first place?
These manuals had been already around for some time, so there was definitely a chance that someone else had already unravelled the secret behind the numbers before he did.
And even if that was not the case, that did not mean it was a good idea to visit the location stated.
Yes, considering what Jiang Taiming was known for, he seemed to be an ancient cultivator of good standing.
Since that was the case, what he left behind was most likely not a trap for the descendants to come.
On the other hand, it was even likely that a secret location left behind by him could contain his inheritances instead!
It was common for cultivators to want to leave behind their life's learnings for someone to inherit, instead of having all that valuable knowledge be lost to the world after they passed on.
Normally, this would be left behind to their disciples or at least in the faction that they belonged to – be it their sect, their clan, or any other faction that they were affiliated to one way or another.
But that was only if the particular cultivator belonged to a faction in the first place.
As an unaffiliated cultivator, Jiang Taiming did not belong to any faction in particular, so it was not impossible that he would have no one to pass his knowledge down to.
If that was truly the case, then it would make absolute sense for Jiang Taiming to seek out a fated one to inherit his heritage in such a way!
Zhao Yunxiao had heard many stories of cultivators coming across hidden spots where ancient cultivators left their inheritances for the future generations.
These inheritances varied as well.
Not only did it depend on the level of the ancient cultivator, but it also depended on what the ancient cultivator decided to leave behind.
Some left behind a treasure or two, some left a manual to their signature techniques.
Some left behind everything in their possession.
As a result, the lucky ones among those who encountered such inheritances underwent a complete transformation overnight, turning from ordinary cultivators to be regarded as complete geniuses.
It was every ordinary cultivator's dream to come across a fortuitous encounter like that, and Zhao Yunxiao was no exception.
If what he found here really led him to Jiang Taiming's inheritance, that would be hitting the jackpot in the truest sense!
However, just the possibility of that alone was not enough to convince Zhao Yunxiao.
Of course, it would be for the best if he went to the location and ended up finding Jiang Taiming's inheritance.
But what if this was meant to be a warning, letting others know where great danger was located?
Wouldn't he be walking straight into a trap then?
This could easily go both ways – being either a rare opportunity or a complete death trap!
To be sure of what he was getting himself into, Zhao Yunxiao still had to dig further into Jiang Taiming's history.
He simply knew too little about this ancient cultivator right now.
What was Jiang Taiming like as a person?
What were his habits?
Who were his allies and who were his enemies?
And especially, what were some of the last few things that he did before his disappearance?
Before he managed to figure out the answers to the questions in his head, there was absolutely no way that he would leave the sect and put himself at risk for something unnecessary!
Jiang Taiming...
For the rest of his shift, Zhao Yunxiao spent the entire time reading just about everything available in the Sect Library that was related to this ancient character.
Despite his excitement over his new finding, Zhao Yunxiao did not overstay in the Sect Library, leaving right after his shift ended.
The manuals had already existed for years, so there was no need to suddenly rush things now.
There was still plenty of time in the future to figure out what he wanted to do with the information that Jiang Taiming left behind.
For now, he had to focus on the urgent tasks at hand.
Zhao Yunxiao headed straight to the Sect Market after leaving the Sect Library, though what he bought there might not be what one would expect of someone who was preparing to go on a work trip.
Tea leaves, but not just any type of tea leaves.
Angels' Flight was a type of spirit tea that could only be found on Purple Plum Mountain, known to be able to cleanse the meridians and bring about a greater clarity of mind.
Since it could only be found on Purple Plum Mountain, the Angels' Flight naturally became a specialty of the Black Tortoise Sect.
And from what he saw in Jun Chuan's notes, Angels' Flight was rather popular among the members of the Origin Lake Sect.
With this in hand, it should be much easier for him to build rapport with the other disciples there!
Apart from the Angels' Flight tea leaves, Zhao Yunxiao also picked up other seemingly irrelevant items that he assumed could be of help.
For the other items, Zhao Yunxiao was not as certain of their usefulness, but he had always been a firm believer of being better safe than sorry.
Since he already had a plan on what to get, Zhao Yunxiao did not have to spend too much time at the Sect Market either.
Once he was done, Zhao Yunxiao headed back to the Outer Disciples' Quarters to make his final preparations before the trip tomorrow.
However, he had barely stepped into his residence for more than a minute when Gu Qiansi and Lu Zhiying showed up at his door, dragging him out to the Lightwind Pavilion.
The New Year's celebration was just around the corner.
Considering that Zhao Yunxiao would be going on a work trip the next day, the amount of time left was not much at all.
Therefore, the Flying Shell Performance Group decided to make full use of every bit of time that they had left.
When they arrived at Lightwind Pavilion, Bo Fei and Huang An were already waiting there.
But before their practice could even start, Huang An entered her physician mode and started inspecting Zhao Yunxiao all over again, satisfied only when she was absolutely certain that all his injuries had been treated and were recovering well.
"Shall we begin?" Bo Fei asked.
"Yes!" Huang An said in a tone that could be considered excited for her standards.
With that, her fingers moved, and the entrancing melody of a zither spread across the woods. That was followed closely by the flute and vocals, combining into a performance that seemed to breathe life to the music itself.
Once again, Lu Zhiying merely sat there and listened.
But this time, she was no longer just mindlessly enjoying the music.
Instead, she was busy thinking about what kind of dance would suit the music best, but such a thing was not easy at all for someone who had only just started learning dance less than a week ago.
"If you can't come up with a suitable routine, you can just dance freely," Gu Qiansi said after noticing the frown on her face. "In fact, if you aren't feeling confident about it, you don't have to force yourself to dance at all."
"No, that's not it," Lu Zhiying quickly shook her head. "Don't worry, Senior Martial Sister Gu. I'll definitely come up with something by New Year! Trust me!"
"All right, as long as you don't push yourself too hard," Gu Qiansi laughed.
"Junior Martial Sister Lu is someone who is fine with even learning from the notorious Leng Huiqi. How can this ever pose a problem to her?" Bo Fei shrugged.
"That's true, learning from Senior Martial Sister Leng really helped a lot! After learning from her, I really feel much more confident doing this!" Lu Zhiying nodded in agreement.
Bo Fei felt that they were not talking on the same wavelength, but he chose not to correct her.
"All right, let's keep going!" Zhao Yunxiao cut off the conversation. "Time is tight!"
The group practised late into the night this time.
After which, Gu Qiansi prepared an amazing feast using the last of the Giant Tree Ostrich eggs that Zhao Yunxiao had obtained previously.
They were fast approaching the New Year, so the barely visible moon provided little illumination for the night.
Still, the dim moonlight did little to dampen their mood.
If anything, it only created a greater contrast for the fire that they started, making it appear that much more mesmerising.
It was already midnight by the time Zhao Yunxiao returned to his residence.
After changing his bandages and reapplying the medicine, Zhao Yunxiao did some final preparations before entering a state of light meditation.
It was not every day that he would get to serve as an attendant for an elder, so he was determined not to make any mistakes this entire trip!
***
Zhao Yunxiao was one of the first disciples to have his breakfast at the canteen the next morning.
And that was after he had already completed his usual image training too.
Dressed in the sect robes of the Black Tortoise Sect and carrying his reliable bamboo backpack, Zhao Yunxiao took in a deep breath of the cold morning air before heading to the Inner Grounds.
Both the gathering point and time had been clearly stated in the envelope that came along with the news of his selection for the trip, but Zhao Yunxiao still arrived an hour early just in case.
Seeing that no one had arrived yet, Zhao Yunxiao calmly sat down in one corner of the courtyard and did some light meditation.
"Greetings, Senior Martial Brother Zhao!"
A nervous sounding voice roused him from his meditation not long after.
"Greetings, Junior Martial Brother Yu," Zhao Yunxiao recognised the young man immediately. "Congratulations on being selected for the trip."
Yu Hang – outer disciple of the Black Tortoise Sect.
He was a year younger than Zhao Yunxiao, and was currently at the Primary Essence Gathering realm.
"I still don't know if it is a good or bad thing," Yu Hang said in an uncertain manner. "I heard that if you screw up on such a trip, you can get blacklisted forever!"
"Don't worry and just do your best, the rest of us will be here to help as well," Zhao Yunxiao assured him. "Looks like someone else is here."
Yu Hang turned around to look behind him upon hearing that.
Indeed, there was another disciple walking up to them right now.
Zheng Biru – outer disciple of the Black Tortoise Sect.
He was a few years old than Zhao Yunxiao, and was currently at the Peak Essence Gathering realm.
Zhao Yunxiao did not know much about him, except for the fact that Zheng Biru was part of a group that frequently took up sect missions that involved slaying demons and monsters.
Since that was the case, it was likely that his combat capabilities would be quite decent.
"Greetings, Senior Martial Brother Zheng."
"Greetings, Senior Martial brother Zheng."
The two greeted, and Zheng Biru returned the greeting in a similarly respectful manner as well.
Zhao Yunxiao let out a sigh of relief.
It would appear that his high combat capabilities did not result in arrogance, like how it usually was the case for many.
The last thing he wanted on this trip was to have to juggle the management of his peers' emotions with the actual tasks that they had to complete.
There was only going to be three outer disciples going as attendants on this trip, and all of them had arrived early as expected.
Now, all that remained would be the inner disciples who would be leading them.
Unlike the three of them, it was only when they were nearing the appointed time to gather that the inner disciples finally arrived.
"Greetings, Senior Martial Brother Hu and Senior Martial Sister Song!" the three outer disciples greeted immediately upon their arrival.
Hu Nan and Song Xiaoqiao.
Both of them were inner disciples at the Essence Physique realm, though Hu Nan was only one step away from breaking through to the Origin Core realm.
Upon their arrival, the first thing that Hu Nan and Song Xiaoqiao did after acknowledging their greeting was to closely scrutinise the three outer disciples, looking them up and down without restraint.
"Is this everyone's first time going on this trip?" Hu Nan finally asked after a good few moments.
"Yes, Senior Martial Brother Hu," Zheng Biru replied. "But some of us do have experience going on other similar trips."
"I don't know what other trips you have been on, and I don't care either," Hu Nan said. "Listen here, your job this time is to follow our instructions and serve Elder He well. I promise that things will run smoothly and that there will be no problems as long as you listen to exactly what we say. But if any of you decide to act smart and do something different, don't blame us for not protecting you if Elder He gets angered. Understood?"
"Yes, Senior Martial Brother Hu!" the three of them answered in unison.
They were neither shocked nor offended by Hu Nan's words that seemed to be slightly more aggressive than necessary.
After spending enough time in the sect, anyone would get used to the manner that inner disciples usually used when treating outer disciples like them.
In fact, Hu Nan's attitude towards them was already considered a lot better than some other inner disciples.
Just looking at Sun Minhao was proof enough.
Zhao Yunxiao secretly scanned through the people present in the courtyard right now.
Hu Nan, Song Xiaoqiao, Zheng Biru, and Yu Hang.
These were the people that he would be spending the next few days working together with.
Unfortunately, he had never worked with any of them in the past. But at the very least, there was no one among them with a notorious reputation or anything like that.
Now, Zhao Yunxiao could only hope that this impression that he had of them would not change over the next few days!