Even though everything went smoothly, the entire forging session had still taken more than half a day.
By the time the satisfied Nie Hanchang left the Forge, there was no longer much time left until the end of Zhao Yunxiao's duty.
Even then, the end of his duty at the Forge did not mean the end of his day.
As always, Zhao Yunxiao made sure to clean up properly before leaving the Forge, and headed straight for the Outer Disciples Hall next.
The Outer Disciples Hall was the main centre for all activities pertaining to outer disciples of the Black Tortoise Sect.
Because of that, it was always bustling with activity as many outer disciples loved to gather there for easier access to the many services available there.
Upon his arrival at the Outer Disciples Hall, the first thing that Zhao Yunxiao did was to do a quick check on his current sect points, which showed that his portion of rewards from the demon subduing mission had already been credited into his account.
As expected, Mo Mian was efficient and great to collaborate with!
Seeing the slightly larger numbers in his account, Zhao Yunxiao could not help but smile. To a certain extent, he even felt that his exhaustion from the forging process earlier had been somewhat alleviated.
Now, with his mood lifted, Zhao Yunxiao headed for his actual destination within the Outer Disciples Hall – the mission hall.
Ever since the demon subduing mission, there was something that had been lingering at the back of Zhao Yunxiao's mind – the Heaven's Descent Bowl.
In fact, Zhao Yunxiao had been wondering about its uses ever since he first got it from Cha at the Origin Lake Sect. However, he had been putting the matter aside since he had no idea how he should go about finding that out.
But somehow, the Heaven's Descent Bowl actually activated by itself during the demon subduing mission.
This gave Zhao Yunxiao a clue as to what he could possibly experiment with.
Unfortunately, these experiments that he had in mind were not things that could be done within the sect territory.
Then again, even if they could be done here, Zhao Yunxiao would not want to do so.
After all, if Cha's words were to be trusted, the Heaven's Descent Bowl could very well be a treasure on the same level as the treasures that the Origin Lake Sect's progenitor – Azure Hand Yang Hong – relied upon.
Zhao Yunxiao might not know the exact cultivation level of Azure Hand Yang Hong. But judging from the records of his various accomplishments, he might not be lacking even in comparison to the elders of the Black Tortoise Sect!
There were countless sect members in the Black Tortoise Sect, but few genuinely had their fellow sect members' interests at heart.
If news were to spread that he had such a precious treasure in his possession, who knew what kind of trouble he could end up getting into?
To play it safe, Zhao Yunxiao would never risk bringing it out in the presence of others unless he had absolutely no other choice!
In fact, he was reluctant to even test it out in the wilderness of Purple Plum Mountain, since it was also a location that many other sect members frequented.
But at the same time, Zhao Yunxiao was reluctant to leave the sect just to perform his experiments with the Heaven's Descent Bowl.
Firstly, that would make it difficult for him to explain his absence to anyone who asked about it.
But more importantly, should he fail to get any meaningful results from his experiments, wouldn't he have completely wasted his time?
That was his main reason for coming to the Outer Disciples Hall today – to find a sect mission that would not only give him a simple alibi, but also provide him with some rewards along the way, no matter how small it was.
It was not difficult to see the list of missions available.
All one had to do was tap their disciple token against a specially crafted jade at the mission hall, and the information on all available missions would be updated in their disciple token.
This was the Black Tortoise Sect trying to make it easier for each disciple to peruse the list of missions in privacy – something that the sect members truly appreciated.
Otherwise, if the sect used mission boards like many other factions did, everyone would end up crowding around the mission boards, and that was not a good idea considering the sheer number of disciples in the sect.
On top of that, others would also be able to easily guess other disciples' plans if they were seen staring at a particular mission.
While this should not pose too much of a problem in theory, it could still make things slightly more troublesome for disciples who preferred not to let everyone know of their whereabouts.
And the current Zhao Yunxiao was one such disciple.
He mostly ignored the crowd present while heading straight for the jade in the middle of the mission hall, only greeting acquaintances with simple nods of acknowledgement.
After refreshing the list of missions in his disciple token, Zhao Yunxiao quickly went to an inconspicuous corner to look through the list of available missions.
Sensing his unique traces in his essence energy, his disciple token activated instantly, sending the information on all available missions directly into his mind.
Next came the most difficult step – to actually identify which was the most suitable one out of all these missions.
The Black Tortoise Sect's influence spread across a vast territory in the northern regions of the Duyuan Empire.
Throughout these lands, anyone or any faction that required assistance would send in a request to the Black Tortoise Sect. Even after a basic level of curation by the sect administrators to remove the noise, the number of missions that ended up being posted was still staggeringly high.
As if that alone was not enough, there were also missions that had been put up by sect disciples.
After all, not everyone had a fixed party like the members of the Mystic Cavalry. Thus, it was not uncommon for individual sect members to temporarily seek help from others for matters that they could not handle alone.
Some of them preferred to personally seek out others, but there were also others who preferred to register it as a mission to simplify the recruiting process.
Thankfully, there were certain categories that were assigned to each mission, which made it slightly easier to zoom in on the missions that were more suitable via the process of elimination.
Due to his current circumstances, Zhao Yunxiao immediately disregarded the more difficult missions, focusing only on the missions with the lowest difficulty levels.
Even then, there were thousands of such missions available.
It took him a while, but Zhao Yunxiao eventually managed to note down a few missions that he was more interested in.
With these missions in mind, he promptly made his way to another area, and entered one of the many small rooms located there.
The room that he entered had a very simple design, with only a single person seated behind his desk. Across the desk were a few chairs, where Zhao Yunxiao promptly took his seat as well.
"Greetings, Junior Martial Brother Zhao. How may I help you today?" the man asked.
"Greetings, Senior Martial Brother Qi," Zhao Yunxiao answered. "I would like to apply for a sect mission."
This man, who looked to be in his forties, was an outer disciple just like Zhao Yunxiao, and had been working at the Outer Disciples Hall for a while.
Even though they could not be considered to have a close relationship, the two of them had still become acquainted over the years.
"Certainly. Which mission would you like to apply for?" Qi Jiesheng asked.
"I have a few missions in mind, and would like to ask if you have more details on them," Zhao Yunxiao replied. "Here are the ones I am looking at."
With that, Zhao Yunxiao named the missions that he had shortlisted earlier.
"Sure, I can check if there is any extra information available," Qi Jiesheng nodded. "Is there anything in particular that you would like to know?"
"I am looking for something that's outside of Purple Plum Mountain, and is not too time consuming at the same time," Zhao Yunxiao said. "It cannot take more than three days."
"Outside of the mountain, but not too time consuming?" Qi Jiesheng repeated it in slight confusion. "Pardon me for asking, but why don't you consider something that can be done within the mountain if you are pressed for time?"
"Well, I wanted to get a breather outside, but the monthly cultivation lecture is coming up, so I don't really want to miss it," Zhao Yunxiao scratched his head in embarrassment.
"Didn't you just return to the sect yesterday?" Qi Jiesheng raised an eyebrow.
"I guess I just have a heart for travelling," Zhao Yunxiao shrugged.
"...I see," Qi Jiesheng said.
He was still unconvinced, but chose not to probe any further. After all, it was not his job to question others' choices.
Instead, he brought out a few scrolls and looked through them before naming a few in particular that fit Zhao Yunxiao's preference.
These were all missions that could be completed relatively near to Purple Plum Mountain, and should not take more than three days to finish, even after including the travelling time.
"This..." Zhao Yunxiao hesitated a little before continuing. "Among them, may I know which mission is the easiest?"
Qi Jiesheng looked at Zhao Yunxiao with a strange gaze after hearing his question – a gaze that was filled with disdain.
Zhao Yunxiao naturally noticed this as well, but merely smiled in response.
There were times when one had to be thick skinned in order to get what they wanted!
"If you want the easiest one, then perhaps this one. It is something that even those at the Foundation Building realm would be able to do," Qi Jiesheng pointed at a particular mission. "But if you ask me, I would suggest you take up this other mission instead. I'm sure you are more than capable of doing this, and the corresponding reward is higher as well."
Zhao Yunxiao took a look at the two missions.
The easier mission involved going to a nearby city for some contract negotiations with mortal merchants. Not to mention someone at the Foundation Building realm, even an ordinary mortal would probably have no problem doing so.
As for the mission that Qi Jiesheng was suggesting, it involved joining a party that was going to perform some regular array maintenance at a historical site nearby.
Indeed, both were rather manageable for him, but Zhao Yunxiao did not even think twice before deciding between the two.
"I'll have the easiest one, please," Zhao Yunxiao said without hesitation.
"S-Sure," Qi Jiesheng felt the corner of his lips twitch. "The mission does not require vetting for participation, so you can be assigned the mission immediately."
"That's good news! Thanks!" Zhao Yunxiao exclaimed happily.
Qi Jiesheng felt the corner of his lips twitch again upon noticing Zhao Yunxiao's excitement.
Was he really that happy?
Qi Jiesheng had known Zhao Yunxiao for a while now. Even though they were not exactly close, he still had a rather good impression of the latter, thinking that Zhao Yunxiao was a hardworking junior who had never opted for the easy way out.
However, it would appear that people do change over time.
Who knew that the hardworking Zhao Yunxiao would come to possess such a lazy side to him as well?
Nevertheless, it was not his place to judge.
Since Zhao Yunxiao had already made his decision, Qi Jiesheng simply did his job and helped to make the necessary arrangements.
Zhao Yunxiao naturally guessed Qi Jiesheng's thoughts from the latter's expressions and body language, but he cared little about that.
In fact, he was actually very satisfied with this outcome.
Not only did this mission allow him to leave the mountain, it was neither difficult nor time-consuming.
At the same time, it could also be completed without the supervision of anyone else from the sect.
In just about every aspect, it could be said that this was the perfect mission that suited his agenda this time!
Not just that, but the moment Zhao Yunxiao saw the full description of the mission, an idea immediately came to his mind.
Since there was no danger involved in this mission, it should not be a problem to bring Lu Zhiying along as well!