Lu Zhiying had been rather vocal about her wish to leave the mountain for a while now. Unfortunately, that had not been possible due to the sect's restriction on all new members.
According to the sect rules, all new members were not allowed to leave Purple Plum Mountain during their first month in the sect.
But counting the time since she first joined, she should have just hit her one month mark now.
This meant that she could finally leave the mountain, and Zhao Yunxiao had no doubt that Lu Zhiying would definitely plan to do so as soon as she could.
So, rather than leaving her to do whatever she wanted, it might be better to plan something safe for her instead.
After all, this junior martial sister of his seemed to have an unnaturally pronounced penchant for thrills and adventure, but these things often came along with a certain degree of danger.
Seeing that Lu Zhiying had only just started on her cultivation path, it was probably best for her to avoid such things for now!
After registering for the mission, Zhao Yunxiao left the Outer Disciples Hall to go look for Gu Qiansi and Lu Zhiying at their garden plot.
However, he did not simply walk over.
Instead, Zhao Yunxiao used the Earthen Clone Technique to create a clone, before burrowing underground himself.
Just like that, with the clone walking and the real body burrowing in the ground, Zhao Yunxiao slowly made his way over to their garden plot.
Practice made perfect.
In order to improve his mastery of the techniques, Zhao Yunxiao wanted to make use of every opportunity he could to practise!
It was a long way to their garden plot, and the sky was already getting dark by the time he got there.
Unsurprisingly, the two of them were the only ones who were still there. The rest of the disciples had already left.
As expected of the plant obsessed freak Gu Qiansi, she must have gotten carried away while teaching Lu Zhiying.
"On guard!" Zhao Yunxiao leapt at Gu Qiansi without hesitation, slashing forward with a dagger in hand.
Gu Qiansi reacted immediately, drawing a dagger of her own to block his attack.
Clang-!
The sound of metal striking metal sounded, but Gu Qiansi could not help but furrow her brows.
That was because Zhao Yunxiao's attack was far weaker than usual!
Sensing this weakness, Gu Qiansi immediately exerted a slightly greater force and easily overpowered Zhao Yunxiao, sending him straight into the ground.
Bang-!
Zhao Yunxiao fell to the ground with a loud bang, and instantly crumbled into pieces of dirt.
"What?" Gu Qiansi widened her eyes in shock.
"Senior Martial Brother Zhao died!" Lu Zhiying shouted in shock.
This was the first time both of them had seen Zhao Yunxiao execute the Earthen Clone Technique, so they could not help but be caught by surprise.
"Haha! Take this!" Zhao Yunxiao leapt out from the ground behind Gu Qiansi and sent a kick towards her back.
"Dream on!" Gu Qiansi quickly regained her senses and formed a mudra with her hands.
[Vine Whip]
A thick vine shot out from the ground and whipped at Zhao Yunxiao. If he were to follow through with the kick, it would also mean subjecting himself to being whipped by the vine.
"Tch!" Zhao Yunxiao clicked his tongue and retracted his kick. After which, he quickly burrowed into the ground once more to dodge the vine whip, reappearing a good few metres away.
Lu Zhiying looked on with eyes that were sparkling in awe.
The earlier exchange was a real eye opener for her.
While she had already known that cultivators were capable of all sorts of wonderful things, this was actually the first time that she had personally seen such techniques being executed!
"Since when did you learn such weird techniques?" Gu Qiansi questioned while keeping away her dagger.
"What do you mean by weird techniques? Don't say anything if you are clueless. These are powerful techniques that will elevate my overall combat prowess!" Zhao Yunxiao retorted. "You are the one who have picked up some strange plant tentacle technique. Who knows what kind of weird things you have been doing with it?"
"Are you itching for a beating?" Gu Qiansi felt the corner of her lips twitch.
Ever since this morning, Zhao Yunxiao seemed like he had been trying to be especially irritating!
"I want to learn these things too!" Lu Zhiying interrupted. "Is it possible for me yet?"
"Not yet, but you just have to reach the Essence Gathering realm and it will all be possible," Gu Qiansi explained. "I'm sure it won't take long for you."
It might have taken the duo years to reach the Essence Gathering realm from the Foundation Building realm, but Lu Zhiying was unlikely to take as long.
After all, she was someone who possessed a true spiritual meridian root!
"How's the learning coming along?" Zhao Yunxiao asked. "Is she being a good teacher?"
"Senior Martial Sister Gu is amazing. She knows everything about spiritual plants and herbs!" Lu Zhiying praised.
"I guess that's about the only thing she is good at apart from cooking," Zhao Yunxiao shrugged. "Anyway, I have something to tell the two of you."
"What is it?" Gu Qiansi narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. "Did you get into trouble again?"
"Do I look like someone who will get into trouble?" Zhao Yunxiao rolled his eyes.
"Who was the one who got roughed up by Senior Martial Brother Sun again?" Gu Qiansi reminded. "Have you even fully recovered from that?"
"Yeah, that was pretty rough," Lu Zhiying agreed.
"My injuries have mostly recov- no, that's not the main point here. Don't digress," Zhao Yunxiao tried to get back on track. "I have just taken up a mission at the Outer Disciples Hall, and will be leaving Purple Plum Mountain tomorrow."
"You are leaving again? Have you developed an allergy to Purple Plum Mountain or something?" Gu Qiansi frowned. "You do remember that the monthly cultivation lecture is in five days, don't you?"
"Must be nice..." Lu Zhiying said longingly.
"Don't be disappointed, Junior Martial Sister Lu," Zhao Yunxiao said with a smile. "This time, I am not just here to inform you about my mission. Instead, I am also here to ask if the two of you would like to come along."
"Really?" Lu Zhiying's eyes lit up immediately. "Can we?"
"That's right," Zhao Yunxiao patted her on the head. "It should have been a month since you joined the sect, so the one month restriction should no longer apply to you."
"Oh, yay! Let's go! Let's go!" Lu Zhiying cheered in excitement.
"What about the monthly cultivation lecture?" Gu Qiansi asked again.
The monthly cultivation lecture was an important monthly event for all outer disciples since it was a rare opportunity for them to learn directly from a sect elder.
Most outer disciples would hate to miss it, and Gu Qiansi was no exception.
"Don't worry, I don't intend to miss the monthly cultivation lecture either," Zhao Yunxiao assured. "This mission is a really simple one that can be completed within three days – just to renew a lumber contract at Moonrise City. There is almost no danger involved, so it is perfect for Junior Martial Sister Lu's first mission."
"You took on a mission like that?" Gu Qiansi asked in slight confusion. "From what I understand, aren't the rewards for such missions not very attractive?"
"Y-Yeah, I just thought that it would be good exposure for Junior Martial Sister Lu," Zhao Yunxiao justified.
"Is that so?" Gu Qiansi narrowed her eyes.
"Why are you asking so much? Just say it. Are you interested or not?" Zhao Yunxiao asked impatiently.
"Yes, count me in!" Lu Zhiying raised her hand and hopped excitedly.
Zhao Yunxiao could not help but feel thankful that they were the only ones present right now.
Otherwise, most male disciples would have felt their hearts melt upon seeing how cute she looked when this excited.
Even Zhao Yunxiao could not help but feel slightly moved for a moment, but he quickly recollected himself.
"What about you?" Zhao Yunxiao turned to Gu Qiansi.
"If Junior Martial Sister Lu is going, then I am definitely coming along as well. How can I feel safe letting you spend multiple nights alone with Junior Martial Sister Lu?" Gu Qiansi said.
Zhao Yunxiao: "..."
Well, the result was what he had expected, but the process was certainly not it.
"In that case, we will be leaving early tomorrow morning," Zhao Yunxiao said. "We can stop by the farm as well. It is on the way to Moonrise City, after all."
"Mm, let's do that," Gu Qiansi nodded.
"The farm? What farm are you talking about?" Lu Zhiying asked.
Did the duo own a farm outside of Purple Plum Mountain?
"You will find out when we get there," Zhao Yunxiao teased. "It's getting late now. Time to stop obsessing over your plants and go get the preparations done for our dinner. Give me your disciple tokens, I will go get you two registered for the mission in the mean time."
"Hey! That's not nice! Tell me what it is!" Lu Zhiying complained while still obediently handing over her disciple token.
"Why don't you ask Gu Qiansi then?" Zhao Yunxiao pushed the responsibility to Gu Qiansi instead. "See you later at the pavilion."
"See you," Gu Qiansi nodded.
"What's the farm you are talking about, Senior Martial Sister Gu?" Lu Zhiying asked.
"You will find out when we get there," Gu Qiansi said with a meaningful smile, choosing to play along with Zhao Yunxiao this time.
Lu Zhiying kept asking for a while longer after that, but eventually gave up after realising that Gu Qiansi had no intention to budge.
Then again, this only served to further fuel her curiosity.
Now, she was looking forward to going on this mission even more!
***
It did not take long for Zhao Yunxiao to register Gu Qiansi and Lu Zhiying as his party members, though he did get some strange looks from Qi Jiesheng for recruiting others for a mission that was as simple as that.
Nevertheless, he ignored the judgemental looks and quickly left the Outer Disciples Hall to join the others at the Lightwind Pavilion.
In order to construct a sustainable and working storage system, it was inevitable that they would have to include the use of arrays.
Gu Qiansi might be an expert when it came to agriculture, but her knowledge of arrays was limited to the very basics.
Therefore, Gu Qiansi and Lu Zhiying only worked on setting up the fringe arrangements, leaving the main skeleton of the arrays for Zhao Yunxiao.
Thankfully, this was not a particularly difficult task for Zhao Yunxiao.
Upon his return from the Outer Disciples Hall, Zhao Yunxiao quickly got everything done, much to the admiration of Lu Zhiying.
"You guys are already here?" Nie Hanchang exclaimed as he arrived shortly after.
"Not just that, but we are already done setting up the food storage!" Zhao Yunxiao boasted. "Now, all we are lacking are the ingredients!"
With that, he pointed to the area behind the pavilion.
That area was a simple flat ground previously, but two huge containers could now be seen.
One looked like a wooden crate the size of a small room, while the other appeared to be a huge cauldron.
"Here!" Lu Zhiying opened the wooden crate to show that it was empty.
"I guess that's what I am here for," Nie Hanchang walked over with a smile.
With a flick of his wrists, several monster carcasses appeared from his spatial pouch and fell into the wooden crate.
Each of these carcasses was massive in size, numerous times the size of a human. Just a few of them were already enough to almost fill up the huge wooden crate.
In fact, they definitely did not even need this many.
A single carcass would have been able to feed the group of four for weeks.
Altogether, the current batch of monster carcasses would be able to feed everyone for months!
"Wow, that's a lot of ingredients!" Lu Zhiying said in excitement. She was already looking forward to the meat dishes that could be made out of them!
"You are right about that," Zhao Yunxiao nodded in agreement.
Yet as he was saying that, Zhao Yunxiao's focus was actually not solely on the sheer amount of meat on these carcasses.
Instead, he was more hung up on the identity of these monster carcasses.
Yes, these monsters were undoubtedly huge, but their sizes were not the most impressive thing about them.
The main issue here was that these were all monsters possessing strength at the Essence Physique realm!
Nie Hanchang actually managed to hunt down all of them by himself?
This was not something that he would have been able to do in the past!
Zhao Yunxiao could not help but feel impressed.
It would appear that going for the risky bet does pay off sometimes.
By making a huge bet on his jackpot haul from the Yellowshell Mines, Nie Hanchang managed to obtain the Grand Annihilator, which seemed to be just the right boost that he had needed all this while.
And now, Nie Hanchang was finally starting to show what he was truly made of!