“Brother, it’s time to eat~”
The voice of his adoptive sister, Li Yuechan, rang in his ears as Li Muyang paused his game and opened his eyes.
The girl, holding a food box, stepped forward in the sunset, her smile sweet.
Li Muyang nodded and stood up, temporarily putting aside his game and took the food box from Li Yuechan.
But he saw that the girl handed him a red piece of paper covered with text.
Li Muyang was somewhat puzzled, “What’s this?”
He took the red paper and unfolded it, finding it to be a summons.
“Effective immediately, Li Muyang is to report to the Flying Boat in Yun Kong…”
A bunch of bureaucratic jargon, its core meaning very simple.
Starting tomorrow, Li Muyang was assigned to work on the Flying Boat and was instructed to report to the boat’s dock before noon the following day.
Li Muyang was somewhat surprised, “An external assignment?”
This was a rare item in the Outer Sect.
Although the life environment of the Outer Sect was very closed off, and Outer Sect Disciples could hardly ever leave.
But occasionally, the big shots in the Inner Sect needed errand runners and laborers, and that’s when this group of cheap labor from the Outer Sect came into play.
Although these assignments were mostly menial tasks, the Outer Sect Disciples still scrambled for them.
Because an external assignment not only allowed them to contact the outside world, but the remuneration received during such assignments was far beyond the usual.
Such opportunities for external assignments were generally kept within a small circle of managers in the Outer Sect.
It never reached marginal loners like Li Muyang.
Seeing the puzzled look in Li Muyang’s eyes, Li Yuechan said cheerfully.
“Not only are you going, but I have also received a summons.”
“Manager Wang asked me to tell you, you must report to the boat dock by noon tomorrow, and absolutely cannot be late.”
“This time it’s a personnel movement by Elder Yan, we might even get to see Sister Ning.”
Upon hearing what Li Yuechan said, Li Muyang understood.
It was clearly Elder Yan Xiaoru needing people, and Ning Wan’er, as a disciple of Elder Yan, conveniently took care of fellow villagers by bringing along siblings Li Muyang and Li Yuechan.
Having connections really does make things easier.
After Ning Wan’er’s rapid advancement, by giving a little consideration, Li Muyang and his sister got an opportunity to go out that ordinary people could never dream of.
But an external assignment…
Li Muyang glanced at the experience bar on his system interface.
“Li Muyang: Ninth level of Qi Refinement, 27%”
At this point, he was close to reaching the Great Perfection of Qi Refinement.
He had been planning to secure his foundation and find a chance to break through quietly.
Now he suddenly had to go out, and he definitely couldn’t bring his Spirit Rice cask; opportunities like this external assignment generally meant communal living.
Carrying the Spirit Rice cask on the go would be too risky.
“Do you know where we are headed?” Li Muyang asked.
Li Yuechan nodded, “Mhm, I heard Manager Wang say it’s an ancient city in the south.”
“Apparently something has happened in that city, and the Sect has dispatched Elder Yan to handle it.”
“I think it’s called Demon Sword City…”
Li Yuechan didn’t know much else, since the personnel movements inside the Inner Sect were not usually disclosed to Outer Sect Disciples.
Manager Wang had only overheard a bit and passed the information to siblings Li Muyang.
Having somewhat understood the destination and task, Li Muyang said, “So this time it’s purely running errands, but there might be certain risks.”
This type of task, which required an Elder to personally take action, couldn’t possibly be entrusted to Outer Sect trash like Li Muyang and the others.
But following an Elder into a dangerous area inevitably meant facing risks—even if those risks were very low.
After chatting with his adopted sister for a while and instructing her to pack her luggage and personal belongings properly, Li Muyang bid farewell to his adopted sister Li Yuechan amidst her complaints, “Alright, alright, I know, brother, you’re so naggy.”
Watching Li Yuechan’s figure disappear, Li Muyang, who had returned to his house, did not immediately start cooking.
He placed the food box his sister had sent and the transfer orders on the stove, and then took out the Silver Coins he had saved from a hidden cellar in the house.
Last month’s harvest of Spirit Rice had been entirely exchanged for Silver Coins by Li Muyang.
Adding the Sect-issued Spirit Rice, which had also been exchanged for money, Li Muyang had finally gotten out of poverty.
He took this recently accumulated sum of Silver Coins and headed down the mountain.
The sky gradually darkened as Li Muyang’s figure flickered, moving like a wraith along a deserted, secluded path.
Soon he arrived at another gathering place of the Outer Sect and found Tie Qifeng.
When Li Muyang reached there, this burly middle-aged man was sitting behind a bamboo fence, weaving bamboo strips.
Li Muyang had bought demon blood from this man the first time he practiced the Remnant Cloud Movement Technique of Black Cloud Fort.
Later, when buying a Geographical Map and inquiring for information in the market, he had also dealt with Tie Qifeng.
This reticent man was very resourceful, making him a valuable partner.
Seeing Li Muyang suddenly appear, Tie Qifeng’s normally expressionless brows furrowed slightly.
“…This late, is it urgent?”
Li Muyang, standing outside the bamboo fence, nodded, “I need demon blood! Right now.”
As he spoke, Li Muyang opened his bulging purse to show Tie Qifeng the amount of Silver Coins.
Seeing so much money, Tie Qifeng expressionlessly rose and asked, “What quality? How much?”
“Low-grade demon blood, the amount that this bag of Silver Coins can buy.”
“Good!”
Their exchange was succinct and to the point.
Tie Qifeng stood up, took the money bag for a brief count, then nodded, “Just a moment.”
After saying that, he took Li Muyang’s money and started heading into town, without looking back.
Li Muyang did not follow; he just stood there waiting.
Half an hour later, Tie Qifeng returned with a jar, “The low-grade demon blood you asked for.”
“Great! Until next time!”
After checking the quality of the demon blood, Li Muyang took the jar and turned to leave.
Considering he was about to embark on a long journey, Li Muyang, out of caution, planned to enhance his battle strength to be prepared for any eventuality.
The Remnant Cloud Movement Technique of Black Cloud Fort was powerful, simple to cultivate, and had its cost exempted by the system, making it the quickest shortcut to increasing battle power.
The current Li Muyang was about to reach Foundation Establishment and could just bear the strain of low-grade demon blood for body refinement.
He had planned to refine his body after successfully establishing his foundation, but now he was forced to start earlier.
The next day at noon, when Li Muyang arrived at the Flying Boat port with his luggage and met his sister Li Yuechan, he had already successfully refined his body with low-grade demon blood, and the speed of the Remnant Cloud Movement Technique had also increased a notch.
But on the surface, Li Muyang seemed unchanged.
Although the demonic patterns on his body, which had become more intricate and eerily formed a visage of an evil creature upon successful body refinement with demon blood, quickly faded away, hidden beneath his skin.
At the Flying Boat port, Li Muyang spotted his sister Li Yuechan, who had been waiting there, and…
“Xiaoshun?”
Li Muyang, surprised, looked at the young man before him and said, “Why are you here too?”
The simple boy from the border town awkwardly smiled and said, “It must be because I caught some of your light, Brother Li. Sister Ning Wan’er included me on the trip…”
Li Muyang smiled and said, “Then the three of us will have company on this journey.”