Xuan Zi was meditating when the door of his residence was knocked on. Without opening his eyes, he sensed a familiar youth coming over toward his room. Slowing down the qi cycling throughout his body, Xuan Zi unlocked the seal on the door of his room with a mental command, letting the boy outside know that he was welcome to come in.

"Greetings, master," he said as he entered.

"Sit down and fire away." Xuan Zi nodded habitually.

The disciple sat on the mat in front of him and started going through the papers in his hands one by one.

"Only three noteworthy changes took place this week, master. Elder Shen from the treasury has sent us a severe complaint about a disciple abusing one of your 'Monetary Authorization Medallions'. Apparently, the disciple has used the medallion to purchase goods worth 12,380.5 spirit stones in the last two weeks...and he plans to continue doing so."

If the reporting disciple was remotely curious about how another disciple had the authority to wield the medallion, it didn't show on his face.

"Mm, it's fine. Continue," Xuan Zi told the disciple, who upon hearing his order, noted something down before moving on.

"Secondly, the preparations for the first round of the tournament are about to be completed by tonight. The elders are awaiting your orders to make the public announcement."

Xuan Zi nodded to himself and took out a tiny hourglass from inside his robe. After a moment of observation, he put it back inside a pocket.

"By tonight, we'll have the clearance to announce it to the disciples, alongside every half-decent sect on this planet. Tell them to get ready to hold the recruitment ceremony to round up the groups of disciples each elder chooses."

"As you wish, master ." The disciple said as he noted the orders down speedily.

"The third and final issue this week is a bit complicated. I'm not sure if the sect master is aware of this, but there has been a mission issued on the task administration panel for quite a number of days now that no one has been able to tackle. What's noteworthy about it is that the reward is handsome enough to move even the elders. But nobody has been able to make any progress with it, and Elder Kong, who was the last elder to encounter the mission, has sent this sealed letter to you alongside the details of the mission for some reason. Please have a look."

Xuan Zi curiously took the letter and a rolled-up parchment from the disciple. Kong Ye was unable to solve a mission issued for outer court disciples? This seemed interesting!

Undoing the seal on the letter first, Xuan Zi found only three sentences written on it.

'That's Fang Xie. What is he doing here? You owe me an explanation.'

Brows crinkled in confusion, Xuan Zi processed to open the parchment wide. A sketch of a man was displayed on it, followed by the reward and some vague details of what his voice sounded like, his skin tone, his body language, frequent habitual ticks, etc. The task issuer clearly expressed that they only wanted some information on where the man could be found and how to contact him, nothing more.

Xuan Zi's eyes roamed over the charcoal-drawn features on the parchment. Some details were a bit off, but overall, the man looked exceedingly familiar to Xuan Zi.

"Feng Xie...what a headache!" Xuan Zi muttered to himself and handed the parchment over to the disciple.

"Go tell Kong Ye that he will have his explanation, and take this mission down from the task administration pavilion. Ask the disciple in charge to contact whoever it was that issued this task. Give me their details."

"I'm afraid the issuer of this task kept their identity a secret, master. The head of the task administrators says the issuer had promised to appear as long as the mission is marked completed and taken down."

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Xuan Zi's eyes narrowed as he stood up. Waving his hands, he gestured at the disciple to follow him.

"Then come, I'll complete this mission myself and see who this anonymous issuer is. They need to stop poking their noses in others' business."

* * * * * *

"Martial brother, I actually wanted to make a small transaction with you," Xiao Wu said while accompanying Xuhan to the foot of the Black Sheep Mountain Peak.

"Sure, go ahead and tell me!" Han Xuhan answered cheerfully, his mood having improved tremendously after being able to hook in both Mu Ran and Xiao Wu alongside himself as apprentices of Elder Kong.

"Since you're aware of this worldwide tournament that's about to commence soon, what are your preparations?"

Han Xuhan winced, his mind suddenly filling up with gory images of himself getting killed in all sorts of ways, from ambushes to direct on-your-face-trash attacks.

"None, actually. You know my personality, brother Wu. I love peace and tranquility. How would I find the nerves to participate in such competitive, violent events?" He answered with a sour face. Xiao Wu did not look particularly convinced as he pushed on with the issue.

"But, what if you're compelled by the rules to participate?"

Han Xuhan laughed confidently.

"You have no idea how easy it is to surrender, martial brother! Who will dare to attack me when I'm on the floor begging for mercy? All youngsters these days care about their face a lot. The audience will be watching too. It'll be that simple to come out of it unscathed!"

"Er...I'm not so sure about that. I mean...I'd not mind teaching the brats from sects I don't like a good lesson in front of everybody. With your power level, it's going to be pretty simple to smash you into the ground before you can scream and surrender..."

"....Good heavens, martial brother! Did I offend you somehow?" Xuhan asked, suddenly losing his confidence and edging away from Xiao Wu by a few not-so-subtle steps.

"No, of course not. What I'm telling you is that you should be a bit more careful. Who knows if somebody has a grudge against you or our sect in general out there? They would hardly care about honor and integrity if they face you in the tournament."

Xiao Wu's shark-like smile made Xuhan's mood even worse than it already was. The more time passed, the more dangerous this tournament seemed.

"So what was the transaction you wanted to make with me? It's related to the tournament somehow, isn't it?" Xuhan finally found his voice and focused on the crux of their conversation.

"Of course," Xiao Wu answered as he took out a fancy-looking pocketbook from his pocket.

"This book contains the popular strategies and techniques common amongst the young disciples of all the top sects in this continent, as well as some very famous and influential sects from other continents. As such tournaments have happened in the past, families and sects with proper connections can easily gather some general knowledge to prepare for the upcoming ones. The book also has some information about the general relationship among these sects. I bought this from a trustworthy senior for the price of 60 spirit stones. It's definitely reliable and matches up with the miscellaneous information in the archives."

Han Xuhan's eyes widened. What a wonderful business opportunity! He could-

"Don't even think about trying to start a chain business with this. I can see that greedy glint in your eyes, martial brother. You'll be disappointed to learn that I've already sold this to half the disciples in our generation after making them sign a non-disclosure agreement."

"....How the hell did you even think up the last part?" Xuhan asked, dumbstruck.

"Ehehe, I might not be very bright but my dad always said I have an affinity for business." Xiao Wu smiled shyly, a visage that didn't quite match his towering, blocky physique.

Feeling rather threatened by the possibility of another business tycoon appearing on the same mountain as his, Xuhan took a mental note to increase Xiao Wu's danger rating.

Then he summoned Zhanxian and Tun Shi Tian consecutively.

"Zhanxian, get me one of my moneybags. Little Tian, go do your routine patrols." Little Tian hooted, feeling disgruntled disgruntled by the nickname as usual while Zhanxian walked back toward the hut obediently since the task given to him did not seem risky.

"Wait, call your minion off, Xuhan." Xiao Wu suddenly said with an enlightened expression.

Xuhan turned to look at him, confused.

"Since you've promised to put in a good word for me to Elder Kong, I think I can excuse a measly 60 spirit stones. I know how hard it is for you to cultivate, martial brother. You need the money much more than I do. Here you go. Consider it a bribe-ahem-gift from your brother," he said, handing the book over to Xuhan.

Han Xuhan did not quite like the feeling of being handed things for free. Like most people, he wasn't fond of being at the receiving end of unnecessary sympathy and charity. But considering it was a brib-ahem-gift, he took it without much mental discomfort.

Cancelling Zhanxian's summon, Xuhan sent a glare at little Tian that made the owl fly away at a breakneck speed.

"Come, brother Wu. It's time for Martial sister Zhou's lectures. I have to be there on time to manage the equipment."

"I thought the lecture was supposed to be conducted by all three of you. How come it's just her now?" Xiao Wu asked with a chuckle. Han Xuhan sighed.

The job sectors are all so harsh nowadays with the protagonists of the era running around...

* * * * * * *

The scene of Yuen Zhou lecturing her fellow disciples at the foot of the Black Sheep Mountain peak was now a pretty normal sight. Han Xuhan, as the guy who had arranged this, was usually present among the attentively listening disciples. The information she gave away per lecture was incredibly precious and solid, he had come to realize soon, although most of the normal disciples didn't seem to understand that due to their lack of experience with law manipulation techniques.

As usual, he had been sitting on a boulder at the back of the gathering, enjoying the clear evening breeze and picturesque scenery while taking in today's lecture. The sharp whistling sound of an airborne object warned him of little Tian's return. A few seconds later, the owl landed behind him sneakily.

"Report," Xuhan ordered in a low voice.

"Everything seems the same as usual. No suspicious activities around the mountain. Found the regular couples in their regular spots in the woods doing their regular things. Nothing went beyond the first base though, what a shame. Would have loved the opportunity to interrupt them by informing an elder nearby, heheheh. And oh, there is this one thing you told me to keep an eye on. The number three mission in the task administration pavilion was marked completed, with a note saying it'll be taken down this evening and if the issuer of the task sees the note, they should contact the administrator by tonight ."

Han Xuhan's eyes gleamed as plans unfolded slowly one after one in his mind. The timing sure was convenient! He now had an alibi!