Reading the message I sent him, Ren Qingquan finally returned to the initial topic. 'Then, system. What kind of mission should I choose?'

Thinking for a moment, I remembered the Pure Wave Sect is located near the sea.

When Ren Qingquan's group first arrived in the cultivation world, they were stranded at an island in the middle of the sea before being picked up by Jin Fushen and his group. So, I advised him to select a mission located near the sea.

[Ding! System recommends the host to take missions located nearby or at the sea. For example, the mission to collect the dorsal fin of Steel Fin Fish located at 8 o'clock from your hand.]

Looking at the paper near his hand, Ren Qingquan pulled a paper with the mission to collect 100 dorsal fins from a fish called Steel Fin Fish within 2 weeks. Below it, the description and location of Steel Fin Fish is written.

Then, Ren Qingquan walked toward the counter and lined up at the end of the queue to accept his mission.

That is when a loud sound comes from the door of this building. "Make way! make way! Young Master Gu Cheng is visiting elder Gu."

Hearing that voice, the surrounding people including Ren Qingquan turned their head toward the source of that sound.

There, a handsome youth wearing Pure Wave Sect's disciple uniform with hair tied into a bun by his head wear is surrounded by several people as he walks inside the building. The sound which previously shouted aloud came from one of the people surrounding that handsome youth.

That youth has his head pointed slightly upward. Which makes him always have this condescending look on his face.

After a brief silence, the surrounding people entered into an uproar.

"Is that really Young Master Gu? He is more handsome than what others say."

"Indeed. Words alone couldn't describe the elegance and temperament Young Master Gu has."

"Not only is he incredibly handsome, he is also extremely talented. He actually reached the Completion of Foundation Building stage before being 20 years old."

"Young Master Gu, please step on me with that disgusted look of yours!!"

There is a weird shout mixed within, but let's forget about it. Anyway, while looking at that guy, I can feel Ren Qingquan's curiosity about something. Not long after, I sensed him activating his Turtle Divination Art and glanced at that young master.

From the sense shared by Ren Qingquan, I can see the luck aura that Young Master Gu has. The size of his aura is incredibly huge! It's so huge to the point of overshadowing the luck his surrounding lackeys have. It is also the highest luck both of us have seen since Ren Qingquan learned Turtle Divination Art.

Seeing that huge luck, I saw Ren Qingquan opening the sub system panel and granted that young master with a sub system.

While Ren Qingquan is in a daze from granting that young master with a sub system, a voice sounded from nearby.

"You! The Dumb looking guy over there! Why haven't you made way for young master Gu Cheng! Now you must kneel and ask young master Gu for his forgiveness!" that Lackey A pointed at Ren Qingquan as he bellowed.

At this time, Young Master Gu finally spoke for the first time since entering the building. Wearing an annoyed face, he spoke to his Lackey A. "Enough! Just leave him alone!"

Hearing his words, the surrounding people turned into NPCs once again.

"Young Master Gu's generosity knows no bounds!"

"As Expected of a genius from our Pure Wave Sect!"

Amidst a cacophony of generic shout, a door located nearby Ren Qingquan opened. From behind, one of the elders which Ren Qingquan met previously in the disciple recruitment test went out.

Wearing the Pure Wave Sect's elder uniform, that elder folded his hand behind his back. Glancing at everyone nearby, his eyes froze for a moment when it was in Ren Qingquan's direction. Before continuing to glance around until he saw Young Master Gu.

I swear I can see his eyes glint with a cold light when he locked his sight with Ren Qingquan. How someone's eyes can glint like that is beyond my knowledge.

Once that elder saw Young Master Gu, he spoke to him. "Come with me."

"Alright." As Young Master Gu answered, he followed behind that elder as both of them entered the door together.

Meanwhile, Lackey A guarded the door together with several other fellows.

After that short scene, Ren Qingquan can now line up in peace. Soon after, he arrived in front of the counter.

Showing the paper he pulled to the disciple guarding that counter, that disciple wrote several things on a note before saying to Ren Qingquan while handing him a map.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"I have written your mission choice. Here is the map where the Steel Fin Fish is located. Please return within two weeks, otherwise your mission will be counted as failure and it will be reposted on the board."

Ren Qingquan nodded toward that disciple and said. "I understand, thank you."

Afterward, Ren Qingquan walked outside the Miscellaneous Hall's Mission Distribution Office while talking to me. 'System, help me mark the location of the island in the system map.'

Fulfilling his request, I placed a fish shaped mark into the border of the map. Ren Qingquan then followed that fish shaped mark while activating his Agile Step.

Seeing him still using Agile Step which is only a martial art skill even though he already reached the Qi Refining stage, I guess I need to remind him to switch for a magical technique later.

Just like that, Ren Qingquan spent the whole afternoon running before he arrived at the coast. Looking at the empty coast without any sign of a ship or other means of transportation, he froze in his step. "How can I go to that island?"

After thinking for a moment, Ren Qingquan remembered his beloved weapon and asked me to modify its shape. 'System, can you help me modify the shape of my steel plate stored in [Storage]?'

[Yes.]

Following Ren Qingquan's idea, I spent several energies to change the shape of that steel plate into another weird shape.

Releasing the recently modified steel above the sea, he jumped and stood above it. And so, a moment later, Ren Qingquan can be seen sailing using a huge bowl made of steel.

Sitting in a bicycle-like seat complete with its pedals located in the middle of that bowl. He cycled the pedal which triggered a certain mechanism and made the gigantic steel propeller under that bowl rotate.

Seeing his weird machine actually succeed, I can only speechlessly stare as Ren Qingquan slowly sailed toward his destination.

***

Meanwhile, at Miscellaneous Hall's Mission Distribution Office.

Not long after Ren Qingquan left the building. Young Master Gu Cheng and his father, Elder Gu Xian sat together in a room.

Seeing his talented son which had already reached the completion of Foundation Building, Elder Gu Xian talked while wearing a dotting smile. "Xiao Cheng, have you prepared yourself for your breakthrough to the golden core stage?"

Gu Cheng stared at his father calmly as he replied. "I have prepared everything."

Hearing his son's answer, Elder Gu Xian had a wide smile on his face. "Good job! As expected of my son."

After a moment of silence, Elder Gu Xian continued. "Do you remember the boy with the dumb look in the hall before?"

Wearing a thoughtful look, Gu Cheng answered after thinking for a moment. "Is it the boy pointed out by one of my junior brothers before?"

Seeing as Gu Cheng remembered the person he mentioned, elder Gu Xian nodded. "That is right."

"What is wrong with that boy?" Young Master Gu Cheng replied to his father with a confused tone.

"Do you know what cultivation stage that boy is currently at?" Without waiting for Gu Cheng to answer, Elder Gu Xian said. "He is at the completion of Qi Refining!"

Seeing his son still having a confused look, Elder Gu Xian continued.

"That boy is among the new disciples from the last batch of the disciple recruitment test. Furthermore, at that time he also cheated through the test using some treasure!"

Listening up to this point, Gu Cheng realized why his father talked about that boy for a long time. His father's next word confirmed his guess.

"I want you to investigate what kind of treasure that kid possesses. Of course, you can do it after you achieve a breakthrough. After All, that treasure is not as important as your own personal strength."

Sure enough, his father's treasure hoarding illness relapsed. Seeing it, Gu Cheng just agreed and played along. At least, his father only asked him to investigate that boy. That means he will only try his luck at purchasing the treasure instead of trying to rob it.

After chatting a bit longer with his father, Gu Cheng left the room. As he walked out from the room, he touched his neck while moving it around and wearing a pained face. "Urgh. My teeth still itch and my neck is sore."

Let's not talk about how a cultivator like him could still get a toothache. Since several days ago Gu Cheng has been incredibly stressed due to something he doesn't want to talk about.

When Gu Cheng went outside, that bunch of junior brothers which he doesn't even know the name of directly gathered around him.

"Young Master Gu, how is it? Do you feel tired? "

"Young Master Gu, where are we going next?"

"Young Master Gu, Do you have any tasks for us to do?"

Hearing his junior brothers keep on blabbering Young Master Gu this and that Gu Cheng can feel his toothache worsen.

As his schedule is incredibly busy due to preparing for his breakthrough and a sudden problem that appeared. Gu Cheng decided that the investigation request his father gave him wasn't worth the hassle.

"That junior brother, I have a request for you." Pointing at one of his lacke- junior brothers, Gu Cheng told him about the request his father gave. "Elder Gu Xian gave me a request to investigate someone. But, I am busy with something. So, I want you to help me."

Lackey A who coincidentally got pointed at wore an expression of delight as he replied. "I will not let Young Master down!"

After giving the details and making sure Lackey A knew the person he mentioned, Gu Xian warned him once again. "Remember, your task is only to investigate! Don't do anything unnecessary."

Lackey nodded his head as he thought of something before arriving at the counter where Ren Qingquan previously accepted his mission.

Stepping one of his feet on top of the table, Lackey A shouted at the disciple manning that counter. "I want you to give me the mission destination of a disciple!"

Hearing that request and arrogant way of talking, the disciple manning the counter frowned. "Giving out a disciple's mission information goes against the rules!"

Hearing that, Lackey A shouted in an even louder voice. "This is Young Master Gu Cheng's command! Don't you know who Young Master Gu Cheng's father is?!"

Turning his head toward Gu Cheng, that disciple finally surrendered and gave Lackey A an exact same map as the one Ren Qingquan got.

Looking at the ruckus that Lackey A caused at the counter and his way of inquiring, Gu Cheng felt a bit nervous. Shrugging away his bad feeling, he went away with his group of junior brothers.

He still has a lot of things to do to make sure nothing goes wrong during his breakthrough.

Glancing at Lackey A once again before leaving, Gu Cheng can only hope nothing will go wrong.