In the end, they couldn't find anything that suited Jin. He was rather reluctant to do anything to be honest. Like a sulking child that didn't want to do homework, this old man didn't want to work at all. He understood that he needed money here but he only wanted to fight... This was a problem and in the end, they gave up.

Of course, they never told him about the sect missions. Otherwise this dumb kid might pick one and go kill himself outside... Jin was ready to go home and start cultivating for real when a crow flew down on the porch of his house. As he was still sitting with the other two, he looked at them while pointing at the crow. He had quite the incredulous expression on his face.

Why was a damn spirit crow at his front door? He had already apologized back then, did it come to bully him further? At the funny reaction of their little sectmate, the other two chuckled. Sang-Min spoke to the crow that was using his beak to loudly knock on Jin's door: "Brother crow, the owner of that house is right here, no need to knock further!"

The crow stopped and turned its bird head towards the group. Then, he flew on top of the table and spoke with a cackling voice that Jin couldn't get used to: " I am looking for inner disciple Jin, which one is it?" Jin remained silent as he was still entranced by the reality of a talking crow. It was only when Han-Bi sent a gentle kick to his ankle that he reacted: "Ouch. Ah, uh, that's me"

The crow turned towards him and moved his head as if nodding. Jin really found the spirit crows to be damn weird. The crow, unaware and uncaring, stated his business right away: " The sect congratulates inner disciple Jin on successfully building his core "

This was enough to bring a smile to Jin. The fact that the sect was aware of his small success and hardships...and cared about him. It brought warmth to his heart. But the crow was far from finished: " As the sole disciple under the first stage of refinement, the sect wishes for you to take on a mission, please report to the inner sect mission hall within three days and refrain from cultivating further"

This brought all the good feelings Jin had to disappear. Turned out that they didn't care about him. It was just practical. Since they needed one and he was the only one, they had checked on him. He became frustrated and unhappy right away. It wasn't his talent that was recognized but his mediocrity and it didn't feel good. Sang-Min and Han-Bi, on the other hand, would generally had laughed aloud. This time, however, they had grave expressions.

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Han-Bi asked the crow: "Brother Crow, are you aware of what this mission is about?" and the crow moved its head sideways. Then, he spoke: "The message delivered, I shall take my leave. Farewell" and flew away. Han-Bi was greeting her teeth and Sang-Min's fists were clenched tight. Sending the kid on a mission right now? A mission that required him to remain under the first stage of refinement? It didn't sound good at all.

They looked towards Jin and could only see a small youngster frustrated. That's when they realized that they were far more scared for his well-being than himself. Did he not realize what it meant? Wait, maybe he didn't. He was quite the doofus and lacked a lot of common knowledge for his age. The two of them who already considered him one of theirs decided to go with him check out the mission. Right away.

All along, the kid was grumbling about unfairness and the lack of foresight of the sect. How they didn't comprehend his genius and worth and so on. It was quite hilarious. The other two would have teased him to no end if they weren't apprehensive.

They reached the mission hall. It was a very wide and high building in the shape of a small castle. Only the first and second floor were available to average inner sect disciples. Beyond that, one required to have reach a certain level to be allowed. Being new entrants themselves, while strong for their age, Han-Bi and Sang-Min were at the bottom of the inner sect. They could only access the bottom floors. Not like it mattered today.

They went straight to the counter where a sect elder looking no older than them was dozing off. Sang-Min hit his fist down hard on the counter, waking the man. Jin found it quite peculiar that the guy was so young. It was an elder after all...Was he a cheater? If he was, Jin would need to remember him so he could ask for his secrets. Remaining in one's best age forever was very tempting.

The elder groggily woke up and looked at the angry disciples in front of him. Did he mess with them before? He couldn't recall. He did not even remember their mugs. Not able to recall by himself and not very giving a fuck about it, he asked: "How can I help you guys?" ending it with a yawn.

Han-Bi spoke: "A spirit crow came to our sectmate doorstep asking him to report here" to which the elder answered : "Sure, where is he? What's his name?" After all, it wasn't like he was the one who sent the crow. He was the one who took naps here. Sang-Min pointed to Jin and said: "Inner Sect Disciple Jin"

The elder nodded and checked the papers randomly placed over the desk. Due to his high cultivation, he could easily see everything clearly and in a second, he found the paper in question. He took it and gave it to the kid. He yawned again and said: "Tell me when he's ready so I can stamp it" before going back to sleep.

The trio then looked at the paper...