"Junior Brother, how long will your mission be anyway?" Liu Sisi inquired, her gaze shifting towards Ning who was fervently packing pills and talismans into his space pouch.

"To reach the Goldenrod City, it will take at least 20 days, so this mission will probably take a few months," Ning responded.

"That's so looong...." Liu Sisi sighed, swinging her legs as she sat on the bed, clearly discontent with the duration.

"I know. Senior Sister, please have some patience. How about I bring you some treats for the city?" Ning attempted to pacify his senior.

"When you say it like that, it makes it seem you are the senior in our relationship," Liu Sisi grumbled.

"Am I not?"

"No! I am your senior sister," Liu Sisi spoke those words loudly and slowly as if it would magically let her words sink into Ning.

"Also, why do you need three different bows, anyway?" Liu Sisi couldn't help but ask, seeing Ning fine-tune them to his satisfaction.

"In case one breaks."

"Junior Brother, why don't you just buy a bow-turned artifact? Since you are going to the goldenrod city, you can find some good ones. It's not even that expensive."

"Senior Sister, if you say those words to other people, they would probably beat you up."

"W-why?" Liu Sisi asked a tad more tepidly than she would have liked.

Ning looked up at her with his 'dead' eyes, "Senior Sister, you do realize that such things cost more than ten thousand spirit stones, right?"

"Ya. So?" Truly, Ning hated the nonchalant look his senior sister projected right now. It should have been me, not her.

"Most disciples can't afford such huge sums like you do. And the way you say it makes it seem like you are flaunting your wealth, senior sister," Ning patiently taught his senior sister.

He didn't want his senior sister to turn into the arrogant young master archetype lest he be called to fight for her later down the line.

"Really? I was just telling the truth, though," Liu Sisi felt that she was wronged.

"I know. That just makes it worse," Ning sighed before saying, "Also, I do plan to buy a bow, senior sister. It's just that I need to save some spirit stone to buy the cauldron."

"If you need spirit stones, just ask me. I don't need it too much anyway," Liu Sisi seemed smug for some reason.

"Senior Sister, you are doing it again..."

"Am I? Still, if you want, I can give you some spirit stones." Truly, Liu Sisi seemed more like a bank than his senior at this point.

"You don't need to, senior sister. Also, don't say that to anyone from now on. I don't want to go after another guy that scammed you again," Ning still remembered how he had to 'reason' with the vendor because Liu Sisi was scammed. That was something he would rather avoid being commonplace.

"Also, I have my own plans regarding the spirit stones," Ning still had some demon core stashed that he could sell if he ever needed money.

Liu Sisi pouted, dissatisfied, "I was just trying to help you, junior brother, and if you pack so many bows and things, then it would clearly take up too much space in your space pouch, and you might not be able to pack up the things that really mattered, like the spirit stone which you have yet to place inside."

"I have got it covered, senior sister."

Ning had two space pouches on him. The low-grade one he outwardly displayed only had spares. His true wealth was in the mid-grade space pouch, he had hidden inside the custom-made empty compartment of his shoes.

With this, even if he was robbed, he would never lose the things that truly mattered. Even the outwardly displayed space pouch can be used as a distraction in a fight or escape.

In fact, drunk Ning often wondered about what would happen if he placed a space pouch inside a space pouch. Would it collapse, would it burst everything out? Would it create a f*ckin black hole?

It was a pity that the sober Ning refused the drunk Ning to let his intrusive thoughts win.

Truly, sober Ning was never a fun guy...

...

"Brother Ning, why are you giving these to me?" Fatty Li glanced at the dumbbells that were gifted to him.

"Fatty Li, the outer sect competition is going to start soon, and you need to start preparing now. These are my training equipment; they should be a lot of help to you." Since Ning had finally got the weighted body bands he had asked to be forged, he could give these to Fatty Li, who clearly had the talent for it.

"These... It would probably be wasted on me." Fatty Li was quite hesitant; his cultivation talent was mediocre, and he felt his strength was also not that good. Such things might be wasted on him. After all, compared to his very special friends, he felt inferior to them.

"No, it won't. In fact, you have been wasting your immense potential right now, Fatty Li. You might be hesitant to walk the path of physical cultivation, but that path is the right one for you." Ning was serious regarding this. After such a long time, he was 100% sure that Fatty Li had some kind of hidden physique that leaned towards body cultivation.

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"Do I really have that potential?" Fatty Li was taken aback by the immense trust of his friend.

"You do," Ning nodded. He truly believed so. "Always remember there is only weight and those who are too weak to lift it. And you are not one of them, Fatty Li."

"Brother Ning..." Fatty Li was moved, his plump cheeks trembling wildly. "If you believe so, then I would do it."

"That's the spirit. Here are the training manuals." Having introduced his friend to the Dao Of Gains, Ning felt it was a very satisfying day indeed.

...

Two days later, Ning arrived approximately fifteen minutes ahead of the scheduled meeting time. He donned a light inner armor beneath his green robe, giving him a slightly bulkier appearance, but safety took precedence over charm points, in his humble opinion.

Ning swiftly approached the outer sect gate. As usual, the security of the outer sect was poor, with a single guard protecting it. He briefly glanced at it before spotting a group of four who matched the profile that senior sister Jiu had handed him.

"Excuse me, are you here for the Wei Family mission?" Ning asked politely, attracting the attention of the group.

"Yes," a tall man who appeared to be in his mid-twenties spoke, "Junior Brother, can you show your mission slip?"

The tall man was at the sixth stage of Qi condensation, so it was not wrong for him to address Ning as a junior. If he had to be honest, he never got around this relationship stuff about disciples and such.

"Yes," Ning took out the mission slip, and after verifying it, everyone began to introduce themselves. "My name is Ji Ning...Brother?"

"I am Murong Shuo," the tall man introduced himself first and then turned toward the three people.

"These are Liao Ting and Pan Xue."

"Hello!" The two disciples greeted him politely.

After introducing the two, Murong Shuo pointed toward another disciple who appeared a bit standoffish, "He is Luo Jing."

Luo Jing just snorted without speaking much.

Murong Shuo rubbed his nose and spoke in a low voice, "His grandfather is one of the foundation-building elders of the sect. So, don't mind his behavior."

"It's okay, brother Shuo. I understand." Ning just shook his head and expressed his understanding.

Of course, inwardly, he had a slight premonition. After all, Luo Jing was the template of an arrogant young master, and the sixth member still not showing up left a lot of room for imagination.

Ning just nodded at Luo Jing and started to talk with the other three disciples. He drove the conversation toward these new party members of his without seeming too inquisitive and learned a lot about them.

Murong Shuo, Pan Xue, and Liao Ting seemed to be a permanent party that took several missions. They were veterans and with an almost late-stage Qi cultivator as their leader, so their success rate was quite high.

As for Luo Jing, he just made some small remarks and seemed quite disdainful. He displayed his arrogant attitude to the fullest so much so that Ning couldn't help but wonder why this guy was even here.

"Junior Brother Ning, since you are going to buy a cauldron in the Golden Rod city, you should have already finished your studies. You must make us some alchemy later on." Seeing that this new party member was eloquent and understanding, everyone quickly got acquainted with him.

Especially since Ning had intentionally revealed a bit of his background. Nonetheless, it was to prevent any face-slapping event that may occur.

Many times, Xianxia Protagonists simply refuse to show their background, leading people to underestimate them, and ultimately leading to some form of oppression. Ning didn't want any of that plot, so he 'unintentionally' revealed some of his background, such as his purpose for taking this mission.

With his background as a disciple of the only high-grade alchemist, the three, Murong Shuo, Pan Xue, and Liao Ting, didn't hesitate to show favor to Ning.

Even the arrogant Luo Jing inadvertently glanced at Ning in a different light and showed some favor to him.

Time passed quickly, and it was already half an hour past the agreed-upon time.

"Did the last guy ditch the mission?" Pan Xue couldn't help but cuss out. She was a tall, muscular lady with a halberd tied around her waist. It seemed she was pissed off by needing to wait for so long.

"Who knows? They should probably be caught up by something. It has happened to the best of us, so, don't hurry so much, Pan Xue." Luo Ting reasoned. Contrary, to Pan Xue, Liao Ting was slender and short with no visible weapon on hand.

"Liao Ting is right. Let's wait a bit more; if the last person still does not arrive, we can only report it to the mission hall." Murong Shuo, who took on the role of the unofficial leader, finally gave the verdict.

As the clock ticked by, finally, a silhouette appeared from a distance. It was a boy who appeared to be the same age as Ning, wearing a black robe, and his face seemed tired as if he had just gone through a heavy battle.

Nonetheless, he was the resident protagonist of the sect.

"Ha... S-sorry. I was late," Xiao Fan apologized between breaths.

Ning could guess that this guy probably went through an ordeal back in the sect, seeing how trashed this guy looked.

Luo Jing, who had been quiet until now, suddenly sneered loudly, "How dare you make me wait such a long time? Moreover, appearing in such a state for a mission."

"I said I am sorry, okay? I was stuck due to—" Xiao Fan was interrupted mid-sentence.

"Ya, ya, we know you were stuck. I think you just lack a sense of responsibility." Luo Jing acted as if he had it all figured out.

"You—" Xiao Fan was already seething since Xiao Hong's goons inexplicably challenged him, so getting suddenly antagonized like this made him lose his cool.

Thankfully, Murong Shuo acted as a mediator and finally calmed down the scene. "Brother Luo Jing, please calm down; we should start discussing the mission since everyone has arrived. Also, brother..."

"Xiao Fan," the resident protagonist introduced himself.

And the moment he did, there was unabashed laughter, "So, you are Xiao Fan?! The waste, no wonder you have no decorum!"

Xiao Fan was quite famous in the inner sect.

While Ning was living a peaceful life, Xiao Fan was doing anything but. He had provoked too many people and had already shown his edge in the inner sect, so his reputation was very loud in the sect.

As for why the title of waste was still there? Eh, it's just that these people can't come up with anything more creative. At least that was how Ning saw it.

"Coming from a jerk like you, that's rich." Xiao Fan had learned a thing or two about cursing after being cursed at for so long.

"You—" As expected of an arrogant young master, Luo Jing never saw the counterattack coming.

"Calm down, you two!"

Tired...

Murong Shuo could already see that this mission was going to be more trouble than he thought.

...

After a brief discussion with everyone, Ning proposed the idea of taking an escort mission on the side, so that they could get free transportation. After all, who would not want to earn a quick buck if they can?

"Junior Brother, Leave it to me. I have some contacts regarding it." Murong Shuo was reliable indeed. Senior Sister Jiu was right.

After another hour or two, Murong Shuo quickly found a group of merchants, and the side escort mission was quickly underway.

Ning was tasked with guarding the last carriage with Xiao Fan. Luo Jing and Murong Shuo were responsible for the front carriage, and finally, the middle carriage was for the two girls, Pan Xue and Liao Ting.

This seating was proposed by Murong Shuo, he could already see that Luo Jing and Xiao Fan meshed as well as fire does to water, so he proposed the sitting to keep them apart.

Thankfully, everyone accepted much to his joy.

Ning did not sit idly after getting into the carriage but quickly got acquainted with those merchants, learning the things needed to be careful of on the road. Only after discussing and retrieving information for an entire hour did he finally separate from those merchants.

"As expected, these merchants who have trodden this road countless times have more detailed information than anything that could be found in the sect. This meeting was quite useful. Eh?"

As he returned, Ning suddenly encountered a wild protagonist in his way.

...

..

"You are Ning, right?"