The youth smiled inwardly at the convenient timing and replied, “I am. Is there something you want for me?”

“Actually, yes!” The young man took out a commission paper from the sleeves of his robes and held it in front of him, “Me and my party-member are one member away from accepting this commission. Would you like to party up for this quest? The rewards are pretty good~.”

The youth took the commission paper from his hand and looked at its contents.

“Request Type: Gathering

Requester: The Myriad Miscellanies Merchant Troupe

Briefing: The Myriad Miscellanies Merchant Troupe has requested for:

* 50× Yellowneck Weeds

* 50× Magenta Jackal Flowers

* 50× Bottles of Featherblade Crow blood

* 50× Claws of Firetear Hyenas

* 50× Leaves of Hypno Acacia Trees

Reward: 15 Gold Pieces

Minimum Requirement: Three Cultivators at the Seventh Stage of Qi Refinement”

The youth whistled in awe, “This is a really generous reward for what’s essentially a Yellow-tier request.”

He looked at the young man who was eagerly waiting for his answer and asked, “Don’t you guys think it’s a bit weird for the requester to give out so much money as the reward?”

The young man looked baffled at his question and replied, “Don’t you know who the Myriad Miscellanies Merchant Troupe is?”

Based on how the young man was acting, the youth decided to take a stab at the dark, “One of the top three merchant troupes.”

“Exactly! 25 gold taels are just small change to them. So, are you in?”

The youth looked at the commission paper again and back at the young man. He exhaled before answering, “Yeah, I’m in.”

“Nice going!” the young man slapped him on the back. The youth noticed a ring on his finger but said nothing. The young man continued saying, “Frankly speaking, we needed an archer to cover us if things went wrong so, uh, that’s why I approached you.”

The youth touched the bow hung across his shoulder. He had bought this just for the previous commission. He shook his head, “Don’t worry about it. Let’s go and meet the other party member.”

“She’s sitting there-” the young man pointed towards one of the tables in the yellow section where a lone girl was sitting there. She was sipping on a cup of tea without paying any heed to her surroundings. The young man continued, “-but before we go to her. I just want to ask, what’s your cultivation realm?”

The youth shook his head inwardly. As far as he knew, it was very rude to ask this question to a stranger. He still replied, “Enough for this quest.”

“Ah, I see,” the young man didn’t seem disheartened at his cold reply and happily took him to see their other teammate.

“Mingkong! I found the last party member,” the young woman, Mingkong turned around at the young man’s call.

She remained seated and replied, “Really?”

“Yeah, this is him,” he pointed at the youth with his thumb.

“Him?” she stared at him with disapproval in her eyes. “He’s so scrawny! You sure he’s strong enough?”

“Mingkong….” The young man sighed in helplessness.

The youth shrugged at her suspicion, “I really shouldn’t have to listen to this from a girl who just broke through to the seventh stage.”

“You!” Mingkong stared at him wide-eyed.

“Hey, don’t blame me because you’re too weak.”

“Alright, alright, I’m sure Mingkong’s sorry for her comment,” the young man tried to pacify the two. “Just as you might’ve guessed her name’s Mingkong, Fang Mingkong, and I’m Yu Nanhao. It’s a pleasure to be working with you.”

“Same here,” he held up the commission paper in his hand, “shall I sign us up?”

“By all means? Who’s the leader though?”

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“You,” both the youth and Fang Mingkong relegated that responsibility to Yu Nanhao.

“Guess that’s that!” the youth started walking to the reception of the yellow section. After queuing up, he didn’t need to wait for long as the receptionist seemed to be adept at her job. Soon, he handed in the commission paper to the same elderly receptionist he saw on his first day here.

Seeing him, the receptionist raised an eyebrow and said, “I don’t think you are eligible for this commission. Or did you somehow break through two levels in four days?”

“Just because the Guild asked me to reveal my Cultivation, did you really think I would do so?”

“You don’t trust the Guild?” she looked at him with narrowed eyes.

“I don’t.”

“Smart!” she stamped the paper and handed it back to him. “Don’t trust anyone.”

“I’ll keep your advice in mind,” the youth bowed slightly and went back to his new teammates.

He took the approved commission paper and placed it on now team’s table. He asked, “Alright, when do we leave?”

Yu Nanhao and Fang Mingkong looked at each other and the former said, “One hour. We’ll meet in front of the guild.”

“Alright, then we’ll see each other in an hour. See you in an hour.” The youth cupped his fists and left the building.

As soon as he hit the streets, Jian Gong said, “I have a feeling….”

“Don’t worry, me too. Though it’s not a bad thing for us.”

“Yeah, only Heavens know how that'll play out. So, where are you going now?”

“Fletcher. For bows and arrows.”

“Just head to any Forging guild then. They have all kinds of people there.”

“Alright.” Without much banter, he headed towards the Forging Guild inside the city. Almost every major town or city had one. It wasn’t uncommon for a city to house numerous guilds.

The building for the Forger Guild looked like a massive factory with smoke spewing out of the numerous chimneys on its roof. It was to be noted that only the chimneys on one side were spewing the harmful black smoke while the others had white smoke full of spiritual energy.

“That area is probably full of higher-level Forgers using spiritual metals,” The youth remarked inwardly and entered the building. Inside, two women wearing dangerously revealing clothes stood with inviting expressions. They were tending to a chubby man wearing expensive clothes and seemed to be sucking up to him. The youth looked down at his clothes. They by no means looked back, especially with his figure but they were made of far cheap materials. When he left the Li Clan, he wasn’t in any position to pack the better clothes he had with him. He was still wearing those black robes he got from the village.

“Dude, you want to try something?” Jian Gong suddenly asked. Judging from his tone, he was definitely up to something.

“What?”

“When you go up, do it with your mask down.”

“What’ll charming the receptionists get me?”

“Better service, and when you do it, try to flatter them too.”

“Fine,” he replied half-heartedly but despite this, he was eager. When he saw that the two beautiful receptionists had sent the chubby man on his way, he walked forward. When the two receptionists saw him, the smiles on their faces never faltered. Yet their eyes were dyed with poorly disguised contempt.

The youth came close and pulled his mask down and asked, “Sisters, could you tell me where I could get some arrows?”

The two female receptionists’ minds lagged. They had a common thought head in their mind, “What the hell is that face doing in clothes like those?”

“Sisters?” he asked with an adorably confused face. “Someone kill me before I die from the cringe.”

Meanwhile, Jian Gong was laughing up a storm in his mind, “Kekeke, look at their faces. They never expected this. Kekeke. They look like they’ve been struck by lightning. Kekeke!”

It looked like their minds had finally registered what was happening as one of them spoke up with a charming smile, “Little brother, what kind of arrows do you want?”

“Just cheap ones,” he flashed them a sunny and cheery smile, “I’m just a low-tier mercenary. Please tell me where they are so I can go by myself. After all, beautiful big sisters don’t have to accompany someone like me. I’m sure you have more important things to do.” Because he was still fifteen, his face wasn’t fully rid of baby fat. So, if anything, he looked half cute and half handsome. Of course, his acting depended on which side would shine more.

“Then you should enter this room-” she pointed at the left, “-and then enter the room on the far end of the hallway.”

“Thank you, big sister!” he said cheerily and walked away. Before he could leave though, one of the receptionists stopped him and kissed him on the cheek, “Sorry, you’re too adorable. I couldn’t resist.”

Even he was taken aback by this. The youth quickly pulled himself together and shyly said, “N-No need to be sorry about this.” He then quickly scurried off, leaving the receptionists giggling to themselves.

When he was out of their sight, his face became pale. “I don’t want to do that again. I’m going to hurl.”

“Come on, it wasn’t that bad,” Jian Gong tried to pacify him but he was still laughing, “If anything, it was funny!”

“For you it’s funny! But I was dying from the cringe. Do you know hard it is to act like that without wanting to shoot yourself in the head?”

“Can’t say. Since I didn’t have to do it. Kekeke!”

The youth pulled up his mask and started walking to the far end of the hallway as the receptionist said.

“Why’d you pull your mask up? Charm the forgers too, no?” Jian Gong mocked him.

The youth scoffed, “Fuck off! Why would I try to charm men? I can bet my ass my face will get me into trouble someday.”

“So, you’re betting your ass?”

“No, wait!”