Normally Wu Guang would thank the elder but right now he could only concentrate on restraining from cursing. The movements of the elder were so slow that even if Wu Guang was a cripple without legs, he could have already scanned all the scrolls in the room and found his without any help or the guide of the ledger.

So in place of thanking the elder, Wu Guang grabbed the scrolls and deliberately not noticing the shocked expression of the elder opened the three at the same time without any care. After confirming that the contents and payment were the same as he expected, Wu Guang rolled them up and without any care put them below his armpit.

"Oh and elder, there should be another mission, but this one should be directed to my team"

"..."

"Elder?"

"Ahh... Team Name?"

"We don't have one"

"Impossible! All team missions are assigned via the team name"

"But we don't have one and the mission was assigned already as my team received the notification"

"It should be impossible... But, what are the contents of the mission?"

"Escorting the Sect caravan to 'Coastal Hill City' to take part in the 'Autumn Riches' trade"

"Hmm? There was indeed a mission like it, but I am sure it was directed to a named team. Give me a moment" Hearing the former Wu Guang almost shuddered as he imagined that the only person who could have named them was Elder Mo, after all, he was the one who managed to add two members without even asking the team itself.

As Wu Guang was already imagining the worse, the elder seemingly found the mission

"Yes, here it is. You said you are Wu Guang, right?"

"Yes"

"Indeed the mission is assigned to your team as you are cited as the leader, but your team has a name, how could you forget about it? Well, let me get your scroll"

As Wu Guang received the scroll, the first thing that he looked at was the place where the team name was written... and grew pale.

"Are you okay?" Noticing that the disciple in front of him grew pale and started to shake a bit, the elder asked with concern.

"Ahh... I am okay. Sorry, elder. Thank you for your help" Wu Guang answered while trying to maintain an at least acceptable tone and expression.

"I see, then, you can leave, and don't forget to register the missions as accepted in the main hall"

Wu Guang heard this as he was leaving the room and did not answer, but not because he was being inconsiderate, but because he could not do so without exploding.

In reality, he was both furious and amused. Still, he promised that when he reached a level of strength enough, he would personally beat Elder Mo. And with no excuse about his age, after all, Wu Guang was actually far older, or at least his real self was.

As for the reason for such emotions, it was simple. Being the name that was assigned to their team. It was not long, as it was made up of two characters only... that would be read as 'Spring Flower'. "The hell, did I kill that old bastard's family in the past or what! I will definitively put a spring flower on his grave..."

Almost automatically Wu Guang went towards the counter meant for it and registered the four missions. Afterward, he moved towards the counter where he could present the resources required by the three missions meant to simply provide him practically free points. There was a herb and a beast material one and all the required resources were the ones that he had decided to keep before, but as he did not expect to have the opportunity to make more than a couple experiments with potions even in the case that Li Xia delivered the tools before he left, Wu Guang had concluded that points and the respective increase in combat strength were a better option right now.

The third mission was also a request for materials but the request was not for the ones he had obtained from the expedition. It was for the one he had brought from the bandit subjugation mission, the 'Heaven's Rock'. He had bought a full shi of it and after talking it with Elder Mo and taking into account the amount he would need for himself, he had decided to sell the excess and retain only 50 pounds of it. Thankfully the rocks he had bought were pretty small and so he could separate the needed amount without the need to cut or process it.

His mood did improve a bit after receiving his practically extorted 1700 contribution points, but he was still pissed at Elder Mo. Though he could only curse, after all, he could not do much at the moment. In any case, he inwardly decided to hide the name from the rest of the team. At least until he found the way to change it. He remembered that per the rules the name could be changed once, but to do so he needed to complete at least a full-team mission... So they would be named 'Spring Flower' only for the next weeks. Then Wu Guang could either change it or even disband the team itself, as in any case he was far more comfortable alone or with a single companion like Yuan Taotu.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

Speaking of the latter, Wu Guang quickly found him standing at the entrance of the hall, seemingly waiting for him.

Sunset was close and they could not do anything right now so the pair started walking towards their residence. Their intention was to meditate in place of sleeping. As they both meant to maximize their strength and if possible, even advance. In truth, this was only Wu Guang's plan. But as they spoke during the walk back home, he confirmed that it also applied to Yuan Taotu. The latter seemingly was extremely interested in getting stronger quickly as well.

This could be only attributed to what the enforcer or whoever had spoken to him said. Most probably he had given him some kind of clue or information, as such drive was not common for Yuan Taotu. Who at least in Wu Guang's eyes had no goal of quickly obtaining strength before. Or at least did not give any reason to suspect him of such.

***

As the pair entered the room where they had placed the orb Wu Guang decided that he should advance to the 4th level. Initially, this was against his plan as he wanted to gain more techniques and training first. But now with the number of points that he had got from pressing Elder Mo, he was sure to be able to obtain them anyway. And considering that senses would be extremely useful for his role as a ranged attacker and for the mission itself, such change in his plan was very logical.

Thankfully by using the orb to improve the effectiveness he could use only one drop in place of the two wood essence drops he planned to. So not only he would be able to advance in no time if compared to a normal cultivator but also he would retain an extra drop. Practically giving him an extra life, after all, the Wood Essence could heal any injury if applied in time.

Wu Guang took out the vial with the three wood essence drops he had obtained from Elder Chen when he reached the Spirit realm and after preparing himself opened the vial. There were only three drops, so he was very careful to consume only a single one. As he did so, he reminded himself to later separate the two drops, after all, during an emergency he could not have the opportunity to do such.

His circulation system was now complete and his control over the qi and dantian was far above average. So Wu Guang moved the full drop into the dantian with absolutely no losses of the liquid form. Even if the latter was not so effective in terms of qi as the true essence contained inside, it still could give him an extra boost.

The first time he had used the essence was prior to the formation of the dantian and so he had to operate his qi to over-infuse the essence and make it explode, but now the process would be far more easy and far more effective as well. The ease came from the fact that he would not need to do anything except assimilate the drop inside his dantian. As for the effectiveness, it increased thanks to the fact that the drop would release its energy directly inside the dantian. Eliminating any opportunity for even the most minor fraction to disappear, something that he could not guarantee before.

As for the expansion process itself, he would not have to do anything at all. It was because the energy would surge inside the dantian and so the latter could both absorb it and expand itself. Especially as the energy released was so big, it would expand far quicker, as to not implode. Although the last part sounded dangerous in truth the fact that the energy was of wood nature made the danger minimal. After all, the wood element was the element of life. So even in the almost impossible case of damage occurring, the same essence could be used for healing it.

As he started the process which would probably take him several hours Wu Guang thought about the possibility of giving one of the drops to Yuan Taotu to help the latter, but this was dismissed after some thought. The reason was not stinginess, even if the essence was too valuable to be simply given out. It was because of the fact that he should not disclose the matter of its existence, at least not without Elder Chen's permission.

With the night slowly taking over the last remnants of the day the pair meditated before the orb.

With the first rays of the morning sun starting to disperse the night, the pair still meditated.