Chapter 113: The Mysterious Mission

Having become a member of the Dragon Group, Yang Wenhao still felt somewhat out of place. After sending Sun Wenjia and the others home, he returned with Yang Ying to their residence.

That night, Yang Wenhao prepared to attempt a breakthrough to the fourth level of Foundation Establishment. He took out some spiritual herbs he had prepared earlier—each breakthrough in the Foundation Establishment stage required substantial resources. Fortunately, given Yang Wenhao’s current abilities, these resources were sufficient.

Beyond Foundation Establishment lay the Golden Core stage. Legend had it that upon reaching Golden Core, one could control objects with qi, making object flight possible.

After a night of cultivation, aided by a spirit-gathering formation, Yang Wenhao successfully broke through to the fourth level of Foundation Establishment. He felt refreshed and invigorated after the long session.

Previously, Su Weihua had told him that if he wanted to find missions, he could simply log onto the Martial Arts Forum and input his credentials. As expected, after verifying his identity, Yang Wenhao accessed a completely different website from the forum.

This site listed a variety of missions, each with different point values. Yang Wenhao’s status was Black Iron, so he could only accept Black Iron missions. However, these Black Iron missions were rather mundane—so much so that Yang Wenhao barely glanced at them.

Then he discovered a peculiar mission without any special designation, meaning it was open to all levels. The mission offered a thousand points. Since it took a thousand points to advance from Black Iron to Bronze, two thousand to advance from Bronze to Silver, and so forth, completing this mission would earn him enough points to become a Bronze-level member.

Although Yang Wenhao was indifferent toward membership ranks, the rewards in the exchange section were tempting. There were even millennium-old wild ginsengs, and some reaching ten thousand years in age. Obtaining a ten-thousand-year wild ginseng and combining it with the spirit-gathering formation could enable him to break through to the sixth level of Foundation Establishment.

Yet, the points required were immense; Yang Wenhao didn’t even have a fraction of them. Moreover, redeeming the ten-thousand-year ginseng required a Diamond-level status at minimum.

At his current stage, herbs like ginseng had little effect over just a few decades—he needed herbs aged centuries, even millennia.

“The path of cultivation is far more arduous than I imagined,” Yang Wenhao sighed. It was the spiritual energy on Earth that was too scarce; otherwise, he wouldn’t need these rare items.

He glanced at the comments under the mission and found only complaints. It seemed the mission had been posted for a long time, with several people previously joining but all ultimately abandoning it. Rumors suggested something unusual had occurred, making the mission extraordinary.

However, since those above the Golden level had missions worth tens of thousands of points, they didn’t care for a mere thousand-point mission. Time was precious to them, so no strong cultivators bothered to accept it—partly to let younger members gain experience exploring the unknown.

“This is the one,” Yang Wenhao decided.

He took on the mission, even requesting a few days off, which earned him Cold Ruo Ran’s displeasure; her cold expression made him uncomfortable.

Three others would join him on this team mission. Although Yang Wenhao didn’t need teammates, perhaps they knew more about the task.

The destination was Liangzhou, one of the nine provinces of Huaxia, located in the southwest. It was densely forested with many swamps. Every step required caution, and it was rumored to be rife with mountain bandits and hidden sects.

Among the secret sects, the most famous in Liangzhou was the Southern Border Witchcraft Sect, renowned worldwide for its mysteries. It was a top-tier power in both Huaxia and beyond.

Soon, Yang Wenhao flew to the provincial capital, Chengdu.

“You’re the last to join the mission?” one of the three asked. There were two men and one woman, all seemingly in their twenties.

Yang Wenhao nodded slightly. “That’s me.”

“Are you kidding? We’re all Silver level, and you’re the only Black Iron,” said one man surnamed Sun with displeasure.

“Brother Sun, calm down. I think our young friend here is just inexperienced and unaware of the dangers,” the other man, surnamed Liu, said with a smile.

Though trying to soothe, Liu’s words subtly belittled Yang Wenhao, which annoyed him.

Finally, under Liu’s persuasion, Sun fell silent, tacitly accepting the situation. The woman remained quiet throughout, and none seemed familiar with her except that her surname was Tian.

Tian was a rare surname in Huaxia, especially among martial artists. The two men likely guessed her identity and treated her with due respect.

“People really can be infuriating,” Yang Wenhao muttered, shaking his head. The two men were clearly of the same ilk, fawning over the woman.

The four of them arrived at their destination—a cave. The mission coordinates were precise, allowing them to locate it easily.

“Remember, we’re here to retrieve an item; don’t cause trouble,” Liu instructed.

Everyone nodded, though Yang Wenhao smirked disdainfully.

Among the trio, only the woman was relatively strong, at half a step into the postnatal stage. Sun was the weakest, his aura unstable, having just broken through to the first level. Though not yet officially Silver, he still considered himself one.

Sun had been the one to look down on Yang Wenhao earlier.

They entered the cave. Sun frequently glanced at Yang Wenhao with disdain, mocking him silently. Yang Wenhao wandered casually, as if on a leisurely stroll, which only deepened Sun’s scorn.

Everyone focused ahead, unwilling to start any conflict at this moment.

They soon arrived at a large stone door.

“Why is there a door here?” Sun frowned.

Liu shook his head. “None was mentioned in the mission report, but the item we seek should be inside.”

As Sun and Liu attempted to force open the stone door, a lazy voice came from behind.

“I say, are you idiots? This is obviously a mechanism, and you’re trying brute force. That’s just plain stupid.”

They turned to see it was Yang Wenhao speaking.

(End of chapter)