Qi Yuanshou possessed an ordinary appearance and wore a white robe. Although he was three whole realms above Qin Sang, he did not flaunt his aura at all. Standing before him brought not the slightest sense of pressure, but rather an approachable warmth.
"Qin Sang pays his respects to Senior Brother Qi."
Qin Sang bowed alongside Yuyangzi. After Yuyangzi introduced Qin Sang to Qi Yuanshou and explained his background, he took his leave.
"Junior Brother Qin, since you are a fellow disciple of our sect, there is no need for you to take the Shadow Guard assessment. This is the Shadow Guard medallion—keep it safe. From now on, you are a member of the Shadow Guard. I trust you will carry out the tasks assigned by our sect and Xuanlu Pass with utter devotion."
Qi Yuanshou produced a medallion and spoke with a gentle, amiable smile.
Qin Sang accepted the medallion. It was a magic tool, completely different in shape from Yuyangzi's. Cast from black darksteel, the medallion bore only the single character "Shadow" and nothing else.
"Simply drop a bead of essence blood onto the medallion," Qi Yuanshou instructed.
Qin Sang complied. The drop of essence blood fell onto the medallion and seeped into it on its own. Immediately, Qin Sang felt an intimate connection with the medallion, easily drawing it into his body.
"With this medallion, you may come directly to see me, Junior Brother Qin. Once you enter the Ancient Immortal Battlefield, nearly every town and cultivation market along that route has a Shadow Guard stronghold. You need only activate the medallion, and someone will contact you to relay messages and offer assistance..."
Having patiently listened to Qi Yuanshou explain the workings of the Shadow Guard, Qin Sang cupped his hands. "Thank you for your patient guidance, Senior Brother Qi. I will certainly follow your orders and take your lead in all things."
Qi Yuanshou chuckled and shook his head. "It is merely my duty... You have only just arrived and joined the Shadow Guard, so there is no rush to assign you a task. Why not enter the Ancient Immortal Battlefield to temper yourself first? Once you grow familiar with it, come to me for a mission within five years—just enough to silence any idle gossip."
Qin Sang was curious. Qi Yuanshou spent his time managing the secular affairs of Xuanlu Pass and seemed available at any moment—did he not need to enter secluded cultivation?
Then it dawned on Qin Sang: Qi Yuanshou was already a False Core stage expert. Prior to achieving Core Formation, even several centuries of secluded cultivation would not advance his cultivation by a single inch.
Perhaps for a False Core stage expert, bitter cultivation behind closed doors was less fruitful than stepping outside one's cave dwelling to seek a fortuitous chance for Core Formation.
"Thank you for your consideration, Senior Brother Qi. However..."
Qin Sang repeated what he had told Yuyangzi. They were fellow disciples of the same sect, so there was no need to hide anything.
"Oh? Is that so? It seems the cultivation technique you chose is quite peculiar, and your courage is commendable. Since you are determined, let me take a look..."
Though surprised, Qi Yuanshou did not pry. He placed his palm upon a smooth piece of warm jade on his desk. A moment later, he said regretfully, "You came at an unfortunate time, Junior Brother Qin. The few missions in the outer zone have already been claimed, and I'm afraid there won't be new ones anytime soon... If you cannot wait, there is a decent task available, though it requires venturing deeper into the Ancient Immortal Battlefield. That said, the objective is merely to excavate a spirit ore deposit, so the danger is relatively low. Ten people will be going together, and Junior Brother Mu Yifeng has taken this mission as well."
Qin Sang did not know Mu Yifeng, nor did he intend to rely on others for survival. With Sun De and Wu Yuesheng serving as past lessons, fellow-disciple camaraderie could hardly be trusted out in the world; the only one he could rely on was himself.
"Senior Brother Qi, which zone does this mission lead to?"
"The middle zone."
Qin Sang nodded slightly upon hearing this. Yinshan Pass and Chungang City stood between the territories of Xuanlu Pass and the demonic sects, and this barrier still held some sway in the middle zone.
Venturing into the inner zone, however, meant stepping into pure chaos far beyond the control of the great sects. The chances of encountering demonic cultivators were high, and remnants of the Kuiyin Sect might even be among them.
Qin Sang possessed several fine magic tools and had no fear of cultivators in the early Foundation Establishment stage, but if he ran into stronger opponents, he would have no choice but to flee.
"I leave everything to Senior Brother Qi's discretion," Qin Sang said, bowing with cupped hands.
...
Hurried footsteps echoed from outside the door.
Qi Yuanshou, who was briefing Qin Sang on the details of the mission, abruptly paused and called out clearly, "Junior Brother Mu, come in."
Qin Sang stepped aside to make way.
The door was pushed open from outside, and a burly man strode in. His features were rugged and unkempt, yet his expression was steady, and his aura was on par with Senior Sister Qingting's—he was already on the threshold of the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.
"Greetings, Senior Brother Qi!"
Mu Yifeng glanced at Qin Sang before cupping his hands in salute to Qi Yuanshou, his booming voice shaking the roof tiles.
"Junior Brother Qin, this is Junior Brother Mu Yifeng... and this is Junior Brother Qin Sang..."
Qi Yuanshou introduced the two, then addressed Mu Yifeng, "Junior Brother Mu, Junior Brother Qin has also accepted this mission to excavate Qianyang quartz. Traveling together will give you both an extra layer of security."
Mu Yifeng greeted Qin Sang warmly and laughed heartily. "Having Junior Brother Qin along is wonderful! I was just worried I couldn't keep those little brats in line! Senior Brother Qi must have told you, right? Gathering Qianyang quartz requires sneaking into a cloud beast nest—we can't be careless in the slightest. If those fellows cause a commotion and alert the cloud beasts, not only will we fail the mission, but we'll lose our lives in the process."
Qin Sang replied, "I know very little about the Ancient Immortal Battlefield. I hope Senior Brother Mu will share his guidance along the way, and I will gladly follow your instructions."
At the same time, Qin Sang recalled the details Qi Yuanshou had shared just moments ago.
Qianyang quartz was a precious spirit ore containing Qianyang qi, an essential material for refining magic tools imbued with extreme Yang power. Such spirit ore had become exceedingly rare in the Lesser Cold Domain; only scattered veins still existed within the Ancient Immortal Battlefield.
However, the spirit mineral veins in the Ancient Immortal Battlefield were infested with cloud beasts, making them far from easy to mine.
Not only was this vein of Qianyang quartz buried deep underground, but directly above it lay a massive cloud beast nest harboring hundreds of thousands of cloud beasts. Vicious and overwhelmingly numerous, they were formidable enough that even Core Formation stage cultivators had to give them a wide berth. Mining the ore beneath the nest on a grand scale was impossible, leaving cultivators capable of doing nothing but sighing in frustration.
Surprisingly, however, this Qianyang quartz could "grow" outward on its own.
Such occurrences were not uncommon in the Ancient Immortal Battlefield. When spirit materials or herbs buried deep underground were tainted by cloud beast spirit essence, they would slowly drift up toward the surface during the process of shaping.
Before a cloud beast fully took shape, the spirit material or herb and the cloud beast spirit essence had not yet merged into one. Once captured, methods existed to cleanse the spirit essence and restore the item to its original state. As long as the damage was not too severe, it could still be used for forging artifacts or brewing pills.
Later, Xuanlu Pass discovered a concealed route capable of evading the cloud beasts' perception, allowing cultivators to slip covertly into the mineral vein. Every so often, the pass dispatched Shadow Guards to harvest it, reaping considerable rewards each time.
The reason ten Shadow Guards were deployed at once was that the vein produced not only Qianyang quartz, but potentially Qianyang crystal as well!
Qianyang crystal could be used to refine magic treasures!
Chapter 202