A Mortal's Journey to Immortality

"Senior Brother Xiao, there don't seem to be many people in this Council Hall."

Zhou Ping followed behind Xiao Huaichuan, looking around at everything with a puzzled expression.

"Junior Brother Zhou, you may not know this, but apart from the period when the disciples are recruited, the Hall of Affairs is only lively at the end of each month when all the fellow disciples come here to collect their sect merits. On other days, it is quite deserted."

Xiao Huaichuan led Zhou Ping to the center of the main hall and explained slowly and deliberately.

After Zhou Ping saw that the man stood quietly in the main hall for a moment, and then, after determining the direction, turned around and walked towards a large gate, Zhou Ping immediately followed.

"Junior Brother Zhou, this month's duty officer is Uncle Song. He's quite kind, so he might be able to help you choose a satisfactory task."

Xiao Huaichuan approached the door, spoke softly to Zhou Ping, straightened his clothes, and gently knocked on the door.

A moment later, the door creaked open, and a warm voice came from inside.

"Come in."

Xiao Huaichuan gestured to Zhou Ping with his eyes before stepping inside.

"Greetings, Senior Uncle Song. This disciple has brought the newly recruited disciple Zhou Ping here to receive the sect's mission."

Inside the room, behind a long table, a middle-aged man put down his talisman brush, slightly raised his head, and after recognizing the visitor, cleared his throat before speaking.

"Did Junior Brother Li send you?"

"Reporting back to Uncle Song, it was Uncle Li who instructed me to come and guide you."

Xiao Huaichuan raised his hand in a respectful bow and replied in a humble voice.

"In that case, take this disciple to the task book over there and let him choose one. There aren't many left anyway, so let him decide for himself."

Uncle Song glanced up and pointed to another table beside him. There, he saw thick volumes piled up, with only one lonely, open blue-covered white scroll in the middle.

"The disciples who joined a few years ago have already taken on most of the tasks. Now that they're joining at this crucial juncture, they have no choice in what tasks to take on."

Uncle Song picked up the gilded talisman brush on the table and examined the blank talisman paper again, while reminding the two of them.

"Disciple understands, thank you for your permission, Uncle-Master."

Upon hearing the other party's words, Xiao Huaichuan's face lit up with joy, and he gently nudged Zhou Ping with his arm, subtly signaling him.

"Disciple Zhou Ping thanks Uncle-Master for your permission."

Seeing this, Zhou Ping quickly followed suit and bowed to his Uncle Song.

Seeing that Uncle Song didn't even look up, but only nodded slightly, the two of them followed Xiao Huaichuan to the table on the side.

"Junior Brother Zhou, normally, all newly initiated disciples are assigned tasks arbitrarily by our senior uncle. What kind of task you get is entirely up to fate."

"This time, Uncle Song has given you special permission to choose for yourself. You are very fortunate. Even if there are few missions left, you still have some decision-making power. You must choose carefully."

Xiao Huaichuan whispered a reminder to Zhou Ping beside him, and then, under the latter's curious and grateful gaze, he opened the green-covered book.

"Take care of a Crimson Cloud Eagle, a late-stage first-tier spirit beast. You will be responsible for cleaning and feeding its spirit bird garden every day. This eagle is irritable and does not understand human nature. It is recommended that disciples in the late-stage Qi Refining stage take on this task."

"The sect's scouts are required to guard the sect's array eye year-round. This is a top-secret mission, and they must not leave the array eye even for a moment except when it is their turn to be on duty."

"Disciples borrowing books from Yangjing Hall must record the books borrowed by each disciple daily, categorizing them and registering them in a register."

"The mission to transport spiritual materials requires escorting spiritual materials and plants collected from various outposts outside the sect back to the sect. This mission requires two people to work together and is somewhat dangerous. There is currently one vacancy."

........

There were very few sect affairs left in the book, and Zhou Ping understood most of them at a glance. Although his Uncle-Master Song had given him special permission to choose, he frowned after reading it.

These tasks were obviously leftovers from the selection of new disciples a few years ago, and most of them did not satisfy Zhou Ping.

Take taking care of the Crimson Cloud Eagle for example. Although the task description was only a few words long, he could clearly feel the danger involved.

A first-tier late-stage spirit bird's cultivation level is equivalent to a cultivator in the late-stage Qi Refining stage. In addition, these demonic beasts are wild, untamed, cold-blooded, and violent, posing considerable risks in daily contact.

Zhou Ping's current cultivation level is only at the fourth level of Qi Refining. In front of this ferocious bird, he is like a chick. If this beast really loses control one day, he might become its meal. It is really quite dangerous.

Guarding the sect's grand formation and becoming a recorded disciple of the Scripture Cultivation Hall seem like good options, but upon closer examination, they seem inappropriate.

Given the prestige of the Azure Lotus Sect, no foolish outsider would dare to storm the mountain gate and seek their own death, but these two tasks take up too much repair time.

This single point was enough for Zhou Ping to reject it outright.

His current cultivation level is at the bottom of the Qinglian Xuanzong sect, and it is precisely the time when he needs to work hard to catch up. If he spends all his time on guard duty, it would be a waste of his time.

After much deliberation, Zhou Ping finally made up his mind and wrote his name after the Spirit Material Transfer Mission.

Seeing this, Xiao Huaichuan frowned slightly, but refrained from speaking up because of his Uncle Song.

"Uncle-Master Song, I have made my choice. Please take a look."

Zhou Ping presented the task booklet and respectfully addressed Uncle Song, who had been writing for a long time.

"Sigh... I didn't expect this Swiftness Talisman to be so difficult to create. Do I really lack the talent for talisman making?"

Uncle Song put down his talisman brush again, took the green scroll handed over by Zhou Ping, and muttered to himself.

Zhou Ping only dared to hand over the task booklet at this moment because he saw that the other party had not started drawing for a long time. If the other party was in the middle of drawing, he would never have dared to interrupt him.

"Oh? You chose the mission of transporting spiritual materials?"

Uncle Song glanced at the mission book, then suddenly raised an eyebrow and looked at Zhou Ping, seemingly somewhat surprised.

"Reporting to my master, this disciple has indeed chosen this mission."

Zhou Ping answered with his head down, not daring to meet his gaze. Xiao Huaichuan, who was standing to the side, also pursed his lips, seemingly very dissatisfied with his choice. However, considering that the two of them had only just met and had no prior relationship, he simply did not say anything to remind him.

As a cultivator, Zhou Ping was no longer an ignorant child. He had his reasons for making this choice. If he were to offer advice, it might offend the other party. It was better to avoid trouble.

"Are you aware of the danger of this mission? Other missions may seem tedious, but they are all ultimately carried out within the sect. The one you have chosen is different; it requires traveling back and forth across Liang Kingdom. The risks involved are naturally incomparable."

Uncle-Master Song tapped the blank talisman paper on the table lightly with his fingers, paused, and then spoke again.

Do you know why there's a vacancy for this task?

"Because the last disciple who took on this mission... has already died in the line of duty."