A month had passed since he had last seen Zhao Xieren and it was time for their group to go on their first expedition. He had learned how to fight properly two weeks ago with Elder Wu during his lecture and started sparring with Chen Ya and Wu Jing to get some more experience. Now, they planned to re-group and have a quick briefing of the mission before they depart from the sect tomorrow. 

“Alright, it looks like everybody is here,” Zhao Xieren said as she smiled. Compared to before, she looked a lot more energetic and confident. Seeing her radiant smile, Qian Yu felt happy that she was doing better than before. 

She continued, “First our mission this time, we are to escort a merchant from Yellow River City to Northern Star City. The client has hired some bodyguards already but he still asked the sect for additional guards. We will leave tomorrow and it’ll take us a day to reach Yellow River city.”

Hearing this, most of the disciples started smiling. They had originally thought it was something like taking care of a bandit group or something and had started making mental preparations already to prepare for a fight. Now, they only just needed to protect a merchant and there were even bodyguards already!

Of course, Qian Yu was naturally more cautious than the others and thought that it wasn’t so simple. Normally, a merchant could simply hire a group of peak body refinement warriors and that’ll be enough to dissuade normal bandits from attacking them. Unless he was going to transport some extremely valuable stuff, there was no need for them to go the extra mile. 

However, knowing this, he couldn’t do anything about it besides trust in his comrades and Zhao Xieren’s qi gathering cultivation base. There was only one thing he needed to do and it was to go talk with Bai Jia and ask for some medicine and advice. 

Qian Yu soon reached the medical hall, and Gu Zan, realizing it wasn’t Qian Yu’s work day, asked, “Yo Bro, what’s up today?”

“I’m going to be taking a mission tomorrow and it’ll take about a week,” Qian Yu said. He then remembered that Gu Zan was originally from Yellow River City and told him about the mission.

“Hmm, escort mission, it shouldn’t be that bad. However, if you get some time to stay in the city you should visit a few of these places,” he said as he started writing down some places. Naturally, it was his home town and he had some pride growing up in one of the major cities in the country.

“Alright here you go” Gu Zan grinned mischievously as he had handed Qian Yu the paper.

Qian Yu took the paper and read it as he walked up to the second floor. Gu Zan had written down many places but he didn’t tell him much about what they were. Besides the obvious one like “Yellow Star Auction House” or “Tiger’s Den” where he had eaten before, he was clueless about the others like the “Red House” or “Paradise”.

Qian Yu soon entered Bai Jia’s office but she asked him to wait as she was making some pills. He didn’t mind as he had some books in his bag and started reading them. A few minutes later she finished, “Did something happen?”

“Mm yea, I have an escort mission but I don’t know if it's risky or not…” Qian Yu continued explaining and put forward his thoughts.

“Yea, escort missions are pretty rare and it’s not normal for a merchant to need so many bodyguards unless he’s transporting something extremely valuable. He also has so many guards it looks excessive and stands out too much as well…”  she pointed out.

“Alright, let me go get something,” she proceeded to go into her bedroom to look for something. ‘It’s a shame I didn’t bring any mortal grade artifacts with me. Without any qi, he can’t use earth or higher graded artifacts, or even a simple talisman…’ she sighed.

“I have some recovery pills right here, only use them for yourself” she brought out a couple of small bottles each with 3 pills in it.

Qian Yu had gone to the pill shop before and saw that the cheapest bottle of pills were around 10 sect points already. Knowing Bai Jia’s character, these pills could also be of higher quality than those and he felt his heart move. She was so beautiful, nice, and caring, someone that he knew he wouldn’t mind spending the rest of his life with. Still, it was a fleeting dream and he joked, “Thank you sister Bai, I’ll make sure to work over time when I come back.”

“Alright, remember your promise. You better come back in one piece,” she giggled as the previously tense atmosphere was dispersed. “You should go get some plants and herbs and bring them with you in case anyone gets injured,” she added.

“Ok thanks,” Qian Yu said as he left. After grabbing a couple boxes of herbs he said goodbye to Gu Zan and left to prepare for the journey tomorrow.

He went to the weapon and armor shop in the mission center and bought himself a new sword. He had previously borrowed Chen Ya’s or Wu Jing’s sword when practicing with them, so he decided to finally buy a new one. He took a look at the other weapons in the shop. He hadn’t had the chance to practice with the other weapons and made a mental note to try out the other weapons before choosing the right fit for him. 

When he got home, he put the herb boxes, two small books, a small first aid kit, and some rations into his bag before falling asleep.

The next day, the group met up at the entrance of the inner court and started their journey to Yellow River City, which was located to the east of the Ice Arts Sect. Northern Star City on the other hand, was located 300 miles north of Yellow River City and it would take about 4 days for the goods to travel in between.

Everyone was pretty excited about it and treated it like a vacation. Other than Chen Ya who had already visited the city with her parents before, none of the others had visited such a large city before. Naturally, Qian Yu was excited as well. The outer territory of the Ice Arts Sect was already an eye opener for him but it was small compared to a city with millions of citizens.

While on the way, they stopped at a small village on the way, and the disciples had a blast as they ate the nostalgic food that they all missed. It was a quiet and peaceful journey to Yellow River City and by the time they reached Yellow Star City, it was already almost nighttime. It was a large city and from afar, the glowing lights were illuminating. A large river, called the Yellow River, ran through the city and originally, it was a settlement that grew from the river. Over time, it only grew bigger. 

Entering the city, Qian Yu immediately noticed it was a lot cleaner and livelier than the outer territory of the sect. The roads were well furnished and most people had on extravagant and clean robes or clothes. Unfortunately, they didn’t have time to explore as Zhao Xieren had gone to contact the merchant and they agreed to depart tomorrow morning. 

Heading to a random restaurant, everyone ate before heading back to their inn to sleep. Of course, they didn’t travel that far but Qian Yu saw the busy city life and felt a novel experience.

In a room of a nearby inn, a man asked, “Boss, what’s the plan? The merchant hired some disciples from the Ice Sect Arts.”

The other man silently thought and said, “Plan B, go inform that guy, if we fail to get it for Young Master, we’ll be doomed anyways.”