"Although I came to assign you the mission, I haven't even seen Master's face yet."
"I've only got a rough grasp of the situation."
Li Yingling spoke as she retrieved a remarkably refined yet plain longsword in its scabbard from her spatial ring and tossed it to Lin Luoyu.
Lin Luoyu instinctively reached out to catch it.
The moment it touched her hand, a feeling of perfect resonance flowed through the scabbard straight into her heart, leaving her slightly startled with just a single grip.
It was an unclaimed top-grade Spirit Treasure longsword, and the aura of its sword spirit suited her perfectly.
Sometimes the sharpest blade in the world could not compare to that sense of resonance the moment you held it in your hand.
Li Yingling watched Lin Luoyu's reluctance to put the sword down and nodded gently before speaking.
"Master knows you've reached the Golden Core stage, so he had someone deliver this top-grade Spirit Treasure specially."
"It may look a bit plain, but its grade and material are absolutely top-tier. Master must have been preparing it for you for a long time — it should suit you well, right?"
"'Suit me well' is far too mild," Lin Luoyu said, gripping the sword tightly.
"I love this sword. Thank you, Eldest Sister."
"Save your thanks for Master," Li Yingling said, her smile warm.
"I'm just the one who brought it to you. Hurry up and let the Spirit Treasure acknowledge you as its master."
Her smile lingered, but noticing a certain someone's envious and inquiring gaze, she glanced over at Cui Hao.
Cui Hao's eyes were full of envy, his face brimming with anticipation.
His expression seemed to be asking — do I get one too?
Li Yingling spread both hands helplessly.
"The Spirit Treasures Master prepares are only given out when a disciple reaches the Golden Core stage. That's how it was for me, and for your Second Senior Brother and Third Senior Sister as well."
"Once you reach the Golden Core stage, you should get one too."
"Besides, I can tell Master is quite fond of you. Who knows — when you reach the Golden Core stage, he might just send you a super top-grade Spirit Treasure."
Cui Hao nodded emphatically in agreement.
"Of course, Eldest Sister's analysis is absolutely sound."
"The day I break through to the Golden Core stage will be the day a top-grade Spirit Treasure falls into my hands."
Lin Luoyu's process of claiming the Spirit Treasure went incredibly smoothly.
It was as if a simple inquiry was all it took, and the gentleman's longsword clung to her of its own accord.
She asked, "Eldest Sister, what is the mission Master has assigned us?"
Li Yingling nodded gently.
"Master deliberately flushed out a target some time ago. The target is now badly wounded and in hiding, with barely a tenth of their usable cultivation left."
"However, Master has already locked onto them. Master still has cleanup work to handle, so he wants you two to make contact with the target and see if you can extract some useful intelligence."
"It's not terribly dangerous — I was going to do it myself, but I've made something of a name for myself in the Eastern Victorious Divine Continent. My reputation has grown too large."
Cui Hao nodded with a face full of certainty.
"True. With Eldest Sister's reputation, you'd only need to let a whisper slip out, and the target would probably flee at the news."
Li Yingling nodded in great satisfaction.
Her fifth junior brother might have moments where his brain short-circuited, but at least he could speak like a normal person when it counted.
Lin Luoyu looked at Cui Hao's earnest flattery and was somewhat at a loss for words.
Li Yingling pulled an envelope from her spatial ring, glanced at Cui Hao and Lin Luoyu, and ultimately handed it to Lin Luoyu.
"Inside are ways to contact me and Master. Small problems, come to me. Big problems, go to Master."
"If you ever need a hand with trivial matters, you can also come find me."
Lin Luoyu accepted the envelope, nodding, but with some hesitation she said:
"But this kind of work feels like being an undercover agent... I have no experience, and I'm not very good at lying."
Li Yingling said nothing, only signaling Lin Luoyu to glance at the talent standing beside her.
"Oh come on, Fourth Senior Sister," Cui Hao said, lightly tossing his hair.
"Talking is my job. The doing part is yours."
"With that blinding righteous aura of yours, all you have to do is stand there. Even if I don't say a word, the other side will already believe a third of whatever comes next."
Li Yingling looked at her unchanged fifth junior brother and felt a touch of warmth in her heart.
Although they hadn't seen each other in some time, everyone was still the same as they'd been at the start.
But if she left this matter to Cui Hao's devices, no one could predict how things would turn out.
Her fourth junior sister was, after all, more reliable when it came to getting things done. Sometimes steadiness was the true key to handling matters.
She quickly spoke up.
"The specific arrangements for the operation will still be handled by Fourth Junior Sister."
"Fifth Junior Brother, you just behave yourself and play support. Don't go exercising too much of your own initiative."
Cui Hao nodded heavily at her words.
"Of course. But Eldest Sister — was what you said true, about being able to come to you with small problems?"
Li Yingling nodded, suspicious and cautious, not quite understanding what kind of stunt Cui Hao was about to pull now.
A fawning smile crept onto Cui Hao's face.
"Cough, cough. This operation will inevitably have some expenses."
"But Fifth Junior Brother and Fourth Senior Sister usually stay in the sect, so we don't have any spirit stones on us..."
"How about Eldest Sister front us a little? You can submit the expense to Master later for reimbursement?"
Li Yingling smiled and shook her head, but her net worth was vastly different from before.
She decisively tossed a spatial ring full of spirit stones to Cui Hao, and at the same time began her instructions.
"This is your first time out handling sect business, so Eldest Sister is going to pass on our sect's ultimate operating principle."
"Anyone who violates it faces dire consequences — though Master's pills will absolutely keep you well-supplied."
Both Cui Hao and Lin Luoyu's expressions grew serious at her words.
"The mission may fail, but you must come back safe and sound."
Li Yingling smiled and patted both of them on the shoulders, then turned to walk out the door.
She had her own tasks to handle. As for the gift for Master, it was still best to deliver it personally — otherwise she would have mailed it back long ago.
————————
"Winter Melon... just throw me away. I'm only a burden now."
On a rugged mountain path, Winter Melon was covered in blood from head to toe.
The bones of her right hand were already exposed, and crimson blood qi was still writhing within, gradually devouring the flesh of her right arm.
Yet her left hand still used vines to drag a young man who was nearly missing half his body along the path.
The young man noticed that his already half-missing buttocks had been scraped again by a sharp stone — though his half-ruined body could still easily withstand such scratching damage.
It was just that this felt far too much like being paraded through the streets for public humiliation.
The young man understood his own injuries. Without high-level treatment, the strange blood force within him would be enough to slowly melt him into a pool of blood.
But that wasn't the truly terrifying part.
The young man spoke in a hoarse voice.
"You should understand — they let us escape on purpose. My injuries were deliberately inflicted."
"Badly wounded, but not easily killed. The purpose is unknown, but it's definitely not anything good."
"Since something happened on my end, Corn probably couldn't have survived either. We can't go there anymore. The forces here have been almost entirely depleted this time."
"You should abandon me, take whatever you can carry, and get out of here. Plan to come back later."
"You also need to figure out what kind of faction this is — whether the Dark Crow Bishop is here. You have intelligence, you have many things to do."
"With me in tow, you won't be able to leave either."
"I've lived long enough. I'm tired. The scenery here looks decent — dying here wouldn't be a loss."
Winter Melon stopped at his words and turned to look at the half-bodied young man.
"I'll throw you away when it's time to throw you away. If I haven't, then you still have some use."
"To be honest, I've always hated you. So shut up. You're interrupting my thoughts."
The young man slowly nodded at her words.
"Hating me... is enough."
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