Wu Qi, who understood the future course of the continent, knew very well that the tournament after next would never be held.
In the coming years, Bibi Dong's strength would steadily increase. She would gradually take control of more authority within Spirit Hall and eventually launch a continental war.
Eight years later, as undercurrents stirred across the continent, the two great empires and Spirit Hall would tacitly agree not to hold the Spirit Master Tournament in order to ensure the safety of the participants.
If he could not participate in the next tournament as a main team member, would he simply watch Tang San take the championship and allow Tang Hao to shatter Spirit Hall's long-standing prestige?
For now, Wu Qi did not oppose Azure Luan Douluo's arrangements.
One must take things step by step. There was no use rushing.
The most urgent matter was completing the Death Canyon training mission.
Early the next morning, he and Chang Kong went to the Spirit Hall Mission Pavilion.
Within Spirit Hall, most staff members received assignments directly from their superiors.
However, during free time, they could also take missions from the Mission Pavilion to earn merit and exchange it for cultivation resources.
Most missions available there were long-term exploration or investigation tasks. Time-sensitive missions were rarely posted.
Training missions were also drawn there.
Hu Liena had described it clearly in her letter. Death Canyon training missions were divided into several types: survival, escort, target elimination, and others.
The simplest was the survival mission.
With sufficient food and supplies, one could simply find a remote place and endure until the time limit expired.
She had provided detailed explanations of the other mission types as well.
Wu Qi believed the escort mission was the most difficult.
The escort route was fixed, and the dangers encountered along the way were unpredictable. If the goods were seized, they would have to be recovered and delivered to the designated location.
Compared to the other types, escort missions were extremely troublesome. Wu Qi could only hope to avoid drawing one.
The Worship Hall had given prior notice. When Wu Qi and Chang Kong arrived at the Mission Pavilion, someone immediately led them to a private room.
A staff member handed them a lot box. "Please draw your mission type. After that, we will determine your specific mission based on the type drawn."
The difficulty of missions for a Spirit Elder and a Spirit Grandmaster was not the same. Even if they were training together, they had to draw separate missions.
Wu Qi drew first.
The lot box was shielded against spiritual power detection. What one drew depended entirely on luck.
Moreover, there were no words on the lots. After drawing, the shape would be interpreted by a staff member according to a reference chart.
Wu Qi drew a short stick. Without seeing the chart, he had no idea what it represented.
Chang Kong then drew a slender, long stick.
The staff member smiled at Wu Qi. "Your luck is quite good."
Looking at Chang Kong, he shook his head helplessly. "Best of luck to you."
After the interpretation chart was brought out, Wu Qi understood what he meant.
Wu Qi had drawn the simplest survival mission, while Chang Kong had drawn the second most difficult, collection.
The staff member added, "Most survival missions are simple, but some locations have extremely high mortality rates. Collection missions may seem difficult, but some are actually easy to complete."
In short, the specific mission drawn next would determine the true difficulty.
One minute later, Wu Qi drew: "Survive for one month at any location."
There were many dangerous areas in Death Canyon. Being allowed to survive at any location was undoubtedly the easiest mission.
Chang Kong, however, was exceptionally unlucky. His collection mission required collecting badges.
Death Canyon was the place where Spirit Hall exiled criminals. Criminals of different strengths wore badges of corresponding ranks.
Spirit Grandmaster wore white badges. Above that, the colors progressed to yellow, purple, black, and red, up to the rank corresponding to Spirit Emperors.
Chang Kong was required to collect one hundred white badges, which meant he had to kill one hundred Spirit Grandmasters.
After leaving the Mission Pavilion, Chang Kong slumped, looking utterly drained. "Brother Wu, what am I supposed to do?"
There were only a few hundred people in Death Canyon. Leaving aside whether there were even one hundred Spirit Grandmasters, killing that many at once would certainly draw the attention of stronger Spirit Masters and trigger pursuit.
"If your luck is good enough, one purple badge would be sufficient."
One purple badge equaled ten yellow badges or one hundred white badges.
But a purple badge corresponded to a Spirit Ancestor. How could that be easy to handle?
Wu Qi was only a low-level Spirit Elder, and with QChang Kong as a Spirit Grandmaster, dealing with a Spirit Ancestor would be extremely difficult.
Chang Kong looked miserable. "How could I possibly defeat a Spirit Ancestor? Even against a Spirit Elder, I'd struggle."
Wu Qi frowned slightly. "The mission doesn't state that you can't receive assistance."
If they lowered their target to hunting Spirit Elders instead, the two of them working together would stand a strong chance.
Hearing this, Chang Kong relaxed somewhat.
After a pause, he could not help complaining, "My collection mission is even harder than an assassination mission. I really don't understand why Grandfather and the others made the mission system so complicated."
In the earliest days of Death Canyon, there was only a fixed training period. There were no complicated mission types, and luck was not a factor.
Wu Qi understood the reasoning behind it. "The ability to adapt is a required lesson for every powerful Spirit Master. Different mission types may seem to vary in difficulty, but they are all tests in themselves."
"Perhaps Master and the others want to use this system to temper everyone's response strategies when facing different situations."
"Let's go. We'll prepare our supplies tonight and depart later."
Hu Liena had mentioned in her letter that entering Death Canyon during the day made it easy to be spotted by the criminals inside, which would quickly lead to pursuit.
The golden badge carried by trainees was, to those criminals, a ladder to freedom.
Entering at night, however, meant fewer people would notice them due to the darkness.
That night, under the escort of Glowing Feather Douluo, the two of them entered Death Canyon.
From above, the entire canyon resembled a vast basin carved into the earth. Powerful Spirit Hall experts guarded the surrounding cliffs, preventing any possibility of escape.
The golden badges in their hands were the only proof that allowed them to leave.
If they lost them, they would truly become criminals trapped inside.
Before setting out, Wu Qi had made guesses about the canyon's conditions. But standing inside it himself, he realized his earlier assumptions were completely wrong.
First, the population in Death Canyon was not small. Many criminals exiled here had married and had children.
Because there were no Spirit Beasts inside the canyon, there were quite a few Spirit Masters whose spirit power had reached level ten but who had no Spirit Ring.
"It seems identifying criminals who actually have badges will be quite a task," Wu Qi said quietly.
Even if the descendants of criminals born here acquire spirit rings and advance to higher levels, they will have no badges, making their deaths pointless.