Sage of Humanity

Leaving the Hunting Pavilion, Lu Ye flew straight towards his small courtyard. Landing in the courtyard, Yiyi and Lin Yinxiu were still building snowmen. Earlier, a snowball fight had left the previous snowmen shattered, and now there was a new batch.

Seeing Lu Ye return, the two girls exchanged a glance, feeling a tacit understanding, secretly rolling up snowballs.

"Stop playing, we have a mission," Lu Ye called out sternly.

Yiyi and Lin Yinxiu quickly stood up straight.

Xiao Xinghe also walked out of the room.

Lu Ye waved the jade slip in his hand: "This is our squad's first mission in the strictest sense, so we must do it well."

"Yes." Yiyi and Lin Yinxiu responded loudly in unison, and even Xiao Xinghe cupped his fist in agreement.

In private, he was the Third Senior Brother, but in this squad, Lu Ye was the captain, and he was clear about that.

"Let's go." Lu Ye called out, summoning his spirit ark.

Straight streams of light soared into the sky, quickly leaving Haotian City.

On the way, Lu Ye explained the detailed information of the mission. Lin Yinxiu and Xiao Xinghe listened quietly.

When Lu Ye finished speaking, Xiao Xinghe spoke: "Looking at it this way, the hardest part of this mission is still finding people. But if we have the help of local Nightingales, it shouldn't be a big problem."

Lu Ye thought the same, but to be safe, he still asked Lin Yinxiu, "What do you think?"

"What does the captain want me to think?" Lin Yinxiu innocently retorted, maintaining a principle ever since joining Lu Ye's squad: whatever the captain says to do, she would be the most obedient one.

"I'm asking you now."

Lin Yinxiu thought for a moment and said, "Finding the mission target may not be that simple."

"Why do you say that?"

"I heard Lord Department Chief mention before, tasks that seem simple like this are actually the ones that the Law Enforcement Hall squads are least willing to take. Because they spend a lot of time finding the mission target, some targets know they've committed a crime and naturally hide. Squads from the Law Enforcement Hall accepting such missions can't find the target's whereabouts over time and have to give up. So most times, these types of missions are assigned forcibly."

There's such a thing?

No wonder these seemingly simple tasks have stayed in the Hunting Pavilion. Lu Ye had thought it was because there wasn't much profit, but now it seems that's only part of the reason. The biggest reason is the difficulty in finding people.

It's understandable too, given the vastness of the Nine Provinces, even a single place like Bingzhou is expansive. If those cultivators who have committed crimes insist on hiding, it's indeed not easy to root them out.

Deploying a strong cultivator in the Divine Sea Realm to search with mental consciousness might be a good choice, but why would a Divine Sea Realm cultivator do such a simple thing? They have their important matters to attend to.

"Once we get there, how should I find the local Nightingales?" Lu Ye asked again.

"Captain can use the guard token. You now hold the position of captain in the Law Enforcement Hall of the Justice Department. Activate the guard token to send out a message; if there are Nightingales within thirty miles, they will come seeking you."

Lu Ye nodded slightly, finding it quite simple.

Flying all the way, Lu Ye considered going to Heaven's Augury treasure vault to find a larger flying spirit artifact, one that could at least carry six squad members. Just like Warlord Geng's squad, during travel, one member can steer while the others rest and cultivate, saving time.

Two days later, somewhere in Bingzhou, Lu Ye and his companions descended and looked around. Amidst the wild mountains, the vegetation was lush, and birds sang pleasantly.

The ten-part map showed this area as Gualiang Mountain, with no powerful sects nearby, only a few small families established here.

Lu Ye picked up the guard token from his waist, infused it with spirit force, and sent out a message, waiting quietly.

Soon, there was a response.

This meant that within thirty miles, there was indeed a Nightingale, which was quite lucky.

The Nightingale organization is extremely mysterious, and the list of Nightingales is only held by Qian Wudang. Apart from Qian Wudang, no one in the entire Justice Department knows the full list. This is primarily to protect the safety of the Nightingales and to hide their whereabouts.

After all, the Law Enforcement Hall mostly handles offending work, and the Nightingales gathering information in the shadows are equally hated and resented by many.

After waiting for an incense stick's time, Lu Ye suddenly turned his head to look in one direction, waved the guard token, and said, "Law Enforcement Hall's Lu Ye!"

From that direction, a figure slowly revealed itself, surprisingly a hundred feet away.

Xiao Xinghe and Lin Yinxiu were both stunned because neither of them had noticed this person's arrival, yet Lu Ye could sense it at the first moment. Just this sense alone left them in awe.

Judging by the appearance, the newcomer was a woman, and a Ghost Cultivator at that. Otherwise, she couldn't have approached within a hundred feet without being noticed by Lu Ye. She was petite and exquisite, wearing a mask that hid her true appearance.

Once she confirmed Lu Ye's identity, she swiftly advanced and cupped her fists, "Greetings, my lord!"

Lu Ye raised an eyebrow slightly. Since joining the Bingzhou guard, he had never been called "my lord." Being addressed this way for the first time was quite surprising.

From the spirit force fluctuations she displayed while approaching, it was apparent that her cultivation was only at Cloud River Level 6.

Someone with such cultivation not honing themselves at the Cloud River battlefield but becoming a Nightingale instead was evidently planning for their future, as Nightingales also receive monthly salaries. Moreover, if Lu Ye successfully completes this mission, she would also receive a share of the reward.

Battle merit is something everyone in the Nine Provinces cultivation world desires. Even among Cloud River Realm cultivators, some are diligent and others are far-sighted.

Lu Ye raised his hand, tossing the mission jade slip, "This is the target for this mission. Have you seen him recently?"

The Nightingale took the jade slip, checked it briefly, and said, "The last sighting of him was ten days ago, right here in Gualiang Mountain. After that, there's been no trace."

"Take us to the place where he last appeared," Lu Ye ordered.

"Yes!" Nightingale accepted the order and immediately dashed off in a certain direction.

The three-member squad followed closely behind.

An hour later, they arrived at a location deep within Gualiang Mountain. Only then did Nightingale halt and speak, "It's here. On that day, he encountered a monster here and fought with it. I saw it from afar."

The mission target was True Lake Level 3, while Nightingale was only Cloud River Level 6, so naturally, she didn't dare to get too close.

Ten days had passed, and any traces would have long vanished.

Lu Ye observed for a moment but found nothing, then spoke to Nightingale, "You may go. Be careful."

"Yes." Nightingale accepted the order and respectfully withdrew, soon disappearing from sight.

Her role was over in this matter.

"Shall we split up to search?" Xiao Xinghe asked.

Lu Ye nodded, "Contact me immediately if you discover anything." The target's cultivation wasn't very high; even if Xiao Xinghe encountered him alone, it wouldn't be a problem. Splitting up was naturally the most efficient.

Immediately, the three-member squad dispersed in three directions to begin searching.

Though Gualiang Mountain had no sect located here, quite a few independent cultivators resided within. As Lu Ye searched, he encountered some independent cultivators roaming the mountain.

Most were gathering herbs here to earn some meager cultivation resources.

Those independent cultivators who stayed here were generally those who didn't like being constrained or were cautious individuals. Otherwise, they could join the Bingzhou guard and not live so frugally here.

Lu Ye naturally wouldn't interfere in what others chose; everyone had their own goals, and it couldn't be forced. In the Nine Provinces cultivation world, the cultivation community was large, and all kinds of people existed.

Even those who committed wrongdoings knew the consequences of violating guard discipline, yet they still carried out wicked deeds. Even the strictest laws cannot restrain the complexity of human nature.

Though Lu Ye was at True Lake Realm, he had already developed Mental Consciousness. Under its spread, he could clearly sense any movements within a mile radius.

Therefore, his search efficiency was much greater than an average True Lake Realm cultivator. If the mission target appeared within a mile radius around him, there was no escaping detection.

Unfortunately, until nightfall, there was no gain.

As night descended, the three-member squad gathered again in one place.

Lu Ye realized the difficulty in this mission, just as Xiao Xinghe had said before. The task itself isn't hard; capturing a True Lake Level 3 cultivator is something any member of the squad can accomplish. The challenge lies in finding the person.

If the person can't be found, everything is a moot point.

This is the reason such missions aren't favored by Law Enforcement Hall squads and always have to be forcefully assigned.

However, the plump elder from the Hunting Pavilion was correct. If such tasks can't be accomplished, what greater endeavors can be expected? This is likely Qian Wudang's test.

This is the squad's first task in the strictest sense. If they return empty-handed, it would be disgraceful.

"Is it late? Shall we search tomorrow?" Xiao Xinghe suggested.

Other Law Enforcement Hall squads have six members, yet they only have three. This makes their search efficiency quite low.

"No need!" Lu Ye shook his head and took out an item from his storage space.

Xiao Xinghe looked closely and was slightly surprised, "This is...

"Tracking disc?" As someone close to Qian Wudang, Lin Yinxiu recognized the item in Lu Ye's hand at a glance and jubilantly remarked, "With this, finding someone is a breeze."

She then asked puzzled, "Captain, why didn't you use this earlier?"

You know nothing!

This item is worth thirty thousand battle merits.

For this task, it's unknown how many battle merits can be earned. Lu Ye initially thought to save where possible. But now it seems that wanting to save these thirty thousand battle merits means spending a lot of time to find the person, which is not worth it.

With the time saved from searching, he could do other things.

Despite the high cost, Lu Ye decided to use the tracking disc.

"It's quite wasteful," Xiao Xinghe remarked.

An exotic treasure like the tracking disc is so rare and desirable that he had only heard of it, never seen it in person.

Using it for a task targeting merely a True Lake Level 3 cultivator seems wasteful.

If this item were to be sold, no matter who it's sold to, it would fetch a substantial price.

"No worries."

While the tracking disc might be incredibly rare to others, to him, it's merely worth thirty thousand battle merits. As long as there are sufficient battle merits, it can be exchanged at the Hall of Battle Merits without issue.