Chapter 110: A New Mission

Seeing the atmosphere had become a bit tense, the Old Lady stopped pretending to nap, opened her eyes, and looked at the group.

She seemed to want to ease the mood and spoke.

“Alright, since you’ve all discussed and reached an agreement, let’s end this topic here.”

She turned to Ling Xiaoyou and the others.

“I don’t have much more intel. What I told you earlier is almost everything I know.”

“What’s left are just some routes and channels discovered for Devil transporting Spirit, and the cities where sightings of Devils have been reported.”

“But I’ve already handed all these materials to the Regulatory Division.”

She paused, as if thinking about something, then looked at the three again.

“But I can give you a copy of these materials too. After all, we agreed to share everything I knew.”

“I hope you can find some different clues from them.”

The three left the Old Lady’s small shop.

Well, actually, they were kicked out by her.

According to the Old Lady, at her age, staying up late with youngsters was already tiring—after finishing her part, shouldn’t she be allowed to go back and get some healthy sleep?

At that moment, the three, plus Lin, couldn’t argue and just awkwardly left the shop.

Although Ling Xiaoyou felt that for a powerful cultivator like the Old Lady, sleep was basically unnecessary, and even her elderly appearance was probably something she deliberately maintained.

Still, she wisely kept these thoughts to herself.

By the way, it seemed Lin had mastered Space Transmission.

At least, when leaving the shop, Ling Xiaoyou saw Lin’s figure blur and then vanish completely.

After that, the three found themselves back in that quiet, dim alley.

Even though the sun had already risen, the surrounding buildings blocked all sunlight from reaching here.

She had to admit, this kind of place was perfect for a Ghost in the Mortal World like Ling Xiaoyou to live.

She decided that if she ever bought property in the Human Realm, she’d have to choose a spot the sunlight couldn’t reach.

Although her current cultivation wasn’t affected by sunlight, being exposed still made her feel psychologically uncomfortable.

Walking down the deserted street, Ling Xiaoyou looked at the map the Old Lady had given them.

On it, several winding routes were marked with red lines, and many cities were circled in red.

“These routes and cities where Devils were found don’t seem to be connected at all.”

Su Lihua walked beside Ling Xiaoyou, holding a parasol, thinking aloud.

“Yeah, it feels like the Devils had no planned route—like they just went wherever they wanted.”

Ling Xiaoyou turned the map upside down, then right side up, several times, but still couldn’t find any clues.

She thought for a moment, then traced the routes on the map with her finger, trying to see if there were any similarities.

When she reached the sixth line, she stopped.

Her delicate brows furrowed slightly.

She looked at the others.

“Look, most of these routes head north. Could it be related to some city in the north?”

“Like maybe there’s a city up north that’s actually their base?”

“Or maybe something is about to happen up north, and the Devils want to get involved?”

Su Lihua glanced at the map in Ling Xiaoyou’s hand but soon felt dizzy and quickly shook her head.

“Maybe.”

“The north…”

Bai Shuanglian thought for a moment, as if recalling something.

“Then the most famous event about to start would be the Xuantian Martial Tournament.”

“I think so too.”

Ling Xiaoyou nodded in agreement, then suddenly froze as if she saw something.

“Xuantian Martial Tournament, huh? I’ve heard of it.”

Su Lihua recalled.

“I heard it’s a competition held only once in a long time, and many people participate.”

Bai Shuanglian nodded.

“I’ll be taking part in it as well. Maybe I can find some clues during the tournament.”

As she spoke, Bai Shuanglian noticed Ling Xiaoyou’s gaze drifting toward a certain spot in the air.

She called out curiously.

“Xiaoyou?”

“Ah, oh!”

Ling Xiaoyou snapped back to her senses, glanced at the System task that had suddenly appeared beside her, and quickly nodded.

“In that case, I’ll go with you!”

Bai Shuanglian was stunned.

She hadn’t expected Ling Xiaoyou to decide to join the Xuantian Martial Tournament too—and so suddenly.

“Ahem, I just thought your reasoning made sense, so I wanted to participate as well!”

Ling Xiaoyou seemed to sense what Bai Shuanglian was thinking and hurriedly explained, though her reasoning sounded shaky.

As she spoke, she subconsciously glanced at the System Panel beside her and looked at the task:

[Long-term Mission Part One] — Participate in the Xuantian Martial Tournament and achieve at least the top three in your division.

Mission reward: All Attributes +4, any three Magic Arts upgraded to Mastery, accelerated cultivation, 168-hour limit.

Although the System only issued a single mission, it was enough to make Ling Xiaoyou imagine many things.

She looked at Bai Shuanglian, and to change the subject—or maybe to share the information she’d connected—she spoke quickly.

“I think the Devils’ plot is definitely tied to the Xuantian Martial Tournament.”

“After all, of all times, they choose to act during the tournament.”

“And with the tournament in the north, and their routes all heading that way, there’s no way it’s just a coincidence.”

Ling Xiaoyou knew her theory was pure speculation with no evidence, but it was still a lead—one given by the System, no less.

No matter what, she had to share it.

“That’s possible.”

Bai Shuanglian nodded, agreeing with Ling Xiaoyou, but added.

“But the security at the Xuantian Martial Tournament should be extremely strong. Even if all the Devils in Eastern Radiance gathered, they couldn’t win.”

“But what about schemes and tricks?”

Ling Xiaoyou countered.

“You can guard against a thousand days of thieves, but not a thousand days against thieves.”

She paused, then continued.

“And the hidden force still hasn’t surfaced. No one knows if they’ll interfere in the tournament.”

Even so, Ling Xiaoyou had already made up her mind to participate in the Xuantian Martial Tournament.

Not just for the mission, but also to thwart these plots—for the sake of society, after all.

And maybe, deeper down, even if she herself didn’t realize it, Ling Xiaoyou wanted to prove to Bai Shuanglian that she was strong, too.