"Good heavens, are girls this gossipy too?
I just said hello, and they're already teasing me about having a thing going on.
If I stayed to have dinner with them, wouldn't they be teasing me about being an engaged fiancée?
Time to slip away.
Right now, the entire Kumu Temple is already packed.
All the fellow cultivators from various sects have basically arrived.
Plus, the higher-ups of the Dao Alliance already know about the three great formations within Black Demon Canyon.
Their deployment should just be a matter of time.
By this time, the sky had gradually darkened.
I wandered around the hill, sightseeing.
As it turned out, I ran into quite a few familiar faces: Kongming, a Shaolin disciple; Zhang Zhi, the senior disciple of the Kongtong Sect; Nan Yang, the chief disciple of Maoshan; Zhao Ke from Canglan Temple, and Gu Qian Yue, whom I had met not too long ago, among others.
Although I met most of them at the alliance gathering,
and they were my opponents who had been defeated by me.
Still, everyone was quite friendly upon this reunion.
Kongming, that fair-faced monk, even came up to chat with me for a while, even asking me a few questions about Zen philosophy.
I didn't know the answers, so I shared my understanding in my own way.
Unexpectedly, Kongming said that my comprehension of Buddhism was exceptionally high, and that he wanted to have a private discussion with me after the crusade against the demonic cult.
This left me speechless.
You, a rising star in Buddhism, hailed as a new Buddhist prodigy of this era, want to seek guidance from me, a Daoist? This is quite preposterous.
But Kongming was so serious, I had no choice.
I continued to wander in the mountains, venturing deeper in.
It wasn't until around ten o'clock that my phone rang.
Picking it up, I saw it was Old Mo.
He had gone out wandering for the day and had now returned.
I answered the call:
"Hello!"
"Old Qin, where are you? I couldn't get through to your phone?"
"Oh, I was out on the mountain enjoying the breeze. The signal might have been bad just now. What's up?"
"Holy cow, you don't know yet! They've started assigning missions, and you're still on the mountain?"
"..."
Hearing this, I was taken aback and quickly asked for details.
Old Mo then explained to me that starting at 8:30 tonight, the Dao Alliance would begin assigning missions.
This applied to all sects.
I had spent the day cultivating in my tent, and now I was alone in the mountains. I knew absolutely nothing about this.
After hearing his words, I hurried down to the temple.
At this moment, many people were gathered in small groups,
discussing amongst themselves.
Just then, a young man rushed up to several men and women, saying happily;
"Junior brothers and sisters, we've got our assignments. Our Little Cang Temple has been assigned to the northern route."
After saying this, he unfurled a piece of paper that looked like a map.
Around him, everyone else was doing the same.
"We're on the western route!"
"Wow, I heard there are a lot of corpse demons on the western route?"
"Our Xiangxi Yunshan Sect fears corpse demons the least! We'll kill as many as they send."
"We're on the eastern route. This route seems to be densely populated with monsters."
"Oh, those monsters on the eastern route aren't naturally cultivated. They are merely demonic beasts cultivated by the demonic cult through secret methods, so they aren't that formidable."
"I heard the northern route is mostly inhabited by malevolent spirits, with countless ferocious ghosts."
"..."
As I made my way down, I overheard the discussions.
Although I hadn't received my assignment yet, I had a general understanding of the situation from their conversations.
This offensive against the demonic cult was divided into three routes.
The north, west, and east routes would converge on Black Demon Canyon.
The western route would be dominated by corpse fiends, with obstacles such as corpse monsters, walking corpses, and zombies blocking the path.
The eastern route would be dominated by demonic fiends, with all sorts of monsters, but mainly bloodthirsty creatures cultivated by the demonic cult through secret methods, forbidden spells, and demonic beasts.
The northern route was the path of ferocious ghosts, where various malevolent spirits and resentful souls gathered.
Every route would be difficult.
Every route would have its unique characteristics.
And the higher-ups of the Dao Alliance, based on the characteristics of these three routes, had divided the assembled Daoists into three teams.
The three teams would combine their forces and advance together towards Black Demon Canyon to eliminate the demonic cult.
After a short while, I arrived at the plaza outside the main hall.
Many fellow cultivators were there to collect their assignments.
Old Mo had been waiting for me for a long time, and I spotted him from a distance.
"Old Mo!"
I called out and walked over.
"Hurry up, Old Qin! The Alliance Leader and Master are waiting to see us!"
Hearing Old Mo speak, I was momentarily stunned.
"Why? Aren't we supposed to be getting our assignments? Why do we have to see the Alliance Leader?"
"Who knows? Master sent me the message, and I've been waiting for you!"
Old Mo said anxiously.
I glanced around:
"Where's Xiao Yao? Is she with us?"
Old Mo shook his head:
"Master said Xiao Yao isn't with us. She went to collect her assignment over there by herself."
He then pointed to a side courtyard.
Many people were coming and going from that direction.
Although I didn't know my uncle's arrangements, there must be a reason for them.
I nodded:
"Alright, let's go!"
Old Mo didn't waste any more words and led me directly into the main hall.
Upon reaching the entrance of the main hall, the guard, Daoist Qingshi, recognized us. Seeing it was Old Mo, he directly said:
"You two are the last ones. Hurry inside!"
Judging by Daoist Qingshi's expression, he seemed quite eager.
Old Mo and I cupped our fists, then quickened our pace.
Shortly thereafter, the two of us entered the main hall.
Entering the hall again, I found quite a few people gathered there.
Besides the Alliance Leader in the main seat, there were the sect leaders from various sects seated on either side, and some elder masters.
My uncle was also among them.
But besides them, in the central hall, there were also many outstanding figures from the younger generation.
A quick glance revealed them to be elites from various sects.
For example, Nan Yang from Maoshan, Zhang Zhi from Kongtong, and Kongming from Shaolin, whom I had met earlier.
There was also Wu Kehang, the chief disciple of Qingcheng Sect, Wang Qi, the chief disciple of Longhu Mountain, Zheng Yue, the senior disciple of Emei, and Li Chunlong, the chief disciple of Wudang, among others.
The chief disciples of all seven major sects were present, as well as disciples from some influential families, minor sects, and lone cultivators.
Huang Jie from the Southern Huang family, the lone cultivator Liao Wei, Li Cong from Little Yue Temple, and others.
These were all members of the younger generation who had shone brilliantly at the alliance gathering.
In addition, there were Gu Qian Yue, whom I knew, the Meng brothers, Meng You and Meng Fang, the Yun brothers, Yun Long and Yun Hu, from Bai Niu Mountain, and so on.
All in all, about forty people had gathered.
I recognized more than half of them with a single glance.
Even those I didn't know, I had seen at the alliance gathering. Only a very small number were completely new to me.
As soon as Old Mo and I arrived, Wang Qi, the chief disciple of Longhu Mountain, gave us a dismissive glance.
"Quite the face you have, making us wait so long!"
Old Mo and I glanced at him but didn't respond.
We simply stepped forward, cupped our fists, and said to the Alliance Leader and the elders:
"Junior disciples Qin Ze (Mo Ting) pay respects to the Alliance Leader and the esteemed elders."
The Alliance Leader, seated at the head, nodded slightly:
"Alright, now that all forty-seven are present, it's time we get down to business."
My expression changed slightly. Forty-seven people.
They were specifically talking to us forty-seven, all of whom were elites from various sects and outstanding figures of the younger generation in the Daoist world.
What was this about?
And it was happening at the time of mission assignments.
Could it be that the higher-ups intended to assign us these individuals specific missions?
Or perhaps, they planned to form a separate team comprised of us younger generation to launch a surprise attack on the demonic cult?"