Chapter 414: Became the Team Leader

While Jiang Hao was waiting for Xiao Li and the others to arrive at the Bright Moon Sect, he received a sect mission.

This mission was different from the previous ones.

It involved clearing the Sea Fog Cave beside the mining site.

The cave produced poisonous mist, and their goal on this trip was to use magical artifacts to clear the mist.

The sect would provide talismans, pills, and tools to disperse the mist.

As long as they were careful, there wouldn’t be much danger.

What was unusual this time was that he, as someone who had achieved the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm, became the leader of this mission.

The only good thing about this mission was that they didn’t need to stay in the toxic mist for a long time.

Staying inside for too long would lead to poisoning that would affect their cultivation.

Therefore, they usually went during the day and returned at night.

They could come out whenever they completed the task.

After handing over the Spirit Herb Garden to Cheng Chou, Jiang Hao headed to the Law Enforcement Hall. On the way, he visited the Task Hall.

It was still the same Senior Sister from last time.

“Want new missions?” She smiled. “Let me check.”

After flipping through the mission book, she said, “There are relatively simple tracking missions. It’s to find out about a Foundation Establishment traitor and a Golden Core traitor.”

“There’s also a mission to recruit new disciples, plus a mission to eliminate traitors.”

She looked at Jiang Hao. “Junior Brother Jiang, you can accept them now. The weather outside is snovvy. It’s inconvenient to travel. We’ve also eased up on compensation. Just 1,200 spirit stones, which can be paid off within five years, with no additional interest. You earn fifty spirit stones per month, which is more than enough.”

Jiang Hao was speechless.

It sounded quite reasonable, but it wasn’t the right time to go out yet.

Each expedition had a time limit of three months.

It was already December, and they would have to pay the spirit stones before Xiao Li and the others even arrived.

“Maybe next time,” Jiang Hao said.

He left it hanging so that his refusal wouldn’t seem abrupt. “Are you really not taking even one mission?” the Senior Sister asked.

“No.” Jiang Hao shook his head.

These people were eager for others to accept the missions so that they could get spirit stones.

Anyone who returned alive from the missions would eventually have to pay off the debt.

They would even help introduce missions to put people at ease while doing their work and earning spirit stones.

Jiang Hao didn’t think about it further.

Because in a while, he would have to come back to deliver the spirit stones.

After more than a year, he had saved up to twelve thousand spirit stones.

Among them, he had given three thousand to Xiao Li and the others when they left, and he earned nine thousand over the past year.

With his current skill in making talismans, he couldn’t even earn a thousand in a month.

Mainly because the sect had entered a period of rest, so there were fewer people using talismans.

They weren’t selling well since there were many other talisman makers.

Although his quality was better, the difference in these talismans wasn’t significant.

And he couldn’t lower the price either. That would offend many people.

It was better to take the middle ground.

Jiang Hao headed to the location where they were supposed to gather.

He faintly heard people mentioning him.

“I heard that the Senior Brother from the Cliff of Broken Hearts is leading the team this time. He practices the Blood Wish Path. We need to be careful,” said a woman.

She was the only woman among the three people. She was Qiao Xiu from the Hundred Bones Forest and was in the middle stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm.

“What is the Blood Wish Path? I prefer Senior Brother Zheng Shijiu from the Ice

Moon Valley to lead the team. I heard he’s been at the peak of the Foundation

Establishment Realm for a long time and is on the verge of the Golden Core

Realm. If he leads, there shouldn’t be any issues.”

Jiang Hao could tell that the one speaking was Wu Shi from the Thunder Fire Peak and was at the late stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm. He was in his thirties.

“Senior Brother and Senior Sister, it’s almost time. Senior Brother Jiang might be arriving soon,” said the other person. He was an outer sect disciple from the Law Enforcement Hall, Ji Bian. He was at the ninth stage of the Lifeblood Refinement Realm.

He had exceptional talent.

Once they quieted down, Jiang Hao walked over to them.

He didn’t want them to worry that he might hold grudges against them. If that happened, it would affect subsequent missions.

Since he was leading, he wanted to complete the mission quickly and continue earning spirit stones.

The Immortal Peach Tree would undergo incarnation this year. The spirit stones he had saved weren’t enough.

He could only hope that he could sell everything he had on this trip.

He should be able to gather enough spirit stones.

When he arrived, the three greeted him. “Greetings, Senior Brother Jiang.” Jiang Hao nodded. “Have you received the items provided by the sect?”

“We did.” The three nodded.

“Let’s go,” Jiang Hao said.

Then, he flew up on his sword. However, he suddenly thought of something and snapped his fingers. Ji Bian flew along with him. He hadn’t reached the Foundation Establishment Realm yet.

Ji Bian bowed and thanked him.

This mission only had four people. It was one less than usual. Jiang Hao was fine with it.

More people meant more trouble.

This mission wasn’t difficult. They just needed to be careful.

They only had to push the toxic mist a few hundred meters away.

Then, they would have a safe period of three to six months before the mist returned, which would become the next sect mission.

Many places in the sect were like this, and disciples were responsible for handling them.

Places like Devil’s Dens, mining caves, and the Sea Fog Cave were common.

There were many more places like these.

After a short while, Jiang Hao arrived at a barren hillside near the mining site, which had been heavily excavated.

It is said that the Sea Fog Cave was accidentally uncovered during mining. After that, it required annual cleanups.

“Take an Antidote Pill and follow me in,” Jiang Hao said as he casually swallowed a pill.

He could see the toxic mist here, but it didn’t seem to affect him.

Qiao Xiu had her hair in pigtails. She followed behind Jiang Hao cautiously.

More than the toxic mist, she seemed more afraid of the person in front of her.

The other two kept watch on their surroundings.

Jiang Hao didn’t pay much attention to them. The toxic mist in the Sea Fog Cave was white, and it was easy to distinguish when encountering the poisonous mist from the normal mist.

“Although there aren’t many dangers here, there are still some formidable creatures within the toxic mist. They are said to be extremely fast, and once they catch you, you might not be able to return,” Jiang Hao said.

As the team leader, he didn’t want anything to happen to these people.

Qiao Xiu didn’t take it seriously. She had heard about these things, but she knew that the probability of encountering a dangerous creature was very low.

It wasn’t that terrifying.

She assumed that Jiang Hao was just trying to win them over so that he could use them for his Blood Wish Path.

Ji Bian and Wu Shi had similar thoughts. They didn’t consider the danger here to be that great.

If they stayed a little further away, they could easily avoid it. They could evade the dangers if they were quick enough.

They also had defensive spells, so they wouldn’t be caught off guard.

Jiang Hao was unaware of their thoughts. Even if he knew what they were thinking, he wouldn’t have cared much.

There was a chance that they would encounter such a creature. It was better to be cautious.

Soon, they encountered a white mist that was unusually dense. It was expanding outward like cumulus clouds.

It wasn’t spreading very fast, but it was still creepy because they didn’t know what was inside the mist.

“Let’s begin,” Jiang Hao said. Some lightning talismans shot out.

Boom!

The talismans exploded within and thinned the mist. At this point, Jiang Hao held a transparent gourd and activated his technique. The toxic mist was rapidly absorbed.

“It doesn’t feel too difficult indeed. The only issue is that the toxic mist can easily infiltrate the body and cause subtle changes with prolonged exposure.”

The others maintained their distance while using magical artifacts to absorb the toxic mist.

By evening, Jiang Hao was done with the mission and led the group away.

They couldn’t continue.

He could clearly see that if these people continued, their cultivation would decrease.

Leaving now was the best choice.

However, they seemed somewhat dissatisfied to leave so early. How long would it take to complete a mission like this?

But faced with someone who was at the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm, they dared not say anything..