Chapter 4223 — Preparing to Set Out

Beyond posting trial missions, the Law Enforcement Hall also provided the relevant clues and intelligence. For Wu Baoliang, the most recent sighting had been in the Weihu Sea Region.

"One to two people per mission—that suits us perfectly." Wei Zhao nodded. He was inclined to take this mission. After all, Lu Bianren had treated him well back then, and now that the opportunity had come, whether or not he could ultimately find Lu Bianren, he at least had to give it a try.

When he mentioned it to Huang Xiaotao beside him, she naturally had no objection. As long as she could go along with Wei Zhao, she let him decide everything else; what the trial mission actually entailed was, in truth, of no concern to her.

Wei Zhao nodded, and without further hesitation led Huang Xiaotao straight to Jia Mufan, the senior brother in charge of the Azure Cloud Pavilion's inner court, to register for the mission.

Registering for a trial mission was no small matter. Outer court disciples went to the senior brother in charge of the outer court, and inner court disciples naturally went to the senior brother in charge of the inner court. Jia Mufan was at work nearby just then, surrounded by several inner court disciples of the Azure Cloud Pavilion who were likewise waiting to register for missions.

"Junior Brother Lin, Junior Sister Huang, it's been many days. I trust you've both been well." Jia Mufan spotted Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao at once among the crowd and greeted them warmly of his own accord.

He had been present in person to witness the inner court tournament, and though he was the senior brother in charge of the Azure Cloud Pavilion's inner court—nominally the foremost of all the pavilion's core inner court disciples—before the Wei Zhao of today he did not dare put on the slightest airs of a senior brother.

Never mind that Wei Zhao was the new king of the inner court, whose strength and potential alike were not to be underestimated; the crux was his identity as the disciple singled out by Shangguan Tianxia—plainly the next Gongyang Jun. Even Yu Zhenyang, the Pavilion Master of the Azure Cloud Pavilion, was all smiles and compliance toward a figure of that caliber, let alone a mere senior brother in charge of the inner court like Jia Mufan.

Splendid as the position looked, the higher one sat, the harder it was to hold the seat. It demanded not only formidable strength and backing but also a keen eye for people. Should he carelessly offend someone of Wei Zhao's heaven-spanning background, Jia Mufan's tenure as senior brother in charge of the inner court would likely end right there.

"Senior Brother Jia, I trust you've been well." Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao returned the greeting together. Give a man a foot and he gives you a yard—Wei Zhao was no shallow, arrogant sort. Even without deep ties to a figure like Jia Mufan, at the very least appearances had to be kept up, and many things would be that much easier to handle in the days to come.

Seeing Jia Mufan and Wei Zhao exchange greetings, the other inner court disciples who had been gathered around waiting to register tactfully stepped aside. However lofty they might be as core inner court disciples out in the wider world, they could not begin to compare with Wei Zhao and Jia Mufan, and in a situation like this they could only yield the floor.

In truth, even had they not stepped aside, Jia Mufan would not have paid them any mind just then. Which of these people weighed more and which less beside Wei Zhao was plain at a glance.

"Junior Brother Lin, Junior Sister Huang, are you here to register for a mission?" Jia Mufan asked, his face wreathed in smiles. On such an occasion, their purpose was self-evident.

"Indeed. If you would be so good as to file it for us, Senior Brother Jia—the trial mission the two of us mean to take is the pursuit and capture of Wu Baoliang," Wei Zhao said frankly.

"Pursue and capture Wu Baoliang? Junior Brother Lin, are you certain you want to take this one?" Jia Mufan was momentarily stunned, and the core inner court disciples of the Azure Cloud Pavilion waiting nearby broke into a stir as well, their gazes toward Wei Zhao tinged with a fresh measure of astonishment.

They were all waiting to register for missions, yet not one of them was willing to take this one—not one had even considered it from first to last!

In truth, the mission to pursue and capture Wu Baoliang had hung there for several years now, always lingering at the edge of the mission board and never once disappearing. Only the location of Wu Baoliang's latest activity ever changed. The reason was simple: ordinary disciples simply would not take it.

Missions of this pursuit-and-capture sort were, in everyone's eyes, a sure case of great effort for no reward. Never mind that these renegades were each and every one of them formidable; the mere search for them, even with intelligence furnished by the authorities, consumed vast amounts of time and energy and still might well end in failure—and afterward one had to stake one's life in combat besides!

Rather than brave such risk and pay such a price to hunt down a vicious man like this, better to spend the time searching for rare treasures and heavenly materials. With a stroke of luck one might find some heaven-defying prize and rise to the top in a single bound; even without luck, the worst was coming back empty-handed—surely not staking one's life at every turn.

To pass over so many low-risk, high-reward missions and insist on chasing down that butcher Wu Baoliang—was that not a sickness of the brain?

Still, astonished as they were, none dared mock Wei Zhao to his face. On second thought, perhaps this was precisely Wei Zhao's way of proclaiming his formidable strength—deliberately choosing a trial mission of such difficulty!

After all, at the inner court tournament, Wei Zhao's power had been there for all to see. Especially when he joined forces with Huang Xiaotao: whatever the opponent, from first to last it was a one-strike kill. They could well be called invincible within the Golden Core stage. Wu Baoliang, a ruthless and savage expert at the peak of the late Golden Core stage, might still find himself in for a hard time should he run into these two.

"Indeed. Sorry to trouble you, Senior Brother Jia." Wei Zhao took in the expressions around him and nodded with a faint smile.

"Very well. Since Junior Brother Lin and Junior Sister Huang have made up your minds, I'll say no more. I'll file it for you directly—may you meet with instant success." Jia Mufan smiled.

"Many thanks. We'll take our leave." Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao cupped their hands in salute and at once turned to go, setting about their preparations for the mission.

Invincible within the Golden Core stage as they might be when fighting side by side, the two of them were, after all, only just at the early Golden Core stage. Once out in the world they had no capital to swagger about on, and would have to make ample preparations beforehand lest they be caught off guard.

Besides preparing the things they might need for the mission, the two also had to take their leave of everyone. Who knew how long this trip would take, and they did not want people to worry.

Apart from Shangguan Lan'er, Senior Brother Ku, Xiao Che and the rest, Wei Zhao made a special point of calling on Old Ragpicker, who still stood steadfast at his post, and then there was one old friend left—Hong Zhong.