The Heaven's Equal Camp became together as one in just a short amount of time. This certainly took the other nearby centurions by surprise.
Back then, these centurions were all too busy with their own cultivation. They did not really care about their subordinate immortal soldiers at all.
Within this time period, Wu Yu was also able to gain a complete understanding of Yan Huang Imperial City. He had gained a decent understanding of the inner city's arrangement, rewards systems, and facilities.
In fact, this place was not that different from the Shushan Immortal Sect. On a whole, however, there was more freedom here.
Unless Yan Huang Imperial City encountered a serious threat, there were basically no obligatory missions for them. Most Yan Huang Immortal soldiers were able to pick and choose the missions they liked.
Completing these rewarding missions would result in one obtaining merits and the protection of Yan Huang Imperial City.
One would also rise to a respected position.
It had been almost a month since he had last met Zhang Tiande. Wu Yu went out to pay him a visit and discuss the matter regarding his payment of 40,000. He requested for Zhang Tiande to extend the deadline by a few days. After all, things had just settled down for Wu Yu. After things at the Heaven's Equal Camp were running smoothly, he would then prepare to begin completing missions from Yan Huang Imperial City. On average, these missions rewarded much more merits and prizes than the ones back at Shushan.
Zhang Tiande was, of course, alright with this. After all, Wu Yu had been using the Yan Huang Heaven Raising Staff for only close to a month's time, so this was excusable for now.
Furthermore, Wu Yu was already preparing to carry out missions with very valuable rewards. He was willing to exert a great deal of energy to quickly pay back his debts.
"There's no rush, there's no rush. As friends, let's not worry too much about these details." Ever since Wu Yu became a centurion, Zhang Tiande had become more generous as well. Even if Wu Yu had asked for an extension of a few months instead of a few days, he probably would not have objected much either.
The key point here was that Wu Yu himself was not willing to lose integrity.
After returning to the Heaven's Equal Camp, he had one more important thing to do. That was to bury Huang Yanwu.
On a small hill within the Heaven's Equal Camp, the entire Heaven's Equal Camp assembled to send off and bury this fellow countryman of theirs, Huang Yanwu, who had died abroad and did not manage to make it back to his hometown.
Wu Yu sprinkled fine wine as he solemnly said to the grave, "Your spirit has returned today. You'll be able to rest in peace forever now."
This was Huang Yanwu's end and also Wu Yu's beginning.
"Commander Wu Yu has such close ties. If we're ever to die in the future, I hope that we can all be buried here," a teary-eyed young girl remarked.
"Silly girl, don't say such inauspicious things. We're all going to follow in Commander Wu's footsteps and become immortals! We won't age till the end of time, so how will we die?"
Someone laughed, and the crowd laughed with them.
The atmosphere was quite relaxed.
"Alright, you're all dismissed." Wu Yu smiled and gave a slight wave of his hand. The truth was that he should have set out much earlier. He had to work hard for the sake of the Yan Huang Heaven Raising Staff in his hands.
Moreover, he still needed a large amount of immortal medicine for the sake of his doppelgangers and the refinement of his own Jindan.
Every centurion was provided with five Inner Sea Essence Pills each month, but this was insufficient for Wu Yu. Just his debt alone required 40 of those each month.
It was dawn right now, and the sky was about to turn bright. Wu Yu leaned on the grave of Huang Yanwu and took out the ordinary-looking stone that the latter had given him.
"Other than the fact that it isn't malleable, there really isn't anything special about it." Wu Yu mulled over it for half a day and did not discover anything new. The truth was that ever since he came to Yan Huang Imperial City, he often took this stone out in order to check if anything had changed.
"Who knows, that egg may just be a result of the imagination of his confused mind. After all, this stone does not give me the feeling that it'll make me stronger at all."
After a little more thought, Wu Yu placed it back into his Sumeru Pouch.
All of a sudden, the silhouette of a person rushed over from far away. In no time at all, this silhouette appeared before Wu Yu's eyes. In that moment, it was like an ocean wave had surged forward as an intoxicating fragrance swept away everything before Wu Yu and penetrated deeply into his heart.
After a closer look, the individual before him was a centurion that was suited up in Yan Huang Immortal Armor. From the centurion's elegant posture, it was clear that she was a beauty. Looking up, a pair of deep blue, azure pupils instantly swallowed Wu Yu's gaze into the whirlpool of her eyes. Those eyes were like jewels of the deep sea. They were perfect and crystal clear.
Beneath her helmet, her long, snow-white hair flowed down and danced in the wind. This was truly charming as well.
"Commander Luo?"
Wu Yu never expected her to show up so suddenly.
It seemed like her name was Luo Pin.
Ming Long had mentioned that she was a mystical dragon from a respected bloodline! Even among the mystical dragons, her bloodline was considered respected as well! Moreover, this was a presence that could inflict serious damage. Her true strength was probably not even inferior to the Seven Immortals of Shushan.
As he stood before this immortal beast, Wu Yu was indeed rather nervous as he thought of her true identity.
"Idiot, stop being so scared! She definitely doesn't know that you've seen through her true identity. If you're like this, you'll be exposed." Ming Long chided him.
Wu Yu was aware of this too, so he adjust his breathing and faced Commander Luo as calmly as he could.
"Mm." She lightly nodded her head. She was a woman of few words. With that pairs of eyes, she looked over to the grave behind Wu Yu and then to the Heaven's Equal Camp that was surging with activity. With her voice that inspired tranquility in others, she said, "My Blue Dragon Camp is just beside yours. After just a few days, it's already so lively here."
Wu Yu smiled. He was still a little unnatural before this mystical dragon. His demeanor made him seem like he was a person who was nervous to meet someone that they admired. Of course, Wu Yu still maintained at a respectful distance from a beautiful girl like her.
He replied, "Before I began cultivating my dao, I was a general back in the mortal world. As such, I am rather familiar with these procedures."
"Oh, so that's what it was." Luo Pin looked into his eyes again. She had probably come here for a reason. With her personality, it did not seem like she would just stop by for a chat.
Sure enough, she asked, "I've heard that you owe quite a large debt. I'm currently thinking of taking up a mission that requires two centurions. Are you willing to carry it out with me?"
This was…
Wu Yu did not really understand. He had just arrived, so why had she come seek him out to carry out a mission together so quickly? Of course, he was poor indeed. He was genuinely about to head out as well.
She seemed to know what Wu Yu was thinking as she added, "Don't overthink things. I just want someone who isn't that noisy."
Apparently, he was someone who wasn't noisy…
She had probably worked with others before, but as long as any man met her, they would probably try their best to converse with her.
"What's the prize for the mission?" Wu Yu started off by asking about this.
After all, the amount he owed was quite a sum.
"It's really difficult, so the prize is 200,000 merits. Each of us will get 100,000," Luo Pin replied.
100,000, this would be enough to support him for more than two months! This was a higher reward than Wu Yu had imagined. He imagined that such a mission would undoubtedly have a higher level of difficulty than others.
"If you're interested, follow me over to the Yi Palace." Luo Pin's tone was indifferent. She was neither hot nor cold; neither purposefully distant nor purposefully close.
It was as though she was simply passing by and had just casually asked Wu Yu if he was willing to join.
Of course Wu Yu was willing. Firstly, Ming Long really wanted to know the secret behind this mystical dragon and immortal beast. Secondly, he truly lacked money. With this, he nodded and left the Xuechuan Domain with Luo Pin. They headed toward the Yi Palace.
The Yi Palace consisted of three areas. These were all places where Yan Huang Imperial City gave out missions. Ordinary Yan Huang Immortal Soldiers went to the Lower Yi Palace, centurions went to the Middle Yi Palace, whereas chiliarchs went to the Upper Yi Palace.
This was a benefit that came with Wu Yu's direct ascension to the rank of centurion that he was not cognizant of beforehand. If Gu Xuan had not challenged him back then, he probably would not be able to go to the Middle Yi Palace, yet the rewards for the Middle Yi Palace's missions were essentially all at 10,000 merits and above.
On the other hand, the Lower Yi Palace's missions rarely exceeded 10,000 merits.
The two of them arrived at the Middle Yi Palace together. Both Wu Yu and Commander Luo were notable characters indeed. One was the stuff of legends, whereas one was a mysterious figure who barely even spoke. These two completely unrelated characters had suddenly assembled here together today, so this attracted quite some attention as well.
Many others could not help but glance over as they started to discuss this.
"Wu Yu directly became a centurion after defeating Gu Xuan. Apparently, he has transformed his Heaven's Equal Camp into quite an impressive place. His methods sure are decent."
"How did he end up working together with that mysterious centurion working under Jiang Xuechuan?"
"That's right, doesn't that centurion rarely come over to the Yi Palace to receive missions? Why is she suddenly here today?"
"I heard from others that Commander Luo seems to have a lot of riches on hand, so she does not need to go on any missions at all."
The truth was that Wu Yu was listening closely to these vague discussions going on around him.
"Ming Long, she rarely does missions, yet she came looking for me. Do you think she's plotting something against me?" Wu Yu asked.
"She can't tell that you have the legacy of the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal, so what rubbish intentions could she even have toward you? Do you think she likes your plump body?" Ming Long rolled her eyes.
"What do you think it is then?"
"It's clear that she doesn't lack merits, nor does she lack immortal medicines. However, in order to attain her goals within Yan Huang Imperial City, she naturally can't stick out too much. Even if she has no need for any of these rewards, she probably spends some of her time carrying out a mission or two to show that she's an ordinary person. It's obvious that she wouldn't have any friends in Yan Huang Imperial City. That's why she came looking for you."
Ming Long's words seemed to make some sense.
As to why she had chosen him of all people, she had made it obvious earlier on. Firstly, it was obvious to her that he was not a noisy person. Secondly, it was certainly true that he had some exceptional skills. Lastly, it was simply because the Heaven's Equal Camp happened to be right beside her Blue Dragon camp.
While Wu Yu was conversing with Ming Long, Commander Luo had already retrieved a bamboo scroll that had the main details of the mission recorded on it. After retrieving this, she let Wu Yu step forward to take a look. However, right after unfurling these scrolls, her gaze became cold and she furrowed her brows. She turned to the enforcer in charge of handing out missions and asked, "Why is there already someone who has accepted this mission!?"
Wu Yu took a quick look. At the end of the scrolls were two words untidily scrawled on it - Qin Fuyao.
The enforcer took a quick look and replied, "She's obviously one step ahead. However, this mission requests for two to three centurions anyway. If three people were to join, each person would obtain 80,000 merits. This mission's description is rather ambiguous as well, and it seems like there may be something more to it. If the three of you work on it together, you'll probably be more assured of the outcome."
Wu Yu did not mind despite the fact that an additional person meant 20,000 less merits for him.
Luo Pin was deep in thought as she hesitated for a second, but in the end, it seemed like she could not be bothered to look for other missions r. She held out her hand and carved her name onto the bamboo scrolls. Her handwriting was graceful and refined. Compared to the untidy scrawl of Qin Fuyou beside it, there was indeed a world of difference.
After this, she handed over the scroll to Wu Yu and said, "Take a look. If you want to go forth with me, carve your name here as well."
On the scroll, the following details were written: "I'm the City Lord of Yunxi City. In the coming days, a group of demons will attack our Yunxi City. There will be three of them in all, and the strongest among them will not exceed the third tier of the Violet Kingdom of the Inner Sea. We require urgent assistance in order to tide over this crisis." Wu Yu could take on one of them alone. "We request Yan Huang Imperial City to swiftly make arrangements. Your humble servant here is willing to pay 300 Inner Sea Essence Pills as a sign of our gratitude."
300 Inner Sea Essence Pills…
If the three of them went forth, they would earn 240,000 merits in total, which also amounted to 240 pills. It seemed like Yan Huang Imperial City would take quite a large portion of it for themselves…
Wu Yu felt that this was not a major problem. Additionally, he desperately needed money now, so he did not really care about who this Qin Fuyao was, and immediately carved his own name on the scroll.