After almost a full day of practicing the Myriad Annihilation Art, John had finally succeeded. The power of the attack had exceeded his expectations. The scythe beam he had just sent out was far more powerful than the melee attack of the mountain crushing sword.
"Now I won't have to use that suicidal attack I had made earlier with the Mountain Crushing Sword and my scythe!" John said with a smile. "The only problem is this attack exhausts quite a lot of my Qi. I'll only be able to execute it a few times before I run out of Qi."
Although the cost required to execute this attack was high, John wasn't unhappy. The higher the cost was, the more powerful the attack would be.
"I have my Mountain Crushing Sword, my Five Step Movement Technique, and now the Myriad Annihilation Scythe. My combat prowess keeps growing rapidly."
John sat down and recovered his Qi for an hour before walking back towards the kingdom gates.
John walked straight past the line out front and showed one of the guards his entry papers, at which point he was granted access to the kingdom once more.
"I still have a day until the meeting. I should head back to the inn and cultivate. Every second of cultivation brings me closer to being strong enough to participate in the pocket realm" thought John, a determined look on his face.
John cultivated until late into the night, at which point he went to bed. Waking up early in the morning, John started cultivating once more before it was time to head out for the job posting.
John slowly opened his eyes. "I can feel my bottleneck getting weaker and weaker. One or two good fights and I should be able to ascend to middle Mist Creation."
John was anxiously awaiting his ascension to middle Mist Creation. Not only would his Qi attacks grow stronger, he was also curious to see if he could once again raise his sphere dantian to a new level. He had continually tried to absorb more blood essence, but was unable to do so without almost being driven mad.
John walked downstairs and ordered breakfast from the Inn. After finishing his breakfast, John set out to the meeting place. The meeting place was located just outside the city walls, on the side of the main road.
John walked for some time before he left the city walls. After walking down the road for a few minutes, John spotted a group of people gathered on the side of the road.
"This must be it" thought John as he approached the group. The group had roughly ten people waiting already, and they were all at least middle Mist Creation realm cultivators. John even spotted one late Mist Creation realm cultivator. He was an older man with graying hair and a large beard. Most of the other cultivators were either in their twenties or thirties.
As John approached the group, one of the cultivators turned and looked at him. An amused smile appeared on the man's face as he spoke up.
"What's this now? A little runt wants to join the group?" Several other men in the group looked towards John before laughing at the comment.
"Come on now, he might just be lost is all. There's no way this child thinks he's strong enough for this mission right?" responded another.
John stopped in front of the group and looked at the men but said nothing. The man who first spoke up walked towards John and stood right in front of him, towering over him. The man was quite tall and appeared to be in his thirties. He had a bald head and a pockmarked face.
"What are you doing here boy? You lost?" asked the man while a bemused smile on his face.
John frowned at the man. He was deciding whether to answer the man or "show" him his strength when suddenly another group member spoke up and walked over to John.
"Come on now. He's just a boy, there's no reason to be bullying him. Besides, I'm sure you already noticed his cultivation. Although he's still at the early Mist Creation realm, do you really think you have the right to speak down to a boy who's half your age but almost as strong as you?"
The troublesome man looked towards the newcomer but said nothing. He spat on the ground and looked back at John before turning around and once more joining the group.
"Pay no attention to him," replied the newcomer. "By the way, my name is Austin. What's yours?" asked the man as he extended his hand in greeting. He appeared to be in his early twenties, and had short brown hair and a short, patchy beard.
John shook Austin's hand before responding, "My name is John. Nice to meet you."
Austin smiled at John before asking "While our friend over there is a little bit of an asshole, his concern is still a bit valid. This mission requires middle Mist Creation cultivators. Do you think you'll be able to keep up?"
"I'll be fine. You don't have to worry about me" responded John with a smile on his face. John's first impression of Austin was a good one, and so he was quite friendly towards him. One of John's motto's in life was to treat others who respected him with respect, while returning enmity with enmity.
"Alright. Don't worry though, I'll watch over you if anything happens" said Austin as he winked at John. John laughed but didn't reply.
Several minutes later, a carriage pulled up to the group and a man hopped out. He was dressed in luxurious business clothes and had quite a fancy mustache. He looked at the group for a while before happily nodding.
"Gentleman, I'm glad so many of you decided to accept my job notice. As the notice said, I need a group of middle Mist Creation cultivators and higher to assist me. There will be some danger associated with this mission, so anyone who is unwilling to put themselves at risk should leave now."
The group all looked at each other, but no one left.
"Good, it seems as if we have a daring bunch…" The man was about to continue speaking before he noticed John in the group.
"What is a child doing here?" he asked.
John was just about to respond when Austin spoke up behind him, "Don't worry, I'll vouch for him. He won't be a hindrance on this mission." John looked to Austin, surprised that he would back him up. Austin smiled at John and winked, before whispering "Don't worry, I got your back."
The mustachioed man thought for a moment before nodding. "Very well then. He'll be your responsibility on this mission. If he manages to cause any trouble for us, I will be withholding both yours and his payment at the end."
The man paused for a moment and looked around, seeing if anyone else was near. Once he confirmed that the coast was clear, he cleared his throat and spoke up.
"Now, back to the mission. The notice said this was an escort mission. That was a lie."
John narrowed his eyes at the man's words but said nothing.
The man paused for a moment before speaking up once more, "Due to legal reasons, I couldn't post the real mission. If anyone has any issue with doing something illegal, please leave now."
The group once more looked around to see if anyone would leave, but no one did.
The man was relieved to see that no one left. "Good, good. Now, to be honest with you all. The real mission is to break into Duke Trommels house and steal something from him."
John raised his eyebrows slightly. He hadn't expected the real mission to involve Duke Trommel.
"It seems like we have a certain linked fate" thought John, a small present on his face.