Ping Bai was an inner court disciple of the Frozen cloud sect and was relatively average. He came from a rich family of traders and was selected by the frozen cloud sect as a disciple a few years ago.

Thankfully, he was talented enough to directly enter the ranks of an inner court disciple and did not have to struggle much. Though there was still that desire he had in his heart to become greater than he was right now.

For this, he had been practicing hard but his cultivator talent was now proving to be the obstacle. In the secular world back when he was in his clan, his talent was at the very top and there was barely anyone who could compare to him, but in the frozen cloud sect, there were easily thousands of other disciples who were the same as him or better than him.

If he wanted to still improve at a good speed, he needed resources that he lacked. While the sect did provide him with a set amount of resources for being an inner court disciple, it was barely enough for him to cultivate daily. If he wanted to go beyond that, he would have to depend on his own or the natural spirit Qi in the air.

Due to this lack of resources, Ping Bai decided to take up a mission from the sect. If one completed the missions assigned by the sect, depending on the difficulty level they would be given merit points which could then be exchanged for whatever they needed from the sect, whether they be cultivation resources like spirit stones, pills, or other things that improve one's strength like spirit tools or Qi skills.

He was currently heading out for a mission, which was to simply hunt for spirit beasts and bringing back their parts. This was the most common mission that was always available for dispels to take and was also the most popular.

It was also the only mission that did not have a set difficultly level as it would depend on the level of beast one fought. The disciples could decide what type of beasts to hunt and as such, they would be able to change the difficulty level.

Ping Bai here decided to hunt for some spirit beasts in the forest around the sect. It was a relatively safe location and while he would not find any beasts that were too valuable, he would still be able to make up for that in volume.

But he had not expected that just shortly after leaving the sect, he would sense spirit Qi coming from a place near him. At first, he thought it was someone fighting or cultivating nearby that was releasing these fluctuations, but then he found them to be uniform every time.

He reckoned that something like this would probably be caused by a spirit herb or some treasure. Ping Bai also deliberated on the idea that this may be a trap but then thought no one would try something like that so close to the Frozen cloud sect.

Whosoever did that would invite the wrath of the sect and would not have a good end. Thus with this in mind, he built up the courage to check up on the spirit Qi fluctuations.

Alas! His previous guess turned out to be true as it was indeed a trap.

"Huh?" Ping Bai uttered in bewilderment, as he felt the ground shake.

Then it suddenly started to rise up around him and he felt fear. He was just about to shout, but then darkness filled his eyes and he did not feel anything after that.

***

Lin Wu was currently back in the ground and had gone over the memories of the man who he had just swallowed whole. They were pretty mediocre memories and did not ignite his interest as much. Even for the information about the sect itself, Lin Wu did not get anything substation.

"Ptui~ this guy was a hermit who barely left his residence. No wonder he knows less than I do about the Frozen cloud sect." Lin Wu said as he spat out some pieces of leather from his mouth.

This was nothing but the shoes of the man, along with a few other things like his identity badge and spatial storage ring.

Lin Wu realized that the information that he knew about the sect obtained by the system was way more than this man called Ping Bai. Still, he got the main thing he wanted, which was the identity badge of the man.

"Alright, system. Time to do your magic." Lin Wu ordered.

~Ding~

——

TARGET SELECTED: Analyzing

ANALYSIS COMPLETE: Replicating and adapting identity formations.

NOTIFICATION: Please select an anchor for the identity formations.

——

"Use one of the crystals of my body for it." Lin Wu said.

~Ding~

——

ANCHOR SELECTED: Please wait a moment,

REPLICATION COMPLETED: New identity badge created.

——

Lin Wu then saw a new item appear in his inventory, which was nothing but his fake identity badge. Though it would still work if Lin Wu held it up to the security formations of the sect.

'Hmm… the appearance may be a problem, but as long as I don't appear personally it should still be fine.' Lin Wu thought.

Once this was all done, he quickly went ahead and crossed the boundary of the formation that surrounded the sect. He could feel a faint web spreading over him, but it soon disappeared once it touched the fake identity badge that the system had devised.

"Huh… Neat." Lin Wu muttered at the strange feeling of the formation before proceeding to his next location.

About four days had passed by now, and tomorrow would be the day of Wang Xiong's duel with the core disciple. The place where Lin Wu was currently heading to was the peak on which Wang Xiong resided.

This was one of the smaller peaks in the sect and was used for housing inner court disciples. There were thousands of courtyards on it, and Wang Xiong lived in the middle area somewhere.

"There you are!"