Elder Mo confirmed Wu Guang's thoughts with his next statement.

"An enforcer that was sent to check the bodies of the bandits on my orders managed to identify one of the mortals. Not only that, but he also identified that the three cultivators were part of the guard previously. Although that can be left aside as the real interest lies with the mortal that he identified. This man was part of a group dedicated to slavery, which as you should know is illegal in all the territories of the island. Most importantly the group was led by a pair of cultivators of high level. A pair that currently should be locked inside the 'Inverted Tower'"

"Excuse me Elder, should be?"

"Yes. The reports state that they are there but after asking the elders there to investigate, we found out that the pair have disappeared. The matter was investigated further and surprisingly the current council head had sent them into the most dangerous place, the 1st level. Even more, after the matter reached his ears, he simply wrote them down as deceased"

"Excuse me Elder, but I don't know about the levels of the prison and so I can't understand"

"Ahh, my mistake. The prison has 6 levels built into the seabed. Different resources can be mined and gathered in there, and so basically serving one's time means working on your assigned level. But there is also the first level which connects the seabed and the surface and is used for punishment. It's a half-flooded location without cells, only long corridors. Each corridor has several special trap doors that can be accessed only from the sea. Adding that each of such has bait placed... Beasts and Spirit beasts are common guests. Anyone on that floor is constantly in danger, while the runes don't allow any qi to enter. So even if they wanted to, no inmate could fight and so if caught, will be killed"

"So the highest floor is something like a kill zone?"

"Indeed. But it's not the highest floor, there is also the overseas level. But that is where the council and guards reside, so it's not considered as a floor of the tower but as a separate place"

"So why is this disappearance so suspicious?"

"Because they disappeared during the low tide. Every time the tide recedes, the survivors are gathered in a central room for rollcall. And the corridors are checked by the guards. Only when the floor starts to get flooded again, the ones that have pending punishment are thrown back in. As for our pair, they were present for the rollcall and a while after it there were no traces of them"

"I understand now" Albeit Wu Guang's answer could be doubted by any person hearing this explanation, it was pretty easy to understand. If there is someone that mysteriously disappears from prison while their subordinates start working for someone else, how could it be not suspicious? Especially when because the person responsible for the prison hails from the same place as the subordinates' new master.

"Well now that you understand the matter of the tower, let's proceed to the mission. Or you have already guessed?"

"If the Elder asks... This disciple thinks that most probably the mission entails traveling to 'Coastal Hill City' under the guise of taking part in the 'Autumn Riches' and while he is there use his free time to visit the 'Inverted Tower' and see if he can find anything. Even if he does not then at least present himself as a possible objective"

"Almost correct. I also want you to scout the coastline. I have asked the elders present there for the records and after checking them I found out that several inmates disappeared in the same way. So if someone is smuggling them outside..."

"There should be a place that serves to hide or receive them before moving further" Wu Guang took notice of the pause and finished the phrase

"Yes"

"I see. Then when do I leave?"

"Not 'I', but you" (Read the "I" as - not you alone)

"We?"

"Indeed. Attending the 'Autumn Riches' is not your cover, at least not directly. Your cover and the official mission is to guard the Sect's caravan traveling to take part. The elder responsible for the caravan is only an outer elder, so a mission to guard it is always expedited. Especially as the caravan not only takes part in the 'Autumn Riches' but also receives shipments from the other islands"

"But why a caravan? And will a two people team be enough for such a mission? If I am not mistaken, all guard missions required the team to have at least four members" When Wu Guang visited the Mission Hall he made sure to check the requirements for all types of missions before choosing their first one.

"Several of the resources in the shipment can not be stored in holding pouches. As for the team numbers... yes, you are right. There is also another requirement apart from having the numbers, but you now have it as well"

"As well?"

"The team leader has to be present in any of the ranking boards... And winning a tournament actually gives you a place in the lower inner circle one"

"Still, my team only has one member apart of me. So I will have to search for another two..."

"No need. I have already done the paperwork and even organized you to meet the new members. So these 11 days are meant for you to prepare and for the team members to get along"

"Elder, what do you mean?" This question sounded far less respectful than Wu Guang intended to as the pent-up irritation of having everything decided for him had reached a point where he could not control it. At least not without activating his consciousness to calm down. Something he could not do in front of someone who could sense it like Elder Mo.

"You have already met them and there will be no problems" Elder Mo did not show any care for the sudden outburst but still the phrase was worded in a way where Wu Guang could not find any way to rebuke.

So in place of fighting the inevitable, Wu Guang simply asked

"Who?"

"Your opponents from the tournament. Well, with that decided, let us discuss the details"

***

Wu Guang left the building when the sun was already past the zenith. His mood was now far more relaxed but a slightly sour expression still could be seen. Well, that was expected as the fact that everything was decided beforehand and without asking him was not something joyful. Even so, he had to acknowledge the fact that Elder Mo had indeed thought about everything.

As to make him an easier target the team would be composed of members below his own strength. Even if taking into account the outer elder in charge of the trading. And so they would be an easy target for a team of advanced Spirit realm cultivators. At least this was the intended image. In reality, the outer disciples which would act as the clerks and servants of the caravan would be far over the Body realm.

Even more, Wu Guang and his team would be actually on the lowest level of strength in the caravan. They would still need to protect the caravan from normal threats, but if they were really targeted, Wu Guang's team would be very well protected. As this reason was enough for Wu Guang to pressure Elder Mo, he shamelessly extorted a permit to enter the 3rd floor of the Martial Library as well several other things.

The latter was actually why Wu Guang had left in a far better mood than one could expect. Indeed Elder Mo or even a Palace Master could not assign contribution points directly but there were several manners to do so indirectly. And so Wu Guang got Elder Mo to agree and assign him several missions for herbs and materials he had in possession. Adding the fact that he could get the techniques he wanted and that he had the time for training, Wu Guang could be said to have achieved his objectives for this talk.

There could be another problem but again it turned out that Elder Mo had solved it for him. This problem was basically Yuan Taotu. In truth, he was not the problem itself instead it was the matter of him participating in this. Thankfully it turned to be already solved at least from Elder Mo's explanation. Still, Wu Guang wanted to confirm this personally. And after taking into account his two new teammates probable visit as well, started walking towards the residence.

While walking, he was planning on how to spend the 10 days he had. And while doing so, he also thought about other matters, especially how all his demands were met almost immediately. "I somehow feel that even the things I asked about were already prepared or at least taken into account by Elder Mo. As if I could believe that he had a spare pair of permits to peruse superior to my level techniques just laying around". And as mind-reading was obviously not the answer. He could only conclude that in the end, his demands were not so unexpected. As for the acceptance, well, he was going to be bait for an unknown enemy. If that isn't enough to give him some benefits, what would be?