After checking the list of missions for 23 minutes, he decided on what he wanted to do and registered for two missions.
The first mission was the killing mission. It involved going down into the forest to kill beasts. He picked the ants to kill. They were the same ants that bit Roar's foot.
The other mission he picked was a contribution mission. He picked the formation maintenance mission.
This formation maintenance mission involved inspecting the different formations in the sects, calling attention to any faults in their operation, and repairing them if possible.
He took this mission in order to expand his knowledge of formations. It is a mission that will take a maximum of one month to complete. He considers that amount of time to be worth the knowledge he will gain from examining the operation of formations.
Besides the acquisition of knowledge, he will also be paid contribution points. So it is killing two birds with one stone for him.
There are many formations in the sect for him to learn. He won't gain access to the ones that are used to protect the sect, such as the barrier on the border of the outer sect and the two formations used to hide and protect the entrance of the inner sect, but there are still many others that he can gain access to and examine.
The formations he had his eyes on were two. The first formation is the one used in the mission hall to transmit data between the ID card and the mission artifact.
The second formation that he wanted to examine closely is the formations that separate the ecological regions in the inner sect and maintain those regions.
These formations are very powerful, as they maintain temperature and even manipulate the weather of the individual regions.
This function of the second set of formations had made him curious about them immediately after he noticed the regions. But it was the first set of formations that made him decide to pick up a second mission that will give him the permission to get to the bottom of their operation.
He could have also bought information on the formation or even both the formations to practice with. These options would satiate his curiosity and also enlighten him, but they would come at a steep cost.
He thought it was a better and more efficient option to work for the sect, satiate his curiosity, and also earn contribution points at the same time.
After making his decision, he left the mission hall. The next place he went to was a nearby shop. He went there to buy the rank 3 formation engraving tools that he wanted.
He didn't have much hope that they would have it. His hope lay with the marketplace, not a small shop beside the mission hall. So he was surprised to find the rank 3 formation engraving tools at the shop.
This reminded him that he was in a sect full of people that are either planting crops, forging artifacts, or making formations. So the tools for these fields were readily available everywhere.
He knew that the tools for the three fields were available everywhere in the outer sect, but he didn't expect the same to be so in the inner sect because once the disciples of the Blood Skull sect reach the third mortal coil, they don't need to learn forging or formation engraving anymore.
He thought that since they had forged their foundations and didn't need to stress themselves with complicated subjects, they would stop being interested in forging and formation engraving.
He said this to the shop attendant. The man said, "It is true that interest in the two main arts has waned, but it hasn't died out yet. Killing, robbing, and cultivating are fun, but we can't do them all the time. Sometimes, we want to relax by forging something."
"Besides, the fact that we love killing so much means that we need the powerful tools to kill. So it is not out of the question to stick with forging weapons and engraving them."
Arthur agreed with the man. Then he went down to the mountain region to hunt fire ants.
The inner sect is full of creatures of various kinds. These creatures were introduced into the sect on purpose. Even their population is tracked and maintained.
The fire ants that he is in the hunt for are one of the creatures specifically introduced into the inner sect. They were brought into the sect to serve as fighting partners for the disciples of the sect. The ants also know this.
To be specific, it is the ant queens who know about their purpose. The old ant queens are at the fourth mortal coil, so they are very intelligent and can communicate with people.
Just like he has been given a mission to kill fire ants, the ants have also been given a mission to kill him. He will earn contribution points by killing ants, but the ants will earn contribution points just by fighting him.
The job of the ants is to try and kill him. They will earn a reward for doing that much.
But if they do better than that and actually kill him, they will earn more. Well, it is their queen that will earn more. The other ants live to serve their queens.
According to the description of the mission, every ant can be killed except the queen. The queen is offhand.
When he read this part, he scoffed and said, "As if I could kill the queen."
There is no way he can fight and kill something that is at the fourth mortal coil. In fact, if not for the fact that he had been assured that the queen wouldn't join the fight, he wouldn't have bothered with the ants at all.
This protection goes both ways, though. The queen can't fight, and if the population of the ants is reduced too much, missions to hunt them will be put on hold.