"This is your team token. You can use it to accept missions and receive rewards. Remember to complete the missions within a month, or your team will be disqualified." The young woman pushed the token over, her tone light and cheerful.

"Thank you." Xiao Chen took the token. It was cold to the touch and had faint array fluctuations on it, which should be used to record mission information.

He and Stone turned and walked towards the quest board, behind them they heard the low laughter of other cultivators:

"Which hothead from some small world is this, daring to form his own team as soon as he arrives?"

"A captain at the Tribulation Transcending Realm, and members at the early stage of Dao Proving—can this team survive for three days?"

"Just wait and see. They'll be preparing to cancel the registration in a month, and then it'll be another joke..."

Xiao Chen ignored them, his gaze fixed on the mission list. The list was made of a huge star crystal, densely covered with various missions, from low to high rank, with varying rewards.

"Senior Brother, which one should we choose?" Stone pointed to a "Hunting Star Prison Wolves" mission. "This one looks simple, and the reward is decent."

Xiao Chen's gaze fell on a slightly more difficult task: "Explore the abandoned mine and retrieve a piece of 'Star Marrow Iron'. Reward: 200 low-grade spirit crystals."

The mission notes stated that there were unknown dangers deep within the mine, and three teams had already perished there.

"This is it." Xiao Chen pointed to the task, his eyes calm. "Let's test the waters first."

Although Stone felt that hunting monsters was more exciting, he still nodded: "I'll listen to Senior Brother!"

Xiao Chen walked to the mission platform and placed the Qingyun Squad's token on the table: "Accept the mission of exploring the abandoned mine with the protector."

The cultivator in charge of registration glanced at the words "Qingyun" on the token, then looked at Xiao Chen's cultivation level, and pursed his lips, but still registered the information in an official manner, handing over a jade slip that recorded the location of the mine.

"Good luck to you." The cultivator's tone was flat, yet carried a subtle hint of sarcasm.

Xiao Chen took the jade slip, turned around and walked out of the mission guild with Shi Tou.

The wind in Shattered Star City carried sand and gravel, which stung my face.

"Senior Brother, they all seem to look down on us," Stone said sullenly.

Xiao Chen gripped the token in his hand and looked up at the mountains shrouded in gray fog outside the city—the abandoned mine was there.

"Soon, they won't."