Chapter 57: Route Planning

Gui Ruoxue sat numbly inside the immortal carriage, peering through his hat as several disciples stepped out of the vehicle.

Ning Mingmei: “Half an hour of rehab training this time. Make it quick.”

The disciples: “Got it!”

Like clockwork, they disembarked and got to work. Meanwhile, Ning Mingmei sat in meditation inside the carriage, saying nothing.

In another carriage, Ren Miao was tending to the still-unconscious Lian Chengyue.

Left alone, Gui Ruoxue stewed in the humiliation of once again being toyed with by the wicked Ning Mingmei.

His new identity was a slightly skilled physician, orphaned, kidnapped by the evil demon, with nowhere to turn…

And a bride.

One who was still dressed in wedding attire.

Ning Mingmei had said, “According to this report, a bear monster near Xifeng Village has been kidnapping and devouring human brides and grooms for years. The timing, location, and people involved all align perfectly. If not this, then what else?”

After leaving that statement, Ning Mingmei tossed Gui Ruoxue into the bear monster’s lair overnight. By morning, he had led the disciples out of Wangyue Town and, while they were at it, wiped out the entire lair.

The bear was slain, the victims were rescued, and a devoted physician-bride now insisted on following the Immortal Master.

That was Gui Ruoxue disguised in bridal attire.

As for how they explained away the capture of the evil cultivator prisoner in Wangyue Town, Ning Mingmei must have found some other workaround. Seeing that the disciples weren’t questioning it, Gui Ruoxue couldn’t be bothered to ask or think about it either.

After all, Ning Mingmei always came up with bizarre, almost inhumanly creative solutions.

The only thing worth noting was that the Supreme Clarity Sect disciples were now looking at Gui Ruoxue strangely, as if they thought of him having some kind of unusual romantic entanglement with Ning Mingmei.

By the time they returned, Ning Mingmei would probably be at the center of quite a few rumors!

Not wanting to deal with it, Gui Ruoxue simply shut his ears and ignored everything.

After more than ten days of travel, he noticed that the Supreme Clarity Sect group was moving at an almost relentless pace.

They systematically circled around Zhaoyue Mountain from north to west and stopped at each location for missions.

Each time, Ning Mingmei would kick the disciples out of the carriage and make them complete a task.

Whenever that happened, the four disciples from Misty Peak, along with Jiang Yu, Wang Cheng, and Li Yao, were the most excited.

Ning Mingmei would briefly explain the mission and then outline how they should tackle it.

Every time, Gui Ruoxue would get the same strange feeling. Ning Mingmei’s instructions were always precise, down to predicting where the monsters might be hiding with uncanny accuracy.

Gui Ruoxue had a reputation for being cunning and calculating, but Ning Mingmei’s intelligence was starting to feel unnervingly supernatural.

After receiving their mission details, the seven disciples would drag the other three along and charge out like arrows from a bow.

The four Misty Peak disciples: “More experimental data!”

“Last time during our group meeting, the Fifth Senior Brother asked me to help with his experiment. In return, he’s going to take over my task of sweeping the small pine forest when we get back.”

“The Seventh Senior Brother also approached me, saying that if I helped him, he would introduce me to a female disciple from Hidden Sage Peak.”

“Impure, absolutely impure! You all have such impure motivations for conducting experiments! The Tenth Senior Brother told me that as long as I provide the data, he’ll cover the cost of my next immortal sword!”

Compared to the Misty Peak disciples’ enthusiasm for experiments, Jiang Yu was much simpler.

Jiang Yu: “Finally, it’s time to test my new binding technique again!”

As for Wang Cheng and Li Yao…

Wang Cheng: “Peak Lord Ning was right. Slaying ghosts and demons is indeed great for rehabilitation!”

Li Yao: “Absolutely!”

But what Gui Ruoxue found most bizarre was the route planning of the journey.

They only moved south or west, never taking any detours.

Or rather, Ning Mingmei always chose the fastest route. While heading toward a primary objective, he managed to cover all the secondary targets along the way.

At the same time, he ensured that locations haunted by ghosts at night were reached at night and places occupied by monsters in the morning were reached in the morning, never missing an opportunity.

If a time period was bound to be devoid of ghosts or monsters, he scheduled rest breaks instead, keeping the disciples in peak condition at all times.

Although Gui Ruoxue couldn’t discern Ning Mingmei’s ultimate destination, he sharply sensed that behind Ning Mingmei’s efficiency…

There was a sinister secret.

“How do you do it?” he asked.

Ning Mingmei: “Just an ordinary mathematical modeling problem.”

Gui Ruoxue: “? What is mathematical modeling?”

Ning Mingmei: “To answer that, we have to start with algorithms. Do you know about greedy algorithms and dynamic programming? Have you heard of convex optimization?” |23|

Gui Ruoxue: ?

…He didn’t understand. In fact, he dozed off while listening.

The ten disciples continued their monster-slaying spree with great enthusiasm. After another ten days, they held another team meeting, where Ning Mingmei handed over information on the eleven sacred woods to Gui Taoran.

Although Gui Taoran wasn’t as fast in research as his mentor, he was still highly regarded. He managed to locate an ancient text called [[The History and Origins of the Heaven-Reaching Vine.]]

He had someone retrieve it from the Brilliant Blossom Valley’s library.

Unlike other Misty Peak disciples, Gui Taoran had access not only to the Supreme Clarity Sect’s academic network but also to the Brilliant Blossom Valley’s resources. It allowed him to tap into their scholarly materials even while outside.

Ning Mingmei then gave him the order to summarize the book, extract key points, and organize an outline and technical highlights… for him.

In short, draft a usable patent document.

Meanwhile, other disciples continued advancing their respective research. Ning Mingmei was met with an unexpected surprise because the entire Hidden Sage Peak had now joined Misty Peak’s study group.

They even helped Wen Siheng catalog books in the library.

Wen Siheng: “This is all thanks to Hanshan! And every time, he drags Peak Lord Chang along to sit in on our lectures.”

However, Elder Chang looked utterly in despair.

Just a few days ago, he had sluggishly asked, “When will your master return?”

Wen Siheng figured Elder Chang was surely waiting to thank Ning Mingmei in person.

There was no way he just wanted Ning Mingmei to help him manage Mu Hanshan, right?

Besides Hidden Sage Peak, there was also Truth Abode Peak. That was Peak Lord Zhang’s domain, the only medical peak in the Supreme Clarity Sect and the place where the Smoky Cloud Tower disciples had been recovering.

During their recovery period, the Smoky Cloud Tower disciples frequently interacted with the Misty Peak disciples and the three factions became quite familiar with one another. The Truth Abode Peak disciples, curious about the reality of Misty Peak as described by the Smoky Cloud Tower disciples, found it completely different from what they had heard.

The Truth Abode Peak disciples were all rather pure-hearted. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have ended up on the most thankless peak where their efforts were often overlooked.

Now that the Smoky Cloud Tower disciples had been taken away by White Cloud Peak, the Truth Abode Peak disciples had no other opportunity to interact with them.

So instead, they started visiting Misty Peak every few days.

Lin Heting: “Eventually, they just stepped up and joined our studies.”

That ‘stepped up’ probably skipped over a lot of details.

Lin Heting: “Also, the senior brother from Truth Abode Peak seems to have taken a liking to Xue Zhu.”

…Oh, another seductress story.

Wen Siheng added, “Besides that, there’s also Peak Lord Jiang from Clear Snow Peak. Peak Lord Jiang said that just organizing the library isn’t enough. Since both we and Hidden Sage Peak focus on sword cultivation and Clear Snow Peak specializes in Qi cultivation, isn’t this a perfect match?”

Ning Mingmei raised an eyebrow.

It was unexpected, yet not entirely so.

Jiang Ying was a sharp woman and had always maintained close ties with both sides. Now that she saw Shen Liwan, Yin Xisheng, and even Zhang Zhizhen aligning with Ning Mingmei, as the last remaining Qi cultivator, she had come to test the waters as well.

Ning Mingmei: “Alright, let her join.”

Unknowingly, six of the twelve main peaks of the Supreme Clarity Sect (excluding the Sect Master’s peak) had now become involved in Ning Mingmei’s academic pursuits.

Setting aside his own Misty Peak, there was also Jiang Ying’s Clear Snow Peak, Chang Feichang’s Hidden Sage Peak, and Zhang Zhizhen’s Truth Abode Peak.

Hidden Sage Peak, Truth Abode Peak, Misty Peak, and Auspicious Light Peak were the four weakest peaks in the inner sect.

Now, three of them were engaged in academic research.

It was likely that Auspicious Light Peak wouldn’t be far behind.

Yin Xisheng’s Jade Pavilion Peak and Shen Liwan’s Assembled Virtues Peak contributed their efforts to work together on experiments.

Qi Miancheng’s peak provided funding, land, swords, and furniture.

Perhaps Fang Wuyu’s White Cloud Peak could also be counted. After all, Fang Wuyu had given Ning Mingmei money twice; once for practical training in Yaochuan City and once for the lodging and class fees of the Smoky Cloud Tower disciples.

That’s right, the second transfer of money had also arrived.

While he called him a ‘penniless wretch’, Fang Wuyu was quite generous with his funds.

In total, he had given Ning Mingmei more than ten million.

It showed just how intense Misty Peak’s academic enthusiasm had become. Even without Ning Mingmei, Misty Peak would naturally continue spreading its scholarly spirit.

On the practical side, in the blink of an eye, Ning Mingmei had completed half of his mission slips.

All the missions in the northern and western regions of Liuyue Lake had been completed. Unfortunately, there were few major cases there. After deducting travel expenses and the commission taken by the Merit and Virtue Hall, the actual earnings were only around 700,000 spirit stones.

It put Fang Wuyu’s generosity into perspective. When he made a move, 9.6 million was spent. What a grand gesture!

Ning Mingmei could also understand why few disciples took on those minor missions.

Even after completing so many tasks, their combined earnings barely exceeded 700,000, yet the risks they faced were significant.

For instance, they encountered Gui Ruoxue, the only strong opponent on the journey. If Ning Mingmei hadn’t been present, the group might have been wiped out.

What if another group of disciples had come there and encountered not just Gui Ruoxue but something even worse?

The cultivation realm was inherently unpredictable. Wandering cultivators might randomly encounter powerful figures, stray fiends, sudden dangers, or hidden realms. With thousands of years of history, the vast map of the cultivation realm concealed countless threats.

Moreover, the cultivation realm adhered to the law of the jungle as its guiding principle. While prestigious sects maintained a refined facade, at their core, they still followed a form of social Darwinism.

Few great sects would be willing to engage in an all-out conflict with powerful evil cultivators or great fiends over the death of an ordinary disciple.

Most of the time, when a disciple died in such places, they were simply gone. No one knew where their body was nor who had killed them.

That was why few disciples took on those thankless missions. Those without the ability didn’t dare and those with the ability wouldn’t bother.

Besides, weren’t there far more lucrative missions available?

Take, for example, the Ye Province mission worth 6 million.

Even if twelve people split the rewards, each would still receive 500,000.

His communication talisman buzzed with messages from the disciples. The monster had been eliminated and they were on their way back.

Ning Mingmei said, “Alright, let’s head to the next destination. It’s not far, just four miles away.”

Gui Ruoxue asked, “Where’s the next stop?”

He silently marveled at Ning Mingmei’s precise route planning.

At this pace, they would arrive there exactly at sunset.

Ning Mingmei replied, “Ye Province.”

Gui Ruoxue’s expression changed. “Ye Province?”

He frowned, as if recalling something.

At that moment, a voice called out from outside.

“Immortal Master Ning!”

It was Ren Miao’s voice, sounding somewhat flustered.

“A’Yue, he…”