Wu Yan shook his head upon hearing the statement, and without targeting Xiao Mu specifically, he said indifferently, "The divine light of the Five Elements is quite powerful, but you have just entered the early stage of the Yin God Realm. Your realm is a bit low, and furthermore, your methods are too simplistic. You do not yet qualify to join us on tasks."

"Even though you are favored by Chief Chen, we still have to follow the rules."

"First, you should go to reserve duty to gain experience. Once you've elevated your realm to the mid-stage of the Yin God Realm and cultivated a few more techniques, then we can talk."

Wu Yan pressed a button, and after a few seconds, a man in a black suit appeared at the office door.

This man was enveloped by the aura of the Five Elements. His realm appeared to be at least at the late stage of the Yin God Realm, with a particularly robust Wood Power, suggesting that he had cultivated the Wood Technique of the Five Elements Escaping Technique.

The man in the black suit bowed slightly to Wu Yan, "Team Leader, did you call for me?"

Wu Yan said, "Feng Rensong, take Xiao Mu to reserve duty."

"Yes, Team Leader."

Responding, Feng Rensong then called out to Xiao Mu, "Xiao Mu, please follow me."

Xiao Mu stood up and bowed to both Wu Yan and Bai Shanjun, "Team Leader Wu, goodbye, Mr. Bai, goodbye!"

Wu Yan nodded slightly, Bai Shanjun smiled and said, "Xiao Mu, I look forward to seeing you come out of reserve duty."

"Let's go!"

Feng Rensong called out to Xiao Mu, appearing quite impatient.

Xiao Mu followed Feng Rensong out of Wu Yan's office, walking all the way out of the administrative district, through the residential area, and finally arrived in front of a house.

"He Qian, come out for a moment."

Feng Rensong called out to the room.

Before long, a slightly overweight, average height young man came out from the room, "Envoy Feng, hello, is there something you need?"

The man's strength was not high; like Xiao Mu, he was at the early stage of the Yin God Realm. He moved swiftly and quickly, but it was clear that he had not cultivated the Escape Art, nor had he fully mastered the Power of the Five Elements. A flickering green light on his body indicated that he had only cultivated Wood Power.

Feng Rensong gave a brief introduction, "He Qian, this is Xiao Mu. Xiao Mu, this is He Qian. He Qian, Xiao Mu is new to reserve duty. Take care of him and teach him what to do."

"Alright, Envoy Feng, you can leave Xiao Mu to me," He Qian replied with a grin, addressing Feng Rensong.

Feng Rensong introduced Xiao Mu with an indifferent tone, "Xiao Mu, this is He Qian. If there's anything you don't understand, just ask him."

After saying this, Feng Rensong took off at great speed, vanishing with a flash of green light as he used the Wood Escape Technique.

"Hello, Xiao Mu, I'm He Qian."

He Qian extended his hand to Xiao Mu.

Xiao Mu shook hands with He Qian, "Hello, He Qian, I'm Xiao Mu."

He Qian called out, "Let's go; I'll take you to the Task Hall for reserve duty to have a look."

"Thank you!"

Xiao Mu expressed his gratitude and followed He Qian.

Consequently, the two retraced the route by which Feng Rensong had led Xiao Mu, heading back toward the direction of the Peony Garden.

"Xiao Mu, you've just joined the task force, haven't you?" He Qian asked with a smile, looking at Xiao Mu.

Xiao Mu nodded.

With a grave expression, He Qian said, "You seem like a decent person, and since Envoy Feng has entrusted you to me, I need to give you some important advice. The most crucial aspect of joining the task force is mastering the Escape Art. This is of paramount importance and supersedes all other techniques."

"Why would you say that?"

Xiao Mu was perplexed upon hearing this, unable to grasp the other man's line of thought instantly.

He Qian explained, "It's quite simple. Do you think the Extraterrestrial Evil Beings are strong? Aren't the abilities of Curse Gate, Five Elements Sect, and Life and Death Sect strange and unpredictable?"

Xiao Mu nodded, "The Extraterrestrial Evil Beings are indeed strong, with very bizarre abilities."

"Exactly."

He Qian spoke with intensity, "The tasks of the task force have a high mortality rate. If you're not careful and encounter a formidable Extraterrestrial Evil Being, total annihilation is possible."

"Therefore, mastering the Escape Art is the most important thing."

"If you've learned the Escape Art, you can still run away if you can't win. But if you haven't learned it, you won't even have the chance to escape."

Thinking of running before even having gone on a mission?

Xiao Mu gave He Qian a strange look upon hearing this.

However, Xiao Mu could understand He Qian's thoughts.

Even if it were him facing a formidable enemy and knowing that defeat was certain, he would certainly think of escaping first.

But to start thinking about escaping before even beginning the task, wasn't that too cowardly?

He asked quizzically, "Don't we, the reserve duty members, not need to execute tasks?"

Hearing this, He Qian turned his head and retorted, "Who told you that?"

Xiao Mu said, "Isn't that the rule?"

He Qian shook his head, looking at Xiao Mu with an expression of regret, "You, how should I put it? You actually believe that?"

"Normally, since we're not strong enough as reserve members, we don't need to carry out tasks, that's true. But what about in a crisis?"

"When it's a matter of life and death, even the Service Hall has to step in and join the battle, let alone us reserve members."

Xiao Mu fell silent upon hearing this, as he truly hadn't considered such extreme situations.

Reserve members indeed didn't need to participate in tasks under normal circumstances, but that changed at moments when the entire human world was at stake. Then, not just reserve members, but every ordinary person would have to join the battle.

He Qian continued, "That's why I say, as part of the task force, the most important thing is to cultivate an Escape Art. All other techniques can be set aside for now, but the Escape Art must be prioritized."

"Even if we don't talk about escaping when we're outmatched, what about when you have the upper hand? If the enemy gets injured and uses an Escape Art to flee, and you can't catch up, isn't that useless too?"

Xiao Mu nodded in complete agreement.

The point was valid; not cultivating an Escape Art would indeed be an issue if you couldn't chase down a defeated enemy.

He asked at once, "How can one obtain the Escape Technique Secret Manuals?"

He Qian smiled and replied, "That's exactly why I'm taking you out. Whether it's the Escape Technique Secret Manuals, the Divine Techniques Secret Manuals, or even Energy Fruits, you need to complete tasks to gain them."

"Of course, as reserve members, the tasks we carry out are different from those of the official members. We generally don't participate in intense battles; most of our tasks are ordinary and safe."

Xiao Mu questioned further, "So completing tasks can earn us secret manuals?"

He Qian shook his head again, "It's not that simple. Our tasks, due to their lack of danger, hardly ever allow someone to gain a secret manual just by completing a single task."

"For us, tasks earn Points. With a certain amount of Points, you can exchange for the corresponding manuals."

"Take the Five Elements Escaping Technique, for example. Except for the Earth Escape Technique, each of the others can be exchanged for one hundred Points."

"One hundred points?"

Xiao Mu asked curiously, "Under normal circumstances, how long would it take to amass one hundred Points? How many tasks need to be completed?"

He Qian replied, "It varies. I'm considered quick. It's only been a year since I joined the reserve duty, and I'm about to obtain the Wood Escape Technique manual. If all goes well, it should be within a year."

"Some geniuses are much faster than me; it only took them six months to earn a secret manual for an Escape Art through tasks."

"Six months?"

Xiao Mu sank into thought, his expression growing more solemn.

Half a year to obtain an Escape Art manual might not seem too long, but to Xiao Mu, it felt like an eternity.

The key issue was the continuous tasks over half a year.

And judging by He Qian's tone, the tasks for reserve members were somewhat special, possibly those that were more tedious and complex.

Compared to carrying out such tasks, Xiao Mu would rather choose battle.

"Ahem, someone is coming."

Suddenly, He Qian raised his voice and called out towards the distance, "Shi Meng, Yue Hui, come over here for a moment, I want to introduce you to someone."

From the Roadside over to their left, a man and a woman approached. The male was skinny with a naive look, while the female had a good figure but an average face.

Both had strengths on par with Xiao Mu, at the Early Stage of Yin God Realm, and like He Qian, had cultivated only one of the Five Elements Power.

The male, Yue Hui, had the Sharp Gold Power, while the female, Shi Meng, had the True Fire Force.

Upon hearing the call, Yue Hui and Shi Meng walked over and joined Xiao Mu and He Qian.

The lanky and naïve-looking Yue Hui eyed Xiao Mu and asked curiously, "Old He, who is this?"

He Qian enthusiastically introduced them, "Shi Meng, Yue Hui, this is Xiao Mu, a new member of the reserve duty. Xiao Mu, this is Shi Meng, and this is Yue Hui, my friends. Get to know each other."

Xiao Mu and Yue Hui, Shi Meng exchanged greetings and quickly became familiar with each other.

Xiao Mu seized the moment to scrutinize Yue Hui and Shi Meng, swiftly understanding their situation.

Like He Qian, Yue Hui and Shi Meng hadn't cultivated any Divine Techniques as of yet.

In this respect, they were no match for Xiao Mu, who had at least cultivated the Five Elements divine light.

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