With the arrival of new students, Celestial Academy remained unchanged. Everyone was busy with their own affairs, leaving no time for anything else.
Especially the new students - these days, it was as if their feet barely touched the ground.
But there was one group that stood out: Qin Yang and his companions.
"Each guild's mission is different. We... seem to have no mission at all!" Lou Mengyu frowned, looking at her Celestial Ten Directions Token.
Missions were supposed to be delivered to everyone's tokens, but Qin Yang's group found none on theirs.
"Why?" Qin Yang asked, puzzled.
"Could it be because we're new students?" Jin Wanshan suggested.
"Maybe it's because we run an inn. Maintaining daily operations seems like an ongoing task without a deadline," Wu Xiaoya suddenly exclaimed, her eyes lighting up. "Fatty, you really snagged a great deal!"
Jin Wanshan burst into laughter, looking quite pleased with himself. "To be honest, I didn't know about this advantage either. I just knew Celestial Academy only has one inn, and I stayed here once with my old man..."
The group's continuous praise nearly made Jin Wanshan float away with delight.
"This might not be entirely good news," Qin Yang said, his face darkening. "We don't need to complete missions, but we still won't earn any points!"
Lou Mengyu calculated, "Establishing a guild requires a thousand points monthly. Running this inn means we'll need to pay a thousand points every month after the first. And that's not counting Qin Yang..."
The group exchanged troubled glances.
Though the inn was remote, it stood alone as the only establishment in the area, its scale impressive. The operating costs were even higher than those of the shops in the town center.
"I think we might have overlooked something," Wu Xiaoya said. "Has our guild actually been established? What's its name?"
All eyes turned to Qin Yang, who scratched his head. "It's established. I registered yesterday. Didn't you check the Celestial Ten Directions Token?"
Everyone activated their Celestial Ten Directions Tokens, summoning small array screens.
The screens indeed displayed the guild's name, along with each member's assigned position.
Everyone exchanged glances, their faces contorted with peculiar expressions. Lou Mengyu looked at Qin Yang, at a loss for words.
"Is there a problem?" Qin Yang produced the Celestial Ten Directions Token. With a flick of his divine will, a screen materialized. He gazed at his masterpiece and nodded repeatedly.
Guild: Red Dust Inn
Members:
Shopkeeper: Qin Yang
Shopkeeper's Wife & Accountant: Lou Mengyu
Greeter: Wu Xiaoya
Waitress: Yun Ling'er
Server: Qu Qingge
Kitchen Helper: Wei Linglong
Assistant: Jin Wanshan
"Why? Why am I the assistant?" Jin Wanshan protested vehemently. "Assistants are supposed to clean up and wash dishes!"
"Because you're steady," Qin Yang replied.
"That's not a compliment! I'm not doing it!" Jin Wanshan fumed, but Qin Yang simply ignored him.
Qu Qingge also furrowed her brow. "A server?"
Qin Yang nodded. "Yes, and a tray carrier too. It'll hone your movement skills."
"Why am I the waitress?" Yun Ling'er pouted.
"Because you're lively and charming. Do you want Wei Linglong to do it instead? She's all cold and serious..."
"So you're making me a kitchen helper?" Wei Linglong's expression turned sour.
"Hostess..." Wu Xiaoya looked at Qin Yang with suspicion. "You can't possibly be using this lady's beauty to attract customers, can you?"
The moment she spoke, the atmosphere grew even more awkward.
Everyone turned to look at Wu Xiaoya, then at Qin Yang, their gazes filled with contempt.
Wu Xiaoya's red dress clung tightly to her curvaceous figure, revealing a daring amount of snow-white skin that accentuated her sensuality.
While such attire might be acceptable in other contexts, it inevitably invited inappropriate thoughts when used as a hostess uniform.
Qin Yang clapped his hands. "See? I knew you'd react like this. This is exactly the effect I wanted. We don't need to change anything about ourselves to find our proper roles."
His words instantly offended everyone present.
"Explain yourself! What do you mean by 'proper roles'?" Jin Wanshan rolled up his sleeves.
"What's wrong with being lively and cute?" Yun Ling'er pouted, her face full of wounded innocence.
"A kitchen helper? Do we even have a chef?" Wei Linglong snorted coldly.
"Of course I am! I'm both the boss and the head chef!" Qin Yang puffed out his chest.
Everyone looked him up and down. This guy could actually cook?
Qin Yang rolled his eyes. "What do you think you've been eating these past few days? Takeout?"
"But you were getting food from the cafeteria..."
"Bullshit! I only went there to grab ingredients. If you don't believe me, go check the kitchen—see if there's anything but raw materials!" Qin Yang spat.
The group stormed into the kitchen, finding clear evidence of cooking. But beside the small sink sat a mountain of dirty dishes.
"That explains it," Jin Wanshan said, smacking his lips as he thought back. "The food these past few days was... different. I kept wondering how the Celestial Academy cafeteria's chef suddenly got so good..." He deliberately avoided looking at the dish pile.
"Wait, you can actually cook?" Jin Wanshan's eyes widened.
Qin Yang sighed. "You still don't understand me at all. How many times have I said it? I'm omnipotent..."
Cooking? A piece of cake! I can even copy the poison from a glance at the elbow joint—what's a whole hock compared to that?
During the journey from Northern Plains back to Celestial Academy, Qin Yang had already replicated the recipes for every dish and beverage served on the flying ship. If only his points weren't so scarce that he couldn't afford better ingredients, he wouldn't need to... ahem, "borrow" supplies from the cafeteria!
"Every guild has a motto. You didn't just scribble something random for ours, did you?" Wei Linglong frowned.
The name "Red Dust Inn" was tolerable enough. After all, many campus guilds were named after their establishments. They did operate an inn, didn't they?
Everyone hurried to examine the text, and their jaws dropped one after another.
"Morning swordsmen roam Kunlun's heights,
Red dust and white snow mark the seasons' flight.
A pot holds heaven's eight thousand dreams,
In drunken eyes, kings and nobles mean nothing."
"This..."
"My goodness..."
"Is this our motto?"
"Did Qin Yang write this?"
Qin Yang chuckled, proudly patting his hands. "Stay calm, stay calm. Just basic culture, basic culture."
Qu Qingge took a deep breath. That slogan was simply too domineering!
Jin Wanshan swallowed hard. This time, he was truly convinced!
Wu Xiaoya and the others kept savoring the words. Considering their guild and inn were named Red Dust Inn, the more they thought about it, the more brilliant it seemed.
"Huh? A new quest?" Qin Yang paused, glancing at the Celestial Ten Directions Token.
Quest: Accommodate thirty-two members of the Ye Family for ten days starting tomorrow.
Everyone exchanged glances. No wonder they hadn't received normal guild quests - this was the kind of task they'd been given...
"There's no mention of rewards," Qin Yang said, scratching his head.
Jin Wanshan replied, "When the Ye Family comes, those points should be from what we earn from the Ye Family's Golden Hall."
Qin Yang nodded. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's get ready for tomorrow's reception."
Turning toward the pool, Qin Yang smiled. "Go wash the dishes!"