Things happened so suddenly that Lin Qi hadn't even recovered from the surprise of getting "Izumi" when Xiao Zhi's sudden voice startled him, almost causing him to stumble at the doorway.
"What's wrong, Lin Qi?" Koushirou, seeing this, asked with concern.
"Huh?" Lin Qi snapped out of his daze and quickly said, "Teacher, it's nothing, I'll go back to my room first."
Without waiting for Koushirou's reply, Lin Qi hurriedly ran to his room with "Izumi."
"This child!" Koushirou shook his head with a wry smile, not paying much attention, assuming Lin Qi was just too excited about getting "Izumi."
Back in his room, Lin Qi tossed "Izumi" aside and quickly asked Xiao Zhi,
"Xiao Zhi, has the system found a parallel world?"
"Yes, host, the system has just found a parallel world. Would you like to immediately begin the time travel mission?" Xiao Zhi said.
"Of course! Wait a minute!" Lin Qi, who was about to agree, suddenly stopped, as if he had thought of something, and asked, "When I travel to another world, what will happen to me in this world? Will I be in danger?"
"Please rest assured, host. When you travel, your body will merge into the role you are playing. There will be no danger in this world. Moreover, time in the main world will be frozen while you are performing the role-playing mission, so you don't need to worry about how long you will stay in the mission space," Xiao Zhi replied.
"Then what else is there to say? Of course, I'll perform the mission immediately." With the system's guarantee, there were no more worries. Lin Qi said immediately.
"Ding! Host accepts role-playing mission. The mission world is Jin Yong's martial arts world, 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes.' Since this is your first time performing a role-playing mission, the system will lower the mission requirements and enter the mission world a period of time earlier than the main storyline. Now, please choose one of the following three roles to perform."
Lin Qi looked down and saw three random roles appear below:
1. Monk Jueyuan, the guardian of the Shaolin Temple's Sutra Pavilion.
2. Yin Zhiping, a third-generation disciple of the Quanzhen Sect.
3. Lu Guanying, the young master of Guiyun Manor.
"Hmm, not bad at all, all from prestigious sects." Lin Qi thought to himself as he looked at the three characters on the panel.
These three characters could be considered a perk, all having good backgrounds and status, which was probably why Lin Qi was undertaking his first system mission. Otherwise, if it were like this in the future, Lin Qi would be overjoyed.
Among the three characters, Monk Jueyuan was a Shaolin monk and the future Tai Chi master Zhang Sanfeng and Emei patriarch Guo Xiang's master. The Nine Yang Manual was passed down by him before his death.
Yin Zhiping goes without saying, the famous Dragon Knight, a third-generation direct disciple of the Quanzhen Sect. If it weren't for the stain on the Dragon Knight's life, Yin Zhiping would have become the third-generation leader of the Quanzhen Sect.
Finally, Lu Guanying was no simple character either. His father was Lu Chengfeng, the fourth disciple of Huang Yaoshi of Peach Blossom Island, making him a descendant of a prestigious family.
However, after thinking about it for a moment, Lin Qi ruled out Lu Guanying first, as he didn't have any outstanding qualities in the original work. Although his father was Huang Yaoshi's disciple, he was expelled from the sect by Huang Yaoshi and, adhering to the sect's rules, never taught his son a single move of Peach Blossom Island's martial arts. Therefore, this character had little potential for development.
Between the remaining two characters, Lin Qi considered for a long time before finally choosing the Dragon Knight.
While choosing Jueyuan would make obtaining the *Nine Yang Manual* readily available, Jueyuan was just a novice monk at this time, not much older than Lin Qi. Although he could take the opportunity to find the *Nine Yang Manual* hidden within the *Lankavatara Sutra*, other aspects would be less convenient.
A young Shaolin monk, during the Shaolin Temple's closure period, had no way to leave Shaolin, increasing the difficulty of the mission.
Furthermore, Jueyuan was only guarding ordinary Shaolin scriptures; besides the *Nine Yang Manual*, there was no chance to come into contact with anything like the *Yi Jin Jing* or the Seventy-Two Shaolin Arts. Who knew if Shaolin Temple even had a Sweeping Monk or similar figures now? Lin Qi dared not have any ulterior motives.
On the other hand, while Yin Zhiping wasn't exactly a good person, he had many advantages.
First, as an outstanding direct disciple of the Quanzhen Sect, Yin Zhiping's martial arts skills should already be quite good, which Lin Qi could directly obtain after transmigrating.
Moreover, the Quanzhen Sect's martial arts were also very good. Although they didn't have peerless manuals like the *Nine Yang Manual*, it's important to know that the Ancient Tomb Sect was right next to the Quanzhen Sect, where Chongyang had left behind fragments of the *Nine Yin Manual*, which recorded many advanced martial arts techniques.
So, overall, it seemed that playing Yin Zhiping had more advantages.
"Alright, I choose Yin Zhiping." Lin Qi made his decision.
"Ding! Host character selection complete, transmigration to begin immediately."
"Whoosh!"
A dazzling golden light suddenly flashed in the room, and when the light subsided, Lin Qi had disappeared from the room.
Zhongnan Mountain, Quanzhen Sect!
In an ordinary disciple's room, a young man who was meditating suddenly changed his expression and abruptly opened his eyes.
"This is... Yin Zhiping's room?" Lin Qi looked at the antique decorations around him, the portrait of the Three Pure Ones in the center of the room, and the Taoist mantras hanging all over the place. Lin Qi knew he had successfully transmigrated, and this must be Yin Zhiping's room.
Looking down at his body, Lin Qi found that he had become a young man of about twenty years old, dressed in a Taoist robe.
This made Lin Qi's eyes well up with tears! From a young man of about twenty years old to a three or four-year-old toddler, Lin Qi had had a very frustrating time these past few years.
Just as Lin Qi was getting used to his new body, Xiao Zhi's voice suddenly appeared.
"Ding! Host has successfully transmigrated to the world of 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes'. A world mission has been issued. The mission type is a training mission.
Mission content: Send a message over a thousand miles. Success will grant you one of the abilities or items of the character you played. Failure will result in the system automatically separating from the host and erasing all of the host's memories."
What? Erasing memories?
Lin Qi was completely speechless this time. This punishment wasn't annihilation, but erasing all memories was too harsh. Wasn't this equivalent to becoming an idiot? "Are all the system's punishments this harsh?
And what's with this 'long-distance message transmission'? Can't you be a little clearer?"
Just as Lin Qi was about to ask for more details, someone knocked on the door.
Lin Qi opened the door and saw a young Taoist boy with rosy lips and white teeth standing outside.
Upon seeing Lin Qi, the boy immediately said, "Senior Brother Yin, Master wants to see you. He wants you to go to him right away."
"Okay, you go back first. I'll pack up and go." Although he didn't know what was going on, Lin Qi still answered as Yin Zhiping always did.
"Okay, Senior Brother Yin, hurry up." After saying that, the boy skipped away. He was still a child after all; even as a Taoist, he couldn't settle down.
Without time to inquire about Xiao Zhi's mission, Lin Qi quickly tidied himself up and rushed to his master Qiu Chuji's room.
The moment Lin Qi transmigrated, Yin Zhiping's memories already belonged to him. These memories were like movie clips; Lin Qi could access them at any time without being affected by Yin Zhiping's recollections.
Arriving hurriedly outside Qiu Chuji's room, Lin Qi composed himself and knocked on the door as Yin Zhiping always did. After receiving permission, he pushed the door open and entered.
"Zhiping's here," Qiu Chuji, sitting cross-legged on a futon, said as Lin Qi entered.
"Master, what brings you here?" Lin Qi asked respectfully.
"Well, it's like this, I have a task for you. Tomorrow, pack your things and go to the desert. Find the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan and their disciple Guo Jing, and deliver a letter for me." With that, Qiu Chuji handed Lin Qi a letter.
Holding the envelope, Lin Qi stared blankly, lost in thought.
Holy crap, isn't this just a long-distance message delivery? That idiot Xiao Zhi didn't even explain it clearly.
Looking at Lin Qi, who was lost in thought holding the envelope, Qiu Chuji continued, "Besides sending you to deliver a message, if you encounter Guo Jing, try to test his martial arts skills. See how good they are and come back to tell me."
This is to gather intelligence! Lin Qi thought to himself.
There was a similar passage in the original novel where Yin Zhiping easily defeated Guo Jing in the desert and reported back to Qiu Chuji. However, Guo Jing unexpectedly experienced a power spike in the later stages, his martial arts increasing dramatically. Qiu Chuji was even more unlucky, having taken in Yang Kang, whose character was questionable, and ultimately conceding defeat before even fighting him.
After accepting Qiu Chuji's task, Lin Qi returned to his room to prepare for tomorrow's trip, while also considering his next move.
Delivering a message was an excellent opportunity; he could leave the Quanzhen Sect without any excuse.
But asking Lin Qi to go directly to the desert to deliver the message was clearly impossible!
As a transmigrator with various advantages of foresight, how could he let this trip go to waste?
First, the Chongyang inscription in the Tomb of the Living Dead is essential. Located in the Zhongnan Mountains, it's within Lin Qi's reach, making it his first objective.
Besides that, the Sword Tomb of Dugu Qiubai outside Xiangyang and the Bodhi Serpent there seem worth considering, though it would require a detour and some time.
However, this long-distance message-transfer mission has no time limit, so he has plenty of time to spare.
Then there's the Quanzhen Sect's *Xiantian Gong*. Although the current Seven Masters of Quanzhen don't know it, Lin Qi doesn't believe Wang Chongyang didn't leave behind a legacy. It's more likely that the Seven Masters don't meet the cultivation requirements, hence their lack of practice.
However, obtaining the *Xiantian Gong* would likely require the approval of the Seven Masters. After completing his mission, Lin Qi would probably have to leave this world, making that hope slim.
Having decided on his next plan, and seeing that it wasn't late, Lin Qi lay down to sleep. He still had a long journey ahead tomorrow; ancient travel wasn't as comfortable as modern travel, and Lin Qi needed to conserve his energy for the rest of the trip.
(End of Chapter)