Of course, relying on just one’s own strength, it’s not easy to dig to depths of a hundred meters underground.

He wondered if there might be fragments of Spirit Iron Ore stretching out from the vein on the surface of Yongquan Town, even if they were just tiny bits.

Thus, Liou Yuan utilized his Evil Eyes and walked several laps in Yongquan Town. Using his power, he did find two pieces of ore of different sizes in a stone-built wall of a local’s house.

The ores were green in color, and under the observation of the Evil Eyes, a faint green light flashed, indicating they were not ordinary items.

These were the exact Spirit Iron Ore Veins detected underground by the Fixed Star Compass in Yongquan Town.

The residents of Yongquan Town didn’t recognize the value; even if scattered ores were unearthed, they didn’t take them seriously and used them as ordinary stones for wall-building.

"Quite lucky for me." Liou Yuan carefully extracted the two ores from the wall, planning to return to Five Extremes Mountain to consult Qiu Ming’s brother.

Thus, the matter in Yongquan Town was settled. It only took a night’s time to deal with the Baby-eating Mink.

Including the one day Liou Yuan spent searching for ores in Yongquan Town, it was just a day and a night.

Liou Yuan and Qiu Ming bid farewell to the people of Yongquan Town, escorted several miles away by its residents before returning.

During the journey, Liou Yuan calculated the gains from this trip.

From the Baby-eating Mink, he obtained three artifact refining materials: skin, claws, and teeth.

The tail could be used as a spiritual brush for talismans.

A dozen bottles of evil blood that could be used to make ink for talismans.

The greatest gain was the clue to the Miniature Spiritual Ore.

Along with the reward from the Fixed Star Compass for exterminating the evil, the Magic Jade Scroll named "Treading Flowing Waves".

Aside from the uncertain value of the miniature ore vein, it’s not counted among them.

Just the combined gains from this alone exceed the merit points earned by a mid-stage Qi Cultivation disciple in a year.

And all these gains were entirely thanks to the Fixed Star Compass.

"Every opportunity to use the Fixed Star Compass must not be wasted."

"Missing an opportunity might mean missing a great fortune." Liou Yuan’s resolve strengthened within to fill the Fixed Star Compass before leaving Five Extremes Mountain again next time.

Due to the smooth completion of this task, both Liou Yuan and Qiu Ming were in a good mood.

While heading back, they weren’t in a rush to travel.

With the increasing wind and snow along the way affecting them, the two of them decided to find a secluded snow cave to rest for a bit.

After two consecutive days of travel to Yongquan Town and a night of fighting the evil, they hadn’t got any rest, making them somewhat weary.

Qiu Ming fell asleep holding the Yellow Jade Axe, snoring like thunder.

Liou Yuan, half-squinting, confirmed Qiu Ming was already asleep, then reached into his sleeve.

He took out the Magic Jade Scroll that recorded the reward for eliminating the evil this time, "Treading Flowing Waves".

The jade scroll was blue-green in color, with a moist texture when held.

From its name and appearance, it wasn’t hard to guess that the "Treading Flowing Waves" magic jade scroll must be a water-element magic that Liou Yuan could practice.

"Heh, the magic jade scrolls in the library of Five Extremes Mountain aren’t cheap. Even Grade E magic costs two or three merit points."

"Grade D costs seven or eight points, or even more than a dozen."

"Let me see what quality this Treading Flowing Waves holds."

Before practicing, Liou Yuan routinely uses the Fixed Star Compass to appraise it.

Fortunately, the Fixed Star Compass still had some residual star energy left after absorbing the energy of the Baby-eating Mink. After a flash, the appraisal result for "Treading Flowing Waves" appeared before Liou Yuan’s eyes.

[Name] Treading Flowing Waves

[Category] Magic Jade Scroll

[Quality] Grade D Superior

[Effect] Water Body Skill, when performing it appears to tread waves, either swift or slow, like flowing water and difficult to grasp.

If performed in aquatic areas or during rainy days, its power is even greater, comparable to C-level body techniques.

"It’s a body technique!" Liou Yuan’s eyes lit up.

Body skill magic is rare among many types of magic, its value far exceeds other kinds of magic.

Likewise, the difficulty of practice is higher than other magic.

But if mastered, whether for offense or defense, it will bring great convenience.

This time’s task for killing the Baby-eating Mink revealed Liou Yuan’s speed disadvantage.

If the Baby-eating Mink hadn’t been careless and turned to look at Liou Yuan, giving him a chance to use his Evil Eyes, who knows how long he’d be stuck with that beast?

Previously, Liou Yuan was troubled about encountering such speedy evil creatures or opponents again, as his Profound Brilliance Sword was too cumbersome to get close, inevitably putting him at a disadvantage.

Now "Treading Flowing Waves" has arrived.

If I can master this Treading Flowing Waves, Liou Yuan’s shortcomings will be addressed, and his strength will skyrocket.

"Still, a top-grade skill jade slip in category D."

"This time, the Fixed Star Compass is finally being generous."

The more Liou Yuan looked at it, the happier he felt.

Although it’s not an elixir to enhance cultivation, the value of this Treading Flowing Waves already exceeds that of the Micro-Star Elixir by tenfold.

If taken out for sale, Liou Yuan estimates, the value is at least not below a C-level Skill or Grade C Breathing Skill.

After all, body skill jade slips are rare items, their value has always remained high on Five Extremes Mountain, far surpassing skills of the same quality.

Of course, Liou Yuan wouldn’t sell it, even if he masters it.

Having someone practice it and use it against him is a minor concern.

What he really fears is someone with ulterior motives buying it and discovering a flaw in the Treading Flowing Waves — that would make him a laughingstock.

"Better practice well, starting today."

Muttering to himself, Liou Yuan didn’t want to waste a moment and pressed the Treading Flowing Waves jade slip to his forehead.

...

The white snow covered everything, and the howling wind that had been roaring for days finally stopped.

The heavy snow had stopped too, and it was a good time to hurry on the road.

Qiu Ming, carrying the Yellow Jade Axe, stepped with big strides, each step sinking slightly into the snowy landscape between the mountains.

Crash! Suddenly, the sound of water flowing erupted behind him.

Liou Yuan was seen shooting towards him from behind.

A cluster of azure light was swirling around his legs, rippling like flowing water.

With the support of that azure light, Liou Yuan was moving three to four times faster than his usual hurried pace.

Before the sound faded entirely, he had already surpassed Qiu Ming in front, his body streaking across the snow-covered ground in an elusive trajectory, racing ahead.

This place wasn’t a smooth stretch of land.

Ahead were some snow-covered pine trees and rocks hidden in the snow.

Liou Yuan was about to crash into a half-human tall green rock.

"Swift!" Liou Yuan shouted, desperately trying to control the light under his feet to change direction, but being too unfamiliar with the technique, he was a moment too slow, and fiercely hurtled towards the giant rock.

Bang! Accompanied by a dull thud.

Liou Yuan’s upper body slammed hard against the cold hard green rock.

Fortunately, his flesh was strong; his body was unharmed, but the rock was cracked by his headbutt.

Liou Yuan shook his head, dazed from the impact, and shouted in pain in the snow: "It hurts so much!"

Without even lifting his eyes, Qiu Ming behind him seemed well accustomed to Liou Yuan’s strange antics, striding past him without any reaction.

When leaving, he didn’t forget to toss a mocking glance back at Liou Yuan, saying in a muffled voice, "If you weren’t into Body Refining, you would’ve been smashed to pieces over the last couple of days."

"Don’t mind me!" Liou Yuan waved him off, clutching the left side of his face, which was numbed from the collision, signaling him to continue.

"I’ll catch up soon."

"With you traveling like this, we’ll reach spring by the time you’re back." Qiu Ming pursed his lips in complaint, but his expression remained upbeat.

The evening they arrived in Yongquan Town, they had slain the Baby-eating Mink, saving quite a bit of time.

The time spent on the journey was no big deal.

With this thought, Qiu Ming patted the Baby-eating Mink head attached to his waist belt. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

In the freezing cold, the Baby-eating Mink’s head had turned into a block of ice; there was no worry about it rotting and smelling.

After Qiu Ming left, Liou Yuan slowly got up from the snow, brushed off the snow debris sticking to him and smiled bitterly: "Body techniques are indeed hard to refine."

They had been traveling for two days by now.

By normal speed, they should have arrived at Five Extremes Mountain.

However, due to Liou Yuan practicing Treading Flowing Waves the entire journey, the schedule was delayed.

Still, after two days of practice, Liou Yuan had not managed to get the hang of Treading Flowing Waves.

Luckily, Liou Yuan is patient.

Complaining once, he then began channeling his spiritual power toward his legs again.

Once more, a bright azure color appeared around his legs.

"Again!" he growled as his recently paused figure shot forth once more.