On the seventh day after Liou Yuan and his companion took on the task of dealing with the Baby-eating Mink, they left the Five Extremes Mountain.

Thump!

In the snow, Liou Yuan crashed headfirst into a withered tree that he couldn’t dodge in time, smashing it to pieces.

Covered in twigs and snow, Liou Yuan struggled to his feet where the branches had collapsed.

Disheveled and with a face full of dust, Liou Yuan looked up to see the mountain gate of the Five Extremes Mountain, shrouded in thick fog, had appeared before him.

What was supposed to be a two-day journey took Liou Yuan and his companion five days.

On the way, Liou Yuan became obsessed with practicing the Treading Flowing Waves technique, and he ended up causing havoc to countless flowers and plants along the road, with his attire torn to shreds by his numerous collisions.

Of course, his efforts were not in vain, as his five days of practice yielded some results.

Although he had not yet mastered Treading Flowing Waves, he had begun to grasp some of its key points.

"It’s like sailing on water; beneath the seemingly calm surface, there are movements and currents."

"You must go with the flow, rather than simply use brute force to control the course of the Flowing Waves."

"Within half a month, I will surely master this body technique."

Mutering this motivational speech to himself, Liou Yuan casually tied his messy black hair and turned to look at Qiu Ming, who was watching his disheveled state from the side.

The latter was quite pleased to see Liou Yuan in a mess, always smiling. Upon noticing Liou Yuan’s gaze, he smirked to conceal the grin on his face.

Liou Yuan, of course, knew what Qiu Ming was thinking.

Surely, after being defeated by Liou Yuan’s Lion’s Roar Spell last time, he had been holding grudges in his heart, so Liou Yuan said with displeasure, "Let’s head back."

Fifth Peak, Shoushan Tower.

Returning here with the head of the Baby-eating Mink, Liou Yuan and Qiu Ming inevitably caused a commotion among the newly admitted disciples outside the tower.

They were all newly admitted disciples this year.

They could only take on odd jobs outside.

Qiu Ming and Liou Yuan had already returned with the head of the fiend they were tasked to hunt, and they had completed the task. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

No wonder everyone was so surprised.

Luckily, Qiu Ming was quite well-known as one of the seven Five-Star Star Acupoint disciples who joined the Five Extremes Mountain this year, so many recognized him by his appearance.

Once his identity was confirmed, the sense of astonishment slightly eased.

Turning their gaze toward Liou Yuan filled with envy.

Obviously, they considered Liou Yuan as a lucky person who had attached himself to Qiu Ming.

After all, Liou Yuan’s reputation was confined to Xiaopei Mountain.

Among the many circles of new disciples surrounding the Fifth Peak, his name had yet to spread.

"I’m so envious, if only a senior from the Five-Star Star Acupoint could take me on a task, I would wake up laughing even from a nap."

"What luck! Those Five-Star Star Acupoint geniuses have their noses up in the air and are indifferent to others. Yet, this Qiu Ming seems approachable; why don’t we give it a try and get to know him?"

Amongst the chatter, some clever disciples spoke bluntly and sarcastically to those with the notion of clinging on, "If they take him along, it proves he’s valuable."

"Would any Five-Star Star Acupoint disciple bring a burden on such a dangerous task for no reason?"

"If you don’t believe it, why not try and see; you’ll surely face rejection."

...

Liou Yuan disregarded the discussions around him, instead focusing his gaze on a disciple with an unusual voice in the crowd.

It was a young boy with a medicine pouch hanging at his waist, and dirt on his face, clearly having just returned from gathering herbs.

Of course, he only glanced casually without the intent to converse, following Qiu Ming closely into Shoushan Tower with long strides.

Their receptionist was still that charming senior sister with a beauty mole at the corner of her mouth.

The senior sister fiddled for a while with the head of the Baby-eating Mink placed on the table by Qiu Ming, confirming it with a surprised expression.

The difficulty with this Baby-eating Mink lay in its expert concealment technique and its speed that surpassed ordinary mid-stage Qi Cultivation fiends.

Although this fiend was at the Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer Realm, if it chose to hide, even she might not have been able to locate and kill it quickly.

She sincerely praised Qiu Ming, "Mr. Qiu truly is the cream of the crop, dealing with this menace in just seven days."

While speaking, the female disciple continued her work, processing the waist tokens of Qiu Ming and Liou Yuan for record-keeping.

Busy as she was, she cast flirtatious glances at Qiu Ming and casually inquired, "I wonder how Mr. Qiu managed to flush it out?"

Qiu Ming grinned, pointing to Liou Yuan beside him, "It was thanks to this guy, Liou Yuan, or else I would have been played around by that creature."

Perhaps hoping for more interaction with this senior sister, Qiu Ming embellished the situation.

Describing how the Baby-eating Mink had disguised itself in a child’s skin and lurked beside him.

How if not for Liou Yuan’s timely warning, he would have been in great trouble, and such.

This was the first time the female disciple truly looked at Liou Yuan.

Since the two entered Shoushan Tower until they completed the task exchange, the female disciple’s thoughts were entirely focused on Qiu Ming, her intentions evident.

But hearing Qiu Ming’s words, she finally noticed this ’plain’ disciple.

The senior sister with the beauty mole seemed to express herself through her eyes, looking at Liou Yuan with a half-smile.

Liou Yuan had no interest in getting involved with her, pretending not to see her gaze, and merely smiled.

The female disciple refrained from saying much more, moving on to the matter of how to distribute the merit points between the two.

"Of course, fifty-fifty," Qiu Ming replied naturally.

If Qiu Ming’s previous words seemed polite to the female disciple, now they sounded sincere.