Qiu Can heard the dismissive tone Liou Yuan had about the spirit iron ore. As an artifact refiner, he had a special fondness for various types of spirit iron. Fearful that Liou Yuan might waste resources, he added a line:

"If there’s enough quantity to refine dozens of pounds of cyan iron, it would still be useful."

"Mr. Liou, don’t underestimate small money."

Liou Yuan cupped his hands, continuing the act, and said repeatedly: "Alright, alright, I’ll go back and count carefully. If I can gather a hundred pounds worth of cyan iron, I’ll come see Brother Qiu Can."

Eventually, he pretended as if nothing had happened, sat down with Qiu Ming, and talked about their experiences on this journey.

Qiu Can listened and praised them continuously.

He said that ever since joining, he was stuck in the Artifact Refining Pavilion all day and rarely had the chance to go out and explore.

After they chatted for a while, Qiu Can delivered the merit points for purchasing the Baby-eating Mink materials and made an appointment with Liou Yuan for picking up the talisman pen. Then, he ran back to the Forging Room to continue his work.

Liou Yuan and his companion also left the bustling Artifact Refining Pavilion.

Liou Yuan summed up his gains from this outing: a total of eight merit points. After deducting two merit points for crafting the talisman pen, he netted six merit points.

Dozens of bottles of demon blood.

And a book of Treading Flowing Waves magic.

"To really make money, you have to take on missions inside Shoushan Tower." Liou Yuan glanced in the direction of Shoushan Tower and commented loudly.

He spoke without much thought, but Qiu Ming took it to heart.

This time, having earned eight merit points from the outing with Liou Yuan, Qiu Ming had little interest in missions outside Shoushan Tower.

Immediately, he leaned forward with his large face and said with a smile, "That’s easy. After some time, we can go out again."

Liou Yuan had anticipated this reaction from Qiu Ming for a while, raised his eyelids, and said irritably, "Right now, improving our strength is the most important task."

"There’s a lot of profit in Shoushan Tower missions, but there’s also risk."

"Besides, not every mission will go as smoothly as this one."

"The fastest and most stable source of merit points is still the sect’s annual boundary-breaking reward."

"I only went out to earn merit points for cultivation resources, so don’t lose sight of the primary goal."

Qiu Ming was left speechless, his mouth flattened, unable to offer a single rebuttal.

"Let’s go back and train." Liou Yuan was too lazy to speak further with Qiu Ming, patting the pocket holding the cyan jade ore, his eyes full of anticipation.

He was just waiting for Liou Zhen to return so he could inform him about the cyan iron ore - now that would be a windfall.

He believed his brother could handle everything properly.

As for the Shoushan Tower missions, Liou Yuan wasn’t going to give up on those either.

Whenever the Fixed Star Compass was recharged, he planned to go out again.

"Manage your time well, maximize returns, and balance training with earning." Liou Yuan muttered these words to himself.

Reaping the rewards, Liou Yuan and Qiu Ming descended from the Fifth Peak, smiles on their faces.

However, when they returned to Xiaopei Mountain.

The sight in front of them froze the smiles they had carried all the way back.

What was once a picturesque Xiaopei Mountain, lush with pine trees, was now a scene of devastation.

The mountain was full of battle scars, with dents and pits everywhere on its surface.

Many of the century-old greenwoods had been uprooted, and the standing huts had collapsed one by one.

The group of Xiaopei Mountain disciples, who had joined the same time as Liou Yuan, were hauling timber from another peak.

Some seven or eight Xiaopei Mountain disciples were lying directly in the woods, groaning intermittently.

Liou Yuan’s eyes turned, looking toward his own abode.

It clearly hadn’t escaped destruction either.

The straw hut he had just built less than a month ago was turned over again, and this time even the foundation had been dug up.

"Which damned son of a bitch did this!" 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Just moments ago, Liou Yuan had a genial smile, but the next moment, he was loudly cursing.

He had only been in the sect for two or three months and already lost his hut twice. No one could bear that.

Qiu Ming’s hut hadn’t escaped either. Looking at his destroyed abode, he also shouted angrily, cursing non-stop: "Which son of a bitch did this!"

Liou Yuan and Qiu Ming both had fiery tempers and were not the type to suffer losses quietly.

Their shouting immediately attracted the attention of the Xiaopei Mountain disciples.

Everyone turned to look at the two returning from completing the Shoushan Tower mission. Previously worried and sorrowful, they seemed to find a pillar of support and abandoned what they were doing.

Even the few lying in the woods struggled to get up and approached the two strongest disciples amongst their group.

The first to rush over was the chubby kid He Rui, whose hut had been taken by Qiu Ming.

His eyes were blackened, his face bruised and battered, and he wailed as he approached: "Mr. Liou, Mr. Qiu, you’re finally back."

"Who did it!" Liou Yuan pointed at his straw hut, his eyes full of questioning.

He Rui quickly explained the cause and effect in an anxious voice, teary-eyed: "Mr. Liou, as soon as you left, the disciples from Little Cyan Valley, led by Bao Yufeng, attacked Xiaopei Mountain."

"You know, these are the days when cultivation resources are distributed. They not only stole all our Xiaopei Mountain star stones but also destroyed our houses."

"If you didn’t come back, Xiaopei Mountain would have been doomed."

"Who the hell is Bao Yufeng, and who pissed him off!" Liou Yuan’s face was briefly filled with rage, but he quickly calmed down, glancing coldly over at the Xiaopei Mountain disciples.