"Do you want to go to the Alchemy Pavilion?" After bringing Liou Yuan and the others back to Xiaopei Mountain, Fang Yu glanced at both Liou Yuan and Qiu Ming.

Among all the disciples of Xiaopei Mountain, only two were the most severely injured.

Liou Yuan was actually all right; there were just three bloody gashes on his back that kept bleeding, which just looked scary.

He practiced the Five Mansions Star Gazing Breathing Skill. Although he hadn’t reached the point where swords and blades couldn’t harm him, these injuries didn’t really amount to much. With a bit of care, he’d be fine in ten days or half a month.

The one with the worst injuries was Qiu Ming, whose body bore a dozen savage bloody wounds left by Bao Yufeng.

The deepest cut was on his right arm, the bone almost visible.

As soon as he heard mention of the Alchemy Pavilion, Qiu Ming was clearly tempted.

He could take a beating, but these wounds really hurt.

"I’m fine!" Who would have thought Liou Yuan would just answer flatly with three words.

This made the words at Qiu Ming’s lips stick in his throat.

They’d both faced opponents at the Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer. If Liou Yuan wasn’t going to the Alchemy Pavilion, if he did, wouldn’t that be like admitting he was inferior?

"I’m fine too!" Qiu Ming forced himself to turn down Fang Yu’s suggestion.

"You sure you’re really fine?" Liou Yuan looked at Qiu Ming with a half-smile, and just from the way the guy shifted his ass, he could tell whether he had to take a dump or a piss.

"I’m fine!" Qiu Ming feigned nonchalance and lifted his chin.

"Heh!" Liou Yuan chuckled, but didn’t expose him.

Fang Yu had only asked in passing; he saw clearly that neither of them had life-threatening injuries.

Since neither Liou Yuan nor Qiu Ming would go, he didn’t insist.

After all, he was an Inner Sect Disciple and had his own affairs to attend to.

If not for Liou Zhen reminding him repeatedly before leaving, asking him to look after Liou Yuan, he wouldn’t have bothered about these minor issues at all.

He told the two of them to rest and recuperate, then soared towards Five Extremes Mountain.

Among the clouds, Fang Yu looked down at Xiaopei Mountain, locking his gaze on Liou Yuan, a look of relief in his eyes.

"That Bao Xianyu actually did something decent for once. If things had dragged on any longer, he and Liou Tao would surely have shed blood on the spot."

From the way the two sides had gone at it, they’d clearly intended to kill each other.

If Liou Yuan had died, or Liou Tao, either way, it would not have been a minor affair.

"That kid managed to break Liou Tao’s Cloud Manipulation. I didn’t expect that, especially since he’d just broken through to Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer."

"If it really turned into a fight to the death, Liou Tao might not even win against Liou Yuan."

"But that Liou Family side must be watched more closely. Before Liou Zhen returns, his little brother mustn’t get in trouble on my Fifth Peak."

As Fang Yu marveled at Liou Yuan’s performance, he pondered what he should do before Liou Zhen returned.

Then, with a leap, he vanished into the clouds of Fifth Peak.

Liou Yuan, meanwhile, returned to Xiaopei Mountain with the other disciples and began to rebuild their lodgings with timber.

During this process, it was inevitable that he frequently heard Xiaopei Mountain disciples voicing admiration for himself and Qiu Ming.

"Mr. Liou and Mr. Qiu are truly formidable! Even at a lower cultivation layer, they could go toe to toe with Liou Tao and Bao Yufeng. In my opinion, when the two of you break through to Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer, those two won’t be your match at all."

"Exactly, when that time comes, let’s make another trip to Little Cyan Valley..."

"Are you brain-dead? Didn’t you see how the Disciplinary Hall folks blatantly favored Little Cyan Valley? Go again? You trying to die?" Xie Miaobo, rarely seen angry, snapped at the Xiaopei Mountain disciples.

Ever since his return, he’d been uneasy about it, the more he thought, the more afraid he became.

He was clear-headed, belatedly realizing there was something wrong with this operation.

It felt like a trap.

Bao Yufeng and Liou Tao had both broken through to Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer and had fought viciously, clearly intending for blood to be spilled.

If Liou Yuan and Qiu Ming hadn’t kept their footing, the whole trip would have been no different from suicide.

"Mr. Liou, what’s your take?" Fu Xueping also had a hunch, her gentle tone directed towards the normally silent Liou Yuan.

Liou Yuan nodded slightly at the question and said, "Xie Miaobo is right."

What Xie Miaobo said, Liou Yuan had already noticed during his fight with Liou Tao in Little Cyan Valley.

The trap was obvious.

The only thing Liou Tao miscalculated was probably his and Qiu Ming’s strength—who’d have thought they could last so long against two opponents at the Fifth Layer?

"It’s all Liou Tao’s plotting."

Qiu Ming’s body was covered in knife wounds; if not for his Gen Mountain Spirit Breathing Skill’s excellent defense, he’d probably have been killed by Bao Yufeng today.

He didn’t really hate Bao Yufeng for injuring him—instead, his hatred for Liou Tao was intense, and he spat: "If I run into him outside the sect, I swear I’ll cut his damned head off!"

Liou Yuan reached behind him and touched the wound left by Liou Tao’s Fog Blade. It was still faintly aching and his palm came away sticky and red.

He didn’t shout or curse; after such a fierce battle, he was now even calmer.

Back on the cliff, Liou Yuan had already suspected Liou Tao might be an enemy Liou Zhen had made on Five Extremes Mountain.

Add to that all of Liou Tao’s actions—they were targeted entirely at himself.

Today’s trap in Little Cyan Valley, clearly set to take his life, only deepened Liou Yuan’s suspicions.

"My elder brother has probably offended not just someone from the Liou Family, but the whole damn family."

Thinking back to his first meeting with Liou Tao, when he’d seen nothing but hostility in the guy’s eyes, Liou Yuan’s expression grew even more grave.

He didn’t share these thoughts with the rest at Xiaopei Mountain; instead, he silently told himself, "Better focus on my cultivation. This isn’t over yet."

The battle at Little Cyan Valley had caused quite a stir.

The details of the clash quickly spread across Fifth Peak.

It wasn’t just this year’s new disciples talking about it, either.

Plenty of veteran Outer Sect disciples were quite animated discussing it too.

The Outer Sect didn’t ban magical combat—duels happened every so often.

But those were mainly small scuffles; a brawl involving dozens hadn’t happened in years.

Word was the commotion even alarmed Foundation Establishment Great Cultivators among the Inner Sect, making the incident a hot topic of conversation among Outer Sect disciples.

At Shoushan Tower, Wei Miaomeng had also heard about the mountain’s commotion on the second day.

Resting her chin in her palms on the desk, she listened with great interest to the disciples who’d come up from the foot of the mountain to collect tasks, as they discussed the matter.

The loudest was an older disciple with a large red birthmark on his left cheek, at the Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer.

He was practically spitting as he relayed the news he’d picked up.

"Heard this all started because those Little Cyan Valley guys robbed Xiaopei Mountain’s cultivation resources."

"Fine, robbery’s one thing, but they even leveled the mountain and dug up the foundations of their lodgings. Who could swallow that?"

"As soon as Xiaopei Mountain’s two toughest disciples got back, they took the people straight to Little Cyan Valley for payback."

Wei Miaomeng naturally knew who these two were.

Weren’t they Liou Yuan and Qiu Ming, who’d just come to hand in their tasks at Shoushan?

"These two brats sure know how to stir things up."

Wei Miaomeng stretched her graceful body, smiling playfully.

Her own cultivation was at Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer, and she’d seen plenty of drama in the Outer Sect. As promising as Qiu Ming and Liou Yuan were, before her, they really were just kids.

The noisy discussion in the tower continued, and more people joined in.

"I heard in that fight, among the seven disciples with Five-Star Star Acupoints, three actually stepped in—Qiu Ming, Bao Yufeng, and Liou Tao."

"Heh, among all those who fought, only those three are really worth mentioning."

"Not true—there’s a newbie from Xiaopei Mountain whose reputation wasn’t well known, who apparently stabbed Liou Tao pretty hard. Haven’t seen Liou Tao in days, right? They say he’s holed up recuperating."

The older disciple with the birthmark was clearly in the know, maybe even at the scene outside Little Cyan Valley that day. When he heard this, he sneered at the speaker.

"Not well known? You’re behind the times! That’s Liou Yuan, the younger brother of the Snow Shattering Sword Mr. Liou, and he fights with the sword."

"No wonder—I was wondering who the hell could have injured Liou Tao."

It showed just how much weight Liou Zhen’s name carried in the Outer Sect: as soon as it was mentioned, everyone’s faces grew solemn.

At the same time, everyone paid extra attention to this boy called Liou Yuan.

In short order, Liou Yuan’s name—which had only circulated in a small circle—was now spreading across all of Fifth Peak.

All the disciples of Fifth Peak now knew there was a sword-wielding expert at Xiaopei Mountain called Liou Yuan, Mr. Liou’s own little brother.

Liou Yuan, still on Xiaopei Mountain, didn’t realize that because of this battle, his name was quickly rising to prominence on Fifth Peak.

Just as when he first came to Five Extremes Mountain, after returning to Xiaopei Mountain, he kept his head down and focused on rebuilding his hut. Experience made the job easier the second time, and he had it finished in two days.

He then resumed his diligent, gradual cultivation routine, rarely venturing out.

To Liou Yuan, cultivating on Five Extremes Mountain still felt perfectly natural.

The combined power of the heaven and earth star energy inside the Five Extremes Mountain’s array and the stars above benefited him tremendously in his daily practice.

Since the Auspicious Star was shining for two consecutive months, he didn’t even need to use Star Stones.

This month’s cultivation resources were distributed as soon as he returned.

It was the other Xiaopei Mountain disciples whose Star Stones had been robbed—it had nothing to do with Liou Yuan.

So, he ended up with a surplus of two Star Stones, which Liou Yuan kept for later, to use when the Evil Star Shift came around and the mountain’s star energy couldn’t be drawn upon.

Day after day passed by.

Liou Yuan cultivated resolutely by night and didn’t slack during the day either.

From his battle with Liou Tao at Little Cyan Valley, Liou Yuan had the good fortune to gain initial insight into the Body Skill Treading Flowing Waves, so naturally, he wanted to cement this understanding. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Intent on advancing his body technique, Liou Yuan spent days searching around Xiaopei Mountain, and finally, deep in the sect to the east, found a river a dozen miles away.

The river wasn’t wide, but just enough for Liou Yuan to practice Treading Flowing Waves atop its surface.

Since Treading Flowing Waves was, after all, a Water Element body technique, practicing atop water was certainly more useful than doing so on land.

So at night, Liou Yuan cultivated, and by day, he’d cross ten-some miles through the mountains to this river to practice skills.

His insights into Treading Flowing Waves deepened, and he reached the point where he could use it freely at will—even in combat.

Though he couldn’t yet call it second nature, Liou Yuan figured that at this pace, he’d likely achieve Small Success within a year.

The speed with which he’d managed to grasp Treading Flowing Waves owed much to his Water Acupoint’s assistance.

He now had two Star Acupoints—one Metal, one Water; Metal and Water nurture each other, so training Water Element Skills actually went even smoother for him than the Lion’s Roar Spell did.

Speaking of the Lion’s Roar Spell, ever since Liou Yuan’s Lung Mansion reached Great Success, and the spell broke through to Small Success, his progress had halted.

Though he hadn’t neglected the spell—he’d practice the Lion’s Roar Spell atop that river too, whenever he wasn’t working on Treading Flowing Waves—the rate of improvement was still disappointing.

At this rate, Liou Yuan figured he wouldn’t make any further progress with the Lion’s Roar Spell for three years at least.

Still, the spell at Small Success was already pretty formidable—at least for the Mid-stage Qi Cultivation, he was still dominant.

Few below the Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer weren’t either injured or cowed by his Lion’s Roar.

Even someone as strong as Liou Tao had suffered a mental shock from his roar, which broke through Liou Tao’s C-level Skill, Cloud Manipulation.

So Liou Yuan was in no rush and stuck to his steady cultivation routine each day.

By Liou Yuan’s fourth month on Five Extremes Mountain—two months since hunting the Baby-eating Mink—a message came from the Artifact Refining Pavilion: Qiu Can had finished making his Talisman Brush.

A servant disciple from the Artifact Refining Pavilion brought it specially to Xiaopei Mountain and delivered it personally into Liou Yuan’s hands.