An hour later, the dinner was long finished, and Gao Zhen had returned to her tent.

Meanwhile, after covering the ground with beddings, Yi Chen lay down on it. A wave of relaxation swept over his exhausted body, nudging him to sleep.

Despite that, he didn’t fall asleep.

With his arms folded behind his head, he began staring at the tent’s ceiling. The strong winds blowing outside were causing the grey canvas to flap incessantly.

It may appear as if he had his attention focused on the flapping canvas, but in reality, he was lost in his thoughts.

’There must be some exceptions...otherwise there’s no other way,’ he thought to himself while thinking back on one of the remarks from the system panel.

It was the remark that talked about the dark Qi and stated that it could only be utilised by the demons.

While he was having dinner with Gao Zhen earlier, these words were lingering in his head. As a result of this, he had asked Gao Zhen a few questions earlier about how she felt while circulating the dark Qi within her body.

She responded that it felt the same as when she circulated Air Qi through her meridians.

It was that response which had become the reason for Yi Chen’s frown.

If not for the system’s help, he wouldn’t be where he is right now. Therefore, he didn’t doubt the system’s words at all.

However, there was also no reason for Gao Zhen to lie to him at this stage. Taking the two scenarios, he concluded that there must be more to what the system had stated.

It wasn’t that the system was wrong, but the information it shared was limited.

Letting out a deep breath, his thoughts returned to the new term he had read today.

"Origin elements huh...I wonder how many of them there are," he muttered to himself.

A subtle trace of curiosity and interest glimmered in his tired eyes that finally fell victim to exhaustion, making his vision go dark.

The next morning.

It was close to seven in the morning, and normally, Yi Chen was up by now, fully refreshed.

However, unlike usual, he was still lying under the blanket, twisting and turning, trying to postpone getting up for as long as possible despite being awake.

The reason for this act wasn’t because he was more tired or sleepy this morning, but because, unlike earlier, his mind was unable to think of a clear direction forward.

’I can’t think of anything...just what should I do to meet the remaining three percent?’ he thought while pondering hard over the issue.

Usually, whenever he was in a dilemma, he would be able to get a suitable answer to the situation after a good night’s rest.

However, after resting, he was unable to think of a solution to get out of this predicament.

’Just what am I missing...’ he pursed his lips while removing the blankets from his face. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

The cold morning wind wrapped around his face that very moment, blowing away the last vestiges of laziness from his face.

With a groan, he pushed himself off the mattress.

"Yeah, there’s still almost a year until the time limit is reached..." he muttered to himself while letting out a breath, "There’s no use beating my head over it now..."

’The fact that I’ve achieved a 97% progress in less than a month’s time for a one-year-long mission is something to be proud of...not a reason for me to worry about finding the remaining three percent as fast as possible.

With more than eleven months still in my hands...I refuse to believe I’ll be unable to find a way out of this situation.’

A resolute glint flashed in his eyes as he soon made his way out of the tent to freshen up.

A while later, in a routine manner, he was heating up a large bowl-shaped depression that had been cut inside the icy ground.

Over the night, it had been covered with snow that was now being melted under the continuous heat of his flames.

This bowl-shaped depression was something he had cut into the ground long ago and was what he used to bathe.

Step!

Step!

Step!

His attention was soon drawn by a series of familiar footsteps, making him turn around.

"Ah, I thought you would have already freshened up by now," Gao Zhen stated, seeing his ruffled hair and gruff features.

"Yeah...I was a little late today. Anyway, what brought Madam Gao here this early?" He asked curiously.

Usually, she would only appear after she had taken a bath. However, from the looks of it, she had yet to do the same.

"Actually, I did some calculations this morning. Taking into account the Fire talismans I need while resting and the ones..." she stated and continued with her explanation.

A while later, Yi Chen nodded while looking towards her, "No problem, since Madam Gao has limited talismans, I’ll naturally help you with heating the bathing water from now on."

"Thanks!" Gao Zhen beamed with a smile at his response and added, "You have no idea how embarrassed I was feeling while making my way towards your tent...thankfully, you agreed to do it!"

"Haha, you were worried for nothing since it’s an understandable request. Let’s go then, I’ll help heat up your bath as promised," Yi Chen said with a smile.

"Yes." Gao Zhen nodded, forgetting the little embarrassment she still felt thanks to Yi Chen’s words, and soon guided him behind her tent.

There, just like how it was next to his tent, a bowl-shaped depression had been carved by him several years ago.

Using the Crimson Fire Arts, he heated the snow particles and the surrounding ice, which soon melted into water and began warming up.

"The water’s warm enough now. Thank you." Gao Zhen said after dipping her hand into the water, which had filled the depression by now.

"Alright. I’ll go then." Yi Chen said with a nod and walked towards his own tent.

Absentmindedly, he repeated the words Gao Zhen had said to him just now, ’The water’s warm enough...The water’s warm enough...the water-’

His steps suddenly came to a halt. However, the very next instant, he rushed next to his own tent and, glancing at the water resting in the depression, opened its status panel.

"...This?"