Black Bellied Belle: Demon Lord, Bite the Bait Please

Ch. 141-150

Chapter 141: A Memory One Doesn't Want to Recall

Whatever was happening on this side was not yet known to Qing Yu but just quiet peace.

It was probably because there was some trick in that inn as no matter how big the commotion outside was, the occupants inside the room did not hear anything.

Even the highly carefree Yan Xi Wu had sensed that there was something strange about tonight's snowstorm and had not slept for once, but remained carefully wary.

She looked at the several other quiet people in the room and hesitated a moment before slowly shuffling over closer to Yan Xi Rou to ask softly: "What hour is it now?"

Yan Xi Ruo who had her eyes closed in rest then opened them to gaze at the pitch-dark sky outside, her brows slightly furrowed. "I do not know as well. It's just too strange tonight and it feels as if a long time has passed, so it should already be the Yin Hour when night is deepest but it looks like it's..... now only the Zi hour at midnight."

Yan Xi Wu felt in involuntary chill run up her back. "Is the sky never going to turn bright again on this night? It will be the day for the admission trials tomorrow and if we are held back by this, then all the hard work we have put in for so long will have been for nothing!"

Hearing Yan Xi Wu complaining in frustration incessantly, Qing Yu rubbed her temples feeling a headache coming. She got up from her bed and walked over to the window before she said: "Even if dawn breaks, we might still not be able to leave this place."

Upon hearing her words, the others turned their gazes outside at the same time.

They saw the snow flurries falling heavily, and the snow piled up outside had already reached half a grown man's height, and half of the inn's doors had become blocked.

Yan Xi Wu's face turned pale. "It's over, it's all over. We are going to be trapped in here and this snowstorm will never stop. There are so many people here in this inn and we'll run out of food and water in just a few days. We'll all then die here."

Seeing her look as if the sky was falling, Qing Bei stared at her in contempt, before he said in an icy cold voice: "If you continue prattling on with such defeatist words, I'll just throw you out the window right now for you to perish on your own."

Ever since the time that the youth had heartlessly left her to fend for herself whether she lived or died back at Hades' Canyon, Yan Xi Wu had become highly terrified of him. Hearing him say those words, she became so frightened that she immediately shrank her head into her shoulders and clamped her mouth shut in silence.

A dark glint flashed in Qing Yu's eyes, a brief fleeting moment. Suddenly, the world swirled before her eyes and the scene she saw changed completely.

Qing Bei, Yan Xi Roui and Yan Xi Wu had all disappeared.

And before her, it all felt so familiar and strange at the same time, like this had happened in her past life.

It was a man with a tall slim figure, his facial features gently pleasing, with a eyes smiling so gently that one would be able to drown in them.

"Qing Qing, are you being mischievous again? Why are you hiding here and not eating your food?"

Throughout the large and vast family, among so many young men and women in there, only this one man called her by this name, Qing Qing, a name so intimate like he was calling out to a lover who shared his bed.

Qing Yu's body was trembling uncontrollably. [So, even after so long, she still has not gotten over it completely?]

Once she heard him calling out to her like that, it immediately elicited all kinds of memories of the past, about how well he had treated her, so well that it made up for the pain she had felt for the loss of her parents, so well that she had given her whole heart to him so willingly without holding back in the slightest.

But why was it that her most sincere and true heart was not enough to compete with the seductive allure of consumer power and high authourity?

Even the person she had thought would never ever change had turned unscrupulous because of that position.

Qing Yu tried her very best to shut her eyes, the skin over her slender fingers suddenly turned very pale.

The soft sound of a person's breathing sounded right beside her ear, as a man's wide chest held her close in a tight embrace, his voice low and gentle: "Qing Qing, you are always trying so hard to be brave, so I just can't help being worried about you. Big Brother will always be protecting you."

Qing Yu did not say a word and did not open her eyes, her long lashes quivering hard, as he emotions surged till she was on the very verge of collapsing.

The smile on the man's lips grew deeper. "Qing Qing, wait till I ascend to the seat of Family Head and will you then be my bride? Let the two of us stand right at this highest position to gaze upon the most beautiful view and enjoy the supreme power and authourity at the peak of the entire world, where everyone shall bow before us, the world finally at our feet."

"A girl need not be so strong, girls who are adorably weak are much more lovable"

The man's almost spellbinding lips came closer to her ear, the low and magnetic voice profound and seductive. "Big Brother will dote on you very much. The true power of the Sacred Burial Arts and the Heavenly Insights of Medicine can only be brought out through my hands. Will you let Big Brother..... extract them out from you?"

The Qing Family's two secret treasures, and only the heir was able to possess them. If one sought to extract them, then it could only be done by the copulation of Yin and Yang. But if it the treasures were forcibly extracted, then the body's vitality of the owner of the treasures would suffer grave injuries, their very foundation damaged, to become frail and sickly and be endlessly reliant on all kinds of medicine.

Qing Yu's tightly shut eyes had turned red at the rims, feeling so vulnerable and depressed like she never did before.

Those violent rise of such highly intense emotions had actually caused the heart of a certain man thousands of miles away to wrench up sharply. His eyes immediately flared open from sleep, the devilishly enchanting violet orbs shining extraordinarily bright.

He sat himself up, his fair slender fingers stretching open. A light purple crystal ball the size of a baby's palm flashed incessantly, and he called out in a probing voice: "Little Fox?"

Getting no response from the other side, Lou Jun Yao could not help but knitted up his brows.

The crystal ball was a magical communication artifact from Cloud Heaven and there weren't that many of them throughout the entire Cloud Heaven, so it could be seen from here just how rare it was, but he had not even blinked when he gave Qing Yu one. A person just needed to summon up their spirit energy and they would be able to not only speak to the person on the other side, but also to see their faces.

He had done that for safety's sake, Lou Jun Yao had thought. Since he had decided that he would look after Aunt Lan's descendants, then he should give it his all and do the best he could, even though Qing Yu was merely going to take part in the recruitment trials of an insignificant sect within the low level realm.

But, why had he just sensed that the lass' emotions were in such great turmoil?

[What could have happened there?]

Lou Jun Yao was feeling rather ill at ease and with a bright glint in his eyes, the inside of the purple crystal ball started to spin and swirl very quickly, and what met his eyes was a scene of snow that was several feet high, and it seemed like the snow was getting heavier and heavier.

[It's snowing?]

Lou Jun Yao looked outside. Besides the cold wind howling outside, there wasn't even a single speck of snow.

[Interesting. Just who could be up to their tricks?]

The inside of the crystal ball then flashed, the scene suddenly changing to show the inside of a room. He saw Qing Yu and her companions. He did not pay the others any attention for the moment but was only looking at the expression on Qing Yu's face, which did not look like things were alright.

Her eyes were red rimmed, her entire body shaking with shivers, and her hands were even slowly rising up to her slender neck, before clutching around it viciously. The tiny face lost all its colour right at that moment, turning a frightful greenish white, like she was able to suffocate.

The aura around Lou Jun Yao grew heavy suddenly, growing oppressive like the way it felt before a violent storm broke.

Qing Yu could not lie to herself. Even though she hated this person, hated the man who had turned her into a cold and emotionless person, he had once, throughout her entire youth, given her all the love and concern of what kinship was to her."

The man's warm breath from his lips brushed past her ear, opening and closing as he spoke, almost touching her dainty little ear. "Qing Qing, be good and stay by my side will you? No matter whether it's that kid you brought back here or any other man, they will not be able to give you what I can give. In this world, only I am compatible with you."

"Be good and give yourself to me....."

Just as the man's lips were right about to touch the young lady's alluring lips, she suddenly curled up the ends of her mouth in a faint smile, a smile of imperceptible meaning. Within the darkness, it was as beautiful as the highly precious night-blooming cereus, that appears fleetingly and disappears almost immediately after, but the stir it caused in a person's heart would not dissipate for a long time.

"Qing Tian Lin, you know what?" The young lady's voice was clear and light, and in that silent darkness of night, it seemed like she could hear the sound of his beating heart.

"What?" The man was taken aback.

"Regardless whether it's the real you or this is just you in my dream, you disgust me just the same."

A highly callous smile curled up at the edges of Qing Yu's lips and a boundless rage then shone out ruthlessly from the pair of beautiful and alluring phoenix like eyes. Her voice was chillingly light, that made one shiver involuntarily. "Who gave you permission to pry into my heart so rudely?"

Stunned surprise appeared on the man's face, and he froze in shock the very next moment.

The young lady's hand that was so cold there wasn't the slightest sliver of warmth then turned into a sharp blade, plunging straight through his heart, and that pair of absolutely emotionless eyes did not even once glance at him, before she burned him up into ashes with a blazing fire.

He had never ever thought that things would take such a turn, and he had died without a single trace of him left behind.

And the hidden man who was controlling everything suddenly vomited out a great mouthful of blood, his already pale and inhumanly colourless face immediately turning even whiter.

His pair of bright jet black eyes, were filled with utter astounded shock.

[Someone was actually able to..... break out from the dreams he weaved?]

And Qing Yu who had awoken from her dreamy state then felt as if all her strength had left her, as she collapsed onto the floor with her eyes closed.

But the pain that was expected to come with the fall did not come, as a warm embrace caught her and picked her up, holding her tightly. The fiery warmth then drove out the cold chill in her body.

Qing Yu slowly opened her eyes, her half lowered eyelids looking lazily languid and enchanting. Especially when the colour of her complexion was not looking too great at that moment, seeming a little weak and pale, just like that of an injured little animal that sought comfort cuddled in her owner's arms.

"Why have you come?" Qing Yu's voice was a little low and raspy.

Lou Jun Yao cradled the young lady's slender waist that felt like it would crumble if he gripped her too tightly, as he helped her to the edge of the bed for her to sit down. He opened his mouth to say without showing emotion in his voice: "I just saw a foolish little fox who almost strangled herself to death, so I came over to see what got you so worked up."

Those words were put across so lightly with utter indifference, but only he himself knew how fast he had moved ripping through the dimensional space to come here.

Hearing that undisguised sarcasm from him, Qing Yu's mouth split as she laughed softly. You've got to be kidding. I will never do something as stupid as that."

"Is that so?" Lou Jun Yao's eyes smiled mirthlessly as he looked at the little fox in persistent denial. "Then can you stand up and walk a couple of steps for me to see?"

[Heh heh. In such a state of utter exhaustion, it is clear that it was caused by having just over depleted your mental strength. Really don't know what she saw just now that could affect her so much. Fortunately, she has already broken out of that predicament on her own.]

Chapter 142: Legitimate Self Defense

Hearing the man's mocking tone, Qing Yu glanced at the man expressionlessly, clearly not falling for the taunt, but just continued to lean weakly against his shoulder as she said indifferently: "Don't think just because you caught my fall that I will then be grateful to you."

Lou Jun Yao could not help but laugh and then replied: "It's the least I should do. No need for any gratitude."

After taking a little time to gather herself and recover a bit, some colour returned to Qing Yu's face. That was when Qing Yu noticed that Qing Bei and the others had also fallen into a dreamy state, and had not yet broken out of it, the expressions on their faces varied.

Lou Jun Yao then said: "You don't have to worry about them. You have already caused the hidden person behind this to suffer a severe backlash and they would not be in much danger while they are still caught in their dreams, maybe just have their minds ravaged a little at most, which would toughen them up."

Hearing that, the air around Qing Yu suddenly fell by quite a few good degrees.

No matter whether this was to test them or not, but this was just too much. The memory that had been sealed and laid in dust for so long, after so many years where she had come to be able to gradually put it down. But that person had come to dig up this most painful memory once more.

The name Qing Tian Lin always caused her emotions to surge up so easily.

The young lady's exquisitely beautiful face almost looked like a layer of frost had formed over its smooth skin, colder than the howling snowy blizzard raging outside. Her lips parted, her voice devoid of any emotion: "Lou Jun Yao, help me find that person."

He had seen her smiling with joy and admonish in rage, seen her deviously crafty and sly. But to look like she was out to shake the Heavens and tear up the earth like this, it was the first time that Lou Jun Yao was seeing it. He could not help but recall her face that he had seen earlier in the crystal ball, that had been so frail almost to the point of collapse. Just what could have caused her to be in so much despair?

Although he did not know what she saw, but recalling how weakened and frail she had looked, Lou Jun Yao knew that he did not want to see that a second time.

This young lady was born to look so proud like this, and looking pitifully weak should not ever appear on that face.

One who dared to order Lou Jun Yao so matter of factly, throughout the entire world, it was feared that it was only just Qing Yu alone.

The man seemed rather helpless, but what was seen between his brows could only be doting indulgence.

The blizzard continued to howl outside, the bare trees covered in a thick blanket of white as they waved to and fro under the powerful wind, moving strangely under the darkness of the night.

Someone hidden in a secret room on the ground floor was telling Qiao Wei something suddenly paused, and his eyes turned to gaze towards the door. The other people in the room immediately stopped talking, and the door was then opened in the next instant, letting in a bone biting icy chill from outside.

A tall and well built figure came staggering in through the door, and then seemed to be trying to brace himself up for a long while before he fell on one knee to the ground, unable to withstand it any longer as he vomited out a mouthful of blood.

Qiao Wei and the others stared with their eyes wide, in utter disbelief. "Devil Devouring Eagle! How did you even get injured!? Who could have done it!?"

The Devil Devouring Eagle's body that was shrouded under the wide black cape was already soaked in cold sweat. The agony he was feeling from the backlash that he suffered was causing the meridians in every part of his body to be tightly stretched, almost robbing him of his voice. But even though that was the case he still managed to eke out the words: "Quickly..... leave now....."

Listening carefully, his voice even sounded like it was trembling.

Among the four of them, although the Devil Devouring Eagle's cultivation was the lowest, but it was more than enough to deal with the entire bunch of little runts here. Moreover, he also held an amazing profession, as a Dreamweaver.

Once it started, within a hundred meter radius, not even beasts and animals would be able to escape the dreams he wove, and in those dreams, he was fully dominant.

But..... Why had he come back all injured? And was urging them to leave?

Could it be that among the bunch of brats, there really was a peerless prodigy that they had missed out on?

In that short period of time that they stood there stunned in a daze, they came to lose their best chance of escaping.

The shade on the Devil Devouring Eagle's face turned uglier and he vomited out another mouthful of blood. A soft voice without any emotion then sounded from outside the door. "The few of you here have really made me see all of you in a new light."

That voice.....

Qiao Wei subconsciously lifted her eyes. Just behind the Devil Devouring Eagle, she saw two figures standing there, partially shrouded in the darkness as they came walking out into the light.

The slim petite figure in front, was the young lady who had left a very good impression on her. And as for the tall figured man behind her..... Qiao Wei's face looked as if her soul had been sucked out of her and she immediately turned away.

That man's eyes were just too terrifying to look at.

The young lady's face was also no longer as gentle and polite looking as the time they had first met, the expression rather cold.

Qiao Wei kept a smile on her face and said: "Congratulations young lady, you are the first person to pass the test."

"Is that so?" Qing Yu's face did not show even a ripple of emotion as her gaze swept over the few people inside the room, her tone of voice highly calm. Her slender fingers then gripped upon the Devil Devouring Eagle's clothes, easily picking up the man who was a lot taller and bigger than she was up from the ground.

"Since I have passed the test, then I will be taking this person here."

The smile on Qiao Wei's face congealed. "What do you mean?"

Qing Yu snorted with cold derision. "Having dug deep into my heart and trapping me within a dream. Just for that reason alone, there is no reason for him to live any longer."

"Little young lady, being so haughty with your ways will definitely make you suffer consequences." Qiao Wei said with a soft laugh. "This was what the Faint Mist Sect's Sect Leader wanted, so even if you have any grievance against that, you've got the wrong person here. Moreover.... no matter how strong you are, the rest of us here are not people you can afford to trifle with easily."

Those words were delivered with a tinge of threat in them. Qing Yu arched up an eyebrow and then opened her mouth in response. "Of course I know that you guys are not to be trifled with. So don't you see that I brought help with me? I am definitely having all his powers destroyed here today"

Help?

Qiao Wei then subconsciously looked up at the tall man behind her. He was very tall, and half of his body was still cast in shadows, but his pair of violet eyes shone with a brilliant light within the darkness of night, that made her heart beat fast.

The Arctic Snow Wolf was a thin figured man with sharp intelligent looks. When he heard those words that felt so much like a taunt, he just could not hold back his impulse at that instant but said to the young lady: "Little lass, you are courting your own death!"

Immediately upon saying that, that nimble body moved at a speed faster than the eye could see as he lunged straight towards Qing Yu.

"Stop!" Qiao Wei's eyes flared wide, quickly shouting out to stop him, but it was already too late.

The Arctic Snow Wolf's fingers shot viciously towards the young lady's thin slender neck in a malevolent strike, murder rising in his heart.

Qing Yu stood unmoving in her spot, neither dodging nor running away, but just looked squarely at the attack that was riddled with openings. The long arm of the man behind her whipped out and pulled her into his arms.

Before the Arctic Snow Wolf had even gotten close, he was thrown back by a powerful and explosive force, which sent his body crashing into the hard pillar all the way at the back of the hidden secret room, and a mouthful of blood immediately spurted out from his mouth as he lay weakly on the ground not moving an inch, unable to stand up at all.

"Old Third!" Money Leopard's face paled and he quickly went over to his companion, putting his hand on his wrist to check his condition. His face immediately turned an even uglier shade.

He looked up mournfully to meet Qiao Wei's worried gaze and said slowly, pausing at every single word: "All of Old Third's meridians..... have been severed"

Qiao Wei felt as if she had fallen into an icy lake, her eyes filled with terror as she stared at the mysterious man whose eyes were lowered as he questioned the young lady in his arms if she was alright.

She had seen it clearly just now. That man..... had definitely not even made any move to strike at all. Just as Arctic Snow Wolf had come to get close to him, the man had merely just glanced expressionlessly at him. Just a single glance and Arctic Snow Wolf had all his cultivation destroyed, turned into a useless shell.

How terrifying.....

Though peerless pugilists with unparalleled power have been born in these Constellation Lands throughout the years, but never had there been one that could compare to this man's attainment.

Just who is this man!?

Qing Yu who had been about to make her move was similarly stunned as she looked at the scene before her. She then looked up with displeasure in her eyes and asked: "What are you doing?"

Lou Jun Yao's face was looking at her matter of factly as he replied: "Purely legitimate self defense. Someone was lunging straight at me, am I supposed to just stand there to let him strike me?"

"Isn't your self defense a little too overdone? Moreover, he was clearly coming right at me!"

That single retaliation from him would surely cause that man to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair. She had merely brought him along for grandstanding purposes. Now he has really done it, having completely crippled the man.

Looking at the young lady who was seemingly rather angry, Lou Jun Yao's gaze turned sharp and his voice was low as he said: "I told myself that I will take care of you for Aunt Lan so I will not allow you to even come close to getting hurt at all."

His stern and serious demeanor caused Qing Yu to be stumped for words and she could do nothing but feel a little frustrated inside. She had merely wanted to teach the Devil Devouring Eagle a lesson but Lou Jun Yao had instead completely destroyed the Arctic Snow Wolf's cultivation so she felt like she shouldn't find any more trouble with them anymore.

Seeing how jittery with trepidation Qiao Wei and her companions were, angry but not daring to voice out, Qing Yu suddenly came to pity them. That fella Lou Jun Yao had really been too tyrannical, never giving a thought to how severe and heavy handed a single strike from him would be.

Which was not merely heavy, but the guy was now barely able to breathe!

"This is a Spirit Strengthening Elixir. It should be able to help him." Qing Yu said as she handed Qiao Wei a red porcelain bottle. "I had originally not meant much harm but a person would always have some part of their past that they would not be willing to revisit. But since things have turned out like this, I will not pursue it any further."

Qiao Wei had taken extra good care of her in the past two days and the room she was staying in with her companions was the best one in the inn, kept much warmer than the other rooms. Hence when the snow fell, the cold the few of them had felt in their room was quite a lot less than the others as well.

Although it could be said that Qiao Wei had accepted benefits from the young lady, she had really treated the young lady quite well in here.

Qiao Wei was taken aback by her actions a moment before she then accepted the tiny porcelain bottle. She immediately gave it to Money Leopard for him to feed it to Arctic Snow Wolf.

Her eyes were rather confused as she went on to ask Qing Yu: "With the kind of powers you possess, why have you come to the Faint Mist Sect?"

Although she had not seen the young lady make any moves, the aura emanating from a powerful pugilist was could never be completely masked. Moreover, she was acquainted with a friend with such terrifying cultivation, so how could she possibly be anyone ordinary?

She could very well just go to the White Fen Continent.

Hearing that, Qing Yu curved up the ends of her lips and her eyes grew deep and profound. "Going to the Faint Mist Sect..... is naturally not to further my cultivation but there a reason that makes it a must for me."

One would not be allowed to come out for two years after being accepted into the Faint Mist Sect. She really didn't have so much time to waste in there as her ultimate aim was Cloud Heaven itself.

The place filled with so much mystery.

Being so severely injured, the Arctic Snow Wolf was naturally unable to control the weather anymore, and the snow that had fallen for a good half of the night finally stopped, as it all began to thaw.

Many of them were not able to break out from the dreams that the Devil Devouring Eagle had weaved as it was just entirely human for them to be plagued by greed and past sins. In just one night, among the several hundred people who came to participate in the recruitment trials, only half remained.

Chapter 143: Beauty is Made Only in Close Proximity

Some had crumbled, unable to pick themselves up again after falling into the dreams and some had suddenly woken up but were unable to endure the strict and severe rules the sect had set, voluntarily choosing to given up on the opportunity on their own.

Besides Qing Yu, everyone had probably been affected by the night's events more or less but quite a number of people still chose to persevere.

Today was the day of the admission trials and they all woke up very early. Although their numbers have been greatly reduced, it did not seem to affect them all that much when they gathered in the main hall to eat breakfast quietly, and they were told that someone from the Faint Mist Sect would be coming to bring them up the mountain.

But the strange thing was that breakfast this morning was unexpectedly sumptuous.

It had only been just plain buns and porridge that was so thin you could use it as a mirror in the past two days but today there were crystal dumplings, swallow tail roll, lotus paste cake and two exquisite plates of crunchy side dishes with sweet delicious fine grain porridge.

When everyone saw the spread for breakfast, all of them suspected whether they were just hallucinating.

Was this to be their last meal? How could it be so scrumptious! Compared to the food today what they had been eating the past two days was pure pig feed! When have they ever eaten something so hard to swallow in their lives? They really wouldn't have eaten it if there was another choice.

So when they all gazed upon the spread laid out, the expression on everyone's faces quickly grew wary, afraid that this would be the last meal for them.

Qiao Wei coughed awkwardly a couple of times and then announced: "What was done before was just to test all of you. Although this inn of mine is located in such a remote and desolate place, we are still capable of providing you with all these food. So everyone just eat up and enjoy it!"

Everyone then relaxed their guard.

But, Qing Yu's table was destined to be unable to enjoy any peace today.

For no other reason than the fact that a certain man had decided to remain here since last night, even coming to sit himself right next to her so naturally, gracefully taking his time to enjoy breakfast. His tall and muscular figure together with a face crafted by the hands of the gods that was so handsome it angered both mortals and deities alike, his seductive violet eyes filled with such a mysterious otherworldly air, completely drew everyone's gazes to them.

Seated on the opposite side, Qing Bei, Yan Xi Rou and Yan Xi Wu just sat there stunned, not knowing when this man had come to appear here, their faces mournful as they stared at Qing Yu.

Sensing the gaze that was both perplexed and aggrieved coming from the young lady, Lou Jun Yao paused in his actions and glanced at her. "What's wrong?"

"Are you really..... that free and idle nowadays?" Qing Yu asked him.

"Hm?" Lou Jun Yao lifted an eyebrow, looking like he did not understand.

"We will be going to the Faint Mist Sect in awhile. Are you intending to follow us there as well?" Qing Yu asked him softly.

[This man was afterall a respected entity from Cloud Heaven no matter how you put it. It's fine if he chooses to stay here in the low level realms idling his time away doing nothing, but when he always comes hovering around before her face whenever he felt like it, she has to start asking whether he is really that bored and has nothing better to do?]

Qing Yu's words were clear and direct, which really meant to chase him away.

Lou Jun Yao laughed in a soft low voice, his violet eyes sparkling, bright with mirth. "I don't think I've told you that the Gathered Cloud Loft has moved here. It's on the peak right across the Faint Mist Sect."

Qing Yu was dazed for a moment before she could react. "When did it move here?"

"Yesterday."

Qing Yu could not help but twitch a corner of her mouth. "What are you up to again this time?"

No wonder she had not seen Bai Zhi Yan who was never seen too far apart from him. It's because he had come here as well.....

Hearing that, Lou Jun Yao cupped his chin in his palm and looked at her smilingly to say: "I heard that the days spent practising cultivation in the Faint Mist Sect is very dry, so I guess their disciples live a rather dull and boring life here. But now, all of them can sneak out for some fun at the Fragrance Court so isn't that just great?"

The twitch at the corner of Qing Yu's mouth then grew more intense. [He really thinks that wanting to get those pure minded disciples who practised abstinence to seek out fun at his establishment was really a good idea?]

If the sect's Elders were to hear that, they would surely die from a blood vessel bursting in their heads from rage! And wouldn't moving the Gathered Cloud Loft so openly without a care here raise any suspicions from others? And the Faint Mist Sect did not have any opinions on that??

It was not known what special method the fella had employed to achieve that.

"So from today onwards, you guys will remain here?" Qing Yu glanced at him to ask.

Lou Jun Yao smiled at nodded. "You can come look for me anytime you need something.'

[Why does she feel like this fella had moved the Gathered Cloud Loft because of her.....]

Qing Bei silently watched the two banter so familiarly with each other and for some unknown reason, a strange feeling rose up in his heart but was unable to put a finger on it.

After breakfast was done, several disciples in the sect's white uniform came to the inn and one person among them was actually rather familiar looking.

Upon looking more closely, it was then discovered that it was Jin Ze Hao they had seen during the sect's internal trials in the mystifying boglands, whose consciousness fell under the Scarlet Lands Eight Demons' control to thrash up Lian Shao Jie that was of a higher cultivation level almost half to death.

It was wondered whether he was punished when he returned back to the Faint Mist Sect.

And it was quite obvious that Jin Ze Hao was acquainted with the proprietress of the inn Qiao Wei, his manners highly respectful.

The two of them talked for a while and it was not know what Qiao Wei said to him when the expression on Jin Ze Hao's face looked rather amazed before he swept his eyes over the crowd without people noticing.

On the way to the Faint Mist Sect, several curious disciples secretly went up before Jin Ze Hao and said: "May I ask our Senior Fellow Disciple whether you are acquainted with the Lady Boss of the inn? We were wondering if she is one of the Faint Mist Sect's Elders?"

Jin Ze Hao raised an eyebrow. "Her? Her position in the sect is much higher than an Elder."

Everyone then recalled back to the day when someone had challenged the Lady Boss, saying that she was guilty of negligence and that the Faint Mist Sect would definitely punish her for it. In the end, the Lady Boss had just arrogantly replied: "Who in the Faint Mist Sect would dare to?"

From the way things looked, she must really be somebody in the sect!

Everyone sighed out in relief. Lucky for them they did not offend the Lady Boss.

Lou Jun Yao had received a message from a subordinate back in the inn and had left first. It was only then that Yan Xi Rou and the others dared to speak up. The man's aura had been too overpowering and they had found it hard to breathe just by being in such close proximity to him.

Having just awoken from the weaved dreams, everyone was completely unaware of the frightening dangers they were all in last night, thinking that it was all just a bad nightmare.

Close to the mountain where the Faint Mist Sect sat, layers of barriers had been set up, to prevent a recurrence of the events today at the recruitment trials like when the Scarlet Lands Eight Demons had come to stir up trouble, so they wanted to ensure that that would not happen.

But it seemed like no one dared to come create trouble here today, not even the Carefree Valley who always went against the Faint Mist Sect, and no one came to compete for disciples like they had done before.

It was for no other reason than the fact that it had been announced that this year's recruitment trials would be helmed by the Faint Mist Sect's fifth ranked disciple, the person who set the miraculous record of three hundred consecutive wins, Su Li Mo, as one of the trial's invigilators.

He was a lunatic whose cultivation was so maniacally powerful, so who would dare go court death by going there to pick a fight? That great lord loves a good fight the most and if anyone was to really go challenge him, it was thought he would be most happy to oblige.

Of course the most important thing was that there was news saying the most highly skilled first ranked pugilist of legend in the Faint Mist Sect, the founder of the Deviant Department, Feng Tian Hen who had been undergoing training in the upper realms for many years had actually returned this time.

That person was a legendary character held in high reverence in the hearts of the Faint Mist Sect's disciples. According to disciples who had been in the sect for seven to eight years, they have only seen Su Li Mo a few times but have never seen any of the other top five ranked disciples before, not to mention the number one ranked of the inner circle.

So when news of that spread, the Faint Mist Sect's disciples broke out in a rousing cheer, their hearts excited and filled with anticipation. That had quickly deterred anyone who thought to stir up trouble on this day here and they had no choice but to know their own place.

"Sigh. I have never seen these guys get so excited every time I came back. Our Chief is really so much more popular as expected."

Su Li Mo was dressed in a cool suit of black like always with that unremarkable looking old sword held to his chest, and he complained when he saw that the disciples around them as they walked past had undisguised excitement in their eyes.

Luo Lan Zi beside him burst into laughter, his gentle and handsome countenance becoming even more mesmerizing as he laughed. "Are you really feeling sour that they did not welcome you in the same way?"

Su Li Mo's lips stiffened. "I wouldn't care about such things. I am just worried that they are getting their hopes up for nothing. Who knows whether the Chief is really going to come back? It might rally just be unfounded rumours as I have not seen him for several years already."

Luo Lan Zi lifted an eyebrow and then said: "It was the Sect Leader himself who said that so I do not think that it is false. Maybe that fella is already tired of staying out there for so long and just want to come back to the sect to pick a few good sprouts to nurture. The Deviant Department only has eleven people now and it is really rather lacking in numbers."

Su Li Mo shook his head. "He is so picky that I think there wouldn't be a single one that he is satisfied with in the entire batch."

"Oh? Didn't I hear you say that you discovered a youth with rather good potential back in the mystifying boglands?" Luo Lan Zi suddenly asked.

"He's really quite good, and not does that fella possess some great skills, it seemed like he was adequate in Medicine as well. But that does not mean that the Chief will think that he's good enough." Su Li Mo then shook his head. Moreover, Elder Jin said that he would definitely get that kid into the Elixir Cultivators Department, so the moment he appears, Elder Jin will immediately sink his claws into the kid."

Elder Jin was also one of the invigilators of this year's trials.

"But the problem now is how can you guys be sure that the youth would definitely come to the Faint Mist Sect?" Luo Lan Zi then asked incisively.

Su Li Mo was taken aback a moment. It seems like he really had not considered that possibility at all.

Today was also the day the Limitless Sect and the Carefree Valley would be holding their recruitment trials.

When they got to the mountaintop where the Faint Mist Sect was at, quite a number of people were already seen moving about at the entrance. Disciples were assigned to issue number tags to the participants and after they got the tags, they were told that only ten would enter at a time to have their gifts assessed in the first round.

The mysteriousness of the Faint Mist Sect was well known to the outside world. If none of their disciple inside came out to lead the way, no one would be able to go inside, unable to even locate the entrance.

And at that moment, everyone had stopped before a wide and torrential waterfall and were looking a little puzzled. All that they saw was just the waterfall before them and there was nothing else. So where could the entrance be?

Qing Yu and the others got their number tags and as it was given out in a random order, so the numbers were not in sequence.

Ming Yi Yi got a number that was further towards the back and when she walked over beside Qing Yu, she saw the number Qing Yu held in her hand, which coincidentally was together with hers.

She pressed her lips together in a smile and said: "Looks like we will be going inside together."

Hearing that, Qing Yu then glanced at the number in Ming Yi Yi's hand and smiled at her.

On the other hand, after Yan Xi Wu took her number tag and came back to the group, her face looked like the sky was about to fall.

Yan Xi Rou asked with great concern. "What's wrong?"

The others also turned to look inquisitively at her and Yan Xi Wu just raised a trembling hand to show the number tag she held, which was a clear and bristling number three.

Everyone in the group then uniformly stiffened their lips. To think that she was to be among the first group to go in. To get a number right at the forefront, her luck was really quite amazing.

Chapter 144: Mournful Looking Face

Yan Xi Wu was almost going to burst into tears. "What do I do? I'm so nervous that my mind is completely blank. What am I going to do if I am immediately disqualified....."

"If old Senior Qin finds out that you did not even make it through the gift assessment round, he will surely fly into a big rage." Yan Xi Rou said softly to her when she saw Yan Xi Wu looking so lost and confused.

For the past half year, Qin Fang had been helping them train to raise their cultivation and had been exceptionally meticulous with Yan Xi Wu who possessed the lowest gift. Her powers had increased by quite a bit now and if she gets disqualified, then all of Qin Fang's sweat and blood would have been wasted.

Yan Xi Wu was imagining Old Senior Qin's stern darkened face and she immediately felt a chill run through her.

[No can do. She must not be disqualified.]

Thinking about that, Yan Xi Wu quickly regained her focus.

After everyone got their number tags, two disciples from the inner circle then walked to go stand before the waterfall before throwing something very quickly into it. The very next second, something incredible then happened.

The torrential waters of the waterfall crashing down seemed to have frozen in place, becoming a beautiful and scenic painting, the place suddenly so quiet without the sound of water crashing down.

A loud swishing then sounded as the waterfall then parted in the middle, slowly opening up. Three bold and stately looking characters that read "Faint Mist Sect" was then revealed behind. Upon the thick and heavy limestone doors, were two great lifelike carvings in the shape of a ferocious beast's head with their fangs bared, staring malevolently at everyone there.

The two disciples then walked forward to each hold a bronze ring right below the beast heads, before they knocked lightly with them, like there was a secret code. As the knocking sounds came to a stop, the great limestone walls then swung open laboriously, and the misty realm of deities that was the Faint Mist Sect then slowly appeared before everyone's eyes.

Everyone could not help but widen their eyes at the sight. So the legend that says the Faint Mist Sect was a place where deities lived was not just rumours. This place was just too beautiful for words!

Several young women in their white sect uniforms came walking over slowly across the stone bridge as they approached, their figures slim and graceful, with beautiful looking countenances, which caused the young and hot blooded youths standing outside to stare in awe. The women in the Faint Mist Sect were indeed different from girls out in the outside world. They all looked like goddesses, every single one of them stunning in looks and demeanor!

The thought that they would be staying together with these people who looked like goddesses in future, the hearts of everyone outside could not help but soar.

"Number one to ten, follow me inside now." One of the sect disciples opened her mouth to say, and then turned to walk inside.

Yan Xi Wu took a deep breath and silently encouraged herself inside. But just before she took a step inside, she turned to glance with pitiful eyes like an abandoned puppy, at the still calm and composed Qing Yu.

And Qing Yu gave her an encouraging smile in return.

Yan Xi Wu immediately perked up, feeling highly inspired. She raised her head high and puffed up her chest, full of confidence as she went walking inside.

Although she did not know the reason why, but Qing Yu always made her feel safe and secure, like just getting her affirmation alone was enough for her to pass the first round.

People took turns to go in ten at a time. The strange thing was whenever a person went in, the two beast heads on the limestone doors would flash with a blue light.

"What is that?" Yan Xi Rou asked a little puzzledly.

Ming Yi Yi beside her then opened his mouth to explain. "That is to determine that the people taking part in the trials are within the prescribed age range and whether they are carrying any forbidden elixirs or artifacts that could assist in raising their cultivation levels. If anything abnormal is found, the eyes of the beast heads will then turn red."

"So I see." Yan Xi Rou nodded in understanding.

Qing Yu looked on with interest at the highly lifelike beast heads with a measuring gaze, and she could not help but marvel at the fantastic and mystical things they have in this world. To think that they already have such advanced instruments in this era.

"Qing Yu." The cold voice of a girl suddenly sounded behind her.

The expression on Qing Yu's face turned to one of surprise as she spun around with smiles in her eyes. "Lai Lai! I thought that you were not coming!"

Mu Lai who had previously agreed to come to the Faint Mist Sect together with Qing Yu had come in late due to matters that cropped up at the last minute.

Having not seen her for half a year, Mu Lai's demeanor had become a little more steady and restrained, and felt a little more imposing.

She had completely tidied up the entire Mu Family in the past half year and Mu Qing Tian had been bedridden for a few months before his condition improved, so all the pressure had fallen entirely onto her. Although she was just a young lady who was eighteen, her nickname as the Demoness was not given to her for nothing. She was decisive and resolute, eradicating even kin who stood against her.

Now, the Mu Family both feared and respected this Young Lord of theirs. Even if they were to manage to defeat Mu Qing Tian, this young lady has shown that she was even more terrifying than her father, so who would still dare to try any tricks?

Not only did no one dared to have any other thoughts about the Mu Family Clan anymore, they had become even more concerned for Mu Qing Tian's wellbeing and safety than Mu Lai herself.

The young lady was dressed in full black like before, a tall and striking figure with a cold and icy aura.

When she came walking in closer, Qing Yu then lifted up an eyebrow in further surprise. "Lai Lai, you've advanced in level?"

She had still been at the eighth level of the silver grade as an Elixir Cultivator six months ago, but she was now at the peak of the ninth level.

A very faint smile formed at the ends of Mu Lai's lips. "Mm. I broke through two months ago, but have been stuck here since, unable to progress any further."

"That is already very good. Breaking through the grades and levels for an Elixir Cultivator isn't anything like the way it is for martial arts pugilists. Every single level is a great chasm for an Elixir Cultivator to breakthrough and you actually attained three whole levels in a matter of six months. If all those Elixir Cultivators were to know this, they would surely call you an absolute maniac." Qing Yu said with an amused smile.

Mu Lai smiled along with Qing Yu's words, unable to deny them. She was indeed more talented than most ordinary Elixir Cultivators but when it came to real maniacal gift, who could compare with someone like Qing Yu.

Ming Yi Yi watched the close intimacy shared by the two people from the side and was a little surprised. It was after quite a good while before she opened her mouth to say: "Could this lady here be..... the Elixir Cultivator Family Clan's Young Lord Mu?"

She had tagged along together with her elder brother and a few elders to go pay a visit to that Elixir Cultivator Family Clan a few years ago and she remembered that the Mu Family's Young Lord was highly aloof and not easy to get close to, a person with a cold personality. Never had she ever thought that she would see such an amiable side of her here today.

Hearing that, Mu Lai turned her eyes to look at her, looking a little puzzled. "And you are?"

As expected, not only was the Young Lord cold and haughty, her nose was always up in the air, never bothering to remember people she was not concerned with. And the only person that she really remembered very well, was only just Qing Yu alone, whom she admired wholeheartedly.

Upon seeing that, Qing Yu came forward smilingly to introduce them. "This here is the Soul Cultivators Tribe's Ming Yi Yi, and you should have heard of her before."

Mu Lai nodded her head, and seemed to recall something. "You are Ming Jing's younger sister, and you guys came to the Mu Family looking for medicine three years ago."

The Soul Cultivators Tribe and the Mu Family were rather friendly with each other and they had always maintained a cordial relationship. Mu Lai and Ming Jing were rather good friends and he had naturally mentioned his younger sister that he doted on very much to Mu Lai.

"I wouldn't have thought that Young Lord Mu would remember me." Ming Yi Yi said beamingly, her two adorable dimples showing upon her fair skinned cheeks, pretty and charming.

"Just call me Mu Lai. There is no such thing as Young Lord or whatever like it once we are in the Faint Mist Sect." Mu Lai said matter of factly.

"Alright."

On the other side, the people who have been led inside to have their gifts assessed were brought to a wide and expansive hall, that stood completely empty without anyone else in there.

"Senior, er..... Aren't we supposed to have our gifts assessed? But there isn't even a Gift Sorting Rock in here at all." A youth with delicate features said in a weak voice.

To that, the inner circle disciple raised an eyebrow to look at the youth and replied: "Oh. We have indeed always used the Gift Sorting Rock for the assessment, but we've changed it and will be using a different method this year."

[They changed it?]

The participants looked at each other with mournful faces. [If they are not using the Gift Sorting Rock, then how are they going to be assessed?]

"Starting from the most basic comprehension of the elements. Within a cup of tea's time, the people who are able to first decipher the kinds of elemental power presently here in this vast empty hall will pass this round."

Once the disciple's words came out, if it was said that they were all confused just now, then they were all utterly baffled now.

[What is going on here? What does gift assessment have to do with comprehension of the elements at all? Isn't that an ability that only people who were just starting to practice martial arts would need to learn? Or were they being toyed with here??]

Seeing all kinds of thought going through their minds in everyone's faces, the disciple then said in explanation. "The most basic foundation of a warrior is their grasp of of their elemental powers and I believe all of you would have gone through this before. If you are able to do extremely well in this most simplest of tasks, it just shows that you are not that far off to achieving greater things. But while the task might seem very simple, it is not something that everyone is capable of doing. In this great hall now, it holds energy from three different elements. That will also mean that only three of you will remain from among you, and whoever identifies them first, will be deemed to have passed."

[Why was it already so hard in the very first round?!]

[No one told them that the gift assessment round had been upgraded to such a sadistic level at all! They were catching them completely by surprise here. Just three among ten will advance. That's just too cruel!

And what the participants did not know was that in that vast empty hall, an array had been set up, and the invigilators chosen for the trials were already seated there to watch them, but the participants were just not able to see the people inside the barrier array.

This was a suggestion brought up by Su Li Mo to prevent the participants from being unable to perform to their normal potential, so it would be better if the little kids did not see the invigilators.

Seated on Su Li Mo's left was Elder Jin and he was watching the people in the vast hall with a stern face. Seeing that, Su Li Mo gave a light laugh and then said: "Elder Jin, do you think that the kid you thought was good would come?"

Elder Jin turned to glance at him and said confidently. "Definitely."

Su Li Mo raised an eyebrow in amusement. "So certain?"

"My judgement is naturally correct. The first time I laid my eyes on that youth, I already knew that he would become one of our Faint Mist Sect's disciples." Elder Jin replied.

Su Li Mo stifled a laugh. [This old man says it as if he's clairvoyant. Can he really predict the future? Although he hopes that the kid will come to the Faint Mist Sect as well.]

Besides Elder Jin and Su Li Mo as the trial's invigilators, there was also Elder Yan among the Twelve Elders, the First Disciple of the Soul Cultivators Department Ming Jing, and the lady seated on the extreme right with stunning looks, her demeanor aloof with a beautiful and enchanting five petal flower on her forehead, who else could it be but Yan Ning Luo?

As the female with the strongest cultivation among the inner disciples who was highly favoured by the Sect Leader, she was also made to be one of the invigilators.

She was not paying any attention to the talk about the youth between Su Li Mo and Elder Jin at that moment, her face expressionless.

The reason she was sitting here was also because Qing Yu and the few others would be coming today.

She had not thought that the idiot Yan Xi Wu would come in together with the first batch of participants. With that kind of aptitude, she would not be able to even make it through the first round, and would just embarrass herself.

She thought back about the secret letter she had received from her mother some time ago, sent from the Eternal Peace Duke Manor and her clear eyes darkened almost imperceptibly.

She had originally only wanted Yan Qing Yu to know her place and back off, to make her leave the Faint Mist Sect on her own accord. But she had not thought that she would humiliate Mother so badly and that was a direct challenge to her.

Since that was the case, then Qing Yu cannot blame her for being heartless.

Chapter 145: Incredible Youth, Where Will He End Up

Sometimes when it came to luck, one really wouldn't know who it would shine onto.

Compared to the lost and panicked people beside her, Yan Xi Wu was only taken aback a moment before she quickly came back to her senses. They were actually testing them on the very thing that old Senior Qin had laboriously trained her to do for two whole months, to ascertain the kind of elemental power? Can it be any more coincidental!?

If she was not taking the test right here in the Faint Mist Sect at this moment, she would really suspect whether old Senior Qin had found a way to ask someone to make it easy for her to pass the assessment.

To the others, finding the elemental powers present here in this vast hall was really quite tough. But to Yan Xi Wu who had undergone Qin Fang's training for the past few months in this, it was relatively easy.

Even if she was not as good as them in other things, but when it came to identifying elemental powers, she was feeling quite confident.

So, right before Yan Ning Luo's incredulous eyes, Yan Xi Wu became the first person among ten people to ascertain the type of elemental power, the first person to pass the test.

"Eh, this little lass is rather good. To think that she has such good aptitude?" Su Li Mo said in surprise.

And Yan Ning Luo at the side was staring with her eyes wide as she muttered softly to herself: "How is it possible....."

Her voice was so soft it was almost inaudible, and only Elder Yan who was closest to her heard it. He then turned to ask her a little curiously: "What's wrong?"

Yan Ning Luo was brought in by the Sect Leader himself back then. As she was greatly gifted and was highly intelligent, the Sect Leader had always shown her great care and concern, and it was something that all of them knew.

But the young lady was always cold and aloof, and this was the first time that Elder Yan saw the icy facade crack.

Towards Elder Yan's probing eyes, Yan Ning Luo came to realize that she had gotten a little agitated. She shook her head slightly and then said: "Nothing."

It's just a coincidence that Yan Xi Wu was able to make it through the first round, and that is already her limit.

Outside the mountain's gates, the waiting youths were gathered together, some peering uneasily inside, trying to get a glimpse of the things happening within. After awhile, the first batch of ten people who went in earlier came out, and everyone immediately surrounded them in a swamp.

"How is it? How is it? You passed? Was it hard?" Someone asked very excitedly.

But the very next moment, he clamped his mouth shut in silence.

Because he saw the mournful looks on their faces and he had already guessed the answer. They have been eliminated.

Another person then said with a sigh: "No wonder it was said that the Faint Mist Sect is the hardest to be admitted into among the Three Great Sects. Even the very first round is already so hard, I really do not hold much hope for myself."

Actually, for those who were eliminated in the first round, there was a second chance for them to try again. But as the impact of failing was too great for them, the people who were eliminated just walked off, to leave the mountain.

A strong wave of emotions then surged through the hearts of everyone there.

Isn't it just an assessment of their gifts? Since they dared to come take part in the recruitment trials, without a certain level of powers, they wouldn't come to humiliate themselves before others. But..... to not even make it past the first round?

The departure of the few people had undoubtedly dealt a heavy blow to many of the others.

Meanwhile on this side, Yan Xi Wu was happy like a bird, immediately giving Yan Xi Rou a big bear hug upon seeing her sister before she said happily: "Hahahah. I made it! I passed! I'm really just too good at this. Haha....."

Yan Xi Rou was almost getting dizzy from Yan Xi Wu's excited shaking and she quickly pried her sister's hands of her as she asked: "I heard the others saying that it was very tough and you passed?"

Yan Xi Wu could not contain the joy from showing on her face. "It was indeed quite tough but do you know? The gift assessment round was a test of what old Senior Qin made me practise for so long, the comprehension and identification of elemental powers, so I was the first one to make it through!"

Qing Yu could not help but laugh. "You really hit it right on the head with a blind stroke. What great luck."

People on the other side overheard their conversation and they all surged over to come ask Yan Xi Wu. It was the first time that she was so closely surrounded by such a big crowd and her sweet and pretty face immediately spilled over with a beaming smile, as she patiently explained to everyone.

Seeing that, Yan Xi Rou could not help but raise an eyebrow. "Why do I feel like something is wrong here? If everyone knows the method to get through the test for the first round, wouldn't everyone then make it through?"

[If she was able to think of that, then how could the Faint Mist Sect not thought of it?]

Her concern turned out to be right. When the second batch of ten people went in for the trials, their faces looked highly stunned when they came out.

When everyone saw their faces, they could not help but think. [Have they all made it through and they were so happy they had become dazed?]

But that thought had just sprouted up in people's minds when they heard a person shouting: "Why would they test us on beast taming for the gift assessment round? I have been coming here for three years! Why are the things they test on different every time?!"

An adorable doll like girl's eyes were red at the rims, her tiny face pale as she sobbed: "Boo hoo hoo..... I will not come to the Faint Mist Sect again even if you beat me to death..... They almost scared me to death in there....."

Only the Heavens knew that they had just been chased around by spirit beasts snapping right on their heels.

Sure enough, the results was worse for the second batch, where only two people made it.

Only when they had absolutely no idea what was going to happen and they make it through would it force them to show their true powers. It could be said that the Faint Mist Sect's recruitment trials this year was rather resourceful.

With that, out of twenty people, only a pitiful five managed to pass the tests.

Seeing the forlorn and mournful faces of the people who went in after her, Yan Xi Wu could not help but take a big swallow. Fortunately she had drawn a number right at the front, otherwise if she had been among this batch, she would have failed miserably.

She tugged lightly at Yan Xi Rou's sleeve beside her and asked in a soft voice: "Are you nervous?"

Not getting a response for a good while, she then lifted her eyes to look in puzzlement. She was so shocked her eyes widened and she quickly released her hand. She did not know when Yan Xi Rou had walked away and the person standing beside her was instead Qing Bei, whose handsome featured face was looking down darkly at her.

Yan Xi Wu had become more and more afraid of this youth, thinking that he was very scary when he was not speaking, especially when he was staring at her without any expression on his face like this.

The thought that she had been tugging at his clothes and had not been smacked to death by him, Yan Xi Wu felt that her lucky stars must have been shining really brightly today.

The people taking part in the recruitment trials were gathered before the Faint Mist Sect's mountain gates and there were roughly about five or six hundred people at a glance. As the people taking part in the trials made their way in and then came out one batch after another, before anyone noticed it, the crowd of people had already thinned out by a third.

In just a short two hours, so many have already been eliminated.

"Next group, number one hundred and ninety to two hundred."

Qing Bei glanced at his own number tag in his hand. One hundred and ninety nine. It was his turn, and his gaze subconsciously passed over Qing Yu fleetingly.

"Give them your very best Little Bei." Having noticed the youth's gaze pass over her, Qing Yu then told him in a gentle voice.

Qing Bei slowly broke into a smile, filled with confidence as he said: "It's no problem for me."

Although there were many people taking the test, but every group that went in there would take just an incense stick's time at most before the test would end, so it was not really that exhausting for Su Li Mo and the other invigilators.

"What will this batch be tested on?" Su Li Mo asked, his chin cupped lazily in the palm of his hand.

All the topics they were tested on were different, the things they were tested on set by the sect's Elders.

Elder Jin drew a small piece of paper out from the wooden box and upon it, was written Soul Powers.

"Heh heh Ming Jing, this is in your area of expertise. I wonder if there will be anyone among this group of people that can catch your attention." Su Li Mo smiled when he saw the words on the small piece of paper, and then turned to the man who was one person away from him on his right.

That person looked to be in his early twenties, his complexion smooth as fine jade, his facial features profound and handsome as his body exuded a cold and forbidding aura, which was exactly as the saying goes: A man fine as jade, a young master of unmatched talent.

The First Disciple of the Soul Cultivators Department, sixth ranked among the inner disciples, just one step below Su Li Mo.

Hearing that, Ming Jing merely replied indifferently: "All persons with soul powers below the fourth level are not needed by the Soul Cultivators Department."

The corner of Su Li Mo's mouth twitched. "Then you had better not watch them at all. Even my own soul power point level is currently at the fourth level, so I fear you will not be able to find anyone you want from the participants."

This fella's soul power points was already at the eighth level and the Soul Cultivators Department's teachers should only be around level nine or so. Isn't this guy asking for a little too much here?

Against anything he could have expected, Ming Jing then threw him a glance and said: "My younger sister's soul power points have already reached level five last year."

Su Li Mo was rendered speechless. "....." [The level of gift in that family is just too terrifying.]

The ten participants for the trials came walking slowly into the great hall, all of them youths in their teens, puerile and green. When they saw how empty it was in the hall without a single person in there, they broke out in a smattering of soft mutterings.

But one youth among them stood different from the rest.

From the start, he showed neither panic nor nervousness, presenting himself to be completely calm and composed, not showing any bit of the impulsive restlessness a youth his age usually possessed, and his looks was also the most handsome looking among the group.

"That young fella looks rather interesting." Elder Yan said with a gentle smile.

"Hey! It's that kid!" Su Li Mo's eyes lit up, his face an expression of pleasant surprise. "He is here as I have thought."

The several other people turned to look at him with inquiring gazes, and Yan Ning Luo seemed a little confused. She had naturally recognized Qing Bei, but..... how did Su Li Mo become acquainted with him?

Su Li Mo then said with a laugh. "All of you are not aware of this. This lad here was with that white robed youth that time and if he is here, then that white robed youth must have come as well."

Hearing that, Elder Jin became greatly excited. "I wonder what number that kid got? Why not I just get someone to go bring that kid in? What if he becomes impatient while waiting and he decides to leave? Mm. I have somebody go fetch him right now!"

"....."

[Elder Jin, you really can't wait a little longer can you?]

[He is afterall still a highly reverent Elder of the Faint Mist Sect, a teacher of the Elixir Cultivators Department, so can you at least give a little consideration to your image and dignity?]

Elder Yan had been present that day as well and he had felt that the youth was extraordinary upon seeing him for the first time. Regardless whether it was his face that was almost devilishly good looking or that miraculous elixir from him that pulled Lian Shao Jie back from the very brink of death, everything about that youth just made him highly curious.

So seeing Elder Jin acting up like this was something he could come to understand, as it had been a very long time since the Faint Mist Sect had last seen such an interesting person seeking to join their ranks.

[He played the role of a teacher for both the Martial Pugilists Department and the Soul Cultivators Department so if the kid came to join either one of those departments, he would then be able to establish contact with that highly unusual fella. Maybe he would not be interested in joining the Elixir Cultivators Department at all.]

And on that last point, Elder Yan's guess was right, as the person they were talking about really had no interest in joining the Elixir Cultivators Department.

Chapter 146: Desire to Win Over

Hearing the others discussing about the mysterious youth so spiritedly, Yan Ning Luo looked at Qing Bei in the great hall with a rather conflicted gaze. He was just like Qing Yu, everything about them seemed to veer off the original path of logic, and went off in directions she could not comprehend.

Like the weak and useless Yan Qing Yu when she was much younger. Not only had her temperament changed to become someone she could not read clearly, but she had such a close relationship with the one man Yan Ning Luo loved in her heart.

And as for this youth who had been crippled and wheelchair bound for so many years, not only had he stood up once again, he had come to counter checkmate her mother, causing Father to be utterly disappointed with her mother, resulting in him neglecting her completely.

Had this pair of siblings been born destined to oppose her?

At that moment, Yan Ning Luo's eyes surged with darkness within, like a terrifying vortex that could swallow people up, and it was a good while before calm was slowly restored.

The disciples who had led the group in were originally about to say something, but then suddenly looked as if they had received other instructions. Their gazes became somewhat sympathetic as they looked at the participants, before retreating their way out.

The youths did not know what was going on, completely baffled.

[Have they..... thought of some new ways to torment them?]

Elder Jin and the others behind the barrier then seemed to have understood the intentions of a particular person.

To Ming Jing whose soul power points have reached level eight, these people were merely just insignificant insects in his eyes who should not even waste his time to have them undergo a test, so.....

And the four people behind the barrier came to feel clearly a powerful blast of oppressive aura emanating from Ming Jing's body in that instant. It was a crushing oppression onto a person's mind, which was impossible to avoid.

When even they were feeling such strong and intense discomfort, there was no need to mention those inexperienced youths still new to what the world was like.

Su Li Mo could not help but criticised the guy inwardly. [This fella is really being too brutal.]

The jet black penetrating eyes glinted with a gold light on the cold and aloof man with a face fine as jade, his soul energy coalescing into a blue demonic fanged lion in a ferocious rage as the energy poured out from his eyes. The blue beast leapt and broke through the barrier, before it lunged straight towards the youths whose faces turned deathly pale, scattering in frightened wails.

This was even more terrifying than the others who had been chased around by spirit beasts earlier. The powerful mental attack crushed all lines of defence in their minds, magnifying the fear they felt by several times, rendering them completely unable to put up any kind of resistance at all.

That was clearly just an illusory spirit beast transmogrified from soul energy but none of them even dared to stand to resist it at all, dooming them to be eliminated from this round.

Ming Jing could not help but curl up the ends of his lips into a scornful smile. But suddenly, the smile on his face sagged very slightly, and his expression seemed rather surprised.

He saw the youth that had been the most calm and composed before continue to stand there without any change in the expression on his face except for a slight pale shade, his long good looking pair of eyes sparkling bright, his tall and slightly thin body straight and erect as he faced the ferocious and malevolent demonic lion, not showing the slightest sign of panic.

Ming Jing's surprised expression suddenly seemed a little conflicted. [Does this kid really possess power or is he just pretending to be calm?]

Actually, he could have just retracted the attack he had thrown out with his soul powers. It was afterall just a test and he had no intentions of taking anyone's life. However, he really wanted to see how the youth would deal with the situation.

But if the kid was just putting on a brave front and was wounded by the Demon Lion, his cultivation might become completely destroyed.

Qing Bei narrowed his eyes as he stared at the terrifying spirit beast that was coming closer and closer to him. There wasn't a sliver of fear on his face but was instead seemingly eager with anticipation. Qing Yu had said that he possessed strong soul powers and that was why he had been able to perceive many unknown things. So, he was eager to see the extent of his powers.

Power gathered within his slender fingers and a ball of bright purple electricity formed in his palm, crackling loudly. Upon looking at it more closely, it was imbued with a golden red streak within.

In that very instant that the Demon Lion closed in, the youth's palm clenched up tightly into a fist. With so much strength that green veins could be seen bulging up on the back of his hand, he aimed carefully at a spot on the forehead of the Demon Lion and smashed his fist straight down onto it.

The scornful smile hanging from the corners of Ming Jing's lips deepened. The kid was indeed just pretending to be brave. Did he really think that he'll be able to strike a illusory Demon Lion like that? How naive!

But in the very next second, the smile on his lips froze completely.

The incredibly ferocious Demon Lion fell from the air like it had been severely wounded, its body surrounded by a deep purple electrifying light that assaulted it mercilessly. The Demon Lion's body twitched and spasmed violently, and the mark of a palm could be seen deeply imprinted right in the middle of its forehead.

The ever steady and composed Elder Yan immediately leapt up onto his feet, his gaze filled with pure and utter shock. "What a great kid! He combined soul powers with martial arts which elevated his soul power attack to its peak, giving it extremely great power, absolutely unstoppable!"

After saying that, he turned his eyes onto Ming Jing who was still stunned in a daze and he said with a laugh: "You've really erred in your judgement this time. That kid's gift isn't inferior to yours at all."

The endless changing expressions on Ming Jing's face was really fascinating to watch.

But the person who was most shocked there was still Yan Ning Luo.

On that peerlessly beautiful haughty looking face, if she had not fought to maintain a facade of composure, the others would have quickly noticed her rather unusual reaction.

Her fingers inside her sleeves unconsciously curled up tightly, the knuckles turning white, and no one knew the kind of raging turmoil that was surging in her heart at that moment.

[How is that possible? How can things possibly turn out like this?]

[It could just be a coincidence that Yan Xi Wu happened to pass the assessment in the beginning, but Qing Bei's performance that she saw would not allow her to continue to lie to herself anymore.]

[Just what kind of a fortuitous encounter did they have in this period that caused their cultivation to improve by so much? If the two of them have already achieved so much, then to what level would Qing Yu whom she had never been able to read have possibly attained.....

Yan Xi Wu could not help herself but to think of the young lady's devilishly beautiful countenance that was in no way inferior to her own and to remember the unabashed light tenderness in Qing Ye Li's eyes when he looked at her. Her heart immediately became so heavy and suffocating that she could not breathe, and the vicious glint on her face gradually showed, impossible to hide it any longer.

"Is Ning Luo not feeling well? The pallor of your face isn't looking too good." Elder Yan's concerned voice sounded beside her.

Yan Ning Luo forcibly suppressed the insidious darkness within and expelled the bad air inside by blowing out a long breath before she revealed a weak smile at the corners of her lips. "Thank you for the Elder's concern. Maybe I did not get enough rest in the past few days."

"So I see" Elder Yan did not suspect anything and smiled at her as he continued to say: "It will not be so tiring once these recruitment trials are finished, and you'd be able to get some good rest."

"Mm." Yan Ning Luo nodded, and her face then became her normal self.

This batch of participants had probably come back out the fastest, and it seemed like almost all of them were in dejected despair.

Except for Qing Bei trailing at the back calm and unhurried, his expressionless gaze brightening with smiles only when he saw the young lady in front. "Qing Yu, I made it through."

As if he was seeking to let her know that he was capable, he then added: "I was the only one to pass."

Qing Yu's eyes beamed, curling up into crescents as she looked at the youth who was already half a head taller than him. Her hand then reached out very naturally to ruffle his soft hair. "Little Bei is really great."

Qing Bei didn't know whether to laugh or to cry as he pulled her hand down. "Are you treating me as Meatball?"

Her tone of voice was exactly like the way one would use to humour a little child.

Qing Yu laughed and was about to say something when her eyes suddenly stared in another direction, but she did not see anything there.

[That's strange. Why did she feel like someone was staring at her just now? Had she been mistaken?]

Along a long stone carved corridor within the Faint Mist Sect where misty fog perpetually swirled like the realm of the gods, a tall well built figure in white was walking slowly, while a youth with a good looking countenance followed behind in his footsteps.

The youth had his handsome brows creased up, seemingly not understanding something. It was after a good while before he said hesitatingly in a soft voice: "Chief, what were you looking at just now?"

[He had stared for so long, like he had been frozen in his spot.[

The man's footsteps halted. "Hm?"

The clear light voice rose slightly in pitch, that plucked at one's heartstrings enchantingly. Hearing that voice was somehow so exceptionally enjoyable.

The youth was bedazzled for a brief moment before he regained his senses looking slightly embarrassed as he scratched the back of his head and said a little sheepishly: "It's just that I have ever seen Big Brother like that and thought it was strange."

The man then laugh softly, the sound highly pleasing to the ear. "Look like what?"

It was only after some contemplation that the youth was able to put together an explanation. "Like a rock was suddenly tossed into the smooth mirror like surface of a calm lake, that caused a big splash, or like a lifeless barren plain, that was raging with fire....."

"I can't really explain it well, but it felt as if the Chief, had suddenly become very human."

No longer fleeting and unreal, like an imagined illusory figure, feeling so far distant even when he was close by, like an enigma that is not from this world. In those eyes, they had been shining with an incredibly intense light.....

The type of light that pressingly yearned to possess something.

The smile on the man's lips stiffened slightly. [Suddenly become human?]

[Maybe that is true. For some unknown reason, the image of that person had just unconsciously appeared right before his eyes just now, and he could not help but fall into a helpless daze, a fiery fervour immediately rising up in his heart.]

[But, he had no recollection of that person at all before. Sigh, it was such a strange thing that happened right out of the blue.]

Time trickled on bit by bit and the batches of participants went in one after another, until it was Mu Lai's turn. And after her, Qing Yu and Ming Yi Yi would be up.

Compared to how nervous the other people were, Mu Lai as a prodigy in both Medicine and Martial Arts was naturally much more competent, and did not have to worry about being eliminated.

Towards a prodigy like her, the Faint Mist Sect would surely be in a rush to recruit her and it would be the Faint Mist Sect's loss if they were to eliminate her.

Moreover her heart was not really fully invested in joining a sect and hence she was naturally not that concerned.

After waving to Qing Yu and the others, Mu Lai went walking in with the other young men and women whose numbers were called.

Coincidentally, these people were also Elixir Cultivators and the test for this round was naturally set to assess their abilities in Medicine.

The venue for the test was in a small sized elixir cultivation room mainly used for trials and competitions in the Faint Mist Sect. The place was able to hold twelve participants to cultivate elixirs at one time, an elixir cauldron at each position, and a variety of herbs placed beside it.

But looking at it, the equipment seemed rather old and battered.

"The topic for today's test is a medium grade level seven elixir. Anyone who breaks the elixir cauldron will be eliminated, insufficient level in cultivated elixir will also be eliminated. The use of your own elixir cauldron is prohibited and you cannot use your own herbs. If any acts of deceit or cheating is discovered, you will be banned from participating in the Faint Mist Sect's recruitment trials for life. The time starts now and the time limit is when the stick of incense burns out."

Chapter 147: A Dark Horse Emerges

A level seven medium grade elixir. An Elixir Cultivator would need to have at least attained the Silver Grade before being able to refine such an elixir.

And the purity of a level seven elixir would vary as well. It was not easy to achieve one hundred percent purity and it would be a test of the Elixir Cultivator's grasp on herbs and the intensity of the elixir fire.

But that was not the thing that worried everyone there. It was the old and battered equipment there, namely the elixir cauldron which looked as if it might just explode during the pill refinement process.

As Elixir Cultivators, every single one of them had their own personal elixir stove and cauldron. But as the rules stated that they were not allowed to use their own items, it did not help no matter how good their elixir cauldron was.

Hence, with solemn and conflicted faces, everyone started to pick out the herbs they would need from the pile of various herbs beside them when the incense stick was lit.

The process of identifying the necessary herbs also required skill as well.

Because many of the herbs looked very much the same on the surface, the slightest bit of carelessness might have them mix up two different types of herbs.

Just by searching for the right herb, even though it was almost going into the beginning of winter, some of the backs of the participants were soaked with sweat.

Right from the beginning, Mu Lai's actions were slow and leisurely. As a child who grew up in the Elixir Cultivators Family Clan, she was always fiddling around with herbs from a young age, immersed in the pothecary for days and nights on end without taking a single step outside.

The daily task of children training to be Elixir Cultivators back then was to fully memorize the characteristics of two hundred types of herbs. Get a single one wrong and there would be no food for them that day.

Hence under that kind of harsh and grinding training, most regular Elixir Cultivators would have no problem recognizing those two hundred types of herbs, and people from the Elixir Cultivators Clan were trained to recognize at least five hundred. For Mu Lai, as the most talented disciple of her generation in the Elixir Cultivators Clan, she was able to identify more than a thousand kinds of herbs.

Not only was she familiar with how every single kind of herb looked, smelled, and its uses, she would be able to pick out a hundred different kind of herbs that looked the same on the outside within the time it takes to have a cup of tea.

So picking out the right herbs could not be any easier for her.

Compared to the others who picked out a dizzying number of different herbs, more than ten in kind, Mu Lai merely chose five types. They were Earth Core Grass, Dragon Beard Bloom, Devil Spirit Fruit, Hundred Eye Spider, and Mermaid's Tears.

After she advanced in level, this was the first time she was refining pills. The elixirs she was going to cultivate were called Seven Day Emotion Purge, where a person would fall into a state of suspended animation in seven days' time, and when they come awake, they would have forgotten all their feelings of romance, to become incapable of love from then on.

This was something she had coincidentally come across from medical texts but she had never cultivated it before, so she might as well try her hand at it here.

The others have already begun to toss herbs into their cauldrons to remove impurities and to extract the essence, but Mu Lai was still patiently washing the herbs. A few types of the herbs were rather brittle and would easily be burnt into ashes under strong flames. So she used a slow fire to raise the temperature in the cauldron and slowly cultivated the herbs.

Time passed unconsciously by, and the incense stick in the censer had burned a third of its length off.

Although the venue for the trial had been changed, the entire scene in the Elixir Cultivation Room could still be seen clearly by Elder Jin and the other invigilators.

"How are they doing?" Su Li Mo knew nothing about elixir cultivation and he was naturally showing a lack of interest as he turned to ask Elder Jin beside him.

Elder Jin had already set his heart on that mysterious white robed youth from before but watching this batch of participants undergoing the test, he still nodded his head as he said: "These young ones here aren't too bad with their elixir cultivation skills but whether they will be able to succeed in forming up the elixirs is another thing altogether."

As the leader among the Three Great Sects, the Faint Mist Sect would naturally not be so hard pressed for money that they could not even afford new elixir cauldrons and stoves. It was intentionally made to be so in order to put the participants to the test. It must be known that sourcing for these old and battered elixir cauldrons had taken them quite a lot of effort!

Su Li Mo curved up the ends of his lips and did not commit to any reply, merely thinking in his heart that the recruitment trials should finish in about another hour or so.

He had heard that fella Lou Lan Zhi sending word telepathically that the Chief had come back. But as he had promised the Elders Council that he would preside over the recruitment trials and with two Elders watching just beside him here, he really could not find a reason for him to slip away, so he had no choice but to continue to wait.

Half the incense had burnt out, and Mu Lai who was moving the slowest had begun to cultivate her elixir.

"Crack!"

As expected, the first elixir cauldron let out an explosive crack, splitting down right through the middle. Elixir fire flared out and the cauldron crackled and popped before it broke into countless pieces.

It was a young lady about sixteen or seventeen years of age. When she saw that, she was stunned into a daze for a moment before she quickly reacted, trying to protect the dark green pills that had already taken shape inside, seeking to guide her elixir fire into another empty elixir cauldron beside her.

But it was not known where she had made a mistake in the process of cultivating those elixirs. In the instant that the elixirs was exposed to the air, it immediately crumbled into fine dust and disappeared completely.

The young lady froze in her spot and was unable to react for a very long while.

Till one of the Faint Mist Sect's disciples came over to say to her: "You're eliminated."

The young lady then came back to her senses and tears fell pitter patter down her face, weeping softly as she followed the disciple to walk out of the place.

Watching the scene, Elder Jin shook his head sympathetically. "The lass reacted quickly and has rather good potential. But she picked out a wrong herb which caused the elixir to deteriorate and ending up ruined. If she had not picked the wrong herb, she might still have a chance of salvaging that."

It must be known that her attempt to shift the elixir fire into another cauldron at the side was to be fully commended for, and it would have guaranteed that the elixirs would form within the stipulated time as well. What a great pity.

The incense had only burnt out halfway and someone had already failed, eliminated from the trial. At the moment that the cauldron exploded, it had also come to affect two other people who were closest to it.

One was when his concentration was fully focused and the explosion threw his state of mind into chaos, causing his elixir fire to flare up intensely which burned the elixirs into crisp. For the other person, the shattered pieces of the broken cauldron cut his hand and a drop of his blood melded into his elixir, ruining the elixir completely.

These two people had probably been taken out under the most unjustly among everyone.

Hence it was with a most sympathetic expression that the Faint Mist Sect's disciple came in to bring the two of them out.

Mu Lai did not look like she had been affected in the slightest. Her elixirs were about to complete and there was about a third of the incense stick left that was used to mark time. But as the state of the cauldron was really very poor, Mu Lai did not manage to escape the fate of her cauldron exploding as well.

With preceding examples as reference from those two people, the others were now well prepared against being affected by the exploding cauldrons of others.

But what a pity, another unlucky fella's cauldron exploded and it looked like another person would come to be eliminated.

The Seven Day Emotion Purge elixir was a full snowy white, colourless and tasteless, very ordinary looking. But on the inside, it was red as blood, which stained the air around it a faint crimson. There was only just one last step left and the refinement would have succeeded.

Mu Lai was of course not about to let her sweat and tears go down the drain. Her clear and penetrating eyes flashed with a fiery glint and she took over the control of the remaining blue ball of flames from inside the cauldron, and engulfed the entire elixir with a renewed steady fire, continuing to refine and cultivate.

The other Elixir Cultivators around her who had silently lit a candle for her in their hearts stared with eyes that almost popped out of their heads, unable to believe what they were seeing.

[That fella is able to to cultivate elixirs without the use of a cauldron but with just her hands??]

From where has this maniac come out from? Such powers would be rare to see even among the disciples from the Elixir Cultivators Department in the Faint Mist Sect! And she is here taking part in the recruitment trials together with sheep like them. Isn't that just pure and utter bullying?!]

And with that hand shown by Mu Lai, it caused Elder Jin on the other side of the barrier to stare, unable to turn his eyes away. Always putting on a stern and imposing face, it could be said that he looked the most amiable today.

An old man who was almost fifty smiling like a chrysanthemum in full bloom, his face overflowing with joy. "Heh heh, what a run of luck are we in here? To think that we would encounter two such gifted little fellas. I think the Elixir Cultivators Department is about to shine very bright."

The two young gifted little fellas he's talking about, besides this young lady here who's able to cultivate elixirs with her just her bare hands, the other one would naturally be that mysterious white clothed youth.

When Elder Yan heard that, he just laughed and did not expose him. Without talking about this young lady with her prodigious gift for the moment, whether the other youth belongs to the Elixir Cultivators Department is still not yet decided!

Mu Lai concentrated all her energy to complete the last step in the pill refinement. She picked up a box at the side and then put the elixir inside. Once inside the box, she saw the white lustrous surface of the elixir that was smooth as jade quiver slightly, before a fine crack lightly appeared, to form a fine silver pattern, that coated the elixir with a sacred glow.

At that moment, an incense stick's time was already up and someone had come in to take the successfully cultivated elixirs away. The disciple was about to bring them to Elder Jin for them to be assessed when he saw the unique form of the elixir and was startled for a moment.

The very next moment, a figure suddenly flew into the tiny elixir cultivation room in a fiery rush and snatched the elixir from the disciple's hand, his eyes alight with fierce fervor. He sighed and then said repeating himself: "I did not expect..... I did not expect it to actually turn out to be a superior grade elixir! This silver pattern is a mark that only appears on superior grade elixirs!"

Upon closer look, the disciple then thought. [Isn't this Elder Jin who is one of the invigilators!?]

When Elder Jin saw the change coming over the elixir, he had not been able to remain in his seat at all. How could he have thought that a dark horse like this would appear among this year's participants?

[The young lady was actually able to cultivate a medium grade elixir into a superior grade elixir! Her gift is in no way inferior to the Elixir Cultivators Department's top disciple and she seems like she has not even turned twenty yet!]

"Lass, what is your elixir cultivation level?" Elder Jin asked, highly eager.

Being stared at with such eyes, Mu Lai could not help but feel her goosebumps rise. But she still went on to answer truthfully: "Silver Grade, peak of level nine."

Elder Jin's gaze grew even more fevered, like he was eyeing a juicy piece of meat. "Not bad, not bad, your future is bright. You are greatly gifted!"

A twitch tugged at the corner of Mu Lai's mouth. "I am from the Mu Family of the Elixir Cultivators Clan, so I am naturally well versed in elixir cultivation. It is nothing to be so surprised about....."

"Not arrogant nor temperamental, humble and polite. Very good. Everything that an Elixir Cultivator should be. You've passed, and you can just report to the Elixir Cultivators Department later. I will arrange for someone to settle you in." Elder Jin said smilingly, and the disciple who was so used to seeing his forbidding face started to suspect whether he was hallucinating.

As for the other young men and women who took the test, only two people managed to cultivate a seventh level medium grade elixir and the others were all eliminated.

Having recruited such a skilled disciple this time, Elder Jin was naturally blooming with joy, and the smile did not leave his face for the next few days.

The expression on Mu Lai's face was highly helpless, thinking that this teacher was a little too east to satisfy. If he had seen the way Qing Yu cultivates elixirs, then he would not find what she had achieved here all that extraordinary.

The peerless skill of cultivating elixirs with her bare hands was even taught to her by Qing Yu!

With Elder Jin gone and leaving just the few of them there with nothing to do but to stare at each other, Su Li Mo quickly said that he would be right back and immediately went walking away in a hurry.

Chapter 148: A Prodigy is Born

It was already noon in the blink of an eye and the sun was hanging high up overhead. The sun in winter was not scorching like it was in summer but it still caused many to feel dizzy under its bright rays, sweat covering their backs under thick winter clothing.

The crowd that had been stifling packed was now scattered and sparse, with only about a hundred people left. Most of these were people who have passed the first round of the trials and were going to take part in the second round.

Qing Yu's number had been called out and just as she was about to walk in together with everyone else, her footsteps suddenly faltered and she fell backwards feeling all her strength seep out from her. Fortunately Ming Yi Yi beside her had been quick enough to catch her.

"What happened to you?" Ming Yi Yi asked with a worried face.

Qing Yu then regained her senses, her brows slightly furrowed. "I'm fine."

For just an instant, her body had felt very strange and she had suddenly almost blacked out for a moment.

Ming Yi Yi's face was still looking rather worried. "Are you feeling unwell?"

Qing Yu could not help but laugh. "I am an Elixir Cultivator myself and I would know whether there is anything wrong with me."

Ming Yi Yi was then appeased.

On the other side, Su Li Mo immediately went to look for Luo Lan Zhi after he left. After getting to know the situation from Luo Lan Zhi, the two of them then made their way towards the Sect Leader's abode.

"Feng Tian Hen, I've not seen you for so many years!" The Faint Mist Sect's Sect Leader Wen Ren Qian's face was split into a charming smile, looking every inch the refined and noble man he was known to be.

His eyes were deep as he looked at the young man before him with a measuring gaze.

In a pure and untainted white brocade robe, although it was not the Faint Mist Sect's uniform, it still made him look mystical like a deity, especially that face of his.

Having lived for so many years, Wen Ren Qian had also seen people of all sorts and kind. But a countenance as outstanding as that, it was feared that it would be hard to find one that could match it.

People in the world knew that the Faint Mist Sect's number one Feng Tian Hen possessed profound and unfathomable cultivation, but few knew that he had a equally peerless countenance that was in no way inferior to his profound cultivation, a face that might make people lose their soul with just one look.

One's looks was always the most deceiving since the beginning of time. It was clear to see that he had such a flawlessly handsome looking face, a countenance that was both benign and harmless, but he was a man that even someone like Wen Ren Qian who had overthrown the previous Sect Leader and came to take over the seat had to be wary and fearful of.

If not for the support of Feng Tian Hen and the others back then, he would not have been able to assume this position so smoothly. But Wen Tian Hen's mind was just too deep and it was hard to decipher what he was really thinking.

Money, power. Things easily within his reach.

But when the internal strife had been so chaotic, he had not fought for the position at all. This was something that Wen Ren Qian had not understood. What does this man really want? With his abilities, he should not be huddled here in this tiny realm that was holding him back.

Having not returned for several years, Feng Tian Hen had grown even more unreadable, and for him to come back this time, he must have discovered something that interested him or maybe a person that interested him.

Feng Tian Hen laughed softly. "I've not come back for too long and thought I should come have a look around."

"Is that all?" Wen Ren Qian pushed it back to the man like practising Tai Chi. "I had thought that there was someone among the new recruits we are taking in this year that captured your interest as the Deviant Department you founded years ago only has eleven members up to date."

For a department to have so few members, the Council of Elders had not been agreeable to it in the beginning. But as Feng Tian Hen was really such an enigmatic person, they did not dare to oppose him so openly, they had then relented and agreed to it.

Although that was what Wen Ren Qian was saying on the surface, but he knew in his heart that throughout the countless deviant and unique professions across the realm, a very rare few could attract Feng Tian Hen's attention. Otherwise, there wouldn't still be so few members in the Deviant Department after so many years.

Hearing that, an indiscernible smile rose up on Feng Tian Hen's face. Right at that moment, the door opened up from the outside.

Among all the people in the Faint Mist Sect, the people who dared to come into the Sect Leader's room without even knocking like this were only the haughty fellas holding the top five ranks, and Su Li Mo was the biggest culprit guilty of that.

The person who then appeared and came walking in was no one else but Su Li Mo. His pair of eyes that were dark as ink were filled with uncontainable delight. "Chief! You're finally back!"

The arrogant and domineering Su Li Mo could only be tamed by Feng Tian Hen, who was the leading character among that same batch of young people that came to be admitted into the Faint Mist Sect back then.

When Feng Tian Hen went away, Su Li Mo was still a green and puerile young youth but he had now grown to become a matured man, but his temperament still had not changed, just as rash and easily irritable as before.

Feng Tian Hen turned his eyes to smile at him. "The kid has changed quite a bit." His gaze then moved on to Luo Lan Zhi where he nodded his head slightly by way of greeting.

"Chief, does it mean you're not leaving anymore now that you're back? Let me tell you that the new batch of recruits we're getting this year are quite different! It will surely interest you." Su Li Mo said highly excitedly.

Though he was the Sect Leader of the Faint Mist Sect, Wen Ren Qian was being completely ignored. But he had gotten used to the few fellas not according him the respect due to him and he just quipped in to ask: "How are they different?"

"There's a prodigy that both Elder Jin and Elder Yan are fighting to get." Su Li Mo said with a wink, acting all mysterious.

"Oh?" Wen Ren Qian became curious. "Who is that person?"

Su Li Mo crooked up a corner of his mouth a little helplessly. "We've have not seen that person appear yet. But that fella is really very mysterious. Highly skilled in martial arts, and knows elixir cultivation. One more thing, very few people can remain unaffected by Luo Lan Zhi's sound attack but that fella had not even felt a thing!"

He had not forgotten the day when Luo Lan Zhi's flute melody had attacked all those bats and poisonous snakes, many people had suffered internal injuries when their blood surged upon hearing the sound but that kid had not been affected at all.

After hearing his words, the others were rather surprised.

Luo Lan Zhi had not paid any attention to anyone there but now that Su Li Mo mentioned it, he was becoming rather curious about that mysterious youth as well.

There were only two kinds of people who were able to resist his sound attack. One would be people who held higher cultivation than him, or they were skilled in sound attacks as well. No matter which category that kid belonged in, he was not to be underestimated.

"Chief, do you want to go have a look? I'll can just let you take over my position as an invigilator!" Su Li Mo then said excitedly.

Feng Tian Hen smiled and shook his head. "I won't be going. As the invigilator presiding over the recruitment trials, it is not good for you to leave halfway through. You had better go back quickly!"

It was merely just the recruitment trials, not anything big enough to make him go all the way there.

He had come back this time only to find out exactly what was causing that strange feeling he felt inside.

And it was during this interval between their conversation that a loud sound of a violent explosion was suddenly heard, rocketing towards the skies. They had felt the tremors all the way here and the people in the room were surprised for a moment. What could have happened?

Su Li Mo was a little astonished. "It seems to have come from the hall where the trials are being held. I had just left for a little while and it has become like this?"

Had someone come to pick a fight??

When that thought came into his mind, Wen Ren Qian stood up and went walking towards the source of the sound with a grim expression on his face. The other three men then glanced at each other before they went on to follow behind.

Meanwhile at the hall where the trials were being held, everyone's faces were stupefied, including the several invigilators behind the barrier array.

And the culprit who caused that explosion, was no one else but Qing Yu herself.

Upon that flawlessly beautiful face right at that moment, was just a blank look, not knowing what was happening as she stared at her own fair skinned palm.

This round was set to purely just have the participants' gifts assessed and everyone else had been tested with Qing Yu being the last one. Just as she had placed her hand on the Gift Rock before she had even summoned up any spirit power, the Gift Rock had suddenly exploded into countless pieces.

Ming Yi Yi could not help but watch on with horror. [What did that girl just do?]

This was the first time something like this had happened during a recruitment trial and the disciple who brought them in earlier was stunned beyond words, unable to react at all for a good long while.

The faces of the four people behind the barrier were frozen in a variety of expressions with the most horrified and shocked one being Yan Ning Luo. Her eyes were wide and bulging, refusing to believe what her eyes had just seen.

[How is this possible.....]

[Could it really be that even the Gift Rock is incapable of assessing the extent of Qing Yu's powers?]

[This must have been a accident! Even if her personality and temperament has changed greatly and was no longer weak and incompetent because she said that she has a profound and unfathomable Master behind her, her powers couldn't possibly have suddenly grown by leaps and bounds to such an extent! That was completely beyond logical reason!]

Elder Jin's face was thoughtful as he rubbed his chin. "Could that little young doll have used some renegade method?"

Elder Yan beside him then laughed and said: "I think you're getting old and forgot that no one passes the Faint Mist Sect's mountain gates that easily. If there was anything suspicious on her, the gates would not have let her through."

Hearing that, Elder Jin said as a corner of his mouth twitched: "So..... it is because the little young doll there has cultivation that is so high that..... the Gift Rock exploded when it was unable to withstand the powers she has?"

"Whether that is truly the case, we'll just have to test it one more time and we'll know."

Elder Yan's eyes flashed with an intelligent glint and with a grand wave of his well defined hand, a great crystal ball appeared. That was a appraisal artifact that clairvoyants used. It gives results that were more comprehensive and accurate than Gift Rocks, and the amount of power it could withstand was also stronger.

That was a treasured possession of all clairvoyants and was not commonly shown to people, but Elder Yan had unexpectedly been willing to bring it out.

Elder Jin's face was one of surprise. "Aren't you afraid that the little girl will cause your crystal to blow up?"

"If she is really a prodigy, then the destruction of a crystal ball is not that big a matter."

Elder Yan curled up the ends of his mouth and gave a great big wave of his hand to dismantle the barrier screen that hid them, to appear before the participants.

The sudden appearance of the few people in the vast hall caused the youths taking part in the trials to jump in shock.

"These are the invigilators of the trials." A disciple then opened his mouth to explain.

[What?!]

[Had all these Seniors and Elders been secretly watching them the whole time? That is really so scary. Only the Heavens know whether their performance earlier had been enough to leave a good impression on these respected entities!]

Elder Yan held the crystal ball in one hand and came walking over slowly closer. When he was able to see the young lady's countenance clearly, he unconsciously froze for a brief moment, feeling that he had seen her before. But he recovered very quickly to normal and said in a gentle voice: "Young lady, try to place your hand on it."

It was at that moment that Feng Tian Hen arrived at the hall where the trials was being held.

The slender white clothed young lady had her back facing him and he was not able to see her face, but he saw the slender and beautiful hand slowly resting upon the crystal ball, the skin fair and silky smooth, the most exquisite he had seen.

And in that instant that the hand was placed upon the crystal ball, it was not known from where a wind like a hurricane kicked up, which cut painfully into people's faces.

The still and silent crystal ball suddenly swirled up murkily and a dizzying dazzle of colours that represented all the different elements flashed very quickly before settling into a thick dark black like the colour of ink. A loud crack was then heard and the crystal ball split open.

Chapter 149: By Hook Or By Crook

The vast hall turned deathly silent in that instant.

Everyone saw the crystal ball flash with all manner of colours in a mesmerizing swirl before it crumbled into pieces.

"Gulp." Someone could not help but took a huge swallow of saliva.

Even Elder Yan who always never revealed his emotions was showing a stunned look on his face for the first time, unable to recover from the shock for a good period.

Until Su Li Mo who was by the door suddenly exclaimed with a roar: "Damn! An all element prodigy?!"

That voice pulled the people whose souls had seemingly left their bodies back, and they all looked like they were staring at a ghost.

This alluring and beautiful young lady who looks like a little demoness was really an all element prodigy? If this was made known to the world outside, everyone's jaws would surely drop to the ground in shock!

But having just witnessed with their own eyes that both the Gift Rock and the crystal ball had not been able to withstand the load and exploded, it made it impossible for them to not believe that as a fact.

Feng Tian Hen's eyes narrowed slightly. Although he was only able to see the young lady's back, but he was able to recognize with just one glance that she was the same person he had seen at the mountain gates earlier.

When that person had for some inexplicable reason drawn his consciousness towards her.

That feeling was just too baffling and highly puzzling.

For all the twenty over years that he's lived, you can say that he had no desire nor want, but this had been the first time that he had felt such strong and intense feelings.

It was as if there was something lacking in his body, and it had now been filled up fully

And right at that moment, the vast hall was awash in a wave of dumbfounded awe.

Elder Yan's gaze was shining with a rare moment of fiery fervour. This was an all element prodigy. An existence a lot more rare than the light and darkness dual element wielder that might not be seen in a hundred years.

Throughout the entire realm, you can count more on one hand than the number of all element prodigies that ever existed and an all element prodigy had actually appeared here in this year's Faint Mist Sect recruitment trials! This was like getting hit by a single pie that fell out of the skies!

The advantage an all element prodigy enjoys is that they will become the top dog in whatever profession they choose to cultivate in where a very rare few could ever hope to compare. So in that instant, Elder Yan was suddenly at a loss on what kind of arrangements they should make for this young lady with such Heaven defying talent.

Elder Jin standing up above could no longer hold himself back. His eyes alight as he came walking over, he said: "How about you come join my Elixir Cultivators Department? This old man here will definitely teach you everything that I've learnt my whole life to you, to make you the most outstanding Elixir Cultivator in the Constellation Lands!"

Elder Yan was rather displeased by that and he butted right in: "Haven't you already recruited a highly gifted female disciple? Are you seeking to also gobble down this young lass here as well? Don't you think you're being a little too greedy!?"

Elder Jin's face was indignant with rage. "How is that the same thing!? We are talking about an all element prodigy here. If she were to possess unparalleled skills in elixir cultivation, her future will be limitless, where it would not matter even if she chooses to walk sideways throughout the entire lands! Who wouldn't want to fight for such a rare prodigy!?"

Elder Yan was just thinking of saying something more when the clear sound of laughter was heard from outside. "What Elder Jin said is absolutely right. Then let the Martial Arts Department join in the fun as well."

A muscular and strong built figure with burly looks, the man who looked to be about forty years old came walking in. "I heard the commotion in here and was wondering what happened. So it turns out that a young prodigy has appeared. This year's recruitment trials is really quite a show!"

Elder Jin's eyes immediately widened as he stared warily at the man, coming to move himself between the man and Qing Yu. "Why is this old fella doing here?"

"Haha. Elder Jin, you said that everyone would want to fight for a prodigy didn't you? I am merely here to compete fair and square."

"Don't even think about it. The young lady is such a petite fair skinned doll and exquisitely beautiful. Letting her fall in your boorish hands will just wreck such a delicate flower. Keep your nose out of this." Elder Jin scoffed, his beard bristling.

Hearing herself being described in such a manner, Qing Yu could not help but arc her lips up to laugh, before she said in a soft voice: "I am grateful for all the love so many teachers have shown me here but..... I'm afraid that I will have to disappoint you."

Hearing that, everyone there was taken aback.

Has she just rejected them? This was the first time ever that a disciple has rejected a teacher's invitation to join them. But if it was this young lady here, she really had what it took to be so arrogant."

The man who had been blocked off by Elder Jin like he was a thief immediately became anxious. "Young lady, don't listen to the nonsense that old man Elder Jin spouts. Although I might look a little boorish, I am actually very gentle at heart. You are so gifted and looks so lovable, I will not be fierce to you....."

Panicked, he could no longer be bothered to maintain a polite front and just called Elder Jin an old man, which infuriated Elder Jin so much his eyes were staring daggers right at him.

Elder Jin then retaliated by mercilessly putting the man down. "Lass, you must not believe a word he says. He is always berating the girls in the Martial Arts Department into tears every other day, completely lacking the poise and demeanor a teacher is supposed to possess."

After he finished he did not forget to make himself look good. His face was earnest and sincere as he said: "It's better that you come to our Elixir Cultivators Department. We are very liberal in there where disciples have a lot of freedom and we do not push for intensive cultivation practice everyday. My First Disciple, your Eldest Senior Tan Lin Ruo is also a very gentle and amiable person and is especially good looking. If you need help in any way, you can look for him anytime you want."

Not only Elder Jin who was closest to them and the teacher from the Martial Arts Department, as Elder Jin's voice had not been soft at all, none of the others there were deaf so they all heard him loud and clear.

[What!?]

[In order to convince the young lady to join his department, Elder Jin was even shamelessly making use of his First Disciple's good looks?!!]

[If Tan Lin Ruo were to know that his Master was using him like this, he would surely be heartbroken!]

Nobody had thought that the always stern and stoic Elder Jin who was not prone to smiling would turn out to be such a shameless and treacherous old man deep inside his bones.

The teacher from the Martial Arts Department was completely flabbergasted as he stared with his mouth agape, unable to believe what his own ears had just heard. He seemed to have been stunned into a daze by Elder Jin's shameless ways and was not able to recover for a long while.

[What did he mean by "do not push for intensive cultivation practice everyday"? Don't just think that he doesn't know how that old man is like when he's strict. That old man makes his disciples toil through ten batches of elixirs in one day and those who do not complete the task will still have to face punishment.]

[And that old man still has the cheek to put him down? What a despicable old man!]

Everyone just stood there to stare speechlessly at the two lofty Elders who were usually so highly dignified squabbling without holding back in the slightest as they competed for a disciple, their faces all aghast.

[For goodness sake..... There were so many of them there and the Elders really have to disregard them all so completely?]

Even the mild tempered Elder Yan came to jump into the fray for the first time to fight for that disciple, but his methods was much more brilliant. With a highly amicable smile on his face, he then said: "Young lass, since you're an all element prodigy, I would think that your cultivation level cannot be that low, so there is really no need for you to go waste your time in the Martial Arts Department at all."

Just that one single statement put out so lightly across had scrubbed the teacher from the Martial Arts Department out of the race. And before Elder Jin could laugh aloud gloatingly, Elder Yan continued to speak in the very next second.

"Although it is said that the profession as an Elixir Cultivator saves people from death and heals the injured, highly praised by people, but it comes with a huge drawback. Because one has to always remain highly focused for long extended periods to cultivate elixirs, it takes a great toll on one's body and mind. So if you come to our Soul Cultivators Department, not only will you be able to grow your mental cultivation to become much more powerful, if you so wish, you can very well just transfer to the Elixir Cultivators Department in future if you choose."

It must be said that Elder Yan's words was rather stirring. Compared to Elder Jin and the other teacher who tried elevate themselves by putting the others down, Elder Yan listed out both the pros and cons, and appeared a lot more friendly and amiable.

"She will not be going to the Soul Department."

Elder Yan who thought that victory was within his grasp was suddenly taken aback, before he turned towards the voice to see who had suddenly appeared to come spoil everything for him. But that one look then caused his eyes to widen in shock.

There were two people standing at the doors leading into the hall, one in black and one in white, both highly striking figures.

Since ancient times, black had always represented tyrannical dominance, lending a kind of flamboyance that people were unable to disregard, while white would seem to be more gentle and subdued, whose very brilliance would often be swallowed up and overshadowed by the thick enveloping inky black.

But that was not the case here. As arrogant and untamable as Su Li Mo was, following behind that person had caused him to unconsciously restrain his dominating aura, reduced to being a secondary character.

Just what was the identity of the man that could make Su Li Mo defer to him like that?

Till the two men came walking over slowly towards them, except for the bunch of green and inexperienced youths taking the test for the trial who were still unable to react, all the other people gasped loudly as their stared with wide eyes.

Disciples who were fortunate enough to have seen this man before in the past were moved to tears. "To think..... that I am able to see him again....."

People who did not know anything were puzzled. "Who is he?"

Looking at the man, he was dressed in pure white robes, his figure tall and slender, his long black hair unbound and draped down his back, looking a little surreal, a handsome sight.

Under the sharp slanting brows was a pair gentle eyes that sparkled like stars, and under that tall high arched nose were a pair of beautifully thin peach plum lips, adding a kind of indescribable beauty to the gentle features of his face, a mystifying air around him.

The feeling he gave people was too unreal and impossible to fathom. Although he was clearly standing there before their eyes, they just could not feel his presence.

Regardless whether it was ten years ago or at this moment ten years later, this man always had a smile on his face that was so gentle people could drown in it, but it was a smile that everyone throughout the entire Faint Mist Sect feared greatly.

The expression on Elder Jin's face congealed, and even he was not conscious that his own voice had become stiff. "You've really returned....."

Feng Tian Hen was silent as he watched the young lady turn around, her alluring pair of eyes looking straight at him as their eyes met.

That feeling was here again. A kind of ecstatic excitement that burned in his bones with fierce fervour. A voice was telling him that he must get this young lady. Although he did not know where the feeling was coming from, but very strangely, he found that he could not control his surging emotions inside, that was overflowing with joy.

And how could a gaze filled with such intense fervour escape Qing Yu's eyes?

But the face before her eyes was completely unfamiliar. She was certain that she did not know this man, but why was he looking at her with eyes that look like..... they were looking at their prey.....

Very quickly Feng Tian Hen's gaze changed, to look gentle and intoxicating once more, like that expression on his face earlier was just an illusion.

Although Elder Yan was wary of this man, but he was one of the few people who would at least dare to stand up to him. The moment the man came back and he's already obstructing Elder Yan from recruiting the disciple he wanted. What was he trying to do?

"You said that the lass would not join the Soul Cultivators Department. What do you mean by that?" Elder Yan asked, his face unfriendly.

Feng Tian Hen did not show any signs of displeasure towards Elder Yan, but just laughed jovially before opening his mouth to say: "Bringing in a prodigy with soul power at the maximum level to join the Soul Cultivators Department, are you expecting her to snatch the rice bowls of the teachers like you in there?"

Upon saying that, his gaze then turned to stared at Qing Yu, an imperceptible smile on his face.

Chapter 150: Doesn't Look Like A Good Person At All

Qing Yu creased up her brows and then turned away from that gaze that was making her a little uncomfortable.

And that man's one single statement suddenly exploded in everyone's hearts. Maximum level in soul power? What kind of a joke is that?!

It must be known that even the most highly skilled teacher in the Soul Cultivators Department was only at the ninth level and there were a total of ten levels for soul power, and anyone who came to attain the seventh level would already be considered extremely gifted.

But what had that man just said? The young lady's soul power level had reached the maximum level!?

Elder Yan was a little doubtful but he still went ahead to look at the young lady to ask: "May I conduct an assessment of your powers?"

Qing Yu paused for a moment before she nodded her head.

Although she did not know what soul power levels really were in this world, but she guessed it should be something similar to one's mental strength.

Elixir cultivation always called for great mental fortitude to support the entire process and just as what Elder Yan said, mental drain on Elixir Cultivators was the most severe but she had never once experienced a state where she was fully mentally depleted.

Having received her consent, the expression on Elder Yan's face then grew grave before he took out something that resembled a lantern. He infused it with spirit power and a bead in the centre of the lantern suddenly lit up, emanating a golden beam which shone onto the young lady's forehead just between her brows.

The very next second, the beam of light quickly retracted back into the lantern to form up into a golden screen in mid air, displaying a few lines of words.

Soul Power: Maximum Level.

Martial Strength: Maximum Level.

Main Profession Cultivated: Elixir Cultivator, level unknown – Indiscernible.

The few lines of words quickly caused everyone's jaw to drop in shock. The young lady is an Elixir Cultivator!

An Elixir Cultivator with full levels in soul power and martial strength?!

It must be known that though there were many Elixir Cultivators throughout the lands, but most of them were skilled in elixir cultivation techniques and not in other cultivation levels, where dual cultivators of martial arts and medicine were extremely rare, pitifully few in number.

Who could possess such enviable gift like her that would only drive people to hatred and jealousy? That was an absolutely peerless prodigy who was able to wield all the elements and possess maximum levels both martial strength and soul power!

"I must surely be dreaming....." A youth who was there to take the test pinched his own arm viciously, the pain causing him to grit his teeth and his eyes to brim with tears. "Is this really happening? I am really here taking the test with such a godly participant for the recruitment trials. It all feels so unreal."

They were all just youths in their teens here, how could someone be so outstanding but he had to be so ordinary?

"Lass, so you are an Elixir Cultivator!" Elder Jin who had been caught in a daze for so long suddenly regained his senses, unable to contain his delight as he said: "Then nobody needs to fight anymore. Didn't you see that she is an Elixir Cultivator? There is no need for any of you to mess things up any further."

"Elder Jin might be getting a little confused here." Feng Tian Hen then said in a soft voice. "An Elixir Cultivator at a level that cannot be determined. Are you sure that you have the ability to teach her anything?"

The mysterious and handsome looking man came to attract everyone's attention once more.

Just who was this person that could be so disrespectful to an Elder of the Faint Mist Sect repeatedly again and again?

Hearing that, Elder Jin's face showed a tinge of anger. "What are you really trying to do here? This is the Faint Mist Sect's recruitment trials. Why have you come here to create trouble?!"

"Create trouble?" Feng Tian Hen raised an eyebrow, the glint in his eyes rather attractive looking.

An enchanting smile hung from the corners of his mouth as he looked at the young lady who seemed to be rather wary of him. He then opened his mouth to say in a soft voice: "I think an self introduction is due here. My name is Feng Tian Hen."

Qing Yu was rather surprised as she blinked her eyes. [This name..... She seems to have heard it before?]

"Feng Tian Hen? Is he that topmost ranked pugilist of the Faint Mist Sect?!"

"That cannot be! I am actually seeing him in person right now?!"

"I heard that he is the founder of the Deviant Department. The Faint Mist Sect did not have such a department ten years ago and it was Feng Tian Hen who suggested it."

"Oh my Heavens! What a day of unbelievable fortune! Not only have I seen a peerless prodigy of legend here today, I am seeing the fabled Faint Mist Sect's top pugilist who is said to never show himself!"

"Most importantly..... He is really good looking....." Those words, were undoubtedly from an ignorant young girl who was quickly deceived by that gentle and flawless looking flesh facade.

Feng Tian Hen completely ignored all the strange gazes looking at him from all around as he took two steps closer. He was very tall, a whole head taller than then tall and slender Qing Yu. At such a close distance, the man lowered his head slightly and looked at her with an unusually focused gaze in his eyes. "I am wondering if you would be willing to join the Deviant Department. I think, that you will be interested in my puppetry technique."

Who among everyone present there did not possess good hearing? They had all naturally heard what Feng Tian Hen said.

This man is actually willing to impart his puppetry technique to a second person?

It must be known that even the ten other disciples in the Deviant Department were not accorded that kind of honour, as Feng Tian Hen was definitely not as mild mannered and harmless as he looked on the surface. Which one under him did not fear him to death? It was seen even the untamable Su Li Mo is obedient like a little kitten before the man.

Looks like he is determined to get this prodigious young lady at all cost.

With such a powerful and good looking man like Feng Tian Hen to be her Chief, it was thought that the young lady's heart must be overwhelmed with joy, but was just playing hard to get when she did not accept on the spot.

But what they had not expected to see was Qing Yu's calm composure when she heard those words, and had even retreated back a step when he suddenly stepped forward, her face looking slightly displeased. She then opened her mouth to answer: "I will consider it."

Which almost caused everyone to vomit out blood.

[That's her response to this? Is there something wrong with that young lady!?]

[This is not the place to loosen one's grip in order to reel in a catch! If this were to make Feng Tian Hen feel offended, he could very well retract his invitation immediately! Even if you are a prodigy, you've got to at least see who the other party is before you put in airs like that!]

Feng Tian Hen did not take offence at her words but his smile just deepened slightly. "Of course you can. You can just try it out and stay there for a few days to familiarize yourself with the place before you decide. But if I may ask, why does it seem like..... you do not look very willing?"

[Has he been away for too long and he does not understand a young lady's mind now? Has he become detestable? He did not fail to notice the disdain in the young lady's eyes, and he found that interesting to note.]

Hearing that, Qing Yu creased up her brows again and then opened her mouth to speak: "From the way you look, you do not look like a good person at all."

Su Li Mo standing right behind almost could not hold back his laughter. But concerned for his Chief's face, he struggled very hard to suppress it. That was probably the funniest thing he heard that entire year.

[The Chief does not look like a good person..... He can only say that young lady is really sharp!]

[His Chief was absolutely the very epitome of a smiling tiger you know?]

[He would never show his anger. When he gets angry, he will still smile at you as gently as he always does, and you can never know whether he is in a good or bad mood. Heavens! There is nothing more terrifying than when that man is looking at you with a faint gentle smile on his face!]

[But having the young lady say that to him directly..... Would the Chief just silence that young lady in rage from being humiliated like that.....]

But amazingly, Feng Tian Hen's face merely flashed with a look of helplessness and did not say anything more.

Elder Jin and the others could do nothing but watch in infuriation as Feng Tian Hen pulled the rug out from under their feet, snatching the rare prodigy who had appeared after such a long time away from their grasp.

But what could they do? Even the Sect Leader had to give in to this man, so what other choice did they have?

Watching the scene over on Qing Yu side intently, Ming Yi Yi suddenly felt someone give her a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and was immediately met with a cool and handsome face before her eyes. Her lips then turned up in joy as she called out: "Big Brother."

"Yi Yi, you know that young lady?" Ming Jing had been watching her actions and would naturally know that Yi Yi never paid much attention to other people. Her actions had inadvertently told him that she knew the young lady.

"Big Brother, she is a friend of mine." Ming Yi Yi said with a happy smile. Her small hands then held his arm. "See, I do not feel cold anymore."

Her hands were warm to the touch.

Ming Jing was taken aback and could not react for a moment. His eyes then widened and he asked: "Yi Yi, you've been cured?"

"No." Ming Yi Yi shook her head, and then turned to look towards the young lady. "She saved me back then. Otherwise, I fear I would not be able to see Big Brother anymore when my body suffered a relapse from the frost poison."

Ming Jing's gaze changed. "She is so highly skilled in Medicine?"

"That's right. She's not like all those Elixir Cultivators Big Brother brought, all the acupuncture and endless doses of medicine. They tried everything they could but it did not help at all. She is really very amazing." The smile at the corners of Ming Yi Yi's lips then grew stiff. "If she had not stopped me from drinking the Crimson Sand Viper's blood, I would probably have turned into a bloodthirsty monster now."

"Why were you so foolish? Fortunately you did not do something so foolish, or I will not bother with you anymore!" Ming Jing berated her softly, his face fearful from the thought.

Ming Yi Yi then tugged at his robe's sleeve and shook it gently, her voice pleadingly soft. "I didn't do it in the end did I? Big Brother, don't be angry with me anymore."

Ming Jing glared at her and did not speak, but went on to heave a sigh of relief.

The recruitment trials finally came to an end just before noon and among the five to six hundred people who took part, it turned out that only fifty people passed, exactly the number the Faint Mist Sect said they would recruit before.

The fortunate thing was that Yan Xi Wu and Yan Xi Rou who had originally not harboured any hope actually made it through against their own expectations. It must be said that they were like a blind cat stumbling across a dead mouse this time, and they had probably used up all their luck to reap such an unexpected reward.

People who have made it through the trials would be immediately accepted into the sect and they would henceforth officially become a disciple of the Faint Mist Sect. But after the recruitment trials today, there was also a welcoming meet for the new batch of disciples that would only be held two days later.

Hence, with a good half of the day left, they were allowed to leave the sect grounds or to go settle themselves into the place they were going to live in.

Most of them chose to remain in the sect with eager faces but a small number of them thought that their days ahead would surely be rather dull and so they took that opportunity to go out gallivanting for the rest of that day. After today, it would be a very long time before they would be able to go out.

Although the place where the Faint Mist Sect's disciple stay in was not as luxurious as it was back at home, but it wasn't bad as well. The place was clean and neat, the environment elegant.

Every room had four people staying inside and it was not cramped, the rooms fairly spacious. It was not known what Ming Yi Yi told Ming Jing but she was allocated the same courtyard with Qing Yu and their beds were even beside each other.

The other two girls were people who had similarly just made it through the recruitment trials. One of them had been admitted into the Martial Arts Department and the other into the Elixir Cultivators Department. When they saw Qing Yu, their eyes were shining very brightly, amazed that they had been allocated the same room as such an incredible prodigy. They would definitely be the envy of so many people.

Qing Yu surveyed the room as she looked around, before she walked over to the window and pushed the half closed panel wide open. She was suddenly met with a familiar face outside who had coincidentally also just opened her window and they two of them were stunned with surprise for a moment.