Inspection

Taking advantage of the chaos among those present, the Spirit Devouring Rat hidden within the spirit field had long since fled without a trace,

vanishing without a shadow.

Although Zhang Qingyuan had known from the start that the Spirit Devouring Rat would not be so easily dealt with,

a bitter smile still appeared on his face.

He had not expected that the first time he accepted a mission in Area B,

he would be toyed with by a rat.

However, Zhang Qingyuan did not give up just like that.

His hands formed a hand seal,

Spirit Essence circulated,

Manifestation Tracing Technique—

Appear!

A faint white light rippled within his eyes.

Within Zhang Qingyuan's field of vision,

visible to the naked eye, trails had appeared across the spirit field beneath the night sky.

They were the traces left behind by the Spirit Devouring Rat as it moved through the field.

Zhang Qingyuan inspected them carefully,

wanting to find the traces it had left while fleeing, since it had not been gone long, and see whether he could track it back to its nest.

Seeing this, the surrounding Hu Family Guards

also stopped their clamor,

made way,

and waited for Zhang Qingyuan's investigation.

As for whether that damned Spirit Devouring Rat could be eliminated,

the Hu Family members were even more eager than Zhang Qingyuan himself.

What the Spirit Devouring Rat had ruined

were the Spirit Grain seedlings in the spirit field,

the cultivation resources for them and the lineage's younger generation over the next year!

However,

they were destined to be disappointed after all.

After searching for a long time,

there was not much harvest.

Zhang Qingyuan was somewhat disappointed.

"Brother, how about it? Did you find the route that beast used to escape?"

Hu Yong'an, the Hu Clan Leader who had already been alerted and come to investigate the situation,

could not help but step forward and ask.

"Difficult!"

"That Spirit Devouring Rat is very clever, and it also possesses a Concealment Talent. There are simply not many useful clues to be found."

Zhang Qingyuan shook his head slightly.

His face showed his difficulty.

Disappointment appeared on Hu Yong'an's face.

He was about to force a smile and say a few pleasant words to Zhang Qingyuan, lest the other party harbor any thoughts.

But at that moment,

Zhang Qingyuan changed his tone.

"However, I still have one final idea. I will need Brother Hu's support, though. If it still fails, then Brother Hu can only seek someone more capable."

"Whatever you need, brother, just say it! I, Hu Yong'an, will put my word here—the entire Hu Family of Azure Mountain Town is yours to command!"

Hu Yong'an immediately pounded his chest,

making a firm guarantee.

"Then I'll have to trouble Clan Leader Hu."

In Zhang Qingyuan's hand,

he held a fragment of rotten leaf no larger than a grain of sand, utterly inconspicuous,

and raised it before his eyes,

examining it carefully.

It was a tiny fragment of decayed leaf that had stuck to the Spirit Devouring Rat and fallen from its body!

A deep gleam

flashed through Zhang Qingyuan's eyes.

The next day,

under Hu Yong'an's orders,

a great deal of snowy-white flour was brought out from the lineage.

Afterward,

it was scattered around the spirit field,

forming a white ring

that encircled the spirit field without leaving even the slightest gap.

This snowy-white flour

was genuine fine grain.

Scattering food over the ground like this truly left some Hu Family members puzzled.

But the night before,

under the terrifying might of Zhang Qingyuan's sword splitting the air and Sword Qi sweeping through in an instant, many people had already developed reverence in their hearts.

Together with Hu Yong'an's support,

no one raised any objections.

Very soon,

all around the spirit field,

snowy-white flour had been scattered.

"Good. Then Brother Hu, have everyone go back and rest first. Whether this works will depend on whether that Spirit Devouring Rat dares to come tonight!"

"Mm, good. Then I'll be relying on Brother Zhang from here on!"

Hu Yong'an nodded.

After all the commotion from last night until now,

those Hu Family guards and clansmen were indeed somewhat tired.

Thus, several people were left behind to watch the area,

while the rest departed together.

Zhang Qingyuan did not leave with them.

Instead, he remained around the spirit field.

After last night's battle,

he had gone back and rested for quite some time, so he did not feel tired yet.

He stayed here for the time being,

guarding the spirit field,

while also taking this period of time to sort through his own cultivation.

Name: Zhang Qingyuan

Realm: Spirit Essence Realm Seventh Level Early Stage

Cultivation Method:

Water Origin Art: (Third Layer: 999/1000)

Techniques:

Spring Breeze Fine Rain Technique: (Third Layer: 885/1000)

Light Body Technique: (Third Layer: 10/1000)

Growth Induction Technique: (Second Layer: 91/100)

Spring Return Technique: (Second Layer: 49/100)

Manifestation Tracing Technique: (Second Layer: 3/100)

Martial Skills:

Nine Refinements Bone Forging Fist: (Great Accomplishment: 726/1000)

Cloud Smoke Steps: (Minor Accomplishment: 2/100)

Cloud Water Thirteen Sword Styles: (Minor Accomplishment: 32/100)

Everything displayed on the panel was all the means Zhang Qingyuan possessed.

The techniques were all auxiliary techniques.

The only ones with killing power

were martial skills.

Among them,

the Nine Refinements Bone Forging Fist was an internal cultivation fist art that circulated Spirit Essence and Blood Qi, tempering the bones and body. It did not have many offensive moves.

Cloud Smoke Steps was a lightness skill for shifting and evasion, with no offensive power.

His sole offensive method

was still the final Cloud Water Thirteen Sword Styles.

Therefore,

during last night's battle,

Zhang Qingyuan had been attacking with the Standard Longsword issued by the sect.

He possessed only one sword technique with offensive power,

and it was the Basic Sword Technique uniformly taught by the Cloud Water Sect Outer Sect to all Outer Sect Disciples: the Cloud Water Thirteen Sword Styles.

It truly made Zhang Qingyuan feel somewhat ashamed.

"Back when I cultivated behind closed doors in the sect, I rarely fought others. The missions I took to earn cultivation resources were all livelihood-type tasks, such as weeding spirit fields, casting the Spring Breeze Fine Rain Technique to bring Spiritual Rain to Spirit Plants, or working for others to harvest Spirit Grain crops."

"My Sect Contribution Points were basically used to exchange for cultivation resources, so I had no spare savings to exchange for other offensive techniques and martial skills from the sect."

"If it had been before, cultivating like this could barely have worked."

"But now that I have advanced to the Spirit Essence Late Stage, whether I take the combat missions outside Area A and Area B or face the sect competition ahead, fighting is something I cannot avoid!"

"After this, it seems I must seriously consider broadening my offensive methods!"

Zhang Qingyuan sorted through and examined what he had learned,

silently warning himself in his heart.

In the world of cultivation,

fighting was cruel.

One moment of carelessness could lead to death.

Zhang Qingyuan could not live forever under the protection of the Cloud Water Sect.

Not to mention that the sect would never be willing to nurture flowers in a greenhouse—even if it were, Zhang Qingyuan did not wish for his Dao Path to rest entirely in another's hands.

His means of fighting enemies

had to increase!

Zhang Qingyuan made up his mind.

That said,

it was impossible to cultivate offensive techniques and martial skills in a short time. Not to mention the time required to spend the costly Contribution Points to exchange for them from the sect,

once exchanged,

it would still take quite a while to cultivate them successfully and turn them into combat power.

Fortunately,

with the Proficiency Panel as a reference, and with another half year before the Outer Sect Grand Competition,

there should still be

enough time!

"Water Origin Art."

After examining his current state,

Zhang Qingyuan's gaze fell upon the Cultivation Method section.

Water Origin Art: (Third Layer: 999/1000)

He was only a hair's breadth away

from breaking through to the fourth layer!

At present,

this was the path that could increase Zhang Qingyuan's strength in the shortest time!

The Water Origin Art,

this cultivation method,

was one of the most common Basic Cultivation Methods practiced by Outer Sect Disciples of the Cloud Water Sect.

The first three layers were plain and unremarkable,

at most making the Spirit Essence cultivated through it upright and natural, more continuous and profound than that of other cultivation methods.

Only by entering the Fourth Layer

could one undergo a drastic transformation

and gain the unique power bestowed by the Cultivation Method's attribute!

At that point,

its might would undergo an Earth-Shattering Change!

Throughout the entire Seventeenth Branch,

not a single person cultivating this Cultivation Method had reached the Fourth Layer!

Of course,

this was not unrelated to the fact that those talented disciples in the Separate Courtyard had their Lineages backing them and had long since exchanged for more powerful Cultivation Methods from the sect.

Basically, the Top Ten Geniuses of the Seventeenth Branch

all cultivated Cultivation Methods a tier superior to the commonplace Water Origin Art.

Few were willing to spend their time on a Cultivation Method taught freely by the sect.

Only Zhang Qingyuan, that Beggarly Ghost,

who could not afford to exchange for any other method and believed that the Water Origin Art complemented techniques such as the Spring Breeze Fine Rain Technique, would earnestly cultivate this commonplace Cultivation Method—unremarkable in the early stages and difficult to advance with in the later ones.

But no matter what,

looking across the entire Seventeenth Branch, the one with the deepest understanding of the Water Origin Art was undoubtedly Zhang Qingyuan!