Little Junior Brother, Want Some Fish?

After that, the Sect Leader's courteous greetings rang out in the main hall. He thanked all his junior brothers for taking time out of their busy schedules to attend Little Six's apprenticeship ceremony, especially for their various gifts.

The peak masters merely smiled and said things like, "Not at all," "We're all family," and "We've met the child already"...

Zhou Qing felt thoroughly pleased with himself, because he heard another notification.

In truth, he wanted to hide, but "hiding" and "being ignored" were two entirely different concepts.

A short while later, Chief Eldest Brother Li Daoxuan entered through the side door with Lu Yaoyao.

Lu Yaoyao once again paid her respects to the various peak masters. Many male Core Disciples below stood on tiptoe, gazing at the lovely figure above with beaming faces.

What a beautiful little junior sister.

He still remembered that many years ago, when the Cloud Dream Peak master had taken in a female disciple, it had been just as lively as today. However, there had not been nearly so many Core Disciples then.

That was because the senior sister's looks had been ordinary, and her nose had even resembled a pig's snout. Some people had even whispered jokes to one another on the spot: "Your wife, your wife..."

But now, as they looked at this little junior sister, tranquil yet carrying a touch of impish charm, the corners of everyone's mouths nearly stretched to their ears.

"Hm?"

Just as Zhou Qing had farmed three Ignorance Points, he suddenly noticed the senior and junior brothers around him constantly looking about, as though searching for someone.

He looked over in confusion, only then noticing that Lu Yaoyao, standing beside the Sect Leader atop the steps, was continuously sweeping her gaze through the crowd.

The moment she spotted Zhou Qing in a corner, her eyes immediately lit up.

At that moment, a sense of impending disaster rose in Zhou Qing's heart.

Miss, no matter how heaven-blessed and godlike I am, you don't have to openly make me the target of everyone's hostility in front of so many people, do you?

And now that you've noticed me, how am I supposed to farm Ignorance Points?

How am I supposed to reduce my presence?

Very soon, following Lu Yaoyao's gaze, everyone turned to look at Zhou Qing in unison, their faces full of confusion.

Seeing this, Zhou Qing pretended not to notice. He casually shifted forward and positioned himself behind a massive white jade pillar in the hall.

Then he put on a show, stroking the jade pillar with his hand as though examining something.

When Lu Yaoyao could no longer see Zhou Qing, she shifted her body to the side again. She could barely glimpse a corner of his robe, but that sliver of cloth was soon pulled back by a hand.

She pursed her lips and could only straighten up.

Everyone was somewhat puzzled. Did this beautiful little junior sister know Zhou Qing?

That should not have been possible. Could it be that his shameless conduct last night had made this little junior sister want to see what that peeping fiend actually looked like?

Damn it, one rat dropping had ruined an entire pot of soup. How was little junior sister supposed to view all of them Core Disciples in the future?

Facing everyone's looks of disappointment and anger, Zhou Qing continued stroking the white jade pillar.

He wore an indifferent expression that said he could neither see nor hear anything.

Third Senior Brother was right. A beautiful woman was a calamity. He would have to guard against this woman in the future.

"Eh~~"

Just then, Zhou Qing suddenly discovered that something seemed to be moving inside the white jade pillar before him.

Were his eyes playing tricks on him?

He rubbed his eyes and looked again carefully.

The next moment, a tiny white insect the size of a grain of rice flashed past within it.

This time, Zhou Qing saw it clearly, and his heart began pounding wildly.

If he had not been mistaken, that insect should have been an exceedingly rare Spirit Hidden Worm.

A Spirit Hidden Worm! This thing was extremely demanding about its living environment and existed only within certain minerals.

Moreover, what it consumed was the purest energy. Once refined, it would almost completely return that energy to the cultivator, helping them break through their cultivation.

Zhou Qing forcibly suppressed his excitement. He had never expected to stumble upon such a treasure by pure chance.

As expected of Sect Master Martial Uncle's reception hall. The material of these pillars was absolutely rare. Looking around, there were actually ten such pillars in total.

He gave a light cough. After making sure no one was paying attention to him, he quickly searched for the wormhole.

Before long, he found an inconspicuous little spot within a crack.

He casually leaned against it and pressed his middle finger over the wormhole. As spiritual power surged, he directly drew it out.

"There are actually six!"

Following the worm tunnel, six Spirit Hidden Worms were sucked out. Before they could struggle, Zhou Qing discreetly stored them in the Jade Bottle within his sleeve and smoothly slapped a Spirit Sealing Talisman onto it.

"I'm rich, I'm rich! This time, I'm really rich!"

Zhou Qing's heart thumped wildly with excitement, and he quietly moved toward another pillar.

Unfortunately, he found nothing after searching around it. Then he went to the next one, and the next...

After making his way through all ten jade pillars, Zhou Qing had unexpectedly harvested a total of twenty-seven Spirit Hidden Worms.

At this moment, he actually felt a little grateful toward Lu Yaoyao. If she had not forced him into it, would he not have missed all these wonderful treasures for nothing?

Besides, he should count as having saved this hall. If he had not discovered them early, once these Spirit Hidden Worms had gnawed away all the pillars supporting it, would such a fine hall not have gone to waste?

The banquet began soon afterward. Taking advantage of today's occasion, the peak masters gathered to reminisce, while the Core Disciples chatted and laughed about recent events, such as last night.

Some people looked toward Zhou Qing, who sat silently eating in the farthest corner, and sighed as they shook their heads.

The female disciples in particular whispered among themselves, and someone's reputation was utterly ruined.

"Don't mind them. Let's eat!"

Third Senior Brother Yan Xiaohu comforted him from beside him.

He had truly wanted to step forward and explain, but once suspicion arose, the charge had already been established.

What good would an explanation do? Would these people believe it?

It would only make things darker the more they tried to explain.

Especially since the two of them already had a prior record.

As for the Discipline Hall, the truth no longer mattered. Even if it were announced, everyone would only think that the authority of Core Disciples was truly immense—they had peeped at people bathing and even forced those Outer Sect female disciples to change their testimony.

Zhou Qing nodded. He did not care about other people's gazes at all.

It was just that something seemed off with Lu Yaoyao's eyes. Even while eating, she kept secretly glancing at him now and then. Had she not seen how Li Daoxuan's face had stretched as long as a donkey's?

No, no. This was not love at first sight. This was fucking harming him!

When Zhou Qing discreetly met her gaze once, he suddenly felt that something was wrong.

Especially the fleeting emotion contained in her eyes.

"She's deliberately acting ambiguous with me so I'll become the target of public criticism!"

Zhou Qing immediately lowered his head and carefully recalled whether he had ever met her before and offended her.

But that should not have been possible. He had always stayed at Little Spirit Peak and had hardly ever gone out.

"Could it be Master?"

Zhou Qing looked again at Mo Xingjian, who was eating without a care in the world, and could not help letting his imagination run wild.

Perhaps one day, for some reason, Master had killed her family. He had thought he had pulled up the grass and removed the roots, but he had never expected that she would escape death and survive.

After that, she had endured humiliation and lived in concealment until she learned where her enemy was. Then, having changed her appearance and employed certain schemes, she became Sect Master Martial Uncle's disciple.

She wanted to torment her enemy bit by bit, but the other party was too powerful as the master of a peak. For now, she had no way to kill him.

So she would start by taking his disciples down one by one, letting him taste the feeling of having all his loved ones die.

The more Zhou Qing thought about it, the more possible it seemed. His cultivation was the weakest among his fellow disciples, so would she not use him to sharpen her blade first?

"What's wrong with you? Why are you sweating so much?" Yan Xiaohu asked doubtfully.

Zhou Qing immediately said, "Third Senior Brother, something is wrong with this place. We should leave first."

"But I'm not done eating yet."

"There'll be plenty of chances later!"

Afterward, Zhou Qing pulled Yan Xiaohu away through the side door. Only then did his hanging heart finally settle.

If they stayed any longer and she gave him a few more coy looks, the first person to make trouble for him would be Chief Eldest Brother Li Daoxuan.

The way Li Daoxuan had looked at him earlier had obviously been wrong.

Of course, this was only his speculation for now, but it was never wrong to prepare for the worst.

Once they returned to Little Spirit Peak, Zhou Qing quickly tossed the matter to the back of his mind. Then, brimming with excitement, he took out the Jade Bottle, looked at the Spirit Hidden Worms swimming around inside, and chuckled.

He carefully took one out and began refining it.

In an instant, enormous spiritual power erupted from within his body. Its purity left Zhou Qing utterly shocked.

Daring not waste even a trace, he hurriedly activated the Taiqing Mysterious Qi Art, guiding that energy through one circulation after another.

For the next five days, Zhou Qing remained in his room. Once he refined the final Spirit Hidden Worm, he slowly opened his eyes, and a flash of azure light flickered through his pupils.

His entire aura had undergone an earth-shaking transformation.

Then, with a thought, a panel appeared.

Name: Zhou Qing

Age: Nineteen

Cultivation: Qi Condensation Ninth Layer

Cultivation Art: Taiqing Mysterious Qi Art

Innate Skill: Reduce Presence

Level: LV1 (39/100)

Skill Shards: 1/3 (Cannot be obtained)

In five days, he had directly broken through two layers. It was simply unbelievable.

"If I could get a few more, I might even be able to enter the Foundation Establishment Realm!" Zhou Qing said, still wanting more.

Of course, farming Ignorance Points was the urgent matter now.

Suddenly, the token resting on the table glowed with azure light, and lines of words began appearing.

"Little Junior Brother, are you home? I have great news to tell you!"

This was a message from Third Senior Brother. Zhou Qing was puzzled and immediately sent a reply.

After concealing his breakthrough aura, Yan Xiaohu hurried over carrying two fishing rods.

He burst through the door in a whirlwind, his tiny eyes gleaming. "Little Junior Brother, want some fish?"