Lin Ye returned to the wooden hut and considered his options.
The best approach was to pretend he knew nothing.
But whoever had set up the formation would surely come to inspect it. If they found him nearby, they might get suspicious.
"I need a reason to leave the mine."
Lin Ye looked at the Burrowing Beast's corpse.
Got it.
The next morning, just after dawn, Foreman Wang arrived.
"Little brother, nothing happened last night, did it?" Foreman Wang asked with a genial smile.
"Nothing." Lin Ye shook his head, then pointed at the Burrowing Beast's corpse. "Foreman Wang, I'd like to end my mission early."
"End it early?" Foreman Wang was taken aback. "Why?"
"I suffered a minor internal injury when I killed this Burrowing Beast yesterday. I'd like to return to the sect and recover." Lin Ye coughed twice, and his face grew a little paler.
"You're injured?" Foreman Wang frowned, came over to Lin Ye, and checked his pulse.
A moment later, he let go and nodded. "Your qi and blood are indeed a little disordered. All right, head back first. I'll settle the mission for you. But since you're ending it early, you'll only get half the contribution points—twelve. Is that all right?"
"That's fine. Thank you, Foreman Wang." Lin Ye hurriedly thanked him.
Twelve contribution points, plus the fifteen for the monster materials, made twenty-seven.
Add the ten contribution points he already had, and that made thirty-seven.
"I still need to take on more missions."
Lin Ye packed his things, slung the monster materials over his back, and left the mine.
He didn't head straight back to the outer sect. Instead, he took a detour and wandered through the woods for a while. Only after making sure no one was following him did he set off toward the sect.
Two hours later, he returned to the outer sect.
First, he went to the Mission Hall to turn in his mission and collect twelve contribution points.
Then he went to the Miscellaneous Goods Hall, sold the monster materials, and collected another fifteen contribution points.
The contribution points on his identity token now totaled thirty-seven.
"Still a long way to go."
Lin Ye didn't lose heart. He kept browsing the mission board.
This time, he took on a "Gather Medicinal Herbs" mission. He had to collect ten stalks of Blood-Coagulating Grass from the back mountain, with each stalk worth two contribution points.
Twenty contribution points wasn't much, but it was safe.
After accepting the mission, Lin Ye returned to his lodgings for a brief rest, then headed for the back mountain with a bamboo basket on his back.
The back mountain was vast and densely wooded. Now and then, he spotted other disciples training or carrying out missions.
Following the mission description, Lin Ye found the area where Blood-Coagulating Grass grew—a sunny slope.
Blood-Coagulating Grass wasn't rare, but it took a careful eye to find.
As he gathered herbs, Lin Ye kept a wary watch on his surroundings.
The back mountain was within Qingyun Sect territory, but monsters sometimes appeared there, so he couldn't afford to be careless.
An hour later, he had gathered ten stalks of Blood-Coagulating Grass and was about to leave when he suddenly heard the sounds of a fight nearby.
"Zhou Ming, hand over the wolf fangs and I'll spare your life!"
"In your dreams! I killed it with my own two hands!"
It was Zhou Ming's voice.
Lin Ye frowned and crept closer.
Through a gap in the trees, he saw Zhou Ming surrounded by three outer sect disciples.
All three were at the fourth level of Body Tempering, and a scar-faced man led them.
Zhou Ming was injured, his clothes slashed in several places. He clutched a bulging cloth sack tightly in one hand. It was probably full of Iron-Backed Wolf fangs.
"Scarface Liu, don't push me too far! I'm from the Zhou Family. If you dare steal from me, the Zhou Family won't let you get away with it!" Zhou Ming shouted, though his bravado rang hollow.
"The Zhou Family?" Scarface Liu sneered. "In Qingyun Sect, the Zhou Family is worth less than a fart! I'm robbing you precisely because you're from the Zhou Family! Brothers, get him!"
All three rushed him at once.
Although Zhou Ming was also at the fourth level of Body Tempering, two fists couldn't fend off four hands. He quickly fell behind, suffering several more cuts.
"Hand over the wolf fangs!" Scarface Liu struck Zhou Ming in the chest with his palm.
Zhou Ming spat blood and flew backward, the cloth sack slipping from his grasp.
Scarface Liu reached to catch it.
But just then, a figure flashed past like a phantom, snatching the sack before he could.
"Who?!"
Scarface Liu started and looked up.
A young man in the blue robes of a disciple stood not far away, holding the sack with a calm expression.
It was Lin Ye.
"Lin Ye?" Zhou Ming was stunned too.
"Give me the sack!" Scarface Liu's face darkened.
Lin Ye glanced at him, then at the sack in his hand. "Robbing a fellow disciple is punishable under the sect rules by the destruction of your cultivation and expulsion from the sect."
"The sect rules?" Scarface Liu laughed. "Kid, who do you think you are? An elder from the Law Enforcement Hall? Let me tell you, on the back mountain, fists are the rules! Give me the sack, and I'll spare your life. Otherwise..."
He licked his lips, a murderous glint in his eyes.
"Otherwise what?" Lin Ye asked calmly.
"Otherwise, you'll stay here to feed the monsters!" Scarface Liu waved his hand. "Get him!"
All three lunged at Lin Ye at once.
Lin Ye's eyes turned cold.
He hadn't wanted to meddle, but since he'd run into them, he couldn't just stand by.
Besides, these three were clearly habitual offenders. If he let them go, they might come after him later.
"In that case..."
Lin Ye shifted his feet, his figure flashing past like a phantom.
"Bang!"
One punch slammed into the chest of the man in front.
The man screamed and flew backward, crashed into a tree, and passed out.
"What?!" Scarface Liu was shocked.
But Lin Ye gave him no time to react. His second punch was already on its way.
"Bang!"
Scarface Liu barely managed to raise his arm to block, but the tremendous force left it numb and sent him staggering back seven or eight steps.
"This kid's at the fifth level of Body Tempering! Retreat!"
Scarface Liu made a snap decision and turned to run.
The other lackey caught on and fled with him.
Lin Ye didn't chase them.
He walked over to Zhou Ming and handed him the sack. "Can you walk?"
Zhou Ming accepted the sack in a daze and stared at Lin Ye as if seeing him for the first time.
"Are you at the fifth level of Body Tempering?"
"No." Lin Ye shook his head. "I'm only at the fourth level. They just underestimated me."
"The fourth level?" Zhou Ming clearly didn't believe him.
One punch had sent a fourth-level Body Tempering disciple flying, and another had forced Scarface Liu back. How could Lin Ye only be at the fourth level?
But Lin Ye didn't want to say more. He helped Zhou Ming up. "If you can walk, hurry back. It's not safe here."
"Wait!" Zhou Ming suddenly grabbed Lin Ye's arm, a determined glint in his eyes. "Lin Ye, I was wrong before. I apologize. From now on, I'll follow you!"
Lin Ye glanced at him and shook his head. "No need."
With that, he turned and left.
Zhou Ming watched him go, gritted his teeth, and followed.
"Lin Ye, wait for me!"
Lin Ye kept walking, but he didn't tell Zhou Ming to leave.
The two returned to the outer sect, one behind the other.
Before they parted, Zhou Ming suddenly asked, "Lin Ye, are you entering the outer sect tournament in three days?"
"The tournament?"
"Yeah. It's held once every three months. The top hundred get extra contribution points. First place gets a thousand!"
Lin Ye stopped in his tracks.
A thousand contribution points?
That was enough to exchange for a high-grade mortal-rank cultivation technique.
"Got it. Thanks."
He nodded and turned to leave.
Zhou Ming watched him disappear from view and clenched his fists.
"Lin Ye... who are you, really?"
By then, Lin Ye had already returned to his little hut.
He closed the door and sat on the bed.
[Points: 203]
"The outer sect tournament in three days..."
A thoughtful look passed through Lin Ye's eyes.
He would definitely enter.
"Best to make the top hundred and claim the reward."
"My cultivation is currently at the fourth level of Body Tempering. If I train with everything I've got for the next three days, I should be able to 'break through' to the mid-stage of the fourth level."
Lin Ye made up his mind, sat cross-legged, and began to cultivate.
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