The Eve of the Small Tournament

Lin Ye returned to his wooden hut, pondering a countermeasure.

The best approach was to pretend he knew nothing at all.

However, the person who set up the formation would surely come to inspect it, and if they found him nearby at that time, it was hard to guarantee they wouldn't grow suspicious.

I need to find a reason to leave the mine.

Lin Ye looked at the corpse of the Burrowing Beast.

He had it.

The next day, just as the sky brightened, Foreman Wang arrived.

"Little brother, everything alright last night?" Foreman Wang asked with a chuckle.

"It's fine." Lin Ye shook his head, then pointed to the corpse of the Burrowing Beast, "Foreman Wang, I would like to end my mission early."

"End it early?" Foreman Wang was stunned, "Why?"

"I sustained some internal injuries while killing this Burrowing Beast yesterday, and I'd like to return to the Qingyun Sect to recuperate." Lin Ye coughed twice, his face turning a shade paler.

"Injured?" Foreman Wang frowned, walked over to Lin Ye, and checked his pulse.

A moment later, he let go and nodded, "Your qi and blood are indeed a bit chaotic. Fine, you can head back first; I'll settle the mission for you. However, since you're ending it early, I can only give you half the contribution points—twelve points, no problem with that?"

"No problem, thank you, Foreman Wang." Lin Ye quickly expressed his gratitude.

Twelve contribution points, plus the fifteen points for the monster materials, totaled twenty-seven contribution points.

Adding his original ten points, that made thirty-seven contribution points.

I still need to take on more missions.

Lin Ye packed his things, shouldered the monster materials, and left the mine.

He did not return directly to the outer sect; instead, he took a detour, circling through the mountain forest several times to ensure no one was following him before heading toward the sect.

Two hours later, he returned to the outer sect.

He first went to the Mission Hall to turn in his mission and received twelve contribution points.

Then he went to the Miscellaneous Goods Hall, sold the monster materials, and received another fifteen contribution points.

The contribution points in his identity token had become thirty-seven.

"Still a long way to go."

Lin Ye was not discouraged and continued to browse the mission list.

This time, he accepted a "Gather Herbs" mission, which required him to go to the back mountain to collect ten stalks of Blood-Coagulating Grass, 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 residence for a brief rest, then shouldered his bamboo basket and headed toward the back mountain.

The back mountain was vast and densely forested, and occasionally he could see other disciples cultivating or performing missions.

Following the mission description, Lin Ye found the area where the Blood-Coagulating Grass grew—a sunny hillside.

Blood-Coagulating Grass was not rare, but it required careful searching.

Lin Ye gathered the herbs while vigilantly observing his surroundings.

Although the back mountain was within the territory of the Qingyun Sect, monster beasts occasionally appeared, so he could not be careless.

An hour later, he had collected ten stalks of Blood-Coagulating Grass and was preparing to leave when he suddenly heard the sounds of fighting not far away.

"Zhou Ming, hand over the wolf fangs, and I'll spare your life!"

"In your dreams! I killed these with my own hard work!"

It was the voice of Zhou Ming.

Lin Ye frowned and quietly approached.

Through a gap in the trees, he saw Zhou Ming being surrounded by three outer sect disciples.

All three were at the fourth level of Body Tempering, and their leader was a man with a scar on his face.

Zhou Ming was injured, his clothes torn in several places, and he was clutching a cloth bag tightly in his hands. It was bulging, likely containing the fangs of an Iron-Backed Wolf.

"Scarface Liu, don't go too far! I'm from the Zhou Family; if you dare to rob me, the Zhou Family won't let you off!" Zhou Ming shouted, his voice sounding fierce but weak.

"The Zhou Family?" Scarface Liu sneered, "In the Qingyun Sect, the Zhou Family is worth nothing! I'm robbing you, so what? Brothers, get him!"

The three rushed forward together.

Although Zhou Ming was also at the fourth level of Body Tempering, he was outnumbered and quickly fell at a disadvantage, sustaining several more wounds.

"Give me the wolf fangs!" Scarface Liu slammed a palm into Zhou Ming's chest.

Zhou Ming spat blood and flew backward, the cloth bag slipping from his hands.

Scarface Liu reached out to catch it.

But just then, a figure flashed by like a ghost, catching the bag a step before him.

"Who?!"

The Scar-faced man was startled and looked up.

He saw a youth wearing the cyan disciple uniform standing not far away, holding a cloth bag with a calm expression.

It was Lin Ye.

"Lin Ye?" Zhou Ming was also stunned.

"Give that bag back to me!" The Scar-faced man's expression turned gloomy.

Lin Ye glanced at him, then looked at the cloth bag in his hand, and said indifferently, "Robbing a fellow disciple, according to the sect rules, warrants the crippling of one's cultivation and expulsion from the sect."

"Sect rules?" The Scar-faced man laughed. "Kid, who do you think you are? An elder of the Law Enforcement Hall? Let me tell you, in the back mountains, fists are the rules! Give the bag back to me, and I'll spare your life. Otherwise..."

He licked his lips, a murderous glint flashing in his eyes.

"Otherwise what?" Lin Ye asked calmly.

"Otherwise, you can stay here and feed the demonic beasts!" The Scar-faced man waved his hand. "Get him!"

The three of them lunged at Lin Ye simultaneously.

Lin Ye's eyes turned cold.

He hadn't wanted to meddle in other people's business, but since he had run into it, he couldn't just ignore it.

Moreover, these three were clearly repeat offenders; if he let them go, they might cause him trouble in the future.

"Since that's the case..."

Lin Ye moved his feet, his figure flashing like a ghost.

"Bang!"

One punch slammed into the chest of the man in the lead.

The man let out a miserable shriek, flew backward, crashed into a tree, and passed out.

"What?!" The Scar-faced man was shocked.

But Lin Ye didn't give him time to react; the second punch had already arrived.

"Bang!"

The Scar-faced man barely managed to raise his arms to block, but he was shaken by a massive force that made his arms go numb, forcing him to retreat seven or eight steps.

"This kid is at the fifth level of Body Tempering! Retreat!"

The Scar-faced man made a split-second decision, turned around, and ran.

The other lackey also realized what was happening and followed him in flight.

Lin Ye did not pursue.

He walked over to Zhou Ming and handed him the cloth bag. "Can you still walk?"

Zhou Ming took the bag in a daze, looking at Lin Ye as if he were seeing him for the first time.

"Are you at the fifth level of Body Tempering?"

"No." Lin Ye shook his head. "Only the fourth level, but they were too careless."

"Fourth level of Body Tempering?" Zhou Ming clearly didn't believe it.

Sending a fourth-level Body Tempering practitioner flying with one punch and forcing the Scar-faced man back with another—could this really be the fourth level of Body Tempering?

But Lin Ye didn't want to say more and helped him up. "If you can walk, hurry back. It's not safe here."

"Wait!" Zhou Ming suddenly grabbed Lin Ye's arm, a flash of determination in his eyes. "Lin Ye, I was wrong before, and I apologize. From now on, I'm with you!"

Lin Ye glanced at him and shook his head. "No need."

After saying that, he turned and left.

Zhou Ming watched his back, gritted his teeth, and followed.

"Lin Ye, wait for me!"

Lin Ye didn't stop, but he didn't chase him away either.

The two of them, one after the other, returned to the outer sect.

Before they parted ways, Zhou Ming suddenly said, "Lin Ye, the outer sect minor competition is in three days. Are you going to participate?"

"Minor competition?"

"Yes, it happens every three months. The top one hundred get extra contribution point rewards. First place gets one thousand contribution points!"

Lin Ye paused his steps.

One thousand contribution points?

That would be enough for him to exchange for a high-grade mortal-tier cultivation technique.

"I see. Thank you."

He nodded and turned to leave.

Zhou Ming watched his disappearing back and clenched his fists.

"Lin Ye... who exactly are you?"

Meanwhile, Lin Ye had already returned to his small cabin.

Closing the door, he sat down on his bed.

[Points: 203]

"Three days from now, the Outer Sect Tournament..."

A look of contemplation flashed through Lin Ye's eyes.

He had to participate; there was no question about that.

"It would be best to make it into the top one hundred and secure the reward."

"My current cultivation is at the fourth stage of Body Tempering. If I cultivate with all my might over these three days, I should be able to 'break through' to the mid-fourth stage of Body Tempering."

Lin Ye made up his mind, sat cross-legged, and began to cultivate.