Seeing Li Yunjing toss out his Identity Token, the Outer Disciples had no choice but to take out their own tokens one after another.
The Outer Disciples picked up Li Yunjing's Identity Token in turn.
They stacked two Identity Tokens together. The Outer Disciples circulated their spiritual senses, and the two tokens immediately connected, glowing with a soft, clear light.
Meanwhile, the contribution points displayed on their own tokens each dropped by a considerable amount.
In contrast, the number on Li Yunjing's token rapidly ticked upward, soon reaching 2,000.
"Mm!"
Seeing Yue Zhouwang hand the token back to him, Li Yunjing nodded and accepted it.
"All right! You know how loaded you are. You don't need me to tell you! And those contribution points you gave me aren't for my benefit, either! I'm taking them so I can handle things for you!"
Li Yunjing nodded with satisfaction, smiled, and spoke calmly.
"Uh! Taking our contribution points to handle things for us? How can you put that so elegantly?"
The Outer Disciples grumbled to themselves.
"Brother Li, what about our matter?"
Yue Zhouwang asked cautiously.
"Don't worry! You saw for yourselves how well Fu Chao is connected to the Law Enforcement Hall. What's there to worry about?"
Li Yunjing waved a hand and answered firmly.
"Of course! We're not worried!"
Yue Zhouwang and the others nodded repeatedly, their smiles returning.
They seemed to have misunderstood one thing, though. Li Yunjing had said that Fu Chao had powerful connections, not that he himself did...
Those 2,000 Low-grade Spirit Stones were destined to go down the drain.
After eating and drinking their fill, Li Yunjing and Ma Xingyuan made their way back along the mountain path, swaying slightly, while Yue Zhouwang, Wang Yun, and the others saw them off.
By then, the moon hung above the treetops. A cold wind swept past, and the wine had begun to wear off.
As he chatted idly with Ma Xingyuan, Li Yunjing went over the day's events in his mind and weighed his gains and losses.
It wasn't until the latter half of the night that they returned to Qiongze Peak.
It was already late, and they had no time to bother with anything else. They hurried back to their rooms to rest.
Two hours later, the sun rose. The two had just gotten up and washed when they went to fetch some fodder for Piebald Horse.
That was when someone arrived.
"Steward Hou, you're here so early. Is something the matter?"
Li Yunjing greeted him with a smile.
"Hahaha! Brother Li, look at you! You came to Qiongze Peak without telling me who you were. How was I supposed to know? I hope you'll forgive my earlier offense! Here's what: I'll have someone handle your duties for the rest of the month, so you won't have to work."
At that moment, Hou Boyan's face was wreathed in smiles.
The steward of Qiongze Peak no longer looked like the ferocious, terrifying man he had before.
Clearly, the steward was very well-informed. In less than half a day, he had already heard what happened at Elegant Fragrance Garden.
"How can we accept that? Won't it cause you trouble?"
Li Yunjing's eyes lit up. He had long since grown tired of the work, but he still had reservations, so he asked.
"Don't worry! You'll still be credited with the duties and get paid through the end of the month!
"I'll just arrange for two people to help with the work. You can cultivate here at Qiongze Peak or go out and visit friends. Either way, there won't be any trouble down the line!"
Hou Boyan understood Li Yunjing's concerns and hurried to reassure him.
"In that case, I'm much obliged, Senior Brother Hou."
Naturally, Li Yunjing wasn't going to keep up the modesty and refuse.
If Hou Boyan took him seriously and thought this young master had some strange preference for being mistreated, then stopped bringing up changing his work, that would be a disaster!
"Hahaha! Good!"
Hou Boyan was delighted, then added, "Junior Brother Li, Junior Brother Ma, it's rather inconvenient for you two to live here. Why not move up to Qiongze Peak? I have two palaces there, so you can each have one!"
"That would be great. Thank you, Senior Brother Hou. I'll repay you for this kindness someday."
Li Yunjing nodded in agreement.
"You're too polite, Junior Brother Li! There's no need to thank me!"
Hou Boyan laughed heartily. Why had he come, after all?
Wasn't it for Li Yunjing's promise?
As long as this young master prospered in the future and remembered the kindness he'd shown today, that was enough.
Besides, helping with these things was no trouble at all for Hou Boyan.
If he earned a favor in return, it might prove immensely useful at a critical moment.
Hou Boyan had done the math very carefully.
Li Yunjing and Ma Xingyuan had nothing they needed to pack. They had no intention of taking any of the things here with them.
The two followed Hou Boyan straight up toward the mountain peak.
Along the way, Hou Boyan watched Li Yunjing's reactions and steered the conversation toward whatever seemed to interest him.
This greatly surprised Li Yunjing. He hadn't expected this burly man, with his thick eyebrows and rugged face, to be so perceptive.
Truly, you couldn't judge a person by appearance, just as you couldn't measure the sea with a bushel.
The summit of Qiongze Peak was indeed far better than the mountainside.
Hou Boyan personally settled Li Yunjing and Ma Xingyuan in, told them to rest, and only then took his leave.
From that day onward, Li Yunjing and Ma Xingyuan lived there.
Their carefree days had begun.
They had plenty of time to cultivate each day and didn't need to worry about trivial matters.
At first, Li Yunjing was still a little worried, unsure when Wei Henian would come after him.
But after waiting several days without a stir, he gradually put his mind at ease.
As for Yue Zhouwang, Wang Yun, and the others, he had already forgotten all about them.
Why would he remember such a minor matter?
Ten days passed in the blink of an eye, and Li Yunjing hadn't done anything else lately.
He had focused single-mindedly on cultivating five minor spells: Flying Flame Technique, Azure Wood Art, Clear Spirit Art, Falling Rock Technique, and Cold Star Sword Art.
Those ten days hadn't gone to waste. He had already reached a solid level of proficiency in all five minor spells.
At the very least, ordinary Outer Disciples would need three to five years of study to reach his level.
His combat abilities had improved considerably as a result.
Over the past ten days, Li Yunjing had also raised his Qi Refining Realm cultivation to the peak of the second layer.
He was only one step away from breaking through to the third layer.
The power of the Creation Divine Thunder had yet to fade completely and continued to silently transform Li Yunjing's body.
His Spirit Root now had six attributes.
Aside from the Five Elements, the Thunder Spirit Root now shone with six inches of light.
A six-attribute, mid-grade Spirit Root!
Ma Xingyuan had benefited from Li Yunjing's good fortune as well. He had finally settled down and cultivated in earnest over the past little while.
He was now close to reaching the fourth layer of the Qi Refining Realm.
He would probably be able to apply for the Outer Disciple examination within two or three months.
Meanwhile, True Disciple Wei Henian had been beset by one problem after another over the past ten days!
Before you continue