“Beyond the reach…”

Could sweat immediately appeared on Zhou Yuan’s forehead when heard old Xuan’s words, as he subconsciously took two steps back. He stared warily at old Xuan as he forced a smile, “Elder, you can’t possibly be asking me to return the item I obtained?”

He was really feeling a little panicky at this moment, because he had already become quite attached to the Taiyi Green Wood Mark. Asking him to surrender it now would be akin to asking him to cut off a piece of his flesh, and there was no way he would willingly do so.

Old Xuan’s face remained impassive when he saw the drastic change in Zhou Yuan’s expression. Instead, he hoarsely replied, “According to the rules, you do lack the qualifications.”

Just as Zhou Yuan was about to force his way through, old Xuan continued, “But on account on how much I approve of your earlier words, I may make an exception for you this time.”

Zhou Yuan, who was about to rush forward, suddenly stopped. He stared at the old man and secretly gnashed his teeth inside. Nonetheless, he did not dare to reveal even the slightest hint of displeasure.

“Thank you very much elder!”

Old Xuan indifferently said, “It’s too early for you to celebrate… though you may take it, it doesn’t come without conditions.”

Zhou Yuan suspiciously asked, “What are the conditions?”

Old Xuan began sweeping the ground as he said, “Master’s items cannot be obtained so easily… if you want it, you must exchange it for a ‘Heaven Credit’.”

“Heaven Credit?!”

Zhou Yuan was first startled by upon hearing this, before he involuntarily exclaimed.

“Elder, your request is too much. I’m only a newly promoted purple sash disciple, how can I possibly have any Heaven Credit?” Zhou Yuan complained.

The Cangxuan Sect gave out various tasks to its disciples, which were split into three categories; Heaven, Earth and Human. The Heaven tasks were the most difficult, but if completed, the disciple would be granted a Heaven Credit.

Next were the Earth tasks, which would reward an Earth Credit when completed.

A Heaven Credit was extremely attractive to any Cangxuan Sect disciple, because it could be exchanged for several treasures.

These treasures include Heaven tier techniques, Heaven Genesis Weapons and even powerful Qi cultivation methods!

Needless to say, a Heaven Credit was a target that every disciple of the sect strived for.

However, not only was there a limited number of Heaven tasks, they would be immediately snatched up by one of the ten Chosens each time they showed up. Therefore, it was not easy for an ordinary disciple to even take on a Heaven task.

Consequently, it was even more challenging to obtain a Heaven Credit.

Every time a Heaven task appeared, all the purple sash disciples in the sect would become akin to a pack of wolves that had spotted an unguarded lamb. The intensity of the competition would make on involuntarily wet one’s lips.

Zhou Yuan was merely a newly promoted purple sash disciple, who had yet to even complete a single task, let alone a Heaven task…

This was why he became a little antsy when he heard old Xuan wanted a Heaven Credit.

However, old Xuan ignored Zhou Yuan’s complaints and said, “Even though I do not know what you obtained, it is already a huge steal for you to exchange it for a Heaven Credit.”

Zhou Yuan expression fluctuated indeterminately as he lamented, “But I don’t have any Heaven Credit!”

Old Xuan unhurriedly replied, “Then you’ll owe me one.”

“Owe?!” Zhou Yuan was dumbstruck. Was this actually allowed?

“I will give you three months. After three months, you must bring a Heaven Credit to me… and during this period, you will be allowed to keep the item you obtained.” Old Xuan elaborated.

Zhou Yuan was taken aback, as he stared suspiciously at old Xuan. Why was this old fellow being so kind towards him?

His eyes swivelled in thought, as he began to entertain a certain idea. He might be able to master the Taiyi Green Wood Mark within these three months. When that happened, there would be no need for him to bother with this old fellow.

“Little one, even though it seems like this old man has one foot in the grave, no one in the Cangxuan Sect, not even sect master Qing Yang, dares to reject me.”

It was as if old Xuan could read Zhou Yuan’s thoughts as he unhurriedly said, “If you are up to any monkey business, I can safely tell you that even if you do master it, I am confident that I can find a way to take it all away.”

Cold sweat instantly appeared all over Zhou Yuan’s body, slightly fearful as he looked at the old man again. Looks like he was also a ruthless person.

Old Xuan seemed to smile as he asked, “How about it?”

“If you are unsatisfied with my offer, you can return the item, and I will permit you to pick something else.”

There was naturally no way Zhou Yuan was going to do so. The fact that patriarch Cangxuan deliberately hid the Taiyi Green Wood Mark in such an obscure location indicated that it was definitely an extraordinary technique. Even though he did not know what grade it was, Zhou Yuan had a hunch that it was definitely extremely powerful.

His eyes flickered in thought. A long while later, he finally gritted his teeth.

“Deal, it’s just one Heaven Credit after all. In three months time, I will bring one to you!” Though he knew that it was going to be an extremely challenging task, Zhou Yuan had no choice but to go through with it for the sake of the Taiyi Green Wood Mark.

A smile seemed to appear on old Xuan’s wrinkly face when he heard this. He nodded and said, “At least you have some courage. Master’s items must not fall into the hands of an ordinary person, or it will taint his name.”

Zhou Yuan showed a cramped smile. Looks like one must not count one’s chickens before they hatched. He had been overjoyed moments earlier after getting his hands on the Taiyi Green Wood Mark, but in the blink of an eye, he now had to deal with some troublesome matters because of it.

Zhou Yuan grumpily asked, “May I leave now?”

He came here to pick a treasure. However, he ended up with such a huge problem instead.

Old Xuan paid no heed to Zhou Yuan’s grumpy expression, merely waving his hand to send the latter off, before lowering his head to continue sweeping the ground...

At the sight of this, Zhou Yuan turned around to leave.

His leaving face was filled with vexed worry, clearly fretting over how he would obtain a Heaven Credit in three months. After all, getting a Heaven task was already going to be a pain.

“Forget it. I’ll ignore it for now, and think about it after I learning the Taiyi Green Wood Mark!”

He gritted his teeth, and increased his pace as he quickly disappeared from the foot of the mountain.

As Zhou Yuan’s figure vanished, old Xuan stopped sweeping, and lifted his head, his murky eyes looking in the direction where Zhou Yuan had disappeared. A deep and unreadable light seemed to flash across his turbid eyes.

“There’s a slightly familiar scent on that little one’s body…”

“Is it because of you, master? How else could he have entered your training chambers?”

“Unfortunately, he is still too weak…”

“But at least his talent is pretty decent, though I will have to push him a little. After all, on the road of cultivation, one needs to fearlessly face any difficulty as one continuously tempers oneself...”

“I hope that he will not disappoint me.”