For the next few days, Zhou Yuan stayed in the cave dwelling to stabilize his Genesis Qi cultivation, which had grown rapidly after advancing to the fourth layer Alpha-Origin stage. It was as Li Qingchan had said, the Heaven task was very important, and he intended to do everything in his power to boost his abilities.

Over this period, the Heaven task was also officially publicized by the sect. It caused a huge commotion as expected, numerous disciples eager for a spot.

Everyone knew that a Heaven task represented a Heaven Credit, an item so valuable in the sect that even the ten Chosens could not afford to ignore it.

Therefore, each Heaven task would result in an intense fight between the top disciples of the various peaks. Though these Heaven tasks were filled with danger, no one could resist the allure of a Heaven Credit.

This time was not going to be an exception.

As such, the moment the ‘Black Flame Province’ Heaven task was announced, an earth-shaking fight quickly broke out among the finest of the purple sash disciples.

There were after all many purple sash disciples, but only ten spots for this Heaven task. Furthermore, two of them were already taken by the captain Li Qingchan and vice-captain Zhao Zhu.

Hence, only eight spots remained, and one could easily imagine how crazy the fight for these spots would be.

While the other purple sash disciples were competing fiercely among themselves, Zhou Yuan had already secured a spot thanks to Yaoyao. Thus, he could remain in his cave dwelling and concentrate on his training.

Five days quickly passed in this manner.

...

Inside the cave dwelling.

Zhou Yuan was seated atop a boulder near the edge of a cliff, while several pieces of green wood hovered in front of him. These green wood pieces were of different shapes and sizes, and the only thing they had in common were the vestiges of time left on their bodies.

All of them were clearly rather ancient wood pieces that were filled with Yimu Qi.

Zhou Yuan had spent a great sum of money to purchase these century-old wood pieces from the Glittering Jewels Pavilion. His goal was to practice the Taiyi Green Wood Mark.

“The first step is to form a Taiyi Mark inside my body. Only after forming this mark, will I be able to infuse the Yimu Qi from these ancient wood into my flesh.” Zhou Yuan muttered to himself.

To carve a Taiyi Mark on his body, he also needed Yimu Qi from such ancient wood.

Zhou Yuan took in a deep breath, and gently shut his eyes. He then interlocked his fingers, as he began coating the ancient wood pieces with his Genesis Qi. Wisps of green Qi soon seeped out from the ancient wood pieces, before flowing into Zhou Yuan’s body through his nose.

Zhou Yuan’s Spirit immediately took control of the green Qi, which was filled with life energy. He carefully manipulated it, fusing it into his flesh, slowly but steadily leaving faint, tiny and complex markings.

Drawing a Taiyi Mark was an extremely complicated process. The mark had to cover nearly Zhou Yuan’s entire body, and had to be fused into his flesh. Moreover, even the slightest error would result in immediate failure.

As such, the first step to mastering the Taiyi Green Wood Mark was already no mean feat.

Zhou Yuan was completely immersed in his training. Four hours quickly flew by, before he gradually opened his eyes. He looked at his arm, seeing a faint green glow appear, before slowly receding.

“Only one percent has been completed after several days of hard work…” Zhou Yuan let out a bitter laugh. He had given his all during these past few days, but had only made little progress. Looks like it would take a substantial amount of time for him to complete the Taiyi Mark in his body.

Of course, the most important factor was that there was too little Yimu Qi.

Zhou Yuan glanced at the ancient wood pieces in front of him. They had begun to turn to dust after their Yimu Qi was drained.

These ancient wood pieces were at most a century old, and did not possess rich Yimu Qi. However, it was a little difficult to find thousand-year ancient wood in the Glittering Jewels Pavilion.

Zhou Yuan sighed. With a wave of his sleeve, the dust in front of him was blown away.

“Oh?”

He sensed something in his mind after finishing his training. His body quickly turned slightly ethereal as he transformed into a shadow and dashed forward. In less than a few dozen breaths, he had reached the entrance of the cave dwelling.

He found Shen Wanjin waiting here while he wiped his sweat.

“Little Yuan bro, you’re done with your training session?” Shen Wanjin was overjoyed when he saw Zhou Yuan walking out.

Zhou Yuan nodded with a smile, “What happened?”

Based on Shen Wanjin’s appearance, he seemed to have been waiting for quite a while.

A solemn expression appeared on Shen Wanjin’s plump face as he replied in a low voice, “Tomorrow is the departure day for the Heaven task. Therefore, the members must be finalized by today.”

“Over the past few days, the top purple sash disciples have fought bitterly for these eight spots.”

“I’ve heard that the members have mostly been finalized… and your participation has also been revealed.”

Shen Wanjin hesitated for a moment, before he continued, “It is rumored that many have objected against this.”

Zhou Yuan’s expression was quite calm in the face of this news. He was not surprised by this outcome. At the end of the day, he was a newly promoted purple sash disciple, and was still lacking compared to the veteran purple sash disciples.

Many of these veteran purple sash disciples had failed to obtain a place in the team, while a newly promoted purple sash disciple like him was a part of it. This would naturally result in a rather huge backlash.

Furthermore, numerous disciples felt that he had used connections to obtain this spot, though that was indeed the case this time.

“Senior sister Li Qingchan should be able to handle these complaints, right?” Asked Zhou Yuan. Li Qingchan was the captain and team leader after all, and naturally had the right to nominate a team member.

Shen Wanjin gave a bitter laugh as he said, “Senior sister Li Qingchan has been able to quell the dissent. However, the problem lies with Zhao Zhu from Sword Cometh Peak. He has been strongly opposing her decision as the vice-captain.”

“Furthermore, Zhao Zhu is also one of the Chosens, and has a very valid reason for objecting her decision. As a result, he has managed to garner quite a bit of support…”

“Zhao Zhu insists on kicking you from the team.”

Zhou Yuan’s eyes narrowed. Zhao Zhu again...

“Normally speaking, the participating members must be approved by both captains. Since the captain and vice-captain are in disagreement, it has become somewhat troublesome…”

Shen Wanjin looked at Zhou Yuan and said, “Senior sister Li sent me here to ask you to head down to the mission hall.”

Shen Wanjin was quite worried. There were quite a number of purple sash disciples gathered at the mission hall at this time.

If Zhou Yuan went to the mission hall now, all it would take was a small accident for him to lose his spot.

Shen Wanjin slowly said, “Little Yuan bro, senior sister Li said that she will try her best to protect you. However, Zhao Zhu has been vehemently opposing her. When the time comes, you will have show your mettle, otherwise…”

Zhou Yuan’s expression remained unchanged, no panic visible on his face.

“I understand.”

He nodded. He had not expected Zhao Zhu to create such a huge fuss.

Li Qingchan likely intended for him to make a trip down to display his abilities. If he could show his value, Li Qingchan would be in a better position to fight for him.

However, if he performed terribly, even Li Qingchan would not be able to protect him.

“Let’s go.”

His eyes narrowed as he lifted his head. With a stomp, Genesis Qi appeared beneath his feet and propelled him into the sky.

So you guys want my spot...

Do you really think that I am some soft persimmon?!