But they don't know that is what the cultivation world is all about, cultivate and follow your Dao with courage and do not fear any higher power you encounter, but instead press on, those kind of difficulties then pushes your limits and make you evolve…

Then before you know it, one has become the literal 'carp that leapt over the dragon gate'…

​​

So, if this near death and nightmare inducing training is what it would require for them to recover their beastly instinct and spur their potential, then they would just die…

Meanwhile…

Min Hong who was currently walking away from Daniel never knew that whether he liked it or not, his fate has been tied to a mysterious beast, evolving within a mysterious cocoon…

He had just disappeared from the 'realm of creations' and was currently within his mind palace as he surveyed and evaluated the stability of his four different cultivation paths…

After doing a brief review, he smiled to himself as he left his mind palace and opened his eyes in the real world only to see Min Qing there actually cultivating…

As subtle as he could, Min Hong stepped out of the formation as Min Qing kept basking and greedily gobbling up the ancient Qi and aura surging out of the formation…

Min Hong then went to look for Qing Tan, and the moment he stepped outside his door, he saw the normal outer court disciples who were currently walking to and fro all about their business…

But the moment those outer court disciples saw him, they abruptly cleared the area, in fact, it was like a pouring salt in the midst of a lot of earthworms…

They spilled apart as Min Hong shook his head internally, both from disgust at how easily fear was induced into these outer court disciples, then there was also the feeling of accomplishment, that he had at least temporarily deterred these group of weak-willed sons of beaches from picking on the group he had just established and had great plans for…

Thus, with a ridiculing smirk Min Hong ignored them and walked on to the female province of District 21, and without any hiccups or any interruptions from all his over-eccentric, self-proclaimed rivals, he was able to locate Qing Tan who blushed so intensely at the thought that Min Hong could actually come over to the female province because of her…

One should know that outer sect boys who go to the female province to see outer court girls are only there to see their lovers and vice versa… thus, under the gaze of about 8000 outer court girls, how could a romantically weak-willed Qing Tan not blush till her face turns tomato-red?

But what even poured the cold water into the boiling oil was when Min Hong actually held her hand before calmly and unhurriedly led her away from there…

To Qing Tan, this was something out of the romantic comics, she had never believed that Min Hong would actually see her in that light, or so she thought…

But to Min Hong instead, he had discovered Qing Tan's weakness to be her bashful nature, and not that being bashful or timid is bad, after all, it looks cute on every girl but the journey Min Hong was planning on taking his group through was one where blood, gore and sweat must be shed…

After all, if a timid attitude is left to fester for so long, it becomes fear…

Thus, Min Hong quickly took a subtle but effective way to get rid of Qing Tan's bashful nature, and that was to flirt with her in public… if she could overcome the gazes of over 8000 outer court female disciples, then she would be able to, at least, control her timid nature at whim…

Thus, even though he knew that the current Qing Tan wanted nothing more than at this point than to be swallowed by a Qilin of Phoenix, so that she could escape the stares of her mates, Min Hong purposely chose to walk at a leisurely and slow pace, so she had no choice but to endure…

When Min Hong saw that she had bowed her head in a bid to hide her tomato-red face, Min Hong stopped, still under the gaze of so many female outer court disciples and then raised Qing Tan's gaze to meet his, as he neared his face to hers, inching it closer every second as time slowed and everywhere became eerily silent…

This phenomenon wasn't because some expert descended from the heavens, nah… it was because everyone in this scene wanted to see what was about to go down, that they were worried that breathing too loudly was going to interrupt the duo…

Everyone was so dialed-in to the Min Hong duo, that there was even a girl who was stretching her neck and pursing her lips like she was the person being approached…

Seeing the Min Hong who she so adore approaching her in what seemed to be a kiss in every possible meaning to her, Qing Tan gripped the edges of her clothes tightly till her knuckles went beet-red…

Her eyes opened wide it would nearly fall off by just lightly tapping the back of her head, with everything playing in super slow-mo in her head, not because the physical timeline was affected but rather her mental timeline had been slowed to a crawl due to the incredulity of the situation she was currently witnessing…

Then just as his lips was about an inch away from hers, Min Hong who could vividly hear Qing Tan's heart racing like a wild horse subtly slid his head to the side until his lips was centered at Qing Tan's ears, then he whispered softly and warmly to her;

"You should always walk or fight with your head held up high..."

"Since you are the cause of this much attention, why don't you own it and use it to increase the magnificence of your disposition…"

Min Hong said as his whispers sounded more like the perverse call of the god of lechery much more than the advice Min Hong was giving her…

Then there was also the heat which subtly caressed her scarlet earlobes causing a tingling sensation to scribble all over her body as she broke out in intense goosebumps…

Then what finally lit the cigar at the oil plant was the final kiss Min Hong planted on her cheeks as he retreated…

Min Hong who also did that on purpose wanted to continue their walk only to find out that Qing Tan had been rooted to the spot, like as if her foot had turned into a steel pillar 1000 feet deep into the earth…

But the moment Min Hong touched her forehead like a brother trying to check his sick little sister's temperature, the blood-red Qing Tan actually saw her previously pillar-like legs turn into noodles as her consciousness turned blurry and slumped into a fall.

She was swiftly caught by Min Hong which once again, caused the scenario to paint the same cliché scene every romantic books always had- a tripping , when she saw what happened and heard the whisper of one of the female disciples who said;

"Awwn… they are in love…"

The Qing Tan who was holding her consciousness together with a thin thread finally saw the thread snap as she fainted in Min Hong's embrace…

Qing tan who was busy dreaming some splash of bollywood romance, with a flavor high-school American love story and the royal love conspiracy plots of Hollywood, was totally oblivious of all the things she had muttered during her sleep…

But she only woke and saw a knowing and satisfied smirk on Min Qing's face, whilst Long Sha had a stunned expression, Mu Bai had a slightly heart-broken expression etched on his face, one that said;

"Why are situations such as this always so cliché?"… then lastly, was Mu Li, who was currently winking at Qing Tan with a smile that though spoke volumes only had one meaning; Kinky…

"Oh, you're awake… How are you feeling?"

Min Hong asked as he tried to move a little closer to her in concern, but was shocked speechless when he saw Qing Tan actually scramble far away from him like he was some plague, before she stuttered;

"I-I'm f-fine, Fei Hong… Don't come any closer…"

She blurted before realizing another interpretation her statement could have and then growing increasingly flustered especially when one added the looks the rest of the group were currently giving her, Qing Tan thought it was due to her statement and quickly added;

"No-not that I don't want you to come near me, Fei Hong, just don't do me like the last time…"

The moment she said this, she noticed the room get quieter and the atmosphere become more awkward and she even saw Min Qing who was about to come hug her and calm her freeze on the spot…

Then she looked up and realize that what she wanted to say had come out in a completely wrong manner, thus she instantly shrunk into the bed and covered her head with the thick sheets… but when she inhaled the manly scent on the sheets, she realized that she was on Min Hong's bed…

Instantly, she sprung out of the bed like it was filled with crawling insects as she dumped the sheets and his completely behind Min Qing…

"You are currently a total mess, Little Qing…"

It was Min Qing who finally spoke as she turned over and hugged Qing Tan before leading her away from the group's needle-like gaze…

"This is going to be harder than we anticipated…"

Long Sha spoke as Min Hong himself located his bed and sat on it with a deep sigh as he replied;

"Tell me about it…"

"We might have been thinking about this all wrong…" Mu Bai spoke out as the rest of the boys looked to him for explanation.

"What I meant is… we were supposed to consider how she felt or thinks about each and every one of us before deciding on the person to undergo such assignment…"

"If a girl is romantically shy and you send her crush to go help her cope with it, that would only serve to fuel her bashfulness the more…"

Mu Bai explained as Min Hong found himself stifled from the way he was painted in that explanation…

Was he implying that Qing Tan saw him as her crush?

Laughable right?

Or was she?

Min Hong could not understand why she would do such a thing, especially when they have never had a physical contact with each other.

Neither have they had any prolonged conversation or any kind of talk that could warrant or fester such emotions, thus, he simply felt Qing Tan was just having childish fantasies and he happened to be one of the characters in it…

But little did he know that this matter he pushed to the back of his mind would eventually turn out to be a very vital, sensitive and important topic later on…

"So, what is the situation like now?"

Min Hong asked as the three boys revealed the effects of the cultivation resources they were given about two weeks ago…

"Thanks to the resources you had Min Qing allocate to us, we have seen a rise I every aspect of our cultivation, and that is all thanks to your kindness and outstanding methods by which you obliviously improve the lives of those around you…" Mu Li shamelessly bootlicked Min Hong who waved his hand in dismissal and replied;

"No… it's all due to all the hard work we have recently put into our group… You made the bets, he scouted for new member-"

Min Hong was about to compliment the entire team for their hard work and share the glory of their recent success equally amongst every one of them…

But just as he almost uttered the word 'member', he heard a Chu-Lom sound within his head and out of the eagerness that is born from sheer curiosity, he shifted their meeting to another time as he quickly dispatched the Long Sha trio, giving him the privacy and time he needed…

Looking around and noticing that no one was watching him, Min Hong stepped into the ancient formation placed at one corner in his room, they now had much more spirit stones than they needed, thus powering the formation at a whim wasn't any problem…