When Zhou Yuan returned to his cave dwelling, the first thing he did was take out the tree scales he had hacked off from the Dragon Scale Chinese Scholar Tree.
He sat on a stone platform, eyes burning with excitement as he stared at the tree scales. There were a total of eleven of them, the light faintly glimmering on their dried deep black bodies seemingly forming ancient looking patterns.
Even without touching them, Zhou Yuan could clearly feel the thick Yimu Qi pulsing within.
Such concentration and purity levels were better than the ancient wooden bracelet he had gotten from Su Duan previously.
"With these scales, the Taiyi mark will definitely be completed."
Zhou Yuan was somewhat giddy with joy, the haul this time clearly exceeding his expectations. He had not only exchanged the little Mythic Saint Body from old Xuan, but also received guidance to obtain these tree scales.
All of this was only possible because he had fulfilled his promise and handed a Heaven Credit to old Xuan.
Zhou Yuan rejoiced at his decision once again, before raising one of his hands. Genesis Qi wrapped around a tree scale, slowly lifting it to the spot between his palms.
"I should begin the process of completing the Taiyi mark."
Zhou Yuan slowly closed his eyes. Only two months remained till the year end chief disciple selection, and he needed to make every second count. According to what old Xuan had said, Zhou Yuan needed to first master the initial stage of the Taiyi Green Wood Mark before his body would possess enough vital energy to begin practicing the little Mythic Saint Body."
The scale between his palms slowly began to revolve as strand after strand of pure dark green Qi slowly flowed out. The Qi moved towards his palms and fused into his flesh.
Yimu Qi surged into his body, pulsing with strong life energy that caused his flesh and blood to release greedy undulations.
Rich life energy melded into his flesh, blood and bones. Under Zhou Yuan"s control, the Qi began to condense into tiny glowing dark green dots that little by little began to complete the half done Taiyi mark.
It was a very slow process.
Hence, Zhou Yuan did not step out of his cave dwelling for the next five days, fully devoting himself to absorbing the Yimu Qi in the tree scale to complete his Taiyi mark.
Under his tireless efforts, the Taiyi mark in his body slowly approached its complete state. When the eighth tree scale was used up, the Taiyi mark was finally completed.
In a certain cave dwelling.
Zhou Yuan was seated on a stone platform, a dark green glow rising from his body. Rays of light emerged from his flesh, suffusing his skin with a fluorescent glow.
Rich life energy pulsed from his body, causing the weeds and vines near the stone platform to become a beautiful, healthy emerald green as they rapidly grew.
If one took a closer look, one would realize that the dark green light from Zhou Yuan seemed to be form strange and complicated glowing pattern that covered his entire body that faintly gave off a mysterious and profound sensation.
Zhou Yuan"s tightly shut eyes slowly began to open at this moment. He lowered his head to look at the faintly glowing pattern on his skin as delight lit up his eyes.
"The Taiyi mark is finally complete!"
After over two months of hard work, he had at long last completed the most important first step of the Taiyi Green Wood Mark.
Only after the Taiyi mark was complete would he be able to fuse even more Yimu Qi into his flesh and blood, and eventually achieve the so-called "immortal body".
Zhou Yuan lightly shut his eyes as his senses turned inwards. Vital energy was currently surging inside his body like a giant river, filled with rich life force. It felt as if he would be able to quickly recover even from the most serious of injuries.
"Little Yuan bro!"
While Zhou Yuan was overjoyed by the completion of the Taiyi mark, Shen Wanjin"s voice suddenly rang out outside the cave dwelling.
Zhou Yuan was startled. He kept the remaining three scales, before quickly walking out of the cave where he found Shen Wanjin and asked with a smile, "What is it?"
Shen Wanjin was trembling with excitement as he replied, "Boss sister Yaoyao is back! She"s currently at the Mission Hall!"
Zhou Yuan was elated by this news, the lingering worry in his heart finally fading away.
"It"s good that she"s back." Said Zhou Yuan with relief. He decided to tell Yaoyao that if she wanted to go on any missions in the future, he would have to tag along.
"Let"s go welcome her back." Zhou Yuan grinned at Shen Wanjin.
Shen Wanjin nodded, but suddenly moved closer as he mysteriously said, "Little Yuan bro, do you know who else has returned with boss sister Yaoyao besides Ye Ge?"
"Who?" Zhou Yuan was a little taken aback.
Shen Wanjin replied in a low voice, "Chu Qing!"
Zhou Yuan"s eyes widened slightly. Ever since coming to the Cangxuan Sect, this name had quickly become very familiar to him. Chu Qing was the number one disciple of this generation, and the head of the ten Chosens. No one in the sect could match his popularity.
However, though it had been nearly a year since Zhou Yuan had joined the sect, he had yet to see this famous individual. He never imagined that the chance to do so would finally come.
With regards to the one who stood at the apex of all the Chosens, Zhou Yuan was actually quite curious.
"You should be careful little Yuan bro. As the one who managed to become the leader of the Chosens, Chu Qing is surely no ordinary person. Boss sister is so outstanding and blessed with extraordinary charm. What if she catches his eye? It"ll be the appearance of a formidable love rival!" Said Shen Wanjin in a tone that seemed both serious and sincere.
Zhou Yuan"s lips pulled outwards as he rolled his eyes at the former. He gave no response as Genesis Qi rose around them, carrying the two into the air, before swiftly flying in the direction of the Mission Hall.
There was already a sea of people present when the duo arrived, while more and more disciples were also rus.h.i.+ng over from all over. Most of them were the female disciples of the sect, and were filled with nervousness and excitement, evidently here for Chu Qing.
"Is Chu Qing really so charismatic?" Shen Wanjin jealously said when he saw this scene.
Zhou Yuan was also a little surprised, but did not make any remarks. He quickly landed and pushed his way into the bustling Mission Hall.
The Mission Hall was currently filled with a giant black ma.s.s of people. Zhou Yuan"s gaze looked towards the center, and sure enough, he saw that most attention grabbing figure.
It was naturally Yaoyao.
She was dressed in a light green long skirt, her fine black hair tied up, while her gorgeous face glowed beautifully. Her features were akin to a painted fairy, those clear yet empty looking eyes a sight that one would find very difficult to look away from.
Like an otherworldly, ethereal fairy.
The mere act of standing there made her become the focal point of countless gazes in the Mission Hall.
There was a familiar figure beside Yaoyao, the famous Ye Ge of Spirit Rune Peak. However, his handsome face appeared somewhat pale, as if he had sustained some injuries.
Zhou Yuan"s gaze swept past Ye Ge, ultimately pausing at a certain spot to the side where a slender, eye catching figure stood. The first glance of this figure made Zhou Yuan involuntarily gasp in surprise.
The figure was extremely handsome, his chiselled features making him look threateningly das.h.i.+ng.
However, there was a certain look of laziness between his brows that made him appear lazy and lacking in energy. Even so, this lazy aura paired with his das.h.i.+ng good looks gave off a peculiar charm.
"Is that Chu Qing?"
Zhou Yuan rubbed his chin as he nodded. Handsome, definitely very handsome… however...
He exchanged a look with Shen Wanjin. Both of them raised their gazes, looking towards senior brother Chu Qing"s head as they fell into thought.
Senior brother Chu Qing"s head was smooth and s.h.i.+ny, not even a single strand of hair to be seen. It was basically a lightbulb that seemed to s.h.i.+ne glaringly under the light from the hall.
Why...
Was senior brother Chu Qing a baldy?!
To make matters worse, when they took a closer look, they found that senior brother Chu Qing"s eyebrows were a little thicker than normal. His eyebrows were drawn!
An eyebrowless baldy!
This picture caused the corners of Zhou Yuan"s lips to twitch for a moment.
Shen Wanjin swiftly went around to gather information, before returning and quietly whispering to Zhou Yuan, "I"ve heard rumors that because of a technique senior brother Chu Qing is practicing… he doesn"t have a single hair on his body."
"Not a single hair on his entire body?"
Zhou Yuan and Shen Wanjin exchanged another look as they fell silent. They then s.h.i.+fted their gazes back in unison to give senior brother Chu Qing a quick up and down scan, before swiftly withdrawing their eyes again.
Both of them s.h.i.+vered.
The famous leader of the Cangxuan Sect Chosens seemed to be… quite an exceptional character.