Wanluo sighed and explained, “The reason Hu Qin managed to emerge from his seclusion still alive was mostly due to luck, actually. After the Ten Phantoms entangled him with a curse at the time of their deaths, the demonic spirits thoroughly plagued his soul until he went mad. Before he died, however, he accidentally broke the stone walls of the cave he was secluded in and discovered a jade mine hidden below the Melodic Ice Palace. And that jade mine… housed the Eminent Yin Jade.

　　“The reason why Hu Qin named the jade was because no one had ever heard of such minerals within the realm of cultivation before. This type of jade doesn’t seem impressive upon first glance, but after being plagued with the demonic spirits, Hu Qin was surprised to discover that the Yin properties contained within this jade were able to suppress the powers of the curse within him. It was also by using this jade that he was able to live!

　　“Of course, the old man Hu Qin later studied this jade and discovered it had many more uses, which led to him forming a plan you’ll learn about later, so I don’t need to go into detail now. The key point, though, is that the demonic spirit that plagued Hu Qin had been created from an outside source, while the demonic spirit you’ve been cursed with originates from you. It has even tainted your formation and grows with you, hence why even though Hu Qin had been able to resolve his with the jade, yours cannot be. You could only use the jade for suppression, but if you did that…” Wanluo’s gaze became somber as he looked to Fang Xing, “you wouldn’t be able to part with this jade for the rest of your life and would forever require more and more in order to suppress the Demonic Qi in your foundation. The supply of this jade is limited, however. Even after living for nearly eight hundred years, I have only ever seen it beneath the Melodic Ice Palace, and there isn’t even that much there. It’ll likely be empty before long….”

　　Fang Xing’s expression became somber as well.

　　What Wanluo said just now was extremely important. Indeed, if he were to use this Serene Ice Jade to suppress his demonic spirit, even if he were to disregard how much it would interfere with his own cultivation practice, the reliance on this jade alone would become an extremely large constraint on his life. Even if the Melodic Ice Palace agreed to supply him with as much jade as he needed, this jade mine wasn’t inexhaustible….

　　Fang Xing looked to the old bastard Wanluo with a calm expression. “What is your method?”

　　“When I saw Hu Qin suffering in the past, my emotions were stirred and I spent ten whole years trying to find a method to resolve the curse. I was actually able to find a potential method by accident within an incomplete Ancient manual I found in my youth. Unfortunately, old man Hu Qin had already solved his demonic spirit problem himself by then, so I never had the chance to test it. There are risks involved, but if it truly works, it could be considered as me giving you a great opportunity….”

　　Fang Xing accepted without hesitation. “I want to try!”

　　Wanluo held his head and looked at him. “If the method works, it could bring you unequaled benefits. If it does not work, however, there won’t be an end to your regrets. It’s possible it’ll destroy your foundation and leave you crippled!”

　　“I will try it anyway!” Fang Xing replied, abnormally serious. Even if this method had its risks, it was still better than being forced to rely on the Serene Ice Jade to suppress his demonic spirit for the rest of his life.

　　Not only that, Fang Xing did have some confidence in Wanluo. According to the Peng King, this old bastard had been a cultivation freak in his youth with a name that was well-known all throughout the land. Although other cultivators would normally focus entirely on a single path of specialization to improve their cultivation levels one step at a time, he was known as the know-it-all and do-it-all. He was a freak on an entirely different level who learned all sorts of random things. There wasn’t one thing he wasn’t interested in, nor one thing he didn’t go and spend time studying.

　　After simply hearing about old man Hu Qin’s curse, he spent ten years trying to find a method of resolving it—this alone was enough to understand his temperament. To look at it another way, the fact such a freak who concentrated on so many things was still able to cultivate up to the Golden Core Stage was more than enough reason for his reputation. If he’d spent all of his time on a single discipline, perhaps he would’ve already reached the Budding Soul stage….

　　“Very well. Since you’ve got the guts, how could I refuse joining you for this gamble?” Wanluo looked at Fang Xing with a serious expression for some time before slowly nodding. “During this period, I will spend some time to complete the spell. Although it looks like the spells we five old farts prepared for all the young elites will be useless for someone as far along as you, it’d be best for you to continue solidifying your cultivation….”

　　Fang Xing was actually surprised to hear this. “Why?”

　　Wanluo let out a loud laugh. “It’s a pity I didn’t have the courage to study this spell back in my youth, or else the title of Chufung’s number one cultivator would never have fallen into the hands of Hu Qin, that old kid.”

　　Fang Xing slowly nodded his head with growing excitement and anticipation.

　　After speaking a bit more and giving a few more details, Wanluo bade Fang Xing to leave. He seemed incredibly excited, as though he would immediately begin working on finishing the spell. He was eager to see if it would actually work when Fang Xing used it.

　　“Fine, fine, fine; I’ll leave.” Just as Fang Xing rested his hands against his back and was about to leave, however, he suddenly recalled something. “By the way, what am I supposed to do while I wait?”

　　“Go sweep the floor!” Wanluo quickly replied, without sparing a second thought.

　　“But I’ve already accepted your offer, why do I still have to sweep the floor?” Fang Xing asked, dissatisfied.

　　Wanluo craftily replied, “You know, I have high expectations of you, but there are also those who dislike you. That old fart Chu Taishang believes the things you do are just too unruly and don’t follow the rules; if he really met you in person, he’d likely make your life difficult. Now that you’re in my Wanluo Courtyard, if you sweep the floor for a few days, I’ll just tell him I’ve already punished you if he asks so he’ll shut up.”

　　Fang Xing was left completely speechless. It seemed he really was going to have to sweep this place….

　　—

　　Four days passed in the blink of an eye, and the young elites who’d arrived at the Melodic Ice Palace had all entered the depths of the Snowy Mountain. Since Fang Xing and Ying Qiaoqiao had plundered all of the Black Ice Orders, the elites hadn’t had any chance whatsoever to pass the trials, no matter how brilliant they were. This had caused everyone except for the pair to fail completely in the first round, and old man Hu Qin had had no other choice but to message his oldest student—the palace master of the Melodic Ice Palace—to rescue all of the frozen-stiff young elites.

　　After a day of rest, the Melodic Ice Palace had sent out replacement Black Ice Orders, repaired the formations inside, and had the elites redo the trial. As for his oldest student acting on his own accord to eliminate half of the elites before replacing them with two dozen of his Melodic Ice Palace elite disciples, Hu Qin didn’t say a word; he simply treated these disciples the same as the other young elites.

　　As for all the young elites who’d successfully entered the depths of the Snowy Mountain, they all entered into one of five courtyards based upon the type of formation-countering talismans they obtained during the trial, with each courtyard headed by a Golden Core.

　　There was Grand Melody Court, taught by old man Hu Qin; Royal Sanctuary Court, headed by the imperial grand elder, Chu Taishang; Wanluo Court, led by the old bastard Wanluo; Sword Cleansing Court, taught by the hidden sword master, Mu Longyin; and Demon God Valley, headed by the grand elder of the Ephemeral Butterfly, Zhang Daoyi.

　　All five courts had their own strengths and couldn’t be directly compared.

　　Sweep …. Sweep ….

　　With a large broomstick in hand, Fang Xing dragged on weakly and without any spirit. The floor had been as clean as a mirror from the beginning, so he naturally didn’t have much to sweep; him doing this was just for show.

　　“Heh, a servant is forever a servant. Even though he was lucky enough to enter the Snowy Mountain, it’s only natural he was made to do a servant’s work!” As Fang Xing was sweeping the floor, a cold laugh suddenly rose up as a group of youths walked from further down the hall, led by two men and a woman. One of the men wore a hemp garment with a lifelike green snake coiled over his arm; in the center was a white-veiled woman with a rather pleasant physique, but a face that couldn’t be clearly seen because of the veil she wore; and the third person was a slender and tall youth seemingly around his thirties, wearing a black robe and giving off considerable presence.

　　This group of people were some of the young elites who’d been assigned to the Wanluo Court, and the first three were somewhat seen as the leaders of this particular courtyard. They were also those who’d been robbed by Fang Xing within the Snowy Mountain and still remembered him and Ying Qiaoqiao as the two scumbags from the Myriad Beasts Sect. However, since Ying Qiaoqiao had a special status second only to Ye Gu’yin within all of Hu Qin’s Grand Melody Court, they did not dare provoke her and just vented all of their anger on Fang Xing instead. If it wasn’t for the fact they’d joined the Wanluo Court just recently and didn’t dare to act too over the top, they would’ve made sure Fang Xing had a taste of his own medicine long ago.

　　“Tch….” Fang Xing just lazily rolled his eyes, not even wanting to bully this group of juniors. Of course, the main reason why was because they didn’t have anything valuable for him to take. The only cultivation resources they had were those for Spirit Stage, which meant they were useless to him—he needed Foundation Stage resources, not Spirit Stage.

　　The hemp-robed youth became even angrier when he saw Fang Xing’s reaction. After taking a look around and seeing no one else nearby, he suggested, “Hmph, looks like this brat still isn’t convinced. Brother Ye, why don’t we go and teach him a lesson?”

　　“It’s just dealing with a servant. Is there a need to make such a scene? Just get a few servants to do it,” the white-veiled woman coldly spoke, her words filled with disdain.

　　The hemp-robed youth seemed a bit unconvinced and asked the black-robed youth. “Brother Ye, what do you think?”

　　The black-robed youth creased his brows slightly as though in thought, until he suddenly showed a faint smile. “We’re all disciples of the Wanluo Court. We will be considered comrades in the future, so why grow so agitated?” As he spoke, he stepped forward with a smile before cupping his hands and bowing towards Fang Xing. “My greetings, this brother from the Myriad Beasts Sect. My name is Ye Xuan, and I do have a favor to ask of you.”

　　‘What a detestable man….’ Whenever Fang Xing saw a man who was better looking than him, he’d feel a strong animosity towards them. When he saw how handsome and cultured the black-robed youth looked, all he felt was annoyance. “Speak up!” he exclaimed with a squint of his eyes.