For Fang Xing and Ying Qiaoqiao, going forward was as easy as taking a stroll through a park.

　　Truthfully, the environment within the Snowy Mountain was extremely harsh. The pressure from the formations and the chill from the blizzard were both difficult to fend off, and it was only through borrowing the Black Ice Order’s protection that someone could barely make it through. The young elites also had to be on high alert at all times in order to avoid sudden spirit beast attacks while putting all of their effort into searching for the formation-countering talismans. All of this was exceedingly difficult—enough to push a Spirit Stage cultivator to the very limits.

　　For Fang Xing and Ying Qiaoqiao, however, such problems were nonexistent. Ying Qiaoqiao had a Black Ice Order; as long as she didn’t need to pay attention to where she was traveling, all she had to do was utilize her Qi to fend off the remaining pressure from the formations. It was even easier for Fang Xing who—despite being dozens of miles into the snow-filled mountain—didn’t feel any pressure at all….

　　The protective power of over ten Black Ice Orders was just too potent against the formations’ pressure.

　　“Nn, there’s a formation here, but it’s centered around this calligraphy scroll with the word ‘prisoner’ written on it. Some of the characters seem to have been written in by someone else. This should be one of the tests, where the person who wrote the puzzle only did it halfway so someone else could come by later to fill in the other half if they were able to decipher it. Once it was completed, the person was able to get the formation-countering talisman hidden behind it….”

　　Since Fang Xing and Ying Qiaoqiao had been left behind by the others, they came across many already-solved puzzles like this during their travel, often scattered nearby around the valleys and atop the snowy peaks. Fang Xing estimated that the formation-countering talismans would only be revealed once a puzzle was completed, with each puzzle functioning as a test in its own right for the young elites to use their knowledge in alchemy, smithing, formations, and spells to crack open these obstacles and obtain a talisman of their own.

　　They’d already seen many of these types of puzzles during their journey. Some were within poisonous smog-filled valleys, which required someone to have mastery in pellet-making in order to craft a detoxifying pellet and enter. Some were in the middle of complex formations that required knowledge of formations to calculate the movements and venture inside. Others were doors that required mechanical knowledge gained from smithing.

　　“We’ve fallen behind, Big Brother Xiao Jiu. We won’t be able to get any formation-countering talismans…” Ying Qiaoqiao fretted as she saw how many puzzles had already been solved.

　　Fang Xing glanced at her. “Alchemy, smithing, formations, talismans; do you know any of these things?”

　　Ying Qiaoqiao considered it before growing embarrassed. “I think I know a little of all….”

　　“That means you don’t know any of them well. Looks like we have no choice but to use my method.”

　　“What method?” Ying Qiaoqiao replied in surprise.

　　“We take them! They’ve got the formation-countering talismans now, but if we just take them away, wouldn’t they be ours?”

　　“That’s not really proper, is it?” Ying Qiaoqiao replied, dumbstruck. “In fact, I can still give these puzzles a try!”

　　“Are you certain you’d be able to solve them?”

　　Ying Qiaoqiao nodded. “I do have some certainty!”

　　“Do you have one hundred percent certainty?”

　　Ying Qiaoqiao shook her head after a moment of surprise. “Not that much.”

　　Fang Xing slapped his thigh. “See? I told you we have to use my method!”

　　Rendered speechless, Ying Qiaoqiao thought to herself, ‘No one would have one hundred percent certainty, right?’ She then glanced to Fang Xing and asked, “Why do I get the feeling you just want a reason to rob people?”

　　Fang Xing’s face flushed before he began to scold, “What are you saying? Aren’t I doing all of this for your sake?”

　　Growing embarrassed, Ying Qiaoqiao quickly answered, “I’ve wronged you, Big Brother Xiao Jiu. I just don’t think we should steal from others. It’s not really proper, right? Those people already don’t like me; if I were to then take their stuff….”

　　“They’ve already formed their opinion to not like you. You can’t break a jar that’s already broken, so let’s just take them!”

　　Ying Qiaoqiao couldn’t think of anything to rebut what Fang Xing said. After a short pause, she toughened up and said, “Fine then. Let’s do as you say!” In her heart, she was already thinking of how even if the worst came to pass, she’d just forget about becoming a pupil and go back to Bohai Kingdom with her Big Brother Xiao Jiu.

　　Fang Xing let out a laugh before patting the Snow Jiao Serpent beneath him. “Run a bit faster, my children! Let’s go rob some stuff!”

　　Aoooo ….

　　The Snow Jiao Serpent lifted its gigantic head and let out a low, body-quaking howl. It immediately increased its speed while—behind them—a pack of snow wolves and giant mammoths all sped up to keep pace, causing the earth to shake as though there was an army tens of thousand of soldiers strong.

　　Atop a snowy peak not too far away stood three men. One of them was none other than Mo Yang, who was currently focusing on the valley to calculate something while the other two were giving him nervous glances. After a long while of calculations, a thin layer of sweat began to form across Mo Yang’s forehead as he murmured to himself, “Strange, strange, this is just too strange….”

　　A messy-browed black-robed youth beside him smiled. “Brother Mo, your arithmetic skills are known to be nearly divine, yet you still cannot solve the restriction placed here?”

　　Mo Yang’s cheeks flushed as his brows creased together. “This restriction is too difficult to solve. It looks simple, but how it works is completely different from an ordinary formation. After all my calculations, there’s still one pivot I can’t determine….”

　　The black-robed youth snickered. “Heh, seems like the Mo’s clan demigod of calculation is still not as good as Hou Guimen of the Ephemeral Butterfly.”

　　The blue-robed youth with them indignantly replied, “Be careful of what you say. This alliance with the three of us can be considered as one of the strongest ones here, yet we’ve still only managed to get two talismans. It’s not enough for one apiece, and we’ve even fallen behind the others now. If we were to enter the depths of the Snowy Mountain just like this, how could we hold our heads up high?”

　　The black-robed youth helplessly waved his hand. “Fine, fine, but I don’t have any other ways either if we can’t solve this.”

　　Mo Yang continued to calculate for a while longer, but he was beginning to grow anxious after spending so much time on it. Now that his foolish pig-like teammate was beginning to ridicule him, he was growing even more annoyed. ‘I still can’t calculate the exact locations of all the pivot points in the formation,’ he secretly thought to himself. ‘Entering the valley without knowing where they all are would be taking a huge risk. It’s possible someone could sacrifice themselves to block off the pivot point I couldn’t calculate to buy us some time… but who would be that stupid?’

　　Amidst his growing anxiety, Mo Yang suddenly heard a loud noise rising up from the distance, where a male and a female figure seemed to be gliding along the snow. After utilizing his Mystic Eye, he was left stunned by what he saw: within the pair was Ying Qiaoqiao who he’d refused to party with earlier, and next to her was a servant-clothed youth. The two of them were quite close to each other, too, causing him to feel a trace of agitation; although he’d refused to ally himself with Ying Qiaoqiao earlier, it was still unpleasant to see her traveling along with someone else.

　　“Heh, it’s that barbaric girl from the Bohai Kingdom!”

　　“Those two seem to glide over the snow. I wonder if they’ve used some sort of spirit tool?”

　　The three of them began to talk amongst each other. The Snow Jiao Serpent’s color was too similar to the surrounding snow, so they couldn’t see it very clearly at such a distance.

　　Mo Yang’s heart quivered slightly before he began to proclaim, “How lucky! I know a way to solve this now!” The two companions were a bit surprised, but after hearing Mo Yang whisper the details, they finally understood and gave a smile in response.

　　“Shimei Qiaoqiao, you’re here as well!” Mo Yang suddenly yelled out before flying off towards her, waving his hands nonstop.

　　“Oh? We’ve got some incoming business!” Fang Xing felt a sense of joy when he saw this. He quickly pulled Ying Qiaoqiao off the Snow Jiao Serpent before waving his hand, signaling for the spirit beasts to surround these three fat lambs in a scattered circle to ensure they didn’t escape. He then began to head towards Mo Yang while holding Ying Qiaoqiao’s hand with a face full of smiles, all the while reminding her, “Smile wider and more naturally; you’re not being professional enough….”

　　The little princess of the Myriad Beasts Sect was being taught by Fang Xing how best to be a female bandit. She tried her best by putting a stiff smile on her face while walking up toward Mo Yang. “Shixiong Mo… h— hello….”

　　As Mo Yang drew closer and saw Fang Xing holding Ying Qiaoqiao’s hand, he became even more annoyed. After giving Fang Xing a quick glance, he inwardly sneered while still showing a kind and gentle smile on the surface. He cupped his hands politely towards Ying Qiaoqiao and said, “Shimei Qiaoqiao, I was inconsiderate earlier. Would you like to join me for the remainder of the journey?”

　　Yang Qiaoqiao was surprised to receive an invitation from the smiling Mo Yang, but a strange expression appeared on her face as she replied, “Um… no need. Heh, I’ve already found my own alliance. They’re very powerful!”

　　A little taken aback, Mo Yang felt even more annoyed and his voice turned slightly colder. “This servant of yours? Oh, it is indeed not a bad alliance—he’ll be loyal to you, at least!” With that, he stopped beating around the bush and began to speak directly. “If Shimei Qiaoqiao does not wish to ally with us, then I shall not force you to do so. However, I do currently have a favor I’d like to ask of Shimei Qiaoqiao. Would you be willing to help me?”

　　Ying Qiaoqiao was surprised and quickly answered, “Please do speak. If it is something Qiaoqiao is able to do, Qiaoqiao will help for sure.”

　　Mo Yang showed a faint smile before pointing to Fang Xing beside her. “I’d like to borrow your servant.”

　　“What?” Startled, Ying Qiaoqiao looked at Mo Yang in confusion before glancing to Fang Xing, thinking she’d heard wrong. Fang Xing had been watching the spirit beasts form a perimeter around the other party, and although he was at first startled to overhear Mo Yang’s words, he quickly felt overjoyed and even began to snicker.

　　People that actively sought out trouble were his favorite—it saved him the effort of coming up with an excuse to provoke them.