“Ye Wei, you are thinking too much! Just take it!” Xue Er smiled, revealing her slightly oversized, rabbit-like front teeth. “They would have to pay a lot to a Grand-Runemaster to refine the stance and even then they might not have had the job done as well as you did.”

“You deserve it! We have been stuck trying to refine the stance for a while now, and I really don’t see ourselves finishing what we’ve started.” Elder Qing Ming added. “If you have space time and energy, we would like you to fix the stance’s other flaws!”

The other elders joined in and tried to convince the young initiate.

“Stop being so modest. If anyone outside the family learned that you refined a stance for free, they will think the Qings are stingy.”

“That’s right! We will keep it between us of course, but when others see us using an improved version of the stance, they might start digging.”

“Well, if you insist then thank you very very much!.” Ye Wei reluctantly took the bag. “Sorry if I appear rude, I just want to stay neutral for the time being.”

“Qing Yao, I would need you to teach him the stance. He needs to know the stance well before he could work on it properly.” Elder Qing Ming said calmly. “Again, Ye Wei, please don’t feel bad, you being able to refine this stance is beneficial for the Qing family in the long run.”

“Okay.” Both Qing Yao and Ye Wei nodded simultaneously, smiling at each other.

Ye Wei could notice Qing Yao’s beauty even though her face was covered by a veil, however he still could not stop thinking about Lin Ziyan everyday, resulting in a lack on interest in girls and the lack of romantic thoughts with anyone new in his life.

He was more interested in the Light Slash Finger stance than he was in romance, as the stance was a chance for him to enrich his arsenal and furthermore improve his cultivation.

At this point neither Qing Yao nor Ye Wei suspected the Qing elder council’s plan regarding recruitment.

“The Black Dragon Ranking tournaments are going to start in a month. We will leave you young ones training at your own pace.” Elder Qing Ming smiled and thought to himself as he walked off. ‘Now we just wait until little Yao’s charm starts working. There is no point of us staying and pressuring him further.’

Although the elder did not manage to get a promise from the young initiate, they were glad to have establish a connection between the two parties.

After the elders’ departure, Ye Wei, Xue Er and Qing Yao were the only ones left in the villa. As Ye Wei and Qing Yao both had few words, Xue Er’s energy and playfulness was the only thing that balanced the quietness.

“It’s getting late, I would like to go back to my villa and train. Let’s continue tomorrow, I look forward to learning this powerful stance.” Ye Wei said, glancing at the setting sun. As an Earth stance was worth mountains of treasures, being given the permission, he was not planning to miss the chance of being tutored by one of the best cultivators in the palace and mastering the stance.

However, Ye Wei was not going to dedicated all his time on the Qing’s stance either. ‘It’s easier to channel the stars’ energy when sunlight is not drowning out everything else in the sky. It’s not appropriate for us to be alone all night either.’

‘I will be challenged by many in a month, therefore I need to breakthrough to returned prime level. I will learn from fighting but I need to be strong enough to last in the arena.’

After agreeing on his next meeting with Qing Yao and Xue Er, Ye Wei thanked the two girls and took his leave.

“What do you think about him?” Looking at Ye Wei’s silhouette getting further away, Xue Er spoke to Qing Yao in a less playful tone.

Qing Yao took a few seconds to think and replied, “ He is very down to earth; methodical when it came to cultivating and runes. I think it will not be long before he overtakes Chi Wuxiu considering he will be refining stances and receiving cosmic energy.”

“I think you two look good together!” Xue Er laughed and chuckled.

“If you say anything about me and him again, I will slap you!” Qing Yao blushed and stared at Xue Er, then she turned away and muttered. “Furthermore, he is focused on cultivating, he doesn’t really care about anything else, we will one day just be nothing more than people he met before he gets to the top.”

“But you are beautiful! Are you sure he is not interested in you?” Xue Er was shocked by the thought.

Qing Yao subtly nodded.

Just within minutes, Ye Wei had already returned to his own villa, oblivious about the duo’s opinion on him.

“There are twelve patterns in the first stage of Eternal Star stance and I’ve only finished learning the first one. I have to at least finish the second pattern before the ranking tournaments!” Ye Wei stood alone in the courtyard, clenched his fist while looking at the sky.

‘If the first pattern brought my body strength close to three-star returned prime level, it will be more than likely that my body strengthens to the likes of a five-star returned prime Warrior. But after that I will need to master at least two more patterns at a time to significantly upgrade my strength.’

He then started counting and muttering.

“Seven-star by the time I finish the fifth and sixth patterns, eight-star when I am done with the eighth... By the time I get finish the twelfth pattern my body should be as tough as any ten-star returned prime Warrior.”

“Which means the sooner I finish the Eternal Star stance, the quicker I will be able to at least have a shot at fighting the higher ranked, high-end returned prime Warriors.”

Ye Wei formed an ancient seal with his hands, his will-force expanded and reached up towards the sky. Once his energy had expanded to its limit, he quickly swapped to a different seal.

“Boom!”

The ground trembled as the stars’ energy was linked with Ye Wei’s will-force, he was suddenly bathing in a pillar of light.

With his body empowered by the starlight, Ye Wei twisted and turned his body accordingly to the second star pattern. His meridians opened up and soaked up the wild energy like a dry sponge, his muscles subtly bulked up and his bones began hardening.

The night of cultivating passed quickly, and as the sun rose Ye Wei made his way to Qing Yao’s villa. After briefly greeting each other, the second tutoring session commenced.

Ye Wei soon realized how passionate Qing Yao was about the refinement as she did not hold anything back. With patience and in great details, she passed on what she’s been taught to Ye Wei.

During the next days, Ye Wei got to know Xue Er and Qing Yao better from the intensive training; thus the tension between the trio eventually dissolved. It was then that Qing Yao and Xue Er discovered just how talented Ye Wei was.

‘This stance is a seven hundred and twenty-two runes long sequence, it took me three months to learn. He managed to memorize three hundred of them in five days spending no more than six hours each day! He does not need that three months, he will only need half of how long it took me, or even less.’ Qing Yao thought to herself, ‘a(chǎn)nd I thought I was quick. This is truly astounding, even for a nine-howls cultivator!’

“Qing Yao, he learns so quickly! I am upset!” Xue Er puffed her lips and complained, “I feel like a bad cultivator.”

“Is this quick?” Ye Wei asked with an air of confusion in his frown, did not realize the Mystic Mount presence was the reason him learning the new stance ended up almost effortless.

“Humph, I cannot take this! I am challenging you to a duel now when I can still win.” Xue Er held a breath of air and puffed up her cheeks while rolling up her sleeves.

A thin veil of Qi condensed on her pale arms as she spoke, however her baby fat made her look like a doll to Ye Wei rather than a threatening opponent.

“You? Dueling me?” He was startled by the random proposal, ‘she is a cute thing with a child’s body and mind...’

“Yea! And you are not going to win because I am very strong!” Seeing Ye Wei’s questions as a threat, Xue Er made fists and cracked her pink knuckles to let Ye Wei know she was not pleased.

“Don’t underestimate her.” Qing Yao smiled and said.

“Oh yea? Don’t cry too loud when I beat you!” Ye Wei glanced at the girls, smiled and said jokingly.

“I don’t see myself losing but if I do, I’ll give you Qing Yao as a gift!” Xue Er widened her eyes and said seriously.

Both Ye Wei and Qing Yao were embarrassed by Xue Er’s statement, his smiled became awkward and her blushed cheeks shone through her veil.

“I told you not to joke about things like this!” Qing Yao glance at her filterless friend and shouted.

After spending time together, Ye Wei knew that Xue Er was just kidding but he also realized that Qing Yao was as quiet as she was shy; that she was a warm and friendly person underneath the cold exterior.

“Let’s fight!” Ye Wei smiled and beckoned, but his smile vanished the moment Xue Er’s figure disappeared right before him.