Chapter 99: Reveal Intel

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Lou Mu Yan stood up and faced Ming Xiu with a light upwards curve on her lips.
The two had a tacit understanding, and neither spoke of the poisoning from before.

“Where did you go? Where does the top of the cave lead?” Lou Mu Yan glanced at the pitch-black top of the cave and asked.

Ming Xiu took out a bag of brown fruits from his interspatial ring and handed one to Lou Mu Yan, “I was afraid you’d be hungry when you wake up, so I went to find some Spiritual Fruits.
This mountain top isn’t far from the wooden hut of your Academy’s Trial site.”

Lou Mu Yan didn’t feel hungry at this point because as long as one successfully established their foundation, one didn’t need to eat food anymore, but she didn’t want to let down Ming Xiu’s good intention.

She took the fruit and copied how Ming Xiu peeled the skin, revealing a pink fruit within.
She bit into it—a delicious sweet and sour taste, and it even had the slight effect of strengthening bones.

“This fruit is a Qi’lin Fruit1?” She hadn’t seen this kind of fruit in the Spiritual World before, but it was recorded in the Tian’ling Continent’s Flora Record.

Qi’lin Fruit generally grew in icy places and was exceptionally rare.
It had the effect of helping humans and Demonic Beasts strengthen their bones.
With frequent intake, it could even achieve the effect of tempering the body.

“Yes.
I see that your body is as strong as a Demonic Beast, so you must’ve cultivated a special body-refining skill.
I happened to know a place where Qi’lin Fruit grew, so picked it all back.” Ming Xiu stuffed the entire bag of Qi’lin Fruit to Lou Mu Yan, “Save it and eat it slowly.”

Lou Mu Yan wasn’t quarrelsome either.
Ming Xiu didn’t refine his body as he used long-range attacks every time he fought, so the effect of this Qi’lin Fruit was more suitable for her, “Then thank you very much!”

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Ming Xiu furrowed his brows slightly and his devilishly handsome face approached Lou Mu Yan’s, chuckling as he said: “We still need a ‘thank you’ between you and me?”

A faint pale pink rose on Lou Mu Yan’s extremely beautiful face.
She took a step back and changed the topic, “When will you go to the place where the Heavenly Frost Golden Crystal is sublimating?”

Her heart did move for Ming Xiu, but their relationship still wasn’t deep enough to be together just yet.
She still had other things to do.
Besides, she didn’t understand Ming Xiu enough, only that this person was very powerful, had a deep connection to the Ming Chamber of Commerce Alliance, and nothing else.

She wanted to go with the flow.
If they were interested in each other, they would eventually be together in the future by fate.
She preferred feelings that came naturally.
Of course, because Ming Xiu was special to her, she didn’t reject his closeness.

There was a smile in Ming Xiu’s long and narrow eyes—this little woman didn’t resist his closeness, which was a good start.

“According to the intel in the reports, there should be another five or six days left for the formation of the Heavenly Frost Golden Crystal.
It only takes three days from here.
I still have to go to a place to find some materials for refining Magic Tools.
Do you want to come with me?”

Lou Mu Yan thought for a moment, then raised her eyes and said: “I want to go back to hand in the second Trial mission first, then head to the place where the Heavenly Frost Golden Crystal’s forming, otherwise I won’t make it.”

Ming Xiu’s Fire Elemental Energy comprehension was even deeper than hers, so she had sighed inwardly before, that if this person wasn’t a Smith, it would truly be a waste.

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Hearing that he wanted to find the materials to refine tools, she understood now.
This guy was indeed a Smith, and his grade definitely wasn’t low.

“Alright.
I’ll give you the place where the Heavenly Frost Golden Crystal’s forming, and we’ll meet there in six days.” Ming Xiu took out an empty jade slip, placed it on his forehead and drew a picture with his Mental Energy, then handed it to Lou Mu Yan.

Lou Mu Yan took the jade slip and browsed through it using her Mental Energy, remembered the map in her heart, then nodded: “Alright!”

The two of them didn’t stay too long either as they had their own things to do.
Ming Xiu wrapped an arm around Lou Mu Yan’s waist and took her out of the cave within the cave in the cold pond.
Then he sent her near the small wooden hut for the Trials of Yan’zhou Kingdom before hurriedly leaving.

Inside the wooden hut, Yun Cang, Lan Si and Yun Ji were discussing with each other around the furnace over tea.
They all revealed surprise when they saw Lou Mu Yan enter the door.

“Lou girl, you’ve already completed your second mission?” Yun Cang pointed to the position opposite him and motioned for her to sit down.

Lou Mu Yan nodded with a smile and took out, one by one, the twenty mission items she collected for the three to check.

Lan Si picked up her mission list and checked it against the mission items, then a meaningful, gentle smile rose on his face: “Lou Mu Yan, isn’t your efficiency a bit too fast.
You only took four days to gather all the items on the mission list.
You sure hide your skills well!”

Lou Mu Yan glanced at Lan Si and was too lazy to beat around the bush with him.
She rubbed the back of the little beast in her arms and said: “I can find these items on the mission list this time mainly because of him.”

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Lan Si and the others followed her words and cast their gazes on the Fire Cloud Mink with what appeared to be a life-like flame on his forehead, and they came to understand.

The Fire Cloud Mink’s ability to find Spiritual Herbs and Spiritual Items were known by all, but they didn’t expect that the one won by Lou Mu Yan would be this powerful.
They really didn’t know if she was just lucky or because her eyes were sharp.
Lan Si believed that it was the latter more.

Lou Mu Yan stretched out her hand to pour herself a cup of tea, took a light slip, then raised her head to ask Yun Cang: “Imperial Master, may I ask if I can do the next mission yet?”

“Not yet.
You have to wait for the next round’s list of names to come out before you’re given a mission.
But you’re sure to enter the next, final round of the Trial.” Yun Cang’s wrinkled face revealed a rare, kind smile.
Towards Lou Mu Yan’s performance, he was very satisfied.

“How long must we wait?” Lou Mu Yan asked with furrowed brows.

Seeing that she seemed to be thinking about things, Lan Si looked at her and asked with a smile: “You have something to do?” It definitely wouldn’t be something simple for her to ask the time so urgently like this.

Lou Mu Yan reviewed the information provided by Ming Xiu in her mind.
Recalling that when she pushed the door open earlier, she seemed to have heard the three mention the Ten Distinguished Clans, so she guessed that the three still didn’t know about the news of the Heavenly Frost Golden Crystal for the time being.

The Heavenly Frost Golden Crystal was to be birthed and the Ten Distinguished Clans concealed and sealed the news—so there must be powerhouses hidden in the Trial teams.
Although Ming Xiu was there, but there would be no guarantee everything was foolproof.
She might as well tell this news to the three of them, which could help her better reap benefits during the confusion.

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“Yes, I’ll be hurrying to a place in two days.” Lou Mu Yan nodded, and then made an appearance as if she were thinking about something.
After a while, she asked the three: “I wonder if Imperial Teacher and Instructors have heard a piece of news?”

“A piece of news? We haven’t heard anything recently.” Lan Si exchanged glances with the Imperial Teacher and continued: “Lou Mu Yan, don’t keep us guessing.
Just tell us directly.”

Lou Mu Yan chuckled softly, took another sip of tea from the cup, then said slowly: “Do you know why the pupils of the Ten Distinguished Clans came to the Glacial Mountain Range for their Trial?”

“We’re also curious about that, but we’ve looked into it and found nothing unusual.” Lan Si stared at Lou Mu Yan, then asked solemnly: “Unless Lou Mu Yan, you heard something about it?”

They also suspected that this time the Ten Distinguished Clans came to the Glacial Mountain Range with a purpose, but the news sent back by the spies weren’t anything unusual.
Although they were still sending people to investigate, but Lan Si just felt that Lou Mu Yan discovered some sort of secret.

“The main purpose of the Ten Distinguished Clans this time isn’t the Selection Trial, but rather they discovered the location of where the Heavenly Frost Golden Crystal will sublimate, and they’re using the Trial as a guise to cover for their movements.” Lou Mu Yan spoke of the news that even these three didn’t know of firmly.

“What?” Yun Cang and the others looked at Lou Mu Yan incredulously.

Heavenly Frost Golden Crystal! So it was the Heavenly Frost Golden Crystal—that sort of Spiritual Treasure that was difficult to find even in a thousand years.
No wonder the Ten Distinguished Clans would seal the news and use selecting the participants for the Continental Tournament for Hegemony as a cover to come to the Glacial Mountain Range for the Trial.
So it turned out that they indeed had a deeper purpose.

1Qi’lin (麒麟) also known as kirin, no real English translation except for ‘unicorn’, but ‘unicorn’ is a different species altogether in China too (aka 独角兽 du jiao shou).
Leaving it as the pin’yin.