The Cangxuan Sect. Mission Hall.

The misty peak was as bustling as it usual, countless figures arriving from all directions, and landing in front of the grand hall at the top of the mountain.

It was at this time that Zhou Yuan and gang returned to the Cangxuan Sect after two months.

The first place they headed to was naturally the Mission Hall.

When the group led by Li Qingchan and Zhao Zhu stepped into the hall, excited gaze after gaze immediately shot towards them.

"It’s senior sister Li Qingchan and her team!"

"Have they completed their Heaven level mission?"

"Looks like it. With the two Chosens senior sister Li Qingchan and senior brother Zhao Zhu leading the team, even a Heaven level mission is no challenge."

"How envious. From the looks of it, Bai Li, Qin Hai and the rest will soon have a Heaven Credit in their pockets."

"......"

Numerous whispers spread in the grand hall, before several of the watching gazes suddenly paused. They had discovered Zhou Yuan positioned right behind Li Qingchan and Zhao Zhu.

This position was very close to the core of the group, second only to Li Qingchan and Zhao Zhu.

The crowd recalled that Zhou Yuan had been stationed at the back of the team when they left the Cangxuan Sect, a position that would basically be overlooked by everyone because of his lack of value to the team.

So why was Zhou Yuan now standing so near to the core?

This was way too shameless of him!

Several individuals secretly curled their lips. Zhou Yuan had only managed to obtain a spot on the team previously due to Li Qingchan’s strong support, a fact which made many veteran purple disciples pretty unhappy. From what everyone could see, Zhou Yuan hoping to get a freebie Heaven Credit by shamelessly clinging onto Li Qingchan.

Such actions were truly disgraceful.

"Humph, his skin is still as thick as before. But let’s see how long he’ll be able to keep this up. Even if he did manage to become a member of the team, the only thing he’ll be able to do is be a freeloader in a Heaven level task. In fact, he likely ended up having zero contributions, and was given a ’no credit’ appraisal."

These words quickly drew approval from several others. A Heaven level mission was not over once you got a place on the team. If your performance was not up to par during the mission, you would still fail to obtain a Heaven Credit.

In their opinion, the only thing Zhou Yuan had was the turtle shell defensive technique he had revealed in the duel against Wang Lei. However, just that technique alone was clearly not going to cut it in a Heaven level mission.

Many of the Sword Cometh Peak disciples in particular, had mocking looks on their faces, as if eagerly waiting for the show to start.

Bai Li was walking beside Zhou Yuan, and likewise sensed the whispers around them. She smiled playfully at him and said, "It seems that many people are waiting to see you be embarrassed."

Zhou Yuan chuckled helplessly. This was nothing but normal. A newly promoted purple sash disciple like himself managing to participate in a Heaven level mission should make everyone else envious.

"But I’m afraid they will be very disappointed once they find out." Bai Li was clearly enjoying the situation.

Some of the other team members laughed, while Qin Hai and the other Sword Cometh Peak disciples lowered their heads in embarrassment. Most of the surrounding disciples waiting to watch Zhou Yuan humiliated were from the Sword Cometh Peak.

Li Qingchan swept a backward glance at Zhou Yuan from the front. Everyone was currently crowding around the latter, a little like the moon surrounded by the stars. Their attitudes towards him were clearly much better after returning from the mission.

Back when they had just left for the mission, the others were clearly not too fond of Zhou Yuan. Even Bai Li had only talked to him on account of her friendship with Li Qingchan, though it had admittedly been quite a half-hearted effort.

The reason behind this was undoubtedly because they had felt Zhou Yuan would only be a burden to them, and was not worthy of their attention.

𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

However, Zhou Yuan’s battle with Yang Xuan had clearly awed Bai Li, Qin Hai and the other veteran disciples.

Only then did they realize that this person, whom they had all neglected, was actually hiding so many astonishing trump cards.

It was this very reason that led to Zhou Yuan transformation from an always overlooked character to the star of the show on their way back. To be honest, Bai Li was definitely being way too friendly.

Li Qingchan rolled her eyes Bai Li for her lack of shame, before walking straight towards the counter for handing in missions.

At this moment, several figures stepped forward from the crowd. It was Xu Yan, Wang Lei, Lu Xuanyin and other Sword Cometh Peak disciples.

"Hehe, congratulations senior brother Zhao Zhu on your triumphant return!"

Xu Yan cupped his fists together with a wide smile, fully appearing as if he was here to give his congratulations. However, their gazes occasionally glanced behind towards Zhou Yuan, not bothering at all to conceal the gloating looks within them.

These people were obviously waiting here to watch Zhou Yuan lose face.

By the side, a sliver of malignant pleasure flitted across Lu Xuanyin’s eyes. She no longer dared to cause trouble after being taught a painful lesson by Zhou Yuan during the purple sash selection, but she was still naturally more than happy to watch him suffer.

A single glance was all Zhao Zhu needed to understand their aim, causing the corners of his lips to twitch slightly. He couldn’t really say anything at this time and place, and thus chose to brush past them with an expressionless face.

Xu Yan, Wang Lie and the rest were stunned. However, they did not give this strange behaviour much thought, and instead turned their mocking gazes towards Zhou Yuan.

"Junior brother Zhou Yuan, I wonder what kind of evaluation you received for this Heaven level mission?" Said Wang Lie with a superficial smile. If he had not fallen for Zhou Yuan’s trick in that one move wager back then, it would have been him on the team instead.

Zhou Yuan glanced at him, before walking past without answering.

More and more disciples began to crowd over as whispers continued to spread. Everyone was clearly waiting for the entertainment to begin.

Li Qingchan approached the counter for handing in missions, retrieved a jade scroll and handed it to the middle-aged attendant behind it. The latter received the scroll and sent out his senses. Surprise surged on his face as he sent a strange look towards Zhou Yuan.

He shook his head before walking out. With a wave of his hand, a Heaven level mission appeared on the glowing wall to the side. It was the Black Flame Province mission undertaken by Zhou Yuan and the team.

The attendant’s gaze swept about the area as he said, "The Black Flame Province mission has been perfectly completed."

Envious gasps immediately sounded all around. However, the crowd was not overly surprised, because there were two Chosens leading the team after all.

The attendant continued, "For this mission, the upper credit receivers are; Li Qingchan, Zhao Zhu, Bai Li..."

Name after name was read, stopping at a total of nine.

The numerous surrounding disciples were rather confused. They could not figure out why Li Qingchan and Zhao Zhu were only given an upper credit rating. They should be given the chief credit, right?

"Heh heh, I knew that Zhou Yuan wouldn’t get an upper credit!"

The eyes of Xu Yan, Wang Lei and the other Sword Cometh disciples brightened as they could not help but burst into laughter.

The other disciples also shook their heads, a little contempt in their eyes when they looked towards Zhou Yuan. He had racked his brains so hard in order to get into the team, but it only ended up as a waste of time.

They clearly believed that Zhou Yuan’s absence amongst the upper credit receivers could only mean that his performance had been too lackluster. As for the chief credit... don’t even joke about it!

With two Chosens on the team, what chance did the others have?

The attendant glanced at the laughing Sword Cometh Peak disciples and secretly shook his head. There was a slight trace of pity in his eyes as he said, "Chief credit receiver, Zhou Yuan."

The noisy hall instantly fell quiet.

The grins on Xu Yan, Wang Lei, Lu Xuanyin and the rest’s faces froze, their eyes nearly popping from their sockets as they stared at the attendant as if having misheard him.

The attendant ignored them, and turned towards Zhou Yuan and the rest. "Kindly pass me your credit tokens."

Li Qingchan, Zhao Zhu and the rest walked forward one by one and took out their silver tokens.

Next, under the staring eyes of the crowd, Zhou Yuan walked forward and fished out a golden token...

*Gulp*

The sound of swallowing was rather loud in the silent hall. This was not an unfamiliar sight to them. The golden token represented the chief credit.

Zhou Yuan had actually obtained the chief credit in the Heaven mission?!

Dazed gaze after gaze looked towards Zhou Yuan’s figure, disbelief flooding out from the depths of their eyes.

Xu Yan, Wang Lei, Lu Xuanyin and gang were also swallowing, their faces burning as they could not help but say,

"Chief credit, Zhou Yuan?!"

"How can this be!"

The middle-aged attendant received the tokens, before taking out several jade tiles. Peculiar patterns adorned every tile, each one representing a Heaven Credit.

He then passed Li Qingchan, Zhao Zhu and the rest one tile each.

As for Zhou Yuan, he was handed two of jade tiles.

This represented two Heaven Credits.

By this time, the corners of Xu Yan, Wang Lei and the gang’s mouths were trembling uncontrollably as they despaired inside. The Heaven Credits had already been out, which meant that there was definitely no mistake...

Though they could not believe it, reality was also rather cruel.

They looked at each other, seeing the dull, glazed looks in each other’s eyes. Originally, they had personally came here to be entertained. Who could have expected that they would end up voluntarily sticking out their cheeks out again for Zhou Yuan to give them a nice, hard slap...

They sighed deeply inside. Once news of what happened here spread, the recently returned peace in the sect would be broken once again...