"No betrayal, no infighting, and obedience to orders."

Liu Yunqing's requirements were brief, but fulfilling them was not so easy.

After speaking, Liu Yunqing did not immediately ask the three to express their opinions, but only emphasized one point:

"Think it over before you give me an answer; this requires making a vow of faith."

Neither Zhuo Ying nor Ruan Qing spoke, but Feng Piaopiao raised her hand without hesitation and shouted:

"I, Feng Piaopiao, swear by my Dao heart that while teaming up with Fellow Daoist Zhenru, I will never betray my teammates, never fight among them, and will take the captain's orders as my first principle of action. If I break this oath, my Dao heart will not remain, and my cultivation will not progress!"

"Boom—Crack—"

A muffled clap of thunder sounded above Feng Piaopiao's head, and a bolt of lightning the thickness of a thumb exploded in the thunder, signifying that the vow of the heart had taken effect under the Heavenly Dao.

If you break your vow, the content of your oath will be fulfilled.

The others were surprised by Feng Piaopiao's decisiveness, and Liu Yunqing was also surprised for a moment before a helpless smile appeared on her face.

Feng Piaopiao, however, was quite pleased with herself. She raised her chin at Liu Yunqing and winked at him, seeking credit.

Wuchen, who was controlling the flying boat, came over at some point and repeated Feng Piaopiao's vow with a different name.

After the Dao Heart Oath was reaffirmed, Wuchen turned to Liu Yunqing and said meaningfully:

"Following these rules isn't difficult; the main thing is whether you've thought it through."

In Wuchen's memory, Liu Yunqing was an extremely diligent person who devoted himself to cultivation. No matter what he did, his ultimate goal was to cultivate.

After the old master met with him and asked the younger generation of rising stars to choose sides, he felt that Liu Yunqing would not spend too much energy competing with others or pursuing fame and fortune.

So, although their team was nominally a team, they didn't actually have the experience of a real squad.

Now that Liu Yunqing has suddenly brought up the team rules, Wuchen can't help but think.

"What have you decided? What do you need to think about?"

Before Feng Piaopiao's smug expression of taking credit had faded, she suddenly heard Wuchen's words and looked back and forth between Liu Yunqing and Wuchen with a confused expression.

The other two naturally didn't understand what it meant either, but since neither of them had expressed their opinion yet, they didn't dare to ask any more questions.

Liu Yunqing understood Wuchen's worries and was even happier that Wuchen immediately grasped what she needed to do. She nodded solemnly and said:

"I've made up my mind!"

"We're going to clash sooner or later anyway. Those of you who have fought me won't escape this fate, so we might as well have a big fight!"

Wu Chen nodded, glanced at Zhuo Ying and Ruan Qing, and said:

"In that case, you might as well make it clear that you only have one chance to stay or leave."

"Alright," Liu Yunqing said to Zhuo Ying and Ruan Qing, taking Wu Chen's suggestion after seeing Feng Piaopiao's hesitant and confused expression.

“I originally wanted to wait until you had thought it through and decided whether to stay or leave before discussing this matter, but I think Master Wuchen’s words also make sense, so I will tell you directly.”

Liu Yunqing ignored Feng Piaopiao, who was shoving her, and after organizing her thoughts, spoke in a slow but sincere and solemn tone:

"I've decided to form a trustworthy combat team, with one year of intensive training every three years, and then aim for the top ten in the Golden Core arena of the next cultivation competition."

As soon as Liu Yunqing finished speaking, Zhuo Ying was startled and her eyes lit up again. Ruan Qing's eyes also lit up, but the expression in her eyes was somewhat inexplicable.

Feng Piaopiao was first taken aback, then startled, and then her face turned displeased.

Wuchen, on the other hand, directly asked the question that the three of them had been thinking about:

"You formed a team for the cultivation competition? Why do you need to be in the top ten? What if you can't be in the top ten?"

Thinking of the map that had suddenly appeared in her mind, Liu Yunqing smiled slightly, her eyes resolute, and said:

"Of course we need to suppress Liu Yunzhao. We're too short-handed right now. In the final showdown, five of us... oh, maybe three won't be enough!"

Wu Chen's eyes flashed, and he understood that Liu Yunqing had something she couldn't say, so he nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

Feng Piaopiao was already scratching her head in frustration. Seeing that Wuchen was not speaking, she was about to speak when she heard Zhuo Ying suddenly raise his hand and begin to make a vow.

After the oath took effect, his usually deep black eyes shone with a hint of anticipation, and he said succinctly and decisively:

"You should have said that sooner!"

This time it was Liu Yunqing's turn to be surprised, once again surprised by Zhuo Ying's keen insight.

So, is it because Zhuo Ying didn't sense her seriousness and determination that she behaved in a conventional manner?

As for Ruan Qing... Liu Yunqing turned her head and saw her tremblingly raising her hand, wanting to swear an oath.

This time, Feng Piaopiao caught up and rushed ahead of Ruan Qing, saying:

"Hey, don't make the Dao Heart Oath carelessly. If you can't keep it, you'll really have to keep the oath, and there's no going back."

When the others heard Feng Piaopiao say this, they all nodded solemnly, expressing their hope that Ruan Qing would be cautious.

However, whether this caution stemmed from fear that Ruan Qing would fulfill her vow, or something else, remains unclear.

Only the way of the wind is clearly written on one's face.

Ruan Qing has been in the team for so long, and almost no one knows her true strength.

Upon further reflection, it seems that no one can recall when Ruan Qing made a move.

Needless to say, no one could see each other in the Soul-Gathering Valley. Although there were few obstacles along the way, and they had encountered several situations where they needed to fight, none of them could recall what Ruan Qing was doing at that time.

Such a person only slacks off behind the scenes and then takes a share of the spoils. Feng Piaopiao felt that there was no value in staying, and she also had to worry about her flattering the enemy all the time.

Perhaps it was the blatant look in Feng Piaopiao's eyes that made Ruan Qing blush. Her previously trembling hand suddenly gained strength, and even her voice became more resolute:

"I, Ruan Qing, swear by my Dao heart that while teaming up with Senior Sister Zhenru, I will never betray my teammates, never fight among them, and will take the captain's orders as my primary code of conduct. If I break this oath... I will be struck dead by heavenly lightning!"

When the vow came true, Ruan Qing glared at Feng Piaopiao fiercely, looking down on her.

Feng Piaopiao pouted, not wanting to argue with Ruan Qing; he had more important questions to ask Liu Yunqing.

"So we already teamed up before, didn't we? You weren't serious about what Wuchen meant at all?"

As soon as she asked the question, Feng Piaopiao felt it seemed a bit outdated. Sure enough, Liu Yunqing waved his hand and said:

"That's not important; what's next is more important."

Feng Piaopiao's attention was always easily diverted, and after hearing Liu Yunqing's words, she asked shrewdly:

"So what do we do next?"

Liu Yunqing didn't keep them in suspense and said directly:

"Let's find a place nearby and have a few real battles. Then, I'll trouble Fellow Daoist Zhuo Ying to take the time to see if there's a suitable formation for the five of us, or a way to improve our combined combat capabilities."

"After we return, Fellow Daoist Feng, please prepare more pills for your training. I can use spirit stones to cover the costs in advance."

"I'll give Master Wuchen something in a bit, and I'll trouble you to make some little trinkets for us when you get back."

"As for Ruan Qing, I'll give you something too, and then I'll ask your master to help us refine a few communication bells. Of course, if you can find someone to refine them yourself, that's fine too."

After hearing Liu Yunqing's arrangement, the others nodded blankly, while Feng Piaopiao belatedly realized what was going on and pointed at Liu Yunqing, saying:

"Wait a minute, we all have work to do, so what are you going to do?"