First healing, and then preparing his mind for connecting to the [Insight Heart] and the consequent breakthrough. Both processes required a calm and clear mind. And this necessary procedure also allowed Bai Qi to take a slow, deep look at his last days.

And honestly, he did not look what he saw. Since leaving [Shuomen], Bai Qi had drifted along with the flow of the surrounding events. In the city, he had done so as well, but at least he had a clear objective to serve the city higher-ups.

"But in the [Steel Fang] region, I seem to have lost my way." Bai Qi said to himself. No one could listen to his speech because of the array, disguised as a treasure formation he had set up, so he could do it without concerns.

Bai Ze and Bai Rui did influence him, but not to a degree he should have ignored Huo Laohu's actions. Actions that led to Bai Qi receiving injuries. And which usually, he would never allow going by without taking or inflicting at least some repayment.

"Neither I should have ignored that they used me. Maybe acted in the same way, but without doing anything in turn?" He continued and felt a bead of cold sweat running down his back.

The most recent days gave some hope that Bai Qi had not lost his usual self, but they still were slightly foreign to him. Yes, he would have attacked and destroyed the bandits and the slavers, and his feelings about the enslaved people were his true ones indeed.

But, allowing first Ye Su and Fan Jia, then Ma Su, and in the end, the two girls to follow him? Feel responsible for the latter, even if he was absolutely unrelated? That wasn't like Bai Qi at all.

He replied with goodwill to goodwill and with absolute spite to everything else. He was not a simple cultivator, no! He was Bai Qi, a true immortal!

It took Bai Qi more time to understand his feelings and actions than healing or preparing. Still, it was something good.

"It's time to stop living for the enforced, by others, tasks and responsibilities." Bai Qi's eyes opened, and his dark irises flared with an ever darker color, one that, if looked closely at, would turn out to be formed by black flames.

"And the first step for that is to be able to stand by myself. To stand above anyone who can tell me what to do. And then to return to my true realm, before proceeding further, to what I have always dreamed!" Reinforcing his inner commitment, Bai Qi roared. Then with a shake of his head, he concentrated all of his consciousness into an arrow. An arrow sent towards the [Insight Heart] in his [Void Pool].

___________________________________________________________________

Since Bai Qi sealed himself with one of his strange formation-like barriers, Bai Ze and Bai Rui felt off. It wasn't as they required his presence all the time, but his seal also affected the link, and so they felt as if he wasn't anywhere.

Before, Bai Qi had never touched the link, and while the reason was understandable, being a major-realm breakthrough, it still affected the mood of the [White Tiger] sisters.

Both sisters had different ways to deal with the unease inside, and while Bai Rui's manner, to sit in guard near the barrier, was something expected, Bai Ze had chosen something that neither her sister nor even Bai Qi would have believed possible.

Indeed, who could have thought that the rowdy and willful tiger girl would concentrate all of her time on the two little human girls? But she did and had spent every moment hovering around them, not only trying to make them interact but taking care of their needs as well. Not that the two girls whose name was still unknown had many, but Bai Ze did everything in her power.

***

Ye Su had no idea what to do while they waited for Bai Qi to make his breakthrough. She had never been one to train on a feeling or because she had nothing to do, simply doing it when necessary.

Still, these unexpected couple of days without anything to do made Ye Su recall all the manuals seen at some point. There weren't many, as she was the epitome of a rogue cultivator, but she started slowly attempting to train her body anyway.

Bai Qi had shown no interest in the contents of her [Void Ring], even when she had surrendered to him, and so Ye Su called for her unadorned yanmao blade and spent almost every moment practicing with it.

***

Fan Jia had just recently ascended to the Warrior Lord realm, and the fight at [Qingchu Shui] allowed her to gain a basic understanding of her new strength.

Still, having arrived at the [Shengda Sha] region after being expelled from one of the martial schools of the [Ten Families] region as a 1st level Sage. She had been born with innate cultivation of the 5th level Soul realm. Thus, Fan Jia never learned about the correct way to get acquainted with severe changes brought by the Earth realm or by any tier breakthrough in truth, as her Sage breakthrough had happened under the control of an expert.

She had lamented as she found herself at a loss how to proceed correctly, especially with the matter of sky walking.

Fan Jia did not know that Bai Qi would have no problem doing so, and in truth, any cultivator that knew how to had no trouble to stabilize his new strength, whatever was happening around. Regretfully for her, she had close to no idea about it, and so her thoughts only served to increase her anxiety.

But then her eyes landed on Ma Su, and while she did not feel right to ask the [Sha Zhu Company] ex-member, she decided that if Bai Qi could trust her enough to restore Ma Su's cultivation, maybe Fan Jia should do the same?

And even though Ma Su wasn't an orthodox cultivator either, she had completed a few years of training before, and she agreed to help without asking for anything. Thus, for most of the second day, Fan Jia listened and attempted to follow the tips and insights that the Warrior King shared with her.

***

Ma Su had been a member of the [Sha Zhu Company] for over ten years, having joined right after being kicked out from a 2nd-tier power in the [Great Forest] region, the [Delicate Forest Palace].

Although initially Ma Su had been pissed off at the palace, her thoughts had long changed. Now, she did not hold it back against the elder's court that had decided to kick her, as her attempt at stealing several Earth-tier herbs had been a crime indeed.

The same thought always crossed her mind, as she recalled all she had done in the last years. Usually, she held all memories of her deeds locked inside and lived as she wanted. But her capture and the mind-search forced on her had awakened all of them.

Ma Su could not help but acknowledge that she felt far less hate towards her captor than the one she should. And sincerely, less fear than she should be feeling after being mind-searched, collared, and moved from one location to another only to be suddenly half-released.

Ma Su did not enjoy her new condition of an enslaved servant, but somehow it felt deserved.

Bai Qi had indeed done something. But it wasn't anything drastic, as changing one's mind was impossible, even for him. Controlling one's mind was something doable, but the difference between cultivators had to be extreme, as otherwise, it would simply not work out.

What Bai Qi did, and the main reason she lived after being questioned, was to rouse some of her dreams and hopes preceding her bandit and slaver life. Nothing else but making a part of her memories surge with renewed strength. Memories in which she hoped to advance and become a true expert, without any underlying reason at all.

Ma Su resumed her meditation as soon as she managed to calm her mind. Following this young man was both unexpected and unwelcome, but at least it would change something for her.

Just as she resumed circulating her qi, confirming she had recovered, Ma Su sensed someone approaching. None of the group had even tried to speak with her. And so she opened her eyes while disguising her surprise with a scowl, "Came to say something about me?"

Surprisingly, the fair-faced and clear-haired girl called Fan Jia did not come to denigrate or lecture Ma Su but to ask for help. Help that Ma Su wasn't obliged to offer but ended giving.

___________________________________________________________________

The journey to the [Steel Fang] region turned out uneventful for Kass Shaa'r, Gi La, Heise Zhao, and Zhua. And except for a slight quarrel with the Spirit Beasts as they awoke and found themselves carried somewhere, not a fight or incident had occurred.

The four had also intended to report to Huo Laohu. But when they arrived at the camp, they found that most of the war pack Beastmen had already left. Thus, they only briefly explained the developments to elder Huo Mingzhi, the only remaining elder in the camp.

The old fire-tiger thanked them for coming back to return the four [Grey Hunter] beasts. And after confirming they did not need anything from the camp and did not plan to stay, she wished them a good journey after updating them on the latest developments. Which weren't many, as the forces of the [Steel Fang] man-beast kings were only starting to gather and make the journey towards the [Great Fish Inner Sea].

***

"I wonder, will Bai Qi surprise us with something again?" Kass Shaa'r asked the others as the dry air of the great desert welcomed them again.

"What do you mean?" Gi La had only spent a few days with Bai Qi and believed that she had seen everything about him. He was a better fighter and more intelligent than other humans, but he wasn't anything so remarkable as Kass Shaa'r considered him to be. And his character was strange, sometimes killing right away and others pardoning or even allowing enemies to join without reason.

"Hsss, you are yet to see how Bai Qi is when dealing with true threats. And how he is during peaceful, training, and other situations." Kass Shaa'r liked Gi La as otherwise, he would have never thought to start any relationship. And so, it truly pained him that she wasn't so welcoming towards Bai Qi as he would have liked her to be.

"I believe we will find him training. When we separated, Bai Qi gave me the impression of someone about to set his goals." Heise Zhao commented, deciding to stop the so-usual by now, bickering between the two lizards.

"Or he may have rushed ahead and solved everything without us, so let's just go and see." Zhua feared that something would happen without her presence, and it showed in her alerted posture.

"Yess, let's make haste as Bai Qi sayss." Kass Shaa'r nodded, without even noticing that he started hissing again.

***

"Grrr, what the ancestors, is going on?" While Zhua was the only one to voice the question, the same one crossed the other three minds when they reached the agreed location.

A bluish barrier impossible to sense or see through;

Probably a creation of Bai Qi, and as he wasn't present, then he should be inside. But why?

The previously collared woman and Bai Rui guarding near it;

Bai Rui's presence near the barrier indicated that Bai Qi should be inside indeed, but what happened for the woman's cultivation to be back? And not only restored but also strengthened?

The two women that joined in the desert, training;

The older one was working on her swordsmanship without paying notice to anything. The younger one, seemingly learning to sky-walk, floating a few feet above the ground.

Bai Ze cooking, with two human children sleeping near her;

Bai Ze cooking?! She had always made her sister cook, back in the camp and even during the travel before. And, since when do they have children in the group?!

"Just what the ancestors is going on?!" This time it was Heise Zhao to exclaim, only to receive a glare from Bai Ze, accompanied by the words, "Welcome back, but please keep it down."

***

"So, Bai Qi is making a breakthrough inside? Good!" Kass Shaa'r only was interested in one thing, and as soon he found out, he lost interest in the rest of the questions.

Zhua had questions about the two girls, but as the two girls awoke to the commotion and saw new Beastmen, they had immediately come to the most approachable-looking one, her. So while surprised that the two kids did not seem scared of them, Zhua allowed them to hover around as Bai Ze related more about them.

"So he freed the woman, Ma Su, from the collar, but she's still under his orders?" Heise Zhao was surprised, to say the least, but after finding out it was Bai Qi's decision, he did not ask further.

As for Gi La, she was in a state of shock, now that she understood Kass Shaa'r previous words about Bai Qi surprises.

The surrounding qi became agitated, and a feeling of something to happen crawled into the minds of everyone present in a small camp near a several-mile tall cliff.

"Could it be?" A few voices sounded in unison as they looked to the sky and noticed how dark clouds were gathering.

"No, that is simply impossible. He is entering the Warrior Lord realm, not breaking some impossible limitation." A slightly husky but womanly voice said.

"Still, this is a tribulation, isn't it?" A woman asked right away, her tone denoting a lack of confidence in her words.

"Don't just stand and discuss it. We need to vacate the area quickly. If this is a tribulation, then being nearby will attract it to us as well!" A raspy growl followed, and an attentive listener would notice fear, apprehension, and expectation mixed into it.

"You leave. We will remain here. It's not like it can be dangerous for our bodies." A similar type of growl, but coming from two sources in unison.

"Don't be dumb, you two. If you get involved, it may affect him! Now, let'ss move!"