"So, I can not help but wonder, is that what you meant to take it calmly?" Having walked some distance from the Beginner Warrior Lord Arena, He Delan asked in a low voice, not forgetting to disguise her voice with qi from undesirable ears.

Bai Qi lightly chuckled in response, continuing to walk a few steps in front. His initial plan was indeed one of not showing much and finishing the day by challenging one of the Arena Masters.

"And yet, I still feel that all of them, the head manager included, ended up dancing in the palm of your hand." He Delan continued, not content with the lack of an answer.

"Heh, that makes it look like I deliberately put them in a bad spot to get what I wanted, well, what they arranged up for me in the end." Bai Qi half-chuckled as he retorted.

"And it wasn't so?"

"Hmm, now, Senior He, you are putting me in a bad spot. The result is acceptable, even welcome, but I did not expect or wish for Chun Hua or Fan Jia to get hurt." Bai Qi turned his head to face He Delan as he deliberately treated her as a senior, something she detested.

"You..!" He Delan nearly lashed out but stopped before saying anything else, as her thoughts went to the events that happened just some hour ago. A few moments later, she spoke again, in a serious, even furious tone, "Let's hope their interrogation goes well, and we do learn who was the one to hurt my apprentice and even try to act against you."

{There is not much need to wait for that.}

{What do you mean? Did you learn something that you didn't share before?} While He Delan was surprised by the sudden change from voice to qi transmissions, she still followed Bai Qi's lead.

{I hid nothing, but I didn't help them connect my words either. Xun Gengxin's helper was acting thanks to some ability of the former, but I doubt it can be used from the other side of the plane or even from the other side of the strait, to be frank. So, that cultivator is on the island, and while my senses aren't so precise inside the void, I am sure we are dealing with someone about your cultivation.}

{So, a 7th level Warrior King? That's something to go on, all right.} He Delan nodded as she started thinking about the matter. The island wasn't so small, but with the ongoing war and the Yi clan being, most probably, uninvolved, the list of cultivators of such level would not be extensive.

{We can also assume we are dealing with someone with a high mastery of the void and that this man, the latter I am sure of, is likely a rogue cultivator.}

{A rogue one, are you sure?}

{Yes. I doubt he had no idea what happened after he used his power on Chun Hua, and to risk involving himself with the [Void Palace] means either a higher tier backer or having nothing to lose. With the former being improbable, as Xun Gengxin isn't on the level of a disciple of a 1st tier power, it leaves us only one option.}

{I see, I see. That sounds reasonable.} He Delan shortly transmitted back, cutting before her following thoughts,

***

On arrival at the [Storm Persimmon Tree], a mix of a teahouse and inn they had spent the night in, Bai Qi learned that Ma Su had arrived sometime before. With help from the inn manager, after relating the condition of some of their companions and that they would spend a couple of days, their group would be staying at one of the courtyards nearby called [Budding Lake].

This latter being one of the properties rented out to arenas participants, with defenses, cultivation rooms, and even some healing formations.

Located just a street from the inn, Bai Qi and He Delan arrived at the courtyard's entrance without complications, at least visible ones.

Only after they crossed the courtyard's main door, falling under the effect of the privacy formation, He Delan spoke up about what both had noticed a few streets ago, "Do you think I should deal with the tails?"

"They were clearly making us aware of their presence to avoid any problems, so there is no need. And I am sure that neither of the two pairs carries any ill will towards us, probably one being from the Yi's and the other, maybe the gambling masters?"

"That they are polite enough to show themselves does not makes me feel better about being tailed." He Delan shrugged while deliberately expanding her senses to cover the entire street.

"Ignore them. We have to check on the girls." Bai Qi wasn't planning to create any incidents, not when all was going as it should, so he changed the topic.

Ma Su could lack the skills to heal severely wounded, but she had enough experience surviving in the jianghu, which included dealing to some point with injuries. He Delan had asked her to take care of Fan Jia and Chun Hua, and Ma Su would do that.

Leaving the beast girls to maintain their condition, Ma Su rented a courtyard, the only one with actual healing formations, and immediately moved Fan Jia and Chun Hua into them. Bai Qi had left her several pills of his reserves, and Ma Su fed Fan Jia a few healing ones. As for Chun Hua, she received the heaviest knock-out ones. The latter to avoid risking Chun Hua's awakening or the [Astral Devourer] losing control, as she had done before.

By the moment she had finished and now was trying to get a feeling on how to treat a being she had no idea about, Ma Su felt how the [White Tiger] beast girls jerked from their seats, "Bai Qi!" Bai Ze, the younger of the two Saint Beasts, exclaimed, and Ma Su exhaled in relief.

***

"There was no need to be overly cautious with Chun Hua, her body being the same as any of ours, but you did very well anyway." After examining the conditions of both injured girls, Bai Qi nodded reassuringly at Ma Su.

Fan Jia's bones were starting to heal under the combined effort of the formation, the pills, and the first aid applied by Ma Su at the arena. The meridians and pathways would require Fan Jia to wake first, but they did not show any worsening, and the dantian was safe, so it would only be an issue of her taking some time to reconstruct her system. Or, as Bai Qi worded it, it would be a question of keeping her out of action for a few weeks, not a severe crisis, with her being far less reckless than Bai Qi himself. "Still, you should attempt to connect the pathways to help quicken her awakening."

Chun Hua's situation was both worse and better than Fan Jia's. Because of the sheer force behind the attack she received, her physical damage exceeded a few broken bones, including destroyed organs and several bone-deep wounds on her torso.

Her cultivation base was even more impaired. Nearly half of the meridians directly obliterated. Something that could be considered crippling for the average cultivator. Yet, Chun Hua's race did not care about such, and by absorbing enough qi, she should be able to force a breakthrough and heal most of the damage.

Thus, the only pressing matter would be healing her body, so it resisted the qi intake. "Maintain her knocked out, and use all available means to mend her body. With that done, she should be able to restore herself, thank the heavens for her being a Scourge."

Having given the indications, the former to Ma Su, the latter to He Delan, Bai Qi took his leave. After asking the Bai sisters to keep a look over the courtyard, as neither of the others, including himself, would be able to concentrate on anything but healing, he secluded inside one of the cultivation rooms present in this [Budding Lake] courtyard.

***

Only when Bai Qi knew no one saw did he allow himself to fall to the ground. His condition wasn't any better than the girls'. And yet, he had been acting as if everything was all right for a time.

Having limited himself for a good part of the combats, the sudden release of all the self-placed seals, constantly containing his fury and the demonic portion of his soul, pressing himself over all limits to outplay the mysterious Warrior King assaulter, and then keeping himself acting as if everything was under control had really tested all of his body, spirit, soul, and mind.

Torn pathways, cracked meridians, nearly absolute depletion of qi, less than half remaining soul pòwer, and even his mind power was on its last, having spent to mask the void rip used to reveal Xun Gengxin's treachery. Not to mention that he never healed the wounds he received while playing with his opponents.

Only his absolute willpower had kept him from falling before, and it was the same that made him rise again now.

Unbeknownst to the now fallen silent courtyard, under the watchful eyes of the Bai sisters, not few events would happen between the moment that Bai Qi had taken his leave from the Beginner Warrior Lord arena and the moment he would reappear from his brief seclusion.

Some of these events would hardly have any implications, but a few of them would change the status quo of what was called the Island of Pride - [Zihoadao].

And, it would be far later that people would come to comprehend, that not a single of them wasn't set up in motion by a mere Warrior Lord.