"A-Ahem..." Yuelan glanced down, avoiding their gaze as she mumbled a few words:

"P-Path of the Saint."

"Hmm?"

Xuan tilted his head slightly.

"Path of the Saint? Didn’t you just kill like 40 people? How are you planning to become a saint now, you dumbass?"

Yuelan’s brow twitched. "Tsk... I just need to gain the favor of the churches and basically become a figure of reverence. I could become the Saint of Death, Life, you get it? It doesn’t really matter."

Then, she glanced up and puffed out her chest. "Now stop questioning yours truly and shut up. Plus, look at that, Ice Tits is here."

As if on cue, the ground shook a little. Xuan turned to the side and spotted Hanbi approaching with a small army, causing him to momentarily freeze in shock.

Was she that influential? Really? He got that she was a rich girl and all, but come on... there were close to 100 Spirit Grandmasters behind her. What the hell...

On the other hand, Hanbi could barely hide her smirk. Wearing a casual white dress and holding an umbrella, she seemed like the most elegant woman around. Even those atop the Heavenly Steps glanced down at her, stunned by her beauty.

Xuan was impressed too. She was really beautiful.

Still though...

"Sup. Took you long enough to arrive," Yuelan said with a scoff.

Hanbi’s expression immediately soured. "I came here as fast as I could, you ungrateful brat."

"Calling me a brat is bold, especially since we’re both the same age." Yuelan shrugged, then nodded at her. "What’s with the cavalry? Won’t they just slow us down?"

"Mm, yes. But while it might’ve not felt like it, you have spent two weeks in there. I’ve solved a lot of issues, and I’ve also made some arrangements. As per those arrangements, there are places we need to be, so until we get back to my sect, we’ll be paying a visit to two cities," Hanbi replied.

Her tone was far more commanding than Xuan had expected. But at the end of the day, did he have a problem with it? Of course not. Visiting cities and getting to know the world he’d be staying in for a while was good, since he needed connections.

Plus...

"Say, the cities we’re headed to. Are there any Alchemists or Array Artists or even any Enchanters?"

She tilted her head, thinking about it for a moment. Qujiang, the city they’d be headed to, actually wasn’t that famous for its crafts. Still, like every city in this world, it had the Alchemy Association.

"There are a few Alchemists. Though, Array Artists and Enchanters aren’t very common here. You’d need to personally find them and learn under them," Hanbi explained.

Xuan nodded, then smirked slightly. "How easy would you say it is to become a saint or a ruling figure in this world?"

It was an odd question from someone like Xuan. Still, Hanbi answered truthfully.

"I assume it’s Yuelan who chose that path?"

Yuelan’s brows twitched. "Why did you assume it’s me?"

"It’s not you?"

"..."

"It’s me," Yuelan admitted, stomping her foot down into the ground. "So what? What are my odds?"

"They’re very high if you go the evil route. There are more righteous people, so no one would even pay attention to you unless you cured all illnesses or defeated all of the evil faction. To become a Saint in the evil faction, all you’d really need to do is have some followers and kill a lot of people... Not that I condone it."

Truthfully, Hanbi didn’t even want to give Yuelan any advice. After all, she had seen just how crazy that woman was. The only reason she was being nice to her was because... Well, she might be her future sister-in-law.

So at the very least, Hanbi wanted to be on good terms with her, even if she was evil.

Yuelan shrugged. "So it’s like that. Alright. I guess I’ll just have to get servants. Wanna be one?"

"Of course not." Hanbi facepalmed, then decided to just ignore this idiot. Instead, she glanced over to Sierra, who was holding a book.

"What kind of path did you get?" she asked.

Xuan and Yuelan were curious too. It was strange to see a blind person holding a book.

"Hmm... It’s the Path of Knowledge. I need to read and comprehend 10,000 books," Sierra replied quietly.

Xuan’s mind blanked out. "Speaking of, how did you know what to select? Aren’t you like completely blind?"

She scoffed. "Do you really think this status screen or whatever appears out of thin air? No, it’s just all in your head. I see darkness, and in that darkness, I see the status screen and everything else. I’m just like the rest of you, but, well, blind."

"Yeah, but let’s address the elephant in the room, shall we? How are you going to read those books, dear?" Yuelan said with an exhausted expression.

Right as Sierra was about to answer, Hanbi answered instead: 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

"Books written by cultivators have the special characteristic of their unique Qi being trapped in the letters. Since Sierra’s strengths are in scouting and perception, she can most likely feel the Qi in the letters, thus reading them. Isn’t that right, Sierra?"

Sierra nodded with a slight smile and didn’t elaborate further. Finally, it seemed like everyone had settled down and relaxed. Now it was time to finally get going and actually cross some distance. Though, the fact that there were so many cultivators behind Hanbi was a little bit...

"Don’t worry, they’re not going to be directly accompanying us. Their goal was to escort me. From then on, they’ll act as shadows, trailing us in a 5-kilometer radius to make sure no enemies approach us," Hanbi assured with a smile, then turned toward the distance, her back facing them.

"Now, the journey won’t take long, only a few hours. So while we’re on the road, I’ll tell you how you should and shouldn’t act... Especially you, Yuelan. Please listen..."