The scorching sun hung high in the sky. Atop the city walls of Penzes City stood two girls holding parasols. With their graceful figures and beautiful faces, they were none other than Ye Zi and Yisha. The two watched the backs of the departing trio—Ling Xiao, Song Mingyue, and Tiger—until they were out of sight.

Yisha said with a touch of sadness, "Sister Ye Zi, Brother Ling Xiao is getting busier and busier."

Ye Wen Ni sighed softly, taking Yisha’s delicate little hand. She chuckled and said, "That’s right. As long as we manage the household well for him, we’ll have done our part!"

’Just manage the household?’ Yisha gazed in the direction Ling Xiao had departed, thinking, ’If I were powerful too, wouldn’t I be able to help him more effectively?’

As if she could read Yisha’s mind, Ye Wen Ni smiled sweetly and said, "Yisha, don’t think too much about it. As long as we do what we do best to the fullest, we’ll be demonstrating our greatest value. Understand?"

Yisha nodded lightly. "Sister Ye Zi, you’re so good to me. Thank you! So... tell me your story with him?"

"Me and him? What story could there be?"

"Hehe, don’t try to fool me. I heard him call you a little thief before. There must be a really interesting story between you two. Please, good sister, tell me..."

"Ah, that bastard! How dare he expose me like that... He’s so dead! When he gets back, I’ll make him wish he hadn’t..."

The sound of their laughter gradually faded into the distance.

Leaving Penzes City seemed to have lifted Song Mingyue’s spirits considerably. Back in Ling Xiao’s residence, the perceptive Ye Zi had been constantly staring at her with a strange expression, which was an incredibly uncomfortable experience. It made her so wary that she hadn’t dared approach Ling Xiao for days, terrified of rumors about something improper between them. If she were openly a woman, it might have been fine, but the problem was... she was still "Brother Song."

Tiger’s enormous body, ferocious gaze, large bald head glinting under the sun, and the strange, mysterious tattoos on it made passersby give their odd little group a wide berth.

Ling Xiao suddenly felt a pang of regret. ’Bringing this big guy along was a bit too conspicuous. Wherever we go, one description is all it will take for people to know it’s us.’

Still, Tiger’s formidable strength was a solid guarantee of their safety. At least they didn’t have to worry about sneak attacks.

A letter from Lady Ling had also mentioned the old King’s recent behavior, but Ling Xiao merely laughed it off.

’He should have known this would happen.’

In truth, Ling Xiao couldn’t care less what the old King did. To Ling Xiao, his political maneuvers were like child’s play. The old King himself was nothing more than a clown in Ling Xiao’s eyes, always putting on a one-man show. He actually found the old man quite pitiful. The throne had driven his two eldest sons to scheme against one another, with the Crown Prince even secretly poisoning and plotting against Old Marshal Qiu Chen. As if that wasn’t enough, the Crown Prince hadn’t spared his own father. If not for Ling Xiao, the old King would have been dead within two years.

It would have been a miracle if the Lanyue Empire hadn’t descended into civil war.

Although Ling Xiao didn’t pay much mind to karma, performing a great act of good was still highly beneficial for a Cultivator—at the very least, it greatly aided the cultivation of his state of mind!

A person who cultivates must have a righteous heart! With a righteous heart, one is invulnerable to gods and ghosts, impervious to demonic and heretical ways, and insusceptible to any Heart Demon!

If one commits too many acts against their conscience, those deeds will one day manifest during their Cultivation. This is the essence of karmic backlash!

In fact, this was mostly what the principle of karma referred to.

Therefore, as long as the old King refrained from making any more foolish moves against the Ling Family, Ling Xiao had no intention of doing anything to him. After all, with the King alive, the Lanyue Empire remained a whole and stable nation. Although the nobles were rather exploitative, the Lanyue Empire’s national power was, on the whole, still quite formidable!

If the old King died, the Lanyue Empire would fall into complete chaos!

Ling Xiao found some of His Majesty the King’s actions laughable and couldn’t be bothered to pay them any mind. He, Song Mingyue, and Tiger continued west. Traveling straight west from their current location offered a clear path directly into the territory of the Zichuan Empire. Meanwhile, Ling Tianxiao’s army and the Vantia Great Snow Mountain Range were located in the northwestern part of the Lanyue Empire, stretching for hundreds of miles.

Compared to the Lanyue Empire, the Zichuan Empire faced slightly less pressure from the northern Beast Race. This was because the vast Vantia Great Snow Mountain Range formed a natural barrier along its northern border.

The presence of this natural stronghold meant they could halt the advance of the Beast Race without even needing to station troops there.

However, the Zichuan Empire had its own concerns. Namely, if the Beastmen were to follow the Lanyue Empire’s border along the shores of West Lake and bypass the Vendia Great Snow Mountain, they could easily invade Zichuan territory!

Therefore, the Zichuan Empire stationed a large number of troops near the Vendia Great Snow Mountain, at the border it shared with the Lanyue Empire.

And so, with the Lanyue Empire’s army on one side and the Zichuan Empire’s on the other, this standoff had continued for several hundred years.

It was a perfect example of the old saying: barracks are permanent, but soldiers are transient.

Over the years, soldiers and generals had been replaced batch after batch, yet the two armies remained perpetually stationed here. In addition, the Bauhinia Clan, located in the northern Lanyue Empire, guarded the Empire’s northern border and frequently clashed with the Beast Race.

It was said that the northern Beast Race was even more powerful than its southern counterpart, but the truly formidable ones rarely set foot in human territory.

The ones who participated in raids for human food were usually the outcasts that the Beast Race itself was trying to eliminate.

After a long journey of roughing it, Ling Xiao’s trio finally crossed the border into the Zichuan Empire. They gazed out at the desolate borderlands, where there was no sign of human life for dozens of miles.

Song Mingyue said softly, "This is a vast stretch of fertile land. Why is no one farming it?"

Tiger snorted, his voice a low rumble. "Isn’t it simple? This must be the territory of some noble. The noble is rich and doesn’t care about a bit of land, while the commoners who want to farm it aren’t allowed. So... it’s been left to waste."

"Not bad, Tiger," Ling Xiao said with a smile, giving him a surprised look. "I didn’t realize you were so perceptive."

Tiger grinned, a simple and honest smile. He rubbed his large, bald head and said, "I’ve always been drawn to the human way of life, so I’m always trying to learn. I’m just a bit slow, so it takes me a while."

"You’re not slow at all, Tiger," Ling Xiao praised with a smile. "You’re a truly exceptional Beastman!"

"Wait... Tiger is a Beastman?"

Song Mingyue stared at Tiger, dumbfounded. She never would have guessed that this massive, giant-like man was actually a Beastman. Her eyes were filled with disbelief.

He might have been unusually tall, and his eyes often held a fierce glint, but... but even so, she couldn’t see the slightest trace of a Beastman in him!

Even though Song Mingyue had never seen a Beastman in person, she had heard the descriptions. They were said to have obvious features: long body hair, tails, sharp teeth... Apart from walking upright and possessing a sliver of intelligence, they were supposedly closer to wild animals. Yet the Tiger before her could utter words of surprising wisdom.

’If this is a Beastman, isn’t that terrifying? A cultured Beastman?’ Song Mingyue felt as if the world was suddenly becoming surreal. To think that her traveling companion of so many days wasn’t human!

Tiger bared his teeth in a grin. Only then did Song Mingyue notice that his teeth were, in fact, slightly pointed. It was just a hint, though, nothing obvious. If Ling Xiao hadn’t revealed it today, she would have remained completely unaware of the fact that Tiger was a Beastman.

In fact, those two old men, the Thirteenth Master and the Fourteenth Master, had known all along that Tiger wasn’t human. But to those two Martial Fools, having someone to spar with all day was a blessing. They couldn’t be bothered to care what this big guy actually was.

He wasn’t an enemy, after all. Right?

Tiger was a Beastman!

Another day passed, but Song Mingyue was still brooding over it. She seemed to have forgotten that she, too, was hiding a secret of her own. But Song Mingyue had her own rationale. ’It’s his fault he couldn’t tell! Isn’t he supposed to be all-powerful?’

This just goes to show that when a woman decides to be petty, men often find the logic completely incomprehensible.

The trio had now crossed the desolate expanse. Ling Xiao took out a map and studied it. They were about two days’ journey from Seven-colored City in the Zichuan Empire.

The noble clan that had sent word and taken her sister captive resided in Seven-colored City. The family’s surname was Zhe—a rather strange name. They were an old, established noble house in the Zichuan Empire.

The Zhe Family had produced brilliant generals for generations. The general currently stationed at the border with the Lanyue Empire was, in fact, from the Zhe Family. They also owned numerous businesses across more than a dozen different sectors, two or three of which they held a complete monopoly over.

The Zhe Family also controlled a mercenary corps: the "Divine Wind" Second-level Mercenary Corps. It boasted over twenty thousand Sword Masters, more than three thousand Great Sword Masters, hundreds of Mad Sword Masters, and even dozens of Demon Sword Masters. It also had eight Grand Elders, all of whom were at least third-tier Demon Sword Masters. The commander of the Mercenary Corps was a Martial Artist who had reached the level of the Sword Sect!

One could say that the Zhe Family was a truly great and powerful clan! The Lanyue Empire’s Wulan Clan seemed laughably pathetic in comparison. Perhaps the only family that could match the Zhe Family was the Bauhinia Clan from the northern Lanyue Empire!

That great clan, which had resided in the north for generations, was likewise a mysterious and powerful family.

But Ling Xiao still had a feeling that the Zhe Family’s power ran far deeper than what was visible on the surface.

’If the commander of their mercenary corps is rumored to have already reached the Sword Sect level,’ Ling Xiao mused, ’then could the Zhe Family itself be a hidden, reclusive clan?’

The greatest masters hide in plain sight. It wasn’t an impossible notion.