Although the Qinxia Kingdom was considered spacious and powerful, there was a reason why it was only considered a kingdom. Many other kingdoms shared a similar level of strength to the Qinxia Kingdom. Their powers were overshadowed by the many empires, sects and divine temples that were the overlords of this continent. Naturally, the duo had no plans of visiting any of these overlords. They were considered weak within the Qinxia Kingdom itself and had no intention of humiliating themselves.

Xue Yueliang was headed toward the Ocean of Lost Souls, an autonomous area between the Qinxia Kingdom and its neighbours that has been taken over by criminals. While it was called an ocean, it was, in fact, nowhere near an ocean and was located in a dry desert that stretched for further than the eyes could see. Though the current Xue Yueliang was not considered a criminal, nor did she have any reasons to identify as one. She had one important reason to go there - she had to reestablish the Invincible Dao Sect. And according to her master, some of its remnants lived there. Xue Yueliang hated tedious tasks such as building a force, but she hardly had a choice.

"You are really headed there?" Lei Jian asked before concluding, "It seems to fit your character."

Xue Yueliang laughed and asked, "What are your plans?"

"I plan on going to the Xiuqi Kingdom to learn to forge and practice my sword arts." He said as his lips curled upward, filling with hope as if seeing the bright future ahead of him.

"Forging? From your scholarly appearance, I would have assumed you would have picked talisman making." Xue Yueliang grinned, finding his serious nature funny. Both forging and talismans relied on inscribing runes into inanimate objects, and both were used for battles. The only difference in Xue Yueliang's opinion was that talisman makers usually used their intelligence more, and forgers were brutes. Of course, this could be nothing but her own bias.

The Xiuqi Kingdom was known for its forgers and swordmasters, so Lei Jian chose that kingdom to stay and study. "Don't tease me, Sister Xue. I just feel that my greatsword has ways to improve, and the best way to improve it would be if I polish or reforge it myself." Xue Yueliang started at his sword in doubt and could not figure out what needed changing. Besides its unflattering colour, she felt that it matched him well, but he knew what was best for him.

"We should head to the southwest province. It's the closest province to our destination." She suggested, feeling that they should not directly leave through the eastern province. The kingdom was considered relatively safe to travel through, and going through other countries would be bothersome. A complicated expression crossed Lei Jian's face as they would have to pass through the Lei province, but he eventually agreed.

Their interlude destination, known as Misty Province, was considered the most dangerous province. This was because the largest forest in the country - the Misty Mountains - was located there, and it was rumoured that Foundation Establishment beasts were commonplace there. However, as long as you stayed away from the forest, no beasts would chase you, and its level of danger would be comparable to that of other provinces. This was thanks to a grand formation laid by a king two generations ago. Many claimed that the reason it was set so recently was that the average citizen used to be so powerful that there was no reason for an array to protect them and that the array's existence proved the decline of the kingdom. Regardless of what rumours surrounded the place, the duo wished to visit it when they reached the Misty Province.

While travelling westward, the duo were in absolutely no rush. They spent the mornings training, the afternoons walking, sparring in the evenings and cultivating through the night. Though if they used their swords to fly, their journey would be cut much shorter, they did not feel like cutting into their cultivation time. Thanks to this, they felt their actual battling strength increase by leaps and bounds, even if their cultivation did not increase much. By now, Lei Jian's Greatsword Asura did not sacrifice its flexibility and agility to increase its strength. It achieved a balance between its different attributes, making it three times as powerful as before. As for Xue Yueliang, her Sword Wrecks the Heavens move improved, even releasing faint pressure from her will - trying to suppress her enemies' minds. As the duo continued with their relaxed schedule for another week, they were interrupted during their sparring session.

The person who interrupted them was a young girl, seemingly about their age, as she stood a fair distance from them and bowed deeply. She wore lovely pink robes that slung onto her body, a flower artefact that seemed to have its own life and had a pink dagger strapped to her waist. Though her face could hardly be seen due to her lowered head, it was easy for anyone to guess that she was a pretty young girl. Her soft bearing was enough to pull at anyone's heartstrings. "Young Benefactors, my name is Jiu Li, and I have noticed your spar from a distance away. I can see what powerful young heroes you are and would like to request your assistance." During her speech, she kept her head lowered and showed the humble attitude of someone asking for help. If people did not know, they would assume she was a lowly person used to grovelling, but from her attire, it was effortless to see that she was someone of noble birth.

"There is no need to bow, Young Lady." Lei Jian said before elbowing Xue Yueliang, indicating her to do the same. This behaviour was considered odd by Jiu Li as it did not match his previous gentlemanly words, but Xue Yueliang did not care. The only reason he nudged at her was that he knew that it would not bother her. He made sure to never overstep his boundaries, and that was something Xue Yueliang appreciated about him. However, the current Xue Yueliang, who was still irked from her interrupting their spar, reluctantly nodded, "It's not a bother, Young Lady Jiu. We are more than willing to help. Why don't you tell us of your situation." She said, hoping that it would be something that would lead to an action-filled battle or at least be a dramatic story.

"My Jiu family was attacked by a bandit group two days ago while travelling back from the capital. This alone could not be considered a big deal, but after battling with them for two days and nights, we heard the news of our estate being sieged. Between my protecting my pregnant mother or some measly profit, my father chose my mother. Abandoning all the treasure for the bandits. " Jiu Li started.

"What a great man!" Lei Jian exclaimed while Xue Yueliang grumbled, "Can you get to the crux?"

"Ah, sorry," she apologised, appearing to be flustered. "My mother has been in shock since the incident and entered a coma. The doctor has said that the medicine she needs requires the heart blood of an early-stage Foundation Establishment Blazing Bear. There's none of it in the market, and all our experts are either injured or searching for the bandits, so they are unable to hunt it."

Xue Yueliang thought the entire situation was absurd. Could they just not kill the bear before finding the bandits? Or hire mercenaries? She thought, not forgetting to transmit it to Lei Jian, but he had no reaction to her doubts. "Young Lady Jiu, we will make sure to hunt the Blazing Bear for you. Can you tell us where you live?"

"In the Jiu estate of the Flower City, " she smiled. "Many thanks."

Xue Yueliang kept in the urge to roll her eyes and followed behind Lei Jian. She had no clue why her master wanted her to follow someone so easily fooled.

As they headed toward the forest, Lei Jian finally addressed her thoughts from earlier, "It does not matter to me if she is telling the truth or not. She asked me to do something within my ability, and there was no reason for me to refuse. Even if she had not told the entire truth, then so what? Everyone has secrets they don't want to share." "This would only lead you to be taken advantage of." She said with no hesitation, this was how the world worked. "At least, I will always have a clear conscience."

Xue Yueliang's face brightened at those words as it implied that those like her still had a conscience, and even if they did, it definitely did not apply to strangers like Jiu Li. "You think too highly of me." She stated. At least after understanding his thoughts, she felt that his good nature was much less of a bother than before. If he rationalises it, he could; hopefully, stop himself from acting on it during dangerous situations.

The duo walked toward the nearest forest to their current location, named the Brokenrock Forest. It was called such because it had a boulder-like hill that appeared to be broken in the middle, forming a crevice that was home to precious spiritual herbs. This home was also home to Blazing Bears - bears able to control the fire element and were known for being extremely violent. As they entered the forest, they hid their spiritual aura and tried to quickly find the Blazing Bear; though they were not afraid to attract other beasts, they planned to go to the Misty Forest later. There was no reason to train here, and they did not even know how long that woman could last in a coma; dawdling was of no benefit to them.

After an incense stick's worth of time, Xue Yueliang found two Blazing Bears in a fight, and their attacks were painful to watch. Making one feel as if those sharp claws were piercing through them and tearing their innards out. Xue Yueliang expertly claimed onto a tree, trying to get a good view and grabbed a random fruit to eat, watching their battle with great interest. Lei Jian shook his head, but his uplifted lips could not hide his amusement. He sat next to her and also grabbed a fruit to eat. He had no need to interrupt her enjoyment, and soon he was drawn into the battle.

Although it was only a battle between two wild beasts, their capabilities were stunning. Their claws were like sharp swords that tried to maim their opponent in one move, they were powerful, but they did not sacrifice their agility. It gave off the feeling that regardless of where the enemy was or how they tried to escape, their doom was inescapable. Their punches were filled with fiery energy, burning patches of their fur at a time. Even though the bear's control over the flame was not exquisite, they used it as if it was an extension of their arm, augmenting their powers.

Lei Jian watched on with appreciation, and the fire they used caught his eyes. Although it was only a beast flame, he felt that it was beneficial to him, whether for his future as a forging master or to increase his immediate battle strength. He turned to Xue Yueliang, but before he could say a thing, she said, "I only want the claws."

They continued to watch their battle with great interest. They watched as the bears swapped between using fire and their claws, attacking and retreating. The two bears wore each other down, bleeding from many parts of their body as their battle continued. The winner was beginning to be obvious, but the other did not retreat, bitterly holding on. This was until it was stabbed through the chest, ending its life.

As soon as this happened, Xue Yueliang jumped down and began to attack the other bear. The bear was already weary from its prolonged battle, and it began to loudly growl, hoping to scare her off. Xue Yueliang used this chance to practice her flame arts and summoned a weaker version of her Berserk Dragon Flame. She began moulding it into many different shapes as she attacked the already grievously injured bear. As she sparred with the bear, she noticed that it boiled its own blood, temporarily increasing his ability for a while. The battle went on for a lot longer than she had anticipated, but she finally managed to whittle it down. When the second bear dropped, she let out a sigh of relief. She then extracted their beast cores and handed them to Lei Jian, prompting him to begin trying to absorb the beast fire. This left Xue Yueliang to collect the heart blood.

After collecting the heart blood, Xue Yueliang removed the beasts' claws and stored them before summoning Hei Yu. She had kept him in her soul space and tried to refine him into a Foundation Establishment Realm Artefact. Although it has been a week, there has barely been any progress. Xue Yueliang was not too disappointed by this, as it had taken her nearly three years to break through, but she hoped that high-level beast corpses could help him speed up.

Seeing that everyone around her was busy, Xue Yueliang also began cultivating and consolidating her new gains. As the scenes from the battles reappeared in her mind, she felt herself gain new insights, and her fighting strength improved.

When the sun rose, Lei Jian had finally finished absorbing the beast's flame. The fire was pale green in colour, and it flickered in his palm as he played with it. Though his control was not perfect, it was more than enough to be usable in battle. With this, another trump card was added to his arsenal. Xue Yueliang stored Hei Yu, who lazily slept on her lap and got up to stretch. "Let's go." She said, leading the way.