After listening to Bai Qi's decision to separate, and taking into account the suggestion from the old man that had taken them from the Astral Gate, Chun Hua joined a power as well.

She had no real interest in doing so, with her cultivation being far different to the humans, but it was a new thing to try.

She had two options, 'Void Palace' or the 'Heavenly Smiting Hall'. Both of them specialized in using space and void. But after asking a few questions, she decided on the former.

The 'Void Palace' was one of the few powers in the region that had less than a thousand members counting both elders and disciples. And contrary to all, they did not divide their disciples by rank or circles but by the Elder that trained them.

In Chun Hua's case, she was recruited into a group of thirteen disciples under a female Warrior King named He Delan.

***

He Delan was the youngest elder in the Palace, being only thirty-four years old. The rising star of the previous generation and nicknamed the Void Fairy, or Void Fury behind her back. A rare case of a disciple becoming an elder right away.

For her, this group would be her first. Serving both as a test and the official assertion of her position.

"Move your fucking asses or I will come down and make you move them!" He Delan, floating in the air shouted angrily at her so-called disciples.

Her long raven hair wildly flailed in the freezing air of the 'Ice Phoenix Ravine', the snow-covered location, right on the border of the region that the Palace claimed as their own.

Different from everyone else, she had not used any teleportation formations. Making the group travel by foot from Shuomen. It could be said that her training started the moment they left the city gates, and it was so indeed. Sixty-four killed beasts, several dozens of sparrings, and at least four thousand miles while avoiding controlled territories made a perfect 'warm up' as He Delan called the past three months.

And thanks to it, she perfectly knew the strengths and weaknesses of her group. She did not want to play favorites, but until now, only two appeared to be worthy of training.

A silent girl with an athletic build and short brown hair, Chun Hua. Not once she had muttered a single word about the conditions. Well, she had not spoken of her own at all. Only answering or commenting when talked to. And from being the weakest member of the group, she somehow managed to find time to reach the peak of the Soul realm by herself. And a decent fighter as well. During the last sparring session, she managed to hold her ground against a 1st level Sage.

And her total opposite, a small ball of fat that never stopped talking and complaining, Mao Lei. A 6th level Sage and only 18 years old, it was surprising that no 2nd tier power recruited him. Well, at least it was so until she found out about his total lack of combat talent. He could hardly stand even against the 4th level Sage in the group. Still, his spatial awareness was on a level that even she as a Warrior King envied, and so, with some effort, he should become a worthy disciple. In fact, after several failed sparrings and almost being eaten by a beast, it seemed that he was slowly improving.

And the dog eats dog environment between the different Elder groups will force him to do so. At least if he did not want to die.

As she mulled these thoughts, He Delan shouted again, this time using a small tendril of aura to 'help' the rearmost disciples climb the six-mile-high cliff that separated them from the ravine. Well, if whipping them could be counted as help.

When Zan Lan, Elder of the 'Radiant Orb' martial school was approached by a young woman, she was slightly surprised.

A simply dressed woman in her mid-twenties, and sporting cultivation of just the 3rd level of the Soul Realm. She appeared somewhat out of her place in the 'Exhibition Square'. After all, not only she was weaker than most of the cultivators trying to be recruited, but she was slightly older than the average as well.

And so, Zan Lan could not even think that it was a potential recruit. In its place, her thoughts went along the lines that probably this woman was a relative of some youngster. One that was simply shy or unsure of how to approach.

"Elder Zan Lan? From Radiant Orb Martial School?" The young woman's voice was slightly raspy, but somehow it only added to her overall charm.

"Yes, it is me. I fear that you have a slight advantage over me, miss?" Zan Lan smiled while slightly turning to face the speaker.

"Lan Yanzhi, my name is Lan Yanzhi, Elder Zan" The young woman introduced herself with a small bow.

"I see, so how can I help you?" Zan Lan had always considered that treating people politely was a sign of a good member of her school. And especially when representing it outside, and in a city like Shuomen. A city where even an assumed weakling could turn out to have cultivation, bloodline, or connections far above her 3rd tier power.

"Elder Deng, oh, Revered Elder Deng recommended me to speak with you" Lan Yanzhi spoke in a low voice, but it wasn't because she was timid. She simply recalled that Wu Guang, no Bai Qi, had said to speak like this, avoiding any unwanted audience. Or in exact words, "Who wants to hear will do so, but you are responsible for avoiding everyone else from hearing".

"Revered Elder Deng? In such a case, let's move a bit from here. As to not block the passage of others" To say that Zan Lan was surprised would be to say nothing.

Someone like Elder Deng had sent this girl to her? "She could be lying, but it doesn't appear so. She also looks experienced, which is rare considering her cultivation. Hmm, wait! Wasn't Elder Deng the one to take all the arrivals from the Astral Gate yesterday? Could it be..." As they moved to the edge of the square, Zan Lan's thoughts were a mix of doubt and surprise. And a slight amount of hope to get her hands on something more interesting than the snot-faced town youths that considered themselves cultivators.

***

Ten medium spirit stones were the price of one-year access to the 'Radiant Orb' headquarters. With all of the lessons and training areas included, at least if the payer's cultivation permitted their use.

When the Martial School was founded, it was indeed their main way of staying in the business. But with time, the School had expanded enough to be considered a power and even obtained a small territory to call its own.

The Overlord was extremely lax with the taxes, after all, the Great Forest Sect only requested one-tenth of the overall territory income. And so, the Radiant Orb School grow explosively.

To such a point that it was simply impossible to man with the initial personnel and paying trainees. And so the School began acting more like a Sect, recruiting, training, and providing for young cultivators in exchange for their work.

But the paying system still existed, and even more, it was improved with the addition of an outside residence, special rules, and even a separate circle - Mentee.

Lan Yanzhi had been a Mentee for three months already, and if she was asked, her overall impression would be resumed by the words "Nice, Calm, and Boring".

Indeed, being practically a customer, she was treated as such. Normal disciples were policed and disciplined, while the Mentees were practically free to do whatever they wanted. Obviously without breaking the rules of the Shcool, but still, they could skip lessons, avoid training, and even don't come at all if they wanted. The latter was possible because of the place where they lived, a small manor in the nearby town. As opposed to the small residences and dormitories on the grounds that all outer and inner circles disciples lived in.

Not that Lan Yanzhi did any of that, dutifully cultivating and training every day. It could be said that she even outdid most of the disciples in terms of effort. Having arrived at just the 3rd level of the Soul Realm, she was already nearing the peak of the realm.

And such quick progress was because of three reasons.

First, the cultivation method that Bai Qi had granted her had explosive growth, one that only required resources and effort.

Second, as Elder Deng had said when recommending the School, the Ying element wasn't anything rare. The School had two zones heavily infused with it.

And the third would be her absolute dedication.

"Mentee Lan Yanzhi pays her respects to Elder Zan" Lan Yanzhi bowed while entering the small hall that would serve as the place for a lesson on aura manipulation. Although it was meant for both the disciples and mentees, there were only a few people that assisted. After all, everyone wanted to learn how to fight, and so most of the youths preferred to either cultivate or assist only to combat training.

"Mmm, seems that today there will be only you" Zan Lan wryly smiled. She had joined the 'Radiant Orb' several decades ago and found that she enjoyed teaching something else than how to win or kill. Still, the fact that only a mentee, that could spend her days lazing around, was the only student...

Li Xia had always been anything but shy. At the same time, she had always been slightly wary of cultivators. Why wouldn't she? After all, a simple Body Realm thug had the force of several mortals, and she had been always one of the latter.

But all that changed and mixed strangely since she met the young man called Wu Guang. Or Bai Qi as he had revealed his true name to be. And since the first meeting, every following one had changed her life. Some changes were small, like showing her that some cultivators simply did not care about her being a mortal, or giving her extra money just because he felt like it.

Some were bigger, like buying out her father's house and shop. Just to give it to her to manage, and even planning to gift it to her at some point.

But the biggest one was definitively the one from their last day in Blue Tree City, right after the war ended. Bai Qi had decided to make her a cultivator, to allow her lifespan to expand.

She never planned or thought of it, at least not until he simply stated his plan. One that she accepted right away, albeit by a reason far different from the one he explained. Indeed, she simply wanted to spend more time with him before he leaves the plane...

During the training in a miraculous place - a pocket realm - her life changed again. With Bai Qi's two big reveals. The first was about himself, with him being a reincarnation of some extremely powerful cultivator. As for the second, that she had a very rare talent and one that was rare enough as to accompany him in his journey!

"Li Xia?"

"Li Xia?"

After being called by her name twice, Li Xia opened her eyes while slowly drifting out of the memories she had submerged herself into.

"Oh good, you are awake" The same voice that had called her name, one coming from a slightly chubby man with a head of short and messy grey hair sounded again.

"Instructor? My memories become clearer as you said, so did I succeed? And... did it take much time?" She lightly stood up and turned to face the man. This time she felt far better than the first time she had been asked to meditate in this small underground cavern. But at the same time, she felt that a long time had passed, as her body felt... rusty?

"About nine days. That's less than what I spent while assimilating this 'Four Strokes Scroll'. As for your success, that's something that we need to determine. Let's go out, and have you write a few runes, shall we?" Instructor Jiao smiled brightly. And by some reason, recalled the day he met this flower, a girl that had an absolute talent for runes... And the person he was meant to find in Shuomen.

***

After the Astral Gate incident, he and Zan Lan had returned to the Exhibition Square. Knowing only that he was supposed to search for the destined person that had a Spirit realm cultivation, he scanned every youngster he saw. Regretfully to no avail. Not that it could be considered strange, after all, it was rare for Soul realms to be present on the square, what to mention someone with lower cultivation.

Gradually as the sun set and everyone began dispersing, his already downcast mood turned even worse. Not only he had not found this prophesied person, but he had not even a single clue.

But on the next morning, a young woman, or better said a girl knocked on the inn room he stayed in.

A petite build, medium-length brown hair, and a pretty face. Complemented by a short green dress, her looks were akin to a fairy. But Jiao Kai wasn't a youngster anymore, and such a visit could not be one of the amorous adventures one would wish for.

His mood was bad as well, and so he had rudely asked her why she arrived.

He probably had gone a bit overboard, as he had scared the girl and she did not answer. Feeling shameful for shouting at a Spirit realm girl that probably did not mean anything bad to him, he gave himself a mental slap and changed to a gentler tone.

In response, the girl simply extended a slender hand with a crystal plate on it. And not knowing why, he took it and looked at it right away.

"Heavens!" Noticing the bloodline, and connecting it to her cultivation, he could only exclaim. The person he was looking for... Simply appeared on his doorstep!

But he was an old and experienced man, and so managed to hide most of his emotions behind a facade. The girl, Li Xia, explained that she was told to search for someone from the 'Seven Strokes Hall' as to request entering it as an apprentice. And by no one else than Deng Guiying!

It took some time to get her to explain everything, and with every word, Jiao Kai felt that she was indeed the one she was looking for. From her explanation, he discovered that she had been a cultivator only for a few months, thanks to one of her friends who wanted to help her. And whoever that friend was, Jiao Kai was truly grateful to him. Indeed, he had not missed her specialness and made it possible for her to travel to another plane. To search for someone who could teach her to use her heavenly gift.

Three months had passed quickly, with Jiao Kai mentoring Li Xia personally every single day of them. Her character was strong, but because of her long life as a mortal, and one that had nothing to do with fighting, she wasn't someone for the martial path.

But for the Path of the Runes? She was an absolute genius, even ignoring the bloodline. Being a power that specialized in runes, the 'Seven Strokes Hall' had left the written books and scrolls of old far behind. Instead, all of the runes were imbued into seven formations, called the Scrolls. And in this time, Li Xia had already assimilated four of them, allowing her to learn all the one, two, three, and four stroke runes respectively.

The cultivation method she followed was perfectly attuned to runes as well, allowing her to progress while dedicating herself to the Rune Dao. Jiao Kai had several times asked her about it, as it was something neither he nor the entire Hall had heard about. But as she refused to share anything, neither he nor Hallmaster had any intention to press for it.

"Just three scrolls more and she will reach a level enough to be considered a true apprentice of the Hall" He remarked to himself while adding a small prayer for nothing to happen during this time.