"Back away, fool!" Bai Qi shouted while slapping away the fist aimed at his face.

But neither the shout nor the failed first one prevented the opponent from following up with another punch, this time with his left.

"STAND DOWN!" Bai Qi roared and this time allowed his irritation to show in his actions as well. In place of simply swatting the fist as he did previously, he caught the attacker's wrist in a dead hold and began applying increasing pressure.

And again, there was no reaction. At least not the one that he wanted. The attacking youngster ignored the pain in his wrist and began wildly flailing around, trying to punch, kick, and even headbutt Bai Qi.

But how did Bai Qi end in a fight versus a Shuomen's city 3rd level Sage? The answer was yet unknown even to him.

***

Just a few minutes ago, Bai Qi sensed that three of his marks, or simply put three of the 16 Sages had met close to his position. So he had decided to approach them openly. Both to check on their condition, as well as find out if anything had happened.

Considering that all of the cultivators came from the same city and killing was, at least by the rules, prohibited there should have been no problems.

Even so, to make his intentions clear, Bai Qi had retracted his aura enough as to show no hostile intentions and allowed his presence to spread before he stepped into the small clearing where the three were standing.

But as he did, in place of the expected welcome, or some reaction of surprise, he was met with an attack from the strongest youth present.

***

Feeling more and more irritated because of the current situation, Bai Qi was just a little short of starting to fight back earnestly. Not that it would be too hard either, with the short and thin young man being just a recently ascended 3rd level Sage. Not to mention the lack of experience made apparent by his sudden rush into close quarters without any preparation.

He looked about 16 years old and carried the golden and blue of Shuomen, and from what Bai Qi could recall, was named Gao Heng.

"Gao. Heng. Stop. Now" Word by word Bai Qi said while releasing his hold. And then gathering a small amount of qi in his right leg and kicking the guy away.

"Gah" Gao Heng sled a few feet back and doubled over while gasping.

"Are you aware that if I wanted to kill you or the two behind that tree, I would have done it already? And without the need of revealing myself?" Bai Qi lowered his leg and tried to speak some sense into the one in front of him.

And again, to no avail, as Gao Heng used this momentary break to gather qi and attempt to use a technique. Attempt as before he could do anything else, Bai Qi moved like a shadow and took him by the collar, slowly rising him over the ground.

"What the heavens are you trying to do? You want me to beat you before you start listening?" Bai Qi's mood was gradually worsening. He had approached with the most peaceful intentions possible, only to receive a sudden and unwarranted attack. He could ignore the latter, attributing it to stress caused by something else, but that this Gao Heng refused to listen?

"Stop it! Leave him alone!" A shrill voice shouted from behind the tree and then a 1st level Sage girl revealed herself by jumping into the clearing. Dressed in similar colors as Gao Heng, she also was one of the disciples of city-affiliated cultivators.

"Leave him" And like an echo to the previous shout, in almost whisper a boy said while peeking from behind the same tree. This one had caught Bai Qi's attention before, as from what he learned - this 14-year-old 1st level Sage was the only participant with no actual ties to Shuomen, well, except Bai Qi himself. In place, he was granted the right to participate in place of his deceased senior apprentice of the same master.

And this made him one of the first candidates in Bai Qi's list of people to check. But after just a few moments of looking at him in the river shore, Bai Qi had crossed him out. Because either he was an actor so good as to feign absolute lack of martial experience, or his cultivation was truly just a side product of his main path. The path of Refining that his senior apprentice had dropped to become a guard.

"I will release him as soon as he stops trying to attack me, and someone explains what is going on. I sensed someone close and decided to check. Considering that everyone inside is related to Shuomen, why the sudden aggressiveness?" Seeing the girl putting a brave front and the openly panicking boy, Bai Qi spoke calmly while looking into their eyes.

"Gao Heng, snap of it! He is not the one that attacked us!" The girl forced herself to appear calm, but as she made a few steps forward while calling for Gao Heng, Bai Qi could see that she was scared deep inside. And definitively not of him.

"I am sorry for his conduct, but Gao Heng cultivates the way of the Fearless Fighter, and..." The boy's, whose name was Xue Zhou, words trailed off, but it was enough for Bai Qi.

He did not know of the mentioned one, but most of the ways that contained the words 'Fearless', 'Berserker', 'Rushing', and so on tended to have special states. Ones that would improve their physical qualities in exchange for the capacity to reason.

"Ah, I see" Bai Qi visibly relaxed his grip before using his free hand to send a palm towards Gao Heng's chest.

"No, don't!" The girl screamed and launched forward, but stopped right away, as she heard Gao Heng's surprised exclamation.

"Wha?!" Gao Heng began wriggling, and Bai Qi let his collar go, allowing the former to fall on the ground while breathing raggedly.

***

It took several minutes for Gao Heng to recover from the state he had been in, as well for the other two to calm down enough.

Minutes that Bai Qi spent in a brief meditation.

But when everyone was calm enough to speak, he opened his eyes and repeated his request for an explanation.

"I am truly sorry for attacking you, Chen Guang. Please excuse me, my control over the 'Fearless' state is still too low" The first one to speak was Gao Heng, who apologized with a bow.

"Now that I know it wasn't intended, there is nothing to apologize for. Still, I take that you met some kind of dangerous situation?" Bai Qi motioned for him to stop while asking.

"Well... about that... Sister, can you explain it to Brother Chen?" Gao Heng turned his head towards the girl, whose name was Gao Ping. They weren't truly related, but as two orphans raised and taught by the same master, Elder Gao of the City Palace, they were close as blood kin.

"Ahh yes! You see, Xue Zhou's and my tunnel exits were almost right next to each other, so we met right as we arrived at this 'Underground Forest'. I was planning on searching for my brother and invited him to come with me. But after taking just a few steps, we were attacked by an ink beast" She shuddered and paused as she recalled that moment, and Bai Qi took the opportunity to ask.

"An ink beast? What type was it? Did you see who sent it after you?" Bai Qi's voice remained calm, but inwardly he was startled. Ink Beasts or the incarnation of a combat painting wasn't something to ignore. Even the weakest of them had to be the work of the brush of a Warrior Lord. Thus, even a small work not only would cost a fortune but also would carry a decent amount of power in it. Not enough to be a threat for a similar level Warrior Lord, but against a lower realm cultivator? It would be overkill.

"Mmm, it was an ink beast for sure. As for the type, I think it was a common ink one?" Gao Ping looked up as if trying to recall but seemingly failed as she turned towards Xue Zhou after a moment.

"It was common tier ink, and the beast was akin to a wolf. I am not sure about its strength, but it was definitively higher than ours" Sensing the gaze, Xue Zhou quickly muttered while looking down and avoiding eye contact.

"Yes, he's right, it was stronger than us. But because of the formation or something else, after the initial lunge, it moved very slowly and allowed us to escape" Gao Ping added.

"And the one that released it?" Bai Qi repeated the question that could be the most important one.

"No luck, we only sensed that it was a Sage with cultivation above ours. But he or she did not follow after the ink beast, and neither commanded it to pursue us after we opened enough distance" Gao Ping shook her head.

"And then I encountered them thanks to a locating talisman that Master gave me. Hearing their story and sensing the approach of a Sage above my level, I considered that they were mistaken and it was the owner of that painting. So I am sorry again for attacking you" Gao Heng finished the story with another small bow of apology.

"As I said, no apologies needed. And you did well in trying to protect them" Bai Qi answered and after thinking for a bit asked,

"Where did you encounter it?"

"Three or four miles to the east, near the wall" Gao Ping answered right away before her eyes got wide and she asked with visible concern

"But you are not planning to go there, are you?"

"Actually I am. You three should move farther and begin searching for the Challenge Plates. After all, you are here to train aren't you?" Bai Qi said with a small smile. And before anyone could say anything, disappeared from the spot by using his 'Counting steps towards Hell and Heaven' movement technique.

*

"Should we go after him? We may be of help against that beast" Surprisingly the one that said such words as Bai Qi left was no one else than Xue Zhou. With no one except the two Gao siblings, his shyness disappeared and his tone was now strong-willed, even commanding.

"No, he sent me a transmission before leaving saying that he will only take a brief look. If we go and he finishes and leaves before... We may end fighting the beast or its summoner on our own. Such risks are not acceptable, young lord" Gao Heng shook his head while explaining.

*

In truth, Bai Qi had not left, but in place just moved to the edge of his own senses reach. And with them being far above any cultivator of the same realm, it indeed appeared as he had.

The reason? He intuitively felt that the three cultivators he encountered were hiding something. And his hunch proved to be correct.

"So my initial assessment of this so-called Xue Zhou was wrong and he is indeed a good actor. But young lord? Just who is he truly?" Bai Qi asked himself inwardly, but with nothing else to go on, it would be impossible to find an answer. In any case, it did not appear that the three were here to attack others, at least for now. And they had not lied about the ink-beast either, making the latter Bai Qi's new priority.

Before leaving towards the spot indicated by Gao Ping, Bai Qi made a few adjustments to the mind power trace on this trio, singling them from the other Sages.

___________________________________________________________________

Around the same time. Different locations of the 'Underground Land of the River'.

Mao Xun was steadily advancing to the center of the 'Underground Forest'. He had surpassed three challenges already and was eager to find a fourth one.

Suddenly, he felt danger from behind and instantly turned around with his dagger-ax in his hands.

"Who is it?" Knowing that except for the Challenge Slates the formation did not create other hurdles, it was clear that the danger could only come from one of the participants. And so, he asked, not without expanding his aura to the utmost, trying to locate the source of the danger he felt.

*Swoosh* *Cling*

Without announcement, an arrow came flying, aimed at his uncovered throat. But Mao Xun easily swept it aside with a light movement of the dagger-ax head.

"If you intend to attack me, then do it openly!" He angrily shouted and dropped into a low guard, concentrating all of his senses towards the direction from where the arrow came.

But time passed, and even after half a hundred breaths, nothing else happened.

"What was that?" Mao Xun muttered while slowly standing up.

Then after a brief moment of thought, he used his qi as a cushion and with a jump, began rapidly moving towards the east, hoping to find any clues or answers to who had, as well why attempted at his life.

***

Geng Xinya had been training under Guest Elder Lu for a year by now. A year of which every day she was grateful for.

Being only 13, she was yet too young to join any power, but her innate cultivation had been unstable since birth, and if not for the guest of the Lord Sheng clan, she would probably have died the past year. After all, her parents were simple clerks in the city and had no idea of how to help her when a soul that she had not yet even connected to suddenly went into a frenzy.

But by fate or chance, Guest Elder Lu, who had been staying in the City Palace sensed it on time and managed to help her control it. After which, he offered to train her, citing that she had a bright future and that he would not allow her to lose her opportunity.

In truth, neither she nor her parents understood much of what he said, but the sheer idea of being trained by a peak Warrior King was so unique that they did not even try to.

And now, after a year of hard training, she was again granted an impressive opportunity by the Elder - to enter the 'Underground Land of the River'.

*Splatter*

But regretfully... This opportunity led her to her demise.

As she felt her blood, and with it, her life escape through her fingers from a brutal wound that extended from collarbone to waist, Geng Xinya could only ask herself, why?

Why did someone from Shuomen attack her?

Why did someone from Shuomen kill her?

Why did someone from Shuomen...?

But she would not find any answers to these questions, and as the last life left her body, her clouded eyes for the last time looked at her killer... At the dispassionate metal mask that covered an equally dispassionate face...