Bai Qi sensed that some kind of connection was established with the glove, which meant that the information was correct. Not that he had any reason to doubt the Eleven Springs Immortal. Still, the 'Bright Heavens' glove would need to wait. Right now, it was neither the moment nor the place.

Hu Mu was still alive. But Bai Qi doubted that the former could continue fighting. The 'Dissolving Poison' had taken effect, and judging from the acidic blood, it was not long for it to begin destroying the body.

As in confirmation, Hu Mu's body began shivering.

"What... what did you do to me?!" He asked in panic as the shiver grew stronger.

But before Bai Qi could answer, even if he wanted to, Hu Mu's darkened complexion began paling, and he began howling with painful shrieks.

"I should leave you to suffer in payment of your evil deeds, but I will not" Bai Qi slightly shook his head and slowly stood up. Summoning a throwing dagger into his right hand, he covered it with 'Shivering Disruption'. "Accept your death" Bai Qi threw the dagger, aiming at one of Hu Mu's eyes.

*Swoosh*

Before the poison took effect a simple technique like the one he was using now would fail to even tickle Hu Mu. But now, it should be enough.

*Clang*

But the dagger did not reach its target, as without announcement Hu Mu was again surrounded by the Blood Dome.

"Who?!" Bai Qi exclaimed while expanding his previously retracted senses and aura. But there was nobody around except for the two of them. The logical thing would be to think that Hu Mu did it, but he had now fallen to the ground and continued to shriek in pain while his body convulsed.

At this moment, a voice full of fury entered Bai Qi's ears.

"Leave him alone, or everyone who you hold dear will be dead before you leave the 'Underground Land of the River'!"

The voice was coming from inside the Blood Dome, and so Bai Qi concentrated his senses on it. Unable to feel anything, he resorted to mind-power.

"I see, so the mask is not only a treasure related to cultivation concealment, but is also connected to someone?" It took a few breaths to confirm, but Bai Qi had reached the right conclusion.

"He attacked me and lost, and as the victor, I will decide what to do with it" Bai Qi declared in a cold tone, while slowly gathering qi in his right arm.

"Wretch! If you dare to kill him, your entire clan will be wiped out!"

"Go ahead, pay a visit to the Sheng Clan. It will be interesting to see how you wipe my clan out" Bai Qi shrugged. His current identity was one of a cultivator affiliated to the Dai Clan, which in turn was affiliated to Shuomen City. And so, to avoid making problems for a clan he had not even seen, Bai Qi indirectly disclosed a connection with the City Lord.

"The Sheng Clan? Bastard, who are you?!"

Bai Qi did not answer, slowly approaching the Blood Dome. Hu Mu had stopped rolling on the ground and lost consciousness. His skill was dissipating on its own and the view was gruesome. Making even Bai Qi want to turn his eyes off. The 'Blood Path, Combat' had allowed Hu Mu to resist the poison for a long time, but now... His returning to normal body lost not only the strength but also the improved defense.

Eaten from inside by the corrosive effect of the poison... It was by far not an end that someone would wish even to their worst enemies.

*Crash*

Bai Qi full strength punch crashed against the Blood Dome, and the latter quivered. "It's weaker than before. Is that because Hu Mu is unconscious? Or because his blood is tainted?" In truth, Bai Qi did not care, but such thoughts at least helped him distract from the sight.

"STOP! STOP YOU BASTARD!"

*Crash*

The next punch made a crack appear on the dome. And even though it quickly was repaired, it still showed that the dome was weakening even more.

"Just stop, let me heal him. I swear that he will not try to harm anyone!" The tune of the mysterious speaker changed, this time trying to plead. Still, Bai Qi remained silent.

Two punches later, the dome dissipated. At this point, Hu Mu was barely recognizable. His entire body was swollen while black and slimy blood oozed from his orifices and wounds.

"Heal him? That is not possible. I intended to give him a quick death, but in your blindness, you have made him suffer for far longer than I" Bai Qi said gravely while looking at what remained of the cultivator that had attempted to kill him.

"YOU, WHO ARE YOU?! I will hunt you down wherever you hide. You will wish for death!" The voice continued with other similar threats, but Bai Qi chose to ignore them. He summoned a common sword he had used for training and quickly slashed.

*Slash*

Only before the qi covered blade cut the mask in two, Bai Qi said

"If you want to take revenge, fine. Still, I will advise you from doing so, or your entire Blood Clan will follow the same steps"

*Crack*

As the mask fell in two, Bai Qi moved the sword again, intending to land the killing strike on Hu Mu. But the sword stopped just a second before piercing the latter's heart. There was simply no need. Hu Mu's presence disappeared on its own.

***

With the fight finished, the thing that Bai Qi needed most was to rest and heal. But he could not do it, at least not yet. The formation had protected the surroundings from damage, and so there were not many traces to clean. Still, almost all of Bai Qi's remaining strength was spent cleaning.

Hu Mu's body, possessions, and even blood. Everything was stored into one of the Storage Rings, and then into his Void Ring. Even though Hu Mu for sure had nothing to do with the incident five years ago, he had killed now. And who knew, maybe his master was acquainted with something?

Even if not, from Deng Guiying's explanation, Bai Qi was aware that anyone from the Demon Worshippers region was considered an enemy. So in any case, the experts from Shuomen will definitively try and hunt the person that spoke to Bai Qi through the mask.

___________________________________________________________________

Several hours later. A cave somewhere on the eastern border of the 'Underground Land of the River'.

Zhuan Min opened her eyes inside a cave, painfully similar to the one she had arrived in. Her gaze darted from side to side, and she confirmed that it was not just similar, but the same cave. After all, that pink ribbon near the back wall was definitively hers.

She had only noted that it was missing after leaving for the first time, deciding to not spend time searching for it and entering the 'Underground Forest'.

"Huh? How did I get here? And... what happened?" She muttered while slowly rising. She tried to recall whatever she could, but her thoughts were blurred. But after some minutes, she managed to remember what had happened last.

How she entered a clearing where a black flame demon and one of the participants were fighting. How the demon turned out to be Chen Guang. And then, how he was wounded while trying to keep her safe.

"But, why I am here? What happened then? Where's Big Brother Chen?" She asked herself, as there was no one else in the cave.

***

Having waited for a few minutes without anything happening or anyone arriving, Zhuan Min decided to leave the cave. Because of the formation, her senses were limited to the walls of the cave, but there was only one path present. And she had already used it just a few hours before.

"Big Brother Chen!"

___________________________________________________________________

Bai Qi had noticed Zhuan Min since she woke up, but only opened his eyes as she approached and called for him.

Previously he had followed her aura traces, which she did not hide at all, and decided to use the cave where she had arrived as a temporary base. He needed to rest and heal, while she would need some time to recover consciousness since he knocked her out.

But with the formation limiting one's senses inside the tunnels and caves, he decided against staying inside. Choosing a position near the exit, from where he could sense the surrounding forest as well.

This had been about six hours ago, and by now, it should be morning in the world outside.

"Zhuan Min, are you feeling well now?" He asked with a small smile.

"Ahh? Yes!" She nodded and then her eyes darted to Bai Qi's left shoulder. "Big Brother Chen? Were you not wounded before?" She asked with concern in her voice.

"I was, but it's nothing serious. Still, the fight was a bit exhausting, so I will be recuperating for a bit more" Bai Qi explained before motioning towards the forest and continuing "You should probably go and start looking for Challenge Slates. Your father will not forgive me if I make you lose even more time"

"What happened to that man? The one you were fighting?" Zhuan Min knew that such a fight had only one possible ending, and she shuddered at the thought that Chen Guang had killed someone.

"He's dead" Bai Qi confirmed her thoughts in an emotionless voice.

"But!"

"No buts. Listen, that man, Hu Mu, was a Blood cultivator from the Demon Worshippers region. He killed Su Yawen and planned to kill other people. And so, I stopped him" Bai Qi did not feel any guilt about killing, but still tried to explain his actions.

Truthfully, he did not even care what Zhuan Min and others would think. But neither did he desire to appear as some kind of cold-blooded killer. Not to mention that an explanation was needed for what he was going to ask of her.

"A Demon Worshipper?! But how? Father says they never come to Shuomen City!" Zhuan Min was young and inexperienced, but she was a true daughter of her father. With only him as her only family, she practically grew among people from the 'Law Enforcement Palace'.

***

Thankfully Zhuan Min turned out to be far more reasonable than Bai Qi had expected. She shuddered at the idea of killing and so, but she understood why Bai Qi did what he did.

She had no idea of Bai Qi's mission, and so he chose to share a bit with her. Hiding some of the facts, but without lying. Except for the causes, there was not much difference between "I was asked by a City Elder to monitor and protect the participants" and "The City Lord and Deng Guiying paid me for looking around, and preventing killings".

Zhuan Min accepted the explanation after recalling that her father was the one to introduce Chen Guang. And she also understood and agreed to keep this matter secret for now.

Actually, Bai Qi had prepared a long explanation to make her accept, but it turned out to be not needed. She had offered it herself just a moment after Bai Qi said that he wasn't sure that Hu Mu was the only dangerous person around.

Then Bai Qi faced the problem of convincing her to leave him here and move. She had almost no interest in the Challenge Slates or the training zone, especially after what happened. Making Bai Qi resort to asking her to look for Chang Kun and Tang Lei.

"I did not see them near the lake, so I am pretty worried" It wasn't a lie, but neither it was the truth. Still, such a reason was enough to make Zhuan Min quickly nod in acceptance.

Talismans could not be used to reach the outside world, but they still worked fine inside the 'Underground Land of the River'. Bai Qi had found this out from the information he received from the Immortal's obelisk. And so, he gave her a communication talisman and sent her out.

***

"Haah" He exhaled after she left while a grimace of pain crossed his face as he did. He had tried to avoid lying to her about what happened and his reasons, but he did have to lie about his condition. Even changing clothes beforehand, to avoid her seeing the extent of the damage.

The truth was that the wounds were by far not minor.

Especially the one from the 'Judgement Palms'. Initially, it looked like a simple burn, but as Bai Qi tried to heal it, he discovered that Hu Mu's attack had left aftereffects. Not only did his skin refuse to heal, but it was now covered with a strange, aching rash that continued expanding along his right side. By now, it had already covered his entire leg and was beginning to slowly cover his chest as well.

And what was truly alarming, was the fact that his pores on the affected skin were being closed, decreasing the amount of qi he could naturally recover. None of the pills or potions seemed to work and using his qi to combat it made the expansion quicken.

"If this continues, I will be left without any open pore!"