Sheng Feng intended to stay and see how Bai Qi would talk with the captured Ke clansmen, but in the end, he desisted leaving along with the two Gao siblings thanks to their persuasion.

At least he made it look like it, as his decision had been influenced by the cold glare that Bai Qi sent him at the end of their argument. "Who he thinks he is! Just a rogue cultivator that is acting on the orders of my uncle! He should follow my orders and not act like he wants" Such thoughts crossed his mind, but the previous battle had made him reluctant to try and enforce his command rights.

A 4th level Sage realm cultivator that without effort defeated, scared, and suppressed four Sages? With one of them being of the same level? It was definitively not an opponent that he, even if Gao Heng and Gao Ping joined the fight could even hope to defeat. Or to be completely sincere, Sheng Feng doubted that even all the participants, including the genius Mao Xun could.

***

After making sure that the three people he had rescued left, Bai Qi did not go and talk to the Ke clansmen right away. In turn, he spent several hours dismantling the formations and talismans around the glade and recovering anything that could be used.

His reasoning was simple, even if his captives agreed to cooperate as he wanted, they would not be able to stay here. Thus, any concealment resources he could get would be useful to create a new base. Plus, with them seeing that their only advantage, their hidden location was not only discovered but also destroyed, they may be easier to convince.

So it was only at the time that outside the night began that Bai Qi approached the five bound people. Or better said, the three bound men, ironically with the same ropes they had used for the Gao siblings and the young lord, a still unconscious Ke Xiang, and an unrestrained Ke Xiuying.

Absolute silence ensued as Bai Qi lifted the spell from Ke Xiang, and placed a small flask on the ground. And although the Kes did not know what did it contain, they felt an ominous aura from it. And they rightly did, as it was nothing else that the remaining flask of 'Dissolving Poison'.

"I will offer you three different choices. You can choose altogether or separately, I do not care" Bai Qi said while gazing at the five captives and then raised a finger after conveying each of the options he had established during the argument with Sheng Feng.

"First, you can choose to die. This here is a bottle of poison, and you will die in just half an hour from drinking a few drops. Or a couple of minutes and a single drop if you are sealed"

"Second, you can choose to live inside the formation. Your soul is bound and you can not cultivate, but you will be able to live until your life ends. The conditions will be an oath to not attack anyone except in self-defense and reveal what I want to know"

"Third, you can choose to leave the formation" Here Bai Qi quickly raised his other hand, not allowing Ke Xiang's question to be voiced. As the latter closed his mouth, Bai Qi resumed "It will not happen right away, but I can guarantee, and even swear an oath that it will do happen before the next opening of the zone. You then will be able to cultivate and even be more-or-less free. As you can understand from the previous words, the conditions would also include an oath of servitude"

After sharing the three options, Bai Qi lowered his hands, turned around, and added before walking away "You have an hour to decide, and I will not remain here as to not interfere. You probably can even escape, but I think you understand what will happen after I find you"

***

Bai Qi was true to his word about leaving them to decide by themselves. He opened over a mile of distance before beginning to move in a half-circle pattern, making sure that Sheng Feng returned or some participants wandered into the now revealed zone.

One could expect for the Kes to try and escape, after all neither Ke Xiang nor Ke Xiuying was restrained, and so could unbind the other three. Still, Bai Qi was sure that they would not.

There was nowhere to go for them, and his words about finding them were also a factor, one that was reinforced by the openly placed tracking spell on each of the five right before his departure.

What he did expect was that one mark would disappear, and so his reaction was nothing except a small shrug as it happened.

Although a question did cross his mind, "I wonder who was the one that made Ke Liuxian drink the poison". Not that it was important, but it would say much of one's character to kill someone who they had known for such a long time.

Not that there was no reason. On the contrary, there were even too many. Ranging from the guy being a coward to his constant attempts to command the others. Or even his actions during the brief battle before. Just the latter was enough for Bai Qi to not allow him to live, but killing him would probably make the others act on fear, so he just left him there. And given both the means and even instruction.

***

When Bai Qi returned, he was greeted by the image he had anticipated. Ke Liuxian was poisoned and dead, while the other four with determined expressions waiting.

"I see that you have decided" He calmly approached while talking, and lowered down into a cross-legged position acting like if he did not see the body.

"Mostly, but may I ask two questions? Ones that the four of us have?" After glancing at her fellow clansmen, Ke Xiulian turned to face Bai Qi while asking. After the latter's nod, she continued "The four of us do want to live, but what exactly is the information we need to share? And what would servitude in exchange for leaving the formation mean?"

"As you can imagine, the information I want to know is about the killings five years ago, and the identity of the people that sent you to do it" Bai Qi had already revealed that he knew some of it, but he deliberately avoided asking directly. Thus, allowing them to try and lie. Which in turn would mean that he could not trust them.

"And what would happen to them?" Ke Chun fidgeted as he asked.

"The people in Shuomen? They will be captured and executed, may be tortured. It's not up to me but the City Lord, to who I will pass the information. As for the Clan, well, it is outside the influence of the City, so I can not say with certainty" Bai Qi answered evenly, avoiding showing any emotion. Especially his true ones about what such a clan deserves.

"And what about the second question?" Ke Xiang nervously clutched his knees, anticipating hearing something that he had did not want to.

"Servitude has only one definition, and that is losing the chance to decide what to do with your lives. A binding servitude oath means absolute control over your fates" This time Bai Qi did not explain further, preferring to state the cold truth.

In truth he had never thought of anything extreme, just to get a couple of extra hands. If he discovered they were talented enough, then maybe help them cultivate and take them along on his journeys. If not, well, he could always just free them after they weren't needed anymore. Still, he avoided explaining this. If they were not ready to accept a full servitude, then they should not do so just because of his plans.

"But what if..." Ke Xiang started but was quickly stopped by a small nudge from the nearby Ke Xiulian. Then she slightly inclined her head to the side while conveying their emotions.

"The four of us consider that living outside would be better, but no one of the other three is ready to give up control over their fate"

"And you do?" Bai Qi looked directly into her eyes.

"Yes, I do. I am not originally from the Ke clan, just a stray child that they found out and then educated. If not for repaying the debt, I would have never even arrived here. Still, I will not lie, from the 21 deaths five years ago, I am responsible for 8" Her expression remained strong, but Bai Qi noted how her hand's paled while clutching into fists, and both fury and sadness could be seen deep in her eyes.

"I do not care, and truly, no one should. You acted on the orders of someone, and that is the true culprit. If someone fails to see that, it's their problem" Bai Qi's answer could be seen as a consolation, but it wasn't. He always felt that the head is responsible for the sins of the body, and so, had she killed or not, was not important. But what was important, was the fact that she honestly admitted it before agreeing.

***

To free anyone from a ritual like the one that they had used to bind their souls, there was just a single mean. To control the formation to which they were bound, and forcefully sever the connection. For something like the 'Underground Land of the River', it indeed appeared impossible. And if not for the information he got from the obelisk, Bai Qi would have never offered the third option at all.

In any case, taking over the formation was a matter of the future, as for now, Bai Qi had no way to do so without alarming someone. After all, if he was noticed in one of the other zones, there would be far more serious problems than just being caught.

Thus, the four of them would remain together inside the formation for some time. And the four of them swore to not attack anyone except in self-defense as Bai Qi freed the still restrained two.

Afterward, they carefully moved to the opposite side of the zone, towards the Northern wall of the 'Underground Forest'. In a small clearing there, Bai Qi created an illusionary zone, concealed with all the items he had recovered. He also added a blocking array to avoid anyone from either entering or leaving. At least anyone who had no way to force their way through. But it should be not possible for that to happen, considering the 7th level Sage realm restriction to any strength outside a challenge.

"The array will stop working in five days, so after the participants are forced to leave, you will regain your freedom. I will try to return in less than a year, but if not..." Bai Qi raised his arms and slowly swore an oath before the Heavens. One that if he did not arrive to free his bound servant, Ke Xiulian before the next instance of the 'Underground Land of the River', he would face the heavenly wrath.

***

When Bai Qi left, it was already the morning of the 11th day since the participants had entered.

His Void ring contained the bodies of Hu Mu and Ke Liuxian, while his mind the information about Ke Xuefeng, the old female elder that had brought the Ke Clan's youngsters to Shuomen. As well the identity she had assumed now and her backers.

Thus, Bai Qi had not only solved the mystery of the incident five years ago and prevented the killing of Sheng Feng now, but also had stopped a Blood Cultivator from the Demon Worshipping region.

"My task is completed, even over what I was entrusted with" Bai Qi thought to himself while planning to dedicate the remaining four days to hunt for 'Challenge Slates'.

If possible he wanted to get a few more resources, and to prepare himself for a breakthrough as soon as he left. His cultivation set had a requirement of a Grandmaster level in a path to move forward, and Bai Qi felt close to reaching it. Not only that, he would not reach the Pill or Refining mastery he had trained before, but the one for the Array Path.

This self-examination made his mood improve significantly, as it meant that with just a couple of months of practice, he would be able to reach Grandmaster mastery-level on three different paths, allowing him to advance from the intermediate to the advanced stages of the Sage realm in almost a single swoop.

A mood that slightly sobered as he recalled the need to prepare a few things for Chang Kun's and Sheng Feng's matters. For the first one, he needed to cover the fact he had accessed an already active Challenge. Thankfully, Bai Qi had a good idea of what could be used, and with no way to prove his words for five years, it would work just fine.

As for the second, Bai Qi had not told Sheng Feng anything about the third option he would offer, and so the only problems could arise from how he decided to act with the Ke Clan members without listening to the young lord. But again, heavens were smiling on Bai Qi, and he had Ke Liuxian's corpse and a whole load of information. With such cards, he doubted that the City Lord would even pay attention to the four Ke clansmen imprisoned in the formation.

"And if he does, well, I can ask for their pardon in exchange for Hu Mu's matter" Bai Qi muttered and after clearing his mind, began making his way through the forest.

But when the sun shines brightly, the shadows grow...