It took three hours for Bai Qi to find all that he needed. Zhen Zexi attempted to mislead him or directly lie a few times, but she lacked the required skillset for it to work.

The attack on the Mao Household group had been her idea. She was interested in the Gu poison one of his companions obtained and decided to steal it. It was a Gu poison that could strengthen the ink beasts if mixed into the ink, and thus, she wanted to retrieve it for the clan.

To her defense, she never intended to kill any of them, only to use the wolves to steal the Storage Ring with the Gu. And when Mao Xun had tracked her, she merely wanted to paralyze him with the Zhenniao ink tattoo. Outside, she would have even apologized.

Tang Lei, who she had tried to use as a way to threaten Bai Qi, turned out to be an actual objective. She tried to avoid speaking about the matter, so it was easy to guess who's order it was. After all, during the fight, she had made clear that the Patriarch was very important to her. And so, his wishes would have the utmost priority for her.

And the reason, Bai Qi suspected it was simple envy. The Tangs were a small clan, with only a dozen members led by a peak Warrior King. They did not even have the resources to make Tang Lei advance as his bloodline allowed him, but they still had received that heavenly boon.

"Probably the Patriarch thought something along the lines of why they and not us. Lord Sheng or even the Great Forest Sect will make the right offer at some point. An offer that the Tangs will accept. Thus, their small clan will get into a position that the Zhens can not hope to obtain" Even Bai Qi did not know just how close did his thoughts come to the actual truth behind Zhen Zexi's orders.

With that out of the way, it only took Bai Qi to bring out the crimson-colored pebble from her Void Ring in front of her to finish his information gathering. When he did, the torrent of words, intermixed with threats that escaped her, showed why the Zhen Clan wanted to get the set at any price.

The reason was the same as with Tang Lei, the future of the Zhen Clan. Or better said, the Patriarch vision of it. A 3rd level Warrior Emperor like him was impressive, but without the royal and imperial techniques that would allow him to utilize his full strength? Even though his cultivation level was only inferior to three of the Shuomen City Emperors, he was considered amongst, if not the weakest of all the seven. And he wanted to change that.

"Regretfully, you failed to realize that you did not get the 'God' set" Bai Qi said after he had finished confirming everything.

"What?! You are just trying to lie to me and justify your stealing!" With Bai Qi's palm just a few inches from her, and the crimson-colored pebble that supposedly was the 'Devastating God of Fire' set, she grew agitated.

"I will unseal you. So you can check it by yourself. But, if you try to attack me, this time, I will not just restrain you!" Bai Qi said with a stern look on his face, and as in confirmation, openly placed a few destructive spells around her.

***

"Naive, too naive" Shaking his head inwardly, Bai Qi even felt a pang of guilt as he saw the deflated girl with the fake 'Devastating God of Fire' holding stone he had prepared in her hands.

Bai Qi had cracked her Void Ring right after he captured her and retrieved the real one. He could neither allow such opportunity to pass nor did he want to get into a conflict with a Warrior Emperor. So he had planned to make her believe that she had obtained not the item but just a guide to get it.

While she was unconscious, Bai Qi had not been outside just because he wanted to. But because he required space to prepare a forgery of the pebble. One that he had then 'produced' from her Void Ring in front of her eyes.

His forgery could fool Zhen Zexi, but it would not fool anyone above his cultivation. But he did not intend for the item to leave the zone in any case.

Bai Qi was sure that no one from the current owners of the other sets would be so kind as to explain how they got them. Probably only giving a few hints, like the ones that her Patriarch had gathered. And so, who could affirm that they came from the 'Challenge Slate' directly?

"If she believes the item to be true, and asks me to give it to her, then I will be able to put on some conditions. And if I manage to make her accept her guilt publicly - I will probably earn a few friends in Shuomen as a bonus".

Initially, Bai Qi had planned to wait it out here, but with how she was behaving and had no intentions to kill everyone in her path, it was probably possible to solve everything without further bloodshed. Or the need to spend three days waiting inside this cave.

***

"From what I understand, that pebble is a hint to obtaining the Devastating God of Fire set, so it has to be understood and then followed up" Bai Qi shrugged and then extended his palm towards Zhen Zexi.

"No! Don't take it from me, please! I have to find the set. I have to!" She immediately clutched it in his hand and backed away with tears in her eyes.

"Haa... Do you even remember that you attacked people? And were planning to kill Tang Lei? I was there to prevent both, and I did. So why I can not reward myself for doing it?" Feigning exasperation, Bai Qi asked forcefully.

"I... I will request the Patriarch to reward you and to compensate the Maos. Even plead with him on behalf of Tang Lei, but please allow me to retain this hint!" She was half sobbing by the end of the phrase, and Bai Qi's felt another pang of guilt. Still, she was reaping what she sowed. Who asked her to attack, with or not the intention to kill, but still attack the Maos? Or threaten to kill Tang Lei?

"What I will do..." Bai Qi continued feigning and even argued for a bit more before agreeing to her demand. Not before he placed a few conditions on his own.

Unsurprisingly, she accepted them all without even stopping to think.

___________________________________________________________________

Mao Xun had been extremely busy since he arrived to the Lakeshore about twelve hours before.

By now, he had contacted all of the participant Sages except Su Yawen, who had gone missing.

He also found the only rare item that Zhen Zexi could have been interested in, a small sealed container with a Gu poison within. Mao Zan had been extremely lucky to get it from his starting challenge but then was stupid enough to speak about it. And even show it at the Lakeshore! Thus probably, from mouth to mouth, the information reached Zhen Zexi, and she decided to claim it as her own.

Now, the question was, could they use it to bait her to come after them again? Into a prepared trap?

He had also confirmed Chen Guang's identity. And found that Chen Guang was probably the most respected Sage among the participants. His tips, which he shared openly, had helped a lot of the weaker participants. And all who had crossed paths with him swore that he had been very just and easy to treat in what 'Challenge Slate' claims were concerned.

This image of Chen Guang was a bit off with his own, but probably they just met in a bad situation. Acknowledging that Chen Guang was strong, Mao Xun was planning to ask him to come and participate in the ambush as well.

So one could imagine his surprise when Chen Guang appeared even before he was planning to call him with the message talisman. A sarcastic commentary about the "Don't look for me" he had left before almost escaped Mao Xun's lips, but he choked on it as he noticed the person behind.

"Zhen Zexi?!" Mao Xun exclaimed with mouth agape. He had left the Lakeshore to look for a good spot for the ambush, so he was currently alone. And encountering the target of the ambush now, not to mention accompanied by Chen Guang, was just too shocking.

"I know, you know, and heavens, even she knows who she is" Bai Qi remarked with a grin before motioning for the girl to get from behind him.

One of his conditions was for her to admit her guilt and explain her actions. An apology could not solve the hostility entirely, but it was a good start. And it would be enough to at least guarantee that Mao Xun would not try to attack her or something.

Bai Qi was hardly the best example of morality. But after taking such advantage, he did not plan to leave the girl to fend for herself. Plus, he needed her to leave the zone safe and sound, or he would not get the rest of the conditions fulfilled.

***

After hearing Zhen Zexi out, Mao Xun had motioned for Bai Qi to come with him, and after opening some distance, he asked a pretty logical question "Look, Chen Guang. I understand that she attacked us on the spur of the moment and that probably Mao Zan is an idiot. But still, she did attack us. And when I caught her, she did not try to explain but attacked. You truly expect that I will just let it go?"

"I do not expect that, but I do want you to at least not act against her inside the zone. I am here to prevent bloodshed, and so will do. Outside? It's your matter, and I will not interfere. Better said, I will not be able to even if I did want to!" Bai Qi shrugged, but his eyes never left Mao Xun's.

"Outside? Where her guardian and master, a Warrior Emperor, will not allow me to even breath near her?" Mao Xun asked while raising his hands.

"Well, probably you are correct" Bai Qi acknowledged.

"But well, I do understand your point. Nobody died, and compensation is indeed the best thing Mao Zan would get anyway" Mao Xun acknowledged as well.

"So, peace? or a least a truce?"

"Okay, but make her stay away from us"

"Speaking of that, what do you say about selling the Gu poison to me?" Bai Qi asked with a small smile.

"So you give it to her? Dream on!" Mao Xun barely contained the urge to punch at the guy.

"Not even for three bottles of 'Gold Tears'?" Bai Qi's smile got even wider. Before coming here, he had deliberately visited the Lakeshore, where he had found from his two Mao Household acquaintances about Mao Xun's problem.

In truth, Bai Qi even suspected the reason for the problem. But he had no intention to reveal the level of his knowledge. Thus, he decided to half-bribe Mao Xun with something that he needed. 'Gold Tears' or diluted metal essence was probably the best item for him right now. Not only they would help him recover a great deal of Metal Element Qi, but even help him with his issue, at least if Bai Qi was right about the cause.

"Gold Tears?! Two bottles are already far over the price of an unidentified Gu poison. And you offer three? Are you trying to buy me as well?"

A few minutes later, the deal had been sealed. Mao Xun did not even ask Mao Zan, the owner of the Gu Poison. But well, neither had Bai Qi mentioned that the 'Gold Tears' actually came from Zhen Zexi's Void ring.

___________________________________________________________________

For the remaining two and half days, Bai Qi used most of his time to hunt for 'Challenge Slates'. And Zhen Zexi had not left his side even for a moment.

The 'hint' that he had provided via the forged pebble was one that she could not follow this time, and so, Zhen Zexi had simply nothing to do. She also followed him to show her lack of hostile intentions to Tang Lei. And in the hopes of him returning her puppets. This latter was something that Bai Qi did plan to do, but only after the Zhen clan paid him for them.

"Taking advantage of a small girl and her entire Clan, how low has Immortal White Scroll has fallen. But well, let's think of it as early Karma" Bai Qi thought to himself while looking at the girl, and a wry smile crossed his face as he did.

***

"It's about time the formation evicts us, do you remember to what we agreed?" Bai Qi asked Zhen Zexi just a few moments before they both were enveloped by a golden light.

These last couple of days had made him find out, with no small surprise, that he enjoyed the girl's company. Thus, he decided to make sure that nothing would befall her for failing her tasks and provoking an incident with the Mao Household.

"Yes" Zhen Zexi's answer came as the formation activated, and so, Bai Qi did not see how she smiled while she nodded.