As if the heavens decided that Bai Qi and his companions had met enough trouble in the last days, the usually dangerous journey to cross the 300 miles separating the continent from [Zihoadao] isle concluded without a single incident. Or at least it could be said so if one counted from the moment of the departure.

Waking up and recognizing the situation she was in, as well as her condition and who surrounded her, Ma Su approached Bai Qi, dropping to her knees right before him.

*Thump*

"I am sorry." She even attempted to kowtow as she spoke up, only stopped by Bai Qi's aura push. There was no need to say just for what she was sorry. After all, she had failed, if not all, then nearly all of the tasks.

They did not reach the meeting spot. Bai Rui met danger because Ma Su didn't react as she should. Her [Void Ring] and Bai Rui's storage bracelet had been confiscated and stolen, so they had lost all of Bai Qi's possessions. And most importantly, Bai Qi clashed with the [Shimmering Earth] to rescue them. Ma Su could not doubt the latter, as, even now, everyone except Fan Jia and the girl that joined them in the [Void Palace], Chun Hua, reeked of blood.

"I am glad that you woke up. We were only waiting for you to start moving towards [Zihoadao]." Bai Qi, who until now had been thinking about his soul, briefly smiled while he spoke back.

"..." To say that Ma Su was shocked would be to say nothing. Indeed, she had just committed such a blunder, one inexcusable for an experienced cultivator, and yet, Bai Qi did not even mention anything. Or could it be that he did not accept her apology? Thinking like that, she attempted to apologize again, only for Bai Qi to stand up and extend her a hand.

"Forget about it, you were not in the wrong, and neither did anything that I can call out as a mistake. The [Shimmering Earth] was at fault, and we solved it how I thought it to be proper." Bai Qi felt that Ma Su still blamed herself, but except for telling her, what else he could do? A cultivator has to have the willpower to step over such situations, especially if one's actions weren't the cause.

Before they actually started off, Ma Su approached Bai Rui, apologizing for the words that led to their capture, but the beast girl also shrugged everything off.

"We found most of the items among the storage items we gathered from the corpses, only some of the rarest ones were lost, probably taken by the man we, both, mistook for an honest one." Bai Rui explained before adding, "Bai Qi said we even obtained more than he expected, and with the loot, there are no losses, only gains."

Bai Qi overheard the last words of Bai Rui. So he approached after checking inside his [Void Ring], taking out a black onyx ring, "Ma Su, this one is yours. It's a shame the protective formation is gone, but we can later restore it."

"...Thank you. For rescuing me as well, I will never forget it." Frankly, Ma Su's main shock came not from being pardoned so easily but because she was rescued, even at the cost of fighting and killing members of a sect. After all, she did not doubt that Bai Rui would be left to go immediately if Bai Qi used all of his connections. Or even if he asked the ex-elder of the [Void Palace], He Delan, to flaunt her status.

***

Both [Zihoadao] isle and city met Bai Qi's group with torrential rain and the smell of wood, blood, and excitement. A decently sized island, with nearly seven hundred miles on its longest, [Zihoadao] was entirely covered in a single forest massive.

One growing so densely that overflying the island was nearly impossible, as only the city or the strips of the coast allowed one to land, at least without crashing through one of the hundred-, even thousand- years old trees.

The city occupied less than ten square miles, not bigger than one of the districts of [Shuomen]. Despite being a sparsely inhabited island, people meant to enter and fight on one of the seven arenas or in one of the forty-four stages hidden in the nearby forest always filled up the city.

Even now, the war going on and most powers recalling all of their traveling members, [Zihoadao] was anything but empty. And while the region's ranking board was temporarily stopped, with nearly eight of ten ranks being members of powers, the local one and the three arenas meant for Warrior Lords remained crowded as always.

Though most of the visitors were here either to fight or to observe and bet on the combats, surprisingly, the city rules were more lax than in other places, with only fights to death banned anywhere inside. As for anything else, the existence of the [Yi Company] and the local lord was enough to guarantee stable tranquility.

Entering the city without any checks or questions, Bai Qi and his companions entered one of the dozen similar-looking inns around the main gate. Cultivators of the Earth Realm did not require any of the mundane, with them entirely sustained on qi. Still, it did not mean they could not enjoy a meal, and the city attracted a lot of low-level cultivators, even non-cultivators who had come in search of excitement or to attempt and make a fortune betting.

"It's not so late, so I will go and visit the [Yi Company], ask about Wei." After sitting down and sipping on one of the local specialties, [Pride Liquor], Bai Qi informed the rest, then asked about their plans.

It wasn't like they had any, but Bai Qi did not see any need going as a group, preferring them to explore the city. So he would only take Chun Hua with him. She may not care much about Wei and the others from the [Seven Islands] plane, but it was of basic courtesy to actually visit if one was in town. At least in He Delan's half-lecture, one that wasn't directed at anyone specific but was timed right after Bai Qi asked Chun Hua if she wanted to go.

Bai Ze, Bai Rui, and Fan Jia would g look at the arenas, interested in the combat, while He Delan planned to report to the [Void Palace], so she took over a private room and would remain there. And while Bai Qi saw no need for it, Ma Su followed him, clad in martial robes and a veiled bamboo hat that hid her face, releasing a faint aura of a Warrior King and acting as a, though unrequired, bodyguard.

The [Yi Company] owned or controlled nearly a third of the city, their crest hanging from each second shop, teahouse, inn, and even the city lord's palace. Not that it was strange, considering they were the only power on the island and that the Yi Clan had been the one to found the city even.

The current City Lord was from the same Yi clan. And he also was the younger brother of the [Yi Company] master, Yi Cheng. As jokes went around, the city itself should have been long renamed after the clan.

As Bai Qi walked, he could not help but get interested in the lack of any material but wood. The roads, buildings, roofs, and even the city's wall. All were made of the same type of wood, with just some buildings, mostly trade-related, painted while the others remained in their natural, red-brown color.

"But it feels sturdy, even though it is simple, non-spiritual wood." He muttered as he stopped to examine, even touch, one of the walls of an unmarked building.

"Is young master interested in the Yi Clan's timber?" Suddenly one of the people standing nearby asked.

"Mmm? That I am, though it is mere curiosity." Bai Qi answered as he turned around and examined the speaker.

It was a stocky, nearly square man with a strangely long neck, a scarred, battered face with small beady eyes. Dressed in simple clothes, Bai Qi first assumed it was just a rogue cultivator, considering his 7th-level Sage cultivation. But then he noticed a badge hanging on the man's neck like a collar which read [Yi Company].

"You are from..?" Bai Qi nodded to the wooden badge and asked.

"Yes, I am. My name's Pei Hao, and I am part of the escort group. Did young master need something from the company?" The man confirmed and introduced himself.

"Oh, good met. I am in the city to look for a friend. He joined the company last year." After considering it would be easier to find Wei knowing where to look, Bai Qi explained further, "His name is Wei, and he was a Soul realm cultivator recruited from [Shoumen] city."

"Huh? Brother Wei?" The man showed surprise as he repeated the name and asked, "Could it be that you are his friend, ehh, Chen Guang?"

"That should be me indeed."

***

Pei Hao turned out to be one of Wei's original team members, and they had spent nearly the entire year together. And he also was someone very talkative, so Bai Qi learned about events that ensued since Wei's arrival, the most important being Wei reaching the peak of the Sage realm two months ago.

"He was close to the breakthrough when he left two weeks ago, so probably he will be able to become a Warrior Lord soon!" As if it was him who would ascend, Pei Hao had revealed with excitement.

Currently, Wei was on a mission, along with a new team, as there had been reorganization following the [Yi Company] accepting the war orders of the region's overlord and sending nearly all of their Warrior Kings and experienced Warrior Lords. Thankfully, he would return shortly, not later than three days.

"Several teams are procuring Spiritual materials from several locations in the region. So it isn't much of a task, but Wei was very motivated for it, as Pillmaster Huong promised the team that completes their respective list first some [Earth-Shattering] or [Battle-Filled] pills, with the first being ideal for his breakthrough." Pei Hao concluded after nearly two hours of talking.

"I... see, thank you. We will remain in the city until he returns then." Deciding that two days would be nothing of a loss, Bai Qi nodded while standing up.

Pei Hao had brought them into a pub and had spent the entire talk drinking, so after agreeing to see each other when Wei returned, Bai Qi left the tavern. But not forgetting to pay the bill as a small sign of gratitude for Wei's talkative companion. Bai Qi could not help but chuckle as he recalled Wei's usual manner of being.

Chun Hua and Ma Su had stayed nearby during the talk, but they did not participate. And now outside, the former almost humanely sighed, "That was long."

"Next time you should drink with us, maybe learn to be part of a conversation." Bai Qi half-joked back, as frankly, he did believe Chun Hua lacked interaction outside her circle.

"No thanks."

***

"So that's how is it. We will be staying in the city for a couple of days at least." Bai Qi shortly explained to everyone as they gathered in the room that He Delan had not left yet.

"Then we should think about housing, and find something to do, don't we?" He Delan asked after storing away a scroll she had been intently eyeing before.

"I was thinking that as we are in such a place, how can we ignore the arenas?" As everyone agreed, Bai Qi looked toward the Bai sisters.

Taking the cue, Bai Rui nodded and explained.

The city counted seven martial arenas, each designed for a different type of combat or limited by realm. The main one was meant for the ranking board and was closed at the moment. But the other six were working as always.

The smallest arena was one meant for Yellow realm cultivators and had a free-for-all battle each third day and duels between similar-strength fighters on the others. Their group currently had no cultivators of the realm, so they could ignore it entirely.

Three middle-sized arenas were meant for Warrior Lords, respectively, for the early, middle, and late stages of the realm. Any cultivator could register for a random duel, or they could challenge the arena masters, which were among the strongest of the cultivators remaining in the city. Fan Jia and Chun Hua were 2nd level Warrior Lords while Bai Qi had yet to prepare for a breakthrough and so stayed as a 3rd level one. Thus, the three of them would go to the first of these three. At least initially, Bai Qi was more interested in visiting the second arena, to search for a harsher challenge.

The other two arenas, nearly the same size as the main one, were the Warrior King ones. Usually, they had restrictions on the levels and types of duels, but with the lack of Warrior Kings stemming from the region's situation, both were operating on a duel system. And so, the Bai sisters, Ma Su and He Delan could only go and try their luck to find an opponent they would be interested to fight. After all, what interest there was in a fight with a weakling?