He saw the veiled woman coming in after them and turned solemn. The heaven alliance must have an information leak, or was it him? Why would she be here? He did not remember calling her. how did she know that Tie Nse was here?

The two old men that stepped in behind her were quickly recognized by Old Iba. They were the council head Si accompanied by an elder from the Heaven alliance. They were the ones he had called, knowing full well that Tie Nse was more afraid of getting caught by his alliance and forced to go back than meeting the head of one of the other eight powers. Looking at their frowning faces, he was sure they had already noticed that their alliance patriarch was long gone.

He regretted calling them. Now, he had to explain things he wished he did not have to. Talking was too tiring.

“Lady Mi,” he said, ignoring the other two. As far as he was concerned, the one he had to be wary of was the woman. They too frowned at her timing. Did Old Iba call her too?

“Cottage master Iba,” she greeted formally.

“Why is Lady Mi here?” he asked. His words caused the other two to turn cautious. So, Old Iba did not call her. why is she here?

“Why do you all look so guarded? I was only in the area. I saw Patriarch Tie pass and came to say hi. Has he gone so soon?” she said, her voice cold, but casual.

“You missed him. You all did. So, since you came to see him and he is not here, let us all have tea,” Old Iba waved and a servant rushed over to set up seats. They all sat as the servants served tea. The silence was long, but Old Iba sat casually as though he was having a great day.

“Cottage Master, did our patriarch say where he is going?” Council Head Si asked after a while.

“He left as fast as he came, didn't say much,” Old Iba said casually.

“It must have been urgent to come that fast,” Lady Mi said and old Iba smiled. No matter the excuse she gave, the fact remains that she is here right now, and Tie Nse was just here. She was not going to leave without information.

The other two saw this as well and paled. Even if Old Iba knew something, telling them now, nothing short of telling the entire martial world.

“Oh? I thought you were just in the area. Do you want to know about Tie Nse so bad?” Old Iba said and she narrowed her eyes at him. He knew he could not offend this demon before him, but he also knew she could not offend him. He was the only level six alchemist in the entire land. No matter who you were, you had to show him respect.

Even though he couldn’t care less about her, he still wanted to get rid of them, and fast. So that he could start walking on the ingredient list for the pills for Tie Nse. This was a pill he was fully invested in. This abnormal boy that old thing picked up; he wanted to see what he could cook up for him.

Still, even though he wished to see this boy and make these heaven-defying pills, he was still Tie Nse's enemy. Why should he make anything easier for that man?

“Let's get to the point so that you can all leave. You want to know why he was here, I can't tell you that. It sonal business. But there are things I can tell you. After all, Tie Nse is still no friend of mine,” Old Iba said and they all frowned.

“Do you know where he is?” Council head Si asked.

“No, but I know that his disciple just did his spirit-picking,” Old Iba answered.

“What is so special about a spirit picking?” Lady Mi asked.

“A boy that survived inside the Baju valley for ten years and came out without aid at foundation level and you are not even a bit piqued about how his cultivation is going?” Old Iba asked then shrugged and kept quiet. He continued drinking his tea in silence, ignoring them waiting for him to continue.

Lady Mi frowned. This old man wanted her to apologize? She scuffed inside.

“I am very interested, cottage master. Please go on,” she said and Old Iba harrumphed.

“All I know I that his spirit-picking attracted heavenly tribulation,” he said and they were all shell shocked. A spirit picking that attracts heavenly tribulation?

“That's not all. It seemed as though the heavenly tribulation had a mind of its own. Heavenly tribulation with a consciousness, I think is what Tie Nse was trying to say. From what I get, the lightning was powerful enough to kill him,” he said and saw the look on their faces. Disbelief, rejecting the possibility?

“I got this from his mumbling. He refused to explain. But from the look of him, I know it's true. I noticed his energy was depleted. In fact, it looked as though he was just out of a fight and was not yet recovered. Not only was his aura low, but he emitted low life qi. It looked as though he burned his life energy recently. For me, a person of lower cultivation to notice it, you must understand just how low it was,” Old Iba said and the men frowned and Lady Mi had a blank expression. One could easily tell she was trying to stay calm.

“He did say the heavenly tribulation with a consciousness almost killed him trying to kill that disciple of his,”

“What happened to the disciple?” council head Si asked.

“I can assure you the boy is alive. How I cannot tell you. And according to things, he passed through his tribulation,”

“With patriarch taking most of the brunt, of course, he would be alive,” the elder beside Council Head Si said.

“That old man? Take the brunt? The man does not care if the boy dies as long as he gets strong, from the way he talked. He put his disciple in the worst places to train him. From what he said, he has probably dropped the boy in another dangerous place. Yes, he said it was more dangerous than the Baju valley. He is too wicked to help the boy. It looks to me like he got hurt being too close to where the tribulation took place. He probably did not run far away enough,” Old Iba laughed with a snort.

They all knew his words held some water. What kind of master would put his disciple in the Baju Valley? This had different indications for Lady Mi. Was the alliance patriarch training someone more powerful than her heir? If they let this boy grow, wouldn't he one day sit on their heads? The Heaven alliance is already considered stronger than her Jade Phoenix alliance. What would happen if this boy grows? Would the Heaven alliance become one of the two clans? No, even higher than them?

“What pill did he ask you to make?” she asked and he laughed.

“Lady Mi must think this is her Jade phoenix island and this old man works for her,” she smiled in response to his words before getting up.

“As I have many things to do right now, forgive me for not seeing you off, Lady Mi,” Old Iba said and the other two got up too. This was basically pursuing them. They had gotten their information and with Lady Mi leaving, what right do they have to stay?