Even without the link, which had not decreased to such an extent for them, Bai Ze and Bai Rui were clear that Bai Qi's current state was far from ordinary. There was none of his usual calmness, politeness, or amiability. But thanks to the link, they knew far more about Bai Qi's current inner turmoil than he had allowed himself to reveal.

An uneasiness had taken over Bai Qi since his last battle on the Arena. His strange, unlikely actions, like attempting to avoid trouble or trying to leave the city, all stemmed from that turmoil. And it had not decreased or left, even increased during the past three days.

There were many reasons for his state, especially inner ones like Bai Qi's demonic part surfacing, which he refused to elaborate on further. The wounds and injuries of his companions, from both the arena combats and the events after, only added to it, not allowing Bai Qi to deal with it.

And when everyone had expected Bai Qi to at least somehow calm down, he was forced to agree to some secret task and then lauded, nearly paraded by the [Yi Clan] lord-in-being. A few good moments did happen, as Bai Qi, at last, met with his companion from [Seven Islands Plane], but even that respite was taken out from him by his companions leaving.

All of that crossed Bai Ze's and Bai Rui's minds as they shared a thought between them,

Indeed, Bai Ze and Bai Rui, the closest beings to Bai Qi, at least currently, had decided to leave him as well.

The fight against Qiao Jingyi had proved what they had long suspected. Neither of the sisters had even scraped at their recently awakened bloodline, and it had been a mere stroke of luck, the one responsible for their sudden awakening of the [White Tiger Incarnation].

"We will meet again shortly." Pained to leave Bai Qi, especially in his current state - there was no other option. The incarnation of their forefather had forced them near to death from exhaustion as it had made them understand the sheer deepness of what such bloodline meant. And if they missed the opportunity, it was very likely that they would never be able to awaken it entirely.

"...I understand. But do be careful." It was hard for Bai Qi not to snap at them as he did at Fan Jia, but he forced himself to handle his emotions, which had been raging outside his control since his fight against Yi Lei.

"We will be fine, but you..?" The same response, in unison, from both of the [White Tiger] sisters.

"I'll manage, and Ma Su will be around." Bai Qi didn't believe his words himself, as the path of a cultivator was rarely safe, especially for someone like him. Yet, how could he say anything else?

***

With nothing much to add, everything already discussed, Bai Ze and Bai Rui would leave, teleporting to [Sagtsikhe], and from where they planned to make the journey back to the lands of their birth, somewhere on the border of the [Sky Tear] Region.

"Ma- Bai Qi, where are we going?" Biting her tongue before she called him master, Ma Su asked, holding no hope for an answer. After all, no matter what Bai Qi had said during their last day in [Zihoadao], it was clear that he wouldn't just find some spot and stay secluded there for over three months until the date arranged for their meeting came.

Surprisingly, Bai Qi did answer, and to Ma Su's astonishment, his words were pretty much along the lines of what he had said before, "Any qi-spot will serve. The farther from any power or settlement, the better."

"So you intend to..?"

"I need to deal with this, and the best way is to face it directly." Bai Qi would answer again, even if he half-growled half of his words, clearly far more affected by the internal war that he had chosen to show before.

Ma Su would not say what she thought, aware that Bai Qi himself knew of the risks of doing that without the aid of a few experts, preferably experienced in both healing and demonic energies.

***

A day later, one during which Bai Qi barely talked or moved, under the influence of a dozen calming pills, Ma Su managed to find a suitable spot after asking around in the teahouses, stores, and inns of [Heyang]. The [Black Grass Hill], a well-known place for training, at least it was so years ago, now considered too dangerous for Warrior Lords and lacking any resources or enough qi concentration for Warrior Kings to be interested.

Located a thousand miles from [Heyang], it fell under no power and held no sentient life. As for the reason it was considered dangerous, the [Black Grass] it took its name from - nothing but [Death Cloak], a poisonous Earth-tier herb. The latter was unusable for pill making, even while decently rare, so everyone considered it more a problem than a resource. A deadly problem, as a single seed was enough to kill weaker cultivators and beings most brutally - growing inside and outside the victim, feeding on qi, flesh, and essence alike, until only a grass-cloaked corpse remained.

By the moment Ma Su found, cleared, and prepared a spot on the southern side of the three-mile-wide hill, Bai Qi was hardly conscious of his actions. All of his self dedicated to holding back the demonic entity inside him, which threatened to surface at any moment. By now, the flame-exuding scales covered not only Bai Qi's left arm but nearly half of his body. Yet, he did manage, with Ma Su's help, to create a defensive perimeter, not to protect them from an attack, but to contain himself.

"It will be dangerous. It will be up to you to take me out if I lose control." Kui Mulang's current highest manifestation could be on a level similar to Ma Su, so she should be able to take him out, at least in a weakened state. Or at least Bai Qi hoped for it, even going so far as creating a situation where only she would be present.

***

Bai Qi couldn't find an answer to the question that had plagued him for the last few days. And indeed, during the events in [Zihoadao], while Bai Qi's inner world was in turmoil, he still maintained his sanity, all his actions under control.

His emotions were a bit off, and he had to spend a lot of effort to keep himself from flaring in rage at every incident, but Bai Qi maintained control. Yet, after his meeting with the [Soul Gazing Princess], the unnecessary parading, and his companions leaving, it had reached a point where he felt like a guest inside what should have been his body, soul, and mind. Everything was painted crimson and every small thing, from a word to the most insignificant trouble, now evoked a fit of rage.

Thus, he had to resolve this, no matter the price or danger.

With such a thought, Bai Qi forced himself to sit down. And for the first time since [Zihoadao], he fully submerged into his unnatural three-piece soul.

***

For an entire week, Ma Su would stand guard over the bluish shine of the talismans surrounding Bai Qi's meditation spot. Alert and not allowing herself even a moment of distraction, her senses followed every motion in the qi flow, every single strand of demonic energy that Bai Qi released.

And all this time, Ma Su inwardly prayed for not having to accomplish the task for which Bai Qi had made her stay.

{Leave, now!} The qi-transmission was so sudden that even Ma Su failed to react immediately, prompting Bai Qi, as it was no one else but him, to send yet another one, {Leave, distance yourself from here, quickly!}

*BOOM* *SHATTER*

Ma Su had hardly flown away for half a mile as a tremendous explosion took place on the small area she had cleared from [Death Cloak] for Bai Qi to meditate on. It was so strong as to not only shatter the entire talisman setup, but even to make her stagger, even with her absolute mastery over [Sky Walk].

"..." While a Warrior King, Ma Su lacked the knowledge older or more educated cultivators of her level had, so she could only stare at the spot Bai Qi should have been as the explosion occurred. And to her shame, it would take her several breaths to regain her composure and launch back.

"MASTER?!" Her senses unable to catch even a hint of presence from the qi whirlpool to which the explosion abruptly translated - Ma Su panicked, forgetting even how Bai Qi disliked when addressed as such.

A day later, [Heyang] city, [Purple Jade] teahouse.

"I still can not believe it." Ma Su murmured, looking at a perfectly healthy with no signs of either wounds or else, Bai Qi, who sat across the small table of the private room they had taken over.

"Hmm? As I said, it all turned out to be fairly simple. And definitively less threatening than anyone could have suspected." Bai Qi carefreely shrugged while taking a sip of medicinal tea.

"But for such a state to be caused and solved by a breakthrough?!" Ma Su's calm failed her once again, as it had done several times during the last day since Bai Qi's figure emerged from the turbulent qi-whirlpool, one that was strong enough to hide him even from her King-level senses.

"Calm down. There is no need to shout about it." Bai Qi admonished her with a light smile, to which she half-blushed, inwardly wondering why she was behaving as a child and not the Warrior King she was.

A long pause later, during which Ma Su still couldn't make herself believe in Bai Qi's miraculous recuperation and no less miraculous breakthrough, she asked, "So what do you intend to do now? Where are we headed?"

"[Heyang] stands on the crossroads of several paths, but I intend to take the eastern one. Move along to visit yet another of my companions from my original plane, as planned." Having considered several options, Bai Qi had settled on his original plan - to continue visiting the people from [Seven Islands] that came with him. {Even if Chun Hua's and Wei's visits had ended in bloody events.} Bai Qi wryly smiled at the thought, half-jokingly considering the role of someone to bring disaster.

"East? Could it be..?"

"Indeed. So I need to make sure you are ready to return." Bai Qi hardly took pride in how it happened, but he had read all of Ma Su's memories. And so he was perfectly aware of her troubled past, especially with the [Delicate Flower Palace], his next planned stop.

"I... I have pledged myself to you as a follower, and so I will follow you even there." Ma Su held no desire to face her past, at least not that part of it. But if Bai Qi was going to the Palace she once called home, she would escort him as her duty as a follower entailed.

Bai Qi kept the thought to himself, revealing it involved telling far more than he was ready to. And Bai Qi didn't feel ready to do so, even wondering if he would ever, especially not the events that took place in his inner world and the reasons for why he was sitting here, healthy, and having reached the 4th level of the Warrior Lord realm.

He had omitted nearly all of the details, but Bai Qi had not lied. At least not about the breakthrough being both the cause and the solution to his plight. And indeed, when he had delved into his inner world, entirely submerging and accepting the chaos inside, the reasons had been made clear - Kui Mulang was too powerful of a being for Bai Qi to contain.

The transformations - when Bai Qi allowed the incarnation to surface - had been enough to weaken the essence a bit. So Bai Qi had not felt anything before. But, as he contained the incarnation, allowing the essence to accumulate, the demonic part of his soul strengthened. To a level that was enough to dominate in the strange, mismatched inner world created from the fusion of three different beings.

Bai Qi had absorbed Kui Mulang's self as he also accepted Wu Guang as himself during the merge that allowed him to reconstruct his soul after having it shattered in the [Void Palace]. But, he never gave much thought to the latter, considering it just a small addition, not more than a material he had used. But that previously insignificant part, now eroded by Kui Mulang, turned out to have been far more important than even the original Bai Qi could have imagined. It had served as the buffer between the so-powerful demon and the equally powerful immortal.

But as Kui Mulang's remaining soul dominated the inner world of Bai Qi, destroying the barrier provided by Wu Guang's remaining soul, nothing stopped it from clashing against the [White Scroll Immortal]. And that clash was the one that affected Bai Qi, leading to his unstable emotions, rage-filled mind, and everything else.

It was necessary to return a balance, and for that, Bai Qi required two things - repairing the barrier and expelling at least part of the demonic essence that his body had accumulated. The latter, thanks to the forced breakthrough Bai Qi caused by absorbing three of the eighteen drops of heavenly lightning in his dantian. He had never planned to use them for such, considering that spending one of the rarest resources known to cultivators for a meager Earth realm level was plainly stupid. But he didn't doubt it at all as he did. After all, what use would they be of if he died?

But the former, the barrier, that had made Bai Qi do something that he would never find himself able to explain, account for, or even speak about it out loud.

Indeed, who could accept that Bai Qi had not only taken over the body of someone else and merged the soul of the body's owner into himself as if a material it was? And Bai Qi went further! After all, now, he actually had devoured what remained of Wu Guang, destroying any hope for reincarnation, if it even existed?!