For the last few days, Wen Wuhan, the head instructor and current master of the [Ninety-fifth Breath of the Saint] dojo, lost his sleep. And even though a 6th level Warrior King required none, the description wasn't far from accurate. After all, the three hundred years old cultivator had ignored his duties, had not meditated even once, and avoided appearing before anyone but his closest aides these days. And the reason for all of it? The [Three Rabid Paths], the so damned pills that were pretty much his only hope to elevate the dojo above its position as one of the weakest powers of the region.

First, six days ago, the life-sensing talismans for their pet bandit group meant to gather the resources and sacrifices for the pills broke, signifying their death. And indeed, the quickly assembled team dispatched to the abandoned farming estate near [Shi Zixing Yezi] found only the aura of death from the six outcasts selected for the task.

While directly connected to the first, one could consider it the second reason, as, after all, the team comprised of several of the dojo's elders had not found anything! Not a single hint, aura trace, or else! Thus giving birth to the suspicion that plagued Wen Wuhan even now,

To make matters worse and as if to create yet another reason for Wen Wuhan's stress, the headless body of Won appeared just a day after the incident on the damn main road! But a known bandit's body, head present or not, was not so alarming, if not for the fact of its placement - right on the junction leading towards the dojo!

And everything would be well, with three days passing without incident and the elders involved in the matter already preparing a replacement from the bandits captured during the usual patrols. Indeed, the dojo could probably resolve these issues if not for master Hu Chang, the grandmaster of the pill path responsible for the [Three Rabid Paths], and the man who had approached Wen Wuhan with the offer to improve the dojo's fate, suddenly announcing his leave!

The pill master's reasons were unclear, and Wen Wuhan believed them to be fear, as no matter what, the pills he had created were anything but righteous. With the promised improved recipe, one that would work on Warrior Kings not obtained, and even the Warrior Lord pills still faulty - Wen Wuhan had exploded, demanding Hu Chang stay and complete his part of the deal, but who could have expected that this man who appeared from nowhere had even more secrets!

Yet a moment later, Wen Wuhan regretted not allowing Hu Chang to leave right away, as the seemingly weak Warrior King, his cultivation barely reaching the 2nd level of the realm, had been only a facade!

Leaving four dead elders and more than twice the number injured, razing part of the dojo on his way out, Hu Chang still left.

Of that event, two days passed, and while nothing else happened, Wen Wuhan was still unable to calm himself or regain his usual conduct and manners. But it seemed that today, on the verge between the sixth and the seventh day since the first incident, Wen Wuhan could do so,

With such thoughts forcefully breaking through the layers of worry and accumulated stress, even something akin to fear intermixed in that, Wen Wuhan was close to begin thinking about what he could salvage from the situation. Yet, it seemed the heavens had far other plans for the dojo, and they were truly miserable...

The last two days, or slightly above that by now, had been a parade of surprises for Wei. With just some two weeks passing since the attack on [Zihoadao], the situation had hardly improved. Even the help from the [Great Forest Sect] barely aided the crippled city and its leading clan.

Oh no, the help was very much welcomed and truly ample, just that it could not restore the dead to life as it could not help heal Lord Yi, both facts still weighing hard on every citizen of the city, every member of both the clan and the company.

Still, the city was recuperating, even if at a snail's pace. All active members of the [Yi Company] in the city or surroundings - summoned to help in the reconstruction and other essential assignments. Wei had also been tasked with one of them, in his case, hunting beasts and providing for the dwindling supplies of the non-cultivator population.

***

With Bai Qi having left and no plans about his return discussed, one could only imagine Wei's surprise when two days ago, he received a call to the [Teleportation Formation], a message talisman along with a simple holding pouch arriving at his name, signed by no one else than Bai Qi.

The contents were no less surprising, as the talisman told of nothing short but a conspiracy, an actual vassal of the [Great Forest Sect] behind the creation of forbidden, evil, to call them somehow, pills. As for the holding pouch? It contained two of these pills. It also had several items of the bandits' Bai Qi had encountered and then eliminated, at least from his words. Not that Wei doubted them at all.

What Wei did doubt was the ability of the [Yi Clan] to do anything about it, their current state far from anything close to good. Such a supposition seemed more likely to happen.

And while Wei didn't expect to be received or heard out right away, he still decided to go to the City Palace to see if he could at least inform someone from the clan's people and ask for a meeting with one of the remaining decision-takers, not that there were many left after the attack.

With such an outlook on the matter, it's easy to understand to what a degree Wei was surprised that after revealing he had brought some information from Bai Qi, he would be asked to remain in the reception room for a while and then ushered directly into the City Lord's quarters!

***

Having crippled his cultivation to no remedy and receiving grievous wounds, most of which couldn't be healed even with the assistance of the grandmasters the [Great Forest Sect] had sent, Lord Yi, Yi Lao, was incapable of leaving his room, now transformed into a complex array of formations, runes, and even more basic medicinal tools, as incenses and treasured items.

Yet, even if incapable of moving and his cultivation dissipating by the day, the formations just slowing the process but unable to mend anything, Yi Lao didn't abandon his duties. From dawn to sunset, the legless, dozens of years aged because of his dwindling cultivation, Lord continued managing both city and clan, his commands and orders concise and on-point as they had always been.

So even if it could appear surprising to someone like Wei, for the people in the Palace, it wasn't so. As, the same as before, they would present everything of importance to Lord Yi with no delay. And a message that Bai Qi, a conqueror and lauded defender of the city, considered significant, would be treated as such, even by the usually haughty members of Lord Yi's entourage.

Or maybe they just felt that the Lord would be glad to hear of the boy he held in such esteem, even if his reasons did not stem originally, at least, entirely from kindness or simple curiosity.

***

On the Lord's direct order, an escort brought Wei into the small room that before had served as a place of meditation for Yi Lao, now the Yi clan's acting head entire world.

"Lord Yi." As soon as he entered, Wei deeply bowed to the legless man sitting on the specially constructed, rune-laced throne, the only means for Lord Yi to remain alive, at least until the bright minds of the healers dedicated to the task could find a way to restore Yi Lao's heart.

Usually, such an injury as losing one of their organs was not critical for a Warrior Emperor. And even if they couldn't heal it with their own cultivation, some special pills and formations would make it happen. Yet, with crippled cultivation, a damaged dantian, and no single intact pathway, none of the known methods worked. After all, a nearly mortal body with no circulation system could not resist the effect of an Earth-grade pill or the violent qi from the required formations.

"Raise your head." Even if he was so crippled, Yi Lao's mind remained bright as always, and he had no trouble remembering anything of what he knew, for example, the name of the cultivator in front of him, "And allow me to congratulate you, Wei, on achieving the Warrior Lord's first level."

"Thank you, my Lord." Having just raised, Wei bowed again. And it wasn't as if he did so for some other reason than the atmosphere around Lord Yi. Not even the suffered damage or dwindling cultivation, by now barely feeling as one of a Warrior King, had affected the innate airs of a ruler Yi Lao always had around himself.

"They told me you have a message from Bai Qi. One that he considers significant not only for the leader of a power as me but even for our overlord?" Cutting directly to the matter, that had always been Yi Lao's manner, and it didn't change even now.

***

If the summons inside the Lord's quarters were surprising, the quickness of the following events was even more. Wei had barely finished relating the contents of the message he got as Lord Yi ordered for pill grandmaster Du Kang's presence, one of the many expert healers sent by the [Great Forest Sect] to try and help the heroic, renowned, and well-liked head of the [Yi Clan].

The [Three Rabid Paths], on the orders of the Lord, were examined quickly, and even with what appeared a passing glance, grandmaster Du Kang could confirm them to be what Bai Qi called them, an evil way to increase one's cultivation, requiring the use of cultivators as part of the process of creation.

From there, without waiting any moment, Lord Yi called for several of the clan's people, including Cai Zhenkang, who had miraculously survived the onslaught, left for dead or, perhaps, to serve as a witness of what had been the attackers' plan.

With just a report to the [Great Forest Sect] and again, without waiting even for a confirmation, Yi Lei commanded the recuperated Warrior Emperor to lead a small team and investigate the matter. Then, if confirmed on the spot, capture or, if unable, eliminate the culprits.

Just like that, a matter that Wei had expected to take days, if not weeks, had been decided in less than an hour. And for some reason, be it his closeness to Bai Qi or because he brought the report, Wei would end up as part of Cai Zhenkang's team, quickly moving towards [Shi Zixing Yezi], the small town that Bai Qi had pointed out as the start of his own discoveries.