"As you, senior, can understand, there is no way that I can allow you to go free." Having killed all of the [Blue Owl Alliance] Warrior Lord elites, Bai Qi didn't show any emotion and actually walked up to Wang Yating. And even if his words could be said to be somewhat apologetic, as if he was explaining his reasons, it was still nothing more than a small show of the way of martial cultivation.

After all, why would someone release a tiger back to their mountain? Why would someone risk vengeance from either Wang Yating if she gathered enough power to do so, or risk fighting, in the future, with all of the friends and families of the cultivators that died at Bai Qi's and Ma Su's hands?

"I actually regret to tell you that your actions have forced me to take such measures. You, and only you, as the leader of your people, decided to steal resources I had obtained through my hard work at an event open to all who wished to participate. Your greed and willingness to risk your reputation and the lives of your people have led to this unfortunate outcome. And there is nothing more to it than that." As if teaching a lesson to a junior but still maintaining the same respectful tone from before, Bai Qi both called out and chastised Wang Yating. Although he somewhat delved into sophistry, the truth was the truth, and Bai Qi actually did so right before his head slightly nodded, a command transmitted to Ma Su.

*Boom*

With the command issued, Ma Su didn't hold back and released all of her 5th level Warrior King pressure on Wang Yating's already suppressed body. Provoking an end that was nothing but absolute destruction, even with a loud boom, as the cultivation of someone two levels above crashed against an already weakened cultivator, making the latter implode in a cloud of meat and a rain of blood, leaving no complete corpse after the event.

Cruel? It was indeed so, but on the other hand, who could say that it was excessive? After all, wasn't it Wang Yating, the one ambushing, accompanied by twenty-one cultivators, the ones that appeared like a pair of Warrior Lord cultivators? Wasn't it she who refused all of the face that Bai Qi gave her and attacked first?

***

Leaving behind a mess of what before were twenty-two cultivators from the [Blue Owl Alliance] and having taken all of their possessions except for their remnants, Bai Qi and Ma Su proceeded on their way.

{Master, no, Bai Qi, I still do not understand why you acted with such coldheartedness. It goes against your image from before.} As Ma Su questioned with a qi-transmission, Bai Qi didn't even bother to respond, only giving the former a slight smile.

Although Bai Qi's actions may have seemed excessive, they were not necessarily unjustified. The people of the [Alliance] were the ones to ambush and initiate the attack. So what if he gave them no quarter? It wasn't like they were planning to release Bai Qi or Ma Su, either.

"In any case, we should make haste, as who knows? Maybe someone else had the same idea as these people." As Bai Qi spoke, he increased his speed and took the air, preferring to have an ampler field of view, even if, as an Earth-realm cultivator, his source of detection was neither of the mortal senses.

***

Bai Qi's prudent words of caution turned out to be prophetic, and not later than half an hour later, they found themselves facing hostile cultivators once again. Regretfully, for the latter, what they assumed to be a perfect ambush and overbearing strength to deal with the pair of low-level Warrior-Lords they decided to prey upon was simply an attempt to crush a rock with an egg.

Ma Su didn't even reveal her cultivation, Bai Qi telling her so, and a moment later, the six men were sent crashing to the ground, their bodies and auras entirely suppressed by Bai Qi's one!

"You bastard! Weren't you meant to be a 4th level Warrior Lord?! You deliberately concealed your cultivation!" A mix of panic and anger, along with some curses, came from the mouth of the one who appeared to be the leader of this small group comprised of two 3rd level, three 4th level, and him, a 5th level Warrior Lord.

"You can conceal your identities, and I can't choose to do so with my cultivation? Truly laughable!" As Bai Qi responded, he actually laughed out loud, as it was simply too funny to hear robbers trying to teach their target about morals!

Bai Qi was disinclined to continue any talks or even attempt to learn just where this man who chose to attack him came from. And so he increased his aura's pressure, adding enough to face a 7th level Warrior Lord, far more than enough to simply press the ambushers to death.

It was a stroke of luck for the ambushers that Bai Qi's impending attack was thwarted at the last moment. Bai Qi's aura managed to injure the weaker pair, but a more powerful and presumably allied individual intervened just in time to defend them, forcing Bai Qi's aura to retreat. Despite the faces of the ambushers remaining concealed, they were saved from a crushing death, which signified that the cultivator to stop Bai Qi was indeed an ally and one that was in cahoots with them as well!

Sometime before the conclusion of the [Martial Path of the Herbs], in a small building near the [Ninety-fifth Breath of the Saint] dojo.

While Tang Chen had the [Tang] family surname and a name signifying dragon, he had nothing to do with either. As a mediocre cultivator, he had actually been lucky to even enter a weaker power as the [Ninety-fifth Breath of the Saint] dojo, not to mention his survival during his training years, as well as a sudden lack of manpower that propelled him from a simple overseer to the position of a low-class elder even if his 7th level Warrior Lord cultivator was an entire level below the bare minimum.

Even so, Tang Chen was anything but an idiot, and he had managed to hold on to his position for over ten years, even without showing any advance in cultivation, and somehow managed to sense the danger to the dojo even before anything happened, all while being privy to no details at all about Wen Wuhan's worries or the [Three Rabid Paths] pills.

Without knowing anything but acting on a feeling of his, he had gathered a few inner circle disciples and quickly organized a training outing, even going so far as taking most of his possessions along. Who would have expected that this unexpected outing would end up saving all of them?

***

Having returned from the outing only to see the ruins of the [Ninety-fifth Breath of the Saint] dojo, with not a single soul alive but signs of a considerable battle, one that included cultivators of such levels that he couldn't even sense, Tang Chen suddenly found himself alone, with no backing, and with six shocked Warrior Lords right behind him.

While his initial thoughts were no less panicked than the ones of the disciples who had followed him, Tang Chen's intelligence once again prevailed over everything, and he quickly decided to leave the vicinity of the dojo, considering that even if the attackers weren't around, they would definitively be in the area itself. After all, what power could have attacked an official 4th tier vassal of the Overlord if not for a higher tier one? Not even the strongest bandits had the galls to attack official vassals. After all, weak or not, each of the vassals was part of a web of powers with dozens of 3rd- 2nd- and even a 1st-tier power controlling the area!

With this in mind, Tang Chen quickly announced to the six disciples that they would be traveling away from the area, towards a city under the control of different powers and from where they would try to gain information on what happened, as well as either take vengeance themselves or escalate the matter with the higher-up powers as the sole survivors of a vassal like the [Ninety-fifth Breath of the Saint] dojo was. Not that Tang Chen believed in either of the last two or planned to do so. Such dreams as justice and asking for help after being destroyed and most probably with a sanction of a power that they could never face was nothing but a pipe dream for the youngest and dumbest of the cultivators.

***

The city that Tang Chen had chosen to strategically retreat, as he explained, or basically flee to, was no other than [Baoshi Hua]. And while their arrival passed unannounced and they ended up hearing not a single rumor about their dojo's destruction, what they did learn about was the conclusion of the [Martial Path of the Herbs] event and the festival taking part along with it.

"A 4th level Warrior Lord managed to claim the first place, with such points that not even the disciples of the powers around could compare?!"

"Why couldn't we have arrived earlier?! I would have taken first place!"

"If such geniuses are so inept - if I participated, I would have won!"

"What a shame, it seems that the territories of the [Delicate Forest Palace] are just weak!"

"But, who is that guy? Did he actually win so many fights inside the event grounds? Is his understanding of the weapon so high? I don't believe it!"

"But he's just a 4th level Warrior Lord!"

"And he is just a rogue cultivator with no backing!"

While most of the commentaries and bickering among the disciples that followed him here were nothing but words, Tang Chen still paid attention to them. And as they touched an important point, one that he would have liked to make himself but not dared, even if the dojo didn't exist anymore as, after all, he was an elder, he exclaimed while revealing the first smile since the time they had left the ruins of what had been their power, "Indeed, he's nothing but a young generation rogue with a cultivation lower than yours, Wu Mong."

"...elder, do you mean?" Wu Mong, the 5th level Warrior Lord and one of the strongest disciples of the now-perished [Ninety-fifth Breath of the Saint] dojo asked quietly, unable to hide his smile.

"Indeed. If you and Bai Qi battle, who can interfere? Especially if we say that it was a challenge. No old fogey or even overseer could say anything! No matter what, they will have to consider age. And I will stand behind you for any other matter!" While Tang Chen would usually be reluctant to search for a fight with someone of unknown background and obviously great strength, he was simply too interested in the herbs gathered by such a genius to advance himself now that he had lost all of his backing. And so, he instigated the flames in the youngsters, even going so far as offering them to cover their tracks so they could assault him altogether.

In his defense, Wu Mong actually wanted to fight Bai Qi one on one. Yet, recalling that Bai Qi had won ten duels inside the event grounds, he agreed with the elder's suggestion and started organizing their ambush.