As they separated from Gao Xiulan and Lei Guying, Ma Su remained calm and composed, not daring to question Bai Qi. Even if her thoughts were full of questions, her current master, one accepted by herself and without any force, was someone to avoid scoffing at, no matter what he had done or said - after all, even her suddenly elevated status or her cultivation was related to the former, all of it obtained by him, Bai Qi.

While Gao Xiulan and Lei Guying were both Warrior Lords - even if they were young cultivators deemed as geniuses, in the end, they could do nothing against Ma Su's Warrior King's might. And still, they were far different from herself. After all, even with the recognition from the [Delicate Forest Palace], she was a simple cultivator compared to the powers behind them.

With dozens of Warrior Kings and even several Warrior Emperors backing their [White Grove] sect and [Yuxuan] city, Ma Su was no more than a frog in a well if she attempted to jump over them.

And yet, Bai Qi, the young man she had decided to follow as her master could trade friendly words and even jabs, meaning that her decision was not wrong! After all, if her new and current master Bai Qi, at some Warrior Lord realm, could disregard these powers, wouldn't it mean he had enough backing to eliminate them, as he did ignore them? And this young master had given up rewards in exchange for her freedom and current status, so didn't that mean that she was already close enough in his heart to soar the heavens along him?!

***

After Bai Qi's show of force and ruthlessness, the journey towards [Dongpo], or [Eastern Inscription City], could be considered an easy one. Even if some mavericks decided to cross his path to challenge him and gain the treasures on him, they didn't resist even a single move from Bai Qi, who, with some clearly discernible backers, even if they had their own ideas about him, now had a chance to release the same strength that he had used against the peak Warrior Lords from the [Blue Owl Alliance]. It was still not his actual peak, without the presence of the [Glaive of Desire], but it was enough to deal with the few Warrior Lords beneath the peak of the realm that dared to face him one-on-one.

Even so, Bai Qi still felt the protection the [White Grove] sect and [Yuxuan] city granted him - even prior to their formal meeting. After all, not a single Warrior King except for the now late leader of the [Blue Owl Alliance] had tried to stop him! And so, without relying on Ma Su's actual cultivation, Bai Qi reached [Dongpo], or [Eastern Inscription City], with far less trouble than he had initially expected.

He still obtained the renown he had planned for as his hidden objective of this journey. To become a true expert among the Warrior Lords and establish his name outside the events from the [Void Palace] and later, as his title of conqueror of an Arena. Not that he tried hard to do so. With his strategy of killing the chickens to scare the monkeys, which already granted him an open display culminating in the killing of six actual Warrior Lord experts, even if he had no idea from where they came, the few opponents remaining, the ones that felt superior to the latter, had come as if someone sent him coal on a harsh winter. After all, if Bai Qi could kill a couple of 8th level Warrior Lords, so who but the peak of the realm could stand against him?

Sima Yu had always felt that he was someone without luck. Born into the 10th ranked family of the [Ten Families] and an actual true-blood from the main clan, one would have supposed that this fact already gave him a good life. Regretfully, the in-clan fighting was a fact, and as the weakest of the second branch, he had to escape from the constant bullying and attempts at his life - even if he was the actual successor to the head of the branch family!

What should have been his fortune turned into the opposite, his misfortune, and a young Sima Yu, a simple Sage realm cultivator, was forced into the jianghu with no backing nor protector. But then, as he despaired the most, pushed to move to the northern reaches of the [Great Forest Sect] controlled lands, he suddenly encountered an opportunity, joining the [Ninety-fifth Breath of the Saint] dojo as a disciple.

Finding a backing, no matter how small it was, and calming his mind, Sima Yu's talent flourished, and in just a couple of years, he had advanced up to the 4th level of the Warrior Lord realm.

His combat prowess was still the lowest of all the geniuses in the dojo, but nonetheless - he became one of them. His good luck wouldn't end even there, as between the six talents selected by Elder Tang Chen for a special outing, he would also escape the misfortune of falling over the dojo, birthing his belief that he was actually getting something from all the misfortunes.

Still, as Wu Mong and Elder Tang Chen decided to move against the rogue cultivator who received the crown as the victor of the [Martial Path of the Herbs], he would not only speak against the venture but actually stay back from it, turning into nothing but an observer of how the others, including the elder, where easily killed by the assumed prey - escaping as the prey turned into the hunter without allowing the later to even remember his presence, using the secret technique of his family, one that he had not allowed himself to use at any point before but the moment he had been ambushed by the new head of the main family.

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And yet, the fact that he escaped certain death while leaving the others to die didn't bring him as much despair or anger as others would assume to be the correct sentiment, but actual gratitude to his gut feeling, as well as an absolute belief that misfortune had brought him a fortunate encounter.

Seeing such characters as Gao Xiulan and Lei Guying, who he recognized from the information he had been privy to as an inheritor of the [Sima] blood, Sima Yu had no thoughts of vengeance but a sudden urge to befriend this maverick rogue cultivator called Bai Qi.

And so, unbeknown to everyone, even the latter with all of his methods, already having escaped from Bai Qi's senses, Sima Yu activated, for the previous to last time, the treasure that had allowed him to escape the [Sima Family] hunting parties before and followed after Bai Qi and his servant after the latter surprisingly declared to meet later with what could be considered an escort from powers that actually had something to say in the region!

Bai Qi felt he was still being monitored by several cultivators above his grade - even after the last battle. And so, he decided to keep his senses to the range that any Warrior Lord would have, commanding Ma Su to do the same - to avoid mishandling the fact that he actually had a Warrior King escort.

His primary idea had been to avoid trouble that he couldn't solve himself, and it had worked, as he reached his destination with no other trouble than a single battle. Regretfully, entering [Dongpo] or [Eastern Inscription City] city would develop into several problems over the ones he anticipated, generating several more issues outside his expectations and leading to events far above Bai Qi's anticipations.

The [Eastern Inscription City] city wasn't one of the biggest nor one of the most important cities in the region; it still had 3rd-tier power called the [Dongpo Clan] as their rulers. And while the latter could hardly compare to forces like the [Gao Clan] and had always been suppressed by the nearby [Baoshi Hua] or [Precious Flower] city, they were still a power with a still-living Warrior Emperor ancestor that guaranteed their status before the overall sovereign of the area no matter the local issues.

The fact that they had not been invited to the [Sword and Herb] festival, even if they could be considered a power under the behemoth power that was the [Delicate Flower Palace], had truly offended the current city lord, a 6th level Warrior King. After all, no matter how weak he was and that his ancestor had been always oppressed so much that he went into closed-door cultivation, they were still a true 3-rd tier power!

Now that the festival had ended, the [Dongpo Clan] was repaying that anger and spite on the few travelers that arrived at the city, forcing them to stand outside and pay entry taxes that could be only considered outrageous. Not that the [Eastern Inscription City] current ruler had no excuse to do so, as she had announced that all of the collected resources and spirit crystals would be sent to the [Great Forest Sect] as part of their contribution to the war effort, thus covering the lack of cultivator sent an even putting herself into a good position before the actual overlords of this central area, [Baoshi Hua] city and the [Delicate Forest Palace]. Dongpo Lian, the current clan head, went so far as to position her only son, Qingqiu, as the guardian of the gates to win him a few points before the overlord and also, with the apple not falling far from the tree, to gain a few benefits for their family.

Yet, to his defense, Bai Qi had not known of this as he arrived before the gates of [Eastern Inscription City] and was, honestly, outraged by the quote of an entire medium-grade spirit crystal for entering the city. And that being the quote for each person. And that meant he would have to pay two medium-grade crystals, an entire monthly allowance of an inner disciple of 3rd-tier powers, just for entering the city!

***

"If you are not paying, scram and don't hold the queue!" A lieutenant of [Eastern Inscription City] guard shouted angrily at Bai Qi as the latter rebuked the crazy fee. Unexpectedly, the queue behind didn't follow after him as usual, when the few merchants and travelers would try to ingratiate themselves with the guards by hollering along the latter against any blocker.

Not that it was a real surprise, at least for the people who either served or had visited the city in the previous weeks. After all, the entrance tax had suddenly risen five times just some days ago, making several businesses unprofitable; what to say about the people that were actually traveling through and had never thought to pay so much for entering a city that wasn't even reputable!

"You either pay or leave! Don't you know that all of the crystals gathered here are for the efforts of our overlord, the [Great Forest Sect]? That we are taxing you to help the brave brothers that are fighting tooth and nail with the demon worshippers?!" The lieutenant's words would have, before, raised the sentiment of a few people before, but even he understood that the sudden increase in taxes would not do so.

And indeed, not a moment after he shouted his so-patriotic words, he was met with laughter as one of the merchants that had always visited their city before suddenly commanded his caravan to turn around and circle the city, all while murmuring, loud enough for a lot of people to hear, "To help the overlord? What a joke. Not only did the [Gongpo Clan] not send a single soldier, but they also cried out loud that they couldn't spare even one and declared themselves unable to pay the tithes towards our sovereign, the [Great Forest Sect], because they didn't have the funds just a week ago, saying that the [Sword and Herb] festival had affected the traffic too much!