Chapter 146

As Qian Yu's focus returned to the normal world, he quickly found out that the man had already removed the shackles binding him. His body still felt weak from the effects of the array but slowly, he could feel himself recover. Additionally, the pain he felt from his soul world was gone, just like before with the red colored figure.

"Let's go," The man from the Bai Family said. The female Martial Saint stepped to the side, letting him go pass her.

'Could this be their way of checking for corrupted cultivators?' Qian Yu noticed the woman didn't seem too shocked or anything. Rather, it was as if it was common knowledge that this would happen.

'I would be dead if my soul world had the red traces?' Qian Yu's heart jumped a beat as he came to the realization.

Nonetheless, Qian Yu started to follow him silently. Travelling through a short and dimly lit maze of corridors, they reached a staircase where a door stood waiting for them at the top.

Light shone through, followed by a large ruckus of noise as the man opened the door.

A large open area appeared before Qian Yu. Several people were running back and forth with scrolls in their hands but the majority of them, about a hundred, were training.

"You have a natural affinity for the Immortal Soul Scripture. I've looked at your records and General Qiu seems to have invited you before. What do you think?" The man asked.

Qian Yu furrowed his brows as he heard that. He had been imprisoned for over 2 weeks and now, right after being released, the man acted as if nothing had happened. "I believe General Qiu said I should wait until after I become a Martial Fighter," Qian Yu however, politely refused while also bringing up the general's name.

"Very well, that is true," Qian Yu saw no change in his expression as he replied. Starting to walk again, he led Qian Yu through the area before they reached another staircase.

"Here is your storage ring," the man tossed the ring to Qian Yu.

Quickly binding the ring, Qian Yu swept through it. Fortunately, the other rings from the cultivators they killed had been safekept by Bai Jia and he only retained his own storage ring.

Seeing nothing missing from his 100 spirit stones, and basic necessities, Qian Yu quickly pulled out another clean robe to wear.

Nodding, the man opened the door and this time, the smell of food assaulted Qian Yu's nostrils. Looking around, Qian Yu noticed they had appeared from a hidden wall in a corner of the restaurant. Furthermore, this area was one where only staff could enter.

Minutes later, they had left the restaurant, giving Qian Yu his first taste of fresh air in weeks.

'Xinyi, can you sense them near?' Qian Yu asked inwardly.

'There's no need master,' Tian Xinyi said.

As she said that, Qian Yu felt a burst of air approach him.

"Qian Yu!" Bai Jia, along with Zhen Yue and Zhao Xieren, had quickly appeared before him.

"Are you alright?" They ran up to him, checking for any injuries on his body.

"I'm fine," Qian Yu quickly quelled their worries.

However, a stern voice quickly interrupted them, "Cousin."

Bai Jia froze for a quick second before she noticed the person a few feet from Qian Yu. "Elder cousin!?" she yelled out as she recognized him.

"I have matters to discuss with you," he said, walking away from Qian Yu.

"I-I'll be right back," Bai Jia bit her lips and sighed before leaving.

Qian Yu glanced as the two walked away before returning his attention to the two girls.

"Right, where is Sun Hong?" Qian Yu asked.

"Master…" Zhen Yue started to talk.

"I'm here!" A shout resounded from above.

Looking up, Qian Yu noticed a figure quickly approaching with opened arms.

"Hong'er!" Qian Yu caught her with his arms.

"Were you doing something?" Qian Yu asked.

"Mhm, I was training outside the city," Sun Hong nodded.

"Training? Isn't that dangerous with the war ongoing?" Qian Yu's brows furrowed.

"Hmm? The war is over. You weren't informed?" Zhao Xieren spoke up.

"Wait!? The war ended?" It was the first time Qian Yu had heard of it. He had noticed the peaceful atmosphere in the city but he had thought it was a result of the Martial Emperor coming to the city.

"Yes, I'll explain what happened in the last few weeks then," Zhao Xieren said as she filled Qian Yu in. His time imprisoned was short but comparing the situation to before, it had changed massively, to the point where he could have never imagined.

"The royal family of the Chen Empire being corrupted… it's crazy!" Qian Yu couldn't help but think of the events in the Soba Empire as well.

"Yea… it is…" Bai Jia returned, just in time to hear him.

Turning around, Qian Yu noticed her gloomy countenance, "What's wrong?"

"Sigh… I have to go back to my family…" Bai Jia shrugged.

Qian Yu fell silent before realizing the likely cause, "Because of your involvement in the war?" At the same time, he couldn't help but look for her cousin who had disappeared.

"Yes… I did indeed act out. Not only once, but many times… my cousin is bringing me back in a week after he settles some matters here," Bai Jia said.

Qian Yu's hand rolled into a fist as he thought of what to do. "What about you two? What are your plans?" Qian Yu turned to Zhao Xieren.

"Nothing for me," Sun Hong shrugged.

"I want to stay here for a while. Afterwards, I will head to the Western Continent," Zhao Xieren answered.

"I see…" Qian Yu muttered.

"Master, she has been helping out with the reconstruction of the city lately," Zhen Yue interrupted.

"Oh?" Qian Yu raised his brows.

"Yes… I want to stay until the country rebuilds itself to a certain extent," Zhao Xieren added.

"... That's good then," Qian Yu smiled. Zhao Xieren had seemed a little immature when compared to everyone else. Of course, she was the youngest but now, the war had changed her a little, and seemed to have given her new motivation to grow stronger.

"What about us then, Master?" Zhen Yue asked, giving Qian Yu a hug.

A smile appeared on Qian Yu's face as he felt Zhen Yue's hug. "Thanks… I want to go with Bai Jia. She only involved herself because of me so I'm guilty as well," Qian Yu decided.

From her facial appearance and expression, it seemed she had been heavily hurt and worried over the last few weeks. Additionally, he wasn't about to let her go and shoulder everything when she had acted out on his behalf.

"What!? There's no need too!" Bai Jia hurriedly waved her hands.

"Our relationship… I'm sure my family knows of it by now. I don't know if they will approve of it!" Bai Jia anxiously looked around, worrying about her cousin.

"No, I've decided," Qian Yu shook his head and sighed.

Turning to Sun Hong, he asked, "Is it fine if you stay with Zhao Xieren?" They had originally planned to travel to the Western Continent together. Now, he was unsure of how long he would have to spend overseas.

"Mmm, that is fine by me," Sun Hong nodded.

"I… alright..." A forced smile appeared on Bai Jia's face as her shoulders dropped.

"Anyways, I pooled together all the rings we've collected. Practically, none of them were extremely rich and there were about 2000 spirit stones along with some other artifacts, treasures, and whatnot. I spent 1000 spirit stones to acquire a set of communication devices. You need to bind it," Bai Jia said as she handed Qian Yu a small circular object.

Made of jade, it fitted in one hand and had numerous markings engraved into them. Quickly dropping a droplet of blood onto it, Qian Yu bound it. As he did, it started glowing and he could feel Bai Jia's words enter his consciousness, almost as if Tian Xinyi was talking to him.

"Just push your qi into the thing and speak into it. Its arrays have been inscribed by a cultivator with a profound understanding of the laws of wind, space, and time. It will capture the message and send it to everyone else in the set of artifacts. That said, the distance it works is about the radius of a continent. Likely, it won't work from here to the Central Union," Bai Jia explained.

"I see… this is amazing already!" Qian Yu fiddled with the artifact. 1000 spirit stones seemed a lot but this was an one time investment with pretty much unlimited uses so Qian Yu didn't mind.

"What do you plan to do with the rest?" Qian Yu asked Bai Jia.

"I don't know. It's up to you," Bai Jia shook her head.

"Very well, how much was the talisman? The ones that released the strength of a Martial Fighter?" Qian Yu asked.

"Ah… those? Their market prices are usually 100 spirit stones for one. They are really expensive," Bai Jia answered.

"100!?" Qian Yu shouted.

"They are also usually hard to get as well. Normal people can't get them. They take a long time to make and you need to be pretty knowledgeable and experienced to make them. Their industries have long been monopolized and the products are monopolized by families and sects. Otherwise, they would be long abused and any weak qi gathering cultivators could easily kill soul foundation cultivators. It'll be hard to get any talismans here as well. If needed, we can get those in the Central Union," Bai Jia explained.

"Mmm, I see…" Qian Yu sighed. Without a doubt, those talismans had been extremely useful, especially in emergencies.

"How about you just keep them Qian Yu?" Zhao Xieren voiced up. "I may not have much political relevance in my family but I still come from a noble background. Sun Hong doesn't need those spirit stones for the talismans so you and Zhen Yu need them a lot more?" she suggested.

"I guess… that's fine," Qian Yu was at a loss for words.

With that settled, there was only a week left to spend with the girls before they would have to split off. Spending the rest of the time mainly with Zhao Xieren and Sun Hong, the week inevitably passed.

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[End of Volume 4]

Author's Note: Hello all. I will be taking a one week break like usual before starting to update the next volume. Next volume, we'll be moving around and adventuring quite a bit like the volume in the Soba Empire. Anyways, thank you for all your support as always! :3