Two months

Zhou Xinqiu turned her head and looked at Zhou He who also had a tint of fear in his eye. Seeing this, she finally calmed down and her eyes also dimmed down back from red to dark brown. She then turned her body to face the guards as Hei fengjue had done so before, she created a soul imprint made from the unification of 9 soul imprints. She then looked straight in the eye of the rebelling guard who was also barely able to hold off his opponent when a voice rang inside her head.

"Xinqiu, don't do it. Although you have reached the Qi circulation realm, you are still powerless to anyone above the third level of Qi circulation nevertheless someone at the seventh level" Qin Gong warned hurriedly.

The fire in her eyes filled with the temptation of being able to change the tide of the battle had been extinguished by the fact that she was still too weak. Any random punch from someone even at the seventh level of Qi circulation was still enough to severely injure her if not kill her.

"Elder Hei, if I were to release this attack, who knows what would happen? Maybe it's too weak to cause an injury at all. However, are you willing to risk that a chain reaction wont occur? Actually, we can try it first and see!" Zhou Xinqiu lifted her palm and moved it closer to the soul imprint as if she was about to thrust it forward!

"You.. argh Zhou He, We will settle a truce for two months. Within these two months the southern side of the Zhou sect will be occupied by our Golden jade alliance. While the northern side can be occupied by whatever is left of the Zhou sect." Hei xie ordered around Zhou He as if he was his subordinate.

"Hei xie, what a fool! Do you know where you are right now?! You are attempting to compromise a truce with me while giving commands to me? You think I really have no way out do you!" Zhou He madly laughed as if he were starting to go insane. He began burning his blood essence and his aura suddenly increased by half. Burning blood essence was an extremely powerful move which could increase the power of cultivators by quite a bit. However, anything that brought great power also had a price! This blood essence was extremely valuable and difficult for the body to create. If done rashly, burning blood essence without having a method to recreate more in a short period of time could even shorten a cultivators lifetime!

Zhou He's aura quickly rose to a height that Hei Xie and Liu Huai could not handle even together without also burning their blood essence. However, this would be an extremely foolish and detrimental thing to do. "Zhou He! Fine what are your terms!?"

"If you want a truce then have a truce, but get the hell out of my Zhou Sect!" Zhou He had already burned 10% of his blood essence subsequently shortening his 1000 year life span by 50 - 100 years. The burned essence could no longer be reversed and had to be let out in the form of energy.

While Liu Huai stared at Zhou He in a daze, Hei Xie had already begun to command the Golden jade alliance to leave the Zhou sect. Although it would be more difficult, they couldn't stay in the Zhou sect any longer as long as Zhou He was willing to burn his blood essence again. Zhou He raised his palm and an axe appeared with which he transferred all his energy to and slammed it down towards Liu Huai. Hei Xie barely managed to escape the shockwaves while the dazed Liu Huai was in a horrible state with a big gash being opened on his chest. Zhou He had used an auxiliary technique with his eyes to stun Liu Huai for a few breaths which allowed him to strike.

At this moment, the injured Liu Huai stared at the dark eyes of Zhou He and his rich man smile had completely disappeared. However, just before Zhou He was able to strike once more, he was distracted by a small but still distracting attack by Hei Xie, which allowed Liu Huai to escape.

With this, the calamity that descended on the Zhou sect was suddenly placed at a halt and a truce was decided. Two months from now, on this very day the calamity would once again strike and the outcome was still uncertain.

Zhou He's heroic expression suddenly disappeared and a great pain enveloped him. A type of pain that could not be described by words. With the burning of his blood essence, it would take at least a month for him to be able to fight again. Even with this, he still would have to face the consequences of the burnt blood essence.

—-

One month later

Zhou Xinqiu had been cultivating in her little cave and had just reached the second level of qi circulation.

"Ahahah finally broke through!" A sweet smile appeared on her face as she faced a huge stone that she practiced her techniques on. However, in the next moment, her smile disappeared and a deep weight reappeared on her shoulders.

"Child, there is nothing to be overly excited about. It is only natural to reach a break through at your level after one month! In fact it is even a little slow…" Qin Gong hit the top of her head with a wooden fan which made all her happiness disappear.

"Your bloodline is pretty strong and I guess I miscalculated the time for the fusion to complete. It might even take 1 or 2 more months still. This is also probably why your cultivation took more time than usual. Most of the qi went to this fusion process instead."

"Haha yep I knew I wasn't so bad!" The smile reappeared on her face.

"Regardless, you still need to work harder and stop slacking off! In fact it might be better to go out and train somewhere els-"

"Qiu'er! Please come see me in my manor! I have something I must give to you." Zhou He's voice boomed out around the entire sect. Zhou Xinqiu then stood up, Qin gong entered her body and she began to walk towards the manor.