It was a very familiar voice. But Han Xuhan had to make several leaps of logic and imagination to identify and then justify the sense of familiarity in the voice. The conclusion he arrived at after a few seconds was rather hard to stomach.

"Martial sister Zhou?"

Mu Ran immediately looked at Xuhan, who had spoken out in a daze.

Yuen Zhou? Their martial sister from the Black Sheep Mountain Peak?

What in the world-?

"Ah? Martial brother Xuhan? It's really you! I can't believe we bumped into each other here!" Yuen Zhou exclaimed as she came into their view from the fog. She was wearing a mask to hide her face, but Mu Ran and Han Xuhan still recognized her easily.

Qian Yun looked back and forth among his confused companions. All these people are from the same sect?

Han Xuhan couldn't believe it either. What were the chances of running into a familiar figure all the way here in a totally different world?

"Martial sister Zhou, how did you end up entering this world fragment?"

Yuen Zhou sighed when she heard Xuhan's suspicious tone.

"It's quite a tale, martial brother. As you're well aware, I broke through to the third layer of physique transformation a while ago. But the fourth layer has turned out to contain a small bottleneck for me. Sitting inside in a room and cultivating all day wasn't producing any results.

So I thought I'd take up a low-level mission to see if I manage to stumble upon any fortuitous encounter or gain some worldly experience. Perhaps it would let me break through the bottleneck.

For the mission I chose, I had to journey through the river close to the woods outside. But I noticed quite a number of cultivators rushing inside the woods. I thought some sort of a treasure has been found and couldn't contain my curiosity...

I just followed them and did what they did from a distance.

Later I entered one of the Circles of Laws in the periphery of the fog and managed to figure out how to decipher the laws in there. But who knew the creator of this place would be so black-hearted that they would use some sort of esoteric technique to infiltrate my dao base? Such a hateful bastard!"

Han Xuhan and Mu Ran discreetly exchanged a look. There was nothing wrong with her story. Whether she was lying or not could be easily found out once they returned to the sect. For now, it would be an excellent choice for them to stick together and ignore the suspicious details. They were all from the same sect after all. But the issue here was...

"Martial sister, what's up with the zombie army you're commanding?"

None of them had forgotten the nightmarish undeads surrounding them. It wasn't exactly a forgettable sight. Mu Ran and Qian Yun were still clutching their weapons stiffly.

"Ah, this...This is a technique I learned from the elder who selected me to be his disciple all those years ago."

Seeing the four of them suddenly take a step back, Yuen Zhou sputtered and tried to elaborate on her answer.

"Don't misunderstand! It's not a demonic technique that creates zombies. It's a technique to subdue undead creatures so that they can't cause any harm. The root of this technique lies in Buddhist sects in the far north. These corpses were already reanimated and mutated when I found them. I wanted to ensure they wouldn't threaten the lives of the mortals outside. Besides, it wouldn't hurt to use them for self-defense while I'm on it, right? I'm just a young woman all by myself out here..."

"Martial sister's words make sense. I'd do the same if I was in your shoes," Xuhan immediately voiced his opinion like an airhead.

Why would he not?

If she was an enemy, they would be killed whether they acted all chummy with her or not. It would be best for their own safety to not show any hostility right now.

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And if she was really friendly, then he, Han Xuhan, would get a whole legion of undead to protect him!

What a heaven-sent opportunity!

Wait, calling it heaven-sent felt rather ominous...

Remembering his current life experience, Xuhan decided not to use such phrases too often. It might jinx things.

After Xuhan had smoothed things out with his enthusiasm in welcoming Yuen Zhou to be a part of the team, the four humans, one skeleton, and a legion of undead zombies strutted forward with the maximum confidence possible in their situation.

They had collected a fair number of the emerald orbs by now. Activating and fueling law fragments that barred the fog from approaching them was a sustainable task.

The fog was now tens of meters away from them in every direction. They could easily keep a reasonable distance from each other and walk comfortably while gossiping about all types of mundane things. Of course, the three of them were careful enough to not reveal the name of their sect or any similar information to Qian Yun, the outsider. But Qian Yun himself appeared to be occupied with his own thoughts a bit too deeply to pay attention to their chitchats.

Like a bouncing rubber ball, Han Xuhan kept moving to and fro among his teammates. It was apparent that he had the best social skills among all of them. First, he shared his experience here so far with his martial sister Zhou, then he introduced her to Qian Yun, then he drew Mu Ran into the conversation...

Due to his ever-present paranoia, Han Xuhan was starting to become a bit of a control freak. His symptoms were not that far along the dao of insanity, but Han Xuhan could already sense that he was becoming more and more reckless while trying to keep everything in control. It wasn't a good sign, and he understood that he needed some time in the sect's infirmary to fix his newly acquired quirks.

But it wasn't as if paranoia did not have its benefits. It had saved his skin multiple times so far. And it motivated him to constantly keep track of everything and everyone around him.

"Brother Qian Yun, do you remember our little deal?"

Qian Yun broke out of his reverie and gazed at Han Xuhan who had appeared beside him imperceptibly at some point. Personally, Qian Yun felt that even though Shen Kai, aka Xuhan had the lowest cultivation among them, he was the person one should be wary of the most. So he immediately went on guard.

"Yes... brother Xuhan. You have already done more than enough on your part. Is there anything I can do to make our exchange of information equal ?"

Carefully, Qian Yun answered Xuhan's inquisitive question.

"I do need something quite urgently," Han Xuhan stated in a roundabout way.

"Would you... happen to have any information regarding any type of cultivation techniques that do not require the usage of meridians ?"

Whatever Qian Yun had expected, it was not this.

Cultivation techniques that bypassed the primary requirement of cultivation?

That was quite a difficult subject to breach. The human body was innately suitable for cultivation due to the existence of meridians where qi could flow and create a certain type of cycles that could affect the surroundings, in other words, the manifestation of various types of techniques. But without meridians, creating such cycles was too difficult.

Difficult, but not impossible.

"I do, actually. But like most cultivators, I never bothered to learn this type of techniques since I have meridians. Such techniques are hard to muster and harder to make progress with, from what I know."

Han Xuhan's eyes lit up.

So there was still hope for him!

"Where can I find it? If you can help me acquire one, I'll consider our deal to be completed. "

Qian Yun gave Han Xuhan a long, calculating look before nodding.

"Fine. I'll do my best to keep my part of the deal, rest assured. But before that, I want to have a chat with your martial sister over there."

Patting him on the back, Qian Yun suddenly increased his pace and moved closer to Yuen Zhou, who was absent-mindedly observing the foggy area ahead.

She immediately noticed Qian Yun's approach, her eyes behind the mask turning narrow. Han Xuhan had introduced this person to her before they had started moving along together.

She didn't quite trust this fellow.

"Fellow cultivator Qian Yun, is there something you wish to discuss ?"

Qian Yun nodded and made a silent gesture toward her to walk to a distant corner of their fog-free space.

Yuen Zhou's wariness increased. But she complied. Mu Ran and Han Xuhan also noticed their movement and decided to start chatting among themselves purposefully to give them some privacy.

Qian Yun spared a glance in their direction before lowering his voice and initiating their conversation.

"Fellow cultivator Zhou, do you happen to be in possession of a particular type of technique that doesn't require one to have meridians ?"

Yuen Zhou suddenly stiffened.

"Whatever gave you the impression that I'd be in possession of such a type of techniques, fellow cultivator? Are you not aware that most of these techniques stem from the so-called demonic origins?"

"Ah, indeed. And that is the exact reason why I'm asking you."

Qian Yun's light tone was like a devil's whisper beside her ear. Turning her head, Yuen Zhou saw a pair of gleaming, cunning eyes staring at her from behind the semi-transparent mask.