The tall handsome blonde man stopped in front of Hartley's table and made a respectful bow while cupping his fist. 

"I'm Xiaou Xie vice captain of the Tiger Mercenary guild and I came over to say you've made the right choice by staying in the Rema district, I promise we from the Tiger Mercenary guild will do all that we can in protecting the citizens in the upcoming skirmishes."

 "Huh?" 

Hartley had gravy running down his chin with a baffled look. Qin Li and Zhi Ruo were also taken aback by the man's statement. 

"What are you talking about?" Zhi Ruo chimed in.

The handsome man squinted and looked at them closely for while before pointing to the empty chair beside Qin Li, apparently gesturing for permission to sit. Hartley nodded in consent. 

The man sat down rather easily despite the fact he looked like he was wrapped in metal box from neck to toe. 

"I take it you are new to town and have no knowledge of the happenings?" he asked, Hartley shook his head still holding a piece of meat with both hands as if he feared the meat would run off. The man sighed, "well, you've chosen a bad time for a visit. The Hung clan from our neighboring Mountain View district is  about to wage war with the Tiger Mercenary guild located here."

"What! a real war?" Qin Li blurted out with a mouth full of food. 

Xiaou Xie looked at Qin Li with furrowed brows, thinking that this bunch of nobles really cared not for the eating etiquette practiced by the high born nobles. The thought left his mind immediately as he had no time to ponder such trivial matters. 

 "Yes and no" replied Xiaou Xie, the number of combatants are far less than a real front line war but the aim of both sides is to eradicate the other just like real war."

  "Shouldn't the delegates from the royal family based in this province step in and stop the blood shed between neighboring districts?" Qin Li asked.

 Xiaou Xi sighed. "The dispute was caused by a stretch of hilly land between the two districts called No Man's Land, it is a barren stretch of land good for nothing, our guild got the rights to mine the land a few years ago. Others thought it was just throwing money away. Recently a good amount of gold was discovered in one of the mines and a possibility of more  gold in the other mines." 

 "And that's when the Hung clan popped up to claim the land as their own" Hartley deduced where the story was leading. 

Xiaou Xie nodded. 

"The delegates called it petty politics and are unwilling to get involved leaving us to sort it by ourselves."

"They threatened to slaughter all nobles in support of the Tiger Mercenary guild, which would automatically be those nobles still here when they come. 

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Most of the nobles packed up their business and left through the north gate, headed north to ride out the troubles." 

With a serious look he continued,  "the wealthy can easily migrate, but when they left, their protectors left with them.

Leaving the district in a vulnerable position, the poor have to find their own solution in dealing with the oppression that will inevitably come from the Hung clan."

 "That's why the atmosphere in this district is like a funeral ceremony, quiet and really somber." Zhi Ruo stated. 

Xiaou Xie smiled. "Yeah I thought you guys were one of the few nobles left in the district and came over to thank you for staying. Now that I have found out that is not the case, I would advice you to leave as soon as possible." 

He got up from his chair, bowed again and was about to leave.

"Thank you, and don't worry about us, we will be fine." Hartley said with a bright smile. 

Xiaou Xie nodded and returned to join his comrades at the other table. He couldn't help but feel sorry for Hartley and his group, he assumed they didn't know how serious the dangers were.

......LATE NIGHT AT THE INN....

 Hartley sat cross legged on the floor while Ruo slept peacefully on the soft bed, Hartley had a strange but familiar sensation, it was the sensation he felt every time he was at the thing line between sub-realms. 

In his consciousness, there was a mini Hartley sitting cross legged on a 300 kilometers plot of land, this was a place of inhospitable peaks, sharp cliffs, and deep lush green jungle, with a bright Blue Star shining down on the land, making every minor detail visible to the naked eye.

 It was developing into his own mini continent but right now it was more like an island. As he inhaled and exhaled, a build up of thick blue aura, akin to thick billowing smoke, obscured his entire body. 

The star tatto on his chest which hadn't shown itself since he advanced to the xiantian realm was now shining brightly. Hartley sat in the dark room and had thick smoke-like blue aura wrapped around his body like an extra robe, pulsing and flashing like a light show with each breath.

 The star fragment hidden in his chest fed an enormous amount of blue star energy into his body and heart, blue steam-like tendrils, rose from his body as if his skin was boiling in blue water. 

Badum. Badum. 

His heart started to beat loudly in his ears. Time slowed to an eighth of its normal speed. 

Badum. Badum.

His gravity field synchronized with his breathing. Every time he inhaled, everything in the room, including the bed Ruo was sleeping on,  would rise half a meter off the floor. 

When he exhaled, everything would gently land back in its original position.

Hartley was one step closer to assimilating the blue star fragment with his physical body which was now 3rd layer xiantian. From now on, he was at a point where physical exercise could no longer improve his body. To bring his physical body into the mid-phase of the xiantian realm, he had to depend on enlightenment and breaking through the rest of the layers in the xiantian realm.

Inside Hartley's consciousness the land started to rumble and expand, another 300 kilometers of barren sandy land was added around the already developed areas, doubling the mass of land in his inner world. 

Seeming like it would take a long time to develop the newly generated land.

Hartley opened his eyes and the whole room lit up in a blue hue like it was daytime again.

Time was eight times slower. He had automatically entered his advanced state of focus, the tinted light gradually faded away. He stood up and his body made loud popping noises, stimulated with excitement and energy like a child witnessing fire works on new year's eve.

 Hartley looked at Ruo, checked if she was sleeping and then walked next to the window at the far side of the room, opened it casually and dived out, his robe fluttering in freefall.

Before he could hit the ground and splatter with a loud explosion, he hovered in the air for 2 seconds, then gently stepped onto the wet ground outside the inn.

Hartley was now a 5th layer xiantian.