I planted my feet on the snowy ground and breathed deeply as the cold air filled my lungs.

It had snowed so hard in the past few days that the snow now reached my knees. Even training in the yard of my mansion had changed, though it wasn't all that bad. I enjoyed training in different environments as they posed new challenges.

For example, using Rushing Bull Step in deep snow was not a good idea. Especially when the snow was so thick. However, I found a workaround by keeping my feet high as soon as I began using the technique to avoid stumbling.

Opening my eyes, I felt the cold seeping past my eyelids.

The yard had only one area not fully covered in snow, a large cut through the yard as if made by a giant scalpel.

But I no longer concentrated on the outward appearance of things around me; I looked within. Slowly, Qi surged through my body and moved with methodical precision. Everything was controlled to the smallest detail, with minimal Qi wasted.

As Qi moved to my fist, it gained a green tint and formed into a translucent jade gauntlet. On my other hand, the wind surged, forming invisible blades of condensed air held in place by Qi.

Whether for attack or defense, everything was perfect.

I never knew how good it was to have healthy arms until I discovered how miserable it was to have a broken one. Now, back in perfect fighting condition and having landed two Traces back-to-back, my techniques had reached a pinnacle usually impossible to achieve.

Not much had happened during these last few days, but I liked it that way. Everything was relatively peaceful.

The most exciting event recently was the governor's visits every other day. Now that he was back in power and there was no impending destruction, everyone was back to their usual shenanigans.

The governor's visits were mostly filled with gossip. The only slightly exciting news was a rumor that the Hong Clan Leader once loved a woman who left him for a no-good gambler and got pregnant. It sounded like a sordid version of a Titanic romance.

Learning these things was mostly useless. However, it was intriguing that the Hong Clan Leader sent the child from that relationship as the scout to deliver a letter to the monstrous beasts. Thinking about what might have been going through his mind as he schemed such a thing was amusing. Poor kid though, he had to deal with something he had no part in.

...

After training, I walked around town to loosen up my muscles before beginning my cultivation.

Snow covered the streets, houses, and everywhere else. Some of the wells in town were frozen, but I wasn't too worried since Body Tempering Cultivators handled that. As I walked deeper into town, it was evident that few people ventured outside in this weather.

With the town half-broken, there was plenty of space to walk amidst the rubble. We had moved all the dead monstrous beasts, but there were still patches of frozen blood on the walls of the buildings.

As I strolled through town, I sensed the governor approaching. This time, however, he was accompanied by another Qi Gathering Cultivator, who was neither of the Clan Leaders. I stopped walking and waited for the governor to find me.

When he did, I was surprised to see a young man in a blue uniform beside him—the attire of an inner disciple from the Blazing Sun Sect. I recognized him as one of the members of Song Song's group.

"Liu Feng, this young man has come with a message from Song Song herself," the governor said, introducing the young man by his mission without mentioning his name.

The young cultivator, who looked fidgety and tired but not much older than me, ignored the governor's lack of introduction. "Yes, Lady Song Song has asked me to bring you back to regroup with her."

"Sure," I shrugged.

The governor's left eye twitched slightly, the only sign of his surprise. But with no monstrous beasts around and no reason to stay, it made sense to leave.

"If these were better times, I would have organized a parade to make your departure from Whitewall City memorable. Sadly, our circumstances prevent us from doing so," the governor said with a smile, half-joking. He then waved his hand, and a carpet rolled out from his sleeve towards me leisurely. "Use this to carry your turtle."

"Thanks," I said, feeling the carpet rub against my hand. I imbued it with my Qi and controlled it by manipulating the Qi inside. "I'll return it after this whole war ordeal is over."

"There's no need for that," the governor said. "Consider it a small reward for what you've done for Whitewall City."

Just as the governor and I shared a nice moment, I sensed the Hong Clan Leader approaching. With a smile, he declared, "Yes, it is a sad day to see our hero leaving! After the repairs are done, I will build a statue in your honor in the middle of town."

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Thanks…" I said, forcing a smile.

Inside, I was relieved to be getting away from these people. There was only so much I could force myself to smile in front of over dramatic people like this. Especially when I knew there was a good chance everything he said was fake and he just wanted to buy my favor with words.

I didn't linger long and immediately headed to the mansion to gather my things. The governor, Hong Clan Leader, and the inner disciple waited outside as I packed my belongings into a small bag and had Speedy store them in his shell.

Once ready, I used the carpet to lift Speedy, and he flew beside me at a leisurely pace. Thankfully, even with Speedy's weight, the Qi consumption to fly was manageable. This was a good artifact.

After some simple goodbyes from the governor and a dramatic farewell from the Hong Clan Leader, who looked ready to spill crocodile tears, we set off into the cold wasteland and forest outside the town.

As we reached the forest, neither I nor the inner disciple spoke. At least I had no issues with this guy, unlike the last time when one of their kind tried to get ahead of me.

We traversed the thick forest carefully, making sure not to slip or get ambushed by monstrous beasts. I used a simple array to avoid the cold, so I was pretty comfortable.

“How did the other cities do against the monstrous beasts?” I inquired.

“Three cities under Lady Song Song’s management were destroyed. The only ones that survived were Lady Song Song’s city and, well… yours,” he added uncertainly.

I had expected something like this, as the others had not taken the monstrous beast threat as seriously as I had. It was still disheartening to hear that so many people had been killed.

The rest of the journey through the forest was quiet as I tried to figure out why Song Song would send someone to get me. She wasn’t the type to do something like this after what happened the last time. Despite being socially inept, she had a certain level of common sense.

This was like giving a doctor who accidentally removed your kidneys a second chance.

I followed the guy nonetheless, discreetly preparing in case he was leading me into an ambush. Since Speedy was with me, there was no need to worry too much about potential attacks.

Speedy was floating atop the carpet, which couldn’t be seen due to his size, making it look like he was flying alone.

Despite the somber mood, I enjoyed the light and serene pace we were traveling at. However, not much longer, a chill went down my spine as an enormous amount of killing intent exploded nearby.

I froze in fear, and my companion did the same. His eyes widened, and beads of sweat rolled down his cheeks.

The killing intent became so dense it turned visible like tendrils of darkness shooting toward the sky and washing over the land. A sense of terror sprouted within my heart as one of these murderous intent tendrils seeped through my chest.

My knees buckled, and I had never felt so weakened. The other guy fell to his knees, the snow wetting the cloth around them. But that seemed the least of his worries as he began hyperventilating, looking like he was having a panic attack.

Despite the sense of terror that washed over my body, I was not scared. This was an illogical fear like something had forced my body into a fight-or-flight instinct. But despite this, my mind was like an iron wall, stopping me from overreacting.

After all, how could I be scared of a technique I had created?

It seemed like someone had taken the technique to a whole other level.

Speedy retreated inside his shell and seemed to be okay. So I went to the inner disciple, helped him to his feet, and propped him against a tree.

"Try to circulate your Qi," I advised him.

"W-What?" He looked confused, his face turning pale as blood started dripping from his nose.

I checked his pulse; his heart was beating like a loud drum, faster than an engine. He looked like he was on the verge of a heart attack.

"Calm down a little," I said, injecting some Qi around his neck. He was so distracted by fear that he barely noticed me using Qi to pressure the arteries supplying blood to his brain. In an instant, he was knocked out and slumped down.

Rechecking his pulse, it had returned to normal, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

If he hadn't been a cultivator, he would have had a heart attack, or his heart would have torn itself apart.

The source of the killing intent moved closer at such speeds that I wouldn't have been able to react if we were in a fight. It stopped about ten feet behind me.

Turning around, I raised a questioning brow at the cloaked figure.

"Do you get a laugh out of sending mixed signals? I thought you sent a messenger to get me. Why come here yourself?" I asked.

As the figure pulled back its hood, a pretty, youthful face with long, silky dark hair and deep blue eyes stared at me. She had a playful smirk and narrowed her eyes.

"If I didn't know any better, I might think you are unhappy to see me," Song Song sighed and shook her head in mock pain.

"Also, can you stop showing off with the technique you copied from me? You probably killed every animal within a two-mile radius," I said, checking the guy's vitals and making sure to keep his body isolated from outside sensations.

"Pretty cool, right?" she smiled. "While you might have created this killing intent technique, I was the one who developed it to this level. Do you know how hard I had to work at this?"

Song Song tried to string me along, but she was barking up the wrong tree on this one.

"Probably not that hard. It's not a difficult technique to master," I shrugged.

There was a good chance she developed something like this in her free time. She was crazy and crazy talented at the same time.

"Yes you are right, but you could at least make an effort to look impressed," she grumbled, kicking some snow my way. Despite her behavior, she toned down the killing intent, and that unreasonable feeling of fear disappeared in an instant.

I stood up and turned toward Song Song. There were no injuries on her, and her Qi seemed normal. Thankfully, she wasn't hurt or anything like that. I had been very worried about how she would handle a monstrous beast army led by an intelligent general while also dealing with a traitor in her midst.

"Anyway, I bet even you will be surprised by this," she said, her hands moving as if drawing an imaginary bow. Then her Qi ignited, forming an arrow of darkness.

Despite her aiming an unknown attack at me, I wasn't worried. Song Song might be crazy and unpredictable, but I was ninety-five percent sure she wouldn't harm me out of nowhere.

Without warning, she shot the dark arrow at me, and I caught the projectile with my hand. The dark energy slithered into my hand despite stopping, and an irrational sense of fear took over again.

Oh? She had infused her killing intent into a projectile Qi attack. That was impressive, especially if she wanted to stun only one target with her killing intent.

"Impressive," I admitted as fear dissipated when I crushed the foreign Qi in my body with my own Qi.

"I knew you would like that. I call it the Heart Piercing Thousand Terrors Technique," Song Song smiled.

"Lame name, but the technique is good. The guy who created the foundation for that must be a genius or something," I teased her.

Though we were talking like old friends, making jokes and teasing each other, one thought still permeated my mind:

What was she doing all the way out here?