Song Song and I continued talking as I created a barrier to protect the unconscious man from the cold.

"So, how was the war on your end?" I asked her.

"I had to reinforce most cities, but the monstrous beast army was overwhelming. Ultimately, I evacuated as many people as possible to the main city I was managing. That way I only had to protect one city instead of four," Song Song explained.

Overall, it was an intelligent plan that saved more lives than it lost. But how did Song Song handle the logistical challenges of relocating so many people? What about food? Where would they sleep during this harsh winter?

"Even though I could handle most monstrous beasts, and none could really harm me. That didn't mean I could protect everyone, especially when a Foundation Establishment beast held me back while the rest of the army marched past me," she sighed. Still, a smile slowly appeared on her face. "Your killing intent move was helpful in stunning some, serving as effective crowd control. Also, your advice to keep most inner disciples together worked well. Otherwise, I might have been the only survivor of this mess."

It seemed she had faced significant challenges during the battle. Making Foundation Establishment beasts seem like mere nuisances was impressive. The higher the realm, the harder it was to bridge the gap. From what I sensed, Song Song was still at the peak of Qi Gathering, but her battle prowess was extraordinary.

"The killing intent move takes very little Qi, so it was easy to use and improve," she nodded, seemingly agreeing with something only she knew. "Eventually, the beasts learned to shroud themselves in Qi to protect against it. So, I had to focus the technique on dark tendrils to avoid hitting my allies, making it more effective. It was a game of cat and mouse, constantly improving my technique while the beasts developed countermeasures."

Outclassing an army with her talent was something only Song Song could pull off.

Heh, her technique improvements must have terrified the intelligent beasts.

However, despite her success, her method was not the best. It was her talent bullheading through the problem. But what if she had failed?

Perhaps that was the difference between Song Song and me; she never even assumed she would fail. In some ways, that was a good trait to have, and in her position, I might have failed where she succeeded.

"How many members does your group have now?" I asked.

"Very few. Most died. At least your cousins made it out, injured and probably unable to fight for the rest of the winter. But they survived," Song Song shrugged, her gaze fixed on me like a hawk.

What was she up to now?

"What're you thinking about?" I asked her directly.

I didn't have to be as vigilant as I had been with the governor and clan leaders. Neither did I have to wonder what she could be scheming. It was refreshing to be around someone as straightforward as Song Song.

"When I learned that you had not only defended your city against thousands of monstrous beasts with minimal numbers on your side..." She smiled, her eyes glistening with a strange light. "At first, I was going to let you do your own thing and rest. No doubt, what you did was exhausting. But as my situation worsened, I decided to come and get some advice. You clearly know what you're doing... even compared to people who have been defending their cities for decades!"

That last part carried an unconscious hint of bloodlust. I felt sorry for any governor or clan leader who dared to obstruct her.

"I barely got by by the skin of my teeth. There was a lot of luck and trickery involved," I shrugged.

No matter how it seemed to outsiders, I barely had control over what had happened in the town. At any moment, it could have ended in disaster. Any monstrous beast could have broken the barrier protecting the civilians from the poison. Or, if they were more familiar with human tactics, they could have seen through my deceptive letter.

"But you still stopped your city from being overrun, and from what I'm hearing, you even killed a Foundation Establishment monstrous beast," Song Song said, with a playful smile on her lips.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"If you knew how it happened, it's not that impressive," I chuckled, remembering how I had broken an arm immediately after that.

Song Song frowned, seemingly not hearing what I said, and continued, "Perhaps if I had kept you closer and you were by my side to help with strategizing, we wouldn't have lost so many cities."

So she was ranting about this again. It seemed like the loss had affected her more deeply than it appeared at first glance. If I didn't know her well, I would have thought she was saddened by the loss of life. But I knew her mind didn't work like that. Song Song just didn't like losing. Saving lives was merely a byproduct of winning for her.

I let her vent and made myself comfortable by leaning against a tree, casting a weak heat array around me. With Song Song around, I didn't need to worry about conserving Qi for small things.

"Still, you are competent, and I expected something like this. Also, congratulations on the breakthrough," Song Song smiled. "Can you tell me what exactly happened? Rumors aren't the most reliable source."

"Before I get into that, I want to know if we'll be sticking around here for long. Should I make myself comfortable?" I asked.

She pointed behind me and said, "We will return to Whitewall City. You can tell me your story there."

I nodded and began recounting what had happened. As I spoke, I picked up the unconscious messenger and placed him atop Speedy's shell. Song Song raised a questioning brow when she saw the giant flying turtle but decided not to interrupt. We started walking back to where I had come from.

Since we weren't rushing, I was almost finished with the story before we even left the forest. Enjoying winter's frosty charm without worrying about monstrous beasts attacking me was strangely pleasant.

She smiled as I explained everything, detailing the politics and events.

"Mao... Mao Shaoqi... that name sounds familiar, but I can't quite recall where from?" Song Song interrupted me, then she shrugged and added, "Whatever, it probably isn't important if I didn't bother remembering."

I continued with the story, finishing just as we neared the edge of the forest and saw the snowy white field in the distance.

"Also, I almost forgot. Congratulations on the book, it's quite popular," Song Song said.

Book?

It took me a moment to remember the encyclopedia. At first, I thought she meant a novel.

I hoped cultivators found it useful during these hard times. While the encyclopedia didn't contain revolutionary discoveries, it was a detailed and comprehensive compilation. It should be quite useful for fighters, and commanders alike.

As we approached Whitewall Town, I noticed rough construction around the outer walls covering the holes the monstrous beasts left.

I tried to get a read on Song Song, but all I could tell was that she was quite pretty when she wasn't smiling creepily. Her steamy breath in the cold gave her a charming appearance, almost like a princess.

It was easy to forget how charming she was by how she acted. As long as she didn't open her mouth or show her craziness, she could qualify as a rare beauty that many would fight over.

She stopped walking and stared at the walls. I halted along with her and stopped the flying turtle by manipulating the Qi in the carpet artifact.

"What's on your mind?" I asked, giving up on trying to read her. It seemed I wasn't the only one improving on the political side.

"My leadership while trying to defend my cities has been disastrous. If I return to the clan like this, with nothing but broken cities to show, it will be disastrous," she confessed. "That's why I decided to come here... I want to break into Foundation Establishment. But there's no one I trust in my group except you."

Ah, so that was what she was worried about. As a Core Disciple, Song Song had countless advantages many couldn't imagine. Still, those advantages came with the expectation that she would outperform everyone by a wide margin.

But with so many of her cities destroyed, a crack had formed in Song Song's indomitable armor. Her fellow Core Disciples and others would use this as a weakness or counterargument against her in the future.

Despite how much we knew and trusted each other, Song Song's goals sometimes felt alien to me. She usually didn't concern herself with what was happening around her or what people thought. Yet, there were times when she showed genuine interest and tried hard to become a better candidate for the next Sect Leader.

"Are you sure you're ready?" I inquired.

If she failed to break through to Foundation Establishment, all the Qi she had gathered would dissipate, and she would regress to a one-star Qi Gathering Cultivator.

With Song Song's talents, even if she failed, it would take at most a couple of years to reach the peak of Qi Gathering again. Compared to me, her cultivation speed was fast, but that still didn't mean much. She would be weakened if she failed, and she had too many enemies who would take advantage of such a situation.

"Yes, I have been ready for a while," she said.

I decided to trust her judgment. I would not argue with her, and I would try my best to help her if something went wrong.

"I'm doing this because we've been called to gather and form a main army to fight against the monstrous beasts. They're apparently planning to attack some no-name town," she shrugged.

"With your background, you could stay in a safe place during the war," I offered. "There's no need to rush. Nobody can compete with you anyway, so why enter a dangerous situation for no reason?"

While Song Song might be pretty bloodthirsty, she wasn't stupid enough to willingly enter an unwinnable battle. From what I was hearing, it seemed like the monstrous beasts were preparing for one last push. If that were the case, the monstrous beast leaders might reveal themselves, which was very dangerous.

Song Song looked me in the eyes and tilted her head. "Oh... you don't know about the Sect Leader's son?"