I followed my declaration with another attack.

Their first response to my attack was to arrange several teams and start searching for where I was hiding. They stopped that after I destroyed the cultivation of four Tiger Fist teams, including another Skin Refinement martial artist. Moreover, I repeated the same trick on two teams of Dragon Saber disciples and an instructor.

I even went as far as to visit the Tiger Fist compound and throw a couple firebombs. With their teams split between sieging the Crane Kick school and surrounding the city lord's manor, it was surprisingly empty.

Yet, I didn't touch any of the Demon Claw teams.

The search was called off after the attack, with their forces pulling back.

I was curious about what it would do to their alliance, but I didn't have the luxury of paying attention to that. Not when I met a more fascinating opportunity.

The number of the guards at the arena had been reduced. The Dragon Saber Instructor was gone. An unexpected benefit, but I needed to make it more convincing. I thought about changing my disguise but then decided against it. The mad old apothecary was a good disguise.

Then, I went to the arena, and threw another firebomb toward the stands. Then, I followed it with more than a dozen smoke bombs, making it look like the fires were far more intense.

"He's here. He's here to kill us all!" I shouted loudly, then changed my voice. "No! My cultivation!" I wasn't exactly an expert in changing my voice, but moving in the smoke quickly allowed me to shout from different directions.

I burst forward and took down several more Muscle Reinforcement artists while they were panicking. Meanwhile, the two Skin Refinement instructors, one Tiger Fist and one Demon Claw, attacked without saying anything.

I dodged their attacks while I retreated back into the smoke, doing my best to look in distress, which wasn't exactly wrong. Even with my talents, taking two martial artists of a higher realm was not an easy achievement while not using any discernible martial attacks.

Luckily, from the beginning, it was not the plan. At a distance, I could see several disciples dragging a chained Marana out of her cell, not willing to abandon her in her cell. I let them, while I let the two instructors push me into the smoke.

Then, I reached into my Inventory and pulled a poison. It was an improved version of some kind of knockout dust that Elsana gave me, though only effective against the Initiative realm. Creating poison that could affect higher-ranking artists was prohibitively expensive.

Unfortunately for my opponents, I had the System to improve them further. They were too late to react when I threw the dust on them. Even with the System upgrade, it wasn't enough to take them down.

But, it was enough to make them panic as they retreated out. With the smoke blocking their sight, I easily escaped, using a predetermined escape path.

In the chaos of smoke bombs and panicking servants, catching up with the disciples who were escorting Marana was easy. Concealed, I prepared to attack … only to freeze when I eavesdropped on the disciples talking.

"Hurry up, we need to bring the Hall Master back to Tiger Palace," one of them said. "Great Tiger would kill us if she gets free."

"Our Demon Hall is closer. Why don't we go there?" replied a Demon Claw disciple.

"You would like that, wouldn't you? No, we'll go to Tiger Palace," the first one responded, not bothering to hide his suspicion.

As much as I loved to hear the seeds of suspicion I had set up had been working excellently, my mind was preoccupied with their statement.

They referred to Marana as Hall Master.

I had already realized that she had been a high-ranking member of Crane Kick School, but Hall Master meant that she was the founder. Which was weird, as the System return indicated that she was not even at peak Skin Refinement.

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I decided to resolve the mystery later. I threw another smoke bomb, and while the disciples were panicking, I started attacking Tiger Fist ones, ruining their cultivation before I grabbed Marana, temporarily immobilized her with a blast of essence, and brought her away before reinforcements could arrive.

Success. Now, I just needed to find a way to get her help with Elsana's predicament, and everything would be perfect.

I returned to the previous safe house I had set, but deliberately kept it dark. "Now, let's have a talk, Hall Master Marana," I said with a whispery, evil voice that wouldn't be amiss. She looked scared without her ability to move.

I didn't enjoy scaring her, but it was better than the alternative. I grabbed her wrist, and used her pulse to diagnose her even as I allowed her to move once more. With my new medical knowledge, it took a second for me to understand the root of her problem.

Apparently, ruining people's cultivation wasn't as unique as I had first assumed. She was wounded badly, which clogged two of her gates, and damaged eight acupuncture points. It was a dangerous wound already, but not something Elsana couldn't fix, even after it had reached the current point.

Right now, she was barely in the Intermediate Muscle Reinforcement realm, showing that she has regressed even lower than the time we first met. \

"Who are you?" she asked

"Enemy of your enemy," I said, my tone making it clear that I wouldn't allow her more questions. "Interesting problem you have here. How about we make a deal for healing you," I said.

I wanted to support her, but offering some kind of mysterious deal was less suspicious.

"What kind of deal?" she growled.

"Nothing much. I just want a copy of Volcano Hammer and Snow Blossom techniques," I said. They never mentioned her by name, but Elsana and Lannayin had talked about owing to Crane Kick school. It was a good way to indirectly interrogate her.

"Never," she said.

"Oh, just a copy. I'm sure they will be happy to pay for your recovery," I said. Her expression looked tight. "How about if I throw some pills that can help your people recover from their wounds. The last time I looked at them, they were in a bad condition."

This time, her expression flickered. "I … Even for that, I won't force them," she said.

Honorable, pointlessly so. She was lucky that I was just trying to make an excuse. "How about this? If they refuse, you'll follow me for five years. A connate realm servant will be helpful, and you're not a bad cook."

"Connate realm?" she said, shocked enough to temporarily ignore the jab about knowing where she was.

"Yes. You're just at the edge. It's not a difficult task for me to help you over," I said, which was not true. It would be challenging. And, it was only possible because her injury didn't destroy her essence, and just blocked its transmission instead.

Ironic that her injury turned out helpful. Unlike Pearyin, I didn't need to feed her a lot of pills and help her absorb them, just repaired the channels, and moved the essence.

"Alright. But only after this crisis is over. I swear on heavens and on my honor," she said.

"Good, there's no love lost between me and those incompetent house cats," I growled. "Actually, I'm even going to give you some pills free of charge. Just make sure those idiots learn their lesson," I said.

"Now, prepare. It's going to hurt," I warned her.

I didn't coddle her as I quickly stabbed needles to hundred and eight acupunctures, and at the same time, I started focusing on the blockages. My unique set of abilities once again proved useful. Elsana could have cured her, but the best she could do was to slowly bleed the excess essence.

I was familiar with Crane Kick enough to channel her essence correctly. I fed her a healing pill I refined, allowing her acupuncture points to recover while I helped her channel her essence correctly. Her cultivation started to rise. Peak Muscle Reinforcement, Peak Skin Refinement … Beginner Bone Reinforcement, Intermediate, Advanced, Peak…

"Now, prepare yourself," I said as I popped an essence recovery pill into my mouth. It was a Yellow Medium-Grade pill, the best I had in my inventory. If I wasn't desperately imbuing the needles to keep channeling the essence, it would have probably pushed me somewhere in the middle of the Skin Refinement realm without a problem.

Raising to Connate Realm was no joke, even under the perfect circumstances I had been facing. I bit my lips as I channeled her essence through a combination of massage and treatment. Under the effect, her acupuncture points started to extend, creating essence connections between her muscles, skin, and bones.

Just like that, all the benefits of the previous three stages melded together, turning into an overwhelming advantage.

I gathered my needles and pulled back while she gasped on the floor. Yet, despite the pain she was still feeling, she had an incredible smile on her face.

"As per our agreement, I'll send the pills you need in a few hours. Try not to make too much commotion until I can send them," I said. "Don't forget, even a Connate realm martial artist can't stand against an army."

"How are you going to send the pills," she asked.

I described a location. "Be there just at midday. I'll even use someone that's precious to Elsana," I said, making sure to give a cruel expression. "She can thank me for saving him."

I could have used a dead drop, but I decided against it. After helping her to break through, it would be a pity not to get some System returns.

I had worked hard. It was time to freeload once more.