I had made sure to change my clothes completely, and hid everything except the box, several emergency talismans, and the door token in a secret spot in the misty mountains, before I approached the cultivator market once again.

Of course, once again, the real disguise came from the thick layer of essence covering my Qi, hiding it from all but the most careful observer. With that, my disguise was convincing enough. With that, I approached the cultivator market from the opposite direction, making sure to carry the token out to prevent a cultivator from attacking me because of my disrespect.

After all, from their perspective, I was just a martial artist, and wasn't a part of the protection. However, the token of the Treasure Pavilion changed it.

When I arrived at the market, people watched me curiously, but I ignored all of them. The less time I gave them to react, the lower the chances of an ambush. Then, I glanced at the corner, where two Verdant Disciples looking at me with sharp eyes.

Well, a second ambush, I corrected myself.

With that, I went to the door and pressed the token, which opened like it did for Cultivator Aom. However, unlike it did against him, the token melted. Why, I didn't know, but since the same woman greeted me, I didn't bother to question and entered the room.

"The box," she said. I passed it to her. She put the box into some kind of jade talisman. It glowed. After checking that, she passed through a door, and brought back a bottle. The process was weird enough that, I didn't even dare to ask a question. I just took the bottle, and walked out.

The less I interacted with such a weird place, the better.

The moment I stepped out, I started walking fast. Several groups followed me at a distance, but, ironically, their numbers made the situation easier, as they were more careful about each other rather than a mere martial artist that they could catch any moment.

Their reaction showed that, the Treasure Pavilion didn't bother protecting their customers. I shrugged. Ultimately, it didn't matter since I wasn't planning to use them much.

I had alternative channels for various items.

Cultivators maintained the distance, even the disciples of Verdant Family, and I arrived at the valley without a problem. It looked like my latest breakthrough was a tad unnecessary, but then I shrugged. Better safe than sorry.

When I arrived at the valley, I alighted the smoke bombs, the chain explosion suddenly filling the whole valley with foul-smelling smoke, cutting all the methods of detection the cultivators had except Qi. Through that, they were able to follow, but the distance was too wide.

I had to dodge a couple of ranged attacks, but they weren't a threat from such a great distance. Then, without revealing my speed or using a talisman, I found myself in the mist, which blocked their biggest advantage.

Interestingly, even as I disappeared into the mists, the disciples of the Verdant family didn't say anything or make a move, choosing to stay away. Maybe I misunderstood their objective slightly. They wanted to take the pill, but not as much as they wanted to deprive Aisnam of it. Otherwise, they would have moved farther.

I used five of my precious Qi Strands to move faster, as the essence didn't work properly in the mist. I dashed as fast as I could go, and before they could even catch up with me, I was gone. It had been easy, because the cultivators had been looking for a helpless martial artist, and not a cultivator of Third Stage who was willing to waste a lot of energy just to move faster.

Of course, Misty Mountains' blocking worked against me as well, so I didn't know exactly what was going on behind me. My best guess, they were trying to block each other from capturing me first.

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I didn't care. Instead, I rushed to my hiding spot, picked everything I had left there, and moved even further away before I burned my clothes, changed into the cultivator identity I had been using to visit the place, and left the mountains from a different location, the bottle wrapped by a protection talisman and hidden away just in case.

Good that I did, because at a distance, I could see almost twenty cultivators fighting intensely. But, they were mostly Second and Third realm, and their combat techniques were simple enough not to be a threat against me.

At a greater distance, I could see the disciples from the Verdant family having a discussion with a few cultivators, no doubt trying to deal with me. Altogether, a smooth escape.

Especially since, I wasn't the only one that was moving toward the cultivation market. A few people looked at me suspiciously, but at this point, I had a reputation as a reckless cultivator, so they ignored me. Still, as I looked at what was going on, I couldn't help but imagine what would have happened. First, I would have fought against several weak itinerant cultivators, and then a few stronger greedy ones would have attacked me, forcing me to spend more of my stored Qi.

Then, the two disciples would have attacked, probably together with several others, forcing me to spend more and more Qi and talismans, until it became clear that I was much stronger than anyone at my level was supposed to be… The verdant family would have started paying more attention to me, and maybe even that Foundation Establishment cultivator would return and see the source of my power. And, even if I got away somewhat, Verdant family would have hounded me on the way back, turning it into a desperate wild chase…

I couldn't help but shudder. It sounded like hell.

No, instead, I disappeared just like many other cultivators, my presence unnoticed. Another quick change, and I started running in the wilderness, my most recent breakthrough to the Peak of the Skin Refinement Realm allowing me to push Rabbit Dash even faster. Therefore, even when avoiding the mess, I returned to the kingdom of Zaim in less than a week, which was fortunate, as it meant there were only three weeks to that arbitrary deadline I had given when they attacked.

However, as I approached, I realized a problem. There were a lot of savage beasts around. Not as much as Markas, but enough to slow down the trade between different cities. It looked like the game between the two sects was starting to have immediate consequences.

I wanted to rush to the Spring Palace immediately, but I ignored that temptation and chose to enter the capital for a quick visit first. I met with a surprising view. Out of the two cultivator mansions outside the city, one of them had been destroyed … apparently, by an unnamed swordsman, who then went out to destroy the sect as well.

That sect was supposed to be smaller than Entsa Pavilion and Kartpa Valley, but it didn't make the situation any less shocking. A Golden Core cultivator, just like the one I had seen back in Markas, strong enough to destroy a city, dead.

That young man — whose name I finally learned, Xantum — was truly a madman, but what fascinated me was the way people talked about him, elevating him as a great warrior because he had answered the disrespect that had been raised against him.

Proving that mass murder could be treated as a bar punch if the deliverer was strong enough.

Yet, once I went to the Palace and ascertained that Aisnam was still alive, I moved back. First, I checked Pearyin from a distance. She was in good condition, still practicing while selling the low-level pills as I asked.

Then, I decided to swing by Markas. After my latest breakthrough, the distance had become even shorter, allowing me to visit the place in less than an hour. I wasn't planning to talk with her either, but one thing changed my mind.

The slumps of Markas had developed a gang problem. A gang that was led by foreigners, each suspiciously competent in Tiger Fist. It's changed my mind.

Marana was not at home, but I just used the secret entrance and barged in. She still had the apothecary lab in place, and with it, a shockingly large pile of herbs waiting for me. I used them to refine a lot of essence pills, their quality even higher than the previous time.

I hadn't improved my apothecary knowledge any further since my last visit, but I had several breakthroughs, which helped greatly. I took some with me, but the majority, I left with Marana.

Then, I found a cave to bury everything but the pill and a few protective talismans, used the secret entrance. I knocked on the secret entrance door loudly several times.

It opened a minute later. At the other side of the door, I saw Aisnam, in her usual outfit complete with the veil, holding an unfamiliar but very dangerous-looking talisman in hand. Yet, what caught my attention was her shocked gaze. "W-why are you here?" she asked with a trembling voice.

I could have answered her. Instead, I took a step forward, tugged down her veil to reveal her beautiful face … and put her beautiful lips to better use than talking.

She melted in my arms.