"Well, that was something," I muttered once as I left Pearyin behind in the cave, though I didn't depart immediately. First, I had spent quite a bit of time removing any evidence of Qi around the entrance, though not as much as I spent making sure she was distracted and mellow rather than panicking.

Hopefully, it would be enough. I had left her a small stack of my best talismans, along with strong orders never to leave the cave unless staying meant a risk to her life. As a Connate Realm Martial artist, and a true cultivator equipped with enough talismans to scare a middle-stage Qi Gathering realm cultivator, her safety in the middle of nowhere should be guaranteed.

And, just in case she met with a threat she had to escape, I also left her with four spirit stones if she had to depart urgently, which should be enough for her to travel to the capital of Xanhum kingdom and meet with the old lady if necessary.

It was a nice last resort.

Of course, if my fate decided to be particularly annoying, none of those might matter, but at that point, there was nothing I could do. Even with the System, I had limits. And, bringing her to Markas was far more dangerous than a cave in the middle of nowhere, covered with enough protection charms to block Qi detection.

I ran toward Markas at full speed. As I did so, I opened the letters of the Queen. I had three of them. One addressed as me, to be opened only in emergencies. I still did, its Qi seal was easy to manipulate. It was a set of instructions about going back to Xantum and waiting for her message in case I was met with hostility.

The second one was addressed to the 'apothecary'. It was a long, formal letter, but to summarize, it accepted the nebulous deal I had presented in an earlier letter, but did not yet commit to the choice I presented between granting minor favors or gold. Not that I really cared about it. The only reason I added that was to make the offer convincing.

A generous offer would have been far more suspicious.

To my slight surprise, the third letter also had a familiar target. Falnaher, the city lord's daughter, whom I briefly met when I accompanied Lannayin to the arena.

Her letter had a familiar tone, implying the Queen and Falnaher had a somewhat friendly relationship. It was not too detailed, but it was more likely about interception risk than the closeness of their friendship or alliance. However, I caught a few awkward phrases that gave me the impression of code words, probably to show the letter was genuine.

Content-wise, there wasn't much. First, it mentioned the upcoming Tiger Fist army, and gave a breakdown of their numbers and their cultivation breakdown — which was accurate except one unlucky Bone Forging artist — and their estimated arrival time.

Then, it introduced the bearer as a distant ally who promised to assist Markas for a cost that would be handled by the Queen herself. There were some details about how to keep account of every assistance: pills, training sessions, auxiliary materials, and other things. The only thing that wasn't mentioned was direct combat, suggesting that the Queen didn't expect any direct assistance.

Well, she was right.

It was a good letter. Not too detailed, and despite my great familiarity, I barely managed to catch a few intentional awkward phrases that felt like pre-arranged code to validate the letter as genuine; and only because she had decided to be fancy and used some pieces of ancient poems I recognized thanks to my magical experience. Combined with her impressive handwriting, it was a good attempt to keep it secure.

Well, not from me, but I was cheating, so it didn't count.

Once I finished reading, I sealed the letters back, unfolded two other pieces of paper, and started working on the first two rewards I planned to deliver. Two calligraphies, each containing a full strand of Qi along with the strongest martial arts essence concept I could manage to impart, one with the word, Sword; the other with another word, Crane.

Marana deserved her own reward.

Once that was done, I started working on two manuals. Both manuals were dissections of Tiger Fist, its major attributes, an analysis of every single move, its advantages, disadvantages, common tells, ideal counters, and possible group combat variations. However, the two manuals were not identical. One of them explained how to take advantage of them through a generic perspective, while the other went into great detail on how Crane Kick could be leveraged for it.

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I didn't have any pills prepared, which was somewhat of a problem, but I trusted Marana to gather some more herbs during my absence, and if there was one thing I wouldn't lack, it was savage beasts to provide the necessary essence.

As I reached the Markas border, I met with a surprise addition. Several newly built forts, each carrying the flag of Tiger Fist school. Some of the forts were just logistic points, but a few of them, particularly ones close to the capital side, looked more fortified than it was necessary against savage beasts.

It didn't tell anything good about their intention. Curious, I approached the biggest fort, trusting my ability to stay hidden, especially with all the people going in and out. A good choice, as I counted five connate martial artists inside, trying to hide their cultivation.

They would have succeeded if it wasn't for my skill.

It was an interesting development, showing that Tiger Fist was investing far more than they had indicated. The difference between ten and fifteen Connate Realm fighters was not small. And, there was no guarantee that those were all of it.

I didn't check all the forts, but I checked a few on the way, and I saw at least one in each fort, which was not exactly promising for Markas.

Too bad I was too entrenched that dealing with them, even with all the restrictions I was under, was easier than the alternative.

The Tiger Fist's presence lessened significantly once I arrived at the thickest part of the monster's presence. They were probably afraid of a stampede. A reasonable concern. Even with all my advantages, I wouldn't have wanted to hold a fortified point against them.

There was fighting, and there was trying to stem a natural disaster alone.

As I passed, I realized that the density of the beasts had increased compared to my previous visit, which was not even a week ago. Whatever Kartpa Valley cultivators had done to gather so many beasts, it wasn't losing its effectiveness.

I didn't dare to explore what was going on.

In comparison, Markas was in a better condition. The slums were still tense, but unlike the last time, the streets weren't filled with Tiger Fist Disciples disguised as ordinary thugs. Instead, the streets were patrolled by teams of Crane Kick disciples. Their cultivation was higher from what I could glean from their skill level significantly.

Marana was clearly putting the pills I left with her to good use.

I spent some time putting on my disguise, but this time, I had removed all of the boils and other distracting skin features. Previously, I had them for two reasons, even though the disgust made it hard to deal with people. I wasn't good enough to create a convincing disguise without some eye-catching features, and the catchy additions made it easier. Additionally, I needed a reason to poke around without being suspicious, and acquiring Snow Blossom and Volcano styles was a good excuse.

Since neither excuse was necessary anymore, I chose to disguise myself as a distinguished old gentleman, though still maintaining the same main features so that Marana recognized me.

I climbed the walls, I noticed a similar trend in the city guards, showing that either they found their own source, or Marana shared some of her treasures. The latter was very altruistic in this new world, but after my own experience with Marana, her altruism didn't shock me.

Luckily, it would make my next step easier.

Marana was not in her room once again, but this time, I found her in the courtyard, training a small army of disciples. Two hundred Skin Refinement Realm martial artists, spread across four stages.

An impressive force … for old Markas. Nothing against the upcoming tide.

Well, I was here to help.

I went into the hidden apothecary she set up for me, and deliberately left the door open so that she would notice my presence. The medicinal plants were replenished to a surprising degree, even more than what there was before my previous visit despite, that time, she had more time to arrange.

But then, it wasn't a surprise. With the savage beasts crawling all around the city, the area where they could gather herbs had shrunk significantly. As their cultivation increased, so did their radius. Not to mention, their increased range meant that they were reaching areas that hadn't been harvested for months.

However, while refining pills, I naturally examined the various herbs and plants that spread in front of me more in detail, and started to notice some interesting details, details I would have missed if it wasn't for my lesson on gardening.

Thanks to that, I caught several abnormalities, often linked to rapid growth. A weaker version of what I had done with the spirit plants in Pearyin's cave, too subtle to be caught by anyone but a true master — even if a cheating one.

I suspected that Whatever Kartpa Valley had been doing to the beasts also affected plants to a lesser degree.

I would have written it off, if it wasn't for one interesting detail. The effect was not uniform.

A less-known fact about plants, secret to everyone but experts.

They were often immobile.

I couldn't help but wonder whether I could discover the source of what Kartpa Valley was doing by tracking its effects on plants. However, before I could consider it more, I heard a door open.

Marana was here.