"No" As Wu Guang broke the deadlock, he shouted in response.

After the previous exchange, he knew that his strength was not enough to break her defense. So in truth, he had used this small respite to extinguish his flaming techniques, leaving only the 'Flaming Armor'. "If I can not break with brute force, then it's time to use that" with such thoughts, Wu Guang unsheathed the saber he carried on his back.

"Hoh, so if punches don't work, you will try to cut me?" The woman mocked him

"Indeed" Wu Guang did not get agitated from such cheap provocation and continue with his plan.

He quickly covered his 'Gravity Slasher' with qi and activated 'Shivering Disruption'. With the almost dark and moving cover, the saber looked alike a demonic weapon. Such was the effect, that even his opponent frowned.

"So what? You are not the only one who can use qi" With such words, the bandit woman proceeded to cover her knife with qi. Still, she did not use any real technique behind it, so in truth, the effect would be almost negligible.

"Heh, so let's see if I can indeed cut you" As if returning the previous provocation, Wu Guang advanced to meet her.

"Courting death!" Seemingly the woman was far more easily provoked than Wu Guang, as she lunged forward, with the knife aimed at Wu Guang's dantian area.

Wu Guang responded calmly, and as the knife neared his torso, used his free hand to grab at the knife. He felt some pain, as albeit negligible, a qi cover still helped her overcome part of his flaming defense. Still, he managed to grab the knife and lock her position for enough time as to land a heavy slash with the saber towards her shoulder.

"Screeee"

With a loud screech, 'Shivering Disruption' met the golden defensive cover. And after a brief moment, broke through it. Wu Guang's opponent was very experienced, so when she felt that her defensive technique was about to fail, she let go of the knife and jumped backward. But even so, the saber left her an albeit shallow, but heavily bleeding cut from the shoulder to the waist.

"Seems that I can indeed cut you," Wu Guang said while tossing aside the knife that remained in his hand. His palm was cut, but any observer could determine that this bout was indeed his win.

"I... I surrender!" As she said this, the woman fell down on her knees. The wound she received was not really serious, but she knew that her defensive technique could not survive another clash with the saber. Adding the fact that her normal speed was almost equal to Wu Guang and that she had no movement techniques, escape was impossible. So this move was the only thing she could think of.

"Please don't kill me... I surrender"

Wu Guang had no interest in sparing her, but as he thought of his current situation, he felt that she could be of use to him. So in place of quickly finishing her or capturing her, he questioned

"Did you come here alone?"

"Yes" Feeling the change and that now the Sect disciple in front of her had no intention to kill her, she answered truthfully.

"I see... do you have a bounty on you?" Bounty referred to the money that cities and merchant guilds would often offer for bandits that operated on their territory or trade routes.

"I... I do"

"Tell me"

"80 gold coins for my head from the Boundary Hill City"

"Hmm..." As Wu Guang was thinking, both the elders and his own team had approached him while surrounding the surrendered bandit.

"Are you really planning to spare her?" Asked Wei

"I do"

"Don't! A bandit is a bandit!" Exclaimed Kuang Jing. Then feeling the gaze from Wei, quickly added

"No offense intended"

"Wait, let inner disciple Wu Guang decide. It's his battle, and he won it. So as the winner, he is the only one qualified to speak" Elder Di said while maintaining his current persona of an outer elder. But while saying this, he sent a qi transmission to Wu Guang

"You have some idea?"

"Please watch her while I discuss something with outer elder Di. And you... Don't try to run, everyone around you can kill you if they want"

"Yes, yes, yes, I will not do anything young master Wu" Lowering herself even further the woman exclaimed. In truth, she was thinking "So the boy has a soft spot for women? If it so, then I have an opportunity to get him to set me free".

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After moving away enough for her and the rest to not hear them, Wu Guang asked Elder Di

"Elder, can you restrain her cultivation?"

"Yes" Nodded the Elder

"Then, can I ask you to do so? During the fight, I felt the opportunity to break through. And after I do, with some help I will be able to form a Master-Servant contract"

"Hmm? You want to take her as a servant?" Albeit Elder Di normally smiled all the time, this question was said in a disappointed tone and none of the perpetual smiles on his face.

"Indeed. But it's not because of the reason you may have thought off. A servant can accompany me all the time without generating suspicion. Plus her strength is almost equal to mine"

"Oh, so you want her as an extra insurance?" Hearing the explanation, Elder Di returned to his usual mood

"Yes"

"I understand. Leave her to me. I will interrogate her while you attempt your breakthrough. If you are successful and she did not partake in anything too nefarious, then I will help you set up the contract"

"Thank you Elder"

"Go and attempt it right away. I will explain the situation to everyone"

"I will, but..."

"What?"

"I ask you for permission to walk away from the camp to do so"

"I understand, you are allowed to do so. Still, be back before dawn or I will be forced to search for you"

"I will"

After confirming his intention and receiving permission to withdraw from the camp, Wu Guang walked away towards the forest that was visible to the north from their position.

As for Elder Di, initially, he had indeed thought that Wu Guang was simply lustful after a woman, but after hearing the real reason, he fully supported such an outcome. After all, Wu Guang was absolutely right that a servant could enter alongside the master anywhere. Even to places where the master was invited alone, like what would happen for the discussion of his inheritance.

As for the fact that Wu Guang asked for a breakthrough in solitude, this was a common occurrence for such. The 5th level of the Spirit realm was awakening one's consciousness, and so in truth, most of the cultivators could show extreme reactions. After all, consciousness included all one's experiences and memories, and during the awakening, one could start remembering shameful, tragic, or other kinds of memories. Obviously, with such memories surging, the emotions and reactions of a cultivator would be unstable and could be even shameful.

Wu Guang wasn't interested in the woman he fought and in truth, if he was denied his request, would not even feel anything about it. Still, as it was accepted, his mood improved. Indeed, someone that had the same strength as him would be extremely useful during his stay in Coastal Hill City. Especially as she had no connections to the Sect, and could be actually used to snoop around without leading towards him.

For his breakthrough, he chose a small clearing inside this nearby forest. It was only a mile from the camp, so in case of an emergency, he could easily reach it. As for his own condition, he for the first time was nervous. Thought this was understandable, if a normal cultivator would relive some of his memories, what would happen to Wu Guang? After all, he would be fusing with an already existent consciousness, one that had almost 800 hundred years of Bai Qi's memories and experiences.

Still, nervous or not, he had no way to avoid this and so after reaching the clearing, Wu Guang sat down cross-legged. After spending a few minutes to calm his mind and recover the spent qi, he slowly started sensing his consciousness. Awakening a consciousness required a cultivator to simply find it, as a nascent consciousness was present in any intelligent being.

In Wu Guang's or truthfully Bai Qi's case, what he needed was to connect with the already existent consciousness and will it into his mind.

The latter sounded a bit off, after all, it was his own consciousness, but it was logical. After all, his current body could not host any consciousness, especially one of such advanced level, so even though it was fused during the process of taking over the body, it was still a separate entity.

Thankfully, he had researched the process deeply while preparing his escape strategy, so he knew what to do.

After connecting with the consciousness and activating it, he simply willed it to fuse entirely with his body and mind.