As He Delan opened her eyes, her first thought was if all before was a dream. But as it was not, with her very well conscious of it thanks to the lack of qi or the pain she felt, the logical ones of where she was and how much time had passed followed right away.

A groan escaped her as she tilted her head to the side, but there was nothing except a wall. She then turned to the other side and saw a pile of weapons and items. Near it, a young man, thankfully, one that she did know.

"Bai Qi?"

***

If there was a benefit to the lack of qi, senses, and everything else that made a cultivator one, it was the ease of hiding from one's enemies. Aware that neither he nor He Delan could remain on the spot, requiring rest and healing, Bai Qi decided to move into one of the nearby buildings.

Without knowing the area and having been too occupied by the events preceding this need, Bai Qi had no idea what use was the small square building near the road they were supposed to follow.

As it turned out, it was something of a warehouse for something unknown as the attackers looted everything during the first days of the siege, and now it remained as a simple single-room stone building with the door thrown open.

Still, it served the purpose Bai Qi had in mind. So with some struggle, he moved the unconscious He Delan inside. As well as all of the spoils he had been gathering for the last half hour.

He had only sat down, intending to rest, as He Delan regained consciousness, and so, it took him far more than a single breath to concentrate and update her on their situation and location.

"So an entire hour has passed? Have you heard or noticed anything about others?" He Delan did not specify who she meant by others, but Bai Qi understood.

"No." And indeed, with not even enemies present nearby, Bai Qi had not seen a single living being.

"We *Gah* need to move on. If we reach the formation's core, maybe we can do something about this." Forcing herself to first sit and then stand up turned out as a true challenge, one during which she groaned and felt how blood started flowing from below the cloth that bandaged her side.

"I was thinking of the same. But before that, tighten the bandage, and put this on." Bai Qi did not allow his tiredness to show up, and as he instructed, he also pointed towards a leather cloak, one of the several he had gathered from the dead [Seven Souls Sect] members.

Bai Qi had hoped to find, at least, some low-tier healing pills that even a mortal could take, but he failed. Regretfully for the current situation, the [Seven Souls] seemingly did not avoid spending. Even the healing pills on their body were of good quality, and some even carried Earth-tier ones.

Thus, he had been forced to change his initial plan of recovering and advancing. Now, the only thing he hoped was for the chaos to increase to such a point where he and He Delan could mix with the enemies and avoid fighting for as long as they could.

Bai Qi and He Delan left the warehouse after taking a couple of weapons, leaving the rest inside.

"By following this road until the combat palace, the big building you can see over there-" He Delan pointed at a square-shaped building visible even from their position, almost a mile away, "-and taking to our left for half a mile we will reach the visitor's square. The formation's core is in the second courtyard, on the west side of the square." Aware that they may get separated, He Delan gave a detailed explanation to Bai Qi, and only then did both move out.

----------------------------------------

----------------------------------------

He Delan's worries had not been unfounded, as if she had fallen in such peril after the formation's true self was shown, Shen Kun would have faced something worse. A strong cultivator in his own right, his main methods had always depended on control and mind-power, both of which had been lessened enormously by the qi-less zone.

And when the zone turned into one of mortals, Shen Kun, who had approached the visitor's square alone, was almost immediately taken out of combat by a dozen [Seven Souls Sect] members. Thankfully he had not been killed, but it did not make him feel better.

And while a good deal of his thoughts was caused by his shown weakness, the ones about him being discovered surfaced more and more often as he tried to free himself from the simple rope that bound his hands and legs.

And indeed, the question of how was a truly important one. After all, with no senses and Shen Kun moving slowly from cover to cover, just how was he expected right as he reached the square? Recalling how four enemies struck at him from three sides, and the other two immediately threw ropes over him, Shen Kun could not doubt they knew he would arrive exactly from that side, especially considering it was the opposite of his original heading!

*Creak*

Suddenly, the door into the equipment storage of the combat palace he had been thrown into opened.

"Why are you holding me here?" Aware that he should have been killed, Shen Kun questioned right away. But, the four people with their faces and complexions were hidden by the hooded leather cloak did not say anything, only shoving someone inside before closing the door, leaving Shen Kun and the new arrival in complete darkness.

*Plop*

Shen Kun had no chance to take a look at the person's identity, but as he heard the body fall, he tried to squirm closer, asking in a low voice, "Who are you?"

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

*Cough* *Cough*

"...'s that you, Shen Kun?" After a fit of coughing and slightly slurred speech, the new captive asked back. Still, it was enough for Shen Kun to shiver and shout out, "Vice-head Tao?!"

***

Tao Xuegang was not supposed to be there, captured or otherwise indeed. Having separated from Shen Kun after feeling that several presences were moving to intercept them, Tao Xuegang released some qi and then started attracting the group away from the visitor's area.

Though the qi-seeping added effect took him unprepared, it wasn't enough to stop him from attacking the over thirty cultivators, now just mortals, that followed after him for an entire mile to the east.

While Tao Xuegang's weapon of choice was an Earth-tier, with a real bound soul, dragon glaive, he was proficient with several other weapons. So, since the beginning of this pursuit, he had taken out a simple sword, one that, while the worst of the weapons in his possession, was the only one he could use without any qi. He wryly smiled as he entered the fray, swinging a weapon he kept only as a souvenir from his first won duel, 204 years before the current day.

The fight was brief, with the aged body of Tao Xuegang giving him trouble to match the younger opponents, but still, he managed to down at least four of them, wounding yet another six in the process. The old master also received his share of wounds, but when he assumed that there it was, the last breath he would take, the enemies suddenly charged at him, and a strike with the handle of an ax sent him into darkness.

***

"I regained my bearings only after a few minutes, finding myself bound and moved here." Tao Xuegang explained to Shen Kun, as they both wondered why the enemies had chosen to capture them in place of killing them as it should be.

"But, no matter how I look at it, there should be no reason for letting us live. After all, it is now that we don't pose any threat and have no use, at least one I can think of."

"I recall hearing something about a situation in the south before I was knocked out. But I can not understand how that could influence them to capture us in place of killing." Tao Xuegang answered in the same questioning manner as ShenkKun spoke just before, but then lowered his voice, "Can you move closer? I have a fish intestine sword in my sleeve. Try to take it out. No matter what use they have in mind for us, I do not plan to allow them to."

"Agreed"

*Shuffle* *Shufle* *Ruffle* *Clang* *Plop*

After creeping closer, Shen Kun, at the third attempt, managed to grab the hilt of the short, concealed sword. Being one of Tao Xuegang's usual weapons, it was extremely hard to use without qi, especially as its normal weight was over twenty pounds, and it required a lot of force to be unsheathed. Still, after a few tries, pulling to different sides, the two elders managed to pry the sword out.

Then, it was just a matter of cutting their bindings, which thankfully were on the front side.

"Vice-head, but how did they miss such a weapon?" Even if the moment and place were wrong, Shen Kun could not help but ask. After all, short or not, it was a heavy sword, and no qi meant that a restrained Tao Xuegang could not carry it easily, either.

"Luck." The [Void Palace] Vice-head shrugged, but as the room was pitch dark, he ended adding an explanation just a few moments later, as he moved towards the door, "I fell on my left arm, and so when they picked me, they did not touch my right one."

----------------------------------------

----------------------------------------

Surprisingly, Bai Qi's plan of disguising themselves had worked out, at least for the three encounters he and He Delan had with the enemies while walking towards the combat palace.

Even in the third meeting, during which the hostile cultivators, luckily not from the [Seven Souls Sect], approached, Bai Qi managed to avoid incidents. He even got pointed to one of the entrances of the enormous building, where one of the [Seven Souls Sect] elders was handing out mortal-level medicine for the wounded besiegers.

She thought while observing an unfazed Bai Qi who disappeared for a few breaths and then dressed in the brown robes of the [Earth's Demon Sons], walked towards the indicated door. Only to return with medicine a few minutes later.

To her own surprise, He Delan, for the first time, felt admiration for someone of her age or younger.

"It's not the best stuff as we are not from the [Seven Souls Sect], but it will be of use." Bai Qi sniffed and examined the balm and two pills he got before indicating for He Delan to follow him.

And the tinge of admiration He Delan had felt earlier grew into a true feeling of respect as she caught a glimpse of Bai Qi's body condition while he applied the medicine to himself, and she stood guard in the small passageway, just as he did first for her.

He Delan wasn't a greenhouse flower either, but now as a mortal, every step she took had been a challenge. Not to mention the pain, which felt as extreme to her not infused with qi consciousness.

*Clamor*

Suddenly, both of them caught on some shouting, coming from nearby.

"Let's go take a look, and if we can, let's use the distraction to cross the last trek." As if he wasn't applying medicine and bandaging his wounds just now or wasn't exhausted at all, Bai Qi quickly threw over the leather cloak of the [Seven Souls Palace]. And before He Delan could even answer, he was already taking the first steps towards the combat palace's main entrance...