After a while, Song Zining couldn’t help but ask, “Where are we going?”

“To collect resources.”

“Seriously?” Song Zining was clearly skeptical. Ji Tianqing was clearly here to spy on Nighteye, and these so-called resources were just excuses.

However, Ji Tianqing kept going with a serious demeanor and Song Zining had no better choice but to follow.

The closer they were to the continent border, the more adverse the void tempests and environments became. The rocks here were extremely hard after being immersed in void origin power for many years, probably even harder than steel alloy.

Fierce storms would kick up without warning, and void lacerations could appear at any moment. This place was filled with danger at every turn.

Ji Tianqing went on without rest, scaling mountains and pa.s.sing through valleys as she brought Song Zining through dangerous lands. Twice in less than a single day, Song Zining had been blown away by powerful winds and flung into rocky cliffs. Even someone at his level couldn’t take this kind of repeated damage. He had broken two ribs and sustained numerous injuries at this point.

Seeing that Ji Tianqing had no intention of taking a break, Song Zining cried out amidst the raging winds, “Wait, where are the resources you were talking about? I think we’ve already come here before!”

“Resources? Here they are.” Ji Tianqing picked up a random rock and smashed it open. She then dug out a blue crystal which she duly tossed to Song Zining.

Having operated Ningyuan Heavy Industries for many years, Song Zining was highly knowledgeable about various rare materials. He knew at a glance that this topaz was a high-grade material used in certain origin arrays. A finger-sized piece like this one was enough to build a high-grade origin gun, and its value was extraordinary.

However, such materials were usually hidden deep inside rocks and difficult to notice unless exposed—at least Song Zining had no way of sensing them. They could crack every rock open, but these things were extremely hard, and even Ji Tianqing had to smash each of them several times. There were a great number of mountain peaks all around them and rocks numbering in the millions. How many years would it take them to crack all of them?

Song Zining wanted to probe more about this matter, asking questions about the resources every now and then. Sometimes, Ji Tianqing would ignore him completely, and at other times, she would dig out strange, ice-sealed herbs or s.h.i.+ny rare ores.

Just like that, the two walked on for an entire three days. Song Zining’s backpack was filled to the brim with all kinds of rare objects.

“Wait, Tianqing, that’s enough resource gathering, don’t you think? We should go back now.” Song Zining spoke tactfully, but in truth, he was all bedraggled, full of injuries, and he really didn’t want to go through this ordeal anymore. He hadn’t gotten any rest for the past three days, so much so that he hadn’t even healed his broken ribs. All he could do was protect the damaged area with origin power.

Ji Tianqing was also showing some signs of fatigue, but she was faring so much better than the seventh young master. She wasn’t exactly stronger, but her endless repertoire of secret arts allowed her to foresee and take precautions against most dangerous situations. At the very least, she was never blown away by fierce winds.

Only after seeing Song Zining’s situation did the anger in Ji Tianqing’s eyes subside slightly. Song Zining heaved a sigh of relief when she finally changed directions and began heading inland.

Although the things in his backpack were worth a fair amount of money, Song Zining was smart enough to know that Ji Tianqing was never here for resources. All she wanted to do was torment him. The seventh young master also understood this. He allowed himself to be blown away by the winds several times, breaking his ribs and sustaining injuries, before he managed to appease the young miss’ anger.

After leaving the continent border, Song Zining asked cautiously, “Tianqing, why are you so angry?”

Ji Tianqing replied coldly, “No reason, I just don’t find your notion amusing.”

“But…”

“No buts! Do you want to collect more resources?”

Song Zining shut up obediently.

Ji Tianqing’s methods were highly unpredictable. Even Qianye couldn’t see through her, much less Song Zining. Up until now, the latter still couldn’t figure out whether she was truly angry or if she had other intentions. This made the all-round perfect Song Zining feel somewhat helpless.

After traveling silently for half a day, Ji Tianqing finally spoke up, “I need to go get some things, you go back first.”

Song Zining asked cautiously, “You’re not going back to the empire, are you?”

“Of course not.”

With that, Ji Tianqing left Song Zining alone and vanished southward into the wilderness.

Song Zining had no idea what lay in that direction or what she wanted to do there. As clever as he was, he still had no idea why Ji Tianqing would spy on Nighteye or spend three days torturing him. Was it just to vent her anger? To the best of his knowledge, at the very least, this girl had never done anything so pointless before.

Watching Ji Tianqing leave, Song Zining shrugged and put on his radiant smile once more. “Luckily, this young master has prepared some contingency plans, I’m not afraid you won’t bite.”

Song Zining wasn’t in a rush to travel. He found some lodging to mend his broken bones and treat his injuries, only going on his way after an entire night’s rest.

The seventh young master had long since heard of how dangerous the neutral lands were. He naturally wouldn’t put himself in danger.

He seemed to be out of luck, nonetheless. Not long after he had left the mountainous border regions, he was stopped by a group of mercenaries.

Noticing their tattered clothes and low cultivation, Song Zining suddenly felt speechless. He glanced everywhere but found not a single creature in his line of sight—not even a bird.

Yet in this vast, empty wilderness, the great seventh young master was actually intercepted. Although he had never changed his direction of travel, the chances of him being intercepted this way were as slim as finding a needle in a haystack.

How could there be such a coincidence?

At this point, a tall man walked out from among the mercenaries and sized Song Zining up from head to toe. He disdainfully pushed his origin gun against the latter’s chest, saying, “Hey pretty boy, your frail body doesn’t look like it can take a single punch. Hand over your backpack and empty your pockets, I’ll leave you some food and water for the road.”

The tall mercenary leader looked fairly dumb, and his gun was from some countryside workshop. Calling this mechanism a firearm was already quite generous since it was little more than a pipe attached to a stock.

Song Zining chuckled awkwardly, not knowing how to describe his feelings.

However, that burly man said something at this point, “Look at you! Still carrying so many things when your bones are broken, you really love money more than your life!”

Song Zining felt a chill run down his spine, and he was soon drenched in a thin layer of cold sweat.

If this clumsy mercenary could actually see through his broken ribs, didn’t that mean he was also privy to his other secrets? Song Zining’s great success in the Three Thousand Flying Leaves Art made it difficult for others to see through him or use divination arts on him. Could it be that this crude mercenary was a great enemy in disguise?

The figures of countless enemies flashed through Song Zining’s mind. There were people from the military, the Bai clan, and those formed by the Ningyuan Group. His many brothers and sisters from the Song clan came to mind as well. All of a sudden, Song Zining realized that he had made a lot of new enemies, and that was only counting people from the empire. The number of Evernight people who wanted his head probably wasn’t small, either.

Just as Song Zining was going through his list of possible enemies, he suddenly felt the weight on his back disappear—someone had cut his backpack. Soon afterward, he saw a small figure running away.

That fluttering white skirt of hers imparted upon her a hint of harsh tenderness, but her speed was incomparably fast. Song Zining exclaimed, “Bai Kongzhao!”

He took a step forward to give chase but stopped after taking a couple of steps. The young girl was extremely fast and had already pulled ahead in the blink of an eye. Her aura had merged so quickly into the surroundings that Song Zining couldn’t lock onto her. Additionally, Song Zining could feel a sense of extreme peril just by thinking about chasing the girl all the way to the end.

Song Zining had heard much about Bai Kongzhao’s past accomplishments. Her strength was clearly mediocre, yet she had managed to produce numerous odd results—numerous powerful experts had fallen to her blade.

Some say that her combat instincts were too powerful, but there had to be a limit to how much instincts could do. Song Zining had observed her battles before, but he couldn’t glean anything out of it.

The complicated landscape of the wilderness was her optimal battlefield. Song Zining was unwilling to fight her without sufficient preparation. Besides, the things Ji Tianqing had picked up were just random bits and pieces, not even as valuable as an ore vein.

Hence, Song Zining decisively stopped his footsteps upon sensing danger. He might not be able to catch up even if he had gone after her. Additionally, there was no killing intent around her at all; she had come solely for his backpack. Otherwise, Song Zining would’ve sensed her and reacted to her ambush.

At the thought of this, Song Zining couldn’t help but feel astonished. Could it be that this girl had come all the way here just to rob?

He looked back at the mercenaries who, upon seeing his gaze, suddenly turned into different people. They fell to their knees and began weeping, asking him to spare their lives. They explained that it was that demoness who had forced them here by threatening them with their lives.

The seventh young master couldn’t find it in him to dirty his hands with these rag-tag mercenaries. In the end, he kicked that clumsy leader away and let this matter pa.s.s.

He left with a wave of his sleeves and vanished over the horizon.

The mercenaries stood up after he had left, their bowing and sc.r.a.ping att.i.tude completely gone. One of them broke into a laugh, “The young miss was right, that young n.o.ble can’t resist people who surrender and plead, we pa.s.sed this ordeal as expected. This fortune wasn’t hard to earn.”

That crude mercenary clambered up and said furiously, “How was that not hard? I was kicked so hard! This won’t do, let’s split the loot now!”

“Split, split!” The mercenaries began chanting as they split their pay on the spot.

Actually, Song Zining was standing nearby and watching this scene with an ashen face. Fortunately, he had covered himself with his domain. Otherwise, he might have to silence whoever saw this embarra.s.sing situation.