Qianye hadn’t gone very far when he heard a familiar voice. “Quite confident, eh? Peerless under the divine champion realm, is it?”

Qianye spun around in surprised delight and saw Ji Tianqing nearby!

He arrived before her in one step, arms wide open in a potential hug. Ji Tianqing looked on with a spurious smile, almost as though she had no intention of moving away.

Just as he was about to bring her into a full embrace, he suddenly exerted great force to stop his arms and retracted them just after touching her.

Qianye sized her up from head to toe. He only felt relieved after sensing that she was full of origin power and at the peak of her spirit, completely free from hidden injuries.

“Have you had enough? Do you want to look more? Where do you want to look?” Ji Tianqing’s questions placed Qianye in a predicament. He had forgotten that staring at a lady from head to toe was an offense.

However, Ji Tianqing had always been mysterious, and even until now, Qianye still couldn’t tell what she really looked like. The two had fought many battles side by side since her arrival in the neutral lands, even fled for their lives together. He had long since considered her a comrade and didn’t really think too much about the details.

Now that she had brought it up, Qianye quickly recalled that she was a young girl, perhaps even younger than he had expected.

“Sorry about that. I’ve been worried about you since you went missing, so…”

Ji Tianqing said with a harrumph, “Worried? How come I don’t see it? You’ve been more worried about Song Seven, haven’t you? I think you’re almost about to trade your life for him. I think you might’ve agreed if the other party wanted your life in exchange.”

Qianye gave it some thought. “No, I won’t. I wouldn’t want that if I were Song Zining.”

“You just won’t admit it!” Ji Tianqing refused to believe him.

“What happened back then?”

“We caught up to the Wolf King’s main army with our band of rag-tag soldiers, but the Wolf King had already fled. Song Seven decided to attack and surprisingly won. We had just routed the Wolf King’s main army when the people from Tidehark appeared from our flank. Song Zining wasn’t that old monster’s match, but after I was injured, he went all out against him to save me. In the end, he slipped up and was captured.”

Qianye heaved a long sigh. He had already guessed the general story, but he felt a heavy feeling in his chest after hearing Ji Tianqing’s narration.

At the mention of that battle, Ji Tianqing’s smile disappeared, and a gloominess came over her pretty face. “I just finished recovering, so I returned.”

“How were you two ambushed?”

This was the key issue. With Song Zining’s skill in strategy, it was unbelievable that he would suffer such a surprise attack.

Ji Tianqing replied, “I don’t know what happened exactly. That day, Song Zining’s divination powers suddenly disappeared. I also felt somewhat muddle-headed before the battle, unable to see through even the simplest of heaven’s mystery. Now that I think about it, it was quite odd. Perhaps they have some kind of divination expert working behind the scenes to obscure our powers.”

“Is there a divination expert in the neutral lands?”

Ji Tianqing shrugged. “Who knows?”

The neutral lands were chaotic and frequently besieged by void tempests. Hence, it was extremely difficult to perform divination arts in this place. Any attempt without sufficient power and advanced secret arts would usually fail. That was why there were few divination inheritances here. Only after reaching a certain level of cultivation would experts dabble a bit in the field.

Qianye himself only understood bits and pieces of the art, but that didn’t stop him from having some general knowledge. He knew that Song Zining was already at a fairly high level, not at all inferior to a divine champion, and that Ji Tianqing was skilled in almost everything, including divination. What he couldn’t figure out was how high their standards were, but they were both unfathomable as far as he was concerned.

There was probably no ordinary divine champion who could suppress the two of them. At the very least, Qianye hadn’t heard of any divine champion in the Eastern Sea area with that kind of ability.

This was both an advantage and a disadvantage of the neutral lands. Both the empire and Evernight were skilled in divination. Usually, the top experts from each side would battle it out behind the scenes before the frontline warriors dived into the bloodbath of the field. Once the fighting had begun, the heavenly mystery in a wide area around the battlefield would be thrown into chaos.

But that’s for Evernight and the Empire. If the forces of the neutral lands ever tried to invade the mainlands, they would suffer greatly in terms of divination.

On the other hand, the Empire and Evernight would be blindfolded if they were to invade the neutral lands. They would be thrown into chaos and suffer restraints at every turn.

Qianye knew that there was no answer to this question, so he shook his head helplessly.

“What do you plan to do next? Keep on acting like a barbarian?”

Qianye laughed wryly. “I don’t even know where he is, how will I save him? Besides, I can’t enter Tidehark and Totemic Castle. There’s no way even if I want to save him.”

“Perhaps we can risk it and go into Tidehark again.”

“No!” Qianye interrupted her without any hesitation. “Are you crazy? Once inside Tidehark, Luo Bingfeng’s power will increase greatly. From a different perspective, I think he can only display his full power inside the city. We aren’t his match once we go in. As I see it, they won’t do anything to Song Zining yet because they fear us. Zining will be done for once I’m captured as well.”

“Are you going to keep up this game of attrition?”

“Yes.”

Looking rather frustrated, Ji Tianqing said through clenched teeth, “I thought you were quite smart at first. Who would’ve thought you can only play the solo barbarian?”

“What other plans do you have?” Qianye shrugged.

“You can ask for help, seek reinforcements! Why must you do this on your own? Look at the people around you, isn’t there anyone who can help you find reinforcements?” Ji Tianqing was practically asking Qianye to beg her for help.

Qianye opened his mouth briefly but couldn’t find the words to say. He was indeed used to killing on his own and rarely would he ever ask for help. He had even managed to kill his way to an opportunity under these adverse circ.u.mstances.

But giving it some thought, Li Kuanglan’s arrival here meant that the Li family’s reach could reach this place. Ji Tianqing’s background was even more unfathomable. How otherwise could she have gotten so many secret arts?

For Song Zining, Qianye decided to lower his status and ask Ji Tianqing for help. As for the conditions this strange, clever girl would put forth, Qianye was willing to accept all of them.