Aksai kept his expression calm, almost bored, as he walked beneath the stone archway that marked the end of the main road.

The followers were still behind him, keeping pace—unaware that he had seen through everything.

‘Definitely not your everyday thugs,’ Aksai thought to himself.

‘Hmm. Probably from a powerful sect. There are indeed a few sects I’ve offended by killing their core disciples after my meeting with Haitin.

It can’t be the Silver Moon Palace, since they don’t have much influence here. It can’t be Kalingoot as well. There are better places to ambush me in the Dadangar seas for those bloody pirates. They wouldn’t come this far away from their sphere of influence.

Iron Mountain Sect, maybe? They should be pretty upset after learning that I killed Rong Zhi, right?’

The Spirit farmer didn’t know for sure. But the pursuers’ presence confirmed one thing—the chickens had come home to roost.

He already knew there would be consequences for doing what Haitin wanted him to do.

Due to a difficult situation, he had been forced to neutralize almost his entire team—by killing Rong Zhi and Bai Yu, and by changing the fates of Siya Solaris and Lini Lowanfield forever.

Except for Aksai, only Jian Chen from the Azure Cloud Sect had survived from the team that entered the Wild Devil Lands. And even then, Jian Chen couldn’t recall what had happened to the others.

It was Aksai who had crafted a convincing story for the Rai City administration to fill in the missing pieces, blaming everything on demonic cultivators—which, in a way, wasn’t entirely false.

Even after doing everything right, it seemed there were some things that were bound to go wrong.

Fine. Let them follow.

Aksai smiled again, this time more to himself than anything else. His eyes narrowed slightly, his steps still casual.

Let’s see how long you can keep up.

***

After some time.

Hour of Shadow Ox. (07:00 PM – 08:00 PM)

The sun had long set behind the jagged mountains, casting a deep purple hue over Rai City. The streets on the western side of the city were quieter now, with only a few lanterns burning outside shops and homes.

Most people had returned indoors, knowing that the lands outside were not kind to late travelers.

Aksai walked steadily to the western gate. The guards at the post gave him a sharp look as he approached the colt-hiring outpost. Spirit colts—sleek, well-fed beasts with faint blue auras around their hooves—rested in rows behind the wooden fence.

“Heading out this late?” one of the guards asked as Aksai handed over a bunch of spirit stones for the rental.

“Yes,” Aksai replied calmly. “Just a short trip. I’ll be back before sunrise.”

The other guard frowned.

“The wilderness isn’t safe at night, especially now. We’re not responsible if you don’t come back in one piece.”

Aksai just smiled, brushing his fingers through the colt’s mane as it neighed softly. “Thanks for the concern.”

With a light tug, he mounted the Spirit colt. In one swift motion, the beast took off into the dark road beyond the city gate, its hooves making no sound against the worn trail. The colt’s aura lit a soft trail of bluish light as it galloped into the wilderness.

Not long after, four cloaked figures arrived at the same gate. They moved quickly, avoiding unnecessary talk with the guards. Like Aksai, each of them paid for a Spirit colt and rode out silently into the night.

Their figures soon disappeared into the same direction Aksai had taken.

Farther into the wilderness, as their Spirit colts galloped one behind another, one of the men spoke up with a frown on his face.

“Are we sure the man we’re following is the same one who killed disciple Rong Zhi?” he asked. His voice was uncertain. “From what I sensed, his Spirit cultivation is only at the early stage of the Foundation Building realm. He doesn’t seem strong enough to break past the defensive measures given to the disciple by the sect.”

Another man riding beside him snorted softly.

“Well… I’ve already confirmed his identity through my contacts in Rai City’s administration. He’s the same Aksai who entered the Wild Devil Lands in the same group as Rong Zhi. Not only that— our contact in the Blackblood Sect also sent word that it was this man who killed him.”

The third elder, a younger man, let out an annoyed sigh.

“That’s fine and all. But why are veterans like us sent after this small fry? Can’t the sect just send a new elder to handle him? He’s not even from a proper sect. Just a drifting cultivator.

Killing him seems like a waste of our time. Are the senior elders of the Iron Mountain Sect so free that they run around carrying out such operations for their dead disciples?”

A moment of silence passed before the fourth person, a woman with a sharp tone, finally spoke. Her voice was low but firm, holding quiet authority.

“Who said this is about avenging Rong Zhi?” she said coldly.

“The disciple doesn’t matter anymore. His name, his identity as a core disciple—those are what matter. If we let a wandering cultivator kill someone like him without punishment, what does that say about the Iron Mountain Sect?”

The others fell quiet. She continued.

“This is about our reputation. We can’t let someone walk free after killing a core disciple, even if that disciple wasn’t someone who couldn’t be replaced. And that’s just one reason.”

She glanced ahead, eyes narrowing.

“That man, Aksai, is also a co-owner of Emerald Cove Island.

The Silver Moon Palace has already joined hands with Kalingoot. They’ve asked us to join their secret alliance. Kalingoot plans to take the island, and the profits from that will be split among those who help.”

The others listened closely as she went on.

“Our sect doesn’t need territory in the Dadangar seas, but we can use this mission to get on Kalingoot’s good side. If we help, they’ll give us access to underground trade routes and rare resources—without interference from the Five Great Sects.”

She turned back to the others.

“So no more questions. Killing this drifting cultivator helps us in more ways than one. And if we do it cleanly, we gain far more than we lose.”

The three men nodded in agreement, their faces serious now.

As the Spirit colts galloped deeper into the wilderness, their glowing hooves left behind faint light trails on the dark road—heading toward the unknown.

Fortunately—or unfortunately—they didn’t need to follow in secret for long.

The four elders from the Iron Mountain Sect were quite surprised to see that Aksai had the gall to set up an open camp and campfire in the middle of nowhere.

Could a hunt for a Foundation Building expert get any easier than this?

====

AN: Silver Moon Palace and Iron Mountain Sect were first mentioned in chapter 317. Aksai accepts the eventual enmity with both the sects in chapter 334.