The trip back to the inn was short, and they had proceeded with much caution, but nothing happened.

Still, they did not relax even once up until they were in their room, heaving a sigh of relief once inside.

They checked the entire room over, the window and door included, for any unwanted presences a second time just to be sure. Afterwards, they sat down on the floor in the middle of the room and looked at one another. Grins could be seen on both faces.

Xue Wei quickly handed over the stuff he had salvaged in his fight to Hei Gou for safekeeping. Usually, Xue Wei would carry their valuables, but since he was participating in the tournament, it was not convenient to bring it with him, so giving it to Hei Gou was the best option.

Then he took out a few herbs that he had taken from the experts without storage treasures and placed them on the floor between them. He recognized three out of five herbs and was surprised.

He had read multiple books and studied herbs and plants for a large part of his childhood, but he had no memory of two of these herbs.

"It seems that my knowledge can only be considered outstanding in the outskirts of the continent," he sighed to himself.

"Well, we will learn slowly," Hei Gou said to reassure him. "We can most likely buy a herb compendium at the stores here in the Black Iron Fortress."

"Because you got a storage ring from that Crimson Sunshine Sect’s disciple, we should be able to afford it."

Xue Wei nodded his head and fished out the ring from his pocket. "It looks quite ordinary," Hei Gou added casually after looking at the ring in Xue Wei’s hand.

It was a silver ring, very simple and plain with no attachments or any jewels attached to it.

Xue Wei looked at it from every angle, but there was nothing special about it. It did not seem to have any engravings, nor anything else that could give them a hint on how to take custody of the ring.

Xue Wei tried to probe it with his spiritual energy, but it bounced back.

Usually Xue Wei would have asked Tianyi about help, but currently the sword spirit was busy consuming the souls that had died that day at the tournament and was unavailable.

Frowning, Xue Wei was unsure of what to do. He had read multiple books, but none of these explained what to do to establish ownership over a storage treasure.

In fact, none of them had even mentioned storage treasures before. He had not known about them before he encountered the manager of the Golden Chambers in the capital of the Kingdom of Heping.

"What do you think I am supposed to do to make it work?" Xue Wei asked, puzzled.

"I don’t know," Hei Gou replied, also looking puzzled. Both stared thoughtfully at the ring in the middle between them, unable to determine their next action.

"This is troublesome," Xue Wei finally said, sighing. "I guess I have one thing I could do," he continued, but he hesitated at the same time.

"I can ask them for help, but I will owe them a favor if I do," he continued.

"You plan on asking the Cerulean Starlight Sect for assistance?" Hei Gou could easily guess Xue Wei’s train of thought.

Currently, he was hostile towards both the Argent Moon Sect and the Crimson Sunshine Sect, meaning that the only one left was the Cerulean Starlight Sect.

Xue Wei nodded his head. He had a pretty good impression of Lin Yuelong.

Having reached a decision, neither Xue Wei nor Hei Gou hesitated. They rose from their seated position, and Xue Wei put the ring away into his robes.

Together, the two left the inn, but without any real destination in mind. How would they find the few people from the Cerulean Starlight Sect? It was like looking for a specific tree in the middle of a forest.

They started walking around aimlessly. Now and then they would ask the experts on the street if they had seen the Cerulean Starlight Sect’s members, but the majority either snorted or outright ignored them.

The few who did answer were either clueless, or said that it had been some time since they had last seen them.

Xue Wei and Hei Gou were starting to feel rather let down when the thought that they had been going in the wrong direction from the start suddenly hit them.

The members of the Cerulean Starlight Sect were likely to either be in the middle of a meal outside or resting up at their inn.

Since this was the case, the duo started walking from inn to inn asking for the whereabouts of the Cerulean Starlight Sect’s members.

The first couple of inns answered honestly, informing them that they were not housing said great sect’s delegation, but after walking around for nearly an hour and reaching the largest inn in the fortress, things changed.

"Excuse us," Xue Wei went to the counter as usual and started asking as he had done multiple times before, "I was wondering if the Cerulean Starlight Sect’s members are currently residing in your inn?"

The manager behind the counter narrowed his eyes and said indecisively, "What if they do? What if they don’t?"

His tone of voice was not hostile, but it was not friendly either. It was incredibly flat and casual. It was clear what he wanted.

Xue Wei sighed and took out fifty silver. This was two thirds of what he had looted from the other experts in the arena, but Xue Wei wanted the valuables within the ring, not these few silvers.

Seeing the fifty silver, the eyes of the manager instantly lit up. "They do reside within our inn. In fact, they are currently present as well. Would you like me to bring them a message?"

"Tell Lin Yuelong that a friend and a rival has come to ask for a favor," Xue Wei said.

At this point, he regretted not having given his fake name to Lin Yuelong when they were discussing earlier through compressed voice transmission, but he could only hope that his message piqued his interest and made him appear.

Xue Wei waited patiently for the manager to go and give the message to Lin Yuelong. Moments after, the young man walked down the staircase together with the manager.

A great smile was on his face, and he acted like he had been expecting Xue Wei’s arrival.

"The ring, right?" He chuckled. Xue Wei could only smile wryly.

"Lowly people like myself have never had a storage treasure before," Xue Wei started explaining with a sigh, "but I would like to own one now that I have gotten my hands on one. I guess you can take it as me asking for a favor."

Lin Yuelong nodded his head and gestured for Xue Wei and Hei Gou to follow him.

The inn that the Cerulean Starlight Sect resided in was many times bigger than the one Xue Wei and Hei Gou were staying at.

The Cerulean Starlight Sect had rented out their most magnificent rooms, which had both bedrooms, living rooms, and bathrooms in all of them.

Xue Wei and Hei Gou were being led into the sitting room of Lin Yuelong’s room where he offered them some snacks and wine.

"I have one question to which I want an answer, and then I will help you," Lin Yuelong went straight for the business transaction. Xue Wei smiled.

"You know our question," he replied casually, "but yours might be worth a lot more than mine. What to do with this disparity in the value of information?"

"You can ask multiple questions," Lin Yuelong said casually. "I have the impression that you come from faraway lands, and from a rather backwater place even. There are many simple things that we cultivators closer to the center of the continent and the kingdoms that flourish know about, but these are things someone like you would not know of."

Xue Wei looked at Lin Yuelong for a long time before he nodded his head. "Do ask," he finally said with a sigh. He needed answers, and to get those he had to pay a price.

"How did you make Yang Benfang act like that... – allow me to rephrase, how did you turn him into your mindless slave like that?" he asked, and his eyes shone sharply as he observed Xue Wei’s every feature for any changes

"This?" Xue Wei laughed. He knew it would be stupid to reveal one of his most essential tactics, but this tactic was the most efficient tool for murder, and he had already in advance promised himself not to kill the members of the Cerulean Starlight Sect.

"I have a spiritual energy attack," Xue Wei said with a shrug. "As long as my soul is stronger than the opponent, I can make them do anything."

Xue Wei avoided mentioning that he could shatter their souls, as this was an incredibly ruthless method, but he had not lied either. He could take control over anyone with a weaker soul than him.

"Can I see you display your skill?" Lin Yuelong asked. It was not that he doubted Xue Wei’s explanation, but it was because he wanted to know just how strong Xue Wei’s soul was.

"Come here," Lin Yuelong spoke into a bracelet on his arm. A few seconds later, a few knocks could be heard on the door.

"Enter," he called out. In came one of the Cerulean Starlight Sect’s disciples.

One of Xue Wei’s eyebrows rose. This was not one of the Cerulean Starlight Sect’s weaker members; it was a member of the fourth layer Sky Warrior rank.

"This young master is going to try out a skill on you," Lin Yuelong said as he looked at the expert he had summoned. "Guard your mind! This is a spiritual energy attack!"

The disciple’s expression turned stern and severe. He clearly did not look down on Xue Wei despite his outwardly visibly lesser cultivation base, so he braced himself.

Mind Infestation!

Xue Wei launched Mind Infestation after Lin Yuelong had spoken, and felt a small resistance repel his mental probe. It felt as if there was a curtain in front of him. But this curtain was ripped apart very fast, and he soon felt the familiar feeling of taking over someone’s mind.

Xue Wei frowned. "You have a method to strengthen the soul, and to protect it against spiritual attacks?" Xue Wei asked. Lin Yuelong nodded his head with a smile on his face.

"Well, whatever." Xue Wei shrugged his shoulders. "I have successfully mind-controlled him. What do you want me to do with him?"

Lin Yuelong hesitated for a moment, wondering what exactly he should do, but then he looked at the expert.

"Talk to me."

The expert stood completely still. He did not answer. His eyes were vacant and his body rigid.

"I believe you. Release him." Lin Yuelong sighed. Xue Wei canceled the Mind Infestation ability per request.

The now-freed expert’s face was filled with fear and trepidation when he woke up his stupor. He almost fled out of the room when he had been permitted to leave.

Lin Yuelong looked at Xue Wei with a renewed fear and respect. "I believe you were honest with me. I will tell you what you want to know the most," he said with a nod of his head.

"Ranked treasures have to be bound to a master, and to be bound you drop your blood on the item."

"I heard about legendary items that even needs to be bound by the soul, but as to how that is done and what kind of treasure that needs to be, I do not know. They do not exist outside of the center of the continent."

Xue Wei’s eyes brightened. So it was blood that he needed to use to subdue a treasure.

"Thank you," he said with heartfelt sincerity. He would never have guessed that blood was used to claim ownership of a magical item.

"Do you have other questions?" Lin Yuelong did not shy away from his promise, but Xue Wei could not come up with something off the top of his head.

"Let’s save them for later," Xue Wei said after thinking for some time. "When I know what to ask, we can do good on that promise. Speaking of which; I promise not to kill any of your members during the tournament. However, that doesn’t mean I will go easy on you."

Lin Yuelong nodded his head in relief. If his junior disciple from earlier could not withstand Xue Wei’s spiritual attack, then who knew if any of them could. He was worried, but this meeting had brought him some peace of mind.

historical

At this point, Xue Wei and Hei Gou got up to leave, excusing themselves to go back to their inn.

"Even if we cannot win, we can still stay alive!" Lin Yuelong muttered to himself as he watched Xue Wei and Hei Gou leave.