Taishu Min was stunned. This was something that she definitely hadn’t thought of and likely wouldn’t have guessed at. Shen Lei and Luo Lin seemed as if they had been together forever, making her not even think of questioning who his past partners might have been. But then, none of them were only as old as they looked. So really, she should have thought of that.

Thinking about it, what Shen Lei had said wasn’t without merit. "I guess that would leave some traces at least. And maybe that really is enough to acquire the ability. I would still call it a stretch under usual circumstances but with the evidence that your leg is healed right in front of me, I guess I have to admit that this has to be the truth even if I can’t explain it."

Shen Lei inclined his head, feeling that this indeed had to be the answer. "Well, maybe this is something you should ask your Master about when you go back to the Zhen Yan Sect. In fact, I’d be grateful if you would and might even inquire if she could take a look at Xiao Lin. I mean I guess this is a harmless ability to have but nonetheless, I think it might be better if we knew for sure what was going on. Maybe there are things that you don’t know about but that the Zhen Yan Sect’s Elders are aware of. It would at least be worth a try."

Taishu Min nodded. "I would’ve had to tell my Master anyway. This is a matter that can’t just be left alone. And I would be very grateful if you would let the Elders back at our camp take a look at both of you whenever we get the chance to go there. After all, this does have to do with our sect’s guardian. It just doesn’t seem quite right to not have them involved."

"No problem."

Shen Lei and Luo Lin both nodded and then fell silent. Anyway, from their side, this matter was now solved for the time being. Meeting up with the people of the Zhen Yan Sect was something that had to happen sooner or later but it wasn’t the first priority on their minds right now. No, now, the most important part was that apparently, nothing was wrong with Luo Lin, and Shen Lei was healed. Anything else could still wait a while.

While the two of them seemed happy, Mei Chao Bing’s expression had slowly changed throughout the whole exchange and didn’t look good at all. When nobody else spoke up, he turned to Elder Baili. "Elder, may I ask you something?"

Elder Baili raised his brows, noticing the strange edge to Mei Chao Bing’s voice. He had no idea what exactly might be going on but it alarmed him. Never mind what the Sect Master had told him about Mei Chao Bing, so far, if he had brought something up it usually hadn’t been good things. That wasn’t surprising since they were in the border region but, right now, he really didn’t want to hear any more bad news. "What’s the matter?"

Mei Chao Bing furrowed his brows, not sure if it was alright to go straight ahead. But then, he didn’t know how to explain himself without getting one question answered first. "If you don’t mind me asking, what exactly are the abilities of the four guardians? I mean, the red priest’s ability is to heal, but what about the other three?"

Elder Baili relaxed when that was the only thing Mei Chao Bing wanted to know. "Well, it’s not a secret, so I don’t mind telling you. Our Teng Yong Sect’s black warrior has visions of the future, the Li Ren Sect’s white jade is able to harden his body, and the Jian Chun Sect’s blue butterfly is able to travel through visions."

Mei Chao Bing’s brows furrowed even further. "Harden his body? As in … he’s able to make himself impervious to pain?"

Baili Chao inclined his head with some hesitation, feeling that it could be described that way. "In a sense, yes. I don’t think that he doesn’t feel pain at all but it is much more difficult to injure him compared to other people."

Mei Chao Bing nodded slowly, his thoughts already traveling further. "And that ability to move through visions, is that an ability to actually move from one point to the other using visions as a means?"

Elder Baili really didn’t know what he was getting at but he still nodded. "Yes, visions can be anything from dreams to actual visions. Why do you ask?" This was starting to worry him again.

Mei Chao Bing shook his head, still feeling that even though he had finally gotten his answer, it seemed completely wrong. Like something that should never be said out loud because it was just so ludicrous. And yet, he couldn’t hold this back.

He motioned at Luo Lin before he turned back to Elder Baili. "Seeing what happened with senior martial brother Luo made me think that, apparently, these abilities cannot only be cultivated by following a specific sect’s cultivation technique but can also be gained through other means.

"Taking into consideration everything we have found out so far in the border region, I’m afraid that this means that my Master’s plan — whatever the end goal is — relies on doing exactly that: gathering the four abilities of the righteous sects.

"That is why the other side constantly knows where we are and can suddenly appear to ambush us. They are able to move from one point to the other without trouble, using some kind of visionary means. At the same time, when we attack back, they will not or at least feel less of the pain, since are also able to harden their bodies.

"I’m afraid they already have at least these two abilities although I’m not sure about the other two. Truth be told, I don’t even want to imagine what would happen if they manage to get all four."