Song Qiao moved into a more open space away from everyone else with He Chao following behind him. The two sat down and He Chao waited until Song Qiao began to speak. “From what I heard, it seems like you have the ability to make something for me as a gift? You must know how difficult it would be to make an old fellow like myself jump to accept a gift, right?”

All He Chao could do is answer as honestly as possible since he did not know until now that Song Qiao had the ability to eavesdrop on his conversation with his niece while being so far away while dealing with the bandits and assassins. If he could accomplish such a feat, what was to say would happen if he were to stretch the truth enough to anger him?

“I have studied as a formations expert for some time now and have advanced to being able to use a technique that would technically make me a level three formations expert. I have yet to achieve a wide enough understanding of a major dao path, but I have learned several minor dao paths which I could use to implement into items to make them much stronger.”

“If you would let me, if I focus enough by the time we reach our destination I should be able to make such an item to your liking. Of course you can choose which type of inscriptions out of the several I can make that I shall use. Just be aware that with my little understanding, I am only able to implement inscriptions of one minor dao path instead of several like those legendary figures that walked the path of formations.”

Hearing He Chao’s words moved Song Qiao’s heart slightly because for He Chao to have learned a technique to force his way into a level three formations expert meant that he had great potential but would still not be considered a prodigy by any stretch. If he could rope him in to help inscribe such patterns on decent quality normal weapons, just how much bigger could the Song clan grow?

After pondering over these things, Song Qiao could only take a deep breath before responding to He Chao. “If my Song clan wanted to hire a formations expert of the fifth level, we have the means to do so. You may be only a third level formations expert, but that does not mean that you are currently valuable enough for me to make an outstanding offer to join our Song clan.”

“If you are willing to, there will always be a guest room within our Song clan for you when needed as long as you are willing to spend some time inscribing some patterns on some items for us. I can work out the details with the clan once we reach our destination, but I can tell you now knowing the Patriarch, our terms to bring you into our clan may not be as much as a lower tier clan would be willing to offer you.”

This was actually the perfect scenario that He Chao could wish for because Song Qiao was an elder within the Song clan who was a noteworthy contact to have, but Song Qiao did not press him to outright join the Song clan which is what He Chao would prefer to get out of this connection. In the future, the Song clan would offer more incentives if he wanted to join once he reached big enough heights as a formations expert. 

“That niece of mine has grasped a total of four minor dao paths and would more than likely have uses for an item you were to make for her compared to myself. I can slightly sense that body armor of yours is radiating the Dao of Heat. My niece is currently being raised as an alchemist in order to achieve a larger role within our clan if she were to not become the next Patriarch and since our clan specializes in the Dao of Fire, it is rather good that she had already grasped the basic understanding of the Dao of Heat in this case.”

“Therefore, if you can create a similar defensive artifact with Dao of Heat inscription patterns, it should come in handy for her in a tight spot. Our Song clan does not allow any defensive artifacts to be given to those competing for the Patriarch position, which is why you saw I was hesitant to remove my seal and leave my niece under the care of the present experts. The difference is if they have the means, they could use the service of a formations expert since it would show the capabilities of said competitor.” 

“I would create a bracelet in your case since my niece is not one to wear body armor like other experts. At least with a bracelet, she would be more willing and it would also allow me as her caretaker during this time to relax a little more slightly in the face of weaker enemies. A level three formation expert’s protective artifact creations could in most cases block a full force attack from the average Intermediate stage expert. So please put your all into it and as a reward I have something to give to you which should assist you in the future if you run into any troubles.”

With the two done conversating, He Chao quickly went to begin the process. All of the bandits had small storage rings which General Fan Jing gave to Song Qiao as a thank you and reward for capturing so many for him to bring to their jail. Because of this, Song Qiao had over sixty storage rings to look through which also possibly held some clues to lead to those who were planning such a horrible act against the Song clan. 

As for the assassins who also took part in the surprise attack, they did not have any storage rings within their possession, only their weapons and side arms such as small poison bottles and other tools to carry out assassinations. This was not surprising since they were hired to do a job and when it came to assassins, the last thing they wanted to do, was out their employers since they had their own reputation to uphold.