The next morning, the group woke up early and ate before going to the meeting place with the merchant. Upon arrival, Qian Yu saw that there were 5 carriages with cargo and loot in them. A few people were making some last minute checks on them and while a large man was ordering them around. Other than that, there were about a dozen other people wearing some armor and weapons. 

Noticing their group’s arrival, the large man turned around and headed their way. “We’re all done on our side so we can go.” 

Zhao Xieren nodded in response. 

A few minutes later, the merchant group was out of the city heading towards the Northern Star City. Zhao Xieren had already talked with the mercenary group and they decided that the disciples would stay near the front of the group while the mercenary group would support the rear. 

While it was similar to their journey from the sect to Yellow River City, they couldn’t help but be tense. After a few hours, though, the disciples gradually relaxed. It was currently snowing right now and the landscape of the Southern Ice Continent was truly breathtaking. The country was mostly forested outside of where the humans inhabited and always gave off a very earthly and warm feeling despite the cold snow. 

Besides making a stop every few hours to let the horses rest and eat, the group just slowly talked about random things as they developed their friendships and bonds. Qian Yu had slowly gotten to be more talkative as well and he enjoyed talking with the others. Training continuously every day in the last two months was extremely tiring and it was nice to do something new. 

By the time night fell, Zhao Xieren decided to pair people up with each to be on watch duty for 90 minutes each rotation. In the end, she paired herself with Qian Yu, the weakest of the group. 

In the middle of the night, Qian Yu woke up. Zhao Xieren and him had agreed to take up the shift in the middle of the night and it was 3 hours into the night. 

Walking out of his tent, he saw Zhao Xieren walking towards his tent in case he didn’t wake up. With a smile, she turned and walked back to the campfire as Qian Yu followed suit. Since they were undertaking a mission, the disciples didn’t wear their robes and wore whatever they felt like. Since it was the winter however, everyone had a large warm coat on so it didn’t really matter. Still, her beauty wasn’t hidden by the coat as her beautiful face was still shining in the dark night. 

After the two reached the campfire and sat down, Zhao Xieren whispered, “Thank you for your advice last time, it made me feel a lot more confident. For some reason, that Lang Mei had stopped bothering me after that too, so it’s been a lot more stress free this last month.”

Qian Yu smiled, “It’s only natural that I help with something easy like that.”

“Mmm, I’ll remember your help hehe. How is your cultivation going?” She continued, as she tried to act more like a leader. 

“I’m currently at the 5th level, I will probably reach the 6th rank in a month or so,” he replied. 

“Hmm, hopefully by the winter hunt you will reach the 7th rank. No, I’m confident you’ll reach it by then,” she said confidently. 

Qian Yu laughed at her attempt to motivate him, “Haha, thank you for your blessings.”

Realizing there was still an awkward atmosphere between the two, he hurriedly thought about some questions about cultivation since he didn’t know anything outside of what Elder Wu had taught, “Do you mind talking about the qi gathering and soul foundation realm? I don’t know much about them.”

“Hmm ok, I’ll explain some more on cultivation techniques,” she thought a bit before asking. The general rules about the two realms were pretty simple so she then thought cultivation techniques would be the next topic.

“Mhm, I guess that works,” Qian Yu nodded. 

“The basics of the qi gathering realm is using the cultivation technique to gather qi, refine it and use it. The stronger the cultivation technique, the better it is as it has more layers to it. The 5 classifications for weapons, cultivation techniques, and artifacts are mortal, earth, sky, heaven, and legendary. The mortal level has 5 layers, earth has 6, and so on until legendary which has 9 layers in the cultivation technique. All of this, you should know already,” she looked at Qian Yu as he nodded in agreement. 

“What most people don’t know is the effect of your technique on the soul world. The grade of your cultivation technique is really important because the higher the grade, the stronger your soul world becomes which is very important,” she continued. 

“Another thing about cultivation techniques is the Law of Attributes which is when martial techniques from one cultivation technique can affect other ones. For example, a person is cultivating a technique under the Dao of Fire while the other technique was under the Dao of Light. If they use a martial technique from the Dao of Fire. This technique could also possess light attributed effects such as a small purification ability. The other way would work as well and his light attributed techniques could inflict burning and be more destructive than normal. You shouldn’t really worry about this though until you become a Martial Fighter at least”, Zhao Xieren finished as she stared at Qian Yu who was digesting her words while looking at the campfire with his hand to his chin. 

If anyone were to see her face, they would see the face of a young girl with an infatuated look. When they first met, he was an inch or two shorter than her but now, he was a few inches taller than her and she couldn’t help but feel attracted to his short and messy hair that was quite rare in the upper class. Her impression of him started to grow more and more fond.

“Ahh that is something I didn’t know about. It is indeed pretty interesting,” he said. 

Zhao Xieren fell out of her stupor as she turned to the side to hide her blushing face asking, “Do you have any other questions?”

On the other hand, Qian Yu wasn’t focusing on her and didn’t notice anything as he asked, “Are you cultivating the Ice Arts from the sect right now?” 

“No, my family has a legendary grade cultivation technique” she casually said. 

“Huh?! You’re cultivating a legendary grade technique?” Qian Yu exclaimed before he started thinking about it. 

Why was she here as a student then? Then he realized that from the perspective of those with strong backgrounds, Zhao Xieren wasn’t at the sect for the cultivation manual. Instead, the sect offered various benefits such as resources and a place for the newer generation to mature outside the protection of their homes.

Zhao Xieren continued while Qian Yu was thinking, “Although they are rare, it’s not impossible to acquire one, and you could probably buy them if you have good connections and a lot of money anyways. Most noble families and powers with a long history will likely have a legendary grade cultivation technique anyways. It’s how they are able to last so long after all.” 

“If you-” she said, however she was cut off by a loud scream from the other side of the camp. 

“ENEMY ATTACK!” a shout rang through the camp.