“Huh?” Zhao Xieren realized something was amiss as she turned to look behind her.

“What the!” By the time she did, she saw Qian Yu behind her as he blocked the incoming wave of fire.

Before she could say anything, she realized he was completely fine!

“Don’t worry about me and hurry up and beat that guy!” Qian Yu yelled with a smile on his face.

‘All this time, I’ve worried about being useless but if there’s one thing I’m good at… It’s being a meat shield!’ Qian Yu held an odd smile as he blocked the incoming fire attack with Lightning Spasm.

‘Damn it, this guy’s attack may be hard to hit but they must do serious damage. At this rate, I can only block a couple more,’ Qian Yu cursed as he felt a large drop in his qi reserves. 

Seeing Qian Yu’s state, Zhao Xieren knew that she had to end it right now. The enemy was already severely injured and without further ado, she performed her martial technique once again.

*Swish!* “Wandering Blade – 5 Slashes!” Zhao Xieren swiftly danced across the battlefield as she finished off the late stage soul foundation expert.

Finishing the strongest fighter, Zhao Xieren instantly ran towards the other saber cultivator that was fighting Zhen Yue. Compared to Qian Yu and his enemy, who didn’t really suffer any injuries, Zhen Yue and her opponent were the opposite with both of them having heavy injuries.

Seeing Zhao Xieren’s action, the spear wielding enemy instantly launched a few more attacks in an attempt to stop her.

“Not today!” Qian Yu yelled out as he ran behind Zhao Xieren and blocked the attacks again. ‘Even though I can’t defeat the enemy, I can help these two this way!’ Qian Yu thought as he continuously activated Lightning Spasm on his body.

“A measly qi gathering fighter! What the fuck are you!” The early stage cultivator raged as he saw Qian Yu negate his attack so nonchalantly.

“Hehe,” Qian Yu chuckled as he looked behind him. By now, Zhao Xieren and Zhen Yue had managed to kill off the other saber cultivator and now turned their attention to the spear wielding fire breathing cultivator.

*Swoosh* Qian Yu felt two breezes of wind flash by him. Seeing Zhen Yue and Zhao Xieren run by him, Qian Yu was about to charge with them as well but he realized his vision started turning blurry.

“Crap, I think I overdid it…” Qian Yu muttered as he collapsed as he saw the two girls engage the enemy.

“Master!” Zhen Yue stopped running as she looked back. 

“You take care of him, I can handle this early stage soul foundation fighter!” Zhao Xieren yelled.

Meanwhile, things in the Zhao Family camp were starting to get busy. 

“Sir! Our scouts managed to discover why the unknown group is here!” a soldier cladded in armor ran into a small tent room. 

“What is it?” Inside, Zhao Yong, Zhao Xieren’s brother was going through some paperwork and scrolls. 

“There’s actually a spirit vein! We aren’t sure how large it is yet but we are trying to estimate it at the moment!” the soldier replied. 

“A spirit vein!?” Zhao Yong abruptly yelled out. 

‘That’s great! This is a big merit if I successfully complete my tasks!’ His face returned to the calm, stoic one yet he was jumping with joy inside. 

“Alright, send out the news. Get ready to move! More backup from the capital are going to arrive soon as well!” He ordered.

A few hours later, a group of 4 were travelling through the white snowfields.

“Phew, we are almost there!” Zhao Xieren said.

“Yeah, about half a day and we should be there,” Sun Hong said. On her back, there was an unconscious Qian Yu who collapsed from qi exhaustion. 

“Ughh!” a painful moan resounded from Qian Yu as he awoke.

“Welcome back master. I hope you enjoyed your four hour rest,” Zhen Yue sweetly said.

“What happened?” Qian Yu said as he clutched his head.

“Well it’s nothing too complicated. After you collapsed from exhausting all your qi, me and Zhen Yue cleaned up the rest before going to help Tian Xinyi. Sun Hong returned shortly after but she wasn’t able to kill off the other Martial Fighter,” Zhao Xieren explained.

“Ahh,” Qian Yu started sobering up as the pain went away. As it did he realized that he was resting on Sun Hong’s back!

“Ahem ahem,” Qian Yu embarrassingly coughed as he got off her back.

Glancing at Zhen Yue and Zhao Xieren, they were both trying to hold in their laughter while Sun Hong had a straight face.

Being carried by a woman like that, Qian Yu couldn’t help but feel a little ashamed.

“Anyways, we should be there soon?” Qian Yu asked a little unsure.

“Yeah. We’ll get there tomorrow. We have just less than half a day or so,” Zhao Xieren said.

“Alright, we’ll take a break. It’s getting late right now,” Qian Yu said. Although he just took one, it wasn’t the same for the other three.

Finding a suitable location to rest in, everyone started preparing dinner. More specifically, of the three, Zhen Yue was the only one who really knew how to cook well. While Sun Hong could cook, it was rather simple dishes without any spice or special techniques and Zhao Xieren never really needed to cook her own food. 

Watching the three girls talk and prepare dinner under the moonlit sky, Qian Yu smiled as he committed this sight to his memory. 

Before long, dinner was served. Roasted wolf meat served with some noodles and hot wolf broth was perfect for the cold snowy night. 

*Clang…* Yet only a few hours had passed before the noises from afar awoke them. Minute as they were, they were cultivators with better hearing and amidst the quiet night, they realized it was the sounds of fighting from afar. 

“It’s in the direction of the large cave system that we traveled through early,” Sun Hong had flown up and looked towards the disturbances. 

“There’s a lot of battles, nothing small like the ones we were in,” she continued. 

“Hmm… Likely, the Xia forces found the spirit vein so the two have started battling for control over it,” Qian Yu assumed. 

A worried look appeared on Zhao Xieren’s face. A good amount of the Xia forces were obviously made up of her own family members. 

“Don’t worry too much about it. Remember the body refinement collectors in the tunnel? They said that they would easily be overtaken by the Xia forces,” Zhen Yue put her hands over Zhao Xieren's hands and reassured her. 

“I… Thank you,” Zhao Xieren wiped her eyes as she calmed down. Looking at Zhen Yue, she could feel the deep emotions and her sympathy. While they have started talking and getting to know each other, it had only been a week at max. As such, she didn’t know much about Zhen Yue but suddenly, she felt closer to her than ever before. 

“Let’s get moving then,” Qian Yu decided. The sun had just peeked over the horizon and while it wasn’t that bright, they didn’t have time to wait.