"Maria, I'm back. Let's meet if you still need something to hold back your poison," Ken spoke into the communication device and the runes moved the message to the matching device.
"Young Master, I thought you had already forgotten about me and left me to die!" Maria's excited squeal passed through, making Ken raise an eyebrow.
"No need to be so excited, let's meet now. Where are you?"
Ken never considered the option she might be in the middle of something. For him, his subordinates had to drop everything when he called. While he saw his companions as long-term followers, he didn't think much of his subordinates, and he knew that someone as mediocre as Maria will outlive her usefulness soon.
As for his companions, they were all special talents with promising prospects. He couldn't fully trust them yet, but he was confident enough in his ability to offer them the best development.
He was averse to supplying resources to valueless people who can't contribute to his future, but he didn't mind spending on those that could stand by his side.
"I'm at Ice Feather City right now, should I come back toward the sect?" Maria reported her location. The cities in Phoenix Feather Sect's territory all had the word "Feather" in their name, and their only differed in the type of feather.
Ken was quite intrigued to visit a city as he never has been in one ever since he reincarnated. While the residence area of the sect resembled a city, it was not quite the same. Unfortunately, it was too far away from the sect for his current schedule, and he had to delay to another time.
"Yes, come to the Emeraldwood Forest, I will tell you the exact meeting location when you're here," Ken gave her his orders and went to find a beast to ride to the other end of the forest instead of waiting for her. Not only it'd save time, but it'd be safer to meet further from the sect where many dangerous beings could see.
'Good thing I left the Luck Pill behind,' Ken pondered to himself. As he knew he would be in danger out of the sect if he carried the Luck Pill on himself, he left it behind at the same hiding spot he used to keep the old storage ring.
He didn't know the situation of the evil cultivator and didn't want to take any risks of meeting him on the way. The Inheritor Protection Talismans weren't something he could use freely.
As always, he didn't like the idea of running on foot. He made a nearby boar submit and rode on its back toward his destination. The travel was quite boring as nothing happened while his mount galloped through the forest unhindered.
'She should have that tiger pet by her side, so she shouldn't be any slower than me. If we both ride at max speed we should meet soon,' Ken thought to himself as he calculated the distance from Ice Feather City according to a map he saw once.
Back in the time when he recruited Maria, he paid a tiger with Bloodline Refining Pills and offered it extra pills in the future if it serves under Maria. The boar ran at an impressive speed of 80-90 kilometers per hour, and Maria's tiger shouldn't be any slower.
"Are you here yet?" Ken asked through the device.
"Not yet, Young Master. Please forgive me, there have been some complications on the way. I will be there in 9 hours," Maria replied when Ken explained his location.
'That sounds suspicious.'
Ken pondered as he rode outside the zone they agreed on. Their meeting spot was 24 hours away from the sect, and the boar was completely exhausted from the relentless sprint. Ken gave it a Bloodline Refining Pill as a reward and switched to a leopard he managed to spot.
He entered the western zone of the forest, where the flora and the fauna were slightly different. The animals here were more attuned to nature, and one would often find beasts with an affinity to Wood Qi and Wind Qi in that area.
"I'm at the western zone now, near the Town of Salenyr. Are you nearby?" Ken asked the woman who wasted a few hours of his time already.
"I'm only 17 kilometers away from the town. Should we meet there?"
"No, meet me 60 kilometers south of the town," Ken's trust in a former bandit like Maria was nonexistent, hence he chose to set the meeting location randomly where he could reach first.
He was well aware of her questionable nature, and the act of poisoning her only fueled her desire to break free from his control, no matter the enticements he provided. This was also why he refrained from employing poison as a means of control over Tiara, Henry, and Alaric.
Ken rushed to the location, forcing the leopard to sprint to the location he mentioned earlier. The leopard, a lower fifth-rank beast, should be faster than the tiger which was a peak fourth-rank beast.
'I will intercept her on her way to the location I provided, and follow her from there,' Ken decided and stopped only 30 kilometers south of the town while using Sheathed Man to conceal his presence.
He gave a Bloodline Refining Pill to the abused leopard and sent it on its way to freedom. He didn't have to wait long for Maria to arrive. He soon sensed her bloodlust with the Bloodlust Sense technique, and a minute later he saw her riding on the large tiger, its beautiful black stripes contrasting with its lush orange fur.
'Seems like I was worried for no reason,' Ken thought to himself as he ran parallel to the woman. He had to exert some effort to keep up, but luckily the tiger didn't sprint, so keeping up was not impossible.
While he still contemplated revealing himself instead of running the 30 kilometers, his Bloodlust Sense picked up another presence nearing them.
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