"Now, you don't look like people from around here. Where are you from?"
"We are from the Qiteria continent, and we came here to learn the arts of the Verdant Qi continent. We originate from Osirisus Empire."
Ken never heard of the Qiteria continent, and obviously, he hasn't heard of the specific forces inside it.
'It seems like the Verdant Qi continent is not the only one in the mortal realm. There might be even more continents and even more mortal realms,' Ken pondered on the new information. He was excited about the new possibilities of exploring different cultivation methods and maybe integrating more styles into his own.
"Wait, let's protect our conversation from prying ears," Ken said, bringing out a few scrolls from his storage ring. By channeling Qi into them, the scrolls opened and formed a formation around them. There was a concealing formation, a silencing formation, and a healing formation.
The last one was a calculated move by Ken; he wanted to induce some positive emotions in the woman toward him by keeping her comrades alive. By showing compassion, she'd blame Maria for killing Uriah, and feel less negatively about Ken since he only attacked them for trying to kill him first.
"All right, now your comrades are safe and will not die. Unfortunately, only you and this woman here are conscious. You, what's your name?" Ken asked the woman whose right leg he cut off earlier.
"I'm Octavia," she said plainly. Her voice disclosed her loss of hope. The woman did not believe she will get out of this mess alive anymore, especially after seeing Maria's behavior.
Even if she managed to escape with her life, her inability to use Qi would lead to her leg rotting, leaving no hope for reattachment. A crippled cultivator cannot compete for resources, meaning her cultivation journey was over.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Ken. Don't worry, I'm not that cruel to leave a beautiful lady amputated in our dangerous world," Ken said and popped out a sixth-grade healing pill. He pulled her leg from the ground and held it close to the stump as he fed her with a healing pill.
"Thank you…" she said in a weak voice as she felt his Alchemical Qi permeate her flesh and assists the pill in the process of reattaching her leg. She slowly regained her sensation in her right leg, although she'd need a while to fully heal. At the very least, her journey was not over.
"No problem, it was my fault for cutting it off. Let's take care of Yuri," Ken said and provided the unconscious man with the same treatment he gave to Octavia, reattaching his arm.
"Sadly, there's nothing I can do for Uriah, I hope you can forgive me for his death," Ken apologized to the injured women.
'He even remembers their names after we said it once amidst the battle. He really is compassionate and cares about others. We tried to capture him, yet not only he spares our lives, but he only inflicted wounds he can heal, and he even truly healed us so there will be no permanent damage,' Tiffany thought to herself as she watched.
She scorned Maria in her heart. Not only the traitorous woman betrayed him first after he pulled her from banditry and offered her power, but she also badmouthed him falsely and betrayed them in the first sign of danger.
'No wonder he resorted to poisoning her to keep her at bay. Her treacherous heart must never be trusted. He can't bring himself to kill her even now, probably a result of his young age and inexperience,' Tiffany began to analyze the story from a different perspective.
"Now, back to our business. I would like to know who is after my life, but let's begin with where the Qiteria continent is located," Ken asked the leader of the group.
"I thought you were from an elite family, it's weird that you don't know about us. The Qiteria continent is located north of the Verdant Qi continent and is about a third of its size."
"My circumstances are complicated. My parents are gone, and I'm being persecuted in the sect for my talent and lack of parents' protection. Many only want to take advantage of me and nobody is there to teach me," Ken sighed in sadness, facilitating her wrong impression of him as a victimized child she should feel bad about attacking.
At that moment, he removed his mask and made eye contact with her. His beautiful visage swayed her heart further in his favor.
"I see… I'm sorry to hear that," Tiffany said with a hint of awkwardness before continuing to explain, "Between the continents is the great Novaquatic Ocean, which size is at least twice the Verdant Qi continent. Both continents are surrounded by other great seas."
"Thank you for explaining. What about other continents? Are there any?" Ken found it outrageous that he had been nearly 9 years old and found out that there were other continents only now.
"No, there are only two continents. I think there are also some relatively large islands out there, but only those at the seventh stage and above are capable of exploring the great seas. It's too dangerous, and there are numerous powerful sea monsters."
"Are there other Mortal Realms? What's the name of our Mortal Realm?"
"Oh, you know about the Immortal Realm. Well, I can't know if there are other Mortal Realms. Mortals can't pass between realms after all. Our realm does not have a name as far as I know, why does it need a name?" She never noticed the lack of a name for their realm. They always just referred to it as the Mortal Realm.
'Hmm, it makes sense. In my previous world, nobody named the world, and if someone did, it wasn't well-known. Since there are no other Mortal Realms they are aware of, they don't need a name to differentiate it from other realms,' Ken thought to himself.
"What is it about empires, don't you have sects in the Qiteria continent?" Ken returned to the subjects of the group's origins.
"Our continent is divided between five great empires that have control over 50% of it, even 80% if you affiliate the beasts' territories with the empires. As for the last 20%, half of it is made of neutral zones, and the other half belongs to the top 20 sects of the Verdant Qi continent," she had to answer due to the effect of the truth drug, but the extra details came from her will to cooperate.
"Our top 20 sects control 10%? how so little is divided between them?" Ken asked in curiosity. After all, the Phoenix Feather Sect held 3% of the Verdant Qi continent, which equaled 9% of the Qiteria continent, nearly the whole plot of land the 20 sects had in the other continent.
"They don't divide it; they share it. Together they hold the fort and don't let our empires reclaim the lands and allow their disciples to venture into our continent. We have an agreement to not bother travelers under the Supremacy Phase, that's how we can be here safely," Tiffany explained.
'So they decided that travelers from the seventh stage or above might consume too many resources, leading them to prohibit their entry,' Ken understood the problem.
"So, why did you try to kill me?" Ken asked the cooperative woman.
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