Hearing that, all four members released their bated breath as Ao Qin chuckled.

"Relax, the Byakko Clan know nothing of her but she did leave quite a mess for me clean up after

", he revealed to them,

"Their Clan Head didn't quite want to kill me but he certainly didn't want me to leave unscathed, especially not after seeing bodies of his dead tribe members. Truly, if his daughter wasn't there, he would've rushed to attack me but that didn't happen. He asked a few questions and I answered to the best of my ability, hiding a few things of course. In any case, since we are now all part of the same group, do you plan on revealing the existence of those two to the others?

"

As he posed this question to them, his eyes narrowed as the dragon-kin stared at them intently.

The Four Claws shook their heads earnestly.

"We owe our lives to her, of course, we will not reveal her secret!

" they all said.

"Ah good, good, if it did come out, who knows what kind of hell she could raise. But I assume that you want to find her?

"

After a moment, Yu Tu spoke up in a shy manner.

"For them to vanish like this, we would like to know that they are fine. And with the teleportation array, perhaps she can help us with it.

"

Ao Qin rubbed his chin.

"That is possible, that person is by no means an ordinary person. She could certainly help us but as I've said before I have no idea where they've gone. Perhaps we will run into them at some point

", he said.

"Indeed, now that the Twelve Zodiacs have been formed. It is going to be a harrowing journey for all of us

", Qiang Rong added.

She Xing sighed, looking down at the ground.

"And to think the first place we have to conquer is the Cracked Ten Pillars. It might not be like the White Sword's Remains but it's almost as bad.

"

"Cracked Ten Pillars, you say, what's so special about them?

" the dragon-kin asked.

As someone of the Reclamation Division, he didn't have to deal with the ruins. All Ao Qin focused on was hunting in the Savage Lands and getting stronger. For others, perhaps strength was all they thought about but he was getting old now.

Something like power was starting to lose its place in his priorities.

"The Cracked Ten Pillars… out of all of us, I'm the only one who has gone there with my old group

", said the snake-kin.

There was a rather grim look on her face.

"Those ruins are of demon origin. Unlike human's use of formations and spells, demons have always been about their bloodlines and this was no different

", she explained,

"They are exactly as their name implies, ten pillars, each of which are damaged. Split into two parallel lines with five on each side, like a pathway. It requires a certain demon's bloodline to unlock. Hence why it has not been conquered yet.

"

Ao Qin narrowed his eyes, feeling a bit curious about this.

"So, if it requires demon blood. What about the other ruins that are of demon origin? How were those dealt with?

"

"This…

"

She Xing was reluctant to answer whilst the other three had conflicted looks on their faces. The solution seemed to be taboo but Ao Qin didn't seem to care.

"Even if you don't tell me now, I'll still find out later

", he reasoned.

The snake-kin still seemed reluctant but the Niu Hong answered for her.

"We dig up graves. As long as they have a single drop of blood left, it can be used. But for the Cracked Ten Pillars, I heard that it was particularly difficult.

"

Ao Qin raised a brow but didn't react anymore than that. Gravedigging is a shameful thing to do but for the sake of survival, there was no such thing as shame.

"I see, what was so difficult about it?

" the dragon-kin asked.

She Xing sighed.

"It seemed that the Cracked Ten Pillars activate only for a specific demon, one that had been found but… we could not get to it. The corpse is in fact protected, by what I do not know. When we tried we couldn't even get close to the grave. There was a powerful pressure that grew only stronger as we walked further in. Multiple other teams have tried to do it but failed to reach it

", she said.

"A strange pressure, huh, interesting. I suppose that we'll have to try it oursel-

"

As Ao Qin spoke, someone suddenly ran into the halls, panting with a terrified expression. Stopping at the entrance, they doubled over before looking up at everyone.

"Hah, hah, attack… Attack! The Savage Beasts are targeting stampeding from the east. The Eastern Preservation Force needs reinforcements! There's hundred, thousands coming towards the defenses!

" they cried out.

There was silence in the air before Huxian Qie suddenly took charge.

"Head to the East! Support the eastern defenses first and then head for the Cracked Ten Pillars!

"

Putting on serious expressions, all who had heard her speak, moved immediately, preparing to head out. Planning to meet at the city gates, Ruishi Lei was already waiting there having bumped into the messenger on his way out with his father. And the first to meet with him was Ao Qin, who didn't need to make any preparations.

"Ruishi Lei, to think your father could convince you to join this group.

"

The dragon-kin chuckled while he stood there quietly, crossing his arms.

"I have no reason to ignore him, he is my father after all

", he replied.

Ao Qin raised an eye before turning to look back at the quiet city.

"Really now, I find it hard to believe that

", he muttered,

"The proud White Lion listens to his father for once. How interesting.

"

Ruishi Lei snorted as he looked at Ao Qin.

"Hmph, what about you? The Red Dragon is caught angering the Byakko Clan, ended killing several of their men and kicking the chief's daughter out of her own home. What was that about, old man?

"

"Old man? I might be older but that doesn't mean I haven't lost my touch, unless you want to see for yourself?

"

The dragon-kin stared back at him, resting his hand on his saber. As their eyes met, the air turned still as both slowly revealed their killing intent. As powerful as Ao Qin was, the lion-kin was not lacking in any way. But then it dissipated as the others came and Ruishi Lei turned to go, stepping out of the city.

"Come on then, those beasts aren't going to kill themselves.

"

As all twelve Zodiacs gathered, the messenger stood before them with a slightly terrified expression on their face. There was no doubt that they had heard of a gathering of the strongest individuals of all the tribes but actually standing in front of them was nerve-wracking.

"I… I will lead you there!

"

The messenger moved quickly but was stopped by one of them.

"Heh, there's no need to run back on foot, we can get there in a better way.

"

This one was quite large and round, wearing a heavy leather apron over a shirt and trousers, thick and simple in design. With a boar's snout and such a round body, this person stepped forward, tossing something in the air.

It glittered for a bit before suddenly growing in size, transforming into a large wooden boat, big enough for everyone to ride on comfortably.

The messenger looked in awe as everyone boarded it, leaving them to be the last one.

With everyone on, the boar-kin looked at the messenger, snorting before smiling.

"So then, where in the East are we needed?

"