The first thing Xu Qing did after returning was send a voice message to let Arch-Immortal Plumdark know he was back. Back when the coalition was on the way to the county capital, she had told him and Chen Erniu that they were required to do that. After all, whenever they left the city, they would be facing unending dangers. And because Arch-Immortal Plumdark was ultimately in charge of the subsidiary sect, that meant she was one of the main lines of defense for the coalition swordsages.9

Back at his sword pavilion, he took time to study the surroundings before going inside. He just wanted to make sure there were no signs that anyone had been snooping around or setting up some sort of trap. It was a habit that had long since become an instinct.5

Once inside, he took a deep breath and thought back to everything that happened on the mission. He analyzed all the areas where he was deficient, and thought about how he could have done better. By the time he was finished, it was evening, and he settled down cross-legged to focus on rest and recovery.6

However, he couldn’t stop thinking about that young man in the middle of that spell formation, gasping for breath.5

I bet his father was the agent....5

And if that was the case, Xu Qing couldn’t help but wonder if the father had just abandoned his son, or perhaps even used him as a distraction. Had there been other people who ended up just like that young man? Or had the agent made himself the distraction, and secretly given the intelligence report to someone else? There was no way for Xu Qing to know for certain. After thinking about it for a while, he shook his head. Then he thought back to the eight-palace Black Guard cultivator he’d killed.5

Given my current battle...2