"By anyone suspicious, you mean someone from the Deer Mountain Kingdom? asked Li Yao as his gaze alternated between the areas Yang Qing had highlighted and Yang Qing himself.

"Partly yes, but another part is someone suspicious, someone more vigilant than usual, or someone with a strong soul with yin undulations coming from them..." said Yang Qing.

Seems like they suspect the Kingdom of colluding with whoever it was that was part of that calamitous fight a few weeks ago, thought Li Yao.

For someone who has seen the winds and rains of countless eras, it wasn't difficult for him to figure that the Order may have had some involvement with the fight that happened a few weeks ago. Even though he had been too far to unearth the culprits, with how terrifying and powerful the waves were he had been able to glean something from them, even while being at the border, which was tens of thousands of kilometers away from where the fight was taking place.

He could feel that some of those terrifying waves came from a human source and more than one at that. In particular, he had sensed two distinctive overwhelming forces. One of them was a powerful sword intent that made him feel as if he had been submerged in an ocean of swords, while the other was a suffocating force of the earth. It felt like the whole Deer Mountain Range was bearing down on him.

From his understanding, not that he looked down on the Deer Mountain Range. For them to survive in this range, they had to be capable but he didn't believe that those two energies came from one of their members, if it did, they would not have holed themselves up in their territory as they did, they would have long tried to expand it as they did all those years ago.

If it wasn't from the Deer Mountain Kingdom, then there was only one other culprit, a terrifying entity that had people who would definitely produce those two energies in spade and that was the Order.

Even if he knew the Order was definitely involved and some part of him was curious about what happened, he had enough propriety to know he should not ask what he should not ask. The Ocean Refining Crucible Pavilion was strong both in terms of the abilities of its members and its connections, but that did not mean it had the qualifications to involve itself in certain matters. That was a sure-fire way of inviting calamity.

Pushing his thoughts aside, Li Yao focused on the map.

"I haven't reached this part yet, but here...."

Li Yao's brow came together as his eyes flashed.

"I found a foundation circle here, and by the looks of it, it was done by very capable people across different schools and their attainments were no different than mine. If it was done by one person, then their attainments are definitely higher than mine.

There was nothing I could add to it or do differently. Building a foundation circle in the middle of a forest filled with spirit beasts.." as he said this his gaze inadvertently fell on Yang Qing with meaning.

"It isn't ours, the fire adler bear I was warning you about, did that.." Yang Qing said as he smiled wryly."A spirit beast?!" Li Yao asked with widened eyes.

It wasn't that he looked down on them, but spirit beasts did not need foundation circles, they were already endowed with superior and powerful bodies. As far as he knew, the gold body, which most human cultivators struggled at attaining was something newborn spirit beasts with weak bodies had at birth.

As far as the constitution of spirit beasts went, he knew that some were so absurdly powerful that at birth their raw strength was enough for them to defend against an early-stage core formation expert.

What would such a spirit beast need a foundation circle for?

When he found the area, he left it immediately after a cursory glance because he automatically assumed it was the Order's handiwork. Only they would have such expertise and be daring enough to set up such a thing in the Deer Mountain Range.

Hearing it was a spirit beast's handiwork, was a huge shocker for him.

"They were using it for something else entirely which I can't share.." Yang Qing said when he saw the confusion on Li Yao's face.

His response only made the pavilion master's eyes twinkle with curiosity which he reigned in as he concentrated on the rest of the areas.

After a minute, he shook his head as he said,

"I haven't seen anyone suspicious in these areas in my time here... I have seen the Song family around though, during my surveys, but their routes are usually here.." Li Yao said as he pointed to an area northeast of the areas Yang Qing had highlighted.

Yang Qing estimated that the area was roughly 200,000 kilometers away from the areas he had mentioned.

Yang Qing sighed as he took back the map.

"Thanks for your help, Pavilion Master Li Yao.." he said as he put the map into his storage ring.

"I am sorry I couldn't be much help.." answered Li Yao.

"No, you've helped. At least I can cross out eight months from my list of timelines.." Yang Qing said with a sincere smile.

He exchanged a few pleasantries with Pavilion Master Li Yao before the latter eagerly left like a kid who was afraid of missing out on playing with his friends.

Even while looking at the map, Yang Qing could tell he was fidgety like he couldn't wait to leave the branch and go explore the range of its spiritual herbs.

Yang Qing couldn't help but chuckle as he turned back meeting Su Jinjing and Luo Meili who seemed to be waiting for him.

"Is it okay to leave them like that? With our presence here, we could guarantee their safety..." said Su Jinjing, her face rife with worry.

Knowing what she was referring to, Yang Qing placed his hands on her shoulder to comfort her as he said,

"We can't Jinjing. If we can't do the same for the Kingdom who have been our gracious hosts, then we can't do it for them either.

If we intervene, forgetting the outcry that would likely happen once news of our interference breaks out, bringing our impartiality into question, it will also trigger another thing.

If we intervene, every organization would treat us as their babysitters. They would go make a mess out with no caution or care because in their mind they'll be thinking, if the Order did it for the Xin Clan or the Hua Clan then they would do the same for us.

Our acting will set a precedent. We address injustices not recklessness.

Jinjing, what if the tricolored white-eyed tortoise was the one who came in today to file a complaint?.." Yang Qing said as his gaze fell on Su Jinjing whose limpid big soulful eyes flickered slightly.

"This is a blood debt Jinjing, and had the tortoise asked for a fight to the death with them or any other spirit beast from this area for that matter, I would have granted as is their right for something like this.

They broke a taboo, they should not have, even if they did not know. The road to hell is sometimes paved by what we may sometimes judge as good intentions... Whether it's them or us.. " Yang Qing said with a sigh.

"We have already done the most we can do, which is give them critical information and advice, same as what we did for the Deer Mountain Kingdom.

Whatever happens later for them is a consequence of the decisions they make. All we can do for now is wish them luck and hope for the best.

Jinjing we are each responsible for our own choices. The four have a responsibility to make their own and live by it. It's not your burden to carry.

We have done our responsibility, which is to give them all the information that they need to decide what's next for them.

Choice is a gift, Jinjing. No matter how it ends, it's something we can't deny them..." Yang Qing said as he left for one of the jade platforms next to one of the quaint rivers in the area.