Although the Eight States are just a corner of the Flying Horse Dynasty, each state is not small in area. Coupled with mountains, rivers, numerous dangerous and unusual terrains, many martial artists spend their entire lives just roaming within one state.

There are also some martial arts experts with lofty ambitions who leave the Eight States.

Unfortunately, the martial world outside is more dangerous. These people either sink into degeneration, are harmed by others, or remain unknown, finding it difficult to stand on that kind of stage.

Even the Jade Fan Scholar, after wandering outside for many years, eventually chose to return.

A green horse gallops through the forest, each leap covering a distance of ten zhangs.

"Its speed has actually reached 80% of mine."

Shi Xiaole, who was riding on the horse, was secretly surprised.

After a period of absence, Qingfeng seemed to have grown a lot. In terms of speed, apart from Shi Xiaole, probably no one in the Eight States could compare.

Shi Xiaole brought Qingfeng this time out of necessity. If he relied on ordinary horses to travel, by the time he reached Mirror State, half a year would have passed, undoubtedly a waste of time.

After all, Shi Xiaole is not part of the government.

The government passes messages through special channels, and the use of relay stations to switch horses, riding higher quality horses, generally from the center of the Flying Horse Dynasty to the corners, a maximum of two months, or a minimum of one and a half months, political orders will not be delayed.

Shi Xiaole traveled for six 2-hour periods every day. During the rest time, he cultivated internal power, losing himself in cultivation, and the days passed unconsciously.

One month later.

After crossing another mountain, a distant city came into view.

"That should be the small border city of Mirror State, Willow City."

Comparing with the map he bought from ’Talking About Everything,’ Shi Xiaole laughed. After days of eating and sleeping in the open, he was a bit sick of it.

After sending Qingfeng away by itself, Shi Xiaole walked into Willow City. In the short distance of a few hundred meters, he encountered thirteen martial artists, all with a cultivation level at the Xuanqi Realm.

While the Eight States are areas where martial arts strength is weaker, this is only in comparison to true experts.

To be more precise, the strongest force in the Eight States is at the Spiritual-Passage Realm level. And in many states, there are plenty of martial artists at the Dragon Gate Realm, even including those strong beyond this realm.

Of course, in terms of average strength, the Eight States are probably at the bottom of Shuntian Capital, but the gap with other places is definitely not as large as imagined. It’s not possible to see Spiritual-Passage Realm experts everywhere, or in large numbers.

If so, those frustrated experts would have run to these backward regions, claiming to be kings long ago.

As for experts at Dragon Gate Realm or above, those who can cultivate martial arts to this level are even less likely to willingly degrade themselves, running to backward regions.

Ahead, two figures are fighting on the eaves of a house.

At the entrance of a gambling house, a quarrel breaks out, followed by cries.

Shi Xiaole watches a middle-aged man lick his lips, pulls his hand out from the chest of a man he just killed, sniffing the blood scent with great satisfaction.

But the very next moment, a knife pierced him. He was betrayed by his own partner. The partner takes a lot of silver bills from him and leaves with a swagger.

The people on the street, although mostly alarmed, remain calm and do not cause any disturbance.

Shi Xiaole thinks to himself: Such bloody incidents must have happened many times for them to become accustomed to it. No wonder Senior Jade Fan said that the Eight States are just a pond, the outside world is the real martial world.

Walking into an inn named Fortunate Fate, Shi Xiaole paid a deposit and ordered a table of good wine and food, and started to eat heartily.

"Friend, take off your clothes."

A big, burly man who was eight feet tall walked over, slapped the table with his bear-like arm, knocking nearly all the food and wine onto the floor.

The surrounding discussion suddenly quieted.

"Who is this guy, so arrogant."

"Hehe, as expected, he should be ’Mad Dog’ Liu Ye. I heard that after his right-hand tendon was pierced by ’Green Robe Swordsman’ Sun Wei, he would pick a fight with anyone wearing a green robe, like a mad dog."

Someone whispers secretly.

The reason for whispering is because Liu Ye is a martial artist with Cultivation in the early stages of the Seventh Layer of Spiritual-Passage Realm. In the city of Willow, he is definitely a big shot.

"Get out!"

A cold voice sounds out, but it’s not from Shi Xiaole. Instead, it’s from a young man with long hair parted in the middle who has just entered the inn. Two girls with furrowed brows were by the young man’s side.

Liu Ye turns around and assesses the young man. Seeing the three pieces of blue jade inlaid on the sword sheath hanging by his side, his face changes drastically: "You are ’Three Jade Sword’ Yu Fei?"

"I’ll give you two breaths to leave, or I’ll do it myself."

The young man said faintly.

Liu Ye grits his teeth, doubting whether the other party is really Yu Fei, but he dare not gamble, so he sits on the ground, rolls over, and truly rolls out of the inn.

Everyone knows, when ’Three Jade Sword’ Yu Fei says one thing, he means it. When he tells you to roll, you absolutely can’t walk.

This sight left Shi Xiaole stunned.

However, in his perception, this Yu Fei has reached the level of the Seventh Layer of the Spiritual-Passage Realm, his aura is strong, not weaker than many experts of the Eight Layer Spiritual-Passage Realm in the Eight States. It seems that he is a famous figure in the martial world of Mirror State.

Shi Xiaole didn’t guess wrong.

This Yu Fei is one of the famous talented young men of the righteous path in Mirror State, he resents evil and is always ready to fight for justice.

Nodding at Shi Xiaole, Yu Fei and his two junior sisters sat down, chatted among themselves, and ignored all the discussions in the inn.

Deep into the night.

"Inborn Gang Qi, it’s so difficult to convert."

After a nice bath, Shi Xiaole felt refreshed, sitting on the bed and cultivating, but the result left him helpless.

Since achieving perfection in the Faceless Divine Skill and transforming 97% of his Internal Power into Inborn Gang Qi, Shi Xiaole continued his diligent training.

However, over three to four months, only a tiny portion of the remaining Internal Power converted into Inborn Gang Qi. Added up, it didn’t even reach 98%.

That was with the perfect Faceless Divine Skill. If it had been any other Internal Skill, he might have seen no progress at all.

"According to the Jade Fan Scholar, sometimes there is a Vigorous Air Fruit available in big states such as Xuanwu, which can accelerate the transformation process. I need to look for it," Shi Xiaole remarked.

At this rate, Shi Xiaole would need at least five to six years, if not longer, to convert all his internal power into Inborn Gang Qi. He could not wait that long.

For others, the Dragon Gate Realm might seem unattainable. But for Shi Xiaole, it was just a phase of his life– he intended to reach it as soon as possible.

After staying at the Fortunate Fate Inn for two days, Shi Xiaole set off and spent the night in the wild.

"Hehehe, where are you going?"

A sinister laughter, somewhat familiar, echoed through the air.

Shi Xiaole looked up to see Yu Fei and his two Junior Sisters fleeing, bloodied and defeated. Close behind them were Liu Ye and another burly man, chasing mercilessly with fierce faces.

"Damn you, Yu! I’ve never been so humiliated in my life! If I don’t tear you to pieces today, I’ll have lived in vain!"

Liu Ye guffawed, triumph on his face.

Having encountered Yu Fei a few days ago, he guessed that Yu Fei must be tracking the notorious ’Flower Hurrying Black Hawk’, Li Zhen. To his delight, not long after leaving the inn, he ran into Li Zhen.

To exact revenge, Yu Fei proposed a plan, and since neither of them were good people, they quickly agreed. With their ambush and cunning, the scene unfolding before them was created.

"Young Master Yu, I just raped and killed a few of your Junior Sisters. Why trouble yourself to chase me relentlessly, to the point of your current plight? I’ll kill you quickly, as a show of gratitude for delivering these two beauties." Li Zhen’s eyes gleamed sinisterly as he eyed the two girls next to Yu Fei.

"You villain, you will not die a good death!"

Yu Fei regretted his actions, his face pale.

He never expected Li Zhen’s cultivation to reach the middle stage of the 8th Level of the Spiritual-Passage Realm, not the rumored peak of the 7th level. Even more unimaginable was the trap laid by Li Zhen and Liu Ye.

His own death would be insignificant, but what about his two Junior Sisters?

The flickering flames of the campfire up ahead suddenly caught Yu Fei’s attention - isn’t that the boy they met at the inn a few days ago?

"We will go from the left."

Yu Fei gritted his teeth, his Junior Sisters nodded, and they forcefully elevated their energies.

Their fate hung by a thread tonight, and they saw no reason to drag another person down with them.

"Gentleman, you’re badly injured. Stop and heal your wounds."

With a flash, Shi Xiaole was in front of the three of them.

"Gentleman, let’s go!"

The two sides were only twenty meters apart, the trio weren’t surprised when Shi Xiaole appeared in front of them in an instant.

Yet because of the dire situation and Shi Xiaole’s controlled energy, they couldn’t gauge his level. Seeing how young he was, they couldn’t help but worry.

"Damn it, I hate those in green clothes the most. Die!"

Recognizing Shi Xiaole, Liu Ye lunged forward, punching out violently. The ferocious punch came down on Shi Xiaole, as if a mountain was pressing down on him. Liu Ye imagined Shi Xiaole’s brain being smashed into pulp and burst into crazed laughter.

"Gentle...!"

Before Yu Fei could finish his word, he saw Shi Xiaole lightly flick his finger.

Pfft!

The scattered punches turned into a gentle breeze. Liu Ye’s triumphant expression froze, a bloody hole appearing in his forehead. He was dead beyond any doubt.

"What?"

Great shock registered on Li Zhen’s face.

With his strength, he could have killed Liu Ye, but not as effortlessly as Shi Xiaole just did. Not willing to wait, Li Zhen turned to flee.

"Take this finger’s hit before you leave."

Shi Xiaole flicked his middle finger and turned his head away, not even bothering to look at Li Zhen.

"Divine Power Insane Blade Slash!"

Li Zhen had no time to evade and could only blindly slash behind him. The horrifying blade light immediately crumbled upon impact with the Pangu Axe Finger force. It couldn’t even hold for a moment.

"No!"

As a mouthful of blood spurted out, Li Zhen fell dead to the ground.

"What...?"

Yu Fei and his two Junior Sisters were all dumbfounded.

"Gentleman, you are indeed a hidden expert. Thank you for your assistance tonight."

After his shock passed, Yu Fei thanked him with a salute, his heart still quaking.

He had previously worried about Shi Xiaole, but as it turns out, that worry was an overestimation of his own wit. This young man’s strength might even exceed that of his third Senior Sister.

"No need for formalities. Please, sit and heal your wounds. It’s good to have company."

Yu Fei nodded, and the trio settled by the bonfire, beginning to meditate and recuperate. About an hour later, they looked much better.