Following the clan head, Zhang Lie and Hong Xi quickly entered the Yeluo settlement. There wasn't anything particularly interesting; indeed, from Zhang Lie's perspective, the buildings seemed a little shabby and rundown.

At the very least, the clan head was efficient and returned rapidly with three vials and a beastskin scroll, on which the recipe for the Yeluo clan's special brew had been copied in shoddy penmanship.

Having acquired the potions and recipe he had come all this way to obtain, Zhang Lie took out a superior-grade speckled mantis soulshard from his robes. "Here, a reward."

Zhang Lie grinned mysteriously at the clan head. "Do you know why I'm so strong?"

The clan head blinked. "It must be because of the depth and quality of your reserves of genetic energy, of course!"

"Oh? And what of my apprentice? Why do you think she was able to take down over a dozen of your fighters?"

The clan head frowned at her, then turned back to Zhang Lie. "Why?"

Zhang Lie pointed at the soulshard in his palm. "This, of course!"

The Yeluo clan head: ! ! !  

The Yeluo fighters: ! ! !  

The Yeluo clan head's palms trembled. "You mean, this is the secret behind the humans' rise in strength?"

"Indeed." Of course, it wasn't. The reason mankind was so strong surely wasn't because of soulshards alone; frameworks, techniques, gene fragments, and soulshards were all of utmost importance.

Hong Xi couldn't help giggling to herself as she watched Zhang Lie mislead the Yeluo tribesmen. Her body naturally wasn't as strong as the Yeluo fighters', but she was far superior in terms of frameworks, techniques, gene fragments, and soulshards.

Quite a few Yeluo fighters gathered around Zhang Lie and their clan head, unable to believe that such a small shard of material would possess the strength that Zhang Lie had displayed.

"Don't you want to test it out?"

The clan head picked up the soulshard and was right about to place it in his mouth, thinking of it as some kind of medicinal pill, when Zhang Lie rached out to stop him.

"Ah, stop, stop! It's a soulshard, and you need to connect to it mentally, not eat it!" 

Very quickly, with Zhang Lie's guidance, the Yeluo clan head was able to activate and sense the effects of the soulshard for himself. Two scarlet mantis scythes materialized in his palms, the blades serrated, the hefts speckled. The sight shocked the Yeluo fighters, particularly the clan head himself. He could sense the scythes almost like extensions of his own body, and he knew that they possessed a terrifying poison.

"Th-This is unbelievable! No wonder, no wonder! Does that mean that I can become as strong as you, or even stronger, one day?"

"You'll certainly become stronger, but if you want to become stronger than me—well, I have quite a lot of these soulshards."

The reason the Yeluo clan had been unaware of these soulshards was because the indigenous races could not obtain soulshards or gene fragments from killing genetic lifeforms. However, that didn't mean they couldn't use these soulshards after obtaining them; this wasn't a secret among the intelligent races of the second realm. Some such races even made it a point to capture and interrogate any humans and members of other non-native races so as to obtain the soulshards that they possessed.

This wasn't information that the secluded Yeluo clan was privy to, and Zhang Lie had taken advantage of this blind spot to make the Yeluo clan head believe that he would be able to overcome Zhang Lie if he just amassed sufficiently many soulshards.

"If you want to acquire more soulshards, then you had better produce more of these potions." Zhang Lie smirked: they had fallen for it all, hook, line, and sinker.

The Yeluo fighters' eyes turned ardent. If they could grow stronger just by amassing these soulshards...

 Zhang Lie and the Yeluo clan head entered a cooperative relationship. Although the initial relationship between Zhang Lie and the Yeluo clan had been rather fractious, Zhang Lie finally managed to secure a means of production for the potion that would show great effect against the sura.

Zhang Lie stayed for a night in the Yeluo settlement, then left the next day. Along the way, he cast [Ninecarp Transformation: Fourth Form], picking up the dense runic tablet that fell from the skies and securing it to Hong Xi's back.

The first of the four runic tablets was the only one that Zhang Lie could fully control.

The tremendous weight forced Hong Xi to pant. "Master, have I done something wrong? Is this a punishment?"

"No, you haven't done anything wrong. In fact, I'm quite impressed with your performance against the Yeluo fighters."

"In that case, why—"

"This is a form of training. On our return journey, I want you to get used to bearing twice your own weight. Will you be able to handle it?"

"Yes, Master!" Hong Xi replied obediently. Over the course of their journey, she had witnessed Zhang Lie's strength, as well as her own development.

In the past, she would have easily fallen prey to a single superior-grade lifeform, but now, even if she were to encounter a peak-grade lifeform, she would be able to last a little while longer. Perhaps she still wouldn't be able to defeat one on her own, but a serious injury wasn't out of the question.

Carrying the runic tablet made Hong Xi's journey quite tiring. After all, they still encountered quite a few superior-grade lifeforms from time to time, but even then, Hong Xi didn't complain. She gritted her teeth, bore the runic tablet on her back, and fought off the lifeforms while moving as little as possible.

She had grown up being chased by enemies, panicking at anything that seemed out of the ordinary. Those of her clan perished one by one, and she could do nothing about it. Hong Xi, who had grown up under such circumstances, had learned an important lesson about the value of her own strength, so she had always tried her hardest on the path of cultivation. Unfortunately for her, her enemy was simply too strong—they had cut off the Hong clan's resources, and she had had to struggle for every bit of advancement she made.

Now that she had managed to take Zhang Lie as master and receive such specialized training, how could she not work hard? 

Because of the additional weight on Hong Xi's back, the return trip was even longer than the outward trip. It took them more than a full month before they returned to Qi.

Back in Qi, Zhang Lie asked, "If I remember correctly, you have a brother, don't you?"

"Yes, Master!"

Zhang Lie nodded. "Once we return, head to the Zenith Dojo in Ning with him."

"Yes, Master!" Zhang Lie's words touched Hong Xi: this was essentially an offer to protect them both.

"Leave me with your contact information so that I can reach out to you if necessary," Zhang Lie continued.

"Yes, Master!"

Afterwards, Hong Xi returned to Earth, while Zhang Lie returned to the Qi barracks to see what the members of Team Zenith had been up to in his absence. Unfortunately, however, they seemed to be out on a mission, so Zhang Lie followed Hong Xi back to Earth as well.

In a rundown manor on the planet Tira, the first thing Hong Xi planned to do was to inform her brother of the incredible luck that had befallen her. She thought, Brother, I managed to reclaim [Eclipse], and I've even taken on Zhang Lie as my master! I'm going to revive the Hong clan!

However, when she pushed open the battered wooden doors, she found no one within. Hong Xiao wasn't home. Hong Xi searched all around, but she had an uneasy premonition.

She immediately called her brother on her transceiver. 

"Surely nothing's wrong—surely my brother's only gone out hunting!" she mumbled to herself. 

The call connected, but the voice on the other end wasn't her brother's. It was her nemesis, Musi Te.

"Hong Xi, have you finally found your way back home?"

Hong Xi's voice grew hard with anger. "Musi Te, where's my brother?"

Musi Te laughed. "We're good friends, aren't we? We found your brother, and I wanted to take the opportunity to reconnect with him."

From the transceiver came a weak voice, "Sister, run! Hide—don't let the Musi find—"

Before her brother could finish, she heard a series of frenzied, dull thumps, along with her brother's repressed groans.

Musi Te laughed. "Ah, my apologies, we may have gone a little overboard."

Hong Xi roared in anger, "Musi Te! If anything happens to my brother, I swear you'll suffer the same fate tenfold!"

Musi Te grinned. "Are you threatening me? My goodness. Do you really think the Hong clan's anything without the Eclipse Sage? If not for the fact that I'm interested in [Eclipse] myself, I'd long have taken care of the two of you."

Hong Xi's palms were trembling.

Musi Te continued, "Bring me [Eclipse] within five hours. Otherwise, who can promise what might happen to your brother?"

"That's impossible! I don't have [Eclipse]—how do you want me to hand it over?"

Musi Te chuckled. "Did you hear your sister, Hong Xiao? She doesn't care for you at all—your life's worthless to her!"

"Ahh—argh! Sis, leave! Don't bother trying to save me!"

Upon hearing the pained cries coming from the transceiver, Hong Xi clenched her fists. "Where do you want to meet?"

"By the warehouses at the ninth port of Tarkus. If I don't see you there by the deadline, well, feel free to dig around my manor's dog kennels for your brother's bones."

Musi Te hung up.

Hong Xi prepared to leave immediately after informing Zhang Lie of what had happened. He didn't pick up after repeated attempts to call him, so she had no choice but to leave him a message instead.