Once Reinhart, Serina, Fatty and Sef got down to talk to Shui, he explained the arrays' effects and the fact that Sef would be safe against anyone below late Earth Realm. Serina, Fatty and Sef were all surprised by how powerful the arrays were, but only Reinhart was knowledgeable enough about arrays to tell how skilled of an array master Shui would have to be to make them. He could intuitively sense that the protection array would indeed be able to block an attack from him, so Shui had to be at least a tier 3 array master. Furthermore, if his claim of its effectiveness was true, then he would be close to being an array grandmaster if he wasn't already one.
'So he really was the one behind them.'
On the occasions when he followed Kate to visit the Heaven clan, he had spotted a few arrays and noticed that the entire clan was enveloped by an array as well, though he wasn't aware of its power. He had brought it up to Kate, who hadn't seemed to know about it but assumed that Shui was the one who made them. Later, when news of the Heaven clan's fall was spread, he heard of a protection array capable of blocking all attacks below the Master Realm being used and knew that that was the array he felt. Reinhart wasn't able to believe a cripple would have such high attainments in the art of arrays, but now it looked like Shui was just as much of a monster as Kate described.
'I wonder how many more surprises you hold, Shui?'
That night, they had a small housewarming party and Shui declared that it was time to leave. Serina was the most reluctant to agree, but once Shui told her that they could come back to visit, she also nodded. She still wanted to spend more time with Sef, but just as she wanted to get stronger so that she didn't have to rely on someone else's protection, Sef also had a goal he wanted to devote himself to. In other words, no one would benefit if they halted their progress for each other.
The next day, they officially left the inn and said farewells to Sef at his house. No tears were shed, but Serina and Sef both silently swore to do their best while apart. Once they were out of the city, everyone boarded Reinhart's flight artifact and he directed it towards Silver City. Almost everyone thought, or at least hoped that they would return to Silver City without any more incidents, but Shui had different plans.
Once they had crossed the border into the five cities region, Shui expressed his desire to leave.
"Reinhart, could you bring these two back to the manor with you?"
Serina and Fatty widened their eyes, but Reinhart was calm.
"That was my original intention, but what about you?"
"There's a place I need to go to, but it's too dangerous to bring them with me."
Fatty and Serina wanted to join him, but if he brought up their strengths then there was nothing they could say. They were all in the Soul Realm, but in terms of true power and skill, the difference between them was enormous. Although they hadn't been idle during this trip, it was hard to say there was a single time he truly needed their help. Serina was especially incapable of raising a complaint since she was the reason for this trip in the first place.
After a glance at the two's despondent expressions, Reinhart gave his approval.
"Very well. However, ensure to settle your matters quickly since Kate will likely want to see you."
"I'll do my best."
Shui then turned towards Fatty and Serina. They didn't voice it, but disappointment was evident on their faces. It was a lie that Shui wasn't confident he could protect them, but at the place he intended on going, it would be hard for them to contribute so there would be no point. However, that didn't mean he didn't have any expectations for them.
"You two, make sure to keep up with your training and have sparring practice with each other while I'm gone. I'll be expecting improvement once I come back."
Relief and resolve emerged from their eyes before they energetically answered, "Yes!"
With that settled, Shui was ready to leave. He could have waited until they landed for the night, but he had an interesting idea he wanted to try.
"Well, see you at Silver CIty."
After that, Shui jumped off the fan.
"Shui!"
Even Reinhart was surprised by his abrupt movement, but soon they realized that they really had nothing to worry about. After jumping off the fan, Shui used the Four Elements Technique as the medium to manipulate the wind and drift off. Shui could fly if he wanted to, but it was very energy inefficient at his current level. However, gliding was much easier. Reinhart was also capable of a similar feat since he had a high affinity with the wind attribute, but he wouldn't try unless he was forced to since he couldn't adequately respond to any attacks in that state. Still, none of them thought that Shui would have any problems.
Shui enjoyed the feeling of flying through the air. He would likely be faster if he ran, but looking down on the land while being wrapped in cool breeze was pleasant. His destination was close enough that he would be able to reach it before the sun fell, so he only had kept up a minimum level of vigilance on his surroundings on the way. Minimum it might have been, as Shui was erasing his presence as best as he could, no nearby creature could sense him in the first place, and the ones that would be strong enough to sense him weren't in the area. Of course, constantly manipulating the wind wasn't easy either, but it wasn't enough to cause him trouble.
After a couple hours of gliding, a group of hills covered by forestry was within sight. Not even evolved beasts could be found on these hills, but Shui was certain that he was on the right track. This wasn't the entrance to a shocking treasury or an ancient secret realm, it was only the headquarters of the Darino Gang that he found from the memory of the Earth Realm cultivator waiting outside the qilin's cave in Stonefield. Even though they had gone after Sef, Shui initially didn't plan on fighting them. It was only after reading the memories of that Earth Realm cultivator that he became interested in making a visit.
It wasn't enmity, but rather pure curiosity that made him come here with the intent of wiping them out while he was at it.