The audacity one needed to steal from another man's land. Especially when one of the owners of the land is Old Demon Luan.
If this was Sorja and such a news spread, only condolences would be offered to the perpetrators.
To Luan, it didn't make a difference what world he was in. He had never liked the idea of outsiders taking his things.
Since the crystal pearl guided me here and opened the entrance of the grotto, there's definitely something here that it wants.
That was the only reason he could come up with. It wouldn't be reasonable to think that the pearl had the same opinions and notions as him.
Regardless, this meant that he was going to step into the Secret Grotto either way.
"Hmph!"
Luan tapped his walking cane on the ground, this time, its bottom was infused with his qi.
Thud.
The ground beneath it caved in, sending spider webbed cracks around.
Without a moment of hesitation, Luan stepped into the pocket dimension.
Perhaps because he had once reached the pinnacle, Luan wasn't afraid that he would meet cultivators well above his realm in this place.
Foolish confidence… some would say.
Absolute confidence… some might argue.
However, to Luan, it was just a matter of legitimacy.
If there were truly cultivators he couldn't face in the grotto, he would run, but not before identifying who they are.
Beside, unless it was natural Secret Grotto, or one specifically made to contain strong existences, most grottos have conditions.
A grotto can break apart if a condition is crossed.
For example, some grottos can only contain a certain level of cultivators, any one more powerful than its limit would cause the pocket dimension to collapse.
Nonetheless, none of that was Luan's concern at the moment.
As soon as he stepped through the opening, the wave of qi that hit him was even more potent than what grazed him at the entrance.
The Secret Grotto had its own sun, though it seemed illusionary. A canopy of leaves filtered the sunlight, creating a feeling of calmness, and if it wasn't for the voice Luan heard, he would have remained to enjoy it.
In front of him was a tall tree wide with a wide trunk, and behind this tree came the voice of the girl he heard.
"These Fire Flowers are Grade-2 Spiritual Plants, they are even helpful for cultivator in the Foundation Building stage. With this much, we can probably sell a few and then find a Pill Master to make something of it for us. Susu, we might really make it big this time."
"But Arty, wouldn't selling it be risky. The sect might investigate and figure out that we took thing from this grotto before reporting it."
A fierce glint appeared in Luan's eyes, he was even more resolved to kill these people. Since they hadn't reported this place to their sect, letting them live was no different from shooting himself in the leg.
From their conversation, he realized that they were both Foundation Building cultivators.
Luan stepped out from behind the tree. His appearance startled the two intruders.
"Who's that!?" Arty quickly retrieved a sword from side, while his female companion held two knives in her hands.
They were both wearing a robe that had an emblem of multiple weapons on it.
"Hmm, you're both from the All-Weapons sect?" It was rhetorical.
"Who are you!?" Arty asked again, cautious of Luan's presence.
They didn't think there would be anyone inside the Secret Grotto, after all, they had investigated and found out that the pocket dimension had been left untouched for a long time.
"The owner of this place." Luan replied as a matter of fact.
His response sent chills down the pair of intruders.
To them, people who claimed to own a Secret Grotto were ancient monsters, and Luan's getup matched someone who had lived in the mountains—away from civilization—for a while.
His rough beards and long hair that covered most of his face. The aged walking cane in his hands.
Arty was getting ready to apologize and beg for mercy when Susu's voice stopped him.
"Wait." She pointed at Luan. "He's just a peak-stage Qi Condensation realm cultivator. He's posing to be what he's not."
Susu's fear quickly turned into anger.
She had almost been scammed by a weakling. She was an early-stage Foundation Building realm cultivator, how can she tolerate such disrespect?
Arty's feelings matched hers.
"Really?" Luan said, looking at Arty. "I could tell that you thought of retreating before she spoke."
Arty didn't even respond.
He charged forward and slashed at Luan.
Seeing the incoming sword, Luan raised his walking cane to block the strike, wrapping it in his qi.
The two objects touched and it was as if two metals collided. Both parties stepped back due to the force from the collision.
"He's a few steps shy from becoming a Foundation Building cultivator, Susu, join hands with me and let's take him down quickly. He might have back up."
Luan only looked at the girl without saying anything.
The previous attack had only pushed him back because his body alone wasn't strong enough to cushion the force. As for his qi, it was many time stronger than what Arty struck with.
The fighting style of the cultivators in Sorja was always head-on combat, and Luan was proficient in that.
However, he was well aware that qi cultivators had many ways of battling.
It just so happened that these two were from a sect that prioritized and specialized weaponry combat.
Though he was still cautious, in case they had hidden trump cards, he didn't see them as much.
Susu appeared right next to her companion and the two of them charged at Luan.
With his current physical strength, Luan knew that he wouldn't match up to them, however, he had no plans to face them with just his physical strength.
With a thought, his qi circulated from his core and through his meridians, filling his muscles and tendons with greater strength. Mind you, his qi has traces of inner strength, making it quite easy for Luan to manipulate.
The first attack came and he weaved past it.
Then came Arty with another slash.
Luan's cane once again collided with his sword, but this time, only Arty was pushed back.
Nice! I haven't even started to go at it seriously and I can already compare to cultivators a realm above me.
Joy filled Luan's heart.
Not all of it came from the fact that he could fight against someone a realm above him. Most of it came from the prospective potential of the technique he was creating.
"Susu!" Arty called out with a signal.
Following his order, Susu retrieved a yellow talisman from her robe. She infused it with a bit of her qi and hurled it at her opponent.
The talisman turned into a huge ball of fire that shot at Luan.
Sensing the possible danger from the talisman, Luan put some more effort in his movement, leaving a blur behind.
Boom!
The fireball exploded the moment it came in contact with a tree, setting the tree on fire and burning it to ashes in a few seconds.
That's their trump card, talismans. I should end this.
With that thought in mind, just when Arty and Susu were about to bask in their victory, the bottom of the walking cane suddenly appeared and tapped the back of Susu's head.
Her head exploded, sending her brain matters into air. Some of it even landed on Arty.
Shocked and confused, he froze in place.
None of them had seen when and how Luan had moved. In their eyes, he had been hit by the fireball.
"Please, spare—"
Before he could complete his statement, the bottom of the cane tapped his head too.
Splurt!
It exploded.
"That was a nice stretch." Luan muttered with a smile on his face. One that he wasn't aware that he was making.
The scent of blood and ozone filled the air, but his expression was one of detached analysis.
From their conversation, they should be the only ones here from their sect.
Tsk!
I should have asked them how they found this place before killing them.
He scratched his head at his mistake.
Then suddenly, the crystal pearl began vibrating again, pulling towards a direction. Without a plan in mind, Luan followed.
Soon he arrived on a hill. The hill looked normal from afar, but up close, it looked like a moving wave.
The crystal pearl stopped vibrating he arrived here.
"Is this what it wanted?"
As if to answer his question, the pearl rotated once, creating a suction force so strong that it immediately uprooted the hill and sucked it into itself.
All of this happened in a second.
Luan was left stunned.
"That was a Spirit Vein." He muttered. "Did this pearl just swallow an entire Spirit Vein?"
Though it happened quickly, the light and purity of qi of the entire hill was unmistakable, even to a greenhorn like him.
This was something that his family had never had.
A Spirit Vein is a natural formation that draws, condenses and refines qi from the world, faster than a cultivator can fathom. If one had a Spirit Vein in their land, the purity, quality, and quantity of qi on that land would spike up.
Making the place a good location to cultivate.
It was a great treasure.
One that would have elevated the status of his family if they had retrieved it, and yet, it was swallowed by the crystal pearl in one go.
Luan waited a bit to see if the pearl would do anything else, thinking it was like when it absorbed his qi, inner strength, and blood essence. He was expecting it to give something in return.
Unfortunately, the pearl had gone silent.
"This fucking thing… scammed me?"