It did not take long for Luan to arrive at the council hall of the Khans.
Within were decision makers of the clan, and today, Luan saw faces that he had never seen before he migrated to Sorja.
There were new elders seated on seats that signified that they were part of the decision-making figures.
These figures all looked at Luan when he stepped in.
Belan sat at the highest table, being the acting chief of the clan.
By the corner stood Sully, next to Baldeen. And behind them was another face that Luan didn't recognize, but unlike the other unfamiliar faces in the room, this was another young man.
This young man stood tall, almost taller than Luan. He had thin blonde hair that had been cut short and a chiseled face. His blue eyes followed Luan as he moved.
All of them solemnly stared at Luan.
What's with this vibe? He couldn't help but wonder. Regardless, with a bow, he greeted, "I greet the elders."
"Luan," Belan started. "Have you been preparing for the upcoming journey well?"
Why is Second Grandpa speaking to me like this? Didn't we meet several times this morning? Heck, he even told me not to show my face to him for the rest of the day.
Luan had indeed disturbed the old man several times. When he went to ask for cultivation pills and manuals. When he went to complain about the impurities in the pills.
"Yes, Second Grandpa. I have."
"Hmm, that's good. Before we head onto the main topic, I just want to ask… how strong are you?"
Luan's head tilted slightly at the question. This was a direct question that many answers could satisfy.
"Why do you ask, Second Grandpa?"
Belan sighed.
"Here's the truth. The last time Aethelgard opened, our people found a secret pavilion hidden in the passageway between the bridges that connect the Foundation Building levels to the Purple Mansion levels.
Within that Pavilion, he found a stock of cultivation pills, and amongst them was a stash of grade-3 True Boundary Breaking pills. These pills give Foundation Building cultivators an 80% chance of success in their breakthrough to the Purple Mansion realm without any drawbacks. But before he could take any of them away, the Secret Grotto evicted everyone as its opening had come to an end.
"Luan, with many of our family's people out in the Void Battlefield, we are left with limited power and resources. And right now, we have an abundance of peak-stage Foundation Building cultivators in the clan. We need those pills to push our overall power to the next phase." Belan paused.
This child is so stubborn… why are we afraid of just taking the token from him? We can just pay him back by giving him a percentage of what we get from the grotto!
As a son of Khan, Belan was well aware of the sort of pride and stubbornness they had in their blood, and yet, these traits weren't as thick as they were in Luan's vein.
"Remember what I said when you asked me why we didn't have Purple Mansion cultivator fight for a slot during the competition? This is why." Baldeen chipped in.
Luan kept on feeling like they were about to convince him to do something, but they didn't want to go through a forceful route.
"So we just need to find the pavilion again and get what we need from it, right? Give me a map or direction, I'll look for it when I get to the bridge." Luan answered.
Though he hadn't directly given them an answer on how strong he was, this response was enough for all of them to make an inference.
Belan and Baldeen already had inklings that Luan was strong. In fact, stronger than most people at his stage. But none of them inferred that Luan was strong enough to compete with a peak-stage Foundation Building cultivator.
However, what they needed was on the bridge between the Foundation Building levels and Purple Mansion in Aethelgard.
Even peak-stage Foundation Building cultivators would find it hard to reach the bridge.
While Aethelgard is filled with opportunities, it is also fraught with danger. There were colonies of beasts in there that were said to be extinct in Sylvan Weave.
And many of them were ferocious, driven by nothing but instincts.
This is just one of the many dangers one could come across in Aethelgard.
"Luan, wouldn't you like to stay back and continue to cultivate at home?"
There was no restriction on legitimately giving one's qualification token to another. What was required to enter the Secret grotto was the token, not the person holding it.
If some were to be bold, they could attempt to steal a token from another person.
It was only separated between realms to avoid certain families or powers monopolizing the spots. After all, some families have a lot of powerful Purple Mansion cultivators, but weaker Qi Condensation and Foundation Building.
The rounds for the lesser cultivation realms are where the true opportunity for the weaker masses was.
With a stern face, Luan replied, "No."
The hall became silent for a few seconds. Many of them had expected this. And they weren't going to force it.
However, that didn't mean that they didn't have other ways to try.
The young man who was standing behind Sully stepped forward. "I, Adolf, of the outer disciples, greet the thirteenth young master. I'd like to apologize in advance for my rudeness. I was the one who found the pavilion, and it would be better if I could go there myself. That would save time and effort."
"Don't worry, I don't consider assisting the family a waste of time," Luan interjected, already bored by the guy's words.
"I respect that… but I cannot sit back just like that. Originally, the plan was to have Dex get a slot in his round, and then it would later be given to me. The only reason I couldn't attend the competition to get the slot myself is that the family sent me out on a mission. This opportunity is mine to have."
Luan arched a brow at Adolf. The young man was really confident, more so than Sully.
"I understand your plight, but I have already made up my mind to visit Aethelgard myself. I will personally see to it that the ingredient needed to complete my mother's antidote is obtained. And this is final." Luan said sternly.
"I apologize once again, young master. I want to challenge you to a duel; the winner gets to keep the token." Adolf said.
Luan was a bit taken aback, almost to the point of laughter. This! This was their plan? He chuckled, unable to hold his mirth in.
He took a glance at everyone in the room, and they all seemed to have expectant gazes.
It was as though all of them could tell that Luan wouldn't refuse the duel.
This was the curse of pride.
Perhaps, if I show them a bit of what I'm capable of, they would stop having so much doubt towards me. "Fine, however, I'm not much of a merciful person." Luan agreed.
"Thank you," Adolf sighed with relief. He would take it easy on the young master. "Clan head?"
Belan nodded at Adolf. "You can have your dwell here. Everyone here will serve as a witness."
"He's one of us after all." Belan transmitted to Baldeen and Dolan.
"The boy might start to despise the clan once again if he loses." Dolan transmitted back.
"If? Adolf reached the ultimate stage when he was still a Qi Condensation cultivator. Now, he's a peak-stage Foundation Building cultivator. You think Luan has any chance?" Belan retorted.
The ultimate stage is a stage where one's qi is condensed to the ultimate stage before preak through.
It was a stage above the peak stage, and an obstacle that many choose to avoid.
"You underestimate the boy… weren't you the one who said that Luan seems to be chasing the Qi Condensation realm's ultimate stage?" Dolan asked.
"Yes, but he's not there yet. Besides, Adolf is able to hold his own against an early-stage Purple Mansion. Luan has no chance."
"I have asked Adolf to take it easy on him, lest he hurts Luan's pride." Baldeen transmitted to the two of them.
Luan was unaware of the conversations his family members were having.
"I'll take it easy on you and let you have the first move." Adolf stepped to the center of the hall and said to Luan.
"You'll have to take me seriously if you truly want my token… but since you want to be generous, let me enlighten you."
Luan walked to the center slowly, and with each step, if one paid close attention, they would notice faint cracks appear on the floor.
He slowly raised his cane and twisted its hand to the side, causing its mechanisms to release the sword underneath.
Luan's aura seemed to change the moment his sword was revealed.
"Block this well," Luan slashed his sword, infusing a bit of heaviness in his slash.
He had just scratched the surface of this concept of heaviness and didn't know how to control his strength properly. Though he said that he wasn't a merciful person, he didn't have plans to kill Adolf.
Everyone in the hall watched as a sword wind sliced through the air and shot at Adolf.
Adolf's pupils shrank, and he quickly dodged the strike.
When the sword wind struck the ground, it sliced through it.
The entire hall was left speechless. They were aware that Luan could use sword qi now; Belan had given them a modified version of how that came to be.
But right now, in their eyes, he had only attacked with brute force, not with his sword qi. And yet, he was able to cause this kind of damage?
Adolf froze with shock. He wasn't scared, quite the contrary, it was just registering in his head that he might have to take Luan more seriously than he thought.
"Shall we continue then?" Luan uttered and let his aura flow.
A sharp sensation enveloped his figure.
It was his sword qi.
Belan frowned. "His sword has gotten stronger again in such a short time. This is abnormal. Is Luan a prodigy of the sword?" He transmitted to the rest.
"I apologize for my previous statement, young master. I'll have to take you seriously from now—"
"Stop," Belan uttered.
"There'll be no need for the duel anymore." He sighed internally, and all the elders immediately agreed that they couldn't let the duel go on.
If Luan was a prodigy of the sword, and his sword qi was already this sharp, then that meant that he could hurt Adolf seriously if he so badly wanted to win.
This was the advantage that sword qi gave him.
In the first place, there was no need for the duel; they just wanted to find an excuse to get Luan to stay back. They didn't think he was ready to face the true suppression of noble families of the empire.
That, coupled with the dangers within the grotto.
However, with what he just displayed, it was unclear who they should be worried about.
"What?" Adolf exclaimed.
"There's no need for the duel. Reserve your strength Adolf. You'll follow us to the meet up point for those going to Aethelgard. The Royal Inspector Commander from the imperial palace had passed a news few days ago. You'll still get the chance to get a token when we get there." Belan announced.