The sect master stared at the diamonds in his hand as two more figures appeared beside him.
"My share," The one on the sect leader's right side spoke, snatching a diamond from his hand.
He wore a completely white robe, his disheveled black hair stretching to his shoulders.
"Sigurd, I wanted to use them for our ancestors..." The sect leader responded, feeling helpless.
"You used us, you owe us," Sigurd responded, feeling it was natural since he chose to use them for the deal.
"Ancestors, my ass!" The one on the left did the same, grinning like a maniac.
Both were quite old, stuck at the Astral Binding, and nearing the end of their lifespan.
Another thousand years and they would have ended up slumbering within the vein, like their ancestors.
However, the diamonds brought a new opportunity, allowing them to ascend the Immortal Realms.
"Strictly speaking, this is not the Dundarf I know," Sigurd commented.
"Agreed, the one we knew would have killed that insect within a breath."
The second elder spoke, interested in Dundarf's wisdom.
Ninety percent of cultivators died before reaching a quarter of their lifespan, seven percent made it halfway, and only a few of the remaining three percent survived beyond that.
Dundarf was among the minority, achieving the Spirit Manifestation while living quietly.
"Curiosity, wariness," Dundarf muttered, as both elders nodded.
Although his words were vague, they relayed his thoughts perfectly.
"Inform us if needed." They spoke in union before disappearing, leaving the old man alone.
He closed his eyes again, his spirit leaving his body a few seconds later.
He smiled, knowing Justin wouldn't sense him, given he had no spiritual sense.
————————
Meanwhile, Justin made his way back to the inner zone.
He found a suitable residence close to the inner disciples.
He sat down, closing his eyes before retrieving some of the sword arts lying dormant within his mind.
All of those belonged to the Void Pericer Sect.
Techniques were classified into 6 ranks, most of which were at the third, the Mystic stage.
Unauthorized sharing was subject to immediate execution.
However, Justin didn't care.
There was no one here to stop him.
He believed that if any of the disciples were able to master the worst of these, then they would surely rise.
He grinned, knowing he would get rewards since he was the source.
"Let's get going!" He spoke, getting up excitedly.
He descended the stairs leading to the outer zone before stopping at the middle.
Then he took the right side, heading to the sect's arsenal.
A beauty sat in front of the building, uniformed like Rey's.
She had two brown eyes, a small nose, blonde hair, and two pointy ears.
Her face was beautiful, and her body was covered, contrary to the Jade Pavilion's woman.
However, by the looks of it, she belonged to the big ones.
"Who are you, and where is your outfit?" She spoke, her voice soft but her tone aggressive
She was suspicious of him; he wasn't wearing the sect's outfit, meaning he was an outsider.
"Never mind the outfit, just let me pick a sword," Justin responded, revealing his silver token.
The effect was immediate, causing her to change her attitude.
"Pardon my rudeness, grand elder." She spoke quietly, cupping her hand in respect.
She knew he was merely a Body Refining junior, yet she had to abide by the sect's rules.
Justin liked her, finding her quite sensible.
"I will take this one." She urged him to follow, and he pointed at a random sword, speaking the moment he entered.
It was a normal thin sword of the refined grade, just enough to handle the techniques.
His idea was simple: if others saw him execute a technique with such a sword, they would feel confident they could do better.
He bid his farewell and continued to the shared training grounds.
This was where inner zone disciples either guided or bullied those from the outer zone, but it didn't matter to him.
It was lively, contrary to his imagination.
He thought the disciples would be cultivating by now, but there were at least fifty disciples here.
'A good opportunity nonetheless,' Justin thought, stepping forward with a smirk.
"Greetings, juniors." He spoke out loud, attracting everyone's attention.
"Would you mind entertaining this elder a little?" He continued, flexing his sword by spinning it in his hand.
The majority frowned at him, treating him like some lost dumbass.
They believed he wasn't an elder given his cultivation and youth.
"Hmm, how about this?" Justin didn't like their reaction.
They were supposed to be amazed, surprised, or at least excited.
But all he saw was pure ignorance, prompting him to retrieve a spirit ring from his inventory.
"Defeat me and this shall be yours!" He threw the ring a little high, catching it once again.
It disappeared, returning to his inventory as the noises rose.
'Great!' Justin smiled, as one of them approached him, challenging him to a spar.
He stepped forward, giving his opponent the chance to prepare himself.
"Cloud-Severing Strike!!!"
"Void Fang."
The boy shouted, and Justin muttered.
He thrust his sword forward, interrupting the boy's technique.
A horrendous Qi torrent swarmed the arena, destroying everything around it before slamming the boy's body.
It sent him flying, his body rolling outside the area before crashing against a boulder.
[Congrats, you've gained 5 Chaos Charges and 5 Experience for Alan's misfortune!] (x10)
"Woops!" Justin exclaimed, watching the boulder shatter as the boy continued rolling.
He ignored the system notifications, focusing on the matter at hand.
He wanted to arouse them, not scare them!
They were silent, their eyes wide open in disbelief.
Justin coughed lightly, bringing their attention.
"I will limit my Qi to 10% from now on," He said, his statement causing no reactions.
They were interested. But their courage was nowhere to be seen.
"Alright, juniors. 3% plus my guidance if you can defeat me!" He spoke, his words appeasing them compared to before.
However, no one wanted to suffer the same fate as the first boy, so they took a few seconds chatting among themselves.
Finally, someone stepped forward, seemingly bullied into playing the lab rat role.
"Greetings, senior! This junior's name is Eric." The young man muttered awkwardly, bowing respectfully to Justin.
His eyes were black, matching his long hair color. His body was thin, weak, and fragile.
He rose, holding a heavy sword, supporting it with both hands.
'Oh dear, it's up to you whether you earn me some rewards or die trying,' Justin thought, a smirk painting his face.
"Go ahead," Justin muttered, before taking the familiar stance.
His sword was pointed at Eric, who charged at him, dragging his sword across the ground.
The void fang struck once again, albeit a mere fart compared to the torrent from before.
Eric pushed through, appearing before Justin.
He swung his sword, clashing against Justin's sword.
"Interesting! You certainly have potential." Justin muttered, faking his true thoughts before retreating.
"You've won, junior. Come find me tomorrow for the rest." He continued, swiftly throwing the spirit ring to Eric.
With his objective complete, Justin returned to his residence.
He sat down, meditating to recover the Qi he wasted.