A few minutes passed, and the figures closed in.
The majority were on their swords, far behind due to their slow speed.
The rest flew on their own, swiftly landing before Justin.
They stared at him for a few moments, their eyes drifting to his obsidian.
"Greetings, fellow Daoists. How may I assist you?" Justin spoke, snickering internally.
There were not many, about fifty.
All of them were deadly silent, yet he knew most were hooked.
Their eyes spoke it all, following his hand as he waved it casually.
Most of them looked young, but appearances couldn't be trusted.
He believed some of them could be old monsters in disguise.
"Amazing treasure, Daoist friend. How much do you need for it? The Azure Sword Sect will never forget this favor."
A young man spoke, pushing through the crowd.
He was dressed in a robe similar to Justin's, albeit in a mix of blue/white combinations.
His eyes were orange with a smile painting his face, and his silver hair was tied back, reaching his shoulders.
"Hmph! We, the Jade Pavilion, will pay you double!"
A soft voice echoed as a woman pushed through the crowd, making her presence known.
She had two blue eyes, jet black hair, and a fancy crimson dress covering her body.
He looked at the woman, and his neurons became active immediately.
'Beautiful,' He thought, staring at her and feeling optimistic.
He knew should could be no less than a hundred years old, but it was a good thing nonetheless.
She was his first encounter in this world, making him assume he would meet better beauties later on.
She smiled at him, thinking she had won, and unfortunately, it didn't last long.
He shook his head a few moments later, turning around and ignoring her completely.
He faced the crowd once again, surprised they didn't jump him immediately.
"This rock? I just picked it up off the ground, but if the Daoists want to buy it, then sure."
Justin spoke, casually rubbing his chin, acting ignorant.
"How about five Spirit Jades?" He waved his free hand, his answer causing them to stare at him in disbelief.
"Five Jades? Here!" Silence reigned for a few moments, then a man's voice rang inside Justin's ears.
He was dressed in black, appearing before Justin out of nowhere.
A hand sped toward the obsidian and another toward Justin's empty hand.
"You dare?!"
"What a rude junior!"
"Courting Death!"
"Such disrespect!"
'He's dead,' Justin snickered internally, knowing the majority was mad.
The angry noises rose behind the young man, and suddenly, the bombardments began raining down on him.
[Congrats, you've gained 5 Chaos Charges and 5 Experience for Alex Nightshade's misfortune!]
It was the same notification, however, it appeared every time Alex took an attack.
He felt it was annoying, yet fun at the same time.
The spam continued for a minute, then everything calmed down.
[Congrats, your cultivation has risen to Root Awakening, and you've earned 15 stat points!]
[Congrats, you've gained 100 Chaos Charges and 100 Experience for Alex Nightshade's death!]
[Congrats, your actions killed a Foundation Realm cultivator. 10x Spirit Jades were added to your inventory!]
Justin grinned internally as the corpse fell before him.
He saw the rewards and knew it was the right moment to strike.
He made up his mind, throwing the obsidian toward the crowd before cowering and feigning fear.
The war began, and they started attacking each other as he distanced himself, entertaining himself from afar.
The notification bombard returned once again, much worse than before.
However, Justin was dying from the ecstasy.
He was overwhelmed, knowing the numbers would only rise from now on.
[Congrats, your cultivation has risen to Spirit Gathering, and you've earned 15 stat points!]
A few minutes passed, and a notification appeared before Justin's eyes as the Qi flooded his body.
He knew what it meant, he had a dantian now.
He dismissed it and grinned, watching more cultivators land to join the fray.
The chaos ensued, and his experience and chaos charges kept rising.
Suddenly, a strange feeling washed over him, causing him to collapse.
He felt his muscles being torn and rebuilt as the pain wrecked him.
It took a few minutes as he lost track of the battle, his body becoming sturdier as time went by.
'Fucking hell, what was that?!' He grumbled as the pain came to an end, slowly fading away.
He took a look, making sure they were still actively fighting before focusing on himself.
He touched himself all over, feeling his muscles more refined compared to before.
He felt stronger, his Qi roaring in his veins.
Finally, the system notification appeared before him.
[Congrats, your cultivation has risen to Body Refining! All of your stats were increased by 50, and you've earned 15 stat points!]
He grinned, confirming the reason for the change.
Normal cultivators refined their physiques through this stage.
It was meant to prepare for the Vein Opening stage and the Foundation Building Realms.
As for him? He believed the system did it on his behalf.
Otherwise, he guessed his stats wouldn't have increased out of nowhere.
An hour passed, and the notification began dying down as Justin gritted his teeth.
He took a glance at his status and knew he was close.
However, the current rate was extremely slow since none were dying anymore.
His mind cogs ran wild, thinking of a solution.
His newly fond power gave him a choice and courage.
He observed the cultivators, noting the damage they sustained.
His mind roared, feeling he could take them on.
Yet it was not so simple, he had no techniques or skills to use.
Yes, he had Ironhart's memories, but he didn't have a single moment to practice.
It was natural, given he didn't imagine breaking through to this stage in a single day.
Thus, he nodded his head, knowing his only option was the stat points he had.
He added 15 to vitality, bringing it to 100 and increasing his health to 1500.
He added the remaining points to Dexterity, favoring speed over power.
Why? Because his pants gave him extra strength, balancing his stats a little.
"Fellow Daoists, may I take my stone back?" Justin spoke, casually entering the fray.
His eyes wandered around, eventually falling on the blood-soaked obsidian.
He ignored their sneers, knowing his Elemental Resistance was high above the sky.
All he was wary of were sneak and physical attacks, but he knew the majority wouldn't risk it.
He didn't intend on killing any of them, knowing they would come for him later.
The ones present from the beginning stared at him, believing something was wrong.
They couldn't sense any cultivation when they first arrived, but now he was Body Refining.
It was an anomaly, something unheard of.
"Amitabha! What gain is in bloodshed?!" A voice rang, bringing Justin's attention.
He looked over, witnessing a bald monk in an orange approach him.
The monk looked friendly, albeit his smile was creepy.
His robe was blood-stained, and his body sustained some wounds.
His words felt like a joke, prompting Justin to laugh out loud.
He benefited the most and resented efforts to calm others down.
"Hmm, is your nose bigger than your brain?! I'm just taking back my obsidian!"
Justin responded, guessing the monk wasn't present from the start.
However, his words seems to have pissed off the guy.
The monk raised his eyebrows and gritted his teeth, then he roared in anger.
"I will fucking kill you!" He clenched his fists, rushing at Justin as fast as he could.
Justin snickered, knowing the monk had lost it.
He patiently waited for the monk's arrival, who seemed so slow to him.
He assumed it was his Dexterity, allowing his eyes to keep up with the monk's movement.
He snickered, knowing the obsidian was incredibly hard..
It was an item so precious that it was used to make Immortal weapons.
However, it was merely a rock at the moment, and he didn't hesitate to abuse it.
A few seconds passed, and eventually, the monk arrived.
'Prefect!' Justin dodged him casually, raising his hand and looking at the monk's bald head.
Grinning wildly, he smashed the obsidian down onto the monk's skull.
[Congrats, you've gained 250 Chaos Charges and 250 Experience for Alex Nightshade's death!]
[Congrats, your actions killed a Soul Realm cultivator. 10x Spirit Diamonds were added to your inventory!]
The monk grunted quietly, falling to the ground like a heavy rock as the system's notifications appeared.
Justin smiled, releasing a sigh of relief.
He felt great, amazed by the result of his attack.
The monk was a Soul Realm Cultivator, someone he couldn't even dream of killing with his current cultivation.
Much less, the profit was great so far.
With many Spirit Diamonds in his possession, Justin didn't need to use any of his Obsidians.
He moved on, his eyes searching for a suitable candidate.
"Would you mind having a guest, fellow Daoist?" His eyes fell on the Azure Sword Sect cultivator, and he immediately spoke.
His plan was simple, sparking wars and conflict from the shadows.
He knew most of the present cultivators would spread the news.
And even if he didn't use the obisidan, he knew some trouble would visit the sect.
"Of course, who dares to refuse!" The man responded immediately, his expression showing how fearful he was.
The rest remained shut, having no thoughts of interfering after witnessing the monk's death.
"Then lead the way, and is the flight on you?" Justin spoke, holding his hands behind his back.
"Of course, you! Come here!" The man responded, quickly summoning a sect disciple sharing the same outfit.
Justin laughed dryly, knowing the man was afraid of his obsidian.
"Have no worries, fellow daoist. You would have been dead by now if I wanted."
Justin spoke, prompting the man to think quietly for a few moments.
"Fine, I suppose you are right." The man responded before summoning a long, heavy sword.
"Don't worry, this Daoist shall pay the favor once we arrive," He continued as the man gestured to him.
He moved forward, getting on the sword before resting one of his hands on the man's shoulder.
The sword rose and flew, heading northwest as more cultivators followed behind them.
All of them shared the same outfit as the man, indicating they belonged to the same sect.
"May I know the Daoist's name?" The man suddenly spoke as they flew, the cold wind lashing against them.
"Justin Valemond, what about you?" Justin responded, enjoying his first flight.
"I'm Rey Stormfang, the seventh elder of the Azure Sword Sect."
Rey guessed Justin had no background since he didn't mention it himself.
Still, he was deeply interested in him after witnessing him skip three stages in a row.
About an hour passed, and finally, their destination appeared far in the distance.
It was a mountain that was so high, it reached the clouds.
A set of buildings could be been a little high above the mountain base.
Some structures formed towers, and some were scattered, akin to residences.
Justin was shocked, he couldn't believe his own eyes.
This sect, regardless of how big it seemed, couldn't compare to anything he saw within Ironheart's memories.
'It's fine, it's completely fine.' Justin thought, calming himself down.
He smiled, believing the size didn't matter at all.