As soon as I assessed the scope of work in the cave, I used my psionics to scan the excavation site and confirmed that there was nothing interesting there. However, I didn’t share this revelation with our employer. Instead, I spun a tale for Dao Yu, claiming that places like this often concealed thousand-year-old artifacts of ancient cultivators — possessions that could make their owner the ruler of the world. The bait was eagerly taken, and I was promptly barred from the dig on the grounds that I might damage or ruin something. Exactly what I wanted. For appearances, I protested a bit, which only further convinced my "rival" that some great treasure was hidden within the cave.

While my companions toiled in the filth, I wandered around the surrounding area, scanning every suspicious spot with my psionics. We were in a forested mountainside, dotted with shallow caves and grottos that had, at various times, been home to bears, wolves, cultivators, or other less savory creatures. Although the area was considered relatively safe, it wasn’t impossible to encounter a wild beast with cultivation abilities. In such cases, Chu Zhu Zhu advised retreating … away from him. After all, a true disciple should die on their own, screaming bloody murder to alert their teacher, rather than feed themselves and their companions to the beast. I agreed with this philosophy and resolved to steer clear of any source of panicked screams.

If I were the protagonist of some cultivation novel, I’d have found a great artifact, a book of secret knowledge, or a miraculous weapon. But reality wasn’t as stupid as some books, and my find was far more mundane. I discovered the remains of a cultivator who had been devoured by wild beasts about fifty years ago. The gnawed and chewed bones lay under a thin layer of forest detritus and would have gone unnoticed without psionics.

A detailed scan revealed that the only potentially valuable item was a small ring on the right hand’s finger, faintly radiating Qi. Using a stick, I began digging through the soil. When I reached the ring, I tried to remove it from the decayed bone, but the corroded metal couldn’t withstand the attempt and crumbled to dust. A faint flash occurred, and a piece of jade fell out of the "spatial anomaly." I quickly grabbed it for inspection.

The jade was brownish-green, irregularly shaped, and covered in cracks. It exuded an aura of deep antiquity, appearing as if it had existed for millions of years. In reality, it was just an ordinary stone formed eons ago through geological processes of magma intrusion into serpentinites. Scanning it thoroughly with my psionics revealed nothing "mystical" or even "magical." It was simply a slightly unusual-looking rock. The previous owner must have thought it was a great treasure to keep it in a spatial ring. I looted the finding and resumed my search for treasures.

After two hours of fruitless exploration, I returned to the excavation site. There, I found two dirt-covered faces engrossed in digging through filth.

"Master, what are you hoping to find here?" - I innocently asked. - "The dwellings of ancient cultivators are to the east. This spot was the toilet for the expedition that excavated those dwellings about a hundred years ago."

"WHAT?!" - Chu Zhu Zhu shouted, eyes bulging. Dao Yu’s face, on the other hand, reflected the utter collapse of all hope and ideals — a look that could lead one straight to the gallows. - "What makes you say that?"

"Well, there’s the inscription 'toilet' with an arrow pointing directly to this spot" - I said, indicating faint scratches on a nearby stone. Over a century, they had almost worn away, and deciphering them required psionics, though it was technically possible without.

Chu Zhu Zhu rushed to the inscription and began examining it. Within seconds, his face turned as red as a boiled crab, and waves of Qi saturated with anger began radiating from him.

"That Mu Niam! He deliberately left that forged letter on his desk about an ancient cultivator’s dwelling here. Damn it! I knew something was wrong. Dao Yu, fill this pit back in. We need to make sure no one can tell we conducted excavations here."

While my employer barked orders at his most loyal slave, I quietly slipped away to avoid being roped into shoveling century-old excrement.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

By evening, we returned to camp, where my companions rushed to the bathhouse to scrub off the ingrained stench of feces. Half an hour later, Chu Zhu Zhu kicked us out of the lab and began brewing some particularly vile concoction, which he intended to use against his lifelong rival. From his muttered ramblings, I gathered that the two had been competing for the title of best alchemist since their youth, and thus far, my teacher had lost most of their contests and schemes.

With nothing else to do and a light drizzle beginning outside, I decided against meditating in the tree. Instead, I strolled over to my garden to check on the ever-surprising turnips in the third plot. The longer they grew, the stranger they became, and I started wondering if they might one day evolve into carnivorous plants that would attack the camp and devour people alive.

However, as I reached the garden, I saw a group of four cultivators there. Before I could make out their faces in the evening twilight, one of them called out in a voice I recognized.

"It's him! It's him! He deliberately grew poisonous plants in his plot!"

The voice belonged to the same weasel who had tattled on me to the master alchemist. Apparently, I had been too lenient in not silencing him permanently back then.

"So, it was you who poisoned me and cost me an entire level of cultivation?" - growled a menacing voice. Its owner stepped forward, giving me a clearer view or perhaps hoping to get a better look at me. I was cloaked in a heavy mantle, with my face hidden beneath a hood. Still, the jealous weasel recognized me immediately by my muscular frame.

"You were poisoned because you trusted the gathering of ingredients and the pill-making process to idiots. I never sold those plants — they were stolen from me" - I replied.

"It doesn’t matter!" - he interrupted. - "I’ve already executed the thief, and now it’s your turn. This will serve as a valuable lesson for …"

I decided that the conversation was pointless and stopped wasting my breath. My opponent was at the first level of Foundation Establishment, so he didn’t pose a threat to me. His two lackeys, both at the tenth level of Qi Condensation, would last only a few hits at best. My first target, however, was the traitor who had sold me out to these fools.

Moving with sudden speed, I closed the distance to the weasel and used one of my "homemade" techniques. It was supposed to resemble a "Qi blade," but in practice, it tore everything in its path into mincemeat. The technique’s primary advantage was its relatively low Qi consumption, making it ideal for weaker opponents. With a sharp slash of my hand, I severed the snitch’s head, caught it midair, and stopped ten meters away from the other cultivators.

"Look! This is the head of the idiot who dared to stand against me" - I said, holding up my gruesome trophy. - "If you decide to attack me, your heads will be next."

"You!!!" - the group’s leader roared. - "You’ll pay for this! That man swore an oath to my family and became my slave. For killing my property, I will torture you for years."

"Catch me first" - I replied with a laugh, darting into the evening forest.

Within moments, I disappeared into the dense trees, with the trio of pursuers hot on my trail. I wasn’t just running aimlessly. I was leading them to an isolated spot near the "ravine." It was a forbidden area for students, and guards only ventured there to dump the bodies of unlucky souls. It was the perfect place to eliminate three arrogant fools without witnesses.

I deliberately took a route where the chance of encountering anyone was minimal. Carrying bodies on your back and avoiding every noise was one thing; having those bodies run past after you, trying not to attract attention, was quite another. As I neared the designated spot, I decided to test another attack: the hilariously primitive technique named "simple stone throw."

Stopping for a moment, I concentrated Qi into my right hand and infused it into a stone I had picked up from the ground. I hurled it with all my might, aiming for the eye of the lagging pursuer. This particular lackey, at the early tenth level of Qi Condensation, was trailing behind his companions, using them as a shield. Judging by his age over forty, his "talent" was clearly approaching zero.

The stone, accelerated to supersonic speed, proved to be a surprisingly effective weapon. It not only killed the target but did so instantly, giving him no time to cry out. In the heat of the chase, his two companions didn’t even notice their loss as they "almost" caught up to me.

After running another hundred meters, I abruptly changed direction and charged back at them. My plan was to bypass the leader and finish off his remaining minion, but the Foundation Establishment cultivator proved unexpectedly quick. Not only did he block my path, but he also unleashed a technique that almost pierced through me. I dodged, but the trees behind me weren’t so lucky, they were shredded into splinters.

A sword suddenly materialized in his hand, and he wielded it with alarming skill. He swung with precision, trying alternately to skewer me like a spit or chop me into pieces.