Lineir entered a strange valley. With his sharp cultivator's eyes he saw that as far as he could see, there were strange round stones, easily the size of his old ghetto apartment in Brackenrock City. They were all unusually round, and most were partially buried in the ground so only the tops were sticking out. As he stepped on one it had a weird sensation, clearly hard stone, but it almost felt like it had some give. He shook his head and kept walking only to see a figure off in the distance. A second later, his jaw dropped.
A huge man appeared off in the distance, his body was reminiscent of some of the meatheads who only practiced strength training and did manual labor all day. Such people often neglected their inner strength and would never truly ascend the path of cultivation. However, he was dressed in multiple layers of rich and luxuriant fur, with golden yellow and bright red stripes throughout forming a pattern. To say he was a figure was an understatement, he WAS a character! Anyone who had the audacity to wear such striking clothes could only have an accompanying personality to be sure!
"HA!!!!!"
Far away, a massive cloud of dust plumed up as the man chopped the ground with his bare hand! A round stone slightly bigger than Lineir's old hovel of a home popped up into the air as if it were as light and movable as air. Into the sky ten, twenty meters it soared, then down onto the fur clothed giant's mouth!
KANG!! CRUNCH!
With a gruesome grinding noise, a portion of the round stone was sheared off into the man's mouth. With a smack, the rest of the stone was held up in one huge hand the size of Lineir's head, and then disappeared, presumably into an interspacial ring.
"What a ferocious bite!" Lineir exclaimed, and Mei didn't have any response which in of itself was telling of the shockingness of this.
"What kind of cultivation method allows one to swallow stone??" The huge man then continued to walk a few steps and repeat the process on another stone, even bigger than the last! As Lineir gaped, the man turned and looked directly into Lineir's eyes.
"Young man! Are you too here to enjoy the Valley of Stone Mushrooms?" His voice boomed into Lineir's ears like the trumpeting of some primal animal and Lineir had to resist the urge to instinctively clap his hands to them. He approached the man at a non-hurried pace, now that it was obvious he had noticed him. Size does not necessarily mean power in the world of cultivators, Lineir was cautious but not wary of this man. As he neared, he winced as the giant man took another gaping bite of fresh stone.
"Delicious isn't it? Only at this time of the year can one truly enjoy a ripe Stone Mushroom! Ahahaha" The man stared deeply at eye level and Lineir got the impression that this man was not one for deception. Smiling, he gestured and pointed at a nearby stone.
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"I'll leave you this one young man, it's just ripened to perfect maturity, hoho!" His guffawing left a naturally good impression on Lineir and it was with some regret that he informed the man that he wasn't here to share in this strange behavior,
"Senior, I'm sorry, but I'm not here for these...mushrooms... I just happened to be passing through, pray tell, exactly what is this valley?" Lineir looked somewhat skeptically at what the giant man had called mushrooms. He had to admit... there was some resemblance...a little at least...
"WHAT!!!!! You don't know of the Valley of Stone Mushrooms?!! Young man, how far have you come to not know of this place?!" The giant's eyes widened for a moment giving him the appearance of a startled elephant.
"Well, to answer your question young man, this, as you can see is a place of Stone Mushrooms. While most consider it a tourism place at this point, it is still quite famous, if only as a curiosity around these parts." He smiled and chopped another mushroom spraying dust into Lineir's face.
CHOMP!
With a mouthful of rock he said,
"However, to me, this place is a testing ground for men! True men have come here from the ages to pit themselves against the earth! If your will is true and your mettle is strong, then honing yourself here is an excellent way to train your mind and teeth!" His grin grew wider and he hefted the rock a little to prove his point. Lineir at this point was having misgivings about approaching the man and was beginning to feel a slight itch in his spine as he felt the urge to back away.
"Come young man! I sense you're a cultivator of some strength! Try yourself on a Stone Mushroom if you're a real man!" The man pointed to the "mature" mushroom he had pointed out before and smiled even wider as if he was offering Lineir the greatest of delicacies. Lineir instinctively flicked his eyes to the "mushroom" and with a conciliatory smile gave some excuses,
"Many thanks elder brother for offering this fine...errr.. mushroom, but I'm afraid my cultivation strictly forbids the consumption of stone. Sect rules you understand. But rest assured, if I could I would." Lineir put on his best grimace and sighed inside as he heard Mei dying of laughter internally.
"AHahahaha disciple! You're usually a good deceiver, what was THAT?!!! Sect rules ahahahah!" The man looked at Lineir's stone faced smile and seemed to find nothing amiss after a moment.
"Ahhh tis a true shame young man, I think based on the smell of blood on you that you are a real man indeed. A pity, a pity for sure. But I can nay argue with your sect rules. If you ever change your mind, come back and I'll tell you how to find the best, most ripe mushrooms!" The giant man waved and Lineir clasped hands and bowed and continued on his way. Inside he shrunk a little as Mei was still laughing.
"Come on, Master, when was the last time you had to turn down a "ripe" stone mushroom." Mei of course, only laughed harder,
"I think I'll make this a rule, in case I ever get another disciple. Sect rule #1. Never eat stones!"