“Umm, is everything okay?” Li Lang asked as he noticed the three artifact spirit’s troubled expressions.

The three of them were silently staring off into the distance with their eyes closed.

“Hmm, it’s hard to say, M…Master,” Blue replied.

“You don’t have to force yourself to call me master if you don’t want to. I don’t mind you just calling me Li Lang or something else.”

“I can’t do that,” Blue hesitantly answered. “Your esteemed Origin artifact would reprimand me if I took such a casual tone with you. Do not worry, I can adjust. We all will.”

“Don’t sweat it. We have time. So what’s gotten you guys so puzzled?”

“Here, it’ll be faster to show you.”

At her words, a small yellow cloud flew up from below. It flew just above them before beginning to rain. The strange part was that none of the rain landed on Li Lang. The water had a mind of its own, gathering right before Li Lang. It swirled and soon formed a water mirror depicting the scenes from outside.

Hundreds of cultivators could be seen floating up in the sky. They surrounded the four pillars that marked the pocket realm, each staring at it unflinchingly. Their serious demeanor showed they meant business. Li Lang could only imagine the tension in the air if he was there in person, in the presence of numerous Foundation Establishment and Violet Core cultivators.

“What are they doing? Did they find out someone took ownership of you guys? Because if that is so, we’re in trouble.”

“Umm, we’re not sure if they know. That’s why we are so concerned,“ Orange timidly clarified.

“Yeah,” Green joined in. “If they do realize something, they may contact those grand elders of theirs. If those guys come, while they may not be able to hurt us, they could forcibly move us if they band together.”

“Is my previous command what alerted them?”

“Yes, Master,” Blue nodded. “They likely noticed the inflow of Qi.”

“Why didn’t you three warn me, then?”

“Our hands were forced. We needed to open the Qi channels eventually, or we’d start collapsing. Don’t worry. It’s likely they’ll just observe from a distance.”

Are they taking me lightly because of my low cultivation or young age? Well, it’s likely both. I can’t let the beginning of our relationship turn out like this.

“Blue, Orange, and Green! All three of you will have to promise me you’ll never withhold any crucial information like this again. Got it?”

“Of course, Master.”

“Uh, I’m so sorry, master. We won’t do it again.”

“Got it.”

“Now tell me. What else can you guys do besides being a giant trial for the younger generation?”

“Master, there isn’t much else we can do,” Blue said. “All our power goes into maintaining this large space, so we have no offensive capabilities.”

“That’s…understandable. How long do you need to absorb the outside Qi before you can stop, then?”

“If you plan on staying inside, Master, it’s better to keep it open and allow the flow to stabilize. Things will calm down soon.”

“Won’t the cultivators outside remain suspicious, then?”

“They’ve seen it already. It won’t change much. This way, they may think we’re just carrying some old orders left by our previous master.”

Li Lang could only sigh at his ignorance in the matter. He didn’t know what was best for them in this situation. He simply was too inexperienced in dealing with artifacts.

“They don’t look to be doing anything, so let’s just watch and see for now. If they do try something, are you guys able to relocate?”

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

“No. With your cultivation, you won’t be able to move us. You’ll at least need to be in Foundation Establishment to do that.”

“Then it’s out of our hands. There isn’t much we can do now.”

Realizing the futility of overthinking it, Li Lang decided to be more productive. He may no longer need to worry about the trial points, but that didn’t mean he needed to stop progressing. Besides, he also had to care for his companions.

He got the artifact spirits to teleport him back to his room, where he then sauntered off to find his peers. It didn’t take long, as he found every member already gathered in the mess hall.

“You guys are early. I thought I’d have to wait for you if my searches ended up empty.”

“What are you talking about, Li Lang?” Long Yi replied. “Of course, we’re all going to gather here after the stuff that’s been happening. The entire realm shook, and all the Qi beasts were disturbed. It was even dark out when it was still daytime. Then it all returned to normal as if nothing had happened!”

“Oh, right.”

The entire table looked at Li Lang strangely, but quickly wrote it off as his usual eccentrics. Li Lang sat down and listened to them discuss the situation for a while. He waited for the moment the conversation died down and split off into smaller ones.

“Wei Ping, Long Yi, can you come with me for a second?”

They both nodded without hesitation and stood up. They were used to Li Lang doing this when he needed to discuss sensitive information. Their most frequent topic was regarding the Cleansing Drug, which was followed by Li Lang taking some samples of their flesh and blood.

When they closed the door to the room, they sat down as they usually did. However, Li Lang stayed by the door, facing away from them.

“W-what’s the matter, boss?”

“You losing trial points again? It hasn’t been easy for any of us, but I think you’ll be able to hang in there with three things you could be working on. We just have two.”

Li Lang ignored them and kept his back facing them with his eyes closed as he was deliberating how to break the news. He suddenly banged on the door and turned around.

“Screw it. I don’t know how to say this, so I’ll just be direct. I’ve taken control of this pocket realm.”

“Come again?” Long Yi replied.

“I have taken ownership of this pocket realm. I can control who enters and leaves.”

“What?!”

Li Lang took a moment to survey Wei Ping’s reaction and found him surprisingly calm.

“You’re not surprised by this?”

“N-no, I am. It’s j-just that I know you w-wouldn’t joke with us like this. I’m all ears if y-you want to explain. It’s fine if y-you don’t, too.”

Li Lang sighed at the scene.

“I can’t give you the details, but I somehow subdued the artifact that controls this realm. I’ve told them to allow you two to remain inside unconditionally already.”

“Then we don’t have to worry about making progress anymore?” Long Yi muttered. “Hooray! I can finally take a break! You can keep your secrets if you want. Just make the realm give me some real food! I’m so tired of these Nourishment Pills.”

The other two only spared Long Yi a glance before ignoring him.

“B-boss, this is,” Wei Ping sucked in his breath, “very significant. Wouldn’t the a-artifact of this place be very powerful?”

“It can’t attack, but it’ll serve well as an impregnable fortress. In fact, once I break through to Foundation Establishment, I plan on using this place as our home base.”

“T-that will probably t-take a few years if we continue to d-do our best. Let’s p-proceed as we have been.”

“What?” Long Yi interjected. “Come on, guys. Let’s have a break for one day. Or even one meal, at the very least. You can get us free food now, right?”

“I probably can,” Li Lang replied. “But I’d rather not do that while so many other cultivators are still around. People will start asking questions if you start stuffing yourself with food.”

“Y-yeah. Like his s-sanity for spending points on food.”

“Does this mean I have to continue as it is? Noooooo!”

----------------------------------------

All the experts from various organizations camping outside The Great Trial of Water Crest didn’t have to wait long before they received news. An entire two years had passed since the opening of the pocket realm. Multiple disciples were ejected each day. Very few manage to stay inside for three or more years. From this point forth, every day was an achievement.

Even the people from a prestigious organization like the Nightmoon Valley were no different.

“Junior Wong, tell me everything that happened yesterday inside the pocket realm.”

“Senior Jian, you guys noticed it too from outside?”

Jian Beiyun nodded.

“Just tell me your side of the story for now. It’s important information that I have to include in my report. You can ask your questions with the others later.”

“Well, the entire realm suddenly went into chaos. The outdoor area inside remained dark despite it being daytime, and the entire place rumbled. It recovered very fast, though. Less than the time it takes to burn an incense.”

“That’s all? Nothing else? No disciples acting suspiciously or anything like that?”

“Oh, Tang Yulian had broken through to Foundation Establishment a while back. Senior Sister Sima is gearing up for her own breakthrough as well, along with that Liang Po.”

Jian Beiyun sighed at the lack of useful information. The junior before him obviously didn’t take note of the incident relating to the pocket realm.

“You may go.”

Not long after Junior Wong had left, Jian Beiyun took out his sound transmission jade.

“I have an important report to make that should be relayed to the grand ancestor.”