Back at the War Intent Cliff, the reason why everyone eyed the spots directly under the cliff wall was because they were nearest to the indentation where the lingering Battle Intent was.

However, there was technically another spot with an even greater effectiveness – the indentation itself.

Despite that, nobody wanted to take that spot for good reason.

There were two ways in which people cultivated at the War Intent Cliff.

Simply by staying near the War Intent Cliff, one had to resist the immense pressure coming from the lingering Battle Intent with both their body and mind. Over time, this would refine both aspects, allowing martial artists to grow as a whole.

But that alone was too slow a process, and most martial artists who came all the way to visit the War Intent Cliff were not satisfied with just that.

Therefore, the more talented ones would choose to probe the indentation with their perception on top of that. The deeper into the indentation their perception went, the greater the pressure they would have to resist.

This method effectively sped up the rate at which martial artists honed themselves, but it was also the reason why nobody wanted to physically take their spot within the indentation itself.

If they were to remain in the indentation, others' perception would be constantly sweeping all over them, and nobody enjoyed such a feeling.

At the same time, nobody would dare to monopolise the War Intent Cliff by stopping the others from probing the indentation with their perceptions.

Even if there really was someone strong enough to defeat all the Origin Core realm martial artists present, what about the influences behind them?

Not just that, but one also had to consider the stance of the lord of Sacred Cliff City, the Burning Titan Overlord.

Without his permission, who would dare to claim the War Intent Cliff as their own?

Because of this, everyone could only give up on the best cultivation spot at the War Intent Cliff.

Yet right now in this cave, Lu Tianzi and the others were experiencing something similar to what they would have felt if they had been seated within the indentation at the War Intent Cliff.

In fact, since the pressure within the rocky cave was stronger, their current location might even better than the best spot at the War Intent Cliff!

With such a fortune lying right before them, the four excited youngsters wasted no time before diving straight into cultivation.

Time passed in a flash as they remained in a state of deep meditation.

Just as they had expected, cultivating in this cave was far more effective than when they were at the War Intent Cliff.

However, not all of them were contented with just quietly cultivating at the entrance of the cave.

Possessing the highest cultivation level among them, Young Master Xuan Hao was the first to start advancing deeper into the cave.

Lu Tianzi quickly followed suit.

As they did, they realised that the further they went, the stronger the lingering Battle Intent.

Consequently, the pressure bearing down upon them rapidly increased with each additional step that they took.

It was similar to when they were at the War Intent Cliff, where they probed the indentation with their perception.

Just that this time, there was no longer a need to probe with their perception as they could simply move forward physically, experiencing the immense pressure with both their body and mind.

But this pressure was no trifling matter even for the two talented youngsters.

After taking just a few steps into the cave, the two of them had already reached their limits, no longer able to advance any further.

Since that was the case, they stayed where they were and continued to cultivate, but not before relaying this information to the others.

The four now had a clear goal in mind – to advance as far into the cave as they possibly could.

Yet even so, Nanlan Qianxue and Ruan Ling were unable to advance much at all.

The first time they tried, Nanlan Qianxue was forced to stop after taking just two steps into the cave, while Ruan Ling fared a little better at a limit of six steps.

On the other hand, Young Master Xuan Hao managed to reach sixteen steps before being forced to stop.

As for Lu Tianzi, he shocked everyone present by surpassing Young Master Xuan Hao, only stopping after taking twenty steps.

One had to know that Lu Tianzi was only at the Second Cycle Origin Core realm, four full boundaries below Young Master Xuan Hao!

At this point, both Young Master Xuan Hao and Ruan Ling could not help but wonder about the origins of Lu Tianzi and Nanlan Qianxue.

After all, it was a really big deal for talents of such calibre to emerge from somewhere other than the four ancient sects!

Still, they only thought about it for a moment.

With such a precious opportunity before them, both of them were unwilling to allow themselves to get distracted for long.

As the days passed, all four of them started to show rapid improvement in both physical and mental aspects, each of them making their way deeper and deeper into the cave.

***

Outside the cave, a skinny martial artist was carefully concealing himself in the bushes. His eyes glowed with a dark yellow light as he continued to stare at the rocky cliff wall that hid the entrance.

No matter how he looked at it, it looked no different from any other ordinary rock wall.

Yet he knew for a fact that there was something amiss about it.

After all, his trusted colleague had seen with her own two eyes that their targets had disappeared into the cliff wall.

In their line of work, the reliability of intelligence was treated with utmost importance, so there was no way that his colleague would have joked about this matter.

"Still nothing?" a message came in through his communication ring.

"Nothing," the skinny martial artist replied. "Are we really going to just keep waiting like this? Why don't we just go ahead and blast the cliff wall open?"

A distance away, Snake Fist Luo sighed when he received the message.

He was currently seated around a campfire with a few other martial artists, including a veiled lady. They were all members of the infamous Golden Hounds Brigade.

"Sigh, this is why the boss doesn't dare to put you in charge of any operations. You really need to curb that impatience of yours!" Snake Fist Luo shook his head in disapproval. "I already told you that their backing is strong, and yet you still want us to charge in without knowing what is in store for us? What if they had come here to meet up with a larger group? Won't we be rushing to our deaths?"

"But it's already been so long! What if they have already left by another exit?" the skinny man grumbled.

"Then we are the losers this time. But what is the harm in losing a few months in exchange for guaranteeing our safety? Are you in a hurry to go anywhere?" Snake Fist Luo replied. "All right, enough talk. Just stay put and report back when you see anything out of the ordinary."

"Got it..." the skinny man reluctantly agreed, obviously dissatisfied with the answer he got.

After all, he was the only one suffering here while everyone else was relaxing elsewhere...

***

Lu Tianzi did not know how much time had passed, but on this day, he finally crossed over to the other side of the narrow stream.

This meant that among the four of them, he was the first to have entered the inner half of the cave.

But it was almost as though the narrow stream was an indicator of sorts.

The moment he stepped across, the pressure bearing down on him suddenly doubled, almost causing his knees to buckle.

"Tch!" Lu Tianzi cursed inwardly.

This was not a pressure that Lu Tianzi would be able to handle for long, and he knew that just as well.

Still, he forced himself to stay put, pushing himself to the limit as he resisted the pressure with all he had.

Just like that, he sat down by the narrow stream and closed his eyes in concentration.

It was the first time he had this feeling, but at this point, Lu Tianzi could feel that he was close.

Really close.

Just a little more, and he would be able to establish a mental connection with the Battle Intent in the cave!

And then it happened.

With his senses pushed to the very limit, Lu Tianzi felt his surroundings fade out slowly, until there was nothing left but darkness...

When the colours returned to his surroundings, Lu Tianzi was still seated at the same spot.

However, the timeworn edges of the rocky walls had grown sharper, and the moss in the cave had receded.

He was also no longer facing the inside of the cave either, but looking towards the entrance of the cave.

Nanlan Qianxue, Young Master Xuan Hao, and Ruan Ling were naturally gone.

In their place, a middle-aged human male was kneeling near the entrance, his eyes filled with determination as he kowtowed towards Lu Tianzi.

Lu Tianzi's eyes opened wide in surprise when he saw this, but not because the middle-aged man was kneeling towards him.

Instead, it was because Lu Tianzi recognised this middle-aged man.

He was none other than the Overlord realm powerhouse who had emerged from the cliff wall when the indentation was formed!

"Farewell, Master," the middle-aged man said with his forehead still touching the ground. "This will probably be the last time we see each other, so do take care of yourself."

There was a heavy downpour outside, the pitter-patter of the rain serving as an apt but depressing background to the conversation.

"Is there nothing I can do to change your mind?" Lu Tianzi heard himself asking in an aged and weary tone.

By now, Lu Tianzi had pretty much figured out what was going on.

He was now seeing the memories of this supposed master of the middle-aged man – an old man, albeit one who still retained the sharpness in his eyes.

Just like the middle-aged man, the old master was a human as well.

"I will not change my mind, not unless Master decides to go instead!" the middle-aged man said firmly.

The old master let out a helpless sigh before turning around to face the cave walls.

"Look closely."

With a flick of his wrist, a black sabre appeared in his hand.

The black sabre gave off an ancient and sinister aura that would have caused any weaker willed beings to tremble in fear. Just from this aura alone, it was certain that the black sabre had claimed innumerable lives over the years.

The old master slowly raised the black sabre before closing his eyes.

For a moment, there was absolute silence within the cave.

The old master stayed motionless, and the middle-aged man looked on seriously while remaining in his kneeling position.

Suddenly, Lu Tianzi felt a strange form of energy start to well up from within the old master.

This strange energy initially spread out throughout his body, but with a single thought from the old master, all of it started to gather towards his hand and into the black sabre.

This is...!

Lu Tianzi was taken by surprise by what he was seeing right now, because this strange energy was exactly the same as what he had felt from both the indentation on the War Intent Cliff and the rocky cave.

Battle Intent!

Could this old master be the one who had created the indentation?!

With that thought in mind, Lu Tianzi hurriedly focused on what the old master was doing.

He was now seeing through the eyes of the old master, so it was the perfect opportunity to experience the use of Battle Intent.

Lu Tianzi was unable to tell just how high the old master's cultivation level was, but he was definitely a supreme expert with strength beyond the Overlord realm.

On top of that, the old master seemed to be instructing the middle-aged man right now, and Lu Tianzi certainly did not want to miss a single moment of this rare opportunity.

When all of his Battle Intent had finally gathered within the black sabre, the old master's eyes shot open, and his arm swung down in one smooth motion.

This downward motion was done at such an incredible speed that Lu Tianzi found it difficult to even catch a glimpse of the trailing shadows.

In that single moment, it felt like the old master had become the absolute ruler of this space, with the black sabre being the judgement tool that was to be wrought upon the land.

Along with that one slash, energy shot out from the black sabre and formed into the shape of the crescent, cutting through the air towards the walls of the cave.

The familiar feeling of Battle Intent flooded the cave, creating an overwhelming pressure that caused small rocks to crumble into dust.

Lu Tianzi watched on in anticipation, eager to see the explosive impact that was bound to occur.

But to his surprise, there was no earth-shaking explosion.

Instead, the energy crescent passed straight through the rock wall, silently disintegrating everything that was in the way.

In such a manner, the energy crescent disappeared into the darkness, creating a tunnel through the rock wall in its wake.

It was only after a good few moments that a thunderous explosion sounded out from the end of the tunnel, creating tremors that reached all the way back to the rock cave.

The entire rock cave shook violently.

Stalactites that hung from the ceiling started falling to the ground, one by one shattering into tiny pebbles.

Yet the old master was completely unperturbed by the tremors.

He nonchalantly turned back to look at the middle-aged man, speaking in the same weary tone from before. "Did you manage to catch everything?"