Two hours passed without notice. During that time, Liu Ba and Liu De explained in detail the purpose of their visit, including their sect's background, its origins, and the state of the cultivation world they came from.
Zhu Tian listened with a calm expression and an empty gaze, as if all that information were nothing more than passing wind. Yet inside his mind, his thoughts moved swiftly, piecing together every fragment of information that entered.
"Daoist sects… a tier-one continent, huh," Zhu Tian murmured quietly to himself.
After finishing their explanations, Qin Yuan, Liu Ba, and Liu De took their leave and departed. The place returned to silence, leaving Zhu Tian alone once more in the tranquil ancestral hall.
The true purpose of Liu Ba and Liu De's visit turned out to be to follow him.
"This is very interesting," Zhu Tian thought inwardly. "Just what exactly is within me?"
The thought surfaced on its own, beyond his control.
"It seems there's a great secret hidden within me."
Zhu Tian could not simply ignore that thought. After all, he himself knew nothing about any secret of his own. He came from the modern world, an ordinary human—no powerful bloodline, no special body, no hidden inheritance.
"Forget it. I'll find out eventually," he said softly.
In any case, Zhu Tian felt that there was nothing about himself remarkable enough to make geniuses from major sects willingly come and show him such respect. Because of that, he decided not to dwell on it too much.
After setting aside thoughts about his own mystery, Zhu Tian turned his attention back to the sect of Liu Ba and Liu De. They came from a renowned sect located on a tier-one continent. Even though their sect ranked only fifth among the six great sects of that continent, its name was still highly respected.
After all, a tier-one continent was the core region of the cultivation world. Any sect capable of standing there could not be taken lightly.
And then there was Qin Yuan's sect.
The Sword God Sect.
The number one sect on the tier-one continent.
"Interesting… the backgrounds of these people run truly deep," Zhu Tian said quietly, the corners of his lips forming a faint smile that was almost imperceptible.
Zhu Tian actually already knew a few things about the names of sects and the structure of the world on the tier-one continent. However, since he was currently acting as a mysterious senior, he could not ask about such matters directly.
"It's truly difficult being a senior," Zhu Tian sighed inwardly.
With his current role, asking too many questions or showing ignorance could easily arouse suspicion. He had to constantly maintain his attitude, his expression, and even his silence.
One had to know that, in the common understanding of the cultivation world, high-level entities possessed spiritual senses that could cover entire planets, or even more. They could observe all living beings, comprehend the laws of heaven and earth, and see the flow of cause and effect—though such entities were still below immortals and the ancient monsters of the world.
As someone playing the role of a high-level entity, Zhu Tian often complained inwardly that he could not openly ask about many things, even though his curiosity was immense.
Ten days later.
Liu Ba and Liu De built their dwelling caves on a small mountain peak that was still within the scope of Zhu Tian's territory. Their residence was extremely simple.
They merely hollowed out the side of the mountain, cleaned the interior, and adjusted it until it was comfortable enough to live in.
Inside the cave, there was only a simple stone table and a designated area for meditation. There were no decorations, no luxury—everything looked clean and functional.
Liu Ba and Liu De also did not engage in much activity. Like Qin Yuan, they created clones and assigned them to guard the gate and the surrounding area, acting as invisible protectors.
Meanwhile, during these ten days, Zhu Tian had not simply remained idle.
He began to experiment with moving the spiritual energy within his body, sensing its flow, understanding its rhythm, and adjusting his breathing and thoughts to harmonize with that energy.
He tried various simple things, repeating them over and over—not to significantly strengthen himself, but to make everything feel natural and unforced. He did not want to appear awkward if he ever had to demonstrate understanding or use techniques in front of others.
To be honest, Zhu Tian held a rather strange line of thinking.
In this world, he knew he could not casually ask for techniques. Perhaps occasionally he could, under the pretext of reviewing, giving advice, or helping someone who had reached a bottleneck in cultivation.
Yet for some reason, a sense of pride arose within him.
He wanted to create his own techniques.
Not merely imitate, but create.
And even more strangely, Zhu Tian wanted to try creating techniques he had once read about in cultivation novels from his previous world.
Techniques that had existed only in imagination and words.
"Maybe… it's worth trying," Zhu Tian thought to himself.
His empty gaze remained fixed on the distance as the mountain wind blew gently, his hair swaying slowly in the breeze.