"As martial artists were very scarce previously, resources were in abundance, and there were no shortages."

"However, since the cultivation techniques were modified to help the martial artist cultivate, martial arts started to become more and more common, which led to the consumption of the resources."

"Over time, many resources were lost, and many things changed as there were no mediums for us to travel to other lands like the mages."

"Although, with time, martial artists were still able to explore higher realms, the resources became even scarcer. You should know how scarce the resources are here right now."

When Lu Zhen heard this, he nodded his head.

"The 'that' we were talking about is an inheritance cave left by martial artists in the ancient times, which contains invaluable and rare resources of forces from the previous era who couldn't, until now, either due to offending high-level enemies or perishing because of competition."

"Although their martial techniques won't be of much use to us, it should contain some valuable resources that we can't normally find here."

"At the time when you were in your training, we have already reached an agreement to organize a competition for the younger generations. We could see other forces from other cities come here to join in on taking the inheritance cave."

Lu Zhen's eyes widened with understanding. He pretty much understood everything now. As for the Jiang family, their opinion didn't matter much, as the four major families had already agreed upon it. As the matter had gotten too out of hand for them even if they wanted to do anything about it.

"However, we four major families are already granted 5% each of the resources that will be taken out from the inheritance cave, and the rest will be fought for by our younger generation, those less than the age of 30." A small frown of displeasure appeared on the ancestor's face as he continued.

"We have also allowed other families, apart from ours, to participate as well, but they will be given only 1 seat. That means they can only send one to participate, and we have given 3 seats for rogue warriors who can join. The seats will be decided by a death competition."

The ancestor's eyes glinted as he looked at Lu Zhen.

"You will be leading our Lu family," as he handed Lu Zhen a scroll.

"These are the details of the tournament. You have one month to prepare."

"Yes, ancestor."

Lu Zhen nodded in understanding as he took the scroll.

"You should cultivate in our privately-owned forest, as your visualization of the tree will be faster that way. And it is better for a wood-attributed martial artist to practise there."

Ancestor Lu paused for a second, hesitating about something; however, he finally relented.

"Here." Ancestor Lu touched Lu Zhen's forehead, and a green light flashed in the hall.

Instantly, Lu Zhen's mind was filled with a mantra that seemed to strangely resonate with him. After he completed memorizing the mantra...

Suddenly, an avatar appeared in his mind, performing strange movements.

The avatar wore a heavy bracer and carried two huge sticks in both hands, which seemed to be too heavy, causing cracks to appear in the ground as he held them.

The avatar chanted the mantra that Lu Zhen had just learned and performed some strange body movements that made Lu Zhen's eyes widen.

"Is it even possible for a human body to do this?" Lu Zhen wondered, his eyes widened in amazement.

As the avatar trained with the sticks, a strange rhythm built up in the air, making Lu Zhen feel a little heavy.

"Hmm, this seems similar to my aura after it resonates with my muscles..." Lu Zhen thought as he stared at the avatar, completely entranced while trying to comprehend the movements.

In the real world, his eyes turned blurry as his mind was entirely consumed by the peculiar movements of the avatar, attempting to comprehend its intricacies.

"Hmm, not bad," the ancestor nodded in satisfaction upon seeing this.

"Ancestor Lu, what did you do?" Lu Ying asked with a concerned tone about her son's condition.

"Don't worry, I am giving him a body cultivation technique," he replied, then vanished from the hall, leaving Lu Zhen in his trance, along with Lu Ying and Lu Huang.

"I have matters to attend to, as I will have to deal with that old foggy from the Huang family, so I will be leaving," his voice echoed in the air as he departed.

"Husband, he should be okay, right?" Lu Ying asked with a worried tone, carefully watching Lu Zhen's trance-like state.

"How would I know?" Lu Huang was initially speechless but then widened his eyes as he remembered something.

"Ahem, yes, Lu Zhen should be fine," he quickly assured her, taking a quick glance at him with cold eyes. After saying that, his expression seemed to soften a little.

"Sigh, I was saved from the calamity," Lu Huang heaved a sigh of relief, also watching Lu Zhen with a concerned look, imitating Lu Ying's gaze.

Time passed slowly as Lu Zhen remained in a trance.

"It's already been an hour. Why isn't he waking up yet?" she thought to herself, carefully monitoring Lu Zhen.

"If that old foggy did anything to my son, then..." she tightened her fist in rage, boiling with anger.

"Lu Ying," suddenly, she heard Lu Huang's voice, causing her to turn towards him.

"What?!" Lu Ying replied with fury.

"Your aura," Lu Huang gulped.

"Oh," Lu Ying said as she retracted her aura, which she had accidentally started to emit.

Suddenly, they felt a heavy aura permeating the surroundings, with a hint of killing intent. Although the aura was too weak to affect their minds, it still weighed heavily.

Lu Ying looked at her son, who slowly opened his eyes, surprise in her gaze.

"His aura not only carries this heavy intent but also a hint of killing intent. That means he has killed before. As expected of my son," she thought with excitement.

Lu Huang's eyes also widened when he sensed the aura from Lu Zhen.

"The brat has grown up," he thought.