Attribute Farming System

Elder Loong started with the popping of a snot bubble, his unfocused eyes wearily appraising the two figures standing over him. However, upon recognizing one of the figures, his brows relaxed as he leaned back into his chair.

"Don't you have any manners, you brat?" he asked with an annoyed tone. "Can't you see that your all-powerful Elder here is in the midst of deep contemplation? And here I was about to uncover the Path to Immortality!"

Josop's smile died down, turning wholly apologetic. "Please excuse my rudeness, Divine Elder…! But I felt it necessary to inform you of the Senior I have guided down from the cave abode!"

"Hum?"

Elder Loong's narrowed eyes fell on the unfamiliar figure, causing him to jolt back. "Who on earth are you!??" he asked. "The one illegally taking up residence in that cave should've only been in the Early Foundation Establishment Realm! So why is it that I feel as if just a sneeze from you can blow our whole Sect away!?"

Suddenly realizing that he was displaying a side of himself that was unbecoming of an unparalleled master, Elder Loong cleared his throat. He then glared at the stranger and disdainfully snorted.

"You have some nerve taking up residence in our Sect's Territory without first requesting permission from the Rulers of said Territory," he arrogantly grunted. "Don't you know the proper process of things…!?"

"Then can I stay on your Sect's Mountain?"

"Done!"

"!??"

Josop looked between the two in bewilderment. He had expected a tense and lengthy discussion, but to think that things were resolved so easily…

"Elder Loong—" he tried to say, but was interrupted by that very same Elder:

"Shut up, brat. You still have a lot to learn in this world; go back to your residence and recite the Sect's Core Principles ten thousand times!"

"B-But…"

"No buts! Go now! Or ten thousand horsetail whisk lashes for you!"

"Y…Yes, Elder Loong."

Josop respectfully cupped his hands before fleeing the scene, though he took a few glances at the stranger before fully leaving. He seemed to be curious as to how someone had so effortlessly won over one of the great figures he worshiped.

After Josop left the scene, Elder Loong's domineering aura suddenly subsided. It was instead replaced by a pair of jittery legs and a crooked face.

*Thud!*

He hit the ground with a bang.

"Please forgive this lowly one for offending Senior! Please, please, please!" he begged, tears and snot running down his face. "I wasn't able to see Mt. Tai, and because of that, I failed to fully comprehend Senior's greatness!!"

The young cultivator standing before him rolled his eyes at this pitiful sight. "Get up," he ordered. "And neither you nor the other members of your ragtag gang will bother me from now on, understood?"

"U-Understood, Senior! We wouldn't dare!"

"Also," Knox continued. "Teach that kid a cultivation-discerning Martial Skill or something. There's a limit to laziness, and you six are dangerously tiptoeing around that line."

"!!!" "!!!" "!!!"

The five other cultivators hidden around the small Sect Grounds felt a cold chill. They all possessed cultivation bases in the Core Formation Realm; moreover, they were lackluster within that Realm to boot.

Even Rank 2 Sects would have more impressive existences. And for a 'Ten thousand-year-old Sect' to have these sorts of old losers as their strongest, well, it didn't take a genius to realize that they were a bunch of pigs playing the tiger.

Speaking to all of these Elders this time, Knox slowly and coldly threatened them. "If any single one of you dares to disturb me again or contact someone else about my presence, I won't leave you with intact corpses."

*Brrrr—!*

The Elders of the Voidborn Sect experienced a primal terror that loomed over them, carrying within its illusory bone hands a scythe with their names etched into it. Only one of them didn't instantly piss their pants, and that was just because he passed out first.

"If I need to repeat this to you again," Knox uttered before turning around and walking back up the winding mountain path, "Well… I'm sure you all get the point."

"Y-Yes, Senior, sir!"

Following the sorrowful cries of the Voidborn Elders, Knox fleetingly vanished, his afterimages imprinting a stark and harrowing reminder in the minds of the Elders.

He doubted they'd act cocky and domineering with him again, but who could say for certain?

Anyhoo, he resumed his cultivation without respite. In his previous seclusion session, he made virtually no progress in anything except for smoothing out the bumps that rashly breaking through so many times had created.

Now, however, Knox could freely progress his cultivation, hopefully aiming for the Middle Foundation Establishment Realm within half a year's time!

Unfortunately, plans didn't always pan out as expected…

— Two months later, an unexpected string of shouting was heard at the Voidborn Sect's northern entrance —

"Whether you like it or not, we'll be requisitioning this area and your Sect grounds for the Secret Realm Exploration!" someone contentiously shouted, his Half-step Nascent Soul Realm aura pressuring the Voidborn Elders into submission. "Stop resisting and vacate the location with all your belongings at once!"

An old man banged his head against the hard stone ground, drawing blood. He was the strongest among the Elders of the Voidborn Sect, being in the Peak Core Formation Realm. But again, he was lackluster among those of the same stage. Even a slightly above-average Late Core Formation Realm Cultivator could bring him to the brink of death if it really came down to it.

"P-Please, kind Lords!" the old man pleaded. "You must understand our situation! When our Sect Leader and Vice Sect Leaders left us for other lands centuries ago, we were left all alone in this world… These Sect Grounds are the only remaining evidence of our once mighty, hidden Sect. Surely your Skycloud Palace Sect can find it in your big hearts to spare us this one time. If anything else, do it on behalf of our Ancestors…!"

Everything this old man was spouting was total bullsh*t!