"Elder's true body?" the revelation was something he had accepted but to get it confirmed, that the place was not even the elder's true body, and just merely a hand, it still made him shocked. He had reached that stage before, as he once reached the Word Source realm, but to see what was left behind when a Source realm expert fell still caused some shock to him.
"Yes, this old master was in odd with a group of people. We were searching for a treasure said to be in this area. Because of that, we came into conflict. But this old master was alone while they had 5 people with them.
In the end, this old master was killed, while they were able to get out with only some injuries. As for the treasures, this old master did not know if they found it or not. But that is unimportant.
I will leave an imprint on your hand, similar to the mark you get from passing the trial earlier. This imprint also allows you to grab most of the treasures here, though don't expect weapons or artifacts. Only herbs, spiritual fruits, and ores are present, as it was something this part of the old master's Inner Realm could create.
The imprint will also contain the whereabouts of this old master's true body. Just don't expect to get anything out of it until you reach the Spirit Grand realm.
Now I had told you everything, and you had the imprint on you, this soul manifestation would disappear. When this happens, there is only one hour before this place collapses but the sign would show itself soon anyway.
The best of luck, young one on your journey of cultivation," by the time he said it, a loud shaking could be felt by Ryker. Realizing what it meant, he bowed in the direction of the old master before booking it out of there.
-x-
Similarly, those in the trial space could feel the shaking. Before they could do anything, the energy mist disappeared. Taking advantage of this, Horo jumped towards the core, his blade ready to bury itself into Ryker's back. Another challenger, one that insulted Ryker with Horo, did the same thing with an axe.
However, before the two could get close enough, Ryker opened his eyes and made a light swipe, one that sent the two flying away, landing on the floor with groaning pain. He used metal qi to create a sword and threw it near Horo's head.
When he came to his senses, Horo could barely see the blade, only able to see it was close to him when he stood up. The glare from Ryker made him gulp in terror, as Ryker could have easily killed him right there.
"I only have one thing to say, if you continue this pointless rivalry, I will kill you here and now," the threats made the young man shiver, his lower garment currently wet from - 'reasons'. The rest took the chance to distance themselves away from the young man.
"There is only one hour until this place collapses. So you should get back to your groups and grab whatever resources you can find before this place is gone for good," when he finished talking, another tremor was felt, this time, stronger than before.
Sure that they get his message, Ryker head towards the stair, ready to meet up with his group and claim another set of prizes left to him by the expert. As for the others, they remained in a daze. Another tremor woke them up though, making them realize the warning he gave was real.
Moving quickly, they headed towards their groups, with the exception of Horo, who took the chance to change his soiled garment. Only then did he follow the others, heading towards his subordinates and praying no one would tell about the incident.
-x-
When he reached his group inside the city, they all carried tons of loot, no doubt the gain they had was beyond great. And he would make their gain even better.
"Follow me, except for you," he pointed at the weakest member of the group, "I want you to warn the main group they have less than an hour to get out of here before this place collapses, as for the others, we would grab the treasures I get from getting the inheritance,"
While the others were about to protest about being left, that part disappeared when they heard about grabbing some treasures. With that reasoning, the others chased after Ryker, who led them to a tower.
He entered it, before heading down. As he descended, he stopped by a large door. The others stopped next to him. After everyone arrived, he opened the door, giving them another warning, "This door would open for only half an hour so grab as many treasures as possible,"
Hearing the warning, they nodded. Soon, they finished emptying the room. Seeing how everything was cleaned, Ryker nodded before he ordered them to return. By the time they got out of the city, the rest of their group had already gone, and so those most of the other groups, with the exception of a few stragglers.
Seeing how the last group exited the city so late made the stragglers realize something. "Give us all of you got and we will let you go!" Ryker narrowed his eyes before dashing towards the speaker.
Not expecting such a reaction, the man barely reacted when he was bisected. Seeing how one of them was killed, the others were about to make a move on Ryker when the rest of his group launched their attacks.
Not long afterward, they were surrounded by corpses, as most of the people there were only Genesis Foundation experts with only three Genesis Core experts, all of them at the first stage.
"Let's get going then," Ryker ordered, the group soon heading toward the entrance.
-x-
It didn't take long for them to reach the entrance. While their late arrival caused some suspicion, most of them knew that they were a part of the Barony expedition force. So most assume they had remained to collect some more resources.
When they reached the main group, Ryker quickly went to where the leaders of the group at, bowing slightly before giving in a full detailed report of what had happened. By the time he finished, the representative of the Baron nodded.
"Good job, the treasures that you collect will belong to you, while for the others that helped you collect it, they can keep half while the rest be given to you," hearing this made Ryker scrunched his brows, as the benefits he received will be much greater.
"Change it to that the Barony could get half, with the condition they will owe me a favor plus some resources equivalent to half of what the treasures are worth," he put up his condition. After all, an excessive amount of treasures is not something he wanted as that would make him a target for many.
"Deal,"