Kristine's eyes flickered when she saw him giving away the Limit Breaking Pill, but she didn't say anything.
Soon, Cain left and only the three of them remained in the treasure house.
"What should we do, cousin?" She was a bit nervous since this was the first time she had experienced something like this.
"We will continue looking for the item. If we can't find it within an hour, we will leave the treasure house and regroup with Cain." Fredrinn wasn't worried about Cain. If he consumed the Limit Breaking Pill, he would break through the Core Formation realm. With that kind of strength, ordinary assassins would be at his mercy.
"Don't be nervous and just pretend that we don't know what's going on." He added.
Olivia and Kristine nodded upon hearing this.
With that, the trio resumed their search.
***
Cain looked at the pill in his hand. It was the Limit Breaking Pill given to him by Fredrinn. From the fragments of memories that he could remember about his world, this pill was incredibly precious and hard to acquire.
Without hesitation, he swallowed the pill.
As soon as it entered his throat, he felt the pill slowly melting. The energy contained inside the pill rushed out like a surging river and was absorbed by his dantian.
The dantian is an organ that was unique to cultivators who reached the Foundation Establishment realm. This organ would refine the Qi absorbed by the cultivator and use the refined Qi to strengthen the body. The cultivators could also use it like a reservoir because it could store unrefined Qi. For these reasons, there was a huge difference between the Qi Gathering stage and the Foundation Establishment realm.
After some time, a change slowly occurred inside Cain's body. Cracks started to appear in his dantian as more and more Qi was being absorbed.
Cain felt a twisting pain in his dantian and he knew that this was the process of his core taking form.
Usually, one has to be in a meditative position during this process to maintain the optimal condition of the body. However, Cain put Fredrinn's mission as his top priority. His actions increased the difficulty of his breakthrough, but he didn't care.
At this moment, Cain finally sensed the presence of the two disciples of the Firecrown Household. However, there was a group of people in black hooded robes that surrounded them.
He didn't rush to their side right away. He hid above a roof and observed the situation. 'There are six enemies. Two of them are Foundation Establishment martial practitioners, while the remaining four are at the Qi Gathering stage.' He could roughly gauge the enemies' strength based on their auras. His perception was not as strong as Roland Firecrown's, so he couldn't accurately measure their cultivation.
One of the Foundation Establishment martial practitioners stepped forward and said. "Take out the Limit Breaking Pills."
The two young disciples nervously grabbed their weapons. "Who are you guys?!"
"There's no need for you to know that. I promise that you guys won't be harmed so long as you give us the Limit Breaking Pills." The man uttered calmly.
The two young disciples felt pressured under the man's intense gaze.
'Who are these people? Should I tell them that we don't have the pills?' Felix thought while keeping his eyes on the men in black robes.
He knew that they could die if they refused to cooperate with them, but he didn't want to bring danger to Kristine and Fredrinn. Thinking about this, he looked at his friend, Ren, and saw the same determination in his eyes.
They were orphans who were raised by the Firecrown Household. Although they grew up in a strict environment, they were grateful to the household for raising them. They will never betray the Firecrown Household even if it means their death!
Felix took a deep breath. "We are disciples of the Firecrown Household! Hurting us won't do you any good. If something happens to us, the family will immediately launch an investigation. You guys better think it through."
When the black-robed men heard this, they laughed in disdain.
"Do you think the Firecrown Household's name would scare us? How laughable! Since you don't want to cooperate, don't blame us for being rough!"
"Kill them and take the pills from their corpses!" Shouted the leader of the black-robed men.
As soon as he uttered those words, the four Qi Gathering stage cultivators rushed out and attacked the young disciples.
Felix was at the 7th Layer of the Qi Gathering stage, while Ren was at the 6th Layer. With their superior skills, they managed to block the attacks of the four black-robed men.
The leader of the black robe men was dissatisfied when he saw his subordinates struggling to subdue the two young disciples. 'Tsk! Useless fools!'
He looked at the Foundation Establishment martial practitioner beside him and said. "Go and help them."
The man nodded and quickly moved into action. He took out a dagger and rushed towards Ren. As soon as he appeared beside Ren, he swung his dagger.
Just as his dagger was about to stab Ren, a sword suddenly deflected his attack.
Clang!
"Hm?!" The man quickly retreated when his attack was blocked.
It was only then did everyone noticed that another person had appeared.
With a face covered in scars and a blinded left eye, this person looked extremely terrifying.
"It's you!" Ren and Felix were stunned when they saw this man. They remembered that this was the person who was always stuck to Fredrinn's side.
"Stay behind me." Cain didn't turn around. He still hadn't broken through, but he was only a small step away from the Core Formation stage.
The leader of the black-robed men frowned upon seeing him. He didn't even sense this man's presence when he appeared. 'This guy is at least as powerful as me.' He thought.
"Retreat! You guys are not his match! I'll take care of him!" He grabbed his dagger and attacked Cain without hesitation.
Cain wasn't flustered. He also rushed out and clashed with the leader of the black-robed man.
Their weapons collided fiercely, causing sparks to fly out.
Meanwhile, the remaining five black-robed men immediately used this chance to rush towards Felix and Ren.
Seeing this, Cain no longer held back. He kicked the person in front of him and rushed back to save the two young disciples.
With a swing of his sword, one of the black-robed men fell lifelessly into the ground.
The other four quickly retreated in fear after seeing the death of their comrade.
"He is a peak Foundation Establishment martial practitioner! Retreat! We don't have the strength to deal with him!" The leader of the black-robed men shouted when he sensed Cain's power.
The group didn't even bother to retrieve their companion's corpse and retreated in haste.
Felix and Ren were relieved to see this. It was a close call for them. Luckily, Cain arrived on time.