Li Gong was weak. He had dreams of becoming a rising dragon, but he was fully aware of his own weakness. He was told he was talented by those sect disciples, yes- but he was still a normal outer sect disciple, training in the communal sessions on the big, open pavilion, relying on the meager amount of pills given out by the elders to fuel his cultivation, and, above all, pushing himself to become stronger. Even as he celebrated to himself every increase in his own power, he still saw the elders of the sect, and their monumental feats. He was keenly aware of limits, precisely because the mission of cultivation was to break past them.

So, as he entered the gate, breathing in the thick energy in the air, as he slid legs down into a Martial stance, Li Gong was determined to try and conquer this strange place, but he was very much prepared to run the fuck out of there should he meet something he couldn’t handle.

———A few minutes later...———

Still in stance, the young cultivator took small, shifting steps down the corridor, each one measured and stable- yet painfully slow, all for the sake of being ready at a moment’s notice.

He took uneasy looks at the corners and arcs of the strange corridor, unfamiliar in make, and even more alien in the dim, flickering lighting of alcove-mounted flames.

Step after agonizing step, he finally made it to a step’s distance away from the second large gate, now at the end of the same corridor.

The youth stalled, debating with himself whether it would be more prudent to slam the gate open in the hopes of getting the drop on anyone on the other side, or opening it just a little and sneaking it.

Deciding that the single, straight entrance corridor was a tad too obvious for stealth, Li Gong took in a deep breath, channeling Qi into his back, legs and arms, then slammed the massive stone doors with all the strength he could muster, making the monumental gates... ponderously slide open, the dense reinforced dungeon stone relunctantly budging to the Qi Gatherer’s power.

As he took in the strength of the strange stone, the sight of the grand hall that stretched before him, and the complete lack of any life, there was only one conclusion in his mind. Yeah, definitely an abandoned sect.

Li Gong continued walking into the hall, sliding a hand along the barren banquet table, head craning upward to examine the arches, the hanging chandeliers, and the elongated windows of the place. As he walked over to one of the side doors to take a look, two sets of rough, grey not-quite-faces turned to fixate on him. ...Well, not so abandoned.

As the two beings lunged towards him with crude stone weapons, a sword and a polearm, the cultivator sunk into a fighting stance again, feet firmly planted, hands raised, and core tensed, ready for action.

The first one’s halberd was deflected, Li Gong lowering himself to the front and to the side, then using his forearm to push against the shaft of the weapon and send the thrust sailing off course. The downwards sword slash that quickly followed was simply sidestepped, and the sword-wielder then sent crashing onto the other grey monster with a savage snap kick, both falling into lifeless rock pieces.

Lowering his leg back onto the ground, Li Gong was deep in thought. Well, those weren’t any sort of beast that I know of, and they don’t seem to match being a demon or ghost, either... so probably some sort of defense formation left behind by the last people in this place, then. But if so, why are they so weak? Those guys weren’t much stronger than a regular person...

Still confused, but deciding not to worry about it too much, he walked into the room that the two had been guarding. It appeared to be a simple study room, albeit with oddly oversized dimensions and normally sized furniture making it seem very empty. A chair and desk, with a case of books on the wall above it, and a pair of wooden chests on the far wall, which the dungeon diver immediately made a beeline for. Snapping the lid open, he found a tidy amount of gold coins- enough buy food for the average family for several months. Not enough to make a man truly rich, but definitely a considerable sum, especially in the middle of nowhere like this.

Rubbing his hands in anticipation, Li Gong went to pry open the next box- only to narrowly avoid the stone blade that sprung out as soon as the latch was undone, leaving a bleeding gash on the side of his jaw. “Ow! Son of a...”

While the concept of a dungeon was not something that Li Gong- or the rest of Jie, really- were familiar with, the trap spurred his memory, and made him remember something he had heard about in his old sect once, something familiar to this. Qi Realms, areas where Qi power was high, and not just in a concentrated spot, like normal Springs, that unique conditions would happen. Although extremely dangerous, strange and powerful creature, unique materials that could become great treasures, and, of course, truly astounding environments, all of which grew more and more intense the closer one got to the highest Qi concentration. There were a good amount of these places all over the world, a few of them were powerful enough to be truly famous- such as the Incandescent Sunfire Rapids, a series of rocky plateaus shot through with red-hot molten rock streams, where Yang- and fire-aspected Qi beasts and treasures, teemed for instance.

While it was a mystery why this specific one being so bizarrely architected, contrary to how they normally appeared as natural landscapes twisted into fantasical forms, he now had at least something to go on. In addition, the presence of not just a Qi Spring, but a Qi Realm at all was a great boon, and so, armed with his new knowledge, Li Gong ran back to the village to report his findings.

———Dungeon POV———

Well, that wasn’t what I was expecting at all.

I was thinking those guys were going to be at least a rudimentary party of some sort, but then the guy goes sliding in all weird martial-arts like, busts open the giant, four-man door with some magic I didn’t recognize, beats one room, then skedaddles.

...I think I might be missing something here.