The eyes of the man lit up when he saw the bag land on the counter in front of him. He quickly grabbed it and held it close, opening it and counting the Spirit Stones within. After making sure that it contained all 60 Spirit Stones that he asked for, he stored the bag into his interspatial ring and cleared his throat, starting his explanation with a professional expression.

"Qing Lan Yong, the young master of the Qing clan. Three wives, four concubines, eight legitimate children and one illegitimate. Transcended the Ascended Tower realm at the age of 9, reached the peak of the Heaven's Gate realm at the age of 17, the peak of the Soaring Immortal realm at 37, and at 68 years of age, he finally entered the Primordial Immortal Realm, entering the Nightshield sect. Current cultivation is unknown."

Liang Chen listened intently, making sure he didn't miss a single word that the man said. Hearing that Qing Lan Yong had already transcended the Ascended Tower realm at 9, Liang Chen could only marvel at the difference that talent brought about. Liang Chen was now almost 13, but he was only halfway through the Ascended Tower realm, far worse than Qing Lan Yong. But his determination did not shake, he would become stronger than Qing Lan Yong, he would kill him, no matter how much he had to tear himself apart to do it. The man from the Nightshield sect paid no attention to Liang Chen, casually continuing his explanation.

"The laws he is known to cultivate are earth, wood, and fire, but there might be more that he is hiding. Despite a lack of resources, he managed to reach the Primordial Immortal realm before the age of 100 so he was immediately accepted as a core disciple by one of the 5 Hall Masters, the Duskshield Hall Master."

Liang Chen did not know how the Nightshield sect was set up, so he had no idea how big it was to become the core disciple of a Hall Master. Within the Nightshield sect, there were only two people above the hall Masters, the Grand Elder, and the Patriarch. And he hadn't become just any normal disciple, he had become a core disciple, the highest rank of a disciple, the one that would inherit everything from his master.

"When this hidden realm abruptly appeared seven years ago, he was among the first who wanted to explore it. But since he had already entered the Primordial Immortal realm at that time, he was unable to enter it, so he could only send in a few Junior Brothers and Sisters that worked as his subordinates."

When the man finished his sentence, he swiped his interspatial ring and took out a dull grey crystal, placing it in front of Liang Chen. He inserted a bit of Qi into it, an image quickly appearing in the air above the crystal. The image depicted a handsome man who looked like he had just entered his twenties, his skin unblemished and smooth. He had sharp eyebrows that slanted upwards, accentuating his emerald green eyes. He had silky black hair that was tied into a neat bun, a bright smile on his face. Liang Chen grabbed the crystal and pulled it closer, muttering to himself as he looked at the image.

"So this is how you look..."

Despite the seething hatred he felt for Qing Lan Yong, Liang Chen had never actually seen what he looked like, until now. Liang Chen made sure to burn the image into his mind, not allowing himself to forget it. He sent a sideways glance at the shopkeeper, who gave a short nod of his head. Liang Chen stored the crystal into his interspatial ring, giving the shopkeeper a slight bow.

"Thank you for sharing the information."

Not only had he learned a lot about Qing Lan Yong and his current position, but he had also managed to acquire a picture of Qing Lan Yong. The man from the Nightshield sect simply shrugged his shoulders casually as he spoke.

"No need to thank me, it was only business."

Liang Chen thanked the man once more before he started looking for the other items that he needed. Because the information was so pricey, he only had around 20 Spirit Stones left, so the number of things he could afford were low. Buying Demonic beast blood or meat was out of the question, so he could only spend the rest of his Spirit Stones on medicinal herbs, storing them into his interspatial ring and leaving the market.

He had bought the things he needed, expending all his money, so his next course of action was to head into the stone forest where he could find lightning type herbs and Demonic beasts. But not long after he left the market, he sensed seven people surrounding him and blocking off all paths, the one who seemed to be the leader speaking up.

"Kid, don't try anything, just follow us and don't make a scene. Try to resist or make too much noise and we will kill you."

Liang Chen swept the surrounding people, his eyes somewhat narrowed. They were all clad in different robes or armors, so it didn't seem like they came from any specific sect. They had surrounded him shortly after he left the market, so he guessed that they might have seen how many Spirit Stones he spent and were hoping to earn some easy coin. Liang Chen swept the seven people with his gaze one more time, before giving a slight shrug of his shoulders.

"Very well."

He raised his arms, showing that he wasn't carrying any weapons. The seven men all moved a bit closer, forming a circle to prevent him from escaping while they took him away. Liang Chen quietly followed them as they made their way through the alleys, looking for a place where no one could see them rob Liang Chen. After all, it would be terrible if they were robbed right after robbing Liang Chen.

After entering a deserted alley a good distance away from the market, the man who seemed to be the leader of the group, a man with short brown hair and a slight stubble, stepped forward, looking at Liang Chen with a serious gaze.

"Alright, kid, we won't make things too hard for you, just hand over everything you are carrying and we will let you leave alive."

His hand rested on the hilt of the saber that hung at his waist, showing that he was serious. He was hoping to scare Liang Chen into instantly nodding his head, but Liang Chen only gave a slight tilt of his head, his eyes narrowing even further.

"And if I say no?"

The only things Liang Chen had on him currently were medicinal herbs as well as some Demonic beast meat and blood, both which were things he needed. The man gave a slight nod after hearing Liang Chen's question, unsheathing his saber and placing it against Liang Chen's throat.

"Then we will kill you."

The blade of the saber was quite sharp, a thin red line appearing on Liang Chen's throat. Liang Chen lowered his eyes slightly, but he only gave the saber a short glance before he turned his eyes back onto the brown-haired man. Seeing Liang Chen's unyielding expression, the man spoke up again, pressing the saber even harder against Liang Chen's throat.

"I get it, kid, I truly do. You have just started cultivating and have had some success, so you like to believe that the world revolves around you. But let me warn you, people die all the time, people just like you. Some die just because they had bad luck, a poor roll of the dice. But the world always keeps turning, none of the deaths mattering as much as people would want them to."

Despite the encouraging words, Liang Chen still did not budge, calmly looking at the surrounding men. The leader was about to give Liang Chen one last chance when his vision suddenly started to turn blurry, a pounding pain assaulting his head. The man lost control over his body, collapsing to the ground, the six other men quickly following. He did his best to steady his shaky vision, glaring at Liang Chen as he tried to speak.

"...! You...What did you...do?!"

He found that his chest felt stuffy, his lungs burning with pain with every breath he took. His throat seemed to be closing up, making it somewhat hard for him to talk. But what the man didn't notice was that the rest of his men weren't even able to talk, clutching at their throats, completely unable to breathe. Had it not been for his strength being higher than theirs, he would have been in the same state. Liang Chen looked at the seven men on the ground, his eyes cold and merciless as he spoke.

"If you just spend a bit of time experimenting with it, you will find that poison is surprisingly versatile. It can melt flesh, shut down organs, even put people to sleep, it all depends on how you use it."

One could increase their strength even without increasing their cultivation, for example by training one's body and reflexes, or by getting more accustomed to the elements one could control. Liang Chen had spent quite a bit of time experimenting with his poison and lightning elements, testing their limits and how to best use them. Upon hearing the truth, the leader could not help but open his eyes wide, almost spitting out the words.

"Poison?! You...poisoned us?!"

He struggled to figure out exactly when it was that Liang Chen had poisoned them, and how he had managed to get all of his men with the poison, but Liang Chen had no interest in explaining it to him. The moment the seven people surrendered him and made their demand, he had already moved into action. His poison element could do more than just coat his body, he could also excrete it in other ways, say like a fine mist released with his sweat.

The leader used all of his strength to reach for the small leather bag that was tied to his leg, pulling out a small vial that contained a light green liquid. Liang Chen did not stop the man as he opened the vial and poured the liquid into his mouth, doing his best to swallow it. After swallowing the liquid, the man raised his eyes, wondering why Liang Chen wasn't stopping him.

But he quickly found out why he hadn't been stopped. Even after an entire minute passed, the antidote he had drunk had done nothing to alleviate the effects of the poison. When the man realized that the antidote wasn't going to work, Liang Chen gave a slight nod of his head, affirming the thoughts of the man.

"Not working? My poison seems to be a mixture of a wide variety of poisons, so you would need a rather strong antidote to neutralize it."

Liang Chen's poison was gained after bathing in the flesh of poisonous Demonic beasts, his poison was the fusion of all those poisons. It was because it was a fusion that he was able to have it produce a myriad of effects. Upon hearing the truth, the man opened his eyes wide in shock, doing his best to speak out.

"You..."

The man was a robber and a murder, but he had some knowledge about cultivation. He knew that even if one person cultivated the element of poison, they were almost always limited to only having one type of poison, so how could this youth in front of him use several different types at once? Liang Chen did not know the thoughts of the man, crouching down in front of him, his sword appearing in his hand.

"It's just like you said. A man dies, and the world keeps turning, just as it does when an innocent family is torn apart. It's just a roll of the dice. A bad roll and you die because of someone else's crimes, a good roll and you get to live in peace and luxury. No matter what, the world will keep turning as if nothing happened, the heavens ignoring everything beneath them."

Liang Chen wore a bitter and forlorn smile as he spoke. His family had suffered from that bad luck, torn apart as scapegoats. But the world kept turning as if nothing had ever happened, people simply averting their eyes. Liang Chen placed his sword against the man's throat, putting his own determination into words, once again affirming it.

"I once believed that the heavens were just, that they would save the innocent and those who did good. But that was nothing but a lie, the existence of people like you and Qing Lan Yong showing just how much of a lie it was. The heavens are indifferent at best, and cruel at worst. But so what? If the heavens aren't just, it simply means that someone else will have to take over their role. I will become the wrath that the heavens have always been too lazy to deliver."