Gu Ran always thought there was something strange about this Lower Realm, but now he was absolutely sure.

He stood next to a small pond in the clearing of a forest, a deep frown on his face etched on his forehead, ‘This Realm is not a Realm at all. This is a Yuan Opening Expert’s Grotto-Heaven.’

A Yuan Opening Expert was someone even his previous incarnation - a Void Refining Cultivator - could only look up to. The fact that there was the influence of such an expert in this Lower Realm was a massive shock to him.

‘It’s just that I don’t know if it's their original Grotto Heaven or one they created. If it’s the latter, then it is still fine. Maybe they wanted to leave their inheritance here.’

He currently had no way of knowing because he had never reached that Stage in the first place. It was simply impossible for him to know! 

His frown deepened. 'Which Yuan Opening would be so bored as to descend to the Lower World just to set up an Inheritance Ground? The effort they would have to go through is simply not worth it. There are far more suitable places in the Upper World!

‘But, if it is the former,’ Gu Ran’s thoughts paused as though trying to wrap his mind around the fact, ‘Then a lot of things could be explained. The only time a Yuan Opening expert would leave behind their original Grotto-Heaven would be when they die.

‘For a Yuan Opening expert to die here in the Lower World. It is inconceivable.

‘This Lower Realm is becoming more and more unfathomable…’

Gu Ran's frown grew deeper still - to the point his face was scrunched up into a scowl, ‘Then there are these Super Sects. There are too many of them. 13 Super Factions and each of them would have several Essence Soul experts! Even a conservative estimate would be around a dozen per Sect.

‘That’s way too many!’

Assuming the most conservative estimate, that would make more than 140 Essence Soul-level Beings. And that’s only the Immortal and Martial Paths! There’s also the Demonic Path.

‘And if the other paths also exist here…

‘Then I really need to re-evaluate this so-called “Lower Realm”.’

Even the most prosperous Lower Realm he’d heard of did not have so many Essence Soul Experts! They did not even have a tenth! Essence Soul beings required titanic amounts of resources to come into being.

Gu Ran really needed to understand what the hell was going on with this realm.

‘But before all that, let’s deal with the trash.’ his eyes flashed coldly as he looked a few hundred metres into the distance. 

“You’ve been following me for a while now, why don’t you show yourself?” Gu Ran’s impassive voice echoed through the forest, defying all physics.

However, there was no response.

Shaking his head expressionlessly, he raised his right arm and casually pushed his palm forward.

Great Heaven Inferno Palm!

His Zhenqi turned into pure, scorching hot flames that condensed into a large palm more than twice the size of an adult man. It blazed through the air slapping towards one of the massive trees! What was strange was that there was absolutely no effect on the surrounding trees - it was as if the hand made of flames had no heat at all!

Yet, when it slammed into its target -

BOOOM!

A tremendous explosion occurred and several figures were forced out! 

The horrible heat wave resulting from the explosion turned dozens of trees into ashes and set several dozen more on fire!

This was the Absolute Control level of Mastery! Beyond the Instinctive Control level, there was another level - the Absolute Control level! As the name suggested, it meant one had absolute control over every aspect of the Technique. This level was where Gu Ran’s Great Heaven Inferno Palm was - this allowed him to decide whether to let it radiate heat.

“Dammit! You brat! How dare you attack us?!” A disciple ran out, slapping away the remnant flames on his singed Purple Spirit Sect robes! “Had you stayed silent you'd have lived a little longer!” He did not notice the Absolute Control-level Technique at all. He just thought it was some strange Technique.

Gu Ran looked at the ten disciples with a frown, “Fellow Sect mates, I don’t recall ever offending you, why do you insist on making an enemy out of me?” Although he said so, Gu Ran’s killing intent had already spiked - it was just that he did not really let it out, having concealed it perfectly.

Even as he questioned the disciple, he used his Divine Sense to carefully sweep the party, wanting to check out if his opponents were really from the Purple Spirit Sect. He was not worried about being detected at all. Even Celestial Bridge experts would not detect his Divine Sense, much less some puny 6th or 7th Disaster Cultivators.

“Hehe, you should not have gotten close to Junior Sister Xiao. Senior Brother intends to pursue her. Only he is worthy of the affection of such a beauty! I really wonder how such an Earth Disaster trash like you manage to gain her attention?” 

“Heh, moreover, he didn’t know his place and continued to interact with Junior Sister despite Senior Brother’s intentions!”

“You, trash, sure have guts!”

Gu Ran sighed inwardly, ‘It’s another idiot who can’t keep it in his pants. I really pity Junior Sister Xiao sometimes!’

It was not the first time he had to deal with idiots like these. Though this was the first time someone had the intention to outright kill him. Well, at least in this life.

But anyway, he’d already ascertained that they were indeed disciples of the Purple Spirit Sect. The residual aura on their clothes matched the aura they were exuding. Moreover, he could see traces of the Purple Spirit Sect’s exclusive Arts.

His legs started trembling and a scared expression came over his face, “M-May I know which Senior Brother I’ve offended? I-I really did not wish to!” He really looked like he was about to piss himself! “I’m willing to do anything to apologise! J-Just spare my life!”

“Heh! Where’s your confidence now, huh? Besides, it doesn’t matter even if you kowtow! Senior Brother Qiao has already given the order - you have to die!”

“Hehe, maybe if you crawl between our legs I can consider leaving a full corpse!”

‘Hmm… I can’t detect anything. It seems my Divine Sense has not recovered enough yet. So I can neither eliminate nor confirm it was Qiao Xuan.’ Gu Ran shook his head inwardly. His Divine Sense’s strength hadn’t yet recovered to the level he could tell apart falsities from the truths.

‘Well, it doesn’t matter.’

“Y-y-yes, Senior Brother. I-I will crawl now!’ Shaking like a leaf in a windstorm, Gu Ran walked closer and closer, ignoring the looks of disdain that came over the surrounding disciples. 

Suddenly, Gu Ran’s figure shifted and a titanic Spiritual Aura crashed into them like a sky-reaching tsunami hitting the shore! It felt as though the entire sky had fallen on their heads, smothering their breaths, crushing their bodies and suppressing their Souls. They were left utterly dazed for a few moments, giving Gu Ran enough time to execute several spells one after another.

Giant Fireballs, Dragons made of water, and fists made of Earth were sent out like they were going out of style. It was as if he had an endless amount of Essence to power such a large number of spells. What was even more bullshit was that each of these spells was at least at the Myriad Transformations level!  Moreover, they were all Profound Rank!

The deluge of high-rank spells slammed into the group of disciples, forcing them to activate their Defensive Techniques and their Movement Arts! Thunderous explosions, shrill sword cries and terrifying shockwaves that could obliterate the taller-than-skyscrapers trees spread with the battlefield as the centre.

While the disciples managed to escape with their lives, they were still severely injured.

The leader, a 7th Disaster cultivator, who had managed to come to his senses before taking too much damage said, “You’re not an Earth Disaster, you’re a Yin Disaster!”

Gu Ran did not even bother to reply. He just executed a Movement Art, disappearing from their visions and reappearing in front of a 5th Disaster disciple and slammed his fist into his gut. The punch transferred a strange vibration to his body that travelled through it and transferred to his brain, turning it into mush and therefore instantly killing him! Obviously, Gu Ran had also cultivated his body!

“{Dammit, surround him and attack! His Movement Art focuses on high-speed movement! Also, be careful not to let him get close - he’s a Body Cultivator!}” The strongest 7th Disaster cultivator’s qi transmission reached the others.

The disciples followed the cultivators' words and made to surround Gu Ran.

The moment Gu Ran saw his opponents’ movements, he knew what they were up to. So he executed another Movement Art, splitting into several shadow clones that each lunged at the disciples!

“What?!”

The disciples were shocked. They knew that only one was real because there was never a Movement Art that could create true clones, but knowing that didn’t mean a thing, since they could not tell them apart!

So they all raised their defences either way!

“Aaaarghh!” The blood-curdling scream of pain from the leader made them turn their heads in that direction, only to see a sword stabbing through his chest.

At the same time, another disciple screamed as several strands of Sword Qi nearly sliced him to pieces. Even if he wasn’t dead, it wouldn't take long for him to die!

“M-monster! This fellow is a monster!” A disciple nearly pissed himself. He did not even think twice before he turned tail and ran! And as if he served as a catalyst, the other disciples also turned and ran in different directions!

Gu Ran did not bother about the disciples and just chased after the strongest one. It was impossible for them to escape - he’d already left a Divine Sense mark on each of them. Even if they fled to the ends of the Demon Beast Haven realm, he would still be able to find them!

In just an hour, all of the ones that attacked him were done for. Moreover, all of this was so easy, that it almost seemed like a leisurely activity for him.