Silence took over and stupor struck the crowd. Earlier, the powerful ancestors have failed to the barrier and the stones, eventually fleeing in embarrassment.

As for Li Qiye, he had zero defense and preparation as if he was unaware of the life-threatening danger. Nonetheless, the stones didn’t try to attack him at all.

“What the hell are those stones doing? Are they asleep? Did he hypnotize them?” One expert regained his wits and quietly said.

He then quietly stepped into the valley, wanting to follow Li Qiye. 

“Ah!” Unfortunately, he screamed the moment his foot touched the soil, having been struck by a pebble. He pulled his leg back right away and retreated. 

It became obvious that the stones weren’t sleeping. It’s just that for some unknown reason, they didn’t want to attack Li Qiye.

“Why does he get to enter?” One cultivator questioned.

“Maybe he has a stealth technique stopping the stones from spotting him.” Another youth boldly speculated.

It didn’t win the crowd over because earlier, Specter Ancestor had infiltrated the valley. As a member of the ghost race, his stealth technique was superior to most in the world. This still wasn’t enough.

“Because he’s Li Qiye.” An expert from the last generation who came from Buddha Emperor Plateau said: “He has done more bizarre things before, this is nothing.”

Others exchanged glances, not agreeing with him either. This didn’t offer a real reason or explanation.

“Why don’t the stones attack the young master?” Yang Ling didn’t have any idea either. She expected Li Qiye to come unhindered but it was still surprising for the stones to leave him alone.

“Intimidation.” The old man stared at the valley while speaking.

“Intimidation? They’re afraid of the young master?” She asked for elaboration.

“No.” He pointed at the jade on top of the mound: “Afraid of that.”

She stared at the jade again and realized that the light on the jade became dimmer. It was pulsing and releasing particles earlier. This was no longer the case as if the light was a frightened little animal hiding in its cave, only daring to peek its head out every once in a while.

It didn’t take long before Li Qiye walked up the mound and stood in front of the jade piece.

“He’s about to get it!” One spectator shouted.

Others did the same; some of them deliberately yelled in order to wake the stones up and stop him.

Unfortunately, the stones didn’t react and they gave up. 

“I don’t think he can move that stone, even Specter Ancestor couldn’t earlier.” A local expert murmured.

Specter Ancestor made it in with his speed and actually had his hand on the jade. Unfortunately, he didn’t have enough strength to move it. They thought that Li Qiye wouldn’t be able to do it either due to his shallow cultivation.

“Nah, Li Qiye got this.” An expert from Buddha Emperor Plateau shook his head and said: “You’ll see, there’s nothing he can’t do.”

Li Qiye reached forward and grabbed the stone.

“Don’t let him take you!” One local started praying.

“Buzz.” The jade became resplendent, seemingly wanting to resist.

“See, he won’t get it.” Young Lord Tuhuo happily sneered.

Alas, this light was beautiful but short-lived. It extinguished in the next second akin to a clam with a bright pearl inside opening and closing its mouth immediately.

Thus, Li Qiye easily pulled it back before the astonished spectators.

“I told you, he got this.” The expert earlier wasn’t surprised in the slightest.

The locals couldn’t believe how easily he obtained the jade. They naturally disliked this result.

“Zzz-” The quiet stones suddenly began to jump up and made noises, seemingly unhappy at Li Qiye.

“That’s more like it!” The crowd became excited, especially Young Lord Tuhuo.

“He’s finished now, those stones will beat him mercilessly. There’s no way he can last given his cultivation, hmph. He won’t be able to get up afterward.” The young lord gloated.

Li Qiye simply smiled and raised the jade up in the air.

“Buzz.” It exuded a radiance akin to the explosion of a thousand suns, enough to temporarily blind the spectators.

Once it dispersed, they opened their eyes and saw the stones seemingly being drunk. They have absorbed a high amount of light and couldn’t take in any more. They decided to drill into the ground and disappear.

The whole thing was so bizarre and most spectators didn’t know what happened. Anyone would find these developments sorcerous. Li Qiye seemed to be able to do anything.

The ancestors and big shots from the central region started talking about how this is expected of Li Qiye. The locals didn’t buy it before but now, their confidence wavered.

Once Li Qiye left the valley, Young Lord Tuhuo came forward and said: “Congratulations, Fellow Daoist.”

Li Qiye glanced at him without replying.

The young lord didn’t mind the silent treatment and smiled: “This jade is absolutely an incredible treasure. How about taking it out and showing us what it can do?”

He then turned towards the crowd and continued: “Am I right, gentlemen? Don’t we all want to take a closer look at it?”