The meetup location was a small land between at the far edges of the pigolo tribe's territory. It was quite close to the Wall of Yang Fire so it was suited for them.

It was a tall mountain with a volcano that looked like it would erupt at any second. Vyncent's faction was skilled in Earth techniques which gave them a bit of a resistance to fire, so hiding in such a mountain wouldn't be that dangerous if they took the appropriate measures.

Inside a decently large cave made inside the mountain, there were a couple of presences that could be felt inside. Most of them were very weak with only four distinguishable ones.

The strongest was an old man with a long white hair and a mustache. He was meditating in the corner without minding the ruckus happening not far away from him.

In fact, this was elder Tian who the white-clothed young man who was killed by Arthur talked about. He was the main force of this expedition to the wasteland and was responsible for getting the disciples in and out of the wall as they were unable to do so themselves.

Apart from that, he was ordered to stand down and not help the disciples in anyway as it was their mission and not his, and in a way, doing everything by themselves may be considered gaining valuable experience.

The three others were the two brothers which were residing in the gargoyles headquarters and a female in her twenties. They didn't emit a presence as strong as the old man but they were quite domineering and arrogant.

A bit far away was a small crowd of people, probably a dozen or so composed of mostly females and few feminine males. They were all shaking with fear and had strange red seals on their forehead.

The twins were lecherously staring at the beautiful females, however, they didn't dare act and merely let out their lustful gazes, as for the female, she was giving flirtatious gazes at the males whilst playfully smiling.

Their goal was not to torture or enslave these people which is exactly why they couldn't 'practice' whatever their weird hobbies are on them.

There was a male showing an arrogant attitude, he wore expensive clothes, his eyes showed disdain. He didn't have a group like them but he was forced to come too, which annoyed him.

Whilst releasing a shy smile and looking at the crowd of females, the female's eyes flashed with a cold light for a split second whilst saying with a joking tone

"I think we brought too many, and that is not counting what the remaining two will bring. Why don't you let me take care of a few of them, mine are not that numerous, after all."

She winked at the terrified feminine males then glanced at the brothers only to see the ugly expression on their faces.

"Don't try to eat more than you can chew, you've spent your time here playing around while others didn't."

The younger brother nodded and added

"Yeah... what he said..."

The situation became tense in a matter of seconds just after a few words were spoken, which fully proves that although they come from the same faction, they weren't that friendly towards each other.

"No fighting, no stealing from each other. No match which pavilion you are from, you will be harshly punished if you break those rules."

The old man's voice was surprisingly soft but it carried a hint of authority. The three quickly calmed down and minded their own business.

Contrary to their expectations, the newly arisen silence didn't last long as the entrance to the cave shook and a haggard figure slipped in. It was actually Vyncent, who looked like a homeless with his torn clothes, dirty faces and dust enveloping him. If not for the way he popped out of the ground which his special technique, the rest would have attacked him. Vyncent was not that strongest amongst them but they all were greedy for his secret technique as it was really amazing, it was even praised by elder Tian.

The trio were dumbfounded for a few seconds before the female managed to react first, she burst out laughing as she looked at Vyncent's state. He usually looked handsome so seeing him look this pitiful is one in a lifetime chance.

"Hahahaha... it's a pity I didn't bring a recording talisman...."

Only elder Tian remained calm, he merely glanced at Vyncent for a second before resuming his meditation. Whatever happened is their own business, he is only responsible for their safety.

The calmness of the old man soon vanished when he heard Vyncent's next words, which felt as if a bucket of cold water was poured on him.

"Senior Kleid died."

The laughter halted and was replaced with deep shock and eyes full of disbelief. Vyncent wasn't the kind to crack jokes like that, and even if he were, it clearly was not the time for suck terrible jokes.

Seeing the surprise in their expressions, Vyncent resumed talking

"I do not know who killed him, he was a mysterious grey-haired man."

Elder Tian's expression turned serious, he stood and scanned the surroundings with his sense then said

"The situation hasn't been good the last few days. We'll wait half a day for Riku to come, if he isn't here by that time, we'll depart, it's too dangerous."

He didn't even try to dig deep and find out about the killer of Kleid as there were many possibilities and he can't risk offending powerful experts because of a mere disciple.

A disciple dying was not within his expectations. It's true that this wasteland is dangerous, but the pigolo and the rest won't kill human cultivator as they knew that the humans capable of coming here have powerful backing.

The atmosphere soon regained its usual silence but there was a mix of tension, fear, and uneasiness, especially for Vyncent, who couldn't help but remember Arthur and the red-headed youth, who slaughtered so many gargoyles in a few seconds.

Furthermore, there was that weird flame thing that entered his body, no matter how much he probed and tried, he couldn't figure out how to remove it, this had alarmed him and made him anger Arthur, which is why he didn't spit out everything he knew to the elder.

Actually, Vyncent knew that with the faction behind him, he shouldn't fear Arthur as any official elder can deal with him, however, he wasn't arrogant enough to act high and mighty in such a faraway land. He would be killed without anyone knowing it and Arthur would be able to escape. If he were in his sect then he wouldn't fear Arthur but the situation is different and it had become extremely dire the last few days with the on-going war of pigolos and gargoyles.

....

Elder Tian didn't resume his meditation, he left the cave and started checking around the volcanic mountain. Although it's a remote area, it didn't stop the fact that it still belonged to the pigolos and he can't deal with Ti Eru alone, add to that his brothers, it would be akin to suicide if he were to meet them.

After doing a few rounds and carefully checking a few kilometers around the mountain, Tian was about to enter the cave again when the formation he put around the mountain shook for a split second before it shattered. This shocked him greatly but before he managed to react, a white blur flashed in front of him and a terrifying sense of doom befell on him.

Without hesitation, he activated he pressed his hands to his chest which emitted a bright yellow light and the incoming doom violently hit his newly formed yellow heavy armor. From head to toe, he was armed in a gold like armor, it was very catchy and thick.

Although his reactions were fast, he was still pushed back a few steps before he managed to stabilize himself. Holding a silver broadsword in a hand and an arm-thick wooden shield in the other, Tian glared angrily at the figure floating a bit far from him.

It was a grey-haired man, wearing a remarkably beautiful white taoist robe with long sleeves. He seemed like the kind neighbor next door with his friendly smile and the peaceful aura around him.

'Life cultivator!'

This was the first thing Tian thought about when he sensed that unusual aura! His senses strengthened and he didn't dare underestimate whoever this man was.