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As Duncan was immersed in deep thought, the demonic ape had already entered through the gates and the scramble to enter once more began in earnest among the demonic beast.

Duncan watched the scramble with a serious look on his face. To him, it embodied the cultivation world as a whole. The struggle to stand out amongst peers and have the strength to challenge someone at a higher level was the core of the cultivation world.

Only very few top existences could saunter through the cultivation world like Shen Wulong\'s fiancé or the demonic ape did. Others had to scramble amongst themselves to find their footing at the top.

Duncan didn\'t want to be like these demonic beasts that were scrambling for position. He wanted to saunter through like that demonic ape. For that, being good wasn\'t enough. Even being a cut above the rest wasn\'t enough. For that, he must be incomparably strong and be head and shoulders above everyone.

Just then, Duncan saw several light streaks rush from the distance. The moment they arrived, they started a massacre in front of the gates and killed almost every demonic beast that hadn\'t either slipped through the gates or fled far away.

Blood flowed from the sky like a river as a great battle commenced. The demonic beasts stopped their struggle against each other and concentrated on defending against the newcomers.

Duncan could vaguely identify Heavenly Demon Sect uniforms in the sky. He figured that his sect was also alerted by the commotion and they were also participating in the struggle to enter. Duncan was a little confused as to how his sect was able to come here so soon after the restriction opening considering their location was deep in the Grasslands.

By now, the gates were almost completely open. The demonic beasts decided it was a waste to fight to the death and en masse escaped into the gates causing the figures in Heavenly Demon Sect clothing to follow after them.

The area in front of the gates became empty in a short time with all the powerful demonic beasts and strong cultivators from Duncan\'s sect entering the gates one after the other. The area became relatively peaceful at last.

Even though no one was in front of the gates, the weaker demonic beasts were still scared off. They didn\'t want to stick their heads out and get killed. So, they hid in the vicinity and waited for someone else to make a move.

Duncan was a little tempted to make a move himself. But, he felt that his strength was too weak to actually enter that place. After all, the people and beasts who have entered so far were incredibly powerful. Even the slightly weaker demonic beasts were waiting in the vicinity and not daring to enter now.

"Junior brother," a shout from behind caused Duncan to turn and look at his senior brother who was approaching him in a leisurely manner.

Seeing this senior brother of his, Duncan had the urge to throw a punch. But, he restrained his emotions and greeted him back.

"Senior brother."

"Good, I thought you would punch me the moment you saw me," Foodie Chen chuckled jovially. "It is good to have control over your emotions. As for the matter regarding the prank, I apologize. I didn\'t know that you didn\'t know the way to the sect."

"It\'s alright, senior brother. I know I deserved that. My only gripe is that you left me so far away from the sect. But, I also understand your motive. If you hadn\'t left me in the outer region, I would find it hard to survive," Duncan said with a small smile.

Duncan\'s words caused Foodie Chen\'s eyes to twitch.

"Junior brother, you merely slept for a single day. Do you think that with my strength, I will be able to traverse the entirety of Grasslands and leave you in the outer regions and head back to the sect in a single day?" Foodie Chen asked gritting his teeth.

"But then…"

"Even with my strength, it will take me more than a week of nonstop travel to reach the outer regions. The region you are in is the periphery of the sect. That is the reason that the demonic beasts here are weak. Our sect regularly takes care of strong beasts in this region, leaving only the weak demonic beasts as a tempering ground for outer disciples."

"If you had turned back instead of heading away from the sect, and traveled for half a day from the spot I left you in, you would have reached the sect easily. The path back didn\'t have many demonic beasts," Foodie Chen said with a mocking smile causing Duncan to be embarrassed.

"Because of your wandering, I had to endure the anger of your master and almost got killed. Now, tell me, what should I do with you?" Foodie Chen asked a little reproachfully causing Duncan to look at the ground sheepishly.

"I am sorry, senior brother. I didn\'t do it intentionally. I didn\'t know where I was," Duncan said scratching his head.

"That is the only reason I am not teaching you a lesson," Foodie Chen harrumphed and looked ahead. "Looks like your luck is good, junior brother. Your first venture out of the sect, and you have already stumbled upon a Grotto Heaven opening."

"Grotto Heaven?" Duncan asked curiously.

"Yes," Foodie Chen grunted and took out his wine gourd. He took a large sip and answered Duncan calmly. "Places like this are called Grotto Heavens. A Grotto Heaven is the dwelling of a powerful cultivator where they enter seclusion to break through. Normally, when the cultivator breaks through, they will leave a few opportunities in the region behind and leave the place."

"Why would they do that?" Duncan asked in confusion.

"Karma," Foodie Chen answered simply. "Cultivation is the act of going against heaven\'s will. The heaven\'s will doesn\'t look favorably on cultivators in general. It doesn\'t want immortals appearing. That is the reason you encounter heavenly tribulations when your breakthrough higher cultivation realms."

"So, in an effort to lower the strength of these heavenly tribulations, cultivators usually cultivate good karma whenever they could. If you have good karma, the heavens will be slightly appeased and lower the power level of your heavenly tribulations. So, it is a common practice to leave behind a few opportunities for juniors after breaking through to a higher realm."

"I have a doubt," Duncan asked a little hesitantly. "If the heavens generally look down on cultivators, wouldn\'t it be better to leave behind opportunities for mortals instead of us?"

"Good question," Foodie Chen sipped his wine and answered, "There is a reason for that as well. You can\'t simply give away opportunities. It isn\'t as effective as leaving behind a testing ground and rewarding the winner. The heavens have their own rules. If you grant an opportunity to someone like that, you are merely enabling more people to go against the heavens."

"But, if there is a test and someone passes it, heavens look at it like you imparting knowledge. That way you can circumvent heaven\'s will. Moreover, cultivators in general are not generous people and they have their own egos," Foodie Chen said with a small smile.

"So, they want only the best to obtain what they leave behind. Thus, the chance of a mortal obtaining the reward is pitifully low. Hence, it became a land of opportunities for cultivators like us," Foodie Chen said chuckling a bit.

"What\'s to stop from a cultivator increasing the difficulty of the tests if that was the case? They can make the tests so hard to pass, that no one will be able to obtain something right?" Duncan asked.

"True, some cultivators indeed do that. But, the general idea is to leave behind opportunities and cultivate good karma. Take this Grotto Heaven for example, if you enter and obtain a technique from there. You practice it diligently and one day use it to slay a bunch of bandits preying on mortals," Foodie Chen said casually.

"From the good karma you achieved there, a small amount will be given to the cultivator who created this Grotto Heaven. In the grand scheme of things, it will be a mere trifle."

"But, you won\'t be the only one who will get something in there and those bandits won\'t be the only people who you will slay with your technique. Over time, it will become a substantial amount of karma to the person who left behind this Grotto Heaven."

"That is the idea behind leaving such things. You will stealthily accumulate karma in small amounts so that you won\'t draw the heavens\' notice. If you increase the difficulty to an unbearable level, then there is no use in leaving something behind, is there?"

"I understand," Duncan nodded getting a clear picture now.

As they both stood in silence and watched the gates, Duncan took out his blood wine and started drinking along with Foodie Chen. Foodie Chen noticed the unusual smell wafting off the wine, but didn\'t raise any questions regarding it.

"Senior brother, why aren\'t you heading over?" Duncan asked after some time.

"I don\'t have a death wish," Foodie Chen snorted. "That Grotto Heaven over there isn\'t simple. Did you see the formation markings that appeared while the Grotto Heaven opened?"

Duncan nodded in reply.

"That indicates that this Grotto Heaven is probably from the past era. Grotto Heavens from that time are incredibly dangerous to explore. When a Grotto Heaven is created, the cultivator will seal the space in the region and trap everything in the region inside the sealed space," Foodie Chen said calmly.

"This is done not to let the spiritual energy that accumulated flow away. Have you noticed that when you break through the spiritual energy beside you will be a little richer?" Foodie Chen asked causing Duncan to nod.

​ "Imagine someone hundreds of times more powerful than you breaking through. The spiritual energy that will gather in that region will be really vast. Now, imagine all this spiritual energy trapped in a small space for a thousand years or millennia. This spiritual energy will grow and make that place a paradise for cultivation."

"All the little beasts in that region would have become terrifying demonic beasts by now. Even the plants in that region would have obtained sentience. People like you and me will only be walking to our death if we go in there now," Foodie Chen poured cold water on Duncan\'s head.

*****

A/N: Hey folks!

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You can also check out my other book [Booking Glory] and see if it is to your liking.

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