False Seed

"Guardians, Chief Adhi requests your presence." It was Zack. All of them inside the tent immediately stopped what they were doing upon hearing Zack's statement. Since coming here, they have not seen anyone who seemed to be on par with this werewolf. They held great respect for him.

'It's good that we learned a bit of their language.' Alex thought.

Soon, 4 figures came out of the tent and lined up. They were now wearing the native clothes which looked like the typical robes of cultivators. Although it was lacking in luster, it was comfortable enough for them. At first, they found it very strange but as they continued to wear them, they gradually got used to it.

Looking at the state of the settlement, Alex thought that it was really on a decline. There were plenty of abandoned tents and the settlement was too big for 50 cultivators to use. Alex had estimated that this settlement must have been prosperous at one point. The area covered by the place was 200 hectares but only a fraction was occupied by settlement members. The 4 brothers also noticed that during their stay, they have not met any children. There were some that looked to be Gin's age but they were not entirely sure.

"Please lead the way, Senior Zack!" Genesis said with excitement. He was a genuine adventurous soul.

"Follow me." Zack indifferently replied.

Zack turned around and then walked slowly towards the direction of the Chief's tent. At his pace, they would reach their destination in less than an hour. Gin and the others followed him behind.

As they were walking, they saw the villagers carrying their game and processing it. This was how these cultivators lived. Due to their lacking numbers and strength, they could only resort to the hunting-gathering lifestyle. Yes apparently, these insanely strong villagers were still lacking the strength to survive! 'If they were considered weak, how strong should you be?'

The 'Guardians' presence attracted attention. Soon, gossiping sounds filled the small street.

"I still can't believe such weak men are the guardians." Guy 1.

"They are really strange." Guy 2.

"I heard that the 3 guardians with hair are triplets?" Girl 1.

"What?! Triplets?! Impossible!" Gin was a 5'10" young looking boy with black hair and eyes whereas Clay and Alex were 6' and had different hair and eye colors. Forget their hair and height, there was no resemblance between them and the other 2 looked significantly older.

"Who cares what they are? I think they're handsome." Girl 2.

"Quiet down. Senior Zack is with them."

"He's as mysterious as ever."

The murmurings continued as they got near the tent. After a few more minutes, they arrived. "Chief, the guardians are here."

"Let them in." As Adhi said that, Gin and the others went inside. Zack stayed outside the tent, just beside its entrance.

Adhi then looked at his visitors and thought. 'Looking at them now, they are definitely just your weak cultivators. They have adapted well I guess.'

During that brief moment, no one spoke until Adhi broke the silence. "Kuhum~WElcome to my humble abode. Come sit with me, I wish to discuss some 'things' with you." Adhi said with a knowing gaze towards the 4 but only Alex and Diesel caught it. Adhi was also rather impressed by the guardian's intellect. They only took a few days, which was 6 months on earth, to learn basic language and way of living from scratch. 'Perhaps they have their own talents.'

"I'm guessing it's about the 'seed' that you guys sought." Alex carefully said. He had to respect everyone here. He knew that in this village, he and his brothers were the weakest. Who knows what they would do to them if they somehow offended anyone. As such, they had to thread carefully.

Adhi was pleased that someone was smart among this group. He said with a faint smile. "Yes indeed. Guardian Alexander, the Seed is an important figure to us as it was the last memento of our late elder. However, no matter what we do, it just stays dormant and unmoving. Perhaps you know anything about this?"

The 4 brothers looked at each other and were telepathically talking to each other with the use of facial expressions.

'Sh*t! So that was their reason?' Clay exclaimed using a grimace.

'Alex! Do something about this!' Diesel said using his trembling lips.

'You alright in the head? The moment we slander their holy 'seed' and elder, we die!' Alex said as he rolled his eyes on them.

It was only now that this specific information was revealed to them. Although they have an inkling to what it was, they did not know it went this deep.

Meanwhile Genesis off to the side was just curiously looking around. He was looking for anything interesting.

Seeing that Gin was completely lost in his own world, Alex, Clay and Diesel decided to take care of it. "C-Chief Adhi, that 'seed' you're talking about is actually our pod and it is…"

"So it is not a seed but a pod that holds the seed! Tell me how to access it and cultivate it, Guardian Diesel!" Just as Diesel was about to tell the truth, Adhi rudely interrupted him with his own assumptions. He grabbed diesel by the arms enthusiastically. 'Elder was indeed right!'

"H-Huh?!" Diesel was shocked. "Wait C-Chief Adhi, I never said something like that!"

"But you just DID a moment ago!"

"A-Actaully…"

"HAHAHAHAHA! Elder was right!"

They continued the pointless reasoning while Clay and Alex looked at each other. They seem to have the same exact thoughts. 'The seed might be Gin? How did they know about this? Was it some kind of power to tell fortune?' As if the heavens wanted to answer their inner questions, Adhi spoke.

"Our late Elder had said that a heavenly seed came down and it would Pierce Urtha and make Yggdrasils tremble. HAHAHAHA! He was right all along. Tell me guardians. What should we do?" Adhi was really full of hope. Just recently yet another member of the settlement had died during a hunt. They were desperate for strength.

"This…" Even the sharp-tongued Clay was speechless. This kind of development was rather crazy. It was just a misunderstanding. Besides, telling Adhi that Gin was actually the seed that they were looking for was out of the option.

Their minds were in disarray but suddenly, Gin interrupted their conversation. "But chief Adhi, our pod is actually hollow on the inside and it has no chance of growi…"

"Bastard!"

"Dumb mutt!"

"Ungrateful ingrate!"

"B-Brothers wait a minute!" Before Gin could even finish what he had to say, his brothers jumped at him and gave him a beating. Punches and kicks rained down on him.

"C-Chief! Please disregard my brother's words! He just doesn't know anything!"

"Forgive him Oh great Chief!"

"Chief Adhi! Say the word and I'll slit his throat!"

Adhi was surprised by their actions but as a Foundation realm cultivator, it was impossible for him to not catch what Gin just said. 'The pod is empty?!' The room was suddenly filled with an ominous air around it. The air felt heavy and dry for some reason.

"Chief!" Zack naturally felt the sudden fluctuations of Qi and responded by inquiring about the happenings inside.

The brothers also felt it and their breathing became ragged. It was like they were back to when they first arrived here on Urtha. Additionally, they felt this invisible pressure around them as if the air was pushing them towards the ground. Their foreheads were now flowing with sweat and their faces were all red.

"Chief Adhi, you have to stop! You might kill the guardians." Zack was slightly worried.

With this, Adhi came back of his stupor."I-I… Forgive me." Adhi said to Zack and the earthlings. But he did not stop his act. Instead he asked them. "Guardians, was what Genesis said just now true?"

Because of the pressure it took time for them to answer. Clay was really mad by Adhi's action and so, he was not willing to answer any questions. Diesel on the other hand was the opposite, he was scared sh*tless. Only Alex and gin remained calm and answered in unison. "Yes." They did not dare lie in front of such a force.

Instantly after they answered, the invisible force disappeared. "..." Adhi's face was now filled with sadness and worry. There were even hints of despair. 'They were not lying. Elder…' With that, he commanded the only Core Formation realm in the settlement.

"Zack, use your divine sense on the 'seed' and confirm if it's hollow."

"Yes!"

Moments later, Zack came back and confirmed that it was indeed empty on the inside. They wanted to use divine senses on it the moment they discovered the 'seed' but they refrained from doing it because they were afraid to offend the mighty seed.

All the hope he held moments ago vanished. "Zack, escort them back to their tent. We're done with the talk." Adhi then went back to his seat to contemplate.

Seeing this, Gin used all his strength to stand up and say something. "C-Chief, maybe we can compromise?" He said in an apologetic look.

"Hmm?" Adhi was rather depressed at the moment but he still paid attention to the youngest guardian. "Just say it now." Adhi said. He could not even abandon these false guardians because the settlement needed all the help they could get. Now that the seed was false, they can be of some help. Maybe even have a family of their own.

"I-I think what this settlement lacks right now is strength." Gin carefully said.

"And? If that was all, you should stop, what you said just now was clearly an insult to our group." Adhi replied.

"We were normal mortals a few days ago but had awakened right before you found us. I think t-that we have some potential. If you could be so generous to help us become stronger, we could somehow repay you." With how hopeless things have turned out, Gin shot at the dark and just hoped that his bullet would hit something good.

This time, Zack and Adhi were slightly shocked. 'A normal mortal a few days ago?' Everyone knows that would be impossible but Adhi was shocked when he checked with his senses that Gin was not lying.

"Rubbish. One can only activate his meridians at a very tender age. With yours and your brother's actual bone age, it would be impossible to awaken that late. You must have awakened a few hundred years ago and are nearing your lifespan's end. I don't know how you remain youthful in looks." Zack spoke up and stated the truth that even mortals would know.

Adhi was having different thoughts though. He had the ability to tell if someone was lying. Provided that he had higher cultivation than the target and he just heard something impossible but coming from Genesis, it seemed true?

"You might say that but it's really true." Gin was not bothered by the new discovery.

"He's actually telling the truth, Zack." Adhi stopped Zack from refuting Gin's statement and continued. "Boy, if that was true, you and your brothers would be the first ones to achieve such a feat. Tell me, what do you want?" Adhi was now curious. If what Gin said was what happened, it would mean that the 4 of them might actually have talent in cultivation. He saw that they were all about to break through to the next level of the mortal realm.

To be able to cultivate from a normal mortal to the second stage of the mortal realm, it would take effort and time. This group actually did that in a few days?

"Interesting."