Wang Yayan stared at the disciples milling about the campsite. Notably they kept a certain distance from her.

  Everything was already set up so what they were doing was making connections and gauging another's strength and weaknesses.

  There were also a few unfortunate ones tasked with taking care of a body.

  Nobody died from the beasts living in this forest, Wang Yayan wasn't weak enough to let any of them die even if she was cut from a stable qi source so the cause of death was naturally something else.

  The female disciple was new and came from a peasant family so she didn't know anything about the common sense of the cultivation world that differed so much from that of the mortals.

  That wasn't unique in this group for it was composed of those that the sects wouldn't miss, including Wang Yayan, the Elder overseeing the mission.

  However what separated her from others was that she was ambitious enough to try cozying up to an elder and reckless enough to try it without seeing what could happen.

  Indeed, the reason for the disciples' demise was Wang Yayan herself.

  The Elder always despised the weaker, thinking that they were planning something against her so she took action without any second thought.

  Not only to deal with the annoyance but to also send a message to the rest of the group. All of which were much weaker than her.

  Currently she was wishing for both mornings to come faster and slower.

  That's because on one hand she was unnerved by the atmosphere of the forest.

  There was almost no qi in the air and if one were to look for it in living beings they'd find that no native beasts nor plant from here has a drop.

  She was already aware of this as this wasn't her first trip here, although the knowledge that this might be the last might have amplified her feelings.

  And on the other when the sun rises she's gonna have to go with her entourage to have a talk with somebody who might be on the Nascent Soul stage, a fate she would wish on everybody but her.

  How would the conversation even go? Can we, the previous trespassers, gather the resources here and see if Zhao Mingwei is alive? No cultivator would let her go alive.

  And she's sure that if she sent any of the disciples to converse they would screw it up, even if she explained how the conversation would look, variable by variable, causing the Cave Owner to go after her next.

  Wang Yayan wondered what the disciple who came here voluntarily thought.

  And then she felt a wave of resentment, if he didn't die she wouldn't be in this predicament.

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  She might not know his name nor family but that didn't stop her from cursing him in death and wishing for the extermination of his family.

  The Core wished that the humans stationed nearby would come sooner than later.

  It was already prepared as well as it could so it didn't have much more to do than obsessively recheck everything and worry.

  Fortunately it didn't have to wait that long for a human to step into its dungeon.

  It was the Crazy One, the invader who came with The Only One and The Second One.

  The Core, after a moment of confusion, felt joy.

  From its memories it could recall that this Invader commented upon a mysterious energy upon entering its dungeon and was quite confident in its knowledge.

  If it was a Scholar then the memories The Core would retain upon its death could contain information about Qi!

  Maybe it even knew something about the other two energy sources but The Core wasn't as hard pressed to learn about them as it was with Qi.

  While the owner of the dungeon was thinking these things and fantasizing about killing the human, said invader proceeded to kill all the monsters stationed at the first floor.

  Not actively, it only retaliated when a monster attacked, increasing the amount of time it took to clear the first floor by a large margin compared to its first clear.

  Although the difference in time could also be attributed to the fact that it was now alone, instead of with teammates.

  A curious choice considering that it seemed quite cowardly before, running at the first sight of something it didn't know.

  Upon reconsideration The Core thought that it might not be a Scholar at all, those were always described in the manual as people who did anything to discover more of the unknown.

  The invader, once they realised there was no more danger, proceeded to sit and fold themselves on the ground.

  "This lowly one greets the Owner of the Residence" The Human said clearly.

  There was a moment of pause as The Core realised that its chances of killing the interloper had diminished and the possibility of it engaging in a conversation with it, just like the Lined Human did, increased.

  It decided to return the greeting, not knowing what else it could possibly say as The Core wasn't accustomed to talking nor was it willing to risk the invader leaving.

  Even though it knew the chances of that were slim considering the fact that it had set up a camp nearby along with others of its kind, it still couldn't help but worry.

  "This lowly one has come on the behalf of the Raging Winter Sect to request the collection of plants unique to this habitat" The Invader said, not moving an inch from its position.

  The Core paused at that.

  Wasn't it obvious that they could do that? It was a dungeon so it had to give away some treasures, be it rare plants or gold to entice more sapients to come and die.

  If it ever stopped doing that it wouldn't progress at all.

  But maybe it misunderstood the request? What if the invader was instead asking for a danger free gathering of rare plants? It couldn't allow that.

  . It replied, conveying the irritation it felt upon realising the true extent of the question.

  There was another lull in the conversation as the human comprehends The Core's answer before it spoke again.

  "Forgive this lowly one for she is failing in her comprehension of the esteemed ones answer, do you mean that you will allow the gathering of plants as long as we properly take on challenges that you have provided us with?"

  "Then could this apply to everyone?'

  Another pause, this one shorter than the previous.

  "Then could this one bring her sect's disciples to face the challenges prepared?"

  , The Core was starting to think that if there was a limit to how much lacking can somebody be on knowledge it would surely be crossed by this point.

  "Then can this one leave the premises of your residence and go bring the sect's disciples here?"

  Did The Core have to explain everything to her step by step? The Last time it was here it didn't prove itself incompetent but at this point it wouldn't be surprised if The Invader asked for instructions on how to kill monsters.

  Not a good mentality, considering that underestimating others wasn't good for its life expectancy.

  While The Core was thinking such things The Interloper already left.