The road had fallen completely silent.
The villagers watched nervously from behind Lin Tian, unsure whether they should feel hope or fear.
The armored riders, however, were no longer laughing.
The cultivator among them stared at Lin Tian with narrowed eyes.
Moments ago, he had clearly released spiritual pressure. Even low-level cultivators could easily overpower ordinary humans using that technique.
But this traveler…
He had not moved.
He had not defended himself.
The energy had simply vanished.
As if it had never existed.
The cultivator felt a chill rise along his spine.
"Who are you?" he asked again, this time more cautiously.
Lin Tian looked at him calmly.
"A traveler," he replied.
The scar-faced leader snorted impatiently.
"Enough of this nonsense," he said, stepping forward. "Liu Kang, stop wasting time with him."
The cultivator hesitated.
"Captain… something is strange about this man."
The leader frowned.
"What are you afraid of? He's alone."
He then turned toward Lin Tian and spoke coldly.
"You want to play the hero for this village?"
His hand slowly pulled the sword from his waist.
The sharp metallic sound echoed through the road.
"Fine," the leader said with a cruel smile. "Let's see how long your bravery lasts."
The villagers behind Lin Tian gasped.
Old Master Zhang whispered urgently.
"Young man… please step back. They're dangerous."
But Lin Tian remained still.
His gaze rested quietly on the riders.
To him, the entire situation felt… insignificant.
He had witnessed the birth and death of galaxies.
He had seen civilizations rise across thousands of worlds.
Compared to those events, this small conflict in a rural village barely registered as a disturbance.
Yet something about this place… about these people…
Made him hesitate to ignore it.
Perhaps it was curiosity.
Or perhaps something deeper.
The scar-faced leader suddenly lunged forward.
His sword flashed toward Lin Tian's shoulder.
To the villagers, the attack seemed impossibly fast.
Several people screamed.
But Lin Tian simply raised one hand.
His fingers gently touched the flat side of the blade.
Clang.
The sword stopped instantly.
It did not bend.
It did not move.
It simply froze in place, as if the laws of motion had been erased.
The leader's eyes widened.
"What—?!"
He tried to pull the weapon back.
It would not move.
It felt as if the sword had become part of a mountain.
Lin Tian looked at the blade with mild curiosity.
"This material is primitive," he said calmly. "But the craftsmanship is acceptable for this level of civilization."
The leader's face turned pale.
"How… how are you doing this?"
Lin Tian did not answer.
Instead, he gently released the sword.
The weapon slipped from the leader's hands and dropped to the ground.
The metallic sound echoed loudly in the stunned silence.
None of the riders moved.
The cultivator named Liu Kang stared at Lin Tian in disbelief.
A terrifying thought slowly formed in his mind.
"Senior…" Liu Kang suddenly said, lowering his head slightly.
The other riders looked at him in confusion.
"Senior?" the scar-faced leader repeated.
Liu Kang spoke quietly but urgently.
"This person… he may be a high-level cultivator."
The words struck the group like thunder.
High-level cultivator.
In this world, cultivators existed at many different stages.
Even the weakest cultivators could easily dominate ordinary humans.
But true experts… the ones capable of controlling spiritual energy effortlessly…
They were like legends.
The leader's arrogance began to fade.
He looked back at Lin Tian carefully.
But Lin Tian did not look like a powerful cultivator.
His clothing was simple.
He carried no weapons.
His presence felt strangely… ordinary.
Yet the memory of the frozen sword remained undeniable.
Lin Tian glanced briefly at the fallen weapon.
"You have taken enough from this village," he said calmly.
His voice was not loud.
Yet every person on the road heard it clearly.
"You will leave now."
The riders hesitated.
The leader's pride struggled against his fear.
But Liu Kang quickly stepped forward and whispered in his ear.
"Captain… we should go."
The leader clenched his jaw.
For several long seconds, no one spoke.
Finally, he gave a stiff nod.
"Mount up," he ordered.
The other riders looked surprised but obeyed quickly.
Within moments, they climbed back onto their horses.
Before leaving, Liu Kang bowed slightly toward Lin Tian.
"Thank you for showing mercy, Senior."
Lin Tian said nothing.
The riders turned their horses and rode down the road, disappearing into the distant hills.
The moment they were gone, the villagers erupted into shocked whispers.
Old Master Zhang stared at Lin Tian with wide eyes.
"You… you're a cultivator?"
Lin Tian considered the question.
After a moment, he gave a small answer.
"You could call it that."
The villagers gathered around him, their expressions filled with awe and gratitude.
The injured young man slowly stood up with help from others.
"Thank you," he said sincerely.
Lin Tian looked at the crowd.
Their reactions felt… unusual to him.
In the cosmic civilizations he had studied, power was simply a tool.
Here, however, it carried something else.
Hope.
Trust.
Relief.
Old Master Zhang suddenly bowed deeply.
"Sir," the old man said respectfully, "our village owes you a great debt."
Lin Tian shook his head slightly.
"It was a simple matter."
But as he spoke those words, something in his mind continued to observe the emotions around him.
Fear.
Gratitude.
Respect.
For the first time since arriving on this world, Lin Tian began to understand something important.
Humans were not only shaped by power.
They were shaped by each other.
And this small village…
Might teach him more than he expected.