55: Chapter 55 The frog in the well, when it sees the world

Qi Refining Stage 7!

A surge of True Qi, many times more powerful than before, flowed slowly within Gu Yan's Dantian and Qi Sea.

He could feel that his affinity with the surrounding Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi had reached a new level. With every gesture, he seemed capable of stirring an invisible aura.

At this moment, if he were to face Town Mayor Zhao Hong again, even without resorting to any schemes, his raw strength alone would be enough to defeat him head-on within a hundred moves!

"Qi Refining Late Stage..."

Gu Yan slowly opened his eyes, feeling the surging power within his body, and whispered to himself.

He knew that from this moment on, in this small Luoyun Town, and even within the surrounding Kumu Region, he could already be considered... truly invincible.

An unprecedented sense of satisfaction and control welled up within him.

However, this sense of satisfaction did not last long.

When he emerged from seclusion and returned to the treasure vault, preparing to categorize and organize the remaining manuals and Cultivation Techniques that were of no further use to him, he discovered a few ancient handwritten notes in the corner of an inconspicuous, dust-covered wooden chest, tanned from some unknown animal hide.

The paper of the notes had long since yellowed and become brittle, and the handwriting on them was somewhat blurred.

Had it not been for Gu Yan's now astonishing eyesight, an ordinary person would likely have found them difficult to decipher.

He brushed off the dust, and by the light of a torch, began to read carefully.

Soon, he discovered that these were not some Cultivation Technique Secret Manuals, but rather... a travelogue.

The recorder was an ancestor of the Zhao Family, who lived approximately two hundred years ago.

This Zhao Family ancestor was different from all his descendants. He did not seem content to lord over the small place of Luoyun Town; instead, in his youth, he had traveled alone, walking out of this barren Kumu Region to the outside world, to a much vaster land.

These few volumes of notes were... records of his life's travels and experiences in his later years.

As the archaic characters came into view, a real world of cultivation—one Gu Yan had never imagined, one a thousand times grander, more exciting, and more cruel than anything he had previously known—slowly unfolded before him like a painting!

"...In my twentieth year, I finally realized the vastness of the world. Unwilling to die of old age in such a barren place as the Kumu Region, I girded my sword and set out, heading east. It took three years before I finally emerged from the ten-thousand-mile-long... Black Fog Mountain Range."

"...Beyond the mountains, the world suddenly opened up, and the Spiritual Qi was ten times more concentrated than in the Kumu Region! In this place, even ordinary towns had Qi Refining Cultivators stationed there. With my cultivation at Qi Refining Level 5, I dared not harbor even a shred of arrogance."

"...After traveling another thousand miles, I finally saw Baifeng City! The city walls were over a hundred zhang high, standing towering and majestic like a mountain. The houses within were orderly, and the population numbered well over a million! What shocked me most was that the Cultivators coming and going in the city were as numerous as carp crossing a river! Those at the Qi Refinement Stage were everywhere, and I was even fortunate enough to see a few of the legendary Foundation Establishment Cultivators, who possess a Lifespan of three hundred years! Truly, it is an immortal city!"

Boom!

Seeing this, it was as if a giant boulder had been thrown into Gu Yan's heart, stirring up monstrous waves!

Baifeng City?

A great cultivation city with a population of a million?

Where those at the Qi Refinement Stage are as common as dogs, and Foundation Establishment Cultivators walk the streets?

His cultivation of Qi Refining Stage 7, which he took such pride in and which was enough to let him rule over Luoyun Town—if placed in Baifeng City, wouldn't he be... nothing more than a bottom-tier ant unable to even make a splash?

He was deeply, profoundly shocked!

He forcibly suppressed the turbulent waves in his heart and continued reading.

"...However, although Baifeng City is vast, it is not the master of this land. The ones who truly rule over this vast territory of one hundred thousand miles are the... Cultivation Sects that sit high above the clouds!"

"I was once fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of the gates of the Yunlan Sect from afar. Ten thousand immortal mountains hung in the Nine Heavens, with white cranes as steeds and rainbow bridges as roads! Their Disciples engaged in Sword Flight, coming and going like lightning, roaming the North Sea in the morning and the Cangwu in the evening, free and unfettered between Heaven and Earth. How joyous that must be!"

"It is said that within the Yunlan Sect, not only are there Golden Core Masters stationed there, but their Sect Master is a... Nascent Soul Old Ancestor who has already formed a Nascent Soul and possesses a Lifespan of nearly a thousand years! Such figures are already earthly immortals; with a wave of their hand, they can move mountains and fill seas, burn rivers and boil oceans, possessing heaven-reaching and earth-shattering abilities that we could never imagine!"

"...Compared to such behemoths, my Luoyun Town is but a single grain in the vast ocean, a mere frog at the bottom of a well..."

At the end of the notes was a... long sigh, filled with awe and loneliness.

Along with a map, hand-drawn by this Zhao Family ancestor, which was quite crude but covered a vast area.

On the map, the entire Kumu Region where they resided was circled in an inconspicuous corner, marked with words like "barren" and "savage."

In the center of the map, the outline of a massive city was emphasized, occupying nearly one-third of the page, with three bold, sweeping characters written beside it—Baifeng City!

Surrounding Baifeng City were icons of Sects like the "Yunlan Sect" and "Black Fiend Sect," as dazzling as the sun!

Gu Yan looked at this map, looking at the ink dot representing Luoyun Town that was so small it was almost invisible.

He fell silent.

For a long, long time.

He couldn't help but laugh at himself, self-deprecatingly.

A frog in a well!

It turned out that he was the true... frog in a well!

Ruling over Luoyun Town? Invincible in the Kumu Region?

How ridiculous!

How... short-sighted!

His meager achievements, in the face of the true world of cultivation, were simply... not worth mentioning!

[Periodic Mission Updated!]

Just as Gu Yan was deeply shocked by this vast world, the System's voice rang out, right on time.

[Mission Name: Dominate the Novice Village (Completed).]

[Mission Evaluation: S Rank (Very short time taken, efficient methods, perfectly achieved all hidden conditions).]

[New Main Mission Unlocked: Renowned in One Region!]

[Mission Background: A toad at the bottom of a well will never see the starry sea. Host, it is time to leave this small pond and go experience the real storms and waves!]

[Mission Requirements: Host, please lead your Family to set off for the great cultivation city [Baifeng City] within three years, establish a foothold of your own in that city, and become a renowned force!]

[Mission Reward: ???]

[Host, don't waste precious development time in the novice village! Your journey is the starry sea! Hurry up and pack your things, get ready to complete your new KPI!]

Gu Yan slowly closed the animal-hide notes in his hands.

After the shock, a flame of unprecedented "yearning" and "heroic spirit" began to burn fiercely in his chest!

Baifeng City!

Cultivation Sects!

Sword Flight!

Golden Core Master!

Nascent Soul Old Ancestor!

This was the magnificent, spectacular world of cultivation he had imagined!

Luoyun Town was too small.

For the sake of his own dream of immortality on the Dao, and even more so for the sake of Gu Fan and Gu Xuan, whose talents far exceeded those of ordinary people, so they would not be buried in this barren land—he must step out!

A new, incredibly clear, and incredibly grand goal slowly took root in his heart!

Go!

Go to Baifeng City!

Go to the vast world and fight for... a magnificent future!