54: Again, but Tathagata

"Ding, stored experience has reached the limit. Player, please increase your Rank as soon as possible."

"Phew~."

A mouthful of turbid Qi was exhaled from Zhou Yan's mouth.

"Sure enough, as my cultivation improves, exhaling turbid Qi no longer irritates my throat. Very good, very good."

Opening the panel, he clicked on the [Details] next to Rank; the overflowing experience had already reached 20,000 points.

"The System's current Realm Rank is a new Rank panel formed by combining 'Seeking the Dao' with reality."

"If calculated this way, when I increase my Realm myself, it follows the progression of Early Stage, Middle Stage, Late Stage, and Perfection."

"But if I use a template to level up, it converts into online game levels—the legendary strongest Realm System, levels 1 to 100."

(Qi Refining has 10 layers representing levels 1-10. Subsequent Realms are divided into three sub-Realms and one Perfection Realm. Each sub-Realm has 3 levels, and the Perfection Realm is only 1 level.)

Zhou Yan looked at the Realm comparison chart provided by the panel, a drop of cold sweat sliding down his forehead.

"Luckily, even reaching Mahayana Perfection only puts me at level 90. If I could reach level 100, wouldn't I be burdened with a massive Karma?"

"However, based on the previous experience bar growth pattern, this overflowing experience should be just enough for 2 levels, only 1 level short of Foundation Establishment Middle Stage."

"It's a pity it doesn't stack infinitely. I still need to find a way to Breakthrough Foundation Establishment quickly, or the subsequent experience will be wasted."

Opening the mini-map, the name of the area where Zhou Yan was located had changed to Jiangzhou.

"Oh?"

"It seems I'm not far from the destination."

After confirming his location, Zhou Yan got off the flying boat, put it into his storage ring, and then put the storage ring into his backpack.

At this distance, there was no need to ride that damned boat anymore.

Over the past two days, Zhou Yan had been tortured by this flying boat quite a bit, to the point where he had already spread his bedding in the control room.

Even with restrictions, this thing would occasionally give you a sudden burst of speed. Previously, Zhou Yan had just taken a nap and woke up to see the plains.

With the Heaven-Defying level of this master control System, if it were made into a car and shown at a new product launch on Blue Star, people would think it was an unreleased military project. It's the kind of level where just inserting a key could perform a wheelie.

Now that he had finally reached the Jiangzhou border, he no longer needed to live in fear with his foot constantly on the brakes. He really didn't know which "genius" had built this flying boat.

Following the directional guidance on the mini-map, Zhou Yan began to head southeast.

There were no sudden accidents along the way, which Zhou Yan was quite happy about.

So, in his happiness, he also collected some Materials. Although he didn't know what they were for, seeing the stacked quantities in his backpack brought him a sense of joy and satisfaction.

However, this behavior was not very friendly to the merchant caravans passing through the area.

At this moment, a young man from a merchant caravan had picked a spot and was preparing to cast a spell. Just as he was about to circulate his spiritual power to activate the "Water Induction Array" to completely settle the long-suppressed "flood" in his belly...

...he witnessed a terrifying scene before him. This sudden shock instantly disrupted his internal spiritual rhythm, and the "watery urge" that had already reached its critical point was violently forced back into his body.

Like a rushing stream suddenly blocked by a huge rock, a bloated and urgent feeling of suppression instantly swept through his body, leaving his footsteps frozen in place.

"Le-le... Lea... Leader," the young man shouted toward the back, trembling slightly.

"What's the matter? Why the panic?"

Hearing the shout, a middle-aged man in fine robes came to the panicked youth's side and patted him on the back.

"You're a man with children now, yet you're still so flighty. Let me see what's going on."

Upon reaching the youth's side, the leader also froze.

After a long silence, he let out a loud shout.

"Holy shit!"

As expected of the leader, his psychological resilience was strong. He snapped out of it after a moment and quickly pulled the youth back.

"Don't just stand there! Pack your bags and head home immediately; we can't do this business trip!"

Tugging at the young man's arm, he hurried back toward the resting caravan.

"Hurry up and pack your things! Retreat, now!"

Seeing the leader return and say such a baffling thing, everyone was a bit confused.

But the leader was a capable man, and no one questioned his decision. Everyone stood up and began packing to head back immediately.

Seeing everyone get to work, the leader breathed a sigh of relief and then began to explain to the crowd.

"We just saw the path of a Draught Demon."

"Encountering a Draught Demon right at the start of our journey proves that this business trip may face a great disaster. So, we cannot go to the Kaifeng this time. No matter what, we must go back first."

Hearing the leader say there might be a Draught Demon ahead, the group moved even more briskly, fearing the demon might double back.

At the spot where the youth had just been standing, looking down the slope...

...vast stretches of land had lost their vitality, with greenery nowhere to be seen.

The ground was covered in fine cracks, and the original riverbeds were exposed and dry. Dust kicked up with every gust of wind, showing clear signs of drought.

Because the caravan leader saw this scene, he chose not to go to the Capital. Although this wasn't the work of a Draught Demon, it did help them avoid a calamity.

"Satisfying, so satisfying."

Zhou Yan used his last wisp of Dharmic power to roll up a giant rock containing some metallic minerals, bringing it to his side and putting it into his backpack.

After his Dharmic power was exhausted, Zhou Yan stopped his little collection spree.

After popping a blue pill to recover some mana, he exclaimed how satisfying it was.

Just as Zhou Yan wanted to joyfully recite a poem to express his inner pleasure, a cliché accident occurred.

"Help!"

"Somebody help!"

"I... I don't want to, don't want to be taken back!"

Zhou Yan could now understand why, in a top-tier Sect like the Qingxu Grotto-Heaven, there would be such a strange stage in its trial Secret Realm.

Had this scenario repeated so often it became the norm, even being included in the cultivation world's textbooks as basic knowledge?

But before Zhou Yan could decide whether to go to the rescue or turn and leave...

...a figure emitting black smoke charged toward Zhou Yan from the air, flailing its limbs.

【Iron Second Ox】

【Rank: Qi Refining Second Layer】

How disgusting, it even forces the plot to progress?

Zhou Yan helplessly prepared for battle. Although the starting mob was only at the second layer of Qi Refining, who knew what level the boss would be?

But!

Something unexpected happened.

The Cultivator covered in black smoke didn't attack Zhou Yan. Instead, he fell clumsily to the ground and scrambled toward Zhou Yan on all fours.

Just as Zhou Yan was worried he might bite and was preparing to send him to the afterlife with a shot of his golden bow and Silver Bullet...

...he spoke.

"Fellow Daoist!"

"Help, Fellow Daoist!"

Huh? Buddy, did you get your script lines mixed up?

In the instant Zhou Yan was thinking, Iron Second Ox reached him and grabbed his leg, weeping bitterly as if he had suffered a great injustice.

"Fellow Daoist!"

"O merciful Fellow Daoist, savior of all beings!"

"I can tell at a glance that you are a Righteous Path person with a heart of a Bodhisattva, a virtuous Cultivator!"

"Please, I beg you, kill me with one palm strike! Please, let me die quickly!"

What the hell? I should have taken a Qi Replenishing Powder, right?

Did I accidentally take a real blue pill?