Casually walking toward the distant city, he examines it.
His eyes linger on the tall walls, over tem meters high, painted in a dull yellow hue, though marred in places by cracks, the aftermath of occasional attacks from ferocious beasts and, more rarely, demonic beasts.
Demonic beasts are the evolved form of ferocious beasts.
While ferocious beasts are merely animals with a stronger life force, roughly equivalent to humans who have reached the Body Tempering Realm, Demonic beasts are ferocious beasts that have managed to absorb the spiritual energy in the air.
After absorbing this energy, their bodies undergo a bloodline evolution, becoming stronger and awakening latent abilities that once lay dormant within them.
These special abilities can include launching fireballs, blades of wind, or stone spikes, similar to a cultivator's spells, but they manifest naturally as bloodline abilities.
Some beasts, instead of gaining magical abilities, continue to strengthen their physical bodies, perfecting them for combat.
Demonic beasts are ranked on par with cultivators in the Qi Refinement and Foundation Establishment realms.
However, once a demonic beast reaches the Core Formation Realm, it can no longer be classified merely as a beast.
At this stage, it gains intelligence comparable to that of humans and is thus referred to as a Great Demon.
Because demonic beasts are typically stronger than ordinary cultivators of the same level, they pose a serious threat.
It is said that, at the next level, the Nascent Soul Realm, demonic beasts undergo a complete metamorphosis, becoming something entirely different.
But such information is far beyond the reach of a mere cultivation aspirant who hasn't even entered the Qi Refinement Realm, like Chun Feng.
Still some distance from the city, Chun Feng drifts into thought.
After walking a bit farther, a soft glint catches the corner of his eye. Approaching the spot, he kneels down and begins searching through the grass.
Parting the blades, he finds a few tufts of bluish-green grass, subtly different from the normal green around it.
Normally, na ordinary person wouldn't be able to tell the difference, but thanks to Chun Feng's sharp eyes, he spots them immediately.
'Pure Heart Grass! What luck. With this, I'll be able to purify my body more easily, advance to the Energy Creation Stage, and prepare to enter the Qi Refinement Realm,' he thinks, excitement building at the possibility of a breakthrough.
Chun Feng is currently in the Body Purification Stage.
A phase in which he must refine his physical body to make it more compatible with the spiritual energy in the air, just one step away from the Energy Creation Stage.
In that next stage, he'll be able to absorb spiritual energy from the environment and transform it into spiritual power within his body.
Once enough energy has accumulated in his dantian, he will officially enter the Qi Refinement Realm.
As he approaches the southern gates of the city, Chun Feng looks up at the large sign hanging above:
Black Rock City.
A small city with nearly tem thousand inhabitants, located in Zheng Province, in the eastern part of the Azure Dragon Kingdom.
The city is mainly composed of aspiring cultivators in the Body Tempering Realm and cultivators in the Qi Refinement Realm.
The city's high-level authority lies in the hands of Qi Refinement Realm cultivators,
Divided between the City Lord and the four major cultivation families.
The City Lord is Lu Dashan, and the four great families are Chu, Fang, Kang, and Zhu.
In addition to these, several other families also hold influence in the city, including the Duan and Ye families.
"Look, little Chun is back from another hunt. How did it go?"
Asked na old guard stationed at the city gate. He looked to be in his sixties, dressed in a red combat uniform with a metal breastplate over it, along with bracers and greaves for protection.
"Ah, it's Old Ye. I had a good hunt—I managed to take down a Black Wind Crawler and even bagged a Crystal-Horned Deer as a bonus."
Chun Feng replied, recognizing the guard.
This was Ye Chenghao, also known as Old Ye. He was a member of the Ye family, though only from a side branch.
With some luck, he had managed to follow the path of cultivation, reaching the third level of the Qi Refinement Realm, which secured him the position of captain of the southern gate guards.
"Oh, you really were lucky. They're hard to find," Old Ye said, eyeing the items strapped to Chun Feng's back.
"Even though they don't have many edible parts, what little there is is extremely nutritious for those in the Body Tempering Realm. Not to mention, they have many valuable materials like bone spikes, claws, and scales."
"Yes, it was good luck."
"Hey, little Chun. What do you think of my granddaughter? She's your age and very pretty. Wouldn't she make a great match for you?"
Old Ye asked with a playful smile.
"Ah, I'm really busy with my training right now, so I don't have time for that. Besides, I have to take care of the little ones," Chun Feng replied, a bit embarrassed.
This was something Old Ye often said whenever he saw Chun Feng. He admired the boy's talent.
After all, Chun Feng was more gifted than he himself had been at that age. When Old Ye was thirteen, he had barely reached the Muscle Strengthening Stage of the Body Tempering Realm.
Meanwhile, Chun Feng was already at the Body Purification Stage at the age of thirteen, on the same level as the prodigies from the great families.
The Body Tempering Realm is divided into six stages:
Muscle Strengthening, Bone Forging, Blood Enrichment, Meridian Opening, Body Purification, and Energy Creation, in that order.
Among these, the most difficult are the Muscle Strengthening, Bone Forging, and Meridian Opening stages.
The other three stages require a large number of resources. For example, strengthening one's blood energy during the Blood Enrichment Stage often demands special materials, such as the Blood Jade Mushroom, which, even when consumed raw, can fuel one's advancement through more than half of the stage.
Another example is the Pure Heart Grass that Chun Feng found on his way back.
With it, he should be able to take the final step toward the Energy Creation Stage.
At the Energy Creation Stage, cultivators begin using herbs known as "quase-spiritual herbs."
These are plants that contain spiritual energy, though not enough to be considered true spiritual herbs.
"You said you're busy, huh? And how are those kids that old Gu adopted along with you?"
Already expecting Chun Feng to brush it off, Old Ye asked curiously.
"They've all reached the Bone Forging Stage, especially Lingyun, who's almost at the Blood Enrichment Realm. Honestly, they're progressing faster than I did," Chun Feng replied with a smile, clasping his hands behind his head.
"That's to be expected, considering you're always out in the forest hunting resources for them."
Old Ye nodded, remembering the early days when Chun Feng first began hunting, always returning empty-handed at first, to the amusement of the southern gate guards.
Even so, he never gave up. Over time, he improved rapidly, eventually managing to capture all sorts of prey, even some rare ones.
"Yeah... the old man was really stingy with me at the beginning of my training," Chun Feng said with a sigh, then smiled.
"I remember begging him to teach me about cultivation, and still, he refused. I had to prove I was ready before he agreed to teach me anything. It was a lot of work."
"But since I'm the eldest among them, it's my duty to support them. And now that I've reached the Body Purification Stage, just training alone isn't enough anymore. So these hunts help me gather the resources I need."
"You're a good kid. I envy old Gu for having adopted someone like you."
With a smile, Old Ye bid farewell as Chun Feng passed through the gates and entered the city.
'Qi Refinement, huh…'
Chun Feng thought, looking up at the clouds drifting across the sky.
But Qi Refinement wasn't his goal, nor was Foundation Establishment. No, those were just temporary milestones.
His true goal was to go as far as possible, to surpass every obstacle that stood in his way.
He didn't want to stop at a single stage, he wanted to keep going.
Golden Core and Nascent Soul? He didn't plan to stop there either.
He wanted to roam freely through the skies, and beyond them.
No matter how long it took, Chun Feng wanted to see more of this world. And only strength could pave that path.
Clenching his fists, he let out a deep breath before loosening them.
'But that's still far off. I'd better focus on the present, and not count the chickens before they hatch.'
Chun Feng thought, shaking his head to clear away thoughts of the distant future.
'Whistling softly, he began walking toward his home.'
Read up to 8 advanced chapters, and help me buy some bread.
p@treon.com/breezeof@d@rkwinter