Chapter 140: Shocking!

Zhang Daoyi stared fixedly at the golden staff before him. He felt that all the anger and grievances he had accumulated throughout his life had been vented upon that single weapon!

Dongfang Kui took one step forward, and the staff instantly froze in midair. Dongfang Kui had once subdued it with one hand, leaving the weapon with no small amount of psychological trauma.

Looking at the motionless staff before him, Zhang Daoyi found it somewhat amusing. This weapon actually had a mind of its own and even knew how to seek advantage and avoid harm. It truly was an eye-opener...

After Dongfang Kui left the ruins and returned to Earth, many people within Huaxia quietly began withdrawing. Across every walk of life—from beggars to tycoons, from ordinary citizens to high-ranking officials—many received orders from various authorities to leave Huaxia. The Cultivator Administration and the Huaxia government tacitly allowed the entire affair to proceed.

......

Within the Kunlun Secret Realm

Yang Fan was awakened by knocking from outside and withdrew from his state of cultivation.

Once consciousness returned, his face was filled with helplessness. He had truly had enough. Back when he had been at the Modu Cultivation Academy, in his own Dormitory Number 0001, he could cultivate whenever he wished and for as long as he pleased. But now...

Damn it all. He was living under someone else’s roof, being dragged around and tied up, and even his cultivation could be interrupted at any moment. It infuriated Yang Fan.

He firmly resolved that once he left the Kunlun Secret Realm and returned to Earth, he would never go running off again, no matter what. He would cultivate obediently, live a normal life, and steadily increase his strength step by step.

He would not leave seclusion until he reached the Tenth Grade!

...

When he opened the door, Banshan Hong stood outside like an iron tower.

Yang Fan was rendered speechless. Were the people of the Kunlun Secret Realm all built like this? Each one was taller and more robust than the last!

“Come with me. The patriarch wishes to see you,” Banshan Hong said before striding away.

Was this how one invited a guest? Fine, he admitted that he was weak at present—but what had happened to the basic respect due from one person to another?

Though he thought this, Yang Fan did not delay in following Banshan Hong’s pace.

After winding through several corridors and passageways, Yang Fan was led into a large hall.

There were four people in total. An elderly man sat at the head of the hall, while the other three, all comparable in stature to Banshan Hong, stood on either side of him.

There was no need to ask. The old man seated there was certainly the patriarch of the Banshan Tribe.

The kindly old man looked toward Yang Fan as he entered, and a flicker of golden light passed through his aged eyes.

Hope...

By now, the major tribes of the Kunlun Secret Realm had essentially received the news: people from the outside world had entered the minor world.

This was good news for everyone in the Kunlun Secret Realm!

The several major tribes nearest the Azure Plains had practically monopolized all the cultivators arriving from Earth. As for distant tribes such as the Banshan Tribe, they had yet to truly come into contact with a cultivator from Earth before Yang Fan’s arrival.

The moment Yang Fan entered the hall, he felt the four scorching gazes fixed upon him.

The old man at the head of the hall said, “Young friend, have a seat.”

Yang Fan looked toward the only chair below the old man.

Apart from the beast-hide chair occupied by the elder, the entire hall contained only that single chair beneath him.

Banshan Hong and the others all stood beside the old man...

Seeing Yang Fan hesitate, the elder smiled inwardly. This boy was rather interesting.

Then he said, “There is no need to stand on ceremony, young friend. Sit down. I have a few questions to ask you.”

Since the elder had already said so, Yang Fan stopped being coy. He walked forward and sat down. He had barely settled into the chair, without even having time to determine whether it was comfortable, when the old man’s voice reached him.

“I am Banshan Mo, patriarch of the Banshan Tribe. May I know your name, young friend?”

“This junior is Yang Fan, from the outside world—the Modu Cultivation Academy.”

Yang Fan answered.

Since entering the Kunlun Secret Realm, Yang Fan had gained a rough understanding of the situation there.

Judging from the way the Kunpeng Tribe had treated him and the others, cultivators from the outside world were rather sought after in the Kunlun Secret Realm.

Introducing himself while emphasizing his identity from the outside world would clearly be more advantageous.

“Modu Cultivation Academy?” Banshan Mo repeated.

“Yes. This junior comes from the Modu Cultivation Academy. It is one of the foremost cultivation academies in our world. In terms you might understand, it could be considered similar to a sect, though its method of education differs from that of a sect. The strongest person in our academy is currently an Eleventh-Grade expert, while the principal is also a Tenth-Grade powerhouse.”

Yang Fan hurriedly explained everything in one breath, including the academy’s strength.

In the Kunlun Secret Realm, Yang Fan did not feel the slightest sense of security.

There was no harm in borrowing the prestige of a powerful patron.

After all, his own strength was insufficient to earn him respectful treatment from any tribe in the Kunlun Secret Realm. But once he invoked an Eleventh-Grade expert and a formidable force standing behind him, the situation was entirely different.

The worlds were all much the same. A powerful background was always an excellent shield.

After hearing this, Banshan Mo remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he was deeply shaken.

Not for any other reason than that Eleventh-Grade expert.

Banshan Mo was not at all surprised that the outside world possessed an Eleventh-Grade powerhouse.

The Banshan Tribe had been passed down since ancient times and had always ranked among the great tribes. Though it had never entered the top ten, the Banshan Tribe had always held a place among the top twenty.

Its inheritance was ancient, and it had remained powerful throughout the ages. As a result, much of its information had been preserved intact.

When it came to knowledge of the outside world and its circumstances, the Banshan Tribe possessed a far more comprehensive understanding than even the Kunpeng Tribe, one of the ten greatest tribes.

The Dao of the outside world had always existed. The world in which they lived was merely dependent upon that greater world beyond.

Though Banshan Mo knew something of the outside world, he had never imagined that an outsider casually encountered by Banshan Hong would actually be a disciple of a supreme power.

As for whether Yang Fan was lying or merely borrowing the prestige of another, Banshan Mo still trusted his own judgment.

...

Banshan Hong and the other three also found this astonishing. Their earlier displeasure at standing while Yang Fan, a weakling, was allowed to sit vanished beneath the shock.

Without reaching that realm, it was difficult to understand the gap between the various grades.

The Transcendent Twelve-Grade system was a method of cultivation handed down from ancient times.

In the early stages, the difference between grades was not especially great. But the further one progressed, the more pronounced the gap between levels became.

At lower levels, certain exceptional geniuses could even defy the heavens and challenge those of a higher grade. But once a certain realm was reached, everyone would discover that each successive level no longer represented merely the evolution of organs or physical functions.

It represented a fundamental transformation from the very roots of one’s being.

That was precisely why Banshan Mo and the others, understanding the disparity between realms, were all the more shaken.

All four of them—Banshan Mo’s subordinates included—were peak Ninth-Grade experts.

Each was extraordinarily powerful.

Yet even when facing the aged patriarch beside them, they had not the slightest desire to make a move.

The gap was simply too vast.

The difference between the Ninth and Tenth Grades was already so immense. One could well imagine the gap between the Tenth and Eleventh Grades. Surely it could be no smaller than the disparity between the Ninth and Tenth.

After that, the gazes of the five members of the Banshan Tribe in the hall began to change as they looked at Yang Fan.