Chapter 139: The Awakening Lion!

Yang Fan walked into the room designated for him by Bashan Hong, feeling deeply reluctant.

Once inside, his frustration only grew. What had happened to him? He had originally expected to make a name for himself after entering the cultivation world. Everything had been going so well at the cultivation academy—he took on missions, completed them, performed well in all aspects, and even placed first in the freshman tournament.

When exactly had things spiraled into this mess?

Yang Fan reflected on the past. His trajectory seemed to shift the moment he was tricked by that old geezer, Li Tian, into entering the ruins. In these short few months since stepping into the ruins, he had been caught in the aftermath of clashes between powerful experts, chased by ferocious beasts, and knocked unconscious at every turn. He had gained some strength, yes, but this was certainly not the kind of progress he had wanted!

When the Kunlun Secret Realm opened, he had finally managed to escape those ruins—that place teeming with experts—thinking he had stumbled upon a small, ancient secret realm. It was supposed to be like something out of a television drama or a novel: a place filled with beautiful scenery, countless cultivation techniques, and divine treasures, where he could just pick up a few things and consider his mission accomplished.

But damn it all, as soon as the two thousand of them arrived, they were trampled by beasts, and he was dragged off to the Kunpeng Tribe. Then, Kun Sha of the Kunpeng Tribe forced him to go out and deliver a message—fine, he could deliver a message—but he happened to run into a crazed Azure Sky Hawk that dumped him at the bottom of the Endless Cliff.

There, he was threatened by that old pervert, Kunlun. Well, being threatened was one thing; at least Kunlun had no real malice toward him and had even helped him increase his strength by passing on the Indestructible Kunlun Art.

After leaving the Endless Cliff with high hopes, feeling as if the sky was vast for a bird to fly and the sea wide for a fish to leap, he followed the trail of beast herds only to run into people from the Bashan Tribe. They dragged him to this place for no apparent reason and wouldn't let him walk around freely. This was even worse than his treatment at the Kunpeng Tribe!

Sitting in the chair, Yang Fan grew more and more furious, but there was nothing he could do. As the saying went, the situation was stronger than the man. He couldn't blame anyone; it was his own lack of strength to blame!

Thinking of this, Yang Fan’s heart pounded. Damn it, he had only been cultivating for a few months—barely half a year—and yet he kept running into nothing but freaks. He had already seen several tenth and eleventh-grade powerhouses. Could his half-year of cultivation ever hope to contend with such monsters?

The thought left him feeling powerless. When would he finally possess the strength to stop being bullied by others? In everyone else's stories, the protagonist rose slowly, facing one enemy at a time. But in his case, he had barely left the "newbie village" only to find himself in the territory of the final bosses. This was just not scientific!

After wallowing in his thoughts for a while, Yang Fan opened his system interface. He didn't know where Bashan Hong had gone or when he would return. Looking at the single draw chance remaining on his interface, he felt torn. To draw or not to draw—that was always the damned question.

"Host: Yang Fan"
"Level: Fourth Grade"
"Title: Huaxia Warrior"
"Wealth: 6,200,230"
"Qi Sea: 12.4"
"Spirit: 31.3"
"Available Points: 1,450"
"Addable Points: Qi Sea Supplement +"
"Shop: Not Opened"
"Draws: 1"

Looking at the system data, Yang Fan was about to close it when he noticed his available points had decreased by about a thousand. "Damn it, what happened? I haven't really used any points lately!" He scratched his head, unable to figure out the problem.

If the system could speak, it would certainly have held him in contempt. Back when Yang Fan had lost consciousness at the bottom of the Endless Cliff, the Hun-Tian Battle King had arrived and probed Yang Fan with his aura and spiritual power. Because Yang Fan was unconscious, the system had automatically countered. One had to realize that the Hun-Tian King was an eleventh-grade expert; even though he hadn't been paying much attention and was merely testing him casually, the system had to handle that power with caution.

Consequently, the lightning that had crackled over Yang Fan’s body and the golden light in his eyes that day had been fueled by system points. Only by automatically boosting his output could the system repel the Hun-Tian King’s casual probe!

After thinking for a long time, Yang Fan couldn't make heads or tails of it. He eventually closed the system interface. After pacing the room for a while, he sat cross-legged on the bed and began to cultivate. There was no spiritual energy at the bottom of the Endless Cliff, making cultivation impossible, but now that he was out—even if he had been dragged here by Bashan Hong—he might as well cultivate since he had nothing else to do.

On the way here, Yang Fan had made a resolve: he would cultivate as fast as he could. Once he reached the tenth grade, he would see who dared to treat him like this again.

...

Back in the ruins, the discussion among the many experts had reached a stalemate. Huaxia had its own bottom line: the Kunlun Secret Realm had to be kept under their control. The overseas factions had their own goals as well, insisting that the Kunlun Secret Realm could not be controlled by Huaxia alone; at the very least, it had to be mutually checked by all parties.

In the end, the discussion yielded no results. Because of the argument, Xia Qiuming had gotten into another fight with someone. Afterward, through the mediation of Han Daohong, the group decided to wait until the portal to the Kunlun Secret Realm stabilized before discussing it further. Anything said now was hollow; the portal was not yet stable and would require time, though no one knew how long that would take.

Huaxia made a concession, allowing eleventh-grade experts from overseas nations to head to Kunlun Mountain to observe the secret realm, provided that they were accompanied by local Huaxia eleventh-grade experts, and no more than three overseas experts could observe the realm at any one time.

The overseas nations readily agreed. Huaxia’s concession was already a pleasant surprise; going by the usual behavior of that bunch, even if they refused to let anyone in, there would have been nothing the others could do.

There truly was no one on Earth capable of defeating the four from Huaxia. Not even the Western Pope or the Greek Saintess would dare claim they could suppress any one of the four. This was a fact everyone in the negotiations understood.

Huaxia was no longer the sleeping lion it once was. This lion had awakened and grown. It had begun to bare its fangs to the world. It was no longer the Huaxia whose gates could be blown open by a coalition of small nations.

From this moment on, the overseas powers began to recall the history of Huaxia—the Han and Tang dynasties with the world's greatest national power, Genghis Khan sweeping across Europe... It was as if everything had been overturned once again.

The spies who had been covertly sent to Huaxia were largely withdrawn, with only the most elite operatives remaining—those who could ensure they wouldn't be discovered by Huaxia. This experience had terrified the overseas nations. They could no longer afford to provoke this lion any further.

After the negotiations concluded, Dongfang Kui left the ruins and returned to Earth. The Kunlun Secret Realm needed someone to hold the fort. Once the portal opened, Zhang Daoyi, at the tenth grade, would never be able to hold it on his own.

When Dongfang Kui stepped out of the void and returned to Kunlun Mountain, Zhang Daoyi was still there, bickering endlessly with his staff.