Chapter 1: Nantian City

In the middle of the night in a certain forest, a man wearing a grey robe could be seen fiercely reading a large map. The map could easily be 2 meters long and a meter and a half wide, making it difficult to read due to its size.

“Where is it?!” Yu groaned in annoyance as he tried his best to find the red dot that Tian Shen mentioned. Sadly, the map was just too massive for poor little Yu, as whether it be continents, countries, cities, towns, landmarks, the map has it as long as it is in this world. Though as convenient as that may sound, finding where you are for someone like Yu who has no idea where or what this place is even called is difficult.

Leaving things to faith, Yu grabbed the straightest twig he could find, propping it straight before letting it fall, after doing so, Yu headed towards where the twig pointed in a fast pace, releasing a 1/10th of his strength, he ran for a while, seemingly filled to the brim with energy.

“Woooo!” Yu felt refreshed, as this was a speed he could not accomplish in his previous body. Although his previous body was well trained and could run quick compared to others, the speeds he is currently displaying would leave the old Yu in the dust with a single step.

As he enjoyed running forward, he caught a glimpse of activity a couple miles away. Yu just now did not realize that it was in the middle of the night yet he could see that far, this meant that his eyesight improved immensely, granting him the ability to easily see things far away regardless of light.

Wasting no time he rushed to see what it was, dearly wishing they were normal humans. Sadly his wish will not be fulfilled.

Soon, Yu arrived in front of what appears to be a 3 meters thick and a 100 meters long black scaled boa that was releasing a thick dark purple aura, whose scales are littered with dark purple runes and in front of it is a gorilla that was releasing a thick sky blue colored aura whose fur is as white as snow and eyes are as red as fresh blood. Its size did not lose out to the boa as it stood at a towering height of 20 meters.

Seeing this scene, Yu was strangely calm, he did not know why, but when he looked at these two immensely powerful beasts of this world, he could not help but not feel any fear from it.

Realizing this thought, Yu became a bit afraid of himself, after all, a normal human being would be scared silly after seeing these two giants. Remembering that he was one of those normal human beings, he realized that these two beasts are truly terrifying! But believing he could easily run away with his power, Yu stayed.  

If an average human stood in his place, their bodies would’ve already exploded from the sheer pressure that these two beasts were emitting, fortunately, Yu was no normal man, rather he’s someone who’s already considered as a demigod in the eyes of someone like Tian Shen!

The auras these two emitted felt like wind to Yu as he decided to play the role of a spectator again, somewhat excited to see how these two beasts would fight. However, contrary to what he was expecting to see, the two beasts aimed their sights onto Yu. Feeling their gaze and figuring out their intention, Yu released 1/10th of his strength getting ready to run away. But he could not get the chance to run as the boa slithered forward like lightning! Sealing all routes of escape with its massive body. As for the gorilla, it went behind Yu as it observed his every move, waiting for a chance to strike.

Feeling annoyed, Yu released even more of his strength, reaching 4/10ths of his true strength. This sudden increase in power shocked the boa and gorilla, but Yu did not give them time at all. Yu decided to leap at the snake first as it was the closest, but since Yu does not know how to control his body at this level of strength, he ended up sending his body head first into the boa’s skull, piercing through it like a hot knife through butter.

As Yu was sent through the boa’s skull, his body was covered from head to toe with blood, flesh and grey matter, feeling sick, he wanted to vomit but before he could he crash landed to the ground face first. Now his body was even dirtier, with dust, leaves and the previous gore from the boa. As for the boa itself, it died instantly, dying a gruesome death as its head fell limp twitching at times. The gorilla, seeing this scene, was utterly terrified as it ran away for dear life.  

“Ughhh, this is disgusting!” Yu groaned as he wanted to get rid of the filth on his body. Yu then decided to find a lake or river, and fortunately, may it be due to the amount of bad luck he’s experienced that the gods decided to take pity or just with sheer luck, a rather large river came into Yu’s view.

Feeling elated, Yu immediately dived into the river rinsing the blood, gore, and dust away as he did. The cold feeling of the river was barely felt by Yu with his current state as he thoroughly rinsed every nook and cranny. As he was in a hurry, he forgot to remove his clothes, forcing Yu to get a new set from his bag.

Changing into a new set of clothes, Yu felt relieved. As he was someone who’s lived in modern China, cleanliness is also one of his mottoes, and getting drenched in blood and gore as well as dust and leaves had been an awful experience for Yu. Getting ready to travel, he suppressed his strength as he grabbed some food from his bag as before traveling along the river side.

As it was in the middle of the night, Yu enjoyed the calm scenery, eating some bread and dried meat. The taste wasn’t so bad, Yu felt that it was a bit hard to chew and a little too salty, but nothing he couldn’t eat.

Time passed and as Yu has been thoroughly immersed in the scenery, he didn’t realize that he’s already traveled a few dozen miles as his walking pace, even at this rate was relatively fast. Soon, he caught glimpse of light in the distance, although not awfully bright it was still light which meant that there must be life! Excited to meet the people of this world, he increased his traveling pace, getting closer within a few breaths.

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Soon, the view of a great city entered his sight, it was grand, massive and possibly ancient, these were the things that best described this massive city in Yu’s eyes. Going towards what appeared to be a gate, he stopped as he sensed arrows being shot at him. Quick on his feet, Yu dodged ever so sloppily, nearly falling down from his landing.

What’s with this city?! Do they shoot all their guests with arrows?! Angry, Yu decided to proceed towards the gate, where he was greeted with a shout.

“Name yourself!” The voice of a loud and rough male resounded.

“Leng yu!” Yu immediately replied.

The voice went silent, before suddenly shouting back: “Affiliations?”

“None!” Yu replied honestly, as he didn’t want to get into trouble by naming a random group from the top of his head.

Soon, the gates opened and a tall muscular man wearing a very intimidating set of armor that appeared to have been used in many battles appeared.

“I don’t know what you’re doing out there in the middle of the Ancient Forest, but you’re getting your head severed from your body and your soul sent to the other side the moment you make trouble in Nantian City.” The man in armor warned.

“I’ll do my best to keep out of trouble…” Yu replied, feeling somewhat wronged. But it could not be helped as he could somewhat tell that the forest which he came through was no ordinary one, and seeing where this gate is pointed towards, he can understand why these guards are wary of him.

“Do you have an identification stone?” The man in armor replied.

“Sadly no… I was attacked by this giant black snake on the way and I lost it.” Yu replied, making up a realistic explanation. Hearing his words, the man in armor’s face changed becoming somewhat grim.

“You’re lucky to be alive, Titan Boas are usually around the peak spirit stage.” The man in armor replied somewhat believing his story.

“It’s a good thing I managed to escape, it was fighting this silver gorilla too, giving me the chance to run away,” Yu replied, further adding details to the story to make it more believable.

“A Silverback Ape, another peak spirit stage beast… Truly lucky, your ancestors must’ve done a lot of good in their lives.” The man in armor sighed as he patted his shoulder, believing his story.

Indeed, my ancestors have done a lot to grant me this level of strength. Hearing the man in armor’s explanation, Yu thought that two beasts must’ve been a threat to this city. But remembering how he easily killed one of them without a scratch, if one disregarded one’s dignity, then Yu firmly believed that his strength is something he should only use at times of need.

Yu nodded to himself, making the man in armor was somewhat confused towards Yu’s actions, but remembering what he’s been through, he shook his head and let him through nonetheless out of pity.

After getting into the city, he found it to be quite desolate as there were a few lights on but barely anyone on the streets excluding the night patrols, seeing the lamp lit streets made the scene peaceful and serene, but wanting to sleep in a nice warm bed Yu decided to look for an inn.

Remembering the man in armor, he asked him for directions. The man was kind enough to point him to the right way and after a few streets, following his directions, Yu found the Inn. Checking his bag, he randomly grabbed a golden coin from it.

Entering inside, it was quiet. But that was a given as no one in their right mind would be awake at this hour unless they were plotting to do some evil.

“Welcome to the Southern Sky Inn, it’s strange to get guests this late into the night, are you a traveler?” A lady dressed in simple clean clothing in her late 30s replied from behind a counter.

“Yeah, the journey hasn’t been too kind to me, haha…” Yu replied weakly as he scratched the back of his head.

“I see, what kind of room are you looking for?”

“A reasonably sized one for a single person, a good bed would be nice and do you still serve food at this hour?” Yu replied as he was still somewhat hungry. Remembering in class that Inns in the olden days would serve food as well.

“We have a room that should fit the requirement, it’s three silver per night and as for the food, I’m sorry but the best I can serve at the moment is white bread and smoked ham. A slice of smoked ham is 10 copper and the white bread is 15 a piece.” The lady replied.

“I see, well I’ll have two bread and three smoked ham do you happen to have any drinks as well? Water is fine and I’ll stay for three nights.” Yu said, giving her the gold coin he picked up beforehand. Counting by estimation, he assumed that he had around 60 of these coins and a several more silver and copper pieces.

Looks like Tian Shen’s been quite generous to me, I should thank him the next we meet. Yu secretly thought as he sat on a nearby stool and table.

Soon, the lady returned with a pitcher of cold water along with a cup and plate filled with three slices of ham and two pieces of bread. The lady also gave him his change. 40 copper. From this, Yu assumed that a single gold is 10 silver and that a single silver is a 100 copper.

“I’ll lead you to your room when you’re done, you’ve had a harsh trip so eat slowly, I don’t mind waiting.” The lady replied with a slight smile.

 Hearing this, Yu gave her a smile as he ate the food and drank water. Not eating too fast nor too slow. He asked the lady a few questions, as to where this Nantian city was, how is the place and how to get an identification stone.

Hearing his questions, the lady was confused, getting multiple thoughts as to who this man was. Quickly reaching a conclusion, he assumed that he was someone who has just recently emerged from cultivation and was lost.

Answering his questions politely, Yu understood that he was in the southern part of the Divine Continent, currently the largest continent in the world. Nantian city itself stands at the border between the rest of the human cities and the Ancient Forest. Curious as to what the Ancient Forest is, the lady explained that it’s a grand forest filled to the brim with dangers. Even someone of the Origin stage would have trouble traveling through this evil forest.

Hearing these stages get mentioned, he wanted to ask questions about it, but he grew far too shy and didn’t want to embarrass himself more so he kept quiet for now. The lady continued her explanation about Nantian City, about how it is one of the most ancient and most profound cities in the Divine Continent.

It seems like she’s quite proud of this City. Yu thought to himself. The lady then explained how to get an identification stone, the first was to register in one of the many guilds, the second was to join a sect, which is a school like group, the third was to make one through the City Hall, although this was the most expensive, it was the easiest and had no restrictions.

Deciding to live a life without restrictions, despite living with his strength severely restricted, he prompted to get an identification stone through the city hall.

With his questions answered, Yu thanked the lady for her hospitality, leaving behind a few silver as thanks, although she didn’t accept it at first, Yu insisted that she accept it.

The lady led Yu to his room, leaving him be as she went back to the counter. It was on the second floor of the Inn, near the staircase and inside was a reasonably sized room. The furniture was minimal and there was a bathroom on one side which was a surprising find for Yu as he’s been wanting to take a proper bath in while, he then tested the bed and found it to be comfortable to lay in.

“It’s been a rough day… I should take a bath and sleep.” Yu mumbled to himself as he locked the door, went to the bathroom to have a bath and wore a new set of clothes that are more comfortable than before, lying on the bed and immediately falling asleep.

Author Note: Chapter one, Expect the second one tomorrow!