The ancient giant bear hiding in the world of immortal cultivation

Chapter 344 Liu Zongbai's Diary
“Cultivation is like water; if you don’t advance, you fall behind. I cherish this opportunity to become a disciple in charge. I need to continue to work hard. The sixth rank is not my goal; the third rank is.”

"However, for a seventh-rank deacon disciple like me with no background, cultivation is really too difficult. The spirit stones distributed are never enough, and the seventh-rank deacon disciple jade token can't speed up the absorption of spiritual energy. I know that complaining is not the solution, but I still can't quite control myself."

"On the third day of the third month of the fifth human era of the Great Wilderness Calendar 58009, I decided to take on a level-one mission. Although it is a bit risky for me, I recently met a friend who seems to have some supernatural powers. We can go together."

“We were very well prepared, and my friend was so experienced that I was amazed. His casual tips and tricks were very inspiring and helpful to me.”

"The purpose of this mission is to hunt down a sixth-grade evil demon. Evil demons are very dangerous, especially since the end of the Demon Era. Some evil demons escaped to the evil Vermilion Bird Immortal Alliance, some were thrown into the Sin Prison, and some were killed. But there are still some hiding in the corners of the world. They have become more cunning and more ferocious. As long as they find an opportunity, they will kill every person and every living being they encounter."

"We set off through the gray fog, and were fortunate enough to encounter another team before we set off, which was really good news."

“The Dharma Protector is right. Stepping into the gray mist is equivalent to stepping into battle. We were almost attacked just now, but it's not a big deal. I'm looking forward to the battle with the evil demon.”

"I'm so lucky! I actually found a Rank 9 Dark Night Grass at the border between the Gray Mist Zone and the Spirit Mist Zone. This is a spiritual plant that only grows in the Gray Mist Zone, and it's very valuable. I carefully hid it away; I don't want to share it."

"The battle came suddenly. We were attacked by a group of organized and large-scale evil demons. They initially disguised themselves as a group of mortal refugees to try and get away with it. However, I never expected that my friend would be so ruthless as to lay hands on the women among the refugees. Later, I learned that he cultivated the Hehuan Dao, and when he needed to, he would not spare even the most ordinary women among mortals, let alone female evil demons."

"The battle is over, we have won. I feel a little uneasy. It is the first time I have seen a demon communicate rationally, although it is mostly in disguise."

“My friend tried to persuade me to cultivate the Hehuan Dao, but I don’t like it. Besides, I have already cultivated the Mending Heaven Dao. Our paths are different, so we cannot work together.”

"Speaking of which, even within the Immortal Alliance, the struggle for lineage and the sheer number of cultivation paths are quite dazzling. The Jade Cauldron Immortal Alliance alone is said to have nine thousand cultivation paths. Of course, in reality, I haven't had the opportunity to come into contact with other Immortal Alliances; the Jade Cauldron Immortal Alliance is simply too vast..."

"After trekking through the heavens and traveling three thousand miles, I finally arrived at a mortal city shrouded in gray mist. I still feel very close to this place because it is my hometown. I have been away from home for thirty years, and I don't even know if my parents are still alive."

"This place is still the same as always, mediocre, numb, stupid, and stinking. I am very fortunate to have embarked on the path of cultivation. The supreme immortals of the Immortal Alliance are too great."

“My younger brother is still alive. He looks to be about fifty years old, blind in one eye, and doesn’t even recognize me. I’m a little annoyed, but also a little sad. I remember when the Immortal Alliance came to select disciples, he wasn’t chosen. I still remember how anxious he was, crying his eyes out. It was funny; he thought I had been captured…”

"The mortal world is ultimately foolish and numb. I wanted to escape, but the deacons stationed in this city were very enthusiastic. They gave my friend and me two furnace cauldrons each. I didn't accept them, but I didn't sleep all night because the screams were deafening."

“A friend advised me that spiritual cultivation is about cultivating resources. Without resources, nothing can be accomplished. Although mortals are ignorant, a virgin still possesses a little spirituality, which is worth exploring. I don’t agree with that, but I do feel that I do need more resources, so I want to kill that evil demon.”

"The evil demon is lurking outside the city. The garrison disciple of Fancheng set off with us. He was the one who reported this mission. He said that this evil demon is very strong and he himself cannot defeat it, but it is the responsibility of us cultivators to slay demons for the people, and we cannot shirk our duty." My friend cheered loudly. I was in a bad mood and did not dare to look back. The bodies of the four girls were carried away, and their families received a large sum of money.

"Outside the city are vast wheat fields. Under the intense sunlight, a gray fog hangs in the air, invisible to ordinary people. I recall the scene of harvesting wheat with my parents when I was a child. It was so long ago that I can't remember it anymore."

“We went to the crime scene first. It was six days ago when that monstrous demon attacked the wheat field, killing fifteen men on the spot and abducting eight women. They will probably die a terrible death.”

“My friend is indeed a master in this field. He quickly set up a magic array to recreate the scene that happened that day. Then, he tracked it down and found more traces of the evil demons on a mountain three hundred miles away. I helped my friend set up a Heavenly Eye Magic Array, a Quick Reaction Sword Array, and an Ultra-Long Range Pursuit Sword Array on the mountain.”

"The deployment of these three magic arrays is quite expensive, accounting for half of the reward for this mission. However, it turns out that I underestimated the terror of the evil demons and the ambiguity of the mission description. Indeed, the strongest evil demon is a sixth-rank demon, but can someone tell me why there are more than a hundred sixth-rank evil demons?"

"I'm so glad I'm still alive, but I still can't forget the precise targeting and early warning of the Heavenly Eye Formation, the sword light of the Quick Counter Sword Formation, and the sword light of the ultra-long-range pursuit sword formation piercing through the darkness..."

"It's unbelievable that we actually won, but even more unbelievable is that my friend only gave me half the prize money. I'll never forget the way he said to me in that joyful tone, 'Times have changed!'" "Yes, times have changed. Since then, my goal has changed. I want to become a formation master. All-around cultivators will become increasingly rare because the cost is too high. Choosing a specific direction and becoming the best in it is the only way out."

……

Wang Wu finished reading another entry in Liu Zongbai's diary. Although the diary only recorded a very ordinary mission, it still contained a lot of crucial information for him.

"Come on, everyone write a book review."

Wang Wu summoned the four cobblers and asked them to interpret the ideas from various perspectives, pooling their wisdom—something they excelled at.

Soon, lines of information appeared, and the reading notes were coming in. However, there was only one comprehensive reading note, probably because the difficulty level was too low.

Based on the known information, the following conclusions can be drawn.

"First, the fifth human era of the Great Wilderness Calendar is 58009 years old, which means that the outside world is also defined by the Great Wilderness. Then there is the concept of the human era. Considering that the information also mentions the demon era, it is not difficult to guess that there may be an essence era and a monster era before that. This structure is similar to the structure in the Great Wilderness Sin Prison. It is even easy to associate it with the fact that the outside world is just a larger Great Wilderness Sin Prison?"

"It's difficult to draw a conclusion on this matter for the time being, but one thing is certain: the Great Wilderness Sin Prison has an extremely close connection with the outside world."

"But the Great Wilderness Prison has a verifiable history of about 400,000 years, while the Human Era has already reached its fifth era. Even if we take 60,000 years for each era, that's still 300,000 years, so the timeline doesn't quite match up."

"At the same time, we must also consider that in the outside world, the human race may not be able to control everything. For example, there is the Vermilion Bird Immortal Alliance, which may be under the control of the demon race, and the demon era may be used there."

"Second, there is an Immortal Alliance among the human race in the Great Wilderness Prison, and there is also an Immortal Alliance in the outside world. These are similar organizational structures, so it can be basically determined that the situation of cultivation families and sects merging resources and enslaving people in the outside world is only more serious than in the Great Wilderness Prison."

"Third, in the Great Wilderness Prison of Sin, even if human cultivators cannot become all-rounders, they can at least be good at a few areas. But in the outside world, cultivators seem to have become more professional, with a more detailed division of labor, just like how cooks in mortals don't open tailor shops, and doctors don't slaughter pigs."

“These specialized cultivators will undoubtedly gradually lose their voice and competitiveness, as if they have become a brick in the social structure. They can only work hard in their familiar environment step by step, but in the end, they may not gain much benefit even if they work hard all their lives.”

"Of course, due to the current lack of information, it is difficult to draw more accurate conclusions."

"Fourth, the information mentioned a concept called gray fog, but this gray fog cannot be seen by mortals. Mortals can live and work normally in the gray fog. Evil demons also hide in the gray fog area. Moreover, mortals in the gray fog area can be selected to become cultivation oxen and horses, and mortal women can be used as furnaces."

"Based on the above, we can make a judgment that needs to be confirmed: the criteria for dividing gray fog zones are not based on whether they are harmful or harmless, but on the amount of spiritual energy. Therefore, there are gray fog zones and spiritual fog zones."

"Fifth, Liu Zongbai's friend should only have one chance to cooperate with him. Liu Zongbai doesn't even know his cultivation level or name, but his strength should not exceed the fifth rank, and is most likely only the sixth rank. Otherwise, there would be no need to cooperate with Liu Zongbai. But a sixth-rank cultivator can quickly deploy three formations and only takes up half of the mission reward. Such a low price is simply unimaginable in the Great Wilderness Prison."

"Therefore, there is sufficient reason to suspect that in the outside world, special methods like magic arrays may have become commonplace and accessible to ordinary people, and any cultivator could possess them."

"This can be seen from the fact that those five cultivators leveled a mountain range of five hundred miles in ten seconds. Their strength is not only in their individual abilities, but also in their various supporting magical treasures and formations, which may have reached a level that is difficult for us to comprehend."

"It is recommended that we continue to collect relevant information."

(End of this chapter)