【Year 50, age 68.】

【The sense of time within the rift became blurred.】

【But this simulator will keep accurate time for you.】

【You flew for a full year inside the rift.】

【On an endless great plain, the Nine Provinces Cauldron appeared out of thin air in mid-air.】

【"Boom!!"】

【The over-a-hundred-meter-tall Nine Provinces Cauldron smashed into the ground, half its body sinking into the earth, standing slanted here.】

【You climbed out of the cauldron.】

【"Oh—this familiar scent of earth! This blue sky so clear, green grass so fragrant! I'm back! I'm finally back!"】

【The biggest problem with the Demon World wasn't the lack of Essence of Heaven and Earth, preventing natural cultivation, or the scarcity of martial resources and food, etc.】

【It was the lifelessness.】

【That decaying aura of death could erode a person's will.】

【You felt that staying in the Demon World a few more years, you'd just want to get buried directly.】

【How could that be allowed?】

【Sixty is the age for striving!】

【That's your life motto!】

【"Luckily, there's still time. When I'm seventy-five, the Four-Eyed Spirit Monkey's vanguard demon army will blitz the Eastern Wastes. When I'm eighty, the full-scale war between humans and the Demon Tribe will begin!"】

【Currently, your realm is Spirit Sea seventh layer, with five more minor stages to advance within the Spirit Sea Realm.】

【As long as no accidents occur, living to your theoretical lifespan, relying on the Nine Provinces Cauldron's elixirs and the Ten Thousand Souls Banner's feedback, you will definitely reach the peak of Spirit Sea!】

【By then, with the Sword Lord's Immortal Peach to help, breaking through to the Spirit Condensation Realm is not an impossible dream!】

【"I'll go to the Eastern Wastes to find the Sword Lord right now, tell him about the impending demon tribe attack, let him prepare early!

With such a huge piece of intelligence for him, plus his regard for my 'Demon Tribe's Bane' constitution, and me being a proper Sword Sect disciple this time!

One Immortal Peach shouldn't be a problem, right?"】

【You aren't worried about whether you can get your hands on an Immortal Peach, but you are a little worried if one peach will be enough.】

【Although this thing can assist Martial King Realm breakthroughs, the Sword Sect gave them to those geniuses stuck at Spirit Condensation peak for over ten years, not to someone with weaker aptitude like you.】

【People with different talents, using the same resources, have drastically different effects.】

【Now, aiming for the Spirit Condensation Realm is completely different from aiming for the Golden Body Realm back then.】

【"Regardless, head to the Eastern Wastes first! Speaking of which, where is this?"】

【You put away the Nine Provinces Cauldron.】

【The Spirit Crystals were all used up, and no new peaches have temporarily grown in the cauldron's mini-world.】

【The Nine Provinces Cauldron's divine power was completely exhausted within the rift channel.】

【Otherwise, when it just emerged, it wouldn't have smashed down directly like that.】

【For now, you can only rely on yourself to travel.】

【Fortunately, you still have the 《Sword Flight Art》.】

【Before, the 《Sword Flight Art》 could only be used for short trips, but now it's different.】

【After entering the Spirit Sea Realm, martial artists, through the "Spirit Vortex" ability, can make their own Spiritual Energy regenerate continuously, an endless supply.】

【This allows prolonged use of the 《Sword Flight Art》 for sword flight.】

【But when using the "Spirit Vortex," one cannot use Vitality Energy or Essence Energy, as that would interrupt the "Spirit Vortex."】

【In other words, you must be out of combat.】

【"It's all grassland..."】

【After flying for most of the day, you found nothing but lush green great plains below.】

【Occasionally, you could see vast expanses of snowy white, which were flocks of sheep.】

【"This should be the Northern Frontier."】

【The Northern Frontier has many grasslands, and its people have a nomadic culture, which fits what you're seeing.】

【"Then I just need to fly southeast."】

【Right at that moment, your 「Traffic Light」 trait automatically activated.】

【You quickly scanned the area and discovered a linear red zone appearing behind you.】

【It was a golden arrow!】

【"Damn! Who's shooting at me!"】

【You raised your hand and executed one 《Cloud-Scorching Hand》, slapping away the incoming golden arrow.】

【Looking down, you saw a group of cavalry galloping towards you in the distance.】

【Squinting, you saw they were all drawing their bows and nocking arrows.】

【"Holy..."】

【They're going to shoot you into a sieve!】

【Diving into the Nine Provinces Cauldron would be the safest right now.】

【But within the Five Regions, you don't want to expose the Nine Provinces Cauldron lightly.】

【The Shen Family is still hunting you!】

【Although the Shen Family is in the Starry Domains, they have many clan members training on the ground.】

【They also have dedicated strongholds and intelligence networks; they aren't truly isolated from the world, just not involved in some surface affairs.】

【"Stellar River Divine Art, Thorny Jungle!"】

【Vitality Energy erupted around you in waves, seven Spiritual Energy vortices spinning behind you.】

【You unleashed the 《Stellar River Divine Art》, forcibly lifting a large patch of turf from the ground, transforming it into a shield to block the arrow rain.】

【"Northern Frontier cavalry! I'm just passing through your territory, don't force me to go on a killing spree!"】

【Before your words finished, you suddenly felt a slight sense of suffocation.】

【The surroundings instantly turned mostly red.】

【Looking up.】

【A middle-aged man with twin ponytails hanging to his shoulders on either side of his head, an extremely burly build, and wearing golden battle armor was standing directly above your head.】

【His voice was full of authority.】

【"Spy from the Central Plains, come with me to the main camp!"】

【There was nothing under the other's feet, nor any fluctuations of Spiritual Energy, Vitality Energy, or the like; he was levitating.】

【At least Martial King Realm!】

【"Big bro, I ain't no spy! I'm just passin' through!"】

【"Wearing Central Plains attire, loitering in the air above our army's encampment, and you still say you're not a spy! Move!"】

【The middle-aged man waved his hand grandly, and an eagle actually flew out from his sleeve.】 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

【The eagle grabbed your shoulders, carrying you as it followed the middle-aged man flying into the distance.】

【You figured the one capturing you was probably a big shot among the Northern Frontier tribes, not unreasonable enough to cause trouble after clearing up the misunderstanding.】

【No need to fight them to the death for now, endure for a moment.】

【The Ten Thousand Souls Banner couldn't endure it.】

【"Bro, you can even tolerate this! Quick! Release the Shen Family Founding Ancestor! Stellar Cloud Split!! Get him!!"】

【"You wish for me to die sooner, don't you?"】

【Having its little scheme exposed by you, the Ten Thousand Souls Banner started playing dumb.】

【"Aiya, inside that rift channel, there was no distinction between day, night, or seasons. Suddenly returning to the human world, I really feel a bit unaccustomed..."】

【You were taken by the eagle to a nearby military camp.】

【This army's scale was massive, the camp set up along a river, stretching so far you couldn't see the end at a glance.】

【You were escorted into the central command tent.】

【The golden-armored middle-aged man strode to the head position, turned, and spoke to the generals standing in two rows inside the tent.】

【"It seems the Great Qian court is truly panicking, even starting to send spies to probe our military intelligence. It's just this spy is too weak, and an old man to boot, hahaha!!"】

【As the middle-aged man laughed, the generals in the tent laughed along, the atmosphere hearty and boisterous.】

【"The Great Khan is mighty! Our army's momentum is at its peak. This time, we are sure to recapture the Central Plains and head south to capture the dragon!"】

【"Vanguard Commander Wumuha has already fought his way to the North Tong Pass. Once this pass is breached, it'll be smooth sailing all the way to the Great Qian capital!"】

【"That Female Emperor in the south has also been a great help, having already occupied three of Great Qian's provinces! She's really giving Great Qian a headache, hahaha!"】