Xia Bingwen and Realms of The Cultivation

"Grandpa!" Xia Lan shouted and ran towards the old man then suddenly jumped on him.

The old man hurriedly caught her and put her down, very slowly... for fear of harming her, as if she was made of glass, that would shatter upon touching the floor.

"Lan Lan I have told you so many times, that grandpa is getting old, my old bones can't handle your tossing around." The old man reprimanded softly. But the kind smile and the gentleness hidden behind his old-muddy eyes removed the whatever little element of harshness his reprimand had.

"Okay, Grandpa I know you are the strongest! By the way, I met Han Feng just now. He invited me to dinner. I am so happy right now. It has been almost a year since I enjoyed his cooking." Xia Lan cheerfully jumped up and down around the old man. She talked to his grandpa about Han Feng, well, ...not much about Han Feng but more about the food he cooks.

"Okay, Okay. Stop talking about food. Remember to take something while visiting him." The Old man smiled and gently caressed her head. Then he turned around and went inside the room again.

Han Feng quickly left the Golden Chamber of Commerce while thinking about Xia Lan. She was the little princess of the Xia clan after all. Her grandfather's name was Xia Bingwen, one of the strongest, if not the strongest in the whole Red Stone City.

Xia Bingwen was the Grand Elder of the Xia clan and also the only Grade-5 Alchemist, capable of refining Grade-5 drugs. The Golden Chamber of Commerce was under his supervision.

He met Xia Bingwen when he was 9 years old. One day when he was playing near the lake in the Western District, he met a little girl who was crying under a tree. She was Xia Lan. That was also the day when he first met her.

Xia Lan's parents died when she was 5 years old. She became extremely self withdrawn and stopped speaking to anyone. At the age of 9, she snuck out for the first time but couldn't remember how to get back.

So she started crying under the tree near the lake. Coincidentally, Han Feng met her there. She was startled but thankfully stopped crying. He asked her name, where did she live? was she lost? and many other questions but she didn't reply even a single one.

Then her grandpa came to take her away. That was the time he first met Xia Bingwen. He looked just like an ordinary old man. He has extremely cared about his granddaughter.

The next day when he went to the lake, he found that she was there again. But this time she wasn't crying. She was looking around for something. Until her eyes were fixed on Han Feng.

He tried to talk to her again but she wouldn't reply, as always. Then her grandpa came to take her away. His Grand father never interacted with him. Han Feng believed they were a family of mutes. He really pitied them.

He would go to the lake, meet Xia Lan then her grandfather would take her away. This continued for some months and after a lot of efforts on his part she opened up a little. She would laugh at his jokes and listen to the stories he told. She became happier with each passing day.

It was only after a few years that he knew her true Identity. But things remained as usual between them. Her family didn't stop their interaction as he helped a lot in her full recovery. Having a friend who cared about her, not for some benefits but truly for her wellbeing wasn't a bad thing at all.

And through Xia Lan did he know about cultivation. He was always interested in reading books so he listened about cultivation carefully, with the utmost attention. He found it as interesting as the stories he read.

The cultivation started with Body Refining Realm. Just as Han Feng who was at the 6th Layer Body Refining Realm. In this realm, the spiritual energy is absorbed and it is used to refine the blood, internal organs, and the bones respectively. All the impurities are removed from inside the body. Each Realm is further divided into 9-Layers.

In the first three layers of the Body Refining Realm, only the blood is refined with spiritual energy. In the next three layers, all the internal organs are refined. And in the last three layers, the bones are refined, and only after losing all the impurities do they become stronger and harder.

Han Feng has refined all the internal organs through spiritual energy and his breakthrough to the next layer is just around the corner.

[Next realms are in the order- Foundation Establishment Realm, Sea Formation Realm, Divine Core, Divine Soul, Divine Tribulation.]

Han Feng has little to no knowledge of any realms above the Body Refining Realm. He knew everything about the realms and from Xia Lan as all details are far from his reach considering his negligible background.

He put aside gathering any information regarding the next realm as he was wholly focused on reaching the 9th Layer Body Refining Realm for now.

The top powerhouses were in the Divine Tribulation Realm. They could destroy the mountains and evaporate the seas with a single move of their hand. They could fly across the sky, span long distances in a snap of a finger, and also had a very long life span. There were myths about the cultivators above the Divine Tribulation Realm but even Xia Lan didn't know about it so well. He always wondered just how strong would they be, what feats could they achieve.

Han Feng was never able to wrap his thoughts around the idea of the existence of someone so strong. As far as he was concerned, he might not reach the Divine Tribulation Realm in his lifetime.

"Now I should go and buy the Flaming Rabbit along with other ingredients. Huh, now that I think of It I am a little hungry myself. First I should fill my stomach." Han Feng rubbed his growling stomach and speedily walked towards the restaurant.

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Jiang clan.

"Jiang Hou! Speak clearly! What is it that was so difficult that you didn't complete the task this time?! Did you meet a strong beast?! Or you couldn't even find a Flaming Rhino?!" Shouted a hideous looking man. He had only one hand and the other one was broken below the elbow. He looked very thin but his thin body was filled with huge strength.

His name was Jiang Hai. He was an Elder responsible for collecting materials for Alchemy and posting tasks. The Horn of Flaming Rhino was an important Alchemy material and the task was posted to replenish the supply.

"Respected Elder. This time we really encountered something strange. Something, which I think is much more important than the task itself. So I hurried back to inform the clan." Jiang Hou bowed towards the Elder and spoke slowly.

"Oh! Go on then. Tell me what was it that you think was more important than the task I gave you." Jiang Hai said while pressing Jiang Hou with his increasing momentum.

As the momentum of Elder Hai kept on pressing Jiang Hou down, he started sweating and almost kneeled due to the tremendous pressure weighing upon his shoulders. Still, he didn't dare to show any discomfort.

"Elder. We found disciples of the Fleeting Cloud Sect patrolling inside the Chaotic Forest. The weird thing was that their number was more than a hundred." Jiang Hou said as quickly as he could. As he reached his limit, the pressure that made him difficult to stand disappeared suddenly.

"Tell me everything you saw." Elder Hai said calmly. But his eyes were shining with a dangerous glint.

"Yes Elder! When we entered deep into the eastern part of the Chaotic Forest near the Flaming Rhino's territory, we found a disciple of Fleeting Cloud sect rushing past us."

"At first I thought that he was hunting for Magical Beasts as it is common to find other cultivators inside the Chaotic Forest but then something happened that changed my mind."

"We encountered one more disciple. He was wearing a black robe with a pattern of a golden cloud on his chest. Which is the robe of Inner Circle Disciple. So I decided to leave the group and quietly follow him."

"After I followed him for some time, I found out roughly 60 disciples patrolling regularly around a mountain. I tried getting close but the security was too tight and I also faintly sensed the pressure of a stronger cultivator above Sea Formation Realm. So I didn't go any further and immediately rushed back."

Jiang Hou slowly explained everything he encountered in the Chaotic Forest.

"Huh... Interesting. Interesting Indeed. What is their goal? The mountain..." Elder Hai was lost in thought. He waved his hand, dismissing Jiang Hou and went to meet the Patriarch.

"Right. Take 500 spirit stones from the treasury on your way out. You did a good job this time." Elder Hai spoke without turning his back and disappeared around the corner of the corridor.