Exploration and discovery

The storm of qi finally subsided after his Grand Dao foundation had been formed, and with that his breakthrough to the absolute peak of the body-strengthening realm had been completed. Unlike the previous ten stages, the eleventh realm was more like a unique state rather than a full stage which had to be cultivated to the peak. Merely breaking through to the eleventh level was the same as being at the peak, as there would be no more improvement in addition to the transformation which happened during the breakthrough. Due to this, Gaofeng would be able to enter the qi-gathering stage at any time, however he still didn't rush it. Gaofeng felt that continuously breaking through in this fashion would be damaging in the long run, and so he decided to rather go exploring in Steadfast to find out more details about the local population.

Gaofeng expressed his desire to explore to his hosts, and was quickly provided with an experienced guide who would show him the most attractive and interesting places in Steadfast. Additionally, Gaofeng was granted a generous amount of the local currency, which was some small black prismatic stones. The guide seemed to be in his forties, however he had a cultivation of the qi-refining realm, and thus he could live for up to five hundred years. Hence, it was likely that his age and experience was beyond his appearance. With each breakthrough to a new realm, a cultivator would increase their longevity and come closer to the always desired immortality of legends.

A cultivator in the body-strengthening realm could generally live up to two hundred years, while a qi-gathering realm cultivator would be able to live up to three hundred years. The qi-refining realm would increase a cultivator's lifespan by an addition two hundred years, for a total of five hundred years of longevity, and at the divine core realm, this would be doubled to a thousand years of longevity. Such increases kept increasing exponentially, as the time to cultivate each realm became longer and longer. For example, the increase in longevity when entering the dao searching realm, from the divine core realm, was an additional ten thousand years.

The guide introduced himself as "Little Fox", and asked Gaofeng if there were some places in particular he would like to visit. Gaofeng was naturally always looking for any means possible to increase his strength, so he simply asked, "I'd like to see all of the pavilions, markets, auction houses, unique cultivation places or residences that would be helpful for my cultivation, as well as any other location you think would be interesting or possibly help me increase my strength or cultivation. I especially desire to visit somewhere there is an open market with a lot of unidentifiable or rare items which could possibly be overlooked." The guide nodded while considering Gaofeng's desire for a second, before he had decided on a place which might suit Gaofeng's tastes.

They set out at foot, as it would be easier to maneuver through busy streets in this way compared to a carriage. As they walked at a brisk pace, the guide explained some of the localities, "There are some places which stand out among the categories you mentioned, and one of the best places I can think of is the Observation Hall. This Hall specifies in challenging the participants' observational skill to judge the value of items. All of the items have no description about their usage, and they vary greatly. People regularly find great treasures there, but compared to the amount who return with dregs, the lucky ones are few and far between. They also specifically utilize techniques which can hide the true nature of treasures so that their energies won't ever supersede those of the surrounding items. It's nearby, so let's head there first."

Gaofeng nodded in agreement upon hearing Fox's description. This did sound exactly like the kind of place he was looking for. The reason he was looking for a place where the outcome depended on your fortune, was that he suspected that he would be able to know which items would benefit him the most due to the Divine Myriad Changes. They arrived at the Observation Hall shortly after, observing the great bustle of the hall as they went up to one of the overseers to pay. The overseer glanced at them before asking politely "How many attempts do you wish to buy?" Since Gaofeng wanted to test his ability, naturally he would start with a single attempts, so he aptly answered "Just one for now. If my luck is good I will continue playing." Hearing this, the overseer's face turned dark, as he wondered why this poor fellow would even bother coming to the Observation Hall if he couldn't even afford ten initial attempts.

Gaofeng ignored the overseer's look, and handed over a small black prism. The overseer begrudgingly took the payment and gave Gaofeng a token which he would then trade for an item of his choice. The items he could choose from were hanging suspended in the air, in neat rows which formed gigantic walls of items. These items were indeed hidden by a very peculiar ability, and even Gaofeng, with his incredibly powerful heart-realm, couldn't tell the difference between the good quality items and the bad, which made him consider what kind of being would be capable of concealing such a great amount of items.

Not wanting to waste any time, however, Gaofeng quickly scanned row upon row of items while utilizing his Divine Myriad Changes technique to the utmost. He felt a sensation as if stepping into a dream, as the general world turned slightly less visible, and instead there were tiny glows of light shining from each item. Some of the glows were red, while others were green, but most of the items had a neutral white light. Gaofeng naturally understood that he was being conveyed information through his usage of the Divine Myriad Changes, and started to look for the green lights. Some green lights were miniscule, like the size of a pinhead, while others were larger, like that of a fist. However, he couldn't find any which was larger than that of a fist with a cursory glance.

The feeling Gaofeng got when observing the fist-sized green lights was not that of great fortune, unfortunately. Instead, it was a modestly helpful item. After completely scanning two of the great walls of items, Gaofeng noticed a green glow from the other side of the hall. Looking towards the source, Gaofeng was actually not able to spot it, as it was obscured by rows of other items. For this item to be able to outshine all of these items between them…Gaofeng grinned as he considered what kind of great fortune this would bring.

Everything else faded from Gaofeng's mind as he rushed towards the great green light. His guide was stupefied both at Gaofeng's rapid speed, and about suddenly being abandoned for no apparent reason. He didn't dare dally, however, and quickly ran after Gaofeng. When Fox had begun running, Gaofeng already neared the great green light. At closer distance, it seemed more like a green sun than a simple light. Finally arriving at the great green light, Gaofeng was ready to reach out and directly grab the item. There was one small issue, however, as that great green sun, now completely filling his vision, was held in the palm of another.