Five Years

The night passed quickly. Early the next morning, Leian was eating breakfast in his family's dining room when a burst of footsteps suddenly sounded outside.

"Captain, were you looking for me?"

The visitor was none other than Edwin. After Wilson reorganized the guard squads, Edwin had happened to join Leian's command.

"Edwin, go tell the others later that starting today, I'll be training on the mountain behind town during the day. Unless it's important, don't come disturb me. Understood?"

Leian looked up at Edwin, his expression quite serious.

The small courtyard in front of the house was still too cramped to serve as a training ground. More importantly, after fusing with the magic crystal core, he had to spend time adapting to his transformed body, and that was not something he could let others see.

Edwin was not at all surprised by Leian's request. Back in Qingshi Town, Leian had been known as a training fanatic among the guards.

"Rest assured, Captain. I'll warn the others!"

Edwin answered solemnly.

"That's all, then. Go take care of your work."

Leian trusted Edwin, so he waved him off.

After quickly finishing breakfast, Leian strapped a heavy sword and a lighter sword across his back and strode toward the mountain behind town.

Once outside the town, a rocky mountain dotted sparsely with grass and trees came into view.

Baifeng Town had few residents, as mentioned before, because the area was mountainous and barren, unable to support many people.

Leian had been here for a month and was already very familiar with the surroundings. Standing at the foot of the mountain, he pushed off with both feet and shot upward. Then, using both hands and feet, he climbed like an ape and reached the summit before long.

Behind the summit was a small rocky clearing. It was not large, but more than sufficient for training.

Leian stood at the edge of the clearing and looked into the distance. Everything within ten miles was visible at a glance, and the sight lifted his spirits.

After a moment, he withdrew his gaze, removed his swords, took off his outer garment, and began transforming.

Purple-black dragon scales swiftly covered his cheeks, while a pair of dragon claws formed at astonishing speed. This time, Leian felt nothing during the transformation, as though it were simply his body's instinct.

Satisfied, he swung his arms a few times before grabbing the massive black sword beside him and starting to wield it. There were no deliberate techniques, only the most basic movements—chopping, slashing, lifting, and thrusting.

He trained for over an hour. During that time, Leian clearly felt that both his strength and speed had increased by several degrees.

This was only an initial fusion, yet the effect was already so obvious. Once he completely fused with the magic crystal core, even if he did not reach the level of a magical beast, he would likely far surpass warriors of the same rank.

No wonder Saint Realm experts across the continent could never forget the Spring of Life!

Time flew during cultivation. In the blink of an eye, nearly half a year had passed. Under Leian's relentless day-and-night training, his battle aura cultivation had finally broken through to the realm of an eighth-level warrior several days ago.

As his battle aura advanced, his fusion with the magic crystal core deepened further. At present, even his feet had completed their transformation, and dragon scales had spread all the way up his thighs.

As the fusion deepened, his strength and speed naturally grew as well.

This all-around improvement greatly increased Leian's strength. With his understanding of his realm, he was confident that he would not fear even a ninth-level warrior.

Such strength could already make him a noteworthy figure on the continent. Leian, who had kept himself tense for so long, decided to rest for a few days.

One noon, with nothing to do, he wandered through town. When he passed the town center and saw that the only tavern was unusually lively, he strolled over.

The moment he entered, a rich aroma of alcohol washed over him. Leian swept his gaze around and found that there were unusually twice as many patrons as usual.

"Captain Leian, you're a rare guest! Come have a drink. It's on me!"

The tavern owner spotted Leian at once. His fat body waddled forward quickly as he greeted him with enthusiasm.

The town was remote and had few residents. Normally, nearly half the tavern's customers came from the guard squad, yet Leian, the captain, rarely appeared. This had greatly troubled the tavern owner, who was eager to befriend him. Now that the man himself had arrived, how could he let the opportunity slip away?

"There's no need to treat me. As long as you're willing to bring out your treasured good wine, that will do," Leian joked casually.

"Since Captain Leian has honored me with his presence, how could I dare keep anything hidden? As it happens, I have a bottle of Wind-Sleep Drunk that has been stored for ten years. I've never found anyone suitable to taste it. Now I see it was waiting for you, Captain Leian!"

Jerome spoke with exaggerated flattery, leaving the drinkers around him, who knew his character well, unable to believe that this was the stingy, tightfisted tavern owner they knew.

Leian had heard of Wind-Sleep Drunk before. It was not top-tier wine, but in a tavern in such a remote little town, it was a rare treasure.

"Wind-Sleep Drunk? Then I'll have to savor it properly."

Having good wine to celebrate his recent breakthrough put Leian in high spirits. He immediately walked to the bar and sat down.

Jerome moved quickly. Before long, he pushed a glass of Wind-Sleep Drunk in front of Leian.

Leian raised it and took a small sip. The faint fragrance of the wine, paired with its smooth taste, was indeed exquisite.

"Not bad. Jerome, you've put some thought into this."

Jerome laughed heartily. "As long as Captain Leian is satisfied!"

In Jerome's eyes, the twenty-five-year-old Leian already possessed the strength of a sixth-level warrior, and breaking through to the seventh level in the future would surely be no problem. A seventh-level warrior was a rare expert even in Hashan County, someone well worth befriending.

Leian understood Jerome's thoughts perfectly. However, he was destined not to remain in Hashan County forever, so he would not accept the favor.

Still, for the sake of Jerome's intentions, he could give his business some support over the next few years.

Jerome was also tactful. Seeing that Leian had fallen silent, he did not continue bothering him.

At the bar, Leian sipped Wind-Sleep Drunk while listening to the conversations of the drinkers around him. Only then did he learn why the tavern was so crowded today: merchants had come to purchase goods.

Although Baifeng Town was barren, it was not entirely without value. Its unique sandy and rocky environment gave rise to a fruit tree called the Stone Spirit Fruit tree. Its fruit was the main ingredient in brewing a certain fruit wine, so merchants came every autumn harvest season to buy it.

However, Baifeng Town was small, with few fruit trees and low yields. It was also remote, so few merchants came, and those who did joined forces to drive down prices. Stone Spirit Fruit could not fetch much money.

Leian had no particular thoughts on the matter. After all, Baifeng Town was someone else's territory, and he was merely the guard captain. Developing the local economy was not his responsibility.

After finishing a bottle of Wind-Sleep Drunk, Leian heard quite a few bits of gossip, two of which surprised him considerably.

The first concerned Elvis. Toby had previously announced that Laman and Elvis had died together in a duel. With that explanation, the county city could not openly punish the Cleo Family.

However, several days ago, Elvis's wife had suddenly died in her bedroom, while their twelve-year-old son had vanished without a trace.

As for the boy, some said that the Rachel Family had secretly killed him. Others said that Elvis's wife had long realized the Rachel Family would not spare them, so she had let her son flee in advance.

There were many rumors, but outsiders had no way of knowing the truth.

When Leian heard the news, he did not know what he felt. Still, if possible, he hoped that boy had survived.

The other piece of news concerned Laman.

According to reliable sources, after Toby confiscated the four towns in Laman's territory, he quickly bestowed them upon one of the descendants of the county city's family. That member of the Rachel Family had now taken over the territory.

Leian felt nothing upon hearing this news. Such calculations over profit were too common, found everywhere. Even within the same family, they could not be avoided.

But what was tragic was that those born into a family with a Saint Realm expert did not understand that strength was the foundation of survival.

With that thought in mind, Leian paid his bill and left the tavern at an unhurried pace.

In the days that followed, Leian returned to his grueling training.

During the day, he practiced swordsmanship on the mountain behind town to comprehend Worldly Momentum. At night, he cultivated the Destruction Codex at home, accumulating battle aura.

At the peak of the mountain, Leian stood at the edge of the rocky clearing, gazing as far as he could. The land beneath his feet, the mountains in the distance, and the clouds at the horizon were all objects of his observation.

What was Worldly Momentum? Leian understood that it existed, but not why. The concept of "the world" was simply too vast. To live within it was like being inside Mount Lu—unable to see its true form.

However, being unable to overlook the entire world did not mean he could not observe all things within it.

In Leian's eyes, all things possessed momentum, and the momentum of all things was the tangible manifestation of Worldly Momentum.

Mountains, water, earth, and more all had their own momentum. Mountains possessed a majestic momentum, water possessed a surging momentum, and the earth possessed a heavy solidity. Once he understood the momentum of all things, would Worldly Momentum still be far away?

Following this path, Leian advanced step by step.

No one knew that in this remote little town, a young man was about to rise.

Time flowed on, and in the blink of an eye, five years quietly passed.

That winter, the snow came especially early. After one night, the earth was draped in a thin veil of white.

That day, Leian climbed the rocky clearing on the mountain behind town early, as usual.

Standing at the edge of the clearing, he bent forward and looked into the distance. He had seen such snowy scenery more than ten times already, but this time, he sensed that something would be different.

His battle aura had reached the peak of the eighth level, and the purple-black diamond-shaped crystal in his dantian had been refined until it was nearly transparent.

Before long, the sun rose. Under its gentle warmth, the thin layer of snow melted at a visible pace.

Seeing this, Leian was suddenly inspired. He began circulating his battle aura and refining the diamond-shaped crystal in his dantian.

Time passed bit by bit. When the sun reached its highest point, the last patch of snow in his sight finally melted away. As though by prior agreement, the diamond-shaped crystal in Leian's dantian was completely refined at that very moment.

Sizzle, sizzle—

Intense pain flooded Leian's mind once more, and his body began transforming uncontrollably.

Very quickly, a humanoid monster appeared on the rocky clearing. It had dragon horns, a body covered in purple-black dragon scales, and limbs shaped like dragon claws.

This transformation came so quickly that Leian was caught somewhat off guard.

Moreover, at the instant the diamond-shaped crystal completely dissolved, an image inexplicably flashed through Leian's mind.

It was a wondrous magical beast with the head of a dragon and the body of a lion, covered in dragon scales. When its four paws spread, they resembled dragon claws; when folded, they resembled ox hooves.

With only one look, Leian became certain that this magical beast had been the original owner of the magic crystal core he had consumed.

Yet the more he looked at it, the more it resembled the Qilin from the memories of his previous life.

At that moment, a thought involuntarily flashed through his mind.

Could it have been a divine beast that had not yet reached adulthood?

As soon as the thought arose, Leian felt a faint trace of pity. If that were true, it had been terribly unlucky—killed before it could even mature.

As though sensing Leian's emotions, the magical beast in the image suddenly raised its head. Its two purple dragon eyes stared fixedly into the sky, and its mouth opened wide. At that instant, it seemed as though an earth-shaking roar exploded in Leian's mind.

Affected by it, Leian abruptly opened his eyes, then threw back his head and let out a roar that resounded through heaven and earth.

"Awooo!"

After that roar, the image in his mind shattered completely. Leian felt light all over, as though every negative emotion had been expelled with the cry.

When his gaze refocused, he felt that even heaven and earth had changed.

The sun shone brightly, the breeze was clear, and the sky was high with pale clouds!

It was an indescribable feeling. After observing the momentum of all things for five years, it seemed that at this moment, heaven and earth had been gathered within his heart!

Driven by that sensation, Leian almost instinctively reached forward and grabbed.

An invisible current of air rapidly converged. Then came a piercing howl, and the entire world seemed to tremble faintly!

At that moment, Worldly Momentum was achieved!

P.S. There should only be one chapter today. The temperature dropped too quickly, and I caught a chill. My headache is pretty bad.

Also, I received a contract offer message. Strangely, I selected Editor Group Five when creating the novel, but the message says it was submitted by Editor Group Nine. If I accept the contract, my editor group will become Group Nine. Does anyone who knows about this understand what's going on?