Chapter 44: The Dao- 44
The week passed fairly quick as Zhou Fan spent it with the beasts.
However, it was now time for Zhou Fan to leave. After saying goodbye to each of the beasts, Cao Lin, and Yipeng, Zhou Fan was ready to leave.
He flew up and went to the exit tunnel. As he was leaving the cave, he turned around and took one last look at the blue crystal.
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As Zhou Fan flew out of the hole, he saw the recognizable courtyard. However, Zhou Fan didn't stop as he continued to rise into the air.
It wasn't long before Zhou Fan was directly under the clouds. If one looked from the ground, they would only see a black dot in the air.
Zhou Fan flew out of the city as fast as he could. Although he planned to experience the world, he was first going to go to another empire.
With his perfect memory, he was able to instantly recognize the surroundings. After a couple seconds of indecision, Zhou Fan flew to the east.
By going that way, Zhou Fan would first pass through the truth empire, then the 9th rank koi empire, then the 3rd rank sword empire, and finally, the mortaniel empire.
After an hour of flying at a speed that exceeded sound by more than 5 times, Zhou Fan landed in front of a big gate.
Above the gate, there was a sign that said 'Clarity Kingdom'.
This was one of the biggest kingdoms within the truth empire. If he recalled correctly, it was ranked 7th. After paying a fee of 5 copper, Zhou Fan walked into the city.
The first area he passed was a middle class area. Here, he could see many different types of people. There were kind and gentle people along with arrogant and rude people..
While walking, he could see a few homeless people around. There weren't many, but there were a few. As he passed another homeless person, he saw some guards roughly grab him and drag him somewhere.
Without stopping, Zhou Fan continued on.
The next place he saw was the noble district. Although he couldn't go far due to the gates and guards, Zhou Fan got a good look at it.
Not a single homeless or unhappy person in sight. He did, however, see one person with a suspiciously long mustache.
After another round of walking, Zhou Fan made it to an area much different than the rest.
In most places, it was referred to as the slums. Here, homeless and unhappy people were just about the only thing to see.
Most people were dirty and eating dirty food. There was trash on the ground and at some point, Zhou Fan almost started to fly in order to avoid it.
However, he remembered why he came here. To understand life in the world. Although he hadn't been prosperous as a child, Zhou Fan didn't have it too bad.
Comparing his previous life to any other person in the slums was ridiculous. After all, Zhou Fan had never had to eat dirty bread or sit around with dirt on his face.
Stepping on and over the trash on the ground, Zhou Fan almost had the urge to throw up. After a little, he became used to it and his reaction was no longer so intense.
Stopping in the middle of the street, Zhou Fan lifted his head up and took a deep breath. Although the smell was revolting, Zhou Fan acted as though he didn't notice it.
All of a sudden, a knife stabbed into Zhou Fan's body. A pain that he had never felt before started to run through Zhou Fan's mind.
As he fell on the ground, Zhou Fan looked up at the person who had just attacked him. Alongside him were 3 other people. All four of them looked dirty and poor.
There was nothing special about these people. There was absolutely no reason why they should have been able to pierce through Zhou Fan.
However, as he saw them coming towards him, Zhou Fan sealed his cultivation and returned to the same state that he was before he started to cultivate.
Of course, Zhou Fan wasn't a masochist, but he realized that he had never truly experienced pain. Although he had been worn out and tired, he had never been stabbed or slashed.
'Ouch' Zhou Fan thought.
Since his goal was to experience life, he needed to do it thoroughly. If that meant getting stabbed or beaten, Zhou Fan was willing to accept it.
As the boys saw him fall on the ground, they started to kick him and beat him. Zhou Fan was also stabbed 3 more times before they searched him for money, which he didn't have, and left.
As Zhou Fan laid on the ground, beaten and bruised, he passed out.
When Zhou Fan woke up, it was still day. Not the same day, but daytime. Getting up, his injuries were fully healed. Although he had sealed his cultivation, he couldn't be killed so easily.
Zhou Fan looked around and frowned. He was in the same exact place. Not a single person or guard woke him up or even moved his body.
'Pathetic' He thought.
After all, he was in the middle of the street! There should have at least been someone to collect his corpse. It was only now that Zhou Fan realized just how bad these people have it.
Shaking his head in disappointment, Zhou Fan got up and walked. As he passed out, Zhou Fan felt his understanding become clearer. As for what he was understanding, he couldn't quite describe.
It was as if it both existed and didn't exist. As if it was life and also death.
Since Zhou Fan had neither heard of it or felt it before, he decided to name it.
The Dao.
It was the first time he came into contact with something 'semi-magical' besides himself and lightning.
As he continued to walk, Zhou Fan exited through the other side of the kingdom. Although he had left it, he didn't unseal his cultivation and fly. Instead, he continued to walk on the path, now barefoot since the thieves stole his shoes. Luckily, they didn't steal his clothes.
Chapter 45: A Year Later - 45
After a month on the road, Zhou Fan had finally made it to the next city on his path.
While the previous month couldn't be called dangerous, it was extremely hard to travel. During the entire duration, Zhou Fan was no different than a mortal.
Therefore, after walking across the ground barefoot for 18 hours a day, his feet were nearly destroyed. Luckily, Zhou Fan didn't have the ability to completely seal up his quick recovery.
Along the way, he had run into multiple travelers and even a few caravans.
One of the caravan owners was so kind as to give him a robe after seeing the state of his clothes. Although it was everything but elegant, Zhou Fan didn't mind as he continued his journey.
When he made it to this city, the guards looked at him with disgust as he walked past. Since there was no toll, Zhou Fan was able to walk straight through.
When he made it inside, Zhou Fan took a rest while sitting against a building. Since this wasn't exactly a wealthy part of town, no one bothered him.
As he rested, Zhou Fan almost fell into his thoughts. However, he managed to stop himself before he did. If he had a chance to think, he would surely talk himself out of his current actions.
All of a sudden, the sun that was shining on Zhou Fan's face was blocked. Looking up, he saw a child holding out an apple. Although he didn't speak, Zhou Fan knew his intentions.
"Thank you." He said as he took the apple and ate it. Although he could have lived without it, it gave a refreshing taste after so many days of struggle.
Seeing him eat it, the kid walked back to his parents who patted him on the head. On the road, Zhou Fan had to survive on wild berries and the occasional bread from passersby's, so it was a nice snack.
If anyone who knew him in the past were to see Zhou Fan right now, they wouldn't recognize him a bit. He was so skinny that nearly every bone in his body was visible.
If he were to take off the robe, one could see spiky spinal bones on his back. Although he still looked young, his face seemed as if it had aged a hundred years.
After an hour of rest, Zhou Fan stood up and continued to walk. He made it through the city unobstructed, but just as he was leaving, a caravan waved him towards them
Seeing them, Zhou Fan walked over.
"Where are you going young man?" The owner said with clear pity on his face.
"East." He said while pointing towards the almost fully rising sun.
"What a coincidence." The owner said. "We're going that direction too. Would you like to join us?"
"If it's not too much trouble." Zhou Fan responded.
"Hop on." The owner said while pointing to one of the wagons without a roof.
Zhou Fan gave a quick thank you and climbed into the wagon.
Not long after, the caravan started to move out.
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In what seemed like a blink of an eye, a year passed.
Zhou Fan had long parted with the caravan, and with a few more kind strangers and a lot of walking, he had made it to the last kingdom in the sword empire.
Over the year, Zhou Fan had traveled through thousands of cities, 50 kingdoms, and almost three empires if you count the sword empire.
At this point, Zhou Fan had grown accustomed, and almost happy, with his new life.
His understanding of the dao had reached a much higher level than before. Even then, he still felt as if he only took a small step along an endless river.
Right now, Zhou Fan was walking out of the final kingdom between him and the mortaniel empire. The journey through the sword kingdom was one of the hardest due to how tough the people here were. Of course, there were still a few kind people who would give him food on his journey.
There was a reason why Zhou Fan didn't buy any food, besides the fact that he didn't have money. He had a feeling that when he ate less, he became closer to the dao and comprehended it even faster than before. Therefore, throughout his entire journey, he had not spent a penny on food.
Feeling the constant starvation, he felt as though there was no worse pain to be experienced.
Although getting a bone or five broken can be considered to hurt more, the pain of starving is a different feeling. It's as if your body is empty and hollow. The feeling of watching your body decompose was also an indescribable horror, along with actually feeling it decompose.
After another month of travel, Zhou Fan finally stepped into the mortaniel empire. Looking at the luxurious city before him, he could tell that this place would be the best to be at.
One look and even a cow could tell that it was prosperous. Not to mention, from his memory, this was one of the lower ranked kingdoms within the empire.
As he walked through the gates, the guards nodded at him, trying to hide the disgust on their faces.
Although such a look may be disheartening for others, Zhou Fan had long gotten used to it. He could still remember when his face would burn up everytime he got such a look in the past.
Nodding at the guard, Zhou Fan walked into the city unobstructed.
Within the morantiel empire, there were no toll fees. Even the imperial capital was free for all to enter. Of course, everything was much more expensive there and almost every resident was filthy rich.
Zhou Fan explored the kingdom and was astonished at how much gold there was. On the walls, on the statues. When he took a look into the rich area, even the walkways were made of gold.
Like every other kingdom, Zhou Fan simply wandered through. This time, however, there were many more people who offered him food. For the first time in the last year or so, he felt full. At some point he even had to reject someone offering him food.
Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
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121 Power
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