Herman went through an assortment of emotions starting from surprise at his continuously increasing Reputation, a proof that once the System announced his name and his title as the 'first' to challenge the whatever-trial-of-whatever, people began taking notice of him and some might not do so in a good way, to befuddlement of the highest order at the System's choice to upgrade itself for whatever reason.

There weren't any such instances in his past that he could remember and now, for the simplest of things such as the '20 Worlds Tour' it suddenly decided to take a full day to better itself. An almost omnipotent System required 24 hours in order to perform an upgrade on its capabilities. What did that mean?

"Trouble! Big, huge, and ass-ripping problems! F*ck, f*ck, f*ck! Just how much did the script change for f*ck's sake!?"

Herman was more than rattled at this point. Since he started from zero, the only thing he had was his knowledge of the past and large amounts of Spirit Jade to use in his contest against the other sons of Heavens. The geniuses from before aren't at a level that he can reach just based on a limited amount of SJ since there is a limit to the things he can buy from the Spirit Jade Hall based on his current authority. Knowledge of the past events was also needed in order to grasp opportunities while still in the Immortal World and build a foothold on them for the ascension to the Heavenly Realm.

Once ascended, it's not like you'll remain over there for good. At that point, one becomes something close to an internet cafe ower with two branches in different cities, but with no staff. So you have to travel between the two to maintain your income. For example, the maximum amount of 40 sect skills one could learn. There are no sects established in the Heavenly Realm since its a newly opened world and at the same time, 300 years aren't sufficient to both cultivate until the Nihility realm (at the bare minimum) and travel the Immortal World in search of the sects that would give you the respective skills.

Taking into consideration that each sect belongs to a different rank, the skills and their tiers are also different. For example, Herman didn't plan to learn any other sect skills for now until he broke into the Nascent Soul realm and can join a Yellow-ranked sect. Learning tier 3 skills similar to the ones he bought as a 'whale' was much more worthwhile than bothering with inferior ones such as what Basic and Junior-rank sects had.

As for why Nihility, that's because that's the minimum requirement in order to survive the long-range teleportation to the Heavenly Realm, as well as the minimum requirement to join tier 4 Mystic-rank sects and gain their skills as well.

That was the plan in order to accumulate more attributes at least. Now that the System is upgrading and his knowledge of the past changed, how will he compete with those that advantages much more unfair than his?

There was one fine example of such a specimen that had a ridiculously strong body due to his bloodline, was the crown prince of a huge world, and was a genius in cultivation. Dragity was once such a monster, born into a primordial world similar to Earth and going through the same process as Herman. The only difference was his dragon bloodline flowing through his veins which after spending very little time cultivation would reach a level that could make even elders of the Immortal World cry in shame. Did Herman had a chance competing with him because he had Spirit Jades? Nope! As the crown prince of a vast world, the resources at his disposal were so exaggerated that the term 'killer-whale' couldn't even describe him anymore. Even LinkWill was still struggling against him in the past until the very moment that Herman died and was reborn. So, what was left? Cultivation speed? Don't even dream of it. Dragity had a Body of Blessings, ensuring that his cultivation speed was at least 100% faster than the normal genius cultivator, nevermind when he could resonate his dragon bloodline with his blessing and go even beyond that.

"And if that's still not sufficient, that horrifying bastard went around the Immortal World and subjugated cultivators that had a draconic lineage. With the forces he amassed he would've been able to enslave the Immortal World for certain if not for the Heavenly Realms and their intervention. Honestly speaking, due to his immense potential, not even the administrators wanted to get on his bad side. But now, the events from my past changed and you want me to face scary bastards like that without even my previous knowledge?"

If one is to go even further, the main reason behind the System's upgrade was the increase in difficulty for the participants and it realizing that it's not properly equipped to help them survive in such dire conditions. So it would take 24 hours to divert resources and prepare a good support system for the participants in the race for Heavens. But that was none of Herman's concerns. His major problem were the names that popped up in his '20 Worlds Tour'.

This challenge that the previous cultivators set up for the ones daring to brave their sealed realms was one that would increase in its danger factor as one climbed higher. If one needed only 1000 attribute points in his main attributes to survive in the first realm, they would (unfortunately) find out that the next realm had monsters or native cultivators even more powerful than before, continuing this trend until reaching the last and final world which is always called the Mount of Immortals for every challenger.

He knew for a fact that the indigenous population of the Mount of Immortals was at the very least at the Nihility realm, with their attributes ranging from 20.000 to 50.000 in each one of their main attributes. Not only that but if you're unlucky to meet a fallen immortal or a dragon that had a ridiculous amount of spells and skills in their repertoire, you could just hand them your sword after placing it at your neck and asking them nicely to send you off.

"Not to mention that I had the shitty luck of getting five 'big names'. Why the hell is my luck so rotten these days?"

The realms were separated in Herman's previous life depending on their difficulties. There were small, normal, and big names, depending on the challenge difficulty. For example, the Westmount was a clear example of a 'small name' since at least 50% of the participants would challenge this realm as their first. But then, there were 'big names'. These were world or realms belonging to the ancient era of cultivation, realms that even at the same level of cultivation imposed by the System were at least five times more difficult to challenge because of various reasons. Furthermore, it was known that every world with a saint beast in its name or the word 'god' or 'goddess' would be at the very top of these 'big names' in terms of difficulty.

Herman's eyes were watering after remembering at least five such names with the words 'dragon', 'phoenix', and 'goddess' in their titles.

[Oy! What did you do again!?](Celeste)

"..."

Hearing the reproach in her voice and seeing such a condemning gaze, as if she was staring at the most heinous criminal this world has ever seen, he felt perplexed.

"What makes you think I did something again!? How come you're looking at me as if I always start some trouble?"

[...](Celeste)

Seeing her eyebrows rasing and remembering the scenes he caused ever since he returned to the Immortal World, he couldn't help but gulp and turn away in embarrassment. She wasn't wrong... When reviewing his past actions, it does look like he's a troublemaker.

"Fine, fine! Nothing much. As you know, I broke into the Golden Core Realm and I qualify to challenge the 20 realms in order to get the qualifications to attend the test posed by Heaven's Gate. The rest, you can imagine from the System's announcement."

[That's what I'm saying, you dimwit! Why didn't you ask the System to not reveal your name? Do you think it's good that the entire world knows of you? You're not even worth to be called a 'bug' in the eye of a cultivator such as myself. A sneeze would be sufficient to turn you into dust! If such cultivators decide to get rid of you since you might pose a threat to their plans of advancing their own influence into the Heavenly Realm, what the hell are you going to do!?](Celeste)

"..."

She had a point and it wasn't that he didn't consider it, he just needed the Reputation. With his current gear and attributes, he could challenge up to the fifth world (the Dried-up River) before his weapons wouldn't be able to put a scratch on the monsters in these realms. So he needed better armor and a proper spear or sword. With them being acquired only through Reputation, he didn't have a choice in the matter and could only resort to having his name spread in the entire Immortal World as a shortcut.

Remembering that he could now hire such a blacksmith apprentice, he looked at Celeste with hunger in his eyes.

"Did you find a good seed for the blacksmith position?"

[Hmpf! I did. He's already studying under a master as we speak.](Celeste)

"Great! System, I want to purchase the 'Yearly Gift'."

[*Clicks tongue* Spindrift!](Celeste)

He agreed with her, but there wasn't any time to waste. Not to mention that there were some goodies in there that would benefit him as well.

Acknowledged!

Please confirm the purchase!

The Yearly giftpack would cost a total of 10 Spirit Jades.

Proceed?

Yes / No

"Yes!"

Congratulations on your purchase!

The following have been deposited in your inventory:

*5.000 Wood Essence

*5.000 Iron Essence

*10 Beast Int. Pill

*200 Reputation Tokes (x1)

* 50 x Refining Notes

* 50 x Blacksmithing Notes

* 4 x Marrow-cleansing Dew

Herman was thrilled to see these resources. He couldn't gain them often and only three among them were important to the current him. The notes and the Beast Pills!

"Here, Celeste! Give these notes to our two apprentices. By studying them they should improve quite a bit."

[*Sigh* The wealthy are quite enviable... Rich man, do you plan to marry soon?](Celeste)

"For you, I would go as far as turning to monogamy."

[Hmpf! Like there would be anyone to believe such a lie...](Celeste)

Seeing such a rare moment where she would actually tease him, he decided to throw a little caution to the wind. Who knows... maybe in the future...

Anyway, seeing Celeste leaving just as abruptly as she appeared, he thought back to the three important items. First of all, the notes that the System provided for the 10 Spirit Jades he spent were notes belonging to Master-level craftsmen. By studying them, the apprentices could gain 50 experience points in their craft over the course of a week. That was beyond amazing since usually, it takes a couple of years to gain that level of enlightenment.

Secondly and more importantly, the Beast Pills were a nutrient so highly sought after in the early stages, that Herman couldn't help but jump in joy. Each one of these small brown pills could give him a whopping 20.000 pure Cultivation Base once digested. It would take him a week to do so, but during that time he would be able to also passively cultivate as well, so one could easily imagine why they were - in the eyes of the cultivators - sweet, sweet candy.

Immediately taking one out from his inventory and popping it into his mouth, Herman enjoyed the aftertaste and started pondering about his next step. The cultivation world was quiet in his previous life for the first 50 years without any major events happening. He couldn't say for sure that it would remain so this time around as well, but at least, he was prepared for the worst.

"Let's see... As for grabbing opportunities... there are none that I can think of. There are some locations for some ancient weapons which qualify as Level 5, but if I am to take them away, I would do a disservice to their actual future owners. I can't exactly fight off the invading Void Creatures on my own, so it would be for the best not to touch the lifeline of others. As for treasure locations in the 20 worlds I'm going to explore, nothing comes to mind... F*cking hell! So there really isn't anything I can gain, huh?"

Without bothering with such a depressing subject even for a second more, he started to go through the things he now had access to since he reached a higher cultivation realm. First, there were the second levels of the Treasure Hall and the Sutras Hall that have finally been opened to him. From there he could gain some extra attributes through the purchase of pill formulae at Level 2, the Spirit into Body skill that was extremely useful for calibrating his senses now that he broke through and there's quite the dissonance between his attributes and his soul, as well as the many new sutras available for purchase.

Unlike the first floor, the second one provided both skills that were at tier 2 (their cost was 4.990 Spirit Stones each) and also tier 3 skills that he very much sought after (each one costing 30.000 Spirit Stones). Barely able to put aside his desire to go on a shopping spree once more, he went through the System interface until he found it: the Beast Challenge interface.

Checking his current condition, he began stretching for a while, after which he inspected the status of his weapon. The Clouding: Thundering Sword was still in good condition, so he nodded and requested loudly.

"System, I want to use up my yearly entries to the Beast Sealing realm."

Acknowledged!

Verifying if the user's cultivation realm meets the minimum standard... affirmative!

Searching for an unstable array that requires reinforcement... location found!

Teleporting the user to the location!

He instantly vanished from his Dwelling and found himself standing on a plateau, surrounded by 18 mountain peaks. Under his feet, an immense sealing array was painted on the ground using Spiritual, Primordial, and Immortal Qi. This array was probably used to suppress a monster at the level of a calamity in this world. Its cultivation level should be at least at the Golden Immortal Level judging by the patterns of the array.

Opening the System's interface, the Beast Sealing realm experienced some changes and now held more information.

Monster sealed: Qiongqi

Description: nicknamed 'Calamity of Heaven's Punishment', this beast has terrorized this realm for thousands of years until Immortals had to interfere before the world was destroyed. The Qiongqi destroyed 253 countries and ravaged four continents until it was finally caught and sealed away.

Current sealing power: 3 years left.

Available to challenge: Level 1 Qi Gathering Avatar

Rewards for successful sealing: +5 years worth of sealing power

Rewards for the user: 20 x 1 Life Essence Pills, 4 Beast Nucleus, 3 Beast True Pills

Herman's eyes turned red with greed once he saw the rewards. Leaving aside the Life Essence pills, the Beast Nucleus was a most important currency method that would allow him to soar rather quickly. As for the reason why... he could use it to exchange for more Beast Pills and Beast True Pills. Accessing the shop within the Beast Sealing realm's interface, he found the 'candies' that would make even the calmest of cultivators droll at their sight.

There were eight types of items available for exchange: Superior Booze (that one could get only from the alliance shop in exchange for Merits, from events or by exchanging Spirit Jades for them), a Mountain Shifter talisman (one could use it to relocate their sect in times of danger or if they just found a location with a better Qi density), Marrow-cleansing Dew, Soul-forging Dew (could increase the strength of one's soul by quite a bit and was a welcomed resource once one reached the Soul Wandering realm), the Beast Int. Pill (provides 20.000 Cultivation Base), the Beast True Pill (provides 80.000 Cultivation base), the wonderful Beast Gold Core (provides 250.000 Cultivation Base and further refines your own Golden Core) and finally, Theory books, Story books, Experience books, and other collection series that would be available for use after reaching the Ensoulment realm (just like the ones he gained as a reward for spending SJ, they provide different amounts of Cultivation Base and can be continuously researched to further gain more enlightenment).

Obviously, Herman's interest was in the Beast Pills, more specifically, the Beast Gold Cores. The exchange ratio wasn't very friendly though... just a measly Beast Int. Pill was worth 5 Beast Nucleus, going up to 10 per piece for the Beast True Pills and finally, an exorbitant amount of 20 pieces for just one Beast Golden Core.

One could hunt a beast that already formed its Golden Core on his own, but without knowing how to kill it without damaging its core and how to refine it afterward... it was a useless endeavor.

"There's no free lunch in this world... Anyway, the Level 1 avatar is not very strong from what I remember. System, bring the Level 1 Qiongqi avatar's attribute page please."

Looking through it, he saw just as he expected the ridiculously unbalanced stats that this monster had. Only at Level 1, its avatar had 1.000 points in Life Essence, 400 in Vitality, 500 in Strength, and Dexterity. For a normal Gold Core cultivator, it was barely within the range of what they could handle. In a fight, the attributes are important, but the fighting experience of the two parties is even more so.

And even if it had its strength suppressed, this was a Golden Immortal saint beast that managed to wreak havoc in this world for thousands of years before it was finally sealed. Who knows how many other beasts and cultivators had it fought back in its prime in order to climb that high. How can its fighting experience be anything but horrendously strong?

But Herman wasn't a pushover either and with his over-the-top attributes, the Level 1 avatar wouldn't be able to even scratch his skin, much less pose a threat to his life.

"That's why let's use the first one to test the waters and figure out its battle strategy. System, I want to challenge the Level 1 Qi Gathering Avatar!"

Acknowledged!

User, please get ready for combat!

A small fraction of the beast's power has been unsealed!

Licking his lips and cracking his neck, Herman looked at the misty Qi gathering in front of him with a calm, but greedy expression.

"Now then, shall we hunt for a bit?"