I Cultivated Too Long and Got Isekai’d Into a Game

Everyone was resting on the 25th floor, but Xu Tao was technically still doing something.

He sat at the very center of the hellish landscape, filled with precipitous rock formations and boiling magma. Eyes closed tight, breathing the air normally—cultivating like there was nothing wrong with the location.

Of course, only he could do this.

Even Zetian wasn't able to cultivate for long in this harsh environment. She gave up after just half an hour of joining Xu Tao. Yifa and the other disciples couldn't even last ten minutes before surrendering and returning to a cooler section of this hellscape.

"Hm?"

But just then, a familiar noise tickled his ears.

A short beep... The Lost System's notification sound.

Curious, Xu Tao halted his meditation and checked. Waving a hand, he disabled the silent mode, filling his view with a new notification.

[

New Quest Generated: Let's save the City!

Quest Details:

Due to the Little World Tree in your yard, the city that you've painstakingly made is currently under siege by a swarm of monsters. Although the defense is going well, who knows how long it will last? Return fast and protect your people!

(Time until defenses are breached: 5:04:33)

Quest Rewards:

Awakening of the Guardian Spirit of the World Tree

]

"...!"

Xu Tao stood up, half panicked. "The City is under attack!"

Although they did expect such things to happen... they hadn't predicted it would be to the degree that it'd be called a "monster swarm" by the system. Furthermore, since they were given a time limit, that meant Wu Zetian's Celestial Beasts wouldn't be able to handle all of the monsters.

And what was even more surprising was the cause of it. The Little World Tree seed he planted was actually the one driving the monsters to attack!

"If we don't return soon, we'll be...!"

However, there was one problem they had to face. Distance.

Currently, they were a few thousand kilometers away from the city. To return, they could only rely on Xu Tao's Thousand Li Step array, but even that couldn't send them back in one go. Taking into account the time he'd need to recover Qi, set up more arrays, and activate them... they'd need at least ten hours.

There's no way they could make it back in time!

Almost as if reading the situation, the Lost System suddenly appeared once again. A new popup appeared, showing him the way.

[Note: Clearing all 49 floors of the Tower of Broken Languages will give you access to the top floor, the 50th floor, containing a barely usable continent-wide Teleportation Array. I suggest completing the Tower Quest first, then returning using the array.]

"This..." Xu Tao gasped.

He had long thought the System no longer cared about him, but after such a long time, it gave him another clue! Just like during the first day he arrived in this world!

However, there was still one more problem to face.

'We only have five hours left before the city gets overrun by monsters. But to reach the 25th floor, we already spent over half a day. To reach the 49th floor...'

Taking into account the increasing difficulty with each new floor, the time they'd need to cover the last 24 floors would definitely be more than half a day.

"No choice...!" Xu Tao sighed. "We will need to speed through the trials!"

Xu Tao decided. It was no longer right for him to train everyone using the tower. Instead, he would work with all his strength and reach the top in the fastest time possible!

He stood up and formed a few hand seals, activating the Qi Thread Transmission technique once again. Then, using precise images, he relayed the fact that the city was in danger—creating an image of the city burning while being attacked by various desert monsters.

"No way! My family...!"

"Fuck?! What is this? Is this real?!"

"Oh no..."

Voices were raised, but nobody understood the contents. Their emotions were clear, though. Panic, fear, and impatience. Xu Tao felt the same, but his image was far from done.

In the next scene, he showed them the five-hour time limit and his plan to conquer the tower as fast as possible.

But for that to work, he needed a way to support other teams even if they got separated by force.

As such, Xu Tao didn't hesitate.

He grabbed his own hair tight and pulled—plucking a handful of black strands.

Then, he let the follicles fly toward each of the 49 other members, wrapping around their pinky fingers like some lucky charm. With this, even if they got separated, Xu Tao could support them using his Golden Core clones!

Of course, this clone technique was slightly different from the one he used during the maze. This one required a full strand of his hair, embedded with a fraction of his Qi and a wisp of his will, allowing it to display strength on par with the real body for a brief period.

Naturally, he needed to be careful with the timing of activation. Otherwise, he might go bald before they completed all 49 trials from replenishing his clones.

If push came to shove, he had the new bottle of Condensed True Qi that he hadn't used yet...

"Alright, everyone." He shouted, clearing his mind and focusing on one goal. "Let's all reach the top floor within the next few hours! Let's go!"

With his words as the signal, everyone began to move.

Following the path, they headed toward the stairs leading to the next floor. Right, stairs. It wasn't another portal, despite how this place looked like an alternate dimension.

With Xu Tao at the lead, they entered the 26th floor... only to be met with a giant monster in the distance.

"What...?"

They stood atop a steep cliff, overlooking the world. Checking their surroundings, they could hear the whispers of the wind, the scent of rotting leaves and dried earth tickled their noses, and the warmth of the gentle sun above. But that wasn't all.

"There's no barrier this time..." Xu Tao frowned, worried.

During floors 1 to 25, the space was always limited to a small area equivalent to one floor of the tower. However, this time, that wasn't the case.

Xu Tao couldn't feel the edge of the map. It was like they had entered a different world entirely, with no limit to where they could go.

But more than that, Xu Tao felt danger coming from the giant in the distance.

Using the trees as a scale—looking like ants below its feet—it should be at least a kilometer tall. But that wasn't all...

[World Devouring Cyclops, Lv. ???]

The name of the monster was in red and black, a defining characteristic of boss monsters. But its level wasn't displayed. As if Xu Tao was way too weak to even bother knowing its level. With or without knowledge of its level, one thing remained unchanged.

"That Cyclops is so powerful, we can't beat it..."