System, Are You Doing This on Purpose

Wang Hao was in excellent spirits as he walked down from Tianxu Peak.

How good were his spirits? So good that he was even humming a tune. It was a folk ditty from Great Xia, about a poor kid who swindled a wealthy landlord out of three mines. If Wei Zhongxian had been by his side, he would have reminded him expressionlessly—Your Majesty, you are a Martial God now, please mind your image.

But Wei Zhongxian wasn't around.

The fifteen Imperial Flight guards and the ten peerless prodigies had all withdrawn to the Reception City. On the hundred-mile mountain path from Tianxu Peak to the base, only he walked alone. Oh, and there were also the countless observing cultivators scattered across the mountainside, scared out of their wits by the heavenly tribulation. Seeing him approach, they cleared a path in unison, their eyes all conveying the same message—how is this madman still alive?

Wang Hao smiled and nodded at every person who made way for him, his expression as warm as a spring breeze, which only made those people widen the path even further.

When he reached the mountainside, a thought suddenly struck him.

Although the heavenly tribulation had flattened a thousand zhang off Tianxu Peak's summit, the base of the Kunlun Stele remained. It was a relic left by the first-generation Martial God ten thousand years ago. Even though it had shattered into four pieces, the Dao resonance on the stele's foundation was still thick enough to almost solidify. The system had said that special locations could be used for check-ins, and the rewards would be related to the location.

For a special location as significant as the Kunlun Stele, even if it was shattered, the check-in reward should still be available, right?

He turned around and started walking back.

The cultivators hiding along the path saw him return and their faces turned pale with fear.

"He's going back again?"

"Tianxu Peak is already flattened, what else does he want to destroy?"

"Don't look, don't look, get out of here. This guy is a walking disaster."

Wang Hao paid them no mind and walked all the way back to the ruins of Tianxu Peak. The magma had already cooled, covering the entire summit platform in black-grey volcanic rock that crunched under his feet. The base of the Kunlun Stele was embedded at an angle in the cooled magma, faint strands of lightning still crackling from the fissures in the stele with soft popping sounds.

He walked up to the stele base and pressed his hand against the icy cold stone surface.

The system's icy voice rang in his mind.

[Detected: Host has broken through to the Martial God realm. Check-in system is undergoing a version update.]

Wang Hao was taken aback. A version update? The system could do that?

[Update complete.]

[Current host cultivation level: Early-stage Martial God.]

[Check-in rule change: Martial God realm check-ins are no longer restricted to fixed locations. The host may check in at any location that retains sufficient Dao resonance. The higher the concentration of Dao resonance, the richer the check-in reward. The daily check-in limit has been removed. However, the same location can only be checked in once, and the Dao resonance concentration must meet the system's requirement—Martial God realm Dao resonance.]

Wang Hao's eyes lit up.

Unlimited check-ins? As long as he changed locations with sufficient Martial God realm Dao resonance, he could check in again? This meant he could exploit resources everywhere.

"System, why didn't you tell me this upgrade existed before?"

[The host had not reached the Martial God realm before; thus, the update was unavailable.]

"Fine." Wang Hao couldn't be bothered to argue. "Then I'll check in here. The Kunlun Stele, a relic left by the first-generation Martial God ten thousand years ago. The Dao resonance concentration should be high enough, right?"

[Check-in location: Kunlun Tianxu Peak · Kunlun Stele Ruins]

[Dao resonance concentration: Martial God realm peak level]

[Generating check-in reward...]

Wang Hao waited expectantly. A Dao resonance concentration at the peak level of the Martial God realm should at least yield something decent, right? A Heaven-ranked cultivation method? An ancient divine weapon? Another projection of the Thunder Emperor?

[Check-in reward: Martial God Barrier-Breaking Pill x3]

Wang Hao's smile froze on his face.

He looked down at the three pills that had materialized in his hand—swirling with three colors, dense with Dao resonance, identical to the Martial God Barrier-Breaking Pill he had swallowed earlier. Same pattern, same fragrance. The only difference was that the one he ate had nine-colored light. Now that he was already a Martial God, the system had casually given him three more. Wasn't this a white elephant?

Three pills.

Three pills!

"System." Wang Hao's voice was terrifyingly calm, like the sea before a storm. "I nearly died. I set up an elaborate scheme in Reception City, was besieged by eight Martial Gods and Demon Gods on Tianxu Peak, and only broke through to Martial God after swallowing a single Martial God Barrier-Breaking Pill. Now that I'm already a Martial God, you're telling me I got three more?"

[Yes.]

"I almost got struck to death by lightning to break through."

[The host did experience considerable risk.]

"I fought a great battle against eight Martial God realm beings to break through."

[The host's battle scene has been recorded.]

"And now you just casually hand me three Martial God Barrier-Breaking Pills that I can't even use myself?"

The system paused for a beat, then answered in a businesslike tone: [The check-in reward is jointly determined by Dao resonance concentration and the Heavenly Dao's rules. The system does not possess subjective intervention capabilities. If the host is dissatisfied with the reward, they may proceed to other locations with remaining Dao resonance to check in.]

Wang Hao took a deep breath and carefully tucked the three Martial God Barrier-Breaking Pills into his sleeve. Even though he cursed the system ten thousand times in his mind, his reason told him—the value of these three pills, despite being of lower quality than the one he took, still had their uses.

A single Martial God Barrier-Breaking Pill could forge a Martial God. Three pills meant three Martial Gods.

The Eastern Wasteland currently only had him as a Martial God. With these three pills, he could theoretically cultivate three more. A Great Xia with four Martial Gods sitting at its helm would be a top-tier superpower even on the world stage. Of course, the prerequisite was finding three Imperial Flight cultivators at the peak who were trustworthy enough to take them. An ordinary person consuming these couldn't even survive the heavenly tribulation.

"System, what's the quality of these three pills? Any side effects?"

[Martial God Barrier-Breaking Pill (Lower Grade): 60% purity. No side effects whatsoever. Ingestion grants a 60% chance of breaking through to the Martial God realm, and the intensity of the heavenly tribulation is reduced by 30% compared to a natural breakthrough. Different in quality from the one the host swallowed.]

Wang Hao's eyelid twitched.

Reduced by 30%?

The heavenly tribulation he endured had flattened a thousand zhang off Tianxu Peak, severely wounded eight transcendent beings, and rained down nine-colored heavenly thunder along with transparent destructive lightning. He thought he was going to die right there. And now the system was telling him—the one you ate was top-grade, with the full force of the tribulation; the ones the system gave you were only 60% effective, with the tribulation discounted by 30%.

"So, basically, all the suffering I went through was for nothing?"

[From the perspective of the outcome, the host tempered the Dao Mark of Annihilation and unlocked the ninth floor of the Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Tower under the full-force tribulation. If the host had taken the system's pill and the tribulation intensity were reduced by 30%, the tempering effect would have been correspondingly reduced. Whether this can be defined as 'suffering for nothing' depends on one's point of view.]

Wang Hao was silent for a moment.

"System, your way of comforting people is very... unique."

[I am merely stating the facts.]

Wang Hao put away the three pills, took another look around the Kunlun Stele ruins, confirmed there were no other places to check in, and then finally turned to head down the mountain. This time, he was truly leaving. His steps were light, and his mind was already busy calculating how to use these three pills.

One for his great-grandfather, Wang Wudi—that was for certain. His great-grandfather had been stuck at the peak of Imperial Flight for decades, his accumulation already complete, only lacking that final push. With the help of the Martial God Barrier-Breaking Pill, breaking through to the Martial God realm would be as good as done.

The remaining two pills—should one be kept for the imperial grandfather? No. The imperial grandfather was still holding the line in Daxia, so they couldn’t spare him lightly. Besides, his cultivation was only at the ninth layer of the Imperial Flight Realm, still shy of the peak. Taking the pill now would be a waste. The other one… better hold onto it for now. The Eastern Wastelands urgently needed top-tier combat power; these pills weren’t something to give away casually. After returning, he would check the cultivation progress of the thirty Imperial Flight Realm elders and the ten prodigies. Both Xiao Chen and Ye Guyun had a good chance of reaching the Imperial Flight Realm’s peak within ten years. He’d decide then.

As he calculated and walked down the mountain, dusk had settled by the time he reached the base. The lingering glow of the setting sun painted the snow-capped peaks of the Kunlun Mountain Range, dyeing the vast glaciers in a blaze of gold and red. The silhouette of Reception City emerged faintly in the twilight, and the black dragon banner atop its walls fluttered noisily in the evening wind.

Standing at the foot of the mountain, Wang Hao gazed at that black dragon banner and suddenly felt that everything had been worth it.

The system had been a pain, sure. But now he was a Martial God. A true Martial God. The feeling of those nine heavenly thunderbolts striking his body, the agony of the Dao of Annihilation pattern condensing in his dantian, the despair of teetering on the edge of life and death—they were all real.

And because they were real, he could stand firm.

He strode toward Reception City.

The city gates were wide open. Seventy thousand troops were arrayed outside, a vast dark sea stretching endlessly, banners blotting out the sun. Wang Wudi stood at the very front of the formation, still dusting off travel grime—clearly, he had been standing on the city walls all day. When he spotted Wang Hao’s figure at the end of the official road, this old man, who had lived over six hundred years, blinked red-rimmed eyes and strode forward to meet him.

“Great-grandson!”

Wang Hao steadied Wang Wudi and said with a smile, “Great-grandfather, I’m fine.”

Wang Wudi looked Wang Hao up and down, sensing the unfathomable aura radiating from him. His lips trembled twice. “Martial God… you’ve truly become a Martial God… The Wang family finally has a Martial God…”

“More than one,” Wang Hao said in a low voice, pulling out a tri-colored swirling pill from his sleeve and pressing it into Wang Wudi’s hand. “Great-grandfather, this is the Martial God Breakthrough Pill. Find a quiet place, and I’ll help you cross your tribulation.”

Wang Wudi stared at the pill in his hand, frozen as if struck by lightning.

The tri-colored light swirled in his calloused palm, the mist of Dao lingering on the pill’s surface twisting the air around it. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Only turbid old tears slid down the lined grooves of his face, dripping onto the pill, where they were instantly vaporized by the nine-colored light into a thin white mist.

He had been stuck at the peak of the Imperial Flight Realm for a full sixty years.

Sixty years. An entire cycle of sixty.

He had watched his son Wang Jingyuan step into the Imperial Flight Realm, watched his grandson—Wang Hao’s father—that worthless wretch, never mind him—and had watched his great-grandson, Wang Hao, grow from a swaddling infant into the emperor of the Eastern Wastelands. He had once thought his journey was over—Imperial Flight Realm peak, half-step Martial God, always that half-step away.

Countless times, he had charged at that threshold. Every time he failed, and every time he came closer to death than before. The last attempt was forty years ago. He had nearly fallen into demonic possession, and Old Master Ren had used half his own life to drag him back from the gates of hell. After that, he gave up hope. He guarded the ancestral tomb with a settled heart and stopped dreaming of becoming a Martial God.

But now, his great-grandson had shoved a Martial God Breakthrough Pill into his hand, and that settled heart was anything but settled now.

“Great-grandfather, don’t cry,” Wang Hao said, patting his shoulder. “Once you break through, the two of us will be the Twin Martial Gods of the Eastern Wastelands. Then you can cry as long as you want—I’ll set up a stage for you, and the entire army can watch.”

Wang Wudi burst into laughter through his tears, wiped his face, and closed his fist tightly around the pill.

“You rascal. Even as a Martial God, you still don’t act your age.”

“What use is acting my age?” Wang Hao grinned. “Can it feed me or pay for spirit stones? Come on, Great-grandfather, let’s find a secluded spot. My Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Tower will help you shoulder the tribulation. Easy and breezy.”

The two departed the army, one after the other, flying toward the barren mountains north of Reception City. Wang Wudi glanced back at the massed troops at the city gate and lowered his voice. “Great-grandson, these pills… are there any more?”

“There are,” Wang Hao didn’t hide it. “Three total. One is for you. I’m keeping the other two for now.”

Wang Wudi gasped sharply.

Three Martial God Breakthrough Pills meant three Martial Gods. That was a number capable of reshaping the world’s balance. He was silent for a long time before murmuring, “Great-grandson, this must never leak out. If news of three Martial God Breakthrough Pills spreads, the Central Plains and the Demon Clan will stop at nothing to seize them.”

“I know,” Wang Hao nodded. “That’s why you’re the only one I’ve told.”