The System Transcends, the True Immortal Descends

The Patriarch’s Hall of the Dark Immortal Sect.

It lay in the deepest part of the Ancestral Court.

The great hall was not particularly imposing.

There were no stairs stretching ten thousand zhang into the heavens.

No pillars forged from immortal gold.

Not even the glow of a formation.

It simply rested in silence upon a black wasteland.

The hall doors were tightly shut.

A stone stele stood before them.

The passage of time had eroded the inscription until the characters were no longer legible.

Yet when Wang Hao stood before the hall, he could still sense an incredibly ancient aura.

It was not the might of a Half-Immortal.

Nor was it the Dao-rhyme of a Martial God.

It was more like the breath of an existence that had long since transcended the mortal world—a breath left behind countless ages ago.

The Taiyin Old Matriarch and the others stood a hundred li away.

None of them dared approach.

Their injuries were far too severe.

No one knew what lay within the Patriarch’s Hall, or what dangers it might conceal.

Yet the Demon Lord had been brought here under restraint.

When he saw the Patriarch’s Hall, a glimmer of light reignited in his originally lifeless eyes.

“Release me.”

The Demon Lord rasped:

“This is where the Dark Immortal Sect Patriarch lies in eternal slumber.”

“Any mortal who trespasses will suffer immortal punishment!”

Wang Hao stopped walking.

“Slumber?”

“Didn’t you say your patriarch was dead?”

The Demon Lord replied coldly:

“How could a mere mortal fathom the affairs of an immortal?”

“If you withdraw now, return all the Ancestral Court’s property, and cripple your own cultivation, I may be willing to plead with the patriarch on your behalf.”

Wang Hao pondered this for a moment.

“You mean…”

“After I beat you into this state, you still want to negotiate terms with me?”

The Demon Lord’s expression darkened.

“You have no idea what you are facing.”

Wang Hao nodded.

“That’s true. I don’t.”

“That’s why I brought you here.”

“If there’s any danger inside, I’ll throw you in first.”

The Demon Lord fell silent.

Wang Hao turned his gaze toward the Patriarch’s Hall.

The system notification remained in his mind.

[Special Sign-In Location: Patriarch’s Hall of the Dark Immortal Sect.]

[Would you like to sign in?]

Wang Hao did not answer immediately.

Ever since he had obtained the Sign-In Intelligence System, every special sign-in location had represented an opportunity.

At the same time, it also represented danger.

Signing in would grant him an item.

The intelligence he received would update according to the sign-in location.

The more extraordinary the location, the more astonishing the reward.

And the secrets indicated by that intelligence would be all the more terrifying.

The Patriarch’s Hall before him was very likely the highest-level sign-in location Wang Hao had ever encountered.

Wang Hao turned his head toward the New Emperor Sword.

“You go in and take a look.”

The excitement on the New Emperor Sword’s face vanished instantly.

“Master…”

“I’m a sword.”

“A sword should be held in its master’s hand.”

Wang Hao replied:

“Didn’t you just say that you loved fighting?”

The New Emperor Sword said solemnly:

“Loving battle doesn’t mean I love throwing my life away.”

“Those are two different things.”

Wang Hao stared at it.

The New Emperor Sword blinked.

A moment later, it resigned itself to its fate, transformed back into a sword, and slowly flew toward the hall doors.

“Master…”

“If I don’t make it back, you have to erect a monument for me.”

“Write on it: First Loyal Sword of Great Xia.”

Wang Hao replied:

“Don’t worry.”

“I’ll write: Great Xia’s First Disposable Item.”

The New Emperor Sword tilted sideways in midair.

It nearly plunged into the ground.

“Master, I suddenly feel that there’s no danger inside.”

It flew to the front of the Patriarch’s Hall.

Then it lightly tapped the doors with its tip.

Creak.

The doors, which had been sealed for tens of thousands of years, opened just like that.

There was no immortal light.

No killing formation.

No tide of darkness rushing toward them.

The hall was completely empty.

There was only a stone statue with its back facing everyone.

The statue wore a loose black robe and looked up at a starry sky carved into the wall.

Before the statue sat an ancient lamp that had long since gone out.

Aside from that, there was nothing else.

The New Emperor Sword circled around the entrance twice.

“Master.”

“It’s safe.”

Wang Hao did not move.

“Go touch the statue.”

The New Emperor Sword immediately protested:

“Why does it have to be me again?”

“Because you can fight independently.”

“Can I apply to be downgraded now?”

“No.”

The New Emperor Sword flew toward the statue while cursing under its breath.

First, it poked the statue’s heel with its tip.

There was no reaction.

Then it circled around to the front and waved itself before the statue’s eyes.

Still, there was no reaction.

“It’s dead.”

“More accurately, it’s just an ordinary stone.”

Only then did Wang Hao step into the Patriarch’s Hall.

The Demon Lord was dragged along behind him by the contract chains.

When he saw the stone statue, his expression became extremely reverent.

He struggled to kneel on the ground.

“Disciple of the thirty-seventh generation of the Dark Immortal Sect, paying respects to Patriarch Xuanming.”

Xuanming.

Wang Hao committed the name to memory.

He walked before the statue of the patriarch.

The system notification sounded once more.

[The host has arrived at the core area of the sign-in location.]

[Would you like to sign in?]

Wang Hao answered silently in his mind:

“Sign in.”

The Patriarch’s Hall fell silent for a moment.

Then, a magnificent voice that only Wang Hao could hear rang out from the deepest part of his soul.

[Sign-in successful.]

[Congratulations, host. You have received a special reward: Tenth Realm of Martial Dao—Transcendence.]

Wang Hao’s pupils suddenly contracted.

The tenth realm of martial dao?

The entire martial cultivation system of the Nine Provinces consisted of only nine realms.

Skin Tempering.

Muscle Tempering.

Bone Tempering.

Organ Tempering.

Aperture Opening.

True Intent.

Astral Energy.

Skyfaring.

Martial God.

The Martial God realm was already the absolute pinnacle of the mortal world.

Above the Martial God realm lay the legendary immortal path.

The Half-Immortal the Demon Lord spoke of had forcibly condensed a Dao Fruit using immortal qi, stepping out of the mortal world with half a foot.

Yet the reward the system had given him was not the Half-Immortal realm.

It was the tenth realm of martial dao.

Transcendence!

In the next instant, a power beyond description appeared directly within Wang Hao’s body.

There was no infusion of spiritual energy.

No baptism by immortal light.

Nor was there any earth-shaking heavenly tribulation.

Wang Hao merely heard a soft sound come from within his body.

It was like a chain that had bound all living beings for countless ages had been gently unlocked.

Click.

The first shackle shattered.

Wang Hao’s aura, originally at the second layer of the Martial God realm, surged violently.

Third layer of the Martial God realm.

Fourth layer.

Fifth layer.

His cultivation continued to rise.

Yet this ascent was not merely an accumulation of true essence.

It was a fundamental transformation of his level of existence.

Martial Gods cultivated the laws of Heaven and Earth.

Transcendence, however, meant breaking free from those very laws.

The space around Wang Hao began to blur.

He was clearly standing within the Patriarch’s Hall.

Yet the Taiyin Old Matriarch and the others suddenly found themselves unable to sense his existence.

Their eyes could still see him.

But their divine senses encountered nothing but emptiness.

The Yellow Springs Ancestor’s expression changed drastically.

“What’s happening?”

“Wang Hao’s aura has vanished!”

The Sword Ruins powerhouse abruptly raised his head.

His remaining hand pressed against his knee.

Countless sword intents throughout Heaven and Earth began to hum softly at that very moment.

It was not fear.

They were paying homage to a martial path that had never appeared before.

The Demon Lord also sensed the change.

He stared at Wang Hao.

For the first time, genuine terror appeared in his eyes.

“Impossible…”

“This is…”

“Complete martial transcendence?”

Wang Hao did not answer.

He could no longer hear the voices of the outside world.

At that moment, his consciousness arrived in a boundless darkness.

Beneath his feet lay nine vast and magnificent worlds.

On the first level, flesh was like skin, and all living beings tempered their skin.

On the second level, muscles were like mountains, and all things tempered their muscles.

On the third level, white bones supported the heavens.

On the fourth level, the five organs transformed into gods.

On the fifth level, countless apertures shone like stars.

On the sixth level, martial true intent condensed into the myriad phenomena of Heaven and Earth.

On the seventh level, astral energy transformed into an ocean.

On the eighth level, one soared through the skies.

On the ninth level, one Martial God after another stood atop the ultimate peaks of mountains and rivers.

Nine levels of Heaven and Earth.

That was the martial path of the Nine Realms.

Everyone believed that the ninth level was the end.

But Wang Hao raised his head.

Above the Nine Heavens and Earth, there was another expanse of void that was bound by no laws.

There was no road there.

No steps.

Not even a place to set foot.

A half-immortal was one who forcibly leapt from the Ninth Layer toward the Immortal Gate.

Half successful, half failed.

Thus, they were rejected by both Heaven and Earth and the Immortal Dao.

Their Dao Fruit was flawed.

Their lifespan was finite.

Transcendence, however, was different.

Transcendence did not mean leaping toward the Immortal Gate.

It meant using oneself as the road and stepping beyond the Tenth Layer.

“So that’s how it is.”

Wang Hao spoke softly.

He took a step forward.

There was no road beneath his feet.

Yet the instant his foot came down, a brand-new golden avenue condensed into existence.

Imperial Dao laws.

The fortune of the Nine Provinces.

The willpower of the countless people.

Heaven-Opening Sword Intent.

Heaven-Imprisoning Palm Force.

Everything Wang Hao had accumulated along the way—every act of slaughter, every scheme, every burden he had shouldered, and every shameless deed—was transformed into a part of the Great Dao.

This path belonged neither to the Immortals nor to Heaven and Earth.

It belonged to Wang Hao alone.

Boom!

The Tenth Layer of Heaven and Earth was born out of thin air.

At that moment, Wang Hao’s Martial God aura reached its peak.

Then—

It vanished completely.

Outside the Ancestral Hall.

The sky suddenly became incomparably clear.

Across the Nine Provinces, every martial artist heard a thunderous roar originating from the source of the Martial Dao.

The blood and qi within martial artists of the Skin Tempering Realm began to surge.

The bones of those in the Bone Tempering Realm rang in unison.

For martial artists in the Meridian Opening Realm, all one hundred and eight acupoints lit up simultaneously.

Experts of the True Intent, Astral Qi, and Sky-Soaring Realms all turned involuntarily toward Black Heaven City.

Even the Martial Gods who had been in seclusion for a thousand years opened their eyes at that moment.

They felt it.

Above the Martial God Realm, a path that had never existed before had appeared.

Inside the Ancestral Hall.

Wang Hao opened his eyes once more.

His appearance had not changed.

Nor was his aura earth-shaking.

Yet when he stood there, the entire Ancestral Hall seemed separated from him by another world.

His life.

His soul.

His power.

None of them were any longer bound by the framework of the Martial Dao’s nine realms.

[Realm advancement complete.]

[Host’s current realm: Early Transcendence Realm.]

Wang Hao lowered his head and looked at his palm.

If he wished,

he could now suppress the Demon Lord, in his previous peak condition, with a single palm.

Not because he possessed more true essence,

but because their levels were different.

A half-immortal still borrowed the power of the Immortal Dao.

A Transcendence Realm expert, however, had already begun to control their own Great Dao.

Wang Hao’s feelings were complicated.

He had cultivated so painstakingly for so long.

He had fought countless bloody battles.

He had exhausted his wits to plunder resources.

Only to discover in the end—

the most useful cultivation method was still finding a place to check in.

Of course,

this also proved that hard work was useful.

If he had not worked hard to wipe out the Dark Immortal Sect,

how could he have found the Dark Immortal Sect Patriarch’s Ancestral Hall?

Having thought it through,

Wang Hao immediately felt perfectly at ease.

Ninety-nine percent of his success depended on hard work.

The system accounted for at most one percent.

It was just that this one percent was slightly more important.

The New Emperor Sword flew over to Wang Hao’s side.

It circled around him three times.

“Master.”

“Did you become stronger?”

Wang Hao nodded.

“Mm.”

“How much stronger?”

Wang Hao looked toward the Demon Lord, who was bound to the floor.

The Demon Lord instinctively retreated.

Wang Hao thought for a moment.

“If I fought him now, I probably wouldn’t need the Thunder Pagoda.”

The Demon Lord’s expression turned ugly.

The New Emperor Sword’s eyes lit up.

“Then can I level up too?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because you didn’t check in.”