That year, I harbored three parts malice and seven parts courage

As the remnant soul's voice faded, Su Ji felt an invisible force shroud his body. Even his nearly dried-up Dao Foundation felt a faint, almost imperceptible warmth.

Then, the voice exploded in his mind again with a single word.

"Fight!"

Su Ji almost choked.

What the...

You really aren't human, are you?

At least explain how to use this so-called inheritance!

You just throw a single word at me?

How am I supposed to comprehend that?

And "Fight"?

Su Ji checked his current state. "Running on fumes" wasn't enough to describe it.

In this condition, forget about fighting.

Even if Su Jiu were lying naked in front of him, he wouldn't have the strength to raise his spear.

However, the black water monsters controlled by Lord Anyang wouldn't give him time to think.

Amidst the roaring, the closest monster lunged, its foul-smelling claws aiming straight for his face.

Su Ji's eyelid twitched. Forcing out the very last wisp of spiritual energy, he dodged sideways with extreme difficulty and swung his sword, slicing the monster in two.

Finally...

The remnant soul's voice sounded again, unhurried, carrying the vicissitudes of someone who had seen through the world.

"The so-called Path to Immortality should be an endless pursuit."

"Yet, after spending half my life rushing about, I discovered that the word 'Limit' is written above every cultivation technique."

"Can you f..."

Su Ji was about to curse and tell him to get to the point when three more monsters closed in from different directions.

He gritted his teeth, rolling backward in a wretched manner, narrowly avoiding the attacks. Still, a tear was ripped into the sleeve of his left arm.

The remnant soul seemed oblivious to his predicament, continuing its self-absorbed lament.

"But I knew that was merely the limit of the techniques. I could not imprison myself within the ceiling of a cultivation method."

"I must go up! Forward! Ascend to the Zenith of Immortality!!!"

By the end, the voice rose sharply, carrying a madness that suggested one could not survive without obsession.

This manic emotion seemed to pierce through time and space, slamming hard against Su Ji's divine soul.

Su Ji's body suddenly froze.

Up...

Forward...

The so-called limits...

The so-called dead ends...

The so-called...

They are all excuses for the weak.

"That year."

"I harbored three parts malice, seven parts guts!"

"Exhausting every myriad change, surviving nine deaths in a hopeless situation."

"Burning the divine soul, fighting with every ounce of heart and spirit!"

"Abandoning life to face death, with no return, only then can this 'Momentum' be seized!"

"Entering a state of neither self nor other!"

The remnant soul's voice finally fell silent in Su Ji's mind.

A foul, gale-force wind hit him in the face as a monster opened its bloody maw, its sharp teeth barely grazing Su Ji's neck.

Su Ji stumbled, backhanding his Wind Chanting Sword into the monster's eye socket and borrowing the force to retreat rapidly.

He gasped violently for air; every breath pulled at his wounds, causing a stinging pain.

Just then.

A flood of complex information rushed into his sea of consciousness without warning.

[Zenith of Immortality]

[Heart-Battling Spirit]

The mysteries of these two inheritances were carved into his divine soul like a brand.

Su Ji was shaken, instantly understanding.

[Zenith of Immortality] spoke of a 'Momentum' where a dead end becomes a path; it was too profound and useless right now.

But this [Heart-Battling Spirit] was a life-gambling momentum of finding life in death.

Using the divine soul as a guide and burning out the Dao Foundation, one exchanges everything in a hopeless situation for a fleeting brilliance beyond limits.

However, after the Night King's thousands of improvements, the side effects of burning out were now negligible.

But to execute this momentum, there were two prerequisites.

First, one must be facing a battle of certain death.

Second, the caster must not harbor even a shred of fear towards death.

If there is even half a measure of cowardice, the 'Momentum' will collapse on the spot, causing a backlash.

Su Ji's face instantly fell.

Are you kidding me?

He was scared to death of dying.

Wait a minute...

Su Ji suddenly remembered something.

Didn't he... have a Destiny trait?

Su Ji's breath hitched.

A highly tempting thought grew wildly in his heart.

Is this... exploiting a bug?

As long as [Wind of Death] was still active, he essentially had a trump card of a second life.

So, whether his first life died or not...

Actually didn't matter?

Once this thought appeared, it could no longer be suppressed.

The retreat in Su Ji's eyes was instantly replaced by the look of a crazed gambler.

Watching the surging black tide approaching again, instead of backing away, he grinned.

On the high platform, Lord Anyang keenly noticed the change in Su Ji's expression.

He frowned slightly, a bad premonition rising in his heart.

This kid is at death's door, so why is he laughing?

The next moment, a scene unfolded that left him dumbfounded.

Facing the monster army capable of tearing even Golden Core cultivators to shreds.

Su Ji adopted a posture of heroic sacrifice.

"Fight!"

He shouted with full vigor at the endless tide of black thralls.

Su Ji closed his eyes.

He felt the nearly dried-up Dao Platform within him erupt with an unprecedented, brilliant light.

Moments later, he slowly opened his eyes.

His pupils were no longer their previous brownish-black but had turned into a dark gold, deep as the starry sky.

Foundation Establishment Level 1...

Foundation Establishment Level 2...

Foundation Establishment Level 5...

Great Circle of Foundation Establishment!

The bottleneck shattered instantly!

An aura far more powerful than before shot into the sky.

Golden Core!

In just a few breaths, Su Ji's cultivation base smashed through obstacles like bamboo, breaking directly through the shackles of Foundation Establishment. Unfortunately, he hadn't condensed a Golden Core, so he could only be considered in the Pseudo-Golden Core realm.

Furthermore, this momentum had not yet stopped!

Early Golden Core!

Mid Golden Core!

It wasn't until the peak of Late Golden Core that the surging momentum slowly ceased.

Feeling the unprecedented power within his body—power that felt like it could destroy heaven and earth—Su Ji himself felt a palpitation of fear.

"This... This is impossible!"

On the high platform, Lord Anyang let out a scream of absolute horror. The playful look on his face was long gone, replaced by panic...

What was he seeing?

A Foundation Establishment kid... closed his eyes, opened them, and instantly broke through to the Late Golden Core stage?

This completely exceeded his understanding.

Even the ancient great cultivator's inheritance he obtained wasn't this ridiculous!

He didn't know how much human blood he had consumed, turning himself into this inhuman monster, and it still took him over a year to forge a Late Golden Core.

His plea for the method that night was actually sincere.

Although the inheritance from the immortal's corpse was domineering...

It couldn't be shown off in front of people...

He wanted eternal life.

But he also wanted the admiration of thousands!

He wanted it all!

Wasn't power meant to satisfy one's inner desires?

There was no such thing as good or evil.

Once he attained the Dao and became an immortal, he would do some good deeds to make up for it.

Becoming an immortal praised by everyone—wouldn't that be nice?

When that time came, he would be good, and everyone would be good.

As for those who weren't good?

They were already dead; could they rise up and protest?