Five Tools

Although your true realm was that of a Martial Saint, due to the effect of "Eternal Half-Emperor," you were actually a Martial God.

Even so, the moment you set foot on the Path of Ascension, you felt a terrifying resistance that made your scalp tingle.

You felt as if you were standing before a wall of raging wind; if you relaxed even slightly, you would be blown away.

You channeled your martial arts to resist, your muscles exploding with power, your bones groaning like thunder.

At the same time, you had the Myriad Soul Banner release half of Yi Chengsheng and the other four.

The five evil ghosts had only their torsos outside the banner, half their bodies still inside, crowding the banner's surface, baring their teeth with ferocious faces.

"Chen Yi! Why the hell did you let your grandpas out?!"

They were quite cocky.

Since they were already dead and had no chance of breaking free under the pressure of the super-immortal artifact Myriad Soul Banner, they gave up and just coasted along.

When they realized you were walking the Path of Ascension, they immediately started to sneer and mock you.

"Finally made up your mind to walk it after fighting so hard to claim it, huh? Hah, we thought you grabbed it for the common good and weren't going to use it yourself!"

"Chen Yi! Not just anyone can make it through the Path of Ascension! With your baby-faced look, you won't even make it a hundred steps! Hahaha!"

"Aw, this Chen Yi's actually kinda nice, dragging us out just to watch him make a fool of himself, haha!"

Just as the five evil ghosts were chattering away, they heard a few crisp sounds of hammering.

"Clang!"

"Clang!"

"Clang!"

"What's that noise?"

"WHAM!!"

Chen Yi slammed his fist into Yi Chengsheng's face, twisting his features and scrambling his soul.

Heart of Steel stacks +1.

Next came the Eastern City Lord.

"WHAM!"

Heart of Steel stacks +1.

After punching each of the five once, you waited for a minute.

Then you continued stacking.

Although they didn't understand what you were doing, watching your body grow larger with each round of punches, Yi Chengsheng and the others easily figured out one thing:

You were keeping them alive to farm combat power.

Once the behind-the-scenes masterminds of the human realm, the five Martial God-level city lords of the Desolate Ancient Upper Realm, had become your tools—tool souls.

"Ah!! This is too much!!"

"You kill us! Now you humiliate us! Chen Yi!! I hate you!!"

"If anyone can take down Chen Yi, I'll be their slave for the rest of my next life!!"

You swept your cold gaze over the five evil ghosts on the banner.

"Stop your yapping. Get used to it quickly. You'll have plenty of 'uses' from now on."

What was worse than death was being used as a tool by your enemy even after you were dead.

The five city lords were in agony.

After breaking through to the Martial Saint realm, the maximum stacks of Heart of Steel reached 10,000 layers!

Once you finished stacking, your power surged dramatically, and your body swelled to hundreds of meters tall!

The resistance of the Path of Ascension weakened accordingly.

The ten-thousand-step human-world section of the Path of Ascension shrank instantly before your towering giant form.

With one giant stride, you covered a tenth of it.

This move stunned Hua Wuyan and Shen Yue into a daze.

Shen Yue: "So that's how it works…"

Hua Wuyan: "Chen Yi burst onto the scene and now ascends in a flash, like a mysterious shooting star. Honestly, I still don't know his true background."

With Martial God cultivation and ten thousand layers of Heart of Steel, the half of the Path of Ascension in the human realm was basically no pressure for you.

After a simple ten steps, you stood at the border where this other space met the human world.

It was hazy and dreamlike, both solid and illusory, exuding a captivating, enchanting aura.

You turned around to look back.

Standing atop the high heavens, the earth and sea looked like a magnificent painting, with the infinitely distant sky and azure waters serving as the exquisite white space of the artwork.

Your heart swelled with passion, your emotions mixed.

After one last glance, you turned and stepped toward the other end of the bridge.

You ascended!

...

...

...

Before you stretched an endless Great Wall, suspended in a space that was empty yet glowed with a faint golden light.

The wall wound and undulated, with beacon towers standing at intervals.

You looked behind you—what you saw wasn't the human world you'd just come from, but the same endless Great Wall.

"Where the hell did this dump me? I thought the human-world section was half the Path of Ascension? Turns out it was just the starting point?"

Now there was a problem in front of you.

Which way should you run?

After some thought, you decided to keep going forward, based on your original direction.

"Hmph, a mere Path of Ascension can't stop me! I'll FLY!"

You leaped up—and slammed headfirst into the ground.

"Ow! Can't fly here?!"

Inside the Myriad Soul Banner, the five city lords laughed heartily.

So Chen Yi dragged them out and shut them up with the iron fist of materialism.

Your trusty strategist, the Myriad Soul Banner, spoke with a bit of pessimism.

"Buddy, I've got a bad feeling about this place. Is this really the Path of Ascension? Are you sure you weren't scammed?"

"If you're asking that, it's like stepping out the door and then asking if you locked it—makes me start to wonder…"

You chose to trust the system.

If this weren't the Path of Ascension, how could the task of sending four people into it be completed?

The Demon Refining Pot was more optimistic.

"Master, don't listen to that evil artifact's nonsense! Hey, guess what? You've already ascended now! You're an immortal! This here is the Immortal Realm!"

Before setting off, you took out the Five Domain Sacred Elixir.

"Xiao Wu, your master needs you to shine."

"Mmm! Xiao Wu is ready! Master is going to the upper realm and will face more challenges! Let Xiao Wu strengthen you!"

The Five Domain Sacred Elixir's boost to a Martial Saint was negligible, almost nonexistent.

But the twenty years of lifespan it granted were solid—and with the amplification from "Bad News Spreads Through the Martial Arts Circle," that became forty years!

"Xiao Wu, we'll meet again."

"Xiao Wu believes in Master!"

You swallowed the Five Domain Sacred Elixir. Your theoretical lifespan increased by forty years, now at 440 years.

You began your long journey on the Path of Ascension.

Baiyun County, Chen Family Courtyard.

Moonlight like water.

Chen Yi sat in the yard, watching the simulated text flicker as he held up the Five Domain Sacred Elixir.

"Xiao Wu, we meet again."

Although Xiao Wu didn't know what was happening or why her master was suddenly greeting her, just seeing him made her happy.

"Mhm! Good evening, Master! Why aren't you sleeping yet? Is it because masters like you, Martial Gods, don't need sleep anymore?"

Chen Yi chuckled.

"Master isn't sleeping tonight, because after tonight, Master's going to get a lot stronger again!"

Year Three, Twenty-Seven Years Old.

Drawing traits... Draw failed! Adjust traits?

[Yes/No]

Chen Yi: "?"

The second edition of the anime comic series is now available. It's an AI-produced anime, and the production is quite refined. Those interested are welcome to take a look.