Martial Saint with Passives

Suddenly, he remembered the parchment map he had gotten from Sacrificial Envoy Li!

He quickly took it out.

At first glance, however, the map showed nothing but strange ancient script and rugged terrain—no clues related to a password at all.

He tried again, attempting to deduce any hidden patterns from the arrangement of the ancient script on the parchment.

But still, he found nothing.

Next, he took out the Beast Hide schematic he had obtained from Gu Song, which detailed the Cave Mansion’s mechanisms, and began to study it carefully.

But it, too, contained no record of the password.

Just as he was at his wit’s end...

He brought the two drawings close together for another comparison.

To his surprise, the moment the schematic made from some unknown Beast Hide—the one from Gu Song—neared the parchment map...

...it became... semi-transparent!

The ancient scripts on both drawings overlapped perfectly at that very moment!

Within the overlapping text, three sets of special symbols clearly emerged!

Jiang Che quickly compared them to the symbols on the rings and found a perfect match for each!

’So that’s how it works!’ Jiang Che rejoiced. ’The two pages have to be put together for the password to appear!’

He then walked over to the Treasure Chest engraved with an ancient longsword and, following the first set of symbols that had appeared, began to turn the bronze rings one by one.

CLICK... CLACK...

When he finished turning the last ring in the sequence...

CLICK!

A crisp mechanical sound suddenly echoed through the silent stone chamber!

The password... was correct!

After the Treasure Chest opened, he saw a longsword of ancient design lying quietly inside, its blade covered in a pattern of stars.

The four ancient characters for "Seven-Star Dragon Abyss" were inscribed on the hilt.

This script wasn’t too different from modern writing, so he was able to read it.

Jiang Che reached out, picked it up, and slowly drew it from its scabbard.

SHIIING—

As soon as the blade was unsheathed, a wave of chilling Sword Qi rushed toward him, and the temperature in the stone chamber seemed to drop by several degrees!

Jiang Che could tell at a glance that this was no Mortal Grade item and put it away with satisfaction.

Next, he used the second password he had deciphered to open the Treasure Chest engraved with a scroll pattern.

The lid opened, but inside wasn’t the mountain of Secret Manuals he had imagined.

Instead, there was only a single, palm-sized Jade Talisman, glowing with a soft white light!

Curious, Jiang Che picked it up and sent a wisp of his Divine Thought into it.

Instantly, a vast, ocean-like torrent of information flooded his mind!

He was astonished to find that this tiny Jade Talisman stored a massive number of Cultivation Technique Secret Manuals!

’A Jade Talisman that can store Cultivation Techniques? It seems the methods of ancient Cultivators were far more advanced than those of today...’ Jiang Che couldn’t help but feel a little emotional.

After all, in the Cangyun Sect of today, all Cultivation Technique Manuals were still written and passed down using the most primitive methods of pen and paper.

He never expected that in this ancient Cultivator’s cave mansion, there would be a method of storing information as convenient as the hard drives from his previous life!

’Could it be... that this technique was lost to time?’ he wondered.

He then began to quickly browse through the Cultivation Techniques in the Jade Talisman.

He was delighted to discover an enormous number of Martial Arts for the Qi Blood Realm, the vast majority of which were completely new techniques he had never encountered before!

Jiang Che was ecstatic!

’I can... continue Stacking Passives!’

Finally, Jiang Che walked to the Treasure Chest engraved with the pattern of an eye.

With a hint of anticipation, he entered the last combination.

CLICK!

The lid sprang open!

Suddenly, an incredibly brilliant golden light shot out from the chest and instantly surged into the space between Jiang Che’s eyebrows!

It was exactly like his experience in True Master Baiyi’s Cave Mansion!

Jiang Che felt a tremor in his mind as the faint image of a white-haired Daoist with an ethereal, sage-like bearing, dressed in an Eight Trigrams Daoist Robe, slowly materialized!

This was the Martial Dao Will of True Master Xuan Yang!

He slowly opened his eyes, his gaze gentle as he looked at Jiang Che.

"Junior, you have come."

His voice was calm, yet it seemed to contain the ultimate principles of heaven and earth, involuntarily quieting Jiang Che’s mind.

"You are... True Master Xuan Yang?" Jiang Che responded respectfully with his Divine Thought.

"Heh... I am but a lingering obsession that remains here." True Master Xuan Yang chuckled. "I am Xuan Yangzi, an Independent Cultivator from eight hundred years ago. I never thought that after a hundred years of arduous training, I would be fortunate enough to step into the Realm of True Mastery. Yet, when I looked across this world, there was no one left who could sit and discuss the Dao with me. It is truly... lonely at the top!"

Although his words sounded lonely, a hint of pride couldn’t help but appear on his face.

’Geez, starting right off with a humblebrag...’ Jiang Che thought to himself.

Then, True Master Xuan Yang’s gaze fell upon the three already opened Treasure Chests.

"These three items are the culmination of my life’s work."

He pointed to the Seven-Star Dragon Abyss and said slowly, "In my youth, during my travels, I personally forged this sword. It took me decades, using the core of a fallen star supplemented with North Sea Ten Thousand Year Profound Iron. It contains the Power of the Stars and is incomparably sharp, capable of slaying Evil Spirits and severing the threads of karma."

He then looked at the Jade Talisman that stored a sea of Cultivation Techniques.

"As for this item... sigh..."

He let out a long sigh, his voice filled with endless regret.

"All my life, I was obsessed with the Martial Dao. My lifelong pursuit was to create the perfect Martial Art—one that would encompass the Myriad Phenomena of heaven and earth and contain all the world’s ultimate principles. For this, I traveled across mountains and rivers, collecting nearly every Martial Arts manual I could find, storing them all within this talisman."

"It is a pity... that even at the moment of my passing, I had not yet succeeded."

Finally, his gaze fell upon Jiang Che.

"This third Treasure Chest contains my Martial Dao Will. The reason I left this will behind is in the hope that whoever obtains it can carry on my unfinished work! To create the most perfect Martial Art in this world!"

He paused, then added, "Although your Comprehension is a bit lacking compared to mine back in the day... with the blessing of my will, your Comprehension will be greatly enhanced! It should be enough, I suppose."

’Geez, can’t resist propping yourself up, can you? If your Comprehension was so great, why didn’t you figure it out back then?’ Jiang Che grumbled inwardly.

Suddenly, True Master Xuan Yang sighed and said, "Do you know why I was so determined to create the perfect Martial Art?"

"Why?"

Jiang Che had expected True Master Xuan Yang to say something about being "obsessed with the Martial Dao" or "in pursuit of the ultimate."

However, True Master Xuan Yang’s next words left him stunned.

A look of profound... fear appeared on True Master Xuan Yang’s face!

"To... fight the Black Magic Disaster!"

"The Black Magic Disaster?!"

"That’s right." True Master Xuan Yang’s voice became incredibly solemn. "At first, I too was merely driven by my love for the Martial Dao to create that perfect Martial Art."

"But once, in my quest to explore the higher possibilities of the Martial Dao, I journeyed to the Endless Icefield in the Land of the Far North. There, I glimpsed a sliver of... a despairing truth!"

"In the future, this world of ours will be engulfed by an endless Black Magic Disaster!"

"At that time, the Human Race... will perish!"

"Only that perfect Martial Art could possibly lead our Human Race to find a sliver of hope in that world-ending catastrophe!"

Jiang Che’s heart pounded!

"The Black Magic Disaster? What is that? Is it... Black Beasts?"

True Master Xuan Yang slowly shook his head.

"No..."

His voice was filled with a profound sense of powerlessness and dread.

"Not those weak things..."

"They are something far stronger, far more terrifying, descending upon this world from another, endlessly and in overwhelming numbers..."

"That day... is not far off."

"Junior, you must... create that perfect Martial Art..."

"Save... the Human Race!"

Jiang Che wanted to ask more.

But True Master Xuan Yang’s phantom form was already starting to blur and turn transparent.

"My time... is almost up..."

"If you wish to know more, then you must personally... go to the Endless Icefield in the Land of the Far North..."

"There... you will... understand everything!"

The moment his voice faded, his phantom form suddenly transformed into an incomparably pure and vast stream of golden Spiritual Energy, pouring entirely into Jiang Che’s Sea of Consciousness!

RUMBLE!!!

Jiang Che felt his Divine Soul and Mental Power begin to surge wildly under the baptism of this immense energy!

...

After an unknown amount of time, Jiang Che slowly awoke.

He didn’t immediately check the state of his Divine Soul.

True Master Xuan Yang’s final words were still echoing in his mind.

"The Black Magic Disaster..." Jiang Che muttered to himself.

’Wait! Could it be...’

He suddenly remembered that place he had accidentally stumbled upon! That terrifying existence he had seen!

The Master of the Black Abyss!

’Could it be... him?!’

...