“The Supervisor?!”

Huang and Gu Shen raised their heads, their amber and black eyes reflecting the descending figure of the Supervisor through the Heavenly Gate, their expressions frozen in disbelief.

The Heavenly Gate had opened, and the Supervisor, who had previously merged with the Heavenly Dao, had returned to the mortal realm… Such an unexpected turn of events was completely beyond the predictions of the two Transcendent beings.

In the next moment, both Gu Shen and Huang went berserk. They charged frantically toward the pillar of light. The six horns atop Huang’s head generated violent vortexes that merged into one, evolving into a black hole.

Crimson mist erupted from the pores along Gu Shen’s spine, forming a thick red cloud in the sky.

The black hole violently crashed against the light pillar, attempting to devour both the exhausted Xu Qi’an and the newly descended Supervisor.

However, despite the swirling vortexes, they couldn’t shake this pillar of light that had descended from the Heavenly Gate.

It both embraced and suppressed all things.

This ancient god-demon’s innate divine ability, which had been invincible and struck fear even in opponents of the same rank, proved meaningless before this pillar of light.

Seeing this, Gu Shen abandoned his assault on the light pillar, knowing that no matter how strong his power was, it couldn’t surpass Huang’s.

If they couldn’t break the light pillar, then they would charge through the Heavenly Gate itself.

Gu Shen soared skyward, flying faster and faster. The mountain of flesh gradually lit up with seven different colors. They shimmered and merged, finally presenting a chaotic hue.

Gu Shen easily passed through the Heavenly Gate—or rather, seemed to pass through it.

The Heavenly Gate appeared to exist in another world; what they saw was merely an illusion.

Like flowers in a mirror or, a moon in the water.

“ROAR…”

Gu Shen finally let out an unwilling, furious howl.

He couldn’t enter the Heavenly Gate. This was no longer the ancient era—divine demons were no longer recognized by Heaven and Earth, and the Heavenly Gate no longer permitted their entry.

In the present era, after countless ages had passed, to enter the Heavenly Gate, one must seize all of the Nine States’ fortune.

“Wake up!”

Within the pillar of light, the Supervisor gently tapped Xu Qi’an’s crown.

The half-step Martial God, who had died from exhaustion, suddenly awoke, opening his eyes as if emerging from a dream both endless and brief.

“Supervisor?!”

Then he saw the old man before him, with white clothes, white hair, and a white beard.

Immense joy exploded in Xu Qi’an’s heart. “Weren’t you dead? No, hadn’t you merged with the Heavenly Dao?”

As he spoke, he quickly glanced at the black hole nearby and the Gu Shen writhing and roaring in the high heavens.

They were right before his eyes, yet seemed to exist in another world entirely.

The Supervisor smiled:

“The Heaven Lord has merged with the Dao!”

The Heaven Lord has merged with the Dao… Xu Qi’an contained the wild joy on his face as he pondered these words.

The Supervisor didn’t keep him in suspense, explaining frankly:

“The Heavenly Dao originally had no emotions, being merely the rules of Heaven and Earth. It shouldn’t have developed consciousness. But countless ages ago, a human Transcendent merged with the Dao, bringing a touch of ‘humanity’ to it.”

Sudden understanding dawned, and all his confusion and speculation were verified at this moment. Xu Qi’an said:

“You gained consciousness after the Dao Lord merged with the Heavenly Dao. So are you the Heavenly Dao, or the Dao Lord?”

The Supervisor didn’t answer directly, continuing instead:

“That touch of humanity was very weak, not enough to evolve into consciousness. But generation after generation of Heaven Lords merged with the Dao, gradually strengthening that humanity until finally, at some point, he awakened.”

“The Heavenly Dao gained will, and that is me!”

Xu Qi’an suddenly understood:

“So after the Heaven Lord merged with the Dao, he awakened you? Ah, so the Heaven Lord still merged with the Dao in the end.”

The Supervisor nodded slightly:

“The Heaven Lord’s choice was truly the ultimate transcendence of emotions!”

He continued: “I truly gained consciousness and could be considered a ‘person’ over sixteen hundred years ago when the Great Zhou Dynasty had just been established and everything needed rebuilding.”

“By then, the Dao Lord had already discovered the method to ascend to the Heavenly Dao through repeated exploration.”

Gathering fortune… Xu Qi’an silently replied in his heart. He glanced again at the furiously raging Huang and Gu Shen, asking:

“Before you gained consciousness, the Buddha and Gu Shen must have already existed. Why didn’t they replace you?”

The Supervisor shook his head:

“Because there wasn’t enough fortune. Even during the Great Zhou’s peak prosperity, four hundred years after I gained consciousness, the Nine States’ fortune had only just reached its highest point since the world’s creation.”

“To prevent the appearance of a Gatekeeper, the Shaman God and Buddha had been hunting and killing First Rank martial artists, extinguishing the birth of Martial Gods.”

Just as Xu Qi’an wondered why there hadn’t been a battle for the Heavenly Dao then, he realized the answer.

The Confucian Saint had been born.

The Supervisor seemed to see through Xu Qi’an’s thoughts and said:

“Yes, the Confucian Saint was born of destiny, someone I chose after countless selections. He created Confucian techniques, achieving invincible power within a hundred years, suppressing numerous Transcendents, and delaying the catastrophe until now. But like oil in intense heat, extreme prosperity leads to decline—short life was the necessary price.”

“Such are the rules of Heaven and Earth, and I could do nothing about it. Though I am the Heavenly Dao, I cannot violate my nature.”

“The Confucian Saint sealed all the Transcendents and died a natural death, buying me twelve hundred years. From then on, I began planning how to nurture a Gatekeeper.”

“But I was ultimately just a thread of consciousness. Though aware, I could only follow the rules step by step, with limited intervention in the mortal world. I needed to find a way to descend to the mortal realm and arrange things personally. But how could the Heavenly Dao descend to the mortal realm? Rules are everywhere, yet nowhere.”

This was somewhat convoluted, but after some thought, Xu Qi’an understood. It was like the changing of seasons—a rule of Heaven and Earth that no one could change, yet “spring, summer, autumn, and winter” couldn’t decide their order according to preference.

So in a sense, the rules also didn’t exist.

What the Supervisor wanted was power with some autonomy, not the unchangeable progression of seasons that followed set patterns.

Realizing this, Xu Qi’an had a sudden thought:

“So that’s why the Artificer system was created?”

The Supervisor nodded slowly, “I supported the First Generation. Like the Confucian Saint, he was blessed with great fortune. I secretly bestowed fortune upon him, continuously giving him opportunities, guiding him step by step to create the Artificer system.”

“Artificers are the system I created for myself. It allows me to maximize my abilities, to use a human body to glimpse Heaven’s secrets, forge treasures, refine fortune, and control a dynasty’s destiny.”

“Controlling the Central Plains dynasty meant controlling the resources to nurture Martial Gods.”

“No wonder you could promise to help Kou Yangzhou ascend to First Rank when you were still only Second Rank—because as the Heavenly Dao’s avatar, glimpsing Heaven’s secrets was nothing to you,” Xu Qi’an said softly.

“Then you killed the First Generation after using him—that seems too ruthless.”

The Supervisor looked at him expressionlessly:

“When did you get the mistaken impression that I had human emotions?”

The Heavenly Dao’s lack of emotion is the greatest emotion… Xu Qi’an took a deep breath. “How should I ascend to Martial God?”

He didn’t want to keep chatting with the Supervisor. Although this old fox currently had the leisure to chat with him, the situation in the Nine States must be under control.

But even if the Nine States weren’t in danger, that didn’t mean the transcendent powerhouses weren’t dangerous.

The Supervisor might be emotionless, but Xu Qi’an couldn’t transcend his emotions. He didn’t want to see his former friends perish.

“The Blade of Great Peace is your Gatekeeper’s credential. It has already knocked on the Heavenly Gate for you. You need only absorb my spiritual essence to gain the Heavenly Dao’s recognition and become an unparalleled Martial God throughout the ages.”

An unparalleled doorkeeper… Xu Qi’an added silently, then asked softly:

“What about you?”

The Supervisor smiled:

“This touch of humanity will completely disappear.”

There was no reluctance or unwillingness in his eyes as he said quietly:

“The Heavenly Dao should never have developed consciousness.”

There will never again be a Supervisor in this world… Xu Qi’an sighed:

“Come then!”

As his words fell, the Supervisor’s form dispersed into streams of clear light that poured into Xu Qi’an’s body.

In his ears came the Supervisor’s final words:

“Protect this mortal realm for me. I chose you back then not because you were a visitor from another world, not because you carried half the nation’s fortune.”

It was because that young man had once written on the stone tablet:

“To establish the heart for Heaven and Earth, to establish destiny for the people; to continue the lost teachings of the ancient sages, to establish… Great Peace for ten thousand generations!”