“So the difference is that your body spontaneously disintegrates and then fights itself?” Xu Qi An first quipped, then fell silent, analyzing internally.

First, he ruled out divine demon bloodlines. The Asura clan should be a race formed from the hybridization of divine demons and humans, possessing divine demon lineage. However, the bloodline wasn’t strong enough to congeal into spirit essence, at most making the Asura naturally powerful.

But it wasn’t as privileged as the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox.

Next, he ruled out the “Buddha” identity, as this couldn’t be replicated—Shen Shu couldn’t possibly be using this to answer him.

Finally, returning to the beginning… Xu Qi An’s mind stirred:

“The characteristic of immortality?”

“Correct. The biggest difference between me and ordinary transcendent warriors is my immortal nature,” Shen Shu confirmed.

As a Second-Grade warrior himself now, Xu Qi An knew that even warriors who had “merged with the Dao” could still die.

But Shen Shu’s situation was truly difficult to comprehend.

He had been dismembered and sealed for five hundred years, depleted of resources for five hundred years, yet survived through his life force without any external spiritual power supplementation.

Even a Beyond-Grade Buddha couldn’t kill him.

“Correct. Compared to other warriors, my greatest uniqueness lies in being unkillable—even Beyond-Grade cultivators cannot end my life,” Shen Shu’s navel split open, forming a mouth as he spoke.

“This is what First-Grade warriors cultivate—the art of immortality.”

Xu Qi An remained silent for a long time before saying, “That sounds somewhat… unremarkable.”

An immortal body was a Third-Grade warrior’s ability. By second grade, this ability would make a great leap. With Xu Qi An’s current vitality, even dismemberment wouldn’t kill him.

Looking at it this way, if First-Grade warriors only enhanced life force, it seemed unworthy of the position.

After all, the warrior system was supposed to be the strongest in terms of combat arts.

Moreover, ordinary First-Grade warriors couldn’t possibly have Shen Shu’s level of powerful vitality, as he was a Half-Step Martial God.

If a Half-Step Martial God could be sealed by a Beyond-Grade Buddha, then even a full Martial God seemed only slightly superior to Beyond-Grade cultivators.

It truly didn’t seem to live up to the title of “strongest in single combat.”

“Disappointed?” Shen Shu sneered and continued unprompted:

“You should know that the warrior system differs from all others. At high grades, some systems can freely modify rules; some can turn stone to gold and control earth, wind, water, and fire; some can condense fate and utilize the power of all living beings; some directly borrow the power of heaven and earth.

“Only warriors don’t merge with heaven and earth, cultivating only themselves, with all supernatural abilities originating from within.”

No wonder warriors were considered crude… Xu Qi An felt sorrow for his system.

Shen Shu said, “This is the core, most essential path of warriors, and it tells you how to advance to first grade.”

Without waiting for Xu Qi An’s question, Shen Shu revealed the answer:

“Merge essence, qi, and spirit into one—where divine spirit becomes the body, the body becomes qi mechanism, and qi mechanism becomes divine spirit. When all your power condenses into one, your combat strength will soar, making you one of the strongest in the current world.”

That sounds reasonable enough! Xu Qi An nodded, indicating his acceptance.

But Shen Shu continued: “Yet this still doesn’t match the status of First-Grade warriors. From Ninth-Grade to Second-Grade, the warrior system gains a new ability with each advancement. Other systems are the same.

“But First-Grade warriors only enhance the Third-Grade immortal body ability and close combat prowess, without gaining new abilities.”

Hearing this, Xu Qi An frowned. If what Shen Shu said was true, it was indeed strange.

For first grade to be the warrior system’s final grade, yet only strengthening Third-Grade and Fifth-Grade abilities, didn’t make sense.

Even though it made warriors harder to kill and significantly increased their combat power.

Shen Shu’s navel sighed: “Actually, the Confucian Saint already answered.”

? A question mark flashed through Xu Qi An’s mind, then his pupils dilated slightly as inspiration struck, and he blurted out:

“First-grade warrior isn’t a normal grade, but a transition?”

The Confucian Saint had divided all major systems into nine grades, each with its own name, except First-Grade warrior was left blank.

For thousands of years, no one knew why.

But now, a bold guess flashed through Xu Qi An’s mind.

Shen Shu spoke his guess aloud: “Because First-Grade warrior is likely part of the Martial God realm—it’s not a separate grade.”

After a moment of silence, Xu Qi An sighed like Shen Shu: “I knew the warrior system ran deep, but… throughout history, has there ever been a Martial God? How did the Confucian Saint know?”

Shen Shu shook his head slightly: “I don’t know. Many of my crucial memories remain in my head. Nobody knows what the Confucian Saint based this on, but using his grade divisions, many have guessed that a First-Grade warrior is a Half-Step Martial God.

“Otherwise, why do you think the Southern Border Gu Clan people call me Half-Step Martial God? If you need to give me an accurate position, I’m First-Grade Great Perfection.”

First-Grade warrior being part of the Martial God realm explained why Shen Shu at First-Grade Great Perfection was called “Half-Step Martial God.”

It seems Granny Gu knows quite a bit… Xu Qi An had heard from Li Na about a Half-Step Martial God appearing during the Jiazi Demon Purge.

Li Na had learned this from her father Long Tu, and based on Xu Qi An’s interactions with the Force Gu tribe, knowing their nature well, there was reason to suspect Long Tu had learned this from Granny Gu.

Regardless, a First-Grade warrior was still powerful enough. Not having new abilities didn’t matter as long as one could punch the White Emperor and kick the Garuda Tree… Xu Qi An humbly asked for guidance:

“How does one merge essence, qi, and spirit into one?”

“There’s an incantation: Use the body as a furnace, spirit as fuel, qi as fire.”

After sharing the incantation, Shen Shu said, “Do you know why emperors blessed with fate find it easier to enter first grade? Because this process is extremely dangerous—the slightest mistake can scatter one’s soul. Those blessed with fate are less likely to go astray.”

Xu Qi An silently recited the incantation several times, then asked: “Master, what are your thoughts on Martial Gods?”

The navel didn’t speak; instead, a gentle voice came from the right arm:

“I’ve dwelt in your body for a long but never understood why the Director wanted to cultivate you. However, I can see he’s deliberately helping you accumulate fate.

“Do you still have the dragon qi?”

Xu Qi An nodded: “Still in the Ground Book fragment.”

The right arm spoke gently: “Keep it, don’t return it to the dragon vein—it might be useful in the future. Don’t you find it strange that after the dragon vein dispersed, why didn’t the Director collect the dragon qi himself, but instead had you travel the jianghu?”

Xu Qi An fell into deep thought.

…

Far overseas.

In the pitch-black deep sea lay a silent, profound trench.

Deep in the trench, faint white light flickered, growing stronger as it descended.

Luminous pearls adorned the trench walls, emanating soft, pure radiance.

At the trench bottom lay a monster hundreds of zhang long, its body pitch-black, shaped like a goat with six curved horns on its head and a human-like face.

The White Emperor stood silently before this sleeping behemoth, gazing at one of its horns wreathed in clear qi.

“My horn can devour all things. Even as the Gatekeeper, you can’t escape its consumption—don’t hope to break free.”

The White Emperor didn’t speak but communicated with the Gatekeeper in the horn through sound transmission.

“No wonder you wanted to seize my spirit essence—so this body had problems.”

The Director’s voice transmitted from the horn in response: “At your peak, you must have been beyond grade, on par with the Gu God.”

The White Emperor said: “More precisely, the spirit essence had problems. During the internal war between gods and demons, I suffered unimaginable injuries. Half my spirit essence merged with the Dao, returning to heaven and earth. Finally, I escaped the catastrophe through false death.

“But having lost half my spirit essence, I couldn’t compete with Beyond-Grade cultivators. These years, I’ve been hunting divine demon descendants overseas, trying to repair my spirit essence, but their power was too weak. Fortunately, I obtained you. Once I refine you, other Beyond-Grade cultivators won’t be able to compete with me.”

The Director laughed: “Do you know why the Gatekeeper didn’t appear in ancient times or the Dao Sovereign era, but only after humanity’s rise?”

The White Emperor asked calmly: “Why?”

The Director answered indirectly: “Because in ancient times, the conditions for a Martial God’s birth didn’t exist.”

The White Emperor’s blue vertical pupils stared at the horn, saying slowly: “I heard Second-Grade Artificers say that among all major systems, only Artificers and warriors lack Beyond-Grade realm. You seem to know how to advance to Martial God?”

The Director laughed: “Guess!”

The White Emperor didn’t much like the old man’s way of speaking and said flatly: “In a few days, I’ll be able to suppress your divine spirit. Then I’ll go to the Nine States Continent and destroy the Central Plains Dynasty.”

At this moment, a white scale behind the White Emperor’s mane-covered ear lit up as he listened to Xu Ping Feng’s sound transmission.

“The Human Sect Leader’s tribulation approaches—return quickly!”

…

Jing Mountain City.

Sa Lun A Gu, with a shepherd’s whip at his waist, slowly climbed the altar and stopped before the statue of a robed man wearing a crown of thorns.

Bowing, he smiled and said: “This disciple just cast a divination—extremely auspicious, with a great fortune in the spring sacrifice.”

The Shaman God statue remained silent. Above its head, a phantom figure in cyan robes arose, then sank back down as if pulled back by some force.

…

Xun Prefecture.

In the east room of the courtyard, Xu Qi An changed clothes with Ye Ji’s attendance. Behind them lay rumpled bedding, and behind the screen stood a vermillion bathtub, its edges splashed with water from the previous night.

After returning from the Southern Border, Xu Qi An brought Ye Ji back to the Central Plains with a clear purpose—cultivation (dual cultivation)!

The Ancient Dao School’s bedroom arts were indeed powerful, with qi mechanism growth far surpassing regular breathing exercises.

If he could find a top Dao expert like Luo Yu Heng for dual cultivation… but after their last dual cultivation session, Luo Yu Heng had returned to the capital for closed-door cultivation.

Originally there was an even more suitable candidate—the Flower God currently at the Heaven Watching Bureau, waiting day and night to dual cultivate with him.

But since he’d gone to the Southern Border, he might as well bring Ye Ji back to stay for a while, perfect for dual cultivation.

Xu Qi An was somewhat “afraid” of dual cultivating with Mu Nan Zhi—not the kind of fear he had toward Little Yu, but because the Flower God’s charm was too strong. He feared he might never want to leave the bed.

It had been five days since returning from the Southern Border.

Ye Ji’s delicate, charming face was filled with exhaustion, but her eyes shone brightly with contained divine radiance—she too had gained great benefits from dual cultivation.

“The manor’s maids are somewhat loose-tongued. When you’re free, discipline them more.”

Ye Ji rolled her eyes and complained coquettishly: “You torment this slave day and night—where would I find the energy to manage maids?”

Xu Qi An laughed and pinched her bottom, saying: “I won’t torment you for quite a while now. I’m going to the capital.”

Luo Yu Heng had sent a jade talisman message last night—she would undergo tribulation in three days.