Forge a path to success

Ji Huaisu patted himself with gauze and gave a professional assessment: "An absolute top performer. From now on, you can write 'This side faces the enemy' on the back of his coat. He can crush enemies of the same level with just his back-to-back iron-mountain lean."

"Compared to you?"

"It depends on the situation. If I use all my opening moves, I have a better chance of winning. If I don't kill him in the first wave, he wins. The 'One Qi for a Thousand Autumns' technique is too far-fetched; we can't win a protracted battle."

This comment is quite objective. Ji Huaisu, as the Shadow, has no shortage of decisive moves; Shadow Blade Assault and Dust Break are both instantaneous, high-damage game-changers. Chu Hengkong, on the other hand, specializes in prolonged battles. With the help of One Qi for a Thousand Autumns, he grows stronger as long as he has enough energy, and given enough time, he can wear down anyone.

Jie An knew this girl wouldn't use serious matters to spite someone, so he was quite shocked: "That chief detective is really incredibly powerful. This iron is stronger than any other clerk of the same rank, right?"

Upon hearing this, Vande became interested, broke free from the rope, and jumped down: "That's more than that. His hard-earned achievements speak for themselves; he's a true outsider, even among legends, he's in the highest tier!"

This assertion drew everyone's attention. Chu Hengkong almost thought he had returned to his hometown's animation forum: "There are even gradations within the same homogeneous point?"

"Nonsense, of course it exists. Otherwise, how would I know how powerful the Immortal Machine is, and how would I dare to say that you, Chu Hengkong, are awesome?" Vande waved his tentacles. "The major forces of Thousand Dust Island have been fighting from ancient times to the present Candlelight Era, and they have long established a set of standards that are applicable to all islands based on their battle records. You have no common sense and don't know, but your female colleague knows it very well."

Ji Huaisu blinked: "...What standard?"

Vande was startled at the sight, then overjoyed. He hopped onto the cart, beaming with excitement: "Good, good, good! We've met some country folk this time! Bring paper and pen! Today I'll show you all something amazing. I, Grandpa Vande, will give you a lecture on the profound art of animal fighting!"

Chapter 98 A Rigorous and Reasonable Combat System

Jie An brought over a movable whiteboard, and Vande stood on a high stool, using several short tentacles to hold a black pen and began writing from top to bottom and from right to left.

"Let's say there's a recently advanced Level 2 particle user here. He's self-taught but has some combat experience, a decent fighting style, and an ordinary Level 2 particle relic."

Van der drew a small stick figure on the whiteboard: "This is a very standard point mass with a displacement of 2 liters. Let's assume his name is Chongtian, then our unit of measurement is the force of one Chongtian..."

“Change the name. This one makes me want to laugh,” Chu Hengkong said.

"So many bad habits, let's call him Wanpi then. Our combat strength standard is 10,000 slashes of strength." Vande started writing and drawing on the right side of the little figure. "As a standard combat force, Wanpi's record is not bad. In battles of the same level, those weaklings without skills or relics would fall down in no more than ten rounds under his hands. But one day when Wanpi went out, he encountered a tough opponent. This was a beast with a mass of 2, which not only had the same level of strength, hard bone/bitter staff/reverse shadow abilities, but also had a large size or high agility."

Vande drew a shadow giant to the left of Wanpi: "Use your brain and think of a way. If you were Wanpi, how would you win?"

"Let's surround him; he definitely has no chance if he's alone," Ji Huaisu commented.

“Miss Ji, add one point. A reasonable decision.” Vande drew a ">" between the Shadow Giant and Wan Pi. “Generally speaking, this kind of beast is worth at least three basic combat forces, so it has at least the strength of 30,000 Pi. But Wan Pi was lucky. He just happened to meet a Senmin with a point 2. As a hybrid race, the Senmin was born with special strength and was also a tough guy, so he killed the beast after a while without much effort.”

A new lizardman has appeared on the whiteboard. Vande taps the whiteboard: "Special race ascendant > alien beast > Thousand-Slasher, any questions up to this point?"

Jie An listened with great interest: "Which category does a demon-possessed person fall into?"

"It depends. Minion-level possessors aren't much stronger than alien beasts, but powerful possessors are a different story."

"That's pretty fair," Jie An commented. "I used to allocate bounties based on this standard, skipping over the intermediate monsters."

“The standard should be lowered. The configuration of the Ten Thousand Split is too ideal. In reality, most people don’t even have a weapon of the same level,” Ji Huaisu objected.

"That's not important! Ten Thousand Splits is an idealized unit, just a figure of speech." Vande waved his tentacles. "Let's continue the story. Now Ten Thousand Splits has survived, but the story isn't over yet: this forest dweller won but also fell under the monster's illusion, and now he thinks Ten Thousand Splits looks like a piece of roasted pork belly that's sizzling with oil..."

Has Wan Pi had a really unlucky life? His experiences are just as bad as mine.

“We previously said the beast was worth 30,000 slashes, so let’s just say this forest dweller is worth 50,000,” Vande said with a smile. “What kind of reinforcements do we need to call this time to reliably save him from being worth 10,000 slashes?”

“A martial artist at the ‘Wanderer’ stage…” Qi Su weakly spoke from the corner, “or a remnant of the ‘Sinful Bone’ stage… I should be able to… no, I probably can’t even beat Wan Pi. I was too arrogant, I’m sorry…”

"Wake up, Qi Su!"

Chu Hengkong couldn't help but exclaim, "The effect of this 'misfortune' attack lasts too long! Just how much power did you bring when you attacked?"

"The power to make a giant squid slump for an entire day..."

"They brought this upon themselves!"

Ji Huaisu shook Qi Su vigorously, and the green-haired little girl spun around three times before lying down peacefully, clutching her staff. Vande drew a stick figure of a warrior as instructed: "The attitude is questionable, but the conclusion is basically correct. In this situation, if we want a sure victory, we'll have to ask the gentlemen who have ascended to the Dao path to come."

"So what is this Path of Leap Forward you're talking about?" Chu Hengkong asked. "Something that's separate from the three paths?"

Vande observed for a moment and found that Ji Huaisu was just as bewildered as he was, while Jie An showed little reaction. He tossed the pen over: "Cook, you're on your own, so you're in charge of explaining."

"Well... this matter is actually a bit beyond the scope of the curriculum, and the city lord doesn't allow me to talk about it..." Jie An scratched his chin and said with a wry smile, "But you heretics have seen almost everything, so what's a little more common sense? Let's just talk about it all together."

Vande's eyes turned deathly white: "Hey, I think I just heard something very ominous. What do you mean by 'the heretics saw the whole picture'? Are you using a metaphor? It's a metaphor, isn't it?"

Jie An flipped the whiteboard over and drew three parallel vertical lines. Below, from left to right, he drew a stone, a hand, and a small sun representing light.

"As everyone knows, there are three paths to ascension. They are the 'Path of Submerged Light' that begins with the foundation stone, the 'Path to Supreme Godhood' that rises from the glimmer of light, and the 'Path of Forging Destiny and Returning to Oneness' that begins with skillful hands—don't ask me where the names come from, they've existed since ancient times—if you want to become stronger, you have to enter the path and climb up with all your might, and whatever you get is what you become." Jie An rested his hand on the whiteboard. "Chief Inspector, you've fought your way up to Point 2 and seen quite a few ascendants. What are your thoughts?"

“Disorganized and lacking any coherent system,” Chu Hengkong replied immediately.

The Path to Ascension system, to put it kindly, offers strong customization and a high degree of freedom; to put it bluntly, it's a framework the founder didn't bother with intricate details, leaving everyone free to improvise. There are skilled individuals like Mimori Nozomi who rely on prosthetic arms, others like Du Muyan who combine special abilities with swordsmanship, and still others like himself who rely almost entirely on martial arts with no special powers. Finding a common thread among them, besides their hands, is incredibly difficult. To put it bluntly, aside from the martial arts practitioners of Dragon Village, every single skilled individual is like a ragtag army.

The foundational level is an even bigger disaster area, with all sorts of people involved in everything from cooking and textual manipulation to raising venomous creatures. There hasn't been a single major force that integrates the martial arts path like any other. If someone were to actually start from scratch at the foundational level, they wouldn't know how grueling the initial stages would be…

“You’ve hit the nail on the head. It’s messy, chaotic, and disorganized… Some big shots think so too, so they created an improved textbook based on their own experiences.” Jie An circled a few points on the path of forging life and returning to oneness and drew arrows next to them. “This textbook includes some unique cultivation methods applicable to various particles, some wonderful techniques that only they know, and a set of specially improved transformation formations.”

He wrote annotations on each one: Three thousand sets of Dragon Township Boxing Techniques, Qi-based Bone-Forging Techniques, One Qi for a Thousand Autumns...

“Following the masters’ teaching materials makes the ascension process more organized and logically clear, but it also raises the bar and creates more demanding requirements. After all, now that there are teaching materials, you can’t just guess; you have to learn, right?” Jie An wrote the character “Martial” under the Path of Unifying Life. “The elite ascension cultivators trained in this way are naturally stronger than most ordinary people. If we compare ascension to a long-distance race, then while others are climbing, they are flying. So everyone has given the masters’ teaching materials a special term: ‘The Path of Leap Forward.’ The Path of Leap Forward that you are most familiar with is the martial arts cultivators of Longquan Township.”

Fan De snatched the black pen and began pointing: "The undisputed number one power in the Chen Dong Realm, the Martial Cultivation lineage was personally founded by the Misty Fate Master and personally supervised by the Righteous God Zhulong. Their first quality, skillful hands, combines creation and training, earning them the title 'Builder,' while their second quality, unyielding bones, allows them to travel far and wide with a staff, known as 'Traveler'~"

Before Chu Hengkong could say anything, Ji Huaisu exclaimed impatiently, "Hey! Why didn't you make Ah Kong a builder back then? He's better than just a skilled craftsman."

"Because the entry requirements for the path of ascension are higher..." Qi Su said ominously, "In addition to the extraordinary limbs and skills inherent in a skilled craftsman, the requirements for an architect's advancement also require some achievement in architecture, talisman making, casting, or other creative fields... What else is the giant squid good at making besides fighting...?"

All eyes turned to the chief detective. Chu Hengkong pondered for a moment and said, "The scene of the murder."

"Throw this lousy joke generator out!" Vande shouted.

“That’s enough, A-Kong.” Ji Huaisu placed one hand on his shoulder, her expression somber. “I believe your father has done his best to teach him according to his individual needs…”

"The path of ascension has many benefits, but it's not suitable for everyone, so it's destined to be a niche path. As for a super genius like the Grand Detective... it's better to let him take the main path." Jie An shrugged. "By the way, let me give you some background on the known paths. The path of returning to oneness has the 'martial arts cultivators' of Longquan Township and the 'heartless ones' of Shura Island. Everyone is familiar with the path of floating light; Lord Huilong and his entire family are on it."

Chu Hengkong's lips twitched: "...The Ancient Dragon Clan has its own path?"

"Its scientific name is 'Candlelight Divine System,' also known as Ancient Dragon Totem. This path has the most lenient entry requirements; as long as you are an ancient dragon, you're good to go."

Can a human turn into a dragon?

“No.” Jie An shook his head. “By the way, there’s another path on the Floating Light Path, which is also race-restricted. So, ordinary people who weren’t born into a good family shouldn’t even consider this one…”

“The Floating Light Road is clearly very open, but its core technologies are tightly locked up,” Ji Huaisu said.

"It's already pretty good compared to the Path to Supremacy..." Jie An smiled bitterly, "The Path to Supremacy is a path of natural disasters."

Ji Huaisu slapped his partner's shoulder in anger: "Damn it! How did our Supreme Path become a heretical path?! And is a heretical path even a path?!"

"Where do you think the name 'heretical path' came from?" Vande glanced at her sideways. "Some big shots have gone mad from delving into the mysteries of academia, while others are born evil and pursue academia only to turn the world into a pile of dung. The 'textbooks' produced by these people are as extreme as they can be, so naturally they won't teach anything good... This kind of path that mass-produces demons and monsters and goes astray is what we call heretical path."

“Some heretical paths were once renowned and influential, a classic example being the Emperor of the Empire of Truth,” Jie An added. “It is said that long ago, the various Dust Islands used different languages ​​and scripts, and the different races could not communicate, leading to frequent wars and conflicts. But after the Emperor attained enlightenment, the ‘standards’ of the Dust Realm were unified. People could communicate with each other regardless of their language or script, there was no longer a time difference between the various Dust Islands, and the units of time became consistent—that’s why the Grand Inspector can understand our speech and also read Vande’s notes.”

Chu Hengkong was a little stunned: "...I thought this was my cheat code."

"What are you thinking about all day?" Van der remained silent.

"No, but the languages ​​are mutually unintelligible in my hometown..." Chu Hengkong saw the disbelieving looks on everyone's faces and gave up explaining, "Then this emperor did a good job back then."

"He's quite a wise ruler, a rising star." Vande spread his tentacles. "In the end, he had a brain fart and thought everyone should just start shooting each other, so he turned it into the Empire of Truth. From then on, the fifth heretic appeared in the world."

"The emperor's research is a bit extreme."

“If it’s not extreme, it’s not a heretical path. Getting back to the point, each heretical path has its own exclusive path. If others dare to touch it, they will be assimilated, and there will be no other result. In a sense, it can be considered outstanding. Therefore, the combat power of heretical paths of the same quality is generally slightly higher than that of leaping paths…” Fan De took the pen back. “I think classmate Chu Hengkong seems to have some questions. Please speak up.”

Chu Hengkong was still pondering his previous explanation: "What about the other paths to becoming a supreme god?"

“No.” Vande blinked. “Didn’t they say there’s only one Cataclysm?”

"But that's impossible, because..."

They all looked at Ji Huaisu, and the blonde girl herself showed the same confusion.

Her applications are stronger than those of ordinary ascendants, her methods are more systematic, her combat methods are more formal, and her combat power is stronger... Her light shield and shadow blade perfectly match the above description. Without any filters, anyone would think that Ji Huaisu also comes from the Daoist path.

Could a haphazard amateur really develop this kind of combat style? Impossible!

Ji Huaisu also sensed something was wrong and quickly stepped forward: "Teacher Fan! Please take another look. Are you sure I'm not a Daoist?"

"You don't even need to look to know it's not. The Supreme Path only has unorthodox paths, no proper ones. The source of all destiny's currents is the Spiral Tower, therefore it's a universally acknowledged minefield path; learning it will basically drive you insane," Vande said impatiently. "It's just as common sense as the Path of Unifying Destiny having no unorthodox paths..."

Vande spoke slower and slower, squinting his eyes, wrapping his tentacles around the pen, lost in thought.

"Damn, something's not right. I'm getting nervous. All of you, remember this: never bring up this topic again." It pressed its tentacles against its forehead, its eyes glowing with a twilight light. "Erase memories. 40 seconds."

It closed one eye, then opened it again, revealing a clear and smug foolishness. The expressions of the people around it were as if they were looking at a giraffe disguised as a bouncy ball.

"Sorry for daydreaming, where were we?"

"Uh, ah." Ji Huaisu opened his mouth, "A calamity seed."

"Oh right, those mobile sources of pollution... hiss... you guys have even seen natural disaster species, I'm starting to panic, just how unlucky is your city..."

Vande flipped the whiteboard over and drew a dark dog to the left of the swordsman. Ji Huaisu recognized it at a glance as a demon.

They then shifted their attention back to Beast Fighting Studies, ranking them down from Ghost Slayer Martial Arts to the initial Ten Thousand Chop. This standard unit suddenly seemed rather pitiful, like an ant under a big tree.

Vandal drew a black line between the swordsman and the common people of the Bone Forest, writing "Wall of Masters" on it, and another line next to the demon slayer, writing "Wall of Common Sense".

"Similar to the food chain in the forest, the hierarchy is obvious. Generally, the same level of outsiders are at the top of the food chain. But sometimes, some particularly fierce and bizarre men will emerge and tear apart natural disaster species, demons, and the like. These peerless men are so strong that they defy common sense. They usually receive a poem that is unique to them, and their great deeds will be passed down in many dust islands. We call these super awesome guys 'legends'."

Vande drew a super-muscular man who looked like a Super X-man. It looked around and pointed at Qi Su: "I reckon... this little girl, in her prime, should have been number one?"

Qi Su, barely breathing, said, "Right now, I'm just a wandering ghost... a nobody who doesn't even deserve a mere ten thousand kills..."

"When will this unlucky girl recover?"

At her peak, Qi Su should have possessed a physical body and abundant strength. Considering that the jade fox alone would be quite a challenge, Qi Su must have been much stronger in her lifetime... If we consider her combat power when controlling the jade fox's body...?

Chu Hengkong sensed something was wrong: "But if Qi Su can't beat the Immortal Machine, then she's not a legend."

"Guwa." Qi Su collapsed to the ground as if struck by a heavy blow.

“Oh, I haven’t finished yet,” Vande said with a smile. “I’m sure you, with your keen intellect, have already noticed that the Path of Floating Light also has a corresponding external path. That is the third ascension path of the Path of Floating Light in the Fallen World, the Ultimate Body True Machine that we personally faced…”

It drew an extremely thick line to the left of the legendary unit, inscribed with "An insurmountable barrier." Then Vandal continued to the left until he reached the far edge of the whiteboard, where he drew an Immortal Machine that occupied most of the whiteboard and could knock down any little guy with a single claw.

"Under the truth, all beings are equal. Before the Empire, there are no legends." Vande put down his black pen. "The Little Beast Fighting Class has come to an end. Thank you for listening."

Chapter 99 Taking Medicine Taking Medicine

"By Van Der's standards, you are now in a class of your own among true mechs, a legend among legends, the pinnacle of unyielding combat power in the Submerged Realm!"

"Unfortunately, I know my own limitations." Chu Hengkong removed her hand from his shoulder. "That battle cannot be replicated. If I had to fight it again, I would surely die."

The battle against the Immortal Machine was contingent on too many once-in-a-lifetime conditions: Qi Su controlling the alien beast puppets, the remnants of the Sakura Dragon's divine power, and the hypnotic spell that performed exceptionally well under the enhancement of the array. If any one of these conditions were missing, he wouldn't have survived to the final five minutes. And the "final five minutes" is a pointless premise; after leaving Ying Shi Town, where the historical fog was about to dissipate, what enemy could possibly give him an hour and a half of precise preparation time?

Whether the Immortal Machine arrives a few seconds earlier or later, Chu Hengkong will be the one who dies in the end. Such a harsh record cannot be counted.

"But back then you were just a point mass, point mass 1. Now you're a mighty, unyielding being." Ji Huaisu retaliated by draping his entire arm over him. "Under normal circumstances, where would you rank?"

Chu Hengkong gestured with his thumb and forefinger.

"Judging from the actual combat just now, I'm still a little bit stronger than you, slightly better than a legend."

He could clearly feel someone tighten their grip on his arm. Ji Huaisu gave a forced smile: "Detective Chu is quite confident, isn't he? He doesn't even respect his superiors..."

Chu Hengkong feigned surprise: "I almost forgot you're my superior. Speaking of which, our team has always prioritized strength, and I'm currently considering running for captain. We're great partners with a deep bond, and if I win, I'll definitely hire you as my secretary..."

"How dare he! He went out to make a name for himself and acted so arrogantly! The cook will deduct all of his housing provident fund and insurance for this year!"

"Jokes aside, let's not talk about money, okay?"

Chu Hengkong secretly flicked out his tentacles, intending to use a joint lock, but was grabbed by the sharp-eyed captain: "Who talked to your sister Huaisu about stealing her job first?"

"I'm just trying to improve myself normally, it's not like I'm trying to start a new resurrected unit..."

Jie An, sitting at his desk, picked at his ear, skillfully ignoring the noise from the two people behind him. Fan De looked at the potted plants and asked, "Are those two idiots always like this?"

“Like attracts like, otherwise we wouldn’t get along.” Jie An took out a small relic fan and used it to fan the fire in the medicine stove. “Interested in herbs?”

“I have some knowledge of it, and I look forward to exchanging ideas with you.” Van Der nodded reservedly.

After the pressure test was completed, Qi Su returned to the workshop area to continue the local spirit binding, while the rest of the group went to Jie An's new workshop. This place was on the same floor as the city lord's office, and the space was enormous. It was filled with all kinds of alchemy furnaces and medicine cauldrons. Just a wall away was a herb field that You You had personally brought over, where all kinds of rare herbs could be picked and used at any time. The setup was far more luxurious than Adali's private property back then.

Thanks to the large influx of manpower after the city opened, the cook no longer had to wear many hats and could finally be a proper high-ranking member of the team. Now, Jie An is only responsible for the small kitchen in the canteen at noon and evening and occasionally provides guidance to clerical staff; he spends the rest of his time on his own cultivation.

Although there's little chance of transforming the pestle into a bitter staff, the pestle itself stores a large number of medicinal formulas. Jie An's current task is to reproduce his father's old formulas and, incidentally, use the pestle's power to make some medicine himself. Therefore, while Chu Hengkong and Ji Huaisu were being tortured to the point of near death, the cook was being personally supervised by Lord Huilong in the workshop, undergoing cramming-style tutoring. This tutoring brought about significant changes to him: judging from his appearance, he had gained at least thirty pounds.

“You’ve gained at least five pounds since I left,” Chu Hengkong said confidently.

"What can I do! Making pills requires qi and blood, and my body isn't strong enough to make medicine!" Jie An complained bitterly. "You guys just have to fight, while I'm stuck in the house eating and watching, and I still have to eat extra meals because I haven't met my nutritional needs... I'm a cook and I'm almost developing anorexia..."

“But you’ve ate so much and it’s paid off!” Ji Huaisu whistled. “Show the Chief Inspector our new pills!”

Jie An continuously tossed several kinds of medicinal herbs and some strange-looking objects into the stone mortar, grinding them meticulously with his precious pestle. Chu Hengkong had expected him to get the finished product from the mortar, but Jie An simply took out a small medicine gourd from a drawer. The gourd was full of small, yellowish pills. He tossed one of the pills over, and Chu Hengkong caught it with a book.