Clang!
A supremely melodious blade-cry, crisp and lingering, as if its dazzling ripples pierced through the ninefold celestial vault.
At the same moment, within Andrew Han’s senses, the entire world instantly dimmed, plunging into a silent void where only that peerlessly radiant blade-light descended… Soul and body alike bristled with cold, an incomparable terror enveloping all directions. It was like a bowstring struck by thunder—there was no time to think. Such oppressive circumstances sent Andrew’s thoughts whirling.
“What is this?”
“Is this the warning left by the Heaven-Venerable in those days?”
In a flash, with not a moment to spare, Andrew heard nothing at all.
Endless colors!
A blade strikes head-on!
No warning, no room to maneuver—there was no time left to hesitate!
Since retreat was impossible, then fight—press forward without looking back. Andrew Han’s gold-red power roared to the limit; facing the brilliant blade-light, he stepped forward half a pace and collided with it.
All danger vanished.
The greatest sound is silent; all phenomena vanish, shattered like a dream’s fleeting illusion.
“Hm?”
Andrew’s expression shifted again. His soul’s power blasted into emptiness, crushing all the air in the palace corridor, sweeping its mighty force throughout the passage.
But the blade-light—
—had cleaved into his mind!
With a clang of blade-cry, indescribable blade-light swept through his mind. Given Andrew’s Stellar Palace Tier life-level, he could not yet comprehend its true form—he could only sense the surrounding world twisting and warping, while countless blade-marks remained eternally unmoving!
That brilliant blade-light carried the Heaven-Venerable’s insight.
No.
To be precise—
This must have been the Heaven-Venerable’s insight during the Primeval era.
In an instant, Andrew Han understood, sensing this world saturated with blade-marks: "This is a Dao transmission—a gift the Heaven-Venerable once bestowed upon future generations. As for the crisis and crushing oppression brought by the blade-light, that is the legendary calamity of transmission itself."
Countless Dao transmissions and inheritances have been left behind throughout history.
After all, the starry sky is vast, and higher lifeforms all possess the qualifications to leave behind their insights. But in truth, inheritances stand a cut above transmissions; inheritances usually contain profound knowledge across many domains, encompassing infinite mysteries—like the Inkspire Legacy spread by the Inkspire Race across the stars.
A transmission, by contrast, is only a fragment of insight.
"Mm."
Andrew’s thoughts flickered as he sensed his surroundings—the calamity had already passed.
Calamity is a universal law of the cosmos.
Nothing is given without reason in this world; if you want to gain, you must pay a price. Calamity isn’t training, nor is it a test—it is pure, unadulterated tribulation.
In the language of Huaguo, calamity can be understood as hardship imposed on a whim... Most people think higher lifeforms are detached from worldly affairs, but that’s not true—they too have passions and desires. After all the bitter cultivation and the gifts they leave behind, why should they give anything away for free?
"Heh, calamity."
"To put it bluntly, it’s just being capricious."
"The Heaven-Venerable’s Dao transmission split me with a blade. The Inkspire Legacy also hides secret soul-enticement techniques, with enormous risks—one wrong step and you’re lost. It’s one of the most terrifying transmission calamities of all." Andrew quietly complained to himself, continuing to observe the world saturated with blade-marks.
He bore the calamity of the Inkspire Legacy, and in return, gained tremendous rewards.
From Starlight Tier first order, he soared to third order, acquiring secret techniques and knowledge. As his realm grew, so did the benefits—giving him the foundation to set foot in the stars.
So then—
The Heaven-Venerable’s transmission calamity was now behind him. What harvest would he reap?
Thinking of this, Andrew focused his mind, scrutinizing the blade-marked world: "The Heaven-Venerable’s transmission split me with a blade—surely there must be more than pain. If someone’s mind is too weak, their heart might shatter. Even if they still receive the Dao, whether they can recover from the loss is another matter entirely."
Just as he pondered, a blade-cry reached his ears!
A person leaves their name, a blade leaves its mark—the world engraved with countless blade-scars shifted from silence to vitality, as if infused with new life. In an instant, the flickering, leaping blade-lights played out the past like a living documentary.
"Through the blade marks, the scenes of that time are conjured." Andrew's eyes twitched twice.
It was simply unbelievable—the Spark-Heritage Zone's highest ceiling was the Void Rift Tier. Could a Primeval Void Rift-tier truly leave behind such a Dao transmission? Did they think Andrew Han had never encountered Void Rift-tier lifeforms before...
In that mysterious moment, Andrew understood something.
"This Heaven-Venerable is still alive!"
"What does he want to tell me?" Andrew's thoughts swayed, shaken to the core. He held his breath, watching with undistracted focus.
Clang!
From the smallest spark, a great blade rises!
Clang!
At the first glimmer, three blades flash at once!
Clang!
Ultimately, brilliance erupts—ten thousand blades slicing through heaven and earth!
Clang! Clang! Clang! Endless blades strike forth in that instant, evolving to their peak, surging to an unrivaled extreme—it's as if all things become blades, filling the cosmos to overflowing... This is the absolute limit of quantity; no further advancement, no more to add.
"So that's it. So that's it."
It was as if enlightenment poured into him—Andrew was deeply moved.
After searching and deducing for so long, he finally saw the direction of Stellar Palace-Tier Martial Arts: mastering hundreds and thousands of martial arts, emulating nature in all its aspects, reaching a boundless state of abundance... To master just one technique cannot compare to mastering them all, piling up quantity to its absolute peak!
Of course.
For ordinary people, such a vision is unthinkable—far too unrealistic.
Each case must be analyzed specifically. If Andrew hadn't reached Starlight Tier, he could never support the grand ideal of mastering every technique. The time alone would wear down any hope, let alone expanding martial arts to such boundless scope—one must have exceptional talent, abundant resources, and comprehensive knowledge.
"What is poison to others is medicine to me."
Andrew's eyes lit up: "Yes, that's right, this is how it should be. Why didn't I think of it before?"
Up to now, his greatest strength was his soul.
So the drawbacks of time, wasted energy, and long, arduous deduction—none of these mattered.
His soul was the strongest, so why not try martial arts? He could use his soul as his foundation, give martial arts a chance, give himself a chance—even if he failed, it would not matter. With his soul, he could still reach the pinnacle. In short, whatever happened, his soul was always his final fallback.
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The soul is the retreat.
Martial arts are the breakthrough, the path to escape all shackles.
Because, to become a Heaven-Venerable, only martial arts hold a shred of hope. This is the fundamental reason for Andrew's decisive joy: "Now that Stellar Palace-Tier Martial Arts have a framework, what is the key to Void Rift-tier martial arts?"
His thoughts grew clear, spreading wildly.
He focused completely, continuing to perceive the world of blade marks.
Andrew wanted to see for himself—after quantity reached its absolute limit, what came next?
"When the brilliance fades..." He sensed the world of blade marks around him, but found all the blade-lights frozen, fixed in every direction, as if about to break free but restrained by some mysterious force.
At that very moment.
The blade-light withdrew, the marks surfaced, and the entire world collapsed.
...
The most precious thing in this Heaven-Venerable relic-site was surely the transmission of the blade-light.
Feeling deeply enlightened, Andrew closed his eyes in contemplation, standing at the entrance of the palace corridor, peering inside but unable to see clearly.
"I'll come back next time."
"The transmission of the blade-light is truly overwhelming. I'd better return and digest it slowly, ponder it thoroughly, and only come back to the Heaven-Venerable relic-site when I've thought it through. Otherwise, even more gifts would be too much for me to bear." Andrew shook his head and left decisively, without hesitation.
The greatest gain from this trip was Stellar Palace-Tier Martial Arts.
Based on Andrew's initial calculations, a few more star-years of accumulation would be enough to complete the foundation and ascend to Stellar Palace Tier.
Whoosh.
A flash of green light.
Andrew, clad in his Green Mountain Robe, soared upward, his robe fluttering gently, leaving only an afterimage—he had already vanished tens of thousands of meters away.
About half an hour later.
Andrew returned to the main hall of his manor, sitting cross-legged in midair. He spread his fingers, holding the Silent Chaos Seal and Glazed Sword—his two Profound Traits—to re-plan his entire Stellar Palace-Tier martial system, overturning all previous simulations.
Time flowed by, bit by bit.
Andrew's mind was free of distractions—the more he deduced, the clearer things became; the more he pondered, the more he understood.
Suddenly.
Ding-dong, ding-dong—his Star-Gate Martial Communicator received a message from Serena Huang: "I've received my Primeval Emblem Badge too. Let's go to the Famous Masters Pavilion and see what our Primeval-tier duties really are."
"Okay."
Answering her, Andrew rose to his full height.