Traveling across the globe for the first time

The Overlord Emperor suddenly realized, "Swordsman? No wonder I felt a sense of familiarity with you."

It turns out they inherited the legacy of those madmen.

Just like you, the Sword God of yesteryear, even when he was motionless, gave people a sense of sharpness.

Unfortunately, the Sword God was too fixated on the sword path he had created and refused to switch to cultivating the original path, ultimately becoming a stepping stone for others.

This was the second time Zhang Haoran had heard the name Sword God, and he knew that Sword God was a top-tier beginner martial artist. So he immediately asked, "I've heard that Sword God is very strong. He was one of the top beginner martial artists back then. Did he comprehend sword intent?"

He felt that this was unlikely; if the Sword God of yesteryear had comprehended the sword intent, he wouldn't have perished so easily.

Sure enough, the Overlord Emperor shook his head regretfully and said, "No! He only comprehended the sword intent."
However, he was still a formidable opponent. With the strength of a peak eighth-level cultivator, he fought against a king for a full day and night before being worn down and killed.

If he had grasped the essence of swordsmanship, how could he still be stuck at the peak of the eighth level? The way of the sword is also a way!

The Overlord Emperor was a very pure martial artist who took the struggle for lineage lightly and admired those top-tier beginner martial artists who persisted even when they knew there was no way forward.

Zhang Haoran nodded. That novice swordsman was already quite formidable to comprehend sword intent.

In fact, novice martial artists are not without a path, but it is different from the original path. They have no direction and need to forge their own path. Every novice martial artist takes a different path.

A person's wisdom is ultimately limited, which is why their strength is stuck at the peak of breaking through the eighth level.

If martial artists had had a complete cultivation system back then, the great war would have been much more exciting and wouldn't have ended in just a thousand years.

There are many aspects of the sword path pioneered by geniuses like the Sword God that are worth learning from.

The fact that the opponent was able to comprehend sword intent without theoretical support suggests that the sword path they developed must be extraordinary.

Zhang Haoran shook his head. He was thinking too far ahead. Those things could wait until he crossed the line. Perhaps by then he would have reached the Heavenly Sword Realm and wouldn't need to learn from others anymore.

It's more important to learn the method of secondary forging of jade bones first.

He looked at the Overlord Emperor sincerely and said, "I have told you the truth."

If your true form were here, we might be able to have a good fight.

You're just a projection right now; there's no way you can fight fairly. I think you should just admit defeat.

The Overlord Emperor said with some helplessness, "You are so strong and cunning, deliberately only revealing the aura of the middle stage of the eighth level. With my current strength, I really can't beat you. Consider this a pass."

He meant he couldn't fight them, not that he couldn't win.

"However, it's impossible for me to admit defeat."

I am not satisfied!
If you're capable, then show me the aura of someone who has broken through to the ninth level, so that I can also have the corresponding strength, and then we can have a good fight.

Even if that's still not your true strength, the difference won't be too great.

"If you could still suppress me back then, I would truly admire you."

When he said this, the Emperor's eyes darted around.

After all, being able to conceal one's strength and evade detection at checkpoints is a skill in itself; there is no true fairness in this world.

He said this simply because he didn't want to give up such a good opponent and wanted to have a good fight, even if it was still unfair and he might get beaten up, he was still willing to fight.

Zhang Haoran had ulterior motives from the start, so naturally he didn't want it to end so quickly.

He said with an arrogant expression, "When fighting among equals, swordsmen are the strongest, that's beyond doubt."

Even if you suppress your Qi and blood defense to the same level, you are still no match for them.

Don't forget I'm a swordsman; I have a sword spirit that can boost my attack.
It's like taking two major roads.

I refuse to believe that with such a disparity in skill level, you have any chance of winning.
"I've been through countless battles, killing more martial artists of the same level than you. Even in terms of combat skills alone, I'm not much worse than you."

The meaning is already very clear: even if he unleashes the aura of breaking through level nine and fights against the opponent at the same level, the Overlord Emperor would still be no match for him.

He doesn't care about any of the other emperors except for the top six-tier experts, let alone the fact that the other party is just a projection.

If it weren't for obtaining the method to forge jade bones, he wouldn't have wasted so much time talking; he would have just taken down the other party directly.

The Overlord Emperor sensed that arrogance but wasn't resentful. The other party was indeed very strong. He said calmly, "Being invincible among those of the same level is not just a saying."

"If you're so capable, then don't use sword intent. Let's fight with equal blood and qi. Even if your physical body is stronger, I'll accept it."

Zhang Haoran almost laughed out of anger. How can you call it fighting between equals if you ask a swordsman not to use his sword intent?

However, he also understood the other party's meaning. The reason why the Overlord Emperor stayed here to guard the pass was to fight against the warriors who were trying to break through the pass.

As for fighting against someone of the same level, that was just talk. The Overlord Emperor had no intention of determining who was better; he simply wanted to have a good fight.

It should be noted that among the three Heavenly Emperors, he was the weakest. He couldn't even defeat the Heavenly Emperor of Annihilation, let alone the Heavenly Emperor of War.

Once, he was beaten up by the Heavenly Emperor and even dragged the Eastern Emperor along to seek revenge.

As a result, they encountered the Dragon Emperor and Wang Ruobing on the road, which was also a turning point in the fate of the three emperors.

At that time, the Overlord Emperor noticed that Wang Ruobing had a problem and kindly reminded the Dragon Transformation Emperor, unintentionally ruining the God Emperor's plan.

When Dragon Emperor heard that his daughter had a problem, especially since it was said by a powerful figure like Overlord Emperor, he naturally believed it without a doubt.

So they began taking Wang Ruobing around to seek medical treatment and find a solution, which led to other emperors discovering the existence of the Qi and Blood Seed.

So they also began to make various arrangements. The Northern Emperor and others learned from the Divine Emperor and created spiritual seeds, life seeds and energy seeds.

The other emperors, however, began plotting to kill the three emperors to fill the hole, which was the beginning of all the tragedies.

Wang Ruobing's appearance signifies that even the strongest emperor, the God Emperor, is not optimistic about the Immortal Origin Project and has begun to make contingency plans. Naturally, other emperors also need to make their own plans, which led to the subsequent battles between the emperors and the Heavenly Realm.

The Overlord Emperor was unaware that it was precisely because of his well-intentioned reminder that the Three Heavenly Emperors perished.

All he wants now is to have a good fight.

Unfortunately, not many people have tried to pass the test in recent years.

He was so incredibly bored.

Having finally encountered such an opponent, he naturally didn't want to let him go, but he also didn't want to be beaten up unilaterally and crushed by someone's strength, which is why he said those words.

Zhang Haoran replied without hesitation, "No problem! I won't take advantage of you."

In this way, after shattering your projection, I will unleash an even stronger aura. Let's take it one step at a time until you reach your limit, and then we'll fight it out.

At that time, even if it wasn't my full strength, it shouldn't have been much worse, and the advantage wouldn't have been too great.

If I control my qi and blood a bit more, it can barely be considered a fair fight.

"Hahaha!" The Overlord Emperor laughed heartily, "That's more like it! Martial artists should fight fair and square. What's the point of just crushing opponents with strength?"
Come on, quickly unleash your power.

There's no need to destroy this projection. I'm the gatekeeper, so I have certain authority.

"As long as you unleash a stronger aura, and it's not a breakthrough during combat, my strength will increase."

Although Zhang Haoran was eager to experience the Overlord Emperor's martial arts skills, he didn't forget his own purpose, so he said, "No matter how the battle goes, you're no match for me right now, you admit that, right?"

The Overlord Emperor was simple-minded, but not stupid. He said warily, "What do you mean by that? I admit that I can't beat you with my current strength, but so what? What, do you want to hear me admit defeat in person?"

"What about the reward?"

Zhang Haoran said without any politeness, "I always got rewards for clearing previous levels. What are your rewards for this level?"

He wasn't being pretentious; if he asked directly, the other party would definitely give it to him, but that would leave him with a considerable favor. Asking for it as a reward for clearing the level would reduce the karmic debt.

Having cultivated to this level, one can already vaguely touch upon the Dao of Heaven. Once one incurs karmic debts, one must repay them, otherwise it will be detrimental to cultivation.

Look at the God-Forging Envoy. Because he created a celestial destiny, he incurred a huge karmic debt in the mortal realm and was trapped for eight thousand years. This shows that the power of karma is still very strong.

This is also why he insisted on settling his karmic debt with the Southern Emperor.

If one were to directly ask the Overlord Emperor for the method of forging the jade bone, it would be tantamount to accepting his inheritance.

The karmic debt incurred would be enormous.

Perhaps, in the future, we'll have to resurrect the original Overlord Emperor to settle this karmic debt.

However, he has already been reincarnated as Li Hansong. How easy would it be to revive him? The reincarnated body and the previous life exist in the same world, which is a challenge to the rules and will lead to big trouble.

However, if you ask for the cultivation technique as a reward for completing the level, these problems will not exist. Even if you receive guidance from the other party later, you only need to protect the projection of the Overlord Emperor.

In the future, if this projection is brought back to the Three Realms, it will only be equivalent to an avatar and will not be subject to the backlash of the rules.

"award?"

The Overlord Emperor asked in astonishment, "What reward is there?"
Fighting Lao Tzu and honing your skills—that's your reward.

I see that your cultivation system is very complete. You're not trying to learn Lao Tzu's ultimate path of physical cultivation, are you?

If you really want to learn, I can teach you.

In the era of the Overlord Emperor, martial arts flourished, and the strong did not hoard their skills; as long as you wanted to learn, they were willing to teach you.

Upon seeing the other party's attitude, Zhang Haoran bluntly said, "You should leave your inheritance to someone else."

There is someone more suitable than me.

What I want now is a method for reforging the jade bones. Of course, it would be even better if I could get guidance from a senior when forging the jade bones.

As you can probably tell, I have cultivated an extremely profound body-refining technique, making my physical body quite formidable. Moreover, my blood and qi have undergone three qualitative changes, making the jade bones I forged using ordinary techniques insufficient in strength, and it's even uncertain whether I could forge jade bones at all.

That's why I came to this level specifically to ask you for the method of reforging the jade bone.

"Senior, please send me the cultivation technique as a reward for completing the level, ahead of time."

The reason why the Overlord Emperor has the strongest physical body in the Three Realms is because he forged his jade bones one more time than others.

Other emperors also wanted to forge it, but unfortunately they didn't have his talent and it was impossible for them to succeed.

Zhang Haoran, however, is different. His physical body is extremely strong and he can definitely forge his jade bones a second time.

The Overlord Emperor was taken aback by this explanation, then burst into laughter, saying, "You've been beating around the bush for so long, so you just want my cultivation technique."

Then you should have said it earlier!
With such a powerful golden body, it would be a shame not to forge your jade bones a second time.

Row!
The technique is now passed on to you!
"Okay, consider this your reward for completing the game."

The Overlord Emperor also knew the horror of karma and understood that the other party did not want to incur too much karma, which was why he asked for it in the form of a reward.

He didn't care and was very happy, shooting a golden ball of light directly at them.

Zhang Haoran caught it without checking the information inside, and put it directly into his storage space.

Actually, he didn't want to forge the jade bone a second time. The fact that it could be forged twice meant that the first forging was not perfect and there was still room for improvement, which is why there was an opportunity for a second forging.

Of course, his idea may not be correct. Some advanced techniques require a gradual approach. If you try to achieve it all at once, your body can't handle it. For example, the Undying Body requires cultivation layer by layer.

There was another reason that forced him to modify his cultivation method.

The Overlord Emperor follows the extreme path, making it difficult for his internal energy to reach a balance and generate primal force. He forges his jade bones with blood and qi, but this method is too inefficient and must be changed to tempering with primal force.

Zhang Haoran neither researched nor modified the cultivation method himself, nor did he have the ability. He simply handed the information over to the Myriad Realms Tower and spent value points to optimize it, aiming to achieve the desired result in one step.

Not only were the two forgings time-consuming and laborious, but the jade bones he forged were also not perfect. Moreover, he had undergone three changes in his qi and blood, so even if he forged the jade bones a second time, the strength of his qi and blood might not increase much.

A single success might bring even greater benefits to the Undying Body, potentially allowing it to break through directly to the third level.

Zhang Haoran gave the Overlord Emperor a standard martial arts salute and said solemnly, "Thank you!"
Once I have finished modifying the cultivation technique and begun forging the jade bones, I will fight my senior again.

At that time, we can each get what we need.

"You can fight to your heart's content, senior, and I can also use the pressure from the battle to accelerate the forging of my jade bones."

The Overlord Emperor wasn't in a hurry; as long as there was a fight, that was fine. He asked curiously, "Although I'm not as monstrous as Zhan, my technique for forging jade bones a second time is still very profound. You've read it all in such a short time, and you're confident you can make some modifications?"

Zhang Haoran chuckled and said, "Hehe, I don't have that ability, but I have a cheat code. Modifying a cultivation technique is just a matter of minutes."

What is a cheat/hack?

The Overlord Emperor was confused; he had never even heard of this term before.

Zhang Haoran, of course, couldn't explain to the other party what a cheat code was, so he casually replied, "You can think of it as a kind of talent."

At a certain cost, it can accelerate the development of cultivation techniques.

"Alright, once I've finished integrating the techniques, I'll give you a good fight."

The Overlord Emperor nodded. He wasn't in a hurry. He had been here for 100,000 years and hadn't encountered many opponents. He had finally caught one, so naturally he wanted to have a good fight. The stronger his opponent was, the happier he would be.

Zhang Haoran sat cross-legged on the arena, his consciousness already inside the Myriad Realms Tower.

He first submitted the golden orb of light, then the conventional forging techniques taught by the King of Suppression, and finally the jade bone of the Overlord Emperor.

Then, the requirements were set: using this jade bone as the standard, they should try their best to fuse it into an auxiliary cultivation technique suitable for the Undying Body, and avoid forging the jade bone a second time; ideally, it should be successful on the first attempt. (End of Chapter)