Infinite Slaughter System: I Kill, Therefore I Ascend!

The marketplace also had some other things of interest, but most of these items were consumables that either enhanced cultivation, boosted spirit sense, recovered injuries, or augmented one's battle power for a myriad of arts and methods.

Unfortunately, there were no heavenly treasures that could change fate and rewrite destiny, at least not overtly.

However, that was obviously not what Li Ling came for. Anything that any treasure or consumable could possibly achieve, he could also personally accomplish as long as there was a daoist art for it.

Even the Ascension-level True Dragon Ball, which could potentially be used for various means—the premier of which was grafting the dragon bloodline into one's body—could also be accomplished if Li Ling happened to find a Dragon Transformation Art.

So his main goal was the same as it had always been when entering any marketplace—to find interesting daoist arts that could fill in the gaps of his abilities!

The last time he did so, he met that strange old man who sold him the Blessed Augury divination technique, which was crucial in his survival against Wen Caiyi's prejudice back then. Now, he hoped his luck was still strong, allowing him to find something as good as that one here.

Indeed, while browsing through one particular stall, he saw something that made him pause.

He stood in front of a lightly frequented stall with a mishmash of goods, all acquired from looting a sect or force after annihilation, where the various books in their library were neatly arranged on the table. Most people who came here were more interested in the other stuff, like the pills, formation plates, puppets, and even some reared beasts.

Li Ling and one or two others browsed through the books, but unlike Li Ling, who seemed interested, the other two held disdain and disregard. After all, the sect had a huge library with vast techniques, and if we're being honest, Li Ling could get everything he needed from there.

However, those techniques cost merits, and acquiring merits cost time and effort—not to mention he had a penalty on his head that wouldn't be removed until he surpassed Tang Huo in rank. This meant he would at least have to win the yearly tournament and enter the middle layer.

Even then, he wouldn't necessarily outrank Tang Huo directly, mostly just being out of his jurisdiction to punish. To compare, you could see the three layers of the Six Paths Demon Sect as akin to a large school complex.

The lower layer of the Six Paths Halls was the Grade School section, the middle layer of the Six Paths Lower Sect was the Junior High School, and the upper layer of the Six Paths Upper Sect was the Senior High School.

As stated with discipleship versus elder as well as deacon positions, one was genuine and the other supervisory. Just because you graduated from grade school and went to junior high doesn't mean you now outrank your previous teacher or principal.

So Li Ling decided to go back to technique hunting in the wild, which yielded him a favorable technique that he inspected, called the Nine Heights Pagoda. This technique sounded like something to do with defense, but it couldn't be any further from that.

The Nine Heights Pagoda was actually a spirit sense technique that could be practiced from Qi Refinement!

The technique involved gathering one's focus and wisdom to visualize a pagoda with nine levels, starting from the first level, while also using some supplementary pills and treasures to help solidify it. After all, if just visualizing a concept could yield spirit sense at the first level, everyone would be doing it by now.

Each level corresponded to one pagoda, and Li Ling could tell it was an ancient technique because it still used the early cultivation tiers of Qi Refining, Foundation Building, and Golden Core as opposed to the current Qi Refinement, Foundation Establishment, and Core Formation.

On top of that, it used the old subdivision system of early, middle, and late. After the Tian Ming Continent was unified by the Heavenly Mandate Sect more than 200,000 years ago—in which the continent was renamed—they began to work with the sages of the world to create the first edition Qi Circulation Mantra and spread it freely across the continent.

After countless revisions, the latest edition of the mantra was updated more than a hundred thousand years ago, which was what Li Ling and most of everyone else practiced with no problem. During that revision, it was decided that to simplify cultivation and make breakthroughs easier, the levels were further subdivided from three to ten, allowing people to make small increments toward a larger goal.

After achieving this, it was said that the researcher in charge of the project, Sage Tian Shu, directly ascended to the upper world due to the blessing of heavenly merit from all living beings, going from Nascent Soul to Immortal in one leap while going up—no Immortal Tribulation in sight.

The force he left behind, which was now the number seven sect on the Tian Ming Continent, was named after him, the Tian Shu Institute. They handled all the research and verification of daoist arts and methods, both righteous and demonic, as they were a neutral faction of genius researchers.

They began fervently researching the Foundation Establishment realm and also managed to create the Five Elements True Dao technique sold everywhere, which was priced at a flat rate of 1,000 low-grade spirit stones and compatible with anyone who practiced the Qi Circulation Mantra.

It also broke down the early, mid, and late stages into ten realms, which almost every Foundation Establishment technique thereafter adopted after going through adaptations over the countless millennia. The Heavenly Merit for this was much weaker, as everyone realized the benefits and wanted a piece of the pie, so the final blessing was split between many mouths, chief of which was the then Head of the Tian Shu Institute, Sage Xuanzi.

He was at Dao Integration and only got boosted up to Ascension, unable to ascend in one go. This change caused the fervor to cool down as it was borne based on altruism, not benevolence, like Sage Tian Shu's original efforts.

This was why the Core Formation edition took around 50,000 years to complete—more than a hundred times what it took for Foundation Establishment and more than a thousand times what it took for Qi Refinement.

The Head of the Tian Shu Institute during its completion was Sage Yun Bing, who created the ten levels of Core Formation based on the nature of the Golden Core realm, seeking to truly simplify the realm like her Ancestral Master and Founder of the Institute.

Surprisingly, this caused her to jump from Core Formation Peak—she crippled her own cultivation to practice the realm over and over again to verify the changes—to ascend on the spot, becoming the second immortal ascender who went without ever achieving the Ascension Realm or having to go through the Immortal Tribulation.

The continent of that era was left speechless by the fickle nature of Heaven's Will.

Currently, research should be ongoing on the Nascent Soul segment, but no headway has been made in over 100,000 years because it is not the same thing. The Nature of Realms in Firmament Heaven is clear—for cultivation, it is the Qi Path, Spirit Path, and Essence Path.

The Qi Path was often mocked for being the 'simpleton' realm, which just required one to squat and collect energy, the so-called energy-gathering stage of cultivation.

Not a thought in your head, just absorb, absorb, absorb.

But the Spirit Path involved the spirit and soul, which was too complex and complicated to make effective changes that could revise the whole system. Li Ling would not be surprised if the sages of this era remained stuck here until the day he achieved Celestial Transcendence.

This Nine Heights Pagoda was for the practice of Qi Refining to Golden Core Late Stage, and the creator even theorized that one could create higher levels for the Soul Sense evolution of basic spirit sense—but that was only theoretical.

However, for Li Ling, this was something he took seriously, because even if this mediocre technique could only end at Golden Core, after being limit-broken by the system, could it display new effects?

As for why this technique was not more widespread or was sitting here waiting for him, it was quite amusing. When Li Ling analyzed its flaws, he realized that this technique was one with lofty ideals but with barely any skill or value—kind of like a politician.

To get started, you had to spend nearly a month just visualizing bit by bit, and to get started, you needed to use a Second Grade Pill made from the beast core of a normally peak-level Foundation Establishment beast that was rare even in rich regions.

At Qi Refinement and using Second Grade resources already? Did you think you were the Son of Heaven? Or were you so rich and spoiled that you ignored the many far better spirit sense techniques out there to practice this costly one?

Li Ling bought the technique for 300 spirit stones after haggling for a bit, completely ignoring the original price of 10,000 spirit stones the fellow wanted it for. After all, the vendor argued that this was a peak Core Formation method, and Core Formation items usually started at 10,000 spirit stones, so he was doing Li Ling a favor as they were fellow disciples.

Li Ling nodded empathetically and did not bother arguing with the fellow, simply using the old demonic sect method of deciding the value of an item based on strength. Despite both of them being in the second realm, Li Ling's pure Blood Aura easily overwhelmed the fellow and left him feeling breathless, so he was more amenable to the price Li Ling quoted after, which was still slightly above its real value.

As such, both parties were somewhat satisfied with the transaction.

Li Ling checked a few other stalls and bought some things he felt that, even if they were not useful for him, could be useful for subordinates if he ever built up a force. In no time, the 365,400 spirit stones he had on hand were reduced by about 5,000, and he even had to splurge on a third void ring.

This made Li Ling pause and ponder if he could get a void-related method. Possibly one that could let him either fly, teleport short distances in combat, teleport long distances for traveling, or open his own personal inventory space to increase his carry capacity.

With a concrete target in mind, the young man no longer had the mood to wander. Right there, he formed the San-Cai-Yin seal and entered the Blessed Augury's Heavenly Space. Li Ling walked up to the Book of Heaven's Secrets and inquired upon what he sought, specifying that it should be available nearby and on sale.

The price was steep as always, wanting 50 years of life or two minor realms of qi cultivation. Li Ling rolled his eyes and paid the price in Slaughter Points, sacrificing 13 Slaughter Points to pay the ridiculous cost for what was essentially a harmless question.

The book flipped open and revealed the answer on one of its golden pages.

'Stall number 349, The Tai Xu Mysterious Method.'

Snorting with dissatisfaction, Li Ling left and realized that he was currently only at stall 39. If he had browsed one by one, it would have taken him almost a week to eventually get to the stall with those techniques, so maybe he shouldn't be so hard on the Will of Heaven.

With a single movement, he used the Swift Swallow Step to cross the distance of a hundred stalls in one instant, causing those with sharper senses to glance at him casually. However, they only gave him one look and turned away, disinterested in dealing with an Asura Blood madman.

The majority of those who thought that way were also in the Asura Blood Hall!

Eventually, Li Ling reached his target, seeing that it was a rather deserted stall with a rather strange person seated there. It was a gloomy-looking fellow with exceedingly handsome features—the type that would cause modeling agencies on Earth to break the bank to sign him on.

His white hair was messy and unkempt, his face was clean-shaven yet extremely pale, while his eyes had dark circles underneath as if he hadn't slept in weeks. He wore the white and gold attire of the Six Paths Demon Sect, but it hung loosely on his bony body as he held a jade slip in hand, reading through it with his eyes closed.

Most importantly, he gave Li Ling a feeling of danger, though this was not from his Purple Mansion because the fellow had no hostility towards him. This was an instinctual reaction as a fighter and as a killer—the instincts he had honed since he was exiled at the age of twelve and used to survive in the brutal cultivation world until he awoke the system.

Li Ling had once likened himself to a wolf, and in this case, he was like a wolf with its hackles raised, warily staring at the opposite foe, which was a giant white spider that was patiently fixed in its web, seemingly unmoving. Yet once it struck, it would be swifter than lightning!

When Li Ling approached, the young man also opened his eyes, and immediately his brows furrowed.

"What the hell, an Asura Madman? Only at the second realm? Why the hell do I feel threatened?" he asked with puzzlement, leaving Li Ling speechless.

Since the Will of Heaven pointed him here, Li Ling felt this guy deserved a scan.

｢Name: Bai Yegui

Status: Undergoing Fate Tribulation.

Age: 22/320

Slaughter Points Value: 200

Cultivation Base: Foundation Establishment Perfection (100%) || Body Foundation Perfection (100%)

Remarks: He is an abandoned son from a lowly immortal cultivation clan who swore revenge after his mother was drowned to death. Luckily, she protected him by sending him out ahead of time, but he was hunted down and killed. Through a mistake of fate, his ghost was able to repossess his body and come back into a state of neither life nor death, which made him obtain a unique physique—the 'Ghost Immortal'—which allows him to practice any yin cultivation method with far higher accomplishments than anyone else. However, after achieving some cultivation, the mistake of fate that allowed him to be is now backfiring, causing him to undergo a tribulation of life and death with only a 1% chance to live. The Will of Heaven sent you here as a trap, as you are now included in his tribulation which is about to strike.｣

Li Ling's thoughts whirled, splitting into three tracts.

The first was his shock that someone at the second realm, with the exact same realm as him in both body and qi, had actually made him feel the threat of death.

The second was that this fellow was obviously some sort of low-level chosen one whose fate was supposed to end here, his 'heavenly backing' having run out at this moment.

The third was him repeatedly cursing the Will of Heaven and deciding that no matter what, he would kill it the moment he was strong enough to do so!