The night sky was filled with countless stars, the evening breeze slightly cool.

Chen Yi looked up, his mind seemingly already wandering beyond the heavens, his body soon to follow.

Before setting off, Chen Yi saw Black Wind in the courtyard.

He was tied next to a large tree in the yard.

Chen Yi walked over.

Black Wind was sleeping leaning against the tree trunk. Hearing footsteps, he woke up alertly.

"Master, you're still not asleep this late?"

"Why are you calling me master again?"

"Sorry, Black Wind forgot. Boss."

Chen Yi patted Black Wind's horse back.

Thinking of the end of the simulation, where Black Wind desperately broke through the encirclement to carry him, Chen Yi felt even more that the bit of silver spent buying the horse was absolutely worth it.

"Black Wind, you are a loyal horse. Sooner or later, your name for loyalty will shake the heavens."

Black Wind couldn't understand Chen Yi's meaning, just nodding in response. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

The next moment, Black Wind saw his boss's body slowly rise into the air, then suddenly accelerate, breaking the sound barrier with a series of sonic booms, shooting straight up into the high sky.

"Wow... Boss can fly! Is he... a Martial King?"

Black Wind felt even more that he had followed the right person.

"Woo-hoo!!"

High in the sky, Chen Yi cut through the wind, charging forward.

He was flying at full power, wanting to test his top speed.

For this, he didn't use True Qi to protect his body, letting the fierce wind slice like knives, harshly scraping across his entire being.

The clothes around his body flapped violently, as if about to be torn to shreds at any moment.

A head of black hair danced wildly, like a raging river's torrent.

Chen Yi just wanted to experience this feeling of unfettered, free flight.

If you block out the wind, what's the difference from sitting on a plane?

"Whoosh!!"

Chen Yi's figure streaked across the sky.

Against the backdrop of the huge full moon, he was like a free eagle, skimming past the moon's surface.

"This is the sky! This is flight! This is a Martial King! This is... the bearing a true powerhouse should have!!"

Above the clouds, Chen Yi's voice echoed through the heavens, scattering the surrounding clouds.

At this moment, the Ten Thousand Souls Banner was trembling.

"Are you even human?! Who the hell goes from the Golden Body Realm to the Martial King Realm in a single day?!"

The Ten Thousand Souls Banner couldn't comprehend it, utterly baffled.

Originally, it thought that as a seasoned veteran of several thousand years, dealing with some brash youngster who came out of nowhere would be a piece of cake?

So even after being forced to acknowledge a master, the Ten Thousand Souls Banner remained calm and collected, handling things with ease.

Who would have thought that in the blink of an eye, this guy reached the Martial King Realm!

The Ten Thousand Souls Banner immediately went from calm to panicked scrambling!

Wrong.

Couldn't even scramble.

Was completely at Chen Yi's mercy now.

No matter how many schemes or abilities the Ten Thousand Souls Banner had, it couldn't possibly use this broken body and remnant spirit to deal with a Martial King Realm opponent!

If the Ten Thousand Souls Banner had a human body right now, it would definitely be scratching its head in frustration, utterly vexed.

Chen Yi stopped above the clouds, gazing into the distance towards the east.

A light was gradually spreading from afar, covering the land. It was sunlight.

The sunrise in this world was different from Earth's.

On Earth, sunrise looks like it rises from beneath the land.

But this world isn't spherical. The sun is located in the Starry Domains, moving constantly to cast its light on different places, thus forming day and night.

Watching the sunrise from above the clouds was a uniquely pleasant experience.

"No wonder everyone pursues strength. Only the strong can witness such scenery..."

Chen Yi clenched his fist, feeling the power of the Later Martial Path, completely different from the Early and Middle Martial Paths!

In the Early and Middle Paths, martial artists cultivate Vitality Energy, Spiritual Energy, and Essence Energy.

But upon reaching the Later Martial Path, starting from the Martial King Realm, the Three Energies merge into one, transforming into a brand new power.

True Qi!

All previously cultivated External Techniques, Internal Techniques, and Heart Arts would become obsolete, as they cannot enhance True Qi.

To improve True Qi, one needs to cultivate "Qi Refining Arts."

This can also be understood as a type of cultivation method.

But Chen Yi doesn't need that right now. To raise his cultivation level, he still cultivates the three basics.

Because the realm change brought by "Half-Emperor for a Thousand Ages" doesn't affect the cultivation of his original realm. How his original realm was cultivated remains the same.

And his theoretical lifespan also doesn't change because of the realm shift, meaning Chen Yi's current theoretical lifespan is still one hundred years. (This was the original setting, but when writing the trait effects, the lifespan aspect was omitted. It was corrected that day, but readers who follow closely might not know, hence this note.)

The Spiritual Energy among the Three Energies has Five Elements attributes, related to Internal Techniques.

If the Internal Technique is Fire Element, the Spiritual Energy is Fire Element.

And the True Qi formed after merging the Three Energies also has Five Elements attributes, but it's unrelated to Qi Refining Arts; it's related to the martial artist's innate constitution.

If a person has a Fire Element constitution, the True Qi they cultivate will be Fire Element.

The same Martial Arts, when executed with True Qi of different Five Elements attributes, might produce different effects.

Generally, one chooses cultivation methods that match their own Five Elements, as the effects are better.

Chen Yi used his spiritual sense to perceive and found his True Qi was Fire Element.

"I really am... destined to be connected with fire since childhood (in Song Dandan's voice)."

This common knowledge about Martial King Realm cultivation was inherited from the memories of the fourth simulation.

Although the Chen Yi in the simulation didn't reach the Martial King Realm, he had a bunch of Martial Kings and Martial Saints around him, so learning these things was easy.

When the first ray of morning sunlight swept over from the east, passing over Chen Yi's body, a certain desire rose in his heart.

To possess even greater power!

And to possess this power forever!

To achieve this goal, there's only one way—longevity!

"I must solve the Dragon-Man tribe invasion problem, otherwise, I'd be lucky to even live to a hundred."

In the simulation, before her death, the Female Emperor left Chen Yi a grand formation of heaven and earth called the "Seven Luminaries Immortal Array."

This array requires seven Martial God experts to activate. If successful, it has the potential to break the deadlock.

"Seven Martial Gods? Good grief, I haven't even found one, where am I supposed to find seven?"

Currently, there's one suspected candidate.

That is, the Female Emperor's master, the old witch of the Southern Borderlands.

This isn't meant as an insult.

"Witch" refers to the "Witchcraft Dao."

The Female Emperor's master didn't follow the martial artist path, but that of a Witch.

"Li Lingyue's array was given to her by her master. Next simulation, I can just go ask her directly, right? Or simply hand this task over to the old lady."

The second playthrough sure is convenient, with walkthroughs ready-made.

Thinking of this, Chen Yi then remembered he hadn't checked what tasks needed to be completed for the next simulation.

[Simulation cooling down, three years remaining.]

[You can choose to complete the following guidance tasks to directly obtain simulation opportunities.]

[Guidance Task: Eliminate Dragon-Man Tribe Strongholds!]

[Destroy Dragon-Man tribe strongholds, forcing the Dragon-Man tribe's invasion preparation time to extend, buying more development and response time for the next simulation. Must destroy at least six (0/6)]

[Rewards:]

[1. Simulation Count +1;]

[2. Epic or above Premium Trait Draw *1;]

[3. Earth-Grade Spirit Artifact Set: Incineration Battlefield Spear, Incineration Battlefield Armor, Incineration Battlefield Boots, Incineration Battlefield Helmet;]

[4. Heaven-Grade Qi Refining Art "Heart-Burning Immortality Art."]

"This task is also reasonable. Even if I don't complete it in reality, I'd have to do it in the simulation."

The Dragon-Man tribe is extremely cautious.

They won't act without complete preparation.

So destroying their strongholds in advance, affecting their intelligence gathering, will definitely delay their action time.

Especially in the early stages, the earlier a stronghold is established, the harder it is to build, and the greater the impact if destroyed.

"Where are the Dragon-Man tribe's strongholds?"

The inherited memories from the simulation did contain some discoveries, but many were late-stage strongholds, clues found by the Sword Lord during his visits to various sects.

They don't exist now.

However, there is one stronghold that definitely exists now.

"Go interrogate them, see if I can follow the clues and find all six!"