In the village, birds chirped noisily.
The sounds of insects and birds here were much more abundant than elsewhere. Birds occasionally flew past, perching on branches. The dappled sunlight filtering through the treetops was warm, devoid of the chill found in other forests.
Fang You walked step by step along the stone steps.
One step at a time, he refused to hurry.
After a full half hour, he finally reached the end of the stone steps.
Before a magnificent structure.
Thick stone pillars stood tall, guarding the flagstone path leading to the central area.
Time had left many marks here, but it did not diminish the grandeur; it only made it appear more ancient and weathered.
A sense of gravitas washed over him.
Passing through a stone gate, the Legacy Ground presented itself. This place was very spacious and had once served as a training ground. The weapon racks around it had decayed, but the mottled sabers still stood defiantly.
In the center of the Legacy Ground was a giant legacy stone tablet.
However, at this moment,
A statue had been added before the stone tablet.
Clad in a white robe, with a smile, one hand was held in a loose grip, its palm cradling the scepter, which showed no signs of wear despite the passage of time.
The Glorious Scepter.
Fang You was stunned.
After a long moment, he slowly raised his hand, his right fist held horizontally over his heart.
The wind blew, and An Jianyou, who had followed him up step by step, suddenly widened her eyes.
Before her,
She seemed to see one faint golden silhouette after another; there were youths, young men, and elders.
Some carried sabers on their backs, others wielded long spears.
But at this moment, they all performed the same action: slowly raising their right hands, clenching their fists, placing them over their hearts, their lips trembling slightly.
The wind blew,
It ruffled the instructor's hair, and also the hair of those figures.
In their eyes, the same scenery was reflected.
An Jianyou also slowed her breathing, walking to the very end of the figures. She stood tall, her face solemn, her palms clenched and placed over her heart.
"May the fire be passed on, humanity... shall endure."
"Are these, our ancestors of the inextinguishable flame?"
…
On the legacy stone tablet, Fang You held his sword and carved one name after another.
Wei Jingwu, Wang Hei, Li Ergou, Li Sanniu…
An Jianyou sat quietly to the side, her eyes wide open, as if trying to engrave each of these names into her memory.
After a long while,
Fang You sheathed his long sword and looked at the Legacy Ground before him.
[Legacy Ground (Gold)]
[Primary Legacy: Blade Legacy]
[This legacy includes: Basic Saber Techniques, Blade Slash, Sinister Tracking, War Bloodlust, Sharpness Breath, etc…]
[Basic Effects: First Awakening +35%, Second Awakening +20%, Third Awakening +10%, Fourth Awakening +3%, other cultivation effects (click for details)]
[Note: The more compatible one is with this Legacy Ground, the more complete the benefits one can receive, and vice versa.]
[Legacy Effect: Consume a certain amount of strange crystals to activate the 'Blade Legacy', learn all legacy content, and there is a high probability of breaking through awakening levels during the legacy. Consumption depends on the specific legacy.]
[Note: Accepting the primary legacy also requires fulfilling prerequisite conditions.]
In addition to the primary legacy, there were various other legacies.
The cultivation imprint of the Water of Healing.
The rules for using the Palm Thunder.
All of these provided amplification effects.
Overall, the Legacy Ground was a sacred place for cultivation and breakthroughs, but it was not just that.
"As time has settled, the Legacy Ground is gradually merging similar types of legacies, creating an effect where 1+1 is greater than 2."
"If the legacy is actively initiated, one can gain considerable strength in a short period, and the awakening rate will be greatly increased, even for breakthroughs from the third to the fourth awakening, there is a high chance."
However, the cost of activating the legacy was also not small.
Furthermore, the Blade Legacy required at least the second awakening level, and a certain proficiency in Blade Slash and Basic Saber Techniques to accept.
It was equivalent to learning an advanced skill, only more comprehensive, integrating multiple intermediate and low-level skills.
It also included combat experience, and practical increases in strength and awakening level.
He took a few steps forward and placed his hand on the main stone tablet. As the owner of this structure, Fang You could roughly grasp the information of this legacy.
Threads of information flowed in.
After a long moment, he smiled.
"Indeed, the greatest value lies in the integration of skills."
"The skills learned through the legacy are no longer individual entities, but rather incorporate combat techniques and awakening experience. Perhaps we can use another term..."
"Profession!"
Profession: Blade!
It encompassed the method of combat, the method of improvement, and the method of breakthrough.
Especially in breakthroughs, the probability was far higher than simple mysterious boiling and direct breakthroughs... of course, the prerequisite for breakthroughs was also higher.
"The Blade profession still has many flaws and needs to be continuously refined in the coming years."
"But this is a viable path."
"If a complete cultivation method can be deduced through professions, a cultivation method that aids awakening breakthroughs, that would be the truly great benefit!"
He was overjoyed.
This was the legacy left by Wei Jingwu and the other flame warriors for future generations, it was accumulated effort, it was foundation.
But the path still had to be walked step by step.
He left the Legacy Ground and went to the tombstone forest to the north. Hundreds of tombstones stood here. Over the years, this place had been neglected, overgrown with weeds, dilapidated, and messy.
He rolled up his sleeves, and without using his invisible hand, he pulled out the weeds with his bare hands, cleaning each tombstone.
An Jianyou, this girl, had no trace of a pampered young lady's temper. She squatted down and helped him clean, getting mud all over her face.
It was only when night fell that this entire tombstone forest was cleaned.
Fang You wiped the sweat from his brow and then wiped the mud from An Jianyou's forehead. He stood up and looked at the names on the tombstones before him.
Some he recognized, others he did not. They had arrived at this village after he had left.
But without exception, they were buried here.
Including the warriors who, after the great battle, refused to leave and lived out their lives here.
Their lives were not long.
Even if the war had been very smooth, and non-human level individuals like Wang Hei and Li Ergou could survive, once the tide of mystery receded and their strength could no longer improve, they would not live to see the modern era thousands of years later.
The lifespan of non-human level beings was only slightly longer than that of ordinary people, living for over a hundred years, or two hundred years.
The same applied to Commander level and Throne level.
They were still within the mortal realm, with limited lifespans.
Unless they could enter the Mythical level, they would transform like carp becoming dragons, evolving across species, possessing divinity, and infinite possibilities, as well as prolonged lifespans.
After a thousand years, even if you were the King of the Human Realm, you would only turn to withered bones.
It seemed that only the Legacy Ground here was untouched by the passage of time.
But,
Fang You continued forward, not far from the tombstone forest. Here, an ancient tree towered, its roots like soaring dragons, its trunk so thick that more than ten people could not embrace it. Its lush canopy even spread over the tombstone forest.
An ancient tree!
A thousand-year-old ancient tree!
And it was…
As he approached, his aura spread. The towering ancient tree gradually awakened from its slumber, reviving from its ancient state.
Leaves rustled, and the ground trembled.
Slowly, an old, wizened face emerged. Branches extended, flying to Fang You's front.
It rubbed against him.
Loneliness, grievance, excitement, joy – various emotions flowed.
There was also a particular obsession.
It desired a name, a name bestowed by him.
Since that was the case, you shall be called...
"Qingmu."
Rustle—
The leaves swayed, and Qingmu's panel appeared before him.
It was a Fourth Awakening non-human level.
Furthermore, the ancient tree Qingmu had killed countless strange evils and blood-winged people during the war, including several non-human level blood-wings.
If one disregarded the final moment of ultimate sublimation, the number of non-human level blood-wings slain by Wang Hei was less than that of Qingmu.
With numerous war merits, the ancient tree Qingmu had long accumulated sufficient mystery.
It entered a state of conscious slumber to prevent the loss of mystery. And now, before Fang You's eyes, Qingmu's 'Guidance·Awakening' was an illuminated option.
However,
The probability was too low.
It was not that it was weak; Qingmu was among the strong in the non-human level. It was just that it was inherently disadvantaged. Even though it had broken free from the shackles of destiny and managed to enter the non-human level, it was almost its limit.
To break through further was not impossible, but the probability was indeed low.
Reaching the Commander level was as difficult as rolling a gold card.
"But that's not a big problem."
"Since it is inherently disadvantaged, we can just supplement it. As long as it is a wood-element or life-element treasure of sufficiently high grade, it can generally make up for Qingmu's deficiencies."
"As for where to find these treasures?"
He, Instructor Fang, still had three thousand fate points. He could draw thirty times from the advanced gacha pool. Could he not draw a mere wood-element treasure?
…
"Damn! I really can't draw it?!"
He had drawn twenty times from the advanced gacha pool and sixty times from the intermediate gacha pool. As a result, he had obtained some gold and purple items, but…
He did not get what he wanted.
The gold-level item was the building 'Legacy Ground', another one.
From the purple-level items, he obtained several cultivation cards and two seed-of-skill items.
In addition, he had drawn many potions, skill books, and strange artifacts, and a large number of strange crystals.
However, he discovered a pattern.
The skill books he drew were mostly ones he already possessed, and the strange artifacts were the same.
He drew another Saber of Evil Slaying, and six copies of the Blade Slash skill book, a wholesale.
There were new skill books too, all low-level skills.
[Buddha Light Palm]
[Three Consecutive Stabs]
[Fireball Spell]
Fang You looked at the ancient tree Qingmu before him and fell into thought.
The day was not auspicious.
He would consider the breakthrough later.
…
Deep into the night, all was silent.
The investigation bureau office building in a small city in Baichuan Prefecture was still lit.
Investigators took turns to guard, day and night, protecting the peace of the city.
Suddenly,
An investigator pushed open the director's office door. "Director, we have discovered an anomalous item. It's currently uncertain if it's a strange object."
The investigator carefully took out a scroll.
The paper was yellowed, exuding an ancient aura.
The investigator, wearing gloves, slowly unrolled the scroll. Before the director was a bizarre painting.
Why was it bizarre?
Although it was only a black and white painting, the director saw a blood-red sky, a giant open eye, and before the eye, a golden figure standing in the sky.
A majestic figure, holding a scepter.