How Could a Transmigrator Honestly Walk Someone Else's Path?

Zhang Ming narrowed his eyes, having thought of something.

"According to the Martial Arts Hall's records, the greatest Martial Saint in this world can live no longer than five hundred years!"

"So... one day, even if I become a Martial Saint, I'll still have to accept a maximum lifespan of five hundred years???"

He had come to a world with supernatural powers.

No ambitious transmigrator would ever be willing to simply follow the road walked by those before them and reach the endpoint others had already reached!

How else could that prove how awesome a transmigrator was?

A transmigrator had to carve out a path of his own!

He had to reach a pinnacle no one before him had ever reached.

Who else but me?

Those before him could only live five hundred years and could only attain Martial Saint.

How could a transmigrator be content with that?

For a moment, Zhang Ming's heart brimmed with towering ambition.

"I can do better."

Though he did not know where the road ahead lay, Zhang Ming had that confidence.

"If only this were a world of immortal cultivation.

"With my talent, becoming an immortal patriarch and attaining Eternal Life might not be impossible."

(^し^)~

"Unfortunately, although tales of immortals and ghosts circulate among the people, compared to the Martial Dao right at our side, the Immortal Path is nothing more than a dream bubble."

With a soft sigh, Zhang Ming suddenly thought of something.

"Wait..."

"Since the Martial Dao from the legends of my previous life can exist, why can't the Immortal Path exist too?"

"Even if this world doesn't have it, can't I create it?"

"Just like the beginnings of the Martial Dao—the ancient texts record that it, too, was created as predecessors explored bit by bit and imitated ancient Demon Beasts."

"With Ignite Comprehension and my identity as a transmigrator, why can't I create an Immortal Path that grants eternal life through the ages?"

In an instant, it was as though endless flames burned within Zhang Ming's heart, and a blazing sun rose from its depths.

Without wasting any time, Zhang Ming immediately took out the small booklet he carried on him.

He wrote down all his plans for the future, along with the ambitions stirring within him at that moment.

After awakening the wisdom of his past life and comprehending both his former and present lives,

Zhang Ming had feared that, as time passed, he would forget the many valuable things from his previous life.

That was why he always kept a small booklet close to his body, filled with all manner of things Zhang Ming believed needed recording.

Of course, Zhang Ming was no fool. He knew that recording such things carried the risk of them being leaked.

So he used simple phrases when writing, sometimes with one sentence not even connecting to the next.

This ensured that even if an ordinary person happened upon the booklet, they would be utterly baffled and unable to make heads or tails of it.

"Black Tiger, medicine and poison."

"Mm... since I've already disguised myself as a saber wielder with the Black Tiger Saber, why not add a 'bow' as well?"

"Killing enemies from afar isn't bad either."

With that thought, Zhang Ming wrote the character for "bow" in the booklet.

After writing "Black Tiger," "medicine and poison," and "bow,"

Zhang Ming added "wind" and "primordial chaos."

"Though Great Wind Leg is merely an ordinary cultivation method, once it reaches Great Perfection, it can still provide some help to my strength."

"I also need to quickly fuse the low-grade Primordial Chaos Pillar cultivation method I got from the Martial Arts Hall with the Mighty Bull Cultivation Method."

His gaze moved lower, and Zhang Ming wrote "immortal" and "spiritual energy" in the booklet.

"To cultivate immortality is to cultivate the spirit and cultivate qi."

"The first step of immortal cultivation should be Qi Refining."

"The first step of the Martial Dao is sensing the qi of Vital Energy; the first step of immortal cultivation is sensing the qi of Spiritual Energy."

"But where does Spiritual Energy come from?"

He raised his head and swept his gaze around the room.

Tables, chairs, benches, desks, cabinets, brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones entered his sight.

"I wonder whether there is something as wondrous as Spiritual Energy in this void?"

He did not know, but Zhang Ming wrote it down.

"Mm, after Black Tiger and wind, medicine and poison, bow, and Primordial Chaos Pillar are more or less finished, I can explore it."

The road had to be walked one step at a time, and meals had to be eaten one bite at a time.

Though Zhang Ming desperately wanted to open up the Immortal Path and become its founding patriarch,

he would not rashly "cut in line" before he finished the matters already at hand.

"Mm, that should be all."

Nodding, Zhang Ming followed his usual habit. Before closing the booklet, he would review everything written inside from beginning to end.

There were not many words in the booklet. At a glance, there were only a few hundred characters and several drawings.

Yet behind every character and every drawing among those hundreds of words lay Zhang Ming's memories of technology from his previous life.

For example, after gunpowder, he had noted down a mass ratio of 16:2:3 that ordinary people could not understand.

After steelmaking furnaces was a somewhat misshapen drawing of a "chimney."

And so on.

There were many more records, all technologies from his previous life that Zhang Ming had painstakingly recalled and written down.

"Maybe I won't need this booklet anymore in the future."

"Even if I forget, Ignite Comprehension won't."

Closing the booklet, Zhang Ming stood and continued practicing martial arts.

Time passed.

In the blink of an eye, eight days had gone by.

That day.

The martial training ground in the rear courtyard was paved with blue stone slabs.

On the training ground.

A man held a mighty Great Saber. Its blade glinted with cold light beneath the sun, like a silver snake twisting in the sunlight.

His grip on the saber was precise and natural. The tip pointed forward while the spine of the blade pressed close to his body, ready at any moment to unleash a fierce attack.

He chopped, slashed, and thrust, every movement inseparably linked to the Great Saber.

For a time, silver-white saber light flooded the training ground.

A moment later.

The man let out a fierce shout, his Vital Energy circulating wildly as his muscles tensed.

Black Tiger Descends Mountain!

Roar—

The phantom of a several-zhang-tall Black Tiger appeared, pouncing forward with boundless roaring, Bloodthirst, and killing intent.

If an ordinary person saw that Bloodthirsty Black Tiger phantom, their gall would burst and their soul would fly from fright.

Even Warriors who had sensed Vital Energy would lose their composure for a moment before the Black Tiger's Bloodthirsty brutality, only to have their heads severed by a single saber strike.

A moment later.

"Phew—"

"The Black Tiger Saber has finally reached Great Perfection!"

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Zhang Ming let out a quiet sigh.

Over these eight days, Zhang Ming had used Ignite Comprehension once more.

He had successfully brought both the Black Tiger Saber and Great Wind Leg cultivation methods to Great Perfection.

The two cultivation methods were not high-grade to begin with, and after merely several days of adaptation and practice,

the Great Perfection experience gained through Ignite Comprehension had fused with his body.

This meant Zhang Ming no longer merely possessed the experience, but had truly mastered the Black Tiger Saber and Great Wind Leg at the Great Perfection realm.

However, compared with the outward display of the Black Tiger Saber, Great Wind Leg's swift shifts and evasive movements within confined space were far more restrained.

"With Black Tiger Saber and Great Wind Leg at Great Perfection, next come 'bow' and 'medicine and poison.'"

He placed the Great Saber in his hand onto the weapon rack.

He stretched his limbs and loosened his muscles and joints.

"'Bow' and 'medicine and poison' aren't urgent for now. I can take them slowly. I've been cultivating at home all this time—my body is practically rusting."

"Work and rest should be balanced. It's time to go out for a walk."

"Just in time, I can also inspect the businesses I've been putting off for days."

The Zhang Family Merchant Guild now had its tentacles spread far and wide, with businesses across countless industries.

Although Zhang Ming did not interfere with its daily management and operations,

to ensure that everything in the Merchant Guild ran according to his plans and served the Zhang Family's interests,

inspecting the businesses below and supervising their personnel at regular intervals was one of Zhang Ming's necessary duties.

"Mm, this time I can try traveling incognito and inspect things with only a few people."

"I didn't dare before. I was afraid of getting chopped to pieces."

His five fingers clenched, and the explosive force of several thousand jin erupted.

His Vital Energy surged, faintly taking on the image of a savage bull roaring.

"But now, I'm not afraid."

Night.

The Zhang Family Banquet.

"You want to travel incognito for an inspection?"

His father Zhang Yongfeng and mother Li Su stared wide-eyed, their voices rising an octave as disbelief filled their eyes.

Zhang Ming nodded and explained.

"Yes. Tomorrow, I plan to bring a few household servants and quietly take a look at our family's businesses."

"A few people? What else would that be if not traveling incognito?"

"Before, you wouldn't go out without twenty Armored Soldiers escorting you. You even demanded that we do the same, saying it was for safety."

"Why are you the first one to stop caring about safety now?"

Zhang Yongfeng was curious. How had his son, who had always suffered from paranoia about being harmed, suddenly recovered?

"Hehe."

With a few awkward chuckles, Zhang Ming explained.

"Before was before, and now is now. Being weak is—

"Uh, no, I mean, can before and now be the same? I'm a Warrior now!"

Before this, Zhang Ming needed a grand procession and Armored Soldier escorts whenever he went out because he truly lacked any sense of security.

The Zhang Family had risen too quickly, swallowed too many people's interests, created too much profit, and provoked the jealousy of who knew how many people. They had to be cautious.

But now, things were different.

He had sensed Vital Energy and become a Warrior for over a month. He had also cultivated the top-tier innate method, the Mighty Bull Cultivation Method, and in just over a month of training had developed several thousand jin of brute strength.

On top of that, he possessed Great Perfection-level Black Tiger Saber and Great Wind Leg.

Zhang Ming could advance to attack and retreat to defend.

It was no exaggeration to say that he was invincible among Warriors and could even battle Postnatal Martial Artists.

"A Warrior?" Zhang Yongfeng's expression turned somewhat strange.

"Haha, you're so confident in yourself now? You've started getting arrogant? Aren't you afraid something might happen?"

Zhang Ming swallowed a palm-sized chicken leg, fragrant enough to make one's mouth water, then crunched and chewed up the bones along with it before swallowing them.

Then his Vital Energy surged, his stomach wriggled, and he rapidly digested the chicken meat and bones to replenish his body's energy.

Even though it was not the first time they had seen such a sight, his parents still raised their brows and opened their mouths, yet said nothing in the end.

Ignoring the grease around his mouth, Zhang Ming spoke.

"I'm not afraid. Trust me!"

"Oh?"

A smile instantly appeared in Zhang Yongfeng's eyes, and he sighed helplessly.

"Fine, fine. Since you've made your decision, then go ahead."

Ever since his son had displayed astonishing intelligence from a young age, Zhang Yongfeng had long stopped treating him as a child who needed to be looked down upon.

Instead, he treated him as an equal of the same generation.

And whenever his son said the three words, "Trust me,"

he had never disappointed him.

So this time, Zhang Yongfeng once again chose to trust his son.

Nodding, Zhang Yongfeng placed several dishes into Zhang Ming's bowl, then suddenly thought of something.

"Since you want to play at traveling incognito, take a trip to the coal and iron mine on Qingmang Mountain."

"I received a secret letter saying that something happened at the mine."

"Someone is being disobedient again?"

Zhang Yongfeng nodded.

"Yes. It's happened several times over the years. The human heart is never satisfied, like a snake trying to swallow an elephant. There are always people who think they're clever enough to embezzle the profits of those below them while hiding it from us above."

"Mm, I understand. It seemed we'd been too easygoing before. We'd killed too few people." A flash of killing intent flickered through Zhang Ming's eyes, then vanished.

"Handle it as you see fit. You kept saying we had to keep the Mine even if it lost money, going on about some Coal-Iron Complex. I don't understand it anyway."

Zhang Ming smiled faintly and did not explain much.

As a modern man, Zhang Ming knew better than anyone what terrifying power something like a Coal-Iron Complex could unleash once it got on track.

But after learning that this world possessed an existence beyond all norms like Martial Dao.

All the plans Zhang Ming had once envisioned were forcibly suppressed.

He even controlled the Coal-Iron Complex's self-upgrading traits, suppressing part of its productivity and capacity for self-evolution.