The Power of the New Skill

A woman, dressed in plain white, is slowly walking towards us.

Although the woman is middle-aged, judging from her appearance, she must have been incredibly charming in her youth.

Upon seeing the woman, Xu Bai cupped his hands and said, "Greetings, Empress Consort Empress Consort, please accept my condolences."

The Empress gently shook her head, looking at Xu Bai with a complicated gaze, and said, "We have seen you drinking with Eunuch Wei in the palace before, but I have never spoken much with you. Today I have come to see you because I have something important to discuss."

Xu Bai said, "Please give your instructions, Your Empress Consort."

He never expected that the person he met would be the Empress.

I had met him a few times before when I was drinking with Eunuch Wei in the Imperial Palace, and we chatted for a while, but we didn't have a deep conversation.

In his memory, this woman didn't have much of a presence, but she must have had her own methods to secure her position as empress in the harem.

So when Xu Bai saw the Empress appear, he was a little curious and wondered what it was about.

The Empress took out a letter from her sleeve and handed it to Xu Bai: "I found this while sorting through His Majesty's belongings. It says that it needs to be opened by you personally. I recognize His Majesty's handwriting. It was written by His Majesty. It was not opened. I brought it to you directly."

Xu Bai was slightly taken aback. After receiving it, he looked at the intact cover but did not open it.

"Take your time looking at it. I still need to go to the Mourning Hall." The Empress said nothing more and turned to leave.

Xu Bai watched the Empress's retreating figure until she was far away, then looked at the letter in his hand, his expression somewhat complicated.

He was not a man who showed his emotions easily, but he knew that since he met the emperor, the emperor had indeed treated him well.

Now that they've left him a separate letter, it must be something very important.

"Take a look."

Thinking of this, Xu Bai opened the letter and read it carefully.

The contents of the letter leap off the page, written in vigorous and powerful handwriting, exuding a captivating and oppressive aura.

[To Xu Bai, this letter is as if we were meeting in person.]

[By the time you read this letter, I will likely have already gone to the Ghost Market, and my soul will probably be completely destroyed. You should know what I'm going there to do.]

[I left nothing for anyone else, except this letter for you, to tell you what the best fortune teller in the Great Chu Kingdom divined for you that day.]

At that time, someone asked me, and I only said that you are a genius who appears once in a century, and that you are of great benefit to the Great Chu Kingdom, but these were just my words.

When Xu Bai saw this, his gaze sharpened slightly.

Fortune telling?

He knew that before he Upper Capital, the Chu Emperor had asked the best fortune teller in the Great Chu Kingdom to tell his fortune.

In the field of fortune telling, there was a master of Extraordinary Rank 9, in the Great Chu Kingdom.

Xu Bai is now also proficient in this art, but the profession is too complicated, and he cannot calculate the various trends of a person's fortune.

And this one from the Great Chu Kingdom was skilled in this line of work.

He had thought that what the Chu Emperor had said was the truth, but he never expected that it was just a smokescreen to cover up the truth.

What is so special about me?

With these thoughts in mind, Xu Bai continued reading.

He turned to the second page, where the letter continued to unfold.

[You must be wondering why I'm covering this up. I've already gone to the Ghost Market, and I can't take this with me, so of course I have to tell you personally.]

That day, the fortune teller said that besides bringing unimaginable benefits to the Great Chu Kingdom, you would also bring about tremendous changes to the world.

None of these are the most important things. The most important thing is that he calculated your origins, and as a result, he almost lost his life.

[When I said I would execute the fortune teller, it was just a pretext to put an end to this matter.]

Finally, I asked him what he had divined. He replied that I came from an unknown place and that in the future, I would bring benefits to the Great Chu Kingdom and bring change to the world, but the most fundamental change would be this.

Good or bad?

He couldn't explain it clearly. If it's good, it's a blessing for all people; if it's bad, no one can stop you, and you'll become the world's nightmare.

Nightmare?

Xu Bai gripped the letter tightly in his hand.

He had never considered these things.

Am I good or bad? Probably good.

"At least for now, I haven't brought any nightmares."

With that in mind, he put aside his thoughts and continued reading the letter before he had finished reading it.

I don't know if this approach is right or wrong, but for now, you're moving in a positive direction.

[And most importantly, and this is the core of this letter, you... should have been a lonely person, or even destined to die young, but for some reason your fate has been altered.]

[I possess something that is the root of my destiny, but no one can touch it, and no one dares to touch it. Whoever touches it will die, and I am no exception.]

If you want to find out where this came from, there might only be one place.

It's not Ghost Market, it's Ruins.

There you'll find the origins of every era, and also the end of every era; perhaps you can find the answers there.

The letter ended here. Xu Bai silently put the letter away, repeating the same thought over and over in his mind.

"Ruins... Ruins..."

He knew why his fate had changed, and he also knew why he had initially died young.

This has already come true; given the circumstances at the time, he was already dead.

To be precise, he was killed at Fierce Tiger Stronghold, but the one who died was the original person, while he was a time traveler.

This means dying young.

But then he came and had a cheat code, and everything changed. That untouchable thing that could change one's destiny was the cheat code.

Now that the Chu Emperor has clearly told him that he must go to the Ruins to find the source, he now has a purpose.

"But this matter needs to be put on hold for a while. Unless I reach sainthood, I won't focus on finding this Ruins," Xu Bai thought to himself.

If the Chu Emperor hadn't died, Xu Bai wouldn't know this. If there were any good Ruins, he might have gone to take a look. But now it's different. Now that the Chu Emperor is dead, the entire landscape of the world has changed.

Currently, only six masters remain Entering Sainthood Ninth Grade.

Two Barbarian Tribe escaped; they might use this time to plot some schemes.

Therefore, I must seize the time to improve my strength, at least to reach the Saintly Realm.

Once one reaches sainthood and possesses true self-protection abilities, one can freely search within Ruins.

"Hmm... let's leave it at that for now."

Thinking of this, Xu Bai took out the letter he had just put away again, and with a slight movement of his fingers, the letter turned into dust.

This thing cannot be kept; the information recorded on it is too important, so it must be destroyed.

After finishing, Xu Bai walked towards the Mourning Hall.

As I walked, I kept thinking about what to do next.

Once you get back, you need to hurry up and finish reading those two books on how to fail to become a saint. If that still doesn't help you become a saint, you'll have to keep working on the Barbarian Tribe books.

After attaining sainthood, he would rush to any Ruins he came across.

Upon arriving at the Mourning Hall, the heavy and oppressive atmosphere still lingered. Xu Bai walked to Chu Ling's Chu Ling and stayed with her to keep vigil.

The funeral for the Chu Emperor lasted a long time.

The empty coffin was buried in the newly built Imperial Mausoleum, which is also the burial place of the first emperor of the Great Chu Kingdom.

Although everyone knew that the Chu Emperor was not dead, he was completely devoid of spirit and soul, and was no different from being dead.

After everything was settled, Xu Bai accompanied Chu Ling back to the Barbarian Tribe territory.

Chu Ling has already pulled herself together. Now that she is Enfeoffment as a King of the Barbarian Tribe, she cannot remain immersed in grief for long. After returning, she threw herself into various construction projects for the Barbarian Tribe.

Xu Bai went directly to the Imperial Treasury.

Liu Qingfeng and the Female Daoist Abbot were both present, and neither of them said anything after seeing Xu Bai arrive.

Finding a spot, Xu Bai took out his notes on his failed attempt to become a saint and continued reading...

The whole world was immersed in the atmosphere of the Chu Emperor's ascension to heaven.

Most people wallow in sadness, but some harbor different thoughts.

In a secluded spot, two people were staring at each other.

The two men were dressed in ordinary clothes, but neither their appearance nor their aura resembled that of ordinary people.

If the location of these two were to become known, all the Entering Sainthood Expert in the world would rush over and kill them.

"That old bastard Chu Emperor is finally dead!" The Barbarian Chieftain laughed heartily, as if he had finally relieved his frustration.

The Great Shaman sat beside him, a smile on his face as well, "Although he's not completely dead, he's just an empty shell now, and he's gone to the Ghost Market."

Of all the people who were happy about the Chu Emperor's actions this time, they were the two who were the happiest. Back then, the Chu Emperor led his troops straight up and crushed the entire Barbarian Tribe. Now it was their turn to be happy.

"I'll go and capture two more people; we'll have a feast today," said the Barbarian Chieftain.

As he spoke, he prepared to get up and leave.

Before he could take two steps, he was stopped by the Great Shaman.

"Chief, you must not! Although the Chu Emperor is dead, we cannot expose him. The Entering Sainthood Expert in the world is still unequal."

Although the Chu Emperor is gone, there are still four Entering Sainthood Expert besides them. And those four Entering Sainthood Expert are a united front, so they have no way to deal with them.

Upon hearing this, the Barbarian Chieftain stopped in his tracks, a hint of ferocity in his eyes.

"Back then, the world was divided into three kingdoms, but now we are like rats crossing the street. It's all because of Xu Bai!"

"If he hadn't killed the Emperor of the Great Yue Kingdom, how could we have ended up in this state today?"

"Damn it! This man deserves to die!"

With each word he spoke, the murderous intent in his eyes grew stronger, as if he wished he could devour Xu Bai alive.

The Great Shaman sighed, "This person has an extremely strong fate. Even the contingency plan we left behind was avoided by him. He really had great luck."

The resentment of those Barbarian Tribe after their deaths was originally a powerful killing move for Xu Bai, but now it has actually made Liu Qingfeng better.

They knew all these things, and as for how they knew, those resentful spirits were connected to the Great Shaman, and they could sense them.

"Heh." The Barbarian Chieftain looked at the Great Shaman's chest, where there was a huge bloody hole that was slowly healing.

There is a strange force preventing its recovery, and the recovery is extremely slow.

"Don't focus your attention on him for now; this guy is too dangerous."

They did have this plan, and they implemented it successfully. However, Xu Bai not only thwarted it, but also injured the Great Shaman.

The Barbarian Chieftain still remembered the scene: the Great Shaman suddenly clutched his head and howled in agony.

Soon, a large hole appeared in his chest, and blood gushed out, nearly costing him his life.

If it weren't for the Entering Sainthood Expert, they would probably be dead long ago.

This isn't a backlash, but more like a punishment. They messed with people they shouldn't have, so they were punished.

Mentioning this, the Great Shaman's face revealed an unfathomable fear.

"His soul must not be touched. Only his physical body can be destroyed. The things inside his soul are too terrifying. Even if I can only touch a trace of it, I can feel fear."

The Great Shaman never wanted to experience this scene again. It was something that even a Entering Sainthood Expert feared, which showed just how terrifying it was.

"You still want to deal with him?" The Barbarian Chieftain frowned. "Don't forget, he's just one part of our next plan, and only a secondary part at that. Now that he's no longer of any use, don't bother trying."

The Great Shaman nodded. "I know, I was just venting. Now we can implement a new plan and turn that place upside down."

The leader returned to his seat and began to discuss the follow-up plan in detail with the Great Shaman.

The two discussed for about half an hour before gradually stopping.

The Great Shaman raised his hand, made a strange hand seal, and closed his eyes.

Suddenly, a huge mirror appeared in mid-air, with a black shadow inside that kept swaying. As the shadow swayed, a chilling aura emanated from the mirror.

Weird!

The bizarre figure of Entering Sainthood Ninth Grade! The bizarre figure was tall, with black mist on its face, and kept moving around, its expression unclear.

"You called me again. Hurry up and tell me. The Human-Strange Entity Market is in complete chaos. The Chu Emperor is killing people everywhere on instinct. We can only try to avoid him and give him enough space."

The Great Shaman listened to the strange words of the saint and said, "We have followed your method and killed the Barbarian Tribe using special techniques, and injected their resentment into Xu Bai's body, but we have failed."

He repeated the whole story, then remained silent, waiting for the eerie voice of the saint in the mirror.

Everyone in the world knows that the Great Shaman is the weakest in combat power among the Entering Sainthood Ninth Grade, but also the most special.

He could communicate with unknown entities and obtain a great deal of information, but no one knew what he was communicating with, nor did anyone consider the possibility of Ghost Market.

It now appears that the Great Shaman was communicating with the Ghost Market.

This matter was known only to the Barbarian Tribe high command; no one outside the Barbarian Tribe leadership was informed, because they knew that if the news leaked out, they would face an attack from both major powers.

This matter is very simple and can be analyzed very clearly.

To put it simply, if several brothers are fighting amongst themselves, but you go out and collude with outsiders, then you will only be killed by your brothers.

But they still did it, in order to leave themselves a backup plan. If the situation in the world continued as it was, then everything would be fine.

If the situation were to repeat itself, Barbarian Tribe were completely wiped out, then that would be their hope for a resurgence.

As for whether doing this has any integrity?

Sorry, they never had much integrity to begin with, otherwise they wouldn't have colluded with the Ghost Market and become public enemies.

"I understand." Upon hearing this, the Saintly Mysterious One simply nodded, his tone completely indifferent.

The chieftain and the Great Shaman exchanged glances, each urging the other to speak.

But neither of them spoke until the leader looked at the Great Shaman with a threatening gaze, at which point the Great Shaman reluctantly spoke.

"What do you need us to do next?"

Rusheng glanced at the two of them strangely. "You don't need to do anything. You just need to wait. When the Ghost Market is unified and launches a major attack, you can coordinate from the inside and outside."

"Then..." the Great Shaman hesitated, "Chu Emperor has already Exiting Sainthood, will his entry into the Ghost Market have any impact?"

The two of them were now tied to the Ghost Market, so when they saw the Chu Emperor ascend to heaven, they were still filled with unease.

I'm not afraid of anything else, but I'm afraid that if the Chu Emperor succeeds, it will delay all the Ghost Market. If the human side becomes stronger, the Ghost Market will lose, and their fate will be bad.

"Yes." The Saintly Mystery said directly, "But we also have ways to deal with it. We can just avoid him and let him kill some of the Mysteries at most."

"Although this may disrupt our pace and rhythm, it does not mean that we have no way to deal with it."

"Everything you've done is exactly what we were thinking before. We didn't expect it to actually come in handy. Now we're just stalling for time."

"All that we've done?" the Great Shaman asked again. "What is the purpose of all this?"

He was really curious why, when they were besieged by the Great Chu Kingdom, the Sage hadn't told them that doing this could change the situation.

To this day, they still haven't discovered what has changed.

Rusheng sneered eerily, "You'll find out in time. Now is not the time for you to know."

After saying this, he seemed unwilling to say anything more and slowly disappeared into the mirror, leaving only the leader and the Great Shaman behind.

The two looked at each other and then shook their heads in unison.

"Given the current situation, let's stay hidden for now."

"There's nothing we can do but hide now, sigh..."

The two sighed and then fell silent.

The air was completely silent.

The Human-Strange Entity Market.

After severing the connection, the strange being turned around and looked at the eight strange beings beside him.

Here, the nine Saints of the Human-Strange Entity Market gathered.

In the past, it would have been almost impossible to gather so many extraordinary beings who had attained sainthood, because they all belonged to different places.

But today is different.

"Has the Chu Emperor left?" Ru Sheng asked mysteriously.

Another Saint-level expert nodded. "Twenty-eight extraordinary individuals used all their skills to finally lure him away. His direction has changed, but there are still many strange things in that place, and we will suffer heavy losses."

"That's still better than us being killed. We can't die. If we die, we'll lack top-tier combat power." The Saintly One shook his head, his eyes cold.

He looked around, his tone sinister.

"He wanted to slow us down, but he didn't expect that we would slow them down as well."

"Those people in the human world don't know how to create the most bizarre things, but we do know, because we are the bizarre things."

"Now, the Barbarian Tribe have been almost completely wiped out. Even if only half of them become monsters, they can still cause a great deal of trouble for the world."

"Now, let's see who solves it first."

He didn't answer when the Barbarian Tribe chieftain and the Great Shaman asked him questions, but now he's revealing his true purpose.

One of the more powerful and mysterious figures hesitated and said, "I still insist on the old method. There's no need to fight with the Demon-Strange Entity Market anymore. If we unite, it can be considered a form of unification."

"We'll settle our score after we take over the human world."

Upon hearing this, the strange and mysterious voice that had spoken at the beginning suddenly disappeared and quickly reappeared before him, its eyes radiating murderous intent.

"When alive, humans and demons cannot coexist, and the same applies after death. A union? Do you want them to rule us, or us to rule them? Who would be convinced?"

Upon hearing this question, everyone present fell silent.

Humans and demons are natural enemies. This antagonism and the hatred between them are formed over a long period of time and cannot be resolved.

The human world is a place where humans and demons coexist.

The Ghost Market is a Human-Strange Entity Market and Demon-Strange Entity Market.

If it weren't for this, they wouldn't have needed to continue fighting at all.

If they can't stand each other, then such cooperation is simply not reliable.

This is innate; no one can control it.

Therefore, this fight still has to be fought.

"Now, let's see if those strange creatures can bring us any surprises. I'm really looking forward to seeing what the great outbreak of strange creatures in the human world will look like." The Saintly Strange Creature spread his arms wide, looking quite pleased with himself.

It took him a long time to withdraw his arm.

"Besides, didn't we open a battlefield with the Demon-Strange Entity Market and lure the Chu Emperor there? We can't let only our side suffer losses."

"Alright!" the strange creatures agreed.

A moment later, all the strange beings that had attained sainthood left, except for the first one that had.

He looked at the blood-red sky and clenched his fist.

"Chu Emperor Chu Emperor, I really didn't expect you to use this trick. You really sacrificed yourself, and you actually succeeded. Let's see who can move faster between us."

The sky remained blood red.

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, a month has passed.

Over the past month, the Barbarian Territory has been developing rapidly.

All the buildings have been completed, and recruitment has begun.

With the arrival of various forces and the migration of people, this place gradually transformed from ruins into a better place.

For the past month, Xu Bai has been staying in the Royal Palace Treasury.

Aside from occasionally venturing out for a short walk, he has basically never appeared.

Like him were Liu Qingfeng and the Female Daoist Abbot.

The three of them were all in the Royal Palace Treasury, not venturing out of the main gate, each looking at their own books.

Xu Bai didn't know the situation of the other two, but he had made great progress over the past month.

The progress bar for the book on Entering Sainthood Failure Insights by Rising Dusk King, is almost there.

Watching the progress bar slowly grow, Xu Bai felt slightly excited, but his expression remained calm.

As time slowly passed, after half an incense stick's time, the final progress bar finally reached its maximum.

Pale blue smoke appeared before my eyes, gradually coalescing into words in mid-air.

A moment later, brand new text appeared.

[You observed the Entering Sainthood Failure Insights and comprehended the Fusion Art x1.]

Xu Bai: "???"

This was the first time he had seen this; it wasn't the name of the skill, but rather the "×1" after the name.

As we all know, when this symbol appears, it means that there are many such things, and this is just one of them.

"What exactly is this thing?" Xu Bai wondered, stroking his chin.

As he thought this, the pale blue smoke in front of him gave him the answer.

[Matching fusion options.]

Match successful!

The Fusion Art can forcibly categorize and merge unrelated skills.

[Skills such as the Corpse Carrying Method, Mountain Driving Method, and Nether Carriage Method are being integrated...]

The pale blue smoke in front of me is gathering into words that are constantly overlapping.

Xu Bai's gaze sharpened slightly, as if he had figured something out.

Previously, when he acquired skills, any related or connected skills would automatically merge, but unrelated skills were scattered and listed separately.

Previously, he had spent all the books in the Imperial Treasury to acquire a huge number of skills, so many of which that the skill panel was replaced with ellipses and required page turning.

But now, the Fusion Art I learned from my Entering Sainthood Failure Insights can actually accommodate unrelated skills and fuse them together.

Xu Bai felt a sense of anticipation.

Although these skills are not cultivation techniques and seem to be random, they have only increased his anticipation.

A moment later, the pale blue smoke disappeared, finally forming a new line of text.

[Fusion successful. New skill gained: Myriad Strange Arts.]

[Classified as: Strange Arts Category!]

Before his eyes, all the text disappeared, transforming into information that entered Xu Bai's mind. At the same time, the latest attribute panel appeared.

[Name: Xu Bai]

[Realm Level: Ninth Rank Loose Cultivator]

[The Blade Sword Three Absolutes (Transcendent Tier 9): Max Level.]

[Myriad Aspects Heavenly Attraction Mountain Sea Art (Transcendent Rank 9.1): Max Level.]

[Returning Wind Flowing Snow (Transcendent Rank 9): Max Level.]

[Bewitching Shadow Great Art (Transcendent Tier 9): Max Level.]

[Moving Heaven and Changing Earth (Transcendent Rank 9): Max Level.]

[Undying Demon Soul Buddha Body (Transcendent Tier 9): Max Level.]

[Strengthening Kidney Returning Origin Method (Transcendent Rank 9): Max Level.]

[The Myriad Poisons Compendium (Transcendent Rank 9): Max Level.]

[Mechanism Puppet True Explanation (Transcendent Tier 9): Max Level.]

[Water Adaptation Method (Transcendent Tier 9): Max Level.]

[Feng Shui Arithmetic (Transcendent Rank 9): Max Level.]

[Thousand Mysteries Myriad Faces Formless Art (Transcendent Rank 9): Max Level.]

[Yin Yang Coexistence (Transcendent Rank 9): Max Level.]

[Mountain Sea Deity Summoning Method (Transcendent Rank 9): Max Level.]

[Corpse Control Method (Transcendent Rank 9): Max Level.]

[Soul Extermination Art (Transcendent Rank 9): Max Level.]

[Myriad Strange Arts (Transcendent Rank 9): Max Level.]

[Comprehension: Max level.]

In the Imperial Treasury, all the complex and numerous skills he had cultivated had been fused together, transforming into a Myriad Strange Arts, and all of them had reached the ninth level of the extraordinary realm.

These skills weren't all at the very top of the Imperial Treasury; in other words, some were of higher or lower levels. The fact that they were combined to reach such a level was something Xu Bai hadn't expected.

All his miscellaneous skills have been reduced to one. He only needs to use this one skill to transform it into any extraordinary ninth-tier skill at will.

Xu Bai was so excited that he could no longer control his expression and couldn't help but laugh.

This Entering Sainthood Failure Insights is truly a valuable resource! A careful review reveals that it has saved you a great deal of trouble! To give a simple example, imagine you have a bunch of skills available, but they vary in quality, and some are even unnecessary.

However, by using the Fusion Art from the Entering Sainthood Failure Insights, it was possible to fuse them into one, eliminating the need to painstakingly separate them, which saved a lot of time, and the level could even be increased.

This means that if another Fusion Art were used, would it categorize his other skills? He still has a bunch of extraordinary ninth-tier skills; if they were fused together, would he be able to break through to the extraordinary realm? Xu Bai became more and more excited as he thought about it.

He took out another book from his bosom; it was a book of lessons he had learned from his Entering Sainthood Failure Insights, given to him by the Female Daoist Abbot.

Liver! Liver like crazy!

This thing is amazing!

That's just how unreasonable I am. I don't care if there's any connection between us or not. I'm going to merge you together anyway, without any scientific basis or rules. It's just a forced fusion.

"As expected of Little Gold," Xu Bai thought to himself.

Now he saw that he had reached the threshold of sainthood, and that he could reach it in the shortest amount of time.

"I'll finish this book on my Entering Sainthood Failure Insights first. Then I'll go out and find more, or have other forces send them over. With my current influence, they'll have to give them to me no matter what," Xu Bai decided.

The Female Daoist Abbot beside him was puzzled; she didn't know why Xu Bai was so happy.

Seeing that Xu Bai had switched to another book, I ignored it and continued reading my own book.

The Royal Palace Treasury returned to silence, and no one spoke again.

Barbarian Territory.

Now, all the towns have been built, and the streets are bustling with activity. The people who have migrated here live here, do all kinds of business, and are living a prosperous life.

Zhao San was very happy.

The reason is simple: he was among the first group of people to migrate here and received preferential treatment. He moved his whole family here and lived a very good life.

He found a job here, working only in the mornings and setting up a stall on the street in the afternoons, and his life became more and more comfortable.

Today, he closed his stall very late, thinking that his wife was about to give birth, so he planned to earn a little more money to get some nutritional supplements for her.

As it grew late, he packed up his stall and headed home.

As his wallet bulged, he became even happier.

On his way home, he had to pass through a small alley, an alley Zhao San often walked through, and he didn't find it any different.

By the moonlight, he was getting closer and closer to home, and now he had reached the middle of the alley.

Just when they were about to reach their home, something unexpected happened.

"Tick-tock... tick-tock..."

There was a dripping sound coming from behind me...