Martial God’s Incarnation

To confirm his suspicions–and to check whether or not he had picked up a bargain–Theodore pulled up Satoru's Status Panel.

[ General Information ]

[ Name: Saitou Satoru ]

[ Age: 19 ]

[ Race: Human ]

[ Affiliation: Theodore Winter ]

[ Cultivation ]

[ Stage: Faux Energy Refinement ]

[ Realm: Faux Tri-Culmination, 82.8% ]

[ Technique: Martial God's Path ]

[ Attributes ]

[ Strength: 429,187 ]

[ Dexterity: 429,187 ]

[ Vitality: 429,187 ]

[ Endurance: 429,187 ]

[ Agility: 429,187 ]

[ Energy: 429,187 ]

[ Intelligence: 16 ]

[ Wisdom: 23 ]

[ Mind: 59 ]

[ Luck: 65 ]

[ Talents ]

[ Martial God's Incarnation (Supreme), Golden Finger Transmigration (Mythical), Eidetic Memory (Superior) ]

[ Proficiencies ]

[ Literacy (Adept: 70%), Pain Resistance (Intermediate: 58%), Close Combat (Intermediate: 2%), Tactics (Apprentice: 77%), Wilderness Survival (Apprentice: 5%), (See More) ]

[ Enhancements ]

[ Coattail Ascension (Mythical) ]

Even before inspecting his Talents, there were already many interesting details to take note of in the basic overview. For one, Satoru did not follow the regular route of cultivation, instead having progressed on the 'Martial God's Path', which had seemingly excluded him from ever cultivating normally. He did not even use his Dantians!

Rather, he stored all of his Energy within his body–which was something Theodore had taken note of during their spar. Every single part of Satoru's physical vessel was deeply suffused with Energy, reinforcing it to an extraordinary extent which his Standard Attributes did not properly reflect. He was at least twice as strong in practice.

Another conspicuous point was that all of his non-Special Attributes were the exact same value–and that his Faux Tri-Culmination Realm was at 82.8 percent. To someone not in the know, they wouldn't be able to spy the implications behind this, but naturally, Theodore was very well-educated in this field.

'This Martial God's Path seems to be endowing him with the exact same Attributes which an average Supreme Pillar descendant would have at the respective stage and realm that it is emulating. Well, except for Energy, which is orders of magnitude lower–but it doesn't seem to be the primary focus of his path anyway.'

Satoru's Special Attributes were not particularly noteworthy–other than his Luck. But it being this high was no surprise, considering he had ended up with a Supreme-grade Talent. If it had been any lower than it was, then Theodore would have suspected something fishy going on.

His Proficiencies were also nothing to write home about. Other than 'Pain Resistance' and 'Close Combat', which he had likely primarily trained ever since the Heavenly Succession began, everything else was to be expected from a regular civilian living in relative peace. He had clearly prepared himself to the best of his limited abilities, resulting in dozens of other Proficiencies at Novice- or Uninitiated-level which Theodore didn't even bother to display.

[ Eidetic Memory (Superior):

• Obtain a photographic memory.

• Perfect recollection abilities.

• Never forget anything.

• Completely immune to all memory-altering effects at or below Superior-grade.

• Partially resistant to all memory-altering effects at or below Epic-grade.

• Minutely resistant to all memory-altering effects at or below Legendary-grade. ]

Rather than merely a Heavenly Dao-certified summary of the common understanding of the term, 'Eidetic Memory' was truly outstanding amongst Superior-grade Talents. Naturally, in the great scheme of things, it was still quite ordinary–Theodore had obtained it many times in his life so far, and twice during his cleansings.

The ability to never forget anything and to be capable of perfectly remembering all one had ever experienced sounded fantastic on paper, yet it truly didn't make as much of a difference as one might have thought. Matters could still slip one's mind, and only after one attempted to recall something did the memory actually resurface. All that one could be assured of was that nothing was ever truly gone. Still, it was a Talent many would pray for.

[ Golden Finger Transmigration (Mythical):

• After death, one's soul will transmigrate to another world, taking over the body of a recently deceased individual.

• The newly acquired body will be restored to a perfect condition.

• A random, beneficial Talent of at least Mythical-grade will be obtained.

• Remaining uses: 0/1 ]

Amongst all of the Transmigration Talents that Theodore knew about, this one could be considered a decently good one. However, in a way, it was inferior to the standard version of Legendary-grade, which allowed for infinite transmigrations after one's demise. Yet, if one was as fortunate as Satoru, then endless chances be damned!

[ Martial God's Incarnation (Supreme):

• Follow the path of the Martial God, ascending to supremacy via suffering.

• Any physical damage taken will increase one's Standard Attributes, the exact extent of growth dependent on the severity of the injury.

• Wound healing speed: +999,900% ]

To sum this Talent up in four words: A masochist's wet dream. It was extremely straightforward and simple to understand, yet terrifyingly powerful. The recovery speed itself was already on par with that of Theodore's Supreme Empyrean Physique, and then there was also the fact that it was yet another infinite growth Talent!

'At this point, I'm beginning to grow an army of monsters, huh? Nice.'

Smirking to himself slightly, he soon focused on the title of 'Martial God'. There had been too many individuals using this moniker over the eons, yet none of them had ever been truly noteworthy. That was mainly due to the fact that the ones who proclaimed themselves as Martial Gods were usually extremely weak cultivators from insignificant worlds. Their egos had grown excessively inflated due to having reigned supreme in their own homes, causing them to feel worthy of the weight of such a title.

'But this one... it gives me a different feeling. It's eerily similar to Navya's Spirit Empress' Failed Vessel, in a way. Perhaps, I'm simply too on edge–after all, being someone's incarnation does not necessarily mean one will be the second coming of this being. Instead, this Talent's description is more likely talking about taking up the Martial God's mantle and becoming their successor.'

Nonetheless, his gut was telling him that the Spirit Empress and this being likely originated from the same generation of experts–in other words, from the time of Huang Xian's rise. But considering that even someone of his status did not have any intel about a remarkable individual calling themselves the Martial God... whoever they had previously been had probably died prematurely.

'Just like I would have, if not for the Soul Fusion.'

Observing a moment of silence for this unknown ancestor who had not been as fortunate as him, he soon summarized his thoughts about Satoru.

Overall, despite his significant lack of many vital abilities, he showed an overwhelming amount of promise. If he had met him towards the end of the first round–and had never obtained his Existence's Foremost Calamity–then Satoru could have had markedly higher Standard Attributes than him. To keep pace with his other Attributes, Satoru required lower amounts of Energy than even considerably more powerful cultivators.

As a result, he would be able to vastly outpace them in terms of physique once they reached the Energy concentration 'cap' of the first round. Trouncing regular Named Family members would be as easy as breathing, whereas Pillar descendants would have to tread carefully. Only Supreme Pillar heirs like Theodore would have plenty of ways to deal with him–chiefly, their masteries over Array Formation, which would allow them to artificially create areas with higher Energy concentration and 'break the limit'

'But he would need to survive until then, which would be extremely difficult without meeting me. Previously, he already let his ballooning strength get to his head, and that's a recipe for disaster. Most likely, if not mine, he would have become someone else's henchman or bit the dust in due time.'

Rising from his seat, he motioned for Satoru to follow.

"Come, I'll introduce you to everyone else. But be careful, you better keep your emotions in check."

Not entirely sure why he had been warned, Satoru nodded. He almost felt a bit indignant at how much his Master was clearly underestimating him–after all, what could he possibly be exposed to that would make him lose his rationality? Could it be that a whole host of Miss Rún-level beauties was about to grace his eyes? Hah, such a thing wasn't even conceivable!

Mere minutes after his internal complaints, he was exposed to exactly the scenario he had so confidently scoffed at earlier. And worst of all, all of them were extremely close to his master! Not only were two of them his lovers, but another one of them boldly told him that she was gunning for the position of Theodore's wife! Then there was that gorgeous apparition who was practically drooling whenever she saw him.

'... this is... it's madness! Miss Rún and Miss Shuying are the only normal people here!'

Fortunately, the presence of these two allowed him to keep a somewhat level head. As a single man, becoming a Retainer of someone who appeared to be raising some sort of heavenly harem in his backyard was pure torture. Worst of all, he needed to keep his eyes to himself nearly all of the time. Xie Mei and Han Junqiao were clearly on guard around him, whilst Cheong Suhyeon and Navya didn't pay him much attention. Vigdis and Li Shuying were the sole ones he could properly converse with.

"Instead of worrying about these matters, you should work on getting more powerful. You told me that you've had the Hans torture you previously, right? But did you ever try to hurt yourself?"

Theodore's somewhat amused words snapped him out of his resigned mood, reminding him of his dreams for the future. Yet, at the mention of deliberate self-harm, he couldn't help but flinch, sensing a mental barrier keeping him from even entertaining the thought properly.

'... what nonsense! I... I can't allow such a minor hurdle to halt my progress!'

Psyching himself up, he clenched his fist and punched his own stomach with as much force as he could muster, only to feel an unprecedentedly powerful resistance... and not even the slightest ache.

"Huh? I... why can't I do it?"

Snorting with laughter, Theodore shook his head in disbelief, before revealing the inner workings behind what had just occurred.

"In your Status Panel, do you see the Enhancement from Coattail Ascension? It's currently giving you far too much Endurance for you to overcome. But... you can switch between turning it off and on at your leisure. Normally, nobody would choose to miss out on this buff, but you're a special case. During your 'training', you should deactivate it, and after you're done, you should activate it again."

Almost blushing in shame, Satoru hurriedly followed the instructions, soon experiencing a depressingly huge drop in power. Yet, despite the sullen mood this put him in, when he hit himself once more, his intestines practically burst!

"Ha... haha! I did it! It works!!"

Coughing blood and furrowing his brows in slight pain, there was nonetheless unhidden elation in his eyes. The barrier which had desperately attempted to prevent him from injuring himself dissipated instantly, with solely eagerness remaining.

As his wounds healed within seconds, he could feel a non-negligible increase in all of his Standard Attributes. Unable to resist the temptation, another punch destroyed what his regenerative ability had worked so hard to repair, further strengthening him. Soon, he was lost in a cycle of repeating these actions, unable to extricate himself.

"You should experiment a bit and figure out how to most efficiently harm yourself. Once you've come up with a method that's optimal for you, spend as much time on improving yourself as you'd like. For now, you'll be living in the central palace where I'll be staying as well. It will probably take another week or two for anything significant to happen, so that will be all for now. We'll call you for meals, alright? Vigi, you take care of him in the meanwhile and introduce him to all which he needs to know. Thanks!"

Making all necessary arrangements, Theodore exchanged a smile with his trusty right-hand woman and left his most recent hire to his own devices. The rest of the day flew by very quickly, his cultivation session only interrupted by a hearty dinner.

Another night filled with practice, and a morning dedicated to a number of cleansings–this time five–came and went, then it was once again time to welcome a couple of new faces.

There were only two more interviewees who had reached out, and both of them would arrive at Qinglong City in the next hour or two. Admittedly, from their interactions with Vigdis, he had already learned that they were excessively ordinary, but they should still be capable of becoming part of the rank and file.