You count them up.

Even counting these two Half-step Martial Gods, you're still one short.

But there are still several decades left, and the future is hard to predict.

Not long after, a Sword Sect elder arrives, bringing a Storage Ring filled to the brim with medicinal pills and spiritual materials for refining cultivation-enhancing resources for the Spirit Sea realm.

For you, you'll be refining Spirit Sea realm pills, but what comes out of the furnace will transform into Spirit Condensation realm pills. You won't have to worry about pills for a while.

For the Sword Sect, producing a batch of Spirit Sea realm resources isn't difficult.

"This journey to the Great Wastes is long and arduous. Be careful in all things."

"Thank you for your concern, Sword Lord. Speaking of which, the trouble I caused in the Starry Domains earlier probably implicated the Sword Sect as well..."

"It's fine. The Shen Family hasn't pursued the matter with the Sword Sect. Even if they did, would my Sword Sect bow its head to them?"

The Sword Lord gives you another item, a small, exquisite Flying Sword named the Voice-Transmitting Flying Sword.

This item can only be used once, for communication, no matter how far apart you are, even if separated by the ends of the earth.

You think of something and specifically entrust the Sword Lord with a task.

"I'd like to ask the Sword Lord to have someone keep an eye on a person for me: Li Lingyue of the Li Imperial Clan. If she is arranged to be married off, please contact me immediately using this item. If she is in any danger, please look after her a little."

Because the Great Shi King is dead, Li Lingyue's fate has already changed.

But she is the number one beauty of the Five Regions!

The imperial clan doesn't know she has a Sealed Saint Body; they think she's just an ordinary mortal.

So it's almost predictable that she will be used for political marriage in the future.

You didn't reveal this matter to the imperial clan, naturally due to personal motives.

If Li Lingyue stays with the Li Clan, the best outcome for her would merely be becoming an unremarkable Martial King within this vast imperial clan.

Without Granny Wu from the Southern Borderlands to guide her in developing her Sacred Physique, cultivating the Faith Dao, and the war-torn environment of the Southern Borderlands, it would be impossible for Li Lingyue to break through to Martial Saint within a few decades.

So you need to get the Female Emperor's fate back on track, sending Li Lingyue to Granny Wu when she grows up.

Especially now that it's been confirmed that Granny Wu is the Guardian.

With a Guardian as a master, what more could you ask for?

As he said, the Sword Lord is willing to do anything that can help you.

All for the sake of the future of the human world.

Such a small matter is naturally not worth refusing.

But the Sword Lord still emphasizes that he will investigate the things you mentioned from multiple sources.

To verify that what you say is true, to establish intimate, seamless trust with you, and to jointly face the crisis.

At the same time, the Sword Lord also decides that after completing his investigation, he will contact the Li Family, the Shen Family, and the Southern Borderlands witch during your time in the Great Wastes.

Things like foreknowledge of the future, the Dragon-Man tribe invasion.

If you go and tell them these things, they might not believe you, and convincing them would be extremely tedious.

But if the Sword Lord goes to tell them, even if they don't believe it, they'll at least put on a show.

Then when you go to tell them later, the cost of making them understand will be much lower.

"As for the Free and Unfettered God, I'll go contact him."

The Sword Lord nods.

"I'll handle the Five Regions side. We'll act separately. May the human world survive this crisis."

You and the Sword Lord grip each other's hands tightly, like in an arm-wrestling gesture. In this moment, you seem to be of one mind.

However, the Sword Lord gives you a heads-up.

The others are manageable, but the current Guardian's whereabouts are elusive, appearing and disappearing mysteriously. Even the Sword Lord might not have a chance to see her.

You know this is a minor problem for you; you know she has a fixed refresh time and location.

"I'm off!"

You step onto a Flying Sword—this one was also gifted by the Sword Sect, specifically for sword flight, saving both time and effort.

You fly towards the east.

The Sword Lord watches until your figure becomes a small black dot on the horizon, finally disappearing from sight.

"Sect Master, do you truly believe his story?"

The speaker is the Sword Sect's Grand Elder, the man who raised the Sword Lord. Their relationship is like father and son, with no need for secrets between them.

"I'll believe it for now. As long as it's not detrimental to the Sword Sect or to innocent people, me running some errands is no big deal."

"But what if he's lying, just to swindle some of our cultivation resources? If you, Sect Master, go telling others about Dragon-Men and future crises, wouldn't you become a laughingstock for the world?"

"It's true I might lose a lot of face. But he's a dignified Martial King. Would he go to such lengths just to get some Spirit Sea realm resources? The likelihood that what he says is true is greater. I'll investigate first, Grand Elder, no need to worry."

"As you command, Sect Master."

Year Three, age twenty-two.

Drawing a trait...

Draw successful!

"**Heartsteel**" (Golden Legend):

After entering combat mode, when there is an enemy within 100 meters around you, you will enter a 3-second charging moment.

After charging is complete, you can launch a powerful basic attack against the enemy, dealing ten times the destructive force, recovering 1% of injuries, and providing you with a 1% all-around combat power increase.

This increase will also cause your body size to increase to a certain degree.

Gaining one stack of Steel from the same enemy requires a 1-minute cooldown.

This increase decreases by 1% every hour after leaving combat until it completely disappears.

The maximum number of Heartsteel stacks is related to your own realm. Current realm maximum stacks: 1000.

Wait for me to initiate! I'll stop once I stack two thousand!

Adjust trait?

Yes/No

Another moment of dazzling golden light.

Chen Yi knows.

It's here, it's here, the golden trait arrives with its face full of invincibility!

"Heartsteel!"

Chen Yi narrows his eyes slightly.

That run beneath the setting sun was the days of my youth spent as a top laner!

Those who have played know that in a certain classic 5v5 game, the Heartsteel item is both loved and hated.

Mainly loved by the ones who build it, and hated to death by their teammates.

Stack two hundred fifty Steel in one match, check the score and it's zero kills, five deaths.

But, the fun of stacking Steel, you all understand.

"This trait isn't for burst damage, but in prolonged battles, large-scale battles, it will be a game-ender! Equip it, equip it, stack Steel anytime, anywhere!"

Chen Yi's Steel addiction flares up on the spot, wishing he could end the simulation immediately and personally get some Steel action himself.

Truly the great disciple of the Steel Sect!

You replace "Man and Sword as One" with "Heartsteel".

You replace "Treasure-Sniffing Nose" with "Serious Punch".

You replace "Playing the Pig to Eat the Tiger" with "Badminton Expert".

In "Heartsteel," the basic attack after meeting the conditions is enhanced in destructive force, ten times like "Serious Punch".

Equipping both traits at the same time means one hundred times!

And Badminton Expert can increase the strength of the right arm by another two times!

Although it's not destructive force that's being stacked, it's still an enhancement, only making the punch more powerful, not less.

Therefore, to use "Heartsteel," you must pair it with "Serious Punch" and "Badminton Expert" to maximize the benefits.