53: Chapter 53 The Fifth Life, The Blazing Sun Illuminates the Martial Path (Part 1)

Wang Shi looked at the points on the simulator, his brows slightly furrowed. His fingertips hovered over the virtual panel, which reflected a pale golden shimmer, and for the first time in a long while, he felt a sense of hesitation in his heart.

After experiencing four cycles of reincarnation, this was the first time he had fought such a wealthy battle.

A full seven thousand points were enough for him to directly select the top-tier background at the state level, allowing him to climb to the pinnacle of power in the state step by step.

He would no longer have to be like in his fourth life, where he had barely managed to graze the edge of the state level.

Despite enduring hardships and moving with calculated steps, he had ultimately ended up as a living teaching aid for the "big shots."

But this thought only crossed his mind for an instant before he extinguished it.

After all, this was a high-martial world where the strong were revered.

High-level experts could split mountains, sever peaks, and make rivers flow backward.

Without the protection of strength, even the most illustrious power was nothing more than a castle in the air, mere external objects.

He reincarnated continuously, traversing the mortal world, and his ultimate goal had always been to elevate himself.

It was to use reincarnation to constantly hone himself, to cultivate and grasp absolute power, and ultimately to complete his incomplete true spirit status.

"Therefore, in this life, I will go all-in on my dual attributes!"

The hesitation in Wang Shi's eyes instantly vanished, replaced by incomparable determination.

He dumped three thousand points into Bone Structure and three thousand into Comprehension, with the remaining one thousand points just enough to select a decent family background as a safety net.

Perfect.

He wanted to see just how far such prodigy-level dual attributes could take him in this life.

He wanted to truly experience what it meant to be a prodigy.

What the power of a Martial Lord of the Silver Marrow Realm was, and what it meant to be a truly transcendent, higher life form.

Having made up his mind, Wang Shi's fingertips descended, cleanly and decisively completing the point allocation on the panel.

[True Spirit Myriad Worlds Simulator]

[Bone Structure: 0 (+3000)]

[Comprehension: 0 (+3000)]

[Family Background: 0 (+1000)]

[Will: 666 (Cannot be allocated)]

[Points: 7000 (-7000)]

[True Spirit Talent: Danger Perception]

Looking at the final allocation on the panel, Wang Shi nodded with satisfaction.

Three thousand points in both Bone Structure and Comprehension, paired with a one-thousand-point family background—this was truly a prodigy configuration.

Looking across the entire state, he would be among the top batch of seedlings.

In his previous lives, limited by his vision, he had been trapped in family power struggles, living a petty and squalid existence.

In this life, he would take the sect route, enter the holy land directly, and step onto the pinnacle of the martial path with single-minded focus.

Without a shred of hesitation, Wang Shi raised his hand and pressed the [Confirm Reincarnation] button at the very bottom of the panel.

A blinding white light instantly swept over his entire consciousness.

Amidst the spinning world, his true spirit, carrying his undying will, fell toward a new vessel.

The fifth life officially began.

"Next, Chu Shi."

Noisy human voices flooded his ears like a tide, and a shout carrying the vibration of qi and blood pierced directly into his spiritual platform, causing Wang Shi's consciousness to violently break free from the chaos.

He opened his eyes abruptly to see a towering bluestone sacrificial altar, with a glowing white spirit-testing stele floating above it.

The surface of the stele flowed with faint spiritual patterns, and it was surrounded by youths in fine clothing, their faces full of nervousness and anticipation.

This was the scene of the triennial sect recruitment ceremony of Canglan State.

Almost simultaneously, the memories belonging to this body flooded into his mind like a dam breaking.

Chu Shi, the third young master of the Chu family in the main city of Canglan State.

His father was the current head of the Chu family, with a backyard full of wives and concubines and over a dozen children; he was not the most favored among them.

And at this moment, he was standing at the very front of the spirit-testing line.

The person before him had just stepped off the altar, and the deacon from the City Lord's Mansion responsible for calling names was scanning in his direction.

Wang Shi—no, now Chu Shi—raised an eyebrow slightly.

This opening was truly a first.

But it actually saved a lot of trouble; he could just test and then choose a sect.

And the talent test? He wasn't panicked at all.

After all, those three thousand points in dual attributes hadn't been added in vain.

He straightened his clothes and prepared to step onto the altar, ready to show off in front of everyone.

"Yo, isn't this Young Master Chu?"

"What's wrong? Standing here in a daze—are you afraid that your talent will test poorly later and embarrass your Chu family?"

A mocking and smug voice came from the side. Chu Shi looked over and saw a youth in brocade robes striding down from the altar, his face full of irrepressible high spirits.

It was Li Hao.

In his memory, information about this person instantly surfaced.

The second young master of the neighboring Li family, his childhood friend who had grown up with him.

Later, however, they had a falling out over a woman and became sworn enemies who would fight whenever they met.

Just a moment ago, the spirit-testing stele had measured his talent:

Full-value Superior Bone Structure, plus the Innate Sword Bone.

These two complemented each other, and his comprehensive talent had already reached the top-grade level.

Looking at the entire recruitment ceremony, this was already the top result.

Before the gasps of the surrounding crowd had faded, Li Hao walked straight up to Chu Shi.

He lifted his chin slightly, his gaze filled with showmanship and a hint of imperceptible provocation.

Not far behind him stood a young girl in a white dress with a pure and peerless appearance, gazing over softly, her eyes filled with just the right amount of admiration and joy.

It was Yun Mengyao.

Chu Shi's gaze swept over the girl, and as memories surged, he felt an indescribable sense of speechlessness in his heart.

It was this woman from a small family who, relying on her face and crude manipulative tactics,

had played him and Li Hao, the young masters of two top families in the state city, like puppets.

Despite having only average Bone Structure, she had relied on playing both sides to keep him and Li Hao hooked.

On one hand, she enjoyed the convenient resources brought by both of them, and on the other, she pretended to be in a difficult position and helpless.

The previous Chu Shi had been blinded by Yun Mengyao's appearance and her manipulative words.

That was why he had turned against Li Hao for her sake, making a scene known to everyone in the state city.

But for Wang Shi, who had lived four lives and was accustomed to the treacherous nature of human hearts, this childish vying for favor was simply laughably immature.

He couldn't even be bothered to go tit-for-tat with Li Hao; he just lifted his eyelids and said in a calm tone, "Move aside."

The smugness on Li Hao's face instantly froze. Clearly, he hadn't expected this reaction. He was stunned for a moment before frowning and asking, "Chu Shi, what do you mean?"

"Nothing in particular."

Chu Shi yawned, scanned him nonchalantly, and then glanced at Yun Mengyao behind him.

"I suddenly realized that it's quite meaningless to fight with you like this over a woman."

"If you want this woman, you can take her. I won't fight you for her anymore."

As soon as these words were spoken, not only was Li Hao stunned, but even the gentle smile on Yun Mengyao's face behind him instantly solidified, and her complexion became visibly ugly.

Li Hao was even more suspicious, looking Chu Shi up and down, fearing that he was plotting something evil.

But after looking for a long time, there was only indifference on Chu Shi's face; it didn't look like he was faking it.

He was a youth at heart and didn't have so many twists and turns.

After confirming that Chu Shi was not joking, a look of great joy instantly bloomed on Li Hao's face.

He slapped Chu Shi on the shoulder and said, "I knew it! How could a woman be more important than the friendship we brothers have shared for all these years!"

"Chu Shi, it's great that you've come to your senses!"

Chu Shi twitched the corner of his mouth but didn't reply.

He was speechless in his heart: "You're just spewing nonsense. Why didn't I hear you say that earlier? You only say it now that you see I've given up..."

Meanwhile, Yun Mengyao's face turned pale, tears welled up in her eyes, and her fingertips clutched the silk handkerchief in her hand so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

"Brother Chu, how could you treat me like this?"

"I—I won't talk to you anymore."