Immortal Supreme: Sovereign of the Grand Dao-Chapter 269: Martial Saint Realm

"Very well, let us discuss this...properly."

*Boom!*

An overwhelming pressure exploded from Emperor Markus’s body, crashing down on everyone in the arena like a mountain falling from the sky.

Those closest to him dropped to their knees instantly. Some coughed blood. Others couldn’t even breathe.

The spectators in the stands gasped collectively, their faces going pale as the crushing aura washed over them in waves.

"What... what is this pressure?!"

"I can’t breathe!"

"This is the emperor’s true power?!"

In a secluded corner of the arena, Qin Tian’s master—an old man hidden beneath layers of concealment techniques—whispered in barely contained shock. "Martial Saint..."

Qin Tian’s head snapped toward the voice only he could hear. "Master, you said Martial Saint? You mean—"

"Yes," his master confirmed, and for the first time since Qin Tian had known him, there was genuine surprise in the ancient voice. "I sense the aura of a Martial Saint from the emperor. This changes everything."

Qin Tian’s mind reeled. ’A Martial Saint? But that’s impossible!’

This was a world where strength made right. Where the fate of the weak rested in the hands of the powerful.

The weak were prey to the strong—that was the harsh truth of existence. But there was hope for the weak. A path that could allow them to change their destiny.

That hope was found in cultivation. The path of martial arts.

Cultivation could be practiced by anyone as long as they possessed even the most basic cultivation technique. These techniques were methods devised by experts of ages past, allowing those who could comprehend and practice them to gain strength.

But comprehension was the key. Without acceptable comprehension, all effort would be for nothing.

This brought about the subject of innate talent. Some people were simply more talented than others on the path of cultivation. It was an unfair truth, but truth nonetheless.

However, almost anyone could take the first step and awaken their Martial Spirit.

When the Martial Spirit awakened—that was when the dividing line was drawn. Between the talented and the average. Between genius and trash.

This was because what Martial Spirit you awakened would decide the path of cultivation you would walk. It would determine how far you could go and how fast you could progress.

Martial Spirits in the Mortal Emperor World were ranked into four major grades and ten minor ranks.

Human Grade was the most common and weakest.

Profound Grade was considered decent.

Earth Grade was rare and marked one as a genius.

Heaven Grade was the highest that had been seen since ancient times. It was almost a legend at this point—no one had awakened a Heaven Grade Martial Spirit in recorded history.

There were different types of Martial Spirits as well.

Nature-Type Martial Spirits included Fire, Water, Ice, Earth, Wind, Lightning, and other elemental powers.

Beast-Type Martial Spirits took the form of creatures like the White Tiger, Black Panther, Shadow Wolf, Violent Ape, and countless others.

Weapon-Type Martial Spirits manifested as Swords, Sabers, Spears, Halberds, and various implements of war.

And finally, the mysterious and extremely rare Unique Variant Martial Spirits.

Unique Variant Martial Spirits were the most powerful and sought after. They usually gave their owners special abilities that defied normal cultivation logic. Most who awakened such spirits achieved great things in the cultivation world.

Examples included the legendary Immortal Spirit, the powerful Four Symbols Martial Spirit, and the terrifying Death God Martial Spirit that had appeared in the past.

Cultivation started from the Physique Transformation Realm, where one’s body was transformed to be suitable for cultivating spirit essence energy.

At the last stage of this realm, the Martial Spirit awakened and a person could finally use cultivation techniques to truly train.

The next realms followed a clear path.

Spirit Condensation Realm came after Physique Transformation.

Then Gold Core Realm.

Martial Origin Realm.

Grand Martial Realm.

Martial King Realm.

Martial Emperor Realm.

Martial Ancestor Realm.

Martial Saint Realm.

And finally, the legendary Nascent Soul Realm.

It was said that the strongest person on the Southern Continent was the Emperor of the Hartfield Empire, rumored to be an expert at the peak of the Martial Ancestor Realm.

No one had heard of or seen a Martial Saint Realm expert on the southern continent for over ten thousand years.

The Nascent Soul Realm had become nothing more than a legend to the continent’s inhabitants.

Why that was, no one knew.

But now...

"He broke through!" someone in the crowd shouted. "The emperor broke through to Martial Saint!" 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Impossible! When did this happen?!"

"No wonder he’s been so confident!"

Julius’s father, Thomas Hartfield, stood frozen in place. His face had gone from confident to grim in an instant. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he struggled against the pressure bearing down on him.

’Martial Saint... he actually reached Martial Saint!’ Thomas thought, his mind racing to recalculate everything. ’When? How? We had intelligence saying he was stuck at peak Martial Ancestor for decades!’

Beside him, Cedric and Xavier’s father—Kaiser Hartfield—had an even deeper frown etched on his face. His hands clenched into fists so tight his knuckles went white.

’This wasn’t part of the plan,’ Kaiser thought desperately. ’A Martial Saint changes everything. Even if all of us combine our strength...’

The sect leaders who had stood so confidently moments ago now looked at each other with uncertain expressions.

The Thunder God Sect’s leader wiped sweat from his brow. "Martial Saint... how are we supposed to—"

"Shut up!" the Fire Spirit Sect’s representative hissed. "Don’t show weakness now!"

The Cloud Mist Sect’s elder closed his eyes, his expression pained. ’I knew we should have waited for more information. This gamble may cost us everything.’

The Crimson Blade Sect’s leader’s hand trembled on his sword hilt. ’Can we even escape if this goes badly?’

The Yin-Yang Sect’s twin leaders exchanged glances, having an entire conversation through their connection. Both came to the same conclusion—they had severely miscalculated.

The Beast Tamer Sect’s chief felt his massive tiger companion shudder with instinctive fear. Even his beast recognized the overwhelming power gap.