I Hate Systems

Chapter 515 Extreme Providence

　　"And, this is the real…me!" The Blazing Sun Clan Leader, Balmer said after turning into a vibrant youth with fiery hair that waved in the air like fire.

　　"W-What is this? Is there truly a stage above the Martial Providence Stage?" The opponent, an old man resembling a giant figure swimming about a sea muttered in shock.

　　"There is no Stage beyond Martial Providence. But, Ninth Layer isn\'t the peak. There\'s one more beyond this." Balmer said, slowly breathing out turbid air as his body heat continued to spike in response, soon turning ethereal.

　　He emanated a subtle fluctuation that caused the Martial Spirits of everyone nearby to tremble in response as Balmer said with a tone of absolute arrogance, "In the Origin Refinement Stage, we cultivate the attributes granted by our Martial Spirits. In the Martial Origin Stage, we materialise our Martial Spirits after consuming a fusion material. We form an innate connection to our Martial Spirits here, no longer needing willpower to control it. After all, it becomes an extension of our mind."

　　"And in the Martial Providence Stage, we fuse with our Martial Spirits, becoming one with them. But, this is wrong." He said, pointing at the opponent, "I won\'t attack you for a minute. What will you do to cultivate in this Stage? Show it to me."

　　"Fine…" Even though he hesitated, the fist returned to his human form as the sea vanished. He then condensed the figure of a fish on his palm that absorbed Origin Essence from an Essence Stone that he took out.

　　"That fish is your Martial Spirit, right?" Balmer asked.

　　"Yes, it\'s the Heaven Martial Spirit, Deep Sea Salmon." He said, introducing himself, "I\'m Hetude from the Wolba Realm."

　　"So Hetude…" Balmer smiled, pointing at the projection of the Deep Sea Salmon that was absorbing Origin Essence, "When you are cultivating, you still absorb Origin Essence through your Martial Spirit. This is despite you being in the Martial Providence Stage where you should have become one with your Martial Spirit."

　　He then smiled, slowly condensing the projection of his Martial Spirit as it absorbed Origin Essence from the Essence Stone he took out of a spatial bag.

　　But, upon seeing his Martial Spirit, everyone was shocked. Because, they sensed that it wasn\'t his Martial Spirit, but he himself.

　　"Yes," Balmer nodded, "I am the Martial Spirit, and the Martial Spirit is me. When I am killed here, I\'ll return to the Martial Spirit Realm where I\'ll live as a sentient Martial Spirit that others can inherit in the future. And my mind would never be erased."

　　"This is the peak cultivation form that we can attain. And I call this…" He took in a deep breathing, causing everyone listening to him to shudder as he announced with a solemn tone.

　　"Extreme Providence!" 

　　"Extreme…Providence…?" Hetude muttered slowly, feeling bouts of shock and surprise as realisation finally hit him, "So, this is the actual peak. In the end of our cultivation journey, we ourselves turn into Martial Spirits."

　　"Yes," Balmer nodded, "We become the strength that fosters the future generations. Even if I\'m killed now, it doesn\'t matter. My descendants would awaken me as their Martial Spirit in the future. And this is my Clan\'s foundation that would make its name resound in all corners of our infinite Realms."

　　"That\'s a lot of bragging for someone that\'s about to die!" Suddenly, the figure of Lota appeared from out of nowhere as she pointed her stinger at Balmer and unleashed a solar beam, intending to turn him into a tree.

　　But, the solar beam simply vanished, turned into his nourishment as Balmer smiled, snapping his finger as a fire arrow swerved towards her, slamming into her with enough might that it would have killed her.

　　Desperate Luck!

　　Her luck activated immediately as Lota suddenly burst with a lot of power, barely evading the arrow as she suffered burning injuries.

　　The arrow casually flew forward before slamming into a patch of forest, creating a sphere of flames that burned everything inside into a crisp, leaving nothing but a jet-black crater in its centre.

　　This was the strongest attack launched to date on the battlefield, for a moment pausing the war as everyone turned to gaze at the massive sea of fire.

　　As for the one that had unleashed it, he seemed calm, acting like that attack hadn\'t taken much out of him.

　　"Che!" Lota grunted as she hurriedly shouted at Hetude, "Move away! I\'m the only one that can face him."

　　"…Fine!" Even though he didn\'t wish to concede to her, he truly didn\'t have the ability to face that attack head on. And hence, Hetude turned into the Deep Sea Salmon and flew away, seeing arrows of fire slam everyone on the forest.

　　Lota desperately evaded the attacks, barely managing to keep her alive. It was clear that Balmer had surpassed her, a System Host, in terms of strength. So, the only thing that she could depend to survive was luck.

　　Thankfully, she was in a desperate state. And it was pretty much this state that was optimal for her luck to activate. This was why she took the charge in handling him.

　　Otherwise, there was a good chance Balmer alone was enough to wipe out everyone.

　　"In the past, there was a fly."

　　"In the present, the fly existed."

　　"In the future, the Fly will exist!"

　　Suddenly, a rather monotonous tune resounded throughout the battlefield, originating from its rear end. The verse of the song didn\'t seem to make sense at first glance, but as they heard, everyone noticed that they were becoming stronger.

　　Their injuries began to heal while their stamina recovered. As for those from the Gaider Realm, the effect on them was the opposite as they began to feel more tired and became more prone to injuries.

　　Moreover, if they were careless, they expended more Origin Essence than necessary, wasting a lot of power in each attack.

　　"I\'m not a fly, dammit!" Lota despair at the tone deaf song, "Om my gawd, who the heck thought it was a good idea to make him sing?"