Heaven-Piercing Martial Emperor

Heaven-Piercing Martial Emperor is an Eastern fantasy web novel by Ji Xiaozéi, serialized on Baidu Novels and other platforms from May 17, 2011, and completed on February 29, 2012, totaling 975 chapters and about 3.05 million characters. The story is set in a world where martial prowess reigns supreme: Zhuo Yu, an orphan from Snake Village whose parents died young, was taken in by the village blacksmith and scrapes by forging iron and hunting. On one hunt, the young Zhuo Yu accidentally merges with the "Heaven-Piercing Spirit Pearl" left from ancient times, gaining the inheritance of an ancient divine sword and many martial techniques and secret treasures, while his body awakens a gift that lets him turn ethereal and avoid injury. Thereafter, through a body forged by relentless tempering and step-by-step hard training, he grows from a boy in a blacksmith's shop into a true martial artist: taking the Jingwu City examination, entering the Jingwu Academy, venturing alone into the Demon Dragon Hall and burning the Dragon Domain, breaking open the Heavenly Gate and ranging across the Three Realms, witnessing the progressive ascent through realms such as Body Tempering, Innate, and Heaven-Piercing. The book runs through master-disciple inheritance and the bonds of companions, unfolding around settings such as Jingwu City, Nine Nether Lake and the Mystic Fire Hall, building a martial world where strength is paramount through the approach of attaining sagehood through the body and proving the Way through power; in the end Zhuo Yu ascends to the position of supreme martial sovereign and sets out on his own heaven-piercing path.