Martial Emperor still maintained his clarity of mind. The thought of the grand cycle unity reminded him of some people. Those from his era. Those from Tai Shan's era. Including the hundred thousand years he had been in slumber, he had been alive for nearly two hundred thousand years.
During this time, he knew of fewer than ten individuals who had achieved the grand cycle unity. In short, only one would appear every ten to twenty thousand years. It was also likely that not one had appeared since the collapse of the ancient past.
"Yet another supreme genius has been born..."
Martial Emperor muttered to himself repeatedly. He was no longer calling Su Yu the little bug. At this point, insulting Su Yu's talent would be the same as insulting his own talent.
Him, Culture King, Martial King, and Human Emperor. They were the giants of their era. And each of them was someone who had achieved the grand cycle unity. And now, Su Yu had joined their ranks.
"Is this the favored son of this era?"
Martial Emperor sounded incomparably bleak and lonesome as he said that. Was his era really over?
Chapter 1755: Leaving The Luminous Domain Mansion (1)
Eighth level.
Su Yu was undergoing a transformation. After unifying all his acupoints and apertures, he had transformed into a true Sunmoon. Both his body and sea of willpower were strengthening.
The world started looking different to his eyes. When he looked up, the previous chaotic power of laws was presented as one dao after another. He also saw a massive river hanging in the sky.
River of Time.
This time, he could see it clearly. It was as though the real form of the world was finally presented before his eyes. Ignoring the reward and punishment descending on his body, he stared at the sky blankly. He was looking at the real world. It felt as though this was his first time knowing the laws. The daos.
"Laws? Daos? Net? All of them are branches."
Su Yu muttered to himself. The completion of the Heaven Gate had granted him a new eye. It allowed him to see the real world. He saw the River of Time, and he saw the countless streams branching out of it, spreading everywhere.
He also knew why one could only affirm one's dao after gaining the ability to enter the River of Time. Because that signified the ability to get in contact with the various daos. He also understood why the River of Time would differ in size depending on the people manifesting it. That was because they were all manifesting the different branches of the river.
With his Heaven Gate, he was able to see all that clearly. A new world had been unveiled before his eyes. So every single dao in the world came from the River of Time. So the so-called opening of a new dao was essentially the act of opening a new branch on the River of Time. Pursuing an existing dao was the act of cultivating an existing branch.
"Is the River of Time itself a dao as well?"
Su Yu muttered to himself in shock. Prior to this, he had been wondering about the origin of all these daos. Now, he knew. They all originated from the River of Time. Previously, he had thought that the River of Time wasn't particularly useful. Was it only meant to help someone reach somewhere faster? Or was it something else?
But now, everything was clear. That was a gigantic river spanning the world. Countless streams branched out of the gigantic river, forming the so-called net Su Yu mentioned previously.
"I see now. So this is the true form of the laws."
Everything originated from the River of Time. He even had an idea as to the origin of the Celestial River of Death. That was a river similar to the River of Time, but it had no branch. Rather, countless death spirits would latch right onto the main river itself. The Celestial River of Death was the so-called dao of death spirit.
"The River of Time, and Celestial River of Death...According to Martial Emperor, the Celestial River of Death is incomplete. Does this mean that the Celestial River of Death is essentially the product of someone attempting to create another main river similar to the River of Time...someone who has failed? In that case, just how powerful is this person?"
He was wondering about the strength of the one who had created the Death Realm. The Myriad Realms were filled with countless daos, but they all originated from a main dao.
"The thicker branches are probably the more powerful daos. The physical body dao of humanity, the immortal emperor dao, and devil emperor dao must be among them. To create a new branch on the River of Time...with the River of Time as the source. In that case, does this river extend to the Upper Realm as well?"
Numerous thoughts emerged in Su Yu's mind as he bathed in the power of laws. His body alternated between damaged and healed repeatedly. He did not care. He was no longer bothered by the punishment.
Instead, he was investigating the punishment. Through the punishment, he was seeking the origin of one of the laws punishing him. Eventually, he reached the end of this law. There, a massive dao was visible. And strands of power were emerging from that dao. This was the dao punishing him.
Next, Su Yu followed the reward and searched for its origin as well. His willpower spread out. He was curious. Just how did Human Emperor's dao looked like? But the thread seemed to stretch on endlessly. He couldn't find the dao of the Human Emperor.
His willpower traveled on and on, as though this were an endless journey. There seemed to be no end to this thread. Where was Human Emperor's dao? He only knew that the reward originated from a single source while the punishment originated from multiple sources. Human Emperor's dao was most likely stronger than the daos of all those people.
"Is the River of Time itself a dao as well?"
"Why did the Time Sage forge the Book of Time? Was she really trying to unify all daos, or was she trying to create a new River of Time? Creating a new imitation to the River of Time like the Celestial River of Death?"
He continued speculating. He had learned too many new things today. In the past, he could only guess. But now, he could see it with his own eyes.
He was unsure if anyone else could see this as well, but he suspected that he was unique in this, and this was one of the benefits of opening the Heaven Gate. Well, he could probably get an answer from Martial Emperor.
"Therefore, during the so-called dao fusion stage, I can either fuse with an existing branch or open a new branch on the main river..."
Suddenly, he took the Culture Tomb out. This time, he saw something different. A tiny thread could be seen on the Culture Tomb. It was connected straight to the River of Time. Somewhere on the River of Time was a branch, and someone had sealed this branch. Nobody was allowed to step into it.
Understanding dawned on Su Yu. The Culture Tomb and the character in it were essentially the maps and the keys to the sealed branch.
With the Culture Tomb in hand, Su Yu could step onto the River of Time in search of the sealed dao. After finding it, he could unseal it and start his fusion. That would officially push him into the Daomeld Realm.
As the dao was sealed, nobody could find or fuse with it. He alone would monopolize this dao. The size of these branches was an indicator of their actual strength. The pen dao should be quite a large branch.
"The character technique with ninety-nine characters is mostly meant to help me locate the branch, or perhaps it's the actual key to unseal it."
He finally understood. It was as though there were no longer any secrets to these daos before his eyes.
When the Heaven Gate opens, Saints shall emerge.
This was a saying that had existed since ancient times. Each appearance of a Heaven Gate would also signify the appearance of a remarkable individual.
In the past, Su Yu had assumed that this saying was related to the entrance of the Luminous Domain Mansion. Only remarkable individuals could enter. But he was wrong. Instead, it meant that the full opening of the Heaven Gate would allow one to view the real essence of the world.
Daofuse? Daomeld? Opening a new dao? Master of Law? With the Heaven Gate open, one would naturally understand everything. One would gain an unprecedented clarity over one's future. One would no longer be lost. One would understand what one was doing in cultivation instead of only acting without understanding.
Su Yu came to comprehend numerous things. As all the new knowledge filled his mind, his dao character slowly transformed, growing stronger and stronger than before.
The dao character manifested in front of him. A tiny thread could be seen on it, connected to the River of Time. This was a sign that Su Yu had comprehended part of the essence of cultivation. If he wanted, he could even make the dao character his main focus, pursuing the dao connected to it or opening a new dao similar in function to this character.
"I see now. Characters are laws. No, characters are the paths ahead. Opening a new dao or fusing with an existing dao are the endpoints. The characters will guide you toward the most suitable endpoints to open the new daos. The characters will also tell you the locations of these daos. One can opt to fuse with these daos instead."
Su Yu was still in deep contemplation. Suddenly, he dragged the little furball out of his sea of willpower. With the Heaven Gate, he stared at the little furball. It was as though he had gained a third eye, and the little furball was shaking with fear. For some reason, he felt like Yummy had seen through him completely. Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on novｅlfire.net
Su Yu continued staring at the little furball. One could say that the furballs were the most loved race of nature. After all, each of them was a dao in itself. Each of them was a law in itself.
Each of them already had their own branch. They did not need to fuse with any dao. Rather, they only needed to pursue their existing daos. Or perhaps their daos were already damaged. They needed to repair their daos to grow in strength.
A dao spirit might have been birthed exclusively for the purpose of repairing a damaged dao. An indistinct thread could be seen atop the little furball. It looked delicate, yet it felt incredibly tough.
When Su Yu followed the line with his willpower, he saw something special. Sure enough, it was connected to the River of Time. However, the connection was damaged. It required repair.
He also saw several sports on the thread where the little furball had likely repaired it wrongly. These spots likely corresponded to the Mountainsea and Sunmoon Realms. The little furball had been repairing his thread wrongly. Instead of repairing the damaged parts, he was repairing the undamaged part, to the point that he was about to create a new branch.
Sure enough, the little furball had no idea what he was doing. He only knew how to eat. But after eating, he didn't know what to do with the nutrition. At this rate, the little furball might one day turn from a dao opener to a dao fuser. He would miss out on his own unique dao.
And if his new dao was one with an existing master, he would be stuck as a Daofuse for life. He would never become a Master of Law. But repairing his dao correctly would give him the chance of becoming the master of his own dao.
"What about Soy Bun? And the female furball?"
With Culture King around, Soy Bun might have discovered the correct dao. But the same couldn't be said for the female furball. Like the little furball, the female furball only knew how to eat.
They had all been influenced by Soy Bun. And Soy Bun might not even know the truth about himself. Rather, he might have discovered his own dao due to Culture King's guidance. He was only following instructions instead of knowing what he was doing. Otherwise, Soy Bun would have grown into a Master of Law long ago. He wouldn't have been stuck as a Daofuse for a hundred thousand years.
"Yummy! Scared!"
The little furball looked at Su Yu with a pitiful expression. The power of laws was still bombarding Su Yu. Held in Su Yu's hand amid the explosions, he was terrified. Yummy's stare was also making him nervous.
While kneading the little furball, Su Yu smiled and said, "You're walking the wrong path. In the future, you need to read more. This is the world of scholars, not brutes."
He recalled Martial King and Martial Emperor. Since the two had completed their Heaven Gates as well, they should be able to see this as well, right? But why could they do this even as mere brutes?
Su Yu could only conclude that they had the benefit of monstrous talent. Their sheer talent had made up for their empty brains. They probably didn't know much about the various daos as well. That must be why all of them were weaker than Culture King. Just look at Martial Emperor. He was so rash, yet he wasn't even a match for Martial King. What a waste of a fine Heaven Gate.
"There must be something special about the pen dao. It can be used to write on the other daos and even seal them. Just where is the pen dao?"
He looked at the Culture Tomb before looking at his existing characters. His character technique dove into the Culture Tomb. Then, he tossed the Culture Tomb into the sky. With a casual swing of his head, Su Yu tore an opening in space and revealed a massive River of Time.
He stepped onto the river and started advancing forward with the guidance of the Culture Tomb. He did not know where he was going. The future? Or the past? He continued ahead. Eventually, the characters inside the Culture Tomb started running out of energy. Ahead of him, the Culture Tomb stopped in hesitation, as though it was lost.
Su Yu laughed.
"So without enough strength, it is incapable of leading me to the pen dao. Or perhaps something is still lacking. I understand now."
He retrieved the Culture Tomb and took out the Heavenearth Inkstone instead. The inkstone trembled slightly, but it did not do anything else.
Su Yu had not comprehended its dao. Thus, it wasn't reacting. It was not leading him to the dao of the heavenly desolate beast.
"These are all the daos of others. What about my own dao?"
Su Yu took the Mark of Civilization out. The moment it appeared, the Mark of Civilization started flying around chaotically. It wasn't heading anywhere in particular. It would ram into a random spot, seemingly telling Su Yu that this was a suitable spot to open a new dao. But next, it would shoot away and focus elsewhere, telling Su Yu he should open a new dao there instead.
"I understand."
Su Yu smiled bitterly. He retrieved his Mark of Civilization. This was a convergence of myriad daos. The Mark of Civilization was a convergence of myriad daos. The Book of Time was a unification of myriad daos.
Su Yu finally knew. That little sister of Culture King was incredibly ambitious. She aimed to create her own River of Time.
A miniature River of Time, to be precise.
And Su Yu was pursuing a similar path.
The Mark of Civilization had essentially told him that it didn't know the most suitable spot either. Thus, it suggested that he open a dao anywhere. Eventually, the dao could be grown into a new River of Time.
"I see now."
Next, Su Yu took out a different item. Human lord's token. The token shot forward, leading him ahead. But after a while, it stopped. It was no longer capable of going further forward.
Chapter 1756: Leaving The Luminous Domain Mansion (2)
Su Yu sighed, "The dao of Human Emperor. I understand now. It must have tried to lead me to the Human Emperor's dao, but the dao is too far while the token is too weak. Is that the case?"
The token shook slightly, as though it was telling him that he was right. Walking on the River of Time, Su Yu could sense the growing pressure on him.
As he walked, he noticed something else as well. All along, a branch, or a tributary of the river could be seen to the side. It seemed to stretch on endlessly. After staring at the tributary for a long time, he muttered, "I see. The dao of physical body. Humanity's dao of physical body."
"This dao is located near the spot all humans would enter the river from. Thus, all humans would accidentally step onto this dao when exploring the river. Different race will probably enter the river from different spots.
"Each race has a specific region on the river local to them. The nearest tributaries to them would also be the major daos they followed. This was not an option. They could only do this. The Three Body Method is merely a bridge. The so-called past and future is the act of borrowing the power from two different directions of the river and stepping into the tributary with this borrowed power."
He had gained a deeper understanding on the essence of the Three Body Method. At this moment, the method itself wasn't the biggest issue.
The tribulations were the biggest issue. The laws had forced the people of the Myriad Realms to walk only the Three Body Method. Su Yu speculated that some supreme experts must have blocked parts of the river, forcing most people to only explore the river through one method.
"No wonder. The white dog claimed that Culture King's Residence is a lawless land, yet that is also a place one can advance into the Eternal Realm. The so-called lawless land is merely a region with no tributaries. The river was still there, and one could still open new tributaries there. That is essentially the inner region of the river."
Understanding dawned on Su Yu. When one was deep inside the river, the tributaries surrounding the river would wane in influence. Thus, the various laws could not interfere with the affairs there.
Culture King must have cut off a section of the river and used it as his own residence. What an incredible feat. More and more, Su Yu realized just how powerful and terrifying Culture King was. That was why the white dog and the others could freely open their own daos without disturbance.
"Impressive. The white dog and the others are all walking their original daos instead of following existing tributaries. What about this river? Is it a product of nature? Or did someone make it?"
If it were a creation of someone else...he couldn't even begin to imagine how powerful that person would be. After all, the river alone carried the myriad daos of the Myriad Realms.
Of the countless beings in the Myriad Realms, some pursued a different path. Time Sage was one. The creator of the Death Realm was one. Those were the two Su Yu knew for now. He was still uncertain about the paths of Culture King and the others.
If Culture King and the others did not have the same plan, it could only mean that Time Sage was far more talented than even Culture King. Naturally, she had likely failed. She was most likely still an Eternal instead of a Master of Law. Her laws were still kept in her Book of Time. She had yet to create her own River of Time.
"Why am I feeling like Time Sage is far more impressive than Culture King?"
No matter how many daos Culture King mastered, those were mere tributaries of the River of Time. Meanwhile, Time Sage wanted to create a new River of Time. That was an impressive ambition. Seemingly having sensed his praise, the Book of Time in his mind jolted in joy.
Yeap, yeap. Time Sage was impressive indeed.
Sensing that, Su Yu chuckled. Inside his sea of willpower, the Mark of Civilization was shaking as well, seemingly telling Su Yu to walk the same impressive path as well.
"That's too difficult."
Only now did Su Yu understand just how hard that would be.
Standing atop the River of Time, and looking at the torrential river, he had a bitter expression. Creating something like this? It would be unimaginably difficult. He even admired his past self, who was ambitious enough to forge the Mark of Civilization. Creating a completely original dao instead of latching onto the River of Time? Was that even possible?
"I'll think about it."
He sighed. He was still too far away from accomplishing something like that.
"Culture King...and removing a dao..."
Su Yu recalled that Culture King had relinquished his control over several daos. Did he do that in preparation for creating his own original dao as well? If that were the case, Culture King would most certainly be an unimaginably terrifying individual as well.
Boom!
Noticing an approaching wave, Su Yu smiled and withdrew from the River of Time. This wasn't a place he could stay for long. He was still too weak to open a new dao. But he knew that if he wanted, he could step onto the tributary beside him and officially become an Eternal. Becoming something known as an Invincible to humans.
Alas, that tributary, the dao of physical body, was too worn out. Too many people had pursued it, and it had even suffered damage. Thus, he would only pick that dao if he lacked a brain.
"Only someone without enough understanding of the various daos will pick this shitty dao."
Before leaving, Su Yu gave the wide tributary one last glance. On the expansive tributary, he felt as though he could see the footsteps of many. These were most likely the various seniors of the human race. It was likely that if one followed this tributary, one would reach a damaged region.
With too many people pursuing the same dao, competition would be stiff, and progress would be difficult. The possibility of the path ahead being a dead end was also high. In the ninth epoch, many experts died, allowing Hundred Battle King to take over the abandoned parts of the dao from all these deaths.
However, the death of someone who had occupied such a large portion of the dao like Hundred Battle King could very well result in the fracture of this dao. Even if he was still alive, the path ahead would still be a dead end as he had occupied the entirety of the path forward. This was a path without a future.
"Great Qin King and the others are pursuing a dao without a future."
***
Finally, Su Yu withdrew from the River of Time.
The sky above was clear, and the air was fresh. Everything had vanished. Both the tribulation and reward were no more. Something had also changed within him. The world now appeared much clearer to his senses.
As he stepped down from the sky, the others rushed over. Ever the impatient one, Heavendoom hurriedly asked, "Did you affirm your dao? I saw you walking the River of Time! Did you catch your tri-life bodies?"
"No." Su Yu smiled and said, "The Three Body Method is too weak. Just moments ago, I saw through this method. It essentially relies on two carrier treasures as the stepping stone to reach the dao of your choice. The so-called tri-life bodies, the past and future, are merely stepping stones.
"As for the Weapon Fusion Method, only a single stepping stone is required. However, this stepping stone is much more powerful in comparison. With more strength, it can bear more power, extracting more power from the River of Time."
"..."
They all stared at him blankly. What was he talking about? His words sounded impressive, but they couldn't understand much. But that did not stop them from realizing that he was speaking about something unfathomable.
There was an exception among them. The gate hurriedly said, "Yes, yes! Stepping stone...no, no, wrong! That's not it. I remember Culture King talking about this in the past. According to him, the Three Body Method, the Weapon Fusion Method, or any other method is merely a bridge. A path. One leading toward the dao.
"However, I am special. I don't require a bridge. As a gate, I can directly connect my gate to my chosen dao and step right on it. Thus, Culture King claimed that I have a bright future."
Su Yu blanked out slightly before saying with a chuckle, "Indeed. You have a bright future. That's basically identical to what I said. In short, we need to cross the river to reach our daos in the tributaries. The carrier treasures, or weapons, or the bodies of the spirits, are all essentially the vessels meant to carry us through the river.
"As a powerful gate, your body itself is the same as a carrier treasure. You can bear the power of the laws with your body alone."
Suddenly, Su Yu paused and said with a frown, "However, your chosen dao might be quite weak. You should have grown much stronger by now. Considering the quality of your body, you are too weak."
"..."
Everyone looked at him. Was Heavenbridge Marquis really weak? Not at all. He might not reign at the top of all Daofuses, but he definitely ranked among the middle tier. Su Yu was truly arrogant. Why was he calling someone like Heavenbridge Marquis weak?
To their surprise, Heavenbridge Marquis nodded and said, "Yes! Exactly! Culture King said the same thing! He said that I was too ignorant when selecting my dao. I picked the first dao I found. That was wrong. I should have selected a stronger dao or opened my own dao."
He asked with a shocked expression, "Human Lord, are you Culture King incarnate? Why are you saying the exact same thing he told me back then?"
Su Yu laughed and said, "When you understand the true nature of things, you will naturally reach a similar conclusion. If you were to ask the Human Emperor, he would probably give you a similar answer as well."
The gate reached his own conclusion as he said, "Explaining is the same as covering up. I see now. You are really the incarnation of Culture King."
Su Yu's gaze turned sharp. Instantly, the gate shut his mouth. He was reminded that he shouldn't be so talkative. Inwardly, he was wary and scared. The return of Culture King? The real Culture King?
He gave Su Yu a deep stare before sending a voice transmission to the others, "He's really Culture King! See, there's a tiny gate on his forehead! And he wears white robes! He talks like Culture King! And he uses the penblade! Also, also, he entered Culture King's Residence earlier! He calls himself a scholar! He also..."
As he rambled on, the gazes of the others turned odd as well. Yes. The resemblance was uncanny. Su Yu stared at them, realizing that the damn gate was most likely making up another story. He couldn't even be bothered to explain himself anymore.
Culture King? Human Emperor? Upon understanding the nature of certain things, it would be natural for one to reach the same conclusion. One would even start to view the world similarly. As for the fact that he was saying the same things...what was the big deal about that? Anyone with the same understanding of the various daos would say the same things. These people were ignorant. Thus, they could only fabricate their versions of truth.
However, Heavendoom held no interest in this matter. He asked, "So do we continue looting the place?"
The laws around them had calmed down.
At that question, Su Yu looked up with his Heaven Gate. He saw countless powers of laws, all preparing to launch destructive bolts of lightning at a moment's notice. The density of the power of laws in each area differed.
Seeing that, Su Yu smiled and said, "We continue. We'll only retreat when I deem the time has arrived."
"Okay."
They resumed their plunder in excitement. Before long, the power of laws started converging around them again. As the converging power increased in strength, it even transformed into a saber. One that was capable of cutting all of them down with one strike.
The moment Su Yu noticed the saber, he roared, "Stop! Leave!"
Heavenbridge Marquis hurriedly opened the entrance, and they all stepped through it. In the blink of an eye, they were all gone. And right after they left...
Boom!
A saber dropped down from the sky, but it hit nothing. The power of laws in the entire eighth level roiled. It was as though the various laws were furious at losing their target of punishment.
Chapter 1757: Leaving The Luminous Domain Mansion (3)
Seventh level.
Su Yu and his group appeared out of thin air. Up in the sky, Martial Emperor's willpower reappeared. Nobody could notice him. In fact, his conversation with Su Yu was also something none of them could hear. The face in the sky looked clearer than before, and it was gazing upon Su Yu.
Su Yu looked up at the face in the sky.
Martial Emperor's cold voice rang out, "Truly impressive. You actually managed to complete the Heaven Gate."
He was no longer called the little bug.
Su Yu smiled and said, "I'm not that special. Thank you for the cultivation method, Martial Emperor. With the Heaven Gate open, I finally understand that I was merely a frog at the bottom of the well. Allow me to ask this question. With the Heaven Gate, can you see the River of Time? Has that river existed since the beginning of existence, or was it something created by someone?"
Martial Emperor replied indifferently, "It has been around since creation."
Sure enough!
Su Yu continued, "Allow me to ask one more question. Was the Celestial River of Death created by a supreme expert in imitation of the River of Time? Since you called it an incomplete product, did the creation fail?"
"Naturally."
Martial Emperor maintained his indifference, but he seemed more willing to converse with Su Yu. People would naturally flock toward those who were similar. Both Su Yu and he were likely the only existences remaining capable of seeing the true nature of the world.
Explaining what they could see to others would be pointless, as nobody would be able to truly understand them.
Su Yu sighed and said, "The creator of the Death Realm must have been a monstrous expert."
Martial Emperor sank into silence.
Su Yu asked, "Is that person alive or dead?"
"Dead." Martial Emperor said nonchalantly, "That was too ambitious. How is this such a simple feat? Opening a new realm and gaining control over the cycle of life and death. The living will cultivate the River of Time while the dead will cultivate his dao. Such an ambition is even bigger than the conquest of the Myriad Realms."
"Was that person killed?"
"I don't know. I have only heard of this, but I have never met this person. The Death Realm was already around during my era, and its history would only be mentioned in the legends. According to the legends, the Death Realm was the result of a failed attempt."
Su Yu nodded. With a look of yearning, he said, "Even after dying, his legend will remain even eons later so long as there are still people capable of seeing through the nature of his dao around. His mark on this world will never be erased. As long as there are still people capable of seeing through the nature of the myriad daos like you and me around, his legend will remain forever."
Su Yu continued, "As for those incapable of opening the Heaven Gate to see the truth of the world, these people are so weak that they don't even deserve the truth. A legend known only to the strongest beings in existence. Isn't this an interesting way of preserving one's glory?"
Martial Emperor sank into silence. Su Yu was right.
Even if millions of years had passed since the creator of that dao was dead, the moment someone with a Heaven Gate appeared, the legend of that person would return and live on. Anyone with the ability to see through the nature of the myriad daos would be able to comprehend just how impressive this feat was. They would come to understand that once, such a legendary being walked the world.
Su Yu said, "The ancient Human Emperor, the one from Culture King's era. What do you think about him? Was he strong? Why are there so few legends of him? He didn't even leave a legacy behind."
Martial Emperor sank into silence.
Su Yu smiled and asked, "Is this unmentionable?"
After a long silence, Martial Emperor answered, "No. There is simply nothing to say. That man did not act much. I only know that Tai Shan and the others all obeyed him. He was only focused on being the ruler. All other affairs were handled by his subordinates. I never met or interacted with him before."
Su Yu raised his brow. What a mysterious fellow.
He asked, "Forget about the Human Emperor, then. Do you still feel like killing me, Martial Emperor?"
"Of course." Martial Emperor disdained hiding his intent. He said, "The grudge of subjecting me to such humiliation is bigger than the grudge of killing me. Tai Shan forced me to endure countless years of humiliation. This is a grudge I shall never forget."
Su Yu said, "That's your matter with Martial King. It has nothing to do with me. I don't care about it. I only hope that you won't involve those who are unrelated to this matter in your vengeance."
Martial Emperor said, "The current humanity is the legacy of those people. Simply calling them innocent is not enough to make me forget a grudge involving a hundred thousand years of humiliation."
A hundred thousand years.
He had spent that time with his head snapped and buried to the ground, his body forged into a mansion, and his buttocks turned into a garden--cough, cough. In short, this was not something Martial Emperor could forget. For him, this was worse than killing him.
Killing him would end the matter then and there. But instead, Tai Shan had subjected him to such humiliation. He could not accept this. His fury was understandable.
Su Yu thought about it and said, "True. It's pointless to argue about this. I have one question. How long would you need to break free?"
Martial Emperor asked coldly, "Are you thinking of stopping me?"
"Nope." Su Yu smiled and said, "I just want to know if I have enough time to grow strong enough to suppress you."
"What a joke. Do you think you're my equal just because you have opened the Heaven Gate?"
"Not at all. The path of cultivation is riddled with uncertainties. Perhaps I will be dead by the time you break free. I'm only asking because I'm curious."
Su Yu persuaded, "Come on, tell me."
Martial Emperor sneered and said, "You are truly an interesting person. You will naturally feel it when I break free. At present, the Myriad Realms are still sealed by the laws. When the seal is lifted, the suppression on me will weaken significantly. That will be the day I break free."
"In short, you will break free when the connection to the Upper Realm is restored?"
"There is hope, but there are no guarantees."
The two started chatting like old friends. Martial Emperor continued, "But if you kill more people and shatter more daos, the seal on the Myriad Realms will weaken. That will naturally accelerate my release. The world will become a much more interesting place with me free."
Su Yu said, "I see. Yes, the world will definitely become much more interesting with you around. Martial Emperor, why aren't you thinking of seeking Martial King and the others for your revenge? I know for sure that they aren't dead.
"With your strength, you can definitely find them. If you really can't, maybe you can simply search the River of Time. Since you fought him before, you definitely know what his dao looks like. Find his dao. That will be enough to force him into reappearing. If he doesn't react even after you find his dao, he's definitely dead. At that point, you can finally let go of your grudge. But if he's still alive, your opportunity to kill him will arrive."
Martial Emperor sank into silence.
That seemed to make sense. But just as Martial Emperor was about to agree, his voice turned cold as he said, "He is stronger than me. Do you take me for a fool? Why would I want to go after him now?"
"Think about it. If he's not dead, then he must have been in combat for a hundred thousand years. He would be completely drained by now. Why are you still scared of him? Well, I guess you should simply give up on your vengeance. What's the point of remembering the grudge against someone you can't defeat even at that person's weakest?"
Once again, Martial Emperor sank into silence. He did not want to continue this conversation. Conversing with Su Yu could be a very hurtful experience.
But soon, he thought of something. He sneered and said, "I won't leave immediately. I will regain my strength, eliminate all their legacies and erase their hope before going after them."
Su Yu laughed and said, "Sure, sure, whatever you say. In any case, I have plenty of time. The Upper Realm won't open so soon. You are strong as a Master of Law, but do not make the mistake of underestimating everyone else. Pray you don't annoy me enough."
"Impudent!" Furious, Martial Emperor declared, "You will be the first I seek after regaining my freedom."
"Whatever." Su Yu said, "Do that if you want. If I'm still alive then, I will simply beat you to death if you're dumb enough to come after me. That will save me the trouble of looking for you in the future. By the way, stay calm. Don't lose your clarity of mind again. You might end up missing your window to break free. Over so many years, this is the sole instance you have been so awake. Appreciate what you have. If you lose your temper again, well, things might get troublesome for you."
Martial Emperor said nothing. But that made a lot of sense. He couldn't lose his temper so easily. He had only regained a tiny bit of clarity. If he were to lose control again, he might really return to slumber. And then, he would have to rely on Su Yu to regain his consciousness. And Su Yu was certainly not foolish enough to awaken him again after that.
Su Yu did not say more. At this point, he was already aware of what Martial Emperor would do. For the sake of his clarity, Martial Emperor would not do anything for now, even upon hearing Tai Shan's name. In fact, he could probably tolerate even having more flowers planted on his buttocks right now.
"Martial Emperor, may I trouble you to clear the passage? I'll be leaving through the death tunnel. I'll need to wait longer to exit through the first underground level."
"..."
Martial Emperor ignored the request.
Su Yu smiled and said, "If you refuse, I'll go down there and pluck your hair. Since you insist, so be it. This is not a bad thing for me. I still need more carrier treasures, after all. You have my gratitude, Martial Emperor."
"..."
Instantly, the seal over the death tunnel vanished. It was time for this bastard to piss off. Martial Emperor hated this guy. Unfortunately, he had to restrain himself right now. He couldn't allow this guy to provoke him into losing his calm. He couldn't miss this window to regain his freedom.
If he were to miss this window, his next window would only arrive the next time the Upper Realm was reconnected with the Myriad Realms. That would take at least ten thousand years.
Su Yu grinned. How obedient.
As for his threat to pluck Martial Emperor's hair, that was merely an empty threat. He definitely didn't want to provoke Martial Emperor too much, even if it was unlikely that Martial Emperor would spare him even without doing that.
But at the very least, their relationship might still be salvageable right now. So be it. For now, he had to leave. A beautiful world was waiting for him outside. He didn't want to spend more time on a madman. He already learned all he needed to learn.
Su Yu looked at the gate and asked, "Heavenbridge Marquis, can you leave the mansion?"
Heavenbridge Marquis shook his head and said, "I need to watch the entrance. This is my duty as stipulated by the laws. I can only leave when the eighth level ceases to exist. But as the headquarters of the assembly, not even a Master of Law can destroy the eighth level so easily."
Su Yu nodded with understanding. He looked up again and said with a smile, "Martial Emperor, consider destroying the eighth level after regaining your freedom. Do make that your first act. But if you really don't feel like doing so, I will do so in the future and free Heavenbridge Marquis. You won't waste your time making things difficult for a mere gate, right?"
Martial Emperor couldn't be bothered to say anything. Newest update provıded by novelfire(.)net
Su Yu said, "Well, that's all. Heavenbridge Marquis, continue your duty here. When I grow stronger, I'll return and destroy the eighth level alongside the laws there. I will show you the beautiful world outside."
"Thank you, Human Lord."
Heavenbridge Marquis did not feel anything from that promise. He didn't really mind his job. He was already used to his current life.
Looking at the death tunnel, Su Yu said, "Let's go. We can grab a few death sovereigns while we're at it. We will capture all the death sovereigns in the Spirit Suppression Domain. I don't want them running around wreaking havoc while I'm doing something important."
With a single step, Su Yu entered the death tunnel. The others followed him. All of them were in a great mood. They were finally leaving! This time, they had gained massive harvests from their trip to the mansion. They had entered without a single Daofuse. Now, almost all of them were Daofuses. Even Marquis Lanshan felt like everything had changed when she returned to the Death Realm again. Just like that, everything in the East Heavenly Domain was overturned.
Far away, the death sovereigns stared at them while trembling with fear. Su Yu flashed them a wide smile and said, "Marquis Lanshan, capture them all. Suppress them with the east heavenly token. Take them all back to your domain. We're in need of people."
"Yes!"
Marquis Lanshan accepted her order. Su Yu was right. She required more death sovereigns to help her keep the East Heavenly Domain under control. Upon hearing Su Yu's order, the death spirit called Tuofa turned around and fled without any hesitation.
Behind him, He Tu's voice rang out, "Tuofa, don't run! Stick with us and do something big! You will live a good life following us! We killed so many death spirit marquises! We even killed a king! Are you blind? If you run, you will end up as food!"
"..."
Not long after, Marquis Lanshan and He Tu set off with six death sovereigns behind them. Su Yu and the others set off as well. First, they had to return to the old turtle. This was a precaution lest the other heavenly kings decide this was a good chance to cause trouble.
First, they had to pacify the Spirit Suppression Domain. Then, they had to pacify the East Heavenly Domain. At that point, he would be able to liberate all the other guardians. With the entire Spirit Suppression Domain pacified, the burden on the guardians would be light enough for the guardians to be replaced with regular Eternals.
It would be too much of a waste to let these powerful guardians remain in their cities. The weaker Eternals could take over instead. And finally, he could also assemble an army of death spirits. When required, he would be able to open a death tunnel and have the death spirits fight for him.
At the same time, he also needed to focus on converting all his abilities and techniques into characters. His current priority was to begin his dao fusion, becoming a Daofuse. That would grant him a significant increase in combat strength.
Chapter 1758: Changes (1)
Death Realm.
A bunch of living beings moved openly, displaying their formidable auras. Yes. They were deliberately attracting attention. The appearance of living beings would attract death spirits. And then, He Tu would gain more underlings. They didn't even need to hunt for underlings. Instead, these underlings would deliver themselves over.
Death spirits weren't that smart, after all. They couldn't resist charging over after sensing the presence of living beings. Even the laws in the Death Realm encouraged the death spirits to go after the living beings.
Generally, only the local death spirits could be found in this area. Powerful death spirits wouldn't appear in this area unless they were the intruders from the domains of the four heavenly kings.
Before long, He Tu and Marquis Lanshan had gathered more than twenty death sovereigns. Some were even those He Tu knew. He was busy brainwashing them.
"You guys were clueless. Where are those ancient marquises? The four heavenly domains! After conquering the East Heavenly Domain, we are in need of people. The death qi there is much denser, and cultivation is much easier there. That is also a much larger territory. With a larger territory, your wisdom will grow at an increased rate!
"By following us to the East Heavenly Domain, you will be granted bigger territories. You don't need to fear suppression anymore. Here, you have the old turtle suppressing you all the time. But the East Heavenly Domain is our own domain. We will take charge there. There are countless death spirits in that domain. Each of you can become the leader of a large army, ruling over millions of death spirits."
"..."
He Tu pointed at Tuofa and continued, "Do you guys remember Tuofa? He has been appointed Heavenly Battle General of the East Heavenly Palace. His status is comparable to that of an ancient titled general! Everyone, at most, you were only untitled generals when you were alive. Now, the opportunity to get a promotion has arrived!"
He Tu roared, excitement in his voice, "After becoming a Daofuse, you can even become a marquis! It's too late for us to become ancient marquises. But a new human lord has emerged, and a new era has begun! The living and the dead will be conquered soon. Instead of submitting to the new order now, are you going to wait until the very end? Will you receive the same opportunity then?
"Submit now. When the human lord conquers the world and resets the laws, tsk tsk. Just think about it. All of you will become the big shots of the new era. With the laws changed, death spirits can even enter the world of the living freely. You can even go back home and pay a visit to your descendants.
"I know, most of you are still dominated by your nature as a death spirit. You probably don't care about any of what I mentioned. But upon entering the East Heavenly Palace and growing stronger, you will regain your true nature. You will recall your past. And you will thank yourself for making this choice today!"
Over twenty death sovereigns listened to He Tu's passionate speech in confusion. As for Tuofa, who was being used as an example, he had an unsightly expression. He had been caught. The territory under the Luminous Domain Mansion was no longer his. He had been conscripted to the East Heavenly Palace. After showing everyone the carrot, He Tu proceeded with the stick.
He pointed at Marquis Lanshan and said, "Be obedient. All of you saw Marquis Lanshan's east heavenly token earlier. That token specializes in suppressing death spirits. In Marquis Lanshan's hands, it can suppress even Daofuses!"
The token should not be underestimated. During the previous battle, East Heavenly King had nearly succeeded in suppressing Marquis Lanshan with it. If it weren't for Su Yu's interference, he would have succeeded.
Of course, the power of the token would diminish in Marquis Lanshan's hands. However, it was still more than enough to suppress a few Eternals. The laws had accorded it with some authority over the other death spirits. In fact, most of these death sovereigns had been directly subdued with the token instead of being beaten into submission.
Su Yu allowed He Tu to preach on. He did not interfere. Beside him, Heavendoom grinned and said, "We're at Openmountain's territory. Do we go up through the tunnel here?" ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel·fire.net
"No," Su Yu smiled and said, "Take the local death sovereigns with us. Do this for all thirty-six cities. Disperse the death spirits under the cities and take all the death sovereigns with us. We will reduce the burden of the cities to the minimum."
Su Yu ordered, "Heavendoom, you will go with Grandstar. Tian Yue, you will go with Empyrean Cloud. Capture all the death sovereigns you see. I will be traveling between your paths. I expect to see you return with an army of death spirits. Do not kill them. The laws will simply replace any death spirit you kill. It's pointless."
"Yes!"
They answered in excitement. In fact, they were already getting impatient to show off their strength. Now that the opportunity to do so had arrived, they left without hesitation. Unlike them, Tian Yue appeared indifferent. But since an order was given to him as well, he did not protest and left with Empyrean Cloud.
They would capture all the death sovereigns and take control over the death spirit armies under the ancient cities. They aimed to create a territory of zero death spirit under all the ancient cities.
Of course, that was basically impossible. The Celestial River of Death would constantly produce new death spirits. Random death spirits would also wander into the territory. However, these death spirits were much easier to handle. A regular Eternal would suffice as the guardian of a city.
Su Yu was heading toward the East Heavenly Palace. He intended to mark the location in preparation for opening a death tunnel from the world of the living to that place.
In the future, he could open a death tunnel during battle and lead his enemies into the midst of countless death spirits. Even powerful Daofuses would find it tiring to deal with millions upon millions of death spirits. Just the death qi corrosion from so many death spirits would be enough to seriously harm these top experts.
Su Yu continued moving ahead while comprehending the various techniques and abilities he knew. The Sky Sundering Saber had transformed into a character. Or to be precise, it had strengthened his existing character. Previously, the Soul Expanding Hammer had transformed into a character as well.
The hammer character was his thirty-third character. He still lacked sixty-six characters. Thus, he needed to reach a high degree of mastery over sixty-six techniques and abilities. These abilities and techniques also needed to originate from powerful races or they would be too weak. He had no use for trash characters.
He also needed to ensure that these abilities and techniques would transform into human characters. Fortunately, all these abilities and techniques had been automatically converted into the human edition before he started cultivating them. It was unlikely that they would transform into non-human characters. For the most part, he focused only on the daos that were more compatible with humanity.
"The abilities of major races like divines, devils, immortals, dragons, and nethers are all acceptable. The 72-Forged Iron Devourer can also be considered a racial ability."
With the Heaven Gate, his comprehension ability had increased significantly. At the same time, he was also using the fire of civilization to enhance his comprehension. Unfortunately, his comprehension ability would still be affected in the Death Realm.
After all, he would be able to observe the corresponding dao if he were to comprehend the technique in the world of the living. That would be much more conducive to his comprehension. If possible, he even wanted to take a walk in the River of Time while comprehending all these techniques and abilities. It would prove extremely helpful.
The group continued moving ahead, with Marquis Lanshan and He Tu busy educating their new subordinates. Every now and then, Marquis Lanshan would throw Su Yu a look of admiration. Su Yu, the current human lord, was too impressive.
Heavendoom shot over in excitement with a death sovereign in hand. After tossing the death sovereign toward the group, he sped off again. He was already a Daofuse. When he went to the territory under Openmountain City, he had knocked out the death sovereign there with only one punch. He even charged through the death tunnel, causing Openmountain to turn pale with fright.
Openmountain only knew that it was Heavendoom when Heavendoom's head emerged from the tunnel. After showing Openmountain his Daofuse aura, Heavendoom left, ignoring the stunned Openmountain. He was in a rush to show off in more cities. He couldn't allow Empyrean Cloud and Grandstar to show off before him. Thus, he didn't even have the time to greet Su Yu when he returned to the group to deliver his captive. Time was of the essence!
He knew that Grandstar was doing the same thing. Thus, Heavendoom felt a great sense of urgency. There were only thirty-six cities in total. Excluding their cities, only thirty-three cities were available for them to show off. But they had to exclude their boss as well. Thus, only thirty-two cities were available.
Heavendoom would not be satisfied with anything lower than eleven. That was the lowest share he could accept. While the guardians were hard at work, another character was slowly taking form in Su Yu's sea of willpower.
The 72-Forged Iron Devourer began its transformation.
"Resist."
It was transforming into the resist character. This technique was known for its outstanding defensive prowess and its ability to grant one an unimaginably powerful body. The seventy-two forges focused on forging the greatest defensive body.
Offense was not the priority of this technique. That was why the iron devourers were known for their impressive defense. This was the dao their entire race walked. As the resist character was formed from a technique Su Yu had perfected, it instantly became a Sunmoon character after taking form. In fact, it went far beyond the level of an initial Sunmoon character.
This wasn't surprising. After all, Su Yu had an incredibly high level of mastery over the 72-Forged Iron Devourer. One could say that he was already a grandmaster of this technique.
This was the third character he gained from his techniques. Not long after, another character took form.
"Strike."
This was a character transformed from the Mountainbreak ability of the mountainbreak bull race. He was quite regretful since this was a relatively weak race. However, he had still gained a character from them since this was a race whose blood essence he used to use frequently. Inadvertently, his comprehension of their dao had reached a rather high level. Thus, a character had taken form automatically.
"I will probably form quite a lot of characters by the time I'm done. At that time, I can consider crushing some of my unwanted characters. I only need to keep the best of the best."
That was Su Yu's plan. He also had a second plan. He could use only his weaker characters to form his character technique and explore the pen dao. As for his stronger characters, he could keep them independent and pursue their own daos.
For example, the tribulation character was one whose dao Su Yu wanted to pursue independently. With enough comprehension, he might be able to instantly detect the source of his danger the moment it emerged.
He might even achieve clairvoyance with this dao, gaining the ability to anticipate threats before their appearance.
"As for the characters from Great Zhou King and the others, I can use them all to pursue the pen dao. They will serve as the fuel. After all, they have most likely comprehended the daos of these characters as well. If I pursue the same daos, it will be the same as competing over these daos with them."
As Su Yu thought, he laid out his plan for his future growth. The characters that were not suitable for further comprehension would all be used to fuel his pen dao.
Some of his natural characters could be left behind and provide him with more daos to pursue. In any case, he was unwilling to pursue only one dao. He might grow strong doing so, but he would probably be quite weak compared to the top experts of the ancient past.
"Thirty-five characters."
His number of characters started growing. Behind him, the number of captured death sovereigns was growing as well. Further behind, a large number of regular death spirits followed.
As Su Yu traveled, he concealed his aura of the living. He didn't fear them, but he didn't want to be disturbed by them. It would be pointless.
***
World of the living.
Grand Dream City.
The old turtle was sighing with mixed feelings. He could sense that massive changes had occurred within the Spirit Suppression Domain. A large number of death spirits were being gathered.
"This is something I have failed to accomplish even after a hundred thousand years."
He felt helpless as he thought about that. Was he really that bad at his job? He had never been able to pacify the domain even after acting as its guardian for a hundred thousand years. That was mainly due to those from the East Heavenly Domain. Every now and then, they would cause trouble for him, preventing him from pacifying the domain.
And now, East Heavenly King was dead. The biggest obstruction to pacification had been removed by Su Yu. As for the other heavenly kings, they were too far away to stir trouble effectively.
"Unification is only a matter of time."
The old turtle had a feeling that this would truly be the final war. Either the humans or some other race would achieve the grand unification. It was unlikely that the war of this epoch would end without a clear result like all the previous epochs.
Suddenly, the old turtle frowned. A white figure appeared before him.
He asked, "Heavenly Overseer Marquis, what are you doing out here instead of hiding in your lair?"
As usual, Heavenly Overseer Marquis was assuming the appearance of a scholar. He looked at the old turtle with a complicated expression and said, "During our previous meeting, I asked you if the world would be unified again and if a new Human Emperor would emerge. I asked you about Su Yu. But you...sigh."
He had a premonition that something would happen. Alas, it was too late for him to act on it.
The old turtle said, "I warned you. Even if you make the Heavenly Hunt Index yours, it doesn't matter. That is not Su Yu's treasure. He is not Culture King. He does not care. If you had helped during the previous battle...you would not be in such a position."
Chapter 1759: Changes (2)
Heavenly Overseer Marquis smiled and said, "Let's not talk about all that. I'm not here to cry about my previous choice. My choice was already made back in the seventh epoch. By attempting to steal Culture King's treasure, I am left with no other option. This is the only path I can pursue."
"So what instructions do you have for me?"
The old turtle appeared uninterested. After all, they were not on the same side. Both were among the oldest beings in existence, but that did not mean that they were friends.
"No, I dare not instruct you." Heavenly Overseer Marquis said, "I only want to know if Su Yu has entered Culture King's Residence."
"I don't know."
"Are you unwilling to tell me even this?" With a bitter tone, Heavenly Overseer Marquis said, "Not long ago, I saw something similar to the dog Culture King raised back then. Brother Grand Dream, is Culture King really dead? If he's not dead, why hasn't he returned? Things wouldn't have developed to this point if he had returned earlier. Also...Su Yu...is he...Culture King?"
Fear flickered in his eyes as he said, "Why are there so many belongings of Culture King in his hands? Culture Tomb, the white dog, and even you are standing on his side. The iron devourers are supporting him as well."
He desperately needed an answer. Was Su Yu Culture King or not? Looking at the fearful expression on Heavenly Overseer Marquis' face, the old turtle frowned. He knew that he would be able to sink Heavenly Overseer Marquis into boundless fear by claiming that Su Yu was indeed Culture King. But he didn't do so.
With an indifferent tone, he said, "Su Yu is Su Yu. Culture King is Culture King. There is no reincarnation. The Death Realm is here. If reincarnation is possible, or if there is a way for one to return from the dead, Culture King won't be the only person to return. Marquis, you are overthinking."
After a short silence, Heavenly Overseer Marquis sighed and said, "I pray you're right. Back then, I spent some time by Culture King's side. I once heard him mention that a supreme expert once tried to master the cycle of life and death. A true cycle, not the current Death Realm. The Death Realm is an incomplete product. Googlᴇ search novelꞁire.net
"According to Culture King, perfecting the Death Realm will grant the living a master. The dead will also have a master. The master of the dead can allow the ex-living beings to live another life. In turn, the master of the living can allow the former dead to live another life as well. In this manner, an unending cycle will be established."
With a bitter smile, he continued, "This is why I'm so worried. Is Su Yu Culture King? Has Culture King mastered the cycle of life and death?"
The old turtle said, "You are making yourself worry by thinking too much. Do no wrong and you will naturally have nothing to fear. Marquis, it is still not too late for you to switch your allegiance..."
Heavenly Overseer Marquis stood there bleakly. After a long silence, he chuckled and said, "Forget it. You don't understand. I only wish to go further. I am a spirit, but I wish to go further in the path of cultivation as well. I want to obtain the support and worship of the world, becoming the existence everyone fears as well. I don't want to remain a servant..."
The old turtle had nothing to say. Perhaps this wasn't the wrong choice. Everyone had the freedom to choose. But in his opinion, there was no future in Heavenly Overseer Marquis' choice.
The despondent figure of Heavenly Overseer Marquis turned around before vanishing with a flicker. He was only here in search of peace of mind. The old turtle had given him that. According to the old turtle, Su Yu was not Culture King. As the eldest being alive, the old turtle was probably right. Heavenly Overseer Marquis only wanted an answer.
Not long after Heavenly Overseer Marquis' departure, Heavendoom's grumble rang out from the death tunnel, "Boss, why didn't you tell him that Su Yu is Culture King? Maybe you can scare that bastard to death. By the way, I'm now a Daofuse! Boss, remember to treat me with more courtesy in the future! I'm now a Daofuse!"
The old turtle was rendered speechless. Daofuse? So? What was the big deal about it? That wouldn't stop the old turtle from giving him a beating when necessary.
He thought about it and said, "Culture King is Culture King. Su Yu is Su Yu. Everyone is different. Don't talk about things like this lest you receive a beating from Su Yu himself. Not even Su Yu would call himself Culture King. Scaring others with Culture King's name is something he will do when weak. But with his current strength, he probably disdains doing so."
Nobody wanted to live in the shadow of others, even if the shadow belonged to the most outstanding person to have existed.
"True."
The old turtle continued, "Don't run around rashly. After becoming a Daofuse, keep a low profile. From my observation, Su Yu won't start his attack anytime soon. Be careful lest you leak any of his secrets."
With a complicated expression, the old turtle muttered, "He won this bet."
Heavendoom grinned and said, "Yeah! I thought it was a defeat, but we won! Boss, you don't know this, but I was ready to self-detonate at the very end! All of us were ready to die! But instead...hehehe. We won!"
"Martial Emperor?"
"Nope." Heavendoom said in excitement, "He won it through his own efforts. He still had a drop of blood essence from that dog. Tsk tsk. He was quite ruthless. He held his hand even as all of us were nearly dead. He didn't warn us, even when we were on the verge of detonating ourselves."
Understanding dawned on the old turtle as he said, "That's understandable. He's worried about getting his trump card leaked by fools. What can be more convincing than someone who isn't even aware that he's actually playing an act?
"East Heavenly King was no pushover. He could sense your state of despair. A fake despair could be easily detected. And how would he take the bait so easily without sensing genuine despair from all of you?"
Heavendoom nodded and asked, "Boss, are we fully siding with him now?"
The old turtle sank into silence. After a long while, he asked, "What do you think?"
"Me?" Heavendoom replied nonchalantly, "I'll listen to you, Boss!"
"No, all of you have chosen." The old turtle said, "A hundred thousand years ago, all of you obeyed me. As a result, you became prisoners for a hundred thousand years. The time to make another choice has arrived."
"At least we're still alive." Heavendoom laughed and said, "But if you ask me, I think...we should just do it! Boss, when will this end? Su Yu is the most likely person to unify the Myriad Realms and lay down a new set of heavenly laws. Hundred Battle King visited me during the ninth epoch. He must have visited you as well. With one look, I knew he couldn't do it."
Heavendoom curled his lips and said, "I knew I wouldn't be able to do it. Hundred Battle King was the same as me. He was in the middle of a conversation with me when he suddenly left with his blade because someone was shouting insults at him. He lacked patience."
The old turtle chuckled and said, "Su Yu is the same."
"No, not at all." Heavendoom explained, "They are different. At the time, Hundred Heavenly King had the strength to suppress all the death tunnels. But with a similar strength, what would Su Yu do?"
The old turtle blanked out.
Heavendoom grimaced and said, "In the same situation, Su Yu would probably offer to suppress my tunnel for me temporarily and tell me to take a walk outside. He would tell me to wipe out the people shouting insults at him while I was on my stroll. That guy is simply too good at taking advantage of any opening he finds. I only need to help him once, and that will be the same as fully joining his side. With my temper, that is totally possible. And he would make full use of my personality.
"But Hundred Battle King didn't do so. Instead, he tried to show off his strength to me. With one look, I realized that he was completely unreliable."
The old turtle laughed, "Your eyes are keen indeed."
"Of course. My eyes are always sharp." Heavendoom grinned and said, "And what is the result of our choice? We are nearly free! The Spirit Suppression Domain will be ours soon. Hundred Battle King has indeed been defeated. Therefore, if you ask me, I say we fight alongside Su Yu!"
The old turtle sank into a long silence before saying, "In truth, we don't have other choices either. The only thing we can change is the degree of our support."
Heavendoom nodded and said, "I'm worried that you will withdraw your support after losing a few of us."
He gazed at the old turtle and said, "We understand that you care deeply for us. You have always felt guilt toward us. You killed even the descendant of the Devote King for us. I'm worried that you will change your stance again after losing a few of us during the war."
He knew the old turtle too well. He knew that the old turtle would definitely regret this the moment a few of them were lost. As a result, the old turtle would withdraw his support. And that would be very troublesome. The old turtle was a good leader to follow, but not a good ally to have.
Heavendoom knew that very well. But a deathless war did not exist. In fact, Heavendoom was already prepared to die during the war.
With a complicated look in his eyes, the old turtle said, "Heavendoom, you..."
Heavendoom interupted nonchalantly and said, "Stop hesitating. I know you think I'm too rash. But rash does not equate to stupidity. If I were really so stupid, I wouldn't have lived such a long life. I can see it. Things are really different this time. This is why I'm here before the others. I wish to have a chat with you."
Heavendoom said, "Forget about the fact that it's already too late for us to withdraw our support. I know Su Yu. If you tell him we're withdrawing our support in advance, he will accept it out of respect for our previous help. But if we were to withdraw in the middle of a war...think about it. With his temper, would he continue fighting his enemies, or would he shift his focus to us first?"
"If you ask me, he would definitely make you his priority target." Heavendoom said, "That kid is crazy. And confident. I have known this since our first meeting. He is excessively petty. He had the courage to hammer me during our first meeting. Losing some people because he's too weak is fine. But losing some people because of our sudden withdrawal? Do you think he will let the matter slide?"
Heavendoom advised solemnly, "If you can't make up your mind, make it clear immediately. Tell him that we're withdrawing. Don't tell him we're withdrawing after he liberates all of us. I promise you he will instantly turn against us.
"We can still withdraw now. Nobody will owe anyone anything. We have helped him many times before, and he has helped us by allowing the three of us to achieve Daofuse, removing East Heavenly King, and reducing the burden on the cities. There is no debt between us. This is our last chance to withdraw our support from him."
The old turtle had a helpless smile as he said, "You...even after so many years, you have never been too willing to listen to me. But after spending only a few days with him, you have become such a big advocate of him."
"Not at all." Heavendoom grinned and said, "I will still follow your lead, Boss. Give your order and I'll do it. Even if you wish to become the Emperor of the Myriad Realms, we will stand behind you."
The old turtle said, "What nonsense is that? Don't cause more trouble for me. I don't have such an ambition. I don't have the strength to do so either. But you're right. If we were to withdraw our support in the middle of the war, that guy would be petty enough to ignore the myriad races and come after us first. However..."
He sighed and said, "If any of you dies, I..."
"If we die, we die." Heavendoom said, "Even dying in a glorious battle is better than our current life. We are sick of being living dead."
Right at that moment, a different voice rang out below them, "Boss, Heavendoom can be right at times."
It was Grandstar. He continued, "You don't have to worry about us. We would rather battle to the death in this epoch than wait for the next epoch. A hundred thousand years is enough!"
The old turtle had a complicated look in his eyes. After a long while, he sighed and said, "I understand. I know your choice now. As long as you don't regret your choice, I won't withdraw."
"Long live Boss!"
Heavendoom promptly delivered a flattery before tossing something out. With a hearty laugh, he said, "Boss, a war is upon us. Please fuse this into my staff. I need to take care of something else for now. I'm a busy man now, you know?"
Then, he vanished. Before the old turtle could react, Grandstar tossed a few items out as well. He said, "Boss, help me with my weapon as well! Bye!"
Then, Grandstart left. Only then did the old turtle get the chance to take a closer look at those items. They looked suspiciously familiar. After a long while, he gnashed his teeth and cursed, "Bastards!"
That was his shell!
And these were the furniture from his house! Even the gate of his house was here! His bathtub, his desk...
Those bastards had pillaged his house!
Damn it!
The old turtle cursed endlessly. Not only had they plundered his house, but they were even telling him to forge their weapons with the items plundered from his house! Were they not capable of feeling shame? What bastards!
"Did Su Yu rob the eighth level?"
After spending some time cursing, the old turtle gasped as that realization hit him. The eighth level was filled with treasures. As a titled general, he was among the poorest there. Even so, quite a lot of treasures could be found in his residence.
And there were plenty of marquis, king, and Pseudo Emperor residences there. By robbing that place...heavens! Su Yu was rich! Recalling Heavendoom's previous words, the old turtle smiled helplessly. Sure enough, he was not good at this. Even brutes like Heavendoom and Grandstar could guess his thoughts. They had returned to see him before Su Yu's return. In truth, they had made their choice. They wished to join the war.
"Sigh. I only hope that...all of you will survive this."
Over the past hundred thousand years, his biggest regret was having dragged these brothers and sisters of his into an unending duty. Because of him, they had been reduced to the living dead for a hundred thousand years.
He stopped hesitating. So be it. Let there be a result in this epoch. He had criticized Heavenly Overseer Marquis for overthinking. But he had been overthinking as well. It occurred to him why the two of them were still not Masters of Laws even after living for so long.
Chapter 1760: Changes (3)
"Crack."
Su Yu had formed yet another character.
He shook his head.
Trash!
This was a character obtained from an ability of the iron-winged bird race. It was so weak that the character only reached the second tier after its formation. It was likely that the dao of the iron-winged birds was quite a trashy dao as well.
Could one even become a Master of Law from such a weak dao? Sure enough, there was a reason for that race to be so weak. That was his forty-fifth character. He was still far away from ninety-nine characters.
After forming all his characters, he still needed to spend some time nurturing and growing the weaker characters. He might need to visit the Five Elemental Realm to milk the heavenly laws for more power of laws.
"Five Elemental Realm, and five elemental dao."
Su Yu rubbed his chin as he sank into thought. Was the five elemental dao a singular dao, or was it actually five different daos? Since the five elemental race had been prevented from producing new Daofuses, it was likely that their main dao had been forcefully split. In that case, the culprit would not be a weakling.
Well, there was no need to guess. He only needed to take a look for himself. The Five Elemental Ancestor was dead. As for the possibility of it being five daos...Su Yu felt that it was unlikely. Someone with mastery over five individual daos wouldn't die so easily.
If there were really five individual daos, he could perhaps try to cultivate these daos as well. After all, he had the characters of all five elements. Just then, Heavendoom and the others returned with more captive death sovereigns. At the same time, a death sovereign approached. Unlike the others, this death sovereign was approaching them voluntarily.
Xing Yue.
She looked at Su Yu before looking at Marquis Lanshan and the death sovereigns behind them. Nearly fifty death sovereigns had been gathered behind them. After a single glance at the group, she turned and left unhesitatingly.
Su Yu was caught by surprise. Why was she leaving?
"Lord Xing Yue..."
Xing Yue replied without even looking back, "You are already the overlord of a vast region. You may stop addressing me as your lord. You no longer need me. I failed to reach the seventh degree."
Her bleak figure flew off alone. Even after consuming the death imprint of a marquis, her cultivation remained stuck. She was greatly disappointed. She also knew that Su Yu had killed East Heavenly King. He would soon become the overlord of the East Heavenly Domain. At present, he was gathering a large number of death sovereigns to serve as his power base.
For a reason unknown to herself, she grew melancholic as that realization hit her. Su Yu no longer needed her. She could also feel that the death qi connection between her and Su Yu had weakened considerably. It could be broken easily. Furthermore, Su Yu no longer needed her death qi. After all, he had completed the Heaven Gate.
The amount of death qi she could still provide him was negligible compared to what he could amass himself. Also, Su Yu had grown so strong that fully converting him would no longer be possible. Looking at Xing Yue's departing back, Su Yu shook his head with a chuckle.
Marquis Lanshan asked, "Human Lord, do we capture her?"
"..."
Su Yu rolled his eyes and said, "No. If you have the time to capture her, you are better off cultivating harder. Reach East Heavenly King's level as soon as possible. I will leave his domain in your hands. Manage it well. Don't ruin this."
"This subordinate wouldn't dare."
Su Yu said nothing else. At this point, he was already near the Celestial River of Death. He was also near the old turtle's territory. It was time for him to go back up. None of the three heavenly kings had appeared so far. It was unknown if they were busy taking over the sections of the dao emptied after East Heavenly King's demise or if they were still observing before determining their next course of action.
"I'll go to the East Heavenly Palace...no, scratch that. You will go with my human lord's token. I will mark that location in preparation to open a death tunnel there."
After handing his token to Marquis Lanshan, Su Yu continued, "Send some people out to recruit more human marquises to your territory. Only a quarter of the Death Realm is currently under our control. We don't know much about the other territories yet. When you encounter danger, do not fight to the death. Retreat to the Spirit Suppression Domain with your people and seek help from Senior Grand Dream. Do not kill my soldiers in a hopeless battle."
Su Yu was actually quite worried that she would stubbornly fight to the end and squander what little power base he had in the Death Realm. He added, "He Tu, you will be assisting Marquis Lanshan. You have a better brain than she."
Behind them, He Tu grinned and said, "No problem. But to do my job properly, I need an official position, right?"
Su Yu said, "Position? I can appoint you the field marshal of the East Heavenly Palace. When you gain enough strength, I will appoint you a marquis. If you can reach the level of your ancestor, I will appoint you a king."
He Tu asked, "Are you serious?"
"Of course." Su Yu replied matter-of-factly, "Upon unifying the world, those following me will naturally receive their worthy conferments. But we're still far away from that day."
Unification.
And conferment.
Hearing that, even some of the death spirits behind them grew excited. They barely knew this human lord. Was he really aiming to unify the world?
How ambitious!
Su Yu looked up and waved his hand. Instantly, countless death qi converged before taking the form of a paper. Then, he transformed the Culture Tomb into a pen and wrote something on it. Finally, he stamped his seal on it with his human lord's token.
Instantly, He Tu's body shone.
Su Yu smiled and said, "Done. Are your worries alleviated now?"
Upon receiving the paper, He Tu looked at it with complicated emotions. After a long while, he dropped down on one knee and solemnly said, "Field marshal of East Heavenly Palace, He Tu, hereby reports for duty!"
"Rise."
Su Yu waved his hand and looked at the death spirits behind them. He said, "On your way to the East Heavenly Domain, you will cross the Celestial River of Death. You may suppress the river with the human lord's token during your crossing. The east heavenly token isn't too effective against the river."
As they spoke, they finally reached He Tu's death kingdom, the territory under Grand Dream City. It was time for him to leave the Death Realm. Next, he would need to form enough characters. Then, he could strengthen those characters sufficiently. And finally, he would enter the Daomeld Realm.
At the same time, he would strengthen Great Qin King and the others. He would also liberate all the other guardians. After all that, the time for another war would arrive.
*** The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the novèlfire.net
A short moment later.
Su Yu walked out of the death tunnel of Grand Dream City. He left alone. The rest were still busy carrying out their assigned tasks in the Death Realm.
First, the old turtle shot him a complicated gaze. After a short pause, he bowed slightly and said, "Spirit Suppression General, Grand Dream, a subordinate of Devote King, greets the human lord."
"You are too polite, Senior," said Su Yu as he helped the old turtle back up.
The old turtle said, "Propriety can never be abandoned. From now onward, the Spirit Suppression Army shall return to human control. You are still young, but all of us are old fogeys. We must observe propriety lest your future followers decide they can abandon propriety as well. But if even I have to observe propriety in your presence, nobody else is qualified to be rude toward you."
With a smile, the old turtle continued, "Unless that person has a higher seniority than me, all shall follow my example. I might only be a titled general, but the Spirit Suppression Army I led back then was stronger than even the armies of some marquises.
"As the number one general under Devote King, I rank higher than even some of the marquises. Not even the ancient human marquises can flaunt their seniority before me."
Su Yu laughed.
He said, "Thank you for your care, Senior."
"It is only natural." The old turtle said, "By killing East Heavenly King, you have removed a massive hidden threat of mine. Of the three remaining heavenly kings, North Heavenly King and West Heavenly King are dissatisfied with human rule. The South Heavenly King once contacted me to offer help.
"With one heavenly king gone, the two of us can join hands to handle the remaining two. Don't worry about the Death Realm. With South Heavenly King and me around, things should remain under control."
He frowned slightly and said, "I only worry about the region beyond the four heavenly king domains. The actual Death Realm is massive. It is boundless. In truth, beyond the four heavenly king domains is a massive masterless region. I have never explored that region. I also worry about the Celestial River of Death. Some experts might awaken and cause trouble for us."
Su Yu nodded and said, "I will take note of all that. For now, I will prioritize the liberation of the guardians. But I'm afraid I won't be able to liberate you for now. My authority does not extend that far."
The old turtle himself had the authority to release the other guardians. But he was personally appointed by Devote King, his appointment reinforced by the seal of approval by Human Emperor himself. Thus, Su Yu did not have the authority to release him.
The old turtle smiled and said, "I can't leave yet or things might really get troublesome. Without the support of my official position, I am no match for the heavenly kings."
Su Yu nodded and said, "I'll be taking a trip back to the Human Realm. As for the Death Realm, I'll have to trouble you with this burden."
"It is only natural."
Su Yu said nothing else and left. After Su Yu's departure, the old turtle sighed with melancholy. Su Yu was feeling more and more unfathomable.
It wasn't that Su Yu had grown so strong that the old turtle could only look up to him. Rather, his bearing, his presence, and his temperament had transformed entirely. In truth, when Su Yu first emerged from the Death Realm earlier, the old turtle had thought that he was looking at Culture King.
No wonder Heavenly Overseer Marquis was so terrified of Su Yu. If Su Yu had Culture King's strength as well, they would be convinced that Culture King had returned after one look at him.
Suddenly, the old turtle started looking forward to the meeting between Su Yu and Culture King. That would be quite an interesting meeting.
***
Naturally, Su Yu was unconcerned about all that.
After tearing an opening in space, he was busy observing the River of Time. Looking at the river spreading across all of existence, he felt as though he was looking at a work of art. After completing the Heaven Gate, the world before his eyes was no longer the same.
"How beautiful."
After muttering to himself, Su Yu stepped through the entrance to the Human Realm.
Human Realm.
Great Zhou King was still busy propagating the source qi rain. After all, the period of ten days had yet to end. Suddenly, his expression changed massively as his head snapped in a certain direction.
Far away, someone cloaked in white robes was stepping on thin air, slowly approaching him. Looking at that figure, Great Zhou King blanked out momentarily.
"Su Yu?"
He muttered to himself, but next, his expression changed again.
Su Yu!
Instead of traveling by ripping space apart and moving through space, Su Yu was stepping on something. The space under his feet would shine with every step he took.
After a short moment, Great Zhou King gasped with shock, "This...he's traversing the flow?"
The flow of the River of Time, to be precise. His eyes glowed. Instantly, a river appeared in his vision. Stepping forth atop the river was Su Yu, moving at an unbelievably fast speed. In mere moments, Su Yu was already standing before him.
"Great Zhou King..."
The voice woke Great Zhou King from his shocked state. But once again, his expression changed. That was too fast!
"Su...Emperor Yu!" With great difficulty, he greeted.
The moment Su Yu gazed upon Great Zhou King with his Heaven Gate, Great Zhou King felt his entire body turning cold. After a long while, Su Yu said, "Not bad at all. Achieving Daofuse through your character, pursuing the dao of patience. Patience is a good thing to have. I had thought that you were pursuing the dao of calm."
Su Yu had a completely indifferent expression as he said all that. Meanwhile, Great Zhou King's heart was thumping madly. He was actually able to see that!
Su Yu remarked, "The dao of patience is decent, but from what I can see, it won't be easy for you to gain control over this dao. The Master of Law for this dao might still be alive. Hmm...almost peak of the Daofuse Realm. Stronger than expected. However, not unimaginably strong."
With a chuckle, Su Yu vanished with a flicker as he continued along the River of Time. In mere moments, he vanished behind the waterfall of time.
His voice rang out from the river, "Gather all human Eternals at the Starfall Mountain."
"Yes."
Great Zhou King answered, still shocked. At the same time, he was also feeling slightly at a loss. Just what...happened with Su Yu? When Su Yu was staring at him, he felt as though all his secrets had been exposed.
That...Heaven Gate! Could it be the legendary completion of Heaven Gate?
Upon completing the Heaven Gate, all secrets shall be unveiled!