Su Yu's Astonishing Discovery

With Lang Tu dead, the seal upon the small gateway unraveled. Now, outsiders could force their way in directly, or they could wait for the portal to draw candidates in on its own. Su Yu, of course, could also walk out to another portal and wait for an opportunity there. Unrushed, Su Yu took his time digesting everything about Lang Tu. The volume in his grasp flickered in and out of view. It was still far from complete, lacking many things that Su Yu would have to supply bit by bit. Su Yu realized this was a massive undertaking. Lang Tu had been convenient enough, his intact corpse merging directly into the book, but there were still things missing—such as the cultivation arts of this race, starting right from the fundamentals, including both the original versions and the modified versions adapted for humans. Su Yu would have to gather every single one. At this moment, thoughts and speculations churned through Su Yu's mind. That golden book in his sea of consciousness! He was fairly certain now that it was a treasure left behind by the previous Time Master. Earlier, he had assumed it was a divine character, but now it seemed it might not be a character after all—it could very well be a weapon. Of course, how it had ended up with him remained a mystery to be solved. Furthermore, this golden book had once shattered non-human divine characters. Did that signify that the previous Time Master had actually been human? The old turtle had spoken of this before. There were two leading theories regarding the Time Master's identity: first, the ancient Human Sovereign; second, the master of the Tombstone of Civilization. The Human Sovereign went without saying, but who was the master of the Tombstone of Civilization? To this day, no one spoke of his true name. It was only known that he had likely been the supreme leader of the Civilization Masters. When civilization fell into ruin and he perished, countless Civilization Masters forged the Tombstone of Civilization for him and buried him in an undisclosed place. From that moment on, the Multi-Character faction became a lost swan song! The master of the Tombstone of Civilization had without doubt belonged to the Multi-Character lineage. As for the Human Sovereign, the truth remained murky. While contemplating these matters, Su Yu waited for someone else to step into the gateway. Yet no one seemed inclined to enter voluntarily, whether out of wariness or fear of unknown perils lurking inside. *** Meanwhile, just as Su Yu assumed Lang Tu's place... Within the colossal passageway, contestants fought viciously over the 360 portals. Ownership changed hands continuously, and falling in battle became the norm. Even suns and moons crashed from the heavens—the visual phenomena triggered by the slaying of Sun Moon experts. Tens of thousands had vied for the quota, and more than half had already perished before even entering the passageway. Once inside, the slaughter continued unabated. By now, the living beings left in the entire corridor had dwindled drastically to a mere few thousand. Nine deaths to one life! Such was the struggle for a place. The major races had released 360 unstable slots, and every ten years, countless experts and prodigies from the minor races threw themselves forward in waves to die. Time and again, generation after generation, it served the purpose of whittling away the strength of the minor races. If all their top geniuses perished here, how could any of them ever rise? *** Outside the passageway. Some had stayed behind, merely watching the corpses drifting down continuously, sighing with complex emotions. Some had come to see off dear friends, some to send off descendants, and others were Dao protectors of their clans. Yet now, gazing upon the sea of bodies, their feelings were overwhelmingly somber. Generation after generation, it was always the same. For a minor race to rise was simply too difficult! In a secluded corner, Huang Jiu sent a voice transmission: "Elder, are we not going to the special passages? Aren't we going in?" "Don't rush!" Huangjia—or rather, Kongkong—calmly surveyed his surroundings. He had been scouting for a long time. Soon, his gaze locked onto a target, and he transmitted: "What's the hurry? Once these passages open, the official ones will be far safer! The moment they open, we charge right in!" "We're charging in?" Huang Jiu was puzzled, but Huangjia remained nonchalant, transmitting back: "Of course we're taking the standard passage! The slaughter in the special passages is too chaotic and inconvenient. When the official passages open, I'll teleport you straight to one of the entrances. There's only a single Lingyun there—nothing to worry about. Just beat them to death or send them flying, then enter immediately! I'll do the same! We'll target Dao King's people. He's lost two of his three incarnations; even if I snatch his slot, he won't dare make a reckless move anytime soon. And if he does, I'm not afraid of him!" Why fear a fellow who had lost two incarnations? If they were going, they would take the official route—it was safe! He had been eyeing Dao King's subordinates for a while now. As for why he chose the Immortal race over any other... What nonsense; he had already offended Tiangu, so why would he fear offending the Immortals? There was no need to antagonize other races unnecessarily. Although holding the Tombstone of Civilization meant everyone had their eyes on him anyway, offending one more or less hardly made a difference. Huang Jiu flattered him immediately: "Elder, you're amazing!" "Naturally!" Kongkong thoroughly relished the praise. Impressive, wasn't he? A Space Beast—did they think that was a joke? He could phase directly to the entrance in an instant, and not even an Invincible could stop him! "Once you're inside, we probably won't land together, so be careful! Also, on the Immortals' side, entering might land you near three to five Immortals of similar age and cultivation. Stay on your guard. Still, among your generation, even if you don't possess Heaven Ranking strength, you certainly have Earth Ranking prowess, so there's no need to worry too much... "If you run into real trouble, use a teleportation talisman to slip away!" "..." Kongkong gave a few more instructions. This time, his objective inside was not a carrier; he already had one. His goal was the Nine-Leaf Celestial Lotus! Others sought it for Dao Integration, but he needed it to unify his three incarnations and attain the Dao! Because he had used a coffin lid as his carrier, it was excessively powerful, resulting in a past incarnation that was quite formidable while his future incarnation lacked strength and his present incarnation was merely average. His cultivation was completely out of balance. Consuming the Nine-Leaf Celestial Lotus would resolve these discrepancies. With his placement on the Dao Attainment Ranking, once he achieved the Dao, ordinary Invincibles would be no match for him. "Understood!" Huang Jiu replied. Soon, her gaze drifted toward the eastern sector in the distance, settling upon the figures from Liu City. She watched for a good while, her eyes fixed on Liu Wenyan, never shifting away. "Stop looking!" Kongkong interrupted. "There's nothing to see! Besides, you might not have any connection to his clan at all. Zhu Tianfang was only guessing. When your grandpa picked you up back then, you were all alone; I didn't see a single soul from the Liu family..." "No, I'm just curious!" Huang Jiu offered a perfunctory excuse. Ever since Zhu Tianfang claimed she belonged to a certain family, she had looked into past records. Twenty years ago, there hadn't been many major upheavals, save for the human realm's Liu City—the greatest of the scavenger clans—suffering another devastating blow. The Liu bloodline had been completely wiped out. A relative by marriage to the Xia family, Liu Wenyan's niece, had perished on the all-heavens battlefield along with the fall of the Liu clan. Originally, she had been betrothed to Xia Huyou of the Xia clan, destined to be the Crown Princess of the Great Xia Prefecture. Following that tragedy, the Liu family had fallen into complete decline, and Liu Wenyan's eldest uncle had only resurfaced in the past two years; before then, everyone had presumed him dead. Huang Jiu mused to herself: if she truly were that girl, then Liu Wenyan's uncle would be her grandfather, and Liu Wenyan would be her cousin-uncle. And her ties to the Great Xia Prefecture... would be entangled beyond measure. Xia Longwu's daughter-in-law? King Daxia's great-granddaughter-in-law? Pah, pah, pah! She glanced toward Xia Huyou in the distance—repulsive, utterly hideous! If Xia Huyou looked like the Blood Slaughter King, that would at least be domineering and handsome. But no, he looked just like Marquis Xia—and not the youthful Marquis Xia, but the corpulent, out-of-shape Marquis Xia! That completely violated the heroic image of the Xia clan. Was she truly that girl? She didn't know, and she didn't particularly want to know. The Liu family was in the past. Even if Liu Wenyan had returned to Liu City, she didn't know him at all, so there was no need to go claiming kinship. Kongkong had raised her from childhood and treated her wonderfully, feeding her all manner of heavenly treasures. That was why she had reached the Shanhai Realm at such a young age, currently standing at the seventh level of Shanhai, with combat power surpassing her cultivation. As for that useless Xia Huyou, a mere third-stage Tengkong... she could barely stand to look at him. She certainly wasn't going to dig into her identity! Otherwise, what if that fat fellow pestered her incessantly? Huang Jiu knew full well that he went around proposing marriages everywhere. As these thoughts drifted through her mind, the passages grew increasingly stable. Kongkong gauged the situation and transmitted: "Almost time. Once that passage above closes, it means all 360 slots have been settled!" At that moment, several figures withdrew from the upper passage, heavily wounded contestants among them in droves. The battle for slots had reached a fever pitch. In a desperate final bid, many had begun plunging directly into portals of unknown depth, while those defeated and injured in the corridor abandoned any lingering hope for a quota and pulled out one after another. *** Watching this, experts on all sides sighed with lamentation. Tens of thousands! Nearly fifty thousand living beings had taken to the air to battle for a mere 360 slots. Yet now, fewer than a thousand had emerged alive. The rest were either dead or still butchering one another in the passage for that sliver of opportunity. Those who hadn't come out by now had likely never intended to leave alive. In the end, only 360 would remain in the passage. Adding the thousand or so who had retreated, fewer than two thousand survived—a survival rate of under five percent. Such was the cruelty of the all-heavens battlefield. *** As the wounded withdrew, a second wave arrived at Su Yu's portal—nine individuals in total. Among them, surprisingly, were an Immortal and a Demon. Su Yu was slightly taken aback, then quickly understood. It was only natural that some members of the great races would fail to secure official slots. None of the nine newcomers were weak, yet all remained in the Lingyun Realm. It was unclear whether the portal possessed a way to gauge one's cultivation. Seeing someone already inside, they showed no surprise. Some even recognized Lang Tu. A massive black bear glared coldly at Su Yu: "Lang Tu? Looks like you wiped out the first wave! Quite fortunate. I wondered who it might be, but it's only you inside!" Lang Tu was not weak, but the black bear believed itself to be slightly stronger. Naturally, the others present were no pushovers either. This time, no brawl broke out immediately to gang up on the strongest, unlike the previous round. Su Yu glanced over them: nine cultivators from nine different races. Setting aside the Immortal, the Demon hailed from the Blood Fire Demon race. A considerable number of their kin had shown up this time; the Blood Fire Demon King was clearly determined to seize the Nine-Leaf Celestial Lotus, though it was still unknown whether he would enter in person. "Are there many left outside?" Su Yu asked. The black bear sneered. "Not many. Slaughter us all, and you'll practically secure your slot!" Pleased? The real question was, did you have the strength? "Not many?" Su Yu murmured, surprised, before sighing helplessly. "In that case, I'd better hurry. Otherwise, I might not even get a next wave!" Before the group could respond, Su Yu let out a soft sigh and unfurled his book. "Gentlemen, please step inside the Civilization Chronicle for a tour!" The group almost laughed, but then the Immortal's face warped in sheer terror. "You... you aren't—" Giving them no chance to utter another word, nine illusory behemoths at the first level of the Sun Moon Realm manifested in an instant, swallowing them in a single gulp each! Sun Moon against Lingyun! There were indeed Lingyun cultivators capable of fighting Sun Moon experts, but none of them were here. Moduona, first on the Heaven Ranking, might pull off such a feat, but aside from Moduona, there was practically no one else—excluding Su Yu, of course. The appearance of nine Sun Moon behemoths swept them into the book's pages in a flash, granting them virtually no opportunity to resist! Su Yu smiled. As the pages flipped, nine new leaves appeared, initiating written records. "Immortal race, ninth-stage Lingyun, foundational cultivation arts..." Chuckling, Su Yu began inscribing upon the pages, recording the arts of the Immortal race. He knew many Immortal arts. At this moment, he transcribed them all. However, he only knew the converted human versions, possessing very few of the original texts. But that was fine—he could look into the past; he could glean every art these fellows had ever practiced and set them down in detail. A line of characters appeared on the Immortal page, gradually rounding it into form. According to Su Yu's crafting rules, that page would only be complete once he collected corpses spanning from the Qianjun Realm to the Invincible Realm. For now, it was only slightly refined. "Finding those at Tengkong and above is simple enough, but what about below Tengkong?" Members of major races like the Immortals were almost never seen wandering about below the Tengkong Realm. Did that mean he would eventually have to make a trip to their ancestral realms? Not just the Immortals, but every major race. If he wished to collect the complete sets, he would inevitably have to visit their home worlds. "So, if the suppressing power has existed since antiquity, then... perhaps the Time Master path is only suited for humans." Anyone other than a human would face that suppressing force. Under such suppression, collecting corpses would be immensely difficult; an Invincible would be squashed down to the Sun Moon Realm, so how could one collect bodies with ease? "Looks like this trade can only be practiced by humans!" Su Yu smiled. At that moment, the portal's restriction opened once more, and Su Yu waited eagerly for the third wave to arrive. *** Outside the portals. By now, several portals had locked in place, signifying that their slots were finalized after enduring three tribulations. For every slot secured among the 360, a portal anchored itself completely, no longer floating or drifting. Over a hundred portals had already settled, their surfaces turning transparent in an instant. Within them, silhouettes became visible from both inside and outside. Many breathed massive sighs of relief, feeling immensely fortunate—some had relied on luck, while others had triumphed through raw might! Now, no one could wrest their slots away. Outside the portals, some of the heavily wounded had withdrawn, while four to five hundred cultivators lingered. These individuals had arrived with a resolve to die; if they couldn't claim a slot, they had no intention of leaving! Seeing over a hundred portals locked, several gritted their teeth and charged into the portals that were still drifting! None of them knew who had survived inside those portals or how powerful they were. Drifting at random, it was nearly impossible to tell who lurked within. At this stage, it all came down to luck! With good fortune, finding a Tengkong inside would be a blessing. With bad luck, running into a Sun Moon meant certain death! Among the remaining crowd were several formidable figures, including a few Sun Moon experts. At this juncture, even those Sun Moon experts hesitated no longer. It was nearly over; if they didn't seize a slot before all the portals locked, their chances would vanish completely! An expert bellowed, "There is only this one chance left! Everyone, if fate allows, we shall meet again in the Star Residence Mansion!" If fate did not allow, then death awaited. One after another, experts shot toward the drifting portals, while the weaker cultivators held back, waiting until the stronger ones entered before choosing, desperate to avoid running into those Sun Moon cultivators and throwing their lives away. *** Before long, the final wave arrived at Su Yu's portal. This time, there were only three. Their cultivation levels were comparable; they had entered together precisely to seize this slot, and those with too vast a gap in strength wouldn't have dared step inside together. All three were in the Shanhai Realm—specifically, the early Shanhai Realm. When they spotted Su Yu inside, all three exhaled in relief! What luck! A weakling. A mere Lingyun! Su Yu asked curiously, "Anyone else left outside?" "No one. Everyone who's entering has already gone in!" A massive ox-headed demon looked at Su Yu with a grin. "Little fellow, it seems your luck has run out!" Three Shanhai against one Lingyun. Su Yu breathed a sigh of relief as well. Thank goodness it was only three Shanhai. He had worried a Sun Moon might show up—especially an eighth or ninth-stage Sun Moon, which would have forced him to burst his yang aperture before even entering the mansion. That would have been far too great a loss! Before Su Yu could strike, the three great demons swiped at him simultaneously, intent on swatting him dead before dealing with anything else! Those in the Shanhai Realm were still undeniably formidable. This time, Su Yu didn't even deploy the Civilization Chronicle. A massive warhammer materialized, rumbling with thunderous force! Three consecutive strikes! All three great demons collapsed, dizzy and disoriented, their seas of will nearly shattered. They lay sprawled on the ground, their minds completely blank. With Su Yu's current willpower, while he might not match a Sun Moon, handling ordinary sixth or seventh-stage Shanhai experts was well within his reach. The power of the Mind Expansion Hammer was exceptionally potent. Under three strikes, the three early Shanhai demons collapsed on the spot. The Civilization Chronicle surfaced once more, instantly swallowing the three great demons. Complete corpses seemed to yield far greater benefits. As the three Shanhai demons were consumed, a subtle shift appeared in Su Yu's gaze. The pages previously forged with single drops of blood essence seemed to grant the illusory behemoths even greater power! Su Yu had infused illusory behemoths of three hundred different races, all of them common varieties. Right now, he was absorbing the matching races—integrating Immortals into the page forged from Immortal blood essence, and Demons into the Demon page. If a corpse belonged to a race outside those three hundred, he set it aside for now, waiting until he forged the corresponding page before merging it. Whether bolstered by these corpses or not, Su Yu distinctly felt the illusory behemoths grow slightly stronger. "Not bad at all!" Su Yu was thoroughly satisfied. The corpses were still preserved within the spatial interior of each page, functioning as records and specimens; taking them out would cause that page's contents to vanish. The Star Residence Mansion truly was a wonderful place—before even setting foot inside, he had already gathered over a dozen corpses! With the three Shanhai demons slain, Su Yu felt a violent tremor run through the chamber. A wave of dizziness washed over him as the colossal portal suddenly descended to the ground with a resounding boom. Su Yu's vision cleared, and he saw the outside world, along with the other portals. They were arranged in a circle! The 360 portals now stood in an orderly alignment, positioned at distinct bearings. Through their transparent walls, Su Yu could see the occupants of the other portals, and they could clearly see him as well. A few portals appeared to still be finalizing their slots. Yet Su Yu paid them no heed. A peculiar sensation crept over him. He studied the portals one by one. Currently situated within a transparent cage, he could see in every direction. As he looked around, his expression grew increasingly strange. Three hundred and sixty special portals! Three hundred and sixty... arranged in a circle—no, there seemed to be a central axis running through the middle. Su Yu's gaze grew sharper and sharper! He looked left and right. Unlike the others, who sat quietly in meditation, Su Yu continually scrutinized his surroundings, his expression growing ever more bizarre. He was examining the arrangement of these portals! He was making a comparison! Yes, comparing them to apertures! The positions of 360 apertures! Su Yu searched the surroundings, watching portals slam down one after another as slots were secured. A bright gleam sparked in his eyes! A coincidence? Could this truly be a mere coincidence? No... this was no coincidence! Su Yu's heart jolted. *This isn't a coincidence! These are the locations of the 360 apertures—a map of the human race's 360 apertures, the origin apertures!* He turned his gaze toward a specific spot where no portal had yet landed. Glancing at the portals still circling in the air, he muttered, "Right there!" He was certain that a portal would descend upon that exact location! Sure enough, less than three minutes later, a transparent portal crashed down with a roar, right where Su Yu had been staring! The light in Su Yu's eyes blazed even brighter! The special passages of the Star Residence Mansion carried a hidden meaning: they traced the positions of the human race's 360 origin apertures! Who had constructed this? Why build it this way? Could it be that an ancient powerhouse who had opened the Great Circulation apertures was the one who designed these special passages? Meanwhile, portals continued to plummet with deafening rumbles, gradually filling all 360 aperture positions. The others paid it no mind, for they were unfamiliar with the locations of human apertures. Not just the other races—even humans themselves were largely ignorant of them. Across the world today, Su Yu was perhaps the only person who had mastered the precise locations of all 360 apertures! At that moment, from within a transparent portal, an expert who seemed to hail from an ancient race remarked indifferently, "Almost done. Once the 360 slots are settled, these portals will rotate at high speed to open the passages. Weaker ones, watch yourselves—don't get crushed to death by the spatial transmission before you even make it inside!" "Rotate?" Su Yu's eyes flickered. He looked toward the portals. Sure enough, the final portal settled into place at that very moment. Immediately, the 360 portals began to whirl rapidly. The speed was terrifying! A sharp light flashed in Su Yu's eyes as he scrutinized the movement of every single portal. At that instant, sheer shock washed over his face. Everyone else assumed this was merely the standard procedure, but Su Yu faintly realized... this was a cultivation art! No, it was an aperture circulation route! "A Great Circulation technique?" Su Yu was utterly stunned. Who on earth had constructed these special passages? This was clearly a Great Circulation circulation art! Right now, the 360 portals acted as 360 apertures, linking together in succession, seemingly gathering power! At that moment, comprehension struck Su Yu! Awe seized him. *Yes, gathering power! This is fundamentally a diagram of the 360 apertures, using a Great Circulation art to pool energy before detonating, unleashing a massive surge of power to teleport everyone into the Star Residence Mansion! Even the outer passages use these special passages as their core, with the special passages initiating the transmission that sends everyone inside!* *Furthermore, the higher the tier of the passage, the easier it is to enter the higher floors of the mansion, because those tiers sit right at the epicenter of the explosive force!* *That's why the top tier among the nine outer rows can transmit people much further, while the bottom tier transmits them closer...* Thoughts flashed through Su Yu's mind in rapid succession. A genius! A stroke of absolute genius! *No... no, no, no! The core is the main gate of the Star Residence Mansion—that's... the yang aperture... no, the heavenly aperture!* Su Yu swallowed hard. This was a design of true divine genius! *Wait... something's wrong. That gate never opens!* *The heavenly aperture remains shut, while only the auxiliary apertures open!* Su Yu felt a wave of disorientation. *Could it be... could it be that because the heavenly aperture was never unsealed, that gate has never opened? Does one need to open the heavenly aperture to open that gate? No, the yang aperture should work too! By logic, once the 360 origin apertures are open, the yang aperture is opened, so why couldn't it transmit...* *Wait, it could transmit—or rather, people tried, but rumor has it that anyone who forced their way in died! That aligns perfectly with the nature of the yang aperture: violently turbulent, lacking the yin aperture to balance it!* At that thought, a terrifying realization struck Su Yu! The passages to the Star Residence Mansion were not limited to just one set! No, they weren't limited to just these 3,600! There might exist another set of 3,600—or another 360—that could open simultaneously! In doing so, yin and yang would open in unison, unlocking the heavenly aperture, allowing one to enter the Star Residence Mansion directly through that White Jade Gate! *No way...* Su Yu couldn't help entertaining the possibility. He understood the concepts of yang and yin apertures better than anyone, because he had derived them through his own comprehension. Long ago, he had deduced the Yuan-Shen apertures. At first, it had been a pretext to trick others into helping him, but later, he realized the concept was sound. Still later, he had unsealed his yang aperture... He had proposed the concept without prior knowledge and verified its truth through practice. Thus, Su Yu understood these principles intimately! The moment he witnessed the formation, countless connections snapped into place. *Yes, this is the 360 origin apertures. There must exist another special passage corresponding to the 360 divine apertures! When yin and yang unite, the heavenly aperture unlocks, and that heavenly aperture... is the true White Jade Gate!* The solitary White Jade Gate that had hovered in the sky for countless eons! The White Jade Gate that no one had stepped through since antiquity. At this moment, Su Yu faintly realized that the gate could indeed be opened, but because no one had located the yin aperture's position, it remained shut. Where was the yin aperture? Where was the yin passage? Where? Did it truly exist, or was it merely an illusion? *** Meanwhile. In the realm of the dead. Hetu was busy coaxing a new ally. A powerful dead spirit had recently awakened, and Hetu had come to recruit him. Having recovered very few of his memories, the fool was being led along by Hetu's silver tongue, listening in a daze. As they spoke, the void in the distance shuddered. Hetu glanced over, looking bewildered, but soon dismissed it. The commotion was considerable, but upon closer inspection, it was merely a black hole that connected to the Nether River. Such occurrences were frequent in this ghastly place; one grew accustomed to it. Sensing a powerful suction, Hetu couldn't be bothered to investigate. If he was dragged into the depths of the Nether River, it would be troublesome. He turned back to the newly recruited dead spirit and smiled warmly. "Brother, stick with me, and sooner or later you'll recover all your memories. You'll know who you were—avenge your grudges, settle your debts..." The dead spirit didn't look at him. Instead, he stared fixedly at the distant black hole, as if recalling something, and muttered, "Passage..." Hetu chuckled. "Yes, a passage, leading to the depths of the Nether River. Don't go near it; the depths are treacherous!" "Passage!" The dead spirit's eyes were vacant as he gazed at the void, feeling as though he had forgotten something vital. Hetu was speechless. Did he only know that one word? Hetu turned his gaze back to the passage, divine light erupting from his eyes. After watching for a moment, he shook his head. "Brother, there's nothing there, just a passage leading into the depths of the Nether River..." "No, it isn't!" The dead spirit stared in that direction, his composure crumbling. Hetu frowned slightly and looked again. Not it? He hadn't paid it much mind, but this dead spirit must have been exceedingly powerful in life. Now that he had awakened and recalled a fragment, could he have known about this thing while alive? Yet it looked like nothing more than an ordinary passage! After a moment's thought, Hetu said, "Brother, wait here for a moment. I'll go take a look!" "I want to go!" "..." Hetu rolled his eyes. Looking for trouble! Fine, they would go together. Relying on his immense strength, he felt little fear and flew toward the passage with the dead spirit in tow. Soon, he plunged into the corridor alongside the newly awakened dead spirit. The powerful suction made even Hetu wobble slightly. Before long, Hetu led the dead spirit forward through the tunnel. After traveling a great distance, Hetu caught sight of something ahead: an expanse of starry void. Strange! Hetu looked upward, frowning slightly. Stars flickered above, yet all appeared dim, not a single one fully ignited. *What on earth is this?* Hetu grumbled internally, feeling a sense of familiarity. Before he could dwell on it, the companion beside him suddenly grew agitated. With a soft hum, the dead spirit flew upward, landing directly upon one of the stars. That star, previously dim and lifeless, suddenly flared with radiant brilliance! Hetu was startled and opened his mouth to curse, but the dead spirit abruptly called out, "You... you get on one too..." Hetu snapped, "Get down! Get on what..." Curses aside, he was thoroughly intrigued. The star had actually lit up? Yet the dead spirit refused to descend, calling out, "You... come up... come up..." Hetu was at his wit's end. *Come up your grandmother!* Was he going to lose this dead spirit? The fellow was far too unruly! Seeing that the dead spirit was unharmed, Hetu flew upward as well. As he ascended, a peculiar sensation washed over him. Why did these stars look so familiar... not just visually familiar, but intimately recognizable? How bizarre! Just as he attempted to fly toward the dead spirit, a powerful repulsive force pushed him back, sending him staggering several paces. Shock gripped him. *With my strength, I was repelled? What is going on!* His foot stepped onto another star, and it instantly flared to life. Startled, Hetu tried to pull away, only to find a barrier sealing off his surroundings—he was completely unable to leave! "Damn you, you tricked me!" Hetu roared in fury, glaring at the dead spirit. That bastard had set him up! Just as the thought crossed his mind, a tremendous gravitational pull surged from the star. However, with only two of the 360 stars ignited, the pulling force was insufficient. After tugging for a moment, it swept Hetu and the dead spirit away. In the next breath, all the stars dimmed once more, their light vanishing completely. *** At that exact instant, on the all-heavens battlefield... The White Jade Gate suspended in the sky suddenly trembled faintly. The tremor was feeble and fleeting, and the gate swiftly returned to its original stillness. Yet that single tremor instantly caught the attention of dozens of Invincibles, who all turned their gazes toward the White Jade Gate. What was happening? Why had the Star Mansion Gate shuddered? The Invincibles were utterly bewildered. That gate had remained motionless for ten million years, displaying only a subtle rhythm like breathing. Why had it suddenly trembled? Was it related to the transmission? At this moment, as the slots for the special passages were finalized, all the passages flared with brilliant light, drawing the contestants inside. For a time, the Invincibles were unsure what to make of it. Was the tremor caused by the transmission? But... that had never happened in countless eons. Within the Hunting Heaven Pavilion, the Minister of Heaven narrowed his eyes. In the next moment, the minister stepped into the void, appeared before a passage, and vanished inside! He had entered! Not only him—one Invincible after another flew rapidly toward the passages. It had opened! The Star Residence Mansion had opened. The Nine-Leaf Celestial Lotus! As for why the White Jade Gate had trembled, they had no time to investigate. Just as the experts were streaming inside, a furious roar shattered the heavens. "Bastard!" In that split second, the void rippled, and Kongkong materialized, sending a Sun Moon expert flying with a single kick. Huang Jiu appeared beneath him, swatting a Lingyun cultivator into oblivion with a single slap! The two plunged into the passage in the blink of an eye! Kongkong even found the leisure to glance back at Dao King, waving his hand with a chuckle: "Dao King, I'll help you seize the Nine-Leaf Celestial Lotus—no need to thank me!" "..." "Damn you!" Dao King was beside himself with rage, lashing out with a palm strike! *Even you dare bully me!* Yet before the strike could cross the distance, an Immortal King beside him stepped in to block it, frowning. "Others are still in the middle of being transmitted!" What was he thinking? Kongkong snatching a slot was infuriating, but if this palm landed, Kongkong would emerge unscathed while the rest of the Immortals would be obliterated by the blow. Had Dao King lost his mind? Dao King truly was on the verge of madness. He had expended his entire fortune to purchase five slots, and now Kongkong had snatched away two of them in one fell swoop! How could he not lose his mind? "Kongkong!" A roar of unbridled fury resonated between heaven and earth. Around him, among the Invincibles who hadn't entered, some snickered while others looked on with sympathy. How miserable! Even Kongkong had taken advantage of him. Out of so many contestants whose slots remained untouched, Dao King had lost two to Kongkong. His luck was truly wretched. In the distance, an ancient Space Beast drawled lazily, "Kongkong was banished from the Space Beast race; he has nothing to do with us, so don't come looking for trouble!" They refused to shoulder this blame. Kongkong was truly audacious; Tiangu was hunting him across the realms, yet he dared rob Dao King of his slots... Well, having already offended Tiangu, offending Dao King hardly mattered anymore! At this moment, experts of all races rapidly vanished from the scene. On the human side, figures flickered into the passages. King Dazhou couldn't help cursing under his breath: "You said Xia Longwu wasn't going!" King Daxia looked utterly indifferent. "I said he wasn't going, but he isn't me—how was I supposed to know if he'd go or not!" Indeed, Xia Longwu had entered as well. And not just him—several human Invincibles had vanished into the passages in an instant. King Dazhou cursed again, then said in a deep voice, "The White Jade Gate trembling just now was highly unusual!" King Daxia nodded; he had sensed it too. It was bizarre beyond measure. He had investigated that White Jade Gate before: attempting to force entry meant certain death, regardless of one's cultivation. Yet just now, it had shown faint signs of opening, to the point that he wondered if his senses had deceived him. It had been exceedingly faint and had vanished in a flash without the gate actually unsealing. Yet he was certain that he had felt that distinct sensation. For a time, neither spoke, both sinking into deep thought.