Opening the Complete Cycle of Divine Apertures!

For a while, Daidai could not give any coherent explanation. Yet he was very likely Xia Chen, the first-generation manor head! Looking at Daidai now, Su Yu felt a strange, inexplicable melancholy. A first-generation manor head had made a momentous mark in the history of the tenth tide and of the human race. In the tenth tide, he was the founder of the Multiple Divine Characters faction. And now, he had been reduced to a dead spirit whose dead spirit nature suppressed his humanity. A dead spirit imprint or a Life and Death Fruit could allow him to recover some of his memories. Su Yu was not interested in anything else, but he was intensely curious about the Tombstone of Civilizations. He suddenly looked over at Hetu. Hetu's expression changed. *Why are you looking at me?* *You just got a dead spirit imprint yourself!* *You gave it to Xingyue—can't you take it back?* Hetu was a shrewd man. Even after turning into a dead spirit, he understood the meaning in Su Yu's eyes. Su Yu wore a beaming smile and sent a voice transmission: "Milord, with your formidable strength, consuming a single one won't do much for you. If you need them later, you and I can join hands. Dead spirit monarchs aren't exactly rare in this dead spirit realm. Once I open my divine apertures, we can slaughter as many as we want! This is an investment, a virtually risk-free investment..." In Su Yu's eyes, dead spirit monarchs were like cheap cabbages to be butchered at will! Hetu's gaze turned gloomy. He shot Su Yu a look. "Low risk? This seat finds the risk enormous. Once you go outside, you'll be neck-deep in trouble—do you truly think I don't know?" What a joke! A person like Su Yu was doomed never to live a peaceful life. Once he went outside, who knew how many mortal dangers awaited him. And he dared call it a risk-free investment! Su Yu transmitted back, "Milord, you and I are both tide-riders of an era. You ought to know that people like us don't die easily! Even if we do die, it won't be right now. At the very least, you'll make back your capital!" "Heh, the tide-rider of the second tide died exceptionally fast. The moment he poked his head out, a passing half-emperor slapped him to death!" "..." Su Yu was struck speechless. He stammered, "A human?" "That's right!" Hetu looked thoroughly nonchalant. "A human. Right after emerging, he attained the Eternal Realm. At the fourth stage of the Eternal Realm, he fought a seventh-stage Eternal... and then there was no 'then.' Who knows which antique old monster was passing by, but one slap snuffed him out!" Su Yu cursed inwardly. *Holy shit!* *That actually happened?* *How utterly pathetic!* Sure enough, the myriad realms were vast and full of wonders. A poor darling of fate in his era, strong enough to battle a seventh-stage Eternal, had simply been slapped dead by an old monster. How maddening! Just thinking about it felt suffocating! "Milord, did that fellow turn into a dead spirit?" "That, I wouldn't know!" Hetu shook his head. The dead spirit realm was so vast that even he had not traveled everywhere; how could he know what had become of him? Besides, when some fellows revived, they never spoke of their past identities—or simply could not remember them at all. He could not be bothered to say more. Casting a glance at Daidai, he casually tossed over his dead spirit imprint. With Hetu's strength, consuming an imprint of the same tier indeed provided modest benefit, though it was still quite useful. Still, Su Yu had a point; investing a little was fine. Cooperating with Su Yu had gone rather smoothly, after all. Catching the crystalline block, Daidai looked dazed. Hetu snapped peevishly, "Absorb it!" Daidai stared dumbly at the object. Driven by instinct, he soon began absorbing the crystal bit by bit. Hetu said, "Let's go. The commotion here wasn't small; dead spirits might come to investigate soon! Absorbing that thing won't happen in an instant, either." Su Yu nodded, and together they proceeded deeper into the realm. The black hole lay in that direction. ... At the same time. In a slightly prosperous dominion within the dead spirit realm, a gigantic ancient city loomed, flanked by sprawling pitch-black palace complexes. Within the palace, figures drifted about. In the dead spirit realm, those beneath quasi-Invincible possessed virtually no consciousness and drifted aimlessly. At this moment, in a corner of the palace within a massive hall. Several dead spirit figures sat cross-legged. Before them stood a huge floor mirror, similar in shape to the perception jade mirrors of the Great Ming Manor. Suddenly, one dead spirit opened its eyes, looking at several black points of light displayed on the mirror. Just a moment earlier, two points had vanished. The dead spirit frowned slightly. "In Eastern District Twenty-Eight, the Tiger Brothers have disappeared. Record it. It is unknown whether they were slain or drawn away by the rules... Hetu, Xingyue, and that newly revived one are nearby..." As it spoke, it peered beside Hetu and the others at an inconspicuous point of light that was somewhat dark with a faint bloody tinge. It frowned. "Beside Hetu and Xingyue, is there an outsider?" Beside this dead spirit, another, smaller dead spirit opened its eyes and peered closely. Only after a while did it speak: "Hard to tell. Should we send someone to investigate? It might be a newly converted dead spirit, or perhaps a half-dead spirit..." "Forget it. Eastern District Twenty-Eight is quite far. By the time anyone arrives, they will have vanished!" With that, the first dead spirit spoke again: "Keep a close watch. Over here in the east, the Star Residence Mansion previously erupted in turmoil. Near the passage in District Thirty, more than twenty dead spirit monarchs went missing... The loss is too severe! Suspend the rules' summons for now. Do not let any more dead spirits enter the Star Residence Mansion..." "Does anyone know what happened in the Star Residence Mansion? Did King Gong's Guiyuan Saber riot?" "Hard to judge!" "..." Several dead spirits conferred. Soon, one asked, "Should we report this to the King?" "No need. These are minor matters. The King is in seclusion. However... report it to Marquis Yueming!" "Many humans have revived in the east; better to leave it to Marquis Lanshan!" "..." After deliberating for a moment, the dead spirits decided to submit a report. The Tiger Brothers were very powerful. After reviving, both possessed seventh-stage Eternal strength. When such mighty dead spirit overlords fell, it still had to be reported. Of course, they needed to wait a bit; if drawn away by the rules, they might return shortly. They would check again in three days. A summons by the rules only allowed one to remain in the living realm for three days. The powerful dead spirits guarding the mirror soon closed their eyes, looking no further. Across the entire mirror, countless black dots were densely packed—some large, some small. Dots that were half-black and half-red, like Su Yu's, appeared here and there as well. They either represented the newly revived or those hovering between life and death. Such occurrences were common in the dead spirit realm. Had Su Yu not been accompanying Hetu and Xingyue, hardly anyone would have paid him any mind. In truth, no one cared at this moment. Whether half-dead spirit or newly revived, they were far more concerned with Hetu's side. With the Tiger Brothers slain, Hetu's fetters were gone; who knew whether he would stir up waves in the surrounding region. ... Meanwhile. Su Yu's "Calamity" divine character pulsed slightly. He glanced around, but saw nothing—a desolate expanse devoid of life, without even a ghost in sight. Hetu tilted his head. "What is it?" "Nothing. Just a faint premonition of danger..." "Danger is everywhere in the dead spirit realm!" Hetu thought nothing of it. In this place, where wasn't there danger? Directly overhead was the Heavenly River of Dead Spirits, a place fraught with peril. Even so, Hetu did not get careless. He scanned the surroundings, then shook his head. "It's fine. If the sense of crisis isn't too heavy, it's normal!" He still attached considerable weight to Su Yu's intuition for danger. If anyone else had said it, he wouldn't even have bothered to look or reply—*I haven't sensed anything, yet you did?!* Still, since Su Yu had mentioned it, he checked nonetheless. Su Yu nodded and smiled. "With Milord here, naturally nothing will go wrong!" Saying that, he calculated and said, "Today is day twenty-one. It's best if I rush back within nine days, or even earlier, to make some preparations. Milord, how much longer until we arrive?" "Soon!" Hetu was rather speechless. The kid wanted to rush back ahead of schedule—was he planning to pull off another massive stunt once he returned? Neither mentioned the premonition of danger again, though naturally, they remained vigilant in secret. Caution was never a mistake! Besides, their group was far from weak now. Daidai possessed seventh-stage Eternal strength, and along with Hetu and Su Yu—and Xingyue, who, though not quite at that level, still held mid-stage Eternal combat power—they constituted an exceptionally formidable force. They had little to fear from ordinary threats. Unless a ninth-stage Eternal or a Dao-merging expert showed up, they could handle it. And even among ninth-stage Eternals, there were variations in strength. The Great Qin King, the Heavenly Division Head, and the Bloodfire Demon King were among the strongest of that tier. There were certainly weaker figures at the same level. If they encountered a weaker one, their group could take them on. As Su Yu walked, he asked, "During the ancient era, there were Human Kings, half-emperors, enfeoffed marquises, and titled generals. How come we haven't encountered any of them?" "Some are still in the Heavenly River of Dead Spirits. Some have revived, but might not be in this vicinity..." Hetu said coolly, "If you travel further east, you can actually meet several old acquaintances. When you have free time, you can go take a look. Quite a few were humans in life, though none of them are particularly lucid in the head." Fair enough—the dead spirit realm was simply too enormous! Su Yu was speechless. They had flown through this damned place for a whole day, and from the sound of it, that was merely a tiny region. The dead spirit realm truly was immense. It felt even larger than the Heavenly Battlefield! In fact, it truly was larger than the dead spirit realm's living counterpart. ... Flying a bit further, Su Yu spotted it: a colossal black hole embedded directly beneath the Heavenly River of Dead Spirits. Nearby, a few weak dead spirits drifted about, but no powerful ones were in sight. Hetu pointed at the massive black hole and said, "That's the place! Back when I was guiding that fool over, a vortex suddenly opened here. I came over to check it out, and ended up getting teleported!" With that, he cast a peculiar glance at Daidai. "This fellow was flying toward this place, too. Has he been here before?" Su Yu was surprised. Xia Chen had been here? Surely not! "Senior Xia Chen, have you been here before?" Su Yu asked. Daidai stared blankly at the black hole. After a long while, he said with great difficulty, "I... know... know this place..." Soon, death qi once again clouded his eyes, turning them a lifeless gray. Su Yu felt helpless! This kind of situation was the most troublesome: he seemed to know a little about everything asked, yet could never give a coherent explanation. Utterly powerless! He gave up on asking further. Forget it, he didn't need to know everything; he only needed to know the layout of the three hundred and sixty divine apertures. Without hesitating, he gauged the path and promptly flew upward. Hetu, Xingyue, and the others swiftly followed. A moment later. Passing through the long black hole, Su Yu's eyes lit up. Ahead, brilliant light shone like a starry sky. To behold a starry expanse in a godforsaken place like this was truly a treat! Suspended in the void were hundreds of massive stars. Su Yu took one look and, after comparing them, was ecstatic! A divine aperture map! Without question! Sure enough, his guess had been right: outside was the origin aperture map, and here was the divine aperture map! At the moment, these stars were all dim. There was no sign of teleportation! Without teleportation, naturally, there was no way to activate them or circulate cultivation techniques! That didn't matter! Su Yu breathed heavily, slightly agitated. What mattered was that he could now open all of his divine apertures. Moreover, once the divine apertures were opened, he might break through straight into the Shanhai Realm, just as he had done before! Divine aperture fusion! Last time, his origin apertures had naturally fused forty-into-one. This time, if the divine apertures likewise fused forty-into-one, that would place him at the ninth layer of the Shanhai Realm on the Civilization Master path. There remained some differences between the Civilization Master path and the warrior path. As for the Complete Cycle divine aperture technique, even if he lacked it, the impact was minor; any real effects would come later, in the Sun Moon Realm or Invincible Realm, not now. *I've only outlined thirty divine characters. That shouldn't be a big problem, right?* Su Yu thought to himself. The disassembly art had now been extended to the Shanhai Realm, and attempts were even being made to apply it to the Sun Moon Realm. So long as the disassembly art remained viable, not having outlined all his divine characters wouldn't be an issue. It would not affect his subsequent outlining of divine character battle techniques. Nowadays, Su Yu focused primarily on outlining natural divine characters, rarely bothering to outline non-natural ones. "A divine aperture map!" Su Yu gazed up at the sky, his face radiant with joy. Hetu studied it carefully for a moment before nodding slightly. "I didn't pay much attention before, but it truly is a divine aperture map. Back then, I didn't open many divine apertures..." He frowned slightly. "Does placing a divine aperture map here serve any purpose? Those who come here are all dead. Both origin apertures and divine apertures are reduced to illusions. What good is knowing the map?" Su Yu smiled. "Perhaps it was prepared for the living? Or perhaps in ancient times, the dead spirit realm actually had living people?" Hetu couldn't be bothered to guess. He didn't take the bait, letting Su Yu think whatever he liked. This divine aperture map was of little use to him. He looked at Su Yu and asked, "Are you certain you can open all three hundred and sixty divine apertures?" That was the crux! Su Yu took a deep breath, looked at the sky, and said, "I'll try! Right now, I've opened two hundred and ninety divine apertures, leaving seventy. It will be difficult, but I'll strive to open ten a day and finish them all within seven days!" Saying that, he brought out a massive stash of treasures. Among them was a large amount of Heavenly River Sand! They were all treasures that augmented willpower. Hetu said nothing more and soon stepped onto one of the stars. He wasn't afraid of being teleported to the Star Residence Mansion. However, after a careful examination, Hetu shook his head. "It cannot teleport. It seems to lack energy. Once the one-month period concludes, I wonder if it will activate again." If not, they would have to wait for the next ten-year cycle. Su Yu didn't care about that; his chief concern was opening his divine apertures. As for the Star Residence Mansion, going or not going made no difference to him. *To open the divine apertures, as long as all are opened, the yin apertures will soon be discovered. Once the yin apertures are opened to complete the yang apertures, they will only open when I want them to, and close when I want them to. They won't have to keep leeching my power...* Even so, when opening them and drawing upon them, Su Yu would still need a power bank! Xingyue... still seemed a bit lacking! Otherwise, relying entirely on his own power output would leave him with poor endurance in sustained battle. With these thoughts, Su Yu said no more. He sat down cross-legged, compared his progress to the star map, and swiftly began opening apertures! Opening divine apertures! At this moment, within his sea of will, two hundred and ninety divine apertures were illuminated. Among them, several were remarkably powerful. Su Yu looked at them and frowned slightly. A smooth aperture fusion might not be guaranteed. Chiefly, in order to strengthen his apertures earlier, he had consumed plenty of Sun Moon Xuanhuang Liquid, leaving the strengths of his three hundred and sixty divine apertures uneven. Unless he obtained more to balance all of them out. *No rush on that!* At present, compared to his origin apertures, his divine apertures were far weaker. Su Yu didn't care whether he broke through a realm right away; opening the yin apertures was his sole priority. "Don't cause trouble!" With a pulse of willpower, Su Yu tossed the little fur ball aside. "Don't block me from opening apertures. Go play over there!" Within his sea of will, the little fur ball wobbled, not minding at all. Soon, it burrowed into the nearby hovering civilization chronicle, worming into the cover and flopping atop the two characters for "Civilization," its tiny body resting against the two divine characters. It didn't matter. Even if it couldn't lounge in the sea of will right now, it could stay in the civilization chronicle. These two divine characters smelled delicious too! Seeing it flatten itself against the civilization chronicle, Su Yu paused, his eyes flickering. Right! The little fur ball had always insisted that the golden album smelled delicious. According to his deductions, if that thing was the Time Master's weapon... the little fur ball usually cared little for ordinary weapons. Which meant divine characters truly might exist within that album! Su Yu's gaze grew peculiar. Perhaps. Just like his own weapon, divine characters had been integrated into it. Divine characters... Su Yu exhaled. He rarely used the album now, though it wasn't completely useless—for instance, if he obtained the essence blood of a half-emperor, he could give it a try. If an opportunity arose one day, he could merge that thing into his civilization chronicle... The moment that thought surfaced, the golden album within his sea of will trembled slightly. Su Yu sensed it, his eyes narrowing. Fascinating! It really might be an unimaginably powerful divine weapon with a sliver of nascent intellect, sensing his intentions. After all, even that medicinal cauldron had been able to perceive things. No matter! Su Yu quickly began absorbing willpower, erupting the power of his two hundred and ninety divine apertures to breach new ones. Earlier, when advancing to the nine transformations of the Lingyun Realm, Su Yu had absorbed a vast amount of rule power, and some remnants still lingered. The little fur ball had eaten its fill and hadn't gorged on the rest. Right now, using it to open divine apertures was ideal! Unfortunately, he hadn't known the locations of the divine apertures back then; otherwise, Su Yu would have absorbed far more rule power, even if it meant delaying his entry into the nine transformations. The later divine apertures grew exponentially harder to open, but the power of the rules was simply irresistible! *Boom!* Above his sea of will, another star lit up—two hundred and ninety-one divine apertures. The speed was astonishing! Su Yu closed his eyes and continued opening apertures: two hundred and ninety-two, two hundred and ninety-three... One divine aperture after another burst open. Around him, various treasures were crushed to powder in rapid succession. Regardless of whether they were suited for opening divine apertures, Su Yu didn't care about wasting resources. Some treasures were better suited for opening origin apertures, offering minimal help to divine apertures and providing only a wisp of willpower. Su Yu didn't mind. He shattered them all; even a little willpower helped, and after purification by the Heavenly River Sand, it was exceptionally pure! Three hundred... three hundred and ten... Su Yu continued opening divine apertures while time quietly slipped by. Hetu and the others remained calm, waiting in silence. To dead spirits, such a span of time was trivial, not even worth noticing. Growing somewhat bored, Hetu glanced at Xingyue and transmitted, "Don't you want to take this chance to kill him? The stronger Su Yu gets, the more impossible it becomes for you to ever convert him! And even if he opens the complete heaven aperture, though he won't absorb your death qi under normal circumstances, the moment an intense battle erupts and he needs the heaven aperture's power, he will suck you dry sooner or later!" Xingyue swept a frigid glance over him. Hetu chuckled and transmitted, "You aren't actually waiting for him to resurrect you, are you? Let me be blunt: the difficulty is far too great! Back then, a monarch converted me as well. Later on, I wanted to resurrect him... and I'm sorry to say, he blew up! Halfway through the conversion, he died—slain by me! I didn't want that; I wanted to revive him so he could truly walk out of the dead spirit realm and assist me, yet he died anyway." "Su Yu knows nothing about this process right now. If he tries to convert anyone, you will be the first. The odds of you blowing up under his hands are enormous!" Xingyue looked at him once more, finally spitting out two words: "Idiot!" Hetu froze, slightly irritated. "You're cursing me?" Xingyue ignored him. *So what if I curse you?* *Do you dare hit me?* *I'm not afraid of you!* Xingyue couldn't be bothered with him. While absorbing the dead spirit imprint, she pondered... Thinking seemed like something from an eternity ago. She was relishing this sensation, quietly experiencing it. What did Hetu understand! Dead spirits were already dead; what did dying once more matter? With Su Yu alive, she had at least felt emotions she had never experienced before: anger, contemplation, excitement, pleasant surprise, shock... Su Yu's presence reminded her that she was no longer a dead spirit consumed solely by murderous intent. She possessed emotions. This made her feel as though she had returned to her living days. In Hetu's eyes, there were only life and death, only benefits. Xingyue, however, cared more about the feeling. A different kind of feeling! Hetu would never understand! How could people who thought of nothing but contention and supremacy ever comprehend this? Gradually, faint memories surfaced in her mind. Xingyue absorbed them silently, reflecting and sensing. After a long while, she spoke: "Once the heaven aperture is completely opened, he will no longer be restricted by it. He can open it whenever he pleases. Once he accomplishes aperture fusion, the heaven aperture's power will be his own power. He won't need to absorb external power like he does now!" "Hmm?" Hetu paused, sending a voice transmission: "You know about the heaven aperture?" Opening the heaven aperture was truly not something an ordinary person could achieve. It required opening both the divine apertures and origin apertures to completion! Even in the ancient era, there were probably very few such figures. Xingyue said coldly, "Why wouldn't I? In ancient times, others opened the heaven aperture as well!" "Who in the world are you?" Hetu grew intrigued. "You know King Wu, and you know about the heaven aperture. I'm suddenly realizing that your identity in life might have been quite extraordinary." Xingyue ignored him. She knew plenty! She simply couldn't be bothered to talk about certain matters. Hetu pressed on, "Then let me ask you: do you know where those fellows who are still alive have gone?" He gritted his teeth slightly. "Furthermore, is there truly any communication between the dead spirit realm and the living realm? Back then, when I opened a dead spirit passage, dead spirits suddenly burst through. I discovered they weren't from this surrounding region at all. Where did they come from? Not only were they numerous, they were formidable. Was I plotted against?" In the late stages of the first tide, he had already established a massive advantage, only to be utterly ruined by dead spirits! Because he had gravely violated the rules, Old Turtle had been forced to represent the rules and eliminate him! He didn't really hate Old Turtle; he had already negotiated things with him! However, his violation of the rules had been too severe back then. If it had continued, it wouldn't have been just him who suffered, but the guardians of the thirty-six cities as well. Because of dereliction of duty! Once the death qi spread completely, all thirty-six guardians might have perished. Thus, Old Turtle had slain him! With his death, the first tide gradually drew to a close, and the human race retreated in defeat! For countless years after his death, Hetu had continued observing. Regrettably, he could not leave; Old Turtle had suppressed him for myriad years. The things he had observed were, after all, merely seen rather than experienced firsthand, so he could not be entirely certain. Did Xingyue know something? Xingyue fell silent. "Su Yu is the next me!" Hetu spoke coolly. "Sooner or later, he will become like me; he resembles me too much! Likewise, he became an ancient city lord; likewise, he exploits the power of the dead spirit realm, even dreaming of summoning dead spirits to fight for him! If he doesn't grasp the true situation, and rashly opens a dead spirit passage in the living realm, allowing large numbers of dead spirit monarchs to charge out uncontrollably, Old Turtle will likely kill him as well! Compared to Tianmie and the others, Su Yu... is obviously far less important." If the rules were broken, the thirty-six city lords would be punished. Slaying Su Yu to uphold the rules would spare them from punishment. When it came to making a choice, Old Turtle would undoubtedly be biased. Xingyue frowned slightly. "This seat does not know! This seat is dead; how would I know such things? However... the dead spirit realm might not be an ownerless domain!" Hetu narrowed his eyes. "In life, did you know the state of the dead spirit realm?" "I didn't, but I have faint impressions..." Xingyue hesitated, transmitting, "The dead spirit realm should have a master. Back then, the Human Sovereign might have even enfeoffed a King of Dead Spirits! As for the exact circumstances, I don't remember, nor do I know." She looked at Hetu. "All these years, you've been roaming outside. Haven't you noticed anything?" "I've noticed a few insignificant things..." Hetu pondered and said, "In the Heavenly River of Dead Spirits, whenever certain fellows revive, a wisp of death qi vanishes. It might be that someone collected their aura! Documented them! In this godforsaken place, someone might be gathering information on all the experts!" "Second, traveling further east to the very end... the path is severed by the Heavenly River of Dead Spirits. I once tried to cross it, but failed. The towering waves nearly killed me. I suspect the other side is still the dead spirit realm!" "Third, setting aside the ancient era, ten tides have passed from the first tide until now—a full hundred thousand years. Yet I've discovered that the number of experts summoned by the Heavenly River of Dead Spirits is far lower than expected. Quite a few fellows have vanished!" "Fourth, across ten tides, aside from myself—who, having consumed a Life and Death Fruit in life, received Old Turtle's mercy, keeping my physical body intact to convert directly into a dead spirit with some memories, hunkering beneath Hongmeng Ancient City—I have discovered that the protagonists of the other tides aren't here!" Hetu had not revived from the Heavenly River of Dead Spirits! His fleshly body had directly converted into a dead spirit, retaining some memories, and entered the dead spirit realm beneath Hongmeng Ancient City, seizing control and becoming the master of the Hongmeng dominion. "Therefore, I once deduced that those fellows might not be in this region—especially the one from the ninth tide. That was a peerless expert truly approaching the realm of an ancient Human King. When he died, the commotion from the Heavenly River of Dead Spirits should have been colossal, yet I felt nothing!" During the ninth tide, an absolute hegemon had emerged among humans, unimaginably powerful, yet ultimately slain. Here, however, Hetu had never seen him, never found him, nor felt any stir of his revival. An entire tide had passed—nearly ten thousand years. Now, even Xia Chen had potentially revived, so why hadn't that person? Granted, the stronger one was, the harder it was to revive, but there should at least be some ripple, shouldn't there? In this place, Hetu had seen precious few Dao-merging experts—very, very few. Xingyue was slightly dazed. Only after a long while did she say, "I am not sure. According to your words, the region we reside in is merely a tiny corner of the dead spirit realm, is that right?" "Correct!" Hetu nodded. "Those fellows who plotted against me back then might not have hailed from this region!" At that, he added, "There is one more thing. During the previous tide, the previous Demon Emperor intruded into the dead spirit realm, and was subsequently grievously wounded and fell... Bluntly speaking, in our parts, how many could wound him to the point of irreparable death? Supposedly, he charged into the Heavenly River of Dead Spirits and fell there, gravely wounded by the dead spirits within. Let me ask you: you've been to the Heavenly River of Dead Spirits too. Do those mighty beings attack you?" "Rarely!" Xingyue looked at him. Hetu remarked softly, "Therefore, there may be hidden truths behind the Demon Emperor's death! He might not have been wounded by the dead spirit monarchs of our region, but by outsiders!" Xingyue remained silent. She did not care much about these matters. Hetu, however, said, "Don't think this has nothing to do with you. I've realized that the Flame Demon might be a focal point! When the previous Demon Emperor intruded, he might have wanted to resurrect someone. Ultimately, he may have failed to find them, and thus casually planted a pawn—the Flame Demon. The demons have always wanted to revive him, drawing him back... How will the demons resurrect him? If Su Yu wants to resurrect dead spirits, he'll probably have to pay the demons a visit!" Xingyue's eyes shifted slightly. Perhaps. The Flame Demon's strength was not particularly high, roughly around the sixth stage of the Eternal Realm. However, in life, he had likely been far stronger. If truly revived, he might recover his full strength, which would indeed provide immense help to the demon race. Yet this might only be an opening gambit; what the demons truly wanted was likely far more than just the Flame Demon. They might even be planning to resurrect other demon experts. Such as the previous Demon Emperor! That was a formidable overlord. During the ninth tide, many powerful figures had emerged. The Bloodfire Demon King was an outstanding figure among them, yet he had merely been a minor supporting character. Even he possessed ninth-stage Eternal combat strength; one could well imagine just how many mighty beings had arisen during the ninth tide! During their conversation, Hetu did most of the talking. Meanwhile, time quietly drifted by. Around Su Yu, fewer and fewer treasures remained. In the end, he even began crushing items like Dragon Blood Fruits. Not just Dragon Blood Fruits, but Water Condensation Beads, Imperial Saliva Liquid... Su Yu absorbed them all. He used the Heavenly River Sand to purify them into traces of willpower! Evidently, he was starved of willpower, desperately needing vast quantities. Even if these items provided only a meager wisp, he did not hesitate to consume them to replenish his reserves. If outsiders saw this, their hearts would bleed. Su Yu, however, understood a fundamental truth: only when you were strong did things belong to you; if you weren't strong, once you died, no matter how many treasures you had, they would belong to someone else. Within his sea of will, three hundred and fifty apertures were lit! Only ten remained! Yet Su Yu had depleted nearly all the treasures capable of replenishing willpower. Su Yu found himself in a bind! The next instant, a giant hand of willpower suddenly reached out and seized the little fur ball, which was currently licking a divine character. The little fur ball looked utterly innocent and bewildered. *What are you doing?* *Murdering the ball?* *My big daddy is out and so fierce, and you still dare murder the ball?* "Spit out some willpower and rule power for me!" "Yaa?" "Don't play dumb!" Su Yu snapped peevishly, "With your tiny build, I know exactly how much you can eat! Every time, you eat extra and stash it away as snacks—did you think I wouldn't know? Cut the crap and spit some out for me to open apertures. Once I finish opening them and my strength skyrockets, I'll beat Tiangu to death for you to eat! Your big daddy and the others can't kill him, but I can! Hurry up!" "I... I only have a tiny bit..." Piteously, the little fur ball spat out a tiny wisp of rule power. Su Yu swiftly absorbed it. With a deafening rumble, the three hundred and fifty-first aperture opened. Su Yu stared at it silently. Heartbroken, the little fur ball spat out a bit more. "This is all of it!" *Boom!* The three hundred and fifty-second aperture opened! "Really nothing left..." The little fur ball was on the verge of tears. It spat out another tiny speck. Su Yu continued absorbing and opening apertures. The three hundred and fifty-third aperture opened. Bit by bit, the little fur ball's secret stash was bled dry. By the time Su Yu reached the three hundred and fifty-eighth aperture, the little fur ball suddenly burst into loud wails. "Truly gone! Not a speck left, really! Delicious One, I don't have anything left at all..." It cried! Delicious One had completely cleaned it out! Inhuman! It had gone from a wealthy little fur ball to a penniless pauper without a single cent! Su Yu was inwardly astonished. This little fellow had hidden away so much that it had helped him open eight divine apertures! No wonder it hadn't seemed very interested in treasures lately! Turns out it had been sitting on a massive hoard. Was it truly emptied out now? Seeing it cry so miserably, Su Yu didn't say more. Soon, several divine characters wrapped around it. "Go lick them yourself. What are you crying for!" "Wah, wah..." The little fur ball wept bitterly, lying piteously atop the divine characters and licking them, having lost all desire to live! It was heartbroken! If Delicious One didn't beat Tiangu to death for it to eat, it would never let this go. Su Yu, however, had a headache: only two remained! Just two divine apertures short! What else could supply willpower? He searched through his entire inventory. Soon, he spotted several items, gritted his teeth, and resolved to use them! They were the remaining manuals of Invincible experts. Last time, Su Yu had burned quite a few. Right now, a few remained, alongside King Miecan's *Time* and Xia Longwu's *Heaven-Cleaving Blade*... These were all texts of will left by peerless experts. Now, he would burn them all! Opening two divine apertures would suffice! As these treasures burned, another divine aperture swiftly burst open. After another moment, with Su Yu's savings practically drained to nothing, the final divine aperture began shimmering with radiant brilliance, on the verge of opening! Su Yu was overjoyed! Damn it all, after exhausting everything, he had finally succeeded! The three hundred and sixtieth divine aperture was about to open. He only wondered whether the rules would cover this dead spirit realm to bestow the Human Sovereign's reward. If they did... that would prove the Human Sovereign truly unified the myriad realms, including the dead spirit realm! That was a truly terrifying dominion! *The living fall under my rule, and so do the dead!* At that very moment, within the dark passage, golden clouds began slowly materializing. Both Hetu and Xingyue froze. A reward from the heavens? In the dead spirit realm, such a thing was virtually unheard of. Su Yu... was about to succeed? ... At the same time. Within that palace from before, several dead spirits opened their eyes once more, gazing in that direction. On the mirror, the points of light fluctuated wildly. One dead spirit said in wonder, "The rule power is fluctuating violently... What has happened? Is it a summons of the rules? Or is a dead spirit expert reviving?" "Should we dispatch someone to investigate?" "Going there would take too long..." "Even so, someone must be sent. Hetu is right there. That fellow entered the dead spirit realm directly back then and isn't easily controlled; we still need to probe his movements!" "Probing won't be easy. General Zhenling has been constantly interfering with us!" "That old ghost..." Mentioning General Zhenling, the dead spirits felt somewhat helpless. That entity merely held a general's title in name; in true combat strength, he could easily be counted as Marquis Zhenling! An enfeoffed marquis was a hegemon of a territory even during the ancient era! Hetu... enjoyed his protection! Yes, protection! With Hetu on his turf, any dead spirit monarch who went there had to consider whether they could handle that old turtle! That was a being capable of being enfeoffed as a marquis in ancient times. Originally, had the ancient era not perished and Old Turtle completed his mission, King Gong would have already petitioned the sovereign to bestow him the marquis title! Now, King Gong's descendant, Hetu, resided in his domain. Who would dare rashly stir up trouble there? "Alas!" The dead spirits sighed. There was no avoiding it—what needed to be investigated still had to be investigated. They would simply have to steer a bit clearer of that old turtle!