So Many Named Zhou

In King Wen's former residence, Su Yu listened as the Book Spirit read aloud. He ate roast meat and sipped fine tea. Though he had been composed earlier, he could not resist indulging his curiosity now. "Who is Zhou Wu?" King Wu? Wasn't King Wu named Taishan? Still, "Zhou Wu" naturally brought King Wu to mind. Su Yu actually wanted to ask what King Wen's name was as well, but it was awkward to ask. Taboo names being what they were, if he asked the little white dog or the others, they might not say it openly. And what era was the ninth year of Yong'an? Beside him, the little white dog, who was also gnawing on a roasted wing, wagged its tail upon hearing this and said, "That is Lord King Wu." Su Yu raised an eyebrow. "Then what about Taishan?" "Taishan is also Lord King Wu. Lord King Wu's original name was Zhou Taishan. After he was enfeoffed as King Wu, Master called him Zhou Wu. Master said 'Taishan' had too many connotations and refused to let King Wu take advantage of him." Too many connotations? What connotations? After pondering for a while... Su Yu took a bite of the wing. Meaning "father-in-law"? King Wen was truly petty enough. The man was actually named that, yet King Wen insisted on addressing him by his title. "Is there a large gap between King Wu and King Wen?" Su Yu was curious. The little white dog ate while thinking, seemingly considering how to answer, before finally saying after a long pause, "At any rate, he couldn't beat Master! Still, he was very formidable—a bit stronger than the other Human Kings and the Half-Emperors of the various races." That meant King Wen was even stronger! And he was more than just a little stronger than the other Human Kings and Half-Emperors. "Senior, do you know of the Martial Emperor?" Su Yu had called the Martial Emperor "Old Zhou," who was also a martial sovereign; hearing "Zhou Wu," it was easy for Su Yu to mix him up with that Old Zhou. "The Martial Emperor?" The little white dog seemed lost in thought. It had been so many years since anyone had mentioned that title. Pondering, the little white dog took a crunching bite out of the roc wing, chewed, and spoke: "I know him. He was a human expert from before Master and the others established the Imperial Court..." The little white dog deliberated for a moment, then said, "Back then, Master and several other lords had only just begun to rise. The myriad heavens were also in utter chaos. The human race was very powerful back then, but not yet the undisputed overlord of the myriad heavens... The Martial Emperor was among the top three experts of the human race during that period. Later on, an incident suddenly befell the human race, and many experts died. Everyone said they were killed by the Martial Emperor..." The little white dog wagged its tail and recalled, "I remember that one day, Lord King Wu came looking for Master, saying that the Martial Emperor was slaughtering indiscriminately, using the blood of human experts to lay a supreme foundation, and that he was going to take down the Martial Emperor... "Then King Wu went. After he left, Master seemed to say that they might not have been killed by the Martial Emperor... Anyway, that was roughly how it went. "Later, the Martial Emperor was defeated by Lord King Wu. It was also after that battle that Lord King Wu's strength became known across the heavens. Later, when titles of kingship were conferred, he was enfeoffed as King Wu." The Martial Emperor was a human expert from the primordial era! He was indeed of the human race. A truly mighty existence. At least in Su Yu's view, he must have been a genius just like himself, having opened all 720 apertures; how many times he had forged his body was hard to say, and whether it was as many as Su Yu remained unknown. Even such an existence was no match for King Wu, and King Wu was easily suppressed by King Wen, while King Wen was inferior to the Human Sovereign! He drew in a breath of cold air! Then just how strong was the Human Sovereign? Whether King Wen or King Wu, some legends about them still lingered, as was the case with the Time Master. Only the Human Sovereign was rarely mentioned by anyone; nobody knew how strong or how formidable he was. "Senior, could you tell me about the Human Sovereign?" "The Human Sovereign..." The little white dog thought for a moment and shook its head. "I'm not familiar with him. I saw him a few times, but I can't say too much. Out of respect for the venerable, Master wouldn't discuss such things in private either." That made sense. No matter how one looked at it, the Human Sovereign was their superior, so they likely wouldn't speak too much of him privately. "In terms of strength, was he stronger than King Wen?" "He should be?" The little white dog said uncertainly, "I'm not clear on this. Master was very formidable, but Master might never have fought His Majesty the Human Sovereign. I really don't know." Fair enough. Su Yu set the thought aside. Beside him, the Book Spirit's reading voice sounded once more. They were simply mundane records: some resembled journal entries, while others, written whenever interest struck, explained cultivation insights. The Myriad Daos Canon was by no means purely about cultivation; it was an eclectic book. At times, it even mentioned some gossip. For instance, the second time "Zhou Wu" appeared was when King Wen disdained him for getting married for the third time and still inviting King Wen to attend. King Wen hadn't wanted to go, but King Wu personally came over on his wedding day bringing his third wife along, leaving King Wen with no choice but to attend the banquet after all. Complicated! The ancient era actually seemed quite amusing through King Wen's records. As he listened, King Wen's exposition on the Great Dao began, and Su Yu sank into contemplation once more. "All things possess a Dao. The so-called Dao is a rule, a constraint. Without rules, nothing can take shape. When heaven and earth were first opened, flaws abounded; the Great Dao mends those defects..." Su Yu ate as he pondered this. The Great Dao, rules—they were ultimately meant to mend the flaws of heaven and earth. That was King Wen's insight. For instance, the Spatial Dao: heaven and earth made the world too vast, making travel too exhausting and distant, so the spatial rule came into being to let one move faster... All right, that was Su Yu's own takeaway. It was also the enhancement sought by those who came after. If I feel the world lacks fire, then I bring forth rules regarding the Fire Dao. If I feel like taking a bath and there is no water, then the Water Dao appears. None of these might have existed when heaven and earth first opened. Various thoughts formed in Su Yu's mind as he listened quietly, absorbing the insights. Gradually, a divine character surfaced. He did not know whether this counted as an innate divine character, nor did it matter. As long as it was born naturally in this moment, that was enough. "Dao!" Indeed, a character of immense scope—"Dao," as in the Great Dao. His thirty-first divine character was born. Within the sea of will, divine characters hovered and circled one after another. The newly born divine character was a Tier-2 divine character, skipping a tier just like an innate divine character. The little white dog glanced at Su Yu, then quickly looked away toward the little fur ball, who was sneakily eating chicken wings and getting a bit tipsy again from the food. Seeing that Su Yu was still meditating, the little white dog said, "Doubao... wait, Little Doubao." It had met Doubao before and didn't know what else to call the little fur ball, so it simply borrowed Big Doubao's name to address it. The little fur ball looked at it blearily, rather dazed. The little white dog quickly said, "You and Doubao are the same—you are actually born of the Great Dao! Others need to open a Dao or integrate into a Dao, but neither of you needs to! You are the true darlings of heaven and earth! "You might be a Dao turned spirit, or perhaps a peerless expert fell and a wisp of their spirit attached to the Great Dao. Regardless of which it is, your cultivation is countless times faster than normal people..." The fur ball nodded its body dizzily. Yes, we of the God-Devouring race are all geniuses, even more genius than the Fragrant One! "So when cultivating, you can't just think about eating all the time!" The little white dog explained, "If you just keep eating, you won't even understand why you grow stronger. You have to comprehend your own Dao! What Dao were you formed from—do you know?" The fur ball shook its body. It didn't know. The little white dog wagged its tail. As expected, another foolish ball. It could only recall Master's words from back then, thought for a bit, and added: "You should continually experiment and comprehend. Your race can devour divine characters and seas of will, but you aren't all walking the Devouring Dao! Devouring is merely because you are incarnations of the Great Dao and lack the replenishment of rule power. Divine characters hold immense appeal for you, but that doesn't mean your path is the Devouring Dao!" The little fur ball half-understood. I feel like my Papa, my Mama, and I are all of the Devouring Dao. Aren't we? As if reading its thoughts, the little white dog shook its head. "No. Devouring is merely the outward manifestation to replenish rule power. In essence, there is bound to be a difference, even if only a slight one. In this world, no two Daos are completely identical. They may be similar, but they will never be entirely the same!" "Then what am I?" The fur ball was puzzled. The little white dog shook its head. "I don't know either, because you haven't manifested your Dao yet, so I can't tell! But if you want to manifest it, you have to comprehend for yourself what Dao you are." "Oh!" The fur ball fell into contemplation as well. Lingering around Su Yu, it wasn't completely clueless; it was quite sharp inside. In other words, it was still ignorant. It didn't know what it essentially was. Just eating divine characters—some divine characters didn't actually suit its taste. Only by discovering the essence of its own Dao could it single-mindedly focus on improving. It had entered the Sun Moon Realm! Very quickly! It hadn't been alive for long, but by following Su Yu, it had eaten plenty of good things, forcibly raising itself to the Sun Moon Realm. Yet when it came to the Great Dao, it was just like Su Yu—completely clueless! According to the little white dog, this race was the true darling of heaven and earth. Because they were born as Daos! In other words, so long as one of this race had even a bit of wit, the Great Dao lay wide open before them. If nothing else, reaching Dao Integration—or rather, not Dao Integration, but what the little white dog called the peak of Eternity—was smooth sailing. Only stepping into the Great Dao itself and perfecting it posed some difficulty. The God-Devouring race could be counted among those who opened their own Daos. At this moment, the little fur ball plunged into the very first deep existential reflection of its ball life: What Dao am I? I only know how to eat and smell what's fragrant. What else am I good at? What can I do? Could it be the Eating Dao? Or the Sleeping Dao? The little fur ball didn't actually care much about its own strength; it was quite laid-back. But now, because it was weak, the Fragrant One didn't even call on it to fight anymore, and its private breeding farm seemed on the verge of running away... That gave the little fur ball a sense of crisis. Its Papa and Mama seemed to have their eyes on the Fragrant One as well. Would he be snatched away in the future? It had to care about that. So it still needed to become formidable! ... At this moment, while the fur ball was pondering its Dao, Su Yu had outlined his thirty-first divine character. After some thought, he mobilized the Mind Expansion Hammer he hadn't used in a long while, once again hammering his sea of will to compress his willpower, stabilize his divine apertures, and strengthen his divine characters. He hadn't used it for far too long because the Mind Expansion Hammer could no longer keep pace with his battles—a single strike couldn't crush an Invincible to death. When he used the Mind Expansion Hammer, the little white dog seemed to sense something, and its voice rang in Su Yu's ear: "Are you hammering your head?" "Yes." "That hammer of yours..." The little white dog seemed to see something again. After a moment's thought, it said, "It feels like this might also be an embryonic form of a Great Dao! You could contemplate it more! Or perhaps turn it into a divine character as well!" Su Yu froze, opened his eyes, and looked at the little white dog. "Turn it into a divine character?" The little white dog said as if it were the most natural thing in the world, "A divine character is merely a form. That thing of yours should also be an embryonic form of a Great Dao, essentially identical to a divine character!" Su Yu said in a heavy voice, "Senior, if I turn the Mind Expansion Hammer into a divine character, once my ninety-nine divine characters are formed, won't they all have to fuse together into King Wen's Dao? Wouldn't all these Daos be wasted then?" "That's not how it works." The little white dog said again, "If you walk Master's Great Dao, you are merely extracting the rules from those divine characters that supplement Master's Dao. The divine characters will still be there, and the rules will still be there..." It wanted to explain more clearly, but didn't know how to put it into words. It was the Book Spirit beside them who stopped reading and explained, "Human Master, you must understand one thing: in this world, with the sole exception of Little Doubao's race, no divine character is purely of a single kind! "Even the innate divine characters in your understanding are merely relatively purer. By purity, I refer to the types of rules! "For example, the character 'Pierce' that Human Master used before contains a large amount of spatial rules, but there are also other rule powers within it, and a portion of that belongs to the rule power of Master's Great Dao... "When all your divine characters merge into one, Master's Great Dao will extract all the rule power belonging to that Dao, yet the divine characters will still remain. You can still continue to comprehend the Daos belonging to those divine characters." Su Yu was struck by realization. "In other words, King Wen's Great Dao won't drain all the power of the divine characters, but only the power belonging to that specific Dao... Put that way, I understand!" The Book Spirit smiled and nodded. "Precisely so! Human Master is truly an intelligent person; a single hint is all you need." Su Yu chuckled. "Senior flatters me." Still, he truly understood now: even if ninety-nine divine characters eventually fused into a Great Dao, they would still exist, and he could continue comprehending the Daos belonging to those other divine characters. "Then the Mind Expansion Hammer is essentially a Dao as well... so I can transform it into a divine character." The little white dog nodded. "Yes, and I feel this Dao is quite good, because it seems to tap into a hint of rule power..." Tapping into rule power! Su Yu grew pensive. Indeed, the Mind Expansion Hammer was quite unique; its effects were remarkably potent. Against an opponent of the same realm, one hammer blow would smash their sea of will to bits, instantly obliterating them! Sea of will... rule power... Su Yu grew pensive, falling into deep contemplation. After a long while, he spoke: "I think I understand a bit now. The Mind Expansion Hammer... I know why it can purify divine characters and the sea of will. It's a special Dao that targets rules and the Great Dao..." He let out a breath and said, "Let me try condensing the Mind Expansion Hammer into a divine character. It should be able to directly transform into a Sun Moon Realm divine character!" The little white dog nodded and added, "Not only that, but if you want to comprehend divine characters, there are actually many other ways!" Over to the side, the Book Spirit smiled. "If Human Master truly wishes to outline a large number of divine characters, there is actually a shortcut. Human Master, have you thought of it?" Su Yu's brows furrowed slightly. What had he thought of? The Book Spirit prompted, "The essence of everything is rules! Whether divine characters... or battle techniques!" Boom! Su Yu's mind went blank. The next instant, his mouth fell open, and he suddenly struck himself on the head with a fist, groaning in annoyance, "Right! How could I be so stupid? I know! I get it!" Su Yu was overcome with regret. "I was truly an idiot! I borrowed racial innate skills before! Yes, innate skills, rules, the Great Dao... I understand now! When a battle skill evolves into an innate skill, it is essentially an embryonic manifestation of a Great Dao! I know many—countless battle skills! Countless innate skills! That is fundamentally a form of rule. Could it be... they can be transformed into divine characters?" Su Yu drew in a breath. "No, it's not that simple! Yuan qi and divine characters are not linked... I get it! The Heavenly Gate! Yes, opening the Heavenly Gate, connecting the Heavenly Gate!" Su Yu's eyes shone brightly. "Once I connect the Heavenly Gate and unite origin and spirit, I can comprehend innate skills into divine characters and outline them as divine characters—even Sun Moon Realm divine characters—because my Yuan qi is formidable, and my battle skills are powerful!" The Book Spirit nodded and chuckled. "Human Master finally understands! The reason we didn't mention it earlier was that origin and spirit were disconnected, making conversion immensely difficult! But if Human Master can open the Heavenly Gate, then under the mutual conversion of origin and spirit, the innate skills you mentioned are indeed embryonic rules that can be transformed into divine characters! Each innate skill is a rule!" Su Yu was shaken. "I know many innate skills!" The little white dog shook its head, however. "No, you don't know many! I know you can use them, but you are borrowing the Little Master's book. The innate skills in that book are merely fragments of rules collected by the Little Master herself; they are flawed and incomplete. Besides, since you can't freely wield them, your comprehension of them isn't actually that deep." Having said that, it looked at Su Yu. "You have a book of your own as well, and you seem to be walking the Little Master's path. You could actually comprehend more yourself, using your own book to comprehend these Daos you collect. Only then will they truly belong to you, rather than always relying on Little Master's book to comprehend them." Su Yu was momentarily stunned, then nodded solemnly. "I understand! Thank you for the guidance, Senior! In that case, as long as I open the Heavenly Gate and connect it, I can find a way to convert many divine characters, supplement King Wen's Great Dao, and rapidly step into the Dao Integration Realm!" At this moment, Su Yu found a way, a shortcut. Thinking of this, Su Yu added, "Senior, is the reason no one among warriors—especially human warriors—can currently step into Dao Integration because they haven't formed innate skills...?" Beside him, the Book Spirit laughed. "Actually, I took a look. Even though the human powerhouses of today seem skilled in all kinds of battle techniques, in essence... they are all walking a single path! The Physical Dao!" The Book Spirit explained, "Some are skilled with spears, some with sabers, but without opening their origin and spirit apertures, they are fundamentally just strengthening their physical bodies! Therefore, they are in fact walking the exact same Great Dao—the Physical Dao! This is an immensely vast Great Dao, but from what I see, this Dao... can probably no longer be integrated into, because too many have walked it, and it has suffered damage!" Su Yu learned yet another secret: as it turned out, today's human warriors were all walking the same path! A unified Dao—the Physical Dao! The Book Spirit continued, "Actually, it wasn't like this in the past. Back then, even warriors walked different Daos. For instance, if you cultivated saber techniques, you might walk the Saber Dao; if you cultivated spear techniques, you walked the Spear Dao... But now, cultivation methods seem to have been unified—everyone cultivates the Three Bodies Method! Once they cultivate the Three Bodies Method, sabers, spears, swords, and halberds are all cast aside, leaving the physical body supreme... As a result, once they enter Dao Integration, they are all integrating into a single Dao!" He shook his head and said, "This causes their paths to overlap. Under such circumstances, taking that final step is simply too difficult!" Su Yu furrowed his brows. "Senior, I know of the Weapon Integration method. Doesn't the Weapon Integration method walk a single Dao as well?" "No, it's different!" The Book Spirit shook his head again. "The Weapon Integration method—as you said, it integrates weapons, so how could it be a single Dao? Weapons come in myriad forms. When they integrate weapons, they are integrating different weapons, so their Daos are different as well! For example, that monkey I saw hitting people with a cudgel—the Dao he integrated into is that cudgel, not purely the Physical Dao. That's why he has a chance at Dao Integration, and a very good one at that!" Su Yu realized, "So despite the human race wielding all sorts of weapons, no one's focus is on the weapons, nor are they walking the Daos of their specialized battle techniques; they are all simply strengthening the physical body, which makes it a unified Dao!" "Exactly!" The Book Spirit nodded again. "Not just the human race. From what I've observed, all the races nowadays seem to be practicing the Three Bodies Method. With so many walking the Three Bodies Method, their paths have become unified. Dao Integration is possible for them because their Great Daos aren't damaged, but... if they want to climb higher and take that step beyond, it becomes exceedingly difficult!" He shook his head with regret. "I have no idea why so many people are walking a unified path. This cuts off everyone's hope of stepping higher! If this continues for a few more years and everyone walks the Three Bodies Dao, then in the future, no one above Dao Integration will ever appear again!" For the humans, whose Physical Great Dao was damaged, they couldn't even reach Dao Integration. As for the myriad races, their Daos were still intact, so Dao Integration remained achievable, but going beyond Dao Integration was out of reach for them as well. Su Yu frowned. "Because the Three Bodies Method is the only path right now. Walking other Daos brings rule punishment!" Hearing this, the Book Spirit was puzzled, and the little white dog asked in surprise, "The rules don't permit it?" "Right!" The little white dog blinked. "Why?" You're asking me? Su Yu felt helpless; he didn't know either. The little white dog wagged its tail. "Could it have been done by the Myriad Races Council? The human race surely wouldn't do something like that. Were they afraid the human race would grow too powerful?" It was baffled as well. Su Yu quickly asked, "Senior, if someone walks other Daos now, is there still hope for Dao Integrators to emerge among the human race?" He looked at the Book Spirit. The little white dog hadn't seen the others before, but the Book Spirit knew. The Book Spirit thought about it and said, "According to what you said, walking other Daos brings punishment... But some of the humans now have already integrated into a Dao. However... I saw that many people have shattered their three bodies. A shattered three bodies means that a portion of the rules they integrated with has been broken, which is very difficult to repair. The three bodies are essentially carriers of rules; shattering one body is equivalent to losing a part..." Su Yu hurriedly asked, "Then can they switch to the Weapon Integration method?" The Book Spirit pondered for a moment. "It is possible. With their three bodies shattered, they can just withdraw from their original Physical Rule Great Dao. But... you mentioned rule punishment, so walking another Dao would also bring punishment upon them!" "Yet their strength is currently above the Sun Moon Realm; rule punishment might not necessarily be able to do anything to them!" Su Yu said quickly, "The key is how to switch Daos. I suspect none of the human powerhouses today know how to make that transition." Then he added, "Also, besides the Weapon Integration Dao, are there other methods of Dao attainment?" The Book Spirit nodded. "Of course there are. The Divine Character Dao is the most direct! Divine characters are closest to the Great Dao, being embryonic forms of rules. Walking the Divine Character Dao is the easiest way to grow powerful! "That was the strongest path back then, though its difficulty was also tremendous!" The Book Spirit continued, "The second is the Weapon Integration method you mentioned. That was also a path many walked in the past. There are thousands of Great Daos, and their overlap isn't very high. There are countless varieties of weapons; if you truly specialize in one—such as hammers, axes, wooden staves, iron rods... they aren't even the same Dao! That way, fewer people integrate into that Dao, so you will be stronger. Furthermore, if a certain Dao has no Rule Master, you even have hope of stepping into the realm of a Rule Master!" A Rule Master was essentially the same concept as what Su Yu called the Great Dao level. Su Yu nodded. "Are there others?" "Third is the Three Bodies Method, which you already know. "Fourth is opening a Dao yourself. This is extraordinarily difficult; most people cannot achieve it. "Fifth is switching Daos." Su Yu was taken aback. "Switching Daos?" The Book Spirit nodded. "It's actually similar to the other methods, and practitioners of the Three Bodies Method can walk it as well! I've observed that many of today's Three Bodies practitioners use treasures from the Human Sovereign's era as carriers to hold rule power." The Book Spirit explained, "Right now, everyone is walking the Physical Dao because they failed to perceive the Daos on those objects! For instance, from what I saw, it seems someone used parts of someone else's physical body as carriers..." Su Yu instantly produced a strand of Chanlong wood. The Book Spirit nodded. "Yes, exactly that! This appears to be the hair of a peerless expert. This expert must have mastered a Great Dao. If he is not a master of the Physical Dao, one could actually comprehend this expert's Great Dao and reach at least the Dao Integration Realm! Of course, if this expert is still alive, you cannot become a Rule Master!" This was switching Daos! No longer walking the Physical Dao, but walking an undamaged Dao mastered by someone else! Su Yu's eyes flickered. "Do you mean that this hair of mine actually belongs to the Martial Emperor, and the Martial Emperor mastered a Great Dao that might not be damaged, but perhaps still intact? If someone uses this as a carrier, or integrates it as a weapon to comprehend the Dao within, they can embark upon the Martial Emperor's Dao, right?" "Correct!" The Book Spirit smiled. "That way, they can circumvent the Physical Great Dao!" Su Yu mused for a moment, then asked, "Then who controls the Physical Great Dao? Why did it become damaged?" "The Physical Great Dao... it is a conventional Great Dao. Conventional Daos are very powerful, with countless people walking them, existing since the dawn of heaven and earth. Who controls it is unknown, but reaching the end of the Physical Great Dao back then yielded immense power..." Beside them, the little white dog added, "Right. The Physical Great Dao is a grand path reaching the heavens. Many humans walked this path back then, including certain Human Kings who might not have mastered a Dao, yet by reaching the end of the Physical Great Dao—which is the Dao Integration Realm—their strength was not weaker than that of certain Rule Masters!" Su Yu gasped. "You mean some of the Human Kings back then were not Rule Masters—meaning Dao-level experts—but were at Dao Integration who could fight against the Great Dao level relying solely on Dao Integration?" "Mm!" The little white dog nodded. "That's right! Because the Physical Great Dao was too formidable! As for why it's damaged now... it's probably because many Human Kings died, and later, far too many people on this path were killed, causing the Great Dao to suffer damage from being constantly attacked, shattered, and drained of power..." Su Yu understood! The human race had suffered catastrophic losses, and many Human Kings must have perished. Many Human Kings back then likely walked the Physical Great Dao, ultimately causing this Great Dao to be severely damaged to the point where reaching Dao Integration was no longer possible. Su Yu added, "So if one isn't aiming for the Great Dao realm, one can simply comprehend someone else's Dao. For example, if I used the Immortal Emperor's head as a carrier, I could comprehend the Immortal Emperor's Great Dao..." The little white dog looked at him in astonishment. Why do you have such thoughts? Why must it be someone else's head as a carrier? Although the analogy was rather speechless, the little white dog still nodded. "Yes. Moreover, comprehending the Dao of the same race is simpler; walking the Dao of another race is far more difficult!" Su Yu drew in a breath, then exhaled. "So for the human powerhouses of today who wish to step into Dao Integration again, there are only two ways! First, the Weapon Integration method! Second, switching Daos to the Dao of a peerless expert, such as the Martial Emperor's—though that cuts off future advancement, right?" "Mm." The little white dog nodded. "Actually, later on, you can also open your own Dao! In the early stages, you can borrow someone else's Dao and integrate into it... Of course, there's another way: if you kill the Rule Master, you also have a chance to walk that Dao and take control of it!" Saying that, the little white dog added, "Also, walking someone else's Dao places certain restrictions on you. If that Rule Master is still alive and you fight him... you won't be able to draw upon the power of the Great Dao, because the Dao is under his control!" Su Yu smiled. "That doesn't really matter. If someone is a Rule Master and truly wants to deal with you, you wouldn't stand a chance against him anyway!" True enough! The little white dog nodded. If you clashed with a Rule Master while walking his Dao, you wouldn't be his match in the first place, so whether you could borrow rule power was irrelevant. At this moment, an idea sparked in Su Yu's mind. The Martial Emperor! The Physical Dao was damaged. Right now, it was very difficult for anyone to open their own Dao, and stepping into the Weapon Integration method might not be easy either. But the Martial Emperor's Dao—the Martial Emperor was definitely a Rule Master, so he was certain to have his own Dao. And that Great Dao was bound to be formidable; walking his Dao was indeed viable. Su Yu had quite a bit of Chanlong wood left. Crafting it into carriers to switch to the Martial Emperor's Dao might even circumvent the rule punishment. Thoughts rose in Su Yu's mind one after another. After a long while, thinking of himself, Su Yu spoke: "So the best method for me is actually to open the Heavenly Gate, transform my battle skills into divine characters, and rapidly step into the stage of Dao Integration!" The little white dog nodded. "Then I need the Method of the Great Heavenly Cycle. Neither of you seniors knows it?" The little white dog shook its head; it didn't know it. The Book Spirit also said, "We do not know it, nor did Master record it." Su Yu took a deep breath. "Someone knows it. The Martial Emperor should know it! Therefore, if I want to find the Method of the Great Heavenly Cycle, it's best that I go see the Martial Emperor. Perhaps... I can obtain the cultivation method. Then, with the Heavenly Gate opened, origin and spirit united, and battle skills transformed into divine characters, I will completely integrate the ninety-nine divine character battle skills and begin integrating into the Great Dao left behind by King Wen. That would count as stepping into the Dao Integration Realm—this is my path to attaining Invincibility!" At this moment, the road ahead suddenly opened wide! Step by step! Advancing step by step, he could at least reach Dao Integration or even control a Great Dao. Of course, what came after controlling a Great Dao could be dealt with later. After all, this Dao was left behind by King Wen. Who knew how powerful King Wen's Dao truly was? What if he encountered an expert in the future and a single Dao wasn't enough? In the previous tidal change, the human race's Human King, the Hundred Battles King, was said to have reached a level comparable to an ancient Human King. Su Yu guessed that he probably wasn't in the Great Dao realm, but at Dao Integration! Integrating into the Physical Dao! Back then, the Physical Dao might still have been very powerful! The Hundred Battles King had reached the end of the Physical Dao and was unimaginably powerful, yet wasn't he killed all the same? So the myriad realms still held many secrets. "The Martial Emperor..." At this moment, Su Yu sank into deep thought. Should I go to the Star Residence Mansion? But the Martial Emperor was insane! "I can only see his Method of the Heavenly Cycle Origin Apertures and Method of the Heavenly Cycle Divine Apertures, both of which I already know. But I can't see his Method of the Great Heavenly Cycle; I can only communicate with him... Yet King Wu reduced him to that miserable state. Would he even pay attention to me?" More likely he would kill me! Yet... perhaps he truly needed to meet with him and even negotiate whether the human race could integrate into his Dao. Otherwise, if humans rashly integrated into his Dao and he pulled some petty trick, the human race might suffer a catastrophe. After this extended conversation with the little white dog and the Book Spirit, Su Yu quickly gained a crystal-clear concept of the future, cultivation, and strengthening himself. "So first, I must transform battle skills into divine characters!" "Then, draw upon the rules to strengthen the divine characters until they can merge into the Great Dao!" "Therefore, first see the Martial Emperor to inquire about the Method of the Heavenly Cycle, then find a way to fleece the rules to strengthen the divine characters, and finally step into the realm of Invincibility..." All at once, the path was clear! Having figured this out, Su Yu felt enlightened and smiled. A moment later, he contemplated the Mind Expansion Hammer, gaining a faint understanding. He listened to the Book Spirit's reading voice for another while, and ignited the Fire of Inheritance. Thus, by the time Su Yu finished eating the wing and concluded his contemplation, the hammer in his mind ultimately transformed into a divine character: "Hammer"! Tremendously powerful! This thing had been nurtured by Su Yu all along, so it transformed directly into a Sun Moon divine character! And having eaten the golden-winged roc's wing, the potent energy within drove the newly born character "Dao" to advance rapidly. Before long, as he finished the wing, this divine character entered the Sun Moon Realm as well. Thirty-two divine characters! All of them Sun Moon divine characters! At this point, Su Yu had sixty-seven divine characters left to outline. Perhaps by staying here and listening to the book, taking a few years or decades, Su Yu might hope to outline them all. Yet Su Yu was growing impatient! Transforming battle skills into divine characters! This was the fastest shortcut he had heard today! The innate skills he possessed were far from few. As long as he could comprehend them and turn them into divine characters, his ninety-nine divine characters could be completely resolved in no time! The prerequisite was uniting origin and spirit! "The Martial Emperor!" Su Yu's eyes flashed. The next moment, he asked, "Seniors, do you know the Martial Emperor's name?" He had always called him Old Zhou, which wasn't good. King Wu was surnamed Zhou, and King Dazhou was also surnamed Zhou; calling him Old Zhou any longer was inappropriate! The little white dog thought for a good while before saying, "I don't really remember. Master seemed to have mentioned it once... Didn't he share the same surname as Lord King Wu?" "..." Fuck! Su Yu cursed inwardly. No way! Named Zhou again? Were there this many powerhouses surnamed Zhou? King Wu, the Martial Emperor, King Dazhou... Why are there no experts surnamed Su like me? I refuse to accept this! The little white dog didn't think much of it and said casually, "Zhou has been a great surname since the creation of heaven and earth! Legend has it that the Human Ancestor was surnamed Zhou—no, his name was simply Zhou. That's why most people surnamed Zhou later on were descendants of the Human Ancestor. That is just a legend, though, because Zhou represents the perfection of the heavenly cycle." Su Yu drew in a breath. There was such a saying? No wonder those surnamed Zhou were formidable! So it was actually the name and surname of the Human Ancestor from the very beginning of the human race? From now on, human powerhouses can only be surnamed Su! Su Yu resolved inwardly: Yes, surnamed Su!