Old Wan Opens a Dao

Old Wan had arrived. He came openly and honorably. Even with several Eternals present, he still arrived without sneaking, because Su Yu had stepped straight outside and stood atop the peak of the Eastern Rift Valley, waiting for him. Because of this, Wan Tiansheng—who had originally slipped into the void—had no choice but to show himself. Otherwise, he would look far too furtive! "Greetings, Emperor Yu!" Noticing the countless eyes turned his way, Wan Tiansheng gave Su Yu ample face. From a distance, Su Yu smiled and called out, "Welcome back, Manor Head Wan! Your student Su Yu failed to receive you in person. Please forgive the slight!" "..." Old Wan was surprised. What was this kid playing at? He truly wasn't well liked. Even though he believed he had been entirely justified in killing those people, his presence, to be honest, still disgusted quite a few. Su Yu let out a laugh and said, "The human race teeters in peril, plagued by internal strife and foreign threats. Unrest festers within; danger lurks without! Manor Head Wan's return brings me immense joy. I intend to establish the Purification Bureau, and I wish to invite the Manor Head to serve as its director! I also invite Lan Tian to serve as deputy director! Together, they shall purge corruption both inside and out! Back among the four ancient kings, the Prison King betrayed humanity, causing the ancient collapse and the loss of our human supremacy! "Later came the treachery of King Fenhai and King Jintian, conspiring within and without—despicable and deserving of death! "Moreover, in the Ninth Tide, an evil anomaly bewitched the Hundred Battles King, leading to humanity's crushing defeat. Over a hundred Dao Integration experts died in battle, humiliating our people and plunging our race to the brink of extinction. That monster has yet to be eradicated and must be slain! "And in the upper realm, Marquis Minshan met his end at the hands of a traitor—an outrage! The upper-realm humans are already in decline, with less than one in ten Dao Integration experts surviving, yet traitors still lurk among them! A senior titan who was loyal and patriotic, fighting for his race, perished at the hands of petty scoundrels! "The surviving traitors hide among those few remaining seniors. Killing them blindly is impossible, but sparing them fails to appease the public heart. Such an arduous investigation is a task only Manor Head Wan is qualified to shoulder!" At this moment, complete silence fell over the surroundings. The millions of soldiers who had not set out to campaign heard every word with crystal clarity. Every single one was struck with unfathomable shock. What was going on? Traitors? What did this mean? In the distance, Xia Longwu's eyes flickered, and he called out in a clear voice, "Emperor Yu, are you saying Marquis Minshan died at the hands of a traitor?" Su Yu replied calmly, "I have already received reliable intelligence. Marquis Minshan was betrayed by a turncoat and died at the hands of the various races! Not only that, in the previous tide, the Hundred Battles King was fully poised to achieve a sweeping victory, yet treachery brought about a catastrophic defeat that nearly wiped humanity out! "The traitors still live, right there in the upper realm! King Dazhou told me not to publicize this, claiming it is an absolute secret and fearing it would unsettle hearts! "No—I must speak! I must warn everyone to be cautious and alert! The upper realm will soon open. If no one knows the truth and carelessly falls into a traitor's trap, dying at their hands, how could my conscience ever rest?" Su Yu sighed. "Even if this unsettles the hearts of our people and shakes military morale, I will still speak! Most of these traitors hail from the Prison King's lineage. The Prison King engaged in an illicit union with the ancient Demon Emperor, giving rise to their bloodline. Their hearts belong to the demon race, and King Jintian belongs to this very line! "Hundreds of years ago, King Jintian's father sought to exterminate humanity. Manor Head Xia Chen discovered this and, with peerless might, slew him at the cost of his own life! Manor Head Xia was a descendant of the Battle King, tasked with passing down the flame of civilization. The ruins obtained by today's Eternals and manor founders were all inherited from Manor Head Xia Chen!" Su Yu's voice rang loud and clear: "Manor Head Xia Chen was the bearer of the torch for this tide! Yet he was slain by King Jintian's father, perishing together with him... How lamentable that a generational inheritor of civilization died at the hands of such a mongrel! "King Jintian's mother is a descendant of the Prison King and the elder sister of King Jintian's father. This lineage abandoned all moral bounds, coupling with each other to keep their mixed bloodline unbroken, thereby siring King Jintian. She still lurks somewhere in the myriad realms, perhaps hiding within the Demon Realm! That woman possesses world-shaking power at the Dao Integration level. She secretly murdered countless titans of our race. Despicable, detestable, deserving of death!" Su Yu listed every single crime, one by one. Listening, the soldiers and powerhouses all around grew either incensed with rage or erupted into non-stop curses! Vile! They deserved to die! Xia Longwu's eyes shifted, and he asked again, "Then what about the matter of the Hundred Battles King...?" "In the final battle, the Hundred Battles King was ambushed by the Prison King's lineage. He was suppressed somewhere, unable to return, severing everyone's path forward and preventing anyone from achieving Dao Integration! As for the Hundred Battles King, I do not blame him, but those traitors... deserve death!" Su Yu declared loudly, "The Hundred Battles King trusted the traitors too much, handing them supreme authority. They entrapped our allies, causing dozens of humanity's allied ancient races to be annihilated and dozens of Dao Integration experts to be slaughtered! "The Hundred Battles King was naive, valiant, gentle, and too kind-hearted. Powerful as he was, he could not bear to kill anyone, thinking only of peaceful unification... He is a role model for our generation, only far too trusting of others." "..." At this moment, several Eternals showed bizarre expressions. The soldiers and generals below grimaced and bared their teeth. Those with fiery tempers and coarse tongues couldn't help muttering curses under their breath: "The Hundred Battles King was the Human Lord of the last tide, right? I heard people say he was kind and gentle... Emperor Yu even called him a role model, but isn't that just a dumbass?" "He got over a hundred Dao Integration experts killed! Did our human race really have that many Dao Integration experts back then?" "Fuck, an idiot like that could become the Human Lord?" "I heard he had the backing of many powerful experts—all those so-called powerhouses from the upper realm." "Are the upper realm experts idiots too?" "Didn't you hear Emperor Yu? There are lots of traitors up there!" "Damn it! No wonder we were the ancient overlords yet have had it so rough. Turns out more than a hundred of our Dao Integration experts were slaughtered in the last tide. This... I'm truly fucking speechless!" "..." Murmurs and curses rippled through the ranks. Behind Su Yu, King Dazhou's face turned pale. Looking at Su Yu with a rare plea in his eyes, he sent a voice transmission: "Emperor Yu, this... once the Hundred Battles King's reputation is ruined like this, he... he will become humanity's sinner... He..." "Is he not?" Su Yu transmitted back, his tone calm. "He is! I am merely reminding everyone to be careful and not be foolish! Traitors definitely exist! King Jintian's mother, a Heavenly King-level expert, has already been captured by me! There are still members of this lineage in the upper realm! "I refuse to repeat past mistakes. I must proclaim to the world that there are many traitors in the upper realm—that is a fact! "I also want the world to know that the Hundred Battles King was simply duped. By not calling him a traitor outright, I am giving him face, giving him dignity! He threw away humanity's foundation of a hundred thousand years—did I, Su Yu, utter a single word of slander against him?" Su Yu said coldly, "Don't think I don't know he's still alive! You even know he's alive! Zhou Tianqi, don't take me for a fool! You pushed me onto the throne merely to weather the immediate crisis. Once the Hundred Battles King returns, you intend to lead your people to help him reclaim the seat of Human Lord. Do you truly think I don't understand?" Su Yu's gaze turned chillingly sharp, glaring at him until King Dazhou felt a cold shiver run through his heart. Su Yu sneered, "Now go ahead and try! I gave him face, and I gave all of you plenty of face! Perhaps the Hundred Battles King has already appeared, or perhaps he has been biding his time, waiting for me to lay this groundwork so he can stroll in and pick the fruits of my labor! "I don't mind interpreting your motives with the darkest assumptions! "However... am I, Su Yu, an idiot?" Su Yu scoffed and raised his voice: "There were too many traitors. The Hundred Battles King was immensely strong, surpassing Tiangu of the immortals, Moji of the demons, and Jiwu of the gods. He alone could slay ten, even a hundred Dao Integration experts, yet he still met catastrophic defeat. A hundred human Dao Integration experts fell, while the myriad races lost fewer than thirty... Tragic and lamentable!" Su Yu let out a sigh. "The Hundred Battles King will soon return. I hope he realizes where he went wrong and does not repeat his mistakes. If he can achieve clarity and with his strength, I will willingly step down to assist him in uniting the heavens! My only wish is that he does not once again squander the hundreds of thousands of years of our human foundation!" The moment these words fell, Xia Longwu barked coldly, "Never! How could Emperor Yu do such a thing? The Hundred Battles King lacked discernment and was indecisive. No matter how strong he was, he was nothing more than a reckless brute! Even calling him a brute is too generous; at least a brute could slay a few more powerful enemies! In this tide, humanity rose from frail beginnings, reaching our current standing step by step by using the weak to defeat the strong, emerging victorious in every single battle! Yet he fought from a position of overwhelming strength only to be beaten to near extinction! Even with a hundred Dao Integration experts, the previous tide fell. In this tide, humanity has only a single Dao Integration expert. Is the Hundred Battles King going to lead us all to our deaths? I refuse!" Over there, several Eternals shouted in unison, "Never! General Xia's sentiment is our sentiment! Emperor Yu has achieved victory after victory, and our alliance relies entirely on Emperor Yu to hold together. If the Hundred Battles King returns to take the throne of Human Lord, how could the Iron Eaters and other races feel at ease, given that dozens of ancient allied races were wiped out in the last tide?" "The various races allied with humanity under Emperor Yu's name, not the name of Hundred Battles! The Hundred Battles King placed his trust in villains. Once he replaces Emperor Yu, the alliance will immediately crumble!" "..." This group of Eternals included members of the Zhu family, Xuanjia and his peers, and powerhouses from other major manors. None of them were fools. Certain matters had been high-level secrets, but now that Su Yu had laid them out for the public, they understood exactly what he wanted. By now, the news had spread through the millions of troops. In the next moment, someone among the soldiers shouted, "We revere only Emperor Yu! It is the will of the people! Even if Hundred Battles returns, we will still hold only Emperor Yu supreme!" "What we need is Emperor Yu, who leads us to victory, not a Hundred Battles who possesses great strength yet ruins humanity's foundation!" "..." The shouts rose in a relentless wave! Impossible! How could they ever agree! The lower ranks knew little about the Hundred Battles King, but they grasped one simple fact: from a position of absolute superiority, he allowed the myriad races to slaughter over a hundred Dao Integration experts. Dao Integration! Everyone now understood what Dao Integration meant—it was the level of half-emperors! During the upheaval of the last tide, humanity had actually possessed a hundred half-emperors! Heavens above! Some were on the verge of tears. How could they have lost when they were that powerful? The Hundred Battles King! It was his fault! What a piece of trash! Emperor Yu claimed the man was peerlessly strong and capable of killing Tiangu and the others, so why hadn't he killed them? Not only that, from the sound of it, the reason humanity hadn't produced any Dao Integration experts was also connected to the Hundred Battles King. Refusing to die, he was actually blocking everyone else from advancing? Was that what it meant? In that case, he might as well just be dead! ... Opposite Su Yu, Wan Tiansheng wore an odd look in his eyes. He glanced at Su Yu, then at King Dazhou. He understood! He finally saw why Su Yu had come out to receive him. Good boy, ruthless enough. Since there are still people waiting for you to return, I'll cut off your retreat. Even if you do return, your name will already stink to high heaven! The Purification Bureau! As Wan Tiansheng pondered this, Su Yu said in a booming voice, "Manor Head Wan is fair and just, strict with himself, devoted entirely to the human race, and heedless of infamy. He is a paragon of the mortal realm! Therefore, your student Su Yu hopes that Manor Head Wan will take charge of the Purification Bureau to cleanse all corruption and filth for humanity! Add your strength to our rise! Guard against the bloodlines of the Prison King and Demon Emperor infiltrating humanity's upper ranks!" Wan Tiansheng's mind raced, and he quickly called out, "Wan Tiansheng accepts the command! Emperor Yu flatters me! I, Wan, swear to never let any vile monsters infiltrate our human race!" "Splendid!" Su Yu let out a hearty laugh. He waved his hand, and the Human Lord Seal descended from above. In the void, white clouds converged, instantly transforming into an official scroll. Su Yu wielded a brush to draft the decree of appointment, and in the next moment, the Human Lord Seal slammed down! *Boom!* A surge of providential destiny descended onto Wan Tiansheng, causing the Human Realm to shudder. A phantom of Wan Tiansheng manifested high above the Human Realm. He was the first Eternal to receive such an honor; Su Yu wanted everyone to know that this was an appointment made personally by his hand. He was no demon among men! Wan Tiansheng was a saint of humanity! Enforcing the law on behalf of Heaven! Beside them, King Dazhou closed his eyes for an instant, regaining his calm, and said nothing more. All around, the gathered experts fell silent one after another. Su Yu laughed, and the golden scroll descended into Wan Tiansheng's hands. In the next moment, Su Yu laughed heartily: "The Manor Head's strength is comparable to an Eternal of the sixth stage, which is still too weak to suppress traitors. I bestow upon you a stroke of fortune—come with me to walk the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth!" With a flick of his brush, the void split open. Su Yu stepped into the air and vanished from the spot. Wan Tiansheng's gaze shifted, and he vanished just as quickly! ... Within the River of Time, Wan Tiansheng gave a wry smile. "Aren't you afraid those fellows might make a scene and embarrass you on the spot?" Su Yu dismissed it casually: "Manor Head, what is there to fear? Put it this way: so long as they don't push me too far, fine; but if they piss me off, I'll purge every last disobedient one! Right now, I can produce dozens of Dao Integration combatants at any time. I don't lack a few Eternals, nor do I lack a single Dao Integration expert!" "What?" Wan Tiansheng looked stunned. Su Yu chuckled and said, "Including the guardians and Hongmeng, that's eleven Dao Integration experts! King Daqin and King Daxia have both integrated their Daos! In the dead spirit realm, I have dozens more Dao Integration subordinates under my command... Manor Head, tell me, do I need to be polite with them?" Wan Tiansheng sucked in a breath of cold air. After a long silence, only one word came out: "Fuck!" No wonder this kid was acting so brazen. Between laughter and tears, he asked, "You... how did you manage that?" "That's just what it means to be a genius!" Su Yu grinned cheerfully. Wan Tiansheng couldn't help laughing helplessly. "Bullshit!" "You don't believe me, Manor Head?" Su Yu smiled. "Forget it, let's not dwell on that. Manor Head, listen to me explain the essence of the Great Dao. It's actually very simple. You can't communicate it to fools—they wouldn't understand even if you told them—but I believe you will!" Wan Tiansheng turned solemn, nodded, and remained silent. Su Yu quickly explained the River of Time, the tributaries, the Great Dao, the physical body Dao, the three-body art, the rules, the Weapon Merging Art, everything... Wan Tiansheng listened, completely enthralled! This was the very first time someone had explained the Great Dao and the rules with such crystal clarity. Back when Liu Hong had said that divine characters were the embryonic forms of rules, it had sparked immense comprehension in him. Today, he gained a complete, thorough insight into what the Great Dao truly was! "So that's how it is!" Wan Tiansheng murmured, "Which is to say, I... might have opened a tributary of my own! Or perhaps I sensed the existence of other Great Daos, but because I didn't know how to merge with them, I never integrated. In reality, I no longer walk the physical body Dao, so what everyone considers 'proving the Dao' is utterly useless to me!" Su Yu nodded. After thinking for a moment, he gritted his teeth and said, "Manor Head, I can attach a bit of Heavenly Gate power to you, but you'll only see vague outlines, which isn't very useful. If you have the guts, send your sea of will into my Heavenly Gate and fuse with it. I'll let you see for yourself what a true Great Dao looks like!" "..." Wan Tiansheng drew in a sharp breath: "Are you out of your mind?" He then added, "Aren't you afraid I'll screw you over and get you killed?" Su Yu retorted in exasperation, "What do I have to fear? Manor Head, even if you never said it, do you really think I still don't know? Back then, you left a clone of your will inside my heart. You spied on ninety percent of my secrets! No, except for the Time Record, you probably knew everything—wait, you might have even known about the Time Record!" Wan Tiansheng's expression shifted, and he quickly coughed dryly. "Nonsense, how could that be? I never did such a thing! I'm not Lan Tian; I don't go around peeping on people!" Su Yu scoffed, "Xinghong, Tianmie, and Senior Hongmeng all told me they saw you! I asked them, and every time I visited those ancient cities back then, they ran into you! Still pretending?" "They mistook me for someone else!" Wan Tiansheng denied it vehemently! He had never done it! Su Yu scoffed again: "Manor Head, if it wasn't you, was it myself? Come off it! Still denying it at this point! It's only because I have no interest in women that I'm not holding it against you..." Wan Tiansheng coughed again and said, "Even if you were into women, I wouldn't have watched that sort of thing. Rest assured!" Su Yu stared at him for a moment. Feeling awkward, Wan Tiansheng explained, "Didn't I tell you when we first met? No one above the Shanhai Realm would be allowed to touch you. I was only fulfilling my promise to protect you! Afterward, seeing how dangerous things were for you, I didn't recall that clone of my will. Later, it dissipated on its own, so honestly, I didn't see a single thing it recorded!" He then added, "Truly, not a thing. Even if you were hiding women out there, I wouldn't know!" Su Yu was speechless. Keep acting! Forget it! I don't believe for a second that you knew nothing. Never mind, I won't hold it against you. It's not as though I have shameful secrets anyway, and the most critical thing, the Time Record, isn't much of a secret to certain people anymore. Wan Tiansheng gave a dry laugh as well. Some things were better left unmentioned. It wasn't as though I placed a miniature figure in your heart just to spy on you—it was to protect you, understand? Wan Tiansheng quickly steered the conversation away, asking, "The Heavenly Gate can integrate my willpower?" "We can give it a try!" Su Yu wasn't entirely certain either. "Looking at it directly will deepen your comprehension of the Great Dao! What you see with your own eyes is far better than my second-hand description! Besides, you saved my life several times. Senior Hongmeng mentioned that the first time he saw me, he nearly slapped me to death because I was converting death qi, and he mistook me for a dead spirit! You went in person to explain, which was why he let it go!" Wan Tiansheng's little figure had actually aided Su Yu multiple times, though Su Yu hadn't known it back then. Later, both Xinghong and Tianmie had mentioned the matter. The first time he converted death qi in the Star Sea, Old Turtle truly had nearly slapped him to death. Death qi was something the guardians had to eliminate on sight! If he had actually been squashed back then, history would have taken an entirely different turn! Old Turtle had recounted it as a joke, but Su Yu felt a lingering dread. He had nearly croaked right there! Terrifying! Wan Tiansheng pondered for a moment before saying, "We can try. It won't destroy your Heavenly Gate, will it?" "Hardly!" Su Yu smiled. "The Heavenly Gate is composed of seven hundred and twenty acupoints. Even if it collapses, I can reconstruct it!" "Then... let me see for myself what kind of Dao I've been walking!" No one could resist being curious about this. Wan Tiansheng was curious, and Su Yu was equally eager to know. What kind of Dao did Wan Tiansheng possess? Lan Tian's Dao, without question, had everything to do with clones. But as for Wan Tiansheng, Su Yu genuinely had no clue. Where did Wan Tiansheng's formidable strength lie? In his control! His ability to traverse the River of Time had been formidable, even allowing him to travel into others' pasts and futures. Thinking back now, he must have stepped right before their Great Daos and severed their Dao power. What Dao had Old Wan actually embarked upon? Had he pioneered his own Dao, or had he merged with some extraordinary existing path? In the next moment, Su Yu's Heavenly Gate flew out. Without another word, Old Wan patted his forehead, and a divine character emerged. Su Yu's own divine character for "Civilization" had originally been learned from Wan Tiansheng. Evidently, Old Wan's divine character was anything but weak. It was a single divine character, though Su Yu suspected it was a composite, even if he couldn't be entirely sure. The next instant, the divine character flew into the Heavenly Gate, fusing with it in an instant. Su Yu's physical body trembled as he suppressed the repulsive force! Wan Tiansheng let out a low growl. On his forehead, a third eye abruptly split open, resembling a miniature Heavenly Gate. Panting, he said, "Let me first open a pseudo-Heavenly Gate of my own to take a look!" Su Yu sucked in a breath: "What the hell is that?" "A divine character of replication!" "Huh?" Wan Tiansheng explained, "Used for replicating treasures! Replicating rules, replicating Daos, replicating anything. I'll replicate a small Heavenly Gate just to play around with." "That... works too?" Su Yu stared dumbfounded. Was such a thing even possible? Wan Tiansheng laughed. "A trivial trick! Replicating things like this doesn't have much practical use! For instance, I can only replicate weak objects. If a Dao Integration expert stood before me, I wouldn't be able to replicate them! These are just basic tricks for Civilization Masters, nothing of great consequence." Su Yu grimaced, thinking it was immensely useful! "How is that not of great consequence? I think it's incredible! Replicating the Great Dao—that's..." Wan Tiansheng smiled. "Then outline one yourself; you can do it too! Don't distract me, let me look..." He looked toward the vicinity of the River of Time. In that moment, he caught faint glimpses of things, and upon seeing them, he was filled with shock. "So in your eyes, the Great Dao looks like this! Tributaries of the Dao, the River of Time... the rule power contained within these Daos really is completely different!" His vision was not entirely clear, but he could see. As he watched, insights struck him, and he said hurriedly, "Let's go. I feel something—my Dao isn't here. Further ahead!" Both were powerful experts, and they swiftly flew forward. They flew past humanity's physical body Dao. Waves surged and crashed, but Wan Tiansheng paid them no heed. Long ago, he had been able to roam the River of Time and had even taken Su Yu along; it was just that back then, neither could see those tributaries of the Dao. This time, as Su Yu traversed the river alongside Wan Tiansheng, he noticed something different. He discovered that as Wan Tiansheng moved along the river, a power manifested around his body, neutralizing the eroding force of the river's waters, allowing him to travel much farther. Wan Tiansheng sensed it as well. Seeing Su Yu look over, he explained, "This should be related to a divine character I mastered: 'Discharge'—discharging force, shedding the force of all things! I didn't pay it much mind before, but looking at it now, the effect is quite decent! Following the principle that divine characters are rules, this character should correspond to a Great Dao as well..." Su Yu nodded. Wan Tiansheng laughed again. "This isn't my primary Dao. Let's go, it's still further ahead. I can feel it!" The two pressed on, crossing tributary after tributary. Su Yu wondered if they were about to reach his own Brush Dao. Could Old Wan's Dao truly lie even further ahead? Wan Tiansheng paid little attention to that and continued pushing forward, saying, "In the past, I actually had some inkling! According to your current explanation, I might have had the chance to merge with or pioneer a Dao long ago. Yet I could never accomplish it. In fact, it was rather strange, you know?" Su Yu gave him an odd look. "Strange?" Wan Tiansheng nodded. "Very strange! If I couldn't sense anything from the start, that would be one thing. But when Liu Hong said divine characters are rules, I gained immense comprehension. I felt that my divine characters possessed the power to forge a Dao back then! You must realize that my divine characters far surpass the power of an ordinary sixth-stage Eternal, yet I still couldn't open a Dao. I refuse to believe that in the ancient or primeval eras, humans at the sixth stage of Eternity couldn't even carve out a minor Dao! "Last time, didn't I visit the Spirit Realm? I stole their supreme treasure, the Hundred Spirit Fruit. That was the fruit of a Dao Integration powerhouse, containing massive amounts of rule power. I devoured it, and my divine characters grew stronger, yet I still couldn't open a Dao or integrate with one!" Wan Tiansheng explained, "Just ahead—every time I traveled the River of Time to a certain point, I would get stuck and come to a dead halt! Unable to advance, I actually thought the River of Time had an end and that I had reached it. I always assumed the River of Time was only this long..." Su Yu's expression grew increasingly strange! "You've walked remarkably far, Manor Head!" Su Yu remarked awkwardly. Wan Tiansheng didn't think much of it and smiled. "It's alright. It's probably because my divine characters have a high affinity with the River of Time, allowing me to withstand some of the pressure. Yes, just a bit further, and I won't be able to go any further!" Su Yu nodded in embarrassment: "Yes, the Manor Head has walked exceptionally far. Such talent... truly extraordinary!" "Average, really. Probably not as far as you. But there's a dead end up ahead..." Wan Tiansheng said, "Perhaps one has to travel backward? Who knows. Let's go take a look first!" The two pushed forward, traveling a great distance before Wan Tiansheng halted, hesitating. "That's not right. There's still a path ahead. I seemed to hit a barrier right around here, unable to advance, yet I sense my Great Dao is still further ahead..." Su Yu gave a dry laugh. "Um, well..." "Let me try this time. I can see now—there's still a road ahead!" Wan Tiansheng charged forward in an instant. With a tremendous *rumble*, chains manifested within the void, throwing Wan Tiansheng backward with a heavy crash. His head throbbed with splitting pain as he shouted, "Yes, this exact situation! I couldn't see them before, but now I can. What a bastard! Which brute set up chains here to block the path? Fuck! No wonder every time I reached this spot, I got bounced back. I actually thought I had hit the end of the River of Time! Turns out someone was deliberately blocking me!" Saying so, his expression turned grave. "I understand!" "Understand what?" Su Yu asked awkwardly. Wan Tiansheng said solemnly, "An enemy! I understand now—an ancient enemy, a foe of humanity, an incomparably powerful entity! They placed an obstacle here, forbidding human geniuses from merging with or pioneering a Dao of their own! What a venomous scheme! Could it be... the Prison King?" His face shifted. "Yes, he specializes in the Dao of sealing! So that's it! The Prison King is an absolute beast, severing humanity's path forward..." Su Yu gave a strained laugh: "Surely not! This is already exceptionally far. Under normal circumstances, ordinary people would never reach this depth! Besides, on our way here, there were hundreds of Great Daos, all valid paths. If someone truly wanted to block us, they would have set the barrier near the entrance to the Human Realm!" "You don't understand!" Wan Tiansheng said gravely, "That is precisely where the Prison King's brilliance lies! The further in you go, the more open space there is to pioneer a Dao. There are too many Daos upfront, leaving no room to carve out a new one; even if you managed to open one, it couldn't expand to the size of the physical body Dao! That means once someone reaches the level of a Rule Master, they would have no way to continue growing stronger. It also proves that the Prison King isn't afraid of people proving the Dao, integrating with a Dao, or even becoming Rule Masters! What he fears is someone becoming an exceptionally powerful Rule Master, so he sealed the path ahead. What a bastard!" "..." Su Yu was intensely embarrassed. After a long pause, he nodded: "The Prison King truly is a bastard. Um... Manor Head, let me open the way for you!" "No need, I'll do it myself..." "Don't! Manor Head, let me—I'm good at clearing paths!" Su Yu gave a dry laugh and sent a divine character flying out. In the next instant, the divine character slotted right into the center of the chains. The previously sealed stretch of the River of Time instantly unlocked. Wan Tiansheng was stunned. "What on earth is that? So formidable—it unlocked it just like that..." Su Yu gave another strained laugh: "Impressive, right? Manor Head, let's keep going. Onward!" Harboring some doubt, Wan Tiansheng had no choice but to follow along. He felt an odd bewilderment—unsealed just like that? How strange! After flying for a while, Wan Tiansheng suddenly inhaled sharply: "Look quickly! That Dao is immensely powerful. Could it be the Prison King's Dao?" "..." Su Yu laughed dryly. "Probably not. Let's just keep going..." Wan Tiansheng suddenly froze, staring at that tributary of the Great Dao. Abruptly, he turned to look at Su Yu, recalled the divine character Su Yu had used a moment ago, furrowed his brow, and thought about the Brush Dao. After a long silence, Wan Tiansheng's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets! "Fuck!" With a furious roar, Wan Tiansheng bellowed, "King Wen?!" "..." *Cough, cough, cough!* Su Yu coughed violently and said sheepishly, "Under normal circumstances... who would walk all the way out here to pioneer a Dao?" Indeed, Su Yu felt that no sane person would travel this far to open a Dao. The fact that King Wen had opened his Dao here meant this location was already extraordinarily profound and remote. Of course, that didn't mean a more distant Dao was necessarily stronger—the opening to the physical body Dao was right at the start, and it was vastly powerful. But with countless Daos and plenty of empty space earlier on, normal people simply had no reason to fly relentlessly forward into the distance to open a path. It was far too remote! Who could have guessed that the reason you, Wan Tiansheng, couldn't merge with or open a Dao was because you felt your Dao lay beyond King Wen's Brush Dao! And King Wen had sealed it off! King Wen simply hadn't wanted others intruding upon his Dao, intending to leave it for his successor. As for whether others could pass, that wasn't King Wen's concern; he hadn't blocked the entire river. A truly supreme expert could have simply opened a separate entrance elsewhere! He had only sealed off a tiny segment! True top-tier experts, like Rule Masters, could easily bypass that section and open another point of entry. Clearly, Wan Tiansheng lacked that capability! It was only because his Dao principles lay in this direction, combined with his various techniques that harmonized with the River of Time, that he had managed to reach this depth—and so... he had been blocked! More than once! That was why no matter how strong his divine characters grew, he couldn't pioneer or integrate a Dao. No wonder he had reached the equivalent of roughly the seventh stage of Eternity without opening a path. Su Yu could sense that Wan Tiansheng was noticeably stronger than before! He possessed at least seventh-stage combat strength! Prior to this, he had hovered around the fifth or sixth stage, so his progress had been quite rapid. The crucial point, however, was that he hadn't integrated or opened a Dao; he had purely strengthened his divine characters to this level. Right now, Wan Tiansheng gritted his teeth in fury. He understood! Enlightenment dawned on him! "King Wen... this... was he trying to sever my path?" Su Yu laughed sheepishly: "He probably didn't anticipate this either. You really are incredible, Manor Head—your Dao lies even deeper than the Brush Dao?" Wan Tiansheng was exasperated. "So you're saying that if no one inherited the Brush Dao, I would never have been able to open or integrate a Dao in my entire life? I kept wondering why I couldn't make any headway, and it turns out someone was standing in my way!" "And if I couldn't see it, and if you hadn't brought me here, would I have been stuck purely strengthening divine characters just to grow stronger?" Su Yu gave a strained chuckle: "Not necessarily. Once your other divine characters grew strong enough, you could have walked a different path!" "Bullshit!" Wan Tiansheng cursed, "Just for this, King Wen and I have forged an irreconcilable feud! If not for today, I wouldn't have discovered it in my entire life!" And to think that when he saw it earlier, he had assumed it was the Prison King's doing. "That inhumane bastard King Wen—over these past hundred thousand years, just how many people's paths has he blocked?" Su Yu shrugged: "Probably not many. In my opinion, you might be the only one! In the past, most humans walked the physical body Dao, and a small portion walked other paths, but none could travel this far. To be frank, even with my extraordinary talent, reaching this point was exceedingly difficult. I don't believe anyone from the previous nine tides traveled further than us." "And what if there were?" Wan Tiansheng was still thoroughly enraged. "What if there were others?" Su Yu laughed and said, "Then so be it. A true genius won't be crushed! Just like you, Manor Head: if you truly couldn't cross, in a few more years your divine characters would have grown strong enough to connect directly from the outside to the area you wished to open, or integrate with a Dao without ever passing through here! It can only be said that this obstructed you for a time, not for a lifetime!" Wan Tiansheng thought about it and nodded. His anger subsided somewhat, though he still grumbled resentfully, "It delayed me by at least ten years!" Su Yu chuckled: "Hard to say. Without the accumulation of these years, you might not have gained your current insights. Smooth sailing all the way isn't necessarily a good thing." "Do I need comfort from you?" Wan Tiansheng snorted. He was not in the best of moods; the grudge between him and King Wen was now officially established! The enmity of an obstructed Dao! It truly was a massive grudge. Of course, Wan Tiansheng said nothing further for now, only vowing viciously in his heart: *What a King Wen! You'd better stay alive. When I'm strong enough to take you on, just you wait!* That chained expanse had truly held him back for at least a decade! Su Yu shrugged. In any case, it had nothing to do with him. Let Old Wan try to beat King Wen first! If he truly could best King Wen... Su Yu knew King Wen was ridiculously strong, so Old Wan might never get his chance at revenge in his entire life. Past the Brush Dao, both Wan Tiansheng and Su Yu felt immense pressure! Wan Tiansheng's force-discharging technique was beginning to lose its effectiveness. Covered in sweat, Su Yu panted, "Manor Head, are we there yet?" "Almost..." "How much further?" "Almost!" The two pushed forward. After flying a bit further, Su Yu was still panting, while Wan Tiansheng had already turned pale. His endurance was noticeably inferior to Su Yu's. Right at that moment, Wan Tiansheng's face lit up with sudden joy: "Right here!" Su Yu froze and glanced around. Here, there were no tributaries whatsoever! On both sides stretched only the straight, vast riverbed of the main Great Dao. He furrowed his brows slightly. "Pioneering a Dao! Manor Head, this is tricky. Opening a Dao means there is no path carved by predecessors. What you've comprehended is something no one has ever grasped before. What on earth did you comprehend?" He frowned and added, "I know pioneering a Dao is exceptionally difficult, and progress is agonizingly slow. You might not even manage to expand it to a controllable level in an entire lifetime!" "It doesn't matter!" Wan Tiansheng said nonchalantly, "You said it yourself: the stronger the Great Dao, the greater the combat power! Some top-tier Dao Integration experts of the physical body Dao can fight Rule Masters! I currently possess the combat power of a seventh-stage Eternal at the very least. No matter how poor the result, I won't end up weaker than I am now! If I must open it, then so be it. Seeing no other Daos around here, it looks like a fine place to pioneer one!" "Manor Head, won't you reconsider finding another Dao to integrate with first?" "No!" Wan Tiansheng shook his head with a smile. "My Dao is unique; I consider no other! If I cannot open my own Dao, I would rather keep strengthening my divine characters until they can be strengthened no further!" Very well. Su Yu ceased his persuasion. He was genuinely curious about what Wan Tiansheng's primary divine character—or rather, his primary rule—actually was. Something predecessors had never pioneered! "Manor Head, open your Dao so I can watch. Perhaps I'll open one in the future, so I can gain some experience!" "Then watch closely. I have some inkling of what to do. Transforming divine characters into a Dao—my primary divine character simply needs to manifest into a Dao right here!" As the words fell, an incomparably powerful divine character flew forth! Su Yu focused his gaze and was instantly taken aback. What was that? It looked like a miniature person! Or rather, a shrunken version of Wan Tiansheng. What on earth was this? Su Yu was completely baffled! Was this a divine character? "Manor Head, show me the divine character properly. What character is it? Why did you make an avatar of it?" Wan Tiansheng replied with an odd look, "It's not an avatar; it is the divine character!" "What do you mean?" Su Yu stared at the little Wan Tiansheng, thoroughly puzzled. Truly, he couldn't make heads or tails of it. Wan Tiansheng thought for a moment before saying, "Perhaps it can be shaped into a written character, but its true form is just like this. Never mind, I'll transform it into a character for you to see!" The next instant, the little figure abruptly transformed into a written divine character. In truth, Wan Tiansheng had merely forcibly molded it into one. Just like King Wen's "↑", Wan Tiansheng's divine character was originally a miniature person. In the next moment, the little figure formed a single word—*Human* (Ren)! Wan Tiansheng explained, "It can roughly be considered the Human Dao. In reality, it is simply myself. I am human; my Dao is human. Alone across the myriad realms, I am this Dao, and this Dao is me... Never mind, you are too young to understand my comprehension!" Su Yu stood dazed. The Human Dao! Right at that moment, Wan Tiansheng's divine character slammed into the barrier along the riverbank with a thunderous *boom*, blasting out an indentation! Within the river, countless rule powers were suddenly drawn forth! At this moment, countless iterations of Wan Tiansheng manifested out of nowhere, charging toward the side of the riverbed! These rule powers all took on human form. In this instant, countless divine characters surged from within Wan Tiansheng's body, each turning into a miniature Wan Tiansheng. One Wan Tiansheng was practicing martial arts, another was reading books, another was eating a meal... Wan Tiansheng's true self declared with mounting excitement, "This is the unification of my Dao—everything about me is me! Reading is me, practicing martial arts is me, eating is me, sleeping is me, everything is me! I am human, and they are human too. Carving the Dao of Humanity... So pioneering a Dao is simply this! It's very simple. The reason I chose this location is, first, there is ample space, and second, there are rule powers of the Human Dao here that harmonize with my path!" *Rumble!* As countless figures of Wan Tiansheng emerged, a tiny tributary was gradually carved out along the bank of the riverbed! A torrent of river water surged into the tributary, instantly filling the newly opened channel! And Wan Tiansheng's aura surged dramatically in an instant! He had opened his Dao! It had been opened with such apparent ease! In truth, had King Wen not blocked the way, he would have opened it long ago! Su Yu, however, wore a peculiar expression. Opening a Dao—was this what opening a Dao looked like? Countless iterations of Wan Tiansheng, encompassing everything that belonged to him, were merging into this Dao! Studying, teaching, martial training, research, combat, daily life—everything was integrating, transforming into power, pioneering a Dao that belonged exclusively to him. Su Yu even spotted some rather odd scenes! For instance, a youthful Wan Tiansheng who was infatuated with a woman, reading a love letter to her. This too was part of his life's experiences and realizations, merging into the Great Dao, opening the path, and perfecting everything for his Dao! Wan Tiansheng appeared entirely composed. Without even glancing at Su Yu, he smiled and said, "Understanding human nature is the finest literature. Whether it's reading, falling in love, or any aspect of daily life, it is all Dao! Opening a Dao—I understand it now: taking everything you cherish, love, and protect, and merging it all into your Dao. That is how you attain a Great Dao uniquely your own!" Su Yu quietly absorbed all of this. This was an expert who had truly pioneered a Dao through his own efforts. In truth, it was far more proficient and intricate than the little white dog's path. The little white dog had muddled its way into opening a Dao under the guidance of King Wen and the Time Master; its own comprehension had not necessarily been profound. Even if it had comprehension, it boiled down to a single word: bite! Pure instinct! King Wen and the others had transformed the little white dog's instinct into its Dao and had it forge that path, saving it a tremendous amount of comprehension and trouble. "Opening a Dao, life, comprehension, the Human Dao..." Su Yu reflected quietly. *Perhaps one day, I too will pioneer a Dao of my own.* *What would my Dao be?* *What would my life's comprehension be?* *Battle?* *Growing stronger?* *Or something else?* At this moment, Su Yu suddenly felt that he was not yet qualified to pioneer a Dao. What he had considered comprehending everything and seeing the essence of all Great Daos was still lacking. If this Heavenly Gate were in Wan Tiansheng's possession, it might have been put to far greater use! ... The moment this Human Dao was opened— In the Human Realm. Great Xia Prefecture. At the Great Xia Civilization Academy, providential destiny suddenly surged. Brilliant white light illuminated heaven and earth as streams of providential power materialized out of thin air. In an instant, every student in the entire Civilization Academy felt a distinct Dao resonance, and many plunged directly into deep comprehension! Comprehending divine characters, comprehending life! ... Above the battlefield of the heavens, golden light suddenly flared at the spot where Su Yu had vanished. Faintly, a silhouette seemed to emerge, only to quickly disappear. King Dazhou's expression changed, and he turned to look toward the skies above the Human Realm. Earlier, when Su Yu conferred the appointment upon Wan Tiansheng, a phantom of Wan Tiansheng had descended upon the Human Realm. At this moment, that phantom suddenly manifested once more, shimmering with golden radiance! King Dazhou's face drained of color! What was happening? ... Within the Star Residence Mansion. The Martial Emperor opened his eyes once more, opening his eyes on the first floor. His Heavenly Gate opened, peering into the endless void with a frown. What was going on? Was someone opening a Dao? What kind of Dao could create such a massive commotion? In this era, who was still capable of opening a Dao? Su Yu? Impossible! That kid wasn't qualified yet. Despite having inherited the Brush Dao, he hadn't even grasped it thoroughly. The Martial Emperor frowned, unable to discern anything more for the moment. ... And at this very moment, far ahead of Su Yu and Wan Tiansheng, deep in the distance, several colossal Great Daos trembled faintly. It was as though at the very end of the River of Time, a golden Great Dao manifested as well. Near the opening connecting that golden Great Dao to the main river, a phantom silhouette seemed to materialize. Looking downstream along the River of Time, the figure spoke with a mixture of surprise and weariness: "In the future... someone has forged a Dao of their own? What Dao could stir the long river... stirring both past and future? Fascinating!" The silhouette peered toward the distant downstream. How far into the future was that? With a slight sigh: "Only just opening a Dao, and seemingly in the near future... There might not be enough time!" The phantom dissipated! The trembling Great Daos ceased their vibrations, returning one by one to peace. ... At this moment, neither Su Yu nor Wan Tiansheng knew any of this. One was utterly absorbed in opening his Dao, while the other was utterly absorbed in observing. Su Yu felt as though he were watching Wan Tiansheng's entire life unfold—it was thoroughly entertaining! He had suddenly learned an enormous amount of gossip about Wan Tiansheng! At the same time, he couldn't help admiring Wan Tiansheng's erudition. He discovered that for every book, there was a persona; Wan Tiansheng had read well over a million books in his lifetime. It was incredible—countless iterations of Wan Tiansheng, each holding a different volume, stepped into the Great Dao to continue expanding it! This was true accumulation! Where had he found the time to read so many books? Moreover, unless he had comprehended them thoroughly, they wouldn't have manifested like this! In less than a century, reading since childhood, that would be ten thousand books a year—about thirty books a day. Did this guy skim ten lines at a glance and do nothing else with his life? Wan Tiansheng paid Su Yu no mind. His spirits had soared, and he recited passages of Dao literature without pause. As the Great Dao was carved out, his true body even stepped across the river, entering his own tributary! In this world, across these myriad realms, he, Wan Tiansheng, was truly an unrivaled genius! Fifty years ago, before he was even fifty years old, he had already been a match for an Eternal! Back then, the era had been entirely different from today! Matching an Eternal before the age of fifty—in the Human Realm, there might never have been another before him. Su Yu didn't know much about ancient times, but for himself, had he not inherited various legacies, it would have been exceedingly difficult to reach where he was today. *Strange. Could he be the descendant of some ancient expert?* Su Yu muttered to himself. He looked toward that Great Dao, which had already been carved out to a considerable length, yet Wan Tiansheng seemed capable of pushing it further! He continued opening it up—expanding both its length and width. Was Wan Tiansheng about to step into Dao Integration in a single day? Right now, Su Yu felt his aura was already at the level of a ninth-stage Eternal. In truth, the increase wasn't immense, since he had already possessed seventh-stage strength beforehand. Yet it felt as though he truly might break into Dao Integration! "Indeed, one must read more books!" Su Yu sighed in admiration. Suddenly, he noticed a tiny Wan Tiansheng clutching a book as he stepped into the Great Dao. Glancing casually, Su Yu froze. He could actually make out the title on the cover! *Ode to the Union of Heaven and Earth's Yin and Yang*! Su Yu stared blankly, then turned to look at Wan Tiansheng's true self. After a long pause, he raised a middle finger! You shameless old codger! He actually read that sort of book! Out of the million books he had seen, just how many were like that? Tch! Su Yu looked on with utter disdain. Shameless! So all that time he spent cooped up in the Xiuxin Pavilion back then was spent reading stuff like this. No wonder he rarely came out!