Talents in Abundance

Within the River of Time. Su Yu looked toward King Dazhou. Taking a deep breath, King Dazhou sent divine characters flying forth one after another. "The Dao of Endurance has countless branches," he said. "Unifying the branches of endurance should hopefully offer some reference for Your Majesty, serving as preparation for your future unification of the ten thousand Daos." Su Yu smiled. "What unification of the ten thousand Daos?" King Dazhou smiled as well. "Your Majesty knows." "I don't." "Your Majesty knows." King Dazhou was speechless. *What are you playing at? Do you think I'm blind? Isn't that civilization chronicle of yours meant precisely for unifying the ten thousand Daos? My discerning eye, Zhou Tianqi's, is top-notch. Could I really fail to see it?* Su Yu smiled again, his tone carrying deep meaning. "Have you ever seen true unification of the ten thousand Daos?" "No." Seeing Su Yu staring intently at him, King Dazhou could only say helplessly, "The Human Sovereign once spoke with King Wen about it. What I mentioned earlier about unifying Daos of the same type came from the information they shared in that conversation." King Dazhou explained, "Unifying the ten thousand Daos is likely the ultimate pursuit of every top-tier genius and peerless powerhouse!" Su Yu nodded slightly. "Not necessarily. The master of the Dead Spirit Dao specializes! Biting off more than one can chew—if a unification of the ten thousand Daos goes slightly awry, you're ruined. The master of the Dead Spirit Dao, on the other hand, had immense boldness, specializing strictly in a single Dao!" To reach that level relying solely on one Dao was equally terrifying. King Dazhou nodded, and the two walked forward alongside the divine characters. As they moved upstream against the current, King Dazhou said, "Yet looking toward the farther future, specialization may not necessarily rival breadth. Consider the gap between the Dead Spirit Dao and the River of Time—the River of Time ought to be the prime embodiment of the unification of the ten thousand Daos, wouldn't you say?" Su Yu nodded with a chuckle. "As expected, a clerk of the Human Sovereign possesses remarkable vision. You're quite right." King Dazhou gave a dry laugh. "I merely spoke offhandedly. I cannot compare to Your Majesty." Su Yu glanced at him and smiled. "King Dazhou is truly modest! Then again, it makes sense. You were at the Human Sovereign's side, interacting exclusively with top-tier rule masters; your vision couldn't possibly be lacking. I'm just curious about one thing..." "Curious about what, Your Majesty?" "Curious why you insisted on choosing the Dao of Endurance." Su Yu said with a smile, "You excel in many things, such as the Dao of Silence... though that Dao might not be all that impressive. But I know you excel in the Dao of Space, and the Dao of Space boundlessly expands one's prospects! I wonder why you didn't specialize in the Dao of Space? Becoming a Heavenly King wouldn't have been difficult with your intellect. Had you focused on the Dao of Space, your present achievements would likely not be low at all." To have been kept at King Wen's side to help manage affairs, King Dazhou unquestionably possessed ability. He could not possibly be ignorant of which Daos held greater prospects. King Dazhou fell silent for a time. After a long while, he gave a bitter smile. "If I said... it was the result of an accident, would Your Majesty believe me?" "An accident?" King Dazhou sighed. "To tell the truth, some things truly were accidental. In my eyes, the Dao of Endurance was actually not bad, and it suited me. My idea back then was to first master the Dao of Endurance, step into the realm of rule masters, and afterward, whether by fusing the branches of endurance or mastering other Great Daos, nothing would be delayed." As he spoke, King Dazhou shook his head and sighed again. "Who could have foreseen the great ancient cataclysm that followed, after which rule masters became a thing of the past? The Dao of Endurance was inherently a minor Dao; even with sufficient comprehension, its strength hit a ceiling, and one could advance no further!" Su Yu understood. "You mean you intended to become a rule master first, and then broaden the Dao of Endurance to encompass other similar branches of endurance?" "More or less." King Dazhou nodded. "As I said before, Daos of the same type generally reside in the same region." He looked at Su Yu and said with a smile, "To put it more plainly, consider the physical body Dao. The human race's physical body Dao is actually the confluence of countless varieties of physical body Daos. No Dao can be tremendously powerful the moment it is opened; they are all gradually widened and strengthened over time." Su Yu grasped the concept. "In other words, the physical body Dao swallowed all types of physical body Daos to attain its current might. And your thought was to first master one branch of endurance, and then, like the physical body Dao, carve out a formidable Dao of Endurance." At this, Su Yu stroked his chin and smiled. "Following that logic, perhaps the Dead Spirit Dao was also just a tiny Dao in the beginning. Later, it swallowed all Daos of the death spirit type, converging into a top-tier Great Dao. In the end, the master of the Dead Spirit Dao took this Dao and partially detached it from the River of Time..." Stroking his chin again, Su Yu smiled. "By that rationale... I'm pondering a question. For instance, can the human physical body Dao merge with the physical body Daos of the myriad races?" King Dazhou looked at him and said nothing. Su Yu grew contemplative. "If they can, that would be fascinating! You said Daos of the same type can merge. Do all physical body Daos count as the same type? If they do, that means the Wild Heavenly Beast physical body Dao cultivated by King Daqin and the others could actually swallow the human race's physical body Dao in reverse, couldn't it?" "..." King Dazhou gave a bitter smile. "Your Majesty may ponder that yourself; I know nothing of it." *I only mentioned a single sentence, and you've already extrapolated so much. What else can I say?* Su Yu didn't mind, beaming as he continued, "Then that means all the myriad Daos of the myriad races might ultimately be interconnected, forming a closed loop in the end! "This closed loop is what became the present River of Time! "Just like a social circle: I know you, you know the Human Sovereign, the Human Sovereign knows King Wen, King Wen knows King Wu, King Wu knows Marquis Lanshan, and Marquis Lanshan knows me... In this manner, entirely unrelated people can be connected through different intermediaries. "Just like these Great Daos!" Su Yu broke into a brilliant smile. "Therefore, when unifying the ten thousand Daos, one might need to construct such a social network! What connection lies between the Dao of Fire and the Dao of Water? Between water and earth? Earth and wind? Link by link, interlocking, ultimately weaving and interlacing the entirety of the ten thousand Daos into a brand-new Dao—is that how it works?" King Dazhou was utterly speechless! Su Yu nodded. "I understand! Thank you for the reminder, King Dazhou." King Dazhou wore an expression of deep, weathered resignation. *What on earth did I remind you of? I merely brought up a starting point, and you began talking and brainstorming entirely on your own. Now, judging by your words, you seem to have devised an entire approach to unifying the ten thousand Daos!* *You, Su Yu, are always like this. Someone says a single line, and you instantly 'understand'—only what you understand is completely different from what the rest of us were saying!* Yet the most maddening part was that after listening to Su Yu's reasoning, King Dazhou actually found it made immense sense. That was simply unreasonable! Su Yu ignored his reaction. In any case, *I* understand, and that's enough. Right now, thoughts raced continuously through Su Yu's mind as he followed King Dazhou forward, remarking as they walked, "King Dazhou, the concept you proposed makes a great deal of sense! Previously, while researching the Dao of Chaos, I was pondering: the ten thousand Daos are so disparate, how can they be unified? How can total integration be achieved? "Now I realize it's not a matter of simply analyzing the components of the Daos, but of fusion! Inclusiveness! "Big fish eat little fish, little fish eat shrimp; eating until the very end, leaving one's core Great Dao as the dominant core!" Su Yu grew somewhat animated. "Yes, exactly so! Take the Dao of Endurance: there are countless types of endurance, and once you unify them, there's only one Dao of Endurance left. Does endurance contain an element of silence? For instance, forcing an opponent to endure without speaking—isn't that a form of silence? Later on, you could use Daos of the silence type to merge further... Silence is a branch of the Dao of Confinement, isn't it? Then you can use the Dao of Confinement to swallow it... It's an endless nesting doll! Nested to the very end, all ten thousand Daos can be nested together! "Brilliant!" Su Yu sighed in admiration. "King Dazhou's experience and breadth of knowledge truly are profound. You pinpointed the core of unifying the ten thousand Daos for me. Impressive!" "..." King Dazhou remained utterly silent, on the verge of shedding quiet tears. *I didn't say any of that! Truly! It was all concocted inside your own overactive imagination!* Yet Su Yu was by no means mocking him; he genuinely felt a sudden sense of enlightenment. Sometimes, a person just needed that spark of inspiration. And Su Yu, right now, had been struck by inspiration—a creative burst fueling continuous reflection. He felt King Dazhou's words held immense truth. In this way, unifying the ten thousand Daos wouldn't end up producing some grotesque chimera! It wasn't a matter of simple Dao combination! It was fusion! This would undeniably be of tremendous assistance to his future Dao opening. "I should establish a research institute and have people deduce the connections among the ten thousand Daos, constructing a closed chain!" Saying this, Su Yu suddenly drew a sharp breath. "I get it—this is just like the acupoints! Seven hundred and twenty acupoints ultimately merge into the Heavenly Gate! But seven hundred and twenty acupoints yield countless combinations; so unifying the ten thousand Daos... holy hell, how many possibilities would that take? How many deductive permutations to form a complete closed ring?" Su Yu said in astonishment, "No, I probably can't complete this task alone. I have to summon people to handle the preliminary integration and deduction for me!" A research institute was an absolute necessity. Only now did Su Yu realize that this might require boundless manpower, resources, and intellect to compute. Cultivating the Dao was essentially an intricate mathematical problem of extrapolating infinite possibilities. King Dazhou wept silently in his heart. *Whatever you say! In any case, I truly only provided an opening remark.* Meanwhile, the two continued forward. This time, they did not travel far; not long past the physical body Dao, King Dazhou's divine characters came to a halt. King Dazhou surveyed the surroundings and said, "Your Majesty, it is right here." Su Yu opened his Heavenly Gate and looked to both sides. Before long, he spotted several small tributaries. None were particularly large, but five or six tributaries existed in this stretch. Looking again at King Dazhou's divine characters, several of them maintained faint links with some of the tributaries. The tightest connection belonged to one specific tributary, and the corresponding divine character was also remarkably strong. "*Ren, Nai, Bie, An*—Endure, Bear, Suppress, Settle..." Su Yu glanced at King Dazhou's divine characters and smiled. "You've outlined quite a few divine characters of similar nature. The strongest is this 'Endure' character, which has formally stepped into the peak of Dao Integration, while the remaining ones are all at the Eternal stage. Which two Daos do you plan to connect right now?" "Endure and Bear!" At this stage, King Dazhou had no need to mince words; Su Yu could see things more clearly than he could. He stated plainly, "To bridge the two Daos of Endure and Bear!" King Dazhou said gravely, "Back then, I had ideas of mastering the Dao of Endure and then expanding it to cover the Dao of Bear! But right now, I cannot master it, which means I cannot expand it. So my thought is to construct another tributary between these two Daos right now... connecting the two Daos. Does Your Majesty consider this feasible?" Su Yu pondered for a moment and nodded. "It's feasible. Where do you plan to construct this tributary?" As he spoke, Su Yu tapped a miniature Heavenly Gate onto King Dazhou's brow. King Dazhou examined the area carefully, catching faint glimpses of it, and said in a low voice, "Anywhere is fine, but if constructed outside the River of Time, I worry it might be destroyed by others. So my idea is to construct it inside the River of Time!" He added, "There are gaps between every tributary, and I want to bore through those gaps. These gaps actually consist of the interstitial Dao between the two paths of Endure and Bear—comprehensions, in essence... Boring through them is effectively opening a Dao, though not a very long one. I only need to carve out a small region capable of linking the two Daos." Su Yu nodded. "A good idea. Can you manage it?" "I should be able to, but I will still require Your Majesty's help." "How should I help you?" Su Yu looked at him. Everyone's understanding of the Great Dao differed; Su Yu currently didn't know specifically how to assist him. King Dazhou, however, knew clearly. After a moment of silence, he said, "I will open the path to bridge the two Daos, but during this process, I don't need the power from within the River of Time; I only need the two Daos to communicate with each other... What Your Majesty must do is help me build a dike to block the waters of the River of Time from pouring into the little channel I carve out." Very straightforward! He wanted to dig a small trench, but he didn't want the water of the River of Time—only for the two small streams to flow into each other. Upon hearing this, the corner of Su Yu's mouth twitched. "You... want me to build a dike against the River of Time for you?" With a broad smile, King Dazhou nodded. *Yes, just like that. Simple, isn't it? You won't even need to rack your brains!* Su Yu, however, felt a throb in his teeth and looked at him. "Are you serious? The water of the River of Time is extraordinarily formidable, and you want me to help you stop it from pouring into your little ditch?" "Yes!" King Dazhou smiled. "Your Majesty doesn't need to hold out for long. As soon as I succeed in carving it out and the two Daos are connected and communicating, Your Majesty can step back." Su Yu stared at him for a while. "So I'm a human sandbag—hold the line for you first, and once you're done, I can retreat?" "More... more or less?" King Dazhou gave a modest smile. "Your Majesty... this matter... shouldn't be difficult, right?" *Get lost!* Su Yu felt like cursing! The water of the River of Time was definitely not something easy to block! *Screw you!* Su Yu frowned at him. This was no simple feat. Linking two Daos—King Dazhou's idea was undeniably wild and whimsical, but in an era where becoming a rule master was impossible, fusing two Daos was perhaps his only way to break through his limits. Su Yu gauged the distance between the two Daos. From his perspective, only a gap of several hundred meters separated them. King Dazhou had to carve out a channel between the two Daos, while Su Yu had to block the currents of the River of Time's main channel from crashing down. King Dazhou added, "Your Majesty, I specialize in the Dao of Endurance; I cannot allow these chaotic powers of the ten thousand Daos to surge into it. Otherwise, interference will occur, and I likely won't be able to fuse the two Daos. Therefore, Your Majesty must ensure that not a single drop of river water falls in, preventing Dao interference! And for such meticulous work, only Your Majesty, with the Heavenly Gate opened, can help me." Su Yu asked solemnly, "What if interference occurs? What if river water falls in?" King Dazhou sighed. "Then I can only abandon all hope of this fusion and wait for a future opportunity to step into the realm of rule masters before trying again." Su Yu said in a low voice, "If the two Daos fuse, do you think reaching Heavenly King will pose any difficulty for you?" "None." King Dazhou smiled. "With two Daos fused, my potential will be vastly greater. Stepping into Heavenly King should pose no problem, and even the so-called Heavenly Venerable realm won't be out of reach. Two Daos are bound to be stronger than one, no matter how you look at it." Su Yu took a deep breath. "I can't guarantee there won't be any mishaps! Your path regarding your own Great Dao is very clear, and you are certain of your own future. I'm not you, so I won't give you advice... Since you want me to build a dike... fine, but I need the Star Residence Seal and the Human Lord Seal. I left them both at King Wen's former residence! Had I known it would be this difficult, I would have brought them along... Whatever, I'll go fetch them now. Wait for me here!" "Your Majesty..." King Dazhou looked at him with an expression full of yearning. "Your Majesty... you mustn't go and never return!" *Looking at your face, I feel like you might just abandon me here.* *It's a little difficult, sure, but isn't this the only way?* Su Yu felt a wave of disgust and snapped angrily, "Don't imitate Lan Tian! One Lan Tian is more than enough!" *Damn it, why are these fellows all so revolting lately?* That look made Su Yu feel like a heartless lover about to ditch him. *Why are all these old men acting so sickening?* King Dazhou instantly wiped the expression from his face. *I'm certainly no Lan Tian.* Su Yu gave a cold snort and tore through the void, departing. Once he was gone, King Dazhou regained his composure. He glanced at the River of Time, soon casting his gaze upstream toward the far distance, as if looking into an unfathomably distant place, and let out a soft sigh. At that distant end, perhaps... the Human Sovereign was right there. Yet people like themselves had no way to participate in that conflict. Even Su Yu, audacious and terrifyingly powerful as he was, had spoken of marching up to the Upper Realm but had never once mentioned actively traveling upstream to join that great war. Because there, with dozens or even hundreds of rule masters, anyone who went would die! With their fragile arms and legs, they could only play around here in the lower reaches. ... King Dazhou did not wait long. Su Yu came traversing the void once more. By now, he had retrieved the Human Lord Seal and the Star Residence Seal. As for the little white dog, Su Yu had sent it back to suppress King Wen's former residence, lest the residence collapse. "Let's begin!" Su Yu wasted no words, speaking swiftly: "You carve out a section, and I'll block a section for you. Be fast! This is equivalent to opening a Dao; it depends on how deep your comprehension is. If it's deep, you'll carve it out quickly and I can withdraw promptly. Otherwise, I won't be able to hold out for long!" "Understood!" King Dazhou was equally decisive. Without another word, he directly crossed the river, stepping instantly into the tributary—the Dao of Endure. *Boom!* With a massive roar, a section of the tributary of the Dao of Endure bulged outward as its root extended toward one side. What King Dazhou needed to do was open a conduit to the Dao of Bear. The excavation proceeded rapidly; in an instant, a breach of one to two meters appeared. Meanwhile, within the River of Time, the river waters began to descend, preparing to surge into that breach. Su Yu let out a low shout, unleashing both the Star Residence Seal and the Human Lord Seal simultaneously to suppress the river, erupting with rule power across his entire body. The pouring river waters were forcibly held back by Su Yu. King Dazhou also rapidly carved forward. His comprehension of both the Daos of Endure and Bear was exceptionally profound, allowing him to advance swiftly; however far he carved, Su Yu held down the river to match. Gradually, Su Yu began to feel the strain. King Dazhou's speed also slowed. Su Yu felt helpless! *Don't give me a repeat of what happened with Lan Tian; I can't endure that a second time.* After a while, the excavation reached the halfway mark. Opening a Dao represented Great Dao comprehension, not merely blasting a path through by force. At this moment, King Dazhou was visibly struggling. As he carved, he fell into deep contemplation; clearly, he was comprehending deeper aspects of the Dao as he progressed. Su Yu could not disrupt him, so he simply continued to hold the line. After enduring for a while, King Dazhou resumed. Su Yu continued to suppress even more river water, the immense pressure making him feel like vomiting blood. *Not a single one of them lets me catch a break! Every last one of them is an utter pain when opening a Dao.* Reflecting on it now, Old Wan was still the best—when Wan Tiansheng opened his Dao, Su Yu barely had to do a thing. After another period, roughly two-thirds had been excavated, and it was nearly connecting to the Dao of Bear. Suddenly, King Dazhou flew out. Su Yu stared in utter bewilderment. *What the hell are you doing?* "Your Majesty, I've hit a bit of a bottleneck... Let me try carving from the Dao of Bear back toward this side." "..." *Are you kidding me?* Su Yu gritted his teeth. "Hurry up! I can barely hold on!" King Dazhou gave a dry laugh and swiftly charged into the Dao of Bear. This time, starting from scratch, his speed picked up again. Su Yu continued suppressing both sides; in truth, Su Yu was practically bearing the pressure of the river waters across the entire stretch, panting from exhaustion. King Dazhou continued digging, moving quickly again this time, clearing roughly a quarter. Of the entire conduit, less than ten percent remained unopened. Yet King Dazhou's speed slowed once more. Su Yu ground his teeth furiously. *Damn it, can you do this or not? Seeing you so full of confidence, I thought you'd connect it in no time. You don't make things easy at all!* King Dazhou continued to chisel away. Su Yu estimated: eight percent, seven percent, five percent... Finally, roughly three percent remained unopened. The channels dug from both sides were separated by just a hair's breadth, unable to connect. Su Yu was a peerless monster himself; one glance told him that this fellow had hit a snag with some aspect of the Great Dao in the middle, which was why he couldn't break through. Su Yu let out a sigh. The faint power of the Time Record began to ripple out, suppressing the river waters. He had no choice but to tap into the Time Record slightly! Otherwise, Su Yu truly couldn't hold on. *King Dazhou, you bastard, just when are you going to finish comprehending?* ... At this moment, King Dazhou was also looking grave. He had felt his comprehension of the Daos of Endure and Bear was already profound, and had previously thought he could finish carving it out in short order. Yet right now, King Dazhou was plunged into deep thought. His insights were entirely exhausted. The two Daos still hadn't connected. What was missing? *What is lacking?* King Dazhou thought to himself. Sitting cross-legged in the excavated channel, he pondered: *What on earth is missing from the Dao of Endurance? Why can't that tiny sliver in the middle be broken through?* This meant his comprehension was not consummate. King Dazhou closed his eyes and began to reflect. At this moment, he disregarded everything else. The Dao of Endurance meant being able to endure and lie low; everything else could be brushed aside. Meanwhile, Su Yu kept looking down, and after watching for a bit, he felt an urge to curse! He knew this old fellow King Dazhou had run into trouble! They were short by just that tiny bit! Su Yu also fell into rapid contemplation. *Was King Dazhou's Dao of Endurance not mature enough? Why can't he open it?* As he thought and analyzed, the pressure grew heavier and heavier. He was nearly unable to bear it, nearly unable to endure it. *King Dazhou, you bastard, didn't you say it would be quick?* *Unable to endure it?* Su Yu raised an eyebrow slightly. The next moment, he barked, "Try erupting!" Inside the conduit, King Dazhou froze and looked upward. He looked toward Su Yu with a trace of confusion. Su Yu snapped, "Endurance, endurance—are you supposed to endure even when you can't endure anymore? Endurance is for the sake of a greater eruption! It doesn't mean enduring endlessly! Enduring endlessly makes you a pig! When you can't endure, then erupt! You excel at lying low and enduring, but endurance must lead to an eruption to yield fruit! Without an eruption, how are you any different from a rock?" King Dazhou's eyes flickered. Endurance and eruption—those were two completely opposite concepts. To erupt while opening the Dao of Endurance? He didn't know if Su Yu was right, but... at this moment, he could also feel Su Yu's immense strain, and even sensed a faint inclination that Su Yu was about to burn his lifespan. King Dazhou took a deep breath. Perhaps! Perhaps... he truly had endured too much. Was endurance meant for a greater eruption? Was this understanding correct? He didn't know! However, he had to try! The next instant, the previously placid King Dazhou saw murderous baleful aura boil within his eyes! Like a powder keg ignited! *Boom!* It was as if he was exploding. What lay at the ultimate extreme of endurance? At this moment, King Dazhou showed everyone: at the extreme of endurance lay the ultimate eruption, bearing boundless wrath and infinite killing intent! *Rumble!* In the middle of the channel, that final unopened sliver was instantly blasted through! King Dazhou's eyes glared wide as he connected the conduit between the two Daos in a single breath! *Rumble!* Between the two Great Daos, the waters began to merge! King Dazhou's aura grew stronger at a pace visible to the naked eye, two completely contradictory dispositions constantly alternating. Endurance, eruption! These dispositions shifted rapidly, as though he had split into two personalities. Seeing this, Su Yu breathed a sigh of relief. The old fellow had finally succeeded. If he hadn't, Su Yu had been preparing to flee—he didn't have much lifespan to burn for him. He swiftly withdrew the great seals, leaped up, and jumped back onto the River of Time. On King Dazhou's end, the waters of the River of Time no longer poured downward, because that channel was already flooded with rule power from the Daos of Endure and Bear. *Boom!* With a massive roar, King Dazhou broke out from the Dao. He appeared before Su Yu in an instant, carrying fury and the intent of eruption. His aura was vastly stronger! Looking at Su Yu, he was utterly different from before—no longer possessing his former humility and forbearance, but seething with wrath: "Your Majesty, my thanks!" "..." *Fuck!* *Why does your expression of thanks look like I murdered your father?* Su Yu was speechless and could only say, "It was nothing." "Your Majesty, are you displeased?" King Dazhou glared with wide eyes. "I am expressing my gratitude, yet you show such displeasure?" *Boom!* Exuding an overwhelmingly powerful aura, King Dazhou stepped forward, glaring furiously. "Your Majesty refuses to accept my thanks?" "..." *Fuck you!* Su Yu knew this old fellow was still adapting to his newly opened Dao. The problem was... *I'm not going to pamper you!* The next instant, Su Yu raised the Star Residence Seal, smashing it down in suppression, and swung his fist straight into King Dazhou's face! He had been annoyed with this guy for a long time anyway. *You asked for this.* *Rumble!* A great battle instantly erupted within the River of Time. ... The battle lasted seven or eight minutes. When the fighting ceased, Su Yu snorted, adjusted his clothes, and said coldly, "Get out!" With that, he stepped through the air on his way back. Behind him, King Dazhou had a bruised and swollen face. No longer furious, he had reverted to forbearance, hanging his head with a somewhat pitiful look as he followed Su Yu out. ... The River of Time was torn open once again. Su Yu emerged, and shortly after, King Dazhou followed. Lan Tian froze, looking at King Dazhou, then at Su Yu, then back at King Dazhou... After a long while, he said in horror, "You... you have this kind of taste?" What was with King Dazhou's thoroughly battered and ravaged expression? The next moment, Lan Tian stopped presenting as a little girl and instantly transformed into a wretched old man. Looking at Su Yu with tender affection, he cooed, "Brother Sovereign Yu..." *Boom!* A fist blasted forth! Su Yu was enraged! *Is there not a single normal person under my command?* With one punch, he sent Lan Tian flying. Turning back to look at King Dazhou, he found King Dazhou wearing an innocent expression as well, whispering, "Your Majesty, my Dao was newly opened and I wasn't used to it. He did it on purpose." *We are not the same!* Su Yu glared at him. Right at that moment, Wan Tiansheng walked out in a daze. Seeing Su Yu, he was just about to speak when Su Yu snapped furiously, "Are you that old? Yingwu and the others, who are over a hundred thousand years old, look like youngsters! Hongmeng is hundreds of thousands of years old, yet he turned into a young man! Are you that old? Dressing up like a wretched old man—who are you trying to sicken?" "..." Wan Tiansheng was utterly bewildered. *What... what did I do? I've maintained this appearance for a long time. Letting nature take its course—I'm a hundred years old, so I'm an old man!* At that moment, the others in the grand hall were also finishing their comprehensions one after another, pricking up their ears to listen. They heard Su Yu scolding, "White beard and white hair—do you think that looks dashing? Acting like an immortal relic—who are you trying to sicken?" "..." In the grand hall, the Destiny Emperor quietly turned his hair black. *Does Su Yu having white hair mean no one else is allowed to have white hair? He looks down on old men now?* The Destiny Emperor instantly rejuvenated himself. Several other Dao Integration experts who had taken elderly forms discreetly shifted into young appearances. All at once, the hall was filled with handsome men and pretty women. Su Yu was on the verge of blowing his top! Even Wan Tiansheng and Lan Tian had taken beatings, and they were his close confidants. It was better to keep a low profile and avoid standing out right now. When Su Yu stepped into the grand hall, he was taken aback. The entire hall was filled with young men and gorgeous women, all appearing around twenty years old. For a moment, it felt like walking into a gathering of youngsters. He glanced at the Destiny Emperor and several others; these people had all been wretched old men earlier, but had suddenly grown young, making Su Yu feel rather awkward looking at them. Thinking back to how he had just scolded Wan Tiansheng... he was somewhat speechless. *Damn it! These people have too much time on their hands!* Feeling a bit helpless and not bothering to harp on it, Su Yu quickly said, "King Dazhou has advanced to Heavenly King—truly a cause for celebration! Director Wan, what about you?" Wan Tiansheng wore an innocent expression. *I just got chewed out by you; are you preparing to scold me again?* He quickly said, "I've reaped immense gains. Give me a little time—ten days... no, three days! Within three days, I will strive to possess Heavenly King combat strength!" Su Yu was surprised. *He really made major gains? Three days? That's quite acceptable.* Su Yu turned his gaze to King Daqin. King Daqin's face stiffened, and he announced loudly, "Three days! In three days, both King Daxia and I will step into second-tier!" *Don't look for trouble with us! Su Yu looks like he's itching to pick a fight!* Su Yu was startled once more. That was fast too—had their gains been substantial as well? He then looked at Doubao. An innocent expression appeared on Doubao's furry face. "Uh... I... my boy reached Eternal!" He hurriedly lifted up the little fur ball. As for himself, his comprehension didn't seem to have progressed much; he was likely still a bit short of reaching Heavenly King. Next, whoever Su Yu's gaze swept over hurriedly reported their progress. Su Yu nodded slightly, somewhat surprised; everyone had made significant gains. At that moment, Tianmie stood amidst the crowd with a deeply aggrieved look. *Sweep your gaze over me! Look at me!* The next instant, seeing that Su Yu wasn't going to ask, Tianmie grew agitated, grit his teeth, and yelled loudly, "I'll step into fourth-tier within three days!" "..." Su Yu glanced at him and nodded. *I can tell! Fourth-tier... do you think I'm blind? Really now!* Seeing this, Tianmie's heart turned cold, and he said frantically, "I... I want to go to the Upper Realm! Once I reach the Upper Realm and bash a few heads in with my club, I'll be third-tier! I want to go to the Upper Realm!" Su Yu had said that those below third-tier wouldn't be considered. Tianmie refused to accept that! He wanted to go up! Su Yu looked at him and suddenly smiled. "Are you sure? Tianmie, you've fought so many battles... why don't you just stay in the Lower Realm? In the Lower Realm, you're still top-notch!" *You haven't won a single fight! Even if you reach fourth-tier, going up will probably just mean taking another beating. Are you sure you want to keep getting beaten up? You'd be better off staying in the Lower Realm.* Tianmie gritted his teeth, feeling stabbed to the heart. He roared furiously, "I want to go to the Upper Realm!" He couldn't take it anymore! That bastard Xinghong was already stronger than him. Now King Dazhou and Wan Tiansheng were either about to step into, or had already stepped into, the Heavenly King level. Hongmeng seemed to have completely stepped into that realm this time as well. By this point, once Marquis Huoyun broke through, Su Yu would possess quite a few Heavenly Kings under his command. If Tianmie didn't catch up, he wouldn't even be left with scraps. Su Yu chuckled and soon said, "We'll see! In three days, I will announce the roster of those heading to the Upper Realm this time! Everyone, consolidate your cultivation well over these three days. When we go up this time... we won't be weaklings anymore!" Lan Tian, King Dazhou, Wan Tiansheng—and if Marquis Huoyun could advance, plus Doubao... Doubao was a bit foolish, but forget it; foolish or not, he was at peak second-tier. Add in those nearing second-tier like Marquis Yunshui, as well as second-tier Dao Integration experts like King Daqin and the others. Ascending again, the strength on Su Yu's side would be utterly terrifying! There was also the little white dog; Su Yu was considering whether to bring it along this time. As for King Wen's former residence, if worst came to worst, he could leave his Human Lord Seal here first to coordinate with Big Wood; suppressing it for a period would be feasible. If he brought the little white dog along, and then stopped by the Iron Eater race to summon Marquis Juzhu... Su Yu calculated for a bit; his combat force would be a massive tier above what it had been when he previously went to the Upper Realm. There was also King Daming... King Daming had also reaped no small harvest in the Ming King Mansion. Judging by his situation, he might soon break through to third-tier, which would make him immensely useful as well. As for Hongmeng, he couldn't be brought to the Upper Realm for the time being. The dead spirit realm still needed someone to suppress it. Only at this moment did Su Yu truly feel that he had talents in abundance and powerhouses like clouds beneath his banner. There was also Chuibing, who possessed third-tier Dao Integration combat strength. Su Yu considered whether to bring him along; this family of three had stepped forward to help him since long ago, and taking them up might yield some rewards. One thought surfaced after another. Soon, Su Yu spoke: "The roster will be announced in three days, and in five days, we head to the Upper Realm together!" By then, nearly ten days would have passed since his disappearance. He wondered if any major upheavals had occurred in the Upper Realm during these ten days.