Surprised or Not?

The New Yu Era—a brand-new age. An age distinct from that of the ancient Human Sovereign! If he relied solely on the Human Sovereign's old subordinates, he could at best be considered a successor, someone carrying forward another's legacy rather than a true pioneer. In truth, Su Yu had not given it that much thought before. Yet now that he knew the Human Sovereign might be at his rope's end, on the verge of perishing, Su Yu understood that certain preparations genuinely had to be made. Since Xia Huyou and the others wanted to go mad, Su Yu was willing to indulge their madness alongside them! …… While the others were diligently cultivating, Su Yu stood boldly within the River of Time. With a grand wave of his hand, he called out, "Take your pick of whichever one catches your eye!" He sounded as though he were proclaiming that this was all territory he had conquered, and they could claim any fiefdom they pleased to become kings! He was acting arrogant, yet the crowd took him completely seriously. At that moment, Xia Huyou squinted and grinned. "I want the human race's Physical Body Dao!" That was a formidable one! Controlling the Physical Body Dao might not instantly elevate someone to the stature of the Human Ancestor, but by Su Yu's estimate, reaching the first tier would not be difficult. The Human Sovereign was first-tier—a first-tier before opening his world—yet the Dao the Human Sovereign originally controlled might not have been stronger than the Human Ancestor's Physical Body Dao. Even now, that Physical Body Dao remained the mightiest Dao Su Yu had ever seen. As for world-openers, they belonged in a separate category altogether. The human race's Physical Body Dao... forget about it. The Human Ancestor might not have abandoned it the way King Wen had simply cast his aside. If he hadn't relinquished it, seizing control of that Dao would be utterly impossible. Acting as though he hadn't heard Xia Huyou's request, Su Yu continued, "Speaking of formidable Daos, the Brush Dao is truly not weak! Look at the Martial Emperor—the Martial Dao he controls isn't even as strong as the Brush Dao, yet he still managed to reach the second tier. If someone truly gains complete control of the Brush Dao, they could very well step into the first tier!" Though Su Yu didn't think much of the Brush Dao, it had originally been King Wen's primary cultivation path. Nobody had known King Wen had opened a world, yet they all called him a first-tier Ruler of Rules. That meant completely mastering the Brush Dao was equivalent to attaining the first tier! That was truly terrifying! Evidently, the first-tier standard everyone had used back then was only relative. If the Human Ancestor's mastery of the Physical Body Dao were measured against those ancient classifications, he likely surpassed the first tier by a wide margin. Unfortunately, the Brush Dao was exceedingly difficult to master! Even Su Yu had expended tremendous effort refining ninety-nine divine characters and deconstructing the Dao just to integrate with it, yet he had never reached the point of total mastery. Back then, once Su Yu merged roughly ninety percent of it, he stopped. Even so, he had already been capable of clashing with Heavenly Venerables. At this thought, Su Yu suddenly addressed them. "Seniors Nan Wujiang and Yun Chen..." The two looked toward him. Su Yu pondered for a moment before saying, "You two command quite a few divine characters and both carry King Wen's inheritance... I believe, perhaps... the two of you could attempt to cultivate this Dao together!" He paused, then added, "The Brush Dao is formidable. Relying on one person's strength might not suffice to master it, and even if you could, it would take far too long. Like me, you both belong to King Wen's lineage. Why not cultivate it together? For instance, one of you could command the power of these divine characters, while the other takes those... Of course, this demands an exceptionally high degree of synchronization!" The Brush Dao was simply too strong. Even though Su Yu had siphoned away a vast amount of its power earlier, it had likely recovered entirely by now. Nan Wujiang fell silent for a time before asking, "Do you mean Yun Chen and I should transform into Dao spirits of the Brush Dao together?" Su Yu nodded. "Yes. If you two can take charge of the Brush Dao—even if only by joining hands—the two of you might ultimately possess the power of a first-tier Ruler of Rules. If you act separately, I suspect you could each reach the second tier as well!" Just like the Physical Body Dao, where more than a few powerhouses had risen to claim kingship. Yun Chen's eyes flickered. "If my teacher and I preside over it together, can we quickly master the Brush Dao?" "It shouldn't be a major issue. You both carry King Wen's inheritance. King Wen might still retain a shred of control, but once he senses your presence, he shouldn't obstruct you!" Besides, even if King Wen wanted to obstruct them, he might not be able to. He was still trapped behind the Heavenly Gate! Su Yu suddenly smiled. "Then it's settled. This Dao suits you both well! Your years of cultivation were practically in preparation for this path. If you don't mind, we could even include Senior Xia Chen. With the three of you taking charge together, I believe the progress will be even faster!" Xia Chen was the first-generation head of the Civilization Academy! It was Xia Chen who had brought out the Civilization Tombstone, and he had cultivated the tombstone's divine character battle art. Now revived, he was still in the process of recovering, and he was currently present among their group. He did not belong to this tide, but he was a member of the Xia family. Since the Xia family had committed to this venture, Xia Chen had no objections. Hearing Su Yu's suggestion, Xia Chen reflected for a moment from behind them before saying, "Your Majesty, after my revival, I merged into Your Majesty's world. Detaching from it now... would likely prove very difficult. I might face severe rejection. It's best to leave me out of it." Su Yu considered this and nodded. "That is possible! It isn't necessarily impossible, but the River of Time might indeed exert some repelling force." "Then there is no need for Your Majesty to disturb the River of Time on my account!" Xia Chen turned toward Nan Wujiang and said slowly, "Wujiang should be capable of it!" Nan Wujiang was his student. Xia Chen had been the first head, while Nan Wujiang had become the third, yet Nan Wujiang was his direct disciple. The second head had been an expert from the Beast Taming Department. He maintained immense faith in this student of his, adding, "Wujiang's talent is genuinely exceptional. It was just that back then, I had only recently come into contact with the Civilization Tombstone and knew very little about divine characters. I had to cross the river by feeling the stones, which ended up holding Wujiang back! When I accepted him in that era, it was precisely because of his great talent, hoping he could inherit King Wen's legacy..." It was a great pity that back then, even Xia Chen had barely understood those mysteries and could only teach by swallowing them whole. That Nan Wujiang had cultivated to his current level proved his innate fortune and brilliance. After deliberating a bit longer, Su Yu said no more on the matter and quickly directed, "Then let us head to the Brush Dao first. Seniors Nan Wujiang and Yun Chen... integrating with the Dao this time will mean transforming into spirits. Ordinary Dao integration won't work; you won't be able to master the Dao swiftly that way. You can only succeed by thoroughly merging with it..." At this crucial juncture, Su Yu still felt compelled to offer a word of caution. It sounded simple enough, but had it been Su Yu himself, he would never have agreed to it. Losing one's physical body and turning one's entire being into part of a Dao—how uncomfortable would that be! Ending up like Doubao was truly a rather pitiful fate. Bai Feng and Wu Lan had wanted to do the same back then, but Su Yu had refused. Now Bai Feng was elsewhere, while Liu Wenyan and the others had all been hidden away by Su Yu. The little fur ball was the guardian Su Yu intended to leave behind. When he headed to the upper reaches, Su Yu would almost certainly not take the little fur ball with him. He would leave it behind to watch over their home! Nan Wujiang, however, wore a faint smile. "It's fine. A spirit is a spirit. This physical body... when you value it, it seems infinitely precious, but when you cast it aside, it isn't something that cannot be relinquished!" Yun Chen also said softly, "My teacher and I gave up facing the enemy head-on back then, choosing instead to hide in the shadows. We had no face left to see anyone anyway. Since that is the case, casting off this face matters not!" He had accepted disciples on his master's behalf, which made him practically Wan Tiansheng's teacher, even if he was nominally Wan Tiansheng's eldest senior brother. Yet to this day, while Wan Tiansheng was polite enough to him and Nan Wujiang, that courtesy lacked the intimacy of the old days. During that era, they had chosen to fake their deaths, leaving Wan Tiansheng utterly lost and bewildered. Later, when Ye Batian died in battle, Wan Tiansheng had single-handedly carried the Multiple Divine Characters Department in secret. When Yun Chen and Nan Wujiang reappeared, Wan Tiansheng had harbored no small amount of resentment, though he rarely brought it up anymore. Su Yu had never pried into this matter. After all, there was a layer of separation between them. Strictly speaking, Nan Wujiang had provided Su Yu with tremendous assistance during his time undercover in the Hunting Heaven Pavilion. But because Old Wan kept his distance, Su Yu had not acted overly intimate either. Pondering it now, Su Yu said, "Once you merge with the Dao, everything starts anew. Debts are cleared with death. I will have a talk with Academy Head Wan! The two of you faded into the shadows merely to seek an opportunity to prove your Dao... It is not my place to judge, but your choices were fundamentally different from Hundred Battles'!" The two said nothing more. Dredging up those past matters held little meaning now. Before long, Su Yu led them into the region of the Brush Dao. As always, the Brush Dao stretched vast and wide. Su Yu probed it and discovered, sure enough, that most of the power he had siphoned away before had restored itself. His own world also contained a Brush Dao, but compared to the one here, it paled into utter insignificance! The others all turned their eyes toward Su Yu. Just how was this process of integrating with the Dao to become a spirit supposed to work? Su Yu stated in a deep voice, "Both of you, reveal all of your divine characters!" Moments later, the two manifested countless divine characters. They coalesced into two distinct divine character battle arts! Both men possessed a great number of divine characters, totaling more than fifty between them. After examining them, Su Yu quickly instructed, "This is my first time guiding someone through merging with a Dao to become a spirit, but I do understand a fair bit from observing Doubao and the others!" He looked toward the pair and said grimly, "You must pour your lives, your seas of will, and your very essence entirely into your divine character battle arts. Use the divine characters to scatter yourselves across the entire Dao, employing the fragmented principles within them to seize hold of the mighty power of the Great Dao. However, a tremendous peril exists in this process... It is frighteningly easy to be corroded by the power of the Dao and thoroughly reduced to a part of it. At that point, you will not be Dao spirits, but rather... mere components of the Dao, dead in every sense of the word!" "Only by retaining your consciousness and using the fragile power of your divine characters to master the Dao can you truly become Dao spirits!" "Throughout this ordeal, the two of you must coordinate flawlessly. Not only must your teamwork be absolute, but you also need unyielding willpower! Stand firm and persevere. When the power of the Dao crashes into you, you will feel the sensation of death—literal, absolute death. If you fail, you will die without question!" Off to the side, Xia Huyou chuckled. "Your Majesty, please don't terrify our two seniors." Su Yu said nothing in retort. He was not trying to scare them; everyone understood the stakes! Surging in strength by leaps and bounds was never that simple! Even so, Su Yu added, "Both King Wen and I have cultivated this Dao before. The aura of this Dao inherently recognizes our lineage! That is our sole advantage!" The two exchanged a glance, and Nan Wujiang smiled. "So you're saying that if we succeed, we have a strong chance of completely mastering the Brush Dao in short order?" "Yes!" "And the potential of the Brush Dao is greater than that of ordinary Daos?" "Naturally!" Nan Wujiang laughed heartily. "Good! As expected of one of our own, a true member of our Multiple Divine Characters Department! Even at a time like this, you knew to pick a prime Dao for us! If we mastered other Daos, we'd top out as fourth-tier Rulers of Rules at best, wouldn't we?" "Yes!" Su Yu nodded. That was indeed the truth. However, the difficulty would have been vastly lower. The stronger the Dao, the more crushing the backlash would be for the two of them. Nan Wujiang drew a deep breath and smiled. "Good! Su Yu, send us into the Brush Dao. We know what must be done!" At this moment, he addressed him directly as Su Yu. Su Yu regarded the pair, fell silent for a breath, and then reached out with his hand. The river's flow momentarily hitched under his grip, exposing a breach in the neighboring Brush Dao. Su Yu seized the two men and flew straight toward the opening! Arriving at the threshold of the Brush Dao, Su Yu set them down and said solemnly, "If you truly cannot bear it..." "Nonsense!" Nan Wujiang chuckled. "Xuan Jiu, your grandpa here isn't a coward either! But regarding what happened back then, this grandpa of yours still has to offer a few words of explanation!" Nan Wujiang smiled openly now. "Back then, after my master Xia Chen fell, the Multiple Divine Characters Department went from prosperity to ruin. The myriad races were subtly targeting us, and even among our own human race, King Jintian... was likely plotting against us in the dark. King Daxia sensed that something was amiss and ordered me to go into hiding! I only did so because I was acting under King Daxia's orders. So if anyone is to be blamed, I refuse to carry the blame—let King Daxia bear it!" "That old bastard now acts completely innocent. He and Tiansheng serve in the same court, and now that Tiansheng has grown stronger than him, that old bastard keeps his mouth shut out of fear that Tiansheng will settle scores. What a shameless old dog!" "Yun Chen had it hard as well, spending decades, nearly a century, as the Primal Cult Master... All of this was the doing of that grandson King Daxia!" Su Yu chuckled. Up above, within the river currents, Xia Huyou and Marquis Xia both grimaced. This... this was hardly appropriate! Who are you calling a grandson? Xia Chen wore a bitter smile as well, but Nan Wujiang paid it no mind, continuing with a laugh, "My master Xia Chen is King Daxia's ancestor! As my master's disciple, I am also King Daxia's ancestor! The Xia family has a low generational standing; calling him my grandson is elevating his status! Su Yu, if Yun Chen and I survive, act as though I never said a word today. If we die... tell Tiansheng that it doesn't matter if he refuses to acknowledge me as his master. In truth, I never taught him much anyway. But back in those days, Yun Chen truly raised him like a son. Seeing Tiansheng treat him like this now... Yun Chen feels deeply disheartened..." From the moment Wan Tiansheng had entered the academy in his mid-teens, Yun Chen had kept him by his side, instructing him for years before finally vanishing without a trace. Now that Wan Tiansheng directed his resentment toward Yun Chen as well, Yun Chen naturally felt crestfallen. Su Yu nodded with a smile, offering no further comment. The next instant, the two plunged into the Brush Dao. In a flash, their physical bodies shattered, dissolving completely into their divine character battle arts. The two battle arts surged directly toward the depths of the Brush Dao. The moment they entered, ordinary eyes could no longer see them, but with his Heavenly Gate open, Su Yu saw everything with pristine clarity! A torrent of Brush Dao power battered the two battle arts, instantly throwing them into turmoil and threatening to scatter them! It was too overpowering! The duo lacked sufficient strength. Forcibly merging now would only end in assimilation! Su Yu took a deep breath. His Heavenly Gate manifested abruptly, suddenly suppressing the Great Dao as he bellowed, "King Wen, lend me a hand to suppress the disturbances in the Brush Dao!" Boom! The Heavenly Gate bore down! At that moment, an illusory silhouette faintly emerged within the Brush Dao. Su Yu gave a cold snort. "I knew you were here! Last time you lied to me, saying there were no traps left in the Brush Dao. As a scholar, leaving no backup measures in your own Dao? I'd have to be a fool to believe you!" Previously, when Su Yu had visited the King Wen Mansion, an illusory phantom of King Wen had appeared, telling Su Yu that he had left nothing behind, no backup plans whatsoever, and that the Brush Dao was completely free of traps. Su Yu hadn't believed a single word! Sure enough, now that the Brush Dao was suppressed, King Wen's phantom sensed it and materialized. The silhouette appeared somewhat mechanical, its back turned toward all living beings. Su Yu had no patience for his theatrical posturing. He reached out, manifesting ninety-nine divine characters that instantly formed an arrow pointing upward. "I am the successor of the Brush Dao! This Dao belongs to me—aid me in suppressing the Brush Dao!" The silhouette trembled slightly. The next moment, a chuckle sounded. "My successor has arrived. That you could discover me indicates you have reached a profound level. In the past, I merely worried you would be unable to master the Brush Dao..." Evidently, this was still a pre-recorded sequence! It was almost certainly an excuse concocted in advance to guard against being discovered by the successor of the Brush Dao. To hell with that! Su Yu couldn't be bothered to engage him politely. "Putting on airs! I spit on your face, you idiot! Can you even curse back at me?" Yet King Wen's silhouette merely continued, "To have discovered me means your mastery over the Brush Dao has reached a very high level. Excellent. I am thoroughly pleased..." "You fool!" "Splendid!" "You blockhead!" "It seems my high hopes for you were not in vain!" "..." At this moment, what ought to have been a solemn affair was turned into a farce by Su Yu, leaving the spectators wanting to laugh. Su Yu showed no restraint either, immediately recording the scene. Curling his lip, he said, "When I meet King Wen in the future, I'll play this for him to see how utterly disgraceful he was. Even while I curse him, he heaps praise on me!" "..." Please, act like a decent human being! Everyone stood speechless. King Wen... was truly pitiful. This was merely King Wen's phantom, yet it was overly scripted. Now Su Yu was taking full advantage of it. "It seems it really is just an automated script. What a waste!" Su Yu's Heavenly Gate shuddered. With a mighty boom, he shattered King Wen's silhouette. Forget it—King Wen was better off not maintaining any control here, as it would only get in the way. With King Wen's phantom present, the difficulty of Yun Chen and Nan Wujiang's integration would only escalate! Not only did Su Yu obliterate King Wen's phantom, but he also quietly extracted an illusory imprint from the Brush Dao—one belonging to himself. Up in the river, the onlookers exchanged glances... all of them grimacing. These... these scholars truly had hardly any good bones in their bodies. Su Yu had spent all that time cursing King Wen, only to turn around and leave an imprint of his own in the Brush Dao! Su Yu offered an explanation: "I merely didn't want outsiders taking control of the Brush Dao, so I left a small imprint behind to prevent anyone else from taking advantage!" Fine. No one dared argue. Just don't go around cursing King Wen anymore—you two are cut from the very same cloth! …… At the same time. Behind the Heavenly Gate. Within the endless void. King Wen's physical body twitched slightly. He raised an eyebrow. "What is he up to now?" Didn't that kid open his own world last time? He already abandoned my Brush Dao—why the hell did he go and blow up the remnant phantom in my Brush Dao again? Does he have nothing better to do? Beside him, King Wu said in bewilderment, "I didn't do anything!" "I wasn't talking about you!" "Then are you talking about your old man?" King Wu retorted instantly. If you weren't talking about me, were you talking about your father? "..." King Wen felt a powerful urge to beat him to death. This dunce had actually learned to talk back! He couldn't be bothered to engage and simply shook out his white robes, remarking, "There might have been some upheaval in the myriad realms recently." "Did that son of yours kick the bucket?" "..." Not a single decent word ever came out of his mouth! Exasperated to the extreme, King Wen snapped, "Shut up!" With a heavy tone, he continued, "Whether it's good or bad is impossible to determine for now. But after so many years, no one has come searching for us... which means the situation isn't great. And it's all thanks to you, you idiot!" "Tch, if I hadn't come to rescue you, you'd have died long ago!" King Wen had no retort for that. Dropping the subject, he said briskly, "Enough of that. The situation in the myriad realms is unclear. When that kid showed up last time, his circumstances didn't seem great either! We shouldn't count on anyone coming to our rescue... As long as the myriad realms don't need our rescue, that's already a blessing! I worry Wen Yu won't be able to hold out much longer..." At these words, King Wu's expression grew solemn as well. "Then... are we going to save her now?" "Yes! We must hurry! It hasn't been easy for that girl to endure until now. My injuries have largely healed..." "Keep bragging!" King Wu deflated him with a quip, then quickly asked, "Do you think there's any way to get that kid to open the Heavenly Gate again? If nothing else, do you think there's any hope of shifting your world in here?" "No chance, unless we find the true body of the Heavenly Gate, which is immensely difficult... It's fine. I can still project power in through the Heavenly Gate phantom!" King Wen smiled. "My strength will merely suffer a slight dip. Besides, we have no way to contact that kid right now anyway." "Even you can't? Not even through the Heavenly Gate phantom?" "No, the difficulty is too great unless his Heavenly Gate grows powerful enough, which is obviously impossible. When I saw him last time, he probably hadn't even reached the Ruler of Rules realm..." After speaking for a while, King Wen quickly said, "Never mind that. That kid went running off to my Brush Dao again. I wonder what he's doing. Could it be that he failed at opening a world and ran back to inherit the Brush Dao?" He shook his head and sighed! Most likely! What a pity! Failing at world-opening and being forced to inherit the Brush Dao meant the kid had no hope of becoming a supreme powerhouse. King Wu, on the other hand, was not surprised. He merely shook his head. "That kid acted so arrogant last time, I thought he was a hundred percent certain to succeed in opening a world. Turns out he still failed. If we run into him again, I'm going to mock him to death!" Arrogant for nothing! In the end, he still fell flat on his face! King Wen said nothing more. With his Brush Dao phantom shattered, he had no way of sensing what unfolded next. …… Su Yu paid no heed to any of that. Having shattered King Wen's silhouette and extracted his own remnant imprint, Su Yu promptly used his Heavenly Gate to stabilize the river. An illusory phantom of a massive seal materialized, then plunged into the river with a deafening crash to continue suppressing the Brush Dao! Within the Brush Dao, the two divine character battle arts were on the verge of being utterly crushed! Faintly, two figures emerged, both badly frayed. Su Yu frowned slightly. There was still no sign of spirit transformation, which meant the pair had yet to gain even the slightest control over the Brush Dao. If this continued, failure was ninety-nine percent certain! Once those silhouettes completely disintegrated, even if they transformed into spirits, it would mean their memories were entirely wiped out! When that happened, they would just become another Doubao or Chubing! The Brush Dao was still convulsing violently! Su Yu went silent for a moment. This wouldn't do. Left with no choice, he had to resort to his ultimate measure! The next instant, Su Yu tore through the river and vanished in a flash, his voice trailing behind: "Hold on for a moment! I'll be right back!" The moment he disappeared, the smiles vanished from everyone's faces! Marquis Xia said heavily, "Trouble!" It seemed their very first step was running into obstacles. Su Yu was not yet powerful enough to single-handedly suppress the Brush Dao, nor was he strong enough to suppress the River of Time. If things continued like this, Nan Wujiang and Yun Chen would die completely. Yet before long, Su Yu returned! This time, he arrived carrying a massive mountain on his shoulders. With an earth-shattering boom, the great mountain crashed into the River of Time, instantly serving as a dam that halted the river's flow. Seeing this, Su Yu's eyes lit up, and he dove straight into the Brush Dao! Boom! His aura erupted to suppress the Brush Dao, and his Heavenly Gate manifested once more to pin it down! Seeing the Brush Dao stabilize significantly, Su Yu roared, "Quickly, seize this opportunity to suppress the Brush Dao!" The two phantoms shuddered. The Brush Dao... had actually been locked down! Was Su Yu truly that powerful? Well, there was no time to ponder such things now—suppressing the Brush Dao came first! …… At the same time. Within Su Yu's world. King Dazhou suddenly opened his eyes and rapidly swept his gaze across his surroundings. The next instant, his jaw dropped, sheer horror washing over his face as he let out a shrill scream. Nearby, figures quickly approached. Wan Tiansheng asked in a heavy voice, "What are you doing?" King Dazhou opened and closed his mouth, then let out a dry laugh and howled, "My throat was itchy, so I shouted a few times! Aaaaah!" He screamed frantically! Where was the Human Mountain? Aaaaah! How had the Human Mountain vanished? Where had Su Yu run off to with the Human Mountain? "Lunatic!" Wan Tiansheng was at a loss for words. Had the man been pushed over the edge by Su Yu's constant pressure? Surely not. Why would he suddenly lose his mind like this? Yet King Dazhou paid him no mind, screeching endlessly as he looked all around and shouted, "Where is His Majesty? I need to see him!" "I don't know. He probably went to the River of Time, likely to siphon off some power." "The River of Time?" King Dazhou's expression changed drastically. Damn it all, the boy hadn't taken the Human Mountain to suppress the river, had he? Could you act like a decent human being... please? Moreover, had this brat... already guessed the truth? His face cycled through various shades before he let out another shrill roar: "Ah, what beautiful weather we're having today!" "You're out of your mind!" Wan Tiansheng shook his head helplessly. What a lunatic! He cast a suspicious glance at King Dazhou, then surveyed their surroundings. What had gotten into King Dazhou? There was no reason for him to throw a tantrum out of nowhere! Meanwhile, King Dazhou wailed for a bit longer. Seeing Wan Tiansheng looking around, he suddenly burst into laughter. "Wan Tiansheng, His Majesty isn't here? Hahaha, you're dead!" Boom! A Silence divine character shot out as King Dazhou threw a punch. No, I need someone to vent on, and Wan Tiansheng is the perfect target! I'm a Ruler of Rules, and he isn't! I'll beat you to death, you grandson! I'll beat you to death, you treacherous official! Rumble! A series of thunderous concussions drew countless onlookers, all watching as Wan Tiansheng was beaten black and blue. Every one of them wore bizarre expressions. What madness had seized King Dazhou? Attacking Wan Tiansheng out of nowhere—weren't you afraid Su Yu would settle scores when he returned? Bizarre! King Dazhou didn't care in the slightest. I have to thrash him for a while; if I don't, I fear I'll die of sheer fury! …… At this moment, Su Yu had no mind to care about what was happening back there. Even though he sensed the ripples within his world, he couldn't be bothered to investigate. Most likely, King Dazhou had noticed that the Human Mountain was missing! Scare that old fellow to death! Truth be told, the Human Mountain was truly formidable. It felt far more potent than the Star Yu Seal. When used to suppress the river, it stood as immovable as a mountain—truly magnificent! The Brush Dao had also been individually suppressed by Su Yu. After a time, the Brush Dao shook violently. Before long, with a thunderous roar, the tremors subsided. Then, two ghost-like entities drifted out from the Brush Dao. Nan Wujiang asked in confusion, "It felt like... transforming into a spirit wasn't that difficult?" Su Yu let out a dry chuckle. Not difficult? Even as a world-opener and a second-tier Ruler of Rules, I likely couldn't have pulled it off alone. Do you have any idea how high a price was paid just to turn you two into spirits? Forget it, better left unsaid! He needed to hurry, or King Dazhou would truly lose his mind! Su Yu said briskly, "You have just merged with the Dao and become spirits. Familiarize yourselves with your state while I take the others forward! Also... taking a cue from the God-Devouring race, I think the little fur ball's appearance looks quite good. You two shouldn't take human form—it's terrifying, like looking at ghosts!" Everyone was speechless. Could a ghost even frighten you? And turning into a fur ball... how humiliating would that be? …… Su Yu paid no attention to their complaints, relentlessly leading those willing to transform into spirits to their chosen Daos. Take your pick of whichever Dao you want! Whichever one you fancy, we'll conquer it! Even if the Dao already had an owner, it didn't matter. While Daos with owners made spirit transformation harder, if someone actually managed to transform, it proved the current owner's control was shallow. If they ever crossed paths later, they could even set a trap for the original owner. Aside from those transforming into spirits, there were others integrating with Daos, siphoning off Dao power... Regardless, Su Yu ignored all constraints, whether it meant forcibly helping them merge or draining half the Dao's power before stuffing them inside. At this stage, no one cared about the consequences anymore! A bunch of madmen coercing Su Yu, the only sane person, to help them grow stronger left him thoroughly exasperated. Meanwhile, the Human Mountain took over the role of the Star Yu Seal, yielding even better results! …… After settling those transforming into spirits and integrating with Daos, Su Yu forcibly helped others open their yang apertures. Once the yang apertures were unsealed, he rushed without pause toward the dead spirit realm to help Liu Hong relocate his Dao. Naturally, the Human Mountain was hauled along to suppress the Dead Spirit Dao; otherwise, the task would have been immensely difficult! It had to be said, the Human Mountain's efficacy was top-tier! It could suppress the River of Time, let alone the Dead Spirit Dao. …… In the dead spirit realm, Su Yu was gasping for breath from exhaustion, having finally relocated Liu Hong's Ink Dao to the intersection. Yet the moment the relocation was complete, Liu Hong shamelessly pushed his luck. "Your Majesty, since you've already moved it, why not help expand my Dao a little?" "..." To hell with your ancestors! Go die! Su Yu couldn't even be bothered to look at him. Before long, he rushed back to the River of Time to extract power from the Physical Body Dao to help those who had opened their yang apertures grow stronger. At present, this faction's strength was not worth mentioning. Even Nan Wujiang and Yun Chen, who had merged with the Brush Dao, had only completed an initial integration and could not exert much of its power. However, as long as they were given a little time, those who had transformed into spirits and opened their yang apertures would soon become powerhouses! …… This undertaking consumed a significant amount of time. Three days later, an utterly exhausted Su Yu carried the Human Mountain back to his world. Over those three days, King Dazhou, that lunatic, had gone around challenging everyone to single combat, fighting more battles in three days than he likely had in his entire lifetime! When Su Yu returned, the scene that greeted him was King Dazhou being pinned to the ground and ruthlessly pummeled by seven or eight Rulers of Rules! All around them, a crowd of figures with swollen, bruised faces that had yet to recover were cheering enthusiastically! "Beat him to death!" "Kill that grandson!" "The nerve! His Majesty was only gone for three days and this guy tried to rebel! Beat him to death!" "..." A gathering of bruised and battered individuals gritted their teeth in fury! Infuriating! King Dazhou had picked fights for no good reason, and now he was finally being pinned down and beaten! Only when Su Yu dumped the Human Mountain to the side with a thunderous crash that shook the world did everyone cease their brawl. King Dazhou, battered black and blue with eyes so swollen he could barely see, breathed a sigh of relief upon spotting the Human Mountain touch down. He looked toward Su Yu, who was walking over from the distance, intending to say something. Before he could speak, someone lodged a complaint: "Your Majesty, the moment you left, King Dazhou rebelled and nearly beat Academy Head Wan to death!" Su Yu narrowed his eyes and chuckled, looking at King Dazhou with a beaming smile. "King Dazhou, I barely stepped away and you're up to your antics again? Forget it, I won't hold it against you. I'm not an unreasonable person. When we meet the Human Sovereign later, just put in a good word for me!" "..." King Dazhou bared his teeth. What kind of 'good word' do you want? Right now, I want nothing more than to hammer you to death! Su Yu's smile remained radiant. He ignored the man. Scared out of your wits, weren't you, old fellow? You were probably genuinely terrified this time—serves you right! Without lingering on the topic, Su Yu said briskly, "Alright, disperse! Go cultivate diligently. Are all of you that idle? If you're truly that bored, I'll summon the Martial Emperor back to spar with you!" In an instant, the area cleared as everyone fled. Forget it! Who would want to fight the Martial Emperor? That was simply courting death! Su Yu glanced at King Dazhou with a chuckle and quickly vanished as well. King Dazhou lingered in place for a while, inadvertently casting a glance at the Human Mountain. The moment he saw the pits and pockmarks covering its surface, his face went completely pale. Holy hell! What did you actually use it for? This... this was corrosion from the waters of Time! Did that bastard Su Yu take the Human Mountain to bathe in the River of Time? And it clearly wasn't just a brief dip! Faintly, a glimmer of golden radiance could be seen on the Human Mountain. Pale-faced, King Dazhou hurriedly flew toward the mountain, disappearing into it moments later. Soon after, the golden light on the mountain faded into nothingness. …… In the distance, Su Yu's figure materialized, chuckling softly. Thrilling, wasn't it? It ought to have been thrilling enough! Still, it hadn't been intentional on his part this time. Without the Human Mountain, resolving those troubles would have been far too difficult. It could only be called a coincidence! "Once I siphon a bit more Dao power to strengthen my world, I'll need to figure out a way to get a grasp on the front-line situation first!" Back then, he had thought that bringing over a dozen Rulers of Rules to the rescue would leave the Human Sovereign thoroughly stunned. Now... forget about it. Whether the Human Sovereign was surprised or not didn't matter. What mattered was not shocking the myriad races so badly that they panicked and fought to the death! "In the eyes of the powerhouses of the myriad races, several new Rulers of Rules were born among them this time, and none of them died. That could serve as an entry point!" Su Yu calculated rapidly in his mind. Should he disguise himself? Disguising himself wouldn't be easy! The Human Sovereign and his forces were blocking the way ahead! It wasn't as though he would encounter the powerhouses of the myriad races first! Forget it. Later, he would find a way to summon Xingyue again to inquire about the situation. Of course, summoning her too frequently risked attracting the attention of the myriad races, which would also be troublesome.