Successive Breakthroughs

All he had done was fuse a past body, yet it had uncovered so much gossip. More importantly, it was gossip about himself. Then there was King Dazhou being called a powerhouse of seven Daos. Did "seven Daos" refer to seven Great Daos, or was it a specific cultivation realm or designation of strength? "And... Wen's bloodline. If people with Wen's bloodline were everywhere in Nanyuan, that phantom wouldn't necessarily have had to choose me, right? Could the power of destiny—the destiny of the future—actually reach back and influence the past?" If that was true, could the phantom's choice have had something to do with Su Yu's journey into his memories today? If so, that was terrifying. If a powerhouse in the future was strong enough, could they truly affect the past? Yet without fusing the Time Record, there would never have been a future Su Yu to begin with. It was a paradox, making it impossible to say for sure. Su Yu asked suddenly, "Now that I've fused my past body from this period, can I travel back again and fuse another?" Wan Tiansheng shook his head immediately. "Impossible. The past is unique, while the future holds tens of millions of possibilities! Once you fuse a past body, you've absorbed the past of that era. You won't get another chance!" Su Yu felt a twinge of regret. In truth, he had wanted to view the memories just a moment earlier—such as the exact instant the phantom first appeared—to see where King Dazhou had been hiding. Just then, Su Yu remembered something and glanced toward the Southern King. She had seemed somewhat off earlier. Noticing Su Yu's gaze, the Southern King said in a somber tone, "That man... might truly be Xing, just as King Dazhou said. His voice sounded faintly familiar... Xing... The era Xing lived in wasn't actually that distant from ours. He and the Dead Spirit Emperor Sovereign might belong to the same era..." Su Yu had originally intended to bring the Dead Spirit Emperor Sovereign along, but the sovereign had shown resistance to his own origin. Su Yu guessed it was because the Dead Spirit Emperor Sovereign's origin had already unified. Those whose origins were fully united left no distinct imprint in the past, meaning he likely could not enter the River of Memory. Chen wasn't present either. Otherwise, he might have recognized the phantom's identity. Still, the Southern King's attitude seemed strange. Weren't you a devoted admirer of King Wen? Why did hearing Xing's voice make you act so peculiar? "Did you have any dealings with Xing, Southern King?" Su Yu asked. The Southern King fell silent for a moment before replying, "No. But... I vaguely recall that he once visited my race and had a relationship with one of our Celestial Maidens!" Celestial Maiden! Su Yu's heart stirred. The Celestial Clan! Sure enough, he had previously guessed that the Southern King belonged to either the Celestial Clan or the Soul Clan. As it turned out, she truly was from the Celestial Clan. "Celestial Maiden" seemed to be the title for a leader of their people. The Southern King said heavily, "That Celestial Maiden... met a tragic end later on. That Xing isn't a good person. In your words, he's just an old scumbag!" Is that so? Su Yu was surprised. There was gossip like that too? Then again, the Southern King was ancient enough. From the sound of it, she had heard Xing's voice during the early Taigu era or the end of the Sky-Opening era, making her a contemporary of someone like Chen. Su Yu had never pried into the Southern King's past. If someone didn't bring up their history, he wouldn't ask. Now, however, he couldn't help asking, "Southern King... are you a figure from the end of the Sky-Opening era?" The Southern King snapped, "I died young, so I'm not that old!" "..." What kind of phrasing was that? I never said you were old. Speechless! Women, huh! Just because you died young means you aren't old? Tch! Fine, whatever you say. The Southern King added, "He should indeed be Xing, but he entered the Heavenly Gate long ago. He actually survived! Why did he come out? To look for Xingyu... Technically speaking, Xingyu should be his descendant. Who knows which woman that old scumbag had children with!" Su Yu was at a loss for words. Hearing the lingering resentment in her tone, a sudden, almost unbelievable thought struck him. He whispered, "Southern King... you wouldn't happen to be Xing's daughter, would you?" "Ha!" The Southern King sneered. "How could that be! It's just that... the Celestial Maiden he toyed with back then was an elder of mine who came to a miserable end. Seeing him puts me in a foul mood!" So that was it. Alright then! Su Yu didn't press further. It was ancient history from countless years ago; everyone involved would have their own side of the story. Suddenly, another thought struck him. "According to his words, people like Wen might also be alive and trapped behind the Heavenly Gate, including Xing. Since he's so powerful, why didn't he help King Wen and the others?" According to the imprint the Time Master had left behind back then, she had been on the verge of ruin, and her brother, King Wen, had also been pushed to the brink, unable to withstand their formidable foes. She hadn't mentioned anyone helping them! Why was that? King Dazhou murmured faintly, "Your Majesty, they... might not necessarily be stronger than King Wen!" "Hmm?" Su Yu was taken aback. King Dazhou offered a bitter smile. "Your Majesty... they are ancient and powerful, but saying they must be stronger than King Wen... isn't necessarily true! Under the classifications of our era, King Wen was first-class! If there's a level beyond first-class today... King Wen might be above first-class! Your Majesty, King Wen is a true supreme powerhouse. Don't assume he's weak..." Why did Su Yu assume every ancient figure was stronger than King Wen? King Dazhou added, "King Wen and His Majesty the Human Sovereign are the mightiest beings to have emerged after the Taigu era! They anchored the myriad realms, serving as the pillars who suppressed all races and all sovereigns! That was why, as long as King Wen and the Human Sovereign were present, the human race could easily suppress the myriad realms even though we had far fewer rulers of rules than our enemies. But as soon as one was gone, disaster quickly struck." In short, King Wen was terrifyingly strong! Su Yu nodded. King Dazhou continued, "Deducing from current circumstances, King Wen and the Human Sovereign are supreme powerhouses second only to the likes of the Dead Spirit Lord. As for the Human Sovereign's ancestor, Xing, he might not even be as strong as the Human Ancestor... In fact, he almost certainly wasn't! By modern accounts, the Human Ancestor was the master of humanity, while Xing and his peers were merely tribal leaders under him... Their strength fell short of the Human Ancestor's!" "Even the Human Ancestor matching the Dead Spirit Lord is merely a legend. Powerhouses like Xing were inferior to the Human Ancestor, which means they are almost certainly no match for King Wen and his peers..." Su Yu said in surprise, "So what you're saying is, he might only be a first-class powerhouse? He's not as strong as the current King Wen?" "That is my judgment!" Su Yu nodded. It made sense. But then he frowned. "Then what about him exiting the Heavenly Gate and claiming he had to suppress it..." King Dazhou felt weary. "If he could easily come out, he would have done so long ago. I suspect he only managed to squeeze out briefly by piggybacking on the Time Master's power. His strength is almost certainly inferior to the Dead Spirit Lord's!" Thinking it over carefully, Su Yu agreed. "In other words, his strength... might not even match the Time Master's? Perhaps the Time Master struck with all her might to blast open a fissure in the Heavenly Gate, and he merely took advantage of the opening to slip through?" "Most likely!" King Dazhou spoke again. Su Yu rubbed his chin, looking at him. Why was he so certain? King Dazhou sighed wearily. "Actually... it isn't hard to guess. He called me a supreme powerhouse of seven Daos... That means... ahem, his strength is likely ordinary! Your Majesty, do you think King Wen or the Human Sovereign would ever look at me and call me a supreme powerhouse of seven Daos?" "..." Su Yu's jaw dropped. Damn, that makes total sense! I can't even refute that. Su Yu laughed. "So he really might only be a first-class powerhouse." *Only?* King Dazhou didn't even know how to respond to that. Had the first-class tier—the level of ancient human kings and the Human Sovereign—really fallen to the point where someone could say "only"? After thinking for a moment, King Dazhou said, "I don't know the exact details, but he is most likely not as strong as the Human Sovereign. You heard him say he was looking for Xingyu, and he referred to Xingyu as a supreme powerhouse... That implies he is likely inferior to the Human Sovereign!" Fair enough! Hearing King Dazhou's reasoning, Su Yu agreed. "So he merely borrowed the Time Master's power to escape. However, I suspect he had little contact with her. He might have known some things and observed from the shadows, but he probably never communicated with the Time Master or King Wen... Otherwise, if the Time Record was sent to find the Human Sovereign or return home, the Time Master wouldn't have left it unsaid!" Su Yu narrowed his eyes. "Therefore, these figures might not be allies!" Seeing the Time Master fall into peril, he hadn't helped, but had instead shadowed the Time Record out of the gate. Had he come to summon reinforcements? Or did he have an ulterior motive? Either way, this Xing wasn't necessarily a good guy, and he might not even be as strong as his distant descendant, the Human Sovereign. At this point, Su Yu fell silent. A terrifying aura surged from his body, his physical frame rumbling and cracking continuously! His past body was immense! Xing's power and the Time Record's power had both converged upon Su Yu at that very moment in his past. His six-year-old self was bound to be extraordinarily powerful! Yet just as everyone expected Su Yu to fuse with his past body, he suddenly reached out, yanked young Su Yu from the stream, and shattered him with a single punch... "..." Everyone was stunned! Ignoring their shock, Su Yu continued devouring the origin power. As he absorbed it, he explained, "There is only one Su Yu. What past or future? I don't need to integrate every single aspect of them; extracting the origin power is enough!" "There might be some slight loss of strength this way, but it prevents the scenario where having one body blown to pieces leaves the others weakened..." The Southern King couldn't hold back. "You... you beat your own childhood self to death?" How utterly ruthless! He wasn't even human! Su Yu explained, "That wasn't me, nor was it my childhood self. It was merely an imprint of my origin..." "You beat your childhood self to death! You killed little Su Yu!" The Southern King was being stubborn now. Regardless of whether it was an imprint, he had ruthlessly slaughtered his six-year-old self! Su Yu was terrifyingly cruel! Su Yu sighed. Women, honestly! What did she mean, his childhood self? It was just an imprint! If I take a photo of myself and tear it up, does that mean I murdered myself? What kind of logic is that! He simply didn't want a six-year-old Su Yu suddenly popping up beside him during a battle to throw punches. That would be utterly ridiculous! Besides, fusing the three bodies wasn't about gaining two extra lives. He didn't need that. All Su Yu required was origin power. He continued, "If you don't shatter it now and choose to fuse it conventionally, the three bodies will divide your strength. Only when all three unite do you grow stronger; once separated, your power declines... That's not a good thing. So if you cultivate the three-body art, you either don't fuse at all, or you shatter your past and future the moment you channel them, absorbing them directly into yourself!" The men understood his reasoning, and the Southern King understood it as well, though she still muttered, "You're too cruel. Such a young child, living through so much hardship with his mother passing away early, and you still beat him to death!" "That was me!" Su Yu threw his hands up in defeat. "Southern King, stop letting your sympathy run wild, will you? That was me!" If anyone deserved sympathy, it was me, not a phantom imprint! What are you even doing? The Southern King pondered it and nodded. True enough, that had been Su Yu's own experience. She mused, "You were cuter as a child. How about... whenever nobody is around in the future, you revert to your childhood appearance? You'd look much more endearing that way!" Get lost! Su Yu was speechless. If you were a man, I'd beat you until you bawled your eyes out! What kind of nonsense is that! King Dazhou and the others choked back their laughter. Su Yu ignored them, steadily absorbing the origin power to strengthen himself. As his flesh swelled and cracked, he let out a sigh and shook his head. "It seems I can't fuse multiple past and future bodies. My origin hasn't been completely absorbed yet... and my physical body can't take in any more... In that case, the only option is to use the Human Lord Seal to anchor a future body... I'll merge with it when fighting and toss it aside when I don't need it!" "Once I'm strong enough and my physical body can bear it, I'll beat that future body to death and devour it too..." Hearing him speak so casually about beating himself to death made their hair stand on end. This guy was truly ruthless—ruthless to enemies, and even more ruthless to himself! Su Yu paused, thinking, then added, "The future body... doesn't need to be too strong. It just needs to be close to my current level. Otherwise, a future that is too distant and illusory is completely unreliable! I've always felt that the future body is the most untrustworthy part of the art. Its power is ephemeral, and... it might even involve borrowing strength!" The others looked toward him. Wan Tiansheng said solemnly, "Do you mean that fusing a future body is actually borrowing power... borrowing strength from a specific moment in time?" Su Yu nodded. "Put it this way: suppose I fuse a future body from a moment when I become first-class. It might have no negative impact now, but when I actually reach that level and arrive at that exact moment, my future self might suddenly lose all power... because my past self borrowed it!" "Power doesn't appear out of thin air!" Su Yu smiled. "Take my past body, for instance. What I borrowed just now was the power of the Time Record and Xing from that era, temporarily siphoned by me! That's why the Time Record couldn't recover for so many years! A future body must not be too strong. If you siphon too much power, your future self might end up dying during a crucial battle... Therefore, avoid fusing a future body if you can. And if you must, don't fuse too much!" The group fell into deep thought. Wan Tiansheng asked, "If I only fuse the self of the very next moment, will I lose my strength in that next moment?" Su Yu considered it. "Perhaps! We can test it. Usually, people choose their strongest possible moment when fusing a future body, rather than the immediate next second..." At this point, Su Yu grinned. "I could give it a try. However, in the next moment, I might have my future strength drained by myself, entering a weakened state. I don't know how long that weakness will last! If you're interested, we can run an experiment!" They weren't particularly busy at the moment, so testing it was fine. There was no rush to head to the upper reaches immediately anyway. Once Su Yu had an idea, he would put it into action. With a flick of his wrist, Su Yu summoned a grand seal—the Human Lord Seal, a supreme artifact! Still standing within the River of Memory, he didn't venture far this time. Right at the entrance, he reached downstream and plucked out a Su Yu who was virtually indistinguishable from his current self! The moment this Su Yu appeared, he merged into the Human Lord Seal. A figure of Su Yu hovered above the seal, radiating immense power. In a flash, he merged into Su Yu's body. Su Yu didn't shatter this future body; even if he did, his flesh could not absorb any more power right now. Still, this future body was formidable! Its strength was on par with Su Yu's current level. Right now, Su Yu's baseline strength was already climbing, hovering near the threshold of second-class, much like the Martial Emperor just before breaking through. This was outside his own world, representing a substantial enhancement! Inside his world, Su Yu would rank among the stronger second-class powerhouses, though still shy of first-class. Yet now, he had a future body! The moment the future body merged with him, Su Yu's aura shifted violently. With a thunderous boom, the river shook, and the group was ejected from the currents. Su Yu's aura, however, surged with boundless power. King Dazhou took one look and drew a sharp breath. Having merged with his future body, Su Yu had truly reached second-class! Even outside his world, he was second-class! Then inside his world, had he reached first-class? This was terrifying! Su Yu's world had only been opened recently! Su Yu smiled. "Don't stare. Even inside my world, I haven't reached first-class. The gap between first-class and second-class is significant!" He could feel it himself. In the classifications King Wen and the others used, each tier had a distinct boundary! He could sense that barrier! Even within his own world, he hadn't crossed that threshold, though he would certainly qualify as a powerful second-class ruler of rules. Outside, he possessed second-class power, but sat near the lower end of that tier. Soon, an identical Su Yu flew out of his body. Su Yu's aura fell back to the peak of third-class. Su Yu shook his head. "Mediocre." Two peak third-class Su Yus could combine to form one second-class Su Yu, but looking at this future body... Su Yu found him an eyesore. He disliked having an identical double of himself. If it had lacked intellect, fine! Having its own intelligence was terrible! This entity was an origin imprint. Just like the Dead Spirit Lord, it could possess its own sentience—meaning it was another cunning Su Yu! If he got betrayed by himself, that would truly be pathetic! Back in the day, some who practiced the three-body art had suffered cultivation deviations precisely because of this! The future Su Yu flashed a grin the moment he appeared. "Fellow Daoist..." He was greeting his present self! The moment the greeting ended, Su Yu threw a punch. Simultaneously, the future Su Yu punched back! The next second, the Human Lord Seal trembled, instantly scattering the future body's strength. Su Yu chuckled, seized the future body, and shook his head. "Damn it, even the me of the next moment refuses to remain a copy. He wants to be the only one... That mindset is truly ingrained! It can't be changed! So this guy definitely has the potential to rebel. What a liability!" Su Yu continued, "So while the three-body art can be cultivated, you must never maintain separate past and future bodies. Just shatter them and absorb them completely!" Wan Tiansheng was somewhat at a loss for words. "Your... rebellious streak is absurdly strong. We've fished out past and future bodies before, and none of them were this turbulent!" The moment he appeared, he tried to rebel and kill his original self! This was Su Yu, through and through! That core belief was simply too unyielding: *I am unique and singular!* Su Yu wasn't surprised in the slightest. He said nonchalantly, "It's only natural. I refuse to let a second version of myself exist, so he obviously thinks the same way. I don't even need to guess to know he was pondering how to kill me. Fortunately, the three-body art has one saving grace: the present is sovereign! The past and future are merely secondary!" With that, he crumpled the future Su Yu like dough and stuffed him into the Human Lord Seal, remarking casually, "He'll serve as a power battery for now. Once my physical body grows stronger, I'll smash him to pieces and devour him! None of you are allowed to speak with him. I need to seal him away, lest he sweet-talks you into doing something stupid. That would be troublesome!" Everyone wore strange expressions. His words made total sense! A future version of Su Yu would undoubtedly be just as silver-tongued as the present one. Right after sealing the future body, Su Yu's aura suddenly began to bleed away. Su Yu had anticipated this, yet he couldn't help chuckling. "I knew it, though I didn't expect it to happen so fast. It really does borrow future power... I wonder how long this weakness will last... I've officially entered a weakened state!" This future body was drawn from a moment too close to his present. Most people looked for a distant, peak moment in the far future, whereas Su Yu had chosen the very next instant. Su Yu let out a sigh of relief. "Good thing I sealed my future self away. Otherwise, once I entered this weakened state while he remained untouched, he might have turned around and killed me. Being murdered by myself would have been a humiliating way to go!" "The flaws of the three-body art are severe!" Su Yu spoke as he walked. "It's best not to fuse a future body at all! It's far too perilous. First, it might rebel! Second, if you're in the middle of a life-or-death battle in the future and your power gets abruptly siphoned away... you're dead!" "I only extracted a future body from the immediate next moment, but this lingering dissipation of power is still extremely troublesome." "I even suspect that every time you use a future body, you must repay that debt at some specific point in the future!" Su Yu said in a heavy voice, "For example, my future was the very next moment. If I use that future body now, my immediate future becomes weakened! It will always work that way!" Su Yu frowned slightly. "This is actually terrible! If I calculate based on the strike I just exchanged with him... roughly a minute after that strike?" "He only exchanged a few blows... but extracting him plunged me into a weakened state!" After calculating for a moment, Su Yu quickly concluded, "That means my current self will experience a period of weakness, though the duration is uncertain! Next time I merge with a future body, if I fight with it for twenty minutes, I might be left weakened for twenty minutes or even longer afterward!" Wan Tiansheng said solemnly, "Then why... did we never experience such drawbacks when we practiced the three-body art in the past?" Su Yu laughed. "The futures you drew from were all far away—ten years, a hundred years... When you finally reached that point in time and suddenly lost your power, you might have already been slain by an enemy! Even if you survived, you wouldn't necessarily connect it to having extracted a future body years ago! You'd probably assume you had suffered a cultivation deviation!" King Dazhou froze, then said, "That actually happened! When cultivating the three-body art, we used to say there were hidden dangers, like cultivation deviations. Back then, there was an incident where someone suddenly lost all their power while meditating. Believing he had succumbed to a cultivation deviation, he panicked and abruptly exploded!" Su Yu shrugged. "Completely normal. If you suddenly found yourself stripped of all power without warning, you'd panic enough to want to end it all too. As for exploding... his power probably returned all at once and spun out of control!" Su Yu shook his head. "So the future body is utterly unreliable!" "Not just the future body—the past body has its issues too!" Su Yu warned, "Don't cultivate the traditional three-body art. If you must use it, shatter the bodies upon channeling them..." Mid-sentence, Su Yu paused. "Do you think the Human Sovereign and his peers actually knew about this... knowing the flaws of the three-body art were so immense, which was why they forbade people from practicing it?" The others nodded; that was entirely plausible! Su Yu's eyes flickered, and he suddenly sent a voice transmission to King Dazhou: "Are you certain the Human Sovereign was injured, and not simply in a weakened state?" Could the Human Sovereign have drawn upon his past and future strength, only for his future debt to come due, causing his power to unravel? King Dazhou was startled, replying via transmission, "He was injured... very severely! If it were merely a weakened state like Your Majesty described... that period should have passed long ago. It's possible that while His Majesty the Human Sovereign was in a weakened state, his power suddenly destabilized, allowing his enemies to strike and gravely wound him. Otherwise, I find it hard to believe anyone could hurt him so badly." Su Yu stroked his chin. That was indeed possible. The Human Sovereign was exceedingly powerful and wouldn't recklessly gamble with his own life; he knew how catastrophic his death would be. Yet he had been severely wounded! That suggested he might not have anticipated entering a weakened state in the heat of battle! Perhaps long ago, the Human Sovereign had extracted a future body, only for the debt to come due years later, catching him unprepared... "Tragic!" Su Yu silently pitied the Human Sovereign. He felt this scenario was highly likely! Borrowed power must always be repaid! The past was singular, but the future was undetermined. Daring to borrow future strength was a gamble even Su Yu hesitated to take, which was why he had only tested it on the immediate next moment. And look—he was already in a weakened state. From the peak of third-class, his present body had likely plummeted to fourth-class or even fifth-class. If he had been facing a formidable enemy just now, he would have been killed instantly! "The Human Sovereign couldn't have overlooked the fact that future power must be repaid... but when the time came, it was already too late!" Su Yu quickly spoke up: "Director Wan, the rest of you can try fusing a past body; that won't cause much trouble! The prerequisite is not to pick one that is too powerful, lest you burst your own body. Fusing the past is feasible as long as your physical vessel is sturdy enough! As for the future... first, it requires a carrier, and second, it's riddled with uncertainty. It's best avoided, and finding a carrier capable of holding a ruler of rules is near impossible anyway..." Wan Tiansheng said heavily, "However, it's difficult for me to enter the River of Memory right now. Your Majesty, how does one enter?" Su Yu smiled. "It isn't hard. When opening the River of Time, continuously recall a specific moment in your past. I have a rough understanding of the River of Memory now; it's essentially the summons of one's origin... During the Sun Moon Realm, cultivating the three-body art allowed natural entry! Beyond the Sun Moon Realm, one must find their own way in. The Sun Moon Realm was passive; beyond it, we must take the initiative!" Smiling, Su Yu added, "Even without fusing a future body, fusing a powerful past body will significantly bolster everyone's strength! Advancing from fourth-class to third-class, or third-class to second-class, is entirely within reach..." Of course, the difficulty was immense; the stronger one was, the harder it became to advance! Su Yu was in no rush. He would endure this weakened state first, using the downtime to temper his physical body. Once the weakness passed, he would kill the future body and absorb it, potentially granting him true second-class strength permanently! Beyond that point, further advancement would become exceptionally difficult. He could always extract more past and future bodies later, as he hadn't fully drained his origin yet! Origin power still remained, but the prerequisite was a sufficiently durable fleshly vessel. Using the Human Lord Seal incurred wear and tear; overusing it would damage the artifact, which wasn't worth the cost! Having tested the three-body art firsthand, Su Yu gained a deeper understanding. He said, "The creator of the three-body art undoubtedly wanted to weaken the power of the River of Time. But this technique... while bizarre, doesn't offer purely unmitigated benefits—especially the extraction of the future body... That isn't a sound method. The creator harbored uncertain motives and might not have been a good person. A technique like this could easily lead countless people to their deaths!" Only Su Yu truly understood the principle that nothing was free—everything came with a price! You reap what you sow. A past body represented a price paid in the past. A future body meant a debt that had to be repaid in the future! Su Yu continued, "Past strength is merely what you left behind in the River of Time; reclaiming it is just taking back what is yours. But the future... is a loan! An advance overdraft, spending tomorrow's coin today!" Su Yu said in a heavy voice, "Therefore... it is best not to touch future power at all! That is the safest course!" To be safe, one shouldn't use future power whatsoever. Su Yu resolved that once his weakened state ended, he would shatter the future body. That thing was a walking liability. Besides, it was a recipe for schizophrenia! The others exchanged glances and nodded. Wan Tiansheng smiled. "Regardless, fusing the past will still allow us to grow considerably stronger!" Su Yu nodded. "That is true, but fusing the past... likely eliminates the chance of resurrection! Weigh the options yourselves. Still, there is more than one moment in the past. As long as you don't fuse every single one, you retain a chance to be revived!" He had essentially acted as their test subject, and Su Yu didn't mind serving as the guinea pig. Soon, the group returned to the Upper Realm, back inside Su Yu's world. Next, everyone would begin fusing their past bodies! …… Su Yu's weakened state lasted quite a while! A full half-month! If this had happened during a major war... half a month? A half-minute would have seen him shredded to pieces! Thus, the future body was a massive trap! A colossal pitfall where debts would inevitably come due! Of course, using it in the moment felt amazing—merging with a future body and jumping from third-class to second-class was exhilarating! Yet when it came time to settle the bill, you'd be left weeping. If you couldn't pay, you died. Su Yu didn't mind. The realm was peaceful lately, free of trouble. Moreover, his world was still expanding and digesting its gains, and many powerhouses were beginning to break through. Su Yu easily weathered this fallow period! Not only that, but his physical body grew significantly stronger! As the entire world was reinforced, Su Yu's baseline strength climbed alongside it. This was the dividend earned from slaying Hundred Battles and the others. During this time, Su Yu improved, and everyone else improved with him. By the time Su Yu's weakness fully subsided, an entire month had passed since the great battle! At this point, the first year of the New Yu era was nearing its end! At the close of Anping 352, Su Yu had designated the year 353 as the first year of New Yu. Back then, the myriad realms had not been fully conquered, but the gods, demons, and immortals had sealed their domains, and Su Yu had seized the four realms of the phoenixes and dragons. Seizing on that grand triumph, Su Yu had changed the era name! Now, the myriad realms were completely pacified, the immortals, demons, and gods had evacuated, Hundred Battles was dead... From opening his world to shattering the seals and unblocking the upper and lower realms, everything had settled in under a year. This year had yielded an astonishing harvest for Su Yu! And from the day Su Yu had first walked out of Nanyuan, a mere four years had passed. …… Roughly another month went by. Throughout this month, Su Yu focused on his cultivation, tempering his fleshly body to prepare for shattering his future body. He had no desire to keep a future body around indefinitely. Having reached this stage, he refused to let any unforeseen variables arise within himself. As they formally crossed into the second year of the New Yu calendar, Su Yu's physical body vibrated within his world. With a single punch, he shattered the future body he had just dragged out from the Human Lord Seal! Here, the future body had no means of resistance. "Little brat, you think you can fight me?" Su Yu curled his lip. The future you trying to contend with the present me was a fool's errand. The future you was static, while the present me changed with every passing second. A mere tool trying to turn the tables! Su Yu rapidly devoured every scrap of power from the shattered future body! A great deal of power leaked away! Yet Su Yu didn't care. What leaked was leaked! His flesh trembled violently, and his world shook in tandem. Su Yu knew he was about to formally step into the second class! Outside, he would reach second-class! Inside his world, he might well be at the peak of second-class. Such strength was sufficient. Advancing further would be extraordinarily difficult; without an earth-shattering stroke of fortune, it would be nearly impossible for Su Yu to reach first-class! "Enough!" Su Yu chuckled, his flesh vibrating as a terrifying tide of power surged outward. Within his world, several individuals seized on the resonance of Su Yu's breakthrough, gaining fresh insights. Breakthroughs followed one after another! More than just one or two! At this moment, Su Yu quietly savored the sensation, his voice echoing across the entire world: "Two months have passed; the three-month deadline is drawing near! In one month, everyone gathers. Those on the roster who haven't reached the realm of ruler of rules know what must be done!" "In one month, we march to the upper reaches!" Su Yu's voice resonated through the realm! This time, when he promised three months, he had truly given them three months without advancing the schedule! Yet two months had already slipped by! In one month, if those thirty individuals on the roster still failed to break through... Su Yu would have no choice but to carry out his word! …… One month! The entire world bustled with activity as people broke through continuously. Yet there were also those gripped by anxiety. The three-month deadline was fast approaching! Still, some on the thirty-person roster could not break through. Falling from the front line to the second line after failing to break through, relegated to a retirement life... That was hardly what they wanted. Even those who genuinely wished to avoid battle were reluctant to surrender their current Great Daos to others. Su Yu had been generous, granting them three whole months! Moreover, Su Yu had been advancing throughout these three months. His own growth spurred everyone else to improve and comprehend the Daos, making the cultivation gains remarkably potent. Because Su Yu was in an active phase of improvement! If his realm had been stagnant and maxed out, they would have had to rely entirely on themselves. Instead, many managed to break through on the back of Su Yu's own advancement! Su Yu had formally broken through from third-class to second-class! This had provided a massive opportunity! Yet not everyone was Su Yu, nor was everyone blessed with exceptional talent. In the blink of an eye, the final month drew toward its close! Breakthroughs occurred repeatedly, yet some still lagged behind! …… Within Su Yu's world. Tianmie was frantic! He was burning with frustration! Time was running out, yet he couldn't break through. Not only had he failed to advance—losing his bamboo rod in the process—he might also have to surrender his Great Dao! San Yue had broken through before him! Not just San Yue—a few days ago, even Giant Bamboo had broken through. After all, they had spent countless years steeped in the Heavenly King and Heavenly Venerable tiers. Unlike a newcomer like Tianmie, they had broken through ahead of him. The bamboo rod was gone for good; there was no helping that. Yet if he failed to become a ruler of rules, he couldn't even keep his current Great Dao! Tianmie was consumed by agitation and misery. He didn't want this! Yet his comprehension of the Great Dao had not reached that threshold; he couldn't master his Great Dao of the Great Club! "Damn it!" Tianmie cursed aloud, longing to blast the cave before him to dust with a single punch. It was maddening! Am I destined to be abandoned? Left behind on the second line? That wasn't the life he wanted. He wanted to march to the front lines with Su Yu, travel to the upper reaches, and fight alongside those legendary figures of old. Back then, he had been an unnamed general, not even a titled one! Now, he wanted to test his mettle against the ancient kings and ancient sovereigns! Yet it seemed he wouldn't get the chance! "Most of them have broken through, so why can't I?" Tianmie's thoughts grew more tangled and frantic. The closer the deadline came, the less he could calm his mind. Just as he was spiraling in agitation, a soft reprimand echoed in his mind: "Quiet! How can you break through with your mind in such turmoil? Sit, cultivate, and listen as I read to you! If you had read more books, you wouldn't be reduced to scratching your ears and cheeks in frustration like a monkey..." Tianmie was overjoyed! Su Yu! "Thank you, Your Majesty! I knew it—I knew Your Majesty wouldn't forget me..." Tianmie was ecstatic. Fuck, being a veteran really does have its perks; His Majesty is giving me private tutoring! "Don't tell the others, or they'll think I'm playing favorites..." "Absolutely!" Tianmie cheered inwardly. Obviously, this is my secret to keep—how could I possibly tell anyone else! …… Meanwhile, Su Yu was run ragged. Even as he instructed Tianmie, he was snapping at Doubao: "You can do it, stop making excuses! Hurry up and cultivate, and don't you dare tell anyone I gave you private lessons..." No sooner had he finished scolding Doubao than he barked irritably in another direction, "Yingwu, of all the ancient marquises, you were the one I held in highest regard, even more than Lanshan! You've disappointed me immensely! My Great Dao is wide open to you—listen carefully to the Dao rhymes I'm transmitting... Don't let me down again. And remember, don't tell the others that you're the one I value most!" "Lanshan, you fool! Yingwu is on the verge of breaking through, while her idiotic temper annoys me to no end. You're the one I hold in the highest regard, yet you still haven't broken through..." "Hou Emperor, your father was King Wu's mount. I personally switched your Dao because I didn't want to see you end up as someone's mount too... Yet you've dragged your feet and still haven't broken through! Fine, if you can't break through now, you'll just have to give up the Great Dao of Devouring! You should know that Jiu Yue and Chubing also cultivated the Dao of Devouring, yet I bestowed it upon you, sending Jiu Yue to the Dao of Shattered Void and Chubing to the Dao of Origin Devouring... I placed my faith in you, yet you've let me down so thoroughly... I'll explain the Dao of Devouring to you one final time. If you still can't manage it, give up!" "..." At this moment, Su Yu was giving private tutoring to everyone who had yet to break through, telling each one in turn: *You are the one I value most!* *You are the one I refuse to abandon!* *I gave you special tutoring that no one else received!* Naturally, every single one of them was instantly invigorated! His Majesty values me the most! At this crucial juncture, he secretly gave me private lessons! In an instant, those who had been despairing were filled with fiery zeal once more! Indeed, in His Majesty's heart, I am the most trustworthy of all! …… Meanwhile, Su Yu was exhausted to the bone! Preaching the Dao wasn't merely about uttering words; it meant elucidating the Great Dao and laying bare its principles. Explaining such profound concepts with absolute clarity was immensely taxing! He had to simplify the most complex mysteries! And Su Yu made a bitter discovery: damn it, the lower someone's intelligence, the harder it was for them to break through! Just looking at who took the longest to advance revealed who had the lower intellect. Of course, someone like Great Axe didn't count; having been a Heavenly Venerable for ages, he had stepped straight into ruler of rules without issue. As for the rest, it was the stubborn meatheads who were the slowest to advance! Su Yu had no choice. Without private tutoring, none of these brutes would ever break through. And if there were no brutes in the vanguard and he only brought a bunch of clever strategists to mount a rescue, Su Yu wouldn't feel secure anyway. He needed these meatheads to break through!