Searching for a Heaven and Earth

This battle erupted swiftly and ended just as quickly. Yet the harvest was by no means small. This was especially true for Su Yu. With the Martial Emperor and the first-rank Nether Emperor integrating their daos into his world—though that fellow had not severed his dao completely, a first-rank powerhouse was formidable indeed—combined with King Dazhou, a second-rank powerhouse, integrating his dao into the world as well, Su Yu had reached the first rank within the bounds of his own heaven and earth. Outside his world, he was also nearing the pinnacle of the second rank. If he borrowed strength from Gui once more, he could even barely touch the first rank on the outside. Truly, battle was the swiftest way to advance. Su Yu had not even fully absorbed the dissipated energy and rule power left behind by the slain Rulers of Rules. Once he absorbed it entirely, he might be able to advance even further down the first-rank path. In addition, at the very end, the Human Sovereign had casually merged his collapsing physical body into Su Yu's world. Su Yu had not paid it much heed at the time, but the Human Sovereign was, after all, the Human Sovereign. Even a physical vessel on the verge of being burned to ash allowed Su Yu to feel that within his heaven and earth, the Dao of the Physical Body had grown substantially stronger. At this moment, within his world, two Great Daos faintly reached the level of the second rank: The Dao of the Physical Body and the previous Dao of Nether Death. *** Su Yu favored using war to sustain war. Every battle was an opportunity for him. This was because he was currently at the peak of his period of rapid progress. If one truly reached the Human Sovereign's height, fighting further and seeking improvement would become exceedingly difficult. At that moment, Su Yu exchanged a few words with the Human Sovereign. He was mainly worried that if the sovereign felt he could finally relax—that someone else had arrived to shoulder the burden—the unyielding breath held tight in his chest would dissipate. If that happened, he would truly be finished. The Human Sovereign was injured too severely! Yet Su Yu was also somewhat perplexed, sending a voice transmission: "Your Majesty Human Sovereign, seeing as your sea of will alone can contend with three first-rank experts, were you truly injured so terribly by these same fellows all those years ago?" Against such a mighty Human Sovereign, even the three sovereigns of the myriad races would not dare fight him head-on, would they? Could seven or eight supreme powerhouses have ganged up on him back then? Hearing Su Yu bring this up, the Human Sovereign sighed with lingering emotion and explained, "A whole host of factors just happened to unluckily coincide! At the time, I was preparing to deal with the Immortal Emperor, intending to cut him down so he would stop causing trouble for us. "As it turned out, the period of weakness from merging with my future self arrived ahead of schedule. Putting that aside, since it was somewhat expected, what was even more unfortunate was that an upheaval seemingly broke out inside the Heavenly Gate. A riot flared up, and I had to take responsibility for suppressing the Heavenly Gate for a moment... Everything collided at once. The God Emperor and the others heavily injured my physical body, and when the phantom projection of the Heavenly Gate shattered, it dealt a devastating blow to my sea of will..." Su Yu was startled. Such terrible luck? The crucial point was this, and he asked hastily, "A riot in the Heavenly Gate affects us as well?" "Yeah!" The Human Sovereign thought for a moment and added, "Not entirely. It was just that I like sticking my nose into other people's business. I didn't want the Heavenly Gate opening back then, so I suppressed it for a while. If I had simply ignored it, it wouldn't have been that big of a deal." Well then! Su Yu understood. The Human Sovereign's severe injuries were indeed due to bad luck, but also to him meddling in too much. You were trying to deal with the myriad races on one hand, while simultaneously suppressing the Heavenly Gate, and then your period of weakness arrived at that exact moment... Not being beaten to death on the spot already meant your luck wasn't the worst. "The Heavenly Gate's riot... could it have been caused by King Wen and the others clashing with opponents inside?" "Quite possible!" The Human Sovereign could not be certain either, shaking his head. "Back then, I could still investigate the situation through the Heavenly Gate, but that is out of the question now! When Old Second Wen and the others had just left, if I had the spare time, I could still look out for them a bit... Now, I can no longer reach them." *Look out for them a bit!* Judging by this, the man might have still maintained some contact with the interior of the Heavenly Gate back then. Stirred by the thought, Su Yu suddenly asked, "Your Majesty Human Sovereign, were you really set up by King Wu, or did King Wen and the others run into a crisis inside the Heavenly Gate, so you sent King Wu in yourself?" "..." The Human Sovereign looked at him and coughed lightly. "Nothing of the sort. I was set up by Old Second Wen and his lot..." Heh! At that moment, Su Yu suddenly formed a judgment. King Wu knew King Wen had left, knew how to enter the Heavenly Gate, and had actually managed to find King Wen and the others. Was that really all King Wu's own doing? Hardly, right? Perhaps the Human Sovereign had sensed something, realizing King Wen and the others were in danger, and deliberately sent King Wu to aid them. As for King Wu... he might not even have realized it. From various legends, one could tell that both King Wen and the Human Sovereign were the kind of schemers who never miscalculated. King Wu's sudden departure might not have been an unforeseen incident at all, but something orchestrated by the Human Sovereign himself. Of course, King Wu leaving with great fanfare might have served another purpose for the Human Sovereign. As he had mentioned earlier, driving the myriad races' powerhouses into the River of Time had partially been intended to borrow their strength to suppress the Three Gates and prevent them from opening. If King Wu had not left, how would the myriad races have dared rebel back then? Without their rebellion, what pretext would the Human Sovereign have had to wipe them out in one fell swoop and drag them all into the River of Time? Only that moment had presented the perfect opportunity. By this point, Su Yu could faintly piece together the broader picture. He could see through quite a few things! The ancient catastrophe might very well have been part of the Human Sovereign's plan from beginning to end. His objectives were clear: suppress the Three Gates to prevent them from suddenly swinging open, while also sending reinforcements to rescue King Wen. Everything had been initiated by the Human Sovereign. Naturally, without taking the initiative, he would never have been able to carry away all those ancient powerhouses. Su Yu shook his head, sending a transmission: "King Wu was made to take the blame for you all. Have you no shame?" The Human Sovereign coughed lightly and replied via transmission, "It wasn't quite like that. I simply informed him of the situation. He had a right to know, didn't he? You kid... your head really works fast. Back then, Old Second Wen was indeed facing immense danger. If Taishan hadn't gone, Old Second Wen might not have held out. Meanwhile, I couldn't pull myself away, so I had no choice but to let Taishan go over and back him up." "Is King Wu very strong?" "When he left, he possessed around twenty daos." The Human Sovereign explained, "Once one reaches the first rank, advancing by even a single dao is extraordinarily difficult! His strength wasn't weak; after going inside, he could at least act as Old Second Wen's assistant." "Did you not spare a thought for your own side?" Su Yu was left speechless. The Human Sovereign smiled and transmitted, "Did you truly think I was weak? It can only be said that fortune was not on my side! The early arrival of my weakness period must have been linked to the disturbances in the Heavenly Gate. It was simply rotten luck, and there was nothing to be done!" Otherwise, he would not have been grievously wounded back then. Had he not been heavily injured, he would have retained both the opportunity and the certainty to keep suppressing the myriad races. One had to remember that even after he was severely injured, the myriad races still had not dared act rashly. "Rotten luck..." Su Yu pondered for a moment and asked, "Could you have been plotted against?" "It is quite possible!" The Human Sovereign was not surprised in the slightest, transmitting, "Wen Yu running into trouble, Old Second Wen going to save her, my period of weakness arriving early, the Heavenly Gate rioting... When you connect all the dots, everything becomes straightforward. The Three Gates wanted to open—it's that simple! They worried that I would suppress the Three Gates and deny them the chance!" A hint of pride surfaced in his tone as he chuckled. "As long as I am around, the Three Gates will not open. They open whenever I feel like opening them! Powerhouses within the Three Gates must have sensed this, so they plotted against Wen Yu and the others. Their ultimate goal was to force me into opening the Three Gates... Yet I refused to let them have their way, insisting on suppressing them for a hundred thousand years!" Otherwise, the Three Gates might have been forced open a hundred thousand years ago. Connecting cause and effect, Su Yu finally smiled. "Your Majesty Human Sovereign truly has a vast repertoire of methods—it's just that you poke your nose into far too many things!" "..." The Human Sovereign refused to take that lying down. "That doesn't count as meddling! As a sovereign, the sovereign of the heavens, whether it's three gates or five gates, let me ask you: if outsiders want to step onto your turf, do they need your permission?" Su Yu thought it over and nodded. "These fellows wanted to sneak into your territory. Wouldn't you beat them to death?" Su Yu nodded again. "When you told them, 'Entry is forbidden, and if you want to come in, you must wait until I am capable of beating all of you to death before I let you enter,' and they still chose to sneak in, tell me: should I meddle or not?" Su Yu gave it another thought and nodded once more. It certainly had to be addressed. "Doesn't that settle it?" The Human Sovereign was exasperated. You nodded yourself, so how could you call this meddling? Granted, he did enjoy poking his nose into things, but this was a matter of principle. It was an outright provocation to his supreme sovereignty. How could he not beat them to death? By this point, Su Yu had come around to his reasoning. Fair enough. My turf, my rules! Whether the Three Gates opened or not was entirely up to him! The Human Sovereign had possessed the exact same mentality back then: I will open them when I wish to open them, but you are not allowed to sneak them open yourselves. I haven't finished preparing to beat all of you to death yet, so sneaking them open is going against me, isn't it? Su Yu began to understand the man's temperament. At his core, an overbearing domineering streak still ran deep. It was just that the sovereign often acted without boasting, which ended up making him appear rather honest and unassuming. It seemed as though the beings within the Three Gates had plotted against him, but in reality, he was the one who had stubbornly blocked the Three Gates, refusing to let the powerhouses inside emerge. The other side had been backed into a corner, left with no choice but to move against him. "Fair enough! Those powerhouses within the Three Gates truly had a beating coming to them!" Su Yu nodded. "Only when I permit you to come out may you come out. Forcing your way out... naturally deserves a beating. Though from the looks of it, Your Majesty got beaten up instead!" The Human Sovereign felt an intense wave of annoyance! Technically the words were true, but hearing them spoken aloud was utterly infuriating! What kind of phrasing was that? Su Yu thought for a moment and asked again, "Do the myriad races over here know about the situation with the Three Gates?" The Human Sovereign smiled. "In all likelihood, they know a little. Of course, that knowledge is restricted to a select few. After confronting us for so many years, it isn't impossible that they have been influenced by powerhouses within the Three Gates—such as those entities from the Heaven-Opening Era who established their own domains!" Thus, a portion of the myriad races knew why they were opposing the human race and what the Human Sovereign's goal was. "They knew, yet still dared to blindly meddle?" "They aren't weak, so why wouldn't they dare meddle?" The Human Sovereign was speechless. Did this kid look down on the myriad races? They were formidable in their own right! Su Yu chuckled. The Human Sovereign chuckled as well. After laughing for a moment, the Human Sovereign asked, "You've connected to an entity within the Heavenly Gate, haven't you?" "Yes. Gui. Does Your Majesty know him?" "Gui?" The Human Sovereign pondered for a moment and shook his head. "Never heard of him. A minor figure, most likely! I'm not familiar with nobodies." "..." There was no way to respond to that. The man was a first-rank powerhouse, yet in the Human Sovereign's eyes, he was just a nobody. What immense bravado! Still, Su Yu thought it over and nodded in agreement. Indeed, Gui might have only recently broken through to the first rank. Prior to that, he had merely been in the second rank. To a being like the Human Sovereign at his peak, once the opening of heaven was fully completed, an ancient entity of the second rank was truly beneath his notice, not even worth a second thought. The Human Sovereign did not dwell on Gui, merely cautioning, "Don't get careless. If the other side maintains their power for too long, their true self might manage to descend into the myriad realms through the phantom gate... Of course, if he isn't strong, there's no need to worry too much!" He added, "If you truly want to fish, don't just catch anything—catch a big fish! Catching someone too weak isn't worth the effort! Once you kill the fellow tethered to your Heavenly Gate, it becomes difficult for the gate to connect to another... If I were you, and the opponent on the other side isn't strong, I would find an opportunity to reverse the connection and slip inside, taking the chance to scout the Heavenly Gate first!" Su Yu's eyes flickered. He looked toward the Human Sovereign and suddenly asked, "Has Your Majesty ever entered the Heavenly Gate?" The Human Sovereign shook his head, then nodded slightly. "My will probed it once, but I didn't go deep. A powerhouse inside detected me and drove me out. Damn it, that was only because my willpower had permeated into their territory; otherwise, I would have beaten that bastard to death!" He truly had attempted to scout it. For someone like the Human Sovereign, knowing oneself and knowing the enemy was always the optimal strategy. Since he intended to suppress the Three Gates, he naturally needed some understanding of them, particularly the Heavenly Gate. Entities within the Heavenly Gate wanted to drive nails into the myriad realms to gather intelligence; likewise, the Human Sovereign shared the exact same intention. Strictly speaking, King Wen, King Wu, and the others could also be considered nails the Human Sovereign had driven into the Heavenly Gate. Su Yu smiled and said, "What about Yi Yue of the Iron Eater race, King Wu's mount, and the previous emperor of the Hou race? Why haven't I seen any of them? Did Your Majesty make other arrangements?" He had indeed seen neither hide nor hair of those few, not even on the side of the myriad races. "Them?" The Human Sovereign laughed. "They never came with us in the first place. Didn't you know?" Su Yu was startled. *How the hell would I know? What do you mean they never came with you?* "I planted all of those fellows inside the Hell Gate. Who knows if they're dead or alive..." The Human Sovereign sighed, shaking his head. Su Yu stood dazed for a long while before saying, "Back then, when you were already in such grave peril, you still arranged for them to enter the Hell Gate?" What sheer audacity—were you truly not afraid of death? The Human Sovereign explained, "At the very beginning, the situation wasn't that tense! Back then, the Three Gates were turbulent, and my primary goal remained suppressing the Three Gates. I couldn't find the Human Gate, Old Second Wen and the others were at the Heavenly Gate, and the Hell Gate was located right on our home turf... So naturally, I had to arrange for some people to go inside! Humans weren't quite suitable, but entities like the Iron Eaters evolved from the chaotic ancient races. Once inside, as long as they refrained from heavily deploying the daos of the myriad realms, they could easily disguise themselves as members of the chaotic ancient races!" He offered a few explanations, leaving Su Yu thoroughly impressed. So Yi Yue and the others had never traveled with the main force at all, but had instead entered the Hell Gate. Were they dead? Yi Yue was not dead; Su Yu was aware of that much. In that case, the Human Sovereign had actually made arrangements within both gates, which coincided precisely with Su Yu's own thoughts. Earlier, Su Yu had also considered planting people inside the Hell Gate, but because he was strapped for manpower at the time, he had been forced to abandon the idea. Looking back now, the Human Sovereign was truly formidable. He had simply overestimated his own limits and failed to defeat the myriad races. Yi Yue and the others had all gone to the Hell Gate, which explained why their presence hadn't been detected this time. Su Yu had initially assumed they were lying in ambush among the myriad races. Seeing Su Yu deep in thought, the Human Sovereign asked, "Is there anything else you wish to understand? I might have forgotten some of my own hidden moves. If you don't ask, I won't remember. What else do you want to know?" As a newcomer, though Su Yu knew quite a bit, he was still far behind the Human Sovereign in experience. Naturally, Su Yu still harbored doubts. He immediately asked, "Can Your Majesty's Great Dao not form a self-contained system?" "Not a Great Dao—a heaven and earth!" Su Yu added, worried the Human Sovereign might misunderstand. The Human Sovereign looked disdainful; of course he understood. He quickly explained, "It isn't entirely complete, but saying it cannot form a system wouldn't be accurate either! It's just that my original idea differed from yours. I wanted to borrow the River of Time first to rapidly perfect my Great Dao. Furthermore, because I lacked foundational anchoring treasures back then, I opened it directly atop the River of Time. That allowed the Great Dao to grow powerful swiftly, but it came with drawbacks—many drawbacks... First, it cannot be easily moved. Second, it suffers from counter-interference by the river. Third, it currently cannot form a closed loop—a self-enclosed heaven and earth!" Su Yu rolled his eyes. "Isn't that just incomplete?" Despite the mountain of excuses, the bottom line was that the Human Sovereign's world was still flawed. Su Yu's had formed a closed loop, whereas the Human Sovereign's could not. The Human Sovereign coughed lightly. Why be so blunt? Besides, back then, the heaven and earth had merely served as a supplementary tool for him; his primary focus had always been his own Great Dao. He had planned to wait until the world grew strong before integrating his dao into it, thereby avoiding any vacuum in his power. Unfortunately, he had never made it to that stage. The two chatted a bit more. Seeing that the people from both sides were still standing apart, distinctly divided, the Human Sovereign suddenly smiled and said, "No need to keep standing on ceremony. There are plenty of familiar faces on Su Yu's side. King Xue, your daughter is right over there—I've seen her. Those who need to reunite with family, reunite; those who need to chat, chat! The myriad races won't dare do anything rash for the time being. I'm not dead yet, am I? What's with all these solemn, grim faces?" While he and Su Yu had been conversing animatedly, the others had watched in tense silence. The Human Sovereign still wished to foster closer ties between the two factions first, as they would have to face the enemy united in the days to come. Hearing him speak, the crowd let out a quiet sigh of relief. In truth, King Xue and several others had been burning with impatience for a while, but with the leaders of both sides yet to speak, none had felt it appropriate to exchange pleasantries. Soon, on the Human Sovereign's side, King Xue strode forward quickly, heading straight for her daughter. General Xuelan's eyes held a complex swirl of emotions; she had long yearned to speak with her mother. To King Xue and the others, perhaps not much time had passed. Yet for the powerhouses of the myriad realms, a hundred thousand years had gone by! It was an eternity! *** Su Yu watched for a moment and chuckled. There were quite a few ancient powerhouses on his side: Yingwu, Nanxi, Zhennan, Wuji... All of them were ancient combatants. Some of the masters they had served in those days were still alive, though other Human Kings had fallen in battle long ago. At this moment, the Human Sovereign was also introducing these powerhouses to Su Yu: "On my side, those in the first rank are King Ming, King Zhenwu, and King Ming's dao companion—you can just call her Consort Ming. For now, only these three have reached the first rank. King Zhan is close!" Only three. Su Yu nodded slightly; that was not many. On the side of the myriad races, the Immortal Emperor, Demon Emperor, God Emperor, Dragon Emperor, Phoenix Emperor, Nether Emperor, and Spirit Emperor all appeared to be first-rank, though several felt as if they had only recently broken through. Still, that made seven. Seeing Su Yu lost in thought, the Human Sovereign added, "Actually, there were others who were close to the first rank before, but they fell in battle later..." Su Yu nodded again. The Human Sovereign continued, "As for the matter between King Wu and the Martial Emperor, let them resolve it themselves. Perhaps the Martial Emperor will die before even reaching the Heavenly Gate, or perhaps both will perish before they ever meet—in which case, there's no need to worry about it! As for King Zhenwu, she is straightforward and responds to gentleness, not force, so there's no need to take things to heart. She is quite soft-hearted deep down; if she weren't, Taishan would have been beaten to death long ago for taking so many dao companions. Taishan may be simple-minded, but he has a real knack for sweet-talking his women..." "..." Su Yu was speechless. Why tell me this? Seriously! Su Yu did not care much about such trivialities. At this moment, he was still absorbing and digesting his gains, speaking as he refined them: "Let's not dwell on this. The urgent priority is not these matters, but Your Majesty's recovery!" "Me?" The Human Sovereign sighed. "Nonsense. If I could recover, I would have done so long ago. Would I have waited until now? What's more, my injuries are even heavier now. As for your suggestion of merging into a heaven and earth or Great Dao to become a dao spirit..." The Human Sovereign hesitated slightly before saying, "It might be a way to preserve my life, but the difficulty is immense. Both my heaven and earth and my Great Dao are exceedingly powerful; I might not be able to transform into a spirit. The risk is too great—if things go wrong, the dao will shatter and I will perish. If that's the outcome, it would be better to leave behind some legacy to bless future generations. "For instance, the Human Sovereign Dao I command—a name I gave it myself—could perhaps be passed on to a successor. Even if they cannot match me, there is still hope they could become a first-rank powerhouse! If someone inherits my heaven and earth, perhaps another first-rank powerhouse could be born in the myriad realms..." His line of thinking was simple: if an attempt failed, everything would be lost. Rather than risking that, he could lend a hand while still alive, potentially creating two first-rank powerhouses in return. He had command over his own Great Dao—his so-called Human Sovereign Dao. Furthermore, his heaven and earth, even if not merged into Su Yu's, could be passed to an heir. Even if that world was difficult to move, within the myriad realms, the inheritor would still possess first-rank combat strength! Yet if he attempted to transform into a spirit and failed, the Great Dao would collapse, and he would lose the chance to help anyone inherit it. "The only person I have ever believed in is myself!" Su Yu looked at him. "Could Your Majesty Human Sovereign be different from me, always preferring to pin your hopes on others?" The Human Sovereign fell silent. It was a difficult choice. He knew that Su Yu wanted him to live. Even so, the Human Sovereign smiled and said, "Think it through. If I die, I can make arrangements in advance. King Ming and the others have all witnessed your achievements... In all likelihood, they will obey you! You wouldn't need to vie with me either. A person like you would never willingly serve beneath another, but as long as I draw breath, don't even dream of taking control of King Ming and the rest!" Su Yu scoffed dismissively. "Doesn't matter!" "..." *You arrogant brat!* The Human Sovereign was left speechless. I have three first-rank powerhouses on my side, while you don't even have a second-rank left over there—what are you being so cocky about? "Let's resolve the trouble with the myriad races first!" Su Yu could not be bothered to pursue the topic, speaking quickly: "Although the myriad races suffered heavy losses this time, their first-rank combat power remains virtually intact. Only the Nether Emperor is grievously injured, while the others took minor damage! Bringing down the myriad races... will be difficult!" The Human Sovereign nodded in agreement. "It is indeed difficult, especially given my current condition! Even if you possess first-rank combat power, that only makes four of us. Four against seven... With the remaining forces roughly equal, it would be an evenly matched battle, or one where we are slightly disadvantaged. Even if we win, it will be a mutual devastation! A battle of mutual devastation should never be launched lightly. If all else fails..." He continued, "Then we wait! Or we can take the initiative to return to the myriad realms now, abandon the blockade, and prepare for the opening of the Three Gates, maintaining a temporary peaceful coexistence with the myriad races!" He added, "Furthermore, regarding the myriad races, since they were willing to lie low back then, now that our combat power has risen, they might not necessarily fight to the bitter end. Perhaps we can try negotiating an alliance once more!" Su Yu shook his head. "An alliance carries too many pitfalls. We would have to constantly guard against a backstab. Even if we truly formed an alliance, it wouldn't be done like this. We would have to beat them half to death first—for instance, slaughtering half their strength and making the remaining half serve as our dogs! What you're proposing is rearing a tiger, and that will not do!" The Human Sovereign looked at Su Yu once more. This kid was genuinely wild. "Think carefully. Right now... it is nearly impossible to beat them half to death!" The Human Sovereign was no fool; the crux of the matter was that even if Su Yu had reached the first rank, so what? The opposition was simply too strong! The myriad races were merely disjointed. Otherwise, even after losing dozens of Rulers of Rules, they would still not fear you. Knowing that the Human Sovereign was crippled, if they could reach an accord and possessed a shred of ambition, they ought to seize this moment to launch an all-out assault! Su Yu also sank into contemplation. This time, his harvest had been enormous, propelling him into the first rank. Outside his world, without borrowing strength, he commanded roughly fifteen daos; with borrowed strength, sixteen daos posed no problem. Within his world, Su Yu could unleash the power of at least seventeen or even eighteen daos. Yet such strength was sufficient to deal with at most one first-rank powerhouse. Indeed, the Human Sovereign was right. Dealing with the myriad races at this juncture was exceedingly difficult; the only other option was a fight to the death! Otherwise, trying to employ the same trick to weaken the myriad races once more was practically a pipe dream! After deliberating for a while, Su Yu said, "Your Majesty Human Sovereign had better recover as soon as possible. Even if you cannot regain your former strength, being able to handle one or two first-rank experts will suffice. As for me... my primary objective remains expanding my heaven and earth and perfecting my Great Dao!" How to perfect it? Su Yu pondered for a moment and asked, "Your Majesty Human Sovereign possesses some understanding of the Heavenly Gate. Do you think there is any hope for me to gain a boost inside the Heavenly Gate, return to strike back at the myriad races, slaughter them to elevate myself further, and finally face the Three Gates?" "Inside the Heavenly Gate..." The Human Sovereign fell into deep thought, his eyes flickering for a time before he suddenly said, "There might be a way, but you probably can't manage it right now. You aren't strong enough!" He pondered further and suddenly smiled. "Find a way to locate Old Second Wen's heaven and earth! See if you can open the Heavenly Gate's phantom projection to hook Old Second Wen over and ask if he has any ideas. He should be the most knowledgeable about the Heavenly Gate..." Su Yu's heart leaped. "A heaven and earth? King Wen's world... wasn't brought with him?" "Nonsense!" The Human Sovereign shook his head. "His world cannot be easily moved either. That includes yours—if yours could be moved effortlessly, why didn't you move it over here?" Su Yu smiled meaningfully. "Does Your Majesty truly believe my world cannot be moved easily? I simply don't wish to move it at the moment!" "Hm?" The Human Sovereign was startled. Su Yu grinned and said, "If I truly want to move it, I still can! I took the Human Lord Seal as my foundation, though I have not yet established its terminus. If I find a supreme treasure to serve as the endpoint, or simply form a closed loop that leads back to the Human Lord Seal, then I only need to carry the Human Lord Seal with me. I could even merge the Human Lord Seal into my civilization chronicle, which happens to be my dao-manifesting treasure... When that happens, I will be the heaven and earth itself!" Forcibly moving it was not impossible. It was just that doing so would damage the foundation, which was why Su Yu was reluctant to take that step. Judging by the Human Sovereign's words, however, they genuinely could not move theirs with ease. Su Yu found it rather strange. "The completion rate of the Great Daos in your worlds is far too low. Why is that?" "..." The Human Sovereign was speechless. Only after a long pause did he say, "It isn't that the completion rate is low, but that we opened fewer daos, so their stability is somewhat lacking. However, opening many daos comes with massive drawbacks as well—elevating them becomes extraordinarily difficult!" Su Yu smiled again. "Could it be that there are certain daos you simply cannot open? Such as the Dao of Life and Death—otherwise, wouldn't you have opened it long ago?" This time, the Human Sovereign fell silent. After a long while, with a hint of curiosity—or perhaps bafflement—he asked, "The Dao of Life and Death is exceptionally difficult to open. How on earth did you open it, kid?" "Just genuinely die a few times!" The Human Sovereign froze, only saying after a long pause, "I suppose I understand, but... neither Old Second Wen nor I could make that choice. If we truly died, the trouble would be catastrophic. I understand you somewhat now—finding life after placing oneself in the jaws of death! You possess that determination and perseverance, and so did we, but we simply could not afford to do that!" Su Yu shrugged and said no more. He did not care much about that; his interest lay elsewhere, and he asked, "Your Majesty means for me to locate King Wen's heaven and earth to contact him? Does Your Majesty not know where his world is?" "I don't!" The Human Sovereign shook his head. "That bastard was afraid too—afraid that I would merge my heaven and earth into his, so he refused to tell me where he opened his world." "..." Su Yu was dumbfounded, then nearly doubled over with laughter, practically beside himself! From those words alone, he suddenly understood King Wen's mentality. King Wen had also worried—worried that if the Human Sovereign ran into trouble one day, he would rush over and merge his own world into King Wen's. Then the Dao of Responsibility would grow wildly out of control, and King Wen, that carefree, uninhibited powerhouse, would instantly become a pitiful wretch saddled with immense responsibilities! "Cough, cough, cough..." Su Yu laughed so hard he began to cough. The Human Sovereign was utterly exasperated, unable to stop himself from snapping, "What are you laughing at? I find people like you exceedingly irresponsible! The human race birthed and raised us; once you grow strong, shouldn't you do something for your race, your home, your nation?" What was so funny about that! Su Yu still wanted to laugh. "No, I'm not laughing at Your Majesty. I'm laughing at King Wen..." So King Wen hid his heaven and earth just to dodge you! How could I not laugh? "So he opened it in secret, and Your Majesty has no idea where it is?" "Not entirely sure!" Su Yu was completely floored! "Then it won't be easy for me to find either! Where am I supposed to look?" The Human Sovereign scoffed. "Scholars are all crafty. I suspect his heaven and earth is right within the myriad realms. It can definitely be found; I was simply too lazy to search for it. You might just be able to locate it!" That was hard to say. The Human Sovereign added, "Furthermore, even if your heaven and earth can be carried away, taking it inside the gates is ill-advised; it will face rejection! Our sky is right here! Do not move it lightly either—the myriad realms hold immense opportunities!" The Human Sovereign said solemnly, "They are tied to both the River of Time and the Three Gates. As for the specifics, even after all these years, I haven't fully investigated them, but they definitely exist. That is why all Three Gates wish to return!" Su Yu nodded; he had harbored similar guesses. After chatting with the Human Sovereign for a while, Su Yu was in rather high spirits. The man had truly held nothing back. *Find King Wen's heaven and earth, contact King Wen, seek opportunities in the Heavenly Gate...* Su Yu turned the thoughts over in his mind. Perhaps this was his next path for advancement. Otherwise, without absolute strength, suppressing the myriad races was impossible, and pulling off another surprise attack was unrealistic. As for Gui, he might be able to provide some assistance. Finding King Wen's heaven and earth sounded troublesome; wouldn't it be simpler to have Gui search for King Wen directly? Of course, how to manipulate Gui remained an issue.