Advancement, Departure

The five experts had only just stepped into the Myriad Realms when they were reduced to prisoners of Su Yu and his people. The power of the Great Daos had been forcibly stripped from the three second-rank powerhouses. Fortunately, after their physical bodies were shattered, they had all regenerated. Su Yu's people had stayed their hands, allowing them to narrowly escape with their lives! As for Mu, the Human Sovereign had reduced him to a dazed, senseless state. Yu, on the other hand, was still rejoicing that he had not crossed paths with that terrifying monster—the Human Sovereign. At this moment, counting Gui, all six experts wore expressions of utter gloom and dejection. There was simply no way to survive this! They had been promised that the Myriad Realms had no experts left, that a Ruler of Rules could freely roam the heavens and earth. Yet here they were—first- and second-rank experts who would never have ended up in such pathetic shape behind the Heavenly Gate. The moment they arrived, they were greeted by dozens of experts! At this moment, Yu felt deeply indignant. Glaring at Su Yu, he gritted his teeth and said, "Are you Su Yu? You had better release us! Behind the Heavenly Gate, I belong to a forbidden land—" *Bang!* A deafening explosion rang out. With a single slap, Su Yu pulverized him into mangled pieces, his physical body instantly swallowed by the heaven and earth. The surroundings fell dead silent for a moment. Mu, who had just been in a daze, suddenly shrank his pupils. Gui reacted the same way, sheer terror written across his face. Su Yu cursed under his breath, "Noisy bastard!" He felt somewhat annoyed and slightly embarrassed. For no other reason than the Human Sovereign having looked far too formidable earlier, making Su Yu feel too embarrassed to act. Even though he had gained some verbal advantage, the contrast in their displays of prowess was stark, and he had lost face before the crowd. *And you of all people had to keep flapping your jaws!* Yu... His name reminded Su Yu of King Yu of the immortal race, who had also been an annoying fellow. *Better to just swat you to death!* What was the point of keeping so many experts from behind the Heavenly Gate alive? It was unnecessary! Conveniently, he was in a bad mood, so he might as well swat him dead. Along the way, it would show everyone how impressive he was for swatting a first-rank powerhouse to death with one palm—even if the man had already stripped himself of his Dao. Su Yu was speechless. *You already stripped away your own Great Dao, yet you still insist on acting tough to save face. If I don't kill you, who else would I kill?* Meanwhile, the remaining experts went pale! Dead! A first-rank expert, an existence who would rarely fall even behind the Heavenly Gate, had been pulverized by Su Yu with a single slap, his physical body and sea of will thoroughly swallowed. Looking at Su Yu now... only terror remained! Boundless terror! Even Mu, who had been in a daze, lowered his head, not daring to look at Su Yu again. Gui's throat bobbed involuntarily. *This Su Yu is truly terrifying.* Fickle and capricious! He would turn hostile in the blink of an eye without offering any explanation. If he took a disliking to you, he could kill you on the spot, swatting you dead without a second thought! The Human Sovereign glanced at Su Yu and chuckled softly. *This kid.* He did not care much about the outburst. Smiling, he looked at the crowd and spoke: "Su Yu has declared that these five Great Daos belong to those who are capable! Regardless of whether you are his people or mine, everyone can compete for them!" Although everyone was still stunned by what had just occurred, the dead man was not one of their own, so who cared? At this moment, Tianmie hurriedly asked, "Uh... our strength varies. Do we all have to compete together? For instance, some are already first rank, while others are only third or fourth rank. Wouldn't that be a little unfair?" Su Yu shot him a look and snapped, "Fairness, my foot! Aside from the Human Sovereign's subordinates, the rest of you broke through to Ruler of Rules around the same time, with no more than a month between you. If you can't beat the others, it just means you're useless! Stop with the nonsense. Whoever wins takes it, regardless of rank. Do you think your enemies will care about your rank?" Tianmie was utterly depressed and muttered, "Then right now, the first-rank ones aren't competing, but Xingyue is at the peak of the second rank. If she makes a move, won't she snatch them all?" Su Yu glanced at Tianmie, considered it, and said, "That makes some sense... Fine, I'll add a condition. Anyone can fight for the Daos. However, whoever takes a first-rank Dao must slay a first-rank enemy, and whoever takes a second-rank Dao must slay a second-rank enemy! If you only take without killing, remember that the Daos of Heaven and Earth reside either in my world or the Human Sovereign's. In the next major battle, if you fail to complete your quota, your Dao power will be sealed, and the sealed amount will be double what you gained!" The Human Sovereign looked at Su Yu, rendered speechless. Tianmie bared his teeth in a grin. *Now that is great!* If anyone dared to snatch them all, they would have to kill two first-rank and three second-rank enemies... That was no joke. Su Yu meant what he said, and if you failed to deliver, you would be in for sheer misery! Without another word, Su Yu stood up and looked toward Gui and the others. "Follow me. The rest of you, fight and refine them yourselves! His Majesty the Human Sovereign will preside!" The Human Sovereign glanced at him. *Am I running your errands again?* *This kid is taking me for granted more and more!* The Human Sovereign grumbled inwardly. *Forget it, a great man is forgiving. This kid Su Yu is even less reliable than Second Bro Wen. At least Second Bro helped handle miscellaneous affairs, while Su Yu doesn't bother managing anything at all.* ... Su Yu truly could not be bothered. In the past, he would have carefully distributed the Daos to whoever was most suited. But ever since the last battle, where an equal number of their powerhouses had failed to defeat the myriad races, he had realized that this approach was flawed. If everyone merely waited for resources to be allocated according to need rather than contribution, then whether one exerted much or little effort made no difference. Whether one risked their life or not, the harvest would be identical. In that case, if they truly encountered a mortal crisis, why would anyone bother fighting to the death? This issue was not yet prominent, but Su Yu worried that letting it fester would become dangerous. Slacking and coasting would inevitably emerge, which was not the right way forward. He had to correct this from the outset: distribution by contribution! Distribution by strength! A powerful individual who seized a Great Dao might not be able to digest and utilize all of it, but they would have to bear the karmic weight of that choice, repaying it with the life of an enemy powerhouse. If you lacked the capability, you had better not take it; if you took it and failed to repay, Su Yu would show no mercy. Furthermore, future benefits would no longer fall to those who failed. Walking toward the Human Lord Seal, Su Yu pondered silently. In the early stages, the primary goal had been rapidly building everyone's strength. Now, it would still take time for the Three Gates to open, so there was temporarily no need to rush. Behind him, Gui and the others followed with anxious, unsettled hearts. Mu, who had been left dazed by the Human Sovereign, now cautiously sent a furious voice transmission: "Gui, you bastard, you ruined us! Yu was just killed because of you, you damned bastard!" Gui remained silent. *I didn't want this either, but what could I do? I'm just a prisoner myself.* "Didn't you say this Su Yu was only a third-rank? Now you tell me he's third rank?!" Gui felt helpless and transmitted back, "Quit complaining! What choice did I have? When I emerged, it was far more perilous than now. They were slaughtering the powerhouses of the myriad races; Rulers of Rules were dying in droves, and a pile of first-rank experts fell. If I hadn't stepped aside back then, I would have died long ago! How could I have had the chance to warn you? You couldn't expect me to die just to deliver a warning, could you?" Their friendship had certainly not reached that level! Mu felt utterly helpless and transmitted, "Then now... where is he taking us? He's not going to butcher us like he did Yu, is he?" Yu's death had been far too unjust! A first-rank powerhouse! In any era, anywhere, such an individual was a peerless expert. Yet after stripping his Great Dao, he just had to talk tough, and look at that—he was swatted dead on the spot! He hadn't even stirred up a single ripple before dying! Gui had no idea what Su Yu wanted with them either, and could only follow in silence. ... A moment later. Su Yu entered his grand hall inside the Human Lord Seal. A smile appeared on his face. "Sit!" None of them dared to sit. Su Yu smiled again. "Sit down and let's talk." They remained apprehensive. Su Yu's smile persisted as he spoke again: "Sit!" His tone grew slightly heavier. Gui sat down immediately. Seeing this, the others hurriedly sat as well. Only then did Su Yu's smile turn radiant. "Good, obedient! That's how good boys behave. Those who don't listen can simply be fed to my heaven and earth!" A chill ran through their spines. If they hadn't sat down just now, would they have been beaten to death? Gui dared not speak. After a moment of silence, Mu spoke up: "Lord Su... whatever you wish to do or ask, we are prisoners now and cannot refuse. You may speak plainly, Lord Su." Su Yu smiled faintly. "Each of you, draw me a map of the terrain inside the Heavenly Gate..." "It's impossible to draw!" Seeing Su Yu's expression shift the moment he said it, Mu rushed to add, "It really cannot be drawn! The world behind the gate is different from the Myriad Realms. Behind the gate lies pure void, like uncultivated chaos. We can only mark the locations of some forbidden lands—those are the only things that can be marked... Of course, there are also smaller gathering grounds, like Gui's Guiyuan Mountain or my Tianmu Domain... but we could relocate at any time! Not just us—even the forbidden lands might relocate at any moment, or drift aimlessly through the Heavenly Gate!" Su Yu furrowed his brow slightly and said coolly, "Then draw their current state!" Mu said awkwardly, "We haven't necessarily traveled far, and some of us only venture out once in a very long time. My main concern is that our information might not match! For instance, we might spot a forbidden land that used to be here, but when I saw it, it was in one region, while someone else saw it in another. If the Lord discovers discrepancies, you might think we are deliberately deceiving you and execute us... That would be far too unjust!" Su Yu smiled. "Interesting. Indeed, those cultivating unconventional Daos are sharper than those cultivating the physical body, the spear, or the blade!" It was true. If these people hadn't explained clearly and produced divergent maps, Su Yu might well have assumed they were lying and executed a couple to intimidate the rest. Cold sweat was pouring down Mu's back. He knew how perilous it was to converse with Su Yu, but he had to speak. *A blockhead like Gui looks utterly dimwitted. People cultivating the physical body really are blunt. If I didn't clarify things now, you wouldn't even know how you died later.* Su Yu smiled faintly. "No problem. How about this: each of you give me a copy. Discrepancies are fine. However... if I find out you intentionally deceived me, hehe... such as deliberately guiding me toward some perilous land, then just you wait!" Mu hurriedly plastered on a flattering smile. "How would we dare? Besides, we have no ties to the mighty experts inside the Heavenly Gate; we are merely rogue cultivators. If we truly dared to fabricate lies, no one would stand up for us. Why seek our own destruction?" Su Yu stroked his chin and smiled. "Then start drawing the maps. Mark the forbidden lands you know, the rogue gathering grounds, and the locations of first-rank experts!" Helpless, they could only set to work. ... After a considerable while, Su Yu received five maps. There were indeed differences. Moreover, the maps gave off an impression of being far too crude—a dot marked here, another dot marked there, surrounded by empty void. Su Yu examined them carefully, lost in thought. Then he spoke again: "Let me ask you another thing. What is the River of Time like inside the gate?" Just as Mu was about to speak, Su Yu pointed toward a second-rank expert who cultivated the Dao of Fire. "You speak!" The red-haired man stiffened, looking nervous. He said, "It's... it's similar to the one in the Myriad Realms, except the waters are turbid—far more turbid than here. The current is turbulent. Cultivating in it is simpler, but much more violent." Su Yu nodded slightly. "Anything else?" The fire cultivator pondered for a moment and said, "Also, the River of Time inside the gate has no division of race domains. All the Daos are mingled together... Does that count?" Having cultivated to the second rank, he naturally possessed some understanding of these matters. Su Yu nodded. He asked again, "Do you know the true location of the Heavenly Gate? I noticed you didn't mark it." The fire cultivator shook his head. "We have no way of confirming that. Only some of the forbidden land experts know where it is. We only know a general area, but because we don't know the exact location, we didn't mark it." Su Yu nodded once more. "The experts inside the gate, particularly those forbidden land masters... were some of them world-opening experts from the Myriad Realms of old?" "A portion of them are!" Su Yu pondered for a while and asked, "Then could this Eternal Life Mountain forbidden land have ties to the immortal race? The immortal race likes to refer to themselves as attaining eternal life. Is it where the Immortal Ancestor resides?" "That is not the case!" At this point, Gui could not resist chiming in. "I know a bit about this. The true name of the Master of Eternal Life Mountain is Fa, whereas the Immortal Ancestor's true name was Xian—just a single word: Xian! Much like the ancestor of the demon race was Mo! Because they pioneered their lineages, the names of their races were derived from their own names!" Su Yu raised an eyebrow. "Then was the ancestor of the human race called Ren?" No one knew that! Gui found it hard to say, muttering, "That is unclear. In the conventional sense, the Human Ancestor refers to the first leader during the unification of the human race, which is Human Ancestor Zhou!" "Major races like the immortals, demons, and gods were branched out later, which is why they have lineage-founding ancestors!" Su Yu understood. "Then are the likes of the Immortal Ancestor inside the Heavenly Gate?" "They should be!" Gui thought about it and said, "However, the Heavenly Gate is vast; one might not cross it in an entire lifetime! People like us have limited ranges of activity, so even if we know they are inside the gate, we might not know where. Besides, those powerhouses do not belong to our circle!" Gui explained, "They have their own circles. For instance, forbidden lands communicate with other forbidden lands, but they rarely converse with rogue cultivators!" Su Yu pondered for a moment, then asked, "Aside from suppressing others and empowering oneself like a heaven and earth does, do forbidden lands possess other functions?" "This..." Gui shook his head. Mu, however, smiled and spoke: "There is! I actually happen to know something about this. I once knew an expert from a forbidden land—not a forbidden land master, of course. He casually let slip that the reason forbidden lands are called forbidden lands, and features like suppressing others, are merely secondary. The true purpose of a forbidden land is that it possesses the ability to traverse the Heavenly Gate!" Su Yu raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" Mu thought for a moment and said, "He didn't elaborate. In truth, I am not entirely clear either. The Heavenly Gate has never opened, so no one knows whether we can truly walk out of it. But from his words, it seemed that when the Heavenly Gate opens, a forbidden land possesses the power to traverse it. Those outside of forbidden lands might not be able to descend upon the Myriad Realms even if the gate opens... Whether that's true is just my speculation." Having said that, he added, "Or perhaps a forbidden land can weaken the Heavenly Gate, allowing one to traverse it through a Heavenly Gate projection?" He looked at Su Yu and said cautiously, "Experts possessing a Heavenly Gate can enter inside, but once in, they might not be able to come out! Thus, I suspect or guess that a forbidden land possesses the ability to emerge through a Heavenly Gate projection." Su Yu's eyes flickered. "You mean that if we enter the Heavenly Gate, conquer a forbidden land, that forbidden land might be able to traverse the Heavenly Gate projection and bring us back out even without the gate opening?" "It's possible!" Mu said, "It's only a guess. Since I don't belong to a forbidden land, I cannot confirm the details..." Su Yu smiled. "It feels to me like you're subtly goading me to enter and stir up trouble for the forbidden lands. Is that it?" Mu's face blanched instantly. "The Lord misunderstands! I had no such intention!" Su Yu sneered. "Forget it. I am a generous person and can't be bothered to hold it against you!" With that, Su Yu continued, "That will do for now! If there's anything else I don't know, I will continue questioning you. As for the rest of you... just merge into any random Dao to save your lives! You all reek of sinister yin energy to me!" Indeed, they gave off that sensation. Su Yu said faintly, "Perhaps you are the true dead spirits! Different from the conventional dead spirits, a group of people existing in the past like you ought to be dead. By my classification, perhaps you count as denizens of hell!" Mu, Gui, and the others fell completely silent. Perhaps so! In truth, they knew it themselves; everyone inside the gate knew it. That was why they longed to return, to merge with the Daos here and stand tall in the Myriad Realms once more as powerhouses of this era, rather than remnants within the gate. ... Su Yu asked no further questions, imprisoning the group directly within the Human Lord Seal. He also paid no heed to the contest outside. Yet during his seclusion, he could sense the distribution of the Great Daos. There were five Daos in total. Two of the first rank. Many people knew the Dao of the Spear. The most formidable should have been King Yue, but he was absent. The Dao went to King Zhan instead. King Zhan had merged into the Great Dao of Su Yu's heaven and earth, cultivating the Dao of Battle Will! It was the type that erupted in every battle, driven entirely by willpower and morale! His path did not necessarily match the Dao of the Spear, but King Zhan had defeated King Daqin. This man was also exceptionally fierce; having already integrated into Su Yu's world, he didn't care whether it was suitable or not. His sole demand right now was to swiftly recover his strength. Although the Human Sovereign had secretly persuaded King Zhan to yield the Dao of the Spear to King Daqin—since these Daos had all been seized by Su Yu—King Zhan had refused, insisting on competing. Even the Human Sovereign had no recourse. Ultimately, the Dao of the Spear was merged by King Zhan. After the merger, he failed to step into the first rank, but he restored his combat strength to the peak of the second rank. He differed from the Martial Emperor; the Martial Emperor had already been at the second rank, whereas King Zhan had previously fallen in rank to the third rank. Restoring himself to the peak of the second rank was already no easy feat. As for the other first-rank Dao, Mu's Dao of the Coffin, it was seized by King Ming. King Ming had already recovered to the second rank. The Dao of the Coffin was effectively a sealing Dao; seals were closely linked to formations, making it an excellent match for his Dao of Formations. King Ming already had an extraordinarily profound comprehension of Great Daos and had long been a first-rank expert. Now, he seized this opportunity to forcibly elevate his Dao of Formations to the first rank. This became the second first-rank Great Dao within Su Yu's heaven and earth. The first was the Dao of the Physical Body. As for King Dazhou, his strength came from an assembly of multiple Daos, not a single Dao possessing first-rank might. Both first-rank Daos were claimed by ancient powerhouses, and none of the others had any chance to contest them. In particular, those who fought King Ming were routed almost instantly; there was simply no contest. Even though this former first-rank powerhouse and one of the Four Pole Human Kings had only recovered to the second rank, he was still far beyond their match. Claiming the Dao was effortless for him! Among the three peak second-rank Daos, the Dao of Fire was unexpectedly seized by Foutuling. That neither Tianhuo nor Marquis Huoyun could beat Foutuling came as a surprise. The Dao of Fire was forcibly integrated by Foutuling into his Dao of the Five Elements. Foutuling, previously obscure in fame, suddenly leapt into the second rank. Although newly advanced, it left everyone dumbfounded. The Dao of Obliteration was seized by Doubao. After claiming it, Doubao did not use it himself, giving it to Chubing instead. The Dao of Obliteration bore some relation to Chubing's Devouring Dao. Relying on the capability of his Dao of Illusions, Doubao had actually snatched the Dao amidst the chaotic scramble, which also surprised Su Yu. Chubing capitalized on this opportunity to devour the peak second-rank Dao and step into the second rank, becoming even stronger than Doubao. As for the Dao of the Staff, many vied for it. Tianmie, San Yue, Jiu Yue, Juzhu, and Wuji, along with the previously defeated King Daqin, all joined the fray. Tianmie clamored for half a day to no avail—his strength simply fell short. In the end, King Daqin forcibly snatched the Dao with a reckless, life-risking posture, infuriating Tianmie to the point of nearly exploding on the spot. This time, the five Great Daos were claimed entirely by the strong, without any distribution according to need. Otherwise, King Daqin would have been far better suited to the Dao of the Spear rather than the staff, inevitably causing some waste. However, Su Yu did not care! This was precisely the outcome he wanted! The results were excellent. None of the people on Su Yu's side had managed to seize the first-rank Daos. The crux, however, was that all five of these individuals were in Su Yu's heaven and earth! That included King Ming and King Zhan; though they were the Human Sovereign's men, their Daos now resided within Su Yu's world. As for the other subordinates under King Ming, whether because they didn't wish to compete or because the Human Sovereign had issued orders, few ended up participating. In the end, all five Daos fell into Su Yu's pocket. By virtue of these five Great Daos, King Ming restored his first-rank standing, King Zhan regained peak second-rank power, and the other three barely crossed into the second rank. ... With multiple powerhouses born at once, Su Yu's heaven and earth quickly stabilized! The entire world resumed its expansion! At this point, Su Yu's heaven and earth possessed three first-rank powerhouses: King Ming, the Martial Emperor, and King Dazhou. At the peak of the second rank stood Xingyue and King Zhan, while King Daqin, Chubing, and Foutuling had freshly entered the second rank. As for Lan Tian, his breakthrough to the first rank had occurred silently. Even if Lan Tian vanished, no one would pay it much mind; he was inherently enigmatic and omnipresent, and who knew where he was hiding? ... Stabilizing, expanding his world, and digesting these gains took Su Yu some time. Originally, when the Immortal Emperor died in battle, Su Yu had devoured a significant amount of the Immortal Emperor's Great Dao energy. Unfortunately, after the Immortal Emperor's Dao snapped, either Yuansheng or Tiangu had advanced rapidly to seize the Dao again, preventing Su Yu from devouring enough Dao power for a breakthrough. Otherwise, taking advantage of that opportunity might have allowed Xingyue to enter the first rank. But now that was off the table, unless they completely shattered the Immortal Emperor's Dao and swallowed the opponent's power. Nevertheless, with three first-rank powerhouses and multiple second-rank experts born in succession within his world, the power of the Great Daos in Su Yu's heaven and earth had intensified substantially. Not only had his previously unstable world regained its firmness, but his personal combat strength within his heaven and earth had also risen sharply. At this moment, within the Human Lord Seal. Around Su Yu, twenty-four faint golden dragons circled—the hallmark of twenty-four Dao marks. Sixteen marks marked the entry to the first rank, which meant Su Yu had firmly stepped into the middle stage of the first rank and was even advancing toward the late stage. Such a pace of advancement was astonishingly swift! At this point, Su Yu had finally digested all his earlier gains. The later the stage, the harder the advancement; that was only natural. Su Yu didn't dwell on it. What concerned him more was an issue emerging within his Great Daos and his heaven and earth: the imbalance was far too severe. Su Yu frowned. Among the three thousand Daos, more than two thousand were pitifully weak, while the strong ones had reached the first rank. Such a vast disparity posed a serious problem. Sooner or later, a major catastrophe would occur, causing the Daos of his world to skew! This would destabilize his heaven and earth! By contrast, the Human Sovereign's heaven and earth, King Wen's, and even Lan Tian's were all more stable than Su Yu's! Having such an extreme imbalance in cultivation was never a good thing! Right now, to resolve this severe imbalance, he could only slay a large number of powerhouses from behind the gate, integrating their Great Daos to reinforce his own! Alternatively, he would have to obtain an immense quantity of rule power to replenish the myriad Daos, preventing the disparity from widening excessively. "Troublesome!" Su Yu shook his head. While his growth was rapid, the downsides had surfaced after all. Some of his Daos were even weaker than Lan Tian's. Lan Tian was still tethered to the River of Time, whereas Su Yu was not, nor did he possess enough rule power to replenish those weak Daos. Unless he followed Lan Tian's example and hooked into the River of Time, but that was not an outcome Su Yu desired. For a moment, Su Yu had a headache. It was tricky! The Heavenly Gate might be an option. Killing more people inside to nurture his weaker Daos was indeed a viable approach. Now that he had free time, Su Yu began considering whether to send a projected avatar into the Heavenly Gate. As for his true body, he had no interest in entering the Heavenly Gate to stir up trouble just yet. It depended on the circumstances! If conditions permitted—if he could locate King Wen, conquer a forbidden land, and freely enter and exit the Heavenly Gate—then he could consider sending his true body inside. Just then, some noises outside caught Su Yu's attention, and he quickly sent out his divine sense to investigate. ... Outside the Human Lord Seal. King Daming was clinging desperately to King Ming's arm like a three-year-old child, wailing in grievance, "Ancestor, His Majesty's heaven and earth has stabilized now! You should return my Great Dao!" A first-rank Dao! For the sake of this first-rank Dao, King Daming went all out, breaking into tears before the entire crowd, begging him to return it! *Earlier, you said His Majesty's world was unstable. Recently, His Majesty's world has even been expanding, so you should give it back to me!* *Don't renege on your debt!* A first-rank Dao was simply too tempting! King Ming was helpless. Encountering such a shameless descendant was truly a headache. This fellow had been chasing him and wailing for days on end. He had no choice but to say once more, "Don't rush. Right now, Emperor Yu's heaven and earth is actually not stable! Haven't you noticed? The difference between strong and weak Daos in His Majesty's world is too pronounced; it could collapse very easily! As for you, your research into the Dao of Formations isn't deep enough to maintain the world's operation! If you don't believe me, go ask Emperor Yu. The Dao of Formations exists precisely to stabilize the world. Once you take control, you won't be able to handle first-rank power, and it will run out of control. If it runs out of control, Emperor Yu will be finished, and his heaven and earth will collapse!" Having said that, King Ming looked at the spectators around them and sighed. "Everyone, I am not the kind of person who takes advantage of my great-great... great-grandson! I have no other choice. If you all wish to see Emperor Yu's heaven and earth collapse, I will yield this Dao of Formations to Landlord Zhu. What do you all think?" Before King Daming could even speak, the expressions of many onlookers changed! Soon, someone said, "King Daming, why don't you switch to another Dao? Senior King Ming makes sense!" "Yeah, Old Zhu, switch to another Dao!" One could immediately tell from the voice that it was King Daqin, who added, "Never mind the first rank—even I, having barely stepped into the second rank, feel things slipping out of control at times. You trying to control a first-rank Dao is clearly out of the question; it will easily lead to the Dao's collapse!" "Yeah, just drop it!" "..." One powerhouse after another chimed in to persuade him. King Ming added, "How about this: you won't be able to wield the Dao of Formations, but I looked into it recently. There is a Dao similar to formations in His Majesty's world that has no master. You can give it a try! Similar to formations, the Dao of the Cage is actually analogous to Yu's Dao back then. You must know that Yu reached a realm close to King Wen's... Character aside, her Dao power was exceptionally formidable! You can try taking charge of it. When Emperor Yu and His Majesty the Human Sovereign slaughter her one day, you can swallow Yu's Dao and instantly become first rank—even surpassing the first rank!" King Daming cursed furiously in his heart! *Give me a break!* He knew that Dao; it was pitifully weak. If he took charge of it now, he would merely be a fifth-rank Ruler of Rules. Even with the world's amplification, he might barely reach the fourth rank, but... that was even weaker than before! *The ancestor really has no intention of being decent!* *He's determined to cling to it and never let go!* King Daming was utterly exhausted. He knew he couldn't beat his ancestor in a contest and had no hope of getting it back. Extremely glum, he spoke up: "Ancestor, it's not that I must have the Dao of Formations... The Dao of the Cage is fine too. How about this, Ancestor: I heard you killed a peak second-rank powerhouse back in the day and still preserved the corpse. Why don't you give it to me to replenish my Dao power a bit..." King Ming cursed under his breath. *I knew you, you little rascal, had this in mind all along!* *Just as I thought!* *No wonder you kept clinging to me despite knowing how hard a first-rank Dao is to control. It was all for this!* He hesitated for a moment, and just as he was about to refuse, King Daming fixed him with a look of profound resentment. *If you don't give it, I'm really going to cry!* King Ming was thoroughly exasperated! Only after a long pause did he say, "Fine, fine, fine! Once I give it to you, we are completely even..." "Deal!" This time, King Daming agreed readily. In no time, he reached an agreement with King Ming! Listening in, Su Yu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. None of the people from the Zhu family were decent; each was more calculating than the last. They called him 'Ancestor' with their mouths, while their hearts were eager to bleed him dry! Su Yu listened for a while, thoroughly amused, but did not show himself. Soon, he vanished from the spot. ... Within the Human Sovereign's heaven and earth. The Human Sovereign was in secluded cultivation when he suddenly opened his eyes. He said helplessly, "Would it kill you to greet me before coming in?" Su Yu smiled. "Could His Majesty the Human Sovereign really fail to notice me?" The Human Sovereign was speechless. *What kind of talk is that?!* Su Yu then said, "I want to enter the Heavenly Gate to investigate." The Human Sovereign had anticipated this long ago. After thinking for a moment, he said, "I probably won't be able to enter. There is a formidable character nearby, and if I enter, it will be easy to get discovered! If you truly wish to go inside... it's not entirely out of the question. Just remember one thing: without absolute certainty, never let your true body enter. Otherwise, you can go in but won't be able to come out, and you'll have to wait alongside Second Bro Wen and the others for the Heavenly Gate to open before you can return!" Pausing, the Human Sovereign added, "Also, do not provoke too many powerhouses. It is unnecessary! Once they come out, we can deal with them properly. Time is on our side!" Su Yu nodded. The Human Sovereign patiently exhorted him further: "Once inside, do not trust anyone. Putting aside Second Bro Wen and King Wu... regarding the others, even if you encounter people like Wen or Xing, do not put too much trust in them!" The Human Sovereign said in a deep voice, "They are no longer people of our era. So-called bloodline inheritance... is separated by ten thousand leagues. Strictly speaking, the immortals, demons, and gods were originally human as well, but do you treat them as humans? Never show womanish benevolence!" Su Yu smiled. "I think I'm much more ruthless than His Majesty the Human Sovereign, aren't I?" The Human Sovereign was speechless. "Nonsense! I am benevolent toward my own people, but in the eyes of outsiders, I am more demonic than demons! A sage within and a king without! What do you understand? You are sharp-tongued but soft-hearted, incapable of withstanding soft words! You are far too young!" *Comparing yourself to me?* *Xing is my ancestor, but do you see me paying him any heed?* He felt compelled to warn Su Yu. After cautioning him for a while, he added, "Furthermore, never barge into a forbidden land carelessly... Those exceeding the first rank possess power beyond your imagination; they can even slay your true body by destroying your avatar!" Su Yu's expression grew solemn instantly. He nodded, taking mental note of this! The Human Sovereign rambled on for a bit longer while Su Yu listened in silence. Soon, Su Yu took his leave. Watching him depart, the Human Sovereign sighed. He hoped this fellow wouldn't encounter any trouble, and above all, that he wouldn't act recklessly. Not a single one of them was easy to manage! Second Bro Wen, Fourth Bro Wu, and all the rest were like this. "Being the eldest brother... is truly exhausting!" The Human Sovereign shook his head and sighed. He wouldn't be the big brother in the future! Being the eldest brother meant having to clean up after these bastards! ... At this moment, the departing Su Yu let out a soft chuckle. He was in a great mood! Leaving now, he felt no great pressure no matter where he went. Even if his true body slipped away, he felt it wouldn't matter much—wasn't the Human Sovereign here? It felt wonderfully liberating! No wonder King Wen had run off whenever he felt like it back then—it was truly refreshing! People like the Human Sovereign were the best; their skill at cleaning up messes was second to none!