Mount Guiyun

The world within the gate. Emptiness, dead silence, desolation... There wasn't even a place to set foot on. To put it simply, in this ghost of a place, you couldn't even step out the door unless you had reached the Soaring realm. Su Yu found it strange. Through countless ages, had no new generation ever been born here? Where did the younger generation live? In the forbidden lands? In rogue cultivator settlements? Did that mean they might spend their entire lives confined to a single place—and one that wasn't necessarily very large? Wouldn't that be a tragic existence? Moreover, the biggest difference between here and the Myriad Realms was the lack of light! Yes, there simply wasn't enough light. It was gloomy and murky. Though it made no difference to Su Yu—it was the same as daylight to him—could ordinary people survive in such an environment? Perhaps in the forbidden lands there were unique treasures that could generate light? That was certainly possible. "Inside the gate is lonely as hell!" Stay here long enough, and anyone would end up thoroughly depressed. Su Yu recalled the map in his memory. There seemed to be territories around here as well. The nearest one should be Gui's Mount Guiyuan. Gui had advanced to the first rank, making him something of a local despot in these parts. Mount Guiyuan had a bit of a reputation among rogue cultivators. Yet even though it was the closest, for many people it was a distance they could never cross in their entire lifetimes. Even for Su Yu, it would take a considerable amount of time to get there... Walking through the void, Su Yu sensed everything around him. The power of the Great Daos! This place seemed like chaos, but it truly wasn't. The Great Daos here had been combed and ordered, unlike the utter disorder within primal chaos. It might have originally been a vibrant, thriving domain that had only turned desolate later. Yet the Daos here were orderly. That was also how one distinguished a world from chaos. "This is a world, not chaos!" Su Yu quickly reached a conclusion. He could sense the presence of Great Dao powers. What was more, he vaguely felt the River of Time. A miniature Heavenly Gate surfaced between his brows, but he promptly suppressed it. Unleashing the Heavenly Gate here would radiate far too much Yang energy! Su Yu contemplated the Great Daos, calculating in his mind how he might comprehend the Dao powers here. He felt around. Outside the gate, he commanded thousands of Daos, ranging from the first rank at the strongest down to the power of Dao Integration at the weakest. Yet here, comprehending the Daos seemed to meet with resistance. It was as though an imperceptible membrane blocked him. Even though the Great Dao was right before his eyes—even though he understood how to cultivate it—he simply could not integrate his comprehension into its rules. It felt as if he and these Daos did not belong to the same era! Yes, they did not belong to the same era! "Do the Daos here not belong to our era? Is that why this barrier exists? But if I can't connect to the Daos here, how can I pose as someone from inside the gate? How can I open a heaven here?" Su Yu sank into contemplation. How could he break through that membrane-like alienation? Right now, he could disguise himself superficially, but any true expert would see right through it. If he wanted to impersonate someone, he had to make it convincing. What was the point if it was too fake? "Why were Gui and the others able to re-link to the Daos outside the gate?" "Could it be because their Daos were severed and gone, allowing them to reconnect?" "But I don't have a Dao either." Of course, his Daos were all within his own heaven and earth. Su Yu sank into contemplation, full of questions. Without shattering that barrier, he would never resonate with the Daos here, and even channeling the local energy would face resistance. "A barrier... not being from this era. How does one tell if someone belongs to this era or not?" Su Yu stroked his chin. This was the crux. If he didn't solve this problem, things would get very troublesome. He had no desire to end up like King Wen and the others, hunted relentlessly from the moment they entered. That was far too miserable. Who knew whether that scholar King Wen had ever researched this, or if he'd even had the time to do so. The Lord of Dead Spirits might have researched it. He wasn't sure whether Dead Spirit Hell was an opened heaven and earth or some kind of treasure; if it was an opened world, that meant the Lord of Dead Spirits possessed profound mastery. Should he go observe how Dead Spirit Hell was opened? Su Yu kept experimenting. After a long while, he sank into deep thought again. Someone like King Wu should still be able to exert his strength here, which meant his Dao could be utilized here too. The River of Time existed here. Although the Heavenly Gate acted as a barrier, the power within the River of Time was universally applicable. Gui and the others, for instance, were still first-rank experts upon arriving in the Myriad Realms. "The power of a heaven and earth can't be used because it doesn't belong to the River of Time!" "Great Dao power can be used because the Daos all reside within the River of Time." "Even though the attributes of the power might change somewhat once it flows here, they're still within the same river!" "Right now, I have no power anchored in the river, so I can only rely on my personal strength and the faint radiation of my heaven and earth... Does that mean King Wu and the others might actually be stronger here than King Wen?" Because King Wu could continue using his own power, whereas King Wen couldn't deploy the full power of his heaven and earth. One thought after another surfaced in Su Yu's mind. At this moment, his curiosity was piqued. It had been a long time since he'd had the chance to ponder and research like this. Encountering an entirely different world and experiencing different Dao powers was genuinely fascinating. He loved thinking things through. Unfortunately, he rarely had the time. Back in his early days at the academy, he had established the Origin Spirit Research Institute; the rudimentary form of the Heavenly Gate, the yang apertures, and the yin apertures had all been deduced through his own research—though the Time Book had certainly played no small part. Now, starting anew here, his desire to explore the paths of cultivation was reignited. "I need to find someone and observe them carefully!" Su Yu muttered to himself. He needed to see how these beings within the gate actually lived and existed here. "Mount Guiyuan..." Su Yu accelerated, flying in a certain direction. Mount Guiyuan was Gui's stronghold, where a group of people had gathered. The origins of rogue cultivators inside the Heavenly Gate were rather complicated. Some were castoffs from the forbidden lands. When the population in a forbidden land grew too large, they would exile a portion of people. Yes, exile. A forbidden land was only so big, and the powerful masters wouldn't expand their territory for a few individuals; nor could a forbidden land simply be expanded at will. Within the gate, bearing offspring was a perilous endeavor, and the greatest danger was being cast out! Exiled from the forbidden land! When numbers swelled, the forbidden lands would exile a batch of people. Stepping outside a forbidden land was exceedingly dangerous, for perilous threats lurked in the void—ancient desolate beasts from the Heaven-Opening Era and old monsters with a taste for living flesh could all be found roaming the boundless void. Not only that, but another creature existed inside the gate that posed a grave threat—a danger that every faction had to confront: devourer locusts. Creatures resembling locusts! These things devoured everything in sight. The current desolate state of the world within the gate was closely tied to these devourer locusts. According to Gui and the others, these were beings that manifested from the rules of heaven and earth when an era drew to a close. To put it more plainly, they were born of the River of Time, like worms in water, continuously welling up across the land to consume the world within the gate. Their sole purpose was to bring about the destruction of this world! The world within the gate would inevitably perish sooner or later—a fact known to Gui and his peers. It was only because certain masters of the forbidden lands were immensely powerful and regularly purged these devourer locusts that the weaker beings inside had any chance of survival at all. As for rogue cultivators, some originated from the forbidden lands, while others were descendants fathered by experts from the Heaven-Opening Era, or clansmen brought in by those ancient powerhouses and stranded in various places. As those ancient experts fell over time, their descendants scattered across the realm, continuing to branch out and multiply. Su Yu had once asked several of them how the Heaven-Opening Era had been sealed away. Gui's answer had been simple: in a single day, the heavens and earth were upended. As if the stars themselves had shifted, all the experts suddenly found themselves behind the gate. In the beginning, behind the gate had not been nearly this desolate; it had only been gnawed into its current state over time by the devourer locusts. Such an answer left Su Yu speechless. Cast into a world like this in a single day? With so many experts, had none of them sensed it coming? Based on Gui's description, Su Yu could only deduce that the Lord of Time was behind it. Otherwise, no one could have pulled off such a feat. After all, the experts of the Heaven-Opening Era were astonishingly numerous; when the Myriad Realms were first opened, countless powerhouses had emerged. When heaven and earth were first split and the River of Time newly formed, it must have been very similar to Su Yu's own heaven and earth: swarms of cultivators entered the world, seizing Great Daos to become powerhouses. Years down the line in Su Yu's world, once all the Daos were claimed, it would become nearly impossible for later generations to surpass their predecessors. The forebears kept advancing; once every Dao was monopolized, what were the newcomers to do? When there weren't enough Daos left, would the path be blocked off for posterity? As he pondered, Su Yu's mind stirred. Indeed, back in the Heaven-Opening Era, the early powerhouses had claimed far too much Great Dao power, making it exceedingly difficult for later generations to surpass them. Did the demise of the Heaven-Opening Era... have something to do with that? Perhaps the Lord of Time hadn't wanted to see such an impasse either, so he stepped in, sealing away all those relics of the past. Then, he partitioned the Yin and Yang realms and divided the Daos into two distinct forms so future generations could continue cultivating. As for the devourer locusts, they seemed rather like doomsday cleaners—scavengers of an era, perhaps? Thoughts flashed through Su Yu's mind one after another. Before long, a massive mountain emerged from the darkness ahead of Su Yu. It was enormous, feeling no smaller than Human Mountain in the Upper Realm. This was Mount Guiyuan, and Su Yu recognized it at a glance. The mountain resembled a tanghulu—a skewer of stacked rounded lumps standing in the dark void, giving off a faint glow. Before Su Yu could even draw near, an aura rippled outward with an edge of vigilance. Anyone capable of walking the void was no weakling. A stern shout rang out: "Who goes there? This is Mount Guiyuan, domain of Supreme Gui..." Su Yu's eyes darkened, and he spoke in a low voice: "I am the inspector of Tianmu Domain. Before Lord Mu departed, he said he was coming to Mount Guiyuan to visit a friend. Yet he has not returned for many days! Now, Tianmu Domain is threatened by devourer locusts. I have come to report this to Lord Mu so he may return. Tell me, where is my lord now?" In an instant, a figure coalesced in the void—a middle-aged man who carried an air of wariness, yet still answered, "I know nothing of this matter..." Su Yu barked coldly, "Where on earth is my lord?" Su Yu fumed, "I have sent several encrypted messages, yet received no reply from him! Before departing, my lord stated that he had received an invitation from Mount Guiyuan to visit his good friend Lord Gui. Where is Lord Gui now?" "..." The middle-aged man looked somewhat helpless. "Our lord hasn't returned for days either..." "You..." Su Yu's gaze turned chillingly cold. "Could it be that you..." "Fellow Daoist, you misunderstand!" the middle-aged man hurried to explain. "That day, our lord left Mount Guiyuan alongside several lords, including Mu and Yu, stating they had business to attend to. None of them have returned since..." Su Yu glared at him coldly and frowned. "Did they say when they would return? Also, can you contact Lord Gui and have him pass word to my lord to return immediately? A formidable devourer locust has appeared near Tianmu Domain, leading a massive swarm flying toward our territory. If this drags on, disaster will certainly befall Tianmu Domain!" This was indeed a dilemma. If no one returned, Tianmu Domain would be wiped out! The middle-aged man pondered for a moment. "Then I will try to contact our lord. But as you know, fellow Daoist, transmissions are not always reliable in this boundless void..." Su Yu appeared both anxious and exasperated. "If Tianmu Domain is truly destroyed, I cannot account for it, and if you delay vital business, you will not be able to answer to my lord either! My lord has always been on good terms with Mount Guiyuan. If Tianmu Domain falls, will he not direct his wrath at Mount Guiyuan? When that time comes, neither of us will benefit!" The middle-aged man felt rather vexed. That was true enough. If Gui had left and Mount Guiyuan was threatened, he would be just as frantic. "May I ask, fellow Daoist, how strong is that devourer locust leader near Tianmu Domain?" "At least 15 Daos of power!" The middle-aged man drew a sharp breath. That was formidable—something he certainly couldn't handle. If it were weak, he might have accompanied this man to deal with it in Gui's absence. Now, however, the matter was far beyond his ability. Su Yu was also assessing this man's strength. Without an expert making a move, pinpointing their exact power was difficult, but since the man didn't conceal his aura, Su Yu could deduce it from that. Upon careful appraisal, he was around 8 to 10 Daos of power—not weak at all. In these rogue cultivator territories, there was typically a master like Gui, along with an inspector—another powerful figure who patrolled the surrounding area to ensure security. Anyone too weak wouldn't have the strength to scout for danger. As for Tianmu Domain's inspector, according to Mu, the previous one had met an untimely end. Furthermore, Tianmu Domain was sparsely populated and located quite far from Mount Guiyuan. Apart from exchanges between top-tier powerhouses, most people might never visit Tianmu Domain in their entire lives. The middle-aged man opposite him was weighing his options as well. Soon, he looked at Su Yu and said, "Then, fellow Daoist... why not come inside Mount Guiyuan to rest for a while? After such a long journey, you appear to have sustained some injuries..." At this moment, Su Yu's death-black ancient robe bore bloodstains and slash marks, and his aura was slightly erratic. Su Yu knitted his brows. "What, is there no way to quickly contact my lord and yours? If they can rush back quickly, I must return at once. Though Tianmu Domain has few residents, it is the culmination of my lord's years of effort. If it is breached and devoured clean..." "Fellow Daoist, even if we reach them, there's no telling when they can return. Please, be patient..." Su Yu's expression shifted repeatedly in apparent irritation. Finally, he ground his teeth and sighed. "Fine, I will wait a bit. If my lord truly doesn't return... I... I won't go back either!" "..." The middle-aged man was speechless, though he found it understandable. If Mu truly didn't return, this man clearly couldn't handle the crisis alone. As a rogue cultivator whose territory had been destroyed, his only choice would be to wander the void once more. It made perfect sense for him to stay here and await Mu's return. The man considered their past absences. In the past, their lord had never stayed away too long. This was already considered an extended outing; if he was returning, it should be soon. As for not returning at all... The man didn't even entertain the thought. A 16-Dao powerhouse was an elite wherever he went, and three of them had left together this time, accompanied by three others who possessed over 12 Daos of power. With so many experts gathered, unless they ran into the master of a forbidden land, there was virtually no danger. "Please rest here for a while, fellow Daoist. I will notify my lord as soon as possible!" With that, the middle-aged man smiled. "May I ask your esteemed title, fellow Daoist?" "Heimu!" Su Yu followed up, "And how should I address you?" "Luoyun!" "Then I will trouble you, Daoist Luoyun!" Su Yu offered an ancient bow. "I expect those devourer locusts might reach Tianmu Domain in just a few days. If my lord still cannot return, we can only hope they change course. Otherwise... Tianmu Domain will surely vanish into the void!" He let out a heavy sigh. Luoyun sighed as well. "I hope the lords can return swiftly. Alas, we are not a forbidden land and have no means of withstanding powerful devourer locusts. The plague of these locusts has grown increasingly severe, leaving us in constant peril. More and more rogue cultivator domains are being swallowed up. Fortunately, rumors say the Heavenly Gate will open soon. Otherwise... at this rate, we would soon have no living space left. Establishing a rogue territory demands too high a price, only for our hard-won sanctuary to be devoured shortly after..." Luoyun shared his grief for a moment, but then smiled again. "Still, Lord Mu and Lord Gui are both 16-Dao supreme experts. If the lords were present, dealing with a 15-Dao devourer locust would be troublesome, but certainly not impossible. We are far stronger than ordinary rogue cultivators!" At his level of cultivation, even if their domain was destroyed, it was no great disaster. At worst, he could find another territory, or even carve out his own; having stepped into the second-rank Ruler of Rules realm, he was considered an expert. Most simply didn't want to expend the effort. Su Yu said nothing, glancing at the mountain. To be fair, the place was quite large. Though shaped like a skewer of candied haws, to the people living within, it was their entire world. Tier upon tier, each bulb of the skewer was effectively a world, a domain, where Luoyun served as a celestial deity providing shelter. Naturally, rogue cultivators weren't benevolent enough to carve out a territory and shelter others purely out of the goodness of their hearts—it was laborious, time-consuming, and thankless. The reason they opened territories was to bolster their own Great Dao power. Take the flesh Dao: Gui had pioneered a flesh Dao, and the people in his domain cultivated it, feeding into Gui's Great Dao to make him stronger. It was just like Foutuling: the Five Elements race was currently cultivating the Five Elements Great Dao, precisely to help Foutuling rapidly grow in strength. Gui's flesh Dao had now been swallowed by the Martial Emperor, uniting Yin and Yang, but the Dao itself had not been severed; it still existed. Thus, nothing felt amiss for now. Sooner or later, however, problems would arise and clues would be uncovered. In particular, Yu had been slain, and his Spear Dao had been directly devoured by King Zhan. With Yu's Great Dao severed, if he had a domain, the inhabitants there had likely already realized he was dead. Of course, that was none of Su Yu's concern. Luoyun did not cultivate the flesh Dao. These second-rank experts possessed their own Daos and merely affiliated themselves under Gui. Within Gui's territory, a portion of the population cultivated Luoyun's Dao as well, though not in large numbers. Here, population was actually a valuable asset. Higher numbers brought benefits. Yet it couldn't be too large either; if it grew too big, resources and territory would run short, leaving them no choice but to emulate the forbidden lands: expelling the weak and retaining the strong to prevent quality from declining. Looking around, Su Yu remarked with a hint of envy, "Your territory has quite a few living beings, and their quality is decent! I see some are cultivating your Dao, Daoist Luoyun. Alas, our Tianmu Domain is sparsely populated..." Luoyun chuckled. "That can't be helped. I know of Lord Mu's Dao—the Tianmu Dao. Ordinary people cannot comprehend it. Lord Gui cultivates the flesh Dao, which many can grasp, so more beings attach themselves to him! You don't cultivate the Tianmu Dao, do you, fellow Daoist?" Su Yu shook his head. "No. If I did, I wouldn't have reached this level. I walk the Dao of Yin Death!" At those words, Luoyun showed surprise. "Then why didn't you go to Dead Spirit Hell?" Dead Spirit Hell was immensely famous. Why would someone choose to become an inspector in Mu's domain instead of going there? The Lord of Dead Spirits was, after all, an overlord among forbidden land masters! Ordinary people found it hard to enter, but for someone cultivating the Dao of Yin Death, there was theoretically no threshold at all. Su Yu narrowed his eyes and lowered his voice: "That place... is no ordinary place. Think about it: everyone shares similar Daos, devouring one another's paths... I have heard the mortality rate there is terrifyingly high! Though progress is difficult in Lord Mu's territory, it is safe... Cultivators like us want to advance, but we don't want to throw our lives away unless forced to." "From what I can see, Daoist Heimu, your strength is considerable. Going there wouldn't necessarily be courting death!" Luoyun laughed. "Let me try contacting Lord Gui first. If I can't reach him and Tianmu Domain is truly destroyed... you won't be without options, so don't worry too much." Su Yu gave a slight nod and said no more. By now, he and Luoyun had landed at the peak of Mount Guiyuan, where a great hall sat perched atop the highest bulb of the candied skewer. This was presumably Gui's palace. Since Gui was away, no other beings dared approach the area. Luoyun looked at Su Yu and smiled. "Please wait here a moment, fellow Daoist, while I see what can be done. If you require anything, just instruct the servants..." With that, he waved his hand. From outside the hall, a slender woman stepped forward, bowed slightly to Su Yu, and said softly, "This servant is Tingyu. If My Lord has any commands, simply instruct me!" Su Yu gave a slight nod without a word, sitting cross-legged in a pavilion outside the hall. Luoyun soon departed, seemingly to find a way to contact Gui. In this boundless void, reaching someone was a troublesome task, often requiring specialized treasures or willpower imprints left behind by the powerhouse to make contact. Once Luoyun was gone, Tingyu promptly served tea to Su Yu. Su Yu quietly observed her. Flesh Dao. Her strength was actually quite impressive. By the standards of the Myriad Realms, she possessed the power of Dao Integration. For a mere maid of Gui to possess Dao Integration strength was remarkable. Yet here, it was standard. With a small population composed entirely of elites, those who were too weak were weeded out. Inside the gate, the law of the jungle was brutally stark—even more so than in the Myriad Realms. If you failed to provide adequate returns to the local master within a certain timeframe, you would be exiled. Once driven out, whether you lived or died was up to luck. The same applied to the forbidden lands. When numbers swelled, the weak were eliminated—an unvarnished display of survival of the fittest. The strong could find a living anywhere, while the weak were despised wherever they went. A second-rank expert like Luoyun, for instance, didn't share Gui's Dao, but that didn't matter. He patrolled for threats nearby, and Gui was glad to have such assistance; a second-rank powerhouse would have had no trouble opening a territory of his own anyway. Su Yu picked up his teacup and sipped slowly. Gui's palace was quite intriguing; from here, as if through transparent glass, one could look down upon the entirety of Mount Guiyuan. Though not immense, Mount Guiyuan was divided into nine tiers. Gui's palace stood on the ninth tier. The higher one went, the more experts there were. The first tier, however, was mostly populated by the elderly, the weak, the sick, and the disabled, along with numerous children. Powerful cultivators were exceedingly scarce down there; even the few at the Eternal realm were either severely injured or nearing the end of their lifespan. The divide between strong and weak was stark. Moreover, the inhabitants belonged to diverse races, thoroughly mixed and jumbled together! There was every kind of person imaginable. Sensing them, Su Yu found it rather peculiar. Inside the gate, it was like a massive melting pot, crammed with all sorts of races, many of them mixed-bloods. Here, survival came first. Racial distinctions seemed faint. Su Yu even detected some human auras, but they were also chaotic and impure—what the Human Realm would call mixed-bloods, and thoroughly mixed at that. Some of the weaker ones, even while bearing human auras, exhibited beast-like traits on their bodies. In this realm, two Daos were predominant: One was the flesh Dao, and the other was the Dao cultivated by Luoyun. Su Yu assessed it and figured it was likely a weapon-type Dao. He noticed many people wore weapons resembling ropes; that was probably Luoyun's Dao. After observing for a while, Su Yu glanced from the corner of his eye toward the maid beside him, a strange look in his eyes. Seeing Su Yu look over, the maid smiled gently—not overly seductive, yet brimming with tenderness. To people like her, forming a connection with a powerhouse who walked the void like Su Yu could mark the beginning of a meteoric rise. Unfortunately, the maid had no idea what was running through Su Yu's mind. Su Yu was wondering whether he should strip away her Dao and examine it piece by piece to see how one might integrate into it, or perhaps dissect her to find out. If Tingyu knew what Su Yu was thinking, she would never have offered that tender gaze—she would have been paralyzed with sheer terror. Su Yu kept gazing at Tingyu until, before long, Luoyun's laughter sounded. "Daoist Heimu, after your arduous journey, perhaps I should arrange a place for you to take a brief rest..." His smile carried a hint of suggestive warmth, though he didn't make much of it; such matters were trivial. For cultivators at their level, carnal desires were mere side details. Luoyun couldn't easily gauge Su Yu's exact strength, but he sensed the man was no weaker than himself—a fellow expert. He didn't mind accommodating him on such minor matters. Su Yu looked at him and frowned slightly. "Set that aside for now. Have you managed to contact Lord Gui?" "Well... our lord hasn't replied yet!" Luoyun shook his head. "However, once he sees the message, he will definitely reply. Right now, I'm not sure if he has traveled too far or is within the bounds of some forbidden land." Within the perimeter of a forbidden land, powerful experts radiated over the territory, making communication difficult. With that, he added, "Why not wait a bit, fellow Daoist? Perhaps our lord will send a response soon!" Su Yu sighed. "Fine, so be it. Waiting is all we can do! I have done my utmost. If Lord Mu returns too late and Tianmu Domain is lost... there is nothing I can do." He let out another sigh. "If worse comes to worst, I will simply go to Dead Spirit Hell. Perilous as it may be, it is also an opportunity. With the Heavenly Gate soon to open, I hear Lord of Dead Spirits commands considerable influence in the Myriad Realms as well. As long as one survives, a bright future awaits!" Luoyun nodded and smiled. "I actually envy you, fellow Daoist, cultivating the Dao of Yin Death. Across the boundless void, among so many forbidden lands, Dead Spirit Hell is extraordinarily powerful, yet both easy and difficult to enter... Over the years, countless people have tried cultivating Daos related to death, but without the innate talent, it's impossible. Otherwise, even I would have liked to cultivate such a Dao!" Entering Dead Spirit Hell was indeed desirable: a terrifying entity would provide protection. Internal slaughter was rampant, of course, but external threats were negligible. However, he then added with a chuckle, "Though lately, I advise you not to head that way. Word has it that King Wen from the Myriad Realms has been frequenting that place recently, and previously, even the Master of Eternal Life Mountain went there... If you run into figures like that, certain death awaits!" Su Yu raised a brow. "What are they going there for?" "That, I cannot say." Luoyun laughed. "They are apex beings, and we are nothing in their eyes. Besides, it's far from us. As long as the fighting doesn't spill over here, that's enough!" Su Yu dismissed it casually. "Even if they did come, they wouldn't necessarily care about us. Though we are Rulers of Rules—and not weak among them—what does a dozen or so Daos of power amount to in their eyes?" Luoyun was inwardly shaken. Over a dozen Daos of power! This fellow was stronger than him! Instantly, his demeanor grew even more courteous. "Indeed, that is true. Is there anything else I can help you with, fellow Daoist...?" "No need!" Su Yu shook his head. "Just find me a place to rest for a while. There's no need to keep me company the whole time. Go ahead with your patrols." Then, in a lower tone, Su Yu added, "By the way... do you have any useless trash you don't need? I cultivate the Dao of Yin Death, and the Yin death energy here is far too thin. Give me some unneeded refuse to dispose of, so I won't have to search for it myself and cause you trouble later!" Hearing this, Luoyun immediately understood: the man intended to cultivate using the dead or dying! Cultivating such a Dao was indeed somewhat sinister. After a brief thought, he said, "That's no big issue... If you don't mind, fellow Daoist, you can take whatever you want from the first tier! But above the first tier, I must ask that you refrain from reckless actions..." Luoyun looked at Su Yu, pleading for his understanding. Those above the first tier were all useful. The first tier consisted of expendables who could be cast out at any moment. Cultivators of the Dao of Death often waited outside forbidden lands; every time a forbidden land exiled people, it was a feast for them! Su Yu chuckled. "I know my limits. Rest assured, this is Lord Gui's domain, and I won't commit senseless slaughter. After all, the Dao of Yin Death is not the Dao of Slaughter; killing excessively serves no purpose." "Understood!" Luoyun chuckled and nodded. "Then make yourself at home, fellow Daoist. I will give instructions so no one disturbs you." "Much obliged!" "Don't mention it!" Luoyun remained exceedingly polite, while Su Yu wore a faint smile. He had anticipated this outcome: a second-rank powerhouse here would always be far more valuable than useless trash facing impending exile. To Gui and his associates, the people on the first tier were mere wastes of food and heaven-and-earth energy. Su Yu had no desire to kill anyone; he merely wanted to study how to integrate into the Great Daos, and these people fit his requirements perfectly. "Then I will be right back!" Su Yu gave a chuckle and vanished on the spot. As soon as he left, Luoyun's gaze flickered, and he murmured, "At least 12 Daos of power!" Impressive! A being of that caliber would have no problem carving out his own territory. Yet from the look of things, this Heimu had no such inclination. If Tianmu Domain fell, he might truly head for Dead Spirit Hell; once he rose there, he could quickly become a prominent figure in that forbidden land! "Forming good ties is never a bad thing!" Luoyun smiled. Turning to the maid beside him, he instructed, "Head down to the first tier. If Daoist Heimu has any needs, satisfy them as long as they aren't excessive! A powerhouse with 12 Daos of power... I saw he took an interest in you earlier. If luck is on your side, you might even reap some benefits!" "Thank you, My Lord!" Overjoyed, the maid bowed repeatedly before hurrying down toward the first tier. ... Meanwhile, Su Yu was in high spirits. The first tier was far more interesting than the others, hosting all sorts of chaotic, diverse Daos. Clearly, these people hadn't cultivated the flesh Dao from the start; they were rogue cultivators from other places who had drifted here after their domains collapsed or due to other misfortunes. And Gui clearly placed little value on them. To Su Yu, however, the more Daos there were and the more diverse they were, the better. Having plenty of specimens made it much easier for him to investigate how to integrate into the Daos here. "Splendid!" It saved him a great deal of time. He liked this place. Why must cultivation always involve killing and conflict? Disguise oneself and coexist peacefully—wasn't this wonderful? Shortly after, Su Yu reached out with a hand. Instantly, a group of people vanished from the first tier. The others who saw it showed fear, terror, and numbness. They had long grown accustomed to such a life! Here, the weak had no rights to speak of. Some even looked on with envy and worship. In this world, even if a powerhouse committed monstrous slaughter, they remained an object of admiration. This was a sick world, a world hurtling toward destruction.