Chaos in the Heavenly Gate

"There are quite a few experts behind the gate!" Looking at the figures below, Su Yu had to admit that there were many experts behind the gate. But having numbers was useless when everything was a chaotic mess without unity. Unity was out of the question here—in this damned place, each forbidden land was a major power of its own, and even alliances between forbidden lands were rare. Conquest was the only way! Yet after conquering them, a single crisis would likely cause a crushing defeat, followed by everyone scattering. Mount Liufang might have plenty of Rulers of Rules now, but they were only good for fighting when the wind was at their backs. Once a crisis hit... heh, Luoyun and the others who had pushed Su Yu to power would be the first to flee. One could guess that with eyes closed. Of course, fighting with the wind at one's back was enough. Could one really expect people to lay down their lives? In this apocalyptic era, everyone only cared about saving their own skin and grabbing benefits for themselves; who would care about the life or death of others? The forbidden lands had maintained their lineages unbroken, so perhaps there was still some cohesion there. As for rogue cultivators outside the forbidden lands, they were truly on their own! And Su Yu intended to become the leader of these rogue cultivators, uniting them all—no matter what, grabbing some advantages first was what mattered. *** Su Yu returned to the grand hall atop the mountain. The Rulers of Rules swiftly entered. Those below the Ruler of Rules rank had no right to step inside. Su Yu wasted no words and got straight to the point: "No need for pleasantries. The Heavenly Gate is about to open. Anyone without strength is mere cannon fodder. You don't want to be cannon fodder, do you? If you don't, your only option is to plunder!" Su Yu narrowed his eyes. "On our side, our six supreme experts are in closed-door cultivation, but their presence alone deters the surroundings! I shall serve as the vanguard to attack various territories, starting with those who lack backing and aren't 16-Dao experts..." Immediately, someone spoke up, "Grand Commander, things are too chaotic; the forbidden lands might intervene..." Su Yu sneered. "What do you know? Why would the forbidden lands care about this right now? They'd love nothing more than for us to fight it out so we stop bothering them! Right now, the forbidden lands can't be bothered to intervene or micromanage; they just want us to consolidate on our own and pick a few bosses, and then have those bosses take orders from them. That saves effort and keeps them from dealing with too many people!" Su Yu could easily guess the mindset of the forbidden lands. They didn't need everyone to be obedient—only the leaders chosen among them! Paying them no further heed, Su Yu quickly projected a star map. Four points of light appeared on it, standing in the four cardinal directions. Su Yu said, "Dead Spirit Hell to the east, Luohun Valley to the south, Mount Yongsheng to the north, and Mount Tianqiong to the west. These are the four rulers of our region!" Four great forbidden lands! They hemmed in the entire region, though the space between them was vast, mostly void. Looking at the massive star map, Su Yu smiled and said, "People from other regions call our place Jinduan Gorge, meaning our area has had its path of life cut off by the four forbidden lands!" Luoyun couldn't help but chuckle. "That's an exaggeration. In fact, it's much safer here with the four forbidden lands around us. Those people are just envious and jealous." Su Yu brushed that aside. With a tap on the star map, the location of Mount Liufang appeared. It lay in the northeast, close to Dead Spirit Hell and Mount Yongsheng. However, those two places were not to be trifled with. Luoyun had previously dealt with Luohun Valley to the south, but Mount Liufang was considerably further from Luohun Valley. "This is our turf!" Su Yu pointed to the northeast and smiled. "We divide the entire Jinduan Gorge into four sectors: we are in the northeast, while the other three are the southeast, southwest, and northwest!" Everyone nodded. Su Yu continued, "Therefore, our immediate priority is to claim the entire northeast sector!" At these words, the Rulers of Rules were startled. Luoyun said in a heavy voice, "According to the Grand Commander's division, our faction is unquestionably the strongest force in the northeast sector!" He looked at Su Yu with a knowing glance. On the surface, in the northeast sector, they were the most formidable! He explained, "In this northeast sector, as far as I know, there are dozens of territories below the 16-Dao level, but there are also two territories overseen by 16-Dao experts!" If Gui and the others were really around, they wouldn't fear anyone! The key issue was that everyone present knew the truth in their hearts. It was all a facade! They didn't have that many supreme experts—Grand Commander Heimu was their only true top powerhouse. Su Yu bared his teeth with a chilling glint in his eyes. "Indeed, since we are the strongest force, what is there to fear? We won't provoke the two 16-Dao territories for now, but why should we fear those below 16 Daos?" Su Yu's gaze turned frosty as he looked at everyone and said in a low voice, "In the past, when Lord Gui and the others were around, whenever a battle broke out, the lords took seventy percent of the spoils, twenty percent went to the public treasury, and ten percent was kept by yourselves!" Yes, just ten percent! Was that exploitation? Not especially by local standards. In this era and in this place, aside from domain lords and a few top figures, everyone else was essentially a slave working for nothing! If the lord was in a good mood, you got a small reward; if not, they could kill you on a whim! For Gui and the others to leave ten percent was already considered generous. That was why these people had been reluctant to leave Mount Liufang. Su Yu grinned. "Now, the lords are in seclusion, and I am in charge. I'm a fair man! I will take thirty percent. As for the rest, there are five inspectors, and the five of you will take forty percent—how you divide it among yourselves is up to you, I won't interfere! The remaining thirty percent doesn't need to go to any public treasury. Why bother? The lords are in seclusion and don't care about such things. That thirty percent belongs to the rest of you!" Everyone's eyes lit up! Su Yu gave a cold laugh. "I take thirty percent all for myself. That isn't excessive, is it?" "Not at all, Grand Commander is truly generous!" Everyone was overjoyed. That thirty percent didn't refer to Su Yu's personal kills, but the spoils gathered by others; what Su Yu took himself naturally belonged entirely to him! As for handing over a share, that was standard practice. An individual couldn't compare to a faction, especially a large one like Mount Liufang! Borrowing the banner and power of Mount Liufang naturally required payment! Su Yu smiled sinisterly. "Since it isn't excessive and I'm offering more than anyone else, think carefully: when we plunder, will you put your backs into it? Is it better to plunder together and reap more, or go out alone and make a pittance?" Their eyes flickered with excitement. Su Yu tapped a finger, turning the entire northeast sector on the star map bloody red. He smiled coldly. "If we take this region, think of the spoils! We eliminate the disobedient, seize their geniuses, capture living beings, and have them attach themselves to our Great Daos... As long as we dare to fight, we can advance rapidly!" Zhigu from Mount Yuding took a sharp breath. "Grand Commander, my only fear is... if everyone senses the danger, they might unite to resist us..." Another concern was whether the forbidden lands would step in to cause trouble if they got too aggressive. Su Yu sneered. "The bold gorge themselves, while the timid starve! The Heavenly Gate is about to open. If we don't act now, what will we do when we reach the Myriad Realms? The Myriad Realms aren't filled with weaklings you can slaughter at will. When we go there, if we aren't cannon fodder, we'll still be the vanguard for the forbidden lands! Early death or late death is still death. We might as well pull off a big score now. If we survive, the gains will be enormous!" He pointed toward the entire northeast sector and bared his teeth. "In this region, there are two forbidden lands: Dead Spirit Hell and Mount Yongsheng. Mount Yongsheng has no time to meddle with us right now. As for Dead Spirit Hell... I cultivate the Yin Death Dao. If push comes to shove, I'll register my name with Dead Spirit Hell and claim I'm serving the Lord of Dead Spirits! I'll just say I'm expanding the forbidden land's influence from the outside without entering yet... Would such supreme figures care about small fries like us?" Luoyun nodded slightly and said, "Luohun Valley might also reach out to us... In recent years, Luohun Valley has been expanding its influence across Jinduan Gorge, because Mount Yongsheng stopped meddling, and Dead Spirit Hell ignores cultivators who don't follow the Death Dao. As for Mount Tianqiong to the west, the Lord of Mount Tianqiong is immensely powerful, but years ago he seems to have clashed with a formidable enemy and has kept quiet ever since..." Su Yu had some guesses about this; it likely had to do with the Human Sovereign. The Lord of Mount Tianqiong seemed to have clashed with the Human Sovereign before. The Human Sovereign's Heavenly Gate projection was right over there. Since he knew the Human Sovereign was nearby... with someone capable of raiding his home at any moment, unless he relocated his forbidden land, he had no choice but to keep watch constantly. After all, the Human Sovereign was no pushover! Nowadays, the Lord of Mount Tianqiong indeed likely had no interest in managing these rogue cultivators; it was meaningless. Su Yu paid it no mind. "That's for later. Enough talk. We must seize the northeast sector before news leaks out, grab the benefits to bolster our strength, and then find a way to claim the entire Jinduan Gorge!" The crowd exchanged glances, falling silent for a moment. Su Yu couldn't help but curse, "I'll be the first to charge! If we encounter any tough opponents, I'll take them on first! If you don't even have the guts for that, we might as well disband right now!" "Calm your fury, Grand Commander!" Luoyun immediately spoke up. "We shall follow the Grand Commander in everything!" Keeping thirty percent of the harvest was quite a lot; the terms were generous, and backing themselves with Mount Liufang's might made it well worth a gamble! Looking at them, Su Yu could only curse inwardly: what a bunch of trash! They might as well just wait around to die! Of course, if these people won a few battles and tasted the sweetness of victory, they would turn into ravenous wolves and could prove quite useful. "No time to lose!" Su Yu said coldly, "We set out now! Don't bring the weaklings; everyone at or above the Ruler of Rules rank comes with me! We'll wipe out a few domains first, taste some sweetness, and discuss the rest later!" So fast? Everyone was taken aback. This was too fast! Su Yu gave them no time to think, saying in an eerie tone, "Now, immediately! All of us together! I don't care who you had ties with before; under me, you'd better behave. Only benefits in your hands count as real benefits, understand?" "Understood!" Their hearts clenched. Looking at Su Yu's expression, who would dare say no? A smile crept across Su Yu's face. Very good! If any proved disobedient, they were expendable anyway; killing a few to intimidate the rest was perfectly fine. "Then move out!" Su Yu unleashed his Aura-Concealing Dao, cloaking everyone's presence in an instant as they shot through the void. The crowd was astonished—this Grand Commander had comprehended an extraordinary number of Daos. *** Su Yu's speed was not slow. Even so, it took half a day to lead everyone to a new domain in the void. It belonged to a second-rank expert who had an inspector of third-rank strength. A setup comparable to the earlier second-rank experts. After observing briefly, Su Yu said grimly, "Luoyun, Zhigu, and I will deal with the domain lord. The rest of you kill everyone at or above the Ruler of Rules rank, and plunder everyone below it! Be quick, catch them off guard!" "Understood!" The responses were somewhat disorganized, but Su Yu didn't care. For now, these people could only be kept together by self-interest; turning them into an elite force was hopeless! Or it would require immense cost and time! Forget it; he wasn't counting on that. Raising a pack of hungry wolves was enough! As for potential backlashes... over time, as their strength grew, a backlash was only natural and bound to erupt eventually. But... what did that have to do with him? He had no intention of actually becoming an emperor who unified this realm! As long as his strength could suppress them, none of them would dare step out of line. With those words, Su Yu vanished from his spot. In the distance, an angry shout rang out: "Who goes there?" Boom! Death qi surged to the heavens! "Dead Spirit Hell?" An expert took to the air in terror. Was it an expert from Dead Spirit Hell? "Wrong, it's Mount Liufang!" Su Yu's eerie laughter echoed. "Heimu of Mount Liufang has come to pay a visit!" Boom! "Heimu!" With a tremendous rumble, the domain shook violently as endless death qi flooded inward. Su Yu materialized before the domain lord—a 14-Dao expert, certainly not weak. Of course, compared to Su Yu, the gap was substantial. Su Yu went all out. Even without the amplification of his heaven and earth, once inside the gate, unleashing the power of heaven and earth stored within his Heavenly Gate allowed him to burst forth with the strength of 20 Daos. The disparity between them was massive! Su Yu waved his hand, unleashing countless bolts of lightning as death qi swept in. In an instant, two more figures appeared. It was Zhigu and Luoyun. The expert wielding a giant axe changed expression, turned on his heel, and fled without hesitation! No hesitation whatsoever! He couldn't win! In that case, his only choice was to abandon the place. At the same time, the other Rulers of Rules charged forward with sinister, crazed laughter, storming the domain. When the domain's own Rulers of Rules flew up to defend, their faces drained of color at the sight of so many foes. "Mount Liufang!" "We surrender!" Someone shouted in terror, particularly the third-rank inspector. In this place, surrendering brought no shame—no one even bothered to curse the fleeing lord! Knowing death was certain, surrendering was only natural. Even the domain lord himself would have called out surrender if he hadn't feared being executed on the spot. But as a lord, running was the wiser course; joining them later was a matter for another day, but he couldn't surrender right now! Yet just as he tore through the void to escape, Su Yu suddenly appeared before him, waving a hand to summon a swirling cloud of black mist! In an instant, it engulfed him. The next moment, Su Yu vanished into the black mist! Zhigu and Luoyun arrived quickly. Seeing the churning black mist, they hesitated over whether to enter. Just as they pondered, a bloodcurdling scream rang out! Their hearts tightened. The black mist slowly dispersed, and with a thunderous blast, the giant-axe-wielding expert was shattered to pieces by Su Yu's palm strike. Vast amounts of rule power spilled forth, and Su Yu swept his hand out, gathering it all. Surging death qi erupted from Su Yu, corroding the corpse in the blink of an eye. With a resounding boom, the Great Dao snapped. Just as the rule power was about to scatter, Su Yu seized it all in his grasp. A second-rank expert had fallen just like that. Zhigu and Luoyun were horrified! This... was far too terrifying! Killing a 14-Dao expert usually required effort even for a 16-Dao expert. Wasn't this Heimu absurdly powerful? This was simply monstrous! How long had it even been? In other directions, the other Rulers of Rules were equally terrified, yet also overjoyed. In an instant, their auras erupted as they roared, "Grand Commander is mighty!" Those who had been slacking off earlier threw themselves into the fray. Despite the enemy Rulers of Rules begging for surrender, they swiftly slaughtered them! As for Su Yu, he didn't care what type of Dao power it was—he could use any of it. In a flash, he absorbed the second-rank expert's rule power into his body, then cast a cold glance at Zhigu and Luoyun: "Next time we fight, you'd best give it your all! You get no share of the spoils from this battle! Back then, I fought Lord Mu multiple times without falling into a disadvantage. When you know this is a chance to gamble for your future, if you still don't go all out, are you waiting to be turned into cannon fodder?" Su Yu snorted coldly. The two experts didn't dare utter a word, looking solemn. This Heimu was far stronger than they had imagined—they faintly felt he was about to step into 16 Daos! This left the two of them both thrilled and terrified! To have such a powerhouse on their side was naturally something to rejoice over. Yet the terrifying part was his displeasure with their lackluster effort. Luoyun hurriedly said, "This was our first time coordinating with you, my Lord, so we were clumsy. Next time, we will give our all and brave fire and water!" Su Yu said nothing further. With such a massive disparity in combat power, the rogue cultivator domain fell almost instantly! With a deafening smash, a Ruler of Rules brought a war hammer down, making the entire territory shake violently. Many cultivators below the Ruler of Rules level were killed on the spot. Su Yu glanced over and said indifferently, "Enough. What's the point of killing these weaklings? It's a waste! Bring them back!" Then, looking at the trembling beings within the domain, he declared coldly, "Mount Liufang is handling business here. From now on, you belong to Mount Liufang. Just be obedient; Mount Liufang is far better than this miserable place!" Luoyun also hurriedly shouted, "This is Grand Commander Heimu of our Mount Liufang! Bow and give thanks to the Lord at once!" In an instant, tens of thousands of beings in the domain knelt and prostrated themselves, crying out, "We thank the Lord!" Their voices carried awe, adoration, and terror. Their domain lord had been slain by this powerhouse in mere moments; who wouldn't be terrified? Su Yu didn't bother to linger. "Handle the cleanup yourselves. Luoyun, collect my share! Prepare for the next target. Before word spreads, we conquer as many domains as we can!" "Understood!" By now, Luoyun and Zhigu's attitudes had completely changed! Previously, they had only listened to talk without knowing Su Yu's true capability. But today, he had cleanly killed a domain lord in moments. Having witnessed the gulf between them, how could they harbor any doubts? They would follow Su Yu for now! *** On this day, tremors echoed continuously across the northeast sector of Jinduan Gorge between the four forbidden lands. In a single day, Su Yu eradicated three domains. Had the distances not been so vast and traveling so time-consuming, he could have swept through even more domains in a day. Meanwhile, with some surrendering and others slain, word of Mount Liufang's sweeping campaign began to spread through wandering void cultivators. *** Besides Mount Liufang, there were two other first-rank dao arena domains in the northeast sector. At this moment, in one of them—Mount Xuelong. A massive white dragon suddenly soared into the sky. In an instant, several experts gathered beside it. The giant dragon swiftly transformed into a cold woman with sharp eyes. Frowning, she asked, "Mount Liufang is sweeping through the surroundings?" "Yes!" Below, a burly man quickly reported, "My Lady, three territories were completely swept clean by them today. Some were killed, others captured, and three domains were razed to the ground!" "Was it Gui or Mu who acted?" "Neither!" The burly man said in a heavy voice, "It's said those lords are still in closed-door cultivation. It was carried out by Heimu, formerly the inspector of Tianmu Domain! This Heimu is now the Grand Commander of Mount Liufang! Leading a group, he has been rampaging through the surroundings without restraint. My Lady, Mount Liufang harbors no small ambition; they likely intend to sweep through and dominate this entire area..." The woman transformed from the white dragon raised an eyebrow slightly. "Heimu? What strength does he possess?" "Supposedly at the peak of 15 Daos!" "That is indeed not weak. Heimu... I haven't heard much about him before..." Xuelong murmured, "Years ago, when I visited Tianmu Domain, the inspector wasn't named Heimu, was he?" Whatever, it was no big deal. In this place, personnel changed constantly. Who knew how many years had passed since her visit to Tianmu Domain? It was perfectly normal. Dismissing the thought, she said in a heavy voice, "What does Mount Liufang want? Could it be they intend to sweep through us as well?" Frowning, she asked, "Any word from Blade Valley?" Blade Valley was the second first-rank dao arena in the northeast sector. At this moment, Xuelong was still somewhat troubled. Mount Liufang was powerful; previously, everyone lived in peace because Gui and the others operated independently. Now that they had suddenly allied, it posed a problem. Three 16-Dao experts were not to be trifled with. Not to mention several 15-Dao experts. The burly man said in a heavy voice, "My Lady, the inspector from Blade Valley sent a message earlier, hoping to talk. The Blade Lord likely wants to join forces with us to resist Mount Liufang's threat!" Xuelong said nothing, falling into a thoughtful silence. Moments later, her eyes suddenly shifted toward the distance. At that exact moment, an illusory small dragon flew swiftly toward her. Xuelong caught it, and it vanished into her hand. Xuelong seemed to review the message inside, and her expression changed slightly. "No wonder they're so bold! To launch expeditions in all directions knowing full well the forbidden lands dislike rogue cultivators growing strong—so that's why!" She turned to the people beside her and said solemnly, "The winds are changing!" Their hearts trembled. "The Heavenly Gate is about to open. The various forbidden lands will soon convene a Forbidden Land Conference to negotiate the quota for the first batch to enter the Myriad Realms! Among the rogue cultivators, certain domains will receive quotas. Perhaps before long, these domains will gain recognition from the forbidden lands and be granted spots to enter the Myriad Realms when the gate opens!" Their expressions shifted as they looked at Xuelong. She continued heavily, "So right now, not just here, but in other regions as well, those who received the news are frantically swallowing up territories of all sizes. I wondered why Mount Liufang suddenly merged after never cooperating before—so that was the reason!" "My Lady, then what about us?" Several people grew nervous. Did this mean chaos was starting again? Xuelong said in a low voice, "Mount Liufang might not dare provoke us easily... but we cannot sit by idly. Since Mount Liufang is sweeping through the surroundings... we shall do the same! Contact Blade Valley; we can cooperate for now! That way, we can prevent Mount Liufang from striking us. Facing them alone would benefit neither of us!" "Understood!" The group quickly assented, excitement welling up within them. Was the Heavenly Gate about to open? Could they finally leave? Quotas—how many quotas would there be? Unable to contain himself, someone asked, "My Lady, those quotas... can we get them?" Xuelong chuckled softly. "There may be a chance! As it stands, the forbidden lands intend to classify rogue cultivator dao arenas into five ranks, granting quotas to all. The weakest fifth-rank dao arenas might receive one quota. Fourth-rank and third-rank are uncertain... but first-rank rogue cultivator dao arenas might receive dozens!" "How... how will dao arena ranks be determined?" "By strength, what else?" Xuelong's eyes flickered. "It will probably depend on the number of experts at 16 Daos or above, or perhaps even higher—whether any domain lords surpass 20 Daos. It's hard to say; nothing is finalized yet!" "However, before then, we must bolster our strength. When the Forbidden Land Conference convenes, certain domains might receive invitations to attend the discussions in a forbidden land. There are four forbidden lands near Jinduan Gorge, close to the Heavenly Gate... If a forbidden land is chosen to host the meeting, it might very well be one of the four... And in Jinduan Gorge, whoever possesses the greatest fame and strength will likely be invited to the forbidden land!" Xuelong hadn't known much before, but now she seemed to have gained access to classified information. The others didn't dwell on it; they knew she likely had ties to certain forbidden lands, or was even an agent of one! To them, that didn't matter! The deeper her background, the better! "My Lady, regarding Mount Liufang... if we run into them..." "Avoid them for now!" Xuelong said, "Those fellows are troublesome to provoke; they have too many experts!" Gui, Mu, Yu, and now this Heimu, whose strength sounded formidable—Xuelong had no desire to clash with them for the time being. *** On the same day, rumors began to circulate throughout Jinduan Gorge. The spread was relatively slow due to the vast distances. Yet the name Heimu still spread, at least across the northeast sector. Everyone knew that Grand Commander Heimu of Mount Liufang possessed formidable strength and had slain two experts above 10 Daos. Of course, at this stage, the news was confined to rogue cultivator dao arenas in the northeast. The major forbidden lands hadn't paid much attention yet. They were aware of Mount Liufang's establishment, but only knew of Gui, Yu, and Mu; Heimu was not yet a first-rank expert or the lord of Mount Liufang, so his fame was still modest. *** On the second day, Mount Liufang continued its sweeping campaign. The entire northeast sector plunged into chaos. Not only Mount Liufang, but Mount Xuelong and Blade Valley also mobilized swiftly. The two first-rank experts even showed themselves in person to intimidate the surroundings. Centered around these three factions, battles erupted across the northeast sector. And the northeast sector happened to be close to where King Wen and King Wu were located. It also fell within Mount Yongsheng's sphere of influence. *** At that moment. Near Mount Yongsheng, King Wu was preparing for a breakthrough, so King Wen refrained from causing further trouble. Certain matters had to be put on hold to let King Wu break through first—that was of paramount importance. As for his sister, she wouldn't die anytime soon; if she were going to die, she would have died long ago. Besides, it wouldn't be much longer. King Wen cast his gaze into the distance. The area around Mount Yongsheng was deserted—or rather, no one dared approach. They had fought too many battles here; passersby were easily killed. Under normal circumstances, nobody dared come near. King Wen wasn't looking for people, but rather observing other signs. A tiny Heavenly Gate faintly manifested on his forehead. A sharp glint flickered in his eyes as he looked into the distance. "Chaos... killing intent... turmoil..." He frowned, feeling puzzled. All of a sudden, the killing intent across the region had intensified considerably. He could even faintly sense that experts had perished recently—perhaps not all that strong to them, but certainly possessing over 10 Daos of power. Ordinarily, skirmishes happened, but signs of experts being slain wouldn't suddenly emerge without reason. "What's going on?" Sensing carefully, he frowned. It seemed to be happening right in the region where he was! If so, wouldn't it interfere with some of his plans? "Could it have something to do with Su Yu?" He thought for a moment, then chuckled softly. How could that be? Putting aside whether that fellow had even entered, even if he had, it would only have been in the last few days. For such an upheaval to erupt so suddenly required preparation and timing. How could it be such a coincidence? Even if Su Yu had arrived, he would probably still be familiarizing himself with the surroundings! Beside him, King Wu snapped his eyes open and grumbled, "What are you laughing at? Did I cultivate wrong?" "..." King Wen was rendered speechless. He retorted testily, "Just focus on your cultivation; I wasn't laughing at you!" "Then what are you laughing at? Thinking of some beauty? Speaking of which, remember Snow King? She was quite a looker, and her man is dead. If Snow King is still alive... once you go back, you could try hitting on her..." "Get lost!" King Wen snapped, glaring at him. To hell with you! Shrugging, King Wu didn't mind. He also looked into the distance and said, "Strange, this region feels a bit chaotic. Old Wen, did you feel it? Seems like major turmoil broke out, didn't it?" "Perhaps!" King Wen didn't elaborate. King Wu didn't care much either, chuckling, "Let them slaughter each other! The more dead, the better! There really are a ton of experts behind the gate. Back in the Heaven-Opening Era, any dog or cat could open a Dao. What a pity our era made cultivation so much harder!" King Wen said indifferently, "It was manageable. It's the current era where cultivation has become even harder. The Daos have all been occupied; cultivating will only grow more difficult! That is precisely why the Three Gates exist—to keep from cutting off the path for future generations... Unfortunately, who would accept such a fate willingly?" He let out a self-deprecating laugh. "Would you accept it? To be treated like trash, swept into a tomb, waiting for death?" "Hell no!" King Wu shook his head! King Wen sighed. "That's why those inside the gates aren't willing either. Why should they be cleared away? If that's the case... then they might as well walk out the gate, destroy this new era, and restore the old one! That's just human nature!" With that, he turned his gaze outward again, frowning slightly. Was major upheaval about to erupt? It might be related to the impending opening of the Heavenly Gate. That was fine, but what he feared was that some experts who had been sitting on the sidelines might get involved. With the Heavenly Gate about to open, would those fellows come after him? Troublesome! On his end, he hadn't even dealt with Fa yet! If reinforcements arrived now, he would be in deep trouble! *** At the same time. Inside Mount Yongsheng. Within an immense palace, a figure whose features were obscured by mist looked down upon the realm. In the hall, officials stood in solemn ranks. One of them stepped forward and said loudly, "Dao Lord, messages have arrived from the various forbidden lands. They intend to convene a Forbidden Land Conference to deliberate over the matter of exiting the Heavenly Gate. Yet our Mount Yongsheng is endlessly entangled with King Wen and King Wu, unable to extricate ourselves... This old official has a thought: why not invite the experts of the various forbidden lands to Mount Yongsheng for the conference? If the opportunity presents itself, we could leverage the strength of all factions to wipe out those two in one fell swoop!" "This old official concurs!" "Dao Lord, King Wen and King Wu must be eliminated swiftly! Otherwise, once the Heavenly Gate opens, other forbidden lands can exit directly, while we will be delayed... A single step behind means falling behind at every step!" "Using the collective strength of all factions to kill them is the best course. The other forbidden lands wish to sit on the sidelines and watch our Mount Yongsheng slaughter each other with them. In that case... let all factions gather at our Mount Yongsheng for an alliance!" "..." High on the dais, Fa said indifferently, "They won't come just because you want them to!" Below, an expert said in a low voice, "Dao Lord, we can use the matter of Wen Yu to invite the various factions!" Fa's brows knitted slightly as he said coldly, "Do you realize what you are saying?" Below, the armored general said in a deep voice, "This old official understands! But the matter of Wen Yu must be resolved as soon as possible. Killing Wen Yu will surely drive King Wen and King Wu to charge Mount Yongsheng heedless of everything. That would be the best opportunity to kill them!" Looking up at Fa, he urged, "Dao Lord, at this point, sharing information regarding Wen Yu with the other forbidden lands offers far more advantages than disadvantages!" Fa remained cold and unmoved. The general pressed on, "Dao Lord! For the sake of Mount Yongsheng, for the sake of returning to the Myriad Realms... this old official believes..." "Enough!" Fa said calmly, "I shall consider it." "Dao Lord..." "I said enough!" Fa waved his sleeve and vanished on the spot. *** A moment later. In the depths of Mount Yongsheng, Fa's figure materialized. Bearing a chill, he looked toward the captive figure held deep within the confinement and said calmly, "The Heavenly Gate is about to open. After years of entanglement, Wen Yu, you should understand that there is no way out for you. Come out now, and perhaps... there is still a chance!" From within the confinement, a woman's voice drifted out, laced with amusement and utter nonchalance: "Why don't you come in? Step in, and I'll shatter your forbidden land's core! You old geezer, if you don't let me out soon, you're going to meet your end sooner or later! By the way, send some food in. I've finished eating all the rare beasts in here. Got any more?" "Hmph!" Fa snorted coldly, his voice laced with frost: "Who are you counting on? Your brother? Over all these years, if he could save you, he would have done so long ago! Hand over the core of your heaven and earth, and I will let you leave. How about it?" "What core of heaven and earth? Didn't I give it to you last time?" Wen Yu's laughter rang out again. Fa's expression darkened. "Wen Yu, you truly don't know what's good for you!" "Pfft!" A disdainful scoff came from the depths. "Spare me the nonsense. If you could kill me, you'd have done so long ago. Day in and day out, it's threats, threats, and more threats. Don't you get tired of it? Hurry up and send some more food in, or I'm going to start nibbling on your forbidden land's core!" Fa's expression grew increasingly grim. After a long silence, he made up his mind. "Since you refuse to appreciate my leniency, don't blame me for leaving you no way out!" He turned and left. Since you seek your own doom... then I have no choice but to summon all the forbidden lands here! Thinking of the woman in the depths, his gaze turned colder still. Over the years, this woman had continuously gnawed away at his forbidden land. Detestable, hateful! Unfortunately, killing her was no easy feat. To maintain the forbidden land, he could only slowly wear her down. But with King Wen and King Wu making trouble outside, he had still failed to erase all of her imprints over the years! Had he known, he should have gritted his teeth from the very start and killed her, even if it wrecked more than half of the forbidden land! Alas, back then, he had needed Wen Yu as bait to lure King Wen and his companion. Now, the situation had grown out of control! The more Fa thought about it, the more his head ached and fury welled up. Those other fellows owed him an explanation for this. Over the years, after luring King Wen and King Wu here, they had washed their hands of the matter—despicable! If he hadn't covetously eyed Wen Yu's book, he would have abandoned this long ago! Yet the thought of that book, complete with myriad Daos and rich in Great Dao power, made Fa's heart burn with greed! Swallowing that object might yield results no less profound than the Lord of Dead Spirits devouring the dead spirit realm before leaving the Myriad Realms! Though Wen Yu had gnawed away at his forbidden land and even his Daos over the years, to him, it was not entirely without benefit. "What a pity..." The more he thought, the more reluctant he felt. Unless pushed to the absolute brink, he didn't want others to help kill Wen Yu. If they joined forces to kill her, once that book fell out... could he still monopolize it? At this moment, Fa let out a sigh. After so many years, he truly couldn't bear to let it go!