Heroes Gather at Mount Liufang

At that moment, Su Yu kept flying onward, his expression unchanged. The instant the Lord of Mount Tianqiong had probed him, the hairs on his neck had stood on end! He had been targeted by a supreme expert! In that single instant, his Dao of Calamity had surged with wild, violent fluctuations, fiercer than at any point before—because his watcher was far too powerful! It had to be the Lord of Mount Tianqiong! At such an immense distance, the man had managed to fix his gaze on him in a flash and instill such an overwhelming sense of mortal danger. The sheer might of these lords of the forbidden grounds far exceeded Su Yu's imagination. Fortunately, the scrutiny had lasted only an instant and soon seemed to fade away. Not knowing whether someone was still watching him from the shadows, Su Yu dared not get careless and continued his flight back in silence. Forbidden grounds... were not to be trifled with! At least for now, he had no means whatsoever to provoke them. I can't afford to provoke them, but right now I can hide... The phantom of the Heavenly Gate had been tucked tightly away behind his new Gate of Civilization. If it were exposed, the consequences would be unthinkable! Even an expert as formidable as King Wen had spent the past few thousand years without an easy day once someone set their sights on him. Word was that King Wen had been hauled out and thrashed every few days in the past. Things had been slightly better recently, mostly because King Wen hadn't made much progress over the years, whereas King Wu was rumored to be advancing by leaps and bounds. In continuous battle, pure martialists truly made rapid strides. Thoughts raced through Su Yu's mind. He wasted no time and pressed ahead. Only after flying for more than half a day—and having already been quite far from Mount Tianqiong to begin with—did his Dao of Calamity finally settle down, allowing Su Yu to breathe a small sigh of relief. A terrifying entity! Those fellows possessed staggering strength. Of course, Su Yu was startled, but not terrified. While he was currently no match for them, he was opening twin worlds. Once he returned to the myriad realms, even if he fused the twin worlds right now, his strength would take an immense leap. Twenty-eight Daos? Or perhaps even more? Who could tell! Before they merged into one, there was no way to know for sure, but bringing the two worlds together would undoubtedly yield tremendous mutual reinforcement. With these thoughts in mind, Su Yu sped forward. After another span of time, he finally opened his palm. Resting in the center were three figures. Earlier, Su Yu had concealed them inside his flesh and blood, enveloped by his palm acupoints, so they hadn't been discovered. To the three of them, it felt as if hardly any time had passed. Reappearing now without sensing anything amiss, Blade Master sneered, "Well? Did you succeed in opening your world?" He felt like laughing! They had been plunged into darkness for at most a single day. Was Heimu flying back already? Had he gone all the way to Mount Tianqiong just to take in the scenery? What a ridiculous fellow! Still, it was just as well. It had been entirely expected that this man wouldn't dare open a world. The crux of the matter was how they were going to escape next. Would this fellow fly into a rage out of humiliation and finish them off? A sudden tremor of unease seized Blade Master. Better not provoke Heimu anymore; if he pushed the lunatic too far, the man might just cut him down. Su Yu said nothing. A sphere materialized in his hand, circled by abundant powers of the Great Dao. He looked at them with a faint smile, and another medallion appeared in his grasp. The three glanced at it, slightly startled. Xuelong blurted in surprise, "You... went to Mount Tianqiong and became a guest elder?" What was going on? They had just been sealed away. Could this have happened just now, or had Heimu been Mount Tianqiong's man all along? Without a word, Su Yu brought forth strands of Great Dao power in his palm. Suddenly, Daos began extending out from his acupoints. Those nascent Daos rapidly devoured the Great Dao power before them! Acupoints giving birth to Daos! The three watched, dumbstruck. What kind of sorcery was this? At that moment, Su Yu's physical body jolted. Suddenly, heaven and earth turned upside down. In the eyes of Xuelong and the others, Su Yu expanded at breakneck speed like a world unto himself, sun, moon, and stars materializing as one Great Dao after another unfurled! Beneath their stunned gazes, those Daos swiftly surged outward, gradually converging to outline a vast river. Su Yu said calmly, "Choose a Great Dao to merge into!" The trio froze in place! Where were they? What had just happened? What was this place? Su Yu looked down upon them with cool detachment. To him, the three appeared no different from ants. That might have been a slight exaggeration, but now that they were enveloped by his physical world domain, they were effectively shrouded by his body. It wasn't that Su Yu had grown immense; rather, they had been shrunk. Compressed into his world by Su Yu's spatial reduction techniques. Su Yu stretched out his hand as if the heavens were collapsing. The three instantly found themselves standing on his palm. Su Yu's colossal eyes peered down at them, burning like the sun, moon, and stars. "Didn't you claim that if I succeeded in opening a world, you would merge into it?" The three remained paralyzed. After a long silence, the corner of Blade Master's mouth twitched. "You... you must be joking!" Succeeded in opening a world? How could that be possible! Not a whisper of disturbance, not the slightest ripple of sensation, yet Heimu was now telling them he had successfully opened a world! What a joke! Su Yu was completely cold. "Connect your Daos, and you will naturally understand! If I weren't a world opener, could you bridge your Daos into mine? A world forms its own self-sustaining cycle, fundamentally different from ordinary Dao integration. How could commoners like you possibly comprehend its mysteries!" The three exchanged glances, still finding it impossible to believe! Impossible! Losing his patience, Su Yu said icily, "Do you wish to taste the majesty of heaven and earth?" The next instant, the cosmos inverted before their eyes! Heaven and earth flipped, and the sun and moon lost their luster! Countless bolts of lightning converged as the crushing weight of a world came bearing down alongside a raging tempest! The three were like solitary skiffs tossed about on a stormy sea, battered by the howling wind and rain. Then, Su Yu's voice echoed in their ears. "Light!" Boom! The dim world suddenly blazed with radiant splendor like a holy land. For the very first time, they realized that a world could actually be bright! "Earth!" A vast expanse of land unfurled across millions of miles. Under their dumbfounded gazes, mountains and rivers rose, the realm was cleaved open, and heaven and earth were established. Gradually, a flourishing, vibrant world took shape before them. There were mountains, waters, light, darkness, soil, white clouds, blue skies... "The myriad realms..." Blade Master murmured. Was this the myriad realms... no, was this a world brimming with vitality? A realm entirely different from the inside of the Heavenly Gate! Here, life thrived; there was no longer utter silence, nor bleak, dusky desolation. At that moment, all three felt intoxicated. Yet they were top experts after all and swiftly regained their wits. Blade Master's face shifted slightly as he looked up at the colossal eyes in the void, swallowing hard. "It's fake, isn't it? An illusion Dao? Right?" Many Daos could conjure worlds out of thin air, but pulling it off so seamlessly, making it feel so unified as if a true world had been forged, would hardly escape the eyes of first-rank experts like them. And yet... they had witnessed it emerge from nothingness, born from what seemed to be a mere stray thought from Heimu. That was impossible! An illusion! This had to be an illusion! It defied belief. The timeframe had been far too short. Heimu had vanished for only a brief spell, and upon his return, he declared he had opened a world. It was nothing like what they had imagined! They still remembered when the Lord of Dead Spirits opened his world: lords of the forbidden grounds had rushed to the scene from all corners, heaven and earth had shattered, and every ounce of death qi across the realm had converged on him. The spectacle had been cataclysmic! What was this supposed to be? Granted, they had been sealed, but they had remained right by Su Yu's side and hadn't sensed a thing! Impossible! Blade Master simply refused to believe it, dared not believe it. If it were real, it was far too horrifying! Xuelong's eyes flickered as he studied the still-expanding world. "Did you truly succeed in opening a world?" he asked abruptly. "Why does it feel... as though your strength hasn't improved at all compared to before?" Indeed. Prior to this, when Su Yu subdued them, he had utilized the power of his world, wielding around twenty Daos of strength. Yet now, while Su Yu appeared terrifying, Xuelong could sense no increase in his might! Su Yu said indifferently, "What would you know? Opening a world means expelling impurities and casting away unnecessary Dao powers. It is a process of refinement and streamlining, preparing the vessel to be filled later with far greater Dao powers. Hence, it is followed by a period of explosive growth!" The three understood none of this! They had no way of understanding, for none of them were world openers, nor had they ever met one, let alone studied the craft. All they knew was that the Lord of Dead Spirits was unequivocally a world opener; as for anyone else, they could only speculate. Was world opening a process of simplification? Casting aside all unwanted Dao powers as impurities? Had Heimu truly opened a world? Did succeeding in opening a world really bring no immediate boost in strength? They had no answers. As for the Lord of Dead Spirits, he couldn't serve as a benchmark; he had been frighteningly powerful from the very beginning. He had already opened a world of his own, and even without opening a new one, he remained an unimaginably mighty existence! Staring at the world before them, the three still found it incredible! Was it genuine or not? Jin Feng, a peak second-rank expert who had remained quiet until now, suddenly spoke up in a muffled voice: "Lord Heimu, according to what you said, if we reconnect our Daos by severing them and integrating into your world, can we continue cultivating our original Daos? And how much will it affect our strength?" Su Yu pondered for a moment before replying, "The impact is not small! Of course, it matters little to you... your Dao is strong enough that after integrating, you will remain at the peak of fifteen Daos without much discrepancy. But Xuelong and Blade Master will be just like you, capped at the peak of fifteen Daos!" Su Yu said calmly, "Because right now, after opening the world, my strength has dropped, leaving me with only eighteen Daos of power! Naturally, as you integrate, I might improve; with three experts merging in, I may advance to nineteen or twenty Daos... but that is still not enough to support a sixteen-Dao combatant appearing in my world!" Su Yu added impassively, "To become a sixteen-Dao expert in my world, I must possess at least twenty-five Daos of strength—that is the bare minimum threshold! Otherwise, even if you grasp sixteen Daos of power, you will have no way to unleash it!" The trio's expressions shifted slightly. A minimum of twenty-five Daos? Su Yu continued, "Twenty-five Daos of strength should be feasible! Of course, even if I haven't reached twenty-five Daos, it's not as though there is no other way!" Back in the myriad realms, at his peak during the final moments, he had possessed around twenty-four Daos of strength. Back then, Xingyue had already been on the verge of stepping into the first rank. Falling just short, she still hadn't succeeded. Xingyue had been stuck there; if she could break through smoothly, it would prove that Su Yu's world was truly sufficient to give birth to a first-rank expert. As for Martial Emperor and the others, those were anomalies with other factors at play! At this moment, the trio was gripped by uncertainty. On one hand, they were unsure whether this was real or fake; on the other hand, they were pondering: if it were true... then... it was unimaginable! Xuelong also suppressed the shock in his heart and asked, "Then... how can we swiftly recover our sixteen-Dao strength?" Su Yu chuckled. "There are many methods, though you may not necessarily be able to use them! First, find a counterpart Dao in the myriad realms to fuse with; when Yin and Yang unite, you might immediately recover your strength! Second, aside from your own sixteen-Dao power, master other Daos and integrate them later to force a breakthrough! Third... slay a large number of experts to perfect my world; once I reach twenty-five Daos of strength, you will naturally recover!" All of this came from Su Yu's past experience. As for whether they believed it, he didn't care. The three exchanged solemn glances. Opening a world... was it real or fake? The crux was that Su Yu made it look far too effortless for anyone to believe. Blade Master even secretly scooped up a handful of earth from the ground. Was this dirt real? In a true world, the earth should be genuine. If it were merely an illusion or the projection of Dao power, it would be pure energy rather than actual soil. He kneaded it in his hands for a moment. It felt real, and yet... he still couldn't wrap his head around Heimu opening a world as casually as cracking a joke! Su Yu smiled. "Does anyone dare take the plunge and try? It's just severing your Dao. If this is a sham world, an illusion, you naturally won't be able to connect your Dao. It will collapse, and at worst, you die. In fact, if you're careful, you won't even die—just end up crippled. What's the big deal?" "..." The three were speechless. Are you kidding me! If this was a fake world, the Dao couldn't be reconnected. To sever one's own Dao only to play oneself to death would be the height of idiocy. Su Yu chuckled faintly. "Is anyone willing to be the first to take the gamble?" The trio remained silent, not daring to step forward. Su Yu gave a cold scoff. "Useless trash!" They kept their mouths shut. Being trash was still better than throwing their lives away. Jin Feng, however, being merely at the peak of the second rank, was somewhat tempted, though apprehension still held him back. Su Yu smiled. "The first to integrate may choose a Dao they like, excel at, or have always yearned to cultivate... Though its initial effect might not be stellar! Or you can pick the strongest Dao currently in my world to cultivate, which is an opportunity in its own right—if you even have the wit to recognize it!" The world he had opened here currently possessed seven hundred and twenty Great Daos, but many were exceedingly frail. Truly formidable Daos were few and far between. Yin Death, Destruction, Lightning... those were decent enough. Having learned from past experience, Su Yu had come prepared this time. He wouldn't integrate Daos haphazardly or allow severe imbalances to arise, lest danger follow. If discrepancies did occur, he absolutely could not further bolster the Daos that were already dominant in the myriad realms. Take his flesh Dao, for instance: it had already reached the first rank back in the myriad realms. If he cultivated another first-rank flesh Dao here... good grief, once both merged, it might skyrocket from sixteen Daos straight to twenty, widening the disparity between his Daos to an unsustainable degree! The ideal scenario was for Daos that were powerful in the myriad realms to remain modest here, while Daos that were weak over there could be bolstered without issue. At this moment, Jin Feng felt genuinely tempted. Having been captured by Heimu, he believed that disobedience would eventually lead to death anyway; he wasn't nearly as valuable as the two sixteen-Dao experts. Yet if Heimu had truly opened a world... as the very first expert to integrate into it, he might reap unexpected boons. After a moment of thought, he spoke up: "I belong to the Golden Dragon Clan and possess a powerful physique. I would like to..." Su Yu said flatly, "My flesh Dao isn't strong. Not permitted!" Get lost! I was just thinking about that, and you immediately ask for the flesh Dao? Forget it! This Jin Feng clearly specialized in the Metal Dao of the Five Elements, yet he suddenly wanted to cultivate the flesh Dao. Had water gotten into his brain? Jin Feng felt helpless. You told me I could choose, and then you refused my pick. You were the one who said the first to integrate could pick whatever he liked. Now, he grew timid again—was this man deceiving him? Su Yu grew impatient. "Choose for yourselves: integrate your Dao, or let me strike you down. If you think you can escape, you're welcome to resist right now. Do you honestly think you have any other choice?" Xuelong and Blade Master said nothing. Integrating their Daos meant forfeiting all struggle, whereas holding out might still leave room for a desperate bid. How about... let someone test the waters first! The two instantly turned their gazes upon Jin Feng. You go try! If the Dao could truly be integrated, everyone would be happy: no need to be killed, and following a world opener wasn't necessarily a bad prospect. If your attempt failed and proved it was a sham, the two of them, as sixteen-Dao experts, would fight to the death and battle this Heimu to the bitter end! Even Xuelong looked toward Jin Feng now. Go on, give it a try! Jin Feng's expression shifted. Su Yu said calmly, "All right, give it a shot. Those two clearly want you to test the waters first. You're the weakest, and you can't escape anyway, so cut the chatter. You will integrate the Metal Dao!" Jin Feng was speechless. You said I could choose, and now you're forcing the decision on me again! Su Yu couldn't be bothered to waste words. He had far too many matters to attend to; he had no time to dawdle with them. Reaching out into the void, he grasped, and a Great Dao resembling a golden dragon materialized. Its razor-sharp aura was terrifying! This was the Metal Dao of the Five Elements, considerably potent. Jin Feng was already at the peak of the second rank. Integrating into Su Yu's world shouldn't cause his strength to regress, as Su Yu's world here was far more stable than the one in the myriad realms. Moreover, as long as he remained near Su Yu, he would always be covered by the world... In fact, Su Yu suspected he might not even need to stay close, since these Daos resided within his own acupoints. A unique situation might arise—one even more peculiar than in the myriad realms: no matter where one went, so long as Su Yu did not close his acupoints, they would remain within the world's influence, and their strength would not decline! Unless Su Yu actively sealed his acupoints! That also meant one thing: here, Su Yu possessed even greater dominion over the experts within his world! True power over life and death! Back in the myriad realms, if Martial Emperor and the others rebelled beyond the world's radiance, it might take some effort for Su Yu to deal with them; though he could sever their Daos, executing them on the spot wouldn't necessarily be swift. Here, it wouldn't be so difficult! With his own fleshly body as the foundation, paired with the fact that he was the spirit of the world itself, spirit and flesh were truly unified. The world within the Heavenly Gate afforded him far tighter control! Jin Feng stared at the Great Dao, astonished that he could perceive it so vividly. Awe gave way to apprehension. He glanced at Xuelong, who sent a voice transmission: "Give it a try! Otherwise, if we resist now... and he truly is a world opener, wouldn't we be throwing away a golden opportunity?" Easy words to say, but they simply didn't dare resist right now, for it meant certain death! They could only cling to a sliver of hope that it was all real! Gritting his teeth, Jin Feng stepped forward and said in a muffled voice, "Then I shall attempt it. I ask Lord Heimu to instruct me on how to integrate my Dao into the world!" "Simple!" Su Yu smiled. "Sever your connection to the Great River here. Remember, you must do one thing: extract every shred of the rule power under your control. Otherwise, this Metal Dao of mine... is only at the Dao Integration realm. If you don't siphon enough power over, well... you'll just be an ordinary Dao Integration cultivator!" Jin Feng's expression tightened! That would never do! "Once you sever your link to the Great River, swiftly pour your insights and rule power into this Metal Dao... In essence, it's just switching grounds. Think of it as migrating your territory. Do you understand?" Jin Feng nodded. He understood. A simple principle! The crux was that failure meant death! The moment the Dao was severed, if there was no new anchor to receive it while gorged on so much rule power, only one outcome awaited... self-destruction! He gnashed his teeth and resolved to stake it all! He was dead either way! What if... the man really had succeeded in opening a world? Even though he was pessimistic and thought the odds were slim—purely because Su Yu made it look so effortless! "Sever!" With a low roar, he let out a fierce howl. A thunderous boom echoed as his Dao snapped. Massive quantities of golden rule power were forcibly drawn into his body. Blood spewed from his lips, the violent backlash rattling his flesh so violently that his physical form began to crack! Xuelong and Blade Master watched with rapt attention, their nerves strung taut! At that moment, Jin Feng bellowed, directing an immense surge of rule power mingled with his lifelong comprehension of the Dao toward the golden Great Dao suspended in Su Yu's void! Su Yu watched on with utter serenity. No surprise there; he had been through this far too many times. Watching these fellows act as if facing an existential crisis bored him to tears. Jin Feng's Dao reached across. The golden Dao in the void rapidly swelled in power. Jin Feng's expression shifted, and when he abruptly looked up at Su Yu, sheer terror overtook him! An illusion? Bullshit! If an illusion could reach such an extent, then the being before him was either a world opener or the lord of a forbidden ground! And if that were true, was there any difference? In an instant, Jin Feng's aura erupted. Dropping to one knee, he roared at the top of his lungs, "Jin Feng pays homage to the World Lord!" Before his Dao power had even fully merged, his first thought was shock, followed immediately by awe and delirious joy. A world opener! He was genuinely a world opener! He had actually integrated into the world of a world opener! Xuelong and the others might suffer a dip in strength, but he wouldn't. For him, integrating into this world was a brand-new beginning, a brand-new horizon of opportunity! Yet Su Yu had no mind to pay him any attention right now. At this moment, Su Yu was absorbing the lifelong insights into the Metal Dao from a peak second-rank expert. Prior to this, most of the cultivators studying the Metal Dao under him had hailed from the Five Elements race. Yet what could a bunch of Eternity and Dao Integration cultivators truly comprehend? Su Yu's original understanding had stemmed from them. Today, however, he suddenly reaped an entirely different harvest. In the void, countless golden, razor-sharp blades cleaved the air! Within his world, boundless mineral veins surfaced, all brimming with energy! The golden Great Dao stretched across the entire expanse. Su Yu opened his eyes, his aura slightly bolstered, though he hadn't yet crossed into nineteen Daos. Jin Feng was originally at fifteen Daos; even with his complete integration, advancing an entire Dao was still difficult for Su Yu. Looking down at Jin Feng with his colossal eyes, Su Yu smiled faintly. "Not bad! Consolidate your foundation. Having just reconnected your Dao, you won't be entirely accustomed to it. Give it a test!" "Thank you, World Lord!" He roared in wild excitement, but Su Yu remained calm. "Do not address me like that. I dislike that title. Call me..." He had almost said Emperor Yu, but thought better of it—too obvious! It would be too easy for others to deduce his identity! With that in mind, Su Yu's thoughts stirred, and he smiled. "Call me the Lord of Calamity!" Jin Feng blinked, not quite grasping the meaning behind the name. Yet Su Yu merely smiled. Lord of Calamity... the master of catastrophe! I am the one who brings disaster! I bring calamity to the Three Gates, and calamity to the myriad heavens. Calamity begins with me, and it shall end with me! At this thought, Su Yu smiled broadly; this title suited him splendidly! Not caring about the specifics, Jin Feng hastily roared, "Greetings, Lord of Calamity!" Su Yu threw his head back and laughed! The world trembled with his laughter, while inside it, Xuelong and Blade Master were already frozen in shock. He really... he really had succeeded! They saw it clearly: Jin Feng's aura was surging rapidly without any sign of decline, swiftly stabilizing at the peak of fifteen Daos. No self-destruction! No snapped Dao, no omen of impending death. Meanwhile, the somewhat illusory world was expanding and spreading. Of course, this expansion was merely a projection; the true reality was that one of Su Yu's acupoints had grown exponentially stronger! The previously hollow acupoint was suddenly brimming with sharp, razor-edged qi! A faint wisp of metallic sharpness began wafting from Su Yu's frame! At that moment, neither Xuelong nor Blade Master could maintain their composure any longer. Exchanging a glance, both dropped swiftly to one knee and shouted, "Dao Qi and Xuelong pay homage to the Lord of Calamity!" It was true! Heimu had genuinely opened a world! Su Yu smiled. "Now that it is verified... do you still need me to remind you?" The two understood instantly! Without another shred of hesitation, Blade Master let out a low roar as his Blade Dao manifested. Although Su Yu had sealed some of its power, that didn't hinder him from severing the Dao himself! Gritting his teeth, he severed the colossal Great Dao in one stroke! A formidable surge of blade intent flooded into one of Su Yu's acupoints! The Blade Dao! Over on the other side, Xuelong also let out a low cry as a chilling frost blanketed the world—the Dao of Freezing! Even knowing that integrating their Daos would cap their strength at fifteen Daos, the two experts didn't hesitate for another second! Because standing before them was a world opener! A figure with boundless prospects! As long as Heimu reached twenty-five Daos, they might quickly regain their sixteen-Dao combat strength. And if he climbed even higher, their fortunes would rise with his, allowing them to advance once more! Neither of them had made an inch of progress in countless years! In this instant, the two first-rank experts cast aside all reservations, even as myriad doubts surfaced in their minds: was opening a world truly this simple? A single day! This Heimu had taken a sudden whim to go open a world, and then... he had actually pulled it off! If it were truly that easy, wouldn't world openers be running rampant across the land? Yet all those thoughts were suppressed. Right now, they had no other choice! Two Great Daos rapidly saturated Su Yu's acupoints—one divine aperture and one physical acupoint. The Dao of Freezing filled the divine aperture, while the Blade Dao filled the physical acupoint. Within Su Yu's world, three Great Daos grew vastly more powerful in an instant. Particularly the Blade Dao and the Dao of Freezing: although Su Yu's world was capped at the second rank, both Daos continued to swell even after hitting the second-rank limit! The insights were already there! All they lacked was for Su Yu to elevate his realm and unlock the restrictions, at which point the two would instantly step back into the first rank! Having gained three Daos at once, alongside three experts' lifelong insights and rule powers, Su Yu swiftly entered a state of deep comprehension. The Dao insights of first- and second-rank experts... voluntary integration with their minds laid bare was fundamentally different from passively absorbing stripped Daos! Their insights into the Great Dao cascaded through Su Yu's mind! The world expanded! The Daos grew stronger! Integrating three experts into his world in rapid succession was a first for Su Yu. Previously, the only first-rank expert to voluntarily merge into his world had been the Underworld Emperor, who had surrendered most of his Dao power and insights to save his own life. As for Gui and the others, their Dao power had been absorbed, but laying bare their comprehension was out of the question—not that Su Yu had cared much. Right now, his own strength was advancing at a rapid clip. The moment Blade Master integrated, Su Yu attained the power of nineteen Daos. When Xuelong merged, his strength climbed further, though the rate of increase began to taper off. After a long time, he finally, barely managed to cross the threshold into twenty Daos. Three formidable experts! In the myriad realms, Su Yu had absorbed many Daos, yet Daos of such high caliber were exceptionally rare; even under those circumstances, he had reached roughly twenty-four Daos. Here, he had started as an eighteen-Dao expert. He had advanced by two Daos! Not a massive leap, but it fully matched Su Yu's expectations! While Su Yu immersed himself in contemplation, the three inside his world were busy digesting their Dao powers and stabilizing their realms. To an outsider, only Su Yu would have been visible; the three minuscule figures beside him, tiny as specks of dust, would have been nearly impossible to spot. ... No one knew how much time had passed. Su Yu suddenly snapped his eyes open. His aura shifted, and with a thunderous boom, twenty golden phantom silhouettes flickered around him for an instant. Twenty Daos of strength! Inside the world, the three opened their eyes at the same moment. All three were currently held at the peak of fifteen Daos! In a flash, the world inverted, and their vision blurred. They found themselves standing directly before Su Yu. The next instant, all three dropped to their knees in the void, chanting in unison, "Greetings, Lord of Calamity!" Hovering in the air, Su Yu looked down at them and smiled. "Do you believe me now?" "We dare not disbelieve!" Blade Master said in a deep voice, "We were too arrogant before and underestimated the Lord of Calamity. The Lord of Calamity is omnipotent!" A rather well-placed piece of flattery! Su Yu chuckled and rose. "Rise!" The three stood, their gazes upon Su Yu completely transformed! This was a world opener! Only the ignorant were fearless! In the myriad realms, most people didn't understand or know the terrifying might of a world opener. Here, however, they knew the Lord of Time, and they knew the Lord of Dead Spirits—each unimaginably mighty! And Heimu was the third world opener they had ever known! Even if he wasn't supreme right now, what about the future? As long as a world opener was given time... They couldn't imagine how far Heimu would ultimately go. At the very least, his prospects of becoming the lord of a forbidden ground were immense; he could genuinely establish a new forbidden ground! Su Yu glanced over the three and smiled faintly. "You may leave now. Bring everyone from Mount Xuelong and Blade Valley to Mount Liufang. It seems things are about to begin over there!" He had invited those forces to gather at Mount Liufang, and the appointed hour was drawing near. Su Yu smiled faintly. "Outside, watch your tongues. Inside my world, I am omnipotent! You have reconnected to my Daos; should any word of my affairs leak, I will know immediately, and your lives will be forfeit!" With those words, three acupoints snapped shut! Instantly, the three felt severed from their Daos, their auras plunging sharply. All three turned pale! Yet panic did not take hold. Because this matched their exact impression of a world opener! A world opener held absolute dominion! "We wouldn't dare!" The three hastily bowed to the ground. Inside the gate, the weak were meat for the strong; following a world opener was far better than remaining rogue cultivators. As for the Dragon Domain and Blade Domain, had they been true high-ranking figures, why would they ever have been sent to this backwater as regional lords? Forbidden grounds had their own internal power struggles. Even upon reaching the first rank, their potential had been exhausted, leaving them unable to advance further. The strife within the forbidden grounds was brutal, and in the end, losers like them had been cast out. Calling them vanguard outposts deployed for grand future designs sounded nice, but each knew his own bitter truth. At this moment, none of them said a word. Yet thoughts churned in their minds! They might well become the foundational elders of a brand-new forbidden ground! The founding patriarchs! Carving out a new forbidden ground alongside the Lord of Calamity, Heimu! "Lord of Calamity!" Blade Master said hurriedly. "Our strength has fallen. If anyone under us proves disobedient..." Su Yu replied indifferently, "Do I still need to teach you what to do? Kill them, strip their Daos, and merge them into my world. It will just so happen to nourish my world's Daos. The sooner I reach twenty-five Daos, the sooner your strength will be restored!" The three understood at once. Without another word, they vanished from the spot. Su Yu smiled faintly. Splendid; a few troublesome matters had finally been cleared away. He looked toward Mount Liufang. He wondered how many people and experts had gathered this time. Those who refused to obey would be slaughtered, and those who complied would be merged into his world! Before long, he might surpass the height he had reached in the myriad realms. Because there were far more experts here! And it was far more ruthless! Here, Su Yu wouldn't feel a pang of remorse no matter whom he killed. Even if those three had just been struck down, Su Yu wouldn't have blinked! "Inside the gate is a fine place after all... a fine place to increase one's strength!" As for the rest, nothing needed to be said—everything was wretched! Su Yu swiftly flew off toward Mount Liufang! ... At the same time. Across the northeastern region, a vast multitude of experts was converging on Mount Liufang. Some harbored wicked designs, some sought to latch onto a powerful patron, and others dreamed of replacing the mountain's rulers! Mount Liufang wished to unify the northeastern region... but Mount Liufang wasn't the only option! Certain secrets regarding Mount Liufang were already spreading. Gui, Mu, and the others had perished long ago; their names were mere facades! Some had even received word that Mount Liufang didn't possess a single sixteen-Dao expert, and that Heimu alone pulled the strings from behind the scenes! ... Meanwhile, atop Mount Liufang, Luo Yun and the others wore grim expressions. Heimu... seemed to have vanished! Had he fled? Had he slipped away ahead of time because the news had leaked? If so, disaster loomed! Right now, a swarm of outside experts had arrived and completely surrounded Mount Liufang! Without Heimu present, Mount Liufang had no means of resistance and would descend into utter chaos! Just as their anxiety peaked, Su Yu's figure materialized in an instant! The group started. Looking at Su Yu again, they felt he seemed subtly different from before. Though they couldn't fathom why, his return brought immense relief, and they hastily bowed. "Greetings, Grand Commander!" "Rise!" With an impassive face, Su Yu walked out of the hall and looked across the four directions, a smile creeping onto his lips. A fine place indeed! There truly were a staggering number of Rulers of Rules! In the northeastern region alone, seventeen second-rank experts had arrived! Far more than expected! One had to remember that Su Yu had already wiped out a batch, as had Blade Valley and Mount Xuelong. Even so, seventeen remained! Not only that, but looking into the far distance, Su Yu vaguely sensed something more. A faint smile touched his face. Interesting! Had experts from other regions set their sights on Mount Liufang as well? Or perhaps people from the forbidden grounds? He could already perceive faint, subtle ripples of aura stirring in the far distance! ... Not far from Mount Liufang, two palaces floated in midair. Figures stood within both. One hailed from Dead Spirit Hell, the other from Soul Falling Valley. Both turned cold gazes toward Mount Liufang. In secluded cultivation? Dead, more likely! Mount Liufang had quite the nerve to dare spin such a lie! Deceiving a forbidden ground was not something just anyone dared to do. "Heimu!" Voices murmured from both palaces. A major war was likely to erupt over Mount Liufang. This time, the first true hegemon of the northeastern region might very well emerge.