Within the River of Time, darkness encroached.
An aura of ruin spread outward as devouring locusts spawned continuously from the waters.
What were these devouring locusts?
At this moment, Su Yu lay quietly in the river, letting the waters crash against him. He was sensing—sensing that book within the stream, the foundational tome of the River of Time.
Naturally, he was also tempering his myriad Daos.
He needed to bring them into perfect balance!
Su Yu was searching for that book. Seeing the Blood Master's world had convinced him that at the core of any realm, anyone would leave behind a foundational text. He had to locate where this book was hidden.
Aside from the book, he was also pondering what these devouring locusts represented.
Earlier, it was said that they were connected to the Human Gate.
Yet the devouring locusts were a manifestation of destructive power. Meanwhile, the Human Gate supposedly cultivated the Dao of Seven Emotions and Six Desires. What connection could there be between destructive power and the Dao of Seven Emotions and Six Desires?
"Or does the Gate of Sealing represent the seven emotions and six desires, while the Human Gate's so-called Old Seven actually cultivates the Dao of Destruction?"
"Is the purpose of the devouring locusts to destroy the River of Time and unseal him?"
Newly spawned devouring locusts drifted around Su Yu.
The moment they were born, Su Yu saw clearly: they were formed from the destructive power within the river, combined with that decaying, dark aura, which gave physical shape to these creatures.
Right now, Su Yu opened his mind and body completely, even allowing the locusts to enter his flesh and penetrate his Great Dao to corrode him.
Yet he noticed that they did not seem particularly interested in him.
They showed far more interest in Lan Tian nearby, where a great swarm had already gathered.
"Not very interested in me?"
Su Yu found it curious. After a long while, an understanding dawned on him.
"Because my Dao is not rooted in this river!"
Thoughtful, Su Yu extended a finger. From its tip, the power of a Great Dao quickly spread out toward both banks of the river, gradually coming into contact with the River of Time.
The next instant, the devouring locusts flew toward him, swarming toward the newly extended Dao to corrode and devour it!
"It really is so!"
Now, Su Yu truly understood.
These devouring locusts were actually meant to devour the Daos attached to the river... Or rather, they were scavengers, clearing away the messy, parasitic Great Dao powers clinging to the River of Time.
"The Lord of Time opened the heavens, letting people merge into his world and open Great Daos to strengthen the river! Meanwhile, the role of the devouring locusts is to eliminate these Daos, reducing their burden on the river... That truly serves an unsealing function!"
The devouring locusts consumed many things, even space and worlds.
Yet now, Su Yu faintly realized that their primary target was not physical matter, but the Great Dao powers attached to the river, wiping them away so the River of Time could remain pure and singular.
Once a world had no people and no Great Daos, leaving only a solitary River of Time, it would sooner or later fall into extinction, just like the Blood Master's world!
"So, the unsealing might be real! The river might truly just be a seal! And Old Seven of the Human Gate might really exist... However, he might not be one and the same with the Gate of Sealing!"
Su Yu now understood why people said the devouring locusts were connected to the Human Gate.
Still, determining where Old Seven actually was remained difficult. The Gate of Sealing might not be Old Seven; they might be distinct entities!
At this moment, the Great Dao powers within Su Yu gradually stabilized into equilibrium.
He silently contemplated and experienced the river's power, forming a tentative deduction. If the River of Time possessed a core book, it was likely in the section corresponding to the Human Gate—the starting point of the river carved out during the Heaven-Opening Era!
It might even be inside the Human Gate itself!
According to Su Yu's estimation, the Human Gate would descend in about ten days. Originally, it had already been close to arriving.
"Ten days..."
Once it descended, even if the Heavenly Gate and Earth Gate did not wish to fight Su Yu and his side to the death, they would not allow him to claim the Human Gate easily. The Human Gate itself stood immovable, but Old Wan needed it!
The Human Gate, much like the Human Sovereign Seal, was likely a supreme treasure!
"Furthermore, there are super-grade entities within the Human Gate... Once it descends, even if the so-called Old Seven doesn't appear, those super-grades might show up and arrive!"
Earlier, only the eight Great Sages had arrived.
Now, six had fallen!
The remaining two could probably command those other beings.
There had been eight entities at thirty-six Daos or above in the Human Gate. How many were there between thirty-two and thirty-five Daos?
Those at thirty-one Daos were no real threat.
Crossing thirty-two Daos, however, was a qualitative leap. Three to five super-grades could easily contend with a cultivator at thirty-six Daos. Back then, when Qiong was at thirty-six Daos, dealing with the Divine Ancestor and Immortal Ancestor at thirty-four Daos had already proven troublesome.
"So, even if I stay still, trouble might find me ten days from now!"
"Unless I ignore it and let them come and go as they please. Besides, the Earth Gate and Heavenly Gate claimed they needed a month to recover, but... do they really need a full month?"
Tricking people was Su Yu's specialty.
When he said a month, he might sometimes only need a single day.
Those figures from the Earth Gate would never be honest about how many days they needed. Three days ago, Su Yu had overheard the Earth Gate's voice claiming it needed twenty days. What if... it only needed ten?
What if they recovered at the exact moment the Human Gate descended—their standard scheduled arrival!
Thoughts flashed through his mind as Su Yu crushed a devouring locust in his grip.
The power of tribulation and destruction flowed into his body.
His Dao of Tribulation grew marginally stronger.
Su Yu's eyes flickered. Truth be told, he was reluctant to absorb too much tribulation power, always feeling it might not bode well. Yet if the Earth Gate and Heavenly Gate awakened ahead of schedule, they would not merely be at thirty-nine Daos, but over forty!
At that point, not even the Lord of Dead Spirits could handle them.
Su Yu currently had ways to raise his strength. He had been unwilling to use the devouring locusts' power before—a method he had referred to as something he could use, but chose not to.
The devouring locusts were omens of world-ending catastrophe!
They were also tied to Old Seven of the Human Gate!
Su Yu was actually afraid... What was he afraid of?
He feared turning into that world-destroying Human Gate himself!
It was a natural concern. In Su Yu's mind, the Human Gate might simply be the manifestation of malice within everyone's hearts—destruction, apocalypse, ruin, annihilation!
The Human Gate resided in the heart!
Perhaps a Human Gate lived inside every person, and it all depended on whether one pushed that door open and turned into the myriad realms' greatest enemy!
Back then, what the Lord of Time sealed away might have merely been a kind of malice!
All to bring more light to the myriad realms!
Yet this malice had continued to breed and grow ever stronger.
Su Yu was exceptionally shrewd. He had always wondered: what sort of existence could the Lord of Time fail to kill, requiring the creation of an entire river just to suppress it?
The Blood Master had not been weak, had he?
Yet he had been slain all the same!
No matter how strong Old Seven of the Human Gate was, could the Lord of Time truly have been unable to kill him?
"Perhaps... he was merely sealing the malice in his own heart?"
Sealing the inner demon!
And such a thing could never truly be killed!
"Also, according to what's said, one only stands a chance of devouring the River of Time once the three gates converge... When the three gates assemble, the core appears?"
Su Yu started. Could the book only manifest when the three gates met?
Or, even more troublingly, could that book only emerge after slaying the three gates?
One possibility after another gave Su Yu a headache!
"Past, present, future... Does the power drawn by the future body come from the Gate of Sealing, Old Seven of the Human Gate, or simply the River of Time itself?"
Su Yu had many ways to raise his strength.
Yet even in his madness, he would not blindly seek his own death.
Take the future body, for instance!
Last time, Su Yu had only merged with a tiny sliver of his future body's power. He harbored deep reservations about it; it felt like borrowing power from his very next moment at a steep price, akin to reversing time to lend himself his own upcoming strength.
"The Human Gate... the future body... What is the link between the two? Could it be like the Blood World, merely borrowing power that must eventually be repaid?"
"Or is it drawn from the foundational book of the River of Time, borrowed for a time before the book reclaims it?"
"..."
Even after reaching thirty-six Daos, Su Yu's understanding of these mysteries remained incomplete.
"Perhaps, at this stage, I shouldn't overthink things!"
Su Yu weighed his options. "Maybe I should cast caution to the wind and crazily boost my power! Strengthening the Dao of Tribulation can serve as a trump card! Condensing a future body can serve as another trump card! When the critical moment comes, I can use them... Even if borrowing power from the future brings a backlash, I can probably resolve it!"
Should he throw everything to the wind for one mad gamble, or continue slowly tempering himself and looking for ways to merge Great Daos?
Su Yu snapped his eyes open!
The moment he opened them, Lan Tian's smiling face filled his vision. Su Yu merely stared at him. Lan Tian chuckled. "Awake? The fellows below have emerged!"
"How many days?"
"Five days!"
Su Yu's brow furrowed slightly. Five days!
It felt like the blink of an eye. Literally in the blink of an eye, five days had passed since Tiangu and the others perished.
At a juncture like this, five days was no short span.
Perhaps he really should cast aside all hesitation!
Su Yu had done everything he could for the Human Sovereign and the rest. Now, he had to look out for himself.
"Where is the Academy Head?"
"Still experiencing different lives!"
Lan Tian smiled brightly. "He must be having a wonderful time right now. He was just living as a woman a moment ago!"
Su Yu had no interest in that. That pervert was tormenting the Academy Head again; Wan Tiansheng was truly pitiful.
Setting the matter aside, Su Yu spoke briskly. "Prepare yourself. Get ready to merge with my myriad Daos..."
"Enter your body?"
Lan Tian suddenly smiled. "Just like when we dealt with Tian last time, fusing together with you? That feeling... was wonderful!"
Su Yu rolled his eyes and suddenly asked, "Lan Tian, at this point, do you have an ideal?"
"An ideal?"
Lan Tian smiled. "Of course! To forge my holy land! To forge my pure, sacred paradise..."
Was he joking?
Not necessarily!
Lan Tian had founded the Primordial Demon Cult among the Myriad Races Cults, though he had insisted on calling it the Holy Cult, gathering many "holy cultists." Su Yu had seen them during the battle of the Daxia Prefecture; those cultists were utterly fanatical.
Like moths to a flame, they launched suicidal attacks against their enemies, shouting slogans about forging a holy land!
It truly was a demonic cult!
Yet the cult's philosophy might not have been a complete lie—Lan Tian truly wanted to forge a sacred land!
Su Yu was genuinely interested in Lan Tian's past and knew bits of it. Lying in the river, he asked, "Lan Tian, back then when Academy Head Wan had you infiltrate the Primordial Demon Cult..."
"You're mistaken!"
Lan Tian smiled. "He didn't have me infiltrate anything. I went because I wanted to perfect my truth. With Tiansheng, it was merely cooperation! The Daxia Prefecture of that era was in tremendous turmoil. Ye Batian had fallen, Xia Longwu had just taken over, the Human Realm was in internal chaos, and the other manor heads looked on with folded arms... Add to that the turmoil surrounding the Multi-Divine Character faction, the Daxia Prefecture fighting foreign wars against the myriad races while purging cultists domestically, all while defending against the other prefectures..."
"Beset by internal and external woes, it seemed powerful, but the building was on the verge of collapse! Wan Tiansheng, Xia Longwu, Xia the Second, Liu Wenyan, and even King Daxia were practically driven mad in that era! They wanted to use the Daxia Prefecture as the focal point to launch a sweeping purge! Of course, that battle had been prepared for many years, and in the end, you became a part of it..."
Su Yu nodded. The Daxia Prefecture back then had reached the peak of chaos!
The Xia family had adopted an attitude of neglect, letting experts from other prefectures enter, letting the Myriad Races Cult infiltrate, and letting the myriad races stir up trouble.
One could say that while the Daxia Prefecture of that time seemed peaceful on the surface, it was already riddled with holes!
Back then, King Daxia and the others had already resolved to use the prefecture as ground zero for a massive purge!
It was during the execution of that plan that Lan Tian had chosen to join the Demon Race and take charge of the Primordial Demon Cult.
Lan Tian smiled. "So back then, my joining wasn't to follow anyone's orders, but to forge my own pure land! To carry out a grand cleansing. I originally thought it would be exceedingly difficult, a near-certain death, but your involvement made the plan go much more smoothly, purging the Human Realm once and for all!"
It was that very battle that united the human race,
suppressing all dissent!
Su Yu smiled and asked, "And what about now? Do you still hold that thought? Forging your pure land?"
Lan Tian smiled back. "Is that a bad thing?"
"What does your pure land look like?"
Lan Tian suddenly smiled coquettishly. "With you around, with Tiansheng around, we can shut the doors and live our sweet little life together..."
Su Yu just stared at him, stared at him, and kept staring at him.
He stared until Lan Tian grew uncomfortable and fidgeted.
Su Yu's gaze was identical to one looking at an idiot—clear, blatant, and unmistakable.
Su Yu chuckled. "Leave me out of it. Take King Miecan with you, take all those people you've traumatized, and go live your sweet little life with them!"
Lan Tian pouted. "I never hurt anyone!"
Su Yu scoffed.
He suddenly sat up and laughed. "Everyone has their own convictions! Fine, I understand a bit now. Leaving that aside, I've been pondering a question. Lan Tian, tell me: if I borrow power from the future, but suddenly lose control and the power is stripped away... could you instantly bring the power of the river and the world to seize control of my physical body and pilot it flawlessly?"
Lan Tian raised a brow. "You want to outline a future body again?"
"Yes!"
Su Yu nodded slightly. "Give it a try!"
"It's doable, but... I'm not very familiar with your body!"
Lan Tian broke into an exceptionally alluring smile. "How about you let me play with your body for a few days? Once I get used to it, I won't feel unfamiliar at all!"
"Sigh!"
Su Yu let out a sigh. Dealing with someone like this was truly a headache!
Yet Lan Tian was indeed the most suitable candidate.
Su Yu was already scheming!
How to survive the coming crisis!
First, borrowing power from the future was the easiest, simplest, and most effective route.
However, an accident might occur at a critical moment, such as the borrowed power suddenly vanishing. If Lan Tian carried the world's power to immediately seize control of Su Yu's realm and body, he could help Su Yu merge the myriad Daos and unleash another surge of power!
Once Su Yu weathered that brief window, the tribulation would pass!
Should he merge with a future body?
Yes!
Su Yu made up his mind. If he did not merge with a future body, he might not be able to command the realm and claim the book within the River of Time once the three gates converged.
"Claiming the River of Time might truly require the three bodies to unite!"
"If I don't merge with a future body now, I'll have to sooner or later!"
Su Yu glanced at the people below, then back at Lan Tian. "Find a secluded spot to enter the River of Memory and merge with a future body! With my current strength, merging with a relatively powerful future body shouldn't be a problem!"
Lan Tian suddenly turned solemn. "Are you truly going to merge? You must be careful with this thing. Watch out that someone doesn't usurp your body the moment your power slips out of control! A future body might not just be borrowed strength; it could be a form of usurpation... Just like how entities in the Heavenly Gate plant source imprints before descending into the myriad realms, a future body might be a source imprint, a preparation for possession, just like Zhou Ji and Moduona!"
Su Yu nodded. "That's why I need your help!"
Su Yu looked at him. "If you take control when I'm at my weakest, using your chaotic will to mask mine, I refuse to believe they could still seize my consciousness!"
Su Yu's eyes glinted with cold calculation. "Besides, if such an entity truly exists and tries to usurp my body... maybe we can even turn the tables and set a trap to finish them off! You can just absorb them!"
With a frosty sneer, Su Yu added, "If such an entity exists, it can only be one of three candidates!"
"Three candidates?"
Lan Tian looked at Su Yu, who nodded. "First, the Lord of Time! Second, Old Seven of the Human Gate! Third, the World Spirit!"
Lan Tian's heart jolted.
Su Yu said in a low voice, "Everyone only knows of the Lord of Time and the Human Gate. But why has no one ever mentioned a World Spirit? I have one, because I am the spirit of my world! The Human Sovereign has one, because he is the spirit! King Wen had the Book Spirit, Wen Yu now has Doubao, and the Lord of Dead Spirits actually has one too—the fellow I named the Sovereign of the Dead..."
"The Lord of Time couldn't possibly have merged his own body into his world. So let me ask you: does this River of Time, this entire universe of myriad realms, have a World Spirit?"
Lan Tian gasped sharply!
He stared at Su Yu. Come to think of it, it truly was possible—highly possible!
Su Yu continued, "These myriad realms are merely a world opened by the Lord of Time, and he himself might have departed long ago... Therefore, everything in these realms might be governed by a World Spirit! Let us assume that a World Spirit exists. What do you think its goal would be?"
Lan Tian pondered for a moment and answered, "To become the true master of the myriad realms!"
Su Yu smiled and nodded. "Earlier, Qiong asked me whether Cang from the Cangqiong Sword was gone. That made me wonder: if a Book of Time exists, and Cang became the World Spirit, do you think it would want to turn this entire world, this entire river, completely into its own?"
Lan Tian nodded again!
A grave look entered his eyes as he looked at Su Yu.
Su Yu chuckled. "So now I'm thinking: if such a fellow exists, things become rather convoluted! Say Old Seven of the Human Gate exists, and this fellow exists too. One wants to break the seal, severing the River of Time, while the other wants the river to endure forever, ideally by wiping out Old Seven... Could the two of them be locked in a covert standoff?"
Lan Tian inhaled sharply once more!
Hearing Su Yu lay it out like this, he felt it was entirely plausible!
"You think it really exists?"
Su Yu nodded. "I think this scenario is very likely! Yet nobody stops to wonder why the River of Time couldn't have birthed a World Spirit... Everyone else has one, so why wouldn't the River of Time? Even an extinct world could give birth to Doubao. Though King Wen helped it along, it proves that an existing world requires a will to govern it!"
Su Yu continuously deduced and analyzed, continuing, "Furthermore, Jitian and the others claim the Human Gate is real and tangible... Then why has no one ever seen it? One moment they call it grand and imposing, the next they call it world-destroying... Don't you find that 'grand' and 'world-destroying' are two completely contradictory descriptions?"
Lan Tian nodded repeatedly.
After thinking for a moment, Lan Tian said, "There is one more thing!"
"What?"
Lan Tian stated, "You might have overlooked a detail: the Earth Gate was actually sealed by the Lord of Time himself, not by the Human Gate!"
Su Yu paused slightly. Yes, he knew that. Was there a problem?
"In other words, before the heavens were opened, the Earth Gate was already sealed. What reason would the Earth Gate have to continuously label the Human Gate as evil, as an enemy, as a destroyer of worlds? You have to realize, by their accounts, the Human Gate was sealed by the Lord of Time, and so was the Earth Gate. Logically, the Earth Gate and Human Gate should be on the same side. Do you understand what I mean?"
Su Yu's expression shifted as he looked at Lan Tian.
Lan Tian smiled. "The enemy of an enemy is a friend! If I were the Earth Gate and had been sealed by the Lord of Time, I would be dying to unseal the Human Gate so it could go cause trouble for the Lord of Time. Why would I help everyone oppose the Human Gate?"
Su Yu said in a heavy voice, "Yes, that makes sense! Of course, the Earth Gate fears the Human Gate's power... and it also wants to kill us to strengthen itself!"
Killing Su Yu and his allies did not contradict the Earth Gate's stance.
Lan Tian continued, "Let's assume two entities exist: one is the World Spirit, and the other is the Human Gate! The Human Gate wants to break the seal, while the World Spirit cannot allow the seal to be broken, because the World Spirit needs the river to exist!"
"Assume these two have been fighting and entangling each other all this time!"
"And now, both need external assistance. One wants people to disrupt the Daos of the myriad realms, while the other wants to protect them..."
Lan Tian looked at Su Yu. "From your perspective, who should you help?"
Su Yu thought for a moment. "Kill them both!"
"..."
Lan Tian felt a wave of helplessness wash over him, struck utterly speechless. Good grief, I thought you would choose to help the World Spirit, and then you hit me with this? You truly are a little genius!
Lan Tian chuckled bitterly. "Why kill them both?"
"Neither is a good thing!"
Su Yu said casually, "The current situation is extremely tangled. If our deduction holds true, the reality is complex beyond imagination! Even the Heavenly Gate and Earth Gate aren't as harmless as they appear; each harbors its own schemes! If we assume the Earth Gate, the Human Gate, and the devouring locusts form one camp, could the Heavenly Gate and the World Spirit be in another?"
"And what about Jitian and his lot? Their situation is complicated too!"
"Of course, whether it's complicated or not, we're the ones who will suffer!"
Su Yu laughed. "If the Earth Gate and Human Gate are aligned in wanting to destroy the myriad realms, the Earth Gate will definitely target us!"
Lan Tian nodded.
Su Yu continued, "If the Heavenly Gate and World Spirit are aligned, they'll target me as well... because we Heaven-Openers have sheared too much wool from the River of Time! They won't permit a large number of Heaven-Openers to exist, taking away hordes of cultivators and massive amounts of rule power!"
That was also true!
Lan Tian nodded as well, looking at Su Yu. "Then the situation truly is convoluted! Are you certain? If so, what do Tiansheng and the Gate of Sealing represent?"
"They represent the Lord of Time!"
Su Yu smiled. "The Gate of Sealing might truly be a manifestation of the seal! Academy Head Wan might represent the Lord of Time himself, even if he doesn't realize it. The Lord of Time would never want his World Spirit to entertain thoughts of usurping the world, nor would he want Old Seven of the Human Gate unsealed... That called for a neutral fulcrum: the Gate of Sealing!"
Truth became clearer the more it was debated!
Having said all this, Su Yu met Lan Tian's eyes, and Lan Tian looked back at him. All of this was entirely possible.
If that was the case, the broader picture actually became clearer!
Su Yu laughed. "This is just a rough deduction. The exact details are unknown, but it doesn't matter! No matter who wants to target whom... we have only one objective: wipe them all out!"
Lan Tian smiled and nodded.
"Then I need to become even stronger!"
Su Yu stood up. "The Heavenly Gate and Earth Gate likely have their own calculations. Their relentless hiding and refusal to act makes sense now! It's not just that they fear death or haven't recovered; they might also be harboring hidden motives, each pursuing their own agenda!"
"They might even hope for the three gates to converge... Or perhaps they aren't pawns of those masterminds at all, but have ambitions of their own to emerge as the ultimate victors!"
"They are waiting—waiting for the Human Gate to appear, waiting for the Book of Time to show itself!"
At this moment, Su Yu understood everything with crystalline clarity.
Standing up, he said, "Let's go to the River of Memory! I rarely visit the future. Today, I might as well take a look. The future is illusory, but it could be the River of Time's deduction of its own destiny, which still holds reference value!"
Su Yu chuckled. "Keep an eye on how many future bodies I merge with, how much power I borrow, and at what points I borrow it. That information might come in handy. When the critical moment arrives, those might be the exact junctures where I face disaster!"
"When that happens, I'll be relying on you!"
Lan Tian nodded once more, then glanced toward the people of the Human Realm and asked, "Wen Yu could actually coordinate with you as well. Lately, you haven't seemed very close to them, including Wen Yu—even though her Time Book was the very foundation of your rise!"
Su Yu considered this for a while before answering, "It's different! Let me state a simple fact: if I die, and they know they cannot defeat the enemy, what do you think the Human Sovereign's side will do?"
Lan Tian pondered. "Take their people and retreat, fleeing this place!"
"And what about you all?"
Su Yu smiled. "If I die in battle, what will you do?"
Lan Tian smiled seductively. "Naturally, I would sleep eternally underground with Brother Yu, becoming a blissful pair of..."
*Bam!*
Su Yu sent him flying with a single punch. Another Lan Tian materialized in the same spot. Su Yu paid it no mind, smiling as he said, "That's the difference! To put it bluntly, could tens of thousands of years of shared history ever compare to the few days I've spent with them? Of course, I'm not saying they're bad people... If I joined hands with a powerhouse from tens of thousands of years in the future to fight a formidable foe, and that fellow died, would I bother caring about the rest? Of course I'd take my people and run! Would I sacrifice my own brothers just to protect strangers?"
That was human nature; that was reality!
Su Yu patted Lan Tian on the shoulder and smiled. "The Human Sovereign taught me this himself. To be honest, I wanted to open my heart to them, but the Human Sovereign laid out this raw, bloody reality before me. I understand his meaning. The fact that he told me in advance was already very decent of him!"
These were not assumptions Su Yu had made on his own.
The Human Sovereign and Wen Yu had candidly shared their true perspectives with him.
Lan Tian fell silent.
With a wave of his hand, Su Yu vanished from the spot alongside Lan Tian.
...
A short while later.
The two appeared within a concealed small realm.
Su Yu waved his hand, and a river materialized before them. This was the River of Memory—part of the River of Time, yet profoundly distinct.
Su Yu had never truly traveled into the future before. Even last time, he had merely captured a future body from the immediate next instant.
Today, however, he intended to venture further to see what the future held!
Even if that future was ephemeral and merely a projection—
one of countless billions of possibilities!
Su Yu and Lan Tian plunged into the river together.
After a moment, the surging waters came into view.
With his current strength, Su Yu's perception of these currents was far keener. This River of Memory was peculiar; it resided within the River of Time, yet felt detached from it.
It was very likely an ability derived from the river's foundational book: deduction!
Just like when Wan Tiansheng had used the Heaven-Connecting Mirror to deduce the future back then, except Wan Tiansheng's deductions had been far too brief and limited to weaker beings.
Upstream lay the past; downstream lay the future.
Su Yu cared nothing for the past!
What was gone was gone, and past bodies held little significance. Future bodies, however, brimmed with infinite potential.
At this moment, Su Yu led Lan Tian onto the River of Memory, walking toward the downstream currents. Towering waves swept through heaven and earth; the larger the wave, the more monumental the event it represented!
Wave after wave crashed against the cosmos!
Su Yu strode forward a certain distance until a colossal wave reared up.
Su Yu and Lan Tian stepped into it instantly.
The moment they entered, Su Yu saw himself in a future moment. A massive saber cleaved through the heavens, striking down an expert with a single blow...
Su Yu instantly peered at the victim. This appeared to be the near future, where he had slain Zhou!
Su Yu raised a brow slightly. He would kill Human Ancestor Zhou in the near future?
Was this one of the future possibilities?
Looking up, Su Yu saw a gargantuan gate suspended in midair, seemingly the Human Gate. A group of combatants clashed furiously near it, the battle occurring precisely at this moment.
The moment the Human Gate descended!
The fleeting imagery vanished in a flash. Unable to withstand the immense repulsive force, Su Yu and Lan Tian were ejected from the wave.
Lan Tian looked at Su Yu. "The Human Gate descends, a grand battle erupts, and you slay Zhou!"
Su Yu nodded and chuckled. "Let's keep going! Who knows if this is real or fake?"
Lan Tian nodded, and the two dove into a second wave.
This time, the roar of the waters was even louder. The moment Su Yu entered, he heard a furious bellow: "Courting death!"
In this scene, Su Yu saw himself once more, along with Lan Tian and Wan Tiansheng. Wan Tiansheng seemed to have truly merged into the Human Gate, possessing terrifying power. Working in concert, the group battled until the imagery flashed away—Jingtian was slain!
Su Yu witnessed it!
He seemed to have triumphed again!
Leading Wan Tiansheng and the others, he appeared to have extended their earlier victory and slaughtered Jingtian as well!
"First Zhou, then Jingtian..."
Su Yu murmured softly. It aligned with some of his own thoughts. Still, he said nothing more and made no move to capture this future body. The future body here already felt as though it possessed thirty-seven or even thirty-eight Daos of power!
Su Yu exited immediately and continued forward. The further ahead he went, the harder the journey became!
The waves grew increasingly violent!
Su Yu pressed on... and entered a third wave!
*Boom!*
The moment he entered, he witnessed multiple gates colliding. The Heavenly Gate, Earth Gate, Human Gate, and even Su Yu himself had transformed into gates, locked in a brutal melee across the sky, churning the cosmos into murky chaos!
The Lord of Dead Spirits and several others appeared heavily wounded or even dead; he seemed to glimpse King Wu's corpse...
Su Yu frowned. Looking closer, he seemed to spot the Human Sovereign and his group fleeing, leading a detachment of survivors away from the battlefield!
Meanwhile, Su Yu was left behind, bitterly battling the Heavenly Gate and Earth Gate!
Lan Tian's voice sounded by his ear: "They really ran?"
Su Yu said nothing, staring into the sky. The furious sounds of combat and terrifying shockwaves battered the cosmos. He appeared even stronger than before, locked in mortal combat with the gates!
Lan Tian asked again, "Not capturing it?"
Su Yu shook his head. With a deafening boom, the wave shattered, and Su Yu and Lan Tian tumbled out once more. Su Yu panted slightly; that impact was formidable indeed!
He stepped into the next wave.
This wave held... darkness!
Boundless darkness!
The world seemed utterly destroyed!
Corpses littered the desolate expanse!
In the void, only Su Yu seemed to remain. With white hair fluttering wildly and a long saber in hand, he stood alone while everyone else appeared dead!
He seemed to have won!
Yet everyone else was gone.
Lan Tian's voice rose again: "Are we all dead? Is this the future? How tragic... If you're the only one left alive, won't you be lonely?"
Su Yu frowned, staring at the figure in the void.
The figure suddenly turned his head and looked directly at Su Yu!
Su Yu froze.
Lan Tian was taken aback as well. That Su Yu... almost didn't seem like Su Yu at all. His eyes were cold as the abyssal depths!
"All dead... This era, this world... all gone!"
The Su Yu in the void murmured softly, tinged with desolation and icy disdain. With a mocking sneer, he suddenly vanished from the spot!
Su Yu stood stunned. After a long moment, the wave began to fracture.
Su Yu and Lan Tian resurfaced above the river once more. Looking downstream, nothing else could be seen—only boundless darkness!
Lan Tian looked at Su Yu and smiled faintly. "You seemed to have won, but that final you... didn't really look like you..."
Su Yu remained silent for a moment before nodding. "A projection of a possible future. Perhaps I was possessed by the World Spirit or the Human Gate, or perhaps you usurped my will. It's just one possibility... Though frankly, it really could happen!"
Saying that, Su Yu suddenly laughed and shook his head. "Don't take it seriously!"
He did not elaborate, merely feeling that it seemed rather artificial!
Because none of the things he had deduced appeared!
Where was the World Spirit?
Where was the Book of Time?
Where was Old Seven of the Human Gate?
None of them were shown—only scattered illusions. It felt staged, or perhaps those entities were simply too powerful to be deduced by the river!
Of course, Su Yu did not care much about that.
He was contemplating whether he could enter again.
Enter and fish out that future body!
The Su Yu from that final moment had felt immensely powerful, but that version of himself likely harbored severe hidden dangers. He was probably an ideological projection of the entity lending him power. Su Yu was no fool; he had his suspicions.
That Su Yu was formidable!
Yet he was also very likely to become Su Yu's greatest impending crisis!
He looked at Lan Tian and transmitted his voice: "If you had to clash with that fellow just now to seize control of my body... would you be confident in winning?"
Lan Tian grimaced, transmitting back, "Quit joking! Nine times out of ten, I'd lose! That look... to be honest, just one glance from him made me feel like I was going to split apart. He was at forty Daos at the very least!"
Su Yu licked his lips. Lan Tian quickly urged, "Find a weaker one! For instance, the you who killed Jingtian earlier—around thirty-eight Daos. Just merge with that one! Don't go picking the most terrifying version!"
"The thirty-eight-Dao version of you... seemed pretty reasonable to me. We could still contest control with him... But that last one was genuinely terrifying!"
Even Lan Tian knew fear!
"Cut the chatter. That wouldn't provide enough of an increase!"
Su Yu stroked his chin and transmitted, "We're taking that last one. You have to figure out a way to deal with him! That thing is almost certainly the ideological projection of the entity lending me power. The stronger the power, the greater the influence on me! It's either the World Spirit or Old Seven of the Human Gate... You must withstand it!"
*I could cry!*
Lan Tian was at a loss. How was he supposed to withstand that?
"Don't worry, I'll bear it with you!"
Su Yu smiled and transmitted, "What's there to fear? Wealth is found in danger! At the very least, before I deal with certain enemies, that thing won't try to seize my body or my world... Besides, I can restrain him!"
How to restrain him?
Su Yu had an inkling: the Great Dao of Tribulation!
The Dao of Tribulation should naturally counter the World Spirit or whatever entity was lending him power.
All it required was maintaining a delicate equilibrium.
And Lan Tian would be the variable to disrupt that balance when needed!
Lan Tian thought it over for a long while before finally sighing, "Fine, let's try. You're a madman anyway; there's no talking you out of it!"
Su Yu grinned.
The next instant, the shattered wave coalesced again. Su Yu grabbed Lan Tian and plunged back in, coming face-to-face with that same Su Yu once more.
Paying no heed to anything else, Su Yu lunged straight toward his future self!
The white-haired Su Yu whipped around.
He seemed poised to resist, but hesitated for a fraction of a second, allowing Su Yu to seize him in an iron grip. Su Yu grew even more certain: there was a hundred percent something wrong with this entity!
Whatever, who cared!
The moment he seized the white-haired Su Yu, he dragged the figure into his own body. A torrential wave of power detonated within Su Yu instantly. Sensing it, Su Yu laughed!
There was not a shred of tribulation power!
How intriguing—his future self contained no tribulation power whatsoever!
What a load of nonsense!
Of course, his current tribulation power was relatively weak. If he did not harbor so many wild thoughts, he might not have noticed. But Su Yu had suspicions about everything!
*Boom!*
Su Yu's physical body split open abruptly, the overwhelming surge of power fracturing his flesh!
This future Su Yu possessed at least forty Daos of power, perhaps even more!
Suddenly, Su Yu lashed out with frenzied strikes against a phantom hovering above his head—the projection of that future Su Yu. He bombarded it relentlessly until the phantom shattered completely!
At this moment, the entire River of Memory threatened to collapse, destabilized after being drained of so much energy by Su Yu!
Su Yu grabbed Lan Tian and flew backward at top speed!
Inside his body, surging tides of immense energy continuously flooded every corner of his flesh and every aperture. He had successfully merged with an enhanced version of himself!
"Now that it's in my belly... it won't be so easy to take back!"
At this moment, Su Yu broadly deduced the origin of this power!
Power from the River of Time—power drawn from the Book of Time held by the World Spirit!
That only made things more interesting, didn't it?
Su Yu cracked a chilling, sinister smile.
It bore a distinct resemblance to the demeanor of that future body. Lan Tian glanced at him, initially worried and about to speak. But the next instant, a brilliant glint flashed in Su Yu's eyes, and the corners of his mouth curled slightly higher.
That smile... was even more sinister!
Lan Tian's heart instantly settled. Aside from Su Yu, very few people could produce a smile so deeply unsettling and bone-chilling!
This guy was more villainous than any villain.
Ordinary scoundrels could never pull off a grin that disgusting.
It sent shivers straight to the marrow!
Since that was the case... yes, no problem at all. When it came to wickedness, Su Yu wouldn't lose to anyone!
Chapter 964