Chapter 868: The Plan Has Begun

?? On this day, Su Yu entered Guiyun Mountain.

?? Unhurriedly, he began to study how to merge the Great Dao.

?? ...

?? Likewise, on this same day.

?? King Wen furrowed his brow slightly, gazing into the distance with a frown.

?? Beside him, King Wu seemed excited, as if he had accomplished some great deed. Seeing King Wen frown and look far away, he asked curiously, “What’s wrong?”

?? King Wen said nothing.

?? Nothing much—only that drawing the power of heaven and earth had become far more difficult.

?? After obtaining the boots, with the connection to his own world, Su Yu’s strength had grown greatly. He could draw the power of his world quite swiftly, but not long ago, when he tried to draw it again, he suddenly felt a sluggishness.

?? Had something happened to Su Yu?

?? Or had he closed the Heavenly Gate?

?? Had the myriad realms encountered some trouble?

?? Or perhaps... his Heavenly Gate had been passively closed off from the myriad realms?

?? If it was the last possibility... that could only mean one thing—that fellow had entered the Heavenly Gate!

?? King Wen sank into contemplation. Which one was it?

?? Whichever it was, King Wen couldn’t help but sigh.

?? What are you doing!

?? I had just connected to the world, drawing its power, and hadn’t drawn for long before this kid cut it off. Though it wasn’t completely impossible to draw, now I can’t draw much.

?? Without the power of heaven and earth, King Wen was still a top-tier peerless expert.

?? But only by drawing vast amounts of that power could he be a true supreme.

?? Now, drawing less and slower—it still had an impact. All that joy I felt for days was wasted.

?? King Wen’s head ached!

?? He looked in that direction. Gui seemed to have vanished.

?? Had Su Yu lured and killed him?

?? That Su Yu—

?? Had he truly entered the Heavenly Gate or not?

?? He should still be weak. Judging by the Heavenly Gate’s strength, he might have reached the first rank, but even if he had, entering the Heavenly Gate now would be fraught with peril.

?? “What are you looking at?”

?? King Wu called out again. What the hell are you staring at? You’ve been looking for ages!

?? When King Wen came back to his senses, King Wu said excitedly, “Stop looking. Second Brother, do you know? I feel like I’m just a little short of crossing that threshold!”

?? What threshold?

?? The threshold of the supreme!

?? In the truest sense, the threshold from thirty-one paths to thirty-two paths, the threshold beyond the first rank.

?? How many had fallen at this step?

?? Even some current lords of forbidden lands hadn’t truly crossed it. If one did cross it, the gap became stark, and only then did one truly possess heaven-defying power.

?? King Wu had been beaten passively for years. Even teaming up with King Wen, they still got beaten. But that one from Eternal Life Mountain had crossed this threshold. Two against one, even if only one path’s power was lacking, they couldn’t overcome him.

?? King Wen nodded slightly and said softly, “It’s close, but this step—you might feel you can cross it in an instant, or it might still take a long time. Don’t celebrate too early!”

?? At this moment, perhaps King Wu could cross it tomorrow, or perhaps in ten years, or maybe never in a lifetime!

?? King Wu pouted, then quickly smiled. “Second Brother, teach me—how exactly do I cross this step? I don’t have any special feeling.”

?? King Wen set aside the matter of Su Yu. Thinking too much was useless.

?? If Su Yu really came, based on his simple understanding and some speculation, he wasn’t one to be content with mediocrity and solitude. He would stir up some commotion sooner or later, so there was no rush.

?? That Mount Tai was about to cross that step—that was indeed worth paying attention to.

?? If it could be done, then dealing with Fa would be much more certain.

?? King Wen pondered for a moment, then spoke: “The power of thirty-one paths and the power of thirty-two paths—the gap may seem small, but in truth, you’ve felt it. Both of us have thirty-one paths’ power, yet even together, we can’t defeat Fa. The gap of one path is enormous!”

?? King Wu nodded.

?? He didn’t like using his brain, but he loved listening to discussions on the Dao, especially when King Wen and the Human Emperor discussed it.

?? Not just them—even when weaker beings discussed the Dao, King Wu was very interested.

?? He had cultivated to this level because, with King Wen and the Human Emperor around, he was too lazy to scheme. But he had a special interest in insights into the Great Dao. “Only martial arts are pure” wasn’t entirely derogatory.

?? King Wu liked discussing the Dao with others, but he preferred listening. He was somewhat clumsy with words and often couldn’t express that feeling.

?? “Between sixteen paths and thirty-one paths, there is a gap, but it’s not too obvious. One path, one step. But killing a seventeenth-path with sixteen paths, or even an eighteenth or nineteenth—that’s nothing!”

?? King Wu nodded again.

?? King Wen continued, “I’m considered heaven-defying, right? But here, with thirty-one paths’ power, can I kill Fa?”

?? King Wu shook his head. No.

?? Just one path’s difference!

?? And it was two against one. King Wen was very heaven-defying—at least in King Wu’s eyes, more so than those lords of forbidden lands. Yet even so, King Wen still couldn’t achieve an upward rebellion!

?? Of course, because he was so heaven-defying, even if he couldn’t kill the opponent, the opponent couldn’t kill King Wen easily either. Under normal circumstances, perhaps after several attempts, the opponent would find a flaw and kill him!

?? King Wen looked at King Wu, considered for a moment, and then explained in the simplest terms: “For a lord of a forbidden land with the power of thirty-two paths, whether it’s accumulated power from multiple paths or the strengthening of a single path to that degree, there will be a transformation, a critical point!”

?? King Wu listened attentively. King Wen continued, “After this critical point is reached and the transformation is complete, some characteristics will emerge!”

?? “What?”

?? King Wu asked, puzzled. “On you and Big Brother, I didn’t see any characteristics. Is there anything special?”

?? King Wen had actually reached this level in the outside world.

?? The Human Emperor had too!

?? But he hadn’t felt any characteristics!

?? King Wen laughed. “You’re just too familiar with us, and we haven’t attacked you, so of course you don’t feel much. But you’ve fought Fa for years—haven’t you noticed anything?”

?? King Wu thought for a moment and nodded. “Yes! I feel like I can’t kill him, can’t break through his path’s power!”

?? “Exactly!”

?? King Wen nodded and smiled. “That’s the special trait of a forbidden land’s lord, or rather the special trait of thirty-two paths’ power. At this level, simply put, the Great Dao can detach from the River!”

?? “Hmm?”

?? King Wu was startled. What did that mean?

?? He vaguely understood something, but the specifics were still unclear.

King Wen smiled and said, "Let me put it this way: a master of thirty-two paths, even if not a heaven-opener, can be regarded as one. His great path, if he specializes in a single one, can at any moment be detached from the river of time! When you fight, you attack his path, but his path and body are one! The path enters the body; the path is himself, and he is the path! So I ask you, if you do not defeat him, how can you strike at the power of his path?"

King Wu could not help but say, "Do you mean that all thirty-two paths are actually heaven-openers?"

"Yes and no!"

King Wen explained again, "There is still a difference. A heaven-opener usually opens up heaven and earth, forming a domain—a heavenly domain! But a strong one with thirty-two paths is an individual! The difference between the individual and the collective! A heaven-opener can cover a domain, radiate in all directions, turn an area into his battlefield, but a path-opener cannot do that, unless against the weak. A heaven-opener, however, makes no distinction between strong and weak!"

King Wu seemed to understand and murmured, "I see. Absorb the path into the body, path and body as one! The path is the body, the body is the path. How mighty the great path is! In this way, the path is the body; unless you shatter that path, you cannot kill him. Otherwise, you simply cannot slay him!"

He realized, "That explains it. When I fought Fa, his physical body wasn't that strong, but when I punched him, his body showed no injury—almost no weakness at all!"

He had asked King Wen before, but King Wen had not explained in detail. Today, because he was approaching this step, King Wen finally gave a thorough explanation.

He looked at King Wen again and asked in confusion, "Why didn't you tell me before?"

"If I had told you and revealed this key point, you would have subconsciously moved toward this step. That would not be good!"

King Wen smiled. "It wasn't suitable for you to know this. Otherwise, once you knew, you'd tend to get stuck in a rut and easily go astray!"

King Wu was speechless. After a moment, he said, "For a single path, one can absorb the path into the body. What about multiple paths, accumulating power to reach thirty-two paths?"

King Wen smiled. "Then multiple paths merge. Do you know the Five Elements Path?"

"Yes!"

King Wu nodded. "The Five Elements Emperor was quite strong back then, but he was killed. I heard it was the Immortal Emperor who did it..."

"Not the Immortal Emperor!"

King Wen shook his head. "Why would the Immortal Emperor kill him? I thought you knew, but it turns out you don't!"

"..."

Speechless, King Wu was frustrated. Nonsense, how would I know? I thought it was the Immortal Emperor, so I never asked. Didn't you all say it was the Immortal Emperor?

King Wen laughed. "It wasn't the Immortal Emperor. It was Yanhuo! Yanhuo was walking the Fire Path back then. Seeing that the Five Elements Path was not weak, he wanted to seize it... Anyway, that's not important. The key is that the fusion of the Five Elements Path is also an example!"

King Wen explained, "For a strong one walking multiple paths, when reaching the power of thirty-two paths, the paths merge, leading to a situation like the Five Elements Path. They can also absorb the path into the body, gaining special states that make them hard to kill!"

"For example, if one walks the Fire Path and reaches this level, they transform into a supreme flame. At that point, it's very hard to kill them unless you extinguish that flame—either with overwhelming power or with a corresponding method, like quenching it with the Water Path!"

King Wu murmured, "Do you mean that even if I reach thirty-two paths, I might not be able to kill Fa? Even if I defeat him, he can transform into the essence of his path, and I can't finish him off, right?"

"Right!"

King Wen nodded. "At this level, it becomes hard to kill! At least for you. But heaven-openers are actually very special!"

King Wen explained, "Heaven-openers are also a special case of multiple-path fusion. Even the Lord of the Dead, though he seems to have only one path, that path contains many—such as Darkness, Death, Destruction, Annihilation, Desolation, Silence, Extinction, Shadow, and Absolute Kill..."

"A heaven-opener has many paths and a domain. Even if the opponent is also a thirty-two-path strong one, it's useless. If you transform into fire, then I am water! If you are life, I can be death! If you are yin, I can be yang!"

King Wen smiled. "A heaven-opener can find a way to kill such beings! But for you, it's extremely difficult. That's why at the level of a forbidden land master, they aren't too afraid of peers, but they fear heaven-openers, and also peers with attribute advantages—they are prone to falling!"

"Oh!"

King Wu nodded, somewhat frustrated. From what King Wen said, even if he reached that level, killing Fa would be nearly impossible.

King Wu then asked, "So what is the difference between a multiple-path strong one and a heaven-opener? For instance, after I merge my paths, aside from lacking a domain, are we about the same?"

King Wen smiled. "That's one point. But opening heaven is harder than multiple paths, requiring more accumulation and talent. It's not for nothing. Besides having many paths and a domain, the key point for a heaven-opener is the ability to detach!"

"Detach?"

"Complete detachment!"

King Wen thought for a moment and explained further, "Complete detachment from dependence on the river of time. That means even if an era perishes, you won't be sealed!"

"What good is that?"

King Wu sneered. "Joking! It doesn't seem like much, does it?"

King Wen looked at him, making King Wu feel sheepish, then said calmly, "What do you know! The Lord of the Dead is one of the heaven-openers! The era of opening heaven was sealed. Others who didn't open heaven, no matter how strong, were suppressed and sealed! But the Lord of the Dead—he was foolish, wanting to find a chance to break through, so he voluntarily entered the Heavenly Gate! If he hadn't entered... he could now be peacefully sleeping in the Dead Spirit Realm!"

What do you know!

King Wu was still frustrated. "Really? So that's it?"

He still felt it wasn't impressive enough.

Seeing this, King Wen sighed again. "Fine, let me put it more directly: the power of the gates imposes almost no restriction on heaven-openers. The gates cannot seal a heaven-opener, understand?"

King Wu was startled, then couldn't help looking at King Wen. "What do you mean? Do you mean that heaven-openers can enter and exit the three gates?"

Then why haven't you gone out?

Seeing his expression, King Wen smiled. "What are you looking at? I am a heaven-opener, yes, but I didn't bring my heaven with me, did I? Simply put, if you carry your heaven with you, you can come and go without hindrance. But who in their right mind would carry their heaven everywhere?"

"No, wouldn't it be better to carry it?"

King Wu was not a heaven-opener and truly didn't understand this.

King Wen had to explain again, "Our heaven is considered the current heaven. Bringing it into the three gates is not good—it's easily eroded and polluted! But if our era is sealed, Star Boss and I can avoid being sealed. If we wish, we can live into the next era and continue sleeping. You, however, would be sealed!"

"Simply put, heaven-openers are immortal and undying, ageless, truly becoming monsters!"

He looked at King Wu and chuckled. "Now do you understand?"

"I understand!"

King Wu nodded, but still said, "But it still seems useless. Living too long—what's the point? Look, the Lord of the Dead lived long, and he's still just like that!"

"..."

No point? Perhaps.

King Wen didn't argue, but still smiled. "There's another key point: heaven-openers have unlimited potential. Their heaven can be endlessly expanded. One day, they might even reach the realm of the Lord of Time. But if you open a path on the river of time, can you reach that? If you do, you become the Lord of Time! The potential of a heaven-opener is far greater, understand?"

This time, King Wu finally showed envy and longing. "Really? Then opening heaven sounds really great. I feel I have no hope of reaching that realm in my lifetime!"

King Wu looked hopeful for a moment, then continued, "You haven't told me how I can reach the stage of absorbing the path into the body!"

I'm almost there!

King Wen exhaled. "This depends on the individual. Even I can't give you much guidance! When your great path feels like a ripe fruit about to fall, when you feel you can take your path at any moment and absorb it into your body, then you've succeeded! At that point, you can even become part of the river of time. Killing you might feel like strangling the river of time itself! Then you will be truly supreme!"

King Wen smiled. "At that level, it's very hard to kill!"

"But you said earlier that Boss might have been severely injured!"

King Wu suddenly said. "Those guys from the myriad realms can't deal with Boss, can they?"

He suddenly remembered this. King Wen shook his head. "Boss wasn't injured by those from the myriad realms. He was likely schemed against by some old fellows. Perhaps when he fused the source, some flaws in the source were exploited, sending him into a period of weakness early!"

"The old fellows in the three gates are all scheming against him. A tall tree catches the wind—there's no help for it!"

King Wen sighed. "When Wenyu fell back then, I knew someone had set their sights on us. Boss's ambitions were too great. Everyone could see he wanted to unite the myriad realms and storm the three gates. The three gates have their own supporters, and they could sense it, so they struck first!"

King Wu gritted his teeth. "Fa must be one of the instigators!"

King Wen nodded. Beings at Fa's level would certainly know the inside story and might even be one of the spokespersons. Whether he was in contact with others in the three gates or if the Heavenly Gate was the main driver—this was still unclear.

King Wen looked at King Wu, considered for a moment, and said, "Your difficulty in absorbing the path into the body may be greater than most. After all, your path is still outside. Although using the power of rules has little effect, your foundation remains outside!"

King Wu scratched his head. What to do then?

King Wen looked at him and said, "Earlier, I kept telling you not to fuse the power of this land's path. That was all in preparation for this moment!"

King Wu was puzzled.

King Wen laughed. "Borrow the power of Rong Dao to break through the final step! You walk the path of ten thousand martial arts—swords, spears, halberds, axes, hooks, and forks—all close-combat paths can be fused. By merging some powerful great Daos, you can unite yin and yang, instantly shatter this shackle, connect the two forces, and draw your Dao from the myriad realms. When yin and yang become one, your breakthrough will come!"

King Wu was excited at first, then frowned. "Can it work? Here, I feel a barrier between me and the Dao. Can I truly merge? The Daos here don’t seem able to blend into mine!"

King Wen smiled. "Of course you can’t. But who am I? This simple problem—I had the idea when I first entered, but I kept stopping you, never telling you, only waiting for today. If you had merged too much early on, you’d lack that explosive force of instant unity now, and it would be hard to complete the breakthrough and reach the supreme level."

King Wen grinned.

Second Brother was still reliable!

Following Second Brother, there was no fear of going hungry. He quickly said, "Tell me, how do I merge? All these years, I’ve never found a good way. How did you see it?"

"This is called wisdom!"

King Wen’s smile was radiant. That Taishan fellow, though not weak in Dao comprehension, liked to listen and study, but often missed the key points. Still a bit low on intelligence—nowhere near as brilliant as me!

He soon began speaking, leaving King Wu dumbfounded.

...

At the same time.

On Guiyun Mountain.

A wave of death energy filled the sky and earth, covering everything in a layer.

Within that layer, many had fallen into unconsciousness.

To outside eyes, it seemed a dire situation—the death energy was quite dense.

And at this moment, Su Yu, his hands stained with blood, stripped away another strand of Dao power, his eyes flickering. "So simple! I thought it would be much harder!"

Su Yu revealed a faint smile, shaking his head slightly, and sighed. "A leaf before the eye blinds the mountain. It felt simple, and it truly isn’t hard. What a... stroke of luck!"

Su Yu’s smile was radiant. At that instant, a figure stepped out from his body.

Very small!

A tiny being, a child no bigger than a thumb—the six-year-old Su Yu, the one he had once killed, now merged into his body. In truth, this child was merely a symbol of his past origin.

Su Yu sighed again. "Good thing I cultivated the Three-Body Method and merged some past origin. If I hadn’t, and needed to merge past origin into the River of Time here, I’d be helpless!"

He said this, but still grinned. Who cared? He had merged the Three Bodies!

That was enough.

Now, this tiny Su Yu, the six-year-old version, was actually an incarnation of past origin. Under Su Yu’s gaze, it rose into the air. Unseen by others, a black river appeared in the sky—the River of Time of this place.

The little Su Yu plunged into the river, merging his past origin into it.

Suddenly, Su Yu felt a much closer connection to this world; the previous sense of estrangement vanished in an instant.

Su Yu bared his teeth in a grin.

Too simple!

He had thought it would be so hard, but it turned out this easy. If he had thought about it more earlier, he might have figured it out without any research.

Now, Su Yu grinned widely.

Interesting!

The barrier was broken. Merging past origin into this river—what effect would it have on him?

Forget it, who cared?

He could discard this origin if he wanted; it wasn’t indispensable. As an opener of heavens, as the spirit of heaven and earth, Su Yu didn’t rely on such origins to live.

"So now, I need to disguise myself and cultivate a Dao!"

Su Yu had figured out the rules of this place. Soon, a smile appeared on his face. Arriving in a new land, studying the local rules and patterns—this was what Su Yu always did. He had done it when entering the academy, when entering the Battlefield of All Realms. But it had been a long time since he needed to.

Now, he felt a bit of that old feeling again.

Be cautious!

Understand the rules. Once you grasp the rules, there is only benefit, no harm. For example, now he could fully integrate into this place and pass himself off as a local.

"Merge with the rules... and strike King Wen!"

Su Yu stroked his chin. Not a bad choice. Yes, that’s what he would do!

He had a little idea, not sure if it would work.

The Heavenly Gate was about to open, and he wanted to be the boss for once.

One thought after another floated through Su Yu’s mind.

Soon, a dark, deathly Dao appeared. In the world within the gate, Daos were not divided by race; they were almost all adjacent. Ownerless Daos could be cultivated by anyone. The same Dao, like in the myriad realms, had many versions.

Su Yu’s world was special—he had only set up one Dao of each type. Otherwise, he could have split the Flesh Dao into many, but that was meaningless; these Daos would eventually return to unity.

Because Su Yu knew that Daos would eventually converge. If one practitioner of a certain Dao reached a very high level, he would surely try to subdue all other versions of the same Dao—that would be a Dao struggle!

A struggle among same-type Daos!

This encouraged mutual slaughter among strong practitioners of the same Dao within the world. Perhaps it was suitable sometimes, but not for Su Yu now.

"The Yin-Death Dao... a minor branch of the Death Dao. In principle, it’s all the Dead Spirit Lord’s prey. So he established this forbidden land with ill intent. Truly black-hearted!"

Su Yu chuckled. The next moment, his Dao perception rippled. In the blink of an eye, he grasped the Dao.

Within his own world, the Death Dao, under Xingyue, had reached the Second-Class realm.

He comprehended it with almost no difficulty.

Now, in an instant, his Dao power reached the Fourth-Class realm.

To grow stronger later, he could forcibly expand or devour similar Daos. Soon, he could become a Second-Class powerhouse, even Second-Class peak. But reaching First-Class would be difficult.

After all, even in Su Yu’s own world, his Death Dao had not yet reached First-Class.

"Has King Wen not merged any local Daos all these years?"

Su Yu thought that if he could discover this so easily, King Wen should have done so long ago.

Then why hadn’t King Wen merged local Daos? Was it because he had no time, or because he felt the gain was small and would tie him to this river, which he didn’t want?

Su Yu stroked his chin. Who cared!

Soon, he continued merging Daos. This time, he didn’t stick to one. After some thought, he began merging several Daos. It was better to merge many.

If one Dao suddenly reached Second-Class, people would suspect.

But if multiple Third- or Fourth-Class Daos combined their power to reach Second-Class, no one would pay much attention.

At this moment, Su Yu’s perceptions, riding the power of the Daos, spread into the River of Time of this place.

One rule after another was quickly grasped by Su Yu.

The number of ownerless Daos here was terrifying.

Su Yu suspected that countless Dao openers had existed in the past, and many must have died later.

Otherwise, there wouldn’t be so many rule Daos.

Su Yu’s body grew heavier with death energy. The commotion of mastering the Daos was easily suppressed by him.

Su Yu realized then that beyond this gate lay a veritable wonderland of treasures!

Even if he were to strip away all these grand daos right now and leave, he would still come out ahead!

It was no wonder that those inside the gate yearned to get out, while those outside longed to break in; opening the Heavenly Gate was akin to dispensing welfare, a premium pass that ordinary folk lacked the sheer qualification to obtain.

"The Human Emperor truly missed out... If he hadn't been burdened with such an overwhelming sense of duty back then, he should have just entered in his true form... Perhaps he could have reaped a fortune. The King of Wen was quite unfortunate too; otherwise, he might have turned a profit as well!"

Su Yu chuckled softly. The King of Wen had been under close surveillance, likely watched from the moment he set foot inside. But things were different for Su Yu; at this very moment, no eyes were fixed upon him.

As the manifold paths of the grand dao converged upon him, the aura cloaking his form began to alter entirely.

He was originally a spirit born of heaven and earth, possessing an abundance of worldly power even after departing from his realm. Now, however, he thoroughly dissolved all that energy into the phantasmal silhouette of his own Heavenly Gate, then enveloped it with the local daos, completely masking every shred of power from the Myriad Realms.

In doing so, unless an adversary managed to detect the actual existence of his Heavenly Gate, they would find absolutely nothing amiss.

The one Su Yu was primarily guarding against was the Lord of the Necropolis.

He had to prevent that entity from discovering anything at all!

He continued his integration, path after path, until the strength of roughly twelve grand daos gradually manifested upon his person, perfectly matching Luo Yun’s deductions. Su Yu smiled; this was close enough.

His comprehension of the grand dao ran exceptionally deep, allowing him to advance with remarkable speed. Reaching the first rank posed no great difficulty; the true challenge lay afterward, for once he attained that level, his insights would be exhausted, and further elevation would prove arduous.

With a wave of his hand, the deathly energy that choked the area completely dissipated.

In that instant, Luo Yun materialized, fixing Su Yu with a gaze filled with lingering suspicion and uncertainty. Spotting numerous weaker individuals strewn across the ground, yet seemingly alive, he remarked with slight surprise, "Brother, what is the meaning of this..."

No lives were taken?

Su Yu merely smiled. He harbored no interest in slaughtering these wretched creatures at the bottom of the ladder; it was entirely meaningless, so why stain his hands with blood?

"There was no need," Su Yu replied with a laugh. "I was merely gaining insights into the power of death, casting them into a realm of dreams where they could repeatedly experience demise. Every death offers a unique revelation, and the results are quite excellent. You should give it a try yourself, my friend."

Luo Yun's expression shifted slightly, but he quickly shook his head. "That requires a profound mastery over illusory realms, which is far beyond my capabilities. My path is singular. Could it be that you, brother... also dabble in the way of illusions?"

He asked with growing astonishment, "You are not a cultivator who specializes in a single grand dao?"

Su Yu nodded with a smile. "Indeed not, though I primarily focus on the dao of yin and death!"

Luo Yun expressed his admiration. "Cultivating multiple paths is far more arduous than focusing on just one! We all know that pursuing several daos simultaneously offers a greater hope of breaking through boundaries and augmenting one's power. Yet, abruptly changing paths to start anew... that is certainly not something an ordinary person can achieve!"

He added with a touch of reverence, "The power of your grand daos must surely exceed ten paths by now, brother?"

Su Yu smiled and gave a gentle nod. "Indeed... though I am still a fair distance away from sixteen paths. A pity, truly!"

He let out a soft sigh. "Otherwise, I would have considered opening up a territory of my own!"

With that, Su Yu chuckled. "Ah, never mind all that!"

His brow furrowed slightly as he changed the subject. "I have been in seclusion for some time now. Have the lords sent word back?"

"Not yet!"

Luo Yun knit his brows, shaking his head. "I know not where they have gone. Brother, if the Heavenly Tomb Territory truly cannot hold out, we can only abandon it. Given your strength, you will be able to gain a secure foothold wherever you go!"

Su Yu, however, frowned and shook his head. "You do not understand! With the opening of the Heavenly Gate drawing near, how can anyone secure a foothold without a powerhouse of sixteen paths or more backing them? When the time comes, it remains to be seen whether you will even have the chance to exit the gate!"

Luo Yun could only sigh in resignation, shaking his head. "There is naught we can do about that; after all, we have not reached such heights!"

Su Yu's brow furrowed deeper. "I wonder where Lord Mu and the others have actually gone! Could something have befallen them?"

A tremor went through Luo Yun's heart. Surely it wouldn't come to that?

"Impossible. The lord's grand dao power remains perfectly intact..."

Intact, my foot!

Su Yu had already discerned that Gui's grand dao power was steadily diminishing, indicating that it was being continuously absorbed by the Martial Emperor. Once the fusion was complete, these people would finally realize how unnatural the situation truly was. Those who cultivated Gui's grand dao would either perish or be torn apart by the clash of yin and yang; the lucky ones might survive, while the unfortunate would surely meet their demise!

And that moment was not far off!

A succession of thoughts flashed through Su Yu's mind before he finally spoke after a long pause. "I hope so. Truth be told, I am deeply concerned... If something has truly gone awry and we lack a sixteen-path powerhouse to watch over us, it will be exceedingly difficult to find a place to stand in this world. If we seek shelter in the forbidden lands, they will not receive us, and if we venture into the territories of other sixteen-path experts, they will only fear that we intend to usurp their power. Alas!"

Luo Yun felt a wave of shared anxiety wash over him at those words, yet he still insisted, "I believe you are overthinking this, brother. The lords are all incredibly powerful, and this time, a total of six experts departed together..."

"Who can say for certain!"

Su Yu remarked indifferently, "At any rate, I can always find a way to head toward the Necromantic Hell. If things truly go south, that will be my only recourse!"

Hearing this, Luo Yun completely lost his composure.

Could something have truly happened to the lord?

He cast his gaze toward the experts cultivating the physical body dao within the mountains. Previously, he hadn't noticed anything amiss, but now, a subtle sense of wrongness began to creep into his perception. He abruptly turned to look at Su Yu.

Su Yu met his gaze, his eyes flashing with a deep, meaningful significance as he spoke softly, "I thought you had already realized. Have you only just noticed? Something is indeed amiss... The grand dao power of Lord Gui seems to be fading away... It feels... somewhat akin to being devoured!"

"..."

Luo Yun's countenance changed dramatically!

Yes, he too had sensed a inkling of it, but had simply lacked the courage to give it voice. Now that Su Yu had spoken it aloud, his heart shook violently!

The lord... was dead?

The absence of any grand commotion was solely because the grand dao was being consumed by another!

Su Yu continued in a low, haunting tone, "To have the entire grand dao stripped away without causing the slightest disturbance, only to be devoured bit by bit... Could it be the work of a master of a forbidden land? A forbidden land master who commands the physical body dao?"

Guided by Su Yu's words, Luo Yun immediately arrived at the same conclusion, a look of sheer terror instantly painting his face.

Su Yu pressed on, "Not just Lord Gui; perhaps Lord Mu has also met with disaster, and Lord Yu as well... In truth, if we visit Lord Yu's territory to investigate, we might find our answers. If they have all suffered the same fate... it means they have all fallen. Their grand daos were stripped away—instantaneously, no less—and are now being devoured piece by piece. Could it be a forbidden land expert who has mastered multiple paths?"

Luo Yun swallowed hard, staring at Su Yu in absolute dread, suddenly feeling entirely at a loss.

Could it truly be?

Su Yu let out a soft sigh. "If all else fails, we ought to visit Lord Yu's territory. I wonder what the strength of the inspector over there is like? If they also possess a strength of eight paths or more... the three of us together, while not as formidable as before, could still hold down a territory. At the very least, we cannot allow everyone's hard-earned accumulations over the years to be plundered by outsiders!"

"While no one else is wiser to this yet, we must seize the opportunity to step into the sixteen-path realm early. Otherwise... I fear trouble lies ahead. Of course, my best option remains heading to the Necromantic Hell..."

Luo Yun's expression altered instantly as he pleaded frantically, "No, please! The Necromantic Hell is far too perilous. Brother Hei Mu, I believe it would be much better for us to guard a territory ourselves. Dealing with those masters of the forbidden lands is simply too dangerous!"

In that single moment, his entire stance shifted completely!

He could not allow Su Yu to leave!

Otherwise, this place would highly likely become prime meat for others to fight over.

Su Yu looked at him, his brow furrowing. "What do you mean by that?"

Luo Yun swallowed hard, then gritted his teeth and declared, "Brother Hei Mu, I believe... we should seek out the territories of the other lords. Perhaps they haven't met with disaster. The lords are all close friends; even if something went wrong, as long as one remains alive, we can rely on them to some extent... And if they have all... all met with misfortune, then we... we shall join forces. At worst, we can find a way to merge our territories, which is still far better than submitting to outsiders!"

"In times like these, you know as well as I do how ruthless others can be, brother. If we throw our lot in with those we do not know, disaster will strike sooner or later!"

Su Yu let out a mirthless laugh. "Friend Luo Yun, you and I do not truly know each other either."

"That is completely different!"

Luo Yun argued desperately, "It really is different! Our lords were close friends, and though we may not know each other well, at this moment, we are companions walking the same path! Furthermore, our respective domains lie within this very region, not too far apart... Merging our territories presents a natural opportunity!"

Su Yu frowned. "This will not be an easy matter to handle..."

"Brother Hei Mu!"

Luo Yun spoke in a heavy tone, "Let us first inspect the territories of the other lords. Perhaps we have simply misjudged the situation. Perhaps... perhaps Lord Gui is merely undergoing a breakthrough to a higher rank?"

Even he himself did not believe the words that left his mouth.

??At this moment, he too was somewhat panicked; for a moment, he could only think that he must keep Su Yu here—this one was stronger than him, and at least there was a chance.

??Su Yu, after a moment's hesitation, nodded, though somewhat reluctantly.

??In his heart, however, he was rapidly calculating everything, and soon a faint smile crept onto his face.

??Excellent!

??I don't need to prove my identity—Luo Yun will naturally do it for me. As for Tianmu Territory, there are hardly a few ghosts there, and the locust swarm passing through is a real event, as Mu himself said. But earlier, I had planned not to go back, too lazy to bother, too lazy to fight a 15-path locust and hurt myself.

??Now, Tianmu Territory might be completely finished!

??This way, I can perfectly blend in here, and maybe even become the boss!

??Hmm, it wouldn't be good for some random nobody to rise up.

??But for a territorial overlord to rise—that's perfectly normal!

??New people always rise, after all!

??And Su Yu, nodding, let out a sigh and said softly, "I'm probably still a bit away from the 16th path. Even if I truly merge the territory, having not a single 16th-path cultivator is a problem... To reach the 16th path, I'll need some more time."

??Luo Yun's heart trembled: "Daoist... how many paths have you actually reached?"

??I've set up a WeChat public account [Book Club Base] to give everyone year-end benefits! You can go check it out!

??Su Yu looked at him and smiled: "Fifteen paths of power, about the same as that locust leader. But... alone, I can't fight four hands!"

??Luo Yun was first shaken, then overjoyed.

??Good news!

??This way, even if their territory really ran into trouble, it wouldn't be a problem!

??This one might even enter the 16th path!

??Even if not, as a second-rank peak at the 15th path, he was already a top existence within this sect. Among those who left earlier, three were 15-path experts.

??But not all were first-rank!

??"Daoist... no, Lord Heimu, why didn't you say so earlier? This puts my mind at ease!"

??Luo Yun breathed a sigh of relief, instantly calming down. He had truly feared that their territory was doomed, that Guiyun Mountain would be targeted. If it were Heimu... well, Heimu was at least half an acquaintance—though only their leaders knew each other, it was close enough.

??At this moment, Su Yu truly smiled.

??The law of the jungle was so obvious!

??Compared to an unfamiliar strongman, Luo Yun clearly accepted him much more readily. Good—this way, I can quickly become the boss here, and then maybe lead people to attack King Wen?

??Su Yu laughed inwardly!

??Vaguely, some plans took shape: I, Su Yu, have entered. To oppose everyone would be too difficult. To oppose King Wen... King Wen, this man of all realms, is hated by everyone; he won't have time to trouble me. That's perfect!

??Yes, I need to set a slogan!

??Something like "Slay King Wen, Break All Realms, Kill the Human Emperor"...

??In an instant, many thoughts flooded Su Yu's mind. Thinking it over, his mood lightened considerably. The plan starts here!