Tribulation of Myriad Races

Eighth level.

Su Yu was undergoing a transformation. After unifying all his acupoints and apertures, he had transformed into a true Sunmoon. Both his body and sea of willpower were strengthening.

The world started looking different to his eyes. When he looked up, the previous chaotic power of laws was presented as one dao after another. He also saw a massive river hanging in the sky.

River of Time.

This time, he could see it clearly. It was as though the real form of the world was finally presented before his eyes. Ignoring the reward and punishment descending on his body, he stared at the sky blankly. He was looking at the real world. It felt as though this was his first time knowing the laws. The daos.

“Laws? Daos? Net? All of them are branches.”

Su Yu muttered to himself. The completion of the Heaven Gate had granted him a new eye. It allowed him to see the real world. He saw the River of Time, and he saw the countless streams branching out of it, spreading everywhere.

He also knew why one could only affirm one’s dao after gaining the ability to enter the River of Time. Because that signified the ability to get in contact with the various daos. He also understood why the River of Time would differ in size depending on the people manifesting it. That was because they were all manifesting the different branches of the river.

With his Heaven Gate, he was able to see all that clearly. A new world had been unveiled before his eyes. So every single dao in the world came from the River of Time. So the so-called opening of a new dao was essentially the act of opening a new branch on the River of Time. Pursuing an existing dao was the act of cultivating an existing branch.

“Is the River of Time itself a dao as well?”

Su Yu muttered to himself in shock. Prior to this, he had been wondering about the origin of all these daos. Now, he knew. They all originated from the River of Time. Previously, he had thought that the River of Time wasn’t particularly useful. Was it only meant to help someone reach somewhere faster? Or was it something else?

But now, everything was clear. That was a gigantic river spanning the world. Countless streams branched out of the gigantic river, forming the so-called net Su Yu mentioned previously.

“I see now. So this is the true form of the laws.”

Everything originated from the River of Time. He even had an idea as to the origin of the Celestial River of Death. That was a river similar to the River of Time, but it had no branch. Rather, countless death spirits would latch right onto the main river itself. The Celestial River of Death was the so-called dao of death spirit.

“The River of Time, and Celestial River of Death…According to Martial Emperor, the Celestial River of Death is incomplete. Does this mean that the Celestial River of Death is essentially the product of someone attempting to create another main river similar to the River of Time…someone who has failed? In that case, just how powerful is this person?”

He was wondering about the strength of the one who had created the Death Realm. The Myriad Realms were filled with countless daos, but they all originated from a main dao.

“The thicker branches are probably the more powerful daos. The physical body dao of humanity, the immortal emperor dao, and devil emperor dao must be among them. To create a new branch on the River of Time…with the River of Time as the source. In that case, does this river extend to the Upper Realm as well?”

Numerous thoughts emerged in Su Yu’s mind as he bathed in the power of laws. His body alternated between damaged and healed repeatedly. He did not care. He was no longer bothered by the punishment.

Instead, he was investigating the punishment. Through the punishment, he was seeking the origin of one of the laws punishing him. Eventually, he reached the end of this law. There, a massive dao was visible. And strands of power were emerging from that dao. This was the dao punishing him.

Next, Su Yu followed the reward and searched for its origin as well. His willpower spread out. He was curious. Just how did Human Emperor’s dao looked like? But the thread seemed to stretch on endlessly. He couldn’t find the dao of the Human Emperor.

His willpower traveled on and on, as though this were an endless journey. There seemed to be no end to this thread. Where was Human Emperor’s dao? He only knew that the reward originated from a single source while the punishment originated from multiple sources. Human Emperor’s dao was most likely stronger than the daos of all those people.

“Is the River of Time itself a dao as well?”

“Why did the Time Sage forge the Book of Time? Was she really trying to unify all daos, or was she trying to create a new River of Time? Creating a new imitation to the River of Time like the Celestial River of Death?”

He continued speculating. He had learned too many new things today. In the past, he could only guess. But now, he could see it with his own eyes.

He was unsure if anyone else could see this as well, but he suspected that he was unique in this, and this was one of the benefits of opening the Heaven Gate. Well, he could probably get an answer from Martial Emperor.

“Therefore, during the so-called dao fusion stage, I can either fuse with an existing branch or open a new branch on the main river…”

Suddenly, he took the Culture Tomb out. This time, he saw something different. A tiny thread could be seen on the Culture Tomb. It was connected straight to the River of Time. Somewhere on the River of Time was a branch, and someone had sealed this branch. Nobody was allowed to step into it.

Understanding dawned on Su Yu. The Culture Tomb and the character in it were essentially the maps and the keys to the sealed branch.

With the Culture Tomb in hand, Su Yu could step onto the River of Time in search of the sealed dao. After finding it, he could unseal it and start his fusion. That would officially push him into the Daomeld Realm.

As the dao was sealed, nobody could find or fuse with it. He alone would monopolize this dao. The size of these branches was an indicator of their actual strength. The pen dao should be quite a large branch.

“The character technique with ninety-nine characters is mostly meant to help me locate the branch, or perhaps it’s the actual key to unseal it.”

He finally understood. It was as though there were no longer any secrets to these daos before his eyes.

When the Heaven Gate opens, Saints shall emerge.

This was a saying that had existed since ancient times. Each appearance of a Heaven Gate would also signify the appearance of a remarkable individual.

In the past, Su Yu had assumed that this saying was related to the entrance of the Luminous Domain Mansion. Only remarkable individuals could enter. But he was wrong. Instead, it meant that the full opening of the Heaven Gate would allow one to view the real essence of the world.

Daofuse? Daomeld? Opening a new dao? Master of Law? With the Heaven Gate open, one would naturally understand everything. One would gain an unprecedented clarity over one’s future. One would no longer be lost. One would understand what one was doing in cultivation instead of only acting without understanding.

Su Yu came to comprehend numerous things. As all the new knowledge filled his mind, his dao character slowly transformed, growing stronger and stronger than before.

The dao character manifested in front of him. A tiny thread could be seen on it, connected to the River of Time. This was a sign that Su Yu had comprehended part of the essence of cultivation. If he wanted, he could even make the dao character his main focus, pursuing the dao connected to it or opening a new dao similar in function to this character.

“I see now. Characters are laws. No, characters are the paths ahead. Opening a new dao or fusing with an existing dao are the endpoints. The characters will guide you toward the most suitable endpoints to open the new daos. The characters will also tell you the locations of these daos. One can opt to fuse with these daos instead.”

Su Yu was still in deep contemplation. Suddenly, he dragged the little furball out of his sea of willpower. With the Heaven Gate, he stared at the little furball. It was as though he had gained a third eye, and the little furball was shaking with fear. For some reason, he felt like Yummy had seen through him completely.

Su Yu continued staring at the little furball. One could say that the furballs were the most loved race of nature. After all, each of them was a dao in itself. Each of them was a law in itself.

Each of them already had their own branch. They did not need to fuse with any dao. Rather, they only needed to pursue their existing daos. Or perhaps their daos were already damaged. They needed to repair their daos to grow in strength.

A dao spirit might have been birthed exclusively for the purpose of repairing a damaged dao. An indistinct thread could be seen atop the little furball. It looked delicate, yet it felt incredibly tough.

When Su Yu followed the line with his willpower, he saw something special. Sure enough, it was connected to the River of Time. However, the connection was damaged. It required repair.

He also saw several sports on the thread where the little furball had likely repaired it wrongly. These spots likely corresponded to the Mountainsea and Sunmoon Realms. The little furball had been repairing his thread wrongly. Instead of repairing the damaged parts, he was repairing the undamaged part, to the point that he was about to create a new branch.

Sure enough, the little furball had no idea what he was doing. He only knew how to eat. But after eating, he didn’t know what to do with the nutrition. At this rate, the little furball might one day turn from a dao opener to a dao fuser. He would miss out on his own unique dao.

And if his new dao was one with an existing master, he would be stuck as a Daofuse for life. He would never become a Master of Law. But repairing his dao correctly would give him the chance of becoming the master of his own dao.

“What about Soy Bun? And the female furball?”

With Culture King around, Soy Bun might have discovered the correct dao. But the same couldn’t be said for the female furball. Like the little furball, the female furball only knew how to eat.

They had all been influenced by Soy Bun. And Soy Bun might not even know the truth about himself. Rather, he might have discovered his own dao due to Culture King’s guidance. He was only following instructions instead of knowing what he was doing. Otherwise, Soy Bun would have grown into a Master of Law long ago. He wouldn’t have been stuck as a Daofuse for a hundred thousand years.

“Yummy! Scared!”

The little furball looked at Su Yu with a pitiful expression. The power of laws was still bombarding Su Yu. Held in Su Yu’s hand amid the explosions, he was terrified. Yummy’s stare was also making him nervous.

While kneading the little furball, Su Yu smiled and said, “You’re walking the wrong path. In the future, you need to read more. This is the world of scholars, not brutes.”

He recalled Martial King and Martial Emperor. Since the two had completed their Heaven Gates as well, they should be able to see this as well, right? But why could they do this even as mere brutes?

Su Yu could only conclude that they had the benefit of monstrous talent. Their sheer talent had made up for their empty brains. They probably didn’t know much about the various daos as well. That must be why all of them were weaker than Culture King. Just look at Martial Emperor. He was so rash, yet he wasn’t even a match for Martial King. What a waste of a fine Heaven Gate.

“There must be something special about the pen dao. It can be used to write on the other daos and even seal them. Just where is the pen dao?”

He looked at the Culture Tomb before looking at his existing characters. His character technique dove into the Culture Tomb. Then, he tossed the Culture Tomb into the sky. With a casual swing of his head, Su Yu tore an opening in space and revealed a massive River of Time.

He stepped onto the river and started advancing forward with the guidance of the Culture Tomb. He did not know where he was going. The future? Or the past? He continued ahead. Eventually, the characters inside the Culture Tomb started running out of energy. Ahead of him, the Culture Tomb stopped in hesitation, as though it was lost.

Su Yu laughed.

“So without enough strength, it is incapable of leading me to the pen dao. Or perhaps something is still lacking. I understand now.”

He retrieved the Culture Tomb and took out the Heavenearth Inkstone instead. The inkstone trembled slightly, but it did not do anything else.

Su Yu had not comprehended its dao. Thus, it wasn’t reacting. It was not leading him to the dao of the heavenly desolate beast.

“These are all the daos of others. What about my own dao?”

Su Yu took the Mark of Civilization out. The moment it appeared, the Mark of Civilization started flying around chaotically. It wasn’t heading anywhere in particular. It would ram into a random spot, seemingly telling Su Yu that this was a suitable spot to open a new dao. But next, it would shoot away and focus elsewhere, telling Su Yu he should open a new dao there instead.

“I understand.”

Su Yu smiled bitterly. He retrieved his Mark of Civilization. This was a convergence of myriad daos. The Mark of Civilization was a convergence of myriad daos. The Book of Time was a unification of myriad daos.

Su Yu finally knew. That little sister of Culture King was incredibly ambitious. She aimed to create her own River of Time.

A miniature River of Time, to be precise.

And Su Yu was pursuing a similar path.

The Mark of Civilization had essentially told him that it didn’t know the most suitable spot either. Thus, it suggested that he open a dao anywhere. Eventually, the dao could be grown into a new River of Time.

“I see now.”

Next, Su Yu took out a different item. Human lord’s token. The token shot forward, leading him ahead. But after a while, it stopped. It was no longer capable of going further forward.