novelraw Chapter 177: Avoid Him
Chapter 177: Avoid Him
"The last one."
Heven Cien's expression turned slightly grave as he observed carefully.
Whether in the Divine Body World or in reality, the most important thing was to have good judgment—to know exactly which powerhouses could not be provoked.
Every Tier 9 Expert in the Divine Body World had reached the absolute pinnacle of a Late-stage Starry Sky Life, and each one required close attention.
"This Tier 9 Expert has mastered a spatial-type Secret Method for his Divine Body. This specific spatial Secret Method is exceptionally adept at suppression. With a mere flip of his right hand, dozens of Tier 7 and Tier 8 Experts were entirely sucked into a miniature space, completely unable to resist..."
"Furthermore, this Tier 9 Expert has also mastered an offensive Divine Body Secret Method. Its might is not the least bit inferior to his spatial-type Secret Method. Chaxi Zhuiyuan, a Royal Family member of the Dongyou Cosmic Human Empire's Zhuiyuan Lineage, sacrificed everything to summon the power of The Abyss, only to be easily routed by this offensive Secret Method..."
'Amazing,' Heven Cien thought in shock. With the capabilities of a spatial-type Divine Body Secret Method, suppressing dozens of Tier 7 Experts was not difficult.
However, the fact that Chaxi Zhuiyuan had summoned the power of The Abyss and was still effortlessly defeated was simply beyond comprehension.
Chaxi Zhuiyuan was a Tier 8 Expert. Even if he could not compare to a Tier 9, if he truly risked everything to summon the power of The Abyss, the vast majority of Tier 9 Experts would avoid him like the plague, entirely unwilling to be tainted by abyssal energy.
Yet this particular Tier 9 Expert not only refused to retreat but forcefully crushed him head-on. He was clearly incredibly confident in his own abilities.And the facts had proven exactly that.
"The Eastern Barrens has gained yet another Tier 9 Expert who absolutely cannot be provoked..."
Heven Cien gathered his thoughts and continued reading.
"This Tier 9 Expert has not been in the Divine Body World for long. The Great Cycle of Cosmic Energies he commands is composed of the seven Yin-Yang Five Elements Cosmic Energies..."
"Crucial Reminder: The target likely possesses a massive background. The spatial-type Divine Body Secret Method he has mastered perfectly aligns with his own Great Cycle of Cosmic Energies..."
Spatial-type Divine Body Secret Methods were exceptionally rare and notoriously difficult to cultivate. The reason lay in their extraordinarily harsh requirements for one's Great Cycle of Cosmic Energies.
That Tier 9 Expert's Great Cycle of Cosmic Energies encompassed a staggering seven types of Cosmic Energy. Finding a suitable spatial-type Divine Body Secret Method for such a complex cycle was no easy feat.
This implied a profoundly deep background.
"Hm?"
Heven Cien's expression gradually shifted. He vaguely felt that the intelligence briefing that followed seemed somewhat familiar.
"Based on the time this Tier 9 Expert appeared in the Divine Body World and the Great Cycle of Cosmic Energies he commands, his true identity should be the Wu Pavilion Master from the Broken Void World..."
"If one encounters the Wu Pavilion Master, assuming there is no direct conflict of interest, the fundamental strategy is—avoid him."
"Wu?" Heven Cien blinked.
He was somewhat slow to process this.
"This?"
A split second later, Heven Cien's eyes widened dramatically.
"It's Wu?"
Heven Cien was in utter disbelief.
Just moments ago, he had been wondering if Su Yuan had encountered any trouble in the Divine Body World and whether he needed to offer some assistance.
But now?
A Tier 9 Expert?
A Tier 9 Expert who had mastered at least two top-tier Divine Body Secret Methods?
Such a Tier 9 Expert practically stood at the absolute zenith of the Eastern Barrens. Throughout the entire Eastern Barrens, there were no more than ten powerhouses of the same caliber who could rival him.
Even the Canghai Pavilion, which the Cien Family had painstakingly established, had yet to produce an expert of this tier.
"Too monstrous..."
Heven Cien muttered to himself. The Heavenly Secret Pavilion's intelligence regarding the Wu Pavilion Master was incredibly detailed, and its overarching conclusion was clear: absolutely do not provoke him.
In terms of strength, the Wu Pavilion Master already stood at the pinnacle of the Eastern Barrens. And in terms of background? To cultivate such an anomalous Late-stage Starry Sky Life, how could his background possibly be weak?
One had to understand that during the cultivation phase of a Starry Sky Life Form, simply having talent and aptitude wasn't enough. What mattered even more was proper guidance.
The Wu Pavilion Master had formed his Great Cycle using the seven Yin-Yang Five Elements Cosmic Energies, stepping into the realm of a Late-stage Starry Sky Life.
This evolutionary path was nothing short of perfect. Behind him, there absolutely had to be an unfathomable powerhouse constantly guiding and correcting him.
Therefore, if one encountered the Wu Pavilion Master without any fundamental conflict of interest, avoiding him was the most optimal choice.
Luoyang City.
Inside the cultivation chamber of the City Lord's Mansion, Su Yuan sat cross-legged.
As the Heaven-Swallowing Demonic Art circulated, the essences of various Great Cycles of Cosmic Energies continuously integrated into his body.
'The Heaven-Swallowing Demonic Art... truly beyond comprehension,' Su Yuan felt the Yin-Yang Five Elements Great Cycle within him rapidly nearing perfection, unable to stop a sigh of awe from rising in his heart.
Every Great Cycle of Cosmic Energies was entirely independent; under normal circumstances, there was virtually no possibility of them being devoured and fused.
The variables and risks involved were far too numerous. The slightest misstep could completely shatter the delicate balance of one's original Great Cycle.
At best, the Divine Body within the Divine Body World would collapse and perish. At worst, it would severely affect the Great Cycle of Cosmic Energies that one had mastered in reality.
However, as the Heaven-Swallowing Demonic Art operated, it seamlessly and perfectly integrated the essences of other cosmic Great Cycles into his own internal Great Cycle, extracting only their purest essence in a manner that was simply beyond comprehension.
'The Heaven-Swallowing Demonic Art provided by the Gray Mirror is entirely tailored to my actual circumstances. It uses the Yin-Yang Five Elements as its foundation and the Six Dimensions Cultivation Method as its extension...'
Su Yuan thought to himself.
This meant that even if other Late-stage Imperial Citizens managed to obtain the Heaven-Swallowing Demonic Art, they would have no way to cultivate it. The Great Cycle of Cosmic Energies they commanded simply wasn't the Yin-Yang Five Elements.
Without the Yin-Yang Five Elements, devouring the essences of other Great Cycles of Cosmic Energies would almost certainly result in catastrophic failure.
Even if some Late-stage Starry Sky Life somehow managed to construct a Great Cycle using the seven Yin-Yang Five Elements Cosmic Energies, without the Mental Will tempered by the Six Dimensions Cultivation Method, they still wouldn't be able to completely fuse the essences of other Great Cycles of Cosmic Energies.
As for someone who had both mastered the Yin-Yang Five Elements Great Cycle and practiced the Six Dimensions Cultivation Method... across the long and sprawling history of the thirty-six great Universal Human Empires, such a person might never have existed, let alone in the current era.
While Su Yuan was in secluded cultivation.
In the Divine Body World, across the Eastern Barrens, intelligence concerning Su Yuan gradually began to spread among the numerous Imperial Citizen Players.
This wasn't a leak from the Heavenly Secret Pavilion. Rather, when Su Yuan struck down Chaxi Zhuiyuan and the other experts, it had occurred right above Luoyang City, in full view of several Imperial Citizen Players.
As the news continued to spread and fester, certain pieces of intelligence regarding Su Yuan naturally floated to the surface.
"Damn, who is this Tier 9 Expert?"
"You guys don't know? Have you ever heard of the Broken Void World? He's the second Void Shattering Ascendant from there, the Wu Pavilion Master."
"What? He's the Wu Pavilion Master?"
Countless Imperial Citizen Players broke into heated discussions. The Imperial Citizen Players within the Divine Body World were almost all Late-stage Starry Sky Life Forms. Possessing their own extensive networks, they quickly learned a great deal about the Wu Pavilion Master.
"Didn't they say the Wu Pavilion Master just underwent Void Shattering Ascension and only recently stepped into the Late-stage Starry Sky Life realm?"
"He just stepped into the Late-stage Starry Sky Life realm, just descended into the Divine Body World, and he's already a Tier 9 Expert? And such an overwhelmingly powerful Tier 9 Expert at that?"
One after another, the Imperial Citizen Players were left utterly dumbfounded. This was especially true for those who already had some knowledge of the Wu Pavilion Master's background. Seeing Su Yuan's terrifying strength in the Divine Body World brought them immense shock.
Was he even human?
Time slowly slipped away, and in the blink of an eye, over a month had passed. During this month, the intelligence regarding Su Yuan was gradually overshadowed by other, more highly-discussed news. After all, as one of the permanent evolutionary worlds for Late-stage Starry Sky Life Forms, the Divine Body World saw the arrival of genius Late-stage Starry Sky Life Forms at practically every given moment.
Furthermore, throughout this entire month, Su Yuan hadn't made another move. He hadn't even shown his face. Some Imperial Citizen Players even began to suspect that Su Yuan had left the Divine Body World altogether.
Naturally, the volume of discussions surrounding Su Yuan drastically dropped.
However, only the Lord of Luoyang City knew that Su Yuan hadn't left the Divine Body World at all. Not only had he not left, but he had spent the vast majority of his time over the past month right there in the Divine Body World.
Inside the cultivation chamber of the City Lord's Mansion, the aura that Su Yuan inadvertently radiated was slowly climbing higher with almost every passing moment.
It seemed as though there was no end to it.
While this left the Luoyang City Lord in sheer disbelief, the reverence in his heart only grew all the more profound.
Bluestar, North Pole Continent.
Su Yuan slowly opened his eyes.
"Tier 9!"
A smile blossomed on Su Yuan's face. After more than a month of bitter cultivation, he had finally crossed the threshold from the peak of Tier 8 into Tier 9.
Tier 8 and Tier 9 were merely the classifications for strength and realms within the Divine Body World.
But equally, they represented a Late-stage Starry Sky Life Form's profound mastery over the Great Cycle of Cosmic Energies they commanded.
Besides that, over the past month, Su Yuan had smoothly and perfectly integrated the Great Cycle essences of Chaxi Zhuiyuan and the dozens of other experts into his own body.
Now, as Su Yuan's Yin-Yang Five Elements Great Cycle circulated, it was no longer limited to just the power of Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements. It radiated the auras of numerous other Cosmic Energies, as if ten thousand laws and ten thousand Dao paths were brewing within.
'With my current Yin-Yang Five Elements Great Cycle, if I were to open up an internal world... how large would its initial scope be?'
Su Yuan immediately asked the Gray Mirror deep within his sea of consciousness.
The gray mirror rippled with a hazy mist and provided an answer.
[A span of 430,000 kilometers]
'430,000 kilometers?' Su Yuan's spirit jolted slightly.
'What if I also add the World Tree Seeds as an auxiliary aid?' Su Yuan continued to ask.
[A span of 450,000 kilometers]
The gray mirror provided an answer once more.
'Not bad, not bad at all.'
A smile graced Su Yuan's face.
A little over a month ago, the initial size of the internal world he could open up was just over a span of 100,000 kilometers.
Now, purely in terms of diameter, it had increased by four or five times. In terms of true volume, it had grown by thousands of times over.
'With such an astronomically massive initial scope for an internal world, my current physical body simply wouldn't be able to bear the strain...'
Su Yuan sighed in his heart.
For other Late-stage Starry Sky Life Forms, being able to open up a stable internal world was already something to thank the heavens for. An internal world spanning 5,000 kilometers did not demand terribly much from the physical body.
A normal Late-stage Starry Sky Life Form could easily meet that requirement.
But Su Yuan?
The internal world he was attempting to open up was far too colossal, vastly exceeding the absolute limits that a Late-stage Starry Sky Life Form's physical body could withstand.
This necessitated an incredibly robust physical body to endure the immense pressure.
'Relying solely on the Starry Sky Divine Crystal won't be enough.'
Su Yuan thought to himself. Recently, after the three Starry Sky Divine Crystals rewarded by the Myriad Layers Maze had arrived, he had paid a hefty price to purchase several more Starry Sky Divine Crystals.
And through the Gray Mirror, Su Yuan knew very clearly exactly where the absolute limit of the Starry Sky Divine Crystal's assistance lay for him.
The more Starry Sky Divine Crystals he refined, the more the effects showed a trend of diminishing returns. It was impossible for his physical body to rely on the Starry Sky Divine Crystals to endlessly strengthen and improve without limits.
'The clearance reward for the 100th layer of the Myriad Layers Maze...'
Su Yuan's heart stirred slightly. Long ago, he had learned from the Gray Mirror that the clearance reward for the 100th layer of the maze would include a rare treasure capable of drastically driving the evolution of his physical body.
Such a rare treasure was a supreme item at the Stellar Life Form tier. Late-stage Starry Sky Life Forms basically had no chance of ever obtaining one.
'The Power of Ultimate Yang... The Power of Ultimate Yin...'
Su Yuan let his thoughts wander and proceeded to check on his degree of comprehension regarding the Power of Ultimate Yang and the Power of Ultimate Yin.
Hum— The gray mirror continued to surge and ripple.
[Power of Ultimate Yang: 2%]
[Power of Ultimate Yin: 2%]
Compared to several months ago, Su Yuan's comprehension of both the Power of Ultimate Yang and the Power of Ultimate Yin had now reached 2%.
One could not underestimate this 2%. This was a Supreme Power that only Stellar Life Forms were qualified to comprehend, standing on equal footing with space and time.
Among the numerous Late-stage Starry Sky Life Forms from the Dongyou Cosmic Human Empire who had previously come to Luoyang City, there was one Tier 7 Expert whose Great Cycle of Cosmic Energies involved spatial power.
Yet his comprehension of spatial power hadn't even reached anywhere close to 1%. His ability to incorporate spatial power into his Great Cycle of Cosmic Energies was entirely due to relying on other serendipitous encounters and external methods.
'I can take it slow; I'm in no rush.'
Su Yuan gathered his thoughts. A 2% comprehension level of a Supreme Power was something many entities who had just entered the Stellar Life Form realm could only achieve, and that was after relying on the sublimation of their Mental Will to grasp the Supreme Power during their breakthrough from a Starry Sky Life Form.
Even for Stellar Life Forms, comprehending the rules of a certain Supreme Power was incomparably arduous. They might not fully comprehend a Supreme Power's rules even after millions or tens of millions of years.
'The reset time for the Myriad Layers Maze has arrived.'
Su Yuan suddenly thought to himself after thoroughly examining his own condition.
Every reset of the Myriad Layers Maze was a precious opportunity for Su Yuan to reap free rewards.
This was especially true this time, as Su Yuan was about to challenge the 91st up to the 100th layer of the maze. The 100th layer was not merely tied to the rare treasure that would propel his physical body's subsequent breakthrough and evolution.
It was also directly linked to an elevation of his access authority within the Virtual Network World.
A strategist capable of clearing the 100th layer of the Myriad Layers Maze would successfully enter the sights of the Azure Surge Universal Human Empire's Virtual Network Information Matrix. Moreover, capturing its attention would not bring any hidden negative risks, a fact Su Yuan had already confirmed via the Gray Mirror.
The Azure Surge Universal Human Empire's Virtual Network Information Matrix was a cosmic-level information lifeform created at an astronomical cost by the three great advanced Universal Human Empires. It lacked any personal emotions, and its standpoint was completely aligned with the perspective of humanity as a whole.
And to the human race, a strategist possessing immense potential fundamentally had to be given specialized protection and cultivation.
This was precisely why the benefit of elevated Virtual Network World authority existed.
'Let's begin.'
Su Yuan pulled back his wandering thoughts. His consciousness entered the virtual world once again, diving into the realm of the Myriad Layers Maze. Glancing at the towering stone monoliths stationed in the center of the community hub, he descended directly into the 91st layer of the maze.