Chapter 2576 - Seeing a Heavenly Emperor as an Ant and Slapping Him!

“You’re nothing but a frog in a well. You know nothing of the enormity of the heavens!” said the golden-robed old man, his voice increasingly cold. “I’ve said everything I have to say. Consider your next move carefully.”

Su Yi laughed, then suddenly asked, “Do you know Heavenly Sovereign Wen of Limitless Palace?”

The old man furrowed his brow. “Are you trying to use him to threaten me?”

“No, but I once killed his subordinates,” Su Yi said casually. “So do you think I’m afraid of your threats?”

The golden-robed man frowned.

Su Yi continued, “I’m actually quite curious. Just when did you manage to leave your mark on this Fragment of Heaven’s Will?”

The golden-robed old man said coldly, “You don’t even know that? It seems I was right. You’re a brazen, ignorant junior, no more than a frog in a well.”

His voice was full of mockery.

“Do you know who I am?” asked Su Yi.

The golden-robed old man was so angry that he laughed. “I only have eyes for those who’ve reached the pinnacle of Eternity. How could I possibly know the identity of a random ant?”

He paused, then asked right back, “Do you concern yourself with the origins of the ants you crush beneath your feet?”

Su Yi laughed and shook his head. “I don’t, so...”

Whap!

His divine sense condensed into a palm and ruthlessly struck the old man’s scar-laden face. The old man’s already ethereal form staggered back, almost blasted to pits.

Meanwhile, Su Yi continued, “...I naturally have no need to concern myself with an old ant like you.”

“You...” The old man was obviously furious, his eyes glinting with terrifying light.

He was a sovereign presiding over the nine heavens. He could disregard the mockery of those of the same level, and he could overlook the provocations of his inferiors, as he disdained to pay them any heed.

But when a measly little ant suddenly lifted its limb and smacked him in the face, the humiliation was extraordinarily intense and extraordinarily provocative.

In the golden-robed old man’s eyes, Su Yi was a measly little ant, so when Su Yi slapped him, he completely lost it.

“I’ll destroy you!”

Boom!

The old man’s whole body erupted with explosive murderous intent. The lamps floating around him lit up with endless Dao Light, manifesting the power of the four beasts and descending upon Su Yi’s soul.

But with the Sword of the Nine Hells protecting Su Yi’s sea of consciousness, all of this power amounted to no more than a gentle breeze. It wasn’t the least bit threatening.

Whap!

Su Yi wasn’t hurt. On the contrary, he slapped the old man yet again, striking with such force that his body collapsed into a rain of light.

“Junior, this lofty one shall remember this!” As his body shattered, the old man shouted with fury bordering on madness.

But Su Yi just laughed it off. “To think the imprint of a lofty Heavenly Sovereign would be so fragile.”

Alas, the golden-robed old man could no longer hear him. Otherwise, who knew how angry he’d have become?

Everything returned to stillness.

As the golden-robed old man’s imprint faded away, the page-shaped Fragment of Heaven’s Will underwent a subtle shift.

Chaos mist billowed out of its text, and the glyphs gradually came into focus.

This time, when Su Yi tried to insert his divine sense, he instantly sensed endless mysteries of the Grand Dao.

These were the most fundamental, primeval mysteries of the God Domain’s Grand Dao. They originated from the first parting of its primordial chaos!

All manner of wondrous, unbelievable revelations flooded Su Yi’s heart. He finally understood the connection between Laws of the Grand Dao, Fragments of Heaven’s Will, the source of the God Domain, and the epochs.

If the three thousand Grand Daos of the God Domain were “fruit”, then the Fragments of Heaven’s Will were the “branches” that produced them!

And the God Domain’s source power was the trunk of the “tree”, while the primordial chaos of the present epoch was its roots.

Cultivators in pursuit of the Dao mastered only the fruit, hence the name “Dao Fruit.”

Refining a Fragment of Heaven’s Will was like mastering a portion of the Laws of creation, but more than that, when you grasped a branch, you could follow it back to the trunk.

The next step of the process was thus grasping the God Domain’s source. Then, you could begin searching for the roots!

Whoever found the roots could control the chaos source of the present epoch.

Only then could they bring order and preside over it all!

We’ve got fruit, branches, the trunk, and roots... looking at things this way, it seems only natural that Epoch Sparks are the ‘seed’ that gives rise to all the rest!

The seed sprouts, expanding from a seedling into a tree, growing branches, and bearing fruit... that’s how epoch civilizations are born, how the Grand Daos of creation are formed, and how the trajectory of the world is determined!

Ultimately, cultivating is about tracing this process back to its source.

I’ve long since acquired an Epoch Spark, which means my path of cultivation is different from everyone else’s. I strive for a path of transformation and growth!

...All manner of revelations flooded Su Yi’s heart. His understanding of the Grand Dao, of the transformations of the Laws of creation, and the chaos source behind it all... went an earth-shaking transformation.

When he combined these revelations, he finally understood the nature of the path he walked.

It was as if he’d broken through the limitations of his perception, or the paper blinds obscuring his line of sight.

More than ever before, Su Yi felt as if the clouds had been parted and all had suddenly become clear. His blinders removed, he could now see the truth!

An unknown amount of time passed before Su Yi gradually emerged from his enlightened state. It felt as if a lifetime had passed since he’d entered it.

He stretched languidly, then exhaled. When he looked around, he saw that Zhi Shui, Zhen Yang, and the others were seated cross-legged around him, while the Heaven-Swallowing Toad Ancestor was drinking in a daze. He seemed lost in thought.

Everything was silent. None of them spoke.

Su Yi suddenly realized that something wasn’t quite right. “How much time has passed since I began contemplating the Fragment of Heaven’s Will?”

The question broke through the silence. The seated figures all opened their eyes and looked at him.

The Heaven-Swallowing Toad Ancestor gestured to a nearby pile of wine jugs. “I’ve been drinking one jug a day. I’ve already finished thirty-nine.

“Thirty-nine whole days?” Su Yi was stunned.

Earlier, he’d been so immersed in his enlightenment that he’d forgotten himself completely. He’d naturally lost track of how much time had passed.

“I can tell that you’ve profited considerably, Fellow Daoist,” Zhi Shui said thoughtfully.

Su Yi had reclined in his chair for thirty-nine days straight, not uttering a word, neither speaking nor responding to anything. He was as silent as a stone.

Who could possibly have failed to realize that after sitting there contemplating the fragment all that time, Su Yi had undoubtedly grasped numerous secrets?

“That’s indeed the case.” Su Yi subtly inclined his head, then pointed to the hovering fragment. “That is indeed a supreme Fragment of Heaven’s Will, and now, I understand why you couldn’t subdue it.”

The crowd exchanged glances. They couldn’t help but be curious.

“Please enlighten us, Fellow Daoist,” said the middle-aged Daoist, Zhen Yang. He clasped his fist respectfully.

Su Yi didn’t hide anything. He concisely recounted his exchange with Heavenly Sovereign Wuxu.

Heavenly Sovereign Wuxu of the Eternal Heavens Domain!

These titles were unfamiliar, but that didn’t stop them from getting the gist of it. After learning the full story, the Five Lightning Temple higher-ups fell silent. Chills coursed down their spines.

“We figured that Five Lightning Temple wasn’t fated to enjoy this good fortune, but... we would never have guessed something so terrifying was hidden behind it all,” whispered Hong Taiyu, his expression shifting erratically.

The Fragments of Heaven’s Will had rained down from the sky. They should have been ownerless good fortune just waiting to be acquired by whoever found it.

Who could have imagined that someone had already marked this one as his exclusive property?

“Seems to me that Heavenly Sovereign Wuxu must have set his sights on that fragment before the Dark Days of Legend began. He left his mark so that he could come collect it later,” Zhen Yang said gravely. “But we must have inadvertently ruined his plans, seizing the very fragment he’d marked...”

The truth was far too unsettling.

It was as if a tree were growing in the garden, yet to bear fruit. When the fruit finally formed, it turned out that someone had somehow already claimed it as their own!

But Fragments of Heaven’s Will weren’t fruit. Rather, they were manifestations of the Laws of the God Domain!

Just what kind of terrifying cultivation base was needed to place one’s mark on one?

This was like marking a portion of the present epoch’s Will of the Heavens. It was unquestionably far too terrifying!

“Heavenly Sovereign Wuxu is undoubtedly an utterly terrifying figure of the Path of Eternity,” Zhi Shui said with a frown. “He might not be able to enter the God Domain, but I’m sure his subordinates will come to acquire the fragment on his behalf.”

That was what everyone present was worried about.

But Su Yi wasn’t the least bit concerned. He’d already crossed Limitless Palace, and there was already a grudge between him and Heavenly Sovereign Wen.

He also knew that Heavenly Sovereigns couldn’t possibly enter the God Domain, for the simple reason that their cultivations were too high!

It was then that the Heaven-Swallowing Toad Ancestor finally spoke of.

“When the first leaves fall, we know that autumn is imminent. A subtle clue can provide much information.

“If this fragment was marked a long time ago, does that mean that some of the other fragments scattered across the God Domain have been marked too?”

The crowd’s eyelids twitched. They exchanged glances.

If that were the case, it would mean that the scattered Fragments of Heaven’s Will didn’t just represent good fortune. They represented latent disaster, too!