Chapter 2277: Natural Karma (2)

Su Yu was confident that the Master of the Perished wouldn't be able to keep up with his growth. As long as he could grow fast enough, what could the Master of the Perished do? Previously, that guy was a tier five. Maybe this time, that guy would be a tier four or even a tier three. So what?

Death Imperator's eyes gleamed. True!

Su Yu's growth was too rapid.

In that case...Death Imperator started growing excited. Resurrection! This was not something he would refuse! Who wouldn't want to return to life?

Su Yu warned, "Keep in mind that you will only be reborn in my world. For now, further resurrection won't be possible after joining my world."

Death Imperator looked confused, so Su Yu explained, "Simply put, there is no connection between my world and the death spirit dao. The death spirit dao has no way of collecting the dead from my world.

"As for what I said previously about endless return from death, that was a lie to strengthen morale. The life and death daos in my world are still too weak to support an internal resurrection. Therefore, if you die after joining my world, it will be your final death."

One wouldn't be transformed into a death spirit upon death. Their previous bluff against the other factions only worked because they didn't know how the resurrection worked.

Death Imperator laughed and said, "That won't be an issue for us. The Celestial River of Death isn't quite capable of collecting dead Masters of Laws anyway. Otherwise, those dead Masters of Laws would have returned long ago."

"Weren't you a Master of Law before your death?"

Su Yu was feeling quite doubtful about this. It was true that the river wasn't supposed to be able to collect dead Masters of Laws. But wasn't Death Imperator a Master of Law?

After a short silence, Death Imperator said, "In a way."

"What does that mean?"

"I...could be considered an Eternal. Do you understand?"

"Dao pioneer." Su Yu said, "In other words, you had the strength of a Master of Law, but the dao you pioneered had yet to reach completion."

"Yes!" Death Imperator nodded, "I was similar to Fat Ball and the others. I was a dao pioneer. To reach completion, the dao would grow until its limit before undergoing a period of transformation. Only after the process would the dao become a proper tributary of the river and the pioneering be complete.

"I didn't reach that level, so I was still an Eternal prior to my death. However, my dao wasn't weak. Thus, I was able to face Masters of Laws in combat."

"What dao did you pioneer?" Su Yu asked curiously. Dao pioneering wasn't something too rare at that era. After all, that was the very beginning when there weren't that many existing daos for people to cultivate.

In that case, what dao did Death Imperator pioneer back then? It must have been quite impressive since it could grant him the strength of a Master of Law before even reaching completion.

"The dao of star." Death Imperator said, "There are suns and moons in the various realms."

Su Yu nodded, but next, he blinked. That sounded so normal. There was even a realm known as the Sunmoon Realm. What was the issue here? Everyone was used to the terms of sun and moon, so he hadn't thought too deeply about it. But what exactly were the sun and the moon?

Su Yu blanked out. Why was he thinking so much today? Everyone knew that the sun was yang, and the moon was yin. What was the issue about that? Venerable Corona and Venerable Moon had even unleashed the strength of Masters of Laws at their final moments.

Death Imperator continued, "The dao of star is essentially the dao of sun and moon. I harvest the essence of the sun and the moon. In a way, it can be considered a yin yang dao, but mine leaned toward yin instead of yang."

Su Yu nodded, "Are you saying that your dao had the sun and moon as its foundation, similar to what Venerable Moon cultivated?"

"You can say so."

Su Yu asked, "Anything special about this dao you pioneered?"

He added, "I'm only asking out of curiosity. Nothing else."

"Anything special about it?" Death Imperator did not mind the question. He explained, "It is cold, capable of freezing one's soul, yet also capable of tempering one's physical body. That's about it."

Su Yu nodded.

The dao of sun and moon.

Interesting.

Where were the actual sun and moon?

Everyone could see the sun and moon hanging in the sky, but for some reason, the exact location of the two entities was never found. One could fly endlessly, but one would only reach the Upper Realm before reaching the chaos. It was as though the sun and the moon did not actually exist in the sky above them.

Numerous thoughts emerged in Su Yu's mind. He said, "I don't have the dao of star in my world, but I do have the yin yang dao. That is an option for you. The difference won't be too big. Or you can also consider pioneering a new dao in my world at a later date."

Death Imperator said, "I don't mind that. The two daos will be quite similar, but the yin yang dao is actually a major dao. It has a higher potential than my original star dao."

Su Yu nodded again and called out, "Liu Hong!"

The world shook, and Liu Hong appeared with a flicker. When he saw Death Imperator, he looked at Su Yu and asked with shock, "Your Majesty, are you trying to resurrect the Death Spirit King?"

"Yes!"

Good heavens! This fellow was trying to die!

After a short silence, Su Yu said, "You might need to stop your current role as a schemer. I might need you for something else."

"What?"

Liu Hong blinked.

Was Su Yu not going to let him join the secret guard anymore?

After a short pause, Su Yu said, "I'll be going upstream, but I can't carry my world with me. Or to be precise, I can slowly move my world, but it won't arrive in time. Didn't I move your ink dao near the intersection of life and death previously?"

Yes? What about it?

"Think of a way to connect one end of the ink dao to my world. This will connect the River of Time, the Celestial River of Death, and my world. This might help spread the influence of my world further. Its influence might even reach upstream."

Liu Hong gasped and asked, "Your Majesty, isn't this what Lan Tian is doing?"

Lan Tian had always been the one connecting the river to Su Yu's world. Why was Su Yu looking for him? This was such a dangerous job.

Su Yu shook his head, "Firstly, I had Lan Tian sever his previous dao to fuse with my world. He can still return to the River of Time, but it will be quite troublesome. Secondly, Lan Tian can only focus on the River of Time. But I want to link with the Celestial River of Death as well."

Liu Hong couldn't understand it. Was there a point?

Su Yu rolled his eyes and said, "Are you stupid? How am I supposed to resurrect my people without a connection to the death spirit dao? How is the death spirit dao supposed to collect the essence of my people? And how am I supposed to steal from the death spirit dao without a connection?

"Currently, there is an imbalance of life and death in my world. Xing Yue places a higher focus on the life dao. I won't be able to balance life and death so long as she's still draining the life dao to strengthen herself. I need the power of death to further perfect the life and death in my world and achieve balance."

He couldn't stop that.

Xing Yue was originally a master of the life dao. Was he supposed to stop her from cultivating? But due to her focus on life, the balance within his world couldn't be maintained.

Liu Hong grimaced and said, "Your Majesty...won't this turn me into...a pipe or something like that?"

"Yes!" Su Yu nodded, "You won't even be a regular pipe. You will be a three-way pipe."

"..."

Liu Hong felt like crying. Three-way pipe? Yeah, that would be right. He was already a connector between life and death. It was clear Su Yu wanted him to become the connector between the two rivers and the new world.

Su Yu smiled and continued, "With this, I'll be able to maintain the balance between life and death. Even Xing Yue might grow stronger from the balance. Her growth will also result in the further growth of my life and death daos. This will indirectly strengthen me as well."

Very good.

Originally, Lan Tian was supposed to be the connector. But upon further thought, Liu Hong was probably a better candidate for this. Since that fellow had requested to have his ink dao moved to the intersection for a connection to both rivers, he might as well take a step further and form a three-way connection instead.

Very good.

Liu Hong had a helpless expression. So ultimately, he still had to work for Su Yu.

Su Yu did not bother to wait for Liu Hong's agreement. He said, "Later, repeat what you did previously and help move Death Spirit King into my world."

With a wave of Su Yu's hand, the projection of his world appeared above the Origin Land. He said, "The process is similar, Death Spirit King. Enter, devour your essence, gather the power of life and death through the ink dao, and form a connection with my world. Then, I'll send enough life force over for you to return to life."

Death Imperator inhaled deeply. This had happened out of nowhere. He had thought that Su Yu wouldn't resurrect anyone else in the short term. Surprisingly, Su Yu was doing it again so soon after his previous attempt.

Su Yu was surprisingly decisive. Right after that, he wasted no time and threw a punch at the sky. A river manifested, and Su Yu tore a rift in the sky before stepping through it. The moment he entered, the river started tossing about.

Due to what he did to the river previously, it was extremely sensitive to his presence. Thus, it reacted intensely the moment he entered. It was almost as though the river was shouting that the asshole from last time was back!

Su Yu would probably feel the same if someone were to detach South Heavenly King from his world. He would probably not tolerate that as well.

***

"Damn it!"

A furious voice rang out in the river. An incorporeal pressure descended. The entire river roiled. This time, the river was awakening at a far faster rate. Or to be precise, it had happened in a split second. The giant appeared with a blank look in his eyes. Next, his eyes gleamed.

He looked at Su Yu coldly and asked, "Are you back?"

Su Yu smiled, "Are you the Master of Death or are you the Master of the Perished?"

The giant was holding a giant trident. Step by step, he approached Su Yu. "Death or Perished, we're one and the same. Why are you here again?"

"Resurrect someone."

"Who?"

"Death Imperator."

"Hmph!"

A snort rang out. The giant said, "Are you setting your sights on the strongest Master of Law of the river?"

What joke was this? That was the same as removing the strongest cultivator in Su Yu's world. The giant might not care if Su Yu only wanted to resurrect a nobody or two. But Death Imperator's resurrection was not acceptable.

The giant trident shot toward Su Yu.

Su Yu easily caught the incoming trident before looking downward with a smile, "Quickly. The guy is awakening at a much faster speed this time. Go swallow your essence. We'll leave the Master of the Perished alone once we're done."

Death Imperator rose from the hole under Su Yu. With a roar, the Master of the Perished attacked with his trident again. And once again, his trident was caught.

Shocked, the giant asked, "You...how long has it been?"

Had countless years passed since their previous encounter? During their previous encounter, he was a Venerable when he first awakened. This time, he was already a tier-five Master of Law right after awakening.

Previously, Su Yu had forced him to withdraw by detonating Dragonblood Marquis. But this time, Su Yu was catching his trident easily.

Su Yu smiled, "Fellow Daoist, what's the point of all this hostility? You need time to recover to the fourth or even the third tier. My presence is actually beneficial for you. If you send me away too quickly, you will return to slumber yet again. With me around, you can keep growing and snatching power from the Master of Death."

Su Yu grinned, "Do you know what we call this? We call this the abuse of public office. Make use of your position to benefit yourself. What's the point of sending me away immediately? Look, you're still growing even now. That's all thanks to me."

"..."