Chapter 4: Breaking Past Causality

Several days later.

Heibai Xuegong, inside the rear mountain.

Ji Ning, you have inherited the Northern Wanderer Immortal's Three-foot Sword; it shows his sword way suits you. At the start of cultivation, one must learn the predecessors' path; only after reaching a sufficiently high realm should one explore one's own way, which is the proper path.

Sword Dao, I know a little; seeing you excel in water and fire, I created this Water-Fire Sword Manual for your sword Dao introduction.

Watch carefully.

Zhou Yu's heart stirred slightly, drawing heaven and earth's power to form water-fire twin swords; instantly he performed move after move of sword technique.

Meanwhile, Ji Ning stared ahead without blinking.

As each sword move was recorded by him, he sometimes had sudden realization, sometimes doubt.

Zhou Yu practiced continuously three times before stopping; Ji Ning also gradually came back to his senses from those sword shadows.

My master is truly humble; this sword art, though not as mighty as the Three-foot Sword, every move and style are foundations of sword Dao. I will first study the Water-Fire Sword Manual then research the Three-foot Sword, which should be much easier. I have only been his disciple for seven days, and he already specially created this sword art for me—truly painstaking effort. Ji Ning felt grateful.

He had suddenly been taken as a disciple by a powerful Wanderer Immortal, inevitably harboring some doubts, but now he truly felt Zhou Yu's concern.

Ji Ning naturally didn't know that Zhou Yu had originally taken him on as a disciple with strong utilitarian motives, but now that he had obtained the Myriad Heavens Simulation ability, that utilitarian motive naturally vanished.

But given Zhou Yu's character, although he no longer needed Ji Ning, having taken on this disciple, he could not just neglect him; the effort he ought to invest would still be invested.

Zhou Yu gave Ji Ning a bit more guidance, then let him leave.

Meanwhile, Zhou Yu, after drinking a cup of tea, began his own cultivation.

His Dao comprehension realm had stagnated for a long time, partly due to his own aptitude and the difficulty of the Grand Dao, and partly due to a deficiency in his soul.

Wanderer Immortals are those who escaped the Heavenly Immortal Tribulation; most have destroyed bodies, damaged Primordial Spirit Golden Lotus, and souls even inferior to many perfected Earth Immortals.

A million-year Wanderer Immortal's realm is already equivalent to that of peak Heavenly Immortals, surpassing some Heavenly Immortals.

A million-year Wanderer Immortal, with a lower-level soul, surpasses some Heavenly Immortals in Dao comprehension realm, which is quite rare.

As for Zhou Yu, his comprehension of the Heaven and Earth Grand Dao and the Formation Grand Dao are both at the level of a million-year Wanderer Immortal, roughly equivalent to the realm of the ninth form of the Three-foot Sword.

Only by combining these two did he become stronger by one level.

With this realm, Zhou Yu can survive to the present, and he even has confidence to live another one or two million years.

"I thought that before succeeding in reincarnation I could not make any further progress, but now it seems not necessarily so." Zhou Yu sighed.

In a previous simulation, he mastered a legal realm equivalent to the twentieth layer of the Heaven-Reaching Bridge, and it was mainly spatial law.

Moreover, he obtained extremely strong comprehension honed under the talent 'Potential Enhancement'.

Combined, they made Zhou Yu feel different all at once; he could completely advance further.

Immersing himself in contemplation, drawing upon the mysteries of the way of laws, Zhou Yu's comprehension of the Heaven and Earth Grand Dao, long stagnant, began to surge forward.

In just over a month, Zhou Yu truly transformed.

"Hahaha, exhilarating! Exhilarating!"

Within the Nine Extremes Heaven and Earth Grand Formation, Zhou Yu's form instantly turned into countless millions, appearing at various points within a space of ten thousand li.

Progress after one or two million years truly stirs excitement.

"This move 'One Realm Myriad Shadows' has finally been completed."

Zhou Yu sighed; this move, judged solely by realm, already surpasses ordinary peak Heavenly Immortals. It is a technique he had long envisioned but could never create; now he easily researched it.

"At this point I am only one step away from the final bottleneck of the Heaven and Earth Grand Dao, and two steps away from comprehending the complete Heaven and Earth Grand Dao." Zhou Yu pondered silently.

He possesses a classic that contains the complete Heaven and Earth Grand Dao, titled Heaven and Earth Shatter Boundary, said to have been created by a Pure Yang True Immortal.

Heaven and Earth Shatter Boundary has twelve forms in total; the twelfth form is a move that contains the complete Heaven and Earth Grand Dao.

At present, Zhou Yu's move should correspond to the tenth form of Heaven and Earth Shatter Boundary.

In fact, previously his two Grand Dao combined were roughly equivalent to this realm; now, relying solely on the Heaven and Earth Grand Dao, he has achieved it.

"I created the move 'One Realm Myriad Shadows' in just one month; spending more time to comprehend an even stronger move should be no problem. As for the complete Heaven and Earth Grand Dao..." Zhou Yu sighed.

If he were a Heavenly Immortal, with soul strength at least a thousand times greater, he would have great confidence to comprehend the complete Heaven and Earth Grand Dao; unfortunately, he is merely a Wanderer Immortal, his soul far too weak.

This step has trapped many peak Heavenly Immortals for endless ages; in the short term he also has little hope.

"Forget it, let's take it step by step." Zhou Yu also didn't think much.

Apart from occasionally guiding Ji Ning, Zhou Yu just buried himself in arduous cultivation.

He felt no boredom whatsoever; over the past three million years, to live longer he had tried every method, and even when unable to make the slightest progress he continued to contemplate and cultivate.

Back then he felt no weariness; now that his cultivation advances rapidly, he naturally feels even less bored.

Zhou Yu instead enjoyed it.

Unbeknownst to him, half a year had already passed.

That day.

As Zhou Yu was pondering the Formation Grand Dao, his expression suddenly changed.

Ah!

His heart stirred slightly, and he saw a blood-colored turtle shell fly out from his waist.

"Fellow Daoist Qian Yu, long time no see, how have you been?" On the blood-colored turtle shell was a blurry figure; at that moment he smiled and spoke.

"It has been eight hundred fifty thousand years since we last met." Zhou Yu calculated the time and said:

"I never expected you to come looking for me at this time."

"You once swore a Celestial Dao oath to help us act three times; you did well the first two times, and now it is time for your third intervention." The blurry figure said:

"After completing this task, there will be no further ties between us."

"Speak." Zhou Yu nodded.

He was merely a lone wanderer cultivator, with no sect or school; reaching this point was indeed not easy.

When he first had the strength of a million-year Loose Immortal, the mysterious person came to his door; tempted by the other party's many resources, he agreed to help them three times.

At this time, Zhou Yu held two Pure Yang-level secret manuals, "Heaven-Earth Boundary Breaking" and "Five Elements Great Destruction Formation", both obtained from the other party.

Such precious secret manuals are absolutely impossible for a Loose Immortal without support or background to learn without paying a price.

Moreover, there are also other treasures.

"I want you to go to the Vast Sun Great World and help deal with a Heavenly Immortal." The vague silhouette said directly.

"Heavenly Immortal?" Zhou Yu frowned slightly and asked, "Which Heavenly Immortal, what is their strength, and what background?"

Dealing with a Heavenly Immortal is troublesome; if they are strong, that's fine, but the key is their background—some Heavenly Immortals must not be provoked.

"Don't worry, I won't let you go to your death." The vague silhouette smiled.

"You still need to be clear; although I have sworn an oath on the Celestial Dao, I also have conditions." Zhou Yu spoke calmly.

"It's a Fire Cloud Heavenly Immortal; I will give you some information, and his deeds are not hard to find." The vague silhouette smiled and said:

"In three years, go to the vicinity of Cloud Immortal Mountain in the Great Wasteland Marsh of the Vast Sun Great World; then someone will naturally tell you how to act."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yu then nodded.

Soon, the vague silhouette disappeared, and the Tortoise-Shell Treasure immediately cracked open with fissures, scattering between Heaven and Earth.

This treasure was set with a restriction; it could be used only three times in total, and now that the three uses are exhausted, it naturally disintegrates.

"It just so happens that now is the time to deal with a Heavenly Immortal." Zhou Yu pondered for a moment and quickly realized this was no coincidence.

Nowadays, the Three Realms have actually seen the Great Tribulation begin.

Although the Great Summer World remains calm, in other places the Hell Gate Sect has already begun covert operations; many Great Worlds, moreover, already have undercurrents surging.

"Was the person who initially contacted me from the Hell Gate Sect's side, or some ordinary force?" Zhou Yu frowned; if it were an ordinary force, that would be fine, but if it were the Hell Gate Sect's side, that would be troublesome.

"Never mind, there's no reason not to repay the karma owed earlier." Zhou Yu quickly stopped thinking about it.

If he had not obtained many resources from that person back then, he might not have survived to now.

Such great karma, having manifested in the Great Tribulation, cannot be escaped; one can only face it positively.

PS: Seek support.

(End of chapter)