Evil Venerable of the Sword Dao

Chapter 1632 - 142: Heavenly Road Legislation

Stroke by stroke, with each round of chaotic Derivation, the only thing being consumed was the original energy of this place.

The true strength of the Heavenly Mechanism lies in the changes of past and future, so using Heavenly Mechanism Power to present an illusory world that once truly existed... honestly isn’t that hard.

That is, at the end of the day, just an Array for a True Illusion Realm, merely a single engraving precipitated with the help of Heavenly Mechanism Power.

Engraving— for Zhou Yan now, even as a cultivator at the Fifth Great Perfection of the Soul Condensation Realm, what does that even count as?

Zhou Yan’s indifferent attitude, to Zhuge Xiye, was practically the greatest miracle.

Through that Soul Power Ocean, Zhuge Xiye only glanced once. Even with Zhou Yan’s Soul Energy guarding her Soul, she was still shaken by such a terrifying scene.

Her mind shuddered violently, as if struck by some horrifying Strength, so much so that her mind almost collapsed in an instant.

But streams of warm energy immediately flowed into her mind, calming her racing heart at once.

"That scene was truly terrifying! This Path of Heavenly Mechanism was already incomparably difficult to begin with, and the Eighth Layer is already this hard. This... if all the Thirty-Three Heavens Roads are like this, how many layers can the disciples actually cross?"

Zhuge Xiye came back to herself, but her heart was still filled with Endless shock.

Yet after a moment, she couldn’t help thinking of this point, and at once felt rather helpless inside.

"This isn’t meant for them to clear all at once, nor is it meant to make things hard on anyone. It’s only a projection of the real Thirty-Three Heavens Roads."

"Of course, in the projection there won’t be real death, but if someone with an unsteady will dies inside the projection, then let them die."

"You all cultivate Soul Energy. In the future, you won’t need to enter the Thirty-Three Heavens Roads with your physical body. I’ve combined certain rules and altered some of the internal structures. You’ll use Soul Energy to sense the Thirty-Three Heavens Roads and then enter them. It’ll be like an Illusion Realm. Regardless of Life and Death, you can enter at any time to train.

Once your Soul’s Soul Energy is exhausted, your qualification for Training will disappear.

After your Soul recovers, you can continue."

"For each cultivator, the Soul Energy consumed upon entering will serve as the energy source of these Thirty-Three Heavens Roads.

So if you gain, you must also lose."

"Everything I’m telling you, remember it all and then tell Zhuge Qiyan— mm, tell the Sect Master."

Zhou Yan spoke. Then he exhaled lightly, fixing his gaze on the Soul Power world in his hands, sighed, and said, "Forget it, let’s go by talent. I’ll weaken the requirement on Soul energy and change it to Soul Strength instead. Those with strong Soul will can enter for Training more times each day— let’s... let’s take your Soul Strength as the standard, Zhuge Xiye."

"People like you, let’s rate your talent value as four."

Zhou Yan carefully analyzed and, after Derivation, modified the operating state of the Path of Heavenly Mechanism Power.

Of course, just changing one layer might not show much, but once all Thirty-Three Heavens Roads are changed, then for the Heavenly Mechanism Sect, these Thirty-Three Heavens Roads, even if opened to outsiders, will only bring benefits, not drawbacks.

As for opening to outsiders, the qualifications will be much stricter. Talent won’t limit their number of entries, but they’ll only get one chance to enter every ten days. After entering, the rate at which their Soul is consumed will be doubled.

After such meticulous calculations and settings, Zhou Yan took out an ordinary Crystal Stone, then carved complex Runes onto it. Once the Runes took shape, they actually formed something like a Chip.

Into this thing, Zhou Yan infused certain Emperor Pattern textures. Combined with the Heavenly Mechanism Skill’s Derivation-like ability toward the future, it formed an intelligent Chip.

Once it was added into the Soul Power Ocean, that world began to become incomparably magnificent and beautiful.

The textures of all kinds of plants and trees were interlocked down to the smallest detail, frighteningly realistic, and the interweaving of Illusion and reality was extremely profound.

Reality hides within Illusion; Illusion relies on reality.

After such a transformation, the world within this Soul Power Ocean actually became almost like a real world.

He even faintly felt that, after adding the Chip, this place seemed even more rigorous than the actual Thirty-Three Heavens Roads.

"I didn’t expect that by adding a Chip and the Heavenly Mechanism Skill’s Derivation into an Array, I’d actually form a whole new, complete set of rules— even though it’s not recognized, once the Heavenly Mechanism Sect’s Thirty-Three Heavens Roads are completed, the Heavenly Mechanism Sect’s hegemonic status will already be unshakable."

Zhou Yan analyzed inwardly.

He finished all this in just a bit of time.

And at this moment Zhuge Xiye was still somewhat shaken and uncertain, as if Zhou Yan’s claims were all too unbelievable.

In truth, ever since she started following Zhou Yan, there hadn’t been a single moment where she wasn’t shocked.

Every time, she hoped she could stabilize her own temperament, but in reality...

Zhuge Xiye sighed and said, "If this is all real, it’s far too terrifying. You really can— forget it, I know you can. I can no longer compare you with anyone else."

"It’s just, my talent only rates as four? Using me as the standard, how much would your talent be?"

Zhuge Xiye hesitated for a moment, then asked.

Zhou Yan said, "You want the truth or a lie?"

Zhuge Xiye’s delicate body trembled. "The truth, I guess."

"An astronomical figure."

Zhuge Xiye: "..."

Zhou Yan shrugged and smiled.

Zhuge Xiye: "What about the lie?"

"Hundreds to thousands of times more. That might make you feel a bit better."

Zhuge Xiye: "I must be crazy to even think of comparing myself with you. I knew you were a madman, but... I always felt our gap wouldn’t be that big. Looks like I’m the crazy one too."

Zhou Yan: "Since when did Little Xiye start cracking jokes?"

Zhuge Xiye: "Compared to you, I just want to die. Now I think I can understand what it feels like to be called trash."

Zhou Yan: "..."

...

The Heavenly Road of the Eighth Layer had been completed within the Soul Power Ocean, and its level had been raised several grades above Zhou Yan’s original estimation. However, the difficulty in it...

Zhou Yan could only hope that the Disciples who entered it for Training would pray for their own fortune. If they didn’t die a thousand times over, he feared they wouldn’t even get close to this place.

But the Thirty-Three Heavens’ Heavenly Road itself was no good place to begin with. It was, after all, a Desolate Land, a barren and lifeless place; for it to be difficult was only natural.

Zhou Yan’s hand once again covered the Soul Power Ocean held in his other hand.

Then, when his hand lifted away again, the world was like Chaos at the first opening, manifesting an exceptionally dazzling radiance.

Within that radiance, Zhuge Xiye bore the brunt of it and suffered an extremely intense impact.

"Ah—th-this really is—seizing the Creation of Heaven and Earth!"

Zhuge Xiye was deeply shocked in her heart. Looking at this sky curtain, she suddenly felt that the truest world was nothing more than this.

"All right, let’s go to the Thirty-Third Layer."

"Ah, we’re going to the Thirty-Third Layer already?"

"Mm, the Thirty-Third Layer has completely collapsed. This place on the Eighth Layer is the place of framework, while the Thirty-Third Layer is the place of finishing, and also the place of ending. So what needs to be changed next is the Thirty-Third Layer."

"But... I’m afraid I won’t be able to pass."

"It’s fine. Just walk through; there won’t be any difficulty."

Zhou Yan said.

Zhuge Xiye gave a helpless, bitter smile. She looked at the purple Soul Energy still shrouding her body, then looked at Zhou Yan, on whom there was no energy at all. At once, she understood once more just how vast the gap between them was.

Compared to Zhou Yan, she really didn’t even have the qualifications to be called trash!

How utterly speechless this made her.

After that, Zhou Yan led Zhuge Xiye and passed straight through all the way.

The Thirty-Three Heavens’ Heavenly Road that had once been incomparably arduous for Zhuge Xiye was now like walking on ordinary flat ground. Any temptation or True Illusion seemed unable to shake Zhuge Xiye’s heart.

Even when Zhuge Xiye truly fell into confusion, in an instant, the purple Soul Energy would directly dive into Zhuge Xiye’s heart and wake her up.

So later on, the purple Soul Energy was practically activating Zhuge Xiye’s heart at every single moment, which made Zhuge Xiye extremely ashamed.

She knew as well that she had basically been dragged all the way to the Thirty-Third Layer entirely by Zhou Yan.

By this time, she no longer had the slightest doubt about Zhou Yan’s capabilities.

Once they arrived at this place, Zhuge Xiye proactively took out a piece of Soul Stone and handed it to Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan simply waved his hand and said, "No need, I still have Soul Stones."

"Ah—didn’t you use one Heavenly Mechanism Soul Stone just now?"

Zhuge Xiye asked in surprise.

"I only used one-third of its energy. The role of a Heavenly Mechanism Soul Stone is to engrave Runes and the Array imprint of the Path of Heavenly Mechanism. Once the engraving is complete, that Heavenly Mechanism Soul Stone can naturally be used again. So seventeen pieces are already more than enough."

Zhuge Xiye: "..."

Zhou Yan: "What is it, is there something wrong?"

Zhuge Xiye: "N-no, nothing wrong."

As Zhuge Xiye spoke, in her heart she was saying, "A Heavenly Mechanism Soul Stone, used as an Array Plate or Array Foundation, isn’t it scrapped after a single use? Zhou Yan... in Array Dao, could he really be precise to this level, making the Runes disappear from the Heavenly Mechanism Soul Stone while still keeping the Heavenly Mechanism Soul Stone completely intact? Wouldn’t this surpass even an Artifact Refining Master’s forging abilities?"

"What’s more, the complexity of these Runes doesn’t just include Ancient Runes and Netherworld Runes, but also even more complex Tai Chu Runes and Tai Chu Emperor Patterns..."

"I really don’t know what in this world he doesn’t understand. We’re the same age, so why am I this terrible..."

Zhuge Xiye felt she had suffered a heavy blow.

Zhou Yan, at this moment, didn’t care about Zhuge Xiye’s thoughts. He was using the same method to alter the structural patterns of this Thirty-Third Layer on the Path of Heavenly Mechanism.

But this Thirty-Three Heavens’ Heavenly Road was, in essence, the Silent Annihilation Heavenly Road, the Silent Annihilation Battlefield, and also the battlefield of the true Holy Spirit war between the Emperor Soul Clan and Emperor Pan and Nuwa.

Did such a vast aura really need to be simulated?

Zhou Yan hesitated.

Whether it was necessary or not, Zhou Yan did not decide immediately.

Because facing such a scene, what surfaced more in Zhou Yan’s heart was that scene he had seen at death earlier.

...

"If I were to bring him into Creation, according to Lord’s rules, then everything related to him would have to be erased."

"That price is a bit too great."

"Too great? A group of Holy Spirits and a single Epoch— which weighs heavier? You choose for yourself, but the outcome will not change!"

"You mean to say he was brought into being... just for that, then what’s the meaning—"

"Enough. Since you’ve already decided, to hesitate now—doesn’t that make you far too hypocritical?"

"Perhaps—"

...