The First Marquis of Daxuan

Su Mu sat cross-legged.

Dongfang Liuyun was sitting not far away from him.

Dongfang Liuyun's aura continued to rise, and in an instant he reached the peak of the Dao Ancestor Realm, which was no weaker than that of Xuanxuan Shangren.

He opened his eyes, his face full of surprise.

"So this is what it felt like to cultivate before? That's incredibly satisfying!"

Dongfang Liuyun said with some excitement.

He now finally understands how Su Mu felt.

This feeling of rapid progress is simply intoxicating.

“They are different.”

Su Mu shook his head, "I need to earn points little by little through hard work."

But I've already infused this panel with enough energy.

Although it seems like you broke through to the peak of the Dao Ancestor Realm in the blink of an eye, I bore the brunt of all the effort behind it.

The system panel requires energy to improve Dongfang Liuyun's cultivation level.

Simply put, it's essentially a process of charging and discharging.

Su Mu initially worked hard to recharge himself and then discharged his energy to improve his self-cultivation.

But what he gave Dongfang Liuyun now was a panel that had been fully charged.

As for the person who is charging, it is naturally Su Mu himself.

It's no exaggeration to say that Su Mu practically drained all the spiritual energy from a fruit in order to charge the system panel.

If nothing changes, that fruit won't produce another Dao Ancestor level expert within ten thousand years.

This is the price to pay.

Even Su Mu could not save the lives of billions of beings in the myriad realms without paying any price.

However, he felt that the price was still acceptable.

By simply sacrificing the spiritual energy within a fruit, a powerful being capable of participating in battle can be created.

Trading their martial arts future for their lives is a worthwhile deal no matter how you look at it.

"I won't say thank you."

Dongfang Liuyun laughed and said, "Anyway, you've been carrying the burden all these years."

"Since this panel really works, does that mean I'll be able to catch up with you soon?"

"You think too much."

Su Mu shook his head and said, "Although theoretically, you could use it to catch up with me."

But I won't wait for you here.

"If you want to catch up with me, one panel isn't enough."

"Ok."

Dongfang Liuyun shrugged and said with a smile, "I knew you were a pervert."

To be honest, even with this panel, I wouldn't dare say I could definitely create a Daoist scripture-like cultivation method.

Actually, I feel that this panel is just compressing the cultivation time that originally belonged to me.

I even suspect that you locked me up somewhere and made me cultivate for hundreds of years, and then erased my memories.

Even with this panel, I can still only reach my own limits…

Dongfang Liuyun kept talking, seemingly venting his emotions.

Su Mu didn't explain much.

"You can interpret it however you like. Now I've given you the panel. Your task now is to use it to improve your Daoist cultivation as much as possible within these three years."

Three years from now, we will fight against the Desolate Creatures of the Wasteland. I hope you can win one battle.

"I will do my best."

Dongfang Liuyun put away his smile, his expression turned serious, and he said in a deep voice, cupping his hands in a fist salute to Su Mu and bowing slightly.

Su Mu returned the greeting.

…………

After parting ways with Dongfang Liuyun, Su Mu found a few more people.

This includes Chen Beixuan, the former sect leader of the Sword Sect of the Great Xuan Dynasty; Zhang Songtao, the Marquis of Mingyi; Liu, the Duke of Qian of Ziwei Star; as well as Mo Xuesong, Zhao Baiqi, and Huo Tu.

He reserved the last spot for Luo Anning.

It wasn't that he had ulterior motives, but rather that Luo Anning was indeed the most suitable person.

Luo Anning has good talent, and her cultivation has been steadily improving over the years. Now her cultivation is no less than that of others.

Moreover, Luo Anning is an expert in formations; she is the person with the highest level of formation mastery in the Great Xuan Dynasty besides Su Mu.

Because of her mastery of formations, Luo Anning could fight even those whose cultivation surpassed hers.

To put it bluntly, Su Mu felt that among the people he had found, the others had a win rate of at most 50/50 against the Desolate Creatures, while Luo Anning's win rate could reach 60-70%.

Formations are inherently a method for the weak to overcome the strong.

As long as Luo Anning can use the panel to raise her cultivation level to half a step above the peak of the Dao Ancestor Realm, she will be invincible when facing the Desolate Heavenly Creatures.

After giving these panels to everyone, Su Mu did not stay with them any longer, but instead sent them off to begin their trials.

The control panel is just a tool; how far each person ultimately goes depends on their own efforts.

In fact, Su Mu had also considered refining some system panels.

However, as he and Dongfang Liuyun said, creating the refining system panel would come at a great cost.

Even for Su Mu, it would be difficult to refine more system panels.

It's not that he can't do it.

Rather, it was the consequences that he could not bear.

Behind every system panel lies the price paid by a fruit over thousands of years.

If there were more system panels, the fruits of all the heavens and myriad realms would wither away on their own without the Great Calamity.

Everything should be done in moderation.

After doing all this, Su Mu himself came into the void.

He closed his eyes and entered a special state.

He stopped thinking and simply followed his instincts.

that's it.

Time passed day by day.

Su Mu wandered in the void for several months.

suddenly.

He opened his eyes.

Is this the place?

Su Mu looked ahead and muttered to himself.

Not far ahead, a seven-colored glow enveloped a planet.

A feeling of profound familiarity welled up inside me.

The memories gained from allocating points in the system panel are not created out of thin air, but actually occurred.

This is where my cultivation memories took place.

Su Mu looked at the planet shrouded in seven-colored light and suddenly realized something.

He already knew where this familiar feeling came from.

When he used the system panel to allocate skill points, some powerful being summoned him here and locked him up to cultivate until he reached a certain level before releasing him.

Then, using immense supernatural powers, he preserved the memories of his cultivation, but erased the other memories.

Su Mu used this method to deal with Dongfang Liuyun.

To achieve this, the mastermind behind the scenes must first be far more skilled than him.

Secondly, the other party must also master the Dao of Time.

The Great Dao of Time is relatively easy to deal with; Su Mu has seen many powerful individuals who can manipulate time.

In theory, those at the Dao Ancestor Realm can master the ability to manipulate time.

But his cultivation level far surpassed his, something Su Mu could hardly believe.

It wasn't that he was arrogant, but rather that his current cultivation level was unparalleled in all the heavens.

Even a transcendent being like Jin Hong couldn't bring him here without him noticing.

"Could this be the reason why the system panel inside my body disappeared?"
"Because my power has reached a point where I can no longer be controlled by anyone?"

Su Mu looked ahead.

His current cultivation level has surpassed the Dao Ancestor Realm, and it was when his strength surpassed the Dao Ancestor Realm that the system panel disappeared.

If everything goes as he thinks, the other party can only control Dao Ancestor Realm experts.

Even so, it is still an incredible thing.

Su Mu was able to control Dongfang Liuyun and the others because they trusted him enough.

But he's different.

He never trusted the manipulator.

It is unimaginable that the other party could bring him, who was at the Dao Ancestor Realm, here.

Su Mu was almost certain that if such a person truly existed, then that person's cultivation level must be above that of the Transcendent Jin Hong.

Before his appearance, the Transcendent One Jin Hong was the strongest being in all the heavens and myriad realms.

Could there be someone whose strength surpasses that of the Transcendent One Jin Hong?

If the other party truly exists, why doesn't it intervene to stop the Great Calamity of Desolation?

With a cultivation level far surpassing that of the transcendent Jin Hong, even the desolate creature "Ku" would probably be no match for it.

If such a being disdains to interfere in the struggle between the Desolate Plains and the myriad worlds, then why would he manipulate himself?

Su Mu absolutely did not believe that the other party created a system panel out of boredom.

There must be a reason why the other party did this.

Just as the mystery was about to be revealed, Su Mu suddenly hesitated.

All of this was just his conjecture.

If his guesses are true, and the mastermind really is here, how should I react when I see him?
Should we take direct action, or question his purpose?
The problem is, if such a person really exists, their cultivation level must be even higher than his current level.

He might not be a match for the other party. If he's not a match for the other party, what right does he have to question them?
He might end up completely in their hands, at their mercy.

But now that he had found this place, he felt somewhat unwilling to leave.

Over the years, he has gone through countless hardships to reach his current level, all for the purpose of being able to control his own destiny.

The possibility of a controller behind the system panel gave him a feeling of unease.

If he didn't find out the truth about this matter, he wouldn't even be in the mood to return to the Wasteland Plains to participate in the competition.

"If this matter is not clarified, and it comes to light during my competition with Huangtianyuan, the consequences will be unimaginable."

Su Mu silently resolved to himself.

He gritted his teeth and took a sudden step forward.

Swish!
His figure transformed into a streak of light, instantly disappearing into the seven-colored radiance.

As soon as he stepped into the seven-colored light, Su Mu felt the gravity around him suddenly increase by hundreds of times.

His body seemed to lose control, plummeting heavily towards the planet's surface.

His speed was so fast that his body seemed to turn into a shooting star, leaving a long trail of fire as he rubbed against the air.

A moment later.

A loud bang.

Su Mu landed heavily on the ground, creating a deep crater beneath his feet.

The ground within a radius of a thousand miles was covered with dense, spiderweb-like cracks.

Su Mu raised his head and looked around.

With such impact, an ordinary person would probably be completely smashed into a puddle of mud by now.

But Su Mu is no ordinary person.

His strength has surpassed the peak of the Dao Ancestor Realm, and is even comparable to the Transcendent Jin Hong.

Moreover, Su Mu has always followed the path of physical ascension to sainthood, and his body has long been incredibly powerful.

There may be forces in this world capable of destroying his body, but there are definitely not many left.

Under the glow of seven colors, the planet was desolate.

To say it's barren is inappropriate.

Because the range of vision of the Shetland Sheepdog is vast grasslands.

The lush green grassland stretches as far as the eye can see.

However, there was no animal presence on this grassland.

Su Mu searched the area within a radius of thousands of miles in an instant, but there wasn't a single living animal to be found.

He even saw rivers and waterfalls in the distance.

But there wasn't a single fish or loach in the water.

This planet is covered with plants, but there are no animals.

This is a very unusual thing.

Su Mu now has a direct impression of the myriad worlds.

The giant tree that grows on the desolate plains, each fruit on it is a universe in itself.

Every universe contains countless planets.

Some of these planets are barren, while others have given rise to life.

In fact, the beings in the myriad worlds are not just humans, but also other strange and wonderful races.

In theory, plants are also a type of living being.

Su Mu had seen the tree people before.

But this planet is different; it is inhabited only by plants, not by any plant-based species.

Logically speaking, since this place has evolved into this state, animals should have been born here.

Unless there is human intervention, there will not be a world with only plants and no animals.

"Human intervention..."

Su Mu instantly became alert, slowly circulating his internal energy, ready to fight at any moment.

He lightly stepped forward and flew into the air.

The gravity on this planet is very strong; even Su Mu felt a sense of heaviness in his body, but it was still impossible to completely bind him to the ground.

He flew through the air, covering tens of thousands of miles in a short time.

His divine sense continued to scan the ground, but he still did not find any animals.

Just then, his pupils suddenly contracted.

His body suddenly fell back to the ground.

Just then, under a towering tree in front of them, a figure sitting cross-legged suddenly opened his eyes.

"bitter?"

Su Mu's expression turned serious, a hint of doubt flashing deep in his eyes, and he said in a deep voice.

The person sitting cross-legged under the towering tree was suddenly the most powerful creature he had seen on the desolate plains, who called himself "Bitter"!
Su Mu considered many possibilities, but this was the one he had never thought of.

The system panel was designed, and the one who manipulated his life behind the scenes was the desolate creature "Ku".
How is this possible?
"It's you?"

Su Mu's face showed anger, his clothes fluttered without wind, and he asked in a deep voice.

“You’ve mistaken me for someone else. I’m not ‘suffering’.”

The other person remained calm, looking at Su Mu with a hint of satisfaction in their eyes.

My name is Dao.

Before Su Mu could ask any questions, the other party had already introduced himself.

"I've been looking forward to the day I meet you, but I didn't expect it to come so soon."

The other person continued, "It's really nice to meet you."

The other person was very friendly and had a genuine smile on their face.

Su Mu was also a little confused for a moment.

The person in front of me looks exactly like the famine-endowed creature "Bitter," and even their aura is similar.

Even Su Mu couldn't tell the difference between them.

But the difference between the two can be seen in their eyes.

His eyes were filled with savagery, chaos, and killing intent.

The person in front of me had eyes full of peace and tranquility.

It is impossible for a creature from the wilderness to be so peaceful and serene.

Although the other party has the appearance of a desolate creature, he is definitely not the kind of desolate creature born for killing.

Su Mu's mind was filled with doubts. What was the relationship between this "Dao" and the "suffering" of that desolate creature?
Is he really the manipulator behind the system panel?
"You know who I am, but I don't know who you are. That seems a bit unfair."

Su Mu said in a deep voice.

“I said, I am the Tao.”

The other party said softly, "Suffering, Gathering, Annihilation, and the Way—we are the four earliest Desolate Creatures born in the Desolate Plains."

From your human perspective, the four of us are brothers born of the same mother.

So you'll see that I look exactly like Ku.

The other party was completely frank and made no attempt to hide anything.

"Since you are a brother of bitterness, why are you here instead of in the desolate plains?"

Also, what happened to me?

What is your purpose?

Seeing that the other party had no murderous intent, Su Mu remained silent for a moment before slowly asking.

“I know you have many questions in your mind. Why don’t we sit down and have a good talk? I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time.”

"Dao" said with a smile, "Don't worry, what you have is not my doing, and I have no ill intentions towards you."

Su Mu hesitated for a moment, but ultimately did not make a move. Instead, he sat down cross-legged a few feet away from the other party.

He hadn't completely let his guard down, and asked in a deep voice, "You say that what's on me isn't your doing, so how did you know it existed?"

"Because the person who created it is also the person who enlightened me."

"Dao" was frighteningly honest, answering every question Su Mu asked.

The more candid he was, the more uneasy Su Mu felt.

"Who enlightened you? Who is it? Where is he?"

Su Mu pressed on with a deep voice.

He has passed away peacefully.

"Dao" said calmly, without the slightest emotional fluctuation in his tone.

"In your human language, his name can be Pangu."

"Pangu?"

Su Mu was shocked; the name was far too suggestive.

Is it a coincidence that he was a legendary figure who created the world in his previous life?

Who is Pangu?

Su Mu asked.

"Pangu was the one who planted the tree."

The Dao says, “This story begins at the beginning.”

When the desolate plains were born from chaos, it was originally a barren wasteland, devoid of any living beings.

Later, two people appeared on the desolate plains from who-knows-where.

The two of them planted a tree in the desolate wilderness.

Originally, they intended to use that tree for something, but later things changed, and the fruit that grew on the tree evolved into universes.

Countless living beings have been born in the universe.

So one of them couldn't bear to cut down the tree, but the other insisted on doing so.

After a fierce battle, the man who insisted on cutting down the tree was defeated and died. His body split into four parts, transforming into four first-generation Desolate Creatures.

These four original Desolate Creatures, carrying on that person's will, were determined to cut down the tree.

But the other one survived. Although he was also severely injured, he still managed to suppress the four original Desolate Heaven creatures on the Desolate Heaven Plains. (End of Chapter)