Chapter 531 - 529: Seeking a Way to Break Through

Chapter 531: Chapter 529: Seeking a Way to Break Through

In just a short while,

Xiaoqing unexpectedly appeared on Source Star.

"Master."

"Xiaoqing? Since you’re here, help me run an Inference. What are the chances of me successfully negotiating with the Star Sea Tree?"

"Of course, Master."

Xiaoqing had flown over just to see Su Qing, so she didn’t mind at all that he had given her a task.

Soon, Xiaoqing completed the Inference.

"Master, it’s less than one percent."

"Oh?"

Less than one percent was still surprisingly high. ’Could it be that the Star Sea Tree will only talk calmly after I greet it with force?’

Su Qing was merely pondering this.

But he didn’t go to negotiate with the Star Sea Tree right away.

He needed to recover his strength first.

He had spent nearly sixty years trying to break through, and he had still failed.

Once he was fully recovered, he would run the Inference himself.

"Xiaoqing, every month, I want you to run an Inference on this matter. Find out why the negotiations would fail."

Su Qing had no time to spare for it now.

He had to restore his current condition.

One month later.

On the day Su Qing returned, Su Shang appeared beneath the Immortal Enlightenment Tree King.

She looked at Su Qing, who was in the middle of his Cultivation, and the little green Elf beside him.

After making a quick note, she turned and left.

She had become much more mature and steady.

She had also become the director of the Jianmu Research Institute.

With her Eighth Realm strength, she was now Jianmu’s strongest combatant, aside from Jianmu itself.

She now had many people to protect.

She was no longer a child.

Her brother, Su Qing, couldn’t shelter her forever.

...

「Three years passed.」

Su Qing opened his eyes. He had finally recovered from the last of his injuries, but his power was now somewhat mixed and chaotic. It was difficult to describe his exact condition.

All Su Qing could say was that this was the result of a failed breakthrough.

Even he had no way of knowing the full extent of his current state.

His entire Dao Tree was in disarray.

His Dao Fruit had vanished.

The phantom image within him had become like countless dyes splashed randomly across a canvas.

’I’ve finally stabilized.’

"Xiaoqing, tell me. What did your Inferences uncover?"

"Yes, Master."

"The less than one percent probability means that you can’t awaken the Star Sea Tree’s will at all, Master."

"That’s why successful negotiation is impossible."

"The reason you can’t awaken it is because the Star Sea Tree is currently being cannibalized by the Seven Kings."

"The Seven Kings are the masters of the emotional Dao Path."

"They are weakening the Star Sea Tree, forcing it to use its own power to resist them, which is why it has fallen into a deep slumber."

"Another reason is that the Star Sea Tree itself does not allow the beings within the Star Sea to break through."

"The Seven Kings are seven powerful Merging Dao experts who survived from the previous Star Sea Era. However, they have all abandoned the authority bestowed upon them by the Star Sea Tree. They are cannibalizing the tree in order to break through to a higher Realm."

"..."

Su Qing remained silent.

Xiaoqing had finished speaking.

’So the Seven Kings aren’t enemies, but teammates?’

’Cannibalizing the Star Sea Tree... that’s too slow.’

’And they must be doing it secretly.’

’Otherwise, they would have been discovered long ago.’

’Maybe I should lend them a hand?’

Finally, Su Qing made a calculation.

’Let’s see... do they want the Star Sea Tree to be destroyed?’

Su Qing silently formed a hand seal and began an Inference.

After the thirtieth attempt,

Su Qing paused. ’You can cannibalize it, but I can’t destroy it?’

"Looks like they’re enemies, not allies."

Su Qing considered many ideas.

He had to try and destroy the Star Sea Tree.

Otherwise, he would never be able to break through to the Thirteenth Realm.

And he absolutely had to break through to the Thirteenth Realm.

Suddenly, Su Qing’s eyes shifted. "Why are you here?"

"If I hadn’t come, how would I have heard such interesting news?"

"And?" Su Qing fell silent.

"Are you really planning to make a move against the Star Sea Tree?"

"I’ve certainly given it a lot of thought," Su Qing said, looking at the beautiful figure.

"If that’s the case, I’ll help you."

"I had a feeling you would."

"Why did you have that feeling?" Su Qing asked, puzzled.

"I don’t know." Black Abyss shook her head with complete honesty.

Su Qing was silent.

"If I were to destroy the Star Sea Tree, do you think the Star Sea would be affected?"

"Isn’t that obvious?"

"However, in my judgment, you can’t destroy the Star Sea Tree."

"There’s a powerful repulsive force around the Star Sea Tree. Even those of us in the Thirteenth Realm can’t get close. As for the Seven Kings your little pet mentioned..."

"I have my doubts." Black Abyss glanced silently at Xiaoqing, who shivered involuntarily.

She hid behind Su Qing.

"No Thirteenth Realm cultivator can get near it. Only beings born purely from the Star Sea can approach it."

Black Abyss paused. "Even your Tier Thirteen Dao Artifact can’t get close. That place has always had a powerful repulsive force."

Su Qing smiled.

’That’s not an issue.’

’My Profound Immortal Sword can achieve a true Time Pause.’

’Under a Time Pause, the Star Sea Tree’s repulsive force would dissipate. After all, my sword is a blade of Standardization.’

’Destruction would be simple.’

’The key is, what happens after I destroy it?’

This time, Su Qing was thinking far ahead.

He didn’t want to repeat his past mistakes. He didn’t want a repeat of what happened with the Spirit Realm.

He couldn’t destroy the established Order of a world just for his own sake.

If he broke through to the Thirteenth Realm but the world was destroyed, what would be the point?

Therefore, he had to gain a deep understanding of the Star Sea.

Su Qing glanced at Black Abyss.

"How can I break through to the Thirteenth Realm without destroying the Star Sea Tree and without using the Merging Dao method?"

"There is no way."

"It’s completely impossible," Black Abyss said, shaking her head.

The Star Sea Tree was immensely powerful.

Even they, at the Thirteenth Realm, were incapable of destroying it.

"Nothing is impossible."

"If the Star Sea Tree were destroyed, would the entire Star Sea World change?" Su Qing asked again.

"Don’t..." Black Abyss had started to dismiss his question, but she subconsciously corrected herself. "It would. There would be huge changes."

"For example, we Cultivators who were originally in the Thirteenth Realm might fall back to the Twelfth Realm."

"The entire structure of the Star Sea could be transformed."

"Is that so?"

This kind of macro-level phenomenon was something Su Qing couldn’t possibly calculate with Rule-based Inference, as it involved infinite possibilities.

Standardization would not provide an answer.

Su Qing didn’t want to change the Star Sea.

But he also wanted the Star Sea Tree to be damaged.

Only then would he have a chance to break through to the Thirteenth Realm.

The fact that it was blocking his path to the Thirteenth Realm... it was a wonder Su Qing hadn’t already drawn his sword and annihilated the Star Sea Tree.

But there were beings here that Su Qing cared about.

Zhu Yuan might still be on the Star Sea Tree, not having come down yet.

If he acted now, wouldn’t he be harming Zhu Yuan as well?

If the Star Sea Tree were destroyed, Yu Hu would probably suffer greatly too. The entire structure would shift, and there would undoubtedly be a monumental upheaval.

Not to mention the people on Jianmu.

And the living beings on his own Source Star.

Sigh...

Su Qing fell silent.

A light flickered continuously in his eyes.

Black Abyss silently moved closer to Su Qing. "If you want to make a move against the Star Sea Tree, that’s fine. I can help you."

"If worst comes to worst, we’ll die together."

Su Qing shook his head.

"I’ll find a way."

Using his own abilities, Su Qing began to continuously deduce the method for breaking through to the Thirteenth Realm from within the Great Dao Cultivation Method.

He considered many possibilities.

In any case, Su Qing had to break through.

He wondered if he could break through to the Thirteenth Realm inside the Dao Artifact, ’Mastery of Ages’, if he synthesized it to Tier Fourteen.

’No, ’Mastery of Ages’ probably won’t work.’

’It doesn’t have a powerful Dao Essence or foundation of its own. If I could break through inside it, I could break through in the Star Sea as well.’

A method that would satisfy both sides.

Su Qing had to try.

He had to deduce his own breakthrough method.

If that didn’t work, he could synthesize artifacts. There would always be a chance to create his own breakthrough.

Destroying the Star Sea was only a last resort.

...