Chapter 2291: Powerful Force, Set Off (1)

Three months had passed.

This was the longest time Su Yu's camp had cultivated in seclusion. For many, three months were no time at all. But that was all in the past. Since following Su Yu, they had found that three months were the same as three hundred years for him.

In his mind, someone failing to break through after three months of seclusion was the same as someone failing after three hundred years of hard work. It was a very big deal for him. The second year of the New Domain Calendar arrived.

As a grand voice rang out, everyone knew that the moment where their fate might change had arrived.

"The three months are up. Come see me, everyone."

Boom!

Inside the dusky world, the ground cracked open everywhere. One powerhouse after another emerged before flying toward the human lord's token.

It was time.

The ones who had broken through were happy, and the ones who had yet to break through were feeling dispirited. Some were even despairing. As for the ones who had broken through even earlier than this, they were feeling no pressure.

***

Inside the human lord's token.

One powerhouse after another arrived.

Even South Heavenly King had rushed over without any delay. Sounds of laughter could be heard in the air. The past few months had been a stage of rapid growth for many of them.They had benefited a lot.

Only those whose names were on the list were nervous. For the most part, those not on the list weren't as nervous. However, this moment had arrived. It was time for them to face reality regardless of whether they had broken through or not. This was a gathering of an incredible number of powerhouses.

Slowly, Su Yu's figure flickered into existence.

The moment he appeared, everyone saluted him, "Greetings, Your Majesty!"

"Be at ease."

With his hands clasped behind his back, he scanned the crowd. He was quite pleased with the result. Of the names he listed, almost all had broken through. Over the past few months, his world had grown repeatedly.

If these people couldn't break through in such a favorable cultivation environment, it would only signify that they would lag behind forever.

The longer one waited, the harder it would be for them to master the daos in Su Yu's world. As he grew, his daos would also grow. And the stronger the daos were, the harder they would be to master.

By mastering these daos in advance, any growth of these daos would increase their comprehension. That was different from trying to gain comprehension for a dao they had yet to master.

After a quick scan, Su Yu nodded, "I listed thirty names. Apart from the thirty I listed, Martial Emperor, South Heavenly King, Great Zhou King, Giant Axe, Redmoon, Blood Shadow, Grand Dream, Heavenly Fate, Death Spirit King, Royal Consort Qi, eight-winged tiger, and chaos dragon were already Masters of Laws before this."

Prior to this, there were thirteen top powerhouses in Su Yu's camp, Su Yu included.

Su Yu continued, "Many of the thirty I listed have broken through."

After a slight pause, he continued in a detached manner, "However, some among them are still stuck even after three months."

At that, several faces turned downcast.

Su Yu looked in a certain direction and called out, "Great Xia King."

A dejected Great Xia King walked out of the crowd with his head lowered, "Your Majesty."

With a complicated look in his eyes, Su Yu said, "Great Xia King, I was born in Great Xia. You were one of my earliest supporters. You were one of the earliest human powerhouses to fight for me. Both you and Great Qin King were among the earliest to fuse into my world. You hold the saber dao of my world. This is a mainstream dao. It is incredibly powerful. I have done my best to help you in your cultivation."

As the eyes of the people in the crowd flickered, Su Yu sighed and said, "However, I am a man of my word. The time is up, and you are still stuck. In that case, give up your saber dao, Great Xia King. Let someone with a better aptitude have it."

Great Xia King's expression turned even more dejected, but he said nothing.

Great Qin King hurriedly stepped forth and said, "Your Majesty, Great Xia King is near a breakthrough. Please give him more time! He can do it soon!"

Su Yu cut him off, "Great Qin King. This is a military command. Do you change your command at the drop of a hat while running the military? Great Xia King was one of my earliest supporters. That is why nobody is complaining even when he holds the saber dao.

"But he's stuck. You know very well just how much he has received. Heavenly desolate beast's corpse, several dao switches, and the first batch of cultivators to fuse with my world. He has received more than almost everyone else. But he's still stuck. He can't grow enough to help in the coming battle. In that case, he can only give up on his dao.

"I can see that Xia Longwu is near a breakthrough, but he's not even cultivating the saber dao. If Great Xia King gives up on his dao now, I suspect we can even gain a new Master of Law right away.

"Great Xia King, abandon your dao willingly and leave your comprehension behind. I will have your grandson, Xia Longwu, inherit it. You can't keep up, but I believe your grandson can do better."

Xia Longwu's expression changed.

Su Yu looked at Xia Longwu coldly and said, "Do not refuse. Your grandfather is unable to join the coming battle. Are you trying to run from the battle?"

At that, Xia Longwu's expression changed again, "No! Xia Longwu is willing to fight!"

Su Yu nodded. He looked at Great Xia King again and said, "What do you think, Great Xia King?"

Great Xia King sighed and nodded, "Please help me with the removal of my dao, Your Majesty..."

He looked at Great Qin King and flashed an unsightly smile before saying, "Spear of Qin, blade of Xia. The blade of Xia will henceforth go to Xia Longwu. Old Qin, be sure to keep the spear of Qin straight."

After many years of domination, the old blade of Xia would finally retire from the front lines.

At that, Great Qin King's eyes turned red.

Great Xia King was an old brother who had fought alongside him since the very beginning. This brother was not dead, but such a manner of withdrawal felt worse than death. It was a cruel fate for a valiant general wishing to continue fighting on the frontlines to withdraw and enter retirement in advance.

Gnashing his teeth, Great Qin King exclaimed, "Your Majesty! If Old Xia manages to become a Master of Law after switching his dao, can he continue fighting alongside us?"

Su Yu said, "I'll be more than glad to see that happen. But a new dao won't be something he's familiar with. Also, progress in a new dao will be much harder as my world has grown much stronger than before.

"Of course, I won't say that it's hopeless. If Great Xia King is unwilling to retire like this, work hard and break through. Those capable of advancing into Masters of Laws can go upstream and look for us before our return."

With that answer, Great Qin King looked at Great Xia King and solemnly said, "Old Xia, don't give up! The saber dao is not the only dao in existence. You can break through with a different dao! I will be waiting for you at the frontlines!"

The atmosphere turned bleak.

Great Xia King was one of the earliest supporters of Su Yu. He wasn't even that far from becoming a Master of Law. Yet Su Yu had chosen him to be the first to relinquish his dao. With this, the others who had also failed to break through started despairing.

There was no hope.

Su Yu would not change his mind. Not even Great Xia King could escape the consequences of failing to break through, let alone them.

Su Yu said, "Stop worrying too much. You can still get more opportunities in the future. Your effort will be all that matters. Do not resist, Great Xia King. I will strip your saber dao off you. Xia Longwu, your grandfather failed. I hope that you will be able to better use the saber dao. If you fail to make any advancement after receiving this dao, it's only a matter of time before you lose it as well."

Xia Longwu stepped forth and declared sternly, "This dao has been cultivated by a Xia since the very beginning. It will remain with us."

With a roar, he severed his existing dao. Instantly, he paled. However, a storm of saber qi started raging around him as he said, "Your Majesty, please assist me with the switch of my dao."

He was quite a lunatic as well. He had severed his dao before the saber dao was severed from Great Xia King.

To the side, Great Xia King cursed, "The saber dao is still with me. Why are you so impatient? Have you been waiting for this to happen?"

"..."

Everyone was left speechless. This was supposed to be a grim moment. Why were those two making things comedic? Xia Longwu said nothing. With a helpless and reluctant expression, Great Xia King sighed and severed his dao. The saber qi around him scattered, and his appearance aged considerably in a single moment. As his aura dropped, bitterness covered his face.

Su Yu maintained an indifferent expression, but he was cursing inwardly. Since when was this guy so good at acting? This was an idea proposed by this guy's great-grandson and son. Why was he pretending like he knew nothing?

Fine, fine, this was actually quite well done, to be frank.

According to Marquis Xia and Xia Huyou, the competition between Great Xia King and Xia Longwu was too stiff. Both cultivated the saber dao, but Xia Longwu had more potential. After all, Xia Longwu was the greatest of his era.

He was almost without competition among his peers. Seniority wise, he was Wan Tiansheng's student, someone from Liu Wenyan's generation. Liu Wenyan, Hong Tan, and the others had seemingly all vanished.

Everyone knew that Su Yu must have hidden all those people away. Thus, that left Xia Longwu as the greatest of the generation before Su Yu. Even the likes of Qin Zhen, Liu Wushen, and Zhou Polong were not as outstanding as him.

Therefore, having Great Xia King yield his dao to Xia Longwu was actually a good thing. This had multiple benefits. A greater talent could take over the dao, and this would also serve as a warning for the others to not be too complacent. Furthermore, this would contribute a veteran powerhouse to the secret guard they were building.

Great Xia King had enough prestige in Su Yu's camp to suppress everyone in the secret guard, including the likes of Nan Wujiang, Yun Chen, Liu Hong, and Zhu Tiandao. These were either people of Great Xia or people who had grown up listening to stories about Great Xia King.

With Great Xia King around, people like Liu Hong would not dare to try anything stupid. Meanwhile, Great Qin King felt like crying as he looked at his pitiful old friend. As far as he was concerned, this old friend of his was already dead.

Retiring from the battlefield was the same as dying for a veteran general like him. And thus, Great Qin King started mourning Great Xia King's death. But next, he started comforting himself. Perhaps this was a good thing. With this, Old Xia would be able to enjoy some peace in his later years.

Great Qin King had a very big reaction to this.

Su Yu did not mind it. After all, Great Qin King was unaware of the plan. His two sons had joined the secret guard, but he was unaware. Why? Because Su Yu had warned the two to not tell Great Qin King about it.

It would be too suspicious if Great Qin King remained completely indifferent when something happened to Great Xia King. By not knowing the truth, he was able to react appropriately.

Meanwhile, Great Ming King was demonstrating just how incredible he was at acting. Zhu Tiandao and Zhu Tianfang were both in the secret guard. Zhu Tiandao's children were also in it. Great Ming King was definitely aware.

But look at his expression. That sorrow, that pain on his face...

Su Yu said nothing and reached out before dragging a dao filled with saber qi out of thin air. Then, the dao was pushed into Xia Longwu's body.

Instantly, Xia Longwu's aura swelled. His comprehension spread out and covered the entirety of the saber dao in the blink of an eye. A storm of incomparably sharp saber qi covered the world.

Under Great Xia King's dumbstruck gaze, Xia Longwu roared and transformed the entire dao into a saber. Then, he swung it at the sky.

Boom!

With a rumble, the sky shook.

Xia Longwu's aura skyrocketed, reaching a certain limit—BOOM!

The myriad daos shook as one of them was taken directly into Xia Longwu's sea of willpower. Great Xia King and the others stared blankly. Great Xia King, in particular, was the most shocked of them all. He was so shocked that he almost forgot to keep acting.

Holy shit!

Was...was he really worse than his grandson? Nope. He refused to believe that. These days, he had been deliberately slowing down. But he could also feel that further growth wouldn't be that easy even if he was really trying. He could advance into a Master of Law if he had actually tried. But he wouldn't dare to guarantee an advancement due to how challenging it was.

Meanwhile, his grandson had rushed straight into that realm in the blink of an eye. As Great Xia King's jaw dropped, bitterness covered his eyes. This time, it was real. He wasn't acting anymore.

How sorrowful.

As a powerhouse, the most sorrowful thing in life was to be surpassed by one's junior while one was still in one's prime. He would be much more accepting of this if he was already too old to keep going.

But that wasn't the case. He was still young. He was only five hundred or so in age. Regardless of the era, someone with his cultivation level would be considered a youngster at such an age. He had been surpassed by his grandson while he was still at his prime.

Great Xia King felt greatly discouraged. He was supposed to be the number one blade in the world. Furthermore, this also served to prove that he had indeed been slowing his grandson's growth previously by monopolizing the saber dao. This was a bitter pill to swallow.