Before Fang You, three stone tablets landed one after another.
These law steles did not appear tall at first glance, only a little over three meters. The law stele representing 'Fire' was reddish-brown all over, giving off a blazing aura; the law stele representing 'Sword' had sharper edges and exuded a sharp aura; the law stele representing 'Wood' had a faint green border, appearing to hold vibrant life.
At first glance, the three did not seem extraordinary, much like most treasures.
But as Fang You stared at them more intently, faint characters began to appear on the surfaces of the previously blank steles.
The characters were mysterious, obscure, and extremely difficult to discern.
If the only one staring at the steles was a sixth-awakening expert, they would likely suffer mental damage, experience an imbalance in their internal corruption, and transform into a malevolent entity on the spot!
Only those in the Mythical Realm were qualified to comprehend the law steles, but even they mostly looked bewildered.
The same applied to Demigods!
Instructor Fang… understood.
"This is law," he stated the obvious.
"Manifested law runes, but laws can exist as concrete symbols?"
Related to laws, he could guess from the names of the treasures.
Understanding them was also true understanding, a slight grasp.
Fang You stared at the law stele symbolizing 'Wood', with more and more profound inscriptions appearing on it. This law stele, originally only a little over three meters tall, seemed to grow taller and taller before his eyes, like gazing at an endless towering stone pillar.
As a comprehending individual, sitting beneath the stele, he felt as insignificant as an insect.
Perhaps, only when he could comprehend all the inscriptions related to 'Wood' would he be able to see the end of this law stone stele.
Unknowingly, Fang You's mind was completely immersed.
The passage of time lost all meaning.
A divine aura naturally emanated from him, a rhythm imbued with traces of profound and mysterious laws.
One day, two days, three days…
Ten days.
For a full ten days, Fang You sat motionless before the 'Law Stele · Wood', like a sculpted statue.
At this moment, he suddenly opened his eyes.
Within his pupils, a towering tree seemed to flash and disappear.
"I…"
"Yes, I am in enlightenment."
He remembered.
His thoughts gradually emerged from the state of enlightenment, becoming clear, but at the same time, a wave of fatigue washed over him.
He did not exit the enlightenment state because he could no longer understand, but rather because his mind could not bear it!
The law inscriptions had weight!
This weight was so immense that ordinary Mythical experts could not withstand it. Fang You himself could not bear too much, forcing him to withdraw after only ten days and ten nights of enlightenment.
"But my gains are immense, so much so that I can't sort them out immediately. I need to organize my thoughts."
He snapped his fingers, and tender sprouts erupted from the ground around him, accompanied by invisible ripples that transformed the surrounding earth into a forest domain.
This was the skill 'Tree of Life'.
But wait,
"I don't think I borrowed this skill from Liu Shang."
The casting of 'Tree of Life' felt a little rough and unfamiliar, but as he used it, more and more information and techniques related to this legendary skill surfaced in his mind.
This was…
He opened his status panel.
Ding!
Hint: You have observed the 'Law Stele · Wood' and gained some insight.
Hint: You have observed the 'Law Stele · Wood', and your mastery of wood-elemental skills has improved.
Hint: Your skill 'Growth Entanglement (Green · MAX)' has broken through its proficiency cap.
Hint: Your skill 'Tree of Life (Gold · Uninitiated: 91.6%)' is being comprehended…
Hint: Your skill 'Tree of Life (Gold)' has been initiated.
He had been learning this legendary skill for a long time.
However, during his closed-door cultivation in the Time and Space Secret Realm, he would often get lost in cultivation and forget to practice the yet-to-be-initiated 'Tree of Life'.
He wasn't in a hurry.
The two major cultivation tasks he set for himself were to reach the Demigod Realm and to research the application of world power. These two were his most urgent priorities.
In his daily training, he also used his cultivation cards on the legendary cultivation skills 'Myriad Beast Body Forging' and 'Mountain River Visualization'.
He didn't have much spare time to dedicate to other skills.
But,
"I only zoned out for ten days, and I easily initiated a legendary skill. This… this is too simple!"
Following this pattern, it shouldn't be difficult for him to initiate another frequently used legendary skill, 'Nirvana Sacred Fire'.
Before him lay the law stele representing 'Fire'!
If he could initiate 'Nirvana Sacred Fire', the benefits would be even greater than those from 'Tree of Life'. This skill had a passive effect, allowing the accumulation of Nirvana power and rebirth upon death.
Because it required accumulation, Fang You could not obtain this characteristic when using the skill for free.
"My comprehension of the law steles has yielded immense gains. The improvement in skill proficiency is just one aspect; the true benefit is that my use of wood-elemental skills has become more masterful, undoubtedly making me stronger than before."
"However, I haven't truly comprehended the laws of wood, nor have I touched upon authority."
His current understanding of authority and laws was roughly between the ninth realm and above the Demigod realm.
Ninth-realm high-level beings possessed authority.
Upon ascension, they naturally touched upon the authority that best suited them.
Legend had it that within the evil god faction, an evil god could bestow authority upon a servant through their supreme dominion, forcibly elevating them to the ninth realm.
Before the advent of the Mysterious Era, eighth-realm Demigod powerhouses could ignite their divine fire using a vast amount of faith and push themselves into the ninth realm, becoming quasi-gods, and then easily obtain authority with the power of a quasi-god.
However, this path of faith had become outdated in the current era.
Faith power was not only difficult to obtain in large quantities but also carried impurities. While it was fine to burn it as fuel, integrating it into oneself would inevitably exacerbate the corruption of high-level experts and lead to a gradual loss of sanity.
The most orthodox and safest path was to ascend to the ninth realm through one's own power.
This required a peak Demigod to find a suitable opportunity and path.
This was extremely mysterious and difficult to describe.
However, if one could obtain authority and comprehend laws before ascending, the process of finding one's own path would become infinitely easier.
After placing the three law steles in the forbidden area of the academy's back mountain, Fang You posted the news in the core firewood group chat.
Liu Feng: "Steles that can materialize laws, truly worthy of you, teacher! Oh, there's a sword stele too? I must go and observe it."
Qian Qiu: "Hehe, another divine artifact. I seem to have a few sword-related skills, so I must go and comprehend them."
Xing Jinglei: "Better than body forging! Real men should temper their own bodies!"
Yin Luoxi: "It's probably because there isn't a suitable stele for you, hehehe."
Yin Luoxi: "But the fire stele is incredibly compatible with this empress, hmph, you all just wait to be crushed by me."
Her rise as Empress Yin Luoxi, catching up to and surpassing Youyou, was just a matter of time.
She had said such things many times before, but this time was different; she was serious and had absolute confidence.
Why?
She reflected upon herself and, with her sharp intellect, finally understood why she had been unable to surpass An Jianyou in the past.
In previous opportunities, she had them, and An Jianyou had them. As she progressed, An Jianyou also progressed.
When she was already slightly behind An Jianyou, and both were rapidly improving, it was equivalent to her never progressing and never catching up.
But this time, with three law steles – sword, wood, and fire – one was incredibly compatible with her, while none were suitable for An Jianyou.
This was a perfect opportunity!
Although overtaking her now felt a little guilty, luck was also a part of strength. Youyou, wait until I surpass you, sis will protect you~!
Hahahaha—
Within the Blazing Flame Merchant Association, Yin Luoxi stood with her hands on her hips, laughing maniacally, her wine-red hair burning like fire.
She swiftly headed to the academy's back mountain and sat before the fire law stele.
Yin Luoxi was unaware at this time that comprehending law steles was extremely difficult for those in the Mythical Realm. Initially, she fidgeted impatiently.
She was a mage, but never a quiet one.
However, as she gazed, Yin Luoxi gradually became engrossed, a profound and mysterious divine aura emanating from her. As time passed, this aura became deeper and deeper, seemingly brewing with the rhythm of law.
…
Several days later,
Ding!
Hint: Destiny Apostle 'Yin Luoxi' has comprehended the law stele and gained some insight, the power of her fire-elemental skills has increased.
Hint: Destiny Apostle 'Liu Shang' has comprehended the law stele and gained some insight, her mastery of wood-elemental skills has improved.
Hint: Destiny Apostle 'Liu Feng' has comprehended the law of 'Cleave'…
Before the sword stele, Liu Feng's eyes snapped open. He pointed his fingers like a sword and lightly drew a stroke, creating a crack as dark as ink.
It lingered for a long time.
"The Law of Sword Cleave!"
"With the comprehension of this law, I am confident I can directly pierce through that disaster star from back then."
"However, even with a divine artifact like the law stele, it still took me several days to barely initiate. Am I a bit slow?"
He fell into deep thought.
Fang You, far away, fell into deep thought.
Oh, Liu Feng is a veteran eighth-awakening Demigod, so it's understandable.
However, even if Liu Feng comprehended the law and entered a period of rapid growth in the coming time, he would still be far from a match for a high-level ninth-realm existence.
The gap between high-level and Demigod was too immense!
It was almost like a dimensional gap.
As someone who had been through it, Instructor Fang had profound experience.
"The Time and Space Secret Realm has reached its limit. For Liu Feng and Wei Bao to possess combat power comparable to high-level beings, it will take at least until next year."
This was assuming rapid progress.
As he mused, Fang You's gaze fell upon the God-Slaying Weapon, Shallow Red.
In terms of pure combat power, Shallow Red was still above Liu Feng and his peers.
He walked to a training ground in the base and fed the divine essence left behind by fallen Mythical and Demigod experts from the Black River faction to Shallow Red, wisp by wisp.
Shallow Red crouched down, its mouth slightly open, gobbling up the divine essence, as happy as a child weighing hundreds of tons.
It devoured the divine essence at an astonishing speed, consuming dozens of wisps in just over half a day.
However, the improvement from the divine essence became less and less significant.
Finally, the repair progress of the God-Slaying Weapon · Shallow Red stopped at 79.9%. No matter how much divine essence it devoured, it could no longer improve.
This was its limit.
He tested it. At this stage, Shallow Red's combat power was at the peak of Demigod, possessing infinite energy and nigh-invincible defense.
However, the gap between Shallow Red and high-level beings remained vast.
It wasn't enough.
"But how should I repair it from now on? There are no more clues!"
It was completely stuck.
What Fang You worried about most was that Shallow Red could only be repaired to this point. After all, it had been severely damaged, and its consciousness had completely dissipated.
He pondered, "The conventional approach seems to be ineffective. Then, what about an unconventional approach?"
His gaze fell upon Shallow Red's sub-apostle list, and he made a slight attempt.
Ding!
Hint: Do you wish to consume Fate Points to gain enlightenment on the repair of the God-Slaying Weapon · Shallow Red?
Hint: Fate Points -1,000,000, enlightenment in progress…
The adjacent Weird Realm Exploration module began to flash. Beyond the explored areas, in the far-off blackness, a golden exclamation mark appeared, as conspicuous as the scorching sun.
…
Middle Weird Realm.
There were no oases here; dense gray mist permeated everywhere. Yet, above the mist, terrifying scenes of blood moons, black rivers, shadows, and frozen lands could be seen.
Occasionally, human Mythical experts would set foot in the Middle Weird Realm, but they dared not look up for too long.
They would come and go in haste.
At this moment, two figures looked up, observed the changes in the celestial phenomena, and their faces showed worry.
"The awakening of the evil gods is imminent, and they will become even more active and terrifying. This is likely true."
"Yes, signs of awakening have already appeared in many places. If not for the constant conflicts between the various evil god factions, there would be hardly any living space for us humans. But even so, the Yunhui Great Domain almost suffered a catastrophe."
"The Yunhui Great Domain…"
The old man in the star-patterned robe frowned. In his view, the Yunhui Great Domain should have been the safest place for humans, yet such a situation had occurred.
"What are those guys from the Holy Court doing?"
"I don't know, I just heard that the Holy Court has its own plans and that they must be preparing for something."
The two old men sighed deeply as they observed the high-level battle in the distance.
For humans, reaching the high-level was too difficult, too difficult.
…
In another hidden location in the Weird Realm.
The sun, moon, and stars hung high in the sky. Beneath them lay a holy mountain tens of thousands of meters high, a roaring holy river, magnificent palaces, and divine light filling the sky.
This was clearly a divine realm.
"The evil gods who came from beyond the heavens will awaken once more," said an ancient being shrouded in the radiance of the Great Sun.
Another ancient being took up the conversation:
"Now, the vast majority of the Weird Realm has been contaminated and assimilated by the evil gods. There isn't much time left for the Weird Realm, and we have little room to maneuver."
"It matters not, we shall all act."
"But the power of the evil gods is insurmountable."
"Not necessarily," said the ancient being shrouded in starlight. "We must admit that the mysterious system is superior to our ancient god system, but now, we have analyzed the mystery and actively integrated into it, gaining more power. We may have a chance to fight the ineffable evil gods."
"Indeed, only mystery can kill mystery."
"It's just that time is a bit tight; my power has not yet recovered to its peak."
"It's alright, the world is supporting us."
"Heh, we ancient and great gods are the masters of the world. It is only fitting that we should save this world on the brink of destruction."
"It's a pity that the remaining living beings in the Weird Realm are too weak. Even humans, who are the most numerous, cannot bear this responsibility."
"Humans, apart from Kandela back then, who was barely passable, the rest of humanity is just like that, after all, they are only low-tier beings."
"No, humans still have some merits. Moreover, some of my fallen old friends may be reincarnated and return as humans, driven by the world's progress."
In the hidden place, ancient beings spoke one after another.
Some had long since cast their gaze towards the human lands, focusing on their 'acquaintances'.