420: Rules of Heaven and Earth

The path Xiao Shi chose was the Dao of Domain, one of the lower Mortal Daos.

The special characteristic of this Dao primarily lies in the development and strengthening of one's domain.

However, Xiao Shi did not choose this Dao to develop his own domain.

After all, his domain was already far stronger than ordinary domains, and he didn't need any special development through the Dao of Domain.

Xiao Shi's purpose in choosing this Dao was to expand his physical Dao River through the Dao of Domain!

He figured that if he suppressed the Dao of Domain within the Dao Suppressing Sword and then integrated the Dao Suppressing Sword into his Dao River, he would be able to expand his Dao River using the Dao of Domain suppressed by the Dao Suppressing Sword.

The Dao of Domain doesn't just bring significant development to one's own domain.

It also applies to the Dao River.

And expanding the Dao River with the Dao of Domain would undoubtedly be smoother and easier than Xiao Shi expanding the Dao River himself.

Originally, according to Xiao Shi's initial idea,

He wanted to suppress a combat-oriented Dao within the Dao Suppressing Sword to further enhance his combat capabilities.

This way, he could simultaneously wield two different Daos during combat.

But after observing these five ownerless Daos,

He realized that the power of these five lower Mortal Daos, even if used for combat, would be far inferior to his own Dao of Slaughter.

Even if he chose a combat-type lower Mortal Dao, it wouldn't actually play a significant role.

So there was no need to suppress a Dao for combat.

Therefore, he chose the Dao of Domain, which offered him the most assistance!

Immediately,

After Xiao Shi made his decision,

He began to activate this ownerless Dao using the Dao Guiding Stone in his hand.

Buzz!

As the light emanated from the Dao Guiding Stone,

The Dao of Domain, which existed within the Dao River, immediately surged with extremely strong fluctuations, pulling the Dao of Domain down.

However, this pulling was different from Xiao Shi's Dao of Slaughter.

The dao star representing the Dao of Domain remained within the Dao River above the firmament and did not detach from the Dao River as a result.

After all, under normal circumstances,

The Daos existing within the Tianwu Continent's Dao River would not easily detach from the Dao River.

Only the transformation brought about by a Dao Beast would cause the transformed Dao to be unable to continue existing within the ordinary Dao River.

At this moment, Xiao Shi could clearly feel the Dao of Domain being pulled down.

He directly used the Dao Suppressing Sword to suppress the Dao of Domain within it.

Boom!!

After the Dao Suppressing Sword violently shook,

It successfully completed the suppression of the Dao of Domain.

At the same time,

The dao star representing the Dao of Domain in the Star River above suddenly became different from the other dao stars.

Although this dao star still appeared to be ownerless, it seemed to be locked, making it impossible to control even though it was an ownerless Dao.

This state was unprecedented throughout the entire Dao River.

Xiao Shi gazed at the Dao Suppressing Sword in his hand, his eyes shining with a peculiar light.

He began to integrate the Dao Suppressing Sword into his body's Dao River, following his previous idea.

As the Dao Suppressing Sword vanished from his hand,

The next second, it appeared out of thin air within the Dao River in his body.

Currently, Xiao Shi's Dao River, whether in terms of scale or size, was completely incomparable to the Tianwu Continent's Dao River.

After all, his Dao River could only accommodate the Dao of Slaughter.

However, with the integration of the Dao Suppressing Sword, Xiao Shi's internal Dao River immediately began to expand with a huge roar!

This made Xiao Shi's eyes light up.

He knew his idea had succeeded!

The Dao of Domain would automatically develop and expand his Dao River!

In this way,

Xiao Shi didn't have to do anything; he just needed to wait for the Dao River to expand on its own.

Once the Dao River expanded to a certain extent,

He could accommodate more Daos within his own Dao River.

Not only that,

Xiao Shi also clearly sensed that,

As the Dao River continuously expanded, the entire body of the Dao Beast Black Dragon within the Dao River also began to grow rapidly with the expansion of the Dao River.

It was no longer the palm-sized creature it was before.

And with the expansion of its body, both the Dao Beast Black Dragon and Xiao Shi's Dao of Slaughter were enhanced to a greater extent!

This also made Xiao Shi feel that his decision to choose the Dao of Domain was incredibly wise.

He was now greatly looking forward to the day when his Dao River expanded enough to replace the Tianwu Continent's Dao River, and he would integrate all the Daos within the Tianwu Continent into his own Dao River!

By then... he would essentially be in charge of more than half of the Tianwu Continent!

All the Daos within the Tianwu Continent would be decided by him!

He could even, with just a thought,

Deprive all Dao Lords of their Daos within the Tianwu Continent!

Such power... was usually only possessed by the wielder of an era.

Once he reached that step,

Even the three Demigod Heavenly Kings would not have the capital to compete with him.

Unless one of them stepped into the Martial Dao Ninth Realm!

However, even with the continuous expansion of the Dao of Domain, it would still take a considerable amount of time to develop the Dao River to a scale that could replace the Tianwu Continent's Dao River.

Xiao Shi knew that the most pressing matter now was to quickly break through to Demigod!

Thinking of this,

He took out the last of the four Dao Lord Level items from this trip.

The Rule of Dao!

“I wonder if The Rule of Dao can allow me to complete my comprehension of the Heavenly and Earthly Rules!”

Xiao Shi took a deep breath.

Through his previous battles with the three Demigod Heavenly Kings, he had successfully come into contact with the Heavenly and Earthly Rules.

Especially his encounter with Demigod Xing Kui, which allowed him to successfully come into contact with deeper Heavenly and Earthly Rules.

However, merely this level of contact was clearly not enough for him to transform his Dao into the Heavenly and Earthly Rules.

This made The Rule of Dao appear very important.

Buzz!

As Xiao Shi used The Rule of Dao,

His consciousness instantly became blurry.

He actually felt as if he had transformed into a Dao at this moment!

In an instant,

He only felt the firmament change color and the earth rumble.

When he transformed into a Dao,

Mountains, rivers, plants, the earth, all living beings... everything, from his perspective, was vastly different.

At the same time, after he transformed into a Dao,

He could directly and clearly perceive the existence of the Heavenly and Earthly Rules!

In his eyes, the current Heavenly and Earthly Rules were a five-colored light, containing supreme Dao rhyme, and also containing a certain sense of recognition.

Under his careful observation, he also vaguely saw the formation process of the entire world from within the Heavenly and Earthly Rules.

This made him realize that the Heavenly and Earthly Rules were the important cornerstone for constructing a world!

At the same time,

The Dao that Xiao Shi had transformed into also began to gradually evolve into the Heavenly and Earthly Rules.

The power of The Rule of Dao primarily lay in its ability to allow one to perceive and witness the entire process of the Heavenly and Earthly Dao transforming into the Heavenly and Earthly Rules through comprehension.

However, Xiao Shi here didn't just see it... after his own transformation into the Heavenly and Earthly Dao, he could feel the entire transformation more clearly and realistically.

He knew this was the key to his comprehension of the Heavenly and Earthly Rules.

His entire mind was completely immersed in observing this change.

He felt it carefully.

Not a single detail was missed.

Finally,

After a period of transformation,

He successfully transformed from the Heavenly and Earthly Dao into the Heavenly and Earthly Rules.

Crack!

The scene shattered.

Xiao Shi returned to his original state.

The Rule of Dao in his hand had completely dissipated.

This item was a consumable.

It was gone after one use.

“So, this is the Heavenly and Earthly Rules!”

Xiao Shi's face showed a sense of relief.

After this comprehension,

He had a deeper understanding of the Heavenly and Earthly Rules.

It must be said,

The Heavenly and Earthly Rules were far more profound than he had imagined.

At the same time, he also understood that for the Heavenly and Earthly Dao to transform into the Heavenly and Earthly Rules, mere comprehension was far from enough.

In addition to comprehension,

One also needed to obtain the recognition of heaven and earth.

The reason why the wielder of the Martial Dao Ninth Realm era could directly confer the title of Demigod upon a Dao Lord was because the wielder of the Martial Dao Ninth Realm era, to some extent, could already represent heaven and earth!

And if there was no wielder of the Martial Dao Ninth Realm era to confer the title,

Then one needed to have their own Dao recognized by heaven and earth, only then could it transform into the Heavenly and Earthly Rules.

Relatively speaking,

The Heavenly Dao was the easiest Dao to obtain the recognition of heaven and earth.

After all, the criterion for obtaining the recognition of heaven and earth primarily lay in proving to heaven and earth that one's Dao was strong enough to become a Rule.

And with the power of the Heavenly Dao,

It was naturally the easiest to obtain the recognition of heaven and earth.

Xiao Shi's Behind-the-Scenes Heavenly Dao, as the strongest Heavenly Dao, having been simultaneously blessed by both Martial Ancestor and Dao Ancestor, would not normally have difficulty obtaining the recognition of heaven and earth.

However, Xiao Shi's ambition was far more than just forming the Heavenly and Earthly Rules with the Behind-the-Scenes Heavenly Dao.

He now had two ideas.

One was to transform all three of his Daos into Rules, wielding three Rules simultaneously with the power of one person!

Once he achieved this,

He would undoubtedly be an invincible existence among Demigods.

He would even be the strongest Demigod in the history of the Tianwu Continent!

By then, even if the three Demigod Heavenly Kings joined forces, he could easily annihilate all of them.

However, achieving this was too difficult!

Especially since there weren't that many Rule slots available in the current Tianwu Continent.

The second was to blend all three of his Daos together to form a unique Heavenly and Earthly Rule.

Compared to the former,

A Heavenly and Earthly Rule formed by blending three Daos would certainly be stronger than any single Heavenly and Earthly Rule.

But it was clearly not as good as separately wielding three Heavenly and Earthly Rules.

After all, each Heavenly and Earthly Rule was like a permission of this world.

A single permission was definitely not as good as three permissions.

However, in terms of feasibility,

The feasibility of blending three Daos into one Heavenly and Earthly Rule was significantly greater.

This couldn't help but make Xiao Shi fall into deep thought.

From his own pursuit of martial arts and strength, he naturally wanted to wield three Heavenly and Earthly Rules.

But the biggest problem was that the current Tianwu Continent did not have enough slots.

Typically, only five Heavenly and Earthly Rules could exist in one era.

Xiao Shi was now certain that the three Demigod Heavenly Kings each wielded only one Heavenly and Earthly Rule.

In other words,

There were currently only two remaining Heavenly and Earthly Rule slots in the Tianwu Continent.

Xiao Shi could at most wield two Heavenly and Earthly Rules.

Unless he could eliminate one Demigod Heavenly King.

But this was clearly unrealistic.

“Or I can first become a Demigod with two Heavenly and Earthly Rules, and then find an opportunity to eliminate one Demigod Heavenly King, which would then provide enough slots to wield the third Heavenly and Earthly Rule!”

Xiao Shi's eyes lit up.

Although it was always unrealistic for Demigods to kill each other,

Only the Martial Dao Ninth Realm could kill Demigods!

This was common knowledge.

But Xiao Shi had enough confidence that after becoming a Demigod, he would possess the strength to kill other Demigods.

He believed that with the power of the Behind-the-Scenes Heavenly Dao,

As long as it successfully transformed into the Heavenly and Earthly Rules, his combat power would undoubtedly surpass that of the three Demigod Heavenly Kings.

“My goal is to wield three Heavenly and Earthly Rules!”

Xiao Shi's eyes burned with fighting spirit.

He planned to first transform the Behind-the-Scenes Heavenly Dao into the Heavenly and Earthly Rules.

He would first advance to Demigod.

Through The Rule of Dao, he had successfully completed his comprehension of the Heavenly and Earthly Rules, gaining sufficient understanding of them and meeting the conditions for advancing to the Heavenly and Earthly Rules.

The next step was the most crucial one.

Obtain the recognition of heaven and earth!

As long as he received the recognition of heaven and earth,

Then his Behind-the-Scenes Heavenly Dao could immediately transform into the Heavenly and Earthly Rules.

Immediately,

After Xiao Shi took a deep breath,

He began to attempt to communicate with heaven and earth.

With sufficient understanding of the Heavenly and Earthly Rules, he naturally understood how to communicate with heaven and earth to obtain its recognition.

He believed that with the power of the Behind-the-Scenes Heavenly Dao,

He didn't need to do anything.

As long as heaven and earth sensed that the Behind-the-Scenes Heavenly Dao wanted to advance to the Heavenly and Earthly Rules, it would certainly grant recognition.

Buzz!

In an instant,

Xiao Shi successfully communicated with heaven and earth.

A grand, vast will descended.

Before the entire will of heaven and earth, Xiao Shi once again experienced that feeling of being as insignificant as an ant.

He realized that he was still insignificant before the will of heaven and earth.

He immediately conveyed his intention to advance to the Heavenly and Earthly Rules to the will of heaven and earth through the Behind-the-Scenes Heavenly Dao.

Soon,

The will of heaven and earth gave a response.

A thundering voice directly formed in Xiao Shi's mind.

“Granted!”

Xiao Shi was not surprised by this.

He knew that if it were an ordinary Dao, to gain the recognition of the will of heaven and earth, it would still need to undergo trials from the will of heaven and earth.

But with the unique nature of the Behind-the-Scenes Heavenly Dao, it didn't need to undergo any trials at all.

If even the Behind-the-Scenes Heavenly Dao was not enough to become the Heavenly and Earthly Rules,

Then there would be no other Dao in the world worthy of becoming the Heavenly and Earthly Rules.

However, just as Xiao Shi was excitedly waiting for the Behind-the-Scenes Heavenly Dao to transform,

He found that the Behind-the-Scenes Heavenly Dao remained motionless.

“What's going on?”

Xiao Shi frowned slightly.

He waited for a while longer.

The Behind-the-Scenes Heavenly Dao still showed no change.

It had not undergone the transformation into the Heavenly and Earthly Rules at all.

“This is impossible…”

Xiao Shi's face darkened.

Logically speaking,

He had already obtained the recognition of heaven and earth and met all the conditions to become the Heavenly and Earthly Rules.

But now his Behind-the-Scenes Heavenly Dao was not transforming towards the Heavenly and Earthly Rules... This was very abnormal!

“Could it be…”

A conjecture suddenly rose in Xiao Shi's heart.

His expression became solemn.

He immediately checked the Heavenly and Earthly Rules currently existing in the Tianwu Continent.

Normally, the Heavenly and Earthly Rules were more difficult to observe than the Daos in the Dao River.

One had to have sufficient understanding of the Heavenly and Earthly Rules before being able to observe them.

And with Xiao Shi's current understanding of the Heavenly and Earthly Rules, he was clearly already capable of observing them.

A layer of light emanated from his eyes.

Thus, he saw the invisible world-webs existing within heaven and earth.

This world-web... was precisely the Heavenly and Earthly Rules of the Tianwu Continent!

Under Xiao Shi's careful observation, he found that the world-web throughout heaven and earth was incredibly complete, with no missing or incomplete parts.

His mind was instantly stirred by colossal waves.

He clearly knew what the completeness of the world-web meant.

“The current Tianwu Continent... already has five Heavenly and Earthly Rules in existence!!”

“The Tianwu Continent... does not just have three Demigods, but five Demigods in existence!!”