A month passed.
Over that month, Zhou Yi continued fighting monsters and leveling up every day. Meanwhile, Li Yu found himself a new toy and had a blast with it.
"The Mall Space Map Editor."
That was Li Yu's newly discovered toy.
According to the system prompt, before opening up the Mall Space, it was best to first complete its terrain design. The space should be made as complete and perfect as possible. Otherwise, modifying it in the future would consume enormous amounts of energy.
The system then unlocked a "Mall Space Map Editor" for Li Yu.
The moment he saw it, Li Yu treasured it like a priceless find.
"A map editor! Just hearing the name gives me an inexplicable sense of familiarity."
Then Li Yu became completely engrossed in it.
"Wahaha!"
Li Yu cackled strangely and began dancing with excitement. He had completed another terrain design.
In Li Yu's mind, the map editor was essentially an enormous sandbox. According to his wishes, it could freely create terrain such as mountains, hills, plains, swamps, deserts, lakes, rivers, and more.
This time, Li Yu had created terrain that he considered perfect.
"This EverSong Forest is more perfect than the previous Moonlight Glade, right? Look at this scenery—mountains, flowing water, cascading waterfalls, and bubbling springs. Mountains and water, plains and rivers, even a coastline beyond it. Truly perfect!"
Li Yu wore a smug expression.
"System prompt: The map designed by the user lacks practical value. Please improve it."
"Lacks practical value? What part of it is lacking?"
After fiddling with it for ages and finally recreating the scene from his memories, the system had unexpectedly poured a bucket of cold water over his head. Naturally, Li Yu refused to accept that.
"The currently usable terrain is insufficient. Its potential for future development is insufficient."
"Uh..."
Fine, the system was right. Li Yu sighed dejectedly. "This area of twenty li really is too small."
Within a mere twenty-li radius, Li Yu had recreated the entire EverSong Forest and had even included part of the sea beyond the coast.
The entire map was breathtakingly beautiful, but most of it was merely pretty and had no practical use at all.
"System, if I raise my authority level in the future, will the Mall Space expand accordingly?"
"Each increase in authority automatically expands the Mall Space proportionally."
"In other words, the map I design may eventually be enlarged to an unimaginable scale? If so, EverSong Forest truly lacks development potential."
Li Yu nodded, put aside his playful mood, and began seriously considering the layout of the Mall Space.
To account for future development, he could not focus only on the present.
The space would expand in the future, and the terrain would expand with it. In that case, islands were the most suitable terrain. Once enlarged in the future, every island could become a continent, offering ample room for development.
"If it's islands... ordinary islands are too commonplace. I should use floating islands instead! Each floating island can become a flying continent in the future. Now that would be impressive!"
Images of floating islands he had seen in films and television dramas surfaced in his mind, and Li Yu quickly came up with an idea.
"Divide it into nine floating islands. In the future, they can become nine flying continents."
With an idea in mind, the design came together quickly. Before long, the sandbox displayed nine exquisitely beautiful floating islands wreathed in immortal clouds.
At the very top was a floating island roughly four li across, with eight more floating islands layered beneath it. A waterfall fell from the main island onto one of the lower floating islands. After flowing across that island, it fell onto the next one below.
The waterfall flowed through all nine floating islands, then surged out from the last one and scattered into the void. The water then returned from the void to the first floating island, forming an endless cycle of waterways.
Each small island had a different shape and distinct terrain, yet all were covered in lush green earth and flourishing trees. The entire nine-tiered arrangement of floating islands looked like a landscape painting, brimming with Immortal Qi.
"Good! This terrain suits my status!"
After completing the design, Li Yu was very satisfied with the scene before him.
"System, how is this terrain design?"
"It has sufficient development potential and meets the standard."
"Uh..."
Fine, he could not expect a system with little intelligence to understand such advanced acts as flattery and bootlicking.
"Save!"
Li Yu chuckled, closed the "Mall Space Map Editor," rose to his feet, and walked out of the room.
By then, Zhou Yi had already returned.
After a month of fighting monsters and leveling up, Zhou Yi had undergone a complete transformation. Whether in personal strength or mental state, he now fully met the standards of a genius cultivator.
Zhou Yi strode into the main hall.
He wore a golden crown binding his hair, a sapphire-blue brocade robe, a jade belt around his waist, and black boots on his feet. Spiritual light shimmered all over his body, while his eyes shone with piercing vigor. He walked with the bearing of a dragon and tiger; every gesture was extraordinary, and his aura was as deep as an abyss.
"Greetings, Patriarch."
Zhou Yi bowed to Li Yu.
"No need for formalities!"
Li Yu glanced at Zhou Yi and nodded in satisfaction.
It hadn't been easy! After more than a month, he had finally reached this level. If I hadn't had the map editor to pass the time, I would have been bored to death.
Zhou Yi was now a cultivator at the Mortal Shedding realm of the Other Shore.
In one month, he had opened the Sea of Bitterness, unleashed the Spring of Life, erected the Divine Bridge, and reached the Other Shore. A level that ordinary people could not attain after years of hard cultivation—or even in a lifetime—had been achieved in just one month with the system's cheat-like aid.
At this speed, Li Yu was still grumbling that it was too slow. If others learned of it, would they not be furious enough to smash their heads against a wall?
Every day, Zhou Yi fought monsters to hone his combat experience, while gathering spiritual herbs and retrieving the corpses of ferocious beasts. He then cultivated using the pure life force extracted from those beasts' corpses. How could his cultivation speed possibly be slow?
That was only because Zhou Yi had remembered Li Yu's instructions and diligently solidified his foundation. Otherwise, his cultivation would have progressed even faster.
Beyond the life force consumed for his own cultivation, Zhou Yi had used the surplus energy to exchange for all kinds of experience and had also exchanged for quite a few combat techniques and skills from the system.
With the Ji family's divine body, along with all manner of experience and combat skills, Zhou Yi's current strength was already quite impressive.
"Good! Good! Good!"
Seeing Zhou Yi's bearing and strength, Li Yu was exceedingly pleased.
"After this month of trials, you have grown quickly. Your strength is no longer lacking. Next, you must show the world your brilliance."
Li Yu looked at Zhou Yi, his eyes filled with anticipation.
Of course he was looking forward to it. The Bronze Immortal Hall and the Profound Yellow Energy were still waiting for Zhou Yi to collect them. How could he not anticipate it?
"It is all thanks to Patriarch's guidance."
Zhou Yi did not know what Li Yu was thinking. Seeing Li Yu's expectations for him, he was deeply moved.
"The Path of the Great Emperor is forged through battle."
Li Yu pointed in the direction of Spirit Void Grotto-Heaven. "Your path to invincibility begins here! Defeat every opponent who stands before you, and ultimately ascend to the supreme throne of the Great Emperor."
"This disciple obeys!"
Zhou Yi bowed to accept the command, an impassioned spirit surging in his chest.