Let's See Who Has Better Luck!

Time flew by in the blink of an eye.

In the blink of an eye.

Two years had passed. During those two years, battles had constantly raged in the skies. Golden Great Claw and that Little Red Bird, two adult Pure-Blooded Ferocious Beasts, had nearly shattered the Great Wilderness.

Of course.

The Tribal Clans of the Great Wilderness generally had guardian spirits.

As long as they were not deliberately targeted, the aftershocks released by the two were blocked by the guardian spirits of the Tribal Clans in the Great Wilderness, preventing any devastating blow to those clans.

At first.

Quite a few Tribal Clans had indeed worried that the two would fight their way to their doorsteps. Yet after fighting for two whole years, they had only battled in the sky.

As time passed.

The Tribal Clans of the Great Wilderness, including villages like Stone Village, had grown accustomed to the sight of two terrifying creatures fighting overhead. They were simply far more cautious whenever they went outside.

After all, no one knew whether an aftershock from their attacks might accidentally fall upon their heads, turning them to ash just like those mountain ranges.

Great Wilderness, Vast Mountain Range, Stone Village.

"Five years. A full five years. Willow Deity, I really might have been abandoned."

Shi Yi lay sprawled atop the canopy of the Willow Deity's true body, the Willow Tree. What had once been uncertainty had now become despair. He felt as though he truly had been abandoned.

Was Martial King Manor really that impressive?

They had just thrown away a Double Pupil User?

"Two years ago, the two Old Men guarding the outskirts of Stone Village and protecting you in secret also left. They seemed to have something extremely urgent to deal with and did not even have time to notify you." The Willow Deity's tone remained calm.

At this moment.

She was still in the form of her true body, the Willow Tree, standing at the very center of Stone Village. Yet aside from Shi Yi, no one dared climb onto the tree canopy and lie there.

"I know. When you mentioned two years ago that one was fat and one was thin, I knew they were Ninth Grandfather and Thirteenth Grandfather." Shi Yi spoke listlessly.

"With your current strength, leaving the Great Wilderness would not be difficult. You can return to Martial King Manor yourself and seek the answer." The Willow Deity's tone remained as calm and unruffled as ever.

"Willow Deity, it's only the limit of the Celestial Passage Realm. You wouldn't be planning to break your promise, would you?" Shi Yi eyed her suspiciously.

"As long as you can accomplish it, I will naturally honor my promise. But I do not believe you can." The Willow Deity's voice was filled with certainty. She truly did not think Shi Yi could do it.

Reaching the ultimate limit of the Celestial Passage Realm, Ten Celestial Passages, was not something one could achieve merely by staying in Stone Village and burying one's head in cultivation. It required tempering between life and death for there to be even a sliver of hope.

If everyone could raise their realm, even break through their limits, simply by cultivating diligently without competing or fighting, then why would so many people in this world obsess over fortuitous opportunities?

Isn't it just breaking through to Ten Celestial Passages, the ultimate limit of the Celestial Passage Realm? Does she have to look down on me so much? Shi Yi gritted his teeth inwardly. She said he could not do it, so he would prove that he could.

Up to now.

Shi Yi was already eleven years old. He had come to Stone Village five years ago, and for those five full years, he had remained in Stone Village, cultivating by the side of the Willow Deity, this powerful backer.

Two years ago, he had Six Celestial Passages. Two years later, he had Nine Celestial Passages. Do not underestimate the advancement of those mere three Celestial Passages.

Under normal circumstances, cultivators in the Celestial Passage Realm only needed Six Celestial Passages to advance to the next realm.

Shi Yi had thought the same. He had no interest in pushing every realm to its utmost limit, nor did he believe he possessed that ability. His principle was simple: use a higher realm to bully those in lower realms. He had planned to break through at Nine Celestial Passages, with no need to force himself to reach Ten Celestial Passages.

As everyone knew.

With Six Celestial Passages, one could break through to the next realm. Eight Celestial Passages was the limit for humans. Nine Celestial Passages was a level only Ancient Descendants and Pure-Blooded Ferocious Beasts had the potential to reach. As for Ten Celestial Passages, no one had ever accomplished it in the Eight Regions of the Lower Realm.

Thus.

There was a saying: with Nine Celestial Passages, one could be called a king; with Ten Celestial Passages, one could be called a sovereign.

If the Blood Moving Realm was merely about tempering the body, allowing it to withstand the scouring of heaven and earth's energy and avoiding having one's body accidentally burst apart from that energy in future cultivation—

Then the Celestial Passage Realm was about laying the foundation for one's potential. By seeing how many Celestial Passages a person had opened in this realm, one could roughly guess how far that person could go in the future.

However.

Nine Celestial Passages already left Shi Yi satisfied.

It was not that Shi Yi lacked ambition.

Shi Yi's thinking was very simple.

Put simply, it came down to eight words.

Bullying the weak with strength, crushing the small with the great.

And that.

Was Shi Yi's truest inner desire.

It was also the goal Shi Yi had set from the beginning.

As far as Shi Yi was concerned.

He only wanted to steadily bully the weak with the strong, crushing his opponents with utterly irresistible power rather than having a fair and just duel with them.

Invincible among those of the same realm?

Why did he have to be in the same realm as them? Why could he not be one realm higher?

Even an official one rank higher could crush someone to death. Raising one's cultivation by one realm could crush someone just the same.

Where in this world were there so many Young Supremes capable of fighting across realms?

If everyone could fight across realms, then so-called cultivation realms would be nothing but dog shit.

Therefore, in Shi Yi's view.

As long as he stayed one or even two realms ahead of his opponent, he could hang them up and beat them senseless. If he was truly unlucky enough to encounter a Young Supreme capable of fighting across realms—

If he could not win, then he would not fight. If he could not fight, then he would run. There was no need to insist on fighting to the death. Once the time was right, he could sneak back and kill them with a surprise counterattack.

Unfortunately.

The Willow Deity did not think that way. In order to help Shi Yi build a solid foundation and give him hope of one day standing shoulder to shoulder with her—

She promised that as long as he broke through to Ten Celestial Passages, he could truly and genuinely make contact with her humanoid Law Body.

Rather than being like he was now, only able to lie atop the tree canopy.

Sighing at the tree in vain.

Helpless and unable to do anything.

However.

The Willow Deity had still underestimated Shi Yi's persistence.

Especially his persistence in certain matters.

In two years, without any external opportunities whatsoever—without the aid of spirit fruits or medicinal pills—Shi Yi had forcefully cultivated his way to Nine Celestial Passages through tireless day-and-night effort.

Because of that promise, Shi Yi had forcibly restrained his desire to break through to the next realm. He insisted on proving before the Willow Deity that he, too, could break through to Ten Celestial Passages.

"Shi Yi, being able to cultivate alone to Nine Celestial Passages without the aid of any opportunities is already remarkable. But breaking through to Ten Celestial Passages is not as simple as you imagine. Ten Celestial Passages—even in the Upper Realm—marks a true Young Supreme."

The Willow Deity's tone was calm and unruffled. In most situations, her voice always sounded this way, making it difficult for anyone to sense her inner emotions.

"Are you joking? I am a Double Pupil User. It's only Ten Celestial Passages. Sooner or later, I'll break through and show you. I'll prove that I can do it." Shi Yi's voice was filled with unyielding determination.

He did not know what his Dao Heart was.

He simply could not accept her saying that he could not do it.

Isn't it just grinding? I'll grind it out for you to see!

"Though Nine Celestial Passages and Ten Celestial Passages differ by only one Celestial Passage, a tiny difference can lead to a vast gap. Shi Yi, I think you understand this principle well."

In truth, the Willow Deity was somewhat surprised as well. By her estimation, with this kind of secluded cultivation—without fighting or competing—Shi Yi could at most rely on the talent of a Double Pupil User to force his way to Eight Celestial Passages.

After all, Eight Celestial Passages was the human limit. Without fortuitous opportunities, it was unlikely to break through from eight to nine.

Yet two years later, Shi Yi had shattered her fixed understanding through his actions.

So diligent cultivation could yield rewards as well, besides going out to fight and kill others for fortuitous opportunities.

The Willow Deity could not be blamed for her surprise.

The very term fortuitous opportunity represented danger. Opportunity equaled danger. Many people who believed an opportunity had arrived for them actually died because of it.

Opportunities, great opportunities—the greater the opportunity, the greater the likelihood of death in the end. Even the strong were no exception. To put it bluntly, opportunities were simply a gamble on luck.

It depended on who had better luck!

If your fate was poor, then no matter how great the opportunity, you did not have the fate to claim it. It would have nothing to do with you. You might even suffer an undeserved disaster and ultimately become a stepping stone for one blessed with great fortune.

At such times.

Talking about Dao Hearts and effort was meaningless. What mattered was luck.