Rules - 585

Ye Li shook his head and cleared his thoughts. Scheming against this old geezer seemed more or less impossible.

There was nothing he could use against him and his power was probably inferior. It wouldn't be a bad idea to have a friendly relationship.

"Since you're so interested in teaching, what do you believe is the Path for me to reach past the Great Dao realm?" Ye Li asked.

Zhou Fan spoke quickly. He had thought of it long ago. "Truly understanding and controlling the natural Karma of the Universe. With that, even if you didn't Breakthrough past the Great Dao Realm, no being would ever be able to defeat you."

Ye Li thought for a moment before speaking. "Is such a thing truly achievable?"

"I sure hope not." Zhou Fan responded. "Naturally, such a method is theoretical. Perhaps even past the Great Dao realm it would be impossible to truly control the natural Karma of the Universe."

What Zhou Fan spoke of was not simply some power that existed within the Universe. It was nothing that could be used, not even something that existed in some form. The true Karma, or rather the Cause and Effect of the Universe, was something beyond the Universe itself. It belonged to a realm of imagination.

Zhou Fan himself could hardly understand the concept. Whatever it was, it proved that Cultivation had not reached its end. There was something even he could not comprehend.

It was the same for many other things in the Universe. For example, time. If he could truly control the natural Time in the Universe, then could he not simply will that Ye Li had never been born. With a thought, he could enter the future. However, entering the future was not something even his current self could do.

He could barely affect the distant past, and the past was far easier to affect than the future, it was not even comparable. If one day, he could freely traverse through all time that had ever existed, he would have comprehended the underlying concept of Time itself.

This did not stop with Karma and Time. What about Life and Death? 

Zhou Fan could somewhat create life through the use of his powers, but was that the true concept of Life?

No. It was not. If he truly controlled the concept of life, could he not give birth to infinite Path Creators, even someone exactly like him. Could he not completely control any being's life? In an instant, Ye Li would die.

What about Death? Controlling the true natural power of Death, he could instantly kill anything.

He could also reverse Death. Thinking about it, Life and Death were quite similar.

Ye Li watched as Zhou Fan remained silent.

He did not understand that Zhou Fan was currently undergoing an epiphany. It was as simple as casually chatting. 

Zhou Fan's understanding was undergoing a complete transformation. His vision seemed to expand, encompassing what he once was blind to.

Life, Death, Time, Space, Karma, what else? What about Emotions? Faith? Divinity? Devouring? Buddhism? 

Some seemed far-fetched, of course, especially Buddhism, but he was able to imagine something for all of them, a natural existence in the universe that did not even truly exist. 

No, not a natural existence. Something else. 

A Rule?

Zhou Fan's mind seemed to shatter and reform.

An explosion of power burst out of him, shaking the Universe. He stared wide eyed, not at Ye Li, but at everything. 

He could see the path forward. Rules. The rules that even the Universe itself could not understand or form.

He understood why the God of Death and Ye Li seemed different from other Path Creators. Their paths aligned with very apparent and powerful rules.

Karma and Death.

Why did Ye Li give off a clearer feeling than the God of Death?

Because Ye Li had somewhat seen this Path clearer.

The God of Death had yet to do so.

In that case, why was Zhou Fan the same? 

What rule could cultivation align with?

The power constantly emitting from Zhou Fan's body finally slowed to a stop.

He was close to understanding his path of breaking through.

He simply needed to think some more. He was there, inches away.

"Zhou Fan?" Ye Li said.

Sweat was coming from Ye Li's body. 

The power Zhou Fan burst out with, while able to shake the Universe, was not something particularly powerful. However, there was an indescribable feeling within it.

"What happened?" Ye Li asked.

"I glimpsed a part of the way forward." Zhou Fan responded.

Ye Li was shocked, shocked enough to stand up.

"What? Don't hide it now. be as honest as before." Ye Li said.

Zhou Fan shook his head.

"What? Why not?" Ye Li asked.

"I'm scared you'll break through before me."

Ye Li was stunned into silence. The honesty came back.

Zhou Fan continued. "I have something of a streak, breaking through before anyone else. Wouldn't want to lose it now."

Ye Li looked at Zhou Fan without speaking for a moment before turning around and leaving. He felt a sense of crisis. He needed to find this path before Zhou Fan did. Otherwise, even if he broke through, he would probably not be Zhou Fan's match.

Left alone, Zhou Fan's expression turned serious. He understood that he could comprehend the way forward in an instant, but he stopped himself.

It was not time. Even if he understood the way forward, breaking through was another thing. He needed to wait. More Path Creators needed to come.

Only then would he understand the path forward, and only then would he go beyond the Peak.

Zhou Fan closed his eyes and waited. He had plenty of time.

Ye Li and Yhwh's fated battle had ended. Next, he was waiting for other Path Creators to emerge.

In the Main Universe, beings were dealing with the loss of Yhwh. 

To be honest, it was truly Universe changing. Not because Yhwh was important to all of them, but because he represented good, while Ye Li represented evil.

For all of time, Good seemed to have the advantage. However, was that not the case anymore?

With this, a new era was silently ushered in. An era of evil and selfishness. Who knew what the final results would be?

—-------------------------------------------

Author's note: I've had a rough idea about Zhou Fan's advancement, but had never thought about the idea of rules until writing this. By simply talking to Ye Li, both Zhou Fan and I had an epiphany.