Asura Emperor Venerable
Chapter 412: Hidden Opportunity

Chapter 412: Chapter 412: Hidden Opportunity

The Cheng Family was from the Western Rock Continent, and it was merely a six-star power, hardly considered formidable. Therefore, they consciously stood at the back, not daring to vie with other forces.

The first day was essentially a waste, and the second day was the same, until finally, on the third day, it was the Cheng Family’s turn.

Han Liren held the Entry Token, and the group formed a square formation.

As they approached the Light Gate, the token emitted a halo that enveloped everyone.

With one more step forward, whoosh, they vanished in front of the Light Gate, appearing at the forefront of those three hundred Light Bridges.

Next, it was time to choose a path.

The Lesser Three Thousand Avenues, any could be chosen.

"Sense carefully, find an avenue that aligns with oneself," Cheng De said, offering a reminder to everyone.

He had already mentioned this before, but fearing that his people might make a mistake in their haste or become overly excited and forget, he reminded them once more.

Everyone began to sense, but if the soul couldn’t leave the body, it was less sensing and more about relying on intuition to make a choice.

Soon someone stepped forward and walked on, while others barely took a step before they directly fell off the Light Bridge, as if it were merely a puff of air.

Interesting.

Shi Hao also began to sense. He had long been able to project his soul, and now it formed tendrils, touching these Light Bridges.

Hmm, these Light Bridges have attributes, such as the Fire System and the Water System. But even within the Fire System, there are different categories. Otherwise, those few attributes couldn’t form the Three Thousand Avenues.

So, should one choose a Light Bridge that matches one’s own attribute?

Shi Hao was somewhat troubled; he didn’t know his own attribute, nor which Light Bridge to choose, and moreover, what meaning did this all have?

Simply walking to the other side?

Or was there a deeper meaning?

As he mused, the majority of the Cheng Family had already begun to cross the bridges.

Cheng De and Cheng Guang glanced at Shi Hao, feeling an urge to act but forcefully suppressed it.

—The outside could see the situation here, so it was not yet appropriate to make a move.

Entering first would be best.

"Go." The two powerful cultivators from the Supplementing Divine Temple each stepped onto a Light Bridge, having long been able to project their Soul Power, making the choice of corresponding Light Bridge was not difficult.

Shi Hao caught their expressions and sensed the killing intent emanating from them, which stirred a similar intent within him.

Whoever wanted to kill him, he would kill in turn—fair.

However, lacking strength at the moment, he could only keep this in mind.

Han Liren, Yue Feifei, Zhang Santian, and Han Dong all made their choices, and so did the big yellow dog and the Dark Patterned Leopard, leaving only Shi Hao and Su Manman.

—Yun Yan Fire was inconsequential.

"Which one will you choose?" Shi Hao asked Su Manman.

"I am of the Light attribute; I choose that one," Su Manman pointed at one of the Light Bridges, which, to Shi Hao’s knowledge, had not yet been chosen by anyone.

Shi Hao nodded, looked at the Yun Yan Fire on his shoulder, and said, "Then I will choose a Flame Avenue."

He cultivated Fire Scorches the Heavens, and his understanding of the Flame Avenue was the deepest.

"Alright, let’s meet up on the other side," Su Manman was not one to dawdle and immediately started walking.

Shi Hao smiled and chose a Flame Light Bridge, beginning to walk forward.

It started off smoothly, but as he walked, Shi Hao noticed something amiss; the bridge surface became increasingly fragile and seemed to be on the verge of collapse.

If he collapsed, he would fall out of the secret realm and lose the qualification to enter again.

With his talent, he couldn’t even cross the bridge?

Impossible!

Shi Hao’s thoughts raced; since this was a choice of corresponding attributes, it must be related to the Fire Element.

Was he supposed to activate the Fire Element to stabilize the bridge?

He tried it, and indeed, as soon as he extracted the Fire Element, the bridge immediately stabilized.

Just as he thought.

He continued forward, continuously extracting the Fire Element to prevent the Light Bridge from shattering and causing him to fall out of the secret realm.

No wonder some people fell off halfway before; they must have lacked sufficient Soul Force to continue, leading to the breaking of the Light Bridge and their own downfall.

—The Cheng Family must know how to do it, but naturally, they had no duty to remind anyone, especially someone from the humble Eastern Fire Continent.

As he moved on, Shi Hao noticed another anomaly.

Mere extraction of the Fire Element was no longer sufficient; the bridge continued to disintegrate.

What was happening?

He sensed around and discovered that the Light Bridge was full of holes, like a shattered spider web. Just stuffing Fire Element into it was like a drop of water on a hot stone, utterly useless.

He first needed to repair the main frame of this "spider web" before he could fill in the gaps.

Shi Hao directed the Fire Element into several key spots, stabilizing the Light Bridge once again.

He continued forward, but after just a few steps, he paused.

Something was wrong!

He backtracked, carefully sensed again, and then had a sudden realization.

"This is an exposition on the essence of the Fire Element!" he exclaimed excitedly. "The process of repairing the Light Bridge allows one to glimpse the Flame Rule!"

Speaking of rules, that was at least the domain of the Self-Observation level, and even most who reached it could only utilize the rules, not truly understand them.

It was like using a torch to drive away wolves; knowing how to wield the torch was enough, without needing to understand how the fire ignited.

Only upon reaching the Great Sacrificial Heaven did one truly need to understand the rules, which is why the leap to Great Sacrificial Heaven was a qualitative change that drastically transformed a Martial Artist’s Essence of Life.

"Walking the Light Bridge isn’t about making things difficult, it is about teaching you to engage with the rules!" Shi Hao murmured, his eyes shining. "Although I haven’t reached the heights of Great Sacrificial Heaven, through the memories of Yuan Chengmie, I know that rules exist everywhere, yet are invisible and intangible. Thus, once after reaching Great Sacrificial Heaven, a cultivator’s progress is extremely slow."

"But now, using this method, it’s like engaging with the rules in an alternative way, making it much easier."

"Who exactly set this up? Can it nearly materialize the rules like this, and can Heaven Building Ladder manage it too?"

He thought for a moment and then slowly shook his head; at least in his memory, Yuan Chengmie did not have such a method.

"I can’t miss this great opportunity."

Shi Hao walked slowly, taking a step and then carefully savoring, letting the rules imprint in his mind.

He might not yet be qualified to utilize the rules, but the knowledge he gained wouldn’t go to waste. Once he stepped into Self-Observation, these imprinted rules would surely be of great use.

After all, he wasn’t far from reaching Self-Observation.

While others crossed the Light Bridge in a few breaths’ time, some flying through and others taking a more steady approach with a dozen breaths, Shi Hao’s journey across one bridge took two hours, a truly unparalleled feat.

During his crossing, several groups passed him, all casting scornful looks his way.

Crossing the bridge was so difficult, they thought, he might as well roll back where he came from.