一位出色的课外辅导老师

Rules.

They were not the rules, neither the laws nor the regulations that Yang Lujia knew about. They were a different concept here in this world. Rules, here, were reality-breaking, almost inanimate, things that could possibly turn a world upside down. The rules themselves could break the balance, the peace—if utilized by humans. They were like the cause of why everything would break out into war.

They were quite the same as the rules he knew in his previous on Earth. They kept the world sane. They kept the world in harmony. Not until it fell into the manipulation of those who had dark or evil intentions.

"Those who have only reached the Saint Realm could utilize these rules. In the lower stages of our cultivation, we could not utilize them due to the fact that our souls are not yet prepared. Not yet prepared to control or manipulate them as they like."

There was a caveat to them, though. One could utilize the rules but one could not manipulate them entirely. For those at the Saint Realm, the rules they could utilize were only those that were thin—rules that were not dense. In fact, how much can we control after comprehending one rule, we could classify it into early, mid, and peak. These were only the sub-classifications. The major classifications…

"Well, for those beings at the Saint Realm, they could use the Inferior Rules, Mediant Rules for Saint Kings, and Transcendent Rules for Saint Emperors—just like how I learned from others how they call them. The difference between them could be counted to the density of the rules, the thread-like rules that we could see, even when we were flying this fast, master."

"Yes, and the more you comprehended them, the more powerful and dense they would be. Was that what you're going to say?"

"Yes."

"Moreover, these rules had varying colors, right?" Yang Lujia asked. "Like if it was the rules of space, they would be something like gray… or time… that would be colored teal…"

"Apparently, they have different colors, master."

"Are there like rules superior to the other?"

"That's what they say, but the Holy Light Emperor back then would always tell me that there's no superior rule among all the rules. It would only depend on how much one had comprehended one or two rules. For example, one could use the rules of flames to burn space… or even burn time… or one could use rules of frost to freeze space or even freeze life…"

"Indeed, I somewhat agree with it. However, I seem to have a glimpse over some rules that seemed to be superior to others…"

Yes, just like the purple flames he had seen back then.

What was that?

What was or were fused with fire to make it look like that?

It was even superior, as though it belonged to those of royalty. Specifically, the way it acted, was like it scorned the abilities of the others.

"You sure do know a lot about this, Sheng Ao. Anyway, while we're going there at your speed, why don't you tell me what I should call you? Would you let me give you a nickname?"

If Brownie was here, he would have already thrown a tantrum.

He was always the one against Yang Lujia naming somebody.

"Ao'er would be fine, master," Sheng Ao said as he smiled brightly.

However, it was that smile that Yang Lujia could see through him. In those eyes, although he smiled, he was sad. He did not even talk about revenge and even said only good things about the Holy Light Emperor. 'Is this the heart of a monk? Just like his head… as clear as the blue skies?'

But he was probably sad because of the fact that no one believed him. Or was that really the truth?

"Ao'er," he comfortably called. "I can still see some sadness in your eyes. Was it because no one believed you? Or was it because of something else?"

Sheng Ao sighed and continued forward on their path to the palace. "No, master. I am just sad for all the people behind whoever schemed against me. I feel sad for their souls that seem to be hungry for power, which I never even asked for. I feel sad for their very beings."

Yang Lujia was surprised by his disciple's answer. He thought it was about himself, about no one not believing him, but it was actually about other people. Other people, still. What a kind-hearted baldy.

"Wait, I should call you baldy from now on," Yang Lujia corrected as he chuckled. "That name suits you."

Sheng Ao's stomach churned, as though he heard the most terrifying name in the world. Regardless, he still smiled and did not say anything more. If his master liked to call him as such, why not abide by it?

After a minute of silence, they arrived at something tricky. It was at the edge of the four regions. Somewhere near the edges of the Second Region. "Master, we should stop for a while. Without a vessel, it'll be hard for us to send ourselves to the Holy Light Palace. As for other ways… I apologize, master. I haven't considered this one."

However, Yang Lujia did not listen to him. In front of them, he saw vast darkness as far as his eyes could see. It was the same darkness, the same void he had traversed when he came from Da Shenghou to Da Sishen and now, he came to Da Shikong. Amidst the void as well, spatial storms seemed to be common. There were even time storms, which were quite rare.

While spatial storms could tear anyone that would be swept away with them, time storms were different. Time storms could erode one's entire being until they were dead and once you entered one unless you had an in-depth comprehension of time or someone's extremely powerful that could literally disrupt or destroy the storm itself, you would not be able to come out of it easily.

"The void space…" Yang Lujia muttered to which Sheng Ao heard.

"Yes, master. This is what they call the void space. Other than the spatial storms and time storms which are definitely dangerous, there are also void beasts that are very difficult to defeat as most of them if not all were at the peak Saint Emperor Realm."

'It seems like my conjecture about the Huang Emperor Palace's motives were true. It wasn't actually a complete conjecture but only a doubt about their motives. After all, if they were really attacked by void beasts, they are unlikely to survive, especially if it was a herd of them. Palaces barely had enough peak Saint Emperors to counter a herd of void beasts…'

So, they feigned their injuries and were aiming for something else, instead?

"I see it now," Yang Lujia suddenly said. "Is the palace mostly painted with the color yellow?"

Sheng Ao's eyes turned wide as saucers, looking at his master who seemed to be blankly staring at the void space.

"It seems like I've gotten stronger?" Yang Lujia asked himself. He was not able to do this before as his mental power was even limited in Da Shikong when he tried to do it when he was still in the Third Region.

"M-Master… you can actually see it from this far…"

"Yes. If it was before, I doubt it, though."

Sheng Ao was, regardless, shocked at his master being able to do this and asked him one more time after calming down. "Master, do you have any means to get to the palace?"

"Yes."

"What is it, master?" Sheng Ao was overjoyed.

"We cross the void space."

Sheng Ao's complexion turned pale, after recalling some horrible memories of when he tried to traverse this void space himself before. "M-Master… it's too dangerous…"

"We will not cross it with our physical bodies, baldy," Yang Lujia retorted. "We just need to borrow some airships from our friends there in the Second Region."

Sheng Ao was filled with amazement. He never thought his master could think of such a thing. "However, master, it's the Human Em—"

Immediately, he zipped his mouth as he suddenly remembered a pitiful scene of a bird getting one of its wings detached from its body…

'If it's master, it will be alright. Moreover, I still don't how powerful master is and he seems to not like it when I would ask him, so I'll leave it to my imagination for now. What kind of monster did I take as a master that even the Phoenix Ancestor could be played by him like his toy?'