Su Yu smiled and said, "Teacher, you previously suggested the spatial dao. In a way, spatial and domain (yu) are similar. Four directions come together to form a domain, and a domain is space itself. Let's use this as the foundation."

"Cosmos(domain + eternity) and civilization(culture + radiance). Domain shall be the start and eternity shall be the end, making cosmos the general framework of my new dao. Within this framework, civilization can be inserted. I intend to forge a Mark of Cosmos and Civilization. I have long prepared for this. Domain is both space and not space. Since domain is my name, I shall start with that."

Their eyes flickered as they listened. Su Yu had not bothered to think too much about it. He had decided directly.

Domain as the start.

Not even Lan Tian was smiling anymore. He solemnly said, "Cosmos as the start and the end? The dao of domain is understandable. But what about the dao of eternity? Eternity is time itself, but both you and Wan Tiansheng theorized that time is immutable. Are you going to overturn your own theory?"

He understood the reasoning behind using domain as the start. But the end seemed too problematic for him. Picking the wrong end might result in an incomplete system for his dao as the system would remain open, so to speak. That would leave his dao filled with weaknesses, and it might even cause an instability that would result in a collapse.

Lan Tian had no issue with using culture and radiance in between the start to the end. That was actually a good idea.

Su Yu said, "Time is immutable. I am still certain about that. But I intend to create my own myriad daos and create my own world. As a Creator, I shall naturally control even the start of time in my own world. In my world, I will define both the start and end of time. In this world, time is mine."

At that, Su Yu released his Mark of Civilization, revealing the four characters on the cover.

He said, "I have long decided on the path of my dao. The Master of Death opened the dao of death. The Human Emperor opened the dao of responsibility. I won't be walking their paths. I will open the dao of cosmos civilization.

"To specialize is to limit the dao. For example, the death spirit dao is only suitable for the dead. I don't pursue such a dao. I would rather fail than pioneer such a limited dao. The same goes for Human Emperor's dao. His dao of responsibility is filled with limitations. It won't be weak, but it's too heavy.

"Thus, I shall be the core of my dao, not any outside factor."

The domain character floated into the air.

A ripple spread out.

Domain was both space and not space.

In truth, Su Yu's domain character was also a product of several daos. He said, "Domain as the heaven and earth. Within the frame of heaven and earth, there is life and death, yin and yang, the five elements, air, and earth. The heaven is above the air, and the earth is below the air. These are all the daos I'll need to fuse into my dao. Include every single dao related to domain. Fifteen days...that's enough.

"I only care about the present. The future is uncontrollable. Even if I must fail in the future, I would be happy as a Creator who failed.

"I wouldn't mind leaving behind a legend of Emperor Yu, the Creator who failed for the future generation."

The mood turned heavy.

Wan Tiansheng inhaled deeply and said, "We'll do this. Domain shall serve as the foundation. We will do as many tests as possible in the coming days. Lan Tian, work with me for the coming fifteen days. We will experiment on the various daos during that time.

"Seniors, all of you are genius researchers. We will be relying on you as well. We are not good at deduction, but you're good at this."

They nodded.

A male death spirit, who had been silent all along, said with a hoarse voice, "It would be better if we could get some fake daos for our tests. But Su Yu needs his dao for his pioneering. We can't perform tests on it rashly."

He thought about it and asked, "Is it possible for you to gather some fake daos for us to perform our tests? It's safer to at least perform some tests before the attempt."

Fake daos...Qi Rong!

Su Yu's eyes flickered. Qi Rong was also an expert of this topic. According to Grand Dream, she was out collecting some fake daos. Should he invite Qi Rong to this project as well? She could join them in this research. He wouldn't mind getting more help for this project.

At that thought, Su Yu nodded, "I'll get some people to help with this. Do you need anything else?"

"Yes." The male death spirit said, "We need a large number of characters. Characters are the embryonic forms of the various daos. We need these characters for our tests. We also need various dao powers."

Su Yu said, "I can provide that. I still have over a thousand pages of my Mark of Civilization buried in the various daos. They have yet to extract too much power from these daos, but what I have should be sufficient for now."

Bai Feng said, "Don't you have a Book of Time? Just use it. I suggest using it as the test subject. It might be a more powerful weapon, but the Mark of Civilization is your dao weapon. Just use the Book of Time as the test subject."

"Book of Time?"

The death spirits exchanged gazes. That seemed to be a familiar name.

Before Su Yu could say anything, Lan Tian said, "Why the trouble? I'll go get the Heavenly Hunt Index. Also, don't forget that I also follow the path of myriad dao fusion. Just use me as your test subject. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"I know all sorts of daos. In fact, I know the majority of existing daos. Even those I still don't know can be learned or consumed instantly. The Heavenly Hunt Index is also a dao weapon involving the myriad daos. There is no need to waste something as good as the Book of Time. As a failed product of Culture King, the Heavenly Hunt Index is a lot more disposable."

The death spirits stared at Lan Tian silently. Did he not know that Culture King was their teacher? Why was he talking about a creation of his teacher like that?

But Su Yu frowned and said, "You lost all your clones. This is your only remaining body. If you keep cutting your sea of willpower to create more clones, you might die."

Lan Tian smiled and said, "It's fine. I only need to take another walk on my all-life dao to replenish my dao power. It won't take me long to make a full recovery."

Su Yu was someone who had sacrificed a lot for him. He was naturally willing to sacrifice himself for Su Yu as well. He was naturally the perfect test subject for the fusion of myriad daos.

Sure, he would lose more strength after losing all his clones. It might even destabilize his mind. But so what? This was an era of madness. Even mad, he wouldn't forget who he was. He was Lan Tian.

That alone was enough.

A fellow daoist who had helped with his dao pioneering was in need of his help.

"Since Fellow Daoist Su wishes to pioneer a dao, you naturally need to pioneer a powerful dao. And I am willing to assist with that."

Lan Tian beamed as he said, "Don't bother trying to persuade me. I will go get the Heavenly Hunt Index. It's about time Liu Hong ends his seclusion." "To comprehend the dao in the morning was to die content in the evening. Since you see a clear path forward, you should charge ahead without any hesitation.

"It is no regret to die in pursuit of this path. This is the life of people like us. We are all born to pursue the dao. To discover our dao is a success in itself, regardless of the result. Even if you die pursuing this path, you will leave your name in the annals of history."

Su Yu chuckled, "You're trying to jinx me."

"No, I'm merely being realistic." Lan Tian said, "It's not sad to die in the middle of realizing your dao. That's a much better ending than to languish on in sadness after having abandoned your dao."

Su Yu laughed. Lan Tian laughed as well.

Beside them, Wan Tiansheng laughed as well.

Opposite them, Bai Feng sighed. This student of his...had changed.

He calmed himself and said, "The three of you should stop with the demoralizing talk. Su Yu, go and make your preparations. Don't waste even a single moment. We will start our research immediately, match the various daos, and reduce the risk to you to the lowest possible level."

Su Yu nodded. He said nothing and vanished with a flicker. He didn't even have the chance to ask for the names of the death spirits. Then again, none of them was bothered. As researchers, this was a mere trivial matter. They only cared about their research.

Next, Lan Tian vanished with a flicker as well. He had to look for Liu Hong and collect the Heavenly Hunt Index.

After a short thought, Wan Tiansheng looked at He Tu and said, "Fellow Daoist He Tu, I need your help."

When He Tu's expression turned doubtful, Wan Tiansheng continued solemnly, "It isn't appropriate for Su Yu to say this, so let me speak on his behalf. His foundation dao, the dao of domain, includes life and death. And death is one of the earlier daos he needs to fuse with.

"He might need to comprehend the death dao during the process, turning into a full death spirit. I hope you can share some of your experience back when you transformed into a death spirit."

He Tu's expression changed slightly.

Wan Tiansheng nodded and said, "Yes, I need you to regain all your memories, including the moment of your death. I have a similar experience, but it's incomplete. For Su Yu's dao, the cycle of life and death is extremely important. He did not mention this because he probably wants to do it himself, but I hope that you can give him all the support you can."

The moment of death was a terrifying experience, one that He Tu might not be willing to recall. And that was an experience Su Yu lacked. Wan Tiansheng decided to bring up this matter even if it might be a difficult experience for He Tu.

After a long silence, He Tu nodded. "Sure. I'll make my preparations as well. During my moment of death, I saw the abyss. I don't want to recall that memory, but I do hope to see Emperor Yu succeed."

He was most likely the first ever death spirit who had transformed straight from a living being into a death spirit.

Wan Tiansheng bowed, "Thank you, Fellow Daoist."

"You're welcome."

He Tu sighed.

Fellow daoist. A friend in the pursuit of dao. With these friends, Su Yu's path was not lonely.

The other death spirits looked at each other with complicated feelings.

In the pursuit of dao, a fellow daoist was perhaps what one wanted the most.