The First Cultivator - Changing Existence

While the monkey stared in awe, both the God of Death and Ye Li began to meditate and absorb the power they had been given. It seemed that the future versions of the two knew that killing them was a slim chance, and the next best thing was to empower them. Although the past could not truly change the future, it could still affect it.

The monkey was unsure of what to do, but the Celestial Emperor did not hesitate. He began to attack the monkey. Without the power of the two items it had been given, it was slightly inferior to the Celestial Emperor, whose strength had grown after the expansion of the Universe.

Although it was only a slight advantage, it was clear that the monkey was heading towards a very bad ending.

Gritting his teeth, he yelled at the two. "Are you really not going to do anything? Did you just send me here to die and give your past selves gifts?"

Nobody answered him.

"It seems I was just a useless pawn tossed away, but I won't go out so easily!" The monkey shouted.

He retreated, not towards a cloud of time, but towards a large finger floating in space. This was the very finger cut off by the clouds of time falling apart, something from the giant hand that had expanded the Universe.

The Celestial Emperor saw his target and his eyes widened. "The Great Demon's finger. Damnit!"

He began to move as fast as possible, but the monkey made it far before him with his head start.

As soon as it touched the finger, it cut open a part of its body and allowed blood to flow.

"Ancestral Borrowing."

The finger, completely severed from its owner in every way, began to decay. Its power then flowed into the monkey. The Universe began to tremble. However, the monkey did not care at all. It was willing to destroy the Universe, as it seemed it was a dead man anyways.

Suddenly, Zhou Fan appeared behind it. He pressed his hand down. The monkey's growing power fell silent in an instant. It did not practice cultivation, it practiced some other path. However, after Zhou Fan's breakthrough, he was no longer limited to suppressing the path of Cultivation. This was because of his understanding that the Path of Cultivation was not simply Cultivation, but the act of growing. This had led to him comprehending the Rule of Growth.

Of course, he had not had the chance to show it just yet due to only facing one path, the path of Cultivation. Now, he could display it in its entirety.

Not just those practicing the Path of Cultivation, but all paths could be suppressed, as all paths fell under the dominion of cultivation. Many just now noticed this, causing Zhou Fan's threat level to soar.

Of course, he couldn't simply go around suppressing a Path Creator. They were something unique, something that he couldn't simply suppress, even with his dominion over all paths. Those who practiced their paths, however, were nothing but fish on a chopping block.

This naturally applied to the monkey. The monkey was shocked to find that even after absorbing what it considered absolute power, it was now unable to move.

It couldn't even turn around to look at Zhou Fan.

The Celestial Emperor soared in, and with a single motion, chopped the monkey down.

He then turned to Zhou Fan. "I apologize for killing someone under your control. Please just understand that I didn't dare take a risk involving the Great Demon. He is one of the strongest beings below the Sovereigns, someone I could not imagine fighting."

Zhou Fan shrugged his shoulders. "It doesn't matter to me. I didn't have much to say anyway."

He left, entering the Origin Civilization and bringing Ye Li and the God of Death with him.

It didn't matter that they were increasing their strength. If anything, it was good. Their strength was increasing fast, but it would still take a long time for them to use it all up. After all, they needed to follow a proper process in order to do so without harming their foundations.

Zhou Fan didn't pay them much attention. He began to cultivate, but before long, sensed something amiss. Looking over at Ye Li and the God of Death, he sensed something shoot out of Ye Li's body. It was a sphere, and it was heading directly towards Zhou Fan. However, Zhou Fan could tell it was harmless.

It broke through space and appeared right in front of him.

A short voice escaped. "Beware of the Demon King."

It was Ye Li's voice, countless years in the future. Yet it had not changed much. The sphere disintegrated after those words came out.

It was short and sweet, yet for Ye Li himself to send such a message proved how important it was. Countless years in the future, he was a sovereign of the Universe, yet he still said this.

Zhou Fan looked over at the Demon King, someone relatively unassuming. He was meditating in peace. With the battlefield between the Origin Civilization and the people from the future interrupted by the arrival of those from the Non Human realm, he had nothing to do at the moment.

He was an evil being, yet stayed to himself most of the time, never talking to anyone or seeking out anything besides slaughter.

While most Path Creators indeed stayed away from other Path Creators, the Demon King stayed away from all beings. But even this was not a unique trait, just unusual. Zhou Fan himself did not interact with hardly anyone.

No matter how hard he looked, he could not see anything overly dangerous about the Demon King.

Perhaps the most unusual thing was his peacefulness and quiet. After all, he literally controlled the power of Slaughter.

Zhou Fan looked away. He could not tell a thing, and didn't bother any further. He would take another look in the future.

In the meantime, he began to cultivate. It was almost time for a breakthrough.