Although Ye Li and the God of Death had access to the time bubble method, they did not use it. They had quickly learned that it was not useful to them at all.
In order to grow, they had to accumulate Karma and Death. How would speeding up their own time help them with that?
Was the God of Death supposed to kill himself in the time bubble to make his power grow faster? That was naturally not an option.
And Ye Li could not gain any extra Karma inside the time bubble. He was literally just sitting there waiting, completely isolated from everything. Karma could not be created without interacting with things.
Cultivation was the only path that could increase its growth by countless times using a time bubble.
That was because Zhou Fan's Path of Cultivation depended on the individual. If it was simply absorbing Qi like long ago, then the time bubble would not be nearly as much help due to the lack of Qi coming in from outside the bubble.
It would still be helpful, but not nearly as much as it currently was.
Zhou Fan gained power by cultivating. That was all. He created the Power of Cultivation by Cultivating. It was as simple and pure as possible. It relied only on himself, nothing else. Even if the Universe was destroyed and Zhou Fan had to survive out in the nothingness, his growth would not be hindered at all.
Even the River of Cultivation, despite being a useful weapon, did not assist him currently.
All the Power of Cultivation created by the countless cultivators of the Universe, which was a miniscule amount compared to what he created himself, was stored in the River of Cultivation and, when necessary, dispersed throughout the Universe.
Once one began to Cultivate in the Immortal realms, it was no longer a simple matter of absorbing Qi. One needed Qi and a bit of the Power of Cultivation.
In other words, what the Cultivators of the Universe created was given back out to the Cultivators of the Universe. Zhou Fan didn't tax them at all.
In this matter, he could be called the least greedy person in the Universe.
When powerful organizations or sects grew powerful, they would tax what others created. They felt that this was just, as they had given them the tools to create it. And in a way, this was logical and fair.
Yet it was still greed. It was not always excessive greed, and sometimes was even necessary greed.
Those who were not greedy were a select few. Some were called saints, some were respected leaders, but Zhou Fan just viewed them as people who did not rely on others to succeed.
Zhou Fan stopped thinking about the topic.
Time passed, and he was already at the peak of the Star Immortal realm. He had spent a lot of time comprehending the Rule of Origin. Though he hadn't used it in a battle just yet, he knew its power would be overwhelming.
His Rule of Growth and Rule of Origin were incredibly difficult to defend against and could be considered unorthodox methods of attack.
How was one supposed to defend themselves from Zhou Fan cutting off their Origin? It wasn't a physical attack or a mental attack. It wasn't even a soul attack.
They would have to figure this out themselves. The Rule of Growth was similar, in that it seemed impossible to defend against it without an overwhelmingly higher level of power.
The Rule of Chaos was far more direct than the other two, yet its power was second to none when used.
Zhou Fan turned and looked at the new talent that had appeared in the Universe. Zhou Fan had yet to give it a nickname, and most of the Universe had forgotten about it. Only a select few remembered it, but they could no longer find it. That was because it was now a False Immortal.
Even Zhou Fan struggled to find it. Luckily, with enough time, it was possible.
He considered going to it and putting a tracking device on it, but shook his head. Since he hadn't made any countermeasures to Ye Li and the other Path Creators, he wouldn't do it to this one. It was just that this being truly did make him a bit worried.
If they were at the same level, or even if it was two levels below him, he would not be able to find it at all.
Ye Li had once been the best at hiding, but compared to this new being, he was far inferior.
The being was still able to sense that Zhou Fan was looking at it, an incredible feat.
Even Ye Li, arguably the strongest person below Zhou Fan, could not sense his gaze anymore. But to this being, it was effortless.
There were many natural talents in the Universe, and this being stood at the pinnacle of them. Before long, it would be among the most terrifying beings in existence, and nobody would know that it existed.
Zhou Fan eventually turned his attention away from the being, focusing on the King of Massacre. He was growing steadily, and at a faster rate than anyone else besides Zhou Fan.
And besides Zhou Fan, nobody had a clue. He appeared on the surface, yet nobody knew of his true strength.
Time passed and talents were born. Zhou Fan had stepped out of the time bubble and began to look at the Universe. He was the creator of Cultivation, and every single realm was created by him. But he was running out of ideas. It was not a simple thing to design a cultivation realm, but with entire Sage Years to contemplate, it seemed like a simple task. The most recent Star Immortal realm had taken him even longer than the others.
Though the realms so far had seemed simple, they were filled with countless complications that only Zhou Fan himself could understand. To create the next realm, he looked at the Universe for inspiration.