Chapter 1769: Double Daofuse (3)
Su Yu did not say too much. For him, gossip was meant to be remembered. And he knew quite a lot. For example, the love story of Lan Tian and Silk Destroying King. For example, the ugly Battle King. For example, Battle King's descendant, the number one pretty boy, Great Xia King. For example, Martial King and his countless wives. For example, Control King was a traitor. For example, Culture King had a psychopathic younger sister.
Had he leaked any of them?
Nope.
Oh right, he also knew about Martial Emperor's buttocks being used as a garden. That was quite a big gossip as well.
Fortunately, he was not the type to spread gossip.
Right, right, there was also the gossip about the Qin Family. However, Qin Zhen had leaked it himself. A story between him and immortal fairies.
As Su Yu recalled all that, he had the urge to write a book in the future. A book collecting the gossip of the various eras. History must be remembered, right? Thus, he decided to preserve these gossips in a way that only the top experts in existence could see them. These shall be the secret gossips of the world.
While thinking about all that, he drew his saber and got to work. He stabbed it at the gigantic beast in the air. He was pushed one step back after leaving only a tiny hole in the corpse. In mere moments, the hole had repaired itself.
He gasped and said, "Wasn't the skin of this beast removed?"
Even dead and without its skin, the body was still unbelievably powerful. What if this beast were still alive? Su Yu would probably fail to leave even a mark on it with his saber. The gap between them was incredibly big.
The current Su Yu was still weaker than Daofuses, but he was definitely far stronger than regular ninth-degree Eternals.
Great Qin King was among the strongest ninth-degree Eternals in existence, but Su Yu believed that he could put up a fight against Great Qin King even without relying on borrowed power.
By simply opening his Heaven Gate, his physical strength would exceed a hundred million acupoints. It was unlikely that Great Qin King would be stronger with that. And without his tri-life bodies and Source Return Blade, he would be even weaker.
Great Qin King swallowed and said, "This...doesn't seem to be something we can fuse with easily."
"Yes. It even has a remnant will in it." Su Yu solemnly said, "I'm worried that you will fail to withstand the remnant will."
It would be safer to let a Daofuse walk this path instead. For anyone below the Daofuse Realm, this would be a perilous path.
Great Qin King was not a clueless brute. He glanced at Great Xia King and said, "A remnant will? So be it. A remnant will can help temper our will as well. An expert of this level is something that we might not encounter even after a lifetime of cultivation. Old Xia, let's go in together. Abandon our bodies and devour this heavenly desolate beast!"
Great Xia King grinned and asked, "Are you certain?"
"Are you scared?"
"Bullshit! If you dare, I naturally have nothing to fear as well. No matter what, I have one extra tri-life body than you. I am far stronger than the current you."
"In that case, stop wasting time. Su Yu, don't bother trying to cut this thing up. We will devour this beast from the inside."
Great Qin King was incredibly decisive once he made a choice. By cutting the beast apart, its vitality would leak. That would weaken what they could gain. They might as well fuse with the beast from the inside.
As Su Yu furrowed his brows, the white dog said, "That's doable. The greatest difficulty is the strand of remnant will inside. Your bodies will be fine, but there is a danger of having your seas of willpower destroyed by that remnant will. You might die if you fail to withstand the remnant will.
"But if you do succeed, you will have a very high chance of becoming Daofuses. Daofuses of physical body dao. After all, this heavenly desolate beast walked the physical body dao as well. This is a dao unique to this race."
In short, Culture King would not leave something of inferior quality behind.
"Good!" Great Qin King looked at Su Yu with a grin and said, "Don't worry. We, too, are people who have climbed our way to the top from mountains of corpses. To be honest, we have been living in constant fear and worry about the future of humanity.
"You have recruited a bunch of experts to our side, but you're also right about one thing. Outsiders can never be fully on the same side as us. Having humanity rule, yet the subordinates are stronger, is not a good idea. Humanity must produce its own Daofuses as well. Old Zhou alone won't be sufficient. You alone won't be sufficient either."
Great Qin King continued, "By becoming Daofuses, we can at least provide a counterbalance to the other factions under you. Otherwise, things might fall apart the moment you leave.
"Since you have prepared even a new dao for us, we only need to survive the attempt. If we can't do even this, we might as well die. Don't worry. We are not that useless. The spear of Qin and blade of Xia are not famed for no reason."
Then, he shot straight into the mouth of the heavenly desolate beast.
With a hearty laugh, Great Xia King said, "How fast. Wait for me!"
With that, the two vanished into the mouth of the beast. Right at that moment, a ferocious glint flickered in the eyes of the beast. Its mouth instantly clamped shut.
Shocked, Su Yu was just about to do something when the white dog rushed over. After a glance at the beast, the white dog said, "Don't do anything. This is their battle. The remnant will is still around. It will naturally resist any attempt to steal its body. A fight is necessary to resolve this. If they win, they can smoothly gain the ownership of this corpse. If they lose...they will be rejected by the dao of this beast even after devouring the corpse."
Su Yu asked, "Will things go wrong?"
It would be very troublesome if the two were to die during this attempt. It would be hard for him to explain this to the other humans. Furthermore, he would feel immense guilt toward them.
The white dog shook his head and said, "I don't know. We shall see. A dao left behind by Master won't be so easy to inherit. Otherwise, you would have started your dao fusion long ago."
Culture King was not kind enough to spoon-feed his successors. For example, Su Yu needed ninety-nine characters before he could attempt to inherit the pen dao.
Thus, it was only natural that the heavenly desolate beast's dao wouldn't be easy to inherit either. The Heavenly Hunt Index was also a good example of this. Even after numerous epochs, Heavenly Overseer Marquis had yet to successfully inherit this dao.
As for the ink dao, Liu Hong had spent quite a lot of effort on it as well. He even had to explore the Death Realm in pursuit of this dao.
Su Yu nodded and said nothing else. Instead of wasting his time idling around, he utilized the pressure of the beast to increase his mastery over his various techniques. Such pressure made for a very suitable environment for the tempering of his techniques.
It was time for him to convert more techniques into characters. If it wasn't for the fear that his body wouldn't be able to handle it, he would have tried consuming a drop of blood essence from the heavenly desolate beast as well. But he had abandoned that thought as quickly as it had appeared.
Perhaps he was already strong enough to withstand the blood essence of the heavenly desolate beast, but it would push him to the level of a Master of Law. And the laws would certainly erase him the moment that happened.
Meanwhile, Great Qin King and Great Xia King were actually fusing with the beast rather than devouring it as mentioned. They were essentially there to transform their bodies. With the two digesting this corpse together, they could probably both achieve Daofuse by the time they were done.
***
Su Yu started practicing his numerous techniques while converting them into characters.
One day passed.
Two days.
Three days.
In three days, he converted fourteen techniques into characters. Including his previous characters, he had amassed sixty of them.
Over the three days, Great Xia King and Great Qin King remained inside the beast. The beast itself remained the same as well. But if one focused, one could hear faint roars coming from within the beast. Some originated from Great Qin King, and some originated from Great Xia King. Some also originated from the beast.
A battle raged between them. A battle between them and the remnant will.
Su Yu could feel that this was most certainly a painful process. Even someone as resolute as Great Qin King was forced to roar in pain. He remembered how Great Qin King had not roared with such intensity even when he was closest to death previously.
Thinking it would be funny to do so, Su Yu even recorded their screams of pain. He was certain that the two would survive; thus, he was still in the mood to joke around. They would absolutely survive!
Why was he so sure? Because the moment he detected that they would die, he would cut the corpse apart and rescue them. Since survival was guaranteed, he naturally had to record their screams for...the preservation of history.
Year 352 of Anping Calendar, Great Xia King and Great Qin King roared in pain from the terrible beating they were receiving. This recording should serve as proof for future generations.
***
This process lasted much longer than the one involving Xia Longwu.
In the blink of an eye, ten days passed. On the eleventh day, massive rumbles erupted from within the beast. The pressure released by the beast started weakening rapidly. And then, physical changes started occurring.
The gigantic corpse started shrinking. And finally, the belly of the beast burst open with a rumbling explosion. Both Great Qin King and Great Xia King flew out, emanating powerful auras, their presences akin to ferocious primordial beasts.
"I survived!"
With his ferocious aura, Great Qin King resembled a bloodthirsty primordial beast. The same could be said for Great Xia King. The moment their gazes landed on Su Yu, they blanked out, the ferocious look in their eyes dissipating.
At the moment, Su Yu was taking pictures and videos of them with a jade talisman.
He was even narrating as he did that, "Juniors of the future generations, here, we have Great Qin King and Great Xia King. This is one of their numerous contributions to humanity. They have devoured the corpse of a heavenly desolate beast. They were engaged in a bitter struggle against the beast for eleven days, suffering massively in the process. Those of the future generations, do not forget the contributions of the two great seniors."
Both Great Qin King and Great Xia King exhaled in relief. So this was what he was doing. Good. This wasn't a bad thing for them.
But next, they heard Su Yu continuing in a low voice, "They have just returned from the belly of the beast. Their previous bodies have been corroded away in the belly of the beast. Thus, do not be surprised by their nakedness. Why care about the nakedness of heroes? Even naked, heroes shall remain heroes."
"..."
The expressions of the two changed massively.
Fuck!
The suffering was too much, and their excitement was too great. They had completely forgotten about this matter. In the blink of an eye, clothes formed of source qi manifested around their bodies. Then, the two ferocious beasts charged toward Su Yu.
They had decided that this recording must be destroyed. Even at the risk of offending Su Yu, they had to get the recording from him! They would not let the matter end before erasing the recording!
Boom!
And thus, a massive battle between three beast-like individuals erupted. Su Yu was quite curious himself. Just how strong would they be with only the body of the beast. After all, they had yet to fuse with the dao of the beast.
Boom!
None fought with the power of laws. They fought with only their physical strength. Even so, their battle seemed apocalyptic.
Annoyed, the white dog had to seek the help of the book spirit and tea plant to set a protection barrier in the area. They couldn't allow the three beasts to damage the beautiful flowers and plants around the residence.
Meanwhile, the three beasts continued fighting madly. None of them had started the process of dao fusion. Su Yu demonstrated countless techniques. He was using this battle to further temper his techniques, while Great Qin King and Great Xia King were using this battle to familiarize themselves with their new bodies.
Very powerful.
Working together, they were even able to slightly suppress Su Yu, whose body was comparable to that of a ninth-degree Eternal. Without access to the power of laws, the two were supposed to be only mere Sunmoons. And Su Yu himself was also a mere Sunmoon. But this battle between three so-called Sunmoons was as intense as a battle between Daofuses.
In fact, this was the true form of Sunmoons. This was how Sunmoons were during the ancient and primordial past. Or to be precise, this was how top Sunmoons were back then.
Great Qin King and Great Xia King did not lack combat experience. They were merely unfamiliar with their new bodies. Both parties required tempering.
One was tempering his techniques while two were tempering their bodies. The battle lasted a long while. Ultimately, Su Yu demonstrated a higher level of endurance than the two. No matter what, the two had yet to start their dao fusion. Their bodies might be powerful, but individually, they were slightly weaker than Su Yu.
With a rumble, the two were sent flying away. Su Yu, who was panting heavily, grinned.
"I will keep the recording. This will be fun to watch!"
Both Great Xia King and Great Qin King snorted coldly. At that, a stand of saber qi and spear qi appeared in Su Yu's recording talisman. With a rumble, it exploded. The three stared at each other for a bit before breaking out in laughter.
Success!
Next, they could proceed with dao fusion.
The moment Su Yu tossed the Heavenearth Inkstone out, the eyes of Great Xia King and Great Qin King lit up. They could feel it! They could feel a great sense of intimacy with it! Dao fusion! They must fuse with this dao! As for whether they could ultimately become Masters of Law, luck would decide.
Even now, they could feel that they would be much stronger than regular Daofuses just by becoming Daofuses. This was definitely not a weak dao. And the two of them had the entire dao for themselves!
Before long, all three entered the River of Time. Or to be precise, they stepped right onto the surface of the river without the need to tear space apart. After all, this residence was already located inside the river. Led by the Heavenearth Inkstone, they moved behind the residence and continued onward toward the main stretch of the river.
Before long, they were standing atop a majestic river. Boundless joy radiated from the Heavenearth Inkstone as it led them deeper and deeper into the river. For the very first time, Su Yu saw what a so-called sealed dao looked like.
This seal looked much more impressive than Control King's. He saw a tributary. On the surface of the tributary, strands of power swirled. These strands were most likely left behind by Culture King, here to seal the entire tributary.
Even if someone could reach this place and comprehend the dao of the tributary, they wouldn't be able to initiate dao fusion with it. Only with the Heavenearth Inkstone in possession would one be able to do so.
The moment it arrived, the Heavenearth Inkstone shattered the seal by merely ramming into it. The seal offered no resistance. After exchanging gazes with each other, both Great Qin King and Great Xia King rushed forward in excitement.
Dao fusion!
***
Su Yu waited outside while observing the dao represented by the tributary.
It was massive.
It might be weaker than the physical dao of humanity, but it was the third-largest dao Su Yu had seen. The death spirit dao occupied the first place, with humanity's physical body dao at the second place, and this heavenly desolate beast dao at the third place.
After an indeterminate amount of time, two powerful beings flew out of the tributary. Their auras had surpassed that of Su Yu.
With a hearty laughter, Great Qin King declared, "I feel like I am strong enough to give Tiangu a beating!"
But Su Yu believed that Great Qin King was simply lost in power. That was not yet possible. However, Su Yu also believed that the current Great Qin King was already good enough to rival Jiwu and Mo Ji.
This was already incredibly powerful. Great Xia King was slightly weaker, at the Ape Pseudo Emperor's level.
It didn't matter.
He only needed to know that both had finally attained Daofuse. Su Yu was happy to see this. Very good. It was finally done. He had yet to initiate his dao fusion, but it also wouldn't be too far away. Over the past eleven days, he had pushed his total number of characters to ninety.
It was likely that he would reach his required number on his way to the Five Elemental Realm. When that happened, he could finally pay the pen dao a visit.
Hopefully, it would be stronger than the heavenly desolate beast's dao. He believed that it could very well be stronger. After all, it was the dao Culture King had risen to prominence with.
"Humanity has...finally risen!"
Both Great Xia King and Great Qin King roared with laughter.
They had succeeded! They couldn't hide their excitement.
Chapter 1770: West Royal Consort (1)
"Humanity has risen?"
Great Xia King and Great Qin King looked excited, but Su Yu muttered to himself with doubt. Had humanity truly risen in power? Including Tian Yue, there were only four Daofuses among humanity. Could this be considered a rise in power?
During the ancient past, there were forty human kings and a Human Emperor. All of them were Masters of Laws. Even with such power, their empire had collapsed.
Risen in power?
Su Yu disagreed. Hundred Battle King was someone who was near a Master of Law in strength. Even so, he was defeated. The Myriad Realms were not so simple.
Su Yu speculated that there were more unimaginably powerful experts hiding beyond the net in the sky. There were also those ancient assembly members who had all vanished alongside Human Emperor. Were they all dead?
And there was also the matter involving Culture King and Time Sage. Who were they fighting?
In short, things were incredibly complicated. Human Emperor was far stronger than anyone could imagine. He alone had taken dozens of human kings and an even larger number of assembly members with him before disappearing.
Such a terrifying existence had vanished for a hundred thousand years. There were only two possibilities. Either he was dead or trapped in an endless battle like Culture King. Nevertheless, Su Yu could understand the excitement of the two. They had been stuck below the Daofuse Realm for years. It was only natural that they were greatly pleased by this breakthrough.
By becoming Daofuses, they would no longer be weaklings. This was indeed worth rejoicing about.
However, Su Yu still decided to temper their excitement. "Don't get too excited. You might not be immune to the suppressive force of the other realms anymore."
The two blanked out.
Su Yu explained, "I now understand why we don't have a suppressive force. The daos of humanity were too powerful. The daos of the various races were incapable of suppressing humanity's physical body dao."
"This isn't right..." Great Xia King said, "Not all ancient humans walked the physical body dao."
Su Yu nodded, "Yes. Therefore, it is also possible that the ancient humans had once suppressed the daos of the myriad races. I don't know the truth. You can test this theory with some random minor realms. But such a test won't be too reliable since I suspect the daos of the minor realms will be too weak to suppress the heavenly desolate beast anyway. I'm more worried about the daos of the divines, devils, and immortals. Their daos won't be weak."
The suppressive force of the major realms would greatly diminish the strength they could muster.
Su Yu advised, "I believe it is better for the two of you to focus on comprehending the dao rather than doing anything else. If any of you can become a Master of Law, you will be a true trump card of humanity. A single Master of Law is comparable to dozens of Daofuses."
But he added, "No, that might not be the case. I suspect the Masters of Laws of this era will face the rejection of the world itself. Well, it doesn't matter. You won't be one anytime soon anyway."
Who was this guy looking down on?
At first, the two felt dissatisfied. But ultimately, Great Qin King nodded. He solemnly said, "I'm afraid becoming a Master of Law won't be too easy. Both of us sensed our state of fusion earlier. We didn't manage to fuse with too much of the dao. But this is indeed a powerful dao."
He took an inkstone out and said, "This inkstone is forged from the skin of the heavenly desolate beast. It is incomparably durable. In fact, it might be a divine-grade item. Take it with you. You can transform it into armor and protect yourself against even the attacks of Daofuses."
This was the skin of a Master of Law. It would naturally be incredibly powerful.
Su Yu smiled and said, "Keep it. It is more compatible with the two of you. Or to be precise, this thing has always been one with the flesh and the dao. It can display more power in your hands. After all, it can now be considered your skin as well."
"..."
The two were rendered speechless. Why did it feel like Su Yu was trying to insult them here? But alas, they couldn't offer a compelling argument to his words. He was claiming that after fusing with the heavenly desolate beast, the skin of the beast would naturally be theirs. They were no longer humans.
Su Yu said, "The defensive prowess of this inkstone is probably quite formidable. If you work together and control the armor formed of this inkstone, you can probably resist several powerful Daofuses."
The two nodded. That was true. The inkstone would be much more effective in their hands.
Great Xia King said, "Stop talking like the two of us are one. We are two independent individuals. So who's going to use this inkstone? Are you expecting the two of us to stay together at all times? He's not a heaven-defying beauty. I'm not spending all my time beside him."
Great Qin King snorted and tossed the inkstone over. However, Great Xia King sent it flying back. He wanted it, but at the same time, he also didn't want it.
Great Qin King was quite speechless. He asked, "Don't you want this?"
"Yes, but I'm not begging for it." Great Xia King said, "I don't care about it for now. Let me finish. I propose that the one who ultimately masters the dao will get to keep the inkstone as well."
"..."
How ridiculous.
Great Qin King didn't even feel like responding. Both of them were still very far from that.
Su Yu smiled and said, "Well, you can decide this among yourselves. I won't get involved. A few days have passed. Heavenly Forge King must have finished forging a batch of weapons. I need to take some people to the River of Time and help them comprehend their daos. After that, I need to take a trip out of the Human Realm. I'm very busy..."
Su Yu added, "By the way, do keep an eye on Great Zhou King after leaving this place."
"..."
Great Qin King grimaced and said, "I doubt he's a traitor. You're too paranoid."
Su Yu laughed and said, "I'm not worried about that. I don't think it's possible that he's a traitor. If he were a traitor, humanity would have been eliminated long ago. He is loyal to humanity. I acknowledge that."
Su Yu continued, "I merely worry that I am not the human lord he's loyal to. Are the previous nine human lords really dead? Nobody knows. What if a benevolent human lord were to return? Would Great Zhou King think that someone as cruel as me was no longer suitable? I don't want to make a move against someone who has contributed massively to humanity like him. If it weren't for his contributions to humanity, I would have eliminated an unpredictable variable like him long ago. That is how I do things normally."
The expressions of Great Xia King and Great Qin King changed slightly.
Su Yu chuckled and said, "Don't worry. I won't go that far. Let me be frank. I don't care about the so-called authority I can get as the human lord. For me, that is a joke."
Su Yu proudly said, "What's the big deal about being a human lord? Is that position so prestigious? So incredible? No. I much prefer being a free and unconstrained supreme expert, spending my time exploring the various secrets of the world. I long for such a life. Why should I care about this position? For the ambition of conquering everything? No. I am merely doing this to save humanity. The current humanity requires full unity. Upon gaining our final victory in the future, I will naturally let go of my current position. At that time, humanity will be free to fight internally again."
After a short silence, Great Qin King nodded and said, "You're right. The current humanity requires a leader like you. Benevolence, kindness, sagacity, and gentleness are not required for now. We need a treacherous, cunning, powerful, domineering, and vicious leader."
"..."
Wow.
Great Qin King had learned to insult someone indirectly. So he was basically a villain with no positive traits?
Su Yu couldn't even be bothered to respond. He looked at the distant residence and noted that Fat Ball was busy watering the flowers again. With a smile, he said, "Senior Fat Ball, we'll be taking our leave."
"Sure." While watering the flowers, the white dog said, "That big lump of wood is going to form his spirit soon. The next time you come, the big lump of wood will be able to join you. That big guy is quite strong. He has grown in Master's courtyard, listening to Master as he studied and watched as Little Master cultivated. He is even older than me. He was already around when I first came."
First, there was the residence. Then, the tree came, followed by the dog. Next, the book appeared, followed by the tree plant. This was the order in which these spirits had arrived in Culture King's Residence.
Since even the white dog was praising it, the big tree must be quite powerful. Su Yu said, "Sure. Continue watering the flowers. I'll come for a tea with you again when I have the time in the future."
"Yah! Yah!"
The white dog nodded and continued watering the flowers. This was his main job. Fighting was only his part-time job.
But just as Su Yu was about to leave, he asked, "Do you need more of my blood essence?"
"No. It's fine."
Su Yu refused the offer. He had used five drops of blood essence from the white dog in only one month. No matter how powerful the dog was, losing five drops of blood essence in a month was still quite hurtful.
At the moment, Su Yu was left with a drop of Golden Peng Pseudo Emperor blood essence and a drop of Pseudo Dragon Emperor blood essence. That would be enough for him to muster the strength of a Daofuse for a short while. Even without any blood essence, he was already the strongest under the Daofuse Realm.
As for the corpse of the heavenly desolate beast, it was essentially an empty shell now. The essence had been absorbed by both Great Qin King and Great Xia King. It was no longer useful for anything.
***
A short while later, all three reappeared outside.
Some Invincibles were still waiting there. As for the others, most had left to carry out their various duties.
Instead of leaving for his duties, Great Zhou King remained waiting. When he saw Great Qin King and Great Xia King, his eyes flickered. In his eyes, the two had seemingly transformed into primordial beasts, boundlessly ferocious and savage.
In fact, just staring at them gave his eyes a sharp pain.
The other Invincibles naturally had a similar reaction. Some even groaned in pain. Suppressing his roiling willpower, Great Ming King asked, "What happened to the two of you? You don't feel like yourselves anymore!"
Too powerful.
Those savage auras of theirs gave him the illusion that he was currently within the jaws of a vicious beast.
With a grin, Great Xia King stepped forth and said, "Everyone says that Old Qin is the number one, Old Zhou is the number two, I am the number three, and you are the number four. You never accepted this. Why don't you repeat yourself now?"
As he said that, the silhouette of a gigantic beast appeared above Great Xia King. Opening its wide jaws, it threatened to swallow Great Ming King with one bite.
At the same time, Great Xia King looked at Great Zhou King and said, "As for the number two position, or even number one...I am quite interested in competing for them. Old Zhou, shall we have some fun?"
"..."
Great Zhou King ignored the childish provocation with an unsightly expression. As for Great Ming King, he was furious. However, how did this bastard grow so strong? Was he already a Daofuse?
They had merely vanished for ten or so days. Previously, Xia Longwu had reached the seventh degree after leaving with Su Yu for a short while. Thus, everyone had been expecting the two to grow as well.
But their growth was...somewhat excessive.
After a short observation, Great Zhou King asked, "Emperor Yu, their bloodlines..."
Su Yu replied nonchalantly, "Swapped with the bloodline of an ancient Master of Law. However, bloodlines are unimportant. They are still humans. That is the only thing that matters. As long as one's heart is with humanity, one will remain human."
Great Zhou King said, "I understand. But I worry about the future..."
"Are you talking about the humans in the Upper Realm?"
Great Zhou King nodded, "Yes. Due to the glorious past, some of the seniors up there place a lot of significance on bloodlines. For them, any mixture of blood is a stain."
Worried that this would provoke Su Yu, he further explained, "Emperor Yu, their way of thinking is understandable. There are still some ancient marquises up there. During the ancient past, humanity stood above all. We are the most noble. Perhaps you might think that this is an outdated way of thinking, but it is also undeniable that they are furiously loyal to humanity.
"Through this loyalty, they have battled the myriad races for a hundred thousand years without shrinking. Their perseverance was why we survived until today. Over these years, numerous ancient marquises had perished while battling the myriad races.
"They had witnessed the betrayal of even our allies. In each of the previous epochs, some of our allies would betray us. You have never experienced this, so you can't understand how we feel about this."
Chapter 1771: West Royal Consort (2)
Great Zhou King sighed and said, "Take the ninth epoch as an example. Before Hundred Battle King's rise, we had an ally known as the soul race. This was a powerful race, and with their specter-like attributes, they were the most proficient assassins of the Myriad Realms. The shadow race was incomparable to the soul race. Ultimately, they betrayed us. They dealt us a heavy blow, nearly causing the extinction of humanity. When Hundred Battle King rose to power, he targeted them and eliminated them before any other races. Humanity can not tolerate betrayal."
He was trying to make Su Yu understand. The humans in the Upper Realm were unfamiliar with Great Qin King and Great Xia King. They were unaware of the great contributions of the two. Thus, they might be prejudiced against the two due to their bloodline.
Su Yu chuckled indifferently and said, "In that case, I will educate them. They can choose to accept it, or they can leave and do whatever they want. I understand that these people are loyal to humanity. I can even allow the rest of you to leave with them. I won't stop any of you. However, be sure to return everything you have taken from me before leaving. If you are worried that you might leave, don't accept anything from me.
"Humanity. Must there only be one humanity? Those loyal to me can even be renamed to the yu race. I don't care. I only protect those deserving of my protection. The rest are free to leave or even rebel against me."
Su Yu looked at the gathered Invincibles and said, "If you believe that my suppression is excessive, feel free to leave and follow those old fogeys instead. I believe there are still some survivors up there. A hundred thousand years of war, decline after decline. I won't even comment on their ability. Their way of thinking is indeed outdated. They should stop living in the past. The ancient past is over."
Su Yu continued with brutal honesty, "During the ancient past, we had 41 Masters of Laws and 360 marquises. We also had plenty of Daofuses among our titled generals. We probably had no fewer than 500 Daofuses. The humanity back then was allowed to be arrogant and prideful. But now? What qualification do we have to remain so arrogant and prideful?"
Su Yu coldly said, "I read a lot. I advise everyone here to read more as well. Learn your history. Such old fools would be present in each collapsing dynasty. They lacked ability, yet they thought very highly of themselves, binding everyone with worthless rules.
"Perhaps these old fogeys meant well. They clung to the glory of their past because of their loyalty to their dynasty. After all, that was their dynasty. Their era. But remember. History has proven that a return to the past is not possible for a crumbling era or dynasty. The establishment of a new era is the only way forward."
Su Yu coldly said, "If I were to rebuild a new era, this won't be the ancient past. I am no puppet. My era will be a new era. My glory will be the glory of a new era. I am making this clear today. I won't bother with hints. Know this. Ancient marquises or previous human lords, all shall obey me in this era. If you obey, you will naturally be rewarded in the future for your contributions.
"Those who disobey, those who dream of instructing me on what to do, all shall move aside. We will go our separate ways. I believe this frankness is enough for all of you to stop guessing.
"Don't force me to turn against you. I don't want that. As Great Zhou King said, these ancient experts are all heroes who have fought for a hundred thousand years. But being a hero does not give you the authority to stand above me. What I give is yours. What I don't give, don't force me to give.
"I never said these before as I assumed that you all understood. But clearly, that's not the case. Now that I am being completely honest with you, you should understand so long as you have a brain."
Everyone sank into silence.
After a long while, Great Zhou King inhaled deeply and said, "I understand. Don't worry, Emperor Yu. We know the right thing to do. I will also explain things to anyone who might arrive from the Upper Realm."
"Good." Su Yu said, "Be straightforward and honest. Don't beat around the bush. If they can accept my rules, stay. If not, piss off. I don't mind you making it clear that our paths differ from the very beginning. I like honesty. But pretending to accept my rules while playing secret games behind my back...will result in capital punishment upon discovery."
"Understood." Everyone answered.
Suddenly, Su Yu flashed everyone a smile and said, "Alright, enough talking about something that might not even happen. Both Great Qin King and Great Xia King are already Daofuses. Great Zhou King is a Daofuse. Tian Yue of the Heaven Department is also a Daofuse. With this, we finally have four human Daofuses. This is worthy of a celebration. Great Zhou King, a source qi rain is in order. The world shall celebrate with us!"
"..."
Great Zhou King was completely dumbfounded.
Damn it!
It hadn't even been that long since the previous source qi rain ended!
"Emperor Yu, the ambient source qi of Human Realm is declining in levels..."
Su Yu said, "Don't worry. Keep doing it. You lack source qi?"
He took a large amount of sunmoon profound yellow liquid out and said, "Use this. Mix some source qi into it and use it for your source qi rain. With this in the mix, the rain can even strengthen the apertures of the masses. Keep at it. Don't worry about resources. When Xia Longwu and the others conquer more minor realms, we will nourish all of humanity with the myriad races. What is there to fear? At worst, we'll plunder the myriad races. One war, and we shall plunder them of all their source qi. This will further accelerate their collapse."
Su Yu was completely unbothered.
Helpless, Great Zhou King could only agree, "Understood."
Fine. He had to create another rain. Clearly, Su Yu was using this as a punishment of sorts for him. Great Zhou King was left quite speechless. He was a Daofuse. Was creating rain the only task Su Yu had for him? How sorrowful.
He had merely given Su Yu a reminder about those old fogeys. He didn't even voice any objection. The Zhou Family had already offered two Eternals to serve as the new guardians. Was this not enough for this petty human lord to stop targeting him?
Next, Su Yu looked at Great Ming King and asked, "Great Ming King, has your new set of formation base been completed?"
At that, Great Ming King said in excitement, "Yes! Heavenly Forge wanted to make me wait until the end. How shortsighted of him! A new set of formation base could greatly increase my strength! Thus, I forced him to prioritize my formation base!"
Su Yu laughed and said, "Back when I was at my lowest, Great Ming accepted and protected me. You granted me a period of peaceful and calm cultivation. When I was trapped in the ancient city, you helped yet again, rushing to the ancient city and participating in the battle personally. You have my gratitude. Now, Both Great Xia King and Great Qin King are already Daofuses. As for you, I am not well-versed in the formation dao. But no matter. For now, you can get started at this dao. If fate permits, I will take you to the Radiant King's Residence in the future. You might be able to gain something there."
"Thank you, Emperor Yu."
Great Ming King was in a great mood. Radiant King's Residence! That was the residence of his very own ancestor! Something good must be waiting for him there, right?
The fact that he could finally step on the formation dao properly today also brought him great joy. He had always been good at formations, but he had been forced to walk the physical body dao. All along, his formations had only acted as the support to his physical prowess. That would finally change!
Su Yu said nothing else and tore an opening in space. He really couldn't help Great Ming King much. For this venture into the River of Time, Great Ming King would have to rely on himself. The sole benefit Su Yu had was his ability to actually see the river with his eyes. With him around, Great Ming King would not lose his way in the river.
This was the benefit of having the Heaven Gate. Su Yu greatly suspected that the excessive number of experts among the ancient humans was probably related to the efforts of the few humans who had opened their Heaven Gates.
Without the Heaven Gate, one would not be able to glimpse the true nature of the myriad daos. And without such an ability, opening and mastering a dao would be far more difficult.
And yet, the ancient humans had produced so many Masters of Laws. The Heaven Gate must have played a big role in that. Otherwise, why hadn't the other races produced so many experts as well?
It was simply too difficult to pursue the dao blind.
***
Before long, both Su Yu and Great Ming King vanished in the River of Time.
They were in search of the formation dao.
***
At the same time.
Death Realm.
East Heavenly Palace.
Su Yu's human lord's token was kept inside the palace. At the moment, a boundlessly dense power of fortune was emanating from the token. It rippled out, threatening to cover the entirety of the East Heavenly Domain and suppress all resistance.
Great changes had occurred in the East Heavenly Palace. Almost all the top experts of the Death Realm had found out about the recent changes. Marquis Lanshan was now the ruler of the East Heavenly Palace. She had even sent her orders to the other heavenly domains, gathering all human death spirits in the East Heavenly Domain. That would be their new territory.
Her orders had been effective. A steady flow of human death spirits had arrived at the East Heavenly Domain. This day, a powerful aura abruptly descended upon the East Heavenly Domain. A gigantic claw appeared in the sky and dropped down upon the East Heavenly Palace.
At the moment, Marquis Lanshan was busy receiving a human death spirit marquis that had just arrived from the North Heavenly Domain. The moment she noticed the disturbance outside, she was alarmed. She soared into the sky, pulled the east heavenly token out, and pushed it upon the claw in the sky.
She roared, "You dare? Who are you? Who dares to invade the territory of the human race?"
"Territory of the human race?" A frosty voice rang out from the sky, "Lanshan, this is the Death Realm. When did the Death Realm become the territory of the human race? The ancient past is no more. For offending your superior, you deserve capital punishment."
The powerful aura in the sky grew even stronger as the gigantic claw descended upon Marquis Lanshan. Even the east heavenly token in her hand trembled violently.
The same cold voice rang out, "Not everyone can control these tokens. Ultimately, only your strength matters. A mere token won't get you far. This token is ineffective against me."
The pressure on Marquis Lanshan intensified.
The east heavenly token in her hand was utterly suppressed by the attacker. Noticing that, her gaze turned sharp as she roared, "Human lord's token, I beseech your help!"
Boom!
With a deafening rumble, a colossal token appeared in the sky.
Su Yu's token had manifested instantly.
Su Yu's silhouette emerged from the token. Like the silhouette outside the Human Realm, it was clad in white robes, with a crown on its head and a book in its hand. It coldly said, "Impudent. For offending your superior, you deserve capital punishment."
Boom!
The powerful luck of humanity erupted from the token.
In only a few days, the luck of humanity had grown massively. After all, humanity had gained several Daofuses in short succession. Power of laws rippled out of the token, surging into the sky, causing even the heavenly laws themselves to stir.
The clouds in the sky dispersed. A crowned expert was revealed with his arm outstretched as revealed. Violent ripples could be seen around that outstretched arm. A collision of laws!
The crowned expert said, "How surprising. In a short few days, the new human lord has grown the luck of humanity to such a level. This is already near the level of the ninth epoch."
Looking at the sky, Marquis Lanshan frowned. This was an extremely powerful opponent.
A king.
One that she was unfamiliar with.
The newly arrived marquis stood behind her with a frown. After a short moment, the marquis sent her a voice transmission, "This seems to be the West Heavenly King."
"West Heavenly King?" Marquis Lanshan's heart trembled. She questioned sharply, "West Heavenly King, is this a declaration of war against humanity?"
"War?" West Heavenly King said, "You are too weak to deserve a war. Even with the help of two tokens, I can still easily kill you. I also have more than ten marquises under my command. Why don't you invite your human lord here to have a chat with me instead, Lanshan?"
Around him, numerous powerful auras appeared. These were the auras of marquises. The experts of the West Heavenly Domain had arrived.
At the same moment, a figure appeared from the Celestial River of Death. The mighty figure was akin to an ancient general that had returned from the past...no, this was indeed an ancient general. Grand Dream, the Spirit Suppression General.
The majestic figure roared coldly, "West Heavenly King, if you want a war so badly, you will get one."
Looking at the direction of the river, West Heavenly King laughed and said, "What can you do here? What can you do to me as long as I stay out of your Spirit Suppression Domain? You're nothing special even if you join hands with Lanshan."
"Nothing special?" Grand Dream snorted and said, "Spirit Suppression General, Grand Dream, beseeches the human lord to expand the territory under my supervision!"
Boom!
The entire world shook.
A phantom hand appeared in the sky and gripped the human lord's token. Then, it stamped down upon the token floating above Grand Dream.
Boom!
Instantly, a golden ray of light appeared. It started expanding in the direction of East Heavenly Domain.
Chapter 1772: West Royal Consort (3)
With a token floating above him, the old turtle advanced step after step. With each step he took, the area covered in the golden pillar enlarged. He coldly said, "West Heavenly King, do not forget that humanity's imperial court still stands. The laws we live under are the same laws established by the human race. With the authority of humanity, the domain under my supervision can be expanded at any time."
He continued stepping forward. As for the golden light, it continued expanding, as though it were unstoppable.
After a short observation, West Heavenly King said indifferently, "A mere tenth epoch human lord. How can he represent the ancient past? How long can you last? How long can this human lord's token last? It is still incapable of altering the laws."
Yes. This was an expansion of territory. But with his keen eyes, he could easily see through the so-called expansion.
However, the old turtle remained calm. He coldly said, "You are free to try us. Step into the Spirit Suppression Domain and see if you can leave alive."
He continued advancing alongside the golden light. As the golden light expanded, even the aura of West Heavenly King was expelled. Just then, several experts appeared behind Grand Dream. Heavendoom, Grandstar, and Empyrean Cloud had arrived. Each of them emitted an incomparably powerful aura.
The old turtle roared, "Scram! This is the territory of humanity. Do you want war?"
West Heavenly King stared at the old turtle coldly. At this point, the golden light was already right in front of him. With a stomp, he suppressed the golden light, preventing it from further spreading. Death qi slowly seeped out below him. Behind him, more and more marquises arrived.
Suddenly, West Heavenly King laughed and said, "Grand Dream, why are you mentioning humanity again and again? Have you forgotten that you're not a human?"
The old turtle coldly replied, "I received the favor of Human Emperor and Devote King, tasked to suppress the Death Realm. In this era, I received the favor of the new emperor, tasked with watching over the Death Realm yet again. Since humanity endures, I am naturally still a general of humanity. West Heavenly King, a traitor like you is unqualified to question me."
Facing West Heavenly King's frosty gaze, the old turtle continued stepping forward. As he advanced, he said, "Marquis Lanshan, utilize the east heavenly token and suppress his death qi. Today, I shall cut him down!"
"Cutting me down?"
West Heavenly King laughed with amusement. Yes. This wasn't his territory. Thus, he would suffer a tiny suppression here. But having himself cut down by the old turtle? What a joke.
The old turtle said, "You are indeed as idiotic as East Heavenly King. He used to laugh just like this."
At that, West Heavenly King raised his brow. Yes! East Heavenly King was dead! That was what he was worried about. How did East Heavenly King die? It was said that he had died in the Luminous Domain Mansion.
West Heavenly King said nothing. Rather, he focused, seemingly trying to sense something. He knew that the old turtle wouldn't be easy to defeat. He had only arrived because the West Royal Consort had already departed.
If they could attack from both sides concurrently, they would have a much higher chance at killing the old turtle. They couldn't allow the new East Heavenly Domain to grow strong. The new East Heavenly Domain would be the easiest to eliminate while it was still weak.
As of late, Marquis Lanshan had been recruiting human death spirits everywhere. In fact, three human marquises had already arrived from the North Heavenly Domain and South Heavenly Domain.
At this rate, nobody knew if she could gather even more human marquises. Given time to grow, they would be much harder to defeat. Additionally, West Heavenly King was still quite wary of the new human lord. No matter what, humanity used to be the overlord of the ancient past.
And the new human lord had actually set his sights on the Death Realm. The death of East Heavenly King had further intensified West Heavenly King's wariness. One ought to remember that the four heavenly kings had survived for nine epochs. They weren't supposed to die so easily.
West Heavenly King said nothing. Inwardly, he was attempting to establish communication with West Royal Consort. However, communication between realms was too difficult. A large amount of effort was required to coordinate their joint attack. Any mistake might result in unforeseen consequences.
It would be for the best if both he and West Royal Consort could attack at the same time. They aimed to suppress or even kill the old turtle outright.
***
At the same time.
An expert in black robes appeared above the Sea of Stars. Her presence was hazy, as though she wasn't there. Not one of the numerous demonic beasts in the sea could sense her presence.
The entire body of this person was covered, revealing only her pair of eyes. Those frosty eyes were gazing straight at the sea below. She could see the Grand Dream City. The main body of the old turtle was still residing inside the city. He had only sent his dao body to the Death Realm.
Unless absolutely necessary, the old turtle did not want to trigger a war so early either. He only wanted to force the West Heavenly King to retreat for now. For some reason, he started feeling uneasy.
He looked up doubtfully. All of a sudden, an immense sense of crisis had erupted from his instincts.
Danger.
***
At the same time.
Su Yu had just departed the Human Realm. Earlier, he had taken several human Invincibles on a tour to the River of Time. He had departed in a rush after sensing the intense reaction of his human lord's token.
It seemed to have encountered a powerful enemy. The moment he left the Human Realm, a token of his trembled. The mayor's token of Grand Dream City.
"I sensed the arrival of an intense crisis."
That was the old turtle's message.
Su Yu's expression changed. A crisis that could threaten even the old turtle? That was the strongest expert on his side. Yes, the white dog was strong as well, but the white dog did not count since he would hardly act outside the Culture King's Residence.
"Crisis..."
Behind Su Yu, Great Qin King and Great Xia King had left the Human Realm as well. They weren't out to pick a fight with their new strength. Rather, they were looking for a minor realm to test the effect of the suppressive force on their new bodies.
Suddenly, Su Yu turned around and said, "Head to Grand Dream City immediately!"
The two blanked out slightly. What happened?
"Go!"
With one step, Su Yu entered the River of Time. The two hurriedly trailed along. Through the River of Time, they moved at an unbelievably fast speed.
***
Grand Dream City.
The old turtle was still feeling uneasy.
Danger.
Were West Heavenly King and North Heavenly King going to attack together? Had South Heavenly King decided to stay out of this battle? Or was it the worst-case scenario, one where even South Heavenly King had turned against them?
That...might prove troublesome. No, there were other possibilities as well. Perhaps a powerful expert had awakened from the Celestial River of Death, and this powerful expert was hostile toward humanity. The old turtle was assuming that the crisis would come from the Death Realm.
That was understandable as all the Daofuses in the world of the living were currently hiding in their respective realms. Furthermore, the old turtle would only be wary of a small number of people, such as Tiangu and Heavenly Overseer Marquis. He feared nobody, even when his dao body was not with him. It wouldn't be easy for any of them to kill him.
Just then, the little demonic beast that had been cultivating in front of the city cried out restlessly.
Danger.
The old turtle knew that a crisis was coming, but he had no idea where it would come from. As for the little demonic beast, she did not know as much. However, her instincts were screaming at her that an intense danger was coming.
She could only cry in fear, but she was at a loss as to what she should do. Noticing that, the old turtle's heart thumped. A crisis in the Death Realm would not spread to the world of the living. Why was the little demonic beast feeling so uneasy as well?
Suddenly, his eyes glowed. However, he couldn't see anything. That only served to further shock him. Nevertheless, he still shouted, "I saw you! What an impressive scheme, West Heavenly King. Are you planning to attack me from both sides?"
There was no response. Slowly, a faint barrier formed around Grand Dream City. West Royal Consort had arrived. However, she was in no rush to act. To prevent the old turtle from escaping with the city, and to avoid attracting attention, she had to first form a formation around the city.
Meanwhile, the old turtle was still completely oblivious. West Royal Consort specialized in sealing, and she was exceptionally proficient at it. Slowly, Grand Dream City became isolated from the rest of the world.
West Royal Consort had not bothered to solicit help for this task. After leaving the Death Realm, she had discovered that the experts of the various races were in hiding, while the human experts were monitoring the Allheaven Battlefield in secret.
In such a situation, seeking help would only risk leaking this operation of hers. The best option was to come alone and join hands with West Heavenly King to kill the old turtle.
Eliminating the new East Heavenly Domain and killing the old turtle would be the best way for them to establish a connection between the living and the dead. Opening new death tunnels was simply too unreliable and risky.
One had to admit that this was quite a bold plan. Killing Grand Dream would affect the entire humanity and the remaining guardians. Hiding in the void, West Royal Consort could see the old turtle clearly. However, the old turtle was completely oblivious to her presence.
Under her mask, she sneered. This old turtle was only strong because he was so long-lived. His dao comprehension was simply too shallow.
Due to his age, he wasn't weak. Among the living, very few people could match him. However, he was too ignorant. So ignorant that he couldn't even detect the workings of dao around him, allowing her to freely set up a sealing formation around the city.
In short, the old turtle was only good at brute strength. He was terrible at the dao. Someone like that might be powerful for anyone else, but for her, this was someone she could kill.
"Someone so idiotic has zero hope of becoming a Master of Law."
While thinking about all that, she started contacting West Heavenly King in preparation for their joint attack. She aimed to finish the meddling old turtle in one fell swoop.