Chapter 1892: Keep A Low Profile, Kill Less (2)
Suddenly, Su Yu looked into the distance and frowned as he said, "This isn't good. The fluctuations are getting too conspicuous. Trouble might be coming."
He glanced at the stunned Stable Army Marquis and said, "Lan Tian, take him and leave. Stable Army Marquis, just stop for now."
With a wave of his hand, several figures appeared. When Stable Army Marquis saw those figures, he blanked out. What?
"Mo Shenji?"
He knew one of them. A devil of the previous epoch. While he was in shock, Su Yu released a palm strike. With a rumble, the devil was turned into mincemeat, followed by the three Eternals around him. Then, Su Yu consumed all four corpses with the devil page.
Boom!
Only then did some crimson clouds appear in the sky. This was no heavenly tribulation. Rather, it was the phenomena that had appeared due to the deaths of experts.
Su Yu had killed them instantly.
Three Daofuses and Eternals had been killed before being devoured. Nothing was left behind. With them devoured cleanly, there was no need to worry about anything they might have on them that could expose Su Yu's group.
After all, he had just arrived in the Upper Realm. He had to keep a low profile. These were the experts they had encountered outside the valley earlier. There was no need to keep them as hostages. He only needed to kill them. What was the point of killing them? To keep a low profile, obviously.
Then, Su Yu stuffed all the captured humans into his book. It would be cramped with so many of them, but there was enough space.
"Burn!"
Raging flames rose and spread everywhere. The flames spread across the valley, turning some of the flowers into ashes. Great Zhou King and Lan Tian joined, burning all the surrounding flowers as well.
Then, Great Ming King appeared. While withdrawing his formation, he said, "We need to leave. Someone sensed something happening here."
"There is no rush. Scrub this place clean and leave no aura behind."
Su Yu did not rush as they might make mistakes when they were in too much of a rush. Before long, they were done scrubbing their traces clean. The valley of flowers had been turned into a valley of death.
That was not all. With a toying smile, Great Zhou King said, "Old Zhu, leave your formation behind. Let's give the guests something fun to work with. Just hide the aura of your formation."
Great Ming King grimaced and said, "Formations are expensive..."
"Cut the crap!"
"Fine."
Helpless, Great Ming King could only do as told. Seeing that, Su Yu smiled and compressed more power inside the formation.
To the side, the grinning Lan Tian said, "I'll leave a clone behind as well and give them a nice, beautiful explosion when possible."
Then, he transformed into a charred and damaged flower. The flower spoke cheerfully, "They will definitely search this place. The sole flower remaining will definitely attract their attention. Hehehehe...lay down the formation around me!"
They started working in silence. Before long, the formation was compressed into a ball. The flower swallowed it before burying itself in the ground. He said, "How's my concealment? I need to create some obstacles for them to discover me for this to look more realistic..."
Su Yu laughed and nodded. Lan Tian was quite good at this. If the flower were too conspicuous, it would look suspicious. It would look a lot less suspicious if it were harder to find.
Done with all that, Su Yu grabbed Stable Army Marquis and said, "Don't resist. Don't move. Or I'll execute you as a traitor."
Stable Army Marquis was fully sealed, but he could still sense and see what was happening around him. He was greatly shocked, but he was also observing them with an inscrutable expression.
Four powerhouses.
Attacking him right after arriving...before killing a devil Daofuse. And now, they were laying down a trap.
All four were humans.
Emperor Yu...Culture King...Lan Tian...
Stable Army Marquis didn't know what to feel anymore. He was excited, confused, and terrified at the same time.
Could anyone give him an answer?
Were these humans?
But why would they attack him if they weren't humans?
But they were clearly humans. He was only unsure about that weird fellow with the strength of a heavenly king.
Confusion. Unease. And a tiny bit of hope.
He did not dare to ask anything. He only waited silently. At the very least, he did not see any intention to kill him.
"Let's go."
With one order from Su Yu, they all gathered up again. Great Zhou King activated his character, causing the space around them to warp. At the same time, Su Yu suppressed the fluctuations around them with his stone. With a smile, all four vanished.
In the blink of an eye, they reappeared far away. The stone in Su Yu's hand shook, erasing the spatial fluctuations that had appeared due to their teleportation. Before long, everything calmed down.
With this, nobody would be able to trace their whereabouts anymore. Then again, this was understandable. This was a group of the best humanity had to offer. They weren't individuals one could trace easily.
***
Not long after their departure, several auras approached the valley. Before long, around eight figures appeared.
At that point, the entire valley was already scorched black.
One of them, an expert with a powerful aura, frowned and said furiously, "Damn it! Mo Shenji is dead! I ordered him to not alert the targets. He only needed to keep watch. Damn it!"
He was certain that Mo Shenji had somehow alerted Stable Army Marquis.
Damn it!
That useless bastard! Since Stable Army Marquis had successfully escaped, he wouldn't be so easy to find again.
"Give chase!"
"He has quite a lot of people with him. Even after killing Mo Shenji, he won't be able to go far so soon. He must have suffered some injuries from the battle as well."
The leader of the group looked furious.
Damn it!
He tried his best to scan the area, but he couldn't find anything. Did they escape cleanly so soon?
Were they hiding nearby?
As he continued his search, the look in his eyes changed. Something seemed to be alive underground.
With a palm strike, he parted the ground, revealing a damaged flower.
The eyes of the expert flickered. There was one flower left! Perhaps he could rewind time through this flower and determine where the humans were!
He hurriedly landed on the ground. The others followed as well. After all, they had no idea which direction Stable Army Marquis had fled to. They couldn't even give chase if they wanted to. They had to find out more to carry out their pursuit.
"Lord, this flower is still alive. Perhaps we can figure out the direction Stable Army Marquis had fled to through it."
"Do you think I'm too stupid to think of the same?"
What stupid nonsense was this underling saying? What was the point of saying something like this now? As he grabbed the flower, a pair of helpless and confused eyes appeared on the flower.
The leader didn't bother to question the flower. It was a waste of time. He only needed something alive. With that, the power of laws rippled as he started rewinding time.
With a living being left, it didn't matter even if their surroundings were scrubbed clean. It was likely that Stable Army Marquis had been fleeing in a rush. Thus, he hadn't been able to completely remove everything.
Time started turning back.
Just then, the heart of the leader was gripped by a sense of crisis. His expression changed as he hurriedly tore space apart to flee.
Boom!
A deafening rumble rang out as an explosion engulfed the entire valley.
Apart from the leader, who was a Daofuse, there were two Daofuses and five Eternals in the group. With that explosion, all five Eternals were blasted into nothingness. Even their daos shattered.
The body of a Daofuse crumbled apart. With a roar, another body appeared. This was a cultivator of the Three Body Method. Clearly, this was an expert who had emerged after the ancient past. Thanks to that, he was able to survive the explosion.
The explosion was extremely powerful, but it didn't last long. By the time his third body appeared due to the destruction of his second body, the explosion had ended. He stood there with a deathly pale complexion.
Boundless fear could be seen in his eyes. He was so close to death!
The other Daofuse was not as lucky. That Daofuse did not cultivate the Three Body Method. Instead, he cultivated the Weapon Fusion Method. He was much stronger, but he had died directly from the explosion.
Sure enough, luck was more important than strength at times. In such a situation, the Three Body Method was much better for survival than the Weapon Fusion Method.
When everything calmed, a rift appeared in space and the leader of the group walked out. With an unsightly expression, he roared, "Who?"
This was not the work of Stable Army Marquis.
Stable Army Marquis was incapable of producing such a powerful explosion. Furthermore, this was a trap capable of hiding from his crisis sense until the very end. It must be the work of a super powerhouse.
Someone far stronger than him.
This might look like a simple explosion, but it involved a lot of tricks. The ability of concealment. The ability to compress the power of laws. The ability to weaken one's crisis sense. Even that flower was suspicious.
This was too intricate a setup for a brute like Stable Army Marquis.
The leader was both furious and alarmed.
He had arrived with two Daofuses and five Eternals. Including Mo Shenji's group, they had lost two Daofuses and eight Eternals.
This was a heavy loss. Furthermore, one of their Daofuses had also lost two tri-life bodies. He was furious. But he was also fearful. He wasn't even thinking of giving chase anymore. These opponents were far stronger than he could handle.
He might be near a tier-two Daofuse in strength, but he knew that these opponents were stronger than him. They wouldn't have been able to conceal the trap from him otherwise. It couldn't be Stable Army Marquis.
Instead of giving chase, he waved his hand and released a large golden fireworks in the sky. Before long, numerous powerful gusts of willpower arrived from afar. In truth, the deaths of two Daofuses and that massive explosion had attracted numerous gazes.
"Bajue, what happened?"
A willpower face appeared and looked down with surprise. This was clearly the Brightmoon Flower Valley, a possible hiding place of Stable Army Marquis. There were rumors that Bajue was preparing an attack on this place. And from how things were looking, did a mishap happen?
The face did not belong to a devil while Bajue was a devil. Thus, the newcomer did not feel much about the deaths of two devil Daofuses. In a way, they were also competitors. They were more curious about the loss Bajue had sustained.
Bajue was an ancient marquis as well. He was an extremely powerful being. Could a group comprised of Bajue himself and several other Daofuses fall to Stable Army Marquis? And they had even allowed that fellow to escape? Was that even possible?
More and more faces appeared in the sky. Bajue stared at them coldly. After a while, he gnashed his teeth and said, "Something happened. It wasn't Stable Army Marquis. Some powerful experts are helping him in secret. Mo Shenji was killed in advance. Then, they buried a large amount of ompressed power of laws in the area before detonating it."
Understanding dawned on the many faces in the sky. But soon, their expressions turned odd. In short, this guy had fallen for a trap. How...unlucky.
Losing two Daofuses at once was a major loss to any race. Next, a massive face appeared. The furious face asked, "Damn you, Bajue! Where is Stable Army Marquis?"
Bajue was furious at being addressed that way, but he swallowed his anger and answered, "Bloodbreak Marquis, he was gone by the time I arrived."
"Trash."
Bloodbreak Marquis.
The other faces in the sky hurriedly moved further away from that face.
That was a being on the same level of the Immortal Battle Marquis. The two had fought each other for many years for a masterless dao. Not long ago, Immortal Battle Marquis had won. Thus, this guy was currently in a bad mood.
And now, the devils had lost two Daofuses at once. It was likely that this guy would lose his temper.
Chapter 1893: Keep A Low Profile, Kill Less (3)
"Why aren't you giving chase?" Bloodbreak Marquis asked, "Are you waiting for me to come and give chase personally? Where is your brain?"
He was furious.
This piece of trash might also be an ancient marquis like him, but Bloodbreak Marquis did not think much of this person. Unfortunately, his real body was too far away from this place or he would have arrived in person.
Meanwhile, Marquis Bajue had been waiting here all along. Yet he had failed. What useless trash!
Bloodbreak Marquis was enraged. He believed that Marquis Bajue was not giving chase due to fear. But how could an ancient marquis die too easily? These days, any battle exceeding a certain scale would easily attract numerous other experts. But instead of giving chase, this bastard was staying here.
At this point, anger was starting to show on Bajue's face. There were outsiders here as well. Yet Bloodbreak was scolding him in front of them.
Despite his anger, he did not lash out. Instead, he said, "I will give chase immediately. But they might be far stronger than me."
"Just shut your mouth and get moving."
Bloodbreak Marquis was showing him zero consideration. Left with no choice, Bajue could only gnash his teeth before vanishing. What the fuck was he supposed to be in pursuit of? They were long gone by the time he arrived. He didn't even know which direction he should go.
So be it. He decided to fly in a random direction and put up a show. Inwardly, he kept wondering about these mysterious opponents. Who? Who were they? Human experts? Among the surviving human experts, which was this strong?
Marquis Minshan was the strongest, but he was dead. The remaining ones wouldn't be too much stronger than Stable Army Marquis. They wouldn't be able to kill Mo Shenji instantly before planting such a powerful trap behind even if they were to work together.
"If it weren't humans...could it be..."
Numerous thoughts appeared in his mind as a cold glint flickered in his eyes. Could it be the iron devourers or some of the other ancient races? No, that did not make sense. The trap reeked the smell of cultural researchers. The iron devourers were powerful, but they didn't have such methods.
Immortals?
The immortals were most proficient at such cheap tricks.
As numerous thoughts swirled in his mind, he carried out his search. After some time, helplessness sank in. He found nothing. All possible traces were gone. As for the Brightmoon Flower Valley, everything had been wiped clean by that explosion.
"Damn it!"
He cursed furiously. He was in trouble.
For losing two Daofuses, the Devil Assembly would not let him off lightly.
How unlucky.
Before long, he ended his search. He couldn't afford to stray too far as that might give the other races the chance to ambush and kill him. He suspected that the secret opponents were probably peak Daofuses or even pseudo kings.
It was hard for him to judge, but he knew that he should stop his search.
***
At the same time.
At the Buried Soul Mountain, Su Yu looked in a certain direction. They were very far away from the valley, but the fluctuations there could be felt even here. Furthermore, that loud explosion and the exploding Daofuses could all be seen from here.
Su Yu chuckled and said, "Have they been living too well here? How did a trap like that kill a Daofuse? Are the people here all idiots? How are they so careless?"
He was very surprised. That was a casual trap he had left to kill some Eternals. But instead, it managed to kill a Daofuse.
Su Yu continued, "Looks like the Upper Realm is filled with stupid people."
Great Zhou King laughed and said, "Not really. That was merely something they did not expect from humanity. Up here, humanity has been declining for many years. Most of the time, they will focus only on fleeing. They do not have the courage to install such traps. Furthermore, a trap so powerful can only be placed by someone at the level of a heavenly king."
Su Yu nodded, "True. But that doesn't change the fact that they are too stupid."
Su Yu laughed and added, "I guess this is a good start for us. Two dead Daofuses, both devils. Not bad at all. I have been feeling regretful since Devilroil Marquis was the only powerful devil I had killed before this. Now, I don't feel that bad anymore."
Great Zhou King smiled and said, "Next, we can share the pain and kill some divines as well. The immortals lost Soldier King and Fallen Star Marquis, while the divines have yet to lose anyone."
Su Yu smiled. True. The divines...seemed to have remained quite lucky thus far. With that Consort Emeritus around, it wouldn't be easy to kill any of them. Furthermore, the divines had not bothered to send anyone down from the Upper Realm.
As they conversed, the captured Stable Army Marquis muttered blankly, "Two Daofuses...dead?"
Since when were Daofuses so easy to kill? Those in the Upper Realm were stupid...Lower Realm? These people came from the Lower Realm!
With a look of disbelief, he asked with both nervousness and hope in his voice, "Are you...from the Lower Realm?"
Great Zhou King looked at him and asked with a smile, "Can't you recognize me?"
"You..." Stable Army Marquis stared for a long while before finally, he exclaimed in shock, "You're...Zhou Tiansheng?"
"Cough. Zhou Tianqi."
Great Zhou King tried to laugh it off, but Stable Army Marquis shook his head and said, "No. You're Zhou Tiansheng. I remember you now."
"That's the name for the previous epoch. I'm now Zhou Tianqi." Great Zhou King smiled and said, "A name is merely an empty title."
He did not care about names that much since he had changed his name many times.
Stable Army Marquis had yet to recover from his shock. He asked again, "Are you...really from the Lower Realm? How is this possible?"
He couldn't believe this. Were these people really from the Lower Realm?
Killing Soldier King. Killing Fallen Star Marquis. Killing Devilroil Marquis...
Just how many Daofuses had they killed? Were the people of Lower Realm so powerful? Even Zhou Tianqi was someone he knew. That wasn't someone from this epoch. When did the Lower Realm produce an expert at the level of a pseudo king? Also, who was this white-haired youth?
Stable Army Marquis felt like he did not have enough braincells to process all this. Could anyone explain this to him?
He was minding his business at home when he was suddenly captured. Then, two devil Daofuses died. Then, his captors told him that they came from the Lower Realm. The same Lower Realm where humanity was supposed to be struggling massively.
He was losing his mind.
Why was the Lower Realm so powerful?
They had been thinking of saving the humans of the Lower Realm the moment the Upper Realm was open. Was that a joke all along?
Su Yu couldn't be bothered to explain. He said, "Let's go back first. Maybe the myriad races will search this place as well. They sure have a lot of experts to spare. Just two Daofuses died, yet more than ten Daofuses reacted to it."
Su Yu lamented, "The Upper Realm is indeed not so simple. Let's go back and plan again."
"Yes!"
Under Stable Army Marquis' shocked gaze, all the experts obeyed, including the psychotic pseudo king. They wasted no time and flew deep inside the Buried Soul Mountain.
Emperor Yu?
He recalled how they were addressing the youth. He recalled the pen he saw. He was unsure, and he was also slightly excited. Suddenly, he asked, "Is this...the human lord of this era?"
That was the only conclusion he could reach. That was the only explanation for how obedient these experts were. Had the Lower Realm humans produced a human lord? This human lord did not feel weak at all. At the very least, this human lord was stronger than him.
Then again, this human lord was weaker than the previous human lords. And he was far weaker than Hundred Battle King.
At that question, Great Zhou King laughed and answered, "Not the human lord."
Stable Army Marquis blanked out. What?
"He's the Human Emperor of the new era."
Stable Army Marquis exclaimed in alarm, "What nonsense are you saying? You—"
Great Zhou King said, "I am a Torchbearer. A first-generation Torchbearer. Your son was a junior of mine. A subordinate of mine. Do not question me. Do not pressure me with your status. Do you understand?"
Stable Army Marquis blanked out. A Torchbearer. First generation! He stared at Great Zhou King. After a long while, he was still confused. This was someone he had seen during the previous epoch. Someone inconspicuous who was only an Eternal.
But since this was a first-generation Torchbearer, he had clearly hidden his strength back then. Could it be that this human lord was his choice? If that was the case, all this was understandable.
Human Emperor?
What arrogance. Was this Torchbearer trying to set up a puppet emperor or something?
His imagination ran wild.
However, Su Yu appeared completely nonchalant.
Seemingly having guessed what Stable Army Marquis was thinking, Lan Tian snickered and gave his head a pat. When Stable Army Marquis glared angrily, Lan Tian smiled and said, "Be a good boy. I have never killed a human marquis. Do not be my first. Be good."
Stable Army Marquis' heart chilled.
Was this guy serious? This psycho felt the strongest in the group. He felt even stronger than the Torchbearer.
Just then, Su Yu said with a frown, "Stop scaring the senior like this. We are fellow humans. This senior has fought for humanity for many years. He is still an ancient marquis. Don't be rude."
Lan Tian beamed and said, "Big Brother Yu is right. I won't scare him anymore. Instead, we can hand him to Great Zhou King. If Great Zhou King can't handle him, I'll scare Great Zhou King instead. Hehehehehe."
Great Zhou King groaned inwardly. Even when Stable Army Marquis looked at him, he looked away with resignation. Why was the marquis looking at him? He wasn't the one in charge here.
Was this guy blind? Couldn't this guy see that he was the main target of suppression in this group? Any troublesome task would be thrown his way. Every now and then, they would call him a Hundred Battle King supporter.
What the hell? He wasn't even the Torchbearer who had picked Hundred Battle King. He had only said that Hundred Battle King was strong enough to be helpful. Even now, when a supporter of Hundred Battle King was around, his name was still couldn't be cleared.
Great Zhou King couldn't even be bothered to say anything about this anymore. Stable Army Marquis would be fine as long as he wasn't too stupid.
Su Yu would not kill an ancient human marquis for no reason. As someone who had survived for so many years, Stable Army Marquis was naturally someone with keen eyes as well. The moment he noticed the dynamics of the group, his heart thumped. So the Torchbearer...wasn't even the one in charge!
Right at that moment, they reached their destination. Stable Army Marquis saw even more people, including some familiar faces.
Such as Grandstar.
He knew all these guardians.
After all, these guardians had been guarding the death tunnels for so many years.
"Emperor Yu!"
"Your Majesty!"
Everyone greeted happily. The sight of their joyful faces upon seeing Su Yu shocked Stable Army Marquis yet again. All of them were ignoring the pseudo king and the Torchbearer. All their eyes were on the white-haired youth.
This...was no puppet. One ought to know that this Emperor Yu was weaker than the two. Why was this happening? Stable Army Marquis had countless questions, but he didn't have the chance to ask them.
He did not notice that at the moment, Liu Shan and Du Bing were both so shocked it felt as though their eyeballs were going to pop out of their heads soon.
Their marquis...had been captured.
Holy shit!
How long had it been?
And they had really returned with the marquis captured!
These people were way too terrifying.
The two felt the final bit of courage in them evaporating. If even the marquis had been captured, what about the subordinates of the marquis? What happened to their friends?
And their families?
Dead? Or captured?
With a nonchalant smile, Su Yu said, "I'm fine. Stable Army Marquis is here. We even killed two devil Daofuses while we were there. We need to stay silent for a few days as they will probably be searching everywhere for us right now."
Grandstar laughed and said, "Bring it on. Are we supposed to be scared of them? I knew you wouldn't return empty-handed. Emperor Yu, when are we doing something big?"
Su Yu chuckled and said, "What's the rush? We're new here. We still don't know the situation up here."
He glanced at Stable Army Marquis before waving his hand, releasing over a thousand people. He said, "Detain them for now. I don't want to repeat myself too much. Great Zhou King, I believe you can communicate with them better. Talk to them. Take Stable Army Marquis to me when you're done."
"Yes!"
Then, Great Zhou King looked at Stable Army Marquis and flashed a wide smile. At this point, Stable Army Marquis had finally calmed down. He wanted to know about the Lower Realm as well. Thus, he was happy with this arrangement.
As for his subordinates, none could move as all were still suppressed. All of them looked terrified. Why? Because every single one of them was being personally escorted by an individual. These individuals were looking them up and down, causing all of them to shiver in fear.
"So many cuties!"
Over a thousand Lan Tians spoke and laughed in unison with different voices.
"I need to show my cuties some love!"
Even Great Ming King ran off.
Lan Tian was a very stressful person to be around.
Stable Army Marquis said solemnly, "Everyone, do not try anything. Stay calm."
He could see it now. The Lower Realm humans...did not hold too much respect toward them. Apart from the Torchbearer, who was looking at them kindly, the others were looking at them with complete indifference, as though they did not matter.
From their eyes, it even felt as though they were trying to distance themselves from the Upper Realm humans.
Everyone knew that Su Yu disliked the ancient humans and the Upper Realm humans. Because of this, Great Zhou King became the target of suppression. Thus, none of them was interested in showing these people any kindness.
Stable Army Marquis even saw an iron devourer Daofuse in the group. The iron devourer was also staying far away from them, as though they were carrying some infectious disease. One ought to know that the Upper Realm iron devourers were actually quite friendly with them.
Why was this happening?
Countless questions emerged in his mind.
Noticing that the marquis was looking at him, September hurriedly said, "Don't look at me! I don't know you! Emperor Yu, my race only knows you. Who is this guy? He's deliberately looking at me!"
"..."
Stable Army Marquis blanked out. Was there a need for such a reaction?
Not far away, Su Yu chuckled and said, "Just let him be. It's not like you'll lose anything when he looks at you."
"Fine, fine."
But inwardly, September was feeling very stressed. Why was this guy looking at him?
Sigh.
He sat down beside Xia Longwu and decided to ignore the staring marquis.
Chapter 1894: Skygazing, Comprehending The Dao (1)
Great Zhou King left with Stable Army Marquis.
Su Yu ignored the two. He also ignored Lan Tian, who was sneakily following the two. He was busy.
Busy skygazing. That sounded like a cultured thing to do.
When he went to Culture King's Residence, he saw two characters hanging at the back entrance: Sky Gaze.
At the time, he didn't understand the point of that. But these days, he would spend a lot of time gazing at the sky as well. He had discovered that the skies could really be different.
The sky of Death Realm was occupied by only one death spirit dao.
The sky of the Myriad Realms was occupied by a River of Time and countless tributaries.
And the sky of the Upper Realm was clean. There was no River of Time, as though no laws had been set here.
"If the River of Time is a dao as well, it signifies that someone had created a world in the Myriad Realms. The river was a product of creation. The master of the River of Time was the creator.
"Subsequently, the master of death spirit dao stole from the River of Time and attempted creation down below. But the creation was incomplete, resulting in a Death Realm. Even so, the master of that dao was also a creator.
"Humanity originally intended to make the Upper Realm its personal territory. The Human Emperor probably tried to become the third creator. But before he succeeded, he encountered trouble. Otherwise, there would be a river in the sky here as well.
"Three creators. The master of River of Time was the most successful. The master of death spirit dao stole from the River of Time, and the Human Realm had failed. Or perhaps he had merely started but was unable to reach completion. He might have attempted to steal from the River of Time as well.
"The power of laws is very easily sensed here, and there are also a lot of masterless laws. Did these laws come from the River of Time? Or did the Human Emperor punch a hole in the River of Time as well to redirect some power into his own dao, but something happened before he could complete the process? As a result, these laws leaked into the air, becoming masterless laws of the Upper Realm."
The act of skygazing was a way to comprehend the dao through observing the world.
After all that Su Yu had learned, he started to suspect that there were more meanings to the two characters behind Culture King's Residence. It did not only point to the act of skygazing. Perhaps it was also saying that everyone was merely gazing upon the sky from the bottom of the well.
Just how many experts were there in existence? If the River of Time really had a master, where was that master? What about the death spirit dao's master? Was that master dead? Who were Culture King and the others fighting?
The more he learned, the smaller he felt. The so-called Master of Law was merely the master of a tributary on the River of Time. This was nothing compared to the River of Time itself. Where was the end of the River of Time? Just how long was it? How powerful was it?
With the death spirit dao, Su Yu had seen one end of the river. He had not seen the other end, but he had a feeling that he could still reach the level of the master of the death spirit dao in his lifetime. But what about the River of Time?
Lan Tian had opened his crimson path on the River of Time. But that crimson path only occupied a part of the river. How much of the river had it occupied?
One tenth?
One hundredth?
One ten thousandth?
Could that crimson path even cover the entirety of the river?
Lan Tian's path was long. But that only gave it a better potential than the other daos. It was unlikely that he would become a Master of Law. In a way, he was also fusing with a dao instead of pioneering a completely new dao.
He would only become a Master of Law after occupying the entire River of Time. There was no future to his dao.
Just like the cultivators of the physical body dao. Some could go far and gain powerful combat strength. They could contend against Masters of Laws. But they wouldn't be Masters of Laws as that dao did not belong to them.
"The physical body dao of humanity might have been opened by the Human Ancestor. It is a very powerful dao, ranked only third among all the daos I have witnessed.
"Human Ancestor, a being during the primordial past...no, a being of the creation era. Culture King and the rest were people of the primordial past. They had merely ended that era to start the ancient past era.
"The Human Ancestor was surnamed Zhou, or that was simply his entire name. Is such an expert really dead? According to Grand Dream, he has been around since the creation era. It has been over two hundred thousand years since then. Is that the case? Has it been only that long since creation?
"Even Daofuses can live over a hundred thousand years. Masters of Laws can definitely live longer. The likes of Human Ancestor should still be alive if it has really been only two hundred thousand years since creation."
Su Yu was able to comprehend even more things by gazing at the sky in the Upper Realm. There was a definite advantage to cultivating in the Upper Realm. One that Su Yu had sensed as well.
This was a place where the numerous powers interweaved. Or to be precise, they were in chaos. This place resembled a newly created world. Laws had yet to be established here.
This was a very interesting place. Creation could be much easier here. Pioneering a dao could be even easier. Or he could even finish what the Human Emperor attempted back then and create his very own dao in the sky.
"Why can't new Masters of Laws emerge?"
Suddenly, a question appeared in Su Yu's mind. Why had there been no new Masters of Laws?
"Is it really because of the Heavenly Overseer Marquis? Since he's still around, the fortune of the ancient court endured. As a result, nobody could advance due to the limitation placed by the Human Emperor? How did he accomplish that?"
Su Yu started thinking about the Human Emperor.
He started putting himself in the same position. If he were the Human Emperor, and if he knew that a crisis was coming for humanity due to the disappearance of Culture King and Martial King, what would he do?
Apart from taking all the Masters of Laws away, he would certainly do something to prevent the myriad races from making a comeback. The Torchbearers would serve as the first layer of preparations. Was stopping everyone from becoming new Masters of Laws the second layer of preparation?
But even so, the myriad races would have more Daofuses. How was humanity supposed to turn things around?
"Humanity's physical body dao? Is that it?"
If nobody could become Masters of Laws, humanity's physical body dao would be the strongest dao in existence. No, there was also the death spirit dao. Then again, there were the four heavenly kings and numerous sealed death spirits. It was hard for the death spirit dao to produce new experts that were stronger than the cultivators of the physical body dao.
"In that case, the Human Emperor was truly good at scheming. He was able to predict the appearance of powerful experts like Hundred Battle King, one that could suppress the Myriad Realms alone. However, he had failed to predict that such an expert would be a total idiot."
When Su Yu thought from Human Emperor's perspective, he found that Human Emperor had done his best. That was an arrangement that would practically guarantee victory to humanity.
And one idiot had reversed that into a guaranteed defeat.
"In short, humanity is supposed to win so long as no new Masters of Laws appear. After the second conquest, Heavenly Overseer Marquis might be able to emerge as a Master of Law alongside Hundred Battle King. Then, they can remove the limitation placed by the Human Emperor, allowing humanity to produce more Masters of Laws. That will allow the myriad races to produce Masters of Laws as well, but they will lag behind humanity.
"And if humanity can subdue Martial Emperor, humanity will have three additional Masters of Laws. This will be enough to complete the second conquest. Human Emperor..."
The more Su Yu thought, the more he believed that Human Emperor was the actual number one schemer in existence.
Incredible.
There were very few stories about Human Emperor floating around. But the more Su Yu learned, the more impressive Human Emperor seemed. Culture King was too carefree. He would leave when he felt like it. Culture King was too brash and loyal. Thus, he had left right after Culture King left.
As for Radiant King, that was probably a romantic guy. There also weren't too many legends of him floating around. Perhaps he was currently with the Human Emperor. That was very likely.
Meanwhile, Control King had betrayed humanity. Where was Control King? By Devil Pseudo Emperor's side? Since their bloodlines had joined, the two were clearly in collusion.
Numerous thoughts appeared in Su Yu's mind. For the very first time, his impression of Human Emperor surpassed that of Culture King. That was an even more impressive person than Culture King. Or at the very least, that person was much better at planning and scheming.
"In that case, Human Emperor was the reason for there to be no new Masters of Laws. And Heavenly Overseer Marquis is the crux.
"Perhaps his death will remove this limitation. This will ruin Human Emperor's plan. By killing Heavenly Overseer Marquis, I will allow the myriad races to produce new Masters of Laws.
"Hundred Battle King might become one as well...or not. He has lost his fortune...no, he still has his strength. That alone is enough to make him a Master of Law. He will still be a top powerhouse, albeit one without luck on his side.
"Is Heavenly Overseer Marquis that important?"
Su Yu grinned. No way...right? Would people like Human Emperor and Culture King really take such a big gamble?
"Then again, it's understandable. Heavenly Overseer Marquis is the hardest person to die. He's the manifestation of luck..."
Su Yu continued his speculation based on all the clues he had. At this point, he could already deduce what the ancient humans had done for the future generation. This was extremely important.
This would decide the timing of his battle with Heavenly Overseer Marquis. He had to consider the consequences thoroughly before the battle.
Killing Heavenly Overseer Marquis would end the ancient court. The seal of Human Emperor would be removed. Everything would restart anew. That signified that new Masters of Laws would start appearing.
Suddenly, Su Yu laughed. Since when was he someone who would think long-term? He had always been one who would only live in the present. He had just arrived at the Upper Realm, yet he had comprehended many things.
It felt as though his path ahead was becoming clearer and clearer.
Opening a dao.
Opening a dao that was uniquely his.
Su Yu's dao. It could only be his.
There were too many failed examples before him. Human Ancestor. Master of death spirit dao. Human Emperor. All these people had failed.
"Because all of them were not fully independent from the River of Time. That is wrong. They should have completed the separation and be truly independent."
Su Yu looked into the horizon. There, he felt as though he could see a hole. A hole connected to the River of Time. Did the Human Emperor try to open his own dao in the Upper Realm?
Was that Culture King's plan when he abandoned the pen dao?
What happened next? How was his attempt?
***
Thinking that Su Yu was looking at him, Stable Army Marquis started growing nervous. Why? Because he had heard some stories about Su Yu from Great Zhou King.
Thus, when he noticed Su Yu's gaze in his direction, he thought that Su Yu was thinking of killing him. His expression turned heavy as he said, "Great Zhou King...both Hundred Battle King and this human lord are humans. Whoever prevails, humanity as a whole will benefit. Why can't they work together and defeat the myriad races? Is there a need for this?"
Great Zhou King sighed and said, "In that case, who among them will take the lead? Tell me. We still need a leader, right? Not even the ancient past can avoid having a leader. Culture King was so outstanding, yet there was an Emperor. Do not forget that."
Stable Army Marquis was left speechless.
Great Zhou King sighed again and asked, "What do you think?"
After some hesitation, Stable Army Marquis said, "According to your words, the new human lord is incredibly impressive. But there is still a gap between him and the top experts."
He inhaled deeply and continued, "I know that he alone gave humanity everything it has right now. But Hundred Battle King's strength is what we need. Why don't we let two leaders coexist?"
Chapter 1895: Skygazing, Comprehending The Dao (2)
Great Zhou King laughed. Clearly, these people had changed slightly as well. Back when the ninth epoch first ended, none of them would have made such a suggestion. But now, Stable Army Marquis was already willing to compromise. This was a good start, but Great Zhou King knew that this wasn't the answer Su Yu wanted.
"Are you saying that you will support Emperor Yu so long as he grows stronger than Hundred Battle King?"
After a short silence, Stable Army Marquis nodded and said, "I don't know the current human lord well. But from what you said, I believe he is better if he's as strong as Hundred Battle King."
Great Zhou King laughed and said, "I believe he will surpass Hundred Battle King soon."
Stable Army Marquis said, "I'm only worried that he would encounter a bottleneck after a rapid advancement. We can't discount this possibility. You said that he doesn't walk the regular physical body dao. There is no precedent for him to follow. Sure, he has inherited Culture King's pen dao. That is something with an example he can learn from. But is Culture King's pen dao really easier to master than the physical body dao? If he can't become a Master of Law, he might remain weaker than Hundred Battle King."
Stable Army Marquis' thoughts were very straightforward. If Su Yu were stronger than Hundred Battle King, he would definitely be a better leader. Even if he wasn't stronger and was only slightly weaker, he would still be better. But the gap between the two was still too big.
He continued, "I have one more worry. This human lord does not look like someone who will bow before others. When Hundred Battle King returns, what will happen? Hundred Battle King is also a rather domineering person. One must take a step back or an internal war will break out."
Stable Army Marquis smiled bitterly and said, "Previously, we only wanted to survive and Hundred Battle King was our sole choice. But now, we're given another choice. A better choice. This makes me hesitate. Tell me. Is greed really a bad thing?"
He continued bitterly, "What I want most is to witness the same scene from the ancient past. Human Emperor as the leader and four kings as the assistants. Human Emperor was strong enough to win the loyalty of the four kings. But I worry that..."
He was worried that Su Yu wouldn't be able to subdue Hundred Battle King. Just then, Su Yu's aura rippled slightly. Both looked at him in shock. A character appeared before Su Yu. It warped continuously.
Next, another character appeared.
Domain. Eternity. Coming together as cosmos.
Yes. The two characters had appeared.
Domain, symbolizing space. Eternity, symbolizing time.
The two characters had remained dormant for a long time. Due to all that Su Yu had thought today, coupled with the chaotic state of the Upper Realm laws, Su Yu had gained even more comprehension of the two characters.
The sky above the Myriad Realms was not his. It belonged to the River of Time.
The sky above the Death Realm was not his. It belonged to the death spirit dao.
But the sky above the Upper Realm was masterless.
"Thus, this will be the best place for me to pioneer my dao."
Understanding dawned on Su Yu. The Upper Realm was his best choice. But he needed sufficient power for that.
"Therefore, I need to steal and gather more power instead of staying attached to the River of Time. But without such an attachment, I lack a starting point. Even the death spirit dao was opened from the River of Time. Starting point...Mark of Civilization!"
Just then, the two characters fused into the book.
"Cosmos Civilization."
Su Yu blanked out. The two characters had entered the book themselves. It felt as though the book had also comprehended his thoughts.
Cosmos Civilization.
All of existence. All of time. All civilization in existence. All should become one.
"Heaven, earth, air, life, death, yin, yang, five elements...all daos should exist."
One character after another entered the Mark of Civilization.
All this was happening automatically as Su Yu's comprehension deepened.
Toward the end, Su Yu blanked out.
All the characters in his mind had vanished except for one.
↑.
Yes. The pen dao was the only one left. The other characters had either shattered or entered the Mark of Civilization. At this point, the Mark of Civilization's aura had grown incredibly powerful.
***
"What...is he doing?"
Stable Army Marquis was greatly shocked. It seemed as though...this human lord was comprehending the dao? While they were chatting away, he was comprehending the dao? Great Zhou King's eyes flickered. Did Su Yu comprehend something new after arriving at the Upper Realm? He had found that Su Yu's growth had been incredibly fast as of late. What did he comprehend this time?
Great Zhou King had a feeling that the book in Su Yu's hand might reach an extremely terrifying level. And finally, Su Yu withdrew the book. Only a book and a character were left in his sea of willpower. His two daos. He had fused the myriad daos he had previously.
Only two remained.
By the time he fused even the tribulation and deceit characters into the Mark of Civilization, he had reached a decision. He would no longer pursue a different dao. Apart from the pen dao, he would dedicate all his life to his book. He would open his very own dao.
"Mark of Cosmos Civilization...no, it's better to keep calling it the Mark of Civilization."
Su Yu chuckled. That was such a burdensome name. The original name was better.
Civilization itself was enough to encompass everything.
While Su Yu was chuckling to himself, a girl Lan Tian ran over and complained, "Big Brother Yu, that old guy is a baddie! He said that we should follow two leaders! Both you and Hundred Battle can be the bosses at the same time!"
Instantly, all gazes landed on Stable Army Marquis and Su Yu. Stable Army Marquis' expression changed. For some reason, he had completely neglected the little girl when he was speaking. His subordinates grew incomparably nervous upon hearing that.
At this point, they were already aware of the situation they were in. Thus, their nervousness grew when they heard that. Would they die here?
Grandstar, September, and the others had turned solemn, looking like they would tear all these people apart with an order from Su Yu.
Stable Army Marquis' expression turned heavier than before.
Because Su Yu was staring at him without saying anything. Those eyes...he couldn't explain how he felt when he looked at those eyes. He was someone who had lived for countless years. He had met even the ancient Human Emperor. Yet for some reason, he felt fear when facing Su Yu's stare.
Inwardly, Su Yu was completely indifferent. After a while, he softly said, "Serve me before Hundred Battle returns. After his return, you may scram if that is what you want. But for now, you can only serve me.
"You owe me that. I saved you. Without me, you would have been surrounded and killed by the devils. All your people would have died. For this favor, I only need you to serve me until the Upper Realm opens. Any objections?"
"No." Stable Army Marquis lowered his head as he sank into thought. After a moment, he said, "I am not one to flaunt my age and seniority. This old servant only wants peace between fellow humans..."
Su Yu said nonchalantly, "This is not something you should concern yourself with. You are a senior of humanity. I can respect and honor you for that. But do not presume to teach me what to do. The new court has its own way of doing things. If you can't get used to our ways, you are free to leave when the Upper Realm opens."
"This old servant...understands."
Stable Army Marquis sighed inwardly. Su Yu looked at the subordinates of Stable Army Marquis and pointed at the white-haired old man. "You may operate freely. Get ready to attain Daofuse. The rest will remain in weapons."
"I want to fight as well!"
Suddenly, a young woman called out. Su Yu's eyes turned cold, causing the young woman to pale.
Alarmed, Stable Army Marquis hurriedly said, "Emperor Yu...that is my daughter. She is young and has spent her entire life in the Brightmoon Flower Valley. She has never seen the outside world and she is still naive. Please forgive her..."
At that, Su Yu's expression softened. A lamentable life.
Born in Brightmoon Flower Valley, never stepping foot outside the valley. Was this not lamentable? Previously, he thought that this woman was audacious. But now, he no longer bothered. The Brightmoon Flower Valley was her entire world.
He recalled what Bai Feng told him back then. The size of his world and how far he could see both depended on what he had seen and experienced. If he remained in Nanyuan forever, Skysoar would be his sky. Yes. That was the sky at Nanyuan. Those words of Bai Feng had greatly influenced Su Yu.
Since then, he had developed an intense desire to see the wider world, to witness more powerhouses, and to participate in more battles. That was how his worldview had changed again and again.
And upon opening his Heaven Gate, he finally understood just how high the sky was. Without the Heaven Gate, his sight would probably still be set on the Myriad Realms. Without the Heaven Gate, his ultimate goal would probably be the likes of Tiangu. His highest ambition would be the conquest of the Myriad Realms.
With all those thoughts in mind, he said, "You will move with Hu Xiansheng and the others. Witness the world outside. Experience how high the sky can be. Understand how immense the earth can be. The so-called Upper Realm is but a cage. Upper Realm? Lower Realm? Death Realm? At the moment, the sky of the Lower Realm is the highest sky."
Many couldn't understand his words. Including Stable Army Marquis.
But suddenly, Stable Army Marquis' expression changed as he said, "I...heard these words before..."
When Su Yu's gaze landed on him, he swallowed and said, "I remember that...many years ago, when Human Emperor gathered us all in the ninth level of the Luminous Domain Mansion, he gazed at the sky and said something.
"He said that the sky of the Myriad Realms was the highest. The sky of the Death Realm came second. For humanity to truly rise, it needed its very own sky. To truly master its destiny. After that, humanity started exploring the Upper Realm. But before we could complete our work, the ancient past ended."
Su Yu nodded, "Because Human Emperor saw something none of you saw. He understood what nobody understood. It's perfectly understandable. For humanity to rise, we need to master our own destiny. These words align with the nature of dao."
He chuckled and said, "I reckon very few of us understand the meaning of these words. I can only hope that more people by my side will come to understand these words in the future."
Great Zhou King remained silent. Meanwhile, Lan Tian grinned with a lollipop in mouth and said, "The truth is profound. This is indeed something few can understand. Don't worry, Big Brother Yu. I think I understand somewhat. The sky of the Myriad Realms is high, but so what? I will stab my banner on it and stand above it."
Su Yu laughed, confusing everyone. After a long while, he said, "Fellow Daoist Lan Tian is a truly cultivator of the great dao. If you're a tad bit more normal, I believe I will greatly enjoy my conversations with you."
Fellow daoist.
That was a term Su Yu rarely used. And now, he was using it on Lan Tian.
Lan Tian giggled and said, "Big Brother Yu is such a baddie. What are you saying? I'm very normal!"
"..."
Screw that!
Su Yu laughed again. When he noted that Great Zhou King was deep in thought, he said, "Great Zhou King, think about this more. Otherwise, Lan Tian will probably leave you far behind before long. Even Principal Wan will surpass you in no time."
"I'll only be happy to see that happen." Great Zhou King smiled and said, "I have never been too talented. I am only where I am due to luck. Compared to people like you, I am nothing."
Su Yu did not say anything about that. He did not say anything more about Stable Army Marquis either. He only told Stable Army Marquis to stick with them for now. If it wasn't for the fact that it wouldn't be easy to send them all to the Lower Realm for now, he would have done so instead.
Along with his growth, the likes of Stable Army Marquis and Hundred Battle King were no longer what he cared about. Something as simple as authority was no longer his pursuit. He only kept Great Zhou King suppressed because he didn't want anyone to get in his way.
He believed he had done well enough as a human lord. This had never been his aspiration. Status? Authority? What a joke. If the sky itself was his, why would all those things matter?
"That is all." Su Yu said, "We'll move elsewhere. The Buried Soul Mountain isn't a suitable place. There are too many of us. Any exposure might lead to the exposure of the second connection with the Lower Realm."
This wasn't a place they should stay for long.
He looked at Stable Army Marquis and asked, "Stable Army Marquis, you know this place. Do you have any suggestions? Pick a dangerous place, one that can even kill heavenly kings if possible.
"He added, don't bother recommending places like the Brightmoon Flower Valley. That's a dangerous place for regular Daofuses, but it's nothing for people like us."
Stable Army Marquis smiled helplessly. That was somewhat hurtful. That valley was a place he had discovered after great efforts. Yet in Su Yu's mouth, that place was worth nothing.
Despite his feelings, he still gave a suggestion, "I can think of a place that is indeed dangerous."
"Where?"
"Chaos Mountain. A place to the west of the Upper Realm."
But suddenly, Stable Army Marquis' expression turned sheepish as he said, "Maybe not. That's too dangerous."
Even Great Zhou King's expression changed upon hearing that name.
Chaos Mountain.
He said, "What nonsense are you suggesting at your age? Are you trying to get all of us killed?"
"Chaos Mountain?" Su Yu seemed unbothered. He recalled learning about that mountain from the memories he had read. With a smile, he said, "Are you talking about the Chaos Mountain that is feared by even Masters of Laws?"
Chapter 1896: Skygazing, Comprehending The Dao (3)
Stable Army Marquis said awkwardly, "Yes. I didn't think much when i mentioned it. According to the legends, that place is filled with treasures, but it is also extremely dangerous. Not even the myriad races dare to enter that place. That was why I mentioned it earlier..."
Great Zhou King protested, "No! Emperor Yu, I know a little about that place. Back then, that was the place where the ancient humans chased the powerful native life forms of the Upper Realm to. Some of those life forms were as powerful as the heavenly desolate beast. These life forms had been around since creation. Eventually, they went missing. It was unknown if they were dead or there was some other reason for their disappearance.
"That is an extremely dangerous place. Back then, that was where Culture King exiled Control King to. At the time, Control King was ordered to watch the Hell Gate for ten thousand years as punishment."
Su Yu's eyes flickered. That was something new for him. Evidently, not even Fallen Star Marquis and the others were aware of that.
Stable Army Marquis looked surprised as well. He asked, "When did that happen?"
Great Zhou King answered, "Late ancient past. Control King didn't even stay there for a full ten thousand years. Eventually, Control King was recalled and pardoned by Human Emperor. At the time, Culture King was already gone. Thus, nobody bothered. In fact, very few knew about it since Control King was only away for less than a thousand years. Most people believed that Control King had merely been in seclusion."
"Subsequently, I saw Control King once from afar." Great Zhou King inhaled deeply and said, "Terror. Fury. And hatred. That was what I felt from Control King. Perhaps this was the reason for the eventual betrayal."
"Control King betrayed humanity?"
Stable Army Marquis asked with surprise yet again, "How?"
Great Zhou King was starting to grow impatient as he said, "You have been around for so long yet you know nothing! It's like you have lived so many years for nothing. I suppose this isn't too surprising. Your status is low and your strength is weak. As an ancient marquis who has lived for so long yet still so weak, its only normal that you know nothing."
Stable Army Marquis nearly choked from his own breath. He was an ancient marquis! Amid the crowd, his daughter was looking at him with an odd gaze. Her father had been telling her about the glorious ancient past her entire life. He had claimed that he had a high status in the ancient past. And she had believed that her father was an important person.
After all, his father was someone who had worked with legendary beings like the Human Emperor, Four Cardinal Kings, Pseudo Emperors of ancient races, and so on. Even the Pseudo Emperors of the myriad races needed to treat him with respect.
But suddenly, she had a feeling that her father had merely been talking big all along. From this conversation, it seemed like her father wasn't a big shot during the ancient past. He knew nothing, and his strength wasn't that impressive either. There was a bunch of people stronger than him here. That imposing and dependable image of her father was starting to collapse.
Su Yu was unsurprised that Great Zhou King knew so much. That was a secretary of Human Emperor. Thus, he knew a lot of secrets. He rarely talked about all these things. Perhaps he believed that most of what he knew was no longer important. But when it mattered, he would always be able to provide some useful information.
Su Yu asked, "Hell Gate?"
Great Zhou King nodded, "I don't know the truth. I only know that there is a gate amid the primal chaos known as the Hell Gate. I don't know its location. I don't know what it looks like.
"But it might be related to the Human Emperor and Culture King. Back when they explored the Upper Realm, they might have reached an agreement with some ancient beings. The Hell Gate might be a door, but it might also be a border."
"Border?"
Great Zhou King explained, "That might be the dividing line as agreed between those ancient beings and humanity. The territory to our side would belong to humanity while the territory to the other side would belong to them. Of course, I don't know the truth. However, Control King stayed there for a thousand years, experiencing some massive battles and suffering some injuries during that time. I don't suggest you go anywhere near that place."
With a heavy tone, he continued, "There are definitely many treasures there. But the dangers there are terrifying. I suspect many gigantic beasts of the primordial past are still there. Or the beasts that are around during creation might also be there in hibernation."
Su Yu laughed and said, "So there are so many fun places up there. Can nobody enter that place?"
Stable Army Marquis thought about it and said, "Entering is still possible, but I think you can't go too deep. But even the outer region is so dangerous that the myriad races do not dare to enter easily. About three thousand years ago, a human expert entered.
"It was North Pacifying Marquis. He went there with his people to seek shelter from the myriad races, and he spent over a hundred years there. One time when he left to kill the myriad races, he was encircled..."
He sighed and said, "During that battle, a massive battle erupted in the outer region. He died, but the myriad races also lost seven Daofuses in that battle.
"He was not strong enough to kill seven Daofuses. But during the battle, several primordial beasts emerged from the depths of the Chaos Mountain. Perhaps they were attracted by the battle fluctuations. They joined the battle, resulting in the death of North Pacifying Marquis and seven Daofuses. Two of the beasts died as well."
Su Yu was quite surprised to hear that. He was unaware of that before.
He smiled and said, "Since entering is possible, why didn't you go? I doubt the myriad races have the courage to go after you there anymore."
"Yes." Stable Army Marquis nodded. But he said sheepishly, "However, a thousand years ago, a human called Roaring Thunder Marquis went there to take refuge. But his death phenomenon appeared not even half a day later. The myriad races didn't even get the chance to give chase before he was dead."
"..."
Great Zhou King sounded exasperated as he said, "Knowing all that, why did you instigate us to go? Are you a follower of Control King?"
"No! Don't misunderstand..." Stable Army Marquis said, "I only mentioned that place due to Emperor Yu's question. Roaring Thunder Marquis was similar to me in strength, but you're all so powerful. I believe that is the safest place for people with your strength. The myriad races won't have the courage to search that place."
"If we only stay at the outer region..."
He looked at the little girl beside him and said nothing. He was certain this fellow would be able to survive well there. That was also a good place to evade the detection of the myriad races.
Even if the myriad races knew that they were there, the myriad races wouldn't dare to give chase.
Su Yu's eyes flickered as he said, "Sure. Let's take a look there. Don't worry, I don't intend to die. We will look for a suitable place in the outer region to set up camp. Chaos Mountain...I have to say that ignoring everything else, the nature of the Upper Realm has been preserved well. Such a place can no longer be found in the Myriad Realms. The so-called danger zones there are mostly artificial."
In short, the Upper Realm was wild and undeveloped. In the ancient past, this would have been a shitty place in the middle of nowhere. But after so many years, it had transformed into the so-called Upper Realm due to the rigid laws of the Myriad Realms.
Su Yu loved nature. He believed that such natural environments would help greatly in his comprehension of the dao. How could he attempt creation before witnessing how the world was at the beginning of creation? As for the dangers there...well, this was the Upper Realm. Danger could be found everywhere.
"Emperor Yu..."
Great Zhou King wanted to persuade Su Yu to change his mind, but Su Yu smiled and said, "Don't worry. I know you're worried, but I won't seek death. That is indeed a suitable place for us. We'll take a look first. If it's too dangerous, we can switch elsewhere. If the dangers aren't too much for us, we stay. Having a stable base is important for us to do our job."
Job?
Great Zhou King wanted to ask Su Yu what that supposed job was. Did Su Yu even have an answer for that?
What nonsense.
They had arrived with the intention to look around and act according to what they discovered. That was all. They would get whatever benefit they could get, and they would leave if there was no benefit to be gained.
"Let's go, Lan Tian. Clear everything here. You only need to leave a clone behind. Everyone else, enter the weapon. Lan Tian, your clones will hold on to the weapon. Do not lose it or it will be hard for us to find it later. Great Zhou King, you will conceal our auras."
With Su Yu's orders, they cleaned up their current encampment before heading toward the Chaos Mountain. Along the way, Stable Army Marquis wanted to request for the seal on him to be removed, but he resisted.
He wasn't sure if they had forgotten about it or if they were doing this deliberately. In any case, nobody mentioned the seal on him. He felt quite helpless. These Lower Realm fellows were all keeping a distance away from him. Great Zhou King was the only person who was willing to speak more to him previously. But even that had changed after he suggested the Chaos Mountain to them.
An ex-overlord of a region like him had been reduced to a little brother after joining this group.
"I suppose this isn't that bad..."
In truth, Stable Army Marquis was already tired. He had spent six thousand years running everywhere and living in fear. He was at his limits. He wouldn't mind acting as a little brother instead of the leader for once.
At the very least, he no longer needed to worry about anything. He no longer needed to be on constant alert against the myriad races. Suddenly, he noticed his daughter, one of the few allowed to move freely, stealing glances at Su Yu. Instantly, his head started aching.
No!
Why was she looking at him? That was not the type of person they could afford to provoke. Did she not notice how docile all these Daofuses were before him? He was unfamiliar with Su Yu, but he understood one thing. Someone capable of bullying the likes of Tiangu in the Lower Realm was not someone they could afford to provoke.
Tiangu, Jiwu, and Mo Ji were all super freaks. But now, they had all been forced to hide in their realms. This would shock the myriad races of the Upper Realm if they were to learn of this.
The hous, iron devourers, spatial beasts, and fates were all serving Su Yu. Even those guardians were serving him. Stable Army Marquis couldn't help but grow imaginative when he saw all that.
In comparison, Hundred Battle King seemed far less outstanding. Apart from strength, he did not seem to have anything else to offer. Stable Army Marquis was even starting to worry if Hundred Battle King would simply die to a scheme from this human lord.
"Whatever. I'm just a general in charge of fighting. These are not matters I should concern myself with."
He decided to stop thinking. The other human marquises could do the thinking instead.
Chapter 1897: Staying In Chaos Mountain (1)
Upper Realm.
Su Yu's group started heading toward the Chaos Mountain. Meanwhile, more and more experts had arrived at the Brightmoon Flower Valley. Bloodbreak Marquis had rushed over, and Bajue had returned as well.
Experts had arrived from the immortal, devil, dragon, nether, and other powerful races. All of them were trying to find out what exactly happened here. Two Daofuses had died, and the culprit was unknown. This was a terrifying matter. Someone capable of easily killing Daofuses would either be a peak Daofuse or even a heavenly king.
Then again, the classification in the Upper Realm was a bit different. People with the strength of pseudo kings and heavenly kings were considered to be in the same tier. These were essentially the people at the very peak of Daofuse who were qualified to start advancing toward becoming Masters of Laws.
At the moment, an illusory figure was checking the area by rewinding time.
After a long while, the illusory figure said, "There were more than one of them. First, they captured or killed Mo Shenji here. There are traces of a formation in the air. From this, we can conclude that they are proficient in formations."
Everyone nodded. They were fairly confident in the person making that deduction.
The illusory figure continued, "Additionally, they might have the ability of concealment or sealing. Nobody noticed what was happening until Mo Shenji was dead. Prior to that, nothing was sensed."
Everyone took note of that.
"Additionally, Stable Army Marquis might not be an ally of these people."
The rest were surprised to hear that. At this point, Bloodbreak Marquis had calmed down significantly. He asked solemnly, "Knowledgeseeker Marquis, what do you mean?"
Knowledgeseeker Marquis did not say anything to that. Instead, he flew toward the original base of Stable Army Marquis. After sensing around for a bit, he said, "Something feels off. There is a weak aura here that all of you have missed. The aura of Stable Army Marquis' spear. He attacked at least once.
"Mo Shenji wasn't killed by Stable Army Marquis. He was either captured or killed outside the valley. There wouldn't have been a need for Stable Army Marquis to attack in here. In that case, Stable Army Marquis must have attacked someone else. Who was that someone else? Who, apart from Mo Shenji, would be Stable Army Marquis' target here?"
Everyone's eyes flickered upon hearing that.
Stable Army Marquis was not an ally of the mysterious attackers. He might have been captured as well. This was completely different from what they had expected. They had been assuming that Mo Shenji was killed under the cooperation of Stable Army Marquis and the mysterious individuals.
Bloodbreak Marquis said, "Are you saying that Stable Army Marquis might have been captured instead of having left intentionally?"
"Yes."
Knowledgeseeker Marquis nodded and added, "Also, the attackers are also good at spatial manipulation. They left through teleportation. There is a weakened spatial node here. That must be a result of the spatial tunnel they created for their teleportation.
"They had subsequently calmed the spatial fluctuations after leaving. The weak point is small, indicating that they left through teleportation instead of tearing a rift in space forcefully."
Knowledgeseeker Marquis was able to pick up on one clue after another. Finally, he gave his verdict, "There were more than one of them were. I suspect that there were four to five of them, all Daofuses. Among them, at least two were peak Daofuses. Each specialized in a different dao. Stable Army Marquis isn't dead. He must have been captured."
Bloodbreak Marquis said gloomily, "Different daos? Space, formation, concealment, and sealing? Are you saying that all these powers came from different individuals?"
"Yes." Knowledgeseeker Marquis nodded, "From what I can see, that's the case."
Bloodbreak Marquis' voice turned frosty as he said, "In that case, these mysterious individuals might not be humans. After the ancient past, a majority of human experts only walked the physical body path. Apart from the old fellows from way back then, most new human Daofuses are following the physical body dao."
This was common knowledge.
Since the disappearance of Culture King, the civilization of humanity had been severed. No human could pursue his dao anymore. Or to be precise, very few could. Perhaps only one such individual would appear in one or multiple epochs.
It was doubtful that humanity had produced more than a handful of such individuals even after so many years. Since these mysterious individuals were proficient in other daos and Stable Army Marquis was captured...
They could conclude that these mysterious individuals weren't humans. Instead, these experts might be members of some other races. Everyone reached the same conclusion. It wasn't that they couldn't imagine these people being humans. But how was humanity supposed to find so many experts proficient in other daos?
A divine said, "Could this be some concealed old fossils of the human race? Of the known surviving ancient human experts, very few are still around. But some might have remained in hiding all along. Is it possible that these old fellows have finally emerged?"
Bloodbreak Marquis sneered and said, "Wow. That's such a big coincidence."
The divine argued indifferently, "It's no coincidence. This is an era where humanity is on the verge of collapse. Perhaps those old fellows have learned of this and decided to return. It's not impossible."
"Sure. Answer me this. Name the ancient human experts familiar with these daos." Bloodbreak Marquis said coldly, "As far as I know, there were human experts proficient in these daos, but they are all dead."
That wasn't an easy question to answer. The divine sank into silence.
Bloodbreak Marquis sneered again and continued, "Looks like there are quite a lot of secret survivors hiding in the Upper Realm. Or perhaps these people are some fools who are getting too ambitious after seeing that victory is in sight? Is that why they're starting to scheme now?"
This was a reasonable suspicion. And Bloodbreak Marquis was not alone. Many of the experts present had the same thought. None believed that the mysterious experts were humans. That was too unlikely.
Furthermore, these people might have deliberately kidnapped Stable Army Marquis to sow confusion. If it weren't for Knowledgeseeker Marquis, they would have all believed that the Stable Army Marquis was an ally of these mysterious experts.
Everyone started growing suspicious. Since they weren't humans, who could they be? Four to five top experts for a single operation. Which race was powerful and daring enough to attempt such a feat? Since the devils had lost two Daofuses, it was unlikely that they were the culprits.
Sacrificing two Daofuses just to sow confusion? No, it wasn't worth it. In that case, the immortals were the most suspicious. After all, they had the largest variety in terms of the daos they were proficient with.
There was also an immortal among the gathered experts. Noticing everyone's silence, he could guess what they were thinking. He said, "Don't bother suspecting my race. We have been busy handling the Lower Realm humans as of late. We don't have the time or energy to plan something like this. With the deaths of Fallen Star Marquis and Soldier King, the Lower Realm humans are holding the upper hand. We won't be stirring trouble at a time like this."
He looked at Bloodbreak Marquis and said, "This might be an attempt by an unknown party to sow chaos and fish from trouble water. I suggest you to stay calm and not fall for this trick."
Bloodbreak Marquis replied coldly, "Don't worry. I'm not that stupid. But I do hope I won't find any proof of your involvement in this."
Inwardly, he was still very furious. Was it really the immortals? It was very hard to judge, but he had decided to keep an eye on the immortals.
He looked at Knowledgeseeker Marquis and said, "Knowledgeseeker Marquis, is there a way to trace the whereabouts of these people?"
"That won't be easy." Knowledgeseeker Marquis shook his head and said, "They were very careful. They barely left any clues behind, and they even scrubbed the place clean before leaving. That big explosion also did a good job at wiping everything out."
Bloodbreak Marquis frowned. But before he could say anything, Knowledgeseeker Marquis smiled and said, "Of course, it's not like there's nothing we can do."
"And what can we do now?"
Bloodbreak Marquis asked. The others also focused.
"These people are mysterious, but not everyone is mysterious."
Knowledgeseeker Marquis laughed and said, "We can focus our investigation on Stable Army Marquis. We don't know who these mysterious people are, but Stable Army Marquis is a known factor to all of us. We're familiar with his aura, his dao, and his bloodline. It's hard to investigate, but not impossible."
Bloodbreak Marquis frowned and said, "Even Stable Army Marquis won't be someone easy to track."
Knowledgeseeker Marquis nodded in acknowledgment and said with a smile, "Yes. But at least that's something we can work with. Also, there is one more thing to consider. What is the purpose of these people? Capturing Stable Army Marquis? Is that really it? Were they only here to kill two devil Daofuses? But they were fresh Daofuses. What's the point?
"The humans still have some Daofuses hiding elsewhere. Stable Army Marquis is not the only human Daofuse around. We even know some of these hiding places. They are merely annoying to deal with.
"Do you think these mysterious individuals will stop here? Will they act again? Will they act against us? Or will they continue sowing confusion through the humans? They can keep capturing humans while killing those from our races, keeping our attention on the humans. There is such a possibility, right?"
Bloodbreak Marquis nodded. But soon, he sneered and said, "It's not a good idea to say all this here. I reckon we have an informer among us."
Everyone remained expressionless.
Informer? What could they even say to that? Nobody even knew who the mysterious attackers were. It was even possible that this entire thing was an act orchestrated by the devils.
The immortal did not bother to explain more. He said, "At the very least, we can be sure of one thing. Stable Army Marquis' hiding place has been wiped out. The Brightmoon Flower Valley will cease being a danger zone. The number of hiding places humanity can hide in has reduced by one."
Perhaps they could take this as the consolation prize. Humanity had lost one hiding place. At that, Bloodbreak Marquis merely sneered. Whatever.
The group continued their discussion. After a while, Bloodbreak Marquis said, "It's pointless to waste our time talking here. Let's accelerate our scouting of the other human hiding spots and pick one to attack. We will spread the news of the imminent attack everywhere. Let's see if these fake allies of humanity will do something to help."
He sneered and said, "Since these people are disguising themselves as human allies, they must help, right? After all, they are too strong to ignore such an attack. No matter what, they need to do something when such an attack is happening."
"As far as I know, we are not that far away from finding the hiding spot of Cloud Fire Marquis in the Divine Fire Mountain."
Bloodbreak Marquis added, "I suppose it won't take us long to determine his exact location. When we know the exact location, we can surround the place and join hands to launch an attack. These mysterious allies of humanity might be forced to appear. This will be a good opportunity for us to see if our speculations are correct."