Chapter 1898: Staying In Chaos Mountain (2)
Nobody protested. The immortal did not even bother to meet Bloodbreak Marquis' gaze. He would insist that the immortals weren't the culprits, even if he had no idea if this was the case. After all, some secrets were only known to a select few individuals in the immortal race.
He said, "I will report this to the Immortal Assembly. The immortals will participate in the coming attack."
"Make sure of it."
With that, they started leaving. After all, there was nothing else they could do there.
Eventually, only Bloodbreak Marquis and Bajue were left. Bloodbreak Marquis coldly said, "The immortals are definitely the culprits. Four or five top experts? Hmph!"
Apart from the immortals, he couldn't think of any party capable of sending so many powerhouses in secret.
"What about the divines?" Bajue asked, "Is it possible that this is the work of the divines? They have been keeping a suspiciously low profile for many years..."
"Divines?" Bloodbreak Marquis sank into silence. After a while, he said, "That's possible as well. In short, those two are the most likely parties behind this. If humans were capable of something like this, they would have fought back thousands of years ago. What's the point of waiting until now?"
"Four or five top Daofuses? This isn't something that can appear out of thin air. Secret human experts who have been hiding since the ancient past? What a joke. If there were really such experts around, they would continue hiding. Why would they come out before Hundred Battle's return?"
He snorted and added, "Rather than making such a stupid speculation, we might as well say that these mysterious experts are Lower Realm humans. It's just as laughable."
At that, Bajue laughed as well. "Lower Realm...the humans down there have produced some experts. But apparently, many of them are human allies such as the iron devourers instead of actual humans. Iron devourers..."
"Forget it." Bloodbreak Marquis interrupted him and said, "Do not stir more trouble than necessary for now. We are aware of what the iron devourers are doing. There is no rush. We will first remove all the humans, severing all chances of them fully allying with the humans."
"Got it." Bajue's eyes flickered as he said, "Lord Bloodbreak, I'll be relying on you to speak for me with the many lords. This did not happen because of my carelessness. Instead, this is a scheme. Some bastards are scheming against us..."
He had to clear his name. Two Daofuses had died and one had lost two tri-life bodies. This mistake was too heavy for him to bear alone. He continued, "Lord, if the Devil Assembly punishes me for this, the devil will lose four active Daofuses in total..."
Two dead and one crippled. If he was punished or locked up, the devils would essentially lose four active Daofuses.
At that, Bloodbreak Marquis frowned. Shortly after, he snorted and said, "You're a fool. A piece of trash. You deserve punishment!"
But he added, "Don't worry. Even if a punishment is coming, it will be a slap on the wrist. It won't be anything substantial. The assembly won't reduce our overall combat strength at a time like this."
Bajue was relieved to hear that. Bloodbreak Marquis was one of the leaders of their assembly. From his words, it was likely that Bajue wouldn't be punished for this. Their so-called assembly was essentially an imitation of what they had during the ancient past. Many races had organized something similar.
As for the devil race, those in their Devil Assembly were generally split into two ranks: speakers and members. Regular Daofuses would mostly be members, while those with the combat strength of heavenly kings would be speakers.
Bloodbreak Marquis was one such expert, granting him quite a high level of authority in the assembly.
Bloodbreak Marquis had too many matters to worry about. Thus, he did not continue berating Bajue. The two moved in silence for a while before he said, "You are the only person to be blamed for this matter. But I will persuade the assembly to give you a chance to make up for this mistake. You will join the attack against the Cloud Fire Marquis and make enough contribution to erase this mistake from your records."
Bajue did not protest. However, he was slightly worried. He said, "If these mysterious individuals appear there..."
"We will have our own contingencies for that."
"I understand."
***
That day, discussions were held in the various dao centers of the Upper Realm.
The Brightmoon Flower Valley had been destroyed, the devils had lost two Daofuses, and Stable Army Marquis had vanished. Additionally, four to five mysterious peak Daofuses had appeared.
All these were enough to cause some experts to be on alert. Was chaos coming to the Upper Realm? The Upper Realm would open before long. Was someone trying to stir some chaos during this time?
***
At the same time.
A dao center of a minor race. At the moment, it was packed with people. A certain expert wearing a bamboo hat was walking along the paved path. Suddenly, his ear twitched. Stable Army Marquis was missing. Two devil Daofuses dead.
Stable Army Marquis...
The expert frowned as he continued walking along the path. There were people all around him, but nobody seemed capable of noticing him.
"Stable Army Marquis is missing. Was he rescued? Or is this a trap?"
The mysterious expert was none other than the Shadow Marquis.
He had always acted independently, but he had been maintaining contact with the remaining human Daofuses. Every now and then, he would provide them with some relevant information to help with their survival.
At the moment, his heart was gripped with worry. He did not know if that was a trap or a rescue. But if that was a rescue, who could it be? All of them were having a hard time surviving. Nobody had the strength to spare for something like that. Was this a trap by the major races?
With such thoughts, he continued walking before vanishing amid the crowd. Minshan's death might result in the exposure of the remaining human experts. Stable Army Marquis was the first to disappear. Would the same happen to someone else next?
Perhaps he could try investigating in the dark. Even if this was a trap, he had to brave it. Otherwise, Stable Army Marquis might end up defecting to the myriad races, bringing endless trouble to the other humans. This was not a possibility he could discount.
***
"What a large mountain."
At the moment, Su Yu was unconcerned about what the myriad races were thinking. He was still on his way to the Chaos Mountain. After a long flight, a mountain range so big it seemed boundless appeared before him. Its outline could be seen even from afar.
As he looked at it, he felt a sense of familiarity as he said in surprise, "This mountain...did all mountains look the same during the creation era?"
He once saw a similar mountain. To be precise, it was the old turtle's dao. It was shaped like a mountain, and it was an offensive dao created by the old turtle's deceased wife. Apparently, she had gained her inspiration from a mountain she saw during the primordial past.
Was that the Chaos Mountain? Or was it a similar mountain? Even from afar, Su Yu could feel a sense of boundless wildness and an intense sense of oppression from the mountain. This was a place where the daos were in chaos. In fact, even the immediate surroundings of the Chaos Mountain were affected. One could say that the daos of the Myriad Realms were akin to an orderly net.
The daos of the Upper Realm were akin to a gushing fountain. They were disorderly, but they came from roughly the same direction. But the daos around the Chaos Mountain were much more interesting. They were in complete chaos, with all sorts of powers mixed among each other.
When Su Yu looked at the place with his Heaven Gate, he felt as though he had returned to an era when the world was first created.
"The deeper it is, the more chaotic things are. Or perhaps this is the original state of things instead of chaos.
"Or perhaps there was no dao in the very beginning. Instead, there was one big amalgamation of chaotic power. When this power was given order, daos came into existence."
Su Yu found that his biggest gains in the Upper Realm wouldn't be the people he killed, captured, or subdued. Rather, it was the opportunity to witness things he had never seen before.
For example, the sight of the world at its most natural state.
This was something one could never see in the Lower Realm. The Lower Realm had been overdeveloped, where order reigned supreme instead of chaos. It was likely that the Death Realm was once similar to the Upper Realm as well. But things had also changed with the passage of time. Thus, this was a sight one could only see in the Upper Realm.
As they approached the mountain, Great Zhou King and the others started feeling a slight discomfort. Great Zhou King said, "The daos here are in disorder. This interrupts with our daos, making this a bad place to cultivate."
"Wrong." Su Yu shook his head and said, "This is a very suitable place to see the original nature of existence."
"Original nature?" Great Zhou King sank into deep thought. After a long while, he said pensively, "Perhaps you're right. Perhaps one can slowly peel the powers one needs from the chaotic daos here. This might help greatly in cultivation."
Su Yu nodded, "Exactly. Of course, since none of you can see these powers clearly, cultivating here will be very difficult for you. But seeking your daos here will also benefit you greatly."
Su Yu sighed and said, "This is indeed a good place. However, it is only suited for those who are incredibly talented. For a regular cultivator, this might be a dangerous place to cultivate as they might end up detonating themselves accidentally during cultivation."
To the side, Lan Tian beamed and said, "I am all life. All life loves me. There is no dao I can't cultivate."
Su Yu laughed and said, "Your all-life dao is powerful, but it is still an orderly dao. This is a land of chaos. You will need to put in some effort to introduce order to the power you wish to cultivate here. Do not underestimate this place."
Since he could see what others couldn't see, he could also understand what others couldn't. Lan Tian had an impressive dao, but it wouldn't be easy for him to cultivate here either.
Lan Tian laughed and said, "In short, this is a land of opportunity. A land to seek fortuituous encounters."
"That isn't wrong."
Before long, they arrived before the mountain range. With the mountain range right in front of them, it felt as though they were facing a primordial beast. The mountain range extended as far as they could see, as though it were endless.
Stable Army Marquis inhaled deeply and said, "It is unknown where this mountain range ends. It won't be advisable to go too deeply into it. Instead, we should establish our base somewhere in the outer region of the mountain range. We also need to beware of the powerful ancient beasts here. All of them are hostile toward outsiders."
Su Yu corrected him, "No, they aren't hostile toward us. They are reacting under the guidance of the dao."
Stable Army Marquis looked at Su Yu. Did this guy figure out another truth? Why did it seem like this guy was omniscient? Wasn't this guy supposed to be new here?
Noticing the gazes on him, Su Yu smiled and said, "The powers here are chaotic, as though it's a massive cesspit. Meanwhile, or daos are orderly and singular for every one of us. We're akin to clear water coming into the cesspit. Upon contact, the dirty water of the cesspit will attempt to pollute the clear water, making the clear water part of the cesspit."
Su Yu could see the process with his naked eye. He could see how the chaotic power in the air was slowly eroding their daos. It was as though the chaos was attempting to assimilate them. The daos of cultivators were essentially purified daos. Thus, these daos would resist automatically.
Chapter 1899: Staying In Chaos Mountain (3)
Su Yu said, "It's fine to stay here temporarily, but the longer you stay, the stronger your daos will resist the place. More and more ancient beasts will sense the fluctuations, and more will come to the area. And upon noticing you, they will naturally attack."
This explanation made sense to the others. Great Zhou King asked, "Are you saying that we shouldn't resist?"
"Well, that's a solution. But not resisting will allow the chaos to pollute your dao too easily. The power of your dao will cease being pure. And that will destroy your future prospects in cultivation."
For Su Yu, the power of chaos was no big deal. After all, he intended to walk the path of myriad daos, recreating his very own myriad daos. Thus, he did not fear pollution. Then again, it would also be much better for him to keep his pen dao pure.
However, his path was unique. Thus, this would be quite troublesome for the others. The chaos power here was akin to poison for them. In such a situation, the importance of having a Heaven Gate was made clear. Without the Heaven Gate, it would be very hard for one to know all this. They would only have a vague idea that they shouldn't stay here for too long or things could get dangerous.
Su Yu inhaled before fully opening his Heaven Gate. Previously, it was only semi-opened. Right after stepping into the mountain range, his crisis sense started reacting intensely. That prompted him to look around with his fully opened Heaven Gate.
A sea of hills stretched out endlessly before him. It looked as though they were right beside each other, but in truth, each hill was very far from the other.
Suddenly, Su Yu's expression changed. He saw a towering hill with a ferocious ancient beast atop of it. That wasn't the actual body of the beast. Rather, that was the projection of that beast's dao. That dao was also chaotic in nature, with numerous powers mixed in it. However, it was also clear that this was an extremely powerful beast.
Seemingly having noticed the gaze, the projected beast suddenly opened its eyes before biting down at Su Yu. The beast was very far away, but that mouth seemed to have reached Su Yu instantly. With a flicker, Su Yu moved aside.
Right after, he noticed another projection from the corner of his eye. The projection resembled a crocodile. Before he could even get a clear look, a tail swept over. These weren't actual attacks. Rather, these dao projections were reacting automatically. Just because they were attacking did not mean that their masters had discovered Su Yu's presence.
Even so, Su Yu's crisis sense was reacting intensely. He inhaled deeply and continued his observation. There were countless hills before him, but dao projections could be seen atop most of them. This signified that these hills were already occupied.
After scanning hundreds of hills in a row, Su Yu's eyes lit up as he focused on one of them. There was no dao projection atop that hill. Furthermore, there was a layer of barrier there, obstructing the infiltration of the chaos power in the air.
Su Yu said, "Stable Army Marquis, did you say that North Pacifying Marquis lived here for over a hundred years?"
"Yes."
"Do you know the location of his base here?"
"That..." Stable Army Marquis shook his head and said, "No. I doubt even the myriad races know this. Nobody dares to enter the Chaos Mountain too deeply. There are too many hills here. Nobody knows."
"Was North Pacifying Marquis proficient at formations?"
"I have never heard of that." After a slight hesitation, Stable Army Marquis said, "I doubt so? He was proficient at physical combat."
Su Yu frowned and said, "Could someone only proficient at physical combat survive here for over a hundred years?"
He saw a hill with a formation capable of blocking the chaos power in the air. Was that not the previous base of North Pacifying Marquis?
With that in mind, Su Yu said, "Come with me. Withdraw the powers of your daos for now. It's fine to let the chaos power to erode your daos for a short while."
He was telling them to do the same as what the death spirits had done to hide from him in the Celestial River of Death back then. By withdrawing their daos, they would maintain the combat strength of Sunmoons. There would be a slight delay before they could reactivate their daos.
This was something nobody would do at a place as dangerous as the Chaos Mountain. Instead, everyone would be extremely wary while keeping their daos in an active state. But doing so would make it far easier for these people to be discovered here.
Furthermore, fighting here would be the same as seeking death if one were an outsider. This was a place where a battle between Daofuses would be extremely conspicuous. Upon exposure, they would all become the targets of the ancient beasts residing here. Nobody protested. It was dangerous, but they still followed Su Yu's order obediently.
Once again, Stable Army Marquis blanked out. That was the same as handing their lives to Su Yu. A bunch of Daofuses had actually withdrawn their powers. Even the Eternals were doing the same. In such a situation, Su Yu could easily kill them all. Even Great Zhou King would be completely helpless against him in such a state. Even the attack of a random ancient beast could easily kill them all. Just what charm did Su Yu possess for them to obey him so unconditionally?
Su Yu said nothing else. The others remained silent.
Charm?
It was very simple. His charm was his string of victories with minimal losses. That alone was enough for him to earn their trust. They could only win and succeed by trusting him. Even Great Zhou King firmly believed so.
Meanwhile, most of the people opposed to Su Yu were long dead.
After spreading his senses around, Su Yu looked back and chided, "Stable Army Marquis, withdraw your dao."
With an innocent expression, Stable Army Marquis said, "My dao is sealed. I can't do anything to it."
"Oh."
Su Yu nodded and removed the seal on Stable Army Marquis. Moments later, Stable Army Marquis regained his full strength. He was left quite speechless. Had they truly forgotten about this? Or were they pretending? He felt quite helpless. Noticing all the gazes on him, he could only do the same and withdrew his dao as well. He was unaccustomed to this. He was too used to living in constant alert.
Seeing that the marquis had withdrawn his dao, Su Yu looked ahead and started flying away with the group in tow.
Even Su Yu himself had withdrawn the power of his pen dao. Instead, he was flying with only the power of his physical strength. He was also constantly observing his surroundings with his Heaven Gate to prevent any surprise attacks from these ancient beasts. With him around, it would be almost impossible for anyone to attack them by surprise.
The hill looked near, but it actually took them a long time to reach. They were only there after about an hour of flying. A hill with a height of roughly four kilometers stood before them. Yes. This was merely a small hill in this mountain range.
It was filled with numerous boulders, and some weeds could be seen at the top. Even the plants here were different as they all carried some chaos power within them. An ordinary person would not be able to utilize the plants here.
No obvious formation could be seen. But when Su Yu focused, he could see that there was indeed a barrier around the hill. It might not be the product of a formation. Perhaps it was a treasure or something. In any case, the chaos power atop this hill was the weakest among the many hills he had surveyed.
Su Yu wasted no time and started searching the hill with his people. Nobody knew what he was looking for. After a while, he found a cave of moderate size at the middle of the hill. After a slight observation, he brought everyone into the cave.
Great Zhou King wanted to warn Su Yu that it was too dangerous to enter like this. But before he could do so, everyone blanked out. The cave looked ordinary from the outside, but there was a big surprise inside.
They could see signs of inhabitation inside. It was very obvious as the first thing they saw was a large pearl hanging near the entrance of the cave. It illuminated the entire cave.
Someone resided here before!
Stable Army Marquis exclaimed with shock, "Was this North Pacifying Marquis' base?"
After looking around, he muttered blankly, "That might really be the case!"
He pointed at the stone bookshelf ahead of them blankly and said, "Some of these are the single-edition books of North Pacifying Marquis. Back then, Battle King complained that North Pacifying Marquis was uncultured because he didn't read, saying that he would fall behind the others one day. Thus, North Pacifying Marquis borrowed some books from Culture King to make himself look more cultured. He had been carrying these books around everywhere since then. I remember seeing these books in the past. He must have resided here in the past!"
He was greatly shocked. Su Yu had found North Pacifying Marquis' base right after arriving. One ought to know that North Pacifying Marquis had survived here for over a hundred years. Everyone was curious about the location of his base here. They had attempted to search for it multiple times, but they had given up due to the heavy losses.
Meanwhile, Su Yu had discovered the base immediately. What...was going on here?
Su Yu couldn't be bothered to explain himself. That barrier around the hill was what North Pacifying Marquis had relied on to survive here for so long. As for the origin of that barrier, Su Yu had yet to find it. It would either be a treasure or a formation.
"We will stay here for now. From now on, this will be our base. You are free to release your daos here."
After giving them a short reminder, Su Yu moved away. He was very curious about this place. He wanted to see just what could obstruct the influence of the chaos power. It must be quite an impressive treasure.
He also needed to investigate their neighbors. One could never be too careful. This might be a safe hiding place, but they still needed to be wary of their neighbors. And thus, they started cleaning up the cave and preparing it for inhabitation.
Great Ming King did not stay idle. He went straight to the entrance to lay down a concealment formation. Finally, they had established a base for themselves in the Upper Realm.
They would reside amid the Chaos Mountain Range, with ancient beasts as their neighbors.
Chapter 1900: Control King's Lineage (1)
Chaos Mountain.
Su Yu named the little hill he was on the Dao Origin Hill.
The origin of dao. The name might be impressive, but it was only an ordinary hill among the countless hills here. The only thing special about it was the barrier around it.
***
At the moment, Su Yu was exploring the hill with Great Ming King.
He needed to investigate the origin of the barrier.
If it were a formation, Great Ming King could learn it and lay down more of such formations around the numerous hills in the mountain range. That would change the mountain range into a headquarters of humanity. After all, this was a place where the myriad races couldn't even display their full power or fight properly.
If the barrier were produced by a treasure, it wasn't a bad thing either. A treasure would be mobile and he could redeploy it elsewhere easily.
Su Yu continued searching with his Heaven Gate open. Behind him, Great Ming King was studying their surroundings to determine if there was really a formation there. Was this barrier an artificial product? Or was it here naturally?
As an expert who had attained Daofuse through the path of formations, Great Ming King was not to be underestimated in formations. After searching around for a bit, his face slowly turned unsightly.
And after a long while, Great Ming King said, "Emperor Yu, I have something to say."
"What is it?"
"This might be a formation, but it is a formation relying on an unknown treasure to act as the foundation."
Su Yu nodded. Great Ming King inhaled deeply and continued, "This isn't the point. The point is...this formation looks familiar."
"Familiar?"
"Yes." After a deep exhalation, Great Ming King said, "When I attained Daofuse, I relied on that fellow from Control King's lineage. Or her formation, to be precise. Her attainment in formations isn't anything special, but that formation is incredibly impressive. It was powerful not because of her, but because of its amazing design. She had merely deployed what was already designed. She might only know how to deploy that formation, but not the concepts behind it."
Su Yu's face changed.
Great Ming King continued, "And the more I look at this place, the more it resembles that concealment formation she deployed. Of course, there are differences as well. However, the core concept behind the design should be similar."
Su Yu asked solemnly, "Are you saying that this might be a formation deployed by the Control King's lineage?"
"Yes. Wasn't Control King here before?"
Great Ming King said, "I'm wondering if this was something the Control King left behind back then. That isn't the worst-case scenario. But what if...there are more experts in this lineage, and they are residing in the Chaos Mountain as well?"
The look in Su Yu's eyes changed.
Great Ming King said, "We have been saying that Control King was the traitor for a while. But there are four human factions left in the Upper Realm, excluding the Shadow Marquis. That is too few.
"South Suppression Marquis, Cloud Fire Marquis, Cloud Water Marquis, and Brave Martial General. It would be too conspicuous for Control King's lineage to hide among them since there are so few of them."
Su Yu had a pensive look. Great Ming King continued, "Thus, I can't help but wonder if Control King's lineage is really among them. If not, where can they be?"
"Also, it's too conspicuous for them to exist as an independent faction." Great Ming King continued, "Is it possible that...this lineage has also established their headquarters in the Chaos Mountain? Is it possible that they have a large number of humans under their rule as well? Perhaps there is a faction of humans living somewhere in the Chaos Mountain. They might be the descendants of some of the human survivors from back then."
Su Yu frowned again.
Great Ming King asked, "What is the goal of Control King's lineage for their betrayal? Elimination of humanity? Or to block the return of Culture King and the others? Or the unification of humanity under a new ruler?"
Su Yu sank into deep thought. After a long while, he said, "So you're saying that if there is a faction of traitors, and if their main goal isn't the elimination of humanity, they might have gathered a bunch of humans. And these humans are currently living in the Chaos Mountain.
"This is a place where the daos are in chaos. This is a place where neither the myriad races nor the humans dare to explore. They can easily cultivate to the Sunmoon Realm here thanks to the thick source qi in the air. But dao affirmation won't be easy here."
"Yes. But Emperor Yu, is dao affirmation something they must do?" When Su Yu blanked out, Great Ming King added, "Do the ancient beasts need to affirm their daos?"
Su Yu said, "You mean..."
"They can simply strengthen their bodies endlessly. Or maybe they can simply follow the chaotic daos here, or perhaps we can call it the chaos dao. This is also a path they can follow to grow rapidly and gain great strength. It's not like there is only one path in cultivation.
"Or they can simply reach the peak Sunmoon Realm here before affirming their daos elsewhere. For now, we only need to figure out their true goal. Of course, I might be entirely wrong and they only want to eliminate humanity. If eliminating isn't their ultimate goal, my speculation might be true."
He focused on the incorporeal barrier nearby and said, "I doubt this formation was even something deployed by Control King. It's too far from the depths of the mountain range.
"Even during Control King's exile here, it did not make sense for Control King to deploy such a formation on a random hill at the outer reach of the mountain range. I believe the formation here is more like an experiment. The experts of Control King's lineage might have conducted an experiment here in the past."
Through the formation, Great Ming King was able to make numerous deductions.
Once again, Su Yu sank into thought.
Great Ming King continued, "If my speculation is correct, all the humans out there are mere abandoned chess pieces. These humans are being used as bait by Control King's lineage while they develop silently in here. They might have recruited or trained numerous experts in secret while the humans out there have the attention of the myriad races.
"This lineage has been a traitor since the very beginning. According to what you said in the past, they should have been trying to eliminate the lines of Battle King and Culture King since the very beginning. Clearly, they know about the pen dao. And they don't want it to return. Their betrayal did not start from the previous epoch. However, humanity only discovered their betrayal this epoch. What had they done during the first ninety thousand years after the collapse? How did they keep their betrayal hidden for so long?"
Great Ming King smiled and said, "We can only conclude that they spent the first ninety thousand years in hiding, building up their power in secret. Here, they have no lack of resources. The Upper Realm is also a good place to comprehend the daos. If this lineage has continued uninterrupted from the ancient past, they might have produced enough number of Daofuses to contend against the Daofuses of the humans outside. During the previous epoch, humanity had around a hundred Daofuses. What about Control King's lineage?
"This is the lineage of a Cardinal King with complete inheritance. It might even have the inheritance of the Devil Pseudo Emperor as well. The inheritances of two supreme experts...should be comparable to even the inheritances of the major races such as immortals and divines, right?
"Back then, Control King might have known about the coming collapse of ancient past in advance. He might even be one of the core players in causing the collapse. In that case, he must have left numerous contingencies and legacies behind as well.
"We have been treating Control King's lineage as another faction of humanity. But we might have been wrong. We should consider them an entirely separate race. An incomparably powerful race backed by two supreme experts. If we follow the classification of the ancient past, they are probably the second most powerful race after humanity."
Su Yu's heart thumped. He gave Great Ming King a long, deep stare. Great Ming King was right. He had been viewing Control King's lineage as a faction of humanity. How many Daofuses would they have?
Ten?
Twenty?
But Great Ming King was telling him that they might as well be an entirely separate race. The backing of two supreme beings was enough to grant them the strength to contend against the immortals and divines.
If Control King had played a part in the collapse...
Even Human Emperor and the others had left numerous contingencies behind prior to the collapse. What about Control King, who had anticipated the collapse?
Su Yu's expression changed repeatedly. The West Royal Consort was someone at the level of a heavenly king. Previously, Su Yu had thought that she was probably the strongest expert of this lineage. But was that really the case?
If she were really the strongest, would she really be left in the Lower Realm as a spy? These were all the speculations Great Ming King thought of through the formation. Prior to this, everyone believed that Control King's lineage was hidden among the other humans.
But Great Ming King changed his mind after observing Stable Army Marquis' situation. How miserable. There were only a thousand or so people in the entire faction. Was that lineage really hidden among them?
As long as one wasn't blind, one could easily investigate these people one by one. It wouldn't be too hard for one to drag the Control King conspirators out. Even if the other human factions had about ten thousand people each, there would only be around forty to fifty thousand humans in the Upper Realm.
Was that even a large number?
Nope. It was small.
Hiding among such a small number of people could easily expose them. Since a formation of Control King's lineage was here, there was merit to Great Ming King's guess. Control King was once stationed here for about a thousand years. It was likely that those from Control King's lineage were quite familiar with this place.
This place was both dangerous and safe. It was also a good place to hide. Nobody would enter this place unless absolutely necessary.
Great Ming King said, "Or perhaps they are spread among the various factions, but that will most likely be only a small part of their forces. Even more of them must be hidden somewhere in here. Of course, this formation must be theirs for this assumption to be correct."
With this formation, they could block out the chaos power in the air and allow the weaker cultivators to live normally. With such a formation, they could even avoid the detection of the ancient beasts here. Perhaps with a stronger formation, they could even fully mask themselves from the ancient beasts.
Take West Royal Consort's formation as an example. It was impressive. It could hide the fluctuations from a battle between two powerful Daofuses so thoroughly that the myriad races didn't even notice anything.
The core of this formation was still nowhere to be found, but Great Ming King's speculations were starting to give Su Yu a headache. He said, "According to your guess, this lineage must have formed an entirely separate faction. You are right. With the bloodlines of Control King and Blazing Flame Devil Pseudo Emperor, they are more than capable of something like that."
Su Yu asked, "Blazing Flame Devil Pseudo Emperor. Was this a Pseudo Emperor during the ancient past as well?"
Was Blazing Flame the name of the ancient Devil Pseudo Emperor?
Su Yu had never paid much attention to such matters since the ancient past had ended long ago. Furthermore, it was a sort of taboo to mention the names of such supreme beings.
"Probably." Great Ming King was unsure as well. He said, "The names of these experts are rarely mentioned, just like how we don't know the actual names of the Human Emperor and Four Cardinal Kings."
Su Yu wanted to say that he knew that Martial King was called Tai Shan. But he indeed didn't know the names of the others. He only knew their titles.
Su Yu frowned and said, "Forget about their names for now. According to your guesses...we can view Control King's lineage as a separate race. In that case, they might be even stronger than the immortals, devils, and divines. Yet they have remained hidden for a hundred thousand years, only scheming here and there in the dark with their minor tricks..."
"No, not minor at all." Great Ming King said, "What if they were the reason for the previous epoch's defeat? During the ninth epoch, the myriad races and humanity lost nearly a hundred and fifty Daofuses combined. Is this minor? Not at all. Perhaps they lacked the ability to conquer everyone prior to that. But after the ninth epoch, they finally have enough strength."
Chapter 1901: Control King's Lineage (2)
Su Yu inhaled deeply and said, "Shit! Are you saying that their accumulated strength is comparable to the entire myriad races?"
"We can't discount that possibility." Great Ming King looked around them and said with a frown, "This place is dangerous, but it's also filled with treasures. Nobody dares to come, so this is basically their private territory. After countless years of growth here, how scary can their strength be? Unlike the other races, they have been able to develop in peace.
"Just by sending a few random individuals out, they could cause massive disturbances outside. Take that West Royal Consort as an example. She is extremely powerful, yet she had been idle during the first nine epochs. She only went to the Death Realm after the defeat of the ninth epoch. Why didn't she enter the Death Realm earlier?
"Because during the first nine epochs, the various races were too powerful. They didn't want to expose themselves. Their confidence must have grown after the disaster of the ninth epoch."
Great Ming King's deductions were very reasonable. That wasn't surprising since he was both a cultural researcher and a veteran general. He was someone capable of hiding his son to the point of Daofuse.
He was someone capable of fooling everyone that his first son was dead. He was by no means a simple person. He only looked so ordinary now because Su Yu's rise had been too rapid, followed by the rapid growth of Great Qin King and the others due to Su Yu's rise.
In truth, he was the one human Daofuse who had risen through his own efforts. Strictly speaking, Great Ming King was the sole proper human Daofuse of this era. Yes. He was the only proper human Daofuse.
Great Zhou King came from the past. Lan Tian and Wan Tiansheng had pioneered their own daos, so they couldn't be considered Daofuses.
Tian Yue came from the past as well. Great Qin King and Great Xia King walked the dao of the heavenly desolate beast. Meanwhile, Great Ming King had attained Daofuse through studying the formation of West Royal Consort.
Su Yu shot Great Ming King an odd gaze. He suspected that Great Ming King had kept this suspicion for a while, but somehow, Great Ming King had kept his mouth shut all along. Only upon discovering that something was off about the formation here did he spill his thoughts.
Truly worthy of being Zhu Tiandao's old man! Even someone as shrewd as Marquis Xia had suffered many losses to Zhu Tiandao. Sure enough, Great Ming was filled with smart people.
Humanity had been in numerous wars for over four hundred years. Great Ming had been able to keep its losses low while maintaining a considerably strong force. Of the various human prefectures, Great Ming was probably the prefecture with the highest number of surviving senior cultivators. And now, it had four powerful Eternals...no, three powerful Eternals and one Daofuse.
One could even say that it was comparable to Great Zhou and Great Xia in strength.
Noticing Su Yu's gaze, Great Ming King asked with a smile, "What is it?"
Why was this guy looking at him? Was he wrong? Were his deductions not reasonable? Why was this guy staring at him like this? Was there something on his face?
Su Yu chuckled and said, "One question, Great Ming King."
"Go ahead."
"Back then, Senior Xia Chen and Great Zhou King had allocated a ruin to you each. This accident had only happened to Great Ming. The other prefectures only received one each. Why did you not hand the extra ruin to Principal Niu, who was the second closest person to the Eternal Realm at that time? Instead, you saved it for Zhu Tianfang."
Great Ming King laughed sheepishly and said, "About that...cough, cough. Back then, Old Zhu was already quite popular. Everyone would know it when he reached the Eternal Realm. The addition of one obvious Eternal wouldn't do much. Meanwhile, Zhu Tianfang could take over the Yellow Department of the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion as an Eternal. That is the intelligence department of the pavilion. Over the years, humanity was able to maintain a relatively low number of losses due to him."
He started praising his own son, "Tianfang was in charge of information gathering. You are proficient at matters of war so you should understand the importance of information. Without the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion and the information we received from them, humanity might have fallen some time ago."
Su Yu nodded.
Great Ming King continued, "Also, Great Ming King might have maintained a low profile, but that does not signify that we have contributed less than Great Qin and Great Xia. It is the opposite of that. In my opinion, Great Ming has contributed much more than they have.
"Ignoring everything else, Great Ming was in charge of supplying about thirty percent of the supplies in the Allheaven Battlefield. Can those brutes forge better weapons than us? We have the Hundred Dao Pagoda. Thus, we are capable of producing numerous low-tier weaponsmiths. Great Ming is the human prefecture with the highest number of weaponsmiths."
Su Yu nodded again. He recalled that the weaponsmiths of Great Ming indeed felt like mass-produced weaponsmiths.
Since he had entered the Hundred Dao Pagoda himself, he knew that one could train endlessly inside without wasting any resources for training. And this applied not only to weaponsmiths.
Thus, Great Ming specialized in mass production. Of course, there was a limit to the quality of mass-produced products. But the quality of their products was sufficient for the military.
Great Ming King said, "That is not all. We have also contributed greatly in various fields. For example, we are the main manufacturer of storage rings. There is a limit to how many we can produce, but we have indeed produced enough for humanity.
"We are also the supplier of a majority of the lower-tier cultivation methods in the Human Realm. Clothing, food, housing, and transport. We dabble in all that. Allow me to be honest, Emperor Yu. Without Great Ming, humanity would still be living a primitive life. Our current comfortable life is all thanks to Great Ming.
"The combatants enjoy all the fame. But killing is not the only way to measure one's contribution. Of the four Cardinal Kings, my ancestor was the least famous. But can you conclude that he had not contributed to the ancient past? Strength alone would be insufficient for one to become one of the Cardinal Kings. According to what I know, my ancestor was in charge of logistics back then. The various experts fought in the front lines, leaving their backs entirely to the support of my ancestor."
Su Yu laughed and said, "You mean..."
Great Ming King said, "Cough. Uhm, nothing much. I'm trying to say that Great Xia is filled with barbarians. They are good at fighting, but nothing else. After your conquest, feel free to let me handle the management and logistics. I guarantee you we will do better than the Xia Family."
"..."
Su Yu was speechless.
Great Ming King hurriedly added, "I'm not lying. You lived in both Great Xia and Great Ming before. Which of the two is richer? Which is the more peaceful prefecture? What's the point of making all those regular citizens so warlike? Everyone only needs to play their roles well. Great Qin stands as an example of complete military rule. Is that really a good way to rule?
"Look at Great Xia. Are their cultural researchers well-funded for their research? In Great Ming, even someone as unreliable as Hu Xiansheng can receive great support from the government."
Great Ming King grinned and said, "While we are eating, playing, drinking, and enjoying ourselves, we are still doing enough to match the contributions of the various prefectures. Meanwhile, look at the grim and solemn Great Xia and Great Qin. Everyone lives like acopalypse is upon us, yet they haven't been able to contribute that much more than us."
"..."
That was such a good argument. Su Yu was someone who had lived in Great Ming for a time. Thus, he agreed that life there was great. People there would not shy away from having fun. Yet that was also the prefecture with a seemingly endless flow of new creations.
Su Yu chuckled and said, "You're right, Great Ming King. We don't cultivate just to kill. Let's not talk about all that for now. So you believe Control King's lineage is hiding in this area."
"That's very likely." Great Ming King nodded and said, "There are so many experts in the Upper Realm. It will be much harder for them to hide elsewhere without being discovered unless they're hiding amid the human factions. But even that is also quite unlikely."
Su Yu nodded in agreement. He looked deep into the mountain range, exhaled, and said, "Interesting. I have neglected this aspect before. Or to be precise, everyone has neglected this aspect before. For most people, Control King's line should be the same as the lines of the other three kings. It would either be severed or known to all."
At that thought, Su Yu laughed and said, "Give me a moment. Let me give West Royal Consort a scare."
"..."
Great Ming King was rendered speechless. He had nearly forgotten about that woman.
Su Yu wasted no time. He needed something else to verify this new information. This was indeed something he had never considered before. Originally, he had assumed that Control King's lineage was hidden amid the human factions of the Upper Realm. He had also assumed that there were only a few of them.
He had never considered that this would be a massive lineage. With such a size, it would be impossible for them to hide among the human factions. What was the point? It would only make things hard for them.
West Royal Consort, a mere spy, was already as strong as a heavenly king. Were there even any heavenly kings among the current human factions of the Upper Realm? What was the point of hiding among them to stab their backs?
They could have easily killed these humans with brute force. Or they could simple betray the locations of these humans to the myriad races. It was even possible that Control King's lineage had not betrayed Marquis Minshan. After all, they still needed these humans to distract the myriad races for them.
***
Inside the Mark of Civilization.
West Royal Consort blanked out. Here again? It hadn't even been that long since Su Yu's last visit. She did not bother to seduce Su Yu anymore. Rather, she asked directly, "Where are we? Why do I feel like my sealed dao is being suppressed?"
Su Yu raised his brow and asked, "So you can still sense the world outside?"
"Merely a slight sensation."
West Royal Consort laughed, manifested a bed, and reclined on it. With a smile, she said, "Since you're here, why don't you sit down and have a chat with me?"
Su Yu ignored her and sat down on a chair he manifested. He said, "I am trying to send your ring up there, but the Fate Realm is being watched closely. I need some time."
West Royal Consort smiled and said, "What's the rush? Take it slow. Hundred King is still sealed, right?"
Su Yu coldly said, "But I received new information from the Upper Realm. I need to verify something with you."
"What are your doubts?"
West Royal Consort flashed him a wide smile and said, "I won't hide anything as long as it's something I have the liberty to say. After all, we're now on the same boat."
Su Yu sneered and said, "Do you know that Marquis Minshan is dead?"
West Royal Consort frowned. He had not informed her about this before. Hearing that, she raised her brow and said, "He's dead? So be it. What's so surprising about that?"
Su Yu said coldly, "Those from your line did it. I look down on the old fogeys up there, but inbreds like you have killed yet another ancient marquis. A day will come when I punish all of you for it."
West Royal Consort sneered and said, "Don't blame everything on us. Minshan was simply useless. Isn't it normal for someone like him to die to the myriad races? How laughable, Su Yu. You are too good at finding excuses for your failures."
Su Yu responded with a palm strike, causing her to cough blood and her bed to collapse. He coldly said, "Don't get too full of yourself. Remember, you're now a prisoner."
West Royal Consort stood up in silence, manifested another bed, and sat down on it. After flashing Su Yu a smile, she said, "I guess this is the only thing you can do now. Taking out your anger on me. You look angry. Do you want your big sister to comfort you for a bit?"
Su Yu glared at her coldly. After a long while, he said, "I have one more question. During the previous battle, the laws trembled. Immortal Battle Marquis attempted to descend, but a human in the Upper Realm stopped him. That human was very powerful. Like you, that human was mysterious, clad in black robes. When fighting, that unknown human utilized an unknown chaotic power."
West Royal Consort maintained a perfectly calm expression, but inwardly, her heart skipped a beat. Unfortunately for her, Su Yu controlled everything here. She couldn't hide anything from him.
With a frown, Su Yu said, "I asked Great Zhou King about that mysterious human, but not even Great Zhou King knows that person. That wasn't one of the known human experts of the Upper Realm. Since you were in the Upper Realm before, do you know the identity of that human?"
"The Upper Realm is boundless. There might be more humans hiding around. How am I supposed to know them all?" West Royal Consort sneered and said, "How laughable of you to ask me about this."
Su Yu said with the same frown, "That human was dressed similarly to how you were when you came to kill Grand Dream."
"Heh." West Royal Consort sneered again and said, "Black robes are very common. How ridiculous."
Su Yu coldly said, "Keep this attitude and I'll kill you."
West Royal Consort calmed down slightly before saying with her usual seductive smile, "In short, there was a good show during the previous battle? A human stopping Immortal Battle Marquis? Immortal Battle isn't weak at all..."
"Yes. That's why I want to know the identity of that human. Immortal Battle might be as strong as a heavenly king. That human might have the same strength." After a short silence, Su Yu asked, "Is that someone from your faction?"
Chapter 1902: Control King's Lineage (3)
West Royal Consort laughed and asked, "Why would someone from my faction block Immortal Battle for you?"
"True." Su Yu nodded, "That's why I'm unsure. But that human used a very unique dao..."
Su Yu frowned and continued, "That dao was chaotic. When I try investigating, not even the immortals know the identity of that human. Is it possible that there is still a human at the level of a heavenly king up there? If I can recruit him, I can even use him to slow Hundred Battle down."
West Royal Consort smiled and said, "Sure. You can try recruiting that human."
"Shut your mouth!" Su Yu said furiously, "I'm worried that this human is also a traitor like you."
West Royal Consort merely smiled without saying anything.
"Since you don't know, forget that matter for now." Su Yu exhaled and said, "One final matter. I managed to find the location of an entrance to the Upper Realm. I intend to send some people up there and scout around. The people of Stable Army Marquis informed me that we can meet at a place called Chaos Mountain. But Great Zhou King said that Chaos Mountain is filled with ancient beasts. It is a very dangerous place. I'm not sure if this is a ploy by Stable Army Marquis to kill me."
Su Yu continued, "Even if I won't be going myself, I'll be sending a top expert. I'm worried that something bad will happen."
His eyes turned frosty as he continued, "After due consideration, I have decided to call for a meeting between all human survivors up there. We will be meeting at Chaos Mountain. There, I intend to cause a beast wave and wipe them all out."
West Royal Consort's expression changed slightly.
Su Yu continued, "But for this, I require your help. You know a concealment formation. I am planning to send Great Qin King, but I don't want him to die. Perhaps your formation can help protect him from the beasts there."
West Royal Consort said, "Those ancient beasts can't be influenced so easily. Do you think this is a new idea? Some had thought of this idea before, but for the most part, they ended up getting themselves killed."
Su Yu sneered and said, "Do you take me for a fool? Of course I know the risk. But Great Qin King follows the dao of the heavenly desolate beast. Strictly speaking, he is also an ancient beast. According to what I know, those ancient beasts are capable of communicating with each other. Perhaps Great Qin King can trigger a beast wave due to the dao he follows. If not even that works...I still have the heavenly desolate beast corpse. I will hand him the corpse and have him detonate that corpse. Will that be enough to trigger a beast wave?"
West Royal Consort's expression changed even more, but she quickly regained her calm. With a chuckle, she said, "You sure are crazy and ruthless. Are you actually thinking of killing those Upper Realm humans? You're an even bigger traitor than those of my line. Su Yu, you keep insulting my line, but you seem worse than us."
Su Yu said coldly, "One needs to be cruel to achieve great things. Since I don't have their support, what's the point of keeping them around? Also, I don't need you to evaluate me. I only need your formation. Do you have any formation capable of hiding from those beasts?"
West Royal Consort sneered and said, "How is that possible? You think too much. Your plan won't work."
Su Yu asked with a frown, "Are you sure? When we fought, there was no leakage of aura. So be it. Just hand that formation of yours to me. I'll have some people study it. No matter what, I'll give it a try. You won't lose anything, right? After all, your line wishes for the elimination of the human race as well. I'll wipe out the Upper Realm humans for you."
West Royal Consort said, "I won't hand you the formation. Su Yu, that is a secret formation of my line. We don't teach it to outsiders. Stop dreaming, Su Yu."
Su Yu said, "It's only a formation. And it is only capable of concealing auras. It isn't even an offensive formation. Teach my people this formation and I'll wipe out the Upper Realm humans for you. Isn't this your aim? Or are you saying that your people are also among the Upper Realm humans? Are you trying to ensure their survival?"
West Royal Consort remained silent. In any case, she wouldn't hand the formation out. She couldn't. She was worried that Su Yu would really be crazy enough to trigger a beast wave at the Chaos Mountain after getting the formation.
Sure, he would most likely fail. But Su Yu had the corpse of the heavenly desolate beast. And Great Qin King had indeed fought using the heavenly desolate beast's dao previously. And the heavenly desolate beast was an ancient beast as well.
Could the detonation of its corpse trigger a beast wave? Nobody could be sure. But if it succeeded, things would get troublesome.
Thus, West Royal Consort could only refuse to hand over the formation. Without the formation, Su Yu might not be willing to risk the lives of his close supporters like Great Qin King and Great Xia King, This was her way of preventing this from happening.
At her refusal, Su Yu grabbed her neck furiously and roared, "You fool! I'm wiping out the Upper Realm humans for you! Your line will only benefit from this! You won't lose anything! It's only a formation. Why are you refusing me?"
While coughing blood, West Royal Consort smiled and said, "I can't. Our ancestral teachings do not allow us to teach outsiders the formation. This won't change even if you kill me."
"Damn it!" Su Yu looked livid. He snorted and said, "Do you think I will be helpless just because you refuse to hand me the formation? It's not like there's only one concealment formation in existence..."
With blood still dripping down her mouth, West Royal Consort grinned and said, "Stop being delusional. This won't work. The dao of Chaos Mountain is different from the daos out here. The formations of Myriad Realms will most likely stop working there. You are someone with the Heaven Gate. You don't understand this because you're not in the Upper Realm. If you're there personally, you will understand that all powers will be suppressed at the Chaos Mountain. Stop dreaming.
"You don't even have that many Daofuses on your side. Losing Great Qin King and Great Xia King will only accelerate your death. It's fine for you to die, but I'm not interested in dying with you. I advise you to give up on this foolish idea. Furthermore, wiping out the Upper Realms human will only worsen your situation when the Upper Realm opens. You won't even have the chance to put up a struggle anymore.
"Since you have a way to send some people up there, you are better off thinking of a way to recruit those Upper Realm humans. Hundred Battle is still sealed, right? This is your opening."
Su Yu frowned.
West Royal Consort smiled and said, "Su Yu, stop thinking about killing all the time. If I'm not here, I'll be supportive of this plan as well. But now, I need you to survive. I don't want to die because of you."
Su Yu stared at her with a deep frown. After a long while, he sneered and said, "Are you trying to mislead me? It's not going to work."
At that, he vanished. West Royal Consort maintained her smile for a long while before exhaling in relief. Su Yu was truly a lunatic. He was actually thinking of triggering a beast wave at the Chaos Mountain. Could the corpse of a heavenly desolate beast really trigger something like that?
She was unsure. Her mood was heavy. Clearly, Su Yu was starting to target the Chaos Mountain. She could only hope that he would give up on that idea soon.
***
After leaving the book, the fury on Su Yu's face vanished.
West Royal Consort was trying to prevent the beast wave from happening. She was unwilling to hand him a formation that could help even if it was for the purpose of wiping out the Upper Realm humans. Ancestral teachings preventing her from handing it over? Absolute nonsense.
"What was she worried about? Was she worried that the beast wave would trouble those from Control King's lineage?
"In that case, Great Ming King might be right. That lineage might really be hiding somewhere deep inside the Chaos Mountain. She didn't even look that surprised when I mentioned a random human expert capable of contending against Immortal Battle Marquis. That's someone at the level of a heavenly king. Isn't the appearance of such a human something shocking? Yet she seemed unbothered. She merely claimed to know nothing. She also denied that her lineage was the culprit behind Marquis Minshan's death..."
Numerous thoughts emerged in Su Yu's mind. After a short while, he reached a conclusion. Great Ming King was most likely correct.
This lineage was most likely hiding in the Chaos Mountain. And there were more experts at the level of heavenly kings among them. The so-called expert with black robes was merely a lie by Su Yu, but West Royal Consort had taken it seriously. Perhaps she believed that the mysterious human was probably someone on her side. Thus, she had refrained from saying anything.
"I really want to kill her and read her memories."
His desire to kill her intensified. But he also knew that killing her would attract the suspicion of those from Control King's lineage.
***
Great Ming King remained silent when he noted that Su Yu was in deep thought.
When Su Yu stopped, he asked, "How was it?"
Su Yu inhaled deeply and said, "You might be right. This lineage might really be hiding here. And they have a decent number of experts. There are definitely one or more heavenly kings among them."
Great Ming King did not look surprised. After all, this was his own deduction. He said, "In that case, they are clearly trying to sweep in and snatch the final victory at the very end. The myriad races and humans have fought for so many years while they have been silently gathering strength. When both myriad races and humans are exhausted from all the fighting, they will appear and become the final victor. How ambitious of them."
Su Yu stared at the depths of the mountain range for a long while before saying, "It doesn't matter if we don't know about them. But since we're already aware of them, they can give up on this dream to fish in troubled water.
"They definitely lack the power to conquer the Myriad Realms or they wouldn't have remained in hiding until now. They are still waiting. West Royal Consort's collusion with West Heavenly King is proof that they still lack strength." "Perhaps they are waiting for Hundred Battle King to return and exhaust even more of the myriad races' strength. If that's the case, we have more time to prepare."
Great Ming King nodded, "True. But in that case, it will be much more dangerous for us to stay here."
"I know."
Su Yu nodded. But this was the outer region of the mountain range. Those people were probably hiding deep inside the mountain range to prevent detection. Thus, they wouldn't notice anything so soon.
"Keep looking for the formation core. Put this matter aside for now. Also, don't tell anyone about this."
Great Ming King nodded. He did not protest as leaking what they knew might not benefit them.
As for the option of leaking this information to the myriad races, there was no guarantee that the myriad races would trust it. Even if they would somehow trust it, the leak would only be useful when it happened at the right time.