Emerging from Seclusion, An Insinuation

The Great Xia Prefecture, including the Great Xia Civilization Academy, seemed to have changed ever so slightly. Yet it also seemed not to have changed at all! The common folk continued living and working in peace; the All-Races Cult remained active in certain corners; the Dragon Martial Guards regularly chopped off heads at the All-Races Pit; and Marquis Xia went about his business as usual. Everything was as it had always been! Xia Longwu's retreat into seclusion seemed entirely unnecessary, yet it was also necessary—the Great Xia Prefecture was fighting fewer external wars. Wan Tiansheng had secured power, yet he seemed not to be making the impact expected of him. Yet some knew that he was quietly changing things. He was influencing things! He was purging things, seeking to reverse the course of others. And all of this took time. ... Wan Tiansheng remained biding his time, and Xia Longwu remained in retirement. Under Marquis Xia's governance, the Great Xia Prefecture seemed no longer plagued by warfare, and fighting on the front lines had diminished considerably. Merchants pursued profit! To outsiders, the prefecture under Marquis Xia's rule seemed rather better for the common people. No longer did they have to listen to battle dispatches from the front, nor did they have to grieve over how many coffins Great Xia would need to add each year! Internal strife or external war—to many people, as long as nobody died, it was a blessing. As for how much fighting spirit had eroded, outsiders could not see such things. ... A golden age of peace and prosperity! That was Su Yu's first impression upon emerging from seclusion. The academy seemed jubilant! Even Old Nie, who guarded the secret realms, appeared to be in high spirits. "Elder Nie, why do I hear cheering?" Su Yu was rather surprised. Truth be told, in his eyes, the Great Xia Prefecture and the Great Xia Civilization Academy were by no means tranquil campuses in an era of peace—this was a man-eating territory. What was going on today? Old Nie chuckled. "You brat, you've been in seclusion for more than ten days. Do you remember what date it is today?" "What date..." Su Yu was about to ask, then quickly realized. "December third." "Right!" Old Nie smiled. "Forgotten what tomorrow is?" "Oh!" Su Yu thought for a moment, nodded, and smiled. "I remember now! The anniversary of the founding of the Great Xia Prefecture! It's the 350th anniversary of the prefecture's establishment. No wonder!" "Good that you remember!" Old Nie laughed. "Back then, the Great Qin Prefecture was the first to be founded. King Daqin inaugurated the era of prefectures. The people yearned only for peace and tranquility, thus establishing the first year of the Anping Era! Toward the end of that year, King Daxia founded the Great Xia Prefecture, shielding hundreds of millions of Great Xia citizens. Tomorrow marks the 350th anniversary of our founding, so everyone across the realms is cheering and preparing for the holiday." Su Yu smiled. "It's indeed worth celebrating! The 350th anniversary—I nearly forgot." It truly was a momentous occasion! In the old days, the forebears endured great hardships under the invasion of the myriad races to inaugurate a new era, establishing the Anping Era and founding the thirty-six prefectures to shelter tens of billions of humans. King Daxia... the heroic sovereign of the Great Xia Prefecture. Su Yu had been far too busy lately and had forgotten all about it. After a moment of thought, he said with some excitement, "Then does that mean we might see King Daxia tomorrow? In previous years, I could only see King Daxia on television. Perhaps I'll get to see him in person this year?" "That's right!" Old Nie smiled. "Tomorrow, King Daxia might come to inspect the Great Xia Civilization Academy, though it's hard to say for sure! If we're lucky, you might catch a glimpse of him. Oh, by the way, the day after tomorrow—December fifth—the War Academy will be coming for an exchange. Will you participate?" "Hard to say." Su Yu didn't care much about that, his mind still on King Daxia. "Elder, will King Daxia really come to our academy?" "He probably will!" Even Old Nie wasn't certain. Su Yu still felt a flicker of anticipation. Toward experts who had founded prefectures to shield hundreds of millions of mankind, he felt profound admiration and respect. Over three hundred years ago, when the human race was invaded, corpses littered the plains and blood flowed like rivers. Invincible experts, one after another, emerged from deep mountains, secret realms, and ancient ruins. They campaigned for decades at great cost before driving back those enemies. From then on, humanity had enjoyed over three centuries of peace and prosperity. Today, some of the Invincibles who founded the prefectures had already perished. Some had been killed; some had succumbed to lingering, devastating wounds from those years; and some had wandered into perilous realms, not returning for decades, leaving it unknown whether they were still alive. Few of the founding Invincibles remained alive, and every single one was a hero, a living legend, and a myth in the Human Realm. Thinking of this, Su Yu's mind drifted. Then he chuckled suddenly. "I'll go ask Xia Huyou..." It was his great-grandfather, after all. Surely that fellow would know whether King Daxia was coming to the academy? At this moment, Su Yu felt somewhat like an ardent admirer chasing after an idol. He lacked this feeling toward Wan Tiansheng or Marquis Xia. Those men were big figures as well, but compared to King Daxia, who had founded the prefecture over three hundred years ago... they were mere juniors. Old Nie rarely saw Su Yu in such a mood and said with amusement, "Xia Huyou might not know either. He probably has no idea whether King Daxia will even return. An expert of that caliber comes and goes as he pleases; even Marquis Xia can hardly track his whereabouts. You, on the other hand, should worry less about that. What cultivation level are you at now?" "Average. Fourth stage Wanshi." Su Yu frowned. "As my strength grows, the effectiveness of the aperture fusion art has weakened a bit. I initially estimated that in about half a month, I could reach the fifth stage..." "..." Old Nie was at a loss for words. Half a month to fifth stage Wanshi? One stage every three days? Fusing apertures fifteen times in three days? Five times a day? Screw you! In half a month, fusing forty-eight apertures—fusing forty-five times... Of course, Su Yu had already fused a few beforehand, so it was about forty fusions. In half a month, that was nearly three fusions a day! And he still wasn't satisfied? He gave Su Yu a speechless look. "That aperture fusion art of yours..." Su Yu smiled. "Didn't I tell Teacher Zhao? It can be taught to you and Old Huang. You know that, right?" "Thanks, but Old Huang and I haven't opened those apertures yet. It'll probably take us some time. You brat... you're generous enough!" Old Nie naturally knew about this. Zhao Ming was considered part of their lineage. Although Su Yu hadn't handed the art directly to them, he had told Zhao Ming that he could pass it on to Huang and Nie. Continuing, Old Nie marveled, "The effect truly is astonishing. For a Heaven-grade art that fuses sixteen apertures, breaking through a stage every three or four days is far too fast. If you stay in seclusion for another month, won't you be at ninth stage Wanshi?" Su Yu smiled and nodded. More or less. "Why didn't you stay in seclusion?" Old Nie chuckled. "Brat, think carefully. Once you step out and want to go back in, that'll cost two hundred merit points!" He was in Wanshi now! Pretending to be Qianjun, how much wool had this kid fleeced from the academy already? Su Yu smiled. "I need to take a stroll outside eventually. Besides..." Su Yu frowned slightly. "I keep feeling that opening 320 apertures right now isn't consummate. After successfully fusing apertures, Elder, you have no idea—I feel an odd sense of imbalance." "Hm?" Old Nie said in surprise. "What do you mean?" As for opening 320 apertures... just pretend I didn't hear that. Su Yu frowned. "It's just a feeling that how I'm fusing apertures right now isn't quite right. Or rather, not that it's wrong, but it lacks that natural harmony. Some apertures are fused and thus powerful, while those unfused are weaker, creating an imbalance!" Su Yu said helplessly, "I think it might be because I opened too many apertures. During fusion, the other apertures weren't fused, resulting in slight discrepancies, which actually makes my explosive release less smooth than it should be! I've always felt that opening 360 apertures, even if not a complete grand cycle, would form a relatively perfect cycle." Su Yu pondered for a moment and added, "So I was thinking that maybe there's no need for me to keep fusing right now. Perhaps I need to open all 360 apertures beforehand, and then advance by fusing forty apertures into one!" As Su Yu spoke, a spark of excitement surfaced. "Elder, if I advance to Wanshi by fusing forty apertures per node, it will definitely be vastly stronger than now! By then, each fused aperture will rival the power of four Qianjun apertures. With 360 apertures fused into nine, what does that mean? It means at ninth stage Wanshi, I can unleash the power of 1,440 apertures! Blowing up a ninth-stage Tengkong with a single punch would be effortless!" "..." Exhausted! Old Nie felt utterly mentally exhausted. Are you trying to become the strongest Wanshi since the dawn of creation? Fusing forty into one, opening 360 apertures—does that even count as Wanshi? Let alone blowing up a Tengkong with a punch, wouldn't blowing up a weaker Lingyun be perfectly normal for you? "Su Yu, one shouldn't aim too high without solid footing..." "Elder, I'm only forty apertures away. I want to give it a shot!" Su Yu chuckled. "Perhaps I can even uncover some secrets regarding primordial spirit apertures." He wanted to try. Having already opened 320 apertures, why worry about opening forty more? Of course, the prerequisite was locating those apertures. At present, the total number of aperture positions he possessed was 346. Xia Huyou had gathered many of the Xia family's cultivation arts for him and constructed models for him to study. The Xia family hadn't collected all 360 either, having only 322 in total, which overlapped heavily with the academy's collection. In the end, Su Yu had compiled 346 aperture locations. He was still fourteen short of the 360 he desired. Nowadays, Su Yu could use and circulate practically any cultivation technique. If one couldn't circulate, that meant he had discovered new apertures. Which was actually a great thing! He was actually eager to find a few arts he couldn't run. Alas... what a pity. Across this vast Great Xia Prefecture, Su Yu could master virtually all cultivation arts. What a pity indeed! Having cultivated to this stage, Su Yu was essentially an all-around martial universalist. Given any cultivation technique, as long as he learned how to connect the nodes, he could execute it immediately—an extraordinary feat. Old Nie was also speechless. Only after a good while did he ask, "Then how many aperture locations have you collected so far?" "346." "You kid..." He cast a strange look at Su Yu. That was a full thirty-four more than what the Civilization Academy possessed. This meant Su Yu knew at least several out-of-print or secret heritage techniques—many of them, in fact, since those thirty-four weren't part of the Civilization Academy's collected system and could have come from countless arts. This guy was truly terrifying. Cultivating to Su Yu's level, if you thought he practiced the Mountain Cleaving Saber, no, he knew the Thousand Mountain Art; if you thought he knew the Thousand Mountain Art, wrong, he knew the Battle God Art... Different arts had different circulation routes, different apertures, and different points of eruption. If you thought his hand strength was strongest, he would tell you his legs were stronger. Against someone like Su Yu, practically no weakness existed. Such was the terror of having opened 320 apertures! "Mind sharing the 346 apertures you know with me? I'll look around to see if anyone knows of any unknown apertures." Su Yu hurriedly thanked him. As for leaking aperture locations... what did it matter? The academy openly declared that 312 human apertures had been discovered, while the Xia family stated they had discovered 322. The crucial issue was: did anyone have the ability to open them all? Normal people aside, even monstrous geniuses like Hu Qiusheng—no, even martial prodigies like Zhou Hao—needed two to three days to open a single aperture. Merely opening 360 apertures would take three or four years. And that was for the fastest sort of person! For those a tier lower, it would take at least four or five years; another tier down, decades; lower still... no hope in a lifetime. Who would bother opening so many apertures? Old Nie took the origin aperture chart Su Yu handed over and examined it. A look of melancholy crossed his face—every aperture he knew of was already on it. How pathetic; he couldn't provide Su Yu with even one. "In your case, trying to round it out to 360 will be tough!" Old Nie shook his head. Extremely tough! Su Yu didn't mind. He had unlocked nearly a hundred pages of the atlas. He hadn't actually tested that many yet; worst-case scenario, he could just experiment! Converting myriad races' cultivation arts into human arts sometimes opened peculiar apertures distinct from those known to humanity. Many of his apertures had been acquired through this very method. It just cost money! No matter, let it be spent. Coming out this time, the merit points obtained from the Zhang family ought to be ready for him. He hadn't asked for them earlier while in seclusion. Once he received the merit points, he could just repay Xia Huyou in full and have him procure another batch of blood essence. The two chatted for a while longer. As Su Yu prepared to leave, Old Nie suddenly asked, "Su Yu, what if the human body has more than 360 apertures, and the 360 you've mastered don't belong to the same system? What then?" Su Yu frowned, thought for a moment, and said, "Then I'll give up. I can't go hunting for another 360. In truth, I feel there are at most 360. If there really were far more, I think I would have discovered more by now." The techniques he had grasped were probably no fewer than the Xia family's. Finding this many apertures was already close to the limit. Could there really be other apertures beyond this? Perhaps divine apertures, at most! Old Nie nodded and said no more. ... Su Yu bade farewell to Old Nie and let out a breath. Fourth stage Wanshi! With sixty-four apertures fused, he could unleash the power of nearly 160 apertures. Adding in the eighty unfused apertures as well as the apertures complementary to his cultivation arts, Su Yu's current explosive power approached the strength of 300 apertures. Could he now claim to be invincible in the Wanshi Realm? Surely that wouldn't be an overstatement! This "invincibility" was compared against monstrous prodigies; there was no need to compare himself with ordinary cultivators. "Aperture fusion, divine characters..." One step at a time. If he couldn't find the remaining 360 apertures, he would focus on divine characters. Currently, aperture fusion was naturally the faster way to increase his strength. Whichever yielded faster gains, he would pursue. His divine apertures hadn't progressed much lately, remaining at only 106 opened. He had entered the Sea of Consciousness Mystic Realm at the end of October, and over a month had passed, yet he had only opened two divine apertures. "I feel like a fake Civilization Master." Su Yu chuckled self-deprecatingly. Others focused on willpower, while he had been constantly busy with origin apertures lately. Suppressing these thoughts, he stepped out of the Secret Realm Area. Outside was already a sea of vibrant red. Lanterns hung high, and red silk ribbons fluttered in the breeze. Tomorrow was the prefecture founding celebration. He wondered how his father was doing. He had left in April, and seven months had passed by now. And his teacher and the others had been gone for more than a month as well. They should have entered the All-Heavens Battlefield by now! "The aperture fusion art and other things should really be sent to Teacher, but unfortunately..." He couldn't trust anyone else to deliver them! If intercepted and leaked, it would cause massive trouble. Perhaps when he found time, he could make a trip to the All-Heavens Battlefield to visit his father. His current strength was no weaker than that of many in the Tengkong Realm. Even on the All-Heavens Battlefield, as long as he stayed within the Human Realm's territory, his safety was relatively assured. As he walked, his eyes flickered slightly. Ahead, a group of cloaked figures appeared. "Brother Su, what a coincidence!" It was Xia Qing's voice, sounding as though it were a chance encounter. Xia Qing said delightedly, "Everyone, this is Brother Su Yu, the strongest freshman king of our academy! I've been wanting to introduce him to all of you for a while, but everyone has been busy and it wasn't convenient to gather intentionally. What a stroke of luck today!" Saying that, she hurriedly said to Su Yu, "Brother Su, these are some classmates from the Myriad Races Academy..." "A pleasure!" Su Yu smiled. "Everyone has come from afar, and I've been neglectful as a host. Had I known we'd bump into each other here, we might as well have found a place to drink tea and chat. Forgive my lack of hospitality here!" Xia Qing smiled. "If Brother Su doesn't mind, sitting down together for a drink would be wonderful..." Then, she said with apparent regret, "Never mind, better not. It wouldn't look good if someone saw us. Last time, because of me, Brother Su ended up embroiled in some trouble. With so many people now, it'll be even easier to stir up gossip." With that, she even stepped back a little, making a show of not being close to Su Yu. Trying to hide only made it more conspicuous! Su Yu felt mentally fatigued. Do you take me for an idiot? Right here at the entrance of the Secret Realm Area, with people constantly passing by, chatting with me already makes it impossible to clear my name. It only cements the rumors that our relationship is quite good, so why bother with this act? Aren't you tired of performing? They probably waited for him for days! Getting anxious? Last time, he cast out bait without pulling the hook. Was she getting impatient? Thinking this, Su Yu smiled outwardly. "Why stoop to the level of those mediocrities? Let them misunderstand if they want—besides, it's no misunderstanding. I maintain what I said before: humanity cannot treat all the myriad races as enemies. Even if mankind is powerful, we cannot act like that! No matter how strong we are, if the myriad races unite, humanity will inevitably be annihilated!" Su Yu said solemnly, "Earlier, someone instigated me to challenge the Top 100 Rankings and defeat several myriad races students to prove my innocence... Heh, such people are laughable!" Su Yu shook his head. "Insisting on pushing allies to the opposing side—such people are either malicious or stupid!" Upon hearing this, one of the cloaked figures cheered, "Brother Su truly is a heaven-favored talent! Setting everything else aside, this vision alone is something many lack. To tell the truth, we are quite innocent as well. We came to the human realm to consolidate our alliance with humanity, yet... the Great Xia Prefecture treats us with cold shoulders!" It was a man—no, a male! These people wore cloaks day in and day out, and it was hard to probe them, so Su Yu truly didn't know which race he belonged to. Seeing a trace of doubt on Su Yu's face, the person smiled and said, "Pardon me, Brother Su, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Mo He, from the Iron Antelope race!" Su Yu quickly replied, "So it is a brother of the Iron Antelope race. Pardon my discourtesy!" Just polite pleasantries! A minor race. Su Yu couldn't recall whether their king was at the Shanhai Realm or the Sun and Moon Realm, but in any case, they didn't seem to be in the top one thousand of the Myriad Races Rankings. Those in the top thousand generally had Sun and Moon kings, or even Invincible kings. Those outside the top thousand... some were ruled by Sun and Moon, others by Shanhai. As for races where the strongest was Lingyun... they were probably extinct. Look no further; in the myriad worlds, almost no race had a Lingyun king. If any existed, they wouldn't dare step onto the All-Heavens Battlefield; they would seal their own passages, and even if they discovered the existence of the battlefield, they wouldn't dare emerge. The other individuals introduced themselves one by one. There were those from the Fox race, the Ox race, and one rather peculiar fellow whose race Su Yu was actually familiar with—the Ironwing Bird race! Yes! A fellow of that very race! Su Yu was utterly speechless inwardly. Do you know? Back when I was poor and couldn't afford Mountain-Breaking Ox blood essence, I used your race's blood essence every single day to cultivate. The key issue was, the Ironwing Bird race seemed to be an enemy race to humanity. Otherwise, humans wouldn't be publicly selling their blood essence. What on earth? The Myriad Races Academy actually admitted a student from the Ironwing Bird race—was that appropriate? Seeing humans frequently peddling their race's blood essence, wouldn't they go berserk? He truly couldn't fathom Old Wan's thinking! Races like the Cloud Tigers might have under-the-table deals, but at least their blood essence wasn't sold out in the open. ... They chatted casually for a bit while many people came and went. Not a few onlookers saw Su Yu conversing with them. Su Yu didn't care—he genuinely didn't give a damn. Seeing that he was completely unfazed, Xia Qing and the others were surprised and felt relieved. This fellow... really seemed to share this sentiment, willing to befriend them without minding others' stares. After chatting a bit longer, Xia Qing took the initiative to mention, "Brother Su, when you left last time, you said you wanted to borrow our Dao Protectors for some help. We're all on the same side here. If you're facing difficulties, there are so many of us today—someone is bound to be able to assist Brother Su." Su Yu quickly smiled. "Forget it, it was nothing!" As he spoke, he frowned slightly and looked at Xia Qing, subtly gesturing for her to keep quiet. Beneath her cloak, Xia Qing's eyes flickered. A faint joy stirred in her heart. She understood Su Yu's hint: he didn't trust the others. That meant Su Yu still trusted her considerably. At this moment, Xia Qing's thoughts were somewhat conflicted. Su Yu... a genius student! Not only a genius, but a talent of great utility. He had developed the aperture fusion art, something they all knew. Such an outstanding prodigy was someone they were genuinely pleased to associate with. Yet befriending Su Yu... meant offending the powerhouses of the Single Divine Character Faction. A choice between the two... whom to choose? The Great Xia Prefecture's Xia family currently seemed somewhat inclined toward Su Yu, but... it appeared that only Xia Huyou leaned toward him, whereas Xia Yuwen, a core competitor for the post of Prefectural Manor head, was hostile toward Su Yu. Xia Huyou was only from a branch lineage. Xia Chan, of the direct line, was also a member of the Single Divine Character Faction. From Xia Qing's vantage point, the Xia family naturally favored the Single Divine Character Faction more; otherwise, the Single Divine Character Faction wouldn't have suppressed the Multiple Divine Characters Faction to the point where they couldn't lift their heads over all these years. Her feelings conflicted, Xia Qing exchanged a few more pleasantries with Su Yu before both parties parted ways. After Su Yu departed, the group fell silent for a time. Suddenly, someone asked, "Does Su Yu's attitude represent the stance of the Multiple Divine Characters Faction? If the Multiple Divine Characters Faction supports the alliance..." Xia Qing sighed. "If they support it, the Single Divine Character Faction will inevitably oppose it. And if the Single Divine Character Faction opposes it, then the alliance... becomes a joke." Small races had it too hard. Xia Qing added, "His support and the Multiple Divine Characters Faction's support are not good things for us; they're trouble. It pushes us onto the opposite side of certain people!" It would be better if Su Yu didn't support them at all! His support only made things harder for Xia Qing and the others. Whatever Su Yu and the Multiple Divine Characters Faction endorsed might provoke vehement opposition from a multitude of experts. "Then Manor Head Wan also supports us..." "Manor Head Wan..." Xia Qing glanced toward the Xiuxin Pavilion and lowered her voice. "If he truly supported us, there wouldn't be so many opposing voices across the Great Xia Prefecture. His goal seems more about using us to ease factional conflicts within the academy." Wan Tiansheng wasn't necessarily sincere. Saying this, Xia Qing quickly added, "Let's talk back inside!" It wasn't safe here! They had to be careful of eavesdroppers. The group spoke no more, swiftly entering the Myriad Races Academy. Xia Qing's villa. The two elderly figures vanished once more. The others took off their cloaks one after another. The fellow from the Ironwing Bird race had a pair of small wings tucked behind his back; the fellow from the Bullfolk race had two bull horns on his forehead... Not yet reaching the Shanhai Realm, they could not fully assume human form, relying on secret medicines even now to maintain their current state. Once their cloaks were off, everyone relaxed considerably. Niu Zhen of the Bullfolk race grumbled, "Outside is far too uncomfortable! These humans—we came to form an alliance, yet they show no sincerity whatsoever! Over the past few months, we've been confined to this tiny academy. Even when we step outside into public areas of the main academy, people are monitoring us..." Just now, outside, someone had indeed been surveilling them from not far away. This made them very dissatisfied! They had come to form an alliance, not to be hostages. After complaining, Niu Zhen grunted, "Princess Qing, the Single Divine Character Faction reached out to you, didn't they?" "Yes." "What did they say?" Xia Qing frowned. "Very vaguely. The gist of it is that our friendly relations with Su Yu—regardless of whether true or false—are seen that way by everyone. They claim this puts them in a difficult spot, making it hard to fight for our interests." Niu Zhen said angrily, "Bullshit! Befriending Su Yu was also done at their suggestion... and now they turn around and pull this trick to fool us!" The others also chimed in with grievances. "What on earth does the Single Divine Character Faction mean! We did what they told us, and now they play this game..." Xia Qing sighed softly. Among the group, a man with patches of fur on his face also sighed and said faintly, "In truth, everyone understands the meaning, don't they? Because we are on good terms with Su Yu, they... cannot help us. Unless... Su Yu, this obstacle, is gone!" The others fell silent. None of those sent here were fools. The Single Divine Character Faction hadn't said it explicitly—it was merely an insinuation. Of course, if something truly happened, it wouldn't be the Single Divine Character Faction's responsibility. They hadn't said a thing; you figured it out on your own. They had merely stated that Su Yu was their rival, and being friendly with him made things difficult for them—which was also the truth. Niu Zhen said in irritation, "Then at worst, we sever ties with Su Yu! It's not like we're genuinely friends. Shout curses at him, get on the arena stage to challenge him—there are plenty of ways to prove it!" Xia Qing gave a soft chuckle. "They'll just say we're putting on a two-man show. In human terms, our blood pledge isn't convincing enough!" Niu Zhen gritted his teeth. "Princess Qing, we cannot truly let ourselves be used as pawns! This matter... is tricky! Who is Su Yu? The treasure of the Multiple Divine Characters Faction, a genius of the Great Xia Prefecture... I'm thinking, if we really do something, will the Single Divine Character Faction just throw us out as scapegoats? We're only small races with little strength. If we do anything rash here... heaven and earth won't answer our cries! Standing against Su Yu is fine—it's not like a piece of meat gets shaved off us... But if they want us to... then I need to reconsider!" It was far too dangerous! The Single Divine Character Faction's goal was obvious: eliminate Su Yu. To prove themselves! Yet Niu Zhen and the others had no desire to be sacrificial lambs. It would genuinely get an ox killed. Killing a human genius within the Human Realm—if discovered, wouldn't that be seeking death? They wouldn't even get a chance to go to the Vanguard Camp; it would be instant death, a fate worse than the All-Races Cult's, with their very corpses eaten. Xia Qing sighed. "Well said. We cannot make a move. If we do... it's a capital crime! Unless... they strike first themselves and we merely provide support, following their lead. But for us to strike on our own... impossible." Although she coveted Su Yu's mystic realm or legacy... likely a legacy. She hadn't thought of actually killing Su Yu. Seizing a legacy was a matter of fortune and opportunity. Su Yu himself likely wouldn't want to expose it either. Yet killing Su Yu... if uncovered, even the Cloud Tiger race couldn't withstand the fallout. Their entire race could well be exterminated! "Then what do we do now?" The others looked at Xia Qing, then at the youth from the Fox race. Things had returned to square one. Were they truly going to remain cooped up here for years and then return to their clans? Expending vast resources and costs just to come to the human realm to study a few cultivation arts they couldn't even practice? Xia Qing fell silent for a moment before saying, "It's what I said just now. Unless their people strike first, we... cannot act! If we act alone, there's a very high probability we'll be abandoned. Besides, we don't have the opportunity right now..." The Fox race youth said in a low voice, "Xia Qing, what if we join hands with Su Yu?" Xia Qing frowned. "I understand what you mean. Su Yu's attitude represents the Multiple Divine Characters Faction's attitude, which is friendly toward us. From a personal standpoint, I would certainly be willing... but from the standpoint of our races, both the God and Demon races, as well as humans themselves, are unfriendly toward the Multiple Divine Characters Faction. Gambling on oneself for an opportunity still leaves some hope, but gambling the future of our entire races... everyone, can we afford that gamble?" Investing in Su Yu wasn't something no one saw value in. However, the crisis facing the Multiple Divine Characters Faction didn't come merely from the Single Divine Character Faction; there was also external pressure. The God and Demon races were fiercely hostile toward the Multiple Divine Characters Faction. According to their explanation, the Fifth Manor Head had killed numerous powerhouses from both the God and Demon races, a feud under the same sky that could never be reconciled. Even though the Fifth Manor Head was dead, the Multiple Divine Characters Faction remained their mortal enemy! Over the years, many members of the Multiple Divine Characters Faction had fallen in battle, which had everything to do with the God and Demon races. Standing with Su Yu, to put it broadly, meant making enemies of the myriad races of the heavens! Who could shoulder such responsibility? Befriending Su Yu... was impossible. Personal exchanges were fine, but taking a stance on behalf of their races was out of the question. "Bai Ce..." Xia Qing looked at the Fox race youth. "Don't bring ruin upon us all!" Bai Ce sighed softly. "I won't, don't worry! I'm just worried... worried that the Single Divine Character Faction will harm us. I can see through those people; betraying trust and breaking promises would come as no surprise to them. Xia Qing, you're the one who shouldn't act recklessly. If something truly goes awry, the extermination of the Cloud Tiger race is not out of the question!" Xia Qing said nothing. The Cloud Tiger race... was also in a dire situation now. She needed a backer! The Flying Tiger race, a powerful branch of the tiger races, was forcing them to participate in the warfare on the All-Heavens Battlefield. Without a backer's support, after a few campaigns, the Cloud Tiger race would likely face extinction. In the great battles of the All-Heavens Battlefield, the fall of Shanhai experts was commonplace. Were it not for this, why would she have needed to come to the human realm to swallow her pride and endure this indignation?