Immortal Traces, Demonic Shadows

Death qi had actually manifested inside a room of the ancient city. At this moment, Su Yu suspected that the closer a room was to the inner rings, the more death qi it contained. This was the danger, but where was the opportunity? Furthermore, what kind of power was this death qi, and what on earth were those dead spirits? Tianmie City grew more mysterious by the moment. What in the world had this place been used for back then? Su Yu knew none of this. Of course, there were plenty of enigmatic corners throughout the All-Heavens Battlefield, and just as many unknowns. Danger and mystery often went hand in hand with great fortune. Moduona had insisted on rushing here, losing all interest even in killing people. Su Yu was convinced that an enormous opportunity lay waiting. He truly wanted to have a chat with Moduona—assuming the guy wouldn't just attack him on sight. Outside, the clip-clop of the Night Patrol's hooves remained faintly audible. Those figures were shrouded in secrecy; who knew what drawbacks or perils lurked behind converting into an ancient city resident? And then there were those dead spirits... One matter after another swirled through his mind. After a moment of hesitation, Su Yu took out the sub-ranking. The scroll remained as before. After some thought, Su Yu wrote a line across its surface. "I want to know the secrets of the ancient city!" A moment later, a line of text emerged in the blank space. "All ancient cities, or Tianmie Ancient City?" "Tianmie Ancient City!" Su Yu only cared about this place; he hadn't visited the others anyway, and this information certainly wouldn't come cheap. Sure enough, characters quickly materialized once more. "The secrets of Tianmie Ancient City will cost ten years of lifespan." Lifespan? Su Yu understood. Lifespan was essentially vitality—stripping the life force from one's body. Something like that... could probably be replenished with the Immortal race's revitalization methods. Even so, trading one's lifespan for anything was rarely a sound move. Su Yu rejected it. "Give me another condition!" "Ten years of lifespan, slaying a Heaven Ranking genius, providing one drop of Eternal blood essence, or one Eternal divine character... Pick any one!" *Go to hell!* Su Yu cursed internally. Pure extortion! *Are you out of your mind?!* Blood essence from an Invincible, or a divine character from the Eternal Realm? The Human Realm didn't even possess an Eternal divine character; the strongest were at the Sun Moon Realm. An Eternal divine character meant slaughtering an Invincible Civilization Master from one of the other powerful myriad races. What utter nonsense! When calculated like that, ten years of lifespan or slaying a Heaven Ranking genius was actually the easiest, but was the information truly worth that much? "Do you have anything else? That's ridiculous!" "Ancient city classified intelligence is worth this price!" Su Yu's mind stirred. He had asked about the city as a whole, so the other party might be bundling an enormous amount of information. With that in mind, Su Yu wrote again: "Not everything about the ancient city. I want to know how to obtain the opportunities within Tianmie Ancient City! What is the price!" Sure enough, the conditions changed. "Three years of lifespan, ten drops of Sun Moon blood essence, slaying an Earth Ranking genius, or one Earth armament..." Torn between doubt and intrigue, Su Yu wrote, "If I want to trade, how do we conduct it?" "If you are willing, prepare the items. The exchange will naturally be completed shortly!" Su Yu hesitated before writing, "I don't have an Earth armament. Can we trade with three peak Profound rank martial armaments?" The other end seemed to weigh the offer before promptly replying: "Three armaments with over seventy golden patterns. If under seventy, five armaments!" "No problem!" Su Yu could agree to this. Although steep and costly, it was his first transaction; it was worth paying a small price to test them out. This Heaven Hunting Pavilion was just as secretive as the ancient city. How would they conduct the trade? While Su Yu was still pondering, a sudden knock sounded against his door. Su Yu's heart leapt into his throat. The next instant, a very faint voice drifted in from outside. "Mister Su, the trade may begin!" "..." *Fuck!* Su Yu cursed under his breath. *Already here?!* The Heaven Hunting Pavilion actually had operatives stationed inside the ancient city. Alert to the utmost, Su Yu thought for a moment, cracked the door open a sliver, and peeked out. A dark silhouette stood outside. Seeing the door open a crack, the dark figure paid it no mind as a jade talisman appeared in his hand. "Mister Su, we may proceed with the exchange!" Su Yu frowned. "Heaven Hunting Pavilion?" "Yes." "Even if you can track my position, you shouldn't be able to pinpoint it this accurately, right?" "Mister Su shouted earlier. We heard you." The dark figure's answer was plain and simple. No, the tracking wasn't that precise, but hadn't he been shouting at the top of his lungs? "The Night Patrol didn't give you any trouble?" "Just avoid them. They patrol every half hour." The dark figure said indifferently, "Mister Su, you need not test me. Consider that piece of information a free gift." Su Yu had no reply. After a brief hesitation, he retrieved several weapons. They were all the spare weapons he had forged in his free time and had no use for. Of course, he was still one short, but that didn't matter—he had killed plenty of enemies and gathered spoils. He produced another weapon, handed them over to the dark figure, and asked, "Is the information accurate?" "The Heaven Hunting Pavilion puts credibility first!" Simple as that. Believe it or don't! Su Yu chose to believe him. He handed over the weapons and took the jade talisman. *Slam!* The door shut. He waited for a moment without looking at the jade talisman, trying to sense something. Right then, the faint tracking sensation he had placed on the weapons vanished! At that exact instant, a line of characters appeared on the sub-ranking beside Su Yu. "Su Yu, don't bother playing petty tricks like tracking devices on weapons next time." To a colossal organization, Su Yu's tricks were indeed nothing more than child's play. Su Yu had only intended to probe them, yet a chill ran through his heart. The tracking was gone! What did that mean? It had disappeared in mere moments, meaning the other side had detected the mark and dispelled it almost immediately. To neutralize his tracking device so smoothly, the operative was likely an Earth armamentsmith! Otherwise, even a powerhouse would struggle to instantly erase his mechanism. *An Earth armamentsmith... inside the ancient city? Or outside?* *The Heaven Hunting Pavilion, the ancient city...* Everything was growing more and more mysterious! There were many things across the All-Heavens Battlefield that neither humanity nor the other races understood well. Some Invincibles might know, but they kept their lips tightly sealed. Su Yu put the Heaven Hunting Pavilion out of his mind and quickly picked up the jade talisman to examine it. *How to obtain opportunities in the ancient city?* After reading for a while, an odd expression came over Su Yu's face. The Heaven Hunting Pavilion had provided three answers. The first was the City Lord Manor. Massive opportunities lay within the City Lord Manor, but... that was provided you weren't afraid of dying. As for where those opportunities were hidden, you had to find them yourself. The second was the ancient houses. Houses just like the one Su Yu was staying in right now. Opportunities could be found within these dwellings. This section was quite detailed. The opportunities varied widely: for instance, remnants left behind by people who had died in the rooms. Some ancient houses contained corpses... Local residents and guards couldn't enter, but if you managed to get in, you might reap an immense harvest. The closer the ring to the center, the higher the likelihood of finding treasures. Many unopened houses could hold great treasures. In fact, many races stationed in the ancient city were there specifically to open these rooms, hoping to recover ancient relics. That was one type of opportunity! Furthermore, the better the house, the more likely something miraculous would appear inside. For example, in certain grand courtyards, a stroke of luck might reward you with bizarre treasures or even pocket realms. Some dwellings actually housed pocket realms within them. In reality, they were formed from divine characters! Someone had once entered a pocket realm inside the ancient city and obtained a Sun Moon Xuanhuang Pool filled with a vast amount of Sun Moon Xuanhuang Liquid. Someone had once walked into a pocket realm inside a house and discovered a Heaven Yuan Fruit Tree. Over countless years, it had borne countless fruits, and the density of its Heaven Yuan Qi was terrifying. Someone had even stumbled upon a Heaven armament by chance! Su Yu was dazzled as he read. *So that's how it is!* Only the superior houses held the potential for enormous rewards! Naturally, the chances were very low, and many houses were utterly impossible to enter. Even if you got in, grave peril awaited; many had died the instant they stepped inside. Su Yu suspected this was due to the influence of death qi. The more formidable the house, the thicker the death qi within. These were the opportunities an ancient house could offer. Thus, Moduona had most likely ventured deep into the city for precisely this reason. The City Lord Manor and the ancient houses were two types of opportunities. In the ancient city, there was one final type provided by the Heaven Hunting Pavilion. The third: ancient city tokens! These were tokens native to the ancient city. In and of themselves, they weren't much of an opportunity, but they were connected to a deeply mysterious place on the All-Heavens Battlefield: the Star Astral Mansion. The ancient cities and the Star Astral Mansion appeared to share some connection. Currently, there was no definitive record proving a link between them. However, ancient city tokens did exist, and different grades of tokens could potentially unlock distinct regional pocket realms within the Star Astral Mansion. The Star Astral Mansion was colossal and incomprehensibly mysterious. Countless years of exploration had barely scratched the surface. Carrying an ancient city token granted a chance to seize immense fortunes, provided the token's grade was high enough. And these ancient city tokens... were in the hands of dead spirits! Su Yu's teeth ached. *Fuck!* The Heaven Hunting Pavilion implied that those dead spirits might have been the original denizens of the ancient city. The only way to seize an ancient city token was to wrest it from a dead spirit. Of course, some powerhouses within Tianmie City might possess them as well—perhaps taken from dead spirits, or perhaps discovered by chance. Under normal circumstances, however, the tokens remained with the dead spirits. The stronger the dead spirit, the higher the grade of token it might carry. From what was known, there were multiple tiers of tokens: Tengkong Realm, Lingyun Realm, Shanhai Realm... Of course, the exact cultivation realms of dead spirits were indistinct; they looked and felt almost identical upon inspection. The report also provided a brief introduction to death qi: it was an immense hassle! It was best to have countermeasures, overwhelming strength, specialized methods, or simply kill the dead spirit outright. Once tainted, the death qi was exceedingly difficult to purge, and any future visits to the ancient city would draw relentless pursuit from the local dead spirits. In their eyes, you were an intruder. If you were unlucky enough to mistake a Sun Moon dead spirit for a Tengkong dead spirit, you were as good as dead. Therefore, the Heaven Hunting Pavilion advised against attempting this path lightly unless one possessed absolute, overwhelming might. Over the years, elite powerhouses from various races had attempted it in pursuit of benefits, only to meet gruesome ends. The Xuan Armor race had powerhouses stationed nearby primarily for the ancient city's benefits. Lastly, the intelligence noted one more point: the main reason entering through the main gate and staying longer brought greater benefits was that, inside certain powerful houses, three days might yield nothing, but on the fourth or fifth day, a pocket realm might suddenly manifest. Hence, the longer one stayed, the higher the chances of reaping rewards. After finishing the report, Su Yu let out a long breath. Five Profound armaments traded away for just this—that was several tens of thousands of merit points! You couldn't say it was worthless, since he had learned quite a bit. Yet to say it was worth it... paying the equivalent of an Earth armament for only this much still left a bitter taste in his mouth. Su Yu thought for a moment, then wrote on the sub-ranking once more: "Too little valuable information! Not enough! The Heaven Hunting Pavilion is ripping people off. You clearly aren't looking for repeat business!" "What do you want?" "Throw in a few free pieces of information, and maybe we can continue doing business in the future." "What do you wish to know?" "Can you kill people here? Can you kill the residents or the city guards? Will the City Lord intervene? Whose side is the City Lord of Tianmie on? What is the penalty for damaging a house? What are the benefits and drawbacks of becoming a resident?" Su Yu fired off several questions in one go. Right then, a sentence surfaced on the sub-ranking. "There is a lot of information here, though none of it is particularly valuable. We can give it to you for free, but you must provide us with one drop of your blood." "Piss off, deal's off!" The scroll went quiet for a moment before another line appeared: "Then provide one drop of innate blood essence from any race!" "Piss off!" Su Yu cursed again. Not a chance! Not only did he refuse, but he also slipped quietly out the door. He needed to change houses to prevent anyone from knowing he was staying in this one. There were plenty of empty houses. Su Yu hadn't paid attention earlier, but now he began to sense it: different houses exerted a degree of repulsive force when one tried to enter. Certain houses with an architectural style resembling humanity's offered less resistance. Su Yu found a house that closely mirrored human architecture and stayed inside for a while. His strongest impression was that the death qi was noticeably thinner. This was likely why the Shanhai gatekeeper had told him to seek out human-style houses. Less death qi! Meanwhile, he continued wrangling with the Heaven Hunting Pavilion. Not only that, Su Yu quickly altered his appearance, shifting in the blink of an eye into a fierce tiger. He wanted to test whether they could still track him and pinpoint his location so accurately. Otherwise, holding this sub-ranking would never feel safe. Soon, the Heaven Hunting Pavilion replied. They could provide the information, but Su Yu had to provide a dossier on Shan Xiong—yes, Shan Xiong. This included Shan Xiong's methods, divine character traits, and unique characteristics... Su Yu agreed without hesitation! He would just scribble whatever came to mind. That was easy enough. As for whether it was true... how was he supposed to know? Whatever he knew, everyone already knew; whatever everyone else didn't know, he didn't know either. If you're asking me, who am I supposed to ask?! Why the Heaven Hunting Pavilion wanted intel on Shan Xiong was something Su Yu couldn't be bothered to ponder. It was undoubtedly because his previous remarks had piqued their interest in the guy. A fused multiple divine character cultivator interested plenty of people; the Heaven Hunting Pavilion was merely one among many. *** This time, Su Yu received the dossier once more. However, it took considerably longer. Whether the operative was doing it on purpose or genuinely struggling to pinpoint him, roughly an hour passed before the knock sounded at the door again. The door opened. Outside stood the same dark figure as before. Su Yu couldn't be certain if it was the exact same person—their strength was comparable, and their aura was difficult to distinguish, but they looked identical in terms of attire. Su Yu didn't waste words, tossing the notes he had written on Shan Xiong straight to the operative. The operative seemed to scan the contents before his cold, eerie voice drifted out: "Mister Su, this information appears completely outdated. And regarding the details on Shan Xiong's divine character... did you write something incorrectly?" "What?" Su Yu asked with curiosity. "What's wrong with it?" "You claim his divine character might not be a divine character at all, but rather a specialized weapon. This..." "Believe it or don't! If you don't, forget it!" Su Yu snapped irritably. "That's my deduction. If you don't believe it, too bad. I suspect Shan Xiong is actually a cyborg, a Civilization Master from the Modification Department." "..." Though he suspected Su Yu was talking complete nonsense, the dark figure had no recourse and could only take his leave. The moment he left, Su Yu quickly relocated again. Time to run! Sure enough, the sub-ranking could track him, but doing so wasn't completely straightforward. The operative was either deliberately taking his time or truly struggling to locate him instantly, able only to narrow it down to a rough area. *Next time, I can experiment further by stashing the sub-ranking in different spots!* Or he could simply conceal it inside his sea of will or wrap it in divine characters. In any case, he could test it out slowly. Having obtained the additional information, Su Yu quickly browsed through it. His questions had all received general answers. Killing people was permitted in the ancient city. However, killing—including the shedding of blood—could draw forth dead spirits. You had to decide for yourself whether spilling blood was worth the risk. Killing residents or city guards was also permitted, under the same principle. But because they were native residents, killing them might summon exceptionally powerful dead spirits. Becoming an ancient city resident effectively bound you to the ancient city. There were benefits: one could survive in the ancient city indefinitely. Furthermore, residents entered a state of mutual non-interference with the dead spirits. As long as you didn't actively provoke them, the dead spirits wouldn't attack local residents. Beyond that, if a local resident held a sufficiently high-grade ancient city token, they could even command weaker dead spirits under certain conditions. The Night Patrol commander's earlier claim that they could breach houses simply meant they possessed relatively high-grade ancient city tokens, enabling them to force entry. The prerequisite was that the token's grade had to be high enough. According to the Heaven Hunting Pavilion, ancient city tokens likely had thirty-six tiers, corresponding to the thirty-six concentric rings. The lowest-grade tokens could only open houses in the outermost zones. If one feared being attacked inside a house by ancient city residents, the safest option was to retreat to a house in an inner ring, where they couldn't possibly enter. As for damaging houses... the result was the same. They couldn't be destroyed, and even if damaged, they restored themselves rapidly. Crucially, damaging a house would provoke the dead spirits. In short, the most terrifying presence in this ancient city was not the living, but the dead. Those dead spirits were likely the deceased denizens of the ancient city from bygone eras, preserved by the city itself and saturated with the aura of death. Regarding the City Lord of Tianmie, there were only a few brief lines: "No need to provoke, nor any need to fear. Humans, Gods, Demons, Immortals... Any race possessing more than five Invincibles is beyond his willingness to provoke. If you do not actively cross him, he will not cross you!" Simple as that. To hold dominion over an ancient city and reign as a local hegemon required the wisdom to read the prevailing winds. The reason five Invincibles were cited as the threshold for his caution was that an ancient city had once come under siege. Three Invincibles had stormed into it, only to gain nothing while losing one of their own—an incident from several centuries ago. Consequently, against smaller races lacking Invincibles or possessing only one or two, the City Lord showed little fear. The ancient city possessed a complete defensive system, and as its puppet master... Yes, puppet master. Those weren't Su Yu's words; that was how the Heaven Hunting Pavilion phrased it. A puppet master held the power to mobilize certain forces of the ancient city. In essence, the message to Su Yu was: mind your own business. Just don't go out of your way to cause trouble for him! Humanity was no soft target either. Though their circumstances in recent years had grown precarious, Xia Longwu had fought his way all the way to Tianmie City back then without suffering any fallout. For the sake of peace and quiet, the City Lord wouldn't clash with the geniuses of the mighty races. *So that's how it is!* Having read through this intelligence, Su Yu formed a clear general picture of the ancient city. One had to admit, the Heaven Hunting Pavilion's intelligence network was remarkably comprehensive. They knew a little bit about everything! Of course, this likely wasn't the full truth of the ancient city. For example, how the dead spirits were formed and what connection they had to the Star Astral Mansion remained entirely unexplained. *The City Lord Manor... forget it. A ninth-tier Sun Moon oversees it; going there is suicide.* *Killing dead spirits... forget that too. If I run into a Sun Moon dead spirit, I'm dead meat. The one I met earlier was probably only Lingyun or Shanhai, and it was already that troublesome!* *Then the only viable path is to head into the inner rings, find an unoccupied house, and gamble on my luck. The longer I stay, the higher the chance an opportunity appears—provided I'm not wiped out by death qi first!* At this point, Su Yu had largely pieced together the method for reaping benefits in the ancient city. A Sun Moon Xuanhuang Pool! Now that was formidable—a supreme treasure capable of strengthening the acupoint energy of a Sun Moon Realm cultivator. Su Yu had heard of it; it was nearly impossible to buy, priceless beyond measure. Once someone reached the Sun Moon Realm, any treasure capable of boosting their strength would never be sold unless they had already attained the peak of the ninth tier. Or perhaps taking back a Heaven Yuan Fruit Tree would be fine too; he could plant it himself, securing a permanent source of Heaven Yuan Fruits. Failing that, bringing back a Heaven armament would suffice. And if even that didn't work, securing a few Sun Moon divine characters would do. Even if he didn't use them, shattering them for cultivation was an option! Su Yu's heart surged with ambition! Moduona had reached the 18th ring last time; he had probably ventured even deeper by now. With his current strength, reaching around the 20th ring should be feasible, right? Moduona might have already pushed toward the 15th ring. *I can test it ring by ring, primarily assessing the density of death qi along with any other lurking dangers. Testing house by house, going from weakest to strongest, will tell me everything. Only then will I decide which house to hole up in.* *Dead spirits...* Su Yu's thoughts turned back to the problem of the dead spirits. The Heaven Hunting Pavilion had offered a brief explanation: they rarely appeared during the day and came out predominantly at night. Rarely during the day did not mean never—damaging a building or spilling blood would draw them out. At night, the chances of encountering them outdoors were extremely high. Some dead spirits emerged after dark specifically to gather those jade talismans. *** Just as Su Yu prepared to push deeper into the city... Inside the City Lord Manor. The rear hall was where the stone statue resided, while the current City Lord inhabited the front hall. The rear hall was thoroughly eerie. Even the City Lord was reluctant to visit often. Sun Moon experts had died there in the past, and several powerful dead spirits roamed the area at night. Even he had no desire to clash with them. At this moment, the front hall was brightly illuminated. In the vast ancient city, this was the only place that held any light. Everywhere else was engulfed in pitch blackness; even if one lit a lamp inside a house, barely a flicker escaped into the streets outside. Within the front hall, several figures were present. The City Lord of Tianmie sat at the head of the hall, sipping wine as he watched beauties from various races dance below. His eyes were clear, showing no sign of intoxication, though he maintained a quiet demeanor. Flanking the hall were several figures radiating transcendent, immortal grace. They appeared young, both men and women. Beside them stood a few armored powerhouses. If Su Yu were here, he would have instantly recognized them as members of the Xuan Armor race. To the left, a handsome, radiant youth raised his cup with a smile. "A toast to Lord City Lord of Tianmie! Your Excellency holds dominion over the western Desire Sea Plain. As long as the ancient city stands, Your Excellency endures, lasting through countless generations..." The man seated at the center possessed pupils that were entirely pitch-black. He fixed a profound gaze on the youth. "A descendant of an Immortal King needs no such courtesy, nor any need to flatter me! I am merely a destitute wanderer. If my realm had not been destroyed, I would never have come to this ancient city to serve as a puppet, neither truly alive nor dead!" "Your Excellency jests." Dao Cheng smiled and said, "Within this ancient city, Your Excellency can hold your ground even against an Eternal Immortal King..." "Heh!" A chuckle sounded—whether out of disdain or self-mockery was hard to tell. The City Lord appeared young, or at least looked the part. His most striking feature was those entirely black eyes. Looking at Dao Cheng, he said indifferently, "Only within this tiny plot of land that is the ancient city. Once I step outside, even an ordinary ninth-tier Sun Moon could take my life. Years ago, a single blade strike from Xia Longwu left me grievously wounded... What is there to be proud of!" At these words, Dao Cheng fell silent for a moment before smiling again. "Those who commit countless injustices bring about their own ruin! Xia Longwu has indulged in too much slaughter; now, attaining the Dao will be exceedingly difficult for him. In my view... it looks bleak!" The City Lord ignored him, took another sip of wine, and said indifferently, "The Immortal race has arrived in the company of the Xuan Armor race. What assistance does Your Excellency require of me?" Seeing that he didn't take the bait, Dao Cheng dropped the subject and smiled. "My Lord, we wish to capture someone in the city." "Su Yu?" "Yes." The City Lord looked at him and said coolly, "Go ahead and capture him yourself!" "We hope Your Excellency can grant us a few conveniences... For instance, opening the house where Su Yu is hiding; otherwise, we have no means of entering. Furthermore, should dead spirits appear, we hope Your Excellency's subordinates can exert some restraint. I know Your Excellency is capable of this." Without waiting for him to refuse, Dao Cheng pressed on, "Your Excellency also understands that surviving in this ancient city for too long means eventually becoming part of the next generation of dead spirits! Dead spirits do not belong only to this era; several previous generations of City Lords have already turned into dead spirits, as Your Excellency must know! And my Immortal race... may be able to help Your Excellency slow down the process of turning into a dead spirit!" "The Immortal race?" The City Lord nodded slightly and said calmly, "The Immortal race possesses many methods. The older an Immortal grows, the stronger their combat prowess becomes. Your race's longevity arts are famed throughout the myriad realms!" Dao Cheng's face lit up with delight. "My Lord, then..." "However!" The City Lord cut in flatly, "I have no need of it! Be it the Human race, the Immortal race, or the Gods and Demons, all of you are entities I cannot afford to offend. If I help you capture Su Yu today, will the Immortal race step forward when human Invincibles strike tomorrow?" "..." Dao Cheng was left speechless. Beside him, Jiu Xuan chimed in hurriedly, "My Lord, the Human race will not mobilize a major force against Your Excellency over a single Su Yu!" "Is that so?" The City Lord set down his wine cup and said impassively, "Then if I seize the two of you today and interrogate you for the Immortal race's longevity arts, will that... also fail to draw the Immortal race's retaliation?" The two Immortals blanched in shock. "Hahaha!" The City Lord chuckled. "A mere joke! But you two know the truth in your hearts. If I help you capture Su Yu today, humanity will not declare war on the Immortal race. But I, bound to defend this city and unable to leave, would surely die! The ancient city... never lacks for a City Lord." With that, he said indifferently, "Suit yourselves, guests! I will not divulge your intentions either; we can treat today as nothing more than an ordinary banquet. As for the Human-Immortal alliance, I am well aware of it and will not speak carelessly!" Dao Cheng furrowed his brow slightly, then quickly smiled. "Then we have disturbed Your Excellency. As for the alliance... it will not break. Though humans and Immortals are allies, competition remains. The myriad realms know full well that the Great Qin Prefecture has slain experts of our Immortal race more than once or twice." He didn't care much about that; as long as they weren't caught in the act, nothing would come of it. Had the Great Qin Prefecture killed few Immortals? Naturally, the Immortals hadn't spared human experts either. Everyone simply maintained a veneer of peace. Likewise, while Gods and Demons jointly suppressed humanity, they slaughtered each other just the same, even clashing openly. So long as the overarching direction aligned, that was enough. The City Lord had no desire to get entangled in their affairs. Whether it was Su Yu, Moduona, or the two Immortal geniuses before him, he had no interest in crossing any of them. If you have the ability, go kill him yourselves. If you don't, it has nothing to do with me. Although the City Lord was an overlord in his own right, his domain extended only across this tiny patch of land. Outside, any of the top hundred races could dispatch an Invincible to suppress him. As for the encroaching death qi, that was unavoidable. He was actually intrigued by the Immortal race's offer, but alas... he simply couldn't accept. Otherwise, if push came to shove, the Immortals wouldn't protect him, and no one would stand up for him when human Invincibles came knocking. In fact, these Immortal schemers might even intentionally leak the information themselves. After struggling on the All-Heavens Battlefield for so many years, what hadn't he seen through? Even after Xia Longwu had nearly severed his life with a single blade strike back then, he had merely charged humans an entrance fee; beyond that, he had never dared to overstep. At this moment, the powerhouse of the Xuan Armor race spoke up: "My Lord, two of our race's Heaven Hunting Ranking geniuses were slain this time. Our race will not let this rest. If our actions within the city overstep boundaries in the coming days, we ask for Your Excellency's indulgence!" The City Lord raised his cup, took a sip, and said calmly, "Do as you please. So long as you don't touch the city's defensive forces, that is your own business." "Many thanks, My Lord!" The Xuan Armor powerhouse said no more. He had already anticipated the City Lord's refusal. This fellow was timid and conflict-averse; he would hardly muster the resolve to help them capture Su Yu. Seeing this, Dao Cheng had no choice but to say, "Then we shall trouble Your Excellency no further. We take our leave!" "Take care. I shall not see you out!" The City Lord responded calmly, watching the group depart. Once they had vanished, he murmured softly, "Moduona is far stronger than Su Yu, yet they don't seek out Moduona..." He shook his head, understanding the broader picture. It all came back to the Multiple Divine Characters Faction! The Immortal race had no desire to see any hope of resurgence for the faction. On that front, their interests aligned completely with the Gods and Demons. Now that Su Yu had made the Heaven Ranking, even the Immortals could no longer hold back.