Within the 24th ring of Tianmie City sat a sprawling residence—the outpost of the Xuan Armor race in the ancient city.
Those who had joined the ancient city and become its residents were permanently stationed here.
Those who had not joined would leave once every three days to rest for a day, after which they would re-enter the city and take up lodging here once more.
This was the permanent residency method adopted by some races: having a portion of their clansmen join the ancient city to help them better exploit its opportunities.
Occupying an immense tract of land, this grand residence was considered top-tier among those in the outer rings—vast, pleasantly situated, spacious, and unobstructed by nearby structures.
The residence itself was an old manor that had seen little modification, though its plaque looked somewhat new.
"Xuan Armor!"
Two large characters of the Xuan Armor script hung from the gatehouse, projecting an imposing, domineering aura.
The main gates of the residence were wide open!
In the ancient city, virtually everyone kept their gates shut.
Closed doors signified that no one was permitted in or out, serving as a safeguard for one's own survival. If the doors were shut, an intruder would have to smash them open to force their way in—and breaking a door was guaranteed to provoke an attack from dead spirits.
Therefore, keeping the doors closed was the safest path.
Yet the Xuan Armor race had plenty of people coming and going. Bolstered by their confidence and pride, they opted to keep their gates open.
Outside the gates stood four armored Xuan Armor sentries on guard.
In truth, there was no need for guards if the gates were shut.
However, the top-hundred races cared about prestige, and most other permanently stationed races in the city followed the same practice.
Right now, dusk was falling.
Armored warriors came and went in steady numbers—not only Xuan Armor fighters, for as a top-hundred race stationed here for years, they had also absorbed a cohort of homeless powerhouses from minor races to serve them.
Just as Hong Kai had previously attempted to capture Su Yu, the Xuan Armor race also maintained a number of thralls.
Directly opposite the manor, a row of storefronts along the street lay abandoned; because the Xuan Armor race was garrisoned here, no one occupied any shops along this street.
At this moment, on the roof of one storefront, Su Yu lay quietly in wait, having disguised himself as broken tiles.
Night was fast approaching.
Fewer and fewer living beings remained on the streets. Once darkness fell, dead spirits would appear, so most beings chose to retreat indoors to pass the night.
"The Xuan Armor race..."
He was roughly a thousand meters from the manor. Several points of light showed on his perception jade. After Hu Qi's modifications, its sensing range had grown larger and had shifted from a passive state to an active one.
Even so, the detection range was still somewhat modest—a thousand meters wasn't particularly far.
Furthermore, inside the ancient city, the unique nature of the buildings made sensing even more difficult.
For now, Su Yu could only gauge the strength of those passing in and out; the combat capabilities of the personnel inside the manor remained undetected.
"They've stationed quite a lot of people here!"
Su Yu murmured. As for discerning whether someone was an ancient city resident, he could tell a bit now. He hadn't understood before, but after observing for the whole day, he had realized that telling them apart was actually fairly simple.
Those who appeared lifeless and reeking of death were mostly residents of the ancient city, likely affected by the death qi.
Those whose death qi was faint were either outsiders or had only joined the city recently.
Killing an outsider produced a different outcome than killing a resident.
If one killed an ancient city resident, the dead spirits that manifested would be considerably stronger.
"Are the Immortal folks not here? Or have they not come out yet? Or are they stationed outside the city?"
Su Yu was someone who held grudges over the smallest grievance. He had been this way since childhood: if you wanted to kill him and he had the power to kill you back, he would never let you off, even if it cost him something to do it.
In his youth, Chen Hao had acted as his enforcer, but now that there was no one to do the dirty work for him, he naturally had to handle it himself.
Su Yu waited in silence.
He possessed plenty of patience.
Being out in the open ancient city at night was something Su Yu hadn't experienced deeply the previous evening. Now, as the sky darkened, he noticed that death qi seemed thicker outside. Although he hadn't circulated heavenly origin qi and couldn't sense it with absolute clarity, he could still feel a faint wisp of death qi seeping into his body.
Staying inside a building was actually better.
"So the houses aren't coffins after all, but shelters?"
Su Yu speculated. The previous night, he had only felt it intensely because he used heavenly origin qi inside the room. Tonight, observing carefully from outdoors, he felt the ambient death qi as well.
No wonder everyone retreated indoors. For one, dead spirits roamed outside; for another, the death qi outside was simply too heavy.
"A dead spirit isn't about to show up, is it?"
Su Yu remained exceedingly cautious. Those things couldn't even be picked up by the perception jade.
Just as his guard was up, a large group of armored warriors emerged from the manor.
Quite a lot!
At least thirty of them came out this time. Not only were there Xuan Armor warriors, but also powerhouses they seemed to have subjugated, nearly all clad in armor.
"Not weak at all—three Shanhai Realm powerhouses!"
Three Shanhai might not sound like much.
In reality, a race like the Xuan Armor race had overall strength comparable only to one of the human race's major prefectures. In the Great Xia Prefecture, dispatching three Shanhai at once was a major operation, let alone here in the ancient city rather than the Xuan Armor Realm.
Having just lost a Sun Moon Realm expert, fielding three Shanhai at this moment proved their might was formidable indeed.
These experts stepped through the main gates without a sound, waiting in silence.
Two or three minutes later, more people came out.
Three of them!
One belonged to the Xuan Armor race—seemingly the Xuan Armor commander who had been forced by Zheng Ping yesterday to retreat into the city, an existence at the Shanhai peak.
"Four Shanhai!"
Su Yu didn't look in their direction, keeping his eyes on the perception jade. Four in the Shanhai Realm: one at ninth-stage Shanhai, and among the other three, one at sixth-stage Shanhai, one at third-stage Shanhai, and one who had likely just entered the realm.
Stationing one Sun Moon and four Shanhai in the ancient city showed that the Xuan Armor race placed immense value on this place.
As for the other two black-robed humanoid figures, the display on Su Yu's perception jade was somewhat ambiguous, fluctuating between dots of Lingyun and Shanhai light—a reaction very similar to when he encountered top prodigies.
...
While Su Yu lay hidden,
in front of the manor gates, Dao Cheng glanced around. "Jiu Xuan, do you sense anything?"
Beside him, Jiu Xuan shook her head and chuckled softly. "Dead spirits? Or death qi? Brother Dao Cheng, let's leave this ancient city as soon as possible. This place feels... unbearable!"
The Immortal race disliked the ancient city—loathed it, in fact.
The death qi was thick here, while the Immortal race was naturally overflowing with life force. Lingering here, they felt the contrast far more acutely than other races, experiencing a deeply uncomfortable sensation.
Dao Cheng remained silent. After a moment's thought, his palm twitched slightly.
Divine characters surfaced one by one. After a brief hesitation, a drop of fresh blood welled from his fingertip...
"Stop!"
Beside him, the Shanhai peak expert snapped irritably, casting him a stern look and saying in a low voice, "Do not draw blood! It will summon dead spirits!"
He was visibly irritated!
Dao Cheng understood, yet still explained, "I need to divine whether this operation will go smoothly. The ancient city's death qi interferes too heavily; without blood, it won't work."
The Shanhai peak expert had no time to argue with him.
Right at that moment, at the far end of the street, a shadowy figure silently appeared, slowly drifting in their direction.
A dead spirit!
The Xuan Armor commander was infuriated, yet had to deal with the creature. Fortunately, it had only been a single tiny drop of blood, so the dead spirit was unlikely to be particularly strong. Glancing at the black-armored expert who had newly entered the Shanhai Realm, he barked, "Go! Use an ancient city token to lure it away!"
The first-stage Shanhai warrior acknowledged the order and flew out quickly, producing an ancient city token in his hand. The approaching dead spirit seemed to hesitate, and in that moment, the Shanhai expert swiftly darted away into the distance.
A moment later, after a brief pause, the dead spirit drifted off after him.
The Xuan Armor commander breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, it wasn't overly powerful and still acted purely on instinct rather than possessing formidable intellect or strength; otherwise, it wouldn't have been swayed by such a low-grade ancient city token.
He turned his gaze back to Dao Cheng, his eyes flashing cold. "Envoy, do not attempt such reckless experiments again!"
Dao Cheng smiled. "I won't. The Xuan Armor race is formidable indeed!"
He offered an airy compliment and a courteous apology, then paid the commander no more heed. The moment he had stepped outside, an uneasy feeling had weighed on him, prompting him to divine the future after all.
The divine characters, stained with blood, spun continuously.
Moments later, Dao Cheng's gaze flickered. Looking at the hexagram formed by the assembled divine characters, no clear images appeared—only a streak of blood red.
Dao Cheng's expression shifted slightly, and he murmured grimly, "Be on guard, everyone. The divination is ominous. There may be unforeseen variables in this operation—there will be danger!"
At those words, Jiu Xuan asked hastily, "Brother Dao Cheng, where does the danger stem from?"
"That... isn't entirely clear."
Dao Cheng shook his head. Divination was merely deductive deduction, not peering directly into the future. It revealed that peril loomed, but the specific nature of that peril remained unknown.
Nonetheless, this was an ill omen.
The Shanhai peak expert didn't dismiss it lightly either. Dao Cheng's reputation for divination was well known. Hearing this, he frowned slightly. "Danger... Tianmie Ancient City is fraught with perils. If we only know there's danger, it's hard to guard against."
Did they have to abort tonight's operation?
He hesitated.
Dangers were everywhere in the ancient city: threats from dead spirits, hazards that might arise while searching houses, or encountering other perils entirely.
Dao Cheng glanced around and took a deep breath. "Let's proceed with caution. Perhaps it is just the ancient city's environment influencing the omen. In any case, if something goes wrong, everyone find an empty house to take cover."
"Should we call it off?"
The Xuan Armor commander hesitated. "If it is truly that dangerous, there is no need to rush. If Su Yu really came here, he must stay for at least three full days. As of now, only one day has passed."
Dao Cheng wavered for a second before replying, "No. Such omens of crisis might occur every single day here. We just need to be careful."
Then he added, "Senior Cheng Kai, you are at the peak of the Shanhai Realm, and the Xuan Armor race is among the top hundred. Even if Senior encountered a Sun Moon Realm combatant, you could hold them off for a while, right?"
"Naturally!"
"Then Senior, please try not to separate from us!"
Cheng Kai nodded. So be it.
The group set off briskly toward the city gates. Tonight, they intended to search ring by ring. It looked like a monumental task, but in reality, it wasn't insurmountable.
Aside from the residents, transient visitors in the ancient city were not exceedingly numerous.
The Xuan Armor race had gathered relevant intelligence: anyone who arrived more than two days ago could be disregarded, allowing them to focus on screening those who had entered yesterday or today.
...
Until they left, Su Yu remained perfectly still, maintaining his camouflage.
Even though they were walking away, he still had to be wary—there was a peak Shanhai among them.
Additionally, he had to consider whether they possessed a detection relic similar to the perception jade.
The Immortal race was mighty; they might very well possess such treasures.
Su Yu remained as inert as a heap of rubble, lurking motionless.
After a while, the Shanhai expert who had left earlier returned.
Not only had he returned, but a dead spirit was following right behind him!
The very same dead spirit from before!
Su Yu was shaken. Could these people control dead spirits?
The Shanhai expert scanned the surroundings, turned around, raised his ancient city token, and seemed to murmur a few commands to the dead spirit. The creature showed slight resistance, but seeing the token, it ultimately obeyed.
A moment later, a dense cloud of death qi billowed from the dead spirit's body.
The dead spirit began pacing back and forth along the street.
The Shanhai expert quickly stepped away, letting the death qi diffuse and fill the surrounding area.
Perched on the rooftop, Su Yu was also invaded by this death qi.
It moved with startling speed!
Death qi coursed through his body!
The dead spirit paced up and down the street five or six times, until the dark haze shrouding its form seemed to thin out, becoming somewhat translucent.
Shortly afterward, just as abruptly as it had arrived, the dead spirit vanished without a trace.
After another brief wait, several figures reappeared nearby—the very people who had departed earlier.
They silently observed the street submerged in death qi. Cheng Kai looked at Dao Cheng beside him and shook his head. "No one. All these houses are unoccupied. If someone were outside, enveloped by death qi like this, they would quickly perish. Even if they survived, a dead spirit would soon hunt them down."
Dao Cheng frowned slightly. Really no one?
He had sensed a faint inkling of danger, which had prompted this whole exercise.
They waited quietly for a while. If anyone were truly lurking, this pervasive death qi would surely have saturated them by now.
Dao Cheng knew Su Yu possessed escape techniques and concealment arts.
Thus, when he felt the sense of crisis, his first thought was whether Su Yu had been brazen enough to lurk right nearby.
Yet now, he began to doubt himself.
"Wait a little longer!"
Cheng Kai interjected hastily, "The death qi here is dense; it could easily draw out powerful dead spirits. We can only wait a few moments more, then we must leave immediately and return only after the death qi disperses!"
Dao Cheng nodded slightly.
After waiting roughly five or six minutes, he finally agreed, "Let's go."
After this long, even if their target possessed methods to resist death qi, it would have infiltrated his body.
Only then did the group depart swiftly.
Behind them, faint silhouettes of dead spirits were once again beginning to coalesce.
It was precisely because they sensed this mounting peril that they withdrew without delay.
The instant they left, Su Yu ceased his disguise. Moving with shocking speed, he flashed across the air and vanished from the spot!
Damn it!
At this moment, death qi was running rampant through his body, nearly overwhelming him.
Right then, silently from behind, a dead spirit manifested.
Closing the distance at frightening speed, it shot a blast of death qi straight toward him!
Su Yu was greatly alarmed as his "Calamity" divine character pulsed frantically.
Not daring to delay for a second, he ducked into an unoccupied house in the blink of an eye.
He hastily retrieved heavenly origin qi, cloaking himself in a generous surge of it.
Hissing sizzles sounded incessantly!
One portion, three portions...
This time, the death qi was so concentrated that Su Yu had to consume nearly twenty portions of heavenly origin qi before grinding it all away. However, his physical body had received further tempering in the process, faintly beginning its transformation toward the seventeenth temper.
Su Yu gnashed his teeth in fury.
Those bastards were exceptionally vigilant.
And their methods were formidable too!
To think they could actually manipulate dead spirits!
"Dead spirits hunt me..."
Su Yu muttered. Hunt me!
Because there was too much death qi inside his body.
"If it's because of too much death qi, ancient city residents carry heavy death qi as well. Why aren't they hunted down by dead spirits?"
"Furthermore, attacks by dead spirits ought to be indiscriminate slaughter, shouldn't they?"
Thoughts raced through his mind. Su Yu gave a cold snort. Fine then, I'll play along with you guys.
After waiting a while, Su Yu pushed the door open slightly, making minimal noise, and reached a hand out to test the outside. Nothing happened.
Only then did Su Yu step outside once more.
He swiftly dissolved into a light breeze, vanishing on the spot.
...
A short while later,
Su Yu latched onto their trail again.
By this time, more individuals had joined the group—or rather, a detachment of the Night Patrol mounted on steed-like mounts.
Su Yu's heart stirred. What a coincidence!
The detachment was actually led by the same fellow from last night!
He knew because he could sense the position of his Profound armament right among this troop.
That meant another Shanhai Realm expert had joined their ranks.
Five Shanhai!
Moreover, Dao Cheng and Jiu Xuan were both capable of handling Shanhai combatants, making it functionally equivalent to seven Shanhai operating in unison. To deal with him, these people had truly spared no expense, mobilizing so many formidable figures all at once.
At present, in the 36th ring, led by the Night Patrol, they were conducting room-by-room searches of the houses.
Empty houses could be ignored; residents could be left alone.
Cheng Kai and the others were conversing, and Su Yu caught fragments of their exchange.
"Even if that brat entered the city, he wouldn't stay in the outer perimeter, would he?"
"Check everything just in case! Once an area is swept, station men to watch it and prevent him from switching houses!"
"Hei Kai, have your Night Patrol inspect more sectors tonight and forbid any living beings from wandering freely."
On the Night Patrol's side, the black-armored expert from the previous night replied, "We can do that. But as for the Night Patrol... the City Lord won't object, will he?"
"He doesn't meddle in such affairs, rest assured!"
Cheng Kai said indifferently, "He is merely a down-and-out Sun Moon. Our race has Invincibles backing us, and now an envoy has arrived. He won't intervene."
A ninth-stage Sun Moon, even one occupying an ancient city, wouldn't have the audacity to oppose the Immortal race.
"Fine!"
Hei Kai agreed. Soon, more Night Patrol guards converged on the area.
...
By the city wall,
the Shanhai expert who had previously warned Su Yu stood atop the battlement, looking inward toward the city. Since the operation was taking place in the outer rings, he could see it clearly.
Beside him, an armored soldier sent a voice transmission: "Commander, isn't that Commander Hei Kai of the Night Patrol? Why has the Xuan Armor race mobilized in full force like this?"
The Shanhai man said nothing.
He thought back to the person from yesterday—that had to be Su Yu.
The Xuan Armor race was moving against him inside the city.
Would that guy get caught this time?
What about the City Lord?
Would he step in this time?
Thoughts flashed through his mind. After watching for a while, the Shanhai man quietly looked away. He had no power to intervene in this matter.
Yet if the Xuan Armor race truly killed Su Yu, or captured him... would an Invincible from the human race arrive?
He didn't know.
All he knew was that this might become a spark—and the scene from over a decade ago, when the Dragon Martial Guards laid siege to Tianmie City, might repeat itself.
...
"Five Shanhai, two Immortal geniuses, seventeen in the Lingyun Realm, thirty-eight in the Tengkong Realm..."
Over sixty powerhouses. Both Lingyun and Shanhai qualified as formidable experts.
Tengkong cultivators were relatively ordinary in the ancient city.
Su Yu didn't pay much mind to those Tengkong either. He only knew that many among this bunch were ancient city residents; killing them might trigger immense trouble.
He wasn't sure if he could withstand the backlash.
"The best course is to first kill the ones holding ancient city tokens!"
The Shanhai who had lured away the dead spirit earlier and Hei Kai of the Night Patrol definitely possessed ancient city tokens—that was beyond doubt. The peak Shanhai expert surely possessed one as well, and likely of no low grade.
If he killed them and summoned dead spirits, could those without ancient city tokens still control the creatures? Su Yu didn't believe so for a second.
His eyes settled on those two Shanhai experts.
Both were at early-stage Shanhai.
In addition, there was that black-robed Immortal fairy.
"They actually aren't splitting up..."
Su Yu fumed inwardly. Split up, damn it!
If they didn't split up and he charged in... that would be suicide.
In a city this massive, if you don't divide your forces, how long is it going to take you to finish searching?
This doesn't fit my expectations at all!
The party continued their sweep. Hei Kai of the Night Patrol didn't force any doors open right off the bat. After searching for a while and locating several occupied houses, the Night Patrol commander stepped forward and knocked.
"Open up! Night Patrol conducting nighttime inspection!"
"Open the door immediately!"
"..."
Most occupants were unwilling to open their doors, but a few regulars opened up nonetheless, feeling helpless. They knew the Night Patrol had the authority and means to force doors open.
At least, they could do so in the outer rings.
Hardly any true powerhouses lived in the outer ring anyway.
Real experts disdained living in these shabby little shacks on the periphery.
The Night Patrol had several doors opened for them and marched straight inside to search.
Those who refused were soon forced open anyway. Su Yu caught sight of the ancient city token in Hei Kai's hand.
When the token was brought out, death qi billowed from it, shedding a ghostly radiance. The shut doors swung open with ease under its power. However, they didn't kill anyone; at most, they delivered a beating to the occupants before conducting their search.
Killing people here wasn't worth the cost.
The more people killed, the greater the disaster.
It would provoke dead spirits.
And an ancient city token was hardly omnipotent; if two dead spirits appeared simultaneously, the token would struggle to restrain them.
...
"Ancient city tokens... and they still won't split up!"
Su Yu continued to observe in secret, gritting his teeth. Then his eyes flickered. So many experts had marched out of the Xuan Armor race's stronghold—were there still any powerhouses guarding it?
He hadn't had the time to probe earlier, and those arrogant fools had left their front gates wide open without ever closing them...
Should he... head over and slaughter a batch first?
His only worry was provoking a pursuit by dead spirits, which could be troublesome.
"Fine then. Since you refuse to descend into chaos, I'll force you into chaos!"
If dead spirits chased him, he could just find a place to hide.
The deadliest aspect of dead spirits was death qi, and since he could wear down death qi, that was his greatest asset and confidence.
With that thought, Su Yu stopped watching this search. The people in the outer ring were weaklings with no ability to resist, and the searching party was on high alert. Chaos wouldn't break out here—unless turmoil erupted somewhere else.
...
More than ten minutes later, Su Yu returned to the Xuan Armor race's stronghold.
Under the shroud of night, several guards were still on duty. Unlike during the day, however, when they had stood outside the gates, they were now standing just inside the threshold, though the gates remained open.
Evidently, these guards feared the night as well.
If danger arose, they could slam the doors shut in time.
Houses in the 24th ring could not be forced open so easily.
Su Yu dissolved into a gentle breeze and brushed past. The guards were merely in the Tengkong Realm; detecting him was practically impossible for them.
In the blink of an eye, Su Yu slipped into the large courtyard.
The compound was spacious. Beyond the entrance lay an open courtyard atrium flanked by various chambers. At this proximity, Su Yu sensed everything clearly.
There was actually another Shanhai expert holding down the fort here, along with three in the Lingyun Realm and twelve in the Tengkong Realm.
The Xuan Armor race had truly invested heavily in this ancient city.
Altogether, between those out and those remaining, they had six Shanhai and twenty Lingyun. A force of this caliber could command an army of a hundred thousand in the Great Xia Prefecture!
"If I kill people indoors and shut the doors, can dead spirits get in?"
Su Yu couldn't be sure.
He had never tested it!
Maybe they could, maybe they couldn't. Even the intelligence from the Heaven Hunting Pavilion hadn't touched on this.
Pondering this, an idea struck him. Right near the doorway, he pricked his palm, producing a single drop of fresh blood.
At that exact moment, a dark shadow abruptly materialized outside.
"Hmm?"
The sentries spotted it too. Watching the shadowy figure hovering outside the entrance, one said in bewilderment, "Why is another dead spirit here? What is it lingering around our place for?"
"Does it want to come in?"
The guards were puzzled as to why the creature was loitering right at their doorstep.
The dead spirit drifted restlessly back and forth in front of the gate.
Several times it seemed poised to enter, only to be turned away by a ghostly luminescence radiating from the entryway.
The guards still didn't close the gates, but the Shanhai expert inside soon hurried out. Su Yu swiftly held his breath and suppressed his aura. The Shanhai expert's eyes glowed with an eerie light as he gazed outside, demanding in a heavy voice, "What is going on? Why is a dead spirit suddenly hovering here? Did someone's cultivation go awry and bleed, drawing it in?"
"No..."
"None of us were cultivating!"
Other Xuan Armor fighters emerged one after another, all denying it.
Everyone knew that in the ancient city, drawing blood was the worst thing one could do, or dead spirits would fixate on you.
"Strange!"
The Shanhai expert was perplexed. If no one had shed blood, what was going on?
"This dead spirit is likely only at the Tengkong level; it's nothing serious, and it should leave shortly... Still, stay sharp. Tengkong-level spirits cannot breach the door, but if a Shanhai-level one appears, shut the gates immediately..."
"My Lord, shouldn't we close the gates for now?"
Someone suggested. Even with the gates open, dead spirits struggled to push through, but truly powerful ones could.
If they closed the doors, only the absolute top-tier dead spirits could force their way inside.
The Shanhai expert hesitated. Shutting the doors... wasn't a bad idea.
However, each race cared about face. Keeping the doors open was an assertion of strength.
Of course, when faced with real danger, face meant nothing.
"Then... shut the gates!"
The Shanhai expert made his decision. Close them; hardly any living creatures were around to witness it at night anyway.
The four sentries let out sighs of relief.
Truth be told, having a dead spirit lingering right outside the door was genuinely unsettling.
Meanwhile, Su Yu had gleaned the general gist of things.
The gates slowly began to swing shut.
At the very instant the doors narrowed to the final sliver of a gap, Su Yu swallowed a drop of Shanhai essence blood. In that breath, his yang aperture flared half-open, his divine character battle technique erupted, and a brilliant flash of saber radiance lit up the surroundings!
The Shanhai expert reacted in a flash, throwing a punch...
Yet it was already too late!
At that exact moment, the little fur ball shot out. The Xuan Armor race were all warriors, not Civilization Masters.
Their seas of will were far from resilient!
With a sharp crunch, the sea of will was bitten clean through.
The Shanhai expert shuddered violently, and in that split second, Su Yu's saber came crashing down!
Boom!
A deep fissure was cleaved right through the armor!
In a flash, the long saber shifted into a massive warhammer, detonating dozens of successive shockwaves with a thunderous roar until—bang!—the sea of will shattered completely.
Su Yu shifted back to a saber, thrusting it straight through the heart!
Pfft! A black lump of iron within was smashed to pieces!
It happened so blindingly fast that before anyone else could react, that Shanhai expert crashed to the ground with a dull thud.
"Guard the entrance! Shut the door!"
Su Yu barked via voice transmission to the little fur ball. He was going to beat the dogs behind closed doors!
The four sentries guarding the gate had no time to respond before collapsing in unison, their seas of will shattered—quad-killed in a single strike by the little fur ball!
The gates slammed shut with a heavy boom.
And right at that moment, three or four shadowy figures of dead spirits suddenly materialized outside.
The doors rattled violently.
The dead spirits were trying to force their way in!
Su Yu had no time to worry about that. Going all out with full power, his divine character battle technique flared.
His physical might had now surged to the level of the Shanhai Realm.
With a single punch—bang!—he obliterated a Lingyun fighter into mist.
Spinning around, he kicked straight through another approaching Lingyun!
The last Lingyun tried to flee, but had only bolted a few meters before the little fur ball flashed across the space and bored straight through his sea of will. It was, after all, of an ancient Lingyun race and the descendant of a Half-Emperor; how could ordinary Xuan Armor warriors compare?
The Shanhai and the Lingyun were slaughtered in seconds.
The remaining Tengkong cultivators were consumed by utter terror!
Yet it was too late to run, and there was nowhere to hide. Su Yu transformed into a howling astral wind, piercing through suit after suit of armor in the blink of an eye. Distinctive drops of blood spattered across the floor—the blood of the Xuan Armor race.
Within the courtyard, every last armored warrior died in an instant!
Only then did Su Yu reform his human shape. Blood had splashed onto him, so he deployed his "Blood" divine character to absorb it all, before swiftly sweeping every corpse into his storage ring.
At the same time, thunderous crashing resounded relentlessly outside the gate.
The dead spirits were battering the doors!
Too much slaughter, too much bloodshed—it had triggered a frenzy among the dead spirits.
Fortunately, the gates held strong, seemingly possessing a natural ward against dead spirits.
Before Su Yu could ponder any further, dense death qi suddenly flooded the courtyard interior!
A massive wave of death qi poured forth!
Su Yu's gaze shifted slightly. "A death trap both inside and out!"
He finally understood why nobody dared to commit murder in this city.
If you killed someone and stepped outside, the dead spirits would hunt you down.
If you stayed inside, the ambient death qi multiplied severalfold in an instant; left like that for the night, the death qi alone would kill you.
Heavenly origin qi radiated from Su Yu's body, steadily grinding down the invading death qi. At the same time, a small cloud pierced right through the roof into the room, fusing into Su Yu's body—another generous bounty of heavenly origin qi. Su Yu felt reasonably pleased.
Previously, he had considered heavenly origin qi useless, but now that he needed it, it was far from trash. Not bad at all—it offset a tremendous amount of death qi.
Heavenly origin qi had proven immensely valuable in this moment.
And the nine halos gained from claiming the city gate hadn't even been touched yet.
Su Yu burned through his heavenly origin qi, relentlessly wearing down the death qi. He refused to believe this death qi was infinite!
Of course, he had to leave here quickly.
The Xuan Armor race would sooner or later realize something had changed here. While killing people indoors caused little commotion and might not be noticed immediately, the gathering of dead spirits outside could tip them off that an incident had occurred.
"Though this is exactly what I wanted. It's just that the few dead spirits outside... are a bit of a nuisance!"
Su Yu rubbed his chin. How could he lure them away?
A minor headache indeed!
Or could he simply stay put right here?
Wouldn't that turn him into a caged turtle?
His gaze drifted toward the little fur ball behind the door...
The little fur ball trembled from head to foot!
Its eyes were filled with refusal and despair: *I don't want to! Yummy-flavor wants me to do bad things again!*
*No, dangerous things!*
Chapter 381