Su Yu's Trump Card

Tianmie City. Su Yu slipped inside the house. A moment later, Dao Cheng arrived. Several dead spirits were currently staring right at him, which left Dao Cheng somewhat helpless. Cheng Kai glanced at him and said in a heavy voice, "The boy is cornered. Brother Dao Cheng, I hope you can go speak with the castellan. With the castellan's ancient city token, it will surely be possible to open an ancient house in the eighteenth ring!" Once opened, Su Yu would be dead without a doubt! He would have nowhere left to run! Dao Cheng fell silent for a moment before nodding. "Then I will go try. Brother Cheng Kai, keep a close eye on the place. Su Yu is crafty and slippery—be careful not to let him slip away!" "Don't worry!" Cheng Kai said no more. As a peak Shanhai, he was standing guard right outside the door. If Su Yu still managed to escape right under his nose, he might as well stop showing his face in the world. Dao Cheng said nothing more and turned to leave. The several dead spirits kept following him. That was the price of slaying dead spirits. Still, it was not impossible to resolve. Once the death qi was completely purged and he left the ancient city for a period to wear away the mark, it would no longer be much of an issue. For now, he could only continuously use Heaven Yuan Qi to wear down the death qi brought by these dead spirits. Soon, he arrived at the Castellan's Manor. The Castellan's Manor was also an ancient house, but its main gates stood wide open. When the dead spirits trailing behind reached the grand entrance, they abruptly halted, no longer following. Dao Cheng breathed a slight sigh of relief. It was good that they were not continuing to tail him. Evidently, the Castellan's Manor still exerted some suppressive power over these dead spirits. He swiftly stepped through the entrance. At the door stood eight armored guards, motionless as corpses. Just as he crossed the threshold, one of them suddenly reached out to block him, speaking in a dead, hollow tone: "Lord Castellan has decreed: Tianmie Ancient City takes no part in the conflicts between formidable races!" Dao Cheng furrowed his brows slightly, but soon smoothed them over and said in a clear voice, "Dao Cheng harbors no such intention. I merely wish to borrow the castellan token for temporary use and will return it shortly. Alternatively, borrowing an ancient city token from within the eighteenth ring would also suffice." Right at that moment, an old man walked unhurriedly toward them from within the main hall of the manor. Though his pace appeared leisurely, he was anything but slow. After a moment, he appeared at the manor gates. Looking at Dao Cheng, he smiled, revealing several missing teeth. "Immortal Lord Dao Cheng, Lord Castellan has decreed that he will not involve himself in the disputes of the myriad races! If he lends it and the Immortal Lord opens the ancient house and slays Su Yu... should an Invincible of the human race come looking for accountability, our lord cannot bear the retaliation of mankind." Dao Cheng's brows knitted again, and he said softly, "The Immortal race..." Before he could finish, the gap-toothed old man chuckled. "If the Immortal Realm were to strike down King Daqin, King Daxia, King Daming, and King Dazhou right now... then our Tianmie Ancient City would obey your every command!" If you haven't killed those few, stop blowing hot air! The Immortal race? What bloody use is the Immortal race here! Tianmie Ancient City couldn't just get up and run away. Strictly speaking, the Xuan Armor race had it a bit better—at least they had their own grand realm, the Xuan Armor Realm, where they could flee and hide. Where could this ancient city hide? Dao Cheng said in a low voice, "It is merely borrowing an ancient city token..." "The Immortal Lord may go slay a Shanhai dead spirit. Under ordinary circumstances, barring any accidents, a Shanhai dead spirit will carry an ancient city token for within the eighteenth ring. You may obtain one yourself!" "..." Dao Cheng held his tongue. If it were truly that simple, this wouldn't be an ancient city. Killing a Shanhai dead spirit could easily draw out a Sun Moon dead spirit in retaliation. If anyone could handle Sun Moon dead spirits, they would have conquered the ancient cities long ago instead of waiting until now. If he ran into the eruption of death qi from a Sun Moon dead spirit, he would likely be melted away in an instant. "Is there no room for compromise?" The old man bared his gap-toothed smile and chuckled. "Young Immortal Lord, truly not. Once you hunt down Su Yu, you can leave, and the Xuan Armor race can retreat back to their grand realm. What about us? As it stands, we have already granted you immense leeway. Immortal Lord Dao Cheng, surely you won't continue pushing us? Though the ancient cities are weak and no match for the Immortal race, there are quite a few ancient cities across the All-Heavens Battlefield. Why must the young Immortal Lord push so hard as to force Lord Castellan's hand? If that happens, things will become rather unpleasant for everyone!" A velvet glove concealing an iron fist! Only because face was being given to them were they allowed to run amok in the city in the first place. Now they were pushing their luck, actually coming to borrow the castellan token! The ancient cities might not be as powerful as the Immortal race, but you had better remember that this was not the only ancient city. There were dozens of ancient cities scattered across the All-Heavens Battlefield; when push came to shove, it was not impossible for them to join forces. If things turned ugly, had the Immortal race truly thought through the consequences of offending so many factions? Dao Cheng let out a soft sigh. Even the all-powerful prestige of the Immortal race did not work everywhere. Had this been a genius from some minor race, Castellan Tianhe would have opened every door for the Immortal race without hesitation. Yet this happened to be a genius from the mighty human race. The old man smiled again. "Furthermore, Lord Castellan bade me pass a word to the Immortal Lord. While he does not intervene, this ancient city has its own rules! The minor riot among the dead spirits has already stirred awake a few slumbering ancient dead spirits... Those appearing now are merely ones formed in later eras. If an ancient dead spirit is awakened... I imagine the Immortal Lord understands something of the consequences." Dao Cheng frowned slightly. "Ancient dead spirits have been awakened? How could that be? We haven't unleashed lethal strikes on the dead spirits up to now. I only killed a Tengkong dead spirit by accident—surely that couldn't draw the attention of ancient dead spirits?" The old man remarked indifferently, "That is not for me to know. Perhaps the commotion caused this time was simply too large. Once ancient dead spirits appear, we will seal the Castellan's Manor. When that time comes, the city gates may lock automatically. The Immortal Lord should weigh this carefully!" Dao Cheng nodded and sighed. Saying nothing more, he turned and left. Borrowing it was impossible! Once he was gone, the old man smiled and briskly returned to the castellan's main hall. Tianhe was drinking wine. The old man bowed slightly. "My lord, he has left!" Tianhe took a sip of wine and asked calmly, "Does he intend to give up?" "Hard to say." Tianhe chuckled softly. "Better to send them packing as soon as possible. These geniuses slaughtering each other here makes such a mess. If they truly draw out some formidable dead spirits and alarm a few Invincibles, Tianmie Ancient City will soon plunge into great chaos. That is not an outcome I wish to see!" "This old servant understands!" The old man acknowledged the order, then added, "Su Yu is cornered inside the house. He won't last long. An ancient house in the eighteenth ring possesses concentrated death qi. Even if he entered through the main gate carrying some Heaven Yuan Qi, after three to five days, he won't be able to endure it. Today is already his second day in the city." Once Su Yu died, whether it would prompt certain mighty experts to descend here and launch a massacre was something the old man could not say for sure either. Continuing, the old man asked, "My lord, should we simply expel them all?" "Expel them?" Tianhe held his wine cup and said with a faint smile, "No need. If the ancient city expels geniuses, those major races will have something to say about it again. Su Yu might not be pleased, and the Immortal race won't be pleased either, meaning we would offend both sides. Since they want to slaughter each other, let them do as they please!" With a laugh, he added, "Leave them be. Several Shanhai experts have died in succession, along with dozens of Lingyun and Tengkong cultivators... Once an ancient dead spirit is awakened, let's see how many lives they can throw into the meat grinder! Prepare to seal the Castellan's Manor. Notify the other residents to avoid going outside as much as possible over the next few days. As for the outsiders... let them look out for themselves. If they die, that is simply their fate!" "Understood!" The old man swiftly retreated. Once he was gone, Castellan Tianhe cast a glance in Su Yu's direction, smiled faintly, and looked away, paying it no further heed. If you wish to kill, go right ahead. In the end, the ones suffering the heavy losses will only be yourselves. If the ancient cities were truly so simple, the Invincibles would never hold such wariness toward them. ... Inside the ancient house. This was a sizeable estate. The main building in the courtyard was a two-story wooden pavilion. In front of the pavilion lay a yard, barren of living trees, with only two withered tree stumps that looked as though they had been dead for countless years. Flanking the wooden pavilion were side buildings. One appeared to be a kitchen, while the other seemed to be a stable for mounts. Su Yu looked around. Outside, it was still daytime, so death qi was not overly dense. Even so, there was still a tangible amount drifting about, roughly equivalent to the nighttime death qi of the outer rings. Once night fell, it would likely become terrifyingly concentrated. Sure enough, the closer one moved toward the inner rings, the heavier the death qi. Modona had mentioned that he once went into the eighteenth ring of an ancient city during his previous visit. As for how long he had stayed, Su Yu did not know. Right now, his physical body was undergoing a transformation. He had no idea what that streak of golden light actually was, but its body-refining effect felt even better than Heaven Yuan Qi. Su Yu was in no rush to cultivate or disperse death qi. Instead, he pulled out his sub-ranking scroll again and began typing. "That golden light awarded by the heavens that helps forge the physical body—what is that stuff?" "That requires a fee." "Greedy bastards. I'm a regular customer, and I don't even get a slight discount?" The ranking scroll went silent for a moment before displaying a line of text: "That is Heaven and Earth Profound Light, a treasure on par with Sun Moon Xuanhuang Liquid. It is of immense benefit for warriors forging their bodies." Su Yu realized what it was. Heaven and Earth Profound Light. It sounded quite impressive. Its body-forging effect was indeed remarkable. With that in mind, he asked again, "Do you sell this?" "Yes!" "What is the price?" "Heaven and Earth Profound Light can only be captured in the endless void by supreme experts at the fleeting instant when the sun, moon, and stars transition. Capturing a single wisp sometimes requires a Sun Moon Realm expert to lie in wait for several years... Its value is one drop of Sun Moon essence blood for one wisp!" "What about Sun Moon Xuanhuang Liquid?" "Three drops of Sun Moon essence blood can be exchanged for one drop!" "..." Damn it, what a rip-off! Killing one Sun Moon expert would only net three drops of Sun Moon Xuanhuang Liquid, or ten wisps of Heaven and Earth Profound Light—and who knew how much was in a single wisp; it might not even match what he had just received. Heartless profiteers! People called Marquis Xia heartless, but Marquis Xia was truly wronged by comparison; even he wasn't this rapacious! Su Yu had no intention of exchanging for it, but at least he knew the price now. It was certainly not cheap. Su Yu typed again: "I am surrounded right now. How much to help me kill Cheng Kai? How much to kill Dao Cheng?" "Cheng Kai: peak Shanhai, member of a top-hundred race. Ensuring a stable kill requires an intervention by at least a third-tier Sun Moon expert. In addition, taking into account offending the Xuan Armor race, the price is one million human merit points or other equivalent treasures." "Dao Cheng: Immortal race genius, Earth Ranking genius, descendant of an Invincible. Price: five times that of Cheng Kai!" "..." Damn! Su Yu gave up completely. You people are ruthless. So killing Cheng Kai cost one million merit points, and killing Dao Cheng cost five million merit points? At these prices... not even Su Yu could afford it. Moreover, there was a small footnote appended: "In the event of an assassination failure, no refunds will be issued. If an expert intervenes to obstruct the attempt resulting in mission failure, no refunds will be issued either..." In truth, you weren't buying a guaranteed kill; you were buying a single assassination attempt. If it failed, your money was gone. Screw that! "What about killing me?" Su Yu asked. How much to assassinate him? "Twice the price of Dao Cheng." Su Yu instantly beamed with delight, feeling rather satisfied. Sure enough, I am worth more than Dao Cheng. So expensive! When the All-Races Cult in the Human Realm wanted to kill him, they had never offered anywhere near this much. Even killing Xia Longwu hadn't commanded such a sum. To think his bounty was worth ten million merit points! Excellent. Coming to the All-Heavens Battlefield had truly caused his price to skyrocket. It was enough to make him want to kill himself for the bounty. "Can you destroy the Immortal race?" "..." No reply. "Can you destroy the gods and demons?" No reply. Clearly, the Heaven Hunting Pavilion had no desire to entertain such pointless questions. Su Yu chuckled and stopped asking. It seemed the Heaven Hunting Pavilion's power hadn't reached that level after all. Done bantering with the Heaven Hunting Pavilion, Su Yu sat cross-legged and began to cultivate. As for inspecting the house, there was nothing much to see. Whatever could be seen was already in plain view; whatever couldn't might only appear after some time or at night. The urgent priority was to purge the death qi, forge his physical body, and advance it once more. If he reached eighteen forgings, his physical strength would formally break past the ten-thousand-aperture barrier. This trip to the ancient city had not been in vain. Just in terms of body forging, he had advanced several times already. Naturally, if he could obtain other fortuitous opportunities, that would be even better. "Even if my physical strength breaks through, it will still fall a bit short. Looking at it now, my willpower is still on the weaker side." "The Mind Expansion Hammer and divine character battle technique don't pose much of a threat to Dao Cheng." "Cheng Kai is even more difficult to deal with!" Thoughts flickered across his mind as Su Yu silently absorbed the Heaven and Earth Profound Light. After seven or eight hours had passed, darkness likely fell outside once more. Su Yu's body shook as a surging force of vitality and yuan qi erupted, sweeping outward in gleaming bursts of golden light. The body forging was complete! The Heaven and Earth Profound Light had also been thoroughly absorbed. Slaying a third-tier Shanhai had yielded quite a decent harvest. Eighteen forgings! Su Yu threw a punch, producing the sonic crack of exploding air. Shockwaves rippled outward! Outside the house, dead spirits were once again battering against the door, far more violently than before. It seemed night had indeed fallen. During the day, even when dead spirits appeared, they were nowhere near as active. By Su Yu's reckoning, this was his second day in the ancient city, and the third day would arrive soon. By this time tomorrow, it would be nearly three days. "How many days has Cheng Kai been here?" Su Yu stroked his chin, brought out the sub-ranking scroll again, and typed: "How much to monitor when Cheng Kai leaves the ancient city?" "Fifty thousand merit points!" Damn it! Truly heartless! Su Yu felt a pang of regret. When he encountered that big bird yesterday, he hadn't left behind a contact method; otherwise, he could have just asked the bird. Of course, that bird lacked the credibility of the Heaven Hunting Pavilion. Even if he had asked, Su Yu might not have dared trust the answer. While Su Yu was still pondering, the Heaven Hunting Pavilion suddenly sent an unprompted message: "A considerable number of experts are rushing toward Tianmie City. Do you wish to purchase intelligence?" "No!" Su Yu had no intention of being taken for a sucker. Of course he knew experts were coming. What bloody use was buying that intelligence? Before they arrived, his best move would be to make his escape. Turning the tables... how could he turn the tables? If Cheng Kai didn't leave, Su Yu had no good way to deal with him. Wait him out? Or do something else? What if... he damaged the house to draw in even more dead spirits? When enough dead spirits gathered and laid siege outside, Cheng Kai would probably get a headache too, wouldn't he? Could he get killed directly by the dead spirits? He truly wanted to test it! Yet he feared that he might not be able to escape either, which would be troublesome. "Now that I'm on the All-Heavens Battlefield, I still feel like my strength isn't enough!" Su Yu lamented. He thought he had done rather decently. He had already slain a Shanhai! Yet it was still not enough. When would this kind of life ever end? Was it impossible to get by without reaching the Invincible Realm? "I originally wanted to conceal my identity and quietly cultivate for a while. Truly, an outstanding person shines too brightly to be hidden anywhere!" Sizzling sounds rang out continuously! Death qi began to diffuse once more. The death qi outside was likely very dense. He wasn't sure whether Cheng Kai and the others were keeping watch out in the open or had taken shelter in a house. Even if they found shelter, those fellows were probably having a miserable time. I refuse to believe every one of them has an immense stockpile of Heaven Yuan Qi like me. Su Yu began sorting through his spoils. Slaying members of the Xuan Armor race hadn't yielded much—he had handed the corpses over to the Heaven Hunting Pavilion, and he hadn't even bothered looting the third-tier Shanhai. Back in Heaven-Severing Valley, however, Su Yu had reaped a considerable harvest. Killing Lei Jue, killing Qing Kai and Hong Kai, and slaying numerous geniuses of the myriad races had yielded plenty of treasures. The corpses of Lingyun experts alone filled his storage rings to the brim. Now, Su Yu finally had the leisure to take stock. Since those fellows couldn't open the door, there was no rush. Even if they managed to break in, he could always consume a bunch of Heaven Yuan Qi and prepare for a massacre. At worst, he could discard his physical body! Don't push me too far! Sorting through corpses, cataloging storage rings... He took out one treasure after another: pills, weapons, armor, and a few cultivation techniques kept on their persons. Su Yu had seen plenty of the world by now, so he didn't care much about those. Soon, he extracted some essence blood. From the Lingyun Realm, he extracted over a hundred and eighty drops across a dozen different races. From the Tengkong Realm, there was even more—nearly two hundred drops. As for weapons, they were mostly profound armaments, over twenty in total. A few paupers were actually using Yellow armaments, while there wasn't a single Earth armament among them. Well, not quite none—Lei Jue's spear was an Earth armament, but only a low-tier one with seventy-three golden inscriptions, and it was broken. It wasn't worth all that much. After some thought, Su Yu cast those concerns aside and began swallowing essence blood—specifically, blood from races he had never encountered before. For instance, the Thunder God race to which Lei Jue belonged, the Six-Winged God race under An Mintian, and the Kunpeng—all were essence blood types he had never obtained previously. He would consume them all to see if he could unlock any powerful techniques or unique arts. He recalled that among those he killed, there seemed to have been a Civilization Master. Civilization Masters were people Su Yu rarely killed. Few Civilization Masters of the myriad races appeared on the battlefield, and those who did were formidable experts. Dao Cheng, for example—Su Yu was itching to kill him just to see if he could extract some powerful cultivation techniques. His own Five Elements Divine Art was probably incomplete, showing no signs of opening yin apertures. Without opening yin apertures, how could he unleash truly overwhelming might? He didn't even dare open all of his yang apertures! If all his yang apertures were opened, his strength would undoubtedly take another leap forward. Taking advantage of the fact that the house had not yet been breached, Su Yu swiftly swallowed various types of essence blood while gathering those low-grade weapons to see if he could smelt them down into a single powerful armament. ... Outside. Cheng Kai and his companions were not waiting out in the open. Instead, they had entered a house across from Su Yu's. Death qi swirled around them! At present, the door stood open. Even with it open, the dead spirits did not enter. The group kept their eyes glued to the opposite side. Right now, Jiu Xuan and Dao Cheng had brought out a considerable amount of Heaven Yuan Qi, consuming it steadily to fend off the encroachment of death qi. Cheng Kai, Fen Kai, and Yin Kai, on the other hand, were relying strictly on their personal cultivation to resist it. After watching them for a while, Dao Cheng could not resist saying, "The Xuan Armor race also possesses a Heaven Yuan Holy Land. Having been stationed here for so many years, surely you aren't completely lacking in Heaven Yuan Qi?" This stinginess was bordering on ridiculous! If this continued, these fellows would have to leave the ancient city tomorrow or the day after. If they truly lacked sufficient Heaven Yuan Qi... they would have no choice but to abandon the hunt. Otherwise, before Su Yu even died, these fellows would be corroded to death by the death qi. Cheng Kai replied indifferently, "The Xuan Armor race cannot compare to the Immortal race. We have only a single Heaven Yuan Holy Land, which must supply vitality to the Heaven Yuan Fruit Tree year-round. The clan leader also needs it for cultivation. Where would we get surplus Heaven Yuan Qi to supply us?" With that, he pulled out an ancient city token. "This can also resist the encroachment of death qi, though its effectiveness is limited. It is a token for the twenty-fourth ring." In the eighteenth ring, this token's effect was subpar. He tossed the token to the injured Fen Kai and said softly, "Fen Kai, if you cannot hold out, you should leave! Staying here... isn't of much use anyway." Shanhai cultivators were considered mighty experts! Yet here, these monstrous geniuses killed above their realm as easily as drinking water. A first-tier Shanhai was nothing more than dead weight, liable to be killed at any moment. Fen Kai was already injured. Su Yu's earlier blade strike had not only slain Duan Kai, but had also heavily wounded Fen Kai. Now, combined with the corroding death qi, staying here would only lead to immense trouble. Fen Kai fell silent for a moment, then spoke up: "What if... I convert into an ancient city resident? Hei Kai has been killed, and our clan currently has no Shanhai among the city residents. If I become a resident, with my Shanhai cultivation, I might be able to command some dead spirits to forcibly attack that house." "..." Cheng Kai said nothing. Convert? Converting meant binding himself to this city, making it nearly impossible to leave for the rest of his life. If he didn't convert, several experts of the Xuan Armor race had already fallen. While there were still a few Xuan Armor members among the ancient city residents, the strongest was merely at the Lingyun Realm; they had no Shanhai left. All for a single Su Yu, they had suffered staggering losses. With a soft sigh, Cheng Kai remained silent. Fen Kai knew that silence meant assent. Without another word, he swiftly retrieved a jade talisman, dripped a drop of fiery-red blood onto it to stain it crimson, and tossed it outside. In an instant, the silhouette of a dead spirit materialized outside. It collected the jade talisman and began inscribing marks upon the plaque outside the door, paying no heed whatsoever to the others inside. A moment later, the dead spirit vanished. Fen Kai was preparing to convert. In three days, he would officially become an ancient city resident. The death qi inside the houses would no longer have much effect on him, and even if dead spirits saw him, as long as he didn't provoke them, they would leave him alone. Dao Cheng and Jiu Xuan watched in silence. Converting into an ancient city resident was typically a choice made only under utter desperation. The Xuan Armor race was certainly ruthless enough with themselves. Jiu Xuan said impatiently, "Are we just going to wait like this? Su Yu is inside, and there's no telling when he will emerge. Soon, we will have to head outside to purge our death qi and can only return the following day. If he comes out during that time, we will lose track of him." Cheng Kai said coldly, "Very few people in the city possess an ancient city token for the eighteenth ring. Aside from the castellan, perhaps only a few Sun Moon experts might have one. If we don't wait... then go borrow one. But when it comes to killing a human genius, few dare to lend theirs." Pausing, he added, "There is one other who might have one: Modona!" Why don't you try borrowing from him? Jiu Xuan pressed, "Mankind and the gods and demons are sworn enemies. Since Modona is here, why hasn't he stepped in to kill Su Yu?" This was what puzzled her. What was Modona thinking? Given Modona's strength, talent, and background, he undoubtedly possessed countless trump cards. Had he truly taken action, Su Yu might have fallen long ago. Dao Cheng sighed. "Modona wants to cultivate venomous insects—to raise adversaries capable of pushing him further. Su Yu isn't strong enough yet; he wants him to grow more formidable. Modona is exceedingly proud. Unless Su Yu reaches the point where he can slay a seventh-tier Shanhai, he is unlikely to take action." Such was the overbearing nature of the Primal Demon race. He didn't fear your growth. The moment Su Yu became capable of slaying a seventh-tier Shanhai, Modona would probably step forward to hunt Su Yu down without anyone having to ask. "Foolish!" Jiu Xuan spat, genuinely finding it idiotic. Refusing to kill him while he was weak, only to fight him when he grew strong—what if he couldn't kill him then? Did he have to capsize in the ditch before being satisfied? She wasn't very old and hadn't been on the All-Heavens Battlefield for long. Though she had battle achievements, this was the first time she had experienced slaughter on such an intense scale, where Shanhai cultivators could perish from the slightest carelessness. It was also her first time directly facing geniuses from the dominant races. In the past, she had only encountered small, insignificant races. As they spoke, several figures appeared on the street. They were not dead spirits. They were experts from other races. Not far off, Long Zhan of the Celestial Dragon race arrived. Glancing their way and seeing their open door, he offered a faint smile. Clad in a white robe, Long Zhan was exceptionally conspicuous in the night. Without saying a word, he found an ancient house, entered, left the door open, and looked back toward them. He had come to watch the show! Further off, An Mintian, Tianduo, and the others arrived as well. They did not enter the eighteenth ring, but settled in around the twentieth ring, each finding a house and keeping the doors open to look toward this area. These geniuses had previously pursued their quarry from Heaven-Severing Valley. At first, they hadn't headed to this city, but rather to the ancient city where Qin Fang was located. Finding no excitement to watch on Qin Fang's end, they had all rushed over here. Just as they settled in, a figure clad in black armor, mounted upon a ferocious tiger, charged into the city. He soared through the night sky. Soon, he flew straight toward them. Locking eyes with Cheng Kai, he barked from afar, "What brazen audacity! Does the Xuan Armor race wish for annihilation? Cheng Kai, I hear you dare capture humans here? Have you eaten the heart of a bear and the gall of a leopard!" Cheng Kai looked at him without striking, saying in a heavy voice, "Su Yu killed two ranked geniuses of my race. Is seeking vengeance not perfectly justified? The human race may be strong, but my race has not deployed Sun Moon experts to seek revenge. Does mankind intend to meddle even in this? If so, the geniuses of the human race might as well scurry back to the Human Realm!" Qin Fang thought about it, then nodded. "Makes sense..." With a grin, he looked at Dao Cheng and Jiu Xuan. Standing atop a roof, he laughed. "Immortal fellows... what a familiar stench! Dao Cheng and Jiu Xuan? Two years ago, I killed a little Immortal maiden at the third tier of the Lingyun Realm. She seemed to have some relation to you, didn't she?" Dao Cheng looked at him and said coldly, "That was my clan sister! Qin Fang, you killed her, and so be it. Do you not fear courting trouble by boasting of it in public?" "Trouble?" Qin Fang said coldly, "Dao Cheng, Jiu Xuan, the Human-Immortal Alliance still stands, yet you brazenly surround and hunt Su Yu. Since you've done it, are you still afraid of trouble? Why don't you kill me while you're at it!" Dao Cheng replied indifferently, "No one wants to kill Su Yu. We merely invited him to the Immortal Realm as a guest. Furthermore... it is a longstanding convention for geniuses of the multiple divine character faction to visit the myriad races..." "What dogshit convention? Did you set it?" Dao Cheng said calmly, "Not I, but several Invincibles of the myriad races. Su Yu has left the territory of the Human Realm; inviting him as a guest is only natural. Qin Fang, do you intend to protect him?" "Me?" Qin Fang chuckled. "I can't protect him. I'm just a sixth-tier Lingyun, inferior even to you, Dao Cheng. How could I protect him? I am merely reminding you that the Human-Immortal Alliance still exists. Don't make a laughingstock of yourselves in front of the gods and demons!" Dao Cheng ignored him, disinclined to say anything more. Qin Fang's current strength was difficult to gauge. He might have already broken through to the seventh tier of the Lingyun Realm! Once he reached the seventh tier of Lingyun, Dao Cheng could not guarantee a certain victory over him. It had been quite some time since Qin Fang had slain a third-tier Shanhai. Cheng Kai sent a voice transmission: "Qin Fang is here. What do we do now?" A human powerhouse had arrived! Qin Fang's cultivation seemed ordinary, but he was a former Heaven Ranking expert and currently held the first rank on the Earth Ranking. Cheng Kai didn't fear him personally, but Qin Fang was somewhat different from Su Yu. He was a direct descendant of King Daqin! The son of Qin Zhen! The grandson of Qin Guang! By all accounts, his status was exceptionally lofty. As King Daqin's grandson, slaying Qin Fang could provoke King Daqin into stepping in personally. As for Su Yu, though he was also human, the multiple divine character faction truly walked a treacherous, unsupported path on the All-Heavens Battlefield. No Invincible stood behind Su Yu to back him up. Killing Su Yu and killing Qin Fang were entirely different matters. Without a status like Modona's, killing Qin Fang was tantamount to courting death. "Ignore him!" Dao Cheng paid Qin Fang no mind. He wasn't afraid of Qin Fang either; Qin Fang was still slightly weaker than him. Even if Qin Fang broke through to the seventh tier of Lingyun, Dao Cheng could still fight him. Right now, his only hope was that experts of the other races would intercept all remaining human reinforcements outside. Otherwise, killing Su Yu would become impossible. Outside, Qin Fang endured the corroding night death qi for a moment. Smacking his lips, he descended, ducked into an ancient house, left the door open, and stared back at their position. Inwardly, he felt helpless. There was nothing he could do. He had come all alone! His strength was insufficient; even dealing with Dao Cheng was difficult, let alone Cheng Kai. The multiple divine character faction being besieged was an inevitability. He didn't know what the human headquarters was discussing, or whether they had dispatched anyone to reinforce Su Yu. If no one came, Su Yu was likely finished. Moreover, that fellow Modona was right here. If Modona didn't notice him, that was one thing, but if he saw that Qin Fang's strength was too formidable, he would certainly strike at him. If Qin Fang intervened, he might only attract another terrifying enemy to Su Yu's side. A mess! Glancing at Dao Cheng and Jiu Xuan in the distant house, Qin Fang clicked his tongue again. Damn it, truly wealthy—the Immortal race had so much Heaven Yuan Qi. He had only just arrived, yet the death qi inside the house was already making him uncomfortable. His Qin family wasn't nearly as rich as the Immortals. He glanced once more toward the house surrounded by dead spirits. That was probably where Su Yu was staying, right? That kid had guts. He had killed so many people here, and now he was caught in a pincer attack from within and without. Who knew how long he could hold out? Hopefully, he could last until human reinforcements arrived. Still... this kid was somewhat terrifying! He had killed a third-tier Shanhai. Though rumor had it he used innate blood essence, his physical body was definitely not weak; otherwise, he wouldn't even have been able to withstand using it. Had the refinement technique for innate blood essence truly reached such a height? "He killed a third-tier Shanhai at merely the first tier of Lingyun, whereas I only did it after reaching the sixth tier... I've actually been outdone!" Qin Fang pondered, toying with the communication talisman in his hand. His second uncle wasn't far from here—would he come? Hard to say! If he didn't come, would experts from the Great Ming Prefecture arrive to protect Su Yu? The Great Ming Prefecture had always been low-profile, cautious, and reluctant to stick its neck out. If Great Ming didn't send anyone, and Su Yu had already fallen out with the Great Xia Prefecture, then the strongest member of the multiple divine character faction right now was merely Hong Tan. Even if Hong Tan rushed over, as a newly advanced Sun Moon expert, what could he possibly accomplish? Besides... if Hong Tan showed up now, it might draw out an Invincible. Nine times out of ten, the Great Xia Prefecture wouldn't let him leave. Even if Hong Tan wanted to come, he wouldn't be able to—and coming would only create bigger problems! Too many eyes were fixed on his character disassembly art right now. "Su Yu... sigh!" A sigh escaped him, laden with mixed feelings. Su Yu was exceptionally talented and powerful, yet no steady Invincible was willing to back him, no reliable major prefecture supported him, and being part of the multiple divine character faction left his standing exceedingly awkward. He wasn't even as free and unburdened as Qin Fang or Huang Teng. The Xuan Armor race dared to kill Su Yu, but they wouldn't dare kill Qin Fang. That was the difference. In the end, backing still mattered. Modona was so arrogant, yet how many dared try to kill him? ... At this moment, Su Yu paid no heed to anything else. Enveloped in copious amounts of Heaven Yuan Qi while steadily tempering his body against the encroaching death qi, he couldn't care less about who had arrived and who hadn't. Relying on others was never as good as relying on oneself! If no reinforcements came, so what? Before the mighty experts of the major races gathered, he could shatter his physical body, pull off something massive, and see if he couldn't slaughter every single one of those bastards outside! At worst, he could rebuild his physical body from scratch. The moment he decided not to flee, he had already prepared himself to shoulder everything on his own. Otherwise, when that big bird gave him the news, he would have fled immediately. Yet Su Yu refused! In the Human Realm, I had to act like an obedient grandson. Now that I'm out here, I refuse to play the grandson any longer. I'll slaughter to my heart's content first! If worse came to worst, he would unseal all his yang apertures; there would always be a way. "Hairball, if I end up biting the dust, and I pinch you to death, will your big boss come slaughter everyone in vengeance?" "..." Su Yu's sudden question made the little fur ball tremble violently in terror! "Don't... don't pinch me to death! I can carry your sea of will and run away—you said so yourself!" The little fur ball wanted to cry. He actually wants to pinch me to death! If he pinched me to death, would big boss come to kill people? Definitely! But I would already be dead! I don't want that at all. Su Yu fell into deep thought, keeping it as a contingency plan. He would only resort to it if he was truly about to die. If a Half-Emperor descended, perhaps every living being in this ancient city would be wiped out! ... At that very instant. The stone sculpture of the ancient city suddenly opened its eyes. In the ethereal unseen, it felt as though someone had fixed their gaze upon it from nearby. Its gaze instantly snapped toward Su Yu's direction, feeling slightly dazed. What is going on? Even I sensed something amiss.