A Way of Self-Salvation, Slipping Out of the Ancient House

"If I open all the yang apertures, will they suck me dry?" Mid-cultivation, Su Yu was preparing his final resort while calculating how to boost his own strength. He wasn't entirely certain what would happen if he opened all the yang apertures. He did know, however, that opening them all would definitely bring an explosive surge in strength. Aside from Bai Tianhao, someone else in the Bai family seemed to have done it—most likely Bai Feng's grandfather. The man might not be dead, but his physical body was probably battered and broken beyond recognition. Bai Feng's grandfather was a warrior, someone who took the physical body very seriously. Once his physical body shattered, even if he didn't die, he was likely crippled. Thus, he was probably maintaining that state continuously, preparing for one final, desperate gamble. As for Bai Tianhao, while he was gifted, calling him a peerless, world-defying prodigy would be an overstatement. Yet someone like that, by erupting his yang apertures, had slain a seventh-tier Shanhai while only in the Lingyun Realm. From that, one could see that opening all the yang apertures brought an absolute explosion in strength. Back then, Bai Tianhao's strength at the ninth-tier Lingyun might not have been greater than Su Yu's current strength. Even if he had been stronger, it would only have been by a slim margin. And Su Yu had opened far more apertures. "The yang apertures..." Su Yu took a deep breath. He still lacked the yin apertures. Otherwise, once opened, the yang apertures could be closed. Currently, once opened, they couldn't be shut, which was a massive headache. "If I open all the yang apertures, my strength might double!" What if he consumed third-tier Shanhai blood essence and then fully opened all his yang apertures? "The yang apertures absorb power—massive amounts of power. They require boundless Yuan Qi to sustain. But swallowing blood essence to erupt fills my body with massive power. In that case, can they temporarily neutralize each other? "Can Heaven Yuan Qi satisfy the absorption rate of the yang apertures?" Su Yu really wanted to open his yang apertures! If constantly absorbing Heaven Yuan Qi could satisfy them, then Su Yu genuinely wanted to give it a try. At worst, the outcome would be the same as expected: his physical body would shatter. "Open the yang apertures..." The thought arose again and again. Bai Tianhao, at ninth-tier Lingyun, could kill a seventh-tier Shanhai. So if I swallow blood essence, achieve the power of a third-tier Shanhai, and open the yang apertures, how many tiers can I kill? Would I have the power to strike down Cheng Kai? "Where on earth are the yin apertures! If I kill Dao Cheng of the Immortal race, will that provide me with some distinct divine arts so I can open a few more divine apertures?" Too many thoughts, too many ideas. Only slaughter remained! Su Yu hadn't thought of fleeing. Even if he were to run, it wouldn't be now. He had come to the All-Heavens Battlefield to make himself strong, so he wouldn't be bullied and held back by others. His martial uncle and martial grandmaster had endured for an entire lifetime, but Su Yu could not. He had seen it with his own eyes: they had endured to the very end, only to meet their current desolate fate. Then he wouldn't endure! He would kill until everyone feared him! At this moment, killing intent rolled off Su Yu, his bloodlust flaring in all directions. His murderous nature was extraordinarily heavy! To be truthful, Su Yu's murderous bent was fiercer than anyone else's in the multiple divine character faction; even Hong Tan might not possess a bloodlust as heavy as his. Aside from those he cared about, he kept no one else in his heart. Earlier, when Dao Cheng had threatened to capture humans to coerce him, Su Yu hadn't even bothered to pay him any heed. Do as you please! Thinking that capturing a few random people would make him surrender—Dao Cheng was daydreaming. If it were truly that simple, the human Invincibles would have died out long ago; they might as well have all committed suicide. His sea of will vibrated, and Su Yu reminded it once more: "When I said I'd pinch you to death, I was just scaring you. At the crucial moment, if my physical body explodes, you must carry my sea of will and get away. Wait for me to make a comeback. Don't get any ideas about my sea of will—you know very well you don't have the ability right now!" "I know!" The little fur ball responded in a hurry, then quickly squeaked, "Can we not beat those bad guys?" "We can't beat them, not right now!" Su Yu smiled and said, "No matter, we'll be able to beat them soon. Best if I kill Cheng Kai and the world rewards me with something good—ideally a huge amount of Heaven and Earth Profound Light to stabilize my physical body. That would be the best-case scenario!" That was the most ideal outcome! If the world reward arrived right as his physical body shattered, that would be wonderful. Heaven and Earth Profound Light would be best! No... perhaps he could gamble on it. Gamble that if he killed enough people and enough geniuses, there would be hope. One person brought one reward. If killing one didn't suffice, then kill two. If two weren't enough, then three or four... The rewards of heaven and earth were nothing more than those few things. "And one more thing... are dead spirits living creatures after all?" Su Yu murmured. If he killed a dead spirit, could he extract blood essence? Dammit, if he could extract it, could he consume that blood essence and learn how to erupt with death qi himself? Dead spirits weren't particularly strong on their own, but even one in the Tengkong Realm could give a Shanhai Realm expert a headache. "Dead spirits..." Su Yu's eyes suddenly flashed. He swiftly took out his sub-ranking scroll and hurriedly wrote: "I want to purchase a hundred drops of dead spirit blood essence!" "..." *** At that moment, inside the Heaven Hunting Pavilion. The masked figure looked at the Faceless Elder again, speaking somewhat plaintively: "Elder, this Su Yu suddenly wants to buy dead spirit blood essence. I checked the archives, but there's nothing in the database. Do we even have that?" "..." The Faceless Elder walked over once more, glanced at the chat log, and frowned slightly. After a long pause, he spoke: "Dead spirit blood essence cannot be consumed. Does this fellow plan to use it to craft innate blood essence? To use it as death qi?" He pondered for a moment before saying, "Dead spirits do possess blood essence, but the moment it enters the mouth... a massive amount of death qi instantly erupts, corroding the physical body and stripping away life force. That stuff is generally used to craft death qi bombs... If this kid dies from consuming dead spirit blood essence, it will be the biggest joke under the heavens!" "Elder, then do we sell it to him?" "Explain it to him clearly, and sell it! However, that stuff isn't cheap. Dead spirits are hard to kill, and they hold heavy grudges. Kill one, and the others will fixate on you. One drop of Tengkong blood essence will cost five thousand human merit points!" So ruthless! This was what the masked figure thought inside. Even he felt the elder was black-hearted. Tengkong Realm god or demon blood essence only cost one to two thousand merit points a drop. Now, a drop of dead spirit blood essence was priced at five thousand. Was the elder planning to bleed Su Yu dry? Could it be that he feared Su Yu would die, leaving no more chances for transactions? "Elder, he might not need Tengkong Realm essence. Do we have stronger ones?" "We do. There's Lingyun Realm, and Shanhai Realm... a small amount. Each tier higher increases the price tenfold!" The masked figure was stunned. That meant fifty thousand for Lingyun and five hundred thousand for Shanhai? That was countlessly more expensive than primeval gods and demons! "Shanhai Realm... five hundred thousand points a drop?" The masked figure looked at the elder. Elder, how do you dare quote such a price? Kill one Shanhai, extract ten drops, and wouldn't that be five million points? The Faceless Elder said placidly, "Don't look at me like that. Slaying a Shanhai dead spirit... is as difficult as scaling the heavens! Slay one, and a Sun Moon dead spirit will most likely appear. Once that thing manifests, even a ninth-tier Sun Moon gets a headache. Over all these years, very few have ever killed a Sun Moon dead spirit. Back then, Xia Longwu only managed to slay one before returning heavily wounded and withdrawing from Tianmie Ancient City." "Isn't five hundred thousand merit points a drop a bit too expensive?" "Human merit points aren't worth that much..." The elder smiled and added, "Or he can trade other things for it. Let's see what Su Yu can offer in exchange. The goal of doing business is to drain the other party completely. Su Yu has the capital. Trading cultivation methods among humans means he isn't like ordinary geniuses who depend on family backing; he is a wealthy magnate in his own right!" "Understood!" "..." *** At the same time. Su Yu received the reply. His heart stirred. He didn't care about the price; all he knew was that dead spirits truly had blood essence! "Do they count as a race?" Su Yu murmured. Was there any record in the golden album? Or had they ever appeared in his dreams? Would swallowing a drop kill him? "Fur ball, will you die if you eat dead spirit blood essence?" This time, the fur ball sounded somewhat mournful, squeaking in its baby voice, "Fragrant one, please! I won't eat it! It smells foul, and the blood smells even worse!" I know it stinks too! Looking at the way those dead spirits appeared... to be honest, Su Yu couldn't stomach it either. Moreover, if the album couldn't absorb it, he would be in massive trouble. Who knew how much Heaven Yuan Qi it would take to neutralize the miasma? Still, swallowing a drop of Tengkong Realm essence to test it wouldn't be a big issue; he could still salvage himself. Swallowing a Shanhai drop might genuinely play him to death. Once he confirmed it could be absorbed and could unlock a page in the album, he could experiment with swallowing Shanhai essence. It was just too expensive! "What an absurd price!" Five hundred thousand a drop—to hell with that, hiring someone to assassinate a Sun Moon expert would be enough with that much. "I have one, no, two god race corpses here—one from Lei Jue, one from a six-winged god. In addition, a large number of genius corpses from various races... "Plus a huge pile of miscellaneous heavenly materials and earthly treasures! "As well as three ancient city tokens! "All of these things in exchange for five drops of Tengkong Realm blood essence, five drops of Lingyun Realm blood essence, and one hundred drops of early-stage Shanhai dead spirit blood essence!" Su Yu also opened his mouth like a lion! He didn't mention that the blood essence in the corpses had already been drained by him. He had calculated the value of these things himself. At most, two hundred thousand merit points! That was the absolute ceiling! Then there were the three ancient city tokens, but they were all from the outer regions, none from the core. The strongest was only for the twenty-sixth ring, which was of little use to Su Yu. That item had some effect on Tengkong dead spirits, but almost none on Lingyun or Shanhai. Of course, being ancient city tokens, they were still hard to come by. Added together, Su Yu judged they were worth at least a hundred thousand merit points. Combined, three hundred thousand would feel worthwhile. Yet Su Yu had boldly demanded one hundred drops of Shanhai blood essence, which would require the blood essence of ten Shanhai dead spirits. It was just bargaining! Soon, another line of text appeared on the sub-ranking scroll: "Except for the Shanhai blood essence, the rest can meet your request!" "Nonsense! My items are worth several million merit points, and you're only giving me a few drops of Tengkong and Lingyun blood essence?" "Have you already drained the corpses of their blood essence?" "A little bit remains. Do you want it or not?" "Then we'll add one drop of Shanhai blood essence..." "Stop messing around. I'm a major client. Look at how much business I've done with you over the past few days! You wouldn't find more than a few major clients like me in an entire year... How about this: I'll take a slight loss and throw in the corpses of Yin Kai and Fen Kai. What do you say?" "They are still alive!" "They'll be dead soon!" "That is just as unreliable as claiming you'll trade the corpse of an Invincible!" Su Yu swiftly wrote: "Does the Heaven Hunting Pavilion lack even this much guts? How about this: if I truly fail to kill them, I'll sell my own corpse to you! If I can't kill them, I'll be finished anyway. I'll trade my own corpse!" "..." Over at the Heaven Hunting Pavilion, the masked figure fell silent for a moment. Trading his own corpse! The crucial point was, if this fellow died, would there even be a corpse left? The masked figure looked at the elder again. The Faceless Elder observed the text for a while, and after a long pause, spoke: "Ten drops of Shanhai blood essence, at most! In exchange for the corpses of Yin Kai and Fen Kai, plus the other items he mentioned! If he dies... then we will go collect his corpse!" Two Shanhai Realm corpses, one of them a sixth-tier Shanhai, were worth over a hundred thousand merit points. Cobbled together, the total was close to five hundred thousand merit points. Trading that for ten drops of Shanhai dead spirit blood essence was neither a huge gain nor a loss. After all, Shanhai dead spirits were truly harder to kill than the Xuan Armor race. Even an early-stage Shanhai dead spirit was harder to kill than Yin Kai. However, since Su Yu had gone so far as to offer his own corpse in exchange, doing this deal was acceptable and not a loss. If Su Yu truly died, the Heaven Hunting Pavilion would certainly go to collect his body—make no mistake about that! Su Yu had said it himself, and these records were verifiable. He had sold his own corpse, so even if the Immortal race killed him, the Heaven Hunting Pavilion would dare to retrieve his remains. Su Yu's corpse was bound to contain countless secrets! The masked figure was astonished as well. The elder had actually agreed! *** A moment later, Su Yu received the reply: the transaction was agreed upon! Su Yu was instantly overjoyed! A pile of junk in exchange for some dead spirit blood essence was well worth it. Not bad! Shanhai dead spirits were hard to kill; he knew that very well. This time, they weren't being too extortionate. Earlier, they had truly been black-hearted. "How do we trade? People are blocking my door." "No matter. When the scroll notifies you, just open the door for an instant!" "You won't let Cheng Kai and the others in, will you?" "If they are let in, we will kill them for you free of charge!" "Deal!" Since the Heaven Hunting Pavilion had said so, Su Yu had nothing more to say. He would just make his own preparations. He couldn't put absolute trust in this organization either. This faction grew more and more mysterious by the day—they even had dead spirit blood essence. This proved they had killed dead spirits! Their courage was truly immense! He also busied himself with preparations. As for the fortuitous opportunities inside the ancient house, he didn't care much about them. At this juncture, killing people was the true opportunity; who cared about some ancient house legacy? An opportunity that anyone could obtain wasn't much of a good opportunity anyway. Su Yu thought of something else and quickly wrote on the scroll: "Provide me with another list: the roster of those who have entered the city. No need for detailed files, just names, realms, and races." "All of them?" "Yes!" "Real-time updates, or an existing static list?" "Real-time updates. Lingyun and above; no need to count the rest." "Three hundred thousand merit points, thank you for your patronage!" "..." Su Yu felt mentally exhausted. Had I worked my ass off all this time just to hand it all over to you? The Heaven Hunting Pavilion truly dared to price anything! Gritting his teeth, he wrote, "One hundred thousand, that's plenty!" Buy it! He was going to pull off something big this time. If he succeeded, his strength would advance; if he lost, he would start from scratch—if he even had the chance to start over. If he didn't go all out, what else was there to do? Buy it! Knowing which geniuses had arrived would allow him to target them for slaughter and see if he could reap more rewards from heaven and earth. In this ancient city, those geniuses were the greatest treasures! "Deal. Only names, races, and strength; nothing else will be provided!" "No problem. Can you deduct the merit points directly?" "We can, or you can provide an anonymous merit card!" "Fine!" "..." The two sides reached another agreement. *** At that moment, inside the Heaven Hunting Pavilion, the masked figure sighed with emotion: "Elder, this guy is truly wealthy. Adding up the transactions before and after, it's already approaching one million human merit points, and it's only been a few days." Look at that—now this was what a major client looked like! This young man definitely qualified! Even among trades involving Sun Moon experts, very few could produce so many resources for transactions. Earlier, the Immortal race's ten drops of Sun Moon blood essence had counted as a major deal, and that, too, had been related to Su Yu. They had profited immensely. One million merit points—whether among humans or all the myriad races, those capable of producing equivalent resources were generally high-tier Sun Moons, or even Invincibles. Ordinary early-stage Sun Moons wouldn't necessarily be able to scrape that together even if they smashed their pots and sold the iron. The Faceless Elder chuckled and said, "This is just the beginning. If this kid doesn't die this time, there will eventually be even larger transactions. He is a steady client, a major client, one worth maintaining over the long haul." "Understood!" The masked figure perked up as well. This client had to be carefully maintained; they masked agents earned commissions too. On such a massive deal, the cut was by no means small. They relied on these prodigies to make a living! *** Having finalized the agreement, Su Yu waited for the goods to be delivered. This Heaven Hunting Pavilion was practically the battlefield's courier service! They dared to deliver anywhere, arrogantly beyond measure. How could the myriad races tolerate them? Yet they had managed to survive without being uprooted even now! Had they existed since antiquity, or did newcomers continuously join their ranks to keep their legacy alive? While Su Yu was waiting, outside, death qi began to churn! It was still daytime, yet suddenly, a massive surge of dead spirits emerged, surrounding Su Yu's small house. Cheng Kai swiftly stepped out of his house, his expression shifting slightly. "Who goes there?" Dao Cheng and his companions also stepped outside, quickly encircling the front of the small house. In the next moment, from among the numerous dead spirits, a white mask poked through. "Heaven Hunting Pavilion delivering goods... make way, please!" "Insolence!" Dao Cheng barked coldly, "Has the Heaven Hunting Pavilion begun meddling even in this? Do you truly believe Heaven Hunting is invincible?" "Just a convenience, we'll be gone shortly..." The white-masked figure swiftly conducted the handoff with Su Yu, who had opened his door, surrounded by a horde of dead spirits. "We are not taking Su Yu away, merely trading some supplies. Su Yu cannot afford the price for us to escort him away anyway... Lord Dao Cheng, please do not be angered!" "Bastards!" Dao Cheng roared in fury, genuinely incensed now! Do you take this for child's play? The Heaven Hunting Pavilion was crossing the line! At that moment, the exchange was complete. The white-masked figure said nothing more, swiftly departing amidst the cluster of dead spirits. Dao Cheng gave a cold snort! In the next instant, a spatial rift manifested directly in front of the masked figure. At the same time, Cheng Kai reached out and grabbed forward, swatting away the surrounding dead spirits. Slaying someone from the Heaven Hunting Pavilion was no big deal—it only depended on whether it was worth the trouble. They also wanted to see what kind of goods Su Yu had paid such a heavy price to acquire. Those wishing to hunt these masked figures of the Heaven Hunting Pavilion weren't just one or two. Even Fu Tuling had mentioned that carrying a sub-ranking scroll was sometimes done purely to hunt down their agents. Boom! With a massive blast, the Heaven Hunting Pavilion masked figure struck out with a palm. Bang! The strike shattered Cheng Kai's palm, and the masked figure chuckled: "We have no intention of getting involved. Su Yu did not pay the price to hunt you all, nor does the Heaven Hunting Pavilion wish to kill... Cheng Kai, why bother interfering?" "Damn you!" Cheng Kai's expression changed violently. In the next breath, the Heaven Hunting Pavilion's masked figure vanished. As for Dao Cheng's spatial rift, it was already being retracted; the fellow had grabbed a dead spirit and shoved it straight into the rift. Dao Cheng didn't want to kill more dead spirits and invite greater trouble, so he had no choice but to let it go. Moreover, the other party's strength was exceedingly formidable! Dao Cheng's expression was grim, and Cheng Kai's was just as dark. All around, prodigies opened their doors and looked at them with playful smirks. Those fellows from the Heaven Hunting Pavilion were truly brazen. To actually deliver goods right in the middle of a battlefield. *** Inside, Su Yu clicked his tongue in wonder. Impressive! This money hadn't been wasted! Though he had spent a fortune, it was well worth it—provided the dead spirit blood essence proved genuinely useful. Otherwise, he would have taken a massive loss. In his hands appeared several specially crafted bottles. The dead spirit blood essence, once removed from the bottles, gave off a powerful corrosive force of death qi. "Can this stuff really be eaten?" Even Su Yu, who was never picky about what he consumed, shivered slightly. Can this stuff actually go down the hatch? Damn it, it was hard to bring himself to swallow it. Five drops of Tengkong, five drops of Lingyun, and ten drops of Shanhai. Taking out a drop of Tengkong blood essence, a sizzling sound instantly rang out. The golden skin on his palm was corroded, and death qi began to seep inward. Su Yu felt a headache coming on. This was only Tengkong Realm, yet the death qi was already this troublesome. If he swallowed this into his mouth, wouldn't his mouth be corroded away? Heaven Yuan Qi surged forth, restoring his palm. Su Yu called out the little fur ball again, but the creature swiftly burrowed into his hair, gripping his strands tightly. Unless you beat this ball to death! Otherwise, it resolutely refused to eat. It was nearly disgusted to death. "Want to try a drop?" The little fur ball clung desperately to his hair, continuing to squirm toward his sea of will, refusing to eat even if it died. It would never compromise this time—its fur ball race had dignity! "It's very expensive, pricier than god or demon blood essence. If you won't eat it, forget it!" Su Yu laughed and swallowed a drop of blood essence straight into his stomach. Sizzle! A sound like a red-hot iron rang out, followed by the sensation of water splashing into a pot of boiling oil—frying and bursting! Half of his tongue was instantly corroded away! Excruciating pain! Su Yu clenched his teeth. Massive amounts of Heaven Yuan Qi were consumed as he circulated the Immortal race's Flesh and Blood Regeneration Art. Inside his mind, the golden album flipped pages rapidly. This time, the flipping took considerably longer. Just as Su Yu thought it was about to fail, a flash of golden light suddenly erupted from the golden album, absorbing all the power. A brand-new page opened in the album. "Dead Spirit Race (Sixth-tier Tengkong) Racial Skill: Death Light Burst (activated via blood essence) Basic Yuan Art: Yuan Aperture Reversal (activated via blood essence) Basic Divine Art: None Basic Body-Casting Art: None" A new race had been unlocked! Su Yu glanced at it, ignoring the pain in his mouth. Looking closer, he was somewhat surprised. Logically, the Tengkong Realm should have a body-casting art, yet this race had none. Setting that aside, were dead spirits truly a distinct race? Death Light Burst was probably that technique that spewed death qi. So that was their innate skill? Fine, I'll accept it. This race's basic Yuan art was what was truly fascinating: Yuan Aperture Reversal! This was the first time he had encountered such a thing. Judging by the name, Su Yu already had a vague inkling. Yuan apertures provided Yuan Qi. The stronger the Yuan apertures, the stronger the Yuan Qi, and the more vibrant the life force. Could this Yuan Aperture Reversal be the origin of death qi? Since it was already unlocked, Su Yu didn't waste time guessing. He swiftly swallowed another drop of Tengkong Realm blood. A moment later, Su Yu thrust a palm forward, and a beam of death light burst forth! Boom! A grayish-white scorched mark appeared on the wall of the room. Su Yu's mind stirred, and he swallowed yet another drop of blood essence. Yuan Aperture Reversal! At that moment, all 360 Yuan apertures suddenly began operating in reverse. Su Yu abruptly turned emaciated, a wisp of death qi leaking from his eyes. Where the apertures had previously circulated Yuan Qi, they were now instantly circulating death qi. Su Yu quickly disengaged the state! "It... takes a huge toll on the body!" Feeling as though he had just survived a severe illness, he swiftly began swallowing Heaven Yuan Qi to recover. After a long while, he finally spat out a mouthful of black blood. Reversing his Yuan apertures just now had injured him, but it had also revealed a very peculiar phenomenon. This cultivation method was not an ordinary art that dictated how many apertures you opened. Instead, however many apertures you had, it could help you reverse every single one of them. It was a type of auxiliary method, and it served as the Dead Spirit race's basic Yuan art. What did this imply? It meant that those dead spirits originally possessed apertures, but because they had opened different apertures, reversing them resulted in different levels of strength! "So, these dead spirits might truly be converted from dead people. Because those corpses originally had apertures, the Dead Spirit race granted them the ability to reverse their apertures and erupt with death qi... "It just takes too much out of the body!" This was only Tengkong Realm. If it were Shanhai Realm, would he even be able to reverse them back? It felt just like the yang apertures—both were self-harming methods. "No... what if I disguise myself as a dead spirit?" He currently faced a problem: dead spirits were constantly following him, which was a massive headache. If he reversed his Yuan apertures, could he pretend to be a dead spirit? Could he make them believe he was one of their own, so they would stop troubling him? If that worked, while others were threatened by dead spirits, he wouldn't be... That would be extraordinary! Then the more dead spirits he provoked, turning the entire ancient city into a swarm of dead spirits, the better—he could just disguise himself as one... He would be fine, while everyone else would be finished! Su Yu's eyes grew brighter and brighter! Yuan Aperture Reversal was a brand-new technique. He had just reversed it once without major incident; doing it again would be the same, requiring no further consumption of blood essence. As for the Shanhai Realm blood essence, it merely allowed him to unleash a death qi attack at the Shanhai level. Beyond that, it didn't have much of an impact. "Impersonating a dead spirit..." Su Yu murmured, "I feel like I've grasped the core essence of this place!" In this ancient city, the strongest force wasn't himself, nor the castellan, nor anyone else, but these dead spirits. They were the true foundation of the ancient city. When he became a dead spirit himself, what would he have to fear? He suddenly pulled the fur ball down. "Fur ball, you stay in this room. I'm going out for a bit! If I leave and the house is empty, the sign will show it's unoccupied. If you stay here, it counts as occupied!" "You want to leave me behind?" The little fur ball was unwilling. Being alone as a ball was terrifying. "Cut the chatter, I'll be back! I need to test the effects!" Su Yu stood up and said, "I'm going to lure more dead spirits to block the door! Create chaos! They all think I'm alone. If I leave and someone is still inside, they won't suspect a thing!" Everyone believed Su Yu had entered the ancient city alone. In truth, he hadn't; there was another creature who wasn't human, but that fellow counted as a living being, and an ancient race at that. If he slipped out and those fellows saw that the room was still occupied, they wouldn't overthink it. He needed to test the effects of this dead spirit transformation. If it worked and could deceive those dead spirits... Su Yu bared his teeth. Then what do I have to fear? Damn it! If this worked, those fellows might not even dare lay a hand on a dead spirit, and I could end them with a single blade strike! Activating the "Quiet" divine character, he suppressed his killing intent. Even if a tiny sliver leaked out, dead spirits carrying killing intent was entirely normal. At this moment, Su Yu's eyes were terrifyingly bright. He seemed to have discovered something extraordinary, far superior to any fortuitous encounter in an ancient house. The Heaven Hunting Pavilion were truly good people; this money had been well spent! He couldn't carry the Heaven Hunting Ranking scroll, lest he be tracked, so he left it with the little fur ball. Create chaos... With a thought, Su Yu suddenly began attacking the entire house with wild abandon. Inside, some objects were indestructible, but others shattered. Right at that moment, several figures of dead spirits appeared outside the door. Boom! Boom! The door rattled under a barrage of loud slaps! *** "Has he lost his mind?" Outside, several onlookers were dumbfounded. What was Su Yu doing now? How many dead spirits had he attracted this time? Was he bleeding himself inside, or had he gone mad and started smashing things? At this moment, the entire doorway was occupied by dead spirits! And the number of dead spirits outside was still climbing. Thirty, thirty-one... The door rattled violently. If this weren't the eighteenth ring, an outer-ring house would have long been breached by the dead spirits. Cheng Kai and the others watched. As he watched, Cheng Kai gritted his teeth and said, "Could he be trying to lure a massive swarm of dead spirits to escape in the chaos?" Dao Cheng frowned. "If he attracts too many, even if he has Heaven Yuan Qi to burn, with so many dead spirits trailing him, he'll be corroded into a dried husk in mere moments!" Right then, the door abruptly swung open. A flash of blade light burst out! Boom! Several dead spirits were sent flying. "Quit banging, you bastards!" Su Yu's furious roar echoed out, and in the next instant, the door slammed shut. Cheng Kai and the others reacted instantly. Looking again, the door was already closed, and the wooden placard outside still read "Occupied." "Madman!" Even Cheng Kai couldn't help but acknowledge that this guy was utterly deranged. Not only had he provoked the dead spirits, but he had dared to open the door and attack them—he had truly gone mad! The few dead spirits that had been knocked away stumbled back to their feet. All around, several more dead spirits appeared, materializing silently. This was completely normal: Su Yu had gone insane and attacked the dead spirits, so it would be stranger if more hadn't shown up! Yet no one noticed that among these dead spirits, a slightly peculiar dead spirit had joined the ranks. Su Yu looked remarkably like a dead spirit! The innate skill of the Shadow race made him appear like a shadow. Dead spirits existed in this very form. The death qi radiating from his body was nearly identical to theirs. "Quiet," "Change," the Breath Concealment Art, and his innate abilities made him look virtually indistinguishable from a dead spirit. In truth, there was still a faint discrepancy: dead spirits were dead, their eyes lifeless and dull. Su Yu's eyes, however, held a touch more ferocity. A touch more living breath! No one noticed this, nor would anyone deliberately stare into the eyes of a dead spirit. Even the neighboring dead spirits paid no mind to their new companion. Meanwhile, Su Yu was rejoicing inside. As for the death qi invading his body, which would injure him over time, it was nothing. Right now, if he were willing to abandon the little fur ball, he could slip away completely unnoticed. Once outside the city, everyone would surely be shocked! When the day came that they breached the house, they wouldn't find Su Yu; instead, they might find a ball, perhaps a dead ball... which might then draw out a Half-Emperor. That might well be the best choice. Yet Su Yu would not make that choice. He hadn't come here to run away! "Glorious!" Ignoring the stinging pain of the encroaching death qi didn't matter as long as it didn't kill him. A living person pretending to be dead naturally had to pay some price. At this moment, Su Yu turned to glance at the house across the way. Because Dao Cheng had slain a dead spirit, several dead spirits lingered before their house as well. Su Yu wasn't particularly conspicuous. No longer besieging the house where the little fur ball stayed, he drifted swiftly down the street. His movement technique was rapid, giving the impression of a dead spirit suddenly appearing and vanishing. The door to Dao Cheng's group's house was actually open. How bold! Dead spirits were barred by an invisible force, but living people were not! If he suddenly charged in... those fellows would have nowhere to run. Of course, that was provided he could kill them. Having finally concealed himself, Su Yu didn't want to expose himself so quickly. According to the timeline, some of those fellows were due to leave the city! The three-day limit was approaching! Someone had to leave, while someone stayed behind to monitor him. Who would leave? Cheng Kai and Dao Cheng most likely wouldn't leave! Jiu Xuan would probably leave, right? Yin Kai would probably leave, right? As for Fen Kai... Su Yu glanced over and clicked his tongue. Had he already begun converting himself into an ancient city resident? His time shouldn't be up yet, right? Then tonight, he would most likely toss out another jade talisman, wouldn't he? If I pick up your token, won't your conversion fail... and then... thinking you succeeded, you'll end up killing yourself? Su Yu had entertained this thought earlier when he saw the elk, but this time it was even clearer. Fen Kai... perhaps I can try letting him play himself to death! At this moment, Su Yu truly felt the exhilarating freedom of a bird soaring across the vast sky. I don't need anyone to save me—I'll save myself! Not only do I not need saving, but I will slaughter all of these bastards! If you dare besiege Su Yu, you must pay the price. In a direct frontal clash, he naturally couldn't kill Cheng Kai, but what if a weak dead spirit suddenly ambushed him? Was there a chance? Could a third-tier Shanhai, catching a ninth-tier Shanhai off-guard, hack him to death with a single blade strike? Hard to say! Under normal circumstances, a ninth-tier Shanhai would definitely possess a sense of impending danger. But what if the "Quiet" divine character shielded that perception, dampening that sensation? King Dazhou... is no good person! At this moment, Su Yu suddenly had this thought. The "Quiet" divine character originating from him was currently even more terrifying than the "Yin" divine character. It was practically the ultimate character for surprise attacks—shielding an expert's sensory perception and danger awareness. This character was simply terrifying! This thing was more formidable and frightening than invisibility or escape arts. The might of the divine character faction was evident from this alone. Disguised as a dead spirit, Su Yu wandered the streets as the sky gradually darkened. Soon, it would be the third day since Su Yu had entered the city. As he drifted along, he spotted many people. He saw An Mintian. Good, marked for death! He saw Tianduo. Good, marked for death! He saw Qin Fang. Good... wait, forget it, no need to kill this one. What is this guy doing here? Su Yu hadn't even had the time to read the intelligence provided by the Heaven Hunting Pavilion; he had left it all with the little fur ball. That fellow could have a nice chat with the Heaven Hunting Pavilion folks. Su Yu had taught it how to chat anyway, and it had nothing better to do. As long as it didn't come out, letting it chat with the Heaven Hunting Pavilion was fine. *** Meanwhile. Inside the Heaven Hunting Pavilion. The masked agent was on the verge of a breakdown. "Quick question: how can I eat the most fragrant divine characters?" "..." "Reply! How do I eat to feel full?" "..." "Reply quickly! Can I buy a very, very fragrant divine character?" "..." The masked agent felt helpless, looking toward the elder. "Elder, has Su Yu gone insane?" He was asking to buy fragrant divine characters! To hell with that! Was this guy sick in the head? What on earth made a divine character fragrant? How would I know! Characters only had tiers and traits; did divine characters come in sweet and fragrant flavors now? I truly don't know how to respond to this. The Faceless Elder remained silent for a while before saying, "If he asks any more boring questions like that, block him. He's probably genuinely lost his mind under too much pressure!" A madman! Sick in the head! Fragrant, my ass!