A Conversation Across Spacetime

The sky had changed. Tianmie City. Following the slaughter of numerous dead spirits, three Sun Moon dead spirits had emerged. At this moment, aside from those sheltering inside the ancient stone houses, every living creature out in the open was dead. Inside one of the large stone houses, Modona retrieved his incessantly vibrating ranking scroll, glanced at it, and smiled. Su Yu! Killing a heavily wounded Cheng Kai? Interesting! Virtually invincible among those in the Lingyun Realm, Modona had not encountered a worthy opponent in a long time. Would Su Yu be the one? …… Inside another stone house, Yin Kai roared, bellowed, and went mad with fury! Dao Cheng, on the other hand, remained silent, staring at the ranking. At his fingertips, two golden characters circled: *Su Yu*. Jiu Xuan had carved these two characters with her own blood right before she died. Resentment, unwillingness, rage, despair... Dao Cheng could feel every emotion Jiu Xuan had experienced. He felt as though he could see her sheer despair and helplessness at the moment of her demise. He had been protecting Jiu Xuan all along. He had divined great calamity, so even when he took off on his own, he had not let Jiu Xuan leave by herself; he had even arranged for her to remain glued to the side of a peak Shanhai expert! Yet... Jiu Xuan had still died. Cheng Kai, that useless piece of trash, had failed to protect her. A peak Shanhai! Useless garbage! Yin Kai's roars continued to ring out. Perhaps this piece of trash was still mourning Cheng Kai. Dao Cheng glanced at Yin Kai, then looked back at Su Yu's ranking. He smiled, though his smile carried a trace of helplessness. Rising to his feet, he stepped forward and said softly, "Brother Yin Kai, grieve no longer..." "That bastard! I'm going to kill him!" Yin Kai bellowed. Dao Cheng quietly walked behind him and whispered, "You will. I will kill him. But... our current strength might not be enough. I need greater strength. Now that Jiu Xuan is dead, only Brother Yin Kai can help me..." "Hmm?" Yin Kai turned his head. "Help how? Go out together and kill Su Yu?" Dao Cheng stepped up and gently patted him on the shoulder. Yin Kai felt somewhat uneasy, only to hear Dao Cheng sigh. "For someone like him, it's very difficult for powerhouses to kill him. He knows how to hide, how to flee. Only a genius whose strength is evenly matched with his has any hope of killing him..." Yin Kai grew irritable. *Cut the crap, what the hell are you trying to say?* "Therefore... only I can kill him. Brother Yin Kai, you still cannot..." "What..." Before Yin Kai could finish, his expression abruptly warped in shock. The next moment, his armor cracked and fractured. He tried to struggle, tried to erupt with power, but his sea of will was sliced to ribbons, leaving him entirely powerless to resist. Dao Cheng sighed. "I didn't want to do this, but... I want to kill him! Brother Yin Kai, you are a sixth-stage Shanhai; you should be able to provide me with some assistance. My apologies. But... I truly want to kill him. Forgive me!" A vast amount of black blood spilled from Yin Kai's mouth. "W-Why... If you kill me... the Xuan Armor race... will find out!" "Will they?" Dao Cheng chuckled. "The ranking will merely show that I killed a sixth-stage Shanhai. No one saw it, so who can be certain that the one I killed was you? Perhaps it was... a dead spirit?" Dao Cheng smiled faintly, toying with the two blood-traced characters in his hand—*Su Yu*—and whispered, "Jiu Xuan is dead. You useless trash, a peak Shanhai couldn't even protect a single Jiu Xuan! "Are all of you in the Xuan Armor race such useless garbage?" A ferocious gleam flashed in Yin Kai's eyes. "You... yourself... are one too!" *You are garbage as well!* Dao Cheng said calmly, "Yes, I am too. That is why... I need more help. Jiu Xuan is dead. Neither Immortal King Xuanhe nor my grandfather, the Dao King, will fall out with the Human race over her! "If the Invincibles do not intervene, mere Sun Moon experts might not manage to kill Su Yu! "Right now, the Human race's Invincibles will not allow an Invincible of another race to strike down Su Yu... So, after thinking it over again and again, it seems I am the only one who can seek vengeance." Dao Cheng sighed. "A political marriage... I was actually unwilling. But I have known Jiu Xuan for many years. She was actually very clever. She understood everything, knew everything, yet in front of me, she pretended to know nothing, understand nothing. She was so foolish! "How could she know that what I liked was the pure Jiu Xuan, not the ruthless, decisive one? "This time, I came out specifically to break into the Shanhai Realm. Once I reached Shanhai, I was prepared to marry her." Dao Cheng sighed again. "I said we should leave, but you insisted on staying. Your Xuan Armor race merely lost a few Shanhai... Could a few measly Shanhai of the Xuan Armor race ever compare to her?" At this moment, Dao Cheng shed no tears and showed no sorrow, merely narrating calmly, speaking as though none of this concerned him. Jiu Xuan! Did he love Jiu Xuan? Perhaps even he himself did not know. Yet now that Jiu Xuan was dead, he wanted to avenge her. To seek vengeance... the Lingyun Realm was not enough. He needed to enter the Shanhai Realm. Yin Kai became his listener. Dao Cheng was in no hurry to finish him off, speaking slowly, "Brother Yin Kai, tell me, how exactly did Su Yu manage it? "What is his connection to the dead spirit riot? "When did he come out? "Jiu Xuan was actually very vigilant and possessed many countermeasures. He must have ambushed her at a critical moment after she unleashed the Immortal King talisman! "The eruption of the Immortal King talisman should have slain all the dead spirits. Before the ancient dead spirits emerged, Jiu Xuan certainly would have secured an escape route... Yet she still died. How did she die?" Dao Cheng muttered, "Cheng Kai died as well! The Heaven Hunting Ranking stated that he killed a heavily wounded Cheng Kai, meaning Cheng Kai had been severely injured by dead spirits—most likely ancient dead spirits. And Su Yu... could he have been near the ancient dead spirits all along? "Is he not afraid of dead spirits?" Dao Cheng's eyes flickered. "Right, he might not fear dead spirits. Perhaps so many dead spirits died, and so many appeared, all because of his killings!" Dao Cheng spoke sentence by deliberate sentence. "He might have been secretly slaughtering dead spirits this whole time, deliberately inciting the dead spirit riot. Cheng Kai and Jiu Xuan being surrounded was entirely his doing. He planned it from the start to kill Jiu Xuan and the others! "The Heaven Hunting Pavilion took Fen Kai's corpse, claiming Su Yu killed him, that Su Yu cursed him to death... Could it be that he truly knows some curse technique and secretly cursed those dead spirits to death?" There were still things he could not fully piece together. By now, Yin Kai was on the verge of death. His eyes grew dim as he stared at him. "Dao Cheng... you will not succeed... You... will die too!" "Is that so?" Dao Cheng chuckled. "Coming to the All-Heavens Battlefield, people like you do so to survive. But for geniuses like us, casting aside splendid backgrounds and family status, casting aside peace and security to come here—isn't it all to strengthen ourselves and seize an opportunity to attain the Dao? "Do we truly fear death? "You and I are different. Be it me, Su Yu, or Modona... what we geniuses seek by coming here is fundamentally different from what you pursue. You wouldn't understand!" Did he fear death? He did not! If he truly feared death, why bother coming here? Wouldn't it be comfortable to stay nestled in the Immortal Realm, enjoying his life as a descendant of the Dao King? There were so many descendants of the Dao King, and many remained in the Immortal Realm. If he did not wish to come to the All-Heavens Battlefield, who would force him? Dao Cheng sighed softly. At that moment, Yin Kai completely collapsed, his sea of will extinguished. With a rumble, his armor shattered! A cloud descended from above. Dao Cheng closed his eyes to absorb it, murmuring, "Su Yu..." He would have his revenge! Immortal King Xuanhe likely could not come, nor would he necessarily come, because Jiu Xuan was dead. A living Jiu Xuan was worth paying a price for; a dead one was worthless. It was the same for any race! A genius like Ye Batian was equally worthless once dead. On the Heaven Hunting Ranking, Dao Cheng's rank rose. Ninth-stage Lingyun, killing a sixth-stage Shanhai. Second on the Earth Ranking. He had surpassed Huang Teng, yet remained just below Qin Fang. Huang Teng's record was still slaying a second-stage Shanhai as a fifth-stage Lingyun, while Qin Fang had slain a third-stage Shanhai as a sixth-stage Lingyun. It seemed less impressive than Dao Cheng's feat, yet Qin Fang's ranking remained one spot higher. Dao Cheng did not care much about the exact ranking. A lower rank merely meant the Heaven Hunting Ranking judged his prospects of attaining the Dao to be slightly lower than Qin Fang's. The Heaven Hunting Ranking could perhaps be seen as a roster of reserves for attaining the Dao. Being on the ranking merely meant you possessed the qualifications and hope; ninety-nine percent of them would never live to see that day. At this moment, Dao Cheng was advancing toward the Shanhai Realm. Without entering Shanhai, he might not be able to take down Su Yu. Once in the Shanhai Realm, he would have hope of contending with a seventh-stage Shanhai, and by then, he could likely surpass Qin Fang. …… The Xuan Armor race had been completely wiped out! At this moment, those who saw the changes on the ranking wore complex expressions. A sixth-stage Shanhai... everyone could guess who it was. Outsiders might not know, but those inside the city had a clear idea. At this juncture, whom else could Dao Cheng kill? Aside from Yin Kai, there was no one else. Ruthless enough! Heartless enough too. However, those capable of viewing the ranking were not particularly surprised. Which of the figures on the ranking wasn't a ruthless character? Put in the same position, they might have also chosen to kill Yin Kai at this moment to secure an edge for themselves. Su Yu had slain Cheng Kai and would undoubtedly receive a massive bounty of heaven and earth rewards. Would he let Dao Cheng off? Never! Nor would Dao Cheng spare Su Yu! By this point, the two sides were locked in a mortal feud. Neither would pass up an opportunity to enhance their own strength. …… Inside another ancient stone house, Qin Fang looked at the ranking, shook his head, and sighed in wonder. Su Yu... was truly in immense trouble. He had killed both Cheng Kai and Jiu Xuan! Even if the Invincibles were held back, this was not Human Realm territory after all. His grandfather, King Daqin, might not be able to hold back every Invincible. What was more, this had taken place inside an ancient city, creating such a massive bloodbath and killing who knew how many dead spirits. Could Su Yu still survive? Sun Moon experts from various races were likely rushing here at top speed. How long could this ancient city remain sealed? Did Su Yu have any hope of escaping this catastrophe? Killing Cheng Kai was perhaps only the beginning. …… While everyone was thinking of Su Yu and Dao Cheng, Su Yu himself paid no heed to any of it. Right now, he was engulfed in the Mystic Light of Heaven and Earth; the reward for slaying Cheng Kai was simply colossal. His physical body was being constantly tempered and reinforced! *Boom!* The nineteenth cast was complete! Roughly an hour later, another tremor rang out, and the twentieth cast was complete. Time trickled by. Outside, the silence remained terrifyingly profound. Not a sound stirred! No one dared step outside at this moment because ancient dead spirits were undoubtedly roaming about. Nobody would court death by testing the waters right now. The suffocating quiet made the ancient city oppressively tense. Su Yu ignored it all and continued casting his body. As dawn drew near, another boom resonated. Radiating brilliant golden light, his physical body reached the twenty-first cast. The mystic light was mostly depleted, with only a small trace remaining. Su Yu felt a twinge of regret; it would only be enough for a twenty-second cast at most. In other words, slaying Cheng Kai had yielded a reward that only allowed him to complete four physical castings. Of course, his four castings consumed several times more than anyone else's; had it been another person, they might have already completed seven, eight, or even ten castings. As Su Yu's physical body grew stronger, the resource consumption required for each subsequent cast became frighteningly immense. Previously, he had thought that twenty portions of Heaven Yuan Qi would suffice for a single cast. Reality proved he had been overly optimistic. Now that his physical body possessed the power of over ten thousand acupoints, twenty portions? Currently, fifty portions were barely enough to complete one cast! And this time, the amount of the Mystic Light of Heaven and Earth bestowed upon him had actually been substantial. By the time daylight broke, Su Yu's physical body thundered once more. The mystic light was utterly exhausted, and Su Yu had to consume a considerable amount of Heaven Yuan Qi to finally complete his twenty-second cast. Su Yu's physical body jolted, causing the stone house to vibrate slightly. With a twenty-two-cast physical body, his physical strength was approaching fifteen thousand acupoints of strength. In a true sense, it had reached the physical might of the Shanhai Realm. Formidable! That was the sole sensation: overwhelming power. Of course, compared to a mid-stage Shanhai, he was still somewhat lacking. He was stronger than an ordinary first-stage Shanhai, but against a god or demon Shanhai, he still fell short. Factoring in the Yang Acupoint and divine character amplification, he possessed nearly twenty thousand acupoints of strength. Su Yu opened his eyes, divine light flashing across them before quickly fading back to normal. "Twenty-two casts!" He felt some joy, but even more emotion. The All-Heavens Battlefield was indeed a wonderful place. He had left the Great Ming Prefecture with eight physical casts. In just two months, he had reached twenty-two casts, achieving fourteen castings. As expected, had he never left the Human Realm, he could never have dreamed of progressing this fast. Qin Fang and the others had only possessed mediocre strength in the Human Realm, yet they had rapidly charged into the Heaven Hunting Ranking out here. Previously, Su Yu had thought cultivation simply sped up in the later stages; only now did he realize that cultivation in the Human Realm was simply too slow! After the initial joy came melancholy. What next? Kill Dao Cheng? The ancient city was bound to become the center of attention. Soon, a large number of powerhouses would likely arrive. He... might need to leave. But would leaving be that easy? The ancient city was sealed! Moreover, he had yet to kill Dao Cheng, and An Mintian and the others were still alive as well. Now that he had initiated a killing spree, wouldn't leaving them alive be doing himself a disservice? Also, had that Sun Moon dead spirit outside departed? He always felt that once dead spirits reached the Sun Moon Realm, they became different, carrying a hint of intelligence. Earlier, when he killed Cheng Kai, that dead spirit had been staring intently at him, reacting differently from the others. *First, find an opportunity to kill a few more people!* *Second, leave the ancient city!* *Third, conceal my identity!* Self-reliance had always been Su Yu's guiding principle. He never counted on others to save him. Everything depended on himself! As he pondered, he felt a vibration from his storage ring. A moment later, he took out a ranking scroll. *"Are you Su Yu?"* A line of text materialized on the scroll. …… Inside the Heaven Hunting Pavilion. The masked operative looked woodenly at the Faceless Elder. "Jiu Xuan's ranking scroll should be in Su Yu's hands. But right now, this scroll and the previous one are not together; their tracked locations are different. Elder... who on earth has been chatting with us all this time?" The Heaven Hunting Pavilion's scrolls only functioned as tracking devices. Of course, they generally knew who had obtained which scroll. For instance, Jiu Xuan's scroll was most likely in Su Yu's hands, as evident from his battle achievements. Under normal circumstances, the Heaven Hunting Pavilion didn't particularly care who ended up with the scrolls, though they kept a rough idea of where they landed. Yet now, they had no choice but to pay attention. If Jiu Xuan's scroll was in Su Yu's hands, then who was holding the scroll that originally belonged to Su Yu? Who had been using Su Yu's scroll to communicate with them all this time? The Faceless Elder fell silent for a moment. "The Heaven Hunting sub-rankings can also roughly determine the holder's basic information. Since Su Yu's scroll isn't in his own hands, it is most likely not in the hands of anyone on the ranking either. As for who took it... we will have to ask Su Yu." So that was it! Su Yu had long since left that spot! At this moment, the Heaven Hunting Pavilion finally had an answer: the matter with the dead spirits had indeed been Su Yu's doing. Right then, a line of text appeared before the masked operative. *"Provide me a method to leave the city!"* The masked operative looked toward the elder. The Faceless Elder pondered and said, "He wants to escape. Tell him that we have no way either. The three Sun Moon dead spirits are still in the city and have not left. Our people cannot leave either... We can only wait! If he can't wait, he can go check the Prefecture Lord Manor." "No charge?" "No charge this time, because we can't solve this problem for him right now anyway." The Faceless Elder continued, "This guy... is a walking bomb. Wherever he goes, things blow up. With him around, it's actually a good thing. I'd rather he stays alive. Only if he lives will the ranking shift rapidly and geniuses continue to rise. Do you understand the catfish effect?" "No." "Then forget it. This fellow staying alive brings no harm to the Heaven Hunting Pavilion." "Understood!" The masked operative promptly communicated with Su Yu. Meanwhile, another message arrived from the scroll that originally belonged to Su Yu. The masked operative glanced at it and cursed under his breath! *"Chat with me! Something outside seems to want to come in and eat me. Should I run?"* "..." The masked operative fumed, *"Who on earth are you? Su Yu has already opened a separate trade line with us. You aren't Su Yu! You bastard, how dare you trick me!"* *"Huh?"* …… Inside the stone house, the little fur ball paused. It had been found out! The fragrant one was so unprofessional! *I didn't even expose myself, yet you went and blew my cover.* Just then, the sound of the door being pushed open seemed to come from outside. The little fur ball's eyes went wide. Forget it, no time to chat with the Heaven Hunting Pavilion. Everyone in the Heaven Hunting Pavilion was an idiot who couldn't solve any problems anyway. Its large eyes turned to the front door. The door truly seemed about to be forced open. Even through the door, the little fur ball could feel an immense pressure and mortal danger. It seemed terrifyingly perilous. Its eyes darted around. *Where do I run?* As for the dense death qi inside the room, the little fur ball didn't mind it much. Death qi was also a form of origin qi—origin qi reversed. Since it didn't fear origin qi, it naturally didn't fear death qi. In its divine character state, it had little dread of such things. Yet now, something far more formidable seemed to have arrived outside. What to do? The little fur ball was quite anxious. It didn't want to die. It wanted to contact the fragrant one for help, but had no way to reach him. It could only hurriedly contact the Heaven Hunting Pavilion. *"Help! Find... find Su Yu to save me... I'll pay!"* The little fur ball didn't call him 'the fragrant one.' The fragrant one didn't allow it to call him that, and besides, outsiders wouldn't know who that was. It had to seek reinforcements from the Heaven Hunting Pavilion. While calling for help, the little fur ball was also crying out inwardly: *Big one, save me! Big one, save me... This ball is going to die!* …… At that exact moment. In an ancient realm. Atop an enormous Heaven Yuan Tree, a big fur ball seemed to still be deep in thought. Suddenly, a small bubble surfaced before it. The big fur ball opened its eyes. *Where was I just now? Right, thinking about whether to go to the Human Realm to bring the little fellow back...* It froze suddenly. *Huh? The little fellow isn't in the Human Realm anymore?* Looking at the scene displayed before it, where was this? The big fur ball blinked, assessing the image, and seemed to spot death qi... "A Holy City?" It murmured softly. How had the little fellow ended up there? Which Holy City was this? Calling for help? Holy City... Holy City... What was there again...? As it pondered, its thoughts drifted. Soon, more and more bubbles floated up before it! The big fur ball woke up again. *Where was I just now?* *Right, thinking about the Holy City. The little fellow is in a Holy City. That's so far away!* The big fur ball pondered. Suddenly, the time around it reversed. It felt as though it had returned to the past, going back in time, reversing continuously... Reversing to a certain day! The big fur ball appeared above an ancient city. "Not this one..." The big fur ball continued to reverse time. The little fur ball wasn't here. This wasn't the one. It remembered having visited one before. Continuing to reverse! Soon, another ancient city surfaced. Tianmie! "This should be the one, right?" The big fur ball murmured, then suddenly flew into the city. At that time, the ancient city was still quite bustling. The big fur ball flew directly toward the Prefecture Lord Manor. A moment later, it reached the rear hall of the manor. A stone statue! The stone statue was already there back then. The stone statue abruptly opened its eyes and looked at the big fur ball. The big fur ball looked back. Locking gazes, the stone statue spoke: "The Ancient God Devourer Half-Emperor has come from afar, crossing spacetime. What brings you here?" The big fur ball thought for a moment. "You are... Forget it, you all look the same, I don't recognize you. What did I want to do... Let me think..." The big fur ball thought for a long while before finally recalling something. "My little guy is going to... going to come to your place a long time from now. And then... something will try to kill it. Save it... I don't feel like going out." "Hmm?" The stone statue opened its eyes wide, staring at it. "The Ancient God Devourer Half-Emperor crossed spacetime just for this?" "Yeah!" The stone statue fell silent, then abruptly shut its eyes, speaking no more. *Boom!* The scene shattered, and time reversed once again. …… At the same time. Inside the Prefecture Lord Manor in the present, the stone statue suddenly opened its eyes once more. It cast a bizarre gaze toward a certain direction as an ancient memory surfaced in its mind. Utterly speechless! *Fuck!* *Has that old fellow from the Ancient God Devourer race gone mad?!* *Damn it all, crossing hundreds of years of spacetime with nothing better to do just to give me a heads-up that your little kid is in danger?!* Its gaze landed on a certain spot. The next moment, divine light erupted from its eyes. With a rumble, a beam of divine light draped over the doorway. The three dead spirits currently forcing the door suddenly halted their actions. They turned back toward the Prefecture Lord Manor. A moment later, the three dead spirits chose to leave. Meanwhile, the stone statue looked at the house once more, seemingly peering right through the ancient stone structure to see the little fur ball. Wasn't this the God Devourer that Su Yu had brought with him? A blood descendant of the Ancient God Devourer Half-Emperor? That made sense. The Ancient God Devourer race was exceedingly scarce in number. Who would have thought this old Half-Emperor, in his twilight years, had actually left behind an offspring? He had assumed it was merely the bloodline of some other God Devourer. The stone statue shut its eyes again, deeply exasperated. These fellows were truly bothersome. The Ancient God Devourer Half-Emperor was probably truly growing senile; it felt as though even his memory was deteriorating. Had he remained in the Ancient God Devourer Realm all this time because he couldn't leave, or because he didn't want to? With these thoughts, the stone statue paid it no further mind. Troublesome matters like these were best put to rest as early as possible. He was thoroughly annoyed right now. What were these bastards stirring up trouble here for? He had already turned to stone, yet they still wouldn't grant him any peace. …… A rescue mission across time was thus completed, unknown to all. Only the little fur ball, no longer sensing any crisis, resumed pestering the Heaven Hunting Pavilion. The Heaven Hunting Pavilion wished someone would just beat whoever held Su Yu's scroll to death; they were infuriatingly annoying! By this time, Su Yu had also received the message relayed by the Heaven Hunting Pavilion. Somewhat surprised, he finally remembered the little fur ball. It had run into danger? Several thoughts crossed his mind. In this place, transmission talismans were disrupted by death qi to the point of being unusable, yet the Heaven Hunting Pavilion could still send messages. No wonder their intelligence network was so formidable. Outsiders might not know what was transpiring inside the ancient city, but the Heaven Hunting Pavilion likely received word immediately. *Should I go out?* Su Yu was a bit worried. If he went out and ran into those three Sun Moon dead spirits, wouldn't that cause trouble? Forget it, go out and see! Staying cooped up here indefinitely was merely waiting for death! Once the powerhouses of all races arrived, he wouldn't be able to leave even if he wanted to. As for the ranking showing that Dao Cheng had killed a sixth-stage Shanhai... Su Yu had also guessed who was slain. Yin Kai was dead, and Dao Cheng might be able to break into the Shanhai Realm. Su Yu didn't dwell on it; kill if he wished. It worked out nicely: every member of the Xuan Armor race here had been eradicated. That was what they got for crossing him. Losing one Sun Moon, six Shanhai, and two geniuses, they probably felt like crying. The Xuan Armor Realm might not necessarily be stronger than the Great Xia Prefecture. It was entirely natural. The Human race was inherently strong, and the Great Xia Prefecture was one of its premier prefectures. If the Great Xia Prefecture lost one Sun Moon and six Shanhai, they would feel the sting severely. The last time Su Yu ambushed those people from the single divine character faction, it had inflicted noticeable harm on Great Xia's vitality. He wanted the Xuan Armor race to feel the pain! Next time, he would make even more of them die! Su Yu took a deep breath. Expending a large quantity of Heaven Yuan Qi, he completely healed the injuries left by the death qi in his body. Soon, he reversed his origin acupoints once more, letting death qi diffuse outward. Time to go out! As for the ranking scroll, he didn't carry it with him, tossing it aside right where he was. He had also searched the storage rings of the others and found no other ranking scrolls. Only then did he feel relieved; he had no desire to have his whereabouts tracked by the Heaven Hunting Pavilion. He would head out to scout the situation first! …… The door opened. Silently. The entire ancient city seemed completely dead. Disguised as a dead spirit, Su Yu stepped out the door. At this moment, only a few scattered dead spirits roamed the streets, extremely few in number. Too many had been slaughtered earlier! It was good that some remained; had there been none at all, that would have been awkward. Stepping out of the house... Su Yu was momentarily stunned. *Holy crap!* Right now, scattered across the ground were numerous ancient city tokens! So many of them! These things were considered one of the ancient city's fortunate encounters. Just outside the door, Su Yu picked up several, though their grades weren't high. Moved by an idea, he hurriedly made his way toward the core area where Jiu Xuan and the others had slain the dead spirits earlier. Many Shanhai dead spirits had perished there. Su Yu wasn't entirely clear on what the ancient city tokens were used for. The only thing he knew for certain was that they could be spent as currency. Earlier, the Heaven Hunting Pavilion had accepted them. The dead spirit corpses were gone, fully dissolved, but the ancient city tokens had been left behind. Su Yu moved swiftly in all directions. He wasn't the only one; several other dead spirits were also gathering the ancient city tokens, perhaps retrieving them. Su Yu didn't care. He quickly gathered up ancient city tokens as well. Regardless of high or low grade, he collected them all. Before long, Su Yu picked up several tokens that felt remarkably potent. They bore the image of the ancient city, and on one of them, the Sixteenth Ring was lit up, indicating it was an ancient city token valid for the Sixteenth Ring. The others belonged to the Eighteenth Ring or the Twentieth Ring. Su Yu searched rapidly. In the blink of an eye, he had collected nearly a hundred ancient city tokens. Searching further, very few remained. Most had been taken away by the other dead spirits. Su Yu looked around the city again. All was silent; only dead spirits were active, and not a single living person was in sight. It seemed they still didn't dare emerge. As for the three Sun Moon dead spirits, he didn't spot them either. Setting that aside, Su Yu sprinted toward the house from before. Soon, he arrived at the stone house. No dead spirits! Su Yu cursed under his breath. Had that little fur ball deliberately fooled the Heaven Hunting Pavilion? Where was the danger? It had acted as if it was about to die! Scaring him into running out like this... Well, fine. If he had been any later, he might not have gathered so many ancient city tokens either. He knocked on the door! After a moment, a voice came from inside: "Who is it?" "Me!" "Passphrase!" "..." *Damn it!* *When did I ever leave a passphrase?* *Do you think I'm a fraud?* Speechless, Su Yu said hastily, "Hurry up, or you won't get anything to eat!" "Correct!" The little fur ball opened the door. *No mistake, it's you! Only you know I like to eat.* The door swung open, and the divine light that the stone statue had placed outside dissipated. Neither Su Yu nor the little fur ball noticed. The little fur ball zipped into Su Yu's sea of will in a flash, saying timidly, "Fragrant one, a big baddie was knocking on the door just now, scaring me to death!" "Nonsense!" Su Yu didn't believe it for a second. Unless it was a low-level dead spirit, this was only the Eighteenth Ring; a Sun Moon dead spirit would have breached the door in no time. Would it have waited for you to cry out in fear? "Really!" "Fine, really." Su Yu gave a perfunctory reply, not bothering to argue. Quickly shutting the door, he needed to leave this area. Everyone knew he had stayed here; if he didn't leave and others came out, what would happen if they saw him? With the little fur ball nestled in his sea of will, Su Yu disguised himself as a dead spirit once more. He swiftly flew toward the inner rings. The living people were likely all gathered in the inner rings. Even in the inner rings, those living people wouldn't be able to withstand the intense death qi invading the houses indefinitely; they were bound to come out sooner or later. He would see if he could camp outside a door and slaughter a few! If not, it didn't matter. Having killed this far, no one dared obstruct him anyway. He needed to find a chance to leave the city as early as possible. If he didn't leave soon and ended up trapped inside, that would be truly troublesome. Had the city gates not been shut right now, Su Yu would have fled long ago. As for Dao Cheng and the others, leaving them here was fine. Killing people wasn't something that had to be rushed. Leaving this place and staying alive was paramount. Su Yu advanced along the streets, soon catching sight of the magnificent Prefecture Lord Manor. Beside the road, a large stone house seemed to have some movement inside. Su Yu paused slightly. *I'm already heading for the Prefecture Lord Manor, yet someone comes out to deliver their life to me?* *Then I won't stand on ceremony!* Raising his blade, he aimed it at the door, ready to slash the moment anyone stepped out... Actually, better get a clear look before striking, so as not to accidentally cut down Qin Fang. That would make things impossible for him among the Human race. The door opened, and an enormous ox emerged, its body severely corroded by death qi... The moment its head poked out— *Hum!* A blade cleaved through the air! With a squelch, the ox head exploded! Su Yu swiftly stowed the corpse, somewhat surprised. "A second-stage Shanhai Mountain-Breaking Ox?" Not bad luck! *I quite like your race!* Paying it no further mind after collecting the corpse, Su Yu moved briskly toward the Prefecture Lord Manor. Although having a ninth-stage Sun Moon city lord here was very dangerous, he had to figure out a way. If he lingered any longer, Su Yu feared the outside would be surrounded by Sun Moon powerhouses. Soon, he reached the Prefecture Lord Manor. Inside the manor, in the great hall at the rear, the stone statue opened its eyes once more, thoroughly exhausted. *I've already turned to stone, can't you give me a few peaceful days?!* *This human, and that Ancient God Devourer, are both minor nuisances.* *Get lost as early as you can!*