Your Brow Is Furrowed

The Prefecture Lord Manor. It was grand, imposing, and towering. Yet at this moment, its gates were shut tight. There was simply no way inside. In the vicinity of the manor, the death qi had dispersed significantly, and Su Yu actually spotted living creatures... Yes, living ones. Along the perimeter wall was a hole. It did not look large, yet someone was huddled inside. Su Yu had no idea what they were thinking—perhaps they believed this place was safer than an ancient stone house—but a living creature was actually taking refuge in what looked like a dog flap. And to his surprise, they really had not died; it was perhaps even safer than cowering inside a stone house. Su Yu was completely speechless! Likewise, the fellow in the dog flap stared at Su Yu, equally dumbfounded. What was a weak little dead spirit doing wandering around here? The two of them—no, one human and one lump of earth—actually knew each other. The one hiding in the dog flap was none other than Fu Tuling. This fellow truly had guts. The ancient city restricted earth-escape arts, yet it had dared to come here. Su Yu could not help but admire it. And it had not died yet—its luck was truly unmatched. Sometimes, luck mattered enormously. Fu Tuling was still alive! At this moment, perhaps feeling uncomfortable under a dead spirit's gaze, it shifted into a mound of soil, heaping itself inside the opening—a lump that looked remarkably like a fresh pile of dung. Su Yu cast it a glance and walked toward it. *Might as well chop it to death!* This fellow had run into him several times and had not died yet. One had to admit its karmic luck was formidable. Su Yu had not managed to hack it down even when traveling alone alongside it; in terms of luck, it far outclassed the likes of Jiu Xuan. Meanwhile, seeing the dead spirit walking toward it, Fu Tuling's soil changed color. What was going on? Dead spirits did not approach the Prefecture Lord Manor! Of course, it had not noticed that the Sun Moon dead spirits had actually emerged from the manor in the first place. All it knew was that it had been quite safe here. Not long ago, several fellows sheltering in the ancient stone houses had let out wretched screams, probably meeting their ends. Yet it had remained completely safe the entire time. Now, however, things did not seem so safe anymore. It was not afraid of a Tengkong-level dead spirit; the problem was that there was no end to them! Kill one and two would take its place. Right now, there were Sun Moon dead spirits roaming the city. If this drew the Sun Moon dead spirits over, even being in the Sun Moon Realm would not save it. "Don't come over!" "Don't come looking for me!" "I'm just a pile of dirt!" Watching the dead spirit draw closer and closer, Fu Tuling panicked, its soil turning pale with fright. In the next instant, before Su Yu could even reach it, it morphed into a speck of dust and fled in an instant, completely disregarding the corrosion of death qi. *Damn it all, it really came after me! Terrifying!* Fu Tuling's escape speed was astonishingly fast! Su Yu watched it go, a faint smile surfacing on the dead spirit's face, and chose not to pursue. Running into him three times without dying—its danger-sensing instincts were remarkably sharp. Su Yu had actually activated his Tranquility character; reasonably speaking, the fellow could have tried staying motionless since Su Yu only appeared to be a Tengkong dead spirit. Yet it had run anyway, clearly having sensed the danger. Paying it no further heed, Su Yu walked toward the manor gate. The gate was shut tight! "How do I get in?" "Or rather, how do I find the Prefecture Lord?" "No, how do I get the Prefecture Lord to open the gates?" Su Yu sank into contemplation. Not this gate, but the nine city gates, allowing him to leave quickly. This place was a death trap. A mighty ninth-stage Sun Moon expert! If this powerhouse refused to let him go and insisted on killing him... wouldn't he be finished? He did not have the slightest capital to fight against someone at the ninth stage of the Sun Moon Realm. Truth be told, coming to the Prefecture Lord Manor was extremely dangerous. Furthermore, his dead spirit state was best kept hidden from sight and unknown to the Prefecture Lord. He had to use the dead spirit disguise to scout the situation first before deciding how to approach Prefecture Lord Tianhe to negotiate. "Borrowing another's prestige to put on a front... At the very least, an Invincible is needed to deter him!" "This guy was cleaved by Xia Longwu before; he might even harbor hostility toward the human race." "Only the deterrent of an Invincible can keep him from making a move against me." "An Invincible..." Su Yu did not know many Invincibles. Of course, it was not that he knew none at all. At the very least, he had crossed paths with King Miecan. As a member of the Great Ming Prefecture now, he had some connection to King Daming. King Daqin might have noticed his arrival on the All-Heavens Battlefield. He also had ties to King Daxia, as well as King Tianzhu... Not to mention having seen King Dahan and King Song last time... Counting them up, he actually knew quite a few Invincibles. And yet, when it came to someone truly reliable who would help him, Su Yu could not name a single one! "Better to rely on oneself than beg others!" Repeating this phrase in his mind carried a trace of helplessness and dejection. If he could seek help from an Invincible, he naturally would; the problem was, he could not reach one. Saying it was better to rely on oneself was often nothing more than words to comfort oneself. It was a pity his teacher was not an Invincible, nor was his grandmaster. Otherwise, he could have turned to them for some aid. Of course, right now he did not need to beg—he only needed to put up a tiger's skin. How could he deter this Prefecture Lord and keep him from striking with lethal intent? A colossal challenge! He was a prime prize across the ten thousand realms right now; aside from the human race, virtually everyone wanted him dead... and even within the human race, plenty wanted him dead as well. Su Yu knew his own situation all too well! Thus, he had very few friends. On the All-Heavens Battlefield, anyone he encountered who was not close could be killed—that was his philosophy. In any case, he, Su Yu, had no friends! Those who had helped him were mostly not on the All-Heavens Battlefield. Even though the human Qin Fang was in the city, Su Yu never even considered asking him for help, despite Qin Fang being a descendant of King Daqin. Su Yu circled the perimeter wall without drawing attention. He had no idea that inside the manor, the stone statue was quietly watching him the entire time. Su Yu paid no heed to such things, nor did he know. After circling for a bit, he found an ancient stone house nearby and slipped inside. Soon, he converted the death qi, reversed his origin apertures, and returned to his true self. Rummaging through his storage ring, he found several items. One was a medallion given to him by Zhu Tiandao of the Great Ming Prefecture, who said it could be used if he ever encountered King Daming. The other was a toy saber given to him by Xia Huyou, who had told him that if he met King Daxia, he could pull it out to see if he could coax some benefits. "King Daming, King Daxia..." Those seemed to be the only two things on him connected to Invincibles. No, wait. He pulled out the little fur ball, scrutinized it, and fell into thought. This was actually connected to an Invincible as well—the little fur ball's elder was an Invincible too; a Half-Emperor was certainly an Invincible. In that case, he could claim a connection to three Invincibles. Of course, best forget about the little fur ball's elder. If it really was drawn here, it might swallow his sea of will in a single gulp. "Three Invincibles!" Would that be enough to deter the Prefecture Lord? Thinking about the Prefecture Lord Manor in the distance, going there might just be walking right into the tiger's den! "Sigh!" With a sigh, should he go on a killing spree first, then try the Prefecture Lord Manor? …… While Su Yu was hesitating and struggling, the stone statue inside the manor was also pondering a question... one he had overlooked just moments ago. Why on earth could this human turn into a dead spirit? Holy crap! He had not thought about this question earlier. As for how he had recognized Su Yu, that was far too simple. No matter how Su Yu transformed, it could not slip past his perception, not to mention that the little fellow from the God Devourer race was right there. One look was enough to know it was Su Yu and the little fur ball. Yet right now... he was peering right through the house, watching Su Yu's sudden reversal, and fell into deep thought. What was going on here? Reversing death qi? Was this due to a unique divine character, or had the brat mastered some extraordinary technique that allowed him to disguise himself as a dead spirit? No wonder he had not died! Still, it fell a bit short. Fooling ordinary Sun Moon cultivators was one thing, but deceiving stronger ones would be difficult. To the statue, "stronger" naturally meant those Sun Moon experts nearing the path of Dao attainment. *Still, it's quite remarkable!* the stone statue mused. And kept thinking! Yet how this little fellow could convert into a dead spirit remained a mystery he could not fathom. Was it a cultivation method? Had he learned an art of the dead spirits? Yet arts of the dead spirits could only be learned after dying—was this little fellow dead? At this moment, even this eternally ancient stone statue was perplexed. "A cultivation method... or something else?" He could not figure it out, could not see through it. Seeing Su Yu retrieving item after item inside the stone house, the stone statue also sensed the auras of several powerful beings and felt a touch of sentiment. It seemed this lad had crossed paths with quite a few experts. He sensed several familiar scents—the scents of top human powerhouses. Coming to circle the Prefecture Lord Manor, leaving, and pulling out these things... Was he afraid Tianhe would kill him? The stone statue grasped his train of thought. He almost wanted to laugh. Never mind—a stone could not laugh; he could not produce one even if he tried. Tianhe was in cahoots with Xia Longwu, a fact the statue knew full well. Why would Tianhe kill this little fellow? However, the lad was completely unaware of this. The stone statue also wanted to see how this youngster planned to ensure Tianhe would not kill him. …… The stone statue waited to enjoy the show. After fretting for a while, Su Yu was troubled! "Should I hire a top expert to protect me? But short of an Invincible, even a ninth-stage Sun Moon expert couldn't deal with the Prefecture Lord here, could they?" After struggling internally for a long time, Su Yu gritted his teeth. He still had to go meet him! Within the city, the Prefecture Lord was supreme. If he did not meet him, he might never get out. He had to leave quickly while the experts of the myriad races had not arrived yet. A moment later, Su Yu restored his flesh and blood body and stepped out of the stone house. After waiting outside for a brief moment, no dead spirits came to kill him. It seemed the dead spirits might have departed? No matter—he could switch to dead spirit mode at any time. Hurrying to the front of the Prefecture Lord Manor, Su Yu suddenly called out in a resonant voice: "Adopted great-grandson of King Daxia, adopted great-grandson of King Daming, apprentice of King Miecan, honorary disciple of King Tianzhu, Su Yu of the human race, requests an audience with the Prefecture Lord!" "..." His voice boomed, echoing straight into the clouds! At that moment, around the area, several stone house doors trembled as though to open, only to remain shut. The Prefecture Lord Manor also fell dead silent for a heartbeat. In all directions, the experts sheltering inside the stone houses paused, dumbfounded. This... Su Yu was going to pay his respects to the Prefecture Lord? Fine, that was not the main point. The main point was... the prefixes this fellow piled on were utterly absurd! He had dragged out four great kings! Since when were you the adopted great-grandson of King Daxia and King Daming? And when did you become the disciple of King Miecan and King Tianzhu? Yet Su Yu felt he had not lied. He had told Xia Huyou before, *Your grandfather is my grandfather... and your great-grandfather... is mine as well.* He had said something similar to Zhu Hongliang of the Great Ming Prefecture, and Zhu Tiandao had even prepared to take him in as a grandson-in-law, so practically speaking, there was no difference. As for King Miecan, Time was clear proof. As for King Tianzhu, the Pavilion of a Hundred Dao held his heritage, and the Forging faction indeed stemmed from him. Su Yu had not lied. Even if he made these claims right to their faces, there would not be any issue. Four great kings—surely that warranted a bit of face? …… At this moment, inside one of the ancient stone houses. Qin Fang stroked his chin, looking outside. He chuckled, starting to shake his head before stopping himself. Su Yu... was truly interesting! …… Inside the Prefecture Lord Manor. Tianhe, who was still drinking, froze slightly, put down his wine cup, and laughed. "Go open the gates!" "My Lord!" An old man appeared. "My Lord, Su Yu involves too much trouble. Perhaps it would be better not to see him!" "Go open the gates!" Tianhe smiled faintly. "Interesting. Let him in! Using four human Eternals to scare and intimidate me? Amusing!" Not only did he find it amusing, but the stone statue also opened its eyes; today, it had barely kept them closed at all. He could even link himself to those? Four Eternals, and you managed to rope them all in—are you sure about that? …… Tinged with curiosity and amusement, Tianhe decided to open the gates to meet this Su Yu who had thrown the ancient city into chaos. Yes, by now he had also guessed that this was all Su Yu's doing. This fellow had killed so many dead spirits, yet he was still alive. Setting aside the fact that he was alive, he even dared to show his face. Was he not afraid those Sun Moon dead spirits would slaughter him? The Sun Moon dead spirits had not vanished; they were still in the city. It was just that when Su Yu showed himself, these dead spirits had not pursued him. Even when his aura leaked out, they did not come hunting. There were multiple reasons for this, among them the little fur ball, which carried traces of the stone statue's aura after leaving the stone house. This was something neither Su Yu nor the little fur ball knew. Su Yu was not particularly worried about dead spirits; he was prepared to transform at a moment's notice. Right now, he was taking a calculated gamble. And after he shouted, the gates of the Prefecture Lord Manor slowly opened. Su Yu actually saw a familiar face! The Shanhai Realm man who guarded the city gates—General Tianmen. Tianmen looked at Su Yu with a peculiar expression and said in a low voice, "The Lord of the City invites you in!" "Thank you!" Su Yu smiled. Granting an audience was nothing rare; what mattered was not making a move against him later. He was taking a gamble. With so many listeners around, he had invoked the names of four great kings. For the sake of face, even if Tianhe wanted to kill him, he would have to weigh the consequences. Granted, it was all just bluster with a tiger's skin that might tear at a single poke. *If worst comes to worst, I'll pinch the little fur ball to death,* Su Yu resolved ruthlessly in his heart. Inside his sea of will, the little fur ball shivered violently from the distinct telepathic feedback. In the sea of will, a miniature Su Yu stood holding a massive hammer, looking ready to bash it to death at any moment! *This is going to kill this ball!* The little fur ball sprawled across a divine character, licking it to comfort itself. *Before you hammer this ball to death, I'm going to eat this character! So fragrant!* It also steeled its resolve! *If you smash me, I'll eat your character and die on a full stomach!* Amid this bizarre dynamic between the two, Su Yu strode forward, following General Tianmen up the stone steps toward the main hall of the manor. As they walked, Su Yu said, "My thanks to the General for your earlier warning!" "You're welcome," Tianmen said indifferently. "I simply didn't expect that you were the real Su Yu." "Circumstances compelled me!" Tianmen said no more, but Su Yu smiled and asked, "General, is the Prefecture Lord easy to talk to?" Tianmen replied dispassionately, "Acceptable." "That's good. The Prefecture Lord is wise and formidable; I imagine he must be very approachable." Tianmen's expression turned odd. *You are the first genius I've ever met who can flatter so shamelessly.* Here, the Prefecture Lord could certainly hear everything. Su Yu saying this was not for Tianmen's benefit, but for the Prefecture Lord's ears. Su Yu added, "General Tianmen, now that the nine gates are sealed, the Prefecture Lord can open them, right? Far too many people want to kill me right now. If the gates stay closed and I remain in the city, everyone might assume the Prefecture Lord is shielding me. If they disregard the Prefecture Lord's dignity and storm the ancient city in a fit of rage, that would be troublesome!" Tianmen was at a loss for words. *You make it sound so reasonable that I won't even argue.* Su Yu continued, "Also, the human race has dispatched a large force of experts to rescue me. Once a battle erupts within the city, that will be troublesome as well." Tianmen fell silent. *Everything you say is right, so I won't argue.* *Tell it to the Prefecture Lord yourself!* This was by far one of the most peculiar geniuses he had ever met—though, of course, all geniuses had their quirks. Moments later, an immense hall unfolded before Su Yu's eyes. Inside the hall were only two individuals. At the far front, seated upon a throne, was the Prefecture Lord. Below him stood an elderly man with hair white as snow. "My Lord, Su Yu has been brought before you!" Prefecture Lord Tianhe held a wine cup and took a sip. Dressed in white robes with long hair cascading over his shoulders, it was impossible to tell which race he belonged to, yet Su Yu could clearly sense the death qi! An incomparably dense death qi, seemingly no less potent than that of those Sun Moon dead spirits. "Greetings, Lord of the City!" Su Yu bowed respectfully. Prefecture Lord Tianhe looked at him, drank another cup of wine, and said indifferently, "Adopted great-grandson of King Daxia and King Daming?" "Yes." "Disciple of King Miecan and King Tianzhu?" "Yes!" "And yet you've ended up in such a wretched state?" Su Yu said calmly, "I do not consider it wretched. The strong forge their path step by step. Without enduring trials, how could one rise? Today, the speed of my rise has drawn the gaze of the ten thousand realms! I believe this is precisely the outcome those Invincibles wished to see!" "You want to leave?" Su Yu lowered his head. "I do! If I remain any longer, experts from the myriad races will converge. Before long, Tianmie City will become the focal point of the ten thousand realms. On this battlefield, should I perish, an Invincible-tier war might erupt here!" "You possess considerable confidence." Tianhe chuckled faintly. "Which Invincible would make a move for you?" Tianhe continued mercilessly, "The Multiple Divine Characters Faction is the focal point of all races. The human race has already abandoned it. If they hadn't, humanity would have become the enemy of every race. Only by abandoning it could they preserve a shred of their standing. You should know this full well. Which Invincible do you think will fight for you?" "Ye Batian back then was the hope of the human race. The human Invincibles fought for him, and in the end, he left humanity disappointed and despairing. Do you believe the human race would wage war against all races once more for a second Ye Batian?" Su Yu said in a heavy voice, "I am not Ye Batian! Nor am I a second Ye Batian! Whether the human Invincibles are willing to fight for me, I do not know. Perhaps... the Prefecture Lord knows better!" *Do you truly know they won't fight for me?* *Do you think not a single person among the human race wishes for the resurgence of the Multiple Divine Characters Faction?* *There are!* *Many!* It was only because of the stance of the myriad races that they kept their own stance hidden. Su Yu firmly believed they existed; otherwise, the Multiple Divine Characters Faction could never have survived to this day. Tianhe smiled faintly. "Perhaps... what you say holds truth. Have a seat!" Just as Su Yu was about to speak, a prayer mat materialized beneath him. Muttering inwardly, he dared not let his thoughts wander too far; the perception of a Sun Moon cultivator was extraordinarily sharp. He did not bother with formalities and sat down directly. Lifting his gaze, he looked at Prefecture Lord Tianhe. He appeared quite young and maintained human form. Apart from the dense death qi enveloping him, he seemed rather refined. "Care for a cup?" Prefecture Lord Tianhe smiled. A cup formed out of thin air, liquor spontaneously welling up inside it, and floated toward Su Yu. Su Yu caught the cup. Inside it, death qi wafted outward! Incredibly rich! Su Yu's gaze flickered. Tianhe said indifferently, "Since you dare slaughter dead spirits and have survived to this moment, you shouldn't fear this little bit of death qi. Have a drink; the flavor isn't half bad! This is the dead spirit race's most renowned dead spirit liquid, brewed from corpse fluid—fermented from ten-thousand-year-old ancient corpses..." Su Yu remained silent. Tianhe said coldly, "You dared butcher dead spirits and slaughter all across the ancient city of Tianmie; could you possibly fear something like this?" Su Yu said nothing, raised the cup, and drained it in a single gulp! Death qi corroded his internal organs. Soon, however, a surge of pure vitality emerged. Su Yu was momentarily startled as his corroded viscera instantly healed. He looked up at Prefecture Lord Tianhe. Tianhe said calmly, "Life and death, living and dying, are separated by merely a thin line! One lives toward death, and at the extremity of death lies rebirth!" Su Yu did not quite grasp it. He said in a deep voice, "This student is ignorant and fails to comprehend the profound meaning behind the Prefecture Lord's words!" Tianhe smiled faintly. "What profound meaning? Just an offhand reflection, that's all! You certainly have some nerve, daring to drink dead spirit liquid. Not many people dare to touch it." "The ignorant are fearless," Su Yu replied. Tianhe chuckled. "No, you are not ignorant. You are fearless—truly without fear! You have confidence, and you have assurance that a single cup of dead spirit liquid won't claim your life!" Tianhe smiled again. "What was your purpose in coming to the All-Heavens Battlefield?" "To make myself strong!" "And after becoming strong?" "To protect myself!" "Just that?" "Just that!" Su Yu kept his head lowered. "What else could it be for?" "Never thought about unlocking the suppression power of the Human Realm, conquering the myriad realms, or anything like that?" "Not interested!" Su Yu said calmly. "Those who make themselves my enemies, I kill. Those who bully me, I kill. Regardless of race, regardless of whether they are good or evil!" "That's hardly a wholesome mindset!" Tianhe smiled faintly. "I fear there won't be few who stand against you." "Then I will kill until... there is no one left to kill!" "Such immense killing intent!" Tianhe marveled. "In recent years among your human race, the one with the heaviest killing nature was Xia Longwu. Before him was Ye Batian, and before him was King Daqin. Aside from King Daqin, Ye Batian is dead, and Xia Longwu... struggles to attain the Dao. Do you intend to follow in their footsteps?" Su Yu kept his head lowered. "I emulate no one; I am only myself. If I wish to kill, I kill! If I do not wish to kill, no one can force me. Those who force me, I will kill! My killing nature is not because I desire to kill, but so that I will not be killed!" "If I refuse to let you out, will you come to kill me once you grow strong?" Su Yu kept his head bowed. "No, the Lord of the City misunderstands!" Tianhe laughed. "Words spoken contrary to your heart!" Tianhe said casually. "You will. If I refuse to let you leave, and if you survive and grow strong, you will come for revenge!" "I will not!" "You will!" "I will not!" "..." Beside Su Yu, the gap-toothed old man could not help but chuckle. Tianhe smiled as well. "Since you won't kill me, I won't let you leave!" "I will!" At that, Su Yu switched his tone in a flash. "I hold grudges deeply. Of course, I don't hold grudges against the strong, but... I also remember gratitude deeply! If the Lord of the City aids me today, I will surely repay you a hundredfold tomorrow!" "You can repay me?" Tianhe said indifferently. "With what? By having slain Cheng Kai? What a joke! I could crush him with a single finger!" Su Yu fell silent. After a pause, he spoke, "I see that My Lord is enveloped in dense death qi. I do not know if My Lord deliberately cultivates this death qi of the dead spirits or is forced to endure it out of necessity. I possess a cultivation art capable of restoring vitality—the Longevity Art, rare across the myriad races!" "The Longevity Art?" "Yes!" Su Yu tossed a scroll of cultivation art directly toward Tianhe. This was the Vitality Stimulation Method, not any Longevity Art, though it indeed possessed the effect of stimulating life force... However, it was practically useless here because this Prefecture Lord was not human. Aperture locations differed! It was merely a gesture of goodwill! The thing that would truly be useful was the dead spirit race's origin aperture reversal method—that was the genuine treasure! It was not an ordinary cultivation technique, or at least not an origin aperture opening method. It was a method of reversal, independent of which origin apertures you had opened. This was the true solution to death qi. Whichever origin apertures you had opened, this technique could reverse them. Forward reversal or backward reversal, both worked. Reversing vitality into death qi, or reversing death qi into vitality—this was his true trump card and the key to Su Yu turning into a dead spirit. Unless driven to absolute desperation, it could never be leaked. As for that longevity method of the Immortal race, it was profound and powerful, but to anyone else, it was not worth a pile of dog crap! It was useful to human experts, but as for this Prefecture Lord, unless he was human, it was useless junk! Su Yu did not take it seriously, but Tianhe was somewhat surprised. Picking up the technique and glancing through it, he murmured, "Quite a good item. This technique... is deeply profound. It must be related to the Immortal race's vitality stimulation, adapted into a human cultivation art... What a pity. Sigh, what a pity!" A pity it truly was not suitable for him. At most, it offered some slight reference value! Otherwise, it might really have reversed the death qi within his body. A great pity! Still, this technique was genuinely impressive. For the human race, it was an absolute treasure, especially for those elderly humans nearing death. This Su Yu was certainly generous. He had offered up a formidable cultivation art right off the bat. Even if Xia Longwu obtained something like this, he probably would not toss it around lightly. Tianhe smiled. "A technique offered with great sincerity... The only pity is that I cannot use it. Drawing a bit of inspiration from it is still quite decent, however." With that, Tianhe said indifferently, "If you wish to leave, you may! However... I cannot open the city gates!" "Lord of the City!" Su Yu's expression changed. Why? Tianhe said calmly, "Everyone knows you are trapped in the city. And I... have not provided any aid to the Immortal race or any other race either. Whomever came looking for me, I opened the city gates for none of them! These are the rules, the rules of the ancient city! Even though I am the Prefecture Lord, I cannot break them." "Now, if I open the gates for you, what will the other races think? You get to leave, but I remain here. Who will consider my position?" Su Yu was momentarily taken aback. *Indeed.* Hearing Tianhe put it like this, he could understand. Right, Tianhe had not opened the city gates for anyone. If he made a sole exception for Su Yu, what would the others think? What would the other races think? Realization dawned on him. Opening the gates just to let him go might cause Tianhe to offend experts from every race. That truly was asking too much of him. Su Yu sighed inwardly. He had not considered this point earlier. Rising to his feet, he bowed slightly. "Thank you for explaining, Lord of the City! Su Yu was impetuous! Since that is the case, I shall not leave. I will fight them to the death right here in this city. I only ask that the Prefecture Lord continue to remain neutral as a bystander!" He turned, preparing to leave. Since this path would not work, then... he would go kill people! Killing intent, thick and suffocating! Beside him, even the old man felt this killing intent and was secretly shocked. *Such ferocious baleful aura! This human genius is truly different from those of the past; his heart is as cold as iron.* And terrifyingly decisive! Since it would not work, he would simply leave. The moment he stepped out the door would likely be when he began a massacre. A truly ruthless character! Among human geniuses, even Xia Longwu at this age had never possessed such an overwhelming baleful aura. Just how many had he killed? Su Yu had truly killed a multitude. If dead spirits counted as people, he had slaughtered at least a thousand this time around! He killed geniuses, killed demons and monsters, killed single divine character faction experts, killed gods and devils... There was no one he would not kill. Seeing him about to leave, Tianhe chuckled and said, "Don't be in such a hurry. While I cannot open the gates of convenience for you... it doesn't mean there is no chance. The Prefecture Lord Manor has a rear hall. Go try your luck there. If luck is on your side, there might be a way. If not, do as you please; I will not interfere with anything in the city!" An interesting kid, and a very troublesome one. Perhaps he could only be handed over to that one. As for whether that one granted him a path of survival, Tianhe would not concern himself. Su Yu froze slightly, then turned and said respectfully, "Thank you for the guidance, Lord of the City!" The Heaven Hunting Pavilion! The Heaven Hunting Pavilion had sold him a piece of intelligence: the Prefecture Lord Manor contained an opportunity, and that opportunity... was in the rear hall. He had not encountered the opportunity of the stone houses, though he had obtained an ancient city token. But of the three great opportunities, one remained—the opportunity of the Prefecture Lord Manor. Now, he actually had the chance to see it. Su Yu was somewhat surprised. "Tianmen, lead him there!" "Understood!" Outside the door, Tianmen was equally taken aback. The rear hall was a forbidden ground, yet the Prefecture Lord was actually letting Su Yu go there. It was truly unexpected. Once Su Yu and Tianmen departed, the old man suddenly transmitted his voice: "My Lord, why send him there? Isn't this... inappropriate?" Tianhe drank his wine, smiled, and said softly, "No matter! Within the city, what can be hidden from him? The boy is no small trouble, so I might as well leave him to that one. It has nothing to do with me. I'm no Invincible; how could I shoulder these grudges?" "He can neither be killed nor released. Doing him a convenient favor, whether it succeeds or fails, is at least a favor." Hearing this, the old man said no more. Speaking too much might invite the perception of the stone statue in the rear hall. That was taboo in the ancient city! As for what the Prefecture Lord was truly thinking, the old man did not understand either. Tianhe picked up the cultivation art once more and sighed. What a pity; it was not suitable for him. A great pity, for it truly was a good technique. The death qi grew thicker still. *Xia Longwu, can you sever this death qi?* With a self-deprecating smile, perhaps it was merely wishful thinking on his part! …… At that moment, in the rear hall, the stone statue opened its eyes, looking toward Su Yu and Tianmen walking over outside the hall. Glancing again, the image of Tianhe appeared in his eyes. *Quite adept at passing the buck. Dumping every rotten mess onto my side—what good is a fake Prefecture Lord like you!* *I'm made of stone; do you really expect me to fret over this nonsense?* Moments later, Su Yu entered the hall. The stone statue closed its eyes. *Out of sight, out of mind; I have no desire to pay attention.* Tianmen followed him inside and glanced at the stone statue without any surprise. This statue could not be broken, moved, or driven away. It had existed through eternity. Closing its eyes seemed completely normal. The only thing was... he could not help feeling that today, the stone statue's brows were somewhat tightly furrowed. Was he just overthinking things?