No Peace for the Human Race

Ming He had fallen! The third high-stage Sun Moon expert had perished, dying at the hands of her own disciple. Within the ancient city, another seventh-stage Sun Moon dead spirit manifested. Yet no one cared anymore. One more, one less—what difference did it make? Long Dou looked awful as he stared at the lifeless Ming He. In her mangled state, where was the peerless radiance she once possessed? Where was that aloof, celestial grace from before? Dead! Even as the disciple of an Invincible, even as a seventh-stage Sun Moon powerhouse, her end was just as bleak. "Damn it!" Nearby, Nadazhi spat out a curse and fumed, "If she had to die, she should've just died on her own! Even letting a dead spirit kill her would've been better than handing the kill to Dao Cheng! Fucking hell, now there's another dead spirit!" Others might not care, or perhaps didn't dare say it, but he did. He had no fear of the Immortal race! Dao Cheng kept his head lowered in silent grief, not uttering a word. Nadazhi felt irritated, but held his tongue. She was already dead; what was the point of yelling? At that moment, a cloud descended! It was not as large as one might imagine, however. Slaying a seventh-stage Sun Moon under normal conditions would have produced something far more immense. But Dao Cheng's killing of Ming He was riddled with unforeseen variables and mitigating circumstances, not to mention Ming He's combat strength had already plummeted drastically. Dao Cheng's strength began to transform! Having already approached the Shanhai Realm after killing Yinkai, he now crossed into the Shanhai Realm in an instant! And his aura continued to swell! The cloud contained a vast amount of willpower and specialized energy that spurred his growth, fusing his divine apertures and expanding his sea of will. Rumble! His willpower surged, and moments later, Dao Cheng stepped into the second stage of Shanhai. After another moment, the third stage! Only then did the cloud's power disperse. Third-stage Shanhai! Long Dou glanced over and said nothing, but Nadazhi cursed again, "Idiot! Trading a seventh-stage Sun Moon just for an unstable third-stage Shanhai whose foundation isn't even solid. All the prodigies are suppressing their realms—what bloody use is rushing to advance?!" He looked down on it completely! Heaven-and-earth rewards were wonderful, but advancing too rapidly gave these geniuses no time to suppress and temper their cultivation, so the net benefit was nowhere near as great as imagined. Dao Cheng would need a massive amount of time later just to stabilize his foundation. Besides, trading a seventh-stage Sun Moon for a third-stage Shanhai—what was the point? A seventh-stage Sun Moon had hopes of attaining the Dao and reaching Invincible, whereas a third-stage Shanhai... had a long way to go! Dao Cheng remained silent, not uttering a word. Nadazhi cursed again, "And Ming He, that stupid woman, died way too fast right after getting severely injured by Su Yu! There's a good chance the rules here will count Su Yu as an assistant in the kill. If that happens—fuck! Ming He dies, and Su Yu might reap the reward instead!" At those words, Dao Cheng's face changed. He looked up, his eyes bloodshot! Nadazhi glared back with his own wide eyes and barked, "What are you glaring at?! Am I wrong?! The time between was far too short! Foolish! If she'd hung on for a while, the rules of heaven and earth would have determined it had nothing to do with Su Yu. Dying right away like this means Su Yu might walk away with even more benefits than you did! Fucking moron!" If some time had passed without Ming He dying, Su Yu grievously injuring her wouldn't have been judged as the cause of death. Yet only a brief moment had elapsed before she died. The All-Heavens Battlefield had overarching rules, and the rules in this place might very well judge that the primary contributor to Ming He's death was Su Yu—which meant handing Su Yu a windfall on a silver platter! How could Nadazhi not curse? Dao Cheng spat out a mouthful of blood. Though he said nothing, he was overwhelmed with grief and fury! Impossible! Could it be possible? There was indeed a chance! Long Dou shouted, "Shut up! Nadazhi, how long do you intend to keep ranting? Hurry up and help hold them off! Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Of the twenty-one Sun Moons, fifteen had already fallen! Now, only three high-stage Sun Moons remained: Long Dou, Leihuo, and Nadazhi. As for the Sun Moon dead spirits, there were four high-stage ones—no, five now! On top of that, there were over twenty other Sun Moon dead spirits. Nadazhi was thoroughly unhinged by now. He sneered, "Get myself killed? What dying! If I'm really going down, I'll slaughter every dead spirit here! We'll all burn together!" The Blood Fire Demon race was notoriously mad. He wasn't afraid at all! "Su Yu... well done! Ruthless enough!" Nadazhi gritted his teeth. "Truly ruthless! And Mo He and Bing Hong—who knows who killed them, but it definitely wasn't Ye Hongyan alone. The human race is brutal too! That fellow Su Yu ought to follow Lan Tian, betray the human race, and join my Blood Fire Demon race! We'd take him on a proper killing spree!" Just like that Blood Fire Demon at Starfall Mountain before, Nadazhi felt that Su Yu was born to join the Blood Fire Demon race! Slaughter! Kill to your heart's content! Beside them, three other Sun Moons remained: one from the Dragon Silkworm race, one from the Mountain-Breaking Ox race, and one from the Golden Lion race. All six Sun Moons were shrouded in death qi. Hearing Nadazhi's words, their faces darkened. Dao Cheng, however, stood up and looked toward the others—toward Long Zhan and the little golden dragon behind them, then toward Tianduo who had just fled over, and a genius from the Golden Lion race. In a heavy voice, he said, "It will be very difficult for us to escape this place on our own!" "If this continues, we will all die!" "The ancient city is perilous. A single Invincible would not dare charge in rashly!" "Only if multiple Invincibles strike simultaneously to breach the city's seal and extract us can we be safe!" He looked at the prodigies. "We are all descendants of Invincibles. Burn your blood essence to summon the attention of our Invincibles, and let them negotiate whether to join forces across domains to breach this ancient city together!" He looked at them, his tone cold. "Otherwise... our only choice is to wait here for death! Once the remaining Sun Moons fall, we will be next. No, we might die even sooner. Can you still withstand the erosion of the death qi?" Descendants of Invincibles still possessed a chance to survive. Summoning Invincibles for a rescue! A single one wouldn't suffice, and as for the Immortal race, they would never mobilize multiple Immortal Kings just to save Dao Cheng alone. That was simply unrealistic. Self-rescue was their only path! Long Zhan, clad in white, now had even his eyebrows blackened by death qi. Hearing this, he chimed in, "Difficult! But of course, we can bring Modana along. Both his master and his ancestor are Invincibles. With him, our leverage will be far greater. The Demon Kings of the Primitive Demon race are immensely powerful! If two Invincibles from the Primitive Demon race take the lead, our chances of survival will increase drastically!" The prodigies had begun coordinating their own survival! Compared to those Sun Moon experts, they had a much easier time communicating with Invincibles and convincing them to intervene. As for the remaining Sun Moons, Invincibles might not necessarily strike out to breach the ancient city for their sakes. "Where is Modana?" Everyone looked around, but he was nowhere to be seen. Nadazhi was annoyed too. He had come here partly to join the commotion and partly to assist Modana, yet the kid hadn't shown his face until now. Just as the thought crossed his mind, outside, a figure braving the death qi, his long purple hair flowing, maneuvered around the Sun Moon dead spirits and said calmly, "I am here." "..." Everyone stared at him blankly. At this moment, Modana appeared even stronger, seemingly having broken through in cultivation. Navigating among the dead spirits with an easy expression, he looked even more relaxed than the Sun Moons. Modana looked at them. Seizing the opening while the Sun Moon dead spirits were attacking the Sun Moons, he breached the blockade in an instant and dashed inside! Nadazhi said blankly, "You're at the ninth stage of Lingyun now?" "Yes." Modana gave a slight nod. "Greetings, Demon Monarch Nadazhi." Nadazhi stared at him, dumbstruck. "Ninth stage of Lingyun... Wait, can you... can you fight Sun Moons now?" "No," Modana replied calmly. "At best, I can escape from an early-stage Sun Moon. Sun Moons... are too strong!" Hearing those words, everyone could not help but be shaken. Escape from an early-stage Sun Moon! You're only in Lingyun! This powerhouse of the Primitive Demon race was outrageously talented. While everyone else was fighting for their lives, he had likely obtained a fortunate encounter inside an ancient house. "Did Su Yu leave?" Modana looked around and asked, "Is he alright?" "..." What did he mean by that? Nadazhi snapped irritably, "He ran! He had a jade talisman that lets him traverse the ancient city, so he bolted!" Modana nodded slightly. "As expected. Someone like him is difficult to kill. That is how this world works: the more talented one is, the harder one is to kill! Gathering the fortune of heaven and earth, enduring a hundred battles without perishing—only then does one become Invincible!" Nadazhi punched a Sun Moon dead spirit away, fuming, "I heard you were hunting him earlier. Why didn't you kill him?" Modana gave a faint smile. "Why should I have killed him? He was inferior to me back then. Killing him... would have served no purpose! No reward, no sense of accomplishment, no tempering value. Killing is not the goal. The philosophy of the Blood Fire Demon race differs from mine; I do not kill merely for the sake of killing. My goal is to attain the Dao and become Invincible—to become one of the strongest among the Invincibles!" If he were to kill Su Yu, it would be for benefits, to strengthen himself. Not merely to kill for killing's sake! "Su Yu is far more ruthless than you!" Nadazhi didn't mind being contradicted. In truth, even though he was a seventh-stage Sun Moon, he did not treat Modana as a junior. If this fellow improved just a little more, he could practically be regarded as a true Sun Moon. "You might not even be able to best him now..." Nadazhi mused, though he soon chuckled. "Then again, maybe not. That fellow no longer has Ye Batian's divine characters, so he probably isn't your match." Modana did not dwell on this. Looking at the others, he said calmly, "If we wish to leave the ancient city, we do indeed require the aid of Invincibles! However, as you know, an Invincible attacked the ancient city in the past, and an Invincible fell as a result..." He paused before continuing, "At least five Invincibles must strike simultaneously to breach the city in an instant, seize us, and pull us outside the ancient city's perimeter. Otherwise, if we provoke the peerless powerhouse inside the ancient city, none of us will survive!" At least five! Dao Cheng said heavily, "My grandfather, the Dao King, will take action!" Long Zhan pondered for a moment. "A Dragon King from the Celestial Dragon race will strike!" The little golden dragon said weakly, "My grandfather will strike!" The Grand Elder of the Golden Dragon race! That made three Invincibles who would act. To the side, Tianduo hesitated before speaking, "As for my ancestor... I don't know if he will act for my sake." Modana didn't seem concerned. "No matter. A Demon King from the Primitive Demon race will strike!" "With Invincibles from the Immortal, Demon, and Dragon races stepping forward..." Modana looked toward the god race, where Leihuo remained, and asked calmly, "True Monarch Leihuo, what about the god race?" Leihuo frowned and glanced around. Nearly all the prodigies of the god race had been slaughtered! Even An Mintian had suffered an unfortunate death! Zhan Wushuang, the god race's top prodigy, hadn't come. As for Leihuo himself... convincing an Invincible to act on his behalf was actually quite difficult. Naturally, the patriarch of the Thunder God race might move to rescue him, but that could not be guaranteed with certainty! As for powerhouses from the other minor races, they could only rely on luck! An Invincible saving you in passing was possible; not saving you was completely normal. While they were speaking, several Shanhai experts in the house let out shrill screams one after another as they were completely corroded by the death qi, dying on the spot! The prodigies, on the other hand, each used massive amounts of Heaven Yuan Qi to neutralize the death qi. Such was the privilege of heritage! Without backing, no matter how strong you were, your death here meant nothing. Modana said no more. After a brief contemplation, he said, "Then I shall ask the Demon Kings to act, and do my best to invite two of them to breach the ancient city and extract us!" With that, he looked at the others. "As for the rest of you, may fortune favor you! If luck is on your side, you may live; if not, there is nothing to be done!" As his words fell, a drop of blood seeped from him. Outside, the dead spirits grew even more frantic. Modana paid them no heed, casting a detached look at the others. "Each of you summon your own. If you cannot communicate with your Invincibles or call for aid... then resign yourselves to fate!" With that, the drop of blood ignited! In the unseen realm, a formidable aura began seeping in from outside the city. Within the city, the dead spirits rioted even more violently. Yet this aura did not pierce into the ancient city proper, so it did not draw out the dead spirit that had previously shattered the Dao King's eye. Modana's lips moved slightly, as if transmitting a message. He was speaking! The others also burned their blood essence one after another, seeking aid from their Invincibles. More and more powerhouses perished! A number of prodigies from various races ran out of Heaven Yuan Qi as well, were engulfed by dense death qi, and died instantly. Only the prodigies of the top major races possessed abundant Heaven Yuan Qi and continued holding on. After a while, only eleven individuals remained in this sturdy ancient house: six Sun Moons, and five others—Modana, Tianduo, the two dragons, and Dao Cheng. Right at that moment, Nadazhi suddenly stomped his foot! Boom! A figure was dislodged from the base of the wall by the stomp, slamming into the wall with a loud bang before sliding down slowly! Fu Tuling swiftly shifted into an earthen figure and cried out hurriedly, "Don't hit me! Don't hit me! I'll call for someone! I'll call Patriarch Tuling to save us!" Nadazhi looked at him in surprise. "Fu Tuling of the Five Elements race?" Long Dou also found it strange: "You're actually still alive?" How odd! This fellow was actually still alive. With no Five Elements powerhouse protecting him, and seemingly without expending much Heaven Yuan Qi, he was still breathing and had kept himself fairly well hidden until now. Because he hadn't caused any trouble, the high-stage Sun Moons had noticed him earlier without bothering to kill him. Yet this fellow's voice was full of vigor—how truly bizarre! He was completely fine after all this? At this moment, even Modana looked at him and said with a faint smile, "Fu Tuling, your earth-escape art is quite unusual. One cannot use earth-escape here; how did you merge into the wall?" Fu Tuling gave a dry laugh. "Luck, pure luck! I can't compare to you, Modana, nor to Tianduo and the rest of you. I'm still far off..." As he was speaking, Modana remarked thoughtfully, "You wouldn't happen to have killed some members of the Five Elements Spirit races and fused their Hearts of the Five Elements, would you? Aiming to unify the five elements, and having achieved some progress, you have already merged several Five Elements origins?" "..." All around, everyone turned their eyes on Fu Tuling. Fu Tuling cried out, protesting his innocence, "No, absolutely not! I never killed my own kind! If I'm lying, I'm not earth! Of course, I did fuse some Five Elements origins, but they were gifted to me by the different branches! Believe me!" Modana said nothing more, and neither did the others. If he had killed them, there was nothing to say—let him kill his own kind if he pleased. If they were gifted, why would the Five Elements branches give Fu Tuling their origins? Did they want to unify the five elements? The Five Elements race was one of the hundred major races, but the five elements were in discord, leaving them ranked relatively low among the top hundred. But once a Lord of the Five Elements emerged and unified the five elements, the Five Elements race could definitely break into the top ten among the hundred major races and become one of the ten strongest! The Five Elements race still possessed a fair number of Invincibles. It was just that they were currently divided; even a single branch could make it into the top hundred, and if unified, they would likely have over ten Invincibles. Counting Fu Tuling, only twelve powerhouses remained in this place. In truth, across the entire ancient city, aside from some residents, these twelve were probably the only living people left. Even among the residents, a great many had died this time. The death qi was simply too heavy; while the dead spirits did not slaughter them, being consumed by death qi would cause these residents to die prematurely all the same. Fu Tuling said no more, quickly tracing out a Five Elements array and muttering incantations to call for help. Grief filled his heart! How tragic! He hadn't reaped a shred of benefit this time, and now he even had to summon his ancestor to save his life. These people had begun their struggle for survival. The doors of the ancient house were blasted open once more by Sun Moon dead spirits. Long Dou and the others erupted in unison, repelling the attackers again, yet the death qi clinging to them grew heavier and heavier! The three Sun Moons from the weaker races clearly could not hold out much longer! If this continued, three more Sun Moons would likely fall! Within the vast ancient city, the living grew fewer and fewer. ... While those people were fighting for survival, In Heaven-Severing Valley, Su Yu had just fled for a short while when suddenly a massive cloud descended. Su Yu had a look of complete bewilderment! What was going on? More benefits delivered right to him! How strange! Thinking it over, he was somewhat surprised. "Could it be... Ming He died?" Her death wasn't surprising; Su Yu had severely wounded her precisely to finish her off. Yet he hadn't expected that without delivering the fatal blow himself, heaven and earth would actually bestow a reward upon him. This was truly peculiar; he still hadn't fully grasped the rules of the All-Heavens Battlefield. He had only entertained the thought in passing before! Yet it had genuinely yielded quite a few fine treasures! This time, the reward was neither heaven-and-earth profound light nor Heaven Yuan Qi, but a clump of golden liquid. Rather than fusing into Su Yu's body, it seemed to hesitate before settling into his sea of will, quietly finding a spot to lie dormant. "What on earth is this?" Su Yu stared at the substance for a good while, murmuring, "Sun Moon Xuanhuang Liquid?" Holy crap, couldn't be, could it? "But... I have no use for this!" This item was used by those in the Sun Moon Realm to strengthen their apertures. For those below Sun Moon, using it served little purpose, and strengthening their apertures excessively would actually prevent aperture fusion. This was only suitable for Sun Moons! "What the hell is the reward of heaven and earth giving me this for?!" Su Yu checked it; there was quite a lot—roughly ten drops, truly a substantial amount. According to the Heaven Hunting Pavilion's rates, one drop of Sun Moon Xuanhuang Liquid went for three drops of Sun Moon blood essence. Heaven-and-earth profound light was traded at one strand per drop of Sun Moon blood essence. Earlier, killing that fourth-stage Sun Moon had rewarded Su Yu with around twenty strands of heaven-and-earth profound light. Now, merely assisting in Ming He's death had yielded roughly thirty drops of Sun Moon blood essence's worth—more profitable than killing a fourth-stage Sun Moon outright! "Those two divine characters didn't explode in vain!" Su Yu rejoiced. By his calculation, the Sun Moon Xuanhuang Liquid and heaven-and-earth profound light alone were worth fifty drops of Sun Moon blood essence—equivalent to slaying five early-stage Sun Moons! Moreover, money couldn't necessarily buy these things! Truly, murder and arson brought golden belts! Su Yu chuckled inwardly and fled swiftly. He couldn't linger here; with the heaven-and-earth reward having just arrived, it would be troublesome if someone spotted him and took notice! Fortunately, he was on the Plain of Desires. Powerhouses rarely crossed paths with him here. This was indeed an excellent refuge. "Ming He is dead. Good. I wonder if she was killed by dead spirits, or angered to death by me..." As Su Yu was thinking, his sea of will suddenly quivered. He barked, "Stop right there! Fur ball, if you steal another bite, I'll kill you! I'll squish you to death and have your Dada come on a murder spree!" "..." In his mind, the fur ball was eating until its mouth was dripping with grease. Hearing this, it stopped at once and hid inside the Mind Expansion Hammer. Caught! No more eating! Yet it still wanted to eat; it smelled so fragrant! Within Fragrant's sea of will, everything right now was top-grade nourishment: Sun Moon Xuanhuang Liquid, heaven-and-earth profound light, a portion of willpower, remnants of shattered divine character resonance, plus the resonance from that heaven-and-earth divine character rewarded earlier that had shattered, which meant another massive surge of divine character resonance... In short, only one word could describe it: delicious! It had eaten so much it wanted to take a nap! So comfortable! Su Yu, meanwhile, cursed for a while, wanting to complain. This thing never did any work from morning to night; all it bloody knew was eating! Eat yourself to death, why don't you! Think I won't squish you to death one day and have your Dada come on a killing spree? After eating so much, I haven't seen you advance one bit. How long have you been in Lingyun without reaching Shanhai, you useless bum! "..." The little fur ball sensed this resentment and hid inside the Mind Expansion Hammer, feeling secretly dejected. Yeah, it felt like it had been a long time. Counting it up, the little fur ball remembered advancing for the first time with Fragrant in the Pavilion of a Hundred Dao. At that time, Fragrant hadn't even advanced to Tengkong—February 14th... Now it was mid-July, nearly July 15th. By that calculation, five whole months had passed! In five months, Fragrant had reached Lingyun, while it was still in Lingyun. That was indeed a bit slow. Dealt a heavy blow, the little fur ball stayed curled inside the Mind Expansion Hammer, refusing to come out. Time to sleep! Eat again after waking up, and advance once full. It was still small, no rush; it was just a baby after all. After comforting itself for a while, the little fur ball fell asleep, paying no more mind to anything. ... While Su Yu was fleeing, Outside the ancient city, Someone had arrived. Not an Invincible. Invincibles couldn't arrive that quickly; they needed time as well. Some Invincibles were still in their home realms, while others were being closely watched by human Invincibles. All required time to rush over. Looking at the sealed gates of the ancient city, the newcomer observed for a moment. With a faint smile, in the next instant, a silent arc of blade light struck the city wall! Boom! The city wall collapsed! In the blink of an eye, seven or eight powerful dead spirits appeared, standing along the wall's edge and glaring at the person outside the city. Death qi began billowing outward. A dead spirit emerged—a very peculiar dead spirit—looking toward the man outside and uttering chillingly, "Xia Longwu!" Outside the city, the man holding the blade glanced at the dead spirit and smiled. "You recognize me? Looks like you're a leftover from my slaughter back then!" "Xia Longwu... how dare you damage the sacred city!" The dead spirit rasped chillingly, "You are seeking your own demise..." "So much nonsense, yet you can't even come out!" Right at that moment, an icy voice echoed out: "Damage the sacred city again, and I will execute you!" "..." Xia Longwu's expression shifted slightly. He retreated swiftly, calling out as he withdrew, "A misunderstanding! Slipped my strike!" With those words, he vanished. The stone statue had spoken! That thing was exceedingly eerie and immensely powerful; best not to provoke it. As for its relationship with the dead spirits, it was complicated. They appeared hostile, yet both sides maintained the sacred city's existence. It was better not to antagonize that fellow. While dead spirits couldn't leave the city, that entity was hard to say. The city wall swiftly restored itself. The dead spirit looked in the direction he had fled, then gradually faded away. However, the seven or eight Sun Moon dead spirits that had emerged did not leave; instead, they charged toward the city center to slaughter the living! Xia Longwu had run, but those people could not! ... Inside the city, the stone statue cursed under its breath! He was the one who had rebuked him just now! That Xia Longwu! I may be a stone person now, but back in the day, with my temper... I'd have walked out and beaten you to death! These human bastards, every single one of them looking for trouble! If you truly provoked an overwhelmingly mighty dead spirit sovereign, do you honestly think it couldn't deal with you? Of course, Xia Longwu had only come to screw over the experts inside the city. Having slashed once, he had bolted. Otherwise, he wouldn't have gotten off easily either! He had fled, but within the city, an enraged roar soon resonated! Boom! With a thunderous explosion, the Golden Lion Sun Moon among the six detonated himself! The blast directly obliterated a large number of dead spirits, which in turn spawned four or five more Sun Moon dead spirits. Within the city, the number of Sun Moon dead spirits reached forty! A terrifying number! ... Inside the ancient house, Five Sun Moons remained. At this moment, Leihuo suddenly transmitted his voice: "These two can barely hold on. If they can't, they will definitely detonate themselves to kill dead spirits, which will only draw out more of them!" The two Sun Moons were from the Mountain-Breaking Ox and Dragon Silkworm races respectively. They were clearly nearing their limit! As for the prodigies, the differences in strength were also apparent. Right now, Modana was largely fine, Dao Cheng had no major issues, and Fu Tuling remained calm, whereas Tianduo, the little golden dragon, and Long Zhan were all growing weak. Their Heaven Yuan Qi was also nearly depleted! Long Dou glanced over and transmitted, "Lend a hand. Restrain them and let Long Zhan and Long Wuyou finish them off. Even getting some Heaven Yuan Qi would help. The Dragon race will dispatch two Dragon Kings to the rescue! Friends, lend a hand!" If the targets were restrained, the reward for slaying them wouldn't be much—about the same as finishing off heavily wounded powerhouses. Slaying Sun Moons just for a meager reward was technically a losing trade, but at this stage, they couldn't afford to care. Gaining some Heaven Yuan Qi was better than nothing. Besides, these two were close to death anyway and would surely self-detonate shortly, causing massive dead spirit casualties. It was better to kill them directly, which would only spawn two dead spirits. And the Dragon race would dispatch two Dragon Kings to come to their aid! Leihuo didn't have much objection; after all, there were no god race prodigies here. Nadazhi considered it and said, "Fine by me. Modana probably disdains killing them, and as for Tianduo... his ancestor might not even come, so ignore him. Whoever contributes gets the kills!" Long Dou swiftly transmitted his thoughts to Long Zhan and Long Wuyou. Both dragons hesitated briefly, but soon agreed. They couldn't hold on much longer! It was worth a try; even if the reward was only Heaven Yuan Qi, it would at least help erode the death qi. Killing Sun Moons would also release a massive burst of Yuan Qi and divine character resonance, which could sustain them for a bit longer. The reason they hadn't died despite so many Sun Moons falling earlier was largely due to those bursts of Yuan Qi and divine character resonance. Yet just as the three Sun Moons prepared to make their move, in the next instant, that Dragon Silkworm powerhouse suddenly leaped out of the ancient house. With a furious roar, he detonated himself with a deafening boom! Wearing a smile fraught with viciousness, he glared at the figures inside the house! "Did you really think I didn't see through your schemes?!" With a shrill howl amidst rolling explosions, three or four Sun Moon dead spirits were blown to pieces by his blast! Leihuo and the others paid him no heed, moving swiftly. With a booming crash, an enormous ox was pinned down and restrained. The Mountain-Breaking Ox roared, "What are you doing?!" The self-detonating Dragon Silkworm powerhouse, on the verge of fading into nothingness, still couldn't resist cursing the ox in his dying moments! Idiot! You still haven't figured it out?! He had long noticed those few whispering secret voice transmissions, clearly plotting something. Even in death, he would never give them what they wanted! Only this idiot from the Mountain-Breaking Ox race had failed to see through it! With a grin of grim satisfaction, the Dragon Silkworm powerhouse fell completely. A streak of Sun Moon brilliance plummeted! Of the twenty-one Sun Moons, only four remained. Moments later, that enormous, foolish ox, filled with rage and indignation, was slain by the joint efforts of the two dragons. Once again, radiance plummeted! And the heaven-and-earth reward, just as expected, was merely some Heaven Yuan Qi. A sizable amount! Killing a Sun Moon only yielded some Heaven Yuan Qi; for powerhouses of major races, their mindset was rather similar to Su Yu's—not particularly worthwhile. However, in a situation like this, receiving Heaven Yuan Qi was actually a blessing. Long Zhan and Long Wuyou quickly began absorbing it, neutralizing the death qi. At this point, living souls in the vast ancient city had dwindled even further. Nine! Three high-stage Sun Moons barely defended the ancient house, waiting for Invincibles to come to their rescue. When they had entered, there were hundreds, thousands: dozens of Sun Moons, dozens of Shanhais, and hundreds upon thousands of Tengkong and Lingyun cultivators. And now... almost all were dead, yet the Invincibles had still not arrived! It wasn't that they didn't want to come, but that several Invincibles were being held up! The human race was also aware that these individuals were trapped in the ancient city. At this very moment, developments were unfolding along the border regions. ... North of the East Rift Valley. Spear in hand, King Daqin looked toward the Dao King, who had just rushed over from the Immortal Realm, and smiled. "Dao King, let's have a drink. What's the rush? Aren't you tired?" The Dao King was silent. After a long pause, he said slowly, "Name your terms!" King Daqin burst out laughing. "Simple! When Xia Longwu attains the Dao, help me hold back the War God!" The Dao King was silent, then shook his head. "Dao Cheng can be abandoned. I cannot block the War God." Nodding slightly, King Daqin chuckled, "Then stop pursuing Su Yu..." "Dao Cheng can be abandoned; he is not worth Su Yu!" "..." King Daqin was speechless. Fair point. He said, "Then stop targeting Liu Wenyan. That fellow detonated Ye Batian's divine characters and his potential is limited now. Even if he still has a bit of Ye Batian's divine characters left, he has detonated over a dozen across various battles, so only a few remain at most, and his divine character battle technique is ruined..." The Dao King pondered for a moment. "My lineage will not target Liu Wenyan." King Daqin smiled. "Splendid. Safe travels, Dao King!" Saying nothing more, the Dao King shattered the void and vanished from the spot. King Daqin shook his head. Oh well. That fellow Su Yu had slaughtered far too brutally, fighting his way to the very top of the Heaven Ranking, and he was terrifyingly young. Unlike Liu Wenyan, expecting all the races to stop hunting Su Yu... was practically impossible. To kill that fellow right now, all the races would probably even abandon killing Xia Longwu. "Sigh!" Had he known, the moment Su Yu killed those guys and reached third on the Heaven Ranking, he should have kicked him back into the Human Realm. Now... it was difficult! The people of the Great Ming Prefecture had all withdrawn. Not seeing Su Yu, they had probably guessed the outcome: he had slipped away on his own. At least the kid knew the gravity of the situation. If he rushed back to the Human Realm right now, with all the races focusing on him, they would inevitably demand that the humans hand him over. Better to wait until the storm blew over! Moments later, King Daqin flickered and appeared before a figure. He took one look at his normally proud grandson, then at his current disheveled state. Before Qin Fang could even open his mouth, King Daqin sighed, "Useless creature. An absolute disgrace! Get lost!" Bang! With a swift kick, before Qin Fang could utter a single word, he was booted who knows how many thousands of li away, plunging straight into the Human Realm passageway. A bloodcurdling howl echoed as his figure vanished from the All-Heavens Battlefield! King Daqin sighed. Tragic! He looked completely unharmed, but... you stayed in the ancient city and nobody even bothered to kill you! What an embarrassment! I would have preferred my grandson being hunted down by all races—now that's what I call prestige! That would mean all the races dreaded you! It would mean your talent defied the heavens, that all races feared you... Yet... sigh. Why did I ever think this grandson of mine was impressive before? Slaying numerous Shanhais, Qin Fang of the human race, Qin Fang of the Qin family—what face that brought! Mentioning his name had other Invincibles acknowledging that King Daqin's grandson was formidable! Now... sigh, better not bring it up. Why weren't all the races hunting my grandson? He even lost the top spot on the Earth Ranking. Absolutely no prestige! King Daqin felt a twinge of desolation! Each generation is worse than the last! Well, not really. A grandson who had made it onto the Heaven Ranking wasn't truly that weak. But... but... whatever, no use comparing. That other kid was detonating Ye Batian's divine characters; that didn't count as his own ability! My grandson didn't detonate divine characters! King Daqin comforted himself. Not bad, my grandson isn't that useless. At least he's better than the Dao King's grandson! Slaying a seventh-stage Sun Moon... what a load of rubbish, he just killed Ming He! At least my grandson didn't kill his own teacher! "There will be no peace for the human race..." The thought echoed in his heart. Unless Su Yu was killed, all the races would never rest easy. Where had that brat run off to now?