I Can Still Be Saved

Inside the city. Bai Yi's voice rang out once more, shouting, "Su Yu! Principal Niu Baidao is right outside the city, and he wants to talk with you. We are withdrawing toward the city gate and projecting our aura. We will leave a Heaven Hunting Ranking behind for you, and you can converse directly with Principal Niu!" Su Yu gave no answer. None of them minded his silence. Soon, expert after expert rapidly rushed toward the city gate. Along the way, they encountered a few dead spirits, which they promptly intercepted. A sub-ranking was left behind near the first ring, waiting for Su Yu to retrieve it. ... Inside the old house. Su Yu frowned slightly. Principal Niu had actually come? What did Old Niu want to say? Su Yu took a guess. The man was probably going to persuade him to spare them. He understood Niu Baidao's thinking: killing these people right now would not resolve anything and would only court greater trouble. Yet Su Yu was not afraid! Of course, killing all of them would be immensely difficult. The possibility of Invincibles appearing again could not be ruled out. Even if he could not kill every single one, he would not be satisfied until he had slain at least a few. By this point, Su Yu had already reached his forty-seventh casting. His physical explosive force was approaching the power of 160,000 acupoints—terrifyingly mighty. Right now, Su Yu absolutely surpassed an ordinary expert at the seventh stage of the Shanhai Realm. Of course, the baseline for the seventh stage of Shanhai was 100,000 acupoints of power. Even against a relatively strong seventh-stage Shanhai, Su Yu felt confident he could take them down. Naturally, that excluded the top geniuses of the major races; measuring ranks with geniuses was essentially meaningless. Meanwhile, Su Yu's willpower had officially reached the seventh stage of the Lingyun Realm. Su Yu had halted further breakthroughs for now. Advancing further required absorbing Invincible texts of will, and he only had seven left. He had to use them sparingly. "Principal Niu..." Su Yu weighed his options in his mind. Should he communicate? As for going to fetch the item himself—forget it! He would never go out there in person. Just because those people had run toward the city gate did not mean the city was empty. For instance... a certain injured Black Demon Dragon had not shown itself this entire time. It resided right inside the Castellan Manor, not far from Su Yu. If it locked onto him and turned around to secretly sell him out to those fellows, Su Yu would be completely cornered! If they dispatched a seventh-stage Sun Moon to block his doorway, Su Yu would have no choice but to watch helplessly as they left. There was also the issue of location tracking. Su Yu did not trust the fellows from the Heaven Hunting Pavilion. Ever since they had pinpointed his location last time, Su Yu harbored strong reservations about them. However, Su Yu was not without options. He knew avatar arts. Of course, they were merely rudimentary avatars. He had used them a few times and possessed general control over them, enough to manipulate a clone to communicate. It would be best to attach a divine character. With the distance being relatively short, Su Yu could easily control it remotely. As for dead spirits, those things possessed no intelligence and would do nothing more than brainlessly erupt with death qi, which made them useless for this. "Outside, everyone is probably watching me right now!" Su Yu mused internally. It did not matter. What was there to fear? He summoned a dead spirit to wait right at his doorway. Soon, Su Yu squeezed out a drop of blood infused with a trace of death qi. Sighing softly to himself, he sent the dead spirit off carrying the droplet. Before long, a dead spirit appeared in the city center. ... Near the city gate. Divine radiance gleamed in some people's eyes, while others took out specialized weapons that projected reflections of the situation over there. Not surveilling Su Yu was completely out of the question! If they could uncover Su Yu's position, who among them would ever bother negotiating for peace? They would trap him! Not just trap him today, but pin him down for the rest of his life, ensuring he could never emerge! These geniuses and experts had suffered a bitter loss this time; how could they possibly be willing to let the matter rest? Some had the image of that dead spirit reflected in their magical instruments, while others saw its silhouette mirrored in their eyes. A Sun Moon said in a low voice, "Did he transform into that dead spirit himself? He can disguise himself as a dead spirit... Perhaps he is bold enough in his skills to pose as one..." Just as the thought crossed their minds, the dead spirit dropped a bead of fresh blood in the next moment, which took the form of a somewhat rigid Su Yu. Soon after, a divine character surfaced. This was an avatar made of a divine character—a rudimentary incarnation, unlike those wielded by the Sun Moon or Invincible realms. The Sun Moon who had previously attempted to kill Su Yu and his companions had used this technique, only to have his divine characters shattered repeatedly. Now, as the divine character merged into the clone, a faint gleam of intelligence soon shone in the clone's eyes. This was Su Yu's clone, essentially a puppet under his remote control. Near the city gate, someone muttered darkly, "He came using a clone. That clone carries his divine character and blood. If we capture it..." They would also be able to trace Su Yu! Should they try to seize it? The clone smiled faintly, as though aware of the surveillance, and spoke: "Don't act recklessly. My true body isn't here. My true body has captured dozens of peak Shanhai dead spirits and is hiding somewhere in the city... If you want to die, I'll be happy to grant your wish!" His voice was not loud, yet it transmitted clearly toward the city gate, picked up by the implements spying on him. The moment those words rang out, several restless Sun Moons cursed inwardly and kept their mouths shut. The distance from the city gate to the city center was substantial; even Sun Moons would require time to rush over. If Su Yu truly slaughtered a massive number of peak Shanhai dead spirits at this juncture, they would be in tremendous trouble. A moment later, Su Yu's clone picked up the sub-ranking. After a brief thought, he wrote directly: "If you want me to stop, fine. Every Sun Moon must detonate themselves..." Just as he wrote that, a line of characters immediately manifested. "Impossible! Su Yu, stop daydreaming! Su Yu, you still have a chance of survival right now, even an opportunity to reverse this. If you stubbornly persist on this course, the various races will dispatch massive numbers of Sun Moon Realm experts into the ancient city to establish long-term garrisons. Sooner or later, they will corner you!" Su Yu was startled. Who had connected to him? Or was this the Heaven Hunting Pavilion replying directly? The next instant, a line of white characters appeared: "The Heaven Hunting Pavilion has provided a public communication platform for everyone. Each race may send one representative. Anyone wishing to enter this communication platform may do so upon paying one drop of Sun Moon vital blood!" "..." Su Yu was dumbfounded. Go to hell! A moment later, a massive screen displayed on the sub-ranking, though the participant count remained hidden. Right now, at the Heaven Hunting Pavilion headquarters, the elders were quite delighted. Another profit made! Many races were lurking quietly! Only one representative per race was permitted. Looking at their backend interface, more than seventy races had joined in the blink of an eye. As for who specifically had joined, they did not bother listing the details. Having agreed to one per race, an elder promptly asked, "There are still quite a few people who want to join. Shall we let them in?" "Let them in. However, if they wish to speak, their messages must be reviewed before being broadcast. We cannot allow arbitrary messaging, lest it cause disruptions!" Moments later, their backend showed that over three hundred experts had joined. Evidently, everyone was intensely interested in the dialogue between Su Yu and the various races. A faceless elder swiftly instructed, "For those participating in the negotiations, add tags indicating their race, such as Demon race or God race. For those not participating, add no tags and silence them completely!" "Understood!" "..." The elders beamed, having reaped another massive fortune. This was essentially a live broadcast of the negotiations between Su Yu and the various races. As for whether Su Yu and the others were willing... that was irrelevant. ... Meanwhile, Su Yu's expression darkened slightly. Damn it! The Heaven Hunting Pavilion again! Fleecing people again, and fleecing him of all targets! One per race—there could easily be hundreds of races joining. So you lot are raking in more profit than I am? The next instant, Su Yu's clone vanished into thin air, leaving a ranking fluttering to the ground. A single line of text appeared on its surface: "The Heaven Hunting Pavilion must first pay five hundred drops of Sun Moon vital blood before we discuss this matter!" The person was gone! The clone had dissipated, while the divine character tore through the void and vanished without a trace. ... The myriad realms of the heavens fell silent. Utterly silent! The host had refused to negotiate! Everyone had paid good money to watch a live stream, and the streamer had simply walked away! ... At the Heaven Hunting Pavilion headquarters. The elders, who had just been celebrating, saw their expressions freeze... Fuck, they had forgotten about this! Su Yu was hardly a pushover; the moment he said no deal, he actually bolted! What were they supposed to do now? The money had already been collected! At this moment, white-masked agents across various regions were still collecting payments, and more people were continually joining the chat group. Yet now... the principal party had fled. The next instant, someone roared in fury within the group: "Heaven Hunting Pavilion, do you have a death wish? Damn you!" "If this costs the lives of our race's geniuses and Sun Moons, our race will make the Heaven Hunting Pavilion pay tenfold, a hundredfold!" "For every Sun Moon of our race that dies, our race will execute ten of your Sun Moons!" "..." Expert after expert voiced their searing rage; these were all individuals permitted to speak. Meanwhile, those barred from speaking swiftly sent private messages demanding refunds! If there was no live stream to watch, refund the money or face consequences! The elders exchanged bewildered glances. Before the joy of their fresh profits had even settled... trouble had arrived? A faceless elder could not resist cursing, "This Su Yu... it's not like he loses anything by it, so why bother!" You suffer no loss! Talking to three or five people is a negotiation, and talking to a thousand people is also a negotiation! Can't you just pretend they don't exist? "A blunder. Had I known, we shouldn't have announced that others could join..." "Indeed, whoever blabbed that should have kept quiet and just let them join silently!" "..." The elders felt thoroughly depressed. Who had spoken out of turn just now? Now look what happened. Trouble had landed on their doorsteps, and that brat had dropped the reins! The Heaven Hunting Pavilion was undeniably powerful and mysterious, but if they truly offended all the myriad races to the death, they had to remember that they maintained countless branches and outposts across the realms. While those outposts did not house many core members, having them eradicated would still inflict immense losses. If the experts of all races actively hunted them whenever they crossed paths in the future, their business would be finished. "What do we do now?" "What else can we do? Refunding the money is out of the question. Get Su Yu to resume the talks. Five hundred drops of Sun Moon vital blood... where could we possibly scrounge up so much? Have Bai Yi tell Su Yu that we will offer him ten Heaven Yuan Fruits..." ... Inside the city, Bai Yi swiftly shouted at the top of his lungs. Silence! No one replied. The experts of the various races grew increasingly incensed. The Heaven Hunting Pavilion had swindled them, and Su Yu refused to negotiate altogether. Meanwhile, the divine and demonic experts outside the city wore grim expressions. At this moment, they were not the only ones watching; some of the supreme experts of the gods and demons had also joined the channel, and there were even Invincibles secretly peering at the chat logs. ... Before long. At the Heaven Hunting Pavilion, the masked operatives responsible for liaising with external experts began calling out in succession: "Elder, this is bad! God King Tianhao of the God race declared that if Zhan Wushuang dies, he will slaughter a hundred Sun Moons of the Heaven Hunting Pavilion to offer as a sacrifice for him..." "Dao King and Xuan King have also sent messages! If the Heaven Hunting Pavilion botches this and costs the lives of Dao Cheng and Xuan Wuji, they will definitely retaliate against us!" "The three dragon kings of the Dragon race have started finding fault as well..." "The five ancestors of the Five Elements race have all sent transmissions..." The elders looked at one another, feeling on the verge of spitting blood. The negotiations had not even begun. They had merely sought to make a quick profit. The money had been collected, yes, but now they were in immense trouble! Good grief! What regret! Why did someone have to open their mouth earlier? Otherwise, what would Su Yu have known? How could he have known what was happening on the backend? Now they were truly in a bind! Ten Heaven Yuan Fruits was clearly something Su Yu looked down on. ... Inside the old house. Su Yu sneered. The Heaven Hunting Pavilion... How many treasures had that organization swindled from him? They certainly knew how to do business, daring to charge admission at a time like this. More importantly, they charged an entire drop of Sun Moon vital blood per head! Bloody lucrative! Su Yu could not care less about fleecing others; he would gladly watch the other races cough up blood. However, collecting the money without giving him a cut was the cardinal sin. He was the star of the show! The Heaven Hunting Pavilion was merely an organization running errands and relaying messages, yet they acted so high and mighty, charging fees without even offering him a percentage. What were they thinking? If there was money to be made, everyone should share the spoils. If you don't give me a cut, see if I give you the time of day! Soon, Bai Yi's shout echoed from near the city gate once more: "Su Yu, it was all a misunderstanding! Because the Heaven Hunting Pavilion must transmit messages across various realms and regions, consuming massive amounts of energy, we had no choice but to charge a nominal fee. It was never aimed at anyone..." Consuming energy was an inevitability; Su Yu believed that much. Yet claiming that relaying messages required a drop of Sun Moon vital blood was pure nonsense. Su Yu had chatted with the Heaven Hunting Pavilion for ages, exchanging hundreds of sentences. Did that mean he had burned through hundreds of drops of Sun Moon vital blood? A moment later, Bai Yi spoke again: "Even if we gave you Sun Moon vital blood right now, it cannot be brought inside... If we give it to Principal Niu, you won't know for sure without checking the sub-ranking. How about this... I will leave fifty strands of Heaven and Earth Profound Light in the same spot..." Su Yu still uttered not a sound. After another moment, perhaps buckling under excessive pressure, the Heaven Hunting Pavilion compromised further as Bai Yi called out again: "One hundred strands! This is truly our limit! Not that many people joined!" Su Yu did not believe him for a second! Still, one had to admit, a hundred strands was no small sum. The Heaven Hunting Pavilion was indeed filthy rich! He continued to wait. After a while, Bai Yi yelled, "Two hundred strands! Truly not a single strand more, Su Yu!" Moments later, Su Yu's clone manifested in the city once again. It returned to the original spot, picked up the sub-ranking, and keyed in a line of characters: "Is Principal Niu there?" "I'm here." "How many black moles are on Cui Lang's face?" "..." The entire massive group fell dead silent. This was an identity verification, but what kind of question was that? Outside the city gate. Niu Baidao was taken aback as well. After a long pause, he replied with a slight headache, "I don't remember. I don't recall seeing any." "How many students are there in the academy?" "Uh... too many. Counting past classes who haven't graduated, 31,890." "How many cubs did the Big Round Ball give birth to in the academy...?" "Three!" "How many beds are there on Yuexin Island in total...?" "One!" "..." Su Yu fired off questions non-stop, running through dozens of queries before he finally confirmed that this was indeed Principal Niu. He had stopped just short of asking what color underwear the man wore. The experts of the myriad races were left utterly speechless. They had watched a barrage of pointless trivia for quite a while! "Principal Niu, before you speak every time from now on, I will ask a question to make sure you haven't been swapped out midway through. The Heaven Hunting Pavilion has the means to do that. Furthermore, to prevent the Heaven Hunting Pavilion from intentionally distorting my meaning or altering our words, we will converse in cipher. You brought the copy of the *Longevity Art* I gave you, right? If you brought it, use that as the cipher!" Having said that, he swiftly added another line: "If the Heaven Hunting Pavilion alters this current sentence into another cultivation art, causing our conversation to turn into nonsense later, I will terminate the discussion immediately!" "..." The members of the Heaven Hunting Pavilion were on the verge of losing their minds! Damn it, you really thought of everything! Even we hadn't thought of doing that! You little brat are born rotten to the core. Though one had to admit... he had just provided them with a brand-new idea! Naturally, it also sowed an extra seed of wariness among the myriad races. Indeed, unless driven to sheer desperation, one should never conduct sensitive talks through the Heaven Hunting Ranking. Those fellows might tamper with the messages, resulting in both parties discussing something completely different from what they intended! Just as they were pondering this, Su Yu suddenly cursed the next moment: "What does the Demon race mean by offering ten strands of Heaven and Earth Profound Light for Modona's life? Is Modona that worthless?" "..." Silence. What was going on? The Demon race expert handling communications spoke up at once: "Su Yu, what do you mean?" "Huh? Thirty strands?" "..." The messages made no sense whatsoever. The Demon race expert roared in fury the next moment, "Heaven Hunting Pavilion, what is the meaning of this?" "..." At the Heaven Hunting Pavilion headquarters, the elders were momentarily dumbfounded before immediately shouting, "What is happening? Investigate!" Operatives quickly ran checks. A moment later, a masked man whispered, "Elder, there are no issues whatsoever. This... Su Yu shouldn't have misread it; it's a direct transmission..." Soon, an elder rubbed his temples in frustration: "He did it on purpose! He's intentionally causing trouble, making the myriad races believe we altered the chat logs..." Right at that moment, Su Yu posted again: "Oh, I was just testing whether the chat was transmitting smoothly. Never mind then, I received everything and can see it clearly. We're good!" "..." The Heaven Hunting Pavilion elders completely broke down. The next moment, one of them broadcasted directly: "Su Yu, stop playing these petty tricks! I swear upon the eternal reputation of the Heaven Hunting Pavilion that your conversation is being relayed in real time with zero interception! If any words are tampered with, may the Heaven Hunting Pavilion be destroyed this very instant!" They could not stomach this brat any longer! His paranoia was through the roof! The worst part was that with this stunt, the myriad races would inevitably harbor suspicions going forward, wondering whether the Heaven Hunting Pavilion altered their communications. Of course, unless under critical circumstances, very few people used the Heaven Hunting Pavilion's channels for voice transmission. However, rarely using it did not mean never using it. For example, in situations like this, or when trapped in perilous forbidden zones, or when ordinary transmission talismans failed to connect, the Heaven Hunting Ranking could maintain connectivity most of the time. Only a handful of shielded places blocked its reach. In short, across the entire All-Heavens Battlefield, with the exception of a few rare zones like the Star Astral Mansion, the Heaven Hunting Ranking could receive messages anywhere. And it was exorbitantly expensive! After Su Yu's antics, this business line would likely take a massive hit in the days to come. ... Su Yu merely chuckled, completely unbothered. An eternal reputation? How much was a reputation worth? "Hand over two hundred strands of Heaven and Earth Profound Light to Principal Niu first. Once he receives the goods, I will talk!" At this moment, Niu Baidao chimed in as well: "Brat, giving me so much stuff makes me worry I won't make it back alive! Someone might intercept and slaughter me halfway! How about I find an Invincible to safeguard it for you? But finding an Invincible requires a handling fee, doesn't it?" "..." Su Yu was speechless. You're really something, finding an Invincible to hold it. Find whom? King Daming? If two hundred strands of Heaven and Earth Profound Light made you act like this, how were they going to negotiate later? Su Yu could not be bothered to pursue that topic and bypassed it entirely, stating bluntly: "As for the various races, I won't waste words. Don't you just want me to stop slaying dead spirits so the city can open? Fine!" "Nine hundred strands of Heaven and Earth Profound Light for a ninth-stage Sun Moon, eight hundred for an eighth-stage... and so forth. A fair price! Selling their corpses fetches roughly the same! As for geniuses, calculate it by Heaven Ranking placement: rank one costs one thousand, rank two costs nine hundred... Anyone beyond the top ten is standardized at one hundred. Anyone ranked outside the top ten isn't worth much anyway, so one hundred strands per head!" "If you agree, we do the deal; if not, forget it. Furthermore, there are no individual transactions. If we do this, all races must agree and present a unified front. I am willing to release everyone, but the ancient city lockdown functions as a whole! Or you can try wading through the dead river moat—if you make it out, consider yourselves lucky!" "You forced me into converting into a living dead. My strength will no longer advance in the slightest, and death qi is about to invade my heart, turning me entirely into a dead spirit... If you want me to spare you, these are my terms. Nothing else is open for discussion!" "In any case, I am about to become a dead spirit... Having been personally converted into a resident by a dead spirit monarch, I don't have long to live!" The moment those words appeared, setting aside his initial demands, the final sentence sent shockwaves through everyone. The next instant, the Heaven Hunting Pavilion sent a message in rapid succession: "You were converted by a dead spirit monarch?" "Yes, Monarch Xingyue!" "..." Silence! Outside, Niu Baidao's expression changed completely. Not just him—anyone who saw this message wore an intensely complicated expression. Many did not understand the details, but top-tier Sun Moons and Invincibles possessed general knowledge of the mechanics. When a resident was converted, the strength of the dead spirit responsible for the conversion usually matched the cultivator's own realm. Su Yu was merely in the Lingyun Realm, yet he had been converted by an Invincible! What did that signify? It signified astonishing latent potential! It meant a dead spirit monarch had taken an interest in him and wished to rapidly corrode him into a dead spirit. He was doomed! No wonder this fellow had completely thrown caution to the wind! As for whether it was true, the probability of it being genuine was overwhelmingly high. Su Yu did not know that much about the ancient city's deep secrets; for him to claim he was converted by a dead spirit monarch was almost certainly true. If he were fabricating it, he might not even know how to construct such a lie. At this moment, Niu Baidao's heart was an intricate knot of emotions as he wrote: "Su Yu, were you really converted by a dead spirit monarch?" "Yes." Su Yu was in no mood to use any cipher; that had just been an excuse to cause trouble for the Heaven Hunting Pavilion earlier. Niu Baidao felt an overwhelming weight in his chest. He had believed Su Yu still possessed a chance of reversing his fate because Su Yu was extraordinarily talented. Even if converted by a Sun Moon dead spirit, Niu Baidao would have thought hope remained. Yet a Sun Moon was entirely different from an Invincible! Su Yu had actually caught the eye of an Invincible dead spirit and been converted by one. At this rate, his demise was not far off. ... Near the city gate. The geniuses also wore complicated expressions. On one hand, they were awestruck by Su Yu's monstrous talent. To catch the eye of an Invincible monarch from the dead spirit realm was likely unprecedented. One had to realize that even ancient city castellans were mostly converted by peak Sun Moon dead spirits. Only a vanishingly small minority were converted by dead spirit monarchs. Yet Su Yu... was merely a Lingyun! Meanwhile, castellans were all at the ninth stage of the Sun Moon Realm. On the other hand, it was hard to say whether they felt pity or relief. Su Yu was doomed—truly and utterly doomed. Targeted by an Invincible dead spirit, he could not live much longer! As for Su Yu's earlier pricing demands, hardly anyone was paying attention to them now. They had just learned a top-secret piece of information from Su Yu. For the myriad races, this news was an immense blessing. Yet for humanity, and for Niu Baidao, it was a crushing blow! Su Yu... could truly never return! ... Outside the city, Qin Hao, Zhu Guangshen, Niu Baidao... the entire group fell into heavy silence. Personally converted by an Invincible dead spirit! Even an Invincible would likely have no way to rescue Su Yu now. Sighs, pity, helplessness, sorrow, fury... A whirlwind of emotions surged within them, leaving them at a loss for words. The next instant, Niu Baidao sighed heavily and wrote: "No need to trade, Su Yu! Kill as many as you can! At this point, no matter how many resources you get... what use are they! I support you! Find a way to drag them down as your burial partners! As for other races dispatching Invincibles... our human race has Invincibles too! Even if you die, someone will be buried with you!" Trade for what! No more trading! He had initially thought Su Yu was merely converted and still had a shot. But now, it was over! If the boy was going to die anyway, who would use those traded resources? Drag them down as burial companions! ... The moment those words landed, the geniuses and experts inside the city turned pale. As for Su Yu, he was utterly rendered speechless. What are you doing! Old Niu sounded like he had completely given up on him, taking the stance of "resources are useless, just kill as many as you can before you die"... Hey... I feel like I can still be saved! I never thought I was going to die! Seriously! If I didn't want to trade, I wouldn't have shown up. I can't kill that many anyway. If I can swindle a massive haul of resources out of this, it'll at least be nice to look at! Besides, an Invincible dead spirit's conversion rate isn't even as fast as my reversal speed, alright? Meanwhile, the experts of the myriad races also felt thoroughly conflicted. Indeed, if Su Yu was already doomed and had few relatives and friends, what was the point of amassing so many resources? Soon, an expert of the God race spoke up: "Niu Baidao, cease your deliberate provocations! Su Yu, you may not necessarily die. Our race possesses records stating that even after becoming a resident, there are ways to shake off the corrosion of death qi... As long as you enter the Star Astral Mansion and never emerge, severing the source of death qi, you stand a tremendous chance of escaping the corrosion!" Niu Baidao's written words carried blistering fury: "Don't listen to his rubbish! Once the Star Astral Mansion opens, one must exit after a single month! Those who refuse to emerge remain buried in the Star Astral Mansion forever! No one who stayed past that month has ever reappeared in the heavens! Within that month, you would probably be dead and buried already!" Niu Baidao had originally arrived to broker peace. Yet right now, he was aggressively egging Su Yu on to break off talks and slaughter everyone! The experts of the myriad races were nearly driven mad! Fuck! You came to make peace! You said it yourself, claiming you would persuade Su Yu! Now that Su Yu is actually willing to negotiate, you, Niu Baidao, are doing everything in your power to sabotage it! The myriad races' experts felt thoroughly aggrieved! Now, they actually had to turn around and comfort Su Yu, telling him that hope remained and pleading with him not to despair. If a person lost all hope, wouldn't they run completely amok? "Su Yu, think of your father! If you truly die, what will happen to him? Leaving a massive fortune of resources for your father to grow powerful is also a way of honoring your bond!" "Su Yu, I know you cherish gratitude. Your teacher, your grandmaster—they are all waiting for your return..." "Su Yu, exchange for vast amounts of Heaven Yuan Qi! Soaking in Heaven Yuan Qi indefinitely can slow the corrosion of death qi!" "A bad life is better than a good death—that is an ancient proverb of your human race... If you truly maintain the lockdown, you won't be able to kill many of those inside. Yes, Invincibles will arrive, and your human Invincibles might interfere, but what then? You know very well how many Invincibles humanity can spare!" "Even if a few die, the vast majority will emerge alive, and you will gain nothing!" "Su Yu, think it through carefully!" "..." The God race, Demon race, Immortal race, Dragon race... their experts chimed in one after another, trying to soothe and counsel Su Yu that he would not die so quickly. There was still hope! They felt they had to instill a sliver of hope in Su Yu. That bastard Niu Baidao had declared Su Yu hopeless, but they insisted Su Yu could still save himself. When a person lost all hope, wouldn't they simply turn suicidal and drag everyone down? This time, even the Heaven Hunting Pavilion spoke up: "I checked ancient records, and there is indeed hope of breaking free... As long as that Monarch Xingyue dies, you will be liberated... When ordinary dead spirits perform a conversion, another takes over if that dead spirit dies; but a conversion by a monarch is already at the highest echelon. Slay the monarch, and you will be free!" Look! We are all brainstorming ways to help you, so don't even think about giving up! Su Yu was completely flabbergasted. Good heavens! If an outsider saw this, they would think you lot were on my side and Niu Baidao was the villain! Su Yu was at a loss for words. After a brief silence, he wrote: "I don't want to die. What do you say to the conditions I laid out?" "..." Dead silence! Only now did they actually run the numbers. Taking the Demon race as an example: two late-stage Sun Moons and one Modona. For those two late-stage Sun Moons—one at the seventh stage and one at the eighth—that was 1,500 strands. Modona was worth 1,000 strands; with Su Yu gone, Modona was back to rank one on the Heaven Ranking. In other words, the Demon race alone would have to shell out 2,500 strands of Heaven and Earth Profound Light! What kind of joke was this! That price was astronomical! Other races might pay slightly less, but with so many late-stage Sun Moons—sixteen in total—along with all those geniuses, the grand total owed to Su Yu would exceed ten thousand strands of Heaven and Earth Profound Light! He had lost his mind! "Su Yu, Heaven and Earth Profound Light won't help you that much. Why not trade for Heaven Yuan Qi? We can supply you with Heaven Yuan Qi to alleviate the corrosion of death qi..." "No need. I only want Heaven and Earth Profound Light or equivalent treasures. Once I have them, I can naturally trade with the Heaven Hunting Pavilion for Heaven Yuan Qi. Surely the Heaven Hunting Pavilion won't refuse?" Although the Heaven Hunting Pavilion gave no reply, their stance was obvious: of course they would trade! "Su Yu, even if they leave on their own, the majority will survive... Very few are truly in mortal danger. Besides, if you continue slaughtering dead spirits, you will be uncovered sooner or later!" "Su Yu, we will give you three hundred strands of Heaven and Earth Profound Light in total as long as you stop killing. Three hundred strands is enough for a cultivator to strive for an entire lifetime..." They were talking about Heaven and Earth Profound Light, not origin qi liquid. Could Su Yu stop being so outrageous? It was simply too exorbitant! Ponying up that price would make every race bleed. It was equivalent to the God race getting swindled all over again! Well, that was rubbing salt in an open wound; the God race was still hemorrhaging over that incident. "Su Yu, don't trade! Keep slaughtering dead spirits! You're going to die soon anyway, so even if you're discovered, kill as many as you can to trap and destroy them!" At this moment, Niu Baidao chimed in again. Su Yu was speechless. Old Niu truly wished he would drop dead! I only exaggerated a little, and you completely wrote me off! The myriad races were praying for his survival, while Niu Baidao alone... was utterly heartless! Su Yu pondered for a moment before writing: "How about this. The fellows inside the city brought a mountain of resources with them earlier. Scrape together treasures equivalent to 5,000 strands of Heaven and Earth Profound Light, and I will cease my slaughter. There will be no need for Principal Niu to receive the goods either, which ensures Principal Niu's safety! This is my final demand. Otherwise, if these people die in the city, you won't bring out a single thing, and they will perish all the same. Accept it or not—the choice is yours. That is all I have to say!" "In two and a half days, send someone to deliver the items to the entrance of Old House No. 180. I will collect them... You can try to kill me if you wish! Once I receive the goods, I will abandon the slaughter. Otherwise... keep suffering!" "..." Having said his piece, Su Yu's clone dropped the sub-ranking and instantly disintegrated. The divine character flashed and vanished. A Sun Moon's gaze tried to lock onto it, but the character vanished into concealment and fled instantly—it was the "Yin" divine character, tailor-made for such escapes. In the blink of an eye, the character was gone. Several Sun Moons dashed over, but Su Yu had already vanished, and the divine character was nowhere to be found. The Sun Moons cursed inwardly! That brat certainly ran fast. They could still only pinpoint his general vicinity within the third ring, but they lacked the time to comb the area for him! Five thousand strands! Could the people inside the city scrape that together? Yes! Right now, those Sun Moons and geniuses were genuinely inclined to trade, but the resources did not belong to them—they belonged to their races. Of course, when backed into a corner of certain death, even clan resources could be abandoned! Nothing was more precious than staying alive! Losing resources would earn them punishment upon returning to their clans, but at least they would live. With their survival instincts fully triggered, the Sun Moons and geniuses gathered quickly. Though none spoke aloud, their intentions aligned. In two and a half days, they were willing to hand over the resources in exchange for a path to survival! As for whether the supreme experts outside agreed... who gave a damn! Some of those outside secretly wished they would die anyway. Even among the gods and demons, internal factions existed. How could figures like Modona avoid jealousy? It was not as if their own clans were devoid of rivals who wanted them dead! Those late-stage Sun Moons were overlords within the God and Demon realms; if they died, plenty of rivals would gladly usurp their domains and assets. "Trade!" Though no one uttered the word, the expression was mirrored in every eye: they would definitely trade. Five thousand strands was an astronomical figure, but pooled among all the factions present, it was entirely manageable. ... Outside the city. Niu Baidao stomped his foot in fury. "That foolish boy! You... you don't have long to live, yet you're still trading for resources—who knows who will end up profiting from them! The fool should have dragged them all to hell with him!" Qin Hao and the others looked at him with wry expressions. Su Yu still retained a sliver of will to live, yet this old senior showed no mercy, seemingly wishing the boy would just fight to the death with those fellows. Niu Baidao looked helpless as he transmitted his voice privately: "What are you staring at? If I didn't take a hardline stance, how would the myriad races ever compromise so easily? Since that kid... still wants to survive, perhaps there is still hope. What's wrong with this old man putting on a show?" It was precisely because he had acted uncompromisingly, urging Su Yu to drag everyone down with him, framing Su Yu as completely ruined, that those factions refused to let their geniuses and experts become burial sacrifices for a crippled youth. Only by doing so would the other side readily agree! Five thousand strands of Heaven and Earth Profound Light... even Niu Baidao felt dizzy at the thought. What an audacious price to name! Though Niu Baidao had casually tossed around numbers in the hundreds of thousands, that was pure posturing. If pushed that far, the foreign Invincibles would rather force their way in and try their luck. And humanity's Invincibles... might not necessarily come. The borders were still locked in severe tension right now!