Now that the terms had been discussed, all that remained was to wait.
It was also a way to wear down the patience of those Sun Moons and geniuses, letting them suffer injuries and grow anxious, while offering just enough hope that they wouldn't choose to throw their lives away.
Otherwise, if these people couldn't produce so many items themselves, and the factions outside were reluctant to spend money to rescue them, Su Yu would end up with nothing.
Su Yu made it sound easy—that once they died, he could take everything.
Pure wishful thinking!
Unless they were killed instantly, who would leave their treasures behind for someone else when staring death in the face?
When a truly powerful expert died, you wouldn't get a single coin from them.
They would sooner detonate their own bones than leave you anything!
Five thousand strands of Heaven and Earth Profound Light was the benchmark Su Yu had calculated. Pooling their resources, the various races could scrape it together. This time, the major races had brought treasures worth at least two thousand strands. The god race was probably tapped out, but the demon race and dragon race might still have something. As for the others, one could tell from the previous auction.
Past a thousand, no one had bid anymore.
So Su Yu set the bar at five thousand. The factions could pull it together, but doing so would essentially drain them dry, shearing them down to the skin.
As for Bai Yi of the Heaven Hunting Pavilion, it was hard to say whether he had brought that many treasures.
Because the Heaven Hunting Pavilion was enigmatic, someone might deliver items to him at any time.
All Su Yu wanted to do was fleece them for every scrap of wool they had!
As for killing... killing wasn't the goal. These people were strong, but none had achieved Invincibility. Truth be told, if they weren't Invincibles, killing them was meaningless. Moreover, Su Yu firmly believed he could reach Invincibility before any of them.
Even though he was currently a living dead!
So what?
I haven't even exerted myself yet!
Reversing his yuan apertures could be maintained twenty-four hours a day. Right now, Su Yu reversed them for barely an hour a day at most, merely to slow the spread of death qi.
As for why he didn't reverse it faster... Nonsense, why would I want to reverse it quickly?
He already knew his name had vanished from the Heaven Hunting Ranking.
Damn it, if I reverse everything back and my name reappears, everyone will think I'm not going to die and still have hope. Wouldn't that cause massive trouble for me?
I won't do it!
I want to stay shrouded in death qi, looking like I'm on the verge of kicking the bucket. If someone is about to die, why would you pay a colossal price to kill him?
Wouldn't it be better to just wait three to five months for me to drop dead on my own without costing you a thing?
Trying to kill me might cost you several Sun Moons!
This is called strategy!
If he truly reversed it twenty-four hours a day, Su Yu felt that in three days at most, he could revert completely. But... he might reappear on the ranking then. Besides, Su Yu was trying to determine: how much death qi coverage would cause the Heaven Hunting Ranking to remove a name?
Why hadn't his name been removed before when he temporarily reversed into a dead spirit?
Now that he had become a resident, his name was removed. If he reversed completely back, would he still stay off the ranking?
All of this required Su Yu to test it himself.
However, he didn't want to test it right now. What if his name actually popped up? Wouldn't an Invincible come to kill him again? If he hadn't died even from this and reappeared on the ranking, Su Yu's perceived threat would be greater than ever!
"From now on, I'm a half-dead spirit!"
Su Yu chuckled. Excellent.
Who would bother relentlessly cornering someone who was already hopeless and at a dead end?
Whenever I appear, shrouded in death qi with only a few days left to live, who would want to stake their life against mine and fight to the bitter end?
It wouldn't be worth it at all!
"As expected, making one's way in the myriad realms requires a brain!"
Su Yu muttered to himself. If it were that kid Chen Hao, he would probably be desperate to prove he was still alive and salvageable, reversing it immediately.
I certainly won't!
"I wonder if I'll be able to get all five thousand strands."
"If I do get them, I wonder how much will be Heaven and Earth Profound Light and how much will be other treasures?"
Of the previous 2,300 strands' worth, most had been other treasures, while actual Heaven and Earth Profound Light was only 500 strands. This time, he didn't know how much would be pure Profound Light. Su Yu didn't particularly mind substituting treasures.
After all, Heaven and Earth Profound Light was mainly effective for body reforging; its effects on the Nine Transformations of Lingyun, Shanhai aperture fusion, or Sun Moon expansion were fairly average.
Calculating in his mind, he considered how to smoothly retrieve the goods.
Soon, Su Yu made up his mind.
He brought out the little fur ball. Yawning, the little fur ball said reluctantly, "Fragrant one, you stink now. Wash your sea of will, it smells so bad!"
Inside his sea of will, some death qi had indeed spread.
Of course, it hadn't covered much.
The little fur ball was currently hiding in the untouched areas, feeling disgusted, depressed, and aggrieved. Its sleeping spot had become stinky, so now it could only lie atop a divine character, smelling the character's scent to fall asleep.
"All you know is sleeping and eating. What's the point of raising you!"
Su Yu snorted. "In two days, you go out, fetch the storage rings for me, inventory the items inside, check for any traps, and then find an old house to hide in yourself!"
"Ah?"
Fear appeared in the little fur ball's eyes. "I have to go as a single ball?"
"..."
It was frightened. Going alone as one ball felt rather lonely.
"Cut the nonsense, just you. I have to hide to keep them intimidated!"
Su Yu narrowed his eyes and said, "If I go out, do you think those guys would willingly let me fleece them? If I stay hidden, they won't dare make a move. Even if they see you, they won't act!"
Besides, if they did see it and actually attacked, beating you to death, your Da-da might come—which wouldn't be bad either.
As if reading his mind, the little fur ball rolled over without a word, hugged a divine character, and went back to sleep.
Fragrant one was thinking about getting it killed every single day!
Da-da wouldn't necessarily come anyway; he was definitely asleep, sleeping himself silly.
The little fur ball went back to sleep.
Su Yu calculated for a moment, wondering whether he should break his word and kill the hostages after receiving the ransom.
On second thought, he decided against it.
If he really reneged, those major races would hound him incessantly. That didn't align with his intention to keep a low profile. He needed to lie low for a while to prepare for his body reforging.
Let them leave, and then... as soon as they left, he would continue killing dead spirits and lock down the city again, making himself the sole living person inside.
No, there was still a living ball.
No, there was also a living mound of dirt... trap Fu Tuling to death!
Su Yu thought of Fu Tuling. That fellow still hadn't emerged. According to Fu Tuling, he could hold out for a month before his seal dissipated. Right, that fellow was still sealed, so he couldn't leave!
Su Yu mused to himself that the Five Elements race wouldn't be able to take him away either. There were two Five Elements race experts in the city, but they couldn't open the door.
Su Yu grinned!
Then they couldn't blame him!
He would proceed like this: kill one dead spirit every three days, slaying a peak Shanhai dead spirit each time, turning the entire ancient city into his personal domain where he could do whatever he pleased. Wait, no, there was still Black Demon!
Su Yu's mind shifted. Right, with that fellow around, it would be difficult to control the entire ancient city.
If he weren't here, Su Yu could keep the city permanently sealed.
Su Yu frowned. Black Demon was exceedingly powerful!
Even though he seemed injured, the fellow was terrifyingly strong—a ninth stage Sun Moon boosted by the Castellan Token, and apparently possessing other means. Su Yu couldn't contend with him at all. Once his injuries healed, wouldn't he come looking for trouble?
As for the other residents in the city, Su Yu didn't care much about them.
There were few Shanhai residents, and it was hard to say whether there were any Sun Moons. Even if there were, they would be at the initial stage at most. He wasn't afraid of initial-stage Sun Moons. With Su Yu's current strength, after reforging his body a bit more, he might have a shot at fighting an initial-stage Sun Moon even without consuming vital blood!
According to what Qin Fang had said, a weak initial-stage Sun Moon only commanded three hundred to five hundred thousand apertures of strength.
Every reforging granted Su Yu a tremendous boost.
To fight an initial-stage Sun Moon, a few more reforgings should suffice.
Having mapped everything out, Su Yu continued reforging his body while waiting for those fellows to reach a consensus and hand over the benefits.
Unfortunately, the Heaven Hunting Pavilion's sub-ranking carried surveillance. Otherwise, he could have kept it indefinitely; it was quite a handy tool.
...
Meanwhile, outside the city.
The various races were debating whether to pay.
Five thousand strands was no small sum, but split among them, it wasn't an overwhelming burden. Everyone could afford their share. Besides, if they refused to pay, would those trapped inside also refuse?
"Why not have an Invincible king try again..."
"Nonsense, you go ask them! An Invincible would rather pay a price than come here again. Unless Su Yu proves entirely unreasonable, why would an Invincible risk their life when he has already agreed to negotiate, and each family only needs to pay a small share—five hundred strands of Heaven and Earth Profound Light split among ten families?"
What were they thinking!
Did they really believe an Invincible was at their beck and call? At an absolute dead end, an Invincible might not bear to abandon their people and come to provide a glimmer of hope. But short of a dead end, although the price was steep, strictly speaking, it was still worth paying.
The Invincibles definitely wouldn't come again!
The ancient cities were now considered forbidden zones.
Unless an entire race was prepared to mobilize for total war!
To destroy thirty-six stone sculptures and who knew how many dead spirit monarchs, they would need at least double the number of Invincibles to fight two-on-one and minimize casualties. Otherwise, even sixty against fifty, losing half of their own side would make victory difficult.
Who would be willing to pay such a price?
An ancient city was perhaps harder to assault than the Human Realm.
With that kind of power, they would have attacked the Human Realm directly long ago instead of wasting it on an ancient city that normally stayed out of worldly affairs.
Moreover, the stone sculptures of the ancient cities were immensely formidable, and they hadn't even stirred yet. If a stone sculpture ceased being a sculpture... disaster would surely follow!
The group quickly came to a decision. They contacted the Invincibles, who gave their tacit approval.
Make the trade!
Let the people inside decide for themselves. As for whatever resources were advanced, those who couldn't pay right now could settle their accounts after coming out.
The god race, for instance, had run out of funds.
They had to borrow!
Without borrowing, they couldn't afford their share.
Speaking of this, the god race experts outside communicated again with those inside. The group inside still hadn't reached a conclusion, but the Heaven Hunting Pavilion provided them with an answer that, while not entirely certain, carried high probability.
This ancient corpse... was very likely a modern corpse.
Earlier, they had assumed the corrosion of death qi made it hard to disguise, but thinking about it now... the answer became clear!
As for a modern eighth stage Sun Moon corpse... the god race had realized it as well.
The eighth stage Sun Moon of the Tianyi God race who had died recently was slain in the Human Realm by Xia Longwu. That meant this corpse was nine times out of ten a fake—one of the fallen experts of the Tianyi God race.
A modern eighth stage Sun Moon corpse that had already been drained of vital blood, and was moreover one of their own kinsmen... its only destiny was a proper burial. The god race couldn't possibly do anything else to it now; otherwise, the Tianyi God race would revolt.
Which meant that for 2,300 strands of Heaven and Earth Profound Light, they had merely bought a single Sun Moon divine character and an ancient Heaven armament...
Well, word soon arrived that the ancient Heaven armament might have problems as well.
...
Inside the city.
Zhan Wushuang received the message from outside and promptly took out the ancient longbow.
Over a hundred inscriptions!
Zhan Wushuang's gaze flickered erratically. Deep down, he preferred to believe this weapon was a genuine ancient Heaven armament of mid-tier quality, which would at least lessen his loss.
Yet the news from outside drove him to despair.
Bai Yi was currently communicating with the Heaven Hunting Pavilion as well. Soon, he said, "Zhan Wushuang, you can try using your yuan qi to forcefully resonate with the inscriptions..."
Zhan Wushuang frowned and said coldly, "If this is a genuine ancient Heaven armament and fragile right now, what if the inscriptions snap?"
To the side, Xuan Wuji sneered, "Still clinging to hope? You think Su Yu would give you a real ancient Heaven armament? Keep dreaming!"
Zhan Wushuang had no answer to that.
Indeed, if it were genuine, would Su Yu have given it to him?
Still... he was utterly shattered.
Gritting his teeth, he unleashed his yuan qi. The next instant, snap, crack... one inscription after another fractured and vanished. Those were fake inscriptions crafted by Su Yu; the genuine ancient fish fork only had ninety-seven inscriptions.
Now, all the extra inscriptions shattered and dissipated, revealing the true ninety-seven inscriptions.
Still decent—an ancient Earth armament!
A damaged ancient Earth armament, a useless corpse, and a single divine character had swindled him out of 2,300 strands of Heaven and Earth Profound Light!
And for this escape, the ransom was calculated per head.
Twenty-two Sun Moons, sixteen geniuses.
Thirty-eight people in total, splitting the five thousand strands of Heaven and Earth Profound Light. The god race had three people present and needed to pay four hundred strands. All told, they had spent 2,700 strands of Heaven and Earth Profound Light for virtually nothing.
Furthermore, everyone had suffered severe corrosion from death qi and heavily depleted their Heaven Yuan Qi. Once outside, they would need to nurse their injuries for a long time, consuming a great deal of treasures.
From start to finish, the god race had suffered the most disastrous loss.
Zhan Wushuang's composure completely crumbled!
This was his first time handling such a major undertaking, yet it had turned into an unmitigated disaster!
What was worse, it had led to an Invincible of the god race being injured—the white-haired God King had suffered no light wounds, and now the god race had to intervene to negotiate peace and mount a rescue.
All of the geniuses had suffered a bitter fall this time, but he, Zhan Wushuang, had fallen the hardest!
Gripping that ancient Earth armament, he wanted nothing more than to crush it to pieces!
He was thoroughly depressed!
...
Amid Zhan Wushuang and the others' repeated struggles and breakdowns, two and a half days went by.
By this time, Su Yu had completed his forty-eighth reforging.
The consumption had grown steeper, and the process took longer.
From the thirtieth reforging to now, he had completed eighteen reforgings, consuming 340 strands of Heaven and Earth Profound Light. For the forty-eighth reforging alone, he had consumed thirty-two strands. The cost was climbing higher and higher.
At present, Su Yu had only 160 strands left. At this rate of consumption, it would only be enough for four reforgings, barely shy of five.
Consuming them all would bring Su Yu to fifty-two reforgings.
As for the remaining twenty reforgings, given the escalating consumption, by the fifty-second reforging, each step would require at least forty strands, increasing steadily from there. To reach seventy-two reforgings, a thousand strands would definitely be needed.
Altogether, completing the body reforging would require 1,500 strands of Heaven and Earth Profound Light, not counting what he had already used.
The wealth Su Yu had swindled earlier would have been enough, but much of those resources weren't pure Profound Light.
"If they hand over five thousand strands, at least a thousand should be Heaven and Earth Profound Light, right?"
Su Yu estimated that there ought to be at least that much.
Therefore, completing his body reforging wouldn't be a problem.
The main issue lay in the Nine Transformations, which required top-tier mutation treasures to lay the foundation. He had 144 apertures anchored by Xia Longwu's blade qi, entering the state of the first transformation, though it had yet to be fully completed.
What about the remaining apertures?
"The Five Elements Spirit Fruits should work; they're valuable treasures too! I wonder if they can fill the remaining apertures and fully complete one yuan qi mutation..."
Su Yu murmured, calculating in his mind that they had better give him more treasures for yuan qi mutation.
That way, he could complete his yuan qi mutations. As for stepping into the Shanhai Realm... that could wait!
Once he truly reached the ninth stage of the Lingyun Realm, even Su Yu wouldn't know how strong he would become.
All in all, he had made an enormous profit this time!
A massive haul, enough to cover his expenditures for a very long time to come. Otherwise, a top-tier genius like him would consume so much that he couldn't survive without the backing of an Invincible.
Geniuses like Modona—which of them didn't have an Invincible supporting them from behind?
Geniuses had to be built up with resources. Absorbing energy on one's own was possible, but what about the time required?
Spending a hundred years, a thousand years, or ten thousand years would see the opportunity long gone!
Cultivating a genius meant pouring resources into them until the resources could push them no further—until they hit a bottleneck at a certain realm, such as the ninth stage of the Sun Moon Realm, granting them more time to accumulate strength and break through to Invincibility. Whatever resources were spent were meant to buy them time.
Su Yu had adhered to this principle thoroughly.
Relying on countless resources, he had forcefully propelled himself upward, shaving off an immense amount of time. In a single year, he had catapulted from the Kaiyuan Realm to possessing a physical body capable of shattering a seventh stage Shanhai.
Others took a century to cultivate to the seventh stage of Shanhai, while Su Yu had taken a single year.
That was the difference!
"Not bad at all!"
Su Yu exhaled. As long as he completed his body reforging, everything else could be addressed in due time!
Once he finished reforging his body, his strength would reach an incredible level.
Invincibles did not concern themselves with aperture power, but beneath the Invincible realm, it still mattered. Even in the Sun Moon Realm, only quasi-Invincibles touched upon concepts like time and past-present-future incarnations; prior to that, everything was aimed at strengthening oneself.
Even if he couldn't fight an Invincible, he had to rapidly reach the point where his physical body could kill a ninth stage Sun Moon with a single punch.
Only then could he be considered truly firmly established.
If he could become the castellan and rival an Invincible within the ancient city... that would be enough. At the very least, he would possess immense combat power and could dominate an entire region, acting arrogant within the ancient city just like Black Demon.
Even if an Invincible arrived, he wouldn't need to show them deference. Of course, Black Demon was timid and had still shown them deference.
...
The time had arrived. Su Yu did not go out. Instead, he summoned the reluctant little fur ball once more.
He said crossly, "Wake up, stop playing dead! Go to Old House No. 180, retrieve the items, and verify their quantity and value. If there's no problem... I'll have a dead spirit follow you. If everything is fine, don't move. If there's a problem, kill the dead spirit and lock down the city again!"
The little fur ball protested aggrievedly, "If there's a problem and I kill the dead spirit, they will kill me!"
If there was a problem, they clearly didn't intend to complete the transaction.
They would definitely kill the little fur ball!
"Fortune favors the bold. How can you gain without taking risks? I take risks all the time while you just sleep. Is that fair? You haven't eaten any less of my stuff, yet you drag your feet whenever I ask you to run an errand!"
"You could turn a divine character into a puppet to fetch it..."
The little fur ball wasn't stupid; he could use divine characters or clones.
Su Yu retorted in annoyance, "Are you stupid? If they capture a divine character, they can trace me. If they capture you... they can't trace me. The moment you step outside, I'll switch locations. Even if you're caught, you can't sell me out!"
"..."
That made complete sense; it couldn't refute it.
The little fur ball felt dejected. "Do I really have to fetch it?"
"Are you going or not?"
Su Yu said angrily, "If you're not going, then leave on your own. I won't shelter you anymore. All you do is eat, completely useless. What's the point of raising you! I feed you to work, not just to freeload!"
"I'm called a leaving ball, not a leaving person..."
Bang!
Su Yu punched it flying. Damn it, this little guy had even learned to talk back, turning into a contrarian!
Leaving ball, my foot!
He wouldn't keep anyone who refused to work.
Raising the little fur ball, just like raising beasts, was meant for work. This fellow hadn't been of any use this time—unable to beat anyone, unable to kill anyone, and now it babbled endlessly over running an errand!
The little fur ball slid down the wall, not minding the blow too much. Inwardly, it seethed: You forced this ball to go!
Once I get the goods, I'll eat my fill first!
Then I'll just say... they only gave this much!
I'm so smart!
In human terms, this was called plucking feathers from a passing goose.
The little fur ball stopped bargaining. It opened the door on its own, vanished into the air with a soft rustle, and disappeared instantly. It operated just like a divine character—flying and concealing itself exactly as a divine character would.
Su Yu had suspected more than once that this fellow was actually a divine character itself, a Devour character.
...
At that moment, in front of Old House No. 180, Modona set down the items.
Backing away a distance, he called out, "Su Yu, we have left the items. The city gates will open shortly. I hope you will not break your word. Otherwise... if it comes to that, our only choice will be mutual destruction!"
"Back away further!"
"..."
A childish voice rang out. In an instant, the concealed experts around the area took fright!
What was going on?
Who was this?
Wasn't it Su Yu?
There was another living person in the city?
No, there was still Fu Tuling... but nothing could be done about him. Even the Five Elements race was helpless and could only wait to rescue him later. They assumed that once the gates opened this time, they wouldn't be sealed again, and someone could be sent to retrieve him after some time.
The little fur ball soon shouted again, "You bad guy in the white mask, hurry up and leave! If you don't, I won't take the items, and Su Yu won't let you leave! When the time is up, he's going to kill dead spirits!"
In the distance, Bai Yi's gaze flickered.
What was that?
Divine light burst from his eyes as he looked in a certain direction. A faint, shimmering object appeared. A ball?
What was that?
A ball...
Was this a living creature?
Bai Yi pondered, unfamiliar with it. He quickly sketched on his booklet. Was it telling him to leave because it didn't want its aura captured and entered into the Heaven Hunting Ranking?
Could this be a genius as well?
What kind of creature was this?
He had never seen it before!
...
Meanwhile.
Inside the Heaven Hunting Pavilion.
A group of elders had never left. When Bai Yi's information was transmitted through and they saw the creature clearly—saw that little ball—clatter, teacups slipped from several elders' hands and hit the floor.
"This..."
A faceless elder said in shock, "This... this is the creature following Su Yu... are... are you familiar with this?"
"F-Familiar!"
An elder trembled. Of course they were familiar.
Damn it!
Su Yu was carrying this on him?
Wait, when had he gotten mixed up with this race!
"God Devourer!"
"Is it a descendant of that one?"
Which one?
Some elders were unfamiliar with the history. The next moment, someone said tremulously, "Who else could it be? Do you still remember over three hundred years ago, when King Daming fought the Sunset God King of the god race... and the Sunset God King suddenly dropped dead on the spot?"
Those words instantly jogged everyone's memory!
One by one, expressions of terror appeared on their faces!
The Ancient God Devourer race!
The profoundly mysterious Ancient God Devourer race, the ancient race that loved eating divine characters the most?
Over three hundred years ago, King Daming had battled a God King of the god race. That individual had also been an Invincible-realm Civilization Master—a true Invincible Civilization Master. Just because the human race didn't have one didn't mean the myriad races lacked them.
That God King had been a thoroughbred Civilization Master of immense strength, holding his own against King Daming without yielding an inch. And then... there was no 'and then'!
A ball flashed past, and a radiant glow reflected for thousands of li.
That God King died!
His sea of will simply vanished!
It was swallowed whole by that fleeting ball!
That was perhaps the most aggrieved, tragic, and baffling death of an Invincible in several centuries.
"Are you sure it's that one's descendant?"
"Positive, it looks identical!"
"Does the Ancient God Devourer race have records from ancient times?"
"Yes!"
An elder spoke rapidly, "Over three hundred years ago, when the Sunset God King died, we looked into the archives. Based on the records, we found brief mentions from the ancient era. The Ancient God Devourer race already existed back then. Even in that era, their numbers were very few, yet their strength was terrifying, posing an extreme counter to the Civilization Master lineage. Of course, the records are short, but they suggest their relationship with the ancient Multiple Divine Characters Faction was somewhat complicated..."
"Hm? The Multiple Divine Characters Faction?"
"Yes, ancient texts record that this race had ties to multiple divine characters. That Ancient God Devourer Sovereign of ancient times shared a deep relationship with an expert of the Multiple Divine Characters Faction, who once fed him with his own divine characters... Of course, these are just brief records without elaboration."
"Now, this race is tangled up with Su Yu of the multiple divine character faction again!"
"How did they end up together? Did Su Yu raise it himself, subdue it, or is it related to the multiple divine character faction?"
"This race is so scarce that it's hard to say how many exist now. Why would one be with Su Yu?"
"..."
The elders were completely caught off guard!
Naturally, they harbored a sliver of dread as well. That Invincible of their race was simply too formidable and terrifying.
He had swallowed a God King whole!
Afterward, the god race hadn't even sought retribution. Whether they couldn't find him or for some other reason, no one had heard of the god race going to war with the Ancient God Devourer race.
"The Ancient God Devourer race has actually surfaced again... Troublesome. Tell Bai Yi to keep his distance and refrain from capturing its aura for now. There will be plenty of time in the future. It has likely been following Su Yu all along without showing itself, which explains why no one noticed it until now."
The Heaven Hunting Pavilion quickly sent back a reply, instructing Bai Yi not to capture its aura for the time being.
They didn't want to startle it and invite disaster.
...
Inside the ancient city, the experts of the various factions were equally astonished.
A new creature, or perhaps a new race.
Naturally, among the god race experts, aside from Zhan Wushuang, the other two Sun Moons looked at the fur ball with suspicion, uncertainty, and growing dread.
What was that?
It looked somewhat familiar... or rather, triggered an impression.
Furry, round like a ball.
Incredibly fast, capable of concealment, flickering in and out of sight, with an aura so faint it was nearly undetectable.
Soon, the two Sun Moons exchanged glances, unable to suppress their fear!
Zhan Wushuang, on the other hand, stared at the little fur ball curiously. What was that?
Su Yu was actually keeping a pet!
The next instant, the Sun Moon beside him seized him directly and sent a voice transmission: "Move! As soon as the city gates open, we leave immediately! Also, once we return, inform the God Realm not to send anyone here again..."
"Why? Su Yu is still inside the city, and he cheated us out of so many treasures..."
"Wushuang!"
The Sun Moon expert commanded through transmission with a cold tone, "Listen to me! When we get back, even if you tell the God King, he won't permit you to return here. Do you understand?"
Zhan Wushuang frowned. Did this have something to do with that little fur ball?
He said no more. Perhaps... there was something he didn't know.
Meanwhile, some high-stage Sun Moons vaguely recalled something as well, their hearts churning with dread. The Ancient God Devourer race!
Yes, the Ancient God Devourer race that had swallowed a God King!
It wasn't that no one had ever slain an Invincible—many had. King Daxia and King Daqin had both killed Invincibles, and several human Invincibles had fallen, slain by others.
Yet no Invincible had died as tragically or helplessly as that one.
A flash... and gone!
The corpse remained, but the sea of will was empty.
As for the corpse... it was naturally collected by a certain fellow on the scene who had been scared out of his wits. Some people had witnessed it from a distance back then, which was how word got out. As for the fellow who made off with the corpse, he never said a word, terrified that others would find out.
Of course, he never admitted it afterward, but that Sunset God King's corpse had definitely been retrieved by King Daming!
It was likely the most intact corpse preserved to this day.
As for why that creature hadn't swallowed King Daming as well, perhaps it had eaten its fill, or perhaps King Daming was too ugly... it was hard to say.
That was why King Daming had found the little fur ball familiar at first sight, recalling the events of that year and warning Zhu Tiandao not to let Su Yu bring that thing to the All-Heavens Battlefield, fearing it might draw that monster out.
Several high-stage Sun Moons swiftly flew toward the city gates, taking along the geniuses who were still bewildered.
These youths were too young; what did they know?
Over three hundred years ago, this incident had shaken the myriad realms, striking terror into everyone.
People had simply forgotten over time.
Now, the Ancient God Devourer race had reappeared. Even though this didn't seem to be the same one and appeared very weak, nobody wanted to provoke it lightly. What if they drew out the monster that had swallowed the Sunset God King?
...
Meanwhile, the little fur ball retrieved the storage ring without a hitch.
Probing inside, it counted, though its math was shaky. It asked in a childish voice, "Heaven Hunting Pavilion guy, twelve hundred strands of Profound Light, eight hundred drops of Xuanhuang Liquid, plus lots of fruits—how much is that worth?"
Bai Yi quickly answered, "The Heaven and Earth Profound Light and Sun Moon Xuanhuang Liquid combined are worth 3,600 strands of Heaven and Earth Profound Light. In addition, one Dragon Blood Fruit tree is valued at 300 drops of Sun Moon Xuanhuang Liquid, which equals 900 strands of Heaven and Earth Profound Light, bringing the total to 4,500 strands!"
"Furthermore, five Demon God Fruits are valued at 300 strands of Heaven and Earth Profound Light!"
"The remaining 200 strands are covered by Sun Moon vital blood. The total value is more than sufficient!"
The little fur ball bobbed its body. Fine, consider yourselves sensible.
They hadn't tried anything funny, so it was leaving!
This ball was scared too!
It swiftly took the storage ring and vanished from the spot. Moments later, it opened the door of an old house and darted inside. The crowd probed the area and deduced that Su Yu was probably not there, hiding somewhere unknown.
What an insidious bastard!
Before long, the gates of the ancient city began to tremble as the death qi started to disperse. The Sun Moon dead spirits in the city still couldn't locate the culprit and soon withdrew.
In a flash, the city gates swung open.
At that moment, all the experts and geniuses surged out of the ancient city, terrified that Su Yu might pull another trick, each dreading being left half a step behind.
The instant they dashed outside, boom! The city gates slammed shut!
Inside the city, Su Yu had slain another Shanhai dead spirit, sealing the gates once more.
The ancient city is mine!
Until the Dark Demon Dragon heals his wounds, this ancient city belongs entirely to me, and my word is law!
...
In the rear hall of the Castellan Manor.
Xingyue materialized once more. Looking toward Su Yu, she said indifferently, "This fellow incessantly slaughtering dead spirits won't do. They will all be his colleagues in the future. If he keeps killing them, he will anger the dead spirit generals under my command!"
The stone sculpture ignored Xingyue. The killing was fine, quite good in fact.
Under normal circumstances, ancient city residents were not permitted to slaughter dead spirits either. But Xingyue had insisted on personally converting Su Yu, and as a result, carrying the aura of Xingyue's death qi, the dead spirits couldn't harm him at all.
Consequently, such a resident met the stone sculpture's standard: alive, a guardian!
This was the true purpose of ancient city residents!
The ancient city existed to suppress dead spirits. In death, one became a dead spirit, to be guarded in turn by the living residents.
Chapter 430