A Cornered Su Yu

The Heaven Hunting Pavilion branch. Now, Su Yu was no longer alone here. There were several temporary workers who were residents of the ancient city. This was how things had always operated. A branch typically had one or two official members holding the fort, occasionally assisted by a few Black Masks or Colored Masks. As a general rule, members of the Heaven Hunting Pavilion preferred solitude. It had been the exact same way when Su Yu was in Tianmie Ancient City; the cat-eared young woman who had spoken with him was merely a temp. Residents needed to make a living, too! They earned money to cultivate, and they cultivated to offset the death qi. Under normal circumstances, so long as one's cultivation speed roughly matched the rate of death qi corrosion, one could stay alive. That was how things were now. With the ancient city's lockdown lifted, the residents had returned to work. Su Yu did not even have to handle anything himself. These people automatically clocked in, and there was even a receptionist managing guest arrivals. What Su Yu had to do was exceedingly simple: liaise with the Heaven Hunting Pavilion headquarters and keep watch over the local inventory. That was his entire duty. Everything else was handled by these veteran staff members. When they first showed up, Su Yu had been surprised, though he did not let it show. Before long, the Heaven Hunting Pavilion branch was back in business. Over the course of a few days, Su Yu had thoroughly figured out the operations of the branch. There really was very little he needed to do! Of course, he did have one task: request necessary supplies from his superiors to replenish the inventory, waiting for customers to make exchanges. The previous stock had been nearly depleted, so Su Yu had not bothered robbing it. Too meager! Elder Xuan Jia had told him that the stash was far too small; robbing it was not worth the effort and would easily blow his cover. The proper way was to wait until the stores were overflowing or when peerless treasures were shipped in—only then would pulling off a heist be worthwhile. The branch consisted of two floors. The first floor was for business, while the second was his personal domain. At times, he was also responsible for receiving top-tier experts or prodigies on the Heaven Hunting Ranking. That was his job! At this moment, Su Yu was cultivating while keeping the window slightly ajar to observe outside. Normally, windows were kept shut. Leaving one open meant someone could come inside. But since the Heaven Hunting Pavilion was doing business and welcoming customers, it didn't really matter. Soon, Su Yu's eyes flickered. Interesting! Are they coming to the Pavilion? Foutuling! Along with him was a Sun Moon Realm expert of the Earth Spirit race, likely in the late stage. Su Yu did not probe aggressively, but a line of text surfaced across his mask: *Earth Spirit race: Sun Moon seventh stage.* The mask merely performed a superficial scan, yet Elder Tu He still caught a faint ripple of perception and instantly looked toward Su Yu. Looking up at the second-floor window, Tu He saw a faintly discernible white mask, and he ceased paying it much mind. A Heaven Hunting Pavilion fellow! Foutuling also sensed it and glanced over. He could see nothing through the barrier. Even though he belonged to the Five Elements race, he was powerless to detect anything right now—unlike before, when he could at least discern some of the water-element composition. Su Yu was far more cautious now. He, too, possessed the talents of the Five Elements race and knew what to guard against. Knowing that members of the Five Elements race were in the city, he had even altered those subtle details. Even if someone peered through his disguise, they would not recognize him as Su Yu at a glance. Ignoring Su Yu, Tu He sent a voice transmission: "We will use cyphers to transmit our messages in a moment. Our Five Elements race's cypher is based on the Five Elements Mountain-Floating Canon—don't forget! When relaying messages through the Heaven Hunting Pavilion in the future, you must remember this! Under no circumstances may you speak plainly!" Foutuling nodded and replied via voice transmission, "I've wanted to bring that up for a long time, but those old fogies in the clan wouldn't listen to me. Why the sudden change of heart?" "It's because of Su Yu." "Oh!" Foutuling fell silent. That bunch of old fossils always had to be burnt by someone before they learned their lesson. He had long wanted to tell them that cyphers were necessary. Of course, the sub-ranking was not used often. Still, it was used when necessary. No matter how powerful a voice transmission talisman was, it could not transmit across dimensions into a minor realm; it could only travel through the Heaven Hunting Ranking. The sub-rankings were extraordinarily potent. Naturally, the sub-rankings themselves could only function within the All-Heavens Battlefield, but every race stationed dedicated messengers at their realm passageways, and some of those messengers carried sub-rankings specifically for this purpose. That way, news could travel at incredible speed. Otherwise, inside an ancient city, amidst the interference of death qi and situated deep in the Sea of Stars, voice transmission talismans were practically useless. In truth, even if the Heaven Hunting Pavilion did no other business, providing communication services alone would rake in a fortune. With their own thoughts brewing, the two briskly entered the Heaven Hunting Pavilion. Before the temp downstairs could say a word, Su Yu's deep voice drifted down: "Will the two esteemed guests of the Earth Spirit race please come upstairs!" Moments later, a rabbit-eared young woman led the two up to the second floor. *** Second floor. The reception hall. Su Yu drifted over to the entrance and said in a low voice, "Please, after you!" Neither Tu He nor Foutuling minded the formalities. Their statuses were elevated, and the Heaven Hunting Pavilion was known for sizing up its guests—those without wealth or strength could not step foot onto the second floor. "Congratulations to True Monarch Foutuling on ending your seclusion!" Su Yu offered an offhand congratulation. Foutuling replied casually, "Save the congratulations. It was humiliating!" *Humiliating? More like you threw away your earth! Forget it, I won't bother arguing with you.* Su Yu could not be bothered to say more. He gestured for them to sit and watched them in silence, maintaining his air of mystery. Tu He and Foutuling did not care. Tu He soon spoke up: "Relay a message for me. Just send it to the Earth Spirit elder stationed at the Five Elements passageway!" Su Yu nodded slightly. "Understood. Any other requests?" "Give me a sub-ranking!" Foutuling said. Su Yu nodded. He had those in stock; people from the Earth Branch had delivered a batch just two days ago precisely to meet the needs of these geniuses, who had developed quite a habit of tossing their sub-rankings away lately. Passing a sub-ranking to Foutuling, the youth took a glance and let out a sigh. "He really was dropped from the rankings!" He was referring to Su Yu. Soon, he looked at Su Yu and asked, "Does your Heaven Hunting Pavilion have detailed intelligence on Su Yu right now?" "What would the True Monarch like to know?" "His strength, his realm, and when he's going to die..." *I won't die even if you're dead!* Su Yu said calmly, "True Monarch, you may inquire via the sub-ranking. I am not privy to such details myself." "Forget it then!" Foutuling dropped the subject. Tu He then said, "Then help me relay a message... Actually, never mind, we'll do it ourselves. What's the fee?" Now that they had a sub-ranking, they could transmit the message on their own. Su Yu did not mind. Lately, everyone relaying messages had started using goddamned cyphers anyway! Even if he intercepted them, he couldn't read them! Peeking was completely pointless! "Go ahead and transmit. I will consult headquarters to check the fee." "Alright!" The two did not say much and swiftly began transmitting. Tu He handled the process; Foutuling appeared unfamiliar with the cypher. Su Yu inwardly mocked them—acting like thieves in the night. What monumental secret could possibly warrant encoded messages? Soon, a member of the Yellow Branch sent him a message: the charge was three drops of Sun Moon essence blood! Frighteningly expensive! Converted into Heaven Hunting points, one drop of Sun Moon essence blood was worth fifty points; three drops amounted to one hundred and fifty points. It was exorbitant, but there was nothing to be done about it—a monopoly was a monopoly. These two would rather pay a heavy price to send word through the Heaven Hunting Pavilion than return in person. Were they planning to stay? Su Yu was somewhat surprised. *They're still not leaving?* *Staying in the ancient city to wait for death? Has Foutuling not been thoroughly beaten yet?* As he pondered this, Foutuling spoke up: "Can the Heaven Hunting Pavilion pinpoint Su Yu's location? That fellow is pinned inside the Castellan Manor, but I wonder if it's a decoy. Could he have slipped out long ago and hidden inside an ancient house in the city?" Su Yu was startled. *Holy crap, you're pretty sharp!* *You actually guessed it!* Thoughts aside, he said smoothly, "Many have asked that exact question over the past few days. However, Su Yu is not carrying a sub-ranking, making it impossible to locate him. I have also been tasked with monitoring Su Yu's movements these days. If the two of you have any intel, you may sell it to our Pavilion!" Foutuling sighed, then added, "Forget it then. By the way, does the Heaven Hunting Pavilion still have Heaven Yuan Qi? Give me a hundred portions." "A thousand Heaven Hunting points!" Su Yu was brisk. There was indeed Heaven Yuan Qi in stock; the Earth Branch had delivered a batch. Ten Heaven Hunting points per portion—the equivalent of ten thousand human merit points—frighteningly steep! Take it or leave it! There was no shortage of buyers! Five portions of Heaven Yuan Qi were worth a single drop of Sun Moon essence blood, or one wisp of Heaven and Earth Profound Light. Even at that price, people clamored to buy it. Converted into human merit points, a portion of Heaven Yuan Qi was ten thousand merits, while a wisp of Heaven and Earth Profound Light was fifty thousand. In reality, the efficacy matched the price: a wisp of Heaven and Earth Profound Light was only marginally better than five portions of Heaven Yuan Qi. The key was that Heaven and Earth Profound Light had strict purchase limits. Heaven Yuan Qi was technically limited as well. These resources could rarely be bought with human merit points alone; transactions on the battlefield usually demanded Shanhai or Sun Moon essence blood. In short, Shanhai and Sun Moon experts of the Human Realm were all paupers once they stepped onto the All-Heavens Battlefield. Last time, Su Yu had reaped 7,300 wisps of Heaven and Earth Profound Light, which amounted to over three hundred million merit points. Three hundred million... Well, likely no one in the Human Realm could pull that out at once. When Su Yu sold cultivation methods earlier, he had been considered filthy rich, but his income was roughly a million merits a year. It would take centuries to amass that kind of fortune. That was already far more than Invincibles earned; Invincibles had to cultivate and support their entire clans. Mulling this over, Su Yu asked, "Will you be paying with Heaven Hunting points, essence blood, or other treasures?" "Essence blood!" Tu He casually tossed out a substantial amount of essence blood. All of it was at the Shanhai Realm from various races; clearly, this guy was no saint either. Soon, Su Yu fetched one hundred portions of Heaven Yuan Qi from the vault and handed them over. Along the way, he casually probed, "Are the two of you planning to stay in the city for the foreseeable future?" "You Heaven Hunting Pavilion types are so annoying, prying for intel all day long. Isn't your branch under the Xuan Branch? Are you trying to steal business from the Heaven Branch?" Foutuling seemed somewhat familiar with the Pavilion's inner workings and grumbled. Su Yu inwardly wondered whether this guy was also a member. Many geniuses were members of the Heaven Hunting Pavilion; Su Yu knew that much. There were clear benefits: first, you could not be tracked, and second, you received purchase discounts. Su Yu said in a low voice, "It matters not if the True Monarch prefers not to say. I am merely gathering intelligence in passing. Many experts will be staying in Xinghong Ancient City in the near future." "The Star Astral Mansion is opening soon, so that's only natural! Three to five months at the shortest, a year at most. The closest island to the Star Astral Mansion is Nine Stars Island..." As Foutuling spoke, Tu He interrupted him: "There is no Nine Stars Island anymore!" "..." Alright, Foutuling was speechless. *Damn it, coming out of seclusion makes me feel like the heavens have turned upside down. Nine Stars Island stood for countless years, and now it's gone? How depressing!* The two said nothing more. What was there to chat about with people from the Heaven Hunting Pavilion? Before long, they took their leave. Future transmissions could be handled directly through their sub-ranking. Meanwhile, Su Yu pondered what message the two had sent back. Soon, Su Yu contacted Xuan Jia. "Elder, under what circumstances can I, like members of the Yellow Branch, receive incoming inquiries from others?" He wanted to monitor those holding sub-rankings. *** Heaven Hunting Pavilion headquarters. Xuan Jia was at a loss for words, soon replying, "Under no circumstances. Unless you join the Yellow Branch and become a presiding elder in charge of that department. Otherwise, even standard Yellow Branch members only know what pertains to the people assigned to them!" "Then what if the Yellow Branch feeds us false intelligence? Wouldn't we be doomed?" Su Yu pressed. "For instance, what if the Yellow Branch assigns us a mission that turns out to be an ambush? What if there are traitors in the Yellow Branch as well?" "Don't say 'as well'!" *You're the traitor here! Don't say 'as well' like everyone else is one, too!* Xuan Jia replied briskly, "The Yellow Branch is only responsible for relaying information. Whether you go or not is your own choice. If you get duped, that's on you—though there will be an investigation afterward!" Pausing, Xuan Jia added, "Is it really appropriate for you to hold down that branch right now?" He felt uneasy! This kid harbored no good intentions. Stationed right inside the branch, he seemed poised to stir up trouble. Xuan Jia was terrified that a massive incident would occur, in which case he, as the elder, would have to shoulder the blame. Ignoring his concern, Su Yu asked, "Elder, another question: when someone uses a sub-ranking to communicate with the Pavilion, does the Pavilion know who they are? For example, if a sub-ranking is lost and picked up by someone else, how do you determine whether it's the original owner?" *Like last time, when my little hairball chatted with you guys, you didn't notice anything amiss at all.* Xuan Jia explained, "Our sub-rankings are generally only issued to geniuses currently or previously on the Heaven Hunting Ranking, or established experts—and most experts were once ranked. Thus, when someone communicates with us using a sub-ranking, we can roughly ascertain their identity! Furthermore, every sub-ranking is cataloged!" "Then how did mistakes happen before when you failed to identify certain people?" *You're talking about yourself!* Xuan Jia was exasperated. "The ancient city's death qi is extraordinarily thick, causing severe interference, so slight discrepancies are within normal expectations. Besides, your... besides, the ancient beast Su Yu carries is unusual and never appeared on the ranking, which led the Yellow Branch to misjudge!" "Then if an unranked person—or someone whose aura has vanished from the Heaven Hunting Ranking—holds a sub-ranking, will they be recognized?" Xuan Jia felt mentally exhausted. *If you're asking about yourself, just say it straight! Why beat around the bush?!* "They will. As long as your aura was recorded, you will be recognized. Don't worry, don't you have that ancient beast? Its aura hasn't been recorded. You can give it a sub-ranking, and if you need anything, let it communicate! That way, your identity won't be exposed!" Su Yu understood! He soon followed up: "Elder, what if the Heaven Yuan Qi in our inventory is suddenly sold out? If the next customer wants some, can I sell from my own stock? If I bypass the Heaven Hunting Pavilion, do I still need to pay the ten percent commission?" "Of course! Bypassing the Heaven Hunting Pavilion is impossible. The Pavilion assigns you the task; if you cannot fulfill it, the Yellow Branch will inform the customer that the task cannot be completed. If you state you can fulfill it from your private stash, they will tell the customer the order can be filled. It must go through the platform!" Got it! Su Yu nodded and asked, "Then if I use my staff discount to buy up all the Heaven Yuan Qi at forty percent off, sell it off, and pay the Pavilion its ten percent fee, I'd still pocket thirty percent profit, right?" "..." *Why are you always scheming to fleece the Heaven Hunting Pavilion?!* Xuan Jia replied briskly, "You could, but I forgot to mention: members receive discounts, but there is a quota! A White Mask, for instance, can only purchase up to one thousand Heaven Hunting points' worth of resources per year!" *Screw you!* Su Yu cursed inwardly. He had wondered why nobody had abused such an obvious loophole! If he could buy everything out at a discount, resell it, and pocket thirty percent after paying the platform fee, it would be free money. Turns out there was a cap. Su Yu then asked, "Elder, if I wanted to order several hundred thousand points' worth of goods, the Earth Branch would deliver them, right?" "They would, but don't even think about it. For an order that size, the Heaven Branch would step in to escort and handle the handover personally. It wouldn't fall to the Xuan Branch!" *You're planning another robbery, aren't you?* *Let me tell you, there's no chance!* Recruiting such a troublemaker was exhausting. Xuan Jia felt deeply helpless. *Did I make a mistake? If I had known, I would never have recruited Su Yu!* Unable to hold back, Xuan Jia snapped, "Xuan Jiu, what on earth are you planning? Can't you just keep your head down?" Su Yu replied promptly, "I'm not planning anything. I was just thinking: what if I stockpile a bunch of resources, lock down the city, refrain from killing anyone, and just sell goods? Wouldn't that be a faster way to get rich?" Su Yu continued, "The Heaven Hunting Pavilion's mission is to make money and sow chaos! Xinghong Ancient City is far too quiet right now. Elder, my proposal is to have Su Yu lock down the city. Three days later, people will definitely come to buy supplies, and we can make a fortune!" "..." *You're unbelievable!* Yet Xuan Jia found himself tempted. It made sense! If the city was locked down and people didn't carry enough Heaven Yuan Qi, this might actually work. Profiteering from conflict was entirely in line with the Pavilion's creed. Other cities were hard to say, but for Xinghong Ancient City, lockdown was at their fingertips! "You can do it once or twice. Any more, and people will grow suspicious!" "Understood!" Su Yu nodded. Sure enough, the Heaven Hunting Pavilion was an organization that thrived on chaos, eager to see the world burn! Idle as he was, Su Yu didn't particularly want to go on a killing spree. What he really wanted was to force some people to convert into ancient city residents. Previously, he had lacked this mindset, but now that he held the post, he had to think about his governance. While he was not afraid of bearing more death qi, bearing less was always preferable. Having more residents was a good thing. On the one hand, they could share the burden of death qi. On the other, Su Yu felt he needed some powerhouses under his command. Look around: to this day, Xinghong Ancient City didn't have a single guard or general, no Night Patrol, and no gate sentries. There wasn't even anyone to collect the entrance toll! It was pathetic! Furthermore, it was best to eliminate the bastards blocking his gate. Otherwise, if one group blocked it today and another tomorrow, where would his dignity as castellan go? He needed to tell the myriad races not to mess with him! Anyone who laid siege to his city would meet their end! Why had no one dared blockade Hei Mo? Why had no one dared blockade Tianhe? Wasn't it simply because they bullied him, Su Yu, for being weak? Kill a few more, and naturally no one would dare block the gates. Su Yu had slain many people before, but always through indirect schemes. Strictly speaking, the only Sun Moon he had slain with his own hands was that fellow from the Red Frog race. Su Yu had to turn this ancient city into his absolute domain! Outsiders who entered had to obey his word. With the Star Astral Mansion about to open, he could take the opportunity to rake in a fortune and collect entrance fees. With that objective in mind, Su Yu began gathering intelligence: which races had arrived, which experts were present, who was participating in the blockade, and how to eliminate them with precision! He wanted everyone to know that he was not killing indiscriminately—he was only slaying those who blockaded his gates. He could not slaughter recklessly; if he killed too many, everyone would be terrified and refuse to come! Using the identity of Xuan Jiu to scout for intelligence was perfectly harmless. Intelligence gathering was the Heaven Hunting Pavilion's job anyway. Besides, several Pavilion operatives were currently active in the city; members of the Heaven Branch had already slipped in to gather information. *Perhaps I can recruit some peripheral operatives... It would be best to put those ten Black Mask subordinates of mine to work as well...* He needed to expand his power base on all fronts! It would be ideal to convert them all into residents of Xinghong Ancient City, which would grant him firmer control. Su Yu had already learned that residents of one ancient city could not reside long-term in another. Belonging to a different city, they were unwelcome elsewhere. Thus, wherever one converted, one had best stay. *My goal is still to convert a massive number of experts into residents—into my subjects! Slaughter to deter, alongside expanding my forces. And when I leave the city, it would be best if I could drag the ancient city along with me and smash people with the stone statue! Wherever I tread, that place becomes my domain!* Only that could be called true security! With that in mind, Su Yu delayed no longer and swiftly stepped out of the Heaven Hunting Pavilion. Outside, dusk had begun to settle. Unconcerned, Su Yu soared into the air like a phantom, flashing out of sight as he made his way toward the Castellan Manor. *** A few minutes later. Outside the Castellan Manor, the main gates were tightly shut. Several ancient houses nearby had their doors wide open, where several Sun Moon experts sat cross-legged, directly keeping watch over the entrance. Not only that, right beneath the main gate, a powerhouse radiating intense nether qi sat in meditation. Su Yu was not surprised: someone from the Nether race. As for why they were being so brazen, showing even more dedication than the Gods or Demons, word had it that a Nether King had been crippled by the stone statue. From a seasoned Invincible, his future self and present self had both been shattered, making recovery nearly impossible. He had been left with only a past self. While still formidable, his strength was roughly that of someone who had only recently entered the Invincible Realm. Having reversed time to anchor his past self, if that past self were destroyed, this Invincible would perish permanently. Furthermore, carrying items were in short supply and difficult to find, making it arduous to capture another future self. Crucially, with his present self destroyed, there was no present from which to forge a future, making recovery immensely difficult—at least, so Su Yu had heard from others. Thus, a descendant of that Nether King had apparently arrived in person, dead set on bottling Su Yu up or putting an end to him entirely. Who knew what corner that Nether King was currently hiding in! This Nether race expert's presence here was also partly to seek refuge; staying inside the ancient city was relatively safe, since old nemeses would not dare kill indiscriminately here. Su Yu paid it no mind, making a mental note. One Nether race expert: Sun Moon eighth stage, exceedingly strong. One God race expert: Sun Moon eighth stage, exceedingly strong! One Demon race expert... *Damn, Sun Moon ninth stage, extremely powerful! Another from the Blood Fire Demon race! Lunatics! Dammit, do the Sun Moons of that race never run out?!* One Immortal race expert: Sun Moon seventh stage. It seemed the Immortals hadn't dispatched anyone overly formidable. One Five Elements race expert: the very Tu He from earlier. What was he doing here? Guarding against him, too? One Dragon race expert: Sun Moon seventh stage. *What the hell, it's not like I killed anyone from your Dragon race, did I?* *Wait, I did.* Su Yu recalled that Long Dou, a Sun Moon seventh-stage dragon, had been slain by him in Tianmie Ancient City. There was indeed a grudge. Good grief, there were more! The Dragon Silkworm race had actually sent a Sun Moon seventh-stage expert! What was their deal? Did they really have the nerve, unafraid of King Miecan coming to settle scores? The Xuan Armor race hadn't sent anyone this time. Who knew why—had they been frightened off? And another... from the ape species, the Heavenly Spirit Ape race. Su Yu was surprised. Why had this race come? Well, he recalled picking up the corpse of a Sun Moon seventh-stage giant ape. It seemed they held a grudge over the death of their expert. The corpse was still stored in his storage ring! A full eight late-stage Sun Moons! Terrifying—and there was even a Sun Moon ninth stage. It seemed the myriad races regarded him with no small amount of respect. Did they really believe that trapping him inside solved everything? These eight powerhouses probably took shifts. After all, even Sun Moons could not endure death qi indefinitely. Su Yu swiftly evaluated the situation. Truth be told, the various races truly thought highly of him. He should have been credited with great meritorious service! He had tied down eight late-stage Sun Moons for the Human Realm; otherwise, humanity would have had to bear the threat of these eight powerhouses. All told, he had eliminated countless enemies for humanity! Yet the human race hadn't even granted him an award. Speaking of which, shouldn't humanity provide bounties for slaying enemies on the All-Heavens Battlefield? Back then, killing a Tengkong earned one hundred merit points—that was for the first stage. Lingyun was one thousand, and Shanhai was around ten thousand, wasn't it? Su Yu pondered. It seemed so. Humanity offered rewards for slaying enemies on the battlefield, so shouldn't killing a Sun Moon yield a hundred thousand merits per stage? Su Yu couldn't quite remember, but it was roughly that. Wouldn't killing a ninth-stage Sun Moon yield nine hundred thousand merits? Calculating it this way, how many merit points was humanity supposed to pay him?! Counting Hei Mo, he had killed eight late-stage Sun Moons, along with dozens of early- and mid-stage ones. Averaging three hundred thousand each, that was tens of millions of merit points! *I can't forget this. I have to demand it later—tens of millions of merits! Not even counting all those Shanhais, and I won't even bother tallying the Lingyuns and Tengkongs!* At least ten million merit points! Tallying the figures in his mind, Su Yu continued circling the Castellan Manor to observe, keeping an eye on other parts of the city. With the Star Astral Mansion opening soon, the city was bustling with people. By his count, there were nearly thirty Sun Moons in the city. Geniuses were scarce; lately, prodigies had avoided the ancient city due to lingering trauma! Especially Modona and his peers—being trapped in an ancient city was not an experience they wished to repeat! *Nearly thirty Sun Moons. Hard to pinpoint the exact number since some have shut their doors.* *Lots of Shanhais, too!* What about outside the city? Su Yu swiftly flew toward the city outskirts. Right now, things outside were quite interesting: people were actively reclaiming land from the sea! Not just one or two experts, but a crowd of them, reclaiming land around the ancient city. A closer look revealed they were from the Nine Realms—the fellows from the Thousand Domains Alliance. This time, the nine cities of the Nine Realms had been destroyed, leaving their realm passageways floating exposed over the sea. Extremely perilous! Completely devoid of defenses! Building a city allowed them to project suppressive force gradually over time. With the cities gone, that suppression could no longer spread, because the Sea of Stars did not permit the dispersion of realm suppressive might. Consequently, these fellows had begun constructing landmasses around the ancient city once more. Su Yu cast a casual glance and paid it no mind. They might pour massive resources into building it today, only for it to be obliterated before long! Having scouted both inside and outside the city, Su Yu had a general grasp of the situation. Ambushing and killing them all would be difficult! The primary issue was the sheer number of experts. Furthermore, Su Yu harbored some reservations. Last time he killed a Sun Moon, three incomparably terrifying dead spirits had emerged. If he killed more, relying on dead spirits to wipe them out would invite immense trouble! *Then I'll just lock down the city directly! Use the castellan token to initiate a lockdown and trap them inside! Convert everyone else into residents! Or let a few out to prove I'm benevolent!* Even if he let others leave, those blockading the gate would definitely stay. That was a certainty! When that time came, they could only blame themselves. *Using the castellan token to lock down the city will cause death qi to backlash against me, but that doesn't matter much. I can give it a try!* Having grown somewhat wary of killing dead spirits, Su Yu chose to abandon that approach. *I want to do things with finesse! Indiscriminate killing isn't a good look.* *** Having finalized his plans, Su Yu promptly returned to the Heaven Hunting Pavilion. How should he spread the word to prove he was a good person? Announce that he was locking down the city? Tell everyone to leave quickly, or he would finish off whoever stayed behind? Would these fellows assume he didn't dare lock down the city? After all, a lockdown caused backlash—something every castellan had made clear. It was the same reason nobody forced castellans to open the city gates under duress, as doing so demanded their lives. Perhaps they believed Su Yu was already close to being overwhelmed by death qi and that initiating a lockdown would kill him. Thus, they felt no need to worry and insolently stationed themselves right outside his door. Mulling it over, Su Yu produced the castellan token. Previously, Hei Mo had stayed inside the Castellan Manor without opening the doors, yet his voice had reverberated through the entire city and even reached the outside. That must be an ability of the castellan token, right? *Why don't I give it a try?* Su Yu probed it repeatedly, recalling the information he had received upon refining it. Before long, he made up his mind. *** Xinghong Ancient City remained peaceful. Over the past few days, Su Yu had not shown himself or uttered a peep, as if he had resigned himself to his fate. With him pinned down, everyone breathed easier! Without that madman around, few dared slaughter dead spirits. Besides, with so many experts present in the city, who would dare kill recklessly? Anyone who did would simply be courting death. Just as the ancient city was settling into its rhythm, on this particular night, a grand voice suddenly resounded across the entire city! "I am Su Yu, Lord of Xinghong Ancient City! Depart the ancient city within one day! This Castellan has no wish to slaughter indiscriminately. Once the day is up, anyone remaining in the city will be slain without mercy!" The voice boomed in all directions! It appeared to originate from the Castellan Manor, though no one cared where it came from. At that moment, the Nether race expert guarding the gate sneered coldly, "Su Yu, anyone can talk big! You had best stay obediently inside the Castellan Manor—that way, you might live a few days longer!" "Nether race expert? Do not force me to lock down the city! If I seal it for a month, none of you will have a good time!" The Nether expert retorted coldly, "Then let us see who outlasts whom! Su Yu, do not take everyone for fools. In your current state, a three-day lockdown will kill you, while we... will still be alive!" It was precisely because they were confident of this that they dared blockade the city. Three days? For late-stage Sun Moons, even if they had to endure a month, now that they were prepared, they would never perish. So long as no Invincible dead spirits emerged, what was there to fear? "You forced my hand! If you still haven't left after one day, then await your deaths!" The voice sounded somewhat blustering, full of bluff and bravado! Outside the city gate, the Nether expert let out a disdainful scoff. The other powerhouses exchanged glances, and one chuckled, "He can't hold out any longer. A good thing!" A cornered beast putting up a fight? Or making a final struggle? He had placed himself in a cage, and Su Yu had no one to blame but himself! Had he hidden among the tens of thousands of houses, locating him would have been difficult. Yet he had insisted on becoming the castellan, holing up inside the Castellan Manor where everyone knew his whereabouts. Wasn't that just offering himself up to be besieged? The experts smiled. The fellow was truly at his wit's end! A lockdown? If you aren't afraid of the backlash, go ahead and lock it down. When a castellan locks down a city, no overpowering dead spirits emerge. Did he really think no castellan had ever attempted a lockdown before? And what was the outcome? There had been castellans who ended up killing themselves! Yet the people they sought to trap survived unscathed. Only a fool would do such a thing.