Xinghong Is Very Satisfied!

At the same time. Near the Castellan Manor, the moment Foutuling heard that voice, he turned around without hesitation. "Elder, let's go!" "Hmm?" Tu He stared at him in surprise. Leave? What was there to fear? Su Yu was already a turtle trapped in a jar! What was so scary about that? Could the genius of their race truly have been terrified by Su Yu? That was hardly a good sign. Tu He said meaningfully, "Foutu, wherever you fall, you must pick yourself back up!" Suffering a setback at Su Yu's hands didn't matter, so long as he got back on his feet. Perhaps sitting back and watching Su Yu die was a fine choice. Foutuling replied just as meaningfully, "Elder, looking down on someone once is fine. Looking down on them twice is fine. But you cannot repeatedly underestimate the top ranker of the Heaven Ranking! Otherwise, once you fall, you will never get back up!" Foutuling couldn't wrap his head around it! They had suffered loss after loss at Su Yu's hands, yet they still wanted to keep tangling with him? What for? Run! Who cared how many days Su Yu could lock down the city? Let others test the waters. Why did they have to take the risk? Whatever the outcome, they could simply wait and see what happened to the people trapped inside. Tu He frowned. "Aren't you afraid of being demoralized?" "Not at all!" Foutuling said in a muffled voice, "Failing once or twice isn't frightening. What is frightening is continuously suffering losses to the same person without ever learning the lesson!" With that, he was already heading toward the exit. How many times had they suffered already? The elder actually still thought it didn't matter! A man like Su Yu wasn't dead yet, and he had an ancient city to rely on. It wasn't as if he lacked ways to deal with them, so why bother fighting him over a fleeting moment? Seeing this, Tu He had no choice but to follow along helplessly. To tell the truth, he also believed Su Yu was finished. He had reached the end of the line! Unfortunately, Foutuling believed Su Yu could still put up a fight. Under those circumstances, Tu He had nothing more to say. ... Foutuling soon left the city, and several others followed suit. No matter what, getting out first was the priority. This was a clash between Su Yu and the supreme great races. Even if the others turned out fine, that did not mean experts from minor races would emerge unscathed. Even a three-day lockdown had been unbearable for some. If the lockdown lasted seven or eight days, wouldn't they be completely doomed? Gradually, the city's inhabitants grew fewer and fewer. However, there were still those who refused to believe the worst, thinking nothing would happen and that they might even pick up some scraps. Unafraid of death, they chose to stay. Others were pure opportunists. Seeing that the experts from the major races were all present, several experts from minor races edged closer, hoping to gain familiarity, do some odd jobs, and get on the great races' good side. Su Yu didn't care about any of this. *I gave you a chance and gave you time. There isn't a nicer person in the entire world than me!* *Tomorrow at dawn, the city will be locked down!* *How many days it stays locked down this time will depend entirely on how long these people can endure. No matter who comes, no one is leaving!* *As for money, enough is enough!* Su Yu had accumulated abundant resources and was in no shortage of anything. Now, they could do whatever they liked. If they had the ability, they could force their way in and smash through the city gates. Even if they couldn't kill an Invincible, wiping out a few Invincible three-life incarnations wouldn't be half bad. Neither the stone sculpture nor the dead spirit monarch was someone to be provoked. ... In the blink of an eye, the next day arrived! At first light, the city gates slammed shut with a thunderous roar! The lockdown had begun! Having activated the castellan token, Su Yu picked an ancient house at random and began resisting the death qi. As for the Heaven Hunting Pavilion, it remained open for business, but he wouldn't show himself there just yet, lest anyone notice something amiss. Inside the ancient house. Su Yu began resisting the death qi while forging his physical body and cultivating. Vast amounts of Heaven Yuan Qi circulated through him. He had discovered that neutralizing death qi with Heaven Yuan Qi actually accelerated his physical casting speed. It stimulated his physical body! This was a good thing! Therefore, taking on a bit of backlash didn't bother him, even though this backlash was indeed formidable. Su Yu quickly absorbed the death qi, reversing and neutralizing it. What he didn't know was that down in the dead spirit realm, Dead Spirit Monarch Xingyue opened her eyes again, feeling utterly irritated. *Is there no end to this?* *I just increased your dosage not long ago, and you're at it again?* *In that case, don't blame me for being ruthless!* *You asked for this!* Vast amounts of death qi were channeled toward Su Yu once more through an invisible, specialized conduit. As the converter, there was an intangible link between Su Yu and Xingyue—an ancient rule. Xingyue ramped up the transmission of death qi even further! *You like causing trouble, don't you?* *Fine, then let's see you handle this!* *I originally intended to give you a chance to reach the Sun Moon Realm before dying. Since you don't cherish it, you can just die right now.* ... Su Yu didn't care about her intentions, though he was secretly startled. *Such fierce death qi!* Relying on Heaven Yuan Qi alone simply wouldn't cut it. He had no choice but to reverse it! Previously, he could reverse and neutralize it in an hour and a half. But after assessing the current flow, Su Yu was shocked—it would take at least two hours to reverse this! *It seems I really shouldn't get too reckless!* *Look at that: an extra half-hour in one go. If this keeps up, dozens of rounds later, won't I be completely ruined?* Su Yu dared not be careless and swiftly reversed the death qi! At the same time, he continuously consumed Heaven and Earth Profound Light to cast his body! Fifty casts weren't enough. This time, he had plenty of time and plenty of Heaven and Earth Profound Light—more than enough for him to keep casting. He still needed twenty-two more casts, but he possessed over a thousand strands of Heaven and Earth Profound Light. ... The first day of the lockdown. All was peaceful! There were no dead spirits in the city, and the death qi had not amplified. Even under normal circumstances, an ordinary cultivator could hold out for three days, let alone these late-stage Sun Moon experts. Forget late-stage Sun Moon experts; even those in the Tengkong Realm were entirely fine. They could withstand it! It was nothing! The Sun Moon experts sneered inwardly, imagining how miserable Su Yu must be right now. ... Meanwhile. Several other ancient cities received the news. Su Yu had locked down his city again! That kid was truly idle. Was he not afraid of dying on the spot? He was barely clinging to life as it was—was being alive not good enough? Did he have to be in such a rush to become a dead spirit? Tianmie Ancient City. The Castellan Manor. Tianhe shook his head, looking down at the elderly servant before him, and sighed. "That kid is just making trouble for himself! How severe the death qi backlash is, only we truly know! Besides, quite a few residents died in Xinghong Ancient City, and now he's locking down the city. If this continues, the death qi backlash he endures alone will probably be even worse than mine!" The old man said softly, "He should know the Longevity Art. He gave it to you last time, my lord; that is likely what he's relying on." "The Longevity Art is decent, but in my view, not only does it consume massive amounts of Heaven Yuan Qi, it can only help him neutralize ten percent of the death qi at most!" That was far from enough! Out of a hundred percent flowing in, neutralizing ten percent still left ninety percent. With Su Yu acting like this while being converted by a dead spirit monarch, he would likely turn into a dead spirit in three to five days. Even if he ran the Longevity Art nonstop, five or six days would be his absolute limit. Did he think five or six days would be enough to force late-stage Sun Moon experts to their deaths? Those experts had certainly come prepared this time, and substantial amounts of Heaven Yuan Qi were indispensable! How could Su Yu possibly outlast them in a war of attrition? Foolish! *Sigh!* To satisfy a momentary fit of pique, he insisted on confronting these people despite lacking the power to suppress them. Did he really think locking down the city alone could do anything to those late-stage Sun Moon cultivators? Tianhe let out a heavy sigh! The old man hesitated before asking, "My lord, will you step in to help him?" "Me?" The old man said softly, "You should be able to help him, shouldn't you?" Tianhe fell silent for a moment before replying, "Technically, yes. If the thirty-six ancient cities have castellans, they can actually find a way to converge the cities. If the ancient cities converge, we can share some of the backlash for him... however..." He shook his head. After a long sigh, he finally said, "It is inappropriate! Very few people know about this, and... if my vitality is severely damaged this time, the subsequent plans won't be able to proceed! Ordinarily, I wouldn't mind lending him a hand, but right now, I cannot." "Does this concern Prefect Xia?" the old man murmured. Tianhe glanced at him and said slowly, "Yes. You've been with me for many years, so it's natural you can guess a few things. I hope you won't disappoint me." The old man said calmly, "There is no need for your reminder, my lord. Had it not been for you, this old servant would have died long ago." After a pause, he added, "If you truly cannot endure it, my lord, you may transfer some of the ancient city's death qi to me. I can help absorb a fraction of it for you." "No need!" A castellan token could indeed divert some of the death qi pressure, but unfortunately, the guards of Xinghong Ancient City had been entirely wiped out. There was no city gate token, no guarding general token, nothing at all! In other words, Su Yu currently had no way to transfer it. As for the residents, they were merely commoners. Unless they held those specialized tokens or guard tokens, they could not shoulder any pressure for the castellan. Moreover, if the residents were too weak, it wouldn't make much difference anyway. Just as Tianhe was pondering this, a streak of light flashed past. In the next instant, a figure materialized. He glanced at the old man and ignored him, though the old man was secretly shaken. Tianhe waved his hand, signaling the old man to withdraw. Once the old man had departed, Tianhe frowned. "Why are you here again?" "Is Su Yu in trouble?" "He brought it on himself!" Xia Longwu hesitated for a moment before saying plainly, "Lend him a hand. Help him shoulder some of the burden..." "Are you out of your mind!" Tianhe snapped furiously, "If I summon the thirty-six ancient cities to converge right now—and do so to help Su Yu—the myriad races across the heavens will know I stand with the human race, that I am aiding you, or aiding humanity! When that happens, all your schemes will be ruined, and what will become of me then?" "My grandfather might be able to help free you!" Tianhe said coldly, "King Daxia? King Daxia's blade is fierce, but it is equally ruthless! What if, instead of severing the death qi, he severs me? I cooperated with you because I trusted you. If you act like this, how will you account to the rest of us? Xia Longwu, I am not alone, and I am not the only one you contacted, am I? Su Yu insists on seeking death. Do you expect us to die along with him? We entered this partnership so that we could all live, not so we could all perish!" Xia Longwu fell silent for a few moments, then nodded slightly. "I was rash. I will head over to Xinghong Ancient City to take a look." "You're going there?" Tianhe frowned. "Everyone knows you are on the All-Heavens Battlefield right now. That place is the center of attention, with all eyes fixed upon it. If you are discovered, an Invincible will definitely make a move against you!" Killing Xia Longwu didn't necessarily require waiting until his Dao attainment! It was simply that opportunities were scarce under normal circumstances! Previously, the people dispatched to the Great Xia Prefecture to assassinate him had been easily crushed. The other races had only stopped sending assassins to avoid immense losses. Yet here he was, wanting to go take a look. Was he courting death? "It doesn't matter. I'll just observe from a distance!" With those words, his figure flickered and vanished instantly. In the rear of the grand hall, the Tianmie stone sculpture opened his eyes and glanced in the direction Xia Longwu had gone. At that moment, a shadowy figure overlapped with Xia Longwu in his vision. Tianmie looked on without speaking. *That must be his future incarnation, right?* Xia Longwu, having fused with his future incarnation, might be exceptionally powerful. Yet without a past incarnation, if someone severed his past, he would be thoroughly finished. He could die quite easily! Unlike that Nether race Invincible from before, who lived on just fine even after his future and present incarnations were blasted apart, merely suffering a drop in strength. Without all three incarnations unified, the weakness was glaringly apparent. He just didn't know how strong the future incarnation Xia Longwu had captured actually was. Among countless potential futures, one might capture an utterly feeble future self—such as a heavily wounded state, an elderly state, or a decaying state... Once captured, it was extremely difficult to replace. First, it required a carrier item. Second, stepping into the River of Time to capture a future incarnation was perilous beyond measure. The slightest misstep meant death. Many ninth-stage Sun Moon experts refused to come out of seclusion or show their faces precisely because of this. Xia Longwu, on the other hand, wasn't in a hurry to capture his past incarnation; instead, he was running around all day long. He was truly reckless! Not a single one of these human fellows ever stayed still. Wouldn't it be better to stay home peacefully and capture his past incarnation? Perhaps he could even capture his past at its absolute peak! Many cultivators preferred capturing the state of their immediate past, for the immediate past might very well be their strongest. However, in the River of Time, it was difficult to make a precise choice. Even in that immediate past, one could be subject to interference. Tianmie pondered this, then paid it no further heed. That Su Yu was stirring up trouble again. Fortunately, it wasn't happening in his city; let Xinghong endure it himself. Another lockdown! Now, it was hard to say whether this was good or bad. If Su Yu died and Xinghong couldn't find a replacement castellan right away, having to shoulder even more death qi would be quite an ordeal. On the bright side, Su Yu might not be able to shoulder much death qi at the moment anyway. Replacing him with a stronger castellan might actually relieve more pressure for Xinghong. ... While Tianmie was musing over this, Xinghong remained as steadfast as a mountain. He felt no pressure whatsoever! That kid Su Yu was absurdly resilient—so resilient that even Xinghong felt a chill. No matter how much death qi Xingyue channeled into him, Su Yu digested every last drop without letting a single speck leak out. As a castellan... based on this alone, Su Yu was more than qualified in Xinghong's eyes! He was fantastic! Unlike that fellow Black Demon, who frequently let death qi spill over, forcing Xinghong to shoulder the excess. With Su Yu, there was no need to worry about that at all. Moreover, Su Yu never seemed to reach an overflowing state. Every time you thought he had hit his limit, surprise! He hadn't reached his limit at all; he was still holding up, still going strong! Take right now, for instance. Waves of death qi backlash struck one after another, yet Su Yu carried on cultivating as if nothing were wrong. He just continued minding his own business! Not only that, but he even had the leisure to read. Indeed, Su Yu had been reading recently to see if he could manifest a few more divine characters. He had only twenty-five divine characters, which was far too few. Although he used divine characters frequently of late, most served auxiliary functions. The days of knocking out an opponent with a single hammer strike were long gone! Back then, Su Yu had relied entirely on willpower. One hammer strike to daze you, one blade strike to cleave you. Now, he could certainly knock out an early-stage Shanhai cultivator without issue, but... what was the point of dazing an early-stage Shanhai? He could blow one apart with a single punch; why bother with the extra step? Of course, having more divine characters still offered advantages. *Calm, Calamity, Yin, Change...* These divine characters aided him immensely. Without them, it would be difficult for Su Yu to slay opponents of comparable strength. When combatants were evenly matched, using divine characters provided an edge! The Fire of Inheritance divine character, which hadn't been activated in a long time, flared to life. Meanwhile, Su Yu began examining a divine character he had outlined in the ancient city, one he had barely ever used—the "Death" character. Ever since manifesting it, Su Yu had hardly touched it. Now, he tried putting it to use. The moment he did, he couldn't help but marvel. He had almost overlooked a treasure! This divine character was incredible! It could actually absorb death qi to strengthen itself! What did he lack? He lacked almost everything, but he certainly did not lack death qi! With an ancient city here, his supply of death qi was limitless. To think this divine character grew by absorbing death qi—it was simply wonderful! As the divine character began absorbing death qi, Su Yu's conversion speed quickened. Simultaneously, the divine character began to expand. Before long, a Tier-2 divine character emerged—the "Death" character had advanced! Su Yu deliberately slowed down his death qi conversion rate just to provide enough death qi for the divine character to absorb. What a fine thing! Su Yu sighed in admiration. This divine character was exceptional. Even without reversing into a dead spirit, he could unleash a burst of death qi to launch a surprise attack. Furthermore, with this divine character, he would have an excuse when disguising himself as a dead spirit. Not bad, quite decent. He would try his best to reinforce it to Tier-4! Additionally, there was another recently outlined Tier-2 divine character—"Endurance," the divine character of the old tortoise, King Dazhou. This one was quite useful as well! Taking advantage of his current stillness, cultivating this character was a fine idea. Su Yu was completely at ease! He cultivated on his own, casting his body, reading books, strengthening his divine characters... not worrying about the death qi backlash in the slightest. If anything, his concern was exercising restraint so that he didn't spend all day reversing it. If he reversed it to the point where all the death qi vanished from his body, wouldn't that expose him? Everyone was saying Su Yu was about to die. If his name suddenly appeared on the rankings, how alarming would that be? Therefore, he had to keep himself in check. ... The second day, the lockdown continued. Peace and quiet prevailed! No dead spirits appeared, save for a few that patrolled at night. The entire ancient city was completely tranquil. Everyone went about their business; after all, it had only been two days. ... The third day, still nothing happened. On this day, Su Yu completed another physical cast—the fifty-first! Casting his body took much longer now. It took three to four days to finish a single cast; the pace had slowed considerably, and the consumption had increased dramatically. Upon completing the fifty-first cast, Su Yu was left with only 1,240 strands of Heaven and Earth Profound Light. Counting what he had before, he had possessed 1,700 strands in total. Now, he had consumed 460 strands, progressing from thirty casts to fifty-one, which was fairly decent. However, his current consumption had reached approximately fifty strands per cast. It was terrifyingly high! Fifty strands of Heaven and Earth Profound Light were worth more than 250 portions of Heaven Yuan Qi. Prior to this, Su Yu had once thought that ten portions of Heaven Yuan Qi would suffice for a single cast. Reality had proven that he had been dreaming. Physical casting did not maintain a constant rate of consumption. As the physical body grew stronger, the consumption scaled accordingly. Furthermore, Su Yu was consuming Heavenly Blood Fruits to bolster his vital blood, ensuring his vitality wouldn't lag behind. Those fruits were exceptionally precious as well. He was now a bottomless money pit! Yet his growth in strength was equally staggering. Every completed cast represented a massive leap forward for Su Yu. His vital blood grew mightier! His physical strength soared! At that moment, down in the dead spirit realm, Xingyue numbly ramped up her output once more. *You're impressive, aren't you? You grew stronger again? Fine, then I'll add even more fuel!* In truth, the amount of death qi Xingyue was outputting right now was no less than what was required to convert a Sun Moon expert—it was an exact equivalent! This meant Xingyue was currently converting someone with the equivalent capacity of a Sun Moon realm cultivator. Yet Su Yu... was still in the Lingyun Realm! When on earth would this guy reach the end of Lingyun? In fact, purely in terms of physical cultivation, Su Yu was merely in the Tengkong Realm. Was there no end to his physical casting? Could the Iron-Eating Seventy-Two Castings truly be forged to the pinnacle? Xingyue remained skeptical! Could someone with the Zhoutian Apertures open truly complete the Iron-Eating Seventy-Two Castings? Xingyue knew how to do the math. The more apertures one opened, the harder physical casting became, turning progressively more difficult toward the end. Xingyue estimated that if Su Yu were casting his body right now, he was probably around fifty casts. How could someone who had opened the Zhoutian Apertures still keep casting? Did he have no limits? Was his talent truly monstrous to this degree? Talent determined the ceiling! This wasn't simply a matter of resources. Everyone had some resources, but having resources did not mean one could open infinite apertures and cast the physical body indefinitely. Just what was his deal? Could the human race truly produce such formidable talent after the fall of the ancient era? With the ancient era destroyed, the human race no longer enjoyed the homage of the myriad nations! The Human Realm was no longer brimming with treasures and abundant Heaven Yuan Qi. Today, the Human Realm possessed only two tiny Heaven Yuan Sacred Lands, inferior even to those of some of the top hundred races. In such an environment, how could the Human Realm produce a freak like Su Yu? The gods and demons occupying so many spots on the Heaven Hunting Ranking hadn't earned them out of thin air. The quality of origin qi in the God and Demon Realms was far superior to that of the Human Realm, and Heaven Yuan Qi was commonplace there. That was why many gods and demons were born a cut above humans. Their Kaiyuan apertures were directly linked from birth, putting them in the Qianjun Realm right out of the womb, and the descendants of certain powerhouses were born into the Wanshi Realm as a matter of course. Meanwhile, in the human race, even the descendants of Invincibles almost invariably had to progress through the Kaiyuan Realm. Xingyue felt helpless, but put it out of her mind! *No matter how strong you are, you cannot escape my conversion!* *Sooner or later, you will become a dead spirit general under my command!* ... The fourth day. Some people were beginning to crack. Several experts from minor races were feeling regretful. Had they known earlier, they wouldn't have stayed. It had been four days already, so why was there still no movement? Why hadn't the city gates opened? Meanwhile, the outside world once again fixed its gaze upon this place. Back in the Human Realm, within the Great Xia Prefecture, quite a few people were feeling exasperated! What was going on? Just as things were picking up, everyone suddenly stopped paying attention to the Great Xia Prefecture. The Multiple Divine Characters Academy continued its development, while the eyes of the myriad races turned right back toward Su Yu. Compared to Su Yu, the Multiple Divine Characters Academy had yet to produce concrete results, and there was still no trace of the Nanyuan relic. They decided to set that aside for now and keep their eyes glued to Su Yu to see which day he would perish. A few days wouldn't make a difference anyway! ... The fifth day. Some people truly couldn't hold out any longer and began purchasing Heaven Yuan Qi from the Heaven Hunting Pavilion. The Heaven Hunting Pavilion seized the opportunity to hike its prices on the spot: normally ten Heaven Hunting points per portion, it was now twenty—take it or leave it! Meanwhile, Su Yu dismissed the temporary workers, fearing they might get robbed. He only showed his face once in a while to sell the Heaven Yuan Qi hoarded by the Heaven Hunting Pavilion. It sold like hotcakes! This was all stock delivered by the Heaven Hunting Pavilion itself. Su Yu had previously instructed Xuan Jia to stockpile goods, and quite a large supply had been accumulated this time. The selling price was steep! Over the course of five days, while suppressing the death qi, Su Yu still found the energy to do business, selling five hundred portions of Heaven Yuan Qi within the city. That was their entire stock; although the Heaven Hunting Pavilion possessed Heaven Yuan Qi, their inventory wasn't bottomless. Five hundred portions brought in five thousand Heaven Hunting points under normal circumstances! Now, with the price doubled, it amounted to a full ten thousand points! Su Yu's three-year assessment quota was one thousand points. In an instant, he had fulfilled a full thirty years' worth of assessment quotas. As for the commission, it was a mere ten Heaven Hunting points. Outrageously stingy! Still, since the merchandise had been provided by the Heaven Hunting Pavilion, he hadn't needed to pay anything out of pocket. Furthermore, Su Yu hadn't walked away without extra profit. For instance, some buyers paid using Shanhai or Sun Moon blood essence from powerful races, which Su Yu promptly swapped out for blood essence from weaker races. The Heaven Hunting Pavilion calculated values strictly by realm tier. Whether you were from a strong race or a weak race, first-stage blood essence was priced as first-stage blood essence. Certain fellows only had blood essence from powerful races on hand and had no choice but to use it for trades. Su Yu wasn't about to give the Heaven Hunting Pavilion a bargain; possessing plenty of blood essence himself, he swapped it all out for the weakest varieties, such as Ironwing Bird or Cloud Tiger blood essence, of which he had plenty. He pocketed quite a handsome sum off the difference. Not only that, but Su Yu even came up with another angle to exploit the price gap. Right now, for instance, he was calmly conferring with Xuan Jia. "Elder, I've gathered quite a bit of blood essence recently, but our Heaven Yuan Qi is completely out of stock. There is an expert in the city who wants to sell Heaven Yuan Qi to me in exchange for blood essence. The price is a bit high—the cost is roughly nineteen Heaven Hunting points, but we can sell it for twenty points, earning a one-point profit. Should we take this deal?" "..." Xuan Jia cursed inwardly! *That 'expert' is you, isn't it?* He was utterly speechless! Wasn't Su Yu supposed to be locking down the city? How did he still have the energy to make money and run a business? Damn it, tell me I'm dreaming! *Xuan Jiu is definitely not Su Yu!* *Or rather, the castellan is definitely not Su Yu.* Over the past few days, Su Yu emerging to complete tasks and carry out transactions had already shocked him enough. In his imagination, that kid should have been engulfed in death qi, completely immobilized. Now, absolutely no one would suspect Xuan Jiu of being Su Yu! For no other reason than this: Su Yu was locking down the city, while Xuan Jiu was running a business! A Su Yu locking down the city had neither the time, the energy, nor the motivation to do business, yet Xuan Jiu was actively trading. If anyone dared claim Xuan Jiu was Su Yu, the Heaven Hunting Pavilion would be the first to beat them to death! You couldn't frame someone like that! This kid was truly remarkable. He actually had the mind to fleece the pavilion right now, selling to the Heaven Hunting Pavilion at nineteen points, then selling to the city residents at twenty points. That way, Su Yu would not only hit his performance targets, but also turn a massive profit. Normally, as rapacious as the Heaven Hunting Pavilion was, they only sold it for ten points. Furthermore, this approach avoided raising suspicion. Otherwise, if any random person tried selling it, the others might not dare to buy. The Heaven Hunting Pavilion had a reputation to uphold. At this moment, the Heaven Hunting Pavilion also needed someone inside the city to facilitate trades, as many people were looking to deal with them! Yet the Heaven Hunting Pavilion knew their Heaven Yuan Qi was exhausted and couldn't be delivered inside, leaving them fretting over their inability to meet customer demand! Now that Xuan Jiu was trading with this person, the price was somewhat steep, and they wouldn't make any actual profit after factoring in customer communications and energy consumption. However, being able to provide ample supplies at a moment's notice during a time of crisis would make experts from all factions view the Heaven Hunting Pavilion in a whole new light! Therefore, even without a profit margin, the deal was well worth making! Soon, Xuan Jia gave the word: "Go ahead and do it. Coordinate with the Yellow Division and tell them you encountered a mysterious powerhouse. Leave an official note so we don't run into issues!" "Understood!" Su Yu grinned and quickly added, "My lord, considering I've completed such a massive volume of transactions, will there be any additional rewards?" "There will. The more you complete, the easier it will be for you to be promoted to an elder in the future!" "Is that so? Then I hope to reach the standard for elder as soon as possible!" Su Yu beamed. Xuan Jia didn't mind either; the more transaction volume Su Yu completed, the larger his own commission would be, so he profited as well. Moreover, Su Yu's transactions this time were a two-way street! Purchasing a batch of Heaven Yuan Qi counted toward transaction volume, and selling it counted toward transaction volume again. Su Yu received two sets of commissions, and as his direct supervisor, so did Xuan Jia. Therefore, so long as no rules were violated, Xuan Jia let him have his way! *If you have the capability, go ahead and rack up as much volume as you want!* ... From that day forth, the renown of the Heaven Hunting Pavilion spread throughout the ancient city once more. If you lacked Heaven Yuan Qi, just look for the Heaven Hunting Pavilion! Twenty points per portion, no further price hikes! Unlimited supply! The Heaven Hunting Pavilion was truly omnipotent! Meanwhile, Su Yu was busy devouring blood essence and extracting Heaven Yuan Qi, having the time of his life. What was the cost of a single drop of Heaven Yuan Qi to him? Extracting one drop cost him roughly a thousand human merit points, which equaled one Heaven Hunting point. Selling it at nineteen Heaven Hunting points netted him an eighteen-point profit—an 1,800% profit margin! And that wasn't even counting the commissions! Of course, that was just for him. When provided by the Heaven Hunting Pavilion, the baseline cost was actually not low—at least three times his, over three points. In addition, there were commissions to pay, communication costs, shipping, and so on... All told, the Heaven Hunting Pavilion's cost sat around five points. Selling it for ten points normally doubled their investment. For Su Yu, however, it wasn't a mere doubling! It was sheer, exorbitant profit! Right now, the lockdown provided him with this exact opportunity. With everyone's demand running high, experts from minor races flocked to buy from him. Every day saw roughly five hundred points' worth of transactions. For three consecutive days, lasting until the eighth day of the lockdown, even the powerhouses blockading the manor gates began purchasing from Su Yu. As Su Yu maintained the lockdown, he did business with them, intent on bleeding them dry! These people consuming death qi inside the city was actually a good thing, as it helped absorb a significant amount of death qi on Su Yu's behalf. Living beings inside the city all helped dissipate death qi. And with them consuming Heaven Yuan Qi, even more death qi was neutralized. At this point... the stone sculpture was stunned. He noticed that the amount of death qi he had to shoulder had actually decreased. Originally, the city residents bore about twenty percent, Su Yu bore ten percent, and he bore seventy percent. Now, the residents bore thirty percent, Su Yu still bore ten percent, and he... only needed to shoulder sixty percent! The stone sculpture sank into contemplation. Glancing at the lively, energetic Su Yu, who even had the presence of mind to make money, the stone sculpture made a stealthy decision right then and there! He instantly shifted ten percent of the pressure onto Su Yu! He would bear fifty percent, the city residents would bear thirty percent, and Su Yu... would bear twenty percent! *Since you're so energetic, I believe in you. You are quite useful as castellan. I support you! Keep causing a ruckus, keep locking down the city, and keep stalling!* This was the first time he had ever borne so little death qi! At this moment, the Xinghong stone sculpture was immensely satisfied! He felt that this castellan was vastly superior to the dozens of predecessors he had seen. Simply wonderful! Su Yu, shouldering twenty percent of the death qi, was worth two castellans on his own! As for the stone sculpture, who had originally borne seventy percent of the burden... fifty percent was enough now! In an instant, a massive weight was lifted off him, and his mood brightened considerably! Sure enough, Tianmie had been right! Su Yu was great at stirring up trouble, but he was just as great at getting things done! Look at how dependable he was! The stone sculpture had briefly worried whether twenty percent would crush Su Yu, but reality proved there was no problem at all! ... Su Yu, on the other hand, was trembling with apprehension! What happened? Just as he was counting his money, his death qi had suddenly surged. Previously, because of the backlash, he had to spend two hours a day reversing the death qi. But at this moment, it suddenly required an extra hour to suppress! In other words, Su Yu now had to reverse death qi continuously for three hours every day to keep pace with the influx and prevent himself from being corroded. "Three hours already!" Su Yu was terrified. What had happened? He hadn't done anything! Was it because the lockdown had lasted so long that he was suffering an even stronger backlash? How terrifying! Su Yu felt a cold dread. It was already up to three hours. If it went on like this and reached ten hours, he would barely have time to cultivate. If it truly reached twenty-four hours to reverse, from then on, he would be like the others—forced to cultivate day and night just to offset the death qi! Su Yu was frightened! Three hours later, he finished refining the death qi that had accumulated that day. Meanwhile, the Xinghong stone sculpture glanced at him again, lost in thought. *Impressive!* *He resolved it that quickly?* *Does this mean that even if I shift another few fractions onto you, you can still take it?* Xinghong felt as though he had struck gold! This was far too delightful. Should he... transfer another ten percent over? *No, that would be too obvious...* Xinghong mused to himself. Forget it, he would wait a bit longer. When the kid pulled off another major stunt, he would transfer another ten percent to him. The boy would assume it was caused by the backlash. In truth, it wasn't, but at least there would be an excuse, wouldn't there? Xinghong was extraordinarily satisfied! This castellan—he was keeping him for good! No one was allowed to replace him! Splendid. As long as Su Yu didn't die, he felt no need to ever replace the castellan again. The kid was simply too considerate! Would Tianmie regret it? He desperately wanted to tell Tianmie: *I've found a treasure! While the rest of you are still entangled in death qi, this new castellan of mine can already shoulder a massive amount of death qi for me!* Pure bliss! ... Xinghong was reveling in comfort, but Su Yu was truly getting frightened! *Should I keep the city locked down?* He was genuinely scared! The death qi backlash had suddenly spiked by so much, making him genuinely uneasy. No, if it increased past five hours, maybe he should just reverse all of it and make a run for it! He constantly felt as though he were in grave danger; his "Calamity" divine character had just throbbed, as if warning of an impending crisis!