King Daqin

Su Yu was terrified and deeply anxious, yet faced with the sudden surge in death qi, he felt utterly helpless. His only choice was to grit his teeth and keep making himself stronger! The stronger he became, the stronger the death qi grew. Even so, Su Yu reasoned that as long as his own rate of improvement outpaced the death qi's growth, there wouldn't be much danger. On the eighth day of the lockdown, Su Yu completed his fifty-second cast. Not only had he achieved fifty-two casts, but he had also made progress in other areas. For instance, his Civilization Master realm had dropped from the eighth level of the Lingyun Realm down to the seventh. Yes, this counted as progress, because it meant his willpower was purer and more solid than before. Lately, the Mind Expansion Hammer had been relentlessly pounding his sea of will and his willpower. In fact, his willpower had already reached the level Zhao Li had once possessed, perhaps even slightly surpassing it—speaking of Zhao Li before his breakthrough, of course. It had taken Zhao Li decades, nearly a century, whereas Su Yu had done it in a single year. Beyond that, over these past few days of studying texts of will, Su Yu had outlined another divine character—"Seal." This divine character came from an Invincible who had not founded a prefecture. He was an Invincible who belonged to one of the Eight Great Families that held the reins of the Quest Realm, achieving Invincible status after the prefectures had already been established, bearing the title King Jintian. He was renowned across the heavens for his sealing restrictions. This time, Su Yu had managed to comprehend a character from his text of will: "Seal"! This was another auxiliary divine character. Sealing heaven and earth sounded extraordinary, but it was only a Tier-2 divine character after all. When Su Yu tested it, it indeed produced a sealing effect, though rather modest—at least, nothing exceptionally potent for Su Yu as he was now. Naturally, once the character grew stronger, it would prove quite effective. This was the twenty-sixth divine character Su Yu had outlined. It was a pity that he had detonated the character "Beast," otherwise he would currently possess twenty-seven. Gaining another divine character was a good thing. With twenty-six divine characters outlined, Su Yu had now validated what Teacher Jin Sheng had told him back in the Great Ming Prefecture: the power of human divine characters stacked incrementally. The more characters a human possessed, the stronger each of them became. Outlining this single character caused the power of Su Yu's other characters to increase somewhat as well. Overall, while Su Yu at the eighth level of Lingyun had been able to knock a first- or second-level Shanhai Realm expert senseless with a single hammer strike, now, at the seventh level of Lingyun, he actually had a chance of knocking out a third-level Shanhai in one blow. The lower his apparent cultivation level fell, the stronger he became. Of course, his cultivation level was not genuinely low; he had simply hammered and compressed it down by sheer force. It was compressed to an extreme degree! Compressing his realm served two purposes: purifying his willpower, and keeping a low profile so he could reap greater benefits when killing enemies—free rewards were not to be passed up, after all. If his physical strength were taken out of the equation, Su Yu at this very moment, relying purely on willpower, could already be considered a genius—a top-tier genius. At the seventh level of Lingyun, an ordinary third-level Shanhai would most likely be hammered to death by him. Killing enemies across an entire major realm! Previously, Qin Fang had killed a third-level Shanhai with the strength of a sixth-level Lingyun, earning a spot on the Heaven Ranking and maintaining eighteenth place. Meanwhile, Su Yu was at the seventh level of Lingyun and could kill a third-level Shanhai, plus he was far younger than Qin Fang. Even without his physical strength, Su Yu was fully qualified to place on the rankings; if not the Heaven Ranking, the Earth Ranking was guaranteed. Naturally, Su Yu did not care much about these things anymore. In his eyes, the path of divine characters was extremely useful for auxiliary purposes, but taken on its own, it was fairly ordinary. How could it compare to the sheer satisfaction of the physical body, where every cast brought immense power? …… While strengthening himself, Su Yu was also raking in a fortune. Over the past few days, he had continuously sold Heaven Yuan Qi to outsiders under the name of the Heaven Hunting Pavilion. By now, however, he had stopped selling, wary of being ambushed and robbed by those red-eyed late-stage Sun Moons. After all, anyone in the city over the past few days knew that the Heaven Hunting Pavilion held an abundance of Heaven Yuan Qi. Su Yu halted his sales and went into hiding, preparing to grind those fellows to death. Eight days! In truth, panic had already set in throughout the city. Experts from several minor races could no longer hold out. Their family fortunes had been bled dry by Su Yu, and their supplies of Heaven Yuan Qi were completely exhausted. No money, no Heaven Yuan Qi, and now they faced the ongoing invasion of death qi. Eight straight days! Many were on the verge of madness. Hadn't they said Su Yu would surely die within three days? Why was he still alive?! Some could no longer endure the corrosion of death qi and were forced to consider whether to convert into residents. If they didn't make up their minds right now, the conversion itself required three days; by the time three days passed, they might already be dead. Right now, they either had to prepare in advance, or gamble that Su Yu would die in three days, thereby reopening the city gates. …… Before the Castellan Manor. After Tu He's departure, seven late-stage Sun Moon experts remained outside the gates. Originally, nearly thirty Sun Moons had gathered in the city, but quite a few had left; Su Yu's threats had borne some fruit, after all. Even with those departures, there were currently six mid-stage and four early-stage Sun Moons remaining. Adding in the late-stage experts, seventeen Sun Moons remained in the city. More than a dozen had fled! Now, the city had been locked down for eight days. These Sun Moon realm figures had all brought large quantities of Heaven Yuan Qi with them and had bought additional supplies, so they were still holding out, but they could not help feeling anxious. The late-stage Sun Moon man from the Dragon Silkworm race could no longer sit still. "Lord Zi Mo, how much longer can Su Yu possibly hold on?" The strongest among them was this demon expert, a ninth-level Sun Moon. He had not made the Dao Attainment Ranking, yet his strength was exceptionally terrifying all the same. Zi Mo also hailed from the Blood Fire Demon race. This race boasted an immense number of Sun Moons, seemingly inexhaustible. At this moment, Zi Mo's long hair fluttered. After a lengthy silence, he suddenly said, "Get ready. Look for a chance to leave. If the gates aren't open in three to five days, prepare to run!" "..." Silence fell over the area. Several Sun Moons were dumbfounded. What was that supposed to mean? The Blood Fire Demon race wanted to run? Zi Mo didn't elaborate. While he still had his strength and a chance of escaping, if Su Yu was still hanging on after another three to five days, he would simply flee! He wasn't coming back next time! There was no point in this. Let alone fighting a battle, they were stuck blocking the door like fools, being driven to death without ever seeing the boy's face. Why shouldn't he run? Who knew when Su Yu would finally collapse! The Blood Fire Demon race had already lost quite a few experts to Su Yu. Originally, he had thought Su Yu would come out. Now it was clear he had been overthinking. The boy didn't come out at all; he merely activated the city gate lockdown, and they were all doomed. A ninth-level Sun Moon was indeed strong! He had brought plenty of Heaven Yuan Qi as well, but grinding it out like this was unsustainable. He could last half a month without trouble, and even surviving a month was within reach, but by then, he would be utterly exhausted, corroded by death qi beyond recognition. While his condition was still decent, he would look for an opportunity to bolt! The other experts kept quiet, understanding only one thing: they had underestimated Su Yu. If they failed to kill Su Yu this time, no one would dare come next time. He had maintained an unbroken lockdown for eight days without uttering a peep. If he truly locked them in until they perished, all the races would have to weigh whether picking trouble with Su Yu was worth paying such a staggering price. A boy clearly on the brink of death, yet he had wiped out these late-stage Sun Moons; next time, no late-stage Sun Moon would dare show up. Nobody wanted to throw their lives away! Cultivating to this level had been excruciatingly hard. Yet without even catching a glimpse of their quarry, they were being battered into utter humiliation! At that moment, the expert of the immortal race spoke softly, "Let's make it half a month. Wait another seven days. If Su Yu still hasn't died, we break out! Invincibles cannot enter the city, but that's fine. We'll have an Invincible shatter the gates from outside, and we'll break through immediately!" "A single Invincible will suffice!" "A dead spirit monarch will likely appear. Zi Mo, you hold it off briefly while we break out at full speed..." "..." The ninth-level Sun Moon of the Blood Fire Demon race merely stared at him in silence. Do you take my race for fools? I am a ninth-level Sun Moon who hasn't even merged his three incarnations, and you want me to hold off an Invincible-tier monarch? The Blood Fire Demon race loved battle, but they loved battles between equals, battles where they beat others to death. That didn't mean they enjoyed being beaten to death by others. What a joke! Zi Mo gave him a chilly glare, and after a long pause, he said, "When we break out, your immortal race will bring up the rear!" The immortal race expert froze. Zi Mo barked coldly, "What are you staring at? Your immortal race brings up the rear! If you object, we'll join forces and kill you right now!" "..." Silence. Not one of the experts from the other races spoke. The gods and demons opposed humanity; the Dragon Silkworm race bore a grudge against humans; the Nether race clashed with the immortals; and the remaining two hailed from the Heavenly Spirit Ape race and the Dragon race, neither having any friendship with the immortals. The immortal race had previously been allies of humanity! Of course, lately the immortals had been making quite a fuss against them as well. Regardless, since Zi Mo was unwilling, he was a ninth-level Sun Moon! The strongest presence here! The Nether and God experts were eighth-level Sun Moons, not weak either, while the immortal was at the seventh level... Your words carry no weight! The immortal expert's expression shifted slightly, though he quickly forced a smile. "Lord Zi Mo must be joking. My humble strength makes resisting a dead spirit monarch far too difficult..." Zi Mo said coldly, "Cut the nonsense. Your immortal race's Life Sprout Art leaves you brimming with vitality, able to offset a portion of the death qi corrosion. Who doesn't know that? If we break out, your bringing up the rear leaves you a thread of hope. If you refuse, then wait here to die!" The immortal expert's expression flickered. "Lord Zi Mo, our current objective is to slay Su Yu, not fight among ourselves." "Do you immortals think everyone else is an idiot?" Zi Mo said grimly, "Enough chatter! How dare you order me around—who gave you the nerve? Feel free to refuse to bring up the rear, or try making trouble!" With that, he swept his eyes over the others, his tone icy. "Remember this, everyone. If we break out and no one stays behind to hold off the dead spirit monarch, we will likely all die. If someone holds it off, most will survive! If someone must die, I will be the last! Neither the Dragon Silkworm nor the Heavenly Spirit Ape race can compare to the gods, demons, or immortals. If he doesn't bring up the rear, one of your races will have to. It's that simple. Consider for yourselves whether you'd rather he take the risk or you take it!" No one made a sound. The Dragon Silkworm Sun Moon felt terror in his heart. The Dragon Silkworm race was the weakest here; if the immortal didn't take the rear, it would naturally fall to him. Whether he had to bring up the rear or the immortal did... naturally it was better for the immortal fellow to go! Zi Mo snorted and paid them no further mind. The best outcome was naturally for Su Yu to die. If Su Yu truly didn't drop dead, however, they would have no choice; they would have to break out and leave after half a month. By that time, they would still retain enough strength to resist and escape. If they lingered past half a month, their power would be gravely depleted by death qi corrosion, making escape virtually impossible! The god race expert was a female, cold as frost, hailing from the Ice Snow God Race. At this moment, she cast a mocking glance at the immortal expert. The immortal race... was strong, yet deeply treacherous. Back when humanity was weak, the immortals had helped humans not out of goodwill, but out of fear that a wiped-out human race would leave all the spoils to the gods and demons, leaving the immortals with nothing. Now that humanity showed signs of rising, with the emergence of Multiple Divine Characters geniuses, the immortals had swiftly changed their tune; when it came to killing Su Yu, the immortals were more enthusiastic than any of them! The gods and demons felt nothing but disdain for such fence-sitters. Of course, the immortal race was undeniably powerful! Strictly speaking, the God Realm and Demon Realm were not necessarily more powerful than the Immortal Realm. That race had far too many old fossils! The gods and demons also knew of their Life Sprout Art. The immortal race was mysterious, and there might be countless ancient figures still living among them today—perhaps not fully attained in the Dao, but their numbers of quasi-Invincibles with three merged incarnations were likely not small. After all, they had carried on their lineage for countless eras! The gods and demons harbored little fondness for the immortals. At this point, the Nether race expert finally broke the silence, his voice low. "Let us not dwell on this for now. Su Yu may not necessarily hold out! Years ago, when the castellan of Zhanqiong Ancient City locked down his city as a ninth-level Sun Moon, he kept it shut for twelve days before falling completely, and his backlash back then was not yet this severe! Su Yu's strength is far below his, and his backlash is much worse. In my view, he won't last much longer!" "Let's hope so!" The Dragon Silkworm expert sighed inwardly. Had he known, he never would have come! The Dragon Silkworm Realm was not particularly strong, though the Invincible Dragon Silkworm King was decent enough. This time, the Dragon Silkworm King had learned about Su Yu and discovered that the boy had inherited King Miecan's temporal arts, which prompted him to dispatch Dragon Silkworms to kill Su Yu and show King Miecan a thing or two! Seventh-level Sun Moons were not abundant in the Dragon Silkworm Realm. The Dragon Silkworm Realm was roughly equivalent to a single human prefecture; of course, its history was far longer than that of humanity's great prefectures, so it possessed considerably more late-stage Sun Moons than an average prefecture. Across the entire Dragon Silkworm Realm, there were only about twenty late-stage Sun Moons. If he, a late-stage Sun Moon, were to actually perish here, the Dragon Silkworm Realm would be rocked to its core. Back home, he was an ancestor-level figure; if word got out, he would be laughed at for eternity. Their ancestor, ordered out to kill someone, had been ground to death without even seeing his target! And his opponent was merely in the Lingyun Realm! Regret flooded him! When Su Yu had announced the lockdown earlier, he had actually wanted to leave, but he had feared the Dragon Silkworm King's displeasure. Seeing that the Sun Moons of the other major races were staying, he had thought there was no harm, so he had remained. Now look at him: first swindled out of most of his savings by the Heaven Hunting Pavilion, and now forced to scheme for his very survival. What was the point of all this suffering?! Had he known, he would have just followed Tu He and the others out of the city! …… While the Sun Moons inside the city were filled with regret, outside the city, Tu He felt a lingering chill of dread. Eight days had passed, and the lockdown still hadn't lifted. He looked at Foutuling beside him and said with deep emotion, "Your intuition was right. Su Yu truly cannot be judged by common sense. If the gates don't open in a few more days, an Invincible will probably come to force them open, and those inside will attempt a breakout!" Foutuling said nothing, showing no trace of pride. What was there to be proud of? It wasn't as if he were the one who had locked down the city and ground those people down! He gazed toward the city, stood silent for a while, and suddenly sighed, "Let's go, Elder! There's nothing more to see. Who knows how many will die this time? Once a few perish, no one will dare enter the city to trap him again; even Sun Moons from the major races might not dare come! Su Yu is deterring them!" Su Yu didn't want to be constantly surrounded and watched. By killing a batch of late-stage Sun Moons this time, he would ensure that even strong races like the gods and demons wouldn't dare send people next time. If they were too weak, they would fear being slaughtered directly by Su Yu. If they were strong, they would risk dying if Su Yu locked down the city again or summoned dead spirits. If they were stronger still, a few more lockdowns... and no one could stomach the loss. They couldn't keep trading the lives of Sun Moons for a dying Su Yu; it simply wasn't worth it. After this incident, Su Yu would undoubtedly awe the myriad realms, and no one would ever view him as an insignificant figure again. As long as he didn't die, he was a local hegemon inside the ancient city! No matter when he might die, no matter his current cultivation, he was a hegemon-tier figure, equal to Tianhe and the others—perhaps even more troublesome than Tianhe. Moreover, Foutuling believed that Su Yu was not seeking his own destruction. Since he had initiated the lockdown, he would not end it with a whimper. If he did, he would only expose his own weakness. The moment Su Yu decided to lock down the city, he had likely prepared to trap and kill them all, possessing the means to do so; otherwise, he wouldn't have locked down the city so rashly. "Let's leave!" There was nothing left to watch! Su Yu could hold on for at least another seven days, perhaps even longer. As for an Invincible coming to breach the gates... Foutuling had no desire to watch an Invincible at work; watching such spectacles easily got one killed, and getting caught in the crossfire wasn't worth it. By this point, Tu He trusted Foutuling completely. Without another word, he followed him toward the distance. What a stroke of luck! Thank goodness he had trusted Foutuling and left the city with him. Otherwise, he would probably be groaning in misery inside right now! …… Meanwhile. Across the heavens and myriad realms, countless experts were speechless and collapsing in frustration. The Invincibles of the great god and demon races were nearly beside themselves with exasperation! Eight days! Su Yu still wasn't dead. Wasn't this kid in the Lingyun Realm? After refining the castellan token, he had kept the city locked down for eight days straight without dying from the backlash. Just what was going on? Inside the city, seven late-stage Sun Moons were still trapped. In addition, ten other Sun Moons remained. Was Su Yu going to trap and kill over a dozen more Sun Moons this time? If the gate seal wasn't lifted soon, they would have to breach the city by force. Of course, some had considered whether they should negotiate with Su Yu once more. Yet they simply couldn't stomach the humiliation! Time and again they had pressured Su Yu, only to compromise and sue for peace. It was humiliating beyond belief, turning them into a laughingstock across the myriad realms. After several rounds of this, where would the dignity of the great races remain? In truth, even if they wanted to negotiate, Su Yu couldn't be bothered. Right now, Su Yu was truly not hurting for money. At least not at the moment! He had plenty of treasures. Why should he let these fellows off? If he gave them the impression that money could buy their lives, they would dare come block his door again next time! This time, whether he managed to kill them or grind them to dust, he would at least make these fellows understand that entering the city meant danger! They had better stay far away! …… At this moment, Su Yu wasn't paying them any attention, his mind occupied with other matters. Would any Sun Moons convert into residents this time around? Getting a few Sun Moons to share the burden of death qi would actually be quite nice. Once they became residents, there was hope of taking them under his wing later as commanding generals. Of course, the city gate token couldn't just be handed out carelessly. Su Yu now understood that the general guarding the gates had to be someone the castellan fully trusted! Otherwise, the gate token could be used to forcibly open or close the gates. Granted, the castellan token held greater authority, but the terrifying part was if that person suddenly pulled such a stunt before you could even react. In that case, back in Tianmie Ancient City, Castellan Tianhe's gate general, Tianmen, had been Tianhe's trusted confidant; no wonder he could enter the Castellan Manor and guide Su Yu to the rear hall to meet the stone sculpture. Su Yu continued casting his body, calm and unhurried! …… The ninth day slipped by in the blink of an eye. On the tenth day, the outside world was in an uproar. What should they do? Ten days! There was still no sign of the city gates opening! The late-stage Sun Moons were holding out reasonably well, but the early-stage ones were already suffering from death qi corrosion, gripped by panic. They didn't know whether to keep waiting or swiftly convert into residents; otherwise, they were going to die. …… In the outside world. The East Rift Valley. Humanity's Invincibles had not yet dispersed. Lately, the situation had not been great, so most Invincibles remained stationed here on guard. At this moment, the topic of Su Yu came up once more. King Miecan, who had recently arrived from the Human Realm, marvelled, "Impressive, truly impressive—ten days! That kid still hasn't died. You have to hand it to him! Looks to me like the gods and demons will be wailing like babies again. He's killed quite a few Sun Moons by now!" More than the Invincibles had killed in decades of open warfare—on the surface, that is. Assassinations carried out in secret didn't count. King Daming said with a chuckle, "The number of Sun Moons Su Yu has killed on his own might not be fewer than what some among us have managed. Back in the Human Realm, that kid killed plenty, and once he reached the All-Heavens Battlefield, he killed even more! With an entire group of Eternals here, how does it feel that we haven't killed as many as he has?" Not far away, a figure of light said indifferently, "Killing Sun Moons is nothing. The role of an Eternal lies in deterrence, not slaughter. If we truly wished to kill, no matter how many Sun Moons gathered here, we could wipe them out!" King Daming beamed. "Is that so? Put ten Xia Longwus and ten Ye Batians here—do you think you'd beat them to death, or would they beat you to death?" "..." Contrarian! The speaking Invincible didn't want to engage him. The man was purely looking for an argument. When I spoke of Sun Moons, I wasn't referring to those two; why not just suggest bringing all the Sun Moons on the Dao Attainment Ranking while you're at it? King Daming chuckled for a bit, but his smile soon vanished. "Everyone, are we just going to watch like this? The myriad races have besieged and hunted him again and again, while humanity repeatedly turns a blind eye. If this goes on, is it really appropriate? This isn't the first time. The first time, we could say humanity didn't make it in time to rescue him; the second time, we could claim we lacked the strength; the third time, the fourth time..." He sighed softly. "Has humanity... truly come to this?" That sigh caused a slight tremor in several hearts. Yes, Su Yu hadn't died. His survival didn't mean humanity was performing well, and all the races had seen it—every single one of them! Besieging Su Yu time and again, yet aside from King Daxia and King Daming going once, humanity had been powerless at all other times, able only to watch, only to be spectators. Where was humanity's dignity? Silence reigned. A moment later, King Daming laughed. "Forget it, let's keep watching! Let's see when Su Yu finally dies! No matter how many Sun Moons he kills, it has nothing to do with us. He doesn't count as human anymore, so we just shouldn't treat him as one. Let's expel him—Su Yu is not a human! Let's handle everyone like this from now on: whoever gets killed simply isn't human. Next time, let's discuss expelling Xia Longwu and the rest too, stripping them of their human status!" "King Daming, it's not that we refuse to save him, it's..." "It's that we are powerless?" King Daming smiled. "Understood, perfectly fine. To be honest, dragging down multiple experts for the sake of one Su Yu isn't cost-effective! He's doomed to die anyway! Let's do the same next time: if any one of us is about to kick the bucket, nobody needs to go save him. You're going to die anyway, and saving you might get even more people killed, so why bother saving you? Also, whoever seeks to attain the Dao, best of luck to you; don't ask us for help. You're destined to die anyway, so why drag Eternals down just for your dao attainment?" King Daming chuckled. "This way, whenever anyone runs into danger, we just revoke their human status. You're going to die anyway, so we can't save you; saving you might cause more deaths, which isn't cost-effective! "When the armies march to war and suffer defeat, ignore them. You're doomed to die anyway, so dying is fine, no problem—otherwise the losses would be even worse! "If the Human Realm is breached, it doesn't matter; breach ahead. We can't fight, because fighting will cause more deaths, which isn't cost-effective!" King Daming smiled broadly. "Just like that: as long as we deem it not cost-effective, we don't need to care, right? Isn't that the logic? Am I wrong? Does anyone care to speak up and tell me where I'm mistaken?" Someone said in a low voice, "King Daming, these are not the same concept..." King Daming chuckled. "Go ahead, tell me how they aren't the same! Let me ask you: is Su Yu still human? Is he still a genius of humanity? Is he dead? Having slain dozens of Sun Moons, does he count as a hero or a coward? "He has been besieged by experts of the myriad races for days on end—that's a fact, isn't it? "If you want to argue that he provoked Invincibles, provoked gods and demons... let me ask you: if Moduona killed dozens of human Sun Moons and you went to kill him, would the demon race say Moduona deserved to die because he provoked humanity, provoked humanity's Eternals?" "Heh!" A mocking laugh escaped his lips. King Daming said no more, rising to his feet. "I'm going for a stroll to visit my son back home. Things aren't too dangerous around here lately; everyone's eyes are glued to Su Yu. If something comes up, call me. I'll see whether it's worth it, and then decide whether to come back!" "..." At this moment, deathly stillness fell over the area once more. In the distance, King Daqin wore a calm expression, letting him leave without a word. After waiting a moment until King Daming was gone, King Daqin spoke: "King Dazhou, King Daxia, King Miecan, Great Han King. The four of you will storm the Dragon Silkworm Realm and slaughter the Dragon Silkworm race!" "Old Qin..." Someone was shaken. King Daqin said indifferently, "Bullies pick on the weak, so let us do the same! If we cannot fight the gods and demons, can we not handle a minor race? Go. Wang Hu, you have always wanted revenge, so go take it! This time, King Miecan will lead the vanguard, and the other three will follow his lead. Slay the Dragon Silkworm King and annihilate the Dragon Silkworm Realm!" Among the crowd, King Miecan was overjoyed, swiftly responding, "Old Qin, you're the man! Hahaha! I've wanted to do this for ages, just never had the chance! Hahaha, I'll go! I know the way. I've visited the Dragon Silkworm Realm several times; on my own, I couldn't do anything to the Dragon Silkworm King, since he's stronger in his home realm..." King Daqin said calmly, "Go. Go swiftly and return swiftly, and beware of reinforcements from the gods and demons! While their attention is fixed on the ancient city, wait a bit longer. When an Eternal enters the ancient city's territory and triggers unrest there, storm the Dragon Silkworm Realm that very instant and slaughter their realm!" "Understood!" The four immensely powerful Invincibles answered in unison like disciplined soldiers. Here, King Daqin was the commander-in-chief. Another Invincible seemed about to speak, but King Daqin's gaze shifted, looking over the crowd with a cool detachment. "Enough! Humanity is weak, but not so weak that anyone can push us around! The Xuan Armor Realm is blocked at the door by Tianzhu, and now the gods, demons, immortals, dragons, apes, and Nether races are all extremely formidable. For now, it is unwise for humanity to completely shed all pretense with these races. So we shall use the Dragon Silkworm Realm to set an example, letting the myriad races know that humanity has not fallen so low that we dare not even face a minor realm!" He said coldly, "King Daming wasn't entirely wrong. Yielding step by step only hastens humanity's destruction, leading those ancient races and top hundred minor races to look down on us even more, thinking humanity is easy prey!" His voice turned chilly once more. "Four powerful Eternals should be more than enough to slaughter the Dragon Silkworm Realm! Slay an Eternal to intimidate the myriad heavens. It has likely been a very long time since the heavens witnessed such a sight!" The four mighty Invincibles vanished into the void in an instant. The remaining Invincibles fell silent, none uttering a word. King Daqin looked into the far distance, his gaze shifting with a trace of melancholy. Yes, they could only bully the weak. The gods, demons, immortals, dragons, Nether, and ape races were all formidable; even the ape race possessed nearly ten Invincibles, ranking twelfth among all races. To truly fight those races would ignite a full-scale war across the heavens. Under current circumstances, their only option was to strike the Dragon Silkworm Realm. To let the minor realms witness humanity's might... even if that might was so laughably hollow! The gods, demons, and immortals called the shots! And humanity only dared go this far, could only go this far! King Daqin found it laughable, yet following that amusement was a profound sense of powerlessness. Powerless as he was, King Daqin had to project an aura of absolute strength. He could not let the others see his dejection, see his disappointment. He was helpless! He could only do this much, only let everyone see that humanity still held a cohesive core, still possessed the will to kill. As for the rest, he could barely manage to hold the frontline. And as for that Su Yu out in the Sea of Stars... I am sorry, but I am powerless to change anything, powerless to take action, because behind me lies the Human Realm, home to billions of living souls. At this moment, King Daqin's emotions were a tangled mess. Stationed at the East Rift Valley for four hundred years, this was the first time in four centuries he had felt so utterly powerless. No, there had been one other time—when Ye Batian was killed. But Ye Batian's death had felt abrupt, even to him. This time was not abrupt. Su Yu had been trapped in that city for a long time—over a month now. Even Foutuling had finished his seclusion, yet Su Yu remained besieged over there. A month's time was enough for an Invincible to make dozens of round trips! Yet Su Yu was still encircled, still being hunted. Even though King Daqin could crush those Sun Moons like insects, he was powerless to do so. King Daqin closed his eyes. I hope this is the last time I ever feel so powerless. I hope there won't be a next time. Next time... Xia Longwu's dao attainment! Perhaps the Qin Spear should taste blood! King Daqin told himself silently: there could be no more retreats. Retreat any further, and there would be no road left! Retreat any further, and humanity's last shred of confidence would be completely eroded. At this moment, among the Invincibles behind him, some were silent, some felt stifled, some radiated killing intent, and some remained nonchalant... One Invincible made to move, but King Daqin's icy voice rang out: "Do not move, do not leave, do not transmit messages, and do not touch the Heaven Hunting Ranking! Until the Dragon Silkworm Realm is destroyed, no one is permitted to leave. Otherwise... while I may not be able to kill the experts of the myriad races, I wouldn't mind executing a human Invincible to consecrate our banner!" Four Invincibles had set out to slaughter a realm; if their movements were leaked, they might be ambushed and encircled! In this instant, King Daqin laid bare the unspoken suspicion lurking in every Invincible's heart! Silence! Deathly quiet! More silent and still than ever before. In this moment, humanity's backbone, humanity's strongest expert, King Daqin, had personally torn away the final veil! Humanity had a traitor! Among the Invincibles, there was a traitor! The traitor might very well be standing right among them, and King Daqin had made it plain: he wouldn't hesitate to kill this person, provided their identity was exposed. This was King Daqin's stance! The moment you slip up again and he catches you, he will kill you! No more looking the other way like back then, no more pretending ignorance just to preserve an Invincible for the human race.