No Saint in the Myriad Heavens

With Xinghong's furious roar, Zhu Tiandao became famous. Truly famous! Throughout the myriad realms, there was no one who did not know his name. Slaying four Invincible saints in a single day! Not even in the Invincible Realm himself, yet slaughtering Invincibles like dogs. As for whether everyone believed it... previously, that would have been hard to say. Yet when Wan Tiansheng, at the peak of the Shanhai Realm, could butcher two Invincibles, why couldn't the far more scheming Zhu Tiandao butcher four? The only oddity was the end, where three Invincibles fell in rapid succession—simply too fast. Falling one after another! It meant they had been slain at practically the same moment! This point remained slightly in doubt for now. Perhaps Wan Tiansheng and Lan Tian had joined forces with him. Those who witnessed it would speculate and deduce that either Lan Tian was actually capable of killing Invincibles too, or Wan Tiansheng had not been injured as severely as he appeared. With Zhu Tiandao already capable of slaying Invincibles, the three of them joining forces to fell three saints became entirely explainable. This was precisely the deduction made by the three Invincibles battling the Great Han King in the Human Realm. Because they had seen the three give chase with their own eyes! Of course, there was also Huangjia. Once his identity was unmasked... he might also have to take the fall. That scapegoat pot was simply too massive. *** Beneath the passage. Zhu Tiandao wore a look between laughing and crying. He wanted to weep, yet no tears came. He mumbled, "It seems I'd better attain the Dao right here in the Human Realm today. Otherwise... I have no hope left!" In this lifetime, he could forget about ever attaining the Dao in the all-heavens! Not a shred of hope remained! Wan Tiansheng shot him a sideways glance and said faintly, "How about... doing a favor? Head out through the All-Heavens Prefecture, show your face, declare that you want to attain the Dao, and then... Xia Longwu might still be saved!" Care to help out? Xia Longwu was in the greatest peril right now! If Zhu Tiandao went and staged a fake Dao attainment, dozens of Invincibles might rush over to hunt him down. Zhu Tiandao thought of this as well, and a chill instantly ran down his spine! Screw that! You're setting me up to die! As they spoke, someone fell down from above, holding two objects in his hands, brimming with joy. At this moment, Su Yu was indeed overjoyed. A massive profit! He had earned another two carriers! He had originally held two, and now he had earned two more, bringing his total to four all at once. Getting carriers into his hands was so simple! Su Yu mused internally that these things were practically inexhaustible! Last time he had three and shattered one; now, he was up to four, more and more. Judging by the deaths of three Invincibles, there should have been five carriers—one from Lade and two each from the other two. However, the stone sculpture was terrifyingly powerful and couldn't be bothered to care whether the items were damaged, and the Invincibles had been unwilling to leave behind benefits in their dying moments. That two had survived was already considered quite fortunate. Not only that, but the carrier left behind by Divine King Huoji, the last to perish, was a small tree. Its branches still bore a substantial amount of lingering blood with an immense aura. Perhaps a drop of Invincible essence blood could even be extracted from it! This was an unexpected pleasant surprise! Naturally, Su Yu's harvest went far beyond just this. When Divine King Huoji fell, Su Yu was still in the All-Heavens Battlefield. Since Huoji had technically been killed there, Su Yu, as the finisher who landed the final blow, reaped a great deal of benefits. A massive amount of willpower, an immense surge of heavenly profound light, and several divine characters. He had merely landed a finishing blow! Proportionally speaking, Su Yu hadn't contributed even a thousandth of the effort in killing Huoji, yet it had still brought him countless boons. Su Yu's physical body vibrated abruptly! His sixty-third body tempering was complete! He had already been close. After fighting those geniuses and polishing his body for so long, this sudden influx of benefits allowed him to step into sixty-three temperings in the blink of an eye. That was not all; his willpower was expanding rapidly. It felt slightly swollen and painful! Several divine characters shattered once more—they weren't human divine characters again, damn it—and flooded his sea of will with immense willpower and divine character remnants. The little fur ball sucked them down madly, and so did Su Yu. The Mind Expansion Hammer hammered away continuously! His sea of will expanded! Last time, Su Yu had advanced to the ninth tier of the Lingyun Realm. He had hammered at it for ages just to barely compress it to the level of having just broken through. Today, with his willpower and sea of will expanding ceaselessly, he grew even stronger. Rumble! Within his mind, his already vast sea of will expanded once more. Su Yu struck repeatedly! He had no choice but to hammer. He couldn't advance into the Shanhai Realm yet, as he had not reached the stage of aperture fusion. Without hammering, not only would he fail to enter the Shanhai Realm, but his sea of will would risk bursting from the swelling force. He pounded frantically! His divine characters were also leveling up continuously. This time, Su Yu mainly upgraded those that had not reached tier four, especially the newly formed character "Script." Out of Su Yu's twenty-seven divine characters, more than half had now reached tier four. Only his immense sea of will could possibly sustain such a burden. Now, another batch of divine characters began advancing to tier four! Back when Su Yu killed the Immortal race's Jiu Xuan, he had discovered thirty-six divine aperture locations. Combined with his original one hundred and eighty, he had opened some last time while leaving others untouched. Now, those remaining apertures were rapidly being unlocked. Slaying an Invincible, even with only a minor assist, yielded such enormous rewards primarily because Su Yu had crossed so many cultivation realms to do so! The reward was staggering! All of the remaining two hundred and sixteen divine apertures were now unlocked, finishing in the blink of an eye. After absorbing and digesting the gains for a while longer, Su Yu's Civilization Master path now boasted two hundred and sixteen opened divine apertures, twenty-seven divine characters with the majority at tier four, and a sea of will so expansive it bordered on the mid-stage Shanhai Realm, showing signs of transforming toward late-stage Shanhai. His willpower strength had also firmly reached the Shanhai Realm. Right now, Su Yu could practically be considered a Shanhai Civilization Master... Of course, he had not completed aperture fusion, so it was only accurate to say his combat prowess was fully there. Aperture fusion enhanced willpower strength, and Su Yu had already achieved that through the Expanding Will Art. A moment later, his physical body jolted again, advancing to sixty-four temperings. Moreover, plenty of rewards remained. Reaching another two or three temperings wouldn't be difficult at all. Su Yu clicked his tongue in amazement. Holy crap, that was just from landing a few finishing blows! He was genuinely filled with regret! Three Invincibles! He had only landed a hit on Huoji. If he had known earlier, he would have struck all of them from the very start! When Mohe and Lade were killed, he hadn't gotten a single hit in. What a waste! Su Yu's guts were practically green with regret right now! If he had landed blows on all of them, could he have grown even stronger? Could he have completed seventy-two temperings in an instant, and boosted his willpower even further? Su Yu felt an intense sense of loss! Such a pity! He should have thrown a few punches in advance, but he simply hadn't thought of it back then. While he was busy feeling regretful, Wan Tiansheng and the others watched helplessly as the boy's willpower surged and boiled over. The power radiating from him clearly carried the true might of the Shanhai Realm. As for his physical body... Su Yu had swallowed essence blood, making it temporarily impossible to gauge his true physical strength; the increase from his body temperings was not obvious compared to that. In reality, from body tempering alone, the aperture strength of Su Yu's physical body had already surpassed eight hundred thousand apertures of force! His yang apertures were completely unlocked! With all his yang apertures opened, Su Yu could feel his physical strength double! Yes, doubled. From that alone, his physical strength exceeded 1.6 million apertures of force, not even counting the amplification from his divine characters. Even without swallowing essence blood, Su Yu was incomparably formidable right now. The only minor annoyance was that having all his yang apertures open caused them to continuously absorb death qi. Su Yu didn't mind too much. Opening the yang apertures had one major advantage: he no longer needed to manage the death qi transmitted by Xingyue. No matter how much she sent, the yang apertures absorbed it, maintaining a rough balance. Now, he didn't even need to reverse it. If anything, he wished Xingyue would send even more! Xingyue absolutely could not die; if she did, he would have to fill the yang apertures on his own. If anyone tried to sever Su Yu's death qi channel now, Su Yu would beat them to death! To hell with that! He was relying on Xingyue to survive. Severing it would cause real trouble. If it were truly cut off, where would he find so much power every day to nourish his yang apertures? The ancestor of the Bai family had secluded himself in a secret chamber for countless years, cultivating day and night, yet it still wasn't enough to satisfy the yang apertures' absorption. How miserable was that! At this moment, Su Yu was pondering another question. Then again, if one day he truly killed an Invincible entirely on his own, would the rewards burst his body apart? This was merely a thousandth of the credit... If he truly crossed realms to defeat and slay an Invincible, a thousandfold reward was simply unimaginable! Su Yu shook his head. Forget it, forget it. Best not to dwell on it. "Kid!" Just then, Lan Tian spoke in a melancholic tone, "Little Su Yu, how about lending me the four carriers on you? I want to unite the myriad Daos into one, which requires ten thousand carriers. I'm currently short by 9,999!" "..." Su Yu, Wan Tiansheng, and Zhu Tiandao all looked at him simultaneously. Are you out of your mind? Who do you think you're talking to? Ten thousand? Go die already! Lan Tian said plaintively, "Little Su Yu, once I unite the myriad Daos, I will be the greatest under the heavens. If you are willing to gift me 9,999 carriers, I am willing to accompany you across every mountain and river..." Su Yu glanced at Wan Tiansheng, then at Zhu Tiandao. *Could you two help me beat him up?* Lan Tian... genuinely gave him goosebumps! Wan Tiansheng couldn't be bothered with them and said calmly, "Let's go. People might come through this passage shortly. Although it's sealed, we must remain wary of someone reopening it. Retreat first! Head over to the Great Xia Prefecture..." The grand battle over there was still underway! Even as he spoke, the Great Han King's roar echoed from the distant void: "Zhu Tiandao, get over here! Quick, they're trying to flee!" More than just three Invincibles were trying to run! At this moment, all the experts of the myriad races were fleeing. Run! The carriers were gone, the Tombstone of Civilization was gone; if they didn't run now, were they supposed to wait for Zhu Tiandao, who slaughtered Invincibles like dogs, to regroup with the others? There was no hope left! Retreat! Right now, on the Human Realm's side, there were more than three foreign Invincibles. Xuanjia and his group had also intercepted Divine King Tiandang, making a total of four foreign Invincibles. Within the Human Realm alone, Zhu Tiandao had slain four Invincibles, and Wan Tiansheng had slain two. Today, six Invincibles had died in the Human Realm! One dragon king had been crippled. That dragon king was probably feeling quite fortunate right now; though two of his life embodiments were destroyed, he was at least still breathing. The remaining four Invincibles quickly regrouped, with the Great Han King and his allies pursuing them relentlessly. In truth, fighting four Invincibles was quite difficult for them. The Great Han King was gravely wounded, Xuanjia had not attained the Dao, and the Minister of the Huang Department still couldn't merge his three-life embodiments... If the four Invincibles truly fought desperately, life and death would be uncertain. Yet at this moment, they were only fleeing, not fighting back! Flee! If they didn't run, once Zhu Tiandao—the slayer of four Invincibles—arrived, not a single one of them would make it out alive! The Great Han King bellowed, but Zhu Tiandao curled his lip. *Give me a break!* If he really went over to fight and got seen through... hehe, with four Invincibles fighting for their lives, there was no telling how many on the Human Realm's side would survive. Wan Tiansheng took a deep breath and said, "Matters here in the Human Realm are nearly settled! Those four are about to run, and they will likely take that stable passage—the one the All-Races Sect has always used. This time, it will be completely exposed! Fine! Let them leave!" With that, he looked at Su Yu and the others. "Go to the All-Heavens Prefecture to assist, especially Su Yu and Zhu Tiandao... Even if you cannot deal with Invincibles, you can at least draw some fire..." "You want me to go die?" Zhu Tiandao snapped irritably, "What about you?" "I'm crippled." "Tch!" Zhu Tiandao scoffed in disdain. Wan Tiansheng smiled, looked into the distance, and murmured, "I'm crippled, but... I still have the strength to fight! All of you, go. Take Xia the Second and the others, and head to the All-Heavens Battlefield to aid the fight!" "And you're just going to huddle at home?" Wan Tiansheng smiled, looked around, and said softly, "I'll have a look around the Human Realm. Take a look at this mortal world..." Before Zhu Tiandao could grasp his meaning, Su Yu suddenly said, "Manor Lord, at a time like this... all the Human Realm Invincibles are engaged in battle. How about..." Wan Tiansheng said faintly, "You don't understand! Right now, this is only the beginning. From here on, things will be even harder for the human race! With so many people attaining the Dao this time, the aftermath will bring even greater trouble! Usually, when there is no grand war, some Invincibles wait at the All-Heavens Prefecture... but someone has to clean up the filth in this mortal world." Beside them, Lan Tian chimed in plaintively, "I'll accompany you! I'll travel every mountain and river with you, together! Let's pull off a big heist, reap our reward, and then... leave! Find a place where no one knows us to spend the rest of our lives together. How about it?" "..." Wan Tiansheng glanced at him and sneered. Su Yu gritted his teeth. "Manor Lord, how about I... I'm not afraid, anyway!" "Nonsense!" Wan Tiansheng smiled. He reached out as if to pat Su Yu's head, but suddenly withdrew his hand and chuckled. "Go. Knowing you can live well on the All-Heavens Battlefield even without the human race's protection actually... brings me great comfort! Also, Nan Wujiang can be considered my teacher, and Yun Chen was the senior brother who taught me... But remember: you can know a person's face, but never their heart! Over the years, many people in the multiple character faction have died... Perhaps... you aren't familiar with them, and those you are close to are still alive, so you don't understand that feeling... but as for me... there might still be some grudges. "Do not easily trust anyone, and do not lay all your cards on the table. You're familiar with Zhu Tiandao, aren't you? But what about now? Did you know he was a quasi-Invincible? Did you know his elder brother is an Invincible? How much do you truly know about the Daming Prefecture?" Wan Tiansheng and Su Yu flew along, then Wan Tiansheng looked back at Zhu Tiandao and Lan Tian with a smile. "Could you two go ahead? I still have a few words to say to Su Yu." Zhu Tiandao cursed under his breath, while Lan Tian looked thoroughly aggrieved, yet both departed together nonetheless. Once they were gone, Wan Tiansheng sent a voice transmission: "You've still exposed too much! The stone sculpture was originally your trump card for saving your life, but after today's commotion, they at least know one thing: the stone sculpture... probably cannot kill people inside the Human Realm. Otherwise, there would have been no need for you to go to the All-Heavens Battlefield. "Your ability to battle eighth-tier Sun Moons is also known to everyone now. "Do you have any other trump cards, any other capital?" Wan Tiansheng warned, "You must remember: over all these years, the Human Realm has seen countless geniuses and countless experts, but few ever reveal their full hand to others! King Daxia, King Daqin—how do you know what they've displayed is everything? Do you know why Ye Batian failed to attain the Dao? He was too arrogant in ordinary times; everyone knew he could battle Invincibles! Had he not shown it so blatantly, had he stayed hidden in the shadows and suddenly revealed that kind of power upon attaining the Dao... do you think so many Invincibles would have come to kill him? "We are younger; we cannot outscheme the older generation!" Wan Tiansheng sighed. "The Invincibles of the Human Realm, including those of the myriad races, are not easy to deal with! Fenhai was merely cannon fodder. What you need to understand, you will understand; what you don't, you don't need to dwell on too much. "Right now you are shrouded in death qi. I see that your life is not in immediate danger for the moment, so find a way to resolve these troubles yourself! The stone sculpture is your backing, but do not treat them as machines, and do not treat them as weapons. Otherwise... they will abandon you as well! "For Xia Longwu's Dao attainment, when you head to the All-Heavens Battlefield, I suspect you might want to borrow the stone sculpture's power. Do not do it!" Su Yu was startled. Wan Tiansheng said faintly, "Do not do it! Sentiment is something that runs out! The stone sculpture made Zhu Tiandao take the blame for slaying the Invincibles; clearly, they have no wish to participate in the wars of the all-heavens. If you force the issue, yes, they might take action... but while that benefits Xia Longwu, it will bring you no benefit at all! "If Xia Longwu succeeds in attaining the Dao, everyone rejoices; if he fails... it is not your fault! "Remember: you are just a newcomer. Do you truly believe the human race can only rely on you? Wrong! Among the human Invincibles, some may appear honest and simple to you, but that might not be the case!" Wan Tiansheng cautioned him once more, "Do not pour everything out to everyone! The human race is not the hegemon of the all-heavens! At the critical juncture, no one can protect you. Right now, it looks like a great victory for the human race with countless formidable foes slain, but what is the reality? "The powerful races like the Gods and Demons have only lost one or two Invincibles. Do you think they have few Invincibles after all these years? "Not a single Half-Emperor took action. Do you know what that means? It means that in their eyes, this was merely testing the waters; the time for them to intervene has not yet arrived, so there was no need to act! "Were it not for the Tombstone of Civilization... they wouldn't have cared at all about how much the Human Realm was hiding. They were merely watching a spectacle—watching the Human Realm make a show of itself!" Wan Tiansheng smiled. "When you brought out the Tombstone of Civilization, I knew there might be some trouble, but I guessed the human race would still be somewhat prepared..." He continued in a low voice, "Would you believe that even now, the human race still has hidden Invincibles right here in the Human Realm who have never acted? If Zhu Tiandao and the others couldn't kill those Invincibles, other Invincibles within the Human Realm would have stepped forward!" Su Yu was stunned! There were more? How could that be... If they existed, why hadn't they acted earlier? "Foolish child!" Wan Tiansheng smiled. "If they didn't hold a card in reserve and threw everything into the All-Heavens Battlefield, what would happen to their home base? I don't blame them; some people have no choice but to hide. The human race still has several Invincibles whose three-life embodiments fell and who haven't appeared for many years. They are likely hidden somewhere in the Human Realm, and at a crucial moment, they would certainly step in. Of course, not showing themselves is a good thing too..." Su Yu nodded slightly. "I understand! Manor Lord, I won't easily trust anyone..." "Mm." Wan Tiansheng smiled, then added, "Including me! Because the suspicion on me is actually very heavy. Do you understand?" Su Yu remained silent. "Perhaps you understand too: what I show you might only be what I want you to see, not the truth. Who says the one who killed Ye Batian had to be Fenhai? Why couldn't it have been me? Slaying Fenhai might have been nothing more than silencing a witness! Crippling myself might have been solely to rid myself of suspicion, because someone had definitely suspected me!" Wan Tiansheng chuckled. "So, keep some things clear in your own heart! Do not take the capital meant to preserve your own life and use it to play the savior. Without you, without the stone sculpture, would the human race be destroyed? "For the countless years before you were born, was the human race wiped out? "Wanting to destroy the human race is not that simple!" He shook his head. "We haven't reached that point yet. If we had, King Daqin and the others would have grown desperate long ago, charging into the various realms to sow chaos. More than four hundred years ago was the true moment of peril, and those people chose to breach the realms and fight! We haven't reached that stage yet. The human race can still hold on!" He looked at the carriers in Su Yu's hand and spoke again: "You kid, harsh on the outside but soft-hearted within! On the All-Heavens Battlefield right now, some humans have yet to obtain a carrier to attain the Dao. If you encounter them, will you give them one?" Su Yu kept silent. Wan Tiansheng shook his head. "Do not give them away lightly. Because you obtain these things easily, you might not cherish them! But are they truly easy to get? If the stone sculpture hadn't repeatedly slain Invincibles and shattered their three-life embodiments, where would you have found them? Won't you need to attain the Dao yourself? Won't your teacher, your grandteacher, and the others need them? When that time comes, you might not have any left! "If you really want to put them to use, kid, giving them to some of the city lords would be fine!" Wan Tiansheng said faintly, "Xinghong values you. Those city lords cannot free themselves from the ancient cities, and you might not be able to either! So, if you can reach an agreement with the other stone sculptures, once those city lords succeed in attaining the Dao... they will be your true helpers! They are constrained; they are bound to the ancient cities and to the stone sculptures. If you try to attain the Dao, it will be as difficult as ascending to heaven! Not many will truly be willing to fight to the death for you! This time might be an opportunity; some city lords might briefly sever their death qi channels to reach quasi-Invincible status, or enhance themselves in a short period of time... "Out of the thirty-six ancient cities, thirty-five have city lords. Aside from you, there are thirty-four city lords. If those city lords attain the Dao, they will be your true backing—Invincibles who can genuinely fight for you!" Su Yu frowned. "Manor Lord... this..." "Are you trying to say I'm too selfish?" Wan Tiansheng smiled. Su Yu shook his head, frowning. "I mean, controlling an Invincible must be very difficult, right? Can the stone sculptures control them? Once they become city lords, do they really have hope of attaining the Dao? And if they do attain the Dao, will they break free from those constraints?" "They won't. The stone sculptures are so powerful yet cannot break free, so how could they?" Wan Tiansheng chuckled. "As long as you take it to heart, kid, that's enough! As for carriers, the more the better. Once this opportunity passes, you might never see it again. Do you think the myriad races will send Invincibles to be killed by you every day? Aside from this time, how many quasi-Invincibles do you normally ever see? "Everyone only knows you have two carriers; hide the remaining two away yourself! If there is truly no other way... you can hand over the two!" With that, he tossed over another carrier. "Take this one as well!" This was what he had gained from killing Fenhai. He hadn't gotten anything from killing King Minghe, and from Fenhai's three embodiments, he had only secured a single piece. "This is useless to me." Tossing it to Su Yu, he continued, "It will be very difficult for Zhu Tiandao to attain the Dao. In my view, he won't be able to succeed in the Human Realm this time. The Human Realm... can barely sustain another Dao attainment right now. It will either have to be in the all-heavens, in an ancient ruin, or in a small realm! Watch for your chance. If that fellow ever truly tries to attain the Dao, it might be an opportunity for you as well!" Su Yu nodded. Wan Tiansheng continued, "Remember another thing! You are only yourself. You are not King Daqin's son, not King Daxia's son, not King Dazhou's son... and not King Daming's son! This time, you only saw the human race win a great victory and make massive leaps in strength, but you failed to see that the top Invincibles are the real beneficiaries. "The Zhou family has four Invincibles in one clan, the Daming Prefecture has two, the Great Qin Prefecture has two... I'm not criticizing them, only reminding you that even saints have emotions, and they differentiate between who is close and who is distant!" Wan Tiansheng smiled. "Having emotions is a good thing; without emotions, those Invincibles might have fled long ago! It is precisely because they have emotions that they continue to wage war across the all-heavens. But because they have emotions... can you ever compare to their own sons and grandsons?" Su Yu was slightly taken aback. "No matter how talented you are, you are not their own son or grandson! King Daming and Niu Baidao have a great relationship, don't they? Yet when he found two ruins, he used one himself and gave the other to his son. Did he give it to Niu Baidao?" Su Yu fell silent. Wan Tiansheng said calmly, "That is the choice of an ordinary human being! King Daming wasn't wrong. When he had something good, giving it to his son was completely natural! No matter how good his relationship with Niu Baidao is, they are friends and comrades-in-arms. If your father had something good, he would give it to you, not to his comrades, wouldn't he? Unless you didn't want it or had more than you could use, and your father had a burst of charity to give it to others. "I say all this only to tell you: you... are Su Yu! Not Zhu Yu, not Qin Yu, and not Zhou Yu!" Su Yu nodded once more, then asked in confusion, "Manor Lord, I'm not Wan Yu either!" *Then why are you giving this carrier to me?* *Your Wan family still has descendants; Wan Mingze is one of them.* Wan Tiansheng laughed. "Idiot! Because I have no use for it. As for the rest of the Wan family... you must also realize that possessing a treasure brings misfortune! Something too precious arouses envy. Without sufficient strength, one cannot protect it! There is no need to use a supreme treasure to test the human heart! The human heart is something you must never test!" Su Yu nodded and spoke up: "Manor Lord, after this... will you still remain in the Human Realm?" "No." Wan Tiansheng said calmly, "Staying behind would make things awkward for me, and awkward for everyone else. Rather than that, it's better to leave." "Must you do this, Manor Lord? I feel we could completely let those Invincibles deal with it and resolve it themselves..." "Naive!" Wan Tiansheng said faintly, "Doing that would only foster resentment among those Invincibles. Rather than that, give them a target for their hatred! They were not in the wrong; the wrong one was me. I was too ruthless, too venomous! At least then, they can remain united against external foes! I don't have much of a connection to you all, so there will be no need for them to vent their anger on you. Not all Invincibles are King Fenhai." Wan Tiansheng quickly added, "After the battle, remember to publicize how many geniuses you pinned down—which in truth was pinning down just as many Invincibles—and how much you contributed to the human race. Just because we know doesn't mean everyone knows! Do not conceal your contributions! Remember, also tell everyone that the ruin was yours, that you contributed it yourself. Don't say it was fabricated; say it was the ruin you obtained, and that this time, it has been completely destroyed! "As for the Tombstone of Civilization..." Wan Tiansheng said in a low voice, "The myriad races are all watching it! But remember, after the battle, it is not in your hands; it is in Kongkong's hands! Huangjia is Kongkong—remember this. He took it away... I will find a way to help you take it back, but you must insist it is in his hands. He won't be able to step forward to explain, nor will he dare to!" Su Yu was startled. *In whose hands?* Su Yu hurriedly took out his Tombstone of Civilization. Wan Tiansheng didn't even look at it. "Fake. I'm more familiar with the Tombstone of Civilization than you are. Besides, I fabricated that ruin; I understand all of this better than you do! It's on Huangjia. Huangjia... was likely instructed by Zhu Tianfang to take it. No matter, I will help you retrieve it, and even Zhu Tianfang won't know! Don't say a word, and leave Huangjia with no way to defend himself..." Su Yu asked in bewilderment, "Manor Lord, is it truly in Huangjia's hands?" "..." Wan Tiansheng hesitated for a moment, then laughed. "You clever brat!" With that, he tossed a stone tablet to him. "Hold onto it. The one on Huangjia was swapped by me; what he stole was a fake, but he thinks it's real, and that's enough!" Su Yu curled his lip. *I knew it!* *You already knew Huangjia was going to steal it, and you were the one who made the ruin. How could you truly let Huangjia steal it away?* Wan Tiansheng said faintly, "Don't go tossing this around carelessly. This is a good thing. Now that it has been exposed and everyone knows it appeared, find a way to unmask Huangjia's identity and let him take the blame! Otherwise, the Half-Emperors will keep their eyes fixed on you!" "Manor Lord, is that appropriate? He did help me, after all. Isn't that repaying kindness with enmity?" Wan Tiansheng laughed. "He won't die. Besides... he really did steal it! If that truly doesn't work, just dump it onto Zhu Tianfang. Do you think that if Zhu Tianfang actually got his hands on it, he would give it to you?" He shook his head. "Don't be so naive! Every Civilization Master wants this thing, and Zhu Tianfang is a Civilization Master too; he wants it just as much! This object might be related to a Civilization Master's Dao attainment. Once someone else takes it, it might no longer be yours!" Su Yu held his head in a headache. "Manor Lord... then I..." "Just pretend you don't know!" Wan Tiansheng said calmly, "You didn't know in the first place! Forget it, I'll find a way myself to force Huangjia's identity into the open. I'll even cause the ruin to tremor and shatter, revealing a glimpse of the river of time so everyone sees that the item was stolen by Huangjia! Kongkong isn't human. Do you think he would have helped you if not for Zhu Tianfang?" Su Yu shook his head. *How could that be possible!* "I understand!" Su Yu nodded. "Then I'll just pretend I know nothing. As for Kongkong... I'll see how things develop." "That's the spirit!" Wan Tiansheng smiled. "That is all I have to say; handle the rest as you see fit! With the ancient city as your backing, without the Tombstone of Civilization, and having lost your own ruin, your formidable strength will be seen as lying in your physical body rather than your willpower and divine characters. The myriad races aren't blind; they will be able to see that, and your future troubles will be vastly reduced! There won't be any need to be targeted like you are now. With Nan Wujiang and my senior brother Yun Chen appearing, and Liu Wenyan entering the Sun Moon Realm... you will no longer be regarded as the greatest threat..." Su Yu nodded. That was true enough. Yet he couldn't help asking curiously, "Manor Lord, why does it feel like you don't really like Nan Wujiang—the Third Generation?" Su Yu felt that Xuanjia was quite good. Logically speaking, he could be considered Wan Tiansheng's master, yet Wan Tiansheng always addressed him directly by name. Wan Tiansheng said indifferently, "He accepted disciples on behalf of our master; I am not close to him! He spent so many years in the Hunting Heaven Pavilion—did he truly know nothing of what the multiple character faction was going through? Of course, I have no right to criticize him; we are all ruthless people! Many from the multiple character faction died. I know it, he knows it, Senior Brother Yun Chen knows it, and many others know it... But compared to luring out that traitorous Invincible, none of that was important! Compared to multiple people attaining the Dao today, none of that was important! Very few will truly remember those who fell!" Wan Tiansheng smiled. "That is why I said: you are only yourself, Su Yu! Not Nan Yu, not Wan Yu... Your lineage values sentiment! It should be counted starting from Ye Batian: Ye Batian, Liu Wenyan, Hong Tan, Bai Feng, Chen Yong, you, Wu Jia... You are the ones who truly share a single lineage!" Wan Tiansheng chuckled. "Do you understand? Yours is the only true line of heritage. Ye Batian was sentimental, reckless, wild, and arrogant... so he died! Liu Wenyan and the others are the same, valuing sentiment, which is why... across the myriad realms, your lineage is the most tragic! We were never so miserable! Liu Wenyan was crippled for fifty years; Hong Tan hid like a tortoise for fifty years; Chen Yong watched helplessly as his close friend was killed, dying in his place; Bai Feng was forced to leave his homeland, not daring to recognize his own family or return home; Wu Jia lost her parents; and you have been hunted across the all-heavens, escaping death by a hair's breadth multiple times..." Wan Tiansheng sighed. "So, the only ones who are truly tragic are your lineage! From Ye Batian down to you, none have met a good end! You... were merely chess pieces in the grand game between the human race and the myriad races. Everyone else had their own calculations, though the Xia family did sacrifice a great deal in all of this. "Gratitude is gratitude, and other matters are other matters. Do not mix them together!" Having said this, Wan Tiansheng took a deep breath. "I am going to settle all accounts! Not for your sakes, but for my own. I am neither willing nor resigned to being used as a chess piece or a pawn in someone else's game. Su Yu... grow strong on your own!" Wan Tiansheng tore through the void and departed. Su Yu watched his retreating figure, speechless for a long time. This was the most Wan Tiansheng had ever spoken to him, saying many things he normally wouldn't, dared not, and couldn't say. At a time of joyous celebration when everyone was rejoicing, Wan Tiansheng had spoken words that chilled Su Yu to the bone. He was leaving! To settle accounts! Su Yu had originally thought that, having reached this stage, Wan Tiansheng would give up. Yet he hadn't; he hadn't given up at all. He was truly going to settle every single score. From this day forward... this Wan Tiansheng, who had just been hailed as a hero by everyone, might... no longer be a hero. Because he had gone mad! Yes, mad. Su Yu had seen it: he was perhaps even crazier than Lan Tian. Wan Tiansheng was brilliant. He saw through many things, and it seemed very little could ever be hidden from him. If he simply chose not to act any further right now, he would be a hero—a great hero of the human race. Yet... Su Yu's emotions were tangled and complex. Even as he was leaving, Wan Tiansheng had still been teaching him the way of survival, helping him resolve every trouble, including the predicament surrounding the Tombstone of Civilization. He had told Su Yu not to trust anyone, not even him. Yet... could Su Yu truly bring himself not to trust him? Su Yu let out a soft sigh, letting the thoughts fade. After today, the human race would have no Wan Tiansheng.