The Number One Handsome Man

Across the Human Realm, stars plummeted from the sky. The sacred grounds lay ruined, and the traitors were put to the sword. Wan Tiansheng had made heads roll by the multitude. Traitors? Slain! Collaborators with the All-Races Sect? Slain! Those who fled battle when duty called? Slain! He slaughtered until the very heavens changed color, until a saint became a demon. …… All-Heavens Prefecture, at the entrance to the passageway. Su Yu gazed in that direction, toward the Great Xia Prefecture. He looked again and again, tears glimmering faintly in his eyes, yet he could not weep. Ever since he was small, he had hated crying. Wan Tiansheng had said he was fierce on the outside but soft-hearted within... Soft-hearted? Su Yu did not know. Was he not ruthless enough? He felt he was ruthless enough! Yet today, he knew it was not enough. He still harbored feeling for this Human Realm. He harbored feeling for the Great Xia Prefecture. When he learned that the Human Realm was in peril, when he learned that the Xia family was in crisis... he had returned. He could have chosen to remain one of the overlords of the all-heavens, but he had not. Giving his all, he had come back. Just to save Hong Tan and the others? Not merely for that, was it? He yearned for a glorious victory for the Human Realm. He yearned for Xia Longwu to succeed in attaining the Dao. Wan Tiansheng had warned that carrier objects were precious and not to be handed out lightly. He had meant Su Yu. Would Su Yu give one away? Perhaps! Now, watching the stars crash down, he observed in silence, not speaking a word for a long time. At some point, another figure had appeared beside him—Commander Wu Ji of the Three Hundred Thousand Strongmen. He looked toward that direction, toward the War God Hall, toward the Quest Realm... Then, suddenly chuckling with contempt, he muttered unclearly, "Ran into a real ruthless one. Heh, looks like... I can settle down and just be a guarding commander." There was no need to go back. Because... there was nowhere left to go back to. The War God Hall was gone! He, commander of the three hundred thousand strongmen, could just keep guarding right here. Su Yu glanced at him. Wu Ji met his gaze and said flatly, "Merits and faults are left for posterity to judge! Whether you find it proper or improper, the senior experts naturally have a scale in their hearts!" Su Yu asked softly, "Is he a saint or a demon?" "Let posterity say!" Su Yu remained calm. "And who counts as posterity?" Wu Ji looked at him, not understanding what he meant. Su Yu said calmly, "Posterity—do I count? He is not my teacher, nor my kin. He never taught me anything, and I haven't met him many times. But... I want to speak up for him! Tell me, can I judge his merits and faults?" Wu Ji looked at him and laughed. "You... if you can suppress the wrath of these dozens of Invincibles, then you can!" Su Yu smiled as well. "Yes, posterity judges merits and faults! But it all comes down to posterity's strength. When someone of posterity has the bigger fist and runs rampantly across the myriad worlds of the heavens, isn't it up to that person to decide? If I say he is a saint and you say he is a demon... then I'll beat you to death. Tell me, is he a saint or a demon?" "……" Wu Ji laughed, his laughter growing louder and louder! "I have high hopes for you!" He believed in Su Yu! This young overlord had stood here today declaring that if he called Wan Tiansheng a saint, anyone who disagreed would have to answer to his fists! He was posterity. He had no need to wait for future generations to pass judgment—he would judge! In the All-Heavens Prefecture, one Sun Moon expert after another turned their eyes toward him. There was no great battle here. Yet this was the Human Realm's final line of defense—the All-Heavens Passageway. Beyond it, Invincibles were still locked in combat. Wan Tiansheng had not touched these people. They could not leave, nor should they. The soldiers garrisoning the three vast seas, he had not slain, even though the seas were calm. The soldiers stationed at the All-Heavens Passageway, he had left alone, for battle could erupt here at any moment with the peril of annihilation. The experts holding down the great prefectures, Wan Tiansheng had also left untouched—unless they had betrayed the human race. He had exclusively slaughtered the experts of the two sacred grounds! The sacred grounds had no ordinary residents, no commoners. The sacred grounds... had nothing they needed to protect. If there was anything to guard, it was perhaps only those treasures, that heavenly origin qi, and those fully stocked warehouses. And so, Wan Tiansheng's butcher knife had fallen upon them. Su Yu spoke no more. He looked no longer! Looking back once more, the Great Xia Prefecture... no longer needed him, no longer needed Wan Tiansheng, no longer needed many things. Xia Longwu was still attempting to attain the Dao. Perhaps he should go take a look. Go see this expert he had admired since childhood. The men of the Xia family, the blade of the Xia family—they were worth seeing. …… Sea of Stars. The battle was locked in an agonizing stalemate. Xia Longwu had begun fusing his three-life embodiments, a process that had already gone on for some time. From all directions, more and more experts arrived. The battle in the Human Realm was over! The myriad races were routed! In this war, the myriad races had lost five Invincibles in the Human Realm and one on the All-Heavens Battlefield, totaling six dead Invincibles. Meanwhile, the Human Realm... had only lost one traitor Invincible. At this point, there was no need to fight further within the Human Realm. The matter of the Tombstone of Civilization was also settled, snatched away by Kongkong, while the carrier objects had been taken by Su Yu. On the All-Heavens Battlefield, those who were meant to attain the Dao had mostly done so. For those unable to, what came next depended on luck, fortune, and the outcome of Xia Longwu's Dao breakthrough. The Great Han King, bearing severe injuries, charged into battle once again. Arriving with him were four foreign Invincibles. Behind him came another figure. Minister Zhu Tianfang of the Yellow Division—at last, he had completed the fusion of his three-life embodiments, free of interference. The minister of the Yellow Division had arrived, the Great Han King had arrived, bringing four Invincible experts of the myriad races with them; neither side held a clear advantage over the other. Divine King Tiandang, the very first Invincible to reveal himself, had actually made it out alive. One had to admit that luck played a huge role. Gasping for breath, he reported the news to the myriad races: "Minghe, Huoji, Qimu, Lade, and Mohe have fallen in battle. Of the seventeen quasi-Invincibles... only six survived." Eleven dead! A crushing, humiliating defeat! It had to be said, this was absolute disgrace. Over a dozen Invincibles had descended upon the Human Realm, which had hardly any Invincibles of its own, only to be slaughtered in horrific fashion. As for the Sun Moon experts, even more had perished. Over a hundred Sun Moon experts of the myriad races had entered the Human Realm, and fewer than thirty made it out alive. As for the geniuses, their survival rate was actually higher, with most of them making it out. Around them, numerous Invincibles turned their gazes toward the group. The four Invincibles looked like remnants of a shattered army. In truth, they were. Yet the experts here were not doing much better. Nearly a hundred Invincibles had made their move, only for one to be killed, caught in a plot, and several had their three-life embodiments destroyed and had long since fled. Neither side had any room to mock the other! There was nothing to boast about on either side. Still, an Invincible said in a deep voice, "Did Zhu Tiandao really kill them?" Tiandang took a deep breath. "A few individuals must be eliminated: Zhu Tiandao, Nan Wujiang, Yun Chen, and Wan Tiansheng!" These people had to die! Once any of them attained the Dao, they would likely be no weaker than Xia Longwu. Throughout this battle, they had all been fighting Invincibles—and even if it had only been against three-life embodiments, their strength was terrifyingly appalling. The experts of the myriad races said nothing. Kill them? Of course they had to. But going into the Human Realm to kill them now was pure suicide. Wait! If they wanted to attain the Dao, they would emerge sooner or later. Attaining the Dao in the Human Realm... all one could say was that the probability was too low. Right now, practically no place in the Human Realm could satisfy the conditions for Dao attainment. It was not like the All-Heavens Battlefield, where origin qi was astonishingly rich and could support an Invincible breakthrough. Having fought to this point, they had accomplished nothing. They had failed to seize the ruins, the Tombstone of Civilization was gone, and the Multiple Divine Characters faction was not wiped out. At this stage, the only thing left to do was to slay Xia Longwu! If they failed even to stop Xia Longwu... then this time, the myriad races would have suffered total, utter defeat! And right now, Xia Longwu likely had no hope of attaining the Dao anyway. In the inner ring. King Daxia and the Great Qin King fell back. The foreign Invincibles also withdrew to the perimeter, surrounding the dozens of human Invincibles in the inner circle. Someone said coldly, "There is no chance Xia Longwu can attain the Dao! Must humanity persist in its obstinacy?" At that moment, several more Invincibles appeared around them. King Daming arrived with his people! With the ruins gone and the Human Realm war over, there was no longer any need to guard the realm boundary. If foreign Invincibles wanted to charge in, let them try—provided they weren't afraid of being trapped like turtles in a jar. Following their arrival, over a dozen foreign Invincibles also converged. Aside from a handful of Invincibles still pursuing human Dao seekers in other sectors, nearly all the rest had gathered here. This time, the Invincibles truly numbered over a hundred. The entire ocean trembled! Baleful aura boiled! At that moment, an Immortal King stepped forward, looking compassionate and sorrowful. "Give up! Xia Longwu bears too heavy a burden of slaughter. Humanity has already seen four people attain the Dao this time, plus Zhou Tianyuan and Zhu Tianfang have returned—humanity has gained six new experts in the Eternal Realm. Are you still not satisfied?" Gained six, lost one. A net increase of five Invincibles, with the internal threat within the Human Realm purged—this was already a monumental victory for humanity. Give up Xia Longwu! Even though Xia Longwu was ranked among the top five on the Dao Seeking Roll, could his strength truly surpass Nan Wujiang and the others? And they had returned as well! "Tianyu, does your Immortal race wish to serve as the vanguard?" King Daxia stared at him coldly. Immortal King Tianyu was the ancestor of Fairy Yu Xuan—though, of course, that fairy had been beheaded by Xia Huyou. King Daxia glanced around... and sighed softly in his heart. There was no hope! Longwu had delayed for far too long. He had stalled until the Human Realm battle ended, until the others had succeeded in attaining the Dao, until fighting everywhere else had concluded, yet he still had not begun. He understood his grandson's intention. Yet... he felt a wave of powerlessness and helplessness. The Multiple Divine Characters faction! His grandson belonged to it as well. His teacher was Wan Tiansheng! Xia Longwu had done this deliberately. He had stalled on purpose so that more Invincibles would gather here around him. In the inner ring, Xia Longwu was in no rush. He was looking, observing his surroundings. Soon, he spotted someone and smiled. He looked toward that person. On the outer perimeter, Marquis Xia was panting, not daring to draw close; he looked back at Xia Longwu with an expression half-weeping, half-laughing, nodding slightly. Xia Longwu sighed softly. Teacher, is that still your choice? He had guessed it! After all, he was Wan Tiansheng's student. His teacher had departed. In this lifetime, he might never return to the Human Realm. Well, that was fine too! His teacher was safe! The Invincibles of humanity and the Invincibles of the myriad races were all right here. At this moment, no one would bother with what his teacher was doing. He looked at the human Invincible experts around him and smiled slightly. Did you all... know, or not? Perhaps some of you already knew? Whatever! Humanity's forty-odd Invincibles were nearly all gathered here. Yet the foreign Invincibles numbered more than twice their count. Over a hundred! Had quite a few not perished or been crippled, there would be even more. Xia Longwu, who had remained quiet all this time, suddenly laughed. "My Dao breakthrough seems to carry even more prestige than my martial uncle Ye Batian's!" King Daxia started, and the other Invincibles also turned their eyes to him. Xia Longwu rarely mentioned Ye Batian. In age, he wasn't far off from Liu Wenyan and the others—in his sixties. He had met Ye Batian before, though he was very young at the time, and Ye Batian had not been his master. If Ye Batian were still alive, Xia Longwu most likely would have apprenticed under him. Yet fifty-one years ago, Ye Batian died. Back then, Xia Longwu was only in his teens, not yet at the age to take a master. Later, he became a student of Wan Tiansheng. A genius at the peak of the Shanhai Realm. Why was he bringing up Ye Batian now? Xia Longwu smiled faintly. "I slaughtered across the heavens and made myself intolerable to the myriad races; that was of my own doing." He looked at the human Invincibles surrounding him and smiled. "Sirs, disperse! Let them come and kill me. I'd like to see whether I, Xia Longwu, can do like my martial uncle—and take an Invincible down with me before I die!" King Daxia roared furiously, "Nonsense! How many people went to kill Ye Batian, and how many are here to kill you?" A hundred Invincibles! What do you have to kill them with? How could you possibly kill them! King Daxia shouted like a madman, "You killed my eldest son, and you slaughtered my Great Xia! If you kill my grandson today, I swear I will never rest until every last one of you is dead!" He looked around at his fellow human Invincibles, gritting his teeth. "Comrades in arms, help me this once! Longwu... he..." The Great Qin King gave a slight nod and spoke: "Rest assured. I have said it before: if they want to kill Xia Longwu, they must step over our corpses!" Qin Zhen had already attained the Dao. With an Invincible guarding the Great Qin Prefecture, the Great Qin Army would not fall into chaos! As long as Great Qin remained stable, humanity still possessed the power to fight on the All-Heavens Battlefield. Now, he too could throw everything into the fight without reservation. As for whether the Human Realm descended into turmoil, the Great Zhou King could oversee it. Whether he could manage... the Great Qin King did not know; perhaps he would do an even better job than himself. Xia Longwu said nothing more. His grandfather's pleading was ultimately pointless. Over a hundred Invincibles! It was useless! …… Meanwhile, at this very moment, Su Yu stepped out of the All-Heavens Passageway and activated his Castellan Token. A moment later, a passageway pierced heaven and earth, stretching across space toward the Human Realm's entrance. An Invincible guarding the passageway let out a furious roar. Yet Su Yu rose into the air and called out clearly, "Su Yu, Lord of Xinghong Ancient City, borrows passage through the Human Realm's way! I ask the Invincibles to grant me safe passage!" At those words, a strange look crossed the guarding Invincible's eyes, and he held his tongue. Su Yu stepped into the passageway. Cutting across the All-Heavens Battlefield, it stretched straight toward the Sea of Stars. He crossed the East Rift Valley, traversed the Plain of Desires, and soared over Tianmie City, infuriating Tianhe so much he wanted to hit someone, and causing Tianmie himself to open his eyes. Xinghong, you've gone too far! No guardian had ever treated their castellan like this. Damn it, actually opening an all-heavens passageway just for Su Yu to walk through! Would it kill him to fly slowly instead of strutting through a special tunnel? Jealous and sour, Tianmie watched Su Yu stride through the air and suddenly sent a voice transmission: "Brat, you inherited my breathing technique and vibration technique, and took three of my shuttle talismans. Not even a single word for me?" "……" Su Yu chuckled and cupped his hands toward below. "Lord Tianmie, please forgive me. I have already joined Xinghong Ancient City. If Your Lordship ever has any need, feel free to call on me at any time, and Su Yu shall gladly serve!" Motherfucker! I know you joined Xinghong Ancient City, no need to rub it in my face! You bastard, your death qi is so thick you're going to croak sooner or later! With that much death qi, Tianmie had thought the kid was on the verge of kicking the bucket. Not dying even from that—where was the justice in heaven! As if showing off his skills, the death qi on Su Yu's body suddenly reversed, transforming into vibrant life qi. Then, he strode right past Tianmie Ancient City. Tianmie: "……" At that moment, Tianmie sorely wanted to whip him to death with a swipe of his tail! What did that mean? You're showing off to me? Aren't you? You're definitely showing off, aren't you? Fuck! This bastard is provoking me! He did it on purpose! Tianmie was furious. Reversing his death qi right in front of his face—what was that supposed to mean? You can't die? And you can keep letting that grandson Xinghong strut around and irritate me, can you? He was so furious he desperately wanted to beat Tianhe to death! Yes, just beating Tianhe to death would do. Su Yu... forget it, he was someone else's castellan, hard to just kill. Maybe he should beat his own castellan to death instead—wasn't that fellow preparing to resign anyway? Ahead, Su Yu was already gone. Within the city, Castellan Tianhe was thoroughly depressed. I want to be a castellan with this kind of grandeur too. Fuck! Crossing the heavens with a guardian personally paving the way—now that was what you called prestige, immense prestige! Not even Invincibles had it this grand! Truly, people were not created equal. The guardian of his Tianmie Ancient City knew nothing except acting cold and aloof; he had never once offered to escort his own castellan. …… Su Yu didn't dwell on any of that. He continued forward. He reached the Sea of Stars. Over there, countless Invincibles had congregated, their auras shaking the heavens and earth. Right now, they all turned their gazes toward him, but Su Yu ignored them. An Invincible gritted his teeth, itching to obliterate him. To blow that passageway to pieces! Yet right at that instant, a magnificent voice reverberated across heaven and earth: "Su Yu is the lord of my sacred city! The sacred cities abide by a rule: we do not stir up trouble, but we fear no trouble! The thirty-six guardians stand ready for war at any moment. Who among you dares bully my castellan?!" In the void, Su Yu looked at those Invincibles and smiled. With just a modest hint of smug arrogance, he chuckled softly. "Su Yu of the ancient city has no intention of offending you all. I am merely passing by, so why look upon me with such hostility? The guardian lords of the thirty-six sacred cities hold me in high regard. If you wish to kill me... so long as you have no fear of the thirty-six saints, feel free to try!" Kill him? To kill one Su Yu, offending thirty-six Invincibles? And ancient Invincibles at that? Though teeth ground in hatred, they abandoned the thought. Forget it! Su Yu had truly become a powerhouse overlord in his own right. Su Yu cast a few more glances in that direction, seeing Xia Longwu, seeing the Great Qin King and the others, but did not linger, flying onward toward the ancient city in the distance. The Great Qin King and the others also watched Su Yu, some sighing faintly in their hearts. Su Yu! This young Multiple Divine Characters genius hadn't fared well in the Human Realm, yet once on the All-Heavens Battlefield, he had aligned himself with the mightiest faction. The strongest faction on the All-Heavens Battlefield was precisely the ancient cities. Second was the Hunting Heaven Pavilion. As for the great realms, they didn't count as native factions of the All-Heavens Battlefield. Someone sent a voice transmission to King Daxia: "King Daxia, what if we ask Su Yu... to help out?" Su Yu's backing was rock-solid! Thirty-six ancient Invincibles! Previously, some assumed the stone statues were dead. Now, everyone knew they were far from dead; they simply couldn't be bothered to pay attention, operating on an entirely different plane. Push them too far, and every single one was capable of fighting two or three enemies at once. Terribly formidable! Su Yu, previously on the myriad races' absolute kill list, had just flown openly right in front of their eyes. Out of over a hundred Invincibles, not a single one had struck at him—which said everything. To kill Su Yu, one had to do so in a place beyond the stone statues' reach. Otherwise, it was courting disaster. Over there, Xia Longwu looked at Su Yu, and seeing him depart, he smiled faintly, not minding in the least. That kid... was quite interesting. Flying by for a spin—was it to look at him one last time, or to enjoy a joke? Never mind, let him be. His aura began to shift as he prepared to fuse. It was useless for King Daxia and the others to hold on like this. In a moment, these Invincibles would inevitably carve up the battlefield. If they didn't, King Daxia's side would have to carve them apart anyway. Otherwise, the shockwaves of a battle among over a hundred Invincibles would wipe him out, making it impossible to help him attain the Dao. Therefore, any Invincible left unengaged would still come to kill him. He was merely stalling for time, hoping to see if anyone else could break through. Every additional one counted. Right at that moment, over by the Human Realm passageway, a man strode out, laughing heartily. "Come on, send a few over! Three or five aren't enough—bring ten to watch me! I'm not attaining the Dao, but if you don't watch me, I just might! I've brought my carrier objects with me!" By the All-Heavens Passageway, Zhu Tiandao had stepped out after all. He laughed boisterously! His voice shook all directions! "Send eight or ten of you, hurry up!" His voice was immensely booming, amplified personally by the guarding Invincible. Moments later, more than half the all-heavens could hear it. Zhu Tiandao! Today's most notorious, limelight-stealing ruthless man. Without him having to say more, moments later, seven or eight Invincibles shot toward the Eastern War Zone. Just as Zhu Tiandao had said, if he didn't attempt to attain the Dao, fine, but the instant he tried to seize the chance, he had to be eliminated! As for killing him right now, this fellow could duck back into the Human Realm at any moment! Zhu Tiandao wore a look of smug arrogance. "Only seven or eight? Looking down on me? If you don't send ten, believe it or not, I'll find a chance to butcher every last one of you!" No one paid him any mind. There were still peculiarities regarding Zhu Tiandao slaying four Invincibles; his injuries didn't even seem severe. Slaughtering four Invincibles unscathed... he would have to be practically a Half-Emperor. …… In the Sea of Stars, King Daxia cupped his hands in a salute toward King Daming on the outer perimeter. It served as an expression of gratitude! This time, had it not been for the Great Ming Prefecture's stalwart assistance, the Great Xia Prefecture would likely have been wiped out. His son would have died, his grandson would have died, and his great-grandson might not have survived either. The Great Xia Prefecture would probably have been emptied out entirely! The Xia family had played all its trump cards, yet it had still been insufficient. King Daming smiled and nodded, then looked back toward the endless distance. Is my son... just bluffing? Is he really that strong? Get out of here! Even I, your own father, don't believe it! Never mind, it was good this way; at least it could scare some people. Even if everyone harbored doubts, they still had to send people to keep watch on him lest he break through. Only... King Daming sighed softly. It would be hard for this rascal to attain the Dao now! Missing his chance this time meant even less opportunity next time. True or false, could these people sleep easy without butchering his son? Worse off than Xia Longwu! …… Zhu Tiandao laughed boisterously, though inwardly he felt depressed. Oh well! He'd just remain a quasi-Invincible! Becoming an Invincible was hopeless now. Who told him to become so famous—the number one quasi-Invincible, afraid yet? Now, he could only put his remaining value to use. He sent a voice transmission to the guarding Invincible: "Uncle Song, keep a sharp eye out. The moment they attack, I'm pulling back—give me an early heads-up." "You beat four Invincibles to death, and you're scared of them?" King Dasong teased him. Zhu Tiandao was rendered speechless. Forget it, he couldn't be bothered to respond. Of course I'm not afraid... like hell! Xia Longwu, your uncle here has done his utmost. Whether you can succeed is up to you now. As he was thinking, a figure strode out of the passageway, glanced at him, cursed under his breath, and instantly dove back into the Human Realm, grumbling: "Weren't you over there? Why did you run over here?" It was none other than Niu Baidao. He had wanted to fish in troubled waters and sneak through a Dao breakthrough. But the moment he came out, he saw so many Invincibles suspended in midair. Forget it, I'll go somewhere else—I'll go attain the Dao through that passageway the Great Han King and the others just used! That little rascal Zhu Tiandao had clearly run over to that other side earlier, yet scared of dying, he had scurried back here, making him make a wasted trip. As for a carrier object, Old Niu finally had one. He had obtained it by slaying that quasi-Invincible. He'd go seek the Dao first; as for whether he succeeded, it depended on luck, and his luck had always been rather poor. …… Before long, Niu Baidao slipped out from another location. Wasting no words, he instantly began fusing his three-life embodiments and fled. If he was lucky, he'd succeed; if not, he was finished. Nothing more to say. At the same time, Yun Chen and Nan Wujiang were both searching for places to attain the Dao, drawing off whichever Invincibles they could. If none were drawn away... they would simply break through. Of the several quasi-Invincibles, only Marquis Xia made no attempt to attain the Dao. All the others were in the midst of fusion and Dao breakthrough. Marquis Xia followed the Great Han King and the others. Looking around, he saw that Invincibles had already set out in pursuit. He sighed softly in his heart: May fortune favor you all! These people were comrades who had just fought alongside him in blood and battle. He hoped they would succeed too! Yet the odds were not great. Not every quasi-Invincible could step into the Invincible Realm. Lan Tian and Wan Tiansheng had vanished. Neither planned to attain the Dao—or rather, they were incapable of doing so. Marquis Xia himself could have attempted it; he possessed carrier objects, having slain many quasi-Invincibles earlier. Nevertheless, Marquis Xia chose not to attempt it. He glanced at Xia Longwu in the inner circle, then looked at King Daxia, sighing, "Father, I'm heading back first. The Great Xia Prefecture is in absolute chaos; I need to sort things out. Longwu, if it really isn't working, just give up! We don't need this Dao breakthrough!" Xia Longwu made no sound. "Stubborn temper! Just like your father!" Marquis Xia cursed, turned around, and walked away. No Invincible chased him either. He wasn't seeking the Dao, and King Daxia and the others were still right here. If an Invincible attacked him today, King Daxia and his peers would assassinate their descendants tomorrow. Even fighting to this point, rules still applied. Marquis Xia departed, grumbling as he flew toward the All-Races Sect's passageway. No one stopped him, nor did anyone try to kill him. He flew on and on, soon reaching the entrance of that passageway. He did not descend, but stood quietly at the opening, watching from afar. His nephew was there, and his father was there. As for the Great Xia Prefecture... it was battered and broken, and going back wouldn't change that. Soon, several figures arrived behind him, all heavily wounded. Chief Steward Hu coughed blood as he asked, "Marquis, does the Manor Head still have a chance?" "No." Marquis Xia brushed him off casually, then asked, "How is the situation?" "Not good..." Chief Steward Hu said sorrowfully, "Nearly everyone is dead. Of our prefecture's twenty-six Sun Moon experts, seventeen fell in battle..." Marquis Xia fell silent. Seventeen Sun Moon experts dead in battle! This time, the Great Xia Prefecture suffered the heaviest casualties among Sun Moon experts. The Great Qin Prefecture and Great Ming Prefecture lost around ten each, the Great Wu Prefecture lost three or four, and the other prefectures lost one or two here and there. In the end, quite a few human Sun Moon experts had joined the battle, approaching seventy or eighty. Nearly forty had died! Of course, the myriad races were even worse off. Su Yu and Zhu Tianfang alone had finished off sixty or seventy, eleven quasi-Invincibles had died, and later humanity had slain another forty or fifty, bringing the foreign death toll over a hundred. Yet humanity's Sun Moon losses were not limited to the battlefield alone—Wan Tiansheng had ruthlessly struck down over forty more. In this upheaval, nearly a hundred human Sun Moon experts had fallen! This was the highest death toll in centuries. "Seventeen dead..." Murmuring softly, Marquis Xia smiled bitterly. So nine remain, is that it? Chief Steward Hu was alive, General Zhao was alive. Apart from the two of them... only one of the guardians of the five minor realms remained, the commander of the prefectural army had died in battle, the commanders of the Dragon Martial Shadow Guards were virtually wiped out with only one survivor. Besides those four, Ji Hong wasn't dead, Bai Long wasn't dead, Zheng Ping wasn't dead, Old Madam Wu wasn't dead, and the commander of the Demon Subduing Army wasn't dead. In reality, there had been more Sun Moon experts than that. Marquis Xia sighed. "What about Hong Tan and the others?" Chief Steward Hu sighed as well. "Gone! Manor Head Wan, he... Hong Tan and the others were unwilling to stay any longer. The grudges in the Human Realm have scattered like smoke and dissolved like mist with this battle! I don't know where they went; I didn't ask, nor did I stop them..." "Mm." Marquis Xia nodded slightly. Let them go. It was better that they left! He knew it wasn't necessarily that they didn't wish to stay, but that the Great Xia Prefecture could no longer endure any more trauma. If they remained and the myriad races targeted them again, the Great Xia Prefecture... would truly be annihilated. One of the top three strongest prefectures in the Human Realm! Now, so many had died that hardly any Sun Moon experts were left. Among those who survived, people like Zheng Ping weren't particularly powerful. The only reason they survived was that during the battle, the top experts had lured away the enemy's strongest combatants. Even so, the only one capable of coming here was Chief Steward Hu; the rest were critically wounded, and whether they could ever recover was uncertain. Even if they did, they would end up just like those veterans from over four hundred years ago. Spending the rest of their days convalescing! This time, the Great Xia Prefecture was truly crippled. Chief Steward Hu looked into the distance and soon showed a bitter smile. "As long as the Manor Head succeeds, with the Manor Head and King Daxia around, and with you, Marquis, we still have hope!" If he succeeded, they would have two Invincibles and one quasi-Invincible. Though their Sun Moon and Shanhai ranks had suffered horrific casualties, with them present, the Great Xia Prefecture could rise again. Marquis Xia chuckled, then said, "Let's not talk about that; we'll see how luck goes! As for Huyou's side, did he use the Heaven-Cleaving Blade from the ancestral estate?" "Yes, there were too many invading enemies at the time..." Marquis Xia nodded slightly, then asked, "Did they kill many people in the city?" "……" Chief Steward Hu fell silent for a moment before nodding. "Many! Those who fled, those who refused to fight, those who failed to report—above the Soaring Realm... practically all were executed! Even in the Sun Moon Realm, Zhou Mingren was slain." Marquis Xia smiled faintly. "They're cursing the Xia family to death, aren't they? After all, they all had descendants, and family members fighting on the frontlines... Has it chilled people's hearts?" "It wouldn't!" Chief Steward Hu shook his head. "The Great Xia Prefecture has always dealt with deserters this way!" "Still, it was too harsh! I am not Wan Tiansheng, after all." Marquis Xia chuckled and sighed. "An explanation still needs to be given. Huyou still has to inherit the position of Manor Head. When you head back, tell everyone that it was I, Xia Xiao'er, who did it! I was the one who wanted them dead! Huyou was merely carrying out military orders! If they want to curse, let them curse me. Whatever!" "Marquis, you..." "It's fine. Am I afraid of taking on one more bad name?" Marquis Xia gave a laugh. "Go on! Just say it was my doing! I'll wait a little longer, waiting for my eldest nephew to succeed in attaining the Dao. If he succeeds, my Xia family will have two Invincibles. We won't fear stumbling this time! We can still stand back up!" "Understood!" Chief Steward Hu swiftly departed. Meanwhile, Marquis Xia silently watched the distance, his fingers tapping softly. My eldest nephew, your uncle here has shouldered far too many bad reputations for you and your father. You really fucking owe me! When you were little, you actually hit me! After becoming Manor Head, you actually hit me too! I'm only a few years older than you, yet like a father, I took care of you all along. You fucking hit me anyway—are you even human? Your son was raised by me; anyone who didn't know would think he was mine! You took Wan Tiansheng as your master, and I count as an unofficial disciple of Ye Batian. Doing the math, fuck, you and I are martial brothers! Marquis Xia looked half-crying, half-laughing. My old friends! Hong Tan, Liu Wenyan, and the rest are all gone. Old Wan has run off. The Great Xia Prefecture has cursed me for years—bloodsucker, black-hearted merchant, dog Xiao'er... every damn black pot has been dumped on my back! From now on... there will be no one left to take the blame for you. My eldest nephew, you've always been so disobedient. It's time to start listening. Marquis Xia sat on the ground, head lowered, musing quietly. My life hasn't been as glorious as Wan Tiansheng's, nor as tragic as Liu Wenyan and the others'. It hasn't had too many grand waves or magnificence. Aside from taking the blame, it's just been taking more blame! He recalled that scene he had envisioned back then. After I die, someone will erect a monument for me: "Xia Xiao'er, second son of King Daxia. Exceptionally brilliant from childhood, dashing and romantic in his youth, pursued by thousands, an elegant and graceful gentleman... In middle age, obsessed with commerce, incomparably black-hearted, known to all as the Black-Hearted Marquis..." The later part can be changed a bit—give that one to Wan Tiansheng. Sitting on the ground, thinking of the past and the days of youthful infatuation, he suddenly burst into a curse: "Fuck your uncle, Liu Wenyan! Every woman who fancied you, I fancied too!" Sob sob sob! If I weren't this bloated, I, Xia Xiao'er, would be the number one handsome man of the Great Xia Prefecture!