The moment Old Man Bai arrived, he saw through Su Yu's condition.
Perhaps his eyesight was sharp, or perhaps he was simply all too familiar with those who opened the yang aperture.
His trembling gait was no act. The pressure was genuinely immense, like a child bearing a weight of ten thousand jin—one misstep, and he would crush himself to death!
Of course, bearing such a mountain, if he truly threw his weight at someone, he could crush a whole crowd to death as well.
Su Yu looked at the old man and hesitated. "Elder Bai, in your condition... can your yang aperture still absorb energy?"
It had to be near saturation, didn't it?
He had been absorbing energy for decades; it had likely reached its brim. No matter how bottomless the yang aperture seemed, it had to have an actual limit. Could the old man keep absorbing?
Old Man Bai gasped for breath, then chuckled. "I don't know either. What you call the yang aperture has absorbed countless amounts of my origin qi over the years. My other origin apertures are on the verge of collapsing, yet it's still absorbing..."
He smiled and added, "Don't fret. It's really nothing. Energy can be consumed. If worse comes to worst, this old man can go fight a few Sun Moons to the death. If I survive, the yang aperture's energy will naturally be depleted quite a bit, and it'll be in urgent need of energy again!"
With that, he looked at Su Yu, coughed, and said, "Originally, I wanted to join the battle at Nanyuan last time... Unfortunately, that day coincided with a backlash from my origin apertures..."
He said with a touch of helplessness, "I'm just glad you're all right. I hope you understand..."
To the side, Bai Feng smiled. "Grandpa, it's all in the past. Plenty of experts from the Great Ming Prefecture came to fight anyway. Besides... one more Shanhai or Sun Moon wouldn't have made much difference."
Old Man Bai glanced sideways at him. The words sounded comforting, but no matter how one listened, they felt awkward.
It felt a bit... like he was being looked down upon.
Su Yu stifled a laugh and quickly changed the subject. "Elder Bai, did you ever try sealing the yang aperture before?"
"It can't be sealed."
The old man shook his head and coughed. "I opened my yang aperture over thirty years ago. Back then, I wanted to recreate the glory of our ancestor. I thought that if he could fight a seventh-level Shanhai to the death as a ninth-level Lingyun, then as a ninth-level Shanhai, might I have hope of fighting a seventh-level Sun Moon if I opened the yang aperture? I risked my life to open it, but the result... went completely out of control, and I ended up burying myself in it!"
He sighed, looking quite helpless.
Su Yu was actually very curious about something and asked, "Elder Bai, how many origin apertures did you open before unlocking the yang aperture?"
When Su Yu opened his yang aperture, because energy was insufficient, he had detonated quite a few origin apertures before managing to open it.
Old Man Bai definitely had opened a substantial number of apertures.
Old Man Bai chuckled softly. "I opened two hundred and forty origin apertures—nowhere near your count. Back then, my apertures nearly all blew apart and my physical body was almost destroyed. Only through sheer coincidence did I manage to open the yang aperture."
Two hundred and forty!
That was truly a lot!
In Old Man Bai's era, it hadn't been as easy as now, nor was there any Primordial Spirit Aperture Opening Art to speed up cultivation. Back then, being able to open one hundred and forty-four apertures was already the mark of a peak Heaven-rank cultivation art.
Who among normal people would open over two hundred apertures?
For the Bai family, this was an ancestral tradition; because the Bai family ancestor had opened many apertures, he had managed to open the yang aperture.
Su Yu pondered for a moment and said, "Over the years, plenty of people have detonated their origin apertures and physical bodies, yet aside from the Bai family ancestor and Elder Bai, I've never heard of anyone opening the yang aperture just by blowing up apertures! It seems the number of origin apertures must reach a certain threshold before the yang aperture can be drawn out..."
Two hundred and forty?
Su Yu mused, "Perhaps... one needs at least two-thirds of the Great Circulation apertures?"
Had Old Man Bai just hit that exact threshold?
Was that why he was able to detect where the yang aperture was?
As he spoke, Old Man Bai nodded with a smile. "I don't know about anything else, but my deduction is that opening the yang aperture requires at least two hundred apertures! Junsheng and Xiao Feng's fathers—my eldest and second sons—both thought about opening it. But when I had them try sensing where the yang aperture was, neither detected anything. They felt nothing at all. So even if the two of them detonated their origin apertures, I doubt they could have opened it."
He shook his head and continued, "Ever since I fell into this state, I didn't want anyone in the Bai family cultivating the physical body anymore or following in my and the ancestor's footsteps. In Xiao Feng's generation, none of them have strong bodies. I wanted them all to develop along the path of Civilization Masters."
Indeed, this generation of the Bai family truly were all Civilization Masters.
Bai Junsheng was an armamentsmith, and Bai Feng went without saying.
The previous generation of the Bai family, however, had centered their cultivation on physical strength, warriors who opened hundreds of apertures—top-tier even among warriors. Yet because of the yang aperture, the old man had feared they would be like him and succumb to temptation, so he had packed them off to study the path of Civilization Masters instead.
Beside them, Hong Tan smiled. "Civilization Masters are great as well. Bai Feng has good talent on this path."
"It's all thanks to Elder Hong looking after him for so many years!"
The old man said with deep feeling, "This boy was always afraid of dragging his family down. All these years, you've been put to a lot of trouble, Elder Hong."
"You flatter me. He is my student, so it was only natural."
Hong Tan smiled. "Truth be told, if he hadn't followed the multiple divine character faction, things wouldn't have come to this, and his achievements might be even greater than now."
Bai Feng chuckled from the side. "Master, Grandpa, spare each other the pleasantries!"
He couldn't be bothered with all that. Turning to Su Yu, he assumed the dignified air of a master and said solemnly, "Su Yu, my grandpa's yang aperture is nearing saturation. According to your theory, can he still absorb death qi for his own use?"
Su Yu hesitated a moment, then spoke: "It should be possible! Origin qi and death qi are opposites. Death qi corrodes origin qi, and origin qi corrodes death qi as well! Take myself: earlier, I absorbed massive amounts of death qi, and my yang aperture was full of deathly stillness, yet I felt incomparably powerful. Later, when I absorbed origin qi and stopped taking in death qi, I felt some life return to the yang aperture. The two likely canceled out and neutralized each other inside! As for Elder Bai, he has been absorbing origin qi all along. If he absorbs a massive quantity of death qi, I think it might neutralize that origin qi..."
Hearing this, Old Man Bai frowned. "That won't do! I've absorbed and accumulated energy for so many years. If it's simply neutralized... then all the pain and torment of these past decades would have been suffered in vain! In that case, I'd rather go fight a Sun Moon to the death. I'm confident I can take down one or two..."
Su Yu shook his head. "Killing a Sun Moon is so boring!"
The old man looked at him, and Su Yu smiled. "Elder Bai, if they really neutralize each other, the energy you've absorbed over all these years is beyond imagination. That means if you absorb death qi, it might be neutralized and dispersed! What does that imply?"
The old man froze for a moment, then hesitated. "It implies... I can absorb even more death qi?"
Su Yu nodded and grinned. "Exactly! When a stone sculpture leaves the city to fight, it requires someone to bear the death qi for it. All the myriad races know this; otherwise, stone sculptures wouldn't have waited so many years to act! It's precisely because finding someone to shoulder such intense death qi is extraordinarily difficult. Yet you, Elder Bai, have accumulated decades of peak Shanhai power. If nothing else, I believe that even if a stone sculpture leaves the city to fight for an entire day, the death qi produced wouldn't be enough to fully corrode the origin qi accumulated over decades by a peak Shanhai..."
In other words, going off to kill one or two Sun Moons held little significance in Su Yu's eyes.
With the old man bearing the burden, he might allow Xinghong to leave the city and fight for an entire day!
Almost no one else could accomplish that.
Other people's apertures had limits, but the yang aperture alone could continuously absorb death qi. No matter how much death qi came, the yang aperture dared to take it all in. Crucially, inside the old man's yang aperture was origin qi accumulated over decades!
The moment death qi entered, rather than occupying the space of the yang aperture, it would clash with the origin qi, eroding and dissolving each other.
Someone who could enable a stone sculpture to leave the city and fight for a full day... besides Su Yu, there probably wasn't another soul.
Now, the old man might actually be able to do it.
If a stone sculpture truly left the city to fight for a whole day, even if Su Yu himself claimed he had left the city, probably no one would believe it. What nonsense—if you left, if you were gone, how could the stone sculpture remain outside fighting for so long?
Hearing this, the old man turned thoughtful and said, "A stone sculpture leaving the city to fight requires someone to shoulder the death qi... Su Yu, do you mean..."
Su Yu nodded. "I hope Elder Bai can help me out. If it's ever inconvenient for me to bear it, I will transfer the death qi directly to you."
Old Man Bai understood and laughed immediately. "Most certainly! With these old bones of mine, what I wanted most before dying was to kill a Sun Moon, so all these years of bitter endurance wouldn't be in vain! Sadly, I missed the opportunity last time. But if this can let a stone sculpture leave the city and fight for a day... then what gets killed might be far more than just one Sun Moon!"
Evidently, the old man had no objections.
In his condition, his yang aperture was already near total saturation. He had prepared himself for an intense battle to burn off the origin qi in his yang aperture, though in all likelihood, his body wouldn't endure it and would blow apart—meeting the same fate as the Bai family ancestor, exploding himself after slaying his foes.
With the old man on board, things were simple.
Bai Feng took a deep breath beside them. "Then so be it! Su Yu, I'm entrusting my grandpa to you. Even if you die, you'd better take good care of him..."
"Of course!" Su Yu replied instantly.
Old Man Bai scolded, "Nonsense! I'm over a hundred years old; how old is Su Yu?"
Bai Feng chuckled awkwardly. *I was just saying. Wasn't I just trying to display my authority as a master?*
After reproaching his grandson, the old man promptly said, "Since time is of the essence, I'll go with you to the ancient city right now and convert as soon as possible!"
No time to lose!
Su Yu nodded. "Then I should head back as soon as possible..."
Saying so, he turned toward Hong Tan, Liu Wenyan, and the others, letting out a breath. "Everyone... I must return! Take care!"
Liu Wenyan and the others nodded slightly without saying much.
Su Yu was no longer a student. He bore heavy responsibilities as the master of an ancient city. Too many eyes among the myriad races watched him; staying outside for long was simply unsafe.
Just as Su Yu was about to take everyone and leave, Wu Lan spoke up from the side. "When are you going to research the spirit fusion method? And the Shanhai aperture fusion method?"
Su Yu turned to look at her and, after a long pause, said, "In the short term, I'm afraid I won't have time."
"Then I'll research it myself. Will you ever return to the Primordial Spirit Research Institute?"
Su Yu hesitated, then shook his head. "I'm not sure. I'm afraid... it'll be difficult! Unless..."
He didn't elaborate. The Human Realm... what was the point of returning?
Without the ancient city's protection, unless his strength reached the point of not fearing Invincibles, being in the Human Realm was even less safe than staying in the ancient city.
Wu Lan pressed the struggling little fur ball in her hand, tossed it to Su Yu, and said, "I'll soon be able to officially purify willpower. Teacher Bai and I are figuring out how to build a large extraction machine with myself as the core. Once that's done, we'll soon have inexhaustible willpower—and we might even find ways to convert origin qi, Heavenly Origin Qi, and other energy-rich treasures into willpower! There ought to be commonalities between willpower and origin qi, possibly related to the primordial spirit apertures you mentioned before. Wait until we complete the research before you open your yin aperture..."
Su Yu was surprised. He looked at her, and after a moment, nodded. "Alright!"
The little fur ball took the opportunity to wriggle free and ducked into Su Yu's sea of will.
Su Yu said no more. Shadow and Water Person swiftly possessed him, and the three great demons slipped into the void. He did not bring Fire Crow and White Li along; White Li had chosen in the end to stay behind and follow Wu Jia, as it had before.
As for Fire Crow, Chen Yong had noted that this little demon was rather fickle and always the first to surrender, so he kept it behind as well. In truth, both Fire Crow and White Li were only in the Tengkong Realm—far too weak to be of much use in the ancient city.
Without another word, under Fire Crow's despairing gaze, Su Yu took the great demons and Old Man Bai, vanishing into the void in an instant from Liu City.
...
Xinghong Ancient City.
Inside the Castellan's Residence.
Liu Hong had been wandering around here alone for several days.
At that moment, he entered the rear hall. Over the past few days, he seemed to have grown familiar with Xinghong. Even though Xinghong ignored him, Liu Hong didn't mind. He had come again, observing the stone sculpture while asking with a grin, "Lord Xinghong, if I became castellan, would you be willing to accept it?"
Xinghong remained silent.
"Lord Xinghong, could you open a passage into the Dead Spirit Realm and let me in? I hear there are quite a few treasures inside, and even ancient experts dwell within."
"..."
Liu Hong rambled for a while, feeling somewhat helpless. This stone sculpture was truly boring.
No one to chat with!
In such a massive Castellan's Residence, not a single ghost could be found.
Even if a dead spirit showed up to chat, that would be something!
Right at that moment, an eerie, chilled voice came from the passage. "Kill Su Yu, and this monarch shall help you become castellan!"
"Lord Xingyue must be joking,"
Liu Hong laughed. "Su Yu is so powerful, how could I kill him? Besides, even if I wanted to, Lord Xinghong wouldn't permit it. Please don't tease me, Monarch."
Xingyue ignored him.
Useless trash!
Right now, Xingyue found Su Yu utterly annoying. Even though he hadn't drained her death qi these past few days, his very existence made her uncomfortable and miserable every single day. Originally, she was the one who had converted Su Yu, yet now she was restrained by him. It was unbearable!
Liu Hong was chatting with the stone sculpture and Xingyue; even if neither answered, he was quite happy chatting away on his own.
As he spoke, a figure suddenly materialized right before him.
Su Yu glanced at Liu Hong, who beamed with delight. "Su Yu, you're back! Was the road safe?"
"It was fine. Just Foutuling looking everywhere to kill you!"
Su Yu said calmly, "Teacher, you'd better not go out much. It's too dangerous out there!"
"Of course, definitely not going out—not that I could anyway!"
Ignoring him, Su Yu looked at Xinghong, bowed slightly, and said, "Lord Xinghong, while I'm away, please keep a close eye on this man. He'll be impersonating me next. He's full of cunning schemes, and someone might be backing him from behind. Please be careful, my lord, lest you fall into his trap."
Xinghong opened his eyes and said flatly, "A mere Lingyun is of no consequence."
Su Yu smiled. "Better to be cautious, my lord. His cultivation isn't much, but his tricks are endless! Ruthless and vicious! Plenty of people have been done in by him. If I didn't need to use him right now, I'd have smacked him to death already just to avoid being schemed against. You just don't need to pay him any mind, my lord!"
"Naturally."
To the side, Liu Hong hesitated. *Could you have some misunderstanding about me? I'm really not that kind of person!*
Su Yu soon said, "Lord Xingyue, I'll have to trouble you with something. Send out a relatively unimportant Sun Moon dead spirit... around the sixth level of the Sun Moon Realm, to help convert someone for me."
Xingyue froze, furious. A roar echoed out: "What did you say?"
*Are you ordering me around?*
Su Yu smiled. "Don't be angry, my lord, it's just a trivial matter. You aren't short on Sun Moon subordinates. Just send out a disobedient, useless one. Sixth-level Sun Moon is fine, or seventh-level... at a pinch, but nothing too strong!"
"Just converting a peak Shanhai—it's hardly difficult."
*Are you teaching me how to do my job?*
Xingyue was enraged. Right now, even the sound of Su Yu's voice annoyed her!
Su Yu thought for a moment and added, "My lord, pick one with rich death qi. I have an urgent use for it."
"..."
Xingyue ignored him, while Xinghong cast a strange look at Su Yu.
*Aren't you going too far? Now you're ordering Xingyue around to do your chores. Who is the dead spirit here, you or her?*
Beside them, Liu Hong also looked at Su Yu with a peculiar expression.
*Is this how he treats a dead spirit monarch? No wonder! No wonder that dead spirit monarch kept egging me on to kill Su Yu these past few days! With an attitude like this, even I couldn't stand it. This is outright bullying a dead spirit!*
Su Yu cleared his throat lightly and smiled. "Lord Xingyue, just a small favor. I'm conducting an experiment, which is actually for your own good, my lord. I want to test whether a dead spirit can be reversed back into a living being! Surely I can't experiment directly on you, can I?"
"Reversing a dead spirit?"
Xingyue asked suspiciously, "You mean..."
"Yes, give it a shot!"
*Of course, I'm just bluffing you.*
Su Yu cast that thought aside. Old Man Bai might have opened the yang aperture, but he couldn't learn the method of reversing origin apertures, because his origin apertures weren't fully opened either.
Still, Xingyue had no way of knowing that.
"A sixth-level Sun Moon?"
Xingyue seemed to hesitate, pondering something. Su Yu smiled and said, "Yes, my lord. Too weak, and there won't be enough to absorb; too strong, and the death qi will corrode too violently, and it wouldn't be good if he's tormented to death! Do me a favor, my lord. At worst, I'll get you some nice treasures next time to make it up to you."
Xingyue snorted!
*Would a noble monarch like me care about such things?*
After considering it, Xingyue said coldly, "A sixth-level Sun Moon... fine, Su Yu, I shall indulge you! But mark my words: it is not because I fear you! I expect to see the results of this experiment you speak of!"
"Of course!"
Su Yu nodded, rather perfunctorily.
To the side, Liu Hong's mouth fell open. Strange—was this dead spirit monarch a bit too easy to talk to?
*That actually worked?*
Having settled this, Su Yu felt much more at ease. He quickly added, "Oh right, there are also several demon beasts. My lord, find a few weaker dead spirits to convert them as well."
Saying so, he looked at Liu Hong, considered for a moment, and said, "And arrange a first-level Sun Moon dead spirit to convert this fellow! Preferably another unimportant one. This guy is rather insidious; if a dead spirit that is too strong converts him, I worry he'll end up scheming it to death!"
"..."
Liu Hong's mouth worked, speechless for a long time.
*Listen to him! I haven't even done anything—why are you always picking on me!*
Xinghong also chuckled and spoke: "Su Yu, his strength is mediocre. No matter how many schemes one has, they must be built upon strength. You needn't worry overmuch."
Su Yu smiled. "Lord Xinghong, it's not that I'm worried about myself. I'm not afraid of what he can do to me. I'm mainly worried you and Lord Xingyue might be bewitched or deceived by him. Back in the Human Realm, this guy was an even bigger swindler than me."
Xinghong pondered for a moment, then said mildly, "In that case, one does indeed need to be careful!"
One really had to guard against that. As for this great liar Su Yu, his swindling of the god race and the myriad races had happened right here in Xinghong Ancient City, and Xinghong had watched the entire show from start to finish.
Liu Hong was helpless!
*Honestly, I haven't done a single thing these past few days! This guy Su Yu truly holds a grudge. Just because the loot wasn't split evenly in the past, he's still brooding over it.*
"Teacher, you may see yourself out!"
Before Liu Hong could argue, Su Yu waved a hand and tossed him out, shutting the heavy doors of the rear hall.
Only after driving him away did Su Yu ask, "Lord Xinghong, is there anything unusual about that fellow?"
Xinghong said flatly, "Who could be more unusual than you?"
Though he said that, after some thought, he added, "He seemed somewhat inclined to enter the Dead Spirit Realm. If an ancient city resident enters the Dead Spirit Realm, they face fewer attacks. His coming to the city and agreeing to convert into a half-dead probably has something to do with this."
Su Yu was surprised. "Lord Xinghong, can we enter the Dead Spirit Realm as we please too?"
"Of course not!"
Xinghong replied, "The bare minimum prerequisite is that you can open the passage, and on top of that, you aren't afraid of being slain by the monarch guarding its entrance."
"True... Right, Xia Longwu seemed to have entered the passage at Lord Tianmie's ancient city years ago and killed many Sun Moon dead spirits. Did the monarch over there not make a move?"
This required no answer from Xinghong; Xingyue's voice transmitted directly from the passage: "When Xia Longwu entered that side, Hetu was summoning monarchs from all directions to help overturn the Hongmeng passage. The monarch over there went to help. I didn't go!"
"..."
From the sound of it, she seemed rather proud of that?
Su Yu asked in confusion, "You didn't go to help, my lord? And what ability does this Hetu possess that can make dead spirit monarchs go to his aid?"
Xingyue snorted. "What do you know! Like you, he's a swindler. Back then, he deceived monarchs into leaving the Dead Spirit Realm, and many died as a result. Even now, idiot monarchs still believe he can lead everyone out!"
Su Yu became even more puzzled. "Then why must he insist on going through Hongmeng City? It seems to me that places like Yuhong City would have been much easier to break through..."
"Idiot!"
Xingyue scoffed contemptuously. "Because the passage guarded by Hongmeng City is the strongest and can stably allow Half-Emperors to pass through, whereas the passages suppressed by other cities cannot. Hetu wants to shatter that passage so that dead spirit Half-Emperors can leave the realm, not just us dead spirit monarchs!"
*Idiot Su Yu, you don't even know this!*
She finally felt she had won a round!
Venting her frustration made her feel much better.
Xinghong also remarked impassively, "Indeed. That Hetu has never given up and constantly seeks to oppose us..."
Su Yu couldn't wrap his head around it and said with a strange look, "Is Hetu sick in the head? If other monarchs can go to him, he can certainly come to us. Take Xinghong Ancient City: if he brought a group of monarchs to attack our passage, Lord Xinghong would probably have a hard time, wouldn't you? Shatter Xinghong Ancient City's passage first, then shatter the passages of the other ancient cities, setting fires everywhere for Lord Hongmeng to rush around extinguishing, weakening Lord Hongmeng step by step."
Why did he have to fixate on fighting a Half-Emperor?
Su Yu felt Hetu's reasoning was flawed.
Xingyue sneered, "Do you think dead spirit monarchs are all idiots? Do you really believe you're the only clever one? You know nothing about the passage beneath Xinghong City, and the other passages are much the same—frail and able to support only a single monarch at a time! Therefore, the one confronting Xinghong can only ever be one monarch! Otherwise, the stone sculptures would have been mobbed and slaughtered by the Dead Spirit Realm long ago; how could they have held out until now? Hongmeng City alone can accommodate three to five monarchs at once."
Su Yu understood. So that was why.
No wonder there only ever seemed to be one dead spirit monarch per city; as it turned out, any more couldn't squeeze through the passage.
Su Yu said enlightenedly, "No wonder Lord Xingyue always hides in the passage. In that case, you don't need to fear other monarchs coming after you, my lord—they can't squeeze in. When Yanmo attacked last time, you could have just blocked the passage, and he wouldn't have been able to come through, right?"
"Rules!"
Xingyue replied coldly. Who said she was afraid of others coming after her?
*I merely abide by the rules!*
As for last time, Yanmo being able to come without her blocking the passage was also due to the rules: because Su Yu had killed people, within three days any monarch could come to eliminate him. If she couldn't, Yanmo came, which complied with the rules.
Su Yu suddenly thought of something and asked, "Lord Xingyue, how do you dead spirits grow stronger? Do you cultivate on your own? Or devour your own kind? Or is devouring death qi enough?"
Xingyue ignored him.
Su Yu explained, "Don't take offense, my lord. I'm not prying into secrets. I was just wondering if I should find a way to trap and kill Yanmo. If it's useful for boosting your strength, perhaps you could devour him! If your strength isn't enough, I worry you'll get killed by other monarchs, and that would be troublesome. You can't die, my lord—if you die and no one else is willing to convert me, I won't be able to remain castellan!"
*Are those words fit for human ears?*
Xingyue was furious!
*Whom are you looking down upon?*
Xinghong, however, took up the conversation: "If a dead spirit monarch wishes to grow stronger, devouring is one aspect. Another lies in the size of their territory."
"Territory?"
Su Yu was surprised. What did this have to do with territory?
Xinghong explained, "In the Dead Spirit Realm, territory is not merely the physical land you see, but the length of the Dead Spirit Heavenly River within your territory, the stretch it flows through! The Dead Spirit Heavenly River is the single most important thing in the Dead Spirit Realm—without exception! The longer the stretch of the river in your territory, the denser the death qi. Furthermore, the Dead Spirit Heavenly River is in fact a channel of time. Constantly washing within it can help restore your memories. The more memories you recover, the faster your intellect sharpens, and the quicker your cultivation progresses... That is why great wars frequently erupt in the Dead Spirit Realm, not for anything else, but for the river's length. Territory is the Heavenly River!"
Su Yu realized!
So that was how it worked!
Seeing that Xinghong had already spilled the details, Xingyue stopped acting aloof and said chillingly, "Not only that. Within the Dead Spirit Heavenly River, there are often supreme treasures or the spiritual bodies of deceased experts soaking within. The longer the river runs through your territory, the greater the benefits you reap!"
Understood!
Got it!
Su Yu suddenly said, "Lord Xingyue, let me ask you a question. I hear that a dead spirit passage might open inside the Star Residence Mansion. Could you go wander over around that passage when the time comes?"
Xingyue sneered, "Why should I go? Unless dictated by the rules, rashly venturing into another monarch's domain is an act of war! Su Yu, abandon your wishful thinking!"
At the very least, Su Yu learned one thing: Xingyue could go, but doing so would mean clashing with the powerhouses there.
Of course, if the rules allowed it, she could.
For example, if enough ninth-level Sun Moons died over there, or even if an Invincible fell, she might still be able to cross over.
However, her going there might not necessarily be beneficial to him.
If she incited other monarchs to kill him instead, that would be real trouble.
While he was conversing with the two, a voice resonated loudly from outside the city: "The envoy of the All-Races Alliance pays respects to Castellan Su!"
Su Yu turned to look outside, though he couldn't see anything. After a thought, he took his leave of Xinghong and walked out.
Soon, Su Yu rose into the air above the Castellan's Residence.
Outside the city gate, a Sun Moon expert spotted Su Yu's silhouette and called out loudly once more: "Castellan Su, by order of the myriad races' experts, I have brought an invitation, requesting Your Excellency to attend the alliance assembly for the Star Residence Mansion quotas one month from now!"
Su Yu raised an eyebrow and asked calmly, "Did they say how many slots the Sacred Cities get?"
"Not yet. It requires the castellan to attend the assembly in person to discuss the allocation!"
They made it sound official enough, but requiring him to attend in person was clearly ill-intentioned.
Of course, Su Yu didn't care.
He quickly said, "Bring it here!"
The man tossed a golden booklet toward the city, though he dared not step inside. Su Yu didn't move. A moment later, an elderly man ascended into the void, reached out, and caught the golden booklet directly in his hand.
Elder Wang coughed lightly and said disdainfully, "Petty parlor tricks!"
A faint aura of pressure flared from the booklet, only to be instantly suppressed and extinguished by him.
Elder Wang was, after all, an eighth-level Sun Moon. Although injuries and becoming a city resident had prevented him from reaching the ninth level, a mere trace of an Invincible's pressure was still easily quelled.
Su Yu sneered. Outside the city, the envoy had already fled.
...
Soon, inside the grand hall.
A few more people had gathered.
Elder Wang, Liu Hong, Old Man Bai, and several great demons.
Sitting high on the castellan's throne, Su Yu opened the golden booklet and looked at it. It contained only a date and a location, which was actually at Tianxia Island—not far at all.
Elder Wang, having already looked at it earlier, spoke up: "Does the castellan intend to go in person? How about I go on your behalf..."
Su Yu shook his head nonchalantly. "It's a small matter. I'll go take a look myself!"
"They might try to..."
Su Yu smiled. "Elder Wang, it's really fine. It's not like I'm going alone—I'll take the ancient cities along, and three of them at that. I'll stay inside without stepping out. It'll be fine. Those fools seem to think ancient cities can't move. I'll go check out the situation!"
They acted as though ancient cities could only remain fixed in one spot. As for bearing death qi while moving an ancient city, did Su Yu even care about that?
Elder Wang froze for a moment, then realized: true enough.
He had completely forgotten. No wonder Su Yu didn't care in the slightest.
Su Yu soon chuckled. "Slot allocations... The major races like the gods, demons, and immortals probably want to stir up trouble again. It'll amount to nothing more than instigating smaller races to provoke us over slots or something of the sort!"
Elder Wang sighed. "It has always been so in previous sessions. Each time, the slots the human race obtained were the fewest among the major powers—sometimes fewer than even the dragon race! The dragon race's overall strength is actually weaker than the human race. The dragons have one Half-Emperor, but their number of Invincibles shouldn't be as many as humanity's..."
"In previous sessions, the human race didn't want to clash with the major races over slots either. Moreover, humans were heavily targeted inside the Star Residence Mansion, so the number of our people entering was usually small. They would only stay on the bottom three floors, scavenging scraps the powerful races didn't want..."
A humble choice, yet a painfully realistic one.
There was no helping it. With so few slots—say, out of 3,600 entrants, humans only accounted for 300—the remaining 3,300 might all be targeting you. If you sent more people or more experts, it would only be courting death.
It was better to send fewer people and gamble on a chance. Too many people invited encirclement and slaughter; with fewer people, while the major races fought among themselves, they wouldn't have time to go out of their way down to the bottom three floors just to look for trouble.
Only in this way could the human race minimize losses and still get a sip of broth; otherwise, they wouldn't even get soup!
Su Yu tapped on his throne and smiled. "Understood. Then in a month's time, I'll go see it for myself. The Star Residence Mansion seems about ready to officially open as well!"
As for the slots, he would snatch up as many as he could.
Even if he didn't use them himself, he would cut down on the number of entrants from the other races.
Chapter 520