The Quota Allocation Concludes

While Su Yu was lost in thought, the second round of contests began. In this round, Su Yu casually singled out another second-stage Soaring dead spirit as a contestant. The others glanced over, offering no objection. The venue remained the ancient city. This time, however, everyone was prepared, particularly against the humans. Zhao Shiqi was entering the fray. The Old Zhao family was known for being straightforward, lacking the craftiness of the Zhu family. Zhao Shiqi was actually quite formidable, yet the moment he entered the arena, seven or eight experts from the minor races joined forces to ambush him. In under a minute... Zhao Shiqi was beaten directly into an ancient house. The god and demon experts wore calm expressions. Targeting the human race to deny them quotas was entirely in line with expectations. First eliminate the human contestants, then knock out the minor races, followed by the ancient races, and only then contest among themselves. This had always been the established order. Su Yu watched in silence, saying nothing. His dead spirit simply wandered through the ancient city without initiating any attacks. Inevitably, contestants were forced into ancient houses by the roaming dead spirits. When all was said and done, it would simply be time to divide the quotas. Time ticked away. When nearly half an hour had elapsed, Su Yu noticed several contestants congregating near his dead spirit. They did not strike. They appeared to be waiting! Su Yu knew what they were waiting for—the final moment of the thirty-minute mark, when they intended to strike and slaughter the dead spirit! Once the dead spirit was slain and the time ran out, they could immediately exit the city. Or they could duck into an ancient house. Sure enough, at the very last second of the half-hour, seven or eight figures struck simultaneously. A dead spirit was not particularly powerful compared to peers of the same stage. Confronted by seven or eight elites from various races joining hands, the dead spirit lacked the intelligence to even attempt an escape. In an instant, it was blasted to pieces! The next moment, an even stronger dead spirit materialized on the scene. However, time was up. Nearby, Moge smiled faintly. “City Lord Su, it appears you won’t be receiving a quota this round!” Su Yu did not care much. They had to be thrown a bone once in a while; if the dead spirits kept winning every round, how could anyone keep playing? Hearing Moge’s remark, he replied nonchalantly with a chuckle, “So what if I don't? As for the demons, the Blood Fire Demon race is truly impressive! Another Blood Fire Demon lasted to the very end this round. Among the demons, I’ve always felt the Blood Fire Demon race is truly the strongest!” “...” Moge remained indifferent and silent, unwilling to debate the matter with Su Yu here. A Demon King of the Blood Fire Demon race stood right beside him, and upon hearing the comment, the Demon King merely smiled and did not join in. It was a blatant attempt to sow discord. “Third-stage Soaring, enter the field!” The White-Haired Demon King barked once more, while Su Yu said with a beaming smile, “To all the minor races, send your fighters in promptly! While the dead spirits are still few in number, get in early—you might still scrape together a few quotas! Soon enough, the dead spirits will multiply, and the later rounds will become far more brutal. If nothing else, create some opportunities for your clan members in later rounds. For example, kill a few more dead spirits and let them fill the ancient city... That’s certainly better than doing nothing!” “...” A crowd of onlookers turned toward Su Yu again. This fellow was perpetually looking to stir up trouble! The White-Haired God King, unbothered, said calmly, “No matter how many dead spirits there are, so long as one’s strength is sufficient, the disadvantaged will always be the weak. The weak remain weak wherever they go. I fear City Lord Su fails to grasp this truth.” Su Yu smiled. “I understand—the law of the jungle, a lesson forged over countless years. But the rafter that sticks out rots first, a truth the God King senior might not appreciate! Dead spirits, generally speaking, target the strongest first. Making clever use of circumstances to create opportunities for oneself is essential. If one's strength falls short, a brain comes in handy! If everything truly depended solely on fists, then for the next grand war, each race could simply bring out its Invincibles to count heads and be done with it. Why bother with war at all?” The White-Haired God King did not bother arguing with him. This time, several minor races adjusted their tactics: they banded together! More than a dozen experts from minor races allied with one another, clustering together to prevent ambushes from the major races. As before, Su Yu brought out another dead spirit to serve as a contestant. He had only twenty designated quota opportunities, so he was in no hurry. A few more or less made little difference to him. Perhaps losing a few dead spirits would be even more amusing. …… On the human side. After two rounds, the humans had secured twelve quotas. The Great Zhou King frowned slightly. The humans had gained a modest advantage in the first round, but starting from the second, the major races—the gods, demons, immortals, and dragons—had begun to target them. The moment they entered the field, members of various races engaged the humans in fierce combat. Even if it meant simultaneous elimination, they prioritized knocking out the humans first. Engaged in a desperate melee, the human contestants found it difficult to eliminate opponents outright. At worst, after crushing the humans, those injured gods and demons could eliminate each other within their own factions, yielding an extra quota. Niu Baidao watched for a time. Seeing the two third-stage Soaring contestants completely wiped out once again, he shook his head and transmitted his voice, “Great Zhou King, this cannot continue!” The Great Zhou King nodded and transmitted back, “Starting next round, kill dead spirits immediately upon entry. The more dead spirits there are, the harder it will be for anyone to maneuver! If you kill dead spirits, the others won’t dare draw near. Once the dead spirits multiply, targeting the humans will become much more difficult, and it will be harder for them to assemble!” Niu Baidao gave a slight nod. That was their only option. Their only recourse was to scatter the powerhouses of the gods, demons, and immortals, turning the match into a game of luck to see who could hold out until the very last moment. Only then would there be a chance of victory. Still, he frowned slightly and said, “The human race is short on Heaven Yuan Qi. Even if we try to endure, it will be tough! Major races like the gods and demons have no shortage of Heaven Yuan Qi. When it comes to enduring, they will certainly last longer!” The human race possessed very little Heaven Yuan Qi. They had only a few stockpiles left! Wan Tiansheng, that lunatic, had destroyed two Heaven Yuan Sacred Grounds. Now that the sacred grounds were gone, the Heaven Yuan Qi had dispersed, turning into standard yuan qi that integrated into the entire Human Realm. The humans were in dire need of it. In fact, not just the humans, but all the minor races lacked it. Just as everyone was brooding over this, a white mask from the Hunting Heaven Pavilion suddenly materialized. Just as he was about to speak, Su Yu chuckled and called out, “Do any of the races wish to purchase Heaven Yuan Qi? Come to me! I have plenty! Favorable prices!” “...” The white mask stared at Su Yu. He had been planning to sell some himself! Su Yu smiled. “Sell yours as you please. Whatever you sell, I’ll buy at a fifty percent discount, and then resell it to everyone at thirty percent off!” “...” The white mask stared at Su Yu blankly for a long moment before managing, “C-City Lord Su, even though you are an elder, your internal quota has limits.” Su Yu laughed. “I know! A word is all it takes. Earning a little here and there is better than nothing—I’m far too poor!” The white mask was rendered speechless! So you're using me to line your pockets? I sell Heaven Yuan Qi, you take it at half price, resell it at seventy percent, and pocket a handsome profit. However, though Su Yu was an elder, his quota for purchasing items at internal rates was indeed limited. The white mask said no more and began reaching out to various parties, primarily the minor races, contacting them to purchase Heaven Yuan Qi. The Hunting Heaven Pavilion presumably controlled several Heaven Yuan Sacred Grounds. Their exact locations, however, were known to no one. Several minor races indeed began procuring Heaven Yuan Qi. One could never have too much of it, though it was rather pricey. Even at a thirty percent discount from the Hunting Heaven Pavilion, they found it expensive. Amid the transactions, the third round came to an end. After three rounds, the ones who had secured the most quotas remained the major races: the gods, demons, and immortals. Their foundational strength was undeniable. The human contestants were by no means weak, but because they were singled out, they secured relatively few quotas. Across three rounds, yielding 270 quotas in total, no one had killed Su Yu’s dead spirit this time. It had burrowed deep into a crowd of dead spirits, making it difficult to dispatch. This round, it actually shared in three quotas. Combined with the first round, Su Yu had acquired eight quotas, which was respectable. The lion's share, however, had gone to the gods and demons. After three rounds, the humans had claimed fifteen quotas. This fell well short of human expectations. An average of five per round sounded decent, but if this persisted across all thirty-six rounds, that would only amount to 180 quotas! Even with the baseline guarantee of 200, it would reach at most around 300 quotas. That was a substantial shortfall from the humans' projected numbers! And in reality, they might not even attain that many. For a time, the human contestants grew anxious. From the start of the fourth round, the moment they entered the city, the human fighters began slaughtering dead spirits to stir up greater chaos. Not only them—the minor races also began slaughtering dead spirits! They sought to multiply the dead spirits so the gods and demons could not cooperate or join hands. By breaking up their ranks and preventing them from assembling, the others could fish in troubled waters and perhaps pick up a few stray quotas. Even if it failed this round, good fortune might allow them to secure some in the next. Beside Su Yu, Xinghong suddenly manifested and transmitted his voice, “You know, holding such a contest in the sacred city is actually quite fine. Slaying dead spirits and grinding away death qi actually helps neutralize the death qi!” Ninety contestants entered each round, all carrying substantial amounts of Heaven Yuan Qi to counteract death qi. Slaying dead spirits also caused some death qi to dissipate, and upon leaving, they would carry away traces of death qi to refine away on their own. Thousands of powerhouses grinding it down back and forth in this manner had no small effect on wearing away the death qi. Su Yu smiled. “My lord, right now it’s only the Soaring Realm. When it reaches the Sun Moon Realm, the dissipation will be far greater. Nine rounds with 810 Sun Moon experts wearing down death qi for us—I imagine that after this, the death qi inside Xinghong Ancient City might well be completely drained.” Xinghong inwardly clicked his tongue in amazement! 810 Sun Moon experts! To be frank, he had never witnessed so many Sun Moon experts expending death qi in an ancient city, not even in antiquity. Having eight hundred Sun Moon experts appear at a moment's notice made it seem as though Sun Moon powerhouses cost nothing. This was only possible because all the myriad races were participating; each race could muster a handful of Sun Moon experts, resulting in such staggering numbers. Su Yu began pondering whether exhausting so much death qi was a blessing or a curse. Su Yu sent a voice transmission, “My lord, if the death qi is completely worn away, will it have any adverse impact on the sacred city?” “An impact?” Xinghong looked peculiar. “A slight one. If too much death qi is worn away while the death qi from the dead spirit passageway is blocked by you and me, the death qi within the sacred city will become extremely sparse. The suppression on the ancient city residents will lessen, and some who were previously unable to advance might seize this opportunity to break through...” This was not a bad thing; even if they broke through, they could not shed their status as half-dead residents. “Nothing else?” “There is. On the reward day that occurs once every thousand years, there will be greater rewards!” Su Yu understood. He had heard Yunxiao mention previously that the stone sculptures also received stipends, disbursed once a millennium. In other words, if more death qi was worn away, he would receive a larger stipend when the time came. “My lord, does this affect Xingyue?” *You actually care about her?* Xinghong was speechless. “No. She is in the dead realm; how could it affect her? At most, the passageway will become more stable, making it even harder for her to breach it!” Su Yu nodded. So long as Xingyue was fine, that was enough. He truly feared that she might perish. Lately, he had not opened any yang apertures or excessively absorbed reversed death qi, so Xingyue’s days had likely been rather pleasant. He wondered if Xingyue would feel grateful to him. He was simply too kindhearted, unable to bear seeing her suffer. …… While Su Yu and Xinghong were conversing, the White-Haired God King transmitted his voice, “Dao King, Moge, these fellows are running around slaughtering dead spirits to divide us. As more rounds pass and the dead spirits multiply, our plan to coordinate and sweep them out may prove difficult to execute!” The Dao King smiled faintly. “Their strength remains inferior. In a war of attrition, they cannot outlast us! They will be eliminated sooner or later; it merely comes down to who can hold out longer! Distribute more Heaven Yuan Qi to ensure greater endurance. By the end, we can secure a massive haul of quotas without even raising our hands!” In terms of pure strength, the major races were undeniably superior. The others slaughtering dead spirits was merely a desperate bid to buy a sliver of opportunity, granting the next round of their own experts a slightly better chance. The White-Haired God King nodded slightly. Then they would wait and see! They had to leave the minor races a glimmer of hope. If the minor races were shut out entirely, that would not bode well either. …… Time ticked away. The fifth round, the sixth round, the seventh round... Su Yu also spotted some familiar faces taking the stage. Wan Mingze, for instance, entered once. From beginning to end, he did not display any overwhelmingly lethal arts, but his restraining methods were formidable indeed. Even dead spirits were immobilized by him. Furthermore, the dead spirits compensated for his lack of offensive power; once he restrained a target, he tossed them directly into a cluster of dead spirits or into an ancient house. There was no need for slaughter; his restraining arts proved far more potent. In that round, Wan Mingze secured ten quotas for the humans, marking their best performance across those rounds. As for Su Yu, across all nine stages of the Soaring Realm, he sent a dead spirit into each of the nine rounds. It went reasonably well; after nine rounds, Su Yu had amassed twenty-five quotas. With eleven of his allowed twenty deployments remaining, Su Yu was in no rush, taking his time. When the nine rounds of the Soaring Realm concluded, yielding 810 quotas, the humans had captured around fifty. The God race took nearly two hundred, while the Demon and Immortal races claimed similar numbers. The Dragon race took an amount comparable to the humans, and the minor and ancient races secured nearly a hundred quotas combined. …… East Rift Valley. The Great Qin King and the others also received the intelligence, their expressions turning rather grim. They had secured far too few! The human race’s performance had been mediocre. Over nine rounds, only a handful of individuals had performed well—figures like Wan Mingze and Zhu Hongliang. The rest had been unexceptional, looking less impressive than the ancient races, and failing to stand out even compared to certain minor races. Out of over eight hundred quotas, the humans had obtained fifty. If this continued to the end, even factoring in the baseline 200 quotas, they might end up with only around 400. That would be worse than in previous years, especially considering they had been granted an additional 200 quotas this year. King Miecan could not help but remark, “The gap between us and the gods and demons is far too vast! They’ve taken nearly two hundred each! The number of participants is roughly equal. That boy Su Yu casually tossed in nine dead spirits and still grabbed twenty-five, which is half our total! Are you telling me that nearly twenty Soaring experts from our side managed only the same share as a bunch of dead spirits?” It was simply too meager! The gods and demons had requested a total of eighty contestant slots, while the humans had requested seventy. The difference was not significant, yet the quotas secured were abysmal. Everyone was in the same realm! It wasn't as if they were fighting across cultivation tiers! Beside him, the Great Han King said softly, “It’s not that we are too weak; it’s that those fellows are coordinating to target us.” King Miecan said gloomily, “Then do we not have anyone we can ally with? Sigh!” Ever since falling out with the Immortal race, the human-immortal alliance had shattered. Though they had not completely torn away all pretense of civility, in practice, it was essentially broken. Now, their difficulties were even greater. As for the minor races, they dared not ally with the humans, fearing retaliation from the three great powers. The ancient races were potential allies, but they rarely gave the humans the time of day. This was largely because the ancient races lived long lives and knew too much. The humans had emerged from the Human Realm multiple times and been beaten back just as often; the ancient races that had allied with the humans in those days... had practically all become extinct races! Thus, unless necessary, they avoided allying with the humans. The humans had not been annihilated; they retreated every time. But their allies could not. Anyone familiar with history understood one truth: to survive long, keep one's distance from the human race—neither overly intimate nor hostile. This was the stance of most ancient races. Whether humanity was strong or weak, the ancient races rarely went out of their way to target them. A tiny minority might be hostile or friendly, but the vast majority remained neutral—truly neutral. Regardless of whether the humans lived or died, they would not intervene or meddle. History had taught them that whether offering help in dire need or kicking someone while they were down, the benefits were negligible while the pitfalls were boundless. Previously, the humans had anticipated securing 800 quotas. Now, they might not even attain half that amount. For a moment, the Invincibles looked at one another, feeling somewhat helpless. What were they to do? Earlier, allocating twenty quotas per Invincible had felt tremendously satisfying. The Great Qin King fell silent for a moment before speaking, “Switch contestants! Send our strongest over! Stop holding back. If we keep hiding our cards, the quotas will be gone, and hiding them will be meaningless! If we miss this opportunity, we will have to wait another ten years. For the younger generation, a decade constitutes their prime cultivation period!” Holding back cards was a favorite tactic of the human race. In truth, all major races favored it. Yet the humans no longer possessed the leeway to hold back. If they continued hiding their strength, the quotas would be completely snatched away by others, leaving them with nothing. Many nodded. Someone then suggested, “Can we contact Su Yu to discuss cooperation? He is the castellan of an ancient city. With the contest held in the city, he shouldn't be entirely devoid of control, right?” Many agreed. In the past, it would not have been a matter of cooperation, but rather demanding Su Yu's assistance. Now that Su Yu’s attitude was less than friendly, they had to strive for a cooperative approach. The Great Qin King did not object. He said, “I’ll have Old Zhou speak with him to see if he can render any assistance.” …… Outside the ancient city. Su Yu was watching the first-stage Lingyun contest. This time, Bai Feng took the field. This teacher of his was actually quite competent. At the very least, among his peers of the same realm, few could suppress him. However, there was a reason he had little fame: many of his generation were already at higher cultivation tiers, such as Wu Qi, Liu Hong, Huang Teng, and Qin Fang... Bai Feng’s cultivation realm remained a bit low. As he was watching, the Great Zhou King’s voice reached Su Yu’s ears: “Su Yu, is there any way for the human race to secure more quotas? We can discuss terms. It can be a cooperation, not merely asking for a favor.” Su Yu smiled. “Great Zhou King, is there any need? If their strength is lacking, sending more people inside is just sending them to their deaths! This time is far more perilous than before, as I believe you well know. If the human race claims so many quotas, wouldn't that just mean sending more people to die? Why bother?” What a response! The Great Zhou King persevered, “As you know, the Nine-Leaf Heavenly Lotus will appear this time. Furthermore, Wan Tiansheng destroyed two Heaven Yuan Sacred Grounds, leaving the human race critically depleted of resources. Right now, the Star Residence Mansion is the only place where the humans can obtain resources in vast quantities!” If they did not go this time, the remaining resources preserved by the human race over the past decade would soon run completely dry! This was tied to Su Yu! Not because he had destroyed the sacred grounds, but because the cultivation techniques he had promoted—such as the Aperture Opening Art and the Origin Soul Art—consumed far too many resources. While strength improved rapidly, strength and resources were directly proportional. Without resources, even the finest technique was useless. If things continued like this, the human race would certainly have no resources left to sustain the next decade. A scarcity of resources had become a colossal crisis for the humans. Just like the Great Xia Prefecture, which had waged war in all directions previously until it lacked the supplies to sustain the conflict—a perilous predicament indeed. Su Yu smiled faintly and ignored him. Instead, he called out loudly, “Everyone, if any of you feel your quotas are insufficient later on, you can come buy them from me! I can hardly wait! Everyone, if you truly have no way out, help the people of my ancient city secure a few more quotas. At least then you have a chance of buying them back. If worse comes to worst and you see you’re about to be eliminated, let my ancient city’s residents eliminate you! Why let others reap the benefit?” “...” A crowd of onlookers was rendered speechless. The Great Zhou King glanced at him, but Su Yu gave no further response. Clearly, he had no intention of helping. The Great Zhou King said no more. If it truly could not be helped, then so be it. …… The competition for quotas grew increasingly fierce. The dead spirits multiplied! In the first-stage Lingyun match, Bai Feng was surprisingly fierce. When gods and demons moved to surround and slay him, his counterattack crippled several of them, and he tossed them into clusters of dead spirits. When even more came looking for trouble, Bai Feng did not even wait for the thirty-minute mark; he ducked straight into an ancient house, having secured several quotas anyway. Su Yu understood his situation well. His teacher possessed tremendous explosive power, but his endurance... lasting half an hour was out of the question; five minutes was his limit. Bai Feng had not claimed too many quotas. On the other hand, Wu Qi in the fourth-stage Lingyun contest was remarkably formidable. Setting aside her vast array of divine characters, she possessed diverse methods, such as an arsenal of poison arts that forced even the dead spirits into a steady retreat. In the fourth-stage Lingyun match, not only had Wu Qi participated, but Shadow had as well. Shadow was also at the fourth stage of the Lingyun Realm, and the fellow was quite capable. Ultimately, when the fourth-stage Lingyun contest concluded, Shadow had obtained three quotas, while Wu Qi secured nine, which was a very respectable showing. The human race did possess several powerhouses in the Lingyun Realm. Huang Teng was at the sixth stage, and Qin Fang was at the seventh. Both were exceptionally strong. In fact, in the third-stage Lingyun contest, the humans had also secured a substantial number of quotas. Shan Xiong had reached the third stage of Lingyun. He possessed a peculiar ability, roaming within a unique spatial layer that made it nearly impossible for anyone weaker than him to disrupt his state. That fellow had claimed ten quotas in the third-stage contest. By the time the sixth-stage Lingyun contest arrived, Huang Teng demonstrated reliable strength. Wielding a long saber, he slashed wildly in all directions, completely unrestrained, chopping relentlessly for half an hour. He hacked several opponents nearly to death, entirely heedless of the consequences. In this round, the humans secured another solid haul—a full fifteen quotas. In the seventh-stage Lingyun contest, Qin Fang, with his standing on the Heaven Ranking, proved his reputation was well-earned. However, because there were too many dead spirits, he became entangled. Even Qin Fang could not sweep aside all opposition. After sweeping his spear through the field for a long while, he ultimately secured only twenty quotas. Nonetheless, throughout the Lingyun tier, the humans secured a considerable number of quotas this time around. Tallying them up, the total approached nearly a hundred. However, the human race suffered a generational gap; there were few powerhouses in the Shanhai Realm. Most Shanhai cultivators had emerged from the generation roughly fifty years prior. It was hardly surprising that few powerhouses remained from that era; following Ye Batian’s fall in battle, the humans had contracted their defensive perimeter, and for many years, almost no one had participated in the wars of the myriad realms. …… In the blink of an eye, it was time for the ninth-stage Lingyun battle. At this moment, the Invincibles of each race were transmitting their voices in a frenzy. “The moment you enter, let our own people eliminate you immediately and enter an ancient house!” “We have reached an agreement with the God race. Once inside, move close to the god expert, let him wound you, and surrender at once!” “Approach the Immortal race. At the first touch, surrender and surrender the quota to the Immortals!” “...” Powerhouse after powerhouse transmitted instructions, determined not to let Su Yu secure more quotas. Before Su Yu could move to take them down, they would yield the quotas to others. Even if Su Yu defeated them in the end, he would only secure those few, rather than sweeping the entire pool. Su Yu wore a calm expression. With these Invincibles transmitting voices so frantically, he would have to be blind not to notice. Were these fellows seriously planning to challenge him in a contest of speed? Eighty-nine people! Apart from himself, there were eighty-nine contestants. Predictably, they were all preparing to self-eliminate or coordinate eliminations, unwilling to give him an opening, weren't they? Su Yu chuckled. “Everyone, what harm is there in letting me have a few quotas? Let’s not damage our friendly ties over this; there’s really no need!” With that, he laughed again. “Do a bunch of Lingyun cultivators truly think they can pull off little tricks right under my nose? Aren’t you underestimating me a bit too much?” The White-Haired God King said indifferently, “City Lord Su, so long as it remains within the rules, it is acceptable. As for the rest, you had best enter the city first!” Su Yu gave a soft laugh and nodded, offering no further rebuttal. The White-Haired God King barked, “Enter the arena!” The moment his voice fell, eighty-nine powerhouses shot rapidly downward into the ancient city. Ninth-stage Lingyun cultivators were by no means weak. Among them were even ranked experts capable of battling Shanhai realm opponents. They certainly could not defeat Su Yu, nor did they expect to kill him; their sole objective was to prevent Su Yu from capturing too many quotas. The instant they entered the city, several individuals had already moved close together, preparing to surrender. Su Yu, however, entered the city in an unhurried, leisurely fashion. Just as someone was about to shout their surrender, Su Yu uttered a soft command: “Silence!” The words died in the throat of the one trying to shout, choking him until he nearly gagged. The divine character ‘Silence’! Su Yu’s divine characters were remarkably potent, especially now that they had integrated with the ‘Wen’ character, gaining a notable surge in power. A fourth-tier character was comparable to the peak of the fourth tier; how could these individuals hope to resist it? Seeing that they could not vocalize their surrender, the contestants did not hesitate. Several struck quickly, intending to knock out their companions just to go through the motions! Yet the moment they moved, the vision of many blurred, and their targets vanished, replaced by dead spirits. They hurriedly pulled their strikes! Was Su Yu deploying dead spirits? Those watching from the periphery, however, could see clearly: this fellow was employing illusions. Even the Dao King could not help remarking, “This fellow’s willpower is exceptionally robust, and his divine characters are formidable as well. This illusion covers a vast expanse!” Over half of the ancient city was enveloped by Su Yu’s illusion! Illusions danced before everyone’s eyes, dazzling and confusing their senses. Before they could react, Su Yu suddenly swallowed a drop of blood essence. His aura surged exponentially, instantly thrusting him into the seventh stage of the Sun Moon Realm. At this moment, even the Invincibles could not resist grumbling, “He is already this strong, yet he still devours blood essence to elevate himself... A seventh-stage Sun Moon fighting ninth-stage Lingyun cultivators...” He was truly shameless beyond measure! How were they supposed to fight this! The disparity between a seventh-stage Sun Moon and a ninth-stage Lingyun was genuinely astronomical. Even setting this aside, the strength Su Yu had previously displayed was already at the Sun Moon tier, which made a fair contest impossible. Yet Su Yu took shamelessness to the absolute extreme. He pushed himself straight to the seventh stage of the Sun Moon Realm! In that instant, eighty-nine fists descended from the void, knocking them flat one punch at a time! The eighty-nine Lingyun cultivators had barely processed what was happening when a series of thunderous booms erupted. All eighty-nine were sent flying, vomiting blood, and several were outright blasted apart, spawning a cluster of dead spirits. Suspended in midair, Su Yu shrugged and laughed. “Too weak, no fun at all! How about I fight the Shanhai Realm instead? Moduona is taking the field next round; how about I have some fun with Moduona?” The crowd was left speechless. Outside, Moduona’s eyes flickered, but he said nothing. Fight what? You're a seventh-stage Sun Moon! Even Moduona, unless possessed by a Demon King, had no way of fighting him. It was simply an impossible match! Su Yu sighed with an air of melancholy. “Beating these people is far too simple! Truly, overwhelming strength is the only answer at all times! Oh well, I'll reluctantly accept ninety quotas. Far too easy. I now hold over a hundred quotas; I wonder how much money I can sell them for in the end.” Gloating after reaping all the benefits! Su Yu’s match had ended far too quickly. There had been no alternative—his strength was simply too overwhelming. A group of Lingyun cultivators could not even speak before him. However many schemes they had devised beforehand, in the end, they were simply beaten senseless with a single punch! …… Su Yu did not linger to show off, quickly departing the ancient city. The contests continued. In this round, Moduona took the field. A renowned reputation was never hollow; Moduona had not dominated the ranking lists without reason. His strength was terrifyingly genuine. The moment he entered the city, he relied solely on his fists, whether against dead spirits or living beings, dropping them one punch at a time! His speed was blistering! In less than ten minutes, every contestant in the ancient city had vanished. However, he could not replicate Su Yu’s feat of denying everyone even the chance to surrender. In this round, Moduona secured over forty quotas for the Demon race, while the remainder found ways to surrender to members of their own race or to those they had struck deals with. On Su Yu’s side, more contestants entered the fray subsequently. Blood Moon and the others entered one after another to vie for quotas. Whenever geniuses from the Heaven Ranking were present, the competition grew exceptionally fierce. Particularly by the eighth stage of Shanhai, with Zhan Wushuang, Xuan Wuji, and several others present, contestants outside the Heaven Ranking were practically eliminated in a single strike, leaving little suspense. The humans’ performance remained average. By the time the ninth-stage Shanhai matches concluded, the humans had captured over a hundred quotas in the Lingyun tier, but managed only thirty-odd in the Shanhai tier. All told, they had not yet reached two hundred quotas. Meanwhile, Su Yu’s side, piecing together quotas here and there, had amassed 135 quotas. Now, only the battles of the Sun Moon Realm remained. On the human side, two participated in the first-stage Sun Moon match: Chen Yong, and a general from the Great Qin Prefecture. Both Chen Yong and the general were veterans of brutal slaughter, possessing formidable strength. …… Su Yu did not pay overly close attention to these Sun Moon battles. Of his twenty ancient city quotas, he had already used eighteen. Only two remained. Su Yu had already arranged for these two: in the ninth-stage Sun Moon match, Tianhe would participate, and for the final one, Su Yu intended to wait until they spawned a Sun Moon dead spirit before singling it out to compete. If a Sun Moon dead spirit was truly spawned, the ancient city would seal itself—though Su Yu, of course, possessed the power to unseal it. In any case, he had no intention of sending Sun Moon residents under his command into the fray. In reality, the Sun Moon residents were unreliable; there was no telling whose side they might take. It was better to send a dead spirit to fight. In that round, Chen Yong and the general, both carrying injuries, secured five or six quotas. The Sun Moon contests proved far more arduous. In the second-stage Sun Moon match, Hong Tan took the field. This grandmaster was approaching the third stage, though he had not yet reached it. Upon his appearance, he displayed some of the might of the multiple divine characters, defeating several second-stage Sun Moon opponents before ultimately falling to a coordinated assault by multiple Sun Moon cultivators. In the third-stage Sun Moon match, Liu Wenyan also took the stage. Quite a few members of the Multiple Divine Characters faction had arrived this time, and when tallied up, they had captured a respectable number of quotas. …… It was not until the ninth-stage Sun Moon match, when Lan Tian took the field, that Su Yu’s interest was truly piqued. He did not understand why Wan Tiansheng was striving for quotas. If all else failed, Wan Tiansheng could simply use the special passageway; why insist on seizing quotas? Did he intend to groom some successor? As for Lan Tian... this fellow was truly bizarre. The moment he entered the arena, thousands of Lan Tians erupted into wild, manic laughter, giving the ninth-stage Sun Moon cultivators a splitting headache. Countless Lan Tians manifested throughout the ancient city. Often, you would spot one, only to find yourself surrounded by hundreds, even thousands of them the very next moment! At this moment, the Invincibles watched the contest with solemn expressions. After observing for a good while, the Dao King suddenly transmitted his voice, “This person must be slain. If not killed, he will inevitably become a scourge, perhaps even more troublesome than Wan Tiansheng!” Many Invincibles silently agreed. Lan Tian was extraordinarily sinister. Regarding the Grand Dao convergence path he walked, some present harbored vague anxieties. This might not be a path of Lan Tian’s own invention; in ancient times, there seemed to have been similar monstrous geniuses. While none were entirely clear on the ultimate outcome, the fact that fragmented records had survived from antiquity made it evident that this was no ordinary Dao. If Lan Tian did not die and truly managed to accomplish something with it, that would pose a monumental catastrophe. As this madman Lan Tian defeated seven or eight ninth-stage Sun Moon cultivators in succession before finally being wounded and scattered by several opponents, the battle for quotas drew to a close. On Su Yu’s side, Tianhe’s luck had been decent. As a castellan of an ancient city, he found a corner to turtle up and secured a quota—his own quota. Disgraceful though it was, he had managed to secure one nonetheless. All told, Su Yu had obtained 136 quotas. It was a respectable harvest. The various races were also tallying the quotas they had secured. Soon, they turned their gazes toward the human race. The gods, demons, and other major powers wore faint smiles, looking rather satisfied. The human race had secured a total of 232 quotas. Adding the 200 promised by the various races... which was actually less in practice, as several races had failed to secure quotas and could not deliver, the humans could only claim 420 quotas in total. This fell far short of their earlier projections. Meanwhile, the God, Demon, and Immortal races had each averaged around 600 quotas. On the whole, although the humans stood on equal footing in name with the major races, when it came down to reality, the disparity became apparent. If reliant solely on their true strength, they had managed only two hundred-odd quotas. With this, the battle for quotas was completely concluded. Many turned their eyes toward Su Yu with eager anticipation. You claimed over a hundred quotas—aren't you going to sell them? Right now, certain minor races had not secured a single quota. If they could acquire one or two by spending a bit of wealth, they wouldn't mind paying the price.