Inside the Star Residence Mansion.
Su Yu's eyes were aloof and held a trace of chill as he stared at Huang Jiu for a moment.
This was the first time he had seen Huang Jiu's true appearance. Her face still carried a touch of childish youth; she was clearly quite young.
A member of the Liu family.
That was what Kongkong had told him.
Su Yu had never verified it, nor had he ever mentioned it to Liu Wenyan. The people of the Liu clan were nearly all dead. If it were true, that would be a cause for great joy; if false, it would merely result in empty hopes and even greater sorrow.
Moreover, Huang Jiu ran with Kongkong. Frankly speaking, Su Yu had always believed that one's environment shaped everything, unaffected by mere bloodlines.
If Huang Jiu had learned from Kongkong and turned out thoroughly wicked, then even if she bore the Liu family's blood, there was no need for her to return.
If she returned, the Liu clan would feel indebted to her. Once a guilt complex took hold, the Liu family might end up paying a catastrophic price for her.
Was the Liu family powerful?
Not particularly!
Currently, they only had a few Sun Moon cultivators.
Yet the Liu family's connections remained vast. King Daxia, Xia Longwu, Nan Wujiang, Yun Chen, Wan Tiansheng... including Su Yu himself, all could be counted among their network.
In the past, there were even Invincibles who owed debts of gratitude to the Liu clan.
That was why Liu City stood independent today and hardly anyone dared to say a word. Liu City still possessed substantial backing.
Such a family might appear weak on the surface, but if they truly rallied all their favors, they could likely summon three to five Invincibles—or even more.
If such a family were led around by the nose by a long-lost descendant, it would be a terrifying prospect.
Liu Wenyan and the others were not fools, but they felt guilt and regret.
It was because of him that the Liu family had faced ruin in the first place.
At this moment, Su Yu looked at Huang Jiu and lost himself in thought for a brief second.
How should he handle her?
Killing her... If no one ever found out for the rest of his life, so be it. But if it came to light, while others might not care, once Liu Wenyan learned of it, he would never be able to overcome that grief.
In this instant, Su Yu fought an internal battle.
Running into Huang Jiu here was completely unexpected, and it brought him a fair share of trouble.
*My identity... she may have already guessed it.*
...
Meanwhile, Huang Jiu was utterly terrified.
Terror consumed her mind!
The book... slaughtering the Immortals... overpowering might, eyes that looked down upon everything with absolute indifference, sparing someone purely because they were human... Su Yu!
This was Su Yu!
This was the Su Yu whom everyone believed was still trapped within the ancient city. He had come; he had entered the mansion!
Not only had he entered, but he also possessed bizarre, extraordinary methods.
He had pulled multiple Immortals directly to him in an instant—an unnatural feat. He had effortlessly slaughtered a third-stage Sun Moon, demonstrating overwhelming power. And that book had to be the weapon Su Yu had forged previously!
What should she do?
Having spent years in the Heaven Hunting Pavilion, sweat dripped down Huang Jiu's neck. She was not stupid; she knew Su Yu had to be weighing whether or not to kill her!
Her supposed identity as a descendant of the Liu family was the sole factor holding Su Yu back!
As for being human... Su Yu had killed plenty of humans; why would he care about that?
Huang Jiu figured it out in an instant and hastily said, "Lord Su... Lord Xuan Jiu, I won't breathe a word about any of this! Not a single thing! If My Lord feels uneasy, you can tamper with my memories or place a restriction inside my sea of will!"
Su Yu stared at her for a moment. After a pause, he said impassively, "Are you truly from the Liu family?"
"I don't know!"
Huang Jiu replied rapidly, "I had no idea before. Later, the Minister of the Yellow Division... Lord Zhu Tianfang, was talking with the elder and mentioned that I came from a prominent human clan and was picked up on the All-Heavens Battlefield by the elder twenty years ago. Later, I looked into the records. Twenty years ago, the only major catastrophe among human families was the Liu clan. That was why the elder and Lord Zhu deduced that I might be from the Liu family. Because my talent is very high, and having great talent as an infant appearing on the All-Heavens Battlefield only happens with human clans stationed there long-term..."
Under normal circumstances, infants never appeared on the All-Heavens Battlefield.
Only humans garrisoned there long-term would bear offspring on that ground.
Everything pointed toward her being of the Liu family.
Of course, it required bloodline verification. That was not particularly difficult; once they found Liu Wenyan, it could be confirmed.
Su Yu observed her for a few moments, and a little fur ball materialized in his hand. Su Yu said calmly, "Open your sea of will!"
Huang Jiu's face drained of color in absolute horror!
A God-Devourer!
The God-Devouring race that everyone feared!
The little fur ball opened its eyes, yawned, and looked all around. Glancing at Huang Jiu in front of it, its eyes carried a hint of novelty, as if watching a show. It had no clue why she was so terrified—likely frightened by the fragrant one!
Su Yu said coldly, "Open your sea of will! I will not repeat myself! Let the little fur ball enter your sea of will! Little fur ball, keep an eye on her for me. At all times. If she makes the slightest suspicious move, devour her sea of will instantly!"
The little fur ball was formidable now.
It had advanced to Shanhai earlier, and during Su Yu's tribulation, it had even devoured a rules blood figure.
When Su Yu absorbed the power of the rules, it had gulped down a massive portion alongside him.
Su Yu did not even know what exact realm the little fur ball had reached.
However, it certainly had not reached Sun Moon yet!
Even so, once it entered someone's sea of will, provided the defenses were lowered, swallowing it in one bite would be child's play for the creature.
Despair washed over Huang Jiu's face. She understood all too well how terrifying the God-Devouring race was.
Once she opened her sea of will and allowed a God-Devourer inside, the mere thought filled her with hopeless dread.
Despite the terror in her heart, she opened her sea of will.
Yet the little fur ball showed utter disgust. "I don't want to!"
It did not want to go into her sea of will. It did not smell good—nowhere near as sweet as Su Yu's!
How comfortable was Su Yu's sea of will? Sleeping whenever it wanted, licking characters whenever it felt like it—life was pure bliss. The little fur ball rarely even came out; who would want to leave when they had a cozy, fragrant shed of their own?
Food and drink were never an issue!
Taking a nap whenever it liked, it could even lick delicious treats mid-dream.
If it entered someone else's sea of will, what if the fragrant one abandoned it?
No way!
Su Yu said faintly, "Get in! The moment she makes an improper move, devour her, and you can come back! Perhaps it will be very soon!"
The little fur ball blinked. Really?
Then what if she didn't make a move... Could it just eat her and claim she had?
As it pondered this, Huang Jiu cried out frantically, "I won't do anything improper! But... could you please not make it watch me? Look at it—its eyes are rolling! It's definitely planning to slaughter the innocent to claim a reward!"
"Eek, how did you know?"
The little fur ball gasped in shock. How did she guess that?!
Huang Jiu felt like weeping without tears!
*You made it far too obvious! I could see right through you—that's exactly what you're thinking, you terrifying monster!*
The crown prince of the God-Devouring race!
This was a heavyweight backed by two Half-Emperors; it was simply terrifying.
Su Yu did not care much. He squeezed the fur ball and gave a faint smile. "Unless she commits a major fault, don't devour her. After all, she might be kin of my Teacher Liu... Though he might not mind all that much, I have to show a bit of consideration."
"Fine, then!"
Helpless and reluctant, the little fur ball flew into Huang Jiu's sea of will.
Huang Jiu's face turned frighteningly pale.
Killing someone was over in a flash.
Having a ticking time bomb nestled inside your head, tormenting you every waking second, was horrifying.
Furthermore, the moment the little fur ball entered her sea of will, it turned exceedingly picky, kicking several of her divine characters aside and throwing her sea of will into absolute chaos. Finally, it picked out her strongest divine character, slumped across it, and took a lick...
It looked cute enough, but to Huang Jiu, that mouth seemed like a gaping maw of doom!
That was her primary divine character, her core character!
The creature had actually sprawled on top of it to sleep, its mouth parting and closing every now and then as it licked the character. To Huang Jiu, it looked as though it were preparing to feast on her at any second!
With the little fur ball inside her sea of will, Su Yu stopped worrying.
Devouring her sea of will would take only a split second.
Su Yu said coolly, "Move together with me. You will protect me. Your realm is seventh-stage Shanhai, nearing the eighth stage. Can your strength rival a first-stage Sun Moon?"
Resigned to her fate, Huang Jiu replied dejectedly, "No. But killing me wouldn't be easy for a first-stage Sun Moon."
"Useless!"
Su Yu looked utterly dissatisfied. "Not even comparable to a Sun Moon, yet you came to cause me trouble?"
"..."
Huang Jiu nearly lost her mind!
She cursed frantically in her head: *I caused you trouble?*
*How on earth did I cause you trouble?*
*I entered here minding my own business, only to witness you slaughtering people right off the bat. I nearly died myself! Did I come looking for trouble with you?*
*And 'not even comparable to Sun Moon'—dammit, I'm only in Shanhai!*
Just as the thought crossed her mind, Huang Jiu was seized by pure terror and shrieked, "No—!"
Su Yu coughed lightly, and the little fur ball popped its head out of Huang Jiu's scalp, asking curiously, "What is it? She was just cursing you in her head. She definitely wants to harm you! I want to eat her—you said so yourself! Why are you calling me off?"
"..."
Indeed, at that very second, the little fur ball had decided its mission was complete and was ready to dig in.
It had sensed Huang Jiu cursing Su Yu.
Thus, it wanted to eat Huang Jiu and go back home.
Who would have guessed Su Yu would intervene?
*Isn't this getting in the way of my job?*
Su Yu scolded it into stopping and paid Huang Jiu no further attention. Only now did he have time to survey their surroundings, observing the environment and everything about it.
As for Huang Jiu, with the fur ball present, she would have to weigh her actions carefully. The little fur ball was itching for her to harbor malicious thoughts so it could swallow her in one gulp and be done with it.
Su Yu looked out into the distance. They were situated in a vast, rugged mountain range.
Towering peaks pierced the clouds all around them.
Above, rich origin qi coiled around the high mountains like a sacred paradise.
Wild beasts roared within the peaks.
Su Yu was currently halfway up a mountain on relatively level ground, but the teleportation portal that had brought him here had vanished. He frowned slightly. Had the portals gathered at a specific location?
Where were those portals now?
Filled with questions, he looked toward Huang Jiu. Seeing her looking gloomy and dejected, he asked coolly, "Do you know whether people need to gather in one place to leave when the time comes?"
Huang Jiu glanced at him, lowered her head, and muttered sullenly, "No. When it's time to exit this place, a passage will manifest above your head, similar to how we arrived! At that point, passages corresponding to the number of survivors will appear. For instance, if a hundred people survive, a hundred passages will show up. You just step inside..."
Su Yu gave a slight nod. Huang Jiu belonged to the Yellow Division, and Huangjia was an elder; it was no surprise she knew more than he did.
"Kongkong came too?"
"Yes."
"Where is my Tombstone of Civilization?"
Su Yu asked indifferently. Huang Jiu felt helpless, not daring to let her thoughts stray. She could only say, "The elder is carrying it on him. If I run into him, you can use me to trade for it."
Su Yu ignored her.
Why would he trade for that?
Was he out of his mind?
Let Kongkong keep carrying it; the longer he carried it, preferably until he died, the better. Old Wan was remarkably skilled at counterfeiting; even now, Kongkong had detected nothing wrong.
Paying no more attention to Huang Jiu, he took to the sky and scanned all directions.
Su Yu flew higher and higher, divine light shining in his eyes as he looked down upon the land.
This mountain range was immense.
It covered a vast territory!
The mountains here were larger than those in the Human Realm, the space felt firmer than that of the Human Realm, and everything here carried an ancient flavor.
Living beings... might actually dwell here!
Ancient beings!
Because this environment could sustain cultivation and survival. Yet according to the records, once the Star Residence Mansion shut its doors, it seemed to cut everything off, obliterating all living beings.
And yet, Su Yu had distinctly heard beasts howling moments ago.
Su Yu fell into contemplation, descended quickly, and looked at Huang Jiu. "Do the records of the Heaven Hunting Pavilion mention whether ancient beings inhabit this place?"
Huang Jiu muttered sullenly, "There used to be some in the past, but not many. Moreover, the Star Residence Mansion closes once every decade. Each time it shuts, origin qi recedes, turning the environment perilous. So fewer and fewer have survived... Whether any remain now, the Heaven Hunting Pavilion doesn't know either. No one has encountered them in a very long time."
Su Yu nodded slightly, looking around once more. "Which floor is this?"
Huang Jiu looked around, sensed the surroundings, and quickly answered, "The first floor! You only need to feel the quality of the origin qi. The quality improves with each ascending floor. The origin qi here isn't of high quality; although abundant, it's only suitable for Tengkong cultivators. For stronger experts, the sheer volume swept up during cultivation would be far too immense..."
Su Yu nodded slightly. Having Huang Jiu around had its perks; she knew a great deal, and he could ask her about things he did not understand.
Naturally, Su Yu would not trust her blindly.
He would not place his faith in someone just because she might belong to the Liu family—that would be idiotic. Setting aside their lack of familiarity, even if they had known each other, their relationship would hardly warrant blind trust. Not to mention, he was currently holding her captive.
"The first floor..." Su Yu murmured.
Huang Jiu hurriedly added, "There are plenty of benefits on the first floor as well! Heavenly materials, earthly treasures—all sorts of things exist here! With good luck, one might even encounter treasures like the Dragon Blood Ancient Tree. Previously, most of the treasures scattered outside the Star Residence Mansion had leaked out from the first floor. During the opening, some treasures will spew out..."
"Treasures?"
Su Yu chuckled softly. What did treasures matter?
He did not care for such things!
Ignoring Huang Jiu, Su Yu opened his Civilization Chronicle inside his sea of will. The page for the Immortal race was growing increasingly complete.
Just now, it had absorbed seven Immortals in one go!
Prior to that, it had also absorbed one Immortal.
Eight Immortals in total!
All of them were refining the Immortal page.
Su Yu could feel that the phantom of Immortal essence blood within that page had grown stronger, possessing the strength of a second-stage Sun Moon. Prior to this, he had only integrated a single drop of first-stage Sun Moon Immortal essence blood.
*Only eight Immortals... What if I integrate them all, or even melt the entire Immortal Realm into it...*
Su Yu entertained these thoughts without exuding the slightest killing intent, yet beside him, Huang Jiu's hair stood on end!
*What is this lunatic thinking now?*
Just as the thought crossed her mind... she shrieked again, "I didn't think anything! Can't I even think to myself?! Why don't you just kill me and get it over with!"
She could not take it anymore!
She had merely had a stray thought, calling him a lunatic in her heart, and as a result... the little fur ball was already preparing to clock out early, opening its jaws to devour her!
The little fur ball materialized once more, popping up from her head to look at Su Yu with a wronged expression. "Are we eating her or not?! She just called you a lunatic in her head; I heard it clearly! How about I eat her and we call it a day?"
*So annoying!*
Su Yu was speechless as well. Looking at the little fur ball, he laughed despite himself. "Let her curse if she wants. As long as she doesn't shout it out and shows no intent to attack, don't eat her. Terrifying people isn't nice. After all, Huang Jiu and I can be considered colleagues; I ought to show her some face!"
"Fine, then!"
The fur ball grumbled dejectedly, "Then I'll look for another chance to eat her later!"
Su Yu chuckled. "Right. Besides, if nothing goes wrong, there's no need to actually eat her. Kongkong has always kept this woman by his side, so they probably have a decent relationship. Kongkong stole Tiangu's coffin board, and I suspect Tiangu's coffin board might be quite valuable... Later on, we'll see if we can trade her for it."
"A coffin board?"
The little fur ball blinked its large eyes, understanding dawning upon it!
*Makes sense!*
With that, it vanished back inside Huang Jiu's head. Huang Jiu truly felt pushed to the brink of despair. "No matter what, I am still a member of the Liu family..."
"Pending verification!"
Su Yu said calmly, "Even if you are, I apologize, but I am not! My loyalty lies with my teacher, not with you, nor the Liu family as a whole! Teacher is teacher, the Liu family is the Liu family—they are not to be conflated! Huang Jiu, you had better understand what I mean."
Huang Jiu replied helplessly, "I never wanted to return to the Liu family or acknowledge any relatives anyway, as long as you let me go!"
Seriously!
She had no desire to get tangled up in the messes of the Liu clan and the human race; it was far too troublesome.
Su Yu ignored her, stepping through the air and flying into the distance. Huang Jiu scrambled to keep up; now, she was terrified that Su Yu might fly off, leaving that nasty fur ball to devour her sea of will and chase after him!
No sooner had she thought this than her divine characters stung with pain. Looking closer, she was beside herself with rage: the fur ball had taken a crunching bite out of the edge of one of her divine characters.
Sensing Huang Jiu's glare, the fur ball said aggrievedly, "You cursed me! I only bit you because I got angry!"
Huang Jiu wished she were dead!
It was only a thought in her head, yet this creature had occupied her sea of will. Whenever she thought of something too clearly, it picked up on it almost instantly.
She really didn't want to live anymore!
"You want to die? Then tell the fragrant one! Once I eat you, your wish will come true!"
*Aaargh!*
It was maddening!
Huang Jiu's mental state collapsed. This thing looked cute, but it was an absolute demon, itching to devour her at the earliest opportunity.
"You're so clever! Your sea of will isn't sweet at all; I can't even sleep well here. Once I eat you, I can go home and take a nap. When exactly are you going to plot against the fragrant one? I fully support you!"
The little fur ball bounced atop her divine characters, egging her on. "How about you shout something? I'll wait until you finish shouting before eating you. Just yell that Su Yu is here, and I'll devour you—that way, the fragrant one won't scold me!"
Infuriated, Huang Jiu roared back in her sea of will, "Not a chance! Don't even dream of it! You don't like it here, right? Then stay here forever! You'd better go tell Su Yu yourself to release me, or you'll be stuck in here your whole life! I'm from the Liu family—he won't kill me as long as I don't step out of line!"
The fur ball grew disheartened, but soon cheered up again. "It's fine. Once we get outside, you're so weak that he won't care about you at all, and then I can leave!"
*Weak?*
*You're the weak one—your whole family is weak!*
"You cursed my granddaddy!"
"..."
Huang Jiu instantly panicked and hurried to placate it. "No, no, it's a misunderstanding! I didn't mean that!"
*Don't mess around!*
*That one is genuinely terrifying!*
*That's a Half-Emperor!*
...
Ahead of them, Su Yu paid no heed to their antics.
At that moment, he traversed the void, sensing the origin qi and determining its source. Seeing that he wasn't searching for treasures and was merely wandering aimlessly, Huang Jiu could not resist stepping forward. "There are still plenty of treasures on the first floor. Even if we aren't looking for treasures, we should head to the higher floors! If you truly want good things, they only become abundant from the third floor upward. The lower levels have been picked clean countless times!"
Su Yu ignored her. He absorbed a tiny wisp of origin qi and waited for the energy to converge above. A moment later, following the direction in which the origin qi flowed, he sped off after it.
Huang Jiu wore a strange expression. What was this fellow doing?
There really was nothing good left on the first floor!
After all, it had been explored for so many years, so many times. A new batch of people arrived every ten years; even if something extraordinary had been missed once, it would be found the next time. Barely anything ever accumulated.
From the third floor upward, however, treasures were plentiful.
Of course, there were bound to be some on the first floor as well. This floor was an entire realm unto itself, with forgotten corners that might still hide treasures.
The smaller races had come precisely for these treasures.
Yet Su Yu did not seem to be here for that.
Su Yu continued onward, sensing the flow of origin qi as he flew. Below, the mountain range was gradually tapering off, the towering peaks shrinking in size. That meant they were nearing the edge of the range!
Su Yu's eyes flickered, and he suddenly asked, "Where is the entrance leading from the first floor to the second floor?"
Huang Jiu looked around and said, "This mountain range is known by the Heaven Hunting Pavilion as Brow Mountain..."
She pointed at the peaks below and added, "Further ahead, roughly a thousand li away, lies another massive mountain range, also called Brow Mountain. These two ranges are very similar, resembling a person's eyebrows. In fact, the first floor looks remarkably like a human face, which is why the Heaven Hunting Pavilion designated this floor the Human Face Realm... The entrance is at the far end..."
The Human Face Realm!
First floor: Kaiyuan.
The nine Kaiyuan apertures: both eyes, both ears, both nostrils, mouth aperture, Zique, Baihui...
Moving from the first floor to the second floor was breaking through Kaiyuan into the Qianjun Realm!
How did one break through?
By breaching Baihui to step into Qianjun!
Su Yu quickly made the calculation. This was the eyebrow position. Baihui... He tilted his head toward a certain direction and suddenly pointed, asking, "Is it at the far end over there?"
Huang Jiu shot him a suspicious look. "I'm not sure. With only one Brow Mountain, it's hard for me to pinpoint. I only know this from maps, and sometimes, over vast stretches of time, the terrain shifts... Whether it's truly over there, I don't know."
Su Yu ignored her, murmuring to himself, "Human Face Realm... Human Face Realm! Let me ask you: since the Heaven Hunting Pavilion knows this is called the Human Face Realm, didn't they think about anything? Has no one investigated anything in this realm?"
"What do you mean?" Huang Jiu asked, staring at him. "Are you saying..."
"A human face has a mouth, eyes, ears, a nose... Has anyone investigated those locations? Were there treasures?"
"Of course they investigated!" Huang Jiu said, exasperated. "However, they've been searched countless times. If there were treasures, they were taken long ago. I already told you, the entire first floor has been swept through countless times. You don't honestly think someone left treasures behind just for you, do you?"
Su Yu nodded. True enough.
Any visible treasures had likely been claimed long ago.
Eyebrows... An eyebrow wasn't far from an eye.
The location of the eye aperture!
Su Yu said no more. Tracing the curve of the mountain range, he abruptly shifted course, flying toward the area beneath Brow Mountain. If nothing went awry, the eye would be located in that direction.
Whoever built the Star Residence Mansion had followed these exact patterns; it was remarkably obvious.
As he flew, Su Yu asked, "This place has existed since antiquity. In the ancient era, who built the Star Residence Mansion? Why construct it in the shape of a human face? Does the Heaven Hunting Pavilion have any records?"
"Who built it?" Huang Jiu shook her head. "I truly don't know that. The records of the Heaven Hunting Pavilion often gloss over such things with a brief mention, offering very little detail about the Star Residence Mansion."
Su Yu nodded. Suddenly, he glanced in a certain direction with an impassive look. A book page shot out; an instant later, it flew back, bearing a fresh line of text.
Huang Jiu was shaken!
She hadn't even seen anything, yet the page had already returned. It seemed an expert who had been spying on them had died on the spot!
"What... what kind of treasure is that book of yours?"
Su Yu said faintly, "Just an ordinary Earth-grade weapon. Does dealing with a Tengkong cultivator require much effort?"
*Fine!*
Huang Jiu stopped asking, though her heart pounded with lingering dread. When that object first manifested, it carried a scholarly, refined aura, yet it slaughtered people so effortlessly. She felt a twinge of fear; it had to be a demonic weapon!
"What name are you going by now?" She looked at Su Yu. That wolf head... was truly hideous.
"Lang Tu!"
Su Yu offered a brief reply. By now, he could already sense battles erupting across the first floor.
Out of the 3,600 beings entering the mansion, roughly a third had been sent here. In other words, over a thousand people were scattered across this realm!
Of course, the territory was vast.
Brow Mountain alone had taken someone of Su Yu's strength a considerable amount of time to fly across.
Corresponding to an entire face, an eyebrow was merely a tiny portion.
Seeing that he had spoken a single sentence before returning to silence, Huang Jiu took the initiative to keep the conversation going. "There are natural dangers here as well. In many places, a moment's carelessness can lead to an inexplicable death!"
She explained, "According to the Heaven Hunting Pavilion's records, several geniuses drowned mysteriously in the Ear Sea on the first floor! You have to realize, those were top geniuses, at least in the Tengkong Realm, yet they actually drowned!"
Su Yu said calmly, "Normal! The Ear Sea, the Blood Plain, the Heavenly Pit, the Twin Dragon Gorge... all of them are bound to be perilous!"
"You've read the records too?"
*No need!* Su Yu mused inwardly. Why would he need to read records? Those were the locations of the nine apertures; it would be weirder if they weren't dangerous.
Furthermore, among the nine apertures, one was located at the navel—the Shenque aperture.
If the Human Face Realm followed the facial distribution of apertures, wouldn't it lack the Shenque aperture?
That didn't add up!
*So there should still be another hazardous zone here, which ought to correspond to the Shenque aperture...*
Su Yu thought to himself. Right now, he tossed aside all the information he had previously gathered, refusing to let those details interfere with his judgment. What he was searching for was different from what others sought.
The location of the eye was known as the Blood Plain. It was a vast expanse of plains permeated with a crimson hue, which Su Yu figured represented bloodshot eyes.
*Perhaps I can discover something there.*
Su Yu pressed forward, while Huang Jiu followed beside him with a mixture of curiosity and bewilderment.
As they flew, Su Yu asked, "Which region holds the Heavenly River Sand?"
"The Heavenly River isn't on the first floor. Heavenly River Sand, as the name implies, is sand from the Heavenly River, and the Heavenly River is on the third floor..."
On the third floor?
Su Yu calculated in his mind. The third floor... If the third floor corresponded to the Wanshi Realm, the hallmark of Wanshi was aperture fusion.
Fusing into nine apertures!
Using the nine apertures as the foundation!
*Heavenly River Sand...*
*Purifies willpower!*
*Could it be the location of a divine aperture? Or... where the eye apertures fuse, and flowing tears formed the Heavenly River?*
He wasn't entirely sure. Once he saw it, he would likely be able to judge.
Wu Lan and the others were heading there for Heavenly River Sand. Heavenly River Sand was considered a supreme treasure among the bottom three floors, used specifically for purifying willpower.
Su Yu set the thought aside. Having flown for a while, a vast plain of blood came into view!
The Blood Plain was clearly divided into distinct tiers.
The outer perimeter was permeated with a crimson hue, with rivers of blood coursing across the plains. Seeing it with his own eyes, realization struck Su Yu. Rivers of blood... those were the blood vessels within an eye, flowing with blood!
That was how the Blood Plain had earned its name!
Within the Blood Plain, there were also deserts blanketed in white sand, representing the sclera. In the center lay a dark swamp, representing the black pupil.
Then where... was the eye aperture?
The entire Blood Plain was immense!
The eye aperture couldn't possibly be everywhere.
*The eye aperture... if it exists, it should be in the central region!*
He flew rapidly toward the center of the Blood Plain. Huang Jiu could not help warning him, "Be careful! This place is extremely perilous! Even with our strength, we could capsize here!"
*Why is he rushing in blindly?!*
*It's terribly dangerous, all right?!*
*If you die, that's your business, but don't drag me down with you!*
"Dangerous?"
Su Yu laughed. "You should be the one being careful. Three hundred meters to your left, there's likely danger. Stay away from there!"
Huang Jiu glanced in that direction and looked at Su Yu with a bizarre expression. *Are you an Invincible?*
*Can you see the past and future?*
*How could you possibly know there's danger over there?*
She looked over. There was nothing at all, just a single river of blood. Such rivers were everywhere across the Blood Plain; who said that one was dangerous?
She was skeptical!
Su Yu chuckled and suddenly reached out to grab her. Huang Jiu was startled, and a slender sword materialized in her grip. However, her sea of will jolted as the fur ball prepared to feast. Before the fur ball could strike, Su Yu seized her with one hand and casually tossed her—*boom!*—crashing straight into that river of blood!
At that exact instant, countless blood arrows erupted violently from the river! Every single arrow was overwhelmingly powerful, possessing the might to slay a Shanhai cultivator.
Huang Jiu, having regained her strength, was thoroughly horrified. She rapidly thrust her sword, cutting down every blood arrow in rapid succession. Shaken to the core, she soared into the sky and fled the area!
Looking across at Su Yu, she couldn't even bother being angry about him tossing her. She blurted out, "How did you know there was a trap there?"
Su Yu rubbed his eyes. Nonsense. If you magnified an eye, that spot was the most prone to itching.
Once it itched, the eye ached; once it ached, it secreted tears to lubricate itself. And tears... were more than capable of killing you, weren't they?
Su Yu sighed. "You truly are illiterate. Sure enough, education across the myriad realms has serious problems—all you know is fight, fight, fight, kill, kill, kill! Without an education in the Human Realm, Kongkong probably had nothing to teach you besides how to murder!"
Then again, the eyes of the various races were different.
The blood vessels in their eyes differed as well.
Some races even had seven or eight eyes. So... had humanity never noticed these patterns?
Su Yu frowned slightly!
Humanity had been exploring this place for many years—roughly three to four centuries, in fact.
Had they never felt something was amiss?
*Humanity might have noticed some clues... and perhaps even linked them to the nine apertures... Which means...*
Su Yu's eyes flickered. Some humans might very well be investigating the locations of those apertures right now.
Outsiders couldn't understand it and thought nothing of it, but how could humans fail to recognize it?
This was an eye!
*There might be humans where I'm headed. Hopefully, we won't come into conflict!*
Su Yu smiled faintly. If a conflict arose... they would cross that bridge when they came to it!
If they were reasonable, so much the better. If not, well, it wasn't as if he had never killed people before.
Su Yu continued forward, continually steering clear of hazardous zones.
By now, the look in Huang Jiu's eyes had completely changed.
The Blood Plain was notoriously perilous, yet Su Yu navigated it as though he had visited countless times, sidestepping hazard after hazard. Occasionally, he skimmed the edge of an area, and the moment he passed, a crisis erupted right behind them.
Yet Su Yu paid it no mind, never once looking back. In this place, they were akin to specks of dust. When dust entered an eye, causing it to itch, it was only natural for the eye to wipe you out.
As long as one avoided provoking the itch, everything was fine.
This first floor might not have been fashioned from an actual human corpse, but whoever built it had certainly simulated the reactions of a human body.
All the hazards across the first floor were natural bodily responses!
Thus, other races remained ignorant, whereas humans who grasped the underlying principles could evade many of the dangers!
*The one who built this was definitely human! Absolutely!*
Su Yu was completely certain. One hundred percent. Anyone other than a human could never understand the natural reactions of the human body so thoroughly.
Chapter 544