The fourth floor.
The instant Su Yu set foot on the fourth floor, he was struck by an unusual sensation.
His five organs were like blast furnaces!
His viscera burned!
Taking a deep breath, Su Yu sensed the power of the Five Elements circulating on this level. In the path of cultivation, it was often said that the five organs corresponded to the Five Elements. Insight dawned on him at once—this floor might very well correspond to the viscera!
Or rather, floors four, five, and six might all reside within the abdominal cavity, spanning the region where the organs and viscera were distributed, including the navel.
*Then what about the arms?*
Su Yu pondered. He hadn't seen the hands yet. If the colossus had truly been plunged headfirst into the ground, its arms might hang downward. Were they on the subterranean levels as well?
Had both arms been driven all the way into the dead spirit realm?
It was entirely possible.
Regardless of anything else, the density of origin qi on this floor defied imagination!
*Are the lungs and the heart in this area?*
Su Yu muttered to himself. The heart... was crucial to any cultivator. Even for him, if his heart were to explode to the point where flesh and blood could no longer regenerate, he would die... his physical body would perish.
If that happened, his sole option would be to preserve his sea of will and cultivate a new physical body from scratch.
Yet as long as the heart wasn't completely destroyed, whether by rebirth from a single drop of blood or the regeneration of flesh and bone, the physical body could still be reassembled. He would be weakened, but his physical cultivation realm would remain intact, sparing him from starting over.
*If the heart is on this floor... I should go take a look, seek it out!*
Su Yu glanced back down toward the passageway, his eyes flickering with conflicting thoughts. Hetu was sweeping floor by floor. This time, an utter catastrophe had truly arrived!
At least he had spared a few along the way; Hetu, on the other hand, was leaving none alive.
By now, countless people must have perished.
Over a thousand, without a doubt.
"This batch has it rough!"
Su Yu shook his head. Still, nobody could pin the blame on him. The human race certainly couldn't; if any humans died, it had nothing to do with him.
He had killed so many from the myriad races that, by all rights, the humans should have held the upper hand.
Unfortunately, Hetu was slaughtering without distinction, driving people upward floor after floor... If this continued, the weak would soon be forced to band together, or else they wouldn't stand a chance of reaching higher floors.
The higher one climbed, the deadlier it became. Take this fourth floor—Su Yu could already feel flames scorching his five organs.
The weaker cultivators likely wouldn't last long before burning to death from the inside.
"Wu Lan and the others are very weak..."
Su Yu frowned slightly. They were only in the Soaring Realm. Lingering on the lower three floors was manageable, but on the middle three floors, merely remaining here was pure torture.
"I wonder how many people are on the fourth floor, and whether there are any Sun Moon experts."
At this level, some Sun Moon Realm experts might already be present.
Those who weren't particularly old or overwhelmingly strong, including Liu Wenyan and the others, might all be on the fourth floor.
Of course, three full days had already elapsed, marking the fourth day. They might have already departed the fourth floor for higher levels.
***
At the very moment Su Yu arrived on the fourth floor.
A peculiar sacred ground sat upon this level.
Visible from virtually anywhere across the fourth floor were two colossal mountains flanking either side. Between them ran a V-shaped canyon. Looked at upside down, Su Yu likely would have recognized it as the bronchial passages connecting the lungs.
Here, however, it took the form of a gargantuan canyon.
Cultivators could be seen atop both gigantic peaks.
The lungs governed respiration.
They had the effect of expelling stale qi and inhaling origin qi.
Conflict was rarer on the fourth floor because it was exceptionally well-suited for cultivation. Cultivating at the summits of the two towering mountains strengthened one's blood qi and fortified the physical body, boosting the efficiency of expelling and inhaling origin qi by a hundredfold, or even a thousandfold compared to the outside world!
On the fourth floor, one's five organs and viscera burned, but as long as a cultivator persevered and cultivated atop the peaks, a refreshing coolness would soon emerge to neutralize the peril.
The fourth floor was a zone where many chose to strengthen themselves.
It was also where nearly all experts below the Sun Moon Realm had gathered. The bottom three floors were essentially wiped clean; almost all the surviving cultivators below the Sun Moon Realm were now clustered on the fourth floor.
Scattered across both mountains were throngs of people.
Roughly 2,200 individuals remained in the entire Star Residence Mansion, and nearly 1,500 of them were gathered on the fourth floor.
Even the human race had about three hundred people on this floor.
Xia Huyou and his companions had led their group onto the fourth floor and quickly rendezvoused with the other humans, securing the eastern mountain. Around three hundred humans were there—likely all the surviving humans below the Sun Moon Realm.
As for those who had set out earlier, some had lingered on the third floor... and were as good as dead!
A small handful had reached the fourth floor, though they were currently being ostracized by many.
***
Atop the eastern mountain, the humans gathered together, cultivating while listening to Xia Huyou and his group recount the horrors of the lower three floors.
Many faces twisted with apprehension.
The dead spirits were here!
An Invincible dead spirit!
The strongest person present was none other than Zhu Tiandao's son, Zhu Guangshen—the father of Zhu Hongwen and the paternal uncle of Zhu Hongliang.
He had reached the Sun Moon Realm, though only at the first stage, and had lingered here rather than climbing higher.
Listening to Xia Huyou's account, Zhu Guangshen frowned slightly. "Nephew Huyou, you said that dead spirit wielded a book, slaughtered hundreds of people, and the book was imbued with sacred power?"
"Yes!"
Xia Huyou nodded, wondering inwardly whether this senior knew the book belonged to Su Yu.
Books were rare weapons.
Of course, not completely unheard of; they existed here and there.
As for Su Yu's book, when it had been forged, everyone had seen a vague projection, but it had been fleeting and illusory; no one knew its exact appearance. Besides, Su Yu had merely forged an Earth armament back then.
Yet the book everyone had witnessed was at least a Heaven armament—overwhelmingly powerful.
Zhu Guangshen asked again, "That dead spirit could speak and claimed to be a vanguard under Hetu?"
"Yes!"
"Hetu..."
Zhu Guangshen muttered the name under his breath. Someone nearby asked in confusion, "Your Highness, who is Hetu?"
"Who is Hetu?"
Zhu Guangshen paused to consider before replying, "To be honest, I'm not entirely certain either. Didn't Su Yu mention him in passing during the allocation of slots, saying that if pushed too far, he would follow Hetu's path? Afterward, the human race looked into it."
He thought for a moment and added hesitantly, "Some of this was told to me by my elder uncle..."
At those words, everyone instantly pricked up their ears!
When it came to intelligence, Zhu Tianfang was unquestionably unmatched. Among the myriad races, he served as the Minister of the Yellow Division in charge of intelligence; almost no information could be hidden from him.
"Hetu was a human expert from the First Tidal Change!"
Zhu Guangshen explained, "Before our era, following the collapse of the primordial age, there were nine tidal changes! A so-called tidal change refers to the opening of the All-Heavens Battlefield, the eruption of a great war spanning the myriad realms, and once the war concludes, the battlefield seals shut—that constitutes a single tidal change!"
"From opening to closing, a single tidal change lasts roughly ten thousand years!"
"Strictly speaking, Hetu is a figure from roughly a hundred thousand years ago. To leave legends behind after countless eras proves he was a chosen prodigy of his time!"
"Hetu was the descendant of a peerless expert from the primordial age, born after its downfall."
"When the First Tidal Change began, Hetu made a renowned name for himself on the All-Heavens Battlefield... comparable to Su Yu..."
He looked around at the crowd and gave a wry smile. "Believe it or not, Hetu was remarkably similar to Su Yu! Just like Su Yu, he possessed monstrous talent, advanced at breakneck speed, and stepped into the Invincible realm in no time at all... But just like Su Yu, he was a magnet for trouble. Before long, he was ambushed by Half-Emperor experts... Having no alternative, he had only just attained the Invincible Dao when he chose to become the castellan of Hongmeng Ancient City to save his life."
"That path... is eerily similar to Su Yu's!"
Hearing this, the others nodded in surprise. The resemblance was indeed uncanny.
Zhu Guangshen took a deep breath. "Afterward, Hetu lay low for a time. By the middle of the First Tidal Change, amid the wars between the myriad races, Hetu was all but forgotten, confined as he was within the ancient city."
"Yet Hetu refused to accept that fate. He refused to remain a supporting actor of that era, refused to spend the remainder of his life inside an ancient city... And so, during the mid-to-late stage of the First Tidal Change, he marched out once more, leading his army of dead spirits to sweep through the myriad realms, sparking a war that lasted centuries..."
"In the end, the dead spirits spiraled out of control. Guardian Hongmeng shut down the dead spirit passage, severing the supply of death qi, cutting off their retreat, and personally slew Hetu, finally bringing an end to the war of the First Tidal Change."
At this point, Xia Huyou couldn't resist asking, "How was he able to lead dead spirits to the outside world? And don't ancient cities have rules? Why didn't they stop him at the beginning instead of intervening only at the very end?"
"That remains unknown."
Zhu Guangshen shook his head. "It was too long ago. Even the Heaven Hunting Pavilion lacks further records. Later on, it was said Hetu lingered in the dead spirit passage of Hongmeng Ancient City. Because he had consumed a Life and Death Fruit, he retained some of his memories and never accepted his defeat... These are all records from the Heaven Hunting Pavilion. Countless ages have passed, yet he has actually emerged once more."
Someone said excitedly, "He was human..."
Zhu Guangshen laughed. "Yes, he was human. Do you honestly think that just because he was human in life, he won't kill you?"
What wishful thinking!
Zhu Guangshen smiled faintly. "Forget dead spirits—even living beings! Do you think an overlord like him cares about the lives of ants like us? Hetu was a dominant figure of the late First Tidal Change, conquering the myriad realms and slaughtering countless beings. Why would he care about our lives? Numerous Invincibles died by his hands!"
Everyone turned pale.
"He has already reached the third floor... What do we do?"
If they climbed higher, some of them might not be able to endure the environment!
There were experts on the seventh floor, including many Invincibles.
However, first, reaching it wasn't guaranteed; second, it was too dangerous. There were so many foreign Invincibles up there and very few human ones. The slightest misstep meant death.
Besides, Hetu had been overwhelmingly powerful back then; the Invincibles who had entered this time might not even match him.
Could they rival Hetu?
The crowd grew increasingly anxious, and several people asked, "Prince Huyou, was that dead spirit who intervened earlier also an Invincible? Only Invincible dead spirits can speak, right? He was human as well and even helped you. Could we use him to negotiate with Hetu..."
Xia Huyou shook his head. "Doubtful, and I wouldn't dare. If you want to go, be my guest! Dead spirits sometimes retain memories, but that doesn't mean they view themselves as human! Besides... I found that fellow utterly uncanny. Forget about it! Don't pin your hopes on negotiations!"
He added calmly, "Negotiations only work when strength is evenly matched. When the disparity is this vast, negotiating is just asking for a beating!"
The crowd wore sullen expressions. Another person spoke up, "Prince Zhu, that book Prince Huyou mentioned..."
"It might be Hetu's weapon!"
Zhu Guangshen explained, "Hetu's signature armament was also a book. Perhaps it was reforged after his death."
"No wonder it felt so sinister!"
Xia Huyou didn't know whether Zhu Guangshen was saying this intentionally or genuinely believed it, but he chimed in, "No wonder death and holiness coexisted within it, brimming with terrifying might. If it was Hetu's natal weapon, that explains it!"
Amid the discussion, a young man said quietly, "There's no point debating this now. Everyone, where should we go? The fourth floor is ideal for cultivation, while the higher levels are perilous beyond measure. But if we don't leave and he arrives, we're dead."
Zhu Guangshen glanced toward the summit. This mountain wasn't occupied solely by humans; experts of other races were here too, though smaller races were few. Not far away, members of the Immortal race were gathered.
As for the opposite mountain, it was dominated by gods and demons.
Both sides held roughly seven to eight hundred people.
As their elder and a Sun Moon Realm expert, Zhu Guangshen considered the situation before speaking: "The fifth floor is dangerous, and this is a shared crisis. If all else fails, we could try uniting with the other factions..."
"Associate with them?"
Someone objected, "If they die, they die! We'd be better off leaving on our own to explore the fifth floor. It's best if they perish!"
Zhu Guangshen smiled. "The news can't be kept secret. I saw experts from other races coming up from the third floor as well."
That was true.
Shortly after Xia Huyou and his group had ascended, members of other races had followed. Su Yu had been busy unearthing treasures at the time and hadn't had the chance to hunt them down.
Presently, a commotion stirred among the Immortals as well.
The dead spirits were coming!
A Sovereign-level dead spirit!
***
The news spread like wildfire.
Not only atop this mountain, but also down in the canyon and across the western mountain, word began to circulate. The atmosphere instantly turned suffocating.
An Invincible!
The strongest individuals on the fourth floor were merely a handful of early-stage Sun Moon experts. Against an Invincible—or even a high-stage Sun Moon—they could easily be slaughtered to the last person.
The fourth floor was genuinely a prime spot for cultivation. Over three days, many had advanced to the next level. Unless driven to the brink, no one wanted to leave and take their chances above.
Yet an Invincible dead spirit was butchering his way up from below. Staying any longer meant total annihilation.
Leaving was imperative, but whether to move together with the other races or proceed alone became the central dilemma.
Traveling together offered safety in numbers.
Yet the enmity between them ran deep, and none wished to associate with their foes. Moving separately, however, made the passageway from the fourth to the fifth floor exceedingly hazardous; without high-level protection, weaker cultivators might not survive the crossing.
***
Right at this moment, Su Yu stepped onto one of the giant mountains.
He climbed while circulating his respiration art.
He rarely used respiration arts these days, but after testing it along the way, he was astonished to find that it yielded miraculous results in this place!
*The spine aperture might reside on one of the fourth, fifth, or sixth floors. I need to find the circulation method for this aperture...*
Su Yu mused, deducing that this mountain likely represented one of the two lungs.
*Then the location of the spine aperture shouldn't be too far from here... Is the heart on the fourth floor? If not, it's on the fifth. If the fifth floor is the heart, the spine aperture might be on the fifth floor as well!*
Su Yu compared the anatomy to his own body and made his deductions.
He needed the circulation methods for at least two apertures: the spine aperture and the sky-connecting aperture.
The position of the sky-connecting aperture was rather awkward... It might be on the seventh floor.
As for the spine aperture... it might very well be on this very floor.
The catch was that once he found an aperture, he had to shout "Taishan." And shouting that would establish communication between the outside world and the interior, which wasn't what Su Yu wanted.
*When I shout, the resonance is most intense on the current floor, meaning the Heaven Hunting Ranking is most likely to transmit messages here, whereas reaching higher floors is comparatively harder...*
As Su Yu circulated his respiration art to temper his apertures and flesh, he turned these matters over in his mind.
Soon, he reached the mountainside.
He sensed the surroundings and broke into a grin.
Predominantly gods and demons!
So many!
Aside from a few geniuses who had ascended to higher floors, almost all those below the Sun Moon Realm were gathered here.
Beyond gods and demons, experts from several ancient races were present as well.
Su Yu hadn't even encountered some of these races before.
There were no pages dedicated to them in his booklet. Perhaps this was a chance to add more pages—301 might not be enough!
*Seven or eight hundred... That's too many to slaughter easily!*
With seven or eight hundred foes, even Su Yu wouldn't dare charge in blindly.
If anything went awry and someone unleashed a Heaven armament or Invincible blood essence, he could easily capsize in a shallow ditch.
At present, there was little fighting on the fourth floor, making assassinations difficult.
A dense crowd gathered together was far more troublesome to handle.
Pondering his options, Su Yu concealed himself and continued upward. Stopping several hundred meters from the nearest great demon, he listened to them discussing Hetu and felt his mood lighten.
He heard someone say, "The Heaven Hunting Sub-ranking was vibrating earlier. Did anyone else sense it? Is the outside world trying to contact us?"
"We must pass word of Hetu's arrival outside! It would be best if Invincibles descended from the upper floors. Otherwise, pushing upward will be far too perilous. If a few Invincibles came down to finish off Hetu on the lower three floors, that would be ideal!"
"..."
As expected, these fellows had noticed the ranking's movements.
However, descending from the upper levels wasn't so simple; otherwise, experts would have arrived already.
Su Yu quietly listened to their chatter. Some were discussing whether to contact the group on the opposite mountain and storm the fifth floor together.
*If all else fails, I'll just slaughter them openly!*
Su Yu decided he would disguise himself as a dead spirit and butcher them directly!
If they believed the dead spirits had arrived, they wouldn't have the stomach to fight to the death; more likely, they would abandon the fourth floor and flee to the fifth.
Letting them carry the news to the fifth and sixth floors was also a good outcome. Once everyone knew the dead spirits were here, no one would think of Su Yu.
When the Heaven Hunting Pavilion finally got messages through, these people would relay everything they had seen and heard, cementing Hetu's identity.
Of course, Su Yu only needed to keep up the deception on the inside.
Once he was out, it wouldn't matter whether the truth was exposed.
Back in the ancient city, he wouldn't care if they discovered he was behind it all.
***
Having made up his mind, Su Yu committed to the plan.
Brute-force slaughter!
He would kill as many as he could, plunging the fourth floor into utter chaos until everyone fled.
No need to overthink it. Taking advantage of the widespread panic regarding Hetu while no one suspected him was the best possible move.
He scanned the crowd, picking out familiar figures—they were either formidable experts or Civilization Masters.
Excellent. He needed Civilization Master blood essence.
These would be his prime targets.
Without hesitation, Su Yu sent his booklet melting into the void.
Origin apertures reversed, and death qi swirled around him.
At that very moment, several Sun Moon experts atop the mountain sensed something. Some looked up at the sky, others frowned, and suddenly, someone shouted, "Move!"
Retreat to the fifth floor!
Stop deliberating over countermeasures—trouble was here.
Right then, a colossal book materialized in the void. The two characters "Hetu" faintly drifted across its surface, subtle and hard to spot for ordinary cultivators, but the eyes of the experts flared with divine light, followed by sheer horror!
"Retreat, hurry!"
Several Sun Moon experts grabbed key figures and fled!
Hetu had arrived!
No, perhaps it was the vanguard under Hetu that others had mentioned.
"Submit to our dead spirit race! Death alone is eternal!"
Su Yu emerged from the void, wrapped in billowing death qi, and spoke in a chilling voice: "Only death is eternal!"
*Boom!*
The book descended, and in an instant, dozens of experts were swallowed whole by the gaping maw that appeared upon its surface.
Hundreds broke into frantic flight.
Terror consumed them!
No one had any desire to stay and fight—an Invincible!
How could they possibly resist? Even if this dead spirit wasn't an Invincible himself, his presence signaled that Hetu was close behind.
"Heed the divine decree of His Majesty Hetu! Submitting to the kingdom of the dead is the path to eternity..."
Chanting softly, Su Yu stepped through the void, death qi billowing around him. Anyone he brushed against was dazed by a covert strike from his giant hammer and swallowed by the book in an instant.
To the fleeing survivors, this display only magnified their sheer terror!
Too powerful!
Even a peak Shanhai Realm expert was ensnared by Su Yu's death qi, struck senseless by a covert blow of his hammer, and swallowed whole by the book!
Gods, demons, dragons—none could escape.
Had they truly united to fight Su Yu, he might not have overcome them. Unfortunately, under the terrifying shadow of an Invincible dead spirit, their only thought was escape; none had the presence of mind to band together and fight back!
***
On the other side.
Though the two mountains were separated by a vast distance, someone suddenly cried out, "That's... Run, run! The dead spirits have come up!"
No one talked of traveling together or forming coordinated teams anymore.
Running took priority!
Hundreds of cultivators—humans and Immortals alike—panicked, yet secretly felt fortunate that the entity had targeted the gods and demons first.
Across the fourth floor, figures filled the sky, all fleeing toward the entrance to the fifth floor.
Meanwhile, Su Yu was sweating profusely from the slaughter.
Too many!
They were all scattering, making it tough to keep killing.
While no one was paying attention, he surreptitiously consumed a drop of seventh-stage Sun Moon blood essence. His aura surged, his power multiplied, and he pressed on in rapid succession. At this moment, his book seemed to transform into the Book of Life and Death.
Whomever it covered was doomed.
Everyone knew they could not let that book loom over them.
Those who caught sight of the words "Hetu" were scared out of their wits; a single glance made it feel as though death was descending, as if their past and present lives were flashing before their eyes.
Flee!
Driven by boundless panic, everyone was running for their lives.
The fourth floor had become a living purgatory.
Some lacked the strength to suppress the burning in their viscera; in their haste to flee, their organs were incinerated, burning themselves to death. This pained Su Yu a little—burning to cinders left them incomplete, which took the joy out of collecting their corpses.
***
Outside.
Passages began collapsing en masse.
Thirty, fifty...
While Su Yu was killing, Hetu was slaughtering as well.
Many stragglers remained on the third floor. Though Su Yu was killing rapidly, Hetu wasn't slow either; however, because the survivors on the third floor weren't clustered together, Hetu hadn't killed as many as Su Yu.
This was already the fourth day!
And now, passage after passage snapped and collapsed.
The remaining passages were dwindling fast!
Counting the special passages, the original 3,600 had dropped from roughly 2,200 to 2,100, and soon after, to 2,000...
A short while later, only 1,900 remained.
In under half an hour, roughly three hundred had died.
An Invincible roared furiously, "Can we still not resolve this issue? Must we wait until Hetu reaches the upper floors and slaughters those Sun Moon experts?"
Those dying now were mostly below the Sun Moon Realm. Once Hetu climbed higher and began butchering Sun Moon cultivators, who could stop him?
The Invincibles were all on the seventh floor and might not even know what was happening below.
Many of their descendants were in the Sun Moon Realm, searching for treasures on their behalf.
This time, the Invincibles were genuinely growing frantic.
Another voice barked in anger, "Can the Heaven Hunting Pavilion still not transmit messages? Tell everyone to run—run to the seventh floor! Tell those fools on the seventh floor to stop fighting! If this Hetu crisis isn't resolved, all of them will end up dead! In life, Hetu stood on the threshold of Dao Integration. Even in death, he wields the power of at least a seventh-stage Eternal! How many of the Eternals inside can match him?"
Over at the Heaven Hunting Pavilion, the scholar remained unperturbed, replying calmly, "If he truly reaches the seventh floor, Hetu won't be able to contest them."
The Minister of the Heaven Division had entered!
That was an expert merely half a step from Dao Integration.
He was simply wondering why sending messages had proven so difficult when the two characters "Hetu" had been transmitted instantly at first. After some thought, he said, "We cannot transmit anything right now. The White Jade Gate must resonate before messages can pass through. We must also inform those inside that only resonance from the White Jade Gate can maintain communication!"
At this, many realized the truth—the first message had indeed coincided with a tremor from the White Jade Gate.
When would it resonate again?
Many felt helpless. Earlier, they had dreaded any resonance; now, they prayed it would happen quickly, lest Hetu slaughter everyone.
It had only been four days!
Half the entrants were already dead. Countless hearts bled.
Especially the gods and demons. The Immortals had barely suffered any losses this time, but the gods and demons had taken staggering casualties!
Some Invincibles were driven nearly mad as their subordinates were completely wiped out.
"Damn it!"
"Hetu, I'm not finished with you!"
"..."
In the distance, the Dao King sneered inwardly. *Now you're getting desperate? Now you're losing your minds?*
He had attained peace of mind by now. Three of his people were still alive: a seventh-stage Sun Moon, a ninth-stage Sun Moon, and his grandson Dao Cheng.
Out of thirteen slots, ten were gone. It had seemed tragic before, but now... it looked rather respectable.
He could see that under certain god and demon Invincibles, every single subordinate was dead!
Those fools had only sent cultivators below the Sun Moon Realm inside.
The slaughter continued, but the pace began to slow—not because Su Yu had stopped, but because many had fled through the entrance to the fifth floor.
***
The entrance to the fifth floor.
Only a Shanhai Realm expert could open the passage. Those Shanhai experts braved the danger; the fifth-floor entrance was far from safe, churning with ascending flames that would incinerate anyone careless.
Even so, throngs of people forced the passage open, throwing caution to the wind.
Weaker cultivators surged into the fifth floor under the protection of stronger experts.
From a distance, Su Yu watched cultivators coming to blows over access to the passage, abandoning all restraint.
He also saw that some humans and Immortals had already fled, while others were departing under the protection of several experts.
Soon, Su Yu sent a voice transmission: "Stay behind for a moment!"
In the crowd, Huang Jiu's eyes flickered. She glanced back and spotted Su Yu in the distance, cursing him inwardly. *Playing the ghost!*
This guy was an absolute butcher!
Of the seven or eight hundred gods and demons, he had slaughtered over two hundred, and the casualties were still climbing toward three hundred!
Curses aside, the little fur ball was still resting on her head.
Huang Jiu maintained her composure and engaged someone fighting over the passage in a scuffle. By the time Xia Huyou and the others looked back for her, she had already drifted far away in combat. Xia Huyou opened his mouth to shout, paused, thought of something, and quickly gritted his teeth. "Go! Let her cover the rear!"
Everyone assumed the dead spirit behind them was perilous; he knew there was no danger.
Since that was the case, Huang Jiu staying behind meant Su Yu likely had words for her.
The group quickly departed. Qin Fang roared, "Leave no one behind! I'll stay to cover the rear... Let her go! How can we make a woman cover our retreat?!"
"..."
Xia Huyou and the others looked at him like he was an idiot. This guy... fine, his heart was in the right place, but his rear guard was utterly useless.
Xia Huyou barked, "Move! You're from the Qin family, and we need you to guide us! It's even more dangerous up there, and we need your support! Hurry, hundreds of people are counting on you!"
Qin Fang looked ready to break down. Gritting his teeth, he let out a furious roar and turned away.
He had to leave!
He had to be responsible for the greater number!
He bellowed, "Comrade, if you survive this, even if you are crippled, I will marry you! My Qin family will provide for you for life!"
***
In the distance, Huang Jiu curled her lip. *Dream on!*
The Qin family?
Who on earth would marry a blockhead like you?
Gradually, the crowd thinned as large numbers escaped through the passage. None dared linger; they banded together and advanced toward higher floors.
Who would dare remain, risking another onslaught from the dead spirit?
***
After a while, Su Yu finished off the few stragglers who hadn't managed to leave in time.
Huang Jiu had also dispatched several individuals blocking her path.
Once the surroundings fell silent, Huang Jiu asked, "What is it?"
Without wasting words, Su Yu tossed her a storage ring. "It's dangerous up there. You'll be fine, but I'm worried Wu Lan and the others won't hold out! Here are some treasures. Pass them along and have them consume them! There are items that can revive the dead and regenerate flesh from bone. Help them grow stronger as quickly as possible... Hetu is truly here, and I don't know when he'll come up."
Huang Jiu said nothing, casually probing the storage ring. Her gaze instantly froze, and she looked at Su Yu. This guy was genuinely generous.
She saw an abundance of treasures!
She had wanted some earlier, but Su Yu hadn't given her the chance.
As she wondered, Su Yu said flatly, "Fur Ball, keep an eye on her. Make sure she delivers them. If a single item is missing, your life is forfeit! Also, don't rush to the seventh floor. Kongkong might be up there. Without me around, watch out for traps!"
These words were directed at the fur ball.
The little fur ball popped out from atop her head, looking aggrieved. "Why not just eat her? I want to stay with you."
"..."
Su Yu chuckled. "Alright, get going. If you delay, someone might notice something!"
Turning back to Huang Jiu, he added, "My teacher, Liu, might be on the fifth or sixth floor—definitely not the seventh yet! If you run into him, make sure to verify his bloodline!"
Huang Jiu remained silent.
Su Yu said no more. Looking around, he exhaled. "Go on. I'm going to linger for a bit longer!"
Huang Jiu said nothing, swiftly activating the passage and departing the fourth floor.
The fourth floor finally fell quiet.
Yet during the brief struggle to open the passage, many had died as well.
Su Yu estimated that roughly half of the entrants had perished.
*The living probably number under two thousand now!*
At this moment, 110 gold patterns were on the verge of emerging on his booklet; killing a few more would likely suffice.
On several pages, the phantom silhouettes had grown considerably stronger.
Those for the gods, demons, and Immortals had all reached the second stage of the Sun Moon Realm.
These pages shone much brighter, each individual page reaching the level of an Earth armament and beginning to evolve.
*Once it's perfected, perhaps every page will be a Heaven armament, and the entire book a Divine armament...*
Su Yu couldn't help but gasp. He wondered what grade the book forged by the previous Time Master had been.
Was the golden booklet inside his head the civilization chronicle of that previous Time Master?
*What is the relationship between the Heaven Hunting Ranking and my golden booklet? When the Heaven Hunting Ranking probed into the Star Residence Mansion, the golden booklet vibrated...*
Su Yu pondered. Was it a connection between pages?
Had he obtained a single page, or... countless pages?
*The Heaven Hunting Ranking records ranks, capturing the talent and strength of experts across all races... It almost feels like a table of contents.*
Su Yu hadn't made a table of contents yet, but a thought crossed his mind. Perhaps the previous Time Master had.
All that ranking, collecting auras, capturing signatures... was it merely to make it more convenient to collect their corpses?
*Yes, collecting corpses!*
Su Yu muttered internally. At the Time Master's level, they probably couldn't be bothered to collect ordinary corpses; only geniuses and peerless experts were worthy of collection.
The Time Master couldn't possibly collect just anyone's corpse, could they?
Who had that kind of spare time!
*What genius ranking... It's just a roster for collecting corpses, isn't it?!*
At that moment, enlightenment dawned upon Su Yu!
Yes, if it were him, he might also craft something like that later on, adding functions to target and harvest specific marks instead of snatching up whatever came along like a starving scavenger!
"The Heaven Hunting Ranking... Heh... It's nothing more than a death catalog!"
Su Yu curled his lip. And to think he had felt proud of taking first place! Back in the day, that probably would have earned him a personal visit from the Time Master to collect his corpse!
Chapter 556