Who Is Really the Fool?

"The Nine-Leaf Celestial Lotus is about to bloom!" Another day had passed. At the passage entrance, an Invincible of the dragon race spoke in a voice like a great bell, "Everyone, it's time we talk. There's no point in all of us staying silent. There is only one Nine-Leaf Celestial Lotus. Who does it belong to in the end?" At those words, a formidable God King on the side of the god race remarked coldly, "Who does it belong to? Who do you think it can belong to? Who doesn't want it? If words alone could settle it, ownership would have been decided long ago!" The Dragon King was equally blunt. "Your god race has an Eternal in King Gong Mansion, but my race has none. Both Long Qi and I are right here! Once the Nine-Leaf Celestial Lotus blooms, wouldn't that mean my race has given up on it? If this won't work... Long Qi and I will simply leave!" Clearly, this Dragon King had no desire to linger at the entrance any longer. In truth, hardly anyone wanted to stay. Just let Hetu come up? Perhaps... that was an option. At that moment, someone from the immortal race murmured indifferently, "Hetu and that unknown dead spirit are both very strong. We still need some precautions. In my view, the Minister of the Heaven Division is immensely powerful. Why doesn't the Minister trouble himself to linger here for a while?" The Minister of the Heaven Division remained silent. At this moment, all the races seemed to have reached an unspoken consensus: since you're the strongest, you stay here to hold off Hetu and his companion. Not only that, but another voice chimed in with a chuckle, "The human race's combat strength is also formidable, and their losses have been minimal. Why not have the humans cooperate with the Heaven Hunting Pavilion and stay behind together?" On the human side, Zhu Tianfang beamed and said, "What kind of talk is that? I have a deep grudge against the Heaven Hunting Pavilion. If I stay behind, who knows who will end up hitting whom? How about we forget it? The immortal race has great relations with all the major races and is on friendly terms with the Heaven Hunting Pavilion. Why don't the five of you from the immortal race stay behind?" "Is the human race certain they refuse to stay?" At that very moment, figures of Invincibles manifested around them. Few spoke; all kept silent, their gazes converging on the humans and on the Minister of the Heaven Division. *You people—stay!* The humans had four Invincibles, while the Heaven Hunting Pavilion had only the Minister of the Heaven Division. The other races, however, still possessed more than twenty Invincibles. Zhu Tianfang gave an odd look. "Does this seem appropriate?" "It is entirely appropriate!" On the god race's side, the Thunder God King, an Eternal of the seventh stage, stepped forward. Lightning crackled around him as he said coldly, "This seat finds it very appropriate! The human race has reaped all the benefits this time around. As for Lan Tian and Su Yu, whether they are human traitors or not, you know best in your own hearts! Countless geniuses of every race were slaughtered. Now, what's wrong with the human race contributing some effort? As for how Hetu made his way up here, this seat believes your human race cannot clear itself of suspicion!" A demon race powerhouse added darkly, "You framed Moduona of my race and slaughtered an entire group of immortal geniuses. The human race gained quite a lot. Do you truly believe the myriad races of the heavens are blind? This passage—whether you want to guard it or not, you must guard it!" At this moment, all the races locked their sights onto the human race. After all, the human race had suffered the smallest losses! Moreover, the human race was already the common enemy. Previously, no one had the spare time to deal with them, but now, it was time for the humans to pay the price! The Nine-Leaf Celestial Lotus was about to bloom. All races could vie for it—except the humans! Aura after aura of Invincibles shook the sky. Zhu Tianfang chuckled. "Why bother with all this?" "No need for more words!" King Xuanhe said placidly. "The human race had better guard this passage. Otherwise, the one who suffers will still be the humans!" He then added casually, "Or, if your human race hands over Su Yu and Lan Tian, it is not out of the question to gift the Nine-Leaf Celestial Lotus to the humans!" At this, Zhu Tianfang immediately grinned. "Are you serious?" "Completely serious!" the Thunder God King sneered. "Even if a human king advances to Dao Integration, what of it? Hand over the two murderers, Su Yu and Lan Tian, and my god race will forfeit the contest for the Nine-Leaf Celestial Lotus this time!" "..." Qin Zhen couldn't help but say, "You guys are really something else. Did Su Yu dig up your ancestral graves? The guy hasn't even shown up, yet you're willing to give up the Nine-Leaf Celestial Lotus just to kill him. You people are truly unbelievable!" He felt utterly speechless. Was Su Yu really worth that much? So, killing one Su Yu was worth letting the humans gain another Dao Integration Half-Emperor without complaint? They actually equated Su Yu with a Half-Emperor? Well, thinking about it carefully, that brat Su Yu had quite a few Half-Emperors behind him. If they actually killed him and severed that connection, everything would collapse; the ancient cities certainly wouldn't act on behalf of the humans. The same went for the Ancient God Devourer race! Those powerhouses had acted solely because of Su Yu. No one paid any mind to Qin Zhen. Say whatever you like. The Thunder God King looked at Zhu Tianfang and Xia Longwu, saying calmly, "Hold this passage, and the blood debts the human race incurred this time in the Star Residence Mansion will be wiped clean. Otherwise... you'll have to ask if the various races agree!" Xia Longwu looked around, his voice heavy. "The other races wish to oppose us as well?" No one answered. Circumstances forced their hand! At this point, refusing to cooperate with the majority meant making enemies. The god, demon, and immortal races had brought many Invincibles—counting the concealed Blood Fire Demon King, a total of seventeen Invincible powerhouses! And how many did the humans have? Once those three major races reached an agreement, what could the humans do? In truth, an immortal race expert was currently transmitting a secret message to the powerhouses of the other two races: *"Why don't we simply slaughter these humans and avoid any accidents? Although dead spirits lack intellect, they aren't complete fools. If these humans put up a passive fight, the dead spirits might bypass them and attack us instead!"* Kill the four human Invincibles! As soon as those words were transmitted, the Thunder God King replied, *"It's not the humans we fear, but the other races! If our three races join forces, every other race will feel mortal danger and will inevitably unite. You don't honestly think they'll sit by and watch us slaughter the humans, do you?"* Forcing the humans was merely to make them hold off the dead spirits here. It wasn't an alliance to wipe them out! Present on the scene were also Invincibles from the dragon, nether, life, phoenix, five elements, and Heaven Hunting Pavilion factions. The three major races held great power, so the other races were willing to stand with them to pressure the humans. However, killing the humans... If the four human Invincibles died, it would be child's play for the three major races to join hands and sweep away the rest. Therefore, the other races only stood with them now out of tactical necessity. Once the humans faced true destruction... those races, including the dragon race, might very well step in to assist the humans. Such was the nature of mutual interests! Here, there was no simple friend or foe. It was all about maintaining a balance of power rather than allowing a single faction to dominate, which would leave no room for the rest to survive. The survival of these four humans was the key. If they died, the three major races were guaranteed to win. Many understood this logic, which was why the various races were only pressing the humans to guard the passage. If the humans couldn't hold it, they could just flee; eliminating one rival from the contest was fine, but they could not be killed! Not even the gods and demons could do so! Whoever tried to kill the humans would push the rest to the humans' side. The Thunder God King's words silenced several Invincibles. Killing them was not feasible. Leaving them alone meant these human figures would definitely cause trouble. For a time, the races were stuck in a dilemma. Right at that moment, the seventh-floor entrance fluctuated slightly. Hetu seemed ready to come up again! Yet this time, the atmosphere was bizarrely uncanny. Previously, even if only pretending, everyone would step forward to block him. Now... not a single person moved. The crowd looked toward the humans, while Zhu Tianfang smiled and said, "Don't look at us like that. We are no match for him and can't beat him. How about this: the god, demon, and immortal races each provide one Eternal, plus the Minister of the Heaven Division. We'll team up—eight of us working together can suppress him easily!" Provide people? Provide people just to be surrounded and killed by you? Once the others left, given the humans' ruthlessness, they would definitely ambush those left behind. Who would be willing to stay? At this moment, the Minister of the Heaven Division said indifferently, "Since no one wants to guard it, why don't we simply not guard it? Why waste time here? As for the Nine-Leaf Celestial Lotus, let each rely on their own ability!" The crowd exchanged glances, the atmosphere growing increasingly bizarre. *** At the same time. Su Yu and the others inside the mirror could see and hear everything, their expressions turning strange as well. Not guarding it anymore? After guarding it for days, today these Invincibles decided not to guard it at all. As if everything before had been a joke! What on earth was going on? Some still couldn't wrap their heads around it, but Su Yu had long figured it out and paid it no mind. Right now, he was secretly delighted. While God King Bingfeng's attention was diverted, his "Shade" divine character had been probing for quite a while, and he seemed to have found a back door! At this moment, Su Yu's "Shade" divine character was lurking inside a subterranean stone vein. That wasn't a real stone vein, but the manifestation of gold veins inside the Heaven armament. *These gold veins have an issue!* This was quite a decent Heaven armament, with a total of 122 gold veins, putting it well into the mid-tier of Heaven armaments. All 122 gold veins had transformed into stone veins, stretching across the ground. Su Yu had been probing continuously and finally found the problem. Armamentsmiths loved tampering with gold veins. First, outsiders could hardly detect it. Second, damaging a gold vein often caused the entire weapon to collapse. Of course, there was another reason: owners rarely dared to touch gold veins carelessly. If you weren't an armamentsmith and recklessly altered the veins, causing a collapse, a priceless weapon could be ruined! *Ruthless!* Su Yu muttered internally. Who forged this? The 109th gold vein had a flaw. This vein was crucial—the dividing line between an Earth armament and a Heaven armament. Detonating this vein would cause the Heaven armament to collapse rapidly. *And... God King Bingfeng only did a rudimentary refinement...* Probing further, Su Yu chuckled inwardly. He understood the God King's intention! This fellow was truly ruthless. He was prepared to detonate this armament at any moment, so he had merely attached a sliver of willpower without deep refinement, fearing the backlash if the weapon exploded. No wonder God King Bingfeng hadn't reacted at all to Su Yu's probing. Su Yu had been terrified of being caught, but the other party had genuinely noticed nothing! *So that's what he was planning!* The God King might have fully refined this Heaven armament previously, but he had proactively withdrawn his willpower, leaving only a surface layer attached. He was planning to detonate it whenever necessary! *Interesting!* Su Yu probed rapidly. Soon, he attached some of his own willpower onto the 109th gold vein, and even then, the God King failed to notice. Before, Su Yu had been timid and hadn't dared to do this. Now, his courage grew because he had located where God King Bingfeng's willpower was anchored. Su Yu was intimately familiar with armaments; he knew exactly where to attach willpower to gain control. The other party had attached a small amount of willpower right there, controlling the entire Illusion Sky Mirror. Su Yu had no interest in external affairs. Let them fight as they pleased! As for the humans, it wasn't his place to worry. One bit off only as much as one could chew. If four human Invincibles dared to enter, they naturally weren't afraid of being surrounded, or they wouldn't have come in the first place. For all he knew, there might even be human allies among the other Invincibles. Su Yu didn't bother with that. He didn't believe the humans couldn't function without him. Every one of them was sinister and scheming; how could they be so easily entrapped? Right now, Su Yu continuously channeled his willpower through the "Shade" divine character, feeding it into the 109th gold vein, intending to seize this hidden trigger. He didn't know which Heaven armamentsmith had left this back door, but it was his now! Armamentsmiths really weren't good people. Su Yu grumbled internally! There were good armamentsmiths—Old Zhao, for instance. The first time he taught Su Yu, he told him that a true armamentsmith would never leave hidden tricks in a weapon, as that was a desecration of the craft. However, black-hearted armamentsmiths always left back doors. Back then, nine out of ten armamentsmiths present had darkened faces. Clearly, it was an unspoken rule of the industry, and Old Zhao was the true outlier! Now, Su Yu was using this unspoken rule himself. He could only sigh—good people truly had no way forward. He wanted to be a good armamentsmith too, but look at this: even outside the human race, the god race's armamentsmiths were no better. A God King's weapon was definitely crafted by a powerhouse of the god race, yet they still left a back door against God King Bingfeng. If an outsider had forged it, the whole weapon would probably have been riddled like a sieve, and God King Bingfeng wouldn't have dared to accept it. Deep underground, that stone vein undulated faintly. Su Yu observed, judged, and weighed it rapidly. He soon determined that the willpower he had channeled inside was enough to shatter this stone vein and instantly destroy the Heaven armament! *I'll have to inspect all the Heaven armaments I looted later to see if any have hidden traps.* He evaluated the situation and felt a touch of regret. God King Bingfeng only having a shred of willpower attached was a blessing because it facilitated Su Yu's move, but it was also a curse: detonating the weapon wouldn't affect the God King much. As for the gods inside... every last one of them would be lucky to escape with their lives! *If God King Bingfeng had attached a large portion of willpower, detonating the armament would have crippled him, and I could have beaten the bastard to death!* As thoughts flashed through his mind, a booming laugh echoed from outside. That fool Hetu was back again! *** Outside, Hetu laughed heartily, "This seat has returned! I said this is my territory, and I will definitely come back!" "..." Dead silence. At this moment, Hetu suddenly felt a bit uneasy. What was going on? Previously, whenever he appeared, he would be battered down. Of course, he had fought with great relish, forcing those Invincibles to retreat step by step, which gave him quite a sense of accomplishment, as if he were back in his living days. Yet now... what was happening? He had prepared himself for a massive battle, followed by losing and falling back, but now... figures of Invincibles appeared all around, yet no one spoke, no one made a sound, and no one moved to stop him. "Hahaha..." Hetu tried to draw attention with loud laughter. Had they failed to notice him? That couldn't be! What was wrong? He grew a little scared! Yes, when he was being pummeled earlier, he hadn't feared in the slightest. Yet now that everyone remained silent, fear crept into his heart. "Hahaha, petty tricks! You want to lure me away from the passage entrance? Impossible, I won't fall for it!" Hetu let out a cold snort, and under the silent gazes of everyone present, he suddenly tore open the passage and fled, vanishing from the seventh floor in an instant. Damn it! Danger! Hetu felt that this was the greatest peril of all. Did these people have full confidence in killing him? So they were deliberately luring him away from the entrance, hoping to strike a fatal blow! Impossible! I, Hetu, will not be duped. On the sixth floor. Hetu grabbed Daidai and spoke rapidly, "Don't go up, danger! Those bastards up there are exceptionally cunning. They're plotting against us, trying to lure us away from the entrance to slay us!" Daidai looked at him blankly, saying nothing. Hetu exhaled. "Danger, immense danger! These living beings are truly treacherous, actually attempting to lure the enemy in deep. But how could I, Hetu, fall for their trap!" What a joke! I'm not stupid. A whole crowd of you waited nearby, staring at me with cold eyes—did you think I wouldn't understand your intentions? Hmph! I, Hetu, will not take the bait. Right now, the seventh floor is definitely at its most dangerous. I'm not going up for now! *** *Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...* The wind swept across heaven and earth. The Invincibles stood somewhat numb. *Fuck you!* This idiot Hetu—when we wouldn't let you up, you charged up with everything you had; now that we're letting you up, you fucking turn around and run back down? Are dead spirits all this idiotic? The group of Invincibles felt utterly exhausted! Truly, just a moment ago, everyone had been ready to let Hetu up and let him stir the pot properly! Yet against everyone's expectations, Hetu... ran. No one had attacked him! Not a single person! Everyone had stayed ten thousand meters away, merely watching in silence, yet that idiot Hetu had scared himself away. Exhausting! *** Inside the Illusion Sky Mirror. "Cough, cough, cough..." The powerhouses of the god race were thoroughly flabbergasted. What... was this? When they hit Hetu, he charged up recklessly. When they stopped hitting him, he refused to come up and fled on his own. You could do that? Su Yu was equally speechless. That fool Hetu was truly being played like a simpleton. As expected, dying was truly miserable. In life, he had been peerlessly domineering. In death, everyone toyed with him like an idiot, and the worst part was that he truly fell for it. If Hetu ever realized it, he would probably feel awful. Having lost parts of his memory, he was no longer complete. The surroundings fell into dead silence. Suddenly, someone laughed self-deprecatingly, "Once a person dies and recovers their memories, they still aren't truly themselves. Hetu... the protagonist of the late First Tide Change, has now been reduced to a clown!" It truly was self-mockery. Indeed, even if one revived after death, one was merely a petty clown. The terminator of the First Tide Change had now fallen to the level of a jester, unintentionally evoking a wave of desolation among the onlookers. *We don't want to die!* In death, they might end up even worse off than Hetu. Hetu had at least recovered some memories and retained the strength of a seventh-stage Eternal; if they died, whether they could revive at all was a question. At this moment, someone spoke up again, "Cut the nonsense. Humans, guard the passage!" In the distance, Immortal King Xuanhe said coldly, "Whether you let Hetu up or beat him back down is up to you. But the human race shall not set foot in King Gong Mansion!" "Based on what?" Qin Zhen snorted. "Xuanhe, who do you think you are?" "Qin Zhen, do you want to test me?" "Test you? Let's test!" Though Qin Zhen was weaker than him, he did not fear him. Spear in hand, he barked, "Stop putting on airs! During the years I guarded the human-immortal border, I specialized in killing members of your immortal race! The reason your immortal race is full of bachelors now is thanks to my contributions! If I remember correctly, I killed over three thousand of your immortal maidens! What can you do to me?" "..." At this moment, the expressions of several gods and demons turned peculiar. A great mystery had been solved! Indeed, over the past years, female immortals had repeatedly disappeared. So they had all been secretly assassinated by this fellow! On the immortal side, several Immortal Kings flew into a rage. "Audacious! You killed them?" Truly, they had never suspected Qin Zhen. Qin Zhen had indeed guarded the border years ago, but his primary focus had been guarding against the gods and demons. When had this bastard sneaked off to assassinate those immortals? The crux was... over the past years, few male immortals had died; most of the victims were female. The immortal race had assumed that some pervert or demonic cultivator had appeared, specifically targeting female immortals. Turns out it was Qin Zhen! At this moment, Qin Zhen didn't care at all. He sneered, speaking with triumphant arrogance, "I killed them, so what? Killing three thousand of your female immortals deprived your race of thousands or tens of thousands of brats! Once all your female immortals are dead, just wait for your race's extinction!" At this point, Xia Longwu and the others were left dumbfounded. *So that was your scheme?* *No wonder you only killed little immortal maidens—you were planning to wipe out their lineage!* The group was speechless. Did that even count as a strategy? Well, yes! If all female immortals were truly slaughtered, powerhouses might be strong, but reversing gender to bear children required immense strength and courage; not just anyone could do it. Only at the Sun Moon Realm would there be any hope. By then, the immortal race truly might go extinct. Of course, the prerequisite was actually managing to kill all the female immortals. Who would have thought Qin Zhen had done so many things while guarding the border? Xia Longwu couldn't help but chuckle. "You... you killed them, fine, but why brag about it now?" Qin Zhen sneered, "Since we've already shed all pretense, why should I fear them? I'll say this right now: once the battle begins today, nobody mess with me! I'm going to single out the immortal race to slaughter! Anyone else who provokes me—dying won't be worth it! Xuanhe, aren't you a fifth-stage Eternal? If you have the guts, come kill me!" He had zero fear! At this moment, Qin Zhen deliberately provoked the immortal race, even trying to make the other races stand by as spectators. He laughed coldly, "I've killed thousands of female immortals. Truth be told, dead little immortal maidens look quite pretty! Xuanhe, your family probably had some female immortals killed by me too. Why don't you try to kill me?" Qin Zhen snorted, an arrogant look on his face. Xia Longwu and Zhu Tianfang glanced at him. *Not bad!* If nothing else, Qin Zhen certainly knew how to use reverse psychology. He was, after all, a general who commanded armies. It could only be said that this fellow had an unyielding temper and preferred resolving issues with martial might. In his many years in the military, he had slaughtered countless foes, perhaps not fewer than Xia Longwu. It was just that his slaughter wasn't as famous as Xia Longwu's. Just look at the immortals: having lost so many female immortals, they had never even suspected Qin Zhen. On the immortal side, the Immortal Kings wore icy expressions, fury boiling inside them. Qin Zhen! Well done! They had truly underestimated him! With Qin Zhen muddying the waters and the humans fixated on the immortal race, the other races began to hesitate on whether to take action. If they struck... even the immortals were somewhat ambivalent. The humans might genuinely target only the immortals with reckless abandon. While the crowd hesitated, the entrance to the seventh floor fluctuated once more. Hetu reappeared, no longer laughing. He glanced around, and suddenly, without a word, released a massive surge of death qi! Over by King Gong Mansion, tremors rang out continuously—the saber was vibrating. The crowd watched in silence, saying nothing. After dumping his death qi, Hetu fled again! Everyone simply watched his performance in silence. Sure enough, in less than half an hour, Hetu came up again, looking shifty. He released another wave of death qi, shook the long saber once more, and swiftly fled back to the sixth floor. Across the vast seventh floor, countless powerhouses simply watched. *** Inside the Illusion Sky Mirror, Su Yu didn't find it funny. He only felt a strange sense of sorrow. *Idiot!* Hetu's intellect had truly deteriorated. Otherwise, he should have known and understood why these people weren't stopping him or dispersing the death qi at all. He should have realized long ago! The Minister of the Heaven Division was an Eternal of the ninth stage, accompanied by multiple seventh-stage Eternals and dozens of other Eternals. Could they really fail to beat the two of you to death? After fighting all this time, were you still completely oblivious? Hetu, the protagonist of an era, had been reduced to a petty clown, provoking laughter. Su Yu pondered silently. Indeed, wasn't that why he himself looked down on these dead spirits? Even though they were Invincibles, he didn't dread them that much. The same applied to Xingyue! Su Yu hadn't held her in high regard either because she was rather foolish—quick to anger and easily placated. *And I was actually thinking of turning into a dead spirit after death... Do I really want to become a fool like this?* Su Yu mocked himself inwardly. Did he want to become such a jester, mocked like a joke by people he wouldn't have looked twice at in the past? He definitely wouldn't want to! If anyone among this crowd had survived from the First Tide, they wouldn't have been worthy to carry Hetu's shoes. Yet now, they played Hetu like an idiot. At this moment, an idea suddenly formed in Su Yu's mind. *That Life and Death Fruit!* If he gave that thing to Hetu to eat, restoring a bit more of Hetu's memories and raising his intellect, what would Hetu do once he realized these people were playing him like a fool? With his arrogance and domineering nature, would he let the matter rest? Su Yu chuckled inwardly, but soon dismissed the thought. A dead spirit that was too smart wasn't good. If dead spirits became too clever, things easily went wrong. Being a bit stupid was better! The others were playing Hetu like a fool, and wasn't he doing the exact same thing? Indeed, among the living, not a single one was decent. On the seventh floor, Hetu came up again and again, never tiring of it. He seemed thrilled, thoroughly delighted. While Su Yu thought they were stupid, Hetu also thought the living were utterly foolish. Not a single person was stopping him! Did they think he was going to charge out of the passage? What a joke! He wouldn't. He was going to relocate the dead spirit passage right here; he was going to open the dead spirit passage here and summon those dead spirit monarchs! Time after time, he appeared, staying longer each time. Near the entrance, a gateway began to faintly manifest. After Hetu left, an Invincible from another race spoke in a low voice, "Is nobody stopping him? If the dead spirit passage truly opens... and a horde of dead spirit monarchs emerges, who will hold them back?" The Invincible of the Tianyuan race said darkly, "There won't be too many. I have already investigated—there are only nine dead spirit monarchs in that passage!" Nine dead spirit monarchs! Plus the two already here, that made eleven. At this moment, everyone tacitly allowed the dead spirit passage to open, because someone remarked faintly, "If the dead spirit passage relocates, then... will something happen to that Guiyuan Saber?" At those words, the hearts of the powerhouses trembled. Indeed! If Hetu truly opened the passage here, could the Guiyuan Saber be taken? That was a divine armament! As for the dead spirits, even if they overran the Star Residence Mansion, so what? Could they leave? The Star Residence Mansion was the strongest weapon of all! It was enough to suppress everything! If one could obtain the divine armament, seize the Nine-Leaf Celestial Lotus, advance to Dao Integration, and wield the divine weapon... who in the myriad realms could match them? They simply wouldn't enter the Star Residence Mansion in the future! *** At the same time. Beneath the dead spirit passage. The dead spirit monarchs had already sensed the shift. One monarch said excitedly, "Hetu seems close to succeeding!" "The passage is relocating!" "Hahaha, we are about to leave the King Gong Mansion area and appear elsewhere! That Guiyuan Saber... will no longer be able to suppress us with rules!" "Hahaha!" The monarchs were overjoyed; success was near. Just then, the faint voice echoed again, "Monarchs, an Eternal of my race is currently assisting Monarch Hetu in opening the passage. Let us forge an alliance: my race requires only the Nine-Leaf Celestial Lotus. If possible, my race also wishes to take the Guiyuan Saber. From then on, the Star Residence Mansion will belong to the monarchs!" A dead spirit laughed. "You want quite a lot. Even though we have no use for them, those are supreme treasures. What price are you paying?" "Is aiding Monarch Hetu not enough?" "Not enough!" that dead spirit monarch said coldly. "We do not know the situation outside. Who knows if it was truly completed with your assistance?" With that, he transmitted a message to Xingyue: *"Xingyue, is Hetu's success due to your subordinate's help, or was it the Tianyuan race?"* Because Xingyue had said earlier that her subordinate was operating outside. Xingyue didn't hold back, transmitting back bluntly, *"The Tianyuan race are mere villains! Hetu's arrival was entirely due to my subordinate working secretly outside, including Hetu's emergence. If you don't believe me, you can ask Hetu whether the place he appeared had flashing stars—three hundred and sixty great stars. When he was teleported over, he encountered countless giant pillars of hair... Go ask the Tianyuan race what they know!"* At those words, several monarchs were surprised. *"Hetu's emergence was your subordinate's doing as well?"* *"Then why didn't you—"* Xingyue interrupted, *"That required coordinated effort from inside and out. It would have been useless for me to go; I don't possess Hetu's ability, so I couldn't relocate the passage, nor could I shake the Guiyuan Saber. Only Hetu could do it! But Hetu was able to get there entirely because of my efforts. Whether you believe it or not, once you go out, ask Hetu, and all will be clear!"* All of this had been taught to her by Su Yu. Su Yu could easily guess how Hetu had arrived! Entering the special passage from the dead spirit realm, it was almost certainly the diagram of the 360 divine aperture locations. Hetu and his companion had definitely entered through there, landing on Old Zhou's scalp. Giant pillars of hair were highly probable. Su Yu had evaluated the details and instructed Xingyue on how to deceive the dead spirits—a simple matter. Sure enough, the dead spirits hesitated. Was Xingyue telling the truth, or was the Tianyuan race? At this moment, Xingyue spoke again: *"My subordinate is currently working in secret, making the various races wary of one another so they dare not act, leaving Hetu free to construct the passage! None of this has anything to do with the Tianyuan race!"* She then added coldly, *"Of course, since that race wants to use us... we can oblige them! We will forge an alliance, and I will draft the pact!"* By now, the monarchs felt Xingyue was far more credible. Nonsense—she was of their own kind. What was the Tianyuan race? How could their words be as trustworthy as Xingyue's? "Good. How do you propose we forge the pact?" Xingyue said rapidly, "First, the Tianyuan race has an Eternal and Tianzhou, who is communicating with us now; his strength is also formidable. These two must serve us. In exchange, we will not actively kill them!" "Second, we are willing to seize the Nine-Leaf Celestial Lotus for them, but... after the battle concludes, they must find their own way into the dead spirit realm to retrieve it. We cannot hand it over on the spot. The deadline is one day; if they do not retrieve it, the deal is void!" "Third, the Tianyuan race shall not attack our dead spirit race, nor shall they attack the subjects of our dead spirit race!" "Fourth..." "Finally, the penalty of the pact: if either party violates the agreement, with the rules above, should the Tianyuan race breach it, their River of Time shall sever, and their three bodies shall separate! If we breach it, our death qi shall dissipate, our memories shall be wiped clean, and we shall return to the Dead Spirit Heavenly River! Both members of the Tianyuan race must imprint their life marks, and we shall imprint our dead spirit marks—witnessed by the Human Emperor, witnessed by the Council, witnessed by the rules!" The monarchs exchanged glances. They didn't feel it was unfair to the Tianyuan race, but rather harsh on themselves. "There are nine of us, and only two of them. Isn't that letting them off too easy?" Xingyue said calmly, "We are trustworthy dead spirits; how could we violate the pact? This is merely to bind the other party. Living beings are treacherous!" "That is true!" At this, the dead spirit monarchs found no flaws. Soon, they relayed the terms of the pact to Tianzhou. *** Inside King Gong Mansion. In the void. Tianzhou raised an eyebrow, pondering the terms carefully. Overall, the dead spirit monarchs had shown good sincerity, even if they had quite a few demands. *Retrieving the treasure in person from the dead spirit realm within one day after the battle... this... is somewhat difficult.* Yet thinking it over, Tianzhou realized that if his race seized it openly, they would probably have a hard time surviving. Having the dead spirits take it back to the dead spirit realm would actually avoid a great deal of trouble. *It's just... hard to retrieve!* Within one day—that was the only point giving him pause. As for the rest, he had no objections. Not harming their subjects? What did that matter? He had no intention of attacking dead spirits anyway. Of course, he didn't overthink it—not because he couldn't, but because it didn't seem worth pondering. For instance, would a half-dead spirit count as a subject? If no one else did, Su Yu certainly did, because he was Xingyue's direct subordinate, personally converted by her. How could that not count? Yet Tianzhou never considered this, because Su Yu had nothing to do with the dead spirits here. Even if he suspected Su Yu had arrived, he wouldn't connect the two; Su Yu couldn't communicate with dead spirits anyway. Thoughts flashed by, and soon, Tianzhou gritted his teeth and agreed! All things considered, he was still getting the better end of the deal. At worst, after the battle, he or the Eternal of his race could follow them into the dead spirit realm, retrieve the treasure, hide for a while, and then leave. However, one more condition had to be added. His lips moved rapidly as his voice drifted into the dead spirit passage: "The alliance can be formed, but one condition must be added: when members of the Tianyuan race enter the dead spirit realm, you must not harm us!" With this condition added, he could rest easy! They wouldn't be targeted and eliminated by these dead spirits! Soon, he received a reply: "Agreed!" Tianzhou smiled. There were no problems left. It seemed the other side genuinely had no intention of playing dirty. Then again, dead spirits had simple minds, without all those convoluted schemes! He quickly transmitted, "Then I will find the Eternal of my race to imprint our life marks on the pact. We will finalize the alliance with you shortly!" Fearing that the dead spirits might emerge too quickly, he flew over toward the Tianyuan powerhouse. He had to finalize the pact before they emerged! *** A moment later, he returned. In his hand, he held a shimmering, dark tome—the pact. Approaching King Gong Mansion without getting too close, his lips moved. The dark tome in his hand gradually dissolved into black smoke, vanishing from his grasp in an instant. *** Inside the dead spirit passage. A dark tome materialized before Xingyue and the others. The dead spirit monarchs were shockingly straightforward, instantly stamping their dark marks upon it. Xingyue also imprinted her own dead spirit mark. At that moment, heaven and earth trembled! A blood-red thread pierced through the dead spirit realm and the Star Residence Mansion. Without anyone else noticing, an image of the pact manifested in the minds of all eleven powerhouses from both sides! The alliance was formed! Witnessed by the rules! Under conditions where no one could break the rules, the penalties for violating this pact would truly be enforced by the rules. *** At this moment, Su Yu received the news as well. His gaze turned extraordinarily strange. The other clauses were fine, but one of them stated that they could not attack the subjects of the dead spirit race. Did he count as Xingyue's subject? It was hard to say; it depended on how the rules judged it. If the rules determined that he did count, then... the two from the Tianyuan race were finished! *If you don't hit me, I'll hit you. If you hit me or harm me, you violate the pact... Heh, even Old Turtle couldn't withstand the punishment of the rules—could the two of you?* *You're dead meat!* Su Yu sneered inwardly. He hoped the rules were reliable enough to count him as a subject and not exclude him. The Tianyuan race was jumping into the fire pit of their own accord; no one could stop them, and they couldn't blame him. Su Yu held immense hatred for this race. For no other reason than the fact that they had killed Ye Batian. Though Su Yu didn't particularly like Ye Batian and had never met him, that didn't stop him from hating these bastards. Killing Tianzhou and an Invincible of the Tianyuan race sounded like a fantastic outcome. The crucial point was... it could serve as a contingency. If he appeared, it would be entirely reasonable for this race to hunt him down. Xingyue could send them after him. He would run, they would chase, and once they caught up and tried to kill him... they would die, he would get away, and Xingyue and her group could seize the treasure... Su Yu straightened out the threads one by one! At this moment, Su Yu exhaled. *Thank you, Tianyuan race. My chances seem much better now.* *Thank you for your selfless contribution!* *I hope you die in peace this time!* Su Yu began to smile, unable to help himself. Beside him, Old Hao looked over in surprise. Su Yu beamed, pointing at Hetu, and said, "So stupid! A dead spirit monarch is actually this stupid—to think we were afraid of them earlier!" At those words, the people nearby laughed as well. Indeed, truly stupid!