Slaying a Dao Harmonizer to Advance to Sun Moon

The skies of the dead spirit realm had changed. Yet the realm of the living had barely responded—scarcely stirring at all. Aside from a subtle flicker in the Old Turtle's bearing, no one could tell anything had happened. As before, the Old Turtle appeared slightly worn and weakened, locked in bitter combat against the Demon Emperor and the Nether Emperor. The Immortal race's Marquises were gone. The myriad races had prepared thoroughly indeed. A total of four dead spirit Marquises had surged forth to attack. If Marquis Lanshan had stayed out of the conflict as she had in the past, or if the Book Spirit and the others had not intervened, the Old Turtle's Dao body would never have held out. Perhaps... he truly would have had no choice but to depart. He would have taken the guardians with him, abandoning this battlefield to suppress the dead spirit realm. After all, that was their true duty. Yet there were no "ifs" in reality. Of those four Marquises—figures of immense stature even back in the ancient era—two had perished in an instant, and the remaining two had fled in terror. At this moment, the only beings holding the line in the domain guarded by the Old Turtle were a handful of peerless experts aligned with the human race. To outside observers, the myriad races still held the absolute upper hand. Not only that. At that very moment, nearly thirty hostile Invincibles were charging straight into the fray. The moment they entered the battlefield, the human race would be in catastrophic trouble. Right then, Su Yu's heart stirred. It was as though he were quietly listening to something. An instant later, Su Yu bellowed, "Guardians, draw your weapons! I shall suppress the dead spirits for you!" As his words fell, death qi soared to the heavens! From Su Yu's body, death qi erupted to the absolute peak! It was as if he were declaring to the world: I am ready. Right now, I will do nothing else—my sole task is to seal and suppress the dead spirit passageways for you all! In the distance, Tianmie had long been pushed past his boiling point. With a furious roar, he shouted, "Why didn't you say so earlier?!" Buzz! A thunderous hum shook the heavens, and a colossal club materialized in Tianmie's hands in the blink of an eye! "Heh! Grandson, go die!" With that colossal club in hand, Tianmie's ferocity surged to terrifying heights. The ninth-stage Eternal he had been fighting underwent an immediate, drastic change of expression! Fuck! Not this again! Boom! A world-shattering roar erupted. A single swing of the club smashed outward, tearing the heavens and rending the earth! With the club in his grasp, Tianmie's combat power was horrifying. He was formidable to begin with: his previous victory over Duobao, smashing King Yu's three incarnations with one blow, and taking on three ancient Immortal Invincibles at once had all been achieved while wielding this weapon. Without it, he could still fight a ninth-stage Eternal, though his strength was merely average for that tier. Yet with this club, even if he still suffered from petrification and seals, he was terrifyingly mighty. "Little grandson, do you truly think you're worthy of fighting your granddaddy?!" Tianmie was notoriously short-tempered. He was thoroughly irritated; lately, he had been fighting constantly, yet rarely managed to beat anyone to death. It frustrated him to no end! Just moments ago, he had even taken hits from the Dragon Emperor, making him angrier still! Now, armed with his weapon, his fury burst completely loose. In a flash, he transformed into a colossal stone statue. A single sweep of his club shattered the void, shaking heaven and earth until a faint Great Dao seemed to emerge within the fractures! Boom! Opposite him, that ninth-stage Eternal tore open the void to flee, only for the surrounding space to blow apart! The colossal club carried a suppression force! Without suppression, wouldn't anyone simply slip away before the strike landed? Tianmie's club was not something easily dodged! Boom! Another deafening crash rang out. The ninth-stage Eternal vomited blood incessantly and flew backward, his physical body fracturing apart. Paralyzed with terror, he shrieked, "Come save me, quick!" The newly arrived Invincibles had not even had time to join the general melee when three formidable Eternals among them blanched and rushed toward Tianmie! They had to save him! If they didn't, and that expert was killed, almost no one beneath the Dao Harmonization Realm could suppress Tianmie's unleashed might. Once he broke free and went on a rampage, countless Invincibles would fall! "Grandchildren, come at me all together!" Tianmie roared with wild laughter. "Come fight!" Boom! The massive club swept through the sky. Nearby combatants—guardians and myriad race fighters alike—scrambled out of the way. None of them wanted to be anywhere near this madman's skirmish, lest the shockwaves tear them apart. Meanwhile, in the distance, Yunxiao raised a hand and beckoned. A longsword tore through the air and settled into her palm. She thrust it forward with a wrathful curse: "Xinghong, get lost! This little slut is mine to butcher!" Indeed, she had been double-teaming Hanxiang, the top-tier Immortal expert, alongside Xinghong. Now, with her sword in hand, Yunxiao had no further use for Xinghong! Without a word, Xinghong disengaged. A large host of formidable enemies had just arrived, and several guardians needed to be freed up to intercept them. Every guardian recognized the dire peril of the moment. Furthermore, Su Yu himself had given the word that they could draw their weapons. Though they worried whether Su Yu could endure the strain, under the present circumstances... there was no other choice! Once their weapons were removed, the dead spirits below would riot. If they broke through the passageways, the consequences would be catastrophic! Meanwhile, Su Yu silently sensed what was happening below. Hetu and Xia Chen were on the move! As the city lord of multiple cities, he could feel it: in several passageways, the dead spirits were being lured away. Hetu and Xia Chen were both exceptionally powerful and were currently taking action. They were not slaughtering dead spirit monarchs—killing them was useless, as the rules would immediately summon more monarchs from further away. Su Yu could vaguely sense through the passageways that Hetu and Xia Chen were using some sort of treasure to draw those monarchs off, though he had no idea what it was. Sensing their presence, several dead spirit monarchs abandoned their assault on the passageways and gave chase. Because of this, the guardians were able to wield their weapons without immediate disaster. And Su Yu could endure the death qi without being crushed by overwhelming pressure. One guardian after another drew their weapons. Though thirty more Invincibles had arrived, the thirty-five armed guardians experienced at least a thirty percent boost in combat strength. That increase was equivalent to gaining another sixth- or seventh-stage Eternal per guardian; for someone like Tianmie, the boost surpassed even that of a ninth-stage Eternal... Before the thirty arriving Invincibles could even rejoice, they found themselves thoroughly suppressed by the guardians unleashing their full might! Out of more than a hundred and thirty hostile Invincibles, only about thirty were tied down by the human race and the Iron-Eating race's twenty-odd Invincibles. Yet the remaining near-hundred Invincibles fighting the thirty-five guardians were actually falling into a disadvantage! The guardians were extraordinarily potent; not a single one was below the seventh stage, and all of them cultivated the superior weapon fusion method rather than the three incarnations method! With their weapons in hand, even with their petrification seals still lingering, they outclassed peers of the same cultivation tier. Over thirty high-stage cultivators battered the three-incarnation Invincibles so fiercely that the enemy was forced to commit more and more manpower just to hold the line. Nearly every guardian was fighting one against three! Not only were they fighting one against three, several of them held the absolute upper hand. Each guardian required at least one high-stage opponent to pin them down. Without a high-stage expert to anchor the defense, even three sixth-stage fighters banding together were beaten until they coughed blood endlessly. And once one of their three incarnations fell, their strength plunged, leaving them utterly unable to hold their ground. Invincibles roared in fury and desperation, "We need reinforcements! Wake the slumbering ancestors of every race to join the battle! Do you intend to wait until we're routed before entering the fray?!" A piecemeal strategy would not work! The number of Invincibles participating today was staggering, yet against the guardians alone, they had already committed two Dao Harmonizers and over a hundred Invincibles! *** "These old fellows... though they have been sealed all these years, every single one possesses startling might!" Over by the Tianyuan Realm, the God Emperor sighed with emotion. Indeed, they were old fellows. Tianmie and the others were ancient, older than the God Emperor himself. Over all these years, burdened by self-imposed seals and battered by death qi, their strength had made little progress. Even so, they were far more formidable than the modern Invincibles of the three incarnations method. The Ancient City faction had stayed out of the fighting for nine entire tides! Now they had joined the war, and this single faction had fundamentally upended the entire balance of the heavens. A single lineage was holding off two Dao Harmonizers and over a hundred Invincibles—and that was without them shattering their seals in a suicidal burst! Judging purely by their current strength, if any single race among the myriad races encountered the Ancient City faction alone, they would be no match. They were too strong! None of the guardians was below the seventh stage, which was the decisive factor. It wasn't just a matter of numbers; their numbers might not be vast, but their individual caliber was extraordinarily high! Tiangu's brow furrowed slightly as well. The Invincibles mobilized across all races had already reached two hundred. And casualties were mounting fast! Twenty-five had died in the Human Realm, twenty in the Tianyuan race—approaching fifty in total. Earlier battles had claimed over fifty more. Added together, from the moment Xia Longwu and his peers attained the Dao until now, over a hundred Invincibles had fallen! Feeding troops in bit by bit was simply unsustainable! The Immortal race had already suffered heavy losses among its Invincibles. Eight Immortals had initially entered the Human Realm; King Yu and another had followed, and though one died, nine had perished in the Human Realm alone. Another batch had fallen during the previous battle... All told, the Immortal race had lost over twenty Invincible realm experts. In this current clash, among the hundred and thirty Invincibles fighting on the front lines, over twenty belonged to the Immortal race, and he had brought nearly twenty more here to the Tianyuan Realm. Across these successive battles, counting both the dead and those still fighting, the Immortal race had committed over sixty Invincibles! Should he draw forth even more? If he pulled more from the reserves and the battle took an unforeseen turn, the Immortal race's foundation would be completely gutted! As Tiangu remained lost in thought, the passage of the Tianyuan Realm trembled slightly. A moment later, King Daqin walked out. His face was pale, but he looked considerably better than before. After a period of recuperation, he too gazed into the distance. Over by the Human Realm, fierce combat raged unabated. With nearly two hundred Invincibles clashing, it felt as though the heavens themselves were about to be battered to pieces. As he stepped forth, more Invincibles gathered around him. Invincibles from the Immortal, God, and Phoenix races encircled the area, while further out, Invincibles from the Archaic Giant and Spatial Ancient Beast races drew near as well. Both the Archaic Giant King and the Spatial Beast Emperor were privately shaken. With Su Yu charging forth and liberating the combat strength of the guardians, the humans' momentum was truly terrifying. Very few human Invincibles had fallen in this clash; instead, they had slaughtered countless enemy Invincibles. The Tianyuan race had been annihilated, and within the Human Realm, a massive host of Invincibles had been wiped out. Across these several clashes, Su Yu had largely dictated the flow of the war, and the enemy Invincibles slain outnumbered the total count of human Invincibles by more than twofold! At this moment, the two emperors, who had previously harbored deep anxieties, gained a measure of confidence. The human race... in this tenth tide, perhaps they truly still had hope. The only concern was: how many Dao Harmonizers did the human race still possess in the upper realm? If they had all truly died out, handling the aftermath would prove exceptionally difficult. Ignoring them, King Daqin scanned his surroundings. The God, Immortal, and allied races had roughly forty Invincibles present, while the Archaic Giants and Spatial Ancient Beasts had fewer than twenty. On the human side, roughly thirty Invincibles remained, but more than half were spent and lacked the strength to fight on. He weighed whether to ignite another massive battle right here! Before long, King Daqin abandoned the idea. Forget it! Within the Tianyuan Realm, dead spirits were rioting; they still had to keep them suppressed. Otherwise, if the rules' punishment came crashing down, they would suffer as well. If they launched a battle now, any human Invincibles brought out might well be slaughtered. The others could not be moved! Taking a deep breath, King Daqin looked toward King Dazhou and sent a voice transmission: "Hold this place. I am charging back to the Human Realm! The guardians over there may be powerful, but Su Yu might not be able to bear the strain. What's more... I worry someone will attempt to assassinate him!" Su Yu was the lynchpin! The absolute lynchpin! The moment Su Yu died, the guardians would have no one to help them seal the passageways and would have no choice but to retreat! Right now, no one was able to reach Su Yu, but that did not mean the old schemers in the shadows were blind to his importance. Rather than struggling against those formidable guardians, it was far more effective to concentrate force and eliminate Su Yu! King Dazhou glanced at him and gave a slight nod. Without another word, King Daqin tore open the void, preparing to leave. Just as Tiangu and his peers moved to intercept, several Dao Harmonizers unleashed their auras simultaneously, locking onto them. Seeing this, Tiangu smiled faintly and said nothing. Yet the instant King Daqin tore through space and emerged at a distant point, three powerful Invincibles abruptly lunged from the darkness! Boom! Far off, a battle erupted. Tiangu smiled blandly. "If Qin Guang can fight his way back to the eastern region, that will be his own skill. Zhou Tianqi, don't tell me you intend to leave as well?" King Dazhou chuckled in return. "Hardly! If I leave, wouldn't I be handing you an opportunity? Old Qin is more than capable of handling those three. Once he kills them, don't you go weeping, Tiangu. Your Immortal race has already lost plenty of Eternals." Tiangu smiled. "If they die, it is because their skills were lacking. I have lived far too long and seen far too much of this! Back in the first tide, your human race still had living Marquises. When they first emerged, they slaughtered countless Eternals—yet in the end, didn't those Marquises all die anyway?" During the first tide, many remnants of the ancient era still survived. Tiangu chuckled again. "In those ancient days of human supremacy, three hundred and sixty Human Marquises were enfeoffed. Across nine tides, I personally witnessed the deaths of more than seventy Human Marquises. Zhou Tianqi, tell me: how many Marquises does your human race have left alive?" Over seventy Human Marquises had fallen across nine tides, and with the ancient cataclysm, nearly all the rest had perished. In this era, could there possibly be any Human Marquises still alive? King Dazhou replied calmly, "Tiangu, you should only laugh if you're the one who laughs last. As long as the human race endures, your Immortal race will never rule the heavens! Even if I must let the Gods and Demons reign supreme, I will eradicate your Immortal race first!" "Are you trying to sow discord?" Tiangu chuckled. "How childish. Ask Jiwu if he would ever fall for that." The God Emperor smiled faintly. "Rest assured. So long as the human race is not exterminated, the God, Demon, Immortal, and Dragon races will never turn on one another." Everything would have to wait until the human race was destroyed. King Dazhou sneered, "That wasn't what you were saying four hundred years ago. I must thank the Immortal race for buying our human race over four hundred years of time. Without you, we might have been destroyed long ago. My thanks indeed!" Unfazed, Tiangu murmured, "What does living an extra four hundred years change? Which change of tides has not been measured in millennia?" King Dazhou fell silent. He could not be bothered to waste more breath! *** Meanwhile, Su Yu was busy fusing apertures. His origin apertures were merging together. He was stalling for time, waiting for his own breakthrough. Second stage of the Shanhai Realm—complete! The fusion of his second aperture was finished. Su Yu gave his arm a gentle flex. His strength had increased slightly once more, though the growth was not enormous. Upon reaching the Shanhai Realm, fusing apertures yielded relatively modest improvements—only a few million aperture-force per fusion. At the second stage of the Shanhai Realm, Su Yu's strength had barely climbed from 66 million to around 70 million aperture-force. Too little! Moreover, after fusing apertures, the amplification granted by the heavenly gate aperture actually diminished slightly, resulting in an offset. To Su Yu, this seemed almost negligible. Thus, he paid it little mind! Of course, if such thoughts were ever spoken aloud, people would likely beat him to death. In the Shanhai Realm, fusing a single aperture brought an increase of two to three million aperture-force... The weakest Shanhai cultivators considered a mere ten thousand aperture-force their entire strength! A hundred thousand aperture-force was already regarded as high-stage Shanhai! Gaining twenty to thirty thousand aperture-force per stage was considered exceptional, yet Su Yu was gaining a hundred times that amount! Even so, to Su Yu, there truly was no massive leap. Was there a profound difference between 66 million and 70 million? None at all! Even if he reached the ninth stage of the Shanhai Realm, his strength would top out at just over 80 million. With the reduced amplification from the heavenly gate aperture, his overall combat power would not change dramatically, meaning it held little strategic significance to him. Was there a major difference between beating a seventh-stage Eternal to death versus an eighth-stage Eternal? Not really! Pondering this, Su Yu continued fusing apertures. He knew his physical body was still not durable enough and would likely struggle to endure the white pup's blood essence. He had to keep tempering it. Without even reaching a hundred million aperture-force on his own, could his base strength truly be called formidable? Hardly! Once he reached the Sun Moon Realm, he would see if he could become substantially stronger! Just as Su Yu continued fusing apertures, the Old Turtle's voice suddenly transmitted over: "Be careful. I faintly sense several figures stirring restlessly. More Dao Harmonizers will likely intervene!" Su Yu said nothing, casting a glance at the distant Dragon Emperor, and then toward the even more distant Spirit Emperor. Currently, he sat cross-legged above the ancient city, dark energy swirling beneath him. Projecting his voice to intimidate all directions, Su Yu barked, "Whoever dares attempt an assassination on me, I will open the dead spirit passageway this instant! Beneath me lie more than ten Dao Harmonizers!" "..." Here it came again! A collective toothache seized the onlookers! Last time was exactly like this: Su Yu claimed dozens or hundreds of dead spirit monarchs were beneath his passageway. No one believed him, yet every Invincible who charged in had died, and even King Zhi had perished. Now he was repeating the threat! Should they believe him or not? Naturally, no one believed him, yet... a cold shudder still crept down their spines. Damn it! Don't tell me more than ten Dao Harmonizers will actually show up... All right, that was impossible. They weren't entirely ignorant of the dead spirit realm. Claiming dozens of Invincible monarchs was plausible, but Dao Harmonizers? Across the entire Eastern King's domain, Marquis Lanshan was the only dead spirit Marquis aligned with the human race! In the distance, the Dragon Emperor sneered, his massive tail swatting aside the enlarged mother ball. His strength was somewhat superior to the mother ball's. "Su Yu, why don't you just claim the ancient Human Sovereign is right beneath you?!" Su Yu chuckled. "Mocking me? Do you realize you've already offended me to the point of no return? You foul worm, I didn't hold that much malice toward your Dragon race originally. I despise the Immortals above all, the Immortals first, the Tianyuan second... your Dragon race was further down the list! But since you insist on offending me, I will slaughter you with my own hands today. Just you wait!" The Dragon Emperor could not even be bothered to acknowledge him! Slaughter me with your own hands? What a joke! Beneath Su Yu, the dead spirit passageway flickered between reality and illusion. He remained on high alert. A moment later, Su Yu's heart stirred as the Book Spirit's voice faintly sounded in his ear: "We have arrived!" They had arrived! Not just the Book Spirit, but the Tea Tree and the Old Turtle's Dao body as well. At this moment, Su Yu was sorely tempted to spring the trap. Once the Old Turtle reunited with his Dao body, he could effortlessly suppress the two emperors, leaving them unable to interfere in other battles. Since the Book Spirit and the Tea Tree had managed to resolve the crisis in the dead spirit realm, their strength was surely formidable. Teaming up with the Iron-Eating Beast Emperor or the mother ball, they stood an excellent chance of quickly eliminating a Dao Harmonizer. That would be more than enough to reverse the entire tide of battle. The real question was: how many Dao Harmonizers could they kill?! Just as Su Yu contemplated this, the Old Turtle suddenly bellowed in fury! Below, the ancient city instantly manifested as a barrier, shielding Su Yu. Clang! A crisp metallic ring echoed as a silhouette emerged from the void, murmuring softly, "Brother Hongmeng is quite vigilant..." At that exact instant, the Demon Emperor and the Nether Emperor erupted with terrifying force! They suppressed the Old Turtle! Both were overjoyed—the decisive turning point had arrived! Another Dao Harmonizer had entered the fray! The void rapidly solidified as the Old Turtle roared, "How dare you!" "Why wouldn't I dare?" Before the barrier of the ancient city stood an elder clad in a golden robe. Looking toward Su Yu, he chuckled. "Why don't you try fleeing into the dead spirit realm and see whether I hunt you down?" Behind the barrier of the ancient city, Su Yu wore an agonized expression and sighed. "Must you do this? Does my human race harbor any grudge against your kind?" "Naturally we do!" The elder chuckled, clawing down toward the city barrier. That barrier was the manifestation of the Old Turtle's shell, yet it could not halt the elder while the Old Turtle was desperately pinned down by the two half-emperors! The strike sent the turtle shell violently reeling and shuddering, pushed to the brink of collapse. The Old Turtle roared in fury, his earlier calm completely stripped away. A Golden-Winged Roc! Indeed, this was a Dao Harmonizer—an ancient race Dao Harmonizer, the Golden-Winged Roc! Batting the turtle shell backward step by step, the elder walked toward Su Yu with a smile. "I did not wish to intervene, but... there is no choice! Su Yu, the human race is fated to perish. Why struggle so bitterly? Had you not stirred up such chaos, we would have waited for the thousand-year deadline to expire. None of us wished to slaughter one another right now; wouldn't it be better to let the upper realm's situation decide whether the human race falls?" "The reason we abstained from battle all this time was merely to see an outcome. We wished to see how many ancient fossils your human race still possesses. If we annihilate your human race now, and those old monsters remain in hiding, striking from the shadows, the threat would be far too terrifying..." The Golden-Winged Roc voiced the exact concern that had stayed everyone's hand. Why hadn't the coalition wiped out the human race long ago when they possessed the strength to do so? On one hand, they feared the present human race would fight to the death, dragging an entire race down into ruin with them. On the other hand, they worried that the ancient human fossils in the upper realm were not entirely dead. If three to five Dao Harmonizers still survived, and upon seeing humanity eradicated, chose to vanish completely, concealing themselves in minor realms and launching surprise raids when no one was prepared, countless major races would face catastrophe. For now, the human race served as both bait and a target. Experts like the Golden-Winged Roc Emperor truly had not wished to act at this moment! If the humans were wiped out while their old monsters still lived, who would deal with the fallout? Yet now... he had no choice but to intervene! If the battle continued and the human side wiped out the hundreds of Invincibles assembled here, the myriad races might be annihilated before the thousand-year deadline even arrived. That would make them a laughingstock! Boom! At that exact instant, the void tore open, and an ancient beast with the head of a camel, the antlers of a deer, and a ferocious countenance emerged. Glaring at the Golden-Winged Roc, saliva dripped from its gaping maw. "I wonder... does a Dao Harmonizer Golden-Winged Roc taste good?!" The Archaic Hou! The Hou Emperor! The Golden-Winged Roc was unsurprisied, merely sighing, "You... fierce as you appear, you are steeped in servility! Back then, King Wu saw your father's ferocity and beat him into submission, forcing him to become his mount. I thought you would harbor hatred, yet never did I expect you to stand with the human race today... Have you forgotten your ancestor's humiliation?" The Archaic Hou! King Wu's mount! Of course, it wasn't this specific beast, but its father. The Archaic Hou's eyes gleamed with feral malice. "The strong are revered; what is wrong with that?! King Wu was peerless. Across the myriad races of the heavens, how many could match him?!" "As you said, the strong are revered. But now... the human race hardly seems strong!" The Golden-Winged Roc looked at him and smiled. "You still have a chance to reconsider!" "No need!" The Archaic Hou lunged forward to attack, yet the Golden-Winged Roc did not budge. At that very moment, a sigh echoed, the void cracked open once more, and a figure barred the Archaic Hou's path. "Brother, the ancient era... is no more!" The Golden-Winged Roc smiled. "Ape Emperor, I leave the Hou Emperor to you." The Ape Emperor replied in a deep voice, "Cut the chatter. Slay Su Yu and end this war!" With those words, the Ape Emperor swung a massive staff, crashing it toward the pouncing Archaic Hou! In an instant, three Dao Harmonizers had entered the war! The four directions shook violently once more. At this critical juncture, three ancient races had chosen their sides! At this moment, both the Demon Emperor and the Dragon Emperor broke into faint smiles. The outcome was decided! Very few half-emperors among the myriad races had yet to intervene. Such as the Fate Emperor! Yet the Fate Emperor had not shown himself to this moment; evidently, he maintained his neutral stance, choosing to turn a blind eye. With these three half-emperors stepping forth, any remaining Dao Harmonizers were likely still in deep slumber. Those who were awake had almost all emerged. Across the living and dead realms, more than twenty Dao Harmonizers were now engaged in battle. The Golden-Winged Roc reached out with a taloned claw, seizing the trembling turtle shell. With a savage roar, he hurled the shell aside and raked his claws straight toward Su Yu! It was time to end this! Even if Su Yu fled into the dead spirit realm, it would be futile—he would hunt him down into the depths! Even if there were dead spirit monarchs within the realm, they could do nothing against him. Su Yu let out a soft sigh. My target wasn't you, yet... you insist on seeking death. Indeed, these days, there were always people eager to court doom, refusing to believe his words. Beneath Su Yu's feet, the dead spirit passageway swung wide open. The Golden-Winged Roc sneered. Trying to flee? Before me, do you think you can escape? He was a Golden-Winged Roc, unmatched in speed under the heavens. The very instant the dead spirit passageway flew open, he materialized directly at the entrance, blocking Su Yu's path of retreat instead. He chuckled, "You are too weak, too slow. It seems... you may die now!" Su Yu's eyes widened in utter disbelief! Holy shit! I've seen people courting death, but I've truly never seen anyone court death quite like this! Really! Right beneath this passageway were two supreme powerhouses—no, three, counting the Old Turtle's Dao body! They were literally right beneath your feet, and you... you actually moved to block their exit! This was the equivalent of a pot being set over the fire, and this fellow voluntarily jumping straight into it! Su Yu had planned to repeat his previous trick—diving in first and letting the enemy pursue... As it turned out, that wasn't even necessary! The man had jumped right onto the lid himself! To the Golden-Winged Roc, Su Yu's widened eyes looked like pure shock, terror, and despair... A smile spread across his face. Su Yu was a genius, a monstrous talent. Yet he still underestimated a Dao Harmonizer! My speed is simply too fast. You want to run? Laughable! I have blocked the path; where could you possibly flee?! Did you think a Dao Harmonizer was the same as an Eternal? His razor-sharp talons struck straight toward the crown of Su Yu's head, aiming to crush the youth's skull with a single strike! End this war! He could already envision the aftermath: Su Yu dead, the guardians retreating, the human race collapsing, and the Iron-Eating, Archaic Hou, Archaic Giant, and Spatial Ancient Beast races having no choice but to withdraw their forces. This time, they might even slay one or two Dao Harmonizers who supported the humans! Let the myriad realms extinguish this foolish hope once and for all! To think that here in the tenth tide, people were still boarding the sinking ship of the human race. Across the preceding nine tides, over a hundred ancient races that boarded that ship had been utterly annihilated! Could they truly be so incapable of learning their lesson? The Golden-Winged Roc pondered this, feeling somewhat speechless. He truly couldn't fathom what these races were thinking! Take the Archaic Hou, for instance. Your father served as King Wu's mount; did you intend to become Su Yu's mount as well? "Su Yu!" In the distance, Invincible after Invincible roared in terror! King Daxia and King Daming were frantic with rage, and guardians like Tianmie roared madly! It was over! Su Yu had actually failed to escape! Instead of fleeing while the Golden-Winged Roc was shattering the turtle shell, the fool had wasted time trading threats with him—what an idiot! King Daxia and the others were driven half-mad with panic and fury! Were there any other Dao Harmonizers willing to fight for the human race? None! It was finished, completely finished! The moment Su Yu died, the battle would instantly collapse! At that moment, smiles broke out on many faces. They had won. The fiercest clash of the tenth tide was finally coming to a close. And the deciding factor was Su Yu's life or death. Just as everyone began to smile, a displeased voice drifted from the void: "He's blocking me and stepping on my head. I'm not happy!" "Oh, you're always so impatient!" Just after the crisp, childish voice of a girl rang out, an old man's admonishing voice followed: "You must read more. Reading clarifies one's nature; you must learn patience!" "This is a Golden-Winged Roc. I've heard the meat of this race is quite delicious... I don't know if that's true, but let's take some back for Chubby Ball to eat..." "Okay, okay!" These words seemed to be spoken slowly, yet they unfolded with blinding swiftness. All of time and space seemed to reverse! At this moment, the attacking Golden-Winged Roc was seized by sheer terror. Beneath his feet, countless branches erupted, wrapping around him. The Tea Tree had learned how to bind foes; in an instant, myriad branches lashed around the Golden-Winged Roc, coiling tight. The next instant, vast nets manifested—not one, but countless. "These are experts of the living realm, which means they have Great Daos attached to them. Stepping into the Dao Harmonization Realm means their personal Dao is extraordinarily fused with the Primordial Dao. Thus, by shattering their Great Dao, one can slay them!" The young girl asked curiously, "Then how do we force it to manifest?" "Let me teach you. This heaven and earth possesses rules, and they all have Dao bodies. Once their Dao body is broken, the Great Dao must reveal itself! Of course, there are those who can force the Great Dao to manifest without breaking the Dao body—such figures possess a profound comprehension of the rules. You cannot do it, and it is difficult for me as well..." As the Book Spirit spoke, the Tea Tree seemed to understand. A golden phantom flickered over the Golden-Winged Roc, which was instantly pierced by myriad branches. His Dao body shattered, and in an instant, a Great Dao manifested across the void. Struggling, roaring! Upon that Great Dao, a Golden-Winged Roc roared furiously. That was his Dao. This Golden-Winged Roc was extraordinarily formidable; the phantom adhering to the Great Dao seemed intent on devouring the Dao entirely, merging with it completely to assimilate it into himself! Yet at this moment, the Golden-Winged Roc himself was plunged into absolute terror and despair, howling, "No! Who are you?!" Impossible! Across the myriad realms, he knew of no such formidable beings. These weren't dead spirits—who on earth were they?! Beneath him, there truly were Dao Harmonizers! At that exact instant, a golden phantom vanished from the void, reappearing inside the Old Turtle's body. The Old Turtle, who had been suppressed by the Demon Emperor and his peer, experienced a sudden, explosive surge in aura! In the void, a colossal Hongmeng Turtle materialized, instantly pressing down upon the heavens. With a deafening boom, the two half-emperors were blasted backward, coughing blood. Treading on empty air with all four limbs, the Old Turtle advanced step by step as boundless origin qi erupted—rumble! He battered the two half-emperors until they were sent flying, vomiting blood continuously. The Old Turtle chuckled softly. "To think someone actually disbelieved Su Yu's words... how strange!" Opposite him, Su Yu was entirely direct—time to kill! Claim the reward! Killing a Dao Harmonizer would make him rich! The Civilization Tombstone transformed into a massive saber. Su Yu brought it down with all his might. I'm striking it rich! I'm leaping straight to the ninth stage of Shanhai, breaking through to dual Sun Moon! Trash Roc Emperor, I told you there were Dao Harmonizers down there, and you refused to believe me! At this moment, the Golden-Winged Roc was thoroughly bound by the two entities, completely unable to move. He roared and shrieked, but everything had unfolded too quickly; he had been directly locked down by two supreme powerhouses. Slash! The blade cleaved straight into the golden roc phantom coiled around the Great Dao. With a loud bang, the phantom shuddered violently, the recoil snapping Su Yu's arm. Yet instead of panicking, Su Yu was overjoyed—what formidable power! Killing you will definitely bring an immense reward! In an instant, Su Yu's divine characters erupted, his willpower exploded, his physical body surged, the Heavenly Cycle Technique circulated, and the heavenly gate aperture opened wide... Bang! One slash, two slashes, three slashes... In a single breath, Su Yu unleashed tens of thousands of strikes! Rumble! Upon the Great Dao, the phantom shattered! Within the bound flesh of the Golden-Winged Roc, a look of dim desolation surfaced in his eyes, laced with utter bewilderment. He murmured softly, "Who... are you..." His Great Dao had been severed by Su Yu! Yet he was still consumed by confusion: who were the beings binding him? I have never seen them before! Two existences no weaker than himself had struck together, binding and encircling him in the blink of an eye, forcing his Great Dao into the open. Just who were these two?! He died with bitter grievance! At that very moment, far away, an ancient realm shook violently as heaven and earth collapsed! It was the Golden-Winged Roc Realm! Within that realm, tens of thousands of Golden-Winged Rocs shrieked, roared, and flew in chaotic panic. The sky had fallen! Their Emperor had fallen! The firmament cracked, subterranean fire erupted, and the origin of the realm fractured... Across the entire battlefield of the heavens, a rain of golden blood poured down. The second Dao Harmonizer slain this day! The Golden-Winged Roc! He had entered the battle late, yet moments after stepping forth, he had been slain! *** Slash! Su Yu severed the Golden-Winged Roc's physical body with a difficult stroke. An instant later, the civilization chronicle materialized, sweeping the roc's corpse inside. Good fortune—it was still mostly intact, even if severed in two! The first Dao Harmonizer corpse Su Yu had ever collected! Meanwhile, the Book Spirit and the Tea Tree paid it no further attention. Countless branches and leaves surged toward the nearby Ape Emperor, and vast nets drifted in his direction as well. The Ape Emperor's eyes widened with profound horror! He had still been locked in battle with the Archaic Hou, only for the Golden-Winged Roc to be slaughtered in an instant! "Break!" With a furious roar, the Ape Emperor thrust his staff skyward, piercing the heavens and tearing through the River of Time to flee for his life! The Archaic Hou snapped its jaws shut with a sickening crunch, biting off one of the Ape Emperor's legs. Chewing noisily on the mangled flesh and blood, it stared at the Book Spirit and the Tea Tree in sheer bewilderment. Where had these powerhouses come from?! This fellow Su Yu was truly beyond comprehension—I thought he was dead for sure! It was thoroughly mystified! At this moment, Su Yu ignored everything else as a colossal cloud descended, showering boundless rule power down upon him. In an instant, his aura skyrocketed! Third stage of Shanhai, fourth stage, fifth stage... His nine origin apertures merged down to two in the blink of an eye. Though he had merely reaped the final blow in slaying the Dao Harmonizer, this was still a Dao Harmonizer! A Shanhai slaying a Dao Harmonizer—and Su Yu was no Invincible! In this instant, Su Yu's physical might erupted violently! All of his divine characters advanced to the Sun Moon Realm in unison! The rewards were terrifyingly vast. Momentarily, his physical body reached the peak of Shanhai, fusing into a single aperture as it began its charge toward the Sun Moon Realm. Meanwhile, his willpower grew so immense that it could no longer be suppressed, surging toward the Sun Moon Realm as well! He was about to break through! He could afford to care about nothing else, yet everyone around him was pale with shock! Where had these two supreme experts come from?! Far away in the Tianyuan Realm, Marquis Jiantian, who had remained perfectly composed until now, suddenly stumbled. He murmured in disbelief, "This... this is impossible... The Scrip... Scripture of Ten Thousand Daos..." His face drained of all color. The Scripture of Ten Thousand Daos! He recognized that aura! Then who was the other one?! Regardless of who it was, they were tied to King Wen! Su Yu... King Wen... Marquis Jiantian turned completely white. I was wrong; I shouldn't have killed Tianyuan. This is a disaster! Opposite him, King Dazhou laughed! He laughed with radiant abandon! For the first time, he laughed so wildly, so unreservedly, his laughter shaking heaven and earth. "Kill!" With a thunderous roar, battle erupted. They were making their move—not necessarily to kill, but to pin down Tiangu and the others! Boom! A clash of Dao Harmonizers detonated instantly! The opportunity had arrived! King Dazhou laughed madly. The variable he had been waiting for had finally arrived! The Human Lord, Su Yu—his gamble had paid off! Two Dao Harmonizers! And they had ambushed and slain an enemy Dao Harmonizer, creating an immediate swing of three Dao Harmonizers. The human race now held the upper hand!