The Past

The Battlefield of the Myriad Realms. Su Yu emerged. At this moment, the battlefield was somewhat desolate. Although the ten-million-strong human army had marched out of the Human Realm, the key factor was that the armies of the myriad races had all withdrawn. There were no opponents! Even the rogues and wanderers who usually roamed everywhere were nowhere to be seen. A host of experts had died only yesterday, so hardly anyone dared venture out now. Of course, there were bold individuals as well. So many Invincibles had fallen, and those who were brave truly possessed massive audacity—for where there was danger, there was fortune. With so many Invincibles dead, could there be drops of Invincible blood essence left behind? Could one scavenge a carrier? Failing that, picking up a heaven-grade weapon would do, or failing even that, scavenging some scraps of flesh from an Invincible corpse was fine too. Su Yu looked down on such things, but to a Soaring or Lingyun cultivator, even a tiny scrap of an Invincible's flesh was a treasure. Su Yu paid no heed to those small fry. He shuttled rapidly through the void. As he traversed space, he immersed himself in the Civilization Chronicle to search through memories. King Jintian's. This time, Su Yu had collected many corpses, including Dao Integration experts, but he was in no hurry to inspect them. Instead, he focused mainly on King Jintian's memories. Su Yu was curious about him: as a descendant of King Yu, just how deep was his feud with King Wen? Or was it greed—was it for King Wen's Great Dao inheritance? Greed was easy to understand. King Wen had four great inheritances, and King Jintian might know something. Anyone would covet them. King Yu would not have been weak either—as one of the Four Extremities Human Kings, he might have truly known a thing or two. …… Su Yu immersed himself in the memories. He saw many things. In his youth, King Jintian's talent had been formidable. He was born during the Tenth Tide, yet he was not born in the Human Realm. This somewhat surprised Su Yu: King Jintian was born on the Battlefield of the Myriad Realms, during the period when the battlefield had been sealed off! Roughly twenty years before the Human Realm passageway opened. It was in a ruin within the Sea of Stars, a remarkably hidden place. The key was not the ruin itself; Su Yu had no interest in that. What interested him were King Jintian's father and mother! During the battlefield's sealed period, very few people could survive there. When the battlefield was sealed, Yuan qi was depleted; unless one was a powerhouse like Marquis Jiantian sheltering the Hunting Heaven Pavilion, it was nearly impossible. King Jintian's father was an expert, needless to say, but his mother was not weak either! In King Jintian's memories, he had actually seen very little of his parents. His father was also mixed-blooded, but as for his mother, even King Jintian knew very little. They met exceedingly rarely. Each time, they would meet briefly, exchange a few words, and then she would vanish for years. King Jintian lived in that ruin on the battlefield for twenty years. Twenty years later, when the passage to the Human Realm opened, his father snuck him into the Human Realm. They were among the very first wave of experts to slip into the Human Realm! Afterward, his father departed to search for King Wen's Tomb. That was his mission! Find King Wen's Tomb, seize the Tombstone of Civilizations, and slaughter the lineage of Marquis Shouwen. After that, King Jintian knew nothing more of his father's whereabouts. Like an ordinary human in that tumultuous era, he roamed the Human Realm. He fought in major battles and made some friends, but he knew he was not a pure-blooded human. He was mixed-blooded! His ancestor was illustrious and renowned: King Yu, one of the human race's Four Extremities Human Kings. But his ancestor had clashed with King Wen. King Wen was one of the spiritual leaders of the human race, whereas his ancestor, King Yu, was not. King Jintian never showed any outward sign. He fought alongside the others, resisting the myriad races. Until one day, his father sought him out. In immense haste! His father told him that an expert still remained in Marquis Shouwen's lineage. He had alerted the enemy and fought an exchange, but surprisingly failed to suppress his opponent. This had exceeded his father's expectations, for his father believed that with the Human Realm sealed and nearly all Eternals having perished, no powerhouses should remain in Marquis Shouwen's line. Yet Xia Chen was still alive. Later, his father came once more, telling him that he likely could not evade Xia Chen's pursuit, and that he was actually somewhat outmatched by Xia Chen. However, he was determined to obtain the Tombstone of Civilizations. So he told him that he had swapped his blood with a talented youth named Wang Hu; if he vanished or fell in battle, King Jintian was never to expose his identity again... All this, Su Yu had actually guessed and now witnessed. What followed was straightforward. King Jintian's father never returned. King Jintian had also had his blood swapped by his father, but their lineage possessed a mission: sever King Wen's inheritance! Never allow King Wen's inheritance to appear! Seize the Tombstone of Civilizations! Because their ancestor, King Yu, had passed down words: King Wen's lineage must never be allowed to appear among the myriad races. It was forbidden, impermissible! That was the ancestral decree! In King Jintian's memories, one sentence stood out vividly: *Leave no opportunity for King Wen to return.* That was what the ancestral decree stated. Hearing these words in the memory, Su Yu could not help falling into deep thought. *Leave no opportunity for King Wen to return!* *Do not let King Wen's inheritance appear!* Before this, the Time Master had left messages saying she and King Wen were fighting and needed rescue. Yet of the four great inheritances King Wen left behind, only the Heaven and Earth Inkstone was with the little white dog, while not one of the other three had been passed down! Was it truly because geniuses were too scarce, or had someone obstructed it? Including the Heaven Hunting Ranking—why had it shattered? Had King Wen really done it himself? Since he intended to pass down his legacy, he surely wouldn't have done that, right? Then how it had shattered became questionable. Did Marquis Jiantian know? Was it because the Heaven Hunting Ranking shattered that Marquis Jiantian couldn't claim the inheritance? Marquis Jiantian might know something, which was why he had always sought to gather all the fragments. "The lineage of King Yu refuses to let King Wen's inheritance appear... Is this to cut off his contingencies?" Su Yu pondered. What role did King Yu play in the disappearance of the Time Master and King Wen? And the mixed blood—the mixture came from the bloodline of a Demon race Half-Emperor! Had King Yu colluded with the Demon Emperor? Thoughts flashed through Su Yu's mind. King Jintian did not actually know the answers, but he did know one more thing: there were still others of his lineage, not in the Lower Realm, but in the Upper Realm! People of this lineage still remained! And their lineage had only one goal: prevent King Wen's inheritance from surfacing! An ominous object! That was their designation for the Tombstone of Civilizations! Because the lineage of Marquis Shouwen—or rather, a branch of King Zhan's lineage—had been relentlessly targeted by King Yu's lineage over it. The publicly known inheritances of King Wen were only two: the Heaven Hunting Ranking and the Tombstone of Civilizations! The Heaven Hunting Ranking was shattered, but the Tombstone of Civilizations was not! Thus, the two lineages had fought countless battles. Xia Chen appearing in the Human Realm with the Tombstone of Civilizations was also because he could not unlock its secrets; with the human race growing progressively weaker, Xia Chen had no choice but to seek ways to unravel its mysteries. *There are still people in the Upper Realm... I wonder if they're still alive now?* Su Yu thought to himself. According to the teachings of King Jintian's father in his youth, if his father failed to complete the mission, King Jintian would continue it; if King Jintian failed, then once the Upper Realm opened, the lineage would carry on. "King Yu!" Su Yu muttered. Intriguing. That guy might well be linked to the disappearance of King Wen and the others. As for where King Jintian's mother had gone, Su Yu was also pondering that. He had seen her in King Jintian's memories as well. Very mysterious. Su Yu got the impression that even King Jintian's father seemed somewhat wary of her. She might be stronger—a Dao Integration expert? Yet the Dao Integration experts of the myriad races were almost all accounted for. "Female Dao Integration experts... the Spirit Emperor and the Phoenix Emperor both are. Could she be one of the two?" Or someone else? Forget it, who cared! If he didn't run into her, fine; if he did, he'd kill her all the same! Maybe she died ages ago! King Jintian didn't know much. Aside from the ancestral decree, he knew almost nothing. Over the years, he hadn't taken direct action either, merely stoking the flames in secret. Fanhai had indeed been instigated by him, but not blatantly—just a bit of subtle guidance. King Jintian had controlled a few Sun-Moons, but not many. When Fanhai was exposed previously, those Sun-Moons had mostly died. The remaining few were by his side; Su Yu didn't need to worry about them, as King Dazhou and the others would handle it naturally. Eliminating the Multiple Divine Characters Department had been King Jintian's primary objective all these years. Unfortunately, after Ye Batian died, the Multiple Divine Characters Department became appallingly low-profile, refusing to step out of the Great Xia Prefecture no matter what. Even when heavily suppressed, they didn't budge. Liu Wenyan and the rest refused to leave, while Nan Wujiang and others went missing or played dead. It was not until Su Yu enrolled that the Multiple Divine Characters Department stirred up massive waves once more. By the time King Jintian wanted to suppress them, he could no longer hold them down! "Ye Batian..." Su Yu continued browsing the memories. After a while, his heart shook slightly. Ye Batian! This cheap grandmaster who had almost faded from memory—according to King Jintian's recollections, the absolute necessity of killing Ye Batian wasn't purely because he was going to attain the Dao. Even if Ye Batian attained the Dao, he could only validate the Physical Dao. The Divine Character Dao was far too difficult, practically impossible! Others thought Ye Batian was killed because he was about to attain the Dao, but that really wasn't the case. Even if Ye Batian succeeded, he would only be a powerhouse of the Physical Dao. The Divine Character Dao was just too hard! The reason King Jintian wanted Ye Batian dead was that Ye Batian was overly domineering, excessively high-profile, and had inadvertently revealed something. "Resurrecting dead spirits!" Su Yu's heart jolted! Ye Batian wasn't killed because he was about to attain the Dao, but because this domineering madman was researching matters related to dead spirits! Or rather, he was leading the Xia family in researching it! Guiding dead spirits back! Ye Batian knew about dead spirits. He had visited ancient cities and dealt with them; he had even secretly entered the dead spirit realm. Not only was he researching it, he had roped the Xia family into the research as well. Ye Batian wanted to guide back a powerhouse among the dead spirits! "How did this get tangled up with dead spirits?" Su Yu was immensely surprised. In King Jintian's memories, he vaguely gathered that the person Ye Batian wanted to guide back was a student of King Wen's lineage. Thus, to deny him any chance, King Jintian had schemed tirelessly to have Ye Batian killed. Su Yu frowned. King Jintian didn't know much. He only knew that Ye Batian must not succeed, which was why he struck beforehand. As for the rest, there wasn't much detail in King Jintian's memories. Su Yu's eyes flickered, and he rapidly shuttled through the void, rushing back! Xia Longwu! Yes, Xia Longwu seemed to know something. He had also attempted to explore the dead spirit realm, which seemed connected to some of Ye Batian's research. Yet Xia Longwu probably hadn't paid too much attention to it. In King Jintian's memories, he had paid considerable attention to Xia Longwu; when Xia Longwu attained the Dao, he had actually wanted to kill him, but simply failed to succeed. …… Su Yu moved with extreme speed. Soon, in a military camp, Su Yu swiftly tore through the void and appeared. Inside the main tent, Xia Longwu emerged rapidly as well, looking at Su Yu with a trace of vigilance before sighing in relief. "Greetings, Sacred Lord!" Xia Longwu was courteous and proper. He had thought a formidable enemy had raided the camp. "You're too polite, Governor!" Su Yu wasted no words, landing swiftly and saying, "Let's talk inside!" "Alright!" Before long, Su Yu and Xia Longwu entered the military tent. Xia Longwu started to report on the situation, but Su Yu had no interest in listening. He cut straight to the point: "Governor, let me ask you something. Back then, you charged through the passageway in Tianmie City, correct?" Xia Longwu was surprised. Why ask about this? Even so, he nodded. "I charged through once, but before I could kill more than a few dead spirits, the dead spirit monarch returned, badly wounded me, and forced me to retreat." "Governor Xia, why did you venture into the dead spirit realm?" Venturing into the dead spirit realm without cause made no sense. Xia Longwu explained, "Just to check the situation. The human race's position wasn't looking good. I once saw a file in the Xia family vault concerning dead spirits. Back when I studied at the Cultural Academy, my teacher—Governor Wan—also discussed things about dead spirits with Martial Uncle Ye. I vaguely recall Martial Uncle Ye mentioning once that now that the inheritance of the Divine Character Dao was severed, he wanted to visit the dead spirit realm to see if there was any chance of guiding back a human Divine Character Dao powerhouse..." "Guide back?" Su Yu knitted his brows. "How would he guide them back? As dead or alive?" Xia Longwu looked at Su Yu in confusion. "Dead spirits, of course!" Su Yu's frown deepened. "That's not right. First, how did he know where to find a Divine Character Dao powerhouse among the dead spirits, and a human one at that? Second, dead spirits acknowledge no kin; even if they were human in life, they are extremely difficult to approach, and their memories are fragmented! Third..." Xia Longwu listened in silence, thought for a moment, and said, "That... I really didn't pay much attention to it. Back then, I just went to take a look. I don't know much about dead spirits. Wouldn't a dead spirit monarch remember bonds with their own race?" He truly had barely interacted with dead spirit monarchs. Su Yu nodded. "Naturally. Otherwise, why would human dead spirits like Hetu stand by and ignore major wars? Right now, they only help us because I struck an agreement with him." "Is that so?" Xia Longwu pondered for a moment before speaking. "I actually just wanted to see if I could encounter a human dead spirit and negotiate to see if we could obtain some aid. After being defeated in Tianmie City, I abandoned the idea. As for the specifics, I don't know much. My teacher might know a bit. I vaguely remember Martial Uncle Ye saying back then that if he could guide back that senior human dead spirit, our situation would improve considerably." Su Yu furrowed his brows. Wan Tiansheng had never mentioned this to him. Had he not cared, or what? Whatever, he'd just ask Wan Tiansheng. Though he didn't know where the man was right now... was finding someone hard? In the next moment, Su Yu's voice shook heaven and earth: "Governor Wan! Come meet at once! There are urgent matters to discuss—planning how to exterminate the myriad races and attack the Gods, Demons, Immortals, and others again!" "..." Xia Longwu froze. *Is that how you look for someone?* What... what could he even say? Such audacity—no, Su Yu had always been audacious; it was just that he had become downright rampant now. He had only slain Dao Integration experts yesterday, and the myriad races were still licking their wounds. Who knew if those words would frighten them out of their wits? This fellow was truly brazen without restraint! …… And Su Yu's voice quickly reverberated outward. At this moment, within realm after realm, powerhouses materialized in rapid succession. The Immortal Realm. Inside an ancient great hall. Tiangu sat in the center of the hall. Below him was King Fu, who had returned from the Upper Realm, along with a group of people conversing. Suddenly, a scout rushed in to report, trembling with unease: "Report!" "Speak!" Tiangu frowned. The reporting expert said in panic, "Your Majesty, Su Yu has appeared on the Battlefield of the Myriad Realms leading a ten-million-strong human army. His voice shakes the heavens as he summons Wan Tiansheng to negotiate launching a direct assault on the various realms!" Tiangu's brow furrowed slightly. Soon, his willpower projected across heaven and earth, attaching to the entrance of the realm passageway. The moment it reached outside, he heard Su Yu's roar. With a cold face, Tiangu looked toward King Fu beside him. King Fu's face was somewhat pale; he coughed lightly and said, "This tide's Human Master is arrogant indeed! My Lord, should we seal the realm?" He addressed Tiangu as "My Lord" because Tiangu had ruled the Immortal race since the First Tide. He was indeed their senior and their leader, even if they had later stepped into the Dao Integration Realm themselves. Tiangu frowned. "On the human side, the only one with Dao Integration combat power is King Dazhou. As for Su Yu, it's uncertain whether borrowing someone else's Dao Integration power would be suppressed if he came into the Immortal Realm! I believe the human race wouldn't dare recklessly invade our borders..." Did Su Yu dare? On the human side, perhaps only King Dazhou would retain Dao Integration combat power upon entering the realms. A large number of human Invincibles were wounded; invading the various realms now would leave the humans utterly crippled even if they won! This wasn't outside the realms! When the human race ambushed the Tianyuan race, they had nearly stumbled, let alone against the realms of the Immortals, Demons, or Gods. Was Su Yu deliberately trying to frighten them? King Fu nodded slightly. "Then does My Lord mean he is deliberately intimidating us?" "Most likely!" Tiangu said indifferently, "In all probability, it's to force the various races to open warfare below the Eternal Realm! He wants to temper soldiers for the human race..." With that, he let out a sneer. "Grant him his wish! A ten-million-strong human army—is that a lot? How many Sun-Moons can he forge? How many Eternals?" King Fu nodded slightly. Below, King Yu, Immortal King Hanxiang, and several high-stage Immortal Kings such as Feng and Lei were present. At this point, Hanxiang spoke up: "Your Majesty, must the various races only defend their realms now?" She felt rather indignant! Over several major battles, the Immortal race had suffered massive losses, and now they were forced to merely defend within the Immortal Realm. One must remember that the Immortal Realm even had Dao Integration experts who had descended from the Upper Realm this time. Tiangu did not speak. King Fu, however, said, "Tolerate him for now! Once the power of the realm rules recedes, the human race will surely perish! Right now is merely their final madness." Hanxiang could only nod. After thinking for a moment, she asked, "Senior King Fu, has the human race in the Upper Realm been completely wiped out?" "Nearly," King Fu said with a smile. "During the last tidal change, the one with King Baizhan, the old human fellows suffered nine deaths for every survival. Their foundation was depleted, and hardly any survived. With continuous encirclement and suppression over the years, only a handful of remnants are left now, trapped in a perilous land." Hanxiang nodded. That was quite a favorable outcome. Pity they hadn't been wiped out entirely. Tiangu also frowned and said, "There are still remnants? If I recall correctly, during the last tidal change, almost all of them died, didn't they? How are there still survivors?" King Fu said helplessly, "There are too few of them, burrowing around like rats—not easy to find! The remaining humans split into dozens of factions, scattering everywhere into smaller units. Over all these years, ninety-nine percent have been hunted down and killed! Not many are left. However... My Lord knows that at this stage, the various races also have conflicts among themselves. The last remaining humans are holed up in a treacherous terrain, and none of the factions want to take risks right now... so it has remained at a stalemate!" Tiangu snorted coldly. "The Gods, Demons, and the rest... Humph!" "It isn't purely because of them," King Fu said, shaking his head. "The human race once unified the heavens after all. In the Upper Realm, there may still be old fellows secretly helping them, having helped them escape encirclement several times! Who exactly it is remains hard to determine. Still, it's fine; this time there should be a resolution! I guessed previously that races like the Iron-Eating race might still support humans... but some old fellows in the Upper Realm refused to believe it or were wary and unwilling to strike at them; otherwise, it would have been settled long ago!" Tiangu's brow furrowed slightly as he said, "I forgot to ask earlier—over all these years, have those few masterless Daos up there been captured? Has a victor emerged?" "No." King Fu shook his head, then quickly added, "However, Lord Marquis Xianzhan has already tracked one down and is currently contesting it with Marquis Duanxue of the Demon race." Tiangu frowned. "Marquis Xianzhan never walked the conventional path of the Immortal race to begin with. Instead of delving into his own Dao, why is he running off to fight over masterless Daos? A waste of time! Why didn't Marquis Yuansheng go? Last time, I told him that the Immortal Emperor Great Dao bears too many Dao Integration experts and told him to withdraw and seek another Dao. I sensed recently that he's still there. What is he doing?" King Fu felt somewhat awkward and coughed lightly. "He is in secluded cultivation." "Seclusion?" Tiangu frowned and sneered, "What? Does he still wish to compete with me for this Immortal Emperor Great Dao? Yuansheng has no small ambition, yet he doesn't measure his own talent and strength! When the realm opens this time, have him learn from those human Dao Integration experts and serve as my vanguard to fight the humans to the death! If he dies, it'll save me the effort; if he survives, he'd better obediently withdraw from this Dao!" King Fu said nothing. He couldn't easily meddle in this matter. Tiangu was also exceedingly domineering, insisting on forcing this marquis off his current Dao. How could it be that simple? However, having too many people integrated into a single Dao truly diluted it too much. Tiangu and the other marquis were not in the same realm, so it was only natural for the latter to ignore him. Who didn't want to become the master of the Immortal Emperor Great Dao? After fuming for a moment, Tiangu dropped the subject. Saying anything was pointless anyway, as that fellow couldn't hear him. Soon, he added, "As for Su Yu, we cannot give him too much time to grow! There are only about ten years left until the thousand-year mark." Saying this, he quickly instructed, "Hanxiang, make a secret trip to the Life Realm and tell Wuming to have the Life Realm assist in wearing down some of the power of the rules! King Yu, secretly contact the various ancient races to gather some Councilor Tokens, wear down the power of the rules as much as possible, and strive to have the passage open earlier!" King Yu nodded. Tiangu added, "The Councilor Token I gave you—was its consumption heavy? If so, nourish it first..." King Yu wore an embarrassed expression and whispered, "Your Majesty, the Councilor Token... was lost." "Hmm?" Tiangu glared at him with sudden ferocity. "What did you say?" "It was lost!" King Yu lowered his head. "At that time, that member of the God-Devouring race wanted to slay me. Out of desperation, I had no choice but to detonate two past-and-future bodies, discard the Councilor Token, and traverse the passage to escape." Tiangu stared at him coldly. After a long pause, he said in a low voice, "Useless fool! More than a hindrance, less than a help!" With that, he demanded coldly, "Did Su Yu take it? Or did that monster of the God-Devouring race take it?" "That... I am not entirely certain. When I left, I saw it swallowed by the God-Devourer." Tiangu frowned. Then it had likely fallen into Su Yu's hands. After a while, Tiangu said coldly, "Quite a few Councilor Tokens were likely lost this time! Those of the Spirit race, the Golden-Winged Roc race, the Dragon race, and the Tianyuan race were probably all lost, and you lost one too... Five Councilor Tokens gone!" He suppressed the urge to curse! After a long pause, he said, "At this rate, gathering more than fifty will be difficult!" Speaking of this, he couldn't help cursing again: "A bunch of fools brought Councilor Tokens to the Upper Realm, delaying the collection of the full set and preventing us from manipulating certain rule Daos. Otherwise, the human race would have ceased to be an issue long ago!" Once they could manipulate them, some of the rule Daos of the ancient councilors could be utilized. Even if they couldn't claim them for themselves, they could invoke certain rule punishments! For instance, this time, they could have punished the ancient city guards for violating the rules! They could have intensified the bindings on the guards on top of the original restrictions, so that the moment the guards intervened, they would suffer rule punishment. Without needing to lift a finger, they could have driven the guards back! Unfortunately, gathering all ninety-nine Councilor Tokens was exceedingly difficult now! Even surpassing half was difficult! If they could exceed half, it would still be quite favorable. Although they couldn't establish new rules, they could dispel certain rule punishments. They could even dispel much of the punitive force in the realm passages. Dispelling all of it would be tough, but since it wasn't long until the opening, they might be able to dispel the rule punishments inside the passages. Thinking this, Tiangu looked at King Yu again, irritated. Lost one! He hadn't given it to King Yu for him to casually discard. He had assumed that since King Yu returned, he would have brought the Councilor Token back with him! King Yu dared not make a sound. Having lost such an item, Tiangu's anger was only natural. Although the Immortal race held more than one—having exterminated several ancient races over the years and seized theirs—losing one was still a grave offense. Tiangu exhaled gently and said in a heavy voice, "Enough! Contact as many as you can, and dispel as much of the power of the rules as possible! This Su Yu has grown entirely too fast; we cannot grant him any more time! Furthermore, the dead spirit realm... King Fu, make a trip yourself! Find a way to enter the dead spirit realm and head to the Eastern King Mansion. Something has likely happened in the dead spirit realm; Marquis Qishan and the others may be completely wiped out. Go to the Eastern King Mansion, contact the Eastern King, and have him find a way to deal with Hongmeng!" King Fu nodded and asked, "Should I look for Moji? That fellow went there previously as well; I don't know if he contacted some of the old fellows." Tiangu pondered for a moment and nodded. "Then go find Moji. At this juncture, anyone who still fails to see the situation clearly is an idiot! With the realms unopened, the human race actually holds the advantage at the Dao Integration level! That fool Marquis Jiantian fears King Wen far too much; I saw that he was rather unsettled this time. If he is eliminated by Su Yu and the others, or turns coat and surrenders to the human race again... the trouble will be even greater!" "Understood!" King Fu nodded and said, "Marquis Jiantian shouldn't surrender to the human race again, right?" "The probability is low, but we must be on guard! The two Dao Integration experts Su Yu brought this time might have ties to King Wen. I saw Marquis Jiantian paralyzed with fright; Su Yu may have found King Wen's residence... and brought two Dao Integration experts out from it!" "He might have obtained other gains as well. Act quickly—do not give him any more time!" Tiangu sighed softly. Su Yu had grown too fast. From the very beginning, when Su Yu first appeared on the Battlefield of the Myriad Realms, the Immortal race had sent high-stage Sun-Moons to kill him. Back then, he was only at the Soaring Realm. The Dao King's disciple had personally gone to kill him, along with over a dozen Sun-Moons from various races. As a result, they had all died! The second time, in Xinghong Ancient City, first Sun-Moons, then Invincibles from various races went to kill him. The human race had been entirely powerless to reinforce him, yet Su Yu had overturned the board once again, with Xinghong even destroying the past-and-future bodies of several Invincibles. Then came the previous time outside the Star Residence Mansion. For the third time, multiple Dao Integration experts intervened to kill Su Yu. Good heavens—he had gotten another batch of Invincibles killed. In the end, he had deterred all the powerhouses using the entities from the dead spirit realm and the Star Residence Mansion. The fourth time... best left unmentioned. A whole flock of Dao Integration experts had died. This left even Tiangu feeling a sense of helplessness. If the Upper Realm did not open soon, this fellow Su Yu would truly become impossible to suppress. King Fu didn't feel as much pressure, instead comforting him: "My Lord, during the previous tide, King Baizhan was so strong, yet he ultimately failed, let alone Su Yu! No matter how strong he is, even when borrowing a Great Dao earlier, he didn't reach the level of King Baizhan!" King Baizhan had been truly formidable. And hadn't he perished all the same? Tiangu said nothing. King Baizhan? King Baizhan hadn't been as crafty as Su Yu, nor as sinister, nor as ruthless. Indeed, not as ruthless as Su Yu. King Baizhan had committed plenty of slaughter, but he wasn't ruthless enough toward the human race... Tiangu naturally knew certain things: to be frank, King Baizhan's ultimate defeat was connected to the human race itself. Su Yu, on the other hand... that guy was truly ruthless. Young as he was, he had built his rise on slaughtering humans! Before even reaching the Soaring Realm, he had already schemed a pack of human Shanhai and Sun-Moons to death! Su Yu was also intensely guarded. Apart from those he knew intimately well, he maintained vigilance against any ordinary human powerhouse who approached him. Tiangu had gathered some intelligence on this: Su Yu's paranoia was frighteningly deep! In that vast ancient city, Xinghong Ancient City was supposedly under Su Yu's control, so there should have been some humans present, and plenty had gone to seek refuge with him... Yet as it turned out, that fellow kept none of them; in the entire Castellan Mansion, he kept only a handful of humans. King Baizhan's defeat was not because he lacked sufficient strength, but because he was not vigilant enough! Being entrapped and slain was entirely his own fault. As for Su Yu, you should count your blessings if he didn't entrap and kill you first. Of course, in King Baizhan's era, having low vigilance was understandable; human infighting wasn't severe, and King Baizhan was supreme in power, enjoying immense support from the human race from the beginning. When the thousand-year mark arrived, the ancient relics of the Upper Realm threw their full support behind him; many Dao Integration experts even acted as cannon fodder to bolster his strength, choosing to fight to the death and perish. King Baizhan's path had been smooth sailing all the way. Such a powerhouse was terrifying, but not as terrifying as someone like Su Yu, who had navigated schemes and deceit from the days of his weakness, fighting his way up from the very bottom. Su Yu had truly possessed no backing, carving a path out of the lowest ranks step by step. When he fought his way onto the Battlefield of the Myriad Realms, not a single Invincible stood up for him. In the end, he had unified both the Human Realm and the ancient cities. With a fellow like this, good fortune was one factor, but his disposition played a massive role. Tiangu feared precisely someone like Su Yu. Flourishing luck, undefeated across a hundred battles, with every conflict offering him an opportunity to grow stronger—if such a person didn't die soon, he might truly defy the heavens. King Fu had just descended to the lower realm and didn't know much, but Tiangu had been watching all along. Thoughts surged through Tiangu's mind. Soon, Tiangu said, "Enough of this. Everyone, go make the arrangements swiftly. We cannot merely defend; if an opportunity arises, we must still take the initiative to strike and slay Su Yu!" "Understood!" The Immortal Kings raised no objections. Slaying Su Yu was something everyone desired. …… At the same time. Su Yu met up with Wan Tiansheng—along with a terrifying, troublesome fellow. Seeing Lan Tian, Su Yu's head ached! *Why did you come along too?* *Inseparable, are you?* Su Yu didn't want to give Lan Tian a chance to speak, immediately asking, "Governor, back then the fifth generation mentioned resurrecting dead spirits—did you know about that?" "Hmm?" Wan Tiansheng thought for a moment and said, "I know a bit. What about it?" "Why didn't you mention this earlier?" Wan Tiansheng laughed in spite of himself. "I thought it was something major. He only said it offhandedly..." "Hard to say. Governor, tell me: who was he planning to resurrect, and how?" Seeing how seriously Su Yu took it, Wan Tiansheng recalled carefully. After a while, he said, "He said he planned to resurrect a student of King Wen... Well, not quite; back then, he didn't know it was King Wen. He spoke of an owner of one of the divine character battle techniques inside the Tombstone of Civilizations! He seems to have taken the Tombstone of Civilizations into the dead spirit realm once and sensed something, possibly a resonance of the divine character battle technique... According to him, a group of people had merged their divine character battle techniques into the Tombstone of Civilizations back then. One could find a way to extract it, locate the individual, and merge the battle technique into their sea of will... waking them up..." "That's the gist of it!" Wan Tiansheng added, "However, before he could do anything, he died. Afterward, we considered it too, but we couldn't enter the dead spirit realm, so we gave up." "Then why didn't you tell me last time?" Last time, Wan Tiansheng had followed him into the dead spirit realm. Wan Tiansheng said helplessly, "Last time, all those dead spirit monarchs arrived, and I saw you showed no reaction, so you likely hadn't sensed anything. Under those circumstances, mentioning it would have been pointless. If I had brought it up, you might have taken the Tombstone of Civilizations deep into the dead spirit realm to search... Wouldn't that be seeking death?" He added, "Besides, Ye Batian only voiced a hypothesis; it might not actually work. Look at Hetu and the others—how much humanity do they still possess? If resurrection were possible, would Hongmeng not have helped Hetu resurrect?" Su Yu nodded. After a pause, he said, "Forget it, I'll figure something out myself! The Tombstone of Civilizations, right... Fine, when I have time, I'll go look around!" Having reached this point, Su Yu had nothing left to ask. Seeing Lan Tian about to speak, he said rapidly, "I need to visit the Dao Integration experts in the various realms. Governor, if you need anything, tell Governor Xia. I'm off. Senior Lan, King Miecan is looking everywhere for you—be careful. I'm out of here!" With that, Su Yu instantly vanished through the void. Only after he left did Lan Tian say gloomily, "Little Su Yu doesn't seem to like me anymore!" *I wanted to talk, and he didn't even give me the chance!* Wan Tiansheng's head ached. *Nonsense, who wouldn't get a headache from dealing with you!* Lan Tian said resentfully, "Honestly, claiming King Miecan is looking for me—it's been so many years already, can't Wang Hu let it go?" To the side, Xia Longwu asked curiously, "What happened?" What did this have to do with King Miecan? Lan Tian said faintly, "Nothing much. Someone is watching me... Tiansheng, let's go!" With that, Lan Tian's phantom dissipated. And right at that moment, King Miecan tore through the void and arrived, glaring intently at the spot where the two figures had vanished. Xia Longwu looked up, puzzled. "Senior Miecan, what's wrong? Do you have a conflict with Lan Tian? Right now, every human Eternal is wounded, and Lan Tian stealing three thousand phoenix eggs from the Phoenix race was no small merit. Why lower yourself to squabble with him, Senior..." He wanted to play mediator. How had these two ended up in a conflict? King Miecan stared fixedly at Xia Longwu. Seeing that he genuinely seemed not to know, he gave a snort and shot off through the void. He had just seen Su Yu here, and Lan Tian had arrived too; he had been terrified that Su Yu and Lan Tian would talk about *that*. As soon as Lan Tian arrived, he followed. Thankfully, he had arrived early! With King Miecan gone, Xia Longwu was left utterly perplexed. *Do those two hold a grudge?* *Su Yu knows, but I don't?* *What grudge, what enmity? Why don't I know about it?* *Could it be that during the time Lan Tian impersonated the Primordial Demon Sect Master, he had some conflict with King Miecan?* For a time, Xia Longwu's thoughts raced. Perhaps he should find an occasion for the two to sit down and talk it out. Why bother fighting? At a time like this, it was best for human powerhouses not to clash with one another.