I Won!

Behind Tianyue, Su Yu panted heavily as he looked at the surrounded Eastern Heavenly King in the center, a smile spreading across his face. "It seems... the living still have stronger luck than the dead after all!" "Then again, you've already died once. How could your luck surpass mine, the Human Lord's?" Su Yu gave a ragged laugh. Looking at his surroundings and then up into the void above, he said softly, "Now it looks like... I haven't necessarily lost!" The Eastern Heavenly King stared coldly at him, then swept his gaze over the others, his voice bone-chillingly frigid. "Do you truly believe your victory is assured?" Three Dao Integration experts and two quasi–Dao Integration cultivators! Their combined strength was not weak! Yet one could not forget that among the three Dao Integration combatants, both Tianmie and Tianyue had only just broken through. Only Marquis Tongtian was an established veteran of Dao Integration, but this living gate had distinct limitations. As for Yunxiao and Xinghong, without having stepped into Dao Integration, they were hardly a threat to the Eastern Heavenly King. Such a lineup was not even comparable to the joint assault of Demon Ji, Demon Yue, and the Nether Emperor—and Old Turtle alone had been able to suppress all three! And Old Turtle was still somewhat weaker than the Eastern Heavenly King. The Four Heavenly Kings of the Dead Spirits ruled the Dead Spirit Realm with immense, terrifying might. In the myriad realms of today, it seemed only one person could truly contend with him—no, one dog... wait, that wasn't entirely true either, as there was also the half-crazed Martial Emperor. Of course, perhaps the other three Heavenly Kings possessed the strength to rival him as well. Yet aside from the Martial Emperor present here, none of those other figures were around. The Eastern Heavenly King took a moment to restore his death qi, looked at his surrounding foes, and said chillingly, "Su Yu, if you had come to kill me yourself, I might have had some interest. As for now... these people are not qualified!" With those words, heaven and earth shook violently! The Great Dao manifested! The Eastern Heavenly King's aura surged with immense power. "The strength of your essence blood is completely spent. These few... can hardly match what you brought to bear just moments ago!" Boom! The Dead Spirit Great Dao swept outward across all directions. Under this single blow, the five surrounding experts were forced to retreat, only to strike back simultaneously in the very next instant! Boom, rumble! Earth-shattering roars rang out as Great Daos crisscrossed between heaven and earth. None of them, however, possessed the might Su Yu had previously displayed. In fact, the disparity was immense, because Su Yu had wielded the Dao of the little white dog. Meanwhile, Su Yu finally had the energy to converse with the Martial Emperor. His origin apertures were fully open as he panted, "Senior Martial Emperor, are you truly unwilling to strike once more on behalf of the human race?" The Martial Emperor's mocking laughter echoed, "Why should this seat lift a finger for a pack of idiots like you?" Immediately following that, he spat venomously, "Do you think the mere title of Human Lord gives you the right to order me about? Ridiculous! You foolish simpletons throw away your lives for those hypocrites all for the sake of so-called glory. Utterly laughable!" "Hypocrites?" "Are they not?" The Martial Emperor said coldly, "Every last one of them was a hypocrite! Especially King Wen and the Human Sovereign you revere so much—all of them! I remember them now. They were even more hypocritical than Taishan! Back then, those bastards wanted to unify the heavens. This seat merely voiced a slight disagreement, and they marked me for death, egging on Taishan to slaughter me. Heh... hypocrites! When you want to condemn someone, any excuse will do!" The Martial Emperor's voice fluctuated with intense fury and malice. "Taishan came looking for me, claiming I had massacred all living beings! Massacred his ancestors! Back then, the Human Realm wasn't even unified yet. This seat was a hegemon of my own domain. When my subordinates marched to war and my armies clashed with others, damned right people died! How could nobody die? You call that a massacre?" The Martial Emperor sounded half-deranged, raving in madness, "They simply wanted to kill me! Back then, several experts died—did this seat kill them? This seat hadn't even set foot outside, yet that animal Taishan charged in to strike me down... Animal!" He was furious! He had harbored this stifling grievance for too long! Taishan was a brute, and everyone egging him on was a beast. What King Wen, what King Wu—not a single one of them was good! Of course, King Wen and King Wu were titles granted later. But as the Martial Emperor's memories resurfaced with his returning clarity, he seemed to recall a crowd of people living within his body. He seemed to recall a bunch of hypocrites whispering into his ears. All beasts! And Su Yu's group were merely thoroughly brainwashed fools incited by those very beasts! What ancient glory! A complete joke! The Martial Emperor seemed to have choked back his grievances for far too long. At this moment, regardless of the titanic battle unfolding beside them—where in truth only Su Yu could hear his voice—he snarled in profound fury, "Little worm, don't celebrate too early. Though this dead spirit is beneath my notice, to the likes of you... heh, you are not his match in the slightest! Sooner or later, every one of you will die!" Su Yu said weakly, "Senior, can you truly not lend humanity a hand? We are separated from King Wu and the others by a hundred thousand years. We have no real connection to them..." "A hundred thousand years?" The Martial Emperor said harshly, "Yet throughout these hundred thousand years, what you inherited was their glory. You are cut from the very same cloth, every bit as hypocritical! You wish to bind me with some grandiose righteous cause of humanity? What a farce!" Su Yu let out a helpless sigh and tried again. "Senior, if you won't take action, that's fine. Could you at least impart to me the Great Heavenly Circulation technique? I can connect it to the Heaven Gate and battle this fiend once more!" "Heh! In your dreams!" The Martial Emperor sneered, "Keep dreaming! I shall watch all of you perish!" Su Yu sighed once more. "We may not necessarily die! Three Dao Integration experts, and Xinghong and Yunxiao are on the verge of breaking through. Once they succeed, five Dao Integration combatants fighting him alone—could we truly still lose?" "Naive!" The Martial Emperor mocked, "You are far too naive! Far too stupid! Do you think sheer numbers can turn the tide? If that were so, couldn't thirty or fifty Dao Integration experts kill me? If that were true, what would be the point of reaching higher realms?" Thirty or fifty... Put that way, Su Yu had no retort. Su Yu furrowed his brow. "That might not be certain. I still believe we have a chance to defeat him!" "Nonsense!" The Martial Emperor sneered with derision. "You actually doubt my judgment! You are far too arrogant, far too ridiculous! You will lose without fail! In the end, every single one of your people will die in battle, while he will at most suffer severe injuries, yet still walk away alive!" He was a peak expert; his discernment would not be mistaken! Even if the three Dao Integration combatants fought to their dying breaths, and even if Yunxiao and Xinghong managed to complete their breakthroughs, in a five-on-one battle, the ultimate outcome would likely be all five dead and the Eastern Heavenly King severely wounded on the brink of death. Su Yu gritted his teeth. "I wore him down for quite some time earlier, and he is wounded as well. I don't believe it..." "You... Hahaha! You are an utter egomaniac!" The Martial Emperor burst out laughing, thoroughly amused. Earlier, when Su Yu battled the Eastern Heavenly King, he had thought that aside from being somewhat weak, this generation's Human Lord was decent enough, if a bit overly confident. Looking at him now, he wasn't just overly confident— He was hopelessly conceited! He actually refused to trust the Martial Emperor's vision, choosing instead to rely entirely on his own delusions! The Martial Emperor laughed madly, "Little worm, you are truly absurd!" Su Yu kept his face deadpan. "Then how about I make a wager with Senior? He will surely lose, and we will surely win! What do you say?" "A wager?" The Martial Emperor seemed to realize something, his voice turning icy. "A wager? You want to bet for the Great Heavenly Circulation technique? I see! What a joke. You were actually trying to goad this seat! It seems you are truly confident! Or rather, you want to make one final mad gamble to win my cultivation method?" The Martial Emperor saw right through Su Yu's intentions! All that conceit and pride were merely an act to provoke him into a bet! Su Yu paid no mind to his words, saying in a low voice, "Then, Senior Martial Emperor, do you dare to take the bet?" "Ludicrous worm, what do you have to wager against me?" The Martial Emperor chuckled faintly. "You are too amusing. If you lose, you will be dead. Do you take me for a fool? When you're dead and renege on the debt, what could you possibly give me?" If you win, you get the technique. If you lose, you die and sacrifice nothing. What wishful thinking! Indeed, those of the hypocrite lineage were all hypocrites through and through! Su Yu said calmly, "There are things I can give Senior before I die." Saying so, Su Yu continued, "Senior, your awakening must be related to me—closely related! Right now... your consciousness is likely not entirely clear. Perhaps Senior knows something yourself..." The Martial Emperor cut Su Yu off directly with a cold sneer, "What kind of thing are you? You think you alone can unseal me? What a joke! You want to bet? This seat shall grant your wish! We bet the Great Heavenly Circulation technique. If you win... I give it to you! However, if you lose, I want one thing!" "Please speak, Senior!" The Martial Emperor said with chilling detachment, "You have nothing to offer me. But if you die... before your death, shatter every shred of luck residing in that Human Lord Seal and allow me to devour it! Since you are the Human Lord, you should know the consequences! Once I devour it, the Human Realm will experience upheaval, cultivation will become arduous for mankind, misfortune will hang over their heads, and they will face total extinction... Bet the future of the human race against a cultivation technique! As the Human Lord, you can command that power of luck. So long as you voluntarily offer it to me... I will indulge you!" Su Yu fell silent. "Do you not dare?" The Martial Emperor laughed darkly. "If you dare, this seat will wager with you! Weren't you trying to goad me? Those from the hypocrite lineage are always this deceitful!" His voice was thick with resentment! Thick with contempt! Su Yu had tried to provoke him! A laughable creature. Now, the tables were turned. Did he dare? If the Human Lord Seal shattered upon Su Yu's death in battle, most of that luck power would return to the Human Realm, though there would certainly be significant losses. However, if Su Yu voluntarily channeled all of that karmic luck into the Martial Emperor, the outcome would be dire. Luck was both mystical and pragmatic. It was also a kind of Dao, a kind of rule. When luck flourished, fortune favored you! That was a rule! When luck fell short, suppression followed. That too was a rule! Once all human luck drained away, the human race would inevitably suffer unending natural disasters and man-made catastrophes. Su Yu seemed to struggle internally for a long while before finally speaking, "If Senior is willing to impart the technique to me first, and I still fail to achieve victory, then I shall..." "Heh, get lost!" The Martial Emperor was far shrewder than Su Yu had anticipated, sneering, "Little worm, don't play these petty tricks with me! If you win, I will naturally give it to you. This seat would not deign to deceive a mere insect!" Su Yu frowned. "That's hard to say; Senior's will is unstable. How about this: Senior tells me the method to operate seven hundred and twenty apertures—no, tell me the method for seven hundred and fifteen apertures. That way, even if I know the technique, deducing the rest on my own will take time. Five apertures leave at least dozens or even a hundred possible combinations..." "With a hundred possibilities, every failure will inflict severe internal injuries upon me... Even if I tried every method right now, I wouldn't have the time to learn it and empower myself. If I die in battle, Senior naturally won't need to teach me any further! But if I survive, even if Senior reneges on the bet, I can slowly deduce the rest on my own!" Upon hearing this, the Martial Emperor fell into contemplation. A moment later, he laughed sinisterly, "You are an interesting fellow. Fair enough. This way, even if I go back on my word, so long as you survive, you can work it out yourself! But I have given you a guarantee; how do you guarantee that upon your death, you will willingly transfer the power of luck to me?" Su Yu smiled. "I reckon Senior wants this in order to break free! If I truly die, I would rather see Senior escape! Senior is immensely powerful; it would be best if you slaughtered every expert in the heavens! If I die... the human race is likely doomed anyway. Once I'm gone, can the likes of King Dazhou protect mankind? Rather than that, I would rather unleash Senior to drag all the myriad realms into the grave alongside me! So long as Senior promises to slaughter all the myriad races and annihilate the myriad realms, I will definitely transfer the luck to Senior!" Just as he spoke, an explosion rang out! With a loud crash, Tianmie went flying backward, his massive physical body splintering open to reveal jagged bloody fissures. Blood showered across the void as he roared indignantly, "I've never won a single damn fight!" He never wanted to fight again! He never won anyway! Su Yu's expression changed slightly, while the Martial Emperor laughed, his voice rumbling, "Do you still firmly believe you have a hope of winning?" Su Yu said calmly, "Whether I believe it or not no longer matters! It's merely taking a gamble on a chance. If I win, I get the technique; if I lose... the outcome is the same either way!" "True enough!" The Martial Emperor chuckled, "It seems you aren't arrogant after all, just abandoning all restraint. Win or lose, you don't consider it a loss, do you?" "Senior's discernment is brilliant!" The Martial Emperor added, "Yet according to your logic, since you want me to break free upon your death anyway, why shouldn't I simply wait until you die?" Su Yu remained completely calm. "That's different. If Senior doesn't give me the technique, even if I die, I still won't give Senior the luck. No other reason—I care about face. If Senior doesn't give me face, I would rather let the luck disperse into nothingness than feed it to you. On the verge of death, I would detonate the luck entirely!" "Face?" The Martial Emperor sneered, "Little worm, save your hypocritical talk! If you don't grant me the luck after you die, then once this seat breaks free, the first ones I annihilate will be the human race!" "I despise the legacy of those hypocrites. At worst, I will wipe out this human race and establish a new one!" The Martial Emperor said chillingly, "Do you think the human race in your eyes is the same as the human race in mine? You are wrong! Do you think I wouldn't slaughter humanity? Wrong again! The ideals and hypocrisy passed down by those beasts disgust me! If you willingly transfer the luck to me upon your death, then once I break free, I might spare the human race from extinction!" Su Yu fell silent. After a brief pause, he said, "Very well! Whatever makes Senior happy!" He then added, "Actually, forget it. The title 'Senior' doesn't fit the Martial Emperor. I am the Human Lord; this is merely a transaction. I will simply address you as the Martial Emperor. And Martial Emperor, please be polite as well—best to call me Human Lord, or Emperor Yu!" "Emperor Yu?" The Martial Emperor laughed, "Your ambition is certainly not small, and your tone is quite grand! In my era, how could anyone claim the title of Emperor without becoming a Ruler of Rules? A mere Sun Moon cultivator dares to call himself an Emperor!" Su Yu was utterly unperturbed. "The Martial Emperor has fallen into petty conventionality. I call myself whatever I wish to call myself! Why should I care about the opinions of others? Even if I declared myself Lord of the Myriad Realms, Number One Under Heaven, or even Professional Emperor Slayer, what of it? It's merely a title. I call myself whatever I want. I can't control others, but can't I control myself?" The Martial Emperor was taken aback. Su Yu then laughed faintly, "The Martial Emperor truly isn't strong enough. If you were truly strong, why would you care about such things? All that nonsense about King Wu claiming you slaughtered all living beings... it's all hot air! The Martial Emperor actually failed to see through the karmic cause and effect. The cause and effect is simply that you were weaker than King Wu Taishan! If you were stronger than him, and he claimed you slaughtered all living beings, you could have killed him, killed his entire family, then killed King Wen and the Human Sovereign... Who would have dared say you slaughtered all living beings? Since my rise, I have killed plenty of humans as well—why has nobody accused me of massacring all living beings? An elder of mine slaughtered a whole host of Eternal descendants. The strongest humans back then were only at the Eternal Realm, and he killed across their ranks! Back then, everyone called him the Human Demon; now... nobody dares call him that!" "Why? Because I am strong! Because everyone who refused to submit to me has been put to death!" "The Martial Emperor is still fixated on why King Wu wronged you to this day... Listening to you makes me want to laugh! Is that the crux of the matter? Isn't the crux simply that you were inferior to King Wu?" "..." The Martial Emperor fell silent. Did those words make sense? Of course they did! They were absolute truth! Why had he been wronged by King Wu without any way to clear his name? Because... he couldn't beat King Wu! And so he could only cry out in grievance, left to swallow his bitterness! Claiming he slaughtered all living beings... was a farce. The core issue was that he had been weaker, forced to endure whatever the other chose to say. If he had possessed the strength to slay King Wu, who would have dared claim he had slaughtered all living beings? The Martial Emperor sighed softly. "You... perhaps... speak the truth! Weak though you are, you see through things clearly. Indeed, what does being wronged matter? The only crux was that I was no match for him!" At this moment, the venom in the Martial Emperor's demeanor faded somewhat, replaced by a touch of melancholy. Strength! Though I strode proud across the world, I was not invincible under the heavens, which is why I ended up in such a state! He could not help but wonder: back then, if I had defeated Taishan and claimed he had slaughtered all living beings, what then? Who would have dared oppose me? Having lived for so many ages, in the end, he had still failed to see through such fundamental truths. "Little worm, call yourself whatever you like!" The Martial Emperor said indifferently, "The Great Heavenly Circulation technique... I can transmit to you the method for seven hundred and fifteen apertures, along with the method to route them through the Heaven Gate! In truth, it is nothing overly complicated: fuse the apertures into one, channel them into the Heaven Gate, and with the Heaven Gate aperture acting as the conduit, the Great Heavenly Circulation technique will naturally form!" "You have studied this somewhat, and indeed, grasping the core principle is enough. The circulation method for seven hundred and twenty apertures cost countless lives to test and derive since the opening of heaven and earth, refined by myriad experts. Giving you the method for seven hundred and fifteen apertures, if you truly survive, you will naturally be able to deduce the rest before long!" Su Yu smiled. "If I survive, won't Senior impart the remaining five apertures to me? Why would I need to deduce them?" "True enough!" The Martial Emperor said impassively, "It seems I have fallen into petty thinking again. Still, words mean nothing! Survive first, then we shall see!" In the next instant, a surge of willpower rippled forth. Before Su Yu's eyes, scene after scene materialized! Those were the operational pathways for the origin apertures and divine apertures! Su Yu furrowed his brow slightly, then raised his eyebrows. "The divine apertures must be fused into one. Right now, I still have nine divine apertures. Fusing them requires a specific method!" The Martial Emperor sneered, "Foolish brat! Once your strength grows a bit more, the divine apertures will naturally merge! Once fused, channel both apertures into the Heaven Gate. With the Heaven Gate as the intermediary and foundation, origin apertures and divine apertures can naturally become one. However, the prerequisite is that you can circulate all seven hundred and twenty apertures. You can also try circulating them out of the order I gave you—I would love to see what your Heaven Gate looks like when it blows apart!" Su Yu fell into thought. He quickly memorized the circulation method for the seven hundred and fifteen apertures. The fellow had truly kept his word, providing exactly seven hundred and fifteen. Su Yu would still have to fuse his divine apertures into one, channel them into the Heaven Gate, and only then experiment with the connective pathways of the remaining five apertures. Such experimentation was something Su Yu had attempted before. Back then, over a single Tongtian aperture, he had detonated himself more than a hundred times! And this time, with seven hundred and twenty apertures, if they blew up again, the result would likely be even more spectacular! At this moment, a smile appeared on Su Yu's face. The Great Heavenly Circulation technique was his! Yes, even if it wasn't complete, it didn't matter. At worst, he would suffer injuries a hundred times. With five incomplete apertures, it would take at most one hundred and twenty attempts! No, one hundred and nineteen! The final attempt was guaranteed to be correct! In the worst-case scenario, he would blow up one hundred and nineteen times. Su Yu doubted his luck could possibly be that terrible again. Perhaps thirty attempts, or perhaps... he would succeed on the very first try! Even if the Martial Emperor truly refused to provide the subsequent technique, it wouldn't matter. One of his objectives for entering the Star Residence Mansion had actually been accomplished. And fairly simply, at that. Well, provided he stayed alive. If he died, none of it mattered. Right at this moment, the battle beside them reached its fever pitch. With a thunderous boom, a massive portal flew backward, covered in cracks. Marquis Tongtian sighed with some helplessness, "Perhaps... I shouldn't have made this choice! Eastern Heavenly King, is there still a chance to reconsider?" "Of course!" The Eastern Heavenly King sneered, wishing nothing more than for the gate to get lost! Marquis Tongtian said helplessly, "Just as I thought. You agreed so readily because you plan to settle the score later! It's true after all—you still want to kill me!" "..." The Eastern Heavenly King's eyes grew murderous! This portal was an absolute moron! No matter what he said, the gate found an excuse. He abandoned all thought of forcing these people to retreat. Slaying every last one of them was the only answer! Even if it left him severely wounded! Boom! Another series of explosive detonations rang out. In the void, crisscrossing Great Daos collided relentlessly. Though fighting five opponents at once, the Eastern Heavenly King held the upper hand. Without the Dao of the little white dog, none of them could subdue him! Su Yu watched silently. After a long while, he gritted his teeth and barked, "Fight him to the death! Even if you die, wound him severely and smash his Great Dao! I refuse to believe the other three Heavenly Kings won't want to slaughter him if they find his Great Dao weakened! Even if we die, he won't dare seek out the other three Heavenly Kings! With one less person sharing the Dead Spirit Great Dao, the remaining three Heavenly Kings will naturally grow stronger!" At those words, the Eastern Heavenly King's expression shifted slightly. He let out a cold snort without replying. It was true—if he were critically wounded, he could never seek out the other three Heavenly Kings. That would be walking straight into his own execution! The allied combatants held their breath, furiously hurling their Great Daos forward! In the void, Great Daos clashed violently! Shockwaves swept through heaven and earth! The entire seventh floor was truly razed to absolute nothingness. What was exposed underneath, heaven only knew if it was the Martial Emperor's rear end. Su Yu didn't bother dwelling on it; it was pointless. Perhaps it was his pelvic bone! Boom! The first to fall out of the Dao clash was Yunxiao. Her face was deathly pale, her Great Dao trembling, and the personal Dao she had fused into it was cracked to the point of nearly severing. Her physical body fractured as she flew backward, blood instantly spraying in all directions. Su Yu walked over with difficulty and held back Yunxiao, who was trying to charge back into the fray. Panting, he said, "Stop fighting... Your Dao is unstable. While the battle continues, stabilize your Great Dao and see if there's a chance to step into Dao Integration..." "I..." Yunxiao's face was devoid of color. Filled with reluctance and rage, she snapped, "If I had my weapon in hand, he wouldn't have wounded me so easily!" Carrying deep resentment, Yunxiao retreated from the battlefield and swiftly began tending to her injuries! Perhaps... before her healing was even finished, this battle would be over! Sure enough, right behind her, Xinghong was blasted away by a palm strike from the Eastern Heavenly King, instantly revealing his true form. His injuries were even more grievous than Yunxiao's. It was a massive fish-like monster—no, a fish's body with something resembling a toad's head... rather hideous! Xinghong tumbled backward, his colossal true form crisscrossed with fractures. Seeing Su Yu staring at him with a peculiar look in his eyes, Xinghong said feebly, "What are you staring at? We're all in the same boat. You're barely in any better shape than I am!" Was I looking at your injuries? I was looking at your true form! Setting aside Old Turtle, Xinghong was an aquatic beast, Tianmie was a giant ape... Su Yu was genuinely curious: what was Yunxiao? He had never seen Yunxiao's true form! Even now, Yunxiao had not revealed it. At this moment, Su Yu seemed to be in remarkably high spirits. He smiled and said, "Head over to Yunxiao's side. If we die later, we'll die together. Maybe we'll appear in the Dead Spirit River together, revive together, and fight another round together!" Xinghong was speechless. Your mindset is truly astonishingly optimistic! Just like that, both he and Yunxiao were stripped of all combat strength. There was also Marquis Lanshan, who had been beaten into complete ruin! The three Dao Integration combatants were now covered in wounds as well. Of course, after being besieged for so long, the Eastern Heavenly King was injured too. Along that colossal Dead Spirit Great Dao, the Dao he had fused in had been shaken loose, suffering damage! Yet he was in far better shape than the rest! The Eastern Heavenly King smiled. His aura was unstable and his death qi leaked profusely, yet he still smiled. "You... seem much easier to deal with than I imagined! It looks like I am the victor after all!" Among the three Dao Integration combatants, Tianmie was furious, covered in blood from head to toe. Tianyue wore a look of sorrow and helplessness! Marquis Tongtian had transformed into a door, so his expressions were impossible to read, but he still spoke up, "Seriously, Eastern Heavenly King, if I leave, will you hunt me down?" The Eastern Heavenly King's eyes turned murderous! You damned thing, you'd better shut your mouth! Whatever answer he gave, this idiot would find something to say! Marquis Tongtian added, "If you promise not to go to the eighth floor, I definitely won't fight anymore! I know I can't beat you..." "Shut up!" Marquis Tongtian asked earnestly, "Can't you give me a straight answer?" "You..." The Eastern Heavenly King was enraged. Are you picking a fight on purpose? This king will slaughter you first! This stupid gate spirit was utterly beyond reason. If he said he wouldn't go to the eighth floor, he would probably receive the same answer as before. If he said he would go... there would be nothing left to discuss! In any case, communication was impossible! The battle raged on! Now, only four Dao Integration combatants remained in the clash. Tianmie, having only recently broken through and lacking his weapon, was once again batted away. The massive great club representing his Great Dao above his head began to wobble violently! Tianmie was utterly spent, feeling a mixture of despair and bitter grievance. "The outside world doesn't even know I reached Dao Integration! Can at least one of you make it out alive to tell everyone that I integrated my Dao?!" He had reached Dao Integration! Yet aside from the people present, not a single soul knew. If the Eastern Heavenly King won and didn't spread the word, nobody would ever know that he, Tianmie, had truly reached Dao Integration! This was simply too stifling! Throughout this entire tide, he had gone to battle countless times, yet not a single one had felt satisfying! Su Yu paid him no mind. Walking with great difficulty, he arrived beside Hetu and glanced at Marquis Lanshan. Her body was dissolving, and her dead spirit mark was already exposed. Hetu supported her, showing no desire for her dead spirit mark, his eyes carrying an undefinable sorrow. Seeing Su Yu approach, he said in a low voice, "She probably can't hold on much longer. The Lanshan Guard... has vanished entirely from this world!" Su Yu smiled faintly. "What's the rush? If we die, we die together! If we don't, once we kill the Eastern Heavenly King, we'll let her deliver the final blow. If she drinks the Eastern Heavenly King's blood of death and devours him... she will naturally recover! A trivial matter!" Hetu gave a self-mocking laugh. "True enough. I've become sentimental for nothing!" In any case, if death came, they would all die. A few moments earlier or later made no difference. He sighed helplessly, "You all might still have another chance; Marquis Lanshan and I are probably done for! It's a pity. All these years, my strength never improved, and I didn't care before. Today, though, I've had some thoughts. Some bastard probably shackled me, yet I was completely oblivious to the situation... That bastard is truly detestable!" He had realized it. Or rather, his mind had cleared. Today, his humanity outweighed his dead spirit nature—a sign of stabilizing his original heart. Normally, only certain marquises could stabilize their true nature. Of course, with an unyielding will, sufficient time, and guidance, one could also stabilize their original heart somewhat. For example, those fallen Lanshan Guards had been guided by Marquis Lanshan for countless years, anchored by ancient glory—to put it bluntly, she had brainwashed them for millennia, allowing them to recover some of their true nature. Hetu had lacked that before, but today, his humanity had returned! He looked toward the four Dao Integration experts locked in battle and sighed, "In all likelihood, we've lost... But even if we lose, let's not back down. We'll wound this bastard! At worst, we'll all self-detonate together. Even if we can't blow him to pieces, we'll make sure he's crippled!" Supported in his arms, Marquis Lanshan's consciousness grew hazy. Looking at Su Yu, her voice was feeble as she murmured, "I... seem to see King Wen... King Wen... is... that you?" "..." Su Yu rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Did this woman have a crush on King Wen in life?" Hetu chuckled, "In that era, the female generals who fancied King Wen could probably line the Sea of Stars!" Su Yu smiled and didn't hold it against Marquis Lanshan. Leading the two toward Xinghong and the others, he said with a beaming smile, "Let's gather together! When we hit the road together... at least we won't be lonely!" At this moment, the Dao Integration combatants locked in battle let out a laugh. Tianmie guffawed, "Su Yu, I only respect you now! Such a young fellow, yet you view life and death so indifferently. Impressive, truly impressive!" Boom! He was batted away once more! Spitting blood endlessly, Tianmie still laughed wildly, "Grandson, that wasn't hard enough! Come at me again!" Su Yu chuckled, "Be careful. At least injure him severely; otherwise dying would be too much of a loss! We'll keep chatting. When you really can't fight anymore, come join us, and we'll cluster together to self-detonate and make this bastard suffer!" "Alright, I'll listen to you!" Tianmie said no more, charging back into the melee to clash once again! Beside Su Yu's ear, the Martial Emperor's voice rang out: "You take things remarkably lightly. This seat is actually growing somewhat interested in you. Aren't you going to beg this seat to help you just once?" "No need. A figure such as the Martial Emperor will help if he sees fit; if he doesn't want to... why force it?" Su Yu chuckled softly, "Besides, I am the Human Lord. Why should I beg you? It would only cost me face for nothing! At my command, if you wish to fight, then fight; if you don't, so be it! I would rather beg foreign races, because they come to offer aid. But if a human refuses to fight... and I still have to beg them... am I asking to be humiliated?" Indeed, he could ask foreign races for help! That was asking for assistance! As for humans... why should I beg you! It was as if he were fighting the myriad heavens for his own personal gain. In the end, wasn't it all for the sake of the human race? Like Marquis Lanshan: fight if you want, and if you don't, I issue an order and if you refuse, so be it! If you refuse, I simply won't consider you human anymore! The Martial Emperor fell silent. Su Yu had not begged him. He would ask outsiders for help, but would not beg his own race to take the field. If victorious, they would settle accounts; if defeated, they would all perish together! Su Yu silently watched the battle in the distance, four Great Daos crisscrossing and colliding! As the Daos clashed, physical bodies suffered continuous damage. The first to be rendered completely helpless was not Tianmie, who had only just achieved Dao Integration, but Tianyue, who had fought in absolute silence throughout. He fought the most savagely. With a colossal boom, he severed the Eastern Heavenly King's arm with a sword strike, only for that detached arm to detonate, blasting Tianyue's body into pieces! His head flew through the air. Coughing up a mouthful of blood, Su Yu soared up and caught the dimming head. Tianyue opened his eyes to look at Su Yu, his gaze carrying regret, reluctance, and helplessness. His lips moved weakly: "I... never wanted to betray... I served King Wen... I was holding the line..." Su Yu smiled faintly. "None of it matters anymore! Warden Tianhou is not human after all, so betrayal is understandable. You are human, caught between your master and your heritage—it was a difficult choice..." With those words, Su Yu tossed his head back toward his remains. Meanwhile, though the Eastern Heavenly King had lost an arm, he did not regenerate it. Death qi poured violently from his wound, yet his smile could not be concealed. He spoke with ragged breaths—a dead spirit panting was exceedingly rare, let alone a powerhouse like the Eastern Heavenly King. "Su Yu... you... have lost!" The Eastern Heavenly King looked toward the heavily wounded Tianmie and the hole-ridden Marquis Tongtian, chuckling, "This king has won!" Beside Su Yu, Tianmie and Marquis Tongtian slowly retreated toward him. Tianmie repeatedly wiped his mouth with his large hand, unable to stem the flow of blood, even vomiting bits of internal organs as he bared his teeth: "Su Yu, we lost. Damn it all, we really can't beat him! No wonder the Big Boss never dared provoke him and only kept him at bay. He's unbeatable! The Big Boss probably took a beating from him back then too!" The Eastern Heavenly King approached step by step, smiling. "You guessed correctly! Back then, Hongmeng came to my Eastern King Mansion wanting me to quell the dead spirit unrest in the Spirit Subduing Domain and help Hetu participate in the war... What a laughable fellow; in the end, I drove him away! Naturally, he wouldn't dare provoke me lightly!" Tianmie and Marquis Tongtian retreated step by step. Marquis Tongtian said helplessly, "Um... I want to leave. Can I? I really mean it this time, no lies. Eastern Heavenly King, if you don't kill me, I'll leave!" "..." Even Su Yu couldn't help but stare at him. What was going through his head? Were those words meant to provoke the Eastern Heavenly King, or was he being serious? Whether real or fake, the Eastern Heavenly King was definitely provoked! Sure enough, the Eastern Heavenly King said coldly, "Then you had better die!" Boom! The three Great Daos collided once more. This time, Tianmie's physical body crumbled completely, unable to endure any longer. He lamented bitterly, "My great club isn't with me! Otherwise, I could have smashed him good with it!" With a tremendous rumble, Tianmie flew backward, leaving behind only a relatively intact skeleton, which was caught in the distance by Hetu. Hetu tapped on the bones and remarked with emotion, "Tianmie, these bones of yours are quite hard, though they're a bit cracked!" Tianmie's feeble voice drifted out: "We're all doomed anyway. I still have hope for a second chance, while you're about to vanish completely. How do you have the nerve to mock me?" Hetu chuckled, "True! Congratulations in advance on your second coming!" "Forget it, I don't need that kind of congratulations!" As the two bantered, only Marquis Tongtian remained standing before Su Yu. Su Yu, however, donned his crown and changed once more into a spotless white robe. Soon, a golden cloak draped over his shoulders. Clutching the Tombstone of Civilization, the civilization chronicle hovered in the air beside him. Su Yu smiled. "Marquis Tongtian, go over and have a chat with them as well! Allow me to look glorious in this final moment! I am the Lord of the Human Race, and the bane of the myriad realms. Eastern Heavenly King, killing me might be something you can brag about for a lifetime!" Dragging his battered body, the Eastern Heavenly King strode toward him step by step, smiling. "Perhaps! Truly, in all these years, this is the first time I have been wounded so severely. You all should be proud!" His smile was radiant! This had been a grueling battle, but he had won. Three Dao Integration combatants were crippled by his hands, and two quasi–Dao Integration cultivators had been handled with ease. Before that, he had even fought a titanic duel against Su Yu. He alone had suppressed the entire field and subdued every powerhouse! This scene was something he might truly never forget in this lifetime. He actually admired Su Yu's bearing somewhat. He smiled and said, "How about I leave your corpse intact? Beg me once, and I will leave your body whole, allowing you to die with greater dignity!" "After your death, I will inform certain people of today's battle. If given the chance, it might even be worth the remembrance of the myriad realms... The Human Lord of the Tenth Tide, slain by my hand!" "By the way, you might very well be humanity's final Tide Lord!" Su Yu smiled. "Forget it, no need!" Su Yu dusted off his robe, raised his head, and looked at him. "Come then. Everything that needed to be said has been said; it's time to hit the road!" "Very well. Then I shall send you on your way!" The Eastern Heavenly King moved with extreme speed, arriving before him in a flash, his remaining broken arm thrusting straight toward Su Yu's heart! Yet at this very moment, a strange look flashed across Su Yu's eyes. His aura began to shift. A scene from earlier surfaced in his mind. It was from when he had entered King Wen's former residence. At this moment, he thought to himself: the little white dog was truly wonderful. When he had gone to ask for essence blood, the little white dog had agreed readily, but soon added: *"One drop might not be enough... If you die, what will Master and Little Master do? How about... I seal a drop inside your body? Don't use it unless you're definitely going to die! I'll add a bit of willpower into this drop. If you use it, that means you're on the verge of death. If you're about to die, I'll come save you... And if I can't save you, I won't watch the house anymore—I'll go bite those bad people to death..."* Scene after scene surfaced in his mind. A smile played upon Su Yu's lips. Why... did all of you assume I only had one drop of the little white dog's essence blood? Truly strange. Did I ever say I only had one drop? Alright, perhaps I did. But the point is, hadn't the little white dog taken the initiative to seal a drop inside my body? This bastard's Great Dao was already crippled. Before, the dog couldn't bite through it, but what about now? Feiqiu wouldn't be unable to bite through a damaged Dao, would it? "Dead spirits really never seem too bright!" Su Yu let out a sigh of emotion. In the next instant, every one of his weapons erupted with restraining power! The Myriad Gate Tower Array detonated completely! The Human Lord Seal extracted the power of luck to its absolute limit! Restraining you for a single instant is enough! Within the civilization chronicle, over three hundred Sun Moon phantoms shattered all at once! Just as the Eastern Heavenly King charged in, his expression changed drastically! In the next instant, a colossal force erupted from Su Yu's body! Above his head, the phantom of a little white dog materialized, appearing far more vivid and powerful than in any previous manifestation. Its eyes even held a glimmer of intelligence as a voice seemed to ring out: *"You're about to be beaten to death! We're finished, we're finished..."* *"Woof, woof!"* As the little white dog's barks echoed, it instantly flew toward the Dead Spirit Great Dao, coiled around it, and clamped its jaws onto a smaller entwined branch of the Dao—a branch that was already fractured and damaged. Now, seized in the jaws of the little white dog, it could not shake free! *Crunch!* The sound of gnawing tore through heaven and earth! Su Yu bared his teeth in a grin. "You should feel honored!" The Eastern Heavenly King shuddered violently from head to toe, shaken by the catastrophic tremors running through his Great Dao. At this very moment, Su Yu's blood qi and essence blood ignited in wild combustion. "You are the very first expert I have paid such a heavy price to kill. You are truly formidable!" That remark of "truly formidable" sounded like praise, yet carried the sting of absolute mockery! In the next instant, a blade slashed out! This blade cleaved through the void! This blade sundered heaven and earth! This blade cracked open the entire seventh floor, so that for a fleeting moment, even glimpses of the eighth floor became visible! This blade radiated light that illuminated the cosmos, piercing through the void until the entire Star Residence Mansion blazed with dazzling brilliance, casting a gleam of blade light even over the Sea of Stars! Hum! The ring of the blade resonated across all quarters! Tianmie and the others were swept up by the shockwave, crashing heavily into the distance! Bang! The Eastern Heavenly King let out a shrill roar. With a furious shout, he forced out a punch with all his might! Boom! Fist met blade. The fist shattered instantly, and the long blade fell straight down with a sickening squelch! Cleaved in two! The Eastern Heavenly King was instantly severed in two! For at that very instant, under the frenzied tearing of the little white dog, the branch entwined around the Great Dao snapped completely! The Eastern Heavenly King's aura plummeted instantly. As the blade descended, that lingering aura was extinguished in a flash! A fissure appeared straight down the Eastern Heavenly King's head! He looked at Su Yu with a mixture of helplessness, relief, and bitterness, murmuring, "Does betraying the human race... truly guarantee death?" I was so powerful, strong enough to slaughter three or five Dao Integration experts! Yet I... was still slain! Was the karmic luck of the human race truly so formidable that it could not be resisted? Su Yu uttered not a word. At this moment, the entire Dead Spirit Realm trembled! In the Eastern King Domain, the shockwaves were so violent that countless dead spirits dissolved into nothingness! He had fallen! The Eastern Heavenly King, who had ruled the Eastern King Domain for countless ages, had perished today within the Star Residence Mansion—the very place where the human race had once unified the heavens! Su Yu remained silent. He had exhausted every ounce of his strength, lacking the energy even to speak. Looking toward the group in the distance, blood leaked from the corner of his mouth as his lips trembled faintly. The group looked back in complete bewilderment. What was he saying? It was Marquis Tongtian, whose condition was slightly better, who watched for a moment before realizing, "He's telling us to get closer to him. The power of the rules is probably about to reward us, right?" Su Yu bared his teeth, then his face darkened. Heavens above, at this moment, the only one who understood him was this contrarian gate! In an instant, the others flew toward him one after another! Every one of them had participated in the battle to slay the Eastern Heavenly King! Now, it was indeed time to collect their rewards! In an instant, an immensely thick column of rule power descended from the heavens! It enveloped them all! The colossal reward of rule power illuminated the entire seventh floor with dazzling brilliance! Meanwhile, in the void, the Martial Emperor fell silent! I... seem to have been duped! There was another drop of essence blood... another drop of blood! Su Yu had actually held back until everyone was beaten to a pulp before finally striking. This fellow was ruthless enough, and patient enough! This time, the heavens had truly changed. ... In the outside world. Within Hongmeng Ancient City, Old Turtle was the first to sense it. Filled with shock and bewilderment, he wondered: did the Martial Emperor kill him? If the Martial Emperor had done it, it wouldn't be surprising. But if not... he hardly dared to imagine! In this world, very few were stronger than the Eastern Heavenly King. Anyone who could slay the Eastern Heavenly King... could slay him as well! "Did they win?" Old Turtle murmured softly. If they had won... then Su Yu's plan might truly succeed—charging up into the highest heavens!