On the Allheaven Battlefield.
Above the Sea of Stars.
Su Yu was expressionless as King Dazhou returned, followed swiftly by Book Spirit and Tea Tree, who took positions flanking Su Yu on his left and right. Tea Tree had taken the form of a young girl and looked curiously at King Dazhou. This man was quite formidable!
Of course, she still had to be on guard against him.
Book Spirit had just sent her a voice transmission telling her to watch out for an attack on the master of humanity.
Tea Tree studied King Dazhou with curious eyes. Was this man a bad guy?
Ignoring the two spirits, King Dazhou stepped up before Su Yu and said softly, "I failed to capture the Warden of Heaven. Emperor Yu, forgive my offense!"
Su Yu said indifferently, "If you didn't catch him, so be it! But why did you lose the 'Record' character fragment?"
King Dazhou murmured, "That fragment had been tampered with, and we had never noticed! I took this opportunity to toss it back to him. It also lets the experts of the myriad races see it, sowing more suspicion among them. Emperor Yu rarely makes a losing deal, so even the Warden of Heaven himself will feel a pang of doubt..."
Su Yu looked at him, then smiled after a moment. "Fair enough! But... remember to tell me in advance next time!"
"Understood!"
King Dazhou said no more. This young sovereign was domineering, so letting the matter drop so easily was already quite lenient.
In truth, King Dazhou was curious about what King Daqin and the others had actually gone off to do.
The sudden strike against the Warden of Heaven was clearly just a cover, not Su Yu's true objective.
Otherwise, had King Daqin and King Daxia been present, there would have been a genuine chance to ambush and slay the Warden of Heaven.
The myriad races had no idea those two had already broken through to the Dao Merge Realm.
Yet they were nowhere to be found!
King Daqin and his companion had vanished and never shown themselves.
Meanwhile, Su Yu glanced toward the Endless Void. Outside the Allheaven Battlefield, tearing open the void led either to various realms large and small or to the Endless Void. Many experts liked venturing there to collect the Profound Light of Heaven and Earth, including Sun Moon Xuanhuang Liquid.
The Endless Void was the vast, empty expanse that made up the rest of the myriad realms aside from the battlefield and major worlds. People favored breaking out into combat there.
It was immense, making it an excellent place to shake off pursuers and conceal one's tracks.
Even so, it had boundaries.
Su Yu had never traveled that far, but he knew that advancing continuously would eventually bring one to a border, said to be the edge of creation that had remained unopened during the primal genesis. Naturally, that was exceedingly distant from them.
Figures like the Warden of Heaven and Duobao, who possessed no small realms of their own or whose worlds had been shattered, generally chose to hide within the Endless Void.
Even the former headquarters of the Hunting Heaven Pavilion had been hidden there.
After observing for a while, Su Yu quickly said, "King Dazhou, return to the Human Realm and pass down my command. Have King Daming make a trip to Hongmeng Ancient City and find a way to suppress any disturbances in the dead spirit realm!"
King Dazhou grew pensive. Hongmeng Ancient City...
Indeed, the Old Turtle had not shown himself earlier.
At that thought, King Dazhou promptly replied, "Very well, I shall return immediately..."
With that, he was about to depart when Su Yu suddenly asked in a low, resonant tone, "Let me ask you something: do you know King Jintian's father?"
King Dazhou paused, turning back to Su Yu. After some thought, he said, "I might, but whether it is the person I suspect, I cannot say for certain. There must be more than one person in that lineage. I did not cross paths with him before, and Xia Chen had already slain him..."
Without another word, Su Yu directly manifested an image of the man's appearance.
He had seen it within King Jintian's memories.
King Dazhou examined it closely, frowning slightly.
Su Yu said calmly, "The Prison King's lineage are all traitors! But that's only being said now. Across the past nine tidal changes, did the Prison King's lineage ever make a move? Or did they ever aid the human race?"
King Dazhou fell silent for a moment before speaking. "I have seen this man. In years past... he seemed to have shown his face, but... not as a member of the Prison King's lineage! Among the Four Cardinal Human Kings, only King Ming's line has an unbroken, well-defined inheritance. As for the other three lines, their tracks grew murky after the ancient era!"
Su Yu's brow furrowed. "Under what identity did he appear back then?"
"As an arrival from the Upper Realm."
King Dazhou said in a low voice, "He descended from the Upper Realm alongside an envoy during the ninth tide. The Upper Realm does not consist solely of Dao Combiners! There are also Eternals, and even weaker cultivators, because the Upper Realm branches out and multiplies too! At the time, not much attention was paid to him. Not long after coming down, he seemed to have died. In that era, the death of a single Eternal meant nothing..."
Su Yu frowned. "Wait, aren't you from the Upper Realm?"
"I am not."
King Dazhou gave a bitter smile. "Emperor Yu, you wrong me! I truly did not descend from the Upper Realm. Those from the Upper Realm must depart once a tidal change concludes, or they face divine retribution! I have always remained within the myriad realms. Of course, I am familiar with those fellows since we dealt with each other many times."
He had not come down from the Upper Realm!
Yet Su Yu frowned even deeper. "Something's not right. You said this man descended from the Upper Realm, and you also said those people cannot stay behind without facing retribution. How did he evade it?"
King Dazhou explained, "That only means he had not reached the Dao Merge Realm and found a sanctuary, or perhaps when the Upper Realm was sealed, he simply hid somewhere else. In any case, people from the Upper Realm are strictly required to leave when the Allheaven Battlefield closes."
Su Yu grew contemplative.
In other words, King Jintian's father and Princess Consort Xi had likely both descended from the Upper Realm, but during the lockdown, they might have hidden in the dead spirit realm.
Princess Consort Xi was powerful and had remained hidden there all along.
As for King Jintian's father, had he hidden within some ancient ruin to evade the retribution of the rules?
King Dazhou, however, had not come from the Upper Realm; he had stayed in the myriad realms continuously.
"Did Tiangu and the others not recognize you?"
King Dazhou explained, "Every generation leaves behind one or two powerful figures who lurk in secret and refrain from fighting! Even if our race faces destruction, so long as the final moment has not arrived, they will not act, all to keep the spark alive! When the ninth tide fell, I did not take part in that era!"
"You never took part? You truly can endure! No wonder you walk the Dao of Patience!"
Su Yu nodded. No wonder.
The man could truly hold back.
When the ninth tide met defeat, a Dao Combiner like him had actually held his hand. Frankly speaking, had it been Su Yu, Su Yu would never have endured it.
Not just Su Yu—King Daqin, King Daxia, and the rest probably couldn't have either.
Su Yu asked again, "Are you from the ninth tide, or an earlier one?"
King Dazhou fell silent for a time, then answered, "Somewhat earlier."
"You can truly endure!"
Su Yu chuckled. "Don't tell me you've endured from the ancient era all the way to the present! If you have, you'll earn my deepest respect! A hundred thousand years... could you be an ancient marquis?"
King Dazhou shook his head.
Yet he did not elaborate on his background.
Su Yu smiled. "Let me ask another question. Are you the only one like this, or are there several? You said yourself that every generation leaves a few behind. Were you the only one in the ninth tide?"
King Dazhou explained, "In the lower realms, I was the only one; Xia Chen was an anomaly. But in the Upper Realm, there should still be one or two beings like me. The lower realm holds a spark of fire, and the Upper Realm preserves one as well! None of us know each other's identities; we all lurk in the shadows, waiting for the opportune moment!"
"Then who arranged for you to lie in wait?"
Su Yu pressed.
King Dazhou fell silent for a brief moment before choosing to speak: "I cannot say."
"You cannot say?"
King Dazhou nodded. "I can only speak of what I am permitted to. People like us are called Torchbearers! In the beginning, there were quite a few of us. Yet with every tide, someone would step forward, choose the master of humanity they believed in, and back them to power!"
"Take the ninth tide, for example. Had I believed the Hundred Battles King was a worthy sovereign to support, I would have revealed my identity to him as a Torchbearer! However, several Torchbearers had already stepped forward to back the Hundred Battles King back then, so there was no need for me to expose myself. I simply mingled among the ordinary Eternals throughout the ninth tide..."
Su Yu laughed. "Not bad! Torchbearers... interesting! No need to ask—it was either the Human Sovereign or one of the other three Human Kings who arranged this! King Wen wouldn't have had the time for such things, King Wu lacked the head for it, and the Prison King was a traitor. That leaves only the Human Sovereign or King Ming!"
"As for King Ming, while it's possible, even he might not have known when the Human Sovereign decided to end the ancient era, so there would have been no need for him to leave Torchbearers behind. I think I understand... It was the Human Sovereign?"
Su Yu smiled. "The quiet, unassuming Human Sovereign! Every generation of human sovereigns had Torchbearers backing them, all safety measures left behind by the Human Sovereign. But that makes me wonder: why were there no Rule Masters? The Human Sovereign shouldn't have been so stingy as to leave only Dao Combiners, should he?"
King Dazhou glanced at Su Yu and spoke only after a long pause: "Rule Masters are fixed in number! Dao Combiners are far easier to conceal!"
He neither confirmed nor denied Su Yu's deduction.
He merely stated that the number of Rule Masters was predetermined!
There were only so many among the human race!
As for the measures left by King Wen, Emperor Wu hadn't been set up by King Wen, the Desolate Sky Beast had been killed, and the Dao of Ink and Dao of Books might not even belong to Rule Masters—even if they were, they weren't living beings.
The Human Sovereign's contingency was the true foundation that had sustained humanity across nine tidal changes!
This was their hidden depth!
Torchbearer after Torchbearer, passed down from generation to generation, stepping forth across each tide, ensuring the human race was never extinguished.
This was what the myriad races called living off their heritage!
Humanity had been living off its past glory for nine tides, over ninety thousand years, and still hadn't exhausted it!
At that moment, Su Yu's interest in the ancient Human Sovereign spiked.
That sovereign had kept a low profile, but in terms of foresight and planning, he was far more thorough than King Wen. Without his arrangements, humanity would likely have perished long ago, never surviving to see the present day.
And Torchbearers like King Dazhou had preserved the lineage across countless years.
None of them knew one another's identities or who was a Torchbearer.
When you felt someone was worthy of becoming the master of humanity, you would step forward. You had no idea how many more remained in the dark—it was utterly mysterious.
Su Yu turned to King Dazhou with a grin.
"So, King Dazhou, are you a Torchbearer's disciple, a descendant, or a first-generation Torchbearer?"
If he were a first-generation, that would be truly fascinating!
King Dazhou did not answer directly, saying only, "First-generation Torchbearers... that is a fitting term. The first-generation Torchbearers were the most trusted elite. They might never have been enfeoffed as marquises, or even held any titles, and the myriad realms might never have known of their existence! In modern terms, they would be called... death-sworn warriors! Shadow guards!"
He indirectly explained to Su Yu that the first-generation Torchbearers were likely the Human Sovereign's shadow guards.
Rule Masters were known to all of heaven and earth.
Yet when it came to those below Rule Masters, hiding a few went unnoticed.
There were tens of thousands of Great Daos; it was merely a matter of merging with one. If you merged with an obscure Dao no one cared about, who would ever recognize you?
One hundred thousand years of living off their heritage!
Su Yu smiled. "Then I find it strange. Nine tides, nine masters of humanity, plus all these contingencies, yet you didn't win a single time? You never wiped out the myriad races? Were they truly that formidable?"
King Dazhou sighed. "It is only natural. The myriad races... are, after all, myriad races! Meanwhile, humanity is ultimately just one race! In terms of peak strength, humans were exceedingly powerful, but the middle and lower ranks were not necessarily dominant. Even among the top powerhouses, humanity merely held a slight suppression. In an all-out war, even back in the ancient era, you saw the result—humanity and all those councilors vanished together!"
The ancient human race had been matchlessly mighty, but it was still the strength of a single race. Suppressing the others did not mean they could slaughter them all.
The outcome of that great war was that everyone vanished!
They were either dead, sealed away, or locked in combat somewhere for a hundred thousand years, unable to overcome one another.
Regarding King Dazhou, Su Yu had grasped the general picture.
Or rather, King Dazhou had stopped hiding it.
The Human Sovereign's shadow guards!
Death-sworn warriors!
As for whether he was truly first-generation, Su Yu did not press. King Dazhou had his reservations and wouldn't answer directly.
"Then does that mean the Torchbearers are nearly all dead by now?"
King Dazhou sighed and nodded. "Yes. Too many stepped forward during the ninth tide! The secret of the Torchbearers was completely exposed. Some revealed it to the Hundred Battles King, which they shouldn't have! Under our original agreement, even if a Torchbearer appeared, each had an assumed identity and was forbidden from revealing their status! Afterward, the Hundred Battles King believed he could win that tide. To bolster his strength, he sent those Torchbearers to search for the others... and they were all wiped out in one fell swoop!"
Su Yu bared his teeth. "Why do I feel like the Hundred Battles King was a complete deadweight teammate?"
"..."
King Dazhou remained silent.
Su Yu sneered, "Looking for the Torchbearers makes sense to me. If it were me, I'd also think I could win and tell everyone to stop hiding and come out! In that, he did nothing wrong. I support it!"
He supported gathering the Torchbearers to strengthen their forces.
However... Su Yu quickly mocked, "The key issue is that this bastard brought everyone out into the open, so how many myriad-race experts did he actually kill? I just want to know why there are still so many left!"
King Dazhou looked somewhat embarrassed and only spoke after a while: "He killed quite a lot. There were many Dao Combiners in the ninth tide! In the end, the myriad races lost at least fifty Dao Combiners!"
"And humanity?" Su Yu asked.
King Dazhou fell silent for a moment before admitting awkwardly, "Nearly a hundred!"
"..."
"Pig!"
Su Yu cursed, "He's an absolute pig! Possessing strength near that of a Rule Master, he killed fifty enemy Dao Combiners while losing nearly a hundred of his own! No wonder humanity plummeted into decline so suddenly! He was a complete pig! I don't understand how such a fool had countless people backing him!"
Nearly a hundred!
Dammit!
After all his bitter toil up to this day, the combined Dao Combiners of the humans, foreign allies, and dead spirits still didn't reach that number.
What a blockhead!
At this moment, Su Yu was furious and wanted to scream bloody murder!
Damn it all!
If not for that fool, humanity's situation would be far better than it was today.
A two-for-one trade!
And they had an expert bordering on Rule Master strength! Fighting like that, no wonder the myriad races claimed humanity was doomed this tide!
King Dazhou said awkwardly, "It wasn't quite like that. Had nothing gone wrong in the final battle, causing the deaths of massive numbers of Dao Combiners, humanity would have remained extremely powerful. Up until then, we had maintained the upper hand throughout."
"Humph!"
Su Yu snorted. "That fellow had better be dead. If he isn't, he'd better obediently serve as my thug! If he dares try to seize power from me, I will personally lead an army to surround and slaughter him!"
"..."
Speechless!
King Dazhou held his tongue; there was simply no responding to that.
The Hundred Battles King... King Dazhou actually felt Su Yu was being a bit too harsh. King Dazhou had watched the events unfold; things had gone genuinely well in the early stages, and humanity even held the advantage at the start of the final battle.
They had simply stumbled on that very last hurdle!
That stumble was colossal—so catastrophic that it instantly buried all of humanity's advantages!
The Hundred Battles King's intention had been to go all out in the final battle, slay a massive host of Dao Combiners, and then negotiate peace... Well, that was his mindset: joint rule over heaven and earth by all races.
After fuming for a while, Su Yu asked, "What about the first eight tides?"
King Dazhou answered, "Except for the first tide, which was fiercely contested and saw the deaths of a large batch of ancient powerhouses, the subsequent tides were not on such a grand scale. They were primarily contests among the myriad realms. During two of those tides, no one even descended from the Upper Realm. Everyone was accumulating strength, waiting for a peerless overlord to emerge on one side or the other."
Su Yu understood.
The bloodiest conflicts had been the first and ninth tides; in between, everyone was building up and recovering their strength.
In the first tide, a huge number of ancient experts perished.
In the ninth tide, years of accumulated strength went up in smoke.
Having grasped these matters, Su Yu asked again, "Then who was the master of humanity during the first tide?"
The first sovereign after the ancient era could not have been simple!
Hetu had merely been a trendsetter of that era.
King Dazhou replied, "It was the son of King Wu! He too was a mighty leader, but he inherited King Wu's reckless nature. Not long after the tidal war began, he led seven or eight ancient marquises into a massive clash against several ancient marquises of the myriad races. In the end, over a dozen foreign marquises fell, and he died in that very battle. After that, humanity produced no other sovereign until the first tide concluded..."
He added, "Later, Hetu transformed into a half-dead spirit and stirred up battles that swept across the heavens. Someone suggested nurturing Hetu, but before he could reach the Dao Merge Realm, Hongmeng struck him down. Hetu was likely schemed against, causing the dead spirits to run amok. Emperor Yu must take this to heart as well; the dead spirit realm is far more complicated than you imagine!"
He sighed. "The dead spirit realm has Four Heavenly Kings. Humanity has never held great power there and has always been suppressed. Were it not for the Spirit Subduing General standing guard, our situation might be even more perilous than it is now!"
Su Yu shot him a glance, his eyes narrowing. "The Eastern Heavenly King is dead!"
He had mentioned this before.
King Dazhou nodded. "I know that, but there are still three other Heavenly Kings... and a vast number of dead spirit marquises. Humanity still faces immense difficulty! Therefore, Emperor Yu should think thrice before opening dead spirit channels, lest you follow in Hetu's footsteps."
He could be schemed against!
Su Yu took a deep look at him, then suddenly smiled. "It's no big issue. I'm not an idiot like the Hundred Battles King. He was a pig; I am not! To lose with nearly a hundred Dao Combiners on the human side—I truly hand it to him! And on top of that, he barely killed any enemy Dao Combiners, making him an even bigger pig! As for me, the number of Dao Combiners I've slain is about to catch up with all the ones he killed in that entire tide!"
King Dazhou froze.
What did that mean?
Su Yu said coolly, "In the Eastern King's domain, eleven dead spirit marquises plus the Eastern Heavenly King! In the Western King's domain, thirteen dead spirit marquises plus two Heavenly King-level experts! In the Northern King's domain, fifteen dead spirit marquises plus one Heavenly King-level expert! And that doesn't even count the human dead spirit marquises! That makes thirty-nine dead spirit marquises and four Heavenly King-level experts! In the Southern King's domain, ten dead spirit marquises and one Heavenly King! Adding it all up gives forty-nine non-human dead spirit marquises and five Heavenly King-level powerhouses... Doesn't that surpass what the Hundred Battles King killed?"
King Dazhou stared blankly.
Su Yu said in an undertone, "So if I pacify the dead spirit realm, it is practically equivalent to wiping out every single Dao Combiner the Hundred Battles King slew in his entire tide. Any problem with that?"
"None."
Su Yu continued indifferently, "Not to mention, we've slain several Dao Combiners in the living realms, while on my side... if I recall correctly, not a single Dao Combiner has died, right?"
"None."
King Dazhou realized what this implied and stared at Su Yu in sheer shock. Su Yu smiled faintly. "What are you staring at? Does King Dazhou find something amiss with my words?"
"No..." King Dazhou swallowed hard. "Emperor Yu means..."
"I mean you can head back now. I told you to deliver an order, yet you've been flying alongside me this whole way. Are you trying to monitor me?"
"..."
King Dazhou was taken aback. Who was trying to monitor him?!
Truth be told, King Dazhou considered himself a deeply calculating and shrewd man, yet every time he dealt with Su Yu, he was left feeling helpless.
One moment the youth was pleasant to talk to, and the next he turned hostile.
Fickle and unpredictable!
A man like Su Yu was truly a nightmare to handle.
He quickly said, "Then I shall return to the human race first..."
Su Yu remarked casually, "You said a Torchbearer only reveals their identity when they encounter someone they deem worthy of being the master of humanity. Why did you tell me?"
King Dazhou's footsteps halted. After a long silence, he sighed. "Emperor Yu has no need for Torchbearers to deem you worthy—you have already proven it! If... what Emperor Yu said earlier is true, you have already surpassed those past masters of humanity. You have accomplished far more than they ever did!"
Inside, his heart was still quaking with uncertainty.
What did Su Yu truly mean?
Had the dead spirit realm truly been pacified?
That was impossible!
There were Four Heavenly Kings! And by Su Yu's account, the Western King's domain possessed two Heavenly King-level beings, along with dozens of dead spirit marquises. How could Su Yu have taken them down?
He hadn't even led forces into the dead spirit realm, had he?!
Including King Dazhou himself, none of them had gone down there even once, and neither had their allies.
Was Su Yu merely trying to intimidate him?
A show of force?
For a moment, King Dazhou's mind spun with countless tangled thoughts, weighed down by melancholy. This young sovereign was truly difficult to deal with—why hadn't he noticed it before?
Meanwhile, Su Yu was already flying away, his voice drifting back across the void:
"The Prison King's lineage might have infiltrated the survivors in the Upper Realm! Or rather, they might have lurked among them from the very start! The Hundred Battles King's defeat might be connected to them! Pushing the deduction a step further, it might have involved a woman—the women of that line are not to be trifled with! If the Hundred Battles King was a lecher or a soft-hearted romantic... then he did not lose unfairly!"
"Think back: was the Hundred Battles King entangled with any woman back then?"
"Furthermore, when the Upper Realm opens and the survivors arrive, keep a close watch on every woman! The seductive ones, the pure ones, the popular ones—every single one is a suspect!"
Su Yu's voice grew increasingly faint. "You are familiar with the Upper Realm and may know who fits those profiles. I expect you to compile a dossier and profile list for me! I want advance knowledge of every scrap of information!"
"You might hide things from others, but you cannot hide them from Su Yu! That includes you, King Dazhou. The slightest unusual movement, and everything falls under my control! As for your Dao of Patience, don't practice your patience on me. When I cursed the Hundred Battles King, your Dao fluctuated several times. King Dazhou, keep your emotions in check—your mastery over the Dao of Patience still has room for improvement. Study harder!"
"..."
King Dazhou felt a jolt run through his heart.
Watching Su Yu vanish completely into the distance, he was left utterly speechless.
Damn it!
This guy... was truly uncanny, truly terrifying.
He was, after all, a powerhouse at the peak of the Dao Merge Realm, yet before Su Yu, it felt as though he had no secrets whatsoever. Su Yu saw straight through him. Living like this was becoming unbearable!
...
Su Yu disappeared.
Book Spirit and Tea Tree continued following him. Tea Tree asked curiously, "Was he angry just now? Because you cursed that Hundred Battles King? Will he betray us? Should we call Fat Ball and beat him to death together?"
Su Yu laughed. "No need! He is a smart man! Anyone who could endure for so many years knows what the right choice is! Torchbearers... they were probably a contingency left behind by the Human Sovereign. To be frank, I actually have some respect for that sovereign! Seeing the myriad races growing restless, he simply flipped the board, took away all the Rule Masters, and left behind an enormous foundation, hoping a peerless leader would arise from humanity and dominate the world once more! If his descendants had been even slightly competent, how could they have fallen to such a pathetic state?"
"The Human Sovereign probably never imagined that the ninth tide would produce an utter moron who squandered all his arrangements in one fell swoop!"
Su Yu shook his head.
In the ninth tide, a formidable humanity with nearly a hundred Dao Combiners had been thrown away just like that!
He truly felt like cursing!
In fact, he already had!
If the Human Sovereign were still alive, he would probably be furious enough to explode!
I left you so many safety nets, carried away all the Rule Masters of the myriad races, and relied on thirty-odd Rule Masters—along with the traitorous Prison King—to neutralize all the enemy's supreme experts... I practically leveled every obstacle in your path, yet you still couldn't handle the myriad races. What a bunch of useless trash!
Su Yu felt that if he were the Human Sovereign, he would probably crawl out of his grave, drag the Hundred Battles King out, and beat him to death with his bare hands.
Incompetent descendants, unfilial scoundrels who threw away their ancestors' legacy!
A family in decline, bullied on all sides—that was humanity's current reality.
Just thinking about it made him feel indignant on behalf of the ancestors!
Tea Tree nodded repeatedly. "Uh-huh, they were so stupid, failing to win! You're much more impressive... you won!"
Su Yu chuckled. "I'm not impressive; I merely borrowed outside strength. It just so happened I ran into Fat Ball and the two of you. Otherwise, I wouldn't have fared much better. The main issue is that my own cultivation isn't strong enough! Therefore, the top priority right now isn't anything else, but elevating myself! Becoming strong on my own is what matters. Otherwise, if I die, the various factions won't hold together. Whether it's you two, Hongmeng, Marquis Lanshan, or the other allied races, their unity will likely scatter..."
He was the lynchpin.
If the core fell, unity would shatter. Even if they held the advantage now, it wouldn't last.
Tea Tree nodded again. "Right, right, right! If you die, Fat Ball probably won't come out anymore either; it'll just wait for Master to return! Only you can bring Master and Little Master back. If you're gone, Book Spirit and I won't come out either. Once we leave, we can't get back in."
In any case, if Su Yu died, the inhabitants of the former residence would almost certainly refuse to come out and help.
Su Yu smiled. "Then thank you for thinking so highly of me!"
Tea Tree shook her head. "It's not that! Our goal is just to find Master and Little Master. Everything else isn't our job. Same for Fat Ball—it's only responsible for watching the house and doesn't care about anything else."
Su Yu smiled.
Without saying more, he darted across the Allheaven Battlefield. Before long, he appeared above the Iron-Eating Realm and shouted, "No need to keep watch, we're not fighting anymore! I'll call you when it's time to brawl!"
In the void, the phantom of June manifested. Hearing this, he nodded slightly and asked with an odd expression, "Is the Warden of Heaven... one of ours?"
"..."
Su Yu was speechless. After a moment, he said, "No! If you see him next time, beat him to death!"
"Understood!"
June asked no further, though he still felt it was rather peculiar. Was he truly not?
Fine, whatever you say.
Even if he is, if you say he isn't, we'll treat him as an enemy.
At that thought, Su Yu suddenly roared across the sky, "The Warden of Heaven is not one of ours! Hou Emperor, all of you, if you encounter him, slay him without fail! Do not be misled by the myriad races into lowering your guard!"
Regardless of what the Hou Emperor and the others thought, to the myriad races, this thunderous roar sounded even more like a guilty cover-up!
Of course, no one could be certain, and no one dared speak carelessly.
Perhaps Su Yu was trying to scheme against them!
Yet no matter what, being extra vigilant was never wrong, and staying wary of the Warden of Heaven was an absolute necessity.
Su Yu wandered a bit longer, then quietly vanished from the Allheaven Battlefield, concealing his tracks.
He was in no hurry to inspect the dead spirit realm.
Things were turbulent right now, and the aura of the living was too strong. He would wait until matters settled down.
As for the Northern King's territory, he would let the Southern King keep watch over it for now.
Moreover, Su Yu currently lacked the means to bring a large host of experts to intimidate the Southern King.
The living could not enter!
Going down again risked disaster.
If a conflict arose with the Southern King, Su Yu would be in trouble. Furthermore, with the Western King dead, the strength of both the Southern King and Northern King would rise. There was no telling whether the Southern King would harbor other ambitions.
Exercising caution was an absolute must.
Charging in recklessly only to be struck down by the Southern King would leave him with nowhere to air his grievances!
He now possessed ninety-one divine characters, nearing the count of ninety-nine.
However, some of them were still not powerful enough. It was time to visit the Five Elements Realm!
The Five Elements Realm didn't even have a single Dao Combiner, so there was no danger.
Though Book Spirit and Tea Tree would face suppression if they retreated into his sea of will, once inside the Five Elements Realm, they would still wield top-tier Eternal combat power. Meanwhile, Su Yu himself was unrestrained. Even if the five old ancestors of the Five Elements Realm arrived together, Su Yu had nothing to fear from them.
With these thoughts in mind, Su Yu soon arrived near a realm.
It was a realm shaped like a massive sphere.
The colors across its surface were distinctly divided: earthen yellow, aquatic blue, fiery red, metallic gold, and verdant green.
The Five Elements Realm!
One look at this realm told Su Yu that its origin possessed an issue—the five elements were divided far too sharply!
Such a distribution could never give birth to a spirit of all five elements; it could only produce spirits aligned with a single element.
Opening his Heavenly Gate, he observed closely. Nothing much could be discerned from the outside; perhaps he could see more from within.
The River of Time flowed straight through into the Five Elements Realm. At this point, Su Yu understood how the Time Master had entered other realms undetected—she had traversed directly along the River of Time, bypassing the realm gates altogether.
Of course, ordinary people could not accomplish this.
Those who had opened the Heavenly Gate generally could.
Those who hadn't were mostly blind to the path; the slightest misstep would lead them astray, leaving them lost in the River of Time!
Su Yu rubbed his chin. Should he take the passage directly, or take a slight risk and travel via the River of Time?
His personal cultivation wasn't overwhelming, so traversing directly through the River of Time carried some danger.
Using the gate passage, on the other hand... risked leaking news.
It might even be spotted by scouts!
In normal times, he could disguise himself, but right now, not a ghostly shadow could be seen outside the Five Elements Realm's gate. With Su Yu stirring up massive commotions lately, the myriad races were turtling inside their worlds, and the Five Elements race was no exception!
Disguising himself as a member of the Five Elements race to enter right now would raise suspicions in anyone with half a brain.
"It's only crossing the realm wall, so the distance isn't far, and the danger isn't that great..."
"In this realm, the Great Dao of the Five Elements is fractured, so its suppression isn't strong. The Dao rules don't affect the River of Time much, so I should be able to traverse it!"
Furthermore, this would serve as an intimidation tactic against the Five Elements race!
If I want to invade, you cannot stop me!
I come and go as I please, and none of you can even detect my presence!
With that in mind, Su Yu stepped into the River of Time. The River of Time in his eyes was entirely different from what others saw!
What others saw was merely a tributary.
A tributary of the Great Dao!
Yet Su Yu had always walked the main trunk!
The main trunk was invisible to all, but Su Yu could see it, and he could see that this main trunk pierced through all myriad realms!
This was the true path of supremacy!
A single Dao piercing through all realms!
Whoever controlled this Dao could come and go freely across the myriad worlds. Not only that, they could suppress whichever realm they pleased!
That was a true hegemon!
"The River of Time... this is the true Dao, magnificent!"
Filled with boundless marvel, Su Yu tore open a gap in the river and stepped inside, flying toward the Five Elements Realm. No one saw his presence. Had a Dao Combiner been present, they might have faintly sensed subtle Dao fluctuations.
Unfortunately, the Five Elements Realm didn't even have a single Dao Combiner!
...
At that very moment.
Inside the Five Elements Palace.
This was a palace left behind by the ancient Five Elements Ancestor. It had fallen into disrepair, and following the fracturing of the Five Elements race, the palace was opened only during moments of existential crisis.
The experts of the Five Elements race would gather here.
Currently, only six figures were present in the grand hall.
The five old ancestors of the Five Elements race, along with Foutuling.
The old ancestor of the Fire Element race had a fiery temperament. He grinned and chuckled, "Su Yu is stirring up trouble again! That fellow never sits still! He is truly overbearing and arrogant—the Allheaven Battlefield is practically his private estate now! In my view... he won't meet a good end! Even the Hundred Battles King fell; could he fare any better?"
He then sighed. "Once the Upper Realm opens, Su Yu is finished! Foutuling, I say we forget about it. Our race has no backer in the Upper Realm. We'd rather play dumb and stay out of it... This old ancestor would love to rise up and be bold, but... we don't have the capital to play with the big boys!"
They didn't even have a Dao Combiner!
If the five ancestors joined forces, they could contend with a Dao Combiner, but only a weak one.
What good was that?
Forget it!
It wasn't as if the Five Elements race playing the bystander in the wars of the myriad races was anything new.
The Earth Element ancestor chimed in, "Foutuling, I think we should keep a low profile and wait until you've grown up. You have only just stepped into the Sun Moon Realm; you're still far from reaching the level of our ancient ancestor!"
The ancestors took turns trying to persuade him, unwilling to agree to an alliance with the human race.
It was too dangerous!
A single misstep meant extinction!
Once the Upper Realm opened, Su Yu's current advantage would instantly become a joke. Did Su Yu even know how many Dao Combiners the myriad races possessed up there?
Acting recklessly without even knowing was madness!
Foutuling frowned. "Ancestors, that is not the right way to look at it! The Upper Realm won't open for several years. In just these few years... don't forget, it took less than three years for Su Yu to rise to where he is today! Give him a few more years, and who knows what will happen?"
Foutuling continued, "Furthermore, precisely because our race has no Dao Combiner, offering charcoal in the snow right now is our only hope! Otherwise, jumping on the bandwagon later will mean nothing! If Su Yu truly wins, our severed realm origin might be restored! We could reclaim our ancient glory. In the ancient era, our Five Elements race stood alongside the other major races as equals, yet look at us now—we cannot even produce a single Dao Combiner!"
Instantly, the five ancestors sank into melancholy.
The Five Elements race, once an ancient mighty clan!
Now reduced to such a state. The Upper Realm hadn't even opened yet, and once it did, the Five Elements race wouldn't count for a damn thing. In the past, they had relied on playing dumb and subservient just to survive to this day!
What about this tide?
Were they to play dumb again?
They all turned their gazes toward Foutuling. He was the sole hope of the Five Elements race!
He was the only genius capable of channeling all five elements, a hope born from the origin of the Five Elements Ancestor!
Strictly speaking, he could be considered the son of the Five Elements Ancestor!
Or a daughter!
The Five Elements race had no true concept of gender.
Of course, Foutuling didn't see it that way; he had no interest in playing anyone's daughter.
Foutuling pressed on, "Besides, over the past few days, aside from the commotion today, Su Yu seems to have entered the Star Residence Mansion earlier. Perhaps he gained new fortunes. His recent actions strike me as an omen!"
"An omen?"
"An omen of what?"
The ancestors asked.
Foutuling thought for a moment and replied, "An omen that the second great war of the myriad realms is about to begin! In any case, that guy is uncanny. I don't believe he will obediently wait a few years for the Upper Realm to open and let those Dao Combiners descend to slaughter him... If he just sat waiting, he'd be an idiot! Given his temperament, I suspect he will take the initiative to attack! And it won't be long from now!"
"Can he pull that off?"
"Humanity only has King Dazhou in the Dao Merge Realm. Tiangu and the others have sealed their realms, making them vastly stronger when fighting on their home turf. King Dazhou is powerful, but if he entered the Immortal Realm, he would most likely be suppressed and slain!"
"Exactly. Under these circumstances, Su Yu can only fume in frustration. He cannot easily attack, nor can he easily refrain. As long as everyone stays inside, allies like the Iron-Eating race are of little use. If the Iron-Eating Beast Emperor entered the Immortal Realm, he would merely be a somewhat stronger Eternal, and Tiangu could easily kill him!"
"..."
The ancestors voiced their thoughts, still holding little hope for Su Yu.
Holding an advantage right now meant nothing!
The Upper Realm was the true deciding factor!
And unfortunately, humanity was finished up there!
Foutuling furrowed his brows. "You cannot think like that. In any case, I have a premonition: if we don't decide now, it will be too late! Once the second war concludes and Su Yu emerges victorious, he won't need us anymore... and our situation will become extremely awkward! It has been quite a few days since the last war. Ancestors, it is best to make your decision early!"
The five elders frowned deeply.
It was truly an agonizing decision, one that concerned the survival of their entire race!
If they had a Dao Combiner, it would be somewhat easier, but the crux of the problem was that they had none!
Right at that moment, the expressions of all five ancestors abruptly changed!
In the next instant, the Gold Element ancestor was about to strike when a light chuckle rang out: "What's this? Not only are you not welcoming me, but you want to fight? Foutuling, didn't you say I was welcome to visit anytime?"
"Stop!"
Foutuling barked a sharp command, sheer terror flashing in his eyes!
Su Yu... had actually entered the Five Elements Palace!
Good grief!
This man was utterly terrifying—there hadn't been the slightest disturbance outside!
In the next instant, beneath the shocked gazes of the five ancestors, the void tore open, and a terrifying figure stepped down from the River of Time.
White robes fluttering, long hair drifting in the wind.
Su Yu wore a faint smile as he strode forward step by step. Overawed by his imposing aura, the five ancestors took a small step backward, clearing the central path for him.
Su Yu descended directly onto the ancient throne of the Five Elements Ancestor, sitting down without hesitation, his expression entirely composed.
The faces of the five ancestors twisted with shock and anger!
How arrogant!
That was the throne of the Five Elements Ancestor!
Did he truly believe the Five Elements Realm was so easily bullied?
Yet before the enraged ancestors could act, they froze in their tracks, halted by Su Yu's voice. Su Yu smiled and remarked, "I'm exhausted. I just led some Dao Combiners to butcher dozens of dead spirit marquises, and I'm a bit tired. Resting for a moment here—you gentlemen wouldn't mind, would you?"
Su Yu wore a calm smile, but his words sent a jolt of sheer terror through everyone present!
"Dead spirit marquises... As expected, once people die, they become pathetic. Compared to living marquises, killing them is far easier. Slaying several dozen barely registered. Truly, once dead, a life isn't worth much!"
*He's bluffing!* That was their first thought!
Yet in the next heartbeat, none of them dared to move. Was he truly bluffing?
Hard to say!
If it were true... it was horrifying beyond words.
So his actions earlier had not been aimed at fighting the Warden of Heaven after all!
Foutuling's first thought was also that Su Yu was bluffing, but meeting Su Yu's gaze, his heart shuddered violently!
It might... be true!
Terrifying!
All these days, he had been purging the dead spirit realm, and he had won?
If he had truly won, it was simply staggering!
"Greetings, Emperor Yu! Emperor Yu has labored hard; please, rest as you wish!"
Foutuling spoke up immediately, forcing a smile. "It is rare for Emperor Yu to visit us. Allow me to make introductions..."
He wanted to change the subject and introduce the ancestors.
Yet Su Yu smiled faintly. "Seeing me, can five mere Eternals not even perform a proper greeting? Or has the imperial prestige of the human race truly faded into nothingness?"
The moment those words fell, the faces of all five powerhouses changed dramatically!
What sheer dominance!
This was no longer the ancient era!
The human race was no longer the sovereign master of the heavens!
Leaning back in the throne, Su Yu watched them with a faint smile, composed and at ease.
Foutuling's mind spun with countless tangled thoughts, his emotions complicated beyond measure.
Submission?
Yes, not cooperation!
The moment Su Yu arrived, his opening words were relentlessly overbearing. What he demanded was submission, not an alliance!
This was far simpler, far more tyrannical, and far more arrogant than expected.
Bitterness filled Foutuling's expression!
How should they choose?
Was Su Yu's supreme confidence backed by genuine strength, or was he merely putting on a show to frighten them?
Above them, Su Yu sat motionless.
Usurping the host's place!
He looked down upon the figures below, an inscrutable smile lingering on his face.
A smile that sent a chill straight down Foutuling's spine!
The moment deciding the survival of their race had arrived. He did not know whether this choice would rewrite the history of the Five Elements race!
Yet he knew they had no choice but to choose!
Chapter 675