Submission of the Five Elements

Killed dozens of dead spirit marquises! Was it true? Or false? Countless thoughts surfaced in Foutuling's mind. If it was false, then he could simply treat it as Su Yu bragging, with nothing more to say. If it was true... first, Su Yu's side had attained world-shaking strength. Second, the myriad races were in the dark while their race had learned of it first. This was... a crisis! Terror! At this moment, sweat dripped down. Foutuling realized in an instant that this was a crisis. If what Su Yu said was true, and he had so easily exposed a massive secret unknown to the myriad races, what fate awaited the Five Elements race if they refused to submit? Extermination? Foutuling's heart raced with restless, anxious agitation. He looked up at Su Yu. Right now, Su Yu was leaning lazily back in his chair. Foutuling took one look at him and said in a deep voice, "Emperor Yu, during the ancient era, the Five Elements race and the human race were an ironclad alliance..." Su Yu yawned. "That has nothing to do with me. I am no ancient sovereign! I don't ask about the past, nor do I look to the future; I only speak of the present! Brother Foutu, you are a clever man! In the entire Five Elements race, you are the only one who catches my eye. As for these Eternals... to say something that might displease you, I intend to use them as pawns! They aren't of much use. It's only you, Foutuling, with whom I care to exchange a few words." "Arrogant...!" The Fire Element Ancestor possessed a fiery temper and was instantly enraged upon hearing this! Pawns? Useless? You, Su Yu, are strong, but are you as strong as the Upper Realm? Su Yu looked at him calmly. "I have a few words to say, and you will listen! However, you can call a halt at any time. Knowing too much brings trouble, after all. You've lived to a ripe old age, so you should have some sense! Don't play dumb with me. The Five Elements race has survived to this day without a single Dao Combiner precisely because you haven't played the subservient grandson for merely a day or two. Don't display your bravery and foolishness before me! I prefer clever people, or genuinely simple ones; what I despise are those who feign ignorance!" "First, King Daqin and King Daxia have attained Dao Combination!" "Second, Tianmie, Yunxiao, and Xinghong have attained Dao Combination!" "Third, the Warden of Heaven's disciple, Minister of the Heaven Division Tianyue, has attained Dao Combination!" "Fourth, the dead spirit realm has already been pacified..." "Stop!" Cold sweat poured down Foutuling's face, his entire body trembling. At that moment, he spun around to look at the five ancestors. The expressions of the five ancestors had also warped drastically. True? False? They looked toward Foutuling. *You judge!* *You know Su Yu best!* *If you say it is true, it is true; if you say it is false... then it is false!* Above them on his seat, Su Yu smiled. The next moment, Tea Tree appeared, still in the form of a young girl. The moment she emerged, she knew what she was supposed to do: brew tea for Su Yu. So the little girl plucked a strand of hair and began brewing tea for him. She was used to it by now! It was just that she was prone to going bald! Lately, tea leaf consumption had been a bit high. Tea Tree wondered if she should find time to take a bath. If she didn't take a bath soon, she really would go bald, and being bald was ugly. The expressions of the five ancestors shifted slightly, but none of them made a sound. Foutuling's eyes flickered with conflicting thoughts for a time. Then, lowering his head, he said in a heavy voice, "Our Five Elements race is willing to honor the human race as the leader of the alliance..." "Playing tricks!" Su Yu watched Tea Tree brew tea without glancing at Foutuling. He smiled at Tea Tree and said, "Playing tricks isn't good. It's not the human race, nor a leader of an alliance! I am who I am. A master is a master, and if not, then not—there's no need to tack on 'leader of an alliance'! I have no intention of exterminating your race, so there's no need to be so terrified. Just keep a few secrets. I don't want your realm leaking any word out. The chances of you passing out even a single message are slim anyway, so... don't worry about extermination!" Su Yu chuckled. "Neutral races... just don't interfere with anything I do! Once I've claimed the heavens, those who aligned with me will be first tier; those who never opposed humanity will be second tier; neutrals will be third tier; and hostiles will be fourth tier. Naturally, any that can be eradicated will be thoroughly wiped out! That's all. Foutu, what do you think?" Beads of sweat dripped from Foutuling. No alliance! Even submitting to an alliance was not an option! He demanded exclusive submission to Su Yu alone as their master! There was no such thing as an alliance! Third tier for neutrals... what did third tier mean? He didn't know, nor did he want to know. Taking a deep breath to suppress the trembling in his heart, Foutuling spoke again. "The Five Elements race pays homage to Emperor Yu!" With that, he fell to one knee. Behind him, the five ancestors furrowed their brows. They hadn't deliberated, hadn't negotiated pros and cons, hadn't raised any terms... and just like that... they were submitting? Across nine tides, this had never happened! Su Yu silently watched Foutuling, then looked at the ancestors. He said calmly, "Foutu, do you have the final say in this Five Elements Realm? If not, you can come under my command, and I'll bestow upon you a miscellaneous generalship! A wise man submits to circumstances!" Foutuling turned back toward the ancestors and said in a low, heavy voice, "Ancestors, trust me this once! I was born from the origin of the Five Elements Ancestor. I am our race's only hope of attaining Dao Combination. I will not lead our people down a dead end!" The five ancestors wore complicated, indecipherable expressions. After a long silence, they slowly dropped to one knee, their postures tinged with unwillingness, helplessness, and profound gravity. Was Foutuling placing too much trust in Su Yu? None of it had been verified! The destiny of the Five Elements race was being staked entirely on a few sentences from Su Yu... In truth, they struggled internally. This was far too careless! There was not a single guarantee! Su Yu hadn't even offered any! Yet it was true: Foutuling was their only hope. When this sole hope chose surrender and submission, they ultimately chose to trust him, because he was the scion of the Five Elements Ancestor. "The Five Elements race pays homage to Emperor Yu!" The five ancestors bowed their heads and knelt, filled with uncertainty about the future. Just a moment ago, they were still discussing whether to form an alliance. The next moment, they were kneeling in homage, stripped even of the qualification to form an alliance, reduced to absolute submission! From his seat of honor, Su Yu smiled. "I think you will come to thank Foutuling. My visit today was also out of regard for him; the rest of you were merely incidental. Had I not trusted that he was a clever man, I would not have come in person today!" Below, Foutuling raised his head. His expression was no longer as tense as before, and he gave a dry chuckle. "Emperor Yu thinks so highly of me; I am truly flattered!" "Rise!" Su Yu smiled. A cup of tea drifted through the air toward Foutuling. "Sit and let us talk!" "Thank you for the bestowal, Emperor Yu!" Smelling the tea's aroma, Foutuling was inwardly shaken—Dao Combination tea! Wearing a smile, he took a seat. When the other five ancestors were about to sit down, Su Yu said calmly, "Seniors, you had better stand for a while and bear with the fatigue! One representative for a race is enough. Too many voices only cause clutter, which is no good! If you find my words improper, you are welcome to rebut them... but you had better keep it bottled inside! I despise a race having too many discordant voices. We are waging war across the heavens; if unity cannot be achieved internally, how can we campaign abroad? In the Five Elements race, either Foutuling sits in that seat, or you replace him with someone else!" The five ancestors exchanged glances. Finally, the Wood Spirit Ancestor spoke in a gentler tone. "Emperor Yu speaks truly. Foutuling naturally represents the Five Elements; none of the rest of us are qualified to do so!" Su Yu chuckled. "I knew it. For the Five Elements race to survive and pass down its heritage to this day without a single Dao Combiner, while there may be fools among you, there must certainly be far more shrewd individuals." With that, Su Yu asked bluntly, "How many Eternals does the Five Elements race have?" Foutuling hesitated briefly before quickly replying, "Nineteen! Aside from the five ancestors, there are fourteen Eternals. Six of them are known to the outside world, while eight remain in deep slumber, unknown to outsiders!" Su Yu smiled. "Not bad! So eleven Eternals of your race are widely known, while the remaining eight are hidden from everyone." "Yes, though someone might have guessed it." Foutuling said quickly, "From ancient times to the present, our race's survival has hinged on caution, neutrality, and feigning weakness! We never participate in the struggle for hegemony over the heavens. In this tide, the ancestors only intervened a few times because of me... at all other times, we have kept an extremely low profile!" Su Yu smiled and asked, "I need to requisition eleven Eternals. Can you manage that?" "Eleven!" Foutuling was startled! The five ancestors also turned pale. Out of nineteen, excluding the five of them, there were only fourteen Eternals. Requisitioning eleven in one go meant awakening all those in slumber! This... this was practically exhausting all their family assets! Su Yu smiled. "Yes, eleven from your race, fourteen from the humans, and ten from the Iron Eater and Hou races. Just people from four races will be enough! Can you assemble them?" Thirty-five! Foutuling's thoughts spun rapidly, and soon his eyes shifted. "To guard the ancient cities?" "Precisely!" Su Yu took a sip of tea, a smile surfacing on his face. "Talking with clever people is indeed much easier. The dead spirit realm is largely fine, but the Dead Spirit Heavenly River continually births dead spirits, which is a nuisance. Unless the river is leveled, they will never cease." "I need to relieve thirty-five Guardians. The Hou race has few members, and the Iron Eater race doesn't have many either, many of whom are high-stage Eternals. Can your race muster eleven middle and low-stage Eternals?" Su Yu asked with a smile, "Of the remaining fourteen, how many are high-stage?" Foutuling replied quickly, "There are still six!" Su Yu raised an eyebrow slightly. "That's quite a few! A bit beyond my expectations. Doesn't that mean you have a full eleven high-stage Eternals?" Furthermore, these five ancestors were all at the eighth or ninth stage. Foutuling said heavily, "It is quite a few, but this is the accumulation of ten tides! To reduce the number of Eternals and keep the myriad races from being wary of us, our race... some Eternals would actively disperse their Daos and voluntarily perish to nurture other experts. The myriad races assumed our experts died in conflicts trying to unite the five elements, so they knew we had quite a few Eternals, but not an alarming amount!" Su Yu was surprised. "Quite the resolve!" Foutuling shook his head. "It wasn't resolve; there was simply no alternative. No one wants to die, but... our race has no Dao Combiner, nor anyone in the Upper Realm. If we accumulated over a hundred Eternals, Emperor Yu knows what the outcome would be." Su Yu nodded. "True. In the Lower Realm, each major race has only one Dao Combiner, and even a powerhouse like the Immortal race only has around a hundred Eternals. If your race had that many Eternals without a single Dao Combiner, were you looking to be exterminated?" Foutuling smiled bitterly. "Indeed. So several of our ancestors understood this outcome. There was nowhere to hide. Eternals do not age and die; even if hidden, the realm's aura remains observable, so everyone would know. They could only choose to end their own lives! This was our race's way of seeking survival!" Impressive resolve! This was the Five Elements race's survival tactic—cruel, yet profoundly effective. The Five Elements race had always hovered around the top ten: neither overpoweringly strong nor weak, possessing no Dao Combiners, posing no threat, with only a limited number of Eternals, and everyone 'knew' their experts would die of elemental conflicts in their later stages. No one needed to worry about this race! They had no foundation in the Upper Realm either, so whether they were eradicated or not didn't matter! A clever choice! Cruel as it was, it was far better than accumulating over a hundred Eternals only to be wiped out directly by the major races! Knowing what to sacrifice! The Five Elements race had mastered the art of trade-offs. "Which means eight are at the early to middle stages of Eternal." "Yes!" Su Yu stroked his chin. If that were the case, swapping out high-stage ones might not be cost-effective. In that case, they were still three short. The Spatial Ancient Beast race? Su Yu hadn't visited the Archaic Giant race; perhaps the Spatial Ancient Beast race would do! He could also use the opportunity to test whether that race was truly submitting to him! Su Yu smiled. "Very well, eight it is! Any issues?" Foutuling asked hesitantly, "Then... will they be corroded to death by death qi?" Su Yu chuckled. "Within ten years, they'll be fine. After ten years, there are only two outcomes. First, I win, and they'll be fine! Second, I lose, and whether they die of corrosion or get slaughtered by the myriad races makes no difference." Foutuling laughed bitterly. True, that made complete sense. There was no need to worry about whether they would be corroded to death ten years from now! At this moment, the Fire Element Ancestor could barely hold himself back. Seeing him struggling so hard, Su Yu smiled faintly. "Senior Fire Element has something to say?" Unable to contain himself, the Fire Element Ancestor asked, "Em... Emperor Yu, ten years from now, the Upper Realm will inevitably open! For races like the Immortals, Demons, Gods, and Dragons, I dare not claim too many, but fifty Dao Combiners is a certainty! Absolutely! Perhaps even more! During the final battle of the ninth tide, we witnessed it all: humanity gathered over seventy Dao Combiners, while the myriad races had nearly a hundred! At first, the two sides were evenly matched, and the Hundred Battles King led away some of the supreme experts..." "Afterward, the Hundred Battles King fell, and over a dozen supreme experts charged out, staining the heavens with blood! The myriad races lost about thirty Dao Combiners, while humanity was almost entirely wiped out! That leaves the myriad races with probably as many as seventy Dao Combiners. I said fifty only because battles are also raging in the Upper Realm..." In that final battle, humanity lost nearly seventy Dao Combiners, which meant that before the decisive engagement, nearly thirty had already perished. Meanwhile, the myriad races lost thirty in that battle and over twenty before it? Su Yu felt an urge to curse! So from the very beginning, the casualty ratio was practically one-to-one? Damn it! What on earth was the Hundred Battles King doing? Su Yu thought of a question and asked, "Were all those fallen Dao Combiners on humanity's side actually human?" "No, they included allies of humanity," the Fire Element Ancestor explained. "Many ancient races took part in the war! In the end, they were all wiped out! In the last tide, I remember clearly: the Emerald Spirit Birds, the Mountain-Bearing Crocodiles, the Star-Trekking Oxen... all those ancient races allied with humanity were eradicated!" Su Yu nodded slightly. Meeting the Hundred Battles King was truly misfortune for those ancient races! "So according to what I've heard, while the Hundred Battles King led humanity to war, before the decisive battle, the Dao Combiner casualties on both sides were roughly one-to-one?" The Fire Element Ancestor pondered for a good while before nodding. "Roughly so! Because humanity was powerful back then, the situation was the exact opposite of now: the various races cowered within their native realms while humans roamed the void! Just like how the various races roamed freely while humans cowered a few centuries ago. In the ninth tide, the myriad races were on the defensive! The Hundred Battles King didn't want to fight realm-assault battles, focusing mainly on skirmishes outside realm domains! Consequently, the casualties ended up roughly equal. The Hundred Battles King's own strength was severely neutralized because he didn't launch realm assaults, so his impact was limited." This was the perspective of a bystander viewing the Hundred Battles King. Su Yu smiled. "What do you think of the Hundred Battles King?" The Fire Element Ancestor glanced at Su Yu, who said with a chuckle, "Speak frankly!" "Unsurpassed natural talent!" the Fire Element Ancestor stated. "And what else?" The Fire Element Ancestor hesitated before muttering, "Across ten tides, aside from... aside from Emperor Yu, I believe his talent was perhaps number one!" "Besides talent?" Su Yu pressed. The Fire Element Ancestor smiled awkwardly. "Besides talent... well... kindhearted?" "Hm?" Su Yu glared at him. The Fire Element Ancestor said awkwardly, "He was quite kindhearted and very good to the human race! In any case, of the nearly thirty Dao Combiners lost early on, most were foreigners. The Hundred Battles King... calculated quite well, letting foreign races fight a war of attrition against the myriad races first... Cough, I'm not insulting him; for the human race, it was a good thing! Since those dying early were foreign allies, if they won the final battle, humanity would reap immense rewards! Preserving their strongest forces, eighty percent of which were human experts! This also prevented the tail from wagging the dog... Perhaps he drew lessons from the ancient era!" Su Yu was slightly taken aback. Those dying early on were almost all foreigners, concentrating strength for the final battle. If they won, humanity would preserve far more living forces and hold an absolute advantage in the future alliance! It was a good plan! Su Yu nodded slightly. From humanity's perspective, it was indeed not bad. Su Yu no longer thought the man was a complete pig; he was at least somewhat smarter than a pig. He now fully understood the Hundred Battles King's intentions! A fine calculation! First send vassal races into the meat grinder with balanced casualties, burning none of humanity's core strength, and then fight the decisive battle with a massive reserve of human Dao Combiners and himself leading the charge. There truly would have been great hope of restoring the ancient order. Except... you fucking lost! Worse yet, expending the foreign races too heavily early on meant they were unwilling to participate later. The Iron Eater race was a prime example! "Humanity above all else, was that it?" Su Yu remarked. The Fire Element Ancestor nodded sheepishly. "Yes! That's why humanity supported him so fervently and held him in high esteem!" Su Yu considered this, smiled, and nodded. He could understand why the humans supported him so dearly! Damn it! From humanity's standpoint, it was great. Fifty or sixty Dao Combiners of the myriad races died while barely one or two humans perished. Under those circumstances, how could they not support the Hundred Battles King? How could they not repay his devotion to humanity? A warrior dies for the one who appreciates him! Had he won, the Hundred Battles King would have been a legend for the ages. But he lost... so he was nothing but dogshit! Thinking about it this way, the man wasn't completely useless; he at least knew what constituted his core base. Humanity was his foundation! Su Yu smiled. "Forget it, let's not speak of him! King Dazhou mentioned him earlier, and now you mention him too. Lately, the name of the Hundred Battles King has surfaced in my ears many times. This is an omen! Either he isn't dead and is merely sealed, or he betrayed humanity; either way, he will emerge sooner or later! Everyone speaking of him coincidentally is the influence of rules, an omen of a supreme expert's imminent return!" When a supreme expert was about to re-emerge, there were always subtle omens. Su Yu didn't dwell on it, shifting straight to business. "Gather eight Eternals of your race in secret and await my notice! Once the main weapons for the Weapon Fusion Method are forged, have them all switch to the Weapon Fusion Method to re-attain their Dao!" The Metal Spirit Ancestor said in mild shock, "Switch cultivation methods?" "Yes!" Su Yu said calmly, "Without switching, you won't be strong enough. The Past, Present, and Future Method is too weak!" With that, Su Yu looked up at the sky, his gaze seeming to pierce through the palace halls. "I understand your race's Dao! The Dao of Five Elements... the Five Elements Ancestor of your race was a genius, a peerless powerhouse!" "Such immense boldness—five elements united in a single Dao!" Su Yu murmured softly, "Originally, I thought it was five separate Great Daos. It isn't; it's a single Dao of Five Elements! Five Daos fused into one. In combat prowess, the Five Elements Ancestor likely surpassed most Rulers of Dao! Yet he still died..." Su Yu shook his head. "Against a being like him, very few could kill him! If it wasn't done by the humans, it was done by the ancestors of the Immortals, Demons, or Gods!" Foutuling asked awkwardly, "Didn't you say earlier it was the Immortal Emperor?" Su Yu said nonchalantly, "I was just guessing earlier. Who knows who did it? How would I know what happened in the ancient era! Still, the probability of it being the Immortal race is higher. The Five Elements race seemed to support humanity back then, so humans had no reason to kill him!" "Let's not dwell on past events; talking about them is pointless!" "As for why no one in your race can currently step into Dao Combination, I have some insight into that..." Su Yu chuckled. "This Dao was artificially split. Impressive! Quite the ruthless character! One Dao split into five; upon reaching Dao Combination, the five elements were supposed to unite. But the crux is, you split them at the beginning, yet you expect to unite the five elements at the end? What a joke!" It was like a Great Dao branching into five paths: upon reaching Dao Combination, they had to merge into one again to proceed! The problem was that members of the Five Elements race were all single-element spirits. How could they merge? As a result, no one could walk that path. Su Yu turned to Foutuling and suddenly laughed. "Your race has good eyes; hope truly rests on him! He is the source of the Five Elements Ancestor. In truth, he should have been born a Dao Combiner, with the five elements already unified! It's just that when this fellow was born, all of the Five Elements Ancestor's power had likely drained away with little remaining, forcing him to start from weakness. However, in essence, his Dao is unobstructed! In essence, he can be considered in the Dao Combination realm!" Foutuling was startled. "Me... in the Dao Combination realm?" "I said in essence, not in combat strength! In essence, all members of the God-Devouring race are Rulers of Dao, but are they really?" Su Yu pondered and said, "Simply put, your race's Dao was divided into five. Others cannot merge them, but you can! Once you grow strong and step into Dao Combination—or even become a Ruler of Dao—you can re-merge the five split Daos into one!" Su Yu turned to the other ancestors. "As for your realm's origin power, it was also disrupted, disturbed by the Great Dao itself. I cannot resolve that. Only when Foutuling takes control of the Great Dao will there be hope of unifying it so that split elemental spirits are no longer born!" "Of course, if I become stronger than the person who originally split the Dao, it won't be a problem either!" Su Yu tapped the table lightly. "The five of you embody separate elements. If you join forces in the right proportions, you will be far stronger than ordinary Dao Combiners!" Su Yu stroked his chin. "Yes, your race's Dao is walked only by yourselves, and everything above Dao Combination is completely blank. This is actually a tremendous opportunity!" "An opportunity?" Everyone was stunned. This was the first time they had ever heard that lacking Dao Combiners was an opportunity! Su Yu smiled. "Yes, an opportunity! You simply don't understand! Let's put it this way: your Dao was inherently powerful, yet no Dao Combiners have been born from it. If the five of you join forces, bridge the gap directly to the other side of the branch, and monopolize the Dao, your combined might could take on even a top-tier Dao Combiner! However... there is a flaw. You cannot be separated! Once separated, you are merely weak Eternals. Normally, when you join forces, you can probably contend with a weak Dao Combiner... like that trash Dao Combiner Moyue!" The expressions of the ancestors grew utterly bizarre. Trash Dao Combiner? Those words... were far too arrogant! "Yet if you do as I say and succeed, the five of you can at least fight a Dao Combiner of Jiwu's caliber!" The ancestors were shaken to their core! True or false? Jiwu was by no means weak! Jiwu had a good chance of taking on two Moyues, right? He certainly did! Don't joke around; we struggle to even fight one Moyue! Su Yu smiled. "You don't believe me? Not only that, but once Foutuling successfully attains Dao Combination and unifies the Great Dao, you will all be able to step into Dao Combination smoothly as well!" Unable to contain himself, Foutuling blurted out, "Is that true or false? Su... Emperor Yu, you can't just speak carelessly. If we take it seriously, and the five ancestors take it seriously and actually go pick a fight with a top-tier Dao Combiner, people... people will die!" This was no laughing matter! He didn't want to question Su Yu! Yet if the five ancestors took it to heart and grew overly excited, going off to battle the likes of Tiangu or the Warden of Heaven—after all, according to Su Yu, top-tier beings were scarcely weaker than them and hard to kill—that would be suicidal! Su Yu said indifferently, "Are you doubting me?" "..." Foutuling was helpless. *So little truth comes from your mouth; isn't it natural for me to be afraid?* Su Yu couldn't be bothered to explain further. "Forget it if you don't believe me! By the way, your race has six other high-stage Eternals. Can they form a complete set of five elements?" Foutuling thought for a moment and nodded. "Yes! Of the remaining six high-stage Eternals, there is one for each element, plus an extra from the Water Spirit race. Members of the Water Spirit race tend to live longer." "One for each of the five elements... excellent!" Su Yu smiled. "If we proceed according to my plan, those five can also join forces, and perhaps they can rival a Dao Combiner as well—a weaker one!" A collective gasp sounded! Foutuling couldn't hold back. "They're all seventh stage! For five seventh-stage Eternals to fight a Dao Combiner would be immensely difficult! Five ninth-stage ones might manage! Back then, when King Daqin, King Dazhou, King Daxia, and King Daming joined forces, they could only fight one Dao Combiner! Those kings are exceptionally powerful, and to be blunt, stronger than our five ancestors! Even they could only barely fight a Dao Combiner, yet you want five seventh-stage Eternals to fight one?" Are you sending them to their deaths? Don't talk nonsense! People will really die! Su Yu narrowed his eyes. "Foutuling, that's the second time you've questioned me!" No need for many words—three strikes and you're out! Question me once more, and you'll be in deep trouble! Foutuling said awkwardly, "I'm not questioning you, I'm just worried! After all, I have to be responsible for the Five Elements race! I understand Emperor Yu's intention: you want to form two formations to deal with two Dao Combiners! But... if it fails, our race will be ruined!" Eight going to guard the cities, ten forming formations to fight Dao Combiners, leaving one... to watch the house? A tidy arrangement! If it failed, they would be completely finished! All dead! Su Yu laughed. "We can test it first! I'm not telling you to go fight immediately!" "Test with whom?" He looked at Su Yu suspiciously, not openly questioning. Yet his expression seemed to ask: *You won't have a human Dao Combiner hold back intentionally, will you?* That... wouldn't be good! Su Yu chuckled. "Tianmie, then! He won't hold back! He'd love nothing more than to bash you to death with his cudgel! What do you think?" "..." Foutuling thought about it and nodded. That worked! Others might hold back, but Tianmie certainly wouldn't! "We can go to Hongmeng Ancient City. There's a grand array there that will prevent your auras from leaking!" Su Yu smiled. "Of course, the prerequisite is that I coordinate it. You don't know how yet! Nor can you see the essence of the Great Dao! Your power fusion is far too crude! It would be best to open 180 divine apertures and master the Five Elements Divine Art; that way, the five elemental powers will fuse much more easily without conflicting!" Su Yu chuckled. "Once you learn the Five Elements Divine Art and then attempt fusion, you'll achieve twice the result with half the effort! The five seniors will be able to crush Tianmie! As for the other five, even if they cannot triumph, they will be able to hold him off!" Tianmie was by no means weak; it was just that he had only recently attained Dao Combination. Without using weapons, he would very likely be overwhelmed by these five. Because the Great Dao of the Five Elements race was truly formidable. With a single look, Su Yu could tell that their ancestor had once been a peerless powerhouse! At this moment, the five ancestors felt their hearts stir. Could it really work? If successful, it would be equivalent to their race gaining two Dao Combiner combatants—and one of them far from ordinary. Could this... could this truly be possible? Previously, when the five ancestors joined forces, it was merely literal teamwork: ganging up to fight a Dao Combiner was manageable. But the coordination Su Yu spoke of involved the fusion of their Great Daos! The two were fundamentally different! The Earth Spirit Ancestor, who had remained quiet for most of the exchange, spoke in a deep voice. "Emperor Yu, can you directly elevate Foutuling to Dao Combination? Even if we have to pay a massive price... or even perish!" Su Yu paused slightly, then laughed. "Him? He's too weak! Not in essence, but in resources! He can indeed advance smoothly to Dao Combination, but the resources he requires are five times what it takes for you to reach it... No, not a simple multiplication of five—perhaps ten times, twenty times..." Hearing this, Foutuling felt aggrieved and nodded. "My consumption is indeed massive!" "Naturally. Your Dao is exceptionally strong. They walk the branches while you walk the main trunk; how could your consumption not be massive?" "Their branches are comparable to ordinary Great Daos, while yours is the main trunk, so your consumption will naturally be vastly higher. I see you've reached the Sun Moon Realm, and your consumption probably wasn't much less than mine..." As Su Yu spoke, he inhaled sharply. "Not bad! The resources I consumed could have cultivated a Dao Combiner, and you've eaten just as much?" Foutuling said awkwardly, "Well... I am the hope of the race, after all." "Your Five Elements race is truly generous. For a Sun Moon whose combat power at best rivals the eighth or ninth stage of Sun Moon—barely scraping quasi-Invincible—you were willing to let him consume so much?" The other ancestors were also embarrassed! What kind of talk was that? Foutuling had just entered the Sun Moon Realm and could fight eighth or ninth-stage Sun Moons; wasn't that already formidable? Su Yu smiled. "At this point, advancing through ordinary treasures will be difficult! You need massive quantities of high-grade five-element treasures! You have to forcefully gorge your way up, provided you have sufficient comprehension of the Great Dao and the five elements! You aren't stupid, so that shouldn't be a problem. The crux lies in resources!" Foutuling nodded! Su Yu considered it and said, "If you're bold enough, go to the Star Residence Mansion and breach the residence of your Five Elements race's Half-Emperor. Then there will be hope! I seem to have caught a glimpse of his residence; it's still there. When he died back then, it probably wasn't confiscated, and it's still under your race's control." Foutuling nodded. "It seems so!" "After the ancestor fell, our race seemed to still have one or two marquises alive, who only fell later..." Su Yu smiled. "Normal people can't afford to raise you, and neither can I, so don't look at me! Only by going to your ancestor's residence will you have a chance of finding supreme five-element treasures to rapidly merge with the Dao. Your path is much simpler than mine, because you're a rich heir inheriting your ancestor's estate; you don't need to take many detours!" He then added, "The only drawback is that once you walk this Dao, you probably won't be able to walk any other. It will be completely fused with you. Well, once you finish walking it and master it, you'll reach the level of your ancestor, so there's no need to walk another, nor could you necessarily do so. Your future has a ceiling: a second Five Elements Ancestor!" "..." Isn't that enough? Foutuling wanted to weep. *I think that's plenty!* *Even though I consider myself an unmatched genius, reaching the level of the ancestor is already beyond my wildest imagination! Our ancestor was terrifyingly powerful!* "Then again..." Su Yu added, "Once you truly reach that level, how to advance further is beyond my knowledge. Perhaps there are still ways to grow stronger! Otherwise, if the Five Elements Ancestor could be killed, so can you. But that's a topic for another time!" Foutuling smiled wryly. "No need, no need. As long as I reach the level of our ancestor, I'll already be invincible under the heavens!" Stop joking! He spoke as if it were a foregone conclusion, as though Foutuling really could reach the level of their ancestor. Su Yu chuckled. "Fine, let's not speak of the future! You might not even live that long!" With that, Su Yu quickly continued, "I will impart the Five Elements Divine Art to you. Foutuling mentioned earlier that you've all opened many divine apertures, but are still missing some; I'll fill in the gaps for you!" "Once you learn it, there will be tribulation... Conveniently, since I am the one imparting it, the rules can punish me instead; the cause lies with me!" "I'll take on all the punishment!" Upon hearing this, the ancestors looked at one another. The Water Spirit Ancestor said with a light smile, "There is no need to trouble Emperor Yu. Your status is extraordinary; if any mishap occurs here, our race... could not bear the blame! We appreciate Emperor Yu's trouble and accept your goodwill!" Su Yu raised an eyebrow. Who asked you to accept my goodwill? Did I do this so you could accept my goodwill? Foutuling spoke up swiftly. "Let Emperor Yu handle it! He likes consuming rule power to strengthen his divine characters. Ancestors, please don't argue with him!" What are you doing? He had seen right through Su Yu's intentions long ago! Were it not for this tribulation power, Su Yu might not have bothered to help the Five Elements race at all. If you don't let him take it, he'll be thoroughly annoyed! Su Yu broke into a smile and glanced at Foutuling, nodding slightly. A teachable student indeed; Foutuling was perceptive and considerate, truly excellent! Every race ought to produce a Foutuling. Foolish races rarely produced such individuals who catered so well to his wishes. The Iron Eater race was decent enough, but the Hou race... had quite a few idiots; even Tuntian, who had great hopes placed on him, was rather dull! Su Yu didn't bother wasting more breath and said swiftly, "Display your divine apertures for me to see, so I can see how to match them with your race's divine aperture cultivation art..." The five were struck dumb. *You haven't researched it yet?* Su Yu was speechless. *What are you staring at me for?* *For something so simple, won't I know it just by looking?* *I even derived the Great Circulation Art and the Great Circulation Origin Aperture Art entirely on my own! For your trashy 180-aperture art, as long as I match the corresponding functions of a few apertures, I can deduce it in an instant!* *Why would I need to prepare it in advance?* *If I prepared it in advance and your race refused to submit, wouldn't my efforts have been in vain?* Of course, there was no need to speak these thoughts aloud! "Hurry up and let me look at your condition. All five of you display your divine apertures so I can cross-reference them and figure out how to smoothly open all 180 divine apertures and circulate the technique. It's a minor matter, don't worry! I've even completed a 720-aperture technique; a mere 180 apertures is something I can barely be bothered to glance at!" The five ancestors felt their hearts pound with unease! Suddenly, this man felt thoroughly unreliable! How could someone do things like this? We thought you already had it prepared! Researching it on the spot? What if it took centuries? Even if it didn't take centuries, if it took ten years, wouldn't the Upper Realm have already opened? With hearts full of trepidation, the five ancestors displayed their divine apertures one after another. Forget it, forget it! They had already boarded the pirate ship! Su Yu glanced over them, cross-referencing with the human race's divine aperture methods, and quickly said, "Erupt your power through each divine aperture one by one so I can compare the differences!" In despair, the five ancestors erupted their power! They felt more and more that this was utterly unreliable! Once they had erupted their power, Su Yu sensed the varying energies. Soon, as though scribbling ghostly talismans, he sketched an intent diagram of 180 divine apertures in midair. Then, after brief contemplation, he swiftly linked the divine apertures. All variations remain true to their core! Once the analogies between the divine apertures were identified, this was merely following a blueprint—child's play! While the ancestors were still wallowing in despair, the next moment, Su Yu linked the entire 180 divine aperture diagram. *Boom!* Thunder erupted from the void! Tribulation descended—the Five Elements Realm did not permit the emergence of the Five Elements Divine Art! The five ancestors' eyes snapped wide open, their mouths agape! Holy shit! That worked? Had a full minute even passed? Fuck! Impossible! In an instant, the ancestors were completely flabbergasted. Don't joke around; this was their race's foundational heritage art, and you deduced it in a single minute? No, you must have had it all along, didn't you? You definitely did! It had to be! This fellow Su Yu was obsessed with saving face, so he deliberately pretended he had just deduced it. In any case, we don't believe you derived it just now! You definitely obtained our race's foundational art long ago! This new Human Sovereign is quite shameless! The five of them thought to themselves in silence! Even Foutuling looked at Su Yu with suspicion. *Fake, right?!* *He definitely obtained it earlier in the Star Residence Mansion!* *Otherwise, how could you finish it in one minute?* *Do you take me for a fool!* Feeling their stares, Su Yu suddenly felt stifled. *Fuck, you bunch of bastards, I really did just deduce it!* When a man was too much of a genius, people actually suspected him of faking it! Forget it, forget it; one cannot speak of ice to a summer insect! What could a bunch of frogs in a well possibly understand! The next instant, the experts could no longer care about anything else. Tears welled in their eyes, overwhelmed with excitement. The genuine Five Elements Divine Art! Their race's foundational art! After more than a hundred thousand years, it had reappeared in the Five Elements Realm! Did the ancestor's spirit in heaven wish to help their race rise again? As the five ancestors buzzed with excitement, Su Yu reminded them, "Hurry up and open the remaining apertures, then circulate the technique immediately. I have a lot on my plate and am very busy!" He had no time to dilly-dally with them! "Seal off the Five Elements Realm and impart it to all your geniuses—the more, the better! While I currently need it, summon the lightning tribulation as quickly as possible!" Five-element lightning tribulation—I love it! My five-element divine characters are sure to feast gloriously! Hopefully, I can take this opportunity to comprehend a few more divine characters and gather the full ninety-nine. I want to check out the Pen Dao as well. Watching them merge Daos and combine Daos every day makes me envious. Just how powerful is the Pen Dao? Is it thick? Is it long? Is it big? It definitely must be thick, long, and massive; otherwise, how could King Wen have been so terrifyingly formidable! Su Yu was filled with anticipation. His trip to the Five Elements race had gone smoothly. If all went well, they would gain two Dao Combiner-level combat forces, possessing a foundation even greater than the Hou race's. As expected of a great ancient race!