The Lower Realm

What was the hundredth divine character? What was the core of the Brush Dao? Su Yu was filled with anticipation! He watched the brush that spanned heaven and earth descend from the void. In reality, it was merely an anomaly caused by drawing out the divine character inside the Civilization Tombstone. At this moment, Su Yu's divine character combat technique had already transformed into a brush. All its base nodes were filled! All that remained was the final fusion! "What is it?" His sea of will began to churn and boil violently. A colossal sphere of light descended! Su Yu saw it, and gradually, his vision cleared. Thrilled and excited, he peered closely. The next instant, Su Yu's jaw dropped with a soft click, almost dislocating. What in the world was this... thing? "↑"! Yes, that was exactly what Su Yu saw. It wasn't even a character! It was a divine character shaped like this damned thing. You could say it looked like a brush, an arrow, or whatever you liked. But... did this even count as a character? Su Yu stood frozen in a daze! King Wen... Just how did King Wen integrate into the Brush Dao back then? Could it be that when King Wen outlined his divine character in his youth, he actually drew out a monstrosity like this? Then this thing... really no one would ever have thought of it, and no one would ever have outlined it. Was this how geniuses played the game? Su Yu felt dazed, as if his worldview had collapsed. He began to question his entire life! If King Wen had outlined such a divine character when he was still weak, wouldn't everyone around him have laughed themselves to death? If his teacher and friends found out, wouldn't they have suffered a mental breakdown? A divine character... looked like this? *The essence of the Great Dao, the essence of rules... Logically speaking, that's something one only understands in the later stages. No one is born understanding it. Even if King Wen was a supreme genius, divine characters are formed through sudden enlightenment. What in the world did he comprehend to outline this thing?* If he had modified it himself later in life, that was one thing. If not, it meant King Wen possessed this divine character when he was still weak. What did he comprehend back then? What kind of experience could have possibly inspired him to comprehend "↑"? *Now I finally understand why the emergence of this divine character makes it look like a brush spanning heaven and earth. That's no brush—it's an arrow!* At such a crucial juncture, Su Yu actually felt like laughing. In fact, he could barely hold it in. The moment Su Yu felt like laughing, the "↑" instantly merged into the divine character combat technique! The ninety-nine divine characters of the combat technique united with "↑"! A massive amount of rule power was drawn from the divine characters, beginning to perfect and strengthen this "↑". Su Yu grimaced. *Forget it, I won't call it an arrow divine character. Since King Wen called it a brush, I'll treat it as a brush. For a scholar, the Brush Dao certainly sounds much better than the Arrow Dao!* Calling it an umbrella wouldn't work either—its top wasn't big enough. Nor could he call it a stick with a pointy tip. Thinking it over, King Wen was indeed a cultured man: the Brush Dao! That truly was fitting! It matched a scholar's temperament! *King Wen really knew how to spin a tale!* Su Yu marveled internally, watching the divine character combat technique merge in silence. Scholars certainly had sharp wits, forcibly rebranding the Arrow Dao into the Brush Dao—and to top it off, everyone under heaven believed it was meant to be the Brush Dao. Talk about calling a stag a horse! "You shall be called the Brush Dao!" Su Yu wouldn't change it either. Knowing the truth was one thing, but King Wen had spent countless years building up the fame of the Brush Dao; Su Yu couldn't go around telling everyone it was an arrow. Otherwise, future historical records would read: *Emperor Yu integrated into the Arrow Dao and skewered so-and-so to death with an arrow...* That would be unbearable to look at. *A single stroke settles the universe!* Only records like that had true grandeur. *Boom!* Inside his sea of will, the rule power of the ninety-nine divine characters was continuously drained. The Brush Dao divine character drew upon the rule power that belonged to it—a rule power devoid of specific attributes. Visibly, the other divine characters rapidly weakened. Even the "Yu" character Su Yu had just outlined was growing faint. However, this power was still not enough. It was insufficient to support Su Yu's Dao integration. He needed more rule power to strengthen the Brush Dao divine character so that it could lead him into the River of Time. "Keep cultivating! Does anyone else in your race need to undergo tribulation? Do it together!" Su Yu barked, his voice booming like thunder. He needed more rule power! It wasn't enough; his current strength was not yet sufficient. Su Yu continued to drive his Sun Moon power higher and higher. He was still in the Sun Moon Realm, yet even Su Yu himself had no idea how terrifyingly strong a Sun Moon like him was right now. A single jab of this arrow might truly have been enough to skewer the King Daqin of that era. No, a single brushstroke! Over the Five Elements Realm, the sky gradually brightened. At this moment, Su Yu made no attempt to conceal himself. Still reeling in shock, Foutuling had no time to overthink and urgently shouted, "Ancestors, order everyone who has opened their divine apertures to circulate the art and undergo tribulation!" This monster, Su Yu, filled him with dread. He needed to devour more rule power! The Five Elements race sprang into action. Some old veterans might not possess supreme strength, being only at the Sun Moon Realm, but they had been stuck at that level for ages and had already opened many divine apertures in the past. Over the last few days, they had all opened all 180 apertures. Their combat prowess might be lacking, but circulating the technique and undergoing tribulation was entirely within their capabilities. Before long, blood-red clouds began to gather one after another in the void. Then, Su Yu's divine character combat technique manifested! This was the very first time he revealed his perfected divine character combat technique. A brush... Although Foutuling took one glance and thought it looked remarkably like an arrow, Su Yu murmured up in the sky, "With the Brush of the Great Dao, I establish heaven, earth, and the order of mankind!" "..." Fine. Foutuling had genuinely thought it was an arrow at first, but hearing Su Yu's declaration, he decided it was better to treat it as a brush. Hadn't the man gone out of his way to state it aloud? Knowing Su Yu, he was usually too lazy to offer a single unnecessary explanation. For him to speak up out of nowhere, everyone ought to take the hint. If he said it was a brush, then a brush it must be! "The Brush of the Great Dao! Magnificent!" Foutuling exclaimed from below, wisely saying nothing more. The other five ancestors didn't think too deeply about it either. Seeming to recall something, one of them sighed with emotion. "Magnificent indeed. The Brush of the Great Dao... I believe I saw it recorded in an ancient text. It was King Wen's signature combat technique. Su... Emperor Yu has indeed inherited King Wen's legacy!" Rumors about this had circulated long ago. Su Yu had inherited parts of King Wen's heritage—or rather, the Time Master's heritage. Many believed the Time Master and King Wen were actually the same person, so whichever one he inherited from made no difference. At that moment, the brush swept across the void. As soon as blood clouds appeared, they were shattered by a single tap of the brush and promptly absorbed. The "↑" continually grew stronger! …… Meanwhile. Massive amounts of rule power poured into the Five Elements Realm from all directions. In the Destiny Realm. Other realms barely noticed it; after all, punishment power rarely manifested in normal circumstances. Yet within the Destiny Realm, the Destiny Emperor frowned slightly, tearing through the void to appear atop a towering mountain peak. The Destiny Land! Originally, nothing had existed in that empty space. Now, however, a substantial portion of power seemed to have been drawn away, gradually causing the faint outline of a corridor and a gateway to appear. Indeed, this was the Upper Realm passageway. The myriad realms had previously been sealed off, leaving behind only a single gate and corridor, but that corridor was packed with punitive rule power. As for who had left that gate behind, no one was entirely sure. The Upper Realm had actually been established after the creation of the Allhead Battlefield, forbidding ordinary people from entering or exiting. Anyone attempting to pass through before the appointed time would suffer punishment, just like the Weapon King and Talisman King last time, both of whom had been severely wounded. If several more tried to force their way down, it would cause the punishment power within the passage to grow even stronger. Yet right now, a portion of that punitive power was dissipating and draining away! *Hoo!* The Destiny Emperor let out a soft breath. Who was draining the punishment power? Su Yu? It was very likely him; the Destiny Emperor had just sensed subtle shifts in heaven and earth. If it was Su Yu... did that fellow have any idea that doing this would weaken the punishment power within the Destiny Gate, potentially causing it to open ahead of schedule? It had originally been set to open in ten years, but with Su Yu draining it like this, it might open in eight, seven, or even fewer years! *Does he not understand?* The Destiny Emperor was uncertain, nor could he be completely sure it was Su Yu's doing. If it was, Su Yu was bringing trouble upon his own head! Just then, on the other side of the Destiny Gate, someone seemed to notice the anomaly as well. Faint voices drifted through: "Huh, the rule power has decreased slightly. Is the Lower Realm about to open?" "It was already getting close!" "It seems to have diminished even more!" It wasn't just one person; several people appeared to be present, and all of them had sensed the shift! The rule power had weakened. The Destiny Emperor's brow furrowed. Trouble! With the rule power diminished, a third person attempting to descend previously would have faced a ninety percent mortality rate. Now that it was weakened, someone else might successfully make the crossing under these conditions. If the fourth person had originally been guaranteed to die, now it might take a fifth or sixth before death was certain! *Su Yu... is digging his own grave!* the Destiny Emperor murmured inwardly. It seemed rather foolish unless the benefits he gained from this were astronomical. Otherwise, changes would soon unfold in the Upper Realm: one or two Dao Combiners might descend, and the overall time until the grand opening would be shortened! Across the passageway, the faint voices spoke up again: "Go inform the Marquis! The punishment power within the passage has lessened; one or two more of us might be able to descend!" "Understood!" "..." The Destiny Emperor's brow furrowed even deeper. Naturally, no one was an idiot; those fellows in the Upper Realm had also realized something was amiss! The myriad realms might soon see the addition of one or two more myriad-race Dao Combiners. At such a critical juncture, even a single extra Dao Combiner would carry immense weight—it could very well decide the outcome of the entire war! Several Dao Combiners had perished earlier, and although the Talisman King had descended to fill one vacancy, they were still at a deficit. If one or two more arrived now... Thinking up to this point, the Destiny Emperor frowned slightly, and after a moment's hesitation, made a decision. It was unwise to commit fully to anything right now; he still wanted to wait and see! However, he could establish a slight connection with the human side, acting as a third party to warn Su Yu: *You've caused trouble for yourself. If you keep drawing on the rule power, people from the Upper Realm might descend sooner than expected.* A streak of light flashed and shot rapidly beyond the realm boundary, following the streams of rule power being drained to seek out Su Yu. *Play it safe first and place a small bet.* It wouldn't result in a crippling loss. Secretly giving Su Yu a heads-up meant that even if the myriad races found out, he could easily deny it. Besides, word of people descending from the Upper Realm would spread soon enough anyway. …… In the Five Elements Realm. Su Yu continued to shatter the blood clouds, devouring their power. He knew that draining the rule power would cause the Upper Realm to open ahead of schedule. He knew, but... what could possibly be more important than his own Dao integration? Even if ten years were shortened to five, or even three, Su Yu had to achieve Dao integration first before worrying about anything else. As for whether he would need to drain more rule power after integrating... he couldn't do it here anymore; he planned to go to the Star Residence Mansion to drain it instead. The eighth floor had an abundance of chaotic rule power. He didn't need it just yet, and he might not even be able to devour the power there at his current level. The punishment of the Five Elements race, on the other hand, was neither too strong nor too weak—just right! If it still proved insufficient for his Dao integration later on, he would summon dead spirits to invade the realm boundaries. Regardless, Su Yu was determined to drain this rule power! He was in the middle of strengthening his Brush Dao when he suddenly sensed a faint strand of energy surging along the streams of siphoned rule power. Su Yu was slightly taken aback. Who did this? Quite impressive! Just as he was about to shatter that energy, it seemed to sense Su Yu's presence. A moment later, it coalesced into a ray of light and flew toward him, dissolving as it approached. "The punishment power within the Destiny Gate has weakened. One or two Dao Combiners may descend. Continuing to deplete the rule power may allow even more Dao Combiners to arrive! The Destiny Gate can only hold out for about eight more years..." With those words, the energy vanished completely, leaving no trace behind! Su Yu pondered for a moment. He felt like he had heard that voice before, and soon realized who it was. He sneered, "The Destiny Emperor!" He recognized it! Cautious indeed! Not leaving a single shred of evidence behind, letting the power disperse instantly... Was this fellow making a small investment? Afraid of offending the myriad races, yet unwilling to offend the humans, trying to curry favor with both sides? "Sure enough, these so-called neutral races are a joke. They're just hedging their bets on both sides!" Su Yu already knew all of this, but since the other party had offered a reminder, he would acknowledge the small favor. "One or two Dao Combiners, and two years shaved off... That's manageable!" Su Yu's own plan was that once he integrated into the Dao and his combat power surged, as long as he could handle Dao Combiners, that was enough! He would first pacify the myriad realms, which would take at most a year or two. In about three years, once he had gathered sufficient manpower, he would mount an assault on the Upper Realm. With eight years left, what did he have to fear? As for one or two extra Dao Combiners descending, that was actually a good thing. It wouldn't alter the grand scheme of things, and it would even whittle down the Upper Realm's forces; otherwise, having too many Dao Combiners waiting in the Upper Realm would make it even harder to conquer. Su Yu even began to wonder if he should keep fishing—luring them down one by one until the Upper Realm didn't dare send any more Dao Combiners down to die! With no time to dwell on it, he continued shattering the blood clouds. There were plenty of candidates; the Five Elements Realm had kept a low profile for so many years that they possessed numerous ancient veterans, even if most had not attained Eternity. Rule power was steadily absorbed by Su Yu. After a while, with a thunderous roar, Su Yu's Brush Dao seemed on the verge of tearing through the void and departing! Su Yu's heart jolted! *Has enough pulling force been gathered? Can I go find the Brush Dao now?* *I'm... about to attain the Dao!* Yes, it seemed he was finally about to attain the Dao! Elated, Su Yu called down, "Foutuling, send someone to notify King Dazhou and Hongmeng Ancient City on the human side. Tell them that one or two Dao Combiners might descend from the Upper Realm and to keep a close watch. I have urgent business to attend to and might be delayed for a while!" Su Yu had no idea how long his Dao attainment would take. The River of Time was a strange place; a brief moment inside might mean traveling downstream with the flow, chasing time as it flew past at terrifying speed. Going upstream, however, caused time to drag slowly. You might feel as though eons had passed, yet only a brief instant had elapsed in the outside world. For now, he still didn't know where the Brush Dao was located. "Understood!" Foutuling acknowledged. Passing a message was simple enough. He was far more curious about where Su Yu was heading. *Attaining the Dao?* he wondered silently. Su Yu was growing ever more terrifying. Even though he had inherited everything from the Five Elements Ancestor, Foutuling felt that even if he achieved Dao Integration right now, he might not necessarily defeat Su Yu! What a frightening monster! …… With a single thrust of the brush piercing the River of Time, Su Yu stepped into its currents once more. At this moment, the arrow surged upstream! Su Yu breathed a slight sigh of relief. Fortunately, it was heading upstream rather than downstream. This meant that, by definition, the Brush Dao existed in the past—though "the past" was merely a conceptual description. "Traveling upstream is much harder... I hope I can reach it!" Su Yu swiftly followed the arrow, flying toward the upper reaches. Colossal waves surged across the River of Time! As if sensing something, the river attempted to obstruct Su Yu from attaining the Dao! *Rumble!* Massive waves crashed down, striking Su Yu and forcing him backward repeatedly. He frowned slightly. *What's the meaning of this? You won't even let me integrate into the Dao?* He pushed forward with all his might, while the arrow braved the wind and cleaved through the surging waves, pressing upstream! Having come this far, how could Su Yu possibly give up? He was going to attain the Dao! Right now, year 352 of the Anping Calendar was drawing to a close, about to usher in year 353. Counting from start to finish, three full years had passed since Su Yu first entered the academy. He hoped that starting next year, he could rewrite the era. The Anping Calendar might need a change! *Next year should be Year One!* Su Yu thought. Changing the calendar was the true beginning of a new era! The year was nearing its end, which was why he hadn't brought it up yet, but he hoped to enact that change in the coming year. *Boom!* Another towering wave surged forth, crashing toward Su Yu. With a low shout, Su Yu shattered the wave with a single punch. The immense rule power within could not be absorbed, and its force was extraordinarily formidable. These river waters were composed entirely of rule power, which Su Yu deeply coveted, but unfortunately, they formed a unified whole that was nearly impossible to absorb unless one possessed world-shaking might to siphon some away. Su Yu had clearly not reached that level yet. Reaching out, Su Yu grasped the arrow ahead of him—his divine character combat technique. Brandishing the arrow, he hacked through the thorns and pressed forward relentlessly. Attaining the Dao! Integrating into the Dao! Anything standing in his way would be pulverized into dust. …… While Su Yu advanced within the River of Time, across the myriad realms of the heavens, the sense of unease quickly dissipated following the disappearance of the great brush. Not long after, an expert of the Five Elements race secretly arrived at Hongmeng Ancient City to deliver a report: people from the Upper Realm were coming! Inside the ancient city, King Daqin frowned. "People coming down? Why don't we concentrate our forces and conquer the Destiny Realm first? That realm controls the passageway; anyone descending from the Upper Realm must pass through it. Securing the Destiny Realm means securing firsthand intelligence on the Upper Realm!" "We cannot!" The Old Turtle, currently in the form of a young man, shook his head. "King Daqin underestimates the Destiny Realm—and the Destiny race! The Destiny Realm has guarded the Destiny Gate for countless years. The human race has considered seizing it, and so have the myriad races, yet the Destiny race possesses immense strength!" The Old Turtle explained, "The Destiny race didn't have many ancient marquises. Out of the 720 marquises of the ancient myriad races, the Destiny race only had three. Compared to the major races, that seems negligible—strong races like the Gods, Demons, and Immortals had dozens or even hundreds! However, all three marquises of the Destiny race were exceptionally formidable, verging on the level of Rulers of Rules. Two disappeared in the ancient era, but one ancient marquis still remains. Furthermore, over the past one hundred thousand years, the Destiny race has produced several Dao Combiners... Their strength is not inferior to that of a single kingly residence in the dead spirit realm!" "And they are living beings, not dead spirits!" "Attacking the Destiny race would needlessly provoke a powerful enemy. Everyone took this into account, and coupled with the Destiny race's neutrality, no powerhouse has ever made a move against them." After speaking for a moment, the Old Turtle added, "Let them descend if they wish! There is no need to worry overly much right now. One or two Dao Combiners won't make a significant impact. After all, in the eyes of the various races, our side is still short on Dao Combiners!" Tianmie and the other three, King Daqin and King Daxia, Jiu Yue, and the Five Elements race were not included in the myriad races' calculations. The same applied to the little white dog! In the eyes of the myriad races, these figures were merely Eternals or nonexistent. The Old Turtle continued, "Them gaining one or two more Dao Combiners might actually be a good thing." "A good thing?" King Daqin frowned. How could that be good? Having lived for eons, the Old Turtle smiled and said, "Of course it is! If we appear too strong, the myriad races won't dare venture out. Do you really intend to assault their realms directly? The casualties would be catastrophic! Luring the myriad races out into the open is by far the superior choice!" The Old Turtle elaborated, "The ideal outcome is for all the myriad-race Dao Combiners to come out and gather together! That way, we have the opportunity to wipe them out in one fell swoop without letting a single one escape. If a Dao Combiner flees into hiding, first, they will be difficult to track down, and second, if they launch a surprise attack on the human race's base... it could easily lead to disaster! At that point, the humans would no longer be bare-footed wanderers with nothing to lose; they couldn't simply abandon their home realm, and the tables would turn!" The Old Turtle said in a grave voice, "I don't particularly mind, but tell me: if a rogue Dao Combiner were to raid the Iron-Eating Realm, would the Iron-Eating race still dare take the field? Unless Emperor Yu mimics the Hundred Battles King and ignores their plight, forcibly drafting their Dao Combiners—which would mean treading the exact same disastrous path as the Hundred Battles King!" King Daqin nodded. That was indeed true! The Old Turtle chuckled. "Therefore, having the myriad races unite is actually advantageous! It makes them believe they still have a chance, prompting the Gods, Demons, Immortals, Underworld, and others to congregate and perhaps even take the initiative to target the humans. When that time comes, we concentrate our forces and annihilate them entirely!" "Then we just ignore those descending from the Upper Realm?" King Daqin pondered for a moment before saying, "We can't ignore them completely; we still have to react! The false must seem true, and the true must seem false! We must display fury and regret, acting as though their additional Dao Combiners have ruined our grand plans. Only then will the myriad races feel at ease!" Right now, it was actually the humans who feared driving the myriad races to desperate measures! They had to put the enemy at ease! Hearing this, the Old Turtle nodded with a smile. "That works! It is inconvenient for you and King Daxia to act, but we can have King Dazhou test the waters." "Makes sense!" King Dazhou was indeed the best suited for such tasks. In the outside world's perception, King Dazhou was the human race's only Dao Combiner. Naturally, whenever something arose, King Dazhou was the one expected to handle it. Shortly after, King Daqin sent out a message instructing King Dazhou to lie in wait outside the Destiny Realm! If he could secure a kill, he should take it; if not, he at least needed to let the myriad races see that the humans were anxious and desperate to prevent reinforcements from descending. Soon, King Daqin thought of Su Yu and asked hesitantly, "Su Yu disappeared... Where did he go?" The Old Turtle shook his head, remaining silent for a long while before replying, "My comprehension of the Great Dao is shallow, but... in all likelihood, he has gone to attain the Dao!" "Attain the Dao?" King Daqin was momentarily dazed. *He's only attaining the Dao now?* It seemed so! That terrifying youngster had waited until now to finally attain the Dao! …… While they were conferring, in the Destiny Realm, thunder roared incessantly and lightning flashed across the sky! Standing atop the mountain peak, the Destiny Emperor looked toward the faintly visible passageway gate. Two shadows could be seen supporting each other, fighting their way down toward the Lower Realm. A colossal dragon! And the other... appeared to be the Abyss Marquis of the Tianyuan race. The Dragon race and the Tianyuan race! Powerhouses from these two races had chosen to descend. Roars and thunderclaps echoed continuously! The Destiny Emperor watched in silence without interfering or making trouble. Had he intervened, the rule power would have punished him as well. The Destiny race's stance was crucial. Although they could not disrupt those descending, once the newcomers emerged into the realm, their injuries would cause them to suffer a certain level of suppression; even an ancient marquis would likely be restricted to the combat strength of a ninth-stage Eternal upon exiting. However, the Destiny Emperor knew that once the Upper Realm officially opened, powerhouses from the various races would be stationed within the Destiny Realm. In fact, the races had already wanted to station guards here, but the Destiny Emperor had rejected them. The passageway wasn't even open yet—what right did they have to station troops? Did they truly treat the Destiny Realm as their own backyard? Thoughts raced through his mind. A moment later, accompanied by an earth-shattering thunderclap, *boom!* The true form of a colossal dragon materialized, covered in gruesome wounds yet radiating an extraordinarily formidable aura. "This seat has descended!" "Congratulations, Heavenly Dragon Marquis!" the Destiny Emperor offered his greetings, then turned his gaze toward the other side, where a black-robed powerhouse had emerged, similarly drenched in blood. The Destiny Emperor smiled. "Congratulations, Abyss Marquis!" The colossal dragon shifted into human form, revealing a burly, golden-haired man bearing various injuries. He glared at the Destiny Emperor with a savage look in his eyes, which quickly returned to normal. "Wuming, it has been a long time!" The Destiny Emperor smiled. "Indeed, it has been many years! By my count... nearly six thousand years!" The Heavenly Dragon Marquis exhaled. In truth, he was exceedingly irritated; he had been threatened by this fellow last time, and so had the Abyss Marquis. Of course, this was not the moment to lose his temper. The Heavenly Dragon Marquis quickly asked, "How fares my race currently?" "Acceptably," the Destiny Emperor replied softly. "The Dragon Realm has been sealed off. Several Eternal dragons utilized the Barrier Sealing Technique to shut the realm down." A flash of anger surfaced in the Heavenly Dragon Marquis's eyes. That technique required lives as the sacrifice! "What on earth happened last time? Both the Weapon King and the Talisman King descended, so why was it still a catastrophic defeat?" The Destiny Emperor maintained his gentle tone. "On the human side, King Dazhou advanced to Dao Integration, and multiple Dao Combiners from the Hou race, Iron-Eating race, Space Ancient Beast race, Archaic Giant race, and God-Devouring race joined the fray, resulting in the rout!" "A bunch of useless trash!" the Abyss Marquis spat coldly. "Tiangu and the rest have overseen the Lower Realm for countless years, yet they allowed the humans to grow to this extent. Absolute idiots!" The Destiny Emperor offered no comment. *Your race isn't any better!* The Tianyuan race had been the very first to face extinction. The Abyss Marquis seemed to remember this as well and asked in a low voice, "Then what of my realm's situation?" "It has been sealed off," the Destiny Emperor said. "Most likely annihilated! With your descent, Abyss Marquis, I advise you against returning to the Tianyuan Realm. There are probably no Tianyuan experts left there now. If you return and the humans launch another assault... you won't even have an escape route!" The Abyss Marquis's face turned ashen! Wiped out! Damn it all! Even though he had anticipated it, overwhelming fury still surged within him. Hearing this, the Heavenly Dragon Marquis felt somewhat relieved and quickly said, "Wuming, the Upper Realm will fully open very soon! Our descent this time was not to immediately eradicate the humans, but to remind everyone that no matter how strong the human race appears now, it is merely the dying glow of a setting sun!" He looked pointedly at Wuming, his implication crystal clear: *Don't let your Destiny race make foolish mistakes like the others!* Their descent was indeed not meant to spark an immediate war, but to hold the defensive lines—especially for the Dragon race, which had not yet been destroyed and still possessed experts. If the Heavenly Dragon Marquis hadn't descended, the Dragon race likely would have had no interest in unsealing their realm to fight. The Destiny Emperor chuckled. "I am well aware of this; there is no need for you two to remind me. You need not worry about my Destiny race's stance either. We have remained neutral for one hundred thousand years and will not make an unfavorable choice at this juncture!" "That is for the best!" the Abyss Marquis said coldly. While the Dragon race harbored some reservations, he had no fear of Wuming. The reason was simple: he suffered no suppression here! Indeed, he faced no suppression in this realm. The Tianyuan race had originally been a branch of the Destiny race before rebelling later on. But this came with an advantage: here, no Great Dao suppressed him, and he still possessed the combat power of a Dao Combiner. The Tianyuan race had essentially served as a means for the Upper Realm to keep the Destiny Realm in check. Sure enough, the Abyss Marquis soon spoke in a somber tone: "Since the Tianyuan race is no more, I... shall take up residence in the Destiny Realm for a time!" The Destiny Emperor regarded him coldly. The Abyss Marquis gave a chilling smile. "This is not merely my intention, but the collective will of the Upper Realm's powerhouses! Wuming, no matter how reluctant you may be, I hope you consider the situation. The Upper Realm passageway is about to open, and stationing troops in the Destiny Realm is an inevitability sooner or later!" With his race eradicated, his descent was part of the contingency plans formulated by certain powerhouses in the Upper Realm: to station him in the Destiny Realm, preventing other races' experts from being suppressed here and keeping the Destiny Realm from harboring treacherous thoughts. The Destiny Emperor fell silent for a long while before replying impassively, "Very well! However, you must not step outside the Destiny Mountain! I hope you can abide by this, Abyss Marquis! This is... after all, the Destiny race's territory, and I do not wish to see you anywhere else!" "Naturally!" The Abyss Marquis chuckled darkly. "Why would I intrude without reason?" The Destiny Emperor said nothing more, quickly adding, "Then there is no need to ask further questions. Once the Heavenly Dragon Marquis returns, he will understand the situation himself!" The Destiny Emperor did not mention that he had sensed spatial fluctuations outside the realm. Had King Dazhou arrived, lurking outside the Destiny Realm? None of his business! Given these two's abysmal attitudes, he couldn't be bothered to warn them. Whether they lived or died was entirely up to them! The Heavenly Dragon Marquis did not linger either, quickly saying, "Abyss, you remain here; I shall return to the Dragon Realm first!" With an arrogant swagger, he flew straight out! The Destiny Emperor couldn't even be bothered to comment. *Does he still think this is the ancient era? Daring to leave in such a brazen manner while nursing heavy injuries? If he doesn't die, he'll certainly be stripped of a layer of skin!* Glancing at the Abyss Marquis with a smile, the Destiny Emperor vanished as well, his voice echoing back: "Do not wander around. The myriad realms are no longer what they used to be!" The Abyss Marquis glanced in the direction the Destiny Emperor had departed, paying him no heed. Very quickly, however, his expression changed drastically. Outside the realm, a colossal explosion erupted! …… Outside the realm boundary. King Dazhou was also surprised. Wasn't it supposed to be one or two? Well, one still counted as one or two. The crucial part was the sheer audacity of this fellow—descending with severe injuries and flying straight out in broad daylight without even bothering to recover. Did he think King Dazhou didn't exist? *Boom!* Aided by the Dao of "Silence" and the Dao of "Endurance", King Dazhou had concealed himself outside the realm boundary. Aside from the Destiny Emperor sensing a faint ripple in space, the Heavenly Dragon Marquis hadn't detected his presence in the slightest. The ambush succeeded in an instant! The massive dragon body was cleaved cleanly in half! The Heavenly Dragon Marquis was terrified. With a roar of agony, he detonated the severed rear half of his dragon body without a second thought! *Boom!* His Great Dao surged violently, and he vanished from the spot in a flash, fleeing toward the Dragon Realm! Just as King Dazhou moved to pursue, the Abyss Marquis materialized in the realm passageway, his aura erupting to deter King Dazhou. With a grim expression, he barked, "Who are you? Zhou Tianqi?" The human race's sole Dao Combiner? King Dazhou? To think he had actually launched an ambush! They couldn't allow someone who had just descended to be beaten to death right off the bat. Seeing that the Heavenly Dragon Marquis had already fled, the Abyss Marquis relaxed slightly. Yet just as the thought crossed his mind, King Dazhou suddenly teleported right before his eyes and struck with a palm, countless divine characters weaving together! *Did you think that by hiding at the entrance of the passageway, I wouldn't dare hit you? Did you think I'd be suppressed here? What foolishness!* *Boom!* As the palm struck, the Abyss Marquis hastily met the blow. A deafening roar resounded. Having just descended and nursing injuries of his own, even an ancient marquis was wounded in an instant! Just as King Dazhou prepared to press his advantage, a formidable aura surged toward the skies above the Human Realm. King Dazhou's expression shifted slightly, and he vanished in a flash, teleporting away! Shortly after, Tiangu's voice resonated above the Immortal Realm: "King Dazhou, you would do well to return to the Human Realm. Why go around stirring up trouble?" Indeed, Tiangu had threatened the Human Realm, forcing King Dazhou to retreat. King Dazhou promptly teleported to the Eastern Rift Valley. Looking toward the Immortal Realm, he gave a faint, chilling smile. "True enough. However, Tiangu, you continue to make trouble again and again—be careful that you don't end up without an intact corpse! Having lived for so long, don't let yourself stumble and fall in this particular tide!" "No need for King Dazhou to fret over that!" Tiangu ignored his threat and vanished without another word. At this moment, powerhouses across the various realms manifested, many wearing expressions of delight. Reinforcements had descended from the Upper Realm! The Heavenly Dragon Marquis and the Abyss Marquis! Although the Heavenly Dragon Marquis had been extremely unfortunate, ambushed and cleaved in half by King Dazhou the moment he arrived, returning to the Dragon Realm would allow him to recover quickly. In the Eastern Rift Valley, King Dazhou watched in silence, smiling faintly. A good thing! The injured Heavenly Dragon Marquis would unseal the Dragon Realm's barriers, rendering the sacrifices of the Dragon race's Eternals completely meaningless! Without opening the barrier, attacking the Dragon Realm next time would have required considerable effort. Now, the enemy had voluntarily opened it. Sure enough, above the Dragon Realm, a colossal dragon circled as the Heavenly Dragon Marquis swiftly unsealed the realm! Barely two months had passed, making the deaths of the Dragon race Eternals who had sacrificed themselves to seal the realm entirely in vain, especially since Su Yu hadn't led any campaigns against the various realms afterward. The Heavenly Dragon Marquis couldn't care less about that; if he didn't return to the Dragon Realm, he feared being surrounded and slaughtered. At this moment, the Dragon Realm was naturally the safest place. As for the dragons within, they couldn't afford to dwell on it either. Soon, cheers echoed throughout the Dragon Realm. The ancestor had returned! Even though he was injured, his return brought immense relief to the Dragon race's experts. At long last, they had a Dao Combiner presiding over them again! While they rejoiced, ancient races like the Hou race grew increasingly apprehensive. Two more Dao Combiners... this was troublesome! Moreover, the Upper Realm passageway had loosened, meaning more Dao Combiners might descend soon! That was what worried everyone the most! "Where is Su Yu?" Both the Hou Emperor and the Iron-Eating Beast Emperor pondered this. Why hadn't there been any concerted resistance this time, with only King Dazhou mounting a lone ambush? Otherwise, they might have been able to keep one of those Dao Combiners here forever!