Fierce Battle

Su Yu did not pay much mind to the Dao Integration occurring in the distance. Whether it was Xia Chen or not did not matter. At this stage, a single Dao Integration expert could not stir up much of a storm. In the dead spirit realm, Su Yu felt confident—even more so than in the living realm. At this moment, Su Yu was staring at the mighty being before him. He did not recognize this entity, who seemed to have only just revived. Su Yu was wondering whether this fellow's head worked well or not. If he was dull-witted, that might work to Su Yu's advantage! He was truly formidable. Perhaps he was slightly weaker than a Heavenly King, but not by much; at the very least, he had fought Old Turtle to a standstill at the start. Now, however, he had been suppressed. With the Southern Heavenly King and Old Turtle joining forces, suppressing a single Cangshan Ming was not a problem. At this moment, Cangshan Ming roared continuously in fury. Damn it! Why had things turned out like this? Why did the Northern King flee? Where on earth had the human side obtained so many experts? Even though King Daqin and the others had begun a rapid withdrawal, the guardians, combined with the marquises under the Southern King, were still overpoweringly strong. Revived dead spirit marquises were continually being slain or captured! "What is your name?" Su Yu asked. Cangshan Ming, struggling to hold off the two supreme foes, roared in anger, "I am Cangshan Ming! Junior, what do you think you are doing?" Cangshan Ming! Su Yu did not know him. Old Turtle, however, did, and said in some surprise, "Cangshan Ming? The Lord of Cangshan of the Nether race, the one who was close to becoming a Ruler of Rules? How are you this weak?" "Weak?" Cangshan Ming was momentarily speechless. Yes, he was weak—at least compared to when he was alive. But... had they considered who the two formidable enemies facing him were? Fuck! An old tortoise and the Southern Heavenly King! Which of them wasn't a top-tier powerhouse? Was he really weak? He felt intensely aggrieved. Down at the riverbed earlier, he had fought four or five marquises all by himself! Seeing that he didn't seem particularly sharp-witted, Su Yu smiled and asked, "Do you want to live, or do you want to die?" "What do you mean? Are you trying to humiliate me?" Cangshan Ming roared. Su Yu smiled. "Not at all. I am giving you a way out. Do you see the twenty-seven Eternals behind me? I will choose a place. If you can defeat them, you get to live. If you cannot... then you die! Of course, you possess the power of a Dead Spirit Heavenly King, so I must place some restrictions on you. You will fight in a place where you cannot draw upon death qi. If you agree... you have a chance of survival!" Cangshan Ming snorted coldly. He didn't believe it! He swiftly dived toward the riverbed, intending to flee! Yet at that moment, the Heavenly Gate appeared on Su Yu's forehead once more. It opened in an instant, casting a brilliant light across the Dead Spirit Heavenly River, illuminating all the way through the depths to reveal Cangshan Ming diving below. Old Turtle instantly reverted to his true form, crashing down with a deafening boom to suppress the river. Turtles were naturally suited for aquatic combat. Cangshan Ming wanted to escape by diving into the river, but with Su Yu exposing his true form, Old Turtle pursuing him through the depths, and the Southern King suppressing him from the surface, how could he possibly escape? A moment later, Cangshan Ming was battered black and blue! After a while longer, unable to bear it any longer, Cangshan Ming surfaced and looked all around. Powerful figures were continuously converging on this location. With King Daqin and the others departed, the revived dead spirits were already few and far between. Of the dozen or so dead spirit marquises from before, half had been killed, while the remaining half had either completely severed their Dao power and dived into the deep riverbed, or had been directly captured. Some dead spirit marquises had acted decisively, choosing to sever their connection to their Daos and plunge into the bottom of the river. There were pros and cons to that! The upside was that nobody could find them; the downside was that once found, reconnecting to their Daos would take a split second. During that split second, they only possessed the strength of the Sun and Moon Realm. If an expert seized that opening, even an Eternal would have a chance of instantly slaying a Dao Integration expert! Cangshan Ming wore an expression of sorrow. Why had it come to this? The Northern King had ruined him! That beast! Recalling Su Yu's earlier proposition, he barked, "If I defeat them, will I truly be allowed to live?" Su Yu smiled. "Of course! You can take the gamble. If you don't believe me, you will be killed shortly anyway. If you believe me and take the gamble, you might win, and your chances of living will be quite high!" Having said that, Su Yu turned to the guardians behind him and took a deep breath. "He is very strong, even in his injured state! Theoretically, the combined strength of all of you rivals nine Dao Integration experts, and nine Dao Integration experts could kill him... but battle does not work by simple arithmetic! If he forcibly slays a few of you, you could very well collapse!" Su Yu looked at them. "Are you willing to engage in a life-and-death battle with him? If not, I will have General Zhenling and the others kill him right now!" At that moment, Cangshan Ming also looked on with yearning. Facing twenty-seven Eternals—even though they were all very strong, their ninth-stage Eternal cultivation was separated from him by an immense gulf in rank. They could not truly be counted as nine Dao Integration experts! These people were not much different from someone who had just stepped into Dao Integration. Being able to resist did not mean they could resist him. He felt utterly depressed. He had no choice but to gamble! This was his very first appearance. He had envisioned ruling supreme across the dead spirit realm with his overwhelming strength, yet right after emerging, he was already facing destruction. At this time, Old Turtle also turned his head to look at the group. He understood Su Yu's intention! Slaughtering a Heavenly King with their own hands would be fighting above their rank by several tiers, which would yield tremendous rewards. It might very well allow seven, eight, or even more of them to advance to Dao Integration! As for the captured monarchs or dead spirit marquises, everyone had chipped in to subdue them. Killing them was essentially reaping an easy harvest, and the rewards were never that substantial. It had been the same earlier! Only after slaughtering seventy or eighty monarchs had twenty-one Invincibles managed to break through to the ninth stage. They were already at the seventh or eighth stage to begin with, so the actual reward per kill had been relatively meager. Naturally, there was risk involved. Guardian Didang said in a deep voice, "In battle, we cannot always fight when the wind is at our backs! Since the Human Lord has created such a fine opportunity for us, we too wish to experience the combat prowess of a Heavenly King!" Take him to the Star Residence Mansion to fight! Twenty-seven against one! Cut off the influx of his death qi. Under such circumstances, it was already an optimal combat setup. If the twenty-seven guardians, all practitioners of the weapon-merging Dao, still couldn't kill this fellow while working together, their existence would truly seem too insignificant. "Are you willing?" "We are!" Shanqi chuckled. "Human Lord, to have such an opportunity, everyone is more than willing!" Then he grinned and added, "And another thing... we are soldiers! Ancient soldiers! Since the Human Lord has created this opportunity for us, then... grant us a better choice!" "What choice?" Su Yu was puzzled. Did they want him to heavily injure Cangshan Ming first before letting them fight? Shanqi bared his teeth. "Human Lord, this time, you do not need to teleport over! That includes the boss and the Southern King as well... Just the twenty-seven of us and Cangshan Ming, in a fight to the death! Whoever wins comes out!" Su Yu frowned. He was only trying to let them obtain greater rewards, not sending them to their deaths! Shanqi said seriously, "Human Lord, sometimes having enough rule power does not guarantee one can achieve Dao Integration! It requires insights gained between life and death! We... have simply gone without battle for far too long! Tianmie and the others achieved Dao Integration through life-and-death struggles, not simply because they had gathered enough rule power as you imagined!" "If you all follow us inside, we will only think, 'It's fine, even if we lose it won't matter, the Human Lord and the boss won't let us die, we have nothing to fear'... No, that's not how it works!" Shanqi shook his head. "If that's the case, we will have very little hope of advancing! Because we would only be absorbing rule power without touching the Great Dao laws or gaining deeper comprehension. Even if such a Dao Integration succeeds, it will only produce weaklings—the weak Dao Integration of the Three-Incarnation Method!" Shanqi smiled. "The Zhenling Army was the premier army under King Gong! An elite force capable of matching and even surpassing the armies under the other kings! We are soldiers, not suckling babes. Human Lord, if we truly fall in battle inside, it merely means our skills were inferior! If that happens... the Human Lord need not kill Cangshan Ming either. As long as he is willing to submit, the Human Lord can pardon his offenses. I imagine he would be willing to serve you!" Shanqi's proposal left Su Yu momentarily unable to decide. This was not the result he wanted! He was genuinely worried that these people would be killed, which would spell massive trouble! He had paid a tremendous price to free the twenty-seven guardians. If they were killed here by Cangshan Ming, the series of advantages he had built up would vanish into thin air. Furthermore, without them, the subsequent campaign against the upper realm would become vastly more difficult. Knowing his hesitation, Shanqi dropped to one knee upon the river's surface and said solemnly, "Emperor Yu, we wish to fight this battle! We know you paid an immense price to rescue us, but... if we do not fight to the death and witness the might of a Heavenly King, we will hardly be a match for the ancient marquises! Right now, all we face are dead spirit marquises, who are far less versatile than the living marquises!" "And the upper realm is full of experts! Seasoned fighters who have waged war across countless eras! Does Emperor Yu desire twenty-seven weaklings who can only match Three-Incarnation Dao Integration experts, or twenty-seven truly valiant warriors of the weapon-merging Dao who can battle top-tier Dao Integration experts?" He was asking Su Yu: What do you want? A band of weaklings? The kind where three Dao Integration experts are needed to fight a single one from the upper realm? Twenty-seven Dao Integration experts might only be able to match seven or eight ancient marquises at most, because their time in Dao Integration would be too short, they had gone years without fighting, they lacked combat experience at that level, and their comprehension of the Great Dao was insufficient. Su Yu had never considered this before! Indeed, he had overlooked these factors. He had assumed that once these people achieved Dao Integration, they would all be comparable to Tianmie and the rest. In truth, he had truly underestimated Tianmie. Tianmie might never have won a fight, but that didn't mean he was weak; he was exceptionally powerful, it was just that his opponents were always top-tier experts. Old Turtle's expression changed as well, and he wanted to speak, but Shanqi smiled and said, "Boss, we aren't children anymore! We are soldiers! Though our Zhenling Army has long ceased fighting, right now, we are perhaps the only remaining organized army of the ancient era!" "If Emperor Yu needs a group of weak Dao Integration experts, then we can let you and the others come along. If we truly cannot win, you can intervene!" At these words, Cangshan Ming's expression shifted. That wouldn't do! Su Yu showed hesitation; this had truly put him in a difficult spot. Old Turtle gazed at them for a long time before letting out a bitter laugh. "Shanqi, I know you are competing with Tianmie..." "General!" Shanqi suddenly shouted with righteous indignation, "I am a soldier, I am not competing with Tianmie! Nothing I have said is out of rivalry! I am merely asking Emperor Yu whether he wants an elite army of Dao Integration experts, or a weak Dao Integration army that can only be spoon-fed to power!" He wasn't competing! Well, that was what he told himself. Old Turtle's expression flickered. He truly hesitated; this was not what he wanted, nor was it his original intention. Yet... when he saw his twenty-seven old brothers kneeling on one knee, awaiting his decision... he knew that Su Yu was also waiting for him to decide, because these were his troops. It was awkward for Su Yu to make this choice! Otherwise, if the twenty-seven guardians truly died in battle, a rift would inevitably form between him and Old Turtle! After a long silence, Old Turtle said dejectedly, "I am no good general. You are all brave and skilled in battle, while I alone am... Forget it, I will not stop you! I only hope that you... can come back safely!" He had agreed! For a moment, Su Yu was uncertain whether this was appropriate. An elite army! After a long pause, Su Yu spoke: "Hetu and Lanshan will accompany you inside. If the Zhenling Army is defeated, they will escort Cangshan Ming out. If they are victorious... the two of you will devour his remains on the spot!" Su Yu glared coldly at Cangshan Ming. "You heard that! If you win, you have a chance to live. If you lose... you will have no place to be buried!" Cangshan Ming calculated silently for a moment and said in a low voice, "Where are you taking me?" "The Star Residence Mansion!" "The Star Residence Mansion?" He did not know the place. Su Yu said calmly, "The place where the ancient human race unified the heavens! It has long been abandoned. Of course, there is no way to escape either; you won't be able to find the exit, nor will you be able to leave. Feel free to try if you don't believe me!" Cangshan Ming had been a supreme expert in life. He hesitated for a moment before saying in a deep voice, "Fine, I will gamble on this chance!" Remaining here meant certain death! Right now, no more experts were reviving from the Dead Spirit Heavenly River, and even if they did, they likely wouldn't dare show their heads. Staying here offered no hope of survival; he wouldn't even be able to drag anyone down with him. He refused to accept that! He was willing to gamble for a chance to live! This spot was not far from the passage. Without another word, Su Yu quickly flew toward the passage, and the others followed close behind. Old Turtle and the Southern King flanked Cangshan Ming, keeping watch on him. Soon, they reached the passage. The Martial Emperor might still be throwing a tantrum inside, but Su Yu knew the fellow would not meddle, let alone kill the guardians. He wasn't stupid; he needed the guardians to win and kill Cangshan Ming so that they would receive rule rewards! Therefore, the twenty-seven guardians' only enemy was Cangshan Ming! At this moment, everyone felt tremendous pressure. Such a gamble was strictly unnecessary. Yet Shanqi's words had rung true: Did he want a weak army nurtured on handouts, or a mighty force forged in battle? What did Su Yu want? Naturally, an elite army! Yet if they failed, the price paid would be catastrophic! Su Yu sent a voice transmission to Hetu: "I will not enter. If I do, they will feel I look down on them. You watch from inside; if real danger arises, summon Marquis Tongtian! With Marquis Tongtian and Marquis Lanshan joining forces with them, they should be able to win!" "When?" Hetu asked, pausing before continuing, "At what casualty rate should I call Marquis Tongtian to join the battle?" Su Yu hesitated before replying via voice transmission, "Half! No, ten. The moment ten guardians fall in battle, act immediately!" "Understood!" Hetu committed the order to memory, then added, "Marquis Lanshan might not listen to me..." "I will instruct her to follow your commands!" "Thank you, Your Majesty!" Hetu said no more. Su Yu said nothing further either, merely instructing Marquis Lanshan to follow Hetu's orders once inside. Soon, thirty experts, including Hetu and the others, distributed themselves across the massive stars. Cangshan Ming felt a faint surge of excitement. Once teleported inside, could he escape? Though Su Yu had claimed there was no way out, he still wanted to try. The next instant, Su Yu activated the teleportation! The group vanished from the spot in a flash. The moment they were gone, Old Turtle looked utterly dejected, unable to maintain his composure. Anxiously, he said, "Emperor Yu, those fellows are too arrogant! A Heavenly King is not so easily killed, and they are only Eternals after all! If Cangshan Ming breaks them one by one, it will be the end of them!" Just moments ago, he had barely managed to keep his cool. Now that they had vanished, his worry flared uncontrollably. "A hundred thousand years ago, I led them into disaster once. Now, I do not want to see them die like this!" Old Turtle was flustered and restless. His disposition had never been like this; he was normally composed, unflappable, and patient. Yet in this moment, he was genuinely frantic, speaking without thinking: "I would rather they become weak Dao Integration experts and live a long time. If they truly cannot defeat the powers of the upper realm, they can just flee..." Catching himself, he abruptly fell silent and glanced at Su Yu. Su Yu acted as though he hadn't heard, comforting him: "It's fine. I have Marquis Lanshan and Marquis Tongtian on standby, and both are steadily growing stronger! If it truly reaches a desperate point, they will intervene!" Old Turtle remained uneasy, while the Southern King frowned and said, "Indecisive and womanish! Hongmeng, no wonder you have never reached the peak of the Heavenly King realm, always falling just a bit short!" The Old Turtle was very strong, but he truly fell short of the Four Heavenly Kings. His temperament was one factor, and his comprehension of the Great Dao was another. Old Turtle said helplessly, "I am just worried..." "In the ancient wars, countless lives were lost. In our current situation, how could no one die?" The Southern King said coldly, "I actually think highly of that Shanqi! What he said was correct, and that includes Human Lord Su—I find that all of you wish for perfect plans where no one dies. How is that possible? Even King Wen, with all his infallible schemes, lost countless human lives while campaigning across the heavens!" "If Human Lord Su hadn't been so obsessed with perfection, the Northern King would have found it difficult to escape! Back then, had Human Lord Su intervened, joining forces with me to suppress the Northern King, while Lanshan—who surpasses ordinary Dao Integration experts—slew a single dead spirit marquis, the rest would have inevitably routed! Slaying the Northern King would have had a very high chance of success!" Letting the Northern King escape made her feel that Su Yu still had flaws. He was too soft-hearted! Indeed. Of course, she did not view this negatively, because she felt Su Yu was simply that kind of person at his core—warm and compassionate. Otherwise, he wouldn't have called her 'Master's Wife' upon their first meeting. He was a purely kind-hearted boy! Su Yu nodded without offering excuses. There were things he had not mentioned. Elder Sister, it wasn't that I didn't want to do that, but... I didn't have the capital! There were too many Dao Integration experts in the upper realm. Furthermore, with the Hundred Battles King serving as a cautionary tale, the other races were deeply worried I would treat them as cannon fodder. If non-human Dao Integration experts died while human ones remained unscathed, it could easily trigger an upheaval! Otherwise, Su Yu would have had no need to think everything through so meticulously, constantly striving to slay enemies at minimal cost! The Hundred Battles King had run that path into a dead end! Even dead spirit marquises could not be squandered carelessly. As for the Northern King's escape, Su Yu was not overly concerned. He smiled and said, "The Northern King has fled. Since he didn't dare intervene while we were fighting the Dead Spirit Heavenly River and chose to run instead, he will most likely not dare attack us again anytime soon!" The Southern King furrowed her brow and nodded. "Still, we must remain vigilant. If this Cangshan Ming dies... he is also an extraordinarily powerful entity. If no Heavenly King-level dead spirit emerges to fill the void after so many marquises and monarchs have fallen, a powerful being might very well be born!" "What about you, Southern King?" Su Yu looked at her. Did she have no hope of advancing? The Southern King frowned. "I am still a bit short; in fact, I am not even on par with the Northern King! His chances of advancing are greater than mine! The best method is still for more dead spirit Dao Integration experts to emerge, or for a Dead Spirit Heavenly King to appear outright to fill the vacancies in the Great Dao!" Su Yu nodded, looking toward the distant Dead Spirit Heavenly River. The Southern King looked as well, saying in a heavy voice, "There must still be a large number of powerful beings down there, but they dare not show their faces now! Once things quiet down a little, those fellows will likely unite again, and they will be far more cautious than before!" Cangshan Ming had been too careless and had trusted the Northern King too much, assuming the Northern King would join the fight. Or rather, he had thought he was assisting the Northern King, not that the Northern King would assist him. Su Yu's sudden assault had caught him completely off guard. Had Su Yu attacked the Northern King instead, Cangshan Ming would certainly have led his dead spirit marquises into the fray. Su Yu nodded once more. The two of them chatted, paying no heed to Old Turtle, who was fidgeting with anxiety, powerless to do anything! What was happening? Would people die? How many? He did not want his old brothers to die, yet he could not stop them. Seeing his extreme agitation, Su Yu felt somewhat helpless, but soon said, "General Zhenling, go wait by the entrance to the seventh floor. If danger arises, you can slip inside. I will have Marquis Tongtian coordinate with you so he can teleport you to the battlefield at any moment!" "Why didn't you say so earlier..." The Old Turtle vanished instantly. At this moment, he could not care less about preserving Su Yu's dignity; he was worried half to death! In the blink of an eye, he was gone. The Southern King frowned slightly. "This Hongmeng is too indecisive! His strength is not weak, and he is suitable for combat, but he cannot lead a campaign. Otherwise... facing a formidable enemy, defeat is certain!" "He simply cannot let go of his old brothers." Su Yu smiled. "That is a good thing; having some human sentiment is fine! Doesn't Master's Wife also hold King Wen close to her heart? And I, too, have things I cannot let go of... If a person truly has no desires or attachments, they become impossible to constrain! If he truly had no desires, why would he fight for me?" He did not see any major flaw in Old Turtle. If one truly desired nothing, why would they help you? The Southern King was taken aback. She remained silent for a long moment before nodding slightly. "Perhaps you are right!" She did not refute him. Perhaps Su Yu was right. If she truly had no desires or attachments, why would she help the human race? Wasn't it because she could not let go of certain things? Taking advantage of the moment, Su Yu asked, "Master's Wife, when Master King Wen came here back then, was it to resurrect someone?" The Southern King furrowed her brow. "It seemed so. He never spoke of it, and I never asked—I didn't dare to, nor was it my place to ask." Didn't dare! That was another aspect, for King Wen had been too magnificent and upright. Ordinary people felt ashamed of their own shortcomings before him. The Southern King had felt the same! She was merely a dead spirit, whereas he was the hegemon of the heavens, the foremost figure across the cosmos. The Southern King had once felt that King Wen was far more charismatic than the Human Sovereign. It wasn't the Southern King! Su Yu confirmed that when King Wen came, it hadn't been to resurrect the Southern King. Then it truly might have been Xingyue. What was Xingyue's true identity? A being who was merely at the sixth stage of Eternal even after devouring a dead spirit marquis seal. A being who had been unable to advance across countless ages. Did Xingyue herself know who she was? He had no time to ponder this further and quickly asked, "Then does Master's Wife know how to perform a resurrection?" The Southern King pondered for a moment before speaking: "I am not entirely clear, but... the difficulty is immense! I do not know the exact steps, but I know a little. It seems to require various elements working in tandem, including the power of different Great Daos! It is not as simple as gathering enough life qi to revive someone. I vaguely heard that one must even suppress the Dead Spirit Dao, yet the Dead Spirit Dao is incomparably powerful—how could it be suppressed?" The Southern King shook her head, then added, "However, Lord King Wen seemed to have conducted some research. He needed certain components working together; the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone were all required! The Brush Dao seals, the Ink Dao suppresses, the Paper Dao bestows the Dao of the living, and the Inkstone Dao bestows the power of life..." She gave a brief overview, only knowing this much in broad terms. Su Yu, however, was slightly stunned. All four Great Daos had to be utilized! The Brush Dao seals, the Ink Dao suppresses... How does the Ink Dao suppress? Can the Ink Dao suppress the Dead Spirit Dao? That should be impossible! Su Yu said in a heavy voice, "The Ink Dao suppresses... the Brush Dao seals... In other words, the goal is to strip the dead spirit's individual Dao away from the overarching Dead Spirit Dao! I am beginning to form an idea: sever their dead spirit Dao so it is no longer entwined with the main Great Dao, use immense physical body strength to bestow vitality, and the Paper Dao... perhaps it can recreate a new Dao, the Dao of a living person!" His deduction was likely correct. If so... resurrecting someone was far too difficult! Far harder than expected! King Wen had failed to succeed—was it because he wasn't strong enough? Not necessarily! Or was it that even King Wen could not sever a Dao from the Dead Spirit Dao? If so, Su Yu might not succeed either. "If he did it to resurrect Xingyue... Xingyue... Xingyu... Could she be the Human Sovereign's daughter?" Suspicion rose in Su Yu's mind. Wasn't the Human Sovereign a bachelor? Could he have had an illegitimate daughter? Even if he did, the Human Sovereign should have attended to it himself; why leave it to King Wen? Or had his deduction gone astray? Forget it, no point dwelling on this now. Looking toward the teleportation passage, he let out a breath. He did not know whether the twenty-seven guardians could slay Cangshan Ming. If they couldn't and suffered casualties, he would take a massive loss this time. As for the Northern King and the others fleeing, let them run! Dismissing those thoughts, Su Yu quickly turned his gaze to the crowd. A group of dead spirit monarchs and marquises were still suppressing several captured dead spirit marquises! Looking at the gathering, Su Yu said in a solemn voice, "Eight monarchs of the ninth stage of Eternal will be rewarded with one dead spirit seal each!" Specks of light scattered from his hand, falling upon eight dead spirit monarchs. He had been observing them throughout; these eight were valiant and seasoned fighters! Far more battle-tested than the other monarchs! This time, exactly eight dead spirit monarchs had been slain; only five had been subdued, while the rest had fled. The eight monarchs were overjoyed! They knelt one after another, crying out, "Emperor Yu is wise and sagacious!" "Absorb the dead spirit seals quickly. It is best if you can break through; right now is the optimal moment for advancement, as the Great Dao is in turmoil and numerous positions within it have been vacated!" Indeed, now was the golden opportunity for advancement! Soon, several monarchs began absorbing the dead spirit seals and the blood of death. The other monarchs could only watch with envy, and even the dead spirit marquises felt envious. However, allocating the resources this way allowed their combat power to grow much more effectively. A dead spirit marquis devouring a seal gained only limited improvement. Having distributed these, Su Yu said no more, waiting patiently inside the teleportation passage! Once the battle concluded, he would know. If they advanced, the human race's fortune would surge dramatically! If they all died, the human race's fortune would be significantly weakened. …… Inside the Star Residence Mansion. The Martial Emperor was fuming. Many strands of his hair had been broken off. At this moment, on the basement level, a bloody battle was raging! The twenty-seven guardians had fought in countless slaughterous battles in ancient times and were skilled warriors, yet their opponent was simply too powerful! Cangshan Ming focused his attacks on a single target, battering Shanqi until his petrification technique shattered and even his flesh and blood were rupturing! Cangshan Ming intended to pay a slight price to swiftly execute a few guardians, shattering their coordinated formation! Yet these guardians were longtime companions; fighting together was second nature to them. Just as Shanqi was severely injured, the person in front of Cangshan Ming swapped out. Another guardian stepped in front of him, slashing down with a blade. The battle was brutal beyond measure! In the blink of an eye, seven or eight guardians were gravely wounded, while Cangshan Ming was also battered to the point where black blood splattered and his death qi churned wildly. The power of the Dead Spirit Dao suppressed the guardians. The Great Dao was too overbearing, weighing upon them until they were exhausted in body and spirit. …… In the distance. Hetu furrowed his brow slightly. If this continued, even if the twenty-seven guardians won, few would survive. Pondering for a moment, he quickly transmitted his voice: "Marquis Lanshan, let us swiftly devour dead spirit seals to strengthen ourselves and divert the Great Dao's power! Otherwise, with so many vacancies in the Dao right now, Cangshan Ming might very well grow stronger as the battle progresses!" Marquis Lanshan said nothing. Both sat cross-legged and began rapidly devouring dead spirit seals, of which they possessed a few. These were left over from earlier kills. Hetu's idea was simple: if he broke through to Dao Integration now, he could seize a portion of control over the Great Dao, and so could Marquis Lanshan. If dead spirits on the outside advanced as well, they would wrest away even more. If he guessed correctly, Su Yu had likely rewarded several dead spirit monarchs out there to help them advance to Dao Integration. Ever since regaining a large portion of his memories and recovering his true self, Hetu had become much wiser, just as he had been in the past. He was no longer so prone to rage, nor was he as foolish! He had already been close to Dao Integration. Devouring the dead spirit seal now, comprehending the power of the Great Dao, and observing a battle between Heavenly King-level combatants... A moment later, his aura fluctuated slightly. After a while, a powerful wave of death qi soared into the sky! In the distance, Cangshan Ming's death qi weakened almost imperceptibly, sending him into a fury. The other guardians did not understand the situation and sensed nothing, but Cangshan Ming cursed inwardly! Another Dao Integration expert emerging in a place where death qi was severed weakened him slightly, even if only by a fraction. Yet he was indeed weakened! There was no time to ponder this. The guardians had grown completely frenzied. Several chose to shatter their petrification arts entirely, unleashing immense power from their weapons to turn heaven and earth upside down! The bitter struggle raged on! Guardians were sent flying one after another! Yet Cangshan Ming's aura was also steadily waning. Marquis Lanshan was growing stronger, Hetu was growing stronger, and outside in the dead spirit realm, two of the eight monarchs had remarkably achieved breakthrough to Dao Integration as well. They had already been a hair's breadth away, and now with the Dead Spirit Dao loosening, it was the best time for them to advance. Su Yu even arranged for all the dead spirit marquises, including the Southern King, to begin cultivating, seizing the opportunity to encroach upon more of the Great Dao's power! Meanwhile, the fleeing Northern King and his subordinates, upon reaching the Land of Guixu, wasted no time and immediately began cultivating to strengthen themselves. Similarly, far in the distance, Xia Chen and Liu Hong seized the opportunity to continually enhance their strength. Within the Dead Spirit Heavenly River, numerous entities were also absorbing rule power to bolster themselves. A rare opportunity! With many dead spirit marquises and a vast number of monarchs dying today, this was nothing short of a feast! …… At the same time. In the living realm. Within a small, weak minor realm, several cultivators of the Shanhai and Sun and Moon Realms had gathered. Soon, an eye materialized on an immortal Sun and Moon expert. The expert's aura and gaze shifted—Tiangu! Indeed, it was Tiangu's presence. In the blink of an eye, the auras of the other experts from various races shifted as well. Possessing this Sun and Moon cultivator, Tiangu said in a heavy voice, "Our true bodies have been unable to assemble, making certain matters difficult to discuss. Today is a good opportunity to gather and confer!" There were quite a few present. Tiangu, King Fu, the Phoenix Emperor, Jiwu, Moji, Moyue, the Ape Emperor, Marquis Shenyuan, Marquis Tianlong, and the Nether Emperor—a full ten Dao Integration experts. Neither Marquis Jiantian nor Duobao had been invited. "The Spirit Emperor, Lingyuan, Longdou, the Golden-Winged Roc, and King Bing—in our last battle, a full five living Dao Integration experts perished!" Tiangu said in a heavy voice, "King Fu visited the dead spirit realm, and two dead spirit marquises were slain last time as well... The losses from that battle were simply too severe!" Everyone's faces darkened. "Su Yu has grown too quickly!" Tiangu said gravely, "Lately, I have felt deeply uneasy! For the first time in a hundred thousand years, I feel this restless! We won the great war of the ninth tide, wiping out nearly a hundred Dao Integration experts of the human alliance! However, our races also suffered significant losses. Because the human race was weakened, a large number of our Dao Integration experts chose to ascend to the upper realm!" In the past, the various races would never leave behind only a single Dao Integration expert to oversee their realms; at peak times there were five or six, and at least two or three even at their lowest. This time, however, because the human race had suffered devastating losses, a large number of Dao Integration experts had gone to the upper realm to encircle and suppress them, leaving very few in the lower realm. Now, the drawbacks of that decision were showing. Jiwu said coldly, "Tiangu, had your immortal race not harbored treacherous intentions from the start, it would never have come to this. In ancient times, your immortal race was even allied with the human race..." Tiangu frowned. "Back then, it wasn't solely because of our immortal race's ambitions! There was another factor: everyone wanted to keep the humans alive to lure out the human old antiques in the upper realm, and even draw out any unexposed Fire Spreaders!" "Who could have predicted that after suppressing the humans for several centuries, such an upheaval would occur in the final ten years before the upper realm opens? Nobody could have foreseen this!" They were only a few years away from opening the upper realm! To claim the immortals were overly ambitious—weren't the gods and demons the same? Neither had been resolute enough at the beginning to eradicate humanity completely, preferring instead to lure down all the ancient antiques from the upper realm to rescue the humans! They had also wanted to draw out any remaining human Fire Spreaders! In the end, they had simply tripped over their own feet. Tiangu continued, "It can also be considered a good thing; at least several hidden players have been exposed! That includes some of the trump cards left behind by King Wen—that Book Spirit and Tea Tree, as well as the essence blood Su Yu consumed back then. The Great Zhou King has also exposed himself; he is certainly not a human from this tide. Furthermore, ancient races like the Iron-Eating race have revealed their allegiance. Once this tide concludes, all remnants will be annihilated!" Moji said softly, "Let us not dwell on that. Tiangu, what is your intention in summoning us today? According to our previous plan, we were all supposed to bide our time and wait for the upper realm to open. There is no need to fight a bloody war against the humans right now. Once the upper realm opens, the humans will surely be wiped out..." Tiangu took a deep breath. "I feel uneasy! Extremely uneasy! I worry that in another seven or eight years, what if Su Yu... what if he becomes a Ruler of Rules?" "Impossible!" Moji said in a heavy voice, "In a hundred thousand years, not a single Ruler of Rules has emerged! Even the Hundred Battles King failed!" "What if he does?" Tiangu said grimly, "Therefore, I believe we must eliminate Su Yu. Even if we cannot kill the others, we must resolve Su Yu first!" "Difficult!" Jiwu shook his head. "If Su Yu were easy to kill, he would have died long ago!" Tiangu nodded. "Even if we cannot kill Su Yu, my idea is to consume vast amounts of rule power! Force the upper realm to open early—even if only by a little—and weaken the rule power so that more Dao Integration experts can descend from the upper realm! Right now, even including Duobao and Marquis Jiantian, we only have twelve Dao Integration experts!" "Meanwhile, on the human side, there are two from the God-Devouring race, Hongmeng, the Book Spirit, the Tea Tree, the Great Zhou King, the Iron-Eating Beast Emperor, the Space Beast Emperor, the Hou Emperor, and the Primordial Giant King—a full ten of them! Since Su Yu succeeded in merging his Dao, he might possess Dao Integration combat power as well. And behind that drop of essence blood he consumed last time, there should be another one—the hound Marquis Jiantian mentioned. That makes twelve..." Tiangu sighed. "We are evenly matched, or perhaps even slightly weaker! Moreover, I cannot clearly decipher or understand some of Su Yu's recent movements!" The expressions of those gathered gradually turned grave. They all looked at Tiangu. What did he mean? Tiangu said in a low, somber voice, "Each race possesses numerous peak Sun and Moon experts and quasi-Eternals! Have them achieve the Dao! Not through the Three-Incarnation Method, but via other paths—each race should have made some preparations! Trade peak Sun and Moon experts to secretly bring down some Dao Integration experts! Marquis Shenyuan, keep a close watch on the Fate Realm; do not let news leak out, so we can catch Su Yu off guard!" "Achieving the Dao in secret will trigger rule punishment. Sacrificing thirty to fifty Sun and Moon experts should allow one or two Dao Integration experts to descend!" The expressions of the crowd flickered slightly. Tiangu sneered, "Reluctant? Surely not! Consider it yourselves. My immortal race can offer thirty Sun and Moon experts to attempt achieving the Dao through alternate paths. If they succeed, all the better; it opens another path with greater future prospects! If they fail, it will still trigger rule punishment!" "However, you cannot constantly rely on the immortal race. Is this solely my affair?" Tiangu said harshly, "If we do not act now, we might not get another chance! Let five or six Dao Integration experts descend quietly to catch Su Yu unprepared. Finally, find a way to slay Hongmeng—that way, Su Yu will lose his greatest backing! Our race contacted the Eastern Heavenly King previously, and he claimed he would take action, yet there has been no movement for a long time. I worry something has gone wrong on that side..." Moji pondered for a moment before nodding. "We must make dual preparations! We cannot simply sit and wait! If Su Yu truly steps into the realm of a Ruler of Rules over these next few years, those descending from the upper realm will also suffer severe casualties! It is better to have some Dao Integration experts descend early..." With that, he declared, "The demon race will also provide thirty Sun and Moon experts to attempt other Daos! If they succeed, everyone rejoices; if they fail, losing some Sun and Moon experts is far better than losing Dao Integration experts. Trading Sun and Moon experts for Dao Integration experts is well worth it!" The Dao Integration experts of the other races pondered for a time and quickly nodded in agreement. Tiangu smiled; he had finally persuaded them. These fellows were truly troublesome. He quickly said, "Then act as soon as you return! Keep a low profile, and above all, keep a tight watch on the Fate Realm! Otherwise, if news leaks, it will cause immense trouble! Keep a close eye on the Fate Emperor; that fellow has shown subtle signs of leaning toward the humans this tide, which is unacceptable! Marquis Shenyuan, no matter what, you must keep a tight watch on him!" "I will!" Marquis Shenyuan gave a sinister chuckle. "Rest assured! I have my eyes locked onto him! The upper realm does not trust him either, which is the only reason I descended!" Tiangu felt somewhat more at ease, then added, "The various races must also find a way to contact the dead spirit realm again; we cannot just wait! If several Heavenly Kings of the dead spirit realm mobilize, Hongmeng can be eliminated!" "We will find a way, but... it would be best to reclaim the Tianyuan Realm. Otherwise, communication is inconvenient; the Great Zhou King sealed the Tianyuan Realm specifically to prevent us from entering the dead spirit realm through it." "Find an opportunity to launch a war and take back the Tianyuan Realm!" "……" The group of Dao Integration experts continued to confer. Under the current circumstances, agreements that had previously been impossible to reach were swiftly settled. The critical factor lay in dispelling the power of rule punishment, ideally opening the upper realm ahead of schedule. Even if it could not be opened, a large number of Dao Integration experts needed to descend to bolster their forces. …… While they were taking action, Su Yu was waiting anxiously. Was there a result yet? Battles between supreme experts were swift; dragging on for days was out of the question. Of course, if one fled and the other pursued, it could take a long time, but those inside had nowhere to run. The fortune in his Human Lord Seal was fluctuating violently. He had no idea what was happening! "May they succeed in slaying him!" Su Yu prayed silently. He placed great hopes on the guardians of the Zhenling Army! Without the Zhenling Army, Old Turtle and the others might completely lose their composure. Su Yu even felt a twinge of regret; had he known, perhaps he should have simply manufactured some weak Dao Integration experts. That would have been far better than this state of anxious suspense. Waiting for the outcome felt worse than charging in to kill the enemy himself! At least then, he would know the result! Win or lose, he would know. At that exact moment, a thunderous boom shook the dead spirit realm. The Great Dao manifested, and a colossal Dao snapped in two! Su Yu froze, then felt boundless ecstasy! Cangshan Ming had been killed? They won? Yet the next moment, Su Yu's expression changed. They had won, but how many had died? If the casualties were heavy, it would spell immense trouble and be difficult to account for! Even though this had been Shanqi and the others' own choice! Su Yu no longer cared whether the Martial Emperor was angry or not, instantly teleporting inside. To hell with whether the Martial Emperor liked it! Fight me if you have the guts! The moment he teleported in, he saw an immense pillar of light towering into the sky, composed entirely of rule power. The next instant, the Martial Emperor appeared before him, brimming with boundless fury, looking as though he wanted to devour Su Yu whole! "Out of the way, I have business..." "Su Yu, I will kill you!" The Martial Emperor's form had already been restored, and now a complete phantom materialized, hurling a fist toward Su Yu! Su Yu was startled! This fellow had broken through a significant degree of his seal—this was troublesome! Next time, Su Yu might not even be able to enter this place. At this moment, he didn't even have time to check on the other side; he had to beat this grandson of a Martial Emperor into submission first. No matter how much of the seal you've undone, you still haven't completely broken free! Rumble! The previous battle had barely ended when Su Yu instantly clashed with the Martial Emperor's phantom, their collision shaking heaven and earth. In the void, a fist and a brush intertwined continuously, battering the entire basement level until countless strands of hair shattered, forcefully pounding the Martial Emperor completely bald!