Surprise Attack, Slaying, Encirclement

Nine days had passed. Mount Bamboo. Inside the massive bamboo palace, Wu Yue looked at Jiu Yue and said gloomily, "Nine days! You're completely convinced Su Yu is fine? Where is he? Where did he go? Slaying three Dao Integration experts is no small feat, but it's not as if there was zero hope. Has Su Yu given up?" Jiu Yue replied naively, "It's only been nine days! Isn't there still one day left? What's the rush?" Wu Yue glanced outside at the sky. Darkness had already fallen. "It will soon be the tenth day!" Wu Yue grumbled sullenly. "Ten days! Aside from some minor commotion at the very start, there hasn't been a single peep these past two days!" Initially, Marquis Dingjun had surfaced several times and killed a few people. But a few days ago, even Marquis Dingjun had vanished without a trace. "Silence just means he's preparing for an even bigger move," Jiu Yue said. He knew Su Yu well. Since even Marquis Dingjun had disappeared, nine times out of ten, Su Yu had gone to prepare something monumental. He had gathered everyone under his command! As the two spoke, Marquis Juzhu sat placidly on the side, stuffing his face with food, completely indifferent. Off to the side, seeing that the marquis remained silent, Si Yue couldn't help but ask, "Marquis Juzhu, if the ten-day deadline arrives and they truly haven't done anything... what will we do?" Marquis Juzhu continued eating until grease glistened around his mouth. After eating a bit more, he let out a loud burp and sighed in contentment. "Mount Bamboo's food really is the best. The food in the Dao Origin Land tastes terrible!" "..." The Iron-Eating Beasts all stared at him. Had he returned purely to eat? Marquis Juzhu gave an honest, simple chuckle. "What's the rush? Isn't there still one day left? If ten days pass and there's no movement... then so be it!" With that, he shook his head. "If he really does nothing, at least he isn't too foolish. Slaying three Dao Integration experts only to get killed himself—now that would be true stupidity! Perhaps he lacked confidence, or perhaps he's waiting for an opportunity... Let's just wait and see! If he truly fails, he won't have any grounds to demand anything from our Iron Eater race. We will just play it by ear!" If Su Yu truly hadn't gone out to kill anyone, Marquis Juzhu didn't think there was anything wrong with that. Forcing an attack without certainty and bringing disaster upon oneself would have been far more foolish. His demand for Su Yu to slay three Dao Integration experts of the major races within ten days was merely to test the caliber of this generation's Human Master. If his methods proved mediocre... then they would just watch and see. By now, the sky was pitch-black. Marquis Juzhu yawned. "Before dark tomorrow, if there's no movement, we will let Jiu Yue and Liu Yue continue cooperating with him. As for anything else... forget it for now. We won't deepen our cooperation!" Since Liu Yue and Jiu Yue were already working with him, he wouldn't stop them or dissuade them. However, he had no intention of handing over the rest of the Iron Eater race's experts to Su Yu. The danger was simply too great, carrying the risk of race extermination at any moment. At his side, Jiu Yue mumbled, "Just you watch! There definitely won't be any problem! Killing three Dao Integration experts isn't that hard. Su Yu is definitely planning a grander scheme." …… On the periphery of the Dao Origin Land. The tenth day arrived. King Daming and Xinghong emerged from the mountain valley. Their auras were noticeably stronger than before, yet to Su Yu, they felt at most on par with fourth-class Dao Integration experts. It was decent progress, but Su Yu still found it somewhat lacking. Once everyone had gathered, Su Yu shifted his form. He donned a black robe that emanated faint chaotic power. It was very subtle; after all, the Western Consort was not skilled in the Dao of Chaos, and it was only meant as an illusion for outsiders. His aura gradually blurred. A black cowl concealed his face! Su Yu looked at the others and said in a low voice, "Everyone, change into black robes!" Without a word, the group quickly altered their attire. In truth, it was merely changing their appearance. As mighty powerhouses, their garments were all treasures, since ordinary fabric could never endure high-level warfare. In an instant, all eleven figures were clad in black robes. "Where do we come from?" "Mount Chaos!" Su Yu questioned, and they answered. "What is our mission this time?" "To unseal the Hundred Battles King!" "Who is the leader of this mission?" "Ziyan!" Over the past few days, they had continuously reinforced these mental suggestions. At this moment, their answers flowed smoothly without hesitation. A page of the civilization chronicle opened, revealing a blank sheet forming a gateway. Su Yu looked at them and commanded in a heavy voice, "Enter!" Lan Tian, King Dazhou, and a few others walked inside with faint chuckles. The rest exchanged glances before following suit. "The instant you emerge, your sole objective is to kill!" "Understood!" everyone responded in unison. "King Daming, your duty is heavier than anyone else's!" Su Yu said gravely. "How long your grand formation can conceal our auras dictates how long we can fight! If you suppress them for one minute, we can fight for three; if you hold them for three minutes, we have five! Once the concealment is shattered, we must withdraw within two minutes. Otherwise... I will abandon you all. I will take only those I can carry, and I will not stay behind for your sakes!" Their expressions turned solemn. King Daming exhaled heavily, suddenly feeling an immense weight of pressure. Although he had absorbed plenty of rule power over the past few days, comprehending the Dao was not something achieved merely by absorbing energy. The number of minutes he could buy meant that many more minutes for Su Yu and the others. Otherwise, a retreat within two minutes was mandatory. King Daming took a deep breath, his chest heaving. It had been so long since he last felt this sense of crisis, this sense of duty. Though he was not the strongest, his role in this battle might determine the fate of all his comrades! "Emperor Yu, rest assured. I will not disgrace myself!" King Daming gritted his teeth. "At the conservative estimate of three minutes, I will strive to hold out for five!" He dared not promise longer. Overpromising would be irresponsible. As long as he could suppress the disturbance for three minutes, Su Yu and the rest would have five minutes to slaughter the enemy! How many they could kill remained to be seen. Su Yu nodded slightly. A page drifted out from the civilization chronicle, and he tossed it toward King Daming. "If your energy runs dry, draw upon the virtual Dao power within. It contains the Dao of Formations, which suits you!" With that, he pulled out several more pages and distributed them among the others—ranging from one page to several each. Su Yu looked at them. "This is the Dao-proving weapon I prepared for my own breakthrough. Now, I have distributed it to you all. Do not lose them for me! If you run low on power or expend too much, draw on the rule power inside!" Everyone sensed the pages; each was indeed suffused with rich rule power. Finally, with an exceptionally solemn countenance, Su Yu fixed his gaze upon Marquis Dingjun and the other ancient figures. He said in a deep voice, "The others have campaigned alongside me in countless battles, north and south; they will follow orders! As for you all, I am unfamiliar with you. Strictly speaking, I would never allow you onto the battlefield! In the Lower Realm, even if unfamiliar experts pledge allegiance to me, I inspect them for a long time! "Right now, I have no time to evaluate you! "Furthermore, circumstances being what they are, I need your strength, so I have no choice but to bring you into combat! "This is a tremendous gamble—even more perilous than slaying a Heavenly King—because I harbor prejudices against you, as I do against all survivors of the Ninth Tide. This cannot be avoided!" Su Yu continued in earnest, "Because the impression you give us is precisely that: foolish! You brought that upon yourselves; it was not forced upon you by me. I do not know whether you were truly foolish or if the situation back then was entirely out of control... For this battle, I have only one requirement of you: follow orders! "Now, you are commanders under my banner. You kill whoever I tell you to kill. Do not question, do not doubt. On the battlefield, only I issue commands! "Even if the Hundred Battles King is a single step away from being unsealed, even if it is blatantly obvious that a single person could free him... if you dare disobey my command and act on your own, you will be executed without mercy!" Su Yu issued warning after warning! He was genuinely worried! He feared these figures would refuse to obey. He feared that at the critical juncture, upon seeing the Hundred Battles King on the verge of release, they would abandon the battle lines to rescue him, plunging the entire engagement into chaos. Was that possible? It was entirely possible! Su Yu took another deep breath. "I don't care what you think. I don't care if you believe that unsealing the Hundred Battles King means our victory! I don't care if you think freeing him will let him slaughter three or five Heavenly Kings single-handedly... Put those thoughts out of your heads! You do not need to think about any of that. Your sole duty is obedience!" Su Yu shouted, "Can you do it?" Buffeted by his murderous aura, the ancient marquises were thoroughly cowed. Marquis Dingjun hurriedly said, "I will certainly obey orders! On the battlefield, there can only be one voice. That was a military rule known to all even during the ancient conquest of the myriad realms!" General Yingwu also stated with solemn resolve, "We too were generals who marched across the myriad realms in the past. We will not disobey orders on the battlefield." Su Yu scrutinized them one by one. Marquis Huoyun furrowed his brows and soon nodded. "Understood. I too was an army commander. Rest assured, Human Master!" He then looked at Marquis Anying. Marquis Anying whispered, "This subordinate will obey." Finally, his gaze fell upon Marquis Yunshui. Just as she was about to speak, Su Yu interrupted heavily, "Marquis Yunshui, you harbor the deepest thoughts and are an intelligent person. I hope you do not do anything unintelligent! A woman's heart is the hardest to fathom! I don't care about anything else—you must obey orders! Not only that, if Yingwu falls into danger and is on the brink of death, you are forbidden from saving her without my command! The same goes for the rest of you. No matter who is on the verge of dying, without my command, no one may abandon their opponent to stage a rescue... Even if you must die, pin down your enemy! "You are all ancient fossils who have lived for well over a hundred thousand years. If you don't even understand this principle... get the hell out!" For the first time, a bitter smile crossed Marquis Yunshui's face as she looked at Su Yu. "Human Master... do you not trust me?" Su Yu stared at her in silence. Marquis Yunshui sighed. "I will obey orders. You may rest assured, Human Master." She then added, "The Human Master seems... full of prejudice toward women. That is quite improper." Beside her, General Yingwu raised an eyebrow. Was he? Not at all! Marquis Yunshui was surely overthinking things. Why hadn't she felt that way? Marquis Yunshui said nothing more. Yingwu didn't feel it simply because... he didn't view her as a woman. Su Yu couldn't be bothered to explain and directly sealed the civilization chronicle. Of course he was biased. Who told her to act so delicate, soft, and coquettish all the time, making him thoroughly uneasy? As for Yingwu... treating her like a man worked just fine; she was solid. It wasn't that he lacked female commanders under his command, but none of them appeared frail and delicate. The first time he met Marquis Lanshan, she had fought until the heavens overturned and the earth cracked. The Southern King was a regional overlord and a dead spirit, so there was no such issue. Yunxiao went without saying—screaming to kill all day long, constantly cursing Hanxiang whenever she hadn't slain her. Only this Yunshui... gave Su Yu the impression of being an actual woman. Terrifying. He had to give her a few extra warnings! …… Once everyone was stowed inside the civilization chronicle, King Dazhou, without needing Su Yu's prompting, activated his "Quiet" character divine character to conceal a portion of their aura. King Daming directly laid out a breath-concealing formation within the pages. Outside the civilization chronicle, Su Yu also arranged several layers of defensive suppression. When powerful beings drew close to one another, their Great Daos would interfere, making them easy to detect. But for Su Yu, opening the Heavenly Gate made it clear whether he was encroaching upon an opponent's Great Dao, easily avoiding this danger. Soon, Su Yu transformed into a dark shadow, melting seamlessly into the night. He slipped right through the light barrier, vanishing instantly into the Dao Origin Land. …… Sealing Mountain. To seal and guard the Hundred Battles King, the myriad races had expended immense resources. Moreover, whereas only six false-Dao Heavenly Kings had originally been stationed here to maintain the seal, the myriad races had added two more powerhouses after the lineage of the Prison King attempted a rescue. These two were even stronger than the original six, who were actively tied down maintaining the seal on the Hundred Battles King. Back then, one could argue that a top-tier Heavenly King might have had a sliver of hope to force an entry. Now, a single Heavenly King showing up would simply be courting death. Even two or three would be walking straight into their graves. Four or five might stand a chance, but overpowering all eight remained an impossible task. With eight Heavenly Kings guarding the place, top-tier reinforcements from the surrounding regions would arrive within two minutes if any disturbance occurred. Anyone truly capable of overwhelming eight Heavenly Kings would scarcely need to mount a covert rescue anyway. They could simply charge in openly! At this moment, Sealing Mountain was quiet as usual. The eight Heavenly Kings spent most of their time in secluded cultivation, rarely leaving their respective chambers. Around Sealing Mountain, six Heavenly Kings maintained the seal from fixed positions in every direction. The remaining two took turns patrolling the surroundings. Today, one of the Heavenly Kings began his routine patrol. A few days prior, the Hundred Battles King had thrashed violently, leaving them wary of continued unrest in the coming days. The Heavenly King on patrol cultivated a true Dao, setting him far apart from the others. Compared to the withered decrepitude of the other guards, he appeared much younger and brimmed with vitality, bearing none of their decaying aura. He strode through the void, stirring ripples of turbulent rule power in his wake. Soon, he flew to a stone terrace halfway up the mountainside. An old woman sat cross-legged on the platform. Sensing the disturbance, she immediately opened her eyes, looked at the newcomer, and said softly, "Brother Daoyu, the frequency of your patrols has increased these past few days." The young-looking Heavenly King gave a slight nod. "The Hundred Battles King caused an uproar a few days ago. He hasn't stirred like that in years, and with the Lower Realm about to open, it's best to exercise caution." The old woman chuckled. "The rule power here is exceptionally dense. The slightest ripple triggers an uproar of rule power. Patrolling a bit less won't hurt. Brother Daoyu, you should rest a while; there is no need to worry overmuch." Ever since the intrusion, Sealing Mountain had been bolstered with additional countermeasures. For instance, the rule power had been rendered far denser and more volatile. If an Eternal expert entered, the slightest fluctuation in their Dao power would spark an explosion of rule power. As such, it served as their finest warning system. For Dao Integration experts, it was even more unforgiving. Unless they entirely concealed their Great Daos, it was exceedingly easy to set off the mountain's volatile energy. Daoyu gave a light smile. "No matter. I've been idle for too long; a bit of movement does me good!" The old woman smiled and pressed no further. Having eight Quasi-Kings stationed here was the ultimate guarantee. Still, she envied Daoyu. She said softly, "That is true. Brother Daoyu can still afford to be at ease, unlike us. If we cannot break through within a few hundred or a thousand years... I fear our days will be numbered!" She let out a heavy sigh. Daoyu was fundamentally different from them. He cultivated the Great Dao power of the ancient era, resting on a stable foundation. To advance faster and gain greater strength, the others had captured external Great Daos later in life and switched their paths. At first, that had seemed harmless enough. But by now, they were all beginning to feel the consequences. A newly captured Great Dao was inherently different from their original Dao power—it was far more fragile and much more prone to decay. Upon hearing this, Daoyu offered words of comfort: "Fellow Daoist Yulei, there is no need to be overly pessimistic. Once the passage to the Lower Realm opens, wiping out the human race and severing their every retreat, this rule Dao might finally be liberated!" He smiled and continued, "I heard Marquis Yuansheng mention that the myriad races' inability to step into the realm of the Ruler of Rules might be related to figures like the ancient Human Sovereign. Before they vanished, they may have imposed certain Dao rule restrictions... In short, once the human race is annihilated and ceases to exist, all human rules may dissipate!" This had been shared with him by Marquis Yuansheng, and he believed it held merit. Hearing these words, the old woman felt somewhat relieved. "Let us hope so!" Looking toward the mountain peak, she chuckled. "There shouldn't be any more mishaps during this tide. Having sealed the Hundred Battles King for so many years, no matter how talented the Lower Realm humans are, it is nearly impossible for them to attain the Dao Integration realm! The Hundred Battles King... is indeed the pivotal figure!" Daoyu smiled and nodded. "Precisely because of this, the various races never resolved to execute him! Otherwise, there would be no need for us to maintain this seal. If the experts of the various races mobilized en masse, no matter how formidable the Hundred Battles King is, he would have been slain!" No matter how strong someone was, there was always a limit. If three to five Heavenly Kings couldn't kill you, ten would! And if ten weren't enough, they had top-tier Quasi-Kings who approached the realm of Rulers of Rules—what if several of them joined in? Killing him was certainly possible. The crux was that the myriad races relied on the Hundred Battles King to suppress humanity for six thousand years, preventing any human expert from ascending to the Dao Integration realm. The old woman smiled. Seeing that Daoyu was in a talkative mood, she asked, "I heard there were some disturbances in the Lower Realm earlier. Does Brother Daoyu know what happened? It seems Fellow Daoists Yunxing and Modang have fallen." Daoyu nodded slightly and said softly, "It seems a new Human Master has emerged in the Lower Realm. According to prior intelligence, he seems connected to that old turtle, Hongmeng." "Hongmeng..." The old woman frowned, then smiled faintly. "He truly has lived a long time. But hasn't he always remained detached? Has he meddled in this as well?" "Who knows," Daoyu chuckled. "During this tide, perhaps everyone feels the final hour has come! Whether making a desperate gamble or struggling for survival, it is only natural. If the Lower Realm humans truly consolidate their strength, they still hold some power. That Doubao from the God-Devouring race, along with Hongmeng, are both top-tier Dao Integration experts. And if those other races make clandestine moves... Liu Yue and the others from the Iron Eater race are all remnants!" The old woman sneered, "If San Yue weren't still alive, along with Juzhu, the Iron Eater race would have been wiped out long ago!" Daoyu nodded. That was the honest truth. The continued existence of San Yue still gave pause to several supreme figures. Before wiping out humanity, they had no wish to target San Yue first, lest they suffer catastrophic losses. While some secrets were hidden from ordinary folks, they were common knowledge among top-tier experts; nearly every Heavenly King knew San Yue was still alive. The old woman added, "A few days ago, Xianzhan fought Duanxue over an unowned Dao, and Xianzhan seemingly won. Doesn't he know how dangerous unowned Daos are? Why did I hear he intends to switch Daos?" "He couldn't resist the temptation." Since Daoyu also belonged to the Immortal race, he was privy to the details. He chuckled, "You can hardly blame him. Xianzhan has spent countless years reaching the Quasi-King level only recently. But the new Dao he seized is extraordinary!" "Extraordinary?" "Naturally, otherwise Duanxue wouldn't have fought him so bitterly." Daoyu smiled. "Even I felt a twinge of envy. What Xianzhan seized this time appears to be a Flesh Body Dao!" The old woman was astonished. Daoyu nodded. "Yes, a Flesh Body Dao! As you know, the Flesh Body Dao of any race is a top-tier Great Dao—a foundational Great Dao! Whether for the human race, the Immortal race, or the Demon race... the Flesh Body Dao is among their clan's premier paths. In the Upper Realm, although rule Daos are numerous and appear from time to time, such foundational top-tier Daos are exceedingly rare." The old woman sighed with envy. "Indeed. If it is a Flesh Body Dao... it is truly worth switching. No wonder Duanxue refused to let it go and fought Xianzhan for so many years." Daoyu chuckled. "If I could seize a foundational Dao—like a Five Elements Dao, or the Dao of Life—I would want to switch as well! Especially the Dao of Life. Alas, it has never appeared." "If you could obtain the Dao of Life, Fellow Daoist... you might truly hope to take another step forward..." After conversing for a bit longer, Daoyu smiled and said, "Well, I shall inspect the other sectors." "Take care, Brother Daoyu!" The two parted ways, and Daoyu resumed his patrol. …… Meanwhile, at the edge of Sealing Mountain. Su Yu watched in silence. Opening the Heavenly Gate, he observed the area and smiled faintly. What a setup! The rule power here was loose to the point where any disturbance could easily trigger an eruption. But didn't they know that the rule power within this Dao Origin Land belonged to him? The small stone in his hand vanished instantly. Ahead, a surging patch of turbulent rule power was immediately suppressed into utter stillness by Su Yu. This rule power originated from the ancient Human Sovereign's Dao, and the small stone was the manifestation of the Human Sovereign's will. How could it fail to subdue it? Su Yu looked around and spotted a strand of Great Dao power wandering about, causing occasional ripples in the surrounding rule power. He curled his lips. *Why does this bastard keep pacing around?* However, that fellow would be tough to deal with—a true Dao powerhouse! To others, true and false Daos might seem the same, but to Su Yu, false Daos were easy to counter, whereas true Daos were exceedingly difficult because they represented pure, unadulterated combat power. *Perhaps I can stage a surprise attack and take one down first to relieve the pressure on the others...* Su Yu silently crept forward. His direction was aimed straight toward the old woman from earlier. The reason was simple: the roaming patrol had just spent time chatting there and would not return anytime soon. Transforming into a speck of dust, Su Yu drifted rapidly behind the small stone, gliding toward the mountainside. The small stone cleared the path! *If I kill one and the others flee... that might complicate things!* *Still, if they truly flee... that works too. If they run, there will be less pressure. We'll kill who we can and escape swiftly. If one or two manage to slip away, let them. The six maintaining the seal on the Hundred Battles King won't be able to flee easily because their Dao power is actively bound to the seal. If anyone runs, it will be the two true Dao experts!* Su Yu's primary targets this time were those six. As for the two true Dao experts, if they fled, so be it; the chances of killing them were slim anyway. He crept closer to the powerhouse on the terrace, steadily closing the distance. The mountain was immense! From the base to the mountainside was tens of thousands of meters, yet the gap between them narrowed steadily. Five thousand meters, three thousand meters... With his Heavenly Gate wide open, Su Yu observed every fluctuation of the Great Dao. Under the gaze of the Heavenly Gate, everything was laid bare. Whether the opponent had noticed him or was merely pretending not to notice could be determined by the vibrations of their Great Dao. The other party's Dao power remained calm; clearly, she hadn't detected anything. The Heavenly Gate was truly terrifying. As long as one remained unaware that their Great Dao power could be observed, their thoughts and intentions were completely exposed. *She hasn't noticed me!* Su Yu breathed a quiet sigh of relief. By now, he could clearly see the old woman sitting on the terrace. *From the God race?* Su Yu was surprised. This was his first time encountering a top-tier expert of the God race. *I can finally kill a bastard from the God race!* Two thousand meters! Su Yu drew nearer. One thousand meters! This was an absurdly short distance. For a Dao Integration expert, being approached within a thousand meters was practically no different from having someone press against their face. …… On the terrace halfway up the mountain. The old woman suddenly opened her eyes, an inexplicable sense of dread clutching her heart. She glanced downward, frowning slightly. No disturbance! She swiftly surveyed her surroundings. In the distance, rule power still rippled gently—that was Daoyu conducting his patrol, not far from her, having just departed this area. All eight Heavenly Kings were positioned close to one another, separated by distances that could be crossed in mere seconds. *What is wrong with me? Am I overthinking things?* The old woman thought to herself that having just advised Daoyu not to worry, it was ironic that she had grown anxious herself. "Brother Daoyu!" the old woman called out suddenly. Below, Su Yu thought he had been discovered and nearly struck, but seeing that the old woman's Dao power remained calm without a defensive posture, he held back. *Wait a bit longer! Let that Daoyu get further away before striking.* "Is something the matter, Fellow Daoist Yulei?" Daoyu turned around in the distance, looking back with a faint smile. The old woman pondered for a moment before speaking: "It's nothing. I simply recalled that the Myriad Races Council was supposed to convene soon. Do you know when it will begin?" "In about a month or so," Daoyu replied from afar with a chuckle. "Very soon. However, we likely won't be able to participate, given the importance of our duties here." "That is true." The old woman nodded slightly. After exchanging a few more words with Daoyu, her earlier unease dissipated considerably. *I was scaring myself! This place is guarded with utmost security, and Daoyu is right nearby. What am I thinking?* In the distance, Daoyu smiled, turned, and flew toward his next destination. "Full-force strike!" At that precise instant, Lan Tian and the others within the civilization chronicle heard Su Yu's command. A full-force strike! Su Yu had no intention of suppressing this old woman; doing so might scare off the other false-Dao experts, which would be disastrous. A Heavenly King who was pouring most of her strength into suppressing the Hundred Battles King—could she possibly survive when faced with Su Yu, Lan Tian, and the rest, whose combined combat strength far exceeded what they had used against Marquis Xuelong? Before the words had even faded, the civilization chronicle burst open! A total of eleven powerhouses, including Su Yu, materialized in an instant. Rule power detonated with a deafening roar! All eleven black-robed experts went all out, holding nothing back. Marquis Dingjun and his peers even began burning their blood essence. Such terrifying power, gathered together, erupted in a single instant! Halfway up the mountain, the old woman had barely finished speaking with Daoyu and let her guard down when her heart leaped into her throat. Her mind went completely blank. Danger! Unprecedented, lethal danger! She could not even remember how many years had passed since she last faced such a mortal threat. "Dan—" She couldn't even finish the warning before it was already too late! Someone had crept right up to her side! And she hadn't noticed a thing! At this moment, King Daming cast out a grand formation, which sealed Sealing Mountain in the blink of an eye. The formation wasn't overwhelmingly strong, but it was sufficient to stall for time and contain the shockwaves of battle from leaking outward. In all other directions, the other guards reacted with astonishing speed. They were all top-tier powerhouses, after all. Without the slightest hesitation, they flew toward the old woman. Daoyu was the fastest and closest; having just turned around, he pivoted the moment he sensed the eruption and shot back toward her. He could reach her in two to three seconds! Yet could the old woman survive for two to three seconds? Utterly impossible! With Su Yu having closed the distance and multiple top-tier figures striking in unison against an unprepared target whose Dao power was actively pinning down the Hundred Battles King, she was operating at the level of a second-class Dao Integration expert at best. How could she withstand so many foes? *Boom!* An earth-shattering roar reverberated through the heavens! A colossal mushroom cloud erupted on Sealing Mountain! Before her rule power could even detonate, the old woman—still frozen in her seated posture—was obliterated, her physical body blown to pieces by the combined assault of Su Yu and his subordinates! The moment her sea of will manifested, the residual shockwaves tore it apart, shattering it into fragments! Dead! An astonishingly, unfathomably swift demise! Halfway through the air, Daoyu's face warped in horror. In the next breath, he roared in fury, "Bastards, slaughter them!" Damn it all! He had been on patrol and had just left her side, only for Fellow Daoist Yulei to perish in the blink of an eye! *Two Quasi-King auras; the rest are below that level!* Daoyu quickly assessed the enemy's strength. They could match them; they could kill them! "Xuemo, get over here!" Daoyu roared, summoning the other true Dao powerhouse to join the fray. To think someone had sneaked right under their noses—it was horrifying! Meanwhile, Su Yu wasted no words. He looked toward Lan Tian and snapped, "Daoyu is mine!" Lan Tian understood immediately: the other one was his! The two shot into the sky at blistering speed, charging directly toward Daoyu! As for the others, King Dazhou barked, "Follow me!" Rather than scattering, the group moved as one, descending with maximum speed toward another false-Dao powerhouse stationed in a different sector! They had to be fast! …… *Boom!* A second later, another deafening blast echoed through the air as Su Yu and Daoyu—both bearing "Yu" in their names—collided in an instant. Lan Tian brushed past them, hurtling toward Xuemo, who was rushing over from the distance! "Who are you people?" Daoyu bellowed with fury. What utter audacity! Two Quasi-Kings dared to launch an assault on Sealing Mountain? Were they insane? Further away, a withered old man shouted, "Kill them quickly! With Yulei dead, the Hundred Battles King will sense it, and the seal will loosen!" At these words, Daoyu's expression changed drastically! "So that was your scheme all along!" He had nearly let his rage cloud his judgment. Yes, with Yulei dead, the Hundred Battles King would certainly sense it. No wonder merely two Quasi-Kings dared to attack—they knew six of them were suppressing the Hundred Battles King, and killing one would cause him to struggle! No wonder two Quasi-Kings had split up to engage him and Xuemo respectively! The enemy possessed precise intelligence on their layout, knowing exactly who was maintaining the seal and who was not. They understood the situation thoroughly! Had the information leaked, or had that intruder from last time recorded these details upon returning and passed them down? Were these people working with that intruder? The Chaos race! At this moment, he also sensed the faint chaotic power lingering on Su Yu and Lan Tian. Both Quasi-Kings bore traces of chaotic energy. "So it's you—the Chaos race!" Daoyu figured it out in an instant and bellowed, "Die!" *Boom!* Su Yu threw a punch in response! The two clashed instantly. Having just stepped into this realm and without employing the Dao of the Brush, Su Yu was immediately suppressed, driven backward step by step! "A newly advanced weakling!" Daoyu sneered coldly. "You are courting death!" A boom echoed from behind, followed by a mocking laugh: "The one on my end seems newly advanced as well. Daoyu, hurry it up and let's see who kills their opponent first!" *Boom!* Thunderous crashes shook the heavens! King Dazhou's group made contact with one of the false-Dao powerhouses, instantly plunging into fierce combat. Meanwhile, the other four false-Dao Heavenly Kings rushed toward the scene! Three headed toward King Dazhou's group, while one soared into the air to slay King Daming, who was maintaining the grand formation! High above, King Daming's expression shifted slightly. Su Yu, however, ignored it, continuing to retreat rapidly while keeping his eyes on the Great Dao power. Sure enough, at that exact moment, Sealing Mountain shuddered violently! A frenzied roar echoed out from deep within! "I felt it! One of the beasts is dead! Hahaha... Someone has come to rescue me!" The Hundred Battles King! He had sensed it, feeling the seal loosen as one of his captors died! *Boom!* The great mountain shook violently. The Heavenly King flying toward King Daming gritted his teeth, his aura flaring as he channeled more power to reinforce the suppression. The other false-Dao powerhouses did the same, pouring additional strength into pinning down the Hundred Battles King! That damned bastard had started thrashing again! Even with more power dedicated to the suppression, that Heavenly King still retained the combat strength of a second-class Dao Integration expert. Catching his breath, he charged toward King Daming once more! *Kill the formation master first!* This false-Dao Heavenly King was familiar with the formation. The intruder who had attempted a rescue in the past had laid down an identical array. Of course, that intruder had been vastly more powerful than this one! Once the formation was shattered, the outside world would quickly detect the commotion of this battle! Just as he closed in, the retreating Su Yu showed no hesitation, shooting out the back cover of the civilization chronicle! He still refrained from suppressing the Great Dao power. The other four Heavenly Kings had yet to be fully encircled! Only when they were surrounded would Su Yu suppress them! Otherwise, those bastards might flee. *Boom!* In the distance, the four Heavenly Kings converged. Even with their strength partially tethered by the Hundred Battles King, the moment they clashed with King Dazhou's group, they seized the upper hand, forcing them backward in the blink of an eye! King Dazhou's side was formidable, but Xinghong, Chongming, and the others were still too weak, being brutally hammered by one of the Heavenly Kings. …… High above, the Heavenly King charging at King Daming frowned when he saw Su Yu fling out a golden page. He dared not underestimate the methods of a Quasi-King. However, with Su Yu suppressed by Daoyu, relying on a weapon to stop him was sheer fantasy! He threw a punch directly at the golden page, intent on smashing the weapon first! Below, the Hundred Battles King struggled even more violently, roaring with mad frenzy. He felt it—someone had come to save him, and he even recognized familiar auras! "Dingjun! Huoyun! Is that you? Hahaha!" The Hundred Battles King's manic laughter rang out. They were humans—his former subordinates! They had all come! At that exact instant, the back cover of the civilization chronicle opened. Marquis Zhennan flew out. The moment he emerged, he heard the Hundred Battles King's voice, trembling with overwhelming emotion! It was real! The new Human Master had truly led them to Sealing Mountain! In that moment, he wanted to roar at the heavens, to charge forward and help the Hundred Battles King break free of the seal. Yet Su Yu's words echoed in his mind. Gritting his teeth, Marquis Zhennan said nothing. His physical body detonated! The opposing Heavenly King had sensed his presence and had even recognized him the moment he appeared. *Marquis Zhennan!* A top-tier Dao Integration expert! In terms of raw combat power, he was on par with this Heavenly King, who had expended considerable energy suppressing the Hundred Battles King. The Heavenly King had even been calculating that fighting Marquis Zhennan would prevent him from killing the formation master or assisting elsewhere, as Marquis Zhennan was no weakling. They would likely be locked in a protracted duel. That had been his assumption. Yet in the next heartbeat, his eyes bulged in absolute shock! *Boom!* An earth-shattering blast rang out. Marquis Zhennan... had self-detonated his physical body! A top-tier Dao Integration expert had emerged and, without uttering a single word, had chosen to detonate his physical body, despite sensing that the opposing Quasi-King was matched in strength and that a standard fight was entirely feasible! He had given his promise! And Su Yu had fulfilled his pledge by bringing him here; he had even heard the Hundred Battles King's roar. Since that was the case... he was willing to honor his word this once. *Boom!* The deafening explosion shook heaven and earth, blowing the Heavenly King into mangled pieces. In that instant, the Heavenly King's mind was utterly blank. *Why? My strength has declined, and I might not have defeated you in battle—we still had a fight ahead of us! Why did you self-detonate? Why?!* He couldn't comprehend it. It was immensely difficult for Marquis Zhennan to reach this realm; how could he self-detonate on a whim? It wasn't just him—everyone was stunned. Marquis Dingjun and the others turned pale! The struggling Hundred Battles King even projected a phantom image, shaking with shock before roaring, "Marquis Zhennan!" *What is happening? Why did Marquis Zhennan detonate himself right away?* Amidst the universal shock, Su Yu alone showed zero surprise and wasted not a single millisecond. The instant Marquis Zhennan detonated, Su Yu retreated through the void, traversing space, and slapped down with his palm! The mangled Heavenly King's sea of will had just emerged when Su Yu's palm shattered it into pieces! A dense surge of rule power instantly erupted and dispersed! Meanwhile, the golden page of the civilization chronicle flashed, gathering Marquis Zhennan's fracturing sea of will! Su Yu had only asked him to detonate his physical body; he had never insisted that he must die. As long as the mission was accomplished, that was enough! Marquis Zhennan had fulfilled his duty. A second Heavenly King had fallen! Arriving a step behind Su Yu, Daoyu's expression changed dramatically. "Ruthless!" These people were utterly ruthless! Marquis Zhennan had roamed the Upper Realm for thousands of years without being killed, yet here he had detonated himself without hesitation! These people were all lunatics! What kind of person could organize such a force, capable of executing such suicidal attacks? Su Yu, however, remained utterly calm. Ignoring the furious Hundred Battles King, he knew that with two captors dead, the seal had loosened considerably. If the Hundred Battles King didn't start struggling fiercely right now to tie down those remaining four Heavenly Kings, what was he waiting for? Without an ounce of politeness, Su Yu barked, "Hundred Battles, struggle!" The Hundred Battles King froze. *Addressing me directly by name...* Well, he didn't dwell on it. Yes, struggle! Break the seal! *Boom!* A thunderous uproar shook the entire mountain. He wanted to break the seal, burst forth, and slaughter every last one of these bastards! *Rumble!* The four Heavenly Kings battling King Dazhou's group felt suffocating pressure bear down on them! "Quick, suppress him!" "Daoyu, Xuemo, hurry up and kill them!" "..." The four Heavenly Kings roared in fury. Faster! With the Hundred Battles King holding them back, King Dazhou's side—no slouches themselves—were locked in a dead heat with them! But once the Hundred Battles King broke free, that would be the true disaster! Su Yu glanced in that direction, his brow arching slightly. Almost there! King Dazhou and the others were about to complete the encirclement! Excellent. Everything was under his control!