An Opportunity

Su Yu didn't think there was anything wrong with what he had done. He only felt a bit of regret! Leaving aside killing a Heavenly Venerable, killing a Heavenly King would have been fine too. In the end, as expected of pseudo-Dao trash, detonating himself had only blown up two Dao Integration experts, completely wasting his Heavenly King strength. In the distance. Heavenly Venerable Mo burned with fury. Farther away, Heavenly Venerable Huang sent tremors through the earth, also feeling stifled, and shouted, "Heavenly Venerable Mo, be careful! Furthermore, Dao Integration experts of other races are not our enemies. Do not push them too hard!" Except for the human race, which had to be eliminated, every other race could be won over. In his view, perhaps Heavenly Venerable Mo had pushed too hard. Yet Heavenly Venerable Mo had hardships he could not voice! Did I push him? Bullshit! I didn't pressure Marquis Guyi at all! He suddenly blew himself up on his own. When I tried to capture him, I even held back my power, not daring to strike too heavily... Bastard! Heavenly Venerable Mo was exceedingly infuriated. At that moment, his gaze turned chillingly sharp as he swept his surroundings, but he detected nothing amiss. Even so, he said with utmost gravity, "Why would he just self-detonate out of nowhere? Even if he suffered a qi deviation, he should still value his life. No matter how crazed someone becomes, they should understand that survival comes first. To self-detonate..." For an expert who had slumbered for countless years to blow himself up right upon emerging defied all logic. He looked toward San Yue, who was not far away. San Yue spread his hands. "Don't look at me. Afraid you'd misunderstand, I didn't even get close!" Why are you looking at me? Though he spoke thus, San Yue was also bewildered in his heart. A self-detonation? Incredibly bizarre! Could it be... related to Su Yu? He could not help but make such a guess. Of course, he had no evidence, and neither did anyone else, because this was also their first time discovering Marquis Guyi. Could Su Yu have discovered him beforehand? That seemed unlikely! Even if he had, how could Su Yu have tampered with the other party's Great Dao? San Yue thought back to the pseudo-Dao experts Su Yu had mentioned... Perhaps that kid really had done it. Truly impossible to guard against. Who could have anticipated this! That boy was vicious too—a Heavenly King–level expert, barely awakened, killed before he could even utter a few words. ... On Su Yu's side. The skull looked toward Su Yu and asked in a raspy voice, "Did you do that?" Since this fellow could dig him up, it meant he possessed certain methods and knowledge; the explosion earlier was very likely his doing, especially since Su Yu had anticipated the self-detonation all along. Su Yu smiled. "Indeed." The skull hesitated slightly before saying, "You... you aren't acquainted with that Marquis Guyi, nor do you know his circumstances, yet you just made him self-detonate? What if... he was an ally of the human race... then..." Su Yu smiled. "There are no allies. I know who the human race's allies are; anyone not allied with us is not an ally." With that, Su Yu looked at him and smiled. "Do you think that was inappropriate?" "Somewhat." The skeleton did not deny it. "At least wait until he declared his identity..." Su Yu chuckled. "If he had already declared his identity, how could I have caught them off guard with a self-detonation?" "That is not what I meant..." "It doesn't matter what you meant!" Su Yu said calmly, "All you need to know is that I dug you up and saved you, and that is enough! If you remember the favor, you lay down your life for me! If you don't, you won't be able to cause any waves anyway!" "You are very overbearing!" The skull's gaze grew slightly clearer, seemingly recovering bit by bit. "You don't seem to have considered that I might not be willing to serve you." Su Yu gave a slight nod and smiled. "I never considered that, because... those who don't obey are all dead!" Su Yu smiled, then looked at him again. "This is no longer the ancient era. The ancient heritage is gone, completely squandered by Baizhan! As for the human race today, put it this way: we are starting from scratch! Everything from ancient times has been expended. Therefore, you can treat today's human race as a new human race, unrelated to the past. Thinking of it this way might make you feel more comfortable." The skeleton fell silent. Su Yu continued to watch, ready at any moment to trigger the self-detonation of the second Heavenly King. Over there, Heavenly Venerable Yue and his group were slowly approaching the area where the second Heavenly King lay. Su Yu scanned the surroundings and frowned slightly. There were very few people near Heavenly Venerable Yue. If a Heavenly King detonated there, it might not yield much value. "What a pity he isn't detonating at full strength. Otherwise, even if a Heavenly Venerable didn't die, they'd be heavily injured!" Su Yu felt regret once more. The target was not a Heavenly King at the peak of his power. He had slumbered for far too long! He had severed his connection with the Great Dao. Such an expert was only slightly stronger than the skull; if he self-detonated, killing a Heavenly King would already be considered lucky. As he awaited the second explosion, the skull suddenly asked, "Are you here just to blow them up?" "No, merely to weaken their forces!" Su Yu smiled. "Every one I kill is one less to deal with. You don't understand—right now, once they regroup, their strength will skyrocket, and that will be even more troublesome!" The skull said in a low voice, "You should not blow up these pseudo-Dao experts. They could provide power for the Human Sovereign, supplying strength to the Human Sovereign's Dao. Blowing them up... the loss outweighs the gain!" With that, he hesitated a moment before adding, "I see that you seem... to possess a profound understanding of the Great Dao here, and even know certain secrets. Are you one of the leaders of the new human race?" "Perhaps!" Su Yu smiled. "Any advice?" "That is not how these pseudo-Daos should be used..." He said gravely, "These pseudo-Daos can actually be stripped away! Once stripped away, someone can switch Daos and directly become a Heavenly King expert as you mentioned! Back then, there were many pseudo-Daos here, but none were perfected or complete. When experts of the myriad races cultivated them, they were actually perfecting these pseudo-Daos. Once a pseudo-Dao is powerful enough, you can strip it away and merge it into the true Daos of the myriad realms!" His gaze grew clearer and clearer. "In other words, pseudo-Dao experts can become true Dao experts! For example, if you cultivate the Fire Dao in the Lower Realm, but that Dao is difficult to cultivate there, you could cultivate the pseudo-Dao of Fire here. Upon going to the Lower Realm, as long as you have the method, you can merge the pseudo-Dao into it... because the essence of the Great Daos is fundamentally identical!" Su Yu was taken aback. He looked at him, his gaze shifting slightly. "You mean... the Daos here are actually simplified versions, while the Daos in the Lower Realm are enhanced versions, but one can first cultivate the simplified Dao and then merge it into the Lower Realm's Great Dao, and they can blend together?" "They can!" The skull said in a deep voice, "Therefore, pseudo-Dao experts are precious; they are essentially helping nourish the Daos. Killing them... is the true loss! Back then, when I cultivated the Dao here, I also harbored thoughts of heading to the Lower Realm to merge into the true Dao once I grew strong enough! Of course, there was also another hope: hoping the Human Sovereign would return, preparing for both possibilities!" Su Yu fell into thought. Pseudo-Daos could merge into true Daos. These were the Human Sovereign's pseudo-Daos, and the Daos within his own civilization chronicle were actually pseudo-Daos as well. He had plenty of pseudo-Daos himself. Of course, none were particularly powerful. If his own pseudo-Daos could steal power from the true Dao, then naturally the Human Sovereign's could too. Su Yu suddenly turned to look at the skull. Squinting, he smiled. "You are well-versed in this field?" "Only passably." The skull replied in a low voice, "I merely researched it for a few years in the past. But later, when merging into the pseudo-Dao, something went wrong, and I nearly perished. I have been slumbering ever since to recover, though sadly, the recovery did not go very well." Su Yu rubbed his chin, and this time took the initiative to ask, "What is your name?" "Qi Rong." Su Yu smiled. "Why does that sound like a woman's name?" The skull remained silent for a moment before replying, "I am a woman!" "..." Su Yu stared at him—or rather, her—for a long time, looking at that skin-and-bones frame, looking at those few stray wisps of hair, looking at that head that was practically a bare skull. After a long pause, he bared his teeth in a grin. "I... think dead spirits look better!" A woman? Su Yu was speechless! For a woman to end up looking like this... this was too pitiful, too horrifying! She truly looked worse than a dead spirit! Dead spirits could at least still be told apart as male or female; with her, it was utterly impossible to tell. Even Xingyue looked better than her, even if Xingyue's face was pitch-black. Humans were indeed terrified of comparisons; once compared, the contrast was terrifying. Qi Rong? That was probably her original name rather than a noble title. Ancient experts generally preferred introducing themselves by their titles; who would deliberately introduce their personal name? Su Yu found it odd—who would recognize her by a personal name? Take Marquis Lanshan, for example: what was her real name? Ghost only knew! Su Yu didn't press further, quickly saying, "You seem to have researched the Great Dao very deeply, knowing that this place is the manifestation of the Human Sovereign's Dao. Did you do research in the past?" "Not quite." "Not quite?" Su Yu was puzzled. What did that mean? Qi Rong fell silent for a moment, then said, "Since the ancient era, I have only been responsible for one matter, except... to this day, I have not succeeded. You need not ask. You can take me to see your current supreme leader. I will speak with them, and I hope you can continue to support me." Su Yu raised an eyebrow. Supreme leader? She's talking about me! "Related to the Great Dao?" "Yes." Su Yu calculated for a moment and smiled. "Fine, I'll take you to meet them later!" Saying that, he laughed. "Why don't you enter my Dao weapon first to rest and recuperate? Since you've seen enough of the outside, there's no need to keep watching." Qi Rong said in a low voice, "I still hope you will kill fewer pseudo-Dao experts. They are all useful. Some were even cultivated by me back then, though they might be scattered and lost now..." Su Yu froze, looking at her. Qi Rong nodded earnestly. "You heard right. Some pseudo-Dao experts of the myriad races were deliberately fostered by me in the past. Of course, they themselves were unaware. Only I and Yue Gang knew of this plan. Unfortunately, Yue Gang died, and the information may not have been passed down... which is why none of you know about it." With a trace of regret, Qi Rong added, "I hope you can take me to see your current supreme leader as soon as possible. Otherwise, killing pseudo-Dao experts serves little purpose." Su Yu glanced at her and suddenly said, "If you were so important, why were you buried straight under the ground like a corpse?" To draw an analogy, Wan Tiansheng and the others were also exceedingly important now. If they were to enter seclusion, even a death seclusion, Su Yu would at least know something about where they were secluding and when they would emerge. Yet this woman seemed utterly abandoned. "Perhaps Yue Gang died too suddenly. He knew where I was in seclusion." Qi Rong's voice sounded terrible and raspy as she sighed. "So when I saw you, I thought Yue Gang had sent someone, but it turned out not to be the case..." Su Yu frowned. "During the previous tides, the Human Masters of each generation fell in battle. Even though they died, the inheritance was never broken, and some of the old fellows survived. Did Yue Gang never speak of you to them?" In the earlier tides, great battles were fought, and many Human Masters fell in combat, yet the heritage was never severed. Those Human Masters were essentially fighters; possessing great strength was enough. In Su Yu's eyes, they were practically puppets of the old fellows from ancient times. Even after the Human Masters died, fellows like Marquis Minshan had lived all the way until recently before dying. Qi Rong was silent once more before saying, "The matter I oversaw back then was not suitable for public disclosure." Su Yu chuckled. Still playing mysterious! Fine then! "Then rest for now. I will take you to see the leader of this generation soon!" Having said that, he drew her directly into the civilization chronicle. I'll deal with this after I blow up the second fellow. ... Because of Marquis Guyi's self-detonation, the Heavenly Venerables methodically searching in the distance grew somewhat more vigilant. If they discovered any more hidden experts, they needed to exercise caution to avoid triggering a catastrophe. At this moment. Heavenly Venerable Yue and Lei Bao continued their search, the Tower of Myriad Arts sweeping ceaselessly. After inspecting for a while, the Tower of Myriad Arts suddenly stirred. Heavenly Venerable Yue was extremely vigilant; probing across the void, he called out, "Lei Bao, someone seems to be slumbering here!" Lei Bao hurried over and also probed across the distance. There was indeed a faint fluctuation of rule power. Soon, with an odd expression, he said, "It seems... like God race aura?" He looked toward Heavenly Venerable Yue. One of yours? Heavenly Venerable Yue was also puzzled. "When experts of my race enter slumber, most proactively disclose the location of their seclusion. If they fail to emerge after a certain number of years, they instruct descendants to retrieve their remains and legacy..." Is it truly an expert of our race? If so, it had to be someone quite ancient. A figure from before the third tide! During that era, the human race was exceptionally formidable and the myriad races were weak, often forcing them to hide in corners. After the third tide, the strength of the myriad races grew substantially, and they no longer feared the human race so much. He sensed carefully and vaguely felt a hint of familiarity. Which old fellow is this? It might genuinely be an expert of the God race. Soon, someone dived underground, delving deep into the earth to investigate. After a short while, they returned and hurriedly reported, "Milord, there is indeed someone below, but he is still slumbering. It is unknown when he will awaken." This time, Heavenly Venerable Yue did not act rashly. Instead, he sent a wisp of willpower probing downward. Reaching deep beneath the earth, he finally sensed the other party's presence. Down below, the expert Su Yu had discovered first experienced a slight tremor in his eyes. His eyelids fluttered for a moment before suddenly snapping open. Soon, a somewhat familiar voice echoed in his ears: "I am Marquis Yueshi. Who might you be?" "Marquis Yueshi?" Filled with a trace of confusion, the expert below gradually regained clarity. Weakly, he spoke slowly, "I am Liu Yi!" Hearing these words, Marquis Yueshi was rather astonished. "Brother Liu Yi?" The patriarch of the Six-Winged God race had vanished many years ago! The one down there is him? In terms of seniority, this man was even older than himself, yet he was still alive! This was truly an unexpected pleasant surprise! Marquis Yueshi knew of virtually all the God race's hidden experts, so Liu Yi's emergence was a welcome shock. He swiftly tore open the earth. Soon, a colossal abyss opened up, revealing a figure within a small stone chamber below. Seeing that he answered fluidly and showed no signs of losing control, Heavenly Venerable Yue felt relieved. As long as he hadn't lost control, that was fine. The Golden Crow expert earlier hadn't lost control either; entering seclusion didn't necessarily mean going mad. Marquis Guyi was merely an exception. With the earth torn open, a formidable being in the stone house slowly rose, looking up toward the sky. He saw Marquis Yueshi, and also saw Lei Bao craning his head to look down, somewhat surprised at how the Archaic Giant race was gathered alongside the God race. He slowly flew upward, exhaling, "How did you find me?" At this moment, he also attempted to connect with the Great Dao, but without haste. With Marquis Yueshi present and several God race experts in sight, it was evident that the area was not dangerous. Heavenly Venerable Yue inspected his aura and condition, smiling. "We are clearing out the Dao Origin Land. Who would have thought we would find Brother Liu Yi? Didn't Brother Liu Yi... suffer a collapsed Dao and perish back then?" "I narrowly escaped with my life," Liu Yi sighed. "Driven by desperation, I preserved my life using a captured Great Dao. But to survive, I had no choice but to enter seclusion and merge its Dao power. As it turned out, that Dao conflicted with me somewhat, and in the blink of an eye, I do not know how many eras have passed." With that, he asked, "Clearing the Dao Origin Land? Has the human race been defeated?" "You could say that!" The smile on Heavenly Venerable Yue's face grew wider. Liu Yi seemed completely normal, which was wonderful news. Even if his Great Dao was damaged or he had switched Daos, that didn't matter; his inherent strength was formidable, and that was enough. Even when Liu Yi flew up beside him, nothing went wrong, completely putting Heavenly Venerable Yue's worries to rest. From behind, several experts who had kept their distance earlier flew over one after another. A few from the God race arrived with exceptional speed, one of them exclaiming in delight, "Brother Liu Yi, do you still remember me?" Liu Yi looked over, a smile surfacing on his face as well. "Marquis Shuangshen, your condition seems rather good, much better than mine..." He looked at each of them in turn, a smile spreading across his face. My God race seems to have quite a few powerhouses. Beside them, Lei Bao glanced over, curling his lips with a touch of envy. The God race had produced yet another Quasi-King. With a stiff, insincere smile, he said, "Congratulations, Brother Daoist Yue!" Heavenly Venerable Yue also smiled, unable to conceal his joy. "Likewise, likewise! Perhaps we will soon uncover a secluded Dao brother of the Giant race. Over the past hundred thousand years, who knows how many people entered seclusion here in the Dao Origin Land and never emerged." Liu Yi glanced at Lei Bao and smiled without saying anything. At this moment, he was still very weak. After exchanging pleasantries with several God race experts, they quickly brought him up to speed on the current situation. Liu Yi nodded, constantly absorbing and digesting the information, a smile gradually forming on his face. In that case, the God race was now one of the victors, one of the overlords of the myriad realms. No wonder they dared to clear out the Dao Origin Land this time. Nearby, Heavenly Venerable Yue noticed Liu Yi's fluctuating aura and could not help but smile. "Brother Liu Yi, why not rest for a moment and recover some vitality? Communicating with the Great Dao's power right now could easily damage your physical body. It looks to me as though your vitality is nearly exhausted!" The few who had rapidly linked to their Daos earlier had done so for self-preservation. Liu Yi, however, had no need for that. There were numerous God race experts here. Rashly connecting to the Great Dao could severely harm a body already heavily depleted from protracted slumber. Hearing this, Liu Yi also smiled. "Then... I must trouble you, Brother Yueshi!" To recover some vitality would be ideal, but after countless years of seclusion, his reserves were drained, leaving him with no treasures to restore his flesh. Heavenly Venerable Yue naturally understood this. Soon, he presented a storage ring and smiled. "Brother Liu Yi, feel free to use these; if they are not enough, just say the word! Today's God race is not what it used to be. Our race has treasures in plenty, without needing to slaughter human beings over a few resources as we did back then!" Liu Yi inspected the contents and sighed with emotion. "Times have indeed changed. I see that Brother Yueshi's strength has advanced tremendously..." He looked around once more. "It seems not only our race and the Giant race are here?" "Correct. This time, experts from several other races have also joined in the sweep," Heavenly Venerable Yue said with a smile. "Just moments ago, Motian suffered a minor setback. His sweep uncovered Marquis Guyi, but Marquis Guyi suffered a qi deviation and self-detonated! A pity for Marquis Guyi, and the Demon race also lost two Dao Integration experts... Fortunately, it was I who encountered you, Brother Liu Yi. Had they run into you, who knows what might have happened!" Liu Yi chuckled as well. Pure luck! Had he encountered anyone else, even if they had not tried to kill him, he would have instantly linked to his Great Dao for self-preservation. In that case, his frail body after so many years of seclusion would have been overwhelmed by the sudden influx, potentially causing severe harm. "To enter seclusion only to suffer a qi deviation..." Liu Yi shook his head. "That is truly rare!" Marquis Guyi, what a waste! Though a Great Dao could experience turbulence, suffering a qi deviation was exceedingly uncommon. One could only say that Marquis Guyi was utterly ignorant of the Great Dao—perhaps forcibly merging into it. An absolute incompetent. He said no more and began absorbing and digesting the treasures to strengthen his physical body. His decayed flesh gradually began to recover, turning robust and full. His aura also grew steadily stronger. ... On the outer perimeter. Su Yu frowned. What's going on? Heavenly Venerable Yue and the others should have found that fellow, but... why hadn't he self-detonated, nor gone mad? Could it be that he hadn't linked to his Great Dao? Because he had encountered experts of his own God race, he felt safe and chose not to connect to the Great Dao for the time being. Su Yu was speechless. If so, will it still take effect? If he never connects to the Great Dao, won't my methods be useless? "I don't believe you'll never connect to the Great Dao!" Su Yu cursed inwardly. After waiting all this time just to watch him self-detonate, the fellow hadn't even connected to his Great Dao. ... On Heavenly Venerable Mo's side. Heavenly Venerable Mo and the others also sensed the situation over there. Feeling somewhat sour, Heavenly Venerable Mo said indifferently, "To think it's Liu Yi. It appears the God race has gained another fierce general!" Over on his side, two Dao Integration experts had just died, while Heavenly Venerable Yue's side had uncovered Marquis Liuyi. The contrast was truly galling. Meanwhile, San Yue also cast his gaze into the distance. He felt a strange suspicion in his heart. This Liu Yi's aura was somewhat floating and unstable; he felt like someone cultivating a pseudo-Dao. Earlier, Marquis Guyi, who cultivated a pseudo-Dao, had an incident, yet this one was completely fine. Could it be that Marquis Guyi really had suffered a qi deviation, rather than Su Yu tampering with him? Otherwise, there was no reason Liu Yi would be unaffected. Though thinking this, a foolish grin rested on his face: "A good thing. The stronger we are now, the more certain we will be in dealing with the Chaos race, isn't that right?" "Perhaps!" Heavenly Venerable Mo gave a slight smile and said no more. Gaining one more Heavenly King was indeed good luck, but perhaps his own group would uncover hidden experts of the Demon race next. ... The various parties conversed as they continued their search. Meanwhile, Liu Yi's physical body continued to strengthen. His depleted vitality and blood were rapidly replenishing, and a faint smile appeared on his face. Not bad at all; though the drain over so many years had been immense, at least his realm had remained stable. At this point, once he connected to the Great Dao and adapted for a short period, he would soon be able to return to his peak state. Unlike Marquis Jinhuo of the Golden Crow race and the others, who had forcibly connected to their Daos and inevitably damaged their bodies, needing considerable time to recover. Heavenly Venerable Yue also waited for a while. Seeing that he had recovered well, he smiled again. "Brother Liu Yi seems to have recovered nicely. Now that you have emerged, once you adapt for a little longer, perhaps... there is hope of taking another step forward!" "Difficult!" Liu Yi shook his head. "After all, what I cultivate is not my native Dao; it feels somewhat unstable." Saying that, he laughed. "As long as Brother Yueshi is strong, that is enough. Once we return to the God race and I meet some old friends, whatever orders you have, feel free to give them!" He then added, "Brother Yueshi, carry on with your tasks. I only need to adapt a bit longer! I'll also see if I run into any other old friends to catch up with." Beaming, Heavenly Venerable Yue nodded and went back to leading the sweep up ahead. The others gradually returned to their positions as well. Marquis Shuangshen, who had greeted him earlier, was currently controlling the Tower of Myriad Arts. With a smile, he called out, "Brother Liu Yi, come over here! This is a newly forged Dao weapon, the Tower of Myriad Arts. Come see its might!" Intrigued, Liu Yi smiled and flew over. At that moment, he began attempting to connect with the Great Dao. Now that his body was much stronger, linking to the Great Dao would grant him Heavenly King combat prowess. As the Great Dao connected bit by bit, his aura grew increasingly powerful, drawing nearer and nearer to Marquis Shuangshen. Marquis Shuangshen felt it as well and marveled, "Seeing you recovered, your strength should be a notch above mine! No wonder Heavenly Venerable Yue said you have hopes of taking another step forward. Perhaps our God race will produce yet another Heavenly Venerable!" "You flatter me." Liu Yi chuckled. Everyone liked hearing compliments, but he knew his own situation—it was exceedingly difficult! Just then, an uneasy sensation crept over him. As the power of the Great Dao flooded into his body, his flesh grew ever stronger, yet an eerie thought faintly surfaced in his mind: Kill Marquis Shuangshen! Such a thought shocked Liu Yi. What kind of joke is this? We had a rather good relationship in the past! Why am I thinking of killing him? He was alarmed, yet more and more maddened thoughts swarmed into his mind. Kill him! Slaughter every living being in sight! It was as though someone was ceaselessly whispering to him: Kill! Kill these bastards! Every single one of them deserves to die! Having recovered better than Marquis Guyi, he had not lost control as rapidly. However, the more Great Dao power he absorbed, the heavier this murderous intent grew. Marquis Guyi had actually absorbed relatively little Dao power, whereas he was now absorbing more and more! His aura swelled ever more terrifyingly! By now, the distance between him and Marquis Shuangshen was practically nonexistent. Sensing the sheer ferocity of his aura, Marquis Shuangshen marveled once more, "If Brother Liu Yi had not suffered injuries back then, our race would definitely have gained another Heavenly Venerable by now..." Beside them, several God race Dao Integration experts nodded repeatedly with smiles on their faces. Our race has gained another powerhouse! The murderous intent in Liu Yi's heart raged violently. Straining to suppress the urge to slaughter, he forced out, "You flatter me!" Yet in his mind, Marquis Shuangshen's hateful smile surfaced unbidden. He is mocking me! Mocking the fact that I was injured back then! Now, Marquis Yueshi, who was once inferior to me, has become a Heavenly Venerable, while I am not even a match for him! "Kill this despicable bastard! Slaughter them all!" "They are all mocking me! They all want to kill me... Yes, they want to kill me!" "..." "Brother Liu Yi?" Marquis Shuangshen looked puzzled. What was wrong? Liu Yi's expression looked rather grim; had he been in seclusion for too long to fully recover? "N-Nothing... is wrong..." Liu Yi saw his face again—that loathsome face, wearing a mask of hypocritical concern. Up ahead, Heavenly Venerable Yue also glanced back and smiled. "Liu Yi, if you feel unwell, take a rest first. I will have someone escort you back to Myriad Races Mountain..." Marquis Yueshi is just as loathsome! He actually wants someone to escort me? What is the meaning of this? Is it an escort, or is he secretly sending people to assassinate me? Because I might threaten his position?! Gripped by such thoughts and consumed by bloodlust, he took step after step toward Marquis Shuangshen. Under Marquis Shuangshen's concerned gaze, a smile crept onto his face. Suddenly, six wings manifested behind his back. Buzz! Those six wings, gleaming like razor-sharp blades, flashed across the void! Pfft! A massive head flew into the sky, its expression frozen in dazed confusion! Marquis Shuangshen's severed head drifted upward, filled with incomprehension! Why? Why would Liu Yi kill me? Has he gone mad? With a wet rip, Liu Yi moved with incomprehensible speed. Flashing past, his razor wings sliced the head into countless pieces, shredding the sea of will into fragments! Before the other God race experts could even react, head after head went flying. A Heavenly King detonating into violence right beside them with zero warning completely stunned them as their heads were severed one after another. Almost all of these ancient marquises followed the weapon-integration method; none had summoned their weapons, none were at their peak, and none were on guard. Heads flew, and seas of will were slashed to ribbons. In the blink of an eye, including Marquis Shuangshen, four top-tier experts were slain on the spot! Heavenly Venerable Yue, who was in the middle of speaking, froze in shock. The next instant, overtaken by boundless fury and disbelief, he roared, "Liu Yi, what are you doing?!" Liu Yi's eyes were bloodshot. With unimaginable speed, he tore through the air, but he didn't attack Heavenly Venerable Yue; knowing he was no match for him, even in his madness he retained a shred of sanity. Flee! Once I escape, I will find an opportunity to kill them! Buzz! The void was cleaved open by his wings. In the next moment, Liu Yi shifted hundreds of li away, instantly fleeing the scene. Behind Heavenly Venerable Yue, four firework-like death phenomena burst into the sky at once! Heavenly Venerable Yue flew into a towering rage, a mixture of incomprehension and fury fueling a roar as he tore open the void to give chase. "Bastard, you deserve death!" He charged in pursuit, roaring, "Lei Bao!" Lei Bao was equally astonished, but quickly said, "Your race's internal affairs... resolve them yourself. I must continue sweeping the Dao Origin Land, lest someone takes advantage of the gap left by my absence to slip back in—that would defeat our purpose!" Scoundrel! Heavenly Venerable Yue was beside himself with rage! Yet he could not care about anything else now. He was consumed by fury. He had treated Liu Yi with exceptional courtesy, giving him treasures to restore his flesh and arranging an escort back to Myriad Races Mountain. Yet Liu Yi had actually slaughtered Marquis Shuangshen and the others! Damn you! He pursued at full tilt. Behind him, Heavenly Venerable Mo and the others exchanged glances, filled with confusion and shock. Heavenly Venerable Mo frowned slightly. Just earlier, Marquis Guyi had gone mad, and now, Liu Yi had gone mad as well. Was there some connection between the two? His brows furrowed deeply. After considering for a moment, he said swiftly, "San Yue, continue the sweep. Everyone else, assist Dao Brother San Yue. I will go take a look!" He didn't take everyone along, lest San Yue slack off or let people slip through. Moreover, Liu Yi was exceedingly fast, and he worried Heavenly Venerable Yue might not be able to catch him. While he was glad to watch the God race suffer misfortune, Liu Yi's condition was abnormal; perhaps... there was something unusual behind this. Why were these experts suddenly losing control one after another?! ... In the distance, Su Yu also inhaled sharply. Impressive! This God race fellow had actually managed to retain a shred of sanity, and his aura felt extraordinarily powerful—he had recovered some of his strength before striking. Crucially, after slaughtering those people, he actually knew to run! Su Yu also saw two streaks of light flash past. Both moved with blistering speed! One was Liu Yi, and the other was Heavenly Venerable Yue in hot pursuit. Su Yu's eyes gleamed. Should I go find San Yue and cooperate to wipe out the fellows left behind? Forget it! There are still a few Heavenly Venerables nearby. Su Yu licked his lips and gauged the direction of their chase. Was Heavenly Venerable Yue so consumed by rage that he intended to slay this God race traitor at all costs? Then... was there a chance to seize this opportunity to kill a Heavenly Venerable–level expert? Or... Thoughts flickered through his mind, but they didn't slow his decision. Su Yu swiftly tore open the River of Time. Seizing the moment when no one was looking, he accelerated, flying rapidly toward the Great Dao where Liu Yi had resided. Soaring all the way, Su Yu soon found the tributary Dao corresponding to Liu Yi. "Fly toward the northwest! That is your only path to life!" Su Yu sent out waves of rule power, merging them into that tributary to influence Liu Yi's choice and direct him toward the northwest. To the west lay Chaos Mountain, while the northwest lay closer to the Phoenix race. Striking out stream after stream of rule power, Su Yu didn't bother checking whether Liu Yi would definitely be affected; in all probability he would. Having absorbed a massive amount of Dao power, the crazed fellow would likely treat this as a revelation from the Great Dao. ... Soon, Su Yu emerged from the River of Time. He ran swiftly toward the exterior of the Dao Origin Land. Along the way, he continuously transmitted messages to Lan Tian: "Head to the northwest, near the Phoenix race territory, and await my orders!" At this moment, Su Yu realized that if this pursuit continued, with Heavenly Venerable Yue chasing all the way, there might... genuinely be an opportunity to kill him! To kill a Heavenly Venerable! As for the Dao Origin Land, who cared! With one fewer Heavenly Venerable, conducting their sweep wouldn't even be feasible. ... At this moment. Over by Myriad Races Mountain. Powerhouse after powerhouse frowned. In just this short span, seven firework phenomena had suddenly erupted in the eastern direction. Among them, Marquis Guyi and Marquis Shuangshen were top-tier experts, on par with Heavenly Kings. What happened? Hadn't the sweep only just begun? How had so many died all at once! The three Heavenly Venerables blockading the borders all revealed puzzled expressions tinged with unease. Had they encountered a formidable foe? ... Within Chaos Mountain. Behind the Chaos Forest, Yue Hao and the others were climbing the mountain to observe, every one of them showing a look of surprise. Yue Hao chuckled softly. "Could it be that sweeping the Dao Origin Land flushed out top human experts, and a great battle is underway?" "A fine thing!" "Looks like the myriad races have suffered more casualties!" He smiled. The myriad races had suffered heavy losses recently, which was a good thing. As for who had been uncovered in the sweep, it mattered little to them. Alive or dead, they themselves lost nothing. A grand spectacle to behold! ... Meanwhile, Su Yu was rapidly tracking them. However, he was not moving in a straight line, as he also sensed the aura of Heavenly Venerable Mo, who was giving chase as well! "Two Heavenly Venerables... Heavenly Venerable Mo is following as well." Su Yu raised an eyebrow. If that was the case, things were somewhat tricky. How could he shepherd these fellows into Chaos Mountain? Having them slaughter each other with the dwellers of Chaos Mountain would be the ideal outcome. Unfortunately, Su Yu had not yet discovered the hiding place of those fellows from Chaos Mountain. Perhaps some of the spatial passages of the Ancient Space Beast race could be put to use this time. These experts moved at frightening speeds—strictly speaking, faster than Su Yu. Liu Yi specialized in speed, matching that of the Heavenly Venerables, while Su Yu was slightly slower and gradually fell behind. Yet Su Yu was unperturbed. The spatial passages of the Ancient Space Beast race were everywhere; wherever he wanted to go, he could arrive at any moment! And right now, Liu Yi was indeed fleeing toward the northwest. "One step at a time!" Su Yu trailed them steadily, intending to decide based on how circumstances unfolded. If there truly was a chance to kill a Heavenly Venerable, regardless of whether he could frame the Chaos race for it, killing one meant one less enemy, reducing the overall threat. With a crazed Liu Yi leading the dance, many troubles could be avoided. At this very moment, a grand pursuit unfolded across the Upper Realm. Liu Yi, clinging to a thread of sanity amidst madness, had actually fled the Dao Origin Land, allowing Su Yu to glimpse an opportunity.