Expecting a Return for Favors

"Heh heh heh..." A low, suppressed laugh rumbled from Su Yu's throat. Had that just been risky? Extremely risky! Exposing his true form before two hostile Heavenly Venerables for the first time had been a tremendous test of life and death for him. Ever since his strength had grown by leaps and bounds and he had taken command of numerous experts, Su Yu had rarely taken such gambles. His last surprise raid on Mount Seal had been carried out with certainty of success. This time, if the two Heavenly Venerables had turned on him and summoned the others, temporarily abandoning their sweep of the upper realm and their blockade of Mount Chaos, it would have been exceedingly difficult for Su Yu to escape with his life. A moment later, Lan Tian arrived. At this moment, Lan Tian also felt lingering dread. Seeing Su Yu, he exhaled and said, "That was too reckless!" Su Yu smiled brilliantly. "But... the harvest will be immense as well, won't it?" "Will they cooperate?" Lan Tian looked uncertain. "Could they turn on us right away?" Su Yu smiled. "Before resolving the issue with their pseudo-Dao experts, they won't rashly turn against us. A third of their forces—even if there are no Heavenly Venerables among them, that's still five or six Heavenly Kings plus nearly a hundred Dao Integration experts. Do you think they would turn hostile before they're confident they can counter us?" This was the crux of the matter! Su Yu smiled brightly and added, "Besides, rather than fighting two sides at once, it's better to join hands and strike one side first! We want to cooperate with them, so do you think they don't want to cooperate with us? If Mount Chaos approached them to wipe us out first, do you think the myriad races would agree?" Su Yu gave a faint chuckle. "The situation with the myriad races right now is that whoever approaches them to cooperate, they're likely to agree while remaining on guard. But whether it's us or Mount Chaos, every death is one less enemy, and every death means one less share of strength!" Lan Tian nodded. "They will definitely stay on guard against us! And they will also search for ways to resolve our control over the pseudo-Daos, perhaps even gradually having people switch to true Daos to free themselves from our leverage!" Su Yu nodded with a smile. The myriad races would definitely try to solve these problems. They would never allow so many experts to remain under Su Yu's thumb. That was far too dangerous! As for slaughtering all those experts in one go... the myriad races would never do that either. Leaving aside the colossal loss, once exposed, even the true Dao experts would feel a chill of shared sorrow. After all, many among them—including the three major races—had a vast number of pseudo-Dao experts. They were friends, kin, or even fathers, sons, and elders. How could it be as simple as killing them and being done with it? Su Yu smiled and said, "There's another possibility!" Lan Tian looked at him. Su Yu chuckled softly. "They could track us down, ally with Mount Chaos, and wipe us out! Because we are the true threat controlling the pseudo-Daos. Even if they aren't sure who among us can control them, they know that back then, even the likes of Bingku couldn't pull it off... which means on our side, perhaps only a handful of people can. "Count me as one, and prop up King Dazhou as another... "Therefore, the myriad races will certainly harbor thoughts of destroying us! If we die, won't those pseudo-Daos... become true Daos?" Cooperating with them was like asking a tiger for its hide! One had to tread carefully at every turn! Of course, if the alliance held, they could at least keep up appearances on the surface, even if underhanded schemes ran rampant in the dark. Presently, all three factions harbored their own sinister motives, allied purely for the sake of benefit. No one would truly treat the other as an ally. Investing genuine sincerity would be nothing short of seeking one's own doom! Su Yu took a deep breath and continued, "As long as the Prison King lineage demonstrates some real strength, this alliance can remain temporarily stable! So long as the Prison King lineage doesn't prove frail and brittle, this alliance won't crumble!" Lan Tian chuckled. "What if the Prison King lineage feigns weakness?" "How could it be that easy?" Su Yu smiled. "They've just stepped out into the open, fighting their first direct battle against enemies in a hundred thousand years. If they feign weakness, aren't they afraid of destroying their own morale? Even if their morale holds, if the myriad races push straight into their lair, they'll still pay a heavy price. It's far more likely the Chaos Mountain faction will do everything to stop the myriad races from breaching that primeval forest and entering the inner perimeter!" Lan Tian nodded again. The two exchanged a glance, both breaking into smiles. This might very well prove to be a turning point. The enmity between both sides ran as deep as the sea. The myriad races had slaughtered countless human experts, and Su Yu's side had done the same to them. But killing was one thing; at a critical juncture when a stronger power emerged, joining hands as the two weaker parties became an inevitability. Su Yu weighed the pros and cons. There were benefits and drawbacks, but overall, cooperating offered far more advantages than disadvantages! "Emperor Yu, what do we do now?" Su Yu likely wouldn't return to the Dao Origin Land. Su Yu smiled. "Now? Now we head back first, back to the Iron Eater race. Did you forget we're still Dao Integration experts of the Iron Eater race? Everyone will be heading to Myriad Races Mountain soon. If we don't show up, won't that make people suspicious?" Lan Tian smiled. "And if the myriad races really weed out some humans and hand them over to us..." Su Yu said calmly, "No matter. Even if the myriad races deliver them, we can't trust them right away. We'll detain them first and wait for an opportune moment!" Su Yu had never counted on taking them into his fold right now. That was unrealistic and far too dangerous. At present, nothing could go wrong internally. As the weakest of the three factions, if internal turmoil broke out, the subsequent battles would be impossible to fight. With that, Su Yu recalled something and suddenly released someone. The moment King Miecan emerged, his face was full of bitter grievance. *I'm nothing more than a tool right now!* Whenever blood was needed, he was dragged out to be bled. It was simply too disheartening. Su Yu smiled. "Senior Miecan, that was all for the sake of our grand plan just now. Sacrifice a little more, Senior, so that when you achieve great merit later, you can enter the Dao Integration realm sooner!" "..." King Miecan felt exhausted and said with melancholy, "Give me some advance notice next time." Su Yu laughed, nodded, and asked, "How is Wen Qi?" "I beat him up a few times!" Wen Qi was suppressed. Even though King Miecan hadn't reached the Dao Integration realm, beating him up was well within his capabilities. He added, "Not sure if he was afraid you were listening in, but when I told him to defect to the Prison King lineage, he completely ignored me. Hard to say if he harbors intentions of betrayal... but from the looks of it, he probably hasn't betrayed us yet." Su Yu nodded slightly. "Then throw him to Baizhan. Baizhan and Yueluo have fought their way into the inner perimeter of Mount Chaos, and it's extremely dangerous over there... Never mind, we'll see in a few days." A half-baked advisor like Wen Qi could actually be put to use, but Su Yu didn't want to expend effort suppressing him right now—it was too troublesome. Better to let him be Baizhan's half-baked advisor instead! ... Soon, Su Yu and Lan Tian set off in pursuit of the migrating Iron Eater race. As for the skull, that could wait until they reached the Iron Eaters. ... At the same time. In the Dao Origin Land. Heavenly Venerable Yue and Heavenly Venerable Mo had both returned, while Liu Yi had been suppressed by them. After all, Liu Yi had slain several God race experts earlier. In any case, they needed to show an attitude by suppressing Liu Yi rather than letting him swagger around in public. The next time Liu Yi appeared, it would be best for him to disguise his appearance to avoid provoking riots among the friends and kin of the slain experts. The two returned to their original position. At that moment, Heavenly Venerable Mo transmitted his voice, asking, "Should we discuss this matter with the others? If we do, should San Yue and the rest take part?" Heavenly Venerable Yue transmitted back, "Discuss it... it's best to discuss it! As for San Yue and the others... of course we must include them. If they have an alliance with the Torchbearer lineage, then even if we don't call them, they'll know about it anyway! If they don't, we can use this opportunity to probe their intentions! You and I both know a bit about San Yue's thoughts, but neither of us knows the true situation with Lei Bao and Tianming. "Especially Lei Bao... did Baizhan really arrange a marriage alliance with Lei Bao? Why didn't either of us know about it!" At those words, Heavenly Venerable Mo also felt depressed. He quickly replied via voice transmission, "Hardly anyone likely knew of this matter. When Baizhan fell into trouble back then, Lei Bao didn't intervene, and when he broke his seal recently, Lei Bao paid no heed either... I don't know whether he's hiding too deeply or waiting for the right moment to erupt!" Heavenly Venerable Yue said no more, quickly adding, "We will continue our sweep and have Heavenly Venerable Ming, Heavenly Venerable Dao, and Heavenly Venerable Demon send clones over. We must settle this matter through discussion as early as possible. Whether we cooperate or encircle and annihilate the Torchbearer lineage, a decision must be made! This concerns over a hundred pseudo-Dao experts—it cannot be taken lightly!" Heavenly Venerable Mo fell silent for a moment before transmitting, "How do you think they control the pseudo-Daos? Can they do it at will, or does it require specific conditions?" Both Marquis Guyi and Liu Yi had suffered problems only after erupting with power. Before connecting to their Great Dao strength, there had been no sign of trouble; perhaps it was during that moment that the other party seized upon a flaw. Heavenly Venerable Yue, however, didn't care much about that, saying directly, "Regardless of whether it requires specific conditions, have you forgotten how those six Quasi-Kings died?" Could that have required specific conditions? The other party might not be able to take control, but suppression was an absolute certainty, and it didn't require any conditions at all! Back then, the six Quasi-Kings had been slain with ease, suppressed in an instant. Motian had been right there on that day and sensed something, and the two of them had sensed it across the distance as well. "Furthermore, if the Chaos faction is truly as powerful as they claim... right now, joining hands with these fellows to weaken the Chaos race is also an outcome we desire! Heavenly Venerable Mo, tell me... does a Ruler of Rules truly exist in that race?" Heavenly Venerable Yue voiced the question that everyone had been avoiding. Did one truly exist? It was hard to say! There was a possibility, but once one truly appeared, even a weak Ruler of Rules might prove difficult for three to five Heavenly Venerables to match! A Heavenly Venerable was already the absolute pinnacle of this era! Heavenly Venerable Mo also remained silent. He didn't know if one existed. Certain things Su Yu said had not been baseless fabrications; his claim that the Chaos Dao was free from restrictions carried a high probability of truth. Thinking of this, Heavenly Venerable Mo transmitted again, "They came from the lower realm, so the situation down there right now... is probably not looking good!" "Jiwu is still alive." "Moji is also still alive." The two exchanged a distant glance and said no more. The lower realm was difficult to reach, but perhaps... perhaps this cooperation could allow them to negotiate other matters. For instance, opening the passage to the lower realm? Even if the Torchbearer lineage refused, they could at least make them agree to certain conditions, such as... allowing Jiwu and the others to come to the upper realm! Indeed! At this moment, they knew the lower realm could likely no longer be held! Yet Jiwu and the others were not dead; that was a fact. Whether it was Jiwu, Tiangu, or Moji, all of them possessed top-tier Dao Integration combat strength. Having remained in the lower realm for countless years, reaching the upper realm might allow their strength to advance another step! Alternatively, they could find a way to have those fellows destroy the passage to the lower realm, stripping the Torchbearer lineage of their greatest safety net! Cooperation did not make them friends; they remained adversaries. Thoughts flashed through their minds one after another. Soon, the two began sending messages to the three titans over at Mount Chaos, requesting that they send clones to discuss matters of great importance. Over by their side, San Yue and the others felt somewhat bewildered, but since the two said nothing upon returning, they had no choice but to suppress their curiosity. The group resumed their busy efforts, continuing to scour the Dao Origin Land. With the incident involving Liu Yi and the others, their search became even more cautious! ... By the time Su Yu and Lan Tian caught up with the migrating Iron Eater race, it was already the night of the fourth day. The Iron Eater race hadn't packed their people into weapon spaces for the migration. Instead, over ten thousand Iron Eater beasts were shouldering several massive mountains, trudging all the way toward Human Mountain. Indeed, the Iron Eater race was also moving mountains as they traveled! Mountains overgrown with bamboo were being hoisted away. Even though they were going to Human Mountain, that place was bare and desolate—what was so good about it? They had to bring along some local specialties. Worried that Human Mountain wouldn't be suitable for bamboo to grow, these fellows had dared to think big, lifting seven or eight massive mountains to transplant onto Human Mountain. The young Iron Eater beasts were rolling and playing on the slopes, showing not the slightest sorrow over leaving their homeland. The adult Iron Eater beasts didn't mind much either, treating it like a grand excursion. And atop the largest peak, the colossal bamboo palace of the Iron Eater race had been hauled over by Marquis Juzhu and the others, planted squarely atop the mountain. ... At this moment, within the Iron Eater encampment, both Marquis Juzhu and Si Yue were present. Seeing Su Yu and Lan Tian return, both of them breathed a sigh of relief. Marquis Juzhu hurriedly asked, "Earlier in the Dao Origin Land, quite a few experts perished. Was that Emperor Yu's doing?" Su Yu smiled. "It just happened to align with the circumstances, so I finished off a few in passing." Marquis Juzhu couldn't even manage a goofy grin anymore, saying with lingering fear, "Multiple Heavenly Venerables are gathered there. Emperor Yu must still exercise caution! It is far too dangerous!" Since they had thrown their lot in with Su Yu, they were banking on his future prospects. Su Yu taking such risks was an outcome none of them wished to see. Su Yu smiled. "Rest assured, I will be careful. But under the current circumstances, it's impossible to take no risks at all. We haven't reached that stage yet. Right now, it's high risk, high reward!" With that, Su Yu exhaled and smiled again. "Things might become slightly easier going forward." Without dwelling on the topic, Su Yu quickly asked, "While we were away, did anyone come to probe?" Marquis Juzhu smiled. "They wouldn't dare. I'm right here. However, there were people urging us to hurry up. Marquis Yuansheng sent someone over, saying we were moving too slowly—most races have already arrived, while we've only covered half the distance." They had been given ten days, but under normal circumstances, it didn't take that long. The Iron Eater race was ambling along at a crawl! "Pay them no heed!" Su Yu gave a chuckle and dropped the matter. Soon, he released a skeleton. Qi Rong was extremely vigilant. The moment she emerged, her gaze swept the surroundings. She was slightly startled—the Iron Eater race! She seemed to recognize Marquis Juzhu, her clarified eyes instantly turning toward him. Marquis Juzhu, however, did not recognize her, looking somewhat puzzled. "From the Skeleton race?" "..." Su Yu smiled. "No, the Human race. She's just been in seclusion for too long and is on the verge of death!" Saying that, he smiled again. "Does Marquis Juzhu recognize her? Qi Rong, a woman." Beside him, Lan Tian was momentarily stunned. He sized up Qi Rong, smiled, but did not speak. Marquis Juzhu didn't care about gender. He pondered for a moment, shook his massive head, and indicated he didn't know her. Si Yue also looked at Qi Rong, puzzled. "Qi Rong... never heard of her!" Qi Rong looked at them and remained silent. Su Yu chuckled softly. "An expert capable of cultivating a pseudo-Dao to the Heavenly King realm could never be a nobody. Qi Rong, it seems you don't possess much fame." "I have always worked behind the scenes..." Su Yu smiled. "Alright, enough of that. I'm not interested in your true identity!" Su Yu said calmly, "Didn't you want to meet the supreme leader of the human race? I am in the upper realm now and cannot return to the Human Realm, so we shall do it here. Marquis Juzhu and the others are present to serve as witnesses for you." At these words, Qi Rong understood his meaning. After a moment of silence, she asked, "Are you... the Human Ruler of this generation?" Su Yu smiled and gave a slight nod. Wasting no words, he first brought out the Xingyu Seal and pressed it down toward her. Qi Rong's bones creaked under the weight as Su Yu said calmly, "The Human Sovereign's Xingyu Seal, the seal he used before unifying the heavens. Do you recognize it?" A look of shock surfaced in Qi Rong's eyes. After a long pause, she nodded slightly. "I have heard of it. No wonder... you were able to control those pseudo-Dao experts in the Dao Origin Land. Could it be... because of this?" Su Yu smiled. "Perhaps!" With that, he opened the Heavenly Gate and looked at her, causing Qi Rong to show shock once more. "You... opened the Heavenly Gate?" "Mm." Su Yu said calmly, "Is this enough? If not, we can wait until my next trip back to the lower realm and talk in the Human Realm." Qi Rong sighed softly, curtsied slightly, and offered a salute. "Qi Rong believes you. With the Xingyu Seal and the Heavenly Gate in your possession, even if there were other Human Rulers, you would unquestionably be the true inheritor of the Human Sovereign..." Su Yu smiled. "Not quite. I haven't inherited much of anything from the Human Sovereign." He didn't elaborate, looking at Qi Rong instead. "Earlier, you said you had matters to speak of only upon meeting the supreme leader of the human race. Speak now." Qi Rong was silent for a moment before speaking, "Allow me to introduce myself. My true name is indeed Qi Rong... however, I hold a formal title..." The others looked at her. She was being quite secretive. They had met more than a few ancient marquises—just who was she? Qi Rong took a deep breath. "In the Third Tide, I was conferred the title of Consort Qi by Human Ruler Yue Gang!" "..." Everyone exchanged glances. Marquis Juzhu's eyes went wide, and it took him a long while to blurt out, "You... you're Princess Consort Qi?" His eyes were wide as saucers. Seeing Su Yu and the others looking at him, he hurriedly explained, "In the Third Tide, the ruler of the human race was Yue Gang. A Human Ruler was considered equal in status to a Human King... Princess Consort Qi was Yue Gang's Dao companion, but... but Princess Consort Qi fell long ago! How could you..." Qi Rong's voice was hoarse as she said, "I did not fall. I merely operated behind the scenes to handle certain affairs. Later, something went wrong with my cultivation, so... I entered seclusion! Because everyone believed I was dead, my seclusion was conducted in absolute secrecy. Only Yue Gang knew where I was." As she spoke, she grew sentimental and let out a wistful sigh. "Yue Gang... has fallen." Dead! The moment she had first laid eyes on Su Yu, she had asked him where Human Ruler Yue Gang was. And Su Yu had answered that he had fallen. He was her Dao companion and the Human Ruler. At the time of his death, they hadn't even been able to see each other one last time. She knew that Yue Gang might have died very abruptly, or hadn't had time to come see her. A trace of grief surfaced on the skull, vanishing quickly as she said softly, "Qi Rong pays respects to the contemporary Human Ruler!" She offered another salute. This time, Su Yu returned it. "Forgive my slight. So you are a royal consort!" Su Yu was actually somewhat curious. This was the first time he had met the consort and Dao companion of such an expert... wait, no, over on the God Emperor's side, he had also seen the former God Empress. Meanwhile, Marquis Juzhu seemed to recall something, and his expression suddenly changed. Not only him—Si Yue also thought of something and abruptly exclaimed, "You... you faked your death?" Qi Rong nodded slightly. Si Yue said in shock, "No, back then... weren't you... weren't you executed? How could you have faked your death!" "..." Su Yu froze. Executed? What in the world? Marquis Juzhu's eyes shifted rapidly as he said in a hurry, "Back then, wasn't Princess Consort Qi executed by the human race's own hands on charges of treason? Yue Gang personally gave the order. The incident caused quite a stir back in the day—she was the first royal consort to be executed in countless years..." "Treason?" Qi Rong's voice was hoarse, tinged with self-mockery. "Why would I commit treason? My husband was the Human Ruler, the supreme existence of the human race! What need did I have to commit treason? If you want to condemn someone, any excuse will do! The Human Ruler... was nothing more than a puppet! I merely didn't want Yue Gang to remain a puppet, constantly feared and suspected by others, only to end up in such a miserable state... Fortunately, though my husband was pedantic, he knew I did it for his sake... and secretly saved me! However, my Great Dao was indeed severed. Otherwise, I wouldn't have cultivated a pseudo-Dao." Su Yu's brows knitted slightly. What massive gossip! Yet it didn't feel like a particularly pleasant tale. Su Yu said softly, "Princess Consort Qi means that back then, you were convicted of betrayal by the human race and sentenced to death! Yue Gang personally ordered the execution, severed your Great Dao, and then secretly rescued you, reconnecting you to a pseudo-Dao?" "The Human Ruler is correct." Qi Rong sighed softly. "Times have changed, and there is little left to say. Seeing that the Human Ruler has no old relics by his side, perhaps the demise of the old era is for the best. At least... you won't have to be a puppet!" As for Marquis Juzhu, he was from an external race after all. She saw that Su Yu had no ancient human experts around him, which was why she spoke a few extra words. Su Yu smiled. "A puppet... you mean Yue Gang was severely constrained during the Third Tide?" Qi Rong scoffed in self-derision. "Constrained? Back then, truth be told... Yue Gang could only be called a vanguard general! Whenever dangerous battles arose, he was the one charging at the forefront! Those people claimed they were grooming a Human Ruler, but in truth, they were merely raising vanguard generals, not a true Human Ruler! Because their loyalty lay with the Human Sovereign, waiting for his return. Before that happened, they would never allow anyone else the slightest chance of replacing the Human Sovereign..." Su Yu thought it over and smiled. "Interesting. Baizhan seemed to be in a similar situation, though Baizhan was at least strong enough. Yue Gang... what was his strength?" "Probably similar to the Human Ruler's." That meant he had only recently stepped into the Quasi-King realm. Strength like that truly couldn't hold sway over the human race in that era. After all, during that period, there were far too many ancient human relics, plenty of Quasi-Kings, and even Heavenly Venerables. "Were you falsely accused and killed?" Su Yu asked. Qi Rong was silent for a moment. "Not entirely! They claimed I betrayed them... in truth... strictly speaking, I wasn't entirely wronged." Su Yu frowned. Just moments ago she had said 'any excuse will do,' and now she claimed she wasn't entirely wronged—wasn't that a self-contradiction? Princess Consort Qi said calmly, "Put it this way: back then, I refused to resign myself to seeing Yue Gang become their thug, so I did a few things in secret! That included having people cultivate pseudo-Daos, finding ways for Yue Gang to advance further, and even urging Yue Gang to find opportunities to execute a batch of human experts to make an example of them..." Su Yu smiled. "You carried it out? And then you were discovered?" "You could say that." Qi Rong sighed. "Our faction was simply too weak after all. There were too many eyes and ears around us, and even some subordinates we believed to be loyal were actually planted by those fellows!" She said helplessly, "Later, the plan was exposed. In their fury, those old fogies demanded my death! Yue Gang pleaded for me, but it was useless. In the end, Yue Gang had no choice but to personally order my execution... he was even the one who carried it out himself!" Qi Rong smiled bitterly. "Tell me, isn't it pathetic? A Human Ruler... unable to protect even his own Dao companion." She sighed once more. "So when Yue Gang died in battle later on, I wasn't surprised in the least. How can anyone who acts as a thug survive for long? When I saw the Human Ruler earlier and asked if Yue Gang was still around, I was merely clinging to a shred of hope. Since he hadn't come to see me for so many years, he had likely fallen long ago!" To the side, Marquis Juzhu said in a muffled voice, "Yue Gang died long ago, tens of thousands of years ago! A great war erupted during the Third Tide as well. Wu Yue's son—my grandson—fell in battle during that very tidal upheaval." Su Yu recalled that event. Not only that, Su Yu thought of many other things as well. He spoke up, "The Third Tide indeed saw quite a few upheavals. Wu Yue's descendant died in battle, the Torchbearers officially revealed themselves, and according to King Dazhou, Bingku made its official appearance during the Third Tide as well. Once the Third Tide ended, the Torchbearer passage was abandoned. Many other things happened too. It seems the Third Tide underwent tremendous turmoil." Marquis Juzhu nodded. "Mm, Yue Gang was a fierce general as well! After Princess Consort Qi was executed, Yue Gang bided his time for several years. Later, leading a group of ancient marquises, he took the initiative to launch the great battle that concluded the Third Tide. In that battle, dozens of Dao Integration experts perished! Many ancient marquises died, and the myriad races suffered heavy casualties as well. Yue Gang fell in that battle..." Below, a trace of bitterness showed in Qi Rong's eyes. She said softly, "He must have prepared long in advance. I knew he would do that... sooner or later, he would move against those ancient marquises. What a pity... he still failed to turn the tide!" Su Yu laughed. "What a mess. It seems being the Human Ruler isn't an easy job—it's a deadly business! Indeed, of the nine Human Rulers, except for Baizhan who is still alive, all the others have died! Every tidal upheaval concluded with the fall of a Human Ruler... quite tragic, really!" Only when the Human Ruler died would the fighting cease, marking the end of a tide. It wasn't until Baizhan, because he was too powerful, that this curse was broken; even so, Baizhan had been sealed away for six thousand years. Su Yu smiled. "Human Ruler—it really is a position that claims lives. A massive number of ancient marquises survived, while a pile of Human Rulers died. How pathetic!" It was hard to say who was right and who was wrong. The Human Rulers had originally been groomed by the ancient experts, all nine generations of them! No, the first generation had not been; King Wu's son had been a reckless brute who got himself killed. Otherwise, there might not have been subsequent Human Rulers, given that King Wu still had many subordinates under his command. Su Yu smiled again. "Fortunately, in my era, the old fellows are mostly dead. Those who aren't are all in the upper realm. I haven't eaten their food or drunk their wine, so I don't need to care much about their opinions!" Qi Rong sighed softly. "I sensed as much. Otherwise... the Human Ruler wouldn't have sealed me from the start. Your attitude toward me showed that the older generation of experts perhaps... doesn't hold much sway with you!" Indeed, the reason she dared to reveal her identity before Su Yu was that she had already guessed quite a few things, including Su Yu's identity. She was a clever woman. Su Yu's attitude toward her made her realize that his view of those ancient experts was lukewarm at best. When Su Yu mentioned that Marquis Dingjun was still alive, Qi Rong had cursed him as trash, and Su Yu hadn't even bothered to refute it. Had his heart been aligned with them or had he been under their control, even if he didn't argue, he wouldn't have worn such an expression. Though Qi Rong had only just awakened, through observing his words and expressions, she had quickly deduced several things. And right now, she saw Su Yu sitting calmly while Marquis Juzhu and Lan Tian—two Quasi-Kings—stood, and Si Yue stood as well. In the entire hall, Su Yu alone was seated, composed and completely at ease. This was not something an ordinary Human Ruler could achieve. During the Third Tide, it was usually the older experts who sat while Yue Gang stood to discuss matters with them. That was the difference. Hearing Qi Rong say this, Su Yu immediately laughed. "Princess Consort Qi, don't try to sow discord. I still have quite a few ancient experts on my side, such as Marquis Dingjun, Marquis Huoyun, and Marquis Anying. I hold great respect for these seniors!" "Jie jie jie..." Su Yu glared at Lan Tian, from whom the eerie laughter had emerged. Lan Tian gave a dry chuckle and stopped laughing maliciously. *You hold great respect?* *Fine, pretend I didn't hear that.* Even Marquis Juzhu wore an odd look. *Respect, my foot!* *Don't your cheeks burn when saying that?* Those older experts had zero face before Su Yu. The ones who truly held some face were actually the external races; on the human side, Su Yu suppressed them ruthlessly. Qi Rong couldn't help glancing at the group, saying softly, "The Human Ruler... seems to be in complete control of the situation?" Su Yu smiled. "Thanks to the Hundred Battles King, the ninth-generation Human Ruler, who screwed over the human race so badly that the powerful older generation was wiped out. The remaining ones aren't up to much. With strength and confidence under my command, I naturally don't need to fear them. Of course, I am a kindhearted person; they are seniors after all, so I still respect them greatly!" "Heh..." Su Yu's eyes widened, and Lan Tian shut his mouth. Su Yu snapped in irritation, "Get out!" Lan Tian felt helpless. *I really couldn't hold it in.* *How can you lie through your teeth to everyone!?!?!* Qi Rong was speechless as well. When Su Yu uttered those words, the dark circles around Marquis Juzhu's eyes seemed to darken further, clearly finding it unbearable to watch. Qi Rong guessed the rough truth and dwelt on it no longer. Giving Su Yu no chance to speak further, she said hurriedly, "Earlier, the Human Ruler asked what I used to do. I said I was always in charge of one matter, and this matter is actually quite simple..." She looked at Su Yu and said solemnly, "Cultivating loyal subordinates of our own—and this pertains to the pseudo-Daos! What I wanted to do back then was precisely this: use the pseudo-Daos to replace the true Daos, and even... slay those true Dao experts to take their place!" She took a deep breath. "So when they wanted to kill me, I could actually understand, because I wanted to kill them too! I wanted to cultivate pseudo-Dao experts of the same Daos, descend to the lower realm, seize the Great Dao strength of those true Dao experts, and devour those older figures!" Su Yu drew in a breath. "Ruthless enough!" Marquis Juzhu and the others might not have fully grasped it, but Su Yu understood. "You set your sights on those older experts, intending to gradually replace them without diminishing your overall strength—is that what you mean?" Qi Rong nodded slightly. "Yes! For instance, Marquis Dingbei cultivated the Spear Dao. Thus, I would cultivate a pseudo-Dao expert who walked the Spear Dao. After descending, we would restrain Marquis Dingbei and have that pseudo-Dao cultivator devour his Great Dao strength, fusing with him entirely!" At these words, Marquis Juzhu and the others finally understood, their expressions shifting dramatically. This woman... was truly ruthless! The most venomous heart belongs to a woman... cough, cough—the few of them hastily suppressed that thought. Yet had Qi Rong truly succeeded back then, the implications were unimaginable. Perhaps... perhaps she truly could have replaced those experts, provided that the Great Dao fusion proved successful. Qi Rong's voice was hoarse. "Perhaps you all think me cruel, but since Yue Gang had become the Human Ruler, why should he remain a puppet? He was sent to handle every dangerous task, holding neither authority nor troops, forced to obey those people in everything. I refused to accept that! Later, the plan was leaked, those old fogies were infuriated, and the plan collapsed... From the looks of it, no one brought it up in later times, or things wouldn't be as they are now!" Su Yu stroked his chin. "You researched this for many years; you wouldn't have implemented it rashly without any certainty. How were you sure the fusion would succeed?" "All things remain the same at their core!" Qi Rong's voice remained hoarse. "I tested it on someone! Marquis Juzhu might know that back then, a top Dao Integration expert of the human race went missing..." "Missing?" Marquis Juzhu thought for a moment before speaking, "Marquis Wushan?" "It was him!" Qi Rong said solemnly, "I am not a good person, nor do I claim to be one. Wushan humiliated Yue Gang, rebuking him at every turn. Later... I had him captured in secret and allowed a pseudo-Dao cultivator walking the same path to fuse with him! He devoured Wushan!" Ruthless! Even Su Yu thought this woman was thoroughly ruthless. Earlier, he had assumed she was a dedicated researcher, but it turned out she was a fierce character through and through! "The one who devoured Wushan not only fully absorbed his Great Dao strength, but even took a step further, gaining the hope of stepping into the Quasi-King realm..." Marquis Juzhu couldn't help but say, "Could it have been Yue Qi?" Qi Rong nodded slightly. Marquis Juzhu was visibly shaken. "It really was him! Later, Yue Qi and Yue Gang launched the final battle together, and Yue Qi indeed reached the Quasi-King realm, becoming Yue Gang's most capable subordinate... So... that's how it happened! I always wondered how Yue Qi, at such a young age back then, managed to step into the Quasi-King realm in just a few thousand years!" With that, he said with some regret, "What a pity that he died alongside Yue Gang later on." Qi Rong said calmly, "I expected as much. With Yue Gang dead, he likely perished as well. He was Yue Gang's nephew, family of his own blood, and far more trustworthy than outsiders! He was also my only successful experiment; afterward, I never had the chance to do it again." Once the plan was exposed, she naturally lost the opportunity. She herself had been sentenced to death. Though Yue Gang saved her, problems arose during the process of switching Daos, forcing her into secluded cultivation to resolve them. During that seclusion, the seas turned into mulberry fields, and the world had long since changed! Had such a plan been exposed back then, it would have triggered massive turmoil. No wonder no one ever spoke of it later! Trading the lives of ancient experts for the new generation to replace them—every step was lethal! Su Yu rubbed his chin and smiled. "This is getting interesting! But... I don't have suitable candidates on my end. Whom would I replace? Replace Marquis Huoyun? Forget it, those people are very obedient! It feels a bit redundant. By the way, can humans replace the myriad races?" "The Dao rules are similar, so it should work. In the upper realm, in the Dao Origin Land, it's different from the lower realm—cultivating any Dao is possible..." Su Yu nodded and smiled. "True! Come to think of it... if someone cultivates the Physical Body Dao in the Dao Origin Land, could they replace Baizhan?" Su Yu suddenly grew intrigued. "What do you think if I find a fellow cultivating the pseudo-Dao of the physical body—one of our own—and have him devour Baizhan?" Qi Rong couldn't help asking, "Is the ninth-generation Human Ruler... very strong?" Su Yu smiled. "Strong, absurdly strong. He's nearly reached the level of an ancient Human King." "..." Qi Rong fell silent. This tenth-generation Human Ruler seemed utterly mad. With the ninth-generation Human Ruler being so powerful, he actually dared to harbor designs against him. Joking aside, Su Yu suddenly asked, "Since fusion and replacement are possible, let me ask you a question: can a Great Dao be repaired?" Qi Rong was momentarily stunned. "Repaired?" "Yes. The human race's Physical Body Dao seems to have run into issues and suffered damage; otherwise, it wouldn't have produced only a single fellow like Baizhan. Tell me, can the Physical Body Dao among the pseudo-Daos repair the human race's Physical Body Dao?" "It should be possible..." Qi Rong said blankly, "Repairing a Great Dao... but even if repaired, that would only benefit others..." Su Yu laughed. "How could that be? Those cultivating the human race's Physical Body Dao are all my people! Aside from that fellow Baizhan, they are all mine. Whoever becomes stronger makes me stronger. How could that be benefiting others?" "..." *All your people?* At this moment, Qi Rong couldn't help pondering further. Had this fellow... truly taken complete control of the entire human race? Then he was far more formidable than Yue Gang! Yet his strength was only comparable to Yue Gang's. Su Yu smiled again. "Fascinating, truly fascinating! Repairing a Great Dao—to be honest, specialization matters. I can't achieve this myself. I've been pondering how to resolve the issues with this Great Dao... and you delivered yourself right to my door! I'm not interested in replacing Daos, though we could certainly test it out. Pseudo-Daos are easy to cultivate. What I'm thinking about now is repairing Daos, or even fusing identical Daos... You seem to have conducted extensive research into this, especially Great Dao fusion!" Last time, King Dazhou had fused two Daos, exhausting himself half to death. That was a form of fusion as well! The fusion of pseudo-Daos and true Daos followed the same principle. This reminded Su Yu of many things, prompting him to wonder: could he fuse King Daqin and King Daxia back into it? Fuse them back into the human race's Physical Body Dao! Those two were already powerful. Fusing them back might allow them to advance another step, and they could even seize shares of the Great Dao from Baizhan! Su Yu stroked his chin, falling into deep contemplation. Looking back at Qi Rong, his smile was exceptionally radiant. "I don't care much for people who only know how to fight; I only like those who use their brains for research. I was a researcher by trade myself, and I admire Princess Consort Qi greatly. Princess Consort Qi, Yue Gang is dead, but I might be able to find his dead spirit body and reunite you two... In return, helping me handle a few tasks shouldn't be much of an issue, right?" "The dead spirit realm?" Princess Consort Qi was taken aback. Su Yu smiled. "Yes. The dead spirit realm is under my control right now. I can help you search for him. Of course, if you don't need that, forget it!" Qi Rong was stunned for a moment. "Can he truly be found?" "Not certain!" Su Yu smiled. "He's been dead for so many years and hasn't awakened yet. Perhaps he can never awaken, or perhaps he's still adrift in the Dead Spirit Heavenly River. Who knows if he can be found? I make you no promises!" Princess Consort Qi took a deep breath. "And if I refuse, how will the Human Ruler dispose of me?" Su Yu smiled. "What kind of talk is that! I'm not that kind of person! If Princess Consort Qi truly refuses, then forget it. At most, you'll be locked up with Wen Qi for a few years. Could I possibly kill you?" "..." Qi Rong probed, "The Human Ruler... is unwilling to let me leave?" Su Yu laughed aloud. "What are you saying? You owe me a life! You haven't repaid it yet! Expecting a return for favors is only natural. I saved your life, you owe me a life—if you don't pay me back, could I just let you walk away? If you think that, you underestimate me, Su Yu, far too much!" It took Qi Rong a long time to say, "If Yue Gang had possessed the Human Ruler's audacity back then... perhaps... none of what followed would have come to pass." Demanding recompense for a favor, spoken with such towering moral rectitude! Falling on Qi Rong's ears, it sounded thoroughly grating. This new Human Ruler was truly no ordinary figure!