The grand spectacle had indeed begun.
That night atop Human Mountain, the various Heavenly Venerables were all simmering with anger.
Handing over a few benefits to Su Yu was not a big deal in itself. But Su Yu actually demanded that they all observe ancient court etiquette, don ancient ceremonial robes the following morning, and assemble to see him off on his expedition.
That was utterly unacceptable.
Some fiercely opposed it, while others were in favor.
Celestial Venerable Ming was rather indifferent to the matter, remarking, "These are trifling details. If he is willing to go into battle, what harm is there in playing along, stroking his vanity, and sending him off to fight?"
They stood to lose nothing by it, after all.
Heavenly Venerable Dao, however, retorted coldly, "Out of the question! What kind of nonsense is that? We have rebelled against the human race for countless millennia. For us to send him off on his personal imperial expedition now in the posture of ancient subjects—would that not mean submitting to them all over again? Wouldn't all our hundred thousand years of resistance become an utter farce?"
"And to wear ancient official garments? Absolutely out of the question!"
A flock of Heavenly Venerables squabbled endlessly over the issue.
Yet while some bickered, others kept their silence.
Figures like Lei Bao and Tianming remained silent throughout. Beyond delivering the message at the start, Lei Bao had barely uttered a word.
His mind was still fixed on Su Yu.
That man was truly terrifying.
Given the faintest clue, the kind of minuscule lead easily overlooked by others, Su Yu would swiftly trace it to its roots and uncover the truth. He inspired ever-growing dread.
In his heart, Lei Bao compared King Hundred Battles to Su Yu. Between the two of them, who was truly stronger?
It was an assessment covering every aspect, not merely individual martial prowess.
Even after a long time, he could reach no definitive conclusion. Yet he harbored an instinctive impression: Su Yu exerted far greater pressure on him than Hundred Battles ever did. Perhaps it was simply because Hundred Battles maintained a lower profile.
...
Su Yu cared nothing for their squabbles.
At this moment, Su Yu was directing San Yue to gather the entire Iron Eater race into a spatial treasure, lest Heavenly Venerable Long take revenge on them once they set out.
Of the entire Iron Eater race, only Marquis Juzhu remained outside. Su Yu had Si Yue and Wu Yue retreat into a weapon space for safety.
Su Yu, the little white dog, San Yue, Ju Fu, Xue Lan, Tongtian, and Marquis Juzhu—four Heavenly Venerables and three Heavenly Kings. This was the force Su Yu deployed, every one of them an elite. In this era, even Heavenly Kings would not be easily slain upon encountering Heavenly Venerables.
The Iron Eater race was essentially undergoing another relocation.
San Yue handed the weapon space holding his people over to Su Yu.
Su Yu looked at him, and San Yue offered a guileless chuckle. "It is safer with Your Majesty than with me."
Su Yu shot him a look. Safer?
Not necessarily!
Su Yu said nothing further on the matter. Stowing the weapon space away, he spoke: "Once we march out this time, we may very well encounter formidable foes! We might even run into the Rule Master who is about to emerge! Therefore, everyone must exercise utmost caution!"
In a solemn tone, Su Yu continued, "Our old rule applies: follow orders! At critical moments, no matter what I say, follow my commands and you will have a hope of survival! But if you disobey, your death will be on your own head!"
This time, there were no troublemakers; everyone nodded in agreement.
After calculating the variables for a moment, Su Yu added, "The sinner race may not have only five Heavenly Venerables. Keep that firmly in mind! The myriad races' intelligence network is pure shit; they never get first-hand information!"
Several of them chuckled. Ju Fu laughed heartily and said, "Isn't that a good thing? If they held complete mastery over all intelligence, it would only make things harder for us."
Su Yu also smiled and gave a slight nod.
Then, rather than speaking aloud, he transmitted his voice: "Remember, focus on severely wounding them if you can, but do not obsess over killing them! Slaying enemies often comes at an enormous price!"
The others were somewhat taken aback. Wasn't Su Yu's goal to eliminate several powerful enemies?
"As for killing them... we will do that once they enter my world!"
Su Yu explained so they would not act recklessly, transmitting quickly, "Severely wound them, rout some of their ranks, and... preferably force a few to flee into the depths of the chaos!"
"Let them discover our world on their own initiative, rather than having our world suddenly appear before them!"
In short, Su Yu wanted everything to seem seamless!
Be it an opportune encounter, an independent world, or the Tea Tree, none of it was handed to them by him; it had to look as though they had discovered it through their own arduous efforts and miraculous luck.
The others nodded again. Following Su Yu, they would simply execute the plan.
Everything else could be left to Su Yu to worry about.
"Lan Tian!"
Su Yu spoke once more. "The Eight-Winged Tiger and Chaos Dragon might not strike at the first opportunity. In fact... we cannot trust them completely! Their claim about wanting to kill that Rule Master might not be true! They might even join forces with them! And the Eight-Winged Tiger knows a great deal about us... If the Eight-Winged Tiger allies with the enemy, inform Principal Wan and the others to evacuate immediately. Even if they spot an opening, they must not linger!"
Toward those two ancient chaos beasts, Su Yu maintained only the barest sliver of trust—thirty percent at most.
Aside from his own people, Su Yu trusted no one!
In these times, blindly placing trust in outsiders was suicide.
Every single one of them was an old schemer, dark and treacherous.
Having said that, Su Yu paused for a moment before continuing, "If a crisis strikes at a critical juncture, all experts within the world shall take orders from... King Dazhou!"
The moment those words were uttered, even the bracelet formed by Lan Tian's clone froze in surprise, to say nothing of San Yue and the others.
Among the top powerhouses in Su Yu's camp, in terms of trust, Lan Tian, Wan Tiansheng, the little white dog, the Southern King, and Marquis Lanshan were all ranked above King Dazhou!
In terms of strength, King Dazhou was not even a Heavenly Venerable, weaker than the Southern King and the rest.
He was even weaker than Wan Tiansheng!
Yet Su Yu had instructed that at a critical juncture, they were to take orders from King Dazhou.
Why?
None of them could comprehend it!
Su Yu offered no explanation; they merely needed to obey.
King Dazhou?
An old fellow who remained profoundly enigmatic even now. As the ancient Human Sovereign's scribe, he knew far too much and possessed far too much insight. Hundred Battles fathering a son was supposed to be a top secret, wasn't it?
King Dazhou had known all along!
Not only had he known, but he had casually shared it as idle gossip, showing not the slightest inclination to conceal it.
One had to realize that for six thousand years, the myriad races had known nothing of the sort.
The Giant race had kept it exceptionally well hidden, yet Su Yu and his companions had heard it like a joke straight from King Dazhou's mouth. Otherwise, who could have known?
That was supposed to be a closely guarded secret!
Yet King Dazhou had treated it like nothing of the sort.
As the Human Sovereign's scribe, Su Yu had not thought too deeply about it before. But seeing how secretive Hundred Battles and his circle were, and reconsidering King Dazhou's actions, perhaps the old man had disclosed it deliberately. The crux was that whenever this old fox revealed something, he never laid it completely bare!
He had described Hundred Battles as a capable man of profound loyalty and affection, ever victorious, extraordinarily talented... Back then, Su Yu had still been cursing Hundred Battles as a useless fool.
King Dazhou, whether inadvertently or intentionally, had leaked countless secrets to Su Yu.
It was just that at times, Su Yu had not paid it enough heed.
"And his cultivation as well!" Su Yu murmured under his breath. He had barely assisted King Dazhou, yet King Dazhou's strength had never fallen behind.
When everyone was at the Eternal Realm, he was at the Eternal Realm.
When everyone reached the Dao Integration Realm, he reached the Dao Integration Realm.
When everyone became Heavenly Kings, he became a Heavenly King.
Neither standing out above the rest nor falling behind, never the very strongest, yet consistently useful and impossible to leave behind or overlook.
When Su Yu mentioned having visited the Human Sovereign's Great Dao, well, the man already knew of it.
When Su Yu discovered the passage at Soul Burial Mountain, well, he immediately offered hindsight wisdom, claiming he had known of the passage all along.
In short, Su Yu suspected King Dazhou still held trump cards. Naturally, they might not be overwhelmingly powerful—if he possessed unimaginable might, he would have stepped forward long ago. Nevertheless, King Dazhou likely possessed the confidence to initiate another tidal transition at a critical juncture.
The ninth tide had ended, initiating the tenth. If the tenth ended and the Human Sovereign and his vanguard had still not returned, would there be an eleventh?
...
Just as Su Yu was lost in thought.
Within Su Yu's cosmic world.
Deep beneath the ground.
Lan Tian conveyed Su Yu's command. At that moment, everyone turned their eyes toward King Dazhou. At the critical juncture, King Dazhou was to hold supreme command.
Every gaze converged on him.
Even Wan Tiansheng and his circle looked at King Dazhou with faint smiles.
King Dazhou wore an expression of sheer awkwardness. "Well... Principal Wan, I have no idea what His Majesty is thinking. How could such a monumental responsibility be entrusted to me? My strength is humble; in my view, Principal Wan should take charge!"
Wan Tiansheng gave a soft laugh. "His Majesty's word is law. Why be so modest, King Dazhou? When it comes to scheming and calculation, I am certainly no match for you!"
"What are you saying..."
Wan Tiansheng cut him off with a smile. "Is it not so? I remained dormant in the academy for decades, biding my time, yet everything was in fact within King Dazhou's grasp! Outsiders assumed I was merely in the Shanhai Realm, but King Dazhou surely never thought so!"
At that, Wan Tiansheng let out a sigh. "In truth, there is only one thing I wish to ask... King Dazhou, would you mind having a word with me?"
King Dazhou raised an eyebrow slightly, then smiled warmly. "Of course!"
"After you!"
Wan Tiansheng walked ahead, and King Dazhou swiftly followed.
Stepping away from the others, the two walked to a secluded spot where no one else was present.
...
Once the others were out of sight, King Dazhou smiled and said, "What would Principal Wan like to ask? I shall tell you everything I know..."
Wan Tiansheng turned to look at him and asked calmly, "Not much. I only want to ask one thing: did my Senior Brother Ye have anything to do with you?"
"..."
King Dazhou looked bewildered. "Ye Batian? He... has nothing to do with me."
"Is that so?"
Wan Tiansheng smiled faintly. "King Dazhou, allow me to ask a few more questions! Xia Chen only stepped out of seclusion with King Wen's legacy during this tide, didn't he?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't he appear during the preceding nine tides?"
Wan Tiansheng said gravely, "Of all times, Xia Chen appeared during this very tide carrying King Wen's inheritance! Not only that, but far too many things have emerged in this tide! The Ink Dao appeared and was inherited by Liu Hong! The Brush Dao was inherited by His Majesty! The Inkstone Dao... which is King Wen's former residence, also appeared this tide! And the Paper Dao as well!"
"All four of King Wen's Daos have emerged in this very tide!"
"The Martial Emperor awoke during this tide!"
"Then the Xingyu Seal made its appearance because of that; otherwise, without King Wen's former residence opening, where would one have found the Xingyu Seal?"
"King Wen's legacy and the Human Sovereign's legacy were surely the two greatest fallback plans left behind after the ancient human race withdrew... Both have surfaced now, rather than in the era of King Hundred Battles!"
"Nine is the extreme! In the era of Hundred Battles, given his extraordinary talent, it would have made far more sense for him to obtain these treasures... Yet Hundred Battles did not receive them. Of course, someone in that era may have considered bringing these things to light. But once that person perceived Hundred Battles' true intentions, once he realized that the Fire-Passing lineage was in peril, marginalized, and even secretly harmed... he chose to initiate the tenth tide!"
Wan Tiansheng looked at King Dazhou and said calmly, "None of that truly concerns me. I only wish to know about Senior Brother Ye!"
Wan Tiansheng's voice was heavy. "Senior Brother Ye actually played a pivotal role in this sequence of upheavals! Though his cultivation seems weak by today's standards, because of Senior Brother Ye... the entire world came to know how formidable the Multiple Divine Characters Department was! Before Senior Brother Ye, neither the first-generation head, Xia Chen, nor the third-generation, Nan Wujiang, enjoyed as much fame as he did. The Multiple Divine Characters Department had not been particularly renowned at first!"
"It was only after Senior Brother Ye rose to prominence, and especially after he fell in battle, that the Multiple Divine Characters Department became an object of utter dread to the myriad races, and a place that enrolled only the most exceptional geniuses!"
"The Great Zhou Prefecture's oppression, whether deliberate or inadvertent, placed the Multiple Divine Characters Department under constant, mortal peril—an existential crisis!"
"And from that crisis... arose His Majesty!"
Wan Tiansheng said calmly, "Otherwise, even if His Majesty inherited the Time Master's Time Book, had the situation not been so dire, many of these conflicts would never have erupted ahead of schedule. If he had joined the single divine character faction... the entire myriad realms would still be in a state of peace!"
"Yet how long could such peace last? The Human Sovereign and his vanguard might be returning soon. If someone sensed that, grew anxious, and realized time was running out, would he not trigger a chain of upheavals in advance?"
Wan Tiansheng looked at King Dazhou and continued, "Afterward, I searched multiple times within the River of Dead Spirits, yet I never found my senior brother!"
He fixed his gaze on King Dazhou. "Does King Dazhou know where my senior brother went?"
King Dazhou furrowed his brow. "Ye Batian died. Perhaps he has not revived, or perhaps he still wanders the River of Dead Spirits without recovering his memories. He was not particularly powerful in life, so isn't that perfectly normal?"
Wan Tiansheng nodded slightly. "Then let me ask another question: whose man is Liu Hong?"
"Hmm?"
King Dazhou looked at him. Wan Tiansheng said calmly, "Or rather, whose arrangement was it for Liu Hong to inherit the Ink Dao? Liu Hong actually knows a great deal. On certain matters, he might not have been lying; he might have gained sudden insights out of nowhere, or even glimpsed certain memories... He claimed he saw them within the Great Dao. Can the Great Dao truly show such things?"
"Liu Hong said that divine characters are rules! It was precisely because of that single remark that His Majesty and I came to understand so many profound truths. That sentence alone is something ordinary Dao Integration cultivators could never comprehend!"
"Was Liu Hong's inheritance of the Ink Dao meant to prepare for the resurrection of a certain person?"
Wan Tiansheng stared intently at King Dazhou. "And was Xingyue resurrected because she wielded the Dao of Life, and someone believed she was needed at the front lines to support the Human Sovereign and the others?"
King Dazhou said gravely, "Tiansheng, you are overthinking things!"
Wan Tiansheng chuckled. "Not at all, not in the slightest! Then let me ask you: do you not know Xingyue?"
"I do not!"
King Dazhou shook his head. "I only began following His Majesty the Human Sovereign toward the end of his time in the Human Realm. Xingyue fell in battle far too early. Later, His Majesty never spoke of her again, so naturally I know nothing of her!"
Wan Tiansheng smiled. "Is that so? Never mind, say whatever you wish!"
In truth, Wan Tiansheng had pieced together the broad outline of King Dazhou's plans.
Perhaps in the ninth tide, King Dazhou had intended to make his move, assisting Hundred Battles in suppressing the myriad races so they could welcome the Human Sovereign's return in their strongest posture, or even take the initiative to reinforce him.
Yet before long, King Dazhou noticed something amiss!
Figures like Bing Ku and Dan Yu had clearly been deployed by King Dazhou. Unfortunately, Hundred Battles appeared to have betrayed them, forcing King Dazhou to go into hiding and suppress everything he had originally prepared to reveal!
He surely knew where King Wen's inheritance lay. He surely knew that King Zhan's lineage was guarding the Civilization Tombstone.
Yet he never brought it out.
Hundred Battles suddenly awakened the Human Ancestor's bloodline and turned toward the Human Ancestor. The ambitions of the Human Ancestor and the Human Sovereign were not necessarily aligned, and a rift must have formed between them.
Thus came the tenth tide. And throughout this tide, there had only ever been one puppet master: King Dazhou!
From beginning to end!
Whether it was King Daqin or Su Yu, both had been pushed into power through King Dazhou's machinations.
Ye Batian's death was a monumental turning point for the Multiple Divine Characters Department. Wan Tiansheng refused to believe that King Dazhou could truly have overlooked such a momentous event.
The Multiple Divine Characters Department held King Wen's legacy. If others knew, could King Dazhou not know?
It was normal for the ordinary human race to remain ignorant!
Even Tianmie knew that the Civilization Tombstone had been left behind by King Wen. Could King Dazhou truly have known nothing?
Impossible!
Yet the Civilization Tombstone had sat in the Civilization Academy for fifty years. Even after Ye Batian died, and even when the academy's Multiple Divine Characters Department had fallen into utter ruin, this powerhouse who knew the monument's true identity had never once come to claim it.
Did King Dazhou not care about the Brush Dao?
Even if he didn't know it was the Brush Dao, could he fail to realize that it might involve King Wen's legacy?
Yet he had never touched the Civilization Tombstone.
Had he taken it away early on, none of the subsequent events would have occurred!
Su Yu would never have learned the multiple divine characters battle technique, nor would he have encountered the Brush Dao. Without access to the Brush Dao, though it might appear insignificant now, those multiple divine characters within it were the very key to Su Yu opening his world.
Those ninety-nine divine characters had laid the foundation for world creation.
Countless thoughts flashed through Wan Tiansheng's mind. Before long, he let the matter rest. "King Dazhou, regardless of anything else, you deserve the greatest credit for the human race reaching this point today! Since His Majesty believes you can handle crises, I hope that if trouble arises ahead, you will devote your full heart to it. The human race... or rather, the Human Sovereign and his vanguard, cannot wait for another Human Master!"
King Dazhou smiled. "Naturally!"
Wan Tiansheng nodded slightly and asked, "Then when will King Dazhou reach the Heavenly Venerable Realm?"
King Dazhou gave an airy chuckle. "Hard to say. That depends on luck!"
Wan Tiansheng's brow furrowed slightly. "Make it next time. Next time someone advances to Heavenly Venerable, or when either Lan Tian or I reach it, King Dazhou should advance to Heavenly Venerable as well!"
"..."
King Dazhou was rendered speechless!
He spoke as if becoming a Heavenly Venerable were as casual as taking a walk.
Wan Tiansheng spoke again: "What His Majesty said about that Xiao Baida, along with his various deductions—does King Dazhou find them reasonable?"
"There is some merit to them!"
King Dazhou nodded. "In truth, I am not entirely clear on these matters either. However... King Hundred Battles' son is indeed quite mysterious. Even I have never laid eyes on him."
King Dazhou had collaborated with the Giant race in the past.
Wan Tiansheng nodded, taking King Dazhou's words as confirmation, and continued, "Then do you think they are currently aware of our existence? If he is in the chaos, given the disturbances that occurred there earlier, including His Majesty opening his world, could he be watching us from the shadows?"
King Dazhou raised an eyebrow. "Hard to say. He might know, or he might not!"
"Then His Majesty's hidden cards might already be completely exposed to Hundred Battles' side!"
Wan Tiansheng's eyes turned profound. "King Dazhou, if that person is truly formidable, perhaps even reaching the level of the Martial Emperor... do you think we can deal with him?"
The Martial Emperor was terrifyingly powerful!
Of course, in his current sealed state, he was not worth mentioning.
Speaking of the Martial Emperor, Wan Tiansheng smiled again. "The Martial Emperor was sealed for countless years and only began awakening in recent years, just in time for His Majesty to encounter him—what a coincidence. Opening 360 acupoints is required to hear those faint voices... Before His Majesty, had no one in the human race opened 360 acupoints? If I am not mistaken, Hundred Battles opened them as well. He must have visited the Star Realm Residence, so why did he never hear a single sound?"
"Well..."
King Dazhou pondered for a moment before replying, "Perhaps the Martial Emperor only regained some consciousness in recent years. Before that, his will may have been completely dormant!"
"Very well!"
Wan Tiansheng had wanted to tear off his old face to see if he would even blush, but on second thought, he let it go.
Since Su Yu had not pressed the matter to the very bottom, he would not pursue it further either.
However, the two exchanged glances and offered each other gentle, genial smiles—the kind of smiles that plainly communicated: *You're no good person either!*
...
Su Yu knew nothing of this exchange.
Naturally, he understood that by entrusting supreme command to King Dazhou, Wan Tiansheng and the others would keep a watchful eye on him and would never allow him to act recklessly.
Dawn was breaking.
Without further words, Su Yu stepped through the air, heading straight toward the Human Mountain region.
To rob Heavenly Venerable Long!
...
Over at Human Mountain.
A host of experts was also beginning to descend the mountain.
Naturally, none of them had donned ancient ceremonial attire as Su Yu had demanded. That would be far too humiliating; the myriad races had no wish to give anyone the mistaken impression that they were submitting to the human race once again.
Soon, the two sides sighted each other across the void.
The distance rapidly closed.
Leading the vanguard of the alliance this time was Sheng Hou of the immortal race.
All the major powerhouses had turned out.
There were numerous Heavenly Venerables!
Even the newly ascended Heavenly Venerable, Marquis Yuansheng, was present among them.
The immortal race remained as formidable as ever.
Sheng Hou, Heavenly Venerable Dao, Celestial Venerable Huang, and Marquis Yuansheng—a full four Heavenly Venerables.
On the god race's side, there were the Former Imperial Consort, Heavenly Venerable Rimian, and Heavenly Venerable Yue.
As for the demon race, only two Heavenly Venerables were present: Celestial Venerable Mo and Mo Tian.
Though Mo Tian and Celestial Venerable Mo sounded similar in the human tongue, their names were vastly different in the demonic language.
From these three major races alone, nine Heavenly Venerables had assembled.
Adding the others—Celestial Venerable Ming, Heavenly Venerable Long, Heavenly Venerable Feng, Lei Bao, and Tianming—a full fourteen supreme powerhouses had arrived.
The two groups halted less than a thousand meters apart.
San Yue and his companions were on high alert, wary of being encircled. Who knew if these fellows might suddenly launch an assault? Fourteen top-tier powerhouses, supplemented by a cohort of Heavenly Kings, formed a force that Su Yu's group could not hope to match in an open clash, despite their own formidable strength.
...
The two sides confronted each other.
The moment they met, Su Yu remarked with displeasure, "What, I'm acting as your vanguard, and you couldn't even satisfy such a tiny request?"
Heavenly Venerable Yue took the lead, speaking with a smile, "Human Master Su, with such short notice, we simply lacked the time to prepare! Those ancient ceremonial garments were destroyed long ago. Since you brought this up so abruptly, we would need time to prepare... We would have to seek out elders who studied ancient customs to reconstruct them. These garments cannot be carelessly manufactured! Crude imitations would only bring greater disgrace!"
Su Yu narrowed his eyes. This fellow certainly had a silver tongue.
Su Yu said indifferently, "Fine, I won't bother arguing with you! I can serve as the vanguard this time, but when will the myriad races deploy their forces? Don't leave me surrounded and butchered before you even show your faces!"
Heavenly Venerable Yue smiled once more. "Naturally, we will not sit idly by! We will escort you to the vicinity of the Chaos River. As long as your side can lure away two Heavenly Venerables, we will strike immediately and flatten the sinner race's territory!"
Heavenly Venerable Yue chuckled. "This is also for the sake of smoother cooperation. Otherwise, if both sides fight side by side, we would only distrust each other and worry about mutual interference!"
That was the honest truth!
Su Yu nodded. "And if their Rule Master suddenly appears..."
Heavenly Venerable Yue smiled. "Even if that happens, we must still fight! If Your Majesty can spare the hands to deal with that Rule Master, that would be ideal. But if you cannot... it will be necessary for us to join hands against them!"
Su Yu nodded. Looking toward the depths of Chaos Mountain, he took a deep breath. "They may already be waiting for us. I expect the sinner race to deploy in full force this time; it won't be simple!"
Everyone nodded in agreement. This battle would indeed be perilous, and many experts might fall.
That was precisely why they wanted Su Yu's side to serve as the vanguard.
The Prison King lineage's first wave of resistance would undoubtedly be ferocious.
Earlier, Su Yu had severely wounded Yue Hao largely through the element of surprise, but there would be no such opportunity this time.
This was bound to be a brutal fight!
From the corner of his eye, Su Yu scanned the crowd. Heavenly Venerable Long was indeed standing off to one side, not far from Lei Bao. Lei Bao seemed to be whispering something to him, keeping him somewhat isolated from the other Heavenly Venerables.
He had to rob Heavenly Venerable Long first. The crux was that Long might not summon his weapon; if he didn't, Su Yu would just have to beat him until he did.
And the other Heavenly Venerables would almost certainly intervene.
One could never obtain a Heavenly Venerable's weapon simply by asking for it; it had to be snatched by force.
Moreover, that mountain of dung was probably quite important to Hongmeng.
It was best to secure it in his own hands!
At that moment, Su Yu smiled and said, "Then let us enter Chaos Mountain together! You fellows promised to see me off with imperial honors, yet not one of you took it to heart. I must say, I'm quite disappointed!"
With that, he stepped forward, transmitting his voice to Tongtian: "In a moment, instantly teleport us right beside Heavenly Venerable Long!"
"Understood!" Tongtian replied.
Among the crowd, Tiangu and his group followed along. Tiangu was studying Su Yu intently. Su Yu hadn't flown into a rage and was dutifully stepping up as the vanguard, which made Tiangu somewhat uneasy.
Whenever Su Yu failed to pull some underhanded trick, Tiangu felt uncomfortable, sensing that it wasn't Su Yu's usual style.
Tiangu felt deeply conflicted.
Yet he also wondered if he was overthinking things.
Su Yu's target was the Prison King lineage; pulling tricks right now offered him no advantage.
The group continued forward.
With so many supreme experts assembled, even the ancient beasts on the periphery of Chaos Mountain fled in terror.
The combined aura of the assembly shook heaven and earth.
Meanwhile, in the depths of Chaos Mountain, within the kingdom nestled among the peaks, a host of experts stood in solemn formation, awaiting battle.
The voice of their ancestor echoed among the mountains: "The myriad races and Su Yu's rabble already know our purpose, yet their treacherous ambitions refuse to die! Our sacred race has remained dormant for countless eras; as long as we crush these intruders, the entire myriad realms will fall under our dominion!"
"Wait patiently for the Hell Gate to open and our progenitor to return... The Dao of our sacred race shall illuminate the myriad realms and transform all the heavens into our sacred sanctuary!"
The ancestor's voice echoed continuously, chilling and harsh: "We are currently channeling Supreme Venerable Yuqing's return! Supreme Venerable Yuqing achieved the Dao through true chaos, wielding the chaos will itself!"
"Once Supreme Venerable Yuqing returns, all obstacles will vanish like smoke!"
"..."
This ancestor was rallying morale, his voice low and thunderous: "Our sacred race is by no means inferior to the myriad races! Our goal is to crush them while preserving our mighty combat strength, rather than suffering crippling losses!"
This was the calculation shared by all sides: fighting to mutual destruction was easy enough, but none of them wanted such an outcome.
Below, the gathered experts cried out in fervor, "We shall exert every ounce of our might!"
The ancestor nodded and roared, "Then intercept the enemy outside! Do not let them disrupt our summoning of Supreme Venerable Yuqing!"
In an instant, the auras of four Heavenly Venerables and over a dozen Heavenly Kings erupted, followed by dozens of top-tier Dao Integration experts, all soaring toward the mountain's exterior.
Aside from the heavily injured Yue Hao, all the Heavenly Venerables known to the myriad races, including Yue Luo, marched out.
Yet the ancestor of the Prison King lineage did not leave.
Only his voice carried forth; his body remained deep within the mountains.
Right before the Hell Gate!
Awaiting the return of his senior sister!
Behind the Hell Gate, pairs of eyes flickered in the darkness. Among them, a pair filled with profound intelligence gazed upon the ancestor, a faint voice transmitting through: "Yue Zhan, how much longer until it is complete?"
Outside the gate, the ancestor of the Prison King lineage—Yue Zhan—said gravely, "Soon... If the myriad races do not interfere, three hours at most will suffice to welcome Senior Sister back!"
Behind the gate, those eyes brimmed with annoyance. "The news leaked... far too early!"
Right at this critical juncture!
She was deeply displeased!
Yue Zhan had no excuse to offer. The timing was indeed too coincidental—so coincidental that he even suspected a traitor had leaked the secret from within the clan.
Had Su Yu truly deduced it solely from the projection of the Hell Gate?
Yet now was no time to investigate.
...
At the very same time.
Su Yu and his companions arrived near the Chaos River.
On either flank, powerful ancient beasts could be vaguely seen peering in their direction.
Su Yu glanced around and chuckled, "This is far enough for the escort. I can already sense the enemy's surging auras; it seems they can hardly wait to greet me. Gentlemen, be sure to reinforce us in time... Otherwise, if we can't match them, we will certainly turn tail and run!"
With that, Su Yu laughed. "How about... we all charge up together? Doing it this way feels unsafe, like feeding troops into a meat grinder piece by piece!"
From behind, Heavenly Venerable Long casually chimed in, "Since the Human Master took our treasures, it is only proper that you probe their strength first..."
He had merely spoken in passing.
Yet Su Yu had been waiting for the slightest pretext to target him!
In the next instant, before anyone else could react, Su Yu suddenly let out a furious roar: "Audacious! Who gave you the right to question me? Kill!"
Boom!
Su Yu and his entourage materialized directly in front of Heavenly Venerable Long.
Everyone was dumbfounded!
Their minds buzzed in sheer disbelief!
What in the world?
Weren't you supposed to be marching into battle?
Fuck!
Why are you suddenly turning on your allies?
At that moment, even the Former Imperial Consort and her companions were stunned. Shock gave way to fury as Sheng Hou roared, launching an attack toward Su Yu's group alongside Heavenly Venerable Rimian and the others!
Damn it!
What was this lunatic doing?
Meanwhile, Tiangu's expression shifted drastically. In the next breath, realization dawned, and he shouted, "Stop—"
Turning on each other in an all-out battle now was disastrous.
Yet Su Yu's group struck simultaneously, raining attacks upon the bewildered Heavenly Venerable Long.
Long's face twisted in horror!
Fuck!
Why?
He had merely made a passing comment, and this lunatic wanted his life!
Four Heavenly Venerables!
Moreover, Su Yu's aura was terrifyingly potent, instilling an overwhelming sensation of mortal peril.
Heavenly Venerable Long roared. In front of him, a colossal mountain suddenly materialized—the Dragon Coiling Mountain, an extraordinary peak resembling a giant turtle carrying a dragon.
Forged over countless years, it was an immensely formidable weapon.
At this moment, Heavenly Venerable Long discarded all other thoughts. Defend! Block them!
Otherwise, he would die!
Even as he summoned the mountain, he tried to retreat, but in that very instant, his scalp went numb!
Danger... from behind!
His retreat halted abruptly, his hairs standing on end. Deadly peril lurked behind him!
Lei Bao!
Yes, it was that bastard Lei Bao! Damn it, he was in league with Su Yu's group!
These people were insane!
Boom!
Even as those thoughts flashed through his mind, four supreme powerhouses struck in unison. Three of them pounded directly toward Heavenly Venerable Long, while the little white dog opened its maw wide and swallowed the colossal mountain whole!
Boom!
A deafening explosion rang out. Su Yu, Ju Fu, and the others delivered simultaneous punches, blasting Heavenly Venerable Long twenty thousand li backward. He coughed up mouthfuls of blood as gaping bloody holes exploded across his flesh.
In a flash, Su Yu shifted his fist into a blade, cleaving toward Heavenly Venerable Long with overwhelming willpower: "Release your control over the Dragon Coiling Mountain, or you die!"
As Heavenly Venerable Long tumbled backward through the void, he saw the descending blade!
Terror and despair mingled in his eyes. In the next instant, clinging to his final shred of hope, he let out a furious roar, spat out another mouthful of blood, and severed his connection to the Dragon Coiling Mountain.
"Retreat!"
With a low bark from Su Yu, the group vanished from before Heavenly Venerable Long's eyes.
Right then, the lethal strikes from Sheng Hou and the others crashed into the void, blowing apart the fabric of space with a thunderous roar!
Su Yu's voice echoed through the air: "Just a joke, and you actually took it seriously? We're going to kill the enemy! Charge! Kill the bastards of the sinner race!"
Sheng Hou and the others whipped around to look. Su Yu and his force were howling battle cries as they charged headlong into the depths of Chaos Mountain!
Some made to pursue them, but quickly halted. Then, one by one, they exchanged bewildered, conflicted glances.
Some were furious; others were helpless.
What... what were they supposed to do now?
Were they really going to chase down Su Yu and his forces?
Meanwhile, Heavenly Venerable Long coughed up blood continuously, his expression dazed. A moment later, understanding struck him, and he roared in blind fury: "Lei Bao!"
Su Yu and his people had fled to fight the enemy; could they really pursue him now?
All of Long's wrath redirected squarely onto Lei Bao's head!
You bastard!
Lei Bao had threatened his back just moments ago!
As for Lei Bao, he sighed inward. *I knew trouble would follow. Oh well, better this trouble than crossing Su Yu!*
Chapter 810