Killing a Few Ancient Beasts for Fun

The Human Sovereign had separated his spirit and flesh; his physical body was severely wounded, and his sea of will might well be injured too. A mere empty facade! This news left Su Yu quite exasperated. *I was counting on you, and you were counting on me. You're just a coward! Acting nonchalant before others, only to weep behind closed doors.* How utterly helpless! He had thought that once he led over a dozen Rulers of Rules into the fray, they were guaranteed to win no matter what, since hadn't the Human Sovereign been holding off the myriad races all along? Turns out... you were playing the empty fortress stratagem the entire time! On this day, alongside the joy of a momentous victory, Su Yu also felt a lingering dejection and mental exhaustion. When would these days ever end? As for the Human Sovereign's side, he could not rush over recklessly. If his arrival provoked the myriad races into fighting to the death, it would spell disaster. Once the Human Sovereign's hollow shell was shattered, everyone would go down with him. "King Wen and the others screwed you over, so you're screwing me over instead?" "Sigh!" A long sigh escaped him, tinged with a rare sense of desolation... …… At this moment, Su Yu had not gone anywhere else; he remained right in front of the Hell Gate. Holding the Chaos Will in his hand, he waited. He wanted to see if any fools would wander through. Many had died here, and Su Yu had not snatched away those powers of the rules. Even when Yue Zhan and his cohort fell, or when Po Long perished, Su Yu had not integrated their powers of the rules—and that included Yu Qing's! With so many formidable experts having fallen, if a few Rulers of Rules didn't come out, wouldn't they be letting down his hospitality? Marquis Tongtian was also present, studying the quiet, dormant Hell Gate. Before long, Marquis Tongtian said, "Your Majesty, a slight crack has indeed appeared in this gate, allowing passage back and forth. Going in is rather simple, but coming out is far more complicated... Even though it looks like just a single gate, those trying to exit might see endless, layered folds of space! With the Chaos Will present, it serves as a beacon, showing them the way out..." Pausing, he added, "However, Yu Qing is dead, and the people behind the gate know it! So I suspect no one might dare to venture out!" Su Yu replied calmly, "Anything is possible! The Prison lineage and the ancient beasts might not get along all that well! The Prison faction might not dare to come out for fear of an ambush... but tricking a few ancient beasts into stepping through is still very possible! I saw through those people long ago—not a single one is any good!" Tongtian chuckled slyly. "True! Your Majesty is quite right!" "What about you?" Su Yu looked at him. "You swallowed some of the Hell Gate's projections earlier. How is your condition now?" Tongtian smiled sheepishly. "Mediocre, not quite enough... How about Your Majesty just beats the Martial Emperor to death? If you kill him, I am a hundred percent certain I can become a Ruler of Rules!" "..." Su Yu couldn't be bothered to entertain him. He glanced toward Human Mountain in the distance. Right now, Human Mountain stood empty, towering between heaven and earth, while the Hell Gate's divine radiance was restrained, making it resemble an ordinary portal. Human Mountain's earlier strike had scattered much of the Hell Gate's divine luster. The Hell Gate was an immensely powerful existence, yet Human Mountain's single blow had practically knocked it into hiding. Su Yu suddenly gave a faint smile. Human Mountain... the mountain of the human race. Whenever anyone stood upon Human Mountain for long enough, a sense of belonging to the human race and a feeling of duty toward mankind would naturally awaken in their heart. Human Mountain! How fascinating! This great mountain had stood here for countless ages, and it still stood tall between heaven and earth today, exceptionally prominent. Yet hardly anyone would try to destroy it, nor could they if they tried. He paid it no further mind, putting the matter of Human Mountain aside. Sometimes, it was a blessing to remain blissfully oblivious! In life, understanding everything too clearly was not necessarily a good thing. Clever people died young because their minds worked too fast, easily exhausting themselves to death. Fools, on the other hand, lived far longer—just look at the Martial Emperor and his ilk. "How can we seal this off so the people inside can't come out?" Su Yu asked. Marquis Tongtian pondered for a moment and said, "It's not overly difficult! Closing the crack ourselves is hard, but if we destroy the Chaos Will, they will lose their beacon. If we disperse the surrounding energy, they will lack the power needed to pry the crack open. As long as no more people die nearby... they could still come, but it would take them an immense amount of time! The Sin Clan plotted for years, and even then, Yu Qing only barely managed to emerge just now. Of course, that was also because the crack opened from this side!" Marquis Tongtian had studied this quite a bit. Thinking further, he added, "I could also mend the crack in the Hell Gate a little. It would at least delay things for a while, keeping the people inside from coming out." "Roughly how long can you seal it?" "Hard to say!" Marquis Tongtian replied somberly, "If no supreme experts attack it, I think a few years should be manageable. But if someone attacks... that's another story!" "If someone attacks it, you would notice, wouldn't you?" "Naturally!" Marquis Tongtian nodded. Su Yu looked at the gate with its subdued radiance and asked, "Can you devour its true body?" "No way!" Tongtian gave an awkward laugh. "Your Majesty, don't be fooled by the fact that it looks like just a gate. It's currently sealed and dormant. Once it awakens, it holds an entire era within... If I try to eat it, I'll die without a doubt!" *Stop joking around!* *You overestimate me far too much!* *If I could eat the Hell Gate, I would have done so ages ago.* Tongtian thought for a moment before adding, "If I want to eat its true body, I doubt I'd stand a chance unless I reach the level of a first-tier Ruler of Rules!" Su Yu's eyes narrowed! First-tier! The realm of the ancient Human Sovereign! To think Marquis Tongtian would give such an answer. The fact that he couldn't devour this gate without reaching the first tier was truly frightening. Then again, if the portal weren't powerful, how could it possibly seal away an entire era? Where had this gate come from in the first place? Who built it? The Hell Gate, the Gate of Earth—it was the only great gate that had manifested within the myriad realms where people could actually lay eyes upon it. Su Yu suddenly paced toward the portal. Tongtian hurriedly warned, "Your Majesty, be careful! This gate is currently sealed and dormant. Otherwise, it could easily swallow you whole and seal you inside!" Su Yu nodded slightly and drew closer to inspect it. The gate... was pitch-black, resembling the abyss of hell itself. No wonder it was called the Hell Gate. Just as Su Yu reached out to touch it, Tongtian frantically cried, "Don't, Your Majesty! If an expert of your caliber touches it, you might wake it up. If it swallows you, we're done for!" Su Yu frowned and drew back his hand, not daring to touch it after all. *If I were alone in this world, I'd genuinely love to take a look inside. What would I have to fear!* *But right now, better not.* Su Yu fell silent for a moment. "Is this gate truly so powerful that even someone of the Human Ancestor's stature couldn't break it and escape?" Marquis Tongtian explained, "Your Majesty, what prevents them from coming out isn't just the power of the gate itself! There are also the sealing chains added by whoever laid the seal, along with the great power of extinction born from the decline of an entire era!" Su Yu nodded gently. Tongtian added, "Besides, the experts in the world behind the gate might not even want to emerge right now." "Oh?" Su Yu looked at him, and Tongtian deliberated before explaining, "Sometimes, entering the gate isn't necessarily passive; it can be voluntary! Take Zhou Ji and his cohort—they might not want to come out yet either... Perhaps they are waiting for an opportunity! I can sense that the gates will be opening soon, which means the opportunity has arrived!" "Opportunity?" Su Yu murmured, "Everyone keeps talking about an opportunity! What exactly is this fortune? At the level of the Time Master and the Lord of Dead Spirits, what could they possibly still be pursuing?" He looked up at the sky, though the River of Time was nowhere in sight. After a moment of silence, he thought that it might be related to the River of Time. That first master of heaven and earth to open a realm since the dawn of creation was the most mysterious and powerful of all. Could all of this be linked to him? Portals, heaven-openers, sealed eras, carving out the chaos... Su Yu asked no more, quietly waiting. He waited for ancient beasts to emerge from within! He would slaughter a few to reinforce his world, and if no more came out, he would seal the gate. This place could not and would not be opened again anytime soon. …… On the first day, not a single ancient beast appeared. On the second day, perhaps sensing that the danger had passed, perhaps feeling that the opportunity was too rare to miss, or perhaps urged forward as a deliberate test, the long-silent portal suddenly trembled slightly! More than just a tremor, a faint sound drifted from behind the gate. It was not human speech, but rather the subtle permeation of will characters. "Outside the gate... are there still living beings?" It carried a hint of testing the waters. Su Yu kept his mouth firmly shut. *Nope, I'm not a living being, I'm their bloody ancestor. Ask all you want, you won't get an answer.* Not far away, his world materialized. At this moment, the Hell Gate was encompassed within the perimeter of Su Yu's world. However, Su Yu had not covered the Hell Gate itself, keeping it separated to avoid agitating the portal and creating unnecessary trouble. Yet no matter which direction anyone fled upon emerging, they would never escape his world. With a wave of his hand, the Southern King and the others appeared one after another. Someone was about to come out! With another wave, Tea Tree appeared. Su Yu looked at her and transmitted, "Return to your true form!" Tea Tree obediently reverted to her true form! Su Yu transmitted, "The scheme planned for Tea Tree wasn't used on the Sin Clan, so we might as well use it on these ancient beasts. That way, we won't immediately kill the first one to come out and alert the other side!" "This time, let's set the limit at five!" Su Yu instructed, "Once five emerge, seal the gate and slaughter them all! If five don't show up within a day, seal the gate all the same and kill whatever came through!" With that, Tea Tree was planted within the world, appearing somewhat battered and broken. The others vanished swiftly, gathering beneath Tea Tree. And the sole task Su Yu gave Tea Tree was... to sell intelligence! To sell it to the first fellow who came out! As fellow members of the chaotic ancient races, they could communicate, couldn't they? With another wave of his hand, Su Yu turned the area into chaos. The entire Upper Realm instantly dissolved into a chaotic expanse strewn with broken rubble and collapsed walls. This had been its original state following the great battle anyway, appearing as though two opposing forces had perished together! As for the nearby Kingdom of the Prison King, Su Yu didn't bother with it. Nearly everyone above the Sun Moon Realm was dead, and many of the rest had been shaken to death by the shockwaves of battle. The survivors had been relocated by King Dazhou and the others, though they were not sent to the Human Realm. In any case, there were plenty of vacant realms in the Lower Realm, so there was no fear of lacking a place to live. Su Yu couldn't be bothered to care about these common folk. Once a grand war broke out and all enemy experts were wiped out, combatants generally stayed their hands unless it was a racial war of total extermination. He was at odds with the Prison King's lineage, but he had no interest in venting his wrath on ordinary people. Many of them were merely ordinary humans who knew nothing of the myriad realms. Having reached this height, Su Yu hardly cared about them. Relocated to another realm, their line might die out in a few years anyway; even if it didn't, rising again would be nearly impossible. Having completed these preparations, Su Yu vanished from where he stood. The portal continued to tremble. The entire world appeared utterly devastated! Only in a remote corner did a single tea tree struggle to survive, rooted within the chaos. At this moment, the heavens and myriad realms seemed entirely eradicated, painting a grim portrait of a world annihilated by war! In truth, it was not far from reality. Human Mountain was drenched in blood, left behind from the earlier slaughter of the myriad races, with heaps of corpses that no one had bothered to collect. The Upper Realm was now a veritable no-man's-land. …… A ripple of vibrations echoed from behind the portal. After an indeterminate time, an ancient beast resembling a massive water buffalo squeezed its way out with great difficulty. Poking out its bovine head, it glanced around as chilly winds howled. Taking in the surroundings... it froze. Why did this place look as if it had suffered a total cataclysm? Ruins left behind by a great war? Was everyone dead? So miserable? It only knew that Yu Qing seemed to have died after stepping out earlier, and Po Long had likely fallen as well. A massive battle had erupted in the myriad realms, but judging from the scene before it, had everyone perished? It scanned the surroundings and saw no living souls, though a fair number of corpses were visible. Soon, the massive buffalo squeezed out completely. A voice from behind the gate seemed to inquire about the situation, and the water buffalo vibrated its willpower to transmit, "The myriad realms... seem destroyed! Or rather, this Upper Realm is destroyed! All I see is devastation, corpses everywhere, and ruins left by a great war..." A wave of energy rippled from behind the gate. "Look again!" "Understood!" The massive buffalo was exceedingly cautious, not daring to stray too far from the Hell Gate. It searched around, but had not yet noticed the tea tree. With Su Yu, a master of deception, orchestrating the scene, how could it be spotted so easily? Things easily found were regarded as worthless! Besides, an ancient beast that had reached this level wasn't completely brainless. The tea tree had to be tucked away in an out-of-the-way spot, looking like it was on the brink of death; otherwise, who would believe it? If it had been planted blatantly in front of the buffalo, it would have looked far too fake. Su Yu was thoroughly familiar with such tricks! "Where is the Chaos Will?" the massive buffalo muttered. The guiding path was still intact, which meant the Chaos Will had not yet dissipated. Where was it? That item was of utmost importance. Finding it would likely reveal whether this was a trap or not. It searched the surroundings and vaguely sensed traces of the Chaos Will. Remaining vigilant, it refrained from wandering off blindly. Soon, a drop of blood seeped from its flesh, transforming into a small calf that scampered into the distance. Before long, the calf returned holding a sphere in its jaws. The massive buffalo instantly sensed it. The object had been found inside a colossal crater, likely dropped when Yu Qing died and simply ignored by everyone. "I actually got my hands on the Chaos Will so easily..." The massive buffalo recalled what everyone had discussed before it set out: if the Chaos Will was missing and nowhere to be found, it was likely an ambush, and it should retreat immediately. Yet now... The water buffalo paused, then quickly transmitted through the gate, "I've secured the Chaos Will! It was inside a massive crater on the battlefield!" "You found it?" At these words, pairs of eyes flickered into view behind the gate. Some held confusion, others bewilderment. Could this truly not be a trap? Otherwise, why would such a thing be tossed aside so carelessly? This was their beacon to exit, yet it had been discarded haphazardly across the battlefield. How bizarre! Did their enemies not know its purpose, or had everyone truly died? They knew Yu Qing and her cohort had fallen. When the myriad races and Zhou Ji's faction went inside, they had not made a grand entrance either; they had proceeded with utmost stealth, afraid of leaking any information. Consequently, those behind the gate were completely in the dark regarding the current state of the myriad realms. "Did that Su Yu die as well?" They only knew that the one responsible for killing Yu Qing and the others was someone named Su Yu. Beyond that, they knew very little. "Unclear!" the massive buffalo replied. "How about... I head down to the Lower Realm to take a look?" Even as it said this, it felt a lingering dread. *Never mind, I'm not going.* If the Upper Realm was wiped out but the Lower Realm still stood, and Su Yu and those experts who slew Yu Qing were down there, wouldn't heading down be courting death? "Getting the Chaos Will is good enough! As long as we have it, we can continue to locate the myriad realms... Gu Niu, search the area again and see if you can find any survivors!" "I'll try!" The massive buffalo probed around for a while but still failed to notice the tea tree. Concealed in the void, Su Yu grew anxious on its behalf. *Idiot!* *Now that you've got the Chaos Will, you moron, don't you know this thing can summon and command chaotic ancient beasts?* *Damn it!* *Do I really need to teach you that?* *Wouldn't a normal creature take this thing and check if any surviving beasts are around?* *Those are your own kin!* Su Yu was thoroughly exasperated! Ancient beasts were truly stupid! He felt utterly exhausted! *Next time I try to run a scam, do I have to teach you fools how to get scammed properly?* He had accounted for countless possibilities, but never that these blockheads wouldn't play by the script. *Just use the Chaos Will to scan around, you're driving me crazy!* "When dealing with a bunch of idiots, maybe scamming them ought to be simpler!" Su Yu worried that schemes that were too elaborate would sail right over their heads. It was like tricking a fool out of his money: you walk right up and say, "Give me your money, and I'll buy you candy!" And they would hand it over! Yet here Su Yu was, setting up intricate stage dressing and meticulous details, only for the idiot to completely miss everything and walk right past... It was deeply frustrating! Like performing an opera for the deaf! In the void, Su Yu grumbled inwardly. Fortunately, the massive buffalo was not fighting alone; there were still ancient beasts behind the gate who possessed brains, and Su Yu had designed his trap for those who could think! A voice suddenly spoke from behind the portal: "You have the Chaos Will? Then check if any members of the ancient races remain in Mount Chaos! With the Chaos Will, you can exert command over the ancient races, making it far easier to gather intelligence!" At these words, the massive buffalo immediately caught on and marveled, "Right, right, right! Sovereign Lingyuan truly thinks things through; I nearly forgot!" The other ancient beasts chimed in as well. "Indeed, look for the ancient races first!" Gu Niu quickly channeled its willpower, and before long, a faint wave radiated out in all directions. "Chaotic ancient races, come forward to pay homage!" The willpower rippled outwards! Yet the surroundings yielded no response. Gu Niu's expression shifted slightly. Were they all dead? The Chaos Will held immense sway over the chaotic ancient races. Aside from entities like the Eight-Winged Tiger and Chaos Dragon, nearly anyone below the Celestial Venerable realm could be controlled. It swept the area once, finding nothing. It swept a second time... and this time, Gu Niu seemed to catch a trace of something. Puzzled, it muttered, "There seems to be... a faint response, but it's very weak. Is it injured? Or is it simply feeble?" "Go take a look?" an ancient beast behind the gate suggested. Gu Niu considered the matter and decided there truly wasn't anyone around. It quickly said, "Then I'll go check and return immediately. If I don't come back, something has gone wrong; be careful and do not rush out!" "Rest assured!" Soon, Gu Niu flew toward the distance. After flying for a while, it arrived before a massive mountain that now lay shattered. At the foot of the mountain, inside a pit, stood a battered tea tree rooted in the earth, its light flickering out as if on the verge of total exhaustion. "Oh?" Seeing the tea tree, Gu Niu paused in surprise. "A member of the chaotic ancient wood clan. It's just... so heavily wounded it's about to die!" Was this little tea tree the one responding to it? "Harmony Realm..." Not particularly strong! The Harmony Realm was quite common; there were plenty of ancient beasts in Mount Chaos at that level. Most of the others had perished, but this ancient wood had luckily managed to survive. The water buffalo inspected the surroundings, then quickly descended. A surge of chaotic power flowed from its body, seeping into the tea tree. The tree trembled slightly, as if recovering a sliver of vitality. Suddenly, its branches swayed, releasing a chaotic voice: "Who... are you?" A smile appeared in Gu Niu's eyes. It was alive! "I am Sovereign Gu Niu!" Putting on an air of grandeur, Gu Niu asked, "Are you a local of the ancient race?" "I... I'm not... I was... summoned by Lord Chaos Dragon from the depths of the chaos... In the end... the lords all died..." Gu Niu nodded slightly, shaking its massive head, and asked, "How did this place end up like this?" "A battle... an earth-shattering battle between terrifying experts..." The tea tree spoke in a fragmented, incoherent manner, making little sense. It took Gu Niu quite a while, piecing it together with what it already knew, to deduce what had occurred. A great battle! A war between supreme experts! The myriad realms had been unsealed! Then, a group of Rulers of Rules had appeared. One named Hundred Battles clashed with another named Su Yu, after which a giant emerged—the tea tree didn't know his name, only that two men fought until heaven and earth shattered! Then, countless people died! In the end, that Hundred Battles fell, and Su Yu fled to the Lower Realm with the few surviving experts, leaving the Upper Realm in this ruined state! "Su Yu isn't dead?" Gu Niu sucked in a breath. It was familiar with Hundred Battles. According to this account, not only Hundred Battles, but a powerful woman was present as well. Yet among all those who died and fled, Su Yu had actually survived! However, he seemed to be injured! "When he fled, how many subordinates did he have left?" Gu Niu asked. The tea tree swayed its branches. "I don't know! A few, maybe!" "A few? How many Rulers of Rules?" "I don't know!" Speechless! Gu Niu felt this tea tree was rather dim-witted. Then again, the ancient wood race rarely gained sentience in the first place, and even when they did, developing proper intellect took an eternity. This one clearly possessed very ordinary intelligence. Still, the fact that Su Yu was alive was monumental news! Gu Niu scooped up the tea tree and swiftly flew back toward the Hell Gate. The tea tree startled, but soon calmed down when nothing happened. …… A moment later, before the Hell Gate, Gu Niu recounted the situation. A voice drifted from behind the gate: "Can this little thing's words be trusted?" Gu Niu dismissed the concern airily. "It doesn't know much and is weak to boot. If not for the Chaos Will sweeping the area multiple times, I wouldn't have noticed it at all. Its aura was so faint that had I arrived a moment later, it would have withered entirely... It's just rambling gibberish, what's there to doubt?" *What nonsense!* *Why be suspicious over such a trivial detail?* Besides, the tea tree didn't know much; most of the story had been deduced by Gu Niu connecting the dots with prior events. Rather than questioning the tea tree's reliability, they were practically questioning Gu Niu's own judgment! "So Hundred Battles is dead, and Su Yu lives! Indeed... I said that if Hundred Battles were still alive, there wouldn't be complete silence. Turns out he perished in battle... This Su Yu is quite formidable!" "Formidable or not, he's young, and he seems severely wounded this time!" "I wonder how many Rulers of Rules under him survived?" "This ancient wood is foolish; it can't give a straight answer..." Behind the gate, the group of experts discussed among themselves. Meanwhile, the tea tree seemed dazed before suddenly speaking up: "I... I don't remember much, and I don't know how to tell them apart... But I... I was always here, and my true body recorded some imprints... Are they of any use?" The water buffalo froze, then beamed. "Right! Your ancient wood clan can preserve memories in your bark and leaves. Hurry, show them to me!" "B-but..." The tea tree's voice was filled with confusion. "I... have no chaotic power left!" *Tsk, what a hassle. So many demands.* Gu Niu infused another strand of chaotic power into it. Only then did an image flicker from the tea tree, ethereal and wavering. The projection was hazy, but Su Yu's silhouette was faintly visible—coughing up blood continuously, his expression cold and stern, trailed by three experts! The three behind him also possessed languid, fading auras. The four of them flew past the tea tree in the distance, all clearly bearing heavy wounds! Su Yu seemed to have difficulty maintaining flight. One of the three behind him moved to support him, only to be shoved away with a flick of his arm. That minor detail drew sharp attention. Seeing this, Gu Niu laughed. "This Su Yu... even gravely injured, he still insists on clinging to his dignity as an overlord!" "A formidable character! Even Hundred Battles and his faction lost to him!" "Indeed, remarkable!" "Still, his injuries are severe, and the three behind him only seem to be newly advanced Rulers of Rules, all wounded..." "Natural enough. Aside from the Martial Emperor, who else among the myriad races was truly powerful?" "..." Speaking of the Martial Emperor, Gu Niu was reminded of something and asked, "Little one, do you know where the Martial Emperor went?" "The Martial Emperor? Never heard of him!" Gu Niu sank into deep thought. "Where did the Martial Emperor run off to? Could he be dead as well?" Someone behind the gate ventured, "Did he perish together with that Zhou Ji or Yu? Otherwise, Su Yu's side would have struggled to kill those two, wouldn't they?" "..." It was hard to say. Soon, however, Gu Niu suddenly said, "Right now, the only force left in the myriad realms seems to be Su Yu's group—just four wounded experts... Everyone... what do you say we...?" Its heart was suddenly racing with temptation! *Why not pull off a daring strike?* "The experts of the myriad realms have nearly wiped one another out! Before the Human Sovereign and his followers can return, why don't we strike first, slaughter Su Yu and his subordinates, massacre the myriad races, force the Hell Gate open, and usher more of our ancient clans out?" At these words, commotion erupted behind the gate! Should they launch a strike? The myriad realms were indeed shattered! Most of their forces were dead! Why not send a few out right now to carry out a massacre? Gu Niu added, "Quite a few experts fell earlier, and I can sense there is still plenty of energy lingering in the crack. Conservatively, four or five of us could easily squeeze through... We are at peak strength, while Su Yu and his men are severely wounded. This is our only chance... Otherwise, once Su Yu recovers from his injuries, he will definitely come here!" "If we kill Su Yu and those four experts, we might be able to summon five or six more out. With over a dozen Rulers of Rules, we could ambush the Human Sovereign... We might achieve a glorious victory!" Gu Niu was thrilled, but an ancient beast behind the gate voiced concern: "What if..." Knowing what it feared, Gu Niu replied bluntly, "Regardless, coming out can't possibly be a bad thing. At worst, we'll remain near the Hell Gate. The moment danger arises, we can dive right back inside. Would they dare chase us in here? Right now, I'm out here all by myself—that's what's truly dangerous!" *I want you all to come out to bolster my courage!* *Su Yu's side still has several experts. They might be recuperating right now, but once they finish and return to investigate, what will I do?* Gu Niu continued, "This opportunity is rare. Once the energy near the crack disperses, it will be exceedingly difficult for anyone else to emerge. Now that the Prison King's lineage is wiped out and Hundred Battles' faction is dead... without them, we can only wait for the Hell Gate to open on its own!" *Right now, no one is left to summon us!* That was indeed true. Soon, an ancient beast agreed, "Then I'll head out to take a look!" Such a rare chance had to be seized! Gu Niu wasn't in any danger, was it? The Chaos Will was right there too! Charge! Before long, the portal trembled, and another ancient beast began squeezing its way out. First come, first served; those who lagged behind would find it hard to emerge! Seeing this, Gu Niu chimed in, "I believe four or five is the absolute limit. If any other old friends want to come out... it'll all come down to luck!" At this, another ancient beast squeezed into the crack without a word. Counting Gu Niu, that made three. Not many spots remained! When the second beast squeezed through and burst into hearty laughter, the others could no longer restrain themselves. Behind the gate, a beast bellowed in frustration, "Me first..." "I'm going first!" "Once I'm out and we slaughter Su Yu's group, we'll summon the rest of you..." The portal rattled violently! A moment later, several ancient beasts emerged in succession. Counting Gu Niu, there were exactly five. A sixth was in the middle of wriggling through, but the energy had run dry. It complained bitterly, "I'm stuck halfway! Hurry and kill some people so the Hell Gate can draw on their power and let me through... Otherwise, it will take me ages to squeeze out on my own!" The five ancient beasts that had emerged were overflowing with joy! *That's what you get for hesitating!* *Now, whether you can come out depends entirely on us. If we don't feel like summoning you, not a single one of you can step through. Meanwhile, we can retreat whenever we want. How wonderful!* …… In the void, Su Yu shook his head. So easily tricked! Five ancient beasts had come through just like that. This was far too simple! Reaching out, he manifested the Martial Emperor's physical body. In the next moment, another Martial Emperor appeared, looking at Su Yu with a trace of resentment. *I only left a short while ago. Why did you summon me again?* "Kill the ancient beasts. Five of them. You are only permitted to kill one, which will count toward the five Rulers of Rules you owe me!" Su Yu even placed a restriction on him: "No killing extra! Extra kills won't count! Your sole target is that bat-like creature!" The Martial Emperor looked down and was dumbfounded. He transmitted in disbelief, "Are these guys idiots?" They had actually crawled out right into the encirclement of Su Yu's world! Heavens above, this was the first time he realized how abundant fools were in the world! Was this not courting death? "How about I take all five off your hands...?" The Martial Emperor suddenly realized that with the suppression of Su Yu's world, these creatures—the strongest being a weak third-tier and the weakest a fifth-tier—could probably all be beaten to death by him alone. He could pay off his debt of five kills in one go! "Not allowed. Even if you kill them all, it will only count as one. Your target is that bat; if you kill the others... you'll have killed them for nothing!" The Martial Emperor was helpless! Shameless! The strongest among them was roughly a weak third-tier. Of the remaining four, three were fourth-tier, and one was roughly fifth-tier. Under the suppression of Su Yu's world, even a Celestial Venerable would stand a good chance of finishing off that fifth-tier! Killing them would be far too easy! Su Yu soon transmitted to all directions: "That should be about it. The sixth one is stuck and can't get out, meaning the energy from Yu Qing and the others' deaths is exhausted. Forget it, five will do! Five is plenty. Since they're all inside my world, once they die, I will absorb every scrap of their power without leaving a speck behind. It should give me a decent boost!" This feeling of angling for prey was truly delightful! As for Yu Qing and her cohort, when they died earlier, Su Yu couldn't absorb much even if he wanted to. It was nowhere near as satisfying as this, where he could swallow everything whole. In the next instant, Su Yu transmitted to Marquis Tongtian: "The moment I strike, seal the gate immediately! Don't let the creatures inside see what's happening, lest our strength be exposed. Once we slaughter these five, we can draw a temporary close to the matter of the Hell Gate!" "I'll take the bull. It's a fourth-tier, not weak!" "The Martial Emperor will take the bat. Its strength is average!" The Martial Emperor desperately wanted to curse. *You shameless bastard!* "The Southern King will take that pig-headed monster. Its strength is average!" The Martial Emperor cursed inwardly again. *Utterly shameless.* That one truly was average—the weakest of the bunch, someone even a Celestial Venerable could kill. "King Dazhou, you deal with the elephant... Its strength is also average. You can handle it!" "The rest of you, surround and slaughter that crocodile!" "..." At this moment, the people in hiding wore strange expressions, all glancing toward King Dazhou. King Dazhou's mouth twitched uncontrollably! Su Yu was truly inhuman! Even a blind man could see that the one the Southern King was assigned was the weakest, the one the Martial Emperor faced was the strongest, and his own target was average... but fighting one-on-one was still arduous! Meanwhile, several dozen experts were ganging up on a beast of the exact same strength as his! *Damn it, act like a decent human being, will you!* *I'm begging you!* *Can your heart be any pettier?* *Just because I didn't tell you everything, you treat me like this?* Even as the thought crossed his mind, Su Yu's commanding voice rang in everyone's ears: "Strike!" …… *Boom!* The five experts were still celebrating when the portal suddenly shuddered. Before they could react, the five colossal beasts were sliced apart by spatial boundaries, instantly teleported in different directions. Over by Su Yu, as soon as Gu Niu materialized, it was greeted by Su Yu himself. Gu Niu immediately felt its strength suppressed; originally a fourth-tier, it was knocked down to something resembling a fifth-tier. Before it could even regain its wits, a terrifying aura erupted from Su Yu! Second-tier! A second-tier pummeling a fifth-tier... was akin to King Wu beating the Chaos Dragon back in the day. Under normal circumstances... if one punch couldn't finish it off, three punches were a hundred percent guaranteed. *Boom! Boom! Boom!* Three punches! Su Yu indeed threw three punches. After the third, Gu Niu was torn limb from limb, its physical body completely shattered and absorbed into the world. On the verge of death, it was dazed. *Who am I?* *Where am I?* *Ah, I'm dead!* …… Elsewhere, the slaughter was brutal. Several dozen experts, including multiple Rulers of Rules, struck together—annihilating a suppressed fourth-tier Ruler of Rules was child's play! In the blink of an eye, blades, spears, swords, and halberds struck simultaneously. With a thunderous boom, the beast was blown to bits! Over by the Southern King, she was not weak in this realm. Her opponent had been suppressed all the way down to the Celestial Venerable realm; before long, the Southern King shattered it with a whip strike! As for the Martial Emperor, he roared furiously, reveling in the reunion of his body and spirit to unleash a barrage of savage strikes! He bordered on the second tier, while his opponent had been suppressed to the fourth tier; the gap between them was immense. Striking wildly with reckless abandon for more than ten minutes, the Martial Emperor finally manifested a spear and drove it straight through his foe. Panting heavily, his face was flushed with delight. *What a rush!* *Finally killed one!* *Only four left on my debt!* *That kill felt amazing!* While they were enjoying themselves, King Dazhou's expression shifted continuously—his opponent... had not been suppressed! He nearly cursed Su Yu's ancestors to high heaven! *Can't you act like a proper human being?* *How could you do this!* *Leaving me to fight alone was bad enough, but you didn't even suppress the opponent! You... you're simply despicable!* Of the five ancient beasts, four had been slain in the instant they emerged. The last one was locked in a fierce, desperate struggle with King Dazhou. Terrified out of its wits, the beast had nowhere to flee and could only trade blows in a bloody melee with King Dazhou! In the distance, Su Yu stood with arms crossed, tossing out sarcastic remarks: "King Dazhou hasn't fought in a long time, so his combat skills have grown quite rusty. I found him a well-matched opponent for everyone to observe... I believe King Dazhou can win, and I hope he doesn't get hurt!" Saying so, Su Yu even called out to intimidate the foe: "Elephant, you have no way out. Your only option is to self-detonate to blast your opponent to death, then find a way for your sea of will to flee..." *Boom!* *Makes sense; that truly is the only way to survive.* With an ear-splitting blast, a mushroom cloud billowed. Su Yu reached out and yanked someone free—King Dazhou emerged with a charred face, his scalp tingling from the explosion! Meanwhile, Su Yu swatted his palm downward, extinguishing a glowing sphere—the enemy's sea of will. All done! Su Yu tore the Chaos Will into two pieces, tossing half to Tea Tree and the other half toward the two ancient beasts poking their heads out in the distant world. Finally, he looked at the dazed, soot-covered King Dazhou and chuckled through a voice transmission: "Next time you try deceiving me, that won't be the end of it. Zhou Tian, if you keep hiding things from me, I'll turn you into a complete idiot sooner or later!" King Dazhou stood in a daze. *I'm... so bloody unlucky!* *To end up serving such a petty new sovereign!* He wanted to weep, genuinely fearing that this bastard Su Yu would toy with him until he lost his mind. At this moment, however, Su Yu had no patience to pay him any heed. In an instant, his world expanded once more. Su Yu felt thoroughly pleased; slaughtering these foolish ancient beasts was immensely satisfying—five of them, wiped out in a single sweep! What a pity there wouldn't be a second time. Otherwise, if he could run another round of fishing like this, he could fatten his world into a colossal heaven! As for what the ancient beasts behind the gate thought, Su Yu couldn't care less. Let them tremble in fear and count their blessings! The Hell Gate had now been blocked off by Su Yu; in the short term, no one would be able to come through. With this, the matter of the Hell Gate was finally settled for the time being.