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Upstream on the River of Time. The great battle ended the moment the Human Sovereign arrived. It was blazingly swift! The God Emperor and the others fled upstream with their surviving powerhouses, choosing retreat. Could they pursue them? Yes! However, if they gave chase, Su Yu's heaven and earth could not reach that far, turning it into another grueling, bloody struggle. Moreover, if they truly slaughtered all the powerhouses of the myriad races, then without those experts helping anchor the flow, the Human Sovereign and Su Yu together might not be able to suppress the surging River of Time for now. The current would accelerate, washing the Human Sovereign and Su Yu rapidly back to the Myriad Realms and triggering the opening of the Three Gates. In this battle, over forty Rulers of Rules of the myriad races were slain, including three first-rank powerhouses! The God Emperor led around fifty surviving Rulers of Rules and fifty to sixty non-Rulers—nearly a hundred people in all—fleeing upstream until they vanished from sight... From the initial 125 Rulers of Rules, after two monumental clashes, the myriad races had lost more than half! Meanwhile, Su Yu swept his gaze across the area, expressionless and silent. There were still casualties. Even though he had exerted himself almost to the limit, fending off numerous experts on his own, the losses were still significant. On the Human Sovereign's side, King Ming and King Zhan had severed their Daos. Originally, aside from those two, the Human Sovereign's faction—including the four Rulers of Rules of the myriad races who had surrendered previously, and excluding the Human Sovereign himself—numbered 49 powerhouses. This time, 27 had merged their Daos into the Human Sovereign's heaven and earth, while the remaining twenty-odd fought fiercely here. Yet now... only 18 remained. Aside from King Ming and King Zhan, four had fallen. Four had died last time as well. Across both battles, eight Rulers of Rules under the Human Sovereign had perished. This time, Su Yu's side had absorbed most of the pressure from the first-rank combatants, yet several had still fallen in battle. It had to be said that this was fate; blades and spears showed no mercy. The Human Sovereign's faction lacked seamless coordination with Su Yu after all, leading to multiple casualties across the two clashes. And on Su Yu's side... Su Yu swept his gaze over his forces and froze slightly. Someone... was gone. One of his own had actually died! Besides himself, he had previously possessed 35 powerhouses, and he had brought King Yue, King Dazhou, and Book Spirit, along with several members of the Secret Department. Excluding the Secret Department operatives, that was still 38 powerhouses, plus Xingyue, whom Su Yu set aside for now. Out of 38 powerhouses, people were missing. With a single glance, he saw everyone was wounded. During the chaos of battle, the shockwaves had been too violent for him to pay close attention. Now, his brow furrowed slightly. After a long silence, Su Yu asked calmly, "Where are Nanxi and Liekong?" Silence hung in the air. After a moment, Wan Tiansheng spoke in a weak, soft voice: "They fell in battle." Su Yu knew that. He just wanted to know how they died. It shouldn't have happened! Or rather, Su Yu didn't truly want the cold facts; he wanted them to make up some excuse to appease him. Wan Tiansheng fell silent for a moment before continuing, "Liekong's Space Dao was too severely restricted here. Teleportation was practically useless. As for Nanxi... Yingwu ran into mortal danger just now, and he went to save her... and died." Su Yu remained silent. After a while, he spoke: "Did Nanxi do it because I said he had betrayed me before—or rather, disobeyed my orders—and harbored grievances, wanting deliberately to prove himself?" Wan Tiansheng and the others fell silent once more. Su Yu looked at them and said slowly, "And Liekong... how do I explain this to Shikong?" Su Yu wasn't particularly close to Marquis Liekong. Liekong was the king of the Ancient Space Race in the Upper Realm. The Dao partner of the Lower Realm's Ancient Space Emperor, Marquis Liekong had given Su Yu all the hidden spatial teleportation Daos of the Ancient Space Race upon their first meeting. As for Shikong, Su Yu had only recently had him join the Human Sovereign's system because the Space Great Dao in his own heaven and earth was already occupied by Liekong. With no alternative, Shikong was sent to the Human Sovereign's side. And now, Liekong had fallen in battle. Su Yu said nothing, wondering what Shikong would think when he found out. Two Rulers of Rules on his side had actually died. The reason he found it unbelievable was that Su Yu's side held the advantage. Even those enemies who had recovered from injuries had come directly after Su Yu, and Su Yu's side had more Rulers of Rules than the opposition. In truth, apart from the battle among the first rank, not many powerhouses had died elsewhere. That included the myriad races! Over thirty of the myriad races' experts had died against Su Yu, and nearly fifty had escaped. In other words, in other sectors, fewer than ten powerhouses of the myriad races had fallen! Su Yu hadn't had the time to tally it up. If he did, he would discover that the number of fallen... was identical to his own side! Six to six! Yes, despite the human race holding an advantage, they had fought to a draw. Everyone around remained silent. Losing six Rulers of Rules in one battle was still set against a glorious victory—slaying nearly forty enemy experts was cause for celebration. But the primary credit for this victory belonged to the first-rank experts, to Su Yu, and even to the operatives of the Secret Department. The other fronts hadn't gained any notable advantage. After another silence, Su Yu asked, "I want to know: when our numbers were roughly equal, were we still unable to overcome the myriad races?" Seeing Su Yu ask, the Human Sovereign sighed and spoke up: "You can't look at it that way. The weaker ones among the myriad races were all heavily injured—namely those who attacked you—and others were killed by you last time... The ones who remained were the elite core of the myriad races! Not being heavily injured and not avoiding battle meant they were all elite. Gathering the finest of the myriad races, filtering out those who feared death or shrank from fighting, and forcing them to fight with their backs to the wall unleashed unimaginable combat power!" This was the first time Su Yu realized that when the human race matched the enemy in individual strength, they had only fought to a draw. And a draw was, in essence, a failure. Because Su Yu's side had superior numbers! Su Yu was silent. Throughout all his battles up to this day, very few of the experts under his command had fallen. His most vivid memory was the raid on the Tianyuan Realm, when he led forces to defend the Human Realm, and several Prefecture-founding Kings fell in battle. That was the first time Su Yu felt that although those Prefecture-founding Kings might have had various flaws, they dared to fight, were willing to fight, and were prepared to die for the human race. That battle had softened Su Yu's attitude toward some of the Eternals of the human race. Before that, Su Yu had harbored only resentment toward them. Resentment that they didn't help the Multiple Character Faculty; resentment that they turned a blind eye and allowed internal strife to fester; resentment that their descendants refused to step up and fight at critical moments; resentment... Only after that battle did Su Yu feel that being the Master of the Human Race was a mantle worth taking up. At least those fellows dared to fight at the crucial juncture and didn't hold everyone back. Yet today... the deaths of Liekong and Nanxi left Su Yu subdued. As his subordinates grew in number, he had secretly become somewhat conceited—thinking that with him alone holding off the supreme experts, none of them should die, nor would they die. Yet now, he suddenly realized: As long as there was war, accidents would always happen. It was impossible to avoid them entirely. Six Rulers of Rules! Four had died last time; across both battles, ten Rulers of Rules had fallen. As for Nanxi, Su Yu had always held a slight distaste for him because Nanxi hadn't listened to him back then, and Su Yu had even singled him out earlier. And now, Nanxi had died saving Yingwu... Su Yu looked toward Yingwu. That valiant woman was now bowing her head, not saying a word. The ancient marquises had split into two factions before—one following Su Yu, the other following Hundred Battles. Yingwu had frequently cursed Yunshui, Anying, and the others. Earlier, Su Yu had slain Yunshui and Anying, and Nanxi and his group had surrendered. Yingwu had never shown them any warmth. Today, she had fallen into mortal danger, on the verge of death, and Nanxi, that old good-natured mediator, chose to rescue her in that critical moment. This violated Su Yu's command—Su Yu had ordered everyone to mind their own opponents, and unless the situation permitted, never trade one's life for another's! If Nanxi had possessed the ability to save her and survive, that would be one thing. The problem was, he didn't. He chose to trade his life for hers! Among the crowd, Wuji, Hongyue, Zhennan, and the others all hung their heads as well. This battle was a grand victory! Yet powerhouses had still died. Especially on Su Yu's side, everyone shared a conviction: follow Su Yu, and you will win every battle; in victory, no one falls. Today, that myth was broken! The Human Sovereign looked at Su Yu without offering any comforting words. In his eyes, death was inevitable in war. He merely felt that Su Yu was still too young after all. When his old brothers died, he felt grief and sorrow, but he would never show it before anyone. Because this was war. Of the original thirty-six Human Kings, fewer than half were alive today; the rest were later ascendants. The old brothers grew fewer by the day! The Human Sovereign chose to ignore the fallen—not out of heartlessness, but because... he was the Sovereign! Right then, the Human Sovereign suddenly laughed aloud: "A grand victory!" His laughter shook the heavens! A grand victory! An unprecedented victory for the ages! In a single battle, the myriad races were shattered, losing over half their forces. Three first-rank combatants had fallen, along with core leaders like the Immortal Emperor and Demon Emperor. This triumph laid the groundwork for the human race's complete unification of the Myriad Realms! Su Yu looked at him, devoid of sadness, and said calmly, "Your Majesty the Human Sovereign, there is no need to change the subject. I have weathered many setbacks. I won't collapse just because someone died... That will never happen! I only feel that I haven't done well enough. That our powerhouses still perished in a battle where I was present—that is the real problem!" Was he sad? A little, but mostly it was self-reproach. Yes, self-reproach, because Su Yu... pursued perfection! Six Rulers of Rules had died in this battle. He felt his calculations had not been thorough enough. The Human Sovereign gave a wry smile! A grand victory! Trading ten fallen Rulers of Rules across two battles for over seventy dead enemy Rulers of Rules—a casualty ratio of one to seven—yet Su Yu still felt he hadn't done well enough. Should I just go die then? Su Yu continued, "Those are just the losses on the surface. In truth, our losses are even greater. King Ming likely cannot recover, while King Zhan still has hope. As for me... my injuries are severe!" Very severe! Indeed, but Su Yu didn't care much at this moment. When you get used to certain kinds of pain, you find that pain actually makes you clearer and calmer. His heaven and earth was a total mess! Blown apart by those self-destructing experts, at least a hundred Great Daos had shattered. Moreover, Zhu Tiandao and the others whom Su Yu had stashed near the Heavenly Gate at the end had also suffered fractured Daos; for them, a broken Dao meant death. Fortunately, Su Yu had retrieved them in time. Otherwise, this Secret Department squad would have been wiped out right after their debut. Right now, Su Yu was heavily wounded, King Ming had fallen from the first rank, King Wen's heaven and earth might have been exposed, and King Dazhou had severed several Daos... These were all unseen losses. And the Human Sovereign himself—Su Yu glanced at him; faintly, he seemed to possess only second-rank power. Perhaps because his heaven and earth had not been drawn here, he might only wield first-rank strength within his own world. Such losses were exceedingly heavy. The pinnacle powerhouse Human Sovereign was also essentially half-crippled. Hearing this, the Human Sovereign sighed with emotion, but soon resumed smiling: "Yet we... won, didn't we?" Only then did a faint smile appear on Su Yu's face: "We won! And we defeated our foes without Your Majesty coming to our aid!" "..." He specifically pointed that out, leaving the Human Sovereign speechless. So you're saying you could have won even without me? Fine, that was indeed true. But King Ming and the others are my people, you know that? Su Yu then turned to King Ming and suddenly smiled: "They say that among the Four Extremes Human Kings, King Ming has the weakest presence, hardly matching the stature of the Four Extremes. Today, Su has seen you in a whole new light!" Calm in crisis, decisive in action, severing his Dao without hesitation, merging without delay, commanding King Zhan's complete obedience, possessing versatile methods to stabilize the heaven and earth... It could be said that if not for King Ming, more people on Su Yu's side would have died, and Su Yu himself would likely have had to abandon his other Daos to retain only the Life and Death Dao, as that Dao could resurrect him. He was the first person Su Yu praised in this battle! King Ming smiled faintly. "His Majesty Emperor Yu flatters me!" Su Yu chuckled, "No flattery. If I had to choose a partner between King Wu and you, I would choose you. Pure brutes can be rather obnoxious at times. You might be far weaker than King Wu, but you are far more useful than him!" The Human Sovereign felt helpless, caught between tears and laughter: "If Taishan hears that, I'm afraid..." Su Yu laughed: "Do I look afraid of him hearing it?" Well, the Human Sovereign was left without a comeback. This battle had also solidified Su Yu's status. Under normal circumstances, someone like King Zhenwu wouldn't have held back, but now she merely curled her lip and said nothing. Her husband was belittled by Su Yu right in front of them, which naturally annoyed her. However... Su Yu was terrifyingly capable! Full of schemes, ruthless in killing, unsparing in method. Even though King Zhenwu disliked using her brain, she knew better than to provoke such a person. Her husband couldn't afford to cross him either—even if he was stronger than Su Yu, Su Yu could orchestrate his death before he even realized what happened. Just then, another brute—the Martial Emperor—came over looking somewhat sheepish. He grabbed a figure, slammed him onto the open ground, and muttered gruffly, "How do we handle him?" At this moment, Gui looked thoroughly desperate and panicked! He had no idea what he had just lived through. He only knew that several first-rank experts had died, and Rulers of Rules had fallen in swathes. This was his first time seeing Su Yu look so chillingly cold. Beside Su Yu stood the Human Sovereign, reputed to be the strongest expert of this era. Yet standing together, the Human Sovereign felt far kinder to Gui, while Su Yu felt infinitely more terrifying. "Su Yu... no, no, Emperor Yu!" Despair etched across his face, Gui hurriedly pleaded: "Don't kill me... I'm useful! Killing me... Emperor Yu, you'll suffer huge losses! If I die, my friends inside the gate will find out..." Su Yu looked at him. He hadn't paid attention before, but now noticed that he had reconnected Gui to a rather trashy Dao—the Charm Dao. It was somewhat similar to Yueluo's Dao. Unfortunately, Gui was exceptionally ugly, wretched, and hideous. Having the Charm Dao on him was completely grotesque, evoking nothing but disgust and awkwardness. To cultivate the Charm Dao into such a monstrous shape was a talent in its own right. Su Yu looked at him and laughed: "Weren't you supposed to rival the Human Sovereign at his peak? Weren't you clamoring that you were one of the supreme experts inside the gate? Gui, were you lying to me?" Su Yu's face turned frosty: "I hate liars the most. If you were truly a supreme expert, your true body descending should have slain three to five first-rank combatants easily, right? Yet you useless wretch couldn't even defeat the Demon Emperor!" Gui was on the verge of tears. The Demon Emperor's Dao was stronger than his! He blurted frantically, "Emperor Yu, I... I only just entered the first rank! I didn't mean to deceive you, I was just... just..." "You thought that I would be crushed by your palm anyway, so whether you told me the truth didn't matter, right?" "No, absolutely not!" Gui was terrified. Strong experts surrounded him, radiating murderous aura. He had watched countless powerhouses die just now; only by quickly fleeing after severing his Dao had he managed to survive. He didn't want to die here—it would be far too unjust! Su Yu raised an eyebrow slightly. "Those who cultivate the Physical Body Dao are martial men. As a martial warrior, you are actually this cowardly!" Gui smiled bitterly. "We... we have cultivated for countless eras, and battles inside the gate are rare. How... how could we match your bloodthirsty courage!" Those were honest words. Gui suddenly felt that even if the gate opened, would the experts inside truly defeat this pack of butchers? Every single one of them exuded an overwhelming stench of slaughter! Whether on Su Yu's side or the Human Sovereign's, which of these Rulers of Rules hadn't spent these years endlessly fighting? Inside the gate, thousands or tens of thousands of years could pass without a single large-scale battle. Su Yu smiled. He waved a hand dismissively. "Take him down. Hand him over to Lan Tian later to watch over." Everyone wore strange expressions, but said nothing. They quickly bound Gui. Gui dared not resist, nor did he possess the strength to resist. Feeling helpless and bleak, he hesitated, then suddenly asked, "Emperor Yu... Emperor Yu, my... my friends..." "What's the rush?" Su Yu smiled. "No need for you to do anything. I'll impersonate you, chat with them, and reassure them so they continue projecting their power out. Eventually, their true bodies will descend. Better yet, invite a few more friends over so I can take care of them one by one!" "..." Gui was plunged into utter despair. Does that mean I have zero chance left? Su Yu paid him no further attention. Looking upstream again, he asked softly, "If we wait here, will they continue to be washed down by the river?" The Human Sovereign pondered and nodded: "Yes. The power upstream is growing stronger and will sweep them down. However, their desperate resistance upstream has one benefit: it delays the opening of the Three Gates... Only when they are washed down, and we are as well, will the Three Gates truly open!" Su Yu understood. After thinking for a moment, he added, "The myriad races still have four first-rank experts. After this battle, more will advance to Ruler of Rules, and some of their Celestial Venerables and Heavenly Kings survived. They can probably maintain around fifty Rulers." That was still a formidable force! The Human Sovereign nodded. Inevitably so! He looked back at his own side and smiled: "Even more will be born on our side!" Then he asked, "What are your thoughts now? Continue pursuing, or wait here?" With this battle over, the myriad races would only hold out upstream awaiting the Three Gates' opening. They wouldn't return and wouldn't dare return. Only when Su Yu and the others withdrew would they withdraw, emerging alongside the Three Gates. Su Yu considered this and asked, "How heavy a price does Your Majesty think we would pay if we pursued them and wiped them out?" The Human Sovereign reflected, "They have no way out now; it would be a desperate, suicidal stand. If they throw caution to the wind... we would certainly lose more than ten Rulers of Rules, perhaps even more!" This was his estimate even after factoring in Su Yu's heaven-defying capabilities. Otherwise, against over fifty powerhouses and four first-rank experts, taking them down without twenty or thirty casualties would be impossible. Su Yu chuckled: "Then forget it. We won't chase them for now. Terrifying them into submission works just as well. We will advance faster than them; time is on our side!" How could the myriad races advance? Su Yu and the Human Sovereign, however, could grow stronger through the elevation of their heaven and earth! With people constantly advancing and strengthening, their power would only multiply! Slaughtering countless experts in this battle was not without its spoils. Several new first-rank combatants had emerged! Su Yu turned to the Human Sovereign and asked, "How are things on your end?" "Not entirely sure..." Just as he spoke, the Human Sovereign smiled. "Here they come!" Before long, a group emerged in the distance. All of them were Rulers of Rules! And quite a large number—more than before. The Human Sovereign had previously led away 27 experts, but now more than thirty arrived, meaning many had broken through. There were original ancient marquises under the Human Sovereign, as well as those sent over by Su Yu. Such as Dingjun... To Su Yu's surprise, Marquis Dingjun was actually among them! This fellow had failed to break through several times, but this time his luck had arrived and he had succeeded. The group of experts swiftly converged. After inquiring about the battle, they were ecstatic! A grand victory! Everyone couldn't help but look at Su Yu—this young man was simply monstrous! Crucially... what about King Ming and King Zhan? Not only them, but seeing Su Yu and the Human Sovereign chatting, King Daming couldn't hold back any longer and spoke up: "Um... Ancestor, please yield the Dao back to me, I..." King Ming rolled his eyes and snapped in annoyance, "I just reconnected to this Dao! My Dao shattered—a first-rank Dao—and I just endured the backlash of reconnecting. If I yield the Dao again, the backlash might kill me! Do you think I'm a weakling like you, who can sever and swap Daos without major consequence?" Speechless! King Daming was stunned: "Then... Ancestor..." King Ming fumed again: "What do you know? If I sever my Dao right now, without my formation's suppression, Emperor Yu's heaven and earth could collapse! You practice formations too—can't you even see that? Are you an idiot?" "..." King Daming was an old fox himself, but looking closely now, he was startled, then cried out in outrage, "You did it on purpose, didn't you?" He swung round to Princess Consort Ming, wailing, "Ancestral Grandmother, he did it on purpose! He saw that His Majesty has a bright future, so he deliberately severed his Dao and stole mine! Ancestral Grandmother, it's bad enough that our Ancestor doesn't help the Zhu family's descendants, but he actually steals from them!" King Daming was frantic: "I wrested this Dao from my own son, and now he takes advantage of His Majesty's world trembling to steal it, and won't give it back!" Seeing this, the Human Sovereign gave a light cough and comforted, "Don't be sad. You can come to my heaven and earth. My Formation Dao..." "I won't!" King Daming panicked for real: "No way! I'm not going! Even if I have to switch Daos in His Majesty's heaven and earth, I'm not going! I worked so hard to become His Majesty's Chief of Logistics..." He almost blurted out: I worked so hard to climb into the high command, why would I go be a lackey under you? Besides, does your future match His Majesty's... ahem, that wasn't polite to say, but unless absolutely forced, I will never go! The corner of the Human Sovereign's mouth twitched. Soon he smiled and said gently, "It's fine, no harm done." Saying so out loud, he sent a telepathic message to Su Yu: "Send this brat over to me! I don't want anyone else, just him! King Ming and King Zhan can't sever their Daos again, so I don't want them back. Send this bastard to me immediately—my Formation Dao belongs to him!" Heh! You want to spar with me? You won't give me face? The Human Sovereign smiled brilliantly while cursing inwardly: Who do you think you're messing with? Su Yu's lips curled into a faint smirk, at a loss for words for a moment. After a while, he transmitted back, "We'll see. King Daming was the first powerhouse to support me, even before the Xia family..." This... was the truth. Back when he left the Great Xia Prefecture, Zhu Tiandao was the first to take him in, and King Daming had expressed his support. Otherwise, a genius fleeing from one Great Prefecture to another would have caused major trouble. Later, when he was in peril at the ancient city, King Daming and King Daxia had gone together to rescue him. Therefore, regarding King Daming, if he wasn't willing, they would see. Su Yu knew the Human Sovereign harbored no malice, but... King Daming's words were very pleasing to hear. Listen to that: even if I have to change to an unsuitable Dao, I won't leave; I will stick with Emperor Yu, not the Human Sovereign... How satisfying! Though... who appointed King Daming as Chief of Logistics? Su Yu himself was bewildered. People from the Zhu and Xia families all called themselves commanders and chiefs, but had he formally conferred a single title? Good grief, you already call yourself Chief of Logistics! Did I ever bring that up? I haven't had any logistical tasks to manage lately, have I? He didn't say anything aloud, while King Ming's face darkened. As if I actually care about this third-rank Dao! I'm a supreme first-rank powerhouse who could swat you to death with one palm. If I hadn't been backed into a corner, do you think I would have severed my Dao? King Ming didn't want to speak, and Su Yu's heaven and earth was indeed unstable. He still needed the power of a formation—a third-rank Formation Dao—to sustain the stabilization array from before. If he severed his Dao now and the array shattered, Su Yu's world would quickly crumble again! This grand formation was no ordinary construct; it burned a first-rank powerhouse's sea of will as its fuel source! At this moment, powerhouses from both sides gathered, their numbers swelling. Su Yu looked at the Human Sovereign and exhaled: "You should head back first. Your heaven and earth has not stabilized, your Daos are not strong, and it seems you haven't absorbed the Human Sovereign Dao yet..." Just then, King Dazhou spoke softly, "Your Majesty and Your Majesty the Human Sovereign should both return. Martial Emperor, King Yue, Book Spirit, King Zhenwu, Princess Consort Ming, myself, and our companions can stay to guard this place! Everyone else can return to rest and recuperate. We are still in decent shape!" Remaining here drained tremendous energy, and time passed differently; recovery was not nearly as fast as in the Myriad Realms. Staying here was a bit of a waste of time. Right now, the myriad races would certainly not dare return rashly. Besides, almost all the first-rank combatants on their side remained here. Su Yu was half-crippled, King Ming was crippled, and the Human Sovereign was much the same; staying served no purpose. Su Yu considered it and nodded slightly: "Then guard this place and coordinate with the others. By the way, do the Daos you severed need to be reconnected in my world?" King Dazhou smiled: "That would be best... Otherwise, I'm afraid I will soon drop to the second rank. Even reconnected, I can probably only maintain second-rank strength, losing the chance to advance to the first rank." On the other hand, the Martial Emperor had made a massive profit this time. The Martial Emperor was actually feeling a little uneasy. He coughed and muttered gruffly, "Um... does the Immortal Emperor... count as my kill?" Does it count? I contributed too! Su Yu looked at him and said calmly, "If you say it counts, it counts. If you say it counts, you can leave right now. I won't stop you!" "..." The Martial Emperor snorted, said nothing more, and turned away. Fine, it doesn't count! Leave? I'm not leaving! Damn it, I reached the first rank within a few days here, and you want me to leave? Do I look stupid? Heh! The Martial Emperor had made up his mind: until he reached the point where he could beat Taishan, he would never leave. Growing stronger here felt far too good! Although he had reached his current bottleneck and couldn't advance unless Su Yu did, how fast did this bastard Su Yu advance? Even though he was heavily injured this time, what did that matter? Su Yu recovered quickly too! Others might not know, but the Martial Emperor knew full well that Su Yu was definitely eyeing the experts inside the Heavenly Gate. Bait them out, kill them, merge them into his world, and the power of his heaven and earth would recover in no time. ... Su Yu couldn't be bothered with the Martial Emperor. He looked at the Human Sovereign and smiled: "How about it? Now I'm keeping Your Majesty company—we've both become spirits of heaven and earth." The Human Sovereign raised an eyebrow slightly: "You can restore your physical body, can't you?" "I can." Su Yu nodded: "A spirit of heaven and earth is actually no different from before. The only difference... Your Majesty knows as well. I am now completely bound to my heaven and earth. Unlike before, where I could discard it and go hook up with the River of Time to connect to its Great Daos, now... there's no way!" Su Yu shook his head. That was the difference. He was like the Human Sovereign now, except the Human Sovereign had no other choice, whereas Su Yu didn't particularly care. A physical body could always be reformed; becoming a spirit primarily meant his sea of will was bound to his world. If he truly abandoned this identity... his heaven and earth would inevitably be destroyed! The Human Sovereign looked at Su Yu and suddenly sighed: "The two of us—one calls himself the Human Sovereign, the other Emperor Yu... But can either of us still be considered human?" Neither was! Saying this, he couldn't help but laugh. Su Yu knew the Human Sovereign still longed to preserve his human identity, yet in essence, he had become a spirit. And so had Su Yu! Su Yu laughed as well. Around them, the others smiled along, though their feelings were complex. The two leaders spoke lightly of it, but everyone felt helpless and pained. Two supreme experts of the human race, leaders fighting for humanity, had both lost their human identity for the sake of the human race. Existing in the form of spirits! Was that not tragic? Su Yu didn't dwell on it. Looking at King Dazhou and the others, then back at the Human Sovereign, he smiled: "Let's go. We'll head back to rest and recuperate. With this battle over, both of us need to recover our strength... There will be no shortage of tough battles ahead!" The Three Gates were the key. As for the myriad races, scaring them into submission was enough for now. After this battle, none of them would dare stir up trouble again. The Human Sovereign nodded as well: "I must quickly recover my strength, or it will be too embarrassing!" Possessing only second-rank power outside his heaven and earth was almost too humiliating to bear! At the very least, he needed to maintain first-rank combat power even outside his world to barely save face! With those words, the two walked downstream together, followed by the wounded experts. Behind them, King Dazhou and the others stayed to guard the area, denying the myriad races any opportunity to return. Once the two had walked far enough, the remaining powerhouses let out a slight breath of relief. King Zhenwu, holding her cleaver, couldn't hold it in any longer and spoke up: "Zhou Tian, this Su Yu..." Beside her, the Martial Emperor sneered, "No manners!" King Zhenwu's expression turned frosty: "Now that he's gone, try acting arrogant again?" "I've stepped into the first rank, do you think I'm still afraid of you?" The Martial Emperor sneered insolently: "What, your man doesn't dare come back, so you want to fight me in his stead? Little bug, don't think you're untouchable just because you're a first rank—I can take you down just the same!" Murderous intent flared from King Zhenwu; she loathed this fellow. The Martial Emperor sneered in disdain. Afraid of you? Now that I'm first rank, I don't fear you at all! Seeing this, King Dazhou felt helpless. He had almost forgotten about the feud between these two. Both were first-rank combatants, but... the Martial Emperor didn't consider that King Zhenwu had a whole band of sisters beneath her. Did he really want to pick a fight with her? Just as he was worrying that they might cause trouble, Su Yu's ethereal voice echoed from afar: "Fight however you like, I don't care. Kill each other, and I won't care either. But if you two first ranks don't slay two enemy first ranks first and deliver their corpses to me... and you dare diminish each other's combat strength... I will butcher both of you! Hmph!" A cold snort shook heaven and earth. The Martial Emperor curled his lip and held his tongue. King Zhenwu muttered under her breath and said no more. Forget it! She couldn't be bothered talking to a brute whom her husband had defeated! The Martial Emperor also found himself an excuse: A real man doesn't fight with women. Forget it, I'll just ignore her! Seeing the two first-rank experts instantly silenced, King Dazhou was speechless. Su Yu... held immense deterrence over both of them! Leaving the Martial Emperor aside, even someone like King Zhenwu feared Su Yu. That feeling was completely different from how brash and informal she acted before the Human Sovereign. To the side, Princess Consort Ming smiled, appearing much gentler. She was only fierce toward King Ming; normally, she was quite gentle. At this moment, Princess Consort Ming looked in the direction Su Yu and the others had departed, lost in thought. My man... does he truly have no way to separate from Su Yu's world, or does he simply not want to? Is he putting down roots for the Human Sovereign, or does he have his own ideas? After all, Su Yu's rise was simply too swift! Princess Consort Ming knew her husband was sharp as a tack; he might very well have done it intentionally, snatching the Dao of his great-great-grandson and refusing to give it back! Thinking of this, she couldn't help but chuckle. King Daming's tearful wailing earlier had left her speechless too. When your own ancestor robs your Dao, what could she possibly say? With that thought, she looked at King Dazhou and asked, "Zhou Tian, how do you view these two Sovereigns of the human race?" King Dazhou remained silent for a moment before speaking: "His Majesty the Human Sovereign walks the Orthodox Dao; His Majesty Emperor Yu... walks the Demonic Dao!" Everyone was startled, falling silent for a long time. Those words... held a grain of truth. King Dazhou thought for a moment and added, "Two sides of the same coin. Emperor Yu needs someone like the Human Sovereign, and the Human Sovereign truly needs Emperor Yu. Complementing each other, I believe the human race will only grow stronger!" At this, he sighed: "The Demonic Dao... was also created by me!" He gave a self-mocking laugh, shook his head, and sat cross-legged on the ground, speaking no further. Wasn't the Demonic Dao of this tide created by his own hands? It was he who forced them to become demons! King Dazhou thought to himself, yet harbored no regrets. If they hadn't become demons, the human race might have been beyond saving. Now, at least there was hope—immense hope! Though the Three Gates were formidable, as long as both Sovereigns stood, that was victory! He looked silently into the distance, his mind filled with countless memories of the past.