The Tacit Understanding of Leaders

All sides were making their preparations. Su Yu's side was doing the same. The Forbidden Land Conference was set for tomorrow. What was their objective this time? What was the core priority? A clear decision had to be made on all of this. Whatever one did, there had to be a goal, and achieving that goal was the primary task. For instance, killing the Master of Falling Soul Valley hadn't been for the sake of killing, but for Su Yu to advance, to undergo nirvanic extinction once, and to open the Dao of Life and Death. Earlier, disguising himself as Sun Moon had been to kill Fa and seize the initiative. Yet as of this moment, Su Yu and King Wen hadn't actually settled on their main objective for this operation, because there were simply too many variables. At that moment, King Wen looked toward Wen Yu, who was still devouring the Great Dao over there. She was almost done; it would likely be finished tonight. Once Wen Yu succeeded, it would be just about time for the Forbidden Land Conference. King Wen turned to Su Yu. "As I said before, our objective is to provoke conflict between the Heavenly Gate and the Human Gate... or between them and the forbidden lands. What's your take?" Su Yu pondered for a moment before speaking. "I have no objection to that, but I'll add two points! First, Wen Yu must become Fa and emerge as one of the Heavenly Gate's leaders!" If that could be accomplished, King Wen hoped for it as well. He nodded. Su Yu continued, "Second, kill the Immortal Ancestor!" King Wen's expression shifted slightly as he looked at Su Yu. Su Yu said in a heavy voice, "We have to qualify the Lord of Dead Spirits for nirvanic extinction! If he can undergo nirvana and revive, first off, he gets to die once. If a thirty-five-dao expert dies once... he might just be able to take down a formidable enemy! Second, once he has revived, he can intimidate those forbidden land masters so they won't dare target him anymore! Third, it will bring him closer to our side. Right now, he's constantly helping us resolve trouble, yet he gets no benefit in return!" Su Yu said somberly, "He's helped us several times out of consideration that we're all people from the Myriad Realms, but is he really that close to us?" Su Yu shook his head. "He's not like me... I have no choice! If I didn't know you, I wouldn't bother with you either! But he didn't need to get involved at all. The only reason he stepped in from the beginning was to achieve nirvanic rotation between life and death! That was his initial goal. Now we've put him right in the crosshairs of everyone, even pitting him against Kong... so we must find a way to help him achieve nirvana!" King Wen sighed with emotion. "You may have all sorts of flaws, but... for this alone, he won't have backed the wrong horse!" Kill the Immortal Ancestor! Easy to say, but when a crowd of forbidden land masters gathered together, the difficulty would be immense! One slip, and everything Su Yu had arranged and hidden beforehand would go down the drain. Su Yu chuckled. "If we can kill the Immortal Ancestor and qualify the Lord of Dead Spirits for nirvana, then this plan will be a resounding victory with zero loss—even if all of our identities are exposed!" Su Yu looked at them, then at King Wu. "My teacher once told me that when necessary, one can pay a price to win over a third party and strike at adversaries! The Lord of Dead Spirits shares a foundation of cooperation with us, so in that case, we can't let him get the short end of the stick!" "I've reached thirty-two daos, King Wu underwent nirvana once, King Wen rescued Wen Yu, and Wen Yu has devoured a world... The goals everyone came into the Heavenly Gate to achieve have essentially been completed!" "That being the case... right now, we need to help the Lord of Dead Spirits accomplish his goal!" Su Yu said seriously, "I even think we should make killing the Immortal Ancestor the sole objective of this operation! Everything else is secondary. If other things fail, then so be it!" "When all of us unite behind a single objective—just to kill one forbidden land master—the probability of success will be very high!" Su Yu said earnestly, "Even if those forbidden land masters knew of our schemes, they wouldn't expect that after hiding so much, we did it all just to kill one person... Would you believe it? Would anyone else believe it? That's why... when nobody believes it, that makes it the best choice!" Thoughtful, King Wen nodded. "All of this was brought about by you. You have the final say!" King Wu chuckled. "Second Wen has always been the sly advisor. Since he's put it that way... I have no complaints about what you said! But... Su Yu, don't go forgetting about me! On my end... think of something. I feel like thirty-two daos is within reach for me too... What do you think?" Su Yu grinned. To be fair, King Wu could have stepped into thirty-two daos earlier; had he not integrated his Dao into Su Yu, he would have broken through long ago. It was only that Dao integration that caused his strength to drop. However, after nirvanic extinction, he had shattered that bottleneck once more. Right now, he was still at thirty-one daos. What he lacked to reach thirty-two daos wasn't comprehension, but the power of the martial path! "Then let's add another objective: kill the Martial Lord!" Su Yu smiled. "The Master of the Martial Domain! Kill him, and you can directly devour his Great Dao power. You have zero issues with comprehension; once you swallow it, you can advance immediately!" Su Yu looked toward King Wen. "King Wu is right. Everything must be based on strengthening our own side. So our third objective is to kill the Martial Lord and help King Wu break through! As for you, King Wen..." Su Yu laughed. "A pity your world isn't here. Otherwise, you wouldn't need to say a word—you'd be superior grade right off the bat!" King Wen smiled, then looked into the distance and said softly, "Just wait a bit, no rush! Big Brother should have made some arrangements... The Book Spirit... might be arriving soon!" Su Yu's heart stirred, and he quickly nodded. "Possible! He's been active around Mount Tianqiong and knows the situation. Last time your boots detonated and shook the heavens, he probably saw it. Besides, there's no way he didn't notice us summoning three worlds! Based on that... it's quite possible he'll find a way to send the Book Spirit directly over. Then you'll hold the core of your world and be able to wield its power openly!" King Wen nodded and added, "One more thing: the Heavenly Gate can currently obstruct two worlds... A third would be difficult. So among the three of us, only one will be able to summon successfully... What do you think?" "You do it!" Su Yu answered without hesitation. "I'll discuss this with the Lord of Dead Spirits. Because you don't have your world, you aren't considered superior grade, and the gap between superior grade and non-superior grade is still huge. At the crucial moment, we'll summon our worlds... to let your world enter!" The Heavenly Gate could presently block two worlds, but a third would pose a slight challenge. Su Yu continued, "Also, Mount Yongsheng can move closer to Mount Tianqiong... At the critical moment, we might be able to draw upon the Human Sovereign's assistance! He doesn't necessarily have to descend, but if the power of his world spreads over, it might hold back the Heavenly Gate a bit and let another world through for us... That chance can be given to the Lord of Dead Spirits." Unfortunately, they were still short one world. Su Yu suddenly froze. Lan Tian! Right! If the Human Sovereign wanted to send the Book Spirit over... he would very likely put Lan Tian in charge. Could Lan Tian... serve as a world himself, working together with the Human Sovereign to establish two worlds and launch a pincer attack from inside and out, forcing the Heavenly Gate to release the power of Su Yu and the others' worlds? Thoughts flickered, but Su Yu didn't say it out loud. Because that required tacit understanding—a great deal of it. Communication was inconvenient right now, so everyone operated on tacit understanding rather than rigid plans. And tacit understanding... depended mainly on how the Human Sovereign handled things over there, how he deployed his forces. King Wen spoke up. "Then the objectives are set! As for the specifics, they're hard to script anyway. We'll play it by ear—rigid plans aren't necessarily useful! But on your end, will you disguise yourself as Sun Moon, or appear as yourself?" Su Yu couldn't be in two places at once. Both identities were top experts, so it would be far too easy to blow his cover! "As myself!" Su Yu said, "My reputation is greater. Sun Moon is only known to a small group of people. If I disguise myself as Sun Moon while my real self doesn't show up... that will only cause trouble, and I won't have much of a voice!" King Wen nodded. Then it was settled. "Should Taishan and I sneak out tonight?" In the past, he had never needed to consult anyone, but now, he still needed to ask Su Yu. It wasn't that this fellow was necessarily smarter than him, but rather that many connections depended on Su Yu. For example, the Lord of Dead Spirits couldn't be bothered to pay attention to King Wen and the others. Su Yu... was remarkably skilled as a social butterfly! Of course, he had earned that through his own effort and fighting. When the Lord of Dead Spirits had been trapped earlier, if Su Yu hadn't gone to rescue him... if he hadn't taken that desperate gamble, the Lord of Dead Spirits would have been giving him face just by not killing him, let alone helping out. That kind of risk-taking spirit wasn't something everyone possessed. Returning a favor was easy to talk about, but extraordinarily hard to carry out. So even King Wen felt that, leaving aside how Su Yu treated enemies, he was undeniably exceptional to those who helped him. One could see that clearly from how he had spared no effort to save Wen Yu. Even toward the Lord of Dead Spirits, whose stance had been ambiguous, he had risked his life... A person like this might be difficult to deal with, but once you were truly on his side, he was exceedingly magnanimous! Perhaps this was Su Yu's unique charisma. Those who hated him hated him to the bone. For his own people, as long as he was there and hadn't died, everyone could rest easy. A young man in his twenties who had carved out such an enormous name for himself—at this point, King Wen could understand it a bit. Anyone who had collaborated with Su Yu came away with a shared impression: he was reliable! Until he fell in battle, you never had to worry about him abandoning you. Even if you weren't particularly close, as long as you stood in the same camp, he would pour everything he had into protecting you. That was why, even though Su Yu had a sharp tongue, overbearing ways, and an arrogant streak... everyone still placed their trust in him. At this moment, even King Wen faintly felt that. Su Yu was a natural-born leader! It was the same feeling he had gotten when he first met Xingyu all those years ago. Others thought Su Yu resembled King Wen, but King Wen now felt that Su Yu actually resembled Xingyu! And after spending enough time together, King Wen wasn't the only one who felt this way; many people had noticed it. Long ago, someone had already said he was an amalgamation of King Wen and the Human Sovereign. Having finished discussing serious business, King Wen couldn't resist teasing, "Your ancestors didn't happen to have some relationship with my big brother, did they?" He knew Su Yu's bloodline faintly carried traces of the Wen lineage, but he was only teasing; it was amusing. Su Yu grinned. "If the Human Sovereign had descendants, I was just wondering... which lady was involved with him?" He looked meaningfully at King Wen. King Wen's expression changed, and he abruptly wheeled on King Wu. King Wu looked blank at first, then... his face went totally pale! "Taishan!" With that low bark, King Wu shuddered and hastily protested, "I didn't! Don't talk nonsense! Seriously, I never gave those to Su Yu..." Good grief, a voluntary confession! King Wen felt like spitting blood. He genuinely wanted to slap King Wu to death. Gritting his teeth, he hissed, "Just you wait!" He was furious! Damn it, you definitely gave Su Yu some of those recordings you took back in the day! You bastard, you actually sold me out! I asked you for them countless times and never got them, and you gave them to Su Yu? Are you even human? You betrayed our brotherhood! King Wu looked helplessly at Su Yu, who merely shrugged. "I didn't say a word!" King Wu felt like weeping without tears! Nonsense! You looked at Second Wen like that! He's so sharp—how could he not guess? Right then, laughter rang out nearby. Wen Yu giggled. "Brother, I haven't seen them yet! I want to see if you look pretty dressed as a woman, too!" "..." "Get lost!" King Wen snorted. Su Yu chimed in teasingly, "Those aren't actually that interesting. Last time, I recorded something even better. Holy crap, it was sensational!" "What?" "Can I see?" "Su Yu, play it for us!" Now even King Wu grew interested, eagerly poking his head forward to ask. King Wen glared fiercely at Su Yu and quickly changed the subject. "A-Yu, you succeeded?" "Of course, child's play!" Wen Yu laughed. "Having reached this point, of course I'd succeed. It's just that I let everyone down..." She looked a little regretful. "I didn't devour all the Great Daos of the world, and Fa had consumed a lot of the world's power, so I didn't reach the expected level. Right now, I'm barely at thirty-four daos!" Barely thirty-four daos. Was anyone thrilled? No, not particularly. Back then, when Fa controlled seventy percent of the world's power, he had already been close to thirty-three daos. Had he devoured Wen Yu, he very likely would have become a powerhouse of thirty-five or even thirty-six daos! Yet Wen Yu, having refrained from devouring everything, had only scraped together thirty-four daos. At this stage, each additional dao required an immense amount of time and price to attain. Seeing that no one spoke, Wen Yu said somewhat self-consciously, "Actually, if I had swallowed everything, maybe... maybe I could have entered thirty-five daos. But..." Su Yu sighed softly. "It's fine! I understand your thinking. Walking your own Dao makes sense! Swallowing things whole might make you strong for a moment, but it brings greater trouble later. We are all cultivators of the Dao; we understand this principle." Wen Yu felt a bit awkward. "Don't you think... this isn't the time to be considering the future?" Right now, any increase in power would have been helpful, yet she had chosen to give it up. Su Yu shook his head. "No, this is only the beginning, small stakes! The Three Gates haven't even opened yet, so what's the rush? Thirty-four daos isn't bad at all—it's about equal to my two worlds combined. That's actually quite good. Among the forbidden land masters, not many possess this level of combat power... From what I see, that Immortal Ancestor is at most on par with you." Su Yu didn't dwell on it. "You will impersonate Fa. You know him intimately, so there's no need for me to teach you anything. You should have heard everything we just discussed. The objectives are clear to you as well!" Su Yu said heavily, "If the disguise fails... then we force the kill! Objective number one: the Immortal Ancestor! Number two: the Martial Lord!" The others exchanged glances and nodded. Su Yu stood up and strode outside. Seeing him leave, Wen Yu called out hurriedly, "Aren't you going to eat something before you go?" "..." Eat, my foot! King Wen couldn't help but smile as well. Standing up, he and King Wu followed Su Yu outside, saying as they walked, "Taishan and I will keep watch on the perimeter! We'll continue pretending to look for an opportunity to rescue Wen Yu." Seeing that they were all leaving, Wen Yu said anxiously, "Wait, if things go wrong, do we have an evacuation plan?" None of them turned back, merely waving a hand dismissively. Wen Yu was speechless. "I'm being serious!" King Wen's laughter drifted back: "Inside the gate, there's no way for us to evacuate on our own. Just wait and see whether your Big Brother Xingyu has made arrangements. If he can arrange our extraction, only then will we have a chance... Otherwise, between inside and outside the gate, one must pass through the Heavenly Gate! Let's see if your Big Brother Xingyu took this into account and arranged for Tongtian to receive us... Otherwise, we won't be getting out!" This was beyond their control! Tongtian had been forged jointly by him, the Human Sovereign, and several others, originally designed to pierce through the Three Gates. They didn't know what his current condition was, or whether he could pierce the Heavenly Gate to pull them out. If not... they could only retreat within the gate. And inside the gate, retreating anywhere was all the same. To top experts, there was no difference. At this moment, it was once again a test of tacit understanding, a test of the Human Sovereign. Had the Human Sovereign made arrangements? Was he prepared? Had he considered this and found a way to extract them? ... And at this very moment. The Human Sovereign was indeed making arrangements. As the sovereign of humanity overseeing the world, he naturally possessed his own methods and capabilities. Regarding Tongtian, he had set things in motion long ago, though the plan remained incomplete. After coaxing the Lord of Mount Tianqiong, the Human Sovereign continued busying himself with mop-up duties. Just like in the old days! The best commanders had no illustrious victories to their name! Back then, the Four Cardinal Human Kings had thunderous reputations, but no one spoke of the Human Sovereign's dazzling battle record. His battle exploits genuinely hadn't been illustrious, yet without him, the others wouldn't have possessed the strength in the beginning, nor could they have conquered the Myriad Realms! It was precisely because he coordinated everything behind the scenes that the human race had united the Myriad Realms in antiquity. He had become the human race's first and only sovereign to unify the myriad races. Even Su Yu hadn't accomplished that! Because Su Yu was too unyielding—he had driven the myriad races away, or wiped them out entirely, rather than unifying them. At this moment, the Human Sovereign quickly tracked down someone: Tongtian. "Idling again?" He hauled Marquis Tongtian out by the collar. Marquis Tongtian felt utterly helpless. Why do you constantly drag me around like I'm your son? What do you want now? "I wasn't idling..." "Cut the chatter!" Marquis Tongtian wanted to cry. I didn't even chatter, I just answered your question. Before he could say anything more, the world spun. The next instant, another figure appeared beside him. "Follow me!" King Ming quickly fell in step. Flying along, the Human Sovereign said, "A massive upheaval might break out inside the gate very soon. One day inside is three days outside... Within three days, chaos will erupt! And the outcome of that chaos might well be every expert ganging up to slaughter Su Yu and the others..." King Ming couldn't help asking, "What's the situation in there now?" "The situation?" The Human Sovereign smiled. "They killed several superior-grade experts. Right now, Su Yu is probably impersonating Fa of Mount Yongsheng—the one who imprisoned Wen Yu... And now he's convening a grand conference of all the superior grades. They might be planning something huge!" Sharp gasps! Even Marquis Tongtian sucked in a breath! The Human Sovereign continued, "Over by the Martial Emperor, I've already made arrangements. My Heavenly Gate can't be moved right now... Currently, the only one that can be deployed is your Heavenly Gate!" King Ming said solemnly, "My Heavenly Gate was being watched before as well..." "It's fine this time. Those people have all gone over to Su Yu's side!" The Human Sovereign smiled. "Even if someone was left behind to keep watch, they're nobodies—nothing to worry about! What I'm considering right now is... Tongtian..." He looked at Marquis Tongtian and said gravely, "Can you support the true body of a superior grade crossing through?" "Well..." Marquis Tongtian said in distress, "I've been working very hard! Recently, I reached the peak of third grade—I'm already at seven daos! If King Ming assists me, I think... there's hope I could pull across a twenty-five-dao expert..." King Ming wasn't weak either, currently possessing twenty-three daos of power—though of course, that couldn't compare to those inside the gate. Among the Four Cardinal Human Kings, King Ming had always handled logistics and hadn't opened a world, so his strength was relatively modest, largely because he hadn't spent very long in the River of Time. King Ming was currently on the verge of entering twenty-four daos, having been tagging along with the Human Sovereign lately. "Twenty-five daos?" The Human Sovereign frowned. "Far too low! This time, you might have to extract multiple thirty-two-dao experts, including Su Yu! You might even need to pull their world power across... Su Yu has probably opened a world over there!" "To put it more severely... you might have to pull across a thirty-five-dao expert carrying a world!" Marquis Tongtian rolled his eyes. "Then just let me die!" The Human Sovereign grabbed him by the throat. "You look like a wretched old man—what are you rolling your eyes for?" "..." Choked to the point of tears, Marquis Tongtian protested helplessly, "Your Majesty, I really can't! I'm too weak. You said it yourself: until the Three Gates open, I can't grow powerful! How am I supposed to pull them across? I'll be blown to bits, a hundred percent!" The Human Sovereign sank into thought. Soon, he arrived near the Earth Gate. The Earth Gate vanished instantly. Yet the Human Sovereign's aura surged with immense power as he struck the void. The Earth Gate reappeared. The Human Sovereign said in a deep voice, "Why run? Let's make a deal!" "A deal? We just made one..." The Earth Gate fluctuated violently! You literally just traded with me! "No, another deal!" The Human Sovereign said heavily, "My people are fighting inside the Heavenly Gate and may need to withdraw soon. This pseudo-gate lacks portal power. I don't need much—forcefully elevate him to sixteen daos..." Boom! The Earth Gate abruptly erupted with a powerful aura! Battle! This was pushing things too far! Forcefully elevating this pseudo-gate to sixteen daos—was it possible? Yes! Tongtian grew stronger by consuming gates. But the toll on the Earth Gate would be immense! Rather than endure that, it would rather fight to the death. Even if it hadn't fully revived yet, at worst it would just fall completely back into slumber! This was bullying taken to the extreme! This was genuinely intolerable, completely unacceptable! The Human Sovereign said in a deep voice, "What are you getting angry for? I told you it's a trade. You're the weakest among the Three Gates; sooner or later, the other two will crush you to death. A trade might actually make you stronger!" "What do you have to trade?" The Human Sovereign thought for a moment and said, "There are two options: present or future! If you want it now, I can give you several Great Dao powers of sixteen daos or higher to replenish your consumption!" The Earth Gate shifted slightly. "And the future?" "The future... The future is that when my people come out, they'll most likely bring out some treasures—for instance, the corpse of a superior grade, or maybe they'll have killed Kong, or slain Shi... You know those guys, don't you? Of course, the outcome isn't guaranteed! Once they're out, you can pick one of the treasures they bring!" The Earth Gate vibrated. "Your people are fighting Kong and the others?" Of course the Earth Gate knew them! The destruction of the Heavenly Gate era had resulted in countless casualties among the experts within the Earth Gate, and the Earth Gate itself had been severely wounded. Not only had it fallen back into slumber, but even after countless ages had passed, it still hadn't recovered to its peak—otherwise, it wouldn't have cracks. Cracks were never a good thing. Those top-tier entities were fighting the Human Sovereign's people? "What, can't they? You know the Lord of Dead Spirits, right? He's working for me right now..." "Impossible!" "Believe it or not. Or you can choose the sixteen-dao powers. I'll hunt down a few to restore your vitality... Your losses won't be that great." "And if I refuse?" The Earth Gate didn't want to agree! The Human Sovereign said indifferently, "You can refuse! I know what you're thinking right now: I'm injured and can't do anything to you! But... think carefully. Don't push me. If you push me too far, it won't do you any good either!" The Earth Gate fluctuated, projecting an air of dismissiveness! Right at that moment. In Mount Tianqiong, the Human Sovereign suddenly called out, "Qiong, I feel like my strength has completely recovered! Give me a punch to test it—let's see if you can hurt me across the Heavenly Gate!" "Idiot, get lost!" The Lord of Mount Tianqiong cursed furiously! Are you an idiot? Like I have nothing better to do! "Trash!" The Human Sovereign sneered with contempt. "Weakling! Useless fool! No wonder the Human Gate wanted to recruit you as a thug... You're born to be a thug, a total waste! I told you, I'll let you hit me once, and you don't even dare... Even when given a free hit, you're too scared. What are you if not trash?" Fuck! You're pushing it too far! You asked for this! "Die!" A sky-shattering sword light radiated from the Heavenly Gate's projection. Though heavily suppressed, Qiong was simply too powerful! ... At the same time. The Human Sovereign glared at the Earth Gate and said chillingly, "Refusing to take the easy way out, are you? Qiong, give him a sword!" "Die!" Across the void and through the portal, that furious roar could be heard! The next instant, a burst of sword light erupted from the Human Sovereign's body! Boom! The sword light charged straight at the Earth Gate, appearing ready to obliterate everything. The Earth Gate cried out in alarm, "Qiong?" Boom! It couldn't move freely or dodge far away, taking that sword strike directly on its frame! A monstrous force erupted across the portal! Boom! A colossal roar echoed through heaven and earth, reverberating across the world inside the Earth Gate. In an instant, the already cracked Earth Gate developed another fissure. It popped open for a fraction of a second, and in the blink of an eye, the sword light slashed straight into the world beyond! The Human Sovereign's cold voice resonated through the Earth Gate: "You bastards inside the Earth Gate, this Sovereign will be waiting for you to come out!" Buzz! That sword light pierced through the heavens. A few unlucky figures happened to be lurking near the edge of the Earth Gate; a blood-curdling shriek sounded, and a Ruler of Rules was instantly annihilated! How strong was Qiong? Thirty-six daos! Even across the Heavenly Gate, this single sword strike carried power approaching the superior grade. The Earth Gate absorbed seventy percent of it, but the remaining thirty percent still held the force of roughly thirty daos. Under that sword strike, several ancient beasts near the Earth Gate were instantly blasted into pieces! "Human Sovereign!" Inside the Earth Gate, fury roiled once again! Fuck! You're at it again? Last time, you threw a punch inside and killed a bunch of people, scaring everyone away from getting close. Thinking that nothing had happened for a while, a few restless souls had gone to check it out, only to meet disaster again! Deep in the chaos, the furious voice of the Lord of Chaos boomed: "Xingyu! Do not push people too far!" We haven't even charged out yet, and you've launched preemptive attacks into the Earth Gate twice! The Human Sovereign's icy bark rolled back in response: "Are you even human? Talking about 'pushing people too far'! If the Earth Gate dares to emerge... you'll be the first ones I exterminate!" "Hmph!" Silence! No further words came. They were still somewhat intimidated. Everyone said the Myriad Realms had no experts left... yet the Human Sovereign was arrogant enough to launch preemptive strikes into the Earth Gate twice! The next moment, the Earth Gate shut completely, cutting off all sound. By now, another sword score marked the Earth Gate's frame, pulsing with fury: "Xingyu!" The Earth Gate fluctuated violently! The Human Sovereign said coldly, "Feel free to keep testing me! Qiong has already reached an agreement with me. He's searching for his Heaven-Opening Sword and will soon gather all of its fragments. Right now, you're rock solid and hard to destroy, but let's see if he can smash you once he gets the Heaven-Opening Sword! Don't refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit!" "The Heaven-Opening Sword?" The Earth Gate shuddered. The Heaven-Opening Sword! "That's right, it's in the hands of the Hongtian Great Saint!" The Human Sovereign said indifferently, "Did you think I was joking about killing Kong and Shi? Among the four greatest powerhouses inside the Heavenly Gate—Kong, Shi, Qiong, and the Lord of Dead Spirits—two of them are working for me right now! Do you want to taste an attack from the Dead Spirit Dao? Did you truly not sense the repeated tremors through the heavens? Didn't you feel three worlds simultaneously assaulting the Heavenly Gate? Right now, I'm dealing with the Heavenly Gate and the Human Gate and don't have time to bother with you. Don't be ungrateful!" The Earth Gate felt utterly aggrieved! With simmering anger, it said, "Had this been back in the day... what could Qiong have done even if he came in person? Don't think that figures like Qiong are invincible..." The Human Sovereign said flatly, "At least right now, he can deal with you!" "..." Indeed, right now he could! The Earth Gate was enraged, but... utterly helpless! "Fine..." "Not fine!" The Human Sovereign said coldly, "Earlier it was elevating him to sixteen daos. Now it requires eighteen daos, as punishment for your refusal!" "You..." The Human Sovereign frowned. "Do you want another strike?" Sensing the sword aura lingering on its frame, the Earth Gate gave in helplessly. It hadn't fully revived yet; its recovery was meager. If it took several more hits like that... would it ever be able to revive? Furthermore, it had indeed sensed the fluctuations from the Dead Spirit World—multiple times, in fact! Those guys were truly attacking the Heavenly Gate! Since that was the case... the Earth Gate compromised once more, muttering in a low rumble, "Then... eighteen daos!" "Which option do you choose?" "The sixteen-dao powers you'd give me are practically useless, their grade is too low... Do I have another choice? I can only choose the second option... the future! I hope... you won't go back on your word!" It truly had no choice! Receiving sixteen-dao powers wouldn't do much good; at its level, that would hardly restore anything. Even Su Yu couldn't advance much by borrowing sixteen-dao powers anymore. Rather than taking sixteen-dao powers, it was better to wager on the future... Perhaps the other party would actually deliver? Though it didn't hold out much hope. Only then did the Human Sovereign smile. "Then it's a pleasure doing business with you! Tongtian, enter the Earth Gate and devour the Great Dao power! Devour portal power!" By this point, Tongtian was completely dumbfounded! This works too? Holy crap, the Human Sovereign is amazing! He actually found a genuine gate for me to devour! Good heavens! The next instant, Marquis Tongtian cried out excitedly, "Daddy! Human Sovereign Daddy!" "..." Get the hell out of here! The Human Sovereign was speechless. This creature truly bowed to whoever fed him! Marquis Tongtian couldn't care less. Beside himself with excitement, he merged into the Earth Gate instantly, thrilled beyond measure. His Majesty the Human Sovereign really was incredible! He had thought Emperor Yu was amazing before, but looking at it now... his true father was far more capable! Look, he found a real gate for him to eat! The Human Sovereign also breathed a quiet sigh of relief. For now, he paid no further mind to the Earth Gate, quickly sending a voice transmission to Qiong: "Not bad, that sword strike almost injured me! Impressive! It took quite a bit of effort on my part to neutralize that blow. Qiong, it seems you're even stronger than you were back then—truly formidable!" At that moment, Qiong wore a triumphant sneer. "You think you're worthy of competing with me? Your injuries haven't healed, and I wounded you across space. Just wait until this seat steps out of the Heavenly Gate—I'll slay you with a single strike!" Now you know how terrifying I am, don't you? Daring to provoke me! Having said that, he suddenly burst into arrogant laughter. "See that? Not only are you useless, but even Fa obediently shifted Mount Yongsheng over here! When this seat speaks, who dares disobey?" The Human Sovereign sighed with admiration. "You certainly have quite a bit of face. Hongtian actually wanted to make you a thug... He's got quite an appetite!" Tianqiong felt his prestige had reached its absolute peak! The Human Sovereign had conceded defeat, and Fa had obediently moved Mount Yongsheng over. Inside this gate, who dared disrespect Qiong? And that so-called Hongtian Great Saint actually wanted him to serve as a thug... A toad yawning, with an appetite far too big for his stomach! The next moment, he sneered, "Just wait until I strike him down!" Arrogant fool! You think you're worthy of subduing me? You want me to risk my life for you? Laughable to the extreme! If I don't kill you and reclaim my sword body, I'd be insulting my own strength and status! Right now, the Lord of Mount Tianqiong suddenly felt that the Human Sovereign actually made a lot of sense sometimes! ... Meanwhile, the Human Sovereign paid him no more heed, quietly observing Mount Yongsheng as it drifted closer in the distance. Lately, he had been trying to project tiny slivers of phantom power over, and because Tianqiong was in a good mood, he hadn't blocked them! Excellent! Everything was going according to plan! "If Tongtian reaches eighteen daos, combined with Old Five at twenty-three daos... No, I have to spend some energy pushing Old Five to twenty-four or even twenty-five daos... That way, it should be enough to extract several experts!" He hadn't been in such a rush originally, but... damn it, Su Yu had gone inside and reached thirty-two daos in no time, wildly exceeding his expectations. Tongtian clearly wouldn't have been able to support Su Yu's exit. Now, he had to forcefully borrow strength and make the Earth Gate contribute. Fortunately, Qiong had been deeply influenced by him, placing more and more trust in him. At this moment, the Human Sovereign weighed everything in his mind. *This is the most I can do for now. You few had better be extremely careful!* The next instant, forbidden lands began rapidly converging toward this location... The Human Sovereign's presence swiftly vanished. The Forbidden Land Conference was about to begin!