Dividing the Spoils

At this moment, Su Yu laughed without the slightest restraint. Yes, completely brazen! There were many powerhouses present. Both the Heavenly Gate and the Earth Gate were stronger than him, and Ji Tian and Jing Tian were more formidable than him as well. But so what? Su Yu's smile was radiant, devoid of lingering dread. Right now, he wasn't afraid in the least. He peeled away the Daos of the Human Ancestor's world with utter delight, grinning broadly. "A bunch of idiots! You form alliances, yet you fret over and plot against one another, stabbing each other in the back. From the Myriad Realms all the way to this very moment, it's always been like this!" Su Yu laughed uproariously. "Human hearts? The Human Gate? The Human Gate is right inside your own hearts!" The moment those words rang out, everyone was startled! Su Yu laughed with manic arrogance. "Is the Human Gate truly so powerful? Well, I've never seen it, so I wouldn't know. What I do know is that the human heart is the most terrifying thing of all! You morons, I'm cursing you right to your faces! Even if you're stronger than me, aren't you terrified that I might take a few of you down with me? You wouldn't dare make a move on me to save your lives! Hahaha!" It wasn't the first time! Su Yu saw through them all too clearly. When a crowd of clever people gathered together, getting anything done was far too hard. On Su Yu's side, there were plenty of smart people too—King Wen and the Human Sovereign were certainly no fools—yet they still had a foundation for cooperation. Another factor was that they were weak. Being weak, ironically, made it easier to unite. Ji Tian's expression darkened slightly. "The Human Gate is in our hearts?" Countless thoughts surfaced in his mind, but he said nothing more on the matter, merely looking at Su Yu with cold eyes. "Isn't it time to release him?" "Are you an idiot? Where are the treasures? Where's the goods?" Su Yu said coldly, "Do you think I'd trust you? I don't trust a single one of you lot. Hand over the items first. Deliver a portion, and I'll slice off a portion of Zhou for you. He won't die anyway!" "..." How ruthless! Everyone looked at him, utterly speechlessly. Slice off a portion for everyone! There was... simply nothing to say to that. Su Yu chuckled. "One slice for the Earth Gate, one for the Heavenly Gate, one for Ji Tian, one for Yu... How about I carve Zhou into four pieces and divide him among you?" "..." Silence reigned across the four quarters. After a moment, the Prison King spoke coldly, "Su Yu, what exactly do you want?" Su Yu smiled. "Nothing much. Isn't Zhou your middleman? I'll give each of you a piece to hold, keeping each other in check so things don't descend into true chaos. If you lot fall into chaos... where's the fun in that?" Su Yu laughed heartily. "Don't go descending into chaos. If you do, the Human Gate will burst out. I don't feel like cooperating with the Human Gate anymore, because I've realized I can pick up bargains right here to boost my strength! So I won't join hands with the Human Gate to kill you. Instead, we can team up later to kill the Human Gate!" "..." He was a madman, an utter lunatic. Ji Tian watched in silence. Su Yu had no stance! Yes, he held no allegiance whatsoever. He was purely a shit-stirrer! Whatever he set out to do, he was determined to see through, and once done, he didn't care what happened to anyone else. And if he couldn't accomplish it, he wouldn't let anyone else achieve it either. That was just who Su Yu was! Su Yu couldn't care less what Ji Tian thought. He smiled and said, "Start with the Ten Thousand Daos Stone, make it snappy. Yu, if you don't send it over soon, your father is going to drop to thirty-five Daos!" Without a word, the Prison King waved her hand, and a stone shot rapidly across the distance. Su Yu said faintly, "The Ten Thousand Daos Stone—what a fine treasure! Shi, Kong, intercept it! Snatch it, and you'll make immediate progress!" "..." Shi and Kong looked uneasy. The Prison King was behind them, so the Ten Thousand Daos Stone would indeed pass right by them. Su Yu added, "Shi, the Ten Thousand Daos Stone suits you best! Absorb it, and you'll instantly reach thirty-seven Daos, maybe even thirty-eight! That stone contains the insights into the Great Dao left behind by the Lord of Time!" Shi felt like cursing aloud! Was he out of his mind? He wanted it, of course, but he was certain that if he dared snatch it right now, terrible misfortune would befall him! Did Su Yu really take him for a fool? Su Yu continued, "Don't be scared! If they dare attack you, I'll protect you! Besides, in a moment they're going to take the Dao of Anger from your hands. Tsk, tsk, walking away with nothing—how miserable! Teaming up with folks like this is just too pathetic! Obey the Heavenly Gate, and you get zero benefits while drowning in bad luck. Look at Brother Qiong! How comfortable he has it right now! He'll have the Heaven-Opening Sword in hand in no time, and later he can kill a powerhouse to replenish his Yang energy and leap straight to the pinnacle!" "..." Qiong felt a bit awkward, but said nothing. Both Shi and Kong looked sullen. Crude though the words were, the logic held! Indeed, they had faced a mountain of bad luck without seeing a single benefit. "And another thing—back then, to bide their time, the Heavenly Gate and Earth Gate put on a show together, slaughtering everyone who refused to submit. How tragic! Otherwise, why would things be this pathetic today? I've been wondering—with so many people dying back then, was the power of their Great Daos split between the two gates and devoured?" Su Yu chuckled faintly. "All these years, you claimed you were in seclusion healing your wounds. Are you sure you weren't encroaching on the Great Daos? Gobbling up the spoils and gains from back then? Truly ruthless!" The Heavenly Gate said calmly, "Su Yu, at this stage, must you continue this?" Sowing discord again! He looked at Su Yu and said placidly, "Our original intentions were good—all to resist the Human Gate and save the myriad races. You cannot deny this! The Human Gate is the root of the calamity. Without the Human Gate, why would we have entered extinction? Why would we stand against you? You understand all of this!" The Human Gate was the source of disaster. Did Su Yu truly not understand? They, too, were merely trying to survive! Su Yu sneered. "Then go find the Human Gate! If you truly fought the Human Gate to the bitter end, I'd call you heroes, real men, true badasses! But do you think I don't know what you're plotting? The destruction of an era brings both pros and cons. The benefit is that when the Myriad Realms are reborn, you can harvest the leeks, merging Yin and Yang to advance even faster! "At your level, you've almost all reached your limits, hitting bottlenecks! Even a peerless genius like the Lord of Dead Spirits had to find a way to merge Yin and Yang just to step into thirty-nine Daos. Are you stronger than him? Not necessarily! But raising an entire era to use as nourishment allows you to shatter your bottlenecks, doesn't it? Why is the Earth Gate stronger than you? Because during the Heaven-Opening Era, he devoured many experts and replenished plenty of Yang energy. Now he wants to do it all over again, and you're probably just following suit, copying his moves..." Su Yu's tone grew chillingly cold. "I wonder—if there were no Human Gate destroying the world, would you truly allow the Myriad Realms to be free of disaster? To empower yourselves, wouldn't you raise the Myriad Realms like livestock again and again? Every apocalypse is just a golden opportunity for you to shatter your bottlenecks and elevate yourselves, isn't it? "Fa encroaching on Wen Yu, trapping King Wen and King Wu... was that truly meant for Fa? Wasn't it that you planned to devour Fa at the final moment of revival? Once Fa reached thirty-six Daos and merged Yin and Yang, if you devoured him, wouldn't you take another step forward?" Su Yu's voice sounded eerie. "In the previous era, you and the Earth Gate probably both advanced. How exactly did you advance? Don't you know yourselves? I don't believe for a second that you're more talented than the Lord of Dead Spirits, shattering bottlenecks and stepping past forty Daos so effortlessly!" Su Yu scoffed. "Stop pretending to be saviors! Fighting the Human Gate is one thing, but treating the Myriad Realms as your resources for advancement—is that not an indisputable fact?" The destruction of an era was not entirely devoid of benefits. For instance, the Heavenly Gate and Earth Gate had emerged; by slaying more experts of the Myriad Realms and combining the Yin and Yang Daos, many bottlenecks could be broken. It seemed as though an era was destroyed, but so what? Once they became supremely powerful, whether the world was destroyed or not would be decided by a single word from them. At the level of the Lord of Time, one could open a heaven and earth by oneself and create a Myriad Realms. The Myriad Realms had not existed from the beginning either; it too had been opened by someone! Therefore, Su Yu suspected the two of them were simply playing a double act! The opening of this era in the Myriad Realms was merely meant to help them break through their bottlenecks! The Earth Gate had likely tasted the sweetness in the previous era and wanted to repeat it now. Otherwise, why pay such a massive price to stir up trouble again and again? With that, Su Yu sneered again. "King Wen, King Wu, the Human Sovereign—weren't they all raised by you like cattle? You wanted to raise them stronger, yet you feared they'd become too strong. So just as they were about to step onto the peak, you placed restrictions on them. Back then, the moment the Human Sovereign reached thirty-five Daos and was about to step into thirty-six, problems arose... Thirty-six Daos is significantly stronger than thirty-five! Why did trouble happen right then? "Because you were afraid! Afraid that once he stepped into thirty-six Daos, he would swiftly surge to thirty-eight or even forty! That was why you concocted every scheme to deal with them. If the Human Sovereign had stayed around thirty-two Daos, I doubt the fall of the ancient era would have ever happened!" Today, Su Yu saw through far too much! He sneered. "Was the Human Sovereign truly plotted against by the Human Gate? What a joke! In my view, it was the Heavenly Gate and Earth Gate acting on your own desires, along with Ji Tian and the rest of you—you are the real villains, the true evil!" Beside him, the Human Sovereign sighed and murmured, "Everyone guarded against the Human Gate, yet in the end... those who truly committed atrocities turned out to be the very people once hailed as heroes!" He had pieced it together as well. The ones who had plotted against him back then were likely the Earth Gate, the Heavenly Gate, and Ji Tian's faction. As for the Human Gate, it was utterly mysterious—had it ever truly made a move? From start to finish, the Human Gate didn't seem to have ever appeared. The only trace was that several Great Sages claimed the Human Gate had commanded them to kill Su Yu. Whether that was spoken by its true form, delivered through other means, or simply fabricated by Ji Tian and his cohorts to manipulate those Great Sages, who could tell? The Heavenly Gate frowned slightly. "The Human Gate destroying the world is a fact..." Su Yu said indifferently, "Ghost knows if it's a fact. Where is the Human Gate? Why haven't I seen it? Everyone says the Human Gate is unfathomably mysterious—so mysterious that I've never once laid eyes on its existence. Ji Tian claims the Human Gate ordered my execution... Well, dead men tell no tales anyway. Si Tian, don't rush off to die just yet! Let me ask you: have you ever seen the true body of the Human Gate? Was that decree given directly to you?" In the distance, the dying Si Tian was somewhat dazed. She suddenly said, "I haven't seen it... but I felt the Sovereign's aura, incomparably vast and mighty. As for the sacred decree, it was transmitted directly through the Human Gate... The Human Gate... truly exists... It has a portal..." She coughed up blood continuously, her mind wandering in this moment. Was that gate... the Sovereign? She didn't know! However, she had indeed sensed the Sovereign's towering aura, overwhelmingly powerful, as well as the orders delivered days ago. At this moment, the Heavenly Gate also said placidly, "Su Yu, there is no need to question whether the Human Gate exists. The Human Gate truly exists! I told you last time—it is towering and majestic! The Human Gate is terrifyingly powerful. Back then, when I sensed its aura, I knew I would inevitably lose, so I had no choice but to seal the Heaven-Opening Era, biding my time to await an opportunity!" The Earth Gate also spoke coldly, "He does exist! When the heavens were opened, I saw him too. He was sealed at the end of the long river, incomparably mighty. Back then, it was impossible for me to fight him!" Su Yu was actually questioning the existence of the Human Gate. The Earth Gate thought he had gone mad! If the Human Gate didn't exist, did you take us for idiots? Battling against thin air with our wits and courage all these years? That immense aura, that towering presence—they could never have misjudged it! Su Yu laughed. "Fine, fine. If the Human Gate doesn't exist... that would be the greatest joke under heaven! A joke to make the Myriad Realms die laughing!" No one uttered a word. Meanwhile, Su Yu caught the Ten Thousand Daos Stone in his hand and sighed. "Nobody tried to snatch it? What a bunch of trash! Shi, Kong, you two are utterly pathetic! Knowing full well it's a treasure, you didn't even try to grab it!" Shi and Kong remained silent! "Su Yu!" the Prison King barked in fury. Su Yu curled his lip. So you know how to feel angry too? Without another word, grunting with effort, he reached into the void, grasped a Great Dao, kneaded it into shape, sealed it, and hurled it forcefully toward the Prison King. "Here's one section, as promised!" The moment the sphere of light was thrown, it transformed into the Human Ancestor. His aura was rather weak; a large portion of his Dao power had been stripped away by Su Yu, and this was only a small fraction of his original strength! It was barely around twenty-five Daos! The remaining Dao power was held firmly in Su Yu's grasp, violently fluctuating, struggling, and boiling! Su Yu casually tossed the Ten Thousand Daos Stone to the Human Sovereign. The Human Sovereign frowned slightly. "You use it!" Su Yu shook his head. "No need!" He didn't require it! This Ten Thousand Daos Stone held insights, nothing more. And what Su Yu needed wasn't insights; he had his own path. Back then, the Time Master had deduced his path for him. Presently, Su Yu had fused the Daos of one hundred and eight apertures to reach thirty-six Daos. To reach thirty-seven Daos, he might need to fuse one hundred and forty-four apertures, or even one hundred and eighty! And for fusion, insight was only one aspect; a massive amount of rule power was also essential. Therefore, giving this stone to the Human Sovereign was far more appropriate! The Human Sovereign already possessed ample insight and strength. Many years ago, he had almost stepped into thirty-six Daos; now, it was merely that the injuries to his Great Dao hadn't fully healed. The Ten Thousand Daos Stone would help him recover from all his injuries and step into thirty-six Daos. The Human Sovereign said no more. The Ten Thousand Daos Stone instantly merged into his heaven and earth. He sat down cross-legged, enveloped entirely in iridescent light. Su Yu said calmly, "Are we continuing the trade? If not, Zhou is still alive anyway! Twenty-five Daos is enough to get by!" Trade or not? If they didn't trade, Zhou would still live, just with greatly diminished strength. Ji Tian sighed inwardly. Not trade? If they didn't trade, what use was a Zhou with only twenty-five Daos? At this point, that would render everything meaningless! Ji Tian said placidly, "Su Yu, have Lan Tian withdraw! Return the heaven and earth to Zhou! You have already won. Now that you've won, do you still wish to gamble with the billions of lives of the human race? Before, you had no other choice, but now you can order Lan Tian to pull back. Tian will bring Zhou's heaven and earth back with her!" "No rush for that!" Su Yu laughed. "If I withdraw now and Zhou suddenly jumps back to thirty-six Daos, wouldn't I lose leverage for the rest of the goods? Stop the nonsense—hand over the Heaven-Opening Sword! Then I'll have Lan Tian withdraw! Any later, and it'll be too late!" A small sword pierced through heaven and earth, hurled directly by the Prison King! The Prison King didn't bother haggling. Since she had started, she would see it through; there was no need to waste more words with Su Yu. Qiong's face lit up with excitement. My sword! The next instant, the long sword came shooting through the air. Qiong caught it in his grip. Instantly, his aura flared violently! The once-dim small sword, which even bore faint cracks, erupted with radiant brilliance in an instant! Qiong's true form manifested! It was a divine character named Qiong! The character "Qiong" immediately imprinted onto the long sword, leaving an inscription on the hilt. The sword revived in an instant, as if coming alive, and Qiong's wild laughter echoed across heaven and earth! Rumble! His aura grew steadily stronger. In the blink of an eye, Qiong's aura reached thirty-seven Daos, carrying an unmatched momentum as sword radiance traversed heaven and earth! "Hahaha!" Qiong roared with laughter. "Su Yu, you're true to your word!" Joy, exhilaration! The sword was back! The long sword flew across heaven and earth like an unleashed hound, darting all about. Su Yu didn't mind and shouted, "Lan Tian, release Yu's mother! Stop mounting and beating her! If you keep beating her, Zhou's going to get angry!" The moment those words were uttered, the weakened Zhou couldn't help but look back at Su Yu, his face flushed with fury! Su Yu laughed, winking cheekily! Meanwhile, over by the Human Realm, a faint voice drifted across: "Release her now? I'm not mounting and beating her—she's mounting and beating me... Sister, stop hitting me, spare my life!" Rumble! Heaven and earth trembled! Within the Human Realm, a world seemed to emerge out of nowhere from beneath the earth, rapidly pulling free. The next moment, two figures appeared within that world. One was Tian, a stern, rather somber woman. The other was Lan Tian, currently taking the form of a pretty boy, who was indeed being mounted and pummeled by Tian! Yet Tian's expression shifted constantly, turning stern one moment and crazed the next... Lan Tian wasn't fighting—he had been forcefully assimilating into her world all along! At this moment, Tian's face was extremely unsightly. Without another word, she uttered a shrill cry, "Make him get out of my world..." In the next instant, an alluring, sultry voice suddenly escaped her lips: "No, let him stay, alright? I can't bear to let him go..." A dead silence fell upon the four quarters! Su Yu gave a light cough. "Lan Tian, we must keep our word! Even if Tian can't bear to part with you... you should still withdraw! After all, she has a family, a Dao companion. Doing this isn't appropriate!" "Su Yu!" A furious roar rang out as Zhou bristled with rage. "Have you had enough?!" The roar was thick with extreme wrath! Su Yu laughed. "Enough, enough, don't get so angry—anger damages your health! Use the power of your heaven and earth to stabilize the Human Realm for me, thoroughly quelling the unrest. In addition, sever the physical body Dao, and I will let your heaven and earth return!" Zhou snorted coldly, then looked toward the Human Realm and said in a heavy voice, "Sever the physical body Dao!" He refused to exchange another word with Su Yu. The next moment, Tian let out a furious cry, and a Great Dao was completely stripped away. Shortly after, a heaven and earth materialized into a phantom, traversing the Myriad Realms and flying toward the Human Ancestor! The Human Realm swiftly settled down as well. The Human Ancestor's world had been buried within the Human Realm, but the Human Realm was not his world. High above the Human Realm, Lan Tian looked utterly reluctant. His colossal face covered the heavens, filled with lingering grievance and deep wistfulness: "Sister, I'll come play with you next time!" At that instant, the Human Ancestor's world trembled slightly. A moment later, the world returned to the Human Ancestor's side. Zhou swiftly integrated the world into his Great Dao. As Dao and world merged, the Human Ancestor, who had previously possessed the power of twenty-five Daos, saw his aura surge instantly. With a rumbling roar, his Dao power reached thirty-two Daos in the blink of an eye! Yet right there, it ground to a halt! He glared at Su Yu with anger burning in his eyes. "Return the rest of my Dao power!" Originally, had he fused his world intact, he might have reached thirty-eight Daos. Now, too much world power had been stripped away by Su Yu! Beside the Human Ancestor, a noble and elegant woman materialized, though she bore traces of agony. Her gaze shifted unsteadily at times—anyone could see she had been tormented terribly by Lan Tian! At this moment, the Heavenly Gate said calmly, "Release the rest as well, in exchange for the Dao of Anger." On one side was the Dao of Anger, a thirty-six-Dao path; on the other was the remainder of the Human Ancestor's Dao power, primarily centered on the physical body Dao. In truth, their power was roughly comparable. Actually, the Daos of Seven Emotions and Six Desires suited them better, but if they had to forego it now, so be it. Yet even Ji Tian did not stop the exchange. Because the Human Ancestor's Dao carried Yang energy. If Qiong devoured it, that would spell tremendous trouble. Qiong was currently advancing toward thirty-eight Daos; if he swallowed the Human Ancestor's Yang Dao, he might reach the same height as the Lord of Dead Spirits! Qiong had not achieved his strength by opening a heaven. He relied entirely on his profound foundation! The sword of the Lord of Time! In the entire Myriad Realms, who possessed a deeper foundation than him? He was the sword used by the Lord of Time to split open the heavens—that was what made him truly terrifying. Therefore, they preferred to trade the Dao of Anger instead. At least the Dao of Anger wouldn't cause an immediate, astronomical surge in power. Su Yu smiled. "How about we just drop it? Isn't Zhou alive anyway? He's already at thirty-two Daos, so why obsess over this bit of Dao power... What if we don't trade?" The Heavenly Gate said coldly, "Are you going back on your word?" With a touch of displeasure, he said, "Su Yu, we are merely on guard against the Human Gate right now, not truly powerless against you. Since you agreed to trade and the items were given to you, must you act like this?" Su Yu laughed. "Not quite. It's just that I see Shi and Kong are reluctant to part with it! You insist on trading the Dao of Anger, but they're the ones who killed for it, who risked their necks to obtain it. You're being a bit overbearing, aren't you?" The Heavenly Gate shuddered slightly. Behind him, Shi and Kong looked utterly sullen. Indeed, the Dao of Anger was still in Shi's hands. These people hadn't even consulted them before deciding to trade it away! Su Yu's tactics of sowing discord truly came one after another without pause. Su Yu added, "How about this: if we trade the Human Ancestor's Dao for the Dao of Anger, I'll give this Dao power to Shi and Kong!" Su Yu chuckled faintly. "These are all Yang Great Daos, after all!" Shi and Kong's eyes flickered slightly! This... was truly a priceless treasure! Once swallowed, if either Shi or Kong devoured it, they would gain at least one Dao of strength, truly enabling them to enter thirty-seven Daos! They might even both enter thirty-seven Daos! In an instant, both of them were tempted. Su Yu beamed. "If I give it to you, you advance, and no one will dare lay a hand on you. Offending two thirty-seven-Dao experts while I play spectator... heavens, how terrifying! They'd be the ones facing disaster! "Relying on others is never as good as relying on yourself! No matter how strong your allies are, depending on them is hollow! Only your own strength is real! If you hadn't been strong just now, I would have killed you already—just look at what happened to the God Ancestor and the Blade Ancestor! "The Great Dao is in your hands right now. Whether to trade or not, decide for yourselves! Miss this chance, and there won't be another!" The next instant, Shi barked, "We trade!" "How dare you!" Zhou roared, glaring in their direction. "Don't you dare!" The Heavenly Gate's face shifted slightly as well. "Shi, Kong, Su Yu is deliberately driving a wedge between us. Don't you understand that?" Shi said in a heavy voice, "We obtained the Dao of Anger by killing Qing Tian! If it's to be traded now, naturally we should be the ones trading it. What's wrong with that?" One's own strength was the only true strength! Who cared about the rest of you? The Human Ancestor's Dao was far superior to the Dao of Anger—not necessarily in raw power, but in how much more useful it was to them. At this moment, the Human Ancestor's face flushed and paled repeatedly, while the Heavenly Gate said in a grave voice, "Then we won't use the Dao of Anger. Su Yu, we will trade other Daos!" They couldn't afford a complete falling out! Yet they couldn't allow Zhou's Dao to be snatched away by these two either. Otherwise, the loss would be catastrophic. Not only would Zhou fail to recover past thirty-six Daos, but having those two grow stronger was by no means a good thing! Su Yu laughed. "That works too. It's not like I must have the Dao of Anger. But I did help Shi and Kong preserve their Dao of Anger, so you two ought to be careful—Yu desperately needs that Dao! If you keep it around, devouring it won't give you much benefit, but if you don't devour it, you might get ambushed!" Shi's face turned dark, and Su Yu continued, "They need the Daos of Seven Emotions and Six Desires to perfect Yu's heaven and earth! So that Dao of Anger is practically a necessity for them!" Shi's expression flickered repeatedly, but he said nothing. At this point, he didn't know how to handle it either. Earlier Su Yu said to trade, but now he refused, turning the thing into a scorching-hot potato! It was a massive headache! The Heavenly Gate sighed once more and said, "How about this: the two of you share half of Zhou's Dao power, and hand the Dao of Anger over to me. If you truly traded directly with Su Yu, you know that even if I didn't mind... you would still have to consider the opinions of the others!" In the distance, Zhou felt infuriated, but this was the Heavenly Gate's decision, and it was the only way to facilitate a smooth exchange. He said no more. Now, with a portion stolen by Su Yu and another portion divided between those two, his world's power was largely thrown away—he had opened this heaven and earth for nothing! Yet this was perhaps the best outcome possible! Shi and Kong exchanged a glance. Perhaps... this was indeed the most appropriate course. Making mortal enemies out of everyone else wasn't wise. Still, they felt a pang of unwillingness! Splitting half the power meant neither might advance; they would remain at thirty-six Daos, merely progressing further within the tier. Clearly, the Heavenly Gate was also deliberately suppressing them to an extent. Yet they had no other choice. Su Yu chuckled. "That works as well. I did manage to secure half of it for you two, so you ought to thank me. Treat me to a meal next time!" "..." Shi and Kong kept silent. This Su Yu was truly rotten to the core! Everyone knew what he was trying to do, and everyone knew he was wicked, yet you were forced to dance to his tune. Did Shi and Kong not know he was driving a wedge? They knew all too well! Yet if I can advance, why shouldn't I? Thirty-six Daos was no weakling either! If they truly fell out, the Earth Gate and Heavenly Gate would have to think twice. Besides, Qing Tian had been killed by them in the first place! Right at this moment, the Human Sovereign's heaven and earth shuddered. The next instant, the power of a Dao of Responsibility swept across the four quarters. The Heavenly Gate frowned slightly and waved his hand, intercepting that peculiar Dao power! That thing was hardly anything good; it was practically poison! The Human Sovereign opened his eyes. He had now stepped into thirty-six Daos. Taking a deep breath, he looked at the others and smiled. "Many thanks! I have finally stepped into this realm at last, fulfilling a long-cherished wish!" Without wasting words, Su Yu split the Dao power in half and said calmly, "Where is the Dao of Anger?" Shi brought out the Dao of Anger, glowing like a multicolored rainbow, and looked at Su Yu. Su Yu smiled, waving his hand to send half the Dao power flying toward them, while the Dao of Anger was swiftly tossed over by Shi! As for the remaining half, Su Yu casually tossed it, and that surge of Dao power shot instantly toward the Earth Gate. The Earth Gate's eyes flickered. Zhou's expression changed drastically, and he cursed under his breath, "Su Yu!" Bastard! Even now, that rascal Su Yu was still stirring up trouble. His Dao power was brimming with vigorous Yang energy, and the Earth Gate's nose twitched slightly. He desperately wanted to eat it! Devouring it would surely feel fantastic! Zhou shot toward that Dao power with utmost haste, while the Heavenly Gate's face shifted as well. "Earth Gate, Zhou must recover the combat strength of thirty-six Daos!" Without this power, Zhou wouldn't even be able to return to thirty-six Daos! The Earth Gate smiled awkwardly. "I know, I know. I wasn't going to make a move—why are you all in such a panic?" Acting like I'd actually take it! Honestly! This kid Su Yu was truly far too wicked! Zhou quickly seized his Dao power, secretly breathing a sigh of relief. He swiftly merged it into his world, feeling somewhat helpless. Although his aura steadily grew stronger, it soon halted at the peak of thirty-five Daos, unable to advance further! With visible irritation, he looked toward Su Yu's direction, then glared at Shi and Kong. The share those two had received was clearly larger than his own, which was the very reason he couldn't even restore his thirty-six Daos! At this moment, the Heavenly Gate sighed once more, a helpless lament. "Shi, yield a portion so Zhou can recover thirty-six Daos!" Shi was displeased! Trading one full Great Dao for half a Dao was already bad enough, and now they had to give away even more? The Heavenly Gate said with aggrieved patience, "Su Yu deliberately allocated more to you two. Everyone, look at the bigger picture!" We know that! But the Dao of Anger was surrendered by us. Trading one Dao for the lion's share of another—what's wrong with that? Both Shi and Kong were thoroughly reluctant! Su Yu, on the other hand, ignored them entirely. With a laugh, he didn't keep the Dao of Anger around, absorbing it directly into his own world! At this moment, Qiong swiftly reverted to his original form and rushed back, looking at Su Yu with a mixture of anticipation and disappointment. "You gave Zhou's Dao back?" You promised to give it to me! Right now, Qiong's aura was surging, having already reached thirty-eight Daos of power! If he absorbed another massive influx of Yang Daos, he might truly reach the same level as the Lord of Dead Spirits! Su Yu smiled. "Can't be helped. Wait a bit longer! Once Yu succeeds in opening her heaven and devours the Daos of Seven Emotions and Six Desires, she'll be at least thirty-eight Daos by then. And isn't the Human Ancestor still alive? That's another thirty-six Daos! Anyway, on our side, no one currently needs Yang Daos to survive... It's all yours! Pleased now? No competition!" With that, he glanced at Shi and Kong, smiling faintly. "Care to join, either of you? Zhou and Yu are two juicy pieces of meat. Qiong gets one piece, and you can share the other!" Ji Tian said calmly, "Su Yu, don't forget that you are all Yang Daos as well!" What nonsense are you spouting! Su Yu scoffed. "I'm not afraid of death! Even if I die, I won't leave my Daos behind. The moment I see things going south, I'll detonate myself with a bang! I'll blow you bastards to kingdom come! Why don't you dare detonate yourselves? Because you all harbor false hope—'I can survive, I won't die'... Look at Zhou! Driven to that point, did you see him detonate? And sure enough, he survived, didn't he? So perhaps enduring to the end is the right move for you, but... I won't play along! If I feel I'm done for, I'll blow myself up immediately and let you lot sort out the mess!" Everyone's expressions shifted! Indeed, why were self-detonations rare among others, while so many on Su Yu's side detonated themselves? Because once Su Yu and his people realized they couldn't win and were about to die, they were extremely likely to blow themselves up on the spot! The others, however, all clung to a sliver of hope—that they might still make it out alive! Then Su Yu spoke again, "Si Tian, no one is coming to save you. If you don't detonate yourself, who are you waiting for?" Boom! A deafening explosion rang out as Si Tian blew herself up! Jing Tian was sent flying, coughing up blood, glaring with fury at Su Yu's direction. Fortunately, Si Tian had been too thoroughly depleted; by this point, the blast's power was not overwhelming, and her Dao hadn't fully detonated. Even so, most of her Great Dao was obliterated, leaving only a small fragment behind! With this, of the Human Gate's Eight Sages, two had defected, and six were entirely wiped out! Reluctantly, Shi and Kong yielded another portion of Dao power to Zhou, allowing him to barely scramble back to thirty-six Daos. Compared to before, even after fusing his heaven and earth, he had gained no ground whatsoever and remained somewhat frail. Shi and Kong, on the other hand, had both advanced a step within the thirty-six-Dao tier, not far from thirty-seven Daos. On Su Yu's side, the Human Sovereign had reached thirty-six Daos, while Qiong had reached thirty-eight Daos. Su Yu himself was devouring the Dao of Anger, though he didn't advance in tier; he was merely strengthening his Daos of Seven Emotions and Six Desires without fusing further apertures. On Su Yu's side were seven people: one with thirty-nine Daos, one with thirty-eight Daos, two with thirty-six Daos, two with thirty-four Daos, and one with thirty-two Daos. On the opposing side, the current strength of the Earth Gate and Heavenly Gate was unclear, neither having reached their peak. Ji Tian had thirty-eight Daos, Jing Tian had thirty-seven Daos, while Kong, Shi, and Zhou all possessed thirty-six Daos. The Prison King was still in the middle of opening her heaven; with Zhou and Tian rescued, she seemed to have regained her former icy demeanor. Her Dao was no longer crumbling, and she was currently advancing toward thirty-six Daos. In addition, there were Ri and Yue, two cultivators of thirty-two Daos. Meanwhile, Su Yu was not only devouring the Dao of Anger, but also the Daos of the God Ancestor and the Blade Ancestor. All three Great Daos were being devoured by him, yet he did not break through; he was merely strengthening the corresponding three Great Daos within his own heaven and earth. At this point, the battle had finally drawn to a close! Su Yu gave a boisterous laugh. Without saying another word, he swiftly vanished from the spot with his companions, flying toward the Human Realm! By now, the barrier of the Upper Realm was completely shattered. The integration of the Heavenly Gate Era and Earth Gate Era cast a dreary gray pall over the entire Myriad Realms. Countless devouring locusts appeared, while numerous rogue cultivators from the Heavenly Gate and ancient beasts from the Earth Gate crept out of their territories in secret. They dared not participate in the clash of top powerhouses, but now vast numbers of cultivators from past eras were slipping into the Myriad Realms in search of opportunity! The chaotic era had truly arrived! The Heavenly Gate, Earth Gate, Ji Tian, and the other factions swiftly converged, watching the Prison King open her heaven. After a long while, Ji Tian said calmly, "The five Daos of Bei Tian, Si Tian, Huo Tian, E Tian, and Hong Tian are all still present. Although the Daos of Si Tian and Bei Tian are somewhat weakened, they are still sufficient to forge a formidable Dao of Seven Emotions and Six Desires... However... should we still feed them to Yu?" The Prison King had currently reached thirty-five Daos, but that was her absolute limit! If those Daos were not fed to her, her progress would halt right here! Her attempt to push for thirty-six Daos would fail! Yet if they fed them to her, her earlier actions had left everyone uneasy. The Prison King was no longer the unfeeling, desireless figure she once was! Ji Tian said placidly, "I could also integrate these Daos..." The Earth Gate suddenly interjected, "Better let Yu do it!" The Heavenly Gate nodded as well. "Let Yu have them." "..." Ji Tian cursed inwardly! These bastards still didn't trust him. Otherwise, at thirty-eight Daos, devouring these Daos would easily push him to forty Daos! A bunch of bastards—it was just as Su Yu had said: having too many clever people was never a good thing. A snake could not move without a head! And when everyone in a group wanted to call the shots, it was even worse! Those capable of opening heavens, sealing eras, and ruling an entire age were no fools. The Heavenly Gate and Earth Gate saw through everything clearly. No matter how rebellious Yu might be, there was an upper limit to what she could do. Ji Tian, on the other hand... was the one they truly had to guard against! Helpless, Ji Tian watched as the Daos were cast into the Prison King's world one after another, rapidly devoured by her. In the blink of an eye, the Prison King stepped into thirty-six Daos, yet no one present showed much excitement, even as she continued to rise. Thirty-seven Daos, thirty-eight Daos... Only upon reaching thirty-eight Daos did the Prison King's momentum begin to flag. She had fallen short of their original expectations; she was missing the Dao of Anger, along with half of Bei Tian's Dao and half of Si Tian's Dao. Otherwise, had they gathered all of them and had she not wavered, she would have had a real shot at reaching forty Daos! A great pity! Yet perhaps the only one who truly found it a pity was Zhou. Ji Tian and the others didn't mind it all that much. Thirty-eight Daos was good enough! If she truly reached forty Daos, considering her earlier performance, everyone would have felt deeply uncomfortable! Ji Tian looked toward the distant Human Realm and said slowly, "This time, Su Yu and his side didn't suffer any losses. Not only did they lose nothing, but Su Yu and the Human Sovereign both reached thirty-six Daos, while Qiong reached thirty-eight Daos. Instead, they reaped immense profits!" Before entering, those two had only possessed thirty-five Daos! And Qiong had previously been active within the Heavenly Gate, yet now he had practically become their lackey, happily trotting after Su Yu and even dragging Mount Tianqiong out of the Heavenly Gate! He clearly had no intention of ever returning to the Heavenly Gate region! Otherwise, why drag Mount Tianqiong along? That was a thorough relocation if there ever was one! The Earth Gate sighed as well. "Tell me about it. Those fellows rarely come out on the losing end. Under these circumstances... I thought he was certain to lose, certain to die... Yet he made a fortune and ran off!" Where was the justice in that! "How long do the two of you need to recover?" Ji Tian asked, not dwelling on the matter. The Earth Gate pondered for a moment. "I'm afraid at the very least, it will take a month. At the absolute minimum!" The Heavenly Gate nodded slightly. "Though we weren't far from natural revival, reviving prematurely still inflicted some damage." Ji Tian frowned, taking a while before saying, "Let us hope no further variables arise!" None of them spoke. There had already been more than enough variables! "Once recovered, we attack the Myriad Realms!" Leaving those words behind, Ji Tian vanished. They had to attack. Only by conquering the Myriad Realms could they devour the Yang Daos of Su Yu and his companions, making everyone stronger. Otherwise, they stood no chance against the Human Gate! Yet he couldn't help but worry that during this period, something unexpected would go wrong once again!