Chapter 1536: Return (2)
The fusion continued.
Su Yu focused silently as he used the Soul Expanding Art to stabilize his sea of willpower. That way, his opponents would not be able to easily break through or damage his sea of willpower during combat. This was his favourite move during combat so it was only natural for him to take precautions against it. He started hammering himself madly. The hammer flew everywhere in his sea of willpower, hammering down repeatedly to strengthen the sea.
"The calm character is quite powerful. I need to watch out as Great Zhou King might be able to sense me through it."
This was one of the reasons Su Yu had been focusing on only natural characters as of late. He had been avoiding willpower texts, especially those written by Invincibles. So far, he had formed several characters from the willpower texts of Invincibles. Most of them were rarely used, but Great Zhou King's calm character was too useful. Thus, he had been using it frequently, making it far easier for Great Zhou King to sense him.
In fact, he once considered giving up on this character. But he couldn't bear himself to let it go. The character was simply too useful. Without that character, he would be akin to a bright light bulb whenever he tried to kill someone. With that character, he would be a shadow. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novel(ꜰ)ire.net
"I guess I'll keep using it for now."
His sea of willpower continued transforming. The second set of forty apertures was fusing. Clearly, these apertures were trying to take him straight to the ninth-stage Mountainsea Realm.
"I'll take it slow. There is no rush."
Even at the ninth stage, he would be stuck there for a while. Reaching that stage wouldn't give his combat strength that much of a boost anyway. His advancement might seem fast, but he had actually taken an entire day for it.
He had only shut his eyes for a bit. When he reopened them, it was a new day. The twenty-eighth day since the mansion opened.
If the entrances still worked, they would start transferring those inside out of the mansion the day after tomorrow.
"I can't keep wasting time."
When he opened his eyes, He Tu, Dummy, and Xing Yue noticed it. He Tu sighed and asked, "You're a Mountainsea already?"
"Yeah."
"The path of cultural researchers is hard to walk. But you sure have gone far in the physical path. Your talent...is enough to make you a human king even in the ancient past."
Su Yu smiled, "I can accomplish the same even in the current era."
He Tu said, "You never know. Is your yin aperture open?"
"Not yet." Su Yu's smile widened as he said, "But I can feel it. It won't be too hard to open. I have opened all my apertures."
At that, 360 dots of light appeared on his body. He had theorized the existence of the source soul acupoint a long time ago. And now, he was finally going to prove this theory.
The source acupoint and soul aperture could ultimately be connected, akin to the connection between the yin and the yang. During the ancient past, the result of this connection was known as the heaven acupoint. Su Yu personally preferred calling it the source soul acupoint.
Boom!
Abruptly, a massive moon lit up in Su Yu's sea of willpower. Waves of gentle power rushed out of it.
This power was similar to death qi, but it was no death qi. It was gentle, the opposite of the berserk power of the yang acupoint. This might be the reason for them to complete each other.
Originally, the two were not connected to each other. But the moment the yin aperture was opened, a tunnel appeared in the sea of willpower, connecting it elsewhere. Then, a burning sun appeared opposite the gentle moon.
Yin and yang.
They came together automatically.
Boom!
Su Yu's vision blurred. Then, he found himself floating in the air. He saw his own body. He saw numerous things. He saw a new acupoint in the space between his eyebrows.
Source soul acupoint.
That acupoint was as bright as the sun. It stayed there for a short moment before branding itself on the space between the eyebrows. At the same time, a faint imprint appeared on Su Yu's forehead.
Unlike the flame symbol on the forehead of devils, it was a shining miniature gate.
Heaven Gate.
It resembled the White Jade Gate in appearance.
When the Heaven Gate opens, the myriad realms bow in obeisance.
He Tu blanked out. Xing Yue blanked out as well as she muttered, "The Heaven Gate is open."
Heaven Gate. How many people had opened it since the beginning of existence?
A faint, saintly light started coming out of Su Yu's body while a floating book appeared before him. On his forehead, the Heaven Gate shone brightly.
"He Tu greets—"
He Tu had a sudden, strong urge to drop to his knees and pay his respects to the bearer of the Heaven Gate. He was doing this out of instinct.
Beside He Tu, Xing Yue also bowed slightly, driven purely by her instincts. Her mind was blank. She felt as though she was looking at an ancient existence, an existence she was incomparably familiar with.
He Tu recovered almost immediately. A look of boundless shock covered his face. He had nearly dropped to his knees, as though he was welcoming the arrival of an ancient king.
Xing Yue shook as she muttered while staring at Su Yu, "You...Time Sage...I...I met the Time Sage before..."
This was the Time Sage!
Su Yu frowned slightly, but he unfurrowed his brows shortly after and said, "Lord, I am Su Yu. Not the Time Sage."
Just then, Dummy clasped his head in pain as he stared at Su Yu while the look in his eyes switched from clarity to blankness repeatedly. After a while, he gnashed his teeth and said, "Time Sage...Time Sage...Culture King...Culture King...You're Culture King...I...I did not betray Culture King...I didn't...I only...only...passed the multiple character legacy...on...I did not...dit not rob the tomb...I didn't..."
Su Yu blanked out slightly. Making sure to cover himself in even more saintly radiance, he smiled and asked gently, "Calm down, Xia Chen. You are the keeper of my grave. Aren't you?"
"Yes...yes...Lord Culture King...I...Xia Family...for generations...watched over the grave...I am...not a graverobber...the tomb shook....it wanted to...leave..."
Su Yu blanked out slightly again. With the same gentle tone, he asked, "Was Xia Wushen aware of this?"
"Wushen...Wushen...is not from the...keeper's line...he...he is not a cultural researcher...I am...the gravekeeper of this generation..."
Su Yu exhaled in relief. Dummy continued struggling in pain for a while. After one last painful groan, he returned to his usual blank state.
Su Yu didn't know what to say anymore. Fortunately, he had learned more.
Gravekeeper.
Sure enough, Xia Chen was Culture Tomb's gravekeeper.
That was a rather respectable position. With a grade-four authority in the mansion, it was comparable to the status of a marquis.
He seemed to have left the grave with the Culture Tomb and founded the multiple character faction. Ultimately, he encountered an unforeseen trouble and perished. It was likely that he had been very strong all along. He had merely been pretending to be weak. Why? Why did he pretend to be weak?
Was the Culture Tomb the reason? Su Yu guessed that the unforeseen trouble must be related to the Culture Tomb as well. Sure enough, the Culture Tomb was an inauspicious object. If even someone as strong as Xia Chen could die because of it, just what secret was the Culture Tomb carrying?
Su Yu was curious about one more thing. Xia Chen had mistaken him as the Culture King, as though Xia Chen himself had met Culture King before. Was that the case?
No way, right?
Perhaps he had merely imagined how the Culture King looked.
"Culture King..."
Xing Yue stared at Su Yu blankly. After a long while, she said, "You...Are you the Culture King? Or are you the Time Sage?"
Su Yu smiled, "I am only myself. Who else can I be?"
He laughed and continued, "Are you saying that the people of the ancient past believed in the concept of reincarnation?"
Xing Yue said nothing.
He Tu stared at Su Yu for a long while as well. Finally, he sighed and said, "No, but there is a concept of possession, like what the Devil Pseudo Emperor has been doing. However...you have changed completely after opening your Heaven Gate."
Su Yu asked with the same gentle smile, "How am I different? My body is filled with death qi. I am more dead than alive. Am I supposed to be as handsome as before?"
"..."
Silence descended.
He Tu repeated, "You opened the Heaven Gate."
"I know."
"Throughout time, very few people have opened the Heaven Gate. At the very least, I have not encountered one from the first epoch until now."
Su Yu replied with a silent smile and started focusing inwardly instead. He no longer needed to keep his yang acupoint sealed. With the fusion of the aperture and fusion, Su Yu felt as though a certain door in his body had been shut.
He could freely open or shut it at any time. His willpower and source qi started mixing inside the door. He had a feeling that with the source soul acupoint, he could be more flexible with his energy usage. When he lacked willpower, he could convert source qi into willpower through the Heaven Gate.
Sure enough, there was a connection between the two. Both the sea of willpower and the physical body were a part of one's being. It was reasonable that both were connected. In the past, the two had been separated, resulting in an inability to freely convert one to the other.
Su Yu muttered to himself, "I understand now. After forming a grand cycle with the 720 acupoints and apertures, the power of the Heaven Gate will all be my power. I no longer require external power. Prior to this, I require external power to supply myself with willpower since there is no connection between the two."
That was consistent with what Xing Yue said earlier. Su Yu had finally understood this point after opening all his acupoints and apertures.
He looked at Xing Yue and said, "Lord Xing Yue, when I acquire the grand cycle circulation method, I will no longer need your supply of death qi."
With the proper cultivation method, he would be able to properly utilize the Heaven Gate. He could feel that he had grown even stronger than before. After completing his nine transformations, his physical strength had reached about sixty-six million acupoints.
His willpower cultivation wasn't too helpful in terms of combat strength. But with the Heaven Gate open, his source soul acupoint could give him a boost of about fifty percent in strength. That pushed his strength to a level of roughly a hundred million acupoints.
He could freely shut the Heaven Gate, and in such a state, he could still utilize the strength of sixty-six million acupoints. He no longer needed to feed his yang acupoint with Xing Yue's support or his own energy. Now, he only needed to fuel the acupoint when he needed to use it.
Xing Yue glanced at him and said nothing.
Su Yu had stopped absorbing her death qi. Sure, he would still need to do so during combat. However, that would only last until the day he found the proper cultivation method for his 720 acupoints and apertures. At that time...would he still need her?
The moment that thought surfaced in Xing Yue's head, she stared at Su Yu coldly and said, "Are you sure you can live that long? Also, the proper cultivation method for 720 acupoints and apertures might have existed during the ancient past, but it was probably extremely rare even back then."
Chapter 1537: Return (3)
Su Yu laughed and said, "Not necessarily. I believe Old Zhou knows it as well."
If that was the case, Old Zhou must have been a terrifyingly strong expert. Since the Martial King was strong enough to kill Old Zhou, did Martial King know the grand cycle cultivation method as well?
If that was the case, both Culture King and Human Emperor probably knew it as well.
Human Emperor, Culture King, Martial King, Old Zhou, Time Sage...
Su Yu listed out the super experts he was aware of.
All of them seemed to be humans. How did humanity suffer defeat in the ancient past if they were so powerful? How odd.
Su Yu decided to stop thinking about the matter. He put his saintly light and Mark of Civilization away. Even so, he still looked incredibly refined and pretty. Even when he was disguised as a death spirit, he looked like an extremely handsome death spirit.
He Tu was left quite speechless by how good-looking Su Yu was. He asked, "Are you returning?"
"Yes." Su Yu nodded. The mansion would reopen soon. He had to go back.
He said, "Lords, thank you for your help this time. I'm wondering if I should return to Grand Dream City or Grandstar City."
Both were valid paths for him. And he had also formed a relationship with the ruling death sovereigns there. In the future, he would be able to freely enter or leave the Death Realm through the two cities. In short, the territory under both cities was as good as his.
"Grandstar City." He Tu suggested, "The people outside seem to have learned that I was inside the mansion. They might be paying close attention to Grand Dream City."
Su Yu blanked out slightly. Right. That was the case. And he was the reason for that. Those outside were already aware that He Tu was in the mansion. They could very well be paying close attention to Grand Dream City.
He Tu looked at Su Yu suspiciously and asked, "Su Yu, were you the one who had spread the news about my presence in the mansion?"
He had a very strong feeling that those outside were already aware of his presence in the mansion. He could sense numerous people cursing at him.
Su Yu coughed and said, "No way. I'm not that kind of person. You misunderstand me, Lord."
"Heh."
He Tu sneered. This was as good as a confirmation that Su Yu was the culprit.
Sure enough, the humans were treacherous. This guy had actually leaked the news of his arrival in the mansion. How impressive. He said, "Did you know about my arrival from the very beginning?"
"Not really. I only learned of it when you reached the second level." Su Yu said, "I happened to hear your voice then. Due to my great respect toward great individuals like you, I started shaking with joy right after learning of your arrival."
"..."
He Tu felt like giving Su Yu a punch. No wonder. No wonder he hadn't been able to find many victims each time he entered a new level. Su Yu must have killed the rest of them.
Also...
"Did you make me your scapegoat?"
"Not at all." Su Yu denied, "Lord, let's not talk about this for now. We need to lock this place down and prevent any other death spirits from reaching here. This is the best spot to launch our invasion against the world of the living in the future. We can't allow the other death spirits to ruin our plan."
He continued, "Lord, I am planning to kill a few Invincibles to warn the myriad races after leaving. Are you interested in helping?"
He Tu asked, "Are you thinking of opening a new tunnel to let me out? Are you not worried that I will start killing wantonly and spread death qi everywhere after leaving? That will force the old turtle to kill you."
True.
How troublesome.
Trusting He Tu to not cause trouble? Nope. Not even He Tu himself could control himself after leaving the Death Realm. After all, all death spirits were driven by their instincts to kill and destroy.
That would be troublesome. He shouldn't try that unless he could control He Tu.
Whatever.
Su Yu said, "We'll worry about this next time. I do hope that you'll be willing to help when it matters. Lord Xing Yue, Principal Xia Chen, I hope I can receive your assistance as well. Together, we can face anyone as long as the Pseudo Emperors stay out of the fight."
"If you don't fear the heavenly laws, I naturally won't mind leaving to meet some of my old acquaintances."
He Tu had a toying expression as he gave that offer. He naturally enjoyed leaving the Death Realm. He would be more than happy to leave, but Su Yu needed to be brave enough to allow him passage.
Su Yu laughed the matter off. He started walking away. While walking, he asked, "Lord He Tu, are you the only Invincible in your territory?"
"Of course not." He Tu said, "I have two death sovereigns under my command. My Grand Dream Kingdom is the strongest kingdom in the region. Second to that was the kingdom of the tiger brothers, but they are dead now. Moving forward, my kingdom will be unrivalled."
Su Yu glanced at Xing Yue questioningly. How about her kingdom? Xing Yue merely maintained her cold expression. She did not have any death sovereigns under her command. Why was he looking at her?
Understanding dawned on Su Yu. True. As a shut-in death sovereign, how was she supposed to recruit more death sovereigns to her banner?
Nope.
Then again, death spirits were quite hard to subdue. One could subdue a death spirit today, but the death spirit might forget the matter after one day. A new battle of submission would unfold. Thus, it was also quite impressive for He Tu to have two such subordinates.
"In that case, please lead the way, Lord Xing Yue. It's good that there are no other death sovereigns in your kingdom. We can go through your place undetected. This will be the perfect opportunity for me to stab those people on their backs. Hehehehe."
Su Yu was also quite curious about the survivors as well. Who could leave the mansion alive? He wasn't only curious about the humans. How many people were left on the eighth level? How about the seventh level? Were there no survivors on the bottom six floors?
There were still many uncertainties. He Tu might have missed some secret locations. And some survivors might emerge from those places.
As for Zhan Wushuang and the others, Su Yu had not killed them. But he hadn't brought them with him either. It would be too dangerous to enter the Death Realm with a bunch of living beings. The little furball did not count since he was more like a character than a living being.
Thus, he had handed Zhan Wushuang and the others to Great Qin King. He was unsure if this would be helpful for the humans after leaving the mansion. Perhaps this would be enough to deter the divines somewhat.
"Let's go."
Before long, they left through the same black hole. Then, He Tu sealed the black hole with his death qi. When he was done, he said, "Let's go. I'll be able to sense any attempt to enter this place with my seal here."
Xing Yue led the way with her usual cold and detached expression. They were finally going to her kingdom. This time, they were able to move much faster as they did not encounter any death sovereigns on their way.
In less than a day, they reached a large forested area. There, Su Yu blanked out. What was this? Plants were very rare in the Death Realm. Why was there a forest here?
A dark forest.
Was it even possible for trees to grow in the Death Realm?
At the center of the dark forest was a massive ancient castle. It floated in the sky. All around the dark forest, squads of death spirits were patrolling under the lead of Pseudo Invincible death spirits.
He Tu wasn't surprised. He said, "Xing Yue, you sure are boring. All other death sovereigns are busy cultivating or fighting. Meanwhile, you have been spending all your time growing plants and renovating your ancient castle. No wonder you have remained weak for so long."
Xing Yue maintained a cold expression. She said nothing.
That was an insult.
He was insulting her!
When even Su Yu started clicking his tongue, Xing Yue erupted in anger, "Su Yu, what are you doing?"
Su Yu laughed awkwardly and said, "No, nothing. I wanted to say that your territory is nice. It's pretty. It's completely different from the other boring territories I saw before this. Wow. Look at all these trees and flowers. Lord, did you enjoy gardening back when you were alive?" ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ noⅴelfire.net
Xing Yue ignored him.
Just then, a Pseudo Invincible death spirit flew over and greeted loudly, "Greetings, Sovereign!"
"Be at ease."
The death spirit rose and looked at Su Yu and the others doubtfully.
Su Yu found the death spirit familiar. After staring at the death spirit for a bit, he laughed and said, "Brother! Did you enter Grandstar City to attack Su Yu once? During the incident involving the dark dragon."
The death spirit blanked out slightly before answering, "Lord...Yes...I think..."
Boom!
Su Yu grabbed the death spirit's head and smiled, "Well, I'll be generous and forgive you. We're both on the same side. Moving forward, Lord Xing Yue is the ultimate ruler of this kingdom. Meanwhile, I am your chief commander. Do you understand me?"
The Pseudo Invincible death spirit stared at Su Yu blankly. So powerful!
But who was this?
How did his lord return with so many death sovereigns after taking a short trip away from the kingdom?
All of them felt so strong.
Terrifyingly strong.
Su Yu said, "Why are you blanking out? I'm Su Yu. I'm the chief commander from now on. Report everything to me. Don't bother our esteemed lord for no reason. I'll personally report anything important to our lord."
At this point, eight Pseudo Invincible death spirits had arrived from all over the territory. They all looked at Xing Yue for an answer. Xing Yue couldn't be bothered to say anything. She flew straight to her ancient castle with her usual indifference.
Behind, Su Yu reached out and grabbed all the Pseudo Invincibles like they were little chicks and grinned, "Do you hear me? Are you trying to waste our lord's valuable energy? Send someone to the death tunnel and check the situation outside. I'll come and train you when I have the time. Stop blanking out. Go and do your job."
Seeing that Xing Yue was not reacting, the Pseudo Invincibles dropped to their knees and greeted, "Greetings, Chief Commander!"
"Be at ease."
Su Yu smiled happily. It wouldn't be a bad idea for him to get himself a position here.
With a casual swing of his hand, he tossed one of the Pseudo Invincibles out. He said, "You. From now on, your name is Xing One. Go check the tunnel. I'll have a chat with our lord in her castle."
"Yes!"
Xing One answered by instinct. Even after Su Yu's left, he was still blanking out. He stared at the other death spirits and said, "The chief commander...Su Yu...is he dead?'
Was he dead? Did their lord finish the conversion? He was so strong! No wonder. No wonder their lord had been focusing on the tunnel as of late. She had been refusing to leave. So she was doing it for Su Yu. The speed at which Su Yu was growing...seemed a tad bit too scary.
They had been to Grandstar City as well. Thus, they all knew that not so long ago, Su Yu was still too weak to kill even a Sunmoon. In the blink of an eye, he had grown enough to easily handle eight Pseudo Invincibles. First, they were shocked. When the shock faded, they grew excited.
"Apart from the chief commander, I also saw Lord He Tu from Grand Dream City. There is also another lord who is incomparably strong. What are they doing here? Are we attacking Grandstar City?"
The Pseudo Invincible picked by Su Yu said, "Gather up and come with me. We need to investigate the tunnel."
In the blink of an eye, hundreds of Sunmoon death spirits gathered in front of him. Together, they moved toward the tunnel. They were all feeling incomparably excited. They could finally invade the world of the living.
Their great lord had finally grown a brain. Instead of attacking alone, she had brought so many helpers. They had also gained a powerful chief commander. With that in mind, all the death spirits capable of thought grew incomparably excited.
***
At the same time.
Liu Hong was ready to depart.
The mansion would reopen tomorrow. Su Yu would be back.
"Kid, be thankful I'm responsible enough to keep at this until today. But I need to leave now if I don't want to be stuck here. So long, Kid."
Liu Hong laughed. Next, he stepped into the inner hall and said respectfully, "Lord, many experts are surrounding the city outside. Would you go outside and deter them from doing anything stupid? You don't need to fight. You only need to travel openly toward the Heavendoom City. Everyone will suspect that you're discussing an attack against them with Lord Heavendoom. Su Yu is coming back tomorrow. I'm worried that something bad will happen if we don't do anything to deter all those people outside from trying anything rash."
Grandstar thought about it and said, "I'll take a look outside. Don't run around. Don't mess with anything. Don't even enter the death tunnel. Something felt wrong just now. The death qi down there had grown much thicker not long ago. Some powerful death spirits must be passing through the area. Don't do anything stupid."
Grandstar had kindly warned Liu Hong. He had sensed the arrival of more than one death sovereign down there. Xing Yue had gone missing for a while. Did she leave to recruit help or something?
How weird.
She had never done this before.
Grandstar was surprised, but he wasn't bothered. No death spirit could leave the tunnel. Now that he had a good helper to share the burden, suppressing the tunnel felt much easier. He could handle even multiple death sovereigns without much trouble. Furthermore, only a death sovereign could enter the tunnel at a time. Grandstar City was different from Grand Dream City.
Then, Grandstar vanished with a flicker before reappearing outside. He flew toward Heavendoom City without hiding himself, catching the attention of countless people.
Grandstar had left the city yet again.
Was Su Yu in the mansion or not?
What was going on here?
If he was inside, how was Grandstar leaving the city so easily?
What was this?
***
The moment Grandstar left, Liu Hong grinned.
Increase in death qi density?
Did Grandstar think that this would be enough to scare him?
Xing Yue was gone. The other death spirits would be mostly dumb. None of them would bother with guarding the tunnel. Liu Hong knew all that. Why was an ancient expert like Grandstar using such a weak lie against him?
Liu Hong inhaled deeply. He had spent quite a lot of time pretending to be obedient here. Even Senior Wang and Old Man Bai were no longer so wary of him. Thus, he could able to enter the inner hall with much more freedom than before.
Very good.
This was what he had been waiting for.
He gnashed his teeth and started approaching the tunnel. At the entrance, he smiled, "Su Yu, thank you for this. I worked hard for you and you opened a clear and safe path for me. With this, we're even."
***
At the same moment, Grandstar looked back. He wasn't worried. Rather, he merely frowned with annoyance, "Fool. There are really multiple death sovereigns down there. I even sensed the aura of a certain kid. Why did the fool jump into the tunnel?"
Was he a fool?
Did the fool think that the warning was a lie?
As an ancient general, would he deign to lie to a weak Cloudbreach?
Was Liu Hong tired of living?
Whatever. He had kindly given Liu Hong a warning due to Liu Hong's great performance recently. However, Liu Hong had gone seeking death. Even if he could avoid the death spirits, there was also a certain individual known as Su Yu down there.
Then again, why did Su Yu return through the Death Realm?
Even Grandstar was quite shocked by that. There was a connection between him and Su Yu. Thus, he could sense Su Yu's arrival near his vicinity. He decided to forget about Liu Hong. What a dumbass.
Chapter 1538: Feel The Shock! (1)
Death Realm.
Xing Yue's castle was incredibly ancient. She had awakened a long time ago. And she had done nothing but renovate and decorate her territory. The moment Su Yu stepped inside the castle, he was alarmed.
The castle was well furnished, with meticulous decorations. Did Xing Yue do this herself? There were chairs, tables, and all sorts of furniture.
The castle was also decorated with numerous ash gray flowers and plants. Due to their color, they didn't look too good. But this castle was definitely one of a kind in the Death Realm.
There were some other death spirits in the castle as well. Some looked like females.
One of them, a slightly sentient female death spirit, was serving as a maid. When Xing Yue arrived, she bowed respectfully and asked, "Sovereign, do you wish to have your meal?"
Xing Yue waved her hand elegantly, sending the maid away.
Behind her, He Tu burst out with laughter. Instantly, Xing Yue turned and glared at him furiously.
He Tu continued laughing. He couldn't resist it.
He had been to Xing Yue's territory before, but he had never entered this castle. This was his first time here. When he saw that Xing Yue was about to lose her temper, he hurriedly stopped laughing and said, "Don't misunderstand me. I am merely having mixed feelings about this. Even after becoming a death spirit, you still maintain a tiny bit of your humanity. This is rare."
He solemnly said, "Death spirits have no emotions. Laughter? Joy? Everything is an act. A play." Google seaʀᴄh novel⸺fire.net
An act.
Yes. They couldn't feel real emotions.
Their display of emotion was mostly an act based on their past memories. The only thing they could feel was fury. A desire to kill.
Xing Yue had died and awakened many years ago. Throughout the years, she had regained some of her humanity. He Tu was quite surprised to see that. He had regained a tiny bit of humanity as well, but he was different from Xing Yue. He had awakened in his own body instead of awakening through the Celestial River of Death.
That gave him a higher level of intelligence compared to the other death spirits.
Xing Yue ignored him. An act? A dream? It did not matter. She merely didn't want to live meaninglessly like all the other death spirits.
As of late, the clarity in her mind had increased significantly. Some of her past memories had returned as well. Her fury had reduced slightly, and her humanity had increased slightly. Thus, she was rational enough to know that it was pointless to waste her time on the arrogant He Tu.
Su Yu merely listened silently without saying anything. He acted like this was his own home and sat down on a random spot. When Xing Yue looked at him, he said, "Lord, the seat of honor is yours. The rest of us can sit down randomly."
Xing Yue said, "Su Yu, this is my territory!"
"Yes, I know."
Su Yu stood up, bowed as naturally as he was breathing, and said, "Lord, can you bestow upon me a seat?"
"..."
Speechless.
He Tu was left speechless. How shameless. How similar to...himself?
No. He Tu did not think he could reach such a level of shamelessness. Su Yu was at an entirely different level.
Xing Yue coldly said, "You may sit."
"Thank you, Lord!"
After cupping his hands and expressing his gratitude, Su Yu flicked his fluttering sleeves to the side and sat down. Then, a cup of tea appeared in his hand as he started sipping tea in a refined manner.
Yes. He had brought tea with him. As a refined and cultured man, how could he go around without tea? He had merely been too busy to sip his tea previously. Xing Yue was tired of his antics. She decided to ignore him and walked to the center of the hall. That was the location of her throne.
With a smile, He Tu sat down opposite Su Yu. Meanwhile, Dummy remained standing with the same blank expression.
After taking a sip of tea, Su Yu said, "Since we're here, I'm no longer in that much of a rush. This time, I will teach everyone a lesson that I am not someone they can kill so easily."
He Tu said, "The tallest tree will usually be the first to fall. Su Yu, do you think that the old turtle and the other guardians are unrivalled? Do you think that the myriad races are really helpless against them? It is merely a matter of price. For example, the immortals can totally eliminate all the guardians if they really want to."
"Yes." Su Yu nodded, "I understand. If I do too much, I might attract more attention than I need, including the attention of some old fossils."
"Exactly." He Tu said, "I believe it is better for you to maintain a low profile. Since you are back early, just pretend you have been in the city all along. The humans can take the pressure for you. Those aware of your presence in the mansion won't have the courage to say much. Most are dead, while the rest are scared of you. It's not like they can convince everyone just by saying it without proof."
That was the situation they were in. Either Su Yu or humanity had to shoulder the pressure of the myriad races this time. By keeping a low profile, Su Yu would be able to buy enough time to grow slowly.
Xing Yue said, "Don't think that the Death Realm is your final escape route. It's not that simple. After dying, you will stop being yourself. But without dying, how long can you remain in the Death Realm?"
Both of them were essentially telling him to stop attracting attention. It was time for him to keep a low profile. Just pretend he had been in the city all along. It didn't matter what the others said. He could deny it. There was no proof that he had been in the mansion. He could insist that he had never left the city.
Su Yu took another sip of tea. After a short silence, he asked, "Lords, do you think humanity can take on this pressure?"
"Yes." He Tu answered, "They will suffer some casualties, and they will be forced to spend some time licking their wound. That is all. I have a feeling the epochal war of this epoch has yet to arrive. The human race only needs to lose like ten or twenty Invincibles. That will be enough to reduce the wariness of the myriad races. They won't push further since they are not ready to fight to the death either."
Su Yu sipped his tea in silence.
He Tu laughed and said, "Sure enough, the living are still different. I am not like you. At this point, I will only sigh even if humanity goes extinct before my eyes. I was a human as well, but I don't feel anything toward humanity anymore."
He sighed. He couldn't feel any emotions anymore. For example, when Great Qin King was on the verge of being killed earlier, he merely felt that it was a pity. Nothing else. He knew that he used to be a human as well. But that was the previous He Tu. The current He Tu was different.
Su Yu laughed and said, "Perhaps you're right. When you're alive, there are many things you can't help but face. For example, I come from Nanyuan. I can say that Nanyuan is useless. It's small, weak, cowardly, and poor. But if an outsider says the same, I won't allow it."
Su Yu continued, "If anyone dares to humiliate or harm those from Nanyuan, I won't spare them. Thus, everyone is a hypocrite in a sense. You might act indifferent toward some things, but when it matters, you won't be able to stay indifferent."
Su Yu exhaled and said, "If I don't take off the pressure, Great Qin King and the others will have to bear the brunt of the pressure. After all, there are too many human survivors in the mansion. In the eyes of the myriad races, that itself is a sin. Strictly speaking, I'm at fault for this. I killed too many people in the mansion. Sure, I can ignore humanity. But I don't want to bear the guilt of getting Great Qin King and the others killed."
"You..." He Tu laughed, "You care too much. Emotions have no place in the path of kings."
"Is that really so?" Su Yu laughed, "Where are the kings of the Death Realm? There are no emotions here, right?"
"..."
Silence descended.
Xing Yue looked at Su Yu from her throne and asked, "So you insist on making a move?"
"Yes."
Su Yu nodded, "But I'm worried..."
After a short pause, he continued, "I'm worried that the guardians won't be willing to fight for me. Up until now, they have been helping me because our interests alligned. But how do they feel about me? Is there any affection between us? Thus, allow me to be honest. If the guardians are really willing to fight for me, I hope the two of you can keep the region under the ancient cities under control and reduce the pressure on the ancient cities."
"If the guardians are unwilling to help..." Su Yu said, "I will require you to join hands and attack the ancient cities, putting more pressure on them. That will remind them of my importance."
Yes. That was his solution. He had to increase his importance. He had to let the ancient cities know that they needed him. To do this, he needed the cooperation of the death sovereigns.
He Tu smiled and said, "What a good plan. It won't be an issue. I am familiar with most of the death sovereigns in the region. They are unreliable when you need them to do other things, but they can be easily encouraged to attack the death tunnels."
Su Yu nodded and said, "I don't want the ancient cities to get too involved, but I also need the ancient cities to have the ability to keep the myriad races in check. Can I trouble you to...call for a meeting or something for a few days?"
"What?"
He Tu blanked out. What was that?
Su Yu said, "Principal Xia Chen is here. The two of you can host a feast here with the nearby death sovereigns."
Hu Tu said, "That won't work. Death spirits don't care about feasts."
Su Yu said, "If food isn't sufficient, do something else. Since Principal Xia Chen has awakened, he needs his own territory as well, right? You can hold a meeting with the various death sovereigns and allocate a territory to him. The others won't agree, but you can talk about this peacefully. Isn't this better than attacking them directly?"
He Tu finally understood what Su Yu was trying to do. He said, "You plan to become the mayor of the remaining cities after returning. You need us to distract the other death sovereigns to give the guardians the opportunity to move with a reduced death qi burden for a period of time. Is that the case?"
"Yes."
Su Yu nodded. That was indeed his plan. As far as he was concerned, he would either not do anything or go all the way upon doing something. Thus, he had decided to release all thirty-six guardians from their cities.
"But after that..."
"It will be fine. Normally, the various guardians will be in their own cities. The burden on me won't be too heavy. I only need to release them when it matters."
He Tu inhaled in alarm. What an ambitious guy. He was actually planning to release all thirty-six guardians.
"But there is no guarantee that they will fight for you." He Tu warned, "You need to know that some of the guardians might dislike humans."
"I know." Su Yu nodded, "But I can release them. For that, they need to repay me somewhat, right?"
Xing Yue said, "Since you're worried about the burden, you should lure the death sovereigns over one by one and kill them separately."
Su Yu said, "Lord, you have been at peace for too long. You have forgotten this. The laws won't allow this. The moment I kill one, a new death sovereign will arrive to take over the position. The newcomer might even be stronger. Lord He Tu might be more familiar with this. Why would the thirty-six guardians spare all of you otherwise?"
Xing Yue blanked out slightly. Was that really the case?
He Tu stared at Xing Yue speechlessly. After a long while, he said, "Things are peaceful here and you rarely leave your castle so you probably don't know this. A lot of the death sovereigns under ancient cities have changed. Some were killed, and some left. But the position would not remain empty for long. As long as the tunnel remains, a replacement death sovereign will appear to take over the position. Xing Yue...how..."
How did she survive so long being so clueless? He Tu didn't know what to say anymore. Even Su Yu knew this. How was Xing Yue unaware of this? Once again, Xing Yue felt humiliated. She glared at them furiously. Then, she snorted and decided to stop talking to them.
What was the big deal about having a brain? One of them was dead while the other could only survive through schemes. What was so great about them?
Chapter 1539: Feel The Shock! (2)
Su Yu smiled and said, "Thus, we need to proceed with the original plan. Please call a meeting between all the death sovereigns here. Most death sovereigns will be too scared to enter Lord He Tu's territory, so the meeting must happen here. I believe the death sovereigns in this region won't be as scared of Lord Xing Yue. This is a task only Lord Xing Yue can help with."
That was mainly because she was too much of a shut-in. Thus, most death sovereigns were unafraid of her.
Xing Yue nodded and said, "Yes, I can invite them here. But what then?"
Su Yu wondered if she had been paying attention earlier. Did he not make it clear? She only needed to waste the time of the death sovereigns talking nonsense. Time was not a valuable resource for the dead. They could easily spend a month or two or even years talking to each other and they wouldn't mind it. How hard could this be?
Su Yu said, "If you can't think of anything, you can make up some stories. For example, you can talk about the discovery of death blood at a random location. Or you can talk about life death fruit. Just tell them you need their help to harvest these treasures. If you need to, you can even tell them about the rumors of a safe tunnel to the world of the living. Make them ask around to verify the fact. You can even get Tuofa and the others to serve as witnesses. After all, Tuofa and the others can't return to the mansion without the special entrances anymore. If you need to, you can even take them to the entrances and tell them to wait ten years there. Or you can even tell them they need to gather 360 death sovereigns to activate the entrances."
Simply put, there were simply too many ways to fool the death sovereigns. It wasn't like death spirits were hard to deceive. Xing Yue maintained her cold and detached expression, but she was memorizing everything. So there were so many ways to deceive these death sovereigns? She decided to keep them all in mind.
He Tu was doing the same. He had to acknowledge that upon death, he was indeed not as good as the living at scheming anymore. Gathering 360 sovereigns to enter the mansion and invade the world of the living was a truly good idea. That would be a good slogan to recruit more help.
Perhaps he could borrow from this idea. This wasn't even a lie. The entrances could indeed transfer 360 individuals into the mansion.
He Tu said, "Sure. Since you have everything planned, I'll do you this favor. This is probably not all. Do you intend to open a new tunnel and get our help during a crucial moment?"
Su Yu nodded, "Exactly. We need to do the same thing and act like we don't know each other. Take the death sovereigns out and start killing randomly. I only need your help to keep the other death sovereigns under control when it is time for you to go back."
Xing Yue sneered, "The living are indeed shameless."
They had used a similar trick previously. Now, they were doing the same again.
Su Yu laughed, "Lord, I'm doing all this to better serve you. With me dead, you won't be able to find a subordinate as fine as me anymore."
"Heh."
Xing Yue sneered. She would not fall for that lie. Subordinate? What manner of a subordinate was this?
He Tu did not mind the shamelessness. He said, "Sure. I only have two requests. Firstly, I want to be resurrected when that is possible. Secondly, try to lure the old turtle away every now and then. Give me a chance to take a stroll outside."
With the old turtle around, leaving was impossible. He couldn't stand it anymore.
To make things worse, Grand Dream City was devoid of people. Nobody would die in the city, and He Tu would have no chance to go up every now and then. This was completely unlike the other death sovereigns.
He couldn't take the boredom.
"You can also kill a few Pseudo Invincibles in Grand Dream City. That will allow me to stay outside for three days and get some fresh air."
"That won't be an issue." Su Yu promised, "If you wish to leave, I can rear a bunch of Pseudo Invincibles and kill one every three days. We can meet up anytime we want."
Suddenly, Xing Yue demanded coldly, "I want that as well!"
Wow. That was yet another good idea.
Su Yu refused, "No, that is not advisable. Lord He Tu is an outsider. He will be punished by the heavenly laws each time he fails a mission outside, but it won't be an issue for him. And I don't really care about him that much. But you might fail to survive the punishment and die. As your loyal subordinate, I can't risk losing you, Lord."
Was that the case? Xing Yue sank into thought. She couldn't help but agree that Su Yu was right.
With a smile, He Tu sent Su Yu a voice transmission, "You sure enjoy fooling everyone, including the dead. I can see myself in you."
"No, not at all. You are much better at this than I, Lord."
After giving each other a knowing smile, Su Yu stood up and said, "That is all. I'll be leaving now. Lord He Tu, please help more with the plan as Lord Xing Yue might be too busy to help with it."
In truth, he was simply worried that she would mess it up due to her lack of intelligence.
Since Su Yu did not make that clear, Xing Yue did not react. Meanwhile, He Tu instantly understood Su Yu's intent. Sure enough, the smart ones could only work well with the smart ones. As for Xing Yue, she knew nothing apart from snorting.
Su Yu started preparing to leave. The mansion would reopen tomorrow. He couldn't wait any longer. After all, he needed some time to inherit the mayorship of the thirty-two cities as well. As for the existing mayors, he would put them all under his control. The guardians could help with that.
That way, news of his appearance in the city would not leak.
***
While Su Yu was in a discussion with He Tu and Xing Yue, Liu Hong had escaped the city.
He was feeling boundlessly excited. Finally! He was finally down here! It was surprisingly peaceful here. There were no death sovereigns or death spirits in sight. This was much better than expected. Xing Yue's absence had helped greatly with this as well.
He started flying forward...until suddenly, he turned around and flew back where he came from.
Holy shit!
What the hell was this?
When he was near the exit, he suddenly saw countless death spirits. What joke was this? Since when did non Invincible death spirits learn to work? Why were they guarding the tunnel without order?
What was this?
The Pseudo Invincible death spirit roared in excitement, "Give chase! A living being is invading! The chief commander has newly arrived. Let us capture a living being and showcase our abilities to him!"
He knew that he was speaking to mindless death spirits, but he did not care. This was the first mission he had received from the chief commander. And an opportunity to complete it nicely had arrived. Xing One was very happy.
He was someone who had attacked the chief commander before. This was a good opportunity for him to repair his relationship with the chief commander. And thus, one Pseudo Invincible and hundreds of death spirits gave chase in the tunnel. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ NoveI★Fire.net
This tunnel couldn't support the movement of more than one death sovereign, but there was no limit for those below the Invincible Realm.
***
Not far ahead.
Liu Hong had a pale expression. Why was this happening? Why were they taking the initiative to chase him? Since when did death spirits become so smart? This was very bad.
He flew upward with all his strength, but the pressure kept growing the higher he flew. Thus, the distance between him and his pursuers started dropping.
Left with no choice, Liu Hong gnashed his teeth and took a token out before roaring, "Audacious! I am the envoy of Lord Culture King. Alive or dead, all shall give way in the presence of his envoy!"
The token flickered slightly.
Instantly, all the death spirits blanked out. The mindless ones followed their instincts and dropped to their knees.
As for the Pseudo Invincible, he struggled, but that didn't last long. In mere moments, a deferential look covered his face as he lowered his head. Unlike the mindless death spirits, he did not drop to his knees. However, his previous aggression had vanished completely.
Liu Hong forced himself to stay calm. Inwardly, he was overjoyed. It worked! He had nearly died here! This was too dangerous. But sure enough, the token of Culture King was effective in the Death Realm, especially for the territory under the control of the ancient past.
How fortunate.
"Phew!"
Liu Hong exhaled in relief. Fortunately, there was no death sovereign here. Death sovereigns were smarter, and some might even be former victims of Culture King. Thus, the token might not work as well for them. Not even Pseudo Invincible death spirits were smart enough to disobey the token.
Liu Hong carefully moved through the death spirits. By the time he walked past all of them, he noted that all of them were still remaining still. Once again, he was overjoyed.
Not bad at all.
Wow. That was so scary.
When Liu Hong was near the exit, several death spirits appeared in the distance. He did the same and raised the token. "Audacious! I am the envoy of Culture King! Dead or alive, all shall make way for me!"
However, the four figures did not stop moving.
One of them was Su Yu. Still in his death spirit disguise, he changed the color of his cloak to white, resulting in a rather peculiar and sinister combination of black and white.
Meanwhile, Liu Hong's expression changed drastically.
What powerful death qi! And there were four of them? Were they all...death sovereigns? He had conversed with Xing Yue before, but he had never met her. But why were there four death sovereigns here? This was not supposed to happen!
Finally, three of the four figures stopped near the entrance. They did not step into the tunnel. Liu Hong was relieved to see that. Was the token effective against them as well? No. That was mainly because the tunnel couldn't support the movement of multiple Invincibles.
Slowly, Su Yu stopped as well. He looked at Liu Hong with shock.
Culture King's token.
Culture King's envoy?
Liu Hong?
What joke was this? Liu Hong? An envoy of Culture King?
Culture King was a super expert from the ancient past. Liu Hong was merely a Cloudbreach. How was this possible? Was the token fake? Or did he find it somewhere? He could see that the token was effective against the death spirits.
In fact, it also had a slight effect on him. The moment he saw it, a voice rang out in his mind.
"Culture King's token. Myriad races bow."
A voice was telling him to make way for the bearer of the token. It was telling him that a disaster would befall him if he did not make way for the envoy.
Su Yu was greatly surprised. How did Liu Hong get something like this?
As for Liu Hong, he was relieved to see that even the death spirit with a white cloak had stopped moving. Was that a Pseudo Invincible? Holy shit!
What about the other three? They all felt so strong!
As a Cloudbreach, it wasn't easy for Liu Hong to differentiate between Pseudo Invincibles and Invincibles. For him, they were all existences far beyond him. He carefully stepped forth, preparing to move past these death spirits like the ones before as well.
Just as he walked past the first death spirit, a palm tapped his shoulder lightly.
"Ahhhhhhh!"
After screeching in fear, Liu Hong hurriedly lifted the token and said, "The Culture King's token is here! Dead or alive, all shall make way! How dare you disobey the Culture King?"
He was practically screeching instead of speaking. However, Su Yu merely dug his ear with one hand and reached out for the token with his other hand.
The moment he grabbed the token, it shone, seemingly intending to punish the impudent rebel. It released a ray of light to punish Su Yu, but the ray of light was directly swallowed by Su Yu. Inside his sea of willpower, the Culture Tomb shook slightly, scattering the ray of light.
As for Liu Hong, he was completely stunned.
He was...dead! He would die here! He would die before even starting his plan for real! Was the token failing him here?
The moment the token was taken away from Liu Hong, Xing One and the others recovered. They all looked at Su Yu and dropped to their knees again, "Greetings, Chief Commander!"
"Be at ease."
After putting the token away, Su Yu looked at Liu Hong and said, "Teacher Liu, you sure are brave."
Liu Hong was suffering from extreme fear. When he heard those words, his fear intensified.
"This...is impossible!"
Holy shit!
Su Yu?
No!
That shouldn't be possible.
Su Yu was in the Luminous Domain Mansion. How could he be in the Death Realm? Also, how could he be the chief commander of these death spirits?
Next, he heard an even scarier voice.
A voice he knew.
Xing Yue's voice.
Chapter 1540: Feel The Shock! (3)
Outside the tunnel, Xing Yue coldly said, "Interesting. That looks like the real Culture King's token, but its grade is quite low."
Xing Yue asked, "He Tu, did you sense anything earlier?"
He Tu.
That was an even more terrifying name. Liu Hong was losing his mind. He Tu, the target of the myriad races, was here as well? Xing Yue, He Tu, Su Yu...and another death spirit who also felt incredibly strong. Just what was going on here? Updates are released by NoveI[F]ire.net
He Tu smiled and said, "That does feel like the Culture King's token. How interesting. Is this a descendant of the Culture King? Or is this someone from one of the lines under the Culture King back then? Not everyone can put Culture King's tokens to use. Su Yu, do you know this man?"
With a wide smile on his face, Su Yu said, "Yes. This is my beloved teacher. He taught me a lot, such as the art of scheming."
Liu Hong was completely stunned. His mind was blanking out from the sheer fear he was feeling.
Holy shit!
Just where was this?
Was this really the Death Realm? No, right? Su Yu was here. He was walking around with several death sovereigns. Was this really happening? Liu Hong suspected that he had gone mad. He was probably seeing things. He asked, "Su Yu, are you dead?"
"Teacher Liu, you'll probably die before me."
Su Yu laughed without removing his hand from Liu Hong's shoulder. "Teacher Liu, I have a lot of respect for you. Tell me. What are you doing here? How did you get this token? Also, I promised to let you go after returning. What's the rush? Are you looking down on me? Or are you unhappy with the treatment I gave you?"
Liu Hong felt like crying. "Are you still alive?"
If he were still alive, what was happening here? Why was he hanging out with death sovereigns? This was too scary. Did he return through the Death Realm?
Heavens!
Liu Hong didn't know what to say anymore. Su Yu was able to traverse all the way back from the Luminous Domain Mansion through the Death Realm. This signified that there was an unknown exit somewhere. What a terrifying guy. How did he do this?
Liu Hong was feeling shocked, helpless, and hopeless. He felt as though his life was over. He would never escape this kid.
With boundless despair in his eyes, he pitifully said, "I'm not trying to leave. Not at all. I'm only here to take a look at the Death Realm. I'm curious."
Su Yu smiled, "Curious? Ahh, I have a good idea. Recently, Lord Xing Yue has been planning to call for a gathering of death sovereigns. Dozens of nearby death sovereigns will be invited. Since a living being is very rare down here, perhaps my Teacher Liu can serve as the main course during the feast. Such fresh food is very rare here. The death sovereigns will enjoy this."
Su Yu said, "After all, this is an envoy of Culture King. He must taste nice."
Liu Hong said with fear, "No, don't do that! Su Yu, there is no quarrel between us! Remember how I helped you when you were weak? Also, I helped you by pretending to be you when you were away! Even now, nobody is sure if you're in the mansion. Su Yu, I took a large risk helping you with this! I could have left earlier and you wouldn't have encountered me here! Am I right?"
Su Yu gave Liu Hong a deep stare before saying, "Fine. But as a living being, stay away from the Death Realm. Return with me, Teacher. Stay in the mayor's residence for a few days before leaving. Lord Xing Yue, please get someone to guard the tunnel. If he tries to come down again, do as you wish to him."
Xing Yue said, "I'll take watch personally."
"Thank you, Lord."
Su Yu said nothing else and walked forth while dragging Liu Hong with him. Xing One and the other death spirits moved aside respectfully as he walked past.
He was their new chief commander.
He was a big shot.
He was very strong.
He could easily handle eight Pseudo Invincibles alone. They were glad to serve such a powerful chief commander.
Meanwhile, Liu Hong had a look of despair and helplessness. How unlucky! How did he encounter Su Yu here? He could try to fool death sovereigns with Culture King's token, but nothing worked against Su Yu.
After all, Su Yu was an even bigger schemer than him. Su Yu would not buy any of his words. More importantly, he had lost his Culture King's token. He felt like crying.
Liu Hong kept staring at Su Yu's pocket, wondering if he could take his token back. How pitiful of him.
As Su Yu walked, his death qi scattered. Before long, he became the old Su Yu with his fluttering white robes. There was only a small difference. He looked a lot more ethereal than before.
After a short moment, he stepped out of the tunnel with a smile on his face.
Instantly, someone appeared before him. It was Grandstar. He sighed and said, "You...sure are incredible."
How did the kid return so smoothly? Did he handle Xing Yue as well? How impressive.
Su Yu smiled, "You praise me too much, Lord. This is no big deal."
No big deal?
Grandstar didn't even know what to say. Was this really not a big deal?
"You have grown much stronger than before."
Grandstar said, "Every time I look at you, I feel like I have wasted all my life."
He looked at Liu Hong and said, "I warned you, but you refused to believe me."
Liu Hong still felt like crying. He believed Grandstar now. But it was too late.
After casually tossing Liu Hong aside, Su Yu said, "Lord, this is a big deal. He might even be a descendant of Culture King."
"That's not possible." Grandstar shook his head, "Culture King had no descendants. He used to have some legacies left behind, but the legacies have been severed."
Liu Hong hurriedly explained, "I'm not. I was merely lucky enough to pick up a token somewhere. Su Yu, you can keep the token. I—"
Su Yu couldn't be bothered to say much. He sealed Liu Hong with a casual wave of his hand.
"Just stay here and think about life for a bit. I hope you can be honest by the time I'm done with my other task. You can try to lie again if you believe you can really fool me, Teacher."
Su Yu said, "I'll give you sufficient time to make up a believable lie. Make sure it's a good lie. Otherwise, I won't mind making you the main course of the death sovereigns during their feast."
"Feast of sovereigns?"
Grandstar looked at Su Yu curiously. What was that?
Su Yu explained, "I had Xing Yue call for a gathering between all the nearby death sovereigns. What do you think about it, Lord?"
Grandstar's expression changed massively.
He stared at Su Yu for a long while before saying, "Do it at Heavendoom's place."
Why must they do it here?
Holy shit!
Were they trying to kill him?
Was this a joke? They should do it at Heavendoom's place instead, not here. Just look at how energetic Heavendoom was. He even had spare energy to pick fights with death spirits every now and then.
Su Yu grinned and said, "Don't worry. I made it clear. It will only be a gathering. They won't be attacking the tunnel. It will be fine. My people are down there. I made some good friends down here this time. By the way, He Tu is here as well. I'm tight with him as well."
Grandstar gave Su Yu a deep stare.
Was that a threat? Perhaps. In a way.
Su Yu...had finally gained a solid power base. In the past, he was completely helpless. The guardians could decide for themselves if they wanted to help him. He couldn't do anything about it. He could only passively accept all the death qi sent his way by the guardians. In short, he was the disadvantaged party in his dealings with the guardians.
But now...he had invited dozens of death sovereigns over.
Su Yu bowed slightly and said, "My apologies for troubling you lately, Lord. Now, I have gained a tiny bit of strength. I will do my best to relieve all of you."
Su Yu solemnly said, "All guardians are charged with the task of guarding the death tunnels. I guarantee that with me around, all death tunnels will be unbreakable. That will only change upon my death."
In short, his death might result in a disaster. Grandstar stared at Su Yu. The cautious and timid Su Yu had finally gained enough strength to be direct with him. Grandstar blanked out slightly. It hadn't even been that long since Su Yu became a mayor.
After some time, he smiled and said, "The guardians only care about the laws. We are fine with anything as long as it helps with our task. As for the things unrelated to our task, we wouldn't care even if the Myriad Realms were to fall."
"Thank you, Lord."
Su Yu cupped his hands and bowed to show his gratitude.
Grandstar smiled, "It's fine. The guardians have been feeling quite bored over the years. A little bit of change isn't bad. If someone can defeat the laws, we will be more than happy to let go of our task."
He smiled bitterly and said, "Nobody wants to be a statue for a hundred thousand years. Would we have bothered if there were any other choices?"
Defying the laws? If the kid had the ability to do so, good. They would be more than happy to see it.
It had been too long.
A hundred thousand years.
Grandstar felt like it was already a miracle that none of them had gone mad after so long.
Su Yu had grown strong. He was also smart enough to collude with so many death sovereigns. Noting all those points, Grandstar smiled and said, "Go to Heavendoom first. I'll contact the other guardians for you. How many cities are you prepared to take on?"
"All of them."
Grandstar blanked out. "Are you sure?"
"Yes." Su Yu declared indifferently, "I have grown a hundred times stronger than before."
Strictly speaking, his combat strength had naturally not grown that much. But he had indeed grown to a point where he could easily defeat a hundred of the previous him. Thus, he wasn't exactly wrong.
Grandstar inhaled deeply and said, "Was Blood Fire's death related to you?"
"Yes. I killed him." Su Yu smiled, "That's not all. Of all the Invincibles who had entered the mansion, most were dead because of me apart from the humans and the ones friendly to humanity."
Behind him, Liu Hong's heart thumped madly.
Holy shit!
This guy had turned into a supreme walking disaster! No wonder. No wonder so many people had died this time, including Invincibles. So it was because of this guy! How crazy.
Even Grandstar was stunned. He said, "You...are too ruthless."
What a butcher.
Grandstar felt like Su Yu had killed even more Invincibles than him in total.
Su Yu said, "Lord, I didn't want to do so. But they kept attacking me. I didn't even provoke them. For some reason, everyone wanted to kill me."
Su Yu gnashed his teeth and said, "I didn't provoke them first. Since they wanted to kill me, I wouldn't spare them. There is no need to repay hostility with kindness."
Grandstar exhaled slightly and asked, "Did you come out early to kill more?"
"It depends. If they stop causing trouble, I won't mind a little bit of peace. But if they continue pushing me, I will kill more. I will kill enough to awe the entire Myriad Realms. I hope you can help me with that, Lord!"
Grandstar hesitated slightly and said, "You should ask our boss about this first. With his support, this won't be an issue. Without his support, not even Heavendoom will be willing to go against him."
Su Yu nodded in agreement. He needed to have a talk with the old turtle. He did not think that it would be that big of an issue so long as he avoided attracting too big of trouble for the ancient cities, such as a trouble capable of eliminating the ancient cities.
"Sure. I'll be taking my leave, Lord..."
After a short pause, Su Yu said, "I will go out disguised as you. Lord, can you...hide your presence for a bit?"
"You..."
Grandstar resisted the urge to roll his eyes. The kid had grown both strong and gutsy enough to use his appearance as a disguise. The kid had only been in the Luminous Domain Mansion for a month, but he seemed to have changed completely.
What a monster!
"Sure. Let's see if you can fool Heavendoom and the others with this disguise."
"It won't be that hard..."
Su Yu laughed. His confidence had also grown massively after this trip to the mansion.
***
Shortly after, a stone statue flew out of Grandstar City, attracting numerous gazes yet again.
An immortal sneered and said, "Su Yu is likely in the Luminous Domain Mansion. Just look at the guardians. They must be panicking. They are probably trying to make a plan to save him."
Why would Grandstar move around so actively otherwise? As for the method he was using to leave the city, perhaps he was using some unknown secret trick to do so. They were more and more certain that Su Yu was in the mansion, and they were determined to kill him.
So many people had died this time. Who but a butcher like Su Yu would do something like this? They couldn't spare him!
***
Meanwhile, Heavendoom was looking up with surprise. Another visit?
What was Grandstar doing? Why was he back so soon?
"Why are you here again, Grandstar? Are you deliberately doing this to provoke me?"
Heavendoom cursed repeatedly. This must be deliberate! Grandstar was showing off because he couldn't leave! Was Grandstar longing to have a taste of his staff?
Damn it!
When Su Yu reached the inner room, Heavendoom blanked out slightly. Instantly, the look in his eyes turned ferocious, enough to cause even Su Yu to shiver. He hurriedly said, "Lord, it's me!"
"Holy shit!"
Heavendoom blanked out. Su Yu!
Him?
Was this...a dream?
How could Su Yu be here?
Where did he come from?
Heavendoom started doubting reality.
Chapter 1541: Spirit Suppression General (1)
Heavendoom was completely dumbstruck to see Su Yu in his city.
Just a moment ago, he sensed something off about the visiting Grandstar. As a super expert, he could easily sense that something wasn't right. He was about to smash the impostor into mincemeat before the impostor spoke. But upon noticing that it was Su Yu, Heavendoom grew even angrier.
"Impudent! How dare you lie to me?"
Heavendoom suppressed the shock he was feeling and decided to give Su Yu a punch first. And thus, he threw a punch. After focusing on the incoming punch for a bit, Su Yu smiled and answered with a punch as well.
Naturally, Heavendoom was not using all his strength. He wasn't really trying to kill Su Yu. Thus, he merely used the strength of a Pseudo Invincible to test Su Yu. This was also a good opportunity for him to calm his nerves by giving someone else a beating.
The fists collided.
Boom!
Both fists faded away after the clash.
Heavendoom blanked out slightly before throwing another punch, "Impudent! There is indeed something wrong with you!"
How was this guy so strong?
This was definitely not Su Yu! Well...this might be Su Yu. But so what? Heavendoom had decided to give Su Yu a beating. Nothing would change his mind.
Boom!
With the same smile on his face, Su Yu answered with another punch. Yet again, two fists faded away while shockwaves rippled out around the point of collision. Heavendoom was stunned. Holy shit! How was this guy still fine?
Fine, fine! This guy was forcing him to use more strength! And thus, he threw another punch. This punch was thrown with the strength of an Invincible. Su Yu had grown enough that he could probably survive the punch of an Invincible as well. Therefore, Heavendoom was not worried that he would kill Su Yu accidentally.
Boom!
Instead of punching, Su Yu merely stood there and took the punch. However, the impact of the punch merely rippled off his body without leaving any damage on him.
"..."
Heavendoom's eyes widened while his jaw dropped. What was going on?
He was about to throw another punch when Su Yu coughed and said, "Lord, I think this is enough. If we continue, those outside will sense something."
At that, Heavendoom dropped his hand with a bored expression. Then, he proceeded to stare at Su Yu with a stiff expression. He told himself that he was now a statue. A statue shouldn't talk.
He didn't want to talk anymore. Su Yu was no longer the same weakling who couldn't hurt him even after hammering him numerous times. He felt a tiny sense of loss. Back then, Su Yu was unable to harm even a hair on his body. But now...sigh. Sure enough, the human race was annoying.
He decided to start hating humanity.
The gloomy Heavendoom started sulking. Su Yu merely smiled and took some food out before saying, "Do you want to grab a bite, Lord? This is a very nutritious food. It's the roasted flesh of a dragon Invincible."
Heavendoom's eyes lit up as he asked, "Roasted dragon?"
"Exactly."
"Yeah...Uhm...no, I...I don't like to eat..."
"Come on, give it a try."
Heavendoom decided to be gracious and accept the offer. He said, "Fine. Since you're so kind, I don't want to spoil your mood." Updates are released by novel[f]ire.net
He instantly shrank and de-petrified, turning into a handsome and delicate young man. He looked somewhat tender, but at the same time, he also gave off a wild and rebellious feeling.
That was indeed the kind of person he was. He would not hesitate to smash someone to death with his staff if anyone dared to provoke him.
Heavendoom grabbed the roasted meat in front of him and started eating. With his oily mouth, he asked, "Wow, it's really roasted dragon. Not bad, Kid. Did you kill the two dragons in the mansion?"
"Yeah."
"What about the phoenix?"
"Dead as well."
"Come on. Take out some roasted phoenix as well."
"Sure..."
Su Yu laughed and took out some phoenix flesh. These corpses were incomplete due to the damages they had suffered, but each of them was massive. Thus, it wasn't that hard for him to gather some flesh and blood from the destroyed corpses.
Su Yu had not been able to gather too many complete corpses. He had even shared some with Skyeater. Thus, he did not have any complete Invincible corpses left on him.
While stuffing his face with food, Heavendoom asked, "How is Tian He doing?"
"I didn't see him. Maybe he's dead."
Su Yu had climbed his way from the first level, but he had not encountered any familiar faces from the ancient cities or he would have taken them with him.
"Oh." Heavendoom said, "He's probably still alive. I can sense it if he's really dead."
Not dead? He must be hiding somewhere. Su Yu wasn't too bothered.
Heavendoom asked, "How did you return early?"
"I came back through the Death Realm."
"Amazing, Kid."
Heavendoom was in a good mood as he enjoyed the feast. He said, "This tastes decent. Death Realm...hmm...that's not an easy route to take. But it won't be too hard either as long as you stay away from the things you shouldn't provoke. Just stay away from the Celestial River of Death and remain within the region and you will be fine."
After taking another mouthful of roasted dragon meat, he continued, "Try not to go there too frequently. The Death Realm isn't as simple as you think. The old turtle would have wiped out all the death spirits long ago if the Death Realm were that simple. You might encounter a random marquis on patrol one day. Those are troublesome existences even for my boss."
Su Yu asked blankly, "Marquises?"
"Yes. They were marquises before dying so they might remain marquises after rising as death spirits. Some are simply ancient death spirit marquises. In short, these are super experts. Not long ago, my boss fought an intense battle with one of them."
"Not long ago?"
Heavendoom explained, "During He Tu's death, my boss fought a marquis and kicked the marquis away. The death spirits started running wild in the world of the living while both my boss and He Tu were busy. Ultimately, the laws forced my boss to kill He Tu."
Su Yu was surprised to hear that. So there was really treachery behind He Tu's death.
A marquis?
Daofuse?
Sure enough, treachery was everywhere, including the Death Realm.
Speaking of, Heavendoom's definition of not long ago was truly...unique. That was like a hundred thousand years ago. How was that not long ago?
Su Yu noted the matter in his mind, but he did not bother to say too much about it.
After a while, Su Yu said, "Lord, since Tian He isn't around, why don't you appoint me as a deputy mayor or something? Something might happen tomorrow. I hope to receive your help for a fight tomorrow."
"Hmm?" Heavendoom asked, "Who are we fighting? I'll warn you in advance. Tiangu won't be easy to fight. He's very strong even if he has been quite unlucky recently. If he fights for real, not even my boss can handle him easily."
Heavendoom did not even bother asking about how the fight would start. Instead, he directly asked about the opponent.
Su Yu said, "I can't promise anything. If Tiangu were to make a move, could you handle him?"
"I doubt I can." Heavendoom shook his head and said, "I don't fear that guy leading the devils even if I'm not as strong. He's too tender. But Tiangu is different. He's not tender. He had participated in the previous nine epochal wars. He had fought Eternals and Daofuses alike. He had even fought human kings before. He's not an easy opponent."
Su Yu nodded thoughtfully, "I understand."
Heavendoom continued, "But together with Empyrean Cloud and Grandstar, or one more guardian, we can join hands and give him a fight. Even if we still can't defeat him, he won't be able to do much to us either. After all, he doesn't have the courage to leave his realm in his real body. People like him are especially terrified of leaving lest their enemies take the chance to surround and kill them. A mere clone won't be enough to defeat us."
Hearing that, Su Yu's confidence grew slightly.
"Sure. In that case, will it be fine for me to be the deputy mayor?"
Heavedoom glanced at him and said, "I'll make this clear first. For each fight, I want to take a stroll outside."
"How long of a stroll?"
"Eight hundred and eighty years."
"..."
Su Yu stood up, put all the food away, including the cup in Heavendoom's hand, and turned around to leave. Heavendoom hurriedly said, "Uhm, ten or eight years are acceptable as well."
Su Yu started walking away.
"Wait! I'm your half master! Three to five years will do as well!"
"..."
Seeing that Su Yu was still walking away, Heavendoom raised his voice, "Don't push it! You need to give at least ten or eight days for a super expert like me to fight for you!"
"I can consider that." Su Yu turned around and smiled, "It's not that I don't want to fulfil your wish, Lord. But you need to think of the situation we're in. You want to leave for eight to ten days. The other guardians will want the same thing. Before we know it, a year will pass. I don't have the ability to carry the burden for a year."
Heavendoom snorted unhappily.
He turned back into a stone statue and returned to his previous position. As he overlooked Su Yu from high above, he said, "We'll do that for now. You're too realistic. Why can Grandstar and Empyrean Cloud run around freely while I need to negotiate so much just for eight to ten days?"
Su Yu was left speechless. He still remembered that Heavendoom was a hyperactive guardian. What if he refused to come back home after leaving?
"Lord Grand Dream told me to do this. This is definitely not my intention."
"Hmph!" Heavendoom said, "He can keep leaving, but he refuses to let me do the same. The old turtle can sleep for ten thousand years at a time. Can I do the same?"
True. With Heavendoom's temper, it was understandable why he couldn't stand this.
Su Yu laughed and said, "Lord, please give me a medallion I can contact you with. I'll notify you when it's time to fight. By the way, don't come out before the fight lest the others know that you can leave as well."
"Sure." Heavendoom didn't mind waiting a day or two more. He said, "I will fight tomorrow. I can wait one more day."
Su Yu raised his thumb. Exactly.
Heavendoom tossed a medallion over and said, "Kid, you're not the type to hold back from fighting. A fight will definitely happen. I already knew this the first time I saw you. But I advise you to tell the soul devourer Pseudo Emperor as well. Things might get incredibly troublesome. About a hundred Eternals have arrived."
Su Yu nodded. That was a task for the little furball.
Seeing that Su Yu was about to leave, Heavendoom hesitated slightly and sent a voice transmission, "You can fight, but try to kill less. Just destroy their tri-life bodies. Try not to kill more than ten. That is especially true for the death count of each race. Don't kill too many of Eternals from the same race. Do you understand?"
Su Yu looked back at Heavendoom, but Heavendoom had transformed back into a silent stone statue.
Su Yu frowned slightly. Just as he was about to leave, Heavendoom's voice rang out again, "Actually, there is a way to kill more. I can teach you a trick. Don't release the death spirits. Instead, lure the living into the Death Realm. Open a tunnel and push them inside. Do you understand now? The world of the living won't react so intensely for those killed in the Death Realm."
Su Yu looked back at Heavendoom again.
Heavendoom maintained the appearance of a silent, stone statue. He was stone. He had said nothing.
However, Su Yu's eyes lit up brightly. A lot of information was hidden in those simple words of Heavendoom. Firstly, he had to avoid killing more than ten Invincibles. Secondly, he should spread the kills around instead of focusing on killing those from the same race.
Thirdly, there was no need to release the death spirits. He could send his enemies into the Death Realm instead. At the time, the dead would be the ones to decide who and how many to kill.