Chapter 1713: Past Events (1)
Allheaven Battlefield.
Su Yu was back out here.
The Allheaven Battlefield was quite calm. The armies of humanity might have set off for war, but the armies of the myriad races had all withdrawn. Thus, they were without opponents. Even the unaffiliated cultivators who could normally be seen everywhere were gone.
That was understandable. A bunch of people had died the day before. Many people were still hiding away in fear. Of course, that did not apply to everyone. Some were still brave enough to wander the Allheaven Battlefield in search of opportunities. After all, the deaths of so many Invincibles would provide the brave with quite a lot of opportunities as well.
With so many deaths, there must be some blood essence left somewhere, right? There must be some carrier treasures left somewhere, right? Heaven weapons, or even earth weapons, and the remains of these dead Invincibles would also offer massive opportunities for these people.
These treasures could no longer catch Su Yu's attention, but they were still invaluable for Skysoars and Cloudbreaches.
Su Yu did not spare the random weaklings he saw a glance. He was moving rapidly. While moving, he was inspecting the memories in his Mark of Civilization.
Heavenly Seal King's memories, to be precise.
He had collected many corpses this time, including the corpses of Daofuses. He was in no rush to check their memories. First, he focused on Heavenly Seal King. He was quite curious about this person. As the descendant of Control King, just what manner of enmity did he have against Culture King's line?
Did he do all that due to his greed for Culture King's legacies? Greed would be a very logical reason. He might know about Culture King's four legacies, and such legacies were too tempting for anyone to reject.
As one of the four major human kings, Control King wouldn't be weak. The descendant of someone like that might also know more than your average person.
***
Su Yu focused on the memories he was reading.
He saw many scenes.
As a child, Heavenly Seal King was extremely talented. He was born in the tenth epoch, but outside the Human Realm. Su Yu was quite surprised to learn that he was actually born in the Allheaven Battlefield.
Even more surprising was the fact that he was born when the Allheaven Battlefield was still sealed from the Human Realm. He was born about twenty years before the connection between the Human Realm and the Allheaven Battlefield was established.
He was born in an unknown ruin in the Sea of Stars. Su Yu wasn't too curious about the ruin, but he was extremely curious about Heavenly Seal King's parents.
Very few people could survive in the Allheaven Battlefield during the period it was sealed from the various realms. During that time, the source qi in the Allheaven Battlefield would dry out. For the most part, the support of a super expert like the Heavenly Overseer Marquis was required for one to survive in the Allheaven Battlefield during that period.
There was no doubt that Heavenly Seal King's father was an expert. That was someone who had died fighting Xia Chen. But his mother wasn't weak either.
From Heavenly Seal King's memories, he rarely met his parents. Like him, his father was a mixblood as well. But he knew very little about his mother. They would only meet once every few years, and each meeting was extremely short.
After spending twenty years in the ruin, he was brought to the Human Realm by his father. One could say that his father was among the earliest external experts to sneak into the Human Realm.
After bringing him into the Human Realm, his father left him to go searching for Culture King's grave. That was his mission. To find the Culture Grave and snatch the Culture Tomb. At the same time, he also aimed to kill those from Culturekeeper Marquis' line.
Having lost all contact with his father, Heavenly Seal King continued his growth in the Human Realm like a regular human. He roamed the Human Realm, participated in various wars, and made countless friends. But deep inside, he knew that he was no pure human.
He was a mixbreed.
His ancestor was the famed Control King, one of the four major human kings. However, his ancestor did not get along well with the Culture King, who was the true spiritual leader of humanity. He had never behaved suspiciously, fighting hard alongside the other humans against the myriad races.
One day, his father returned to him. His father visited him in a rush. According to his father, the Culturekeeper Marquis' line was still present, and there was still an expert in that line. His father had alerted that expert and fought that expert once. His father found with surprise that he couldn't even defeat that expert.
According to what his father knew, with the Human Realm isolated from the Myriad Realms and all its previous Eternals dead, there shouldn't be any experts left in the Culturekeeper Marquis' line.
However, Xia Chen was still around. Some time after that, his father found him again, telling him that he couldn't hide from Xia Chen much longer. His father wasn't Xia Chen's match. However, his father couldn't give up on the Culture Tomb. Thus, his father told him about the blood of a young genius by the name of Wang Hu. If his father went missing after that meeting, he was to remain in hiding forever.
Su Yu had guessed many of those, and the sight of these scenes verified his guesses. The subsequent affairs were straightforward. Heavenly Seal King had gone missing after that last meeting. Heavenly Seal King himself had had his blood switched by his father. Even so, he did not forget the mission of their line: to sever Culture King's line.
Culture King's legacy was not allowed to return. The Culture Tomb must be snatched. Why? Because of an order passed down by their ancestor, the Control King. According to that order, Culture King was not allowed to return.
That was their ancestral mission. The ancestral mission was among the strongest memories in Heavenly Seal King's mind.
At this point, Su Yu stopped and sank into thought. Culture King was not allowed to return. Culture King's legacy was not allowed to emerge.
Prior to this, Time Sage had said that both she and Culture King were fighting. They required saving. Of the four legacies of Culture King, the Heavenearth Inkstone was left with the white dog. As for the three other legacies, they had all remained hidden until now.
Was the world really so lacking in talent? Was that why the suitable inheritors of these legacies had yet to appear? Why was the Heavenly Hunt Index broken into pieces? Did Culture King do that? What was the point of breaking a legacy he left behind?
In that case, how was the Heavenly Hunt Index broken? Did Heavenly Overseer Marquis know the answer?
The damage to the Heavenly Hunt Index might be the reason why this legacy was still not in Heavenly Overseer Marquis' hands. He might know more, hence why he had been trying very hard to gather the remaining fragments.
"Control King's line has been trying to prevent the reappearance of Culture King's line. Is this a precaution against Culture King's backup plan?"
What role did Control King play in the disappearance of Culture King and Time Sage?
The bloodline of Control King's descendants was mixed with the bloodline of a devil Pseudo Emperor. Did Control King collude with the devils?
Numerous questions emerged in Su Yu's mind. Not even Heavenly Seal King had the answer to these questions. But he did know that he was not the sole survivor of his line. There were more of them, but they were all in the Upper Realm.
This line had yet to be severed. And their sole goal was to prevent the reappearance of Culture King's legacies.
Inauspicious item.
Most people had called the Culture Tomb an inauspicious item.
Why? Because those from Battle King's line, or to be precise, a branch of Battle King's line, the Culturekeeper Marquis' line, had suffered repeatedly in the hands of those from Control King's line. The two publicly known legacies of Culture King were the Heavenly Hunt Index and Culture Tomb.
The Heavenly Hunt Index was damaged, but the Culture Tomb was still whole. Thus, those from Control King's line had fought those from Culturekeeper Marquis' line many times. Since nobody had been able to unveil the mystery behind the Culture Tomb, humanity started declining in power.
Eventually, Xia Chen was forced to find a way to unravel the secret of the Culture Tomb. That was why he had left the ruin with the Culture Tomb and founded the multiple character faction.
"They used to have more people in the Upper Realm. Are those people still around?"
Heavenly Seal King had been told since his childhood that if his father couldn't complete this mission, the task would fall on his shoulders. If he couldn't complete it as well, those from their line would continue the mission after the connection to the Upper Realm was reestablished.
"Control King."
Su Yu muttered to himself. How interesting. Control King could very well be one of the reasons for Culture King and the others to disappear.
Su Yu was also thinking about Heavenly Seal King's mother. From Heavenly Seal King's memories, that mother was an enigmatic individual. Su Yu had a feeling that even Heavenly Seal King's was terrified of her. Was she perhaps a much stronger expert? Was she a Daofuse? But almost all the Daofuses in the Myriad Realms had revealed themselves.
"Both the Spirit Pseudo Emperor and Phoenix Pseudo Emperor are female Daofuses. Is she one of them?"
Or was it someone else? Whatever. For now, it didn't matter. If she remained missing, so be it. If she were to appear, he wouldn't hesitate to kill her. Perhaps she was already dead.
Heavenly Seal King did not know too much. In fact, he remained almost clueless about the affairs of these ancient experts apart from what he had learned from their ancestral teachings. Over the years, he hadn't even acted actively against humanity. He had merely pushed things in the dark, but he had never taken direct action.
From the memories, Su Yu learned that Fiery Sea had indeed lost control because of Heavenly Seal's instigation, but the instigation had not been done directly.
As for the Sunmoons under Heavenly Seal King's control, there weren't too many of them, and most had died when Fiery Sea King was exposed. Only a few remained, but there was no need for Su Yu to worry about them. Great Zhou King and the others would not spare these Sunmoons.
Eliminating the multiple character faction had been Heavenly Seal King's main goal over the years. Unfortunately for him, the multiple character faction had remained annoyingly silent after Ye Batian's death. They had refused to leave Great Xia, robbing him of the opportunity to do more. Even with the heavy suppression on them, they had remained silent.
Liu Wenyan and the others had accepted all the suppression silently while Nan Wujiang and the others had been pretending to be dead. Things only started changing after Su Yu entered the picture. But when Heavenly Seal King finally started taking Su Yu seriously, his momentum could no longer be stopped.
"Ye Batian..."
Su Yu continued checking the memories. After a while, his heart thumped with shock.
Ye Batian.
According to the memories of Heavenly Seal King, Ye Batian wasn't killed just because of his dao affirmation. After all, he had only attempted to advance in physical cultivation, not willpower.
The dao affirmation of willpower cultivation was so difficult that it was almost impossible. Most people believed that Ye Batian was killed because of his dao affirmation. Even upon his dao affirmation, he would remain a physical Invincible. His threat would still be rather limited.
The main reason for Ye Batian's death was his excessively high-profile manner of doing things. He had accidentally leaked one of his plans.
"Resurrecting the dead!"
Su Yu was greatly shocked. Ye Batian was killed because that madman had been trying to find a way to resurrect the dead. Or to be precise, he was leading Xia Family's research on this subject. They intended to bring the dead back.
There might be a connection between Ye Batian and the death spirits. He had even sneaked into the Death Realm. Not satisfied with conducting the research alone, he was also getting the Xia Family involved. He was trying to bring a specific death spirit back to life.
"How did he get involved with the death spirits?"
Su Yu was very surprised. From Heavenly Seal King's memories, he learned that Ye Batian wanted to resurrect a student of Culture King. To prevent that from happening, Ye Batian was killed.
Su Yu frowned. Heavenly Seal King did not know too much. But he knew enough to know that Ye Batian must be stopped. Apart from that, there wasn't that much important information in Heavenly Seal King's memories.
Suddenly, Su Yu's eyes flickered as he turned back.
Xia Longwu! Thıs text ıs hosted at novel-fire.ɴet
Xia Longwu might know something as well. Su Yu remembered hearing that Xia Longwu had once entered the Death Realm. Perhaps that was related to Ye Batian's research. However, he might not have taken the matter as seriously as Ye Batian.
From Heavenly Seal King's memories, he had been paying close attention to Xia Longwu as well. In fact, he nearly acted against Xia Longwu during Xia Longwu's dao affirmation. However, no such opportunity presented itself.
Chapter 1714: Past Events (2)
Su Yu moved rapidly.
Before long, he emerged from a spatial tear in the middle of a military camp. Immediately after, a wary Xia Longwu stepped out of the commander's camp. He only relaxed after seeing that it was Su Yu.
"Greetings, Holy Lord."
Xia Longwu greeted formally.
"You are too polite, Prefect." Su Yu wasted no time and said, "Let's talk inside."
"Okay."
When the two were inside the commander's camp, Xia Longwu wanted to give Su Yu an update about the military. However, Su Yu was uninterested. Instead, he said, "Prefect, I have a question. You descended Heavendoom City's death tunnel before, right?"
Xia Longwu was surprised. Why was Su Yu asking these questions so suddenly?
He nodded and said, "Yes, I did it once. But a death sovereign appeared before I could kill too many death spirits. The death sovereign injured me heavily, forcing me to withdraw."
"Why did you make that attempt back then?"
There must be a reason for it.
Xia Longwu explained, "I only wanted to check our options. Humanity was in a bad state. I once saw some records in Xia Family's storeroom about the death spirits. Back when I was a student in the cultural research academy, my teacher, Principal Wan, used to talk a lot about death spirits with Martial Uncle Ye as well.
"I remembered hearing Martial Uncle Ye mentioning the severed character cultivation inheritance of humanity. He wanted to visit the Death Realm and bring back a human expert familiar with this path of cultivation."
"Bringing someone back?" Su Yu frowned and asked, "How did he plan to do that? Did he plan to bring someone dead or alive back?"
Xia Longwu answered in confusion, "He was naturally talking about bringing a death spirit back."
Su Yu frowned and said, "No, this isn't right. Firstly, how would he know the location of such a death spirit? Secondly, death spirits have incomplete memories. They don't care about anything, including their loved ones. It won't be easy to secure the cooperation of one. Thirdly..."
Xia Longwu listened in silence. After a while, he said, "I don't know. I never thought that deeply about it. That was only a blind attempt by me. I don't know much about death spirits. Do death sovereigns not care about those from their own races?"
He was speaking the truth. He had never interacted much with death spirits.
Su Yu nodded and said, "Yes, they don't care. He Tu and the other human death spirits wouldn't have ignored humanity for so long otherwise. Even now, He Tu is only helping me because we have reached an agreement."
"Is that so?" Xia Longwu thought about it and said, "Back then, I wanted to try my luck and see if I could stumble upon some human death spirits there and solicit their help. But I gave up after that one attempt. I don't know too much about death spirits. My teacher might know more. I still remember hearing from Martial Uncle Ye back then that things would improve a lot for humanity if we could bring a human death spirit back."
Su Yu frowned. Wan Tiansheng had not mentioned this to him. Did he not consider this important enough to be worth mentioning? Or was there a different reason?
Su Yu decided to ask Wan Tiansheng about this instead. Wan Tiansheng might be missing now, but Su Yu had learned that finding someone was never a hard task. He had learned from the best.
Thus, he shouted, "Principal Wan! Let's meet! I have something important to discuss! This concerns the elimination of the myriad races, including the divines, devils, and immortals!"
"..."
Xia Longwu was stunned. Was this how...one looked for others nowadays?
What...how should he react?
How brazen...wait, Su Yu had always been brazen. It would be more accurate to say that he had grown even crazier than before.
After killing a few Daofuses yesterday, when the myriad races were still licking their wounds, he made such a statement so openly. How would the myriad races react?
This guy was truly fearless.
***
Su Yu's voice spread everywhere.
Numerous projections emerged from the various major realms.
Immortal Realm.
Inside an ancient palace.
Seated in the middle of the palace was Tiangu. He was speaking with Talisman King and a few other individuals. Suddenly, someone entered the hall in panic and said, "Reporting!"
"Speak." Tiangu frowned at the interruption.
The newcomer said anxiously, "Emperor, Su Yu is back in the Allheaven Battlefield with countless human soldiers. He shouted for Wan Tiansheng, claiming that he wished to discuss the elimination of the various realms!"
At that, Tiangu sent his willpower toward the realm entrance. The moment his willpower went through the entrance, he heard Su Yu's voice.
Tiangu's expression turned frosty. Opposite him, the pale Talisman King coughed weakly and said, "The current human lord is too arrogant. Lord, do we seal the realm off?"
Even someone from the Upper Realm like him was addressing Tiangu as his superior. After all, Tiangu had been running the immortal race since the first epoch. Thus, he was senior to even Upper Realm experts like them, even if they were fellow Daofuses as well.
Tiangu said, "Among the humans, Great Zhou King is the sole Daofuse. Their Daofuse allies will be suppressed upon entering the Immortal Realm. I doubt they have the courage to invade."
Would Su Yu really dare to invade?
Great Zhou King was the sole person capable of remaining Daofuse after entering the Immortal Realm. If they dared to invade the various realms with their current strength, even a victory would end up crippling their ability to fight further.
Invading a realm was different from fighting in the Allheaven Battlefield. Just look at the heavy damage humanity had suffered from invading the Celestial Chasm Realm.
Did Su Yu say that to scare everyone?
Talisman King nodded and said, "So is this a bluff?" Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs noveⅼfire.net
"Most likely." Tiangu said, "He's probably trying to force the various races to start a war below the Eternal Realm. He's treating this as a chance to train the armies of humanity."
Tiangu sneered and continued, "In that case, let's satisfy him. They have tens of millions of soldiers, but is that a big number? How many Sunmoons can he produce from them? How many of them can reach the Eternal Realm?"
Talisman King nodded. Also present were Jade King, Immortal King Han Xiang, Wind King, and Lightning King.
Han Xiang asked, "Emperor, is defending the only thing the myriad races can do now?"
She found the prospect of being forced to stay on the defensive hard to swallow.
The immortal race had suffered massively from the recent conflicts. And now, they were all forced to stay in their realm. This wasn't a result they were willing to accept, especially since two helpers had descended from the Upper Realm to assist them.
Tiangu stayed silent.
Talisman King was the one to answer, "We'll let him be for now. When the power of laws separating the Upper Realm from the Myriad Realms fades away, humanity will meet its end. This is merely their final struggle."
Han Xiang nodded and asked, "Senior Talisman King, are all the Upper Realm humans dead?"
"Almost." Talisman King said, "During the previous epoch, almost all the old humans died alongside Hundred Battle King. They emptied all their accumulation. After being hunted down for so many years, very few of them are left. Most of the survivors are trapped in some dangerous zones."
Han Xiang nodded, happy to hear that. However, she was regretful that not all of them were dead.
Tiangu frowned and said, "So there are still some survivors? They were almost fully wiped out during the previous epoch. Why are there still survivors around?"
Talisman King sighed and said, "There are too few of them left to be effectively hunted down. They kept hiding everywhere like rats. It's not easy to find them. The survivors are mostly split into several groups, scattered everywhere. Even so, we have managed to wipe out a majority of them. Only a small number are left. But you should understand that at this point, the various races are starting to feel comfortable enough to start bickering among themselves again. With the remaining humans hiding in dangerous zones, no race is willing to bear the cost of hunting them down."
Tiangu snorted and said, "The divines and devils...hmph!"
"They are not the only ones to blame." Talisman King shook his head and said, "No matter what, humanity once ruled the Myriad Realms. Some of the old fellows around are likely still supportive of them. Some must have been helping them in secret. It's hard for us to determine who these people are, but it's fine. Humanity and its allies will not survive this epoch. Even prior to this, I was already suspicious of the iron devourers. Some of the old fellows in the Upper Realm have been in denial about this, or perhaps they are simply wary of these ancient races. The humans would have been fully wiped out long ago otherwise."
Tiangu said, "I forgot to ask this earlier. It has been so many years. Have those masterless daos been captured yet?"
"No." Talisman King shook his head and said, "But Immortal Battle Marquis managed to detect these daos. He has been fighting over them against the Bloodbreak Marquis of the devils."
Tiangu frowned and said, "Immortal Battle Marquis walks a unique dao instead of a common immortal dao. Why is he wasting his time on this instead of learning more about his own dao? What a waste of time." "What about the Sacred Source Marquis? Why isn't he fighting for these daos? In the past, I warned him about the saturation of the immortal emperor dao. There are too many Daofuses on this dao. I told him to make way and look for a different dao. But I can still sense him on this dao. What has he been doing?"
Talisman King answered awkwardly, "He's in seclusion."
"Seclusion?" Tiangu sneered, "What is he trying to do? Compete against me over the immortal emperor dao? He sure is ambitious. But he should try looking himself in the mirror. After the connection with the Upper Realm is restored, he shall serve as the vanguard against humanity. Perhaps he would die and save me the trouble of dealing with him. If not, that should teach him enough to withdraw obediently."
Talisman King said nothing. It would be too awkward for him to get involved in this quarrel. Tiangu was quite domineering. He wanted the marquis to withdraw from the dao they were both occupying. But how could that happen so easily? Then again, it was true that it wasn't wise to have too many people share the same dao.
It wasn't surprising that the Sacred Source Marquis was ignoring Tiangu's order since the two had been separated from each other. And the immortal emperor dao was too tempting for one to give up easily.
After spending some time grumbling about Sacred Source Marquis, Tiangu said, "We can't give Su Yu the time to keep growing. We are about ten years from the thousand-year limit."
He followed with a series of orders, "Han Xiang, take a secret trip to the Fate Realm. Tell Fateless to help grind down the power of laws blocking the connection slowly. Jade King, contact the various ancient races secretly and gather some assembly tokens. Use these tokens to grind down the power of laws blocking the connection as well."
Jade King nodded. Tiangu continued, "How is the condition of the assembly token I gave you? If it is too badly damaged, spend some time nurturing it before doing anything."
With an awkward expression, Jade King said softly, "Emperor, I lost that token."
"Hmm?" Tiangu's gaze turned cold as he asked, "What did you say?"
"I lost it." Jade King lowered his head and said, "At the time, that soul devourer tried to kill me. I was forced to detonate two of my bodies to escape. I lost the token alongside my bodies."
Tiangu stared at him coldly. After a long while, he said, "Trash! Are you incapable of doing anything right? Did it fall in Su Yu's hands? Or did that dumb soul devourer take hold of it?"
"I'm not sure...but I remember seeing that soul devourer swallowing it."
Chapter 1715: Past Events (3)
Tiangu frowned. In that case, the token was most likely in Su Yu's hands.
After a long silence, he said, "A lot of people must have lost their assembly tokens this time. The spirits, the golden pengs, the dragons, and the celestial chasms have probably lost theirs. And you lost yours too. That's five gone."
He had to try very hard not to start shouting.
After another long pause, he said, "In that case, it will be much harder for us to gather more than fifty tokens."
Finally, he lost his temper and cursed, "Some dumb fools even took their tokens to the Upper Realm. Because of them, nobody can assemble enough tokens to control the laws. Otherwise, humanity wouldn't have stood a chance against us."
With enough tokens, they would be able to utilize some of the laws left behind by the assembly members back then. Even if they couldn't make these laws theirs, they could still control some of the tribulations.
For example, they could have punished the ancient guardians for their participation in the recent battle.
They only needed to tighten the laws regarding the ancient guardians, subjecting them to heavenly tribulations the moment they participated in anything unrelated to their task in suppressing the Death Realm.
Alas, it was no longer possible to gather all ninety-nine tokens. Even gathering half of them was already an extremely difficult task. The situation would have been much better for them even with only more than half the tokens. That would enable them to adjust the tribulations even if that wasn't enough to set new laws.
That would also allow them to weaken the punishment for those attempting to descend from the Upper Realm. It would be hard to completely remove the punishment, but weakening it was possible since the thousand-year limit was almost up.
With that in mind, Tiangu glared at Jade King furiously.
One token was lost. Follow current novels on novèlfire.net
He had not given the token to Jade King expecting it to be lost. He had thought that the token would return with Jade King. Jade King did not dare to say anything. Tiangu's anger was understandable, even if the immortals had more than one token in their possession. They had gathered more over the years from the ancient races they had eliminated. However, it was still a grave mistake to lose one.
Finally, Tiangu inhaled deeply and said, "So be it. Try to gather as many as you can and weaken the power of laws as best as you can. Su Yu's growth is too fast. We can't give him more time. Talisman King, take a trip to the Death Realm personally. Pay the East Heavenly King a visit. Something must have happened there. Marquis Qishan and the others might have died. Contact the East Heavenly King and have him deal with Grand Dream."
Talisman King nodded and asked, "Should we contact Mo Ji? He entered the Death Realm once. Perhaps he is in contact with some of the old fellows down there."
After thinking about it, Tiangu nodded and said, "Yes. See Mo Ji before going. I hope he's not stupid enough to still hold back now. Humanity will be enjoying dominance until the thousand-year limit is up." "Heavenly Overseer Marquis is too scared of Culture King. That fool. I noticed that he hadn't been able to pay attention during the previous battle. Things would get worse for us if he were to fall or switch his allegiance yet again."
"I understand." Talisman King nodded and said, "I doubt Heavenly Overseer Marquis will really side with the humans again, right?"
"The likelihood isn't high, but we can't completely discount that possibility. The two Daofuses Su Yu found this time might be related to Culture King. Heavenly Overseer Marquis was greatly alarmed when he saw them. Su Yu might have discovered Culture King's ruin and brought two Daofuses out of it. He might have gained some other benefits from that ruin as well. We can't afford to give him more time!"
Tiangu sighed. Su Yu's growth was simply too fast.
The immortals had sent their Sunmoons to kill him not long after he stepped onto the Allheaven Battlefield. At the time, he was only a Skysoar. Dao King's disciple and more than ten Sunmoons joined the operation to kill him. In the end, all of them died while he survived.
During his time in Grandstar City, he was first faced with Sunmoons. Eventually, it escalated enough that Invincibles started appearing. The humans were completely incapable of helping him. Even in such a situation, he was somehow able to secure a victory.
And finally, the myriad races acted against him again outside the Luminous Domain Mansion. That was their third attempt to kill him. At that time, even Daofuses were involved in the operation.
That time, a bunch of Invincibles died, and the operation ended in failure. With the Death Realm and the unknown being in the Luminous Domain Mansion, he was able to force the myriad races to withdraw.
As for their fourth attempt to kill him...Tiangu didn't even want to think about it anymore. Even Daofuses were starting to die.
Tiangu was starting to feel helpless. Given more time, Su Yu would grow to a level where he was unstoppable.
Talisman King was not as worried. He consoled Tiangu, "Lord, even someone as strong as Hundred Battle King ended up dying. What is Su Yu compared to Hundred Battle King? Even at his strongest, when he was using borrowed power in the previous battle, he was still weaker than the Hundred Battle King."
Hundred Battle King was monstrously strong. But even someone like him failed. What was there to worry about?
Tiangu said nothing. Hundred Battle King? He was nowhere as crafty as Su Yu. He was also not as treacherous and ruthless. Yes. Su Yu was more ruthless than him.
Hundred Battle King had killed a lot of people, but he had been kind toward humanity. Tiangu knew a lot more than the average person. He knew that humanity also played a role in Hundred Battle King's eventual defeat.
Meanwhile, Su Yu would show nobody mercy, including his fellow humans.
One shouldn't underestimate him because of his youth. He had first risen in power by killing his fellow humans. He had caused the deaths of a bunch of Mountainseas and Sunmoons before he was even a Skysoar.
Furthermore, Su Yu was extremely careful. Apart from those he was truly close with, he would remain wary toward everyone else. According to what Tiangu knew about Su Yu, this was someone extremely paranoid.
Just look at Grandstar City. A city that large would have some humans inside, and Su Yu could have recruited them under his wing after taking control of the city. But he had not recruited any of them.
Hundred Battle King had failed, but not because he wasn't strong enough. Rather, it was because he wasn't paranoid enough. One could say that he deserved to be schemed to death.
As for Su Yu, one should be wary of being schemed to death by him instead. Then again, it was normal for a human to not be as paranoid during Hundred Battle King's era. At the time, the internal conflict within the human race wasn't as intense.
During the ninth epoch, Hundred Battle King received the support of all the ancient humans the moment the thousand-year limit was up. Even Daofuses had willingly thrown their lives away for him.
Thus, his growth had been incredibly smooth. A powerhouse like him was terrifying, but someone like Su Yu, who had grown through all sorts of schemes from a very low level, was much scarier.
Su Yu was someone who had nobody to rely on. He had climbed up from the very bottom. When he first stepped into the Allheaven Battlefield, he didn't have the support of even one Invincible. Ultimately, he unified the Human Realm and ancient cities.
One could say that his luck had played a big role in his success, but his character had played a big role as well.
Su Yu was the type of enemy Tiangu feared most. He was loved by luck. Because of that, he was extremely hard to kill. Each danger he survived would give him massive gains.
Talisman King had just descended from the Upper Realm, so he didn't know too much about Su Yu. However, Tiangu had been paying close attention to Su Yu.
Numerous thoughts surfaced in Tiangu's mind. Finally, he said, "We're done here. Go and handle your tasks. We can't stay on the defensive forever. If possible, we need to find a chance to attack and kill Su Yu."
"Yes!"
Nobody disagreed. Killing Su Yu was something they all wanted to do.
***
At the same time.
Finally, Su Yu saw Wan Tiansheng. But alongside Wan Tiansheng, there was an headache-inducing individual. Lan Tian.
Why was Lan Tian here as well?
Would Lan Tian never part with Wan Tiansheng?
Su Yu did not give Lan Tian the chance to speak. The moment he saw them, he said, "Principal, do you know about fifth principal's plan to bring a death spirit back?"
"Hmm?"
Wan Tiansheng said, "A bit. Why?"
"Why didn't you tell me about this before?"
Wan Tiansheng chuckled and said, "I thought you were looking for me for something major. He only mentioned this in passing."
"You never know what could be important. Just who did he want to bring back? How did the plan to do it?"
Seeing that Su Yu was taking the matter so seriously, Wan Tiansheng thought about it. After a long while, he answered, "He wanted to bring a student of Culture King back...no, that wasn't his exact words. He didn't know much about Culture King before. He was only looking for someone who had left a character technique in the Culture Tomb.
"He entered the Death Realm with the Culture Tomb and seemingly sensed something. Perhaps something had resonated with the Culture Tomb down there. According to him, a group of people had inserted their character techniques into the Culture Tomb long ago. If he could find them, he could try to extract the character techniques and fuse the techniques into these death spirits, awakening their past memories..."
Wan Tiansheng continued, "But he died before he could do it. Eventually, we wanted to do the same as well, but we couldn't even enter the Death Realm. Thus, we gave up."
"Why didn't you tell me about it previously?"
Wan Tiansheng had entered the Death Realm with him before.
Wan Tiansheng said helplessly, "So many death sovereigns were present yet there was no reaction from you. I concluded that the Culture Tomb had probably not reacted to any of them. In that situation, it would be pointless to tell you. You might even risk going much deeper into the Death Realm after learning about this. That would be suicidal.
"Also, that was merely a plan of Ye Batian, but there is no guarantee that it would work. Just look at He Tu. Does he still view himself as a human? If reviving is possible, Guardian Grand Dream would have done so long ago."
Su Yu nodded, "So be it. I'll think of a way myself. Culture Tomb...fine. I'll try to search around if possible."
With nothing else to say, and noticing that Lan Tian was just about to speak, he hurriedly said, "I'm going to visit the various Daofuses. Principal, tell the prefect if you need anything. Senior Lan, Silk Destroying King is looking for you everywhere. Be careful. Bye."
After Su Yu left, Lan Tian said gloomily, "I don't think Little Su Yu likes me anymore."
He wasn't even given a chance to say anything! Wan Tiansheng rolled his eyes. Wasn't that perfectly normal?
Lan Tian continued grumbling, "Why did he even mention about Silk Destroying King? It has been so many years. Has Wang Hu not forgotten the past?"
Nearby, Xia Longwu asked curiously, "What are you talking about?"
Why were they speaking about Silk Destroying King?
Lan Tian said, "It's nothing. Someone is looking at me. Let's go, Tiansheng!"
Then, he vanished with a flicker.
Right at that moment, Silk Destroying King stepped out of thin air and glared at the direction Wan Tiansheng and Lan Tian had vanished. Xia Longwu looked up at him and asked doubtfully, "Senior, what is it? Do you have a grudge against Lan Tian? All human Eternals are currently injured. By stealing three thousand phoenix eggs, Lan Tian has contributed massively to humanity. Just forgive him..."
Xia Longwu was trying to play peacemaker. What happened between the two?
Silk Destroying King glared at Xia Longwu for a long while. Seeing that Xia Longwu did not seem aware of the truth, he snorted and left. He had rushed over in a worry after sensing both Su Yu and Lan Tian at the same place. Fortunately, he had arrived in time.
Meanwhile, Xia Longwu was left confused. What happened? How was Su Yu aware of it but not him? Why couldn't he remember any quarrel between the two? Was it due to something Lan Tian did during his time as the Original Devil Sect master?
Xia Longwu wondered if he should organize a meeting between the two and help resolve the grievances between them. This wasn't the time for there to be quarrels between fellow human experts.
Chapter 1716: Iron Devourers (1)
Unlike Xia Longwu, Su Yu was uninterested in playing peacemaker.
As far as he was concerned, the issue between Silk Destroying King and Lan Tian was not something he wanted to get involved with. From what he saw, he found it hard to believe that Silk Destroying King would actually kill Lan Tian.
Instead, the two might rekindle their love upon their next meeting. This was not something outsiders should get involved with.
Furthermore, Su Yu had not left the Human Realm to handle a quarrel between lovers. Rather, he was out here to visit the various Daofuses. During the previous battle, the iron devourers, hous, spatial beasts, primordial giants, and furballs had helped humanity greatly.
They had left after the battle without even collecting the spoils. And they had all suffered to different degrees from the battle. Thus, he had to visit them and further nurture his relationship with them.
He did not know what agreement Great Zhou King had reached with them, but he had to show them that he cared. Great Zhou King's agreement with them didn't matter since he was the human lord here.
It was important that he had a strong relationship with them as well. Even a relationship built by Great Zhou King should be his. That was his approach. It wasn't even surprising that a ruler would do something like this. Rather than allow one's subordinates to grow close with the other parties, it would be much better for the leader to be the one doing it.
It was clear that Su Yu was still wary of Great Zhou King. Of course, he did not doubt Great Zhou King's loyalty toward humanity. He was more worried that Great Zhou King would scheme against him instead. At the moment, humanity needed him. Thus, Great Zhou King had been very helpful toward him. But would things change in the future?
What if some stronger experts were to descend from the Upper Realm? Would Great Zhou King pick someone else to become the human lord? What if Great Zhou King was the subordinate of an unknown human lord from one of the previous epochs, and he had merely been waiting for his rightful leader to return?
Anything was possible.
Thus, Su Yu decided to personally handle the relationship between humanity and its allies.
***
First stop, Iron Devourer Realm.
Su Yu was in no rush to visit the furballs. As far as he was concerned, those fellows were already solidly in his camp. And he had already visited them once. Meanwhile, he had never been to the Iron Devourer Realm before.
From afar, he put his crown on and released the power of the crown, making his identity known.
At the same time, the ceremonial golden robes meant for the human lord appeared on his body. His aura spread out, unyielding yet gentle, carrying with it a sense of goodwill. When he was near, he stopped and said, "Su Yu of the human race is here to visit the Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor."
His voice rippled out.
Moments later, a gigantic iron devourer emerged from the realm entrance. He looked at Su Yu with a silly smile and said, "Please wait a moment, Human Lord. I have informed the Pseudo Emperor of your visit. Previously, he told us that you would visit. He wanted to welcome you personally."
That was both a show of goodwill and their way of being careful against the arrival of an expert.
Su Yu smiled and said, "The Pseudo Emperor is too kind."
The iron devourer continued flashing him a silly smile and said nothing.
After a while, several iron devourers emerged with a flash. Su Yu recognized the Pseudo Emperor with a single glance. But he did not recognize the Pseudo Emperor from size alone. Rather, it was due to the crown the Pseudo Emperor was wearing. Since he was not in active combat, the Pseudo Emperor was wearing his crown as well.
For some reason, he looked adorable with his crown.
He chortled and said, "Forgive my tardiness, Human Lord. This way, please!" The rıghtful source is n͟o͟v͟e͟l͟f͟i͟r͟e͟.net
With that invitation, Su Yu stepped forth.
Instantly, he appeared before the iron devourers.
Gesturing at the realm entrance, the Pseudo Emperor said, "Please enter!"
All the iron devourers around him were looking at Su Yu curiously. Would he dare to enter alone? A human might be immune to the suppressive force of their realm, but inside their realm, their Pseudo Emperor would be stronger than usual. Furthermore, this was a race with more than ten Invincibles.
Would Su Yu dare to enter?
Su Yu stepped into the realm entrance unhesitatingly. Following behind Su Yu, the Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor said, "We are honored by your trust, Human Lord. But you should always be wary. It is always risky to enter someone's realm rashly."
The mere act of stepping in like this was a display of trust. The Pseudo Emperor was happy to see that. But he couldn't help but worry that Su Yu would be too careless when handling the other races.
A single ambush inside a minor realm would be enough to kill Su Yu and collapse their current alliance. After all, Su Yu was the sole connection between the many parties joined in this alliance. With him gone, many would leave the alliance, including the old turtle.
Su Yu said, "Please be assured. I'll never enter a realm rashly. Even if I do, I'll sneak in rather than walking in so openly. In the event of something unexpected, I'm not without my own trump cards."
"True." The Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor laughed and said, "You have numerous trump cards. Even a Daofuse would be wary of facing you alone."
At that moment, they stepped out of the tunnel.
The moment Su Yu laid eyes on the Iron Devourer Realm, he smiled. This was a mountainous realm, filled with source qi and bamboo forests. Numerous tiny iron devourers could be seen moving inside these bamboo forests.
This was Su Yu's first time entering a different realm.
He said, "This is my first time entering a different realm. I'm still too young. I used to think of visiting the various realms to broaden my horizons. Alas, I never had the chance to do so."
The Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor said, "You are simply too talented, Human Lord. In a short time, you have surpassed what many can achieve after a lifetime of hard work."
Su Yu smiled, but suddenly, he shut his eyes and entered a state of contemplation. The Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor was curious, but he did not interrupt Su Yu.
Su Yu wasn't posturing. He had indeed comprehended something new just by being here. Back then, he had heard that many human experts enjoyed sneaking into the various realms. But they didn't do so just to kill. Some would actually spend some time in these realms just touring the place.
Right after entering the Iron Devourer Realm, something new emerged in Su Yu's mind.
Suppressive force.
This unique force existed in all realms except the Human Realm.
But at the same time, humans could enter all realms without being subjected to the suppressive force.
Why so?
As Su Yu sank into thought, he activated his fire of civilization. He could feel a unique force pressing down upon him right after entering the realm, but it vanished right after. How did that happen? It felt as though a different power had counteracted that power.
"Laws...great daos..."
The suppressive force of each realm was most likely the effect of a certain great dao. That might be a great dao local to that realm, or it might even be the common dao pursued by everyone in that race. The power of that unique dao could be clearly felt right after entering that dao.
Su Yu could even feel the Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor beside him resonating with that dao. He came to a realization that the Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor was most certainly stronger in here than outside. Why? Because this realm was much closer to their own dao.
There used to be a suppressive force in the Human Realm as well, but it had been eventually disabled to make it easier for the various vassals of humanity to visit after the conquest. The humans of that time must have believed that it was more important for them to take in all daos instead of focusing on only one dao.
By allowing only a single dao to take the spotlight in the Human Realm, all humans would inadvertently focus on only that dao. That dao must have been quite powerful back then, but it had eventually grown weaker.
From the dao of the iron devourers, Su Yu could feel that the strongest aspect of this race was their bodies. Did this signify that the major dao of this race was also the dao of physical body? A dao of physical body separate from humanity's version.
As he sank into comprehension, his various characters shook. All around him, the iron devourers looked at both him and their Pseudo Emperor in confusion. What were they doing?
The Pseudo Emperor said nothing. He kept staring at Su Yu with the same silly smile on his face. What was this guy comprehending? What did he learn here? The Pseudo Emperor had been here all his life, but he had never discovered anything worth comprehending.
***
The iron devourers have three major racial abilities. The 72-Forged Iron Devourer is no cultivation method. Rather, it is also a racial ability. Apart from that, the other two major racial abilities were the Void Devourer and Skyshaking Technique.
Each ability is the representation of a law. Each iron devourer should be able to control three different daos. But I can feel that a majority of the iron devourers are cultivating the Skyshaking Technique and 72-Forged Iron Devourer. Very few of them follow the path of Void Devourer.
He had never seen an iron devourer using that ability before. What did that signify? Had they perhaps given up on that dao? Or were they unaware of that dao? Or was that dao damaged, resulting in its inability to produce more Invincibles?
All three should be their common daos. The powers of all three daos were still hidden in their bloodline even now. From this observation, Su Yu was able to better appreciate just how incredible the Book of Time was.
Void Devourer...
Just from the name alone, it was clear this was a powerful ability. But very few of them knew it. Why? Did someone hide the dao from them? Perhaps the secret was buried somewhere inside this realm. Some of the iron devourers might already know that ability without realizing it.
When Su Yu opened his eyes again, he looked at the Pseudo Emperor and asked, "Pseudo Emperor, is your race proficient in the path of devouring?"
The Pseudo Emperor answered with surprise, "Yes, but that was all in the past. According to our ancient records, many of our top experts back then were capable of devouring everything. But such ability has vanished since the collapse of the ancient past. Among the young, some have the same ability, but a simplified version. The simplified version is not strong enough to devour powerful opponents."
Su Yu nodded and said, "The dao of devouring is also one of the daos the iron devourers can affirm. But I'm unsure if this dao is still available..."
He asked, "Is any senior here willing to lend me two drops of blood essence?"
The expressions of the surrounding iron devourers turned odd. Two drops. That was a lot!
Su Yu laughed and added, "Even better if it's the blood essence of Eternals. The two drops can come from two different seniors as well. It doesn't matter."
Before the Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor could answer, a plump iron devourer answered, "I can do it, but will you return it?"
Su Yu said, "Nope. But I can repay you with some other treasures. Is this acceptable?"
"Can those treasures be eaten?"
Su Yu laughed and took a large dragon's tail out. He asked, "Is this edible?"
The Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor asked with a gasp, "Dragon Pseudo Emperor's?"
"Yeah."
The moment Su Yu answered, two drops of blood essence appeared before him. Just moments ago, the plump iron devourer had been moving slowly. But he had appeared before Su Yu and snatched the dragon's tail at lightning speed. He asked, "Is this mine now?"
"..."
The Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor was rendered speechless.
Su Yu chuckled and said, "Of course. May I know your name, Senior?"
"Just call me September's daddy."
"..."
The plump iron devourer continued, "Or you can call me August. My old man is July, but he's dead. Our line goes from January till September..."
Su Yu coughed. Was that so? What an excellent naming scheme. Their seniority was clear for all to see with such a naming system.
No wonder September was known as September.
The Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor introduced himself, "I'm June."
"..."
So...that was his grandson?
And September was his great-grandson?
Fine. Fine.
Chapter 1717: Iron Devourers (2)
Su Yu was quite impressed. The Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor's line was not weak at all. There were actually so many experts in their line. September himself was a formidable expert as well. Unfortunately, July was missing.
Just as that thought crossed Su Yu's mind, the Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor explained, "July died during the previous epoch."
The silly smile on the Pseudo Emperor's face faded slightly as he continued, "During the previous epoch, Hundred Battle King rose rapidly. At the time, we decided to stand with them. July went under my order, but he died after only three days."
It had been a long time, so the grief from his death had faded somewhat. The Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor sighed and said, "Thus, we gave up. At the time, the humans were extremely powerful. Hundred Battle King was unimaginably strong. But each battle involving him would result in heavy casualties. The humans, in particular, had suffered massively under his lead. From a single battle, the humans had lost half their experts and half the experts of their supporters. The humans could still survive with their ability to reproduce rapidly, but we couldn't."
The Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor shook his head and said, "We didn't fear death, but we wanted him to reduce the casualties of each battle. He was very strong, but his flaw was very obvious as well. He relied on only himself, thinking that he could reverse the situation all by himself." "Thus, he would fight at the forefront in every battle. He was a good general, but he was a terrible human lord. In each battle, he would fight ferociously, ignoring the casualties of his allies."
The Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor looked at Su Yu and said, "Great Qin King reminds us of him. Eventually, he matured and improved, but we were still terrified of supporting such a leader."
He solemnly said, "Therefore, he never won our support."
The reason for that was simple. Someone like Great Qin King would go all out in each battle, not caring about the casualties on his side. This was not an acceptable leader for the iron devourers.
Back then, the Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor had sent his son to help the humans, demonstrating his willingness to ally with the humans. Alas, his son had died in mere three days.
How would he still dare to support such a leader after that? If even his son, a Daofuse, had died in three days, how could they count on Hundred Battle King to protect their race? Perhaps their entire race would cease to exist by the time the battle was over.
Su Yu was quite surprised. He asked, "Why did you support me, then?"
Su Yu grinned, "I'm not too reliable either."
The Pseudo Emperor answered, "You're different. Since your rise, very few of your allies have died. You love fighting yourself as well, but you have a very high rate of victory in your battles. And there is one thing you have that Hundred Battle King didn't have. You are impartial."
"Impartial?"
Once again, Su Yu was surprised. Was that the case?
The Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor said, "I'm referring to how you treat the people around you. You have your own standards. Only those supportive of you are truly one of your own. Those not supportive of you are all outsiders, even including your fellow humans.
"Let me put it this way. In your eyes, the soul devourers, Heavendoom, and the others are probably more trustworthy and important to you than Great Zhou King and the others, right?"
Su Yu nodded.
The Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor said, "If Heavendoom and some unfamiliar human Eternals were to face danger at the same time, who would you save?"
Su Yu gave it some thought and said, "I can't say for sure. Perhaps it depends on which danger is bigger. Unless that human were someone who absolutely couldn't die, I would most likely help Heavendoom. I was faced with such a situation previously. At the time, I saved Great Qin King's son instead of my teacher. At the time, Great Qin King's son was too important to die." ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novel⚑fire.net
"Exactly!" The Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor smiled and said, "Thus, your choice depends on your personal preference and the practicality of the situation. Hundred Battle King wouldn't do so. He only cared about his fellow humans. Nothing else mattered, even if helping the non-humans would be more helpful for the war.
"Hundred Battle King was different from you. He had received the full support of humanity since his rise. Thus, he had a lot of goodwill toward humanity. For example, when a human Sunmoon and a non-human Eternal were in trouble, and both were his allies, he would choose to save the human and only the non-human later."
Understanding dawned as Su Yu. He smiled and said, "I see. That's understandable. Everyone grows differently. If humanity had supported me early on, if they had fought for me when I was in the ancient city, I would have a lot of goodwill toward them as well. I won't say that Hundred Battle King was wrong. I can only say that we grew up in completely different environments.
"I encountered my first crisis in Heavendoom City, and I encountered my second crisis in Grandstar City. But only a small number of people were willing to help me, such as Great Xia King and Great Ming King. Thus, I prioritize them over any other humans. This is perfectly normal."
The Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor nodded and said, "That was why we picked you. We helped you twice. I believe you won't forget that, right?"
Su Yu nodded, "Of course."
"That makes our choice the right choice."
The Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor said, "I don't want to turn my race into the vanguard of humanity just because of my choice. I don't wish to send my people to die for humans needlessly just because of me. I am helping humanity because of the ancient alliance, but I'm also helping because of the wariness the myriad races have been holding over us due to our past alliance with humanity.
"Furthermore, compared to the humans, I'm more wary of the immortals, devils, and divines. My race is incapable of dominating the Myriad Realms alone. Thus, I side with humanity. But this does not mean that I will side with humanity all the time."
He looked at Su Yu and said, "The previous nine human lords were almost all the same. They grew up with the full support of humanity. You are the sole exception. You grew up outside of humanity's protection.
"Meanwhile, the previous human lords had all grown inside the Human Realm. In all the previous epochs, there were some surviving ancient experts around. These people would pick the new human lord from the very beginning before pouring all their efforts into nurturing the chosen human lord. You are different."
One could say that Su Yu had grown in the wild. He had first grown into the overlord of the ancient cities, dominated the Myriad Realms, before returning to humanity.
This conversation had deepened Su Yu's understanding of the previous nine epochs. So all the previous human lords were different from him. They had all been picked internally.
In fact, according to Great Zhou King, the choice would have fallen between the likes of Xia Longwu, Zhu Tianfang, Qin Zhen, and a few others if it weren't for his appearance. A leader picked among them would be similar to all the previous human lords.
They would prioritize humanity over all other races, including their allies. That was understandable.
Su Yu laughed and said, "Don't worry. For me, only those supportive of me are my friends. Those not supportive of me are enemies. Race does not matter here. Also, I am stubborn and self-centered. I don't take outside opinions well. I only need them to obey me. Nothing else.
"If I tell them to attack Tiangu, do it, no matter how dangerous it is. I don't need to discuss the matter. The merit of the action is not to be discussed. I will decide it myself. They are free to voice their opinions, but I can decide whether I listen or not."
"Truly overbearing." The Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor laughed, "Those are some domineering words."
In fact, these words almost sounded like they were a form of hint...a very obvious form of hint.
Su Yu swallowed the blood essence he received and said, "Perhaps. Or perhaps I'm just being selfish. It doesn't matter. Among the humans, in the ancient cities, and in the holy land, only my voice matters. If anyone wishes to do something different, they can only do it after receiving my permission."
"I might not be the first human to establish a connection with the iron devourers and primordial giants this epoch. They might not have helped because of me. But know that from now on, my voice is the sole voice of humanity. This won't change even if the ancient past were to return."
The Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor stared at Su Yu silently. The other iron devourer Invincibles stared at him as well.
He was being very clear. If they wanted an ally, they would only be allowed to ally with him alone. Not humanity, not Great Zhou King, and not Great Qin King. Only Su Yu.
The Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor sank into thought. After a long while, he said, "In that case, the iron devourers shall ally with the holy lord of Emperor Yu's Court. Not the human lord."
More human lords could appear, but the holy lord of Emperor Yu's Court would only be Su Yu.
Su Yu grinned.
Suddenly, he threw a punch, blasting space apart. Then, he opened his mouth and swallowed the shattered space before him. In the background, an indistinct dao revealed itself.
Not everyone could see that, but the iron devourers around Su Yu were able to sense something different happening.
After consuming August's blood essence, Su Yu had utilized August's power to reveal a dao.
The dao of devouring.
A version unique to the iron devourer race.
Su Yu smiled and said, "I believe a certain dao of your race is still around, but it seems to have been sealed."
Once again, Su Yu utilized the devouring power.
Void Devourer.
Racial ability.
Inside this realm, that ability felt even more powerful than normal.
Su Yu laughed and said, "Interesting. After this, the iron devourers will have one extra dao to pick from."
As he spoke, his devouring force grew even stronger.
The Book of Time had activated the ability through the fragment of its dao Time Sage had collected back then. But through the dao fragment, the actual dao itself had been pulled out of hiding as well.
The entire Iron Devourer Realm started shaking. A massive dao manifested in the sky, but it was shaking violently. It was locked, prevented from fully manifesting itself. Not everyone could see it, but the shocking scene was visible to Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor's eyes. A trapped dao in the sky!
He could see the shackles around that dao!
After staring at the dao for a while, a look of overwhelming shock covered his face. He sent Su Yu a voice transmission, "Shackles...I remember some rumors...shackles...seals...this seems to be the specialty of an ancient human king..."
"Control King?" Su Yu asked through voice transmission.
Horror covered the Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor's face as he nodded. Yes! Control King! Su Yu couldn't see the dao as clearly as the Pseudo Emperor. He could only sense it vaguely. Hearing the answer, he smiled. Control King.
Interesting.
Well well.
Control King had sealed one of the major daos of the iron devourers. Why?
Weakening an ally of humanity?
The dao of sealing.
How impressive.
In that case, the iron devourers had been deliberately weakened at one point. Originally, they had three major racial abilities. But they had lost one of them. Abruptly, Su Yu's eyes lit up brightly. A tiny bit of the white dog's power erupted from his body.
He still had a drop of blood essence from the white dog left. He did not use it fully. Rather, he only stripped a tiny bit of power from it for his current use. The moment he utilized the white dog's power, he saw something different.
Up in the sky, a gigantic chained dao appeared in his vision. That dao was struggling intensely against the shackles. If this was truly Control King's work, then Control King must be quite a terrifying individual.
An entire dao had been sealed.
Meanwhile, an odd sensation was creeping up the nearby iron devourers. One of them was August, who was muttering in confusion, "Why do I feel like I'm growing strong, but a seal...is stopping my strength from emerging fully?"
Hearing that, the Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor looked at Su Yu and said, "August might have a high compatibility with this dao..."
With a disappointed look, he continued, "But the dao has been sealed. Even without the seal, it is no longer easy to switch daos nowadays. We are all forced to stick with the Three Body Method. With that method, we can only cultivate the 72-Forged Iron Devourer."
Su Yu nodded. They were being restricted by both the seal and the heavenly laws.
Chapter 1718: Iron Devourers (3)
Su Yu said, "If this dao was sealed in the ancient past, the restrictions of the heavenly laws might not include this dao since these restrictions might have been placed after this dao was sealed."
"For now, we should prioritize on unsealing this dao."
Su Yu smiled and said, "Since it has emerged, can you remove the seal?"
At that, the Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor stared at the dao in the sky again. After a while, a massive dao appeared above him before crashing into the sealed dao.
Above the dao, an iron devourer appeared and struck the shackles with a bamboo stick.
Boom!
The world shook.
However, the shackles merely shook slightly. They were too strong to be broken so easily. Discouraged, the Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor said, "I can't..."
Su Yu sank into thought. A certain dao might work here. The white dog's dao of biting. But he was left with only one drop of blood essence. He had used two of the three drops prior to this. Using the final drop here would exhaust him of his strongest trump card.
Then again, it wasn't like he would be completely out of Daofuse blood essence. He had gathered the blood essence of the golden peng and Dragon Pseudo Emperor as well. But they weren't as strong as the white dog. Should he use it here?
Using it here and removing the shackles might even help the iron devourers produce new Daofuses. For example, August was very compatible with this dao.
The Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor was smart enough to reach the same conclusion. He said, "Emperor Yu, if you can remove these shackles for us, the iron devourers will follow you until the very end!"
After a short pause, he declared solemnly, "We will follow you alone!"
Su Yu grinned.
A drop of blood essence from the white dog for the undivided loyalty of the iron devourers. A worthy trade.
Next, the power of the blood essence erupted fully.
Boom!
Up in the sky, the white dog's dao appeared. With a howl, the white dog in the sky bit down at the shackles. As of that moment, Su Yu's aura had grown to an unimaginable level. Up in the sky, the dog started fighting the shackles. The dao of devouring was also struggling. With a roar, the Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor joined in and attacked the shackles with his bamboo stick.
Boom!
The shackles of Control King were facing three opponents alone.
Booming sounds rang out repeatedly.
The dog was incredibly ferocious. As it bit and tore at the shackles repeatedly, they started breaking down.
At the same time, the dao of devouring was shaking violently.
Boom!
The entire Iron Devourer Realm was shaking.
After a while, the sky split apart, and a gigantic dao broke free the shackles around it. At that moment, everyone in the Iron Devourer Realm felt as though they could hear someone howling with relief.
The projection of a massive iron devourer appeared in the sky.
"Control King, even by killing me, you won't get my dao!"
The iron devourer roared in joy before saying, "I'm free!"
Finally, the gigantic iron devourer looked down at the iron devourers and Su Yu. A certain understanding dawned on him. He said, "Control King attacked me for my dao. I refused to obey. Thus, he sealed my dao. Control King defected...I'm dead..."
He focused on his surroundings before continuing, "The world has changed. Hahaha! So be it. I am free!"
The gigantic iron devourer looked at August. Just as he was about to move, he hesitated before looking at the distant September.
"You shall inherit my dao."
Rumble!
Then, the massive dao vanished before reappearing before September. Naturally, September was too weak to see it. However, he could feel something happening. Out of nowhere, his aura surged sharply.
He wasn't even an Eternal. He had been holding his advancement back. But suddenly, his aura had surged beyond the level of Eternals. He exclaimed in alarm, "I don't have tri-life bodies, yet I'm on the verge of dao affirmation! What's going on?"
He had lost his tri-life bodies during the battle in the Human Realm. But now, the dao had fused with him, pushing him straight into the Daomeld Realm. A blood tribulation appeared in the sky.
Su Yu frowned. So even inheriting a dao like this would trigger the blood tribulation. In that case, September's advancement would still be punished by the laws. This was troublesome. Would September survive the tribulation?
Just as Su Yu wondered if he should do something, the gigantic iron devourer atop the dao reappeared.
"Laws?"
"Assembly laws?"
"Restrictions?"
"How laughable. Even dead, I am not someone the likes of you can restrict!"
Boom!
The gigantic dao shook and swept through the sky.
A deafening roar rang out.
"My descendant. Fuse with this dao and grow. If you can grow faster than this blood tribulation, the laws will be helpless against you."
Or to be precise, the roar was ringing out within September's mind. His aura surged even further. Even prior to this, he was already a powerful expert. His aura grew to the level of a regular fourth-degree Eternal straight away. It did not stop. He continued growing as he fused, or to be precise, inherited the dao of his ancestor.
Boom!
As he grew, new knowledge appeared in his mind. Suddenly, he shot into the sky before biting down at the blood tribulation. He devoured the blood tribulation. The dao of devouring. A new blood tribulation appeared right away, but September had grown stronger. Thus, he bit down yet again.
The blood tribulation kept increasing in strength, but September was growing without stop as well. His compatibility with that dao was extremely high. That was why the dao had chosen him over August. His compatibility was much higher. Slowly, September's aura reached the level of a seventh-degree Eternal.
He kept devouring the blood tribulations, further fueling his growth. The same process repeated itself again and again. Both Su Yu and the Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor watched solemnly. None of them had expected there to be a remnant will in the dao, but that wasn't a bad thing for them.
That remnant will was helping September with the fusion. That alone had saved a lot of time that September would otherwise have spent learning about this dao.
Boom!
September continued growing. His method of advancement seemed entirely different than anyone else. Prior to this, he had yet to affirm his dao. Thus, he had yet to properly fuse with any dao. Because of this, he was able to fully focus on that one dao uninterrupted.
That one masterless dao.
The remnant will in the dao was helping accelerate the fusion.
Seventh-degree Eternal.
Eighth-degree Eternal.
As Su Yu watched, his face twitched. Holy shit! Why didn't this happen to him and the four daos left behind Culture King? Was he supposed to believe that Culture King was weaker than this iron devourer?
That shouldn't be the case. Or perhaps things worked differently for different methods of fusion?
Just then, the projection in the sky looked down at him and asked, "Current Human Emperor? Do not misunderstand...this descendant of mine...will have limited prospects in the future. Through this forced fusion, he will only be the Master of Law for a single dao...forced fusion is not comparable to self comprehension...he won't be able to master multiple daos...and even among fellow Masters of Law, he will be weaker. I have...severed his future...but...the world has changed...so he never has that much of a future to begin with!"
Understanding dawned on Su Yu. But...holy shit! Wasn't a Master of Law essentially someone as strong as an ancient human king? Why was that remnant will speaking like someone like that was a weakling? The remnant will was completely clueless about the current state of the world.
At this point, that projection was starting to fade even as September's aura continued growing. The fading projection glanced at the blood tribulation, chuckled, and flew over.
Boom!
Once again, a deafening explosion erupted.
The blood tribulation faded away.
Like how Tiangu had once removed a tribulation by removing its source altogether, the projection used the final bit of power left in the remnant will to remove the blood tribulation. And finally, the blood tribulation stopped appearing.
The projection vanished completely. The sky was clear. It was still the same sky. But something had changed.
September's confused voice rang out, "I think...I grew stronger."
He stared at the bamboo in his hand blankly. Suddenly, he bit down at his old man, August.
As a seventh-degree Eternal, August was very strong. But an incomparably powerful pulling force dragged him forward. Before he could resist, he was dragged right into September's mouth.
"Damn it! Let me go!"
September hurriedly stopped and muttered blankly, "I can eat my father..."
How impressive. He had a look of shock as he spat August out. After a tumble, August took a gigantic bamboo stick out and hit September with it.
"How dare you eat me!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
September started running everywhere in a sorry manner.
He moved at an incredibly fast speed.
Behind him, the furious August gave chase.
What an unfilial scumbag.
How dare he?
Meanwhile, the Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor looked like he was abou to cry as he said, "September...seems to have reached the ninth-degree Eternal Realm. He...doesn't even feel that far from the Daofuse Realm."
He was greatly shocked.
Su Yu laughed and said, "That's not surprising. A sealed dao...how interesting. Pseudo Emperor, do you know that ancient iron devourer?" "That might be the second Pseudo Emperor of our race..."
The Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor said, "My race has produced only two proper Pseudo Emperors before. I don't count. I'm only a Daofuse. The second vanished during the ancient past without leaving any words behind. How unexpected. He's really dead." Read complete versıon only at N0v3l.Fiɾe.net
Then, his expression turned solemn as he said, "Control King!"
Su Yu nodded, "Yes. He betrayed humanity. It doesn't matter. Don't worry about him."
The Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor didn't know what to say. He bowed and said, "The iron devourers will follow Emperor Yu until the very end!"
The two iron devourers, who were busy running, stopped. Having understood something, September bowed and said, "September thanks Emperor Yu for the gift of dao."
"Gratitude, Emperor Yu!"
August bowed in excitement as well.
September was near the Daofuse Realm!
Su Yu smiled, "You're too polite."
A drop of blood essence from the white dog for an iron devourer on the verge of achieving Daofuse. Su Yu himself had not gained much improvement in strength, but this was still a worthy trade.
He had won the loyalty of the iron devourers.
He had also learned many new things from dealing with that sealed dao.
Interesting.
A dead ancient Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor. Control King's act of sealing their dao. The act of forcefully fusing a dao with one's descendant.
Su Yu had been clueless about all this before. It was as though he had stumbled upon a new world.
Moments later, countless iron devourers roared.
"The iron devourers will fight for Emperor Yu until the very end!"
The roars filled the entire realm. All of them could sense something different, and some could directly sense the appearance of a new racial ability.
Next, the Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor's voice rang out throughout the realm, "Our race will produce our second Pseudo Emperor soon! When September becomes a Daofuse, he will inherit the position of the Pseudo Emperor. I will abdicate and focus on cultivation. Our race shall endure for eternity!"
"The Emperor is wise!"
Countless iron devourers cheered.
Far away, September blanked out. This was so sudden!
He wasn't even ready!
His old man was still hitting him!
Yet he would be the next Pseudo Emperor?
Su Yu smiled. What an interesting race.
Compared to any other iron devourers, September owed Su Yu a lot more. Also, he was closer to him than the other iron devourers. Since their trip to the Luminous Domain Mansion, September had helped Su Yu multiple times. He had even lost two tri-life bodies fighting for humanity in the Human Realm not long ago.
And now, Su Yu had helped him affirm his dao through a previously missing dao. The relationship between the two was rather complicated
With September serving as their Pseudo Emperor, the relationship between the entire race and Su Yu would further deepen. These iron devourers might look naive and adorable, but they were by no means stupid. The current Pseudo Emperor knew very well what he was doing.
Naturally, this wasn't a favor Su Yu would refuse. This was a great result for him. The addition of a Daofuse on his side would be very beneficial for him.
He grinned.
The great daos...were truly interesting.