Chapter 1269: End Of Battle (2)
The human Invincibles were also gathering near the Human Realm.
The Invincibles of the other races had all fled.
The human Invincibles welcomed the end of battle, especially since they weren't a match for the allied myriad races anyway. If it wasn't for the fact that the myriad race Invincibles had merely fought with the intention of keeping them occupied while the Pseudo Invincibles were breaking through, the human Invincibles would have suffered a lot more from the battle. Now that an opportunity to stop the battle had arrived, humanity would most certainly not encourage the resumption of battle.
In fact, it would benefit them greatly to end the battle here. Thus far, they had gained massively from the battle.
Meanwhile, the devils had suffered the most. Including the devil Invincible taken by the Devil Pseudo Emperor, they had lost four Invincibles while their Pseudo Emperor had been seriously injured. In comparison, the other races had not lost much.
The divine race had lost two Invincibles while the nether, immortal, and human races had each lost one Invincible. All in all, nine Invincibles had perished in this conflict. The last time so many Invincibles perished in one conflict was hundreds of years ago.
Great Qin King, Great Xia King, Great Zhou King...one expert after another returned.
Xia Longwu, Niu Baidao, and the other new Invincibles also returned.
A decent number of them had affirmed their dao successfully.
Xia Longwu, Niu Baidao, Zhou Polong, Zhou Potian, Liu Wushen, Qin Zhen...and even Nan Wujiang.
Yes. Nan Wujiang had taken this chance to affirm his dao.
Unfortunately, Yun Chen, the First Divine Sect master, had failed.
Nan Wujiang, who was also First Profound, looked in the distance with a complicated gaze. When he looked at the area where multiple ancient cities were gathered, he saw multiple familiar faces, such as Su Yu, Wan Tiansheng, and even Liu Wenyan.
His relationship with Su Yu had been decent during his time as First Profound. But now...the multiple character faction seemed to have splintered. That line did not seem to recognize him and Yun Chen as one of them.
As Nan Wujiang gazed silently, Yun Chen stopped beside him with a complicated expression and said, "Teacher..."
Nan Wujiang nodded, but he said nothing.
Humanity had gained seven new Invincibles from this conflict. With the return of Zhu Tianfang, Zhou Tianyuan, and the others, humanity now had forty-nine Invincibles among their ranks even after losing Fiery Sea King. In truth, they had more.
But the rest were mostly crippled Invincibles who were remaining in hiding. They would only reappear when the survival of humanity as a whole was at stake. Great Qin King was looking in the direction of the ancient cities as well.
At the same time, with the little furball resting atop his head, Su Yu exhaled in relief before grabbing the little furball. He warned through voice transmission, "Don't run off by yourself lest you somehow get yourself killed by someone. Your family...is too ferocious."
Yes, that was quite a ferocious family. Fortunately, the two adult furballs had not been able to pay much attention to their child before they were forced to return by the other Pseudo Emperors.
At the time, Su Yu was shivering in fear, worried that they would notice the book in his sea of willpower.
Wan Tiansheng and Liu Wenyan appeared surprised as well. Both were looking at the little furball with odd expressions. This was actually a race with two Pseudo Emperors.
Two!
That was the main reason the Devil Pseudo Emperor had suffered. He would have no fear against one, but he was caught by surprise when a second Pseudo Emperor appeared.
And the two furballs were also quite different from ordinary Pseudo Emperors. If they were mere warriors, the three devil Invincibles who had rushed over to help their Pseudo Emperor could have done something effective.
But the three of them had been missing every single attack they threw at the two furballs. Thus, the Devil Pseudo Emperor was essentially forced to face the two furballs alone. All around the ancient cities, the myriad race Invincibles started retreating as well.
Due to the surprise injury of the Devil Pseudo Emperor, the conflict was near an end. The devils had fully withdrawn and the Devil Pseudo Emperor would not make another move. It wouldn't benefit the other races to continue fighting, especially since there wasn't much left for them to achieve through fighting. Further fighting would only benefit the devils.
Su Yu was relieved to see the conflict coming to an end.
While he was feeling relieved, Wan Tiansheng suddenly sent him an urgent voice transmission, "Unseal the city and let me go!"
"Principal..."
Wan Tiansheng said, "Soon, the human Invincibles will hear about the matters in the Human Realm. It won't benefit you to have me here. With me here, the myriad races and the humans alike can come and demand that you hand me over. What are you going to do, then?"
"I'm not afraid of them..."
Wan Tiansheng laughed, "Foolish. Just open the gate and let me go before anyone remembers me."
"But..."
Liu Wenyan sighed and said, "Just open the gate. Try to keep it silent. Let Martial Uncle Wan go if that is what he wants."
Helpless, Su Yu could only do as told. Wan Tiansheng gave one last look at the two of them and cupped his fists before leaving. Instantly, he vanished with a flicker. Lan Tian, who was waiting in the distance, also vanished cheerfully alongside Wan Tiansheng.
Liu Wenyan inhaled deeply and said, "Whoever asks about him, just claim ignorance. They only need to know that he's not here anymore."
Su Yu nodded.
Liu Wenyan stared at Su Yu in silence for a while before asking, "You promised he mayors two carrier treasures?"
"Yeah."
"Hand them out when more people are here. Without the Culture Tomb and carrier treasures, you will only be Su Yu..."
Su Yu nodded.
"Did you kill Zhan Wushuang?"
"Not yet. I'll do it later..."
"No!" Liu Wenyan objected, "There is no need to kill a defeated opponent. With this defeat, he won't be able to surpass you anymore. This is the way of competition between geniuses. Killing him, however, will bring you endless trouble from the divines."
It was as though they had returned to the past. Su Yu, the student, listened attentively while Liu Wenyan, the teacher, instructed with a smile, "Don't kill him. Release him. You don't even need to ask for a ransom. You won't be able to get much from a defeated genius anyway. Just let him go. The divines and other races will all suspect that the two of you have reached an agreement. The truth does not matter.
"As for what the humans might think about that, ignore them. If they want, they are free to send some other young geniuses to kill him. Those humans will all believe that they can do what you do. Let them try. When they lose a bunch of young geniuses to the furious Zhan Wushuang, the humans will understand how worthless they are without you."
Su Yu nodded. This was his teacher. It did not matter if his teacher was right or wrong. He only needed to listen attentively. As for what he would do after listening to his teacher's lesson...
Releasing Zhan Wushuang without getting anything? Dream on! After giving it some thought, Su Yu got the little furball to spit Zhan Wushuang out.
Before long, they had a ball of light before them.
Zhan Wushuang's projection emerged from the ball. He looked at Su Yu bitterly and said, "I have been defeated. Are you killing me now? So be it. Dying in your hands is better than dying in the hands of some senior experts." Content orıginally comes from noⅴelfire.net
He did not regret dying at the hands of the brightest genius of the era. It was only fair for the stronger genius to kill the weaker genius. That was much better than dying in the hands of some Invincible or late-stage Sunmoon. This wasn't the type of death any young genius would accept.
Su Yu said indifferently, "I disdain to kill a defeated foe. If I can defeat you once, it will be even easier for me to defeat you again in the future. Do you want to live?"
Zhan Wushuang frowned.
"Yes."
The answer was simple and straightforward. No matter how fearless a young genius was, there was no need to embrace death if living was an option.
"Good. I only need the blood essence of the cultural researchers from the myriad races. I need at least a hundred drops from each race. That will be your debt to me."
Zhan Wushuang frowned, "All races?"
"Yes. All races."
Zhan Wushuang asked, "What about their cultivation level?"
"At least Skysoar."
Zhan Wushuang sank into a short silence before agreeing, "Fine."
Su Yu nonchalantly kneaded the slightly misshapen ball of light into a perfect sphere before tossing it out of the city. As for whether Zhan Wushuang would die in this state, it wasn't his concern anymore.
Liu Wenyan laughed, "This is only a verbal agreement. Do you trust him to fulfill it?"
"I recorded the whole thing." Su Yu grinned, "All young geniuses are proud. If he goes back on his words, I'll release the recording and ruin his reputation. That will turn him into a pariah among the other young geniuses. Face is very important for us young geniuses. You won't understand, Teacher."
Liu Wenyan was rendered speechless.
Fuck!
What the fuck did this kid just say? Fine, fine. So be it. He decided to let this slide. The damn kid had been getting into the habit of saying hurtful things without realizing it.
"Is the marquis fine?" Su Yu asked.
Liu Wenyan smiled, "What do you think? He doesn't have his body anymore. Even his sea of willpower is greatly damaged."
What stupid question was that? Liu Wenyan reckoned if he took the marquis's sea of willpower out, the marquis would probably be too weak to even manifest his projection like Zhan Wushuang.
"Well, I still have quite a lot of heavenly source qi..."
Liu Wenyan waved his hand, "No. There is no need for that. Let the human race pay for it. Xia Xiao'er did that to save Xia Longwu, and Xia Longwu fell into danger because he was buying time for the other humans to affirm their dao. The human race shall pay for this. Sure, humanity might be poor, but not so poor that it can't even support the recovery of a Pseudo Invincible who has lost his body."
Liu Wenyan said, "Don't worry. The matter has yet to end. The human race will probably be fine, but the same can't be said for you..."
Su Yu frowned. Were the myriad races going to keep coming after him?
Liu Wenyan looked around, inhaled deeply, and said, "I'll be leaving. Since I still need to live among humanity, I can't say much. If you need anything, look for me at Liu City. Hong Tan, Bai Feng, and the others will be there. As for you, feel free to be more unyielding. You're an ancient city mayor. Don't worry about implicating anyone with your actions."
Then, Liu Wenyan started leaving the city.
Right before stepping through the city gate, he sent a voice transmission, "Principal Wan must have told you a lot so I don't need to tell you much anymore. Take one last advice from me. In this world, the strong are free to share their benevolence while the weak shall always prioritize themselves. When you are strong enough to sweep unhindered through the Myriad Realms, you can do whatever you want. Before that, it is pointless to interfere in certain matters."
Su Yu nodded.
Chapter 1270: End Of Battle (3)
Before long, Liu Wenyan was gone.
Not long after, numerous individuals appeared in the sky. There were people of various races among them, including some humans. This seemed to be the finale of the recent conflict.
A human expert demanded furiously, "Su Yu, where is Wan Tiansheng!"
News of Wan Tiansheng's slaughter had finally spread to the Allheaven Battlefield.
A myriad race Invincible demanded coldly, "Hand Wan Tiansheng over and the matter will end here. Wan Tiansheng is the enemy of the myriad races. There is no redemption for his bloodlust."
They did not say anything about Su Yu himself. As an ancient city mayor, it wouldn't be easy for them to do anything to him.
Su Yu was quite surprised. These people had been fighting each other not long ago. But now...they seemed to have reconciled with each other.
He was rendered speechless.
Sure enough, the truth might be trickier than it appeared to be. The myriad races were indeed hostile toward the humans. But with all the fighting done, peace would be maintained as long as it wasn't a blood feud.
"He ran." Su Yu replied indifferently, "He ran when the Devil Pseudo Emperor was attacked."
"Ran?"
"How could he run? With the ancient city sealed, where could he go?"
They howled at Su Yu furiously.
Su Yu's expression turned cold. He hovered into the sky and raised his voice, "I told you he ran. Are you deaf? Are you questioning me? I kept more than ten Invincibles busy while you were busy fighting. I even summoned two Pseudo Emperors to fight for you. I even sacrificed my ruin for your scheme. You dare question me? Come in and search the city. I dare you."
Su Yu snorted and said, "Fuck off. This is not your turf. Be careful lest I call the help of my lord stone statues and the two Pseudo Emperors of the soul devourer race. We can fight it out if you're unhappy with my answer. Also, humanity needs to compensate me for the ruin I lost. You can refuse, but you'll regret it."
He looked at everyone and said, "Piss off. If you think you're better than the Devil Pseudo Emperor, you are free to try me."
Then, he dragged the little furball out of his sea of willpower, tossed the little furball into the air, and said, "Come on. Kill him. If you kill him, I'll tell you where Wan Tiansheng is. What a bunch of fools. Who do you take me for? I'm Su Yu, not Xia Longwu. Do you think you can bully me as you wish?"
Su Yu then turned to face the mayor's residence and said, "Lord Grandstar, this time, they're the ones here to pick a fight with me. I didn't leave the city. I did nothing to deserve this!"
Instantly, Grandstar appeared above the city. At this point, he only needed to back Su Yu with his presence. That wasn't an issue for him. He wasn't alone. The stone statues of the surrounding ancient cities also manifested. All of them stared at the gathered experts expressionlessly.
Many of the gathered experts paled.
Su Yu looked at them and said, "Are you not leaving yet? Do you think I'm scared of you just because some of you are Invincibles? Do you think you're a big deal just because there are dozens of Invincibles here? I'm warning you. Don't provoke me. Also, Hollow stole my Culture Tomb. The myriad races better return the Culture Tomb to me or you won't like the consequences. Right, I even wasted two carrier treasures to help Xia Longwu with his dao affirmation..."
As he said that, he tossed the two carrier treasures toward two of the ancient cities nearby. He wasn't even bothered to check their response and continued talking, "The Xia Family must compensate me for this. They can pay themselves or they can get the other humans to pay. I don't care. Without my payment, don't blame me when I stop showing mercy to even humans in the Allheaven Battlefield. With my help, I no longer owe the human race, the Xia Family, and everyone else anything. I have contributed to every single new Invincible you gained today. I killed more Sunmoons today than many of you can kill in your entire lives. I alone caused the destruction of more tri-life bodies than all of you combined."
He regarded the newly advanced Invincibles and said without a trace of politeness, "All of you owe me. Without me, you would have failed your dao affirmations today. It was all me. I sacrificed my ruin for the cause. I protected the Xia Family with my ancient city. I was the one who had lured so many Pseudo Invincibles over to die and lose their carrier treasure to you. I was also the one who had lured Fiery Sea out of hiding. Where is your conscience? How dare you come here to pressure me so soon after receiving my help? Who are you to do that?"
Su Yu held nothing back as he schooled the Invincibles like they were children.
Liu Wenyan was right. There was no need for him to hold back anymore. Remaining courteous would only encourage the humans to keep taking advantage of him. And that would be annoying to handle.
Nobody could counter his words.
Su Yu continued, "Remember. My Culture Tomb and two carrier treasures. That is what you owe me. There is no escaping this debt, humans. As for the divines, you better fuck off. I didn't deign to kill that piece of trash called Zhan Wushuang. I had tossed him out long ago. He must have returned home himself. You can look for him yourself. As for the other races, those without at least forty Invincibles in your race better fuck off as well. Don't force me to make the entire Allheaven Battlefield a forbidden zone for you."
"..."
The expressions of numerous Invincibles changed upon hearing that. Those from the minor races couldn't even find anything to say. Someone was threatening to make the Allheaven Battlefield a forbidden zone for them. That someone was a Cloudbreach. And they were Invincibles.
Would he be able to do so? The answer was...probably yes. There were thirty-six ancient cities scattered all over the Allheaven Battlefield. Su Yu was unlike any other ancient city mayor.
Just look at the stone statues staring menacingly at them. Clearly, he had their backing.
And that was very terrifying.
Su Yu continued shouting at them, "Well? What are you waiting around for? Are you laying siege to the city? Bring it on! Invite the Divine and Immortal Emperors. Tell them to try. I don't like trouble, but I don't fear trouble. At worst, I'll die, but not before dragging an Emperor down with me."
"..."
At this, the little furball also spoke with his tender voice, "Yeah! I don't like trouble, but I don't fear trouble! You want to fight? Bring it on!"
"..."
He spoke with the voice of a little boy, but his declaration managed to send a shiver up the spines of some Invincibles. They were now certain that Su Yu was the one who had summoned the two Pseudo Emperors out of their lair.
This human...had grown even scarier than before.
Was this furball the young lad mentioned by the Soul Devourer Pseudo Emperor earlier?
They all sighed inwardly. Two Pseudo Emperors...no, there might be one more among the ancient stone statues. Multiple Pseudo Emperors and numerous ancient stone statues...Su Yu was no longer someone they could provoke lightly.
After scolding the crowd to his heart's content, Su Yu sneered at them and started flying back to the mayor's residence. With his back to them, he continued speaking, "On behalf of all the ancient cities, I demand a hundred spots at the coming opening of the Luminous Domain Mansion. I don't care how you're going to get those spots. Just make sure those spots will be available to me by the time the mansion opens. Otherwise, we will all stay outside. The thirty-six ancient cities will block the entrance, ensuring nobody can enter. If you disagree with this, you are free to challenge me."
The eyes of the other ancient city mayors flickered thoughtfully upon hearing those words. Soon, one of the mayors laughed and said, "Exactly. Mayor Su speaks for us. We will require a hundred spots for the coming opening."
The expressions of the gathered Invincibles turned unsightly. They had arrived to demand the handover of Wan Tiansheng. But before they could say much, they were issued a list of demands instead.
The Invincibles didn't know what to do.
Right at that moment, a sigh rang out. Great Qin King's voice came from afar as he said, "We will try to look for the Culture Tomb. As for the carrier treasures...we will deliver the replacements soon. Do you have any other demands?"
Su Yu replied, "I'm not demanding anything. I'm not forcing anyone to do anything. I'm only asking for the return of my possessions. As for my contribution of keeping dozens of Invincibles occupied during the battle, I'll consider that my debt to the human race. After all, I grew up in the Human Realm as well. The human race owes me a lot more, but I have still benefited from the eighteen peaceful years I spent in the Human Realm. I owe that peace to the human Invincibles. With this, I no longer owe you anything. I'm a living dead. I don't even know if I'll live to see tomorrow. Consider this the termination of my association with humanity."
A different Invincible sighed and asked, "Su Yu, are you...separating yourself from humanity?"
Su Yu replied calmly, "Not really. I have simply ceased being a human. After all, I'm now half a death spirit. Of course, if humanity believes that I'm unworthy of calling myself a human, so be it. As for Wan Tiansheng, his affairs have nothing to do with me. You are free to look for him. It's not my business. He's neither my teacher nor my family. Why are you coming to me for him? He has a perfectly healthy pair of legs he can use to go where he wants. Are you coming after me because you think I'm easy to bully? Despite my contributions to humanity? How dare you? If that's how you want to do things, I'm perfectly fine with banning all humans from the thirty-six ancient cities from now on."
The expressions of several individuals changed. This time, the myriad race Invincibles remained silent and enjoyed the show. They were most certainly not going to interfere in this.
The divines were originally here to throw a tantrum because Su Yu had killed Zhan Wushuang. But...Zhan Wushuang had left long ago. In that case, they had no reason to do anything here.
It wasn't like Su Yu was an easy target. If he was showing no respect to even the human Invincibles, he most certainly wouldn't show them any respect.
"Everyone, return to the Eastrift Valley."
Once again, Great Qin King's voice rang out. More than ten human Invincibles had arrived, but Great Qin King and the others weren't among them. The human Invincibles here found themselves out of words.
The newly advanced Invincibles owed Su Yu for their recent advancements.
The older Invincibles also owed Su Yu because he had occupied the attention of dozens of Invincibles with his massive sacrifice. That argument was quite questionable as they believed that Su Yu's impact wasn't quite that big. But it wasn't an easy thing to argue about.
They knew that Su Yu was the one who had let Wan Tiansheng go. But Su Yu was no longer a member of Great Xia or Great Ming. They could do nothing to him.
Someone laughed heartily and said, "Su Yu, they are different from us. Your Grandstar City is right in the Sea of Stars. When people from Great Ming are here, please take good care of them."
It was Niu Baidao.
Su Yu laughed and cupped his hands, "Congratulations, Principal for the recent breakthrough."
"Hahaha. Congratulations to you as well."
Niu Baidao said, "Congratulations on becoming the overlord of this region. When you're free, you're welcome to pay Great Ming a visit."
Su Yu said, "I'll see. I'm afraid I'll get encircled and killed if I enter the Human Realm. Here, I have the protection of numerous Invincibles. But after entering the Human Realm, there is no guarantee that humanity won't sell me off to help others affirm their dao. The big picture is very important. Alas, I'm too short-sighted to see the big picture."
"Also, please take care of my father. That is my sole family left in the world. When my father dies...I will probably stop being a human completely. Seniors, you should take good care of him lest the myriad races get to enjoy more shows out of humanity's expense."
Everyone understood his implicit threat. Nobody said anything.
Seeing that nobody was replying, Niu Baidao laughed and said, "Don't worry. He will be fine. The troublemakers...are all dead."
Su Yu smiled, "That's good to hear. I have one more thing to say. Humanity might not owe me anything else, but it definitely owes my line. My teacher and the others are residing in Liu City. I hope nothing happens to them.
"As for Wan Tiansheng, I know what he did. He is indeed a vile criminal. I will most certainly kill him the next time I see him. Don't worry, everyone. How dare he kill so many Mountainseas and Sunmoons? Fortunately, he stopped at that. For a moment, I thought he was going to erase entire families. In his position, I...hahaha, I would definitely kill more--cough, cough. I was joking. Don't take me seriously."
Su Yu joked, in a tone that suggested he wasn't joking at all, as he patted the little furball's head and said, "Little Furball, grow up fast. Grow as strong as your dada. If anyone provokes me, eat their entire family. Eat even their pets. What's the point of being gentle? We're neither demons nor saints. Am I right?"
The little furball nodded his entire body.
Once again, everyone sank into silence. The same man who had promised to punish Wan Tiansheng for his crimes had suggested that he was going to be even more heavy-handed than Wan Tiansheng.
At the very least, Wan Tiansheng had only killed the Mountainseas and Sunmoons. Meanwhile, Su Yu was suggesting that he wouldn't even let the pets of his enemies off. Losing interest in continuing this conversation, the myriad race Invincibles left one after another. New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on novel⦿fire.net
As for the humans, some Invincibles were still furious. However, there was nothing they could do. Wan Tiansheng had simply been too ruthless. Some of them had lost almost all their descendants to Wan Tiansheng's slaughter.
Alas, Wan Tiansheng was no longer here.
What were they supposed to do? Take their revenge against Su Yu?
They might be the ones to die instead of Su Yu.
And thus, the human Invincibles started leaving as well.
Seeing that, Su Yu smiled and said, "Humans, don't forget to deliver my carrier treasures. Don't even try to claim that you don't have any. Quite a lot of Pseudo Invincibles and tri-life bodies had died this time. If I don't get my compensation...I'll remember this forever."
***
Eastrift Valley.
Great Qin King smiled and shook his head. He said, "Great Zhou and Great Qin will provide a carrier treasure each. We'll deliver both to him soon. As for Hollow...Zhou Tianyuan, you're good at timespace manipulation. Search for him with Zhu Tianfang. Zhu Tianfang used to be Hollow's superior so he might be helpful in the search."
"Are we really compensating him?" An Invincible questioned, "We have a shortage of carrier treasures..."
Great Qin King said, "Yes. Are you going to provoke him into doing something against your people? Stop being so arrogant. He's no longer a human. The entire multiple character faction has left the Human Realm. Or to be precise, Great Xia's multiple character faction is no more. He is no longer bound to the human race. Of course, you're free to make a move on his father if you're feeling confident. Maybe that will be enough to blackmail a few more carrier treasures from him. Why don't you give it a try?"
Silence descended.
This wasn't funny.
After what happened to the Devil Pseudo Emperor, nobody wanted to provoke him for no good reason. As for his father, they were more than happy to leave that hot potato in the care of Xia Family.
The multiple character faction of Great Xia was filled with lunatics. It would be wiser to stay away from these lunatics.
Great Qin King sighed and said, "This is a victory, but humanity still faces plenty of trouble. If you are one of those whose descendants were killed by Wan Tiansheng, reflect on yourself. As for Wan Tiansheng, you are free to seek him out for revenge, but that will be your personal business, not the business of humanity. That is all I have to say."
At this moment, Xia Longwu said, "Great Qin King, Great Xia has suffered greatly during the conflict. We will be withdrawing from the Allheaven Battlefield for ten years. My apologies for the trouble."
Great Qin King looked at Xia Longwu, inhaled deeply, and nodded. "Fine. Great Xia will be exempted from its duty in the Allheaven Battlefield for ten years. Great Ming will be exempted for five years."
With that, Great Xia King and Xia Longwu left without sparing anyone a glance. The remaining Invincibles had thoughtful expressions, but nobody said anything. The conflict might have ended, but there were likely more troubles awaiting humanity in the future.
Chapter 1271: After (1)
With the appearance of the two Pseudo Emperors from the soul devourer race, the conflict that had arisen due to Xia Longwu's dao affirmation, the same conflict the various races had prepared a long time for, finally came to an end.
It was a massive victory for humanity.
In the process, humanity had been forced to reveal many trump cards. Humanity had also suffered some losses. Dozens of Sunmoons had died either fighting in the conflict. Dozens more were slaughtered by Wan Tiansheng while the two holy lands were burned to the ground.
Wan Tiansheng was incredibly ruthless. He had destroyed even the two Heavenly Source Domains of the holy lands. Instead of looting the treasures stored in the warehouses of the two holy lands, they were all burned and reduced to source qi, free to spread all over the Human Realm.
All the riches the two holy lands had accumulated over hundreds of years were gone.
Due to the recent burning of so many treasures, the Dual Holy Prefecture was incredibly thick with source qi. But that wouldn't last as the source qi would slowly spread elsewhere.
Sounds of weeping filled the Dual Holy Prefecture. The party to suffer the most from the conflict was not the myriad races or Great Xia. Rather, it was the Dual Holy Prefecture. It had lost all its Sunmoons. No, that wasn't accurate. Some of the elderlies and a small number of Sunmoons who had actually participated in the battle against the myriad races had survived.
About seven or eight Sunmoons, a few elderlies, and a few middle-aged experts had joined the battle against the myriad races. All these people had survived Wan Tiansheng's slaughter.
One day after the conflict, a massive screen appeared above every single prefecture. On the screen, scenes from the recent battle in Nanyuan were played.
Over a hundred Sunmoons had perished in that battle.
Dozens of them were humans.
During that battle, more than ten Sunmoons of Great Xia perished. The Martial Dragon Guard was almost entirely wiped out.
During that battle, some humans merely watched while their fellow humans fought and died.
The recordings of the entire battle were played on these screens without a single commentary.
Those responsible for this were not those from the Xia Family or the Zhu Family. Rather, it was a group of youngsters. They were led by Wan Tiansheng's grandnephew, Wan Mingze. He had returned from the Allheaven Battlefield. After receiving the recordings from the Xia Family, he started touring the Human Realm with his youth army, playing the scenes everywhere he went.
He was redressing the injustice his granduncle faced. His granduncle was no traitor. He had killed two Invincibles during the battle. One of them was even the human traitor. Those he had killed deserved death.
Wan Mingze did not know if his efforts would pay off, but he wanted to do something. He wanted to show humanity that his granduncle was no traitor. His granduncle had also fought for humanity. His granduncle was merely a tad bit more extreme in his actions by slaughtering those from the two holy lands and associating with Lan Tian.
Even Lan Tian had fought to the death in the battle with the members of his so-called Holy Land. He had killed a Pseudo Invincible and kept an Invincible occupied during the duration of the battle.
The various prefectures maintained their silence.
Nobody did anything to Wan Mingze. They didn't know what to feel about Wan Tiansheng.
Was he a saint?
Or was he a demon?
Many of the experts in the two holy lands were connected one way or another to the other prefectures. Some were cousins, some were brothers, some were distant relatives, and so on.
Thus, the upper echelons of humanity did not know what to feel about what Wan Tiansheng did to the two holy lands.
Wan Mingze did not care about that. He also didn't care that some people might be tempted to act against him. Leading the like-minded youths from his youth army, he played the recording everywhere he went. No explanations were given. Everyone was presented with the scenes of what had happened and left to judge for themselves. He showed everything, including Wan Tiansheng's slaughter of the two holy lands.
The public reacted differently. Some scolded Wan Tiansheng, while some scolded those who had shirked their duties.
Most of the voices scolding Wan Tiansheng had appeared when the scenes of him slaughtering those in the two holy lands were being played. Prior to that, nobody disagreed with the slaughter of those who had watched while their fellow humans were fighting bitterly.
Some believed that Wan Tiansheng was too excessive. How could he be sure that all those people were avoiding the battle? Perhaps some had been ordered to remain and guard the two holy lands.
However, Wan Tiansheng had killed everyone without further investigation. That was why Wan Tiansheng had proclaimed himself a demon. He did not investigate. He did not want to investigate. As far as he was concerned, the holy lands were already rotten to the core. He had to remove them entirely and send a warning through bloody slaughter to inspire change.
The longer the holy lands stood, the more the rot would spread. Thus, he had opted to kill everyone. He would not allow the two holy lands any chance to reappear. And without their Sunmoons and Mountainseas, the survivors would not be able to rebuild the two holy lands.
Some would say that they could still rebuild the two holy lands with their Invincibles. For Wan Tiansheng, that would be better. Unlike the Mountainseas and Sunmoons, the Invincibles knew very well the difficult situation humanity was in. They knew that the time for them to rest on their laurels had yet to arrive.
***
Chaos was spreading in the Human Realm.
Things weren't any less chaotic among the myriad races.
Humanity had gained seven new Invincibles.
The minor races had also benefited, gaining six new Invincibles. In short, thirteen new Invincibles had emerged.
Furthermore, a new faction had appeared in the Allheaven Battlefield.
The Alliance of Ancient Cities.
The thirty-five ancient cities had formed an alliance. The last city was excluded because it was completely uninhabited. It had spent countless years under the sea, separated from the affairs of the world.
Su Yu had released an announcement to the various mayors, calling for an assembly in a month to discuss the new alliance and allocation of Luminous Domain Mansion slots. The various mayors had agreed unhesitatingly.
The nine mayors who had assisted Xia Longwu with his breakthrough had yet to leave their posts. They were still waiting for Xia Longwu to fulfill his promise. As for whether that would happen, it would have to wait until he was done stabilizing his cultivation.
Prior to that, it wouldn't hurt any of them to join the alliance.
Su Yu's might was clear for all to see. The stone statues of the various cities were clearly giving Su Yu a special treatment. To survive in the Allheaven Battlefield, the backing of Invincibles was paramount. For the most part, the various mayors had been forced to rely on the Invincibles of the myriad races to maintain their power base.
But if they could form a proper alliance with the backing of the stone statues, that would improve their station significantly. This newly formed faction would be one of considerable power.
As for the myriad races, they were too occupied to care about what the ancient cities were doing. The six new minor race Invincibles had started spreading their influence amid the Thousand Region Alliance.
The divines and immortals had started taking over the territories of the devils in the Allheaven Battlefield, including some of the minor realms under their control. A lot of things were happening.
The devils had lost four Invincibles while their Pseudo Emperor had suffered heavy injuries. Thus, the other major races had taken this opportunity to make them bleed. At the same time, the myriad races did not forget to maintain their suppression of the human race.
In fact, they had grown even more wary toward humanity. After all, humanity had gained nine new Invincibles. Excluding the one they lost, they had eight additional Invincibles they could put to use. Thus, it was imperative that the myriad races continued suppressing them lest they grew even stronger. It would be quite a while before humanity could produce any new Invincible.
Yun Chen, Zhu Tiandao, Cheng Mo, Wu Ji...these people weren't that far from dao affirmation. But it wouldn't be easy, especially after their recent gains. In fact, Su Yu had spoken the absolute truth when he claimed that they owed him for their new Invincibles.
Without him, a lot more people would die. Without the stone statues, the final hidden human Invincibles would have been forced to act. And that would probably spell their end since most of them were without their tri-life bodies.
Even Zhu Tiandao's ability to keep so many Invincibles wary toward the end of the battle was all thanks to the two furballs.
***
Grandstar City.
At the moment, Su Yu was too busy to care about anything else.
He was madly reversing death qi into source qi. He had been staying in his death spirit form for too long. Because of that, he could feel that his life was dangerously close to ending. He was also facing a dilemma.
His yang acupoint was absorbing any energy he could provide at a rapid pace. It was as though the acupoint would never be satisfied. He had completed sixty-five body forgings thus far.
His willpower and characters had also grown considerably. The saber qi in his 144 acupoints had also completed their transformation. That had happened during the demonstration by Xia Longwu.
Of course, he would not be able to fight with the strength of an eighth-stage Sunmoon without consuming blood essence. And he had fully exhausted the divine skywing blood essence in his possession. In fact, he was nearly out of Sunmoon blood essence.
He was also out of sunmoon profound yellow liquid. Fortunately, he still had a decent amount of heavenearth profound light. He also had three carrier treasures left. He wondered if the human race would really deliver him the two carrier treasures he demanded.
"Three carrier treasures and around seven hundred strands of heavenearth profound light. That is more than enough to complete my final seven forgings. Hallow source qi fruits, five elemental spirit fruits, dragonblood fruits, celestial devil fruits...these can all be used for source qi transformation. I still have about four hundred drops of first-stage Sunmoon blood essence as well..."
Nowadays, Su Yu was starting to look down on first-stage Sunmoon blood essence. Nevertheless, it could still be extracted for more heavenly source qi. That was the only use he could get out of it. Blood essence of such level was no longer capable of granting him strength of any significance.
The Culture Tomb was also still in his possession.
All in all, his biggest loss was the sunmoon profound yellow liquid. And he had also gained considerably. His strength had also grown significantly. With his yang acupoint, he would be able to muster a lot more strength than before.
With sixty-five body forgings, he could muster the strength of nearly 900,000 acupoints. With the yang acupoint, that strength would double. That was a terrifying level of amplification. The yang acupoint was simply too powerful.
Alas, the cost of such a great power was just as great, if not more. It required an unending supply of power, which Su Yu had been providing with his sheer wealth and seemingly endless death qi supply.
Without his wealth or the endless supply of death qi, he would have been forced to spend all his time in seclusion like Bai Feng's grandfather.
"With the yang acupoint, my strength approaches 1.8 million acupoints..."
Through his battles against the numerous experts during the recent conflict, he had learned some new things. Ordinarily, a third-stage Sunmoon would have the strength of roughly 800,000 acupoints.
At the sixth stage, the strength would reach two million acupoints. From his experience fighting an eighth-stage Sunmoon warrior before, he had deduced that at the seventh stage, one would be able to muster the strength of around three million acupoints.
At the eighth stage, the number would probably increase to four million acupoints. As he had consumed eighth-stage Sunmoon blood essence before, he was quite confident in his estimation.
He also guessed that at the ninth stage, a Sunmoon would probably be able to muster the strength of around five million acupoints. Of course, that was only applicable to regular Sunmoons. Latest content publıshed on N0v3l.Fiɾe.net
The divines and devils would likely be stronger. As for the geniuses in the Heaven Index, it was pointless to measure their strength with the standards of normal people. In fact, there wasn't even a point in measuring their strength based on their cultivation level, not when they could punch above their level like it was a perfectly normal thing to do.
Chapter 1272: After (2)
"I have a lot of work ahead of me."
According to Su Yu's estimation, he could probably surpass 1.7 million acupoints after completing seventy-two body forgings. He wondered if the yang acupoint would still double his strength at that time. If it would, he would have the strength of more than three million acupoints.
At the Cloudbreach Realm of his physical cultivation, he could fight seventh or eighth-stage Sunmoons. That would be when he finally had the combat strength he had demonstrated with blood essence during the recent conflict.
It wouldn't take him long to complete his remaining body forgings. However, he was unsatisfied with that after witnessing so many Invincibles and Pseudo Emperors in action. Even upon reaching the Cloudbreach Realm in physical cultivation, he wouldn't be a match for ninth-stage Sunmoons. But if he could complete more source qi transformations...
Su Yu was confident he would have no problem defeating ninth-stage Sunmoons when he was a peak Cloudbreach. But he had to find a way to deal with his yang acupoint. It was a ticking time bomb. It had been absorbing so much death qi that Su Yu felt like he was going to turn into a death spirit soon.
After he was done thinking about his recent gains, he recalled many people.
Wan Tiansheng, Liu Wenyan, Xia Family, Lan Tian, Zhu Tiandao...
In the recent conflict, Niu Baidao had completed his dao affirmation, granting Great Ming its third Invincible. Great Xia had suffered heavy losses, but Xia Longwu had completed his dao affirmation. With two powerful Invincibles, Great Xia would be able to maintain a relatively decent level of strength.
Nan Wujiang had affirmed his dao as well.
First Profound...
Su Yu sighed. He much preferred the masked First Profound to the current Nan Wujiang.
His feelings were mixed when he learned that First Profound was Nan Wujiang.
Ye Batian's teacher.
Liu Wenyan's grandteacher.
If First Profound were any other human, Su Yu would be filled with admiration for his wits.
He had received quite a lot of help from First Profound. In fact, First Profound had most likely recruited him into the pavilion to protect him.
But after learning that First Profound was Nan Wujiang, Su Yu didn't know what to feel anymore. Zhu Tianfang and Zhou Tianyuan had even risen to department heads in the pavilion. Su Yu was quite impressed wih them, but that was mostly because they were complete outsiders.
Yes. He admired even Zhou Tianyuan. He did not blame them for feigning their deaths. Anyone could live the way they wanted. As long as they didn't betray humanity, he wouldn't care.
As Wan Tiansheng said, it was normal to be selfish. Just like how Niu Baidao had not blamed Great Ming King for keeping a ruin for his son instead of Niu Baidao.
But Nan Wujiang...
The more Su Yu thought about it, the more he didn't know what to feel. Was Nan Wujiang really unaware of the multiple character faction's plight all these years? That wasn't possible. He was definitely aware.
But he had remained in hiding. As a Pseudo Invincible, his return alone would be enough to greatly improve the situation the multiple character faction was in. Two Pseudo Invincibles of the multiple character faction had gone into hiding while the faction suffered.
Su Yu did not begrudge the Xia Family for hiding their strength all these years. But those two were actual multiple character faction members. Thus, he didn't know what to feel about them.
He knew that hiding was the smarter thing to do. It had allowed them to kill the traitor during the recent conflict. It had even allowed the multiple character faction to produce its first Invincible.
This was actually a good thing for them. But he was Liu Wenyan's grandteacher. It was inappropriate for him to sit back and watch while Liu Wenyan suffered for decades. He had done nothing even when Teacher Liu's family was destroyed.
"Nan Wujiang..."
Su Yu would rather Nan Wujiang remain as First Profound. At this point, his thought reached the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion. Suddenly, he grinned and put his mask back on.
Then, he took his Heavenly Hunt Directory out. Currently, both his direct superior and the superior of his direct superior were gone. Would he be under the supervision of anyone else?
If not, could he continue using this identity? After all, nobody could track his location anymore.
"Calling the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion."
***
Heavenly Hunt Pavilion.
Things had been quiet in the headquarters.
The two heads had betrayed them, killing dozens of elders and white masks in the process. The four departments had nearly fallen apart because of them. The pavilion was in the process of licking its wounds.
With the heads of the two spires, chambers, and departments remaining, they were left with six Invincibles. No, seven, counting the grand elder of the Enforcement Unit. That was an Invincible as well.
Of the nine elders in the unit, two had died, leaving them with seven. Seven Invincibles and six Pseudo Invincibles. Those were the high-end combatants left in the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion.
However, the heads of the Heaven Department and East Spire had remained in slumber for a very long time.
Eleven of them were gathered in the main hall of the headquarters.
Five Invincibles and six Pseudo Invincibles.
After a long silence, a voice rang out from outside the hall, "Lords...we have just...received words from Profound Nine."
"Profound Nine?"
Someone snorted coldly, "More like Su Yu."
The person outside did not dare to say anything.
Soon, an aged voice rang out, "Noted. Forward the call here."
"Yes!" Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on noveⅼfire.net
The head of the South Spire said, "Let's see what he has to say. He...is not weak anymore. The pavilion has suffered heavy losses this time, but we did manage to achieve some of our goals. At the very least, we are one step closer to a world in chaos."
The head of Earth Department spoke next, "Let's stop talking about that for now. The matter concerning Su Yu isn't that big. A single Profound Nine does not mean much to us. I only want to know the fate of the true heads of Yellow and Profound Departments. What happened to them?"
"I suspect Zhu Tianfang has infiltrated the pavilion about a hundred years ago. It won't be easy to investigate. As for Zhou Tianyuan, he has only been in the pavilion for about fifty years. At the time, there was already a Profound Department head around..."
At that, numerous gazes settled on the head of the South Chamber. Hierarchically, the two heads in slumber occupied the highest position in the pavilion, with the head of the South Chamber ranked just below them.
That was followed by the West Spire head, North Chamber head, Earth Department head, and grand elder of the Enforcement Unit.
After a short silence, the South Chamber head said, "I was aware of Zhou Tianyuan's arrival."
Nobody said anything. They had guessed as much.
"Back then, humanity had claimed that Ye Batian had died due to the information we provided. They menaced us for a long time, killing many of our members. Do you still remember that?"
Everyone else nodded.
"Then, the Heaven Department head woke up from his slumber. After a secret batle with Great Zhou King, our conflict with the humans ended. But that gave Zhou Tianyuan an opportunity to join the Profound Department."
The Earth Department head asked coldly, "What happened to the original Profound Department head?"
The South Chamber head sank into silence. After a long while, he said, "He's still alive. We received his agreement for this arrangement. He has been secluding himself in the place the two heads are slumbering. I kept silent about that, but Zhou Tianyuan was not the one who had acted against our people. Zhu Tianfang was the one who had killed our people ruthlessly."
Nobody could deny Zhu Tianfang's ruthlessness.
"How did Zhu Tianfang infiltrate us?"
The South Chamber head shook his head, "I have no idea. The previous Yellow Department head joined the pavilion about eight hundred years ago. I have no knowledge of his replacement. Perhaps...only the two slumbering heads have that knowledge."
At that moment, someone entered the hall noiselessly.
The heads attacked instantly.
The newcomer hurriedly explained, "I'm the Profound Department head!"
"Zhou Tianyuan, you're courting death!"
The newcomer explained helplessly, "I'm the real head. Zhou Tianyuan's reappearance has put an end to our previous agreement. The Heaven Department head can bear witness that I'm not lying."
At that, a silhouette appeared in the hall. The silhouette spoke, "Enough. He is the real head. Zhou Tianyuan is no longer a member of the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion."
"Greetings, Head."
Everyone greeted the silhouette respectfully.
The silhouette and the East Spire head were the two cores of the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion.
The Heaven Department head had not arrived in person. Rather, he only manifested a projection in the hall as he said, "Zhu Tianfang's infiltration might be related to Great Ming King. It is likely that Great Ming King had killed the previous Yellow Department head before replacing him with Zhu Tianfang."
Everyone was surprised to hear that. They found it quite unlikely. The death of an Invincible would produce a phenomenon.
The Heaven Department head said, "Perhaps he was killed in a ruin. Maybe it was even the second ruin Great Ming King was rumored to have."
"The Yellow Department head might have entered the Human Realm over four hundred years ago without informing any of us. There, he was killed while he was trying to steal the ruin. Somehow, his mask survived. Perhaps Great Ming King had acted as the new Yellow Department head for a time before passing the position to his son."
Everyone was rendered speechless.
Great Ming King!
"That damn Zhu Family has been scheming and hiding since the founding of their prefecture. Hmph! Serve them right for having their secrets exposed during the recent conflict. Zhu Tiandao was actually strong enough to kill four Eternals...speaking off, does anyone know anything about that?"
"I'm suspicious of that claim. He might not be the actual killer..." The Heaven Department head said, "Three of those Invincibles had died near a tunnel entrance. And that entrance was near the Soul Devourer Realm. Perhaps those two were involved..."
The others nodded. They found it hard to believe as well.
Then again, they wouldn't be able to ascertain anything. Who would have the courage to question the two soul devourers?
The Heaven Department head said, "The Yellow Department will remain without a head for now. Why did Su Yu contact the pavilion?"
The newly returned Profound Department head smiled and said, "Let me have a chat with him."
Suddenly, the grand elder of the Enforcement Unit asked, "Head, are there more hidden humans in the pavilion?"
The Heaven Department head laughed, "It doesn't matter. I don't care where our members come from. Any of you might do the same when your race is in trouble. I only hope that...you don't take Zhu Tianfang's example in the process of helping your race. He was...too ruthless."
They did not consider what Zhou Tianyuan did a betrayal. They only considered that a return to his previous identity.
As for Zhu Tianfang, they considered him a traitor. Firstly, he had obtained his position in an illegitimate manner. His father had likely killed the previous department head.
The room sank into silence. They sighed and said no more.
The Heavenly Hunt Pavilion had always been an organization with an extremely complicated composition. Would they do the same when their races were in trouble? Nobody could say for sure.
Chapter 1273: After (3)
The Heaven Department head was clear. They were free to act if they wanted to, but they shouldn't harm the pavilion like Zhu Tianfang had.
The newly returned Profound Department head conversed through his directory for a while before laughing, "Su Yu is saying that he still wishes to remain a member. He is even asking to reopen our branch in Grandstar City. In fact, he's asking for a branch in each of the ancient cities...all for the price of appointing him an elder in charge of managing all thirty-five ancient city branches. Otherwise, he will ban us from all ancient cities."
Once again, the heads were rendered speechless. Had Su Yu gotten addicted to being a pavilion member? After getting his identity exposed, he was actually openly demanding to become an elder, with the threat of retaliation if he wasn't given the promotion he demanded.
"No!"
"That bastard wishes nothing more than sending us to our doom."
"I'm not totally opposed. Su Yu is quite capable, as a member. But he has formed an alliance with all the ancient cities. Without his approval, it will be hard for us to continue operating in the ancient cities."
"I am agreeable as well. There is never a lack of experts and geniuses of the various races in the pavilion. We now know his identity. That is enough for us to contend with him. Of course, we need to keep our storage in the ancient cities low after this lest he decides to stage another robbery."
"I'm agreeable as long as he's forbidden from some of our secrets."
"He is indeed quite capable. He was the one who had increased our reputation and expanded our ranks greatly in the Human Realm previously. In fact, he hasn't even killed that many of our members. He's not the same as Zhu Tianfang."
The Invincibles and Pseudo Invincibles started sharing their views. They were not opposed to this request. Losing access to the ancient cities would be quite a heavy blow to them. Those branches of them were akin to their windows to the outside world.
Without those windows, they would find it much harder to operate in the Allheaven Battlefield. More importantly, Su Yu was now the leader of the thirty-five ancient cities. Sure, the formation of the alliance had yet to be formalized. But it would most likely happen. Everyone could appreciate the wisdom of strength in numbers. Follow current novels on Nove1Fire.net
Not only did Su Yu have the backing of the stone statues, but he was also quite generous. For example, he had fulfilled his promise of handing two carrier treasures to the mayors without any hesitation. Mayor Tian He had received one of the carrier treasures while the other had been claimed by the green fox.
After all, the green fox was the one to lure Yan Mo away from Grandstar City. As for Mayor Tian He...well, the others didn't know what to say about him anymore. In fact, the six mayors who had arrived late had been grumbling about this. When Su Yu promised the two carrier treasures, he did not specify that the reward would only be given to the second group.
Thus, they had no ground to argue when both carrier treasures were given to the mayors in the first group.
Nevertheless, that was enough to prove Su Yu's generousity. In truth, the mayors had never expected him to fulfill his words. They had merely been making a gamble when they agreed to fight for him. They knew full well just how rare carrier treasures were.
After a while, the Heaven Department head said, "Since he wishes to be an elder, we will fulfill his wish. After all, there is a precedent of someone from his line serving as an elder in the pavilion. Wasn't Nan Wujiang the previous First Profound? He can be the new First Profound. We don't even need to provide him with a new mask. He can ask for the mask from Nan Wujiang. If he manages to get that mask, he can serve as the new Profound Department head. That will make it impossible for Nan Wujiang to sneak back into he pavilion."
Nobody objected to that. It wasn't like they had a better option.
***
"First Profound?"
Su Yu blanked out. He was to be the new First Profound?
That would feel awkward. He wasn't surprised that the pavilion had agreed. After all, they wouldn't enjoy the damage he could cause to them. Why did he want to become an elder? Well, there were a lot of treasures in the pavilion. As an elder, he could get an even bigger discount when purchasing these treasures.
Since he had a chance to become an elder, he naturally wouldn't let go of the opportunity.
The Heavenly Hunt Pavilion had an array of products he could purchase, including carrier treasures. With a lovely policy of providing their elders with a fifty percent discount on purchases, why would he leave? Furthermore, he could benefit further thanks to a cut he could get from every transaction conducted through the pavilion.
As an elder, he would receive an even bigger cut. As an elder, he would be able to purchase something worth a hundred points for only fifty points. He would also receive a cut of one percent as an elder. Thus, he only needed to spend 49.5 points to purchase something worth 100 points as an elder. Wouldn't that be great?
As for the fact that his identity was now known to the pavilion, that was no big deal. At worst, he would no longer be able to conceal his identity with his mask. But the discounts alone were enough for him to remain a member.
Just look at Zhou Tianyuan. With a healthy dose of corruption during his time as a department head, he had earned enough to provide the Zhou brothers with four carrier treasures.
It was likely that the Liu Family had also received its carrier treasures from Zhou Tianyuan. Perhaps even the Qin Family had received its carrier treasures from him as well. Clearly, Zhou Tianyuan had profited greatly from corruption during his tenure in the pavilion. Just how long had Zhou Tianyuan been in the pavilion? About fifty years. Yet he had earned so much during such a short period of time.
Thus, Su Yu was quite pleased to learn that the pavilion had agreed. He approved of their wisdom in agreeing to his request. Otherwise, he would be forced to shut their businesses, which wouldn't be healthy for their profits.
"Well, that's settled for now. It's time for me to enter seclusion and finish my body forging. Then, I need to organize the assembly to ascertain my position as the boss of all mayors."
Suddenly, he summoned the little furball out and stared at the furball for a long while before saying, "Sir Ball."
"..."
The two stared at each other silently.
After some time, the little furball shivered and said, "Scared!"
"Don't be scared." Su Yu smiled, "How can you be scared? You are the prince of the soul devourers. You are Sir Ball! We are brothers and good friends. Your parents are—"
"Your parents as well?" The little furball finished the sentence for Su Yu. He was very familiar with Su Yu's ways. Through this reasoning, Su Yu had obtained quite a lot of relatives.
Su Yu smiled, "Exactly. We're family..."
"You always want to pinch me to death!"
The little furball complained. But soon, he started shaking. He did not shake out of fear. Rather, he was shaking proudly. Was his dada amazing? Was his mama amazing? In truth, not even the little furball himself knew that they were so amazing previously. Well, it wasn't surprising that he wasn't aware of that. Apart from the fact that his dada was called a Pseudo Emperor, he knew nothing. But now, he knew that his dada was amazing.
Su Yu laughed, "That's a misunderstanding. Look at you. You're already a Mountainsea. Do you remember how much good stuff have I fed you? The more you love someone, the more extreme you will be when expressing that love. I had merely been scaring you to encourage growth. Look at you. It hasn't even been long since you met me and you're already a Mountainsea. You have enjoyed a speedy growth after meeting me. Am I right?"
The little furball considered that and nodded his body. Indeed, he had grown quickly after following Su Yu.
"Thus, we should forget about the past. We're brothers, after all..."
"Compensation!"
The little furball's eyes lit up in anticipation as he made his demand.
Su Yu flashed a genial smile and said, "What do you need?"
"I...want to eat! First, I want to eat tribulation. Then, I want to eat fire—"
He was sent flying by Su Yu. With a snort, Su Yu said, "Don't get too cocky after a little praise from me. Your dada and mama are still trapped back home."
Sure enough, the best way of educating this little fellow was a little beating now and then. How could this little fellow demand for his characters? When his parents were trapped back home?
The little furball had an awkward expression, but he wasn't surprised. He knew that Yummy wasn't sincere! He returned to the sea of willpower sulkingly and started licking the characters inside to console himself. Yummy was a liar!
Su Yu rolled his eyes. He knew the little furball wouldn't be willing to part from him. After all, the little furball was still dreaming of eating his golden book one day. Clearly, the little furball had grown more and more cunning nowadays.
He reminded himself that he had to be strict with the little furball's education lest the little furball became too greedy. He also reminded himself to stop thinking about pinching the little furball to death in the future. After all, those two furballs were too terrifying. Instead, it would be prudent for him to form an amicable relationship with the little furball.
Meanwhile, the little furball was reminding himself to maintain an amicable relationship with Yummy. That should buy him time to find a way to eat the things around him. Nowadays, the things in the sea of willpower had improved significantly in smell. He kept having a feeling that he would become very amazing after eating these yummy things.
Each of the two was scheming against the other.
One maintained a friendly facade while the other maintained an innocent facade. Both would maintain a smile even as they cursed at the other inwardly.
Su Yu would never believe in the little furball's innocence. Someone truly innocent wouldn't be so decisive when eating characters and willpower.
As for the little furball, he would never trust the smile on Su Yu's face. He knew that only a bad person would smile that much.
They had been together for too long. Thus, they were all too familiar with each other.
Chapter 1274: Eve Of Alliance (1)
The Myriad Realms was in peace.
In the proceeding month after the mass dao affirmations, numerous battles had erupted among the various races. However, not a single one of them involved those at the Mountainsea Realm and beyond had erupted.
Sunmoons became exceedingly rare while Invincibles had all but disappeared. But as time passed, things started getting busy in the Allheaven Battlefield again.
***
"Have you heard? Su Yu has called for an assembly of the ancient cities. It is happening in a few days."
"Yeah."
"The Luminous Domain Mansion will open soon. The ancient cities wish to get a share as well. But I doubt uniting the ancient cities will be easy. Don't forget that some of the mayors are actually backed by relatively powerful races."
Each ancient city mayor was considered the overlord of a region.
It was only natural that such a position would catch the eye of the myriad races. Of the thirty-five mayors, some were backed by these races. In truth, even Mayor Tian He was not entirely independent. He had a slight connection to the human race. Or at the very least, he had a connection to Xia Longwu. The myriad races wanted to see how Su Yu would bring them together.
It was clear to everyone that Su Yu had the backing of the stone statues. But the stone statues were not omnipotent. They still had to abide by the ancient laws. What could Su Yu do to an unwilling mayor?
The assembly would happen in two days.
***
Great Xia.
Many things were waiting to be done. For more chapters visıt novel·fire.net
After losing a large number of experts, Great Xia had been forced to withdraw from the Allheaven Battlefield.
Prefect's residence.
Discussion hall.
A group of experts had converged.
Seated on the throne of the prefect, Xia Longwu regarded the gathered crowd and the much emptier hall. In the past, this place would be filled with a significant number of Sunmoons at all times. But now, he could barely see any Sunmoon in the hall.
Very few of their Sunmoons had survived, and a majority of the survivors were recuperating in seclusion.
When everyone arrived, Xia Longwu spoke, "Silence."
Instantly, the crowd stopped talking.
Xia Longwu was never one to beat around the bush. He went straight to the point, "After my dao affirmation, I had spent a month consolidating my cultivation. Today, I can finally leave seclusion and convene this meeting to discuss our affairs."
The crowd cheered, "Congratulations, Prefect! Glory to Great Xia!"
Xia Longwu stopped the cheer with a gesture and said, "This means nothing. We have still lost a large number of experts. The Martial Dragon Guard has practically been wiped out. Great Xia does not belong to me alone. After becoming an Eternal, I'm afraid I will be too preoccupied to keep running Great Xia. As an Eternal, I have a new set of responsibilities to bear."
"My second uncle has suffered serious injuries. It will take him quite a while to recover. Xia Xinyi is in a similar condition. Xia Changqing is dead. Xia Yunji left."
"There are not many of us remaining. Excluding Xia Huyou and Xia Chan of the direct line, Xia Yuwen of the branch family is still alive. And he is decently talented. Xia Yuwen is a fourth-stage Cloudbreach, Xia Huyou is a third-stage Skysoar, and Xia Chan is a first-stage Skysoar. It is time to select a new prefect for Great Xia. You may elect your choice among the three."
The expressions of a number of individuals turned thoughtful upon hearing that. Administrator Hu, who was attending the meeting even with his injuries, hurriedly asked, "Prefect, is this proper? All three of them do not have sufficient strength. Perhaps you should remain the prefect nominally while the three can serve as acting prefects to have their abilities tested..."
Zheng Ping, who had lost an arm, spoke in his usual coarse manner, "If the prefect wishes to retire, we can't force him to stay. There isn't a need to make this overly complicated. It is perfectly normal and acceptable for Prince Huyou to become the next prefect. He might be weak in cultivation, but he has the decisiveness a proper prefect should have. In any case, both Prefect and Great Xia King will still be around. With their assistance, it won't be too difficult to elevate the prince's cultivation."
Among the crowd, some nodded while some showed no reaction. They were worried that Xia Huyou's appointment would be unpopular. Great Xia was filled with arrogant and ferocious soldiers. Even if he was Xia Longwu's son, that alone would not be enough to win everyone's respect. Furthermore, he had spilled too much blood in the recent conflict. The fact that a large number of those he had killed were their own people didn't help either.
Some would take issue with that, even if Marquis Xia had been made the scapegoat. The smarter ones could easily see through that. They knew that the massacre was Xia Huyou's idea, not Marquis Xia's.
Xia Longwu did not argue. He calmly continued, "Since there is no consensus, we will shelve this matter for now. As for Administrator Hu's opinion—"
He stopped mid-sentence, having noticed something else.
Moments later, a voice reported outside the hall, "Reporting to the Prefect, the mayors of twenty-eight cities are seeking an audience."
"They may enter."
Shortly after, twenty-eight mayors stepped into the hall. These mayors varied in strength, with the weakest among them being Wu Wenhai, the mayor of the recently destroyed Nanyuan who was only a fifth-stage Skysoar. After the destruction, Nanyuan was in the process of rebuilding.
Behind them was a group of guards in golden armor. These guards varied in strength as well, but there was a sizeable number of Cloudbreaches and Mountainseas among them. When Administrator Hu and a few others looked at these guards, they frowned. The life force of these guards felt empty, as though they were without much lifespan left in them.
They also looked completely different from Great Xia Army, Devil Subduing Army, or even the Martial Dragon Guard.
"We greet the prefect!"
The mayors offered Xia Longwu their greetings while the guards dropped down on one knee—a form of military salute.
Xia Longwu nodded at them and asked, "You have all arrived without prior notice. To what do we owe this visitation?"
"Prefect, we are here to discuss the matter concerning the next prefect."
The mayor of Beifeng, a seventh-stage Mountainsea, spoke for the mayors, "As an Invincible, it is inappropriate for you to contend yourself with these mundane affairs. The twenty-eight mayors wish to voice our support for Prince Xia Huyou as the next prefect."
A decent number of people in the hall were surprised to hear that. Those of the twenty-eight had rarely concerned themselves with matters of succession. What changed? Some, with keener eyes, noticed that some of the golden-armored guards were actually holding their weapons to the back of the mayors. That discovery alarmed them.
The mayors were apparently reacting differently to this. Some appeared helpless. Some were smiling bitterly. And some looked indifferent.
At that moment, someone else stepped into the hall. It was Xia Huyou. Clad in armor with a cape fluttering behind him, he smiled and said, "Father and seniors, the twenty-eight mayors are insisting that I ascend the throne. I am flattered by their faith in me. They wouldn't even listen to my refusal. Alas, since my lord father has ascended into an Invincible, I have no choice but to accept this heavy burden. Seniors, I will be in your care from now on."
A lot of people grimaced as they looked at his smiling face. What was this?
Not waiting for anyone to say something, Xia Huyou continued, "Cousin Xia Chan has voiced her support to me. Even Cousin Xia Yuwen has withdrawn from his candidacy out of shame for his line's poor performance during the recent conflict. In fact, he has locked himself in seclusion to recover from his intense shame."
Hearing that, Xia Longwu sent his willpower out of the hall. Before long, he discovered a small building in the partially damaged Great Xia Cultural Research Academy. More than ten Mountainseas were standing guard around the building.
Seated inside the building was Xia Yuwen with an ashen expression. The Mountainseas around the building were also clad in gold armor.
Xia Longwu withdrew his attention, glanced at his son, and asked with a smile, "Are you trying to rebuild the Martial Dragon Guard(Martial Dragon = Longwu)?"
"No..."
Xia Huyou declared, "I will be building the Tiger Guard(Hu = Tiger)! Back when you became the prefect, you founded the Martial Dragon Guard. Now that the Martial Dragon Guard is no more, I wish to build my own army, the Tiger Guard!"
Xia Longwu studied his son silently.
Xia Huyou grinned and said, "Father, I'm confident I have everyone's support. Am I right, Lord Administrator?"
He looked at Administrator Hu, who was busy checking his voice transmission talisman.
"Grandpa! Help! Xia Huyou said that if you refuse to support his claim, he will send me to train at Great Qin!"
That was Hu Qiusheng. In fact, many of the seniors in the hall were receiving similar messages from their juniors.
According to those juniors, Xia Huyou had claimed that they were still too weak. With the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy in shambles, he had suggested that they should pursue their studies in Great Qin instead. He was even kind enough to offer them an alternative: Great Zhou.
So what would they say about that? He wasn't threatening their lives. He was sending them to further their studies. That was a boon to them.
Administrator Hu was left quite speechless. He looked at Xia Huyou and solemnly said, "Prince, we are not opposed to you. But...your cultivation is an issue. You won't be able to command faith in many of your subjects."
Xia Huyou grinned, "Says who? My grandpa is Great Xia King. My old man is Carnage King. My brother, Su Yu, is the leader of the thirty-six ancient cities. We will be spending the foreseeable future rebuilding and recovering. During this challenging time, something other than combat strength will be required of the prefect. Great Xia requires a prefect who is capable of leading this process. With Xia Trade Company under my control, my contact network spans the various prefectures. My reach extends to even the Allheaven Battlefield. Who else is more suited to this position than me?"
Xia Longwu laughed. In truth, he had not been the most involved father. Therefore, he was quite surprised to see Xia Huyou taking this initiative. He said, "Are you confident you can shoulder this burden?"
Xia Huyou answered seriously, "Of course! Even Su Yu was able to become the leader of the ancient cities. And I'm much better than him!"
"..."
Was he not embarrassed when making that claim? They reckoned Su Yu could probably kill this brat with a mere sneeze.
With the same tranquil expression, Xia Longwu said, "Being a prefect is not that simple. Courage, strength, luck, and ability. You need all of them. Back then, I had grown one step at a time. When your grandpa perished, your second granduncle could have ascended to the position. But he was...convinced by me to withdraw his candidacy."
Xia Huyou nodded. He was aware of that. According to what he heard, when his second granduncle attempted to lay claim to the position, his old man had given his second granduncle a beating. After that, his second granduncle renounced his claim. Thus, he had learned from his old man's example and used force to secure the throne.
Seemingly having guessed Xia Huyou's thoughts, Xia Longwu said, "I'm not opposed to this. But you need to complete a mission. If you can complete it, you shall be the next prefect."
"I accept, Father."