Chapter 61 - 61

Chapter 1161: Culture Tomb (2)

Mo Duona did not say anything else. Instead, he contacted the pavilion and agreed to pay. A short while later, a figure appeared in front of him. The newcomer was not a white mask. Instead, it was a faceless elder.

Mo Duona's eyes flickered as he said, "The Heavenly Hunt Pavilion is truly generous this time. An elder is personally doing a job like this? Is the pavlion not afraid of losing their elders?"

The faceless elder spoke in an enigmatic voice, "We might worry about others, but we believe in you, Devil Lord Mo Duona. You will only kill me if you can do it yourself. You won't lower yourself to set up an ambush against me."

Mo Duona laughed, "Perhaps you're right. I hope you're still alive when I'm finally strong enough to kill you."

"Thanks for your well wishes."

Before long, the payment was completed. After receiving the payment, the elder vanished with a flicker.

Staring at the empty spot in front of him, Mo Duona inhaled deeply and said, "Looks like the pavilion is placing a high level of importance on this. Even their elders have been deployed."

In the past, only the regular members of the Earth Department or Profound Department would be deployed for something as simple as payment collection. At most, only a white mask would be sent. But this time, an elder was doing this job personally. One ought to remember that each elder was a late-stage Sunmoon.

Huang Teng said nothing. He seemed to be in the middle of a conversation with someone else. A short while later, the air rippled as an expert appeared. Huang Teng wasted no time and pointed in a certain direction. The expert vanished again. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novel-fire.net

Mo Duona glanced at them and waited until the expert was gone before saying, "Great Xia seems to be using all their strength to deal with the pavilion this time. Is this worth it?" The Xia Family had recalled a lot of their experts into Great Xia.

Even the late-stage Sunmoons stationed in the minor realms and Allheaven Prefecture had all returned. Furthermore, there were also people like Administrator Hu, General Zhao, the Great Xia Army's chief commander, Marquis Xia, and so on.

Apart from the chief commander of the Devil Subduing Army, almost all their late-stage Sunmoons had been pulled back to Great Xia. And all these people were roaming all over Great Xia, in search of the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion's members.

Interestingly, the strongest expert left in their capital was not a human. Rather, it was the white dragon in the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy, the mount of the second principal. This was probably the first time something like this had happened.

Huang Teng laughed, "It doesn't matter whether it is worth it. The prefect will be affirming his dao. Because of that, the Xia Family has conceded again and again. But this time, we are done conceding. We will kill to our heart's content. The Heavenly Hunt Pavilion crossed the line. They naturally need to pay the price for that."

"You might not necessarily be able to make them pay a price. This organization has existed for countless years. A devil king once said that the pavilion has existed since the ancient past. Perhaps they even have surviving ancient experts from the lost era. It is likely that...Great Xia won't be their match."

"We'll see." Huang Teng smiled, "Even if we're not their match, we still need to make it clear that laying a hand on a member of the Xia Family is not tolerable."

Mo Duona said nothing else. He picked up his index copy and joined the group he paid for, awaiting the release of the information about the ruin.

That day, faceless elders and Sunmoon white masks were spotted all over the Human Realm. All of them were busy collecting payment for the upcoming release. It even gave one the illusion that this was the Allheaven Battlefield instead of the Human Realm.

To be precise, the pavilion seemed to have invested a lot more here compared to any individual operation of theirs in the Allheaven Battlefield. Most of the payments were collected personally by elders, and some battles also erupted in the process.

***

Heavenly Hunt Pavilion, Great Xia's branch.

Su Yu was now in charge of this place.

At the moment, he was receiving one update after another. Suddenly, he smiled, "Looks like there are a lot of rich bastards in the Human Realm. A total of 116 individuals or powers have paid the fee so far."

Over 1,100 drops of Sunmoon blood essence had been paid thus far. This was already comparable to half of what he scammed from the divines previously.

How rich.

All the pavilion members working on this operation would also be paid for their service, including the elders in charge of accepting payment all over the Human Realm. As for Su Yu, he was both the supplier of the information they were selling, the leader of this operation, and the person who had developed their market in Great Xia. Due to all that, he was entitled to thirty percent of the profit. That was a very large share.

Even White One and the other white masks were incredibly envious. As if to prove this point, White One spoke, "Profound Nine, you're going to get rich after this."

Su Yu replied indifferently, "Getting rich? I'm a living dead. I need to exhaust a large amount of heavenly source qi on a daily basis just to stay alive. If I can't break free, what is the point of wealth? My savings of many years are running low. The headquarters are only covering seventy percent of my heavenly source qi expenditure here. The remaining thirty percent is enough to empty my savings. I need this just to stay alive."

White One thought about it and found himself agreeing. He even started pitying Profound Nine.

He offered some words of comfort, "It will be fine. If you can get into the ruin, you might be able to temporarily block your death qi connection. At that time, the enforcer elder can fully sever the connection for you. With that, you will be free."

White One guessed that Profound Nine had probably been converted by a Mountainsea or Sunmoon death spirit. It wouldn't be too hard to sever the death qi connection established by a death spirit of that level.

Su Yu shook his head, "It's not that simple. After the connection is severed, the death spirit will show up in Grandstar City. The best way of breaking free is to kill that death spirit before it can transfer the task to a stronger death spirit. However, that is now Su Yu's city. Would anyone be willing to enter that city and kill a Sunmoon death spirit for me?"

With a self-mocking tone, Su Yu continued, "In truth...I know a lot of things. The elders have merely been trying to comfort me. It doesn't matter. Even severing the connection once will free me for a period of time. It will take that death spirit some time to rebuild the connection. As a dying man, I will take any extra time I can get."

Hearing those words, the white masks looked at him with sympathy, not knowing what to say anymore. Some of them knew more about ancient cities, but some knew very little. Thanks to Profound Nine, they had learned something new about the ancient cities.

Just severing the connection was not enough. To fully break free, one also needed to kill the death spirit responsible for the conversion. This wouldn't be that big of a deal at any other time.

They could simply send an elder for the task. The death spirit would only be an early-stage Sunmoon, and its death would only spawn middle-stage Sunmoon death spirits. At that time, the elder only needed to stop killing and survive for three days. After the city was unsealed, the elder could simply leave.

However, Grandstar was currently under Su Yu's control. That would greatly complicate things.

After thinking about it, White One said, "It's not completely hopeless. Su Yu is quite greedy. Perhaps we can solve this by paying him. As long as he leaves the elder we send alone, it might work."

Su Yu indifferently said, "We'll see. He won't be so easy to satisfy. Not long ago, he earned such a massive profit. We don't even know if he will be interested in dealing with us. Also, I killed someone from the Xia Family and he came from Great Xia."

Finally, White One was out of words. He decided to stop trying to comfort Profound Nine.

Su Yu leaned back on his chair and said, "Su Yu...sigh. I guess the biggest dream I can have is to become a mayor like him. He won't be able to live for long. In fact, I reckon I can outlive him. Perhaps...I have the chance to become the next mayor after his death."

White One nodded, "He is too rash. He even got the stone statue to fight for him and leave the city. He won't be alive for long."

Su Yu smiled, "If you ask me, I hope to see him make even more moves. That will only accelerate his death."

As the two conversed, the other white masks could only listen silently. Even if some of them were Sunmoons, they did not feel qualified to interject in this conversation. Before long, Su Yu's mask shook slightly. The eighth elder's message had arrived.

"Profound Nine, you may start releasing the information."

"Noted."

Su Yu's reply was short.

***

All the paying customers were brought into a group communication channel. There were quite a lot of them. Including the staff from the pavilion, there were more than 120 people in the channel.

Almost every individual in the channel was the representative of a major power. Most of them were backed by Invincibles. In fact, someone without at least that much backing would hardly be able to afford to enter this channel.

Su Yu would take the leading role in the release of information. Even so, his status was not high enough in the pavilion. Thus, he did not have full access to all the information in the channel. He couldn't see the exact number of participants or their identities. He only knew about the customers who had received their index copies from him.

Nobody was saying anything. It almost felt like the channel was empty, but Su Yu knew everyone was paying close attention.

"I'm Profound Nine."

The silence was finally broken.

"If anyone here has searched Nanyuan before as well, you might also know a bit more than the regular person. I suggest you share it with everyone here. That way, you can compare it against what I'm about to say. Everyone will know if the information I'm about to release is worth this price.

"I took a massive risk to learn what I know. If you doubt me, you may get a Sunmoon ancient city resident and search Nanyuan through their death qi. That might allow them to discover what I found as well. Oh, you could also find yourself a Pseudo Invincible or an Invincible. That would work as well, I guess."

Finally, someone else spoke, "Profound Nine, stop wasting time. We have all paid to be here. Since we have decided to pay, we naturally have a certain degree of trust in the pavilion. We will decide for ourselves what we want to believe."

It wouldn't be too late to worry about verifying the information after hearing about it.

"Sure. Let me preface this. If you have any questions about what I'm about to say, you may ask. As long as it is relevant to the information I'm releasing, I will provide answers free of charge. As for any other information, you may contact us privately and negotiate a different deal. Firstly, there is a ruin in Nanyuan."

Nobody questioned that. Or perhaps everyone was merely waiting for him to say more.

"Secondly, this might be the ruin of a cultural researcher, not a warrior."

Immediately, a question came, "Do you have any proof for that?"

"Be patient. Let me finish. Thirdly, I am tentatively naming this ruin the Culture Ruin."

Someone else asked, "Have you entered the ruin?"

"No. But I did manage to get a glimpse of the ruin through a unique method. If you did enter, all of you would have learned of it by now. This is related to my next point. I believe this is not a ruin you can enter secretly. Any attempt to enter might generate loud sounds or massive energy undulations."

At that, some of the people in the channel cursed. That would be annoying.

"How was Su Yu able to enter undetected?"

"You should ask Su Yu, not me. Perhaps he was lucky. Or perhaps he knew the proper method of entering."

Su Yu rolled his eyes. Of course he could enter undetected. That was a ruin he made. Then again, these people all believed that this fake ruin was the same as his ruin—wait, no. He didn't even have a ruin. There was simply no such thing in existence.

"Fourthly, this is likely an Invincible ruin. Carrier treasures have been found inside. This is not my conclusion. Rather, the experts in the pavilion were the ones who had concluded this. I only saw two sentient treasures inside the ruin."

If they were actually meeting face to face, everyone would probably start hearing everyone else gasping in shock at this point.

Chapter 1162: Culture Tomb (3)

At the same time.

In Great Ming, Zhu Tiandao was blinking in confusion. Was that for real? Wasn't the ruin supposed to be fake? Su Yu's lie was too excessive. Wouldn't this be too easy to expose? But...could it be that the kid was telling the truth?

***

Also at the same time.

Great Xia.

Marquis Xia and Xia Huyou exchanged gazes. With an odd expression, Marquis Xia asked, "Carrier treasures? That guy sure knows how to bluff. Won't that lie be too easy to expose? When the others see the ruin and find it empty, they will instantly know that this is fake."

After a slight hesitation, Xia Huyou said, "He complained that our fake ruin was terrible. Could it be...that he actually replaced our fake ruin with his actual ruin? He didn't sound like he was lying."

Marquis Xia was unsure of the truth.

***

Everyone was busy processing the shocking information Su Yu released.

"Fifthly, there is also a heavenly source fruit tree in there. The ruin is basically a heavenly source qi holy land. Sixthly, and most importantly, the pavilion originally intended to keep this final piece of information secret. If this is all the information we have to release, we would have charged only one drop of Sunmoon blood essence. But this final piece of information is worth nine drops."

That instantly grabbed everyone's attention. For them, just the five pieces of information were already worth the price they paid. But the final piece of information was actually so much more valuable than the rest?

Su Yu said, "In my opinion, the final piece of information will be a lot more important for cultural researchers. If the people of Great Xia are here as well, you may consider inviting Hong Tan and the others from the multiple character faction to Nanyuan. Hahaha, consider this information my free gift to Great Xia for our ceasefire."

Those words only served to further attract everyone in the channel.

Someone grew impatient and said, "Profound Nine, stop wasting time!"

"Culture Tomb. The Culture Tomb is in this ruin."

"..."

Confusion.

That was what a majority of them felt.

But one of the experts exclaimed, "Are you speaking the truth?"

"Yes."

"Profound Nine, if you dare to lie about this, the nether race will consider the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion our sworn enemy."

"I wouldn't dare to lie. So this is an expert from the nether race? I promise you this is the truth."

The nether race was also an ancient race.

Somewhere in the Human Realm, the expression of a nether expert changed abruptly. He did not even care about the exposure of his identity anymore.

Culture Tomb!

The Culture Tomb had been found!

Soon, he abandoned Ming Yue. While leaving, he sent her a voice transmission, "Watch your back. Do not provoke any experts for now. I need to return and make a report to our king."

"Elder, you can do this through the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion. They have a way to contact the Allheaven Battlefield directly."

The nether expert blanked out. True. He had completely forgotten about this. But that was mainly because he was too shocked to remember.

Ming Yue asked curiously, "Elder, what is this Culture Tomb?"

"I don't know."

"Huh?"

Ming Yue was left speechless. Why was this guy so agitated if he didn't know what it was?

The nether expert said, "In a gathering hundreds of years ago, the Nether Emperor once lamented the disappearance of the Culture Tomb. He claimed that with the Culture Tomb, perhaps he would be able to take one more step forward."

Instantly, Ming Yue's expression changed. Nether Emperor?

That was the number one expert of the nether race, also an ancient expert. A race would only be considered an ancient race with the presence of an unbroken legacy since the ancient past. Of course, it was also inevitable that they would still lose some of what they once knew. But as a whole, the legacies of these ancient races were still relatively intact.

The Nether Emperor might not be an Invincible from the actual ancient era, but he was most definitely someone who had lived for a very long time.

"Elder, this..."

"Don't ask too much. A few other races might know about the Culture Tomb as well. Things...are about to get troublesome."

The nether expert frowned, "Perhaps this will no longer be a conflict between young geniuses. Be careful. I suspect the tri-life bodies or clones of Invincibles will start appearing after this."

"I understand."

The experts of the other ancient races were also talking about this topic. As for those who did not know about the Culture Tomb, they could see the significance behind this reveal from the reaction of those ancient race experts. They did not need to know what it was to understand its importance.

Initially, some of them believed that it was too excessive for the final piece of information to be priced at nine drops of Sunmoon blood essence. But when they saw how the ancient race experts were reacting, they felt the joy of someone who had just discovered a big secret.

Culture Tomb!

That term had caught everyone's attention.

***

Su Yu continued, "I believe some of you understand the value of this information. Even if you don't understand, it doesn't matter. You only need to know that this information is invaluable. If you can get it under your control, you can easily trade it for three or even five carrier treasures with the major races."

"You can also consider selling it to the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion. We are willing to pay three carrier treasures for the Culture Tomb."

With that, the final doubt of the clueless individuals were dispersed. Holy shit! So that so-called Culture Tomb was that valuable?

A different expert made an offer as well, "The divine race is also willing to purchase this Culture Tomb if anyone manages to get it. We will definitely pay more than three carrier treasures."

"The devil race will not give up on this. But if we do fail to get it, we're also willing to purchase it. Do consider us if you're thinking of selling it."

"..."

At this moment, even those who were previously hiding their presence were no longer doing so. This was a form of insurance. What if they failed to get the Culture Tomb themselves? In that scenario, they naturally needed to purchase it.

Culture Tomb!

That thing was most definitely more valuable than even carrier treasures. One could also say that it could be used as a carrier treasure that was more powerful than ordinary carrier treasures.

With this, even those unaware of what the Culture Tomb was understood its value. Their eyes gleamed with greed. This was crazy. The Heavenly Hunt Pavilion had offered three carrier treasures for it without any hesitation.

***

Nanyuan.

Yuan Qingdong and his friends were all salivating. Even Invincible descendants like them had never received a single piece of carrier treasure before. But there were at least two in the ruin. Including the Culture Tomb, they stood to gain at least five carrier treasures from the ruin!

They all started contacting their respective families. Five carrier treasures! And that was only the minimum number. Perhaps they could get even more. This was an unprecendentedly valuable ruin.

The various powers, including some Invincibles, all started hearing about this. The Culture Tomb had resurfaced. Several carrier treasures had also appeared. On top of that, countless treasures were up for grabs as well.

This was an incredibly powerful ruin. It could very well produce two or three Invincibles alone.

At this time.

Great Xia.

Marquis Xia was frowning. Beside him, Xia Huyou was confused. He asked doubtfully, "Second Granduncle, what is this Culture Tomb?"

After thinking about it, Marquis Xia explained, "Culture Tomb...I don't know that well either. But your great-grandpa probably knows more." Follow current novels on noᴠelfire.net

He was speaking the truth. But he could remember hearing some rumors about it before. He wasted no time and sent a message to Great Xia King through a special channel. The message would first reach the Allheaven Prefecture before being delivered to Great Xia King. Nevertheless, it wouldn't take long.

This was still the Human Realm. Compared with the other races, it was far easier for the humans to deliver a message out of the realm.

After a while, Marquis Xia received a reply.

"Protect that thing and return it to either Su Yu or Hong Tan..."

Marquis Xia blanked out. Protect. Not snatch. Return it to Su Yu or Hong Tan. At this point, a certain realization dawned on Marquis Xia.

His expression turned complicated as he looked at Xia Huyou and sighed. "This is the root of the multiple character faction, also the root of my uncle..."

His uncle was Xia Chen. The first principal of Great Xia Cultural Research Academy. He had not affirmed his dao. He was the founder of the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy. Ultimately, he had perished in the Allheaven Battlefield. The Character Technique Stele was a root he left behind. That was the legacy of the multiple character faction.

Marquis Xia realized that the ruin might be fake or real, but the Culture Tomb was most definitely real. To attract more attention, Su Yu had placed it in the ruin. Marquis Xia didn't know how to feel anymore. If they lost this...the multiple character faction could very well cease to exist.

***

Countless questions were being asked in the group communication channel.

"Where is the entrance?"

"Answer us, Profound Nine!"

"We are willing to pay more for this information!"

"Heavenly Hunt Pavilion, why are you excluding the information about the entrance? Are you trying to monopolize the ruin?"

Culture Tomb and carrier treasures. These were all invaluable treasures. All these people were running out of patience. They were also worried that the pavilion would monopolize the ruin.

Su Yu replied nonchalantly, "If we're planning something like that, what's the point of releasing this information? We might as well keep silent. As for the entrance, I doubt it's the proper entrance. My guess is that the ruin will eventually resurface by itself. I also suspect that as long as a proper multiple character faction expert arrives in Nanyuan, the ruin might be triggered into making an appearance. If someone from Great Xia is here, you may take this into consideration."

Instantly, someone said, "Yes! If the Culture Tomb is really in there, the people of Great Xia might have a way of opening the ruin. Hong Tan...yes! Hong Tan might be able to do this! Not only him! This might be applicable to all multiple character cultivators! An ancient Invincible cultural researcher is most likely a multiple character cultivator!"

Once again, those unaware of the Culture Tomb were shocked. How was this thing related to the multiple character faction? As for the human experts, they were suddenly reminded of the multiple character cultivators they had been nurturing in secret. Perhaps...this was their chance!

Once again, this message was spread everywhere. The secret multiple character cultivators who had just entered the Human Realm not long ago received a new command. They were all ordered to head to Nanyuan immediately. This might be a massive opportunity for them!

Su Yu continued, "This is all. I assure you I'm telling the truth. Of course, you are free to believe what you want. Time will prove everything. Even without any activation, the ruin will eventually resurface by itself. It might happen soon. The Culture Manor has revealed itself. Good luck and I look forward to our future cooperation, everyone."

With that, everyone was kicked out of the channel. The impact of this announcement was far larger than anyone had imagined.

Chapter 1163: Meeting The Elder (1)

The appearance of the Culture Tomb had indeed shocked various parties.

Divine Realm.

Several divine kings were gathered before a massive palace. With its bronze walls, the palace looked incomparably ancient.

"Emperor, the Culture Tomb has appeared."

One of the divine kings present announced.

A short while later, an ancient voice rang out, "Culture Tomb...was the stele obtained by Xia Chen back then not the Culture Tomb?"

Clearly, the Divine Emperor was feeling doubtful about this. He had always believed that the Culture Tomb was in Xia Chen's hands.

"We're unsure. But according to the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion, the Culture Tomb has appeared in the Nanyuan ruin."

"Nanyuan? Human Realm's Nanyuan?" The Divine Emperor muttered, "The four origins(yuan), east, south, west, and north. Nanyuan(South Origin)...who ruled Nanyuan during the ancient past?"

The divine kings said nothing.

After a while, the Divine Emperor spoke again, "A long time has passed and many things have changed. Perhaps...only the truly ancient existences know about these ancient secrets."

"Emperor, do you know these ancient secrets?" asked a divine king doubtfully.

The Divine Emperor replied, "I was born in an era after the ancient past. The Divine Emperor of the time was very reluctant to speak about the ancient secrets. During the few times he did talk about the ancient past, he was unwilling to divulge too much."

These divine kings were even younger than the current Divine Emperor. They were naturally unaware of the ancient secrets as well.

A different divine king asked, "Emperor, that Culture Tomb..."

They knew very little about the Culture Tomb as well. They only knew that the Divine Emperor once mentioned that the Culture Tomb might be in the hands of Xia Chen's line. In truth, the shadow of the myriad races could be seen behind the deaths of both Xia Chen and Ye Batian.

Or to be precise, their shadow could be seen behind the deaths of all the previous Great Xia Cultural Research Academy's principals. Because of the Culture Tomb, every sitting principal of the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy would become the target of the myriad races.

Of course, the myriad races were also unsure if the Character Technique Stele was actually the Culture Tomb of legends. After all, they could only rely on rumors to make their judgment.

According to the rumors, the multiple character faction had only appeared in the Human Realm after the discovery of the Culture Tomb. It was widely proclaimed that the Culture Tomb was the origin of the multiple character faction.

The divine kings did not know too much about the Culture Tomb, but they knew that this was what their emperor needed. After a slight hesitation, the Divine Emperor said, "I don't know the exact use of the Culture Tomb either. But it might be related to advancement. My advancement, to be precise."

Instantly, the expressions of the divine kings changed.

"Emperor...are you...still stuck?"

"If advancement is so easy, those old fellows from the devil, immortal, and nether races would have advanced long ago."

The Divine Emperor said, "Advancement into a true Emperor...is not that simple. The Culture Tomb might be the key to taking that crucial step forward. But I'm unsure about that as well."

"Then..."

"Everyone will fight for this Culture Tomb. Everyone wants to know the purpose of this mysterious Culture Tomb. Someone once mentioned that the Culture Tomb is the essence of a once-glorious civilization."

The Divine Emperor continued, "What a pity that nobody has ever discovered its exact whereabouts. Xia Chen and Ye Batian might have been very talented in the past, to the point where they were not far from dao affirmation, they never felt like someone capable of eventually becoming an Emperor."

Was the Culture Tomb really in their hands? The Divine Emperor was unsure. Nobody was sure. That was why none of them had taken the drastic action of attacking Great Xia directly for the Character Technique Stele. But now, someone was claiming that the real Culture Tomb had appeared.

The Divine Emperor said, "Fight for it. Even if it can't help in my advancement, it is still better to have it in our hands than the hands of others."

Yes, perhaps the Culture Tomb wouldn't help with the advancement into a proper Emperor. But who knew? What if it could really help? What then?

What if it fell into the hands of that devil?

What if it fell into the hands of that immortal?

Better a useless item in their hands than a useful item in the hands of others.

The biggest contributor to the relative peace in the Myriad Realms currently was the inability of any party to actually dominate it. People like the Divine Emperor, Devil Emperor, Immortal Emperor, Nether Emperor, and others were called emperors, but they weren't actually emperors. They were all still in the Eternal Realm.

The first among them to take that crucial step forward would also be the first to start a war that would engulf the entire Myriad Realms. All the Pseudo Emperors understood this. Additionally, there were also a lot of secrets waiting to be unveiled.

The Death Realm, the destruction of the ancient past, the Luminous Domain Mansion, and the unique position of humanity. These were all mysterious waiting to be uncovered.

Numerous thoughts appeared in Divine Emperor's mind. Soon, he spoke again, "Go. Tell our children to obtain the Culture Tomb at any cost."

"Yes."

The Divine Emperor was not worried that the young divines would try to keep the Culture Tomb for themselves. This did not matter. In fact, apart from the other Pseudo Emperors, the Divine Emperor didn't really care if the Culture Tomb fell into the hands of others.

That day, a similar order was passed down among the various races.

They had to obtain the Culture Tomb.

Most people did not know the actual purpose of the Culture Tomb. But it didn't matter. According to the ancient records, the Culture Tomb might be related to the secret of ascending into an Emperor.

That alone was enough for everyone to fight for it.

At the same time.

Eastrift Valley.

The Invincibles there also heard of what happened. One of them asked doubtfully, "Great Xia King, I've heard of the Culture Tomb before. Back then, the myriad races had demanded that Xia Chan hand it over to them before killing him. Are they talking about the same Culture Tomb this time?"

Great Xia King snorted coldly and said, "Yes. My younger brother told them clearly he did not have it. He didn't even know what they were talking about. But those bastards still encircled and killed him. One day, I will kill every single one of them."

"Culture Tomb...so it really exists? And it's actually in Great Xia? In Nanyuan?"

Great Xia King frowned and said, "Do you really believe the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion? They are full of shit. There is no ruin in Nanyuan. I searched that place myself back then. In fact, I stayed there for many years. If there was really a ruin there, I would have snatched the treasures inside long ago. If there was really a ruin there, Longwu wouldn't have left to search for his own carrier treasures. He could have affirmed his dao in the ruin. Also, even if there was really a ruin there, it would have been inherited by Su Yu already. How can there be anything left?"

"Great Xia King, you're not being consistent." Someone laughed, "First, you denied that there was a ruin there. Then, you said that it had been inherited by Su Yu. But we all know his situation. Even if he did inherit that ruin, it is likely that he hadn't obtained much from it. At most, he had only obtained some cultivation methods. We all know the history of his growth very well. If he had fully inherited that ruin, why would he need to carry out so many scams just to support his own cultivation?"

They concluded that even if Su Yu had inherited something from the ruin, it wouldn't be the full inheritance. And Great Xia King was being inconsistent. Was he afraid that everyone would try to steal that ruin from Great Xia?

With a frown, Great Xia King coldly said, "I searched Nanyuan before. And I did it more than once. If I wasn't able to find something, how could a mere Profound Nine discover something? Is a mere nobody like him better than me? What a joke!"

"You never know. Maybe the ruin was perfectly concealed before, but with the passage of time, its seal is slowly fading away. Have you been there recently, Great Xia King?"

Still frowning, Great Xia King answered, "Nope."

"There you have it."

The other person laughed, "Great Xia King, Great Xia isn't in a good position right now. In my opinion, you should relax and focus on Longwu's coming dao affirmation. You don't need to worry about any other matter."

After a short silence, Great Xia King said, "I don't care. But I won't allow anyone to throw Great Xia into chaos. At the very least, I won't allow any Eternal to step into Great Xia."

Finally, Great Qin King spoke, "Enough. This is an internal matter in the Human Realm. Let the people back home deal with it. If they fail to handle it properly, they can only blame their incompetence. In fact, this isn't even a bad thing for us. If any hostile Invincibles were to send their tri-life bodies or clones into the Human Realm, it would make our job much easier. Tell Longwu to get ready. The moment the ruin appears, our people should start their dao affirmation. The myriad races will have to deal with this distraction. One extra Eternal in the Human Realm is one less Eternal in the Allheaven Battlefield."

A lot of people nodded in agreement. One of them joked, "Great Xia King, that's not a fake ruin, right? A fake ruin to distract everyone while Longwu attempts his dao affirmation."

It was inevitable that some of them would think of this possibility. Thanks to the appearance of this so-called Culture Tomb, a decent number of Invincibles might send their tri-life bodies into the Human Realm. And Invincibles without their tri-life bodies had a tendency to hide themselves since they would be more vulnerable in that state.

The arrival of each tri-life body would essentially remove one Invincible from the equation when the humans began their dao affirmation. And if seven or eight tri-life bodies were sent into the Human Realm, that was less seven or eight Invincibles for them to worry about in the Allheaven Battlefield.

This was actually a good thing for them. At the very least, this was a good thing for Xia Longwu.

But Great Xia King merely scowled and said, "Perhaps. Just be careful. This might be a trap by the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion. Great Xia might be able to set up a trap of much smaller proportions, but this involved several carrier treasures, a heavenly source tree, a sunmoon profound yellow pond, and the Culture Tomb."

He solemnly said, "And this isn't even something leaked by my Xia Family. Rather, it's the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion. Tell your descendants to control their greed. I'm warning all of you here. This is probably a trap. Why is the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion attracting so many people to Great Xia for no reason? They must be planning something sinister.

"Initially, only some young geniuses will gather in Great Xia. But now, even Invincibles might get involved. Things are not looking too good."

Great Xia King warned, "Keep an eye out. Zhu Dizhu should stay in the Human Realm as a precaution. If he's not around when the tri-life bodies of Invincibles start appearing, even the Human Realm itself might end up destroyed. And that won't benefit any of us."

Finally, the other Invincibles nodded, their expressions turning slightly solemn. True. Who could even afford to set up a trap like that? It was more likely that the ruin was the real deal.

However, it was also obvious that the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion had most certainly not released that information out of kindness. Rather, they were trying to sow chaos and fish in troubled water.

"We'll need to observe more." Great Qin King said, "Old Xia, as long as you're certain your Xia Family is not behind all that, it will be fine. The matter has been escalated too much. It's getting too big for the Xia Family to control. Too many variables have been introduced."

Great Xia King rolled his eyes, "It's like you said nothing."

He couldn't even be bothered to entertain those words further. How could his Xia Family be behind this? They didn't have any extra carrier treasures. Then again, were there really carrier treasures in that ruin?

At this point, even Great Xia King himself was starting to get confused. Was there really a ruin in Nanyuan? This was so confusing. Fınd the newest release on n0velfire.net

Chapter 1164: Meeting The Elder (2)

That day, numerous secret meetings were held.

That day, super experts started carefully going through the realm entrances to the Human Realm that were not under humanity's control. The realm entrance leading to the Allheaven Prefecture was the largest realm entrance, but that did not mean that it was the sole realm entrance.

The Myriad Race Cult had always been able to smuggle experts in and out of the Human Realm, and these unknown realm entrances were what they had been using.

Of course, it wasn't completely safe to use these realm entrances. For example, the entrance under the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion's control could easily deliver one right in front of a human Invincible. Some of the other realm entrances were filled with spatial cracks, making it an excessively dangerous experience to travel through them.

Because of the numerous issues, these alternative realm entrances were only suitable for smaller groups of people.

Naturally, none of that was something for Su Yu to worry about.

He was only in charge of stirring trouble, not taking care of the consequences. At the moment, he was busy meeting some higher-ups of the pavilion. These people were actual higher-ups of significance instead of some white masks.

They were none other than the third and eighth elders. The two top experts had arrived in Great Xia.

Su Yu was extremely cautious during the meeting. Several of his characters were kept fused at all times to strengthen his characters, conceal his aura, and alter his appearance. Yes, he was keeping a disguised face even when he was masked. He had changed his face to that of the original Profound Nine's.

Additionally, Su Yu's direct superior, First Profound Elder was also present. Of the three elders, two were Pseudo Invincibles while the other was an eighth-stage Sunmoon. Even among the myriad races, they were top experts.

Behind his mask, Su Yu's forehead was already beaded with sweat. His strength had increased significantly compared to the time when he was still disguising himself as Cui Lang. He had grown in all aspects, such as his characters, willpower, and everything else. But was that enough to maintain his disguise against Pseudo Invincibles?

He only knew that he had failed to hide anything from Old Wan. That geezer had been able to recognize him with one look. Because of that, he had been growing less confident of his concealment abilities.

Su Yu was already very strong. But he was still far weaker than the individuals standing in front of him. Any carelessness might lead to an exposure of his identity. And that would be fatal for him.

Also, was First Profound on his side or not? This would be the perfect opportunity for First Profound to sell him out. But it was quite likely that First Profound was on his side or the betrayal would have probably happened long ago.

There was a tinge of gold in the masks of the third and eighth elders. In the pavilion, that was the sign of a Pseudo Invincible. The two elders merely gazed at him silently. They did not pressure him with their auras, nor did they do anything to him.

Finally, the third elder spoke in a genial manner, "Profound Nine, you did very well this time. You were able to discover a secret nobody could, fully expanding our business in the Human Realm. Thanks to you, the number of requests we received in the Human Realm has increased significantly. Your hard work has played the biggest role in this."

"I wouldn't dare hog the credit. I have only been doing what I should."

The third elder continued speaking in the same genial tone, "Do not be too modest. I know that those from the fiery eye race don't generally have a good temper. You're doing very well here. The fiery eye race isn't strong, but the pavilion is willing to help you become the leader of your race if you wish to."

"There is no need for that. A leader of a minor race is nothing compared to an elder in the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion." Su Yu said, "Furthermore, I have too many enemies, including the Xia Family. It's fine if I stay away from my people, but returning will also bring them a calamity they can't handle."

The eighth elder laughed, "True. The Xia Family is incredibly hateful. Profound Nine, I heard that the fiery eye race's eye techniques are capable of refining some unique materials. I have a chunk of netherearth gold here. Can you refine it?"

He took out a chunk of metal and sighed, "I can forcefully refine it as well, but it's too inefficient to do so. This thing is too valuable to be wasted like that. It can be used to forge heaven weapons, and a chunk of this size is actually very rare. If I were to refine it myself, I would waste at least seventy percent of it. Can you do me this favor, Profound Nine? Rather than wasting seventy percent of it, I would rather let you have it. As long as you can refine more than thirty percent of the essence, you can keep the rest."

Su Yu cursed inwardly. He didn't even dare to be too straightforward when cursing inwardly. Nevertheless, he still cursed inwardly that this elder was doing this to test him. If the elder was going to do this, the elder should have done it in a more straightforward manner instead of hiding behind an excuse like this!

Then again, this was also quite a reasonable request. It wasn't like the elder could directly ask about his identity since according to the pavilion rules, only the direct superior could know the identity of a member. The rıghtful source is novel•fire.net

As long as the First Profound Elder was fine with his identity, they should not be questioning him. But they were probably still worried. Or to be precise, they were merely doing this out of habit, telling Su Yu to demonstrate his so-called racial talent as proof of identity.

In front of Pseudo Invincibles, a fake racial talent would not be able to pass as a real racial talent. And they would notice immediately if he attempted to use ability blood essence for this request. If he could fool even them, what else could they do but bow to his superior skills?

To conduct this test, the eighth elder had even taken out a treasure like netherearth gold. This thing was not as valuable as some of the better carrier treasures, but it was strong enough to be used as a weaker carrier treasure as long as one did not mind having a weaker tri-life body.

Su Yu said, "Eighth Elder, you're too generous. There is no need for that. I only need a hundred portions of heavenly source qi. Refining this chunk of metal is no big deal for me."

"A hundred portions?"

The eighth elder laughed, "Sure. But I won't make you suffer a loss. I'll pay two hundred portions. The pavilion might not be incredibly wealthy, but we are also not so poor we have to skimp on this."

Su Yu did not waste any time. Abruptly, a fiery beam shot out of his eyes. Before the beam, the chunk of metal started melting. Drop after drop of the liquid metal dripped down. With a roar by Su Yu, a powerful burst of source qi erupted from his body. Space itself was burned by his fiery beam.

His eyes burned like a pair of fireballs.

Meanwhile, the two elders looked at each other as the eighth elder asked through voice transmission, "So?"

"He's not using any external power. This must be the racial ability of the fiery eye race."

The two nodded. At the very least, it was now proven that Profound Nine was indeed from the fiery eye race. That alone dispelled a lot of their suspicions.

Profound Nine was not directly subordinate to either of them. Thus, it was inconvenient for them to directly ask him some questions. Nevertheless, they still had to be cautious and take the necessary precautions.

While the two elders were conversing with each other, Su Yu was also in the middle of a conversation. He was talking to First Profound. The two were communicating through their masks.

"Elder, what is the meaning of this? They're suspecting me. That's the same as suspecting you. They're disrespecting you!"

First Profound remained silent. Wasn't it normal for the elders to suspect this kid?

"Elder, do you know me before this?"

"Like I said, I'm your grandpa."

"..."

Screw this nonsense!

Su Yu cursed inwardly.

"Elder, you're still a late-stage Sunmoon. How can you let them disrespect you like this? You should do something or they will see this as weaa kness."

"That makes sense..."

Su Yu was merely saying that to provoke the elder. Surprisingly, the elder actually responded. First Profound coldly said, "Enforcer elders, are you done? If not, perhaps you should also check with the Profound Department head if my identity is suspicious as well. Who knows? Perhaps I'm a traitor like First Yellow. Profound Nine, take your mask off and show them the type of people I take under me."

"..."

Su Yu was stunned. The two enforcer elders were stunned as well.

First Profound raised his voice, "Take off your mask. Do you hear me? Are you going to disobey me?"

"First Profound, you misunderstand us..."

The eighth elder started explaining himself. No matter what, they still had to acord an eighth-stage Sunmoon with some respect.

But First Profound ignored him and continued, "Profound Nine, do my words mean nothing to you now?"

Su Yu cursed inwardly.

He acted like he was struggling as he said, "Elder, I..."

"Do it."

Indignantly, he slowly took his mask off, revealing a pale face. His eyes looked completely normal, but his complexion was also slightly gray, perhaps due to the death qi in his body. The two elders hurriedly looked at him when the mask was taken off. He did not keep the mask off for long. He put it back after a short moment and lowered his head in silence.

The eighth elder said again, "There isn't a need for this at all. The pavilion has its own rules. First Profound, you're making us look bad..."

First Profound coldly said, "I wouldn't dare. Profound Nine has indeed been too foolish. I advised him long ago that this is a man-eat-man world. He needs to hide what he's really capable of. But this fool never understood that. He didn't even realize someone was trying to harm him by overly praising him. And now, he had offended the Xia Family and incurred the envy of some incompetent fools in the pavilion, becoming a prime target to be stabbed in the back. How foolish."

Su Yu maintained his silence.

The third elder laughed and said, "First Profound, you think too much. That wasn't our intention. The eighth elder was merely using this chance to reward Profound Nine for his hard work. Sigh...we're also to blame for this. It isn't proper to have Profound Nine reveal his real appearance. Don't worry. We will never expose this to anyone else..."

He looked at Su Yu and said, "Profound Nine, don't misunderstand us. The two of us have actually prepared five hundred portions of heavenly source qi for you. I believe this will help deal with the death qi in your body."

"Thank you."

Su Yu did not refuse the gift. What nonsense. Why should he say no when he was receiving something for free? What a surprise. He had merely pushed First Profound a tiny bit, but the elder had actually acted on it.

First Profound continued speaking with an overcast tone, "I understand this wasn't your intention. But there are people with such intentions in the pavilion. These incompetent fools do not enjoy seeing others doing well. They are envious of me for having a competent subordinate. It is only a matter of time before Profound Nine becomes an elder. If we are able to conclude our operations here smoothly, he will be due a promotion. I hope the two of you can lend him your help during his promotion. The exposure of his identity won't be a good thing for us. I only hope that this will allow you to understand him more and see how talented he is. It is also far easier to work with someone we know and trust."

Understanding dawned on the two elders. So First Profound was not doing this to denounce them. He was trying to seek their help for Profound Nine's promotion.

It generally wouldn't matter to them who the new elder was. But Profound Nine was someone they knew well. Since they knew how he looked, they could even find out more about him if they wanted. It wasn't like the fiery eye race was a big race.

Thus, it was much better to have someone they could trust working alongside them than someone they didn't know. The two smiled. First Profound was doing this for Profound Nine's sake, but looking at Profound Nine's current state, he might not necessarily be thankful for this.

The eighth elder said, "Definitely. After we conclude our operations here, Profound Nine will receive even more trust from the pavilion. He will most definitely be promoted so long as he grows his cultivation more. Profound Nine, you're only an early-stage Sunmoon. It won't be too easy for you to reach the late stage."

First Profound said, "That's not necessarily true. To reach the middle stage, he only needs sufficient sunmoon profound yellow liquid. If he's able to continue doing well and find a way to get rid of the death qi in his body, the middle stage won't be an issue for him. As for the late stage, well, it isn't like no middle-stage Sunmoon has ever been promoted to an elder before..."

"True."

Chapter 1165: Meeting The Elder (3)

The two elders nodded and continued laying praises on Su Yu. Before long, he was done working on the chunk of metal.

The eighth elder smiled, "Not bad. Sixty percent of the essence remains. You're pretty good at this."

"Thank you, Elder."

"You don't have to be overly humble." The eighth elder said, "Keep working hard. You stand to gain a lot if you continue your good job, especially during the upcoming events related to the Nanyuan ruin. You're already the leader of our Great Xia operations. We're here to assist you, not make things troublesome for you. If you have any issues, do not hesitate to inform us. We will deal with anything you're having trouble with."

Su Yu thought about it and voiced his request without any hesitation, "I need your help with this, Elders. I am trying to take over the Myriad Race Cult. Those people have been trying to play dumb and waste time. If the two elders can help kill a few of their Sunmoons, they will cower and willingly serve as our dogs."

"That...fine. If you can locate them, we will do something about this."

The two Pseudo Invincibles agreed. Yes, this might offend the Myriad Race Cult. But was there a need for them to fear the cult? They were confident they could deal with even the First Divine Sect master and Original Devil Sect master. According to what they heard, one of the two sect masters was a ninth-stage Sunmoon while the other was an eighth-stage Sunmoon. Was there a need for two Pseudo Invincibles to fear them?

"Thank you." After thanking the two elders, Su Yu looked at First Profound and asked, "Elder, are you busy with any mission at the moment?"

"No."

"In that case, I'll have to trouble you as well. Can you operate alongside me and cover my back for now? I need to scout the hideouts of the cult, kill some people, and force some people out. All those hidden experts will be exposed for everyone to see. This will make it easier for us to operate in Great Xia."

"Sure."

The two enforcer elders also nodded. That was the right thing to do. Only by forcing everyone to reveal themselves would the pavilion be able to operate better in Great Xia. How boring would it be to let some people continue hiding in the shadows while everyone else was in conflict?

Su Yu continued, "One more thing. I need to establish contact with Ji Hong. Both Yellow Nine and I were there when Ji Hong talked about the secret previously. Ji Hong is very important. Perhaps the three of us are the only ones aware of this secret right now..."

"What is this secret?"

"Ji Hong knows the identity of the human Invincible traitor."

That shocked all three elders.

"Are you sure?"

Profound Nine had refused to elaborate more about Ji Hong previously, and they did not force the issue. Now that they were told the truth, it was shocking indeed.

Seeing their reaction, Su Yu nodded, "Yes. That's why I want to conduct a further investigation about this. If we can grasp this secret, we will be able to get a lot from either the human experts or that traitor. Perhaps we can get even carrier treasures out of this. Who knows? We might even be able to recruit a human Invincible into the pavilion."

Su Yu continued, "With this secret, it will be possible for that Invincible to join us. The pavilion does not care about where you come from. That Invincible will choose to join us if they're not stupid. Maybe they will even be put in charge of us. With this addition, the pavilion will grow further in strength."

The three elders were greatly shocked. One of them said, "We were not aware of this. Before we do anything, we need to report this to the higher-ups. Profound Nine...why didn't you report this earlier? Yellow Nine is a traitor. What if he leaks this information? Ji Hong is too important. Are you sure he knows this?"

"He sounded confident, but I can't be sure yet. I need to investigate further and get in contact with him. I can see that Ji Hong doesn't fully trust the Xia Family either. By buying the information from him, we're actually doing him a favor."

"That is reasonable."

The elders were once again impressed by Su Yu's ability to contribute to the pavilion. He seemed capable of everything. No secret could remain a secret from him. With Profound Nine around, the pavilion would be able to maximize its benefits in the Human Realm.

"Profound Nine, about the Nanyuan ruin's entrance..."

Su Yu indifferently said, "It's right inside Su Yu's house. It's not even a big secret. Elders, you are free to go there yourself. But I don't think it's a good idea to trigger its appearance right now. That will turn the pavilion into everyone's enemy. It's not wise to do that. Great Ming King is also still around. We won't get anything out of this if Great Ming King manages to snatch the ruin before us. At the very least, we need to wait until Great Ming King is away or kept busy with a different matter before acting."

Inwardly, Su Yu thought that Great Ming King couldn't leave yet. He still needed more time. With Great Ming King around, nobody would dare to trigger the ruin's appearance in advance. It would be best to do so when more experts were here and no Invincible was around. The most update n0vels are published on novel·fire.net

"That's right!"

The two elders nodded. Profound Nine was truly too good at this. What a good member to have in the pavilion. He had considered all there was to consider. They might be strong, but it was simply impossible for them to actually contend against Great Ming King. They could only act after Great Ming King was gone.

"What if Great Ming King searches Nanyuan and discovers the ruin?"

They started worrying.

Su Yu smiled, "We're not the only ones worrying about this. Everyone is worrying about the same thing. Don't worry. Everyone will be thinking of a way to make him leave. It's also unlikely that Great Ming King will dare to actually search Nanyuan. That will only make Great Ming everyone's common enemy."

Once again, the two elders were impressed by Profound Nine's wisdom.

First Profound rolled his eyes and said, "Do you think we don't know this as well? Why are you trying to get involved with everything? Don't bite off more than you can chew."

"First Profound, you shouldn't be too strict with Profound Nine. He's still young. It's good for a youngster to have such vigor, unlike old timers like us."

First Profound said, "I'm only worried that he will get too brazen and put himself in danger."

Su Yu said, "You're right, Elder. I was too rash."

First Profound said, "It's good that you know this. Don't think that the pavilion won't be able to get anything done without you. The pavilion has survived in the Allheaven Battlefield for countless years. Do you think you're the only capable member in the pavilion? Some people have merely been hiding their ability, unwilling to contribute unless they stand to gain something big. Do you think you alone can turn the pavilion into the biggest organization in the Allheaven Battlefield? For now, the three of us can still provide you with some protection. But when you become an elder in the future, you will have to start relying on yourself. If you continue acting so rashly, you will eventually suffer a miserable end."

Some of those words were merely an act First Profound was putting up for the two enforcer elders, but some were also his sincere advice. He was reminding Su Yu to not get overconfident in a roundabout way. The Heavenly Hunt Pavilion was far more complicated than Su Yu knew. Some people only looked incompetent because they were hiding their real ability.

Understanding dawned on Su Yu.

With his head lowered, he solemnly said, "Profound Nine understands. The matter of Invincibles is not for me to participate in. The pavilion and the various races must have decided on what to do with Great Ming King. I shouldn't have tried to get involved in this."

The third elder laughed, "First Profound is right. Profound Nine, learn more from First Profound. Someone will deal with Great Ming King. I reckon some Invincibles are already waiting eagerly amid the boundless void to attack the realm barrier. Great Ming King will be too busy to care about the things happening here."

Su Yu's heart thumped. Was that the case? In that case, he had to ask Old Zhu about this later. Had Great Ming King really been forced to leave? Why was he unaware of this? Whatever. he could simply ask Old Zhu if he wanted to know more.

Shortly after, Su Yu and First Profound left the meeting place together.

With a sigh, Su Yu sent a voice transmission, "Elder, that was dangerous. You were too brazen."

"Am I supposed to fear them?" First Profound said, "They are only slightly stronger than me, but they are not a threat. The people from the Enforcement Unit are quite rigid in their way of thinking. Compared to them, the department heads are far more dangerous. The only thing good about these enforcer elders is their strength."

After a short pause, the elder asked, "Were you telling the truth about Ji Hong?"

"Yes."

"In that case...he'll be in danger."

"I didn't tell anyone else about this."

"Yes, but he might leak it himself to lure that Invincible out."

Su Yu was alarmed. True. He had already suspected that Ji Hong had only said those words to Rainbow One previously to leak this matter through a different party.

First Profound asked, "How about the ruin? Is that a real ruin?"

"Of course. How can I fool everyone with a fake ruin?"

"Maybe that's the case for others, but it's hard to say when you, the number one scammer of the Myriad Realms, are involved."

First Profound continued, "You have plenty of sunmoon profound yellow liquid and heavenly source qi. The stone statue had also blasted several tri-life bodies previously. So taking out some carrier treasures won't be an issue for you either. As for the Culture Tomb...the Character Technique Stele has always been rumored to be the actual Culture Tomb. It's not out of reach for you. Do you think I'll actually believe that this is a real ruin?"

"Elder, just who are you?"

Su Yu was getting more and more curious.

"Your grandpa."

"@#!%*&#!*^#*@%^ you!"

Su Yu responded by sending a message with a long string of characters to the elder. However, the elder merely replied nonchalantly, "I know 987 languages. You cursed me with seven different languages. I can read all of them."

Holy shit!

This time, Su Yu cursed inwardly. Wasn't that a tad bit too excessive?

"Elder, you remind me of someone."

"Who?"

"My Teacher Liu. He always appears earnest and polite, but he's shifty and shameless. He can infuriate someone to death just by talking calmly."

"Is it appropriate for you to speak of your teacher like this?"

"Nope. But that's the truth. He once told me that women are bad for cultivation. But he has a harem all for himself. He even fooled me in the past with a semi-fake willpower text without feeling any shame. You're the same as him."

"Sure enough, you're a little bastard. Just look at the disrespect you're showing your teacher."

Su Yu rolled his eyes, "You're as much of a bastard as me."

How was he disrespecting his teacher? He was merely being honest. Also, his Teacher Liu was also outwardly cold but inwardly passionate. He had merely refrained from pointing that out all this while.

Whatever. He had also been keeping silent about the incident where his Teacher Liu was beaten up during his time in the high school for trying to hit on a female teacher.

Su Yu decided that he really had to keep this a secret for the sake of his teacher. Otherwise, his teacher's glorious image would be shattered. Wu Yuehua and the others would also give his teacher a hard time if they learned about that matter. Fine, fine. What could he do but keep this a secret?

Su Yu started praising himself inwardly for the great kindness and loyalty he was showing his teacher. He could only hope that Chen Hao wouldn't be the one to spread these stories instead. After all, Chen Hao was right beside him when he saw that incident.

Chapter 1166: Gathering In Nanyuan (1)

The fake ruin was ready. Next, they could proceed with luring the traitor out.

But the plan had yet to succeed. The traitor needed to feel threatened for this plan to work. Ji Hong, Hong Tan, and the others were key individuals. As for Ji Hong's secret, it couldn't leak through Great Xia as that would be too suspicious. The Heavenly Hunt Pavilion would be the best for this job.

***

With First Profound in tow, Su Yu headed toward Great Xia City once again.

The strong would always be brave. But in Su Yu's current case, it would be more apt to say that he was fearless because he knew he was backed here. After putting on a random hood, Su Yu strutted into the capital under broad daylight with First Profound beside him. He couldn't even be bothered to put more effort into his disguise.

Even First Profound couldn't help asking, "Isn't this a tad bit too casual?"

Su Yu explained, "Not at all. The more confident we seem, the less suspicious we will look. Do you want to bet that the Xia Family is still unaware of our arrival?"

The most obvious place was also the easiest place to neglect. It was very likely that the Xia Family had yet to notice them. Which spy would openly strut into a city with minimal disguise under broad daylight?

First Profound was rendered speechless. Inwardly, he thought that this damn kid was merely acting like this because he knew the Xia Family wouldn't harm him even if he was discovered. Before long, the two reached the Talent Fostering Bureau.

Looking at the building in front of them, First Profound asked through voice transmission, "Do we see Ji Hong just like this? Is he even aware of your identity? If he called for help, things might get troublesome."

Su Yu shook his head, "We won't be meeting him straight away. Instead, we'll leave him an index copy to establish contact."

He added, "After this, we can protect my teacher and the others in the dark. They need to enter Nanyuan and achieve their breakthroughs there. We can follow them in secret to prevent anyone from killing them off."

"Are you using me like your hired thug?"

First Profound complained.

"It's perfectly normal for the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion to protect them."

Su Yu did not seem to care. He contacted the eighth elder directly, "Eighth Elder, Hong Tan and the others are planning to head toward Nanyuan and search for the ruin. I wish to ask for permission to have First Profound join me and protect them during the journey. They will help prove the existence of the ruin."

"Granted."

The eighth elder agreed that this was necessary. Before long, First Profound received the official mission for the job through his mask. He felt quite helpless. What the fuck? Was this really fine?

Su Yu had zero fear that he would be exposed. He even applied to have the pavilion protect his teacher for him. That was actually quite impressive.

"Fine, fine."

First Profound said, "Do you think anyone will actually try to kill them?"

"Definitely." Su Yu smiled, "That's completely normal. Everyone knows that the Culture Tomb is related to the multiple character faction. Some will definitely worry that they will directly inherit the ruin after arriving, leaving nothing for the others. I believe that it is even possible for those trying to stop them to be humans. I never trust in the morality of others."

First Profound understood what Su Yu was trying to say. The prefectures who had been training their own secret multiple character cultivators might make a move against Hong Tan and the others.

After a slight hesitation, he said, "Things aren't really that bad in the Human Realm, right?"

Su Yu said, "First Profound, you must have been away from home for too long. This is how the Human Realm is nowadays. I'm no longer so extreme that I believe everyone in the Human Realm can't be trusted. But I also know that there are plenty of humans I can't trust."

First Profound sank into silence.

They stopped talking. Shortly after, Su Yu spotted someone heading into the Talent Fostering Bureau. With a casual swing of his arm, an index copy appeared behind that person.

Ji Xiaomeng continued walking into the bureau, completely oblivious to what was happening. The people in the bureau stared at her in astonishment. They could understand the director's daughter having an index copy. That was no big deal. But why was she being so open about it?

Look at how she was carrying it on her back while walking around. Wasn't this a tad bit too arrogant of her?

Ji Xiaomeng was completely unaware that there was an index copy on her back. When she noticed everyone staring at her, she merely greeted them with a smile. How weird. Why were they looking at her with such weird gazes?

***

First Profound asked with amusement, "Do you know her?"

"Yes. Ji Hong's daughter."

Su Yu smiled, "Let's go. Ji Hong will receive the index copy soon. We can contact him then. The multiple character faction might move soon so we need to leave now. I can already sense some movements inside the building."

With a flicker, the two vanished.

Inside the Talent Fostering Bureau.

Finally, Ji Hong saw his daughter and the index copy on her back. He reached out and grabbed it before rushing out of the building without saying anything. Outside, he searched the area to no avail with a frown. Was someone from the pavilion here earlier?

How brazen. Great Xia was still on the hunt for them yet they had actually entered the capital.

After failing to find anything, Ji Hong returned inside. Ji Xiaomeng asked in confusion, "Dad, what happened?"

"Nothing." After a slight hesitation, Ji Hong added, "Don't go anywhere for now. Even better if you can stay in the academy and don't leave. I might be very busy soon."

"Oh." After looking around, Ji Xiaomeng grinned mischievously and asked, "Dad, can I visit Nanyuan?"

"No!" Ji Hong solemnly warned, "You can't go there. That place is too dangerous right now. Have you forgotten your own cultivation level? Remember, stay in the academy if possible. If chaos erupts in the academy, find a way to reach Great Qin."

Ji Xiaomeng blinked as she thought about it. After giving it some thought, she nodded.

After giving her a few more warnings, Ji Hong waved and said, "You can go now. Avoid this place for now."

"Oh. Dad, can...can I go to the Allheaven Battlefield instead?"

"Allheaven Battlefield?" Ji Hong frowned as he sank into thought. After a long time, he said, "It depends. If that's the only option left, you may do so. Our headquarters there will remain relatively safe."

"No, I'm thinking of looking for Su Yu. We used to be schoolmates, remember? At that time, maybe I can look for him and get him to avenge you."

Ji Hong frowned and said, "What are you even talking about?"

Ji Xiaomeng merely smiled and skidded out of the room without giving a reply. But clearly, she was not completely clueless as to what was about to happen. After she left, Ji Hong sighed.

He took out the index copy and hesitated for a while, before sending a message through it, "I'm Ji Hong. Who are you?"

"Profound Nine!"

Ji Hong wasn't even surprised. This was probably the only pavilion member who would try to contact him at this time.

"What do you want from me?"

"I'm very interested in what you mentioned previously. Name your price. Think of your daughter. She's still so young. Do you want her to accompany you to the afterlife?"

***

Outside the city.

Su Yu continued, "Director Ji, sell the information to us and the pavilion will help you and your family leave the Human Realm safely. You can then stay in a minor realm or enter the pavilion headquarters. Your safety will be guaranteed. The pavilion has the ability to do so."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Su Yu laughed, "Director Ji, why bother? Don't tell me that the words you said back then were merely the nervous ramblings of someone desperate. I believe you're currently worrying that the secret will remain a secret after your death. You suspect even the Xia Family. Perhaps Great Xia King himself is one of your suspects. Am I right?"

Ji Hong sank into silence.

Su Yu had determined that Ji Hong was either oblivious of the plan and was suspecting Great Xia King or he knew the plan and all this was an act to help progress the plan. Su Yu did not bother to ask Wan Tiansheng about this. He also believed that Wan Tiansheng had been keeping his identity a secret as well. In that case, he only needed to act like Profound Nine without worrying too much.

If Ji Hong was unaware of the plan yet he had kept the information hidden from the Xia Family, it was clear Great Xia King was one of the Invincibles he suspected. Was it possible for Great Xia King to be the traitor?

It was truly hard to say as anything was possible. But Great Xia King was aware of the plan. If he was the traitor, he wouldn't show up and the plan would fail. Or he would simply kill Wan Tiansheng. In short, the plan would fail if he was the traitor.

Time passed as Su Yu and First Profound hid in silence.

Midnight.

Someone was leaving the city.

Or to be precise, several people were leaving the city.

Hong Tan, Xia Yunji, Zhao Mingyue, Hu Ping, Wu Yuehua...

All of them were leaving together.

One could say that almost the entire Great Xia's multiple character faction had been mobilized.

Su Yu had mixed feelings as he looked at the main characters of the coming incident. The Nanyuan act was about to start.

Great Xia had also deployed a Sunmoon to escort them. It was General Zhao. Previously, General Zhao had displayed the strength as a fifth-stage Sunmoon. But even with Su Yu's increase in strength, he still wasn't able to fully see through General Zhao's cultivation. At that level, unless General Zhao was willing to reveal his strength, it wouldn't be that easy for others to see through his real strength. The source of thɪs content is novel·fıre·net

First Profound spoke through voice transmission, "With Zhao Rui as the escort, their safety is guaranteed. Hong Tan is a Sunmoon himself. As for the others, they are also multiple character faction experts near Sunmoon Realm. I don't think we'll need to do anything during the journey."

"Just follow them."

That was all Su Yu had to say. To be safe, he still decided to follow the group. One only needed to eliminate everyone in this group to sever almost all his entanglements with humanity. He could never be too cautious.

The group moved rapidly. Behind them, Su Yu and First Profound followed in secret. As they moved, Su Yu constantly scanned their surroundings, his Perception Jade running at full power. However, he was only able to check a radius of one kilometer around them. As per the Perception Jade, Zhao Rui did not appear too strong, nor did he look too weak.

From the intensity of the dot of light representing Zhao Rui, he probably had the strength of a sixth or seventh-stage Sunmoon. As for Hong Tan, he felt like a first-stage Sunmoon. Su Yu was unsure if Hong Tan was hiding his strength or if Hong Tan had yet to break through.

When someone was deliberately trying to hide their strength, the Perception Jade wouldn't be too accurate.

The journey proceeded silently.

All was peaceful.

However, Su Yu did not dare to be careless. After all, his tribulation character had reacted several times. Some people were most likely observing Hong Tan's group in secret.

Chapter 1167: Gathering In Nanyuan (2)

At the same time.

News of multiple character faction's journey to Nanyuan started spreading. These people were coming from the capital to search for the so-called ruin. The area around Su Yu's house had been fully surrounded by several Sunmoons from the Martial Dragon Guard. Nobody was allowed to approach.

Somewhere else.

A dark shadow was moving under the darkness of night before vanishing with a flicker. Immediately after, a figure appeared where the shadow had vanished and muttered, "Chen Yong...he sure is fast."

This individual had spent a lot of time hunting for Chen Yong, but Chen Yong had too many trump cards up his sleeve. There were a few close calls before this, but each time, Chen Yong was able to escape.

Looking in the direction Chen Yong had vanished, the unknown individual smiled, "Nanyuan?"

So Chen Yong was heading to Nanyuan as well. Clearly, even Chen Yong had heard of what was happening there.

"Nanyuan, is it?"

With that thought, the unknown individual vanished into thin air. He had decided to head toward Nanyuan as well.

Countless geniuses were heading toward Nanyuan.

A ruin had appeared!

It was related to the multiple character faction!

Also at the same moment.

A massive ball of light floated amid the boundless void. That was the Human Realm. Just like how Great Xia King would frequently wait near the Divine Realm, multiple incomparably powerful individuals had appeared in the boundless void near the Human Realm.

There were several paths one could take to enter the Human Realm. The realm entrances were the safest and hardest to detect. But one could also force their way in from the boundless void. But this would attract a lot of attention and it was also much harder.

Doing this was basically the same as shattering space forcefully. And the space of a major realm was not something a regular Invincible could shatter. An expert stood on the other side of the realm barrier.

"Bring it on." A cold voice spread through the realm barrier. It was Great Ming King. He said, "Let me see if all of you are really so indifferent to death."

"Great Ming King, the realm barrier isn't easy to break, but the Human Realm has multiple realm entrances. Why don't you step aside and let us in? That way, the Human Realm will suffer less damage."

Great Ming King did not give a reply.

He knew these people wouldn't dare to actually enter. He also knew that they were only here to keep him occupied. The ones truly entering would do so through the many realm entrances without arousing any attention.

The ones actually revealing themselves were the ones without the courage to enter. Of course, if Great Ming King decided to ignore them and leave, these people might suddenly find themselves a lot more courageous than before.

***

Things were starting to grow chaotic.

However, that wasn't Su Yu's concern at the moment. He was aware that some people were observing the group in secret. He believed that anyone attempting to intercept this group would be a super expert.

"Elder, be on alert."

First Profound nodded. Suddenly, Su Yu noticed something. But he suppressed his urge to take action. More than ten masked individuals had appeared and charged toward Hong Tan's group. The stronger ones among them were Mountainseas while the weaker ones were Skysoars.

Su Yu frowned. Were these people here to throw their lives away? These people were far from enough to deal with Hong Tan's group. Why were they even here? Sure enough, nobody from Hong Tan's group even needed to do something. With a casual sweep of Zhao Rui's spear, all the masks attackers died.

Su Yu frowned again. Was it this simple? It would be understandable for Skysoars to be clueless about the potential danger here, but could those Mountainseas also be so clueless? Wasn't this the same as throwing their lives away?

While Su Yu was deep in thought, First Profound sent him a voice transmission, "Those are suicide soldiers, pushed to their current cultivation levels through special methods instead of proper cultivation."

Su Yu asked doubtfully, "What's the point of sending them here?"

Even if these weren't proper cultivators, it couldn't have been easy to produce even one Mountainsea. Why throw their lives away just like that? In Su Yu's opinion, one had to send super experts and launch a sudden yet ferocious attack if one wanted to eliminate Hong Tan's group.

He couldn't understand what the mastermind was thinking. While he was still confused, the corpses of the suicide soldiers started exploding, creating a massive cloud of fog.

Suddenly, Wu Yuehua shouted, "Avoid that! Damn it, it's corpse venom!"

Su Yu wasn't familiar with poison, nor did he know how powerful this poison was.

But that wasn't the case for First Profound. He said, "Keep your distance. This poison is as dangerous as death qi. It is extremely corrosive, and it's capable of corroding even source qi and sea of willpower."

Su Yu frowned. Poison? He knew there were poison masters in the Human Realm. Wu Yuehua might be a pillmaster, but she could also serve as a poison master when required.

Was this poison really that terrifying? Curious, he reached out toward the drifting poisonous fog in front of him. No matter how powerful a poison was, it wouldn't be able to instantly kill a Sunmoon. There would have been a lot more poison masters in the world if poison was so powerful.

A tiny strand of poison entered Su Yu's body. It seemed to have a preference for his acupoints.

With a frown, Su Yu focused on the strand. But after a moment, he was shocked by his discovery. He destroyed the strand of poison before saying, "Not bad. It is enough to kill Mountainseas. I finally understand the purpose of those weaklings. This poison was produced through the source qi and life force of those suicide soldiers."

First Profound replied, "Exactly. I reckon the mastermind does not have any Sunmoon suicide soldiers. At the Sunmoon level, this poison would be a lot more effective."

Su Yu nodded. But it wouldn't be so easy to produce Sunmoon suicide soldiers. He said nothing, but he spoke to the little furball in his sea of willpower, "Memorize the smell of this poison. That poison master is probably nearby." These fellows seemed to have grown smarter nowadays. They had learned to use poison from concealment instead of revealing themselves when attacking.

Quite a decent number of people in Hong Tan's group were Mountainseas. Wave after wave of pill qi erupted from Wu Yuehua's body to wear down the poison around them. She was turning more and more pale as she contended against the poisonous fog. Evidently, this wasn't an easy task for her.

As for Zhou Rui and the others, they could only keep the poisonous fog away by releasing bursts of source qi. Was the hidden enemy trying to exhaust them to death? Su Yu was unsure. But he also couldn't be bothered to figure out the truth.

It was time to let the dog...no, let the furball out.

The little furball was very sensitive to smell, especially anything related to willpower. A poison master was also a form of cultural researcher. A warrior would never be able to produce a poison like this. And as long as one was a user of willpower, it wouldn't be easy for one to hide from the little furball.

With Su Yu's command, the little furball shot out of his head.

Looking at the furball who had vanished into thin air, First Profound exclaimed in shock, "The ancient soul devourer race?"

"You know this race as well, Elder?"

"Yes. This is an incredible race. Be very careful. Back then, an Invincible from this race killed a divine Invincible with one move. That might be the Emperor of this race. Try not to provoke that fellow."

"I already did that. This little furball is the son of that guy. I think."

"..."

Silence.

First Profound was rendered completely speechless. How...brazen.

"You're too rash. I'm warning you. According to some people in the pavilion, that person might be an ancient Invincible. Of course, we're unsure if this is the same person as their Pseudo Emperor during the ancient past. If that's the same person, he might even be as strong as the Pseudo Emperors of the divines and devils. Not even Great Qin King could be his match."

"It's fine. I'm the lord of the ancient cities. I have thirty-six ancient Invincibles under my command."

"..."

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Once again, First Profound was rendered speechless.

At this moment, the little furball sent Su Yu a voice transmission, "Yummy, faster. There's a smelly guy ahead. I can smell him."

How dependable. Su Yu praised inwardly. Sure enough, a foodie was the most dependable when distinguishing smell. It was perfectly logical for a poison master to be smelly.

Just as Su Yu and First Profound left, Zhao Rui looked around with a frown, seemingly having sensed something. He looked at the previous spot of Su Yu and First Profound as he accumulated his strength in preparation for a sudden fight.

***

A few kilometers away, three experts were waiting silently amid the woods. They waited patiently while looking at the cloud of poisonous fog far in the distance.

"Poison Venerable, will the Mountainsea poison work on them? Wu Yuehua is a top-tier pillmaster. She can dissolve a poison of this level."

Among them was a cloaked old man. With a hoarse voice, the old man spoke, "We're only told to exhaust them and check if they have hidden protectors. Everything else is unrelated to us." He patted the black-clothed individual beside him and said, "Little Seven, you'll go later. Even if you can't kill Zhao Rui, make sure to tire him out."

"Yes."

Little Seven's voice was just as hoarse. The masked individual to the other side of the old man, also the one who had asked the question earlier, grumbled inwardly that the so-called Little Seven had been refined into a puppet. Why was the old man conversing with his puppet?

That puppet could not even be considered a living person anymore. Surprisingly, that puppet had the aura of an early Sunmoon. This was also the trump card of the poison master. With this puppet, he would be able to produce poison at the level of Sunmoon. Poison of that level could trouble even an expert like Zhao Rui. Naturally, this would pose even more threat to Hong Tan and the others.

***

At the same time, Su Yu and First Profound arrived.

After scanning the area, Su Yu raised his brow. He could see three individuals, but his jade only sensed two individuals. One was a Mountainsea while the other was a Sunmoon. The Sunmoon was probably at the first-stage Sunmoon. This was the cloaked man in the middle of the group, and most likely the poison master involved in the attack. Beside the Sunmoon was a Mountainsea.

As for the black-clothed individual to the other side of the cloaked individual, this individual was not reflected on the Perception Jade. But Su Yu could feel the aura of a Sunmoon coming from this person. Just as he was confused, First Profound said, "That's a suicide soldier as well, but his sea of willpower has collapsed. You can consider him half-dead."

Understanding dawned on Su Yu.

First Profound asked, "So? Do we kill them?"

"We kill."

Su Yu gave a simple reply. What else were they supposed to do? First Profound said nothing else and appeared behind the poison master with a flicker. Seemingly having noticed something, black aura started surging out of the poison master's body. But before anything could happen, the poison master was slapped into pieces by First Profound.

No moon was falling from the sky. With a flicker, the little furball rammed into a translucent ball. Then, the furball opened his mouth wide, preparing to feast on his catch.