Chapter 1168: Gathering In Nanyuan (3)
Su Yu was alarmed to see that. Why was this furball eating any random thing he found? This sea of willpower belonged to a Sunmoon poison master. Was the furball not afraid of food poisoning?
Thus, he threw a punch.
Boom!
With a miserable wail, the sea of willpower exploded. Finally, a moon started falling from the sky.
With a casual swing of his arm, Su Yu grabbed several floating characters in the air.
Poisonous qi was leaking out of one of them. This was most likely the main character of the dead poison master.
A Sunmoon character.
The poison attempted to corrode Su Yu's body, but he wasn't even bothered. With a casual release of his death qi, the poison qi was defeated. Upon further inspection, he noted that this poison qi was actually imitating how death qi worked. Alas, before his real death qi, the poison qi was akin to a child before a burly adult. It couldn't even put up any fight against his death qi.
After easily removing all the poison qi from the character, Su Yu tossed it at the little furball. As for the other characters, he didn't pay them much attention and proceeded to toss them all to the little furball as well.
"Eat."
"Yay!"
The little furball swallowed all the characters in the blink of an eye before returning to Su Yu's sea of willpower to digest these characters.
Nowadays, Mountainsea characters could no longer catch Su Yu's eye. And a first-stage Sunmoon character wasn't much better.
Alarmed, the second individual shouted, "I have a secret—"
Boom!
Su Yu casually blasted that person apart before extracting a drop of blood essence from the remains. Only then did he say, "It's fine. I can read your memories myself."
He couldn't be bothered to waste any of his time speaking to these people. He also proceeded to extract a drop of blood essence from the poison master's remains before burning everything else. Finally, he grabbed the puppet and left. First Profound did not interfere.
In the blink of an eye, the two were gone.
***
At the same time, inside an underground room.
Someone sighed, "Poison Venerable is dead."
"Garbage."
"He was so confident he could tire out Hong Tan's group even if he couldn't kill them all."
"This no longer matters. Let's give up. The cult needs to stop accepting these missions. We're losing too many people. Poison Venerable was a Sunmoon as well. His body might be weak, but he has quite a lot of trump cards. Even someone like him has died instantly. This won't be an easy task to complete. We need to give up on it."
This was a place of gathering for the various sect masters in the cult. The cult had established a loose alliance between the various sects. Even so, they weren't doing very well.
The experts of the myriad races had started entering the Human Realm. And these cultists had been forced to complete dangerous tasks for these myriad race experts.
A different person said, "If this continues, we might as well submit to the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion. The myriad races are clearly using us as cannon fodder. Apart from the First Divine Sect master and Original Devil Sect master, none of us are worth anything in their eyes. This can't continue."
"The Heavenly Hunt Pavilion will also treat us as cannon fodder."
"It won't be the same. Things in the pavilion are much more complicated. At the very least, that is not a race-based organization. People like us are being rejected by both the human race and the myriad races. We might as well join the pavilion. Just look at Profound Nine. He killed someone from the Xia Family. Even with the Xia Family's retaliation, he wasn't punished by the pavilion. How about us? Do we dare to harm someone from the Xia Family? Upon retaliation, will anyone protect us?"
"We're running dogs. Our masters won't stand against the Xia Family for our sake."
"No matter what, we're not completely useless. After joining the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion, we can follow one of their elders. In a few years when we become white masks, we can finally be free of both the myriad races and humanity."
Things were desperate enough that some cultists were seriously considering Heavenly Hunt Pavilion's offer.
The Six-Winged Divine Sect master hesitated slightly and said, "Profound Nine might be rude and overbearing, but he is straightforward and honest. His status has been rising as of late. Maybe we should go under his wing..."
"He's only a white mask."
"So what? Even as a white mask, his status is probably higher than even some of the elders in the pavilion."
The sect masters had completely given up on their task to kill Hong Tan and the others. In fact, they had never been too serious about completing this task. After seeing how quickly their people had died during the attempt, they had opted to give up without any hesitation.
Others could do it if they were interested. As far as these sect masters were concerned, they would stop accepting these missions. They would also stop listening to the myriad races. At this rate, they would all die as cannon fodder of the myriad races.
They had lost way too many members as of late. It felt as though everyone was using them as cannon fodder.
***
Hong Tan and the others noticed the falling moon. They were surprised, but they did not investigate further since it might be dangerous.
After dealing with the poisonous fog around them, they departed hastily.
Meanwhile, Su Yu was busy reading the memory fragments in the two drops of blood essence he had collected. Beside him, First Profound looked greatly astonished. This kid seemed to be capable of anything.
Shortly after, Su Yu spoke, "That Sunmoon was Poison Venerable, the master of Heavenly Poison Sect. Also a fool and a piece of trash. He received a mission from the cult to test the danger around my grandteacher's group. As for that Mountainsea...that seemed to be someone from Nanyuan. Interesting."
Su Yu smiled, "As I guessed, Nanyuan is a more complicated place than it seems. A long time ago, someone told me that there are swindlers, traitors, running dogs, and the hired thugs of some large factions among the cultists."
The Myriad Race Cult had a complicated composition of members. There were all sorts of people in the cult. Some were merely the hired thugs of powerful factions, responsible for handling the dirty tasks on behalf of their masters.
Suddenly, Su Yu received a message from White One. He grinned when he saw the message.
"The Myriad Race Cult wishes to have a talk with me."
First Profound asked with surprise, "About?"
"Cooperation, alliance, and perhaps even surrender."
Su Yu laughed, "Interesting."
"This is like a wolf voluntarily walking into the jaws of a tiger."
First Profound didn't know what to say anymore. Those fools had actually decided to deliver themselves to Su Yu, someone who would be more than happy to see all of them dead. What a choice to make.
First Profound had never seen someone so eager to court death before. The Myriad Race Cult wasn't that weak originally. But due to Su Yu, they had lost a decent number of Sunmoons.
Su Yu alone had contributed to a mass drop in their strength through all his schemes in the past. And now, the cult was even thinking of delivering the few surviving members they had into his hands.
Su Yu said, "What are you saying, Elder? I'm not a bad guy. I'm a good guy. I will sincerely cooperate with them. After all, we can squeeze some value out of even trash, right?"
Then, Su Yu set off again. He had to keep following Hong Tan's group. After safely escorting them to Nanyuan, he could meet up with the cultists. He wondered if he could meet Lan Tian and the First Divine Sect master this time.
Those were the strongest experts in the cult, also the most mysterious individuals in the cult. Yes, Lan Tian's identity was known to all. But so what? Nobody could find him. Su Yu was also wondering about one thing. Was Lan Tian related to Wan Tiansheng?
In the past, he was told that Wan Tiansheng was unaware that Zhao Ming was Lan Tian in disguise. He used to believe that. But he was starting to suspect that recently. Was that really true? Was it even possible for that to be true?
Old Wan had full control over the academy. Could someone that strong actually be unaware that Zhao Ming was actually Lan Tian? That was way too suspicious. In that case, was it possible that there was a relationship between Lan Tian and Wan Tiansheng?
Su Yu could only rely on himself to figure out the truth. Old Wan loved to stay mysterious, so it was impossible for him to tell the truth.
***
With the death of Poison Venerable, the group was able to continue the journey in peace.
By dawn, the group finally arrived. After seeing them joining up with the Martial Dragon Guard's Sunmoon, Su Yu could finally leave. He had more work to do. Next on the agenda was his meeting with the cultists.
Naturally, the arrival of Hong Tan's group had caught the attention of all the experts in the city. It was rumored that the Culture Tomb was related to the multiple character faction's legacy. And the ruin in Nanyuan was also the ruin of an ancient cultural researcher. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novelFɪre.net
Would anything change with the arrival of Hong Tan's group? And would that change ultimately trigger the appearance of the ruin?
More and more eyes were drawn to Nanyuan.
Chapter 1169: Myriad Race Cult's Shot-Caller (1)
Hong Tan and his group had arrived.
The grand act was about to start, and Su Yu did not idle around in the meantime.
Tianshui City.
This was a large city within Great Xia. Hu Zongji, someone Su Yu knew from the academy back then, was a student from this city.
Inside a large building.
Su Yu landed from the sky.
Behind him were twelve white masks and one faceless mask, who was First Profound. The eighth elder was also following them in secret. At present, Profound Nine could be considered a big shot as well.
He had been allowed to lead their operations in Great Xia. Of course, Su Yu also knew that this was merely an illusion of power. The pavilion had deployed quite a lot of elders into Great Xia. But where were they?
Even the third elder had vanished. Clearly, the pavilion had a second group of people in Great Xia, comprised of top experts. Su Yu couldn't even be bothered to think too much about that. So be it. He had his own things to do.
***
When Su Yu landed in the courtyard, a Mountainsea walked out. After taking a glance at all the white masks behind Su Yu, he invited nervously, "This way, Lords."
Su Yu nodded, "Have any sect masters arrived this time?" Googlᴇ search Novᴇl_Fire(.)net
"Six-Winged Divine Sect, Blood Fire Sect, Lightning Divine Sect, Celestial Chasm Sect...all in all, eight sect masters have arrived."
Su Yu coldly said, "A bunch of small fries. Where are the masters of the First Divine Sect and Original Devil Sect?"
"Their second-in-commands are here."
"Hmph!" Su Yu snorted, "Are they looking down on us?"
Silverwing's voice rang out from inside the building, "Brother Profound Nine, please calm your anger. The Myriad Race Cult is not a proper organization. The First Divine Sect and Original Devil Sect are not the whole cult. In any case, the pavilion is only sending you to negotiate with us..."
Su Yu coldly said, "First Profound Elder, please teach them a lesson."
Instantly, a powerful aura erupted. With a rumble, the door of the building was blasted open. Inside, the eight sect masters were present. Only three of them were Sunmoons, and all three of them coughed blood from the pressure.
Only then did they notice First Profound. First Profound was standing right beside Profound Nine, but for some reason, they had completely neglected his presence previously.
Su Yu coldly said, "Do you really think you can treat me as a regular white mask? If you really think I'm not qualified, shall I get a Pseudo Invincible here instead? Look in the mirror. Don't overestimate your importance."
The Sunmoon cultists looked rather alarmed. That was a late-stage Sunmoon! Profound Nine had actually brought a late-stage Sunmoon to the talk! And that expert seemed to be quite obedient around Profound Nine.
Instead of feeling angry, Silverwing's eyes lit up in excitement. This was a good thing! This signified that Profound Nine was really quite important in the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been qualified to take the lead in the presence of a late-stage Sunmoon.
"You misunderstand me, Brother Profound Nine."
At the same time, Silverwing sent a voice transmission to the two other Sunmoon cultists, "Be careful. If anything feels wrong, we'll retreat immediately. But this isn't a bad thing. This is a sign that the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion also places a great importance on us."
The sect masters did not say anything. This was the world where the strong preyed on the weak. On the bright side, the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion was definitely taking them seriously by sending so many experts over.
There were quite a lot of people in the building. The vice sect masters of some other sects had also arrived. All of them were Mountainseas. At a glance, Su Yu noted three Sunmoons and seventeen Mountainseas among them. Some of the Mountainseas were in the early stage, but there were also a few in the late stage among them. All in all, the cult had gathered twenty experts here. Losing all of them in one go would probably be enough to cripple the cult.
Su Yu stepped through the door and looked back, "First Profound Elder and Enforcer White One will come with me. The rest of you, stand guard out here. Kill any trespassers."
"Yes."
Instantly, the eleven white masks vanished with a flicker.
Noticing how fast they were, Silverwing and the other cultists were alarmed. Of the eleven white masks, at least two of them were Sunmoons. The rest were all late-stage Mountainseas. Yet even such experts were only qualified to keep watch outside in the pavilion.
In Silverwing's eyes, Profound Nine was becoming more and more important. Since he had such a tight grip over these experts, it was clear he was very important to the higher-ups in the pavilion.
They entered the building and sat down.
Su Yu took the seat of honor without any hesitation. First Profound Elder merely sat beside him without saying a single word.
After taking his seat, Su Yu looked at the experts in the room and said, "All of you have taken a big risk in coming with your actual bodies. I can see your sincerity. Sect Master Silverwing, this is not our first meeting. So you should know that I'm a straightforward person. What conditions do you have? Name them."
Silverwing said, "Brother Profound Nine, can I ask about the price for us to join the pavilion? What do we need to give up on? Also, some of us rely on some races for our cultivation. Upon joining the pavilion, they will consider us traitors. And they most certainly won't forgive us for that."
Su Yu said, "This is not something the pavilion is concerned with. We have plenty of traitors from the various races in the pavilion. So what? The moment you put a mask on, who can know who you are? If they start trying to randomly kill our members to look for their traitor, we will show them we're no pushovers either. They are out in the open while we will always strike from the shadows. The myriad races would not challenge us for no good reason. Even the divines, devils, and immortals have to show us a certain level of respect. Everyone knows this."
Su Yu looked at the cultists and said, "There are only three Sunmoons among you, and all three are early Sunmoons. To speak the truth, this is...too weak. But this is the Human Realm. You have been around longer, and the pavilion requires your assistance since we're new here. If you take this opportunity to join the pavilion now, you will receive a much better offer compared to any other time. Late-stage Mountainseas and Sunmoons will be directly promoted to white masks. The others will also be assigned different ranks depending on their strength."
Noticing that the Sunmoon cultists seemed dissatisfied with this offer, Su Yu's voice turned cold as he said, "Let me put it this way. A white mask will be able to easily earn at least three to five drops of sunmoon profound yellow liquid per year provided they have performed decently during the year. I only have one question. Is this the same level of treatment you are receiving from the myriad races behind you?"
The Sunmoons and Mountainseas were greatly shocked by those words.
"Three to five drops per year? Is this a year of the human calendar?"
"Of course." Su Yu replied, "That's normal. But you need to perform well during the year. According to our standard price, even the most worthless Sunmoon blood essence is worth ten heavenly hunt points. It is worth as much as a portion of heavenly source qi. But generally, we sell sunmoon profound yellow liquid at a price of fifty points. Internally, it is much cheaper. For a white mask, you can get a drop for thirty points. It won't be too hard for you to earn a hundred points per year."
Was it that easy? First Profound and White One grumbled inwardly that it was not that easy at all. Silverwing and the other sect masters had been to the Allheaven Battlefield before as well. One of them asked, "It won't be that easy, right?"
Su Yu nonchalantly said, "Normally, yes. But it's different now. We have just started our operations in the Human Realm. You can get more profit as the pioneers. For example, that information I sold previously earned me 360 drops of Sunmoon blood essence. I believe you're familiar with what information I'm talking about."
"..."
Some of them gasped in shock. What? From a single piece of information? 360 drops of Sunmoon blood essence?
Su Yu continued speaking nonchalantly, "If you wish to grow strong, who you work for is very important. Nothing is better than a strong starting point. Which race among the myriad races is comparable to us in wealth? We don't care about your race. We don't care who you are. We only care about your ability. A Sunmoon should be able to earn at least a hundred heavenly hunt points per year in the pavilion. Each point is equivalent to a thousand merit points of the Human Realm. If you can't earn that much in a year with us, you're simply a piece of trash."
In a way, he was speaking the truth. If a Sunmoon worked hard, that amount of profit wasn't out of reach. If one could earn that much in a year, how about ten years? A hundred years? Ten million merit points? The Sunmoon cultists gasped. Was it really so profitable to join the pavilion?
Su Yu said, "Sect Masters, you have been working hard in the Human Realm for a decent number of years, yet you're still treated as rats. Has any of you ever seen a million in merit points after so many years?"
Nope.
Why?
Well, if they had actually earned that much, they would have retired long ago to enjoy their wealth. The Sunmoon sect master from the Lightning Divine Sect said, "Brother Profound Nine, are you telling the truth here?"
Su Yu said, "You may kill me the moment you find me lying. The Human Realm...is still only one realm regardless of its size. You have rarely been to the Allheaven Battlefield and you have not seen enough. The myriad races have been taking advantage of your ignorance. For some reason, you all feel proud after receiving merely some worthless rewards. Even for missions requiring you to risk your lives, you're only given a drop or two of sunmoon profound yellow liquid."
That was the truth.
"In the bounty ranking issued within the cult by the myriad races, what is the reward for killing Xia Longwu, the most wanted person on it?"
Su Yu had seen that list himself.
Silverwing answered, "Three million merit points and a hundred drops of sunmoon profound yellow liquid."
Su Yu laughed, "Three million merit points? Basically it's three thousand heavenly hunt points and a hundred drops of sunmoon profound yellow liquid. After converting according to our values, that will be worth around two hundred drops of sunmoon profound yellow liquid. For the life of Xia Longwu, a Pseudo Invincible and an expert on the Dao Affirmation Ranking, you're only receiving that much from the myriad races?"
Su Yu laughed, "How about this? If any of you can kill Xia Longwu, the pavilion will offer ten times the price."
He sneered and continued, "Nobody will be willing to fight a Pseudo Invincible like that without at least a thousand drops of sunmoon profound yellow liquid."
Even First Profound laughed with amusement, "The myriad races sure are stingy. How are they offering a reward like that for Xia Longwu's life?"
Silverwing hurriedly added, "They also promised a heaven weapon..."
First Profound laughed, "They're playing you like fools. What you consider a heaven grade weapon is nothing in our eyes. The so-called heaven grade weapon promised by the myriad races is a fake heaven weapon. A real heaven weapon is a sentient weapon with more than 108 golden stripes. Meanwhile, the myriad races will only offer you something with 108.5 golden stripes. That is not considered a real heaven weapon."
Silverwing remained silent, but he was deep in thought.
Su Yu said, "This is the difference between us. The difference in standards. You have been hiding in the Human Realm for too long. Your standards have dropped. Some things appear valuable here, but that's because the Human Realm is poor. Those things aren't really that valuable. As a Sunmoon, you can't even make enough to support your cultivation. Look at how malnourished all of you are."
The Sunmoons remained silent. That was true. Something like the sunmoon profound yellow liquid was extremely rare for them.
Their lives in the Human Realm had indeed been quite miserable. Not only were they living in poverty, but they also had to constantly run from other humans.
For these Sunmoons, a single drop of sunmoon profound yellow liquid was enough for them to risk their lives. How miserable was that?
A certain understanding dawned on them. A running dog would forever remain a running dog. The myriad races would never treat them fairly. The things they treasured so much only appeared valuable because the Human Realm as a whole was poor.
There was no helping that. About four hundred years ago, that group of human Invincibles had exhausted much of humanity's accumulation for their dao affirmation.
The three Sunmoon sect masters were respectively from the Six-Winged Divine Sect, Blood Fire Sect, and Lightning Divine Sect. They looked at each other with sorrow in their eyes. Their lives had been too hard.
The human race was already poor in the first place. Meanwhile, they were even poorer than the experts of the various human prefectures. Of course, they were probably better off than those unaffiliated cultivators, but they might as well be beggars compared to those from the pavilion.
The audacity of the myriad races to reward them with only a drop of sunmoon profound yellow liquid after telling them to risk their lives. How hateful.
Chapter 1170: Myriad Race Cult's Shot-Caller (2)
The Sunmoon cultists remained silent. After a short while, a Mountainsea cultist said, "Lord Profound Nine, can Mountainseas become white masks as well? If that's possible, will Mountainsea white masks receive just as much as the Sunmoon white masks?"
"No." Su Yu replied, "We have a lot of departments and units in the pavilion. If you're feeling brave, you can join the Heaven or Earth Department. The Heaven Department is in charge of tracking experts and geniuses. And with connection to these customers, you stand to earn more. If you're afraid of death like me, you can join the Profound Department and set up a branch somewhere. Even as a Mountainsea, you can still find a suitable place. The Allheaven Battlefield is big enough. There is no lack of places for you to open a branch. This is quite profitable as well."
"You jest, Lord."
The Mountainsea smiled fawningly. Who would dare to claim that Profound Nine was scared of death? Was that a joke?
Su Yu said, "We all work hard to cultivate, to the point we're willing to serve these top powers. Why? For strength. For eternal life."
Su Yu's voice turned cold as he continued, "Don't say some nonsense like working for the benefit of your race. If you're that kind of person, you wouldn't have joined the cult. Just follow and work for those willing to pay more. That is the correct path to take. Take you as an example, Sect Master Silverwing. Do you join this sect and become its master because you love becoming a running dog of the six-winged divines? Those people will always look down on their dogs. But in the pavilion, you can control your own fate. If you do well, you will earn well. You will no longer be at the mercy of your masters. Your hard work alone determines everything."
Silverwing wasn't offended by those words. He hesitated and said, "But we..."
Su Yu cut him off impatiently, "If you agree to join now, I can temporarily promote all of you into black masks. You will first earn some profit by taking a cut out of what the pavilion makes in the Human Realm. When we're done here, you can return to the Allheaven Battlefield with us and receive further arrangements depending on your performance here. Of course, some will definitely die during the process. If you die, you naturally won't receive anything. That's the same everywhere. Things have probably been quite bad for you guys recently, right? All those myriad race geniuses have entered the Human Realm. And all of them are definitely treating you like slaves. You must have lost a lot of people recently, right?"
The cultists sank into silence again. One of them clenched his teeth and said, "Yes! In the past, we could still enjoy some level of freedom. But a dragon genius has entered the Human Realm recently. The dragon dao protector is also incomparably strong. They found our sect almost immediately and started using us like slaves. We did not even receive much benefits from them, but we did lose a lot of members since their arrival. A vice sect master of mine was killed by that dao protector with a slap for simply being slightly impolite with his words."
"Hateful!"
"Damn them!
"Damn them all!"
The other sect masters were also furious. All of them understood that feeling well. In the past, life was still tolerable for them. At the very least, they had their freedom. But now, they were losing even their freedom. The myriad races had decided to put these running dogs they had reared for so many years to use. All sorts of dangerous missions had been assigned to these cultists since the arrival of the myriad races.
The Sunmoon from the Lightning Divine Sect sighed, "The lightning divines are here as well. The dao protector told us to test Mo Duona's real strength. Our Mountainsea vice sect masters went...and none returned. And now, they were telling me to go personally. For them, we're worse than cannon fodder."
This had somehow turned into a support group meeting for them to cry about the myriad races
Su Yu smiled, "Exactly. The various races care too much about race. But the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion is different. Race does not matter to us. I'll be honest here. I come from the fiery eye race. My race isn't powerful. Facing the divines, devils, and other major races, I'm nothing. But as Profound Nine, they are nothing. Divines? Devils? Their Sunmoons amount to nothing before me. Fate is something you need to grasp in your own hands. The pavilion is not a charity, but here, you have a better future. Our elders come from various races. Some might even be humans. So what? We don't care."
That got the blood of the cultists boiling in anticipation. But they still felt some hesitation.
After thinking about it, Silverwing asked, "What do we need to do to join?"
"First, we need you to kill some people."
"Hmm?"
Su Yu repeated himself, "Kill some people. Was that so hard to understand? Remove some small fries from the cult. Even if you hadn't asked for this meeting, I would have started looking for you for the purpose of killing. The pavilion needs to make the situation clearer. First, we will remove all those small fries trying to take advantage of the chaos. All of them will be killed. After all, the pavilion loves solving troubles for everyone."
The expressions of the cultists changed.
Su Yu continued, "We will kill a lot of people in the Human Realm. I'll be honest with you guys. Only those capable of surviving will be qualified to follow us when we leave the Human Realm in the future. I don't see more than half of you surviving. Of course, you can also choose to not join us. Consider me a liar if at the end of this, more than half of you survived."
Some of them cursed inwardly. He was way too honest. Why was he so honest? Those words were a tad bit too terrifying.
After thinking about it, Silverwing said, "Will we receive any preferential treatment for joining now?"
Su Yu said, "Yes. Each Sunmoon will receive ten drops of sunmoon profound yellow liquid as a joining bonus. Each Mountainsea will receive a drop. You may choose sunmoon profound yellow liquid or other treasures of similar value. The others will not receive any joining bonus. They are free to reject our recruitment. Don't worry. You will receive more, but that will depend on how well you do after joining."
"Ten drops?"
The Sunmoons were shocked to hear that.
Su Yu replied, "Yes. That's our way to calm your nerves. We don't want you to think that this is merely a lie to get you to work for free. This is a benefit only offered to you. We have never offered such a benefit to any of our white masks in the past."
Suddenly, White One interrupted, "Profound Nine, this is not a part of our rules."
Su Yu said, "It's fine. I will submit an application. There are only three Sunmoons here. They only require thirty drops. Including the seventeen Mountainseas, we won't even spend fifty drops for this. Yes, this isn't cheap. But the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion is an organization spanning the Myriad Realms. We need to show a level of generosity befitting our status. If the higher-ups are unwilling to approve my application, I'll simply pay out of my own pockets."
Right after hearing that, Silverwing flashed a fawning smile and said,"How can we make you do this, Brother Profound Nine. If the higher-ups refuse to approve this, so be it..."
Su Yu sneered, "So be it? Only a fool will say no when a benefit is offered. Let's stop wasting time. All the white masks in the Human Realm are currently under my command. You only need to ensure your obedience. We will talk about everything else after concluding our operations here. I'm not offering this out of kindness or to buy your loyalty. I'm paying you to work hard. To kill. Take your payment and work. It's that simple."
How straightforward. What a pleasant way of handling things.
A different sect master asked, "Lord, if I join, how about the brothers in my sect?"
Su Yu said, "Do with them as you see fit. If you trust them, you may recruit them as black masks, rainbow masks, and gray masks under you. The pavilion does not mind having more members. After all, we only reward based on work done. After we conclude our operations here, these new members can either remain as our agents or return to the Allheaven Battlefield with us."
"What if the myriad race experts come looking for us again..."
"We kill." Su Yu gave a short reply, "It's simple. Kill them all. The Heavenly Hunt Pavilion does not fear them. So what if we offend them? It's not like we have never killed their geniuses before. We're a major power as well. We have eight Invincibles. Unlike the human race, our Invincibles are united. They are also extremely mysterious. When they move together, they won't even have much of an issue killing lone Invincibles. If they dare to provoke us too much, we'll simply assassinate their Invincibles. That will teach them to not mess with us." Check latest chapters at novel⚑fire.net
The more the cultists listened, the more excited they became. So they could even receive the backing of Invincibles? They could no longer surrender to humanity. That was especially true for Great Xia. No mercy would be shown to any cultist.
As for the myriad races, these cultists were merely running dogs and tools. These cultists would never be viewed as one of them. It really seemed like the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion was their best choice.
The brand new master of the Blood Fire Sect said, "My Blood Fire Sect is backed by the blood fire devils. That is a powerful race filled with lunatics. I worry that..."
Su Yu said, "If I say it's fine, it will be fine. Just lure their experts over. I'll kill them for you. If I can't do it, I can get some help. We will use the blood of the blood fire devils as an offering to the start of our operations here. That race has too many experts. They won't mind losing a few of them. What's the name of the genius they sent to the Human Realm? Zhan Ta or something? I'll kill him for you. If not even this can scare me, why are you so scared?"
They all grimaced upon hearing those words. This Profound Nine was truly a madman. It was as though he knew nothing but killing. That was his sole solution for everything. For him, someone he shouldn't kill did not seem to exist.
Even White One was grumbling inwardly, wondering if Heavenly Hunt Pavilion had become the leader of the Myriad Realms without him realizing it.
He couldn't help sending a message to the eighth elder, "Elder, isn't Profound Nine a tad bit too murderous?"
Chapter 1171: Myriad Race Cult's Shot-Caller (3)
Shortly after, the eighth elder replied, "It's fine. He's right. The pavilion fears nobody. Anyone standing in our way shall die. Are the myriad races going to go after us for only a few geniuses and Sunmoons?"
The pavilion was an organization with eight Invincibles, and some of them might even be ancient Invincibles. Would anyone want to provoke them so easily? Thus, they only needed to focus on profit.
White One had nothing else to say
Before long, one of the sect masters spoke, "Lord, we are willing to join. Do we need to swear an oath or have some seals placed on us?"
"We have none of that nonsense." Su Yu said, "If you find it profitable to become a member, you can continue staying with us. If you find it unprofitable, you can simply destroy your mask and walk away. From then on, the pavilion will no longer have anything to do with you. That is applicable to even me. If one day I find that the pavilion can no longer provide what I require, I will not hesitate to leave. I will stop being Profound Nine."
How generous. The sect masters were full of praise. This was too generous. They could actually leave freely?
Su Yu said, "Remember, this is a unique opportunity. Normally, it won't be easy to join us. This is a special case since we're new here and we require more manpower. Allow me to be frank. Weaklings like you who are among the weakest in the same cultivation level don't normally have the qualification to join us."
An awkward silence descended.
That was too hurtful. But it was also the truth. The Myriad Race Cult had never been too strong. If they were really that stronger, they would have been able to recruit the various young geniuses in the Human Realm instead of settling with those with more ordinary aptitude in cultivation.
Su Yu said, "Everyone, time to give me your answer. If you wish to join, let me know now. First Profound Elder, please apply for some black masks. I hope the headquarters can assign all these people under me for now. We can worry about rearrangement after leaving the Human Realm."
First Profound nodded as he said, "Wait a moment. I'll go get some black masks from the enforcer elder. You weren't supposed to lead more than ten black masks, but this is a unique case so an exception will be made for now."
"Thank you, Elder."
First Profound said nothing else and vanished into thin air. The eighth elder was hiding not far from them. He could easily complete the application when he met the eighth elder.
"Lord, the Divine Wind Sect is willing to join!"
"The Silkwyrm Sect is willing to join!"
"Wait." Su Yu looked at the sect master and asked in astonishment, "Silkwyrm Sect?"
The Mountainsea answered nervously, "Yes."
"Even the Silkwyrm King is dead. You sure are brazen to remain the master of this sect even now." Su Yu teased and said, "It's understandable for others to hesitate. But you have nowhere to go. Why did you hesitate so much? If you can survive this, I won't be taking you under me. Maybe some other white masks or elders will be willing to take you."
This was too awkward.
The sect master hurriedly said, "Don't worry, Lord. This lowly one will definitely serve the pavilion with—"
"Don't call yourself that. If you must, use the word subordinate instead." Su Yu raised his voice, "We're the number one organization of the Myriad Realms. Our members are no small fries or cannon fodder. When you see me, you may address me as Lord Profound Nine or Lord White Mask. You may address yourself as a subordinate, not a lowly one. Do you understand me?"
"I understand."
Su Yu snorted and continued, "Don't bring the bad habits from your tiny organization into the pavilion. That's only something bumpkins will do. The Heavenly Hunt Pavilion only deals with the experts and geniuses of the various realms. If you keep acting like this, people can easily see the fear in you. Don't embarrass us."
None of the cultists dared to say anything, but they started feeling something they had never felt before. They...seemed to have become the members of a major power as well! They were no longer rat-like cultists. Rather, they were members of the great Heavenly Hunt Pavilion. This was an organization feared by many.
When First Profound returned with some black masks and Heavenly Hunt Directories, Su Yu told the Silkwyrm Sect master to put one of them on.
With the mask, the sect master's bearing instantly changed. His entire person became subdued. The act of putting the mask on felt oddly symbolic, as though he was severing his ties with his past.
A mysterious mask and a mysterious organization. The lowly sect master had seemingly transformed into a completely different person.
Su Yu said, "I originally had ten black masks under me. From now on, you will be known as Profound Nine Black Eleven. The others will be named in the same style. I'll give you one day to handle your personal affairs. A day later, I will contact all of you through your masks. A venue will be given and all of you will gather there. I don't want to hear any excuses. If you fail to appear, you will be kicked out."
Black Eleven puffed his chest and raised his chin as he answered loudly, "Yes! This subordinate understands!"
"..."
Both First Profound and White One were completely stupefied. Was this really possible? Just how desperate were these cultists for love? No, more like they lacked a sense of security. Just look at how proud and confident that Silkwyrm Sect master became right after joining them.
The cultists around them grew more and more tempted as well. However, the vice sect masters were still hesitating. One of them spoke, "Lord, we're only vice sect masters..."
Su Yu answered impatiently, "You can join yourself without pulling your entire sect in. It doesn't matter. If your sect masters try to create trouble because of this, just stab them in the back. Show us your hideouts and we'll wipe your sect masters out. With them dead, you will no longer have anything to worry about."
Right after hearing that, the vice sect masters put their black masks on unhesitatingly. They had all been working hard for the sake of wealth, strength, and survival. For them, it didn't matter who they served. With such great benefits, why shouldn't they join? Things were getting more and more dangerous in the Human Realm. Joining a stronger organization would probably be better than remaining cultists.
Yes, more than half of them might die after joining the pavilion. But if they remained cultists, all of them might die. They weren't stupid. They knew a good choice when it was presented before them.
Su Yu grinned. Good. With this, he had instantly transformed into the head of the Myriad Race Cult as well. In the past, he once thought of founding a small sect to scam some money. But now...hehehe. The entire cult would be his. The three Sunmoon cultists continued hesitating. After a moment, the Blood Fire Sect master and Lightning Divine Sect master put on their masks as well.
As for Silverwing, he thought about it and sent Su Yu a voice transmission, "Lord, I wish to join as well. But things might be a tad bit more troublesome on my side. My big brother is also a sect master. He's known as Goldwing. Behind him is not only the six-winged divine race, but he also has some involvement with an Invincible. The identity of that Invincible is quite special...but I don't know who that is. However, I did complete a lot of tasks for that Invincible before. I'm worried that he will come after my life if I leave."
Su Yu's heart skipped a beat.
Six-Winged Divine Sect!
Right, this was the sect that had been targeting the multiple character faction the most. They were also the ones who had killed Wu Jia's parents and pursued Chen Yong. Previously, Su Yu was already guessing that they might be related to the traitor.
And what Silverwing said here was basically a confirmation that he was right. Earlier, Silverwing was still calling him Brother Profound Nine. But now, Silverwing was calling him lord. Clearly, Silverwing wanted to break free of the Invincible's control as well. He didn't know the identity of that Invincible, but Goldwing might know.
Su Yu hurriedly replied, "This is very important information. If you can figure out the identity of that Invincible, you stand to earn at least a hundred drops of sunmoon profound yellow liquid. For our operations in the Human Realm, the pavilion is offering us numerous benefits. For any information we provide, we can get thirty percent of the profits from the sale of that information. You might even be able to get a thousand drops of sunmoon profound yellow liquid from this information alone."
Silverwing trembled with shock. Was that real?
Su Yu continued, "I'll take you to our enforcer elder. That's a Pseudo Invincible. Your information is very important. Silverwing, this will be considered a massive contribution to the pavilion. That unknown Invincible might very well be the traitor the human race has been looking for all these years. The human race will be willing to pay any price to buy this information from us."
Silverwing grew incomparably excited, but he also grew nervous at the prospect of seeing a Pseudo Invincible.
He replied, "But I still don't know the identity of that person. Perhaps my big brother has that information, but I'm worried that I won't be able to convince him..."
Su Yu coldly said, "If he's unwilling to confess, we'll simply capture and interrogate him. Silverwing, if you care too much about your past, you will have no choice but to give up on the potential profit of this information."
Silverwing sank into silence. But he most certainly didn't care too much about his past. He wouldn't have said anything otherwise.
After some hesitation, he said, "I'll try to convince my big brother." New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on novel⁂fire.net
He would try his best. If persuasion failed, he would capture his big brother. That was his decision. Su Yu smiled. He wasn't surprised Silverwing would reach this decision. What an unexpected gain.
He had gained three Sunmoons, seventeen Mountainseas, and more clues about the traitor in one go. Not bad at all. And he only needed to use some masks and fifty drops of sunmoon profound yellow liquid for all that. He wasn't even paying out of his own pockets. The pavilion would most certainly agree to pay for this.
Just like that, he had subdued at least one-third of the Myriad Race Cult.
Or perhaps even more than that.
Chapter 1172: Nobody Believes The Truth (1)
While Su Yu was busy subduing the Myriad Race Cult.
Nanyuan.
The small city was filled with experts and geniuses.
The Martial Dragon Guard had formed a blockade around Su Yu's house. Nobody was allowed entry, generating a lot of dissatisfaction in the city. With the arrival of Hong Tan's group, that dissatisfaction started growing.
Outside the neighborhood.
An expert questioned furiously, "Is the Xia Family trying to monopolize the Nanyuan ruin? Yes, Nanyuan is within Great Xia. But the ruin belongs to all of humanity, not one single family!"
Zhao Rui floated in a lotus position above the neighborhood with his spear in hand. He did not say anything. Would anyone dare to intrude? If anyone tried that, he would start killing.
"Anyone taking even one step past the line will be killed without mercy!"
An official of the Martial Dragon Guard shouted furiously. This was the Xia Family's territory. Since when did outsiders gain the courage to run their mouths here?
Previously, the Xia Family had been mostly ignoring this place since the ruin had yet to appear. But with the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion's confirmation, as the army of Great Xia, the Martial Dragon Guard naturally wouldn't be willing to freely give the ruin away.
"Nanyuan is under Xia Family's rule. Nobody is allowed to ignore the rules of Xia Family."
One Martial Dragon Guard commander after another appeared. The Martial Dragon Guard had never been a big army. It was split into the Public and Secret Regiments.
In the Public Regiment, Infinite Strength cultivators would serve as the basic soldier. Skysoars would serve as 10-man commanders, late-stage Skysoars would serve as 100-man commanders, Cloudbreaches would serve as 1000-man commanders, and Mountainseas would serve as 10000-man commanders. Of course, this was only in theory. This regiment didn't even have ten thousand members.
Prior to this, there were only several 1000-man commanders in this regiment. Their Deputy General Zhao Rui was officially known as a peak Mountainsea. And now, the Secret Regiment had finally shown itself. The six highest-ranked commanders present were all Sunmoons. Including Zhao Rui, the Martial Dragon Guard had deployed seven Sunmoons here.
Nanyuan had turned into a location of strategic importance. The seven Sunmoons released their auras to deter the crowd. One of them ordered, "Martial Dragon Guard, heed my command. Assist the Nanyuan residents in withdrawing from the city. Even if we have to flatten the city in the course of battle, we will not tolerate any insult from these outsiders."
"Yes."
Numerous soldiers marched out. In truth, a lot of locals had moved away from Nanyuan. But a decent number of the locals were still unwilling to leave their homes. But at this moment, the Martial Dragon Guard had decided to move them forcefully.
Among the departing locals, sights of the elderly tearing up at the thought of leaving their homes could be seen. At their age, they only wanted to remain where there born until the very end. They lived in an era of strife.
Chaos and destruction were everywhere. But even if one had to live amid chaos, only one's birthplace would remain one's true home. No matter how much better the world outside was, it would not be the same.
Generation after generation, they had lived here. They fought the demonic beasts. They stood against the myriad races. All for the sake of protecting this tiny and remote city that was their home. And now, they had no choice but to leave their birthplace.
This was their home. But Great Xia had decided that even if they had to flatten the city, they would not allow the ruin to fall into the hands of these outsiders. Thus, the locals had to leave. Otherwise, the day of the battle would also be the last day they breathed.
"Nanyuan...Nanyuan!" Latest content publıshed on Novᴇl_Fire(.)net
The elderlies, some of them retired soldiers, were tearing up as they raised the weapons they used to wield when they were fighting in the Allheaven Battlefield.
"Nanyuan!"
"Nanyuan!"
Their roars resounded throughout the city.
Today, they had to leave their home. A foreign land would not be the same no matter how much better it was over there. The eyes of the Martial Dragon Guard soldiers escorting the locals turned red as well. They felt incomparably sullen.
Today, numerous experts had arrived in their homeland. For survival, the local residents had to leave their hometown. Meanwhile, the experts gathered in the city merely watched indifferently.
One of them even sneered as he said, "A bunch of bugs."
For them, mere Great Strength and Infinite Strength cultivators weren't even real cultivators. Their feelings did not matter. If it wasn't for the fact that the Xia Family was still somewhat feared, these commoners would have been slain long ago.
Suddenly, a different person said, "The locals might have entered the ruin accidentally before. They should be searched as well lest they are carrying the treasures from the ruin—"
Boom!
A peak Mountainsea from the Mountainsea punched the Mountainsea who had just spoken apart with one strike. Then, he roared furiously, "Is war what you want? So be it! We do battle!"
"Battle!"
"Battle!"
"Battle!"
The retired soldiers also roared, as though they had returned to their youth. "Battle! Generals, we might be weak, but we are willing to raise our blade against the Myriad Realms!"
There were numerous retired soldiers in Great Xia. All of them had spent their youth battling the Myriad Realms.
A murderous atmosphere gripped Nanyuan.
The small Nanyuan only had a small number of retired soldiers. They might be lacking in strength, but they did not lack in fighting spirit. They would rather fight and die in their homeland than leave their birthplace.
In the sky.
Zhao Rui's eyes turned red. Among these retired soldiers, some had even followed him back then. Some were retired from the Devil Subduing Army, some were retired from the Martial Dragon Guard, and some were retired from the Great Xia Army.
Great Xia had warred for hundreds of years, reaching a certain peak during Xia Longwu's reign. They had fought everywhere. They had fought everyone. Because of them, the Myriad Realms had forgotten how to smile.
A majority of these retired soldiers had served during Xia Longwu's era. Like Su Yu's father, they had followed Xia Longwu as he waged war against the Myriad Realms. They had all survived amid mountains of corpses and rivers of blood.
They were not strong. Some were Great Strength cultivators, and some were Infinite Strength cultivators. Not a single one among them was a Skysoar. But they had witnessed countless bloodshed. They had stepped through the Eastrift Valley, crossed the Plain of Desires, attacked ancient cities, and battled even the divines and devils before. They did not fear death.
Grief gripped Zhao Rui's heart. Great Xia had existed for 351 years. When had they ever suffered so?
"Everyone!" Zhao Rui roared, "Please leave. The marquis has prepared everything for you. After some time, you may return. This place is ours. Nobody can take it from us. Even if something isn't ours, it will be ours so long as it is within Great Xia."
"After all the jackals and wolves coveting what is ours are dead, all of you may return. I, Zhao Rui, hereby swear that Nanyuan will forever remain Nanyuan. Great Xia's Nanyuan. Anyone, any race, will die if they covet what is ours."
"Long live the general!"
Once again, roars resounded throughout the city.
Feeling the murderous air in the city, the expressions of foreign humans blocking the way at the city gate changed. With his spear raised, Zhao Rui roared, "Move aside!"
Sunmoons were shocked. Mountainseas were alarmed.
That was a top expert who had followed Xia Longwu in his war against the Myriad Realms. He had slain divines and devils before. He had slaughtered the myriad races before. This was merely one of the generals under Xia Longwu.
There were more generals under the Xia Family. The others had yet to show up. Some were watching over the minor realms, some were watching over the Allheaven Prefecture, and some were watching over the three major seas within the Human Realm.
Zhao Rui was not the only Sunmoon general serving under Xia Longwu.
***
"Martial Dragon Guard. Xia Family's soldiers."
Some of the people in the city sighed with mixed feelings.
A non-human expert softly said, "The Martial Dragon Guard...is indeed a terrifying elite army. Back then, a unit from this army encountered a unit from the Thousand Divine Guard. They fought bitterly for three days. Ninety percent of them died. But ultimately, they were able to eliminate the Thousand Divine Guard that was feared across the Myriad Realms."
Was the Martial Dragon Guard strong? Strictly speaking, they weren't that strong. Even among their Secret Regiment, they only had six Sunmoons. Their number of top experts was pitifully low compared to what one could find in the Allheaven Battlefield.
And some of these Sunmoons had been fighting in the Allheaven Battlefield since before they were Sunmoons.
Back then, there were only two Sunmoons in the Martial Dragon Guard. Yet such an army had swept through the Allheaven Battlefield, killing their way out of the Eastrift Valley and waging war against the myriad races. For a period of time, even the Vanguard Regiment found itself out of a job due to the aggressiveness of the Martial Dragon Guard.
Spear of Qin, blade of Xia.
When the spear was raised and the blade was unsheathed, the Myriad Realms would tremble.
Today, the blade of Xia was once again unsheathed.
With only seven Sunmoons, they faced dozens of Sunmoons in the city fearlessly. They showed the grim determination to fight until the very end.
Xia Longwu, a Pseudo Invincible with the title of an Invincible, the Carnage King. He was the only titled Pseudo Invincible in history.
Ironically, the human experts knew too little about Xia Longwu compared to the myriad races. The myriad race experts were the ones who could truly appreciate just how terrifying Xia Longwu was. They had simply bled too much to not fear him.
In the Human Realm, Xia Longwu was simply one of the thirty-six prefects. And his seniority wasn't even as high as the others. But outside the Human Realm, who didn't know how ruthless Xia Longwu was?
From the moment he first served in the Devil Subduing Army, he had slaughtered his way to the very top.
Thus, the moment the Martial Dragon Guard showed signs of flipping out, the myriad races stepped back in fear. As for the humans, they might be alarmed, but they weren't terrified like the non-humans.
Chapter 1173: Nobody Believes The Truth (2)
In the sky, Zhao Rui continued staring at the crowd with frosty eyes.
Those standing at the very front of the crowd were all humans. Meanwhile, the non-humans had wisely retreated to the back. He gnashed his teeth in fury. These people should stop pushing him.
The blade of the Martial Dragon Guard was meant for the myriad races and traitors. But if they pushed him too much, he wouldn't mind unleashing that blade upon his fellow humans. They were in a stand-off.
Some of the outsiders were still unwilling to accept this. They refused to allow Xia Family monopoly over the ruin. Thus, one of them roared furiously, "Is this ruin Xia Family's? Zhao Rui, this ruin belongs to all humanity. Everyone can fight for it. Luck and ability will determine the ultimate victor. Even if the Xia Family manages to monopolize it, you won't get anything!"
Zhao Rui's eyes turned even colder. Right at that moment, a fist dropped from the sky. With a rumble, a moon started falling from the sky. Then, a fatty walked out of thin air. He came with fury and boundless killing intent.
"Keep running your mouth!"
Marquis Xia had a strip of black cloth wrapped around his arm, signifying that he was in mourning over his dead son.
Marquis Xia, who would always present everyone with a genial and smiling expression, was incredibly cold today.
"Zhao Rui, how useless can you be? If they keep running their mouths, just kill them all."
With boundless rage, Marquis Xia glared at the crowd and said, "Audacious! How brazen! After killing my son, you're challenging the Xia Family. Do you really think you can step all over us? Go on! Keep running your mouth! I dare you!"
Silence descended. Marquis Xia had punched a human Sunmoon to death right after arriving. Had he gone mad?
One of them exclaimed in alarm, "Marquis, that was a commander from the Great Zhao Army...you..."
Boom!
Marquis Xia threw another punch, blasting the Mountainsea apart, and coldly asked, "So? Yes. I killed him. What about it? All of you should take the blame for my son's death."
Madness. Absolute madness.
Finally, the human experts started stepping back. They were greatly alarmed.
Marquis Xia had gone crazy. They weren't even the killers of his son. It was the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion. Marquis Xia had gone mad. He was taking his anger on everyone. He only needed an excuse to start killing.
Sure enough, every single member of the Xia Family was a murderous individual, including Marquis Xia who had always pretended to be kind and genial.
With a frosty expression, Marquis Xia said, "Go on. Anyone else with something to say? Come. Keep standing in the way of the Martial Dragon Guard."
Silence descended.
After a short silence, a human expert spoke gloomily from far away, "Marquis Xia, we only hope to compete fairly. Isn't the Xia Family being a tad bit too overbearing here?"
Marquis Xia's eyes lit up as he stared at the speaker in the distance and said, "And what can you do about it? Yes. I'm being overbearing. Why don't you do something about it? Yun Wuwei. I'm standing right here. Come and kill me. If you fail, I'll kill your entire family. Come on. Show me your courage."
"You're being unreasonable!"
With a sigh, the distant expert decided to stop arguing with this madman. Xia Xiao'er had gone mad. After losing his son to Profound Nine, he had decided to stop all pretenses. It felt like the entire Xia Family had gone mad from excessive pressure.
A different expert spoke, "Can the Xia Family actually keep this ruin? The human Invincibles allowed us to enter. We traded our Luminous Domain Mansion slots for this. Does the Xia Family think itself immune to the retribution of the myriad races?"
The speaker was a ninth-stage Sunmoon from the divine race. He floated proudly in the air as he spoke with a cold expression.
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Was the Xia Family even capable of stopping everyone? The ruin did not belong to the Xia Family. Great Xia King couldn't return. All the human Invincibles were occupied somewhere else. And these myriad race experts had entered with the permission of the human Invincibles. With only an eighth-stage Sunmoon like Marquis Xia, could the Xia Family stop all of them?
"I am being overbearing here. What are you going to do about it?"
Immediately after, one late-stage Sunmoon after another appeared. Administrator Hu had arrived, bringing with him several late-stage Sunmoons. These were the experts previously in charge of watching over the minor realms under Great Xia's rule.
"Hu De Hao!"
"Wang Qiping!"
"Lan Pingyue!"
Seeing the arrival of so many experts, some were shocked and some grew solemn. Was Great Xia really going all out to protect this ruin?
If all these people were lost during the ensuing battle, this would spell the ruin of Xia Family. These were the experts they had produced after over four hundred years of growth. These experts were the reason Great Xia was known as one of the three strongest human prefectures.
All these late-stage Sunmoons were the backbone of Great Xia. Marquis Xia, Zhao Rui, Hu Dehao, three other late-stage Sunmoons, and the six Sunmoons from the Martial Dragon Guard had shown up. The auras of twelve Sunmoons covered the entirety of the city.
At the same time, the Martial Dragon Guard soldiers in the city entered formation as they braced for combat. Killing intent permeated the air. Even the myriad race experts were forced to take this seriously now. The Xia Family had indeed gone mad. The number of experts Great Xia could produce was terrifyingly high.
Even with twelve Sunmoons present, they still had more to spare. Each of the five minor realms under Great Xia's rule was watched over by a late-stage Sunmoon. Only three of them had arrived.
Additionally, they also had one late-stage Sunmoon stationed in the Allheaven Prefecture.
The chief commander of the Devil Subduing Army was also a late-stage Sunmoon.
In the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy was a late-stage Sunmmon white dragon.
And these were only the publicly known late-stage Sunmoons. Nobody knew if Great Xia had more secret experts hiding around.
Furthermore, they also had to take Xia Longwu into consideration. There were at least twelve late-stage Sunmoons in Great Xia who were publicly known. This was comparable in number to the Sunmoons the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion had sent into the Human Realm.
This was how Great Xia had become one of the three strongest human prefectures. This was how Great Xia had gained the strength to wage war across the Allheaven Battlefield. This was the strength they had achieved through countless sacrifices.
Just the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy alone had lost five principals to date. Every one of them was a late-stage Sunmoon. All of them had fought for the hegemony of Great Xia.
The arrival of so many late-stage Sunmoons had truly alarmed the various experts. They finally realized that Great Xia had gone completely mad. Was Great Xia really going to throw all caution to the wind? Some of the people in the crowd were already starting to retreat.
Marquis Xia had killed a Sunmoon and a Mountainsea right after arriving. Both were humans. Clearly, he no longer cared about consequences. Marquis Xia maintained a frosty expression and said nothing else.
Sure enough, if one was too patient, everyone would think that one was a good target to bully. Were the likes of them even qualified to challenge the Xia Family? These humans were actually the ones to push the Xia Family ahead of the myriad races. How lamentable.
Inwardly, Marquis Xia wasn't actually angry. Instead, he was quite happy. In truth, he disagreed with some of Wan Tiansheng's plans. But Wan Tiansheng was too stubborn. However, he no longer cared after seeing how all these people were acting.
Perhaps Wan Tiansheng was right all along. Even if his reputation would be completely ruined after the conclusion of this event, Wan Tiansheng would not regret it. Right at that moment, a loud rumble rang out.
Boom!
A moon appeared in the sky and enlarged rapidly.
Then, a silhouette soared out of Su Yu's house. With a roar, Hong Tan's aura surged. In the blink of an eye, the moon in the sky grew far larger than before.
His aura spread in all directions.
He had advanced to the second-stage Sunmoon Realm.
Hovering in the sky, Hong Tan was fully immersed in the sensations of a breakthrough. After a short moment, a vague silhouette appeared behind him. It was a white jade stele. On the stele, two characters could be seen: Culture Tomb.
"Culture Tomb!"
Someone exclaimed in alarm.
The experts who had calmed down earlier started stepping forward. Even the myriad race experts were losing their calm.
An expert exclaimed, "Culture Tomb! It's the Culture Tomb!"
Sure enough, this ruin was related to the multiple character faction.
Hong Tan hadn't even entered the ruin for long, but he had already achieved a breakthrough.
The eyes of some experts lit up brightly as they focused on the neighborhood. They sighted several multiple character cultivators seated cross-legged nearby. These people had not entered the ruin. Some other things were also sighted. Inside Su Yu's house, numerous new auras had appeared. The aura of heavenly source qi, the aura of sunmoon profound yellow liquid, and the auras of some unique characters.
"Ruin! They're only cultivating outside the ruin!"
"It's already so effective to cultivate outside!"
The various experts were greatly shocked. The ruin had yet to even fully open.
The thick auras of heavenly source qi and sunmoon profound yellow liquid were telling them that this was an incredibly powerful ruin. All the experts trembled in excitement.
Some of them started sending voice transmissions to those they knew. "Calm down. The ruin has yet to open. I can't detect its exact location yet. Be patient and wait. Let the multiple character faction continue. Their presence will keep triggering the ruin. Before long, it will fully emerge."
"Don't do anything rash. This is merely the prelude. The main show has yet to begin."
"Let Great Xia keep watch over it for now. We need to wait for the experts of our race to arrive."
"..."
The experts conversed among themselves and decided to hold back for now. Even if they were to destroy the entire Xia Family now, it was pointless. Perhaps it was not yet time for the ruin to fully emerge.
Suddenly, someone in the crowd shouted, "Anyone from the tri-eye devil race here? Use your devil eye and take a look!"
"Anyone from the heavenly eye race here? Use your heavenly eye!"
"Any devileye around? Take a look! Is the ruin there?"
"..."
Those who couldn't see anything were getting increasingly impatient. One after another, they started pushing for those with special abilities to take a look.
Before long, a devil walked out of thin air and laughed, "The Xia Family refuses to let us see this, but we're not about to oblige. Let's see. Just how amazing is this mysterious ruin? Multiple character faction, you have my thanks for revealing the entrance to us!"
Right after that, a beam of light shot toward Su Yu's house.
Boom!
With a punch, Marquis Xia blasted the beam of light apart. Then, several ninth-stage Sunmoon auras rose into the sky.
"Xia Xiao'er, don't push it too far. We're not even intruding. We only want to take a look. Why are you stopping even that?"
"Are you forcing us to fight the Xia Family with all our strength?"
"You can try to throw your weight around if you want, but that won't work against us."
"..."
One expert after another spoke, trying to threaten the Xia Family into submission. Hearing their words, Marquis Xia's face fell. Then, several experts activated their eye abilities at the same time and looked in the direction of Su Yu's house.
Boom!
Abruptly, a projection appeared in the sky. It was the projection of a small city. An ancient old city. On the signboard hanging above the city gate, the word Culture could be seen clearly.
It was as though a window to the past had appeared. One could even vaguely see the ancient humans walking around in the ancient city. In but a mere moment, all these people vanished.
Time started accelerating forward. Before anyone knew it, the city had turned into a desolate, abandoned city.
Nobody could see the exact appearances of those ancient humans. However, one thing was clear for all to see. When all the ancient humans vanished, a single white jade stele was left behind.
Culture Tomb.
Marquis Xia's jaw dropped.
Holy shit!
What was going on?
Wasn't this supposed to be the fake ruin?
Why was he feeling like this was actually a real ruin?
Chapter 1174: Nobody Believes The Truth (3)
If even Marquis Xia was so shocked, one could only imagine the sheer shock all the other people were feeling.
There was really a ruin here! They saw the Culture Tomb! They saw multiple carrier treasures that had fallen from the bodies of those ancient humans when they vanished! They even saw a dying heavenly source fruit tree! They saw everything!
This was a real ruin! And this ruin could very well be something left behind by more than one Invincible.
Nobody doubted it anymore. Someone muttered in shock, "One of the eye abilities accidentally triggered the River of Time, creating a collision between the River of Time and the pocket space. We're looking at a sight from countless years ago."
"Yes. Countless years ago, there was a small city here...right on top of the current Nanyuan. Then, it entered a spatial pocket and became an ancient ruin."
"Culture Manor."
"This is the legacy of an incomparably powerful cultural researcher or even a group of cultural researchers."
That was the conclusion these experts reached after what they saw. The ruin must have collided against the River of Time and triggered this phenomenon. What they saw as a sight from countless years ago, not the present.
This also proved that there was indeed a ruin there.
A different person mumbled, "This is real. Unless someone has tampered with the River of Time, we're looking at the past of this place."
"Tampering with the River of Time? Are you kidding? Are you trying to argue on Xia Family's behalf that this is a fake ruin?"
Someone sneered.
Marquis Xia's expression changed repeatedly as he hurriedly explained, "Fake! Everything you see is fake! That was created by my father in his boredom when he was staying here back then! It's not real!"
It was fake.
He desperately tried to convince everyone that this was fake.
Someone sneered and said, "How generous of Great Xia King to create a fake ruin with the Culture Tomb and carrier treasures in it. He is truly the most generous person in history."
How ridiculous. Fake? Was Xia XIao'er taking everyone for a fool? Why was he still trying to lie?
It was fair that the Xia Family wanted to monopolize the ruin, but they should really consider their strength first.
Marquis Xia raised his voice in anger, "Even if it's real, it belongs to the Xia Family! You can try to snatch it from us! "I told you! It's fake! My father created it back then as a legacy for our future generations. Yes! This is a trial left by my father for our juniors! Huyou...yes, guards, get Huyou here! This is a legacy his great-grandpa left him! This is no ruin!"
"..."
The surrounding experts merely sneered at his words.
Xia Xiao'er had gone mad from greed. What a ridiculous excuse. He was treating everyone as fools. After gathering so many treasures, Great Xia King had created a ruin as an inheritance for his juniors instead of directly giving these treasures to them? What nonsense.
Some of them were on the verge of cursing loudly. Xia Xiao'er was insulting them by trying to fool them with such a lie! They had all witnessed the projection of the ruin with their own eyes. They knew what they saw!
What a thick face!
Everyone was convinced that the ruin was real.
This included the experts who had been observing in secret and even some Pseudo Invincibles. Hiding in the space between space, the third elder was observing with a group of elders.
Finally, the third elder nodded, "It's real. Profound Nine was right. The time imprint of this place was triggered accidentally earlier. That was a projection from countless years ago. This projection was all that was left after all the ancient experts met their end. The ruin...is nearby."
A different elder questioned, "Third Elder, is it possible that someone has tampered with the River of Time?"
The third elder laughed, "Someone capable of doing that would be terrifyingly strong. Are you talking about Great Xia King? You think he made this ruin and placed so many treasures inside, including the fabled Culture Tomb, just as bait and buy some breathing space for Xia Longwu's dao affirmation?"
"That's not entirely impossible."
A different elder said, "The possibility is low, but not zero."
"You're right. But is this even worth it? Just to slightly reduce the number of Invincibles that might appear during Xia Longwu's dao affirmation? In the end, Xia Longwu will complete his dao affirmation while the entire Great Xia will be reduced to ruins? Is Great Xia King going to abandon even his own son? Everything they have is here in Great Xia. This isn't something they can just abandon. Even if Great Xia King is crazy enough to do that, Xia Longwu won't agree."
What a joke.
Sacrificing the entire Xia Family and the high-end combatants of Great Xia just for Xia Longwu's dao affirmation. Even if Great Xia King was crazy enough for that, Xia Longwu wouldn't agree to it.
Many elders nodded in agreement.
An elder said, "Third Elder, we have now confirmed the existence of the ruin. We also know that it will emerge soon. I believe the competition for this ruin will be very intense. There are more experts in hiding. Not even us are aware of their actual numbers..."
"Profound Nine will handle this well."
"Profound Nine?" An elder hesitated and said, "Can he really do it?"
The third elder laughed, "Yes. Profound Nine is courageous, decisive, and capable. He is a tad bit too brazen, but as a whole, he's very dependable."
The third elder continued, "Don't worry. Even if he fails, we will only lose him, First Profound, and some white masks. This isn't a big loss for us."
The Heavenly Hunt Pavilion's forces in the Human Realm were split into two. Profound Nine's group was the weaker group. The actual elites were all in this group.
Of the twelve elders who had entered the Human Realm, one had died while one had betrayed them. Ten survived, and nine were here, excluding First Profound. Including the third elder, they had ten late-stage Sunmoons in the group. And among them, the third elder was a Pseudo Invincible. This force was stronger than even what the Xia Family could gather currently.
The other elders nodded. One of them laughed and said, "We'll let Profound Nine do this thing. He can serve to attract more attention, making everyone believe that he's our leader here. With that, nobody will notice us."
This wasn't a bad thing. Profound Nine could charge ahead of them. And his group wasn't even that weak. After all, the eighth elder and First Profound were there. They also had a bunch of Sunmoon white masks. That was actually a group of respectable strength.
"Third Elder, what's our goal?" Google seaʀᴄh noᴠelfire.net
"The Culture Tomb...and the carrier treasures. But it's fine if we fail to get the carrier treasures. We'll prioritize the Culture Tomb."
The Culture Tomb was their main target.
Without the Culture Tomb here, the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion wouldn't have invested so much of their strength here. They had also switched their position from a neutral party to a participant. It was very rare for the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion to take part in such events, but this time, they had decided to participate as well.
Even if the price of participation was high, they couldn't give up on this.
"Profound Nine should have kept this information secret. Most people will give up after failing to find the ruin after an extended period of time."
"That won't work. Due to Su Yu, everyone is sure there's a ruin in Nanyuan. Do you think everyone will take our words at face value? In the end, Su Yu could only blame fate for not smiling enough at him. He was only able to inherit a small part of the opportunities available in this ruin. All this could have been his."
"True. But that guy...is doing quite well in the ancient city as well. He might not be able to live too long, but he's living as good as someone who has inherited a ruin."
They laughed at that. Su Yu was quite an overbearing person.
His overbearingness in Grandstar City was unrivaled.
Just a few days ago, he had thrown a punch at the nine realm experts from afar, forbidding them from recreating the island. He claimed that the place was now his territory. If they dared to continue with their work, he would invite the stone statue to teach them a lesson.
How domineering.
Those from the nine realms sure were pitiful. Why must their realm entrances be near Su Yu's territory? Since they couldn't move their realm entrances, they could only hide sullenly within their respective realms.
At the mention of Su Yu's antics, the elders laughed in amusement.
So be it. That was not someone they wanted to provoke. That was simply too tricky an opponent to have.
As for Profound Nine, they actually placed a lot of importance on him. What a pity that he was a resident of Grandstar City. That wouldn't be easy to deal with. Apart from severing his death qi connection, they also had to kill the death spirit who had converted him if they wanted to help him break free.
But the death spirit would remain in the city. Profound Nine could only place his hope on First Profound as none of the other elders were willing to risk themselves for him. What could they do if Grandstar had gained such an unreasonable master?
In the past, buying his favor with money was still possible. But that fellow seemed to have gotten so rich that he no longer cared about money. That was what the nine realms tried. They tried offering money for peace, but Su Yu merely answered with a second punch. How pitiful.
***
Su Yu was ignoring the chaos in Nanyuan. He did sense what happened, but he ignored it.
He was busy waiting for Sect Master Goldwing. The ruin had yet to even emerge. What was the rush?
He did accidentally see the latest update from the Allheaven Battlefield. Combined with the sudden eruption of death qi in his body, he instantly realized what happened. He couldn't help but curse inwardly.
Had the damn statue got addicted to leaving the city?
Could that big brother of his be a tad bit more reliable?
Had he gotten addicted to leaving?
Had he?
That statue had been able to stay still in the ancient city for so many years. Why was he so active recently?
Su Yu grumbled again and again. If he was a regular person, he would have died long ago because of the stone statue's addiction. No wonder. No wonder the death qi in his body had gone wild not long ago, forcing him to spend an entire hour to calm it down.
***
At the same time.
Grandstar City. At the inner hall, Grandstar opened his eyes and gazed into the distant sea. What a beautiful view.
The world was big, and he wished to see more of the world.
Was the Sea of Stars still as beautiful as it was back then?