Chapter 81 - 81

Chapter 1296: When In Trouble, Call Daddy (2)

Su Yu stared at the devil for a long time before replying, "Is the Devil Emperor still alive? How surprising. Why is he being such a busybody? Also, if you wish to attack the human race, go and do it. What does it have to do with me? Why are you telling me about it?"

He stopped, laughed, and continued, "I'm all alone. I only need to care about myself. No, that's wrong. I do have a father. Maybe you guys can kill him instead. Then, I'll be able to go truly wild without any inhibitions. I will even leave the Sea of Stars and do nothing but go against the Devil Realm. Is your Emperor tired of having too many tri-life bodies? Is he trying to lose more? Maybe I should ruin the Devil Realm while the divines and immortals cheer behind me. How does that sound to you?"

Why were the devils being so meddlesome? It felt as though they wanted to interfere in everything.

At that moment, someone else appeared. The newcomer gave Su Yu a glance before looking at the devil king and said, "Per Devil Emperor's order, the Devil Realm will not interfere in the matters of Sea of Stars."

That was Mo Duona's voice.

As his purple hair whipped in the wind, he said, "Devil King Daduo, there are many important tasks waiting for you back at the Devil Realm. There is no need for you to waste your time on these trivial matters."

Su Yu blanked out. The others were stunned as well. This...was something happening among the devils? Was there an internal disorder? Were some people trying to seize power from the Devil Pseudo Emperor?

After losing two of his tri-life bodies, the Devil Pseudo Emperor had killed an Invincible to replace one of his tri-life bodies. But he had yet to restore his future body. Were some other devil experts stirring?

Was this a power struggle?

This wasn't exactly rare.

In fact, this was common regardless of race. When there was no expert strong enough to suppress everyone, some people would grow ambitious and set their sights on the throne of the supreme leader of the race. Sure, it felt great to be the second-in-command of an entire race. But it felt even better to be the supreme leader.

It was only natural that these super experts wouldn't give up on any opportunity to usurp the throne. Clearly, Devil King Daduo was here to create trouble. Or perhaps he was simply here to draw support from the various races and pressure the Devil Pseudo Emperor.

Su Yu laughed in amusement. Sure enough, politics was inescapable everywhere. He had naively believed that the devils were united. But that was clearly not the case. With the Devil Pseudo Emperor injured, the other powers within the devil race were stirring.

What they did here was the same as making a public announcement that there was a power struggle among them.

Suddenly, a voice rang out in Su Yu's ears, "Daduo is on the Devil Emperor's side."

Su Yu blanked out. That was Mo Duona's voice! What was the meaning of that?

In his confusion, a different picture emerged in his mind. Just then, the same voice spoke again, "The blood fire devils are starting to stir. At present, most of the devils still active outside the Devil Realm are from the blood fire devil race. The Devil Emperor wishes to stir another conflict to deal a big blow on the blood fire devils."

Understanding dawned on Su Yu.

Holy shit!

This whole thing was one big scheme. The Devil Pseudo Emperor had deliberately sent Daduo here to stir trouble, betting on the fact that Su Yu's bad temper would be enough to push him against the blood fire devils.

As for the losses the Devil Realm might suffer because of that...well, not every loss could be considered the Devil Pseudo Emperor's loss. Who was Mo Duona representing? The blood fire devils?

Clearly, none of these people could be underestimated. Every one of them was a schemer through and through. Was Mo Duona telling him this to ensure he wouldn't react to the provocation?

At that thought, Su Yu looked up at the experts in the sky with annoyance. He was a nobody. Why wouldn't anyone leave him alone? Why were they trying to use him like a tool?

Devil King Daduo was probably trying to make him lose his temper and go after the devil race. As a result, the blood fire devils would take the brunt of the damage since most of the other devils had been withdrawn to the Devil Realm. Clearly, the devils were pretty good at scheming as well.

Devil King Daduo looked at Mo Duona and said, "Mo Duona, why are you here instead of spending your time cultivating? Who are you to speak for the Emperor?"

Mo Duona nonchalantly replied, "All the big shots are too busy, so I have no choice but to bear this message. Do you doubt me, Devil King Daduo?"

"Not at all." Orıginal content can be found at novel~fire~net

Daduo looked at Su Yu thoughtfully and said, "Forget it. Su Yu, I believe you won't do anything stupid. The myriad races will not allow Grandstar City to remain here. You better do the smart thing and leave."

Su Yu glanced at the devil king and laughed, "I'm a straightforward man. I'm bad at schemes. I don't understand what all of you are saying. But...what's the point of wielding me as your blade? It's not like I'm that sharp of a blade. If you really want to play your little games with me, I do have a good suggestion. Lure either the Devil Pseudo Emperor or Blood Fire King here. I promise you they won't leave alive. If I fail, you can have my life instead."

"..."

That was way too blunt.

Everyone was left speechless.

Su Yu looked at the experts in the sky. Were they still trying to stop him from forming the alliance?

It certainly wouldn't be a good idea to let this deadlock remain. Suddenly, Empyrean Cloud appeared beside him and said through voice transmission, "Ignore them. Go and take over Rainbow Rain City."

This was a waste of time. Empyrean Cloud was a lot more straightforward than Grandstar in how she handled the myriad races. Her cold voice rang out, "Are you trying to start a war? Piss off, dragons."

The dragon Invincible gave an equally cold reply, "Guardian Empyrean Cloud, the ancient cities have stayed away from the affairs of the myriad races for so many years. Is this going to change today? Are you going to throw the ancient laws out the window for the sake of Su Yu? Can you make this decision on behalf of all the holy cities?"

At that, Grandstar flew out of his city, spread his powerful aura around, and said, "The holy cities have our own laws to obey. Back when this city was founded, the dragons weren't here yet. This place has never been your traditional territory."

An old and refined expert stepped forth and said with a smile, "Please calm your anger, Guardian Grandstar. The myriad races only wish to ensure the peace of the Myriad Realms. The holy cities have never interfered in the affairs of the myriad races. The matter of Su Yu concerns too many powers. More importantly, he's a human. I believe you are well aware of the history between the human race and the myriad races. When a war breaks out, many lives will be lost..."

At this point, Su Yu raised his hand like a student before speaking in the tone of someone who had been wronged, "Everyone, you're overestimating me. I am merely a Cloudbreach. I'm a walking dead. I'm only trying to become the boss of the ancient cities before I die. Is there a need for you to make a big deal out of this? I'm already half a death spirit. How am I still a human? If you want to attack the human race, just do it. Why drag a pitiful child like me into your fight?"

He sighed and pulled out a furball. While rubbing the furball, he spoke helplessly, "What's the point of killing me? Fine, fine. Furball, why don't you become the new mayor after I'm dead?"

"Ok!"

The little furball answered readily. Being a boss sounded fun!

With that answer, Su Yu smiled and looked around. Seeing that the myriad races were starting to interfere directly, he stopped wasting time and addressed the mayors, "My fellow mayors, things are getting complicated. Looks like the myriad races do not wish to see the formation of this alliance. They do not wish to see me become a bridge for all of us.

"In truth, I was merely joking when I spoke about leading the alliance. How can a puny me presume to lead the ancient cities? That was but a joke. I only wanted to offer my services and bridge everyone together. Since the myriad races and our guardians are here, why don't you give me an answer, my fellow mayors? Are we still establishing this alliance or not?"

Mayor Tian He, whose face was still bloody, laughed and said, "Of course we're going to do it. We are all lowly nobodies. We only wish for some security. Domination? Power? Those aren't the things we should concern ourselves with. We need this alliance. At the very least, we need to let everyone know that they should stop disturbing the peace of pitiful souls like us. They should know that we are not completely helpless."

A different mayor spoke, "Su Yu, it doesn't matter if you want to lead the alliance or not. I only want to know about what we need to sacrifice and what we stand to gain from this."

That was a very straightforward mayor.

Su Yu smiled and said, "You are a straightforward one, senior. You're right. Alliance or not, only benefits matter. What's the point of establishing this alliance if we can't benefit from it?"

Ignoring the myriad race experts in the sky, Su Yu addressed the mayors, "Let me talk about the benefits in simple terms. Firstly, confidence. Just look at my predecessor, the dark devil dragon. He was such a miserable mayor. He constantly lived in fear. He lacked the courage to either seal or unseal the city. Even as a living dead without long to live, he still had to constantly bend over backwards to please the myriad races.

"Great Xia King of the human race could threaten him. Devil King Xue Mailuo could threaten him. The White-Haired Divine King could threaten him. A Dao King from the immortal race could threaten him as well. Everyone could bully him. But these so-called kings would no longer be so brazen with the establishment of our alliance. I can guarantee that. If these kings dare to continue this nonsense after the alliance is established, we will fight. I won't promise you something realistic, but I promise you we won't have any issues dealing with three or even five Invincibles at the same time. We'll blast them all apart."

The expressions of some Invincibles turned frosty upon hearing that.

Ignoring the displeased Invincibles, Su Yu continued, "That's the first benefit. Confidence. You're mayors. You're living dead. You're pseudo death spirits. Why must you spend the remaining time you have in such a miserable manner? Secondly, an extension of your lifespans."

He instantly captured the attention of all the mayors. In fact, many of them nearly rushed out of their cities in their excitement. Even the Invincibles, who were about to say something, shut their mouths.

Yes. This was Su Yu's main trump card. This was his main source of confidence. His fearlessness was due to his ability to handle death qi. That was why the stone statues had been willing to fight for him. Did he have a secret to wear down death qi? Definitely.

Su Yu said, "Fellow mayors, I can promise you that when the alliance is established, all of you...no, some of you will be allowed to transfer thirty percent of the death qi you're bearing to your lord guardians."

A mayor exclaimed in alarm, "Are you speaking the truth?"

The transfer of death qi! At the same time, the stone statues were also conversing among themselves.

"Grandstar, Empyrean Cloud, is this kid spouting nonsense? The burden on us is already big enough. The mayors are here to share our burden. How can they transfer more death qi to us?"

"Yeah. The kid can relieve them by replacing them as mayors, but..."

"..."

Empyrean Cloud informed them, "This is Boss' idea. The kid will act as a hub to link all the cities together. Even without becoming your mayors, he can take up some minor positions in your cities to facilitate that. Just transfer the death qi to him. He can choose to wear down the death qi himself or transfer it to guardians with an abundance of energy like Grandstar..."

Grandstar: "..."

Him?

Why him?

What was this about?

Why didn't Empyrean Cloud mention herself instead?

Chapter 1297: When In Trouble, Call Daddy (3)

The eyes of the various mayors flickered as numerous thoughts crossed their minds.

A female mayor said, "Mayor Su, you can't joke about something like this. If you can really reduce our burden by thirty percent, I will be your strongest supporter. If anyone objects, they better be able to do the same to gain my support."

"Mayor Su, are you being truthful? You mentioned that not everyone can enjoy this benefit. Who are these people? What do we need to do to gain this benefit? Do you need us to risk our lives for you?"

Su Yu was blunt in his reply, "So what if you have to take some risks? Do you expect me to help you for free? Why should I? I don't enjoy listening to such stupidity. No matter the endeavor, what you receive will always be proportional to your efforts. If you wish to take without giving, you are free to opt out of the alliance. This is the Allheaven Battlefield. All of you have been around for a while. Are you still dreaming of reaping without sowing? Are we children here for games?"

Didn't he proclaim himself a child just moments ago? Had he forgotten? Some of the mayors resisted the urge to blurt these words out. He was shameless enough that arguing against him was essentially pointless.

Su Yu said, "It is normal to risk yourself to gain something valuable. Stop dreaming about benefiting without doing anything. As for who those people are, we can talk about it in private. There is no need to inform the myriad races and give them the opportunity to meddle in our affairs.

"Thirdly, with an alliance, we can fight for things we didn't have before this. For example, we can fight for some Luminous Domain Mansion slots. It matters not if we're using these slots ourselves. It only matters that the myriad races must concede some slots to us. Fractured, what can any of us do if the myriad races refuse to share the slots with us? I doubt any of you are uninterested in the Luminous Domain Mansion. Even a living dead can enter the mansion to fight for more opportunities."

At that, an Invincible interrupted, "That won't be as easy as you think. Su Yu, stop dreaming."

Su Yu laughed, "Yes. It won't be easy. It doesn't matter. The ancient cities lack a lot of things, but we have no lack of dying individuals. And dying individuals can be a lot more courageous than you imagine. Why should we fear your threats?"

Su Yu did not deign to say more to the Invincible. He continued addressing the mayors, "Fourthly, I am still an elder of the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion. I have reached an agreement with the department heads. For the right price, I can even purchase some carrier treasures from the pavilion. I will do my best to help my fellow mayors become Pseudo Invincibles or even Invincibles. Of course, I'm not rich enough to buy these carrier treasures for you, so you'll need to come up with the money yourself. I'll only facilitate the transactions."

At that, numerous gazes landed on a faceless elder in the sky. The elder was left quite speechless. As far as he knew, Su Yu had indeed reached an agreement with the heads. He was now an elder of the pavilion. But what Su Yu spoke differed slightly from what he knew.

Su Yu was unconcerned with what the faceless elder was thinking. Making use of his newly learned secrets, he started spouting bullshit, "The Heavenly Hunt Pavilion does not lack carrier treasures. After each collapse, the Allheaven Battlefield would seal itself from the various realms. During these periods of inactivity, the Luminous Domain Mansion would continue opening periodically as usual.

"The Heavenly Hunt Pavilion alone had monopolized all the slots during that time. With one opening per ten years, they have gathered at least a hundred carrier treasures. With the protection of the Heavenly Hunt Index, they are able to persist in the Allheaven Battlefield during these periods of inactivity. The Luminous Domain Mansion is basically their personal bank. You don't even need to worry about carrier treasures anymore. I have reached an agreement with the pavilion—"

"Su Yu!" Finally, the elder lost patience and shouted, "You dare spout rubbish?"

At this rate, the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion would be dragged into yet another disaster.

Su Yu smiled, "My fellow elder, your position is not high enough to know these details. Just keep your mouth shut if you know nothing. What the fuck are you shouting for? How can I know less than you? If you doubt me, get the myriad race experts here to go back and ask their Pseudo Emperors. Ask those geezers if the Allheaven Battlefield would only remain open for around a few thousand to ten thousand years after each activation before shutting itself off.

"Each time, it would remain shut for thousands of years. During that time, the mansion would be monopolized by the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion. It's fine to be ignorant, but don't pretend to know things when you're clueless. Ask the Invincibles present. I reckon some of them are aware of this as well. Stop running your mouth at me the next time you hear something confusing. As a mere Sunmoon, you must have joined the pavilion after the most recent activation. What does a nobody like you even know?"

That sank many of the experts present into confusion. They started looking at each other blankly.

Some of the Invincibles were indeed aware of the truth. One of them said, "This time, Su Yu is right. The Heavenly Hunt Pavilion...is the richest power in the Myriad Realms. Its people have entered the Luminous Domain Mansion more times than any of the myriad races."

That left the elder awkward and speechless. Was that really the case?

Holy shit! He was not aware at all. That...was awkward.

The higher ups in the pavilion had always claimed that they lacked carrier treasure. But according to Su Yu, that wasn't the truth. In that case, why did carrier treasures feel so rare even for them, then?

Su Yu sneered and said, "I am the mayor of a holy city. These holy cities have been around since time immemorial. No secret can be hidden from me. I dare say the pavilion has at least a hundred carrier treasures. Of course, we only need to know this much. There is no need to investigate more."

Clearly, some of the mayors were completely unaware of what Su Yu had just said. Their eyes flickered repeatedly as they went through numerous emotions. Reducing the burden on them and facilitating the purchase of carrier treasures from the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion.

This would be greatly beneficial for them, provided Su Yu was really telling he truth. As for the risk they might need to take, Su Yu was right about it. How could they get something without sacrificing something?

In the Allheaven Battlefield, as long as sufficient benefit was provided, there would be no lack of people willing to risk their lives.

Su Yu flashed everyone and smile and concluded, "I'll stop here. There are actually more benefits that you might have forgotten about. I am an outstanding researcher of the human race. Back then, I created a life extension method. It is also useful in withstanding death qi. However, it is only suitable for humans. If you don't mind it, you may volunteer as my research subject for a bit. Or maybe you can capture a few hundred of your people to serve as my test subjects. That might allow me to adapt the cultivation method for your usage."

The mayors were further tempted after hearing that, including some who were backed by the major races. The major races could only promise things like heavenly source qi or the supply of carrier treasures when they were ready to break through, instead of receiving the promised carrier treasures immediately.

Some had also promised to kill the death sovereigns who had converted these mayors. But in truth, most of these promises would remain empty promises. A lot of these mayors had only agreed as a gamble.

Meanwhile, Su Yu had promised them benefits that could apparently be realized immediately. The mayors sank into contemplation.

Shortly after, a mayor asked, "Mayor Su, what do we need to do exactly?"

Su Yu said, "It's simple. Just obey me. For example, the Invincibles are trying to stop us from forming this alliance. Normally, we mayors won't be able to do anything to them. But now, there is something we can do. If several mayors work together to drag these Invincibles into our cities, I promise you the respected guardians will beat them to death."

Silence descended.

Shortly after, an expert sneered, "Su Yu, you're bluffing too much." Follow current novels on novel·fıre·net

Su Yu looked up at the expert and grinned, "You doubt me? I think you will come to believe my words."

Right at that moment, he received the reply he had been waiting for. Instantly, the death qi in his body skyrocketed to a terrifying level.

Boom!

An incomparably massive ancient city dropped from the sky.

"You're in the way. Stop challenging the laws."

A stone statue floated out of the city lazily. He looked at Su Yu with a helpless gaze. He knew this was a bad idea! Damn it! Empyrean Cloud had shattered his peace!

Before the Invincible could react, he found himself losing control of his body. His expression changed drastically as he realized that he was falling into the city. With a rumble, he crashed down and smashed hundreds of buildings apart.

"How dare you damage the ancient buildings? You shall be punished."

The turtle was speaking slowly and lazily. In an unhurried fashion, the old turtle flew toward the Invincible. The other experts hurriedly moved further away from the city with alarmed expressions.

What was going on? Why was the final city here as well? Everyone watched blankly as the gigantic stone turtle stomped on the Invincible in the city.

"Damn it!"

The said Invincible was a dragon. He instantly reverted to his true form and even summoned his tri-life bodies over from the River of Time.

The old turtle asked in stupefaction, "I intended to kill only one of your bodies. Why are you bringing them all here?"

This would make things complicated. Killing an assembled body would mean killing the Invincible for real. Previously, the Invincible only had a future body here. Why was he forming his complete body here?

Too lazy to say more, the old turtle decided that he might as well use this as a chance to way to warn the dragons. He brought his gigantic limb down. With a rumble, the River of Time snapped.

As for the dragon, he roared and started sweeping his tail about, shattering space itself as he thrashed and struggled. The old turtle ignored the tail. As the tail struck his shell, he was completely fine while the tail became bloodied from the impact.

A chill crept up the spines of the surrounding Invincibles. This was no normal Eternal. This was a Pseudo Emperor! There was really a Pseudo Emperor among the stone statues!

Boom!

Unable to flee, the dragon trashed about and roared miserably.

At that moment, a projection appeared above the Dragon Realm. Next, a River of Time unfurled across the sky.

From the river, a dragon stepped forth cautiously. As he scanned the area, his gaze settled on the little furball on Su Yu's shoulder. The look in his eyes grew warier. Then, his gaze moved to the stone turtle as his expression changed yet again. Finally, he spoke, "Guardian Grand Dream, why must you make things difficult for us dragons? If the holy cities wish to settle down in the Sea of Stars, we can always talk it out. Why must we resort to violence?"

"Ahhhhhhh!"

With a miserable wail, the dragon in the city lost his second body. By the time he reappeared in his final body, only despair could be in his eyes. The Dragon Pseudo Emperor noticed that and frowned. Slowly, a baleful aura spread out of his body.

Suddenly, the old turtle tossed the final body of the dragon Invincible out of the city. The body was thrown with such force that it ripped through space with a rumble before vanishing into the void.

The old turtle slowly said, "A small punishment for him. This matter ends here. The holy cities do not have the ambition to dominate the Myriad Realms. We don't enjoy killing either. We are only here to guard against the Death Realm."

Slowly, the city faded into nothingness, the old turtle's voice reverberating in the air, "The holy cities only care about enforcing the laws. I hope that nobody will force us to break the laws. Otherwise...disaster will befall all life."

The Dragon Pseudo Emperor sank into silence. After a short moment, his projection slowly faded away as well. With that, the surrounding dragons also withdrew.

Su Yu had triggered the appearance of yet another ancient Pseudo Emperor. At this point, nobody knew what to think about him anymore. He was simply too good at forming connections with the most unexpected individuals.

So far, three Pseudo Emperors had fought for him. Would anyone still dare to provoke him?

As for Su Yu, he had a rather terrifying smile on his face. That was mainly due to the incredibly thick death qi on him. In his current state, his smile looked disturbing and eerie. The death qi on him was so thick that one would believe him a death spirit if it wasn't for the fact that life could still be sensed from his body.

Looking at the state he was in, everyone concluded that he had paid a costly price to summon the old turtle.

From his grinning lips, drop after drop of black blood dripped down. Before each drop could reach the ground, it would dissipate into pure death qi.

Looking like someone who would drop dead at any moment, he said, "Everyone, it's time for you to leave. What's the point of pushing my buttons? I don't have long to live. If I decide to truly go mad, I believe I have the ability to kill a few Invincibles before dying myself."

A suffocating silence enveloped the area.

Was he really dying? Or was this another trick? Nobody was sure what to believe when it came to Su Yu anymore. Everyone was secretly praying that he would just die now. As long as he was still around, he would continue stirring trouble for everyone. Just look at how a dragon king had lost two tri-life bodies after barely provoking him.

As of late, the stone statues had destroyed quite a lot of tri-life bodies. At this rate, all the existing Invincibles among the myriad races would be left with only one body each.

With a sigh, some of the experts started leaving while some faded into the darkness yet again. It was pointless to continue pressuring him here. Su Yu had become even harder to deal with than before.

Chapter 1298: Alliance, Luminous Domain (1)

With the appearance of the old turtle and the retreat of the Dragon Pseudo Emperor, and as the efforts to impede the ancient cities from forming an alliance fell apart, they could no longer afford to provoke Su Yu. At the very least, that was the case for places within the reach of the ancient cities. There, he was harder than even Invincibles to deal with. Such an existence could not be provoked lightly.

Among the crowd that had gathered in the area, there were humans. All of them were experts. They watched in silence with complicated emotions.

When the myriad races threatened to make war on the human race, Su Yu informed them that he only had a father. They could kill his father, but that would also set him free and allow him to go truly wild. That was all.

As for his stance regarding the human race, it was unknown if he had merely said that to fool the myriad races or if he truly believed so. Su Yu was far too fearless compared to any other human. The myriad races might not buy his words entirely, but the price for this gamble was now too high for them to take. There was no need to take such a high risk.

Su Yu started roaring with laughter. He swept his gaze across the gathered ancient cities and announced, "The myriad races no longer have the courage to meddle in our alliance. The dragons have been forced to withdraw. My fellow mayors, does anyone still disagree with the formation of an alliance?"

Nobody said anything.

Su Yu said, "If you agree, I need you to appoint me to an official position in your city. When you find your death qi too much to bear, you may seek help from me. Of course, this does not grant you the license to freely transfer your death qi to me without permission. You still need to bear some of the burden, or you might as well leave the city since you will be essentially useless. If there are no objections, I will consider the Holy City Alliance formally established."

Many of the mayors were already tempted by his offer, including those backed by the major races. Compared to the backing of the major races, the one thing a mayor could truly rely on was their ancient city.

Tian He said, "Mayor Su, allow me to ask one more question. Do you wipe all the slates clean with the formation of this alliance? After all, some of the mayors here might have conflicted with the human race in the past. Some are even backed by the major races..."

The expressions of some mayors changed.

Tian He laughed and continued, "Regardless of their past, we are the same. We are all pitiful souls abandoned by the rest of existence. Our sole goal is our survival. Many of us are people who have been forced to leave our homelands to eke out a living here. We have nobody to rely on. We don't have long to live. We lack heavenly source qi. Because of that, we are forced to work with the divines, devils, or some other major races."

Many of the mayors turned melancholic. They might seem impressive with the power they enjoyed in their cities and the surrounding regions, but in truth, they were nothing but unwanted and abandoned souls. Survival was the only thing they could fight for. At any time, they could be consumed by their death qi before transforming into death spirits. If they hadn't been so desperate, Xia Longwu wouldn't have been able to tempt nine of them to face the myriad race Invincibles with only one promise.

True geniuses with the potential to become Invincibles one day would never willingly become the mayors of these ancient cities. Becoming an ancient city mayor was essentially the same as receiving a death sentence.

The divines, devils, immortals, dragons, and other races might send their people to these cities to serve as mayors, but they would never send those they valued. The people they sent were those they considered dispensable. The true geniuses of these races would never agree to such tasks.

Nobody was willing to become an ancient city resident as long as there was still an alternative. Becoming a resident was the same as throwing one's life away. It was ironic that some had to do precisely this for the sake of survival.

That was why some of these mayors were willingly serving as the chess pieces of the major races. What could the major races give them? Perhaps only a tiny bit of heavenly source qi. Nothing else. It wasn't like the major races would be willing to give them the rest of what they wanted. For example, they wanted to affirm their dao and break free of these cities. Would the major races assist them with that? Rather than assist some mayors, they would rather assist their own geniuses.

Mayor Tian He earnestly said, "Mayor Su, you're a human. As for us, some came from minor races while some came from destroyed realms. The human race is one of the overlords of the Myriad Realms. We are willing to fight for this alliance, but we won't be willing to fight for humanity's hegemony. We only want to live.

"Some of us might have the blood of humans in our hands. If you intend to take revenge on us for that after the alliance is formed, we won't agree to form this alliance even if all the guardians agree. We have the right to do so. The laws allow that."

Naturally, Heavendoom snorted upon hearing those words. But he did not let anyone hear his snort.

Had he forced Tian He to join the alliance?

Hmph!

Hadn't Tian He agreed to join himself?

In fact, Tian He had been eagerly waiting for Su Yu to replace him. Alas, that ungrateful little shit seemed to have completely forgotten about Heavendoom City! Clearly, Tian He was deliberately saying this to give Su Yu a chance to address the concerns some mayors might have.

Since Heavendoom could see that much, the others could naturally see as much. But Tian He's words had still managed to resonate with their innermost feelings.

The mayor of Eternal Serenity City, who was still bloodied all over, coughed and said, "Mayor Su, we...wish to live for ourselves as well. But at times, reality does not allow that."

He spoke helplessly, "We are constantly tortured by death qi. We lack heavenly source qi. There are no holy lands of heavenly source qi in ancient cities. All existing holy lands of heavenly source qi are under the control of the major races. Even survival is hard for us. Dao affirmation is merely a dream for us. Since the major races are willing to provide us with some heavenly source qi to gain us as their dogs, we will naturally serve as their dogs. After so much suffering, we don't want to die. We want to live.

"Mayor Su, you might look down on us for this. We lack a spine. We are lowly. We are shameless. But some of us...are the final seeds of our races. We have to live to prevent the full extinction of our races. I came from the fellwood race. I am...the sole survivor of my race. When I die, my race will cease to exist. I must live!

"If I have to live with without a spine, if I have to live while bending over, I will do so. The continuation of my race is a burden too heavy for me to shed just for the sake of something like dignity. The Myriad Realms has existed for countless years. Countless races have ceased to exist in its long history. I don't want my race to become one of them. To become a race that only exists in history." ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novᴇlfire.net

"..."

A melancholic silence enveloped the area.

Apart from Su Yu, not a single mayor was someone from a major race. To become a mayor, one had to reach the ninth-stage Sunmoon Realm. But no expert of such level would willingly take on such a task. They had plenty of options to better themselves. There was no need for them to do this.

That left only those from the minor races or the destroyed races to serve as mayors. Some of these mayors used to be the leaders of their races in the past. Some were respected seniors of their races.

The dark devil dragon was a rare exception. He had only ran off to become a mayor because of his quarrel with the dragon race. Otherwise, a dragon expert like him wouldn't deign to become an ancient city mayor.

From how the likes of Dao Cheng and Jiu Xuan had behaved before a ninth-stage Sunmoon like Tian He previously, it was clear these mayors did not have the respect of the major races.

Su Yu looked around and flashed a bright smile, "Everyone, why do you view me as a petty villain that will not let any grievance go unanswered? Am I such a person?"

Yes.

Yeah!

Definitely.

Since his debut in the Allheaven Battlefield, most of the people who had offended him had suffered miserable ends. Was he not such a person?

Tian He broke the awkward silence, "That's not what I'm trying to say. My point is, we need something we can rally behind. Let's be open here. With three Pseudo Emperors behind you, none of us will dare to lead the alliance. You are the only candidate to lead us. But you also need to be frank with us to give us the assurance we need before joining."

Su Yu looked at Tian He thoughtfully. The two of them had known each other for quite a while. Back then, Tian He was the one who had allowed him to meet Heavendoom. He was also somewhat of an ally to Xia Longwu. And now, he was singing a duet with him.

Su Yu said, "Since you're asking, I won't be beating around the bush. I will forget everything you have done in the past. The past is the past. It has nothing to do with me. It doesn't matter if you were backed by the divines or the devils. It doesn't matter if you used to be the enemies of humanity. Perhaps when all that happened, I wasn't even born yet. We're establishing an alliance of holy cities here, not an alliance with humanity. Your issues with humanity do not concern me since you're not the enemies of my city. I am speaking as Su Yu, the mayor of a holy city. Not Su Yu, a human lord."

He declared solemnly, "Some of you might have a deep grudge against humanity. Even if you wish to pursue vengeance, I won't stop you. However, I am still a human. I won't stay idle as you slaughter weaklings and innocents among the human race. Those worthy of being your enemies are most likely Sunmoons or even Invincibles. You can pursue your vengeance as that is a personal matter, but aim your wrath at the right person. I won't tolerate the massacre of the weak and innocent."

He added, "If a day comes when a war breaks out between the alliance and the human race, forget everything I say today. War is war."

He looked at everyone and said, "My offer does not extend to only the mayors. Including the residents, I will provide what I can. At the very least, I won't have any issues providing you with the heavenly source qi you need.

"I lack a lot of things, but I have a rather healthy supply of heavenly source qi. I can even purchase more from the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion or the Soul Devorer Realm. Heavenly source qi might be extremely rare for you, but not for me. The Soul Devourer Realm lack a lot of things, but it is filled with heavenly source qi."

He raised the little furball high and announced, "This is the crown prince of the ancient race of soul devourers. That day, a window between the Allheaven Battlefield and the Soul Devourer Realm was open momentarily. I believe everyone saw that massive heavenly source fruit tree in the realm. The crown prince can return as he wishes. Thus, heavenly source qi is not something I lack."

"..."

The little furball merely listened to the speech in silence. Wow. Yummy sure was good at lying. Did he know how to go back home? Nope.

The little furball started sulking. Why did Dada and Mama not tell him the way back when they were out here? How was he supposed to return as he wished? He didn't even know where the proper entrance was.

He didn't know how to return! Of course, he reckoned nobody would believe that. What joke was that? The two Pseudo Emperors had personally killed the tri-life bodies of the Devil Pseudo Emperor for the sake of this crown prince. They obviously cared a lot about this crown prince. If Su Yu said that the crown prince could return at will, nobody would doubt it.

In fact, even the stone statues believed it. After all, this was the sole heir of the soul devourer race. Those two must have tended to this little fellow well prior to this. They must have planted some sort of imprint on the little fellow's body to pull the little fellow back at any time.

Chapter 1299: Alliance, Luminous Domain (2)

Everyone looked at the little furball. Some had fear in their eyes, and some were rejoicing that they were not an enemy of this little furball. In fact, with the establishment of the alliance, they would be on the same side as the little furball!

That was the heir of two Pseudo Emperors! This little furball was probably the most precious heir currently in existence. The other Pseudo Emperor heirs were only descended from a single Pseudo Emperor. Meanwhile, this little fellow was descended from two of them! In short, he was a super backer.

Seeing the little furball, the mayors felt even more confident about the alliance. That was especially true for the mayors who had been backed by the other major races. They were relieved.

They had to decide if they would continue obeying their backers after joining the alliance. They had to weigh their options carefully. Those capable of giving them more would naturally win their allegiance.

With a smile, Su Yu switched to voice transmission, "Fellow mayors, even if you're backed by the divines or devils, it doesn't matter. Just tell them anything is possible as long as they pay you enough. You only need to notify me before you do anything for them. Of course, if you wish to do anything behind my back...I must inform you that I'm quite good at dealing with traitors."

He flashed them a bright smile, but the smile did nothing except send a chill up their spines. That one message was enough to make all the mayors doubt each other. They could choose to betray Su Yu, but the others could also leak their betrayal to Su Yu. That would be disastrous.

Su Yu continued his voice transmission, "Don't worry. Those major races aren't omnipotent. Just play around with them. Scam them a bit. It will be fine. In fact, I owe my success to them. When you find your pockets running empty, just look for them. They are rich enough to provide you with what you need. Do you still remember the scam I ran against them previously? Even now, I have yet to finish spending all my earnings from the scam."

Everyone was rendered speechless.

Fine, fine.

They had nearly forgotten that Su Yu had started his meteoric rise in the Allheaven Battlefield through the scam.

Then, Su Yu started speaking normally again, "We're all on the same boat. I believe you all understand the situation we're in. Our power does not originate from any of us. Rather, it originates from the lord guardians. However, the lord guardians need to concentrate on the suppression of the death tunnels. Some are already reaching their limits. Never forget why we're here. We're here to help our lord guardians with their task."

At this point, he raised his voice, "What is the best way we can help our lords? By bearing more of the burden from them! By growing stronger! By increasing the number of residents! By putting the affairs of all holy cities in order! With order, there will be more survivors in the cities. With more survivors, the burden on our lords will lighten."

He cupped his fists at the stone statues and continued speaking loudly, "Our lords are also aware that the stronger we are, the better we can help with their task! Our interests align with each other! We all need the same thing! We can complement each other!

"Our lords are not worried that we will grow too strong. By growing stronger, we will live longer and deny the Death Realm our services as death spirits. No matter how strong we grow, none of us has the ambition of slaying the lord guardians and replacing them."

Su Yu roared with laughter and said, "Only a fool will do that. Who can understand the suffering of our lords? Who can understand the suffering of someone forced to live as a statue for countless years, deprived of the ability to even move? Do you really want to live such a life? I believe our lords will actually welcome it if anyone wishes to try. Thus, there is no conflict between our interests."

That got a reaction from one of the stone statues. "You're right, Su Yu. We don't fear your growth. In fact, we long for it. We are more than willing to help you grow and live longer so long as it remains within the bounds of the laws. It is not in our interest to see you die and join the Death Realm as death spirits."

Su Yu smiled and said, "Well said, Lord. In my opinion, this alliance will be a lot more stable than you can imagine. Not even the divines, immortals, or the humans will be as stable as us internally. Our conflicts might diverge when some of us regain freedom and stop being living dead. But before that, our unity will be unshakeable."

"Let the past stay in the past. Let us look to the future and welcome a new beginning. I want everyone to grow stronger. Unfortunately, death qi is making that hard. From today onward, we need to fight for any opportunity to grow. The thirty-six holy cities will implement the same set of rules and regulations. An entrance fee will be charged for every visitor. A fee will also be charged for any building a visitor resides in, and the price will vary depending on the location. Those wishing to open their businesses in our cities will be required to pay a fee. We will share our information.

"In the past, we didn't have the courage to organize ourselves in this manner. When the devils wished to come, they came. We didn't dare to do anything. When the divines wished to come, they came. We didn't dare to bother them. That will change. We no longer fear them. If they wish to come, they need to pay up. If they wish to do business in our cities, they need to pay up. If they don't have enough to pay, they won't be leaving. They will stay and pay their debt by converting into residents.

"United, who would dare to provoke us? Can we freely enter the Divine Realm? Can we freely enter the Devil Realm? No. Because that's their home. And the holy cities are our home. Why can they enter and leave as they please?"

"Why must we allow them to enjoy the opportunities hidden in the ancient buildings for free? If they wish to enter and try their luck, sure. But pay up. Every building will have a price attached to it depending on the location.

"With our earnings from these fees, we can purchase heavenly source qi, carrier treasures, or anything else we need. With these resources, we can grow. The holy cities might be powerful, but we need to grow even more powerful as well. We can't rely on our lords all the time. They are our backers, but they are not our nannies. When the others try to bully us with Invincibles, our lords will naturally be there to back us. But we should solve our other issues ourselves. As long as they are below the Invincible Realm, do we really need to fear them?

"Everyone, I do not speak empty words. Anyone who has contributed well to our cause will be allowed to shift some of their death qi to me for a period of time. They will be able to use that time to cultivate or even break through. I still have the two carrier treasures the human race has given me as compensation. This is enough to make one of you an Invincible.

"Will the myriad races bother to stop your dao affirmation if it's too difficult? I am a human, but you're not. Will they care enough to stop you? No. Because we have a Pseudo Emperor behind us as well. The myriad races will not be willing to provoke us for the advancement of any of you. I am the sole exception. This is your golden opportunity. I believe I'll also benefit from your growth. Thus, it is well within my interest to help you grow."

Someone swallowed and said, "Mayor Su...you need the carrier treasures as well..." The source of thɪs content is novel⁂fire.net

Su Yu laughed, "These things are both valuable and not valuable at the same time. For example, when Lord Grand Dream blasted the two bodies of the dragon king apart earlier, I saw a carrier treasure. If you trust me, I will make these carrier treasures the first benefit you can get from the alliance. When I promised two carrier treasures previously, Mayor Tian He and Mayor Green Fox received them. I never break my promise to one of my own. As for my enemies, I will show no mercy."

Finally, all the mayors flew out of their cities and bowed at Su Yu, "We are all willing to serve the alliance head!"

Su Yu laughed and said, "You're getting this wrong. We all serve our lord guardians."

Then, he bowed and largely declared, "From today onward, the mayors of the thirty-five cities will do our utmost to serve the lord guardians. For the Myriad Realms, we will suppress the Death Realm and protect the living from the dead."

"..."

All the stone statues looked at the hypocritical kid. Just look at that happy smile on his face. He was clearly going wild with joy. Yet he still had to push the guardians forth as an excuse to form the alliance. Serving them? Bullshit! Even the kid himself wouldn't believe that.

Done with his declaration, Su Yu said, "Moving on, I'll be taking over the Rainbow Rain City. Mayor Green Fox and the current mayor of Rainbow Rain, you might be able to remain a regular resident, but I wouldn't advise that. I hope the two of you can assume different positions in your cities. That way, you can also reduce the death qi on you by contributing to the alliance. After all, you were both converted by Invincible death spirits. Even without being a mayor, the burden on you will still be heavy."

The green fox looked at Su Yu suspiciously. Was this guy really going to die soon? She was seriously doubting that. He was able to drag even a Pseudo Emperor guardian out.

Despite her suspicion, she still answered, "I will heed your command, Head."

"You're too polite." With a genial smile, Su Yu looked at the black tiger and asked, "My fellow mayor, how should I address you?"

"Flying Cloud."

As Su Yu studied the tiger, he wondered if this was a female tiger. He recalled a certain tiger princess who had died after trying to scheme against him. She had even implicated her whole race because of her actions.

"And you're from..."

"Golden tiger race."

This must be a joke, right? Su Yu looked at the black, female tiger suspiciously. Was she sure she came from the golden tiger race? Golden tiger? He would find it more believable if she claimed that she came from the black tiger race.

Despite his thoughts, he maintained his genial smile as he said, "Let's go to your city."

Chapter 1300: Alliance, Luminous Domain (3)

"Su Yu!"

A stone statue asked eagerly, "What about me?"

What about him? Heavendoom couldn't wait anymore. What about him? He had been very supportive of Su Yu as well! Su Yu was even his disciple! Why wasn't Su Yu giving him any help? Tian He was too useless as a mayor! He needed a new mayor!

Su Yu laughed in amusement and cupped his fists at Heavendoom. "Lord Heavendoom, please wait a moment. If I have more energy to spare after taking over Rainbow Rain City, I will definitely help you. If not...I'm afraid we will need to wait until I grow stronger."

"Su Yu!" Heavendoom said anxiously, "The next...must be me! I...I'm at my limits as well!"

"..."

That instantly rendered all the other stone statues speechless. Had he forgotten how shame felt? Tian He was actually a decently strong mayor. And Heavendoom was a decently strong stone statue. He was still in a great condition, especially compared to Rainbow Rain and a few other stone statues. Grand Dream wouldn't have thought of using Su Yu as a bridge for all of them otherwise.

Su Yu stepped into Rainbow Rain City.

At the same time.

News of what had happened during the assembly of ancient cities started spreading everywhere.

Yet another Pseudo Emperor had appeared.

Some people were already expecting this, but they still couldn't help sighing with regret upon hearing that it had indeed happened. There were too many secrets in the Myriad Realms. Up until now, three relatively unknown Pseudo Emperors had appeared in succession.

Out of nowhere, there were three additional Pseudo Emperors for everyone to contend with.

The stone statues had remained inactive for a very long time. In recent days, Grandstar and Empyrean Cloud had acted in succession. They weren't weak at all. In fact, every one of these stone statues was an incredible expert. Alone, they might be weaker than a Pseudo Emperor or even Great Xia King. But there were too many of them. Could Great Xia King or Great Qin King handle three to five of them alone?

These stone statues were far stronger than regular Invincibles. Even after a dragon king was given a beating, the Dragon Pseudo Emperor had withdrawn without saying much. Clearly, the Pseudo Emperor of the ancient cities was not an easy opponent.

With the appearance of yet another Pseudo Emperor and the withdrawal of the Devil Pseudo Emperor due to his injuries, things were growing increasingly uncertain in the Myriad Realms.

Additionally, Su Yu's position in the Sea of Stars had also stabilized. He was already a force to be reckoned with.

***

Eastern sector.

Human territory.

When Great Qin King heard the latest news, he smiled. But his smile seemed rather stiff.

He said, "We don't need to worry about Su Yu anymore. For now, we need to focus on the Luminous Domain Mansion. The divines, devils, immortals, and dragons have all sent envoys to us, asking for a meeting to discuss the allocation of slots. According to Zhou Tianyuan's observation, the mansion will open in around half a year."

He looked at everyone and said, "We need to finalize our list of candidates as well. This is both an opportunity and a risk for them. Some of the geniuses long to enter, but some are also unwilling to take such a risk. We will never have enough slots. As I said, we will make our preparations with the assumption that we will get eight hundred slots. But we need to pick a thousand candidates as a precaution."

He looked at the Invincibles and leaders in front of him and said, "We will divide the slots equally among the thirty-six prefectures regardless of the strength of each prefecture."

At this, an Invincible said, "Great Qin King, will we be rebuilding the two holy lands? Will the holy lands receive their slots?"

The holy lands were no more.

Someone else suggested, "Why don't we decide the allocation based on the number of Eternals we have. Each Eternal can pick twenty candidates. That will be enough to supply us with the number of candidates we need."

Officially, humanity had forty-nine Invincibles. But there were a few more who were inactive after losing their tri-life bodies. Thus, the actual number was higher than that.

Great Qin King asked, "What about the prefectures with dead founding kings like Great Wu?"

"We can allocate some aside for them..."

"Great Wu, Great Wei, Great Chen, and Great Qi. We can allocate ten to each of them. If they have more people than that, we can make further rearrangements."

After a short silence, Great Qin King looked at Great Zhou King and asked, "What do you think, Old Zhou?"

Great Zhou King smiled, "Don't ask me. We have too many Eternals, so it's inappropriate for me to say anything about this proposal."

They had four Invincibles. Then again, Great Ming had three, Great Xia had three, and Great Qin had two. As for the Invincible to first suggest this, he was the sole Invincible of his prefecture. Thus, he wasn't actually making the suggestion for ulterior motives. He merely believed that this was the better idea.

The slots were precious. They might as well allocate these slots based on the number of Invincibles in each prefecture. Sure, cowardly geniuses could be found everywhere. They only needed to avoid picking these people as candidates.

Great Qin King thought about it and looked at Heavenly Forge King. "Heavenly Forge, what do you think?"

Heavenly Forge King smiled, "I agree. The holy lands are gone. It will be awkward to reallocate the slots previously given to them. Furthermore, allocation based on prefectures will make it awkward for people who are not founding kings like us. It's much easier to base the allocation around the Invincibles instead." ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ novel·fire.net

Heavenly Forge King was somewhat able to speak for the Invincibles who were not founding kings. Thus, Great Qin King nodded and said, "In that case, we'll follow this distribution method. Twenty slots per Eternal. I hope the people you pick try their best to return with what we need. We have exhausted most of the resources we have gathered over the years..."

"That's all thanks to Wan Tiansheng."

An Invincible snorted coldly. This was not something they could forget anytime soon. For now, they still couldn't find Wan Tiansheng. But even if they did find him, they wouldn't be able to do much anyway.

Great Qin King ignored the complaint and continued, "Try to finalize your candidates as soon as possible. Make sure to prioritize young geniuses. Those are the type of people the mansion loves. Don't try to hide your young geniuses anymore. It's time for them to experience the real world. Without experiencing any hardships, a genius will never be a proper genius. How many Eternals can you name who have reached that level before achieving a certain level of fame in the Allheaven Battlefield?"

"Zhu Tianfang." Someone joked, "That fellow is an Eternal already, right?"

Great Qin King laughed as well, "True. But...I suspect this kid has probably killed a lot while in disguise. Just look at how ruthless he was toward the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion, killing dozens of Sunmoons in one go. It is obvious he's no gentle soul. He must have worked his way up in the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion from a black mask or a white mask. You can ask him about it if you want a confirmation."

Suddenly, Great Zhou King asked, "What about Liu City?"

Liu City.

Even Great Qin King hesitated slightly upon hearing that name. He said, "Nan Wujiang...you can ask them about this. If they need some slots, Great Qin can allocate some to them in case they don't want to go with your slots. They won't be able to send too many people anyway."

Nan Wujiang nodded silently. No words were needed.

Niu Baidao, who had just returned from his trip to the ancient city, grinned and said, "Great Qin King, has Su Yu been invited to the coming meeting regarding the mansion?"

Great Qin King shook his head.

Niu Baidao said, "I doubt the number of slots allocated in this coming meeting will be an accurate representation of how things will be. After forming the alliance of ancient cities, Su Yu will definitely try to get his share of these slots. Previously, he had demanded for a hundred slots. Now that the ancient cities have produced even a Pseudo Emperor, I doubt he will let things rest if he's not given some slots."

Great Qin King nodded, "This will depend on what the divines, devils, immortals, and dragons have to say. Even if the ancient cities are given some of these slots, they might not have any suitable candidates to send. Are those mayors supposed to enter the mansion personally?"

He thought about it and shook his head, "Su Yu can do what he wants. Everyone, time to get busy. Don't forget the military. Some of them might not be considered geniuses, but I hope you will take them into consideration as well. Talent, resilience, experience, and ruthlessness are all important."

Everyone nodded. It was time to finalize their candidates and start preparing for the mansion.

***

Before long, news about the mansion started spreading all over the Human Realm.

Once again, the Luminous Domain Mansion would open. In the past, humanity would start preparing much earlier. But too many things had changed this year.

But finally, they were going to finalize the list of candidates.

News about the coming opening of the Luminous Domain Mansion spread everywhere in the Myriad Realms, overshadowing even the recent disturbance caused by Su Yu.

Chapter 1301: Nine Leaf Skylotus (1)

Human Realm.

For many people, the recent chaos was now in the past. Life was starting to return to normal. But as news of the coming opening of the Luminous Domain Mansion spread, the recently settled calm broke yet again.

It was time for a new fight. A fight for the slots. This was the highest number of slots humanity had received in centuries. Each Invincible was granted twenty slots to allocate.

Great Xia.

After the deaths of numerous experts, Great Xia had declined. But its number of Invincibles had increased. The losses it had suffered among the younger generation had also been quite minimal. Like many other prefectures, the competition for the slots had also begun in Great Xia.

Great Xia Cultural Research Academy.

With the departure of people like Bai Feng and Su Yu, things had changed considerably in the academy.

In a ring.

Like a beast out of its cage, Zhou Hao dominated the ring. With his intense killing intent, he shot forward and clawed at his opponent, creating a fountain of blood in the ring.

A Skysoar teaching assistant was sent crashing into the ground while coughing blood.

All around the ring, the gathered experts frowned.

Ji Hong watched in silence. At present, he was the acting principal of the brand new Great Xia Cultural Research Academy that had been established after merging the three cultural research academies of Great Xia together.

"Director Ji, this youngster called Zhou Hao...is quite a ferocious one."

An old man remarked, "He does look like a good candidate to join the army. But I'm worried that he only looks ferocious but is actually a coward. I have seen quite a lot of people like this."

These people would mostly be ferocious and decisive when competing against their fellow humans back home, but they would turn into a cowards right after entering the Allheaven Battlefield. They would fail to keep their spines straight the moment a divine or a devil was present. Such individuals would be completely worthless in the Allheaven Battlefield.

The old man was worried that Zhou Hao was also one such person.

Ji Hong nodded, "It's fine. We'll see who he is after we put him to use. He has been growing rapidly. He has even completed eighteen body forgings. He will probably grow even stronger by the time the Luminous Domain Mansion is open. He will get a slot."

The others nodded in agreement. He might only be a Skysoar, but at eighteen body forgings, he was quite impressive.

If Su Yu were still around, those from his batch would have been in the academy for a year and a half. And this batch had produced an exceedingly large number of freaks. Alas, Su Yu alone had overshadowed all of them. It was hard to judge whether they were lucky or unlucky to be in the same batch as Su Yu.

Then again, Great Xia had also gained a unique advantage after the recent events. During the battle in Nanyuan, too many Sunmoons and Invincibles had perished, resulting in a massive increase in the source qi and ambient willpower density around that region. A lot of young geniuses had been cultivating there as of late, and they had all grown rapidly thanks to the environment. Furthermore, the fake ruin was still around, including the heavenly source qi and all the other resources Su Yu had planted in it while making the fake ruin.

Ji Hong said, "When we finalize the list of candidates, we will reopen the Nanyuan Ruin for them. This will be yet another chance for them to grow further."

The fake ruin, now known as the Nanyuan Ruin, had been temporarily sealed. A lot of Sunmoons had perished in there as well. In fact, the entirety of Great Xia was enjoying a surge of density in ambient source qi and willpower. The elders nodded at Ji Hong's words.

Even after the merger, the number of elders in the academy was only comparable to what Great Xia Cultural Research Academy alone had prior to this. More than half of the elders had perished during the recent conflict.

Ji Hong looked at the nearby Wu Yuehua and asked, "Faculty Head Wu, has Wu Qi recovered from her injuries?"

Wu Yuehua answered without looking up, "More or less. After her full recovery, she will grow even stronger than before."

With her head lowered, she looked like she was in the middle of conversing with someone else with voice transmission.

Standing beside Ji Hong was Jia Dequan, better known as Jia Mingzhen the fake student, who sent Ji Hong a voice transmission, "Don't bother asking her. She has not been able to put her voice transmission talisman down recently. She has been constantly keeping in touch with those in Liu City. I reckon she wants to be there more than here right now."

Right at that moment, Wu Yuehua looked up at them and demanded, "I will be one of the leaders for the team we're sending to the Luminous Domain Mansion."

Ji Hong hesitated and said, "You should be focusing on your breakthrough to the Sunmoon Realm. I can see that you're not too far from that..."

"No. I want to enter the Allheaven Battlefield."

Wu Yuehua remained stubborn. She had to go. Her advancement was nothing. If she stayed away from that certain someone for much longer, that bastard would start forgetting her.

Ji Hong looked helpless as he didn't know how to handle her stubbornness. Beside him, Jia Dequan teased, "Faculty Head Wu, the marquis is in the middle of recovery. Maybe you can wait for the marquis to exit seclusion before leaving together."

"..."

Wu Yuehua stared at him silently. After a while, she said, "Xia Xiao'er has indeed acted like a man this time. Unfortunately, I also heard that he was crying and complaining about the pain even when he was dying. I suppose he can only be manly once in his life. Since you seem to like him that much, you should take a lesson from Lan Tian and marry him."

"..."

Jia Dequan was instantly rendered speechless. Her tongue was still as venomous as ever.

He decided to ignore her and return his attention to the rings below. Most of the combatants involved were Skysoars. After a while, he nodded, "The Skysoars of those from batch 350 are indeed impressive. Zhou Hao, Hu Qiusheng, Wan Mingze, Xia Chan, and Xia Huyou are all as impressive as one can be at their age. Even Ji Xiaomeng, your own daughter, is quite good."

He frowned as he continued, "As for the Cloudbreaches...where is Liu Hong? He is one of the few humans capable of entering the Heavenly Hunt Index. With him, Wu Qi, and Huang Teng from the war academy around, our position will be much stronger. After all, they are all fellow index members."

These were all elites among their peers.

After a slight hesitation, he asked, "Will you be considering Hu Wensheng as well?"

Hu Wensheng was the genius who had been defeated by Bai Feng back then and also the student of Zheng Yuming.

Zhou Mingren had died, but Zheng Yuming was still alive. After returning from the Vanguard Regiment, he had walked an entirely different path from his teacher, Zhou Mingren, and participated in the battle in Nanyuan.

He was a smart man.

One could say that both he and Zhou Mingren had seen the signs of what to come. Each of them had merely opted to take a different choice from the other. Even knowing he would die, Zhou Mingren had still decided not to join the fight. He was prepared to die.

Without his death, Great Xia Cultural Research Academy would not be able to rebuild and reform itself easily. After the battle, Zheng Yuming entered seclusion and had been in seclusion since then. Perhaps he was doing all this just so he could preserve his line from extinction.

Ji Hong gave it some thought and answered, "If he comes and wins a slot by himself, I won't stop him. But he won't be getting any slot for free if he's absent."

Ji Dequan nodded, "This time, Great Xia has gotten quite a lot of slots. Including the ones given to the third principal, we have sixty of them. According to the prefect, fifty will be allocated while the remaining ten will be kept as spares. That is enough for us."

He paused slightly and continued, "But the prefect also intends to let these fellows train themselves for a few months in the Allheaven Battlefield before entering the Luminous Domain Mansion. They will be allowed to go if they can survive that. Will this be too dangerous?"

Ji Hong indifferently said, "They will need to face these dangers sooner or later. Rather than letting them die in the Luminous Domain Mansion due to their inexperience and waste the slots given to them, we might as well let them experience the myriad races in advance."

So be it.

Ji Dequan had nothing else to say about that. But suddenly, he recalled someone and sighed, "I wonder if that kid will go as well."

What a pity. If Su Yu were still around, he would serve as their greatest trump card for this expedition into the Luminous Domain Mansion.

Su Yu, a young genius who had truly faced the geniuses of the myriad races. The rest of the young geniuses, including Huang Teng, were far less experienced in comparison.

As for the batches before them, very few geniuses of note had emerged among them. Instead, it was the military that had produced a few decent geniuses. For example, Chen Long, who had cultivated only the common cultivation methods distributed in the army, had grown rapidly. He was someone who had truly killed his way up from the very bottom as a regular footsoldier.

Shaking his head, Ji Hong stopped himself from thinking too much about Su Yu. Rather, he looked down at the rings below and slowly asked, "Why is Wan Mingze here as well? I'm afraid he will be prejudiced against by the others if he joins the expedition as well."

Wan Tiansheng might be gone, but the Wan Family was still around. Not long ago, Wan Mingze had traveled throughout the Human Realm to seek justice for Wan Tiansheng. For many, this was unacceptable.

By joining the expedition to the Luminous Domain Mansion, Wan Mingze would open himself to being targeted by these people. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ novel•fire.net

Jia Dequan laughed, "It will be fine as long as this doesn't happen within Great Xia's group. As for the others...they may do as they wish. Wan Mingze is no pushover either. Everyone will need to think carefully if they want to risk creating another Principal Wan."

A demon wearing the skin of a human. Was Wan Mingze such a person as well? Nobody knew.

Chapter 1302: Nine Leaf Skylotus (2)

At the moment, Wan Mingze was facing an old Skysoar in one of the rings. Unfortunately for the Skysoar, he was fully sealed right at the start of the match. This was what Wan Mingze had always been known for.

All his characters were related to sealing. With his numerous apertures and characters, the Skysoar was completely helpless against him.

Wan Mingze did not even bother to attack. He merely sealed his opponent for a short moment before releasing the seal. Just as his opponent was about to attack, he sealed his opponent again.

After several repetitions, the Skysoar was forced to surrender. Ji Hong and the other higher-ups watched silently.

Meanwhile, Wu Yuehua frowned as she raised her head to look at Wan Mingze. Suddenly, she asked, "It feels like this kid...lacks something."

When the others looked at her, she explained, "From that youth army he formed, it is clear he has great ideals. And he is also quite capable. However, in the path of cultivation, can one truly win the acknowledgment of everyone with such soft methods? Compared to the likes of Su Yu or even Huang Teng, Wan Mingze seems to lack a certain decisiveness and ruthlessness."

At that, Ji Hong returned his gaze to the ring. After a while, he said, "Decisiveness...some people won't act lightly. And when they finally act, they will act in a manner that will catch the world by surprise. Perhaps the time has yet to arrive for him to do anything. As a family member of Principal Wan, I find it hard to believe he's a soft and indecisive man."

How could the nephew of someone like Wan Tiansheng be a soft and indecisive man? Ji Hong greatly doubted that.

They stopped talking and continued observing the youngsters in the rings. Jiang Mu, someone who had accompanied Wan Mingze throughout the Human Realm, Zhan Hai, who once reigned at the top of the Top 100 Ranking, Zhang Hao, a previous partner of Su Yu who had also joined the Mutual Aid Club, and many others.

They might all be newcomers in the academy, and their cultivation levels varied between the third to the sixth stage of the Skysoar Realm, but their actual combat strength was very impressive.

For example, Zhang Hao of the Talisman Faculty was able to send over a hundred high-quality talismans mixed with the blood essence of soul devouring bug with a single wave of his hand. This was a suggestion Su Yu had given him back then. Interestingly, he had successfully implemented something that was merely a theory back then.

After winning the competition for the slots, they could be sent to the Nanyuan Ruin for some time. Coupled with some additional resources supplied by Great Xia, they could probably reach the Cloudbreach Realm or at least the late stage of the Skysoar Realm by the time the mansion was open.

Strictly speaking, they were all benefiting from Su Yu's contributions.

Thanks to the incomplete Five Elemental Art Su Yu had released in the Human Realm, many students were able to start opening their apertures at the Mental Tempering Stage. As long as they could keep up in the cultivation of their willpower and characters, it wouldn't take these people long to reach the late stage of the Skysoar Realm or even the Cloudbreach Realm.

Thanks to Su Yu's Acupoint Fusion Art, many of them were able to speed through the Infinite Strength Realm. A year after Su Yu released all these cultivation methods, the results were starting to become apparent.

A lot of the top experts had nearly forgotten about these cultivation methods by now, but among the lower-level cultivators, things had changed drastically. A large number of new geniuses had emerged among the younger generation. In fact, nowadays, one would be ashamed to call oneself a warrior before opening over a hundred acupoints.

Coincidentally, the source qi density of the Human Realm had increased significantly recently. Those who were lucky or talented enough were even able to break through repeatedly after the recent battle.

It was indeed true that a crisis was also a form of opportunity. With the emergence of so many young geniuses, the future seemed bright for Great Xia.

In the past, even reaching the fourth or fifth stage of the Source Opening Realm was considered a difficult feat for many students. Nowadays, many of them were able to reach the Great Strength Realm before even graduating from their secondary school. And the price of this? The lives of several Invincibles.

***

At the same time, Great Ming was also finalizing their list of candidates.

But their method of doing so was different.

Including the slots allocated to Niu Baidao, Great Ming had received sixty slots as well. In the past, they would only receive ten slots to allocate. Thus, this was a massive improvement from the past.

And this sudden improvement was giving Zhu Tiandao a massive headache. He finally understood what it meant to be burdened by too much wealth.

Sixty slots. Prior to this, they had already selected their ten candidates. What should he do with the rest of the slots? The people of Great Ming were too laid back and lazy. These people might not be willing to go even if they were given the slots.

Sure, he could pick more warriors to make up the numbers. But he still needed to pick some cultural researchers, right?

Zhu Tiandao was deep in thought while rubbing his chin. After a long while, he looked at the crowd before him and said, "Of the younger generation, we do have a few decent geniuses. But the number is too small. We simply don't have enough of them to fill all sixty of our slots. But we can't waste the slots, right? Perhaps...we should send some elderly over as well? Yes, it might get dangerous. But since they are already old enough to die, they might as well take the risk. Who knows? They might get lucky and end up living longer."

Zhu Tiandao grinned and said, "The strength of our prefecture lies not in our youth. Rather, it lies on our elderly. The older they are, the better they are. This time, humanity might take a risk and go further than the lowest three levels. Those elderly will be better equipped to deal with the increased danger of the higher levels."

He looked around before beaming at someone among the crowd. "Old Hu, why don't you lead by example?"

"..."

Hu Xiansheng continued stroking his white beard sagely. He looked completely unsurprised. He had guessed long ago that they would set their eyes on him.

All the other prefectures were busy selecting youngsters for the coming expedition, and here they were, selecting the elderly instead.

How...speechless.

Zhu Tiandao smiled and said, "We need to send the right people. In fact, we should send more elderly. They are so old that they will die soon anyway. They might as well take this risk, right?"

Hu Xiansheng said, "I can go, but can you subsidize me for the reconstruction of my teleportation door? I need at least my trump card if I'm doing something so dangerous, right?"

At that, Zhu Tiandao laughed and said, "You need to ask Old Niu about that. Didn't you kill a Pseudo Invincible for him? That was how he got his carrier treasure. He needs to reward you for that, right?"

"You have no idea!"

Hu Xiansheng said, "I did look for him. But he claimed that he was no longer in charge of his house. Ye Hongyan took everything he had. What am I supposed to do about that?" Well, there was nothing they could say.

Ye Hongyan had returned. She had taken control of all his assets. Hu Xiansheng had not been able to get anything from Niu Baidao.

As Zhu Tiandao laughed with amusement, Hu Xiansheng said, "By the way, that Wu girl...no, the two Wu girls are demanding to go. Prefect, this could get really messy so I didn't dare to agree. You should decide on this instead."

Wu Jia and Wu Lan.

Wu Jia had been sent to Great Ming before the previous conflict. Since Liu City wasn't exactly a safe place, Liu Wenyan and the others had not taken her with them when they left the Human Realm. Google seaʀᴄh n͟o͟v͟e͟l͟f͟i͟r͟e͟.net

In a way, Great Ming had somehow turned into a sort of refuge for the endangered. That gave Zhu Tiandao another headache. He said, "This...is indeed tricky. We do have the slots to spare, but both of them are fresh Skysoars. Going there with their strength is the same as suicide."

This could indeed get very messy. Even the lowermost three levels would be too dangerous for those below the high-stage Skysoar Realm. In prior openings, humanity had mostly focused on the lowermost three levels. Even then, the bulk of those they sent were Cloudbreaches.

Wu Lan and Wu Jia might be multiple character cultivators with character techniques, and both were also quite accomplished in physical cultivation, but they were still too weak compared to the other top geniuses. Furthermore, they were also quite inexperienced in combat.

Both were also quite close to Su Yu. One had followed Su Yu all the way from Great Xia to Great Ming. The other was Su Yu's senior sister. They were too important to endanger.

After thinking about it, Zhu Tiandao said, "We need to communicate with those in Liu City about this before making a decision. How about this? Take them with you until you reach Liu City. When we're there, we can decide if those in Liu City don't object. If they object, that's as far as those two will go.

"Additionally, make sure Bai Junsheng and Cui Lang go as well. I'm confident Su Yu will be going. Maybe those two will receive some help from him because of what he owes them. In fact, I wish I could go myself to get some benefits from Su Yu. What a pity that I can no longer move around without attracting too much attention nowadays."

He sounded both gloomy and helpless.

Damn it!

He had not killed four Invincibles. Anyone with a brain could see that he wasn't that strong. Alas, even with such suspicion, people would not stop keeping an eye on him anymore. After the recent string of dao affirmations, there weren't too many existing potential Invincibles left among humanity.

He was one of them. Yun Chen was one. Xia Xiao'er was one as well. But with Xia Xiao'er's recent injuries, full recovery would be challenging. Thus, the myriad races would be looking forward to getting rid of both him and Yun Chen.

The more Zhu Tiandao thought about it, the more sullen he became. He said, "Take those demonic beasts of Su Yu with you as well. He can decide what he wants to do with them. Why are we wasting food feeding them here? They are living so good that they are starting to get fat. Two days ago, I saw that suanni. He has doubled in size since Su Yu left."

That suanni had been living a very comfortable life. With Su Yu absent, he had been mostly ignored. The research center did not lack resources. Whenever he said that he was hungry, Wu Lan and Wu Jia would give him some food. After living a few months like that, he had doubled in size.

Hu Xiansheng couldn't help laughing in amusement as he suggested, "Prefect, if we really have too many slots, I think we can give them to some of the demonic beasts living in Great Ming. For example, those looping turtles. That iron devourer can get one as well."

No matter what, these slots were actually very valuable. Even one of these slots would be invaluable for a minor race.

Previously, the majority of the slots would be monopolized by the major races, who would allocate some to their subsidiary slots. As for the human race, they had never been able to get too many of these slots. But this time, humanity had received a surprisingly large number of slots, to the point they could also be generous and give some of the slots away as well.

Zhu Tiandao nodded, "I find that agreeable. I won't be able to lead our team this time. The other races will definitely have their Invincibles escort their teams. When you're at the Allheaven Battlefield, discuss this with Old Niu. Tell him Great Ming's team should try to operate separately from the other prefectures."

"Sure."

The allocation of Great Ming's slots was very peaceful and calm.

A few days later, the human race had finalized the list of candidates.

The various prefectures started helping the chosen candidates to grow as much as possible before entering the Luminous Domain Mansion. Humanity hoped to get a lot more than what they had been able to get in the past. Thus, they had to be very serious about this.

***

The various races were preparing for the coming opening of the Luminous Domain Mansion. The mansion would open once every ten years. It was the best source of treasures and resources for the myriad races.

One could say that the Luminous Domain Mansion was akin to an unending deposit of treasures. One would never leave it empty-handed.

In fact, many of the carrier treasures, heaven weapons, cultivation methods, and precious fruits presently in circulation had been obtained from the mansion in the past. Even the dragonblood fruit tree that was currently in Su Yu's possession originated from the mansion.