Tribulation of Myriad Races

After a short silence, the masked man answered, “My authority is not high enough to carry out such transactions. Perhaps you try to increase your level of authority. With enough authority, anything is possible.”

“…”

The look in Su Yu’s eyes changed. He said, “Recruiting the geniuses of the myriad races, facilitating transactions of all kinds, and perhaps offering other services for hire as well. I am very familiar with this process.”

He was way too familiar with this. Wasn’t this basically a bigger version of his Mutual Aid Club? First, recruit others. Then, facilitate missions for benefits. The organizer would profit by merely providing a platform to others.

The masked man said, “We’re each getting what we need from this. It’s not like the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion has ever claimed to be the embodiment of justice.”

Su Yu continued retreating as he asked, “Is Mo Duona a member?”

The masked man said, “I don’t know. I am only in charge of my own list. I know nothing about the lists of others. This is how we operate.”

“So you’re the person in charge of dealing with me from now on?”

“Yes.” The masked man asked, “Are you curious about what Mo Duona is doing? Why must he walk through this door? Why is it so difficult? What exactly are these ancient cities? Are you not curious?”

“Yes, I’m curious.”

At this point, Su Yu was already so far from the masked man that even his tribulation character had calmed down somewhat. With a smile, he asked, “Are you an information peddler as well? Name your price.”

“It’s fine.” The masked man said, “Can I take a look at your real face? That will suffice as payment.”

“The Heavenly Hunt Pavilion is so capable. Can’t you see through me?”

“Yes.” The masked man did not fall for the provocation. He took a mirror out and said, “But doing it without permission is the same as making you our enemy. We don’t intend to become your enemies. Must you force me to do this? The Heavenly Hunt Index must be accurate. You saw the contents in the index. You must be aware that the index does not leak anything important. We only need some basic information about the people in it. Since your identity as Cui Lang is being doubted, the Heavenly Hunt Index has the obligation to verify your identity.”

“Obligation?” Su Yu raised his brow.

The masked man answered, “Yes. Obligation. If we can’t even verify the identity of a genius listed in our index, what qualification do we still have to operate in the Allheaven Battlefield? How can we convince our customers that our information is accurate?”

Su Yu nodded understandingly, “I’m Cui Lang.”

The masked man laughed and raised his mirror. A white ray shot out of it, but Su Yu instantly vanished. But right after he went into concealment, the very space around him turned solid and forced him out of concealment.

He was greatly alarmed. However, he showed no fear. He kicked the white ray and dispersed it with the Time technique. The masked man was astonished, but he did not hesitate to write down what he saw.

Proficient in the Time technique created by Silk Destroying King.

Then, the masked man aimed his mirror at Su Yu again.

Su Yu reacted with his characters. Once again, the masked man wrote something down: Owner of five elemental characters.

Su Yu stopped after avoiding the white ray and hurriedly said, “Haha. You got me! I’m Su Yu. Lord Mask, there is no need for us to come to blows.”

He had discovered that the masked man seemed to be recording what he was doing. If this continued, he would only end up exposing more of his tricks.

The masked man laughed, “You’re Su Yu? Can you show me your real face? I told you this before. I come in peace. The Heavenly Hunt Pavilion does not exist for the sake of hunting geniuses. We are merely the administrators of the ranking system. We have never been responsible for the death of any young genius. Most of the time, the young geniuses would die in the hands of other young geniuses.”

Su Yu did not say anything. This masked man was too difficult to deal with. He started considering entering the city.

Suddenly, the masked man said, “Danger and fortune can both be found in the ancient cities. It is not smart to enter one without knowing anything. It might also result in you missing out on a massive chance encounter. Even a super genius like Mo Duona is interested in the fortuitous encounters one might find in an ancient city. That is why he’s trying to enter through the main gate. Are you going to enter through a side gate instead? Are you admitting your inferiority to Mo Duona?”

Su Yu hesitated and cursed inwardly before revealing a face.

The masked man stared at him with a sigh and said, “Please don’t insult my intelligence. Don’t insult the intelligence of Heavenly Hunt Pavillion. We have detailed records of Xia Huyou.”

“…”

Su Yu cursed before showing a different face. Xia Huyou was quite popular. And he was even an Invincible descendant. It was understandable that the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion knew him.

Now…

Right after he changed his face, the masked man took out a picture and said, “Su Yu, you’re not a nobody. Why keep hiding like this?”

Su Yu saw a picture of his face. He was greatly shocked at the implication of that. The Heavenly Hunt Pavilion had a network even inside the Human Realm! But it was too dangerous to admit who he was.

He was about to put forth another fake appearance when the masked man started writing again, “In possession of a transformation character. The character is likely a fourth-tier character. Also in possession of a presence concealment technique and an aura concealment character that also seems to be a fourth-tier character…”

Then, he formed a conclusion, “With more than ten characters and mastery over Sky Sundering Saber, Time, Soul Expanding Art, ability blood essence, and character technique, we can conclude that this individual is Su Yu.”

Since Su Yu was unwilling to cooperate, he would have to infer a conclusion himself. Based on what he knew, this human was most likely Su Yu. The lack of verification from Su Yu himself was the only reason the term “most likely” was still used here.

Su Yu also noticed what the masked man was recording. He had an odd look in his eyes. Why were these people so strict? Wasn’t he only using a borrowed identity? Why couldn’t they allow that?

Cui Lang or Su Yu. What difference did it make?

Why must they figure out the truth? He was left quite speechless. No wonder Xia Huyou told him that it was very hard to hide one’s identity in the Allheaven Battlefield. So it was because the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion would actually verify one’s identity. Were they acting as the police of the Allheaven Battlefield?

Damn it!

Suddenly, his index copy shook. He took it out and noted that something had changed.

18th on Heaven Index, Su Yu, 19 years old. A genius from Human Realm’s Great Ming, born in Great Xia and a member of the multiple character faction.

Past accomplishments: Killing a ninth-stage Cloudbreach

Meanwhile, Qin Fang, who had killed a third-stage Mountainsea as a sixth-stage Cloudbreach had dropped into the Earth Index, occupying the first place there. As for Huang Teng, he was pushed to the second place.

Su Yu clenched his teeth and said, “How can you make the claim that I’m Su Yu so easily?”

These index copies probably also worked similarly to voice transmission talismans with a direct connection to the main index. The masked man had altered the contents of the main index through his index copy.

Because of that, Su Yu was now in the Heaven Index. It had only been a few days since he arrived at the Allheaven Battlefield. From the Yellow Index, he had climbed all the way to the Heaven Index. Su Yu felt terrible. Why did he need so much fame? That would attract more attention and place him in more danger.

The masked man thought about it and wrote something on his index copy.

A tiny change appeared in the index.

Su Yu (Pending further verification)

A few words had been added.

Su Yu had the urge to vomit blood from anger. Could they even do this?

The masked man laughed, “It doesn’t matter if you’re admitting it or not. The Heavenly Hunt Pavilion will always share our speculation with the world.”

He prepared to leave.

Su Yu hurriedly asked, “Where’s the information you promised me?”

“You didn’t show your real face.”

“You didn’t put a time limit to it…”

Then, Su Yu revealed his real appearance. The masked man blanked out momentarily before saying, “Every single genius of the human race is an interesting individual.”

He was trying to say that all the human geniuses were shameless. He had met both Qin Fang and Huang Teng as well. Each of them was a uniquely shameless individual. He tossed a jade talisman toward Su Yu. Instead of catching the jade talisman, Su Yu burned it with fire, washed it with water, and scanned it with his tribulation character. When he was done with all that, he finally grabbed it with his hand.

“…”

The masked man was getting exhausted. This fellow was way too cautious. But the word cautious also didn’t seem suitable for this fellow. After all, he was so brazen it was crazy as well. If he was really trying to hide himself, why did he even enter the Skyrend Valley?

What a contradictory and complicated individual. Perhaps this was how all geniuses were.

The masked man left, leaving only his voice behind, “If you wish to trade with us, feel free to write what you want on an index copy. That thing works similarly to voice transmission talismans. That is its sole function.”

“Heh.”

Su Yu said nothing, but he sneered. How about tracking abilities? The index copies could definitely be tracked. The index copy must be the reason why the masked man had been able to locate him so accurately. He was certain of that.

But the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion was also quite a complicated organization. They didn’t seem interested in actually killing anyone with their own hands. Or to be precise, they wouldn’t do so without a good price. Su Yu had a pensive look as he sank into thought. Perhaps the geniuses in the index were the actual products of the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion.

Tracking and killing geniuses were nothing but business transactions. As long as the price was paid, they would be willing to track or even kill the geniuses. Before a sufficient price was paid to kill these geniuses, the geniuses would remain their important customers.

Meanwhile, Mo Duona was still walking through the city gate, with devilflame flooding his surroundings. More and more people were stopping to observe his attempt.

After a short observation, Su Yu started going through the information he received from the masked man. Why was Mo Duona insisting on going through this gate? What was different about it?

***

Su Yu was still calm, but every single individual with an index copy was looking at the changes.

18th on Heaven Index. Su Yu. Pending further verification.

Su Yu!

Cui Lang’s name had vanished while Su Yu’s name had appeared. The name had shot right into the Heaven Index.

In the entirety of Myriad Realms, only eighteen names could enter the Heaven Index.

And Su Yu was one of the eighteen. He occupied the bottom of the index because Lei Jue, who he had killed, was not a Mountainsea. Furthermore, Su Yu himself was already a Cloudbreach.

His willpower cultivation was at the first-stage Cloudbreach Realm. He had not demonstrated the ability to kill someone a major realm above him. Sure, he was capable of unleashing the strength of a Mountainsea, and Lei Jue was someone who had killed a Mountainsea before, but that wasn’t how the Heavenly Hunt Index calculated its ranking.

***

Great Xia Cultural Research Academy.

Heart Cultivating Pavilion.

Streams of information moved in.

When Wan Tiansheng took out his voice transmission talisman and saw the latest message, he looked up at the sky.

Cloudbreach. With the strength to fight Mountainseas.

“He’s already a Cloudbreach…”

He muttered as he stared blankly. Just what was the scene he saw?

Who was the Mountainsea he saw Su Yu fighting? What was the stage of that Mountainsea? He had not paid too much attention when he saw the scene. There were nine stages in the realm. What was the level of the Mountainsea he saw that kid fighting? Which race was that Mountainsea from?

“That event did not happen in the Allheaven Battlefield. It is not going to happen now.”

He muttered to himself that it would take some time. Definitely. He had used the Heaven Connecting Mirror after Su Yu joined the academy. He had sacrificed a hundred years of lifespan.

Not even a year had passed since then. A full year would only pass when August arrived. He refused to believe it.

Damn it!

He couldn’t accept it!

If he had known that he would only be shown such a near future, he wouldn’t have bothered.

Sure, what he saw was merely one future of the countless possibilities, but that was a hundred years of lifespan. And with such a sacrifice, the nearer the future he saw, the more accurate it would be.

It would only be one possibility amid millions of possibilities if it was an event decades in the future. But if it was an event of the near future, it would only be one of several possibilities. That was the only thing Wan Tiansheng could be sure of.

“Sigh.”

Boundless regret could be heard from that sigh. Everything was happening too fast. Everything was going out of his control. Also, why was the kid stirring trouble in the Allheaven Battlefield? Did the kid think that nobody could kill them?

No matter how big of a genius one was, one would still die to a single slap of an Invincible. He shook his head. Fatty Xia was there. Perhaps Fatty Xia could give that kid some help.

***

Not many people had received the news about Su Yu. But the upper echelons of humanity had their own sources of information.

Great Ming.

Heart Paradise Island.

Niu Baidao was drinking tea with Cui Lang. After a while, he smiled, “See, I told you that you don’t need to worry for long. Aren’t you relieved? That kid has exposed himself.”

He sounded calm, but he was cursing inwardly.

Damn it!

Wasn’t this supposed to be a trip to collect some heavenly source qi from his ruin? How did that turn into entering the Heaven Index? Niu Baidao was bursting with rage. Why did he even bother helping the kid with the disguise? That kid was too big of a shit-stirrer. There was no hiding that kid.

In retrospect, that kid had truly maintained a low profile during his time in Great Ming. He had only produced a heavenly phenomenon and schemed several Sunmoons to death during his time in Great Ming. That was all.

After arriving at the Allheaven Battlefield, the kid was like a mad dog out of his cage. He had been stirring up trouble everywhere. Opposite him, Cui Lang nodded calmly while sipping tea. Yes. He knew Su Yu would be exposed sooner or later. But…he was still in great trouble.

At that thought, he sighed, “Principal, I think I’m still finished.”

“Hmm?”

“A friend from Great Tang sent me a voice transmission earlier. He said that Old Man Cheng blasted his own home apart in anger. I wonder if he’s thinking of killing me or Su Yu. What do you think?”

“…”

Niu Baidao had nearly forgotten about that.

After a long silence, he said, “He’s probably thinking of killing you before catching Su Yu to make Su Yu his grandson-in-law. What do you think?”

Cui Lang nodded. That was very possible.