Tribulation of Myriad Races

Chapter 1059: Heavenly Hunt Pavilion’s Profound Nine (2)

Profound Nine didn’t know much more about the stone statues. But seeing that Su Yu was still waiting for him to say more, he said, “The elders are also inviting you to join the Pavilion and replace me as the branch leader of the Grandstar Branch.”

Su Yu asked indifferently, “And will I get anything from that?”

“Yes.” Profound Nine explained, “Take me as an example. Each year, I will receive thirty thousand human merit points worth of supplies from the pavilion. You can ask for anything within that limit. The pavilion also places a lot of importance on profits. Thus, I can get 0.1 percent of the profit I make for the pavilion as a commission. Most of the time, I can make them a profit of more than ten million human merit points per year. And that’s on the low side. On average, I make about fifty thousand merit points each year in commission and salary.

“On top of that, we will also be granted access to the cultivation methods of some powerful races. We can also raise our authority through contribution and gain access to secret information. More importantly, we also have the protection of the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion.”

“Protection?” Su Yu laughed, “How are you guys being protected? I have never seen the pavilion doing anything when you guys were being killed.”

Profound Nine shook his head, “You misunderstand us, Lord. The pavilion will actually protect us. But the level of protection we receive depends on our value. A genius like you will enjoy a much higher level of protection. For example, one of our members received the protection of an Invincible at the Plain of Desires not long ago. The Invincible had personally moved that person out of the area.”

Su Yu had an impression of that incident.

He raised his brow, “How do the departments, positions, and levels in the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion work?”

“You would have known this long ago if you had interacted more with us, Lord. There are Four Departments, East and West Chambers, and North and South Spires. The Four Departments are in charge of information gathering and external transactions. The Four Departments are essentially one, but they are also split into Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow Departments, representing different levels of strength and status among the members. This is quite similar to the four indexes.

“The East and West Chambers are in charge of the study of ancient secrets and undercover works in the various realms. The North and South Spires are in charge of assassinations, rescue operations, and security services.”

The different roles were divided quite clearly. The two spires were essentially a powerful security company that also dabbled in assassinations. The two chambers were in charge of digging up ancient secrets. As for the Four Departments, they were basically the representatives of the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion in the Allheaven Battlefield.

“Under the leaders of the departments, chambers, and spires are the elders. Only late-stage Sunmoons can become elders. Below the elders, the members are further split into several tiers. At the first tier are the white masks, at the second tier are the black masks, at the third tier are the rainbow masks, and at the fourth tier are the half masks.”

“Wait.” Su Yu asked in surprise, “There are other masks apart from white masks?”

He had only met white masks before! What the hell?

Profound Nine said, “You’re different. You entered the Heaven Index not long after your debut in the Allheaven Battlefield. Thus, you have been served by the white masks since the very beginning. Since I’m a branch leader, I’m also a white mask.”

In other words, Su Yu had been interacting with the upper echelons of the pavilion since the very beginning. The other masks were simply not qualified to serve him. Only experts were qualified to serve him.

Su Yu nodded. At this point, he already had a rough understanding of the structure of this organization.

He asked, “Why didn’t you run? You can simply take off your mask and hide elsewhere in the city. I won’t be able to know that you’re a white mask. You’re a resident. I’m not a lunatic that will kill all residents.”

Profound Nine lowered his head, “I am here to serve as the pavilion’s gift to you. This is our way of showing our sincerity. In any case, the growth of death qi in my body has accelerated significantly in recent days with the city sealed. I won’t be able to live much longer. Even if I run, I’ll still die. I might as well do more for the pavilion before dying.”

“I’m also a dying man. What’s the point of recruiting me?” Su Yu smiled, “Why don’t we fight it out instead? You can try killing me. Who knows? The pavilion might decide to save you if you manage to kill me.”

“You must be jesting, Lord.”

Su Yu shook his head, “Not at all. I don’t like it when my enemies cower before me and throw their lives away. That’s too boring. The Heavenly Hunt Pavilion has once betrayed me. Thus, I will never trust the pavilion. I am not interested in getting involved with you guys. I’m more interested in witnessing the strength of an expert from the pavilion. Why don’t we do it this way? If you can prove your strength and defeat me, I’ll consider joining.”

He was more interested in testing his own strength.

Since he had shut the door after entering, he wasn’t worried that this white mask would sell his whereabouts while he was there. At worst, he would simply stay inside the building and wait it out.

At this point, the mayor was probably the only person capable of killing him in the city. He could simply let the mayor wait outside while he cultivated in seclusion if the mayor decided to act.

But Profound Nine did nothing. He said, “I won’t be able to kill you, Lord. You are probably very strong…”

That might be what he was saying, but inwardly, he was thinking that Su Yu would probably not be strong enough to kill him either. He was a seventh-stage Mountainsea. He had that much confidence in himself.

Yes, Su Yu had killed Sunmoons before. But the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion was aware that he had relied on Ye Batian’s characters to do so. That was in no way a demonstration of his actual strength. He was probably only around as strong as an early Mountainsea. At most, he would only be as strong as a middle-stage Mountainsea.

Su Yu smiled, “Don’t you want to give it a try? Kill me and you can get seven thousand strands worth of resources I have on me. This is enough to move even Invincibles. The door is shut and there are only the two of us here. Even if you kill me, nobody will find out. The city is still sealed. You can simply claim that we never met after the gates reopened.”

Profound Nine’s heart skipped a beat.

“I’m not even on the index anymore. Nobody will know even if I die. If people find out about my death, everyone will blame the death qi in my body instead. Who will know you’re the culprit?”

Su Yu continued staring at Profound Nine with a smile. He simply found it boring that Profound Nine was waiting to be killed without resisting. A lot of people were trying to kill the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion’s members. It wasn’t like these members were saints. After all, they had two spires specializing in assassinations.

More importantly, they had sold his information before. He would not forgive that. It was only natural that he would try to kill a member when encountering one. But when that member was sitting there without resisting, it felt too pointless. This wasn’t what he wanted.

Finally, Profound Nine looked up. With a slightly agitated tone, he asked, “Lord…don’t keep trying to tempt me. I’m afraid that I’ll really lose patience. This is too tempting.”

Su Yu had treasures worth thousands of strands of heavenearth profound light on him.

This was too tempting. There might really be a way for Profound Nine to extend his life with that amount of wealth. With more time, he could keep cultivating and even advance in cultivation, further slowing the growth of death qi in his body. Numerous thoughts surfaced in his mind.

Meanwhile, Su Yu continued staring at the masked individual in front of him in silence. He was actually quite surprised. This person was already dying, yet he was still filled with devotion and loyalty toward the pavilion. What was the charm of the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion? How did it get its members to embrace death for its sake? Was an organization so greedy actually worth serving with one’s life?

“What did the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion promise you to make you accept death in my hands? What’s the point if you’re not going to be around to enjoy the benefits they promised? Are they holding your family hostage?”

“No. I have no family.” Profound Nine said, “I’m doing this voluntarily.”

“Voluntary?”

“Yes.” Profound Nine inhaled deeply and said, “I’m doing this out of my own free will. For people like me, the pavilion is our home. How did you think the pavilion found us? Did you think that we were the geniuses of the various races? Not at all. We were merely a bunch of lost souls. We came from different minor realms. Some of us had debts of blood to repay. Some of us used to be beggars who had nearly starved to death on the streets. Some of us used to struggle in the Allheaven Battlefield just to live another day.

“We had no backers. We had no home. Survival was but a luxury. The Heavenly Hunt Pavilion gave us a chance. It granted us new lives. It allowed us to truly live. It allowed us to repay our blood debts. It allowed us to experience the wonders of the world. It allowed us to stand amid the proud geniuses of the myriad races. It allowed us to witness the grace of the various Eternals. Everything we have, we received from the pavilion.”

Understanding dawned on Su Yu. So this was how the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion recruited its members.

Profound Nine said, “Lord Su, you won’t regret joining the pavilion. The pavilion can save you!”

Right at that moment, he took off his white mask, revealing a pale face. He was not a human. Nor was he from a race Su Yu recognized. His face looked bland, but his eyes were essentially two blazing balls of flame.

“I am a member of the fiery eye race.”

Holding the white mask with both his hands, he said, “Lord, by putting this mask on, you will become Profound Nine of the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion. Nobody below the Invincible Realm can see through the appearance behind this mask. It can hide your aura and presence. It is also capable of direct communication with the pavilion. Combined with your own concealment abilities, even Pseudo Invincibles will struggle to see through your disguise. If you’re able to become an elder one day, you will receive an elder’s mask. Not even Invincibles can see through an elder’s mask.”