Tribulation of Myriad Races

Su Yu asked, “Lord, are these ancient bloodlines powerful?”

“Yes.” The old turtle said, “Your predecessor, He Tu, was one such person. He hailed from the main branch of an ancient bloodline, and the legacy of his bloodline was intact at the time. Not long after becoming an Eternal, he was strong enough to dominate the Myriad Realms. The symbol served as a mark to prove that at least one of his ancestors was someone who had stepped into the Daofuse Realm.”

“Daofuse?”

Noting Su Yu’s confusion, Empyrean Cloud explained, “That is what you call Pseudo Emperor nowadays. That was not what they were called back then. My boss is in the same realm as well. If my boss were to produce a descendant, the descendant might manifest a bloodline symbol as well. Perhaps the symbol of my boss’ bloodline will be a turtle?”

“…”

The old turtle looked at Empyrean Cloud. Wouldn’t that be normal? Why was she saying it in such a bizarre tone? It would be more surprising for the symbol of his bloodline not to be a turtle.

The old turtle said, “The bloodline symbol might arise for many reasons, such as unique cultivation methods, unique techniques, or even carrier treasures. For example, the symbol you showed me might have derived the flame from a technique and the lotus from…a race, a carrier treasure, or a cultivation method. But it’s too hard to say for sure.”

He asked curiously, “Where did you see it?”

Su Yu gave a nonsensical reply, “In a ruin.”

The old turtle did not push further. He did not enjoy knowing too much about affairs unrelated to him. The less he knew, the more peaceful his mind would be. With a peaceful mind, he could sleep better.

Aware that Su Yu had seen some of what the previous mayor had done, he warned, “Remember this. The laws are inviolable. These laws are different from the laws or rules you know of. They are different than the laws or rules set by me, you, or anyone else. Not everyone is capable of elevating their laws into something inviolable. To go against the inviolable laws is to court disaster. Remember this well, Su Yu.”

Su Yu’s heart skipped a beat as a realization dawned on him. The so-called laws weren’t set by the old turtle. Instead, they were set by someone much stronger. Perhaps it was the ancient Emperor.

The old turtle was merely an enforcer. He did not have the authority to go against these laws. He could only enforce them. He had only killed his previous mayor because the mayor had broken these laws.

Su Yu inhaled deeply and promised, “I understand.”

At that point, he was already done refining the medallion. He noted that apart from the slight burst of death qi when he first started the refinement, he had not suffered the inflow of any death qi since then. Clearly, the old turtle was withstanding all the death qi of the city alone. This was truly impressive.

He still remembered how he had to endure the assault of a large amount of death qi from the moment he started refining the medallions of Grandstar and Empyrean Cloud Cities. Did this mean that he could become the mayor of a few more cities?

Of course, that was on the premise that the old turtle would not move around randomly or that might kill him. After all, a furious death sovereign was waiting to burst out of the tunnel and kill him.

The old turtle said nothing. He shut his eyes, as though he was returning to sleep. But instead, his voice rang out in Su Yu’s ears, “I hope you won’t repeat He Tu’s path. I went through a lot of struggle before reaching the decision to kill him. Hopefully…you won’t be a second He Tu.”

Su Yu shook his head. There was no need to worry about that. He Tu was simply stupid. With the old turtle droning on about the laws repeatedly, only a fool would go against the laws and challenge the old turtle. Shatter the laws? One shouldn’t dream of doing that before one was actually strong enough to do that.

Doing so without sufficient strength was not a demonstration of valor. Rather, it was a demonstration of stupidity.

Su Yu continued insulting the previous mayor inwardly. There was no way he would do something so stupid.

Before he had the strength to kick the old turtle’s arse—hahahahahehehehuhuhu…

Su Yu hurriedly disrupted his own thoughts the moment he thought of fighting the old turtle. He had to be very careful with his thoughts in the presence of a super expert like this. He even activated his calm character to silence his mind.

Stop thinking!

Keep a low profile!

He was a law-abiding mayor! His big brother, the stone statue, was amazing!

He started hypnotizing himself to convince himself that he truly believed all that. The eyelids of the old turtle flickered slightly, but ultimately, the old turtle decided not to say anything.

He was indeed capable of sensing Su Yu’s thoughts.

But those thoughts were a complete mess, mixed with a string of praises to fawn over him. In fact, the praises were so excessive that the old turtle even started to doubt life itself. Were the young geniuses nowadays so shameless?

Even in his innermost thoughts, Su Yu was still trying to butter him up.

When Su Yu was done rearranging his thoughts, he flashed a wide smile at Empyrean Cloud and said, “Lord Empyrean Cloud, am I now the mayor of Grand Dream City?”

“Yeah.” Empyrean Cloud nodded, “Let’s go. We’re done here. Don’t bother my boss for no good reason. Of course, you can summon this city when you encounter trouble. That is allowed by the laws.”

Su Yu’s grin grew wider as he said, “I understand. I know the laws well. Basically, I only have to prevent the death spirits and death qi from invading the world of the living. When I’m left alone, I’ll leave everyone alone. When someone provokes me, I’ll slaughter them and their family. Am I understanding the laws correctly?”

Empyrean Cloud nodded blankly. That was not exactly accurate, but that wasn’t wrong either.

Their one job was to prevent the invasion of death spirits and death qi. As for the rest of what Su Yu said…Empyrean Cloud couldn’t help but recall how Grandstar had stealthily killed some Invincibles. Even she herself had attacked some mayors inside their cities. These actions were not against the laws.

Su Yu smiled.

So that was it?

What was the big deal?

This would be an easy job for him.

He asked, “Lord, is killing a large number of death spirits considered a form of contribution to the holy cities? Previously, I killed many death spirits in Grandstar and Heavendoom Cities. That was a form of contribution, right?”

After a slight hesitation, Empyrean Cloud answered, “Yeah…”

Su Yu continued, “If I were to make use of death spirits to fight against powerful opponents and both parties ended up dying together, would I suffer the same fate as He Tu?”

“…”

This question was too tricky for Empyrean Cloud to answer. Thus, the old turtle was forced to open his eyes again. He had a helpless expression as he was starting to suspect that getting this mayor was a mistake. This might be a…troublesome mayor.

After hesitating for a bit, he answered, “Making use of death spirits to kill your enemies is not prohibited by the laws. But if the death spirits refuse to leave after the battle…”

That reminded Su Yu of something. He asked, “Lord, aren’t all death spirits required to leave after three days? Furthermore, they aren’t supposed to be able to leave the cities. How was He Tu able to wage his war using death spirits?”

How odd.

The old turtle did not answer.

Empyrean Cloud was just about to speak when the old turtle said, “Empyrean Cloud, take him away.”

Empyrean Cloud swallowed her words and said something else instead, “Stop asking questions you shouldn’t ask!”

She was angry. She had nearly blurted the answer and offended her boss because of Su Yu. How fortunate that her boss was here to stop her. Sure enough, humans were too cunning. Su Yu was clearly trying to trick an answer out of her.

Su Yu felt quite regretful of not getting an answer. It was obvious there was a way to get the death spirits out of the ancient cities. But since these stone statues weren’t answering, he wasn’t going to push them.

Perhaps the devils had the answer. How were they supposed to return Yanmo to life otherwise?

So be it. This was not something he should concern himself with for now. What a great day. The Grand Dream City might be empty, and the old turtle might not be too willing to fight for him, but this was still a city he could summon when required. Just the presence of the city was probably enough to deter a lot of people from trying anything stupid against him. No matter what, this was a city with a Pseudo Emperor.

He did not need the Pseudo Emperor to do anything. He only needed the Pseudo Emperor to sit there and look all intimidating. He would do the rest. After all, he was quite good at posturing with some fake influence he didn’t actually have.

Before long, Empyrean Cloud and Su Yu were gone from the city. After the two departed, the old turtle opened his eyes again. He looked in Su Yu’s direction with doubt in his eyes. Su Yu seemed rather abnormal.

The old turtle had taken the effort of inspecting Su Yu’s bloodline. He was sure there was nothing special about Su Yu’s bloodline. Yet Su Yu had successfully cultivated the 72-Forged Iron Devourer. That was not supposed to be possible.

The 72-Forged Iron Devourer was a top cultivation method of the iron devourers. Even among actual iron devourers with great talent, it was rare for someone capable of cultivating this cultivation method to appear. How did Su Yu accomplish that?

Furthermore, how did he modify the cultivation method into one that was suited for a human?

Furthermore, he also had an abnormal character technique.

Furthermore…well, simply put, he was filled with abnormalities.

The Five Elemental Art was a lost art even among the five elementals. Back then, the five elements were forced apart. The Five Elemental Art was returned to the Human Emperor and made a forbidden art.

Su Yu’s Five Elemental Art was not perfected yet, but it wasn’t something he should know at all. The doubt in the old turtle’s eyes thickened. What a bizarre kid. Just then, furious roars started coming out of the tunnel beneath him again.

“Old Turtle! Release me! I will teach that bastard what real strength looks like!”

The old turtle sighed and said, “After losing your memories, even your temper has worsened. Back then, you were always calm. This is nothing worth losing your temper over. Just take a nap. You won’t even remember it anymore after waking up.”

What was the big deal about this?

Just take a nap.

A good sleep could cure everything.

Shutting his eyes, the old turtle returned to his slumber. He completely ignored the roaring He Tu in the tunnel. He Tu should stop dreaming about breaking through his suppression.

After a while, He Tu finally stopped. With a snort, he turned and left.

A large entourage of death spirits left with him. The old turtle was too strong for him to contend against. It did not matter. He Tu had decided to call for help and break free together.

***

On the way back, Empyrean Cloud took the scenic route yet again.

Round and round she went.

The route she took was completely different than the route she used previously. But Su Yu appeared unbothered. He was already aware of what she was thinking. Clearly, she was trying to stay outside as long as possible. One did not need to take a special route in order to reach the Grand Dream City.

This wasn’t a bad thing.

After all, it was giving Su Yu an opportunity to ask more questions.

For example, when they reached the Plain of Desires, he asked, “Lord, this is such an odd place. The stronger one is, the easier it is for one to lose one’s way. Why is that the case?”

In truth, Empyrean Cloud City was located near the Plain of Desires. Thus, it wasn’t surprising for Empyrean Cloud’s stroll to take them here.

Sure enough, Empyrean Cloud had an answer for him. “Back then, an expert died here. Prior to his death, he cultivated the dao of desires. The stronger one was, the easier one would resonate with this expert and subsequently fall under the control of their desires. That was how this place came to be. Of course, most Eternals are capable of subverting the effects of this dao.”

Su Yu nodded in understanding. So a super expert had died here.