Tribulation of Myriad Races

The space around Su Yu rippled and twisted. Moments later, he found himself at the bottom of the sea.

The big furball had teleported him out of the Soul Devourer Realm.

“What an incredible control over the laws.”

Su Yu was very surprised. Not everyone could teleport someone out of a realm so easily. Then again, the big furball was not just anyone.

There was an entrance into the Human Realm near the Soul Devourer Realm, but that entrance had been used not long ago. The humans had probably stationed some defenses over there by now. Without the big furball around, that entrance couldn’t be opened so easily either.

Previously, Su Yu had opened it with the power of the little furball. This time, he wasn’t planning on using that entrance. There was no need for that. He was back on an official invitation. It was pointless to sneak his way back.

“Well, I am more at ease now.”

That was true. The female furball might seem unreliable, but she was still a Daofuse.

Su Yu raised his head to look in the direction of the Soul Devourer Realm, thinking of what he had just learned from the big furball. The Culture King and the Time Sage were not the same person. The Heavenly Hunt Index and the Book of Time were two different weapons.

In that case, why would the record character allow him to spy on the Heavenly Overseer Marquis? Why didn’t it work for Wan Tiansheng, even with the Culture Tomb in hand?

“Was it due to the golden book in my head? Was that its effect as the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion’s daddy? The little furball thought the fragment smelled nice, but he didn’t feel like eating it. Was it because the golden book was better? So is this a real fragment from the index?”

Su Yu found himself growing more confused the more he learned. If that was the case, perhaps this had truly been a stroke of good luck for him. At the thought of the Heavenly Overseer Marquis, Su Yu recalled something. The marquis had called for a meeting between the pavilion elders. As Su Yu checked the time, the meeting was about to start.

Ads by PubRev At that thought, he dove deep into the sea and found himself a suitable hiding place before taking the fragment out. Then, he sank his willpower into it.

***

Heavenly Hunt Pavilion.

Only those at the seventh-stage Sunmoon Realm and above could become elders in the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion. After all, anyone at that cultivation level could be considered a potential Invincible.

About forty faceless elders had gathered in the hall. There were quite a lot of them. Each Invincible of the pavilion was in command of at least ten elders. Even at only ten elders per Invincible, there should be at least ninety elders in the pavilion. However, many had died not long ago. Many of the surviving elders were present, but not all.

Some were absent. For example, both Su Yu and Hollow still occupied the positions of elders in the pavilion.

Seated to the side of the main seat was the South Chamber head. Several Pseudo Invincibles from the Enforcement Unit stood in front of him. Seated atop the main seat was a scholarly individual, the sole person without a mask in the hall.

The scholar was calmly reading a book, seemingly waiting for something.

He was waiting for all the elders to arrive.

After an indeterminate amount of time, the scholar raised his head slowly and said, “Is everyone here?”

The South Chamber head stood up, bowed, and reported, “Pavilion Master, sixty-four elders should have arrived, but only forty-eight are here. The remaining sixteen are either uncontactable or missing. It is unknown if they can’t respond to our summons due to their unique identities or if they have simply defected.”

Some elders were missing.

Naturally, Su Yu was one of them. He would not come even if he was notified of the meeting. In any case, his mask had been left in the city for quite some time. He had not bothered to even check the mask. Thus, it was likely that he had not received the official notification either.

“Forty-eight…”

The scholar muttered to himself before looking up at the gathered elder. He softly said, “You are all the elites of the pavilion. Things have been chaotic in the pavilion as of late. Many human experts among our ranks had decided to stop associating with us. I don’t blame them. I called the meeting today to inform everyone that you should leave if you’re unwilling to stay with us. I believe there are more humans among you.”

The scholar smiled and said, “As for the sixteen that are absent…they will cease being our elders starting from now. As for those present, leave if you are humans. I will forget about your past. You may also stay, but you won’t be able to hide from me. This is your only chance to leave voluntarily.”

The elders started stirring.

A faceless elder said, “Pavilion Master, hasn’t the pavilion always ignored the past of its members? We have always welcomed everyone with open hands and look only to the future. Are you going to inspect us one by one today?”

The person who had protested might not necessarily be a human, but the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion had always been an organization where all sorts of people mingled. Thus, the true identities of its members had always been a sensitive issue. It was likely that many wanted criminals of the myriad races could be found among its ranks.

The scholar chuckled and said, “No, I won’t do that. But I have my own method of determining if you’re a human. Don’t worry. I will only investigate the humans, nobody else.”

The one who had protested said nothing else.

The scholar looked around and sighed, “Are you not willing to repent? Do you think that staying will grant you the opportunity to do something more impactful in the future? You overestimate yourself.”

He raised his hand. Instantly, streams of incorporeal qi swirled in the hall, as though they were alive. Eventually, the streams of qi stopped before four faceless elders. All four of them trembled slightly.

The scholar spoke with the same soft voice, “Sigh. I told you. It’s very easy for me to locate the humans among you. Why must you be so stubborn?”

At that, the scholar didn’t even need to do anything himself. The South Chamber head vanished with a flicker. The four elders reacted, but they were easily suppressed by him. As a seventh-stage Eternal, mere Sunmoons like them pose zero challenge.

“The rest of you may leave. You may apply for some resources as reimbursement for your time here today.”

The scholar smiled and said, “Don’t worry. In the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion, you can get anything you want. We have encountered a small trouble recently, but things would go back to normal soon.”

“Yes!”

The elders said nothing else and left. The strength of the pavilion was one of the main reasons they had joined in the first place.

The scholar was an ancient marquis. His mere presence signified strength. The deaths of a few Invincibles did not mean much. The Heavenly Hunt Pavilion would not cease being strong before the scholar himself was dead.

With the others gone, the scholar looked at the four faceless elders and asked, “What’s the point of this? I wouldn’t have bothered to hunt you down if you weren’t here today. Why must you walk into this trap?”

One of the four hurriedly said, “Pavilion Master, I might be a human, but I have long since stopped viewing myself as a human! My loyalty lies with the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion and you! Not humanity! Please be fair, Pavilion Master! I am only here today to prove my loyalty, nothing else!”

“I’m loyal as well, Pavilion Master!”

“Pavilion Master, you have my undivided loyalty!”

They eagerly professed their loyalty, but it was unknown if they were being sincere. Perhaps this was merely an excuse to get through this crisis, or perhaps they were speaking the truth.

***

Deep underwater.

Su Yu frowned slightly, but he continued watching silently. As he did so, his willpower drained unceasingly. Eventually, he fully exhausted his willpower and withdrew from the vision.

“Those humans…are they really loyal to the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion? Or are they pretending?”

Su Yu muttered to himself, but he soon decided not to care. With the fragment in hand, he sank into thought as his willpower recovered. After a while, he sent more willpower into the fragment. He wanted to know the result.

This time, he saw the scene of a different hall.

Inside the hall, the South Chamber head asked, “Pavilion Master, are we really sparing them? They might not have spoken the truth. They are either people controlling a large amount of resources and information or those in charge of many of our businesses. They were also the ones who would frequently trade with the humans in the past…”

The Heavenly Overseer Marquis smiled and said, “There is no rush. The truth doesn’t matter. We will spare them for now. The West Spire head sent words back not long ago. Are you aware of this?”

“Yes. He said that Su Yu is willing to trade the record character for the lives of these people.”

The South Chamber head hesitated slightly and continued, “Pavilion Master, just how many pieces were the Heavenly Hunt Index broken into?”

The Heavenly Overseer Marquis said, “There are very few large fragments. The record and visual fragments are the two largest fragments. There is another fragment that is also very important, but it has been taken by someone else. The index would only be complete with these three fragments.”

The South Chamber head said, “Lord, of the three fragments, one is in the hands of the celestial chasm race, one is in Su Yu’s hands…what about the third?”

The Heavenly Overseer Marquis chuckled and asked, “Why do you ask? Are you volunteering to get it for me?”

“This subordinate would be glad to serve!”

The Heavenly Overseer Marquis shook his head and said, “Forget it. You’re not a match of that person. This wouldn’t be an easy job even for me. There is a reason for the fragment to remain in the hands of that person for so long.”

“Lord, would the absence of the three fragments affect you…adversely?”

“It wouldn’t matter as long as the three weren’t brought together.” The Heavenly Overseer Marquis said, “That wouldn’t be an easy task to accomplish either. At most, only two would be brought together, but bringing three together would be almost impossible. There is no need to worry about this. We only need to find a way to snatch Su Yu’s fragment. That would be enough to stop the remaining two fragments from threatening me.”

“Pavilion Master, do you intend to accept the deal of trading these people for Su Yu’s fragment?”

“We shall see.” The scholar laughed and said, “How are you sure that Su Yu would agree to the deal?”

“I can spread rumors that we are capturing our traitors to pressure him…”

Once again, Su Yu withdrew from the vision.

“Combining the three fragments?”

Combining the three lost fragments would adversely affect the Heavenly Overseer Marquis’ process of refining the Heavenly Hunt Index. In that case, where was the final fragment?

“I have one, the Celestial Chasm Pseudo Emperor has one. What about the third fragment?”