Tribulation of Myriad Races

West Royal Consort.

The moment that title was mentioned, the marquis’ expression changed. With a slight bow, he hurriedly left. Of the four heavenly kings, the South and West Heavenly Kings used to be the supporters of humanity.

As for the North Heavenly King, he had always maintained an ambiguous stance. Meanwhile, the East Heavenly King was the direct opponent of humanity’s rule. However, West Heavenly King had changed his stance after the conclusion of the ninth epoch. It was said that his change of mind was related to the West Royal Consort. Soon after he changed his stance, he became one of the loudest opponents to humanity’s rise.

With the departure of the marquis, only two of them were left in the hall. Each of them was a formidable expert.

West Royal Consort smiled and said, “North Heavenly King, East Heavenly King is dead. Do you know that?”

North Heavenly King coldly replied, “I’m not blind.”

“His death might be related to the humans.” West Royal Consort said, “North Heavenly King, now that East Heavenly King is dead, things might grow troublesome for us. I am here to discuss the possibility of a cooperation to kill the South Heavenly King together.”

“Killing South Heavenly King?” North Heavenly King said, “You are very ambitious. With him out of the way, you can proceed to join hands with West Heavenly King, kill me, and unify the Death Realm. Is that the plan?”

“No way!” West Royal Consort spoke softly, “I am but a weakling. You are a formidable expert. Furthermore, we are allies. We need each other to keep the Death Realm under control. How can we turn against each other and throw the Death Realm into chaos? I’m merely worried that the humans will come after you next. Meanwhile, South Heavenly King is still as stubborn as ever. Does he not love this freedom? Must he insist on remaining a dog of humanity?”

North Heavenly King snapped, “Enough. Don’t worry. It’s not a bad thing that East Heavenly King is dead. With his death, the rest of us will grow stronger. Just because the humans can kill him does not mean that they can kill us. We can decide what to do after further observation.”

“North Heavenly King, how can you be so indecisive?” West Royal Consort said with a regretful tone, “If it wasn’t for your indecisiveness, we could have joined hands with East Heavenly King to kill South Heavenly King long ago. Peace would have arrived for the Death Realm long ago. With East Heavenly King around, there wouldn’t have been a need for you to fear the cooperation of me and West Heavenly King. Things wouldn’t have devolved to this state.”

She added, “I know that you have been wary that I’ll join hands with West Heavenly King to act against you. There is no need for you to worry about us. In truth, I won’t be able to last much longer. I need to leave the Death Realm soon or I’ll fully transform into a death spirit.”

North Heavenly King snorted and said, “Leaving? You have been saying this for a long time yet you’re still here. I suppose you’ll only leave after the connection with the Upper Realm opens. You have been hiding down here for so many years. Why? Because you’re waiting for the connection with the Upper Realm to open. Is that not the case?”

“North Heavenly King is wise indeed. But things have changed.” West Royal Consort sighed and said, “The humans have gained an upper hand in the world of the living. Tiangu and the others are too useless. They somehow allowed humanity to rise again. Now, all of them are forced to hide in their respective realms. At this rate, humanity will grow stronger. I must leave. I need to go to the world of the living and find a way to suppress or even kill Grand Dream.”

She smiled and said, “He is the strongest on their side. With the cooperation of South Heavenly King and him, things will grow even more troublesome for us in the Death Realm. It’s time to deal with him.”

North Heavenly King raised his brow and said, “Killing Grand Dream? That guy won’t be easy to kill. He’s only slightly weaker than us, but he has free passage in the worlds of the living and dead. He also has the support of the laws in the Spirit Suppression Domain. Those were the laws granted to him by the imperial court. In his own domain, he is comparable to us in strength.”

Yes. The old turtle was as strong as the heavenly kings in his own domain. Upon leaving, his strength would drop slightly. However, a tiny drop was enough for them to gain the upper hand against him in combat.

Hearing that, West Royal Consort laughed and said, “He seems strong because there isn’t enough pressure from the outside world. Those outside and in here have never been able to establish a seamless cooperation. But with me out there, we can find a chance to kill him. With him dead, it’s only a matter of time before the dead gain access to the world of the living.”

“Access to the world of the living…”

North Heavenly King looked up and sank into thought. Was that…even possible? Could they really return to life after leaving? Going back to life! That was their dream! But he didn’t have the answer to that question.

West Royal Consort said, “Consider my proposal. Perhaps East Heavenly King’s death is an opportunity for us. Spend some time cultivating and growing your strength. After some growth, you can probably surpass the old turtle even in the Spirit Suppression Domain.”

With the removal of East Heavenly King from the dao of death spirit, the three heavenly kings would gain a bigger share of the dao. As a result, they would all grow stronger. North Heavenly King said nothing. Before long, West Royal Consort departed.

With a frown, North Heavenly King sank into thought again. It might not be wise for West Heavenly King to get too involved with that woman. Then again, their cooperation was not a good thing for him either. She was very strong.

Over the years, she had been staying in the West Heavenly Palace, helping West Heavenly King with the suppression of all opposition in that domain, including the marquises there. During her stay there, all the human marquises of that domain had vanished mysteriously.

One could say that the entire West Heavenly Domain had turned into the personal domain of that woman. She alone controlled a fourth of the Death Realm. Just what was West Heavenly King thinking for allowing this?

As North Heavenly King thought about the matter, a tiny sense of crisis enveloped him. He decided that the safest thing for him to do was to grow stronger as soon as possible. It would be even better if he could reach the level of an ancient human king.

At present, they were still weaker than the ancient human kings. Then again, the ancient human kings who had achieved Daofuse through physical cultivation would be limited in strength even if they were also excessively strong.

Hundred Battle King was the best example. He reached an extremely high height through physical cultivation alone. It was said that he was comparable to the ancient human kings. But the truth was that he was only as strong as the ancient human kings who followed the dao of physical body. He was still weaker than the ancient human kings walking their own unique daos.

Then again, Hundred Battle King was stronger than the four heavenly kings.

“East Heavenly King is dead…West Heavenly King, Grand Dream…and human lord…”

North Heavenly King was feeling quite doubtful about the entire matter. Was a youth of about twenty years old really the leader of that alliance? Or was he merely a figurehead, with the real ruler being someone else hidden behind him? This was a reasonable suspicion to have. After all, Su Yu was simply too young.

He was so young that many found it hard to believe that he was really the human lord. Not a single one of the previous human lords had become a human lord at such a young age. Even Hundred Battle King had only attained that position at about three hundred years old. Prior to that, humanity was under the control of some survivng old fossils from the eighth epoch.

Those old fossils had only handed power after Hundred Battle King became a Daofuse.

“Tenth epoch…”

While muttering to himself, North Heavenly King vanished with a flicker.

***

Seventh level.

Su Yu’s body shook as his nine apertures finally started their fusion.

He exhaled in relief.

But he was also feeling quite doubtful. Why was Martial Emperor doing nothing? Was Martial Emperor going to attack him or not? Whatever. So be it. He was nearly done absorbing the power of laws.

Not far away, Marquis Lanshan had opened her eyes as well. Her aura had strengthened considerably. In fact, she felt even stronger than her previous peak. After all, she alone had monopolized the remains of all the dead marquises on top of the dead heavenly king.

Coupled with the power of laws, she had repaired her dao body and grown even stronger than before. She was still not at East Heavenly King’s level, but she had surpassed the level of a regular marquis.

The moment she opened her eyes, she looked at Su Yu and dropped down on one knee. With a look of admiration, she said, “Lanshan thanks the human lord!”

The human lord of this epoch…was an inconceivable person.

East Heavenly King had remained a thorn on humanity’s side for nine epochs. And he had finally been removed. Not even Hundred Battle King had achieved that during the ninth epoch despite his multiple journeys into the Death Realm.

It wasn’t like he had never tried. Once, he nearly succeeded. But North Heavenly King interfered, forcing Hundred Battle King to withdraw. He couldn’t do it. Then again, he had never dared to put too much effort in the Death Realm as he still had to carefully manage the big picture.

But Su Yu had succeeded. He was weaker than Hundred Battle King. He looked scholarly and weak, yet he was incomparably terrifying.

Looking at Su Yu, Marquis Lanshan couldn’t help but be reminded of Culture King. Hundred Battle King greatly resembled Martial King, while Su Yu greatly resembled Culture King. Back during the ancient past, even someone as powerful as Martial King was not immune to defeat. Meanwhile, it was widely known that Culture King had never tasted defeat.

Marquis Lanshan might be a subordinate of Martial King, but that did not stop her from worshipping Culture King. Looking at Marquis Lanshan’s expression, Su Yu could guess her thoughts. He found it annoying. He did not feel like he resembled anyone. Supposedly, Culture King was a scholar who enjoyed wearing white robes like him. But why must all scholars be compared with Culture King?

Su Yu didn’t know what to say anymore. When did white robes become a trademark of Culture King?

Sigh.

“Be at ease.”

Su Yu waved her up and looked around with satisfaction.

Six Daofuses.

He was deliberately neglecting He Tu, the sole flaw to this beautiful scenery. He had successfully gained six Daofuses from this trip to the Death Realm. The addition of these Daofuses would most certainly shock the Myriad Realms.

Coupled with the book spirit, tea plant, Fat Ball, Soy Bun, Flatbun, Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor, September, and Grand Dream, he could muster a force comprised of fourteen Daofuses. He only counted those whose allegiance he was absolutely sure of.

The support of people like Great Zhou King, Primordial Giant King, and Spatial Beast Pseudo Emperor was still questionable. He could only say that these people were on humanity’s side, but that was not the same as being on his side.

Su Yu looked up at the calm sky and wondered if he should leave or enter the eighth or even the ninth level. Perhaps he could find a way to handle Martial Emperor up there.

Since Martial Emperor had regained his clarity of mind, he was now a hidden danger. He was filled with hatred toward the current humanity. He was only holding back for fear of losing his clarity of mind again.

How was Su Yu so certain that Martial Emperor was still holding a grudge against the current humanity? Because the promised complete cultivation method was still nowhere to be seen. He would rather renege on a promise than let Su Yu have the complete cultivation method.

Then again, this would only slow Su Yu down slightly. This was no big deal, but it was good enough for Su Yu to determine Martial Emperor’s stance toward humanity. He was no friend. In fact, he hated them. He would rather stoop to breaking promises just to make things difficult for them.

Su Yu found Martial Emperor’s grudge understandable, but that did not mean that he would tolerate it. Martial Emperor was free to keep hating Martial King and the others. Su Yu wouldn’t care so long as he wasn’t affected by this grudge.

Su Yu only feared that after regaining his freedom, Martial Emperor would act against humanity instead of the myriad races. Human Emperor and the others were most certainly aware that Martial Emperor wasn’t dead.

At that thought, Su Yu sent Heavenbridge Marquis a voice transmission, “Open the gate to the eighth level.”

Ultimately, he decided to take a look. For his own peace of mind, he needed a method to contain Martial Emperor. He loved the mad Martial Emperor, but he feared the rational Martial Emperor. He did not need such a powerful enemy around. He needed a way to restrict this person.

Heavenbridge Marquis said nothing and swung the gate open. Su Yu wasted no time and stepped straight through the gate. The rest entered as well.

The gate vanished.

Up in the sky, an indistinct face appeared and stared at the disappearing gate with a pensive expression.