Tribulation of Myriad Races

Heavenly Overseer Marquis smiled and said, “Let’s not talk about all that. I’m not here to cry about my previous choice. My choice was already made back in the seventh epoch. By attempting to steal Culture King’s treasure, I am left with no other option. This is the only path I can pursue.”

“So what instructions do you have for me?”

The old turtle appeared uninterested. After all, they were not on the same side. Both were among the oldest beings in existence, but that did not mean that they were friends.

“No, I dare not instruct you.” Heavenly Overseer Marquis said, “I only want to know if Su Yu has entered Culture King’s Residence.”

“I don’t know.”

“Are you unwilling to tell me even this?” With a bitter tone, Heavenly Overseer Marquis said, “Not long ago, I saw something similar to the dog Culture King raised back then. Brother Grand Dream, is Culture King really dead? If he’s not dead, why hasn’t he returned? Things wouldn’t have developed to this point if he had returned earlier. Also…Su Yu…is he…Culture King?”

Fear flickered in his eyes as he said, “Why are there so many belongings of Culture King in his hands? Culture Tomb, the white dog, and even you are standing on his side. The iron devourers are supporting him as well.”

He desperately needed an answer. Was Su Yu Culture King or not? Looking at the fearful expression on Heavenly Overseer Marquis’ face, the old turtle frowned. He knew that he would be able to sink Heavenly Overseer Marquis into boundless fear by claiming that Su Yu was indeed Culture King. But he didn’t do so.

With an indifferent tone, he said, “Su Yu is Su Yu. Culture King is Culture King. There is no reincarnation. The Death Realm is here. If reincarnation is possible, or if there is a way for one to return from the dead, Culture King won’t be the only person to return. Marquis, you are overthinking.”

After a short silence, Heavenly Overseer Marquis sighed and said, “I pray you’re right. Back then, I spent some time by Culture King’s side. I once heard him mention that a supreme expert once tried to master the cycle of life and death. A true cycle, not the current Death Realm. The Death Realm is an incomplete product.

“According to Culture King, perfecting the Death Realm will grant the living a master. The dead will also have a master. The master of the dead can allow the ex-living beings to live another life. In turn, the master of the living can allow the former dead to live another life as well. In this manner, an unending cycle will be established.”

With a bitter smile, he continued, “This is why I’m so worried. Is Su Yu Culture King? Has Culture King mastered the cycle of life and death?”

The old turtle said, “You are making yourself worry by thinking too much. Do no wrong and you will naturally have nothing to fear. Marquis, it is still not too late for you to switch your allegiance…”

Heavenly Overseer Marquis stood there bleakly. After a long silence, he chuckled and said, “Forget it. You don’t understand. I only wish to go further. I am a spirit, but I wish to go further in the path of cultivation as well. I want to obtain the support and worship of the world, becoming the existence everyone fears as well. I don’t want to remain a servant…”

The old turtle had nothing to say. Perhaps this wasn’t the wrong choice. Everyone had the freedom to choose. But in his opinion, there was no future in Heavenly Overseer Marquis’ choice.

The despondent figure of Heavenly Overseer Marquis turned around before vanishing with a flicker. He was only here in search of peace of mind. The old turtle had given him that. According to the old turtle, Su Yu was not Culture King. As the eldest being alive, the old turtle was probably right. Heavenly Overseer Marquis only wanted an answer.

Not long after Heavenly Overseer Marquis’ departure, Heavendoom’s grumble rang out from the death tunnel, “Boss, why didn’t you tell him that Su Yu is Culture King? Maybe you can scare that bastard to death. By the way, I’m now a Daofuse! Boss, remember to treat me with more courtesy in the future! I’m now a Daofuse!”

The old turtle was rendered speechless. Daofuse? So? What was the big deal about it? That wouldn’t stop the old turtle from giving him a beating when necessary.

He thought about it and said, “Culture King is Culture King. Su Yu is Su Yu. Everyone is different. Don’t talk about things like this lest you receive a beating from Su Yu himself. Not even Su Yu would call himself Culture King. Scaring others with Culture King’s name is something he will do when weak. But with his current strength, he probably disdains doing so.”

Nobody wanted to live in the shadow of others, even if the shadow belonged to the most outstanding person to have existed.

“True.”

The old turtle continued, “Don’t run around rashly. After becoming a Daofuse, keep a low profile. From my observation, Su Yu won’t start his attack anytime soon. Be careful lest you leak any of his secrets.”

With a complicated expression, the old turtle muttered, “He won this bet.”

Heavendoom grinned and said, “Yeah! I thought it was a defeat, but we won! Boss, you don’t know this, but I was ready to self-detonate at the very end! All of us were ready to die! But instead…hehehe. We won!”

“Martial Emperor?”

“Nope.” Heavendoom said in excitement, “He won it through his own efforts. He still had a drop of blood essence from that dog. Tsk tsk. He was quite ruthless. He held his hand even as all of us were nearly dead. He didn’t warn us, even when we were on the verge of detonating ourselves.”

Understanding dawned on the old turtle as he said, “That’s understandable. He’s worried about getting his trump card leaked by fools. What can be more convincing than someone who isn’t even aware that he’s actually playing an act?

“East Heavenly King was no pushover. He could sense your state of despair. A fake despair could be easily detected. And how would he take the bait so easily without sensing genuine despair from all of you?”

Heavendoom nodded and asked, “Boss, are we fully siding with him now?”

The old turtle sank into silence. After a long while, he asked, “What do you think?”

“Me?” Heavendoom replied nonchalantly, “I’ll listen to you, Boss!”

“No, all of you have chosen.” The old turtle said, “A hundred thousand years ago, all of you obeyed me. As a result, you became prisoners for a hundred thousand years. The time to make another choice has arrived.”

“At least we’re still alive.” Heavendoom laughed and said, “But if you ask me, I think…we should just do it! Boss, when will this end? Su Yu is the most likely person to unify the Myriad Realms and lay down a new set of heavenly laws. Hundred Battle King visited me during the ninth epoch. He must have visited you as well. With one look, I knew he couldn’t do it.”

Heavendoom curled his lips and said, “I knew I wouldn’t be able to do it. Hundred Battle King was the same as me. He was in the middle of a conversation with me when he suddenly left with his blade because someone was shouting insults at him. He lacked patience.”

The old turtle chuckled and said, “Su Yu is the same.”

“No, not at all.” Heavendoom explained, “They are different. At the time, Hundred Heavenly King had the strength to suppress all the death tunnels. But with a similar strength, what would Su Yu do?”

The old turtle blanked out.

Heavendoom grimaced and said, “In the same situation, Su Yu would probably offer to suppress my tunnel for me temporarily and tell me to take a walk outside. He would tell me to wipe out the people shouting insults at him while I was on my stroll. That guy is simply too good at taking advantage of any opening he finds. I only need to help him once, and that will be the same as fully joining his side. With my temper, that is totally possible. And he would make full use of my personality.

“But Hundred Battle King didn’t do so. Instead, he tried to show off his strength to me. With one look, I realized that he was completely unreliable.”

The old turtle laughed, “Your eyes are keen indeed.”

“Of course. My eyes are always sharp.” Heavendoom grinned and said, “And what is the result of our choice? We are nearly free! The Spirit Suppression Domain will be ours soon. Hundred Battle King has indeed been defeated. Therefore, if you ask me, I say we fight alongside Su Yu!”

The old turtle sank into a long silence before saying, “In truth, we don’t have other choices either. The only thing we can change is the degree of our support.”

Heavendoom nodded and said, “I’m worried that you will withdraw your support after losing a few of us.”

He gazed at the old turtle and said, “We understand that you care deeply for us. You have always felt guilt toward us. You killed even the descendant of the Devote King for us. I’m worried that you will change your stance again after losing a few of us during the war.”

He knew the old turtle too well. He knew that the old turtle would definitely regret this the moment a few of them were lost. As a result, the old turtle would withdraw his support. And that would be very troublesome. The old turtle was a good leader to follow, but not a good ally to have.

Heavendoom knew that very well. But a deathless war did not exist. In fact, Heavendoom was already prepared to die during the war.

With a complicated look in his eyes, the old turtle said, “Heavendoom, you…”

Heavendoom interupted nonchalantly and said, “Stop hesitating. I know you think I’m too rash. But rash does not equate to stupidity. If I were really so stupid, I wouldn’t have lived such a long life. I can see it. Things are really different this time. This is why I’m here before the others. I wish to have a chat with you.”

Heavendoom said, “Forget about the fact that it’s already too late for us to withdraw our support. I know Su Yu. If you tell him we’re withdrawing our support in advance, he will accept it out of respect for our previous help. But if we were to withdraw in the middle of a war…think about it. With his temper, would he continue fighting his enemies, or would he shift his focus to us first?”

“If you ask me, he would definitely make you his priority target.” Heavendoom said, “That kid is crazy. And confident. I have known this since our first meeting. He is excessively petty. He had the courage to hammer me during our first meeting. Losing some people because he’s too weak is fine. But losing some people because of our sudden withdrawal? Do you think he will let the matter slide?”

Heavendoom advised solemnly, “If you can’t make up your mind, make it clear immediately. Tell him that we’re withdrawing. Don’t tell him we’re withdrawing after he liberates all of us. I promise you he will instantly turn against us.

“We can still withdraw now. Nobody will owe anyone anything. We have helped him many times before, and he has helped us by allowing the three of us to achieve Daofuse, removing East Heavenly King, and reducing the burden on the cities. There is no debt between us. This is our last chance to withdraw our support from him.”

The old turtle had a helpless smile as he said, “You…even after so many years, you have never been too willing to listen to me. But after spending only a few days with him, you have become such a big advocate of him.”

“Not at all.” Heavendoom grinned and said, “I will still follow your lead, Boss. Give your order and I’ll do it. Even if you wish to become the Emperor of the Myriad Realms, we will stand behind you.”

The old turtle said, “What nonsense is that? Don’t cause more trouble for me. I don’t have such an ambition. I don’t have the strength to do so either. But you’re right. If we were to withdraw our support in the middle of the war, that guy would be petty enough to ignore the myriad races and come after us first. However…”

He sighed and said, “If any of you dies, I…”

“If we die, we die.” Heavendoom said, “Even dying in a glorious battle is better than our current life. We are sick of being living dead.”

Right at that moment, a different voice rang out below them, “Boss, Heavendoom can be right at times.”

It was Grandstar. He continued, “You don’t have to worry about us. We would rather battle to the death in this epoch than wait for the next epoch. A hundred thousand years is enough!”

The old turtle had a complicated look in his eyes. After a long while, he sighed and said, “I understand. I know your choice now. As long as you don’t regret your choice, I won’t withdraw.”

“Long live Boss!”

Heavendoom promptly delivered a flattery before tossing something out. With a hearty laugh, he said, “Boss, a war is upon us. Please fuse this into my staff. I need to take care of something else for now. I’m a busy man now, you know?”

Then, he vanished. Before the old turtle could react, Grandstar tossed a few items out as well. He said, “Boss, help me with my weapon as well! Bye!”

Then, Grandstart left. Only then did the old turtle get the chance to take a closer look at those items. They looked suspiciously familiar. After a long while, he gnashed his teeth and cursed, “Bastards!”

That was his shell!

And these were the furniture from his house! Even the gate of his house was here! His bathtub, his desk…

Those bastards had pillaged his house!

Damn it!

The old turtle cursed endlessly. Not only had they plundered his house, but they were even telling him to forge their weapons with the items plundered from his house! Were they not capable of feeling shame? What bastards!

“Did Su Yu rob the eighth level?”

After spending some time cursing, the old turtle gasped as that realization hit him. The eighth level was filled with treasures. As a titled general, he was among the poorest there. Even so, quite a lot of treasures could be found in his residence.

And there were plenty of marquis, king, and Pseudo Emperor residences there. By robbing that place…heavens! Su Yu was rich! Recalling Heavendoom’s previous words, the old turtle smiled helplessly. Sure enough, he was not good at this. Even brutes like Heavendoom and Grandstar could guess his thoughts. They had returned to see him before Su Yu’s return. In truth, they had made their choice. They wished to join the war.

“Sigh. I only hope that…all of you will survive this.”

Over the past hundred thousand years, his biggest regret was having dragged these brothers and sisters of his into an unending duty. Because of him, they had been reduced to the living dead for a hundred thousand years.

He stopped hesitating. So be it. Let there be a result in this epoch. He had criticized Heavenly Overseer Marquis for overthinking. But he had been overthinking as well. It occurred to him why the two of them were still not Masters of Laws even after living for so long.