Tribulation of Myriad Races

Su Yu was able to learn some truth from Great Zhou King. Or to be precise, Great Zhou King was no longer trying to hide it. Secret soldiers of Human Emperor. Death soldiers. Su Yu did not press on. Since Great Zhou King was unwilling to make it clear if he was a first-generation Torchbearer, there must be a reason for that.

“In that case, are the Torchbearers almost extinct as well?”

Great Zhou King sighed and nodded, “Yes. Many emerged during the ninth epoch, leaking the secrets of the Torchbearers. Some of them informed Hundred Battle King of the truth. That was wrong. According to our initial orders, even after revealing themselves, the Torchbearers were to assume various other identities. They were never supposed to make their identities as Torchbearers clear. Believing that he could win, Hundred Battle King recruited the other Torchbearers through those who had already emerged to support him. In the end, all of them died upon his defeat.”

Su Yu grimaced and said, “Why do I feel like Hundred Battle King is the most unreliable ally to have?”

“…”

Great Zhou King did not remark on that.

Su Yu smiled and said, “I can understand his urge to gather the Torchbearers. In the same position, I would have done the same. Why bother hiding when victory is within sight? He wasn’t wrong. I am in favor of that decision.”

He was in favor of Hundred Battle King’s decision to gather the Torchbearers and further strengthen humanity.

But with a sneer, Su Yu continued, “But more importantly, how many enemies did that bastard kill after exposing all those Torchbearers? I only want to know one thing. Why are there still so many enemies alive?”

Great Zhou King answered awkwardly, “He killed a lot. There were a lot more Daofuses around in the ninth epoch. He had killed about fifty Daofuses in total.”

“How many human Daofuses did we lose?”

Su Yu asked.

After a short silence, Great Zhou King answered with an even more awkward tone, “Nearly a hundred.”

“…”

“Trash.” Su Yu cursed, “Even a pig could have done better than him in that position. He was nearly as strong as a Master of Law. He also had nearly a hundred Daofuses under his command. Yet he only managed to kill fifty Daofuses after losing nearly a hundred Daofuses? No wonder humanity declined so rapidly after him. I can’t understand this. How did such a fool garner so much support?”

Nearly a hundred! Damn it! Even after all his hard work, he couldn’t gather that many Daofuses from the human race, the allied races, and the death spirits. A total piece of trash!

Su Yu cursed repeatedly.

Damn it!

Humanity would have been in a much better situation if it weren’t for that fool! They had lost two Daofuses for every enemy Daofuse they killed. And the leader himself was near the level of a Master of Law. How did he lose so miserably? No wonder the myriad races were so confident that this was humanity’s final epoch.

Great Zhou King explained awkwardly, “You don’t understand. If it weren’t for the unexpected final battle, humanity wouldn’t have lost so many Daofuses. We had been holding the upper hand all along before that.”

“Hmph!” Su Yu snorted and said, “That fool better be dead. If he’s still alive, he’d better serve me obediently. If he dares to compete against me, I will kill him personally!”

“…”

Great Zhou King remained silent. It would be inappropriate for him to say anything about that.

He believed that Su Yu was too harsh on Hundred Battle King. He had been paying close attention during the ninth epoch. In the beginning, Hundred Battle King had done well. Humanity had gained the upper hand during the initial part of the war. But an accident had occurred during the final battle.

A rather disastrous accident. One that had completely eliminated the advantage humanity had gained.

Hundred Battle King intended to use all his strength and kill a bunch of enemy Daofuses before forcing his opponents to the negotiation table. That had always been the plan. To rule the Myriad Realms together with the myriad races.

After some time, Su Yu finally calmed himself and asked, “What about the previous eight epochs?”

Great Zhou King said, “The battles of the first epoch were quite intense. But after losing a bunch of old fossils, the battles of the subsequent epochs had been rather contained. For the most part, the myriad races were fighting among themselves as humanity had played a rather small role during those epochs. There were even two epochs where no experts had descended from the Upper Realm. Everyone had been steadily accumulating power, awaiting for the arrival of a supreme leader who could conquer everything.”

Understanding dawned on Su Yu.

So the hardest resistance had only happened in the first and ninth epochs. In between that, everyone had been steadily recuperating and accumulating power. In the first epoch, a bunch of ancient past experts died. In the ninth epoch, the majority of their previous accumulation was ruined.

Su Yu asked, “Who was the first human lord?”

The first human lord after the ancient past should not be an ordinary person. He Tu was merely one of the main characters of that era, not the sole main character.

Great Zhou King said, “Martial King’s son. He was a powerful cultivator, but he inherited the rashness of Martial King. Not long after the start of the final war, he led eight ancient marquises into a battle against the ancient marquises of the myriad races. Ultimately, the myriad races lost more than ten ancient marquises, but Martial King’s son died as well. Then, humanity remained leaderless until the end of the epoch.”

He added, “Toward the end of the first epoch, He Tu became a pseudo death spirit and started another war engulfing the Myriad Realms. At the time, some humans suggested supporting He Tu, but he died before becoming a Daofuse. He must have died to a scheme as he had lost control over his death spirit army. Be very careful of this as well, Emperor Yu. The Death Realm holds far more secrets than you can imagine.”

He sighed and said, “There are four heavenly kings in the Death Realm. Humanity’s power down there has been suppressed for nine epochs. Without the suppression of the guardians, things would have been even worse for humanity.”

Su Yu narrowed his eyes and said, “East Heavenly King is dead.”

He already mentioned this previously.

Great Zhou King nodded, “Yes, I know that. But there are three more heavenly kings and a bunch of marquises. Humanity’s position down there is still very weak. Therefore, be very careful when utilizing the death tunnels lest you suffer He Tu’s fate.”

Su Yu gave Great Zhou King a deep stare before chuckling, “It’s fine. I am not an idiot like Hundred Battle King. He was a pig. I’m not. In fact, he’s so useless that I find it admirable. I can never hope to reach his level of uselessness. Losing the war with nearly a hundred Daofuses? Without even killing that many Daofuses? He was a pig among pigs. The number of Daofuses that had died because of me had nearly caught up to the total number Daofuses he killed back then.”

Great Zhou King blanked out.

What?

Su Yu said, “Eleven marquises and one heavenly king of East Heavenly Domain. Thirteen marquises and two experts at the level of heavenly kings of West Heavenly Domain. Fifteen marquises and a heavenly king of North Heavenly Domain. Exclude the human marquises. Thirty-nine marquises and four heavenly kings. Ten marquises and one heavenly king of South Heavenly Domain. All in all, forty-nine marquises and five heavenly kings. Is that not comparable to the total number of Daofuses killed by Hundred Battle King?”

Great Zhou King continued blanking out.

Su Yu asked, “Thus, if I could pacify the Death Realm, I would match Hundred Battle King’s accomplishment. Would it be wrong for me to say that?”

“Yes.”

Su Yu added, “We had also killed some living Daofuses up here without losing a single Daofuse, right?”

“Yes.”

A certain possibility dawned on Great Zhou King. He stared at Su Yu in shock.

Su Yu smiled and asked, “What are you looking at? Do you disagree?”

“No…” Great Zhou King swallowed and continued, “Emperor Yu, are you saying that…”

“I’m saying that you may leave now. I told you to return and transmit my order, yet you’re flying with me. Are you monitoring me?”

“…”

Great Zhou King blanked out. What was this unexpected accusation? Who would want to monitor this guy? To speak the truth, he considered himself a crafty man. But each time, he was completely helpless against Su Yu.

Su Yu’s attitude was ever-changing. He would be nice one moment, only to turn against him at the next moment. He was completely unpredictable. This was the most annoying type of people to deal with.

Great Zhou King said, “In that case, I’ll be going back first…”

Suddenly, Su Yu said, “According to you, Torchbearers would only make their identities clear upon encountering those they deem worthy of being human lords. Why did you reveal your identity to me?”

Great Zhou King stopped. After a long while, he sighed and said, “Because our judgment doesn’t matter with you. You already proved your worth with your actions. If what you said earlier was the truth, then you have surpassed all the prior human lords.”

Even now, he had yet to fully recover from his shock. Just what was the meaning of those words? Had the Death Realm really been pacified? Was that even possible? There were four heavenly kings there! And according to Su Yu, there were two experts at the level of heavenly kings in the West Heavenly Domain. How did Su Yu pacify such a Death Realm?

He hadn’t even launched a proper attack against the Death Realm. Great Zhou King had never entered the Death Realm with Su Yu before. As far as he knew, those allied races had never entered the Death Realm with Su Yu either.

Was that merely a bluff to scare him?

Was that a threat?

Countless thoughts emerged in Great Zhou King’s mind. He felt slightly melancholic. This was truly a difficult person to get along with. How was he so blind to this before?

While Great Zhou King was deep in thought, Su Yu had flown far away. His voice drifted over, “Control King’s lineage might have infiltrated the survivors in the Upper Realm. Or perhaps they have been hiding among those survivors since the very beginning. They might be related to Hundred Battle King’s failure. I also suspect that this might be related to women. The women of this lineage are not to be underestimated. If Hundred Battle King were a pervert, or a romantic, his defeat would be completely logical.

“Try to recall the women around Hundred Battle King back then. Also, when the survivors return from the Upper Realm, keep a close watch over all the women among them. The seductive, the pure, the popular, all are suspicious.

“You are familiar with those from the Upper Realm. You might already have an idea of a list of people with these characteristics. Please prepare a name list and hand it to me. I need to know everything in advance.

“They can fool everyone, but not me! This includes you, Great Zhou King. Everything is within my grasp. Don’t try anything funny. Don’t bother using your patience dao against me. Why did your dao tremble multiple times while I was scolding Hundred Battle King? Control your emotions, Great Zhou King. You are clearly not patient enough. You still have a lot to learn.”

“…”

Great Zhou King’s heart trembled. Once again, he was rendered speechless. Holy shit! That guy…was too mysterious. So mysterious that it was scary. No matter what, Great Zhou King was a peak Daofuse. But before Su Yu, he had no secrets. It felt as though Su Yu could see through him completely. Shit! Was this the end of his good life?

***

Su Yu was gone.

The book spirit and tea plant were still following him. The tea plant asked curiously, “Was he angry earlier? Because you scolded that Hundred Battle King guy? Would he betray you? Why don’t we get Fat Ball to join us and jump him! Let’s beat him to death!”

Su Yu laughed and said, “There is no need for that. He’s a smart guy. Since he has stayed patient for so many years, he is smart enough to know the right thing to do. Torchbearers? This must be the trump card of Human Emperor. That Human Emperor…is indeed quite admirable. Noticing that the myriad races were stirring, he decided to flip the table and stop playing their game. Instead, he took all the Masters of Laws away with him while leaving a large amount of resources behind.

“Through these resources, he hoped that humanity could produce another leader and dominate the Myriad Realms yet again. If only his juniors had been slightly more capable. A pity. I reckon not even the Human Emperor had expected that humanity would produce a super fool at the ninth epoch, one that would waste all the resources he left behind and plunge humanity into an abyss.”

Su Yu shook his head. The humanity of the ninth epoch was terrifyingly powerful. They had nearly a hundred Daofuses. But all were gone just like that. He felt like scolding someone. Well, he had already done that.

If Human Emperor wasn’t dead, and if he learned of this, he would probable be furious as well.

After leaving so many trump cards behind, after removing all the enemy Masters of Laws with only roughly thirty Masters of Laws on his side and a traitor like Control King around, the subsequent humanity had failed miserably. How worthless must they be?

Su Yu couldn’t help but think that he would return to life in his anger and kill Hundred Battle King personally if he were the Human Emperor.

The juniors were worthless, wasting the accumulation of their seniors.

Suppressed by the myriad races. That was humanity’s current status.

Su Yu felt bad for their ancestors.