Tribulation of Myriad Races

Su Yu did not pay much attention to the faraway Daofuse. It didn’t matter if that was Xia Chen or not. At the current stage, the addition of one Daofuse would not change much. Su Yu was still quite confident in his chances against the death spirits, much more so in comparison to his chances in the world of the living.

At the moment, he was observing a powerhouse in front of him. This wasn’t someone he knew. It also wasn’t a familiar face. This must be a newly awakened death spirit. He was wondering if this new guy was smart or dumb.

He might be able to gain more if this new guy were dumb. The new guy was quite powerful. Sure, the new guy was weaker than heavenly kings, but the difference wasn’t too big. The new guy had been able to match the old turtle evenly at the beginning of the battle.

But at the moment, the new guy was completely suppressed. With the assistance of South Heavenly King, the old turtle wasn’t having much trouble against Cangshan Nether. Cangshan Nether was fighting while roaring in desperation.

Damn it!

Why was this happening?

Why did North Heavenly King flee?

How did humanity gain so many powerhouses?

Even with Great Qin King and the other living beings gone, the guardians and forces under South Heavenly King’s command were powerful enough to handle the river. An unending stream of newly awakened marquis was being killed or captured by them.

“What is your name?”

Su Yu asked.

The furious Cangshan Nether replied, “This one is known as Cangshan Nether. What is your name, Junior?”

Cangshan Nether.

An unknown name.

But that was not the case for the old turtle. He exclaimed in surprise, “The master of Nether Realm’s Cangshan? A Master of Law? Why are you so weak?”

“Weak?”

Cangshan Nether was left quite speechless. But then again, that wasn’t wrong. He was indeed weaker than he was prior to his death. But he was absolutely not weak. Rather, his two opponents were simply too strong.

Holy shit!

Just look at the old turtle and the South Heavenly King. Which of them wasn’t a super powerhouse? Was he really weak? At the moment, he even started feeling wronged. Prior to this, he could easily handle four or five marquises at a time. How was that weak?

Just then, Su Yu reached a conclusion that this wasn’t a bright death spirit. He flashed a wide smile and asked, “Do you want to die or live?”

“What is the meaning of this? Are you trying to humiliate me?”

Cangshan Marquis was roaring in fury.

Su Yu laughed and said, “Not at all. I’m offering you salvation. Can you see the twenty-seven Eternals behind him? I’ll pick a place for you. If you can defeat them there, you live. If you can’t, you die. Naturally, I’ll have to impose some restrictions on you since you’re at the level of a heavenly king. You will be fighting somewhere without death qi. If you are willing, you might yet survive.”

Cangshan Nether snorted coldly. He did not believe that. Thus, he hurriedly dove into the river and attempted to flee.

Once again, the Heaven Gate appeared on Su Yu’s forehead. Then, a beam of light descended and shone upon the river, illuminating and showing Cangshan Nether to everyone.

And instantly, the old turtle transformed into his original form before slamming himself down. As a turtle, he was naturally good at aquatic combat. Cangshan Nether wanted to flee by hiding deep in the river, but Su Yu had exposed him. Coupled with the old turtle’s pursuit, escape was impossible. A short while later, Cangshan Nether received more new injuries on his body.

After more time, Cangshan Nether finally emerged from the river yet again. He looked around and noted that a large number of powerhouses were converging around him. With the departure of Great Qin King and the other living beings, the number of new death spirits had drastically reduced.

Of the ten or so marquises that had started the battle with him, half had been killed, while the other half were either caught or hiding in the river with their connection to the dao severed.

Yes. Some of the marquises were quite decisive. They had severed their connection to the dao unhesitatingly to conceal themselves. There were advantages and disadvantages to this.

Doing so, they were undetected. But the moment they were found, they would not be able to react on time. Before reconnecting to the dao, they would be the same as regular Sunmoons, and they would be easily captured. Even as Daofuses, they could still be defeated by Eternals in such a situation.

Cangshan Nether looked around sorrowfully. Why was this happening? It was North Heavenly King’s fault!

Damn that bastard!

In his desperation, he recalled Su Yu’s offer. He said, “Can I really live if I win?”

Su Yu answered with a smile, “Of course. You can see this as a bet. If you refuse the bet, you will die shortly. You might as well take the bet. Perhaps you can live, right? If you ask me, I think it’s quite likely that you can survive!”

Su Yu looked at the guardians behind him, inhaled, and said, “He’s very strong even in his injured state. When all of you are joining hands, you should be comparable to nine Daofuses. That should be enough to defeat him. But combat strength is not a mathematical equation. If he manages to kill a few of you, you will fall apart easily.”

Su Yu asked solemnly, “Are you willing to risk this? If you are unwilling, we can have the Spirit Suppression General kill him here.”

Hearing Su Yu’s words, Cangshan Nether waited expectantly.

Twenty-seven Eternals were powerful, but the gap between them was still very big. Facing them was still very different from facing nine actual Daofuses. They might be able to put up a fight against him, but that did not signify that they could defeat him.

He was feeling quite gloomy. He had no choice but to take this bet. This was his debut in the Death Realm. He had been so confident in his strength, and he had dreamed of dominating the Death Realm. Alas, his journey was on the verge of being cut short.

The old turtle turned to look at the guardians as well. He understood what Su Yu was saying. If they opted to fight an expert at the level of a heavenly king, they would be fighting an opponent beyond them by several levels. The rewards upon victory would be very bountiful. At least seven, eight, or more of them would reach the Daofuse Realm through these rewards.

As for the captured death sovereigns and marquises, the rewards would be lacking as these death spirits had been captured through the help of many others. The same had happened not long ago.

They needed to kill about eighty death sovereigns for the guardians to all reach the ninth degree, even when none of them was weaker than the seventh degree. Clearly, the rewards had been reduced due to the nature of their kills.

There was a risk in doing this.

Guardian Earthshaker said, “There won’t be easy battles all the time. Since the human lord has created such a good opportunity for us, allowing us to experience the strength of a heavenly king.”

Fighting in the Luminous Domain Mansion.

Twenty-seven against one.

Their opponent would not be able to replenish his death qi.

This was already the best combat environment they could ask for. If they couldn’t win even in such a situation, then they would be unworthy of being ancient powerhouses who had affirmed their daos through the Weapon Fusion Method.

“Are you willing?”

“Yes.” Openmountain laughed and said, “Human Lord, we are more than willing. This is such a good opportunity. Don’t forget. We are all soldiers. Ancient soldiers. Since you are giving us a choice, allow us to pick an even better choice.”

“What?”

Su Yu sank into confusion. Were they about to request that Cangshan Nether be further injured?

Openmountain grinned and said, “There is no need for you to go with us this time. The boss and South Heavenly King can stay outside as well. Only the twenty-seven of us and Cangshan Nether will go in. This will be a fight to the death. The winner will leave.”

Su Yu frowned. He was doing this to help them get more rewards, not for them to go and throw their lives away.

Openmountain solemnly said, “Human Lord, at times, enough power of laws is not the only thing one needs to achieve Daofuse. Sufficient comprehension is required. It has been too long since we last fought a proper battle. Even Heavendoom and the others had achieved Daofuse in the midst of battle. They did not achieve Daofuse just because they received sufficient power of laws.

“With all of you in there with us, we will feel secure knowing that you have our backs. You won’t let us die. We will have no fear. But that won’t work.”

Openmountain shook his head and continued, “Such a level of protection will make it far harder for us to advance. We can absorb the power of laws, but we don’t know the laws well enough. We don’t have enough resonance with the daos. Even if we do manage to break through, we will be weak Daofuses, as weak as Three Body Daofuses.”

Openmountain grinned and said, “The Spirit Suppression Army was the number one army under Devote King. We were equal to the armies of the various kings. No, we were better. We are soldiers. We are not babies. If we do die in this battle, we can only accept that we lack the ability to survive. Do not kill Cangshan Nether if he does manage to win. Please consider sparing him if he’s willing to submit. I believe he’s willing to serve you as well.”

Su Yu sank into hesitation. This wasn’t what he wanted. He was worried that they would all die. He had paid a large price to liberate all twenty-seven of them. If they were to die, the advantage he had gathered thus far would evaporate. Without these people, conquering the Upper Realm would also be far harder.

Knowing Su Yu’s hesitation, Openmountain dropped down on one knee and solemnly requested, “Emperor Yu, we wish to battle. We understand that you had paid a large price to free us. But without a battle with our lives on the line, without experiencing the strength of a heavenly king, we will be weaker than the ancient marquises even upon advancing. Today, we are only dealing with marquises. They are incomparable to living beings of the same level.

“The Upper Realm is filled with absolute powerhouses who have fought for countless years. Do you want twenty-seven weaklings who can only fight Three Body Daofuses, or do you want twenty-seven bold and powerful Weapon Fusion Daofuses?”

He threw a question at Su Yu. What did he want? A bunch of weaklings? Weaklings that could only match one Upper Realm Daofuses with three of their own?

In that case, the twenty-seven of them would merely be equal to seven or eight ancient marquises at most. After all, they would remain fresh Daofuses even after advancement. Due to their years of inactivity, they also lacked combat experience and comprehension of their daos.

These weren’t the factors Su Yu had considered previously. Yes. He had never considered these factors. He had assumed that they would all be as strong as Heavendoom and the others upon advancement. Clearly, he had underestimated Heavendoom.

As of late, Heavendoom had not won too many of his battles. But that did not mean that he was weak. He had simply been met with mismatched opponents.

The old turtle’s expression changed. Just as he was about to speak, Openmountain said, “Boss, we are not children. We are soldiers. We are the Spirit Suppression Army. We have stopped fighting for a long time, but we are the sole ancient army remaining.

“If Emperor Yu wants a bunch of weak Daofuses, we can let you guys come with us. If we lose, you can step in. The choice is yours.”

Hearing that, Cangshan Nether’s expression changed. No way! He couldn’t let that happen!

Meanwhile, Su Yu was still deep in hesitation. This was a difficult choice for him.

As for the old turtle, he stared at the guardians for a long while before smiling bitterly, “Openmountain, I know you are in a competition with Heavendoom…”

“General!” Openmountain roared, “I am a soldier. This is not a childish competition! None of this is! I am only asking Emperor Yu if he wants an elite Daofuse army or a weak Daofuse army grown in a greenhouse!”

This was no childish competition! He was being earnest! The old turtle’s expression changed again as he sank into hesitation. He did not want this.

But looking at his old friends dropping on one knee as they awaited his decision…he understood something. Su Yu was waiting for his decision as well. These were his soldiers. It wouldn’t be appropriate for Su Yu to make the choice.

The deaths of these guardians could very well result in a crack in their relationship. Thus, only the old turtle could make the choice.

After a long silence, the old turtle said helplessly, “I am a bad general. All of you are valiant and strong. But I…so be it. Sigh. I won’t stop you. I only hope that…you will return alive.”

He had agreed to the request. But that caused Su Yu to further hesitate. Should he really do this? An elite army. That was the offer.

After a long while, Su Yu said, “He Tu and Lanshan will go. If they lose, escort Cangshan Nether out. If they win, the two of you are to devour his remains on the spot.”