Tribulation of Myriad Races

Nobody protested. The immortal did not even bother to meet Bloodbreak Marquis’ gaze. He would insist that the immortals weren’t the culprits, even if he had no idea if this was the case. After all, some secrets were only known to a select few individuals in the immortal race.

He said, “I will report this to the Immortal Assembly. The immortals will participate in the coming attack.”

“Make sure of it.”

With that, they started leaving. After all, there was nothing else they could do there.

Eventually, only Bloodbreak Marquis and Bajue were left. Bloodbreak Marquis coldly said, “The immortals are definitely the culprits. Four or five top experts? Hmph!”

Apart from the immortals, he couldn’t think of any party capable of sending so many powerhouses in secret.

“What about the divines?” Bajue asked, “Is it possible that this is the work of the divines? They have been keeping a suspiciously low profile for many years…”

“Divines?” Bloodbreak Marquis sank into silence. After a while, he said, “That’s possible as well. In short, those two are the most likely parties behind this. If humans were capable of something like this, they would have fought back thousands of years ago. What’s the point of waiting until now?”

“Four or five top Daofuses? This isn’t something that can appear out of thin air. Secret human experts who have been hiding since the ancient past? What a joke. If there were really such experts around, they would continue hiding. Why would they come out before Hundred Battle’s return?”

He snorted and added, “Rather than making such a stupid speculation, we might as well say that these mysterious experts are Lower Realm humans. It’s just as laughable.”

At that, Bajue laughed as well. “Lower Realm…the humans down there have produced some experts. But apparently, many of them are human allies such as the iron devourers instead of actual humans. Iron devourers…”

“Forget it.” Bloodbreak Marquis interrupted him and said, “Do not stir more trouble than necessary for now. We are aware of what the iron devourers are doing. There is no rush. We will first remove all the humans, severing all chances of them fully allying with the humans.”

“Got it.” Bajue’s eyes flickered as he said, “Lord Bloodbreak, I’ll be relying on you to speak for me with the many lords. This did not happen because of my carelessness. Instead, this is a scheme. Some bastards are scheming against us…”

He had to clear his name. Two Daofuses had died and one had lost two tri-life bodies. This mistake was too heavy for him to bear alone. He continued, “Lord, if the Devil Assembly punishes me for this, the devil will lose four active Daofuses in total…”

Two dead and one crippled. If he was punished or locked up, the devils would essentially lose four active Daofuses.

At that, Bloodbreak Marquis frowned. Shortly after, he snorted and said, “You’re a fool. A piece of trash. You deserve punishment!”

But he added, “Don’t worry. Even if a punishment is coming, it will be a slap on the wrist. It won’t be anything substantial. The assembly won’t reduce our overall combat strength at a time like this.”

Bajue was relieved to hear that. Bloodbreak Marquis was one of the leaders of their assembly. From his words, it was likely that Bajue wouldn’t be punished for this. Their so-called assembly was essentially an imitation of what they had during the ancient past. Many races had organized something similar.

As for the devil race, those in their Devil Assembly were generally split into two ranks: speakers and members. Regular Daofuses would mostly be members, while those with the combat strength of heavenly kings would be speakers.

Bloodbreak Marquis was one such expert, granting him quite a high level of authority in the assembly.

Bloodbreak Marquis had too many matters to worry about. Thus, he did not continue berating Bajue. The two moved in silence for a while before he said, “You are the only person to be blamed for this matter. But I will persuade the assembly to give you a chance to make up for this mistake. You will join the attack against the Cloud Fire Marquis and make enough contribution to erase this mistake from your records.”

Bajue did not protest. However, he was slightly worried. He said, “If these mysterious individuals appear there…”

“We will have our own contingencies for that.”

“I understand.”

***

That day, discussions were held in the various dao centers of the Upper Realm.

The Brightmoon Flower Valley had been destroyed, the devils had lost two Daofuses, and Stable Army Marquis had vanished. Additionally, four to five mysterious peak Daofuses had appeared.

All these were enough to cause some experts to be on alert. Was chaos coming to the Upper Realm? The Upper Realm would open before long. Was someone trying to stir some chaos during this time?

***

At the same time.

A dao center of a minor race. At the moment, it was packed with people. A certain expert wearing a bamboo hat was walking along the paved path. Suddenly, his ear twitched. Stable Army Marquis was missing. Two devil Daofuses dead.

Stable Army Marquis…

The expert frowned as he continued walking along the path. There were people all around him, but nobody seemed capable of noticing him.

“Stable Army Marquis is missing. Was he rescued? Or is this a trap?”

The mysterious expert was none other than the Shadow Marquis.

He had always acted independently, but he had been maintaining contact with the remaining human Daofuses. Every now and then, he would provide them with some relevant information to help with their survival.

At the moment, his heart was gripped with worry. He did not know if that was a trap or a rescue. But if that was a rescue, who could it be? All of them were having a hard time surviving. Nobody had the strength to spare for something like that. Was this a trap by the major races?

With such thoughts, he continued walking before vanishing amid the crowd. Minshan’s death might result in the exposure of the remaining human experts. Stable Army Marquis was the first to disappear. Would the same happen to someone else next?

Perhaps he could try investigating in the dark. Even if this was a trap, he had to brave it. Otherwise, Stable Army Marquis might end up defecting to the myriad races, bringing endless trouble to the other humans. This was not a possibility he could discount.

***

“What a large mountain.”

At the moment, Su Yu was unconcerned about what the myriad races were thinking. He was still on his way to the Chaos Mountain. After a long flight, a mountain range so big it seemed boundless appeared before him. Its outline could be seen even from afar.

As he looked at it, he felt a sense of familiarity as he said in surprise, “This mountain…did all mountains look the same during the creation era?”

He once saw a similar mountain. To be precise, it was the old turtle’s dao. It was shaped like a mountain, and it was an offensive dao created by the old turtle’s deceased wife. Apparently, she had gained her inspiration from a mountain she saw during the primordial past.

Was that the Chaos Mountain? Or was it a similar mountain? Even from afar, Su Yu could feel a sense of boundless wildness and an intense sense of oppression from the mountain. This was a place where the daos were in chaos. In fact, even the immediate surroundings of the Chaos Mountain were affected. One could say that the daos of the Myriad Realms were akin to an orderly net.

The daos of the Upper Realm were akin to a gushing fountain. They were disorderly, but they came from roughly the same direction. But the daos around the Chaos Mountain were much more interesting. They were in complete chaos, with all sorts of powers mixed among each other.

When Su Yu looked at the place with his Heaven Gate, he felt as though he had returned to an era when the world was first created.

“The deeper it is, the more chaotic things are. Or perhaps this is the original state of things instead of chaos.

“Or perhaps there was no dao in the very beginning. Instead, there was one big amalgamation of chaotic power. When this power was given order, daos came into existence.”

Su Yu found that his biggest gains in the Upper Realm wouldn’t be the people he killed, captured, or subdued. Rather, it was the opportunity to witness things he had never seen before.

For example, the sight of the world at its most natural state.

This was something one could never see in the Lower Realm. The Lower Realm had been overdeveloped, where order reigned supreme instead of chaos. It was likely that the Death Realm was once similar to the Upper Realm as well. But things had also changed with the passage of time. Thus, this was a sight one could only see in the Upper Realm.

As they approached the mountain, Great Zhou King and the others started feeling a slight discomfort. Great Zhou King said, “The daos here are in disorder. This interrupts with our daos, making this a bad place to cultivate.”

“Wrong.” Su Yu shook his head and said, “This is a very suitable place to see the original nature of existence.”

“Original nature?” Great Zhou King sank into deep thought. After a long while, he said pensively, “Perhaps you’re right. Perhaps one can slowly peel the powers one needs from the chaotic daos here. This might help greatly in cultivation.”

Su Yu nodded, “Exactly. Of course, since none of you can see these powers clearly, cultivating here will be very difficult for you. But seeking your daos here will also benefit you greatly.”

Su Yu sighed and said, “This is indeed a good place. However, it is only suited for those who are incredibly talented. For a regular cultivator, this might be a dangerous place to cultivate as they might end up detonating themselves accidentally during cultivation.”

To the side, Lan Tian beamed and said, “I am all life. All life loves me. There is no dao I can’t cultivate.”

Su Yu laughed and said, “Your all-life dao is powerful, but it is still an orderly dao. This is a land of chaos. You will need to put in some effort to introduce order to the power you wish to cultivate here. Do not underestimate this place.”

Since he could see what others couldn’t see, he could also understand what others couldn’t. Lan Tian had an impressive dao, but it wouldn’t be easy for him to cultivate here either.

Lan Tian laughed and said, “In short, this is a land of opportunity. A land to seek fortuituous encounters.”

“That isn’t wrong.”

Before long, they arrived before the mountain range. With the mountain range right in front of them, it felt as though they were facing a primordial beast. The mountain range extended as far as they could see, as though it were endless.

Stable Army Marquis inhaled deeply and said, “It is unknown where this mountain range ends. It won’t be advisable to go too deeply into it. Instead, we should establish our base somewhere in the outer region of the mountain range. We also need to beware of the powerful ancient beasts here. All of them are hostile toward outsiders.”

Su Yu corrected him, “No, they aren’t hostile toward us. They are reacting under the guidance of the dao.”

Stable Army Marquis looked at Su Yu. Did this guy figure out another truth? Why did it seem like this guy was omniscient? Wasn’t this guy supposed to be new here?

Noticing the gazes on him, Su Yu smiled and said, “The powers here are chaotic, as though it’s a massive cesspit. Meanwhile, or daos are orderly and singular for every one of us. We’re akin to clear water coming into the cesspit. Upon contact, the dirty water of the cesspit will attempt to pollute the clear water, making the clear water part of the cesspit.”

Su Yu could see the process with his naked eye. He could see how the chaotic power in the air was slowly eroding their daos. It was as though the chaos was attempting to assimilate them. The daos of cultivators were essentially purified daos. Thus, these daos would resist automatically.