Tribulation of Myriad Races

Since Stable Army Marquis had surrendered, September was no longer as guarded toward him. He asked curiously, “Why do you ask?”

“Nothing much.”

Twenty-two!

Stable Army Marquis’ heart thumped furiously. After a short wait, he asked, “Why am I feeling like his lifespan is near its end?”

“Oh, I think he burned his lifespan helping Lan Tian with his dao pioneering.”

September gave a reminder, “Don’t provoke Lan Tian. Don’t talk badly about Emperor Yu in front of Lan Tian or you’re dead. Of course, it’s fine if you want to talk shit about Emperor Yu to me.”

That was what September was saying, but inwardly, he was ready to tell on Stable Army Marquis the moment that happened. This would be a great opportunity for him to grab another merit for himself.

Stable Army Marquis sank into thought again.

Su Yu was only twenty-two! He had burned his lifespan to help with Lan Tian’s dao pioneering. No wonder he felt like someone without much lifespan left. Stable Army Marquis had thought that his senses were failing him when he first felt that.

After hearing about Su Yu’s story, Stable Army Marquis didn’t even know what to feel anymore. His feelings were mixed. He was worried about Su Yu’s short lifespan. As someone who had ignited his own lifespan for the dao pioneering of someone else, could Su Yu be considered a kind and gentle leader?

But his kindness was only shown toward those closest to him. Stable Army Marquis’ feelings were mixed about this.

***

Su Yu did not know what Stable Army Marquis was thinking.

He stared at the non-Daofuses for a long while before nodding, “Fine. Be careful. Return once per month. If you agree, I’ll allow this.”

“Yes!”

They were overjoyed to hear that.

Su Yu sighed inwardly. So be it. He could only allow it. Deep inside, he knew that they were right. He had merely been unwilling to see them die up here. Since they wanted this, so be it. He knew that powerhouses weren’t produced in a greenhouse. Such a powerhouse would be incomparably fragile, falling apart at the slightest trouble.

Just then, Stable Army Marquis’ daughter found her blood boiling and said in excitement, “Emperor Yu, I wish to temper myself out there as well!”

Su Yu glanced at her.

Tempering herself out there? A peak Sunmoon without much combat experience. It was likely that she had not encountered even one crisis that could truly endanger her life. It was fine for veteran combatants like Xia Longwu to risk their lives out there.

But this person…Su Yu did not feel like granting her request. It wasn’t that he was looking down at her. But he seriously doubted that she would survive even three days outside alone with how naive she seemed.

This was the Upper Realm, a place where humanity was hunted like prey. It would be a miracle for an inexperienced Sunmoon to survive more than three days out there.

Sure enough, Stable Army Marquis knew his daughter well. He coldly said, “No. Don’t mess around.”

This daughter of his had not experienced much combat. Why was she comparing herself with a bunch of butchers reeking of blood? Yes. There were several peak Sunmoons in their group.

Hu Xiansheng, Endless Passage, and Skyeater. But Stable Army Marquis had a feeling that any of them could easily kill his daughter, who was also at the same cultivation level.

“Father!”

His daughter was unwilling to accept this. She argued, “I know that I lack experience. But experience is something you accumulate from scratch. The more you prevent me from leaving, the less chance I will have to gain experience. This won’t change unless I leave! Previously, Emperor Yu said that I should witness how high the sky is and experience how wide the world is. I want to see this for myself.”

When Su Yu looked at Stable Army Marquis, the marquis said gloomily, “You will die. It’s not that I don’t want to give you the chance to gain experience, but this isn’t the right time.”

“Father, you’re only saying that because I’m your daughter. I am not the only human of my generation. But the others are allowed to take risks even without waiting for the right time.”

That was a reasonable argument.

Stable Army Marquis’ head started aching. This was his daughter. Her name was Yue Xi. After refuting her father, she stared at Su Yu expectantly.

Yue Xi, the hope of Brightmoon Flower Valley. (Yue = Moon, Xi = Hope)

Clearly, he had placed a lot of hope on his daughter when he named her.

Yue Xi knew that Su Yu was the actual person in charge here. Her father’s words did not count.

After a short silence, Su Yu asked, “You wish to leave?”

“Yes!”

Su Yu smiled and said, “Sure. Faculty Head Hu, you’ll be traveling with her.”

“Me?”

Hu Xiansheng blanked out. He had a sudden urge to vomit blood.

Su Yu said with the same smile, “As a faculty head, you’re a teacher. An educator. It is only right for an educator to educate others. Furthermore, you’re good at spatial manipulation. You’re the best at fleeing. As two mere Sunmoons, it won’t be so easy for you to attract so much attention that you can’t even flee anymore.”

Su Yu added, “Yue Xi, obey Faculty Head Hu when you’re with him.”

Su Yu’s face turned completely indifferent as he continued, “If you refuse to obey, I can say that we don’t tolerate unreliable teammates who can bring their companions down here. When that happens, you are allowed to abandon her and flee alone, Faculty Head Hu. You are much more important than she is. We still need you around to build us more teleportation formations. In terms of importance, you’re more important than even her father. So don’t worry.

“If Stable Army Marquis disagrees, you may object and I will respect your wish. Otherwise, she can go. I won’t care even if she ends up dead. It’s fine for her to die, but if Faculty Head dies because of her, I will hold you responsible, Stable Army Marquis.”

“…”

Stable Army Marquis was distressed.

He felt like crying. It was fine for his daughter to die, but he would answer for Hu Xiansheng’s death. What was that? He suddenly felt an immense pity toward himself. Even a Sunmoon was more important than him.

He looked at his daughter and said helplessly, “Yue Xi, you heard that. I think you should forget about it.”

They were not planning to give her the special treatment befitting the daughter of a marquis. Even the marquis himself wasn’t as important as a Sunmoon. He even needed to take responsibility if she somehow caused the Sunmoon to die.

Unsurprisingly, Yue Xi’s expression changed. She started hesitating.

Su Yu said calmly, “Consider this and make your own decision.”

To the side, Hu Xiansheng was grinning ear to ear. That was such a nice thing to hear. Sure enough, an early supporter of Su Yu like him was more important. What was the big deal about an ancient marquis?

It would be fine for him to abandon her, but the marquis would be held responsible if he were to die because of the daughter. Hu Xiansheng was on cloud nine. Just moments ago, he was still grumbling inwardly about how Su Yu was assigning a burden to him. But that feeling had since vanished.

After a short wait, Yue Xi gnashed her teeth and said, “I…I am willing to go with Faculty Head Hu! I will take responsibility for my own life! I will never drag the faculty head down! If I court death, abandon me. I grew up in the army! My father is a marquis who had risen through military merits! I naturally understand that new soldiers can easily drag veteran soldiers down. Emperor Yu, I am inexperienced, but I’m no fool!”

Su Yu blanked out slightly. Then, he smiled and said, “True. Clearly, you know yourself well. In that case, we have an agreement. You will be responsible for your own life. If you die, and if your father decides to blame Faculty Head Hu or betray me because of your death, I will take his life as tribute for my banner. In truth, I have been having a hard time because the first ancient marquis I see is too obedient. I’m looking for a suitable ancient marquis to sacrifice to my banner.”

“…”

Fuck!

Stable Army Marquis cursed inwardly. Why did those words feel like Su Yu was trying to get his daughter killed to force him into rebellion? What was that?

He even started worrying if Hu Xiansheng would deliberately get his daughter killed to give Su Yu a chance to kill him. After all, he was the one who had suggested that Su Yu coexist with Hundred Battle king.

He was not the only person with the same thought. Countless odd gazes landed on Hu Xiansheng. Was Su Yu really trying to do that?

Even Hu Xiansheng was suspecting the same. As his eyes flickered, he sent Su Yu a voice transmission, “Emperor Yu…uhm…do I…get her killed after leaving this place? Is this…appropriate? That’s a pitiful child. I…feel bad doing this. Why don’t you get Lan Tian to do this instead?”

This was not appropriate. Yes. Even Hu Xiansheng suspected the same. There was such a possibility. Su Yu might be looking for an ancient marquis to kill as a warning for the other ancient marquises.

Meanwhile, Su Yu was rolling his eyes.

Screw them!

When did he say something like that?

He only said all that to warn Yue Xi of how serious this matter was. He greatly disliked unreliable teammates. That was much scarier than having scary opponents. He was merely giving her a scare. Why was everyone taking him so seriously? Getting Yue Xi killed? Just how imaginative were they to think of something like that?

After a long while, Su Yu said, “Enough. Stop thinking all those stupid thoughts. I only mentioned the potential consequences. I did not tell anyone to kill Yue Xi.”

Yue Xi paled, while Stable Army Marquis blushed. Was Su Yu saying that to placate him? Sure enough, the saying that staying by the side of a sovereign was the same as staying by the side of a tiger. It was truly a scary experience.

Su Yu couldn’t be bothered to explain more. He said, “That’s all. I have nothing else to say. Just remember to be careful when you’re outside. When you’re near Daofuse, don’t advance. Suppress your advancement first. The advancement phenomenon here will definitely be much more conspicuous than the phenomenon of the Lower Realm. Instead, wait for everyone else and advance together. Do not give our enemies the chance to disrupt us repeatedly.”

Everyone nodded.

“Endless Passage, Skyeater, and Hollow. The three of you should move independently. Try to find those from your race and gather more information from them as well.”

September asked, “What about me?”

Su Yu looked at September and smiled, “You’re too strong. It won’t be too conspicuous for some Sunmoons to appear, but a Daofuse like you is too eye-catching. Even those from your own race will grow suspicious.”

“Fine.”

At this time, Endless Passage asked, “Emperor Yu, are you not worried that I will betray you after returning to the fate race?”

“I trust you.”

For some reason, Endless Passage was feeling quite nervous. Trust? Was that true?

Su Yu smiled and said, “Don’t worry. I’ll only have Lan Tian send dozens of clones and observe all of you in secret. There won’t be a hundred of them. I trust you, but I also love to be careful. The moment you try something funny after meeting your people up here, Lan Tian will kill you and I’ll return to the Lower Realm to wipe out the fate race. Don’t worry.”

“…”

Endless Passage was left completely speechless. For a moment there, he was almost touched by the trust. He didn’t know what to say.

Su Yu said, “I can trust you, but I need to be safe, right? I don’t like to place my fate on the hands of others. Don’t be unhappy about this. We’re living in a unique time. At times like this, anything is possible. I might be really monitoring all of you. Or I might be bluffing. Of course, anyone you meet could be Lan Tian, so be smart and don’t trust anyone.”

“…”

All of them were stunned.

In short, after leaving this place, they had to be wary of their enemies, those by their side, and even the random people they might encounter.

Su Yu said, “Also, some of the people among you aren’t really who they are. They are only Lan Tian’s clones. Don’t worry about it. Lan Tian is excellent at disguising himself as someone else.”

They were starting to tire of this.