Tribulation of Myriad Races

With a smile, Su Yu took a little stone and his human lord’s token out. He said, “Let’s see if this Brave Martial General is willing to see me.”

Great Zhou King’s expression changed as he said, “This…isn’t wise. The moment you use the human lord’s token, Brave Martial General will know your identity. She will also know that you’re from the Lower Realm. Hundred Battle King’s token should be the sole human lord’s token in existence up here.”

Upon knowing who they were, a betrayal by her would bring unimaginable consequences. This was too risky for Great Zhou King’s liking.

Su Yu argued nonchalantly, “With the token, she will be able to sense me. But I will be able to sense her rapidly as well. This will make it far easier for me to find her. If she is loyal to humanity, she will meet me. Just like how Marquis Lanshan had answered the call of the human lord previously. As someone loyal to humanity, she should meet the human lord, even if that isn’t the human lord she supports.

“Of course, she might still see me even if she’s no longer loyal to humanity. And if she decides to not meet me instead, it signifies that she no longer has any respect for a human lord like me. in that case, we will force our way in, locate her, and kill her.

“What is so important to her that she’s not willing to even spend some time to see the new human lord? It won’t be a loss for humanity if we kill her in that scenario.”

Great Zhou King said solemnly, “I’m just worried that she won’t acknowledge the current human lord.”

Su Yu said, “It doesn’t matter. This is still a variable we need to handle. Prior to this, I wasn’t bothered. But things have changed. If she does not acknowledge me, I’ll have to capture or kill her instead of letting her be.”

Great Zhou King sighed.

Su Yu looked at the waterfall and said, “Let’s go. The terrain of this place is helpful for us. When we fight inside, very few of the fluctuations will spread outside the gorge.”

Great Zhou King said nothing and followed Su Yu forward while scanning their surroundings. Unsurprisingly, there were some hidden scouts in the area as well. But their numbers were low. Furthermore, their strength was nothing impressive either. Clearly, they weren’t here for the Daofuses. Rather, they were here to prevent the weaker cultivators of Line Gorge from leaving and gathering more information for Brave Martial General.

Before long, Su Yu and Great Zhou King were through the waterfall. The moment he stepped inside, Su Yu experienced the danger of this place. A massive crocodile-like beast had attacked them the moment they arrived. With a casual wave of his hand, Great Zhou King sliced the beast into two.

After looking at the dead beast for a bit, Su Yu chuckled, “They are now aware of our arrival.”

At that, Great Zhou King’s eyes glowed as he studied the dead beast. After a short moment, he frowned and said, “I was careless. This was a tamed beast.”

Who would have expected that a random attacking beast would be a tamed beast and a scout of Brave Martial General?

Su Yu strode forth and said, “We continue. There are plenty of these beasts here. All of them are tamed. From the powers of laws floating around, I can see that they filled the entire gorge. Brave Martial General is quite impressive. This is a defensive arrangement that will keep her updated on the location of invaders at all times.

“These beasts will attack any living being they sense, and they are everywhere. By killing one, you are informing her of your location. But even if you leave them alone, she will also know about you through these beasts. No wonder she survived so many attacks.

“How interesting. A pity. I don’t think I need to use my human lord’s token anymore. There are advantages and disadvantages to using these beasts. The biggest disadvantage is the weak dao connection between all these beasts and her. Others can see this connection, but I can.”

At that, Great Zhou King laughed. True. Su Yu was someone with the Heaven Gate open. This was an excellent arrangement, but it was also the very arrangement that had exposed her to Su Yu.

Great Zhou King said with admiration, “With the Heaven Gate, secrets will no longer remain secrets. Traps? Ambushes? Seals? All these utilize the powers of daos. Those without the powers of daos are too weak to threaten us. I don’t think an expert capable of ambushing and assassinating you exists anymore.”

To kill Su Yu, one would need to do it head-on. Ambushes, traps, and assassinations would be pointless against him. The Heaven Gate was simply too powerful.

When Su Yu first started comprehending the dao, he had thought that the Heaven Gate would diminish in its value to him. But in truth, the Heaven Gate was extremely useful in many aspects, including dao comprehension.

With his Heaven Gate, Su Yu looked at the surrounding beasts. He could see a tiny thread above every beast.

“Brave Martial General…is truly quite impressive.”

While walking toward the origin of the threads, Su Yu remarked, “Her dao is very interesting. It’s very good at control. Her ability to split it into countless threads makes it obvious that she is no brute. I believe she is actually stronger than Stable Army Marquis. Her dao comprehension must have reached a rather high level as well.”

“From how she’s utilizing her dao, she probably specializes in control.”

Great Zhou King nodded, “In that case, she is definitely no weakling. Then again, there must be a reason for her to be the sole surviving human general.”

Suddenly, Su Yu laughed and said, “She seems to be preparing to flee. Let’s have some fun and give her a scare.”

***

At the same time.

Deep inside the gorge.

Inside an unassuming cave, a dark body of water could be seen. The body of water stretched far underground, leading toward a large empty space. In that empty space, a heroic-looking general was in deep focus. Suddenly, her expression changed.

Invaders!

They were heading straight toward her!

Was that a coincidence?

Coincidence?

No! The invaders were clearly aware of her location!

“Assemble!”

With one command from Brave Martial General, armored soldiers gathered from all directions. There were over ten thousand of them. This was a far higher number of people than what Stable Army Marquis had. There were also more female combatants among them compared to Stable Army Marquis’ army.

Brave Martial General looked incomparably solemn. She could sense the enemies approaching her at a rapid speed. All the traps, illusions, and misleading paths along the way were bypassed cleanly.

The invaders were also cleanly avoiding the powerful living beings native to the gorge, as though they could see these beings in advance. A few of the dangers these invaders had avoided so cleanly were those that Brave Martial General had discovered after paying a high price.

She had decided to hide here because she knew that all invaders would encounter all those dangers while looking for her.

But the invaders today seemed even more terrifying than the pseudo king two thousand years ago. They were able to advance smoothly without encountering any danger or engaging in any combat.

They were way too familiar with the gorge. Suddenly, a certain thought emerged in Brave Martial General’s mind as her expression changed. There was a traitor! Was that the case? Otherwise, how could the invaders proceed so easily in the gorge?

However, some of the bypassed danger zones were known only to her. She sank into confusion, but she knew one thing: a crisis was upon them.

“Enter.” With a wave of her hand, a gigantic flag appeared.

Beside her, a general asked, “Lord, are enemies attacking? I volunteer to stop the invaders…”

“Enter.”

Brave Martial General repeated sternly.

Beads of sweat were starting to form on her forehead.

Too fast.

The enemies were approaching at an unimaginable speed.

Damn it!

The gorge was filled with countless dangers. Could these dangers not even slow them down? Sensing their leader’s urgency, the others entered the space inside the flag without any delay.

Then, Brave Martial General kept the flag away. She looked around at reluctance. This had been her home for many years. She was unwilling to leave, but she had no choice. The enemies had somehow discovered her hiding place.

She left the cave and moved noiselessly through the numerous passages in the gorge. But after a while, she paled. She could sense that the enemies were still heading straight toward her.

“Impossible!”

Brave Martial General was greatly alarmed.

Why?

Could it be that…there was someone with a tracker among her subordinates? She looked at the flag in her hand with fury. Was there a traitor among her people? Was that how the enemies were locating her so easily?

“If that’s the case…”

She struggled with hesitation. If that were the case, she would have to abandon all these people. Otherwise, she would die with all of them.

“Let’s try again.”

She changed her direction, but no matter how she moved, the enemies were still heading directly toward her. She could sense the movement of the enemies clearly through the tamed beasts spread throughout the gorge.

“Damn it!”

Brave Martial General cursed inwardly. She had been betrayed! Her location was being tracked! That was the only explanation for this!

***

Meanwhile, Su Yu was laughing as he said, “She’s probably doubting life now.”

Great Zhou King said helplessly, “Emperor Yu, you have a…unique hobby. But please don’t scare her too much lest she kill her own subordinates because of her suspicion that there’s a traitor among them.”

It was fine to play around for a bit, but there should be a limit to it.

Su Yu chuckled and said, “This is precisely what I’m testing. I need to see her temperament. What do you think she will do? Will she sacrifice her subordinates for the greater good? Will she hide them and flee alone? Or will she kill them all to prevent any leakage of information? Hiding them all is a relatively smart choice, while killing them all is a decisive choice. But that seems a bit too cold.”

Great Zhou King frowned and said, “Emperor Yu, one should never tempt others. You said that once.”

What was the point of this test?

Su Yu said, “It’s fine. I can sense her dao power. The moment she tries to kill them, I will activate my human lord’s token and she will learn that there is probably no traitor among her people.”

Truly an odd hobby to have. Great Zhou King couldn’t help but grumble inwardly.

Suddenly, Su Yu blanked out slightly. Then, he laughed and said, “Guess what she did.”

“What?”

“She hid her people. But instead of fleeing alone, she’s actually trying to kill me. She’s hiding somewhere nearby to ambush us.”

Great Zhou King chuckled, “That’s very courageous of her. She believes that there is a tracker among her subordinates, so she hides nearby to ambush us when we arrive. Is that it?”

“Pretty much.” Su Yu nodded, “She is indeed quite bold. Is she not worried that the enemy is a heavenly king?”

“It’s a gamble worth making even if it’s a heavenly king. It’s better than fleeing alone without all her subordinates. That will essentially destroy her entire force.”

“True.”

The two were completely relaxed as they chatted away.

Before long, they reached a certain cave. There, Su Yu could see a dao hiding underneath a stream of chaos water. It was worth noting that chaos water was slightly corrosive in nature. Brave Martial General was hiding inside the water without any protection, resisting the corrosion with only her body.

She waited in silence, akin to a predator on a hunt. She was awaiting the arrival of her enemies. Since escaping was not possible, she might as well try to kill them off.

She kept her eyes open, ignoring the water that was corroding her eyes as she looked outside. Slowly, two indistinct silhouettes appeared in her vision.

“Nearer…”

Brave Martial General muttered inwardly. She only needed them to move slightly closer to her. But right at that moment, the two stopped moving.

Looking at the water, Su Yu laughed and asked, “Great Zhou King, how long will that fellow last in this corrosive water before she starts crying? She’s not even protecting herself with any power.”

Great Zhou King said, “She’s a Daofuse. I doubt a Daofuse will cry, right?”

Su Yu was all smiles as he said, “True. But I believe this hurts a lot.”

He continued, “I reckon she’s cursing inwardly at us for chatting here instead of walking further inside. She must be losing her mind right about now.”

Inside the water, Brave Martial General’s heart thumped violently.

Who were they talking about?

That was her exact thought!

Su Yu, who was feeling mischievous, said, “She must be asking herself who we’re talking about right about now. Has she been discovered? That’s not possible!”

“…That’s not possible!”

Once again, her heart thumped. No, this wasn’t possible. They shouldn’t be able to discover her. It was impossible that the tracker was actually on her instead of her subordinate.

Su Yu smiled and said, “She must be wondering if the tracker has actually been planted on her. But how is that possible? She’s not carrying anything except her weapon. Should she throw her weapon away?”

“You’re courting death!”

Finally, Brave Martial General lost her patience. After discovering her, they insulted her instead of attacking. This was intolerable. However, she was still greatly shocked. Just how had they discovered her? That wasn’t possible. Just what was going on here?

With all those thoughts swirling in her mind, she stabbed her sword forward. One sword transformed into countless swords, each controlled by a single dao thread, all shooting toward Su Yu.

With one glance, Su Yu determined that this was a tier-three Daofuse. This was not weak at all. Since she was a titled general, she wasn’t even a Daofuse during the ancient past. And she had grown into a tier-three Daofuse since then. This was actually quite impressive. She was already as strong as Stable Army Marquis.

“Impudent!” Great Zhou King roared, “Cease this action!”

Brave Martial General was confused. Cease her action?

Why should she?

Next, a token appeared before Su Yu. Looking at the glowing tone, Brave Martial General’s eyes flickered slightly. That token felt both close and oppressive. She was shocked.

Was that…a human lord’s token?

Human lord!

She hurriedly pulled her sword back, took a single step back, and stared at Su Yu with confusion.

A human lord?

How could there be a human lord here?

Apart from the human lord himself, or some individuals who were granted permission, nobody could use the human lord’s token.

Was this…a human lord?

Which epoch’s human lord?

Brave Martial General was shocked, confused, pleasantly surprised, suspicious…

Countless emotions welled within her.

Was the bastard who had played with her like that…the human lord? Why had she never seen this human lord before?

She pulled back even more and looked at Su Yu cautiously. When her gaze landed on Great Zhou King, doubt flickered in her eyes. Soon, her expression changed as she asked hesitantly, “Zhou Tiansheng?”

Surprised, Great Zhou King asked, “You know me?”

“How can I forget you?” Brave Martial General’s voice turned frosty as she said, “The moment I saw you during the previous epoch, I grew suspicious. I told Hundred Battle King to investigate you, but he ignored my warning. Sure enough, you are a suspicious individual.”

Great Zhou King gasped. What?

Was the intuition of women truly that scary?

No wonder Su Yu was paranoid toward women. Marquis Lanshan was a woman as well. Even after dying, she could still recognize him with one glance. His appearance had changed drastically since the ancient past, and she had died, yet she could still recognize him.

And now, Brave Martial General recognized him as well. In comparison, Stable Army Marquis was truly rather dim. That fellow had only remembered him after a proper introduction. Was this the difference between men and women? Great Zhou King suddenly had a deep urge to agree with Su Yu’s aversion toward women.

Brave Martial General was deep in thought as well. Zhou Tiansheng was someone she knew from the previous epoch. Who was the individual beside Zhou Tiansheng? A human lord? The human lord of this era?

No, Zhou Tiansheng was still in the Lower Realm. Why was he here? Her eyes flickered again as a realization hit her. Lower Realm! Did they…come from the Lower Realm?

Meanwhile, Su Yu glanced at Great Zhou King and sighed. Why was it that only the female old fossils recognized him? Just how many women had he offended in his many years of life?

Poor guy.