Tribulation of Myriad Races

Su Yu was looking at Great Zhou King as well. He had known that Great Zhou King wasn’t a simple person. But he had never known that this was actually the key person of the Torchbearers.

How patient.

Perhaps his patience was why he had been picked as the key person by Human Emperor. Perhaps humanity would have been defeated long ago without him.

Strength was not everything. Even with the strength of a heavenly king, Great Zhou King would not be able to do much to reverse humanity’s situation this epoch with strength alone. Perhaps his strength would be the very thing to trigger an early attack from the myriad races.

Thus, his patience had played the biggest role in humanity’s survival until now. Not everyone could be as patient.

Prior to this, Cloud Fire Marquis was still carrying an arrogant air due to his status. But now, he was slightly more respectful than before. He solemnly said, “Cloud Fire greets the human lord. Thank you for saving my life. I hereby pledge my service to you for three years. Let it be known that I am not someone to forget favors.”

He made it clear that he was here to repay a favor, and he wasn’t submitting.

That was normal.

Su Yu did not mind. He only needed this guy to be obedient for now. Everything else could be put aside for now. By the time three years had passed, he would no longer cared about the support of a mere peak Daofuse.

He smiled and nodded.

Then, he shifted his gaze toward Shadow Marquis. Knowing that Su Yu was trying to subdue all the surviving human experts, Shadow Marquis exhaled deeply and said, “Shadow hereby pledges his service to the human lord.”

“You’re too kind.” Su Yu said, “We are all working for humanity. Human lord? A mere empty title. With this, we are left with only South Suppression Marquis.”

Of the six human Daofuses, five were already under his banner. Some might have submitted voluntarily. Some might have been forced into submitting. And some might merely be doing this while waiting for someone else to return. It did not matter to him. It was still better to have them beside him than to leave them to their own devices.

With a smile, Su Yu asked, “Everyone, how possible is it for South Suppression Marquis to come under me willingly?”

Everyone looked at each other silently. Shadow Marquis said, “South Suppression Marquis is an old general. He understands the big picture. However…”

After a slight hesitation, he continued, “He is slightly prideful.”

Su Yu chuckled, “Prideful? How prideful is he?”

While Shadow Marquis was hesitating, Cloud Fire Marquis said indifferently, “That fellow has an even worse temper than I. Also, it is very hard to win his acknowledgment. To be honest, you can gain my service through a life debt, but he doesn’t owe you a life debt. It is unlikely that he will be willing to help you. In his eyes, Hundred Battle King is the sole human lord worth serving.”

Su Yu nodded, “I see.”

He laughed and asked, “If I wish to arrest him, are all of you willing to help?”

“Arrest him?”

Cloud Water Marquis, Brave Martial General, and Cloud Fire Marquis blanked out.

With a heavy tone, Shadow Marquis asked, “Are you only arresting him…or are you killing him?”

Su Yu answered indifferently, “It depends. If he remains too stubborn, we might not be able to get him under control. In that case, we’ll have to kill him.”

When the others heard that, their expressions changed.

Cloud Fire Marquis asked in agitation, “You’re going to kill him? We have struggled and suffered for so many years up here for the continuation of humanity—”

Su Yu laughed and said, “Have you done all that on my order? Am I the reason for your current predicament? Why are you bragging about this so-called accomplishment of yours? By the way, this isn’t even worthy of being an accomplishment. It is a stain. A disgrace for humanity. And this disgrace wasn’t caused by me.

“You were the ones who had lost when you held a massive advantage. You were the ones who had ruined humanity’s accumulation. Shouldn’t you be ashamed of yourself? Don’t you feel guilty toward the Lower Realm?

“Why are you talking about such a disgrace as if it were something glorious? Am I the real sinner of humanity? No. It is Hundred Battle King. I am very curious. How did you come to the conclusion that you have suffered for the Lower Realm humans?

“Let’s stop wasting time with this. I repeat. Are you willing to help if I intend to arrest South Suppression Marquis?”

After about five or six seconds of silence, Su Yu laughed and said, “It’s fine. After all, you have been comrades for a long time. In comparison, I’m a stranger. In fact, I would have been more worried if you were able to easily turn against a comrade of yours. However, I hope that this will be the only time you disobey me.”

With a perfectly calm tone, Su Yu said, “Since you have agreed to join me, I hope you will follow my orders. Try your best to accomplish the tasks I give you. If you really can’t, just be honest with me instead of changing the plan independently.”

They stayed silent.

Brave Martial General and Cloud Water Marquis had an odd expression.

Cloud Water Marquis looked at Brave Martial General with a rich emotion in her eyes, as though she was speaking through her eyes alone. Was this the so-called miserable and poor human lord? Was this the so-called puppet human lord?

Ignoring them, Su Yu lifted his arm and spoke to a vine coiled around his arm, “Lan Tian, you heard everything. Take some time off the Chaos Mountain and come to me. I’m afraid we’ll have to handle that South Suppression Marquis personally.”

“Yes!”

A laughter rang out, and the air warped. The vine slid off Su Yu’s arm before transforming into a human.

Eventually, the transformation was complete. This time, Lan Tian was appearing as a young boy. He said, “Your Majesty, are we going now?”

“Yes. Let’s not delay this.” Su Yu asked, “How are things over at Chaos Mountain?”

“Not too bad.” Lan Tian said, “By the way, Stable Army Marquis has begun his operation.”

Su Yu nodded.

He looked at the others and said, “As for the rest of you, wait here for a bit.”

Shadow Marquis suggested, “We can go with you. We can try to persuade South Suppression Marquis…”

Su Yu was actually thinking of capturing South Suppression Marquis directly.

From Su Yu’s attitude, it did not seem like Su Yu only wanted to recruit the marquis.

Su Yu laughed and said, “It’s fine. I’ll be back shortly. Don’t worry. I’ll convince him through words if possible. Wait here, but you may leave if you encounter any danger.”

He looked at Lan Tian and said, “Lan Tian, leave them some items we can communicate with.”

With a grin, the young boy pulled some hair off his head and said, “Here. Keep them well. Remember, be good and don’t be naughty!”

The hair wrapped around their wrists like ropes.

“Let’s go.”

With a smile, the three vanished. Heavenly Hole Range was also located in the southern region of the Upper Realm. It wasn’t too far away.

***

After Su Yu’s departure, Brave Martial General muttered doubtfully, “Why is it that…he doesn’t look pitiful at all?”

Pitiful?

Shadow Marquis asked oddly, “Why would you think so?”

Brave Martial General said, “He’s not a pseudo king, but he has three pseudo kings under his rule. Even that Zhou Tiansheng is slightly stronger than him. Furthermore, Zhou Tiansheng has a noble status as a personal attendant of the Human Emperor. He’s also too young. As a young puppet lord with no power, isn’t he pitiful?”

That would be quite a pitiful fate, right? But why was she feeling like that wasn’t the case anymore?

Why?

That unknown newcomer seemed to be a pseudo king, yet he was extremely respectful toward Su Yu. He had done everything Su Yu asked without any hesitation.

And that Zhou Tiansheng, no Zhou Tianqi guy. He also seemed rather obedient. He had been extremely respectful to Su Yu.

Shadow Marquis was rendered speechless. After a long while, he said, “Those are your assumptions. I believe…we need to wait longer to learn more about the current situation of the Lower Realm.”

The others nodded. Then, an awkward silence descended. After a while, Cloud Fire Marquis asked, “Will South Suppression Marquis agree to serve him?”

“It’s hard to say.”

***

At the same time.

Great Zhou King was asking the same question. Su Yu merely laughed and said, “It doesn’t matter. We will capture him directly. I can’t be bothered to convince him. We’ll capture him first. That was someone who had sent his subordinate out to seek help for his attempt to rescue Hundred Battle. I’m not interested in persuading someone so loyal to Hundred Battle.

“Also, I need to set an example out of one of them, right? Otherwise, they will all believe that I’m a meek leader. South Suppression Marquis can only consider himself unlucky. Of course, we won’t be killing him if possible.”

Lan Tian and Great Zhou King did not mind that.

In fact, Lan Tian seemed happy as he said, “Sure. We’ll capture him and use him as an example. Together, we will defeat him before he can even react!”

***

Heavenly Hole Range.

This was an area with countless caves, all linked to each other.

Inside one of the larger caves, it was brightly lit.

South Suppression Marquis was pacing about with a frown.

Where was Wen Qi? Why wasn’t he back? Did something happen? He felt uneasy. Was Wen Qi captured by the iron devourers? That didn’t seem likely.

Suddenly, his eyes flickered. Sounds of footsteps could be heard from the distant cave. He exclaimed in shock, “Who is it?”

“Lord, it’s me.”

Wen Qi!

South Suppression Marquis exhaled in relief. He was worried over nothing. There were tens of thousands of caves here. Only Wen Qi could locate him so accurately. Anyone else would need to spend years searching these caves to stand a chance at finding him.

In fact, even his subordinates were spread among the various caves as a precaution lest all of them were wiped out together. And not all the subordinates know about the locations of the others.

Wen Qi was the only one who would head straight toward him. He had still been worrying about Wen Qi moments ago. Finally, that guy was back.

South Suppression Marquis started heading toward the distant cave. As he walked, he said, “Did the iron devourers agree? Did you manage to get a meeting with Great Bamboo Marquis?”

Su Yu, who was disguised as Wen Qi, approached while saying, “Yes. I saw Great Bamboo Marquis…”

When they were less than a hundred meters apart, South Suppression Marquis’ heart thumped. Abruptly, he asked, “Wen Qi, were you tailed?”

“How is that possible?” Su Yu smiled and said, “You worry too much, Lord.”

But seeing that smile, South Suppression Marquis’ expression changed as he roared in fury, “You betrayed me?”

He turned to leave, only to be further alarmed. Great Zhou King had appeared there unknowingly. With a smile, Great Zhou King said, “Don’t run.”

Once again, South Suppression Marquis’ expression changed. He turned and moved to a different direction, only to be faced with a smiling Lan Tian. “Roadblock!”

“Damn it!”

In his fury, South Suppression Marquis charged toward Su Yu. Damn it! Wen Qi had betrayed him! He knew Wen Qi’s strength well. Thus, he decided to rush through the person he knew the most.

First, he would kill the traitor.

But out of nowhere, a pen appeared in Su Yu’s hand. He was no Wen Qi.

In fact, Wen Qi was still locked away somewhere. Su Yu was of the opinion that South Suppression Marquis should go and join his beloved subordinate. With a single jab, countless pens manifested and stabbed into South Suppression Marquis’ dao.

Lan Tian and Great Zhou King acted as well.

Countless Lan Tians appeared before descending as a massive net. Great Zhou King pushed his patient dao to its limit. He was no longer chanting, but he was forcing South Suppression Marquis to stay silent.

Su Yu attacked with all his power. He was about similar in strength with South Suppression Marquis. With two other individuals suppressing the marquis, Su Yu was able to instantly stab through all of South Suppression Marquis’ acupoints with his pen.

South Suppression Marquis was in disbelief. Who was this?

This wasn’t Wen Qi!

But before he could roar in fury, he saw a stone smashing down at him. That was not all. Su Yu also activated his own human lord’s token at the same time. The fortune of humanity descended upon South Suppression Marquis.

“Settle down!”

How could a mere marquis resist this? He wasn’t even a human lord. Could he resist the fortune of humanity? Yet again, South Suppression Marquis’ expression changed. What was this?

Human lord? This wasn’t possible.

Even if this were really one, it would be the lord of the Lower Realm humans. The fortune of humanity should be extremely weak, especially for the Lower Realm humans. How could something like that suppress an ancient marquis like him?

This wasn’t possible.

Boom!

Yet under his look of disbelief, the token crushed him onto the ground. The ground became as tough as a divine weapon, making it impossible for him to even escape underground.

“Don’t move. I’m only capturing you, not killing you.”

Su Yu said, “I am the human lord. Be obedient and I won’t kill me. Don’t force me to cut you down.”

Seeing that South Suppression Marquis was still resisting, Su Yu stabbed his pen forth unhesitatingly. South Suppression Marquis’ body crumbled apart, and a large amount of his blood essence was extracted. In the blink of an eye, his aura dropped.

Su Yu curled his lips and started writing on thin air with his pen. After a short moment, South Suppression Marquis’ dao was fully sealed. Then, he was taken into the Mark of Civilization. Finally, the Token of Sanctification was used on him as well.

With all that done, Su Yu grumbled, “I can’t use this Mark of Civilization for anything else anymore.”

Three powerful experts were being suppressed inside. Wen Qi was the weakest. As for the remaining two, one was a tier-two Daofuse while the other was a heavenly king. The Mark of Civilization was already strained to its limits. He could no longer use it for anything else.

“Done.” Su Yu smiled and said, “It’s obvious this is a stubborn type. When Stable Army Marquis saw the human lord’s token and Culture King’s pen, he became exceptionally obedient. But this fellow was still resisting even after seeing all that.”

Great Zhou King said, “This guy is stronger than Stable Army Marquis.”

Su Yu laughed and said, “I don’t care anymore. He has been captured. That is enough. With the Mark of Civilization and Token of Sanctification, he won’t be able to do anything anymore.”

The three smiled at each other. Their cooperation was incredibly smooth. A tier-two Daofuse had been taken down before he could even do much.

“Let’s go.”

The three vanished.

***

It hadn’t even been an hour. Cloud Water Marquis and the others were still waiting patiently.

Suddenly, a smiling Su Yu appeared. “Captured. With this, I no longer need to worry about unknown variables.”

They were greatly shocked to hear that.

Captured?

It hadn’t even been that long!

Was that enough time for even a proper conversation?

Clearly, Su Yu had attacked right after arriving. He had not bothered with any conversation. Was that the case?

Once again, they glanced at Brave Martial General, including Cloud Water Marquis. She felt like scolding someone. A pitiful human lord? A miserable human lord? But why did this guy feel so overbearing?

He had captured South Suppression Marquis without bothering to talk!