Tribulation of Myriad Races

At the peak of the mountain.

A stone hall stood at the peak. Inside, two individuals could be seen.

They were sipping tea.

One was a tiger with an indistinct king (王) character on his forehead.

The eight-winged tiger.

The other was an ethereal figure. Heavenly Fate Marquis.

The atmosphere was harmonious, but Heavenly Fate Marquis was actually cursing endlessly inside.

What manner of a tea was this?

The tiger called this sipping tea, but for some reason, the tiger was serving him something known as...soy sauce or something like that. It had been quite a while since Heavenly Fate Marquis last consumed such an item, so he wasn’t too sure either.

He only remembered consuming something similar many years ago. The tiger had a look of contentment as he sipped on the cup of soy sauce.

Additionally, the tiger was also clad in an awkward attire of white robes. However, Heavenly Fate Marquis had to hold back from insulting the tiger’s fashion sense. Furthermore, some ancient books were placed atop the stone table, and the tiger was shaking his head slowly as he read.

Impressive.

Heavenly Fate Marquis didn’t even know what to say anymore.

Clad in awkward white robes, sipping soy sauce, and reading a trash book titled ”Eighteen Forms of Dismemberment. If he didn’t know for a fact that this was the eight-winged tiger, he would have thought that he had gotten the wrong address.

This was indeed the tiger’s new residence.

The tiger had even given his stone hall an impressive name: Dao Palace.

The signboard bearing the name was hanging right outside, and the writing was...atrocious.

Heavenly Fate Marquis had spent three days here with the tiger, reading numerous books and drinking many cups of soy sauce. Each time he finished a cup, the tiger would politely refill his cup with more soy sauce.

At the moment, Heavenly Fate Marquis had just finished drinking another cup of soy sauce. Instantly, the tiger poured him another cup of soy sauce with a magnanimous smile. It was as though the tiger was telling him to drink on and make himself at home. They had plenty of soy sauce left!

Heavenly Fate Marquis was feeling quite resigned as he asked, ”Venerable Tiger, what of the proposal? What are your thoughts?”

The tiger shook his head and said, ”As a wise scholar once said, isn’t it a joy to have a friend visit from afar? When a friend visits, we should accord them the finest treatment and talk to our hearts’ content. I can see that your respected self is a cultured man as well. A cultured man needs to remain calm at all times. I still wish to talk more about the dao with you...”

”...”

Grief swelled inside Heavenly Fate Marquis. Why? This fellow should just find someone else for this. He really didn’t want to spend more time here. He was starting to regret his choice. He should have picked the dragon instead.

”Venerable Tiger, the myriad races can’t coexist with Control King’s lineage. It might not be smart for you and the chaos dragon to get between us. You might be strong, but it is still dangerous for you to be stuck between us. When we do decide to fight, the two of you might be the first victims.”

The tiger shook his head and stated in the tone of a refined scholar, ”As the saying goes, a gentleman does not stand beneath a crumbling wall. This saying has never failed me. Since danger is present, how can I stay idle? There is a reason for the two of us to stay apart from each other.”

”...”

Heavenly Fate Marquis resisted his intense urge to roll his eyes. He said, ”Venerable Tiger...”

”A moment.”

Then, the tiger took some sort of powder out with great care before giving a solemn introduction to the powder, ”This is what they call sugar. I’m going to add some sugar to my self-created soy sauce sweet tea. Do you want to try my new recipe? It actually tastes decent.”

”...”

Ahhhhhh!

Heavenly Fate Marquis roared inwardly. Even someone as patient as him was losing his mind.

He couldn’t resist asking, ”Venerable Tiger, where did you get these precious treasures?”

Who was it? Which bastard gave the tiger all this stuff? He swore to hang that person up before giving that bastard a beating.

There were also those books. Where did this tiger get all these books? This couldn’t be someone’s pet, right? A normal chaos beast shouldn’t have grown into...this. Who? Whose pet was this?

The appearance of the two beasts had ruined many plans. And he had wasted several days here in search of a solution. He didn’t want to spend more time with this tiger. He was tired of this.

”I am a cultured tiger. It is only natural that I have some precious treasures with me.”

The tiger patted his bag of books as he spoke. This was an inappropriate question. Why couldn’t he be the creator of these treasures? Was this guy looking down on him? Also, he could sense this person’s impatience. But what was the rush?

Why?

As the saying goes, a hasty man does not get to eat hot tofu.

At the thought of that random saying, the tiger asked, ”Venerable, are you familiar with the taste of what they call tofu? How does tofu taste?”

”...”

Heavenly Fate Marquis was on the verge of going mad.

Tofu his mother!

What the fuck was this tiger doing?

Heavenly Fate Marquis was really going to lose his mind.

He said, ”Why don’t you visit our Human Mountain as a guest. We have everything there.”

”Is that so? Yes, I need to find some time to visit, but not now. Another cup, Venerable? By the way, how does liquor taste? As the saying goes, when friends meet, even a thousand cups of liquor won’t be enough. You don’t seem to enjoy drinking soy sauce too much. Why don’t we drink some liquor instead? Not even a thousand cups can satisfy us!”

”I—”

”Do you dislike liquor as well, Venerable? I know another saying. Liquor is a poison that rots through your intestines. Drinking is the source of all trouble. It gives the cowardly courage, and it forces one to speak the truth. I see. Are you worried that you will speak the truth after drinking?”

”...”

Heavenly Fate Marquis felt like an encounter with a chaos beast like this could drive anyone crazy. He considered himself a refined and cultured man. A cultured man did not enjoy quarrelling with others.

Thus, he forced himself to calm down despite the intense urge to flip the table on the damn tiger.

Patience!

Suddenly, the tiger’s expression changed.

A unique fluctuation rippled over from afar as a voice rang out, ”Hey, I’m seeing a lot of familiar faces here. Brother Tiger has clearly discovered me. Old Brother Heavenly Fate, you’re here as well?”

Heavenly Fate Marquis was alarmed to hear that voice.

As for the tiger, he forced himself to smile and said, ”It has been a while, Venerable Su. As the saying goes—”

”Oh shut your mouth. Don’t bother pretending to be cultured in front of me.”

And then, two individuals appeared with a flicker. Instantly, two chairs appeared out of thin air.

As Su Yu and Lan Tian sat down, Su Yu looked at the soy sauce tea and laughed, ”What is this? Is this how you use soy sauce? Just use some proper tea leaves.”

Then, jade cups appeared, followed by tea leaves and heavenly source water.

He was brewing tea.

”Are you in a rush to leave, Brother Heavenly Fate?”

Heavenly Fate Marquis, who had stood up slightly, sat down with a solemn expression. ”No, not at all.”

Inwardly, he was greatly shocked.

Su Yu!

How did Su Yu know this tiger? Also, what was his strength now? Heavenly Fate Marquis could no longer see through Su Yu’s cultivation level.

The tiger had an odd expression as well, but soon, he forced himself to calm down and smile. ”Venerable Su—”

”Cut that nonsense about Venerables. Save that for people with no status. I prefer being called Emperor Su or Emperor Yu. Just call me that.”

Su Yu had snatched the initiative right after arriving.

The tiger smiled and said, ”In that case, I’ll be calling you Emperor Su. So Venerable is an insult? But Venerable Heavenly Fate has been calling me Venerable Tiger right after arriving...”

Su Yu laughed and explained, ”It’s not really an insult. It is a valid address for someone below the Master of Law. But my status is higher, right? Don’t you agree, Brother Eight-winged?”

The tiger thought about it and nodded in agreement. He acknowledged this. After all, Su Yu was a Creator. It was only natural for a Creator to have a higher status. Meanwhile, Heavenly Fate Marquis’ heart palpitated as he heard that exchange.

Su Yu looked at Heavenly Fate Marquis and said, ”I have been thinking of a way to see you, Brother Heavenly Fate. You should be aware of this. Fateless has joined me. Since Endless Passage is with you, you probably know quite a lot about me.”

Heavenly Fate Marquis frowned slightly and said, ”A little. But...”

Su Yu chuckled, ”Are you hesitating because I’m too weak? Honestly, I wouldn’t have bothered to see you previously. I never like those who look smarter than me.”

”But things have changed yet again. Not long ago, I suffered a massive defeat in the Upper Realm. But when I returned to the Lower Realm, Fateless lost his mind and insisted on joining me. Even when I told him to piss off, he refused. Therefore, I have no choice but to see you. Do you want to split the fate race? Or do you want to stay united?”

Heavenly Fate Marquis asked with alarm, ”Emperor Yu, are you saying that...Fate Pseudo Emperor has sworn complete allegiance to you?”

Su Yu smiled, ”In a way. By the way, he is now a heavenly king. His strength is decent.”

He looked at the tiger and asked, ”I believe you met him before. Do you remember?”

”Fateless?”

The tiger hesitated, looked at Heavenly Fate Marquis, and thought about it. ”Yes, I do remember seeing someone with a similar aura as this guy. That person was quite strong. He had the ability to see through the weakness of others. Was that the same guy you’re talking about, Emperor Su?”

Su Yu nodded, ”Exactly.”

”I see. No wonder they feel familiar.”

The tiger nodded as well.

Heavenly Fate Marquis grew even more shocked. The eight-winged tiger had met Fateless before?

Where?

Had Fateless really submitted to Su Yu fully?

And he did that after Su Yu’s defeat?

Before long, Su Yu was done brewing four cups of tea. Three flew toward Lan Tian, the tiger, and Heavenly Fate Marquis. The tiger was the first to sip his tea, but he frowned and said, ”My soy sauce sweet tea tastes better.”

”...”

Meanwhile, Heavenly Fate Marquis was silently sipping his new tea while enjoying the rich aftertaste. To hell with soy sauce sweet tea. This was real tea! He was tired of soy sauce sweet tea!

Su Yu smiled and said, ”Everyone has their own preferences. A few years back, I loved fruit juice. But I don’t drink much fruit juice nowadays.”

”What is this fruit juice you speak of?”

The tiger seemed curious about everything. Su Yu explained, ”Juice squeezed from fruits.”

”Oh.”

This was new knowledge for the tiger. After forcing himself to take another sip, he said, ”Emperor Su, aren’t you in the Death Realm? Why have you arrived at my humble abode?”

Su Yu said, ”I’m here to visit you, Brother Tiger.”

He smiled and continued, ”Let’s put our matter aside for now.”

He looked at Heavenly Fate Marquis and asked, ”So? What are your thoughts?”

Heavenly Fate Marquis replied solemnly, ”Fateless picked you, so I shouldn’t hesitate. He is the grandson of our Pseudo Emperor. I am considered his uncle from a distant line. He is the true and sole heir of our race.

”However, I can’t make my choice now. I wish to ask something. Are you confident you can handle the myriad races and Control King’s lineage? If not, it’s too risky for me to pick a side now.”

Su Yu thought about it and said, ”Try asking Brother Tiger. Brother Tiger, with the current strength of my force and a three or four Venerables, am I good enough to handle the myriad races?”

The tiger thought about it and nodded, ”Yes, if you can get a few more Venerables in addition to your existing force.”

Heavenly Fate Marquis exclaimed in alarm, ”Venerable Tiger, there are quite a lot of Venerables in the myriad races.”

”Yes, I already know that. That was the first thing you told me when you arrived.”

The tiger said with an odd expression, ”Emperor Su has numerous powerhouses under him. He is naturally capable of facing the myriad races with the addition of a few Venerables. What’s wrong with that?”

Heavenly Fate Marquis was stunned. Was this some sort of prank? But why would this tiger lie to him?