Tribulation of Myriad Races

Su Yu was certain that at present, some of the human powerhouses upstream were being occupied by multiple weaker enemies. That was a waste of their strength. Everyone grew solemn as they listened.

Yes. Su Yu was always the type to seize the initiative. It was likely that he would go upstream within three months. And the battle there was not something one could participate in without being a Master of Law.

Su Yu said, ”Of course, it’s not like you can no longer grow during the short time we have. The Hell Gate is our opportunity. And with all our enemies gone, I might go deep into the River of Time and extract more power to strengthen my world.”

His actions would probably fully offend the Master of Time.

His actions were too excessive.

Su Yu laughed and continued, ”And if I’m desperate enough, I can even break Human Emperor’s dao and feed it to my world. It is an abandoned dao, anyway.”

Great Zhou King was left completely speechless.

Fine, fine.

”That’s not all.” Su Yu added, ”I will try to find more opportunities for everyone to grow. Don’t make the mistake of believing that I alone can defeat all our enemies. I wouldn’t have been able to secure our victory today without all of you. Thus, I need your help. Strictly speaking, you’re not helping me. You’re helping yourself as our survival is at stake here.”

Great Zhou King nodded, ”We understand all that, Your Majesty—”

Su Yu spat, ”You don’t understand shit! If you truly understand, you would have stopped holding back long ago!”

Great Zhou King had an innocent expression as he said, ”Your Majesty, I—”

Su Yu stared at him coldly and said, ”Separation of body and spirit. What a good idea. So are you the spirit or the body? You’re probably the spirit. Where’s the body?”

”...”

Great Zhou King smiled bitterly and said, ”This is truly a misunderstanding...”

Su Yu snorted, ”I had been letting it slide because I couldn’t be bothered to expose you, but you insisted on exposing yourself. I would have cut you down if not for the fact that you had still worked decently hard.”

Great Zhou King felt greatly helpless.

Su Yu frowned and asked, ”Just where have you been sending the majority of your strength? Upstream? Are you fighting there as well? No, that’s unlikely.”

Great Zhou King grimaced. Worried that Su Yu would keep guessing, the transmitted, ”Your Majesty, I’m doing this...for a reason. I would have helped you with all my strength long ago, otherwise!”

He did that for a reason! He was terrified of Su Yu’s guesses. More importantly, there were too many people here. His heart would flutter each time Su Yu spoke.

Noticing Great Zhou King’s worry, Su Yu waved his hand and moved the two of them into an independent space. Then, he asked, ”Talk. What is it?”

Great Zhou King said helplessly, ”Your Majesty...I...”

”You can’t say?”

What was there to hide? Shouldn’t they be long past that?

Su Yu frowned.

Great Zhou King gnashed his teeth. Perhaps...perhaps the time was right for him to speak some of the truth. The truth might throw Su Yu into despair, but then again, Su Yu was a madman. His mentality was much stronger than Hundred Battle King’s.

After some struggle, he said, ”Human Emperor has been seriously injured. He is trying his best to hold the line, but he can only do enough to maintain appearances. Each battle upstream is a drain on his very life and foundation. Thus, he is in great need of help from the Myriad Realms. He can’t allow the myriad races to return to the Myriad Realms as his weakness will be too apparent then.

”He only lasted this long because the myriad races are too wary of him to actually fight him to the death. They are worried that they will push him so hard that he decides to die alongside a few of their emperors. But all that will be exposed the moment they’re back.”

After a short pause, Great Zhou King continued, ”I have indeed been hiding something, but I am doing what I should as a servant of Human Emperor. Back then, I trusted Hundred Battle. And that resulted in a near elimination of everything Human Emperor left behind. Fortunately, he got careless and I noticed something before it was too late.”

Even now, he was still feeling some lingering fear from the events in the ninth epoch. ”If Hundred Battle hadn’t changed so suddenly, humanity would have been fully defeated in the ninth epoch.”

Su Yu said, ”Is that why you have this habit of keeping things to yourself and speaking only half-truths? Because of the trauma from Hundred Battle?”

Great Zhou King had a bitter expression. Yes. In a way.

”So don’t you have anything else to tell me? Since you’re already telling me the top secret about Human Emperor’s injuries...”

Great Zhou King replied, ”It’s not really a top secret. The myriad races and humans there are aware that he’s injured, but nobody knows the extent of his injuries. I can only say that...at present, Human Emperor is an empty shell. At this rate...he might even die.”

Su Yu’s frown grew deeper. Human Emperor’s death would be disastrous. In a way, Human Emperor was the faith of humanity. Or at the very least, he was the faith of the ancient powerhouses. Su Yu was certain that his death would instantly exterminate the morale of the ancient powerhouses.

Anyone could die, but not Human Emperor. Regardless of Su Yu’s confidence in himself, he understood that at present, nobody could replace Human Emperor.

Suddenly, he asked, ”Are you still keeping in touch with Human Emperor?”

Great Zhou King sank into silence. After a while, he shook his head before nodding and shaking his head again. ”I...I...this isn’t something I can say. I’m afraid that...”

Su Yu pushed on, ”Are you afraid that I’ll do something to him?”

Great Zhou King said, ”I understand you quite well, Your Majesty. You’re right. You’re not only Su Yu, and I’m not only Great Zhou King. I am also the leader of His Imperial Majesty’s secret guard. I need to ensure his safety. Nothing can happen to him. I need to hide this matter as best as I can. For now, you are the only person aware of this secret apart from His Imperial Majesty and I. In truth, he’s already dying...”

Su Yu gasped, ”Are things that serious?”

”It’s more serious than you can imagine.” Great Zhou King said bitterly, ”They have to face over a hundred enemy Masters of Laws with not even half the number. Human Emperor alone is holding back many Masters of Laws. He has never gotten the chance to recover from his injuries. He only lasted so long due to his sheer stubbornness and sense of responsibility toward humanity.”

Suddenly, Su Yu’s expression changed as he asked, ”Are you...guarding Human Emperor himself?”

Great Zhou King said nothing.

Su Yu gasped again, ”Separation of spirit and body...wait, is Human Emperor in such state as well? His main body isn’t even there anymore. His sea of willpower has been the one fighting and holding the myriad races back. So is your body keeping the majority of your strength as you stand guard over Human Emperor’s body?”

Was that the case? He was unsure, but Great Zhou King had said a lot today. He even spoke of something like Human Emperor’s injuries and Human Emperor’s separation of spirit and body...

As though he was trying to make Su Yu reach a certain conclusion.

After a short silence, Great Zhou King said, ”Your Majesty, please stop asking. You will naturally understand everything after meeting Human Emperor. But I can tell you that there is a flaw with this method. When the body dies, the sea of willpower will collapse as well. Thus, this must be kept secret. Nobody can be sure what people will do in desperation. Some might even decide to betray His Imperial Majesty in their desperation.”

With a bitter tone, he asked, ”And with Human Emperor dead, do you think there is still hope in this battle?”

Su Yu shook his head, ”Everything will fall apart with his death. I see now. He’s holding on bitterly by presenting a strong front when he’s essentially an empty shell now.”

”You can say so.” Great Zhou King sighed, ”I don’t know the exact truth, but I can guess a lot. Thus, I’m growing anxious. I’m worried. Thus, I have been trying to unveil the little bit of contingencies and trump cards humanity still has. As for those I can’t unveil, I have been luring suitable successors over to unlock those legacies themselves.”

Great Zhou King sighed and said, ”Your Majesty, at this point, you might the only one capable of saving Human Emperor, all our people, and the ancient powerhouses.”

Su Yu frowned, ”You sure look highly on my abilities. What will happen if I go out and reveal Human Emperor’s current status right away?”

After a short silence, Great Zhou King answered, ”Everyone will believe that you’re saying that to snatch power from Human Emperor.”

Nobody would believe that Human Emperor was dying.

Su Yu narrowed his eyes. ”You are as crafty as ever, old fart. I see now. You’re only coming clean because nobody will believe me due to all the lies I said in the past. Nine out of ten of the words out of my mouth will be lies. Nobody will trust me even if I expose what you told me. There is nothing for you to worry about. Is that right?”

Great Zhou King looked awkward, but he said nothing. Inwardly, he was thinking that Su Yu was wrong. Nine out of ten words out of his mouth were lies? No, not at all. It would be more accurate to say that ninety-nine out of a hundred words out of his mouth were lies.

Nevertheless, this was enough for Su Yu to stop picking on Great Zhou King. With a nod, Su Yu said, ”Fine, I will stop bothering you about this. You’re the head of his secret guard. It’s normal for you to not fully join me. Human Emperor requires his guardian. As for the location of his main body, I can’t be bothered to ask.”

He was better off not knowing certain things. Great Zhou King sighed with relief. He had also expected this.

Su Yu laughed, ”No wonder he was so nice and accommodating with all my requests. He probably thought that he was going to die anyway. After finding out about the appearance of a new Creator, he decided to be as accommodating as possible to drag me onto his side.”

Su Yu sneered, ”I knew it. Those around Culture King are all crafty foxes.”

Great Zhou King said awkwardly, ”No, that’s not the case. His Imperial Majesty has always been benevolent...”

”Heh.” Su Yu sneered, ”Stop kidding yourself. Even the kindest of emperors is still an emperor, not a fool. That was something that could give rise to a potential competitor. He only did all that out of desperation.”

He could roughly understand Human Emperor’s thoughts. Upon learning the truth, his mood grew heavy. Human Emperor was dying, and he was putting up a tough front just to hold the myriad races back. A major battle would probably break out the moment the myriad races learned of his true condition.

Great Zhou King had been very secretive about this. It was likely that Su Yu was the only person other than Human Emperor and Great Zhou King aware of this.

It was likely that Great Zhou King had decided to loosen his mouth after gaining confidence in Su Yu’s chances to actually go upstream and help. Thus, he was preparing Su Yu for that eventuality. Great Zhou King was essentially telling Su Yu to temper his expectations and not place too much hope on Human Emperor.

”I have yet to even celebrate my recent victory and you’re already hitting me with a piece of bad news. How boring.”

Su Yu curled his lips.

Great Zhou King had an innocent expression. It wasn’t that he wanted to rain on Su Yu’s parade. Rather, Su Yu was the one who had forced the truth out of him. Then again, this was also an acceptable result.

He had been keeping this secret for too long. He never dared to reveal it. Su Yu’s reaction to this news was enough to prove his madness. He showed no fear whatsoever despite the hopelessness of the situation. Any other human lord would have fallen into despair upon learning the truth.

Human Emperor was dying. This was something that could shatter the confidence of any human lord. Su Yu was incredible indeed. Great Zhou King couldn’t help but sigh at the fact that madness could be helpful, after all.

Something capable of scaring a normal person would not scare a lunatic like Su Yu. Instead, it would serve to strengthen Su Yu’s drive.

With a wave of Su Yu’s hand, the two returned among the others. Noticing all the gazes on them, Su Yu smiled and said, ”Great Zhou King said that Human Emperor is going to die soon. He urged me to take the throne and become the new Human Emperor. Do I have your support?”

”...”

Silence descended. Everyone looked at each other helplessly.

This guy was bullshitting them again!

Fine, fine. They only needed to go along with it. Thus, everyone roared, ”Yes! Glory to His Majesty! His Majesty is mighty!”

Paying lip service without any sacrifice was something they didn’t mind doing. To the side, Great Zhou King nearly had a heart attack. But upon noticing the reaction of the others, he was left completely speechless. Impressive. Not a single one of them believed that. Not even he had expected this.

Su Yu grinned, ”Good to hear. When I see Human Emperor, I’ll get him to call me boss. If not, I’ll give him a nice beating with everyone’s help.”

”Yes! Beat Human Emperor up!”

A random voice rang out from the crowd, only to notice that he was all alone. Instantly, Silk Destroying King paled. Holy shit! He was only paying lip service! Why was everyone looking at him like that?

Previously, everyone had kept silent when he grumbled about Su Yu. And now, everyone was keeping silent when he was going along with Su Yu’s words. What was this?

Su Yu roared with laughter, ”Well said, Silk Destroying King! You will be the vanguard against Human Emperor in the future! Alright. Disperse, everyone. Time to recover and cultivate more.”

With a wave of his hand, his world faded into nothingness while everyone started leaving.

Looking at the dispersing crowd, Su Yu shook his head with amusement and said to Great Zhou King, ”Maybe I can try saying this more in the future. I wonder if everyone will keep suspecting that we’re acting even when Human Emperor is really dead?”

That was possible.

Great Zhou King could say nothing about that. He could only acknowledge Su Yu’s brilliance.