Tribulation of Myriad Races

Everyone left. They all had a heavy mission to complete.

They had to become Masters of Laws before the day of departure. Those named would need to abandon their daos if they couldn’t do it. This served as both pressure and motivation for them.

These people had benefited massively since following Su Yu. Apart from the beginning when Su Yu was still weak, barely anyone had died fighting for him. The last time he lost anyone was during the battle against the Celestial Chasm Realm.

As Su Yu grew in strength, people stopped dying. Even those who had self-detonated had all been brought back by him. But now, he seemed to have run out of his generosity.

It wasn’t that he would send anyone to death, but those incapable of carrying their own weight would need to make way for others. After all, he still had many people under him forced to cultivate the daos they were unfamiliar with.

Sure, dao sharing was an alternative. But Su Yu’s world was still too weak to produce significant powerhouses in such a situation.

***

The hall was empty.

Su Yu leaned back on his seat to take a short rest. Suddenly, he opened his eyes and looked at the newcomer with a smile. ”Yes?”

Xia Huyou flashed his usual sly smile and cupped his fists, ”Your Majesty, I’m only a Sunmoon. I’m too weak.”

Su Yu laughed with amusement.

”You should stay behind the frontlines. The stronger ones all need to fight to the death.”

Xia Huyou grimaced and said, ”Yes, that’s true. But...I still need sufficient strength to even stay behind the frontlines. Without sufficient strength, I won’t even have the ability to keep things stable.

”For example, I was completely incapable of doing anything during Hundred Battle’s short reign. In a worst-case scenario, those behind the frontlines are the ones who will need to step up when the ones in the frontlines die.”

That was indeed the worst-case scenario.

Su Yu rolled his eyes and said, ”Can’t you wish me well or something?”

Xia Huyou laughed, ”Loyal advice jars on the ears. In any case, you also need to give us weaklings an opportunity as well. Each powerhouse grows from a weakling. Isn’t that right? These days, you have your focus on heavenly kings and Venerables. But we Sunmoons might be able to climb rapidly into Masters of Laws after affirming our daos. Who knows?

”With a compatible dao, sufficient comprehension, and powerful characters, it’s not a dream for someone to become a Master of Law in one day. With one character, one can master a dao.”

”Are you talking about yourself?” Su Yu laughed, ”That cleaning character of yours. Are you going to become a Master of Law through the dao of cleaning?”

”Why not?”

Xia Huyou grinned.

”You have been underestimating this dao, Your Majesty. Isn’t the ability to cleanse the Myriad Realms of filth a powerful ability as well?”

Su Yu nodded in agreement. True. No character was truly weak. And it was indeed possible for one to master a dao in one day with a powerful enough character. This made so much sense, but it was also a load of shit. It was possible, but the chances were low enough that it might as well be impossible.

If it were so easy, the path of characters wouldn’t have been known to be such a difficult path since ancient times. In fact, many of the existing Masters of Laws followed the martial path. Very few of them pursued the character path. Great Zhou King was one of them, Wan Tiansheng could be considered one, but not even Lan Tian could be considered one.

”So are you here to ask for benefits?”

Su Yu chuckled. This fellow sure was straightforward.

Many wanted to ask for benefits, but most didn’t dare to actually see Su Yu about it. But Xia Huyou had sneaked over while the others weren’t around. He must be feeling anxious as a mere Sunmoon.

Xia Huyou grimaced. What was this guy saying?

Next, he smiled again and said, ”Not really. I’m here for another matter as well.”

”Yes?”

At that, Xia Huyou looked around shiftily. Su Yu rolled his eyes. What was there to see? Would he be hiding a woman or something in the room?”

Xia Huyou whispered, ”Your Majesty, you will be going upstream soon, right?”

”Yes.”

”In other words, everything is over if you lose the next battle, right?”

”Yeah.”

”Won’t that leave humanity with no contingencies?”

Su Yu raised his brow, ”What manner of contingency does humanity still have? There is nothing for us to leave behind.”

They had nothing to leave. They had exhausted everything they had just to gain their current strength. There was no helping it.

Xia Huyou said, ”There is, Your Majesty!”

Su Yu stared at him silently. What manner of contingency would be known to a Sunmoon when Su Yu himself wasn’t aware of it?

Xia Huyou further lowered his voice, ”Your Majesty, have you forgotten about the yin aperture and yang acupoint?”

”Hmm?”

Xia Huyou continued, ”The Bai Family! Have you forgotten about the old man from Bai Family? He opened his yang acupoint directly and absorbed death qi to erupt with an incredible level of strength. But you have completely set the matter aside after opening your Heaven Gate. You don’t care about this level of strength anymore, but it is still very meaningful for the rest of us. We have never forgotten about this matter.”

As Su Yu raised his brow, Xia Huyou added, ”Previously, the physical body dao was occupied and couldn’t provide enough strength to humanity. With Hundred Battle and his people dead, some of the dao power went to your world while some returned to the physical body dao.

”Opening the yang acupoint is the same as cultivating the physical body dao. In the past, you filled your yang acupoint with death qi thanks to your ability to convert death qi and life force. Now that the Death Realm is under your control, the rest of us might be able to do the same with the yang acupoint.”

Su Yu frowned, but he said nothing.

Xia Huyou continued, ”The physical body dao is basically a shortcut. It was also one of the reasons for humanity to be so powerful in the ancient past. It might not be comparable to a complete and undamaged dao, but what will happen if one starts absorbing the physical body dao power after opening the yang acupoint?

”Since your victory over Hundred Battle, I have been considering one matter. Should we train a group of deathsworn soldiers loyal to only you? They can all cultivate the yang acupoint.”

His eyes gleamed as he added, ”We can even put up a show and kick some people out. For example, out of the names you listed, you can kick my great-grandpa out. Both he and my old man cultivate the saber, so there is a conflict between them. Because of my great-grandpa, my old man was forced to cultivate the break dao. It is similar to the saber dao, but it is ultimately not the same...”

Su Yu’s expression changed slightly as he remarked, ”You lot sure are...filial.”

How treacherous. Was this guy suggesting him to kick Great Xia King off to make way for Xia Longwu? What was this?

Xia Huyou justified himself, ”It would be more dangerous for my great-grandpa to go. His dao comprehension isn’t even as high as my father’s. As a commander of many years, he is more than capable of returning to a leadership role.

”You have much to gain from this as well, Your Majesty. You can step on my great-grandpa to showcase your authority. You can show everyone that not even the Xias, your most loyal supporters, are exempt from being left behind if we can’t keep up.

”Otherwise, some people might start believing that they can kick back and relax now and enjoy the fruits of their previous contribution. That is not acceptable. I believe a show of force is necessary to prevent that from happening.

”Also, do consider my suggestion about the yang acupoint. That is a great way to rapidly grow in a short time. Open the yang acupoint, strengthen one’s body, and absorb death qi. Even if this can’t produce proper Masters of Laws, it should be able to produce combatants with similar combat strength. More importantly, the yang acupoint can be opened in advance even if one lacks talent.”

Bai Feng’s grandfather had proven that. It was indeed possible. One could still open the yang acupoint without 360 acupoints open. In such a situation, the yang acupoint would require a large supply of power, but one could form a connection with a death spirit to obtain endless death qi to support the yang acupoint.

Xia Huyou continued, ”This can be done by even some Sunmoons, Eternals, and Daofuses. They aren’t talented enough to open 360 acupoints, but they can force the yang acupoint open for more strength.

”You can gather a group of people and have them do this while cultivating the physical body dao.”

Su Yu sank into thought.

Xia Huyou said, ”I hear that...the giants cultivate the physical body dao as well? I also hear that similar daos are compatible with each other. We currently enjoy an absolute advantage in the Myriad Realms. Your Majesty, humanity is not the only race with the physical body dao.

”Is it possible to extract the power from the various physical body daos? If that’s possible, this plan will be completely feasible.”

Having said all that, Xia Huyou gave Su Yu a good look. Su Yu had grown to far too high a level. Thus, he no longer concerned himself with these affairs. These days, he only had his eyes on Masters of Laws and further growth from that level.

However, it hadn’t even been that long since the yang acupoint was a big deal. And Xia Huyou still remembered it well.

As Su Yu rapped on his armrest in thought, Xia Huyou added, ”Your Majesty, the physical body dao isn’t too strict in terms of dao comprehension. It is one of the daos one can progress in through brute force. The yang acupoint is actually an opportunity for physical body cultivators.”

Su Yu said nothing as he remained in thought. Was this feasible? Yes. He could pour the power of the physical body dao into these people before blasting their yang acupoints open. Next, he could have them absorb death qi or the physical body power to fill their yang acupoints.

Then again, the physical body power was too berserk a power, so a mixture of the two would be better. And humanity was not the only race with a physical body dao. It wouldn’t be easy for him to drain the daos of the other races in the past. But now, he could actually do so.

Seeing that Su Yu was tempted, Xia Huyou said, ”Your Majesty, have you forgotten about your initial growth?”

Su Yu asked in confusion, ”What do you mean?”

”The Book of Time!” Xia Huyou grinned, ”Copy the Book of Time. Borrow the daos if snatching isn’t an option. Create inferior versions of the Book of Time and infuse the powers of the myriad daos into them. Allow others to activate these books through blood essence.”

Su Yu said, ”If someone attempts to borrow the power of a dao forcefully through this method, they might die if they lack strength.”

”But they are supposed to be deathsworn soldiers!” Xia Huyou had a complicated expression as he said, ”I know you. You may seem ruthless, but inwardly, you’re quite soft. You keep trying to shoulder everything alone. But that’s wrong. Even someone as powerful as Human Emperor has Great Zhou King as his secret guard. Where is your secret guard?”

He looked straight into Su Yu’s eyes and asked, ”Have you prepared any contingency for yourself?”

Su Yu sank into silence.

Had he?

He hid his father and the others away. But was that a contingency?

Xia Huyou said, ”As an emperor, you need a contingency as well. The Xia Family is willing to serve as your secret guard.

”We will produce a fearless secret guard for you. In moments of crisis, they can step forth and die for you.”

Xia Huyou solemnly said, ”Back then, I promised you the blade of Xia. You are climbing higher and higher, but the composition of Emperor Yu’s Court is too complicated. The moment you die, everything will fall apart.

”No, you don’t even need to die. You only need to leave for a hundred thousand years like Human Emperor. Everything will fall apart during your absence.”

Su Yu’s foundation was too shallow.

Xia Huyou continued, ”You come from Great Xia. You should understand that Great Xia isn’t good for many things, but our blood burns hot. Those of Great Xia do not fear death. You are the pride of Great Xia. Emperor Yu’s Court has grown immensely, yet you don’t even have a personal guard.”

Su Yu laughed and said, ”I do...”

”Are you talking about Lan Tian?” Xia Huyou couldn’t resist laughing at that. He said, ”No, you don’t have a proper guard. Are you thinking of those regular soldiers? They don’t count. As the emperor fo humanity, as the emperor of Emperor Yu’s Court, you are sorely lacking in people who can move in the shadows for you.

”I’ll be blunt and say that you don’t even have someone you can entrust your will to. Are you going to entrust your will to Principal Wan and the others? But those are your open allies. Everyone knows about them. The scope of what they can do is limited. People like Great Zhou King were completely unknown before Human Emperor left. Nobody knew about the Torchbearers.”