Tribulation of Myriad Races

At the same time.

Upstream.

Two pieces of land floated atop the river. It seemed as though the two were frozen in place, but if one focused, one would be able to see that both were slowly flowing downstream.

The speed was slow.

But at this rate, it wouldn’t be long before the two pieces of land would return to the same timeline of the Myriad Realms.

Rumbling sounds rang out repeatedly between the two pieces of land.

A laughter rang out from the opposite piece of land, ”Human Emperor, why don’t you give up and remove the restriction? I can feel it. Someone from my race has taken that step forward. As for your fellow humans, nobody has arrived to help even after so many years. It’s clear your plan has failed.”

Indeed. They could sense it.

Some of their descendants had advanced.

More importantly, they also sensed the decline of humanity’s fortune. In fact, it felt as though the piece of land opposite them was shrouded in the dark clouds of misfortune. With that realization, the many powerhouses of the myriad races roared with laughter.

”Looks like the conflict in the Myriad Realms has ended in our victory.”

Human Emperor’s schemes ran deep, but he had still lost.

His side was no match for the myriad races. Thus, he had been placing his hope on potential reinforcements from the humans back home. But after so many years of waiting, he was only welcomed with the decline of humanity’s fortune. Meanwhile, the myriad races were welcomed with the news that their races had produced new Masters of Laws back home.

Perhaps a few additional Masters of Laws wouldn’t be able to change much, but this was still something they were happy to hear. After all, it signified that humanity’s plan had failed.

As a celebration, they launched several minor assaults against their opponents. Once again, someone demanded, ”Release the restriction. Let’s all return to the Myriad Realms. Are you not bored of this? What’s the point, Human Emperor? If you retreat now, we won’t really exterminate humanity. At most, we’ll kill a few human kings. Hahaha!”

Once again, they roared with laughter.

***

Meanwhile, the atmosphere on Human Emperor’s side was heavy.

Did they lose in the Myriad Realms?

After so many years of struggle, no reinforcement was forthcoming. Rather, those in the Myriad Realms had been defeated. They could all see that the fortune on their side had indeed declined.

Everyone had forlorn expressions.

Right at that moment, the silhouette laughed and said, ”This is mere speculation. Even if it’s true, what can a few Masters of Laws change?”

”Don’t bother dreaming of having me remove the restriction. If you dare, fight us to the death. If not, wait. At this rate, we’ll be back around the same time the Hell Gate opens. Rather than a head-on conflict between two parties, isn’t it more interesting to have a chaotic war between three parties?”

Human Emperor laughed and continued, ”You lack the courage to fight yet you insist on rebelling. What’s the point?”

A frosty voice rang out, ”Human Emperor, your end is near, so don’t bother trying to act all confident. You suffered heavy injuries back then, and your main body has been missing since then. I’m confident you’re dying.”

”Yeah, sure.” Human Emperor sighed and said, ”My injuries are too heavy. I would have killed all of you long ago otherwise.”

A different voice rang out with laughter, ”Human Emperor, are you still presenting your empty shell as something more than that? It’s not like nobody knows your plan. Since you wish to drag things out, so be it. Let’s see how much longer you can last.”

This was their way of testing Human Emperor, also their way of threatening the humans. Human Emperor was dying. His main body wouldn’t have remained missing for so many years otherwise.

Of course, this was only a guess. Nobody could be certain of anything. However, it was indeed suspicious that Human Emperor’s main body had been missing for so many years.

Once again, Human Emperor’s laughter rang out, ”Yes, I’m going to die soon. Hang in there, everyone. Perhaps I’ll drop dead right as we return to the Myriad Realms. You won’t need to work so hard against me anymore.”

”Alright. Enough testing. It’s pointless. Would you dare to believe my words if I were to claim that I’m really dying? Nope.”

No reply came.

From this short interaction, it was clear that they still greatly feared Human Emperor. Before long, silence engulfed the two pieces of land again.

***

Human territory.

Human Emperor’s silhouette was smiling. Facing everyone with his back, he said, ”Relax, everyone. There is no need to worry too much about this. The conflict in the Myriad Realms is probably over, but the victor...might be humanity.”

A burly man asked, ”Your Majesty, is that true?”

”I think so.” Human Emperor smiled, ”Didn’t that Su Yu guy summon Xing Yue over a short while ago? Xing Yue is fine, so that guy must be fine as well.”

Xing Yue chimed in, ”Yeah. He’s fine! Also, before I left, even Hundred Battle was beaten to death by Su Yu--cough, I mean he killed Hundred Battle in self-defense. That fellow insisted on betraying humanity, so Su Yu had to kill him. What a pity. That was quite a strong guy.”

There was a difference between saying that Su Yu had beaten Hundred Battle to death and saying that Su Yu had killed Hundred Battle while defending himself.

Someone sighed and said, ”Even now, humanity is still fighting internally.”

He felt quite helpless.

Xing Yue had told them a bit about the current situation in the Myriad Realms, but she hadn’t said too much. However, she said enough for everyone to know that there was a civil war between the two human lords.

Xing Yue appeared a lot more nonchalant about it. ”As I said, Hundred Battle wasn’t a good guy. He had been planning to betray humanity long ago. A pity that my strength had yet to recover when I met him previously. Otherwise, I would have killed him myself.”

She looked at the silhouette and asked, ”Big Brother, just how are your injuries?”

Human Emperor smiled and said, ”I’m fine, but I still can’t show myself. If I show myself now, the myriad races will think that I’m deliberately doing this as a bluff. Instead, maintaining the status quo is the best way to keep them wary.”

Human Emperor chuckled, ”What is this? Is everyone losing their trust in me?”

”Your Majesty is wise!”

Everyone laughed. True. His Majesty was incredibly powerful. This was merely his scheme to keep the myriad races guessing and scared. Of course, not everyone shared the same thought. Some still looked grave, but upon further thought, they concluded that perhaps things were really not that bad.

In any case, this was not the time to voice a different opinion, as that would destroy their morale.

Suddenly, the silhouette shook slightly. At the same time, Radiant King looked over and said, ”Again? Is the battle in the Myriad Realms not over?”

A burst of unique power spread over, with the powers of life and death mixed within. It was as though Xing Yue was being summoned again.

Human Emperor cursed, ”Damn you! Again?”

Thanks to this little episode, the previous grave atmosphere faded completely. Everyone was left rolling their eyes.

That Su Yu guy was pushing it too far!

Human Emperor was furious, ”Is he trying to show the myriad races what’s happening as well? Damn it!”

What was he doing?

That damn Su Yu guy had been borrowing power repeatedly, causing quite a big disturbance. Did that guy not know that his great-granddaddy, the Human Emperor, was currently weakened?

It was very exhausting to calm all the fluctuations spreading from downstream. Would that bastard be his death when he had survived for so many years, even in his terrible situation? The myriad races would likely force a decisive battle upon sensing all those fluctuations. But if he had to keep doing that, even someone blind would be able to see that he was already weakened.

Su Yu...damn him and all his ancestors! Was that guy crazy? Why was that guy summoning his little sister so frequently? What did that guy take his little sister for?

Right at that moment, Xing Yue’s body shook. The powers of life and death started moving downstream. Helpless, Human Emperor could only suppress the fluctuations while saying, ”Return soon or things will get very troublesome.”

”Oh.”

With a simple answer, Xing Yue vanished. Human Emperor cursed again. What a troublesome guy. This better be the last time or he swore he would swat that guy to death in the future.

Someone else said doubtfully, ”Is the battle in the Myriad Realms still ongoing or has humanity encountered another crisis?”

Human Emperor didn’t feel like guessing, so he gave a random answer, ”He must be summoning Xing Yue for a chat because he’s too bored.”

Everyone was left speechless.

What nonsense was that?

Someone grinned and said, ”I know, it must be Martial Emperor. He must have returned to life. Left with no choice, Su Yu was forced to summon Xing Yue to help against Martial Emperor. I reckon the river will shake again later. It’s about time Martial Emperor dies again.”

”Hehehe.”

”Hahaha!”

Everyone started laughing.

Human Emperor said nothing. He merely gave the speaker a casual glance. Instantly, the speaker shut his mouth awkwardly. That was only a joke. Could this guy not look at him like that? This was so scary. The others continued laughing in amusement. The overall mood was quite good.

***

At the same time, Su Yu had just returned to his world after draining a bunch of power from the river.

His world shook as the powers of life and death converged. Before long, Xing Yue manifested into existence.

Her projection looked illusory, but it maintained her usual cold detachment. With her hands clasped behind her, she stared down at Su Yu arrogantly.

”Speak. Why are you calling for me again?”

Her cold voice rang out.