Chapter 45 - 45

Chapter 591: Old Zhu Makes His Move (1)

"Divine grade?"

After a long silence, the devil slowly said, "I've heard of divine-grade source arts before. They are rare, but you can still find some of them in the Myriad Realms. But divine-grade cultural arts have only been mentioned in legends before..."

The look in the devil's eyes changed as he continued, "The strength of a cultivation method can be both important and unimportant. I'm more curious about the source of this cultural art."

Was this a ruin inheritance, or did it come from somewhere else? For example, a super expert. If it was a ruin inheritance, it would most definitely be a terrifying ruin. His gaze landed on the stone wall and the sun and the moon in his eyes spun. Was this the ruin?

Previously, he had remained indifferent about the ruin. More and more ruins had been discovered in the Human Realm over the years, but a majority of them could only help one up to the Sunmoon Realm. Such a ruin wasn't too attractive for him. But what about an Invincible ruin?

At this time, Blood Rakshasha had stopped his fight with the old sky horse and the mountain antelope. After arriving beside the devil, he hurriedly said, "Sect Master, to prevent anything untoward from happening, we shouldn't delay this."

He was reminding his sect master that it was time to kill. They needed to kill everyone here and take Su Yu with them. As for this ruin, they could leave it alone for now. They could always come and open it in the future. Or they could open it now and take whatever they could before leaving.

The devil ignored Blood Rakshasha. First, his gaze landed on Su Yu. Then, he looked at Ji Xiaomeng and Li Minyu.

He smiled and muttered, "Lan Tian and Ji Hong?"

Interesting. He did not say anything else and reached out to grab Ji Xiaomeng. A burst of willpower appeared from Ji Xiaomeng's body, but it was incapable of even slowing the devil's palm.

That burst of willpower could deal with Mountainseas, but it was useless against a fifth-stage Sunmoon like him. The massive hand continued descending from the sky. The dispersed willpower entered the void, and after a moment, a snort came out of the void. Next, an explosion erupted out of nowhere.

"Ji Hong..." The devil smiled, "It's time for us to leave. Ji Hong has noticed what's happening."

What he left unsaid was the fact that Lan Tian had noticed what was happening here as well. Two Sunmoons had each left a strand of consciousness on a student here. The devil did not know what their goal was, but he wasn't too worried since those two were probably still quite far away from this place.

After dispersing the strand of consciousness on Ji Xiaomeng, he left Ji Xiaomeng and Li Minyu alone. These two could still be useful for him. Instead, he grabbed in the direction of Jin Yuhui and Zhao Tianbing. These two should die first.

The two roared and attacked at the same time. Jin Yuhui released his characters while Zhao Tianbing drew an incomparably powerful sword.

Boom!

Numerous explosions erupted, flatting several nearby mountains.

Jin Yuhui roared, "What are you waiting for? Attack him together!"

This devil was clearly trying to kill them all. This was a fifth-stage Sunmoon. Such an expert could hardly find an opponent even in a place like Great Xia. Why would a blood fire devil personally enter the Human Realm? The single character faction had thought that a single Sunmoon was enough to deal with Su Yu, but to their surprise, so many experts had appeared.

Further away.

Zhu Tiandao was preparing to make a move. Updates are released by novęlfire.net

Director Hou asked, "Prefect, are we not going to wait anymore? I feel like Jin Yuhui might call more people over..."

Should they keep fishing? After all, they had already waited this long.

"No. If we wait too long, more and more Sunmoons from Great Xia will be here. That would only make it harder for us to eliminate them all."

Zhu Tiandao smiled and said, "This is enough. It's time to end this. I'm worried that if we wait any longer, an even bigger trouble might appear. In fact, things are already very troublesome right now."

He then vanished into the void, leaving his voice behind, "You don't need to come with me. Take charge of the formation and seal the area. Make sure nobody escapes and block all communication."

"Yes."

Director Hou said nothing else and controlled the formation to cover the entire Starfall Mountain in a blanket of gray fog. That was a formation personally created by Great Ming King. Unless one was a seventh-stage Sunmoon or stronger, one should forget about escaping.

Starfall Mountain.

The battle between the Sunmoons continued while the Mountainseas hesitated. Who should they help? Should they join hands? They were still fighting each other not long ago. Were they supposed to join hands now?

Would someone stab them in the back after joining hands? Due to their numerous misgivings, none of the Mountainseas made a move. They all believed that the two Sunmoons would not fall so easily.

The devil said, "You will be spared if you join the Blood Fire Sect. Jin Yuhui, do you really believe that you can survive without my mercy? I only need to spread the recordings of what happened here and everything will be over for you. Of course, that won't happen if you can kill me. But is that possible?

"Don't worry. I don't need you to come with me after joining. You can continue living as a principal. Your people can continue living as elders. The Blood Fire Sect won't make you do anything unless absolutely necessary. If you manage to grow strong enough to kill me in the future, I'll naturally return the recordings to you. The blood fire devil race is capable of providing everything you have ever wanted..."

He was tempting them. Could they kill him to silence him? If they couldn't, joining him was their only choice. In fact, he was looking forward to their submission. There were so many experts here. This would be a great gain for him! One Sunmoon and multiple Mountainseas! With these people, the blood fire race would obtain a considerable power base in the Human Realm.

"A wise man submits to circumstances."

Even while saying all that, he did not stop talking. Facing his relentless assault, both Zhao Tianbing and Jin Yuhui coughed blood repeatedly.

Both of them were first-stage Sunmoons, but the devil was a fifth-stage Sunmoon. And he wasn't a normal Sunmoon, but a devil Sunmoon. The two were no match for him even when they were working together.

"There is no escaping this..." The devil smiled and said, "Earlier, I laid down a Blood Fire Devil Formation around this place. Ji Hong must have sensed something, but he will take some time to reach this place. Even if he notifies the Xia Family, it will still take them some time to arrive. Don't forget how far the capital is from this place. Give me an answer. Your time is running out."

The Great Xia capital was thousands of kilometers away from this place. Even a ninth-stage Sunmoon would need some time to travel that far.

The devil continued, "Even after the people from the Xia Family arrive, are you sure I'm the one who will suffer? I can simply leave. What about all of you? The Xia Family has not left you alone all these years because they are afraid of you. They are simply unwilling to turn against the entire single character faction. But with proof of your wrongdoings, do you think they will spare you?

"Sure, you can try to confuse the Xia Family by saying that Su Yu is framing all of you, but there are three Mountainseas from the Xia Family present. Do you think they will trust you over them?"

Jin Yuhui's face sank, but he remained silent.

The devil said, "Yu Hong, work together and kill the three from the Xia Family. I'm not forcing you to do anything, but you have no other choice. This is what you need to do if you want to live."

Hu Hao roared, "Yu Hong, are you really going to do this? Are you going to fully join the cult? If you don't join the cult, even if you committed a crime worthy of capital punishment, your family will be spared. But if you join the cult, your family will be implicated as well. Are you going to abandon everything?"

These people would die no matter what. But they could die without implicating their families. A conspirator would be treated differently from a true cultist.

Yu Hong's eyes turned cold. She did not care about Hu Hao's words. If she was going to die, why would she care about her family? She didn't want to die!

Thus, she asked, "Principal Jin, are more Sunmoons coming?"

If reinforcements were on the way, she would wait. If not, she would need to make a choice. Jin Yuhui said nothing. When Zhao Tianbing first appeared, he had contacted a Sunmoon. But he didn't know if that Sunmoon was arriving anytime soon. Shortly after that, all channels of communication had been blocked.

He assumed that the devil was the one who was blocking the communication. Since he was unsure, he gave no answer. Seeing that, Yu Hong's expression changed several times. Finally, she attacked Xia Wen.

With a frosty expression, Xia Wen said, "Are you really joining the cult? Yu Hong, you are indeed a tumor! The Xia Family should have dealt with you long ago!"

"You can keep nagging at the afterlife." Yu Hong snorted coldly and said, "What are you guys waiting for? We're going to die either way. Why don't we seek a way out of this? Do you really want to die?"

The devil roared with laughter.

"That's the right choice. Jin Yuhui, what are you waiting for? Within Great Xia, Zhou Mingren is the only decently powerful expert of the single character faction. But you have probably asked for the help of that person from Great Shang. But he will need some time to reach this place. I doubt he can arrive in time to save you."

Once again, the devil laughed. It was unlikely that Zhou Mingren would be here as he was still in his seclusion to reach the Sunmoon Realm. Furthermore, too many eyes were on him. Thus, it was very likely that the helper would be someone from the neighboring Great Shang. After all, an elder of Great Shang was already here. But how long would that person take to reach this place?

Jin Yuhui's expression changed repeatedly. As he hesitated, the devil continued raining attacks on him. After a long silence, he sighed and said, "Kill. Kill Hu Hao and the others."

The moment those words were said, Yu Hong, Old Zheng, Elder Li, Tang Yunfei, Qiu Yunhua, and Wang Ming heaved a breath of relief. At this point, this seemed to be their only choice.

Jin Yuhui sighed with regret. He had never expected this to happen. It was unlikely that he would be able to escape the blood fire devil race's grasp after today.

"Hahaha!"

The devil laughed heartily. What a massive gain. He had subdued a Sunmoon and several Mountainseas at once.

But Su Yu was still his main target. He increased the intensity of his attacks against Zhao Tianbing, sending Zhao Tianbing crashing through one mountain after another.

Not far away, Su Yu was frowning. Had Old Zhu fled? No way...right? It was time for Old Zhu to make an appearance!

At the same time.

High in the sky, Zhu Tiandao was frowning as he stared at the person blocking his path. He clenched his teeth and asked, "What are you doing?"

With a gloomy face, Marquis Xia said, "The Xia Family needs to be the one to kill these people."

"Why should I allow that?" Zhu Tiandao countered, "This is Great Ming!"

"The Xia Family needs to do this!" Marquis Xia insisted.

Damn it! He had tolerated those people again and again, but they had betrayed Great Xia so easily! He had guessed that they would try to kill Su Yu. But he had never guessed that they would agree to join the Blood Fire Sect so easily.

"Xia Family?" After thinking about it, Zhu Tiandao nodded and said, "Sure."

Right after that, he waved his hand and triggered his formation, tossing Marquis Xia into the void.

After doing that, Zhu Tiandao rolled his eyes, "Screw you! Are you trying to reap the harvest of my hard work? Dream on! This is mine!"

Xia Xiao'er must be dreaming. He was only an eighth-stage Sunmoon. If he really wanted to do something, he should have called Xia Longwu over instead. Zhu Tiandao hadn't even gotten the chance to do Su Yu a favor. What should he do if Su Yu decided to return to Great Xia after receiving Great Xia's assistance? Was he supposed to let Su Yu go just like this?

Chapter 592: Old Zhu Makes His Move (2)

"Old man, don't come back. Just keep an eye on the Xia Family. If Xia Longwu or Great Xia King want to come, stop them. Your son is going to get rich!"

Zhu Tiandao promptly sent his father a message. He needed to keep an eye on the Xia Family. He wouldn't allow the Xia Family to reap the harvest. Great Ming would be the one doing Su Yu this favor. Sure, killing so many Mountainseas would bring them some trouble, but so what?

Unlike the other prefectures, Great Ming had nothing to lose. What were they afraid of? If the single character faction dared to provoke the Great Ming King, they could simply demolish the single character faction.

Zhu Tiandao's body vanished before reappearing somewhere else. The devil was still laughing happily. Suddenly, his expression changed. He turned around and saw that someone had appeared behind him. The newcomer was smiling at him.

"Thank you for this. Great Ming is too poor. We are in need of a Sunmoon devil corpse..."

Having said that, Zhu Tiandao waved his hand and released several characters. As a response, the devil released the suns and the moons in his eyes. However, his strength was instantly sealed.

Then, the suns and the moons broke apart.

Looking at Zhu Tiandao with alarm, the devil exclaimed, "Zhu Tiandao! Great Ming has always— "

"Great Ming has always been proactive when it comes to exterminating devils and upholding justice."

Zhu Tiandao hurriedly interrupted the devil, not allowing the devil to call them unambitious slackers. Meanwhile, everyone else was stunned.

Zhu Tiandao!

Zhu Tiandao of Great Ming!

A ninth-stage Sunmoon!

With a smile on his face, Zhu Tiandao stood there while his characters revolved around him. His strength as a ninth-stage Sunmoon was fully exposed before everyone there. With a higher cultivation level and his background as the descendant of an Invincible, this devil posed no threat to him.

As he was the sole Sunmoon of the Zhu Family, he was also the sole beneficiary of all the good stuff Great Ming King could provide. And Zhu Tiandao himself was not weak. Even compared to the other ninth-stage Sunmoons, he was still quite strong.

Squeeze, squeeze, and squeeze...

The devil was squeezed repeatedly before his body exploded. But instantly, the body started regrowing. At the Sunmoon Realm, one was capable of regrowing one's body from a drop of blood.

But it was pointless. Before anyone knew it, the devil had been crushed eight times. Finally, with a loud rumble, a moon appeared in the sky before crashing into the ground. That was the omen of a Sunmoon's death.

Zhu Tiandao appeared completely relaxed. He reached out and easily grabbed the escaping Blood Rakshasha. As suns and moons spun in his eyes, Blood Rakshasha's sea of willpower collapsed before dying.

Zhu Tiandao reached out again, grabbing Yun Fei from the Celestial Dragon Sect. It was as though his palm contained an entirely independent world.

With Yun Fei in his palm, he looked at Su Yu and smiled, "Well done, Su Yu. You have indeed caught a lot of big fish. The Xia Family might not have the courage to deal with these people, but the Zhu Family is not scared."

He casually crushed Yun Fei in his palm.

"Well, all the cultists are dead..."

Two Mountainseas and one fifth-stage Sunmoon had died before anyone knew what was happening. This was an expert who was incomparably close to the Invincible Realm. Even Su Yu was impressed. Was this the strength of a ninth-stage Sunmoon? The fifth-stage Sunmoon devil who was incomparably arrogant and domineering had been crushed to death just like that?

Zhu Tiandao had only appeared for a short moment.

At this time, the look in Jin Yuhui's eyes changed as he hurriedly said, "Thank you for the timely assistance, Prefect Zhu! It hasn't been easy for us to lure this devil and these cultists out!"

Yu Hong and the others also hurriedly said in fear, "Thank you, Prefect Zhu! We have received some information about the appearance of a devil some time ago. We thought that we could take him down, but we underestimated him. We are truly lucky that you just happen to be passing by when we're in need of help, Prefect!"

Zhu Tiandao smiled, "Passing by? Nope."

He looked at Yu Hong before looking at the others. With a smile, he said, "I'm not passing by. I was already here before any of you. Am I right, Su Yu?"

Su Yu smiled and answered, "Yes. You're wise and brilliant, Prefect. With your plan, all these traitors and cultists have been caught. Your great name shall spread far and wide after this feat!"

"It's not really that impressive." Zhu Tiandao said, "I am quite disappointed at the lack of an eighth or ninth-stage Sunmoon. That Lan Tian must have learned of my presence. Look at how fast he had escaped. If I could take him down instead, Great Ming would truly become famous."

Zhu Tiandao was smiling, but the faces of Yu Hong and the others fell. What was the meaning of that?

Even Hu Hao couldn't resist asking, "Su Yu, what are you—"

Su Yu calmly said, "Thank you for all the help, Seniors. But...I won't be considering this a favor. After all, all this happened because of Great Xia's negligence. Most of these traitors came from Great Xia. It is only natural that you do something. It's not like I would die without your assistance."

He expressed his gratitude, but he refused to acknowledge their favor. Of course, he did not reject all of them. People like Zhao Tianbing, Feng Ji, and Zhao Mingyue were truly here for him. And he would remember this favor.

As for those from the Xia Family, including Xia Wen and Xia Wu...he would consider this a single favor owed to Xia Huyou. That was all. Su Yu didn't even consider what the three Mountainsea beasts did for him a favor. They were merely doing this for their own survival. This was a transaction.

Su Yu calmly said, "Look at all the chaos in Great Xia. In fact, Great Xia should thank me for this. They should also thank Prefect Zhu for cleaning the garbage for them. I actually did Great Xia a huge favor here."

He was speaking the truth.

Zhu Tiandao smiled and said, "Exactly. Everyone in Great Xia is unreliable. Our Great Ming is the reliable one."

Zhao Mingyue flew over from afar. Looking at Su Yu with a frown, she said, "Su Yu, you mean to..."

"Senior Zhao, this student has decided to join Great Ming." Su Yu bowed and said, "I will never forget this favor, senior. If the multiple character faction is still willing to have me, I will forever remain a student of the multiple character faction. If not, so be it. There is no justice in Great Xia."

Su Yu raised his voice, "Single character faction's suppression of dissidents has escalated from mere suppression to extermination. Even so, everyone is turning a blind eye. Mountainseas and Sunmoons are making a move against me. If you still call this suppression, then I suppose the word murder has lost its meaning. Principal Wan has been talking about the rules again and again. Even the Xia Family keeps talking about the rules. But how many people are actually following these rules?" ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by N0veI.Fiɾe.net

Su Yu coldly said, "I might as well join Great Ming. I gave out the Acupoint Fusion Art. I gave out the Soul Devouring Art. I gave out a foundation cultural art. And the Xia Family is even aware of the character technique disassembly method developed by my teacher. But so what? My teacher has still been sent to a criminal's camp. He is being treated as a criminal. Isn't that funny?"

Vanguard Regiment? What a joke. That was basically a den of criminals.

Su Yu said, "My teacher is a criminal. Why? Because he killed someone in the so-called warzone set up by the Xia Family. He's a criminal for removing trash from Great Xia. He's being treated the same as a bandit and a murderer."

"The Xia Family claimed that all this was for the sake of protecting the multiple character faction. What a joke. Where was the Xia Family when I encountered danger? Where was the Xia Family when I encountered assassins? Where is this so-called justice? Since we're all here, why not make things clear? The Xia Family has been on guard against the traitor Invincible. But that has nothing to do with us! The War Shrine and the Knowledge Seeking Realm are the ones who have failed to find the traitor. And it's not like they care that much about the traitor. Why should we be the ones to suffer for this?

"Has anyone ever tried seeking justice for the multiple character faction? Can nobody see that something is suspicious about the fifth principal's death? A lot of people are aware of this! Still, they allowed the single character faction to do as they wished!

"The Xia Family was supposed to be the backer of the multiple character faction. The multiple character faction started in Great Xia. Thus, the Xia Family has the responsibility to do something after the fifth principal's death.

"The fifth principal's death is too complicated. I don't know too much about it. But I do know one thing. The fifth principal had killed a myriad race Invincible before dying. That is enough. No matter how selfish he used to be, no matter how arrogant he used to be, he had fought and perished on the battlefield.

"I only want to know if the fifth principal can be considered a hero. After all, he had killed an enemy Invincible before perishing. If he is a hero, protecting the multiple character faction should be the responsibility of the entire Human Realm. Any assistance provided shouldn't even be considered a favor. Is the Xia Family thinking of doing me a favor by protecting me like what you did with my Teacher Liu? Forget it."

Su Yu roared, "My teacher and the others can take this. But I can't. I refuse to acknowledge this favor. I don't owe them anything. Isn't it the responsibility of everyone in the Human Realm to protect a hero and the descendants of a hero? If you can't even do this, why should all these experts continue fighting for humanity on the battlefield?"

"Who are those heroes fighting for? For those selfish individuals whom these heroes don't even know? We might as well let the myriad races invade the Human Realm. Even the myriad races know the importance of talented individuals. Even the myriad races know the importance of morale. Even they know that those who have perished fighting on the battlefield are heroes. But is the human race aware of this?"

"..."

Silence enveloped the area.

Su Yu sneered, "I don't owe the Xia Family anything. I don't owe Great Xia anything. Even now, my father is still protecting the Human Realm in the Devil Subduing Army. He may be weak, but he is still fighting in all those wars to protect humanity. But look at how Great Xia is treating the descendants of a hero. Is this how a major prefecture of the Human Realm behaves? Since that is the case, I'll be leaving Great Xia today."

"Su Yu, how dare you question the Xia Family and the Human Realm!" Jin Yuhui berated, "There is cause and effect for everything! The multiple character faction has brought numerous calamities to humanity—"

Before he could finish his words, Zhu Tiandao grabbed him. Jin Yuhui activated his characters, but he was no match. Instantly, his characters were crushed while he found himself in Zhu Tiandao's palm.

With a smile, Zhu Tiandao said, "Alright. Stop talking. To be honest, everyone can see how the War Shrine and the Knowledge Seeking Realm are allowing chaos to spread in the Human Realm. Everyone has simply been keeping silent. Why bother saying all those lies? My old man is second-in-command at the Knowledge Seeking Realm yet even someone like me finds them unreliable. Why is a traitor like you running your mouth?"

Zhu Tiandao looked at Su Yu and said, "Well said. But it is human nature to be selfish. It's pointless to shout about it. Try to change it with your own hands. The weak are prey to the strong. This applies in the Human Realm as well. As for the words about guarding humanity that all those experts enjoy saying, they might be sincere three hundred years ago. But now, it's simply a catchphrase. Don't take it seriously."

If news spread that a prefect was saying such words, it would shock countless people.

Zhu Tiandao did not seem too bothered. He tightened his grip on Jin Yuhui, causing Jin Yuhui to cough blood repeatedly. With a smile, he said, "As a Sunmoon and a principal in Great Xia, Great Xia and the Knowledge Seeking Realm should be the ones to punish you..."

Su Yu frowned, but he remained silent.

Zhu Tiandao said, "But my old man is second-in-command at the Knowledge Seeking Realm. Do you know that? As long as my old man agrees that you can be executed, it's fine. I don't even need to care about Great Xia."

He grinned and announced, "Great Ming King commands that for betraying humanity and joining the Blood Fire Sect, Jin Yuhui is to be executed."

As for whether this order had really come from Great Ming King, it didn't matter. That was his old man. What was the issue of him borrowing his old man's name?

A loud bang rang out.

And a moon fell from the sky.

Chapter 593: Old Zhu Makes His Move (3)

Zhu Tiandao smiled, "The Sunmoon traitor has been executed. This is a great contribution to humanity."

He looked at Su Yu and asked, "Who else? I'll kill anyone you point at. This is no big deal. Kid, even if the Knowledge Seeking Realm and Great Xia decide to attack Great Ming, I'll still back you up. Don't worry. Great Ming will never mistreat their own."

"..."

Su Yu laughed and bowed, "The prefect's wisdom knows no bounds."

As for the so-called attack on Great Ming, that wouldn't happen. But Zhu Tiandao sure was good at exaggerating things. At this point, Yu Hong and the others were starting to flee in panic.

Walking on thin air as casually as he was taking a stroll in the park, Zhu Tiandao nonchalantly grabbed one of them. "Is this Tang Yunfei from the Nine Heavens Cultural Research Academy? You deserve death."

Bang!

Tang Yunfei was blasted to death.

"Qiu Yunhua, I know you. You deserve death."

Bang!

Everyone trembled with fear. Jin Yuhui was dead. Tang Yunfei was dead. Qiu Yunhua was dead as well. One Mountainsea after another was killed by Zhu Tiandao. Su Yu watched on without saying anything.

Old Zheng was killed. Elder Li was killed. Wang Ming of Daoseeking Cultural Research Academy was killed. The barbaric bull elder was killed. The fox elder was killed.

Finally, with Yu Hong in hand, Zhu Tiandao looked at Su Yu and said, "I can feel how much anger you have toward her. Do you want to kill her with your own hands?"

Yu Hong was absolutely terrified. She said, "No! Su Yu, d-don't kill me!"

Su Yu calmly asked, "Tell me. Back then when my senior sister's parents were killed, did you play a role in informing the cult of their whereabouts?"

"No..."

Zhu Tiandao tightened his grip on her, causing her flesh to start cracking apart. She fearfully denied, "It wasn't me! It was Zhou Pingsheng! Yeah, it was him! He joined the academy around the same time as Chen Yong! He was jealous of Chen Yong's talent so he notified the Six-Winged Divine Sect of Chen Yong's whereabouts..."

Su Yu confirmed, "Six-Winged Divine Sect?"

"Yeah."

"I see." Su Yu nodded and said, "You may kill her, Prefect. I don't want to dirty my hands with her blood..."

What was the meaning of that? Zhu Tiandao was somewhat speechless. Was the kid trying to say that his hands were already dirty so it was fine for him to kill her?

Boom!

Like all the others, Yu Hong was blasted to death. With this, the cloud tiger elder, barbaric bull elder, fox elder, Yu Hong, Elder Li, Old Zheng, Tang Yunfei, Qiu Yunhua, Wang Ming, Yun Fei, Hong Chen, Blood Rakshasha were dead. These were all Mountainseas. On top of that, there were two dead Sunmoons, including the blood fire devil. A total of twelve Mountainseas and two Sunmoons had perished. Even more Cloudbreaches and Skysoars had been killed as well.

Silence descended.

Nobody said anything. With all these deaths, Great Xia had lost a large number of Mountainseas and one Sunmoon. This was a massive loss. The myriad race students had also lost six dao proctectors. Five myriad race students had perished as well. This would be very troublesome.

Right at that moment, the air warped as Marquis Xia stepped out with an unsightly expression. He gazed at Su Yu, but he said nothing. When his gaze landed on the dead experts, he remained silent as well.

Only those siding with the humans were left standing.

Silence descended.

Too many experts from the single character faction had perished in this battle. Not even Marquis Xia had expected this.

Zhu Tiandao appeared indifferent as he said, "Old Xia, since you're here, say something. What should we do with these people? Some of the things they know can't be spread. You understand this very well."

Marquis Xia ignored Zhu Tiandao. First, he looked at the three beasts accompanying Su Yu. Then, he looked at the old sky horse and the mountain antelope. He said, "The Xia Family is not unreasonable. The five of you can come over here and get parts of your memories sealed. The more you know, the faster you die. I believe you understand this."

The beasts did not dare to disobey. Both Zhu Tiandao and Marquis Xia were present. And they were very well aware that knowledge was capable of killing.

Instead of sealing their memories directly, Marquis Xia knocked them unconscious before gloomily saying, "We need an Invincible to seal their memories so that nobody can break the seal."

After saying that, he looked at the other Mountainseas.

"Hu Hao, Xia Wen, and Xia Wu. Return and heal up in seclusion."

"Alright."

They hurriedly answered.

"Zhao Mingyue and Feng Ji..." Marquis Xia frowned and said, "Both of you are with the multiple character faction. You know what to do, right?"

Zhao Mingyue said, "Don't worry."

Finally, Marquis Xia's gaze landed on Zhao Tianbing. This was the biggest trouble here.

Zhao Tianbing was feeling somewhat gloomy. After thinking about it, he said, "Why don't we do this? I'll swear on my junior brother's name that I will keep this a secret. If I say anything, my junior brother will die by self-detonation."

Marquis Xia: "..."

Zhu Tiandao: "..."

With a helpless tone, Zhao Tianbing said, "Why are you looking at me like that? My junior brother is the closest person to me. I'm a Sunmoon. Even Invincibles will have a hard time sealing my memories properly. That's my only option. Am I supposed to kill myself?" Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on novelꜰire.net

Su Yu smiled and said, "I trust you, Martial Uncle Zhao. It's not like these secrets are that big of a deal."

Both Zhu Tiandao and Marquis Xia ignored him. What nonsense. The kid was feeling secure in the knowledge that he had backing, but some of the things here must be kept hidden.

Then, Marquis Xia looked at the water elemental and the others, "These fellows are too weak. Just kill them to ensure nothing leaks."

The suanni trembled with fear.

Holy shit!

Was he going to die?

"It's fine." Su Yu said, "You don't need to worry about this. I'll be taking them with me to Great Ming. I doubt they can do anything in Great Ming."

"Are you really going to Great Ming?" Marquis Xia sighed and said, "These people are all dead. After this, the Xia Family will also clear out some people. Great Xia will be a much better place than before..."

"It's fine. Thanks for the offer."

Su Yu said nothing else. He had nothing else to say. He would no longer stay in Great Xia. At this point, being indecisive about his allegiance would only harm himself. Zhu Tiandao looked at Su Yu with a wide grin. Well said!

Marquis Xia sighed again before looking at the surviving students. "Lan Tian might have learned of this as well..."

Zhu Tiandao said, "It's fine. He doesn't know much since his stand of consciousness was destroyed before Su Yu revealed the disassembly method. As for this student of his, do you want to take her away or do you want me to deal with her?"

"I'll take her." Marquis Xia then looked at Ji Xiaomeng and asked, "Did Ji Hong find out about something?"

Ji Hong wouldn't have sent his daughter to observe Li Minyu otherwise. In truth, not even Marquis Xia was aware that Li Minyu was linked to Lan Tian. Why had Ji Hong remained silent after learning about that? What was Ji Hong planning?

Ji Xiaomeng pitifully said, "Grandpa Xia, I know nothing. Why don't you seal my memories and tell my dad to shut his mouth? Please don't kill me."

Marquis Xia was having a headache. Kill his ass. Ji Hong was a subordinate of the Xia Family. Fine, as a Sunmoon, the Xia Family wouldn't be able to control him that much, but there wasn't a need for that.

He only needed to go back and have a talk with Ji Hong. So many experts had died in one day. He needed a good cover story...

That thought had barely crossed his mind when Su Yu said, "I can't tell Great Xia what to do. But I wish to release some of my recordings. I don't want some people to be turned into martyrs that have died in the process of fighting the cult."

He stared at Marquis Xia. If the Xia Family dared to cover this up and turn those people into martyrs, he would release the recordings and slap the Xia Family's face. It wasn't like the Xia Family wouldn't be capable of doing something like that. Or to be precise, it was only natural for those in power to do something like this.

To maintain peace and calm the remaining single character faction experts, to prevent chaos in Great Xia, and to prevent the masses from knowing the truth, they might really cover everything up and claim that these people had died while fighting the cult.

With that, they would be able to create the image that everything was still fine within Great Xia. As for the upper echelons who were aware of the truth, they could deal with the truth themselves.

Su Yu was unwilling to let that happen. He wanted to expose the truth. He wanted the masses to scorn the single character faction.

Marquis Xia frowned and said, "The rest of them are not necessarily your enemy. If you do this, the single character faction of the entire Human Realm will see you as an enemy."

Almost all of the people who had directly wronged Su Yu had been killed. And the upper echelons would naturally be made aware of what had happened. Was there a need to make a big deal out of it and let everyone know about the truth?

Su Yu ignored Marquis Xia and looked at Zhu Tiandao before asking, "Prefect, can I do this?"

Zhu Tiandao hesitated. After thinking about it, he said, "Apart from the information that the public shouldn't know about, you are free to release the rest of the recordings."

"Zhu Tiandao!" Marquis Xia howled, "This will only cause a mass disturbance. Everyone will see that the Human Realm is sinking into chaos. This will shake the entire Human Realm!"

He was speaking the truth as well. At the moment, the masses believed that humanity was fully united against external threats. That was why the militaristic Great Xia was able to raise countless soldiers out of their people.

But when news of what happened here spread, the faith of numerous people would be shaken.

Zhu Tiandao said, "Without destruction, there can be no construction. And why should I care about this? Great Ming will be fine. Our cultural researchers are too busy enjoying life to care about these internal conflicts. Everyone knows this."

Seriously! Everyone knew that Great Ming's cultural researchers spent all their time reciting poetry and drinking liquor. This issue was basically Great Xia's internal issue. It had nothing to do with him.

"You—"

Marquis Xia was greatly troubled. If news of what happened here spread, Great Xia would be greatly affected.

At this time, a cold voice rang out, "Second Uncle, take our people back. If they want to spread the truth, so be it. It's time Great Xia undergo a cleansing."

The voice then vanished. Zhu Tiandao frowned, and Marquis Xia sighed.

Xia Longwu!

That was his voice transmission.

Su Yu was frowning as well. Was Xia Longwu...really going to let him do as he wished? What was the meaning of that? He had thought that Great Xia would object vehemently to this. Marquis Xia said nothing else and grabbed the survivors before vanishing into thin air.

"Su Yu, Great Xia's door will always remain open for you. Some things...are different from what you think. We have our difficulties as well..."

"I understand." Su Yu said, "I hope you won't forget your promise, Marquis."

"Sigh. I won't."

Marquis Xia left with a regretful sigh.

Meanwhile, Zhu Tiandao was grinning with delight.

"When I suggested to marry my granddaughter to you, you disagreed. What do you think about my daughter instead? She's not that old..."

"..."

Silence descended.

There were still some other people there.

Holy shit!

All these people were dumbstruck. Was there a need for him to act like this? He was Great Ming's prefect, for fuck's sake!

Su Yu was also quite speechless. After a while, he asked, "Prefect, did I expose too many of my secrets this time?"

"Don't worry about it." Zhu Tiandao said, "Anything you get from your fortuitous encounters belongs to you alone. But...cough, cough, you can also consider sharing some of them if you want for some other benefits. If you want, you can marry into the Zhu Family. That will make you one of us."

"..."

Zhu Tiandao was not interested in forcing Su Yu to hand over his secrets. That wasn't proper, and the kid might even choose to hold back. But if he made the kid one of them, would the kid still be stingy toward them?

After becoming a father, would the kid pass on his trump cards to his own children? They were cultivators, so they could live long enough to see that happen. Thus, Zhu Tiandao was not worried at all.

Su Yu would not be able to leave after joining Great Ming. This was a young man. Which young man wouldn't be interested in women?

If the kid was uninterested in the existing women of the Zhu Family, Zhu Tiandao could simply give birth to more daughters. As cultivators, it was only a matter of time before he produced a daughter that was fit for Su Yu's tastes. And at that time, Su Yu would become a part of the Zhu Family!

Zhu Tiandao grinned, not worried at all that he would not be able to keep Su Yu in Great Ming. He was confident that the kid would not be able to escape becoming a part of Zhu Family after joining Great Ming.

Chapter 594: Leaving Great Xia (1)

"Thank you for the favor, Prefect."

Su Yu couldn't be bothered to say anything else. This was one thing that was bad about Zhu Tiandao. For some reason, he loved marketing his daughter and granddaughter to Su Yu. Was he not aware that all women were obstacles to cultivation?

A lot of people had been brought away by Marquis Xia, including the Mountainsea beasts. But Su Yu wasn't worried. He would have Zhu Tiandao negotiate for the release of the three beasts. Hu Hao and the others had also been brought away by Marquis Xia. Even the surviving students like the sky horse youth were brought along.

Thus, only those who were truly with Su Yu were left behind. Sure, he wasn't familiar with them, but he knew that they were on his side. For example, Feng Ji, who was Chen Yong's friend. There was also Zhao Li's senior brother, Zhao Tianbing, and Teacher Liu's intimate female friend, Zhao Mingyue.

"Thank you, seniors."

Su Yu expressed his gratitude. He had not asked for the help of these people. But they had all arrived to help him. This was a favor he would not forget.

Looking at him, Zhao Mingyue sighed and said, "You have your own path to walk. I did not expect this before coming here, but since you have decided on your path, walk it until the very end. The multiple character faction...forget it. Life is much better in Great Ming. I suppose it's not a bad thing for you to leave. Since the battle is over, I'll be taking my leave. If you need help, feel free to contact me."

She didn't say much. There really wasn't anything she could say anyway. It was a good thing for Su Yu that he had caught Zhu Tiandao's eye. It was likely that Great Xia would never be able to provide Su Yu with as much support as Zhu Tiandao could. Or at the very least, the Xia Family would not be able to openly show him this much favor. The Xia Family was forced to stay neutral or at least appear neutral. Thus, they would not be able to show any bias toward the multiple character faction.

"Thank you, Martial Mother."

"..."

Zhao Mingyue blanked out slightly, but soon, a smile bloomed on that cold face of hers. Beside them, Zhu Tiandao was looking at Su Yu with an odd gaze. Martial mother? What was going on?

Su Yu calmly said, "Teacher Liu Wenyan is my teacher as well."

"Cough, cough, cough..."

What an incredible kid. Zhu Tiandao was aware of Liu Wenyan's story as well. He said, "Zhao Mingyue, Hu Ping, and Wu Yuehua...you are probably only saying this because the other two aren't here. Hahaha!"

He really wanted to see Su Yu addressing Zhao Mingyue as his martial mother in front of the other two women. That would be an interesting sight.

Feng Ji also laughed and said, "Martial Uncle Liu's relationship status...is indeed complicated."

He took the chance to say, "By the way, not many people know that I'm still alive. Su Yu, Brother Chen had mentioned you to me many times. If you need anything, you can contact me. But keep in mind that I won't reveal myself easily."

He tossed a voice transmission talisman to Su Yu and said, "Let's meet again in the future if fate allows it. There are too many undercurrents in Great Xia so something big will happen there sooner or later. Hopefully, you're already strong enough by that time...Or maybe it doesn't matter. Just live a good life in Great Ming."

Having said that, he left as well.

After looking at Su Yu and Zhu Tiandao, Zhao Tianbing said, "What a pity that Great Ming is the one to ultimately benefit from all this. You could have come to me, you know. I still have a lot of prestige in Great Zhou."

Zhu Tiandao glared at Zhao Tianbing. But Zhao Tianbing did not seem to mind. Both of them were Sunmoons. Thus, it wasn't like Zhu Tiandao's status was that much higher than his.

"My junior brother is too stubborn. I've been trying to get him to join me at Great Zhou, but he refuses to leave. I have no choice but to let him be. As for you...take care. Don't trust anyone. We live in a world where you can only trust yourself."

He tossed a ring to Su Yu and said, "This is a storage ring. It's not too useful for cultural researchers. Most of the time, only warriors need one of these. My junior brother told me to bring you a puppet from Great Zhou. Take it."

Then, he looked at the spot where a moon had fallen and sighed, "Jin Yuhui is actually an old acquaintance of mine. What a pity..."

That was a Sunmoon. Even within the entirety of Human Realm, such a person could be considered a big shot. Yet such a big shot had died in such a disgraceful manner today. What a disgrace.

With a sigh, Zhao Tianbing departed. Only Su Yu, Zhu Tiandao, and the weaker beasts were left there.

After taking a glance at the spot where a moon had fallen, Su Yu asked, "Prefect, can you give me some time? Since two Sunmoons have been killed here, I can't waste this opportunity. I wish to spend some time cultivating here."

"Sure. Go ahead."

Zhu Tiandao did not mind.

Su Yu nodded and looked at the remaining beasts. "Go ahead and cultivate. This is your reward. Two Sunmoons have perished here. This will be very helpful for your cultivation. Consider this a reward for your hard work today."

Killing Sunmoons to cultivate. Not even Invincibles could afford such a luxury. This was quite a lucky coincidence for these beasts. Meanwhile, the little furball was already beside Jin Yuhui, stealthily feasting on his remaining characters.

Since Jin Yuhui had just broken through, only his main Divine Character had reached the Sunmoon Realm. The rest of his characters were still stuck at the peak Mountainsea Realm.

The lingering character intent left in the air was just as powerful as what was left after the battle in Great Xia's capital not long ago. Su Yu said nothing else and sat down cross-legged to cultivate. All his apertures and acupoints were fully opened. At the same time, a character was slowly taking form in his mind.

Tribulation!

A renewed life would always come after a tribulation. And he was someone who had faced countless tribulations. He was only a Mental Tempering Stage student, yet even Sunmoons had tried killing him. In one battle, more than ten Mountainseas and two Sunmoons had perished.

This was a major tribulation. And the tribulation had passed. But Su Yu knew that he would encounter even more tribulations in the future. Regardless of whether it was his disassembly method, his divine-grade art, and the book in his head, all of them would be the sources of tribulations.

The moments those things were exposed, he would turn into a target of the myriad races. Even some humans might aim to get rid of him. He had escaped the cage that was Great Xia, but who knew if Great Ming wasn't yet another cage?

The invisible chains were still wrapped tightly around him. From the moment he discovered the existence of the book in his head, he had realized that it would be the source of a massive tribulation that he could not escape. Or perhaps this would be the tribulation of the Myriad Realms.

As something capable of analyzing the cultivation methods and abilities of the myriad races with the blood essence of the myriad races as fuel, this book would serve as the source of numerous tribulations. Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs NoveI-Fire.ɴet

As he reached that conclusion, understanding dawned on him and the tribulation character completed its formation. He came to a realization that he would probably be living a life filled with tribulations.

Through the battle today, he had escaped his previous cage. But he had also pushed himself even closer to danger. Only one of the survivors today needed to betray him and a great catastrophe would befall.

Su Yu was only eighteen, but this realization made his emotions complicated. He felt lost when he thought about his future. Frustration seeped in.

Was this a victory for him?

Nope.

Regardless of how many Mountainseas or Sunmoons he killed, some things would remain the same for him.

Nearby.

Zhu Tiandao's eyes flickered as he observed Su Yu. What was that? A natural character! This kid had formed yet another natural character!

Genius!

A super genius!

Cultivation methods? Secret arts? All those could be learned one way or another. But these natural characters were the things Su Yu had comprehended by himself. If this wasn't enough to prove his genius, what could?

Even without all those things, this alone was enough to make Su Yu an absolute genius. He had actually comprehended yet another natural character. What a monstrous kid.

"But this character...seems somewhat inauspicious."

The calamitous aura that the character was emitting told Zhu Tiandao that this was completely different from the fire of civilization he had seen on Su Yu not long ago. Instead, this thing was calamitous in nature.

A short while later, Director Hou arrived. Looking at Su Yu, he had an amazed expression as well. Comprehending a character all by himself? What a monster.

After some time, the air warped as a white-haired old man descended from the sky. While stroking his beard, the old man looked at Su Yu before looking at Zhu Tiandao. With a smile, he asked, "Are you sure this is worth it?"

"Definitely!" Zhu Tiandao said, "Dad, this is more than worth it. This is the jackpot!"

"Good." The old man smiled and said, "That Xia Longwu kid is quite impressive. What a pity that this old man doesn't have a descendant that impressive."

Xia Longwu was a descendant of Great Xia King.

"Is he really that strong?"

The old man nodded and said, "Didn't you tell me to keep him blind? Old Xia wasn't around, but Xia Longwu used his physical body to stomp through the past and the future to break through my seal. Didn't you hear his voice transmission? That was a voice from the future. What a terrifying kid. His physical body is already infinitely near the Invincible Realm."

The look in Zhu Tiandao's eyes changed as he said, "Is he that strong? That can't be, right? We both cultivate heaven-grade cultivation methods. Why is he so much stronger? It's not like he's Ye Batian."

The old man stroked his beard and sighed, "That was why I said that Old Xia is good at giving birth. Just look at how impressive his grandson is..."

"It's not like he was the one who had given birth to Xia Longwu..."

"..."

The old man glanced at Zhu Tiandao and said, "Fine. Old Xia's eldest son had produced a good son. Is that more acceptable for you? So what if I insist on saying that Old Xia had given birth to a good grandson? Can't I do so?"

"Yes, you can."

The old man continued sighing as he said, "What a pity. If my eldest son is still around, he would definitely be as impressive as Xia Longwu."

Zhu Tiandao didn't feel like saying anything. Even this old man was saying that. This old man had been saying these words again and again.

"My eldest brother was dead at nine. Stop talking about him all the time."

The old man ignored Zhu Tiandao and scanned the area. Before long, his gaze landed on the stone wall. At that moment, he laughed and said, "Ruin my ass. That's a treasure vault. I don't know who it belongs to. It's probably the Divine Skywing Sect."

That rendered Zhu Tiandao speechless. He had thought that there was really a ruin here.

The old man continued scanning the area before shaking his head. "Your perception and senses are terrible. Someone was here not long ago. You're too useless. If you hadn't stopped me from coming, I would have been able to capture that person."

"Lan Tian?"

"Yeah."

Zhu Tiandao frowned, "What is Lan Tian trying to do? Don't tell me he has learned something he shouldn't..."

"It's fine." The old man wasn't worried. He said, "Su Yu has probably caught Lan Tian's eyes. But it doesn't matter. That fellow is definitely not a good person, but he's not a traditionally evil person. He is the kind of bad person who truly believes that he is a good person. He fully believes that he is the savior of humanity. Someone like him will not expose Su Yu's secrets even if he knows something. He is probably trying to recruit Su Yu."

When an evil person was crazy enough to believe that he was the savior, it would become almost impossible to predict what that person would do next. At times, such a person would do something completely uncharacteristic of him.

"His student was taken away by Xia Xiao'er..."

"Bullshit." Great Ming King said, "Xia Xiao'er is not capable enough to take his student away. In the entirety of Great Xia, only two or three individuals have the ability to stand against that person. And Xia Xiao'er is not one of them. I took a look at that girl when I was on my way here. Her sea of consciousness has vanished. It is probably in Lan Tian's hands. Xia Xiao'er has merely brought an empty shell with him. And even this shell might be fake."

This was why the transformation faction was so terrifying.

Chapter 595: Leaving Great Xia (2)

Zhu Tiandao clicked his tongue in amazement. He said, "Lan Tian hasn't been in the Sunmoon Realm for long, right? What's his strength now?"

"I'm not sure, but he's at least a seventh-stage Sunmoon already." Great Ming King laughed and said, "That fellow has modified his own body to a terrifying degree. It is not surprising that he's strong. Since I can't arrive in time to catch him, I won't waste my time trying to pursue him. I still have something to do, so..."

Great Ming King looked at Su Yu and said, "Have some patience. Slow and steady wins the race. Great Ming is in no rush. We don't care about immediate benefits. They can fight all they want, but we don't have to involve ourselves. Having the lead now does not mean that they will have the lead forever."

"What if Su Yu comes up with new cultivation methods?"

"Let him do as he wishes." Great Ming King said, "But make sure to not disseminate these new cultivation methods everywhere. Keep the scale of everything under control. Even if the kid wants to start a new multiple character faction, let him be. So long as he doesn't turn everyone into a member, it's fine. That would only create more trouble for us so at the very least, make sure to keep whatever he wants to do from spreading to the other prefectures."

Zhu Tiandao nodded.

Great Ming King added, "Also, can't you do better? The kids of the other old fellows are all on the way to affirm their dao. Meanwhile, you're still stuck. Sure, we can say that we have nothing to fear since we don't have anyone trying to advance. But one can also say that since we don't have anyone trying to advance, we're not even worth their attention."

Great Ming King appeared visibly upset as he said, "That Old Xia might not even be my match, but so what? Ask around and listen to what the others think about Great Ming and Great Xia. My prestige has been ruined by you!"

Zhu Tiandao helplessly said, "Dad, how can you blame me for that? That's the fault of the genes I inherited..."

"Shut your mouth!"

At this moment, Great Ming King's gaze landed on the little furball who was still feasting on the characters of the dead Sunmoon. His eyes flickered as he said, "Tell Su Yu to keep this little fellow hidden. Don't show it off too much."

"Hmm?"

"I think I saw this race before..." Great Ming King sounded unsure as he said, "I think I saw them once...but I can't remember it too well. And I'm not sure if they're from the same race. It happened over three hundred years ago when I first affirmed my dao. When I was fighting with someone, something appeared and swallowed the entire sea of willpower of an Invincible in a flash before vanishing. I don't know if they're from the same race."

"..."

"Invincible?"

Zhu Tiandao swallowed. Please be a joke.

"I'm not sure."

Great Ming King stared at the little furball for a long while before saying, "Just make sure to not show this little fellow off to everyone. Why is something like this with Su Yu?'

Whatever. He decided that he was too busy to be concerned with something like this. They only needed to be careful.

He said, "As for the disassembly method...that is the core of the issue. At the very least, that's the case for all cultural researchers. Great Xia King is a brute. The Xia Family walks the path of physical cultivation so they don't understand the significance of something like this. From what I saw when I rewound the time, this disassembly method is still somewhat incomplete. It will probably not work for Mountainseas. And it will be hard for me to further perfect this method since I'm not a member of the multiple character faction. It is better to leave this task in the hands of Bai Feng and Su Yu."

After a short silence, he said, "If this method is effective even for old fellows like us, it would be an entirely different story. Supply the kid with more resources. Ensure that he gets to perfect this method. If he succeeds, I can even tempt a few old friends to side with us."

"Bai Feng is in the Vanguard Regiment."

"It's fine." Great Ming King laughed and said, "I'll be at the Allheaven Battlefield so I can keep watch over him. It's still not the time for me to take him away since we don't want to break any of the established rules. Just let him kill a few people and serve his sentence before leaving the Vanguard Regiment. I can get him back into Great Ming after that."

"Alright." Zhu Tiandao nodded. Seeing that the old man was leaving, he asked nervously, "Dad, what should I do if Xia Longwu decides to attack us after you leave?"

"..."

Great Ming King was tired of speaking with his son. It was so tiring to have a son like this. What a pity that his eldest son had left at such a young age. The Zhu Family wouldn't have been so pitiful otherwise.

"Xia Longwu won't waste his time attacking you. You're not worth his time."

He said, "At the moment, Great Han King is the Invincible in command of the Knowledge Seeking Realm. If you encounter any problems, ask him for help. As for the War Shrine, Silk Destroying King is the Invincible currently in command. I noticed that Su Yu seems to have cultivated his Time technique. You can also consider asking for his help if you really need it. If he refuses to help, tell him you'll throw his Time technique into the toilet and spread the recording of that all over the Human Realm."

"..."

Zhu Tiandao was speechless. Was this old man trying to get his own son killed? If he really dared to do that, the Silk Destroying King would beat him to death!

"What are you afraid of? Your old man is still alive and well!" Great Ming King said, "Alright, I need to go. The first divines and the original devils have been active recently. I need to keep an eye on them. Even Old Xia and the others are already there."

"Dad, Su Yu seems to know a divine-grade cultural art."

"I noticed." Great Ming King shook his head and said, "It's not a big deal. Not everyone is capable of cultivating something like that, including someone like me. How many apertures can I even open at this level of cultivation? Talk to me again after the kid discovers the so-called source soul acupoint or an aperture fusion art."

He continued, "I suspect this cultural art is a modified version of the five elemental race's cultural arts merged into one. I can sense the aura of the five elemental race from his body. Very few people can make use of something like this. For many people, even something with 72 apertures is more than enough. I checked his apertures. There are too many of them. Unless you're a super genius, you won't be able to cultivate it. You will only delay your cultivation for no meaningful gain. It's not like our Zhu Family has a genius capable of cultivating this art. Why are you even focusing on this?"

"..."

Zhu Tiandao couldn't help but nod in agreement. His old man made a lot of sense.

Old Ming King said, "Don't focus on that. It's not too helpful for us. Focus on the source soul acupoint instead. That's more important. Tell Su Yu to visit the Bai Family whenever he finds the time. Back then, Bai Tianhao seemed to have activated the source soul acupoint as well. But I couldn't understand the materials left behind by that fellow since he walked a different path of cultivation."

"Is there really such an acupoint?"

"It's very likely to exist." Great Ming King said, "And this is what's truly important here. With this acupoint, you might even be able to battle Invincibles as a ninth-stage Sunmoon. As for the younger generation, they might be able to skip the Source Opening Realm entirely."

At this point, the old man's face turned sorrowful again as he said, "Your big brother died young because of that damn Source Opening Realm! Without that realm, your big brother wouldn't have taken that risk back then..."

Not this again! Zhu Tiandao was really speechless. His elder brother had been dead for hundreds of years. Could this old man stop talking about his dead son all the time? His living son was standing right in front of him! Zhu Tiandao even wondered if he was actually Great Ming King's son.

Before long, Great Ming King recovered and said, "The divine-grade art, ability blood essence research, and ruin are only useful for super geniuses. Only the Acupoint Fusion Art, source soul acupoint, and disassembly method are truly useful for humanity as a whole. Don't misplace your focus. You're not young anymore. Learn to look further. Don't be silly like the others."

Zhu Tiandao nodded.

"Dad, I'm thinking of giving birth to a few more daughters. What do you think?"

With one glance at Zhu Tiandao's face, Old Ming King said, "Forget about it. Get your third son to do it instead. As for you...try looking in a mirror. If you do manage to get a good looking daughter, that might not even be yours. In truth, I've always suspected that your third son isn't actually your son..."

Leaving those words behind, Great Ming King vanished into thin air.

Zhu Tiandao's face changed. He turned his head and looked at Director Hou who had been acting like he didn't exist and said, "What did you hear?"

"Huh?"

Director Hou's blank expression suddenly returned to normal, as though he had just awoken from a dream. He asked, "What are you talking about, Prefect?"

Zhu Tiandao asked, "How do you think my third son looks?"

"He looks good."

"Does he resemble me?"

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Zhu Tiandao nodded and said, "You're right. In fact, I checked his blood when he was ten. I have confirmation that he's my son."

Director Hou said nothing. Why did this fellow check his son's blood? Was he so insecure? There was always the possibility of a mutation, right? The prefect should be more confident in himself!

While the two were talking, Su Yu opened his 338th acupoint. He had also opened two additional apertures, reaching 110 opened apertures. While doing so, he was contemplating on that one moment of clarity when he had temporarily opened 180 apertures earlier.

At that moment, his instincts were strongly suggesting that the source soul acupoint might really exist. He could almost feel the existence of that acupoint.

During the moment when he delivered the killing strike on Zhou Pingsheng, something told him that the source soul acupoint might appear after opening 180 apertures and 360 acupoints.

After an indeterminate amount of time, Su Yu finally opened his eyes.

Looking at the beasts that were still deep in cultivation, he stood up and walked toward Zhu Tiandao. There, he bowed and said, "Prefect, can you help me open the treasure vault?"

"Sure." Zhu Tiandao was quite curious as well. He asked, "Where did you learn about this treasure vault?"

"A corpse."

"..."

Zhu Tiandao was speechless. He started walking toward the stone wall while saying, "Don't tell anyone about this since it might bring you more trouble. There are things that are still taboo even for Invincibles."

"I understand."

Zhu Tiandao said nothing else. He stopped before the stone wall and started taking a closer look at it. In truth, he had already scanned the wall earlier. With a smile, he waved his hand, instantly creating a door on the wall.

The door swung open. After a short observation, Zhu Tiandao said, "There are some small traps inside, but they aren't too dangerous."

He stepped inside and said, "The master of the Divine Skywing Sect used to be a seventh-stage Sunmoon. He wasn't weak at all. Combined with the other Sunmoons of the sect, they were capable of even killing ninth-stage Sunmoons. Unfortunately for them, they encountered Xia Longwu and died."

"In fact, the Divine Skywing Sect was probably the strongest sect in Great Ming, Great Xia, and Great Shang. If this is really their treasure vault, there is probably a lot of good stuff in here."

As he talked, he casually pointed at several spots inside the vault, destroying the installed mechanisms without any explanation. Before long, a large cave appeared before them.

The cave was brightly lit.

"It looks normal."

Zhu Tiandao was somewhat disappointed after scanning the cave. The defenses were tight, but he didn't see anything truly valuable. At the very least, these things were nothing special for someone like him.

Then again, that was understandable. Even the sect master was only a seventh-stage Sunmoon. Meanwhile, he was a prefect and the son of an Invincible. There was no comparing the two.

Chapter 596: Leaving Great Xia (3)

Su Yu said nothing. He was looking for the case he saw when reading the dead sect master's memories. The sect master had placed a lot of importance on that case. Before long, he saw the case on an unremarkable shelf. It looked exactly the same as what he saw.

He walked over and picked the case up. It was heavy, but it also looked quite crude and simple. The case seemed to be made of profound iron. He tried opening it, but he failed.

When Zhu Tiandao took a look at the case, he exclaimed in astonishment, "Dragon's horn?"

"What?"

"Dragon's horn is the hardest part of a dragon. And this case was made of dragon's horn. I nearly missed this case. This horn probably came from a Sunmoon dragon."

With a casual wave of his hand, the outer layer of profound iron fell apart, revealing the golden inner layer.

"What manner of treasure is in this case that they need to forge a case with dragon's horn to preserve it? A dragon's horn is an excellent material for weaponsmithing."

Even Zhu Tiandao was starting to get curious.

After taking a look at the case, Su Yu asked, "Prefect, can you open this case?"

"Yeah." After thinking about it, Zhu Tiandao said, "But opening it with force might end up damaging the item within. A Sunmoon had personally set up a seal on the case. If you let me keep it for about half a month, I can slowly grind the seal off. If you do it yourself, you will need around half a year."

"I see."

Su Yu then kept the case inside the storage ring he had just obtained from Zhao Tianbing.

Zhu Tiandao: "..."

Holy shit! Didn't he say that he only needed half a month? What was the meaning of this? He was very curious about the contents of the case as well! Why did the kid put the case away?

Su Yu said nothing. He started putting away all the items in the cave into his storage ring and one-use storage talismans. He didn't have the time to slowly go over these items. He could do that after settling down in Great Ming. In any case, he was sure that there was quite a lot of good stuff here.

For example, there was an entire chest of earthly source fruit in the cave. There were also numerous high-quality materials for weaponsmithing in the cave. After putting everything away, he walked out of the cave.

A lot of corpses were still waiting for him outside. At the moment, all the corpses had already been piled together.

The cloud tiger, fox, and barbaric bull were powerful beasts. Thus, their corpses were quite valuable. Su Yu did not hesitate to ask, "Prefect, can we take these corpses back with us?"

"Sure." Zhu Tiandao manifested a character and kept all the beast corpses inside. He smiled and said, "The Xia Family did not take these corpses with them earlier. Be careful lest they return for them."

"These are your spoils of war, Prefect!"

Su Yu smiled. There was no way he was going to let the Xia Family get these corpses. Then, he started searching the human corpses. Twelve Mountainseas and two Sunmoons had been killed. Apart from the devil corpse that had been put away by Zhu Tiandao, all the other corpses were present. After searching around, Su Yu found a few merit cards.

Suddenly, he thought of something and looked at Ji Xiaomeng's previous spot. Sure enough, Li Minyu's merit card was gone.

He laughed in amusement and asked, "Prefect, what's the deal with Director Ji?"

He still remembered that Ji Xiaomeng was here for Li Minyu.

"Ji Hong..." Zhu Tiandao thought about it and said, "He used to be a close friend of Lan Tian's. He might have discovered traces of Lan Tian and decided to take a gamble that Lan Tian would show up because of your ruin. Or he might have discovered a secret of Lan Tian. I honestly don't care since this is Xia Family's business. Ji Hong is a smart guy. Maybe he discovered a big secret that he couldn't tell the Xia Family and decided to investigate it himself?"

Zhu Tiandao laughed. Meanwhile, Su Yu's eyes flickered. Big secret? What was it? Forget it. This was none of his business.

"What now?" Zhu Tiandao asked, "Do you want me to take you back?"

"No." Su Yu said, "I wish to head south and travel to the capital myself. During this journey, I will be exposing the ugly side of the single character faction. I apologize in advance for any trouble I might cause."

"Just be sure to remove some parts of the recordings." Zhu Tiandao smiled and said, "I won't tell you to do anything else. It's still the holiday season and the various academies will only reopen in half a month. Just make sure to reach Tiandu before then. I'll get Old Hou to follow you in secret. It's always good to be cautious even if I doubt anything will happen to you within Great Ming."

"I'll be troubling you, Director Hou."

Director Hou smiled and said nothing.

Su Yu said, "There's also the three beasts taken by the marquis. I hope you can talk with the Xia Family about this. Even if they can't send these beasts to the Allheaven Battlefield, my grandteacher and I had once promised them freedom. Thus, they can simply send the beasts over to Great Ming. We can release them in the future when some secrets are no longer secrets. I don't break my promises."

"That's not a problem at all."

Zhu Tiandao agreed easily. At this point, the sun was starting to rise. A new day was coming. The 29th of December had arrived.

"I'll be taking my leave, then."

After putting the formation around them away, Zhu Tiandao vanished.

Director Hou smiled and said, "I'll be following you in the dark."

"Thank you, Director."

"You're welcome."

Director Hou was very polite. Before long, he vanished as well.

Su Yu started gathering his spoils of war in silence. After he was done, he released a beam of source qi toward the corpses and burned them to ashes. Then, he turned to look in Nanyuan's direction.

Today, he would leave.

Today, he would officially join Great Ming.

Zhu Tiandao and the Zhu Family were a lot more generous than he had thought. It was possible that they were pretending, but for now, his sole choice was to join Great Ming.

"Great Xia...Great Xia Cultural Research Academy..."

Finally, Su Yu hopped onto the suanni's beast and said, "Let's go. Tiandu is our next destination."

Today, Su Yu officially defected to Great Ming. Fresh chapters posted on noⅴelfire.net

Today, everyone was shocked.

A super genius of Great Xia, Su Yu, had defected from Great Xia. Or to be precise, he had been forced to leave.

He traveled south, crossed the Starfall Mountain, and stopped at the city nearest to the mountain before releasing a video. The contents of that video shocked the entire Human Realm.

On that day itself, hundreds of thousands of people saw that video. A massive battle had erupted on the Starfall Mountain.

A Sunmoon and numerous Mountainseas of the single character faction had colluded with the Myriad Race Cult and the dao protectors of the myriad race students of the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy to kill Su Yu.

All by himself, Su Yu killed multiple Cloudbreach cultivators. The battle ended with Zhu Tiandao's arrival. Great Ming's Zhu Family made a move, killing two Sunmoons and more than ten Mountainseas.

The world was shocked.

Only the battle during the death of the fifth principal fifty years ago could match the number of casualties in this battle. A lot of content had been edited out of the video. For example, the part where the devil had forced Yu Hong and the others to submit had been removed. Thus, the video gave everyone the impression that Jin Yuhui and the devil had been in cahoots from the very beginning.

The principal of the Nine Heavens Cultural Research Academy had betrayed humanity. Yu Hong and numerous elders had betrayed humanity. An elder from Great Shang had betrayed humanity. The cloud tiger elder and the other myriad race elders had also betrayed humanity.

This scandal of Great Xia spread all over the Human Realm before slowly spreading outside the Human Realm as well. This was a massive scandal. With so many of their upper echelons betraying them at once, Great Xia's prestige fell.

A top three prefecture that was known as a militaristic and strict prefecture, an incomparably glorious prefecture, had transformed into a joke. Numerous criticisms were levied against them.

The people of Great Xia who were still immensely proud of Su Yu the day before no longer dared to mention his name. As for those cultivating the Acupoint Fusion Art, they didn't even know what to feel anymore.

A genius of Great Xia had been attacked by countless experts, ultimately forced to escape from Great Xia and seek asylum in Great Ming. This was a disgrace.

Chapter 597: Storm In Great Xia (1)

30th of December.

The year 350 of the Anping Calendar was coming to an end. News about the Starfall Mountain incident had spread everywhere.

In front of the House of Hundred.

Wu Jia was furious and disappointed. She was on the verge of emotional collapse. Again and again, she replayed the video showing what had happened on Starfall Mountain.

She roared furiously, her voice hoarse.

"Is Great Xia not answering for this? Is the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy not answering for this? All of you have forced him to leave his home! Because of you guys, he no longer has a home! Sunmoons and Mountainseas had personally attacked him. Just what wrong has my junior brother done?

"He's only at the Mental Tempering Stage. After coming out with the Acupoint Fusion Art, he hid nothing and handed it over to the Xia Family. Is this how the Xia Family is treating him after that? ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ noᴠelfire.net

"He had given the Soul Devouring Art to the Xia Family. Even his cultural art had been handed over. Is this how the Xia Family is repaying him? So many traitors had appeared on the Starfall Mountain to kill him. Was nobody in Great Xia aware of that?"

She roared with desperation and fury. Her junior brother was gone. All by himself, he went down south, leaving the place he grew up in, leaving behind his loved ones, his friends, and his teachers.

Great Ming was an entirely different prefecture. A different prefecture might as well be a different country or even a different world. The people in Great Xia wouldn't even think about Great Ming normally.

And now, her junior brother had left alone. She saw how her junior brother had killed Zhou Pingsheng. She saw how her junior brother coughed blood from his injuries. She saw how her junior brother was attacked using a Mountainsea talisman. Naturally, the part where Li Minyu was turned into a shield had been edited out of the video.

Wu Jia was furious. She howled, "Is nobody in Great Xia willing to uphold justice for us? My junior brother's father is still in the Devil Subduing Army! He is still protecting humanity on the front lines! Is this how you repay him? Has Great Xia really decayed this much? Should we still have faith in Great Xia? Is our faith a joke all along?"

Her furious voice reverberated in the area. Countless teachers and teachers gathered nearby, but nobody said anything. They all lowered their heads in shame. The struggle between the single and multiple character factions had actually reached such a level.

Several elders and even a Sunmoon principal had personally tried to kill Su Yu. They had even colluded with the myriad race dao protectors to accomplish that goal. If it wasn't for the chance encounter with Great Ming's prefect, Su Yu wouldn't have been able to survive. It would be a disgrace. Su Yu, a rising human genius, would have been killed by his fellow humans.

"Are you not ashamed when you cultivate the Acupoint Fusion Art?" Wu Jia continued howling, "Why are all of you silent about how only those from the same cultivation level should face each other? People like Zhou Pingsheng and Yu Hong had personally attacked a student. They had betrayed humanity and worked with the cult. Why is nobody talking about that?

"An entire day has passed. Why is Great Xia still not doing anything about that? Zhou Mingren is a pseudo Sunmoon. The single character faction is important. Thus, the multiple character faction should be destroyed. Is that it?"

Wu Jia's tears dripped down as she asked, "Why is nobody doing anything? Why isn't anyone saying that this is against the rules? Is it fine to even collude with the cult nowadays? In that case, I might as well join the cult. One day...one day, I'll take my revenge on all of you...I will..."

She wept. Was nobody standing up for them? Was nobody standing up for her junior brother? Just because her junior brother was a member of the multiple character faction? Just because of that, they could ignore all his contributions?

Someone warned her, "Junior Sister Wu, be careful with your words. You don't want to give some people an excuse to do something against you. Great Xia will definitely give us an explanation for this. We all need an answer."

A Cloudbreach coldly said, "That is only natural. The struggle between the single and multiple character factions is supposed to be an internal competition. It's not a situation where people should be crossing all sorts of lines to kill a young genius. If even a Sunmoon couldn't understand something like that, it's time for a cleansing."

"Who among us doesn't have a family? If the Sunmoons can ignore rules to kill a Mental Tempering Stage student today, then they can probably do the same to my family tomorrow."

"Since they have colluded with the Myriad Race Cult, they all deserve death."

"..."

Due to Great Xia's militaristic nature, its populace had always been rather fierce in nature. They had stayed silent before this as the struggle between the two factions did not concern them. But it was now different. The single character faction had crossed the line.

The masses were furious. If even the single character faction dared to do something like that, was there still light in Great Xia?

Outside the academy, a large crowd had gathered as well. Furious roars resounded throughout the academy.

"Hand over the ringleader!"

"Punish the single character faction!"

"Kill the traitors and protect Great Xia's prestige!"

"Shut down the cultural research academies and send all cultural researchers to the front lines!"

"..."

The entire capital was filled with furious roars. All three cultural research academies in the capital were surrounded by furious crowds.

The principal of the Nine Heavens Cultural Research Academy was involved. Several elders of the Daoseeking Cultural Research Academy and Great Xia Cultural Research Academy were also involved.

These important individuals had colluded with the devils to kill a human genius and snatch the fortuitous encounter of the young genius. They had forced Su Yu to leave his home. This was a disgrace!

Great Xia had fought in numerous wars over hundreds of years and lost countless soldiers to build a reputation fierce enough to deter the cult from operating within its borders. But that fierce reputation had been destroyed. While the common soldiers were busy fighting the cult, the upper echelons were colluding with the cult.

Chaos descended inside the academies.

Outside the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy, Chen Hao was shouting among the crowd, "Punish the ringleader! They are killing the descendents of heroes as they wish. The brave soldiers of Great Xia are bravely fighting on the front lines while their children are being bullied back home! Who would still dare to fight for humanity after this?

"Is nobody from the Devil Subduing Army standing up for Su Yu? 100-Man Commander Su Long is still on the front lines right this moment. Does he even know that his son has been forced out of Great Xia by these Sunmoons and Mountainseas?"

"..."

Countless people agreed. Countless people demanded an explanation. Countless people roared. Even Su Yu's father, Su Long, was being mentioned. That was a retired soldier who had returned to the army.

He was nearly fifty, and he was merely a ninth-stage Great Strength cultivator. Yet with a single call from Great Xia, he left his son who had yet to even graduate from his secondary school and rushed to the front lines.

He fought for Great Xia when he was young. When he was an old man, he continued fighting for Great Xia. And now, his son was a victim of assassinations by their own people due to his outstanding talent. Where was the justice in that?

There were countless soldiers on the front lines. But back home, there were also countless retired soldiers. Today, this fate had befallen Su Yu. Who would be the next Su Yu? Who would still dare to fight for Great Xia in the future?

One of the retired soldiers in the crowd ignored the advice of his former comrades and roared, "Where is the Devil Subduing Army? Where is the Martial Dragon Guards? Flatten the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy! Flatten the Nine Heavens Cultural Research Academy!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

"If the ringleaders are not punished, the millions upon millions of soldiers won't let this slide!"

A bunch of old men tore open their clothes, revealing the scars they had accumulated during their time in the military, and roared, "We fought for Great Xia. We fought for humanity. Look at our backs. There is not a single scar there. We have never turned from our enemies!"

"Today, our descendants are being subjected to such injustice! Where is the grand commander?"

"Is this the spirit of Great Xia developed over three hundred years?"

"I used to be proud of Great Xia. Today, I am ashamed of Great Xia!"

"..."

One retired soldier after another tore their clothes to reveal their scars.

Anger.

Fury.

They had all willingly fought on the battlefield for a better future. They had fought to provide a better life for their descendants. And yet a child of their comrade had been attacked by numerous experts behind the front lines. Was this still the same Great Xia they once fought for?

"Where is the grand commander?"

The retired soldiers started shouting for Xia Longwu. They demanded an explanation. The soldiers of Great Xia required an explanation.

Someone shouted, "Marquis Xia is coming out to explain..."

"Tell him to piss off!" A retired soldier roared, "We want to hear from Grand Commander Xia Longwu! We want to hear from Great Xia King! In the past, everything was fine in Great Xia. After Xia Xiao'er took control, Great Xia is starting to collapse!"

"Has Xia Xiao'er led an army before? Has he fought in a war before?"

"He's the same type of people as those corrupt cultural researchers!"

"Where is the grand commander?"

"..."

They laid all the blame on Marquis Xia. Things weren't like this when Xia Longwu was in charge. Why did Great Xia change into something like this now? When Xia Longwu was in charge, he fought numerous wars and oppressed the cultists so much that they didn't dare to do anything in Great Xia.

Was Xia Xiao'er even capable of ruling? All of them were furious. Their faith had been crushed.

Prefect's manor.

The furious roars of the masses could be heard inside the manor.

Main hall.

Numerous experts had been gathered there. Seated in front of everyone was Marquis Xia.

Xia Xiao'er...

It wasn't like nobody knew his real name. Everyone had simply been staying silent about it before. With a smile, he leaned against the large throne without saying anything.

More and more experts arrived.

This was a gathering of Mountainseas. The experts of the various academies, departments, and armies were all heading over.

Fifty, sixty, a hundred, two hundred...

There were so many of them it was inconceivable. This was the strength of Great Xia, a top three prefecture in the Human Realm. When the old sky horse and the old mountain antelope arrived, they were trembling with fear. Was this the real strength of Great Xia?

The dao protectors of the myriad races started appearing one after another. All of them were in fear. The powerful auras in the room were suffocating.