Chapter 903: Rise Of A Powerhouse (3)
Restore scroll position
Su Yu was completely unaware of the exchange that had occurred because of him. He did not know that moments ago, a conversation between realms had happened. Nobody except the two participants knew.
After completing his fifteenth body forging, Su Yu was not as worried about the pressure anymore. Good. This was the kind of pressure he needed. As long as the pressure wasn't enough to completely crush him, he would grow from it.
A mere gate dared to bully him? He lacked everything except patience and tenacity. It was just some pressure. Could it crush him to death? If it couldn't he would harness its power and grow from it. If it could actually crush him to death...he was not afraid of death. It wasn't like he had never experienced death before.
His mood was slowly improving. It hadn't been long since he left Great Ming, but he had completed seven body forgings since then. Excluding the three body forgings he had completed during his breakthrough, he had only completed five body forgings over three months in Great Ming.
He had left Great Ming on the 18th of May. It was only the 7th of July today. In less than fifty days, he had completed seven body forgings. An average of one forging per seven days.
Sure enough, one's cultivation speed would only increase after leaving the comfort of home. Outside, pressure and motivation could be found. And after seeing so many geniuses and experts, his horizons had broadened as well.
Bai Feng once said that one would see things differently when standing in different positions. He needed to compare himself against geniuses. He shouldn't lower his standards. He should look at bigger worlds, taller mountains, and wider seas.
Su Yu might feel that Bai Feng was now a weakling compared to him, but he had to admit that Bai Feng's words still made a lot of sense. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ n0velfire.net
He continued onward, one step at a time.
Su Yu's willpower erupted, followed by his source qi. The pressure was heavy, but he was fearless.
Fifteenth step...eighteenth step...
Rumble!
Once again, his willpower grew. It pushed him straight to the second-stage Cloudbreach Realm, forcing him to quickly compress it again with his hammer. He refused to advance. Why was his willpower trying so hard to advance? His physical cultivation had yet to catch up. He didn't want to advance yet.
Rumble!
The hammer worked hard to compress his willpower. Coupled with the pressure of the gate, he dropped back to the first stage before long. He was in no rush to advance. He would only consider advancement after further increasing his physical cultivation.
It would be better for the gap between his willpower and body to be kept within a certain limit. For this challenge, the difficulty would skyrocket every nine steps.
At the twenty-seventh step, his face was already flushed red. He felt as though his spine was going to break into two soon. Ignoring the pain of his body, he utilized the Flesh Regrow technique of the immortals and constantly strengthened his body with heavenly source qi even as the pressure was damaging it. He refused to give up.
At the thirty-sixth step, a natural character took form.
Suppress.
A character of suppression and pressure. Finally, Su Yu had obtained a suppression-related character. A character that could suppress and pressure his opponents. Right after its formation, the character pulsed, greatly reducing the pressure on Su Yu.
Meanwhile, the little furball woke up with confusion inside the sea of willpower. For some reason, he seemed to have grown slightly stronger. How odd. Whatever. It was only normal that one would grow stronger through sleep.
***
While Su Yu was in the middle of his challenge, the second day arrived. The Mountainsea guard was still watching with an odd expression. Just what kind of person was this? Each time he thought that this human would reach his limit, the human would receive a new burst of strength.
He fell over and over, but he stood back up again and again. Over the span of one night, he had taken fifty-four steps, around half of the required steps. The Mountainsea guard had seen way too many geniuses. Some were able to go through the gate smoothly, such as Mo Duona. Some would have a difficult time and give up halfway. Some would give up after only a few steps.
But this human was clearly having an extremely hard time, but he was still unwilling to give up. Why?
Why? For strength. Su Yu found himself slowly falling in love with the gate. At the sixty-sixth step, he actually completed his sixteenth body forging. At this point, he was already a peak second-stage Skysoar in terms of physical cultivation.
He had surpassed the strength of eight thousand acupoints. Even without using any Mountainsea blood essence, Su Yu had a feeling he could surpass the strength of ten thousand acupoints with only his strength character and semi-opened yang acupoint.
During the challenge, he had even gained a new character. The stronger the pressure the gate was subjecting him to, the faster the suppress character was growing. In fact, his newly formed character had reached the second tier not long after it took form.
What a nice gate.
What a lovely gate.
As for the fact that Mo Duona had crossed it so easily, well, that was no longer Su Yu's business. He loved walking slowly. What about it? Thirty-six more steps to go!
With his new increase in strength, the pressure on him also grew. But he no longer cared. In fact, he was praying for the pressure to grow even stronger. As long as it couldn't kill him, he would outlast it.
The Flesh Regrow technique sure was useful. Alas, it was quite expensive to use. He had to use a large amount of heavenly source qi to keep it active. Not long ago, he still had nearly five hundred portions of heavenly source qi. But after completing two body forgings, he had around four hundred portions left.
This was too expensive. A hundred portions only for two body forgings. Previously, he had thought that a hundred portions would be enough for five body forgings. But due to the damage his body was suffering from the gate, he had no choice but to use even more heavenly source qi to repair his body.
"Go! Go! Thirty-six more steps!"
Su Yu gnashed his teeth with determination. He had completed two body forgings in one night. This was the biggest fortuitous encounter one could hope to obtain. He wouldn't give up on this. Even if he couldn't enter the city, it no longer mattered. Sure enough, the Allheaven Battlefield was filled with opportunities.
His willpower had also grown much stronger thanks to the challenge. He was still a first-stage Cloudbreach, but he felt like he could smash the sea of willpower of a regular third-stage Cloudbreach apart with one hammer strike. And he was referring to cultural researchers when he made that conclusion.
As for those at the fifth or sixth stages, he probably only needed three hammer strikes. The same applied to late-stage Cloudbreaches. He only needed more hammer strikes to deal with them.
In short, Su Yu felt like even without using Mountainsea blood essence, he was already as strong as how he was when he killed Lei Jue. He could clearly feel his growth in strength.
Sixty-sixth step, seventieth step...
Generally, the ancient city was not the busiest of places. Furthermore, Su Yu had already stepped into the massive gate. Thus, not many people noticed him. Even the few that noticed him did not pay him much attention. After all, the challenge looked incredibly difficult for him. Anyone would believe that he was on the verge of failing.
Eventually, Su Yu reached the ninetieth step. The Mountainsea guard exclaimed with admiration. For some reason, this human felt even scarier than Mo Duona. He had nothing to say about the talent or the strength of this human.
But that tenacity was incredibly shocking to behold. The tenacity and determination to stand up again and again after falling. It no longer mattered if this was Su Yu. It truly didn't. This was no longer the type of person he wished to provoke. This was a terrifying individual.
A lot of geniuses had challenged this gate before. On average, there would be three to five challengers. Over the years, countless geniuses had challenged the gate. But not one of them had shocked the Mountainsea guard so much.
He had been raising his evaluation of that human again and again.
Ten steps, twenty steps, thirty steps...
By the time Su Yu reached the ninetieth step, the Mountainsea guard no longer tried to predict Su Yu's limits. He only knew that this was an extremely dangerous individual who should never be provoked.
***
Once again, night arrived.
A day and a night had passed.
After taking the final step, Su Yu collapsed weakly on the ground. A puddle of sweat formed under his body. Meanwhile, his body was showing traces of completing its seventeenth forging.
Mo Duona had been able to turn around and talk after the challenge. Meanwhile, Su Yu was unable to do anything after the challenge. The gap between them was clear for all to see.
Even so, the Mountainsea guard, who was previously completely indifferent to this human, still walked over and offered, "Do you need help?"
"No."
The guard nodded and stepped back. He watched on as Su Yu stood up with great difficulty. Suddenly, he said, "If you're looking for a place to stay, know that not all buildings are the same. Since you're a human, find a human building. There are different types of buildings in this city. You will know when you're looking at a human building."
Su Yu was surprised to receive the unsolicited advice. Was this a trap?
The guard said, "You can believe what you want. One more thing. Don't approach the mayor's residence. The mayor dislikes humans. You have Xia Longwu to thank for that."
Su Yu nodded understandingly, "Thanks."
The guard then walked away silently.
Looking at Su Yu who was walking deeper into the city with unsteady steps, he couldn't help but gasp with admiration. Yet another powerhouse was going to rise.
Chapter 904: Panic In Ancient City (1)
Restore scroll position
From the gate, a bluestone street led deeper into the city. Numerous buildings could be seen on the two sides of the empty street. It was very quiet. The ancient city might be massive, but there weren't a lot of people in it.
At that moment, night had arrived.
Behind Su Yu, the Mountainsea guard spoke again, "It is not a good idea to linger outdoors at night. Find an empty building and spend the night there. Otherwise...you will have to bear the consequences yourself."
It was not a good idea to stay outdoors at night? So basically, it was not prohibited, only discouraged? Su Yu was feeling doubtful. The guards were also outside at night. Weren't they fine?
"How about you guys?" Su Yu asked.
"We..." The Mountainsea guard replied, "We'll be fine. After all, we're a part of the city itself."
A vague understanding dawned on Su Yu. He asked no other questions and continued onward. Numerous buildings could be seen around him. Some were very worn-out, with doors and windows that were on the verge of falling apart.
However, he did not try to do anything to these worn-out buildings. One should not damage the properties in the city. One wouldn't be able to do so anyway. That was what the Mountainsea guard told him. And if one somehow managed to damage a property in the city, bad things would happen.
A wooden board was hanging outside every single building in the city. And there were only two variations to the words written on these hanging boards: Occupied and unoccupied.
Through these boards, one would be able to determine if a building was empty or not. Su Yu was walking along the street when a door nearby opened suddenly. A jade talisman was tossed out. Alarmed, Su Yu hurriedly retreated, thinking that someone was attacking him.
But the talisman merely landed on the ground. When Su Yu focused, he noticed some blood on the talisman. He instantly realized something. Was this an attempt to become a resident of the city? He looked at the opened door and saw a pair of eyes. A massive elk stood inside the building.
The elk took a step back in shock upon seeing someone outside. The door was instantly slammed shut.
"Hmm?"
Su Yu blanked out. But soon, he realized something. Did that elk mistake him for the person in charge of collecting the talisman? Somebody would be collecting these talismans, right? More importantly, would that elk still be able to turn into a resident if he took the talisman? What if he did it for three days in a row? The elk would believe that they had turned into a resident when that wasn't the case. What would happen?
According to the rumors, bad things would happen if one stayed more than three days. Would that kill the elk? The elk was happily staying in the city, thinking that they had become a resident. Alas, that was a lie. How pitiful would that be?
Looking at the talisman on the ground, Su Yu was tempted to try picking it up. It was left completely unattended. Could he take it? But suddenly, his heart thumped violently. His tribulation character was pulsing intensely.
Alarmed, Su Yu sped off. Even when he was hundreds of meters away, the tribulation character was still pulsing. However, the intensity had dropped slightly. Right at that moment, a dark figure appeared near the talisman.
Under the darkness of the night, the dark figure approached the talisman one step at a time. When the figure reached out, the talisman flew over and vanished. Then, the dark figure started writing on the hanging board in front of the building the talisman was tossed out of. Shortly after, the dark figure left.
Su Yu was greatly shocked. What was this? His Perception Jade had failed to detect the dark figure that he had seen with his own eyes. The distance between them did not exceed one kilometer. The jade should be able to detect the figure. Was that an Invincible? Impossible! Someone tasked to pick up some jade talisman was actually an Invincible? Was that a joke?
Su Yu was deep in thought when his tribulation started going wild again. He hurriedly sped off. At the exact moment, the departing dark figure turned to look at him. A beam of light shot out of the figure's eyes, heading straight toward him.
Su Yu was greatly alarmed. All his senses were screaming at him that this was dangerous. He started flickering everywhere as he tried to flee the dark figure. He was the only person on the street. He made a lot of noise as he fled, but not one of the inhabitants in the surrounding buildings opened their doors or windows to look at the commotion.
Everyone in the ancient city knew to not go outdoors at night. Even if the sky itself was falling outside, they should not let their curiosity get the best of them. Otherwise, death might follow.
Only two types of people dared to go outdoors in an ancient city at night. Clueless fools or experts. Whatever reason one had, going outdoors at night would place one in great danger.
Su Yu continued fleeing with his five elemental movement techniques. Unfortunately, his earth movement technique couldn't be used here. For some reason, he was unable to blend into the ground of the city. This city would probably be fatal to someone like Topsoil Spirit.
Despite Su Yu's desperate attempt to flee, the beam of light continued following him. The dark figure could no longer be seen. Only the beam of light was still stubbornly chasing after him.
The Mountainsea guard at the city gate sensed the commotion. When he looked over, he saw the black beam chasing after Su Yu. It hadn't been long since Su Yu entered the city, so he was still not that far from the city gate.
The guard's expression changed as he hurriedly sent a voice transmission, "Find an unoccupied building and hide inside. You're being chased by a beam of death light. The moment it marks you with its dense death qi, the death spirits of the city will not leave you alone anymore."
Su Yu was feeling very gloomy. He did nothing! He was minding his own business on the street when a jade talisman was tossed out by some random elk. He had never expected to encounter something like this right after entering the city. What in the world was happening?
But the guard was right. He could feel the dense death qi coming from the beam of light following him. From the guard's words, this beam of light served as some sort of marker? Death spirit...did that refer to the dark figure he saw? That thing did not seem alive.
No wonder his Perception Jade couldn't sense it. It wasn't that the dark figure was too strong to be detected. Rather, the dark figure was simply not a living being. Thus, the Perception Jade was unable to sense it. That thing was too dangerous. If it wasn't for his tribulation character, he would have been dead by now.
Su Yu hurriedly looked around and noted a small, unoccupied building just next to him. He rushed toward the building. He knocked the door open before slamming the door shut after stepping inside. At the exact moment the door was shut, the beam of light struck the door behind him.
A tiny strand of death qi entered the arm Su Yu used to shut the door. Thankfully, the rest of the death qi was unable to get through the door. The tiny bit of death qi on his arm started devouring his flesh and blood. He was greatly alarmed.
With a grunt, he released a large amount of heavenly source qi before activating the Life Trigger and Flesh Regrow techniques of the immortal race.
Heavenly source qi and death qi started fighting each other on his arm. They constantly clashed and wore each other down.
This persisted for about half an hour before it stopped. Su Yu exhaled in relief and swung his arm around, confirming that it was fine. The death qi had finally been removed, but he had used ten portions of heavenly source qi to do so. That was quite terrifying as he had only been struck by a tiny amount of death qi.
Su Yu couldn't help but shiver in fear. If he had been hit by the entire beam, he would have lost all his flesh nearly instantly.
"Just what is that…being?"
Su Yu was still feeling fearful. What was that...death spirit? Holy shit! He was a new guest. How could a local treat him like that? How rude! If he didn't have any heavenly source qi or the techniques of the immortal race, wouldn't he be dead already? It was very likely that the tiny bit of death qi was enough to devour all his flesh. Truly terrifying.
He had felt that this was a dangerous place right after arriving. And he had finally experienced one of the so-called dangers for himself. Unsure if the death qi was still lingering outside, he didn't even dare to open his door. Looking at his arm, he started rubbing his chin with a pensive look.
The death qi seemed quite impressive in terms of devouring the flesh of the living. But the heavenly source qi seemed to be its natural counter. And when the two fought each other in his body, his flesh was actually being tempered at an even faster speed than before.
"Death qi...heavenly source qi..."
Su Yu rubbed his chin again. But this was too risky. Whatever. It was a bad idea to provoke that thing. Just a moment ago, he had actually contemplated gathering some death qi for research.
After all, it seemed rather impressive. But that beam of light was merely something the dark figure had casually thrown his way. If he ended up encountering the dark figure again, things might get troublesome. What if the dark figure decided to throw several beams his way next time? That would be truly terrifying.
Tossing the matter to the back of his mind, Su Yu finally had the time to study the building he had just entered. It was dark inside. He did not hesitate to take out a large night pearl. Strictly speaking, it was not a night pearl. It was merely a weaponsmithing material similar to night pearls.
The pearl illuminated the building, and Su Yu was instantly rendered speechless by what he saw. It was a tiny house of about fifty square meters. There were inner and outer rooms in the house. He was currently standing in the outer room which was probably the living room. There was a door leading to the inner room that could probably be considered the bedroom.
In short, there was a living room and a bedroom in the building. Nothing else. There was no kitchen, study, or any other room. Since this was a house near the city gates, this area was probably the equivalent of a slum. Nevertheless, it was still a part of the thirty-six rings of the city.
Being a house in a slum, it wasn't surprising that the house was so bare. The door was tightly shut, and inside the living room, there was only an old wooden table and several wooden chairs.
When he opened the door of the bedroom, he saw that there was only a wooden bed in it. Nothing else. This was way too crude.
"So can I find one of those opportunities here?"
Su Yu still remembered Mo Duona's words. According to Mo Duona, some opportunities could be found in these houses. Could he find anything here? He started searching the house, but he found nothing whatsoever.
Perhaps the buildings in the thirty-sixth ring were too shabby to house the so-called opportunities? Also, a lot of people must have stayed here before, right? Even if there were any opportunities here, they would have been taken away long ago.
Looking at the shabby wooden bed, Su Yu wondered if he really had to spend the night here. The house was so shabby there wasn't even a window.
Su Yu wasn't fond of the house he had entered. But since he wasn't sure if the death qi outside had dispersed, he didn't dare to leave rashly. Was he supposed to waste an entire night inside this shitty house? The rıghtful source is novel fire.net
His time in the city was limited. Even as someone who had entered through the main gate, he could only stay for about seven or eight days. Was he going to waste an entire night right away?
***
Su Yu was still wondering if he should go out.
Meanwhile, the guards were all looking at the small house. One of them asked, "Commander, is he dead?"
"I think I saw some of the death light entering the building."
"In that case, he's probably dead."
"Should we check? If he's really dead, we need to remove his corpse."
"..."
While the guards were talking, the Mountainsea looked at the building with a frown. He had high expectations of that human. He even thought that this human was a powerhouse on the rise. But that human was dead just like that?
Just how unlucky was that human? So many coincidences had landed on that human at the same time. There just happened to be someone trying to become a resident when he was walking by. The talisman had been thrown out when he was there. And the death spirit had also appeared to collect the talisman before he could leave.
Then again, that human was too new. Normally, one would run as fast as one could after seeing the bloodstained talisman. Meanwhile, that human had stood there blankly. He even tried to pry on the death spirit.
Some of the death light might have permeated into the building. The moment the human was touched by the death light, he would either die or be reduced into a cripple. Even if he survived, as someone touched by death, he would only attract more death spirits.
Encountering a death spirit in an ancient city was basically the same as dying. Sure, one could escape by leaving the city. But from then on, one would no longer be able to enter any ancient city as the death spirits would never stop looking for a marked person.
Even without the death spirits, one would still die a slow death with death qi in their body. The Mountainsea found his belief shaken repeatedly in a short span of time. First, he thought that the human was Su Yu. But that might not be true. Then, he thought that the human was a rising powerhouse. But the human caught the attention of a death spirit. What rise would happen with death looming?
Now that he had concluded that the human would die, would the human survive? How complicated. The Mountainsea shook his head and said nothing. That human was truly unlucky. The Mountainsea didn't even know what to say.
"We'll check when it's day."
The Mountainsea made the decision. Even as the city guards, it was also a bad idea for them to roam around during the night. If they remained at the gates, the death spirits would not go near them. But in the city, they might encounter the death spirits. And that would be troublesome to deal with.
The other guards nodded. In that case, they would wait until the night was over before checking.
***
Inside the small house, Su Yu was unable to find anything interesting. Was he really going to spend the night here? Wouldn't that be a waste of time?
"Death light..."
Su Yu muttered to himself. The death light was dangerous, but he knew the techniques of the immortal race. He also had heavenly source qi he could use to counter the death qi. Naturally, he would only be able to counter a small amount of death qi. If he was exposed to too much death qi, things might still get dangerous.
In that case, wouldn't immortals do well against the death spirits as long as they had enough heavenly source qi?
"The death light outside must have dispersed, right?"
Su Yu wanted to use his time to see more of the city. During his next visit, he might still need to challenge the main gate. That would waste a lot of time as well. More importantly, would he be able to challenge the gate a second time? What if he had to leave within three days just like everyone else during his next visit?
He still didn't know too much about the Allheaven Battlefield. In any case, wasting time was definitely not something he wanted to do. So what if things might get dangerous? It wasn't like he was completely helpless. Even his tribulation character had stopped pulsing. The danger must have passed.
If it wasn't for the fact that he didn't know the consequences of damaging the property here, he would have taken the building apart to see if he could discover anything new by now. He was also very curious if the buildings here were really indestructible.
"I need to get out there!"
Su Yu could not hold himself back. This was his first day here. How could he spend the night cooped in some shabby house? His success at removing the death qi had also given him some confidence to actually go outdoors.
He also wanted to verify if the death spirit would come after him again. He carefully opened the door before poking his hand outside. It would be much easier to remove the death qi if it only struck his hand instead of his entire body.
Chapter 905: Panic In Ancient City (2)
City gate.
The Mountainsea guard blanked out when the door swung open, wondering if he was seeing things. Then, an arm poked out of the door.
"He's fine?"
How lucky. That human was actually untouched by the death light. How luck. Earlier, he thought that there was no way this human could survive.
"Commander, he's fine?"
The other guards were just as surprised to see that arm. What a lucky guy. The death light had actually failed to hit him. But this was such a brazen guy. He had just provoked a death spirit not long ago. So soon after that, he was trying to leave again? Then again, such courage was indeed fitting for a genius. But only a naive person would be so excessively brazen.
One of the guards laughed, "This fellow would have been a lot more timid if the death light had actually managed to hit him earlier. He must have been pretty sheltered before this. Nobody with a brain would be so reckless."
The Mountainsea said nothing. He had been silent ever since he noticed that Su Yu was fine.
The guard beside him continued laughing, "Commander, look at him. Is he thinking of leaving? If he encounters another death spirit without a convenient building to hide in, he will die. Why isn't he learning from his lesson?"
"I don't know."
The Mountainsea shook his head. Who could understand the thoughts of these geniuses? Perhaps that human was Su Yu, after all. Once again, he doubted his conclusion.
The movement technique used by that human resembled what Su Yu used earlier. But it was also very unlikely for Su Yu to have so much difficulty crossing the main gate. The Mountainsea was getting more and more confused.
***
After noting that the death light was gone, Su Yu exhaled in relief and stepped outside. There was no way he was going to stay indoors for an entire night. The street was still as empty as before. The death spirit was nowhere to be seen.
Su Yu starrted walking on the street. Before long, he reached the house where he encountered the elk earlier. The death spirit seemed to have written something on the hanging board in front of the house earlier. Su Yu wanted to see for himself if there were any changes on the board.
Shortly after, he saw something there. The portrait of an elk could be seen on it.
"Hmm?"
But the portrait was incomplete.
Su Yu rubbed his chin pensively. Could it be that the death spirit would spend three days drawing the portrait of the individual trying to become a resident? And the process would be completed upon the completion of the portrait?
So every resident of the city would have their portrait drawn on the board in front of their house? How impressive. So one would receive a free portrait as a gift upon becoming a resident?
Then again, this portrait looked somewhat creepy. It was blood red in color, as though it had been drawn with the blood left on the talisman as the ink.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Su Yu knocked on the door. That damn elk had nearly caused his death. As payback, he decided to scare the elk a little.
"..."
After a while, Su Yu heard someone trembling in the house, but the door remained shut. He smiled in amusement. This sure was fun. It reminded him of how he would pretend to be a ghost and scare the other kids when he was young. Meanwhile, the Mountainsea guard was left completely speechless.
Holy shit!
From how that human was behaving, he was certain that this human was still very young. Instead of actually doing something important, he had actually left his house at night just to scare a random elk? This was absolutely not something a mature person would do. This human was definitely Su Yu. After all, Su Yu was actually very young.
In an ancient city, hearing someone knocking on the door in the middle of the night was indeed terrifying. After all, it was common knowledge in these ancient cities that terrifying existences would roam the streets during the night.
The Mountainsea guard was certain that the elk inside the house was currently terror-stricken. In fact, the elk was probably curled up in a corner while trembling in fear. What an asshole!
This was enough to terrify anyone in the city.
The other guards were also rolling their eyes. One of them said, "This fellow is too brazen. He needs to be careful when he reaches the thirty-fifth ring lest the night patrol take offense to what he does."
The Mountainsea said nothing. That would be a problem for that human to solve, not him. It had nothing to do with him. But the guards were right. This was such a brazen individual.
***
As for Su Yu, he wasn't too surprised that the elk was refusing to open the door. If he was in the same position, he wouldn't open the door either. He was merely doing this to vent some of his anger as the elk's bloodstained talisman was the reason he had encountered that death spirit.
Moving on, Su Yu continued walking along the street. The doors and windows of the buildings on the two sides of the street were all tightly shut. Some of these buildings did not look like houses. Instead, they looked more like storefronts. Su Yu wondered if they were actually operational. If they were, what were the products one would sell in an ancient city?
After a while, he noticed the portrait of a wolf in front of a building. So this was the house of an actual resident? The portrait of the elk was incomplete. Meanwhile, this portrait was already complete. In that case, this wolf had completed the process of becoming a resident. Similarly, the portrait was drawn with red ink, looking rather eerie.
"Sigh."
Su Yu was feeling quite gloomy. Nobody had explained all this to him. The information he received from the masked man from the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion only included some basic introduction without any in-depth explanation.
To make things worse, not a single person could be seen on the streets during the night. Even if he wanted to ask someone about the things he was confused about, there was nobody to ask. The attitude of the guards he saw earlier was decent, but they had been sticking close to the gates. Perhaps there were some sort of restrictions on where they could go.
Soon, Su Yu found another unoccupied building. Standing in front of it, he yelled out of nowhere, "Is there anyone alive around here? Come on, let's have a chat."
"..."
He was ready to enter the building at the first sign of danger. After all, a death spirit could be very difficult to deal with. Standing in front of an unoccupied building, he could easily escape into safety. That random yell in the middle of the night caused quite a lot of people to jump in fright.
Su Yu did not seem to mind. That was most likely because he was still too ignorant about the city. He really didn't know where he should even begin to look for the so-called opportunities he could find in ancient cities.
In fact, he would be happy to even see Mo Duona. As long as they didn't have to fight, he was more than willing to have a chat with Mo Duona.
"Mo Duona, are you here? Come on. Let's chat."
Suddenly, a team of ten armored individuals mounted on black horses started heading toward him.
The leader of the team was clad in a set of black armor, revealing only his dark eyes. With a cold glint in his eyes, the leader berated with the common language, "Audacious. Do not make a clamor in the middle of the night. Return to your lodging."
Su Yu was overjoyed to finally see someone alive. Yes. These people were alive. He was sure because his Perception Jade could detect them. But he was unsure if these were humans or some other races.
"Mountainsea!"
According to his senses, one of them was a Mountainsea while the others were Cloudbreaches. This was quite a strong group of people. There sure were a lot of experts in this city. This update ıs available on novel~fire~net
"Sir, I'm new here. I don't know the rules well. May I have a chat with you?" Su Yu smiled, "I won't make you do it for nothing."
A profound weapon appeared in his hand. With the same smile on his face, he said, "Sir, can I ask you something?"
Since these people were alive, they naturally had their needs and wants. And wealth could move anyone.
Alas, the armored expert merely gave him a cold glance and said, "Go indoors."
Su Yu laughed awkwardly and asked, "Sir, are you the city guards?"
"Go in."
The armored expert berated, "If you dare to make more noise, you will be executed without mercy."
Su Yu frowned slightly, but he smiled again and said, "Sir, I only wish to ask something. Do you know Mo Duona? I'm his friend..."
Boom!
The armored expert stabbed his spear out. Su Yu reacted instantly, dashing into the building and shutting the door. With a rumble, the spear struck the door. Outside, the armored expert snorted coldly. His eyes continued flickering coldly.
"Since you're here in Heavendoom City, learn to keep your head down and follow the rules here. How dare you go against the orders of the night patrol?"
Inside the building, Su Yu frowned again. He snorted with dissatisfaction. The door did not suffer any damage, and the guard seemed fine despite having used violence in the city. Perhaps he was exempted since he was a guard.
He was only so arrogant due to his status as a guard of the ancient city. Outside the city, the same guard would merely be an expert of a minor race or perhaps a vagrant of a destroyed realm. But here in the city, he gained the courage to even treat the geniuses of major races with disrespect. What was he without the city?
Su Yu cursed inwardly. Why so arrogant? The city wasn't even his. The city had been around since time immemorial. These guards were merely guests who had moved in. But Su Yu could only helplessly let the matter slide. This was not his own place. Without knowing more about the city, he shouldn't provoke more trouble. Wasn't it just bowing his head? He was very good at that.
He yelled again, "Sir, can I ask you a question? Where is Mo Duona staying at?"
"Shut your mouth. If you keep making a ruckus, you'll be expelled from the city."
The commander berated him again.
Hearing that, Su Yu's expression finally changed. He said, "Commander, even the residents and guards will need to leave the city at times, right? Is there a need to be so unreasonable?"
Outside, the commander was stunned. Did this person just threaten him? How surprising. Someone actually dared to threaten the night patrol inside an ancient city.
With a cold snort, the commander said, "Human, you don't want to anger me. Do you think you will be safe hiding in a building? The night patrol has the duty to search the city for criminals. Thus, I can submit an application to unlock your lodging at any time. Are you courting death?"
"..."
Holy shit! Was this for real? Then again, Su Yu was not afraid of this commander. Sure, the commander was a Mountainsea. But from the commander's aura, he was most likely a first or second-stage Mountainsea. Su Yu did not fear a Mountainsea of this level.
But there was a mayor who was a ninth-stage Sunmoon. Su Yu did not want to risk provoking the mayor. That would be troublesome. He felt extremely sullen. He only wanted to ask some questions. Why was this commander being so unreasonable? What was the source of his arrogance? He looked down on even a profound weapon?
So be it. Su Yu still needed to bow when circumstances called for it. Perhaps he could deal with that fellow after learning more about the city. For example, he could assassinate that fellow right as he was about to leave the city.
Numerous thoughts surfaced in Su Yu's mind as he timidly said, "Please calm your anger, Sir. I'm new here. I know nothing. Please be generous and forgive my ignorance."
He added, "Treat my profound weapon as an apology gift to soothe your anger."
He opened the door and tossed a profound weapon out before shutting the door again.
The commander caught the weapon and studied it with shining eyes. Noting that the quality was decent, he dropped the matter and gave a flat reminder, "Do not cause any ruckus in the city. Divines, devils, or humans, all should learn to behave in this city."
"Yes, yes, definitely."
Next, the night patrol moved away, with crisp clatter of hooves filling the empty streets.
Su Yu cursed inwardly. Just wait. His profound weapon was not the kind of gift one could take easily. With the weapon, Su Yu could track the commander at all times. Just wait, asshole.
Finally, he turned around to study his new lodging. It was much bigger than the previous house he was in. If he had to, he didn't mind taking a rest in this place. Dawn was arriving. He wouldn't need to wait for long before he could leave and ask some people about the city.
He felt quite dispirited. This city...was truly an unusual place. So be it. He would waste the night away. What else could he do? Perhaps this would be an opportunity for him to further stabilize his cultivation.
He could always learn more during the next day. He could probably find some humans in the city. He still remembered that the grandpa he encountered near the gate previously had not left the city.
Having reached a decision, Su Yu sat down on a random chair. Right at that moment, his tribulation character pulsed. He looked around in stupefaction. Was there danger inside the building?
No way...right? He looked around, but he found nothing. Completely unknown to him, faint traces of death qi were slowly converging on his position from all directions. After a short while, Su Yu decided to start cultivating. The moment he took out some heavenly source qi, hissing sounds rang out all around him.
He was greatly alarmed. Only then did he notice that something was off with his environment.
Holy shit!
He was surrounded by death qi. The death qi was so thin that he didn't even notice anything. Thankfully, he was able to notice the death qi when it started clashing against his heavenly source qi.
"Leave within three days..."
A certain realization dawned on him. That was an alarming realization. All visitors must leave within three days. Why was that the case? Because death qi would unknowingly taint the bodies of all visitors. These buildings were no safe houses. Rather, these were fatal traps.
But some people must have noticed the issue and concluded that one must leave within three days. In short, the death qi would not be too much of an issue if one left within three days. After three days, the death qi might increase in intensity. No wonder some people had died for no apparent reason in these ancient cities.
"How scary. Wouldn't I be completely clueless without heavenly source qi?"
While he was thinking about all that, his skin suddenly shone. Several shining spheres emerged from within his body and removed some of the death qi around him.
Su Yu blanked out. What was that?
After a while, he muttered, "Is this the reward for entering through the main gate?"
Through his observation, there were nine shining spheres in total. The first sphere was starting to grow dim. As it continued to withstand the death qi in the area, it continued weakening. There were nine shining spheres.
"Is this why one could stay longer in the city by entering through the main gate?"
Numerous thoughts rose in his mind. At this moment, when he looked at the house he was in again, it looked more like a coffin than a house.
Yes. Coffin.
That eerie thought had appeared in his mind out of nowhere. This was such an unsettling city.
Chapter 906: Traces Of Immortals, Signs Of Devils (1)
Death qi had actually appeared inside a building. Su Yu was starting to suspect that the amount of death qi would only increase the deeper one stayed. He had finally discovered the so-called danger of the city. What about the opportunities? Also, what sort of power was the death qi? What manner of existence was that death spirit?
Heavendoom City seemed even more mysterious than before. Just what did they do in this city back then? Su Yu did not have any answers to those questions.
Then again, the Allheaven Battlefield was filled with mysteries and locations. However, danger and mystery often symbolize opportunity. If Mo Duona was losing interest in killing his targets just because of an ancient city, Su Yu believed that the opportunities one could find in ancient cities would definitely be substantial. Once again, he had the urge to have a chat with Mo Duona, provided that Mo Duona would not attack him.
Every now and then, the night patrol could be heard riding along the street. These people were also shrouded in mystery. Su Yu wondered about the disadvantages of actually becoming a resident of an ancient city.
There was also the death spirit he encountered earlier… Numerous thoughts surfaced in his mind. After a slight hesitation, he took out an index copy. The ranks remained unchanged. After thinking for a bit, he wrote something on the copy.
"I want to know the secrets of these ancient cities."
A short while later, a sentence took form on a blank spot.
"All ancient cities or only Heavendoom City?"
"Heavendoom City."
Su Yu only wanted to know about the city he was in. It wasn't like the information would be free. He might as well get what he needed for the moment. Soon, a reply came.
"Ten years worth of lifespan for the secrets behind Heavendoom City."
Lifespan?
Su Yu understood what that meant. The so-called lifespan was basically life force. Thus, he would need to pay with his own life force. He might be able to replenish his life force with the techniques of the immortal race. But from his experience, things requiring lifespan as the price would generally not be worth it.
Thus, he refused, "Give me a different option."
"Ten years of lifespan, killing a genius in the Heaven Index, a drop of Eternal blood essence, one Eternal character. You can pick one of these."
Screw this! Su Yu was furious. This was too greedy. Were they crazy? Blood essence of an Invincible? Character of an Invincible? Not a single Eternal character could be found in the entirety of humanity. They were all stuck at the Sunmoon Realm. Thus, he would need to kill the Invincibles of other races if he wanted to use this as the payment. This was absolute bullshit. In comparison, ten years of lifespan or killing a Heaven Index genius would be much easier to accomplish.
"Any other alternatives? It's so suspicious for you to ask for these things."
"The secrets of an ancient city are worth this price." Thɪs chapter is updated by novelfire(.)net
Su Yu was actually quite tempted. Perhaps there were a lot of secrets. At that thought, he said, "I don't need to know all the secrets. I only want to know about the opportunities one can find in the city. What's the price for that?"
Sure enough, the price changed.
"Three years of lifespan, ten drops of Sunnmoon blood essence, killing an Earth Index genius, or one earth weapon."
Su Yu asked doubtfully, "And how are we supposed to complete this transaction if I agree?"
"If you agree, just get your payment ready. The transaction will complete before you know it."
After a slight hesitation, Su Yu replied, "I don't have an earth weapon. What about profound weapons?"
The other party did not reply immediately, as though they were in the middle of making a calculation. A short while later, a reply came, "Three profound weapons with at least seventy golden stripes or five profound weapons with less than seventy golden stripes."
"No problem."
This was a price Su Yu could accept. It was by no means cheap, but this was their first transaction. There was a need for him to test the reliability of the other party, so he was willing to pay more than he believed he should.
The Heavenly Hunt Pavilion was just as mysterious as these ancient cities. So how were they going to complete the transaction? Su Yu was still wondering about that when someone knocked on his door. He was instantly alarmed.
Then, the visitor spoke softly, "Mr. Su, we can complete the transaction now."
"..."
Holy shit! This was way too impressive. They were here already? The Heavenly Hunt Pavilion actually had some people in the city.
Su Yu was on high alert. After thinking about it, he opened his door slightly and took a peek outside. A dark figure was standing there. They did not seem to mind Su Yu's cautiousness. Raising a jade talisman, the dark figure spoke again.
"Mr. Su, we may begin our transaction."
Su Yu asked with a frown, "Are you from the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion?"
"Yes."
"Even if you guys can track my location, it shouldn't be this accurate, right?"
"You were shouting earlier. We heard you."
That was simple. Sure, their tracker might not be so accurate. But wasn't this fellow making a ruckus earlier?
"How is the night patrol letting you be?"
"Just avoid them. They will repeat their route every half an hour."
The dark figure said, "Mr. Su, you can stop testing me. Consider that information my gift to you."
Su Yu was left speechless. After a slight hesitation, he took several weapons out. These were the weapons he had forged during his spare time. He had no need for them.
He still lacked one weapon to make the full payment, but he wasn't worried. He had also looted some weapons from the people he killed previously. Thus, he took out a different weapon and handed them all over before asking, "Is your information accurate?"
"You can always trust the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion."
It was yet another simple reply. Su Yu was free to decide what he wanted to believe. In the end, Su Yu decided to trust them and accepted the jade talisman after paying with his weapons. With the transaction done, he shut the door again.
Then, Su Yu waited in silence. He wasn't looking at his index copy. Instead, he was trying to test something. Suddenly, the tracker he could feel vanished. At the same time, some words appeared on his index copy.
"Su Yu, there is no need to play these little tricks with us in the future. Hiding trackers in your weapons won't work against us."
For a large organization like the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion, these tricks were indeed nothing. Su Yu merely did it to test them, but he was also very shocked. His trackers had vanished. What did that signify?
It had happened so quickly. Thus, it meant that they had discovered his trackers almost immediately and proceeded to remove them. Someone capable of doing so was most likely an earth weaponsmith. Someone who wasn't a weaponsmith would not be able to do so even if that person was far stronger than him.
"Earth weaponsmith...inside the city? Or outside?"
"Heavenly Hunt Pavilion, ancient city..."
In his mind, the two entities became further shrouded in mystery. Many things in the Allheaven Battlefield remained a secret from the human race and the other races. Perhaps some Invincibles knew more than the others, but even they might not know too much about these mysteries.
Su Yu decided to stop thinking about the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion. He took a look at the jade talisman he had just received. How should one obtain the so-called opportunities in the city? After reading the contents, an odd look appeared in Su Yu's eyes.
The Heavenly Hunt Pavilion had provided three options.
Firstly, the mayor's residence.
There was a massive opportunity inside the mayor's residence. If one was not afraid of death, one could totally give that place a try. As for the exact location of the so-called opportunity, it was not mentioned.
Secondly, ancient buildings.
For example, the building Su Yu was currently residing in. Opportunities could be found in these buildings as well. A longer explanation was given for this option. The so-called opportunities came in many forms. For example, the belongings of the previous resident in the building who had died. Even corpses could be found in some of these buildings. For many reasons, the local residents and guards were unable to enter these buildings, so the corpses were left untouched. If one could enter such a building, one might gain something from it.
Furthermore, the deeper one went into the city, the more likely it would be for one to stumble upon these opportunities. For example, some buildings that had never been picked by anyone before might have numerous opportunities in them. A lot of the races stationing their people in these ancient cities were actually looking for these buildings. Through these buildings, they might even be able to obtain some ancient treasures.
Additionally, the better a building, the more likely that something mysterious could be found in it. For example, one might encounter some odd treasures or even a grotto in a mansion. Yes. There were grottos in some of these buildings.
These grottos were also formed through characters.
Someone once entered a grotto in an ancient city and found an entire pond of sunmoon profound yellow liquid.
Someone once entered a grotto in an ancient city and found an entire heavenly source fruit tree. After growing in the building for countless years, it had produced countless fruits and filled the building with a terrifyingly high density of heavenly source qi.
Someone once obtained a heaven weapon in an ancient city. Numerous examples were cited. Understanding dawned on Su Yu. The better a building was, the more likely it was for one to find something good in it.
Of course, the probability of encountering an opportunity was still very low. A lot of these buildings couldn't be entered, and even if one could somehow enter, it was more likely for one to encounter a massive danger and die.
Su Yu suspected that everything was related to the death qi. It was likely that the better a building was, the thicker the death qi would be. This might be the origin of the so-called opportunities one could find in these buildings. The opportunities were simply the belongings of the deceased.
As for the mayor's residence, it contained an entirely different type of opportunity. According to the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion, there was also a third type of opportunity in these ancient cities.
Ancient city medallion.
The medallion itself would not benefit its holder, but these medallions were related to some other mysterious locations in the Allheaven Battlefield. For example, the Luminous Domain Mansion.
Yes. There might be some unknown relationship between the ancient cities and the Luminous Domain Mansion.
The relationship between the Luminous Domain Mansion and the ancient cities had yet to be put into written records, but the ancient city medallions could be used in the Luminous Domain Mansion. Depending on the ranks of the medallions one held, one would be able to gain access to different locations within the Luminous Domain Mansion.
The Luminous Domain Mansion was massive and filled with mysteries. Even after countless years of exploration, the myriad races still knew very little about it. But everyone knew that with an ancient city medallion of high enough level, one could potentially obtain a massive opportunity in the Luminous Domain Mansion. As for the so-called ancient city medallions, they could be found on death spirits.
Su Yu's face started twitching. Holy shit! Basically, the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion was saying that those death spirits might be the original residents of these ancient cities. One could only obtain these medallions from the death spirits. Of course, some other experts in these cities might have some medallions on them as well.
They had perhaps obtained their medallions from the death spirits or some random encounters.
But most of the time, one could only obtain these medallions from the death spirits. The stronger a death spirit, the higher the level of the medallion might be. From what Su Yu knew, the medallions were split into several ranks, such as Skysoar, Cloudbreach, Mountainsea, and so on.
Of course, the strength of each death spirit was also quite hard to determine. They all felt the same to his senses. A short introduction was also given on the death qi. To sum it up, the death qi was very troublesome.
The easiest way of handling death qi was by being strong enough, having access to some unique trump cards, or having the ability to kill death spirits. Once one was touched by death qi, it would be very hard to remove. Even after escaping an ancient city, one would still attract the death spirits the next time one visited an ancient city.
In the eyes of these death spirits, all visitors were basically invaders. One could pick a fight with a death spirit, but one might be unlucky and make the wrong estimation of one's target. What one thought to be a Skysoar death spirit could very well be a Sunmoon instead. If that happened, one would most likely die. Thus, the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion advised not to rashly make an attempt on those death spirits unless one was overbearingly strong.
Over the years, the elites of the myriad races had tried hunting these death spirits for the benefits they could gain. As a result, a lot of these elites had perished. Some races would station some experts in these ancient cities for the benefits they could gain from these cities. The mystic armor race was one of them.
The information in the jade talisman also mentioned that by entering through the main gate, one could stay in the city longer. That would allow one to gain bigger benefits from the city. For example, a large building one resided in would be empty during the first three days. On the fourth or fifth day, something might appear out of nowhere. Even a grotto might appear out of nowhere.
Thus, the longer one could stay, the more likely it would be for one to gain something from the city. After reading everything, Su Yu exhaled. This was all he learned after paying with five profound weapons. Those weapons were worth tens of thousands of merit points.
Sure, he had learned something new. But that price was comparable to an earth weapon. Was this even worth the price?
After thinking about it, Su Yu wrote on the index copy, "You provide too little substantial information. This is a big deal. This isn't the way you should go about doing business if you wish to do this long term."
"What do you suggest?"
"Give me some information for free. If you agree, I can continue transacting with you guys."
"What do you wish to know?"
"Can I kill in the city? Can I kill the residents and the guards? Will the mayor interfere? Which race is the mayor from? Which race does the mayor support? What is the punishment for damaging the buildings in the city? What are the advantages and disadvantages to becoming a permanent resident?"
Su Yu asked a string of questions. He only received a short reply.
"You're asking for a lot, but the answers for them aren't particularly expensive. I can agree to give you the answers for free, but I need a drop of your blood."
"Piss off. No deal."
No reply came for a while. After a long time, a new reply came, "Give us a drop of ability blood essence. Any race will do."
"Piss off."
Su Yu scolded again. He refused the deal. On top of that, he also left the building he was in stealthily. He wanted to switch to a different building to make it harder for anyone to determine his exact location. The city was filled with unoccupied buildings.
Before this, Su Yu hadn't been paying much attention to these buildings. But now, he could feel that different buildings would release different levels of resistance when one entered. For example, buildings with human architecture would release a lower level of resistance when he entered.
To verify this, Su Yu entered a building designed similarly to how buildings were designed in the Human Realm. After some time, he could feel that the death qi around him was much lower than it would be in a different building.
This was probably why the Mountainsea guard had advised him to look for a human neighborhood when picking his lodging. There would be less death qi in these buildings.
Inside his new lodging, Su Yu continued arguing with the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion. He also changed his appearance into one of a tiger. He wanted to see if the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion could still locate him accurately after this.
He really didn't feel safe carrying this index copy around. Shortly after, he received a reply from the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion. They could provide the information he requested, but he needed to provide them with a set of information regarding Shan Xiong. Yes. Shan Xiong.
They wanted to know his combat style, characters, abilities of those characters, and so on. Su Yu agreed without a second thought. This was too simple. He could write whatever he wanted. As for the accuracy of his information...how was he supposed to know if what he knew was the truth? He only knew what everyone knew. As for the things that not everyone knew, well, how was he supposed to know?
He couldn't even be bothered to think too much about the reason they were asking about Shan Xiong. His previous conversation with them had probably piqued their interest in him. A lot of people were interested in combined characters. The Heavenly Hunt Pavilion was naturally not the exception.
Chapter 907: Traces Of Immortals, Signs Of Devils (2)
The Heavenly Hunt Pavilion was still able to find Su Yu.
But it took them much longer than before to find him. He was unsure if that was merely an act. In any case, it had taken them about an hour to locate him.
The door swung open.
The same dark figure was standing outside. Su Yu didn't even know if this was the same person, but the cultivation level of this person was certainly similar to the previous individual. It was quite hard for him to accurately pinpoint the aura of this person. But the dark figure actually looked quite good. Or to be precise, the dark figure was actually quite stylish since there was no way for Su Yu to see the real appearance of the dark figure.
Su Yu couldn't be bothered to say more. He tossed the talisman containing Shan Xiong's information over.
After taking a look at the talisman, the dark figure said, "Mr. Su, your information seems to be outdated. Also, are you sure you're providing accurate information regarding his character?"
"What?" Su Yu asked curiously, "How is it inaccurate?"
"You're saying that his character might not be a character. Rather, it might be a unique weapon. This is quite hard to believe..."
"Feel free to believe what you want." Su Yu said, "This is my speculation. It doesn't matter if you can't believe it. I also suspect that Shan Xiong is a modified human. He is actually from the transformation faction."
"..."
The dark figure had a strong feeling that Su Yu was blabbering nonsense, but they couldn't do anything about it but leave silently. Right after the dark figure left, Su Yu hurriedly switched his location yet again.
Run!
Sure enough, the index copy could be used as a location tracker. The tracker might not be too accurate. There were two possibilities here. They could be putting up an act or the tracker might only be able to determine his general location, not the exact location.
"I can do more tests. Perhaps I can hide the index copy somewhere else."
Or he could simply place it inside his sea of willpower. Or he could cover it with his character. In any case, there were plenty of tests to be done. After entering a different building, Su Yu checked the information he received.
His questions had been more or less answered. One could kill in ancient cities. But the act of killing or even spilling blood might cause the appearance of death spirits. Thus, it was up to one's judgment whether killing inside an ancient city was wise.
The permanent residents and guards could be killed as well. The same risk applied. Furthermore, since these people were considered locals, killing them might also cause the appearance of stronger death spirits.
Once one became a permanent resident of an ancient city, one would be bound to the city. The advantage of that was the ability to live in the city long term. Furthermore, the death spirits would ignore these residents as long as the residents did not provoke them. Additionally, with a high enough level of ancient city medallion, one could even order the weaker death spirits around.
When the night patrol threatened to open his door and punish him previously, the night patrol was basically talking about the ancient city medallion. If one's medalion was high enough in level, one could forcefully open the doors of occupied buildings in the city.
According to the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion, there were perhaps thirty-six levels of rank for these ancient city medallions, corresponding to the thirty-six rings in each city. The lowest level medallion could be used to open the doors of the buildings in the outermost ring.
If one was wary of being attacked inside one's residence, one should stay deeper inside the city instead. If one stayed deep enough, nobody would be able to force their way into the building.
As for property damage, the answer was similar. The properties inside the city would recover automatically after some time. Due to this, one would assume that it was safe to damage the properties in the city. But doing so would also cause the appearance of death spirits. Thus, this became a taboo as well.
To sum it up, the living was not the scariest entity in these ancient cities. Rather, it was the dead. These death spirits might actually be the dead residents of these cities. After their deaths, the cities had somehow preserved their existences in the form of death spirits. The description of the Heavendoom mayor was very sparse.
"There is no need to provoke him, but there is no need to fear him either. Humans, divines, devils, immortals...the mayor tends to avoid provoking any race with more than five Invincibles. As long as you do nothing to provoke the mayor, the mayor will also leave you alone."
It was yet another simple reply. It was apparent that to rise into the position of a tyrant in an ancient city, the ability to judge the hour and size up the situation was very important as well.
Why did the mayor avoid provoking those with more than five Invincibles? Because an ancient city was attacked by three Invincibles in the past. The Invincibles didn't gain anything. Instead, one of them perished. That was an event that had happened hundreds of years ago.
Thus, the mayor was not fearful of races with only a small handful of Invincibles. The ancient city itself came with its own defensive system. As the puppet mayor...
Yes. Puppet mayor. Those were not Su Yu's words. Rather, that was what the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion had written. Puppet mayor. As a puppet mayor, one could utilize a part of the ancient city's strength.
To conclude it all, as long as Su Yu did not bother the mayor, the mayor wouldn't bother him either. If he didn't want trouble, he simply had to avoid looking for trouble. The human race was no pushover. Even though things had been quite challenging for them in recent years, their strength was there. Back then, Xia Longwu had killed his way to Heavendoom City. And he had survived that just fine.
For the sake of his own well-being, the mayor wouldn't provoke the young geniuses of the major race for no reason.
"I see."
After reading all that, Su Yu's understanding of ancient cities had increased significantly. One ought to admit that the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion was still pretty good in terms of information gathering. Regardless of the topic, they would know something about it.
Of course, that was not all there was to know about ancient cities. For example, how exactly did those death spirits come into existence? Also, how did ancient cities relate to the Luminous Domain Mansion? No explanation had been given on these topics.
"Mayor's residence...forget it. There's a ninth-stage Sunmoon there. I'm not in a hurry to throw my life away. Killing death spirits...forget it as well. What if I'm unlucky enough to pick a Sunmoon death spirit as my target? The one I met previously was probably a Cloudbreach or a Mountainsea, but even that fellow was already so hard to deal with.
"That left me with only the inner rings. I need to try my luck on the unoccupied buildings there. The longer I stay, the more likely it is for me to encounter some opportunities. I suppose that will work as long as I don't get myself killed by the death qi."
At this point, Su Yu had basically figured out what he needed to do to find the opportunities available in the city. Sunmoon profound yellow pond! Even something so amazing could be found in the city. That was something that was useful for even Sunmoons.
Su Yu heard that sunmoon profound yellow liquid was a commodity one couldn't even buy if one had the money for it. That was understandable. As a Sunmoon, one would not let go of something that could increase the strength of a Sunmoon unless one was already a peak Sunmoon.
There was also the heavenly source fruit tree. Su Yu wouldn't mind getting one for himself as well. Even a heaven weapon would be acceptable. If he couldn't get all that, he could even settle with getting some Sunmoon characters. Even if he couldn't use them, he could totally crush them for his own cultivation. The more he thought, the more tempted he became.
Mo Duona had reached the eighteenth ring of the previous ancient city he visited. This time, he might have gone even deeper. Su Yu wondered if it would be fine for him to enter the twentieth ring with his current strength. It was likely that Mo Duona had entered the fifteenth ring this time.
"I can always try one ring at a time. But the death qi is troublesome. There might also be other dangers in the city. I'll know after checking the buildings of every ring. I'll slowly go deeper before deciding on a suitable building to hole up in."
"Death spirits..."
Su Yu's thoughts returned to the death spirits. The Heavenly Hunt Pavilion had given him a short explanation regarding the death spirits. They were rarely seen during the day. More of them would appear during the night. They might be rare during the day, but they would still appear in some unique circumstances, such as the destruction of property or the spilling of blood.
It was far more likely for one to encounter a death spirit when traveling at night. After all, night was the time when these death spirits would come out and collect the bloodstained talismans of the people who were trying to become permanent residents.
***
While Su Yu was making his plans.
Mayor's residence.
The inner hall was the exclusive room of the stone statue. Even the mayor was only staying in the outer hall.
The inner hall felt too creepy, so not even the mayor enjoyed going back there. That was a place where Sunmoons had died before. At night, powerful death spirits would occasionally appear there as well. Not even the mayor wanted to have anything to do with the death spirits.
At the moment, the outer hall was brightly lit. This was the only place in the massive city that was so blatantly bright at night. Everywhere else in the city, darkness reigned during the night. Even the light inside the occupied buildings would rarely be visible outside the buildings.
There was a small crowd in the outer hall. The mayor was seated atop the main seat. He was leisurely sipping on wine while looking at the dancing beauties of multiple races in front of him. Nevertheless, he maintained a clear look in his eyes as he sat in silence.
Two ethereal individuals were seated to the two sides of him. Both of them were youngsters. One was a man and the other was a woman. Additionally, several armored experts were also present. If Su Yu was there, he would be able to recognize these people as those from the mystic armor race.
The handsome youth to the left of the mayor lifted his wine glass and smiled, "A toast to our lord mayor, the overlord of west Plain of Desires, one who will exist in eternity alongside the eternal ancient city..."
The mayor looked at the youth with his dark and deep eyes. He said, "You are a descendant of an immortal king. You are being too polite toward me. I'm nothing but a homeless vagrant. If my homeworld is still around, I wouldn't have stayed here as this puppet mayor who is neither alive or dead."
"You must be jesting, Lord." Dao Cheng laughed and said, "Within this city itself, you can face even an immortal king in battle. You are as good as an Eternal in here."
"Heh."
It was unknown if the mayor was mocking himself or those words with that sneer. He was very young, or at least he looked very young. His eyes, in particular, were the most eye-catching aspect of him as his eyeballs were completely black. He indifferently said, "That's only applicable within this tiny city. Out of the city, even a ninth-stage Sunmoon can kill me. Back then, Xia Longwu was able to seriously injure me with one slash. I have nothing to be proud about."
Dao Cheng sank into a momentary silence before smiling, "Persisting in evil ways will only bring about self-destruction. Xia Longwu has too much blood in his eyes. In my opinion, he won't be able to complete his coming dao affirmation."
The mayor took another sip of wine and said, "Both the immortals and mystic armors are visiting together. Is there anything I can do for you?"
Seeing that the mayor was ignoring the previous topic, Dao Cheng did not insist. He said, "Lord, we wish to arrest one person in your city."
"Su Yu?"
"Yes."
The mayor gave an indifferent reply, "Sure. You are free to do so."
"We're hoping that you can provide us with some assistance in this. For example, unlocking the building Su Yu is hiding in. We won't be able to enter his lodging otherwise. Additionally, we also hope that your subordinates can reign the death spirits in once they start appearing. I know you're capable of both."
Not waiting for the mayor to refuse, he added, "You know very well that if you stay too long in the city, it is only a matter of time before you become a part of the next generation of death spirits. Many generations of new death spirits have been produced. The mayors before you have all turned into death spirits. You must be well aware of that. The immortal race...might be able to slow down this transformation."
"Immortals?" The mayor nodded, "The immortal race has a lot of tricks up their sleeve. Unlike the other races, immortals seem to have the ability to grow even stronger with age. And the longevity of your race is well-known among the myriad races."
Dao Cheng was overjoyed, "In that case..."
"However," The mayor added indifferently, "I don't need your help. Humans, immortals, divines, or devils. All of them are the races I can't afford to offend. If I help you today, will the immortals protect me against the backlash from the human Invincibles?"
"..."
Dao Cheng sank into silence. Beside him, Jiu Xuan hurriedly said, "Lord, the human race won't resort to war for the sake of a single Su Yu."
"Is that so?"
The mayor placed his wine glass down and said, "By that logic, what if I capture all of you and force the secrets of longevity out of you? The immortal race won't resort to war because of you as well, right?"
The two immortals were greatly alarmed upon hearing that.
"Hahaha!"
The mayor suddenly laughed, "Just kidding. But the two of you know this well. I can help you with Su Yu today. The human race will not go to war with the immortal race for this. But I will be stuck in this city forever. Death will follow soon. Ancient cities...never lack mayors."
He said, "Please do what you want. Don't worry. I won't leak your plan. Treat this as a regular banquet. I am aware of the alliance between the humans and the immortals. I won't say what I shouldn't."
Dao Cheng frowned, but he soon smiled, "In that case, we'll be imposing on you in the meantime. Don't worry about the alliance between the immortals and humans. We might be allied, but we are also allowed to compete against each other. Everyone knows this. It's not like Great Qin hasn't been killing the experts of my race all this while."
He wasn't too worried. As long as they weren't caught red-handed, everything would be fine. After all, Great Qin had been doing the same to them as well. Then again, they had also never stopped killing human experts whenever they found the chance to do so.
They only needed to maintain their alliance on paper. Similarly, the divines and devils were allied against the humans, but they would still fight each other. In fact, they would even fight openly if they had to. As long as they maintained the same attitude toward humanity, all was fine.
The mayor did not wish to get involved in this. Su Yu, or Mo Duona, or even the two young immortal geniuses here were people he didn't wish to provoke. If they were capable, they could kill their targets with their own strength. If they weren't capable, it was none of his business.
The mayor might also be an overlord of a region, but he only reigned in his own little region. The moment he left, any random top 100 race would be able to suppress him with their Invincibles.
As for the death qi he would accumulate as a result of staying in the city, that was the price he had to pay.
In fact, the offer of the immortal race was very tempting. Unfortunately, he couldn't accept it. Even if he accepted their offer, they wouldn't protect him. Nobody would help him if the human Invincibles decided to act against him.
It was very possible that the immortals would also be the ones to leak the information to the humans. After many years of struggle in the Allheaven Battlefield, he had long seen through the way of the myriad races.
Even when Xia Longwu nearly killed him back then, he had only charged the human race an entrance fee upon entering his city. He did nothing else against the humans.
Suddenly, a mystic armor expert spoke, "Lord, two of our young geniuses were dead. We won't let this be. We hope for your understanding as slight disturbance might arise in the city soon."
The mayor took a sip of wine and said, "Do what you wish. As long as you leave the city guards alone, I won't get involved in your business."
"Thank you, Lord!"
The mystic armor expert did not say anything else. In fact, he had been expecting the mayor to refuse their request. This mayor was too timid and indecisive. It was very unlikely that he would do something as rash as helping them against Su Yu.
Dao Cheng said, "We'll be taking our leave, Lord. My apologies for bothering you today."
"Take care."
After they left, the mayor muttered, "Mo Duona is much stronger than Su Yu yet they are leaving him alone..."
He shook his head. In the end, Su Yu was suffering from the actions of the multiple character faction. Even the immortals did not wish to see the rise of the multiple character faction. In this aspect, their wish actually aligned with the divines and devils.
And with Su Yu's ascension into the Heaven Index, the immortals finally lost their patience.