Chapter 1725: Back To The Death Realm (1)
Heavendoom City.
Su Yu arrived from the sky.
Heavendoom opened his eyes. Inside the mayor's residence, the yawning Tian He glanced at Su Yu blankly before returning to his cultivation. Su Yu was such a frequent visitor nowadays that he couldn't even be bothered to react to Su Yu's arrival anymore.
Su Yu said nothing and entered the back hall directly.
Heavendoom asked curiously, "Is there a new fight?"
"..."
Su Yu laughed and nodded. "Yes. You are very wise, Lord Heavendoom."
"So who are we fighting?" Heavendoom did not seem as excited as before. He said gloomily, "I can't beat Daofuses. It's frustrating to keep fighting without being able to kill anyone. Can you not send me against powerful old farts each time?"
He loved fighting. But it was annoying to keep fighting people he couldn't defeat.
Su Yu said, "Don't worry. This time, the opponents will die by themselves."
Heavendoom stared at Su Yu. Was this guy lying to him? Dying by themselves? What was he supposed to do, then?
Suddenly, he recalled something and asked doubtfully, "Don't tell me you're going to fight some death spirits."
"Bingo."
However, there was no reward for getting this right.
Heavendoom looked at Su Yu with a bored expression and said, "Death spirits are very annoying. Kill one, and two will come. You can never kill them all."
Su Yu said, "No, there is a way to end this. After this battle, you will have a much easier time in the future."
Heavendoom looked at Su Yu suspiciously. He felt like this was a lie. But it didn't matter. He decided to treat this as a chance to go out for a walk.
Then, Heavendoom transformed into the size of a regular human. He looked at the death tunnel on the ground and asked, "Do I take the city with me?"
That was his weapon.
"Not for now." Su Yu explained, "We don't want your absence to be noticed. Since we're going to do something in the Death Realm, it's better to keep a low profile."
Low profile his ass.
Heavendoom felt like cursing. Who was the one who had been failing to keep a low profile here?
Su Yu's actions so far had been the complete opposite of keeping a low profile. Each time Su Yu did something, he would do it in a way that everyone would know.
Heavendoom couldn't be bothered to point that out. After flying out of the city with Su Yu, he looked at the calm Allheaven Battlefield and said, "Nowadays, the Allheaven Battlefield is starting to resemble its sealed state. It's getting so silent and boring. In fact, things are the loneliest for us each time the Allheaven Battlefield is sealed."
At that time, almost everyone would leave, and most of those left behind would die.
Thus, that was also a period of boredom for the ancient guardians as they couldn't even listen to gossip anymore.
Su Yu said, "After your liberation, you won't need to endure such loneliness anymore. You will be able to go anywhere you want."
"Sigh. But that won't happen anytime soon."
Heavendoom sighed with regret. He was never a moody person, but a hundred thousand years of imprisonment was enough to turn anyone moody. Would he be able to really leave this place alive?
"You are still far from reaching the level to modify the laws. Also, from how battle-hungry you are, I don't even know if you'll live that long. I honestly doubt I'll be able to regain my freedom in my lifetime."
Su Yu laughed and asked, "Are you looking down on me, Lord?"
"Not really." Heavendoom said, "You are the most monstrous person of this epoch. But this is also the weakest humanity has ever been. You only have one Daofuse. What about the myriad races?"
"I have my allies."
"Allies are unreliable." Heavendoom solemnly said, "They will be there for you when you're winning. But when you're losing, how many are willing to die alongside you?"
Su Yu laughed and said, "In that case, I only need to ensure I'm always winning."
"What a beautiful dream. You're dead the moment the fellows from the Upper Realm are here."
"In that case, I just need to make sure they aren't here."
At that, Heavendoom shot Su Yu an odd glance, but he didn't ask more. They had arrived at Empyrean Cloud City.
The moment they arrived, Empyrean Cloud opened her eyes and asked, "Are we killing Han Xiang?"
"..."
Su Yu said nothing.
Clearly, Empyrean Cloud had been driven mad by her hatred toward Han Xiang. She had been shouting about killing Han Xiang a lot recently. Could it be that the mayor seduced by Han Xiang back then had a special relationship with Empyrean Cloud?
No, no, Su Yu decided that it was rude to speculate. He was more concerned about something else. How did they know that he was asking them to go out for a fight the moment they saw him? Did he look like such a violent man? Dıscover more novels at NoveIꜰire.net
Su Yu smiled and said, "No, not Han Xiang. We're killing Han Xiang's ancestors."
Empyrean Cloud snorted coldly. She thought that this was a new form of insult Su Yu was using against her.
Su Yu explained, "I'm being serious. I'm planning to kill a few death spirit marquises. Maybe some of them are Han Xiang's ancestors. Since we can't kill Han Xiang, we should target her ancestors instead."
Empyrean Cloud blanked out. Killing death spirit marquises? In that case, Han Xiang's ancestors might really be among them.
Meanwhile, Heavendoom exclaimed with a gasp, "Killing death spirit marquises? Yes, they are weaker than regular Daofuses, but not by much! Their greatest weakness is their lack of trump cards and tricks. But their death qi is still annoying to deal with. They won't be easy opponents."
Were they really going to kill some death spirit marquises?
But after some thought, he relaxed and said, "True. You can temporarily grow strong enough to kill Daofuses so this won't be an issue."
Su Yu laughed and said, "No, no, no. I am counting on each of you to kill a different marquis this time."
Heavendoom: "..."
Heavendoom stared at Su Yu with an unamused expression. Was this a joke? If he were strong enough for that, he would have done so long ago.
Su Yu said, "There is no rush. We shall see. If an opportunity presents itself, don't hesitate to unseal yourself, Lord."
"Unsealing myself?" Heavendoom frowned and said, "The death spirits might be able to escape the death tunnel because of that. Everyone else will be punished alongside me."
With his bad temper, he had been wanting to abandon his post long ago. But what would the result be? He didn't mind dying alone. But the other guardians would be punished as well. They had been together for too long. For a hundred thousand years, they were the only ones there for each other. Heavendoom was only staying because of them.
Su Yu said, "Don't worry. That will happen, but maybe not in the immediate future. I will pick several candidates from the human and other races to replace you as the guardians."
Su Yu explained, "After pacifying the Death Realm and putting all the death spirits under our control, they will stop attacking the death tunnels. In such a situation, we can even leave the tunnels unattended for a short time without much issue. No punishment will arrive from the laws so long as the death spirits remain inside the Death Realm."
Heavendoom stared at Su Yu solemnly. Empyrean Cloud's expression was changing as well. What was Su Yu saying? Pacifying the Death Realm? Was this a joke?
Su Yu said, "Let's go. We still need to see Lord Grandstar. It's only the four of us this time."
Before long, they arrived at Grandstar City.
***
Grandstar City.
After hearing Su Yu's plan, Grandstar inhaled and exclaimed, "Have you gone mad? Are you really targeting the East Heavenly King?"
Heavendoom and Empyrean Cloud were just as shocked. Targeting the East Heavenly King! They had thought that they would only be dealing with a death spirit marquis or two. But Su Yu was clearly a lot more ambitious than they thought.
Su Yu laughed and said, "What is there to fear? The bold shall feast and the timid shall starve. Have you not heard this saying before? Lords, a bright future awaits us in the event of success. And if we do fail...well, we die together. This isn't your first time working with me, Lords. This time, I am only working with the three of you. So tell me. Do you have the courage to accept this task from me? We are already quite familiar with each other. That's why I'm being so straightforward here."
Heavendoom, who was starting to turn restless, said, "We don't fear anything, but the thing is...we can't beat them!"
After a short pause, he continued, "At worst, we will have to unseal ourselves. I guess that isn't a big deal. I am tired of this stone skin. Unsealed, I can probably last quite some time in a fight against them. But there are nine death spirit marquises and a heavenly king among them. It is very likely that we will be the ones to eventually die in the battle."
Su Yu merely grinned and asked, "Are you scared?"
Heavendoom sneered and said, "If not even you are scared, what is there for us to fear? How many years have you been alive? How long have I lived? I have nothing to lose! If it wasn't for Boss, I would have charged down there and slaughtered these death spirits long ago!"
"Good." Su Yu said, "Lord Grand Dream promised to watch over the death tunnels for now. Nothing will happen. Let's go."
At that, Grandstar City's death tunnel opened. The four stepped into the tunnel unhesitantly. Over the years, the guardians had rarely stepped into the Death Realm. This was one of the few times.
Xing Yue, who was seated cross-legged inside the tunnel, opened her eyes before retreating hurriedly. She stared at the newcomers warily.
Su Yu smiled and said, "Lord Xing Yue, don't worry. We're family, so we're not here to do anything to you. Why are you running?"
Xing Yue glared at them coldly before vanishing with a flicker. She had still opted to flee.
Su Yu chuckled. Why was she running?
Sigh.
He rushed out of the tunnel. There, he noticed Xing Yue glaring at him from afar. He said, "Lord, your subordinate is here bearing gifts."
Then, he took a death fragment out. That was something he had obtained from a dead marquis. The marquis killed by book spirit and tea plant previously. That was not all. He also took out some death blood, which could also be considered a form of Daofuse blood essence.
Xing Yue frowned before saying coldly, "I don't need them."
Su Yu laughed and said, "Don't hold back, Lord. After consuming these, you might be able to grow into an eighth or ninth-degree Eternal. That would be great. Things might get chaotic in the Death Realm in a bit. Without sufficient strength, you will be quite vulnerable."
"Chaos?"
Su Yu nodded, "I am planning to start a war in the Death Realm. I might even require your help. This is the chance to expand the Xing Yue Kingdom! At present, our territory is too small. What do you think, Lord?"
Xing Yue frowned and stared at Su Yu with a dark expression...even if her expression was never bright due to all the death qi on her. Her cloak started changing colors between black and gray as she thought deeply. It was a mystery what she was thinking about.
After a while, she reached out and grabbed her presents before saying, "Very well. I'm accepting your tribute. What rewards do you need from me?"
Su Yu grinned. Rewards? Sure, sure, if that was enough to please her.
"Nothing for now. I'll tell you when I think of something."
At that point, Heavendoom and the others arrived behind Su Yu. After taking a glance at Xing Yue, Heavendoom said curiously, "I never paid much attention before, but Xing Yue, you have been the sole death sovereign here for a very long time, right?"
Chapter 1726: Back To The Death Realm (2)
When Su Yu looked at him, Heavendoom said, "What? The death sovereigns at our places have changed many times. Just the territory under my city has switched ownership five or six times. Some were killed by the other death sovereigns, and some were killed by me for charging out of the tunnel. Even that is not that high a number since it has been a hundred thousand years."
Grandstar smiled and explained, "Xing Yue knows restraint. She rarely leaves unless it's under the order of the heavenly laws."
The truth was very simple. Grandstar was quite satisfied with his obedient death sovereign. Thus, he had never seen the need to kill her.
In fact, he would even help Xing Yue against the roaming aggressive death sovereigns to protect her rule.
Grandstar continued, "Furthermore, I have known Xing Yue for so many years. We are old friends. Am I right, Xing Yue?"
Xing Yue responded with a cold snort. This felt like a provocation! But she had to endure it since she couldn't beat any of them. What could she do if she was weaker?
Suddenly, she thought of something and ordered coldly, "Su Yu, take them and piss off! I don't want to see them here."
Yes. She had remembered that Su Yu was her subordinate.
Su Yu coughed awkwardly and nodded. "Yes, we're leaving immediately. By the way, where are Senior Xia Chen and the others?"
Even Liu Hong had gone missing. That guy was probably still somewhere in the Death Realm. Was he out to search for Culture King's Residence? Was he the successor of the ink legacy?
"I don't know. They left."
When Xing Yue was the one saying that, Su Yu was very inclined to believe her.
He looked at the others and said, "Shall we start thinking of a way to contact Marquis Lanshan?"
Grandstar said, "Marquis Lanshan is probably staying in the East Heavenly Domain. She won't be easy to contact."
"Let's take a look at the Celestial River of Death first." Su Yu said, "Perhaps we can contact her there. Since the immortals can contact their marquises, there must be a way for us to do it as well. At worst, we can try to make a death spirit our messenger."
Hearing his words, Xing Yue's cold voice rang out, "I can contact her for you. You're all living beings. You are too easily detected the moment you cross the Celestial River of Death."
Su Yu laughed and said, "It's fine, Lord Xing Yue. Just focus on digesting the death imprint."
He had refused because she was simply too weak. She was only a sixth-degree Eternal. She had been around since the ancient past. How was she still at the sixth degree? Su Yu didn't even know what to say about her anymore.
Sensing that Su Yu was looking down on her, Xing Yue vanished and returned to her ancient palace with a cold expression.
***
Su Yu and the guardians left without wasting any time.
After a while, Grandstar said, "Xing Yue might have a unique identity. She has been around for a very long time. In fact, she might be as old as the tunnels themselves. She was here before I was even a guardian."
Heavendoom rolled his eyes and said, "What's so special about being old?"
Grandstar found the retort both funny and annoying at the same time. He shot back, "What nonsense are you saying? Think! Use your brain! Who were the guardians before us? Back then, the Death Realm had just been pacified. The human kings kept watch personally. Even the likes of Culture King and Martial King were frequent visitors of the Death Realm at that time.
"When you first came, were there any death sovereigns in the area? Death sovereigns are smart enough to know who they shouldn't provoke. With so many monstrous human kings around, only the dumb lower-level death spirits were around. But when I arrived, Xing Yue and her palace were already here."
Heavendoom blanked out. "Really? Why did you never speak of this before?"
Grandstar said, "What is there to speak about? No matter how special her identity is, she is dead. What's the point? She was already at this strength when I first arrived. Even after so many years, she hadn't grown. If you think about it, that is really weird. Even if she never cultivates, the natural accumulation of death qi over a hundred thousand years should have pushed her to a higher level long ago."
He shook his head, clearly lacking an answer for that mystery.
To the side, Empyrean Cloud said matter-of-factly, "How is that so complicated? Some big shot must have sealed her cultivation and prevented her from growing."
"Why?"
Grandstar wasn't buying that. What was the point?
Empyrean Cloud snorted and said, "Are you stupid? See, it's true that all males are brainless. Why are you asking me something so stupid? Because some big shot wanted to resurrect her. And it's far easier to resurrect a weaker death spirit. Just look at He Tu. His cultivation has been stuck for so long as well. Does that look normal to you? He's stuck because Boss is keeping his cultivation suppressed, ensuring that the difficulty of resurrecting him doesn't grow too high."
That was a shocking explanation for Su Yu to hear, but it made a lot of sense. Yes. The stronger a death spirit was, the harder it would be for them to resurrect. That was perfectly logical. He Tu was already near Daofuse almost a hundred thousand years ago. Yet he had remained at the seventh degree for nine epochs.
Su Yu also knew that He Tu had consumed a lot of death imprints. Even so, his growth remained stunted. So...that was because of the old turtle's suppression?
Su Yu inhaled deeply. That could very well be the case.
Empyrean Cloud continued, "An unknown big shot must have sealed her growth, but all those big shots had died before they could resurrect her. Since she couldn't remove the seal herself, she has remained stuck for so many years."
Grandstar nodded and said, "Empyrean Cloud, you sure know a lot. I have never considered this matter. I have always assumed that Xing Yue is simply lazy."
He looked at Su Yu and said, "This might really be the truth. But we can observe her again later. If her strength remains in the sixth degree by the time we return, we can confirm that her growth has indeed been sealed."
After all, Xing Yue had been given the death imprint of a marquis. In fact, a sixth-degree Eternal should have reached the seventh degree many times over by simply sleeping through a hundred thousand years.
It was completely unnatural for one to be stuck for so long.
Su Yu asked curiously, "So, which big shot is she related to? She seems to know a lot. Also, what was her race prior to her death? Was she a human?"
He was unsure if Xing Yue was a human. It was very hard to determine the original race of a death spirit unless the death spirit was exposing some special characteristics unique to a specific race. But Xing Yue had shown nothing like that.
"A human, I guess?" Grandstar said uncertainly, "Most likely. A death sovereign of any other race would have revealed some special characteristics of their race the moment they regained their memories. But her form has remained the same all along."
Fine. Fine.
Su Yu did not ask more. It wasn't that important. He was more curious about something else. Back then, Culture King had entered the Death Realm to resurrect someone. Alas, he had failed.
And Xing Yue was a death spirit whose growth had been sealed by a big shot. That must have been done for the sake of resurrecting her. In that case, was Xing Yue the person Culture King had attempted to resurrect back then?
Xing Yue had been a death spirit for so long that it was unlikely for her to be the Time Sage. If Xing Yue was really Culture King's target...could it be that...Xing Yue was Culture King's...wife?
Hehehe.
No way...right?
The ancient past sure was complicated.
That reminded Su Yu of something else. He said curiously, "I heard that back then, the Sea of Stars was not a floating sea. Eventually, a big shot raised it into the sky to please his wife. Does any you know who this big shot was?"
The Sea of Stars was so large it might as well be boundless. In fact, it occupied half the Allheaven Battlefield. Raising something so high from the ground and keeping it in the sky would most certainly require the power of laws. That was the only answer. The culprit was most certainly a Master of Law.
Or to be precise, it would be an extraordinary Master of Law. Even in the tenth epoch, there were countless battles between the various experts. Something like that must have happened in the ancient past as well, yet all the battles had failed to strike the sea down from the sky.
At that question, Grandstar looked at Heavendoom. Noticing the gaze, Heavendoom rolled his eyes and said, "Why are you looking at me? Do you think I'm strong enough to hang this sea in the sky?"
He looked at Su Yu and said, "I'm unsure. This sea has been up in the sky for as long as we remember. According to the rumors, Radiant King did it. But I can't be sure. In any case, only a few people had the strength to pull this off.
"Culture, Martial, Radiant, Control, and Human Emperor. These were the five strongest humans back then. The Human Emperor ruled, but the four major human kings were also incomparably powerful. These five were the core firepower during humanity's conquest."
A human again? Su Yu was left quite speechless. Were the ancient humans so free that they would do all these weird things? Radiant King...that was Great Ming King's ancestor. If that was really the case, then he must have been terrifyingly strong.
"How much do you know about Control King?"
"Control King?"
They shook their heads. Empyrean Cloud said, "We don't know much. Su Yu, don't overestimate us. We were mere nobodies back then. We might not be at the very bottom, but we were certainly not that highly ranked either."
"During the ancient past, only Daofuses were qualified to stand at the top. Only the likes of marquises and kings could get in contact with someone at Control King's level."
Grandstar added, "We were merely a part of the Spirit Suppression Army. Our boss might have met these top experts before, but the most important expert we have ever met was Devote King. We might know a little more about him, but not the other human kings and assembly members. They were too important for us to come in contact with."
Su Yu nodded. Recalling the Heavenly Seal King, he asked, "Can any of you remember seeing a female expert after the Allheaven Battlefield was shut off the previous epoch? A female who had remained in the Allheaven Battlefield..."
As he spoke, he drew a woman with a frosty expression in the air. It felt as though she only had one expression as that was the sole expression she carried each time he saw her in Heavenly Seal King's memories.
Since these guardians wouldn't leave the Allheaven Battlefield during the sealed period, they might have seen her before. The three looked at the portrait. Grandstar shook his head directly.
Empyrean Cloud shook her head as well. Su Yu started feeling doubtful. This seemed unlikely. A super expert would not appear out of nowhere, unless that super expert was in a similar situation as the book spirit and tea plant.
Before Su Yu could say anything, Heavendoom's doubtful voice rang out, "This face...looks familiar."
"Have you seen her before?" Su Yu was surprised.
With an uncertain tone, Heavendoom answered, "I'm not sure if it's the same person. After the end of the previous epoch, there was a woman in black robes left in the Allheaven Battlefield. I saw her roaming around frequently, so I paid some attention to her, thinking that she was a celestial chasm. But upon further observation, I found that she wasn't."
"When was the last time you saw her, Lord?"
"About five hundred years ago?"
Heavendoom thought about it and said, "Not long after the connection between the Allheaven Battlefield and the Human Realm was restored."
Su Yu frowned and asked, "That was the last time? What was she doing roaming around? Do you have any idea?"
"No, not really..."
But suddenly, Heavendoom recalled something. He said, "Speaking of...that fellow might have been searching for a way to the Death Realm."
Su Yu asked, "Why so?"
"I'm not sure, but I remember that fellow coming to my place to gather some death qi." Heavendoom grinned and said, "Naturally, I wouldn't refuse someone willingly reducing my burden of death qi. During the sealed period, I had to rely on myself. There wouldn't even be a mayor around to help.
"Since she wasn't weak, she could gather a lot of death qi. Thus, I was quite happy to let her do it. She came several times, and each time, she would gather a large amount. That was quite a relaxed period for me. New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on novelFirｅ.net
"She must have been trying to open a death tunnel herself. Since she went missing not long after, she must have entered the Death Realm. But it has been five hundred years. She must have died after so long in the Death Realm."
Heavendoom looked at Su Yu and asked, "Are you looking for her? Is this a friend or an enemy?"
"An enemy. There is a son-killing feud between us."
"Wait! You had a son?"
"..."
Su Yu rolled his eyes. How did Heavendoom reach that conclusion? That was someone who had vanished for hundreds of years. Wasn't the answer clear? Su Yu did not bother to explain himself.
Before long, they reached the Celestial River of Death. According to the old turtle, the Celestial River of Death formed a circle around the territory governed by Devote King and the old turtle. Beyond the river were the territories of the four heavenly kings. The area directly under the old turtle's city was nearest to the East Heavenly Domain.
Chapter 1727: Back To The Death Realm (3)
Celestial River of Death.
The four stared at the hanging river in the sky. This was Su Yu's first time looking at this river from such a near distance. He could even hear the sound of flowing water coming from the river.
"So this is the Celestial River of Death." Su Yu said with some hesitation, "Why does it look so similar to the River of Time?"
Grandstar nodded and said, "According to the rumors, a supreme expert attempted to create his very own River of Time back then. But he walked the path of life and death as he aimed to shatter the barrier between life and death to achieve true immortality. Even at the event of death, he wanted the ability to cycle endlessly between life and death. But from how things are here, it's clear that the expert did not fully succeed. He mastered the death part, but not the life part."
Su Yu gasped in shock and said, "Are you saying that this entire place was created by a super expert?"
"I'm not sure. That was an event from the primordial past."
Grandstar shook his head and said, "We only came in contact with the Death Realm after the conquest. At the time, the Death Realm was already conquered by the Martial King and the others."
Su Yu did not ask more. Instead, he soared forward and stepped onto the dark river in the sky.
Boom!
Instantly, a claw shot up from the river. He responded by gripping the incoming claw and pulling at it, dragging a fish-headed death spirit out of the river. The water on his arm was extremely corrosive as it was essentially the liquid form of death qi.
Surprisingly, the entire Celestial River of Death was formed of liquid death qi. The death spirit caught by Su Yu wasn't too strong. It was only a Sunmoon. It did not even seem to be sentient. Instead, it had merely attacked instinctively.
Behind him, Grandstar explained, "There are countless death spirits here, and their strength varies. Be careful. Some top experts might have remained in slumber for many years. They might awaken at the tiniest stimulation. That would be troublesome to handle."
Su Yu nodded and looked ahead. The river was wide enough that he couldn't even see the other side from where he was. Nevertheless, he wasn't worried. Marquis Qishan had proven that the river could be crossed.
Just then, Grandstar took a token out and said, "This is a suppression seal. With this, you can suppress some death spirits. It might help when crossing the river. Our boss' token is even more useful as it can manipulate even the power of laws slightly."
Su Yu laughed and said, "I'm aware. I hear that East Heavenly King's token can control the power of laws as well."
"As a heavenly king, that is only natural. This was a power granted to them by the ancient imperial court."
Su Yu nodded and looked around as his eyes shone. When he looked down at the river, he saw countless submerged death spirits. Even on the surface, numerous floating death spirits could be seen. The floating death spirits were clearly weaker than the submerged ones.
After a while, he saw one of the floating death spirits being washed off the river by a random wave. There, the death spirit stood up blankly before roaming off into the distance.
That was a Sunmoon death spirit. At times, over a thousand death spirits would be washed ashore in a similar manner. This was essentially the origin of the numerous death spirits populating the Death Realm.
Right then, Su Yu reached out and grabbed a large draconic death spirit. He said in surprise, "A dragon?"
The gigantic death spirit stared at Su Yu with confusion and fear in its eyes. It replied with a stiff voice, "Who...you..."
Su Yu frowned, "Why do you look familiar?"
Su Yu looked at Grandstar. Noticing Su Yu's glance, he smiled and said, "What a coincidence. I remember that guy losing his entire body to you. How did he awaken so soon?"
"Who is it?" Heavendoom asked in confusion.
Empyrean Cloud rolled her eyes and said, "Don't you ever pay attention to the affairs of the various cities? This was Grandstar's previous mayor, that dark dragon."
"Oh." Heavendoom shrugged indifferently, "We will lose a mayor every few centuries. After going through so many mayors, who would care? I lost track when Grandstar's mayor was still a bull. When did he get himself a dragon mayor?"
Grandstar ignored Heavendoom and continued staring at the death spirit. After a while, he shook his head and said, "I doubt it's the same guy. As a mayor and half a death spirit, that guy might really awaken much earlier than a regular death spirit after dying. But I doubt this is the same guy. They merely look similar."
Su Yu smiled and said, "It doesn't really matter."
His Mark of Civilization appeared and swallowed the dead dragon.
Su Yu said with a smile on his face, "Anyone who has offended will be killed once alive and killed again dead."
"..."
How ruthless.
What could be more ruthless than killing one's enemies twice?
For Su Yu, just being a dragon was enough for this death spirit to die. Why? Because of the Dragon Pseudo Emperor's participation in the battle against him.
"What now? Do we keep going ahead?"
Heavendoom looked at Su Yu.
Su Yu stared into the distance and said, "That is East Heavenly King's home ground. It is definitely a lot more dangerous over there. And I don't even know Marquis Lanshan. It's hard to predict how she will react to our proposal..."
Then, he chuckled and created a character clone. Back then, Fiery Sea King was strong enough to do something like this. At Su Yu's current strength, he was naturally capable of doing the same.
That was a character clone manifested from the patience character. Su Yu sent a strand of his willpower into the clone. Then, he took a tiny token out. It was his crown, also the holy token forged during his coronation. Instead of keeping it in its crown form, he had transformed it into a token before handing it to the clone.
"Go, look for the East Heavenly Palace, and try to meet Marquis Lanshan. Tell her that the current human lord wishes to meet her."
Heavendoom hurriedly asked, "Are you really sending only a clone? What if it lost the token?"
Su Yu said, "It's fine. I'm the only one capable of using it. That is a symbol of my identity, but it's no big deal if it's lost. Nobody can make use it. I can simply retrieve it in the future."
Su Yu was the sole person capable of using it. Each generation of human lord would have their own token. After putting the token away, the clone rushed off.
It moved noiselessly. As the patient character, it was naturally good at infiltration.
Even so, it was still not free from the harassment of the random death spirits in the river. Following behind the clone as an escort was the Mark of Civilization. It would consume every aggressive death spirit without mercy.
The Mark of Civilization escorted the clone all the way to the other side of the river before returning. At worst, Su Yu would lose a character doing this. But he wasn't too concerned.
That was a character originating from Great Zhou King. If it wasn't for the sheer usefulness of the calm character, Su Yu would have crushed all of Great Zhou King's characters long ago.
Thus, he was fine with losing the patience character. He could easily form more in the future by converting techniques and abilities after linking both his source qi and willpower.
***
East Heavenly Domain.
East Heavenly Palace.
The massive palace stood alone under the dusky sky. Inside the palace, numerous death spirits could be seen moving about for different tasks. Thıs content belongs to NoveI~Fire.net
The main hall was also East Heavenly King's throne room. Dozens of side halls surrounded the main hall, acting as the residences of the death spirit marquises. At its peak, the East Heavenly Domain was home to dozens of death spirit marquises. Many had died, and only ten were left.
Thus, only ten of these side halls were still occupied. One of them was the Lanshan Hall.
The residence of Marquis Lanshan.
Unlike the other busy halls, Lanshan Hall was rather bleak and dead. Only a small number of death spirits could be seen in it, including a few death sovereigns. These were all human death spirits.
The death spirits there were in a heavy mood. Recently, Darkmoon Marquis had reported to the heavenly king that due to Marquis Lanshan's collusion with the Spirit Suppression General, Marquis Qishan and the others had perished. In his rage, the heavenly king whipped Marquis Lanshan's dao body three hundred times, leaving her with heavy injuries.
The death spirits walked solemnly for a while before arriving before a large room. Seated in the center of the room was Marquis Lanshan. She had her back to the entrance, and she was staring at a painting hanging on the wall.
"Lord!"
A death sovereign entered the room and reported, "The East Heavenly King held a meeting earlier and decided upon an attack on the Spirit Suppression Domain to capture He Tu. Your subordinates were appointed as the vanguard, with me serving as the leader of the vanguard."
Marquis Lanshan turned around and said, "Does he really not care about the imperial court anymore?"
The death spirit sighed and said, "Lord, the ancient past...is no more. The imperial court is no more as well. The East Heavenly Domain has become a playground of East Heavenly King. Lord...there is nothing we can do."
In the past, their position wasn't as weak since there were several human death spirit marquises here. But after several epochs, Marquis Lanshan was the only one left.
She had maintained a low profile and stayed patient for many years. Alas, she had finally lost patience recently and acted. But due to that one action, their position had turned even harder than before.
After a short silence, Marquis Lanshan said, "Just obey the order, then."
"At this rate, something will happen to you as well. Why don't you flee, Lord?"
Marquis Lanshan did not reply. Fleeing? Why had she stayed patient for so many years? Because with her around, she could still care for these human death spirits! The moment she left, there wouldn't be a single human marquis left. There was no doubt that with her absence, all the human death spirits would also cease to exist.
Would the other marquises give the human death spirits the space to grow? Over the years, Marquis Lanshan had gathered over a thousand human death spirits. There were Sunmoons and Eternals among them. Without her around, these human death spirits would have been devoured by the other death spirits long ago.
With her around, the others still needed to hold back slightly against the human death spirits. If she were to leave...
Marquis Lanshan sighed inwardly. She couldn't. Leaving would be the same as giving up on even the tiny bit of hold humanity had over the East Heavenly Domain.
Just then, her eyes flickered as she stared into the distance. She muttered, "I seem to have...sensed something."
She walked out of the door and stared ahead. She could sense something approaching. Something incredibly important. What could it be? It felt familiar, but she couldn't recall what it was.
But suddenly, her expression changed. As a death spirit, her change of expression wasn't too obvious. Even so, the death sovereign behind her noticed it. He asked, "Lord, what is it?"
"Nothing."
She turned to look at the main hall. After a while, she looked outside again. At present, it was too hard for her to move around. Thus, she said, "Yusheng, take some people and pick a fight with Darkmoon Marquis' people. Just claim that you don't want to be the vanguard. Try to occupy their attention."
"Yes!"
The death sovereign left without asking anything. Shortly after, he headed toward a different hall with a group of death sovereigns.
Shortly after...Boom!
Yusheng's voice rang out, "Why must I be the vanguard? Why are bastards like you staying behind?"
That attracted the gazes of numerous marquises.
At the same time, Marquis Lanshan sent a strand of death qi out with a wave of her hand. Instantly, that strand of qi vanished outside the palace.
***
Before Su Yu's clone could reach the palace, it heard a voice, "Leave! Go further away!"
With a blank expression, the clone followed the strand of death qi away.
After moving far away from the palace, the strand of death qi turned into an indistinct silhouette. It looked at the clone and asked, "Who are you?"
"The clone of the current human lord. Are you Marquis Lanshan?"
"Human lord?"
The silhouette flickered slightly before asking, "What...does the current human lords...need from me?"
"Turn against the East Heavenly Domain, kill a marquis, and flee into the Spirit Suppression Domain. This is the order of the human lord."
Then, the clone took a small token out.
"This is the holy lord's token. Marquis Lanshan, do you accept?"
Hearing the request, the silhouette flickered even more. Betraying the East Heavenly Domain and fleeing into the Spirit Suppression Domain. What about the others in the East Heavenly Domain?
After some hesitation, the silhouette spoke, "But there are still many human death spirits here..."
The clone said with the same blank expression, "The human lord knows what to do. Marquis Lanshan, do you accept?"
Marquis Lanshan had mixed feelings about this. The current human lord was quite a domineering one. He expected her to accept his command without providing any explanation.
"What other orders does the human lord have?"
After a long silence, the clone spoke, "This is an extremely dangerous mission. You may think it through before deciding. If you are willing, please act as soon as possible."
The silhouette said, "But if I leave, the human death spirits might all be killed..."
"It won't happen instantly. They won't do anything before first ensuring your death."
The clone repeated, "Marquis Lanshan, do you accept?"
Staring at the seal, Marquis Lanshan saw the maps of the thirty-six prefectures on it. She saw the current map of the Human Realm. This was an indication of humanity's support.
The current human lord.
And the token of the current human lord.
She did not know Su Yu. She had never seen Su Yu. Or to be precise, she had seen Su Yu when he killed Wisdom King as she wasn't that far away. But they had never met properly.
After a short silence, the silhouette said, "Lanshan...accepts!"
At that, the clone handed the token to her and said, "This token can't be lost. Return it to the human lord upon meeting him. With this token, he can track you at all times."
Then, the clone left with a flicker. Looking down at the token in her hand, Marquis Lanshan's emotions grew even more complicated. She held the human lord's token in her hand.
The human lord was...so overbearing.
If she refused the order, would the human lord come personally to retrieve the token?
At that thought, Marquis Lanshan laughed. Perhaps...this was the type of leader the current humanity needed.
"Leaving the East Heavenly Domain..."
After taking a glance at the East Heavenly Palace, the silhouette vanished with a flicker.
Chapter 1728: Battle Of Lanshan (1)
Celestial River of Death.
A character flew back. After focusing on the character for a bit, Su Yu smiled, "Done."
"Did Marquis Lanshan agree?"
Grandstar was surprised, "She agreed without even meeting you?"
Su Yu laughed and said, "That's not surprising. If she's still willing to fight for humanity, she will naturally agree since I'm the current human lord. But if she's only fighting for a specific person instead of humanity, meeting me won't change anything."
Grandstar said, "At times, I truly can't understand you humans."
Su Yu said, "It's not that complicated. Your race is probably not around anymore. Otherwise, you would understand that at times, the well-being of your race as a whole supercedes everything."
"Fine." Grandstar asked, "What's next for us?"
Su Yu looked up, inhaled deeply, and said, "Kill. We kill some death spirits. When Marquis Lanshan first turns on him, the East Heavenly King might not set off personally. But if we kill the experts he sends after her here, he will have no choice but to come.
"I only hope that Marquis Lanshan can actually reach this place. It's much harder for us to go there instead. After all, that's East Heavenly King's home ground with countless death sovereigns. We won't be a match for them there."
It was very hard for death sovereigns to cross the Celestial River of Death. Thus, they would be fine starting the battle here above the river.
"Fine."
The three guardians said nothing else. The only thing they could do now was wait. If Marquis Lanshan couldn't even reach them, the plan would fail. She had to arrive with enough experts in pursuit for the plan to work.
***
East Heavenly Palace.
Marquis Lanshan was still staring at the painting hanging in the hall. That was a dark painting, but an indistinct map of the Human Realm could be seen on it. As she stood there looking at the painting, the noise from outside the hall grew louder and louder.
Finally, a furious voice rang out, "Lanshan, keep your people in check!"
Marquis Lanshan continued looking at the painting. Eventually, she moved to take the painting, but she ultimately gave up on that idea.
In her hand was a tiny token. Slowly, she stepped out of Lanshan Hall before moving toward the nearby Darkmoon Hall. Darkmoon Marquis was an expert of the nether race, also an ancient marquis like her. After dying, she had entered the East Heavenly Palace.
She had been hostile toward Marquis Lanshan since the very beginning. Back when humanity was in power, she did not dare to provoke Marquis Lanshan. But things had evidently changed.
Marquis Lanshan was a human marquis who had died during the human conquest. In fact, she had only received her title posthumously. During the conquest, such titles did not exist. She was born in a place called Lanshan in the Human Realm. Due to the long passage of time, that place no longer existed.
Due to the sheer amount of time she had been dead for, it was likely that almost everyone had forgotten about her. But she was one of the 360 human marquises. And one of the small number of female human marquises.
In truth, of the 360 marquises, a decent number of them were actually posthumous appointments.
As Marquis Lanshan sank into a recollection of the past, numerous figures appeared in her mind. The carefree and unruly Culture King. The valiant and mighty Martial King. The treacherous and crafty Radiant King. The gloomy and stiff Control King. The aggressive Battle King. The talkative Devote King.
That was an amazing era.
A hot-blooded era.
She once slaughtered the many enemies of humanity. She once roamed a battlefield of countless soldiers, cutting off the heads of enemy leaders, and winning the cheers of countless soldiers.
But now, she was tired.
Humanity had declined.
Nine epochs. One defeat after another. Weaker and weaker. More and more humans would die in each epoch, yet the number of human death spirits she could gather had declined as well. Some had been secretly killed by the other marquises before she could do anything, while some had simply not awakened. Humanity, the previous overlord of the Myriad Realms, had lost the Death Realm as well.
With all those thoughts in her mind, she arrived before a different hall. There, Yusheng and several other human death sovereigns were being forced to kneel on the ground by a powerful death spirit.
With one leg on Yusheng's head, Darkmoon Marquis looked at Marquis Lanshan and said, "Lanshan, your people are getting too brazen. The heavenly king gave them that task out of respect for them. How dare you instigate these bugs to cause trouble?"
Darkmoon Marquis sneered and said, "Is this your way of protesting against your previous punishment? Are you holding a grudge toward the heavenly king?"
Darkmoon Marquis laughed and continued, "Lanshan, are you still living in the past?"
Marquis Lanshan merely stared at Darkmoon Marquis silently. After a long while, she said expressionlessly, "Release them. Darkmoon, humanity might have declined, but the one to eventually conquer the world will either be the immortals, devils, divines, or even dragons, but not the nethers. Alive, you were a dog of these races. Dead, you are still their dog. You must have gotten addicted to serving them."
Darkmoon Marquis' eyes turned frosty as she asked, "Lanshan, is this a provocation?"
With perfect calm and nonchalance, Marquis Lanshan said, "Provocation? Not at all. You are unworthy of being provoked."
Fury filled Darkmoon Marquis' eyes.
No matter what, a death spirit was a death spirit. It was too easy for a death spirit to lose control over their temper. In her fury, Darkmoon Marquis stepped harder on Yusheng's head, wiping the floor with Yusheng's face, and said, "Lanshan, wake up. This is not the ancient past. This is the East Heavenly Palace."
She sneered and asked, "Have you forgotten the pain of having your dao body lashed? Shall I report this to the heavenly king and have your death blood extracted as well?"
"Do you even have a brain?" Slowly, Marquis Lanshan stepped forward as she said, "He would have killed me long ago if he really had the courage to do so. Humanity might be weaker currently, but we have more than one marquis left in the four heavenly domains. The East Heavenly King does not have the courage to kill me as the experts of my race are still out there. He has the courage to kill a few in the chaos of battle, but when things are calm, he doesn't have the courage to kill me. Your words are meaningless."
Darkmoon Marquis' expression changed.
"What are you talking about?"
Marquis Lanshan said, "Nothing much. I'm saying that the East Heavenly King only has the courage to punish me, not kill me. Do you understand now? What is wrong with your brain? Do you think complaining to him about me would work? How laughable. Remove your leg from Yusheng's head or you will come to understand how regret feels like."
"Regret?" Darkmoon Marquis laughed and said, "Lanshan, are you feeling confident after the deaths of Qishan and the others?"
At this point, some new auras were starting to surge around them. The other marquises were enjoying the show.
Marquis Lanshan's people was being punished by Darkmoon Marquis. Earlier, Marquis Lanshan was punished by the heavenly king. The deaths of Marquis Qishan and the others had angered the heavenly king. Now that a conflict had erupted between the two, the heavenly king would definitely side with Darkmoon, not Lanshan.
Could Marquis Lanshan swallow this? The Daofuses were not the only ones enjoying the show. Even the death sovereigns were watching curiously. How interesting. Things had been calm for too many years. Was something fun finally happening?
However, Marquis Lanshan did not have the advantage here. If she escalated the matter too much, the heavenly king might punish her.
***
Darkmoon Marquis continued stepping on Yusheng, who was struggling violently. He roared with desperation, but he was unable to break free. He was only an Eternal, while a Daofuse was stepping on him. The Daofuse was even suppressing him with the power of law. He was completely helpless.
All around them, more than ten death sovereigns under Darkmoon Marquis were suppressing the rest of his companions.
"Wow, are you still struggling?"
With a sneer, Darkmoon Marquis released more death qi to strengthen the suppression.
Yusheng was no weakling. To qualify as the leader of the vanguard force, he was naturally no weakling. In fact, he was an eighth-stage Eternal. Alas, the person stepping on him was a marquis.
Darkmoon Marquis started throwing provocative glances at Lanshan. She was clearly trying to provoke Lanshan into attacking. The moment Lanshan attacked, she would be punished by the heavenly king regardless of who the troublemaker was.
Looking at Yusheng and the other suppressed human death sovereigns, Lanshan sighed and started stepping forward. At that, Darkmoon Marquis frowned and asked, "What are you trying to do?"
Marquis Lanshan ignored her and looked at Yusheng. With a sigh, she said, "This is all my fault."
"Lord!" Yusheng growled like a beast and said, "No! We were the ones who had embarassed you! One day, I will kill this bastard with my own hands!"
"Damn you!"
Darkmoon Marquis put more strength onto her leg, pushing Yusheng's head harder against the ground. The head started cracking. But seeing that, Marquis Lanshan became even calmer than before. With a sigh, she continued forward.
Seeing that Marquis Lanshan was still approaching, Darkmoon Marquis asked, "What are you doing? Stay away from me!"
Marquis Lanshan asked calmly, "Without the courage to kill me, what's the point of barking so loud? Do you have the courage to kill me? I'm standing right in front of you. Do you dare to kill me? Do you think nobody in the four heavenly domains will avenge me after my death? Do you think the East Heavenly King will protect you? How idiotic."
Step by step, she approached Darkmoon Marquis. A smile formed on her face as she said, "I'm right here. Come on. Kill me."
Darkmoon Marquis gnashed her teeth. She was furious. She really wanted to kill Marquis Lanshan. But Marquis Lanshan was right. Yes. Humanity was the weaker party in the four heavenly domains. But there were still some human marquises around.
Killing Lanshan for no good reason would result in a reprisal from these human marquises. She could complain to the heavenly king and had Lanshan punished, but she couldn't kill Lanshan herself. In any case, it wasn't like she was strong enough to kill Lanshan even if Lanshan was currently injured.
The pressure from the approaching Marquis Lanshan gave Darkmoon Marquis the urge to retreat, but her ego did not allow her to do that. She continued stepping on Yusheng. How could she bow and step back? How could she show her fear? Too many people were watching.
And thus, Darkmoon Marquis resisted her uneasiness and stayed as Marquis Lanshan approached. She wasn't afraid that Marquis Lanshan would do anything to her. After all, this was the East Heavenly Palace. Marquis Lanshan was all alone here.
Unless Marquis Lanshan was ready to die, she wouldn't do anything stupid. Marquis Lanshan was aware of Darkmoon Marquis' true thoughts. Thus, she continued walking forward.
Ten meters, five meters, three meters...
And finally, they were standing face to face.
With her taller figure, Marquis Lanshan looked down at Darkmoon Marquis from above and said, "Since you don't dare to kill me, why are you barking so much here?"
Darkmoon Marquis gnashed her teeth and said, "What about you? Aren't you scared as well? Why are you acting like you're so tough? What can you even do? This will be the final epoch for humanity!"
"I don't know if humanity would be wiped out this epoch..." She placed her hands on Darkmoon Marquis' shoulders. Googlᴇ search novelꜰire.net
Darkmoon Marquis wanted to step back, but again, her ego stopped her. She gnashed her teeth and said, "Try attacking if you dare!"
Suddenly, Marquis Lanshan laughed. How idiotic. She had foreseen this. Of all the marquises, Darkmoon Marquis was the easiest to kill. Just look at how Darkmoon Marquis was refusing to step back even when she didn't have the courage to attack. She might sound tough, but inwardly, she was still a coward. Sure enough, some things would never change.
Marquis Lanshan raised her hand, carressed Darkmoon Marquis' face, and said, "Prior to your death, you were quite good looking. How did you turn into this after dying? I heard that you were killed by Marquis Tianchang. And Marquis Tianchang had the habit of granting his opponents painful deaths. Did your...overly painful death changed you?"
That further provoked Darkmoon Marquis' anger. She glared at Marquis Lanshan with boundless fury in her eyes. She really wanted to kill Marquis Lanshan with her own hands.
Chapter 1729: Battle Of Lanshan (2)
Marquis Lanshan chuckled and said, "Stop glaring. You're really ugly right now..."
"Lanshan!"
"Shall I send you off one final time?"
With a perfectly nonchalant tone, Marquis Lanshan asked a question that instantly alarmed Darkmoon Marquis.
Next, Marquis Lanshan's hand shone. A beam of dark light shot right into Darkmoon Marquis' head. Her entire body started shaking. A dark figure emerged from her body. With a casual wave of Marquis Lanshan's arm, that dark figure started cracking. Fear and disbelief covered her eyes.
Had she gone crazy? She was actually attacking to kill! She had truly gone mad! Darkmoon had only allowed Lanshan to approach her because she was confident Lanshan wouldn't have the courage to kill her in the East Heavenly Palace.
Was Lanshan not going to stay patient anymore? Was Lanshan going to give up on all human death spirits? Why was she attacking for real? Darkmoon Marquis couldn't believe this was happening, even after it happened.
"See, you're still so stupid..."
Under Darkmoon, Yusheng was still struggling. Suddenly, he felt the suppression on him weakening. When he looked up, he was met with an alarming sight.
The sight of Marquis Lanshan digging a death imprint out of Darkmoon Marquis' dao body.
Boom!
First, the death imprint was crushed. Then, it was devoured. Consuming the death imprint instantly healed Marquis Lanshan of her previous injuries. Her movement might seem slow, but she had actually moved rapidly.
With her body blocking the view, nobody could see what was happening to Darkmoon Marquis. They only saw Marquis Lanshan taking something out and Darkmoon Marquis falling into silence.
Just then, Marquis Lanshan's voice rang out in the ears of her death sovereigns, "Get ready. We will kill a way out and head to the Spirit Suppression Domain. We are...meeting the human lord."
All the human death sovereigns trembled upon hearing that.
Human lord!
Instantly, Yusheng's eyes lit up. He received another voice transmission from Marquis Lanshan, "Devour her immediately. Get ready for battle."
Yusheng answered, "Yes!"
A battle.
How many years had it been since he last heard such an order?
He had been Marquis Lanshan's vanguard general since before his death. He had died during the endless wars, but Marquis Lanshan had found him again after the conquest. At the time, humanity was the ultimate overlord of the Myriad Realms.
Countless years had passed since he last heard such a command from Marquis Lanshan. Even as a death spirit, Yusheng felt like crying upon hearing that familiar command yet again.
A battle.
Meeting the human lord.
He felt as though he had returned to the time before the conquest. The time when he followed behind Marquis Lanshan and waged wars across the Myriad Realms. He wanted to roar loudly, but he refrained. He started devouring Darkmoon Marquis while Marquis Lanshan started a countdown.
Darkmoon had yet to fully die, but that would happen soon. And a massive phenomenon would be generated.
With her hands still on Darkmoon Marquis' shoulders, she leaned in, as though she was whispering to Darkmoon Marquis. In truth, Darkmoon Marquis' body was slowly losing strength.
The surrounding observers continued watching doubtfully. Why were they whispering to each other?
One of them laughed and said, "Lanshan, Darkmoon, calm down. We're all friends here. Darkmoon, release them..."
But Darkmoon Marquis did not reply. At that point, the various marquises were starting to grow suspicious. Why was Darkmoon so silent?
Suddenly, one of them roared, "Yusheng! What are you doing?"
He sensed Yusheng's aura growing, as though Yusheng was consuming something.
Right at that moment, the world shook.
Boom!
"Kill!"
At that exact moment, Marquis Lanshan drew her sword and attacked.
Three of the death sovereigns under Darkmoon Marquis were killed by that strike. At the same time, the death sovereigns under Marquis Lanshan attacked as well. Massive rumbles rang out. All the death sovereigns under Darkmoon Marquis were killed before they could react.
Their death imprints were snatched. Then, the death sovereigns under Marquis Lanshan started devouring the death imprints. As his aura surged, Yusheng stood up and roared, "Kill! Lanshan Army, charge with me!"
Boom!
Finally, the surrounding marquises moved.
Darkmoon Marquis had died.
"Impudent!"
"Audacious!"
"Kill them!"
Numerous death spirits roared in fury. Meanwhile, Marquis Lanshan was charging outward with his subordinates. Her sword swept everywhere as she ran. It felt as though the sky would split open with each swing of her sword.
Not far away, a crowned expert appeared above East King Hall. He coldly said, "Lanshan! How audacious of you! Marquis Lanshan has betrayed us! Generals of East Heavenly Palace, kill them all!"
"Yes!"
Numerous death sovereigns and marquises answered. An intense battle erupted.
After killing about seven or eight death sovereigns, Marquis Lanshan's group was finally out of the palace. Her voice rang out, "Human death spirits, charge! Charge out of East Heavenly Palace! The East Heavenly King has betrayed humanity! For coveting the authority of the imperial court, he deserves death!"
The world itself shook at those words. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ Nov3lFɪre.ɴet
East Heavenly King's expression changed.
Betrayal?
Lanshan was claiming that he was a traitor?
Marquis Lanshan continued roaring, "East Heavenly King, you were appointed a king by humanity, but due to your greed, you broke faith and turned against your benefactors! You will not be spared!"
Furious roars resounded everywhere.
Boom!
With a swing of her sword, she pushed a marquis back.
Behind her, Yusheng roared, "I am the vanguard! Lord, allow me to open the path for you!"
Then, Yusheng charged forward and swung a massive axe down.
Boom!
Instantly, several death spirits ahead of them were killed.
With her sword in hand, Marquis Lanshan fought alongside her soldiers, just as how things were back during the conquest. After deflecting the attacks of two marquises, they charged further ahead.
At the same time, over a thousand death spirits charged the death spirits of the palace and caught them by surprise. These were also the subordinates of Marquis Lanshan. The leader of the group was a female death spirit. Her voice rang out, "Charge with me! We shall open a path for our lord!"
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
Chaos descended.
With a cold expression, the East Heavenly King strode forward. Suddenly, a death sovereign charged at him. That was a subordinate of Marquis Lanshan.
"Fool."
With a snort, the East Heavenly King froze the charging death sovereign before saying, "All traitorous bastards deserve death."
"Are you talking about yourself?"
The frozen death sovereign roared with laughter before detonating himself. Before his death, he yelled, "Lanshan Army, open a path for our lord! I shall go to the afterlife in advance!"
"General!"
Mournful wails rang out as the battle grew even more intense.
Rumble!
After cutting a death sovereign down with his axe, Yusheng glanced at the exploding death sovereign. Instantly, his eyes turned red from anger. That was an old comrade of his. Someone who had fought alongside him since the conquest.
And now, that old comrade of his had ceased to exist. There was no returning from dying as a death spirit.
"Die!"
In his anger, he ignited his very being, pushing his strength to an even higher level. With a swing of his axe, he sent even a marquis flying. Ignoring the shocked marquis, Yusheng continued igniting his death imprint and said, "Lord! Go!"
"Kill!"
After devouring Darkmoon Marquis, Yusheng had grown to a ninth-degree Eternal. Coupled with the ignition of his death imprint, he had gained a tremendous boost in strength. With a swing of his axe, he sent yet another marquis flying away.
Not far ahead, Marquis Lanshan continued pushing forth while swinging her sword around. She had to kill a path out and find the human lord.
Boom!
After killing yet another death sovereign, she continued stepping forth. However, a marquis arrived and blocked her advance. The marquis wanted to say something, but he wasn't given the chance. Marquis Lanshan had attacked directly. There was no point in speaking when they were already fighting.
Her sword was swung.
A sword and a hammer collided, creating a massive explosion. With her rich combat experience, Marquis Lanshan pulled back the moment her sword was blocked to redirect the hammer sideway. Then, she stabbed her sword out again with a twist of her body, piercing through the head of the marquis blocking her way.
Despite the intense battle, she was incomparably calm. Victory was impossible here. There was no way she would win against eight marquises and a heavenly king. Thus, breaking out was her sole option. She had to kill her way out. That was also the mission she had received from the human lord. The human lord was waiting for them at the Spirit Suppression Domain.
Suddenly, numerous chains appeared around her. But before the chains could reach her, a death sovereign jumped over and took on the chains for her instead. The moment the chains wrapped around the death sovereign, they started burning, causing the death sovereign to wail in pain.
Marquis Lanshan did not stop. She didn't even look back. She couldn't afford to. Back then, this was how these people had fought to the death for her. Today, history was repeating itself. During the ancient past, she had failed to break free and died. Today, she did not want to fail again. She really wanted to meet the current human lord at least once.
Boom!
With a swing of her sword, she pushed a marquis back. With another swing, she killed a death sovereign. She continued fighting while fleeing. After some time, she finally regrouped with the army of human death spirits fighting further away from the palace. Earlier, there were over a thousand of them. But now, only a few hundred remained.
The heavily injured female death spirit leading the army was overjoyed to see Marquis Lanshan. She roared, "Charge! Open a path! Kill!"
"Yes!"
The female general roared, "Who dominates the Myriad Realms?"
"Humans!"
Hundreds of soldiers answered in unison.
"Who can never be defeated?"
"Humans!"
"A myriad races strive for supremacy! Who can contend against us?"
"No one!"
"Kill!"
Chapter 1730: Battle Of Lanshan (3)
Hundreds of human death spirits roared and fought furiously, pushing the surrounding death spirits back. The surrounding death sovereigns trembled as memories of their deaths in the hands of the ancient human conquerers resurfaced.
Humans.
An army of conquerors had returned from the ancient past.
As she fought, a set of armor appeared on Marquis Lanshan's body. Martial King had personally bestowed that set of armor upon her after her death.
Alive, she was a human marquis. Dead, she would dominate the dead.
That was the meaning behind that gift. According to Martial King, all of existence shall be the Human Realm.
As a human, everything he could see shall be his.
Everywhere he could reach shall belong to humanity.
Starting from the Human Realm, they swept through the various realms and defeated countless powerful races. A hundred thousand years had passed. The time to fight another war had arrived.
"Kill with me!"
Marquis Lanshan roared.
With her sword, she faced three marquises alone, displaying boundless determination. Her fighting spirit instantly crushed the momentum of the three powerful marquises. These were all the marquises of the myriad races. And they were all the victims of the ancient humans.
And now, all of them were shaken by this familiar scene. Nearby, even more human death spirits ignited their death imprints as the battle grew intense.
Since Marquis Lanshan needed a path out, they shall open the path with their lives.
Boom!
Intense explosions erupted everywhere. The human death spirits charged ferociously, opening a path of blood forward. Alas, over seventy percent of them were already lost in such a short battle.
After stabbing through a marquis with her sword, a saber attack struck Marquis Lanshan's back. Black blood sprayed out, corroding the ground it landed on. Even further away, the East Heavenly King was walking over step by step while watching the battle coldly.
Numerous death spirits charged toward him in an attempt to slow his pace. All of them were killed in a split second. These bugs had all gone mad. How ridiculous of them to dream of stopping him. How long could they continue this for?
"Lanshan, you're courting death." After crushing yet another death sovereign, East Heavenly King said, "After staying patient for so long, why are you doing this now? It hasn't been easy for you to gather this bit of strength for humanity. Are you giving up on them now? What are you trying to do?
"Even after Qishan and the others died, I only gave you a light punishment. How dare you be ungrateful of my mercy and kill Darkmoon? Your sin shall not be forgiven." Follow current novels on novelFirｅ.net
A token appeared in his hand as he said, "Just stay."
Boom!
The token enlarged and dropped down on Marquis Lanshan. That was the East Heavenly Token.
But right at that moment, a token flew out of Marquis Lanshan's body. A voice rang out from that token, "The heavenly laws of humanity remain. The world still belongs to humanity. How dare you punish a human with a token granted to you by the human race?"
Boom!
A blinding golden radiance erupted from the token, while an intense power of luck rippled out. With a rumble, the dark token was blasted away.
The East Heavenly King's expression changed drastically. Marquis Lanshan was surprised, clearly not expecting something like this to happen.
An idea rose in her mind as she roared, "Kill our way out! The human lord is awaiting us at the Spirit Suppression Domain! Kill! For the human lord!"
"For the human lord!"
The remaining human death spirits roared. After that clash, the human lord's token had dimmed significantly. It returned to Marquis Lanshan's body. Taking this opportunity, Marquis Lanshan pushed another marquis away with her sword before rushing madly forward with her people.
Behind her, East Heavenly King started hesitating.
Human lord!
The current leader of humanity?
Damn it!
No wonder Marquis Lanshan had suddenly turned against him! She had been recruited by the human lord! The human lord had arrived! He could sense that the power of luck on the human lord's token was not weak at all. It had actually deflected his token!
"Do not let even one of them escape!"
With his order, even more death spirits charged toward Marquis Lanshan's group. The intense battle continued as they fled. Numerous human death spirits perished, but Marquis Lanshan's path forward remained open.
One after another, they stayed behind to cover her back.
As time passed, there were fewer and fewer of them.
After cutting yet another expert down with his axe, Yusheng laughed and said, "Lord, this is the end of the road for your loyal subordinate. If there is a next life, I am willing to fight and die for humanity again...I'm only afraid that...there won't be a next life anymore..."
After saying that, he turned back and charged toward the pursuing enemies. An indomitable axe swept forth.
Releasing the entire power of his being, he roared, "Kill your way out! Meet the human lord! Humanity shall pacify the world again!"
Boom!
Massive rumbles rang out.
"Yusheng!"
Marquis Lanshan roared with tears in her eyes, but she did not stop. In her fury, she roared madly, "Kill! Kill our way out! Kill!"
"Kill!"
Only about seven or eight death spirits remained around her. Before long, three of them turned back unhesitatingly.
"We shall cover your rear! General Hong Yun, escort our lord out of here!"
Hong Yun, the female death spirit leading the group earlier, was already covered in black blood. She roared, "I won't disappoint you! Brothers, we kill!"
Boom!
Despite her sorrow, Marquis Lanshan continued fighting decisively.
They kept killing. They kept suffering new injuries. And they kept losing people.
Eventually, the Celestial River of Death appeared before them. Only one death sovereign was left beside Marquis Lanshan. It was General Hong Yun.
Gnashing her teeth, with her death qi undulating fiercely, she shouted, "Lord! Go! I will cover the rear for you! Meet the human lord! Please...inform the human lord that...the Lanshan Army has shed blood for humanity in life and death! Leave! And rebuild the Lanshan Army!"
Boom!
General Hong Yun turned back and rushed toward the pursuers. Marquis Lanshan gnashed her teeth and continued onward. Just as a marquis was about to stop her, Hong Yun detonated herself with a roar. The marquis was stopped in his path.
Just as Marquis Lanshan was about to reach the Celestial River of Death, an opening appeared in front of her. A panting marquis stepped out and grinned, "Lanshan, this path is not available for you."
"Die!"
With a roar, Marquis Lanshan detonated her dao body. Losing her dao body would sever her connection with her dao, bringing her down from the Daofuse Realm. However, she did not mind. Her decisiveness had evidently caught the marquis by surprise.
With a rumble, the marquis was blasted apart and forced to reveal his dao body as well. The moment the dao body appeared, Marquis Lanshan sword stabbed through it. The dao body exploded.
Rumble!
A second marquis was killed.
Marquis Lanshan's aura dropped significantly, but she did not seem to care. Instead, she continued onward. The human lord was waiting! She was here! She had a determined look on her face.
She had arrived! Her Lanshan Army! Her brothers and sisters! They had all perished to open a way for her to meet him! Could...this human lord bring her hope?
***
Somewhere on the river.
Su Yu, who was waiting with his eyes shut, suddenly opened his eyes and roared, "Impudent! Heavendoom, Grandstar, and Empyrean Cloud!"
Heavendoom hurriedly asked, "What is it?"
"Unseal yourself! Kill!" Su Yu ordered coldly, "Ignore the number of the enemies. Kill as many as you can! Unseal yourself and kill!"
Their expressions changed drastically, but they all nodded.
"Yes!"
As for Su Yu, he transformed the Culture Tomb into a saber before consuming the golden peng's blood essence. Then, he consumed another drop of blood essence. Finally, he tore the space before him apart.
The golden pengs were renowned for their speed.
Marquis Lanshan had killed two marquises. Seven marquises and a heavenly king remained. Due to the appearance of the human lord's token, the heavenly king might not give chase. Let's see if he could stay so patient after losing a few more of his marquises.
Far away, a female death spirit in torn armor, broken sword, and dishevelled was flying in their direction. Behind her, three marquises were in pursuit. Further behind, four marquises were in pursuit.
"Lanshan, there is no escape—"
Suddenly, an opening appeared in front of them. Right after stepping out of it, Su Yu flipped his Mark of Civilization open. Countless projections emerged and shot toward the three marquises.
The sealing formation was activated, and the human lord's token returned to him. He focused the suppression on one of the marquises. With the Culture Tomb as a saber, he unleashed his Sky Sundering Saber.
Boosted by the golden peng's blood essence, the attack was incredibly powerful. The radiance from the blade was blinding. And the blade was so sharp that it felt as though the entire Celestial River of Death was going to be severed.
"East Heavenly Dog! For your courage and impudence, I will kill you!"
Boom!
The saber descended, cutting the marquis into two. Even the dao body was instantly destroyed. Right at that moment, the three guardians arrived with crumbling stone skin. With a roar, they attacked the two other marquises.
Boom!
Marquis Lanshan also took the chance to swing her sword behind her.
"You dare?"
A furious voice came from afar. That was East Heavenly King's voice.
Boom!
Su Yu had killed one marquis right after arriving. The three guardians had destroyed the body of another marquis, leaving the dao body of that marquis to be cut apart by Marquis Lanshan's sword.
Boom!
That marked the fourth marquis to die today. The remaining marquis was still kept busy by the Mark of Civilization. He was able to crush the various projections, but seeing how his companions had died, he hurriedly fled in panic.
In moments, he joined the three marquises behind him. Even further away, East Heavenly King was rushing over in fury.
With a sneer, Su Yu drew his right thumb across his neck before picking up the heavily injured Marquis Lanshan. "Let's go."
The three guardians left with him.
As they left, Su Yu's voice rang out, "Treacherous rebel, your fate is already sealed. I shall deal with you after restoring order to the world."
East Heavenly King had an unsightly expression. Was that the new human lord?
After a short pause, he roared, "Give chase!"
And thus, the six experts started giving chase on the Celestial River of Death. While giving chase, the East Heavenly King looked around. Noting the calm situation on the other side of the river, the old turtle was clearly still at his post.
Nevertheless, the East Heavenly King was still worried that the old turtle would interfere. Thus, he ordered, "East Heavenly Guard, enter the Spirit Suppression Domain and arrest the wanted criminals!"
At that, countless death spirits rushed toward the river. East Heavenly King was clearly trying to keep the old turtle and the other guardians busy. That way, they would have no way of interfering. If they dared to leave their posts, these death spirits would charge out of the death tunnels.
Meanwhile, the East Heavenly King continued the pursuit alongside his five marquises. He was furious. After losing four marquises on top of the two he lost not long ago, his force had weakened considerably in a short time.
This was intolerable.
Damn it!
Sure, the influence of humanity in his domain had been completely erased, but he was still furious at his losses. The losses were too massive for him to tolerate. He had been too careless. He had allowed the human lord's token to delay him, resulting in such heavy casualties.
***
Marquis Lanshan, who was being carried by Su Yu, looked up at him and blanked out as she muttered, "Culture King..."
She felt as though she was looking at Culture King.
Su Yu said, "Call me Su Yu. Or Human Lord. Or Emperor Yu."
It was rude to call him Culture King!
He would have dropped her then and there if it wasn't for her heavy injuries!
Even as she was coughing blood, Marquis Lanshan smiled and said loudly, "The Lanshan Army has accomplished the mission! I...have arrived! Lanshan...greets the human lord!"
Her voice was loud and sonorous.
She had accomplished her mission!
All her brothers and sisters had died, but she had accepted that. This was war.
Even so, sorrow could be heard in her voice. As humans, they would not stop fighting even in death!
Su Yu sank into a long silence before solemnly saying, "Be at ease."
"Yes!"
"For now, we flee."
"Ye—"
Marquis Lanshan blanked out. Fleeing? She had heard the overbearing declaration of the human lord just moments ago. Why were they fleeing after that? She couldn't even react to this.
Su Yu said nothing. What nonsense. What else could they do but flee? The East Heavenly King was very strong. They had to lure that guy away. Otherwise, that guy alone would be strong enough to handle all of them. Su Yu doubted that he would be able to defeat the East Heavenly King even with the white dog's blood essence.
Thus, they had to go to the mansion entrance. There, they could leave the Death Realm. Even if Old Zhou refused to cooperate, without the support of death qi and heavenly laws, East Heavenly King would weaken in strength. At that time, a fight was possible with the white dog's blood essence.
With Su Yu in the lead, the group started fleeing rapidly while tearing space apart repeatedly. Behind them, the East Heavenly King frowned. The human lord was fleeing straight ahead instead of fleeing toward any known death tunnel. Was there a trap waiting for them?
But this was the Death Realm. Not even the old turtle could defeat him here. What manner of trap would work against him? The East Heavenly King started hesitating. Should he give chase? But this human lord felt too dangerous to be allowed to grow further.
Earlier, the human lord's token had successfully suppressed his token. That was extremely troublesome. Upon gaining enough strength, the human lord would be a perfect counter to him.
And thus, the East Heavenly King said, "Move faster! Catch up to them!"
He had decided to continue the pursuit. He refused to believe that anyone could pose a threat to him in the Death Realm.