Chapter 1289: Ancient History (1)

Empyrean Cloud was back.

It had taken her quite a while, but Su Yu wasn't bothered. Since he didn’t know where the empty ancient city was, he wouldn’t suspect anything even if she were to return a day or two after. In fact, he was quite surprised to see her back in less than two hours.

"Lord, you're back already?"

"..."

Empyrean Cloud thought about it and asked herself the same question. Why was she back so soon? Just look at Su Yu! He was still perfectly fine! Fortunately, this would only be a temporary stop. She decided to take a longer detour on her second journey.

"Yes." She nonchalantly replied, "I worried you couldn't last too long. Let's go. We'll be meeting my boss."

Su Yu grew excited. It was time for him to meet the boss! The two vanished with a flicker.

***

At the same time.

Heavendoom opened his eyes expectantly when he sensed Su Yu’s movement. Was Su Yu finally coming?

No, wait. Why was he leaving? Where was he going?

"Grandstar, where is Empyrean Cloud taking him?"

Heavendoom was very anxious. If it wasn't for the fact that he couldn't leave the city, he would have given chase and demanded that Empyrean Cloud explain herself for taking his little brother away from him.

Grandstar blanked out in confusion. But shortly after, he thought of something. With an odd look in his eyes, he glanced at Heavendoom before saying, "Just be patient. Empyrean Cloud...might have something to do, I guess?"

Nobody could say for sure. Could Empyrean Cloud be visiting their boss? If that was the case, Heavendoom could forget about getting Su Yu as his mayor. Su Yu's current strength was insufficient to withstand the burden of too many cities.

Without Empyrean Cloud's meddling, Heavendoom would naturally be next. However, Empyrean Cloud had taken Su Yu away instead. Perhaps...Heavendoom would need to taste disappointment before long.

Heavendoom was not dumb. He reached the same conclusion as well. However, he was in denial as he continued comforting himself, "Yes, they are definitely out for some business. No matter what, it will be my turn next, right? That old fellow doesn't care about going outside anyway, right?"

"Yes."

Grandstar agreed. Heavendoom was relieved to hear that.

Then, a different stone statue joined the conversation, "They must be going to see our boss. Is there any doubt about that? Empyrean Cloud will naturally think of our boss when she has something good to share. Heavendoom, why are you still dreaming?"

"Eternal Serenity!"

Heavendoom was furious. He knew that. But he was still in denial. How could Eternal Serenity destroy his dream?

Boom!

A short moment later, Mayor Tian He flew out of the city with a blank expression. He did not intend to say anything, but his mouth still opened as a loud voice rang out of it, "Ping Du! How dare you go against the will of the guardians? Today, I shall punish you on behalf of the guardians!"

Boom!

With the same blank expression, Tian He drew his sword and charged into Eternal Serenity City. The mayor of Eternal Serenity City was completely stunned. Was there a need for that? Yes, he did try to ruin the alliance. But he had yet to do anything substantial apart from saying some words. Because of that, he had been turned into mincemeat by a stone statue. And now, Tian He was coming to step on him as well. Wasn't this too excessive?

He was being attacked inside his city! This...was intolerable!

Meanwhile, the other mayors were alarmed.

Just because Ping Du had spoken against Su Yu, he was turned into mincemeat by a stone statue. And that was not all. A mayor was even attacking him in his own city just to punish him.

Wasn't that...a tad bit too aggressive?

The fight was well on its way when Tian He regained control over his body. Realizing what was happening, he felt like coughing blood from sheer frustration. Holy shit! It was the stone statue! Damn you, Heavendoom! What was it this time? Why was Heavendoom going mad again?

As of late, Heavendoom had been extremely unstable emotionally. That was driving Tian He mad. Just why was this happening? The stone statue that had barely spoken or moved in countless years had suddenly gone as active as a hyperactive child. Why was he doing this?

Why did the damn stone statue send him to attack a different mayor in the mayor's city? Had that stone statue gone mad? Regardless of what Tian He was feeling, he did not hold back in the fight. After all, Ping Du was already fighting seriously. He had to take this fight seriously if he didn't want to die here.

***

Meanwhile, the other stone statues were enjoying the childish antics of the two stone statues.

Tsk tsk. Why must Eternal Serenity provoke Heavendoom like that? Why provoke someone who was already losing his mind? Sigh. He was merely stirring trouble for himself. Eternal Serenity was left quite speechless himself. Heavendoom must have gone mad to go this far for such a tiny provocation. How unlucky must Tian He be to be his mayor?

At the same time, the stone statues were wondering if Empyrean Cloud was really taking Su Yu to see their boss. That would change everything.

Back then, their boss had a mayor as well. And that mayor was a lunatic. Meanwhile, Su Yu did not look like someone they should underestimate either. He was still weak now, but would history repeat when he grew stronger?

In fact, this alliance Su Yu was attempting to build gave all the stone statues a sense of deja vu. Wasn't this...the same as what happened back then?

Back then, that crazy mayor had caused massive upheavals after bringing all the ancient cities together. Both the Death Realm and Allheaven Battlefield were implicated by his madness.

Ultimately, their boss was forced to kill the mayor. Would history repeat itself?

Was life a big circle, after all? Would the same thing happen again and again?

Each stone statue felt differently about this. Some were melancholic, and some were indifferent. But none of them appeared too surprised. They had lived for too long. Nothing could surprise them anymore.

***

Meanwhile, Empyrean Cloud was taking Su Yu on a scenic route to the underwater city.

The journey lasted hours.

When night arrived, and when Su Yu was starting to grow confused, Empyrean Cloud finally went into the sea, parting the water as they descended.

A bizarre expression covered Su Yu's face. He was quite familiar with this place. He recalled coming here before. It wasn't really that far away from Grandstar City. Why...did it take them hours to reach this place?

Was this a city one could only reach through a very specific route? Was the boss of the stone statues a unique existence living in a special spatial pocket that couldn't be reached through regular means?

With such thoughts in his mind, they continued descending. One kilometer, ten kilometers, fifty kilometers...

The Sea of Stars was a unique place.

It was a floating sea with a depth of only about ten kilometers when seen from the outside. But when one was actually in the Sea of Stars itself, one could sink a hundred kilometers or even a thousand kilometers at certain parts of the sea without seeing the bottom.

If one continued further, one would end up entering the many minor realms at the bottom of the sea. Such bizarre locations could be found all over the Allheaven Battlefield. Plain of Desires was one such location.

This time, Su Yu did not encounter the minor realm entrance he encountered previously. Perhaps it was due to Empyrean Cloud. They were able to continue sinking deeper. Eventually, a massive ancient city appeared before his eyes.

No activity whatsoever could be seen in the ancient city. It was essentially a dead city. It contained no life, but there was also barely any death qi in it.

Incredible.

Su Yu was greatly impressed when he saw the city. The stone statue had carried the burden of an entire city all by himself. That was even more so considering the fact that the tunnel beneath this city was the strongest of all death tunnels. Such was the strength of a Pseudo Emperor.

At that thought, Su Yu grew excited again. He had seen such experts before, but he had never interacted with one. During his previous encounter with the Devil Pseudo Emperor through Mo Duona's body, he did want to converse with the Pseudo Emperor. Alas, the old devil had not deigned to grant him that opportunity. And now, he could finally have a proper interaction with a Pseudo Emperor.

He was still immersed in his thoughts when an ancient voice rang out in his ears. The voice sounded very unique, as though it carried the principles of the great dao itself. "Are you Su Yu?"

At the same time, Su Yu's vision blurred before he found himself in an unfamiliar world. This was similar to what he had experienced during his first encounter with Heavendoom. However, he felt no discomfort whatsoever this time. In fact, he felt as though his transition into this world had been perfectly smooth and natural.

Empyrean Cloud was still beside him. In front of him was a crooked old man with a long, white beard and a walking stick. Slowly, the old man walked toward him.

Su Yu blanked out. Was this the so-called Pseudo Emperor?

"Your subordinate, Su Yu, greets you..."

The old man smiled. Just as he was about to speak, Empyrean Cloud asked curiously, "Boss, what's wrong with you?"

"Oh, I'm fine."

Instantly, the old man turned into an incomparably handsome young man with an indolent look in his eyes. He said, "Were you surprised by my previous appearance? I suppose that is your ideal image of a mysterious expert."

"..."

Once again, Su Yu blanked out. What?

Instead of entertaining his thoughts, he hurriedly offered another greeting, "Greetings, Lord..."

The old turtle, or the young man, to be precise, waved his hand lazily. A chair appeared in front of Su Yu. The young man sat down on a second chair before saying, "Take a seat. It has been quite a while since I last conversed with the young."

With an odd expression, Su Yu started stealing glances around him as he started blaming himself for being too careless. He was suddenly feeling very insecure. He had forgotten himself in all his excitement. This was the territory of a Pseudo Emperor. He should have prepared himself before coming.

Thus, he nonchalantly dragged the little furball out before placing the furball on his shoulder.

When the young man looked at the little furball, the little furball met his gaze innocently. After a while, the young man laughed in amusement, "How interesting. Is Soy Bun well?"

"..."

Su Yu stared blankly. The little furball also stared blankly. Even Empyrean Cloud was confused for a long while before asking, "Boss, who's Soy Bun?"

"Oh, that’s the guy from the soul devourer race." The young man explained with a cheerful smile, "I doubt you know him, but I still remember him well. In fact, I felt his aura nearby not long ago."

"Oh." Empyrean Cloud said, "The soul devourer? Yeah, he fought the Devil Pseudo Emperor not long ago."

"Pseudo Emperor?" The young man laughed, "That devil is not worthy of that title. The devil race is one of the five strongest races. Back then, their Pseudo Emperor was boundlessly powerful. With one punch, he could destroy a world, crush the heavens, and suppress death itself. The current Devil Pseudo Emperor...is far from qualified to call himself that."

He shook his head, "The gap between them is too big. Not even Soy Bun himself would have the courage to provoke the real Devil Pseudo Emperor. Back then, the sky would change colors and the world would shake just because he was feeling some anger. Looks like even the devils have declined."

Su Yu was confused. What was he talking about? The ancient past? Was he saying that the ancient Devil Pseudo Emperor was incomparably strong and the current Devil Pseudo Emperor was far weaker than that?