Chapter 1474: You Know, I Know, Qin Zhen Doesn't Know (3)

"There is zero unity among them."

That was Su Yu's thought. Each race was relatively united internally, but unity between races couldn't be achieved. Was killing He Tu really so hard for them?

No.

If the Blood Fire Devil King and Heaven Department head were to go down there, He Tu and Dummy would most likely flee. They wouldn't be a match for the two. But the two would never agree to this.

Meanwhile, He Tu and Dummy would only fight near the entrance. They would flee when resistance became stiff instead of fighting to the death. Thus, the Invincibles were helpless against the two death sovereigns even when they were enjoying the absolute numerical superiority.

"At this rate, it is only a matter of time before the death tunnel is opened by He Tu."

Su Yu had zero confidence in those Invincibles. They were all targeting the nine-leaf skylotus. None of them wanted to use all their strength to fight He Tu. In such a situation, it was impossible for He Tu to fail.

"The nine-leaf skylotus will probably bloom in about ten days. Maybe I should keep a low profile in the meantime."

With that thought in mind, he shut the door and said to Old Hao, "Let's wait here. It's too dangerous out there. We should wait until the residence unlocks and return to the safe house. We will wait there until it's time to leave the mansion. I don't want any treasures anymore. I only want to leave alive."

Old Hao nodded in agreement. The dangers here were far beyond what they could handle. They were mere Mountainseas. It would be wise for them to hide in the safe house. This was too dangerous.

***

A few hours later.

The Devote King's residence was finally unlocked. Instantly, several Invincibles shot inside to look for Mo Duona. As for Su Yu and Old Hao, they ignored everything and left the residence. At the entrance, they were inspected by an Invincible before they were allowed to leave. The Invincible did not bother to say anything to them. Upon receiving the permission to leave, Su Yu and Old Hao started heading toward the safe house of the divines.

After some time, the two entered the safe house after going through the security checks. There were about two hundred surviving divines inside. Their number had dropped somewhat. Not long after Su Yu arrived, a familiar face returned. It was Zhan Wushuang.

With a tired expression and a bloodied body, Zhan Wushuang entered the safe house with a Pseudo Invincible. Sensing all the gazes on him, he said with a tired voice, "It's getting more and more dangerous outside. Refrain from leaving if possible. Treasures are important, but your lives are more important. Those who are still outside are probably dead."

With a sigh, Zhan Wushuang continued, "Wait here. Wait until it's time to leave. I don't know how many people can survive this time."

He had complicated emotions.

Xuan Wuji was dead.

Mo Duona had turned into the public enemy of the immortals. He was still missing, but the immortals would not spare him easily.

Chaos had fallen upon the immortals and devils. Meanwhile, things were relatively fine for the humans and divines.

But how long could this be maintained?

Geniuses?

Freaks?

Zhan Wushuang laughed in a self-mocking manner. So what?

Here, their fancy titles meant nothing. One expert after another had died. He was starting to feel discouraged. Many names had vanished from the Heaven Index. Dao Cheng was gone. Xuan Wuji was gone. Soulcurse was gone. The names on the Heaven Index had changed massively.

Even Liu Wenyan had fallen off the Heaven Index as his previous accomplishments were no longer enough to keep him there after his advancement into the Sunmoon Realm.

Instead, Qin Fang and Topsoil Spirit had entered the Heaven Index. The third new name on the index was not Huang Teng. Rather, it was Shi Zun of the stone golem race. As for Huang Teng, he was stuck at the top of the Earth Index.

In the past, the names on the Heaven Index could remain static for decades. Most of the time, changes would only occur when someone advanced.

That was not the case this time. Instead, deaths had triggered the changes. Topsoil Spirit had clearly been killing a lot of people in the dark since he had entered the Heaven Index without attracting much attention.

While thinking about all that, Zhan Wushuang looked at the divines in the safe house again. He sighed inwardly. Apart from him, the divine race had not been able to produce a respectable talent from his generation. This was not a good sign.

The immortals were worst off. They had lost an entire generation of future pillars. Meanwhile, several incredible individuals had risen to prominence among the human race out of nowhere.

Su Yu glanced at the sighing Zhan Wushuang and wondered if Zhan Wushuang had collected enough blood essence for him. He decided to look for Zhan Wushuang when his identity was exposed. If Zhan Wushuang couldn't produce enough blood essence to satisfy him, he wouldn't mind taking Zhan Wushuang's blood essence as payment.

***

As Su Yu waited and rested, time passed.

During his rest, He Tu attacked once. In the sky, the sixth petal of the nine-leaf skylotus had bloomed. It was three petals away from maturity. Meanwhile, Lan Tian was still killing people everywhere like a madman. As a result, most of the people below the Invincible Realm started hiding indoors.

The massive seventh level felt emptier and emptier.

***

On the tenth day.

Su Yu's body shook slightly as he finally completed his second transformation. He had taken the past few days to slowly forge his body. At the same time, he was also feeding the yang acupoint with his own source qi to reduce the amount of death qi in it.

He was quite worried that he would kill himself from absorbing too much death qi. Furthermore, he had to temper his absorption rate lest Xing Yue decide to abandon him, right? This wasn't the time to squeeze her dry yet.

"I'm now near four million acupoints in strength."

Su Yu focused on his own body silently and was impressed by what he felt. His body was already comparable to that of an early eighth-stage Sunmoon. Coupled with his yang acupoint, he would probably be as strong as peak ninth-stage Sunmoons.

"Perhaps...ten million acupoints will be enough to face Pseudo Invincibles."

Su Yu was very impressed with himself.

Without the yang acupoint, he was as strong as an eighth-stage Sunmoons. With the yang acupoint, he would be as strong as a peak ninth-stage Sunmoons. With a drop of Pseudo Invincible blood essence, he would be as strong as Pseudo Invincibles.

Even he himself was shocked by how freakish he was. But his cultivation expenses were also freakishly high. Just what the fuck was this? Treasures fit for Daofuses were being used by him just to power his cultivation in the Cloudbreach Realm. That was madness.

He glanced at the divines in the safe house. There were quite a lot of experts among them, including one Pseudo Invincible and dozens of Sunmoons. Would killing them all further strengthen his Mark of Civilization? This was probably the majority of the divine survivors left in the mansion.

"Maybe I should pretend to be Lan Tian and kill them all?"

The strongest of them, a Pseudo Invincible, would most likely not expect danger to come from within their safe house. A sneak attack might be able to kill the Pseudo Invincible without much trouble.

"Forget it. I need to focus on the nine-leaf skylotus first. For now, I need to keep a low profile."

Su Yu forced himself to be patient. Yes, he could gain a lot of benefits from killing these people. But the benefits were incomparable to what he could gain from the nine-leaf skylotus.

He walked out to the courtyard and looked up. The seventh petal was blooming. The skylotus would probably reach full maturity in no more than five days.

Boom!

Once again, rumbling sounds erupted outside. He Tu and Dummy were attacking again. They had been attacking at a much higher frequency during the past few days. Perhaps they were on the verge of fully opening the death tunnel.

***

At the same time.

Inside the human safe house.

Zhu Tianfang returned from the outside and looked at all the survivors. This time, a decent number of humans had survived. Even now, there were nearly three hundred of them. This was probably the highest number among the various races.

However, the seventh level was also feeling more and more dangerous. At this rate, the death tunnel would open in less than one month. That would trigger a battle between Invincibles. At the time, they wouldn't be able to spare any attention to protect these people anymore.

He looked around and cursed. Not one of the multiple character faction members was around. Were they all dead? If that was the case, how was he supposed to explain this after leaving the mansion? It would also be extremely hard for him to explain this to Su Yu.

Zhu Tianfang felt his head aching. Why were they so worrisome? Just then, Shadow appeared beside him. After taking a look at the humans in the safe house, he said, "It won't be easy to protect them. This place is safe, but the battle between Eternals might destroy even this place. Since we have the highest number of survivors, the various races are already wary of us. We need to think of a way to move these people elsewhere."

Zhu Tianfang said, "That won't be easy. Where can we move them? A secret realm? But the secret realm is unstable. They will also be scattered when leaving, making it harder for them to leave the mansion safely."

Shadow said, "It's fine. You can stay with them in the secret realm. Just be careful lest anyone breaks through the secret realm."

"Me?" Zhu Tianfang hesitated slightly and said, "Maybe you should stay with them instead. You're a much better protector..."

"No, I have a feeling that some old bastards are focusing on me lately. Just take them with you." Shadow added, "As for those multiple character faction fellows, I saw Liu Wenyan and Hong Tan outside. They are in the Devote King's residence. They seem to have stumbled upon some fortuitous encounters. As for the rest, they vanished with Yun Chen. That's troublesome. Yun Chen is probably still alive, but I can't say the same about the others."

Zhu Tianfang laughed helplessly and said, "I thought things would be calm this time, but I was wrong. The nine-leaf skylotus has yet to even mature yet almost everyone is dead."

He had thought that the true disaster would begin upon the maturity of the nine-leaf skylotus. Alas, more than half of the people in the mansion had died before that.

Shadow sighed and said, "Nobody expected this. Also, Su Yu might have entered the mansion as well. He might be the reason for all the chaos. I saw the death spirit army He Tu brought. There aren't even that many of them. Where are all the other corpses? So many have died. Where are the corpses?"

"..."

Zhu Tianfang asked with surprise, "Could you not locate him?"

"No. However...he was most likely the person who had killed Xuan Wuji. Whatever. Just let him be for now. That kid is extremely crafty. He might outlive all of us. I'm only telling you this so that you can be ready. When the kid's identity is exposed, everyone will understand why so few humans have died. Even now, some people are starting to suspect his presence."

Shadow shook his head and said, "That kid is too ruthless. He does not hold back when killing. Mo Duona has never been murderous. Lan Tian has never been one to slaughter weaklings for no reason. Meanwhile, killing is nothing for Su Yu. The devils and immortals are probably suspecting the same thing. Be careful. When things get dangerous, give up on the skylotus and focus on preserving yourself. When Su Yu does show up, try to stay away from him. That kid might not need our help. Rather, we need to be careful lest we get caught up in his chaos and die."

Zhu Tianfang nodded, "You mean the immortals and devils might have guessed about his presence. In that case, will they set up a trap for him?"

"Nobody knows. In any case, I have no idea which identity he's using right now. The immortals and devils are uncertain as well. That's why they have been calm until now. He is most likely here. Perhaps they will even give up on the skylotus just to kill him."

Shadow turned solemn as he continued, "Su Yu does not represent himself. He has three Pseudo Emperors and thirty-five ancient Invincibles behind him. This is a faction comparable to humanity in strength. The divines, devils, immortals, and dragons will gladly give up on the skylotus to kill him while he's alone in here. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

Zhu Tianfang nodded. Su Yu was more important than the nine-leaf skylotus. He could see that.

A treasure that might produce a new Pseudo Emperor or someone backed with three existing Pseudo Emperors and thirty-five ancient Invincibles. Which was more important? Anyone with a brain would know the correct answer.

Even letting humanity gain a Pseudo Emperor was a price worth paying.

"Are we really leaving him alone?"

"It's not that we're leaving him alone. We don't even know where he is. Furthermore, an old bastard is focusing on me. Blood Fire might have discovered my real identity. That fellow is different from the other blood fire devils. Someone as long-lived as him won't be a pushover."

"I see. You need to be careful as well, then."

"Don't worry. I won't be an easy opponent for him either. There is no guarantee that he will target me. He seems to be more interested in fighting the Devil Pseudo Emperor."

Shadow laughed and continued, "That fellow from the Heaven Department is the most dangerous individual here. He is the one who is most desperate to get the nine-leaf skylotus. Do you think he's really helpless against He Tu? Not at all. All of them are waiting. They are merely keeping him away for now. The moment the nine-leaf skylotus blooms, He Tu will succeed. They are all waiting for that to happen. Without chaos, how can they hope to snatch the nine-leaf skylotus?"

Zhu Tianfang nodded. Everyone could see that. Everyone was merely waiting for the skylotus to bloom before letting He Tu in and throwing everything into chaos. He Tu had believed that they were helpless against him. Alas, they were merely treating him as a convenient tool.

How could a death spirit be better at scheming than a bunch of living beings? Almost all the Invincibles were aware that He Tu was stealthily influencing the Source Return Blade. For them, He Tu was merely a clown.

Zhu Tianfang said, "The moment the nine-leaf skylotus blooms, He Tu and the other death sovereign will be allowed to enter. A large number of death sovereigns will pour out of the death tunnel as well. Nobody knows who will suffer from that. Perhaps some of the Invincibles waiting for that to happen will be the ones to suffer. I can only hope that we're spared of that."

He shook his head and continued, "I'm not too worried about the others, but Qin Zhen is quite dumb. He is really trying to defeat He Tu. We need to warn him later. Tell him to hold back a little. Xia Longwu and Zhou Polong are all crafty foxes. They have been very loud, but both have been holding back. Only Qin Zhen has been fighting seriously."

Shadow laughed and said, "It's fine. He's too weak. No matter how hard he tries, he won't be able to do much to He Tu. Let's see who will be the unlucky ones to suffer from the death sovereigns. Those who are here alone understand that the skylotus won't be easy to snatch. They are all looking forward to throwing more chaos into the mix. Those are the ones who should be careful. If they somehow end up attracting the attention of the death sovereigns, they won't be receiving any help."

"True."

The two laughed and nodded at each other.

***

Near the entrance, Qin Zhen was gasping for breath as he celebrated the fact that He Tu had been beaten back once again. After retreating from the entrance, he exhaled deeply and said, "The Heaven Department head sure feels weaker than the rumors suggested. That's the case for the others as well..."

Zhou Polong and Xia Longwu stayed silent as Qin Zhen continued muttering to himself. After a while, Xia Longwu said, "When the nine-leaf skylotus blooms, stick with us. Don't run off alone."

"Hmm?"

"Just listen to me." Xia Longwu wiped his saber and spoke without looking up, "You have just affirmed your dao. We don't want you to die here. Great Qin King will be saddened to hear that. Just stick with us and stay far away from the death spirits."

"..."

Qin Zhen stared at Xia Longwu and Zhou Polong for a long while. Finally, he asked, "What are you scheming this time?" He felt like he had been schemed against. He had felt the same during the previous incident as well. He had affirmed his dao during the battle in the Human Realm without even knowing what was happening.

What was it this time?

Xia Longwu couldn't even be bothered to give any explanation. Zhou Polong maintained his nonchalant expression. Qin Zhen only needed to get used to this. It was both pointless and risky to tell him too much.