Chapter 1735: Schemes Are Useless, Battling East Heavenly King (2)

Seventh level.

The entire seventh level had been turned into a vast flatland. All the buildings had been flattened when Old Zhou raged previously. That included even Devote King's Residence. Not a single plant survived as well. In fact, there wasn't even a blade of grass left after Old Zhou's rampage.

Without any obstructions covering their vision, the death tunnel could be seen right after they emerged from the entrance. The Source Return Blade was no longer there.

However, the tunnel still couldn't be opened randomly. They could feel some power of laws left around the death tunnel. In the past, all the power of law would gather in the Source Return Blade. With the blade missing, the power of laws could only float about near the tunnel. They even saw a death sovereign attempting to enter the mansion through that tunnel.

Su Yu ignored that and shot straight ahead. He needed to check the status of the entrance to the eighth level first. He had to make full preparation to flee at any moment. He intended to wake Old Zhou up the moment East Heavenly King arrived. And he believed that the eighth level would be safe from Old Zhou's wrath.

The headquarters of the assembly and the residences of the various ancient big shots were there. Old Zhou's influence would be quite limited there. It was likely that even at his peak, Old Zhou wouldn't be a match to all those experts during the ancient past.

After all, there were numerous Masters of Law up there. In fact, there might have been more than a hundred of them up there at one point. To become a part of the assembly that was established to counter humanity's influence, one needed enough strength.

While on his way to the eighth level entrance, he passed by the death tunnel. Several death sovereigns were attempting to break free. They noticed him as well.

𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Seeing a familiar face, Su Yu called out, "Tuofa?"

That was a familiar face to He Tu as well. He laughed and said, "Tuofa, are you guys still stuck here?"

Inside the tunnel, Tuofa and a few other death sovereigns blanked out.

Holy shit!

Why were these guys in there again?

A voice rang out, "He Tu! How did you enter? Right, you said previously that there is a different entrance. But didn't you claim that the entrance was still unavailable?"

He Tu laughed and said, "I followed someone else in."

Tuofa didn't know what to say.

Among the local death sovereigns, Tuofa was the strongest. He was a seventh-degree Eternal. Su Yu warned, "Leave as soon as possible. A bunch of death spirit marquises are behind us. They might try to leave through the tunnel later. They will probably kill you if you happen to stand in the way while they're trying to escape."

Tuofa laughed, "Death spirit marquises? I have been here for so many years. No marquis has arrived here before. You...you're Su Yu! I still remember you! You fooled a bunch of people here previously! Are you trying to fool us this time?"

He was not buying that. He was here the last time Su Yu fooled some people here. As a result, a bunch of people died alongside a bunch of death sovereigns. This bastard was here again. Who was he trying to fool this time?

Marquis Lanshan looked at Su Yu with astonishment. This new human lord seemed to be quite familiar with a lot of death spirits. More importantly, why was that the first thing in this death sovereign's mind when he saw the human lord? Trying to fool someone? Why was he so prejudiced against the human lord?

"You can believe what you want."

Su Yu knew that this fellow might not even be aware of the four heavenly domains. After all, the old turtle was very strict with who he allowed into his domain. Thus, most of the local death sovereigns were clueless about the situation outside the old turtle's domain.

In fact, even He Tu was sheltered from the wider Death Realm for a long time. He had thought that he was the big boss of the entire Death Realm. Su Yu had given them the warning out of kindness since these death sovereigns had indirectly helped him previously. It was up to them whether they wanted to listen.

The death spirits here were quite silly compared to those in the East Heavenly Domain.

Ignoring them, Su Yu looked around before cursing, "Fuck! Where's the entrance?"

He remembered that the entrance was here previously.

Recalling something, he shouted, "Heavenbridge Marquis! Show yourself!"

The entrance to the eighth level was not a regular entrance. Rather, it was a sentient gate.

When the old turtle mentioned that, Su Yu had tossed the matter to the back of his mind. But seeing that the gate was missing, he could guess what was happening. The Heavenbridge Marquis must have sensed something and fled with the entrance.

Damn it!

How was he supposed to enter the eighth level without the entrance?

Su Yu demanded, "Heavenbridge Marquis, I am Su Yu, the current human lord. We met before. I have an urgent matter to discuss. Can you show yourself?"

As he said that, he was looking behind him. East Heavenly King might arrive soon. But the damn gate was missing. Was this supposed to be a joke? Su Yu gnashed his teeth in annoyance. Without that gate, he might be forced to leave through the death tunnel or he would be the one to be encircled and killed.

What was this mess?

Meanwhile, a certain gate was hiding in the void between space. It was trembling in fear as it tore a tiny opening in the air to peek outside.

Then, the gate muttered, "Su Yu...it's him!"

It, or he, to be precise, remembered that face.

This was the same fellow who had caused a massive mess on the seventh level not long ago. This same person had also killed a devil expert on the eighth level. That fellow had left after doing all that.

The gate remembered praising this guy previously. Why was this guy back? And this guy was even back with some familiar faces.

"Isn't that...Heavendoom?"

The Heavenbridge Marquis frowned. He was the spirit in charge of watching over the entrance to the eighth level. Only those with enough clearance could enter. Furthermore, he could sense something dangerous approaching. Should he reveal himself to Su Yu?

The current human lord? Had humanity picked a new human lord? This guy wasn't a human lord when he was here previously. Did he become a human lord recently? Numerous thoughts emerged in Heavenbridge Marquis' mind.

Meanwhile, Su Yu was feeling quite annoyed. This was an unexpected variable. The damn Heavenbridge Marquis had moved the entrance away during such a critical moment.

At that moment, Heavendoom roared, "Heavenbridge, have you forgotten me? Why are you running? Don't you remember me hitting your gate back then? Open the damn gate!"

Grandstar poked him, hinting that he should be more gentle. No matter what, that was a marquis. And they currently required the help of that marquis.

Su Yu kept looking behind as he waited. He could feel his formation on the sixth level being broken, signifying that East Heavenly King's group was already on the sixth level. They would be here soon.

The disappearance of the gate signified that their escape route had been reduced by one. The Heavenbridge Marquis must have moved the gate away out of his desire to avoid trouble. But because of that, Su Yu was the one in trouble now.

Su Yu did not say more. What could he do if the gate refused to reappear? Was he supposed to attack and make another marquis his enemy?

Heavendoom asked with a somewhat anxious voice, "What now? That bastard is refusing to come out! The laws must be restricting his actions as well. He is a gate spirit, so his sole job was to guard the entrance. We're not familiar with him. He's probably worried that the gate would be broken through. He won't risk breaking the laws for us."

This was similar to how the old turtle wouldn't break the laws for someone he wasn't familiar with.

Su Yu inhaled deeply and stared in the direction of the entrance from the sixth level. After a short thought, he said, "Heavendoom, how much longer do you need to achieve Daofuse?"

"I won't need much longer."

Su Yu looked at the others before stopping his gaze on Marquis Lanshan. He asked, "Marquis Lanshan, there is a heavily injured marquis among them. Can you handle him?"

Marquis Lanshan nodded, "That's Devilflame Marquis. His injuries are heavy while my injuries have healed. I might not be a Daofuse anymore, but I can still put up a fight against him."

Su Yu looked at Heavendoom and asked, "Can you handle a marquis alone?"

Heavendoom frowned and said, "Definitely, if I'm already a Daofuse. This is the world of the living, not the world of the dead. Here, I can handle a marquis after breaking through even without my staff."

Su Yu looked at the other two guardians and asked, "Can the two of you handle a marquis together since you're already at the ninth degree?"

Grandstar answered, "It will be very difficult. We are still too weak compared with a proper marquis. But we can probably slow a marquis down for a bit."

They stared at Su Yu, not knowing what he was thinking. On East Heavenly King's side, there were three marquises and one king. Were they supposed to handle such a group head on? Could Su Yu even handle the East Heavenly King?

Su Yu was unsure, but he still had a drop of blood essence from the white dog. That was the drop he had requested before leaving the Human Realm. There was no doubt that the white dog was very powerful.

But was his borrowed power enough to handle the East Heavenly King?

Su Yu did not feel like calling Old Zhou anymore. The entrance to the eighth level was missing, while Old Zhou was a lot more clear-headed than before. There was no guarantee that hiding inside the realm barrier like what they did previously would work this time. Thus, the gamble would be too risky unless there was a way to guarantee their passage into the eighth level.

Su Yu inhaled deeply and said, "I have several options here. Firstly, I can kill them with Martial Emperor, but I will likely die as well. Secondly, we can escape through the death tunnel. But we won't be able to find another opportunity to kill death spirit marquises so easily. The two of you will be stuck below the Daofuse Realm for quite some time. Thirdly, we can accept this challenge and fight a hard battle. In truth, our best option is to have Grandstar and Empyrean Cloud should kill the injured marquis while Marquis Lanshan deal with the uninjured marquis."

That would increase the probability of advancement for Grandstar and Empyrean Cloud. However, Marquis Lanshan might die facing an uninjured marquis in her current state.

Marquis Lanshan said, "In that case, I'll take on Divine Peace Marquis and buy time for everyone! Guardians, there is a chance you can kill Devilflame Marquis by working together. And upon killing him, you might be able to achieve Daofuse!"

She looked at Su Yu and asked, "Human Lord, are you confident you can handle East Heavenly King?"

"No."

Su Yu's answer was simple and short. Not even the white dog could guarantee a victory against a heavenly king. How could he promise anything? A drop of blood essence would grant him a boosted combat strength for roughly five minutes.

Then again, five minutes were more than enough for top experts barring unique circumstances. For top experts, that was enough time for them to exchange over ten thousand moves.

Hearing the plan, Grandstar frowned and said, "That's too risky. Su Yu, why don't we give up for now? We have already gained massively from this. We can withdraw first and fight again next time. As for our advancements, it depends on our luck."

They could still escape through the tunnel if they wanted. East Heavenly King would stop the pursuit eventually. He would also prefer to not kill East Heavenly King and the others in the Death Realm as they wouldn't be rewarded for that. Out here, the guardians would receive more rewards for killing death spirits.

This was their best chance to achieve Daofuse. Upon success, they would instantly gain three new Daofuses.

Su Yu couldn't decide what to do. He started approaching the death tunnel with hesitation before looking up furiously.

Heavenbridge Marquis!

His plan had been ruined by that fellow.

He was thinking...of calling Old Zhou right after East Heavenly King's group arrived. The previous time Old Zhou appeared, he had killed numerous death sovereigns by simply breathing on them. Even the death sovereigns outside the death tunnel weren't spared.

But would Old Zhou chase him all the way into the Death Realm? That would be way too terrifying. He couldn't make up his mind. Not even the death tunnel was as safe as the eighth level.

Su Yu wasn't even sure if they could really exit through this death tunnel. Previously, the passage was clear since Old Zhou had destroyed the power of laws around the death tunnel. But what about now?

While Su Yu was deep in thought, Tuofa and the other death sovereigns were staring at Su Yu's group. Having recognized the guardians, Tuofa asked doubtfully, "He Tu, Su Yu, are you really facing a powerful enemy? Death spirit marquises? Where did they come from?"

He glanced at Marquis Lanshan. That was a powerful death spirit as well, but he had never met her before. Was it true that death spirit marquises were starting to awaken? Why was he not aware of that?

Su Yu didn't feel like answering, but he still answered, "Yes. A battle between Daofuses might erupt later. If you're feeling brave, feel free to stay here."

Suddenly, Su Yu stretched his hand into the death tunnel.

Boom!

The power of laws around the death tunnel shook slightly, but it did not stop him. His hand was able to enter smoothly.

Then, Su Yu said, "Marquis Lanshan, give it a try."

Marquis Lanshan walked over and reached out as well. Instantly, the power of laws surged. She hurriedly pulled her arm back and said with a frown, "I can leave as well...but I won't be able to enter through this tunnel again in the future or the laws will punish me with an even greater power."

Heavendoom asked uneasily, "So do we fight or not? This will be quite a risky fight. The East Heavenly King is too strong. Su Yu, I doubt you can stop him as well. I saw what you did previously. The master of the blood essence you used is very powerful. But not even that person himself can guarantee a victory over the East Heavenly King. And you're merely borrowing power here.

"If we do this, we can only bet on Grandstar and Empyrean Cloud killing that marquis quickly. We also need to hope that I can really stop the other marquis. Finally, we will also bet on Marquis Lanshan's ability to stop the other marquis. There are too many variables at play here. It's too risky."

Empyrean Cloud said, "Su Yu, we should retreat. The East Heavenly Palace has been weakened greatly. We can go after them next time with Boss' help."