Chapter 1952: Surprise, Kill, Encircle (2)

Sealed Mountain.

The various races had placed a lot of effort in keeping Hundred Battle King sealed.

Back then, only six heavenly kings were in charge of suppressing Hundred Battle King here. But after the rescue attempt by Control King's lineage, the myriad races had added two more experts here. The two additional experts were even stronger than the original six.

That was mainly because the six had to constantly use a part of their strength to keep Hundred Battle King sealed. Back then, a powerful heavenly king could still enter and attempt a rescue without much risk. But now, it would be tantamount to suicide.

This would be an act of courting death even if there were two or three of them. Four or five would do, but the difficulty of defeating eight heavenly kings was still extremely high. On top of the eight heavenly kings, there were also numerous experts in the surrounding areas who could reach the mountain in about two minutes.

Then again, it was quite unlikely that a group capable of defeating eight heavenly kings would bother with sneaking around. They might as well launch a frontal attack. This was what the myriad races believed.

As usual, Sealed Mountain was enveloped in silence.

The eight heavenly kings stationed here spent the majority of their time in silent cultivation. They rarely moved out of their respective cultivation spots. Six of them were spread around the mountain in fixed positions. These were their assigned positions to maintain the seal on Hundred Battle King.

The other two would patrol the area every now and then. Today, one of them was out on his usual patrol. Hundred Battle King had gone crazy a few days ago. They were worried that Hundred Battle King would continue doing so.

The heavenly king on patrol duty cultivated a true dao. He was unlike the other heavenly kings, who were fake dao cultivators. Even his appearance greatly differed from the others. They looked more like rotting corpses than actual living beings, while he looked younger. Unlike them, he was also filled with vitality.

As he moved through the air, weak fluctuations rippled out of him. Before long, he reached a platform at the middle of the mountain.

An old woman sat cross-legged atop the platform. Sensing the fluctuations, she opened her eyes and said, "Brother Dao Yu, your patrol frequency seems to have increased recently."

The visitor nodded and said, "Hundred Battle King raged not long ago. He had stayed calm for many years before that. Now that the restoration of the connection to the Lower Realm is near, we need to be careful."

The old woman smiled and said, "The dao power here is incredibly dense. Anything can cause a fluctuation of power. It will be fine even if you patrol at a reduced frequency. Don't worry too much, Brother Dao Yu. You should take more rest."

The myriad races had increased the security measures around the Sealed Mountain after the previous attempt to free Hundred Battle King. For example, they had increased the amount of dao power in the air, making it easier for fluctuations to appear.

An Eternal could cause some fluctuations just by activating their dao slightly within the area. In short, the very dao power in the air was serving as their alarm system. Naturally, the same would happen when Daofuses entered the area.

One could only avoid creating fluctuations by completely withdrawing from one's dao.

Dao Yu smiled and said, "It's fine. It's not that bad to move a bit after sitting around for so long."

The old woman chuckled. With eight heavenly kings here, they didn't have much to fear.

However, she was also quite envious of Dao Yu. She said, "True. Brother Dao Yu, you enjoy more freedom compared to us. We have to stay seated here. If we can't break through in a thousand years or so, I'm afraid we will reach the end of our lifespan."

A sigh rang out.

Dao Yu was different from them. He cultivated a dao from the Lower Realm. That was a stable dao. Meanwhile, the rest of them had switched their daos in the Upper Realm for the sake of faster growth. That worked well initially. But now, they were starting to suffer the consequences of that choice. Their new daos were weaker than their original daos. They also decayed more easily.

Dao Yu consoled her, "Do not be too pessimistic, Fellow Daoist Yu Lei. When the connection is restored, we will exterminate humanity. Perhaps that will be enough to fully liberate the various laws."

He smiled and said, "I heard from Sacred Source Marquis that our inability to become Masters of Laws might be related to what Human Emperor and the others did back then. They might have set down some limitations on the laws prior to their disappearance. In short, we need to remove humanity and their laws might fade away."

That was a speculation of Sacred Source Marquis, and he agreed with it.

Hearing that, the old woman's mood improved slightly. She said, "I can only hope so."

She looked at the nearby mountain and smiled, "I doubt there is enough time for any variable to appear in this epoch. Hundred Battle King has been sealed for many years. No matter how talented the Lower Realm humans are, they won't be able to produce new Daofuses. Hundred Battle King is very important."

Dao Yu nodded and said, "Yes. That's why the various races aren't willing to kill him. Otherwise, there won't be a need for all this trouble. The various races can simply gather all our experts and kill him."

Hundred Battle King might be strong, but there was a limit to his strength. If they couldn't kill him with three or five heavenly kings, they only needed to amass ten. Would that be enough? No? They could also deploy a few powerful pseudo kings. Would that be enough?

They were definitely capable of killing Hundred Battle King. However, they much preferred using him to block humanity's progress for six thousand years.

Seeing that Dao Yu was feeling talkative, the old woman asked, "Not long ago, something seemed to have changed in the Lower Realm. Are you aware of that? What happened down there? Both Fallen Star and Devilroil died down there."

Dao Yu nodded and said, "Apparently, a new human lord appeared down there. According to what we know, this might be the work of that old turtle."

"Grand Dream..." The old woman frowned slightly, but soon, she laughed. "Yes. He is indeed an ancient being. But he has always been neutral, right? Did he break his neutrality?"

"Who knows?" Dao Yu said, "Maybe everyone believes that this is the final epoch, and the time to make a final gamble has arrived. That's perfectly normal. The Lower Realm humans can still amass some strength if they want. That soul devourer called Soy Bun and Grand Dream are both powerful Daofuses. And there are also a few other races, such as the iron devourers, who are former allies of humanity."

The old woman said, "If it weren't for the fact that March is still around alongside Great Bamboo, the iron devourers would have been wiped out long ago."

Dao Yu nodded.

That was true. Alas, March's rumored presence was enough to give the myriad races pause. They did not want to turn against March before they were done with humanity. They did not want to risk losing too much before humanity was dealt with.

Some things were secrets for many people, but not for peak existences like them. Almost all heavenly kings knew that March was not dead.

The old woman said, "Not long ago, Immortal Battle fought Bloodbreak over a dao. Immortal Battle seemed to have won. Is he not aware of the dangers of cultivating these masterless daos? Why am I hearing that he's still trying to switch his dao?"

"He can't resist the temptation."

Dao Yu was an immortal as well, so he knew more. He explained, "It's understandable. He has been stuck for so many years, and he has only managed to become a pseudo king not long ago. That masterless dao is not a simple dao."

"Not a simple dao?"

"Yes. Bloodbreak wouldn't have fought so hard over it otherwise." Dao Yu chuckled and said, "In fact, even I was tempted slightly. I believe that's a physical body dao."

The old woman appeared surprised to hear that.

Dao Yu nodded, "Yes. A physical body dao. You know that for all races, their respective physical body daos are among the strongest they can cultivate. A physical body dao is always a foundational dao. It's the same for humans, immortals, devils, or any other race."

"There are many daos to be found up here, but foundational daos are very rare." The old woman said with envy, "True. If that's a physical body dao, then it is indeed worth the switch. No wonder Bloodbreak went crazy and fought Immortal Battle for many years over it."

Dao Yu said, "If I could get my hands on a foundational dao, like the five elemental daos or the life and death daos, I would definitely make a switch. That's especially so for a life dao. Unfortunately, I am not lucky enough to stumble upon one."

"A dao of life...Yes. With one such dao, you might really be able to take another step forward."

After a short conversation, Dao Yu smiled and said, "That's all for now. I'll be resuming my patrol."

"Sure. Take it easy."

Dao Yu bid his farewell and resumed his patrol.

***

At the same time, near the Sealed Mountain.

Su Yu was observing the area in silence with his Heaven Gate open. Slowly, a smile formed on his face.

How impressive.

The dao power in the air was incredibly loose, making it incredibly easy for fluctuations to appear. Unfortunately for these people, this was his territory. The little stone in his hand vanished. Then, the dao power ahead of him calmed down completely.

The power in the air originated from Human Emperor's dao. And the little stone was essentially a representative of the Human Emperor. Thus, it could easily suppress the power here.

Su Yu looked around and noted a certain dao that was actively patrolling the area. In fact, as that dao moved, it constantly created fluctuations around it. Su Yu curled his lips. Why was that old man moving around?

Then again, that wouldn't be an easy opponent to handle. That was a real dao cultivator. Perhaps for anyone else, fake and real daos were the same. But for Su Yu, fake daos were far easier to handle.

"Maybe we can ambush and get rid of one of them, making the battle easier for the others."

Su Yu moved noiselessly toward a certain direction. Or to be precise, he was moving toward the old woman. Why? Because the patrolling guy had just passed by this place. He wouldn't be back so soon.

Su Yu transformed into a speck of dust and hid behind the little stone as he slowly drifted toward the middle of the mountain. He was using the little stone to pave his way.

"What if the others decide to flee after one is dead? That would be troublesome. Well, maybe that's not a bad thing. That will make it even easier for us. We can kill a few and flee right away. It doesn't matter if we can't kill all of them. The six in charge of sealing Hundred Battle won't be able to escape so easily anyway. Their daos are all stuck here. Only the two real dao cultivators can flee for real."

The six were his targets here. As for the two real dao cultivators, they were free to escape. It wasn't like he had a way of killing them easily.

Slowly, he approached the mountain. The mountain was massive. From the foot of the mountain, he had to travel tens of thousands of meters to reach the midpoint.

Five thousand meters. Three thousand meters. The distance continued shortening.

As Su Yu moved, his Heaven Gate was open as he continued observing the daos around him. With his Heaven Gate, the world was laid bare before his eyes. Their daos would react even when they were pretending to not notice him after discovering him.

At present, the dao of his target was still perfectly calm. Evidently, she had yet to notice him. This was a demonstration of just how terrifying the Heaven Gate was. Most people would not actively prevent their daos from reflecting their thoughts and ideas. All that would be laid bare before someone with the Heaven Gate.

"I'm still undiscovered."

Su Yu exhaled lightly. At this point, he was already near enough that he could directly see the old woman in the middle of the mountain.

"A divine?"

Su Yu was pleasantly surprised. This was his first encounter with a peak expert from the divine race. Finally, his chance to kill a peak divine expert had arrived.

Two thousand meters.

Su Yu continued his approach.

One thousand meters.

For Daofuses, this was already an incredibly close distance.

***

Atop the platform.

The old woman opened her eyes abruptly, gripped by a sudden sense of restlessness. She looked down with a frown.

She saw nothing.

She spread her senses around and noted the trail of fluctuations in the distance. Dao Yu was still in the middle of patrol, and he wasn't too far away. The eight heavenly kings weren't that far from each other. They were near enough to regroup in only a few seconds.

"What is up with me?"

Was she overthinking?

The old woman was confused. She had just advised Dao Yu not to overthink not long ago. And now, she was doing that.

"Brother Dao Yu."

The old woman called out suddenly, giving Su Yu a scare as he thought he had been exposed. Just as he was about to attack, he noted that the old woman was still relatively calm, so he held back in relief.

He decided to wait longer. He would act when that Dao Yu guy had moved further away.

"Yes, Fellow Daoist Yu Lei?"

Dao Yu looked over and smiled.

The old woman thought about it and said, "Nothing important. I suddenly recalled the Myriad Race Assembly they mentioned not long ago. When is it happening?"

"In about a month or so, I think." Dao Yu said, "It won't be long, but I doubt we'll have the chance to participate. After all, our task here is very important as well."

"True."

The old woman nodded. After a short chat with Dao Yu, her restlessness had faded slightly. She must have been overthinking. There were heavy security measures all around this place, and Dao Yu was near. What was she worrying about? After giving her another smile, Dao Yu resumed his patrol.

"Direct attack!"

Just then, Su Yu's voice rang out in the Mark of Civilization.

Direct attack.

Su Yu did not intend to suppress the old woman before fighting her as he didn't want to scare the other heavenly kings off.

She was using a large part of her strength to keep Hundred Battle King suppressed. Su Yu, Lan Tian, and a bunch of experts were attacking together. This was an even stronger force than the one Blood Dragon Marquis had faced. How could they fail?

They had barely registered the voice when the Mark of Civilization flipped open. Eleven experts, including Su Yu, flickered into existence.

𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

A rumble rang out.

Eleven experts clad in black robes attacked with all their strength.

Stable Army Marquis and the others were already igniting their blood essence.

An intense bombardment shot up.

The old woman, who had just finished her chat with Dao Yu, found her heart thumping violently barely a moment after that.

She blanked out slightly.

Danger.

Intense danger.

A danger that could cause her death.

She couldn't even remember the last time she felt such an intense sense of crisis.

"Dan—"

She couldn't even finish her warning.

Unknown enemies had arrived right by her side, yet she had remained completely oblivious.