Zhu Tiandao was able to easily enforce his demands. Since he did not need anything from them, he could afford to take an unyielding stance. What could they do to him?

At this moment, Great Han King thought of something and asked, "Does Su Yu have a ruin under his control?"

Zhu Tiandao frowned.

Even Invincibles were getting interested in the so-called ruin?

Great Han King smiled and said, "Tiandao, don't think too much. I'm only reminding you that he's getting too conspicuous. The myriad races must have learned of this as well. Tell him to stop learning from Xia Longwu..."

Administrator Hu's expression changed.

Zhu Tiandao nodded pensively and said, "You're right."

Great Han King sighed and said, "In fact, the more famous he is, the more troublesome things will be. If his ruin is able to support one dao affirmation, it will ruin the plans of many people..."

He scanned the crowd and said, "I know that a lot of people are waiting for Xia Longwu. They are waiting for him to go to the Allheaven Battlefield and kill an Invincible. But it's about time you guys stop creating trouble. It's pointless."

"As for Su Yu..." He scanned the crowd again before speaking with an emotionless face, "You won't achieve much even if you kill him. What if he already told someone about the ruin? What if that someone is Xia Longwu or Zhu Tiandao? What's the point of killing him? What can you stop by killing him?"

The expressions of several individuals changed.

A few others had looks of disbelief. The old man who had spoken earlier said, "Great Han King, are you saying that some people are trying to kill Su Yu to prevent him from passing the ruin over to someone who can use it for dao affirmation?"

This old man didn't know who Su Yu was. But through this hearing, he understood that Su Yu was an exceptional human genius. And he seemed to have inherited an Invincible ruin. And now, some people were trying to kill him.

As for the reason for that? It was simple. They didn't want to give Xia Longwu the chance to affirm his dao in secret. They needed Xia Longwu to do it openly in the Allheaven Battlefield.

Great Han King said, "Perhaps. The myriad races are probably trying to do the same. Thus, more and more people will target him. It is not my place to say if what Su Yu did was right or wrong. He did share his cultivation methods and kill the enemies of humanity. But the more cultivation methods he releases, the more convinced some people would be that he has a ruin. More and more people are seeing his ruin as a threat."

Great Han King paused shortly before continuing, "The myriad races won't stop trying to kill him. There's not much we can do. We can only try our best to keep him safe while he's in the Human Realm. Or you can send him to the Knowledge Seeking Realm. I will personally guarantee his safety."

Zhu Tiandao was about to speak when Great Han King said, "Tiandao, you understand this. If he doesn't come, it's impractical for us to constantly keep an eye on Great Ming. All of us are bound to be occupied at times. You can't ask an Eternal to spend all their time protecting a young man."

Zhu Tiandao nodded. He thought about it and said, "Great Han King is right. But his safety is still ensured in Great Ming. As for the ruin...Actually, Xia Longwu has taken it away long ago. Why don't we announce this to the Myriad Realms. If they need to kill someone, they can go after Xia Longwu. It's not like that lunatic is scared of assassinations..."

Administrator Hu rolled his eyes. Bastard! Could this fellow be less of a bastard? Was he not ashamed when saying those words?

Zhu Tiandao did not seem to mind. If he was being honest, nobody would be able to take Xia Longwu's life while he was inside the Human Realm. And the moment he stepped out of the Human Realm, everyone would try to kill him regardless.

In that case, nothing would change even if he was made Su Yu's scapegoat. In fact, that madman would probably welcome Invincible assassins. They might even be able to lure some Invincibles to death doing this.

Zhu Tiandao said, "Even if Xia Longwu is still unaware of the ruin, I can simply go back and have Su Yu tell him. And at that point, you guys will have to switch your target to Xia Longwu if you want to stop him from affirming his dao in a ruin."

Someone gloomily said, "Prefect Zhu, be careful with what you say. We're not the ones trying to stop Prefect Xia. It's the myriad races. Why are you constantly trying to turn Prefect Xia against us?"

Zhu Tiandao laughed, "Not at all. Don't misunderstand me. I'm definitely not trying to do that. Why do I even care? This is none of my business."

He grinned, "Xia Longwu is a butcher with a terrible temper. I reckon he has a ninety percent chance of failing his breakthrough. I suggest you stop messing with him. If you push things too far, do you believe that affirming his dao is the only thing he can do? What if he decides to throw caution to the wind and give up on trying to break through? All your plans will fail.

"Don't forget that some people are waiting for his breakthrough to reap some benefits themselves. If you push things too far and he decides to affirm his dao in a random minor realm, well, you can kiss all your plans goodbye.

"Qin Zhen, the Zhou brothers, the eldest kid of the Yuan Family, the eldest kid of the Liu Family...tsk tsk. So many people are waiting for Xia Longwu to act as their shield while they break through. This might be their only chance. Stop messing around. Not even someone like me can tolerate this, much less a lunatic like Xia Longwu. Keep a tighter leash on your dogs. Learn to use your brain. Don't end up as the one to pay for the mistakes of others. If you think I'm talking nonsense...hehehe. Just wait and see."

Silence descended.

After giving Zhu Tiandao a glance, Great Han King smiled and said, "We're agreed, then. As for the Xia Family..."

He looked at Administrator Hu and asked, "Little Hu, do you have anything to add?"

Administrator Hu smiled and replied, "No. Both the prefect and the marquis have not said anything. We're prioritizing stability."

Great Han King gave no reply. Silk Destroying King stayed silent as well.

It was much scarier for the Xia Family to not say anything.

People like Zhu Tiandao who would bicker endlessly were those who still wished to survive in the Human Realm. As for the ones staying silent, they might lose their patience one day and do something truly crazy.

And the Xia Family had nothing to say. Even Great Xia King had been very silent recently. Xia Longwu's dao affirmation had turned into their sole obsession. And regardless of the result, great chaos would come after.

Great Han King's head ached when he thought of that. He was prepared to pull Yuan Qingdong out of Great Xia if Administrator Hu said something. But no.

The Xia Family had nothing to say. The less they had to say, the more troublesome this was.

Zhu Tiandao said nothing. He didn't care since it was none of his business. But Xia Family's attitude had indeed caused some people to shiver in fear. Even the lunatic butcher, Xia Longwu, had nothing to say. How scary was that? The eight family heads sank into silence.

Great Han King sighed inwardly and said, "So are we agreed that the crisis of Great Ming has been solved? Do you have anything else to add, Tiandao?"

Zhu Tiandao nodded, "I have one last thing to say. It's nothing big. It's only a personal matter. Can I get a few Invincible notes for Su Yu? This is no big deal. I only want some regular notes. Great Ming has provided the rewards and body forging slot he should have gotten on behalf of the Knowledge Seeking Realm. Thus, you won't need to give anything valuable. I only want a note from each of the eight families and maybe thirty or fifty of them from the Knowledge Seeking Realm. This is not difficult at all. Any random notes written by Invincibles will do."

Silence descended. What a thick face.

After a short silence, one of the family heads said, "We don't share our Invincible notes with outsiders."

Each Invincible note contained the comprehension of the Invincible who had written the note. Generally, these notes would not be shared with outsiders.

Zhu Tiandao nodded, "Fine. The Source Soul Cultural Art is a lot better than the Myriad Text Sutra. If the creator of the Myriad Text Sutra was given two body forging slots, Su Yu should get at least four, right? Great Ming won't forget to send one person per year to the holy land for body forging during the next four years. Ah, right, we're going to use our once-per-fifty-year slot as well. Thus, Great Ming will be taking the slots for the next five years. This is acceptable, right?"

"..."

Zhu Tiandao yawned and said, "We're agreed, then. Don't even bother telling me that the Source Soul Cultural Art is worse than the Myriad Text Sutra. It's pointless. Don't treat everyone as fools."

The Yuan Family head frowned and asked, "Does Great Ming have five people who can make use of these slots?"

These slots were meant for the best of the best.

Zhu Tiandao nodded, "My grandson and granddaughter will be taking two of the slots. Great Ming is filled with geniuses. Even if you give us five hundred slots, we'll be able to use them all. They are all super geniuses. Don't you worry. After body forging, each of them will be as strong as five Huang Feng or Qin Fang."

What if that was not the case? Well, why should he care? Everyone was left speechless.

Great Han King smiled and said, "You can get one of my notes. As for the others..."

He looked at the eight family heads. Were they going to let the Zhu Family monopolize the slots for the next five years or were they going to hand over the notes? They could make the choice themselves.

Zhu Tiandao waited leisurely. He did not mind either way. Both choices were acceptable to him.

The Yuan Family head remained stubborn. He offered, "We can give him other rewards such as heavenly source fruits--"

"Oh, heavenly source fruits? A hundred of them?" Zhu Tiandao said, "Sure. Don't bother if it's any less than that. You saw how I used more than ten heavenly source fruits just to produce a fake phenomenon. That is not something we lack. I'll be honest. We have plenty of them in Great Ming. Back then, my old man stole an entire heavenly source fruit tree from the Divine Realm and planted it in Great Ming. Are you not aware of this?"

"..."

𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Bullshit!

Who was he trying to fool?

Zhu Tiandao was getting impatient. "Stop wasting time. If you keep dragging this out, we'll stop the distribution of the Source Soul Cultural Art to the holy land while the other prefectures will have to buy it at double the price. The eight families shall take responsibility for that. Since he's not rewarded for creating his cultivation methods, why should he try to distribute it so eagerly? Do you think he created all these cultivation methods just for money?"

Silk Destroying King offered, "Tiandao, why don't you sell the rights to the War Shrine. I guarantee that you will receive a fair share of the proceeds."

Zhu Tiandao said, "Forget it. The Source Soul Acupoint Opening Art is going to be released soon. It's pretty good. Silk Destroying King, please keep an eye on War Shrine as well. Su Yu was not rewarded for his Double Wu Acupoint Fusion Art."

Silk Destroying King nonchalantly said, "Didn't you receive our reward earlier?"

"..."

Fine.

Zhu Tiandao couldn't be bothered to argue any further. He stood up and said, "This is it, then. From this year onward, I'll get someone to seal the Heavenly Source Domain. The harvest will only be done once every nine years and the previous harvest was last year. I'm only sealing it for five years so you guys will be able to proceed with the next harvest as usual."

One of the eight family heads sighed and said, "We can agree to that. You will receive a note from each family. Including Great Han King's note, Su Yu will receive nine Invincible notes..."

"Come on. Round it up." Zhu Tiandao said, "The eight families can jointly pay for the final note and make it ten. We're all important people here. Don't waste our time haggling like we're at the market just for something this minor."

Minor?

How were the notes of Invincibles minor? They couldn't even be bothered to argue anymore and simply nodded in agreement. Ten Invincible notes.

That was Su Yu's reward for the Source Soul Cultural Art. If he had remained silent, they could naturally stay silent as well. But now that someone had asked for his reward on his behalf, they naturally couldn't deny him the reward. That was especially true right now with the two Invincibles and the War Shrine watching.

The eight family heads felt extremely sullen. Zhu Tiandao had thrown a big tantrum due to the attack on Great Ming. And since Great Ming was under Knowledge Seeking Realm's jurisdiction, the eight families would naturally be held responsible.

How shameless. Did the Xia Family throw a tantrum at the War Shrine when Great Xia was attacked? In the end, the eight families were the only ones to suffer.

Zhu Tiandao. A true scoundrel. A shameless scoundrel.