A few hours later, the sky started turning dark.

Night arrived.

Su Yu was back in front of the city. He was not back as Su Yu. Instead, he was a middle-aged man, strutting straight toward the main gate.

The guards standing around the nearby gates glanced at him. Then, the Mountainsea guard came out and said, "We're not charging you an entrance fee anymore. Why bother?"

"..."

Su Yu stared at the guard with stupefaction. The Mountainsea guard said, "We don't get a lot of human visitors. And those heading straight to the main gate are either confident or stupid. Someone wanted to challenge the main gate earlier, but that someone was worried about the many eyes around the city..."

The guard couldn't even be bothered to finish his explanation. Was this brat treating everyone like fools? On the same night, the brat had returned with a different appearance before strutting straight to the main gate. If this wasn't Su Yu, he would stand on his hands and eat a giant lump of stool.

"..."

With an innocent expression, Su Yu asked, "What are you talking about, Brother?"

The Mountainsea couldn't even be bothered to play along. He said, "The ancient cities do not get involved in the conflict of the myriad races. Humans, divines, and devils are all incomparably powerful. The ancient cities are merely inhabited by helpless individuals trying to survive amid the giants.

"Our realms have long been destroyed. We don't have a home to return to. Thus, we joined an ancient city. We only want a home. We don't want to get involved in the conflict of the myriad races. It doesn't matter who you are. I only wish to remind you that entering the city is easy, but leaving might not be so simple."

Su Yu cursed inwardly. Was his disguise so terrible? Why were there no fools in the Allheaven Battlefield? Why was everyone and their grandma capable of seeing through his disguise? This did not make any sense.

The Mountainsea guard couldn't be bothered to explain more. These ancient cities did not get a lot of new visitors. When he saw the human brat refusing to leave with Zheng Ping earlier, he knew that the brat was still thinking of entering the city. After all, ancient cities were too attractive for these young geniuses.

Sure enough, the brat was back. He was certain that this was Su Yu. Then again, Su Yu was indeed a genius. A super genius standing at the top even among geniuses. Such an existence wouldn't give up on the ancient city so easily.

The Mountainsea guard continued his explanation, "It is advisable for you to remain in the outer rings during your time in the city. If you are able to enter through the main gate, you can stay between seven to ten days. It is not advisable to stay longer than that."

"What if I stay longer?" Su Yu smiled, "Are you guys going to deport me?"

"No." The Mountainsea indifferently said, "If you overstay, you will either turn into a resident...or turn into a corpse we will need to remove sometime in the future."

It was that simple. If he wanted to stay, so be it. Su Yu was surprised. These ancient cities were so bizarre it felt unsettling. Even Su Yu himself was starting to feel some fear from what he was hearing.

"Just what exactly are these dangers of ancient cities?"

The Mountainsea guard did not reply.

"What about the opportunities inside ancient cities?"

No reply as well.

"Am I free to move around after entering the city?"

"Yes." Finally, the guard answered, "As long as you don't cause any trouble, you are free to move around. Just avoid spending the night in the houses in the inner rings."

Su Yu nodded, "In that case, what's the purpose of guards like you?"

He was very curious. What was there for these guards to do?

After a short silence, the guard replied, "We're here to maintain order in the city, deal with the corpses in the city, and provide a place of rest for the cultivators of the myriad races. For geniuses like you, these ancient cities are merely a place to rest temporarily. There is no need for you to stay here for long."

"Why can those mystic armors reside in this city for an extended period of time?"

He was very curious about that as well.

After yet another short silence, the guard answered, "That's normal. Everyone wants to get their hands on the opportunities within the ancient cities. However, one also needs the ability to actually receive these opportunities. People like those from the mystic armor race want the opportunities, but they lack the ability. Thus, they can only become the resident of the city to explore the secrets of the city."

So that was why.

"Is the mayor neutral?"

"..."

The guard couldn't speak for the mayor. Thus, he ignored the question. Was the mayor really neutral? Nobody knew. Very few people in the Allheaven Battlefield were truly neutral.

Su Yu asked, "Which race is the mayor from?"

"No idea." The guard coldly asked, "Are you entering or not?"

"Don't misunderstand. I only want to know if you guys will surround and attempt to kill me after I enter."

"As long as you follow our rules, nobody will dare to do anything to you." The guard reminded, "During your time in the city, do not fight. Do not damage anything. Leave within three days. You will be fine if you abide by that. Otherwise, you will need to face the potential consequences yourself."

"What are the advantages and disadvantages of becoming a resident?"

"You'll know after giving it a try."

The guard replied with a toying tone. If the brat was really so curious, he was free to give it a try.

Su Yu cursed inwardly. There was no way he was going to try it himself. Alright. Time for him to enter the city. He started approaching the main gate. The path sloped slightly upward, and the moment he stepped on the path, a heavy pressure descended upon him. He felt as though a mountain had been dropped on his shoulders.

Not far away, the Mountainsea guard crossed his arms and said, "I've been here for many years, and I've seen numerous geniuses attempt to enter this gate. I've never challenged the gate myself, but I know that you will be able to enter after taking ninety-nine steps.

"Anyone capable of walking through this gate will gain something from it. And without fail, every single person who has gotten through the gate has grown into a powerhouse nobody can ignore. A lot of your fellow humans were here before as well. Ye Batian, Xia Longwu, Zhou Polong, Zhou Potian, Zhu Tiandao, Qin Zhen, Niu Baidao, Wan Tiansheng..."

After listing out all those names, he said, "Some of them succeeded. Some nearly made it. But guess who had the easiest time during the challenge."

Due to the heavy pressure, Su Yu couldn't even take a single step forward. His curiosity got the best of him, and he asked while gasping for breath, "Who?"

"Wan Tiansheng."

"..."

Su Yu was stunned. Impossible!

"What about the fifth principal?"

"He...wasn't as fast as Wan Tiansheng. Perhaps he hid his strength. Perhaps their levels of talent were simply different."

Nonsense! Was it possible that the fifth principal was less talented than Wan Tiansheng? Bullshit!

As far as all cultural researchers and even warriors were concerned, the fifth principal was the most talented person to ever exist. His talent was unrivaled even among the myriad races. If it wasn't for his insistence to affirm his dao as a cultural researcher, he would have broken through long before his death.

Wan Tiansheng...that must be a joke. He wasn't even that famous. He was only slightly famous in Great Xia. Even Niu Baidao was more well-known than him in the Human Realm. There was a massive gap between the fifth and sixth principals.

The Mountainsea guard did not bother to elaborate. Speed did not determine everything. Nevertheless, he couldn't forget Wan Tiansheng. That person was able to stay in the city for ten days before leaving. That was among the longest period of time a visitor had ever stayed in the city.

At that time, Wan Tiansheng wasn't too popular. Sure, he was in the Heavenly Hunt Index, but he still wasn't popular. At his peak, he reached the top 10 of the Yellow Index. But he turned inactive soon after. Eventually, he was removed from the index after exceeding the maximum age.

Then again, there were too many geniuses around. Even if there was no age limit, it was only a matter of time for one to be removed from the index if one did not progress.

***

Su Yu tossed the matter to the back of his mind. Old Wan was actually able to get through the gate easily. How surprising. Due to the heavy pressure on him, straining his source qi and physical strength. This felt great. He loved this feeling the most.

Body forging! He activated the 72-Forged Iron Devourer and started absorbing heavenly source qi. Slowly, he straightened his back. The pressure was too strong. Right after he straightened his back, a massive pressure descended and forced him down yet again.

Even the Mountainsea guard was getting curious. Was this...really Su Yu? What was going on? Was he not capable of taking even a single step? This was weird. Even the guards around him were also looking in astonishment. Was this the so-called super genius? Was this really Su Yu?

Did their commander get things wrong? Even the Mountainsea guard commander started doubting himself. Perhaps this human was really not Su Yu.

In his opinion, Su Yu was a Heaven Index genius. He still stood a chance to go through the main gate. In fact, his chances were quite high. He should only start encountering trouble after ninety steps. But this fellow was already struggling at the very first step.

Nobody knew the truth. Not even Su Yu understood why. He felt extremely gloomy and disheartened. What was going on? He did not realize that inside his sea of willpower, the little furball had suddenly opened his eyes to look around after sensing something. But soon, the little furball returned to cultivation. There was still some remnant willpower left in Su Yu's sea of willpower. He wouldn't let the willpower go to waste.

Su Yu had completely forgotten about the little furball. He was not challenging the gate alone. He was challenging the gate while carrying a Cloudbreach of an ancient race. He had completely neglected the little furball's existence. He was essentially being hit with double the challenge at the same time.

A super genius Cloudbreach of an ancient race would certainly receive a much harder challenge than a regular person. Thus, Su Yu was withstanding double the pressure of what a super genius was supposed to receive. Alone, he would only face such a level of pressure after taking over thirty steps. But now, such a level of pressure had appeared at the very first step.

He had not imagined that the challenge would be so difficult. Inside the sea of willpower, the little furball was completely indifferent to the challenge. In fact, he was wondering if he was considered a person.

No, right?

Was he considered a living being?

No, right?

Well, the little furball had never viewed himself as a person, a living being, or a genius. Thus, the pressure had nothing to do with him. All the pressure must have been generated by Yummy alone. He was only a furball.

Meanwhile, the Mountainsea guard was starting to lose confidence in himself. Had he been too confident in his judgment? He had actually misunderstood this human to be Su Yu. This was absolutely not Su Yu. How would Su Yu be in such a miserable state at the very start of the challenge? He reckoned even he could take more than one step if he were to take the challenge.