Tribulation of Myriad Races

Zhang He laughed awkwardly. How should he answer that question?

After a long while, he coughed and said, “Yeah. Not long ago, Prince Zhu Hongwen of Great Ming went to the Allheaven Battlefield to inspect the Heavenly Dao Army. He is quite a strong individual.”

Zhu Hongwen was the eldest grandson of Zhu Tiandao and the son of Zhu Guangshen. He was a Cloudbreach. Su Yu couldn’t understand the connection between the act of inspecting the army and an incredible level of strength. He felt quite helpless. It would seem like Great Ming had not done anything impressive as of late.

Zhang He said, “Great Ming is not known for its military strength. Take you as an example, Master Cui. You will be an earth weaponsmith soon. You will be a lot more important than all those famous individuals.”

Su Yu said, “I once dreamed of traveling the world with my sword and sweeping through all oppositions. To be honest, you rely on the respect of others as a weaponmith. If everyone decides to stop giving you respect, what can you even do about it?”

Zhang He said, “You’re too modest, Master Cui. Your willpower is very powerful and robust. That hammer you used must belong to the Soul Expanding Art of the Zhao Family. That is actually a powerful soul technique. I reckon even a regular six-stage Cloudbreach won’t be your match.”

“Just address me by my name. Stop calling me master all the time. You’re too polite, General Zhang.”

Despite how polite the two were to each other, Su Yu knew that General Zhaang was still suspicious of him.

Su Yu said, “When you say regular Cloudbreach, it also depends on what manner of Cloudbreach that is. If you compare me against those with only a few dozen acupoints and nine body forgings, it’s pointless. It is also pointless to compare me against those with one or two characters and unstable willpower.”

Su Yu proudly said, “I might not have made my name through combat, but I am still the student of a Sunmoon. I received the finest education and training. If I can’t even surpass those from the bottom of the society, what difference is there between me and a pile of garbage?”

Zhang He nodded, “True. Ma-well, allow me to impolite and address you as Brother Cui. You’re right. Everyone has a different starting line. There is no comparing you and the common people. Sigh. My dead son was also a genius cultural researcher. He had a lot of characters. Alas…”

He sighed again.

Su Yu nodded, “I’ve never met your son before, but I did hear about him in Nanyuan. He was a genius. Brother Zhang, do you mind me asking one question?”

“Go ahead.”

“Is there really a ruin in Nanyuan?” He asked, “Even if there is really a ruin there, it’s within Great Xia’s borders. Trying to snatch it from them is the same as dreaming. Why did you allow your son to go there?”

“I only wanted him to try his luck.”

Zhang He shook his head, not willing to say more.

But Su Yu insisted on continuing on the same topic, “Trying his luck? That’s not necessarily true, right? Brother Zhang, why don’t you just be honest? At this point, it’s useless to keep hiding things from me. Did you find something there?”

After a short pause, Su Yu added, “That might be the very reason why someone made a move against your son.”

Zhang He’s heart skipped a beat. He thought about it and said, “We really didn’t find anything substantial, but we strongly believed that there might really be a ruin in Nanyuan. Firstly, Liu Wenyan went to Nanyuan after leaving the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy. You know who Liu Wenyan is, right?”

“Secondly, Great Xia King once stayed there for many years as well. Thirdly, the rise of Su Yu. That is the strongest proof. Fourthly, apart from Nanyuan(South Origin), there are also Xiyuan(West Origin), Beiyuan (North Origin), and Dongyuan(East Origin) cities in the Human Realm. And the ruins had been found in all the other three cities previously. Also, it is worth noting that these places have been known by these names since ancient times.”

Su Yu was stunned. He said, “I was really unaware of that. Nanyuan is located to the south of Great Xia, but it isn’t really the southernmost region of the Human Realm. Great Ming is even further south than Nanyuan…”

Zhang He shook his head, “That’s not the correct way of seeing it. According to the ancient humans, Nanyuan is the south pole of the central region. The area beyond Nanyuan is known as the Desolate South. Great Ming is actually located in the Desolate South. As for Beiyuan, it is located inside Great Zhou. A ruin was once found there. Do you know who was the person who had obtained that ruin?”

“Great Zhou King?”

“No. His younger brother.”

Su Yu nodded in realization, “So it was him. So that was an Invincible ruin?”

“Yes.”

Su Yu felt his horizons broadening. He said, “I see. No wonder everyone is giving Nanyuan so much attention.”

Zhang He said, “Nobody dared to go there in the past since that is Xia Family’s territory. Also, rumors about the ruins in Beiyuan, Dongyuan, and Xiyuan have only started spreading recently. In the past, the location each Invincible had broken through in had been kept secret. Now that the secret has been exposed, everyone is sure that there is definitely a ruin in Nanyuan.”

Su Yu nodded, “No wonder. I have been wondering why so many people are rushing over like fools. So they are only doing that because they are confident there is a ruin there.”

He shook his head and added, “The person spreading these rumors is most certainly harboring ill intentions. How is that person aware of the locations where three Invincibles had broken through in the past? That is most certainly someone powerful. Perhaps that’s an enemy of Great Xia King?”

Zhang He said, “You’re indeed smart. You are able to see through the whole thing immediately. That person is definitely harboring ill intentions. Everyone is clear on that.”

“Can’t anyone find out the source of the rumors?” Su Yu asked doubtfully, “Perhaps it’s the same traitor Invincible? Don’t look at me like that, Brother Zhang. That is no longer a secret. A lot of people in Great Ming are already aware of this. There is a traitor among the Invincibles. Great Han King himself had declared this traitor a parasite of humanity. So is this the work of the same person?”

“That…is perhaps true.” Zhang He said, “But nobody knows the truth. According to the investigation, the first person to discover this information found it in some random library. That person is a very weak cultivator. After finding out about the connection between the four cities, he started spreading it everywhere.”

“Where is he right now?”

“Dead.”

“Dead?”

Zhang He nodded, “Yeah. You’re not the only person to find this suspicious. After several interrogations, he died while his memories were being searched. He was too weak to withstand the search.”

Su Yu curled his lips, “That’s normal. If that Invincible is really so stupid, there would be a lot less trouble in the Human Realm. Brother Zhang, which Invincible do you think is the traitor?”

Zhang He solemnly said, “Do not guess. Do not talk about it. This topic is taboo to mention. The stronger someone is, the more careful you need to be when talking about them. Even the Invincibles won’t talk about this rashly. It can easily escalate into something disastrous.”

None of the Invincibles answered to each other. Thus, it wouldn’t be easy for any of them to investigate the others. If it was so easy, the traitor would have been found long ago.

Su Yu said, “I understand. Everyone understands. Everyone is merely acting dumb. But I believe everyone has their own suspicions privately. For example, I have been suspecting several Invincibles as well. Naturally, I don’t have the courage to say their names. I don’t want to get into trouble, right?”

The two continued flying, not bothering to stop even when passing by cities. They wouldn’t fly directly over these cities as that would only attract unnecessary trouble. Of course, this wasn’t an issue when they were within Great Jin since one of them was a general of Great Jin, but they were not doing it anyway.

While they were moving, Su Yu taught General Zhang the Essence Stimulating Art.

Naturally, this wasn’t something he learned from Niu Baidao.

Rather, he had obtained it from a race with incredible reproduction capabilities. That race was related to the fire hog race, but it wasn’t classified as the same race. Instead, it was known as the mother hog race as it was a matriarchal society. Each female of this race was capable of giving birth once per month. Each time, about seven or eight offspring would be produced.

With this art, Zhang He might really be able to produce a bunch of offspring. Of course, his strength might drop slightly due to the excessive drain of essence.

Zhang He started studying the art right after receiving it. He was also constantly testing Su Yu indirectly while they were flying in the sky. As a Sunmoon, his suspicion wouldn’t be removed so easily. And he had never stopped suspecting Cui Lang.

Su Yu did not seem to care. He had successfully convinced himself that he wasn’t the killer. With the calm character, he would not panic regardless of what Zhang He asked.

During the travel, he was also openly nurturing his characters. He wasn’t worried that Zhang He would get even more suspicious as this was a normal thing for cultural researchers to do.

Before long, it was the night of the 16th. The two finally left Great Jin and entered Great Zhou. After traveling across Great Zhou, they would reach the Allheaven Prefecture.

Great Zhou.

This was a prosperous prefecture. Even late at night, each city was brightly lit.

This place was also the holy land for all cultural researchers. It had a large number of cultural researchers of all types. Compared to Great Ming, the people here were much better at combat.

Here, earth weaponsmiths and earth pillmasters could be found. One could say that top-tier cultural researchers of all professions could be found here. For example, Zhao Tianbing, the renowned weaponsmith, resided in Great Zhou’s capital, Luoqiu.

Zhang He appeared visibly relieved after entering Great Zhou. This was a powerful prefecture, so one could hardly encounter a strong cultist here. Then again, things were also much stricter here.

It hadn’t even been long since they crossed the border when an alarm rang out in the air. Next, Su Yu sensed someone locking onto them.

Zhang He hurriedly clarified, “Zhang He of Great Jin Army is passing by your prefecture. We’re on our way to the Allheaven Battlefield.”

After saying that, he took out a shiny seal and sent it over.

Before long, a voice rang out from thin air, “So it’s General Zhang. Forgive me for being rude. General, who is the person beside you?”

Su Yu introduced himself with a smile, “Cui Lang of Great Ming. I am a weaponsmith heading to the Allheaven Battlefield under the order of Principal Niu from the Great Ming Cultural Research Academy.”

“Do you have any proof of identity on you?”

“Of course.” Su Yu took out a document from his storage ring and said, “I have the permit to enter the various prefectures as I love traveling so I’m always ready.”

A strand of willpower stretched over and checked the document. The voice then rang out again, “Since both of you have been here before, I won’t waste your time reciting the rules to you. In short, you must land when entering a city instead of flying over it.”

Zhang He said, “That is only natural. We will actually be going around all the cities in our path.”