Tribulation of Myriad Races

Unlike Xia Longwu, Su Yu was uninterested in playing peacemaker.

As far as he was concerned, the issue between Silk Destroying King and Lan Tian was not something he wanted to get involved with. From what he saw, he found it hard to believe that Silk Destroying King would actually kill Lan Tian.

Instead, the two might rekindle their love upon their next meeting. This was not something outsiders should get involved with.

Furthermore, Su Yu had not left the Human Realm to handle a quarrel between lovers. Rather, he was out here to visit the various Daofuses. During the previous battle, the iron devourers, hous, spatial beasts, primordial giants, and furballs had helped humanity greatly.

They had left after the battle without even collecting the spoils. And they had all suffered to different degrees from the battle. Thus, he had to visit them and further nurture his relationship with them.

He did not know what agreement Great Zhou King had reached with them, but he had to show them that he cared. Great Zhou King’s agreement with them didn’t matter since he was the human lord here.

It was important that he had a strong relationship with them as well. Even a relationship built by Great Zhou King should be his. That was his approach. It wasn’t even surprising that a ruler would do something like this. Rather than allow one’s subordinates to grow close with the other parties, it would be much better for the leader to be the one doing it.

It was clear that Su Yu was still wary of Great Zhou King. Of course, he did not doubt Great Zhou King’s loyalty toward humanity. He was more worried that Great Zhou King would scheme against him instead. At the moment, humanity needed him. Thus, Great Zhou King had been very helpful toward him. But would things change in the future?

What if some stronger experts were to descend from the Upper Realm? Would Great Zhou King pick someone else to become the human lord? What if Great Zhou King was the subordinate of an unknown human lord from one of the previous epochs, and he had merely been waiting for his rightful leader to return?

Anything was possible.

Thus, Su Yu decided to personally handle the relationship between humanity and its allies.

***

First stop, Iron Devourer Realm.

Su Yu was in no rush to visit the furballs. As far as he was concerned, those fellows were already solidly in his camp. And he had already visited them once. Meanwhile, he had never been to the Iron Devourer Realm before.

From afar, he put his crown on and released the power of the crown, making his identity known.

At the same time, the ceremonial golden robes meant for the human lord appeared on his body. His aura spread out, unyielding yet gentle, carrying with it a sense of goodwill. When he was near, he stopped and said, “Su Yu of the human race is here to visit the Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor.”

His voice rippled out.

Moments later, a gigantic iron devourer emerged from the realm entrance. He looked at Su Yu with a silly smile and said, “Please wait a moment, Human Lord. I have informed the Pseudo Emperor of your visit. Previously, he told us that you would visit. He wanted to welcome you personally.”

That was both a show of goodwill and their way of being careful against the arrival of an expert.

Su Yu smiled and said, “The Pseudo Emperor is too kind.”

The iron devourer continued flashing him a silly smile and said nothing.

After a while, several iron devourers emerged with a flash. Su Yu recognized the Pseudo Emperor with a single glance. But he did not recognize the Pseudo Emperor from size alone. Rather, it was due to the crown the Pseudo Emperor was wearing. Since he was not in active combat, the Pseudo Emperor was wearing his crown as well.

For some reason, he looked adorable with his crown.

He chortled and said, “Forgive my tardiness, Human Lord. This way, please!”

With that invitation, Su Yu stepped forth.

Instantly, he appeared before the iron devourers.

Gesturing at the realm entrance, the Pseudo Emperor said, “Please enter!”

All the iron devourers around him were looking at Su Yu curiously. Would he dare to enter alone? A human might be immune to the suppressive force of their realm, but inside their realm, their Pseudo Emperor would be stronger than usual. Furthermore, this was a race with more than ten Invincibles.

Would Su Yu dare to enter?

Su Yu stepped into the realm entrance unhesitatingly. Following behind Su Yu, the Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor said, “We are honored by your trust, Human Lord. But you should always be wary. It is always risky to enter someone’s realm rashly.”

The mere act of stepping in like this was a display of trust. The Pseudo Emperor was happy to see that. But he couldn’t help but worry that Su Yu would be too careless when handling the other races.

A single ambush inside a minor realm would be enough to kill Su Yu and collapse their current alliance. After all, Su Yu was the sole connection between the many parties joined in this alliance. With him gone, many would leave the alliance, including the old turtle.

Su Yu said, “Please be assured. I’ll never enter a realm rashly. Even if I do, I’ll sneak in rather than walking in so openly. In the event of something unexpected, I’m not without my own trump cards.”

“True.” The Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor laughed and said, “You have numerous trump cards. Even a Daofuse would be wary of facing you alone.”

At that moment, they stepped out of the tunnel.

The moment Su Yu laid eyes on the Iron Devourer Realm, he smiled. This was a mountainous realm, filled with source qi and bamboo forests. Numerous tiny iron devourers could be seen moving inside these bamboo forests.

This was Su Yu’s first time entering a different realm.

He said, “This is my first time entering a different realm. I’m still too young. I used to think of visiting the various realms to broaden my horizons. Alas, I never had the chance to do so.”

The Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor said, “You are simply too talented, Human Lord. In a short time, you have surpassed what many can achieve after a lifetime of hard work.”

Su Yu smiled, but suddenly, he shut his eyes and entered a state of contemplation. The Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor was curious, but he did not interrupt Su Yu.

Su Yu wasn’t posturing. He had indeed comprehended something new just by being here. Back then, he had heard that many human experts enjoyed sneaking into the various realms. But they didn’t do so just to kill. Some would actually spend some time in these realms just touring the place.

Right after entering the Iron Devourer Realm, something new emerged in Su Yu’s mind.

Suppressive force.

This unique force existed in all realms except the Human Realm.

But at the same time, humans could enter all realms without being subjected to the suppressive force.

Why so?

As Su Yu sank into thought, he activated his fire of civilization. He could feel a unique force pressing down upon him right after entering the realm, but it vanished right after. How did that happen? It felt as though a different power had counteracted that power.

“Laws…great daos…”

The suppressive force of each realm was most likely the effect of a certain great dao. That might be a great dao local to that realm, or it might even be the common dao pursued by everyone in that race. The power of that unique dao could be clearly felt right after entering that dao.

Su Yu could even feel the Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor beside him resonating with that dao. He came to a realization that the Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor was most certainly stronger in here than outside. Why? Because this realm was much closer to their own dao.

There used to be a suppressive force in the Human Realm as well, but it had been eventually disabled to make it easier for the various vassals of humanity to visit after the conquest. The humans of that time must have believed that it was more important for them to take in all daos instead of focusing on only one dao.

By allowing only a single dao to take the spotlight in the Human Realm, all humans would inadvertently focus on only that dao. That dao must have been quite powerful back then, but it had eventually grown weaker.

From the dao of the iron devourers, Su Yu could feel that the strongest aspect of this race was their bodies. Did this signify that the major dao of this race was also the dao of physical body? A dao of physical body separate from humanity’s version.

As he sank into comprehension, his various characters shook. All around him, the iron devourers looked at both him and their Pseudo Emperor in confusion. What were they doing?

The Pseudo Emperor said nothing. He kept staring at Su Yu with the same silly smile on his face. What was this guy comprehending? What did he learn here? The Pseudo Emperor had been here all his life, but he had never discovered anything worth comprehending.

***

The iron devourers have three major racial abilities. The 72-Forged Iron Devourer is no cultivation method. Rather, it is also a racial ability. Apart from that, the other two major racial abilities were the Void Devourer and Skyshaking Technique.

Each ability is the representation of a law. Each iron devourer should be able to control three different daos. But I can feel that a majority of the iron devourers are cultivating the Skyshaking Technique and 72-Forged Iron Devourer. Very few of them follow the path of Void Devourer.

He had never seen an iron devourer using that ability before. What did that signify? Had they perhaps given up on that dao? Or were they unaware of that dao? Or was that dao damaged, resulting in its inability to produce more Invincibles?

All three should be their common daos. The powers of all three daos were still hidden in their bloodline even now. From this observation, Su Yu was able to better appreciate just how incredible the Book of Time was.

Void Devourer…

Just from the name alone, it was clear this was a powerful ability. But very few of them knew it. Why? Did someone hide the dao from them? Perhaps the secret was buried somewhere inside this realm. Some of the iron devourers might already know that ability without realizing it.

When Su Yu opened his eyes again, he looked at the Pseudo Emperor and asked, “Pseudo Emperor, is your race proficient in the path of devouring?”

The Pseudo Emperor answered with surprise, “Yes, but that was all in the past. According to our ancient records, many of our top experts back then were capable of devouring everything. But such ability has vanished since the collapse of the ancient past. Among the young, some have the same ability, but a simplified version. The simplified version is not strong enough to devour powerful opponents.”

Su Yu nodded and said, “The dao of devouring is also one of the daos the iron devourers can affirm. But I’m unsure if this dao is still available…”

He asked, “Is any senior here willing to lend me two drops of blood essence?”

The expressions of the surrounding iron devourers turned odd. Two drops. That was a lot!

Su Yu laughed and added, “Even better if it’s the blood essence of Eternals. The two drops can come from two different seniors as well. It doesn’t matter.”

Before the Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor could answer, a plump iron devourer answered, “I can do it, but will you return it?”

Su Yu said, “Nope. But I can repay you with some other treasures. Is this acceptable?”

“Can those treasures be eaten?”

Su Yu laughed and took a large dragon’s tail out. He asked, “Is this edible?”

The Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor asked with a gasp, “Dragon Pseudo Emperor’s?”

“Yeah.”

The moment Su Yu answered, two drops of blood essence appeared before him. Just moments ago, the plump iron devourer had been moving slowly. But he had appeared before Su Yu and snatched the dragon’s tail at lightning speed. He asked, “Is this mine now?”

“…”

The Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor was rendered speechless.

Su Yu chuckled and said, “Of course. May I know your name, Senior?”

“Just call me September’s daddy.”

“…”

The plump iron devourer continued, “Or you can call me August. My old man is July, but he’s dead. Our line goes from January till September…”

Su Yu coughed. Was that so? What an excellent naming scheme. Their seniority was clear for all to see with such a naming system.

No wonder September was known as September.

The Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor introduced himself, “I’m June.”

“…”

So…that was his grandson?

And September was his great-grandson?

Fine. Fine.