Tribulation of Myriad Races

Grandstar continued, “Also, we have to take the human race into consideration. They had lost almost all their old fossils during the ninth epoch. Since humanity is still around, some must have survived. If Su Yu were a regular human lord, he wouldn’t have much issue with these old fossils. But he’s too domineering. Do you think those old fossils will accept a human lord like this? Will they really listen to a youngster like him?”

Heavendoom snorted, “Will those fellows really try to control him? Can they even do it? When he’s weak, it doesn’t matter. He can pretend to obey. But when he grows strong enough, I guarantee you he will settle scores with them. They should do the smart thing and obey. It would be sad for them to survive the myriad races for so many years only to die in the hands of that guy.”

At that, the gate asked, “Will he really settle scores with some after growing stronger?”

“Of course.”

The gate asked sorrowfully, “Will he settle scores with me?”

Grandstar coughed and said, “Don’t worry. You joined the battle earlier, right? Alright, forget about that. Show us the way to our boss’ place. Are there any laws there as well? I remember that there used to be a large pond in boss’ place back then. That was his personal bath. It was quite comfortable. The pond was filled with sunmoon essence. I wonder if the pond has dried up over the years.”

Heavendoom said, “I remember that there used to be a large millstone there as well. The millstone was made of the shell he shed back then. In the past, he refused to give it to me even after I asked for it. Now that I have advanced, my staff is no longer sufficient. I need some new treasures to strengthen my staff. Boss’ shell should be an excellent material for this purpose.”

“True, I need some treasures as well…” Suddenly, Empyrean Cloud recalled something and said, “The most powerful treasure in Boss’ place was that bed of his. It was forged from the heavenly ice stone that had dropped from the boundless void after creation.”

She exclaimed in excitement, “That’s mine!”

At that, everyone stared at her silently. Marquis Lanshan did not react, but He Tu asked, “Empyrean Cloud, why did you visit your boss’ bed for no reason?”

That was a very private place.

Empyrean Cloud’s expression changed as she snorted coldly and said, “I like looking at beds. What about it? Why are your minds filled with these shameless thoughts?”

They merely nodded thoughtfully without saying anything else, further enraging Empyrean Cloud.

And thus, they started heading toward the old turtle’s residence. It would be inconvenient for them to enter the other residences, but the old turtle’s residence was different. They were simply too familiar with it. Since they were already here, they naturally had to rob their boss clean.

***

Boom!

After a series of explosions, Su Yu smiled. He had connected the 718th node. He would be done soon. This wasn’t that hard, after all. He was left with only two. For the 719th node, he only needed to pick one out of two. At most, he would suffer one more explosion.

“My luck is not that bad, after all.”

Su Yu consoled himself, even though he needed to make the maximum number of attempts for each node. After all, the total number of attempts was still low. He had only suffered some cracks on his Heaven Gate. He only needed to repair it. This was no big deal.

He wondered if he would receive a heavenly reward for completing this method. Or perhaps there would be a punishment.

Su Yu was unsure. Thus, he planned to stop at the 719th node. It wouldn’t be wise to provoke a tribulation right in front of the assembly hall, the origin of all these tribulations. He continued walking, passing by numerous residences in the level three area.

“Cloud King’s Residence.”

“Battle King’s Residence.”

“First Divine’s Residence.”

Su Yu noted a certain residence that was larger than even a regular human king’s residence. In the middle of the residence was a gigantic dao, connected to one of the doors around the assembly hall.

It felt as though an ancient beast was personally watching over the side door.

Divine race!

Su Yu’s eyes flickered. This was the residence of the Divine Pseudo Emperor from the ancient past.

A treasure vault!

The residence of a Master of Law, one who was much more powerful than the average Master of Law, would most certainly be filled with treasures. But after a while, Su Yu shook his head. It wouldn’t be wise to intrude upon this residence.

The power of laws here was too dense for him to handle. It also felt as though there were two divines standing behind the main entrance of the residence, watching over it. But according to Su Yu’s senses, the two were merely the manifestations of the laws instead of two actual divines.

Once again, an explosion erupted within his body. At this point, he no longer cared. Why would a mere explosion matter? It would only add a crack to his Heaven Gate. That was no big deal.

And thus, he was left with only one node to connect.

He was done.

With only one left, he was as good as done. His next attempt would also be his final attempt. Prior to this, he had made fourteen attempts and gotten four right. He kept consoling himself, telling himself that he was so lucky to have only gotten it wrong ten times.

“Is it possible that not even Martial Emperor himself can give me the full inheritance? Yes, I should be more lenient in how I judge others.”

But soon, he curled his lips and rejected that speculation. Previously, he was able to teach someone else the full cultivation method, even if he had to suffer a tribulation for it.

“I now have the complete cultivation method!”

He smiled with satisfaction. He had accomplished his biggest goal here. He had also accomplished his side goal of killing East Heavenly King. Yes. That was only a side goal. After all, nothing was more important than his own strength.

He kept the final node unlinked. There was no rush. He intended to visit Culture King’s Residence first.

He continued onward. Gradually, the number of residences he could see started dropping before finally, he saw the Culture King’s Residence. It stood alone, with no other residences nearby. This was a special treatment accorded to only the residences of the Four Cardinal Human Kings, signifying their transcendent status among all others.

The residence was massive. As the main entrance faced the assembly hall, it was not visible from Su Yu’s angle. However, the back entrance was visible to him. It was massive.

Even from afar, he could see the two characters floating above the back entrance: Sky Gaze.

Sky Gaze?

Su Yu stared at it from afar. What was the meaning of these two characters?

To gaze upon the world under heaven?

To gaze upon the sky from the bottom of the well?

To supervise the heavens, similar to the meaning of the Heavenly Supervising Pavilion?

What was the actual meaning of the two characters?

It didn’t matter.

Culture King’s Residence wasn’t that far away from the First Divine’s Residence. Perhaps this residence was established here to keep an eye on the Divine Pseudo Emperor.

Su Yu wondered if the residences of the three other cardinal kings were also erected near the residences of the Pseudo Emperors from the devil, immortal, and some other powerful races.

Su Yu walked straight toward the back entrance. He did not intend to try the main entrance. After all, it faced the assembly hall. Who knew if there was a trap there? Leaving the White Jade Avenue, he followed a minor path leading toward the back entrance.

As he walked, he finally left the level three area to enter the level two area. This was an area with authority surpassing his own authority. Supposedly, he could only walk past here but not enter any of the buildings. In fact, the moment he stepped into the area, he could feel an incorporeal pressure pressing down upon him.

All around him, chaotic powers of laws converged. This was not a reward. It wasn’t a punishment either. Rather, these powers were offensive in nature. They were there to attack him the moment he stepped out of line.

Clearly, the authority of a mere human lord was lower than Culture King’s. People like Su Yu were more akin to the crown prince of the emperor than the emperor himself. And a mere crown prince was not as highly revered as Culture King or the other Cardinal Human Kings.

Su Yu lightened his steps and continued walking forward. Before long, he reached the back entrance. The two floating characters became even clearer in his eyes. His surroundings were empty except for this building. Recalling his previous experience, a chill crept up his spine. He wondered if a voice would respond to his greeting here as well.

Previously, the white dog had responded to his greeting. It was said that Culture King had a residence on the ninth level as well. It was located inside the imperial palace. That was also the location of the treasure vault mentioned by Liu Hong.

In that case, would the method to restrict Martial Emperor also be stored there? If that were the case, things would get very troublesome. The old turtle had once warned Su Yu to never enter the ninth level.

“Just why did he need so many residences?”

There was one in the Human Realm, one in the Death Realm, one here, and one on the ninth level. Were these holiday villas or something like that? Why did Culture King build his residences everywhere?

“Human Lord of Anping Calendar, Su Yu, greets Senior Culture King.”

Su Yu waited for an answer. This time, no reply came. But right at that moment, the crown on his head flickered with light. As a response, the two floating characters above the back entrance reacted. Rays of light shot toward Su Yu’s body.

These rays were not offensive in nature. With a frown, Su Yu stepped back to evade them, but he was much slower. Before he knew it, those rays had landed on his body. The two floating characters started shining.

Then, the back door shook.

Finally, it swung open.

A creak rang out in the completely silent environment.

The door had actually opened by itself.

Beyond the door, a small courtyard was visible. Inside the courtyard, there were rock gardens, ponds, flowers, trees, and a swing. This was somewhat similar to the residence Su Yu had visited in Nanyuan. This was most likely the rear courtyard.

Su Yu stared at the two floating characters with a frown. Were they capable of determining his identity?

Which identity?

A successor?

A human lord?

Or…perhaps the two characters had merely detected the Book of Time?

Su Yu inhaled deeply. All along, Culture King had been shrouded in mystery for him. That was a name he had heard many times, but the more he learned, the more enigmatic Culture King seemed. From all the legends, it felt as though that was someone capable of everything.

Also someone who would never be wrong. However, he had vanished. He seemed to be in a battle, and he was nearing his limits. Just what manner of foe was terrifying enough to push even someone like Culture King into such dire straits?

Who was it?

In truth, Time Sage’s call for help had chilled Su Yu to his bones. Whatever they were facing, it was capable of endangering even someone like Culture King. What about someone like him?

Su Yu tossed the matter aside for now and stepped into the rear courtyard. Behind him, the door swung shut automatically. Inside the courtyard, the swing started moving by itself even though there was no wind in the air. It almost felt as though someone was sitting on it. A non-cultivator would most likely assume that this was a haunted courtyard at the sight of this.

Suddenly, something floated out of Su Yu’s sea of willpower.

Culture Tomb.

Rays of light swirled on the surface of the Culture Tomb.

Su Yu’s expression turned solemn. The Culture Tomb had actually moved by itself!

Damn it!

What did that signify?

Did this signify that Culture King could freely control the Culture Tomb? Was the dao hidden in the Culture Tomb still under Culture King’s control? Next, an even more terrifying sight appeared. A silhouette slowly emerged from the Culture Tomb. Facing Su Yu with its back, the silhouette stood there with fluttering white robes.