Tribulation of Myriad Races

Tiangu laughed, “That was my era. Alas, that also wasn’t my era. I lost it.”

He muttered with mixed feelings, “I fell into the trap of the Immortal Pseudo Emperor. The dao of that old fogey might not even be that strong. And he might not be dead.”

As he muttered to himself, he looked incomparably bleak with his long, white hair.

Tiangu. A freak.

A supreme freak.

Someone who Soy Bun had been wanting to eat since the ancient past. The Fate Pseudo Emperor of the time had informed Soy Bun that such a day would come.

At the time, the Myriad Realms were filled with countless individuals who would be considered a delicacy for Soy Bun. But he only cared about Tiangu. That, in itself, was enough of a proof. A proof of Tiangu’s genius.

After wasting ages pursuing the immortal emperor dao, he had fallen so low that he had to hide inside his realm. He could only watch helplessly as humanity rose in power. The tenth epoch was an epoch where humanity grew explosively.

With another sigh, Tiangu said, “Go. Advance. There is no need to be hold back anymore. There is no need to hide anything. Aim to buy even a little more time for the immortals. At this rate, we might face extermination before the Upper Realm opens.”

He laughed and said, “All of you might be required to ensure the continuation of the immortals. When the final war arrives, we don’t necessarily need to win. We can also ensure our survival while the divines and devils fall. That will be enough to open the Upper Realm in advance.”

Everyone’s heart thumped.

Tiangu said, “It is likely that we are no longer humanity’s match. Thus, we might as well open the connection in advance. The Death Realm has also been silent for too long. Something might have happened there as well. Do not make the mistake of believing that we can wait peacefully for the opening of the Upper Realm.”

Anxiousness gripped everyone.

Slowly, Tiangu’s figure faded as he said, “In the path of cultivation, the courage to charge ahead is required. The Immortal Pseudo Emperor ruined me. And I ruined all of you. Dao fusion? That is too conservative. This is not a path that will allow a cultivator to fully experience the wonderful world.”

With those bleak words, Tiangu vanished completely.

With Tiangu’s departure, numerous gazes landed on Talisman King. With a frown, he said, “Regardless, enter the Daofuse Realm if possible. Even if you will still die after doing so, it is better to die a Daofuse than an Eternal.”

At that, the old fossils looked at each other speechlessly. After a long while, Han Xiang said, “In that case, we will all enter seclusion and initiate dao fusion.”

With that, the old fossils vanished as well. It was time for them to advance. Tiangu had lifted the restriction.

Talisman King was right. Even if this would make them Tiangu’s targets toward the end, what was the worst that would happen? They would die. But from how things were developing, they would probably die to the humans before that.

In that case, they might as well take a gamble.

***

Divine Realm.

Inside the palace.

Jiwu, who was in the middle of cultivation, opened his eyes suddenly. A figure appeared before him.

“Consort Emeritus…”

The old woman spoke weakly, “Pick some geniuses. I will channel some power of dao to them while I’m still alive. Push as many people into the Daofuse Realm as possible while we can.”

“Consort Emeritus, what—”

“Cough, cough, cough!”

The old woman continued, “I don’t have much time left. I won’t be able to wait for the return of my Emperor anymore. You are very talented. You will receive the majority of my power. Immerse yourself in it. You need to reach the level of a pseudo king if you want to survive. When I die, please preserve my remains. I still wish to wait…for his return…”

With melancholy, she smiled and said, “Humanity has risen yet again. That path of blood in the sky is not a good omen. Silly child, focus on your recuperation. In a few days, I will start giving you a lesson on the dao. Live on. We have failed…to make this era ours.”

“Consort Emeritus!”

Jiwu stood up anxiously, but the old woman had departed. Sorrow covered his face. She would die doing this. Would they really fail to stop humanity? Just how much strength had humanity gathered?

“Why?”

Jiwu asked himself. They were doing so well. How did everything change so suddenly? Even during the ninth epoch, with the powerful Hundred Battle King around, the Consort Emeritus had never been forced to make an appearance or interfere.

This epoch, humanity was incomparably weak. Yet they had somehow forced even the Consort Emeritus to sacrifice herself, giving up on her wish to wait for the previous Emperor’s return.

“Jiwu…obeys.”

Jiwu sat back down again. He tossed all his negative emotions aside. For now, he had to focus on the dao. Why was the previous Emperor still not back?

The Consort Emeritus’ wish to see him one last time could no longer be fulfilled.

***

Devil Realm.

“Father…”

Mo Yue was looking at Mo Ji, but Mo Ji was staring blankly at the sky. Then, he gave Mo Yue a long stare. Finally, he smiled and said, “Your talent is decent, but you weren’t born early enough to use a different method than the Three Body Method. We won a major victory in the ninth epoch. I believed that humanity’s end was nigh. Well, reality is showing me that I was wrong.”

Out of nowhere, he reached out and patted Mo Yue’s head as he said, “Your talent is not good enough. Summon Mo Duona. I will transmit the dao of the devils to him. I will tell him that ultimately, race takes priority over everything else.

“When you are out of options, you can consider hiding in the Death Realm. Back then, I explored the Death Realm and befriended several sealed experts in the Origin Land. Just tell them you’re my son. There is someone called Dizhiluo there, a senior of our race who has regained his nature. He might be a death spirit, but he will show you some care after learning of your identity.”

“Father!” Mo Yue asked solemnly, “Is it due to that blood path in the sky?”

“No.” Mo Ji shook his head and said, “That is merely one of the many reasons. It might be an omen, or it might be nothing. But we can already see the signs. All these unprecedented events are happening. This is a sign. Back before humanity’s first conquest, it was the same. Countless unprecedented events happened, serving as the prologue to the rise of humanity.

“We need a backup plan. Tiangu and Jiwu are all old foxes. There’s also that old fellow in the divine race, a senior who had experienced humanity’s conquest during the ancient past. They must have sensed the crisis as well. If Su Yu attacks before the Upper Realm opens, our race will be the most vulnerable.

“Tiangu is around. That Consort Emeritus is around. Those two races have stronger accumulation than us down here. When things get desperate enough, they won’t mind sacrificing the devil race to open the Upper Realm in advance. Back when you competed against Blood Fire to succeed the position of the Pseudo Emperor, I picked you. Not because you’re my son. More importantly, Blood Fire was too simple. Too straightforward.”

He smiled bitterly and continued, “Blood Fire was good at combat, but he was bad at plotting. He would never be a match for Tiangu and Jiwu. But even you…are lacking compared to them. Sigh.”

Mo Yue was greatly shocked. He said, “Father, you mean that the moment the immortals and divines encounter a crisis, they will sacrifice us or even act against us?”

“Why not?” Mo Ji smiled and said, “They can defeat the humans, but they are more than capable of dealing with us. Between fighting the humans to the death and sacrificing us to open the Upper Realm in advance, which is the better option?”

“This…”

“Don’t overthink. Just focus on your cultivation.”

Mo Ji looked up at the crimson path that was still growing in the sky. He said bitterly, “The various races might still have a chance if this path breaks. If not…humanity will gain another outrageous accomplishment.”

Mo Yue said nothing. He looked up at the sky and started praying for the crimson path to break.

***

At the same time.

One Lan Tian after another exploded, replaced by even more Lan Tians. He advanced steadily, setting a path of blood forward.

Ahead of him, Wan Tiansheng was roaring as he braved the waves. The human lord’s token had dimmed significantly while Wan Tiansheng himself had also sustained heavy injuries. He said, “Give up! Turn back, Lan Tian!”

Up to this point, Lan Tian had lost about six thousand clones. It seemed like there was no end to this path.

At this rate, Lan Tian would die. Lan Tian was unkillable, but not undying.

Even after losing so many clones, Lan Tian’s eyes looked brighter than before. With a smile, he continued walking forward as he said, “No, you should return. I know how hard it is to pioneer this dao. I might really die. But this is a risk I’m willingly taking. Perhaps some people had walked the same path in the past, and all had failed. Even so, I wish to challenge it. I love challenging my limits.”

He laughed and said, “Move aside, Tiansheng. I will open this dao myself.”

Boom!

Yet another clone exploded, and yet another clone stepped forth. With an incomparably solemn expression, Wan Tiansheng roared as he blasted an incoming wave apart with a palm strike. His appearance was dishevelled, his usual refined disposition nowhere to be seen. With blood dripping down his mouth, he looked back at Su Yu.

Behind Lan Tian, Su Yu stood still. With each step Lan Tian took, Su Yu would take a step. He did not even spare Wan Tiansheng a glance. Lan Tian was truly a lunatic. He wanted to pioneer a dao right on the River of Time instead of creating a tributary. He was doing it on the main branch itself.

Su Yu had once thought of a similar idea, but he did not dare to attempt it. And now, Lan Tian the lunatic was doing it.

All-life dao.

There was an origin for all lives. And the origin of daos was the River of Time. Rather than slowly comprehending the daos of the myriad races, Lan Tian would rather open his very own dao in the main branch, using his blood and flesh to carry him forward.

Traversing the River of Time while opening a dao.

This was Lan Tian. A mad Lan Tian.

Just how long would he need to go for this dao to stabilize?

It was unknown.

How far would he need to go for this to be a success?

It was unknown.

How much longer would he need to persist?

It was still unknown.

The dao was before him. But there was no path ahead. There was no hope. Yet Lan Tian was stubbornly pursuing this hopeless dao.

He wanted to be different. The joy of enlightenment was worth dying for. Lan Tian was fully demonstrating his desire to seek the unknown. His heart had never changed. He had countless external appearances. But inwardly, he was still the same Lan Tian. The same curious Lan Tian.

It was with this curiosity that he had left the academy with boundless infamy back then. Inwardly, he was curious. And mad.

“The seasons passed by relentlessly. How can one retire before experiencing the greatness of the heavens?

“The dao is everywhere. The determined hardworker wields the dao in hand.”

Another Lan Tian appeared, singing the song of the dao.

The dao was beneath him.

What other dao could he pursue if not this? Walking the dao of clones? How coarse. That was a path for commoners. He was Lan Tian. Cheered by all life. Cheered by the dao. With a joyous smile on his face, Lan Tian continued stepping forward, losing one clone after another.

The path of blood continued growing.

Ahead of him, Wan Tiansheng roared madly as he faced the numerous waves.

A true friend was too rare.

This was an era of lunatics.

He was a lunatic. Lan Tian was a lunatic as well. He could not bear to let his fellow lunatic die to the dao.

“Where does this path lead to?”

Wan Tiansheng had never felt such despair before. Just what was their destination? When would this end? He was near his limit.

Behind them, Su Yu followed in silence. He did not have the answer for that. He could only follow silently. He did not persuade Lan Tian against this. Rather, he was feeling slightly envious. He was filled with self-mocking. Compared to Lan Tian, he was still too cowardly. But…no. He had his own dao. There was no need to be envious of others.

But in life, one needed some true friends. Only then could one keep loneliness away.

“I wish the two of you bliss and happiness, Principal Wan.”

“…”

Holy shit!

Wan Tiansheng coughed a mouthful of blood.

What was that bastard saying at a time like this?

Was that bastard trying to infuriate them to death?

Su Yu merely laughed before soaring with a stone in hand. He roared, “Move aside! Witness Emperor Yu as he suppresses the heavens!”

Boom!

As he brought the stone down, the waves ahead calmed. Su Yu’s aura surged as he continued roaring with laughter. Wan Tiansheng was not good enough.

Oh, he was a freak?

So what? Who was the biggest freak of all?

Strong?

So what? Who was the strongest of all?

Su Yu. He was the one who would reign supreme. Nobody could underestimate him.

Su Yu roared again, “Move aside! What are you waiting for? Today, I will serve as your dao protector. In the future, serve me well!”

With the stone in hand, Su Yu charged ahead while roaring with laughter, taming every wave he encountered. Wan Tiansheng was dumbstruck.

Even Lan Tian blanked out slightly. But moments later, he laughed heartily and resumed his advance. This time, his clone lasted a long time before exploding. The next Lan Tian was a young girl. She was grinning ear to ear as she said, “Big Brother Yu is still the best. Big Brother Tiansheng, I think I’m experiencing a change of heart.”

Crack!

Once again, Wan Tiansheng coughed a mouthful of blood from his sheer anger.

What nonsense were these two saying?

These lunatics! Wait, well, he was a lunatic as well. So…was this a scene of three lunatics opening a dao?

With that thought in mind, Wan Tiansheng chuckled and started healing himself.

His pursuit of the dao would not be so lonely anymore.