Tribulation of Myriad Races

April, May, and Full Moon were looking incomparably solemn.

Those from the Lower Realm were here.

The new Iron Devourer Pseudo Emperor had arrived personally to persuade them to join the battle in the Lower Realm. News of what happened down there had yet to spread in the Upper Realm. Once the news spread, the myriad races would start causing trouble for them.

September had even participated in the attack against the dragon race. They sank into thought, thinking about their future and their choice. A single bad decision was enough to subject their race to damnation.

Suddenly, the bamboo in Su Yu’s hand shook slightly. A tiny wave of willpower rippled out.

“Caught.”

General Wen Qi had been captured. It had been done silently. Su Yu had not sensed anything happening. Then again, that wasn’t surprising. Could a newly advanced Daofuse escape someone like Lan Tian?

Sensing the wave of willpower, April looked at Su Yu again. His eyes turned sharp as he asked, “Young Friend, you seem quite young. Are you from the newer generation of our race?”

Su Yu smiled and asked, “Senior April, how long will Great Bamboo Marquis take to reach?”

He did not answer.

April’s expression turned solemn as he answered, “The Dao Origin Land is very far away. After receiving the message, Great Bamboo Marquis can reach this place within one day if nothing slows him down.”

Even someone at the level of a heavenly king needed a day to make the journey. The distance was big indeed.

Su Yu nodded and said, “In that case, we’ll talk about all that when Senior Great Bamboo is back.”

Seemingly having realized something, April did not ask the same question. Instead, he asked, “Has Wen Qi been captured?”

“Yes.”

“No matter what, he is a general under South Suppression Marquis. The iron devourer race has been a friend of humanity since the ancient past. If South Suppression Marquis learns of this…he won’t be happy.”

Su Yu said, “A random individual can’t represent humanity as a whole. The human race is a race. Not the personal asset of a single person. Unless Human Emperor returns, only one person can speak for humanity as a whole. And that person is not South Suppression Marquis.”

Su Yu continued, “Might makes right. That is the world we live in. South Suppression Marquis is not mighty enough. Thus, he does not represent humanity.”

South Suppression Marquis did not represent humanity.

From that statement alone, April could guess Su Yu’s identity. This was either a subordinate of that Emperor Yu or Emperor Yu himself. Someone so indifferent toward South Suppression Marquis could only be Emperor Yu himself or a core subordinate of his.

After a short silence, April said, “In truth, our race has been helping humanity in the dark. However, there is a limit to what we can do. We can’t sacrifice our race to help. There is no guarantee that we will agree to Wen Qi’s request.

“How can Hundred Battle be released so easily? The Dao Origin Land is a complicated place with countless experts. We might fail even after sacrificing the entire iron devourer race.”

“Alliance? Assistance? Cooperation? Proper terms are required for any of these.” April solemnly said, “Why is our race still helping humanity? Not because of our ancient alliance alone. There are many reasons. Firstly, Great Bamboo Marquis has a great friendship with humanity.

“Secondly, we believe firmly that some of the ancient experts will return, including Culture King and the others. Thirdly, the divines, devils, and immortals wish to dominate the Myriad Realms. That is unacceptable for us since they are our old enemies.”

April, the Pseudo Emperor who had taken over the reins of the iron devourers after the collapse of the ancient past, was much more cautious when doing things.

He slowly said, “We can help humanity secretly, but what can we get from full and open support? Destruction? Or something else? Wen Qi’s promise is filled with uncertainties. Upon failing to free Hundred Battle, our race will be left to face the wrath of the myriad races alone. We might even face extermination.”

Su Yu nodded, “Wen Qi is a scammer. He’s here to carry out a scam. He lacks real ability. He’s only relying on luck. Then again, I understand him. He has nothing to promise. Thus, he can only rely on lies to make this gamble.”

What could Wen Qi provide?

A few Daofuses? That was all. Someone like that could only rely on lies. If he succeeded, good. There would be a tiny bit of hope. If he failed, the iron devourers wouldn’t harm him. In short, he had nothing to lose and everything to gain. Why wouldn’t he do this?

“What can the Lower Realm humans offer?”

April asked again.

Since this guy was calling Wen Qi a liar, what about him? What could he offer?

Su Yu smiled and said, “I can’t think of anything. No matter how strong we grow, the strength will belong to us, not the iron devourer race. I suppose I can only provide the iron devourer race a higher chance to survive the coming disaster.”

“Disaster?”

April stared at Su Yu silently.

Su Yu nodded, “The moment the Upper Realm opens, humanity will suffer defeat. The myriad races are leaving the iron devourers alone now, but do you think that’s because you’re too strong for them to handle? No. The myriad races are merely trying to preserve strength for now. After dealing with humanity, they will naturally set their gaze on the iron devourers.”

May grumbled, “And humanity will be the culprit for that!”

He was quite displeased. Su Yu was right, but ultimately, humanity was still the reason for this disaster.

May continued, “In other words, we are the next in line to suffer because we helped humanity. And you’re using this as the bargaining chip to win our support. Aren’t you the same as Wen Qi, then?”

Su Yu shrugged and said, “I am merely unbothered to make empty promises. Empty promises are pointless. A year ago, I would have promised even more than Wen Qi. I would promise you ten or so Masters of Laws, promising you everything you could dream of.”

Su Yu chuckled and said confidently, “But I don’t need to do something like that anymore.”

Yes. He no longer needed to do something like that. He no longer needed to give his prospective allies empty promises. His growth in strength had also given him a lot of confidence. Yes, the iron devourers were strong. But it wasn’t like he would be completely helpless without their support.

To the side, September said, “Yes. Big Bamboo is right. We don’t need some grand promises about the future. We need to be realistic and consider our current environment.”

September continued, “The Lower Realm iron devourers are already allied with humanity. Ancestors, you may be displeased. You may view this as a blunder. But at the time, we could only join humanity to avoid extinction.

“We did all that for the continuation of our race. We came up here for the continuation of our race as well. A side has been picked. It’s too late to back out now, Ancestors.

“Before I ascended, Ancestor June said that the Upper Realm iron devourers are left with no option. Of course, there is one option. Capture Emperor Yu and present him to the myriad races. You also need to sacrifice me and Ancestor June. Present all of us to the myriad races to beg for mercy from the myriad races.”

September seemed to have grown quite eloquent nowadays. In truth, experts like him and June were no fools. Yes, Su Yu’s side was still weaker than the Upper Realm. But the Upper Realm wasn’t completely united. The three major races were not strong enough to enforce their rule over everyone.

Humanity did not fear any singular race.

After a long silence, April said, “I understand. I will inform Great Bamboo Marquis about all this. Please rest here for now. May, Full Moon, come with me. We need to talk about this.”

“See you, Ancestors.”

After the three were gone, September laughed and asked, “Lord, how is my performance today? Did I do well?”

Su Yu chuckled and said, “Not bad. How surprising. You’re actually quite good at this.”

September smiled and said, “In truth, the ancestors have no other option. Sure, they can consider capturing you to beg for mercy from the myriad races. But Lord Lan and the others won’t let this happen.”

Su Yu smiled and said nothing. Yes. That was indeed an alternative they could pick. It would be up to the iron devourers.

While waiting for Great Bamboo Marquis, Su Yu was thinking about something else.

Prior to this, he intended to leave the Upper Realm humans alone. But now, he was worried that they would stir up trouble for him when left to their own devices. It wasn’t that they were doing it deliberately. But they might misjudge the situation and do something that would mess with his plans.

“When a war breaks out between the Chaos Mountain and the myriad races, Cloud Fire Marquis and the others might really believe that their opportunity to enter the Dao Origin Land and free Hundred Battle King is here.”

That was very likely.

Of course, the myriad races might also expect that. The myriad races might even plant a trap there for them. This would also be a chance for the myriad races to remove them all in one fell swoop.

Yes. This could very well end up as a scheme layered atop a scheme. Upon leaving their hiding places, the human survivors of the Upper Realm might all be wiped out. Did South Suppression Marquis and the others not think of this possibility?

Unlikely.

But they were desperate. And Hundred Battle King was their sole hope. Thus, it was understandable that they would take this risk and make the gamble. They would even try to recruit some allies for this endeavor of theirs.

“It’s understandable that they are trying to get some allies to fight alongside them in their desperation. But this is too risky a gamble.”

Su Yu shook his head.

Su Yu did not think that Wen Qi was wrong. But since he was trying to persuade an ally to make such a risky bet, he should at least be honest about Stable Army Marquis. They could be more earnest and try to communicate properly with the iron devourers. They could try to contact the mysterious party that had attacked the dragons.

But instead, they were pretending to know the mysterious party, making the mysterious party up as their ally. This was what Su Yu was displeased with. They were ruining humanity’s reputation.

They could have told the iron devourers that this was a risky gamble with a high payoff. Su Yu would be more understanding about that. Even the iron devourers would be understanding.

But instead, they were trying to fool the iron devourers into becoming their meatshields just to free Hundred Battle King.

“Humanity…”

Su Yu sighed. These ancient humans were too hard-set in their thinking.

For them, a different race would forever be outsiders, while humanity would forever be humanity.

No matter how badly Hundred Battle King had done, he was still human.

No matter how helpful the iron devourers were, they were still outsiders.

These old fossils wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice the iron devourer race just to free Hundred Battle King.

“No wonder they are so supportive of Hundred Battle King. With their mentality, Hundred Battle King has only done one wrong: his final defeat. As for the deaths of their allies under Hundred Battle King’s leadership, that is not an issue.”

Su Yu finally understood the mentality of these people.

The deaths of their allies were no big deal. The defeat during the final war was the sole mistake of Hundred Battle King.

“This is different from even the mentality of the ancient humans. Back then, humanity was domineering as well. But they were able to maintain so many loyal allies for so many years, loyalty lasting until even the ninth epoch. This signifies that the ancient humans were actually quite good at winning the confidence of their allies. Unfortunately, the smart ones are either missing or dead. With a bunch of rigid brutes left behind, it’s no wonder that humanity has suffered defeat after defeat.”

Su Yu did not think that this mentality could be blamed on the ancient humans as a whole. If the ancient Human Emperor was someone like Hundred Battle King, would the ancient allies of humanity such as the iron devourers remain friendly to humanity for a hundred thousand years?

What a joke.

The ancient humans were overbearing, yet they were kind toward their allies. These allies wouldn’t have supported humanity for a hundred thousand years after Human Emperor’s disappearance otherwise.

“Culture King and the other sages are gone. Only some barbaric brutes and racial supremacists are left behind…”

It was only natural for such a humanity to decline. Even if Hundred Battle King had won the war during the ninth epoch, the myriad races would continue their struggle. The only way the struggle would end was the extermination of all races except humanity.

That was what would happen with Hundred Battle King’s mentality. His idea to rule the Myriad Realms alongside the myriad races was merely a joke.