Tribulation of Myriad Races

Looking at Human Emperor’s departing back, Su Yu smiled.

He needed the three gates open? What was that? Then again, that would make things exciting, right? Things would be so boring with the three gates shut.

Suddenly, Su Yu called out, ”Why are you leaving? We’re not even done with our talk.”

But Human Emperor merely waved his hand at Su Yu. What was the rush? He needed some time to digest his new realization. What would that madman do in his absence? He needed some time to arrange his thoughts.

***

With the arrival of King Yue and the others, the combat strength on humanity’s strength increased yet again.

Human Emperor took some time to converse with the newcomers. Of the newcomers, one was someone left behind to watch their back, one was someone left behind to watch over their home, and one was Culture King’s world spirit. A conversation with them was needed.

He could also take this chance to understand more about what these spirits truly were.

Human Emperor’s eyes were as sharp as ever. He realized what the book spirit was with a single gaze. No introduction was needed.

***

Wan Tiansheng approached Su Yu.

Looking at Su Yu, who was silently gazing in the direction of the myriad races, he said, ”Do not keep the matter to heart. We all have our own issues to solve, and this is an issue for your teacher to solve.”

Su Yu nodded, ”I don’t mind. As for my teacher, he can wait until the war is over.”

Or to be precise, that would wait until the myriad races were fully pacified.

With that, Wan Tiansheng dropped the matter. He gazed in the direction of the myriad races as well and said, ”The myriad races won’t be so easy to handle. Even now, they are as powerful as ever.”

The previous battle had further strengthened the unity of the myriad races. This was how things would unfold each time.

After some thought, Su Yu said, ”Principal, your growth has slowed down as of late. Did the speed of your comprehension drop after joining my world?”

Wan Tiansheng and Lan Tian were able to grow quite quickly before, but their speed had dropped recently. Even now, Wan Tiansheng was still a tier-three.

The majority of his strength came from the sheer number of daos he knew. However, some of these daos were still unmastered. He should be much stronger otherwise. After all, just his dao of emotions alone was actually comprised of thirteen different daos. And his so-called human dao was comprised of more than emotions.

If he could master all of them, he wouldn’t be weaker than a tier-two. After some thought, Wan Tiansheng nodded. True. Compared to Su Yu or even the others, he seemed to have dropped considerably in cultivation speed recently.

It wasn’t that his ego couldn’t allow him to slow down. But as one of the greatest talents of the era, his current speed did not make any sense.

Wan Tiansheng said, ”The seven emotions and six desires I cultivate, such as happiness, anger, joy, sorrow, greed, hatred, ignorance, evil, and others, are actually generic labels for the various states. They remain fluid. Nothing is fixed. These days, I have been thinking about this. My cultivation over the six desires is too weak.”

”So you need some women?”

Su Yu joked, and Wan Tiansheng chuckled. ”The so-called six desires are more than lust. They encompass numerous aspects, such as stability...”

He spoke on and on. It had been quite a while since he spoke of the dao with Su Yu.

The last time they did this, they spoke of the River of Time.

After a while, Wan Tiansheng continued, ”After some thought, I believe that the pressure on me has dropped somewhat due to your existence. My sense of urgency is gone with you keeping everything under control.”

Su Yu laughed, ”I’m barely a tier-one. Why are you feeling safe so soon?”

Wan Tiansheng laughed as well, ”I’m not alone. The others are feeling quite safe as well. Because...you’re ever victorious.”

Su Yu looked at Wan Tiansheng and asked, ”You mean...”

”Fight a difficult battle.” Wan Tiansheng exhaled and said, ”You have been taking on all the burden alone. You have been planning all your battles to guarantee zero casualties. But you need to understand that even the likes of Human Emperor, who have plotted for years, will fail at times.

”Now that we still can afford to lose and our opponents are similar in strength to us, give our people a difficult battle.”

Wan Tiansheng said solemnly, ”In this fight, you only need to focus on your opponents. Don’t worry about anything else. It might not be a good thing for you to take on too many responsibilities.”

After a short silence, Su Yu asked, ”Is this everyone’s opinion?”

”Yes!” Wan Tiansheng nodded, ”We need a hard battle, and this is the perfect time for it since we only have a slight advantage over our opponents.

”You have been taking on all the burden and forcefully strengthening everyone repeatedly. As a result, everyone is growing more and more reliant on you. Their understanding of their daos are no longer in line with their actual strength. This is not sustainable, and this isn’t something a good commander-in-chief should be doing.

”Su Yu, have you not noticed that everyone is thinking less and less? At this rate, everyone will start degenerating.”

Su Yu laughed, ”So it’s a bad thing for me to be too helpful?”

”Maybe.” Wan Tiansheng said, ”You need to let go when possible.”

”So you’re suggesting that we fight a hard battle after Human Emperor’s departure?”

”No.” Wan Tiansheng smiled, ”Why must we wait for him to leave? Why must we wait for him to sever his dao before moving forward with our plan? Su Yu, you’re the one to wait.” ”We should do it while Human Emperor is still here to keep his proud generals under control. This will also be the chance for us to improve our teamwork with them. We will also have Human Emperor around to deter the myriad races from doing anything too crazy.

”And in this manner, we can start another battle, and another, and another, until the myriad races tremble at the sheer thought of us. Only then can Human Emperor leave. In such a situation, even when he severs his dao, the myriad races will worry that it’s a trap.”

A devious smile bloomed on Wan Tiansheng’s face as he continued, ”You can even declare that Human Emperor is dead. Keep saying it, and nobody will believe it anymore. Also, why are you not squeezing the very last bit of value out of the ones who are going to fuse with Human Emperor’s world?

”You know to squeeze every last bit of value out of our own people before having them sever their daos. Why are you not thinking of doing the same to Human Emperor’s people? Are you shy or something?”

Wan Tiansheng licked his lips and said, ”You should do this while Human Emperor is still around. Do it right in front of him. I can see that you have Human Emperor’s support. I know that you don’t really care about these people, and you’re not interested in competing for power with Human Emperor. But what about the thoughts of others?

”Or to be precise, it’s not a matter of snatching power. Rather, everyone will grow confused as they will instinctively wonder if they should listen to you or Human Emperor. Even Human Emperor’s people will wonder if they should listen to you when Human Emperor’s isn’t around. He’s not even dead. What if listening to you results in heavy losses? Won’t that weaken Human Emperor’s power base?”

Su Yu stared at Old Wan silently. In life, one would lose one’s way many times. Sometimes, one could find the path forward without help. And sometimes, one needed someone to point out the correct path.

And Wan Tiansheng was someone who had pointed the correct path for Su Yu many times before.

The day he became a demonic human, he told Su Yu that the strong were free to share their benevolence while the weak should always prioritize themselves. Su Yu had learned a lot from that.

Because of that one conversation, Su Yu had decisively suppressed all dissenters after becoming the human lord.

And now, Wan Tiansheng was here to teach Su Yu another life lesson.

Originally, Su Yu planned to deal with the resulting trouble after Human Emperor severed his dao. But Wan Tiansheng suggested something entirely different.

Su Yu sank into thought.

After a while, he said, ”Are you saying that I still need to win the approval of Human Emperor’s people?”

”Of course.” Wan Tiansheng said, ”You can discuss every decision with Human Emperor when he’s around, but you need to ensure that everyone understands that your word is the law after Human Emperor’s departure.”

”No, you need to ensure that even now, everyone understands that your word is the law.” Wan Tiansheng said, ”They can complain to Human Emperor after the fact and have Human Emperor deal with you. However, they should not be negotiating with you, and you shouldn’t explain yourself to them.

”They only need to obey. Before Human Emperor rejects you officially, you can ignore all their opinion. You only need to focus on making them listen.”

Su Yu sank into thought. After a short moment, he laughed, ”Is this proper?”

”This is nothing.” Wan Tiansheng said, ”For you, is Human Emperor different from Great Qin King? Back when you first became the human lord, didn’t you suppress those old fossils unhesitatingly? Over four hundred years old and over four hundred thousand years old. What’s the difference? For you, they are all old fossils. Why should you treat any of them differently? Do not break Great Qin King’s heart by giving Human Emperor a special treatment.”

Su Yu laughed.

That made a lot of sense.

Wan Tiansheng said, ”We are not living in an era of peace. Human Emperor is heavily injured, Culture King is absent, Martial Emperor is absent as well, while Radiant King isn’t too good at making major decisions. In that case, this responsibility falls on you.”

Su Yu laughed, ”True. Who else is capable of shouldering this important burden but me?”

Wan Tiansheng laughed as well. Finally, Su Yu had returned to how he was. ”Deep inside, you still view Human Emperor with admiration and reverence. You believe that he can do no wrong. You don’t want to get in conflict with him because you like him too much. But think about it. Will a crack appear in your relationship with Great Qin King just because you punished a few people after coming into power? Those who understand the big picture will also understand that you’re doing the right thing.

”And if Human Emperor actually disagrees with this, well, this will be proof that he’s not wise enough to deserve your admiration. That will make him less than Great Qin King.”

Su Yu laughed again and said, ”Why are you using Great Qin King as the example repeatedly? This will be so hurtful for him.”

Wan Tiansheng was left somewhat speechless, but he soon chuckled again, ”I doubt so. He seems to be enjoying the process as well. I can’t see any trace of sorrow in him. One more thing you need to take note of. It is very unwise to split those fighting on the same side into two different factions during war.

”The myriad races are the perfect example for this. Factionalism makes cooperation difficult. Thus, you need to solve this problem while Human Emperor is still here.”

Su Yu rubbed his chin and said, ”In that case, we’ll have to launch an attack...”

Su Yu gazed ahead and said, ”The influence of my world has expanded enough to reach them, but they can move upstream to escape the influence of my world.”

”So what?” Wan Tiansheng was unbothered. ”If they want to go further upstream, so be it. That will exhaust even more of their strength. In fact, this is already their current limit. Otherwise, Human Emperor would have kept them stuck far upstream instead of allowing them to slowly drift downstream.”

Su Yu listened attentively. It felt great to have a wise old man giving him some good suggestions every now and then.

Su Yu wasn’t the type to easily accept the opinions of others, but there were a few exceptions. Wan Tiansheng, Zhao Li, Niu Baidao, Zhu Tiandao, and Liu Wenyan were among these exceptions. He would consider their words seriously even if he disagreed with them.

But of those people, only Wan Tiansheng was left beside Su Yu. The rest had mostly been hidden away by Su Yu. They were too weak.

Su Yu had his own biases, but this was normal. Everyone had their own biases. The difference was how big the bias was. His father, his teachers, and some of his friends had been hidden away. He had considered a scenario where he was defeated. Upon defeat, he would most certainly suffer a miserable ending.

Wan Tiansheng said nothing else.

Su Yu knew all this very well. A reminder was all he needed.

***

Su Yu considered the suggestion seriously. Perhaps Old Wan’s plan was better than his original plan.

Before long, Su Yu turned and walked toward Human Emperor.

Noticing his approach, Human Emperor walked toward him as well. After hearing Su Yu’s idea, he thought about it before nodding in agreement.

Su Yu was right. Human Emperor was in a rush to return and fuse with his world, but Su Yu’s plan would make things easier for them moving forward.