Tribulation of Myriad Races

Su Yu’s eyes flickered as he looked at Human Emperor and asked, ”Is there someone like this watching us beyond this world?”

Human Emperor sank into silence.

After a long while, he smiled and said, ”Are you talking about the Master of Time?”

That was the most likely person to do something like that. Lan Tian had transformed into a net to overlook every living being from the sky. But was there another face and a pair of eyes beyond the sky overlooking all of them? Just where was that mysterious Master of Time? What was the ultimate goal of that person? Was that person doing something similar to Lan Tian, but at a higher level?

Both Su Yu and Human Emperor stared at each other silenlty.

Was that possible?

If that was actually the case, why?

Everything in the Myriad Realms revolved around the River of Time. Or one could say that the River of Time was the foundation for everything, including the three gates. The mysterious Master of Time was the true strongest being here.

That was an existence akin to the heavenly laws. Ignoring everything, even when people were stealing from the River of Time. It was as though this existence would continue ignoring everything even if the river was severed.

Before long, Su Yu tossed the matter out of his mind and looked at the net in the sky. Slowly, a smile took form on his face. A smile tinged with madness.

Noticing the smile on Su Yu’s face, Human Emperor looked at the sky and sighed. Who would be the victim now? He swore that he was a kind and virtuous ruler. All the sins committed by Su Yu had nothing to do with him.

Heavens above. The karma of everything Su Yu would do should not fall on him. At most, he had only helped a little.

Just then, Lan Tian appeared with the Myriad Art Catalog in hand.

Su Yu burst out laughing.

He had the Mark of Civilization as his foundation, Culture King had the Myriad Dao Sutra as the foundation, and Lan Tian had the Myriad Art Catalog as the foundation. What about Human Emperor?

At the moment, Human Emperor’s seal was the core of Human Emperor’s world. But prior to that, the world might have been created with something else as the foundation. Could that be a book as well?

When Human Emperor noticed Su Yu’s gaze on him, he was confused. But soon, he chuckled and said, ”Why are you looking at me like that? Are you wondering about the core of my world?”

”Yes!” Human Emperor said, ”Emperors Path Sutra.”

”Are you sure?”

Human Emperor smiled and said, ”It doesn’t matter. It became the truth the moment I said it.”

Su Yu raised his brow and said, ”Your Majesty, why do so many Creators love using books for their creation?”

Even Time Sage, who had yet to complete her creation, would have created a world through her cookbook. Was this a mere coincidence, or was that a form of inevitability for all who pursued this path?

He looked up at the sky and said, ”What about the River of Time? Is there a book buried somewhere in the river?”

Su Yu muttered, ”A book with the myriad daos on it? Characters as daos. Daos as characters. Laws in written form. Why do I feel like this is all an unwritten law of the River of Time?”

Human Emperor asked, ”Are you saying that everyone here is being influenced by this law?”

Su Yu nodded, ”Yes. It might be that our close association is the reason for this similarity, but to be sure, we can ask the Master of Death. I recall seeing a book there as well.

”If even the Master of Death had used a book as the foundation during his creation, then our choice is most certainly not due to our association. Rather, the river itself is influencing us. The Master of Time might be a scholar, an avid reader, a bastard strutting around with a book in hand like a proud peacock.

”The Master of Death is too far apart from us for us to influence each other. This might be the only feasible explanation for this similarity.”

Human Emperor nodded, ”Yes, that is possible. We are all born in the Myriad Realms, so the River of Time has a deep influence on the very core of our beings. This isn’t surprising.”

Human Emperor laughed and continued, ”Is this the Master of Time’s way of saying that only scholars are worthy of creation?”

The two laughed. Their laughter seemed to contain a hidden meaning. In short, brutes like Martial King and Martial Emperor would never achieve creation. They were unworthy. Barbarians. Heh.

Just then, Lan Tian’s aura stirred slightly as he cupped his hands and greeted with a smile, ”Greetings, Fellow Daoists. Thank you for your help.”

Floating in the sky, with the book floating before him, he sighed and lamented, ”How lucky am I to receive the help of both of you in my pursuit of the great dao. This Lan is unable to return this favor—”

Su Yu hurriedly waved Lan Tian off. He was scared. He was scared that Lan Tian would offer himself as gratitude. That would be so uncomfortable.

”There is no need to return this favor. I only wish to see more people growing strong. I don’t want to keep fighting alone. It’s so...tiring.”

Su Yu beamed as he said, ”I wish to one day pursue what I truly want, not stuck in a cage forever like Human Emperor.”

Human Emperor’s face twitched.

Su Yu continued, uncaring of Human Emperor’s feelings, ”When all of you grow strong enough, I will be able to finally pursue my own path and do what I truly want. The Myriad Realms, humanity, both are nothing but shackles for me.”

Human Emperor said heavily, ”A human will only be a human with emotions.”

Su Yu laughed, ”Yes, and a saint is a chained human. You are willing to become a saint. I’m not. Human Emperor, we adore and respect saints, but we’re unwilling to become saints.”

Human Emperor sighed, ”Why do both you and Wen Number Two think like this?”

He smiled bitterly and said, ”I’m no saint. I only believe that—”

”What you believe doesn’t matter.” Su Yu cut him off. ”You’re a saint. You’re like the holy mother. In any case, I’m not interested in being the second Human Emperor. I would have accepted your dao back then otherwise. Why wait until now?”

Human Emperor was left speechless.

Was he really a saint?

This was praise, right? But...so be it. He did not see himself as something as great as a saint. Instead, only lazy and undisciplined bums like Su Yu and Culture King would think so.

Su Yu looked at Lan Tian and smiled, ”Now, you have your own foundation to grow into a super powerhouse as well. But having created your world, you will have to rely on yourself from now on. Both of us are fellow explorers of the unknown. I’m not that much better than you in this path. Fellow Daoist Lan, let us walk this path and see what the future has in store for us.”

Lan Tian nodded. ”Your Majesty has helped me build the best foundation I can ask for. Moving forward, I’ll search for the path forward. Do not worry about the Myriad Realms. I am everywhere, making the entire Myriad Realms your territory. Nothing can hide from us.”

Lan Tian had finally completed his penetration of the Myriad Realms. He was everywhere. Even Human Emperor was sighing with admiration. But he did not envy Lan Tian. This was not the type of path he liked. Just like how Su Yu disliked his path of responsibility, he did not like Lan Tian’s path. At their level, they already had strong preferences.

Lan Tian’s meaning was clear. He had created a unique world, but he was still willing to watch over the Myriad Realms for Su Yu. In short, he was voluntarily making himself a vassal of Su Yu.

Su Yu looked around, thought about it, and said, ”Just send a clone into my world to show that you’re still around. As for your cultivation, you’ll have to rely on yourself. I intend to keep everything under control even when the three gates open.”

The powerhouses of the three gates would fall completely under his surveillance. He would be able to make a move against them anytime he wanted. Lan Tian nodded.

Human Emperor asked curiously, ”What exactly is your current strength?”

Lan Tian smiled, ”I have countless clones, and each clone is a mere Daofuse.”

Human Emperor rolled his eyes. What answer was that?

”What if all of them are brought together?”

”Just enough to push me to tier-one temporarily.” Lan Tian did not hide anything. After all, Human Emperor had also contributed greatly to his creation. He said, ”I am still incapable of staying in that state for long, but I’m already good enough to fight tier-ones.”

Human Emperor smiled. What a pleasant surprise.

Lan Tian’s usefulness couldn’t be measured with combat strength alone. The coverage of his world provided more utility than something as simple as combat strength.

Lan Tian said, ”At the moment, I can cover almost the entirety of the Myriad Realms. However, it will be very hard for me to reach deep into the river like His Majesty. None of my daos are particularly powerful alone, so I still can’t do that.”

But even this was enough.

Su Yu nodded, ”That’s enough for now. In fact, it’s very good. With this, things might be fine even when both of us are away.”

Su Yu smiled and said, ”It has been so long. Return’s good friends should be ready to cross over by now. Feeding all of them to my world should be enough to fully stabilize it.”

After adding five new daos to his world and digesting his previous gains, he should be able to surpass his previous peak. After this, he should start minding his own business.

The moment Lan Tian heard Return’s name, he smiled, ”Return is very interesting. Your Majesty should have allowed me to play with him longer.”

Su Yu was left speechless.

Lan Tian asked, ”Your Majesty, why don’t you send Return’s friends into your world to experience what Return experienced? Or you can even send them into the real Myriad Realms for the same experience. We can have some fun with them.”

What nonsense. Su Yu did not share Lan Tian’s hobby. And it wasn’t like he had the time to play around with those people.

”That’s all for today. Focus on your cultivation. Your Majesty, come on.”

”What?”

”We have some people to kill.” Su Yu said with astonishment, ”Your Majesty, do you actually think that I can defeat five top powerhouses alone?”

”...”

Doing more work for free? Human Emperor found that Su Yu was truly incapable of staying still. They were just done with Lan Tian’s matter, and he had found something else to do.

”Can you let me rest for two days or something first?”

Su Yu frowned, ”Haven’t we been resting for the past month?”

”...”

Human Emperor resisted the intense urge to roll his eyes. He said, ”The past month felt much more tiring than the past hundred years for me.”

Rest? He called that rest?

Su Yu was rendered speechless. After a while, he said, ”I’ve always believed that you’re a hardworking emperor who loves his people. But you had actually done less in the past hundred years than the past month? No wonder. No wonder humanity has not been able to secure the ultimate victory.”

Screw you!

Human Emperor glared at the madman before him. He had spent an entire month digging holes everywhere. How was that a rest? If he had worked at such intensity all the time, he would have died from exhaustion long ago. He wouldn’t be standing here right now.

”You’re definitely not going to live a long life.” Human Emperor scolded, ”Don’t you understand work-life balance?”

Su Yu snorted, ”You’ll die not long after I die. Without my help, life won’t be too good for you either.”

As the two joked and bickered, they vanished.

Looking at the two fading figures before him, Lan Tian smiled. In truth, Su Yu had relaxed significantly with Human Emperor around. In the past, he would have worked at a far higher intensity. Thus, the past month was indeed a period of rest for him.