Chapter 826: A Group of People Unwilling to Be Lonely

All have left, and the task is heavy.

Before Su Yu departs, they must become masters of the rules; those not on the list, Su Yu will directly make them yield the path—this is coercion, but also pressure and motivation.

Following Su Yu, they have gained no small benefits, and deaths... aside from the early times when Su Yu was too weak to control the overall situation, losing some in the battles at Daxia Mansion and against the Tianmian Abyss Clan, in the later period, almost no one died.

In the early days, there were still strong warriors who fell in battle, but later, as Su Yu grew powerful, such events rarely occurred.

Even if someone self-destructed, Su Yu would find a way to help restore their physical body.

But now, Su Yu seems unwilling to give everyone another chance.

He may not necessarily let you die, but if you are inadequate, you must yield the path to those who are capable. You occupy the power of the Great Dao, and some people can only walk unfamiliar paths; in truth, many cultivate the same Great Dao.

It’s not that they cannot walk together, but Su Yu’s realm is too small. If everyone treads the same path, even if they all become masters of the rules, it would be a trivial kind, utterly meaningless.

...

In the great hall, everyone had left.

Su Yu leaned back in his chair, resting briefly, when suddenly he opened his eyes, looked at the newcomer, and smiled: “Something to say?”

In the hall, Xia Huyou grinned slyly, cupping his hands: “Your Majesty, I’m only at the Sun-Moon realm, far too weak.”

Su Yu chuckled.

“You’d better stay in the rear; the strong are meant for deadly battles.”

Xia Huyou bared his teeth in a grin: “That’s true enough, but... even in the rear, you need strength! Without power, even if you’re stationed behind, you have no capital!”

“Look, after Baizhan returned this time, I had no strength; if they wanted to do something, I couldn’t stop them!”

“To put it bluntly, if the front lines are all dead, won’t those in the rear have to step up?”

That... was indeed harsh.

Su Yu was speechless: “Can’t you say something pleasant?”

Xia Huyou grinned, showing his teeth: “This is loyal advice that grates on the ears. Besides, Your Majesty, you have to give the weak a chance too. The strong come from the weak, right? Now you’re targeting Heavenly Kings and Heavenly Lords, but for us Sun-Moon cultivators, once we enter the Dao, who knows, we might become masters of the rules in a single day?”

Xia Huyou laughed cheerfully: “As long as the Dao aligns,

with deep insight, a strong divine text, stepping into master of the rules in one day isn’t impossible! Directly one text, one Dao...”

“You?”

Su Yu laughed, “That divine text of yours for sweeping—could it make you a master of the rules in one day, sweeping the cosmos clean?”

“Why not!”

Xia Huyou was delighted; it wasn’t impossible!

“Your Majesty shouldn’t underestimate that divine text. Sweeping away filth, cleansing the myriad realms in a day—wouldn’t that be immensely powerful?”

Su Yu nodded, smiling.

Indeed, the logic held; no divine text was weak. Divine texts are rules; if a divine text were truly powerful, mastering the rules in a day wasn’t impossible.

But... nonsense!

Too difficult!

If one could truly master the rules in a day, the path of divine texts wouldn’t have been so hard to walk since ancient times.

Now, most masters of the rules still follow the martial path.

Few have become strong directly through divine texts; King Dazhou counts as one, Wan Tiansheng also counts, but Lantian does not.

“You’ve come just to ask for benefits?”

Su Yu laughed; this fellow was indeed straightforward.

Many wanted benefits, but others dared not approach Su Yu. Only Xia Huyou sneaked in, a Sun-Moon cultivator, yet already anxious.

Xia Huyou grinned, baring his teeth: “Not just for benefits. There’s another matter I’d like to discuss with Your Majesty.”

“Go on.”

Su Yu finished speaking, and Xia Huyou looked around furtively. Su Yu watched his performance—what was there to see? Could there be a woman hidden here?

Xia Huyou lowered his voice: “Your Majesty, you’re about to lead everyone upstream soon, right?”

“Yes.”

“So that means, if we lose the battle... it’s all over?”

“Pretty much.”

“Then there’s no contingency plan left?”

Su Yu raised an eyebrow: “What contingency can we leave now?”

There was no way to leave any!

Xia Huyou grinned: “There is, Your Majesty!”

Su Yu looked at him; he didn’t know, a Sun-Moon cultivator like him could have a contingency?

Xia Huyou whispered: “Your Majesty, have you forgotten the Yin-Yang acupoints?”

“Hmm?”

Su Yu looked at him, and Xia Huyou reminded: “The Bai family! Remember what Old Man Bai did? Opening the Yang acupoint directly, absorbing death qi, strengthening the body, instantly unleashing immense power... But after Your Majesty opened the Heavenly Gate, you didn’t pay much attention to this!”

“But Your Majesty may not care; we do!”

Xia Huyou quickly continued: “We’ve been keeping an eye on the Yang acupoint matter!”

Su Yu raised an eyebrow, looking at him, as Xia Huyou went on: “Before, the power of the physical path was insufficient, occupied by others. Now that Baizhan and the others are dead, part of their power has merged into Your Majesty’s Dao, but part has returned to the physical path!”

“And opening the Yang acupoint is the physical path!”

Xia Huyou spoke rapidly: “In the past, Your Majesty converted life and death, absorbing death qi to saturate the Yang acupoint. Now that Your Majesty has taken the Netherworld Domain, if we convert now, we can quickly open the Yang acupoint, strengthen ourselves, borrowing the power of death and life to fortify the Yang acupoint!”

Su Yu looked at him, frowning slightly, but said nothing.

Xia Huyou continued: “The physical path is actually a method of rapid advancement! This was one of the reasons humans were strong before. Perhaps the physical path cannot master a complete rule, but if you open the Yang acupoint and frantically absorb physical power, what would happen?”

He looked at Su Yu: “Since Your Majesty took down Baizhan and the others, I’ve been thinking... whether we should cultivate a batch of such death warriors!”

His eyes flickered: “Or even deliberately eliminate some! For example, in this list of thirty, I think Your Majesty could remove my great-grandfather! He and my father both cultivate the blade Dao, which actually conflicts. Now my father has to switch to the broken Dao, similar to the blade Dao, but there’s still a gap...”

Su Yu’s face changed: “You lot, every one of you, filial sons and grandsons!”

Too inhuman!

This guy wanted him to deliberately drop Grand King Daxia off the list to make way for his father?

Was he even human?

Xia Huyou grinned: “My great-grandfather would be in danger if he went; he’s not as insightful about the blade Dao as my father. And my great-grandfather has commanded troops for years; if dropped, he could lead a separate force!”

“Not only that, dropping my great-grandfather would also establish Your Majesty’s authority! It would show that even my Xia family, who have always supported Your Majesty, can be replaced—the capable rise, the incompetent fall, no exceptions!”

Xia Huyou said quickly: “Otherwise, some people now think they’re meritorious officials and can rest on their laurels. That won’t do! Your Majesty, I think a warning is necessary!”

"Moreover, the matter of the Yang aperture is indeed a means to elevate a person in a short time!"

Xia Huyou dropped his playful demeanor and said gravely, "Opening the Yang aperture strengthens the flesh and absorbs deathly energy... Even if one cannot become a master of the rules, they can still possess some of the combat power of a master of the rules! And the Yang aperture... can be opened ahead of time, even if one's aptitude is insufficient, it is still possible!"

Bai Feng's grandfather had tried this.

It was indeed possible!

There was no need to open all 360 Yuan apertures; the Yang aperture could still be opened. However, the previous method of storing power was too troublesome, requiring endless time to absorb. But once a symbiosis with the undead was achieved, deathly energy became infinite, allowing countless amounts of it to be channeled in!

Thus, the Yang aperture could be strengthened!

The concept of the Yang aperture was originally proposed by Su Yu himself.

Xia Huyou continued, "This includes some Sun-Moon cultivators, some Eternals, some who have merged with the Dao... They may lack the aptitude to open all 360 Yuan apertures, but they can open the Yang aperture, making them even stronger!"

"Your Majesty could keep a group of these people, organize them, and have them all cultivate the path of the physical body!"

Su Yu fell into deep thought.

The path of the physical body!

Xia Huyou went on, "I've heard... that the Giant race also walks the path of the physical body? And I've also heard that those on the same path can merge with each other! Now, among the myriad races and myriad realms, we dominate. Your Majesty, the path of the physical body is not exclusive to humanity, is it?"

"Can we extract the power of the physical body path from various races? Is it possible?"

"If it is... then we can make it work!"

Xia Huyou looked at Su Yu. Su Yu now walked too high a path and no longer paid much attention to these matters. His eyes were more focused on becoming a master of the rules and advancing further in that realm.

But for Xia Huyou, the matter of the Yang aperture was not so long ago; he remembered it clearly.

Su Yu tapped the back of his chair. Xia Huyou added, "Your Majesty, the path of the physical body does not demand too much in terms of enlightenment! It is one of the paths that can be forcibly elevated. The matter of the Yang aperture is also an opportunity!"

Su Yu did not speak; he was thinking.

Could it be elevated?

There was still hope!

Frantically infuse them with the power of the physical body path, strengthen their flesh, then forcibly open the Yang aperture, and finally, fill it with deathly energy or simply with physical body power.

Of course, pure physical body power was too violent; neutralizing it with deathly energy might yield better results.

Among the myriad races and myriad realms, humanity was not the only one walking the path of the physical body.

In the past, it was difficult to manage.

Now, however, it was possible to find a way to extract the physical body power of all races!

Seeing that Su Yu was intrigued, Xia Huyou continued, "Also, Your Majesty, have you forgotten how you rose to power?"

Su Yu's eyes flickered: "What do you mean?"

"Your Majesty, the Time Scroll!"

Xia Huyou grinned, showing his teeth, and said cheerfully, "Your Majesty, we can imitate the Time Scroll! Borrow the path! If forceful seizure fails, then borrow it! Create a counterfeit version of the Time Scroll, infuse it with the power of all paths, and using the blood essence of myriad races, unleash it in an instant!"

Su Yu said gravely, "If one's strength is insufficient, forcibly borrowing power will kill them!"

"Suicide soldiers!"

Xia Huyou's eyes were filled with emotion: "I know you have a sharp tongue but a soft heart; you've never considered such things! You always think you can shoulder the world alone. Wrong! Even the Human Emperor had dark guards like the Great Zhou King. What about you?"

He looked at Su Yu: "Have you ever left yourself a way out?"

Su Yu was silent.

Had he?

Hiding his father and the others—was that a way out?

Xia Huyou continued, "As a sovereign... you need to leave yourself some backup. My Xia family is willing to become the Yu Emperor's dark guards, akin to the Human Emperor's dark guards!"

"To cultivate for Your Majesty a group of dark guards who are fearless, willing to die, and ready to sacrifice themselves at critical moments!"

Xia Huyou became serious: "I said it before—the blade of my Xia family is willing to fight for Your Majesty! Now, as Your Majesty rises higher and higher, the composition of the Yu Emperor's Palace is too complex. If Your Majesty dies... the Yu Emperor's Palace will collapse instantly!"

"Not to mention death... If Your Majesty were to leave the myriad realms for decades, unable to return, like the Human Emperor... it might fall apart!"

Su Yu's foundation was too shallow!

Xia Huyou said solemnly, "Your Majesty is also from the Great Xia Prefecture. You should know that the Great Xia Prefecture may lack many things, but... it has backbone! The soldiers and people of the Great Xia Prefecture are not afraid of death. Your Majesty is also the pride of the Great Xia Prefecture! So today, I look at the vast Yu Emperor's Palace... Your Majesty doesn't even have guards!"

Su Yu smiled: "There are..."

"Your Majesty means Lan Tian?"

Xia Huyou laughed, "No! Does Your Majesty mean those soldiers? They are too weak! As the sovereign of humanity and the sovereign of the Yu Emperor's Palace, Your Majesty has too few people truly usable in the shadows!"

"To put it bluntly... there's no one to entrust your legacy to! Can you entrust it to Prefect Wan and the others? They are all in the open! That won't work. The Great Zhou King and the others were all in the shadows back then; no one knew of the existence of the Fire Passers before the Human Emperor's incident!"

Su Yu fell into deep thought. After a long while, he said, "If I die, I won't need these..."

"But what if you don't die?"

Xia Huyou retorted, "What if you're trapped, like the Human Emperor? What if Prefect Wan and the others are also trapped? Who will think of a way to save you? They won't have the ability either!"

Su Yu looked at him: "Would you save me?"

"Of course!"

Xia Huyou said seriously, "Your Majesty, you need a blade in the shadows! All your trump cards have been revealed! Now, you have no cards left to play!"

Su Yu stared at him for a long moment before saying, "Is this your own idea?"

Xia Huyou was a clever man; Su Yu knew this well.

This man was one of the extremely rare, capable second-generation martial aristocrats Su Yu had encountered—humble, shameless when needed, and able to shoulder great responsibilities at critical moments.

Though many people lived long lives now, they were just wasting time.

Sometimes, age didn't matter; every era had a few elites, and Xia Huyou was clearly one of them.

Back when Su Yu was just an ordinary soldier's son, Xia Huyou dared to invest in him, running around like a lackey. That alone showed he was no ordinary person.

But Su Yu felt that such a major matter might not be Xia Huyou's idea alone.

Was he worried that Su Yu would lose in the upstream battle?

Xia Huyou grinned and said, "Sort of, but... it also involves my second grandfather and that fat man Zhu!"

"Zhu Tiandao?"

"Yes!"

"And you call him 'fat man Zhu'?"

"Ahem... we're close!"

Xia Huyou chuckled awkwardly. If he didn't call him fat man Zhu, his second grandfather would beat him to death. He was used to it.

So that's it—those two had also gotten involved.

Su Yu fell into thought. After a moment, he said, "Their idea is for me to leave some contingency, the so-called suicide soldiers you mentioned?"

"Yes!"

Xia Huyou nodded: "Now, Your Majesty has thrown out all your contingency plans for humanity. You have almost no cards left! And when will Your Majesty's realm become strong enough to rival all sides?"

"More people still mean greater strength. Even if they can't decide the ultimate outcome, in ordinary small-scale situations, there will be someone to handle it for Your Majesty!"

Su Yu thought for a moment, Yang aperture...

Forcibly opening the Yang aperture, making everyone forcibly absorb deathly energy and fleshly path power, Su Yu suddenly said, "In that case, the future might be limited..."

Xia Huyou said helplessly, "Your Majesty, to put it bluntly... do you think those ancient fleshly path kings who became kings through flesh had much of a future? If they didn't change their path, how much prospect did they have? Do you think these people... chose this path willingly? Perhaps, from the very beginning, these people were death warriors!"

"Future? Your Majesty still has the mind to consider the future of death warriors?"

"The Human King might seem benevolent and kind to Your Majesty... but he is a king, a qualified ruler. Even after he left, he ensured that despite many defeats, humanity still endured for a hundred thousand years. What about Your Majesty?"

Xia Huyou grinned, "If Your Majesty disappears, even without foreign invaders, let alone a hundred thousand years, even a hundred years... I'm overestimating Your Majesty!"

Can you outplay the Human King?

Don't be ridiculous!

Look at his methods: the Flame Bearers hid in the shadows, constantly supporting human rulers. Every time one ascended, they led humanity to rise again, the flame never extinguished. If not for the later generations' lack of strength, with the Human King's scheme, humanity might have birthed dozens of Rule Masters across the myriad realms!

Even so, didn't they wait for you, Su Yu?

If you, Su Yu, leave, then truly... nothing will remain!

Xia Huyou continued, "It's not that I don't trust Your Majesty, but it's better to make some preparations!"

Su Yu's eyes flickered slightly, "Then from whom do you plan to select your so-called shadow guards?"

"Shadow guards aren't necessarily all brutes; some need to use their brains, others need other skills to maintain the unbroken inheritance!"

Xia Huyou quickly said, "Now, Rule Masters dominate, and the weak are ignored! They can hardly take the stage! My idea is to select a batch from the Hegemon-level, a batch from the Eternal-level, a batch from the Sun-Moon-level, and then choose some promising seedlings... to train in secret!"

"Now, Your Majesty is uniquely favored, dominating the myriad realms!"

"It can be said that no era is better than Your Majesty's time!"

After saying this, Xia Huyou fell silent for a moment, then grinned, "If strength is sufficient... send a group into the Gate of Hell to scout the way for Your Majesty, and also to fight and kill, so they don't lack combat power!"

"More people, survival of the fittest. Out of ten thousand, one emerges; out of a million, a hundred usable people can appear!"

Su Yu raised an eyebrow, "Is this your method of selection?"

"Yes!"

Xia Huyou nodded, "Your Majesty doesn't need to worry about these things, just occasionally give them some encouragement, that's enough! As for matters of loyalty, we can handle them!"

Su Yu stroked his chin, "Actually, I think it might not be very useful. If I win, it might be within the next few years. If I lose, they won't have time to become a key force!"

"Everything is hard to say!"

Xia Huyou chuckled, "Your Majesty, look at how quickly some people have grown to this level in this era. It's different now!"

"If we can cultivate a batch with Rule Master-level combat power, even if only fifth-tier, one or two are useless, but what about ten or a hundred? Ten or a hundred, even Your Majesty can't match them, right?"

Su Yu sneered, "In my realm, I'll kill them all!"

Of course, if encountered outside, it would be troublesome.

In the realm, he could suppress them, but outside, there's no way. With that many, even Su Yu would be beaten to death.

Still, it stirred a bit of thought.

Xia Huyou added, "If we convert them all into half-dead spirits, we could even throw them into the Dead Spirit Domain for training. Now that the powerful clans of the myriad races have withdrawn, there are no good opponents to fight, but in the River of Dead Spirits, there are still plenty of dead spirits. We can use them for training!"

At this moment, Su Yu nodded, "Perhaps... it's a fallback plan!"

Xia Huyou grinned, "Fallback? Your Majesty, don't underestimate the power of death warriors. If developed quickly, they can soon become a combat-ready force, capable of saving lives at critical moments!"

"Also, now everyone has abandoned the future... but if Your Majesty succeeds in creating a new world, as long as you give everyone a little hope, if they survive to the end, giving us the chance to sever our paths and merge into the realm... then everything can start anew!"

Xia Huyou smiled, "Your Majesty's advantage is something even the Human King can't match. His realm is incomplete, barely started, but Your Majesty's realm is already somewhat perfected!"

Under such circumstances, Su Yu can give everyone greater hope.

Give the shadow guards hope: even if I sever my path now, it's nothing!

Su Yu nodded, "Who do you think you need to help you?"

"Dingjun!"

Xia Huyou first mentioned Dingjun Hou. Su Yu's eyes flickered, but Xia Huyou ignored it and continued, "Xiaoyun, Xinghong, Liu Hong, my great-grandfather... actually, it would be best to add Lantian!"

He calculated for a moment, then added, "Also my second grandfather, Zhu Pangzi, Tianzhu Wang..."

"Who?"

"Tianzhu Wang. We need a strong weapon forger to help us forge weapons, preferably mass-produce fake Time Scrolls. As long as there's enough essence blood, even Rule Master-level power can be unleashed!"

Su Yu gasped. Your ambition... is truly not small!

Forgers, fighters, thinkers, intelligence gatherers, schemers, logistics managers...

Xia Huyou continued, "We will abandon all future prospects. After a great victory, Your Majesty can reward us according to merit! Before that, we are willing to sacrifice everything, including lifespan and future, just for one thing: to become stronger! Infinitely stronger!"

"After Your Majesty leaves, we will help you monitor the myriad realms, watch the Gate of Hell, and any other portals that might appear!"

Saying this, Xia Huyou added, "Also... before, did Your Majesty use a special method on Longxue Hou to make him rapidly stronger?"

Su Yu nodded, "My book pages..."

"I knew it!"

Xia Huyou said with a grin, "Your Majesty, give us some too!"

Su Yu frowned, "This thing... it's completely a false path, with no trace of the true path! Everything you feel is actually fake..."

"But the strength is real!"

Xia Huyou chuckled, "This thing is good! If I remember correctly, I heard that Longxue Hou reached the Rule Master level in a short time."

"Fake, not a true Rule Master."

"That's enough!"

Xia Huyou said excitedly, "Your Majesty has many methods. Why must you always think about everyone's future? Who knows when we'll die? Who cares about the future? As long as we can increase our strength, why worry about that?"

"Your Majesty, now on the myriad races' side, many great paths are masterless. As long as Your Majesty can implant book pages in them... I know Your Majesty might not want to slaughter people, but we don't care!"

"We'll go slaughter some people, then strengthen the great paths, making us rapidly stronger!"

"We can even find ways to invade the Dead Spirit Path, become half-dead spirits, or even dead spirits, it doesn't matter!"

This guy spoke so casually, but Su Yu sighed, "You're ruthless when you want to be, even more than me."

"Not really... Your Majesty and I might have different concepts. We... to be honest, to achieve our goals, we don't care how many people we sacrifice!"

Su Yu laughed, "You bunch... you're unwilling to be eliminated, unwilling to be forgotten, right?"

"Yes!"

Xia Huyou smiled, "Your Majesty, this era belongs to us. But now? It's all old fossils, with only Your Majesty standing out. Isn't that lonely? Of course we're unwilling! We are the protagonists of this era. Now, I see Your Majesty's intention is to take the old fossils to war, while we stay behind and fade into obscurity. Does Your Majesty think we're willing?"

"The humans born in the Tenth Tide grew up in battle, with no one to rely on. The Great Xia Mansion fought year after year. Does Your Majesty really think we fear death?"

He shook his head, "We don't fear death... we... actually fear peace!"

Su Yu's eyes narrowed.

"Yes, we fear peace. We talk about peace, but if we truly put down our weapons and retire to the rear, we're not old. The truly old are those old fossils!"

After saying this, he laughed: “Would Your Majesty be willing to take a stroll with me?”

Su Yu looked at him and nodded.

Xia Huyou named a place, and in an instant, Su Yu took him and vanished from the Yu Emperor’s residence.

…

The Great Xia Civilization Academy.

When Su Yu appeared, the small academy had gathered quite a crowd. Of course, these people were once great figures, but now… they no longer counted.

Including Zhu Tiandao and the others!

A group of Eternal realm existences, none even at the Dao-Integration stage.

Seeing Su Yu arrive, the old Duke Xia chuckled: “Didn’t I say it? This grandson of mine has a way with words—His Majesty has come after all!”

Zhu Tiandao also laughed heartily: “Your Majesty, that chubby lad from the Xia family has said all that needed saying. Our meaning is quite straightforward! In this era, we refuse to give up. So we wish to abandon everything—future, lifespan, whether the Great Dao suits us or not… none of that matters! We want to grow strong… to become the masters of this age, not to be mastered by others!”

“King Dazhou and the others are old. Of course, being old also means being strong. For now, we can’t compete.”

Zhu Tiandao chuckled: “If Your Majesty has a way to let us advance swiftly, even if it means living only three or five years, that’s no trouble at all!”

At this moment, Su Yu swept his gaze—truly, many familiar faces were here!

Yun Chen, Nan Wujiang, even Qin Zhen and a few others were present.

Their strength was not great—some were Eternal, some barely crossed into Dao-Integration, and that barely, some were still at the Sun-Moon stage. Here, he even saw Qin Fang, Huang Teng, and other former prodigies.

Even… some from the Great Zhou Prefecture, like Shan Xiong!

Even Liu Hong, that sly fellow, stood not far off, grinning.

Seeing Su Yu look his way, Liu Hong laughed: “Your Majesty, I think if you give us a little chance, we can still stir up a storm! Your Majesty’s current subordinates are all old-timers. In this new cosmic era, that doesn’t quite live up to the name, does it?”

Su Yu smiled: “You dishonest fellow—are you content to be a Dark Guard?”

Liu Hong snickered: “King Dazhou isn’t honest either, and he’s still the head of the Dark Guard! If one is too honest, how can the Dark Guard be dark enough, right?”

Su Yu truly laughed!

Those words… were not wrong.

Whether dead warriors or Dark Guards, it’s not just about raw strength—you need brains, a cunning enough kind!

Otherwise, King Dazhou’s side would have been wiped out by Baizhan long ago!

How could they have led the opening of the Tenth Tide?

Su Yu’s laughter faded, and he grew solemn: “If you truly care about nothing, to be honest, there are quite a few ways to improve!”

Su Yu narrowed his eyes: “First, convert your bloodline, merge into another race’s Great Dao, and once I kill their Rule Lord, there’s hope to replace them! Second, forge a replica of the Time Scroll to temporarily unleash great power! Third, walk the Chaos Dao—it’s slow because their understanding of Chaos is shallow, but as the Heaven-Opener, my understanding is far deeper!”

“Fourth, seize the masterless Daos of various races! Fifth, I’ll forge more Civilization Pages and merge them into your bodies, making you play roles like Dragon Blood Marquis—complete puppets! Sixth…”

“Go on!”

Everyone was listening with keen interest, but Su Yu suddenly stopped. They grew anxious at once. To be honest, they hadn’t known Su Yu had so many methods.

Su Yu squinted: “Sixth… it’s actually simpler, but I’m afraid you all might not accept it.”

“Speak your mind!”

“Become the Devourer God Race.”

Everyone was startled. Su Yu narrowed his eyes: “Nowadays, many overlook the essence of Doubao and the others. Their essence is that the Great Dao became sentient! And I can actually kill you all… ahem, discard your physical bodies, attach your spirits to the Great Dao, and forcibly merge. Then the Dao is you, and you are the Dao… Of course, there’s a huge drawback!”

“Back then, my teacher, Bai Feng and the others, once mentioned this path, but I rejected it. To abandon the physical body and become a Dao spirit directly… would you still count as the human race? Still count as human? Doubao and Bingbing were accidental creations… but I would be deliberately creating such beings.”

Everyone’s eyes flickered. Xia Huyou quickly asked: “In that case, would we become Rule Lords quickly?”

“Quickly!”

Su Yu nodded: “Doubao and Bingbing likely became spirits after death, not deliberately made. So they have no memories, nothing! They cultivate and comprehend in ignorance, not even knowing what their own Dao is!”

“But I can find a way to preserve your memories directly, merge you into the Dao, keep the memories intact, so you know what Dao you’re merging with. You can master it quickly, because the Dao itself is full of insights…”

Su Yu continued: “But there are difficulties. First, you might be assimilated by the Dao, becoming part of it entirely! Second, you might die completely, beyond saving!”

Everyone exchanged glances. Zhu Tiandao couldn’t help asking: “You have so many methods—why didn’t you mention them before?”

“They are all desperate measures!”

Su Yu shook his head: “Though I like using some cunning schemes, to trick my own people into becoming neither human nor ghost—that’s not what I wish to see. But I see you all are unwilling to be idle. Since we’ve come this far, and you don’t care about anything anymore, if I, Su Yu, keep hiding things, wouldn’t that be too pretentious?”

Su Yu smiled: “If you’re willing, we can use all sorts of methods. I can guarantee that soon, everyone will grow strong! What Dao-Integration, what Heavenly Kings, Rule Lords… it won’t take long!”

Su Yu licked his lips: “I suspect King Wen might have thought of this too, but didn’t do it. The Devourer God Race—I suspect he created it himself… As for Doubao, I once suspected it might be a Rule Lord of the Immortal Race! Later, King Wen killed it and made it on a whim. Otherwise, Doubao wouldn’t keep staring at Tiangu… Perhaps it was one of the masters of the Longevity Dao or the Immortal Emperor Dao?”

Whatever!

Su Yu didn’t dwell on it. Doubao and the like are dead—after death, a spirit was born, with little connection to the previous life.

The master of the Immortal Emperor Dao is still alive, the current Immortal Emperor, seemingly not dead. So Doubao might be from a similar Dao—the master of the Longevity Dao died and gave birth to it. Su Yu recalled that King Wen killed such an Immortal strongman, suppressed the Immortal race, broke several Daos, and created the Longevity Pill.

Perhaps that is the true cause of the enmity between Doubao and Tiangu—Dao attraction.

These methods are all ruinous.

That is, after pulling this off, there’s almost no chance for a second round. Unlike others, who use orthodox methods to improve, with great future potential, even able to break away from Su Yu’s world and return to the River of Time.

Su Yu said this is like creating puppets—that’s what he meant.

Treat people as non-people and be done with it!

As the Heaven-Opener, he has no shortage of methods. In the current myriad realms, the true Heaven-Opener might be only Su Yu. The Human Emperor doesn’t count—his heaven was just a beginning, and he never had time to understand it.

Old Duke Xia was now grinning from ear to ear: “Your Majesty should have said so earlier! Why not do such a good thing? What’s this about inhuman means? What does it matter? I ask Your Majesty: if you eventually succeed in opening heaven and reach the level of the Lord of Time, can we still be saved?”

“Yes!”

“Then it’s settled!”

Old Duke Xia chuckled: “Let’s do it! This is far better than we expected. According to Your Majesty, perhaps soon, when you go upstream and no one pays attention to us, we might produce more Rule Lords than now!”

“At that time, even if Your Majesty loses the battle, you can retreat… Ha, we’ll suddenly send out dozens or hundreds of Rule Lords—no matter their rank—it will terrify the enemy!”

Liu Hong also laughed slyly: “Your Majesty, changing my Dao is probably hard. But I control the Ink Dao, and I need Your Majesty’s help.”

“Speak!”

Liu Hong suddenly said with a hint of mischief: “Your Majesty, could you move my Ink Dao… just a little? What do you think? Move it to the junction of the River of Time and the Dead Spirit Dao, and change my Ink Dao into the Life-Death Dao, taking benefits from both sides—eating from the upper and lower houses! Right now, it’s not easy for me!”

Su Yu was both amused and exasperated: “You think moving a Dao is that simple?”

“Your Majesty can do it!”

Liu Hong snickered: “Your Majesty, that Dead Spirit Lord last time was indeed troublesome. But as long as Your Majesty doesn’t revive dead spirits, and I’m not a dead spirit, I don’t need revival. Just shifting the Dao a little. Back then, King Wen secretly opened the Ink Dao, and he might not have been as strong as Your Majesty is now!”

Su Yu was speechless. Damn you!

This wasn’t simple!

That bastard was playing this angle—sure enough, he’d never been a good man.

Zhu Tiandao chimed in: “Your Majesty, give it a try! If we all succeed… that will be a terrifying force! Your Majesty’s methods are far more numerous than those of other strongmen. The means of a Heaven-Opener must be unimaginable!”

Su Yu thought for a moment, then nodded: “Let’s try! In these few days, while everyone is cultivating, strive to become Rule Lords. I’ll take you for a walk along the River of Time, and you can see which Dao catches your fancy—pick whichever you like!”

"If the master of the long river of time does not return, no one can restrain me, but I must say, if he returns... you will all be finished, not one can escape!"

Everyone was unimpressed. Nonsense, if he returns, we'll be finished even if he blows us to death with a single breath—that's still being finished, need you say it?

Su Yu saw that these people had no objections and was helpless.

These madmen—Su Yu had thought they would give up, or silently cultivate and wait for an opportunity. Good heavens, they were all unwilling!

They cared about nothing, just wanted to shine in this era!

Indeed, the Tenth Tide had hardly any normal people!

At this moment, Su Yu suddenly felt that indeed only he himself was normal; these fellows were all quite abnormal.

Normal people, at a time like this, shouldn't they calmly wait for the outcome of the battle between the strong?

And at this moment, throughout the entire Academy of Civilization, strange laughter of "hehe," "jie jie," and "haha" kept ringing out.

Lie low?

Wait?

What's that?

We are the masters of the Tenth Tide—we refuse to be resigned!

Su Yu speaks nicely about this being a new era, but in the end, most of his subordinates are old-timers, with only Wan Tiansheng and Lan Tian as a few newcomers, and they aren't even the core strength—this doesn't match the characteristics of the New Yu Era!

So this group of restless people came to Su Yu, wanting to turn the tables and become masters.

And Su Yu, he didn't care anymore. If they were willing, he wouldn't stop them.