Tribulation of Myriad Races
Chapter 1430: Death List (1)

Chapter 1430: Death List (1)

Fourth level.

The moment Su Yu stepped onto the fourth level, he felt a unique sensation.

The five viscera were akin to an oven, and the bowels were burning.

Su Yu inhaled deeply, sensing the power of the five elements in the air. In the path of cultivation, it was always said that the five viscera corresponded to the five elements. A certain understanding dawned on Su Yu. He must have arrived at the five viscera and six bowels of Old Zhou. Or to be precise, the fourth to the sixth levels were most likely the torso of Old Zhou. The navel would also be somewhere on these levels.

"What about the arms?"

Su Yu suddenly recalled that he had not seen anything resembling an arm. If Old Zhou had really been planted on the ground upside down, his arms might be drooping to the ground. In that case, were the arms in the basement?

Did Old Zhou's arms reach the Death Realm as well? That was possible. As for the fourth level, the source qi in the air was unimaginably thick.

"Are the lungs and heart here?"

The heart was an important organ for any cultivator. Even someone like Su Yu might die when his heart was damaged enough to prevent his body from regenerating. Or to be precise, his physical body would be dead.

In such a situation, his sole option was to preserve his sea of willpower and recultivate his body from scratch. But if the heart was still around, he could always regrow his body. It might be weaker, but his cultivation level would remain.

"If the heart is really here, I can't miss out on it."

Su Yu looked down, his eyes flickering. He Tu was clearly sweeping through every single level. A calamity was coming for all of them for real. Sure, he had killed a lot as well. But he wouldn't wipe every level clean. That was not the case for He Tu. Not a single survivor would be left on any level that he had visited. Su Yu guessed that a large number of people must have perished by now. Perhaps over a thousand people had died so far.

"Tsk tsk. The explorers of this opening sure are unlucky."

Su Yu shook his head. They couldn't blame him for this. Or at the very least, the humans couldn't blame him for this. He was not responsible for the deaths of those humans. With him killing so many myriad race experts, the humans in here should have obtained an upper hand against the myriad races.

Alas, He Tu had arrived as well. And He Tu would not spare anyone. At this rate, the weaklings would need to start joining hands regardless of race. After all, they wouldn't have the option of fleeing to the higher levels.

After all, the higher the level, the more dangerous it would be. Even on the fourth level, Su Yu could feel a burning sensation in the air. A weakling would not be able to last long here.

"Wu Lan and the others are very weak..."

Su Yu frowned. Those people were only Skysoars. They could survive on the bottom three levels. But just staying on the fourth level would be a form of torture for them.

"How many people are there on the fourth level? Are there any Sunmoons here?"

This was a level where he could perhaps start encountering Sunmoons. The younger or weaker Sunmoons would most likely be here, including people like Liu Wenyan. Of course, this was already the fourth day. They might have moved on to a higher level by now.

***

The fourth level was framed on the two sides by two massive mountains that were visible throughout the level. At the point where the two mountains joined, a V-shaped canyon could be seen. From the shape of the terrain here, Su Yu would most likely conclude that this was the location of Old Zhou’s lungs.

At the moment, people could be seen all over the two mountains.

The lungs were meant for breathing. This was the place where both air and source qi would pass through when entering and exiting the human body.

Compared to the other levels, the fourth level was rather peaceful. That was because the environment here was extremely beneficial for cultivation. Cultivating at the peaks of the two mountains would greatly strengthen one's body. The effect of a single breath taken there would surpass the effect elsewhere by a hundred or even a thousand times.

The fourth level was the world of the five viscera and six bowels. It was the place where the flame of the internal organs burned. But if one could survive this environment and cultivate on the two peaks, a refreshing sensation would envelop them, protecting them from the burning sensation of the fourth level.

Thus, the fourth level was a popular place for many to further strengthen themselves. At the moment, almost all the surviving experts below the Sunmoon Realm were gathered on the fourth level. After all, those on the lower levels had all died.

There were about 2,200 survivors left in the mansion and about 1,500 of them were gathered on the fourth level. Even the human race had over three hundred people on the fourth level.

The group led by Xia Huyou had joined up with the other humans not long after their arrival. They had taken over the mountain to the east. There were about three hundred of them. These were all the remaining human survivors below the Sunmoon Realm.

The rest, including those who had fled the first and second levels earlier, had perished as well.

***

At the moment, a group of humans was cultivating while listening to Xia Huyou's story about what had happened on the lower levels.

As they listened, their wariness grew.

Death spirits had entered the mansion.

Invincible death spirits.

The strongest among this group of humans was Zhu Guangshen, the child of Zhu Tiandao and the father of Zhu Hongliang. He was a first-stage Sunmoon, so he had been staying on the fourth level.

Listening to Xia Huyou's story, he frowned and said, "Junior Huyou, are you saying that the death spirit killed hundreds of people instantly with a book emitting a saintly power?"

"Yes."

Xia Huyou nodded. Inwardly, he was wondering if this guy knew about Su Yu's book. A weaponized book was extremely rare. But it was not rare enough that one would never see one in action.

As for Su Yu's book, many had seen it during its forging. But they had only seen the projection of the book. None of them knew its actual appearance. Furthermore, it was still an earth weapon back then.

Meanwhile, the book that had killed so many people in the mansion was incomparably powerful. It was at least a heaven weapon.

Zhu Guangshen asked again, "And that death spirit was capable of speech. He even claimed that He Tu is coming?"

"Yes."

"He Tu..." Zhu Guangshen sank into thought.

A confused cultivator asked, "Prince, who is this He Tu?"

"Who's He Tu?" Zhu Guangshen took some time to rearrange his thoughts before answering, "I don't know much about him. But didn't Su Yu mention him briefly not long ago? He threatened to learn from He Tu if the myriad races continued pushing him. After that incident, humanity performed an investigation on He Tu."

After a slight hesitation, he continued, "I only heard this from my uncle..."

That attracted a lot of attention. As the former head of the Yellow Department, very few people in the Myriad Realms knew as much as Zhu Tianfang.

"He Tu was a human expert during the first epoch."

Zhu Guangshen said, "Between our era and the ancient past, there were nine epochal wars. The so-called epochal war is a war involving the entire Myriad Realms. At the end of each war, the Allheaven Battlefield would shut its connection to the various realms. And He Tu was a human expert during the first epochal war. Including the time the Allheaven Battlefield was shut, each epoch would last about ten thousand years.

"Thus, He Tu was someone from about a hundred thousand years ago. For his legend to survive until today, it is clear he was one of the greatest individuals in the first epoch.

"Born after the great collapse, he descended from a supreme expert of the ancient past. During the first epoch, He Tu made his name in the Allheaven Battlefield. He was...akin to Su Yu..."

"Looking at the other humans, he laughed bitterly and said, "Yes. He was very similar to Su Yu. He was freakishly talented. He was able to grow rapidly. In a short time, he became an Invincible. Like Su Yu, he was excellent at causing trouble. Before long, he became a wanted figure of the various Pseudo Emperors. Desperate, he resorted to becoming the mayor of Grand Dream City to protect his life."

"This...is indeed very similar to Su Yu's path."

The others couldn't help but nod with surprise.

Zhu Guangshen inhaled deeply and continued, "Subsequently, he vanished from the public eye for a while. By the time the middle period of the era arrived, everyone had nearly forgotten about him. They had discounted him because he had bound himself to the ancient city.

"However, He Tu was unwilling to accept such a fate. He was unwilling to remain a side character of that era. He was unwilling to live the rest of his life like that. Thus, near the end of that era, he returned. He returned with an army of death spirits, sweeping through the Myriad Realms and triggering a war that lasted hundreds of years.

"Eventually, he lost control of the death spirits, forcing the guardian to seal the death tunnel and sever his source of death qi and death spirits before personally killing him. That was how the final war of the first epoch ended."

At that, Xia Huyou asked, "How did he lead the death spirits outside the ancient city? Also, weren't the ancient cities bound by the heavenly laws? Why did they not stop him in the beginning? Why did they wait until the very end?"

"I don't know." Zhu Tiandao shook his head, "It has been too long. Not even the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion has too many records from that era. I heard that since then, He Tu had remained in the death tunnel of Grand Dream City. Since he had consumed the life death fruit before, he had been able to retain some of his memories. Thus, he never gave up on invading the world of the living. But after so long, he has returned."

Someone exclaimed in excitement, "He's a human!"

Zhu Guangshen smiled, "He was a human. Do you believe that he will spare your life just because he used to be a human?"

What was this guy thinking?

Zhu Guangshen added, "Even if he's not dead, do you think a ruthless overlord like him will care about bugs like us? He Tu was one of the main figures of the first epoch. He had waged war across the Myriad Realms and taken countless lives, including the lives of Invincibles. Why would he care about the lives of insignificant beings like us?"

At that, the expressions of many changed.

"He's already on the third level. What...should we do now?"

Some of them would not be able to survive climbing another level. Sure, there were many experts on the seventh level, including some Invincibles. But could they survive the climb? Furthermore, that place would be even more dangerous. The human Invincibles were greatly outnumbered by the myriad race Invincibles. Up there, any carelessness could kill weaklings like them.

With how strong He Tu was back then, the Invincibles in the mansion might not be a match for him. Could they even handle He Tu?

Someone asked, "Prince Huyou, is the messenger death spirit an Invincible as well? Only Invincible death spirits can speak. Since the death spirit was a human, and he even helped you, can we negotiate with He Tu through him?"

Xia Huyou shook his head, "That's unlikely. In any case, I don't have the courage to face him again. If you're feeling brave, you can try meeting him. Death spirits might retain some of their past memories, but that does not mean that they will consider themselves the same person. The messenger felt...too sinister to me. I won't be attempting further contact with him. Do not place your hope on negotiations. Negotiations will only work when both parties are similar in strength. When the gap is too big, attempting a negotiation is the same as delivering yourself to them."

The more they listened, the more anxious they felt. A different person said, "Prince Zhu, what do you think about the book mentioned by Prince Huyou?"

"That might be He Tu's weapon." Zhu Guangshen explained, "The weapon He Tu used back when he made his name was a book as well. Perhaps he had forged himself a new weapon after dying."

"No wonder it felt so sinister."

Xia Huyou was unsure if this was the truth or if Zhu Guangshen was simply playing along to cover for Su Yu. However, that did not stop him from making use of this opening to say more. "No wonder the book felt both saintly and demonic at the same time. If that's He Tu's lifebound weapon, then its strength is understandable."

A youth in the group said, "It's pointless to talk about all that now. Everyone, what should we do now? The fourth level is the best place for cultivation. The higher levels will be a lot more dangerous. However, staying will also spell our death."

Zhu Guangshen looked at a certain spot on the same mountain peak. They were not the only ones here. Many people were here, including a group of immortals.

As for the divines and devils, they had converged on the other peak. Altogether, there were about seven to eight hundred people on both peaks.

Zhu Guangshen could be considered a senior of theirs. Furthermore, he was a Sunmoon. After thinking about it, he said, "The fifth level is dangerous, but this is a crisis for all of us. We might need to consider joining hands with the others to face the crisis."

"Joining hands with these people?" Someone protested, "Just leave them here to die. We're better off challenging the fifth level by ourselves."

Zhu Guangshen laughed and said, "You won't be able to keep this a secret from them for long. Not all survivors of the third level are humans. I saw a few from the other races as well."

That was true.

Not long after the arrival of Xia Huyou's group, some other survivors had arrived on the fourth level as well. At the time, Su Yu was busy harvesting his treasures to kill those people. Thus, they had been able to escape.

Therefore, the group of immortals on the same mountain appeared quite alarmed as well.