Published at 25th of May 2026 6:25 am

Chapter 2041: Withdrawal (1)

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Su Yu was in a great mood. Nobody understood why.

Regardless of whether it was Hundred Battle King, the chaos lineage, or Martial Emperor, all of them were humans. A victory for any of them would be a victory for the human race. He only needed to know that. He could finally remove the shackles on himself.

He only needed to prevent the victory of the myriad races. Humanity was no longer his to worry about. No matter what their intentions and goals were, they would not erase the regular humans. Not even Martial Emperor had said something like that.

He might have claimed that he did not care about humanity, but as a human lord, how could he not care? He had been living in caution and fear. The burden of humanity was too heavy. He had been living in constant fear that a single mistake would result in the extermination of humanity.

But today, he had shrugged that burden off. He no longer needed to worry about all that. The regular humans would be allowed to survive as long as they did not resist the new ruler. Recreating a new humanity? Easier said than done. With an existing humanity to rule, why would they bother with recreating an entire race?

All the while, the old turtle was following Su Yu in the form of a young human. A look of confusion covered his face.

Su Yu looked terrible, yet he felt as though he was looking at the Su Yu from the past. The one with unbridled arrogance and boundless courage. Back then, it was with this fearless spirit that he had declared his hegemony at the helm of the ancient cities.

And he had accomplished what he had declared back then. Equipped with the unyielding support of the thirty-six guardians, he had acted overbearingly, killed anyone he wanted to, and fought without fear.

But since becoming the human lord, he had changed slowly.

Changing into an unfathomable person. An erratic person. A cautious person. If he had entered the Upper Realm with the same attitude he had back when he first entered the Allheaven Battlefield, he wouldn't have bothered to worry so much. He would simply kill and flee on repeat, aiming only to do as much damage as he could without caring about anything else.

With the ability to move freely between the Upper and Lower Realms, he would have nothing to fear so long as he didn't need to keep worrying about the human race. The old turtle continued following behind Su Yu. He did not ask anything, but he was deep in thought.

Something must have happened in the Upper Realm, bringing the previous Su Yu back.

"Emperor Yu..."

"Don't ask. Let's go to the Eastrift Valley first."

Su Yu did not give him the opportunity to ask anything. Before long, someone appeared before him. It was Tian Yue. "Greetings, Emperor Yu. Welcome back."

With a smile, Su Yu said, "Tian Yue, gather all the Daofuses and Eternals at the palace. Remember, everyone. Including the ones stationed in the other realms."

Tian Yue's expression changed slightly. Were they not keeping anyone behind to watch over those realms?

He was confused, but since the order was given, he had to carry it out.

"Yes!"

He left.

In truth, it hadn't even been that long since their last meeting.

***

Eastrift Valley.

The massive palace had slowly turned into the spiritual pillar of humanity.

Humanity had lived in fear for over four hundred years. Despite its strength, humanity was constantly suppressed by the three major races. The threat of extinction constantly hung above humanity.

Everything changed when Su Yu rose to power.

He destroyed the Celestial Chasm Realm. He dominated the Myriad Realms. He killed numerous so-called Pseudo Emperors. Even the three major races cowered before him, forced to hide inside their realms for survival.

After Su Yu's rise, humanity had gained a large number of Daofuses. As the importance of Eternals declined, their attendance was no longer required for the more important meetings.

And now, these Eternals were finally invited to one of these meetings. The prefects and Eternals of the various prefectures rushed over.

***

Outside the palace.

While rubbing his chin, Zhu Tiandao looked at Marquis Xia and said, "Xia Xiao'er, Emperor Yu has returned far earlier than expected. Didn't he leave for the Upper Realm with a bunch of people not long ago? Why is he back so soon?"

Marquis Xia didn't feel like replying, but he couldn't resist. Thus, he sent a voice transmission, "I heard...remember, this is just a rumor. I heard that they suffered a defeat up there. Someone said that Culture King's dog lost his tail..."

With a pensive look, Zhu Tiandao asked, "My old man, and your old man as well, both are nowhere to be seen. What happened to them?"

"I'm not sure."

"I heard even Zhou Polong and the others have been recalled to attend this meeting. All thirty-six guardians have been summoned as well. Even the Eternals of the allied races are summoned. Is that the case?"

"Yes!" Xia Xiao'er nodded and added, "That's not all. Some of the major officials of the military who are Sunmoons have also been summoned. A large number of people are returning. Even the various battles have been paused to accommodate this meeting."

The two exchanged gazes as they instantly reached a conclusion. Something happened. Something major. Even Sunmoons were being called to attend this meeting. The various prefects, including those who were not even Eternals had also been summoned over. Since the establishment of Emperor Yu's Court, a meeting of such scale had never been held.

In the past, Su Yu would only communicate his plans with the top leaders of the various forces. Just as the two were deep in thought, they blanked out.

A group of people had arrived not far away.

The person leading the group was none other than Topsoil Spirit. At the moment, he was looking incomparably solemn. He had received a message saying that Su Yu was calling for a meeting. The five elemental race was free to attend or skip the meeting. Su Yu had promised that their alliance would not be affected even if they were absent. In the message, Su Yu also mentioned that they might not hear anything good even if they were present in the meeting.

Topsoil Spirit had no idea what was happening, but after thinking about it, he decided to come. Up until now, the five elemental race had yet to participate in any battle on humanity's side.

Su Yu had been planning to give them more time to grow and only allow them to participate when the connection to the Upper Realm was restored. But now, they had been summoned before Topsoil Spirit could even advance to the next realm of cultivation.

Noticing Zhu Tiandao and Marquis Xia, Topsoil Spirit cupped his fists at them and said, "Topsoil Spirit of the five elemental race greets Prefect Zhu and Marquis Xia."

Marquis Xia asked with surprise, "You...what are you..."

"We're answering Emperor Yu's call." As he landed on the group with his people, he smiled and asked, "Lords, may I ask about the purpose of this meeting?"

Marquis Xia smiled as well and said, "I have no clue. We'll only know during the meeting."

Who knew?

As they spoke, even more people arrived. June, August, and the iron devourers landed from the sky. They seemed agitated as they kept to themselves. A short while later, the hou race arrived, followed by the spatial beast race. The fate race was nowhere to be seen.

At first, Marquis Xia and the others were unbothered. However, the human Daofuses started arriving one after another. Even the guardians were arriving. Meanwhile, a race as powerful as the fate race remained absent.

At that point, they started growing uneasy. Even if Fate Pseudo Emperor couldn't come personally, he could have sent some Eternals over, right? But not a single person from their race was here.

One ought to know that Fate Pseudo Emperor was present during their previous meeting. Today, a much larger number of people had arrived. However, the gathered crowd seemed less impressive than the previous meeting. After all, a large number of Daofuses were present during the previous meeting. But today, only a small number of Daofuses were here. And Grand Dream seemed to be the sole peak Daofuse present.

Tian Yue, Bountiful Treasure, Empyrean Cloud, Openmountain, and the others were here, but they were all newly advanced Daofuses. As for the older Daofuses, June and Hou Pseudo Emperor were present, but their strength wasn't actually that impressive.

***

Everyone waited outside the palace.

After a short moment, the gate swung open.

The familiar Wan Tiansheng wasn't the one opening the gate. It wasn't Great Zhou King either. Rather, it was Liu Wenyan.

Yes. Liu Wenyan.

Everyone looked at each other before streaming into the palace.

This time, Su Yu was not seated solemnly on his throne.

Rather, he had removed the golden robe he had received during his appointment, wearing his usual white robes. Even the crown was absent from his head as he reclined lazily on the throne.

Something had changed. Nobody could be sure what the change was, but the more sensitive Daofuses noticed something. Su Yu was no longer as unfathomable as before. They felt as though...they could see through them now.

His physical body was as powerful as ever, but the dao fluctuations around him were gone. He was still strong, but not so much that one would suffocate in his presence like before.

"We greet His Majesty, Emperor Yu."

Everyone greeted, their voice loud and clear.

"Be at ease." Su Yu smiled and said, "Sit down, everyone. Food and drinks have all been prepared. Just treat this as a banquet. A farewell banquet, to be precise. We eat, we drink, and we chat. All of you will be free after this banquet."

Many expressions changed upon hearing those words.

Su Yu did not elaborate. Instead, he looked at Topsoil Spirit and said, "How odd. In my message to you, I said that you might not hear any good news even if you're here. I also said that you're free not to come. The five elemental race has yet to be dragged into any of our battles. Why are you here? You're a smart guy. Why did you make the wrong choice this time?"

Topsoil Spirit hurriedly stood up and said, "It doesn't matter what I'll hear here. Being present is better than being absent. The five elemental race is honored to receive an invitation from Emperor Yu."

"You're as good at talking as ever." Su Yu laughed and said, "Sit down, everyone."

Everyone looked at each other silently before looking at the tables and seats arranged to the two sides of the hall. Then, they all sat down. The Daofuses sat at the front, followed by the Eternals, with the Sunmoons seated to the very end of the two lines.

The experts previously stationed in the other realms, including Great Han King and the others, had returned. All of them were confused, but they could not find a leading figure to dispel their doubts.

Great Zhou King, Great Xia King, Great Qin King, and Great Ming King were all absent. Noticing that, the human experts started feeling uneasy.

Su Yu raised his wine cup and said, "Destiny has been kind to bring us all together. Let us drink to this."

Then, he drained the cup. Still doubtful, the others did the same.

After draining the cup, Su Yu stopped smiling and said, "The Daofuses should have noticed something by now. Bountiful Treasure, why don't you tell me what you noticed?"

Bountiful Treasure stiffened. After a long while, he spoke hesitatingly, "I noticed nothing..."

Su Yu's eyes turned cold, and he said, "That means you're a worthless Daofuse. What manner of a Daofuse is so blind?"

"..."

Bountiful Treasure felt like crying. He noticed something, but he didn't dare to voice it.

"Speak."

Bountiful Treasure trembled. After a long hesitation, he gnashed his teeth, lowered his head, and said, "I noticed that...Emperor Yu...has...has seemingly dropped in cultivation. From the level of a heavenly king to a Sunmoon."

Boom!

Those words shocked everyone.

Many were in disbelief, and some glared at Bountiful Treasure in fury. Bountiful Treasure kept his head lowered as he cursed inwardly. He didn't want to say this. But he was forced to say it. Su Yu was clearly bullying him for being too nice!

However, the Daofuses remained silent, their expressions solemn.

Noticing the heavy mood, June flashed his trademark innocent smile and said, "Emperor Yu must have encountered some issues in cultivation. I believe he can recover easily"

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