Published at 24th of July 2026 6:53 am

Chapter 2162: Kinghood Stripped (2)

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After a short silence, Tiangu said, "Perhaps...this is because his status is indeed high. He is the successor of Culture King, and he has the support of the descendants of Radiant King and Battle King. Additionally, he also has the support of the Torchbearers. It is likely that he even has the acknowledgement of the Human Emperor.

"The acknowledgment of Human Emperor, Culture King, Radiant King, and perhaps even Martial King. He also has the support of humanity and the various allied races. His personal fortune and talent are also higher compared to those of the past human lords. I also suspect that he has captured Heavenly Overseer Marquis. That can only mean that his fortune is even stronger than Heavenly Overseer Marquis' fortune."

The various Venerables sighed.

Someone asked doubtfully, "He seems injured. What's the point of snatching the fortune of Control King's lineage? What can this do, exactly?"

Not everyone understood the functions of fortune.

Sacred Marquis said, "What can this do? Control King's lineage will decline in fortune. In future battles, they might lose battles they could have won, and their escaping experts who should have been able to escape might end up dying instead.

"Fortune is not omnipotent, but it can play a supportive role. If you are strong enough, the lack of fortune won't do much to you. But in the event of a defeat, you will find yourself getting more and more unlucky. You might even end up detonating yourself by accident while healing yourself."

Just then, a loud rumble rang out from afar.

***

Control King's kingdom.

In his fury, the Ancestor threw a punch at the sky. The punch created some turbulence in the air before dragging the unlucky Yue Hao over. Instantly, his newly grown body was turned into mush again.

His sea of willpower shot away in fear.

The Ancestor's face fell as he roared, "This isn't possible! How is this possible? Even without the fortune of humanity, our lineage is powerful enough that our own fortune should be strong as well. Each powerhouse is a source of fortune. How can this happen?"

Their luck could decline, but not to this level! Their lineage was strong enough that their fortune should be vigorous even when they were completely independent. Powerhouses were the main components of fortune.

They had lost their share of humanity's fortune, but that did not signify that they were left with no fortune. If they were really left with no fortune whatsoever, they could fall to their deaths just by walking.

That shouldn't be possible. He had punched nowhere near Yue Hao, yet it had somehow hit Yue Hao. The expressions of the various Venerables changed. How was this possible? The human lord had enough authority to strip the fortune of a human king. What joke was this? Control King's wasn't even a regular human king. This was a Cardinal King.

They might be claiming that they were no longer humans, but they had still been enjoying the fortune of humanity. Control King's status did not come from strength alone. Rather, it was also due to Control King's rank in the ancient imperial court. He ranked top five in the ancient imperial court. Yet a junior had stripped him of his title.

Just like that, Su Yu had stripped the title of a Cardinal King. This was unbelievable. Su Yu was no Human Emperor. Even during the ancient past, only Human Emperor could strip the titles of human kings.

***

At the same time.

Upstream.

Xing Yue had just arrived.

This time, the river did not shake. However, an incorporeal power washed over everyone. All the human powerhouses blanked out.

A voice rang out in everyone's ears, "The crime of betrayal is grave. It shall be punished. I hereby strip Control King's title as a human king..."

Or to be precise, the voice had emerged from the depths of their minds.

All their expressions changed.

Someone...was stripping Control King's title.

Good heavens. Who was that?

This was clearly not one of the first nine human lords. Could this be the tenth human lord mentioned by Xing Yue? Was he so domineering? But Control King was one of the Four Cardinal Kings!

Human Emperor's figure shook as well. He gazed into the distance. After a long silence, he muttered, "Approved."

Boom!

The power of fortune surged.

Then, four gigantic golden dots of light, thirty-six smaller golden dots of light, and 360 white dots of light appeared around him.

Four Cardinal Kings, thirty-six human kings, and 360 human marquises.

This was the peak power of the ancient humans.

One of the large golden dots shattered. The three remaining dots turned into a triangle as they orbited the Human Emperor while the fourth dispersed into nothingness.

Radiant King stepped forth with a complicated expression and said, "Your Majesty."

Human Emperor sighed and said, "These are all brothers and sisters who had fought alongside me. I don't want to abandon even one of them. I never intended for that to happen to Control King. And I have never thought of stripping any human of their title. Even a traitor is still a human.

"But the tenth human lord clearly disagrees. With how the fortune of humanity is reacting, this is clearly the will of the current humanity as well. The fortune of humanity is cheering this decision. Am I to reject the will of the people?"

He could. Ultimately, that was a title conferred by him.

Su Yu's status was still below his. The declaration of Su Yu was more akin to a petition from an official. But the moment it received Human Emperor's approval, it was legitimized. With Human Emperor's approval, Su Yu was akin to a representative of the Human Emperor. He was naturally capable of stripping Control King's title.

"Su Yu?"

Radiant King muttered that name. He committed the name to his memory. When Xing Yue spoke of that name earlier, none of them had given it much thought. As far as they were concerned, that was a Sunmoon Creator who was probably a cripple.

But after stripping Control King's title, everyone had committed his name to their minds. Control King was a former comrade of theirs. A comrade turned traitor.

Nevertheless, a former comrade was still a former comrade. They had mixed feelings about this. Nobody had suggested the stripping of Control King's title all these years, but now, someone had done it.

Everyone sank into silence.

Xing Yue looked around and spoke with feigned nonchalance, "Control King's lineage must have done some evil again. This lineage is filled with evil beings. They consorted with the West Heavenly King and tried to kill Guardian Grand Dream several times. They even attempted to kill the thirty-six guardians and lead the dead against the living.

"And in the Upper Realm, they consorted with Hundred Battle and schemed against the Torchbearers. People like Bing Ku and Dan Yu all died to their schemes. One old general after another died, such as Minshan and many others.

"By the time Su Yu entered the Upper Realm, only a few of these veteran generals remained. Stable Army, Cloud Fire, and Brave Martial are the only veteran generals Su Yu managed to recruit. Oh, right, Zhou Tian is still around as well..."

Grief welled in everyone's hearts as they listened. That was their first time hearing about all that.

Radiant King exclaimed in shock, "Are...these the only survivors?"

"Oh, there are more. But most have deserted to Hundred Battle. Not many are still on our side."

That drove the surrounding powerhouses crazy. They had left over a hundred ancient marquises and a large number of titled generals behind. Were all those people...dead?

How sorrowful.

Suddenly, someone asked with surprise, "Is Stable Army...not dead?"

Everyone looked at the speaker. That was a middle-aged man. He said awkwardly, "I'm saying that...uhm...Stable Army was quite weak. How did he outlive all those people?"

Holy shit!

Stable Army was still around!

Everyone knew who the speaker was. That was Peace King, a physical body cultivator. Stable Army Marquis was a subordinate of his. As for Stable Army Marquis' strength, well, everyone agreed that he was indeed weaker compared to many of the ancient marquises.

Yet he was still around. They had nothing to say about that. What could they even say?

The sorrowful atmosphere faded slightly as Human Emperor teased, "Aren't you supposed to be happy that your subordinate is still around?"

"..."

Peace King looked awkward. Yes. But...that was truly a surprise. Stable Army was still around! What a lucky guy.

Radiant King laughed and said, "Brave Martial is still around as well. That's not a bad thing. Back then, she was only a titled general. She must have been quite lucky to survive this long."

As for Cloud Fire Marquis, his liege, King Yue, was dead. He was quite strong even back during the ancient past, so they weren't too surprised that he was still around.

"Sigh. Let's not speak of this anymore. A title has been stripped. So be it."

Human Emperor said nothing else. They didn't know what to feel after hearing Xing Yue's words.

Prior to their departure, Control King had been missing for quite a while. They had believed that even a betrayal was an affair between old comrades like them. Outsiders should not meddle in this affair.

But according to Xing Yue, this lineage had done countless evil and caused countless deaths. It wouldn't be appropriate for them to say more about this. Noticing that everyone had stopped lamenting about Control King, Xing Yue stopped talking as well.

How easy.

She only needed to use her brain to solve this issue. She had learned to first use her brain before acting. As for this so-called "use her brain", she simply understood it as picturing what Su Yu would do in the same situation.

If Su Yu were here, he would naturally try to ruin Control King's reputation through slander. However, Xing Yue was not as shameless. Thus, she only spoke the truth. But that was enough.

Someone sighed. "Even if Control King has betrayed us, this is supposed to be an internal affair between us. They shouldn't have acted against ordinary people, but those below have gone completely out of control to perform so many evil deeds. I suppose this isn't a bad thing."

"Yeah. Even if Control King is unhappy with Culture King, the ordinary people should not be implicated in this feud."

"They deserve death."

Some were furious, some were feeling helpless.

Human Emperor remained silent. He was merely curious. How did the tenth human lord gather such a large amount of fortune around him? How curious. Wasn't he supposed to be crippled?

Human Emperor looked at Xing Yue doubtfully and asked through voice transmission, "Is this tenth human lord the same person who had saved you?"

"Yes."

"Is he very strong?"

"No."

"Oh."

No.

Had he gathered such a strong fortune by only winning the heart of humanity? At that thought, Human Emperor asked, "Does he love the common people as his own children?"

Xing Yue thought about it. Was that the case? Not really.

But since her elder brother was asking, she said, "I guess so."

"Is he responsible toward humanity?"

"Yes."

Xing Yue nodded. Su Yu was incredibly kind toward his family and friends. He was also quite good toward his followers. Yeap. He was quite responsible.

"Has he...been to the Heavenly River Exit before?"

"I think so."

Xing Yue recalled hearing about that before.

"Did you give him Xing Yu's token before?"

"Yes."

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