Published at 22nd of August 2026 6:42 am

Chapter 2219: Single Combat (2)

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Tiangu was stunned. Before he could say anything, Sacred Marquis frowned and said, "You're using us as whetstone to temper your people."

Understanding dawned on them.

Too arrogant!

The humans were planning to use them as a whetstone.

The so-called single combat was merely a ploy to use them to temper Su Yu's people. These people had grown too quickly, so they lacked tempering as Daofuses and Venerables. Single combat with the myriad races would provide them with such tempering.

These were their irreconcilable enemies. An opportunity to fight such opponents, who were similar in strength, was too rare. They did not need to worry about accidentally killing a sparring partner. They only needed to fight with all their strength.

Many of the Daofuses and Venerables on the myriad races' side were veteran combatants. As for those on Su Yu's side, most of them were newly advanced powerhouses.

Great Zhou King's cold voice rang out again, "Accept and live. Refuse and suffer extermination. If your side is strong enough, you can have one combatant fight for three whole days. We won't launch the final attack in the coming three months. This is your chance. Otherwise, you will face the final battle today."

Among the myriad races, some were indignant, and some were sullen.

Someone gnashed his teeth and said, "Accept their challenge! But promise that nobody can interfere during these battles!"

Were they supposed to be scared of single combat? It was clear that Tiangu and a few others did not want a war. In that case, would dragging things out for three months change anything?

Would a new opportunity appear with time?

***

"Drinking poison to quench thirst."

That was Tiangu's conclusion. He looked at Consort Emeritus helplessly and said, "Su Yu needs this. We have the best sparring partners he can ask for his people. Buying more time might not benefit us, but refusing might trigger the final battle right away."

What choice would they make? Should they try to buy more time? The myriad races were perfect for the tempering these humans needed. These battles would provide the humans with a chance to fight to the death without worrying about interferences.

Consort Emeritus and the others sank into silence. Should they buy more time? Or should they sally out and fight a decisive battle with the humans?

After a long while, Consort Emeritus sighed and said, "Accept the proposal. Things might change further in the span of three months. Yu Qing and Hundred Battle won't stay idle. There might be hope."

Or perhaps the hope would turn into despair. For now, they could only accept their fate as the whetstone of humanity. As for the fate of the combatants, it would be up to the heavens.

Tiangu nodded with flickering eyes. Finally, he looked up again and said, "Single combat. I'm afraid your tender combatants will die before they even know what's happening. Great Zhou King, we can agree to single combat. We can accept any result from a fair battle. But humanity is treacherous. I'm worried that you humans will shamelessly interfere during a critical moment. Su Yu does not like losing people. We all know that. Su Yu might end up doing something shameless and go back on his word after losing a general or two."

Great Zhou King laughed and said, "Don't worry. Participation will be voluntary. In such a situation, we won't interfere."

He looked back at the humans behind him and said, "Many of us have instantly grown into Daofuses from Eternals. His Majesty has been fighting at the frontline all along. We have been enjoying life behind the frontline. A powerhouse can never be born from avoiding battle."

At that final remark, numerous gazes landed on Great Zhou King. He laughed and said, "Why are you looking at me like that? I havebeen active in the Myriad Realms since the early ancient past. Many advanced into Masters of Laws, but I was stuck as a Daofuse.

"Such is life for those who are too cowardly to fight. You can only watch as your companions die in battle one after another. You can only sit behind the frontline and watch helplessly. I was a failure of a person. I only hope that I won't be a failure anymore. I hope that none of you will be a failure."

He looked around, meeting the gazes of Great Qin King, Great Xia King, and Xia Longwu. "We are no cowards. We used to wage war across the Myriad Realms. But after His Majesty pacified the Myriad Realms, what have we been doing? How many battles have we participated in after becoming Daofuses?

"In the few battles we participated in, all we did was self-detonate. We relied completely on His Majesty's plan. We relied on his ability to regrow our bodies and preserve our seas of willpower. How much of our combat sense remains?

"His Majesty said that Hundred Battle King's people has been crippled by peace. The same can be said for the myriad races. Even so, they have rich combat experience over the countless years they have lived. Are we going to become cripples like them? Are we to become clowns like them?"

Great Zhou King's voice turned cold, "Today, our blood enemies are before us. His Majesty intends to have each fight end before someone dies. Absolute nonsense!"

Everyone's heart thumped.

Was Great Zhou King...berating Su Yu?

Great Zhou King roared, "His Majesty is too kind! He doesn't want anyone to die! I am here to tell everyone that a war without death is no war! A true powerhouse can only grow amid slaughter! His Majesty wants everyone to take this chance to gain more experience. Absolute nonsense!

"Get used to fighting thinking you won't die and death is certain when you finally meet a powerful enemy. Only the courage to advance relentlessly can ensure your survival and breakthrough.

"I am the perfect example of a failure. Stable Army is. Cloud Fire is. All the surviving ancient powerhouses are failures. I hope that this epoch will stop producing such failures. I hope that everyone can turn into His Majesty as well. I don't want to see everyone hiding behind the frontline and enjoying the peace while the sovereign fights.

"We dared to fight back then. Why should we be fearful of fighting now? We dared to fight at our lowest. We will naturally dare to fight now! You are all still young. To overtake old farts like us, to defeat old farts like us, seek life amid death. That is your sole path forward."

He looked at the youngsters. Yes. Even Great Qin King and the others could be considered youngsters. "Don't let yourself be influenced by the choice of old failures like us. We only have our strength because of our sheer age. But you don't have the time to slowly accumulate strength like us."

Great Qin King solemnly said, "We are naturally not scared of fighting. This will be single combat to the death. No help will be forthcoming. Is that so?"

"Yes." Great Zhou King declared, "Fight to the death. No help forthcoming. His Majesty does not want to lose anyone. But I disagree with this sentiment. I believe I am not alone in this.

"If we don't catch up to His Majesty right now, are we supposed to wait until the various Masters of Laws are back before doing so? How laughable. At that point, we will be so far behind that we are completely useless."

"But..." Great Qin King frowned, "HIs Majesty has given his orders..."

"He can cut me down for going against his orders." Great Zhou King said coldly, "A general always has the flexibility to readjust when out in the battlefield. This has been the case throughout the eras. Since His Majesty is absent and I'm the chief commander, I have the authority to readjust the orders.

"My word stands so long as I'm still the chief commander. Great Qin King, as the former chief commander of this epoch, you should understand that opportunities are fleeting on the battlefield. Soldiers should only worry about carrying out their orders faithfully. When His Majesty investigates, only the chief commander will shoulder the responsibility of going against his orders. The rest of you won't be implicated."

After a long silence, Great Qin King said, "In that case, we will follow your orders."

Great Zhou King turned to face Tiangu again. "Single combat. No interference is allowed. The losing combatant is allowed to flee and end the battle."

In short, nobody would be forced to fight to the death. Then again, there also wasn't any guarantee that one would be able to escape successfully. The look in Tiangu's eyes changed. Su Yu never liked losing his people. But those under him might not share his sentiment.

But at this point, it was likely that he would not interfere even after learning about what was happening here. In other words, this was really happening.

Tiangu inhaled deeply and said, "So be it. Since your freshly advanced Daofuses have nothing to fear, what is there for us to fear? Warriors, heed my order! Participate in single combat. Kill your opponents. For every human Daofuse you kill, you will receive a suitable fake dao as reward.

"For every human heavenly king you kill, you will be rewarded with the dao comprehension of Venerables. You will be granted an exploration of the dao with the Venerables and even the Consort Emeritus herself. The dao will be opened wide for you."

The various powerhouses were alarmed to hear that. A sharing of the daos of the Venerables and a Master of Law? Was he...speaking the truth? Tiangu did not bother to offer any rewards to the Venerables. The Venerables did not need further motivation to kill their enemies here.

As the leaders of their respective races, the Venerables were the only ones not allowed to shrink from combat.

With the rewards offered by Tiangu, morale improved significantly.

Next, someone flew out of the human army. With a giant staff in hand, Heavendoom roared, "Heavendoom of Emperor Yu's Court, tier-two Daofuse, here to face a tier-two Daofuse or a heavenly king."

How arrogant.

The myriad races grew solemn.

That was true arrogance.

Su Yu's personal classification of the various cultivation levels had spread among the other factions, so the myriad races understood what Heavendoom meant. He was actually demanding to face a heavenly king as a tier-two Daofuse.

Great Zhou King hesitated, but he ultimately didn't stop Heavendoom. Heavendoom had always been warlike, and he was the first to step forth from the army. As of late, he had garnered the reputation of someone who had never won a fight. Thus, he had been itching for a proper fight as of late.

Tiangu sank into silence. Heavendoom wasn't an easy opponent. He was very good at combat. Just as Tiangu was about to offer himself, Immortal Battle Marquis spoke, "I'll go. I can feel it. He's using my weapon. Since he wishes to fight a heavenly king, I shall fulfill his wish. I'll kill him and reclaim my weapon. Let us see if the humans will really keep to their word this time. If not...Your Majesty, let's throw caution to the wind."

He decided to be the one to test the humans. He would kill Heavendoom and test humanity's reaction. After all, Heavendoom himself had asked for such a matchup. If humanity were to interfere, the so-called single combat would be reduced to a joke. In that case, they could only throw caution to the wind and fight to the very end.

After a short pause, Tiangu nodded.

Immortal Battle Marquis flew out and roared coldly, "Immortal Battle of the immortal race. Heavendoom, a mere egotistical junior."

"Junior?" Heavendoom growled like a mad beast and said, "Immortal Battle, what have you achieved beside reaching the Daofuse Realm before me. If I hadn't spent a hundred thousand years guarding the death tunnel, I would have surpassed you long ago. Today, I will kill you and prove my worth to the Myriad Realms!"

Boom!

The sky shattered as a gigantic staff descended.

The battle erupted instantly.

Immortal Battle Marquis was still fighting with a staff. His previous weapon had been snatched by Su Yu, but he had forged himself a new weapon. Both staff-wielders started facing each other in the sky.

For the most part, staff-wielders enjoyed close-range battles.

In the blink of an eye, blood was spilled.

With a roar, Heavendoom transformed into a titanic ape. A ferocious aura rippled out as he continued slamming his staff down on Immortal Battle. The immortal faced his relentless strikes with the same intensity. Rumbles rang out repeatedly as the two clashed again and again.

As the two staves clashed, the skin between Heavendoom's fingers tore. But he roared and continued attacking, swinging his staff countless times in the blink of an eye. The sky itself changed colors from the intensity of the battle. Immortal Battle, with his higher cultivation level, faced Heavendoom unyieldingly.

Boom!

With yet another clash, a massive shockwave spread through Heavendoom's arm. He still kept his grip on his staff, but all the flesh on his arm was blasted away, leaving only his bones behind. Heavendoom activated his breathing method and instantly regenerated his flesh with a slight shake. He swung his staff again, tearing the skin between Immortal Battle's fingers through the next clash.

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