Su Yu comprehending something beyond the inner hall.

He was overjoyed, exhilarated. So many benefits here. A pity he was sent out too soon. So be it. True, one shouldn’t bite off more than one can chew. He understood that concept. This session should end here. He wasn’t strong enough to receive more. He should return after growing stronger. Perhaps then he could gain more.

This place was similar to the Hundred Dao Pagoda. One needed the ability to reap the rewards it offered. He turned and left without hesitation. He was very satisfied with his gains.

He used the breathing technique with every movement, even when simply walking. The breathing technique constantly strengthened his body and increased his speed of source qi absorption.

His body had grown stronger than before. In his sea of willpower, all his characters sparkled, translucent. The vibrate character constantly sent shockwaves throughout his sea of willpower, strengthening his apertures and sea of willpower. With the advancement of the vibrate character, his Soul Expanding Hammer had grown stronger as well.

His willpower also showed signs of advancement, even harder to suppress this time. He had halted its advancement a few times before. But now, he was finding it difficult to suppress his advancement into the second stage.

What a bountiful harvest. There were also the three talismans, enabling him to leave the city whenever he wished. That was his greatest harvest here.

Su Yu wished to visit Tian He again, but Tian Men approached and showed him the way out.

While walking, Tian Men said, “The mayor is busy, so he won’t be seeing you. Try to leave the city as quickly as possible. Many experts are heading to the city. Some experts are probably already waiting outside the city gates.”

He said, “The city won’t remain sealed forever. When the Sunmoon death spirits depart, the gates will reopen.”

Su Yu asked, “How long will that take?”

“About three days.”

Understanding dawned on Su Yu. No wonder the talismans only lasted three days. The gates would reopen after that.

He pondered. After a while, he asked, “Commander Tian Men, are Sunmoon death spirits capable of killing those hiding inside the first ring buildings?”

“It depends on the cultivation level of the Sunmoon death spirits,” Tian Men explained. “I haven’t seen so many Sunmoon death spirits before. Each appearance is akin to a massive disaster. Those at the first three stages of the Sunmoon Realm can begin entering the buildings from the eighteenth to the twelfth rings. Those at the fourth to sixth stage can enter from the twelfth to the sixth rings. As for the innermost six rings, that will likely require high-stage Sunmoon death spirits.”

Su Yu nodded, “The three Sunmoon death spirits in the city are probably not high-stage Sunmoons.”

“Yes.”

Certainly. Many death spirits had been killed, but summoning high-stage Sunmoon death spirits wasn’t easy. Those were the truly disastrous ones. But they would likely only appear if the current Sunmoon death spirits in the city were killed.

Su Yu said, “Commander Tian Men, I’m curious about something. Where are these death spirits from? Under the city? I found no way to go underground in the city. Also, are the death spirits former residents who had died?”

After some thought, Tian Men replied, “I don’t know their exact origin. Regarding how death spirits come to be, let me put it this way: Only a small number are ancient death spirits. Those are likely former residents from ancient times. As for the weaker death spirits, they are probably former residents who died more recently.”

“Hmm?”

Tian Men sighed, “You can see this yourself. There are many living beings trying to become ancient city residents. These people will likely turn into death spirits upon death. That’s why there are so many weak death spirits around.”

“People like us won’t be exceptions. Becoming a resident allows us to stay here without worrying about death qi, but death qi will never cease to affect us. Slowly, it transforms us. And on the day we die, the transformation into a death spirit will be complete. Every ancient city resident disappears upon death. None of us will leave a corpse behind.”

He shook his head sadly. Some residents choose to detonate their bodies before dying or leave the city and die outside to avoid becoming death spirits.

Su Yu’s understanding of the city deepened. So that was how it was. The seemingly endless weak death spirits were actually former residents of the city. This city itself was essentially a massive death spirit factory. A large number of living beings choose to become residents for various reasons. And upon death, they all become death spirits.

Su Yu asked, “Is there a way to free a resident from an ancient city?”

Tian Men shook his head, “No. Slowly, your source qi will turn into death qi. When the conversion is complete, you will die. You can only slow the process, but not stop it completely. For example, you can consume certain treasures to slow the invasion of death qi and buy yourself more time.”

Su Yu asked, “Are there immortal residents here?”

Tian Men seemed to know what Su Yu was thinking. He smiled, “Are you wondering about the life force cultivation method of the immortals? True. That race can greatly impede the spread of death qi with their cultivation method and heavenly source qi. But you will never be able to remove the root of the matter. The conversion into a resident is irreversible.”

Death qi will never cease to appear in one’s body after becoming a resident.

With a thoughtful look, Su Yu asked, “Will new death qi stop appearing after a resident leaves the city?”

“Of course not,” Tian Men said, “How could it be so simple? A resident can leave, but they will eventually be forced to return. Otherwise, the speed of death qi erosion will increase, and death will come even faster.”

Su Yu sighed inwardly. He knew. This wasn’t an ancient city. More like an ancient coffin. A coffin to bury everyone in. No resident could escape death.

But Su Yu was also wondering about the reversal art. What would happen if residents used it? For example, Tian Men could use it when about to die and reverse the death qi in his body into source qi. Would that free him from the city?

Of course, Su Yu wouldn’t do that so easily. He wasn’t that kind of person either. Firstly, he wouldn’t be able to explain the origin of the art. Secondly, he wasn’t close to anyone here. Thirdly, it wouldn’t benefit him.

They continued chatting while walking. Su Yu said, “Commander Tian Men, are there any requirements for people acting as mayor or commanders here? And what benefits do you gain for taking those roles?”

What was the point of becoming a mayor or commander if there were no benefits?

Tian Men merely smiled, but he didn’t answer. Su Yu was surprised. Was that a secret? Fine.

Soon, they reached the main gate of the mayor’s residence. There, Tian Men said, “There are actually many benefits for us. We don’t need to fear the death spirits anymore. We can even control some of them. Furthermore…we might be able to maintain a small part of our consciousness after becoming a death spirit.”

Su Yu looked at Tian Men in shock.

Tian Men continued staring ahead. With a bleak tone, he said, “Commander or mayor, we are merely servants of the city. Perhaps the city has taken us in out of pity. Or perhaps this is merely a transaction. With our service, there is a slim chance of maintaining a little bit of our consciousness upon death.”

“How do you know that?”

Tian Men said, “I once met a death spirit who might be a friend who had entered the city with me long ago. When we met, that death spirit gave me a long stare. I also saw some familiar things on him, but when I tried approaching him, he left. The look in his eyes was different from other death spirits.”

Su Yu was reminded of the Sunmoon death spirits he saw. He added, “Yeah, I feel like Sunmoon death spirits might have some intelligence in them. Was your friend a Sunmoon?”

“No. He was only a Mountainsea,” Tian Men said. “It isn’t surprising for Sunmoon death spirits to have a tiny bit of intelligence. Perhaps the stronger one was, the more memories they would preserve after death. I’m not sure about that. Maybe I can tell you in the future when we meet again after I’m dead.”

“…”

Su Yu was left speechless. What a noble offer. Reversing source acupoints… According to his golden book, death spirits could be considered a race as well. But since they were former living beings, was that really the case? Then again, that had nothing to do with him for now.

After thinking for a bit, Su Yu said, “At the moment, many people are trapped in the inner ring buildings. The death qi in these buildings is incredibly thick, and the gates will only open in three days. Are these people as good as dead?”

“You never know,” Tian Men said, “The experts and geniuses of various races have their own trump cards. They will have their own ways to deal with the death qi without becoming residents. And even becoming a resident isn’t out of the question for them, since that’s still better than death.”

Su Yu nodded. The gates would remain shut for at least three more days.

But he was still quite worried about one thing. “Will the Invincibles be able to break through the city gates by force?”

“Force?” Tian Men said with a profound tone, “It’s not like no Invincibles have died in ancient cities before.”

They were free to try if they wanted.

Understanding dawned on Su Yu. So with the city gates shut, even Invincibles wouldn’t be able to enter. Very good. Three days. Fine. He had three days to deal with the people he needed to deal with. Of course, he also had the urge to test one of the talismans. It would be unfortunate if they didn’t work during a critical moment.

But he needed to waste at least two of the talismans to leave and return if he wanted to test them. Thus, he was hesitating. Perhaps he could take this chance to scout the area around the city as well. There was no harm in making more preparations.

If it didn’t work, it might get himself killed for assuming he was still free to leave anytime when the Sunmoons started entering the city after the gates reopened.

“Is this the reason I was given three talismans by that inner hall? The first two have always been meant to be tested. Perhaps the mysterious expert behind the hall also suspected that these talismans were well past their expiration dates.”

Why would he be given three talismans otherwise? It wasn’t like the little furball needed one as well. The little furball could exist as one of his characters. Nobody would consider a character an independent being.

Once again, Su Yu was reminded of how unique the little furball was. Perhaps this was a race transformed from some ancient characters. Of course, that was only a random thought that not even Su Yu himself took seriously.

Just like that, Su Yu reached a conclusion on the reason for the three talismans. What a thoughtful inner hall. Everything had been done for his benefit. The inner hall must be worried that the talismans might fail as well. With three talismans, he could test them to ensure they would work.

***

A short while later, Su Yu stepped out of the mayor’s residence.

The surroundings were still empty. There weren’t many death spirits around, as it was the mayor’s residence.

After scanning the empty streets, he loudly called out, “Everyone, come out! Let me witness your strength. Dao Cheng, where are you?”

He was incomparably arrogant. There was a reason for this. Su Yu wanted to see if this could lure some fools out while the Sunmoon death spirits were still in the city. With the ability to transform into a death spirit and leave with the talismans, Su Yu was finally confident of his safety within the city.

And as long as he could get these people out of their buildings, he would have many methods to deal with them.

Alas, no reply came.

Su Yu didn’t mind. He wasn’t surprised. After checking his surroundings, he turned into a gust of wind and vanished. It was time to find a new hiding spot.

He had to throw off any individuals observing him before transforming into a death spirit again. Then, he could kill even more death spirits. He aimed to fill the entire city with death spirits and death qi.

The increased density of death qi might force some people to start converting into residents. That would allow him to collect their bloodstained talismans and get them all killed without much effort.

If possible, he also wanted to kill more Mountainsea death spirits and spawn more Sunmoon death spirits. That way, the city might remain sealed for even longer. He wanted to trap these people to death. He held no mercy toward these people.

Most of the people who had remained in the city for so long were those harboring unkind intentions toward him. The truly cowardly or uninterested would have fled before the gates were shut.

***

After wandering for a while, Su Yu found a suitable building and entered. Inside, he dragged the little furball out again. The little furball sulked on the ground. He had to cover for Yummy again. More importantly, they didn’t have any index copy this time, so he couldn’t even chat with anyone anymore. This was going to be so boring.

“Yummy, take me with you. Nobody knows we’re here…”

The little furball didn’t want to stay alone. It would be too boring.

After thinking about it, Su Yu nodded, “True. With you around, I can pinch you to death at any time and use that as a super trump card.”

Yes. The little furball could be useful that way. At this point, the little furball was already immune to his threats. He only cared about food.

“Yummy, when are we robbing the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion? They definitely have a lot of yummy characters.”

“There is no rush.”

Su Yu answered as if it were a perfectly normal question. Who were they going to rob if not that money-grubbing organization? More importantly, he had to snatch the main Heavenly Hunt Index from them.

With his aura under their records, it would be extremely difficult for him to assume a new identity. He had to eliminate his aura from their records if he wanted to do so again.

His disguise as Cui Lang had been rendered completely useless since he would still have his own aura. The Heavenly Hunt Index was definitely something beyond a heaven weapon. After all, it could recognize his aura wherever he went.

Thus, he was left with two options if he wanted to keep hiding his identity.

Firstly, he could get his hands on the Heavenly Hunt Index. Secondly, he could alter the very essence of his aura. But that was something that remained even after he transformed into a death spirit. Not even death spirits could recognize the essence of his aura, but the Heavenly Hunt Index somehow could.

It felt impossible to travel the Allheaven Battlefield as someone else. Thus, it was only a matter of time before Su Yu started dealing with the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion. He couldn’t afford to have himself constantly exposed to the Heavenly Hunt Pavilion. He did not want his rank to change each time he killed someone.

Of course, there was also a third alternative. He could climb to the very top of the Heaven Index. At that point, his rank would remain the same no matter how many people he killed. With that, the public wouldn’t be able to infer his actions through his rank.

But for now, that would only remain a dream. It was too difficult.

***

After a short rest in the building, Su Yu transformed into a death spirit and vanished. He did not leave the little furball behind. It would be quite troublesome if he had to flee the city at a moment’s notice yet still worry about picking up the little furball.

There were still some death spirits in the city, but their number had dropped significantly. Once again, Su Yu started killing these death spirits. But this time, he was much more cautious than before. After all, there were three Sunmoon death spirits in the city. And they were not completely brainless. A Sunmoon death spirit did appear after he made his first kill, but thankfully, the death spirit did not suspect him and continued roaming around aimlessly.

Two death spirits would appear for every death spirit killed. As time passed, the city was once again filled with death spirits. And the density of death qi inside the city started growing again.