Chapter 2311: Choice (3)

Everyone started guessing.

Someone else asked, "Is Human Emperor really heavily injured? Where's his main body? His main body has been missing for so many years."

"It's hard to know. This might be a trick to lure us over. Human Emperor has always been crafty. We still don't know what happened in the Myriad Realms, but I can feel that we're near. Human Emperor might be trying to weaken us as much as possible before we're back."

Numerous opinions were voiced, but they weren't able to make the decision to attack. There were many powerhouses here, but there were also many different races here. That was why it was so hard for them to reach a unanimous decision.

In the end, they all decided to stay on the defensive and not grant the humans any chance to make a move against them.

***

At the same time.

Upper Realm.

Human Mountain.

As usual, the mountain stood alone in the Upper Realm.

Suddenly, it shook slightly. Instantly, Great Zhou King appeared above the mountain. Noticing the movement, his expression changed.

Why?

Did something happen? This...felt like a call from Human Emperor himself. The Human Mountain would not move easily. The moment it moved, it signified that Human Emperor was calling. Great Zhou King knew that Human Emperor had yet to recover from his injuries. Was this...a risky gamble?

Great Zhou King's face was aghast. At this time, Su Yu had probably just arrived, right? And Human Emperor had decided to take a risky gamble right after that?

Great Zhou King's expression changed repeatedly. This was definitely not a good thing for them. Both Su Yu and Human Emperor should be aware of how risky this was. Anything going wrong would be disastrous for humanity.

And yet, the Human Mountain was indeed shaking. It felt as though the mountain was trying to enter the River of Time.

"Is it returning?"

Great Zhou King muttered to himself. Clearly, human Emperor was calling his physical body back to reunite with his spirit.

However, his body had failed to recover even after so many years of recuperation. His sea of willpower had also suffered serious injuries. A reunification in such a condition would be too dangerous.

Great Zhou King hesitated. Should he go as well? Suddenly, a rift opened in the sky. The Human Mountain started trembling violently. It was leaving.

Great Zhou King sank into intense hesitation. He should be escorting the Human Mountain over personally. But before Su Yu's departure, he had been assigned to watch over the Myriad Realms.

With the Human Mountain shaking, the River of Time started shaking as well. Far away, even the Hell Gate was shaking slightly. This...was the shaking of the river affecting the Hell Gate as well? He could leave, but what if some powerhouses emerged from the Hell Gate right after?

Further away, Lan Tian appeared. He said nothing. He did not approach Great Zhou King. He merely watched in silence. He had a small understanding of the Human Mountain as well.

Su Yu had talked to him about it before leaving. Would Great Zhou King...leave? Lan Tian did not know. He did not want to know.

He only knew that the moment Great Zhou King opted to leave, it would be considered a violation of Su Yu's direct military command. Su Yu wouldn't kill him out of respect for Human Emperor, but from then on, Great Zhou King would be forever cut off from Su Yu's camp.

After all, he was the one Su Yu had entrusted to watch over the Myriad Realms, not Lan Tian. Great Zhou King was the current strongest guardian of the Myriad Realms.

Meanwhile, Great Zhou King was still struggling to make a choice. Something major had clearly happened in the front lines. Human Emperor was summoning his physical body back. Yes. His physical body. All along, Human Emperor's physical body was stored inside the Human Mountain.

Back then, his physical body had drifted along the river to return to the Myriad Realms after suffering heavy injuries. Great Zhou King was the one who had fished the body out of the river before hiding it inside the Human Mountain. All these years, he had been waiting for the body to finish its recovery.

But even now, the recovery was not finished. Human Emperor was too strong. Even the entirety of the physical body dao might not be enough to power his restoration. And now, Human Emperor was calling his body back. As the secret guard of Human Emperor, should Great Zhou King escort the body upstream?

His inner struggle continued. To make things worse, the Hell Gate was reacting to this. Would it really open right after his departure?

Lan Tian and the tea plant were still in the Myriad Realms. Empyrean Cloud was probably near advancement. Thus, they could handle a single Master of Law from behind the gate. But that was all. They couldn't handle more than that.

Would things really be so unlucky for them? He sank into thought. He was worried that something would happen to Human Emperor's body on its way upstream. At present, the body was without its consciousness. It would be completely helpless on its way upstream.

Great Zhou King did not have the time to further contemplate this matter. The Human Mountain was starting to float up.

And finally, Great Zhou King sighed and bowed at the mountain, "I wish you a safe journey, Your Majesty. This old servant is still needed in the Myriad Realms. I need to watch over the Myriad Realms and guard against the Hell Gate. I am...no longer capable of staying by your side."

He sounded bitter. Was this another form of test from Su Yu? He was in a dilemma. Human Emperor's body was at risk. But the Myriad Realms were also at risk. This was such a hard choice.

Next, the Human Mountain cracked open. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Next, a golden and dazzling body emerged.

With a flicker, it appeared before Great Zhou King. With another sigh, Great Zhou King stepped forth and overlapped with the body. Instantly, the aura of the body surged. Above, the powers of seven daos manifested.

At the same time, the powers Great Zhou King's two daos manifested as well.

Nine daos.

And next, the power of another dao manifested.

The overlap of the two resulted in an instant growth, manifesting another dao in the blink of an eye.

Ten daos.

Once again, Great Zhou King sighed. Yet he had changed completely from before. Young, refined, and gentle, with a muscular body and a powerful aura rippling out of him.

With a bitter smile, Great Zhou King reached out and formed a seal around the mountain with the powers of his many daos. Then, he delivered the mountain into the river and bowed, "Your Majesty...may you return victorious."

And then, the Human Mountain followed a unique power as it started moving upstream. Great Zhou King watched in silence. He felt an intense sense of emptiness. Did he...make the right choice?

Was His Majesty aware that after serving His Majesty for so long, Great Zhou King himself had been influenced by the dao of responsibility. He couldn't ignore the survival and continuation of humanity anymore. Thus, he was the Torchbearer.

He had to ensure the continuation of human civilization. Therefore, he couldn't escort His Majesty's body back.

Far away, Lan Tian grinned before vanishing with a flicker. All of a sudden, the Hell Gate started trembling violently. It was as though something had loosened with the Human Mountain gone.

The silhouettes of some beasts appeared behind the gate, followed by some humanoid silhouettes. Those were probably the powerhouses from Control King's lineage. Noticing that, Great Zhou King frowned. So they could really leave in advance. Fortunately, he had remained. Otherwise, the result would be disastrous.

With a flicker, he appeared before the Hell Gate. Instead of attacking, he released his aura and roared, "Audacious! Return!"

He was naturally uninterested in fishing these people. Without Su Yu around, a battle was too risky. The figures behind the gate shook slightly.

Powerhouse.

A super powerhouse!

What a surprise that super powerhouses still existed within the Myriad Realms. Evidently, some of the information they had gathered was inaccurate. A sneer rang out from behind the gate, "Looks like that Su Yu guy...didn't choose to go upstream?"

Clearly, those inside had learned of the situation outside. According to what they learned, Su Yu was supposed to go upstream. But that was wrong. There was at least one super powerhouse watching over the gate. This was only a test, and the result was unfavorable for them.

A cold voice rang out, "Withdraw."

Then, the various silhouettes vanished. Outside, Great Zhou King's face was aghast. Heavenbridge's seal was too weak. With the gate so near its natural opening, some could force their way out even without anyone helping them outside.

With this, there was no way Great Zhou King could leave anymore. He sighed as he gazed into the distance. Far on the horizon, Su Yu's world could be seen. The power from within the world was slowly moving deep inside the River of Time.

It was very likely that a major battle was about to unfold there. Human Emperor's body wouldn't have left otherwise, and Su Yu wouldn't have been in such a rush to start pulling from his world.

Great Zhou King smiled bitterly. A madman indeed. How long had it even been since Su Yu left? It was likely that he had just reached the front lines. But why did Human Emperor join him in this madness? Could they really handle the myriad races right now?

"Sigh."

A helpless sigh rang out.

Staring at Su Yu's world, Great Zhou King sank into thought. Should he fuse the remaining eight of his daos with Su Yu's world as well? That would definitely give Su Yu a boost in strength. But from then on, a Tenth Dao powerhouse like him would fully fall under Su Yu's control.

Great Zhou King started hesitating. With the power of ten daos, he was even stronger than Martial Emperor. And that wasn't his limit. He was near mastering some other daos as well. He had cultivated too many daos over the years.

Silence, space, calm, seal, patient, endure, pierce...

He was stuck in some of the daos, but some could be mastered since the original masters had died. Great Zhou King continued hesitating. He might be able to take another step forward soon.

Even the Sixteenth Dao was within reach. He was six daos away from becoming a true tier-one, joining the highest echelon of cultivators in the Myriad Realms.

He shut his eyes.

In life, each major choice would take someone down an entirely different path. Such a choice did not come easy to even someone like Great Zhou King.