Chapter 2389: Entering The Heaven Gate (3)

"So be it." Human Emperor said, "A trade...such a trade will be carried out through the River of Time. Someone cultivating the Human Gate will be the best middleman to help make this transaction happen. But someone like that can't be found easily.

"They will probably move through the Earth Gate as well. Fine, I'll keep an eye. If I manage to get these stones, great. If not, send me some chaos origin."

"Yes. This subordinate will do his best."

"Go, then. But stay cautious. I won't summon you for no good reason."

"Understood."

And then, the other person vanished.

Human Emperor sank into thought. To the side, Heavenbridge Marquis was in deep thought as well. Who was the other person? Slowly, his expression changed. He might...know who that was.

He couldn't resist looking at Human Emperor with an odd gaze. Good heavens. This was an old scoundrel indeed.

Human Emperor met his gaze and smiled, "Yes?"

The smile caused Heavenbridge to shiver. He hurriedly said, "Nothing. Do you have any other tasks for me, Your Majesty?"

"Yes." Human Emperor said, "Cultivate hard. Don't spend all your time thinking about useless things. You have a decent foundation. You deserve to be a marquis. By the way, don't be too lazy. You're the child of the three gates. Spend some time looking for any Human Gate, Earth Gate, and Heaven Gate cultivators in the Myriad Realm. Stop wasting your time lazing around."

"..."

Heavenbridge said carefully, "I'm...not the child of the three gates."

Human Emperor had a deep smile as he said, "Are you sure? Try saying that to yourself. You can also be considered a child of mine as well...no, scratch that. I can't be bothered to get myself a son.

"Back then, Wen Number Two extracted the power from my gate, his own gate, and Radiant King's gate. He also extracted some power from the Earth Gate and killed the second Giant King for his Human Gate. Only then did he manage to gather the power of all three gates and give birth to you."

"..."

Heavenbridge's expression changed.

Human Emperor continued nonchalantly, "Back then, we told you to watch the entrance. We gave you the mission to gather the identities of all the gate cultivators. That has always been your real job, but you have been wasting your time thinking all those nonsensical thoughts. Do you really think you're born of nature?"

Heavenbridge Marquis argued, "But I remember coming into existence in the River of Time..."

"Yes." Human Emperor said, "Wen Number Two tossed you to the river so the river could nurture you. Heavenbridge, this is your name. But this isn't your name because he wants you to open the Heaven Connecting Acupoint. No. You were given this name because we hoped that you could bridge us to the three gates.

"At the time, we were planning an attack against the three gates. But your growth was too slow. You needed to devour the power of the gates to grow. That wasn't something we could provide, so Wen Number Two gave up on the plan."

Heavenbridge Marquis said, "But..."

"No buts." Human Emperor said, "We couldn't be bothered to mention this before. A man-made gate sounds far less impressive than one born from nature itself.

"However, I have noticed that you're starting to see the three gates as members of the same race as you. I have to warn you that the moment the three gates recover, they will probably try to eat you up. Don't really view yourself as one of them."

Heavenbridge Marquis said gloomily, "Your Majesty, you mean that...I'm man-made?"

"Of course." Human Emperor chuckled, "But you're not alone. Do you really think the three gates aren't man-made? The makers are different, but all of you are essentially man-made.

"Stop lazing around, and don't bother wasting your time cultivating. Your true opportunity will arrive when the three gates open.

"As the three gates recover, power will leak out of them. That will be the perfect opportunity for you to grow. Perhaps you can even reach a terrifying level at one go. At that time, you'll be a true fourth gate alongside the three. But prior to that, you have to think of a way to grow stronger. Strong enough to pull someone out."

Who?

Heavenbridge stared at Human Emperor, but Human Emperor couldn't be bothered to answer. Su Yu. Who else could it be? Was he supposed to really wait for Su Yu to conquer a forbidden zone before leaving? That was too unrealistic. Thus, he had to make use of Heavenbridge.

He added, "When you're free, spend some time near Martial Emperor. His Heaven Gate is a total waste on him. Speaking of, we placed you near Martial Emperor for so many years. Did you not absorb the power of his Heaven Gate over the years?"

Heavenbridge's jaw dropped. After a long while, he said, "No, I didn't. Was I supposed to do that?"

"..."

Human Emperor blinked. "Yes. Why not?"

"..."

Heavenbridge said sullenly, "I thought that I wasn't allowed, so I ignored the gate power nearby."

"..."

What an honest guy!

Human Emperor sighed, "No, you are definitely not an honest guy. Did you not absorb the power secretly?"

Heavenbridge said, "I was too scared of being locked down by Culture King."

"..."

Human Emperor was left completely speechless. After a while, he said, "It doesn't matter anymore. Think of a way to build a passage through the Heaven Gate. That's all. Stop spending all your time acting like you're part of a mysterious gate race. The three gates never viewed you as one of them."

"I understand."

Heavenbridge Marquis was saddened by this revelation. Was he not born of nature? Was he really built by Culture King? How sad.

He couldn't resist asking, "So...can I be considered a child of Your Majesty and Culture King?"

"..."

Human Emperor did not feel like answering. He vanished with a flicker, leaving his final message behind: "You're not allowed to tell anyone about my connection with someone inside. I'll hold you accountable if this leaks."

"Yes!"

Heavenbridge answered gloomily. When he looked at the Earth Gate again, he started grumbling to himself. So they were not part of the same race, after all.

***

That day, Human Emperor made some arrangements and prepared for the recovery of his strength. He would not wait around for Su Yu to grow strong and save the day. He himself would be the strongest trump card.

With Su Yu entering the Heaven Gate, he had to clean up the mess as well. Heavenly Dome Mountain master would be a good source of information. Human Emperor intended to learn more from Heavenly Dome Mountain master, including Su Yu's latest status. He could even think of a way to get Su Yu back through Heavenly Dome Mountain master.

Why? Why were all of them so worrisome? What had Wen Number Two been doing all these years? It didn't seem like he had made much progress even when the three gates were about to open soon. Back then, Human Emperor was confident enough to challenge all three gates alone. Unfortunately, fate had something different in store for him.

At this point, Human Emperor was no longer harboring any thoughts of cooperating with the myriad races to handle the three gates. They were too stupid to work with.

***

At the same time.

Amid the boundless void.

A figure flickered into appearance.

Behind that person, a gate projection shimmered before vanishing again.

Su Yu had entered. He had entered with his main body. His white robes faded away. His scholarly aura vanished. His entire presence turned coarse and cold. His nose grew slightly longer. The moment he entered, he noticed how conspicuous the aura of the Myriad Realms was in here. It was as conspicuous as living beings inside the Death Realm.

But soon, Su Yu dispersed all his strength, leaving only the powers of death, yin, and nether inside him. That made him a lot more compatible with this place.

"If one views life and death as the opposite of two poles, the worlds inside and outside the gate can be viewed as yin and yang."

Su Yu could feel the truth of that very strongly. He took a map out and looked at it. Where should he go first? Eternal Life Mountain? No, that was too dangerous for the current him. He was more interested in the Death Hell.

That was Master of Death's territory. Master of Death was quite a terrifying person. Even without the support of his world, he still had the strength of a supreme being. It was likely that he would be far stronger than all these forbidden zone masters after returning to the Myriad Realms.

"Master of Death has a group of cultivators cultivating the daos of death, nether, departed, and yin, creating a paradise of death inside the gate..."

That was the information Su Yu had. Master of Death was clearly quite ambitious. He was someone who had deliberately entered the gate.

The existence of the Death Realm made it clear that he also intended to return one day. The moment he reunited his cultivation here with the Death Realm, he would instantly shoot up in strength.

Su Yu rubbed his chin. Should he go there? He was worried that Master of Death would sense the similar aura on him. After all, he had clashed against Master of Death's projection before. Things would get very troublesome if he was noticed by Master of Death.

"But...isn't this exciting?"

Su Yu laughed.

He was too interested in Master of Death. In his mind, Master of Time was number one while Master of Death was number two. Even now, he still believed that Master of Death was stronger than Human Emperor and Culture King.

One ought to know that he was able to stand tall among these forbidden zone masters even without the support of his world.

Su Yu greatly suspected that Master of Death had created another world in here. This was similar to Su Yu's plan. In fact, he only started thinking of creating another world in here after learning about the existence of the Death Hell.

He inhaled deeply. Master of Death's territory had remained at the same place for many years. It was located near the Eternal Life Mountain. Thus, that wouldn't be a bad choice for a first destination.

Master of Death was incomparably domineering and arrogant. That was a good thing, as someone like that wouldn't fear any outsiders. He was willing to accept anyone cultivating a compatible dao.

Su Yu could guess Master of Death's real thoughts. When the gate opened, Master of Death could take all his subordinates here and fuse with the Death Realm. This was quite an attractive plan.

"Here I come, everyone."

Su Yu grinned as he looked around while checking the map. The Death Hell had the same location on all the maps. As long as he could find a corresponding landmark, he would be able to find the Death Hell quickly.

"Master of Death, I'm here to see you!"

***

At the same time, within the Death Hell.

The eyes of a black-robed cultivator snapped open. His face turned cold. What were Culture King and the others thinking? Were they trying to test his patience?

He could feel someone scheming against him.

"Hmph!"

A cold snort spread everywhere.