The Earth Cave,
King Gan, King Xun, King Gen, and King Ming were somewhat worried, yet also somewhat relieved.
The conflict and hatred between the Human Emperor and humanity had become irreconcilable!
A battle between them was inevitable!
That meant that even if the Human Emperor transcended the Three Realms, he wouldn't give up helping them capture and kill the Future Human King.
In the Origin Source,
The Human Emperor looked at the Sky Screen exposing him and sneered silently.
He had schemed against humanity, so he wasn't afraid of them finding out.
Besides, many of his schemes had already become obsolete when the Sky Screen appeared.
Now that the Heavenly Emperor was dead, God Emperor, Eastern Emperor, Heaven Fighting Emperor, Earth Emperor, and Spirit Emperor had all transcended, while Northern Emperor had fallen!
He was the only Emperor the Seed could rely on!
"Heavenly Emperor... The Heavenly Emperor is dead. I'll become the next Heavenly Emperor!"
Burning ambition flickered in the Human Emperor's eyes.
The Seed wanted to destroy martial arts and wipe out the powerful figures of the Three Realms who had turned against it. It would inevitably have to rely on him, an Emperor of the Seed's guardian clan.
If so, perhaps he could receive the Seed's full support, just as the Heavenly Emperor had!
Infinite resurrections, with combat strength exceeding two hundred million!
The Human Emperor knew that even if he transcended the Three Realms now, he still wouldn't be as strong as the Earth Emperor, let alone God Emperor and the others.
He didn't dare leave the Three Realms and flee into Chaos.
But if he stayed in the Three Realms, there were too many people who could kill him!
Even the remnant soul projection of the War Heavenly Emperor might have the power to kill him!
In that case, it was better not to transcend.
If he didn't transcend, he could be the Seed's "dog," using its power to grow stronger—unimaginably strong.
The Future Human King was the perfect pretext!
The Sky Screen had already exposed the Future Human King: in the future, he and Grey Cat would devour the Seed.
The Seed would also fear being devoured.
To eliminate the Future Human King, the Seed could only rely on him.
The Human Emperor sneered, but he wouldn't let the Future Human King die easily.
He would let the Future Human King grow, making the powerful figures of the Three Realms—and the Seed—feel just how dangerous he could become!
Only then could he gain the greatest benefit!
The Human Emperor looked at the Sky Screen, his gaze shifting.
He had left pawns in the Human Realm.
The Future Human King's current cultivation was at least at the first rank, but no higher than the sixth.
The Future Human King's cultivation was too low.
The Seed wouldn't feel much of a threat yet, nor would it reward him, the one pulling the strings, very generously.
He had to make the Future Human King grow quickly!
"Humanity lacks resources. Then I'll send you resources—and fodder—so you can grow quickly through countless battles!"
The Human Emperor held a black piece in one hand and placed it on the board.
As soon as the black piece landed, all the other black and white pieces suddenly vanished!
At that moment, the Sky Screen's exposure of the Human Emperor came to an end.
[Human Emperor Ji, the Seed's representative, possessed the bearing of a powerful figure, but not the bearing of an Emperor.]
[Reward: An Emperor-level Origin Body!]
"How can this be!"
The Western Emperor was shocked and bewildered!
The Human Emperor's reward wasn't transcendence of the Three Realms!
At that moment, the Western Emperor felt an intense chill.
What exactly was Ji trying to do?!
The rewards granted by the Sky Screen always suited those on the list, but the Human Emperor's reward wasn't transcendence.
That meant the Human Emperor didn't want to transcend!
At the Divine Sect,
The Earth Emperor smiled faintly. "Does Ji want to replace the Heavenly Emperor and cooperate with the Seed?"
"Is he afraid?"
God Emperor, Eastern Emperor, and Heaven Fighting Emperor weren't surprised that the Human Emperor's reward wasn't transcendence of the Three Realms.
"Ji has too many schemes. He's probably already made a deal with the Seed," Heaven Fighting Emperor said with a laugh.
Eastern Emperor chuckled. "Ji won't kill the Future Human King easily. Taking a risk to reap the rewards and maximize his gains... That's who he is."
God Emperor smiled faintly. "I'll wait and see humanity overturn his chessboard!"
The Earth Cave,
King Gan, King Xun, and King Gen were overjoyed!
That meant the Human Emperor could send out a clone from the Origin Source and take charge!
Heaven Suppressing King and God Forger wouldn't be able to do anything to them!
The Human Realm,
After the Sky Screen exposed the Human Emperor, Zhang Tao immediately sought out Heaven Suppressing King and God Forger.
The three of them joined forces to find the Human Emperor Sword suppressed in the Human Realm.
At Southern Martial,
Zhang Xuan had been planning to stretch his muscles and personally snap the Human Emperor Sword.
But after thinking it over, he decided against it.
Still, weakening the Human Emperor Sword was no problem.
The Human Emperor Sword had guarded the Human Realm for eight thousand years. Heaven Suppressing King hadn't found it, but God Forger was different.
God Forger's divine eye was extraordinary!
Zhang Xuan clearly remembered that when God Forger met Fang Ping, he had immediately noticed something wrong with him.
He had stated outright that Fang Ping wasn't a Resurrected Martial Artist, nor was he from this era. He might be from the future, and might not have grown up in New Martial Arts!
He had even sensed that Fang Ping was connected to time, space, or an illusion!
God Forger was arguably the first non-Emperor to realize that something was wrong with Fang Ping!
Zhang Xuan even felt that if God Forger went to Yang City and saw the Yang God disguised as an ordinary person, he would notice something was off.
"The Human Emperor Sword..."
Zhang Xuan murmured, his eyes narrowing slightly. He drew his sword with a light touch and struck. The void silently shattered!
At the same time,
At the foot of Mount Tai!
A golden longsword let out a roar!
The surrounding void shattered in an instant!
"The Human Emperor Sword is trying to escape!"
Heaven Suppressing King, Zhang Tao, and God Forger all changed expressions. They instantly tore through space and moved to suppress the Human Emperor Sword!
Heaven Suppressing King said, "Zhang Tao, the Human Emperor Sword has absorbed the Human Realm's spiritual energy for eight thousand years. It embodies the Human Dao. Once it's weakened, use your Great Dao to take it!"
"Okay!"
Zhang Tao answered solemnly.
The three of them struck the Human Emperor Sword without mercy!
The void trembled!
The Earth Cave,
"There's been a disturbance in the Human Realm!"
King Gen furrowed his brow.
King Gan, King Xun, and Feng exchanged glances, then instantly teleported to the Earth Cave's Outer Region.
A faint thread of Mental Energy passed through the passageway and entered the Human Realm.
"The Human Emperor Sword!"
Feng's expression changed. "Heaven Suppressing King and the others are going to shatter it!"
"Get lost!"
Heaven Suppressing King had naturally sensed someone spying on them. He immediately struck, tearing apart the other party's Mental Energy.
Feng's face turned pale, and he instantly left the Outer Region.
The Earth Cave,
In the Heavenly Fate Royal Court.
Feng, King Xun, King Gen, King Gan, Emperor Venerable Qingjing from the Boundary Land, and other powerful figures of the Three Realms had gathered in the Earth Cave!
"Everyone, the Human Emperor Sword is merely an artifact, yet humanity has taken out its anger on it and shattered it!"
"If we accidentally provoke humanity, will they spare us?"
"The Earth Cave and the Human Realm have been at war for a hundred years. Humanity has repeatedly appealed to Heaven Beyond Heaven and the Boundary Land, but none of you came to help!"
"If humanity grows powerful, will they spare you?"
"Heaven Beyond Heaven in the Human Realm has already been wiped out. The Boundary Land will be next, followed by the Earth Cave!"
Who among us can escape?!
"As for siding with humanity... Hah. We've suffered through countless hardships to reach our current realms!"
Are we really willing to take orders from humanity?!
King Ming looked around at everyone and said coldly:
"Everyone, don't forget that the Future Human King isn't a Human King, but a Human Demon!"
"A Demon King who commits every evil and has no bottom line!"
"Humanity lacks resources, and its martial artists are numerous!"
"Sooner or later, they'll wage war on us for our resources!"
Emperor Venerable Qingjing, Heavenly Emperor Changrong, Heavenly Emperor Wuya of Wuya Mountain, Beautiful Empress of Wenxian Island... Everyone's faces darkened.
King Ming added fuel to the fire. "Humanity is now led by Martial King Zhang Tao!"
"This man holds grudges and will do anything, yet he's always been biding his time, lying low!"
"He still remembers every force that harmed humanity, even if it only killed one person!"
"Now, he may already have reached the Heavenly King realm! The Sky Screen even said he has an Emperor's Bearing!"
"If we don't kill him, he'll eventually slaughter us all!"
Only after King Gan and King Ming had put pressure on everyone did they slowly lay out their plan and reveal the power backing them.
"Everyone, we're not the only ones who want to capture and kill the two Human Kings. The Human Emperor—and even the Seed—want to kill the Future Human King!" King Gan looked around and said gravely:
"The Human Emperor will send a clone to personally hold off Heaven Suppressing King and God Forger!
If those two are held back, do you really not have the courage to fight?"
The Beautiful Empress said coldly:
"Easy for you to say!"
"If we move against the Future Human King now, will the War Heavenly Emperor really stay out of it?"
"Besides, who knows whether the Future Human King's body contains some means left behind by the War Heavenly Emperor or the Earth Emperor?"
King Xun said solemnly, "Then let's hold a Three Realms Martial Arts Tournament and force humanity to compete. Let martial artists of the same generation fight and kill humanity's geniuses!"
"For the greater cause, a few talented martial artists under our command are nothing. Their deaths are no great loss!"
"Even if they can't kill the Future Human King, all the other geniuses will have died because of him. Won't humanity resent him? Once he loses the people's support, he'll never become the Human King!"
"A Three Realms Martial Arts Tournament..."
Everyone's eyes sharpened!
If they died fighting someone at the same cultivation level, they could only blame their own lack of skill.
They had lived for hundreds or thousands of years. Even if their disciples were weak, surely they could still defeat humanity's frail warriors.
"Good. Then we'll hold a Three Realms Martial Arts Tournament, entice them with benefits, and force humanity to compete!"
"If humanity refuses to participate, we'll gather the various factions in the Earth Cave's Outer Region and ambush their martial artists!"
King Gan, King Gen, and King Xun were delighted.
Both the present-day Human King and the Future Human King had to die!
First, they would kill the Future Human King, then behead the present-day Human King!
The tournament to slay the Human Kings was about to begin in earnest!
That very day, the Earth Cave's Hundred Kings Conference was convened. Every faction sent its most talented martial artists below the seventh rank to gather at the Heavenly Fate Royal Court!
Some Earth Cave True Kings, including King Hua, chose to wait and see, and sent none of their talented disciples to compete.
Although King Huai hadn't been invited to the Hundred Kings Conference by King Ming, he still learned of the news—and promptly sold it to Zhang Tao.
The Human Realm,
When Zhang Tao learned what was happening, his expression turned cold, and he gave a bitter smile.
Humanity had become the enemy of all!
The Future Human King had clearly done a good thing by pacifying the Origin Source!
Yet those so-called Celestial Realm Emperor Venerables and so-called Immortal Clans treated the Future Human King as a treasure—and as an enemy!
Greed and resentment!
Humanity had only been trying to grow stronger and save itself!
But these people couldn't see who the real enemy was!
Zhang Tao's expression was unreadable, his eyes icy cold!
What a fine-sounding Three Realms Martial Arts Exchange Tournament!
In truth, they wanted to use threats and inducements to force the human race's young prodigies to compete!
If that was the case, then they would kill!
The human race was no weaker than anyone else!
Zhang Tao immediately informed the Heaven Suppressing King, God Forger, Li Zhen, Nan Yunyue, and the others.
"The Three Realms Martial Arts Tournament... They're trying to wipe out all the human race's young prodigies!" The Heaven Suppressing King's expression turned cold.
He understood at once what the Earth Cave and the other factions were up to!
Even if the Future Human King didn't compete, they could still lay plans in the Earth Cave and gradually kill off the human race's young prodigies, leaving a gap in the ranks of the human race's strong fighters.
They might even deliberately let a few survive, encouraging the surviving human prodigies to resent the Future Human King and stirring up their emotions!
If they refused to compete, then the wars in the Outer Regions would no longer be a matter between the Earth Cave and the Human Realm alone.
Young prodigies from the Earth Cave Forbidden Zones and fighters under the command of powerful figures throughout the Three Realms might all appear in the Outer Regions!
Li Zhen's expression was icy. "We absolutely cannot give in!"
Even if the human race's young prodigies won big, they would be completely exposed to the powerful figures throughout the Three Realms. In the future, other factions would likely target them deliberately.
"There are probably Emperors backing them," God Forger said gravely.
"If we don't compete, a great war will erupt in the Outer Regions at any moment. The other side will ambush the human race's young prodigies one by one."
"If we compete, some of our prodigies are bound to fall, and the rest will be exposed!"
The Heaven Suppressing King fell silent.
If Emperors were backing them, then he and God Forger couldn't act recklessly.
They were powerful, but not powerful enough to steamroll the Three Realms.
They could secretly ransack and destroy the other factions one by one.
But the Emperors could wipe out the human race's fighters and powerful warriors in an instant!
Killing intent churned in Zhang Tao's eyes.
The human race was still too weak!
So weak that the moment they produced an unparalleled prodigy, others saw it as a heinous crime!
If the Future Human King had been born among the descendants of an Emperor, who would dare to pressure that Emperor?
The Heaven Suppressing King said gravely, "If I prove myself Emperor, I might not be any weaker than the Human Emperor!"
It wasn't hard to guess which Emperor was backing the Earth Cave.
God Forger shook his head. "The Seed may already have reached an agreement with the Human Emperor.
"It's even possible the Human Emperor has secretly become the next Heavenly Emperor!"
At those words, the Heaven Suppressing King, Zhang Tao, and the others' expressions changed drastically!
The next Heavenly Emperor!
Infinite resurrection and a massive increase in fighting strength!
Who would fear the rise of the Future Human King most?
The Seed!
The Seed feared being completely devoured, too!
Besides the Human Emperor, the Seed might contact other Emperors, or secretly create an Emperor of its own!
After all, the Seed could even resurrect Emperors. Creating one probably wouldn't be difficult, either.
Who in the Three Realms wouldn't want to become an Emperor?!
If the Seed used the promise of becoming an Emperor to tempt the ancient powerhouses, no one could resist!
"Then we'll compete. We'll kill until they're terrified, seize the rewards and resources from every faction, and let our human prodigies grow quickly with their support!"
Nan Yunyue said coldly, "When it comes to fighting opponents of the same realm, our human prodigies have nothing to fear!"
It wasn't yet clear who was stronger!
"They want us to compete? Fine. But I want them to pay," Zhang Tao said, his voice low.
Making them pay meant more than just bloodshed!
There were competitions from first grade to sixth grade, so there ought to be competitions for Heavenly Kings and Emperor-level fighters, too!
But...
Zhang Tao was conflicted.
Should he let Fang Ping and Wang Jinyang compete, too?
A few days later, undercurrents surged through the Three Realms!
King Gan, King Gen, King Xun, Feng, several Saints of the Thirty-Six Saints, some factions from the Overseas Immortal Islands, and some factions from the Boundary Land and Heaven Beyond Heaven jointly announced that they would hold the Three Realms Martial Arts Exchange Tournament in a month!
The battlefields were divided into first-grade through sixth-grade divisions!
If a low-realm fighter won their division, they could choose whether to enter the next higher division. But high-realm fighters couldn't enter a lower division!
Some neutral factions also received invitations.
Heavenly Emperor Long Bian's gaze was indifferent. "What a fine martial arts tournament!"
They claimed it was for martial arts exchange, but their true aim was to slaughter the human race's young prodigies!
Wang Ruobing no longer seemed weak at all. She was a stunning, beautiful woman who had remained unmarried for ten thousand years.
When the God Emperor returned to the Three Realms, he had secretly removed the vitality seed inside her.
Of course, neither she nor Heavenly Emperor Long Bian knew about this.
Wang Ruobing asked curiously, "Father, will Long Bian Heaven compete?"
Heavenly Emperor Long Bian shook his head. Their Long Bian Brahma Heaven had no disciples that weak.
"This tournament is a crisis aimed at the human race!"
Heavenly Emperor Long Bian's expression grew serious. If the human race competed, it would surely be caught in a storm of blood and violence!
Anyone with eyes could see what King Gan and the others intended, and who they were targeting!
Even if they couldn't eliminate the Future Human King and the human race's young prodigies on the battlefield,
the human prodigies would still be exposed to the entire Three Realms. Afterward, every faction would target them more fiercely and regard them with greater suspicion!
King Gan and the others hadn't even bothered to hide their intentions. They had sent Zhang Tao some resources outright.
If the human race competed, those resources would be an "advance reward"!
If they refused to compete, they would have to return the resources.
And if they didn't return them, King Gan and the others could use the excuse of demanding the resources back to commit what they called an "act of justice."
In the Human Realm,
the plan had been for all the nation's Martial Arts Universities to hold a National Exchange Tournament at the end of the year, with resources at stake.
But the Human Emperor Sword had been shattered, and the Human Realm's energy was now no weaker than the Earth Cave's.
Zhang Tao had also wiped out the Heaven Beyond Heaven faction in the human world, greatly increasing their resources.
And with the Three Realms Martial Arts Exchange Tournament coming up, there would no longer be a large-scale National Exchange Tournament.
Instead, it would be held privately.
Each school would send five fighters from each grade, first through sixth, to Capital, where they would fight alongside Military Department fighters of the same grade!
Since no Martial Arts University student had reached sixth grade yet, there was no age limit for sixth-grade fighters, who could volunteer to compete!
The nation would select ten fighters from each grade to compete in the Three Realms Martial Arts Exchange Tournament!
However, even the strongest weren't necessarily going to compete. It was entirely up to them.
If the time came to take the field and they lost their nerve, they could forfeit.
Losing face was better than losing their lives.
Zhang Tao looked at Fang Ping and Wang Jinyang. He didn't really want Fang Ping to compete.
But on second thought, New Martial Arts fighters had to experience bloodshed to grow.
"Whether you can make the top ten is up to each of you," Zhang Tao said softly.
Fang Ping wasn't particularly eager to compete.
After all, this tournament was far too clearly targeted!
He wasn't stupid. He knew that people with ulterior motives wanted to use it to identify the Future Human King.
But competing also had great benefits!
Zhang Tao and the others would surely do everything they could to equip the competitors.
Over the past few days, Fang Ping had already received quite a few resources in Capital, but it still wasn't much.
He couldn't exactly go to Zhang Tao and ask for a trillion, or ten trillion, worth of resources.
Zhang Tao wouldn't give him that much, either!
It was absolutely impossible to pour the resources of the entire human race into supporting him.
If he competed on behalf of the human race and didn't stand out too much, he might not attract attention.
Compared with him, Old Wang seemed far more likely to be the "Future Human King."
He'd reached fourth grade in less than two years, and had improved again over the past few days!
Fang Ping even felt that once Wang Jinyang broke through to the peak of fourth grade, he would be invincible among fourth-grade fighters!
With a prodigy like him competing in the Three Realms Martial Arts Tournament, it was almost impossible not to attract attention.
Unless Old Wang kept a low profile and didn't fight for resources.
Wang Jinyang furrowed his brow slightly and fell into thought.
He didn't want to reveal what made him special to the enemy, either.
But once he competed, he wouldn't be in control of the situation.
If he fought to the brink, he would have to reveal his trump cards.
The risks and rewards were both enormous!
"You don't have to tell me whether you're competing or not. Today, I'll send all of you back to your schools."
Zhang Tao looked at Fang Ping and Wang Jinyang as he spoke.
Fang Ping and Wang Jinyang exchanged a glance and nodded.
After Zhang Tao left, Fang Ping looked at Wang Jinyang and asked quietly, "Brother Wang, are you planning to compete?"
"I'm considering it," Wang Jinyang said gravely. "But I might not make the top ten."
After all, he had only recently broken through to fourth grade. Hua Nation had quite a few fourth-grade fighters, including many at the peak of fourth grade, and there were surely fighters stronger than him.
If he had still been at the peak of third grade, he would definitely have secured a spot.
But now, Wang Jinyang wasn't sure he could make the top ten.
Fang Ping nodded.
"Wang Jinyang's competing. Should I compete, too?"
Fang Ping thought it over.
A little over half a month later, many Sky Screens that had been quiet suddenly blazed to life again!
"It's happening again! It's finally happening again!"
"Is the Sky Screen going to reveal something about the Three Realms again?"
"What ranking will the Sky Screen reveal this time?"
"I can't wait!"
At that moment, people throughout the Three Realms all looked up at the Sky Screen.
Golden light flickered as a line of gilded text slowly appeared across the Sky Screen!
[Three Realms Heavenly Pride Ranking: Human Realm List!]
Before you continue