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Chapter 245 - The Possessed
The woman in the bronze mask collapsed and fell as if she’d lost her soul.
“Your Excellency, spare me! Have mercy!” When Daoist Corpse Controller saw this, his knees thudded to the ground, and he kowtowed, quivering, terrified, and helpless.
Su Yi hefted the sword embryo and walked right up to the giant Dao Cocoon. He examined it, then asked, “Has the possession already begun?”
Daoist Corpse Controller hurriedly stammered, “It has.”
“Who was possessed?” asked Su Yi.
“The Spiritmartial Marquis, Chen Zheng,” Daoist Corpse Controller responded immediately.
Su Yi furrowed his brow. Chen Zheng? No wonder he hasn’t returned from Bloodthistle Yao Mountain even after six days. He actually encountered such an enormous calamity!
“I’ll give you a choice again.” Su Yi glanced at Daoist Corpse Controller, then at the ten-thousand-foot blood-red vortex. “Jump in on your own, or die.”
Daoist Corpse Controller was stunned. Then, his face went ashen as all his hopes gave way to despair.
He struggled to his feet, then stared intently at the crimson vortex. “Your Excellency, might you perhaps
. leave me a path to survival?”
Su Yi shook his head.
Daoist Corpse Controller’s expression shifted erratically. After a while, he gnashed his teeth, shot to his feet, and took to the skies. He streaked through the air like lightning, directly toward the vortex.
However, when he was halfway there, he made a sudden, sharp turn and flew toward the exit.
“You’re seeking death!” Mu Xi snorted coldly and waved his golden spear. He stabbed through the air, slaying Daoist Corpse Controller in mid-air.
Su Yi couldn’t even be bothered to watch. Instead, he glanced at the nearby masked woman and said, “I’ll give you a chance too. Tell me all your secrets, everything you know, and I’ll let you die quickly.”
The masked woman fell silent for a while, then said emphatically, “When the god of our race returns, you’ll face divine retribution!”
Su Yi’s eyebrows shot up. He seemed to realize something, and he shot forward in a flash, arriving beside the woman.
Before he so much as touched her, the holy maiden of the Deathbringer’s Gate breathed her last, and her corpse silently disintegrated into ash and dispersed.
She was dead, but even now, no one knew what she looked like.
All that remained was the bronze mask engraved with dense, complex markings. It was ice-cold and unearthly.
Su Yi picked it up and examined it, a strange look in his eyes.
Its materials were highly unusual; it was made of the Netherworld’s Tearstain Soul Iron, which had the power to annex another’s soul.
All it took was a little refinement and placing an imprint of your will within the Tearstain Soul Iron. Take the mask—it didn’t matter who wore it. As soon as they put it on, the thread of willpower within would seize control of their mind, and their life would no longer be their own!
The Deathbringer’s Gate’s holy maiden had obviously been influenced by the willpower imprint; she’d been robbed of her rationality.
It was unfortunate, but now that the woman was dead, that lingering thread of willpower had dispersed. Su Yi had no way of knowing just who that willpower imprint belonged to.
Someone capable of leaving a willpower imprint has to be in the Spiritual Revolution Realm at the very least, but they might well be even stronger
.
The Spirit Dao was the path above the Origin Dao. It was divided into three realms: Spiritual Manifestation, Spiritual Integration, and Spiritual Revolution.
Cultivators of the Spiritual Revolution Realm were second only to Profound Dao, Imperial Realm experts!
Only experts of this level could leave willpower imprints!
But there aren’t any Spiritual Revolution Realm experts in this mundane world. Don’t tell me that this bronze mask originates from the world on the other side of the spatial barrier?
That’s entirely possible!
Su Yi knew that, through various special methods, you could send objects across the barriers between worlds.
Sacrifice was one such method.
Back in Ninebends City, the Wuhuan Water Monarch had used ritual sacrifice to receive gifts and guidance from the nine-headed bird that called itself “the Divine Monarch of Tragedy.”
After reaching this conclusion, Su Yi put away the bronze mask, then turned and walked up to the Dao Cocoon.
By then, Ning Sihua and Mu Xi had already rejoined him. Mu Xi couldn’t help but ask, “Fellow Daoist, if the Spiritmartial Marquis has been possessed
. Even if he lives, he won’t be himself anymore, right?”
Su Yi shook his head. “It’s hard to say. Step aside for a moment.”
Both of them did so. Su Yi then waved the sword embryo and cut into the Dao Embryo.
Crack!
It split apart. Almost immediately, a figure shot out and swiped at Su Yi, quick as a ghost!
Su Yi’s expression didn’t so much as waver. He turned the sword embryo around, raised its tip, and blocked.
Clang!
The resulting collision was deafening. Su Yi staggered slightly, while his assailant was forced several steps backward.
It was then that Ning Sihua and Mu Xi saw them clearly. That tall, thin figure, those determined eyes and steel features, that coppery skin, that fierce, grave air
. This was none other than the Spiritmartial Marquis, Chen Zheng!
However, his eyes were utterly icy, indifferent, and rife with disdain, as if all other living things were nothing but ants.
“I didn’t expect that when I awoke in this world, I’d have become so weak
.” Chen Zheng sighed, his tone bleak.
Like an elder long immersed in the vicissitudes of life and lamenting his bygone youth.
Su Yi couldn’t help but laugh. This guy sure knows how to put on airs

He said flatly, “Someone like you? Even if your true body were here, you wouldn’t be particularly great or strong. I advise you not to pretend in front of me.”
Chen Zheng was stunned. He looked Su Yi up and down, his gaze inquisitive. “You’re just a Qi Accumulation Realm whelp, yet you dare say this king isn’t particularly strong?”
Su Yi said casually, “You crossed the spatial barrier through a Dao Cocoon and used a soul avatar to possess another’s body. Only second-rate figures would resort to such petty tricks. Saying you’re ‘not particularly strong’ is already more respect than you deserve.”
“......” Chen Zheng fell silent. Ning Sihua and Mu Xi’s expressions were strange, too.
They could both tell that whoever had occupied Chen Zheng’s body was a terrifying cultivator. His gaze and temperament alone were far from ordinary.
Yet when Su Yi spoke of him, it sounded like he was pathetic and second-rate, and his tone was just so casual and natural. The combination left them indescribably flabbergasted.
“Hearing you talk like that, if I didn’t know better, I’d think you were some lofty, nigh-omnipotent Imperial Realm expert,” said Chen Zheng after a stunned pause. He couldn’t help but shake his head and laugh. “Who’d have thought those were the words of a mere Qi Accumulation Realm kid?”
“An Imperial Realm expert?” Su Yi laughed, his tone increasingly calm. “In your eyes, the Imperial Realm might be lofty and unattainable, but to me
 It’s nothing much.
This time, Ning Sihua and Mu Xi were completely dumbstruck. N
Nothing much? The Imperial Realm?
Ning Sihua knew how terrifying Imperial Realm experts were, which is why she almost dared not believe her ears.
Mu Xi had no idea what the Imperial Realm was, but he could roughly guess that it was above the Spirit Dao.
That was why, when they heard Su Yi’s casual, understated declaration, for a while, they didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. It felt utterly absurd.
This guy
 Is he just bragging in an attempt to scare his opponent?
Hm, that’s got to be it!
As for Chen Zheng, he couldn’t help but throw back his head and burst into laughter. “Imperial Realm Cultivators are like the sun shining overhead, casting their radiance on the world below. They are existences that the masses can only gaze upon from afar. You’re just a pup whose breath still reeks of his mother’s milk, yet you’ve slandered them to such a degree
. Don’t you think that’s a bit overly ridiculous?”
“You’re just saying that because you’re ignorant,” said Su Yi, his expression perfectly tranquil. “Experts of the Imperial Realm are just people venturing through the Profound Dao. Little do they know, at the end of the road lies a higher, unknown path.”
He said this, then shook his head. “Why bother discussing this with you? It’s like describing winter to a mayfly.”
Chen Zheng stared at Su Yi in a daze for a while. Then, the corners of his lips twitched, and he muttered, “This king has lived for nine thousand, eight hundred years. I’ve lost track of how many strange and eccentric characters I’ve encountered in my life, but this is the first time I’ve encountered such an ignorant, arrogant little whelp.
“Is everyone in this mundane realm so ignorant and foolish
.?” He said this, then looked at Su Yi once more. “But then, you’re still so young, and to date, you’ve eked out a humble existence in this mundane realm, yet you managed to control the power of the sealing formation. That’s actually rather impressive.
“How about this? I’ll give you a chance. Bow down and become my subordinate. Going forward, I’ll grant you enlightenment and resolve your doubts. I’ll teach you what it truly means to cultivate the Grand Dao!’
He paused, then looked at Ning Sihua and Mu Xi. “The two of you have rather weak cultivations, but your presences are quite extraordinary. You’re far more impressive than that lot from the Deathbringer’s Gate.
“So long as you pledge yourselves to my cause, I wouldn’t mind giving you a few pointers. I won’t promise that you’ll live as long as the heavens themselves or that you’ll shine as brightly as the moon and stars, but I can at least guarantee that you’ll escape the constraints of your mortal bodies and that you’ll have a chance to pursue greater longevity!’
Every time he moved and spoke, his contemptuous pride was on full display. This was the bearing of an expert.
Were they any other mundane martial artists, they likely would have been tempted a long time ago.
But Mu Xi and Ning Sihua merely glanced at each other and burst into laughter.
Soon, Su Yi was laughing along with them.
The sight of their laughing faces, as well as the implications of their laughter, made Chen Zheng’s expression darken. The sight was grating, as well as a deep affront to his dignity.
“Immortal fortune stands before you, yet you’re treating it as you might a worn-out shoe. How ignorant! Indeed, the cultivators of the mundane world are commonplace, foolish, and impervious to reason!” Chen Zheng let out a long sigh.
Su Yi smiled and said, “Immortal fortune? Are you worthy of discussing such a thing? How about this? I, Su Yi, will make an exception just this once. Be a good boy and leave Chen Zheng’s body. If you do, I’ll give you a second chance at life. How about it?”
“Oh?” A cold glint flashed through Chen Zheng’s eyes. Suddenly, he stretched out his hand.
A giant hand formed of true essence condensed in the air, forming a dragon’s claw. It spread in all directions, covering the entire area, like the inescapable net of heaven. There was nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.
It was just one attack, but a Martial Dao Grandmaster like the Spiritmartial Marquis couldn’t possibly unleash such power.
From this, it was clear that the cultivator who’d traversed worlds and possessed Chen Zheng’s body was far from ordinary.
Alas, the way Su Yi saw it, this ultimately wasn’t that mighty cultivator’s true body, and he was restricted by the limits of Chen Zheng’s flesh and cultivation. His martial arts might be incomparably exquisite, but their power was limited.
He shook his head slightly. “You’re throwing your life away.”
As his words rang out, he stretched out his hand, and he, too, formed a claw.
Boom!
The dragon claw-like hand imprint Chen Zheng had just unleashed burst apart.
As for Su Yi, he reached through the air and grabbed Chen Zheng by the neck, holding him aloft.
Before Chen Zheng could react, Su Yi pressed his left index finger against the marquis’s forward, and his voice boomed like thunder.
“Restrict!”