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Hua Xinfeng’s expression darkened. That blasted Shang Luoyu! She sure knows how to be generous at others’ expense!
Su Yi just stood there from beginning to end, calm and composed as he watched this play out.
However, when he heard Shang Luoyu’s words, he couldn’t help but laugh.
“And what do you think, young friend Zhou?” Qin Dongxu glanced at Su Yi. The others followed suit, one after another.
A formless pressure bore down on Su Yi.
When they saw this, Lin Yubei and Shang Luoyu’s eyes lit up with schadenfreude.
“It’s just a secret soul cultivation technique. You can have it,” said Su Yi. He casually tossed the golden jade slip at Shang Luoyu, as if it were trash.
However, the urge to kill welled deep within his heart.
When Su Xuanjun conducted his affairs, he always followed a certain principle: “If I offer it to you, you’re welcome to it. If I don’t, don’t even think about stealing it!”
This was true even if the object in question was nothing but a bone only fit for feeding a dog!
This left the group a bit surprised, as if they didn’t expect this young man from the Great Xia to be so aware of his situation.
A moment later, the crowd smiled.
“Not bad at all. Young friend, we deeply admire your generosity and noble character,” said Qin Dongxu with a satisfied nod.
The other prominent experts’ expressions softened as well.
Only Shang Luoyu felt an inexplicable chill in her heart. Especially when Su Yi’s calm, deep gaze landed on her. It was as if he were looking at a corpse; he showed no sign of emotion whatsoever.
This guy must hate me to the bone now, thought Shang Luoyu. However, she soon shook her head dismissively and gave the matter no further thought. He’s just one person from the Great Xia. If I offended him, I offended him. It’s not worth worrying about.
Before long, the group left this area and continued deeper into the ruins of the Immortals’ Sword House.
From time to time, they heard Qin Dongxu and the others gasp.
They’d just finished reading the Star Origin Divine Tempering Art contained within the golden jade slip, and they realized that this was a soul cultivation technique. Those were rare, and each was like a supreme treasure.
The entire group lit up with delight. Even Lin Yubei and Shang Luoyu were quite pleased.
As Su Yi watched this play out, he couldn’t help but shake his head. It’s just a soul cultivation technique, yet it’s made them this happy? They’re like a bunch of beggars who’ve never seen the world.
“Young Lord, you… You really aren’t angry?” Hua Xinfeng transmitted. She’d been keeping tabs on Su Yi’s expression all this time, only to discover that he showed no signs of anger or displeasure.
“It’s not worth getting angry over,” said Su Yi offhandedly.
No, he wasn’t angry, but he did feel the urge to kill someone, and quite intensely at that.
“That’s great! Once we’ve found our good fortune, we can deal with those old fogies, and that Shang Luoyu chick too. I want to boil her alive!” When she brought up Shang Luoyu, Hua Xinfeng gnashed her teeth in fury.
Two days ago, during the banquet at the Celestial Waters Villa, this woman allied herself with Qin Dongxu despite being a member of the Donghua Sword Sect. She even went so far as to cast aside all pretenses of cordiality with her own sect’s high elder, the Cloudstone Venerate.
Afterward, when Qin Dongxu and the others wanted to test Su Yi’s strength, she was foolish enough to volunteer to fight him.
If Qin Fu hadn’t gotten in the way, Su Yi would likely have beaten her silly already.
Now, this woman was even more over the line. She just offered the good fortune Su Yi obtained to Qin Dongxu and the others, as if it belonged to her.
How could Hua Xinfeng not hate her after all that?
“When a fledgling that’s yet to even finish growing feathers suddenly obtains the power of a hawk, it’s easy for it to get a swollen head and think it's something special,” said Su Yi offhandedly. “Take Shang Luoyu. She won the Celestial Xiezhi Sword’s approval. This didn’t just grant her strength, it also made her mad with arrogance.”
Hua Xinfeng concurred completely.
Self-awareness was a wonderful thing.
“That’s…?” Suddenly, Qin Dongxu and the others stopped in their tracks and stared into the distance, wide-eyed with surprise.
It was a place that looked like a sparring arena. It was vast, with a surface so smooth, it functioned as a mirror.
Ten or so corpses lay sprawled out on the ground.
They included both men and women, as well as a mix of ages. However, all of them had died brutally, and their corpses were still bleeding.
The group’s hearts clenched, and all of them were instantly on guard.
They’d come here following a secret map, and they’d yet to encounter any danger. That was extremely unusual to begin with.
Now, seeing those corpses lying there, they felt a chill in their hearts. They increasingly felt that something wasn’t quite right here.
“Look! That’s the leader of Purple Wind Sword Manor, Liu Mohen!” Gu Qingdu gasped and pointed at one of the corpses in disbelief.
It belonged to a middle-aged man in black. There was a bloody hole through his forehead, and his chest had been ripped open, a terrifying sight.
The others visibly reacted.
Liu Mohen was a long-famous, mid-stage Grain Avoidance cultivator. He was a first-rate figure within the Great Qin’s cultivation world.
Yet now, he was just another corpse sprawled out on the ground!
“My heavens! Isn’t that the leader of Eight Extremities Sword Manor, Mo Hanzhi? And Luo Tu, that Grain Avoidance cultivator from Cloudcliff Mountain? And that’s the rogue cultivator of Red Crow Ridge, Tie Mochu!”
Yet another startled cry rang out. When his companions looked over, they saw You Changkong, his eyes wide with shock.
The others looked at each other, their expressions grave.
Every last corpse was once a famous cultivator of the Great Qin, someone who could shake an entire region with a stomp of their foot. All of them were Earthly Immortals, experts mundane martial artists could only gaze upon from afar.
Yet now, all of them lay dead on the floor, and they’d clearly died gruesomely!
“What… What happened to them?” asked Qin Dongxu.
Clarifying Truth clasped his palms together. “There are no traces of battle here, and the corpses’ treasures have already been pilfered. Unless this humble monk mistakes his guess, someone killed them, then dumped the bodies here.”
They didn’t notice it until Clarifying Truth pointed it out, but it was true: there were no signs of battle. Furthermore, none of the dead had any treasures on them.
Indeed, someone had killed them and dumped the bodies!
“Don’t tell me this is the work of Sect Leader Tong Xinghai of the Deathbringer’s Gate and his heretical allies?” Qin Dongxu’s expression filled with uncertainty.
“The bodies are still warm; it obviously hasn’t been long since they died. If I’m not mistaken, we’ll most likely encounter a similar calamity on the road ahead,” said Clarifying Truth softly.
As he spoke, he gazed deeper into the ruins. “Everyone, please look! There, off in the distance, there’s rising divine light. It’s the radiance of a treasure!”
Whoosh!
Everyone looked over.
And indeed, it was just as he said. Off in the distance, colorful light circulated. This was the dazzling, almost tangible radiance of a treasure, like a holy manifestation.
They could vaguely discern a vast and majestic palace, made of what looked like immortal gold. It emanated tens of thousands of beams of misty light.
“The fortune hidden within the Immortals’ Sword House has to be in there! There’s no doubt about it!” Lin Yubei’s eyes flashed.
“But there’s surely terrifying, lethal tribulations there too,” said Clarifying Truth gravely, indicating to the corpses. “If we go in, we’ll likely face the same danger they did.”
The group was suddenly uncertain. All of them were a bit hesitant.
When he saw this, Su Yi couldn’t help but laugh to himself. How could you possibly obtain a grand stroke of fortune without encountering any danger? Are they hoping it’ll just fall into their laps?
“Then do you think we should proceed?” Qin Dongxu looked at Clarifying Truth.
“There’s no harm in looking,” said Clarifying Truth after a moment’s silence. “But on the road ahead, everyone had best be prepared for a life-or-death struggle. Whatever we do, we must not get complacent. The moment we encounter a lethal threat, we must retreat at once, without the slightest reluctance. Survival is more important than good fortune.”
Everyone nodded, and all of them took out their treasures. Their auras surged around them as they readied themselves for battle.
Hua Xinfeng felt as if she were dreaming; every last one of those old-timers’ treasures was an Origin Treasure or a Spirit Treasure. All of them were precious, and each had its own subtleties and strengths.
She secretly gulped, then sent Su Yi a rapid-fire transmission. “Young Lord, what should we do next?”
Su Yi didn’t so much as blink. He just slipped Hua Xinfeng a substitution talisman. “Do you remember what I said earlier? It’s highly likely that there’s an exquisitely-placed death trap waiting for us in the Immortals’ Sword House. When we charge into the radiance up ahead, we’re sure to face an unpredictable battle. It won’t be too late to decide our next moves then, once we understand the situation.
“Hold onto that substitution talisman. Should you encounter a fatal threat, crush it, and it will keep you alive.”
When she heard this, Hua Xinfeng calmed down. She nodded.
Soon, the whole group set off.
The road ahead was still smooth and uneventful. They didn’t encounter any dangers whatsoever.
However, this only made Qin Dongxu and the others increasingly alert. All of them felt as tense as bowstrings, ready to let loose at a moment’s notice.
Finally, the group arrived at the source of that misty treasure light.
Tens of thousands of feet of holy light poured down from the skies, bathing a vast, towering palace.
There were thirty-three steps leading up to the doorway. Each step was nine feet tall; they didn’t seem like the work of humans.
There were two stone statues per step, one per side. They were strange and misshapen, and extremely lifelike. They depicted all manner of yao and vicious beasts; only humans were missing.
The main entrance to the palace was at the top of the staircase. There were two stone pillars beside it, each with a stone dragon coiled around them. The top of each pillar had a line of text in contorted yet vigorous golden symbols.
The door alone was ninety feet tall, and it was forged of sacred gold. It was tightly shut, and it seemed countless eons had passed since it last opened.
There was a sign above the door, with three strange, golden symbols written on it.
Gazing at the vast, majestic palace emanating holy light, Qin Dongxu and the others felt smaller and more insignificant than ever before.
They felt like ants standing before the palace of a god; they felt utterly shaken.
“A palace like this is simply a miracle!” You Changkong sighed.
“The golden glyphs on the signboard should say ‘Immortals’ Sword House,’” said Qin Dongxu. Neither he nor his companions recognized those symbols, so they could only infer their meaning from context.
Search tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w for the original.
After all, these were the ruins of the Immortals’ Sword House.
“Young Lord, do you recognize those symbols?” transmitted Hua Liufeng.
“They’re one of the nine major types of ancient True Spirit Glyphs. These were invented by the ancestors of the White Marsh, or ‘Bai Ze’, a True Spirit Divine Beast. They rarely circulate amongst cultivators. Only the Baize, their offshoots, and their loyal adherents would research these ancient and obscure glyphs.”
Once he’d explained the golden markings’ origins, he said casually, “Qin Dongxu and the others are right. The sign indeed says ‘the Immortals’ Sword House.’”
Hua Xinfeng was stunned.
She’d asked casually out of pure curiosity. Who’d have thought Su Yi really knew the answer, much less that he’d reveal it so casually?