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Blood Valiant was inwardly startled, and a chill coursed down his spine.
If he hadn’t dodged just in the nick of time, he likely would have been in peril!
Only now did Blood Valiant see his attacker.
It was a young man in blue robes. He stood against the distant night sky, his energy perfectly melded with his desolate surroundings, as if he were just another rock or blade of grass.
Su Yi!
What really surprised Blood Valiant was that if he relied purely on his divine sense, he couldn’t sense Su Yi’s existence at all. He naturally couldn’t lock onto him either.
What a lofty and profound method of hiding his presence! Blood Valiant had always been confident in his stealth and ability to hide. He thought that few of his peers could compete with him in this regard.
Yet the distant Su Yi just stood there calmly, as if he’d fused perfectly into heaven and earth. The fusion was so thorough that not even a Spiritual Manifestation cultivator’s divine sense could sense him.
This alone left Blood Valiant sighing over his own inferiority.
“You discovered me a while ago, didn’t you, my young friend?” Blood Valiant’s eerie green eyes flashed.
“Your stealth technique is impressive; not even I could sense any trace of you. However, the moment I killed Madam Xihua, I anticipated that you were hiding somewhere nearby.”
Off in the distance, Su Yi had one hand behind his back, while the other held the Abstruse God Sword aloft as he approached.
It was only when he moved that Blood Valiant sensed a presence distinct from that of the surrounding area; it was as if an unassuming blade of grass growing by the side of the road had suddenly transformed into a living breathing person.
“So that’s it. No wonder you came back here,” said Blood Valiant, sounding enlightened.
“You came here to kill me. Now that we’ve met, how about we end this?” Su Yi’s black eyes were distant and calm. “Killing me won’t just avenge the Nirvanic Winds Holy Son; you can even reclaim the Demonic Womb. This is your chance! If you miss it, it’s hard to say whether you’ll ever get such a perfect opportunity ever again.”
As he walked slowly through the wilderness, his clothing fluttered around him. In the darkness of the night, he looked as detached and transcendent as a fallen immortal.
When he saw Su Yi approach, a look of hesitation flashed across Blood Valiant’s face.
But then, he smiled and shook his head. “Young friend, I’m sure you have cards up your sleeves sufficient to threaten a Spiritual Manifestation Realm cultivator. Otherwise, you wouldn’t dare act so fearlessly. I won’t be fooled.”
He paused, then said playfully, “It seems to me that you’re in such a hurry because you’re worried that down the line, I’ll appear out of nowhere and deal you a fatal blow.”
“You’re overthinking this,” said Su Yi with a dry smile. “This is simply the thrill of the hunt; I’d like to use you to sharpen my blade.”
Su Yi was already just three hundred feet away from Blood Valiant.
When he saw Su Yi draw ever closer, Blood Valiant bellowed, “Young friend, if you get any closer, I’ll be on my way.”
“Why the hurry? How about I send you on your way instead?” laughed Su Yi. An opening appeared between his eyes, and an illusory, three-inch blue sword shot forth.
The Divine Slaughter Sword!
Whoosh!
The little blue sword arrived before Blood Valiant in an instant and cleaved downward.
It was just too quick!
It was similar to when someone unleashed their divine sense; it could cover a ten-thousand-foot radius in an instant.
The little blue sword’s speed was practically beyond imagining. It was so fast that even a Spiritual Manifestation Realm cultivator like Blood Valiant felt his hair stand on end, and a strange cry escaped his lips.
Bang!
His figure burst apart like a soap bubble, and he disappeared into thin air.
He then reappeared several thousand feet away, atop a boulder. His face was already contorted in agony, while his forehead was covered in cold sweat.
“What a shame,” sighed Su Yi.
When his sword missed, he lost all interest in a follow-up attack.
Blood Valiant was different from Li Miaohong. Although he was only in the early-stage Spiritual Manifestation Realm, he was proficient in all manner of evasion, stealth, and tracking techniques.
In a direct confrontation, he was perhaps inferior to Li Miaohong.
But if Blood Valiant wanted to flee, it would be extremely difficult for Su Yi to stop him.
Although Su Yi didn’t know it, the power of the Divine Slaughter sword had already completely alarmed Blood Valiant!
In truth, although Blood Valiant dodged, his soul took heavy damage. The rending agony filled his heart with terror.
He was certain that, in his shoes, any other Spiritual Manifestation cultivator would have fallen beneath that sword!
This was unquestionably far too terrifying!
“What a powerful secret soul technique. Is that your trump card?” asked Blood Valiant, his face ashen and his expression solemn.
“I wouldn’t go that far. It’s just a decent soul technique, that’s all.” Su Yi put away the Abstruse God Sword and waved. “I’ll see you off here, but I hope that next time we meet, you have the courage to fight me directly. Farewell.”
With that, he put his hands behind his back and sauntered off.
That dashing, unrestrained demeanor left Blood Valiant unwittingly stunned. He left
 Just like that?
It was only after watching Su Yi fade from view that he came to his senses. A conflicted look arose on his face: three parts surprise, three parts lingering terror, and four parts wordless bewilderment.
“Since when could a young Origin Palace cultivator threaten a Spiritual Manifestation cultivator? Even thirty thousand years ago, I’m afraid only the most peerless and extraordinary members of peak-level orthodoxies could accomplish such a feat.
“By comparison
 the Nirvanic Winds Holy Son really was quite a bit inferior
” Blood Valiant’s heart churned.
He’d come here with a heart full of hatred, intent on getting revenge. However, now, he felt chilled and afraid.
“Should I keep pursuing him?” Blood Valiant hesitated.
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With his Spiritual Manifestation Realm cultivation, nothing in this world should have scared him.
However, after this close call, he couldn’t help but consider the possible consequences of continuing to target Su Yi.
“In a direct confrontation, I’m afraid my methods wouldn’t amount to much. If I keep pursuing him but fail to find the perfect opportunity, I’ll waste my time
.”
“Forget it. I’ll report this to His Lordship and let him decide.”
After a while, Blood Valiant sighed. He’d made his choice, but he couldn’t help but feel humiliated.
Who would dare believe that he, a divine emissary of the Deathbringer’s Netherworld Palace and an old-timer who’d survived the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness
. Would be forced back and intimidated by an Origin Palace cultivator?

.
“Master, did you kill Blood Valiant?”
A hundred-foot golden softshell turtle carried Su Yi and Bai Wenqing between the towering mountains and ridges. As he forged ahead, he crushed countless trees and boulders beneath his feet, and the earth shook beneath him.
This was Yuan Heng’s true body.
When Su Yi got back, and when he said he didn’t want to walk anymore, Yuan Heng immediately became his mount.
“The old-timer was cautious and crafty, and he had mastery of numerous evasive techniques,” said Su Yi as he leaned back into his wicker chair, eyes shut in repose. “He dared not fight me directly. I could have held him back, but it would have drained too much energy. It wasn’t worth it.”
Lying on Yuan Heng’s shell was like lying on solid ground; it was as if he weren’t moving. He felt no bumps or jolts at all.
“Not worth it?” Bai Wenqing was stunned. She couldn’t help but sigh. Any other cultivator would hold nothing back; they’d kill their foe no matter the cost.
But it was obvious that Su Yi was different; he didn’t want to waste his energy hunting down someone like Blood Valiant

What was this, if not bone-deep pride and contempt?
“Heh heh, this guy is much smarter than Li Miaohong. Escaping Master alive is a feat he can brag about for the rest of his life. Of course, that’s on the condition that he learns from this mistake and doesn’t try anything so reckless ever again.” Yuan Heng laughed.
Su Yi laughed in response to this too. He suddenly recalled something interesting from his past life.
Before he and the Ghost Emperor of the Western Seas became friends, they clashed on multiple occasions.
Once, the Ghost Emperor of the Western Seas joined forces with around a dozen of his friends to surround and attack Su Xuanjun. Yet in the end, the Ghost Emperor of the Western Seas was the first to flee.
This was a grave humiliation to any emperor.
But the Ghost Emperor of the Western Seas was actually rather proud of it, and he often bragged about it. He’d say, “What’s so great about Su Xuanjun? He’s nowhere near as impressive as rumors say. Back then, a dozen other Emperors and I laid a trap and surrounded him, but I got out alive, didn’t I?”
This became an inside joke among the Wilds’ Emperors.
The context was different, but Yuan Heng’s words made him feel much the same way.
But there was no way Blood Valiant would brag about something so humiliating.
When he saw that Su Yi seemed to be in high spirits, Yuan Heng asked, “Master, we’ll reach the imperial capital, Nine Tripod City, in less than a week. What do you plan to do then?”
“First, I’ll take a stroll around the city and see just what the ‘City of Cultivators’ everyone longs for is like,” said Su Yi casually. “When the time comes, if you sense anything out of the ordinary, tell me right away.”
Yuan Heng was briefly stunned, but he quickly understood. “Master, rest assured. So long as that Ge Qian person is in Nine Tripod City, I’ll be sure to do everything I can to help you find him!”
Yuan Heng understood full well that it was precisely because he wanted to find Ge Qian that Su Yi transmitted the Origin Dao-level portion of the Xuanwu True Essence Sutra to him.
“It’s not actually all that pressing. Let’s just see what happens.” Su Yi wasn’t particularly interested in Ge Qian himself, but he was very interested in how and why Ge Qian was cultivating the Xuanwu True Essence Sutra.
When the topic of Nine Tripod City came up, Su Yi couldn’t help but recall the Featherflow King Yue Shichan. Was the beautiful, ethereal young swordswoman in white in Nine Tripod City too?
What about Hua Xinfeng? She was the descendent of one of the Great Xia’s ancient clans, one that used a dragon sparrow as its totem.
When they parted ways in the Sea of Chaotic Spirits, Hua Xinfeng gave him a jade pendant carved with a dragon phoenix. She said that so long as he carried it, no matter what he wanted to accomplish in Nine Tripod City, all he had to do was visit Cloudmarsh Tower. The people there would do everything they could to assist him.
Nine Tripod City
 I hope it won’t disappoint me
 Su Yi thought to himself.
The Great Xia was the hegemon of the hundred-plus nations of the Azure Continent, while Nine Tripod City was its capital and central hub. It was the heart of the nation, and it was incomparably flourishing.
Rumor had it that Nine Tripod City already existed thirty thousand years ago; its foundations were incomparably ancient. This was the source of its title, the City of Cultivators, and its reputation as a “city of immortals within the human realm.”
Furthermore, there were rumors that a dragon vein brimming with auspicious energy lay beneath the city, the only one on the entire continent to survive the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness!
Su Yi was naturally quite interested in this.
He was also a bit eager to see if he’d encounter any worthy foes in the city that represented the very pinnacle of the Great Xia’s world of cultivation!