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Once, very few inhabitants of the Azure Continent knew of the Imperial Realm’s existence.
In the Great Zhou, even the Spirit Dao was practically just a legend.
How could Su Yi not be surprised when the white-robed Qing Luo discussed proving his Dao and becoming an Emperor with such casual ease?
There was no doubt that his origins weren’t simple.
He was currently in the early-stage Spiritual Manifestation Realm. This suggested that half a month ago, when he first awoke within a grave, he already had his current cultivation.
This made Su Yi recall something. Just before he left the Great Xia, the Xia Emperor told him that the second group of monsters of the ancient era had started awakening throughout the Azure Continent.
Furthermore, the second group all had Spirit Dao cultivations!
Su Yi couldn’t help but suspect that Qing Luo was one such monster of the ancient era, albeit one who’d lost his memory.
Of course, there were quite a few suspicious things about him.
Unlike other monsters of the ancient era, he had a certain quality about him, the kind you could only get from overcoming the world’s ups and downs.
In other words, he bore the mark of time!
It was for this reason that Su Yi immediately dismissed the possibility that Qing Luo had reincarnated too.
After all, a reincarnator like Su Yi’s bone age, disposition, qi, and blood all had the characteristics of youth. They couldn’t possibly have an aura so full of the vicissitudes of life.
“Friend, it seems you’re no ordinary cultivator,” Qing Luo said suddenly. “I can smell something on you, an oppressive presence, something that makes my heart and soul palpitate with terror. It’s a visceral reaction, and there’s no way my instincts would deceive me.”
His gaze was deep, like twin whirlpools, but his eyes shone with curiosity.
Su Yi said calmly, “I’m naturally different from other people.”
For some reason, Qing Luo laughed, then said leisurely, “Every single person in this world is ‘different from other people’, but I doubt there are many like you on the Azure Continent.”
He then set down his fishing rod and got to his feet. “The well has dried up, but its depths are connected to the underground Absolute Yin Spirit Vein. I dare say with certainty that there’s a Moon Spirit Fish living down there. Would you like to try?”
Su Yi nodded. “Since you offered, I won’t stand on ceremony.”
He walked up to the well and gently lifted a finger. An aura permeated with pure Yang surged forth, intercrossing and overlapping itself. In the blink of an eye, it had woven itself into an enormous net of spiritual power.
“What kind of Edict is that?” Qing Luo was instantly intrigued.
Light flowed around the spiritual power net, and it had a shocking Yang aura. The interwoven lines of the net were, in truth, the elaborate, profound manifestations of an Edict.
“The Profound Yang Spirit Curtain Edict,” Su Yi said casually. He grabbed the spiritual energy net, tossed it into the depths of the ancient well, holding tight to the spiritual energy string attached to it.”
“Wondrous!” exclaimed Qing Luo.
“What’s so wondrous about it?” asked Su Yi.
“This Edict is most likely a Daoist inheritance. It’s made of unyielding Yang energy, so it’s the perfect net. To the Moon Spirit Fish, it’s the most enticingly delicious bait imaginable,” said Qing Luo.
He continued, “Even more surprising is your control over your power, friend. You’ve reached the level of refining your spiritual energy into threads and controlling them at will. I can’t help but sigh with admiration. If I hadn’t seen you with my own two eyes, I wouldn’t have believed that such a powerful Gathering Stars Realm cultivator existed in this world.”
This wasn’t flattery; he obviously meant every word.
Su Yi gazed into the ancient well’s depths and said casually, “It’s just a petty trick, not even worth mentioning.”
Qing Luo froze, then laughed. “You’re too modest, Fellow Daoist.”
Modest? Su Yi said no more.
Before long, he shook his wrist.
Whoosh!
The bundled Profound Yang Spirit Curtain Edict shot out of the well’s depths. Inside, a little fish struggled relentlessly.
The fish was silver throughout, and it shone like snow. Although it was only about the size of a palm, it emanated a bone-piercing chill.
Qing Luo’s eyes lit up. “It’s over five inches long, so it’s most likely eighty years old. It’s a rare and precious spiritual entity. Even rarer, it contains some of the Dao Charm of Yin. Its value is inestimable.”
“Want it? I’ll just give it to you.” Su Yi shook the net, and the Moon Spirit Fish flew through the air. Qing Luo stretched out his hand and caught it.
“Friend, you really plan to give me the fish?” Qing Luo was obviously surprised.
“It’s as useless to me as chicken ribs,” said Su Yi. “I wouldn’t enjoy eating it.”
Qing Luo was stunned. He gazed at the Moon Spirit Fish in Su Yi’s hand in a daze before finally bursting into laughter. “Then I won’t hold back.”
With that, he took the still-wriggling fish, crammed it into his mouth, and chewed. Whenever any blood escaped his lips, he quickly licked it up. Soon, he’d swallowed the fish whole, bones and all, right down to the last drop of blood.
He looked handsome and elegant, and he had an extraordinary bearing, but his blood-soaked “table manners” were enough to strike terror into anyone who saw them.
“I feel great.” Qing Luo patted his stomach and burped. “I’ve been fishing here for three days straight. I wouldn’t have guessed that in the end, you’d help me feast on this particular delicacy, friend.”
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With that, he waved. “I’d best be on my way.”
He then turned and walked right out of the temple. When he reached the main gate, he suddenly paused, turned, and said with a smile, “Friend, I suddenly thought of something. Would you like to hear it?”
Su Yi took out a gourd of wine, then took a sip. “Do you want to tell me that earlier, as I was catching the fish, murderous intent arose within your heart?”
Qing Luo’s whirlpool-like eyes narrowed, but then, he laughed. “You’re indeed extraordinary, friend!”
Su Yi laughed too. “It’s a pity.”
“What’s a pity?”
“It’s a pity that the fish didn’t achieve its intended purpose.”
Qing Luo furrowed his brow in confusion. “What do you mean?”
Su Yi said calmly, “I was fishing in more ways than one. You ultimately chose not to take the bait, so it went to waste.”
Qing Luo’s smile faded, and he exclaimed, “Friend, did you anticipate that I’d consider killing you?”
“The moment you said you sensed a dangerous presence upon me, I realized there was something not quite right about you,” said Su Yi, not bothering to hide it. “But I couldn’t say with certainty what if anything you wanted to do, so I went fishing to test you.”
Qing Luo looked enlightened. “I see.”
Then, he shook his head, as if ashamed. “The crux of the matter is that my heart isn’t steady enough, so I behaved strangely and let too much slip. Of course, that wouldn’t have mattered without your extraordinarily keen perception.”
“Since you’ve already decided to leave, you might as well tell me: why did murderous intent arise within your heart just now?” asked Su Yi.
Qing Luo thought for a moment. “Instinct.”
“Instinct?”
“Right. Friend, that dangerous presence about you makes me very uncomfortable, and I hate nothing more than that type of discomfort,” Qing Luo said solemnly. “I can predict that even if we were to become true friends, that discomfort would linger. Thus, for a moment there, I really did want to kill you.”
His reasoning was unquestionably ludicrous, but Su Yi believed him.
When a mouse saw a cat, it instinctively sensed the danger.
That’s what it meant to have a “natural enemy.”
Qing Luo smiled. “You said that the fish went to waste, but it’s because of the fish that I decided against attacking you.”
With that, he waved. “When we meet again, I hope I won’t sense that uncomfortable, dangerous presence. If so, we might actually be able to become friends. There’d be no need for this sort of superficially friendly, yet
 hostile farewell.”
Before his voice had finished echoing through the air, Qing Luo walked away.
Su Yi remained in place, and he didn’t chase him. He just said, “Don’t you think this is much like what happens when a mouse sees a cat?”
Qing Luo didn’t miss a beat. He neither slowed down nor stopped. He just waved and said, “Sure, but who’s the cat and who’s the mouse? It’s still too soon to say. We’ve got to look at this from a long-term perspective
 We’ll see who comes out on top in the end.”
“Oh?” said Su Yi. “Next time we meet, you’d best not disappoint me. If you do, I’ll feel that it wasn’t worth letting you leave here today.”
Qing Luo’s hearty laughter emanated from afar. “That goes for you too, friend!”
The young amnesiac of suspicious origins soon disappeared completely.
I finally encountered someone worthy of my attention. It’d be a waste just to kill him
 thought Su Yi.
He stood in the dilapidated temple a while longer before turning and leaving.
Before long, he was deep in the peach grove growing near the peak of Mother Ghost Ridge.
This was where he’d found the Pure Yang Fire Peach Tree, where he’d first met its nature spirit, Tao Qingshan, and where he’d seen the stone stele the Sea-Swallowing King, Ge Changling, left behind.
However, this time, the peach forest was full of ghost bats!
This type of little ghost was pitch-black with sharp fangs. They feasted on corpse qi and remnant souls with relish, and although each was only about the size of a fist, they were extremely violent and insidious.
If one bit a martial artist, its corpse poison would attack their heart, and they’d die on the spot.
Even ordinary Origin Dao cultivators were unwilling to provoke them because they attacked in swarms, moved quickly, and excelled at sonic attacks. They were extremely troublesome opponents.
However, the ghost bats Su Yi saw now obviously weren’t naturally occurring. Someone was raising them here.
There was a clay pot hanging from each bat-infested tree. Each pot contained refined soul energy. Its off-white wisps were as fine as the hairs of an ox, and they rose from the pots and entered the bats’ bodies in a non-stop stream, as if they were cultivating.
When Su Yi saw this, he furrowed his brow.
This method of raising bats was extremely ruthless and sinister. It required obtaining a nonstop stream of souls to refine as fodder for the bats to absorb and refine.
The soul energy within one such clay had to have been refined from at least a hundred souls.
And there were over a thousand clay pots hanging from the peach trees! That meant that one hundred thousand living things’ souls had been refined here, at the very least!
It seems that in these troubled times, every little creepy-crawly dares run out into the open and act as it pleases

Su Yi had only just thought this when he sensed something, and he disappeared into thin air.
A few breaths of time later

Whoosh!
A haunt who’d taken on the form of a woman rushed over.
She stood outside the peach grove, then gazed into it, looking frantic and terrified. "Your Excellency, this is bad! An extremely powerful yao cultivator showed up and scared off the spirit beasts we directed before they’d even made it into Guangling City!”
Suddenly, deep within the peach grove, a streak of black, ghostly mists shot into the air.