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It was a sunny spring day of the third lunar month.
However, the landscape before Nine Tripod City had been devastated. The earth was riddled with scars, corpses littered the ground, and the dense smell of blood lingered in the air. Fragments of ruined treasures were scattered all over the place, glinting in the sunlight.
Su Yi stood in the air and scanned the area. “Anyone else want to try me?”
His calm voice reverberated throughout the entire area.
Everyone fell silent, and nobody moved.
When Su Yi saw this, he couldn’t be bothered to waste any more time here. He just turned and drifted off.
This grand battle had been enormously draining. The moment he relaxed, he felt tired and sore all over.
The Spiritual Revolution Realm cultivators I faced today were ultimately rather lacking. When the world’s most dazzling figures enter the Spiritual Revolution Realm, perhaps I’ll finally be able to find worthy opponents.
As Su Yi pondered, he began his journey back to Azurecloud Court.
All he wanted to do now was bathe, heat a jug of wine, sprawl out in his wicker chair, and relax.
He no longer wanted to pay anything else any heed.
The crowd watched as Su Yi faded from view. It was only after he’d left that they came back to their senses, breaking the stifled, deathly silence. There was uproar on all sides, like a pot that had suddenly boiled over.
“Who’d have guessed it? Experts of the five ancient factions came here with such ferocious momentum, but before so much as stepping foot in Nine Tripod City, they… they all died….” someone said, sounding dazed and out of sorts.
“Zhou Zhi is in the Spiritual Manifestation Realm too, and he’s the monstrous genius second on the Ranking of Stars, but he wasn’t at all comparable to His Excellency Su Yi! You ask me, and the guy Bluecloud Tower put in first place, Shen Suiyun, couldn’t possibly be a match for him either!”
“That’s for sure! Didn’t you see what just happened? His Excellency Su Yi took down five Spiritual Revolutions experts. He cut them down, one by one!”
….The onlookers were in uproar. As they discussed the battle they’d just witnessed, their hearts swelled with emotion.
And when they evaluated Su Yi’s abilities, all of them seemed respectful, complimentary, and even reverent.
“Had the imperial family lost today, the ancient factions would have taken their place at the pinnacle of the Great Xia. Yet Su Yi single-handedly turned the tides!” murmured an older-generation expert. “I can already predict that today’s battle will shift the balance of power. The ancient factions won’t dare act up lightly!”
Someone else sighed, “Everyone assumed that the imperial family was protecting Su Yi, but I just realized that Su Yi was the imperial family’s pillar of support all along…”
“Just how strong do you think His Excellency Su Yi is?”
“I don’t know, but I’m afraid it’d be hard to find more than a few people capable of contending with him even if you searched the entire nation!”
……
As they listened to the crowd’s discussions, Zeng Pu, Chi Jiansu, and the other prominent young geniuses felt nothing but admiration; they no longer had any desire to compare themselves with Su Yi.
The gulf was too enormous.
There was simply no comparison!
“There’s actually someone like him here on the Azure Continent? Even in the Netherworld, he’d be a first-rate, matchless genius… I have to report this to the sect,” a fair-skinned, ordinary-looking young man in black robes muttered to himself.
“The Netherworld? What’s that?” One of the cultivators standing nearby asked in confusion. He’d obviously overheard what the young man in black was saying.
“You wouldn’t understand,” laughed the young man. “So just forget it.”
With that, he turned and left.
The cultivator who’d spoken to him fell into a brief daze as all his memories of the young man in black disappeared, leaving no trace behind.
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It wasn’t just him; everyone else in the surrounding area completely forgot that a young man in black had watched the battle alongside them. He’d silently wiped away their memories, leaving no traces behind! His abilities were unbelievable!
……
“Elder Mi, what… what should we do?” one of the House of the Skywalking Sword disciples couldn’t help but ask.
Mi Tianhe was silent. His face alternated white and green, and his hands clenched.
And here he’d thought a Spiritual Revolution Realm expert like Wen Rufeng would be able to take Su Yi down with ease.
But that didn’t happen.
Then he figured that a group of five Spiritual Revolution Realm experts ought to be enough to finish the job.
But… they couldn’t do it either!
The curtains had set on today’s grand battle. When Mi Tianhe watched him leave in triumph, he suddenly realized that he had a big problem.
Ten days ago, Su Yi told him to repeat everything he’d said after the ancient actions were defeated. He said that if he didn’t, he’d visit the House of the Skywalking Sword personally!
At the time, Mi Tianhe turned up his nose at him. He in no way believed that would happen.
But now…
Now, he realized that the problem was already incomparably dire!
…
Nine Tripod City, the top of a tall building.
The atmosphere was silent and stifled.
Pu Surong, A’Leng, and Ruo Huan said nothing.
They’d witnessed the entire battle. Their initial calm had transformed as they were astonished over and over again…
Now that it was over, they felt completely dazed.
After a while, Ruo Huan murmured, “Su Yi… obviously hasn’t been possessed, and he isn’t a monster of the ancient era, so how… how could he be this terrifyingly strong?”
There was a look of utter bewilderment on her beautiful face.
Pu Surong’s eyelashes quivered, and she let out a deep sigh. “I finally understand where Xia Yunjing got the confidence to refuse me.”
She paused, then said with an air of self-deprecation, “To think I tried to send Su Yi coal in a blizzard. Looking back on it now, my efforts were ridiculous indeed…”
A’Leng took a deep breath. “Big Sis, it seems to me that this is our only chance to leave with Qingyuan! Su Yi has only just overcome a grand battle, and he’s surely at his limit. If we act now, our power is enough to seize her from Xia Yunjing.”
He paused, then added, “So long as we act quickly and return straight to the Bright Sky Realm, by the time Su Yi realizes what’s happened, it’ll be too late!”
Pu Surong’s expression filled with uncertainty.
……
Mount Heavenbristle.
“He won!” Weng Jiu cried out in excitement.
This battle had been hair-raising, but the ending was extremely satisfying.
Weng Jiu could still picture Su Yi standing in the air, sword in hand, as he slew an entire group of enemies. The thought made his blood boil.
“I predicted that Fellow Daoist Su would win, but I didn’t expect he’d win so beautifully!” The Xia Emperor sighed. He lost himself in his excitement; it was hard to avoid.
Su Yi was just too strong!
With his Spiritual Manifestation Realm cultivation, he’d defeated the forces of five allied ancient factions in one fell swoop. It was like a miracle!
“I’m going back now.” Wen Xinzhao turned and left, just like that. She was eager to return to Azurecloud Court as soon as possible.
“We’re going too! I want to thank Fellow Daoist Su in person!” the Xia Emperor said without so much as pausing to think.
“My lord,” Weng Jiu suddenly interjected, “I’m sure that Pu Surong is unwilling to accept what just happened, and I’m afraid she might do something foolish without regard for the possible consequences.”
The Xia Emperor’s eyes narrowed, and after a moment’s silence, he said, “Bring Qingyuan with us. We’ll all go to Azurecloud Court together.”
“Yes, sir!”
When the group departed, all of Mount Heavenbristle was in uproar as everyone shouted for joy.
There was no doubt about it; the imperial family had already learned what had happened, and they were celebrating Su Yi’s victory.
……
Azurecloud Court.
“Huh. You got here faster than anyone else.” Su Yi was already sprawled out comfortably beside the pond, soaking in the springtime sunlight. He seemed utterly relaxed.
The old blind man stood to the side and grinned. “That’s because I knew that with your abilities, exterminating a pack of bungling clowns would be no problem at all. That’s why I rushed over right away to congratulate you on your victory.”
“You said it yourself; they were nothing but a pack of bungling clowns,” laughed Su Yi. “What need is there for congratulations?”
As he spoke, he took out a jug of wine and started drinking.
The old blind man hesitated, then said, “Your Excellency, I watched the battle from within Nine Tripod City, and I discovered someone I suspect was a disciple of Meng Po Palace within the crowd. However, he was too far away for me to know for certain.”
Su Yi was stunned. “Just one person?”
“That’s right.”
“What did he look like?”
“Please, have a look.” As he spoke, the old blind man drew his finger through the air. A light curtain appeared, reflecting a dense crowd of onlookers. They stood on a hill far from Nine Tripod City.
“That’s him, Your Excellency!” The old blind man stretched out his finger and pointed to a fair-skinned, ordinarily-looking young man in black reflected on the light curtain.
There was nothing outwardly special about his appearance, but his expression was different from the other onlookers. He was too calm, as steady as a boulder, without the slightest ripple of emotion.
“Your Excellency, look at the hem of his clothes. Ordinary people might not recognize the pattern embroidered there, but I can tell that it’s a depiction of the Netherworld’s Naihe Ridge and the River of Forgetfulness!” said the old blind man.
He had no eyeballs, yet he saw in such detail.
Su Yi looked over, and indeed, there was a landscape embroidered on the young man’s robes. There was a ridge on one side, a winding river on the other.
Most people would think nothing of it, but as the old blind man said, anyone who’d seen Naihe Ridge and the River of Forgetfulness would recognize them at a glance!
“That really was a disciple of the Meng Po Palace.” Su Yi nodded. “They’re focused on soul cultivation, and their loftiest inheritance is the Classic of Nightmares and Comprehending the Profound. Everyone who practices it has eyes like gray whirlpools.”
The black-robed young man reflected in the curtain of light did indeed have eyes like unmoving whirlpools, but under the poor lighting, it was difficult to notice without looking closely.
“It seems the Meng Po Palace has already started taking action. I just don’t know whether they’ll set their sights on you over this battle or not, Your Excellency.” The old blind man frowned.
Su Yi laughed, not the least bit concerned. “Why worry about that? If they really dare become my enemies, they’ll be seeking out their own demise.”
In his past life, he once traversed the Netherworld, and he’d saved the Profound Purple Netherworld Emperor from the depths of the Sea of Bitterness.
He naturally knew the Meng Po Palace like the back of his hand.
Were they to become his enemies, he naturally knew how best to instill obedience in them.
The old blind man facepalmed and laughed, “How could I forget? With your all-encompassing abilities, you have no need to concern yourself about such things, Your Excellency.”
He’d only just said this when a grave voice rang out beyond the residence’s gates.
“Fellow Daoist Su, Mi Tianhe of the House of the Skywalking Sword has come to beg for forgiveness!”