Chapter 1036 - How About We Travel Together, Little Brother?
A little boat soared freely through the stars.
This boat was manifested by Moonlit Shadow. It looked like a radiant crescent moon overflowing with clear light, and it was extraordinarily quick.
Su Yi sprawled out inside it, examining a painting.
Dou Kou had given it to him after their adventures in Sumeru Immortal Island.
Dou Kou had been born with two souls, and one of her souls achieved the Dao through painting. She was a remarkable artist.
This painting was of Yue Shichan. It depicted her bathing in a clear blue lake, droplets of water flowing down her long black hair. Sunlight reflected off the shifting surface of the lake, its soft light illuminating her beautiful face.
Most of that delicate body whiter than frost and snow—everything beneath her collarbones—was submerged. However, hints of her ample curves were just barely discernible through the surface of the lake.
It was just a painting, but it was a vivid, lifelike depiction. It seemed as if the beauty depicted in it might come to life at a moment’s notice.
This masterful painting technique made even Su Yi sigh with amazement.
He’d found it a few days ago, while sorting his belongings. Looking at it now, he couldn’t help but recall that cold, aloof young beauty fixated on the sword.
Back in the Azure Continent, Yue Shichan’s father, the Ash Night Sword Emperor Yue Changtian, took her to the Profound Sky Realm, one of the Wilds’ thirty-three subsidiary worlds.
Su Yi still remembered telling her that, should she face trouble too great to neutralize on her own, she could proceed to the Western Mountain Province and the Little Western Paradise, the Wilds’ top Buddhist holy land. Should anyone question her, all she needed to do was ask “Is the Lotus Platform still there?” Then, she was sure to receive aid from Buddhist Master Inkstone Heart.
Now that I do the math, it’s already been two years since Shichan left… thought Su Yi.
He suddenly recalled something. With a flip of his hand, a wooden hairpin appeared in his hand. It was worn, and it had long since lost its luster.
It was carved of rosewood, and it was perfectly ordinary.
But when Yue Shichan left the Azure Continent, she gave it to Su Yi personally. She said that it was the first hairpin the old woman who’d brought her up had ever given her, and that although it was no treasure, it was extraordinarily meaningful to her. She hoped Su Yi could look after it for her.
Su Yi naturally didn’t refuse.
And he vividly recalled that as soon as he voiced his agreement, the icy, aloof Yue Shichan instantly relaxed, and she even smiled.
It was a smile like the springtime sunlight melting the ice, so radiant that all of heaven and earth seemed to lose color by comparison.
Now, looking at the woman in the painting and running his fingers along the wooden hairpin, Su Yi thought to himself, I could stop by the Profound Sky Realm on my way to the Wilds and see how she’s doing.
Three days later, a familiar stretch of stars entered Su Yi’s field of view.
He abruptly sat up and circulated a secret art. Nigh-imperceptible divine firelight shone in the depths of his gaze as he stared into the distant starry void.
There, far in the distance, he saw a massive outline, like a stretch of chaos. It filled that entire stretch of space.
Upon closer inspection, it was an ancient, boundless world, massive beyond imagination. The countless stars clustered around it seemed miniscule by comparison. They were like jewelry adoring that vast plane.
Su Yi’s lips parted, and he said just two words. “The Wilds!”
Although he’d never ventured into the depths of outer space, he’d frequently crossed the starry skies between the Wilds and its subsidiary worlds. He’d naturally passed through this stretch of stars before.
Thus, he recognized it at a glance.
It’s been five hundred years, but I’m finally back… Su Yi couldn’t help but look a bit dazed, and ripples of emotion coursed through his heart.
Scenes of his past life flooded into his sea of consciousness, and some time passed before Su Yi gradually calmed himself down.
Due to the excessive distance, he could only see the rough outline of the Wilds, but he could still see the smaller worlds around its periphery.
Su Yi activated the boat manifested of Moonlit Shadow and continued ahead without delay.
Sometimes, even though a mountain was visible, it was still far enough that a horse could die of exhaustion before reaching it. The same was true for cultivators flying through the stars. Su Yi could see these worlds, but when he actually headed toward them, they were incomparably far away.
Six hours later, Su Yi finally identified the location of the Profound Sky Realm, and he hurried toward it.
The Wilds consisted of the Nine Provinces, which were surrounded by thirty-three subsidiary worlds. The Profound Sky Realm was one of them.
The Profound Sky was closest to the Wilds’ northernmost province, the Northern Snow Province. It and five other nearby worlds were collectively known as the Six Northern Snow Realms!
Along the way, Su Yi put away Moonlit Shadow.
The reason for this was simple. He didn’t want to invite trouble!
The stretch of stars leading to the Wilds wasn’t at all peaceful. On the contrary, it was incomparably perilous!
Natural celestial windstorms, temporal rifts, and gusts of oblivion aside, numerous bandits, heretical cultivators, and other outlaws wandered these stars.
There was a type of punishment famed throughout the Wilds: sending one’s enemies into the depths of outer space. Whether they lived or died depended on them.
The stars were far too perilous and turbulent. Death was always right around the corner.
Su Yi naturally wasn’t afraid of all that, but he was afraid of inviting unnecessary trouble and delays.
Whoosh!
Su Yi streaked ahead like a beam of flowing light. As time passed, numerous treasure ships appeared on the path. All of them flowed with colorful light as they hurtled toward the Wilds.
Su Yi occasionally saw other solo travelers, but they were relatively uncommon.
None of those who dared cross the stars alone were easily dealt with. They were either tough customers who spent their days amidst the stars, or experts with lofty, unfathomable cultivation bases.
Su Yi was well aware that to the inhabitants of its subsidiary worlds, the Wild were like the center of this stretch of stars, a holy ground for cultivation.
Furthermore, throughout its history, cultivators from subsidiary worlds had frequently risked their lives to go to the Wilds in pursuit of the Dao.
Now, Su Yi knew that this boundless stretch of stars, including the Netherworld, was known as the Dark and Gold Star Realm.
A long-withered celestial ruin…
“You’re not simple, young man! You actually dare travel the stars alone? Aren’t you afraid that space bandits will rob and kill you?” a mocking voice rang out.
A moment later, a thin old man in black robes shot past Su Yi atop a black gourd. His eyes were sunken, and his hair and beard were graying, while his eyes shone with unnatural jade light. As he passed Su Yi, he deliberately slowed down to evaluate him.
Su Yi could tell at a glance that this was an old monster of the heretical path, and furthermore, that he’d killed too many to count. His hands were stained with blood.
Although the old-timer had restrained his malevolent aura, how could it elude Su Yi’s keen eyes?
“I urge you not to provoke me,” said Su Yi. After this light, airy declaration, he continued ahead unperturbed.
The old man in black was stunned, and jade-colored fire blazed in his eyes.
A moment later, he stroked his goatlike beard and burst into laughter. I’d really like to see just what this kid is capable of! Where does he get the confidence to talk to me like that…?
But in the end, he decided against it. He could tell that although the young man in blue looked like he was in his late teens, he was completely confident and fearless. There had to be a reason for his confidence.
Forget it. I’ve already got a target in mind, and I can’t afford trouble. I’ll let this kid off just this once. The old man in black robes shook his head and rode off on his gourd.
After passing Su Yi, the black-robed elder laughed a warning. “Young man, if you plan to take the Thousand Whirlpools Star Road to the Profound Sky Realm, I urge you to stop here. Otherwise, be careful not to bring disaster upon yourself.”
Before his voice had even finished echoing through the surrounding space, he disappeared into the distance.
Su Yi furrowed his brow.
The Thousand Whirlpools Star Road was a path through the stars. It was the only route to the Profound Sky Realm.
Well, in a way. Cosmic calamities plagued the other routes, so terrifying that people paled at the mere mention of them. They were so dangerous that not even Emperors dared try those paths, so they could only go through the Thousand Whirlpools Star Road. And now, the dark-robed old man was implying that similar dangers lurked there as well!
A moment later, Su Yi shook his head and gave the matter no further thought.
The Thousand Whirlpools Star Road was the shortest available path, and it was relatively safe as far as he knew.
If he took another path, his abilities might well let him reach the Profound Sky Realm safely, but he was sure to waste a lot of time in the process.
On the road that followed, Su Yi soon noticed quite a few mighty Imperial Realm cultivators. They too were headed toward the Thousand Whirlpools Star Road!
There was a gray-robed man with billowing, blood-red hair and a saber on his back. He had a ferocious aura, and he rode astride a vicious black bird, making no effort to hide his imposing, explosive presence.
There was a young man who looked like a Confucian scholar. He carried a feather fan and wore a silk scarf as he rode an arc of white light through the stars.
There was a feminine, beautiful older woman who carried a flower basket woven out of bone. She stepped lightly through the air, and in the blink of an eye, she’d vanished.
Su Yi could tell that these Emperors weren’t orthodox cultivators. They were either elite members of interstellar bandit gangs or experts of the heretical path.
Simply put, none of them were kind or benevolent people!
It seems something really has happened on the Thousand Whirlpools Star Road to have drawn so many heretical cultivators here… thought Su Yi.
“Little brother, are you perhaps headed to the Thousand Whirlpools Star Road too?” Suddenly, a gentle voice rang out.
Su Yi looked over and saw a middle-aged man in a high hat, broad belt, and Daoist robes. He was smiling as he approached from the distance.
He had a dignified bearing and a smile as gentle as a spring breeze. He seemed like a man of virtue.
But Su Yi instantly realized that he was an old monster, the type to eat a man alive without so much as pausing to spit up the bones.
At first, he thought of just ignoring the man, but after a moment’s thought, something occurred to him. “Do you have business with me?”
The middle-aged man in Daoist robes smiled. “Don’t be nervous, little brother. I’ve been traveling on my own, and it’s been lonely and dull. I thought it might be nice to travel together, that’s all.”
Su Yi smiled faintly. “Truly?”
The middle-aged man in Daoist robes flashed him a dashing smile. “Rest assured. I know that since you dare travel the stars alone, you must have extraordinary origins. There must be reasons for your confidence. I naturally won’t try anything unseemly.”
“Oh,” said Su Yi. “I hope that’s the case.”
The middle-aged man smiled. “I’ll take that as you agreeing to travel with me, little brother.”
He seemed gratified and visibly delighted. That smile as gentle as a spring breeze made him easy to like.
Oh? This old thing is actually using a demonic invocation to make me lower my guard… Su Yi smiled too, a hint of strange light in his eyes. “It’s a long journey, so I’d actually quite like someone to talk to. Let’s travel together then, brother.”
He smiled, and it looked as if he wouldn’t harm a fly.
But seeing Su Yi agree so readily made the middle-aged man’s eyelids twitch imperceptibly. He got the vague sense that something wasn’t quite right, but he couldn’t put a finger on what it was.
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