Chapter 1037 - The Cenotaph
Su Yi and the middle-aged man in Daoist robes walked through the stars.
The way the middle-aged man saw it, Su Yi was at most twenty, and due to his bone age, he couldn’t possibly be some old monster disguised as a youth. Bone age couldn’t be faked.
Yet a young man like this dared cross the stars alone. Either he had astonishing origins, or he had something else he was relying on.
And it seemed highly likely that this “something else” was an extraordinarily powerful secret treasure!
That aside, the middle-aged man in Daoist robes sensed that something wasn’t quite right about Su Yi’s aura. It seemed almost like he had no cultivation at all, but when he examined Su Yi more closely, he felt as if he couldn’t quite see through him.
All of this piqued the middle-aged man’s interest. He planned to investigate just what this young man was capable of and determine whether or not he was a fatty lamb ready for the slaughter.
But in Su Y’s eyes, there was only one way to describe the middle-aged man in Daoist robes: chives delivering themselves to his door!
Each had their ill intentions, but they maintained amiable expressions, laughing and chatting calmly, like long-separated old friends.
But in truth, one saw the other as a fatty lamb, and the “fatty lamb” saw him as “chives.”
“Right, little brother, I still haven’t asked. Might I learn your honorable name and surname, and which sect you hail from?” the middle-aged man asked with feigned casualness.
Su Yi laughed. “Better not to say. I’m afraid your heart won’t be able to take it.”
The middle-aged man’s eyes flashed, and he laughed and said leisurely, “Little brother, to tell the truth, I’ve experienced plenty of wind and waves over the years, and I’ve grown accustomed to armed conflict and bloodshed.”
The words flowed out of him, and a hint of pride appeared in his expression. “Now, even some of the Wilds’ Emperors have to treat me with respect! And those who’ve opposed me… Heh, by now, not even their bones remain.”
He looked at Su Yi, his gaze rife with meaning. “Now do you think my heart won’t be able to take it?”
He tried to find changes in Su Yi’s expression, but against all expectations, the young man in blue seemed just as calm and composed as before.
After a moment’s thought, Su Yi said, “Very well. Since you want to know my origins, it’d be unkind to hide them any longer.”
The middle-aged man in Daoist robes smiled and looked attentive.
Su Yi gazed into the boundless starry void and whispered, “I’m surnamed Su, and my given name is Xuanjun.”
“So, you’re Little Brother Su.” The middle-aged man smiled.
But then, his eyes widened as if he’d been shocked, and his smile froze in place. “Did you just say your name is… Su Xuanjun!?”
This was an uncharacteristic loss of composure, and his shifting expressions were a sight to behold.
Su Yi smiled and nodded. “You didn’t mishear me.”
After staring intently at Su Yi for a moment, the middle-aged man’s brow furrowed with anger and displeasure, “Little Brother, I sincerely treated you as a friend despite the difference in age, only for you to turn around and joke like this! This is too much!”
“A joke?” said Su Yi with a thought-provoking smile.
But the middle-aged man in Daoist robes was in no mood to ponder it. He said irritably, “Throughout the Wilds, and throughout the worlds scattered across the stars, who doesn’t know the name of the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force? Who doesn’t know how legendary the man whose sword dominated the Wild was?
“Yet you dare impersonate him and use his name in jest. You’ve sure got gall!”
But it seemed he still hadn’t quite finished venting. He snorted coldly, “Little brother, my words might be grating to the ears, but even though the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force passed five hundred years ago, his disciples and grand-disciples remain. If your words reach their ears, you’ll be in for disaster!”
Su Yi’s gaze shifted inscrutably, and he shook his head. “Forget it. No need to discuss this.”
The thought of his disciples and grand-disciples soured his mood.
The middle-aged man in Daoist robes smiled. “Very well. Since you’re unwilling to share your name and origins, I won’t ask.”
But inwardly, his heart surged with murderous intent. This little shit! How can he lie so flippantly? He could have impersonated anyone, so why impersonate Su Xuanjun of all people!?
Even an idiot would realize how blatant a lie that was, yet this kid dared fob me off so brazenly!
This is blatant provocation! He has to be doing this on purpose!
After this exchange, the middle-aged man rarely spoke.
But Su Yi couldn’t be bothered to concern himself with mere chives’ feelings. “Right, brother, do you know what happened on the Thousand Whirlpool Star Road?
The middle-aged man’s eyes flashed. “Don’t tell me you don’t know?”
Su Yi asked earnestly, “Please guide me, brother.”
The middle-aged man smiled. “It sounds complicated, but it’s really quite simple. Three days ago, there was a sudden development on a barren star along the Thousand Whirlpools Star Road, and a mysterious cenotaph appeared!”
A cenotaph was much like a grave marker, except the corpse of the person it commemorated was absent. Only their clothing and other belongings were buried there.
According to the middle-aged man in Daoist robes, this particular cenotaph was extremely strange. When it emerged from the ground, the entire stretch of stars trembled, and it unleashed dazzling black light that illuminated everything in all directions.
That aside, ancient chanting occasionally emanated from within the cenotaph, like Buddhist monks chanting sutras. It was grand beyond measure.
But strangely, every cultivator who heard these sutras had their souls thrown into turmoil. Their minds collapsed, and in the end, they perished!
Even Emperors took devastating damage!
From this, people guessed that an unsurpassed, precious treasure was buried inside, and that it contained a mysterious imprint of the Grand Dao capable of shaking cultivators’ souls.
Some people even suspected that an unknown, ancient Daoist scripture was buried inside. In that case, the chanting was just traces of the scripture’s mysterious power fluctuations escaping the cenotaph.
This incident threw the entire stretch of stars into uproar.
Countless tough customers were drawn to it. All of them were attempting to uncover and obtain this unknown, mysterious stroke of good fortune.
Su Yi didn’t find this at all strange.
In the world of cultivation, such struggles for good fortune were too numerous to count.
“Little brother, if you’re interested, I wouldn’t mind going there with you,” the middle-aged man said with a smile.
Su Yi smiled back. “Then let’s go have a look.”
He was headed to the Profound Sky Realm, so he had to pass through the Thousand Whirlpools Star Road. There was no getting around it.
As the two of them conversed, they entered the stretch of skies the Thousand Whirlpools Star Road was in.
Enough time to burn a stick of incense later.
Numerous treasure ships suddenly appeared in the distance. All of them were fleeing in their direction.
Someone shouted, “Run, quickly! The road up ahead is blocked, and all trespassers are killed!”
“Who are those people? One wrong word, and they’ll kill people! Even Emperors were killed as if they were nothing. It’s far too terrifying!” someone muttered in terror.
The entire star road was instantly noisy and chaotic.
“The road’s been sealed off up ahead?” Su Yi’s eyebrows rose slightly.
But the middle-aged man in Daoist robes suddenly stretched out his arm.
Boom!
He suddenly dragged a thousand-foot treasure ship toward them. The cultivators on board almost collapsed out of sheer terror.
But then, the middle-aged man in Daoist robes flashed them a warm smile. “Please don’t panic, everyone. I invited you here to ask what happened up ahead.”
How could they possibly dare to refuse? Soon, all of them were talking at once, and they explained the situation in full detail.
It turned out that a powerful, mysterious faction had appeared and sealed off that stretch of stars. They didn’t permit anyone else to draw near, and those brave enough to try it were killed without mercy!
This news left the middle-aged man in Daoist robes considerably more solemn than before. He muttered to himself, “It seems that a prominent faction intends to monopolize the good fortune within the cenotaph…”
A moment later, he looked at Su Yi and smiled. “Little brother, this news hasn’t scared you, has it?”
“....” Su Yi said nothing. What’s there to be afraid of?
“If you’re afraid, I’ll go on my own,” said Su Yi. He was already continuing on his way.
The middle-aged man couldn’t help but arch his eyebrows. This kid’s sure got an abundance of confidence! But then, this is an opportunity to see what he’s made of!
He didn’t hesitate to catch up to Su Yi.
It was only after they’d left that the cultivators on board the treasure ship recovered from their astonishment.
“Who was that Daoist just now? Why was he so terrifying?”
“Shh! Pipe down!” said one of the older cultivators, his face deathly pale with anxiety. “Unless my eyes deceive me, that was Old Devil Blood Owl!”
The crowd gasped, and chills coursed through their entire bodies.
Old Devil Blood Owl!
He was one of the Nine Great Fiends of the heretical path that wandered these stars, an old devil who’d slaughtered far too many lives to count!
Rumor had it that although he looked elegant, he was brutal and temperamental, and his strength was unfathomable. He was near the top of the list of those you couldn’t afford to offend!
…
On the road ahead, they occasionally saw treasure ships headed in the opposite direction, as well as a few mighty cultivators traversing the stars alone.
But neither Su Yi nor the middle-aged man in Daoist robes retreated.
Some of those they passed recognized the middle-aged man, and all of them gave him a wide berth. Their expressions were full of dread and terror.
This only made him seem even more mysterious, but Su Yi disregarded this completely.
But his sheer indifference only baffled the middle-aged man in Daoist robes. I’m afraid any ordinary person would have realized I had an extraordinary status a long time ago.
So why isn’t this kid reacting at all!?
The middle-aged man said probingly, “Little brother, aren’t you curious about who I am?”
Su Yi smiled and shook his head. You’re nothing but chives to me, and there’s no way you’ll avoid the impending harvest. Why should I care who you are?
The middle-aged man’s brow furrowed imperceptibly. He’d been subtly keeping tabs on Su Yi all this time, but now, he was more uncertain than ever.
This was for no other reason than that the young man in blue robes was far too calm, as if he didn’t care about any of this at all.
His reaction was unquestionably strange.
Who cares whether you’re putting on airs or you have impressive origins? In a bit, I’ll test you for myself. Then I’ll know what you’re capable of, you fatty little lamb! The middle-aged man laughed to himself.
“Ee? Daoist Brother Blood Owl is here too!” Before long, a raspy voice emanated from afar.
They then saw about ten people standing in the distant starry void. All of them had terrifying auras.
Some of them, Su Yi had seen earlier.
Like the withered old man in black riding astride a massive black gourd, the scholarly young man astride an arc of white light, or the saber-wielder with the explosive aura, the one riding the vicious bird.
All of them were either top experts amongst roving space bandits or powerful heretical cultivators!
When Su Yi and the man in Daoist robes arrived, they immediately drew these old monsters’ attention.
The one who’d called out in greeting was the thin old man in black robes. When he saw Su Yi accompanying the middle-aged man in Daoist robes, he couldn’t help but look bewildered. What’s that kid doing with Old Monster Blood Owl?
He still remembered his earlier attempt to probe this kid’s abilities, only for the kid to turn around and warn him without the slightest politeness.
He seemed extraordinarily arrogant!
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