Chapter 1125 - Do You Have a Guilty Conscience?
Beneath the clear skies, everything was silent.
Countless onlookers watched as a group appeared in the distance.
The leader’s blue robes fluttered around him. He walked through the air with his hands behind his back, as if he were out for a casual stroll, transcendent and detached.
There was uproar throughout the surrounding area. The onlookers’ faces filled with excitement, wonder, admiration, and bewilderment.
The Swordmaster of Abstruse Force!
This legendary figure had finally returned!
The old-timers in attendance felt waves of emotion course through their hearts.
The Swordmaster of Abstruse Force seemed just...far too young.
This wasn’t due to his lofty, unfathomable cultivation base making him look young. Rather, his bone age really was only about twenty. He really was in the prime of his youth.
Before long, the onlookers noticed the group following the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force.
This group included his disciples: Jin Kui, Wang Que, Ye Luo, Xuan Ning, and Bai Yi. The Skythorn Poison Emperor was also with them.
They’d appeared last time, at Martial Heaven Peak, too. Thus, no one was surprised to see them with the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force again.
It was someone else who really astonished them.
Her dress was as red as fire, and her skin was as fair as snow. Her beauty dazzled everything beneath the heavens, and she had the contemptuous, majestic air of a deity as she walked alongside the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force, drawing countless gazes.
“The Heavensdeath Demon Empress!” an old monster cried out, breaking the deathly silence.
Uproar instantly arose on all sides.
Never mind the ordinary cultivators; even most of the old monsters’ faces filled with shock. Who in the Wilds didn’t know how terrifying the founder of the Demons’ Elysium was?
“What’s that demoness doing with the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force? She’s lost to him repeatedly over the years, and badly at that. They’re like fire and water!”
“Shh, pipe down!”
The uproar only further highlighted the Heavensdeath Demon Empress’s imposing majesty and prestige.
But from beginning to end, she disregarded this completely. Her starry eyes were indifferent, and her bearing was aloof. It was as if the crowd didn’t even exist.
It was only when her gaze landed on Su Yi that it revealed a hint of tenderness.
As for Su Yi? He was long accustomed to scenes like this. He completely disregarded the countless eyes staring in his direction.
“The Grotto of Abstruse Force is just as it was. It hasn’t changed at all...” A hint of sentiment appeared on his face when he looked at the beautiful mountains, a place perfect for nurturing talent.
The Grotto of Abstruse Force was the orthodoxy he’d founded himself. Over the years, he’d made countless unerasable memories here.
Now, he’d reincarnated and come back. More than ever before, Su Yi felt as if it really had all been a lifetime ago. He was like a wandering son finally returning home.
“Ol’ Brother Su, the longer you live, the younger you get!” Ancestor Peng broke into hearty laughter as he stepped into the air to greet Su Yi.
He had a thin face, and he was dressed in worn-out Daoist robes and a brimless hat. He looked ordinary, but in truth, he was the oldest person present, and he had the highest seniority.
“How did this startle you out of seclusion, you old-timer? And here I thought you’d watch from a safe distance without getting involved, just like you did last time. I didn’t think you had the guts to stick out your head,” Su Yi said casually.
The other old-timers who spent their days in seclusion instantly felt a bit awkward. All of them could tell that Su Yi was making fun of them.
But Ancestor Peng didn’t mind at all. Instead, he laughed. “Your temper hasn’t changed at all, Su Xuanjun!”
“Old Monster Su, we’re not here to watch a spectacle,” rasped a bony, deathly pale old man in black. “Win or lose, what happens today will affect the direction of the Wilds.”
The Border Mountain Yao Ancestor!
He was the living fossil of the Wilds’ greatest yao orthodoxy, the Cloud Tower Immortal Pavilion.
“If you win, everyone in the Wilds will honor you as they did before, but if you lose... your defeat will have far too great an impact on the Wilds’ balance of power,” said the Border Mountain Yao Ancestor. He swept his gaze across the area. “Given the circumstances, how could we old-timers possibly remain seated?”
Su Yi laughed dryly. “And here I thought you were here to help, you old fart. So, you just want to see whether or not I can regain control of the Grotto of Abstruse Force.”
The Border Mountain Yao Ancestor said irritably, “Even if I wanted to help, would you accept my aid?”
“Now that you mention it, no.” Su Yi lightly shook his head.
He, Ancestor Peng, and the Border Mountain Yao Ancestor had known each other for a long time. Their bonds weren’t exactly deep, but they were all like-minded people.
“Old Monster Su, you’d best be careful. The Church of the River of Stars stands behind that little disciple of yours, and it wouldn’t do to underestimate them,” said a deep, rich voice.
A middle-aged man in jade robes walked over from afar. He wore a jade crown, and he carried a scepter.
He was elegant and charismatic, but when he spoke, many of the onlookers’ hearts trembled.
The Dark Mist Spirit Sovereign!
The living fossil of the Dark Sacred Mountain of the South.
“The Church of the River of Stars?” Su Yi shook his head. “They’re not worth considering.”
The Dark Mist Spirit Sovereign rubbed his brow and sighed. “I just knew you wouldn’t heed my advice. Still, if you lose to that little disciple of yours, it won’t simply leave your reputation in tatters. It could even...”
He’d only just said this when a voice as pleasing as the music of the heavens suddenly reverberated throughout heaven and earth.
“Why do you old-timers think my master is going to attack me?”
It was just one sentence, but the majesty therein was enough to suppress all other voices. A stifled silence descended upon the landscape.
Everyone’s heart shook, and their expressions shifted as they looked over.
They then watched as a slender figure emerged from the gates of the Grotto of Abstruse Force.
Her hair was tied up, and her shoulders looked as if they’d been carved by a master artisan. Her waist was slim, and even though her long black dress was entirely unornamented, she was so beautiful that the sight of her shook the heart.
The gentle light of dawn poured down. Mists and clouds hung in the air.
Qing Tang walked through the sky, her unparalleled, beautiful face shining with a holy, ethereal glow.
As her bright, profound gaze swept across the area, a formless majesty enveloped heaven and earth. Countless cultivators held their breath.
Even the old-timers felt thoroughly ill at ease.
Empress Qing Tang!
Five hundred years ago, when the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force reincarnated, Qing Tang occupied the Grotto of Abstruse Force and proclaimed herself sovereign of the Wilds! And in all this time, no one had ever shaken her position!
She rose into the air, scanned her surroundings, then gazed at the distant Su Yi.
Master and apprentice locked eyes from afar. Heaven and earth were silent, and all hearts tensed.
Of late, the Wilds had practically boiled over with discussion. Everyone was trying to guess what would happen when the reincarnation of the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force returned to the Grotto of Abstruse Force. How would Empress Qing Tang react?
Some said with conviction that this reunion between master and apprentice would influence the direction of the Wilds!
Others said that this reunion would end with a fight.
Now, as the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force and Empress Qing Tang faced each other, everyone watched with bated breath.
Even Jin Kui, Wang Que, and the other apprentices were nervous.
Then, beneath countless eyes, Qing Tang took a deep breath and said, “Disciple Qing Tang greets you, Master!”
As her voice rang out, she lowered her head and bowed in greeting. The look on her delicate face was solemn and respectful.
There was uproar amongst the onlookers, as if they found it difficult to believe. They couldn’t even imagine how Qing Tang, someone long viewed as a traitor to the sect, would behave so respectfully.
Su Yi’s gaze was inscrutable and a bit conflicted.
When Qing Tang greeted him, she looked just like the youngest disciple he remembered, the one he doted on the most. There was nothing to criticize about her at all.
But time changed everything it touched. Far too much had happened over the past five hundred years. As a result, when he saw Qing Tang now, Su Yi found it difficult to feel happy.
The Border Mountain Yao Ancestor snorted coldly. “Over the years, she received guidance and unparalleled instruction in the Dao from her master. Without him, she could never have reached where she is. Why shouldn’t she refer to herself as her master’s disciple when she greets him? Is there anything wrong with that?”
His voice boomed like thunder, echoing throughout the mountains and rivers.
Everyone fell silent. Each had a different expression on their face.
The Border Mountain Yao Ancestor was, of course, not wrong. But who beneath the heaven didn’t know that Qing Tang was no longer as she was back then?
After finishing her bow, Qing Tang straightened her back, and her pink lips parted as she spoke in a voice like the clear burbling of a spring. “Senior Border Mountain, you’re absolutely right. I am my master’s ninth disciple. Now, my master has returned. Failing to welcome him earlier was already a breach of etiquette on my part.”
Everyone was bewildered. They couldn’t guess what Empress Qing Tang was thinking.
She seemed far too composed and forthright. Even when she faced her master, there was nothing to criticize about her words or bearing.
“You understand my personality. Now that we’ve reunited as master and apprentice, there’s no need to waste words,” said Su Yi, his expression calm, without the slightest ripple of emotion. “I’ll just ask you a single question: have you ever had a guilty conscience?”
Heaven and earth stilled, and the crowd fell silent. All eyes were on Qing Tang.
The old-timers' keen senses told them that Su Yi’s words had an altogether different significance.
Because he wasn’t asking if she’d betrayed him, or if she’d spurned her master and her sect. Rather, he was asking if she felt guilty about what she’d done over the years!
Qing Tang sank briefly into silence, her beautiful face shifting erratically.
After a while, she nodded slightly, and when she spoke, her voice contained unconcealable melancholy. “I’ve always had a guilty conscience!”
Everyone was stunned. Is Empress Qing Tang admitting that she’s done things disadvantageous to her master!?
Jin Kui and the other disciples’ expressions were instantly overcast.
On their way here, all of them had harbored a thread of hope. Although Qing Tang’s behavior had been unusual over the years, none of it really qualified as “spurning one’s master,” let alone betraying him.
Thus, in their hearts, they’d hoped that Qing Tang wasn’t a true traitor like Pi Mo was.
After all, they were once sectmates, and they’d cultivated and pursued the Dao together for a long time. Pi Mo’s betrayal had already dealt them a heavy blow. They naturally didn’t wish to see Qing Tang confirmed as a traitor!
But now, when Qing Tang said the words “I have a guilty conscience,” the hearts of Jin Kui and the other disciples sank.
Ancestor Peng, the Border Mountain Yao Ancestor, the Dark Mist Spirit Venerate, and the other old-timers couldn’t help but feel stunned. A guilty conscience?
This has an entirely different flavor!
Su Yi’s brow furrowed imperceptibly. He swept his gaze around the surrounding area before saying calmly, “I gave Pi Mo the opportunity to explain himself, and I’ll do the same for you. Now, do you want to explain yourself first? Or are you going to try to stop me from returning to the Grotto of Abstruse Force?”
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