Chapter 1168 - A Return Journey
A’Cai said softly, “You can still use this Undying Talisman once, albeit just barely. Go back and tell your master that using an Undying Talisman against Imperial Apex cultivators is a complete waste.”
With that, she flicked her fingertips, and that endless, eternal golden ring recondensed into an Undying Talisman.
And A’Cai’s figure transformed into a rain of light and disappeared.
Jing Xing and Wang Que looked at each other. Both felt as if they were dreaming.
“Times.... Really have changed....” sighed Wang Que.
Before, in the Wilds, the Profound Dao was like the heavens, and Emperors were like gods.
And Imperial Apex cultivators were unsurpassed sovereigns!
Yet now that the forces of the starry skies had appeared, everyone discovered that the Path of Heaven’s Ascension existed above the Profound Dao!
Above Emperors, there were World Kings, experts capable of intimidating entire star realms!
All of this came as a massive shock to the Wilds, and it resulted in a dramatic change in its cultivators’ perception of reality.
Take now, for instance. The golden-robed man and his cohort were Imperial Apex cultivators. Here in the Wilds, they could act as they pleased.
But against A’Cai, they were no more than clay chickens and porcelain dogs!
“Our former perceptions have shattered, and a brand new world has opened before us,” Jing Xing said softly. “Isn’t this a good thing? Don’t forget. In his past life, Master bitterly searched for a higher path, only to fail to attain it. In the end, he had no choice but to undergo reincarnation and cultivate anew.
“But we’re different. We’ve already acquired the secrets of the Three Realms of the Path of Heaven’s Ascension, as well as Master’s guidance. We know exactly what we need to do to prove our Daos and become World Kings! How fortunate are we?”
Wang Que agreed completely.
“Come on, let’s go to the Graveyard of Fallen Immortals,” said Jing Xing. But just as he was about to proceed, he sensed something, and he slipped a talisman from his pocket.
It was emanating divine luster.
“Master has called us back!” Jing Xing said excitedly.
Wang Que was flabbergasted, and he found this difficult to believe. “The grand battle is over already?”
“Most likely! Furthermore, that Master called us back means he almost certainly won!” Jing Xing’s eyes shone with undisguisable delight.
“Let’s hurry!” Wang Que couldn’t wait any longer.
......
The Netherworld.
Outside of Tianya City, the home of the Ghost Serpents.
“Remember, when we begin our operation, we must capture Ye Yu immediately,” a dignified man in a feather coat said gravely.
His companions, three men and one woman, nodded.
They were from the Church of the River of Stars, and they’d come to Tianya City to capture Ye Yu alive and take her to the Wilds.
“It’s about time. Let’s begin,” ordered the man in the feather coat.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
The whole group silently shot toward Tianya City.
But before they’d gotten far, the man in the feather coat stopped abruptly. “Wait!”
He then slipped a bronze mirror from his breast pocket. A silver-haired elder floated onto its smooth surface.
“This operation is over. Hurry back to our designated meeting point in the Wilds, and don’t do anything to cause further trouble,” the silver-haired elder said with a deep sigh.
The man in the feather coat was stunned. "Why, Martial Uncle?"
The silver-haired elder’s expression shifted back and forth before finally, he said bitterly, “We lost. Everyone who participated in the battle on the Sea of Falling Stars... is dead.”
The man in the feather coat and his companions felt as if they’d been struck by lightning. They were stunned out of their wits.
We lost!?
Over a hundred Imperial Apex Emperors and more than a dozen World Kings... All of them are dead!?
An indescribable chill arose within their hearts and coursed through their entire bodies, as if they’d been plunged into an icy abyss.
“Come back quickly! Don’t delay!” The silver-haired elder urged them on.
Bang!
The mirror’s surface flashed, and the elder’s figure disappeared from view.
The man in the feather coat took a deep breath, gazed at the distant estate of the Ghost Serpents, and suppressed his bitterness. “Retreat!”
The group turned and left.
But although they didn’t know it, the estate of the Ghost Serpents was completely empty. The buildings remained, but their inhabitants were elsewhere.
A similar scene took place in Ziluo City, the home of the Cui Family.
......
Deep within the Sea of Bitterness, the Burial Ground of the Dao, the banks of the Reincarnation Pool.
“I just received word from Master telling us to return,” Jin Kui said excitedly, delight all over her face.
She’d come here on her master’s orders. She, Ye Luo, Bai Yi, and Xuan Ning came to the Netherworld, then split into groups, leading the Ghost Serpents and the Cui Family to take refuge deep within the Sea of Bitterness.
Ten days had passed since then, but they’d finally received word from their master!
“Old Monster Su must have won,” laughed Old Ghost Coffin-Bearer.
When Jin Kui and the others came here to seek refuge, they brought with them the Disc of the Six Paths. Old Ghost Coffin-Bearer sensed it immediately, and he emerged from the chaos source of the Netherworld to lead Jin Kui and company to safety on the banks of the Reincarnation Pool.
“But part of me doesn’t want to leave this place,” Cui Longxiang said with reluctance.
The shattered natural order of reincarnation remained here on the banks of the Reincarnation Pool. Cultivating here had brought him endless benefits.
“Hahaha, you old fox. You just love taking unfair advantage. Fine, then. Go ahead and stay!” laughed Old Ghost Coffin-Bearer.
Meanwhile, Ye Yu of the Ghost Serpents walked over to Jin Kui and said softly, “When you go back to see your master, might you pass on a message for me?”
“Of course,” Jin Kui said hurriedly. “Go right ahead, senior.”
She was well aware that her master and this delicate beauty had an undefined relationship between them, so both her words and her attitude were full of respect.
Ye Yu thought for a moment, then said bashfully, “Tell him... that once I’ve gotten my clansmen settled back in, I’ll come find him in the Wilds.”
“Me too!” You Xue’s voice emanated from within the Tianya Dark Torchlight hanging from Ye Yu’s waist.
Jin Kui straightforwardly agreed. “Seniors, please rest assured that I’ll report everything to Master just as it happened.”
Off in the distance, Cui Longxiang hurriedly transmitted to Po Suo, “See that, senior? Old Monster Su has long since bewitched Little Leaf. Whatever you do, don’t fall for his trick. That guy... owes far too many love debts. It makes me angry just watching him!”
“....”
Po Suo’s hair was white as snow, with a crimson mark on her forehead. Her figure was ethereal and illusory.
How could she fail to realize that Cui Longxiang was worried that Su Xuanjun would run off with her, bewitching her just as he had Ye Yu?
“You’re overthinking this. I admire Fellow Daoist Su, but that’s all it is. We’re kindred spirits when it comes to the Grand Dao, but we aren’t soulmates,” Po Suo said plainly.
But Cui Longxiang just looked worried. What ‘kindred spirits when it comes to the Grand Dao?’ What woman has ever escaped Old Monster Su’s clutches after he sets his sights on her?
Cui Longxiang inwardly made up his mind. No matter what, I can’t let Senior Po Suo visit Old Monster Su!
“Miss Jin Kui, might I accompany you to the Wilds too?” Ye Xun walked up and asked eagerly.
He was already indulging in fantasies of what would happen when he arrived in the Wilds. With a brother-in-law like that, won’t I be able to do whatever I want, wherever I want?
If anyone dares make trouble with me?
I’ll teach ‘em a lesson!
If anyone dares compete with me for attention?
I’ll teach ‘em a lesson!
And if anyone...
The more Ye Xun thought, the more excited he felt.
“No!” Ye Yu directly rejected the idea.
She understood her little brother’s personality far too well. Who knew how much trouble a dandy silkpants like him would make for Su Yi in the Wilds?
Ye Xun’s jaw dropped, and he instantly slumped listlessly. “Boring. Boring! I can’t even invite my Brother Su for a drink? What’s the point of living?”
Cui Longxiang laughed. “A drink? At a brothel, I’m sure.”
Who’d have thought that Ye Xun wouldn’t so much as miss a beat? On the contrary, he warmly extended an invitation. “Want to come with us and have some fun in the Wilds, Senior?”
Cui Chang’an couldn’t take any more of this. He’s seriously inviting my dad to go drinking with him at a brothel? This kid is completely lawless!
He walked right up, put his shoulder on Ye Xun’s shoulder, and said expressionlessly, “How about... I go with you instead?”
Ye Xun froze. When he sensed Cui Chang’an’s unfriendly gaze, he laughed dryly. “I was just joking. Don’t take it so seriously! I, Ye Xun, am not that sort of person!”
Cui Chang’an snorted coldly. “Who in the Netherworld doesn’t know just what kind of person Young Master Ye is?”
Ye Xun instantly shut his mouth.
The crowd watched this exchange, and they couldn’t help but grin.
That very day, Jin Kui, Ye Luo, and the others began their return journey to the Wilds, and the Ghost Serpents and the Cui Family returned to their respective territories.
......
The Wilds.
When the curtains fell on the grand battle at the Sea of Fallen Stars, the Wilds descended into unprecedented upheaval.
“I bet those people who said His Excellency Su was sure to lose are so regretful that their intestines have turned green!”
“This battle has already altered the direction of the Wilds’ world of cultivation. At the very least... Now, everyone knows that the Path of Heaven’s Ascension exists above the Profound Dao!”
“The old world order has broken. I can say with confidence that going forward, more and more cultivators will venture into the stars beyond in search of a higher path!”
“That’s right. No matter how mysterious outer space was, it’s no longer that taboo place people pale at the mere mention of. Even its most powerful factions aren’t unbeatable!”
“It’s fair to say that in this battle, His Excellency Su completely rewrote our perception of the world, and revealed to us an all-new path!”
“For that alone, he’s become a godlike figure in the hearts of this world!”
“Just how strong do you think his cultivation has become?”
....The world was in uproar as everyone discussed the details of the recent battle, as well as its effects on the Wilds’ world of cultivation.
Over the course of these discussions, Su Yi’s reputation soared to unprecedented, irreplicable heights.
Before this, the people of the Wilds had already given him numerous titles like “the Master of Ten Thousand Daos,” “a legend of the Dao of the Sword,” and the “leader of the Wilds.”
But now, he seemed to them an unbeatable legend, practically a god!
The Grotto of Abstruse Force.
The outside world was in uproar, but Su Yi had gone into seclusion.
Rather, as soon as he returned from the Sea of Falling Stars, he shut his doors, bade farewell to his guests, and began solitary cultivation.
“I’ve finally stabilized my cultivation base.” Within his immortal cave, Su Yi silently opened his eyes. He looked relaxed.
He’d overcome his tribulation and broken into Profound Unity over the Sea of Fallen Stars, but he hadn’t gotten much time to temper or solidify his cultivation base.
That was why Su Yi went into seclusion immediately upon his return.
If his cultivation boundary wasn’t stable, it would surely influence his future progress!
“Now, it’s time for me to grasp the Temple Master’s Dao Imprint.” Su Yi shut his eyes once more.
Soon, within his seemingly boundless sea of consciousness, the Sword of the Nine Hells quivered slightly.
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