Chapter 1252 - Each Step a New Heaven and Earth
The broken sword was rusted. It seemed like no more than scrap metal.
But when it unleashed its power, it was forceful to the extreme and domineering beyond comparison! Its earlier attack was comparable to that of a Cosmic Enlightenment World King.
Bang!!
Yet another muffled impact rang out.
Su Yi and his vine shield were sent flying once more, looking utterly wretched.
But the broken sword didn’t let up. It just attacked again.
“Hmph!” Su Yi’s eyes flashed with cold, sharp light.
The vine shield transformed into a sword, which he gripped, then waved, releasing the Laws of Flying Light.
He’d obviously been forced to counterattack.
But with the support of the Laws of Flying Light, Su Yi’s slash was unbelievably quick, reaching its target before Su Yi had even completed his slash.
Clang!!!
A deafening impact followed. Su Yi staggered back once more.
“The power of that broken sword... It actually seems as if it’s been imbued with immortal might...” Su Yi’s gaze focused.
But before he could give the matter any further thought, the broken sword struck once more.
In just a few breaths of time, Su Yi was forced back more than ten times. Each strike made his blood and qi churn.
But before long, as Su Yi unleashed the mysteries of reincarnation in his swordsmanship, something unbelievable happened.
When the broken sword collided with the illusion of the Six Paths of Reincarnation, it seemed to have encountered its natural enemy. It was instantly suppressed!
It shook violently and wailed, but the broken sword was rusted to begin with, and in just a few blinks of the eye, it was worn to nothingness.
Even Su Yi found this development surprising.
The mysteries of Reincarnation can actually suppress a weapon containing the power of the Immortal Path?
Boom!
Thunder rumbled and boomed repeatedly in the chasm’s depths.
Then, about a dozen treasures soared into the air. There were Daoist seals, fly whisks, jade bottles, and alms bowls, among others.
All had incomparably terrifying auras, and all of them emanated the power of immortality. However, they too were battered, broken, and showing signs of rust.
Much like the broken sword.
The treasures whooshed through the air and charged at Su Yi.
However, Su Yi didn’t fight head-on like he did earlier. He directly drew upon the Laws of Reincarnation and the sword manifested of the Dark and Gold Fortune Vine. The Six Paths of Reincarnation rose and fell, casting illusory lights and shadows. It was so mysterious as to make one’s heart quiver.
All of the attacking treasures were suppressed, and all of them wailed and shook.
In the blink of an eye, the power of reincarnation frittered them away to nothingness!
“The past must ultimately end. Even if it’s reawakened, it can only appear in a transient burst, like an illusion or a soap bubble.”
Su Yi understood.
These rusted treasures were obviously much like the old turtle; someone had used a secret method to reawaken them, resulting in their terrifying strength.
However, in the face of the power of reincarnation, everything met its end!
After all, the past was in the past. After all that time, the weapons had rusted!
“Someone is using a secret art to awaken everything left here, manifesting visions of the past. Is this the power of the Illusionist?”
What was illusion magic?
It was using the false to obscure the true in a self-sustaining cycle!
The Horned Dragon’s master had proclaimed himself a descendant of immortals, with immortal blood running through his veins. He said he’d mastered immortal arts.
But if that were true, why would the owner of the pawnshop call him the Illusionist?
The answer was obvious. The Illusionist’s power let him summon the ancient strengths left here in the Divine Kingdom of Illusions!
Both the old turtle and the rusted, run-down treasures had become his tools!
Upon reaching this conclusion, Su Yi scanned his surroundings, leaped into the air, and slashed in ten different directions.
Boom!
The mysteries of Reincarnation were dusky yellow. As sword qi descended upon the world, the illusions of the Six Paths interwove, seemingly intent on dragging heaven and earth into themselves.
In the blink of an eye, the already desolate landscape crumbled and broke once more.
And the scenery changed before Su Yi’s eyes yet again.
He now found himself in a grand, ancient palace. It rose into the heavens, like the residence of a god or immortal.
A ritual ground stood before the palace. The ritual ground was permeated with immortal mist and rising fog.
An ancient altar stood at its center, not far from Su Yi.
Su Yi scanned his surroundings, and he couldn’t help but look impressed. This ritual ground is full of enormous mysteries!
“The nine palaces, the eight trigrams, the seven stars, the six directions, the five elements, the four beasts, the three talents, the two opposite extremes of yin and yang, all as a singular, cohesive whole... Nine represents the pinnacle, and a return to the beginning, an endless cycle.
“Within these ritual grounds, every step will carry me into a new heaven and earth. This is what they speak of when they say that you enter ‘a different world with each step!’”
Su Yi understood completely. Both the Jade Sea and that barren landscape were manifestations of the ritual grounds’ power!
But these were no typical illusions. Rather, they were worlds that truly existed.
It was only by breaking them that he could escape.
Each flower is a world, every leaf a Bodhisattva. The ritual ground looks like it’s only ten thousand feet across, but it encompasses numerous hidden realms, like illusions. Truth and illusion perpetuate each other in a mix of lies and truths. Whoever placed this ritual ground was a genius of the Dao of Formations, thought Su Yi.
He stood in place, unmoving as he gazed at the nearby altar.
The altar emanated the vicissitudes of countless years. Its four sides were carved with grasses, birds, bugs, fish, longitudes, and latitudes, among other things.
A whirlpool-like gateway surged above the altar. There was no doubt about it. That was the exit leading outside. It was connected to the Dark Sea of Stars!
It seems that earlier, I emerged through the portal above the altar, then found myself unwittingly trapped in one of its hidden realms.
Su Yi completely understood.
He suddenly felt the impulse to visit every last one of the altar’s hidden realms and see if he could uncover any leads regarding the pursuit of immortality.
But in the end, he resisted the impulse.
He’d come here to save the pawnshop owner, and he had to resolve that before he did anything else.
He gazed into the distance.
The towering palace looked like the residence of a god or immortal. It was grand and seemingly holy, as it was bathed in misty immortal qi.
Gazing upon it from afar was enough to shake the heart and make one feel utterly paltry and insignificant.
Without the slightest hesitation, Su Yi circulated the mysteries of reincarnation, then rose into the air, toward the distant palace.
When he reached it, he abruptly stopped and landed.
He could sense that the palace was completely surrounded by terrifying Laws of the Grand Dao. If he flew toward it, they’d suppress him immediately!
In other words, if he wanted to reach the palace, he’d have to go on foot.
Su Yi thought for a moment, took out the pawnshop owner’s crimson pendant, and began climbing the staircase.
Thud thud thud....
Heaven and earth were silent and still on all sides. The only sound was the soft thudding of Su Yi’s footsteps, which echoed throughout the staircase.
Each step was made out of jade through a secret method and carved with scenes of hell.
There were mountains of corpses, seas of blood, malevolent, demonic gods, yao, demons, ghosts, and monsters, and all manner of scenes of soul-stirring, heart-shaking bloodshed.
Although the passage of time had corroded these images, rendering them indistinct, they still somehow seemed lifelike.
An unprecedented emotion arose in Su Yi’s heart as he climbed the steps. It was as if he were trampling hell beneath his feet and ascending the heavens step by step!
The owner of this palace sure has spirit. As Su Yi pondered, he reached the gateway atop the staircase.
A delicate figure sat sprawled out between the gates.
She was covered in blood, her hair was a mess, and her back was facing him.
She seemed to sense Su Yi’s arrival, and she turned to look at him with great difficulty. Only then did Su Yi see her features clearly.
They were exquisitely beautiful, clear, and unparalleled. Her eyes were bright, her teeth were pearly, and her skin was snowy and fair. She was slender, with curves in all the right places.
However, she was obviously severely injured, and her face was pallid. Her usually bright eyes looked bleak, and the blood had drained from her red lips.
Su Yi’s eyes narrowed. This was the pawnshop owner, that prideful, beautiful, temperamental madwoman!
“You... you’re...” the woman’s voice was weak, and her eyes were full of bewilderment.
Su Yi sighed, walked over, pressed his fingers into a sword, and slashed gently.
Her head toppled from her shoulders.
Were the old pawnbroker here to see this, he would have freaked out.
But then, an unbelievable scene unfolded.
The woman’s headless body and severed head both dissipated into misty light, leaving behind only a burning talisman. Before long, only ash remained.
“That wasn’t enough to trick you?” a surprised voice emanated from within the hall.
Su Yi then saw a man in fiery robes seated upright on the throne at the center of the grand hall.
He wore a lotus crown, and his features were youthful and handsome, with unaffected, suave elegance. However, his eyes surged with the dense, undisguisable vicissitudes of countless years.
He was seated with his legs crossed, his chin resting against his hand. He watched Su Yi through the doorway, a surprised look on his face.
“You recreated that madwoman’s appearance and bearing, but she was lacking a certain charm. They say it’s easy to draw someone’s skin and bones, but difficult to draw their heart.” As he spoke, Su Yi fiddled with the crimson jade pendant. “Besides, I have her pendant, but I didn’t sense the slightest reaction from it earlier.”
“It seems I’ve truly revealed my own incompetence this time.” The red-robed man in the lotus crown rubbed his nose sheepishly.
As he spoke, he rose from his throne.
An invisible majesty instantly permeated the hall, further highlighting the red-robed man’s contemptuous pride.
His gaze was distant and serene, like a pair of whirlpools as he whispered, “You must be the one who killed the old Horned Dragon.”
Su Yi nodded.
The red-robed man thought for a moment, then sighed. “There’s no shame in him dying at the hands of one such as yourself. It’s just a pity that the Spatial Divine Crystals I had him gather over the years have most likely fallen into your hands.”
But then, his handsome face broke into a grin. “But fortune and disaster go hand-in-hand. To me, your presence here is a stroke of fortune as grand as the heavens themselves.”
He stretched out his hand and gestured invitingly. “Fellow Daoist, if you don’t object, want to come inside for a chat?”
“First, answer me this,” Su Yi said casually. “Where is the pawnshop owner?”
He’d gripped her scarlet pendant this entire time, but he’d yet to sense any trace of that madwoman’s aura. This left him ill at ease.
“She?” The red-robed man in the lotus crown smiled. “Don’t be in such a rush. I’ll naturally give you answers soon.”
As he spoke, he raised and gently clapped his hands.
Bronze lamps instantly illuminated the dimly lit grand hall. At the same time, a stone table and two chairs appeared at the center of the room. On the table waited a jug of wine and two cups.
“It’s a bit crude. Please don’t take offense, Fellow Daoist.” The red-robed man in the lotus crown smiled and extended an invitation once more.
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