Chapter 429: The Nirvanic Winds Holy Son
The temple was full of densely packed buildings, and incense smoke lingered in the air.
The people of the mundane world burned incense, worshiped, and prayed for peace and safety.
Su Yi and his companions restrained their auras and mixed into the crowd. They didn’t attract much attention.
Before long, they reached the gates of the main hall.
There was a ninety-foot statue of a god standing at the center of the room.
The statue was of a slender, elegant woman, but below the waist, she had the body of a coiled serpent. Her arms were crossed, and she carried a lotus-shaped lantern.
Two acolytes clad in gray were currently refilling the lamp oil.
The devotees stood in line, and when they got the chance to enter the palace, they lit incense, bowed, and prayed, their expressions pious as solemn as they chanted.
Indeed, it’s just as I thought.?When Su Yi saw the statue, he immediately confirmed his guess. The goddess statue indeed depicted a descendant of the Ghost Serpent Clan.
The Ghost Serpents were one of the Netherworld’s Nine Royal Clans. Yin souls and vicious ghosts saw them as the Envoys of the Lamp, and they occupied an extremely lofty position.
Earlier, on the road here, Ling Yunhe mentioned that the first master of the Deathbringer’s Netherworld Palace, the Netherworld Asura Emperor, was accompanied by the Ghost Serpent Goddess. She, too, was honored as the Envoy of the Lamp. This was the source of Su Yi’s suspicion.
Now, seeing the temple statue for himself, he had no further doubts.
It seems the Netherworld Asura Emperor really is from the Netherworld, and that he was accompanied by an expert of the Ghost Serpent race,?thought Su Yi.
“Are you planning to burn incense and worship here?” one of the acolytes asked Su Yi.
Su Yi shook his head, then turned to his companions. “Let’s go.”
In his past life, even the Imperial Realm patriarch of the Ghost Serpent race was unworthy of a seat at table; he could only bow to him from afar!
“Fellow Daoists, please, wait up.”
Su Yi and company were just about to leave when suddenly, a white-haired elder in black robes walked up to them. He was slightly gaunt, with sunken, dim eyes.
He smiled and clasped his fist. “This old man is called Yu Shanglin, and I’ve come on my young master’s orders to invite you into a nearby subsidiary palace for a chat.”
Anyone else would surely have asked, “Might you tell me your young master’s honorable name and surname?” Most would also have asked, “Why does he want to meet us?”
However, Su Yi merely glanced at the old man. “Is your ‘young master’ the Nirvanic Winds Holy Son?”
The black-robed Yu Shanglin exclaimed, “You know him, Fellow Daoist?”
“I don’t know him,” said Su Yi calmly. “And I don’t want to know him.”
With that, he turned and left. Yuan Heng and the others followed shortly after.
After a brief daze, Yu Shanglin frowned, furrowed his brow, and hurriedly turned and re-entered one of the temple’s side palaces.
A dignified, promising-looking youth in red robes sat inside, drinking. He looked like he was in his early twenties, with eyebrows like swords and eyes like stars. He had a black bone hairpin holding his topknot in place, and his every movement was proud and disdainful, as if he were looking down on the four seas from on high.
There were several others present too. One look at their attire, and it was obvious that they were long accustomed to power.
Whether they were male or female, the characteristic energy of a cultivator lingered around them.
However, when these influential figures faced the red-robed young man, their expressions contained varying degrees of awe and dread.
The young man drained his cup, then swept his gaze across the room. “Four months remain until the curtains open on the Xia Emperor’s ‘Orchid Terrace Dharma Assembly.’ We’re increasingly pressed for time. I hope you all can gather sufficient Absolute Yin Spirit Stones within the next three months, otherwise…”
He paused, then sighed. “Otherwise, I’m afraid I’ll have no choice but to use your cultivations to refine Absolute Yin Qi.”
His voice was soft and gentle, yet when they heard it, the gathered higher-ups tensed up, and their expressions shifted dramatically.
One of them, a woman in palace attire, grimaced. “Holy Son, yesterday, I received word that an Absolute Yin Spirit Vein was discovered within the Cloud Python Mountains’ Cold Emerald Valley. Thus, I and High Elder Qiu Mochi of our Flying Spirit Sword Pavilion immediately went to investigate… Who would have guessed that our operation would end in failure?”
Were Su Yi present, he would surely have recognized the woman: this was none other than the Flying Spirit Sword Pavilion’s Elder Lian?Lengyue.
Yesterday, she, Yan Junshan, and the other Origin Palace cultivators lowered their heads in submission and gave up all their treasures. Only then did they escape with their lives.
Now, Lian Lengyue had reappeared here, in the city temple, and she called the red-robed youth “Holy Son”!
“An Absolute Yin Spirit Vein?” The red-robed youth’s eyes lit up. “Tell me about yesterday’s operation in detail.”
Lian Lengyue went on to describe the slaughter that took place within Cold Emerald Valley, hiding nothing at all.
When he learned that it was a Grain Avoidance Realm youth who’d effortlessly killed Qi Chongzi, Qiu Mochi, and Lai Changxiao, three renowned experts of the Southern Stars Province, the entire room instantly burst into uproar.
“The young man who calls himself Su Yi is really that strong?”
“Where is he from? Why haven’t we heard of him?”
“Gathering Stars experts from four of the province’s cultivation factions joined forces, only for three to fall and one to flee? This… This is just too terrifying….” Astonishment and disbelief were written all over their faces.
Even the red-robed youth was visibly stunned and alarmed.
Quite some time passed before he regained his cool. “Based on what you’ve told me, Su Yi is absolutely a monstrous figure! He might even… It’s even possible that he, just like me, is a survivor of the thirty thousand years of the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness.”
A series of gasps rang out throughout the room.
Everyone present was well aware that the red-robed young man before them had been sealed for the past thirty thousand years, and that it had only been a year since he reawakened. His origins were terrifying, and his foundations were incomparably mighty.
If Su Yi was like him, his origins were surely extraordinary as well.
“You escaped with your life even after encountering someone like that? I have to say you’re quite lucky.” The red-robed youth glanced at Lian Lengyue.
She lowered her head. “Only after hearing your explanation did I realize just how lucky I am to be alive.”
“Is he one of the Possessed? Is a child of destiny, blessed with great fortune? Is he a miraculous genius bearing an ancient legacy? …Now that my fellow monsters from ancient times are reawakening, this world is sure to get more and more interesting…” The red-robed youth sighed with anticipation and longing.
“Young Master,?that Su?Yi ran off with an Absolute Yin Spirit Vein. Do you… Do you think we should seize it back from him?” asked a man in gray.
The red-robed youth snickered. “You, an ordinary Origin Palace cultivator, dare covet his possessions? Aren’t you afraid that Su Yi will exterminate you with a flip of his hand? You must be really sick of living.”
The gray-robed man instantly broke out in cold sweats.
“It’s not your fault. After all, you’re a cultivator born and raised in the mundane world, and your horizons are limited. You don’t understand how terrifying true monstrous geniuses are.”
The red-robed youth thought, then said, “Even I would need to learn more about him to gauge how great a price I’d have to pay to take him down. After all, you cannot judge a monster like him with common sense.”
The crowd’s hearts shook once more. This declaration brought them one step closer to understanding how dangerous “monsters” really were.
Otherwise, someone with the red-robed young man’s temperament would never have said something so cautious and conservative.
It was then that the white-haired, black-robed elder scurried into the subsidiary palace. This was Yu Shanglin, the one who’d only just approached Su Yi and his companions.
“Young Master, those cultivators refused your invitation. They’ve already left,” whispered Yu Shanglin.
“What gall! They dare disobey even the holy son?” The speaker furrowed his brow, and his tone wasn’t at all friendly.
Yu Shanglin said, “It is indeed rather strange. It seemed like the youth leading the group had long since guessed why I’d come, but said he had no interest in getting acquainted with the holy son.”
The red-robed young man was briefly stunned. Then, he laughed dryly. “Are they worried that I, the new holy son of the Deathbringer’s Gate, will act against their interests?”
Yu Shanglin lowered his voice and asked, “Young Master, I saw those people earlier. They were hiding their presences, and I discovered nothing particularly unusual about them. Might I ask what you discovered and why you extended such an invitation?”
The crowd all looked over.
Earlier, the red-robed young man was right in the middle of drinking when he suddenly frowned, removed the bone hairpin from his topknot, and looked it over.
Then, without any further ado, he ordered Yu Shanglin to proceed to the temple’s main hall and invite that group of cultivators here for an audience.
Even now, no one knew why the red-robed youth had given such an order.
“Earlier, my Netherworld Spiritjade Hairpin reacted; it detected an extremely pure spiritual body. When I sensed it further, I realized that the pure spiritual body was hiding within that young man’s Soul-Nurturing Gourd.
The red-robed man didn’t hide it. He said directly, “As you know, my Netherworld Spiritjade Hairpin is an ancient relic. Any spiritual body it reacts to has extraordinary origins. This piqued my curiosity. I wanted to meet with that young man, and if possible, purchase the spiritual body within the gourd from him.”
Only then did the gathered experts understand.
One of them, a massive man with a curled beard, took the initiative to request orders. “Young Master, this is easily resolved. Since they’re here in Yin Mountain City, we can surely locate them. Then, all we have to do is assist you in purchasing the spirit within that gourd.”
When the others saw this, they hurriedly made their positions clear as well. “We’re willing to go too.”
The young man in red pondered for a bit, then said, “Alright. Elder Yu Shanglin, lead a group and pay those cultivators a visit.”
Yu Shanglin solemnly accepted his orders. “Yes, sir!
The red-robed young man picked up his wine jar, refilled his glass, and said slowly, “Remember, it’s best to avoid fighting if you can. I certainly don’t want the world’s cultivators to think me a thief.”
Yu Shanglin smiled faintly. “Young Master, please rest assured.”
The red-robed young man waved. “Go on. Six hours from now, I must depart Yin Mountain City. I hope you can resolve this matter appropriately before then.”
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