Chapter 969: Master, Was That You?
When the sword hum entered his ears, Hong Ying felt an indescribable stinging pain in his soul, as if countless sharp blades were simultaneously slashing it apart.
His face was instantly hideously contorted, and he cried out. The pain was so great that it robbed him of the will to live.
Even though he’d already condensed a Profound Serenity Dao Platform and had an unflappable, unbreakable incarnation of will, the power contained within that sword hum was overly terrifying. In the blink of an eye, it dealt his soul devastating damage.
Before Hong Ying’s attempt at mutual destruction could burst with its full power, this devastating blow landed, and his qi briefly slowed.
Practically simultaneously, a streak of sword qi exploded into being.
Splurt!
Hong Ying’s sizeable head flew through the air.
His blazing body deflated like a popped ball, and his destructive power receded with a boom.
In the end, Hong Ying’s severed head watched with bitterness and bewilderment as his body exploded into ash and dissipated into nothingness.
“I understand. He’s the person the Supreme Leader has been searching for all these years…” Hong Ying’s eyes shifted with great difficulty, and he gazed upon the tall, upright young man in blue. He finally understood.
But immediately after, all awareness left him.
Beneath the onlookers’ astonished gazes, Hong Ying’s head flew through the air, then exploded with an audible bang and crumbled into ash.
The Buddha’s Seal of Life and Death still emitted boundless misty light, but when Hong Ying perished, it wailed, and its radiance abruptly dimmed.
Before it fell into the ocean, the Netherworld King reached through the air and grabbed it from afar.
The curtains had fallen on this battle.
Both Hong Ying and the seven subordinates he’d led into battle had fallen.
The crowd stood there in a daze.
How terrifying had the forbidden art Hong Ying unleashed prior to his death been? It had filled even old monsters like them with panic, as if their souls had left their bodies, or as if they’d been plunged into an icy abyss.
Who’d have thought that before this forbidden technique could truly display its power, Su Yi would leap forward and take Hong Ying down in a single slash?
Just too fast!
Like a streak of flowing light, determining life and death in a flash!
They dared not believe that such power belonged to a Spiritual Revolution Realm young man!
“Just what kind of power was in that sword hum? How could it injure the soul of a Profound Serenity Emperor like that?” Ye Luo’s expression was shifting and uncertain. He was beside himself with surprise.
The moment Su Yi slew Hong Ying, a strange, inscrutable sword hum rang out. Ye Luo’s keen senses told him that it was that very sword hum that instantly dealt Hong Ying’s soul a heavy blow, ruining the forbidden technique he was just about to unleash!
And this told Ye Luo that Su Yi had an as-of-yet unknown, terrifying card up his sleeves. Whatever it was, it was strong enough to threaten even Profound Serenity Emperors!
“Fellow Daoist, many thanks for your assistance.” Not far away, a smile rose on the Netherworld King’s red lips. Her starry eyes flashed with strange light.
Su Yi’s earlier attack had startled her too. She suddenly realized that when the two of them clashed a few days ago, Su Yi could have resisted her even without borrowing the Timekeeper’s Immortal-Beating Mallet!
Clang!
Su Yi put away Abstruse Celestial and said casually, “What are you thinking me for? I trust that there’ll be more opportunities for us to work together in the days to come.”
The Netherworld King pressed her lips into a smile. Hers was an inimitable beauty, the type that brought ruin to the populace. Even the nearby Emperors weren’t immune.
“Right.” Su Yi suddenly turned around and looked at the distant Ye Luo with a smile. “What do you think of my abilities now?”
All eyes were instantly upon Ye Luo.
“I admit that I misjudged you earlier.” Ye Luo rubbed his nose and sighed.
But then, he looked up and met Su Yi’s gaze with a relaxed grin. “But that doesn’t mean I’ve given up.”
“Oh,” said Su Yi. He then swept his gaze across Liu Changsheng and the others. “Everyone, do me a favor and teach that punk kid a lesson.”
“Got it!” Liu Changsheng, Zhan Beiqi, and the others straighforwardly agreed. Their will to fight surged, and they charged at Ye Luo.
Even the Netherworld King seemed eager to get in on the action.
Ye Luo’s expression instantly shifted, and he immediately turned tail and fled.
No matter how confident in himself he was, if so many peak older-generation experts of the Netherworld attacked him at once, his odds of victory would surely be abysmal!
In other words, if he fought them head-on, he’d be in for a beating!
“Just you wait, kid!” Yu Luo’s voice emanated from afar. It contained a hint of anger and frustration.
Su Yi laughed. This kid hasn’t changed; he’s as much in need of a good beating as ever.
“Fellow Daoist, many thanks for saving my life!”
It was then that Liu Changsheng approached and inclined his head in greeting. There was a hit of shame in his expression. “Earlier, I erred in judgment. If I offended you in any way, I humbly request your understanding.”
.
Zhan Beiqi said nothing, but his expression contained newfound admiration.
However, Wang Chonglu looked a bit conflicted. Liu Changsheng’s judgment had erred, but hadn’t his too?
The Thirteen Demon Generals all looked awed.
Admittedly, Su Yi really was only in the Spiritual Revolution Realm, but after that battle, how could any of them dare view him as a junior?
Su Yi said casually, “Enough. This problem has already been resolved, so you’d best take this opportunity to return to the City of Eternal Night.”
With that, he stood on the Unsinkable Boat and prepared to leave.
“I’ll go with you.” The Netherworld King shot forward, and without so much as pausing to ask Su Yi whether or not he agreed, she drifted onto the boat.
“Aren’t you going to ask where I’m going?” Su Yi’s eyebrows shot up.
The Netherworld King sat at the rear of the boat and said leisurely, “It doesn’t matter where you’re going.”
“....” Su Yi had nothing to say to that. Instead, he looked up and subtly inclined his head at Liu Changsheng and the others. “Farewell.”
Then, he activated the Unsinkable Booat and soared through the wind and waves.
“Take care, Fellow Daoist!” Liu Changsheng and the others bade him a respectful farewell.
It was only after they watched Su Yi disappear from view that the group left.
……
“Fellow Daoist Liu, can you tell who Fellow Daoist Su really is?” Wang Chonglu couldn’t help but ask along the way.
His Thirteen Demon Generals pricked up their ears as well.
After a moment’s silence, Liu Changsheng shook his head. “It’s difficult to say.”
It wasn’t that he didn’t know, but that it was “difficult to say”!
This wording unquestionably implied that Liu Changsheng had already guessed something.
Wang Chonglu looked at Zhan Beiqi. “What about you, Fellow Daoist?”
Zhan Beiqi’s eyes flashed, and he asked right back, “A few days ago, you and Fellow Daoist Su visited the Timekeeper together. Don’t tell me you don’t know who he is?”
Wang Chonglu laughed bitterly. “At first, I suspected that he was the descendant of the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force, but he burst into laughter and said that he and the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force were one and the same!”
Liu Changsheng’s eyes flashed, while Zhan Beiqi’s eyes narrowed.
The Thirteen Demon Generals were stunned. The Swordmaster of Abstruse Force!?
But then, Wang Chonglu sighed, “Talk like that was an obvious insult to my intelligence. Even if we disregard the question of whether or not the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force truly passed away or not, Su Yi is a teenager! Who is he to impersonate the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force?”
The Demon Generals nodded, one after another.
However, Liu Changsheng and Zhan Beiqi’s expressions turned a bit strange.
“I asked the Timekeeper about it, but he avoided the question,” said Wang Chonglu. He was visibly frustrated. “And that bird of his mocked me for my poor eyesight…”
Zhan Beiqi couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
He patted Wang Chonglu on the shoulder and said, “Fellow Daoist Su might be young, but just now, it was his power that turned the tides. It was he who slew those experts of the Far Shore, and he even saved our lives. So why is it that you’re convinced that he isn’t the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force?”
Wang Chonglu was stunned.
Zhan Beiqi continued, “Over the years, have you ever seen anyone who dared order that green bird around?”
Wang Chonglu’s expression filled with shifting uncertainty.
Zhan Beiqi said softly, “But Fellow Daoist Su didn’t just dare order the bird around; he even treated ‘His Excellency Kaiyang’ as if he were an ordinary housecat. And during this operation, the Timekeeper requested his aid in dispatching the experts of the Far Shore. Don’t you think all of this is quite unusual?”
By now, Wang Chonglu was already starting to understand, and he gasped. “Don’t tell me… he really is… the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force!?”
Here, Liu Changsheng softly interjected, “Given Fellow Daoist Su’s way of doing things, how could he possibly joke with you about something like that?”
But then, he paused and said, “Of course, we don’t know enough to say with certainty whether or not Fellow Daoist Su is or isn’t the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force. At the very least, I dare say with certainty that he… has a deep connection to the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force, and that the Timekeeper knows the truth.”
Everyone subconsciously nodded their agreement.
……
An island so barren that not even an inch of grass grew on its surface.
Ocean winds howled, and waves crashed against the shore. Thousands of layers of snow had accumulated on the ground.
Ye Luo sat on a stone tablet in a daze. There was no trace of his habitual, unrestrained smile.
It was as if he’d lost his soul.
A while later, he took out a jug of wine and drank like mad, so quickly that he promptly choked and started coughing.
A moment later, he calmed himself down, took a deep breath, and took out an ancient copper mirror carved with birds, flowers, fish, and insects.
He bit through the flesh of his fingertip, then squeezed out a drop of red blood and gently outlined something on the mirror’s smooth surface.
Kcch kcch kcch!
The copper mirror quivered. Misty light flowed, outlining a vivid, lifelike picture.
It depicted the Timekeeper’s courtyard, in which a young man in blue languished in a wicker chair, holding a fat orange cat. He seemed leisurely and relaxed.
Ye Luo’s eyes were wide, and he stared intently at the young man in blue, as if trying to discern his secrets.
A little while later, he waved his sleeves.
Kcch!
The copper mirror quivered, and the misty light shifted, instantly outlining one new scene after another.
All were of Su Yi swinging his sword and cutting down the experts of the Nine Heavens Pavilion. They captured his every movement and every expression, down to to the slightest details.
But these scenes were like a bundle of mysteries to Ye Luo; they hid countless secrets.
His expression shifted continuously as if he were racking his brains.
A long time passed before the curtain of light dimmed and dissipated.
Ye Luo was lost in thought, but this seemed to startle him awake. He shuddered, then let out a long breath of turbid air.
“Master passed away five hundred years ago, but that boy is only eighteen at most…” Ye Luo muttered to himself. “But if I said he isn’t Master… The bone-deep, contemptuous pride he reveals with every gesture is a bit too similar to Master to explain. Even the way he kills his enemies, his demeanor, and his conduct were cast in the same mold!
“Morever, despite my years of life, I’ve never heard of such a heaven-defying Spiritual Revolution Realm cultivator before.”
Here, Ye Luo was obviously a bit dazed. His heart was like the endlessly churning, turbulent waters of the Sea of Bitterness; he couldn’t calm himself down.
“Master, was that you…?”
Ye Luo’s expression was a bit conflicted. He seemed excited but also uneasy.
His mind was in turmoil!
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