First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 2616 – An Upstanding Fellow

The Angler didn’t run.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to. He just didn’t dare!

He’d felt the urge to flee back when Su Yi was still killing the Eternals’ avatars of will. However, a wisp of murderous intent had locked onto him the entire time, like invisible shackles. He dared not act recklessly!

That wisp of murderous intent belonged to Su Yi.

The Angler couldn’t even imagine how Su Yi had managed to find the strength to spare while locked in fierce combat with a whole group of powerful experts.

The Angler had tried to struggle free of its confines, but it was to no avail. Moreover, he was certain that if he tried to flee, Su Yi would kill him immediately.

Now that the battle was over, all of the Angler’s lingering hopes turned to ash. He knew that he no longer had any chance of escape.

Any one of those Eternal avatars of will could have destroyed him with ease, yet Su Yi had just cut them down like grass.

After comparing the two of them, how could the Angler possibly fail to realize where they stood? To the current Su Yi, he was even less than a blade of grass!

The moment Su Yi looked over, the Angler stiffened, then sighed. “I admit defeat.”

It was just three words, but as soon as he’d spoken them, the essence, qi, and spirit seemed to flee his body. His eyes dimmed, and his shoulders slumped.

There was no longer any sign of his usual shrewdness or composure.

Su Yi approached, then stopped about ten feet away from him. “You’re admitting defeat so easily? That isn’t like you.”

The Angler looked at him, his gaze complicated, and murmured seemingly to himself, “I’ve always thought of myself as the one playing chess. Only now do I realize that I was just another pawn all along. Everything I did before was no more than the ludicrous flailing of a bungling clown…”

His tone was rife with self-deprecation.

He was the founder of the Divine Court of Providence. During the countless years prior to the Dark Days of Legend, he was among the greatest experts in the God Domain.

But of late, he’d increasingly learned that a lot was amiss. The God Domain wasn’t ordinary. The Dipankara Buddha wasn’t ordinary either.

And Su Yi’s past lives weren’t limited to the two he’d known, Li Fuyou and Yi Daoxuan.

Now that the Dark Days of Legend had begun, more and more experts of the River of Destiny were entering the world, and more and more unparalleled figures of other spacetimes were entering the present…

Only now did the Angler realize how inadequate his peak Nine-Tribulation Undying Realm cultivation base really was!

Now, even his position in the New World Alliance was far beneath that of the Dipankara Buddha, let alone Di E. In front of Dao Venerate Lu Shi, he was no different from a meek, humble subordinate!

All of this came as an enormous blow to the Angler, throwing his mental state out of whack.

But Su Yi was different. Where his sword pointed, he cut down unparalleled figures of other spacetimes and Eternal clones and avatars alike! He seemed countless times stronger than before!

As Su Yi’s old enemy, this was enough to make the Angler’s mental defenses break. That was why he laughed at himself, calling himself a mere bungling clown.

Su Yi looked at him in silence for a few moments, then took out a jug of wine and passed it to him. “Drink up. Consider this a farewell gift and the end of our enmity.”

The Angler looked stunned. His expression shifted erratically.

After a brief pause, he accepted the jug, threw back his head, and chugged. After finishing it, he smacked his lips and smiled at Su Yi. “Thank you!”

Crack!

The empty jug split, and the Angler dissipated into a rain of light.

Su Yi clasped his fist. “Farewell.”

He’d seen off yet another enemy from his past lives, but this had long since ceased to delight or excite him. He was simply ending long unresolved business.

“The old-timer was actually quite sensible. He realized that you’d granted him the most dignified death possible, and he didn’t struggle in vain,” said Wang Zhiwu. “Simply put, he was an upstanding fellow.”

Several other Master Gods remained, all of them old-timers from the God Domain’s top orthodoxies. However, they now stood there in silence, like lambs awaiting slaughter.

“What do you plan to do with them?” Wang Zhiwu asked with great interest.

The Master Gods stiffened, their expressions ashen.

But Su Yi just said, “I’m no indiscriminate killer.”

With that, he turned to leave.

Wang Zhiwu was stunned, and he wasn’t the only one. The remaining Master Gods were dazed too; they found it hard to believe.

“Lu Shi disdained to use hostages to threaten you, while you disdain to kill those you have no grudge against. Each of you really is prouder than the one before, huh…?” Wang Zhiwu sighed. Very well. I naturally don’t care whether those Master Gods live or die. There’s no need to take matters into my own hands, either. It’d be as out of place as a dog hunting rats…

Wait! Who am I calling a dog?

Never mind that. In any event, I don’t care!

As his thoughts raced, Wang Zhiwu caught up to Su Yi.

It was only after the two of them faded into the distance that the Master Gods gradually came back to their senses.

“Su Yi… actually spared our lives?” someone asked. Even now, he found it hard to believe.

“Would you care if an ant crawling on the ground bared its fangs at you?” someone else asked despondently, his voice full of bitterness. “In Su Yi’s eyes, how are we any different from ants?”

“I’ll never get involved in worldly strife ever again…” someone murmured.

These Master Gods really hadn’t had any grudge against Su Yi. They’d simply chosen to join the New World Alliance.

But today’s incident had dealt them all a heavy blow!

It was true that they’d been fortunate enough to escape with their lives, but now, they understood on a visceral level that with their strength, they were no longer in any way qualified to compete!

……

“What are you following me for, anyway?” asked Su Yi. Even as he spoke, he kept walking, and he didn’t so much as turn his head.

Wang Zhiwu caught up to him and said bitterly, “You really screwed me over this time.”

Now, both Lu Shi and Yu Chiyang’s camps most likely saw him as an enemy!

“Didn’t you bring me to Returning Dragon Mountain precisely because you wanted to see if I had the guts to flip over the table?” asked Su Yi.

Wang Zhiwu immediately objected. “Don’t talk nonsense! I had no intention of deceiving you, either!”

Su Yi said casually, “The same goes for me. I had no intention of implicating you when I killed those old-timers’ clones and avatars.”

“…” Wang Zhiwu didn’t know what to say to that. He coughed awkwardly, then said, “I’ll be honest. I wanted to see whether you could resist attacking or not, but that’s the extent of it. I swear I had no intention of harming you. Had you held back and chosen not to lash out, you could have avoided that disturbance altogether.”

“What’s done is done,” said Su Yi. “Discussing it any further would be boring.”

Wang Zhiwu pondered briefly, then said, “It seems to me that you ought to be careful. There’s no way those old-timers will just let this go.”

He paused, then continued, “Besides, they gathered on Returning Dragon Peak to jointly declare war against you. There’s no way they’ll give up halfway through.”

Su Yi glanced at him and teased, “If they knew you were warning me like this, how could they not suspect you were on my side?”

Wang Zhiwu’s expression froze, and he rubbed his face. “Relax. It’s enough that I know in my heart that we’re enemies, not friends.”

He’d only just said this when he sensed something and gazed into the distance. Su Yi came to a halt practically simultaneously.

Both of them had noticed the delicate figure approaching from beneath the distant dome of heaven.

She was a woman dressed like a man, her clothing whiter than snow. She looked extraordinary and ethereal, with her long black hair casually tied up, revealing her exquisitely beautiful face.

Her beauty was natural, transcendent, and extraordinary, with a natural amorous quality. As she drew near, she was like the most beautiful beam of light the heavens had to offer.

The entire landscape now served only to enhance her beauty!

Su Yi was stunned. She seems… somehow familiar. Wait.

That’s Sovereign Venerate Ling Ran!

They’d met back in the Ruins of Supreme Simplicity. There, he sat in a courtyard, while she sat in the hall of a temple, swathed in mysterious, inscrutable light and shadows that obscured her true appearance.

It was different now. There was no longer anything to conceal her features. Her beauty was unique, with utterly transcendent, extraordinary charm.

“It’s her!” Wang Zhiwu’s expression shifted.

“Wait, you know her?” Su Yi couldn’t help but find this surprising.

Wang Zhiwu suddenly looked a bit ill at ease. “Not long ago, I tried to accept her as my disciple and bring her to the River of Destiny to continue her cultivation, only to discover that I’d made a fool of myself. I suspect… that she’s a disciple of the Qiongqi Mountain Lord!”

The Qiongqi Mountain Lord was a mysterious old monster of the River of Destiny. They called him the Adjudicator of life.

He controlled the Record of Divine Bestowal, and with it, he judged fate and fortune and served as their executioner!

“I’ll be leaving first!” Wang Zhiwu turned and dashed off, quick as could be. He didn’t even give Su Yi time to respond.

The famed ‘Master of Legends’ sure fled quickly. It seems he’s afraid of the so-called Qiongi Mountain Lord… thought Su Yi.

When he first met Sovereign Venerate Ling Ran, the Goddess of Silent Darkness told him that Sovereign Venerate Ling ran’s identity was extraordinary, and that she had connections with powerful experts of the River of Destiny.

Wang Zhiwu’s words were unquestionable proof of that!

“He’s mistaken. The Qiongqi Mountain Lord isn’t my backer,” said Sovereign Venerate Ling Ran. She was already headed his way, her white robes billowing around her, transcendent and ethereal.

“He isn’t?” asked Su Yi. If not, what could have scared the Master of Legends so badly?

Sovereign Venerate Ling Ran looked at Su Yi and explained softly, “The Qiongqi Mountain Lord is just one of the subordinates of that senior I know.”

“…” Su Yi didn’t know what to say. That’s even more terrifying!

The Qiongqi Mountain Lord’s prestige was already enough to scare off Wang Zhiwu. It was hard to even imagine how extraordinary the “senior” Sovereign Venerate Ling Ran spoke of was.

Sovereign Venerate Ling Ran could sense Su Yi’s surprise, but she thought nothing of it. “They’re just connections. They’ve never been my backers or pillars of support.”

She paused, then said curiously, “What are you doing here, Fellow Daoist? Are you here to participate in the assembly on Returning Dragon Mountain, too?”

Su Yi said casually, “The meeting is already over.”

“It’s over?”

“Yup.”

Sovereign Venerate Ling Ran instantly looked disappointed. “What a pity. I arrived a bit too late. Had I come earlier, I might have been able to learn something from the gathered experts of the River of Destiny.”

She paused, then said, “Then… Fellow Daoist, do you know how long it’s been since they left?”