Chapter 401 - 402: The Consequence of Offending Su Mo

Granny Sha took a deep breath to compose herself and said, "I was reckless just now. I apologize."

"There’s no need for an apology!"

Su Mo waved his hand. "Before you go, take your Baihua Valley’s Earth Vein. Otherwise, I’d have to go to the trouble of delivering it myself."

’After all, four sects—Purple Cloud Palace, Haoyue Sect, Celestial North Sect, and Cangxuan Sect—are still waiting for me to tear them down.’

’I’m a very busy man!’

’Who has time to deliver Earth Veins to every major sect?’

"What?"

Granny Sha froze, staring at Su Mo in utter disbelief.

’Did I hear that right?’

’It was one thing for Su Mo not to kill her, but he was also returning the stolen Earth Vein to their Baihua Valley.’

’Could such a wonderful thing really exist in this world?’

Su Mo urged her, "Stop standing there stunned. Hurry up and take your Baihua Valley’s Earth Vein. I don’t have time to dawdle with you!"

"The rest of you can take your Earth Veins, too!"

Su Mo announced to the others.

"This..."

The crowd exchanged glances, none daring to step forward and retrieve their Earth Veins. All eyes turned to Granny Sha.

Granny Sha summoned her courage. "In that case, I’ll take you up on your offer!"

With that, she strode to Su Mo’s side, stowed the Hundred Flowers Earth Vein, and cupped her fist. "Thank you. I shall take my leave!"

"I won’t see you out!"

Su Mo watched Granny Sha leave.

Granny Sha fled at top speed, not stopping until she was back in the Hundred Flowers Sect. Even then, she couldn’t believe it was real.

Su Mo had actually returned the Earth Vein and hadn’t pursued her.

Seeing this, the others finally came forward one by one to retrieve their own sects’ Earth Veins.

"So it was all a misunderstanding!"

"Young Master Su is kind-hearted; he simply spared our lives!"

"I never expected someone as powerful as Young Master Su to have such a gentle personality. A shame about our senior brother... accidentally killed by Young Master Su."

"Sigh... I suppose it was just his fate."

The crowd departed, sighing amongst themselves.

Su Mo wiped the sweat from his brow. "The misunderstanding is finally resolved!"

The Ninth Floor Master said with admiration, "Elder Su, you are truly magnanimous. It’s quite admirable."

’Not everyone would be willing to return a Treasure they already had in their grasp.’

Su Mo shook his head.

’I just don’t want to stir up too much trouble, that’s all.’

Aside from the Earth Veins he had returned, there were still over a dozen more before him, of varying sizes.

The strongest among them belonged to the four major sects.

These were all now unclaimed, so Su Mo swept them all up, planning to take them back to Qingyang City and forge a Sacred Land-level Earth Vein.

"Alright, have your men start tearing the place down!"

Su Mo commanded.

The Ninth Floor Master nodded, then turned to his disciples and announced, "Let’s move! Don’t leave a single hair for Purple Cloud Palace!"

WHOOSH!

All the disciples charged into Purple Cloud Palace.

In just half a day, Purple Cloud Palace was razed to the ground. Even the two great mountains before its gates were moved into Storage Rings.

"Lord Ninth Floor Master, we’re finished!"

a disciple reported.

The Ninth Floor Master replied, "Are you certain? Take me on an inspection. If I find anything was missed, I’ll— Hmm? What is that?"

As soon as he stepped into the grounds of Purple Cloud Palace, the Ninth Floor Master spotted a building.

"That’s the latrine!"

an Elder said.

The Ninth Floor Master snapped, "I don’t care if it’s a latrine! Didn’t you hear what I said? Leave not a single hair behind— Wait, you said it’s a latrine?"

"Then don’t tear down the latrine!"

Su Mo said with a wave of his hand.

’That thing stinks. Even if we took it apart and brought it back, it would be unusable.’

Su Mo commanded, "Let’s go. On to the next one!"

Next, the Ninth Floor Master led his men to help Su Mo dismantle the Celestial North Sect and the Cangxuan Sect, once again leaving nothing behind.

Finally, they arrived at the Haoyue Sect and gave it the same treatment, reducing it to a wasteland.

"Elder Su, everything that was supposed to be torn down is gone. Now..."

the Ninth Floor Master asked respectfully, furtively glancing at the razed Haoyue Sect. A shiver of fear ran through him.

’So this is the price for offending Su Mo?’

’How utterly miserable!’

Even though he was the one who’d led the demolition, he couldn’t help but sympathize with the Haoyue Sect.

’Forget their legacy; not even their sect gates remained.’

Su Mo glanced around. "There’s still a lot of residual Spiritual Qi here. It’s a good place to cultivate. I think I’ll do a bit of cultivation here."

"Cultivation?"

The Ninth Floor Master offered with good intentions, "Elder Su, why don’t you come cultivate at our Drunken Immortal Tower instead? The conditions there are much better than here."

Although a fair amount of Spiritual Qi lingered at the Haoyue Sect’s ruins, it was a far cry from the Drunken Immortal Tower.

After all, their Drunken Immortal Tower had its own Earth Vein.

The Haoyue Sect’s Earth Vein, on the other hand, had already been pocketed by Su Mo.

"No need. I’ll cultivate right here!"

Su Mo refused.

He knew the Ninth Floor Master meant well, but he couldn’t accept. There was a very high chance he would drain the Drunken Immortal Tower’s Earth Vein dry.

’That would be... awkward.’

The Drunken Sword Spirit spoke up. "Master, do you intend to cultivate here? Very well. I shall remain by your side, lest you grow bored by yourself during a long period of seclusion."

Generally, for someone as powerful as Su Mo, a single session of secluded cultivation could take a very long time.

Three months at the very least, a year at most, or perhaps even a decade.

As Su Mo’s servant, he felt it was his duty to stay by his side and attend to his daily needs.

However, Su Mo refused. "There’s no need. My cultivation won’t take long. I’ll probably be done in an hour or so."

"An hour or so?"

The Drunken Sword Spirit’s face was a mask of astonishment.

Su Mo nodded. "Besides, my cultivation might get a little intense. You and the Ninth Floor Master should keep your distance so you don’t get hurt."

"Heh!"

The Drunken Sword Spirit let out a skeptical chuckle.

’It’s just secluded cultivation, isn’t it?’

’How intense could it possibly be?’

’Even when the Drunken Immortal Martial Emperor cultivated back in the day, he never caused such a huge stir.’

’And Su Mo was telling *him* to be careful?’

’It’s not as if Su Mo could tear a hole in the heavens, is it?’

The Ninth Floor Master advised, "Since Elder Su said so, we should probably keep our distance!"

"Fine!"

The Drunken Sword Spirit agreed to leave.

As they moved away, the Drunken Sword Spirit grumbled, "It’s just cultivation. If he’s afraid we’ll peek, he should just say so. Why make up so many excuses?"

"Perhaps there really is some danger!"

the Ninth Floor Master said.

The Drunken Sword Spirit sneered. "Heh, I am an immortal and indestructible Sword Spirit. What danger could possibly affect me? If you ask me, he’s just being petty and doesn’t want us to see his cultivation process."

Su Mo found the spot with the most abundant Spiritual Qi and sat down cross-legged.

He focused his Divine Sense inward, and the heaven-reaching Nine Dragon Celestial Pillar materialized before his mind’s eye.

Just as he expected, a brilliant Long Yuan had now formed on each of the Nine Dragon Celestial Pillars.

With a casual gesture, the Long Yuan containing the True Dragon Supreme Technique landed in his palm. ’Let’s start by raising my realm!’

The moment the Long Yuan entered his mouth, he mastered the Fourth Layer of True Dragon Unconscious Destruction Skill.

WHOOSH!

As he formed a hand seal and inhaled, the surrounding Spiritual Qi surged toward him like a tidal wave.

"What?"

The Drunken Sword Spirit was horrified.

But before he could even react, he was sent flying by the sudden, immense torrent of Spiritual Qi.