First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 1097 - Qing Tang’s Origins

Qin Feng lost far too quickly and died far too suddenly.

This left the onlookers in disbelief.

Earlier, when Qin Feng took out the Star-Swallowing Alms Bowl, its power was unbelievable. An aura of destruction enveloped everything on all sides.

Numerous people even broke out in cold sweats on Su Yi’s behalf. They were beside themselves with worry.

Who’d have thought that even after Qin Feng used his strongest trump card, he’d die beneath a single slash?

The river of stars filling the sky was split down the middle. The Star-Swallowing Alms Bowl was sent flying, while Qin Fend was destroyed, body and soul!

This was unquestionably far too tyrannical.

There was no time even to struggle. Life and death were determined in a flash!

“How… How is this possible…?” Meng Tianjun and Gu Che were visibly astonished. They couldn’t accept this.

On the way here, they made ample preparations, and they proceeded with caution. They dared not take the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force’s reincarnation at all lightly.

Neither of them could have anticipated that even after taking out the Star-Swallowing Alms Bowl, Holy Son Qin Feng wouldn’t even be able to block a single slash!

This left them with no time to rush to his aid. They could only watch helplessly as Qin Feng’s soul was destroyed.

The most ridiculous part was that Qin Feng had shouted that he hadn’t come to throw his life away, only to die just one slash later…

Beneath the dome of heaven.

Su Yi said, “He couldn’t beat me in a spar, he couldn’t beat me in a clash of trump cards, and he couldn’t beat me in a life-or-death battle. I truly don’t understand why he insisted on throwing his life away. Are the disciples of the Church of the River of Stars typically this ‘courageous?’”

The crowd’s expressions shifted. All of them could hear the unconcealed disdain in Su Yi’s words.

“Su Xuanjun, you killed our church’s Holy Son. Aren’t you afraid that we’ll exact revenge?” Meng Tianjun’s face was ashen.

Su Yi snickered. “A few days ago, I heard that Pi Mo was colluding with the Nine Heavens Pavilion and your Church of the River of Stars. You're working together to take me down. You’re saying it’s okay for you to attack me, but I’m not allowed to fight back?”

As he spoke, he stepped through the air and attacked directly.

Meng Tianjun and Gu Che’s expressions shifted dramatically. They immediately turned tail and fled.

Even Qin Feng had been killed. They certainly didn’t think they were a match for Su Xuanjun.

But Su Yi naturally wasn’t just going to let them escape.

Whoosh!

Moonlit Shadow stirred up countless streaks of sword qi. They swept forth like a tide, waving a net that blanketed heaven and earth and surrounded Meng Tianjun.

Meanwhile, Su Yi’s voice boomed like spring thunder as he unleashed a secret soul art.

Several thousand feet away, Gu Che staggered, his soul in agony, as if a divine sword had cleaved into it. The speed of his retreat abruptly plummeted.

Before he could come back to his senses, Su Yi attacked, sword swinging.

Gu Che couldn’t even dodge. Startled, he drew his snow-white saber and tried his utmost to block.

Crunch!!

The saber shattered, scattering into countless fragments.

Immediately afterward, the defensive treasures covering Gu Che’s body exploded with a bang.

He was cut down where he stood, a waterfall of blood dyeing the heavens.

As a late-stage Profound Serenity Emperor and elder of the Church of the River of Stars’ Lightning Division, Gu Che wasn’t at all weak. It was just that Su Yi had long since been able to cut down Profound Serenity Emperors with ease. How could Gu Che possibly escape him?

Boom!

The distant net of sword qi rumbled. Misty light ran rampant as it confined Meng Tianjun. He struggled with all his might, but he’d only just broken through when Su Yi blocked his escape route.

In the end, Su Yi suppressed him and captured him alive.

Just like that, the curtains fell on this grand battle.

But a long time passed before the higher-ups of the Wang Family recovered from their daze.

Just a few days prior, Su Yi and company fought their way into the Wang Family’s territory. That night, Su Yi struck once, when he broke the Three-Eyed Golden Toad’s cage.

Thus, the Wang Family higher-ups had no idea how strong the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force was now that he’d reincarnated.

Now, they’d seen it for themselves!

That unmatched bearing left every last one of them in a daze.

“Master.” Ye Luo and company walked up to him.

Su Yi nodded, then turned and gazed into the distance. “You’ve been watching all this time. Why don’t you dare fight me?”

This declaration left the onlookers stunned. There are still other enemies here!?

Then, the distant landscape rippled, and five figures floated into view.

They included both men and women, but all of them had extremely terrifying auras. Even the weakest was in the Profound Serenity Realm. The strongest, a man in dark robes, had a particularly imposing presence.

He was tall and thin, with a sword case on his back. His skin was dark, and even just standing there casually, he seemed to tower over heaven and earth and gaze down upon the four seas.

Even just gazing upon him from afar, the crowd felt a prickling pain in their ears, and their hearts were solemn. And just who is it this time?

The man in dark robes said in a voice that clanged like a sword, “We’re from the Nine Heavens Pavilion. Su Xuanjun, if you’re willing to work with us, we can promise you our protection.”

The Nine Heavens Pavilion!

Ye Luo and the others were solemn, and they gasped. They only now realized that the Church of the River of Stars weren’t the only ones who’d come to kill their master today.

But it was obvious that after watching Su Yi kill Qin Feng and the others, the experts of the Nine Heavens Pavilion were afraid. Their attitude had changed.

Su Yi couldn’t help but laugh dryly. “A lie like that might fool others, but it can’t fool me.”

In his conversations with the Netherworld King, he’d learned that the Supreme Leader of the Nine Heavens Pavilion had always been searching for someone capable of contending with the Laws of Heavenly Prayer!

He most certainly didn’t believe that the members of the Nine Heavens Pavilion hadn’t realized that he was most likely the very person their leader was after.

Besides, back in the Netherworld, Su Yi had killed slews of their experts.

All of this meant that he and the Nine Heavens Pavilion had long since become irrevocable enemies!

“It’s only reasonable that you wouldn’t trust our sincerity,” said the distant man in dark robes. “Very well. You’d best take care not to let anything unexpected happen to you. The next time we meet, the Nine Heavens Pavilion will surely show you the full extent of our… sincerity!”

With that, he and his followers turned, left, and disappeared into thin air.

Su Yi didn’t pursue them. Firstly, they were too far away. Secondly, they’d been on guard from beginning to end. The slightest disturbance, and they would have retreated immediately. There was no way he could keep them here.

“That bastard Pi Mo really is quite capable. He actually got both the Church of the River of Stars and the Nine Heavens Pavilion to take action.” Ye Luo walked over, a solemn look on his face.

“You’re wrong. Even if Pi Mo hadn’t colluded with them, they would have come after me sooner or later.” Su Yi shook his head.

This wasn’t him making excuses on Pi Mo’s behalf, but that he knew that all three sects from the stars beyond had come to the Dark and Gold Star Realm to seek out the secrets of reincarnation and Dark and Gold Treasures.

And Su Yi was in possession of the secrets of reincarnation!

“There’s no need for you to worry. In a bit, I’ll naturally settle the score with them one by one.” Su Yi carried Meng Tianjun in the direction of the Allmist Spirit Mountains.

As Su Yi faded into the distance, he ordered, “Right, don’t forget to clean up the battlefield for me.”

Ye Luo and the others looked at each other. All of them were rueful. Master hasn’t changed a bit. No matter how great a disaster strikes, it all seems trivial to him, to the point that it’s not worth mentioning.

But it was this very transcendent composure that reassured his disciples.

……

Bang!

Meng Tianjun regained consciousness with a splitting pain in his skull.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Su Yi seated in a nearby wicker chair, and his expression abruptly shifted.

“Answer some of my questions, and I can let you leave this place alive. If you insist on dying, I can send you on your way now.” Su Yi sprawled out languidly in the wicker chair, raising a jug of wine to his lips and drinking. “You ought to understand how I comport myself. I’m a man of my word, and I always keep my promises.”

Meng Tianjun fell silent, his expression shifting and uncertain.

“Then….”

He opened his mouth to speak, only for Su Yi to interrupt him. “You’re in no place to haggle or make demands.”

Meng Tianjun stiffened, but in the end, he slumped in dejection. “I can’t tell you anything that involves the core secrets of the Church of the River of Stars. If I do, I’ll meet with disaster.”

Su Yi read between the lines. He nodded. “Relax. I’m not interested in your ‘core secrets.’ I want to know just what kind of relationship you people have with Qing Tang and when you started working together.”

Meng Tianjun inwardly sighed in relief, and his whole body relaxed. “Those questions, I can actually answer.”

He then explained the situation in full.

“When we’d only just arrived in the Wilds, our leader, Shang Tianqi, the First Libationer of the Solar Palace, brought us straight to the Grotto of Abstruse Force to greet Fellow Daoist Qing Tang.

“We don’t know what exactly His Excellency Shang and Fellow Daoist Qing Tang discussed. What we do know is that Fellow Daoist Qing Tang has been in an alliance with the Church of the River of Stars ever since.”

“We needed her power to seek out Dark and Gold Treasures, while Qing Tang needed our power to contend with Pi Mo and his backer, the Studio of the Heart. We’ve worked well together over the years.”

Su Yi’s brow furrowed slightly. “Is that all you know?”

Meng Tianjun said bitterly, “I might be an elder of the Lightning Division, but my position is far inferior to that of Holy Son Qin Feng, let alone His Excellency Shang. Throughout our years of cooperation, it’s always been His Excellency Shang who makes contact with Qing Tang in private. I truly don’t know the details.”

Here, he seemed to recall something. “But throughout our years of interactions, my sectmates and I have sensed that Fellow Daoist Qing Tang’s origins most likely aren’t simple. Of course, this is mere conjecture, so I’m afraid you won’t believe me.”

Su Yi’s gaze focused. “Let’s hear it.”

Meng Tianjun took a deep breath. “We suspect that Qing Tang is from the stars beyond the Wilds too!”

Su Yi’s heart shook, and he recalled how the young mistress of the Studio of the Heart had infiltrated the Grotto of Abstruse Force under the name Song Chai.

It was Qing Tang who suspected that her origins were fishy, and it was Qing Tang who’d kicked Song Chai out of the sect while he was out wandering!

At the time, Su Yi had been furious.

But after learning that Song Chai was really the mysterious young mistress of the Studio of the Heart, he realized that Qing Tang’s suspicions had been right on the mark.

How had Qing Tang realized this?

There was no doubt about it. According to Meng Tianjun, Qing Tang was from outer space too. She naturally could see through Song Chai’s identity!