First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 1436 - Each Lamer Than the One Before

“Something—!”

It was just one word, but it was tinged with panic, delight, excitement, and urgency all at once.

It was extraordinarily clear against the overcast landscape, to the point that it stung the ears.

Xiao Changning, Zhou Zhe, and Xue Qiaozhi’s smiles froze in place, their expressions suddenly unsightly.

Meanwhile, Daoist Master Red Cloud, Yun Huaqing, and the others were surprised. There really was someone in the bronze treasure pagoda?

There was no doubt about it. Su Yi hadn’t just been making things up, and he wasn’t just scrambling for excuses to snipe their treasure. The pagoda really already had an owner.

Su Yi inwardly sighed in relief. He recognized the bronze treasure pagoda.

The Antique Dealer had once smugly shown it off, saying it was a supreme treasure he’d found in an ancient ruin.

He said not to let its rusted exterior fool him, and that it contained secrets unfathomable to even gods and ghosts! He was sure that, when the right moment arrived, this treasure would shine.

There was no doubt about it. The Tailor’s subordinates had chased the Antique Dealer here, and he’d relied on the bronze treasure pagoda to survive ever since.

“It’s just as Fellow Daoist Su said. Give us the treasure, and I’ll let you leave with your lives,” said Daoist Master Red Cloud. She didn’t hesitate in the slightest. Instead, she approached and fixed her clear gaze on the three of them.

Yun Huaqing and the others approached as well, brimming with aggression. Their eyes were utterly cold.

The atmosphere was instantly stifled and murderous.

“No way!” The indigo-clad swordsman, Zhou Zhe, said coldly, “This treasure was left here, and we found it, so it belongs to us!”

A rustled black saber scabbard appeared in Daoist Master Red Cloud’s hands, and she slashed the air without another word.

Boom!

A streak of black saber qi exploded into being and attacked from afar. The air exploded around it.

A turbulent waterfall of saber qi threatened to split heaven and earth in two.

“Break!” Xiao Changning snorted coldly, took out a war spear, and met the saber qi head-on.

Bang!!!

Heaven and earth shook, and firelight ran rampant.

Although Xiao Changning helped Zhou Zhe block this attack, the impact sent him staggering back. His clothes billowed around him, and his face flushed red with obvious exertion.

Even his spear wailed and buzzed in his grip.

Just one slash, but Xiao Changning almost couldn’t take it.

This terrifying power left everyone present shaken.

But Daoist Master Red Cloud seemed somewhat displeased. She was just about to strike again when...

“Wait!” Xue Qiaozhi suddenly shrieked. “Red Cloud, do you have any idea how great a price we paid to bring this treasure out of the temple?”

She gnashed her teeth and said, “We lost four Void-level immortal treasures and more than ten immortal talismans! We also had to overcome the temple’s countless perils before we could leave with...”

But before she could finish, Daoist Master Red Cloud interrupted, “What does any of that have to do with me?”

Xue Qiaozhi left the rest unsaid, her face ashen.

Xiao Changning said gravely, “Want the pagoda? Fine. But shouldn’t you at least... give us a little something in exchange?”

Everyone could tell that Xiao Changning was backing down! He dared not fight Daoist Master Red Cloud head-on!

“A price?” Daoist Master Red Cloud said with a tranquil look on her face. “Isn’t it enough that we’ll let you leave this place alive?”

“....”

Xiao Changning was so angry that he almost coughed up blood. It was just as Xue Qiaozhi had said. The three of them had overcome almost certain doom, venturing deep into the temple and paying a heavy price before finally acquiring the bronze treasure pagoda.

But before they could even celebrate, this “cooked duck” upped and flew away. Who could possibly have been happy?

Who... wouldn’t have been furious?

“I’ll ask you one last time. Will you give it up? Or not?” Daoist Master Red Cloud was obviously running out of patience.

The old man in beast skins, the monk, and the cloaked woman had already readied themselves for battle.

The sight of their seething murderous intent put unprecedented pressure on Xiao Changning and his allies. Finally, Xiao Changning gnashed his teeth and furiously tossed the pagoda over.

“Take it!!!”

Whoosh!

Daoist Master Red Cloud grabbed the pagoda, then passed it to Su Yi.

“Red Cloud, don’t get excited prematurely,” said Xiao Changning. He took a deep breath, his gaze sinister. “I’m not afraid to tell you that word of you bringing Su Yi to the Starjade Forbidden Zone has already startled numerous immortals into action!

“Including the Holy Son of Vast Ocean Mountain, Gu Yuanque!”

Gu Yuanque!

Hua Qinghai exclaimed, “He’s really in the Human Realm?”

The old man in beast skins and the others looked surprised too.

Vast Ocean Mountain.

They were one of the peak ancient orthodoxies of the Immortal Realm, a true Immortal King faction. In fact, their ranks had given rise to more than just one Immortal King.

At Vast Ocean Mountain, those qualified to call themselves Holy Sons all had the latent potential to become Saint Realm Immortal Lords!

A long, long time ago, Gu Yuanque became one of Vast Ocean Mountain’s Holy Sons!

Daoist Master Red Cloud had obviously heard of him too. Her delicate brow furrowed slightly, but she didn’t seem overly surprised.

As for Su Yi? He couldn’t care less. He was busy evaluating the bronze treasure pagoda.

“Hah. You wouldn’t have guessed it, right?” Xiao Changning laughed, but his eyes were icy. “Gu Yuanque has already joined forces with many of our allies. They’ve arrived in the Endless Treasure Grounds!

“There’s no need for me to say more. I’m sure you’re well aware that the moment Su Yi shows his face, he’ll become the target of countless arrows!

“Do you still have the courage to proceed?”

With that, Xiao Changning led Zhou Zhe and Xue Qiaozhi away.

“This will be trouble!” the old man in beast skins said gravely. “Rumor has it that Gu Yuanque is cold, cruel, and incomparably tyrannical. His ruthlessness is unrivaled, and now, he’s joined forces with a whole group of experts. The moment they set their sights on us, we’ll be in for endless trouble!”

“What’s there to be afraid of?” said Yun Huaqing. “With Celestial Red Cloud here, Gu Yuanque won’t dare act up, not unless he’s stupid.”

The monk Zhe Yin said gravely, “The trouble is, if they’ve long since set their sights on Fellow Daoist Su, there’s no way they’ll back down.”

“Fellow Daoist Su, you said that if we encountered insurmountable peril, we were to act in accordance with your orders. Well? How do you propose we resolve this?” The cloaked woman, Yu Ning, fixed her pale golden eyes on Su Yi.

Everyone’s expressions turned a bit strange.

There was no doubt about it; Yu Ning was still nursing a grudge over Su Yi’s insistence that she follow his orders.

Su Yi fiddled with the pagoda and said distractedly, “Minor trouble, that’s all. Would you really call this ‘insurmountable peril?’”

“???” The group was stunned. He calls this ‘minor trouble?’

Su Yi shook his head. “Very well. If, when the time comes, you cannot resolve this, just do as I say.”

The Void Realm True Immortals all felt stifled and dejected. They were so angry that they almost burst into laughter. He makes it sound like we’re all incompetent!

Daoist Master Red Cloud said, “Gu Yuanque really doesn’t amount to much. No need for undue concern.”

It was only after she said this that the old-timers resisted the urge to take Su Yi to task for the humiliating implications of his seemingly harmless words.

“Why not come out, you old cheapskate?” Su Yi looked at the bronze treasure pagoda and whispered.

“I don’t dare to.” The Antique Dealer’s voice emanated from within the pagoda. “I’m worried that this is a trick. What if you’re really the Tailor impersonating the Temple Master? In that case, better to just stay hidden. Unless you can prove that you’re really the Temple Master! Of course, it’s not that I don’t trust you. I’m just being cautious. That old schemer the Tailor is just too insidious; I have to be on guard. Anything could be one of his traps.”

Su Yi couldn’t help but find this amusing. This was the Antique Dealer: scrupulously cautious at all times. But it was for this reason that no matter how great the wind and waves, he always managed to eke out a path to survival.

“Very well. I’ll explain the situation to you after I’ve left the Starjade Forbidden Zone,” said Su Yi.

Yun Huaqing suddenly interjected, “Fellow Daoist Su, that pagoda is extraordinary! It’s obviously a Saint-level immortal treasure!”

His gaze was heated as he repeatedly examined the pagoda.

Saint-level immortal treasures were refined by Saint Realm Immortal Lords. They contained Saint Immortal Laws, and their power was terrifying beyond measure.

They were first-rate immortal weapons even in the Immortal Realm. Here in the Human Realm, they were all but impossible to find!

It wasn’t just Yun Huaqing. The old man in beast skins and the monk were stunned too. They couldn’t even imagine how this friend of Su Yi’s hand acquired such a treasure!

It was truly unbelievable!

“What are you trying to say?” Su Yi glanced at Yun Huaqing.

Yun Huaqing froze, stunned, then considered his words carefully. “Fellow Daoist Su, please don’t take offense. It just seems to me that if we take control of this treasure, it’ll be a powerful killer weapon. We’ll be able to face even mighty foes with confidence.”

Before Su Yi could say anything, the old man in beast skins said with displeasure, “That treasure belongs to Fellow Daoist Su’s friend. How could you suggest something so unreasonable?”

Zhe Yin glanced at Yun Huaqing. “It really is a bit inappropriate.”

Yun Huaqing snapped, “It’s true that this treasure has caught my eye, but I don’t covet it. I’m just considering all of our well-being! Clear your heads and think. We have a Saint-level treasure on our hands. Letting it go to waste would be no different from desecrating a heavenly treasure!”

He paused, then said, “If you don’t trust me with it, we could entrust it to Celestial Red Cloud instead.”

Daoist Master Red Cloud shook her head. “I don’t need it.”

This rejection left Yun Huaqing feeling like he had no face left.

From beginning to end, Su Yi didn’t say a single word on the matter. He just took a deep, hard look at Yun Huaqing before saying to Daoist Master Red Cloud, “Let’s go. We should get out of here before we do anything else.”

“Alright.” Daoist Master Red Cloud nodded back. The group then continued on their way, heading deeper into the Starjade Forbidden Grounds.

Yun Huaqing was increasingly silent and sullen.

The old man in beast skins, Bao Wentai, occasionally took it upon himself to strike up a conversation with Su Yi. He was quite friendly, too.

The woman in the black cloak, Yu Ning, couldn’t help but inwardly shake her head at this. How could an old-timer like Bao Wentai fawn on a junior like this? It’s truly shameless!

And Yun Huaqing! Su Yi disliked him right from the start, yet he keeps provoking him. What for? Isn’t he just inviting further snubs?

As for the monk, Zhe Yin? Yu Ning couldn’t quite see through him. They weren’t familiar, but she could tell that the seemingly youthful monk was far shrewder than either Yun Huaqing or Bao Wenti!

As for Su Yi....

Yu Ning furrowed her brow.

She’d lost track of how many years she’d spent cultivating, but she’d never once seen such an impudent junior before! He dared disregard Yun Huaqing, proclaim that he’d ensure their safety, and demand that the Void Realm True Immortals must follow his orders to have their curses broken.

It was simply insane!

If not for Daoist Master Red Cloud overseeing things, Yu Ning would have long since given in to the urge to teach this wildly conceited junior a lesson!

At least Red Cloud and the monk are reliable, thought Yu Ning. As for Su Yi, Yun Huaqing, and Bao Wentai? Each is lamer than the one before!