First Immortal of the Sword - Chapter 2223 - The Weight of a Promise
Chapter 2223 – The Weight of a Promise
“Why go to Spring and Autumn City?” Ku Zhen couldn’t help but ask, a rather dark look on his aged features.
“Stupid!” Qi Wei said crisply. “At this run-down ship’s speed, we could fly for seven days and seven nights and still not reach the Spirit Firmament Divine Continent!
“But if we go to Spring and Autumn City, we can use our ancient transmission formation to arrive instantaneously!”
Boom!
Ku Zhen reacted as if struck by lightning. His mind practically went blank.
He’d spent the past month meticulously preparing multiple methods to take Xiao Jian down. His goal was to find an opportunity to do just that en route to the Spirit Firmament Divine Continent.
He’d even arranged for multiple ambushes on the road ahead, and he’d positioned numerous subordinates to assist him!
Yet now, Qi Wei wanted to take a different route and take the Qilin race’s ancient transmission formation directly to the Spirit Firmament Divine Continent!
This caught Ku Zhen completely off guard.
“We cannot!” Ku Zhen refused without hesitation.
Even disregarding everything he’d put in place to target Xiao Jian, High Elder Yuan Shan was supposed to follow them in secret throughout this operation. If they took the formation, they would inevitably leave High Elder Yuan Shan behind, and there’d be no way he could catch up.
How could Ku Zhen possibly agree to that?
“Why can’t we?” Qi Wei frowned.
“That’s right. Why not take the formation?” Grand Elder Wei Zhong gazed at Ku Zhen, his eyes flashing.
Su Yi could roughly guess why, and he couldn’t help but find Ku Zhen’s refusal funny. Qi Wei’s suggestion must ruin all the arrangements he made.
He must hate Qi Wei to death!
After a brief, stifled silence, Ku Zhen glowered and said, “To the best of my knowledge, taking the Qilin Trading Company’s ancient transmission formation requires a full eighteen hundred Undying Divine Crystals per person! I most certainly can’t afford that. Can you, Grand Elder?”
He glanced coldly at Wei Zhong.
Wei Zhong clamped his jaw shut.
Eighteen hundred Undying Divine Crystals was an absolutely astronomical sum. Even most Master Gods couldn’t bear to part with such an enormous amount of wealth unless it was absolutely necessary, let alone those beneath that level!
In truth, formations capable of transporting people to the other three divine continents were so rare that you could count those that existed in the Southern Flame Divine Continent on your fingers.
This was for the simple reason that using them was far too expensive! It was no different from burning money.
Unless they ran into a problem of the utmost urgency, not even high-ranking authority figures like the grand and third elders would use such an expensive method to cross two divine continents.
“With me here, will you still need to spend that money?” said Qi Wei, airily breaking through Ku Zhen’s defenses.
Ku Zhen’s face stiffened, and he stood there for a while, completely unable to argue. She’s right! The transmission formation in Spring and Autumn City belongs to the Qilin Trading Company, which belongs to the Qilin Race, and she’s… the daughter of their leader! How could they possibly make her pay to take the transmission formation?
Grand Elder Wei Zhong smiled and clasped his fists. “In that case, thank you so much, Miss Qi Wei!”
Ku Zhen frowned so deeply that his face was as bumpy and wrinkled as a bitter melon. Su Yi barely resisted the urge to laugh.
The grand elder, however, didn’t hide his feelings. He just laughed and urged Ku Zhen on. “Don’t just stand there, Third Elder. Hurry up and start the ship! Let’s go to Spring and Autumn City!”
Ku Zhen took a deep breath, then said nothing. He just silently got to work.
If the grand elder weren’t here, he could have just refused, but… The grand elder was there. There was no way Ku Zhen could refuse!
All of this left him so frustrated that he almost coughed up blood.
It was bad enough that his plans to target Xiao Jian had been thrown into disarray, and that he’d been forced to leave High Elder Yuan Shan behind. What made things even worse was that he’d have to travel with Wei Zhong and Qi Wei. How could such an arrangement not drive Ku Zhen insane?
As shrewd and cunning as he was, he felt helpless. He wanted to cry, but he had no tears…
How is this possible? How could this have happened? All I wanted to do was take Xiao Jian down. How could so much trouble have arisen?
Even the arrangements, ambushes, and helpers he’d arranged… would all go to waste!
Ku Zhen suddenly felt exhausted.
……
Ku Zhen glowered all the way to Spring and Autumn City. He steered the ship without a single word.
Grand Elder Wei Zhong had originally planned to take this time to have an in-depth conversation with Xiao Jian, but to his surprise, he couldn’t find any opportunity!
The young mistress of the Qilin Race, the young woman who’d boldly stood up to the Blue Rose Demon Master, had stuck to Xiao Jian like glue from the moment they boarded the treasure ship.
She gave Wei Zhong no chance for a private conversation whatsoever!
The Grand Elder didn’t want to be an eyesore, so he considerately gave the two of them space.
“You said you didn’t care whether Divine Daughter Xi Ning lived or died, but look at you! Aren’t you rushing to her aid as we speak?” Qi Wei’s beautiful eyes were utterly smug, as if she were proud that she’d seen right through him.
Su Yi said calmly, “I’m simply following orders and accompanying the third elder to the Spirit Firmament Divine Continent.”
Qi Wei jeered. “You really can’t get a man to admit defeat, huh? Fine! I can’t be bothered to expose you.”
Su Yi took out a jug of wine and had a sip, entirely unmoved. He knew that Qi Wei was desperate to force him to admit that he was Su Yi.
But he wouldn’t do it.
“Relax, okay? They can’t hear anything we’re saying,” said Qi Wei, her tone considerably more solemn than before. “I just want to tell you that things are going to be dangerous. For the Xi Family, this is a crisis; their very survival hangs in the balance.
“Especially Xi Ning. The Three Purities Daoist Court sees her as one of their primary targets.
“Although the ancient Xi Family’s foundations run deep, and although they’re a top faction by the standards of the Spirit Firmament Divine Continent, they have only a few Master Gods to oversee things, and their cultivations within the Undying Realm aren’t all that high.
“They’re nothing at all compared to a ruling faction like the Three Purities Daoist Court!
“Furthermore, the Three Purities Daoist Court announced that before making a move on the Xi Family, they’d dispatch their forces to seal off all of their possible escape routes!
“In other words, the Xi clansmen are already like beasts in a cage, unable to escape. All they can do is wait for the Three Purities Daoist Court to wipe them out!”
She’d recounted the Xi Family’s situation in full detail. Su Yi knew she wasn’t just being an alarmist, either.
The Qilin Trading Company was one of the three most ancient and powerful trading companies in the God Domain, with forces spread throughout all four divine continents. They naturally knew what went on in the Spirit Firmament Divine Continent far better than other people.
“Given the circumstances, just… how do you plan to handle this?” Qi Wei gazed intently at Su Yi.
But Su Yi just said calmly, “I’ll follow the third elder’s orders.”
“…” Qi Wei was so angry that she wanted to take a bite out of him. I’m trying to help him come up with a plan, but he refuses to recognize my good intentions. He’s still playing dumb!!
“Actually, it seems to me that since the Three Purities Daoist Court’s real goal is to force Su Yi out into the open…” Su Yi pondered, then said, “They’re sure to give Su Yi a clear deadline. They won’t just casually attack the ancient Xi Family whenever.”
Qi Wei’s spirits instantly improved. He’s finally learned some sense and started talking to me!
“You’re right,” Qi Wei said brightly, her voice like a pearl dropped onto a jade plate, a feast for the ears. “The forces of the Qilin Trading Company are paying close attention to how the situation develops.
“But whether or not they set a deadline for Su Yi, the ancient Xi Family is like a fish on the chopping block. The Three Purities Daoist Court is the undisputed top faction of the Spirit Firmament Divine Continent.
“If you were Su Yi, how would you resolve this?”
This time, Qi Wei learned from her past mistakes and avoided calling him Su Yi directly.
Su Yi glanced at her, then said, “Although I’m not Su Yi, I know that if he decides to help the Xi Family, he’ll naturally go in well prepared. There’s no way he’d rush in recklessly and throw his life away.”
Qi Wei batted her eyes, then asked curiously, “Tell me, then. What do you think his chances of victory are?”
Su Yi shrugged. “How should I know?”
Qi Wei glared at him. Why must you insist on playing dumb? How long are you going to keep up this act?
She bit down on her lower lip and said, “Actually, I think that if he came to the Qilin Trading Company, he’d receive unexpectedly generous support. Doing so would only benefit him, and it wouldn’t hurt him in any way.
“After all, as I said earlier, the Qilin Trading Company is all about business. We’ve never gotten involved in worldly conflicts, but we can make an exception for him and him only. We won’t be stingy with our support, either.”
Qi Wei’s eyes were as blue as the ocean as she gazed intently at Su Yi. “Of course, even if he doesn’t actively request our support, we’ll help him of our own accord.”
“Even at the cost of offending the Three Purities Daoist Court?” asked Su Yi.
Qi Wei smiled so broadly that her eyes narrowed like crescent moons. She said leisurely, “I can tell you in no uncertain terms that our ancestor said…. It would be worth it even if we offended the entire God Domain!”
Su Yi’s heart shook. The weight of that was just too enormous!
For the sake of just one person, they’d offend the entire God Domain. That was sure to make the Qilin Race the common foe of everyone beneath the heavens!
When that happened, it wouldn’t just risk the destruction of the Qilin Trading Company, one of the top three trading companies in the God Domain. The entire Qilin Race would get swept into the storm!
How could Su Yi not feel the weight of such a promise? For a moment, he even considered admitting his identity.
But in the end, he held back. He couldn’t admit it!
It wasn’t that he distrusted Qi Wei, or that he was biased against the Qilin Race.
Rather, he wouldn’t implicate the Qilin Race unless he had no other options left, and the situation was not yet that serious!
After a moment’s silence, Su Yi said, “If I were Su Yi, I wouldn’t go to the Qilin Race for aid unless I’d truly been pushed into the corner, and I would be in no way willing to receive your aid.”
Qi Wei furrowed her brow. “Why is that?”
Su Yi said calmly, “He’s never wanted to implicate other people in his problems or bring disaster upon his allies!”
Qi Wei was stunned. This answer was entirely unexpected.
But when she thought about it, she was touched. A long time passed before she managed to calm down.
“He doesn’t want to implicate other people, huh…?” Qi Wei murmured in a daze. “Su Yi sure is a courageous and responsible person.”
But then, she laughed. “It’s just a pity that you aren’t Su Yi, and you don’t understand that we of the Qilin Race always keep our promises, no matter the cost!
“Even if Su Yi refuses our aid, we’re dead set on helping him!”
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