First Immortal of the Sword - Chapter 2770 - I Can’t Even Borrow Another’s Prestige
Chapter 2770 – I Can’t Even Borrow Another’s Prestige
Lu Hongpao returned the renamed “Peach Blossom” to Su Yi. “This sword has accepted you as its master, so it’s yours. Take care of it. Although little of its source energies remain, it’ll serve as a trump card. It won’t be hard for it to clean up a few Heavenly Monarchs.
“That said, it’s badly damaged. Unless your life is in danger, you’d best use it as little as possible.”
Pu Xuan sighed. “Senior, you’re being amazingly considerate on my foster father’s behalf.”
“Your… foster father?” Lu Hongpao burst into laughter.
Su Yi barely resisted the urge to kick Pu Xuan. He’ll seriously seize any opening for flattery. He’s simply depraved!
Who knew what Lu Hongpao was thinking, but she suddenly suppressed her smile and said, “Might you lend me this kid for a time?”
Su Yi was stunned. “You mean Pu Xuan?”
“That’s right!” said Lu Hongpao. “His cultivation base is unsteady, and he’s yet to fully excavate his latent potential. I plan to send him somewhere to temper himself. If he stays with you, he’ll waste his potential. Even if he somehow manages to become a Heavenly Monarch, he’ll be doomed to mediocrity.”
Su Yi straightforwardly agreed, but Pu Xuan fell uncharacteristically silent.
Su Yi laughed. “Weren’t you only just saying that you longed to cling to the Red-Robed Sovereign’s legs and scrounge for free food? Now, you’ve got the opportunity to do just that. Why not take it?”
Pu Xuan shook his head. “I don’t want to leave your side.”
What Heavenly Sovereign? What cultivation? He didn’t care about any of that. He just wanted to stay with Su Yi.
He said pitifully, “Fellow Daoist, how could you bear to just lend me to someone else? It’s far too hurtful! I might not have contributed much on this journey, but I’ve made a sincere effort! And without me to slave on your behalf…”
But Su Yi interrupted him here. “Do as I say.”
Pu Xuan’s voice came to an abrupt halt. The handsome, elegant Buddhist sword cultivator fell silent for a while before finally nodding.
“Good,” said Lu Hongpao. “Pu Xuan, I’ll try my best to let you two reunite when Fellow Daoist Su returns from the Nine Luminaries Battlefield.
“Of course, meeting my requirements in just three years won’t be easy.”
Pu Xuan said with confidence. “Senior, rest assured. I might not be good at much, but I’ve never been afraid of enduring hardship!”
Lu Hongpao clapped him on the shoulder and smiled. “Excellent. I hope you’ll put your money where your mouth is when the time comes.”
When he saw the smile on her face, Pu Xuan felt a sudden sense of unease. This doesn’t bode well…
But before he could ask any further questions, Lu Hongpao looked at Su Yi. “My good brother, it’s time I got going. Do you have any other questions? If so, go ahead and ask them now. I might not answer them, though.”
Then what’s the point of asking!? Su Yi shouted inwardly. Outwardly, he clasped his fist. “Thank you for all your help this time. I’ll never forget this benevolence.”
Who knew what she was thinking, but Lu Hongpao threw back her head and laughed herself to tears.
She poked Su Yi in the shoulder. “What are you being so polite with me for? When you regain your memories, you’re going to slap yourself for this.”
“What?” Su Yi exclaimed. “Why?”
“Because…” Lu Hongpao’s expression grew strange. “You said that our friendship was unmatched throughout heaven and earth, and that if I was ever polite with you, I’d become your grandson—and vice versa.”
Su Yi didn’t know what to say to that.
Pu Xuan lowered his head, not daring to speak. If he failed to suppress his laughter, Su Yi might well lash out at him.
“I didn’t know, so it doesn’t count,” said Su Yi. “Now that I know, I naturally won’t do it again. Come on then, show me what you really look like. Let your good brother see the true majesty of the Red-Robed Heavenly Sovereign!”
Lu Hongpao laughed. “If you recover your memories, you’ll know what I look like. If you can’t recover them, then let’s just stay good brothers for the rest of our lives.
“You wanna know what I really look like? I’m a balding, decrepit old grandmother; the sight of me would terrify you. I can’t bear to do that to you.”
Su Yi sneered inwardly. What Heavenly Sovereign couldn’t sustain their youth if they wanted to?
Lu Hongpao took a red jade bangle out of her sleeve and passed it to him. “This is a storage treasure. It’s got good stuff in it, too. Take it.”
But Su Yi refused. “After this battle, I undoubtedly drew widespread attention. If someone sees me with your belongings, it’ll only provoke suspicion and cause trouble. Even if I change my identity, it’ll put me at a disadvantage.”
He paused, then said, “Besides, I’ve got trump cards of my own. All I need are cultivation resources.”
Lu Hongpao paused briefly, then combed through the jade bangle, removing everything but the cultivation resources. She put all of the life-saving trump cards away.
What surprised Su Yi and Pu Xuan the most was one of the life-saving measures that exited the bangle: a clone of Lu Hongpao herself.
Pu Xuan gasped at the sight of it. She really is worried about Su Xuanjun’s safety. To think she’d leave a killer weapon like that! Just how terrifyingly destructive would the clone of a Heavenly Sovereign be in battle?
This also makes it obvious how much she cares about him.
“Alright, take it,” said Lu Hongpao, passing Su Yi the bangle. “If you’re embarrassed, just pay me back with interest later.”
Pu Xuan rubbed his hands together and smiled obsequiously, “Senior, might this junior perhaps receive a similar greeting gift?”
Lu Hongpao smiled at him. “Rest assured. You’ll enjoy endless benefits soon enough.”
Pu Xuan inwardly cried out in alarm. Why does that somehow remind me of my catchphrase, ‘killing enemies is an act of kindness’?
Pu Xuan didn’t hesitate to refuse. “Never mind. I’d best not accept them. In the path of cultivation, one must search within oneself. This junior was born without the blessings of fate; I cannot withstand the good fortune you have in store for me, Senior.”
Lu Hongpao laughed. “What I don’t give you, you cannot have, but what I do give you, you cannot refuse!”
Pu Xuan laughed dryly, then fell silent.
“I’ll escort you out of the Blue Peak Continent. When you arrive on the River of Destiny, shatter this talisman, and someone will quickly arrive to lead you to the Literati Continent,” Lu Hongpao said firmly. After making a decision, she stuffed a talisman into Su Yi’s hands, then took him and vanished.
Boom!
A low, thundering boom resounded beneath the distant dome of heaven. Two indistinct figures flashed past.
Pu Xuan couldn’t help but sigh. They say that Heavenly Sovereigns can easily cross the barriers between continents. Now, it seems that’s indeed the case.
Within moments, Lu Hongpao returned and grinned at him. “Pu Xuan, your foster father has left. Are you sad?”
Pu Xuan shook his head. “When I’ve made sufficient advances in my cultivation, my foster father and I shall meet again. There’s no need for sorrow!”
“That’s right. But first, I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to endure momentarily,” said Lu Hongpao, swinging her sleeves. Pu Xuan vanished into thin air.
She then looked over at Mu Qing, Yu Guangjun, and Yang Lingxiao, who were still in a separate, self-contained space, and stamped her feet. “Come out here!”
The air shook, and a roughly ten-foot-tall man appeared out of nowhere. He had a striking red lotus imprint at the center of his forehead.
This was none other than Yao Monarch Lian Luo, the master of White Sparrow Tower!
His expression was utterly toadyish as he bowed and scraped. “What can I do for you, Master?”
Lu Hongpao’s eyes glinted like ice. She suddenly raised her hand and struck him.
Bang!!
Yao Monarch Lian Luo slammed into the ground tens of thousands of feet away, blood spurting from his mouth and nose. There was now a bloody hole through his chest.
Even so, he dared not show any sign of anger. He forcefully endured the pain, knelt, and lowered his head. “I don’t know what I did to anger you, Master, but I’m willing to accept my punishment!”
He was an unparalleled Heavenly Monarch famed throughout the Eternal Heavens Domain, yet now, he was kneeling, as humble and servile as could be!
“I told you to protect Su Yi in secret, but over and over again, you just stood back and watched the spectacle. You really didn’t take my commands at all seriously, huh?” Lu Hongpao took a step forward, then arrived in front of Lian Luo, her gaze cold and cruel. “Do my words simply mean nothing to you?”
Lian Luo hung his head but didn’t try to explain. All he said was, “I understand what I’ve done wrong. Please, punish me as you see fit! I won’t resent it in the slightest!”
“Why not explain yourself?” Lu Hongpao took a sip of wine. It was from the very same jug Su Yi had given her, too.
Lian Luo shook his head repeatedly. “I wouldn’t dare.”
Lu Hongpao laughed coldly. “Not bad. Had you dared try to justify yourself, I’d have kicked you out of the sect completely!”
Lian Luo just knelt there in silence, not daring to even breathe too loudly.
“Of course, I know why you didn’t intervene. It was because with Great Sorrow there, those Heavenly Monarchs couldn’t have hurt a hair on my good brother’s head,” said Lu Hongpao calmly. “Ol’ Ku Xuan showing up was outside of your expectations, and more than you could handle. Still, why not step forth and at least try to block his path?”
Lian Luo said softly, “It’s not that I was afraid, but that His Excellency Su really wasn’t in any danger, and you commanded me not to let him sense my existence unless it was life or death.”
Lu Hongpao sighed. “You underestimate the abilities of a Demonist Heavenly Sovereign like Ku Xuan, and you overestimate your own judgment!
“Ku Xuan could have doomed my good brother at whim, and you couldn’t possibly have intervened in time to stop him!
“He refrained from killing my good brother, in part because of you. He knows that you’re one of my people. Your presence here meant that I might join the battle at any moment!
“That’s why he refrained from striking a killing blow, and why he was willing to exchange so many words with my good brother. His ultimate goal was to figure out where you stood.
“Even his talk of destroying Great Sorrow was a test. He wanted to see whether I was hidden nearby, too.”
As Lu Hongpao spoke, she recalled Ku Xuan’s reaction to her appearance. He hadn’t been the least bit surprised; on the contrary, the look on his face seemed to say, “I knew it!”
Lian Luo was unwittingly stunned, his expression shifting erratically. You mean Heavenly Sovereign Ku Xuan sensed me hiding nearby? He knew I was there this entire time?
And he suspected that Master might how up at any moment?
“Had you stepped forth and just told Ku Xuan, openly and honestly, that Su Yi was my good brother, you’d have erased all possibility of Ku Xuan acting maliciously against him. You’d have instantly eradicated all of the latent danger!”
“But you didn’t,” said Lu Hongpao. “As you said, it wasn’t out of cowardice, but that’s the part that pisses me off.”
Lu Hongpao glared at the kneeling Lian Luo. “Since when were you too stupid to even borrow my prestige properly, huh?”
