First Immortal of the Sword - Chapter 2841 - Yu Liu, Variables, and Disaster

Chapter 2841 – Yu Liu, Variables, and Disaster

Before long, Su Yi came back to his senses. “Will this implicate Light Beam Sword Pavilion and Blueleaf Sword Sect?”

“If I die in battle, it just might,” Lu Hongpao said casually. “If I live, no one will dare to touch them.”

Su Yi rubbed his forehead. Suddenly, something occurred to him, and he gave two spirit pearls to Lu Hongpao. These were the pearls the heart devil in the rusted sheath had refined after suppressing Heavenly Sovereign Wen and Heavenly Sovereign Changhen’s avatars of will.

With the pearls in hand, he’d know when their true bodies appeared. No matter how deeply they hid themselves, he’d sense them immediately!

Lu Hongpao couldn’t help but be stunned. “My dear good brother, you really just keep surprising me.”

As a Heavenly Sovereign, Lu Hongpao was naturally well aware of how difficult it was to suppress and refine a Heavenly Sovereign’s avatar of will. It was all but impossible, actually. After all, how many people could stop even a defeated Heavenly Sovereign’s avatar from self-destructing?

But Lu Hongpao didn’t ask questions. She just smiled and put the spirit pearls away. “Now that I’ve got these, Heavenly Sovereign Wen and Heavenly Sovereign Changhen can forget about intercepting us. If they try it, I’ll be sure to teach them a lesson!”

She blinked, then smiled at Su Yi. “My good brother, do you have any other surprises in store for me?”

The corners of Su Yi’s lips. “How many surprises could someone of my lowly cultivation offer you? That said, I’ll do my best to ensure you find no opportunity to die in battle!”

Lu Hongpao raised a cup of wine. “A toast to honor your fine words!”

The two of them laughed and chatted a while longer.

When they’d finished their wine, Lu Hongpao rose and walked over to Madam Qingyi. Then, she extracted a talisman hidden in her sea of consciousness. This time, she didn’t even bother asking first.

The talisman was pale green and shaped like a copper coin. It wasn’t at all eye-catching.

But according to Lu Hongpao, this was a Hidden Dao Talisman, one of the rarest, most precious talismans in the Eternal Heavens Domain. Even in the Blissful Heavens, only a tiny handful of top experts were qualified to carry them.

The crux of the talisman’s abilities lay in the word “hidden.” They could hide one’s cultivation base, appearance, and traces, among other things. They could elude even the senses of Heavenly Sovereigns, assuming the Heavenly Sovereign wasn’t already on guard.

Lu Hongpao then handed the talisman to Su Yi.

By now, Su Yi realized that Lu Hongpao had come to Rosy Dew Pavilion with two goals in mind. The first was to acquire a Hidden Dao Talisman. The second was to lure the serpent out of his cave and get Heavenly Sovereign E to reveal himself.

Now, both goals had been realized.

“My good brother, want to dual cultivate with Madam Qingyi?” Lu Hongpao said suddenly. “She’s got a rare spirit butterfly physique and a pure Yin body. Even rarer, she’s yet to lose her virginity. Her Heavenly Monarch cultivation base is exceedingly pure. Use her as a vessel for dual cultivation, and… well, there’s no telling how wondrous it would be.”

Lu Hongpao grinned, an ambiguous look on his face.

Su Yi was at a loss for words. He really wanted to say, You can call yourself my good brother, but don’t forget that you’re really a woman!

Lu Hongpao realized that enough was enough, so she put her arm around Su Yi’s shoulder, and the two of them left Rosy Dew Pavilion without any further ado.

……

Before the gates of the Blueleaf Sword Sect.

“Your Excellency Su, you really won’t come in?” said Mo Lanhe, clearly reluctant to part with him.

He’d repeatedly invited Su Yi to visit the Blueleaf Sword Sect, only for Su Yi to refuse.

“No need. Hurry back; it’s time I got going.” Su Yi smiled, waved him farewell, and left.

He naturally had to send Mo Lanhe and Fu Lingyun back before he left the Literati Continent.

Mo Lanhe watched him fade away. A long time passed before he managed to calm down. He carried a bag of holding full of trophies. According to Su Yi, they’d traveled together, so it was only right that they split the spoils. He didn’t give Mo Lanhe any chance to refuse, either. He just stuffed the bag into his hands.

“Li Muchen… Su Yi… I, Mo Lanhe, know that I am no one special. The opportunity to travel with a legend like you… was truly the honor of a lifetime!” Mo Lanhe murmured, then turned and walked through the sect’s gates.

His return caused an instant commotion. The founder, sect-leader, and elders all came to greet him. But when they heard that Su Yi had already left, they couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

Word of what had happened in the Nine Luminaries Forbidden Zone had long since shaken the Literati Continent. The three years Su Yi had spent cultivating in the Blueleaf Sword Sect under the guise of Li Muchen had become one of the continent’s most popular topics of discussion.

Although there’d been unpleasantness between them, thanks to Mo Lanhe, all of that was in the past.

…

Light Beam Sword Pavilion.

Su Yi escorted the scatterbrain, Fu Lingyun, back to the sect.

Bu Meng was smiling so broadly he could barely close his mouth. He grabbed Su Yi and refused to let him leave without enjoying a proper banquet first.

He was so earnest that Su Yi couldn’t bring himself to refuse. It was only after a full meal that Su Yi finally managed to extricate himself.

“Martial Great Uncle, will I ever see His Excellency Su again?” Fu Lingyun couldn’t help but laugh.

“You can!” Bu Meng said with staunch assurance. “But only if you work hard on your cultivation.”

Fu Lingyun nodded firmly.

……

Su Yi reconvened with Lu Hongpao.

The only person he’d yet to see safely back home was Yang Lingxiao, but then, he planned to visit the Heart-Tempering Sword House anyway. Yang Lingxiao could just accompany him for now.

“You didn’t tell them the truth, did you?” Lu Hongpao said with a laugh.

Su Yi shook his head. The Literati Continent might well face unforeseeable disaster, but there was nothing Bu Meng and Mo Lanhe could do about it. Telling them would only worry them.

“Let’s go, then.” Lu Hongpao swung her sleeves, and a glittering silver boat appeared, then carried the two of them off.

……

The names of the Five Great Continents lined up with the names of the Five Realms of Eternity. They were thus known as the Unfettered Continent, the Divine Wandering Continent, the Silent Continent, the Immeasurable Continent, and the Heavenly Fate Continent.

But although the cultivation realms were sequential, that didn’t imply that the continents’ names reflected their respective strength. All five were the greatest of the Eternal Heavens Domain’s thirty-three continents.

The Unfettered Continent. Three Sages Mountain, the territory of Divine Reverence Pavilion.

A group of old monsters had gathered in a meeting hall. They were busy arguing until they were red in the face, and it seemed they wouldn’t reach an agreement anytime soon.

Their arguments centered around Su Yi.

When he revealed his identity in the Nine Luminaries Forbidden Zone, he shook the entire Eternal Heavens Domain, stirring up a massive wave of uproar.

And Divine Reverence Pavilion was among the first factions to hear the news.

They’d always occupied a lofty, transcendent position, and their attitude wasn’t affected by the trends of the world or the opinions of its factions.

It was for this reason that their ranking lists were so widely trusted and universally accepted as the gold standard.

Yet now, they were arguing amongst themselves as they tried and failed to appraise Su Yi’s combat strength.

“He defeated Xun Jiu’an, and Dong Liujia, too. Moreover, he won with overwhelming force! You hear me? I said overwhelming force! With strength like that, why shouldn’t he claim first spot in the rankings?” said an old monster, waving his arms in fury. He was practically frothing at the mouth.

“It’s not that he doesn’t deserve it, but that we can’t!” another old monster said with a glower. “Ranking Heavenly Monarchs is against our rules! Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten? Others might not know this, but everyone here knows that Su Yi is Jiang Wuchen’s reincarnation! Even if he’s only in the Unfettered Realm at the moment, we cannot place someone of his level in the Unfettered Ranking!”

Many others chimed in their agreement.

All of them acknowledged that Su Yi’s strength was more than enough to claim first place in the Unfettered Ranking; the one currently in first place wasn’t even remotely close to him.

But things weren’t anywhere near that simple!

Because Su Yi’s identity was far too extraordinary. He was Jiang Wuchen’s reincarnation. If they put him in the Unfettered Ranking, Su Yi might well take offense. What would they do then?

But some of the old monsters staunchly insisted that the rankings evaluated all cultivators within a given realm. Su Yi was currently in the Unfettered Realm, so he naturally ought to go on the list. If they left him out for fear of offending him, who would trust their lists going forward?

Just like that, an argument broke out. Soon, it grew so heated that it seemed the old monsters might roll up their sleeves and fight at any moment.

Finally, the old man at the center of the room couldn’t take it anymore. He smacked his armrests and broke his silence for the first time since the meeting began. “Enough with all the bickering! Look at yourselves! Aren’t you ashamed?”

Everyone clamped their mouths shut, but their eyes were still full of anger.

The old man at the center of the room let out a deep sigh. “There are several Heavenly Sovereigns lying in wait just outside the Literati Continent. If Su Yi dies, won’t your arguments about whether or not to include him in the Unfettered Ranking be totally useless?”

The whole room was startled.

The old man continued, “Of course, I’m not trying to jinx him, nor am I saying he’s doomed. I’m just saying that there’s no need to rush to decide his rank. Why not wait a while longer and see what happens?”

The crowd exchanged glances.

Someone couldn’t help but ask, “But if Su Yi lives, we’ll still have to rank him, right?”

The old man said expressionlessly, “Fine, let’s assume he lives. But what if he’s long since left the Unfettered Realm?”

The crowd had nothing to say to that.

“Let’s set this matter aside for now and pick it back up later,” said the old man, reaching a decision.

The atmosphere was stifled, but no one argued.

Suddenly, someone said softly, “Patriarch, will this incident in the Literati Continent lead to other unforeseen developments?”

All attention was instantly on the old man leading the meeting.

The old man’s features were aged, and he was dressed in coarse Confucian robes. His hair and beard were disheveled. This was one of the most senior patriarchs of Divine Reverence Pavilion. His Daoist title was Yu Liu.

Few in the Five Great Continents knew his name. He had no fame or reputation to speak of. But the experts of Divine Reverence Pavilion knew that even Heavenly Sovereigns needed to show him some degree of respect!

By the same token, no one in Divine Reverence Pavilion could match Patriarch Yu Liu when it came to perception, wisdom, and understanding.

At the very least, none of these old-timers had known previously that a trap was lying in wait for Su Yi in the Literati Continent, much less that multiple Heavenly Sovereigns had joined forces!

When this trap launched, who could guarantee that it wouldn’t bring unforeseeable changes to the rest of the world?

Patriarch Yu Liu fell briefly silent, then said, “Were this like a game of chess, we’d at least know where to find the chessboard and how the pieces would land, but this death trap… is different. There are far too many variables in play.”

His gaze was distant and profound as he whispered, “That’s true for the world, too. The only thing I can say for certain is that by herself, Lu Hongpao has little hope of escorting Su Yi to safety!”

The crowd was stunned. The Red-Robed Heavenly Sovereign is escorting him personally, but she has little hope of success? Just how terrifying is this trap?

Patriarch Yu Liu suddenly shook his head. “No, that’s not right. With Su Yi involved, the outcome is impossible to predict.”