First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 957 - My Initial Conviction Remains

Within the main hall.

The dim room was shrouded in shadow; the only source of light was a single lamp. 

A bony old man sat on a bamboo chair. There was a bamboo basket placed beside it.

A green bird stood on the old man’s shoulder, preening its feathers.

“Wang Chonglu greets you, senior.” When he saw the old man, Wang Chonglu solemnly inclined his head in greeting.

The Timekeeper!

A relic who’d lived too long to count. He was most likely the oldest person in the entire Sea of Bitterness!

“No need to be reserved. Have a seat.” The old man gestured to a seat to the side.

Wang Chonglu nodded and was just about to sit down when he saw Su Yi walk over to the basket next to the old man’s chair, crouch, and examine its contents.

Wang Chonglu was stunned, but when he saw that the Timekeeper didn’t object, he suppressed his surprise and silently sat down.

“Why don’t I see the Bell of Abject Souls?” Su Yi asked without even looking up. 

The basket seemed simple and ordinary, but it contained a world all its own. The treasures the Timekeeper had collected over the years were stored there.

“Cui Longxiang borrowed it when he last visited,” the old man explained softly, his voice hoarse with age.

“So that’s it.” Su Yi rose, casually sat in an empty chair, looked around, and sighed. “This place is just like the Night Watchman’s smithy in that it hasn’t changed a bit. It almost feels like I’ve returned to the past.”

Wang Chonglu almost couldn’t resist the urge to laugh.

A teenager was lamenting the passage of time? Wasn’t that a bit off?

But a moment later, Wang Chonglu was stunned. Doesn’t that mean Su Yi has visited the Night Watchman of Snowy Skies City too?

When the old man looked at Su Yi, he smiled faintly. “The older someone gets, the more they cling to the past, and the less willing they are to change. Don’t you agree?”

Su Yi laughed dryly, “Words like that are just a way for the frustrated and disappointed to comfort themselves. When pursuing the Grand Dao, what matters isn’t how much time has passed. The firmer one’s Dao Heart, the more it longs for change. That’s what they mean when they say that reaching one’s limits results in change, and change results in growth.”

The old man was stunned, and his gaze was gentle. “Change? But it seems to me that your mentality is still as sharp and unstoppable as the edge of your sword. You haven’t changed a bit.”

Su Yi laughed. “My initial conviction remains unchanged. That’s enough to let me follow my heart and face all manner of changes without losing myself.”

The old man laughed too. This young man really is the same person I knew then.

“You should discuss your business first.” Su Yi looked at Wang Chonglu. 

The old man said thoughtfully, “He doesn’t know who you are?”

“Not just anyone can be like you and the Night Watchman,” said Su Yi. “Not just anyone has eyes that can perceive the nature of heaven, earth, men, gods, and ghosts.”

The old man smiled, then looked at Wang Chonglu. “Fellow Daoist Wang, why have you come?”

Wang Chonglu took a deep breath. “Senior, I simply hope to borrow your power to inform the Mad Sword Netherworld Sovereign Liu Changsheng that the Far Shore plans to launch an assassination against him in the near future!”

The old man froze. “So, you’re here on account of Liu Changsheng too. I already know about this matter. Is there anything else?” 

Wang Chonglu hesitated. “If possible, I’d like to ask for your guidance. Just… who is Fellow Daoist Su?”

“Oh?” said the old man. He gestured outside the hall. “You can leave.”

“???” Despite a heart full of confusion, Wang Chonglu got up, turned, and left.

The green bird seemed to sympathize with him, and it couldn’t help but explain, “My master is saying that you’re the Thunderflame Demon Sovereign, an older-generation expert of the Sea of Bitterness in your own right. With your status, asking such an immature question is proof of your poor judgment, and he’s afraid that if you stick around, you’ll only make even more of a fool out of yourself.”

“What…?” Wang Chonglu felt as if he’d been struck by lightning.

The corners of his lips trembled, and his heart filled with shame as he slipped away.

When the Netherworld King saw him leave, she found it a bit strange. Why does this old fellow look so overcome with anger?

But she didn’t ask questions. 

Wang Chonglu paced through the courtyard for a bit before finally gnashing his teeth and deciding to stay.

They’d assaulted his dignity repeatedly, and he’d felt stifled on numerous occasions. He truly wasn’t willing to just leave without learning Su Yi’s origins!

…..

Time slipped by.

The Netherworld King waited in the courtyard the entire time.

The orange cat lay lazily atop a branch. From time to time, it gazed at the Netherworld King with irrepressible greed.

The Netherworld King had long since realized that there was something not quite right about the cat’s gaze; it seemed to see her as delectable prey.

But she couldn’t be bothered to pay it any further heed.

She was, however, overcome with curiosity as to what Su Yi and the Timekeeper were discussing.

Wang Chonglu had already cooled down. When he seriously considered everything he knew about Su Yi, he gradually developed a hypothesis.

Even he felt that his conclusions were unbelievable, but it seemed to him that this was the only reasonable explanation!

Finally, Su Yi emerged.

Up in the tree, the orange cat instinctively tensed its fat body. It was fully on guard.

The Netherworld King leisurely teased him. “It seems you and the Timekeeper had numerous shocking and grand affairs to discuss, Fellow Daoist.”

Su Yi laughed, then looked at Wang Chonglu in mild surprise. “And here I’d thought you’d already left.”

Wang Chonglu looked at him inscrutably, then laughed with smug pride. “Su Yi, I’ve already guessed your origins.”

“Oh?” said Su Yi. “Don’t tell me you think I’m Su Xuanjun’s descendant?”

“???” Wang Chonglu couldn’t help but ask, “Don’t tell me you aren’t?”

Su Yi laughed.

The Netherworld King laughed.

Up in the tree, the orange cat laughed too.

For a moment, Wang Chonglu felt that same malicious intent on all sides he’d sensed before, and he felt thoroughly uncomfortable.

Su Yi looked at him pityingly. “No need to guess. I am Su Xuanjun.”

Wang Chonglu instantly froze.

Su Xuanjun!?

The name seemed to have a strange magic power. The courtyard silently stilled.

Wang Chonglu raised his head with great difficulty and gazed at the young man in blue. Su Yi stood there with his hands behind his back and a pitying expression on his face.

Wang Chonglu’s expression shifted back and forth, but soon, his face filled with indignation. “Kid, are you insulting my intelligence? You’re simply pushing this too far! The Swordmaster of Abstruse Force died five hundred years ago, and your bone age is eighteen at most! Even if reincarnation really exists, how could the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force be just eighteen years old?”

It seemed as if he were venting his long pent-up frustrations; he was practically frothing at the mouth. “I’ll admit that I’ve long since realized that your origins are transcendent, but you’re still nowhere near qualified to impersonate the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force!”

“....”

“....”

Su Yi and the Netherworld King said nothing, while the orange cat covered its face with its paws as if it couldn’t bear to watch.

“Well? Why aren’t you saying anything?” Wang Chonglu finally felt better.

Su Yi rubbed his nose. He really had nothing to say to that. Instead, he turned to the Netherworld King. “Come on, let’s go find a place to have a chat.”

The Netherworld King rose elegantly and laughed. “I’ve been waiting.”

The two of them then left the courtyard.

Wang Chonglu couldn’t help but chase after them. “What about me?”

Su Yi was stunned. “There’s nothing else for you to do here. Go wherever you like.”

“....” Wang Chonglu was so angry that he almost cursed. Kid, you seriously have no conscience! If nothing else, we traveled together. Now that our business is over, shouldn’t you at least treat me to a drink and a meal?

But when he saw the Netherworld King accompanying Su Yi, he could only force a smile. “Yes, that works too.”

“Right.” Su Yi suddenly thought of something. “Didn’t you want to repay Liu Changsheng’s benevolence?” 

Wang Chonglu said solemnly, “That’s right!”

“Then you’d best recover as quickly as possible,” said Su Yi. “Liu Changsheng is in the City of Eternal Night, but his situation isn’t looking good. Seems to me that you can work with Zhan Beiqi to help Liu Changsheng overcome this tribulation.”

With that, Su Yi turned and left, the Netherworld King following shortly after.

“Liu Changsheng’s situation isn’t good…?” Wang Chonglu’s gaze filled with uncertainty. Some time passed before he left the courtyard.

Shortly after, a green bird flew out and looked at the cat up in the branches. “Kaiyang, the master has ordered you to take a trip to the Dark Market. If you encounter any of the Three Stones of Rebirth, buy them and bring them back. As many as you can find.”

The orange cat’s eerie blue eyes narrowed, and it said helplessly, “When does the master need them by?”

The bird explained, “They’re not for the master. They’re for His Excellency Su.”contemporary romance

The orange cat’s fur instantly stood on end, and it shot to its feet and cursed. “Why didn’t you say so earlier!?”

“Kaiyang, the master also said that you have to pay for what you buy. You’re not allowed to just rob anyone,” the bird reminded him.

“Oh? But I trust that the unscrupulous merchants of Dark Market will be just delighted to give them to me,” said the orange cat.

Before its voice had even finished echoing through the air, its big, fat, orange body had disappeared from view.

After a brief, stunned pause, the green bird sighed. Kaiyang isn’t afraid of heaven or earth, and he even dares argue with the master. It’s only when he sees His Excellency Su that he’s panicked out of his wits.

But when the bird recalled the lesson the cat had learned back then, it couldn’t help but shudder.

…

Drinking the Heavens.

This was the most famous restaurant in the City of the Eternal Night. Standing atop the tower, you could see half of the lamplit City of Eternal Night.

The Netherworld King sat leisurely in a chair, her straight legs crossed. Her snowy calves were visible beneath the hem of her ink-black dress.

A gale blew past, rustling her loose-hanging, long blue hair and giving her an additional charm.

“Let’s skip the probing and get straight to the point,” said Su Yi. He sat to the side and looked right at her.

“Very well.” The Netherworld King inclined her head and agreed with a smile.

Su Yi rested his hand on the table and tabletop. “I want to know why the forces of the Nine Heavens Pavilion have appeared in the Sea of Bitterness.”

The Netherworld King looked like she’d expected his question, and she beamed. “As an expression of my sincerity, I’ll answer your question directly. However, after that, if you want to know something, you need to offer a secret in exchange.”

“Very well.” Su Yi nodded.

The Netherworld King flipped over her hand, and a jug of wine and two cups appeared out of nowhere.

As she poured the wine, she said, “The experts of the Nine Heavens Pavilion have come to the Sea of Bitterness in search of the secrets of reincarnation.”

Su Yi didn’t find this at all strange; when he encountered the Fifth Executioner, Mo Chuan, in the City of the Wrongfully Dead, the latter was also after the secrets of reincarnation.

However, the Netherworld King’s next sentence made Su Yi’s pupils constrict.

 “They’ve already uncovered that the Burial Ground of the Dao that’s attracted so much attention of late most likely hides clues to the secrets of reincarnation!”

The Netherworld King’s bewitching gaze bore into Su Yi, and she said in a soft voice with a distinctive magnetism, “Fellow Daoist, you’ve long since mastered the secrets of reincarnation. Tell me, do you think their intelligence is accurate?”

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