First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 1530 - The Purple Cloud Sect’s Emissary

Ten days passed quickly.

Once a day, Meng Qi would visit with a wide array of dishes and spirit medicines. No one could accuse him of being inhospitable or inconsiderate.

After ten days of recovery, Su Yi’s external wounds had healed, and his bones and meridians were recovering.

However, his acupoints, organs, and soul were recovering extremely slowly, and his cultivation base was still completely depleted.

This was due to the wisps of the aura of an Immortal King filling his body. Their destructive power was far too terrifying. Even after all this time, he’d only managed to refine a small portion of them.

This left him no opportunity to replenish his depleted cultivation base.

But Su Yi was in no rush.

After ten days of recovery, he could walk as he pleased. From the outside, he was a bit pale, but no one would have guessed how severe his internal wounds were.

That aside, during his conversations with Meng Qi, Su Yi learned that Southern Wilds Mountain was still within the bounds of the Jing Province, in the southwest of the province.

Su Yi silently did the math and concluded that there were about sixty thousand miles between White Deer Mountain and Southern Wilds Mountain!

It seems I’ll have to keep Qi Fufeng waiting in the White Reed Province for quite some time, thought Su Yi.

He didn’t plan to set off for the White Reed Province until he’d recovered his depleted cultivation base.

Instead, he planned to take this time in recovery to steady his Dao Heart and contemplate how he’d go about the next stage of his cultivation.

He’d already reached the Manifesting Void Realm, making him comparable to a Cloud Soaring Transcendent.

That meant that next, he had to plan for breaking into the Immortal Dao!

Su Yi knew that his Path of Transcendence made his journey completely different from that of other cultivators. He didn’t even need to think to know that his path through the Immortal Dao would be starkly different, too!

It wouldn’t just be different from other people’s Immortal Dao. It’d be different from Wang Ye’s, too!

Most importantly, not even Wang Ye had divined what kind of Immortal Dao awaited him after he surpassed Manifesting Void and became an immortal.

After all, not even Wang Ye had attempted Su Yi’s Path of Transcendence. It was unprecedented!

Wang Ye had naturally had no way of knowing what this alternative path would be like upon reaching the Immortal Dao.

Simply put, Su Yi’s future cultivation was full of unknowns! Even Wang Ye’s lifetime of accumulated knowledge and experience couldn’t help Su Yi here. He could only search for answers himself!

It was for this reason that Su Yi had to start his preparations well in advance.

Fortunately, Wang Ye had once reached the pinnacle of the Immortal Dao. He’d explored numerous worlds and epochs, and read too many ancient tomes to count. Su Yi had an incomparably rich breadth of knowledge to draw on.

Wang Ye’s understanding of the Immortal Dao was like a treasury just waiting for Su Yi to dive in and learn from.

It was only by studying numerous examples and extrapolating that he’d surpass his past self!

Suddenly, A’Li hurried into the cave, her expression a bit frantic as she waved her charcoal across the beast skin. “Big Brother Su, Uncle Meng sent a messenger. He says the emissary of the Purple Cloud Sect is here!”

“They’re here early?” Su Yi was instantly stunned. When he saw the trace of anxiety in A’Li’s expression, he chuckled. “Don’t worry. Come on, let’s have a look.”

A’Li nodded, then led the way.

......

The entrance to Cloud Stream Village.

It was the middle of the day, and the skies were bright and clear.

A young man in ornate robes leaned back in a chair at an angle, legs crossed as he fiddled with an ornamental ring.

A group of villagers stood in front of him, all of them quiet, reserved, and respectful as could be.

Village Headman Meng Qi bowed and stood at the front of the group, an anxious look on his face. “Your Excellency Zhan, please, be lenient. This past year, our village...”

The ornately dressed young man laughed coldly and interrupted him. “Quit playing the old fool! If Cloud Stream Village can’t offer sufficient tribute today, don’t blame me for my heartlessness!”

Meng Qi let out a long sigh, his heart full of worry.

The ornately dressed young man friend. “Don’t just stand there. Quick, bring out the tribute! I have other places to collect tributes from too. I have no time to waste with you!”

He wasn’t being at all polite; he spoke like he was chastising his grandson.

Meng Qi’s expression was unsightly, but in the end, he endured and said in a low voice, “Your Excellency Zhan, we....”

Whap!

The ornately dressed young man slammed his armrests, his expression dark. “Any more nonsense and I’ll cripple you first, you old dog!”

Meng Qi shuddered from head to toe, looking utterly dejected.

But then, someone couldn’t help but say, “Uncle Meng, isn’t that Senior Su supposed to help us?”

Meng Qi inwardly cried out, Shit! How could you lay a secret like that out in the open?

Just as he expected, the ornately dressed young man laughed coldly. “Oh? You bumpkins found yourselves a helper? I don’t care who they are! If anyone interferes, I’ll cripple them!”

He spoke with firm conviction, laying his intentions bare.

The crowd looked stricken. Especially Meng Qi, whose expression sank.

He’d hoped that Su Yi could speak up on their behalf to resolve their tribute problem, but it seemed obvious that they’d lost control of the situation!

But then, a calm voice rang out. “Is that so?”

Su Yi and A’Li were approaching from afar.

Meng Qi showed no sign of delight. On the contrary, he looked worried. He opened his mouth and was just about to explain the situation when Su Yi waved.

“I heard everything,” said Su Yi. “Leave it to me.”

This was most of the villagers’ first time seeing Su Yi, and they couldn’t help but be bewildered. Can this young man really cut it?

The ornately dressed young man whipped around. When he saw Su Yi, his eyes shone with disdain. “Who the hell gave you the balls to interfere in the Purple Cloud Sect’s affairs?”

Su Yi couldn’t help but laugh.

The path of cultivation started with the Four Realms of the Martial Dao, followed by the Three Realms of the Origin Dao, the Three Realms of the Spirit Dao, the Three Realms of the Profound Dao, the Three Realms of the Path of Heaven’s Ascension, and the Three Realms of the Path of Transcendence.

The ornately dressed young man was a small fry who’d only just stepped into the Spirit Dao, but his bluster was greater than even Emperors of the Profound Dao!

“Forget it. I’ll give you a chance at survival. Kneel before me, and I’ll let this go,” sighed Su Yi.

Deathly silence followed. Everyone’s eyes widened. They almost dared not believe their ears.

That went for the ornately dressed man, too. He froze, stunned, then shot to his feet in a rage and pointed at Su Yi. “You...!”

He’d only just said this when he met Su Yi’s gaze. At that moment, his entire body stiffened, and he felt a piercing pain in his soul, as if he were gazing up at an unparalleled sovereign standing proudly over the nine heavens. That terrifying majesty filled him with instinctual terror, as if he were an ant Su Yi could squish at a moment’s notice.

The dread of a lethal threat left him in a panic.

Then, beneath the crowd’s flabbergasted gazes, he thudded to his knees and quivered from head to toe as if he were having an epileptic fit.

“This...” The crowd was dumbstruck. The emissary of the Purple Cloud Sect was acting like a hoodlum just moments prior. Why did he fall to his knees a blink of an eye later?

And he even looked like he’d been scared out of his wits!

A’Li was so startled that her phoenix eyes widened. None of this made sense; it just didn’t feel real.

Meanwhile, Su Yi was already walking up to the kneeling emissary. “Do you understand what you did wrong?”

The young man’s face paled, and he said in a quavering voice, “This junior understands his mistake! Please, forgive me, Senior!”

Su Yi asked again, “Do you think gathering a paltry tribute from Cloud Stream Village is worth irrevocably offending me?”

The ornately dressed young man stammered, “No, not at all!”

His voice was even slightly choked with sobs.

Su Yi said gently, “What’s better than realizing your mistakes and making amends? Quick, get up.”

He personally helped the young man to his feet and even brushed off his clothes. “I have zero interest in becoming enemies with the Purple Cloud Sect, nor do I want to see you lose your life over a single sentence spoken out of turn. This is my compassion. I just don’t know if you appreciate it or not?”

The ornately dressed young man shuddered, then lowered his head, not daring to meet Su Yi’s gaze. He stammered, “Senior, please rest assured. There’s no need for Cloud Stream Villages to give tribute today, and you have no need to fear them facing reprisal down the line!”

Su Yi patted him on the shoulder.

“Senior, thank you for your mercy! This junior will mend the error of his ways. I won’t do it ever again!” The young man wept tears of gratitude.

It was only after he saw that Su Yi had no intention of keeping him that he scampered off in a panic. Before long, he’d disappeared completely.

When they saw that an impending disaster had been neutralized with such ease, Meng Qi, A’Li, and the other villagers felt as if they were dreaming. It just didn’t seem real.

Every last one of them was too shaken for words.

“A’Li, we should go back.” Su Yi put his hands behind his back and turned to leave.

Meng Qi suddenly came to his senses and said hurriedly, “Senior Su, many thanks for your intervention. If you don’t object, please stay a while longer and permit us to host a banquet as an expression of our gratitude.”

Su Yi shook his head. “Don’t celebrate just yet. Let’s wait several days more and see whether or not the Purple Cloud Sect retaliates. Only then can we consider this matter settled.”

Meng Qi was briefly stunned, but he quickly understood. He couldn’t help but gasp. If the Purple Cloud Sect really sought reprisal after this, they’d definitely send one of their experts next time!

Meng Qi couldn’t help but say, “Senior Su, then...”

“What’s there to worry about?” Su Yi said with mild exasperation. He pointed at himself. “I chose to intervene, so I’ll naturally help you resolve this trivial matter completely.”

With that, he turned to leave.

A’Li stuck close to him. When her bright phoenix eyes took in the outline of his back, they twinkled like stars, revealing hints of curiosity and admiration.

Just... What kind of person is Big Brother Su?

Is he an Emperor of the Profound Dao?

That’s got to be it!

Rumor has it that only those who’ve reached that level can dominate their opponents with their majestic auras alone!

“Is it really just... a trivial matter?” Meng Qi murmured. “Don’t tell me that Senior Su isn’t at all concerned about the threat of the Purple Cloud Sect?”

The village headman thought himself rather knowledgeable, but even he was a bit bewildered. He couldn’t even imagine what kind of existence that young man was, to dare so blatantly disregard the Purple Cloud Sect!

Three days later, the Purple Cloud Sect sent someone to Cloud Stream Village once more!

When Su Yi heard the news, he couldn’t help but rub his forehead. That kid really let my good intentions go to waste.

Su Yi couldn’t imagine how the ornately dressed youth could be so stupid. Didn’t I make myself perfectly clear?