<h4>Chapter 1769 - A Tooth for a Tooth</h4>


    There was no need for Su Yi to press for further information. Su Yi just listened in on the conversation and quickly learned the details of the uing duel.


    Each of the six prominent immortal factions would send an Immortal King into battle. The duel was to be held at an ancient battleground of the Gold Province, Heaven-Scraping Ridge, in ten days.


    If Su Yi refused, he’d have to bear the consequences.


    Su Yi didn’t find this at all strange. After the destruction of the Church of All Spirits, the Church of the Pure One and the other top factions clearly sensed a threat.


    In other words, they could no longer remain seated!


    The Zhuyou Great Peng couldn’t help but ask, “Your Excellency, will you fight?”


    Su Yi drained his cup, then gazed at the lively, bustling streets outside and said distractedly, “They’ve shown no sincerity at all. Why should I bother?”


    Qi Fufeng agreedpletely. “They chose the time, they chose the ce, <i>and</i> they’re threatening you. I’m sure this ‘duel’ is full of traps.”


    The Zhuyou Great Peng grinned. “Right? They’re full of shit! If they really want to duel, they ought to let His Excellency decide the time and ce!”


    Su Yi thought for a moment, then looked at the bird. “Ask around for me. They dared issue this promation to the whole world, so I suspect they’re confident that they can force me to participate. They wouldn’t have threatened me so tantly otherwise, but I’m curious: what exactly are they threatening me with?”


    “Got it.” The Zhuyou Great Peng left to carry out his orders.


    Su Yi, meanwhile, returned to his meal. This was a rare moment of leisure. He ought to calm his heart and enjoy it. How could he possibly let the chaos of the outside world ruin his mood?


    When it was time to rx and enjoy himself, Su Yi never mistreated himself in the slightest.


    Qi Fufeng, however, was a bit ill at ease.


    He sensed that the six powerful formations involved had been nning this for a long time. <i>Even if the Sovereign doesn’t participate, I’m afraid they won’t let this go so easily!</i>


    In the present-day Immortal Realm, top immortal factions were like rulers. The masses gazed upon them with awe, as if they were gazing upon the heavens themselves!


    Who’d dare to disregard them? Especially when six top factions issued a joint promation?


    Before long, the Zhuyou Great Peng returned with breaking news: “Your Excellency, the situation is bad! The Church of the Pure One has apparently taken numerous people connected to you hostage! If you don’te to the duel, they’ll kill them all!”


    Su Yi’s gaze focused, but then, he sneered. “It’s just the same old unseemly trick again. It seems this eldest disciple of Blood Firmament’s is far inferior to his master.”


    Using hostages for leverage had beenmonce throughout the ages, but during Wang Ye’s life, those who opposed him all understood that no amount of threats could sway him.


    The Zhuyou Great Peng pondered, then said, “Your Excellency, they say that the hostages include numerous old-timers who served you back then. If anything happens to them...”


    The bird trailed off, but its meaning was readily apparent.


    Su Yi said calmly, “Tell me, if I go to their duel, do you think they’ll let the hostages go lightly?”


    The Zhuyou Great Peng said with certainty, “They won’t!”


    “Then do you think I’ll get an opportunity to save the hostages?”


    “I’m afraid... that would be difficult.”


    “In that case, why should I let them lead me around by the nose?” Su Yi fiddled with his cup, his gaze calm and inscrutable. “Hostages are useful as bargaining chips when they’re alive. If they kill their hostages, there will be no room left for them to negotiate.”


    But then, his brow furrowed. He, the Church of the Pure One, and the other top factions involved in this were already like fire and water. Neither side would rest until the other was dead. There already wasn’t any room left for negotiation.


    If he didn’t go to their duel, they might really just kill all the hostages!


    The Zhuyou Great Peng said tentatively, “Your Excellency, are we just going to do nothing?”


    The depths of Su Yi’s gaze shed with cold, sharp light. “No. They’ve made one-sided demands, and now they’re threatening me. How could I do nothing?”


    “What they can do, I can do!” Su Yi set down his cup and said softly, “They want to duel me? Fine. But they want to set the rules, and they want to threaten me? Hah! Two can y that game. We’ll see who breaks first!”


    The Zhuyou Great Peng’s spirits soared. “You’re absolutely right, Your Excellency! You ought to give those bastards an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth!”


    But Qi Fufeng seemed worried. “Your Excellency, if anything happens to the hostages...”


    Su Yi looked at Qi Fufeng and said, “Prior to the Age of Fallen Immortals, I had a friend who was like a brother to me. One of my enemies, Huang Yunye, captured him and used him to threaten me. He tried to force me to lower my head. Do you know how I responded?”


    Before Qi Fufeng could answer, Su Yi continued, “I didn’t back down at all, because if I did, it would only mean defeat for both me <i>and</i> my brother. Huang Yunye would be able to do with us both as he pleased, and neither of us would escape death in the end.”


    “Thus....” Su Yi said calmly, “When it came time to make my decision, I didn’t hesitate to attack.”


    The Zhuyou Great Peng and Qi Fufeng’s hearts shook. <i>How agonizing must that decision have been for him?</i>


    “Unfortunately, in the end, no miracle urred, and my good brother died,” said Su Yi without the slightest change in expression. “I chased Huang Yunye for nine days and nine nights before capturing him. Then, I took him to Mount Taiwu, where I publicly skinned him alive, extracted his tendons, and scattered his ashes to the wind.”


    “I then spent the next six months doing everything in my power to hunt Huang Yunye’s sectmates, friends, and rtives down. I killed them all, down to thest man.”


    Qi Fufeng and the Zhuyou Great Peng gasped.


    “Do you think I''m cruel?” Su Yi asked with indifference. “Had I chosen to back down, I would have lost, and it would have been my friends and family who met with disaster in their ce.”


    He drank another cup of wine and said, “After that, everyone in the Immortal Realm understood that threats werepletely useless against me. Want to kill me? Go right ahead and try it! But use your own power to do it. No amount of plotting and scheming will get you anywhere!”


    Waves of emotion coursed through Qi Fufeng and the Zhuyou Great Peng’s hearts.


    Su Yi was a bit emotional too. “I was defeated during the Battle of Eternal Night, and in the years that followed, those people and factions with ties to me became the targets of my enemies’ revenge.


    “The Academy of Eternal Night was destroyed, the Bi’an Spirit Race was annihted, and the Endless Swords Immortal Sect was forced to submit... And that’s just what I know about thus far! I’m sure there’s still a lot I haven’t learned yet!


    “And now, factions like the Church of the Pure One are using hostages to force me into battle. It seems they won''t learn their lesson until I teach it in a way they <i>really</i> feel it!”


    With that, Su Yi rose. “Let’s go.”


    Qi Fufeng and the Zhuyou Great Peng hurriedly rose as well.


    “Where are we going, Your Excellency?” The Zhuyou Great Peng couldn’t help but ask.


    “We’re going to whichever of those six factions is closest to the White Reed Province,” Su Yi said casually.


    “Closest to the White Reed Province...” The Zhuyou Great Peng mulled that over, then blurted, “The Church of the Exquisite Goddess! They’re an immortal faction with a divine backer, and they’re in the Hua Province, which borders the White Reed Province. If we set off now, we can be there by dawn!”


    “Then we’re going to the Church of the Exquisite Goddess,” said Su Yi.


    He’d nned to go into seclusion for a while and disregard worldly conflicts, but now, he had no choice but to change his ns.


    This was simply the nature of human life. It was always full of surprises, and no amount of nning could keep up with everything changing around you.


    This was what they meant when they said that life was full of disappointments.


    ......


    The Hua Province.


    Chessboard Mountain, the territory of the Church of the Exquisite Goddess.


    Late at night.


    Everything was silent, still, and dark save for the fewmps illuminating the interiors of the church’s old-fashioned buildings.


    Second Libationer Suo Wenzhou was drinking in an ancient hall. He was dressed in white and had handsome, youthful features, but in truth, he was an old monster of thete-stage Miracle Realm, and he’d lived for countless years.


    Several beautiful women apanied him, all of them his concubines. Suo Wenzhou had no hobbies to speak of, but he waspletely fascinated by the Dao of Dual Cultivation.


    He’d spent his life gathering beautiful concubines of all stripes, and he enjoyed theirpany night after night.


    “Dear, I heard that six top immortal sects are going to work together to take Su Yi down. Aren’t you... going to participate?” a beautiful woman said gently.


    Suo Wenzhou was an Immortal King and the second libationer of the Church of the Exquisite Goddess. Its countless disciples all gazed upon him with awe.


    But when he was with his concubines, he preferred to be addressed as “Dear.”


    He smiled faintly. “The sect leader and the chief libationer have left for the Church of the Pure One. They don’t need my help to deal with Su Yi. I’ll just sit tight, watch over the sect, and keep you lovelydiespany.”


    As he spoke, he pulled his beautiful concubine into his arms and rubbed his hands all over her. Her entire body quivered, and her breathing sped up. The look on her face was utterly charming and seductive.


    “Haha, all of you join in too!” Suo Wenzhou beckoned to his other beautiful concubines. “Tonight, you little sluts are in for a good time! I’m going ''ritually cleanse'' everyst corner of your bodies, and I won’t stop until you’re all thoroughly satisfied!”


    His beautiful concubines instantly blushed, and all of their sultry charms were on full disy as they threw themselves into his embrace.


    But just as the revelry was about to begin, a tall, upright figure appeared out of nowhere.


    He was dressed in blue, and beneath the flickeringmplight, he had a dreamlike, ethereal glow. He almost didn’t seem real.


    Suo Wenzhou froze, and his hair stood on end.


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