<h4>Chapter 1358 - Meeting Shen Mu</h4>
The Tailor was currently brewing tea in a dark, overcast world.
“Judging by the time, the curtains have likely already fallen on the battle at the Violet Heavens tform.” The Tailor suddenly sighed. “It’s a pity. The Temple Master’s death has left me feeling a bit lonely. After all, we’ve been fighting for such a long time. The thought of never seeing him again truly makes me emotional.”
The elderly servant next to him said, “My Lord, if you wish to see the Temple Master again, you can always visit his grave.”
The Tailor froze, then couldn’t help but ask, “Is the coffin I had you prepare for the Temple Master ready?”
The servant said hurriedly, “It’s been ready for a long time. Same for the headstone, candles, joss paper, and other offerings. All that’s left is for you to find a ce with good feng shui to ce the grave, My Lord.”
“Seems to me that the ruined Glittering Jewel Hidden Realm would be best. After all, it’s the Temple Master’s former home, and they say a fallen leaf always returns to its roots,” the Tailor said softly.
The elderly servant sighed with emotion. “If the Temple Master knew of this down in the yellow springs, he would surely be grateful.”
The Tailorughed. “It’s getting cold. When the timees, I’ll pile some extra soil on his grave myself.”
As he spoke, he poured himself a cup of steaming hot, fragrant tea, then raised it to his lips.
But just as he was about to drink, a frantic, urgent voice cried out, “My Lord, this is bad!”
An attendant rushed over.
The Tailor’s eyelids twitched. “What’s bad? Don’t tell me the old-timers of the ancient orthodoxies have started fighting over how to divvy up the secrets of reincarnation?”
“No... that’s not it...” stammered the attendant. “The Temple Master... won!”
<i>Crack!</i>
The Tailor’s hands quivered, and his teacup fell from his hand and shattered on the ground. The cup had been right in front of his lips, so the liquid sshed all over him.
However, he didn’t even seem to notice. His expression was shifting and uncertain, as if his soul had left his body.
The elderly servant was shocked and furious. He bellowed, “What exactly happened? Quickly, exin in detail!”
The attendant dared not be negligent. He immediatelyunched into a detailed exnation. The atmosphere was deathly stifled. The only sound was the attendant’s quavering voice.
After hearing the full story, the elderly servant was dumbstruck. It was as if he’d been struck by lightning.
And here he and his master had only just beenughing and chatting about what they’d do now that the Temple Master was dead. They were even discussing his gravesite and funeral offerings!
But now, the blink of an eyeter, terrible news had arrived. The Temple Master had actually won an overwhelming victory at the Violet Heavens tform!
It was like a sudden p in the face!
The Tailor sank intoplete silence.
Although he said nothing, it would have been obvious that this powerhouse long ustomed to life behind the curtain hadpletely lost hisposure!
His expression shifted erratically, and the veins bulged on his forehead. It seemed he was giving his utmost to control his emotions.
A long time passed before he let out a self-deprecatingugh and sighed. “Even that couldn’t kill him? That’s truly difficult to ept!”
His voice contained a hint of unconceble hatred.
The elderly servant took a deep breath and said with confidence, “My Lord, please, calm your fury. Although the Temple Master has seized the limelight in this battle, he’s irrecoverably offended every prominent faction around. Another day, they’ll be sure to get even with him!”
“Get even?” The Tailor shook his head. “We failed to kill the Temple Master this time. What makes you think it''ll be easier in the future?”
With that, he rose and kicked over the stove he used to brew his tea. He said gravely, “I can already foresee that <i>he’ll </i>soon try to get even with <i>me.”</i>
The elderly servant’s heart thudded in his chest. “My Lord, we’ve hidden in the darkness all these years. Even if the Temple Master wants revenge, I’m afraid he’ll struggle to find any trace of us.”
Although he said that, it was obvious that hecked confidence.
The Tailor sank into a brief silence, then said, “From this moment forth, sever the connections we have with the outside world! If we lose some of our less significant pawns, we lose them!”
“Understood!” The elderly servant solemnly nodded his ascent.
“Tomorrow at dawn, gather all the forces we have in the outside world. Have them apany me to the Hidden God Lands!” The Tailor let out a long breath of turbid air. “If we can hide for the next half year, the Cloud Soaring Realm old fogies of ancient orthodoxies will be able to enter the world. We can try the Temple Master again then!”
His eyes already shone with sinister viciousness.
......
The Flying Immortal Forbidden Zone. A spiritually blessed ind shrouded in immortal mists.
“He... actually won,” said Mo Qingchou, the girl in a man’s clothing. She couldn’t help but be stunned.
She’d already heard about the battle at the Violet Heavens tform from Li Zhong. She knew that Su Yi had in Yan Daolin and the other three leaders of the top sects of the present day.
And she knew what had happened to the hundred-plus Transcendents who’d surrounded Su Yi afterward.
All of this made her feel as if she were dreaming. <i>He’s only in the Cosmic Enlightenment Realm. Is hisbat prowess really this heaven-defying?</i>
“If Celestial Red Cloud hadn’t intervened, I would have had an opportunity to do him a favor. s, Daoist Master Red Cloud just had to show up,” sighed Li Zhong.
“Does that mean Su Yi has already fallen into her hands?” Mo Qingchou frowned, as if she found this troublesome.
“That’s most likely the case,” Li Zhong said with a nod.
No matter how strong Daoist Master Red Cloud was, or how mysterious her origins, she was ultimately just another revenant in need of the power of reincarnation to break her curse.
“That makes things difficult...” Mo Qingchou rubbed her forehead.
Li Zhong seized the opportunity to ask, “Young Mistress, might I be so bold as to ask about Celestial Red Cloud’s origin?”
“Her...?” Mo Qingchou’s eyes shed, as if she were struggling to recall something. “A long time ago, I heard some of my seniors discussing her. They said an extraordinary faction stands behind her, one that transcends even your prominent sect of the Immortal Realm. However, even before the End of the Dharma in the Human Realm, a catastrophe swept through the Immortal Realm. And when the heavens fall, they strike those at the top first.
“That means that the mysterious faction behind Celestial Red Cloud has most likely long since crumbled. If it still stood, what need would she have to seek refuge in the Human Realm? And how could she have been reduced to a mere revenant during the End of the Dharma?
“No matter how glorious her background and origins, all of that’s in the past. Now, she’s no different from us. She’s just another revenant struggling for freedom in a changing world.”
Here, she suddenly seemed concerned that Li Zhong would misunderstand. “But no matter how down on her luck she is, we absolutely cannot underestimate her. She still isn’tparable to the likes of Fu Dongli.”
Li Zhong was instantly solemn. He nodded. “This old man understands.”
Suddenly, a snow-white immortal sparrow shot over from afar. When it arrived before Mo Qingchou, it said respectfully, “Young Mistress, Ancestor Xinglin’s revenant has awakened from dormancy. However, he still cannot leave the ancestral grounds. He requests that you visit him instead!”
Mo Qingchou instantly lit up with delight. “I’ll go right now!”
Ancestor Xinglin!
He was one of her seniors, a true immortal!
Meanwhile, Li Zhong’s heart quivered in his chest. <i>The revenant of a true immortal has awakened in the Flying Immortal Forbidden Zone? That’s absolutely huge news! If word spread, it would surely cause massive uproar!</i>
“He’s awakened, that’s all. He still can’t leave our n’s ancestral grounds, much less wander the outside world freely.” Mo Qingchou nced at Li Zhong. “Don’t divulge any of this.”
This was a reminder, but also a warning.
Li Zhong said solemnly, “I understand!”
......
Universal Emptiness Temple.
It was mid-winter, and the winds were cold and fierce.
Within the temple courtyard, next to the pond.
“Hahahaha! How satisfying!” A burst of uproariousughter rang out, rustling the leaves of the ancient tree and shaking the roof tiles.
Illuminating Emptiness was practically mad with delight.
“Is it really that big of a deal?” said Su Yi from his wicker chair.
Illuminating Emptiness pped his thigh and said irritably, “I’m happy for <i>you, </i>so why turn around and ask if it’s ‘really that big of a deal?’”
Sword Immortal Qingshi and the Universal Emptiness Sword Buddha smiled, but inwardly, they couldn’t calm down.
After Su Yi returned, he told them in a few words what had happened at the Violet Heavens tform. Although his description was calm and understated, both Cloud Soaring experts’ hearts and souls shook just listening to it.
They knew better than anyone that none of the revenants who’d survived the End of the Dharma were ordinary.
Yet now, Su Yi could kill even revenantsparable to Dao Integration experts. His strength far surpassed their initial estimate.
They especially couldn’t keep calm when they heard that Fu Dongli led a group of ten or so old-timers to surround him.
Based on Su Yi’s description, they immediately guessed who the old-timers in question were. Practically all were powerhouses of the Cloud Soaring Realm!
They were either leaders of their sects or pirs of ancient orthodoxies. Pick any one of them at random, and you’d have a Transcendent Monarch, a dazzling figure even in ancient times!
Yet even such a lineup couldn’t take Su Yi down, at least not quickly. How could Sword Immortal Qingshi and the Universal Emptiness Sword Buddha be anything but astonished?
“Fellow Daoist, I’ve heard of the Celestial Red Cloud you speak of,” said Sword Immortal Qingshi once he’d calmed down a little. “In ancient times, she was the most mysterious of the descendants of immortals, with a position far beyond the others. She never involved herself in worldly affairs, but... no one dared underestimate her.”
The Universal Emptiness Sword Buddha nodded. “Fellow Daoist Su, establishing positive karma with Celestial Red Cloud was fortunate indeed.”
Illuminating Emptiness couldn’t help but interject, “Is she pretty? Has she married? If you take a shine to her, you could take her as your Dao Partner! Think about it! You were a lifelong bachelor in your past life. If you marry a beauty from the Immortal Realm in this one, it’d be like a fairy tale! You’d make every man beneath the heavens red-eyed with envy!”
As he spoke, his gaze filled with uncontroble longing.
“...” The others didn’t know what to say.
<i>Whap!</i>
The Universal Emptiness Sword Buddha couldn’t help but p the back of Illuminating Emptiness’s head. “You’re begging for a beating!”
Illuminating Emptiness clutched his skull and scampered away like a rat.
“I’m going back to my room,” said Su Yi. Heughed, rose from his wicker chair, and sauntered off.
“There’s one thing I can say with certainty,” Sword Immortal Qingshi whispered. “Fellow Daoist Su doesn’t just control the secrets of reincarnation. He’s surely got another, even more mysterious card up his sleeves as well.”
The Universal Emptiness Sword Buddha nodded his agreement.
...
When Su Yi got back to his room, the first thing he did was sit cross-legged, cast aside his scattered thoughts, and manifest an avatar of will within his sea of consciousness.
“Fellow Daoist, you’re finally here.” The Shen Mu manifested of the seventh chain’s Dao Imprint smiled and walked up to greet him.
He was handsome, with a natural elegance and extraordinary bearing. His robes were whiter than snow.
Su Yi looked him up and down. “The two of us really do have some issues we need to resolve!”