First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 2270 – Disaster Looms at Cloudy Heights Temple

Su Yi pondered briefly, then said, “I’ve got to consider the long-term. Later, I’ll use you as a whetstone to polish my mental strength.”

Before his first incarnation’s heart devil could respond, Su Yi put the rusted sheath away. This time, he sealed it with the power of the Sword of the Nine Hells.

Only then could he fully prevent the heart devil from sensing anything outside the sheath.

I’ve got to use the sheath as little as possible going forward, thought Su Yi. He knew that every time he used the sheath, he’d grow a little more dependent on his first incarnation’s heart devil.

The most dangerous part was that the heart devil could devour the powers he encountered in battle and use them to strengthen himself. If things went on like this, the heart devil would only grow stronger and more dangerous. Eventually, he’d become a huge problem.

Take this time, for instance. The heart devil had requested the Profound Chaos Stone out of nowhere; there was no way he’d done so randomly.

It seemed highly likely that the power of the Profound Chaos Stone was precisely what he needed most!

“Brother Su!” Feng Wuji walked over from afar, accompanied by the Rahu Yao Ancestor.

It was just that the old-timer’s shoulders were slumped, and he hung his head, as if embarrassed and ill at ease.

When he drew near, the Rahu Yao Ancestor took a deep breath, then bowed deeply. “Brother Li, no matter how you decide to treat me going forward, I still have to thank you for your benevolence in saving my life!”

Brother Li.

It seemed the Rahu Yao Ancestor subconsciously still saw Su Yi as Li Fuyou.

Su Yi looked the Rahu Yao Ancestor up and down, then said, “You’re hanging your head in shame. There’s no sign of your usual comportment. You’re far, far from what you once were.”

He wasn’t the least bit polite.

The Rahu Yao Ancestor laughed bitterly, then sighed. “I faced grave peril and escaped with my life thanks to your help. I’d be a fool if I still refused to learn my lesson after all that.”

Feng Wuji said nervously, “Brother Su, my grandfather said that he’s willing to set aside all past enmities, do everything in his power to make amends for his mistakes, and repay you for your benevolence in saving his li—”

Su Yi waved dismissively. “No need for that.”

Feng Wuji fell silent, his expression bleak.

But the Rahu Yao Ancestor seemed to understand. “Wuji, you don’t understand the enmity between Fellow Daoist Li and I, so don’t get involved any further.”

He looked at Su Yi. “I don’t hope for anything so lavish as for you to set aside all past enmities. Even if you kill me here and now, I’ll have no objections.

“But first, there’s a few things I’d like to do to express my gratitude to you for saving Wuji’s life.”

“Grandfather!” The rims of Feng Wuji’s eyes reddened.

The Rahu Yao Ancestor waved, indicating that he was not to speak.

“What do you want to do?” Su Yi asked with great interest.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t suspect that anything was awry during the battle at the Boundless Battlefield?” said the Rahu Yao Ancestor, a complicated look in his eyes.

Su Yi’s brow furrowed. “Are you talking about the battle at Skyfall Ridge?”

It was during the battle at the Boundless Battlefield’s Skyfall Ridge that Li Fuyou’s enemies surrounded and eventually killed him!”

Even his sword, Phoenix Song, had been lost on the battlefield.

“That’s right,” said the Rahu Yao Ancestor. “The Dipankara Buddha, Ol’ Man Yun He, and the others worked together to make arrangements, but it’s not like they’re precognizant. How did they know you were on your way to Skyfall Ridge?”

Su Yi instantly fell silent.

“This is the first thing I’d like to warn you about, Brother Li. One of your old friends leaked your whereabouts,” said the Rahu Yao Ancestor. “But I still don’t know which of them it was. I’m afraid only the Dipankara Buddha knows the truth.”

He could tell that Su Yi had already grasped the fundamental problem.

“I understand all that,” said Su Yi. He took out a jug of wine and had a sip. “Is there anything else?”

The Rahu Yao Ancestor hesitated, then said, “You have to watch out for the Dipankara Buddha, and you have to consider him the most dangerous of your enemies!”

Su Yi raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

The Rahu Yao Ancestor shook his head. “I dare not say for certain. I just know with some degree of certainty that the Dipankara Buddha is far more terrifying and dangerous than the rest of us old-timers! He’s even…”

But here, he trailed off and sighed. “In any event, you’d best be careful, Brother Li.”

The Rahu Yao Ancestor was a peak Nine-Tribulation Master God. Even if he was weaker than the Dipankara Buddha, the disparity should have been small.

Yet now, he was warning Su Yi to be mindful of the Dipankara Buddha specifically. The implications were naturally extraordinary!

“Don’t tell me you think he’s even more dangerous than Di E?” Su Yi couldn’t help but ask.

The Rahu Yao Ancestor shook his head. “It’s hard to say.”

He paused, then continued, “The third thing I’d like to tell you involves your disciple, Ning Xiu.”

Ning Xiu! One of Li Fuyou’s four legacy disciples!

Long, long ago, she left the Immortal Realm and came to the God Domain in search of her master, Li Fuyou. Not long after, she met with grave misfortune. She was so badly injured that only a remnant of her soul remained, which the ancient Feng Family captured.

When Feng Wuji descended into the Immortal Realm and met with Su Yi, he offered her soul to Su Yi in exchange for his help.

It was only afterward that Ning Xiu told Su Yi what had happened to her. Experts of Cloudy Heights Temple had pursued and attacked her, leaving her with only a wisp of soul left.

The ancient Feng Family had simply swooped in to loot a burning house. They were after Ning Xiu’s Yin-Yang Diagram; it was the primary reason they seized Ning Xiu’s soul from Cloudy Heights Temple.

Su Yi had long since planned on avenging his disciple now that he was here in the Southern Flame Divine Continent.

But he didn’t understand why the Rahu Yao Ancestor was bringing it up, so he asked, “Don’t tell me there’s more to this than I realized?”

The Rahu Yao Ancestor nodded. “The experts who chased and captured Ning Xiu were indeed from Cloudy Heights Temple. At the time, I recognized Ning Xiu as your disciple, which is why I spared her life.

“Of course, I wasn’t acting out of compassion, but because I thought I could use her as a hostage. I thought she might well come in handy later.”

The Rahu Yao Ancestor was being quite forthright with him. He’d even laid his ulterior motives and schemes out in the open. “But it was after I took Ning Xiu into custody that I realized something strange was afoot!”

Su Yi’s eyebrows rose. “Explain in detail.”

“To the forces of Cloudy Heights Temple, killing someone yet to become a god should have been as easy as turning over their hand,” said the Rahu Yao Ancestor. “How did Ning Xiu manage to escape their experts alive?

“The biggest coincidence is that I just happened to be there to hear the news and recognize Ning Xiu as your disciple. Thus, I rushed over without hesitation and took her into custody with ease.”

Su Yi’s gaze focused. “Are you saying that Cloudy Heights Temple used Ning Xiu as bait to lure you in?”

“I truly can’t think of any other explanation for that kind of coincidence,” said the Rahu Yao Ancestor.

“But what was Cloudy Heights Temple trying to accomplish?” asked Su Yi. The situation seemed strange to him, too.

“At the time, I suspected that Cloudy Heights Temple wanted to borrow my hands to use Ning Xiu against you, Fellow Daoist,” said the Rahu Yao Ancestor. “After all, Cloudy Heights Temple is backed by the Dipankara Buddha of the Western Paradise Spirit Mountains, and Ol’ Man Dipankara excels at nothing more than borrowing others’ hands to kill his enemies.”

Su Yi shook his head. “I’m afraid it’s not so simple.”

The Rahu Yao Ancestor agreed completely. “It’s just as you said. Even if he wanted to borrow my hands to kill you, there’d have been no need to resort to such a petty little trick. It would be far too easy to see through.

“Unfortunately, at the time, I couldn’t figure out what he was really after.

“Thus, when the Immortal Realm’s Epoch Battlefield was due to appear, I decided to just have Wuji take Ning Xiu and the Yin-Yang Diagram with him.”

Feng Wuji instinctively nodded. “That really is how things went. At the time, Grandfather told me not to hurt Ning Xiu, and not to threaten her safety. I was simply to use her to make an exchange.”

Su Yi said, “Why did you make that decision?”

“Two reasons,” said the Rahu Yao Ancestor. “First, I suspected that Ol’ Dipankara was using me. Second, keeping Ning Xiu in captivity forever ultimately put my clan at risk. There was no telling when it’d lead to disaster.

“Thus, I decided to just send Wuji to take her to the Immortal Realm and make an exchange. I figured he’d benefit, and we’d rid ourselves of a latent threat in the process.”

Su Yi sighed. “Why do I get the sense that that’s exactly what Cloudy Heights Temple wanted you to do?”

The Rahu Yao Ancestor’s expression shifted slightly. “You’re saying that Cloudy Heights Temple really wanted to borrow my hands to deliver Ning Xiu to your side?”

“Don’t you think so?” asked Su Yi.

The Rahu Yao Ancestor’s expression shifted erratically. “If that’s the case, whoever planned this was far, far too cunning!”

“Whether they were ‘cunning’ or not is hard to say, but I can say with certainty that they know you like the back of their hand,” said Su Yi. “Otherwise, you would never have fallen for this scheme within a scheme.”

It was indeed a scheme within a scheme.

On the surface, this was a crude attempt to borrow the Rahu Yao Ancestor’s hands to kill Su Yi, but this seemed so transparent that it successfully provoked the Rahu Yao Ancestor’s suspicions.

Thus, when the Immortal Realm’s Epoch Battlefield was due to appear, the Rahu Yao Ancestor was all too eager to be rid of Ning Xiu, so he let Feng Wuji take her with him to the Immortal Realm.

Whoever planned this had even anticipated that the Rahu Yao Ancestor, despite his suspicions, was sure to try to use Ning Xiu to make an exchange!

Su Yi could only think of one person capable of such a scheme.

The Dipankara Buddha!

He was also the backer of Cloudy Heights Temple!

Indeed, moments later, the Rahu Yao Ancestor gnashed his teeth and said, “I’m sure it was that damned baldy Dipankara!”

Feng Wuji broke out in cold sweats. Even if you’d hit him over the head, he would never have imagined that he’d been an unwitting pawn in someone’s insidious scheme when he brought Ning Xiu to the Immortal Realm!

But then, Feng Wuji couldn’t help but ask, “But why would Cloudy Heights Temple want to borrow our hands to deliver you your disciple, Fellow Daoist Su?”

Su Yi sighed and rubbed his forehead, an overcast look on his face. “Ol’ Man Rahu, you tell him.”

The Rahu Yao Ancestor nodded, then said, “There’s only one possible explanation. Ning Xiu… has been their pawn this entire time!”