First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 2459 – Tacit Understanding

This was a barren stretch of wilderness.

Master Gods Yun He, Yun Xiao, and Tian Huang arrived, one after another. There was no one else here.

However, off in the distance, there was still a group of bold onlookers trying to see what was happening.

Su Yi stood surrounded by these three enemies from his past lives. He was all alone, covered in blood, and badly wounded.

But against all expectations, despite being thoroughly surrounded, Su Yi wasn’t at all afraid. On the contrary, he spoke calmly, offering the three Master Gods a choice.

Either they fought him now, or they waited for others to arrive so he could deal with all of them at once. Su Yi would accept either decision!

His sheer composure revealed his bone-deep confidence and contemptuous pride.

“Hah, do you think we’ll give you the chance to catch your breath?” Master God Yun He chuckled. “This is the Spirit Firmament Divine Continent, our home turf. Dragons cannot defeat local serpents, and you’re certainly no dragon; you’re already on the brink of death.”

Master God Tian Huang said grimly, “Ol’ Yun He, don’t waste time talking to him. Let’s attack together. We can compete for the spoils once we’ve dealt with him.”

His whole body seethed with murderous intent, shaking the firmament. His majesty was terrifying beyond measure.

Master God Yun He glanced at Master God Tian Huang. “Very well.”

Boom!

Before his voice had even finished echoing through the air, he rode his wooden sword into the sky, his Daoist robes billowing around him. He was ready to strike.

“Wait,” Master God Yun Xiao said suddenly. “There’s something fishy about this situation. Seems to me that we’d be better off waiting.”

“Aren’t you worried that someone else will run off with our prey if we wait?” Master God Tian Huang frowned in obvious displeasure.

Master God Yun He pondered briefly, then put away his wooden sword and expressed his agreement with his senior apprentice brother’s plans. “Very well. Let’s wait a while longer.”

Su Yi just stood there and watched throughout this exchange, quietly taking it all in.

When he saw this, a mocking jeer rose unbidden to his lips. “A clever choice. I can see that you each harbor your own ulterior motives, and that all of you have reservations. You won’t accomplish anything like that!”

With that, he took out a jug of wine and had a sip. “In light of your intelligence, I’ll give you a warning. No matter who shows up, or how many of you, you’ll amount to no more than blades in Di E’s hand, and you can forget about reaping any benefits whatsoever.”

Di E!

Master Gods Yun He, Yun Xiao, and Tian Huang exchanged glances. They couldn’t help but furrow their brows.

“What do you mean by that, Fellow Daoist Su?” asked Master God Yun He.

Su Yi said forthrightly, “Di E is on guard, and he dares not attack me, but he’s unwilling to just give up, so he’s hidden himself in the darkness. He wants to borrow others’ hands to whittle down my energy. The moment I can’t take it anymore, he’ll swoop in to loot a burning house.”

The three Master Gods were flabbergasted. If that was true, this operation would be troublesome indeed!

“Alarmist nonsense!” Master God Yun Xiao sneered. “Surely you aren’t trying to tell me that the enormous commotion in the Hazy Sea Forbidden Zone was actually a battle between you and His Excellency Di E?”

Master God Tian Huang laughed too, his gaze derisive. “Su Yi, in this life, and even at the peak of your past lives, you wouldn’t even have been worthy of carrying His Excellency Di E’s shoes. How dare you proclaim that he’s afraid of you? Don’t you think you’re being ridiculous?”

Both Master Gods jeered, their voices full of mockery.

Su Yi’s warning was just too absurd.

Who was Di E? He was a Half-Step Eternal who’d placed one foot onto the River of Destiny. He was the mightiest expert in the God Domain, a transcendent existence.

And on top of all that, he was the man the experts of the River of Destiny had chosen as the future Bringer of Order.

How could someone with a background like that be too afraid to attack Su Yi?

And he was even insisting that Di E was hiding nearby like some kind of craven, all for the sake of borrowing their hands to wear Su Yi down. That was blatant slander!

It was ridiculous! Their disbelief didn’t bother Su Yi in the slightest. He just said, “You and Di E are in the same camp. I’m sure you have means of contacting him. Why not try it?”

The three Master Gods couldn’t help but find this baffling. It really doesn’t look like he’s bluffing!

Master God Yun He said gravely, “If it turns out that His Excellency Di E really is hiding nearby, that would be even better, right?”

Master Gods Yun Xiao and Tian Huang exchanged glances, then nodded. He was right. No matter what Su Yi might say, they and Di E were on the same side.

If Di E was here, he might well claim the Epoch Spark and the secrets of reincarnation, but… they wouldn’t leave unrewarded, either!

“Seems to me that we should just attack. If His Excellency Di E is really here, there’s no way he’ll let Su Yi overturn the heavens!” suggested Master God Tian Huang.

Su Yi laughed. He could tell that the three old-timers didn’t believe that Di E was hiding nearby, and they were saying all that primarily to test him.

He said casually, “I won’t lie to you. The reason I’m willing to wait here is because I want to see whether or not Di E will have the guts to show himself.”

Master God Yun He frowned.

Master God Tian Huang urged, “He’s already so badly injured. Why wait? Didn’t we agree that it would be to our advantage if it really turned out that His Excellency Di E was hiding nearby?”

“In that case…” Master God Yun Xiao pondered briefly, his eyes flashing with murderous light. “Let’s attack!”

Boom!

Before his voice had even finished echoing through the air, Master God Yun He swung his wooden sword.

Master God Tian Huang summoned a sharp, glinting bronze dagger-axe.

And an ancient, mysterious Daoist seal floated above Master God Yun Xiao’s head.

Heaven and earth shook on all sides.

Three long-established, peak Nine-Tribulation Master Gods were attacking at once. How could their power possibly have been ordinary?

When Su Yi saw this, he sighed. “Ol’ Wen, come on out. The rest of you, too.”

Ol Wen? Hearing this just as they were about to fight made the three Master Gods’ eyebrows twitch. It didn’t make any sense.

But then, the three of them gasped, stunned.

Because they could see one figure after another emerging from the distant landscape. Every last one of them looked like an unparalleled god of death traversing a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

The sky shook, and the light of the heavens dimmed.

The entire stretch of heaven and earth contorted and collapsed after they appeared. Terrifying, unsettling phenomena appeared overhead.

There were visions of bloody battlefields, heaven-shaking drum beats echoing through the air, and the boundless calls of war horns emanating from over the horizon. Together, they created an austere, oppressive atmosphere.

Countless Celestial Demons wailed and wept tears of blood, their bones piled high into mountains and their blood gathering into rivers.

These unsettling visions seemed to drag the entire area into a battlefield of demons and gods. There were scenes of bloodshed and death on every corner!

And all of these visions were manifested from the murderous intent emanating from these new arrivals. It threatened to overturn heaven and earth!

Naturally, these strange phenomena weren’t enough to intimidate Master God Yun He and the others.

Still…

When they saw those ten-plus figures, they could no longer remain calm. Their expressions shifted dramatically.

The leader of the group was thin, with an unfettered air about him and a cynical grin on his lips.

But those familiar with him knew that he was really an extraordinary frenzied, ruthless sword cultivator! A famed Nine-Tribulation Master God who’d established his reputation in the Boundless Battlefield through bloodshed!

Wen Qingfeng. Wherever his sword pointed, death followed!

Long, long ago, Master God Yun He and the others had fought him in the Boundless Battlefield. How could they fail to recognize him now? They were old acquaintances!

Master God Yun He and the others recognized Wen Qingfeng’s companions, too. They couldn’t have been any more familiar.

Jian Dushan. They called him Demon Master Lonely Mountain. He was bold and tyrannical by nature, and he’d fought countless battles. He’d once dealt Master God Tian Huang a massive setback in the Boundless Battlefield.

Ji Heng.

They called him the greatest master of talismans and formations in the God Domain. His attainments in this Dao were unparalleled, and he’d used his abilities to trap and kill over one hundred thousand Celestial Demons, including numerous Demon Emperors.

Then there was You Jingkong…

All of these terrifying figures were ancient, unparalleled experts.

Rather, it was more apt to say that anyone who’d spent that long fighting in the Boundless Battlefield and lived to tell of it was far beyond any ordinary Nine-Tribulation Master God!

These old-timers were supposed to have been trapped in the Boundless Battlefield, yet now, here they all were.

And more than ten of them had appeared at once!

Murderous intent swept out like a windstorm, tearing heaven and earth, overturning mountains, and shattering the ground.

Those terrifying visions of blood-soaked battlefields instantly drew the attention of everyone present despite the distance.

The numerous experts who’d gathered here previously had left, but they hadn’t gotten far.

When they sensed that unsettling murderous intent and saw those strange phenomena, their expressions shifted, and chills coursed through their entire bodies.

Is… Is a battle between unparalleled Nine-Tribulation Master Gods about to break out?

Meanwhile, Su Yi watched his old friends show up. He wasn’t the least bit surprised to see them.

He hadn’t made contact with them earlier, but his instincts told him that despite his insistence that they leave before his battle with Di E, they hadn’t really left.

He understood his old friends far too well.

This was a friendship born of life-and-death battles fought side by side. There was no way they’d just leave while he fought Di E.

Moreover, this understanding went both ways. He understood them, but they understood him, too!

“It’s a pity that we couldn’t lure Di E out into the open,” sighed Wen Qingfeng.

Su Yi hadn’t made contact with them in secret, but their tacit understanding had been built up over countless years. When they emerged into the Hazy Sea Forbidden Zone, they could already guess what Su Yi was planning.

He wanted to use himself as bait to lure out and trick his enemies!

Thus, Wen Qingfeng and the others had chosen to hide themselves nearby. They were with Su Yi every step of the way, ready to fight at any moment.

And reality had proven that their guess was right on the mark.

Even badly injured and surrounded by enemies, with countless others eyeing him hungrily…

Su Yi was fishing!

Otherwise, he’d have long since attacked with all his might and broken through their encirclement. How could he possibly have let a crowd follow him so ostentatiously without good reason?

“Brother Fuyou, you rest up. Have a drink and watch the show. Leave those old-timers to us,” someone said with a grin. He rubbed his hands together with anticipation.

“I finally don’t feel like a burden anymore,” someone else said with a sigh.

In the Boundless Battlefield, they’d been up against opponents so terrifying that even when they fought with Su Yi, there was nothing they could contribute. This left his old friends feeling like burdens.

But it was different now.

This was the God Domain! With their cultivations, they could act as they pleased without reservation, causing a commotion great enough to overturn heaven and earth!