Chapter 2960 - The Heavens Part Beneath His Feet

Benefactor?

Everyone on Heavenly Aberrant Mountain was flabbergasted. They dared say with certainty that the speaker was the Ancient Aberrant, but who was this "benefactor" he spoke of?

Don’t tell me...

But before they could finish that thought, a streak of dazzling spacetime light poured out of the illusory portal. That enormous, ancient face condensed into an illusory figure, then stepped out of the portal.

Boom!

Heaven and earth shook violently. Lightning flashed, and thunder rumbled.

An indescribably terrifying pressure swept across heaven and earth.

Beneath countless flabbergasted gazes, that illusory figure transformed into a roughly ten-foot-tall, copper-skinned old man in old-fashioned beast skin robes. His eyes burned like twin suns, and he supported the stars on his shoulders. His whole body was shrouded in mysterious, blood-red Aberrant markings that flickered like strange, resplendent stars.

This was the Ancient Aberrant, Xuan Ming!

He was one of the forebears of the Aberrant lineage, an expert who’d waged war during the Devastation. He was also the only surviving Aberrant expert of that era!

Heaven and earth shook as the Ancient Aberrant descended from the sky and approached Heavenly Aberrant Mountain.

Every step he took was like the beating of a war drum. His imposing presence was terrifying beyond measure.

“Greetings, Ancient!” Chief Meng Che and the others all bowed in unison. All of them were excited, their expressions full of fervent piety.

But the Ancient Aberrant ignored them. Before he’d even arrived, he burst into laughter. “Benefactor! I would never have guessed that I’d encounter you here!”

Before his voice had even finished echoing through the air, he arrived on the mountaintop. The crowd watched in astonishment as he practically dashed over to Su Yi, clasped his fist, and bowed deeply.

“Benefactor, please accept this bow! I couldn’t thank you properly last time, so I have to make up for it this time!” said the Ancient Aberrant, still bent at the waist. There was a broad, grateful smile on his face.

The Aberrants were completely flummoxed. What the hell is going on?

Su Yi was a bit rueful, too.

Back in the God Domain, he’d helped the Ancient Aberrant resolve his Karmic Tribulation.

Ancient Aberrant Xuan Ming was the Goddess of Silent Darkness’ master, while the Goddess of Silent Darkness was the Tailor’s master.

Long, long ago, Ancient Aberrant Xuan Ming had launched an elaborate scheme to acquire his power of reincarnation. The Goddess of Silent Darkness was the one he’d entrusted to help him carry out this plan.

The Goddess of Silent Darkness had, in truth, been behind the Tailor’s enmities with Shen Mu and the Temple Master.

Su Yi had learned the truth of the matter when he first met Xuan Ming.

At the time, Ancient Aberrant Xuan Ming was quite open with him. He apologized, offered compensation, and swore that all he wanted was for Su Yi to help him resolve his Karmic Tribulation.

But although Su Yi agreed to help Xuan Ming in the end, he didn’t have a good impression of the man.

Thus, in response to Xuan Ming’s bow, all Su Yi had to say was, “The Aberrant Race has deemed me their enemy. You’re their pillar, yet here you are, bowing to me. Isn’t that... a bit inappropriate?”

A stifled, deathly silence descended over the area. Everyone exchanged glances, their expressions a sight to behold.

Especially Chief Meng Che. He stood there in a daze, feeling as if a herd of ten thousand horses was galloping through his heart. He was completely flustered.

This was a moment of crisis, yet their greatest trump card, Ancient Aberrant Xuan Ming, showed no interest in suppressing and killing their enemy. On the contrary, he acted as if he’d just been reunited with an old friend. He even went so far as to bow, and worse, he looked downright thrilled about it!

How could Meng Che possibly accept this?

When the other higher-ups saw this, all of them were stunned. Who is this young sword cultivator, and why on earth is the Ancient bowing to him and calling him his benefactor?

“Enemy?” Xuan Ming blinked. Then, his expression darkened, and he turned to look at Chief Meng Che and the others. “What’s the meaning of this?”

It was just one light, airy sentence, but it put so much pressure on Meng Che that he could barely breathe. The others were uneasy and uncertain, too. All of them sensed that this didn’t bode well.

In the end, Meng Che steeled himself and explained the situation in full detail. He dared not lie, but he made sure to point out how dangerous it was to harbor the Heart-Tempering Sword House, and to explain all of the grievances, injuries, and losses they’d suffered today.

In the end, Meng Che said bitterly, “Ancient, we might have made a few mistakes, but this sword cultivator has been far too unreasonable. One word out of turn, and he attacked us, and he says he won’t stop until we’ve acknowledged our mistakes and compensated him. How... how could anyone accept this?”

He clearly felt aggrieved.

Su Yi just listened quietly. He made no attempt to argue; there was no need.

Ancient Aberrant Xuan Ming listened, his expression overcast, then bellowed, “You blind, ignorant fool! Fellow Daoist Su is the reincarnation of the founder of the Heart-Tempering Sword House, Jiang Wuchen. How could you have been so stupid as to offend him?”

The crowd reacted as if they’d been struck by lightning. What? That young sword cultivator... is Jiang Wuchen’s reincarnation?

This revelation was far too shocking, to the point that the Aberrant experts froze in place, unable to calm down.

Ancient Aberrant Xuan Ming turned, then smiled apologetically at Su Yi. “Fellow Daoist, this was a misunderstanding. Allow me to represent the entire Aberrant Race in apologizing to you. Is there any way we can make it up to you? I’ll agree to whatever request you have. I won’t even furrow my brow!”

The sight of the Ancient apologizing to Su Yi filled the higher-ups’ hearts with unease. What kind of an existence is the Ancient? Yet even after hearing the full story, he’s chosen to apologize and make amends.

Who could fail to realize the implications? Put bluntly, the Ancient was willing to wrong the entire clan and offer generous compensation in exchange for that young sword cultivator’s forgiveness and understanding!

It was blatantly humiliating, but at the same time, it made the severity of the matter readily apparent. After all, the Ancient wasn’t the type to bend at the knee to just anybody.

There had to be a reason he was doing this.

But Su Yi wasn’t concerned about all that. He’d come here to demand an explanation and settle the score on the Heart-Tempering Sword House’s behalf.

Ancient Aberrant Xuan Ming had stepped forth and expressed his willingness to make amends. Su Yi was naturally perfectly happy with this outcome.

“You and Wu Qing can figure out how to make this right,” said Su Yi, glancing at Wu Qing.

Wu Qing was long since inwardly overcome with excitement, but outwardly, he remained solemn. “I shall assiduously carry out your orders, Founder!”

Ancient Aberrant Xuan Ming inwardly sighed in relief. “Settling a score” was more about one’s attitude than it was about the compensation itself. He was confident that now that he’d made his stance clear, the Aberrants would give Su Yi a satisfactory response.

Suddenly, the humming of a sword emanated from afar as a dense crowd of sword cultivators rode in on an arc of sword qi.

These were the higher-ups of the Heart-Tempering Sword House.

“What are all of you doing here?” Su Yi couldn’t help but ask.

When Sect Leader Lu Ye and the others saw what was happening, they were unwittingly stunned. Lu Ye hurriedly explained, “Master, earlier, we sensed that something was amiss, and we were concerned about your safety, so we rushed over.”

The situation was indeed far too unusual. Ancient Aberrant Xuan Ming had gotten involved, but he hadn’t yet attacked Su Yi.

None of the Heart-Tempering Sword House experts knew what was going on. All of them were bewildered and uncertain.

Ancient Aberrant Xuan Ming laughed. “Everyone, this was all a misunderstanding. Your founder is my benefactor. My people have acknowledged our mistakes, and we’ll be sure to make it up to you!”

Sect Leader Lu Ye and the others were unwittingly flabbergasted. They almost dared not believe their ears. Our founder is... the Ancient Aberrant’s benefactor!?

“That’s indeed the case,” Su Yi said with a subtle nod, indicating that all of this was true.

The Aberrant experts plastered rigid smiles onto their faces. They nodded, too. However, inwardly, they felt deeply aggrieved. They wanted to weep, but they had no tears.

Su Yi had invaded their territory and destroyed their three ancient killing formations. Worse, he’d injured countless people and destroyed over one hundred of their forebears’ Heroic Souls.

In the end, the Ancient Aberrant came to their aid, only to insist that they apologize and offer their aggressor compensation. Who wouldn’t have felt stifled?

Sect Leader Lu Ye and the others struggled to stay calm, but they found the situation indescribably absurd. The founder single-handedly forced the Aberrants to lower their heads? Their Ancient appeared, but even he’s lowering his head and offering compensation? Isn’t this... a bit too unrealistic?

The Ancient Aberrant smiled and said to Su Yi, “It’s settled. Benefactor, might you grant this old man an opportunity to show you my hospitality as an expression of my gratitude?”

Su Yi pondered briefly, then nodded.

Back in the God Domain, he helped Ancient Aberrant Xuan Ming with his Karmic Tribulation, then acquired a treasure known as an Eternal Key.

He’d yet to grasp its mysteries, but he knew that it hid enormous secrets.

It looked like a badly patinated but otherwise ordinary bronze key. It was about the size of his palm. Its round handle looked bloodstained, like a bleeding eye. It was incomparably strange.

Su Yi still hadn’t forgotten the way the Sword of the Nine Hells reacted when he first acquired the key. He knew it was no ordinary object.

A banquet would naturally give him ample opportunities to ask further questions about its mysteries.

That aside, Su Yi was curious about Xuan Ming’s true strength.

Back in the God Domain, he learned that prior to his Karmic Tribulation, Xuan Ming was strong enough that several Heavenly Sovereigns numbered among his enemies!

It was thus obvious that the old-timer wasn’t simple.

Ancient Aberrant Xuan Ming was delighted to see Su Yi agree. He promptly arranged for his people to start readying a feast.

He also invited the experts of the Heart-Tempering Sword House to remain and attend the feast. That would give both sides an opportunity to bury the hatchet.

Sect Leader Lu Ye looked at Su Yi.

The situation was far too strange. Su Yi had just caused an enormous disturbance, but not only was he perfectly fine; the Aberrants were now welcoming him as their most distinguished guest.

Now, they were benefiting from their acquaintance with Su Yi; they, too, had been invited to the banquet. Who could have adjusted to all that at once?

In the end, Su Yi agreed on their behalf.

Were the Aberrants really willing to apologize and compensate them? All would become clear during the banquet. It was possible that Xuan Ming had ulterior motives, but Su Yi wasn’t concerned about all that. After all, the old-timer had once sworn on his life and Grand Dao that he wouldn’t cause Su Yi any further trouble.

But just as the crowd assumed that the storm was about to come to a close, something entirely unexpected happened.

Boom!

Someone kicked a hole through the skies over the Heavenly Aberrant Hidden Realm!

Spatial power fell like rain as the Laws broke. The entire hidden realm shook violently.

Everyone was startled, and everyone looked over to see what had happened.