Chapter 1024 - An Apology, a Mental Knot, Bad News

The Cloudriver Prefecture of the Great Zhou. Guangling City.

The courtyard behind Apricot Clinic.

It was a spring evening, and within the courtyard, the great locust tree was covered in verdant leaves.

A young woman practiced her swordsmanship over and over again, as if she knew nothing of exhaustion.

It was only after she finally ran out of stamina that she stepped and sat beneath the locust tree.

“I wonder how my little sister is doing? She used to write to me every two weeks, but her latest letter is already four days late.” The young woman sat there muttering to herself, as if baring her heart to the locust tree.

“But she’s in the capital of the Great Xia, Nine Tripod City, and there are numerous experts there to look after her. It seems unlikely that anything would happen.

“The world is increasingly perilous. No one knows when danger will rear its ugly head, but no matter what, I have to take care of my parents and my clansmen.

“Agh, it would be wonderful if I could find someone to talk to…”

Here, the young woman’s spirits sank, and the light in her eyes dimmed.

Her name was Wen Lingzhao.

She was once the proudest daughter of heaven in all of Guangling City. Her talent was exceptional, and she’d even entered the Imperatorial Province’s top faction, Heaven’s Origin Academy, to cultivate.

But all of that was in the past.

She had since taken up residence in Guangling City, and she spent her days looking after her clan and cultivating assiduously.

However, from time to time, she felt lonely and melancholy.

After all, Guangling City was just a tiny, remote city of the Great Zhou. The onset of the Radiant Epoch hadn’t changed it much at all.

When she cultivated here, she lacked both resources and a sect to instruct her.

She had to rely on herself for everything.

If that were the end of it, it’d be one thing.

What really left her feeling bleak and bitter was that she’d long since ceased to be a proud daughter of heaven. No, she’d become a local laughingstock.

All of this was connected to a certain man.

That man had once been the cast-off disciple of Blueriver Sword Manor, a cripple incapable of cultivation, the live-in son-in-law everyone in Guangling City laughed at.

And he’d been her husband, too.

However, time changed everything, and that man was now a legendary figure whose name shook the entire Azure Continent. Sword in hand, he’d slain the experts of the ancient area until none dared proclaim themselves sovereign!

Even though there’d been no word of him for over a year, tales of his exploits still circulated throughout the Azure Continent.

Especially in the cultivation world of the Great Zhou. Here, he was practically seen as a deity!

But the more dazzling that man was, the duller she seemed by comparison. Because back then, she’d thoroughly rejected their marriage!

Now, everyone in Guangling City mocked her for her blindness and shortsightedness.

This used to upset Wen Lingzhao. But now, she’d grown accustomed to it, and it no longer stung.

Ultimately, the masses were ignorant and foolish. Didn’t they look down on that man back then too?

“Now, I finally understand from experience how unbearable his situation was after he married into our Wen Family. It’s easy to say you understand another’s feelings, but you can’t truly understand the bitterness and difficulties of another’s predicament unless you’ve experienced something similar yourself.” Wen Lingzhao wrapped her arms around her knees, and her bright eyes gazed into the distant sunset.

She whispered, “Once, his rise to prominence came as a heavy blow. I avoided him and hid from him. I hid from the past, but now… If I got the opportunity, I’d offer him a sincere apology. Not to change his mind about me, but perhaps… then my heart could finally know peace…”

Whoosh~

The leaves of the old locust tree suddenly rustled, as if it were whooping for joy.

Wen Lingzhao was stunned, and she seemed to sense something. She turned her head and gazed into the distance.

However, she saw nothing at all.

“Old locust tree, do you perhaps understand my feelings?” Wen Lingzhao laughed and gently patted its trunk. Then, she got up, but just as she was about to continue practicing her swordsmanship, a green locust branch dipped in front of her.

A line of text rose upon the surface of a leaf: “The Mystic Master says he understands.”

Wen Lingzhao’s bright eyes widened, and her delicate frame quivered. Don’t tell me… that man was here just now?

A little while later, she took a deep breath, calmed herself, then looked around. A hint of gratitude appeared on her slightly gaunt but beautiful face as she whispered, “Thank you.”

The old locust tree’s leaves rustled like a wave of verdant green. Off in the distance, the sunset blazed like fire. It was an inimitably beautiful scene.

Wen Lingzhao suddenly felt as if her heart’s shackles had shattered completely. An indescribable calm filled her, and she couldn’t help but break into a faint smile. She’d finally been released.

……

Su Yi’s robes swayed as he strolled beneath the light of the setting sun.

He’d never hated Wen Lingzhao. It wasn’t that he was so magnanimous, but that he’d never concerned himself with this trivial matter.

He hadn’t thought about their relationship at all since he'd ended their marriage.

It was only now that he’d returned to the Great Zhou and Guangling City that he inadvertently learned that what happened then had left a lasting knot in Wen Lingzhao’s heart.

Su Yi couldn’t help but feel rueful over this.

When someone’s situation changed, their view of the world tended to change with it, and their mentality shifted.

In light of that, Wen Lingzhao certainly didn’t seem like a bad person. Alas, although there had once been a marriage contract between them, the two of them were fated to meet, not to be together.

A little while later.

Su Yi arrived in the Jade Capital, the imperial city of the Great Zhou.

He stood in the distance and watched Zhou Zhili busily tending to the nation’s affairs. Then, he silently turned and left.

His old friend was alive and well. That was enough.

Without any further delays, he flew to the Great Xia at top speed.

Although he’d only been gone a bit over a year, along the way, Su Yi noticed enormous changes to the Azure Continent.

The entire continent was formerly shrouded in the power of the Prohibition of Darkness. Throughout its hundred-plus mundane nations, true cultivators were a rare sight.

But now, as Su Yi trekked and flew through the wilderness, there were cultivators everywhere he looked!

Spirit beasts ran rampant in the wilderness, and vicious birds soared through the air.

However, just as Su Yi had determined, the Azure Continent still couldn’t withstand the power of the Imperial Realm. This meant that it couldn’t possibly give rise to Imperial experts.

A day later, Su Yi arrived in the Great Xia and proceeded to Nine Tripod City without delay.

When he left, he got Wen Lingxue, Cha Jin, Qing Wan, and his other old friends settled in Nine Tripod City. They had the Xia Emperor’s protection. A’Cang, the Xiantian spirit born of the Azure Continent’s source, was watching over them from the shadows as well.

As Su Yi neared Nine Tripod City, eagerness accumulated within his heart.

The Grand Dao was heartless, but people weren’t.

In the time since he restarted his cultivation, these old friends were the only people he’d met on the Azure Continent that he really cared about.

As he passed through a stretch of mountainous wilderness, a group of cultivators’ conversation suddenly drew Su Yi’s attention. He promptly slowed his steps and listened in.

“How brutal! Who could have imagined that the Xia Family would fall overnight at the height of its power? They’ve practically been obliterated!”

“They say that all nine of the capital’s Divine Tripods have been stolen!”

“Do you know who did it?”

“They say it was a mighty faction from another world, and furthermore, that Imperial Realm power appeared on Mount Heavenbristle that night.”

“The Imperial Realm!?”

“That’s right. Without a godlike existence like that, how could they possibly have broken the Nine Tripods Suppression Barrier Formation and destroyed Mount Heavenbristle?”

“My heavens!!”

…When he heard this, Su Yi instantly felt as if someone had poured a bucket of cold water over his head. His eagerness grew wings and flew away.

“Friend, might you explain what happened here in detail?” Su Yi shot forward and appeared further up the path in a flash.

The group of cultivators was stunned.

But when they sensed the characteristic aura of the Spiritual Revolution Realm emanating from Su Yi, they were instantly solemn, and their expressions filled with awe.

Even though it had been almost two years since the onset of the Radiant Epoch, Spiritual Revolution Realm cultivators still stood at the pinnacle of the Azure Continent.

A moment later, the leader, a middle-aged man in gray, dared not be negligent. He immediately laid everything he knew out in the open.

It turned out that five nights ago, an enormous disaster befell Nine Tripod City out of nowhere.

That night, a mysterious faction of cultivators appeared. They destroyed the Nine Tripod Suppression Barrier Formation and killed their way into Mount Heavenbristle. The sounds of slaughter shook the heavens, and churning smoke filled the skies.

It was only the following morning that the populace discovered that the imperial family of the Great Xia, the hegemons of the Azure Continent, had completely collapsed. Even their residence, Mount Heavenbristle, had collapsed after being cleaved in two!

Rumor had it that the power of an Imperial expert had appeared, letting them crush the imperial family of the Great Xia in one fell swoop!

This news shook the entire Great Xia, stirring up a massive uproar and terrifying countless factions of cultivators.

After all, the Great Xia’s power was practically as strong as it got in the modern Azure Continent. Who’d have thought such a massive, powerful entity would crumble overnight?

What really left people ill at ease was that even now, no one knew where that mysterious faction had come from or who they were.

Su Yi’s brow was tightly furrowed, and his eyes flickered with uncertainty.

He suddenly recalled something.

Last night, in Guangling City, Wen Lingzhao had muttered something to herself: “I wonder how my little sister is doing? She used to write to me every two weeks, but her latest letter is already four days late.”

His heart sank.

Wen Lingzhao’s little sister was, of course, Wen Lingxue!

According to Wen Lingzhao, Wen Lingxue wrote her a letter once every two weeks, but the latest letter was four days late!

Now, shortly after arriving in the Great Xia, he heard this terrible news.

This unquestionably implied that the imperial family of the Great Xia had met with disaster, and that Wen Lingxue, Cha Jin, Qing Wan, and the others had been affected!

Dense, murderous intent shone in the depths of Su Yi’s gaze.

Just who was behind this?

Apparently, Imperial Realm power had gotten involved. Did that mean that this mysterious faction hailed from another world?

Thinking will do me no good. I have to rush to Nine Tripod City as quickly as possible!

Su Yi could no longer hold back. He turned, shot into the distance, and disappeared over the horizon in a flash.

Witnessing this left those cultivators’ hearts shaking.

“What terrifying murderous intent!” Someone quivered from head to toe. They felt as if they’d been plunged into an icy abyss. Just now, that wisp of killing intent Su Yi had revealed almost inadvertently had practically made him collapse.

“Who was that person? And why did he seem somehow familiar?” someone asked in bewilderment.

“A young man in blue robes with a Spiritual Revolution Realm cultivation base…” someone muttered, then seemed to realize something. He suddenly cried out, “Was he Banished Immortal Su!!?”