Chapter 1135 - Quick, Keep Up

When he felt the air brush against his throat, a chill coursed through the Tailor. He couldn’t help but blurt, “Have you perhaps transcended the Path of Heaven’s Ascension and stepped onto the path of immortals?”

“Immortals?” The spearwoman thought for a moment. “An empty, meaningless title, that’s all. If there are immortals in this world, then I’m a mover of mountains.”

“A mover of mountains...?” the Tailor murmured, then stiffened as he realized the implications.

The character “immortal” combined the characters for “human” and “mountain.”

If you removed the “mountain,” all that was left was an ordinary mortal!

The Tailor suddenly recalled something the Temple Master had said a long time ago: “Even if there are immortals, they dare not come to the human realm. If they try it, I’ll cut them down here in the human realm!”

“You’ve already lost, so take me to see your true body,” the spearwoman said directly.

The Tailor’s expression shifted erratically. “Dare I ask what you wish to see my true body for?”

There was no grudge between them, yet this mysterious, terrifying spearwoman had set her sights on him. This left the Tailor speechless. No matter how hard he racked his brains, he couldn’t remember offending her.

It was simply inexplicable.

“I want to fight. Isn’t that reason enough?” the woman said impatiently.

“....” The Tailor suddenly realized that this time, he’d most likely encountered a madwoman completely immersed in combat and cultivation!

There was no talking things through with someone like her. Karma? Enmities? Etiquette? Rules? None of those had any effect at all!

When he realized this, he said without the slightest ripple of emotion, “If you’re looking for a worthy opponent, I could actually introduce you to someone. He was once invincible in his era, and his sword ruled the starry skies, suppressing everything in all directions. He once proclaimed that even if there really were immortals, even they would have to avert their gazes in front of....”

Before he could finish, the spearwoman asked with great interest, “Who is he? Where is he now?”

The Tailor inwardly sighed in relief, but outwardly, he said with the utmost solemnity, “He’s the Temple Master of the Temple of the Human Realm. Alone save for his sword, he astonished the starry skies, and he frequently lamented his inability to find worthy opponents.”

“Truly?” The spearwoman’s pale purple eyes lit up.

The Tailor said with increasing solemnity, “Every word is true, and I’m absolutely not hiding anything. He’s currently in the Dark and Gold Star Realm. Ask anyone at random, and you’ll be able to find him.”

“Take me there,” said the spearwoman.

“....” The Tailor had nothing to say to that.

I only just escaped the Wilds, and it wasn’t easy, either. How could I possibly go back?

Besides, when the spearwoman saw that Su Yi was only in the Profound Serenity Realm, would she still be willing to fight him? What if she thought she’d been tricked? Then, he’d really be finished!

The Tailor took a moment to calm himself. “Ma’am, I won’t lie to you. I only just left the Wilds, and...”

The spearwoman’s eyes frosted over. “Are you lying to me? I’ll have you know that I hate nothing more than being taken for a madwoman who only knows how to fight and cultivate!”

“I...” The Tailor’s heart shook. He opened his mouth and was just about to explain when the point of a spear pierced his throat, shattering his Dao Clone into countless pieces.

Dammit! And you say you aren’t a madwoman?

In the last moments before its death, the clone couldn’t help but curse in fury.

He’d spent years hiding behind the scenes, walking amidst the darkness. He excelled at nothing more than plotting and scheming, and in the starry skies, they saw him as one of the most dangerous, terrifying experts around.

Yet today, he’d gone and bumped into a completely unreasonable madwoman! She attacked him without reason, and she casually killed him!

No matter how crafty and shrewd the Tailor was, no matter how shocking his intellect, it was completely useless in this situation...

The spearwoman stretched out her hand and grabbed.

Kcch!

She captured a wisp of the destroyed clone’s aura. After sensing it briefly, her eyes lit up. She murmured, “This guy’s true body really is quite strong. He’s worth fighting, if just barely. Let’s see where he’s hiding now.”

Before her voice had even finished echoing through the air, she flipped her palm, took out a snow-white turtle shell, and fused the wisp of the Tailor’s clone’s aura into it.

A moment later, her lips parted, and she uttered an invocation, “Perceive the past and illuminate the present!”

Weng!

The snow-white turtle shell lit up and revolved with divine radiance. A wave of the light of time and space scattered, reflecting a series of bizarre images.

It was as if she were retracing the river of history, searching the boundless starry skies. The sight was enough to shake the heart.

Soon, the snow-white turtle shell quivered, and a single scene floated up—

A gaunt, ordinary-looking old man in plain cloth robes was seated in an inn, drinking alone in a bustling mundane world.

This was none other than the Tailor.

He’d only just raised his glass to take a sip when his expression shifted abruptly, and he trembled violently. Beads of cold sweat formed on his forehead, and the look on his aged face darkened.

“The Temple Master really has reincarnated. Furthermore, the secrets of reincarnation really do exist within the Dark and Gold Star Realm, but... Just who was that unreasonable spearwoman?”

The Tailor frowned as if he’d encountered an extraordinarily difficult problem.

A moment later, he seemed to sense something, and he suddenly looked up.

Outside the inn, a pair of purple eyes were gazing at him from beyond the dome of heaven.

“I found you, old man!” A delighted female voice rang out, and the dome of heaven cracked. A slender, jade-like hand descended with a sky full of Dao Light.

The Tailor’s pupils constricted, and he disappeared into thin air.

Boom!

The inn exploded.

Immediately afterward, the bustling mortal world popped like a soap bubble and transformed into a pearl riddled with holes.

The Tailor’s figure completely disappeared from view.

In another stretch of sky, the spearwoman withdrew her right hand from the curtain of light hovering above the turtle shell. She brought that pearl with her.

“A World of Illusions Pearl? The old codger sure is cowardly. I look down on people like him more than anything!” muttered the spearwoman, sounding deeply disappointed.

“Forget it. I’ll go to the Dark and Gold Star Realm, see what that Temple Master person is capable of, then play with that old man some more.”

Having made up her mind, the spearwoman turned and left.

......

Within a dim, chaotic world.

The Tailor appeared out of nowhere.

The look on his aged face was shifting and uncertain. “She actually used a wisp of my clone’s aura to attack me from across time and space? That madwoman is so strong it’s downright unreasonable...”

Who was she? Where had she come from?

All the Tailor knew was that regardless of whether or not she’d used a treasure to attack him or her own abilities, this feat was proof of her extraordinary, terrifying background!

“Throughout the stars, perhaps only the Temple Master at his peak could have contended with that woman...” murmured the Tailor.

Earlier, if he hadn’t escaped just in time, he would have had to clash with her head-on!

He wasn’t afraid of combat, but he reviled nothing more than sudden, unexpected battles like this.

“I cannot return to the Dark and Gold Star Realm lightly, but... I can use the fact that Zhong Ruoxi was killed to my advantage and borrow the Zhong Family’s power, as well as that of the Studio of the Heart, the Church of the River of Stars, and the Nine Heavens Pavilion. That’ll be enough to dull the reincarnated Temple Master’s edge!”

His turbid eyes flashed with cold light. “I trust that regardless of whether they’re trying to avenge a grudge or acquire the secrets of reincarnation, the powerhouses of the starry skies won’t remain uninvolved, and this... is a prime opportunity for me to make arrangements!”

......

Before the Grotto of Abstruse Force.

The curtains had fallen on this grand battle, but a long time passed before the crowd overcame their astonishment and returned to their senses.

This storm had shaken both the heart and the soul with one unexpected development after another.

It started with Qing Tang’s five “delightful surprises.” Then, the Tailor and the young mistress of the Studio of the Heart, Ruoxi, took the stage. Finally, Su Yi used that wooden sword to kill Ruoxi and force the Tailor to retreat. Only then did the dust settle.

But the storm had been so perilous that the mere thought of it made the onlookers’ hair stand on end.

Even Ancestor Peng, the Border Mountain Yao Emperor, and the other antiques found it difficult to calm down.

Now, when the crowd looked up and saw Su Yi standing upright beneath the dome of heaven, they fell into a daze.

Is this the reincarnation of the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force, or of that mysterious Temple Master?

Even Jin Kui, Wang Que, and the rest of Su Yi’s legacy disciples felt hesitant.

Su Yi paid none of this any heed. He raised his hand and passed the wooden sword, Wandering Spirit, to Qing Tang from afar, his gaze pitying. “Don’t dwell on the past any longer. The Temple Master of the Temple of the Human Realm no longer exists in this world.”

Qing Tang’s delicate frame quivered, but a moment later, she pursed her lips. “Master, I’ve long since become a disciple of the Grotto of Abstruse Force.”

Su Yi took in her stubborn expression, then rubbed his forehead. Finally, he let out a soft sigh. “I can be the Temple Master, and I can be Su Xuanjun, but in the end, ultimately... I’m myself.”

As his voice rang out, his presence silently transformed. He lost that unrestrained, broad-minded charm.

“Master...” Qing Tang watched in a daze, a hint of melancholy on her beautiful face.

She knew that this portion of her master’s remnant will had dissipated.

Meanwhile, Su Yi let out a long breath of turbid air, scanned the surrounding area, and fixed his gaze on the distant Grotto of Abstruse Force.

“Everyone, if you don’t disdain to dine with me, please accompany me to the Grotto of Abstruse Force for a banquet.”

With that, Su Yi strode toward the Grotto of Abstruse Force.

Jin Kui, Wang Que, and the other disciples hurried after him.

Ancestor Peng, the Border Mountain Yao Ancestor, and the other antiques looked at each other, but in the end, they followed him as well.

The light of the heavens illuminated the battered landscape.

Only the Grotto of Abstruse Force stood tall, not damaged in the slightest. It glowed with a seemingly holy radiance beneath the sunlight.

Su Yi walked at the front of the procession, hands behind his back.

Next were his disciples, followed by a group of ancient experts each so powerful that a single stomp of their feet could shake the Wilds!

He was like a monarch returning to his palace, followed by a throng of ministers!

The countless cultivators watched from afar, visibly dazed as they sank into a long silence.

Qing Tang stood there all alone, clearly hesitant.

At the gates, Su Yi suddenly turned his head to look at her.

“Quick, keep up.”

It was just three light, airy words, as casual and natural as if they were spoken between family members.

Qing Tang froze, stunned, and the rims of her eyes reddened. Had Su Yi refused her at the door, it would have been unquestionable proof that her master hadn’t forgiven her.

Fortunately, her fears didn’t come to pass.

Qing Tang felt that of all the joys of human life, none surpassed this!

She took a deep breath, then followed him.

The five hundred and third year of the Wilds’ new era, the middle of autumn.

The Swordmaster of Abstruse Force returned, cut down his mighty foes, quelled the storm, and regained control of the Grotto of Abstruse Force!

When news got out, all of the Wilds were startled, and everyone beneath the heavens was astonished.