Chapter 1173 - First Comes First

“Master, why are you...”

Wang Que was baffled, and he didn’t know how to describe his feelings.

His master’s appearance hadn’t changed, but his disposition and bearing had undergone a shocking transformation.

In the past, his master was calm and composed, as if heaven and earth could crumble around him and his expression wouldn’t so much as waver.

Yet now, his every gesture had a free, unrestrained quality. He was obviously standing right there in front of them, yet he somehow seemed distant, unreachable, and ethereal.

Furthermore, when they faced him, their hearts and souls felt a stifling, almost suffocating sensation.

Ye Luo, Xuan Ning, and Bai Yi all sensed the change, and they couldn’t help but feel stunned.

It’s only been half a year since we last saw Master. Just what happened to him?

“Oh, I guess I really

have

changed a little,” laughed Su Yi.

He’d fused with the Temple Master’s Dao Imprint and grasped the Mysterious Truths of Profound Ruin. Even his cultivation had reached the mid-stage Profound Unity Realm. How could his aura not have changed?

Furthermore, as his horizons broadened, his awareness changed, and his breadth of experience increased, Su Yi’s mentality had silently shifted!

But...

A moment later, Su Yi exerted his will, and his aura silently withdrew, as if he’d achieved a return to simplicity. He was instantly entirely unassuming.

Even an Emperor couldn’t sense how powerful this twenty-ish-year-old young man was unless they examined him closely.

When Wang Que and the others saw this, they couldn’t help but exclaim.

“Master’s control of his cultivation base has obviously reached an unbelievable level. He can follow his heart and still remain within the bounds of propriety!”

“Don’t just stand there and chit-chat!” Su Yi said irritably. “I asked you something.”

His apprentices dared not give the matter any further thought. They immediately laid the situation out in the open.

It turned out that three months ago, a mysterious woman came calling. She said she’d come with good intentions and that she hoped to meet with their master.

When she learned that Su Yi was in seclusion, she didn’t leave. Rather, she insisted on waiting for him outside their gates.

Even after all this time, she’d yet to leave.

Wang Que said hurriedly, “Master, we suspect that this mysterious woman is from outer space, and furthermore, that she’s almost certainly a World King!”

Su Yi was quite surprised.

And here I thought the Netherworld King had escaped the City of the Wrongfully Dead and come calling.

But now, it seemed that wasn’t the case at all.

“No need to pay attention to her for now,” said Su Yi. “Wang Que, go summon the others. Let’s have a feast in Phoenix Call Pavilion. Remember to have your senior apprentice sister catch a Dragon-Whisker Carp to make soup.”

With that, he put his hands behind his back, turned, and left.

“Strange. A woman we suspect is a World King is waiting outside our doors, but it seems Master doesn’t care at all.” Ye Lu couldn’t help but feel a bit confused.

“It’s not like Master hasn’t killed World Kings before. Why should he concern himself? Even a blind man could see that the woman has something to ask of him. Otherwise, why would she willingly wait outside our gates all this time?” said Bai Yi. “Besides, according to what Master said earlier, World Kings can’t enter the Wilds in the flesh, not unless they suppress their cultivation bases. That means that woman...”

Before he could finish, Xuan Ning exclaimed, “Eighth Apprentice Brother, you’re actually capable of such thorough analysis? Impressive!”

Whap!

Bai Yi hit Xuan Ning on the shoulder, hard. “When Master says I’m as pure as a sheet of unmarked paper, he isn’t calling me stupid!”

“Enough. Let’s arrange a banquet quickly. Couldn’t you tell that Master is in high spirits? I’m afraid we’re all getting drunk again tonight,” urged Wang Que.

The apprentice brothers quickly got to work.

Later that night, Su Yi’s friends and apprentices gathered in Phoenix Call Pavilion, feasting and chatting joyously.

Even cultivators of the same sect often went hundreds of thousands of years without seeing each other. This was perfectly normal.

This was because when someone went into seclusion, it was common for them to stay there for centuries.

The longer someone remained in seclusion, the greater the bottleneck they’d encountered.

Thus, those of lofty cultivations often seemed entirely detached from worldly affairs.

In this regard, Su Yi was unquestionably atypical.

He’d undergone reincarnation to cultivate again from the beginning, so he didn’t need to spend much time bitterly cultivating in seclusion.

During the banquet, Qing Wan suddenly hesitated, then timidly transmitted to Su Yi, “Master, lately, I’ve felt a strange, lingering unease, as if... something is about to happen.”

Su Yi was stunned. He mulled this over, then smiled and transmitted back, “I think I know what’s going on. Come to my room tonight, and I’ll help you investigate.”

Qing Wan froze, stunned. A moment later, her adorable, beautiful face flushed red, and her gaze was suddenly timid. Even her ears were tinged pink.

Later that night.

In bed.

Beneath the mottled lamplight, two indistinct silhouettes in all manner of positions were reflected on the bed curtains.

A series of faint gasps rang out, like soft flute music. Sometimes, they were fast-paced. Sometimes, they were slower and deeper. Other times, they carried a hint of a trill...

There was no wind in the bedroom, but the curtains swayed nonetheless.

The lamplight and bed frame swayed along with them.

“Master, have you... have you found anything?”

Qing Wan’s soft voice rang out, bringing with it gasps and repressed excitement.

“How long has it been? Hold out a little longer,” said Su Yi, his voice muffled, as if his mouth were otherwise occupied.

“Oh...”

......

Outside the Grotto of Abstruse Force.

The night sky was as dark as ink, with sparse, dimly lit stars.

A graceful figure sat cross-legged in a pine forest. A stream burbled past her to one side.

“Hm?”

Suddenly, that graceful figure quivered as if she’d touched an electrical current. First, a hint of befuddlement appeared on her picturesque, youthful face, and her delicate eyebrows furrowed.

This was none other than Heavenly Prayer! She’d put on a disguise, removing her typical jade crown. She’d changed into a simple, pale blue dress, and her black hair was tied casually back, highlighting her exquisite little face.

But it was then that a hint of shame and anger appeared on her brow, as if she’d realized something. Her beautiful eyes bulged. “Don’t tell me... Su Xuanjun.... And my other half are... are....”

Her Dao Heart quivered, and she felt thoroughly uncomfortable, as if ants were crawling all over her skin.

Suddenly—

Her red lips parted, and a strange trill emanated from her nostrils. She shot to her feet as if she’d been electrocuted, her chest heaving violently.

“Detestable!!!”

Heavenly Prayer had already gotten the gist of what was happening in the Grotto of Abstruse Force, and she couldn’t help but be furious. Her eyes filled with shame and fury, and her snowy, jade-like hands silently clenched.

She was waiting outside the Grotto of Abstruse Force, silently sensing her other half’s whereabouts. Her goal was to make her other half come to her of her own volition.

Even if you’d hit her over the head, she could never have guessed that she’d sense something so... humiliating!

This....

She felt as if her mind were going blank.

After all, even if her cultivation had been far loftier, she’d never so much as had skin-to-skin contact with a man, let alone done something like this!

But now, the sensation of “close-quarters collisions” she received from her other half left her completely dumbstruck.

How could.... Su Xuanjun do this!?

“Little Heavenly Prayer, what’s wrong?” Nine Planets’ confused voice emanated from within the bronze kettle.

“N-nothing!” Heavenly Prayer jumped, then forced herself to calm down.

If Uncle Nine Planets learns something this shameful, it’d be a disaster! It would ruin my life!

“No, something’s wrong. How about I....” Nine Planets was just about to say something when...

Bang!

Heavenly Prayer pressed her palm against the kettle, sealing it and Nine Planets’ senses completely.

Having completed this, she inwardly sighed in relief.

But before long, her delicate frame stiffened. Waves of electric impulses coursed through her, stimulating her to the point that her entire body trembled. Her snowy skin was soon slick with a thin layer of sweat.

She could no longer stop herself from gasping, but she was so furious that her eyes practically spat fire, and she gnashed her teeth so hard they almost broke.

Whoosh!

A moment later, she leaped into the stream flowing alongside the pine trees, hoping that their cool waters would help clear her head.

But gradually, and to her immense dismay, she discovered that those blasted, embarrassing sensations were still assailing her in waves, much like the waters of the stream.

Even sealing off her six senses didn’t fix it!

“Su Xuanjun! I don’t care if you’re the Temple Master. Sooner or later, I’ll kill you!!!”

She bitterly endured for ten minutes. By the end of it, her entire body felt limb, and her legs quivered. She was so furious that she wanted nothing more than to kill her way into the Grotto of Abstruse Force and settle the score with Su Xuanjun here and now.

Twenty more minutes passed.

“You’re still not done?!? Damn you!!!” Heavenly Prayer was so furious that she was on the verge of losing her rationality completely.

Enough time to burn a stick of incense later.

“He’s definitely humiliating me on purpose. I’m sure of it!”

Heavenly Prayer sat in the fetal position at the bottom of the stream, her scalding hot, delicate frame twisting with unease. She felt as if she were on the verge of collapse.

An unknown amount of time passed before she suddenly opened her eyes wide. Her feet arched, her toes clenched, and her entire body flailed about and quivered like a fish on dry land, desperate for water.

Shortly after, everything finally returned to its former stillness.

Heavenly Prayer’s eyes were dazed, her expression shifting and uncertain, as if she’d lost her soul.

As she gradually came to her senses, she slapped the bottom of the stream in fury.

Boom!

The stream exploded, evaporating into mist and scattering.

By the time she emerged, she was starting to calm down.

However, her beautiful face was terrifyingly icy.

The first light of morning cut through the darkness, illuminating the world.

Its faint light poured onto the forest, bathing Heavenly Prayer in its radiance.

She looked at the sky. Only then did she realize... an entire night had gone by.....

“Uncle Nine Planets, I want to kill Su Xuanjun!” Heavenly Prayer took out and unsealed the bronze kettle, her expression calm as she enunciated each and every word. “Don’t even try to dissuade me! All I want to know is whether or not you’re willing to help me.”

The kettle’s interior sank into silence.

Finally, the sound of Nine Planets clearing his throat echoed from within. “Little Heavenly Prayer, might you give me a reason first?”

Heavenly Prayer’s delicate frame stiffened, and her face alternated white and green as she gnashed her teeth. “There is no reason!”

“????”

After a while, he laughed bitterly. “Lass, if you want me dead, just go ahead and kill me yourself!”

Heavenly Prayer froze, stunned, then slapped the bronze kettle. “And to think I saw you as my dearest, most dependable senior all these years. How... How could you be so spineless?”

But it was then that a calm voice rang out. “It’s not that he’s spineless, but that if he agrees, he’s sure to die.”