Chapter 1313 - Try It and Die

The boundless darkness of the night was desolate and empty.

A thousand feet beneath the surface, a figure fled with all his might. It was a ferret-faced man with an iron crown and black robes, and he shuttled underground, quick as lightning.

Given the circumstances, ordinary cultivators had no hope of sensing his presence. Yet the man in black was obviously startled. His face was full of alarm.

The reports were erroneous. Even with Transcendent spirit treasures, we’re helpless against the Temple Master’s reincarnation. When I get back, I have to inform Venerate Hidden Darkness as soon as... hm?

He’d only just thought this when his expression shifted and he abruptly stopped in place.

Boom!

A streak of sword qi bore through the layers of earth and descended with a bang.

As its terrifying radiance burst forth, the man in black didn’t even have time to think. He immediately changed course and scampered off.

He broke out in cold sweats, and his heart and body quivered.

If he hadn’t stopped right in the nick of time just now, that sword qi would have struck him!

He actually sensed my presence? How did he manage that?

The man in black had only just thought this when...

Boom!

Another streak of sword qi pierced the ground, descending upon him like heavenly lightning.

The man in black cried out in alarm and changed course once more.

In the time that followed, no matter how he attempted to flee, sword qi always blocked his path, leaving him no choice but to scamper away and hide.

But in the end, he couldn’t keep going like this. Eventually, a swath of sword qi shattered the surrounding ten thousand feet of earth and slammed into him.

Splurt!

Blood poured from his lips as a bloody gash tore open on his chest.

He looked up and saw that the earth had caved in around him, forming a massive chasm. A tall, upright figure hovered above the chasm, his distant gaze staring down at him.

“Why aren’t you running anymore?” Su Yi said inquisitively.

The man in black took a deep breath. “Just now, why didn’t you cut me down?”

After calming down, he realized that had his opponent really tried to kill him as he fled, he would have died a long time ago!

Su Yi said directly, “There’s a few things I’d like to know.”

The man in black shook his head. “I know what you want to ask, but I can tell you directly that we’re just acting on orders. We don’t have the answers you’re after.”

He paused, his gaze suddenly complicated. “It’ll be useless even if you search my soul. Before we left, a seal was placed in each of our souls. The moment they’re searched, we’ll self-destruct.”

Su Yi’s eyebrows rose. “Then what’s the point of sparing you?”

With that, he raised the Sword of the Human Realm.

“Wait!” The man in black paled and said hurriedly, “Don’t you want to know whose orders we’re acting on?”

“If you tell me, I can spare you,” said Su Yi.

“All of us call her Venerate Hidden Darkness. She directs all of our operations from the shadows,” the man in black said hurriedly. “And she’s currently in All Willow City!”

“How do I find her?” asked Su Yi.

All Willow City was enormous, as large as some small nations. It was home to an endless sea of people; searching without any concrete leads would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.

The man in black took out a black jade talisman and passed it to Su Yi from afar. “You can sense Venerate Hidden Darkness’s presence with this.”

Su Yi glanced down at it. It was carved with intricate demonic glyphs, and it was wondrous and strange. A contorted, blood-colored portal was carved on its back.

“When I see this Venerate Hidden Darkness, I’ll naturally let you go.” As Su Yi put away the black talisman, he stretched out his hand and grabbed the ferret-faced man in black.

“I just hope... you’ll keep your word, Your Excellency!” sighed the man in black.

......

All Willow City.

It was late at night, and the lamps had dimmed.

Within a manor, there stood an ancient tree so large, it would have taken several grown men working together to fully wrap their arms around it.

An adorable teenage girl sat beneath the tree. She wore a pomegranate skirt, and her hair flowed like a waterfall. She sat daintily in a wooden chair, peeling a pomegranate. There was a little bowl in front of her, which was full of gem-like pomegranate seeds.

Someone knocked at the gate.

Without even raising her head, the young woman said, “Come in.”

Her voice was as soft as water.

The gates opened, and Su Yi walked inside. When he saw the young woman, his eyebrows rose.

A revenant!

“You must be the Temple Master, the one who’s mastered the mysteries of reincarnation. I’ve been waiting,” said the young woman. This time, she raised her head and smiled.

“You anticipated my arrival?” said Su Yi as he walked toward her.

The courtyard was quite large, with a bridge over a flowing stream and numerous pavilions and gazebos. The young woman sat beneath that ancient tree, relaxed, at ease, and quite agreeable-looking.

“No, I thought you’d die, and that there’d be no need for me to intervene any further. But I was also worried that you wouldn’t die, so I had no choice but to wait here for you,” the young woman said crisply. “It seems the group I sent to get rid of you, despite being top experts of the modern era, weren’t enough to do the job.”

Here, she raised her bowl of pomegranate seeds. “Want some?”

Su Yi completely ignored this offer. “Are you ‘Venerate Hidden Darkness?’”

The young woman subtly inclined her head. “Yes, but I'm just one of many.”

Reading between the lines, “Venerate Hidden Darkness” was a title she shared with numerous others!

“What faction are you from?” asked Su Yi.

The young woman burst into sputtering laughter. “Why do you sound like you’re interrogating a convict? It’s truly uncomfortable.”

Su Yi said plainly, “Enough smiling and laughter. Be good and cooperate, and I’ll let you live. Refuse, and die.”

The young woman in the pomegranate skirt raised her bowl and poured the seeds into her mouth. Her cheeks bulged as she chewed, and when she spoke, her words were indistinct. “Fine. If you can leave this courtyard, I wouldn’t mind telling you some of what you want to know.”

“You think you’re enough to keep me here?”

The young woman giggled. “I’m a revenant. I naturally fear nothing more than the power of reincarnation. Thus, if there's any other option, I naturally won’t attack alone."

With that, she snapped her fingers, and figures appeared on all sides, surrounding the courtyard.

They included both men and women. Shockingly, all of them were revenants!

And all four of them carried a black flag swathed in dark light and rising immortal qi.

“A grand formation?” Su Yi’s brow furrowed.

“This is no ordinary grand formation,” explained the young woman in the pomegranate skirt. “It’s called the Mountains and Seas World-Burying Formation. It’s comprised of forty-nine Transcendent-level killing formations. A long time ago, this was the defensive formation of a top orthodoxy of seekers of immortality. It was strong enough to kill even Dao Integration Transcendents.

“Alas, the modern era is far inferior to bygone days. I put everything I had into placing this formation, but its power is still only half of what it would have been then.”

Here, her beautiful eyes flashed as she smiled at Su Yi. “Even so, it ought to be enough to keep you here, Fellow Daoist.”

“I’ll just have to try and see,” said Su Yi. He suddenly attacked.

Whoosh!

A streak of sword qi exploded into being, effortlessly cutting down the young woman in the pomegranate skirt.

However, Su Yi’s brow furrowed.

The young woman had actually transformed into a withered yellow paper talisman, which caught ablaze.

“She” was actually a substitution talisman, and an incredibly sophisticated one at that. It had actually fooled Su Yi’s keen senses!

When Su Yi realized this, his gaze turned strange. A nigh-imperceptible hint of a smile tugged at his lips.

“Go ahead, keep trying." A young woman in a pomegranate skirt appeared on the eaves of a distant building, seemingly out of nowhere.

She smiled radiantly, then waved her hand through the air. “Begin!”

Boom——!

Dazzling talisman markings and the power of the formation enveloped the entire courtyard.

Misty immortal light rose, and the sound of the Dao rumbled and boomed. This formation was far beyond the World King level. This was a true Transcendent killer weapon, capable of killing even experts of the Path of Transcendence!

When it was activated, countless stars fell to earth, an endless sea enveloped everything on all sides, and primordial divine mountains rose from the earth!

Although these were mere manifestations of the formation’s power, they emanated immense murderous intent. As vast as the courtyard was, it now seemed like a terrifying hidden realm full of peril.

Four revenants stood around the courtyard’s four walls, activating bronze formation flags to help the Mountains and Seas World-Burying Formation activate to its maximum strength.

The young woman resting upon the eaves smiled as she watched this play out. However, her beautiful eyes were rife with cold mockery.

Who in the modern era could possibly understand the power of the Path of Transcendence?

So what if Su Yi controlled the power of reincarnation? There was no need to act personally. A little external power was enough to suppress him with ease!

“Watch out. Make sure you don’t really kill him,” she ordered with cold indifference.

No sign of her former adorable, delicate bearing remained. She now seemed utterly cold, proud, and aloof, like a sovereign gazing down at the human world.

“Got it!” The other revenants solemnly assented.

But before long, the Su Yi trapped within the formation exploded into countless fragments and dissipated.

The crowd was stunned.

What’s going on?

None of us struck to kill yet!

“No, something's not right,” said the girl in a pomegranate skirt perched on the eaves. Her expression shifted. “It seems he used a substitution talisman too!”

It was then that—

Boom!

Outside the courtyard, a streak of sword qi soared into the firmament, manifesting the illusory Six Paths of Reincarnation. A dark curtain of night blanketed the sky.

The four revenants circulating the grand formation felt their hair stand on end as they sensed a lethal threat.

“It’s the power of reincarnation——!” someone bellowed.

Boom!

Sword qi descended.

It was as if the Six Paths of Reincarnation had descended from the heavens to bear down upon them.

The four revenants were astonished, and they immediately circulated the formation in an attempt to defend themselves.

But they were obviously one step too late.

Sword qi descended, and the power of reincarnation swept forth like a tidal wave or avalanche, enveloping all four of them completely.

“Ah——!”

“No!!”

Desperate, agonized shrieks filled the air. Their voices were full of terror, panic, and despair.

The revenants melted, like ice beneath a raging flame. None of them could hold out. One after another, the power of annihilation annihilated them completely.

Not even ash remained!

It was just as Daoist Master Red Cloud said. Those who controlled the cycle of reincarnation were like sovereigns presiding over revenants’ life and death. They could free them from their curse, letting them live again... but they could also end them forever!

Without the four revenants controlling it, the Mountains and Seas World-Burying Formation went dormant.

Over on the eaves, the young woman’s face was ashen. She was so angry that her eyes practically spat fire.

We fell for it!

All that work to set up this grand formation, and all we caught was a treasure substitute.

His real body seized the opportunity to flee!

“Just now, they tried themselves against me. Now, all of them are dead. Well? Want to continue?”

The blue-robed Su Yi approached from beneath the curtain of night, smiling at the girl in a pomegranate skirt still perched on the eaves.