Chapter 1548 - Secret Tidings

The atmosphere in the Northern Frost Sword Sect’s meeting hall was stifled and tense.

Word of everything that had happened in the Sky Tripod Ritual Grounds had reached the sect, causing an enormous disturbance.

Their leader, Fu Yanzhen, immediately called the sect higher-ups over to discuss their response.

But in the face of the threat of an Immortal Lady, the higher-ups’ hearts were ill at ease, as if they were sitting on a bed of needles. They couldn’t come up with any decent countermeasures.

Fu Yanzhen’s brow furrowed, and his expression was overcast.

It was only after a lengthy discussion that someone said, “Sect Leader, all of the evidence suggests that that young man, Su Yi, is most likely the ascendant the Church of the Pure One is looking for!”

The crowd was instantly solemn.

Fu Yanzhen’s eyes flashed. “Why do you say that?”

The speaker said gravely, “First, there’s a problem with his origins. I’ve never once heard tell of such a heaven-defying figure appearing in the Jing Province.

“Secondly, the esteemed emissary of the Church of the Pure One said that the ascendant has yet to step into the Immortal Realm, but that he has extraordinarily heaven-defying strength; they suspect he’s capable of contending with immortals. Su Yi forced High Elder Zhan Changhu back twice!”

“Lastly, and most importantly, an enormous disaster took place in White Deer Mountain’s Ascension Grounds. Several Void Realm True Immortals and numerous Universe Realm Immortals died brutally! According to the Church of the Pure One, it was that ascendant who caused the disaster.

“And today, at the Sky Tripod Ritual Grounds, a group of our immortal elders died on account of Su Yi!”

Waves of emotion rocked the crowd’s hearts. They couldn’t stay calm.

Is that Su Yi really the ascendant the Church of the Pure One is looking for!?

This discovery left the crowd astonished, but after giving it serious thought, they realized that many of the details lined up!

“Sect Leader, if we report this to the Church of the Pure One, we won’t just be able to get revenge. We’ll have earned great merit, too!” someone couldn’t help but say.

Many of the higher-ups were tempted.

But Fu Yanzhen said decisively, “Doing so will only invite our demise! Even that mysterious Immortal Lady called Su Yi ‘His Excellency.’ She gazed upon him as if he were a god. How could we possibly offend someone like him?”

He took a deep breath and said gravely, “Everyone of her cultivation has unpredictable power and connections behind them. Someone like her could flatten our entire sect with a snap of her fingers!”

The crowd’s hearts shook, and their expressions shifted erratically.

But it was then that a sweet voice suddenly echoed from beyond the grand hall.

“You're a smart man.”

The crowd was instantly stunned.

Who is it!?

When they looked over, they saw nothing, and sensed nothing. Nonetheless, that sweet voice rang out once more. “Consider yourselves lucky. Had you chosen differently, your Northern Frost Sword Sect would have been flattened before the day was through. You'd do well to watch yourselves.”

As this sweet-sounding voice echoed throughout the hall, Fu Yanzhan and the others broke out in cold sweats. They didn’t even need to think to know that the owner of that voice was that mysterious Immortal Lady!!

In other words, had they decided to report to the Church of the Pure One, she almost certainly would have killed them before they even knew what hit them.

She then would have gone on to level the entire sect!

Fu Yanzhan rose, faced the doorway, and bowed solemnly. “Senior, please rest assured. I, Fu Yanzhen, swear on my Dao Heart that no one in the Northern Frost Immortal Sect would dare bring about our destruction in such a way!”

A long time passed with no response. That mysterious Immortal Lady had obviously already left.

Fu Yanzhen and the others couldn’t help but celebrate that they’d narrowly escaped disaster. Who could have imagined that just now, they’d come perilously close to annihilation?

......

The House of Little Joys.

A grand hall.

“A’Li, how do you feel?” Su Yi asked with a laugh.

A’Li was still struggling to believe it all. “Big Brother Su, are you saying I should take that Immortal Lady as my master?”

Su Yi shook his head. “She’ll just be responsible for looking after you and guiding your cultivation. As for taking on a master... There’s really no need for that.”

Qing Wei had already returned, and she stood to the side. When she heard this, she said hurriedly, “Your Excellency, you’re absolutely correct. Given this junior’s cultivation and aptitude, I’m far from sufficient to serve as...uh....”

𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Qing Wei hesitated. A’Li was only in her teens, but she called Su Yi her “Big Brother.” This left Qing Wei uncertain of how to address her.

Su Yi took a sip of wine. “She’s a junior to you, so you can call her directly by name.”

“Got it!” Qing Wei nodded, then smiled gently at A’Li. “A’Li, going forward, you can just call me Big Sister.”

In the world of cultivation, seniority had always been complicated. Cultivators only really got hung up about exact hierarchies in strictly formal settings.

Big Sister?

A’Li was stunned.

She was a young woman from Cloud Stream Village, for all intents and purposes an ordinary mortal, yet now, she was supposed to call an Immortal Lady “Big Sister?”

A’Ning had an extremely complicated look on her face, and she seemed incomparably reserved.

“What about you, A’Ning?” asked Su Yi.

A’Ning was instantly flustered. She subconsciously asked, “Can I... can I really... cultivate with this senior too?”

Qing Wei batted her charming eyes and smiled. “Senior? What senior? Just just call me Big Sister now, will you?”

A’Ning’s heart shook as she suddenly realized that her destiny had undergone a complete and utter transformation overnight.

And all of this was thanks to just one person!

A’Ning silently glanced at the young man in blue sprawled out in a wheelchair, her face full of gratitude.

But how could Su Yi be concerned with that?

Qing Wei personally arranged residences for the sisters and ordered a servant girl to prepare refreshments and delicacies for them. No one would have accused her of being anything less than meticulous.

Only then did Qing Wei bid farewell and leave.

As soon as there was no one else around, A’Ning couldn’t help but ask, “A’Li, tell me... just what kind of person is Su Yi?”

“How should I know?” A’Li shook her head.

A moment later, she said solemnly, “Big Sister, I’m going to cultivate with everything I’ve got! I’ve got to make my name shake the Immortal Realm, and I’ll spend the rest of my life repaying Big Brother Su’s benevolence!”

Her clear phoenix eyes were full of staunch determination.

A’Ning was stunned. Her little sister suddenly seemed like a completely different person.

......

“Sovereign, I can say with certainty that after what happened today, the Church of the Pure One and several other immortal factions will be able to deduce your identity.” Qing We held an exquisitely crafted jug of wine, and she leaned over to fill Su Yi’s cup.

“At most, they’ll learn my name.” Su Yi shook his head and drained his cup.

Throughout this process, he openly admired Qing Wei’s impressive figure. Inwardly, he couldn’t help but feel a bit strange.

Men spoke of the joys of reading accompanied by a beauty. Wasn’t having a beauty pour your wine similarly joyous?

No matter where he looked, the “scenery” was endlessly wonderful.

Qing Wei leaned forward and refilled Su Yi’s cup. She chuckled. “True enough, Sovereign. Given your methods, you have no need to fear such things.”

She paused, then added, “If they’ve really got the guts, they’re welcome to come to our House of Little Joys. This junior would actually just love to see which factions dare treat you with disrespect!”

The Church of the Pure One was a top powerhouse even by the standards of the Immortal Realm as a whole! Those comparable could be counted on one’s fingers.

But the House of Little Joys was no pushover either!

Su Yi subtly inclined his head. “It would be best if you could investigate which factions of the Immortal Realm have set their sights on me.”

Qing Wei said solemnly, “I’ll be this junior’s top priority. I’ll be sure to get answers as quickly as possible.”

The two chatted idly for a while longer. Qing Wei oversaw the twelve branches of the House of Little Joys in the Jing Province, so unlike Qi Fufeng, she knew a lot about the present-day Immortal Realm’s situation.

Simply put, over the course of the long years following the Age of Fallen Immortals, the Immortal Realm had changed completely, and the changes were picking up speed.

The reason for this was simple. The Laws of the Immortal Realm were rapidly recovering!

Powerful immortal factions were sprouting up like bamboo shoots after spring rains. Orthodoxies that had survived the Age of Fallen Immortals were re-appearing, one after another!

The balance of power had been thrown into chaos. It was a tumultuous age!

To cultivators of the present day, it was like a golden age, fortune following a disaster. Ruins teemed with new life, and endless new factions appeared.

But it was also an age of chaos and bloodshed. Elites fought for supremacy, and the smoke and fire of battle arose throughout the lands. Everything was in disarray.

That aside, after countless years of dormancy, outside the Immortal Realm’s Nine Gates of Heaven, the demons of the Beyond were champing at the bit. Many thought it likely that before long, another War of Immortals and Demons would break out!

The War of Immortals and Demons wasn’t a clash between orthodoxies, but a war between the Immortal Realm and the demons of the Beyond.

The Nine Gates of Heaven were the Immortal Realm’s nine lines of defense against the demons. Were all nine gates to fall, the demons would be able to invade unimpeded.

Prior to the Age of Fallen Immortals, numerous Wars of Immortals and Demons had broken out.

During the worst of these wars, all Nine Gates of Heaven fell to the demon forces, causing unprecedented bloodshed throughout the Immortal Realm. The demons of the Beyond came perilously close to taking over the entire Immortal Realm!

"I wouldn’t have thought that after all this time, those demon scum would act up again....” Su Yi rubbed his forehead.

Wang Ye had spent his youth in the Sixth Gate of Heaven, fighting on the battlefield and killing countless enemies.

During the years of cultivation that followed, he frequently visited the other Gates of Heaven, leading his forces into battle against the demons of the Beyond, forcing them back at every turn and leaving countless corpses in his wake!

After reaching the peak of the Immortal Dao, he personally slew numerous Sovereigns of the demons of the Beyond!

With Wang Ye there to oversee the Immortal Realm, the lands beyond the Nine Gates of Heaven were unusually peaceful; the demons of the Beyond dared not come out of hiding!

“The demons still haven’t taken any reckless action. There have just been a few signs. There’s been no danger to speak of yet,” Qing Wei said softly. “The most concerning part is that now that the curtains have fully fallen on the Age of Fallen Immortals, numerous unpredictable changes have affected the world. Of them, the biggest variable is that the will of the gods has permeated the Immortal Realm!

“Not long ago, this junior went to great lengths to acquire secret tidings. They say that in the days to come, the gods of legend will be able to open a tunnel to the Immortal Realm and descend directly into our world!”

Su Yi’s gaze focused.

Could the gods really one day enter the Immortal Realm?