Chapter 1653 - A Bold, Bloody Cleanse

One of the city’s many brothels.

“Manager, doesn’t this mean we can’t stay in the City of Ten Thousand Stars any longer?” a charming beauty in purple said with dread.

“What are you panicking about? The skies haven’t fallen,” said a middle-aged, mustached man in brocade robes. “We’ve been in business here for a long, long time, but no one has ever realized who we are.”

He paused, then said, “Su Yi has only just arrived. He might seem fierce, but unless he plans to kill everyone in the city, there's no way he can find us! Miaomiao, go inform the others. Sit tight in the hidden chamber, and they aren’t to leave until I give the order.”

“Yes, sir!” The woman in the purple skirt nodded.

But it was then that a calm voice rang out. “Just as I expected. There really are Formless Demon spies hidden in the city.”

“Who!?” The middle-aged man in brocade robes jumped.

That calm voice rang out once more. “Is there a Soul-Shattering Demon Seal in your soul?”

The middle-aged man in brocade broke out in cold sweats. “Who are you? Have you perhaps mistaken me for someone else?”

Splurt!

A streak of the power of the Immortal Dao condensed into a sword in midair and ran the middle-aged man through, piercing his soul.

Before it could unleash its power, a strange, cursed power burst within the middle-aged man’s soul, instantly shattering it!

Naturally, the man died on the spot.

A sigh rang out. “Just as I thought. Every spy the demons inserted into the Seventh Gate of Heaven has a curse in their soul.”

The woman in purple shrieked and turned to flee, only for a sword to cut her down in a flash.

As Su Yi found out, this brothel was one of the demons’ bases in the City of Ten Thousand Stars!

The middle-aged man in brocade was the only true demon spy among them. The others, his subordinates, were all traitors to the Immortal Realm!

Su Yi didn’t show mercy. Dazzling lightning poured down to earth, destroying the brothel down to the last tile.

......

“Your Excellency, everyone in the city knows that we’re backed by one of the garrison master’s generals, Mu Yun. Even if Su Yi wants to get even, we... should be fine, right?”

Within the Smooth Sailing Casino, the atmosphere was stifled and tense.

“What are you afraid of? It’s not like we did anything to offend that Su guy. Surely he can’t kill us all?”

Boom!

Lightning manifested from the Laws, instantly reducing the casino to a pile of rubble.

Every expert inside was burnt to ash.

......

Similar scenes played out continuously throughout the City of Ten Thousand Stars.

Su Yi was like a deity meting out divine punishment as he cleansed the city with aplomb.

It was only after examining the city in full detail that Su Yi realized how bad it was. It was far worse than he’d realized.

Demon spies, traitors loyal to the Beyond, appallingly evil criminals, and numerous heinous heretical cultivators ran rampant. Beneath the surface, the city was absolutely filthy, a den of depravity!

This was a crucial fortress, the forefront of the Seventh Gate of Heaven’s line of defense, the first barrier the forces of the Beyond had to overcome if they were to invade!

All of this only strengthened Su Yi’s resolve to cleanse the city in blood.

......

“Will we be safe hiding here?”

“Relax. Only the garrison master and a few others know about this underground base. No matter how capable that Su Yi person is, he can’t possibly find us here. Furthermore, this underground base is covered in twelve Immortal King-level formations, with nine escape tunnels leading to different places. Even if he finds us, we’ll be able to escape with no trouble.”

“Good.”

...A group of experts loyal to Garrison Master Shen Qingshi hid in an underground base and conversed amongst themselves.

“Even the garrison master was captured. What... should we do next?”

“Don’t worry. Su Yi killed four Immortal Kings, slaughtered over a thousand experts, and even imprisoned Garrison Master Shen. According to the rules of the Seventh Gate of Heaven, he’s guilty of heinous crimes. There’ll be no place left for him in the Immortal Realm. He’ll be deemed a traitor and put to death!”

“That’s true. All four Immortal Kings had powerful factions behind them. How could their backers possibly let Su Yi off when they discover what happened?”

“All we have to do is lie low for a while. Su Yi won’t die a good death!”

As they conversed, the crowd gnashed their teeth with hatred.

“Hah.” Suddenly, laughter rang out. “You people are dreaming.”

Who is it!?

The group was stunned. Chills coursed down their spines.

A moment later, a dazzling and resplendent cage appeared, suppressing and capturing every last expert hidden in the underground base.

......

𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

One of the city’s taverns.

“The Seventh Gate of Heaven... has changed,” said the innkeeper, a decrepit old man. He sat there and silently took a sip of wine.

“Old-timer, who do you think Su Yi really is?”

The tavern was deserted. The only other person there was a black-robed man with graying temples.

The old man shook his head. “No idea, but I can’t help but find his conduct familiar. It reminds me of a certain someone.”

“Who?”

“The Eternal Night Immortal Sovereign.”

The black-robed man’s hands trembled as he gripped his cup of wine. The liquid rippled, a reflection of the waves coursing through his heart.

After a brief silence, the man in black said, “It would be just wonderful if he really were the Eternal Night Immortal Sovereign...”

The old man's turbid eyes shone with reminiscence and grief. “Indeed. The Immortal Realm has been in disarray ever since the Eternal Night Immortal Sovereign fell during the Battle of Eternal Night. How would he feel if he were here to see the Seventh Gate of Heaven in such a state?”

The man in black drained his cup of wine. “In all my years living in degradation here in the Seventh Gate of Heaven, today has been the most joyful, and the most satisfying!”

He couldn’t help but laugh.

The old man paused, stunned. A moment later, he couldn’t help but laugh too. “That’s right. When I look at Su Yi, I finally see the thread of hope I’ve been waiting for all these years! With someone like him here, there’s no way those demon scum will be able to bully the Immortal Realm any longer!”

With that, he raised and drained his cup.

Although neither of them knew it, Su Yi heard every word of their conversation. He finally felt gratified.

There was no small number of similar experts. Their presence proved that the City of Ten Thousand Stars hadn’t rotted all the way through!

......

Su Yi’s cleansing was still underway.

Meanwhile, Pei Hongjing and Madam Xiangyun had already gotten to work in accordance with Su Yi’s orders. They were scouring the city and gathering the experts Su Yi had suppressed and imprisoned through the power of the Laws.

Both Immortal Kings were stunned. They couldn’t even imagine how Su Yi had pulled this off, but they just figured that it had something to do with the power of the Laws he was unleashing through the Stele of Heaven’s Will.

It was late at night by the time peace returned to the city.

Without any prior discussion, everyone sighed in unison. It was finally over!

Numerous massacres had taken place throughout the city. The power of the Laws descended continuously.

Every time, a group of experts perished!

Everyone in the city was paying attention to these bloody, tyrannical scenes. Everyone’s heart shook with terror that a moment’s incaution would lead to the power of the Laws annihilating them.

It was only after the killing ceased and peace returned to the city that the populace felt reassured. Furthermore, they finally dared to believe that Su Yi really wasn’t massacring the populace indiscriminately. He really did have specific targets!

“At least ten thousand people have died, right? How many of them do you think were demon spies? And how many were traitors from the Immortal Realm?”

“Not sure, but I can say with certainty that after this cleansing in blood, every last malignant tumor and latent threat in the Seventh Gate of Heaven has been ripped up by the roots!”

“Is Su Yi a hero or a villain?”

“People are complicated. How can you divide them into simple categories like ‘good’ and ‘evil?’ Those Immortal Kings ordered Su Yi to his death after he singlehandedly won the match. Why shouldn’t he have killed them? And Garrison Master Shen Qingshi wanted to compromise with the demons. His behavior was detestable. He fully deserved to be locked up!”

“Seems to me that Su Yi might well be the type to kill a man without even blinking, but there’s nothing to criticize about his actions! On the contrary, if not for him, who would have won us this Immortal-Demon Deathmatch?"

“And who would have slain those six Demon Kings?"

“And the spies, traitors, and heretical cultivators infesting the Seventh Gate of Heaven should have been executed a long time ago!”

“His glorious accomplishments here will go down in the annals of history! No one should slander him!”

Similar discussions took place throughout the city.

Everyone had a different way of looking at things. It wasn’t always obvious who was right and wrong. But it was obvious who was working on behalf of the Immortal Realm, and who was working against it; anyone with a working brain would have realized that.

Su Yi’s actions gradually won more and more experts’ approval. He’d invisibly established his prestige in the City of Ten Thousand Stars!

......

The Garrison Master’s Palace.

“Fellow Daoist Su, most of the three hundred and seventeen people you captured alive are connected to Garrison Master Shen Qingshi. The others either have fishy origins, or they’re connected to the other Immortal Kings you executed,” Pei Hongjing said at top speeds.

“I’ll leave interrogating them to you. If I’m not mistaken, their ranks are sure to include traitors colluding with demons,” said Su YI.

Pei Hongjing solemnly agreed.

Just a day ago, he’d given Su Yi a well-intentioned warning and said that they couldn’t clean up the Seventh Gate of Heaven overnight. He’d been afraid that Su Yi would act hastily and bring disaster upon himself.

Looking back on it now, he realized his fears were unfounded.

In just one day, Su Yi had seized control over the wind and rain. He’d flattened the competition in the Immortal-Demon Deathmatch, slain four Immortal Kings, imprisoned Garrison Master Shen Qingshi, destroyed several Demon Kings, and begun a thorough cleanse of the City of Ten Thousand Stars. Just like that, he’d changed the situation of the Seventh Gate of Heaven around!

His methods were downright miraculous. Even Pei Hongjing, the dean of Blue Cliff Academy, couldn’t help but exclaim over them.

After Pei Hongjing left, Su Yi flipped his palm, and a bronze lamp condensed out of the power of the Laws floated into the air.

Thud!

When Su Yi tapped it, Garrison Master Shen Qingshi tumbled to the floor.