Chapter 1968: Deicide

Before Jiang Tai’e’s voice had even finished echoing through the air, his entire body rapidly withered and dimmed, like a flame burning out.

As his body fell apart in chunks, he looked at Su Yi. It seemed he wanted to say something, but in the end, he just broke into a self-deprecating grin and sighed.

Moments later, he vanished in a puff of smoke. All that remained was a radiant bundle of silver light hovering in midair.

This was Jiang Tai’e’s Godhead. The power of reincarnation in Su Yi’s sword qi had heartlessly ripped it away from him!

Su Yi approached and took the Godhead in hand.

“This is the Godhead condensed from a third-level Epoch Fragment, huh… It’s a pity. An Epoch Law like this didn’t suit someone with your aptitude and foundations. It wasn’t worthy of you,” whispered Su Yi.

He and Jiang Tai’e were enemies, but he couldn’t deny that Jiang Tai’e was an extraordinary expert, a true elite. He’d founded the Church of Supreme Oneness, and single-handedly fought his way to the pinnacle of the Immortal Dao, dazzling his contemporaries!

Admittedly, his background was far from comparable to the divine children, but his abilities and spirit were both far beyond them.

Su Yi couldn’t help but be rueful, but that was the extent of it. He took out a jug of wine, threw back his head, and drank. Then, he poured the remaining wine into the air.

With that, he let out a deep sigh. He felt an unprecedented sense of relaxation.

He’d finally fought a true Lesser God. In the end, he had successfully defeated a god, newly ascended though he was, with his Great Unity Stage cultivation base!

Even though the battle left him riddled with wounds, and even though he’d exhausted his energy, Su Yi felt incomparably delighted and gratified. He’d overcome the goal he’d been fixated on for a long time now.

Now I’ve done as Li Fuyou once did, slaying a god while still in the Immortal Dao! The difference is that I did it in the Great Unity Stage, while Li Fuyou did it in the Great Profound Stage. That proves that my Great Realm cultivation in this lifetime is superior to his.

He’d long since ceased to have opponents within the same level of cultivation. He could only compare himself to his past lives, so he’d always been in competition with himself.

This was called “striving to outdo oneself.”

Now, he’d finally realized his goal of slaying a god in the Great Unity Stage. This was extremely satisfying to Su Yi’s competitive spirit, and he felt that all his hard work and sacrifice had been worth it.

Moreover, he didn’t once use the Sword of Proximity, an Epoch Treasure, in battle. He wasn’t sure whether Li Fuyou had used an Epoch Treasure when he killed a god in the Great Profound Stage.

The distinction was crucial.

Su Yi could disregard just about everything, but he’d always been incomparably stringent with his cultivation, fussing over even the smallest of details.

Li Fuyou said that I’d be able to fuse with his Dao Imprint upon reaching the Great Profound Stage. It’s already at my fingertips.

After the curtains fell on his duel with Jiang Tai’e, Su Yi clearly sensed that he’d be able to break through whenever he pleased as soon as he’d recovered!

Suddenly, he heard someone whooshing over from afar.

“Quick, the disturbance was this way! It sounded like some unparalleled grand battle, in which case, they were surely fighting over an Epoch Fragment!” ꞦＡΝòꞖËş

“Come on, let’s see what happened!”

A group of experts flew over from afar, their auras terrifying to behold.

But when they saw the solitary figure standing in the distance, all of them froze, and their expressions shifted dramatically.

Su Yi!!

Chills coursed down their spines, and they turned and fled without the slightest hesitation.

They arrived quickly, but fled even faster!

Su Yi disregarded this, turned, and left. He planned to find a place to tend to his wounds and recover as soon as possible.

……

“Did you see that? Su Yi was injured, and badly at that!”

“It’s true. His clothes were tattered and completely stained with blood. Every inch of his body was covered in wounds. What on earth happened to put him in such a wretched state?”

“Didn’t you see the glowing silver Epoch Fragment in his hand?”

The group who’d fled from Su Yi earlier had calmed down, and now that they replayed what they’d seen, they sensed that something was off. Su Yi was badly injured!

“How about we attack him while he’s vulnerable?” someone said eagerly.

“Even if his wounds were far worse, Su Yi could kill us all if he pushed himself!” someone else immediately refuted the idea.

“Seems to me we’d best spread the word. Now that he’s fallen down a well, I’m sure there’ll be plenty of people eager to drop stones on him,” someone else suggested.

“That’s right. Let’s do it that way. Borrowing another’s hands is our best, safest option.” The others nodded.

That very day, word that Su Yi had been badly injured spread throughout the Epoch Battlefield. Most camps received the message.

The information also included the specific location of Su Yi’s battle!

Dark currents flowed beneath the surface.

……

Su Yi found a secluded place in a primeval stretch of mountain and placed a formation to obscure his presence. He sat down, and was just about to tend to his wounds, but he received a message from Xi Ning before he got the chance.

“Fellow Daoist Su, you’re hurt?”

Su Yi was stunned.

Word spread this quickly?

He thought for a moment, then said, “They’re minor wounds. You needn’t worry.”

“You’d best be careful. People are spreading word that you’re badly injured. It’s sure to draw a lot of attention,” replied Xi Ning. “If you need help, I’ll come find you immediately.”

Su Yi laughed and said, “If I put on a show of weakness, I might well lure in a big fish, don’t you think?”

“But what if you encounter a newly ascended god?” asked Xi Ning.

“I just killed one.”

“You… killed a god!?”

“Hm. I’ll explain in detail next time we meet,” said Su Yi. With that, he put the communication talisman away and started meditating.

𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Epoch Battlefield, Xi Ning froze, unwittingly stunned.

Deicide! Fellow Daoist Su actually killed a god in the Great Unity Stage!!

“What is it, A’Ning?” Luo Tiandu couldn’t help but ask. He was steering their immortal vessel as they rushed eastward.

Xi Ning took a moment to steady herself, then said, “It’s better if I don’t tell you.”

“Why?”

“It’d be too great a shock.”

Luo Tiandu couldn’t help but laugh. “In this world, only you can shake me. No other person or situation can make me so much as furrow my brow.”

“Just now, Fellow Daoist Su killed a newly ascended god,” said Xi Ning.

“Oh,” said Luo Tiandu. A moment later, he suddenly realized what she’d just said, and he frowned so tightly that his forehead looked like a freshly-plowed field. “He killed a god!?”

Xi Ning couldn’t help but find this amusing.

Didn’t you only just say that you wouldn’t so much as furrow your brow?

……

The Epoch Battlefield had neither day nor night. There were almost no signs of the passage of time.

Su Yi was focused on tending to his wounds when his heart suddenly palpitated.

Boom!!

All-encompassing destructive power shattered the formation covering the area, and searing firelight descended upon Su Yi.

Someone was attacking him from the shadows! And it seemed they’d been preparing for quite some time.

As soon as Su Yi realized what was happening, he vanished into thin air. The descending, terrifying strike slammed into the foot of the mountain, scattering stones. Divine light ran rampant.

“He didn’t die!?” A startled voice rang out.

A group of experts stood there. Their leader was a thin man in black with a tall crown on his head.

Four divine emissaries were clustered around him. There was no doubt about it: This was a divine son!

When the divine son in black saw Su Yi rise out of the current of destructive power, he frowned. He was instantly on guard.

But there was an enormous distance between them and Su Yi, so he and his divine emissaries weren’t particularly concerned.

“Su Yi, I heard that you’re badly injured. Is that true?” the man in black said heartily.

“Try me and you’ll find out, won’t you?” Su Yi said flatly.

“Well, you see, that's the thing. We attacked earlier just to see if the news was true and if you were really on the verge of death. Now, it seems that we received bad information. Farewell!”

The man in black smiled, waved, and led his companions away. He had no intention of lingering, nor did he want to give Su Yi any opportunity to attack.

Su Yi just stood there. He didn’t stop them.

A moment later, he smiled and proceeded east.

But before long, the divine son in black and his divine emissaries reappeared in the distance!

“Why did you come back?” Su Yi smiled faintly.

The man in black laughed. “I heard that you have extraordinary courage, and that you aren’t afraid of anything, but even after we provoked you, you didn’t get angry. On the contrary, you were too afraid to even give chase. I suspect… that you’re bluffing!”

“If I chased you, I’m afraid I’d have to host your funerals,” laughed Su Yi.

“...” The man in black said nothing.

“If you’re too afraid to fight, scram. Stop all this boring probing.” Su Yi shook his head, not the least bit polite.

The divine son’s expression shifted erratically. In the end, he laughed. “I’ll put it like this. If you’re bluffing, you won’t escape disaster! And we… absolutely won’t give you the opportunity to recover!”

With that, he waved and led his people away.

“What a bunch of cravens. They thought they could take advantage of my vulnerability to loot a burning house? I really don’t know whether to praise their courage or criticize their recklessness,” whispered Su Yi.

He continued on his way, but just an hour later, the man in black returned!

But this time, experts from two other camps came with him. Both were led by divine children, a man and a woman.

The man was cold and stern, with hawk-like eyes and long yellow robes.

The woman was a beauty in rainbow raiment. Her clothing billowed around her, and she had a fiery red Dao Sword on her back.

Both were accompanied by numerous divine emissaries, like stars clustered around the moon.

When he saw Su Yi in the distance, the man in black smiled. “Su Yi, we meet again!”

Su Yi swept his gaze across the three camps. He couldn’t help but be disappointed. “You brought so many people, but not one of you has become a god yet?”

“....”