Chapter 2088 - Following Like Shadows

Mi Yeyun, Jin Buyi, Feng Wuji...

Practically every divine son had been imprisoned, and they just floated there like slabs of meat. Some looked dejected, while others were aggrieved and angry.

The Greater Gods’ expressions darkened. They couldn’t attack for fear of hurting those they wanted to save.

All of them understood what Su Yi was trying to do: He was using the divine children as hostages to threaten them with!

“Let them go, and we’ll let this end here. We won’t cause any further trouble for you. Refuse, and don’t blame us for our poor manners!” said Ren Beiyou, his expression icy. His voice boomed throughout the entire area.

“Poor manners, huh?” Su Yi laughed, then gestured to Mi Yeyun. “Go right ahead and show me how bad

your

manners are. I promise he’ll die by your hand.”

“You...” Ren Beiyou was so angry that his lungs practically exploded. If looks could kill, Su Yi would have died countless times over by now.

Bo Yun took a step forward and said gravely, “You didn’t kill the divine children for a reason. I’m sure you’d prefer to avoid mutual destruction, too. In that case, why not tell us your terms? Whatever they are, so long as they’re within our power to grant, it’s up for discussion.”

The others nodded along. Right now, nothing mattered more than saving the divine children’s lives. They couldn’t afford to provoke Su Yi.

“My conditions are simple,” said Su Yi. “Once I’ve crossed the Deification Star Sea, I’ll let the hostages go. You’d best behave yourselves until then.”

“We can’t agree to that!” Ren Beiyou said firmly. “You have to let the hostages go first. We won’t agree to your conditions otherwise.”

“Then we have nothing to talk about,” said Su Yi, not the least bit concerned. “I never placed my hopes of escape on them. If you can bear to watch them die, you’re welcome to attack. Go right ahead.”

With that, he turned and walked into the distance. Wherever he went, the hovering shield of divine children followed, sticking to him like his shadow.

The gods were so angry that steam practically billowed from the seven apertures of their faces. Who could have failed to realize that if they attacked Su Yi, it was the divine children who’d suffer first?

“Stop right there!” roared Wen Xiao. “Push us to the limit, and there’s nothing we won’t do!”

Feng Wuji was instantly frantic. He bellowed, “Martial Uncle Wen Xiao, is that any way to negotiate? Let me tell you: if anything happens to me, my ancestor won’t let you off lightly!”

Wen Xiao’s face was instantly as ashen as could be. He couldn’t have felt any more suffocated. If he was honest with himself... he really didn’t dare to let anything happen to Feng Wuji. If he did, the Rahu Yao Ancestor really wouldn’t let him off!

The other divine children were instantly tense too. Who

didn’t

care about their own life and death?

“Martial Uncle Ren, it seems to me that Su Yi’s conditions aren’t at all unreasonable. Please reconsider!” Mi Yeyun couldn’t help but argue.

“Idiot!” Ren Beiyou roared. “If we make concessions now, he’ll take an inch and then demand a mile! What if he doesn’t let you go? What if he just keeps making more and more outrageous demands? What will we do then?”

“That’s right. If we let him restrict us once, we’ll be restricted at every turn, and that heretic might well make even more outrageous demands whenever it pleases him!”

The other gods spoke up too, all of them with domineering attitudes.

Su Yi just laughed dryly. He couldn’t be bothered to argue. He just kept walking ahead.

Wen Xiao blocked the road ahead, and when he saw Su Yi approach, murderous intent billowed around him. He was ready and raring to attack.

Feng Wuji cried out, “Martial Uncle Wen Xiao, my life is in your hands. Step aside! Hurry!”

Wen Xiao’s expression filled with uncertainty.

Su Yi raised his hand and slashed the air.

Boom!

Sharp sword qi sliced through the void. Wen Xiao blocked it, and was just about to strike when Su Yi seized Feng Wuji and held him aloft in front of him before charging ahead.

Wen Xiao visibly lost his cool. He forced down his frustration and stepped aside, not daring to attack. He knew that if he did, Feng Wuji was sure to die.

Su Yi laughed. He’d anticipated this. It was the reason he was just walking along out in the open.

The gods couldn’t bear to just let him leave, so all of them immediately gave chase. But out of concern for the hostages, they dared not approach any further, and they

certainly

didn’t dare to try anything. They just followed Su Yi closely.

Each of them had a nastier expression than the other. They’d been threatened and restricted, and it was just that frustrating

“In your past life, you were the Swordmaster of Spiritual Desolation. How proud and lofty of an existence were you? But look at you now! You’re threatening the lives of juniors. Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?” someone laughed coldly.

“It’s true. How could Li Fuyou’s reincarnation have sunk so low as to threaten hostages just to stay alive? It’s simply shameless!”

One god spoke up after another to vent their wrath.

“Enough!” Feng Wuji roared. “So many Greater Gods have gathered here to target someone who hasn’t even achieved divinity yet. Don’t

you

think that

you’re

shameless?”

The crowd was gobsmacked. They wouldn’t have guessed that Feng Wuji would speak up on Su Yi’s behalf even after becoming a hostage.

“If

you

hadn’t taken things too far, how could he have resorted to using our lives as leverage?” Feng Wuji roared. “We’re already in this situation, so what’s with all the nonsense? Will that do us any good? Or are we divine children not at all important to you? Are our lives not worth making a few concessions for?”

He’d voiced just what the other divine children were thinking. All of their expressions, and they looked at their faction’s gods with dissatisfaction.

It was true. Was this any time for sniping and arguing? How was that supposed to save them? What if they pissed Su Yi off so badly that he just killed them?

“Martial Uncle, why can’t you take even a single step back?” roared Mi Yeyun.

The other divine children all spoke up to express their displeasure, one after another.

This left the Greater Gods feeling increasingly stifled and furious, but there was nothing they could do.

Finally, one of the Greater Gods couldn’t take it anymore. He gnashed his teeth and said, “We absolutely cannot let things go on like this. Seems to me that we should just attack. So long as we kill Su Yi, it’ll be fine even if we have to pay a bit of a price!”

Reading between the lines, he was suggesting that they sacrificed the divine children’s lives.

The divine children all looked stricken, and they immediately started cursing him out, especially Jin Buyi. “Great Uncle, I really wouldn’t have expected

you

to say something like that!”

An argument broke out, like a pot blowing off its lid. Everything was in chaos.

Even the other gods looked displeased. If they could really bear to lose the divine children, why would they have hesitated all this time?

From beginning to end, Su Yi said nothing. He just laughed and took in the commotion, all the while continuing on his way. His steps never halted.

The gods were furious and frustrated, but all they could do was stick close to him.

A strange scene unfolded over the Deification Star Sea.

Su Yi flew through the air, surrounded by hovering hostages on all sides, while a grand procession of deities stuck to him like glue.

He led, and they followed. It was a sight to behold.

As time passed, the gods calmed down. When they thought it over, they decided that they could actually accept this situation so long as Su Yi really did let the divine children go when he left the Deification Star Sea.

Their only concern was the possibility of Su Yi reneging on his promise. Who knew what would happen then?

Ultimately, although the gods were frustrated and stifled, every last one of them chose to keep following Su Yi. They refused to let him out of their sight.

Suddenly, Su Yi stopped in his tracks, turned, and shot toward a star covered in glinting ice and snow.

That was yet another hidden realm, and a strikingly beautiful one, too. It likely held a high-quality opportunity at divinity!

Actually, Su Yi had encountered several chances at divinity along the way already, but based on their appearances and auras, he concluded that the chances at divinity therein weren’t all that great, so he disregarded them.

But this star was different, so he charged in without hesitation.

When the gods following him saw this, they were unwittingly stunned.

“He’s still in the mood to hunt for chances at divinity?” Someone gnashed his teeth so hard that they almost broke. “What... what does he take us for? His personal guards?”

The other gods’ hair and beards bristled, and their eyes bulged in their sockets.

He’s pushing us too far! He obviously doesn’t take us the least bit seriously!

“Should we stop him?” someone asked with seething murderous intent.

“Can

we stop him?” someone asked right back.

The crowd instantly fell silent. All they could do was watch helplessly as Su Yi walked openly into a hidden realm, taking the hovering meat shields with him.

“Fuck his mother! That heretic had better not let me capture him, or I’ll torture him to death!” someone couldn’t help but curse.

He was taking this too far and leading them around by the nose. No, it was almost like he was out walking his dogs.

“Will saying all that do you any good? All it does is make us seem even incompetent!” Ren Beiyou said darkly.

“Actually, it seems to me that if we destroy Su Yi and seize the Epoch Spark and his power over reincarnation, it’ll be worth it even if we pay a bit of a price,” someone suggested. “If things go on like this, we’ll just stay helpless like we were on the way here. Su Yi has us completely by the balls. There’s no guarantee that we’ll actually be able to save the divine children like this, either.”

The gods looked uncertain. All of them understood that in principle. How could they not?

But they still couldn’t bear to kill the divine children!

“Let’s wait a while longer. Take it as us playing with him. I refuse to believe that we won’t find an opportunity to take him down!” Wen Xiao said gravely. “In the end, if there’s really no other choice, we’ll just have to be ruthless.”

His eyes glinted with ferocity.

“Very well. Let’s wait a while longer.” Bo Yun took a deep breath and suppressed his agitation. “Let the heretic jump about a while longer. When the time comes, he’ll die, and he’ll even have to cough up all of the good fortune he acquired in the Deification Star Sea!”

Numerous gods’ eyes lit up at the prospect.

It was true. Su Yi was busily gathering treasures, but in the end, so long as they killed him, all of his good fortune would be theirs!

“You’re right.” Ren Beiyou couldn’t help but smile, and he felt much better.

All of them decided to wait patiently. Time slipped by in silence.

Three days later, Su Yi emerged from the hidden realm with a new batch of divine medicines and divine materials.

More importantly, he’d acquired a Godhead comparable to a first-level Epoch Fragment. Godheads of this caliber were extraordinarily rare.

While exploring this hidden realm, Su Yi agreed to give this Godhead to Feng Wuji upon leaving the Deification Star Sea.

After becoming a hostage, Feng Wuji had performed with all his might, seizing the spotlight, and his hard work deserved a reward on principle. Su Yi naturally wouldn’t mistreat him.

When he heard the news, Feng Wuji couldn’t help but smile. He’d finally gotten his opportunity to bask in Su Yi’s favor, and he finally understood why Bi Kongliu had taken to calling Su Yi, “Senior Su.”

When Su Yi emerged and saw the gods waiting outside, he just smiled and shot further down the path.

Just as he expected, the gods followed him as before, trailing after him in a grand procession.

𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

They were like a pack of attendants. There was no need for him to beckon to them. They stuck to him like shadows of their own accord.