Chapter 2136 - A Year Passed in a Flash, but He’s Not the Same

It had already been a year since the Path of the Ancient Gods had opened.

No matter where they were in the Path of the Ancient Gods, the experts from the outside world sensed that it was time to leave, just as Su Yi had.

The City of the Beginning.

Misty lights circulated, and spacetime rippled and flashed as one figure returned after another.

“I’m finally back!” someone sighed. It felt like a lifetime had passed since they were last here.

“It’s only been a year since I began my path of trials, but my rewards are worth more than countless years in seclusion!”

“Who’d have dared believe it? In just one short year, I broke through two major realms and became a true Great Profound Stage cultivator!”

Some people rejoiced with undisguised delight.

The majority of those who’d entered the Path of the Ancient Gods were below the Great Profound Stage. Many among them had happened upon wondrous good fortune during their trials, and they’d advanced rapidly.

“My senior apprentice brother... is never coming back....” A woman said despondently. “He died saving me. Had I known this would have happened, I would never have let him accompany me...”

Many others’ expressions were instantly overcast; her words brought their grief back to the surface.

The path of trials had more than just opportunities and good fortune. It was home to terrifying perils, too. Many of their companions, their friends and family, had met with disaster during the path of trials, never to return.

Some people had benefited enormously, but many others were leaving empty-handed. Some people sighed that they hadn’t come in vain, while others mourned those they’d lost.

This was the nature of a path of trials. Few challengers returned alive, and only a handful left with unparalleled good fortune.

Feng Wuji, Bi Kongliu, Buddhist Son Lian Sheng, and the other divine children returned from the Deification Star Sea, one after another. Most of them had successfully achieved divinity, and their return instantly made them the center of attention.

Amidst the clamor, someone suddenly cried out in excitement, “Hey, look! That’s Su Yi!”

The voices instantly faded away, and silence descended over the area. Everyone was looking at the same place.

A tall, upright figure hovered in midair. His blue robes swayed around him, and he looked elegant and extraordinary.

This was none other than Su Yi!

All manner of visions arose in the crowd’s minds. Some of them pictured Su Yi executing Second Libationer Qin Wenxiao and punishing a group of gods with the Staff of Divine Punishment in the City of the Beginning.

Others pictured Su Yi drawing upon the power of the Laws to execute a group of powerful enemies in the Deification Star Sea.

Others recalled the grand and unparalleled tribulation that had affected the entire Path of the Ancient Gods.

Still others recalled how Su Yi had broken the records of all of the Nine Great Celestial Trials in a single day in the Ancient God Domain.

The area sank even deeper into silence.

Everyone had a different look on their face. Some were astonished, others awed, others filled with deep-seated dread. It was like they were witnessing the descent of a living legend!

Su Yi!

The name seemed to have magical power. It was full of unparalleled, legendary flair.

Even those divine children who’d achieved divinity just as Su Yi had couldn’t help but feel like they’d been left in the dust.

If asked who had drawn the most attention of anyone involved in this expedition to the Path of the Ancient Gods, Su Yi would unquestionably take first place!

......

After returning to the City of the Beginning, Su Yi met with Third Libationer Lie Xingqu, then returned the mallet of the Drum of Injustice and reconnected it with the Laws of the City of the Beginning.

That very day, Su Yi and all of the other outsiders left the City of the Beginning.

...

The River of Epochs, the Kingdom of Lasting Light.

Ancient God Ridge.

Numerous figures had gathered around the entrance to the Path of the Ancient Gods. Those at the front of the pack were almost all gods. Most hailed from the God Domain’s various top factions, but some were from the Kingdom of Lasting Light.

The strongest among them were Fortune Realm Greater Gods!

“Just one short year has passed. I wonder how many of the divine children managed to achieve divinity,” said a Greater God in imperial robes. He looked middle-aged.

To an ordinary mortal, a year was a long time, but to gods like them, a year was gone in a flash. It was barely any time at all.

After all, it wasn’t at all unusual for them to go into seclusion for thousands of years at a time.

“The divine children are each accompanied by a Dao Protector, and they’ve prepared thoroughly for this expedition. There’s no need to fear them failing to become a god,” someone said with assurance.

The Path of the Ancient Gods traversed the spacetime of the distant past. Those in the outside world had no way of knowing what was happening inside.

Not even Master Gods could learn anything at all!

Thus, when they spoke of the Path of the Ancient Gods, all the gathered gods could do was guess.

Suddenly, someone whispered, “I wonder if that heretic Su Yi has been captured yet.”

This sentence drew numerous others’ attention.

“If all went as I expect, the boy’s long since met with disaster!” someone said.

Su Yi had entered the Path of the Ancient Gods a year ago, but so had the Nine Great Heavenly Gods of the Kingdom of Lasting Light, as well as Ren Beiyou, Wen Xiao, and other Greater Gods of the God Domain’s top orthodoxies.

With a lineup like that, killing Su Yi would be no more difficult than turning over their hand!

“Let’s take ten thousand steps back and say that even if he somehow managed to return alive, with all of us here, there’s no way he’d escape!”

A black-robed old man said calmly, “And the mysterious River Lord isn’t in the Kingdom of Lasting Light anymore. He cannot possibly save Su Yi this time!”

𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

A year prior, when the Path of the Ancient Gods first opened, a group of Master Gods’ avatars surrounded Su Yi, leaving him imperiled on all sides.

Everyone remembered it clearly. It was the mysterious River Lord’s arrival that saved Su Yi’s life.

But now, the River Lord had vanished for a year. He was no longer in the Kingdom of Lasting Light!

As the crowd conversed, the distant Ancient God Ridge rumbled and boomed. Spacetime power surged forth, forming a massive portal in midair.

Uproar ensued.

Everyone halted their conversation and looked at the spacetime portal. Moments later, they watched as one figure after another shot out. The returning experts were as dense and numerous as the carp in a river.

The entire area was instantly as lively as could be.

Before long, Feng Wuji, Buddhist Son Lian Sheng, Bi Kongliu, and numerous other divine children emerged. When the Greater Gods of their respective orthodoxies saw that they’d achieved divinity, they couldn’t help but light up with delight.

But they found it strange that even now, there was no sign of the Nine Great Heavenly Gods of the Kingdom of Lasting Light, Wen Xiao, Ren Beiyou, or the other Greater Gods.

What on earth was going on?

Before they could ask, Su Yi’s tall, upright figure drifted out of the spacetime portal.

Startled cries instantly followed.

“That heretic still hasn’t died!?”

“He sure is hard to kill...”

“Has he become a god yet?”

Meanwhile, the upper gods waiting outside the portal fixed their gazes onto Su Yi, like predators locking onto prey!

Feng Wuji and the other divine children looked stricken. They hurriedly tried to transmit word of what had happened in the Path of the Ancient Gods to their seniors.

Alas, before they could explain the situation clearly, one of the Master Gods lost his patience, shifted through the air, and blocked Su Yi’s path.

He was an old man in robes as dark as ink. His gaze was terrifyingly cold. “Su Yi, you cannot leave!”

He didn’t rush to attack, but he seemed afraid that Su Yi would flee. He was trying to seal off Su Yi’s escape route before deciding his next moves.

“That’s right. You cannot leave!”

When the other Greater Gods saw this, they looked on with equally unfriendly expressions and sealed the entire place off.

The atmosphere was instantly stifled and murderous.

The crowd’s hearts quivered. A group of seething, murderous Greater Gods had sealed off the entire area. Who wouldn’t have been startled?

Many of the onlookers looked at Su Yi with pity. He might have returned from the Path of the Ancient Gods alive, but what of it?

He still wouldn’t escape disaster!

But there were also numerous prominent experts who stayed out of it, as their factions’ divine children had communicated with them in time, and they understood the situation.

“If I want to leave, can the likes of you stop me?” Su Yi laughed dryly.

There were too many people watching, and it was too crowded and noisy. He had no intention of sticking around.

As he spoke, he took a step forward and began walking away.

“Hah? What a mouth you’ve got on you. All you did was take a trip through the Path of the Ancient Gods, and now you think you can disregard us?” The old man in ink-black robes, the one leading the encirclement, glowered murderously. “One more step, and this lofty one will strike you down!”

Boom!

His imposing aura expanded, shaking heaven and earth. A maelstrom of terrifying murderous intent locked firmly onto Su Yi.

When the other Greater Gods saw this, all of them readied themselves for battle.

They hailed from different camps. They naturally wouldn’t let the old man in ink-black robes kill Su Yi before they got the chance.

The scene was enough to make everyone else in the crowd quiver, their hearts trembling in their chests.

Su Yi, however, didn’t even seem to notice. He just took another step forward and said casually, “Come on, then. Kill me.”

Boom!

The crowd erupted into uproar.

The old man in ink-black robes could no longer hold back. He laughed coldly, leaped through the air, and swung his palm through the air.

He held nothing back. His mid-stage Fortune Realm cultivation base was on full display!

This wasn’t because he was afraid of Su Yi, but because he was afraid the other Greater Gods would swoop in and snatch his prize!

Just as he suspected, the moment he attacked, the other Greater Gods followed suit. Each was faster than the one before.

Some of the Greater Gods were particularly ruthless. They directly drew their divine treasures and unleashed their strongest secret arts!

Dammit! I just knew they’d try something!

The old man cursed inwardly. Fortunately, he’d attacked with all his might, and he was the closest to Su Yi. He had no need to fear others stealing his prize!

Boom!

Within moments, he was right in front of Su Yi. The force of his palm strike blanketed the sky and descended ruthlessly upon Su Yi.

His gaze was utterly hideous.

But Su Yi didn’t even look at him. He just thoughtlessly waved his sleeve through the air.

Bang!!

The old man’s charging figure was just thirty feet away from Su Yi when he suddenly exploded, like a crimson firework blooming in midair.

Piping hot blood splattered the skies, beautiful but bleak.

The gods charging at Su Yi from other directions were initially terrified that others would get there first, but when they saw this, all of them stiffened, and their hair stood on end.

Practically on instinct, they halted mid-charge, turned, and fled explosively.

But they were already too late!

Su Yi just chuckled, shook his head, and took another step forward. Chaos-like sword qi exploded into being and swept outward.

Within moments, the Greater Gods scattering in different directions exploded, offering no more resistance than paper.

All of them were cut down on the spot!