Chapter 2141 - Danger Comes Calling

They didn’t even need to think to know that the numerous Lesser Gods and Great Profound Stage cultivators on board were Tu Youfang’s new recruits.

But then, this wasn’t at all strange. Who among those who’d returned from the Path of the Ancient Gods alive

wasn’t

among the most exceptional geniuses of their generation?

In the eyes of the God Domain’s cultivation factions, those newly advanced gods were naturally worth putting in the effort to recruit.

That went for the Great Profound Stage cultivators, too.

Every orthodoxy needed new blood, and even by the standards of the God Domain, those who achieved divinity were the cream of the crop.

There was no doubt about it. The Opening Origins Daoist Sect’s Tu Youfang had taken Su Yi and his companions for newcomers on their way to the God Domain.

“What do you say, you three?” asked Tu Youfang.

But before Su Yi could answer, something rumbled like thunder in the distance, shaking the surrounding void.

A massive black gourd shifted through space, whooshing through the emptiness.

“Not bad, not bad. There are three more sectless new gods here!”

A group stood atop the black-skinned gourd. Their leader was a red-haired Daoist in imperial robes, and he emanated the startling characteristic aura of a Limit Realm expert.

He too was a Mid-Rank God!

“Hey, you three! The Opening Origins Daoist Sect is too small. Go there, and you’ll waste your talent. Why not join our Red Pine Sword Mountain instead? I promise you all a bright future!”

When the red-haired old man arrived, he didn’t even look at Tu Youfang. Instead, he directly extended an invitation to Su Yi and his companions.

Tu Youfang’s expression instantly darkened. “Pei Zhang, you old bastard. I got here first. Don’t you think this is over the line?”

The red-haired old man laughed. “Competing for recruits isn’t a matter of who gets there first!”

Then, he swept his gaze across the cultivators on board the battleship. “If you’re willing to join Red Pine Sword Mountain, we’ll welcome you, too! I, Pei Zhang, guarantee that we’ll treat you better than the Opening Origins Daoist Sect ever could!”

The crowd burst into uproar. Pei Zhang was trying to steal the Opening Origins Daoist Sect’s new recruits right from under Tu Youfang’s nose. How domineering was that!?

“Pei Zhang, how dare you!?” Tu Youfang was completely enraged and seething with murderous intent.

“What of it? What are you going to do about it?” The red-haired old man, Pei Zhang, laughed uproariously. “How about this? Duel me, and if I win, I’ll take all of these new gods with me. If I lose, I promise to leave immediately!”

Tu Youfang’s expression filled with uncertainty.

Pei Zhang sneered. “Lost your nerve?”

Tu Youfang took a deep breath. “How could I possibly be afraid of a fight? But first, there’s something I have to make clear.”

He gestured to Su Yi and his companions. “These fellow Daoists have yet to express their interest in joining the Opening Origins Daoist Sect. Whether they go with you or not is entirely up to them; I cannot make that decision on their behalf. As for those who’ve already agreed to join us? If they decide to leave you with you instead, I won’t force them to stay!”

He spoke with staunch conviction. Many of the onlookers were impressed.

Even Su Yi couldn’t help but find this surprising.

His conduct is actually not bad. He’s not using his position to put pressure on anyone or force them to make a decision, nor is he using others as bargaining chips. His bearing is indeed worthy of praise.

“Hmph! False compassion!” Pei Zhang laughed coldly. “I’ll actually be interested to see who among them refuses to come with me after you’ve lost!”

This was a blatant threat.

The crowd on board the battleship looked stricken. There was no doubt about it: if Tu Youfang lost, Pei Zhang would force them to come with him, whether they liked it or not!

Su Yi shook his head slightly and said, “We’re leaving. If anyone dares to intercept us, kill them.”

“Got it.” Luo Qingdi nodded.

This exchange left the crowd gobsmacked.

Tu Youfang, however, couldn’t help but take another look at Su Yi.

Don’t tell me... that the three of them still don’t understand the situation they’re in?

Pei Zhang chuckled. “You’ll kill anyone who dares to intercept you? Go right ahead. I’d like to see just who gave you the courage....”

Bang!

Luo Qingdi stretched out his hand and grabbed, pulling Pei Zhang toward him and holding him aloft as if he were a little chicken.

Deathly silence fell over the crowd. Everyone watched in wide-eyed, slack-jawed shock.

He captured a Mid-Rank God alive, just like that!?

“Consider yourself lucky. Under ordinary circumstances, you’d be entirely unworthy of dying by my hand,” Luo Qingdi said softly.

Pei Zhang’s face filled with terror. He opened his mouth as if to plead for mercy, but before he could make any sound, his entire body disintegrated into ash and poured between the gaps of Luo Qindi’s figures.

Just like that, a Mid-Rank God had been reduced to ash!

An indescribable chill swept over the distant crowd. All of them shuddered uncontrollably.

They suddenly realized that the man in grey, who’d they’d taken for just another new god, was actually an extraordinarily terrifying existence!

Tu Youfang gasped, completely dumbstruck.

“You didn’t need to say all that, Big Brother,” Luo Xuanji couldn’t help but grumble.

After a brief, dazed pause, Luo Qingdi said gently, “Alright, alright, I got it. I won’t do it again.”

With that, he steered the boat, and the three of them shot off.

From beginning to end, Su Yi just sat there, completely relaxed. He didn’t utter so much as another word.

But it was because he was so calm and so composed that no one could overlook him!

“That man killed Pei Zhang with a snap of his fingers, but he’s just the navigator. That young man might not have looked like anything special, but I’m sure he has the most illustrious status among them,” murmured Tu Youfang. “Fortunately, I was respectful to them earlier. Had I been rude....”

He shuddered from head to toe at the mere thought of it.

The rest went without saying. Had he been rude, he’d likely have long since been reduced to ash, too!

“Who were those people? Why were they keeping such a low profile?”

“I have no idea. They’re probably terrifying existences from the God Domain!”

...As the crowd on board the warship conversed, the experts who’d ridden in on the black gourd with Pei Zhang were at a complete loss.

Pei Zhang was dead. Where were they supposed to go now!?

......

Along the way, Luo Xuanji couldn’t help but ask, “Fellow Daoist, why didn't we go with them earlier? We could have hidden ourselves among them. No one would have paid any attention to us.”

“I’m afraid this trip to the God Domain will be fraught with peril. Had we traveled with them, we’d inevitably have implicated them,” Su Yi explained casually.

With that, he sat cross-legged at the tail end of the boat and started to meditate.

Luo Xuanji promptly clamped her jaw shut to avoid affecting Su Yi’s cultivation.

Time slipped by. Soon, seven days had passed.

During that time, they encountered numerous natural disasters, like rains of falling stars, breaks in spacetime, and strange spatial and temporal mists....

The three of them finally got to see the terrifyingness of the Road of Celestial Guidance for themselves.

Luo Qingdi was steering the boat personally, but not even he dared to face these natural disasters head-on. Instead, he always kept his distance.

Su Yi silently emerged from his meditation.

My supply of Undying Divine Crystals is dwindling. It’ll be able to sustain my cultivation for another month at most.

During the Nine Great Celestial Trials, he acquired over one hundred Undying Divine Crystals. He refined many of them while exploring the Ancient God Domain. By now, less than twenty remained.

Su Yi couldn’t help but feel a sense of urgency at his sudden poverty.

His foundations were boundlessly vast, to the point that no one else compared. Without ample cultivation resources, assiduous effort alone wouldn’t be enough to sustain his cultivation. He could spend tens of thousands of years without seeing any progress.

I should be able to resolve this problem once I’ve reached the God Domain. The Laws there are manifestations of the most ancient natural order of the epochs. Even just the ambient air of divinity will be enough to cultivate with.

As he refined more and more Undying Divine Crystals, his early-stage Creation realm cultivation base gradually neared a breakthrough. One more step, and he’d break into the middle stage.

He’d benefited considerably, but it was a pity. Gathering unparalleled treasures like those Undying Divine Crystals was sure to be even more difficult going forward. Even in the God Domain, they were only available in the greatest of orthodoxies.

As he pondered, something occurred to Su Yi, and he took out a jade bottle. There were three Nine Profundities Heaven-Seizing Pills left inside. Su Yi took out two of them and gave one each to Luo Qingdi and Luo Xuanji.

Luo Xuanji refused with a smile. “Medicine of this level is of little use in treating our injuries. You’d best hold onto it, Fellow Daoist.”

“A little recovery is better than none at all. If it helps even at all, I’ll be happy,” said Su Yi, stuffing the pills into their hands without any room for argument.

Over the past seven days, they hadn’t encountered any true peril, but Su Yi still felt a strong lingering sense of foreboding. Try as he might, it wouldn’t go away.

As if someone were watching them from the shadows.

Su Yi couldn’t help but be solemn and on guard against this. However, on the road ahead, nothing happened.

Half a month later.

“At this rate, we’ll reach the God Domain in less than three days,” Luo Xuanji said eagerly. “I’ll be interested to see how the present-day God Domain compares to the Ancient God Domain!”

“They say that the God Domain is the place closest to the River of Destiny. I’m quite eager to explore it too,” Luo Qingdi said with a laugh.

Su Yi was drinking when a sudden chill coursed through him, and he felt a powerful sense of impending danger.

What’s happening?

But before Su Yi could figure it out, a hoarse, aged voice resounded from afar. “Unfortunately... I’m afraid you’ll never get the chance to see the God Domain.”

Luo Qingqi and Luo Xuanji whipped around to look.

Boom!

The distant void was instantly thrown into upheaval. A swath of brilliant light swept outward like the tides.

The speaker was a thin-faced old man in silver robes. As he walked, resplendent, silver radiance surged beneath his feet, making the surrounding void shake.

The Angler!

Su Yi recognized him at a glance. This was Old Man Providence, otherwise known as the Angler. He was the founder of the Divine Court of Providence.

There was no doubt about it. Even though they’d hidden their auras and disguised themselves, they’d failed to elude their enemies’ notice.

“We meet again, Su Yi,” the Angler said with a laugh.

There was still an enormous distance between them, but his eyes shone like celestial bodies as he locked onto Su Yi.

Su Yi could tell at a glance that this was the Angler’s true body, not an avatar of will!

This was a Master God who’d long since overcome all nine Dao-Refining Divine Tribulations. He was a peak Undying Realm Master God!

Next, the Angler turned his attention to Su Yi’s companions.

“If I’m not mistaken, she must be Luo Xuanji of the City of the Lost, but what about him? I’m afraid I don’t recognize him.”

The Angler’s eyes flashed like cold lightning, as if he were trying to see through all of Luo Qingdi’s secrets.