Chapter 2193 - The Abject Hairpin, Essays on the Profundities of the Dao

Splurt!

Sword qi flashed through the air.

Niu Kui split in half, cleaved in two down the midline. That tyrannical sword qi sliced his bisected body and soul to ribbons, reducing him directly to powder.

His voice came to an abrupt halt before he could even finish his question.

The old man from the Red Dust Demon Lands gazed intently at Su Yi’s hands, his eyes bulging.

Su Yi held a Dao Sword billowing with chaos qi. He was obviously standing far away, but when the edge of his sword fell, it ignored the confines of space and struck as if it were just three feet from Niu Kui!

It was just too quick and too tyrannical!

A lofty Greater God like Niu Kui didn’t even have time to dodge before he was cut down on the spot!

“I... I don’t care who you are, and I don’t want to know. Surely there’s no need for you to kill us all. Can you please spare my life just this once?” The old man quivered from head to toe, and the blood drained from his face. He’d obviously been scared out of his wits.

His knees thudded to the ground, as if to continue begging for mercy.

But then, a wooden hairpin suddenly shot out of his hair, like a beam of light boring through time and space. It shot at Su Yi’s throat with ruthless accuracy.

Its speed was shocking to behold!

𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

But Su Yi’s response was even quicker. The old man didn’t even see him move. His fingers appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and plucked the wooden hairpin from midair, preventing it from advancing any further.

“You fell for it!” The old man said with a hideous laugh. Then, his voice boomed like spring lightning. “Explode!!”

But then, something rather awkward happened. Or rather, didn't happen. The wooden hairpin did nothing at all. It just stayed there, stuck between Su Yi’s fingers.

The old man’s hideous smile froze, and his eyes practically popped out of their sockets. “How is this possible!?”

“The Abject Hairpins are the unique secret treasure of the Red Dust Demon Lands. They’re refined from the branches of the Toad Palace Osmanthus Tree. They each contain seventy-two divine formations. They can sever the confines of space and vanish into formlessness, and not even the divine sense can lock onto them. You can use them to kill even fellow Greater Gods if you catch them off guard,” said Su Yi.

He sighed. “Did you know that I was the one who originally came up with the method for refining the Abject Hairpins? It’s the nineteenth of the Fortune Realm secret treasures recorded in ‘Essays on the Profundities of the Dao.’

“Now, you’re using the treasure I invented against me. What is that, if not seeking out your own humiliation?”

The old man was stunned. He stared intently at Su Yi, then blurted, “I know who you are!”

“So what if you know? The Umbrella of Tribulations’ aura has completely severed our connection to the outside world. If I kill you in here, not even an expert who’s touched upon the River of Destiny will be able to learn anything from the vestiges of battle,” said Su Yi.

With that, he shifted his wrist. The Abject Hairpin trapped between his fingers flew backward, even faster than it had flown before.

“Activate!!” The old man roared in fury, and layer upon layer of defensive power appeared in front of him, just barely blocking the hairpin.

Su Yi laughed, then said, “Break!”

Boom——!

The Abject Hairpin suddenly exploded.

A massive chasm formed in the sky. Brilliant and destructive radiance took to the skies, like a rising, silver moon. Its radiance illuminated the nine heavens.

The old man’s defenses shattered, but there was no time for him to dodge. That dazzling divine radiance ripped him into countless chunks and scattered his soul.

This was the power of the Abject Hairpins!

They were refined from the branches of the Toad Palace Osmanthus Tree. When their power erupted, the seventy-two divine formations within them activated simultaneously. Their terrifying power was enough to blast even Greater Gods to bits.

The radiant full moon that arose was a portion of the Toad Palace Osmanthus Tree’s power. It was utterly tyrannical.

Just as I thought. My enemies didn’t just seize the Toad Palace Osmanthus Tree. They even seized the tomes and treasures I had hidden on Sunset Perch Island,

thought Su Yi.

The Toad Palace Osmanthus Tree was a rare, unparalleled treasure originally rooted deep within the Endless Ocean, at the bottom of an eye-shaped sinkhole full of chaos energy. It was naturally imbued with Undying source power, so it could be seen as an Undying Realm natural divinity.

Yi Daoxuan took the tree and replanted it on Sunset Perch Island a long time ago.

Every night, its fragrance wafted into the air, its branches permeated with a silvery waterfall of Dao Light that reflected the Toad Palace of the Moon. This in turn drew in the power of the Grand Dao from throughout the surrounding area. It was incomparably mystical.

When the tree budded and flowered, its withered and scattered leaves and branches were all the rarest and most precious of Undying Materials!

Any peak orthodoxy that acquired such an Undying Realm natural divinity could create a blessed ground for cultivation with enough resources to sustain the cultivation of even Master Gods!

It was thus obvious how precious the Toad Palace Osmanthus Tree was.

Abjectly... Yi Daoxuan’s situation in the Endless Ocean changed a long time ago. Some of his sworn brothers turned on him, and his mightiest enemies joined forces to encircle him. In the end, he cleaved open a path of blood and escaped, but he was forced to leave the Endless Ocean and flee to the ends of the earth.

In the end, his enemies claimed and divided all of the treasures and Daoist canons he’d left on Sunset Perch Island.

Yi Daoxuan had written “Essays on the Profundities of the Dao” himself. It had undoubtedly fallen into the Red Dust Demon Lands’ hands alongside the Toad Palace Osmanthus Tree.

Su Yi hadn’t lied during his conversation with Niu Kui, either.

Yi Daoxuan had indeed once had a special bond with Lu Qingmei.

Lu Qingmei’s master was Gu Huaxian, an old witch who’d touched upon the threshold of the River of Destiny.

She, the old hunchback, and several other terrifying existences had joined forces to intercept Su Yi on the Path of Celestial Guidance.

Her disciple, Lu Qingmei, met Yi Daoxuan not long after he entered the Undying Realm, when he was still just a One-Tribulation Master God.

Her relationship with Yi Daoxuan was extraordinarily complicated and full of twists and turns, but there was one thing Yi Daoxuan had known for sure: his feelings for her were real.

Alas, in the end, Yi Daoxuan learned that Lu Qingmei had simply been acting on her master’s orders. Gu Huaxian had arranged for her disciple to spy on him.

He discovered this after she attacked him out of nowhere as they engaged in dual cultivation, almost destroying his mind in the process.

In the end, Lu Qingmei failed to achieve her goal, but she dealt Yi Daoxuan massive damage. Her betrayal also came as a heavy emotional blow, and Yi Daoxuan almost gave in to despair.

After all, the woman he loved had just stabbed him in the back. It was unquestionably far too cruel.

It was Yu Xinyao who saved him.

When Su Yi thought back to Yi Daoxuan’s memories and feelings, he couldn’t help but be rueful.

Yi Daoxuan lived a bitter life full of setbacks, but there’s no denying that it was quite eventful...

So eventful that it seems that every possible kind of tragedy has befallen him at least once...

But knowing that Lu Qingmei was still alive was enough for Su Yi.

As he pondered, Su Yi started scouring the battlefield for trophies.

......

“Elder Tie, quick, wake up!”

A voice resounded through Tie Wenjing’s ears, startling him awake. He opened his eyes with great difficulty, then saw a familiar face. Xiao Jian was looking at him with deep concern.

Tie Wenjing was instantly delighted. “Xiao Jian, you’re alive? Good! That’s truly wonderful!”

Su Yi suddenly felt a bit embarrassed. He could tell that Tie Wenjing was truly happy to see that he was still alive.

But he was the one who’d knocked Tie Wenjing unconscious...

“What... exactly happened just now? Where are Niu Kui and Qian Wei?” Tie Wenjing crawled to his feet and looked around. When he took in the devastated landscape, he couldn’t help but gasp.

“I don’t know either.” Su Yi shook his head. “I have no idea what happened, but while I was fleeing earlier, the two people chasing me suddenly turned around and left. When I returned, I found you lying on the ground unconscious, Elder Tie.”

He effortlessly spun a web of lies, but there was no evidence to the contrary, and thus nothing to find fault with.

“It seems that whatever happened just now changed our situation.” When Tie Wenjing recalled that rain of fiery stars, his heart filled with lingering terror. “Fortunately, we’re both still alive. That’s enough!”

He smiled and patted Su Yi on the shoulder. “We survived a close brush with death, so good fortune is surely on the horizon! We ought to thank that mysterious expert who attacked out of nowhere!”

Su Yi just nodded.

“But we absolutely cannot just let this grudge go unavenged!” said Tie Wenjing, his eyes blazing with hatred. “Those bastards... took things too far! Later, I’ll have to track the four of them down and get even!”

Su Yi’s gaze was a bit strange. “Elder Tie, this isn’t the time to talk about that. We should leave as soon as possible.”

“Right, right, right, we should leave as soon as possible!” Tie Wenjing abruptly came to his senses and led Su Yi away.

That very evening...

A group of prominent experts from the Severed Heavens Demon Court, Red Dust Demon Lands, and Donghua Sword Pavilion appeared on the devastated battlefield.

Alas, even after scouring the entire area, they learned nothing at all.

It was also on that same day that word of this incident reached these three top orthodoxies of the Southern Flame Divine Continent.

Four Greater Gods had fallen in battle!

This was a massive loss. Everyone in all three factions was astonished.

But that no longer had anything to do with Su Yi.

......

Qingwu Divine Court was located in a stretch of ancient divine mountains to the southwest of the Southern Flame Divine Continent. It was a first-rate holy land for cultivation.

The mountains stretched for eight thousand miles, encompassing one hundred and nine peaks both great and small, as well as numerous forbidden zones, secret lands, and hidden realms.

To the people of the Southern Flame Divine Continent, this was the abode of gods, a true, otherworldly pure land.

Five days later.

It was nearing nightfall when Tie Wenjing saw the Qingwu Divine Mountains in the distance. He couldn’t help but sigh in relief.

“We’re finally back...” He visibly relaxed, then turned to look at Su Yi. “Xiao Jian, I’ve already told the sect about you. We’ll arrive soon, and when we do, I’ll bring you to see the sect leader.”

“So soon?” Su Yi was stunned.

“Some of the sect’s higher-ups want to meet you and ask further questions about your origins,” said Tie Wenjing. “They also want to hear more about the danger we encountered along the way.”

His gaze was suddenly strange. “I would never have guessed that Niu Kui, Wang Teng, and the others all died then...”

On the way back, Tie Wenjing had received word from the sect informing him of Niu Kui and the others’ passing.

At the time, he was so startled that he almost jumped in fright.

But then, he burst into heartfelt, uncontrollable laughter. He felt that the heavens really did have eyes, and that evildoers really were punished for their crimes.

Still, Tie Wenjing knew that Niu Kui and the others’ deaths had shaken the entire Southern Flame Divine Continent. The sect was sure to try and get to the bottom of it.

“Let’s go, then,” said Su Yi. He had nothing else to say.

He was actually quite interested to see if the higher-ups of Qingwu Divine Court could see through his disguise!