Chapter 2552 - Upholding Righteousness in the Name of the Dao

Hu Taizhong stood there in a daze for a while before shaking his head, a complicated look on his face, and turning to leave.

He’d reached a decision. If he made it out of the Barren Mountains of Divine Calamity alive, he’d wash his hands of this and give up his wicked ways.

After all, what if he ran into another terrifying existence “disguised as a pig to eat a tiger”? There was absolutely no guarantee he’d be so lucky next time!

Hu Taizhong sighed to himself.

I wonder who that guy was, anyway? He actually fought his way through Five Lightning Temple’s territory! That’s truly incredible!

When Su Yi fought the old Daoist, Hu Taizhong was so shocked that he fell unconscious. He’d only just now woken back up, so he still had no idea who Su Yi was.

It would be several years later that, by sheer coincidence, Hu Taizhong managed to learn that this “fatty sheep” who’d turned out to be a terrifying expert was, in fact, Sword Venerate Su! A dazzling figure of the Dark Days of Legend!

When the realization hit him, Hu Taizhong was overwhelmed with delayed terror, and he lamented the capriciousness of fate. Fortune truly plays tricks on us all!

But all of that was yet to come.

......

Deep within the Barren Mountains of Divine Calamity.

Lightning coursed through the dark clouds hanging beneath the dome of heaven, their flashing light illuminating the darkness.

A massive pit had appeared on the ground. Its entrance was one hundred thousand feet across, and it seemed almost bottomless.

Five-colored divine light shot out of the pit, interweaving to create a thick multicolored light barrier above the entrance. It was dazzling and resplendent.

This was the entrance to the hidden realm in the pit.

That five-colored divine radiance was an extraordinarily strange and mysterious source energy of the Grand Dao. Only Undying Realm Master Gods could pass through it to enter the world below.

A group of Master Gods was bound not far from the pit.

Like helpless captives!

A thin, graying old man with youthful features stood before the captive Master Gods with his hands beyond his back.

“If you make it back from the hidden realm alive, I promise to give you a path to life,” said the old man, his blue-green eyes utterly indifferent. “And if you bring members of Heavenly Yao Tower back with you, this lofty one shall reward you generously!”

He paused for emphasis. “How about it? Do you agree?”

The captive Master Gods exchanged glances, then nodded. If they refused, they’d die. Better to take their chances in the pit. After all, they might well happen upon good fortune!

“Good. It seems you’re all adaptable folk. I naturally won’t cause any further trouble for you." The red-robed old man smiled in satisfaction, then waved his sleeve.

The captives instantly rose into the air, shot toward the thick, five-colored light, then fell into the enormous pit like dumplings. In the blink of an eye, all of them had vanished.

“It’s a pity, but even the strongest of those Master Gods has only overcome six Dao-Refining Tribulations. I can’t expect too much from them,” sighed the old man.

“Patriarch, should we keep capturing Master Gods?” A man enveloped in misty black light silently emerged from the fog.

“Yes,” said the red-robed old man without missing a beat. “The world in the pit is far too strange and sinister. We’ve got to capture a few more experts to risk themselves on our behalf.”

Word of the hidden realm in the pit had shaken the entire Southern Flame Divine Continent. No small number of experts had rushed over, including Master Gods from all over the God Domain.

Master Gods typically stood on top of the world, but in the chaos and upheaval of the Dark Days of Legend, most of those who’d entered the mountains had been reduced to Heavenly Yao Tower’s prey.

Heavenly Yao Tower was doing this so that the captive Master Gods could risk their lives in the pit in their stead.

It wasn’t just Heavenly Yao Tower. The Everlasting Palace was doing the same thing. The world in the pit was just too dangerous; none of the spacetime forbidden zones dared to send its own members there lightly.

“Understood!” The man shrouded in darkness nodded his assent.

But just as he was about to leave, someone chuckled. “You sure are shameless, you old bastard!”

The voice boomed far and wide, the sound suppressing even the lightning overhead. The sound of laughter echoed clearly throughout heaven and earth.

“Who’s there!?” The red-robed old man suddenly whipped his head around to look, his eyes flashing with imposing green radiance.

He watched as a silver-robed man emerged from the distant, overcast landscape. Thunder flashed overhead, intermittently illuminating the man’s figure.

The silver-robed man carried a bamboo flute, and he had the air of a dandy, with an impish smile on his lips.

The black-robed man turned and glowered at the man in silver robes. “Who are you? How dare you treat Heavenly Yao Tower with disrespect?”

The man in silver robes lifted his bamboo flute and tapped the air.

Bang!

Tens of thousands of feet away, the man in black shattered like a porcelain vase, chunks of bloody meat pooling on the ground. Within moments, even they had disintegrated into ash.

Destroyed, body and soul.

This bloody scene made the red-robed elder’s eyes widen. He was instantly solemn.

But the silver-robed man just smiled. “I’m strong enough that I don’t

have

to be respectful to Heavenly Yao Tower.”

The red-robed old man took a deep breath and clasped his fist. “Forgive my boldness, but is there any grudge between you and our Heavenly Yao Tower?”

The silver-robed man shook his head. “There isn’t.”

The red-robed old man frowned. “Then why kill one of us so lightly?”

The silver-robed man was instantly solemn. “I saw an injustice, so I stepped in to correct it!”

“???” The red-robed man’s eyes widened.

Who’d believe something like that?

“It’s true.” The silver-robed man gestured to himself. “I’ve never been able to overlook an injustice!”

He smiled. “Of course, I also take meting out justice as an opportunity to temper myself. It’s my favorite kind of training.”

The red-robed old man’s expression shifted erratically. “Should I interpret that as you enjoying meddling in others’ business?”

“No, not at all,” said the silver-robed man. “My cultivation is on the line. How could you call this meddling? Only the selfish and narrow-minded would consider aiding the weak and meting out justice ‘meddling in others’ business.’”

He spoke with staunch conviction and an air of righteousness.

The red-robed obviously didn’t believe a word of it, but in the end, he didn’t argue. “You’ve killed one of our sectmates... surely you’re satisfied now?”

“No,” said the silver-robed man. “You have to die, too.”

The red-robed old man was instantly furious, his face ashen. “Tell me, then. Who exactly are you, and why insist on targeting Heavenly Yao Tower?”

The silver-robed man seemed to find this an awful pity. “It seems you don’t believe that I’m a righteous-minded good person.”

“Feh!” The old man spat. “A good person? Throughout the ages, and throughout the history of cultivation, has any ‘good person’ ever truly existed?”

“Yes! And I’m one of them!” the silver-robed man said as if it were perfectly obvious. “Today, I shall act in the name of righteousness and cut you down, you shameless, despicable old wretch!”

Before his voice had even finished echoing through the air, he raised his bamboo flute and tapped the air. It was a simple gesture, but...

Boom!

The space surrounding the old man shattered with a bang and collapsed.

But the old man had long since vanished. He reappeared shortly after beneath the dome of heaven.

“Dare you tell me your name and surname?” the red-robed old man said icily.

“Xing Dao!” laughed the silver-robed man. “‘Xing’ as in ‘to carry out,’ and ‘Dao’ as in the Dao! But I’m not acting on behalf of the Dao of heaven. Rather, I’m acting in accordance with my righteous heart!”

Xing Dao?

The name was entirely unfamiliar.

Even if you’d hit the red-robed old man over the head, he would never have guessed that someone so unusual would appear out of nowhere.

But “Xing Dao” might well have been a pseudonym!

As the old man’s thoughts raced, he felt a chill course down his spine, and he dodged.

Boom!

The area he’d been standing in collapsed suddenly, and a flood of destructive power swept past. The red-robed old man had dodged just in time, but the sight made him gasp.

He turned to flee, but before he’d gotten far, the silver-robed man intercepted him. He appeared out of nowhere like a ghost, blocking his path.

Xing Dao raised his bamboo flute with a smile. “How about I play a song to commemorate your departure?”

He raised the flute to his lips and started to play.

As the music filled the air, heaven and earth transformed. Celestial bodies fell like rain, and the mountains and rivers dimmed. Everything seemed like it would soon collapse.

The music was melodious, yet the scenery was enough to make one give in to helplessness and despair.

The red-robed man’s mind buzzed, and he stood there in a daze.

He could see his life force flowing away. Within just a few breaths of time, it had fled him completely, reducing him to a statue.

“I barely began my song, but you already can’t take it?” The silver-robed man put away his flute and murmured, “But then, that makes sense. After all, you’re just a Nine-Tribulation yao cultivator. It’s to be expected that this would be too much for you.”

As he spoke, a gust of wind blew past.

The red-robed old man’s body was blown apart, scattered into ash.

It wasn’t just his life force. Even his powers of the Grand Dao had been ground away completely by the flute music!

“Fellow Daoist, don’t you think I’m upholding righteousness in the name of the Dao?” The silver-robed man suddenly turned his head and gazed into the distant, overcast landscape.

“That depends on your definition of righteousness.” A calm voice rang out, and a tall, upright figure walked into view.

He was dressed in Daoist robes, and he looked extraordinary and detached.

This was none other than the disguised Su Yi.