Chapter 2603 - Might I Ask Where the Road Is?

How craven are you?

The handsome young man’s expression instantly darkened. “Huang Yun, would you believe me if I said that your ancestor would only clap and applaud even if I ripped this soul clone of yours to shreds?”

A vicious look appeared on the red-haired man’s face. “Do I look like the type to rely on my ancestor’s prestige to push others around?”

“You don’t ‘look like the type,’” the handsome young man said expressionlessly. “You

are

the type.”

The red-haired man froze.

Before he could respond, the handsome young man said, “Also, going by seniority, I’m just one generation lower than your ancestor. You’re eight generations beneath me! You have to do as I say. Refuse, and you’ll have to bear the consequences!”

𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

The red-haired man laughed. “I hate nothing more than people who harp on about seniority. You might dare to use your seniority against me, but would you dare do the same to my third sister?”

The handsome young man frowned.

“When it comes to sheer bossiness, no one can beat my third sister. If she called herself the second most domineering of our generation, no one would dare to claim first place,” said the red-haired man. “I’m just going to kill Su Yi, that’s all. Is it really worth trying to stop me like this?”

He’d only just said this when a middle-aged man in brocade robes burst into laughter. “Did you hear that? That kid seriously wants to kill Su Yi! Hahaha! He must have lost his wits!”

Everyone in the teahouse froze, then burst into uproarious laughter.

The red-haired man laughed too, then swung his sleeve.

Bang!

The middle-aged man’s head exploded into pieces.

The uproarious laughter came to an abrupt halt. Everyone was startled.

“Why aren’t you laughing anymore? Go on, laugh! I’ll let whoever manages to laugh leave,” the red-haired man said slowly. “If you can’t, all of you will die!”

The crowd’s hair stood on end. Indeed, loose lips led to disaster. No one could have anticipated that a bit of laughter would lead to imminent peril.

The atmosphere was deathly silent. Everyone was overcome with terror and unease. None of them could work up any laughter.

The red-haired man’s eyes shone with disdain. He waved his hand through the air, and...

Boom!

The entire teahouse collapsed, and everyone in it died.

Not one survived.

The red-haired man acted as if he’d just crushed a group of ants. He snapped his fingers and said, “I’ll ask you one last time. Will you take me to see Su Yi or not?”

The handsome young man sighed. “If you’re that intent on throwing your life away, I’ll just have to let you.”

“Haha, ‘throw my life away?’ This is just a soul clone. What do I have to be afraid of?” The red-haired man laughed and warmly wrapped his arm around the handsome young man’s shoulder. “Besides, I’m one-hundred-percent confident that I can crush him. I’ll help you vent and retrieve the two lost pages of the Book of Legends!”

The handsome young man frowned and pushed his arm away. “You’re one-hundred-percent confident?”

“That’s right!” said the red-haired man, his eyes full of wanton pride. “I came prepared!”

The handsome young man sank into thought.

The red-haired man was called Huang Yun, and he was from an ancient family of the River of Destiny.

He was unbridled and arrogant, but his strength and foundations were indeed terrifying.

Shortly after his birth, while he was still a swaddled infant, his ancestor prepared him a sword quenched in divine blood as a gift. He said that when Huang Yun began his path of cultivation, he needed to cultivate malice in his heart. Only then could he pursue the Grand Dao without reservations!

Thus, Huang Yun became a veritable demon king, a bold and unfettered hooligan.

He wasn’t exactly likable, but no one could deny that this ill-tempered hoodlum had fought his way to prominence thanks to that very viciousness.

Most notably, before proving his Dao and achieving Eternity, he single-handedly explored a terrifying forbidden zone infested with Celestial Demons and fraught with tribulations of the heart. He slew over a hundred of Celestial Demons and rid himself of everything weighing down his heart. In the end, he proved his Dao without fear and smoothly stepped into Eternity.

This incident sent a massive wave of uproar sweeping across the River of Destiny, becoming a legendary tale.

Even his ancestor had praised him, saying that his malice was enough to devour dragons and elephants, break tribulations, and alter fate itself!

However... the way the handsome young man saw it, Huang Yun hadn’t come here in the flesh. His soul clone could at most contend with False Eternals.

That was nowhere near enough to kill Su Yi!

But if Huang Yun insisted on bringing about his own suffering, the handsome young man couldn’t be bothered to dissuade him.

“Let’s go,” he said, walking into the distance. He didn’t think highly of Huang Yun’s chances, but he knew that Huang Yan had to have several powerful hidden cards up his sleeves.

Otherwise, how could he possibly have dared proclaim himself “one hundred percent confident” he could kill Su Yi?

The handsome young man couldn’t help but feel a bit eager.

......

Deep within the mountains, there was a remote little village, a place of intersecting fields and paths, barking dogs, and clucking chickens. Everything seemed ancient and pristine.

It was like an otherworldly pure land.

But this was no hidden realm, and none of the villagers were powerful secluded experts.

Just like most people, they were ordinary mortals. They at most knew a few crude qi-refining techniques.

A youth who’d only just returned to the village after a journey was animatedly telling the other villagers about what he’d seen and experienced in the outside world.

The villagers clustered around him, listening with great interest. His tale seemed far more interesting than the old legends circulating around the village.

“Who is Sword Venerate Su?”

“Can his sword really cut down stars?”

“It sounds like Sword Venerate Su is really quite something. When our kid grows up, let’s send him to see Sword Venerate Su! If he learns something, even if he doesn’t rise to prominence, I’m sure he’ll be good in the fields!”

...When he heard this, the youth felt stifled and frustrated. For a moment ,he didn’t know what to say.

The villagers had never seen the world. All they knew was agriculture.

Their perception was so limited that they likely imagined that even the empress of the imperial harem worked the fields, except that

her

hoe was made of gold, and she got to eat meat at every meal, with someone tending to her as she slept...

They even figured that if Su Yi was so impressive, he had to be great at farming!

“Enough, enough! There’s no point talking about all that.” The youth shook his head. After returning to the village, he discovered that the villagers were just too coarse and ignorant. Talking to them was pointless, like a duck trying to communicate with a chicken!

The villagers laughed, not the least bit offended, and set off.

They were born here, they lived here, and one day, they’d die here. They’d watched over this land for generations.

Outsiders saw them as ignorant, but to them, this little village deep in the mountains was their world.

“Ee? Who’s that guy?” The youth suddenly noticed someone seated in a distant vegetable garden. He was playing chess with a villager everyone called Uncle Wu.

The chess board was coarsely carved out of stone, the grid chiseled with a sickle. The pieces were carved out of bits of wood.

It was crude, but the young man didn’t seem to care. He played chess calmly and at ease.

“He’s a little fellow we found lost in the woods. He arrived here yesterday,” said an aunty. “Ol’ Wu felt sorry for him, so he let him spend the night.”

The youth frowned. “What if he turns out to be a crook?”

The aunty rolled her eyes. “What do we have to fear from a single outsider? If he tries anything, I’ll just grab my carrying pole and smack him to the ground!”

She was tall and big-boned, bigger even than some of the men. As she spoke, she gestured to the pole resting on her shoulders, the very picture of confidence.

The corners of the youth’s lips twitched, but he couldn’t be bothered to argue with her. He just walked over to where Uncle Wu was playing chess with that outsider, a man in blue robes.

It seemed like he was watching the game, but in truth, he was keeping tabs on the man in blue.

Much to his disappointment, the man in blue seemed entirely unremarkable, no different from the ignorant villagers.

“But then, it makes sense. If he were a cultivator, how could he possibly sit in a garden freshly covered in manure just to play Chess with Old Man Wu? The stench alone is enough to kill a man,” mumbled the youth, holding his nose. The stench of manure was enough to make him want to retch.

In the end, he couldn’t take it. He moved further away and plopped down beneath a crooked tree, watching the game of chess from a distance. His mind soon wandered.

He hadn’t come back to the village impulsively. He really couldn’t take it anymore. The world was in chaos, with bloodshed and death all over the place.

No matter how careful he was, it wouldn’t be enough. When gods and immortals fought, it was the mortals who suffered. Sometimes, whole cities vanished in the blink of an eye.

The youth had once longed to visit some of the world’s big cities. Finally, after a long, long journey, he saw an incomparably prosperous city in the distance.

But it was then that something unexpected happened. He looked up and saw a streak of fire shooting through the sky.

A moment later, the very city he’d longed to visit melted like a candle. Everyone in it was reduced to ash!

Nothing remained of the city but scorched earth.

The sight left the youth completely stunned. Something shifted in his mind, and he immediately turned back.

He was going home!

What “fighting to the ends of the earth”? What “exploring the world to broaden his horizons”? In the end, none of that was worth a fart.

The outside world was dangerous. Cities were more dangerous than mountains and forests, and the people there were far more dangerous than poisonous insects or vicious beasts!

He didn’t want to stay there even a moment longer!

When he returned to his village, took in those familiar faces, and walked those familiar streets, all of his terror and confusion was washed away, as if his heart were nourished and cleansed by spring rains. He instantly felt much better.

“Who gives a shit about cultivation, about gods, immortals, yao, and Sword Venerate Su? They don’t mean a thing. Nothing beats going home!” he grumbled under his breath.

The blue-robed man over in the vegetable garden froze, then chuckled and shook his head.

“I lost again, dammit!” Uncle Wu smacked the chessboard in a huff, scattering the pieces.

Su Yi leaned forward, picked the pieces back up, and placed them back on the board. Then, he rose, laughed, and said, “I ought to get going.”

“You’re leaving?” Uncle Wu was stunned. He couldn’t help but ask, “Where are you going?”

Where are you going?

It was a simple question. Under ordinary circumstances, Su Yi would have responded casually.

But this time, he fell into a daze, as if his mind had been struck by lightning.

Where am I going?

That’s right. Where is the Path to Eternity I’m searching for?

He gazed blankly into the distant mountains. They were so shrouded in mist that they didn’t seem real.