Chapter 693: Heart’s Blood and a Sword-Tempering Stone

A jailer!

This wasn’t Su Yi’s first time hearing the term.

The Divine Monarch of Tragedy had been captured by someone who called himself a jailer in the Sixth Star Ruin. The jailer imprisoned him in a place called the Den of Caterpillars, where his cultivation base and life worse were eaten away, day and night.

Ye Xun had encountered another jailer in the Glittering Ghost Domain, and he only barely escaped with his life. Although he survived, all that remained was a portion of his soul.

Su Yi suspected that the jailer Ye Xun ran into was the same terrifying creature confined in the depths of Meteor Abyss.

Now, he was hearing word of the jailers once more, but this time, it was connected to the owner of the pawnshop!

“Your Excellency.”

Suddenly, a voice emanated from the abacus. “Are… Are you perhaps worried about our mistress’s safety?”

Su Yi froze, stunned.

Before he could respond, another black paper crane appeared on the scale’s plate.

The counterweight swayed, and a voice emanated from it. “Your Excellency, our mistress said that if we sensed you were worried about her, we should give you this letter.”

.

“....” Su Yi remained silent, but inwardly, he cried out,?How could I possibly worry about that madwoman?

Setting aside how powerful her cultivation base was, the mysterious and unfathomable treasures on her person were more than enough for her to do whatever she wanted without fear.

If anything, he ought to be worried about the jailers!

Based on his understanding of the “Will of Heaven Sect”, the jailers all had one thing in common: all of them could control the power of the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness.

However, Su Yi had clashed with the Prohibition’s power before, and he knew that with the means at that madwoman’s disposal, she could completely disregard its threat!

Su Yi picked up the second black paper crane and unfolded it. There, he saw another message:

“Ol’ Crook Su, so, I guess you have a bit of a conscience after all! I’m headed into the starry skies. If I discover that higher path of the sword you’re after, I’ll naturally get my hands on it.

“Then, if you want to hear what I’ve learned, you’ll have to fold me ten thousand paper cranes in exchange!”

When he saw this, Su Yi laughed.

In his past life, he once set fire to this very pawnshop. Although he didn’t destroy the place, he did burn quite a few world-class treasures, as well as thousands of the owner’s folded paper cranes.

The madwoman didn’t spare the lost matchless treasures a second thought, but she was very upset about the burned paper cranes, and she’d fought him over it many times over…

When he saw her message, Su Yi couldn’t help but sigh.

If I’d known that madwoman loved her paper cranes so much, I wouldn’t have burned them all…

Su Yi flicked his fingers, and this letter disintegrated into ash too.

He then looked at the Heart-Inquiring Bell. “Why did you approve of that sword cultivator earlier?”

“Your Excellency, it’s because I sensed his unusually powerful sword heart. Even in the Nine Provinces of the Wilds, it would be first-rate,” said the spirit of the bell. She stammered, “I couldn’t bear to see it destroyed, so I called upon my power to bring him back from the brink of a mental breakdown.”

Su Yi nodded, then looked at the old pawnbroker. “What was in that bronze box just now?”

The old pawnbroker said hurriedly, “A long, long time ago, not long after the Blood Temple Sword Emperor broke into the Imperial Realm, he pawned his whetstone. It had accompanied him for many years, and it was thus capable of tempering both a sword’s edge and its sword qi. To sword cultivators, it’s a rare and precious treasure. Furthermore, it’s possible to glean enlightenment from it and learn from the Blood Temple Sword Emperor’s insights into the Dao of the Sword.”

Su Yi couldn’t help but feel surprised.

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

The Blood Temple Sword Emperor was one of the Wilds’ three Sword Emperors of the yao path. His attainments in the Dao of the Sword would have been astonishing no matter which era he’d appeared in.

This whetstone was naturally no ordinary precious treasure.

“I wouldn’t have guessed it, but you’re actually rather generous.” Su Yi glanced at the Scale of Judgment.

All of the?pawnshop’s?transactions went through the scale.

A respectful voice emanated from within the scale. “Your Excellency, since that guest was your friend, I naturally couldn’t be stingy with him.”

“He’s no friend of mine.” Su Yi shook his head, but didn’t explain. “You might think you’ve suffered a grievous loss by giving him the Blood Temple Sword Emperor’s whetstone, but in doing so, he’s been touched by the Blood Temple Sword Emperor’s karma. If he benefits from it, it’ll implicate him. Don’t forget; the Blood Temple Sword Emperor has no shortage of enemies.”

Here, the old pawnbroker interjected, “Your Excellency, the Blood Temple Sword Emperor… has already passed away.”

Su Yi’s gaze focused, and he exclaimed, “Who killed him?”

The old man lowered his head; it seemed the pawnbroker dared not look him in the eye. “It was your third disciple, His Excellency Huo Yao.”

Su Yi’s brow furrowed. “So, it was that traitor.”

He most certainly hadn’t forgotten. Just before he reincarnated, Qing Tang mocked her older apprentice brother, saying Huo Yao had run off with their sect-protecting treasure, the Abstruse Primordial God Mirror!

It was because the sect lacked this treasure that many of the cards he’d left in reserve prior to his reincarnation lost their effect. This made it possible for external enemies to invade….

“When did Huo Yao become an Emperor?” asked Su Yi.

He had nine legacy disciples. Of them, the third, Huo Yao, was particularly unusual. He was born from a Demonic Womb, and although his talent was incomparably heaven-defying, his talent meant that the bottleneck he encountered at the peak of the Spirit Dao was as grand as the heavens themselves.

When Su Yi reincarnated, Huo Yao had yet to break through.

Who’d have thought Huo Yao had already grown strong enough to kill a peak yao expert like the Blood Temple Sword Emperor?

This truly exceeded Su Yi’s expectations.

“Your Excellency, I’m afraid this old man doesn’t know when His Excellency Huo Yao proved his Dao and entered the Imperial Realm. I just know that three hundred years ago, he and two other Imperial experts of the Abstruse Force Alliance joined forces to kill the Blood Temple Sword Emperor,” the old pawnbroker said in a low voice.

The Abstruse Force Alliance was the faction Su Yi’s eldest disciple, Pi Mo, had established. It consisted of numerous factions, and they were vying for dominion over everything beneath the heavens, all in Su Xuanjun’s name.

Su Yi had long since learned this from his seventh disciple, Xuan Ning.

“Why did Huo Yao want to kill the Blood Temple Sword Emperor?”

The old man said gravely, “Rumor has it that, during a discussion of the Dao, the Blood Temple Sword Emperor mocked His Excellency Huo Yao to his face, saying that the Abstruse Force Alliance was obviously just a bunch of traitors, but they were using your name to vie for power. He called their behavior vile and despicable. This infuriated His Excellency Huo Yao, ultimately leading to the Blood Temple Sword Emperor’s death.”

Su Yi couldn’t help but laugh coldly. “Huo Yao, the little wretch, has actually become quite capable. One wrong word, and he’d dare attack an Emperor!”

Here, he abruptly lost interest. “Forget it. All of that happened in the Wilds. I’ll naturally tie up these loose ends when I go back.”

Now that he thought about it, all of this almost seemed fated.

The third disciple of his past life, Huo Yao, had killed the Blood Temple Sword Emperor. Now, the Emperor’s whetstone had landed in Dongguo Feng’s hands.

If Dongguo Feng, who was about to receive the Blood Temple Sword Emperor’s benevolence, learned of the Emperor’s death, he was sure to avenge him.

A sword cultivator who sees me as my enemy is highly likely to go after my traitorous third disciple… Hah… Truly interesting!

Su Yi was well aware that, given Dongguo Feng’s nature, he would feel indebted to the Blood Temple Sword Emperor and repay his benevolence!

Dongguo Feng might be nowhere near a match for Huo Yao now, but… what about in the future?

Su Yi drained another cup of wine, rose from his seat, and said, “I’m leaving.”

With that, he placed his hands behind his back, turned, and left.

“Your Excellency, please wait!” the pawnbroker cried out.

He then rushed up, holding a jade box aloft in both hands. He respectfully offered it to Su Yi.

“Your Excellency, the mistress said that should we encounter you, we were to give you this treasure just as you were about to leave.”

Su Yi was stunned. “What’s in the box?”

The old pawnbroker shook his head. “A treasure the mistress left behind? Without permission, I dare not look.”

“Oh,” said Su Yi. He grabbed the box, then walked off.

“Take care, Your Excellency!” The old pawnbroker and the three treasures all bade farewell.

Su Yi’s voice emanated from afar. “Don’t leak word of me appearing on the Azure Continent.”

“Got it!” All four of them solemnly assented.

It was only after Su Yi faded completely from view that a massive weight seemed to lift from the old pawnbroker’s shoulders. He let out a long breath of turbid air.

Then, he glanced askance at the Heart-Inquiring Bell and snorted coldly. “You aren’t?the least bit kind, huh? Now that he’s gone, tell me: why did the pawnshop appear in the Azure Continent?”

The old pawnbroker thought he’d been tricked!

“The mistress said that when His Excellency Su’s seventh disciple, Xuan Ning, left the Little Western Paradise, Buddhist Master Inkstone Heart requested a drop of his heart’s blood,” said the Heart-Inquiring Bell, swinging as its spirit spoke. “When the mistress went to visit Buddhist Master Inkstone Heart, she obtained the blood and entrusted it to me.

“Throughout the years, our pawnshop has traversed numerous different planes of existence. I’ve continuously kept tabs on the blood droplet’s aura. When we reached the Azure Continent, I was immediately certain that Xuan Ning was in this world!”

Only then did the old pawnbroker understand, but his expression was a bit strange. “Why didn’t you tell His Excellency Su all that?”

The Heart-Inquiring Bell stammered, “At the time, I… I was so scared that I felt like I was going to die. I… I didn’t get the chance to speak.”

“.....”

The old pawnbroker was speechless, but when he considered that Su Yi had almost burned the place down last time, he understood.

“Then why did you choose that sword cultivator?”

“That sword cultivator’s temperament is extremely suited to the Blood Temple Sword Emperor’s whetstone. I thought we could do business with him, which is why I summoned him.” The Heart-Inquiring Bell said, “But I wouldn’t have guessed I’d draw His Excellency Su over too…”

“So that’s it.” The old pawnbroker nodded, then clucked his tongue regretfully. “It’s a shame. We sure let that sword cultivator take advantage of us.”

With that, he waved. “Come on, let’s leave this world right away. I most certainly don’t want that Su guy showing up at our door again!”

Before long, the pawnshop had disappeared into thin air.

Meanwhile, in the distant darkness, Su Yi watched it vanish before looking away and fixing his attention on the jade box in his hands.

Why would that madwoman want to give him anything?

What was in the jade box?

Su Yi thought for a moment, then lifted the lid.