First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 1374 - Collapse!

Su Yi took a deep, hard look at the Bookkeeper and said, “I can’t trust you.”

The Bookkeeper stiffened, but before he could say anything, Su Yi continued, “But I don’t mind keeping you around.”

“What...” The Bookkeeper’s mind practically went blank. He felt a bit befuddled. He doesn’t trust me, but he’s still willing to keep me by his side. Why?

Su Yi quickly gave him his answers. “I want to kill the Tailor, and you were once his confidant. If I keep you close, you’ll function as bait.”

The Bookkeeper fell silent, but he quickly accepted it. So what if I’ve become no more than bait? It’s enough that I’ll be under the Temple Master’s protection!

“Can you still maintain control over Four Seas Tower?” asked Su Yi.

“I can!” the Bookkeeper said without hesitation. “Four Seas Tower has bases across the stars, all of them run by people I trained personally. Over the years, they’ve helped me conduct business, but more than that, they’ve helped me gather intelligence from other star realms.

“However, they’re entirely unaware that I once served the Tailor. So long as I live, there’s no way they’ll betray me, not over this.”

Su Yi nodded in satisfaction. “Excellent. Going forward, you are to maintain leadership of Four Seas Tower.”

The Bookkeeper finally sighed in relief. “Your Excellency, please rest assured. Going forward, I’ll do everything in my power to assist you!”

With that, he raised the jade box. “Please accept this treasure!”

Su Yi accepted the box, but didn’t open it. “What kind of treasure is inside?”

The Bookkeeper explained at top speed, “It’s a worn-out bronze furnace about the size of a fist. Its surface is corroded, and it looks ordinary, but it contains markings of the Immortal Dao, and immortal light frequently rises within it like mist, creating a soothing fragrance.

“Furthermore, it’s full of spirituality. I once inserted a batch of Transcendent spirit medicines into the bronze furnace, and there was no need for me to do anything else. Within seconds, it produced a top-quality spirit pill. The pill alone was shockingly valuable.

“A few days ago, I auctioned the pill off. Even several revenants of illustrious backgrounds fought over it. In the end, it sold for an astronomical price.”

The Bookkeeper sighed. “It’s just a pity. My experience is coarse and limited. I cannot discern this treasure’s origins. I tried investigating it with my divine sense, but I couldn’t see through any of its secrets.”

Su Yi’s heart stirred. Don’t tell me it's a sentient immortal furnace?

Meanwhile, the Bookkeeper continued, “But I can say with certainty that this treasure is extraordinary! Over the years, I’ve gotten my hands on various other immortal treasures, but most were in pieces, and their spirituality was severely damaged. None were particularly valuable. But this bronze furnace is different. It’s got a hole in it, and the surface is a bit patinated, but it’s otherwise undamaged. Your Excellency, you’ll understand as soon as you open the box.”

This description had piqued Su Yi’s curiosity, and he wanted to open the box to see just what the furnace looked like.

But then, he recalled the Sword of the Nine Hells within his sea of consciousness, and he immediately rejected the idea.

Opening the box to reveal an immortal treasure to the sword would be like tossing a meat bun to a dog; there was no way he’d get the furnace back.

“I’ll open it and have a look later,” said Su Yi, putting away the box. “Get up. There’s something I need you to do for me.”

“Please tell me what I can do for you, Your Excellency,” the Bookkeeper rose and said respectfully.

“I need a quiet place. It shouldn’t be too far away, but it’d be best if it were out amongst the mountains and waters,” said Su Yi.

Before, Universal Emptiness Temple had stood in a barren wilderness of the Fan Province, a place so remote that not even birds could be bothered to shit there. Human cultivators seldom visited.

It was so remote that even if Su Yi wanted to take a stroll through the red dust of mortality, he’d have to fly for ages first.

He had the temple with him right now, so he wanted to find a new place for it. That would save him the trouble of running back and forth.

Four Seas Tower’s base was called the City of Heavenly Abundance. It was the most prosperous city of the Middle Province, one of the three greatest cities of the Divine Capital Star Realm!

“That’s simple,” said the Bookkeeper. “About one hundred and eighty miles from the City of Heavenly Abundance, there’s a place called Mount Clearmoon. It’s a famous blessed ground, but it fell under the Four Seas Tower’s control not long ago. If you need it, you can take up residence there right now.”

Su Yi straightforwardly agreed. To a World King like him, one hundred and eighty miles was nothing. He could traverse that distance in a flash.

He and the Bookkeeper set off for Mount Clearmoon that very night.

......

The peak was covered in lush bamboo forests, and the air was rife with spirituality. Everywhere he looked, Su Yi saw flowing water and springs. It really did seem like an otherworldly pure land.

There were old-fashioned pavilions and halls built on the mountain’s slopes, and clearings planted with medicine and flowers.

This had originally been a place for prominent members of the Four Seas Tower to cultivate in peace, but as soon as the Bookkeeper arrived, he ordered them all to leave that very night.

When he learned that Su Yi had no need of servants, the Bookkeeper sent them packing too. Before long, he’d emptied the entire mountain out.

After taking Su Yi on a tour of the mountain, the Bookkeeper said respectfully, “Your Excellency, I’ll stay at the guesthouse at the foot of the mountain. If you need anything, please go ahead and command me.”

Su Yi nodded, then stood near the cliff and waved his sleeves.

Boom!

Universal Emptiness Temple appeared out of nowhere, landing gently in the valley below.

“Going forward, this is a forbidden ground. You are not to approach without permission,” said Su Yi.

“Understood!” The Bookkeeper solemnly assented. Inwardly, he clicked his tongue. I would never have guessed the Temple Master was carrying a grand old temple like that around!

But had he been there to see Illuminating Emptiness scampering about like mad with the whole building on his back, he wouldn’t have found this at all strange.

“Your Excellency, tomorrow at dawn, I’ll deliver the Transcendent treasures I spoke of. Do you... need anything else?” asked the Bookkeeper.

“Wait a moment,” ordered Su Yi.

The Bookkeeper was stunned, but he didn’t ask any more questions.

Soon, they heard whooshing from beneath the distant dome of heaven. Two figures streaked through the air and landed not far away. One transformed into a long-robed man with a sword on his back, the other into a barefoot monk in hemp clothes and a conical hat.

These were none other than Sword Immortal Qingshi and the Universal Emptiness Sword Buddha.

Their aura alone was enough to make the Bookkeeper gasp. He could tell that both of them were Cloud Soaring Realm powerhouses!

“Fellow Daoist, both of us arrived one step too late,” said Sword Immortal Qingshi, looking a bit ashamed. He clasped his fist. “We let you down. We humbly request your forgiveness.”

The Universal Emptiness Sword Buddha clasped his fist and inclined his head. He looked a bit embarrassed too.

“You needn’t act like this,” said Su Yi. He then explained the situation in full detail.

Only then did Sword Immortal Qingshi and the Universal Emptiness Sword Buddha understand his intentions. Both of them instantly sighed in relief. They then proceeded to explain their experiences in detail.

Su Yi wasn’t at all surprised to learn that Wen Yong and the Hired Blade were already dead. He just said, “How about we cultivate quietly for a while?”

Naturally, neither Sword Immortal Qingshi nor the Universal Emptiness Sword Buddha had any objections.

Su Yi then introduced both of them to the Bookkeeper, and they headed straight for Universal Emptiness Temple.

After running like mad all night and overcoming a grand battle, Su Yi needed to relax.

......

Meanwhile, beneath the same night sky.

The Hidden God Lands.

A curtain of light hovered in front of the Tailor. The death of the hidden boss of the Blissful Heavens, the Hired Blade, was reflected upon it.

The Tailor raised a cup of tea, took a sip, and sighed. “Child, I was your master, but there was no other choice. You knew too much. Against a foe as powerful as the Temple Master, I had no choice but to silence you.”

Before long, yet another curtain of light floated into the air. This one reflected the Wen Family estates and Wen Yong’s death.

The Tailor held his teacup, a hint of grief on his brow. “Wen Yong, I’m sorry. We’ve been friends for all these years, but there was no other choice. If you have to blame someone, blame the Temple Master for pushing me to this. I had no choice but to resort to underhanded means to defend myself.”

He then drained his cup once more, and his expression regained its typical unflappable calm.

Thus far, everything had remained entirely within his control. He felt some grief and frustration, but that was all. This could in no way shake his heart.

After he finished his second cup of tea, a third curtain of light appeared. This one reflected everything that had happened in Four Seas Tower.

From Qu He and the Bookkeeper’s conversation to Su Yi’s sudden appearance and Zero-Seven decapitating Qu He in a single slash...

All of these scenes were reflected in full detail.

It was only after Hidden God Guard Zero-Seven died that the curtain of light dissipated.

The Tailor stood there in a daze, then sank into a lasting silence.

Bang!

Suddenly, he flung his teacup to the ground, shattering it. His face was incomparably ashen.

“You bastard! You bastard!!”

The man behind the curtains shouted in an uncharacteristic loss of composure. His eyes bulged, and his expression was contorted and hideous. His thin, bony chest heaved violently.

He’d experienced far, far too many setbacks lately, and the weight of them was crushing.

The deathtrap he’d carefully arranged at the Violet Heavens Platform had ended in the annihilation of every combatant involved except his target.

At Goldendawn Divine Mountain, the Yun Family had the Profound Divinity Sword House behind them. They were well prepared, too. That should have been enough to deal Su Yi a serious setback.

But in the end, the Yun Family suffered a crushing defeat instead.

The Yun Family’s defeat put him in a completely passive position. He had no choice but to sever his last three connections to the outside world.

This series of setbacks was bad enough already.

Who’d have thought that tonight, one of his long-hidden trump cards, the Hidden God Guard Zero-Seven, and the elderly servant who’d accompanied him for years, Qu He, would meet with disaster?

The Tailor was almost too angry to see straight. Anger built up in his chest, but it had nowhere to go. In the end, he actually coughed up a mouthful of blood.

“It took countless years of planning to place my ‘eyes’ and ‘hands’ all across the stars, yet now... all of it has come to ruin!!” The Tailor’s voice was raspy. He gnashed his teeth so hard they almost shattered.

He was the man behind the curtain, yet now, he’d lost all ability to influence the outside world, and he’d lost his informants. For the first time in his life, he felt indescribable frustration and dejection.

It was as if someone had poked out his eyes and cut off his ears!

All he saw was endless darkness, and he heard nothing but silence!

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