First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 1395 - The Wind Rises Before the Coming Storm

Mo Yuanshan knelt, his face ashen, so ashamed and angry he wanted to die. He wilted like a defrosting eggplant.

The crowd’s emotions churned, and all of them were as silent as cicadas in winter.

They were astonished, but also bewildered. In the Mo Family, Mo Yuanshan had extraordinarily lofty seniority. The other higher-ups in attendance were his juniors.

None of them would have guessed that their ancestor would callously force him to kneel for the sake of Su Yi, an outsider!

Or that he’d go so far as to threaten him with death!

This was completely outside of their expectations.

Li Zhong gulped with great difficulty, his heart quivering uncontrollably. He could already guess just who it was who’d ordered Mo Yuanshan to kneel.

Mo Xinglin, an immortal!

There’s surely a reason for this, one I’m not qualified to learn. Otherwise, why would a Mo Family immortal go to such lengths for Su Yi? Li Zhong murmured to himself, visibly dazed.

But Mo Qingchou obviously felt a massive weight lift from her shoulders. Only she knew why Ancestor Xinglin was so furious.

Su Yi...really wasn’t someone the Mo Family could afford to offend!

“Fellow Daoist Su, my clansman was ignorant and foolish to have offended your dignity. I humbly request your understanding.” Mo Xinglin’s majestic voice rang out once more, this time with a hint of an apology. “This old man still cannot leave our ancestral ground. Otherwise, I would have apologized in person.”

The crowd was increasingly astonished.

This left the crowd increasingly astonished. Ancestor Xinglin would have apologized in person!?

The kneeling Mo Yuanshan was completely dumbstruck. He suddenly realized that something wasn’t right here. How could someone of Ancestor Xinglin’s status go to such lengths?

Su Yi thought for a moment, then said, “I naturally won’t take such minor unpleasantness to heart.”

“Haha, wonderful! Now I can rest assured.” Mo Xinglin’s laughter rang out. He too seemed as if a massive weight had lifted from his shoulders.

Mo Qingchou inwardly sighed in relief, then walked up and said with a smile, “Fellow Daoist Su, I’ve already arranged a place for you to rest. You can cultivate in peace in our lands until your duel with Hong Feiguan. I can promise that no one will disturb you any further.”

Su Yi inclined his head. “Many thanks.”

Mo Qingchou then led Su Yi out of the grand hall.

It was only after the two of them disappeared from view that the crowd reacted as if awakening from a dream and let out breaths they didn’t even realize they were holding.

Their expressions instantly turned complicated. Even now, they couldn’t wrap their heads around why Ancestor Xinglin attached such enormous importance to Su Yi. It was simply... unbelievable!

“You are not to divulge what happened tonight,” Mo Xinglin ordered. “Yuanshan, come see me.”

......

Verdant View Immortal Mountain.

Halfway up the mountain, there stood a simple, elegant pavilion. This was the residence Mo Qingchou had arranged for Su Yi.

“Fellow Daoist Su, is this place to your satisfaction?” Mo Qingchou asked with a faint smile.

She was a slender, graceful beauty in a man’s robes. Beneath the lamplit darkness, she had an additional bright, lively charm.

Su Yi nodded subtly, sat casually on a soft couch near a railing, then took a swig of wine and said, “I’m rather confused. With your Mo Family’s foundations, there should be no need for such a show of respect. Might you explain what’s going on?”

Mo Qingchou pursed her lips, her gaze hard to read. “Would you like to hear the truth?”

Su Yi laughed. “Of course.”

Mo Qingchou no longer beat around the bush. “These were Ancestor Xinglin’s orders. It’s because he knows something about Celestial Red Cloud...”

Before she could finish, Su Yi’s eyebrows rose. “It’s connected to Daoist Master Red Cloud?”

One called her celestial, the other, Daoist master.

But both of them knew they were referring to the same person.

“That’s right,” said Mo Qingchou, a strange light in her eyes. She said with an air of self-deprecation, “Until recently, I would never have guessed just how extraordinary and mysterious Celestial Red Cloud’s status was. I took her for someone like me, just another descendant of immortals who sought refuge in the Human Realm.

“But I’ve since learned that my status is far from comparable to hers. I’m afraid that even... even some of my ancestors aren’t comparable to her.”

This was someone who’d been invited to dine in the Central Palace at the Central Immortal Court’s Immortal Peach Banquet. How could her status possibly have been ordinary?

Even their ancestors hadn’t been qualified to dine in the Central Palace!

Su Yi was stunned. He would never have guessed that the Mo Family was treating him with such respect on account of Daoist Master Red Cloud.

It was truly unexpected.

The Mo Family was an Immortal Lord clan. According to Mo Qingchou, even their immortal ancestors’ statuses weren’t comparable to Daoist Master Red Cloud. Su Yi couldn’t help but find this surprising. He suddenly realized that he’d underestimated Daoist Master Red Cloud!

“What about you, Fellow Daoist? What’s your connection to Daoist Master Red Cloud?” whispered Mo Qingchou. Her eyes shone with irrepressible curiosity.

“She and I... have only crossed paths a few times, that’s all,” said Su Yi.

That's all? Mo Qingchou was stunned. “You didn’t know her before?”

Su Yi nodded. “That’s right.”

Mo Qingchou looked like she found this difficult to believe. “At the battle of the Violet Heavens Platform, she came in person to assist you. How could she have gone to such lengths for an ordinary acquaintance?”

But Su Yi disregarded this. “She came of her own volition. I didn’t ask her for help.”

“....” This only made Mo Qingchou all the more confused. How could someone of Celestial Red Cloud’s status go to such lengths unprompted? Why would she do this? Could it be that there’s something we don’t know about Fellow Daoist Su? A secret so great as to win him Celestial Red Cloud’s favor?

That has to be it!

Upon reaching this conclusion, the way Mo Qingchou looked at Su Yi shifted subtly.

When she first learned of Su Yi’s existence, she attempted to recruit him to her own ends. Looking back on this now, she felt her thinking was way too simplistic. She’d come dangerously close to making an enormous mistake!

Suddenly, Su Yi said, “If possible, I hope the Mo Family can do me a favor.”

Mo Qingchou was instantly startled to her senses. “Fellow Daoist, please speak directly.”

“I dare say with certainty that the Tailor is somewhere in the Flying Immortal Forbidden Zone. I’d like you to search for him,” said Su Yi. “Succeed or fail, I promise to break the Mo Family’s Cloud Soaring Realm experts’ curses before my duel in exchange.”

Mo Qingchou’s starry eyes lit up. “Done!”

She got to work that very night.

......

The Mo Family’s forbidden ground.

Mo Xinglin sat cross-legged within the jade hovering over the altar. Mo Yuanshan knelt not far away, his heart full of unease.

He took a deep breath, then launched into an explanation of his own accord. “Uncle, I wasn’t targeting Su Yi. I was simply considering the wellbeing of the clan. I thought that if something happened to Su Yi during his duel with Hong Feiguan, all of the hard work we’ve put into this would go to waste, and...”

Before he could finish, Mo Xinglin said, “You were mistaken right from the start.”

Mo Yuanshan stiffened, his expression full of uncertainty.

“Fellow Daoist Su has never owed us anything. We agreed to serve as guarantors of this duel on my orders, and we were the ones who took it upon ourselves to establish positive karma with him,” Mo Xinglin said with dignity. “We’d have no grounds to criticize him even if he never broke any of our curses.”

Mo Yuanshan’s expression shifted. “But Uncle, aren’t we doing this in hopes of receiving his aid?”

Mo Xinglin laughed coldly. “I can see that you resent being forced to kneel and apologize!”

Mo Yuanshan fell silent.

Mo Xinglin continued, “I called you here to tell you that Celestial Red Cloud stands behind Su Yi!

“Her origins are incomparably extraordinary and shrouded in mystery. It would be no exaggeration to describe them as unfathomable, but what I can say with certainty is that she isn’t someone our Mo Family can afford to offend!”

Mo Yuanshan felt as if he’d been struck by lightning. He was completely dumbstruck. So, all of this is connected to Celestial Red Cloud!!

He finally understood.

It was no wonder his uncle, Ancestor Xinglin, had demanded that he kneel. It wasn’t on Su Yi’s account, but rather, due to Celestial Red Cloud standing behind him!

“In four days, Fellow Daoist Su shall duel Hong Feiguan,” said Mo Xinglin. “When the time comes, numerous blind old fools will be eager to strike. They might not interfere with the duel itself, but as soon as the curtains fall... a storm is sure to follow!”

Mo Yuanshan said hurriedly, “Ancestor, are you saying that the Mo Family is to give its all to ensure Fellow Daoist Su’s safety?”

Mo Xinglin nodded. “We must do our utmost! Even if other factions target us as a result, the Mo Family must stand firmly beside Fellow Daoist Su!”

Mo Yuanshan nodded solemnly. “Understood!”

“When the time comes, accompany Qingchou. Consider it an opportunity to make amends,” said Mo Xinglin. “Even if this ends in violence, don’t hold back!”

......

Word of Su Yi’s arrival spread throughout the Flying Immortal Forbidden Zone by nightfall, drawing attention from every ancient orthodoxy.

Dark currents flowed beneath the surface.

“He’s finally here, is he? Excellent!” Fu Dongli’s eyes flashed with seething murderous intent.

“There’s no way he’ll leave this place alive this time!” Sect Leader Hua Qinghai of the Profound Divinity Sword House said with conviction.

They’d lost two of their Cloud Soaring experts during the battle of Goldendawn Divine Mountain. Su Yi killed Wei Changfu, while Li Zhong killed Ruan Caizhi on Su Yi’s account. The Profound Divinity Sword House thus already viewed Su Yi as their irreconcilable enemy.

Similar scenes took place among the experts of the Hidden Skies Immortal Sect, Illusory Sword Immortal Tower, Yellow Springs Demon Mountain, and other top ancient sects.

These sects hostile to Su Yi had all suffered major losses in the battles of the Violet Heavens Platform and Mount Clearmoon, and they hated Su Yi to the bone.

Of course, more importantly, all of them knew that this was the perfect opportunity to seize the power of reincarnation!

At the same time, word of Hong Feiguan leading a group of old monsters to attack the experts of Yellow Springs Demon Mountain spread, causing an enormous uproar.

This told every other major faction that Hong Feiguan was serious about this. He absolutely wouldn’t tolerate anyone taking action against Su Yi before their duel.

This was what it meant to shake the mountain to scare the tigers.

It was because of this that as eager as these factions were to attack, they refrained from taking reckless action. All of them chose to endure in silence instead.

At the very least, they wouldn’t make trouble for Su Yi until after his duel with Hong Feiguan.

That very night.

The Mo Family’s forces got to work, ordering the clans and factions subordinate to them to seek out the Tailor’s whereabouts with all their might.

The wind was rising before the coming storm.

But it was as if none of this had anything to do with Su Yi. He just sat there, drinking until he got drunk and fell asleep.

Oftentimes, nothing in the Human Realm was better than getting drunk.

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