First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 1041 - The Autumn Waters Assembly

According to Yue Yunshan, the Red Lotus Cult had already started taking action.

This peak Demonist faction of the Profound Sky Realm had invited a group of the realm’s top experts to a conference on Autumn Waters Cliff.

Furthermore, three days from now, they planned to host the Autumn Waters Assembly!

When the time came, all the Yue Family needed to do was hand over Yue Changtian and Yue Shichan. Then, the Red Lotus Cult would set aside their grudges and let bygones be bygones.

But if they refused, the Red Lotus Cult would declare war against the Yue Family during the Autumn Waters Assembly!

“How does the Yue Family plan to respond?” Su Yi asked after learning the situation.

Yue Yunshan took a deep breath and said gravely, “There is absolutely no way we’ll hand anyone over. If we did, how could we face the rest of the Profound Sky Realm with our heads held high?”

Su Yi said thoughtfully, “Does that mean you came here to retrieve that bronze box in preparation for this impending disaster?”

Yue Yunshan nodded. “We’ve already decided to test our strength against the Red Lotus Cult at the Autumn Waters Assembly!”

It all made sense now.

Neither the Red Lotus Cult nor the Yue Family wanted to cast aside all pretenses of cordiality. A direct, full-force confrontation would lead to massive casualties on both sides, and they wanted to avoid that.

That was why the Red Lotus Cult had decided to convene an Autumn Waters Assembly, as well as the reason they’d invited a group of experts. They wanted to pressure the Yue Family into handing Yue Changtian and Yue Shichan over.

If the Red Lotus Cult were really set on taking this opportunity to destroy the entire Yue Family, they wouldn’t have needed to resort to this. They could have just declared war.

Similarly, the Yue Family’s situation obviously didn’t bode well. If they really weren’t afraid of the Red Lotus Cult causing trouble, they could have simply ignored their calls for an assembly!

The Yue Family’s situation was such that they’d even sent Yue Yunshan into space to retrieve their ancestor’s bronze box. It was obvious how dire their predicament was.

“If you test your strength against them and lose, what will you do?” asked Su Yi.

Yue Yunshan said emphatically, “We can lower our heads, we can apologize, and we can compensate them with wealth or treasures, but… we absolutely won’t be handing anyone over!”

“And if they insist?” Su Yi pressed.

Yue Yunshan fell silent.

A little while later, his expression filled with self-deprecation. “To tell the truth, we’ve already considered this possibility, and… Changtian already made a decision.”

He had an utterly somber, conflicted look on his face.

Su Yi realized that something wasn’t quite right, and he frowned. “Don’t tell me Yue Changtian plans to step forth and take full responsibility for everything?”

Yue Yunshan nodded. “Changtian decided that for himself, but that’s only our plan if worst comes to worst. For now, all we can do is try our utmost to ensure that never comes to pass.”

By the time he finished speaking, concern was written all over his face.

“Yue Changtian’s got guts, but what about Miss Shichan?” asked Su Yi.

Yue Yunshan patiently explained, “After that disaster last year, Changtian worried that the Red Lotus Cult would target her, so he called on his various connections and got her into the Wilds’ top Daoist sect, the Nine Extremes Profound Capital.

“She’s already one of their legacy disciples. If she’s cultivating in the Nine Extremes Profound Capital, she’ll be fine. She’d be fine even if the Yue Family met with far greater disaster.”

Here, Su Yi finally relaxed.

He’d been suspicious that if the Yue Family couldn’t withstand the Red Lotus Cult’s pressure, they’d give in and offer Yue Shichan up.

It wasn’t at all impossible. If sacrificing an individual could buy peace for the rest of the clan, most clans would do just that.

Fortunately, it seemed the Yue Family had no intention of doing that to Yue Shichan.

Furthermore, it was obvious that Yue Changtian doted on Yue Shichan. Last year, he’d already started paving a path for her!

With the Red Lotus Cult’s accumulated power, they naturally wouldn’t dare make trouble for Yue Shichan in the Nine Extremes Profound Capital.

After all, the Red Lotus Cult was merely the top Demonist faction of the Profound Sky Realm, while the Nine Extremes Profound Capital was the greatest Daoist faction in all of the Wilds!

They were as far apart as mud and clouds.

After understanding all this, Su Yi had already decided. He was going to help the Yue Family!

They’d chosen against trading Yue Shichan’s life for peace. This had already won them Su Yi’s approval.

Besides, Yue Changtian was Yue Shichan’s father. Last year, the forces of the Red Lotus Cult hurt her badly, and Yue Changtian personally slew several of their older-generation experts to avenge her. He hadn’t simply endured in silence in the name of peace.

“When we arrive in the Profound Sky Realm, I’ll accompany you to the Autumn Waters Assembly,” said Su Yi.

Yue Yunshan looked at him in disbelief. “Sir, don’t tell me you… plan to help our Yue Family!?”

After learning of the Yue Family’s predicament, anyone else would have feared nothing more than failing to escape in time.

Actually, quite a few factions on good terms with the Yue Family had chosen to distance themselves of late. They either turned a blind eye to their ally’s predicament or they urged the Yue Family to endure and give up Yue Changtian and Yue Shichan!

The fickleness of interpersonal affairs was on full display.

Even if you’d hit Yue Yunshan over the head, he would never have guessed that this young man of mysterious origins, the one who called himself Yue Shichan’s friend, would insist on helping them even after understanding their predicament!

“When you get down to it, I’m a guide of sorts to Miss Shichan in her pursuit of the Dao of the Sword. We aren’t master and apprentice, but we aren’t ordinary friends, either. Since I’ve learned of her family’s troubles, I naturally can’t remain uninvolved,” Su Yi said casually.

Yue Yunshan looked moved, and his expression filled with delight. He’d already witnessed Su Yi’s terrifying combat prowess. He could kill old monsters of the late-stage Profound Illumination Realm with ease! Having his help would naturally be wonderful!

But before long, Yue Yunshan calmed down. When the Red Lotus Cult convened the Autumn Waters Assembly, they’d most likely dispatch Profound Serenity Realm old monsters!

This thought instantly doused Yue Yunshan’s delight, and he sighed. “I’m endlessly grateful for your good intentions, but this storm is far too perilous. If I let you get swept into it, I won’t be able to rest at ease…”

Before he could finish, Su Yi laughed. “I understand what you’re trying to say, so I’ll speak directly. In the eyes of the Yue Family, this is an enormous disaster, but in my eyes, it’s just a minor inconvenience. I can solve this with ease.”

A ‘minor inconvenience’? That he can solve with ease?

Yue Yunshan was dumbstruck. He couldn’t even imagine what kind of confidence Su Yi needed to be able to say something like that.

Had Su Yi said this before that astonishing display of terrifying combat prowess, Yue Yunshan would have dismissed this young man as a madman!

“Believe me or don’t. When the Autumn Waters Assembly begins, all will become clear,” said Su Yi. He felt a bit frustrated.

In the world of cultivation, you could change and obscure your presence, and your appearance, too. Some powerful old monsters looked like youths. Women who’d lived too many years to count often maintained their youthful beauty in perpetuity.

But there was no changing one’s bone age.

Su Yi was now nineteen years old. He didn’t just look young; even his bone age was extraordinarily youthful.

Combined with a presence as calm as flowing clouds, it was easy for others to mistake him for an ignorant greenhorn of a junior. This made it easy for those old monsters to overlook and underestimate him.

Take what happened earlier. Old Devil Blood Owl took Su Yi for a fatty lamb because he’d sensed something strange about him. He was so young, but he was exploring the stars alone. The sheer strangeness of it had piqued Blood Owl’s curiosity…

Of course, in the end, his curiosity cost him his life.

There was no doubt about it. In Yue Yunshan’s eyes, Su Yi might well be strong, but his strength wouldn’t amount to much if he got swept into the Yue Family’s storm.

He was worried that if Su Yi got involved, he’d get hurt.

But now that Su Yi had made his position so clear, Yue Yunshan didn’t refuse. “Very well. I’ll take you with me, but if we encounter any unexpected danger, I’ll be sure to do everything in my power to see you off safely and prevent our family’s problems from implicating you!”

He spoke with firm conviction.

Su Yi couldn’t help but sigh. The Yue Family’s conduct is really quite extraordinary. They’re worthy of my assistance.

……

Two days later.

The Profound Sky Realm.

As one of the Wilds’ thirty-three subsidiary worlds, the Profound Sky Realm was home to factions of all stripes. Confucianists, Buddhists, and Demonists coexisted, maintaining a tripartite balance of power.

Them aside, there were Daoists, ghost cultivators, talisman masters, and factions of other traditions too.

Of course, since the Profound Sky Realm was just another of the Wilds’ subsidiary worlds, it wasn’t at all comparable to the Wilds. It was like the gap between the Great Zhou and the Great Xia. One was a tiny, remote, mundane nation, while the other presided over the entire continent.

The Profound Sky Realm… I wonder if the old glutton of Profound Sky Academy is still around. When Su Yi saw the Profound Sky Realm in the distance, he couldn’t help but reminisce.

Entering the Profound Sky Realm meant entering the Wilds’ territory! And Su Yi had visited the Profound Sky Realm in his past life too.

But the only thing that left a deep impression on him was the anonymous old-timer living in Profound Sky Academy.

He was a living fossil of the Confucianist path, and his cultivation base was deep and unfathomable. However, he was a glutton. He’d even once said that he’d rather go without books to read than eat a meal without meat.

But although few in Profound Sky Academy knew it, the short old man who’d silently guarded the doors over the years was a Confucian expert of startling seniority.

Su Yi had grown accustomed to calling him “the old glutton.”

Thinking back to his past life, Su Yi had once instructed his second disciple, Jing Xing, to stop by Profound Sky Academy while out exploring.

And Jing Xing indeed went. Alas, the bookworm was too fixated on debating theories and principles with the academy’s scholars to realize that there was an ancestor-level Confucianist like the old glutton around.

Later, when Su Yi and the old glutton conversed, the old glutton appraised Jing Xing as a good seedling highly suited for scholarly work, except that he had no sense. Should the day come that he came to his senses and understood the principle that “it was better not to read at all than to trust everything you read blindly”, Jing Xing was sure to establish a place for himself amongst the world’s scholars.

Su Yi smiled noncommittally in response to this evaluation.

Jing Xing was kind, generous, modest, and polite. He disdained killing, and he preferred convincing others with virtue. This was what Su Yi most admired about him.

Would Jing Xing ever “come to his senses”? Maybe, maybe not, but Su Yi had never demanded this of him.

When I visit the Profound Sky Realm, I could actually pay Profound Sky Academy a visit. If the old glutton’s still there, he’ll probably know where Jing Xing is, thought Su Yi.

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