Possessed!
This word was like a dagger to the heart, stabbing Su Hongli right in the chest. Memories of an incident he’d suppressed deep within his heart rose unbidden to the forefront of his mind.
This made him lose control, and his expression was unusually dark and somber.
The elder was instantly stunned; he hadn’t guessed that a mere conjecture would provoke such an intense reaction.
The elderly Daoist thought for a while, then said softly, “Fellow Daoist, this is mere conjecture. It’s possible there’s some other mystery behind this.”
Su Hongli was silent for a while, and his expression gradually returned to normal. His eyes were indifferent once more. “No, I agree with your conclusion. Even if he hasn’t been possessed, he undoubtedly has some secret. Otherwise, he couldn’t possibly have achieved such strength in such a short period of time.”
He then rose, placed his hands behind his back, and stared into the distant night sky. “I’ve always known that I couldn’t afford to leave Ye Yufei’s child alive. Alas, over the years, I’ve always held back on account for the fact that my blood flows through that unworthy descendant’s veins….”
His voice lowered, and his tone was increasingly grave, with an irrepressible chill. “I?stayed?my hand, and now, strange occurrences have indeed cropped up around him!”
The elder was visibly stunned. “Fellow Daoist, did you predict that something like this would happen?”
An overcast look appeared on Su Hongli’s face. “Daoist Brother, you don’t understand. All of this…. All of this is connected to that woman, Ye Yufei…..
“Forget it. All of that’s in the past. In any event, after what happened today, I’m increasingly convinced of my decision to slay that unworthy descendant of mine.”
As he said that last part, his tone turned even colder and more indifferent, with no further ripples of emotion.
The Daoist elder sighed. “This time, Su Yi has truly caused far too great a disaster. You originally intended to teach him a lesson and make him turn over a new leaf, but he…. Now, I’m afraid the entire Great Zhou is watching to see how the Su Family resolves this.”
Su Hongli returned to his seat, then jeered, “The common folk have no idea what it means to be a true cultivator. I don’t care in the least, regardless of whether they’re just here to watch the spectacle or whether they have other intentions.”
His back silently straightened, and his eyes flashed like lightning. “So what if I have to bear the unpleasant title of ‘the man who killed his own son’? If I can’t even handle something like this, how could I speak of pursuing the Dao?”
The elder’s heart shook. “Fellow Daoist, do you plan to intervene personally?”
Su Hongli said flatly, “I said it earlier: I’ll give him time to think things over, and his deadline is the fifth day of the fifth month. I naturally won’t go back on my word.”
It was then that an elderly attendant rushed in with a sealed long bronze box.
“Your Excellency, this was sent here by the Cloudlight Marquis, Shen Jiusong. It’s a letter from Young Master Su Yi, penned by the Heavenbrave Marquis just before his death.”
Su Hongli accepted the bronze box, opened it, and removed the letter. The message on the white paper was written in blood.
When he finished reading its contents, Su Hongli couldn’t help but snort. He casually passed the letter to the Daoist elder. “Daoist Brother, you should read this too.”
When the elder finished reading, he couldn’t help but furrow his brow. “He’ll leave for the Jade Capital on the fourth day of the fourth lunar month. On the fourth day of the fifth month, he’ll come to the Su Family to gather offerings, and on the fifth, he’ll sweep his mother’s grave? He… Does he really think he can do whatever he wants without reservation just because he can kill a Xiantian Martial Ancestor?”
Su Hongli said calmly, “Perhaps the boy has something else he’s relying on.”
The elder shook his head. “The Jade Capital is a city of crouching tigers and hidden dragons. Which influential figure doesn’t have a few tricks to rely on? Never mind the rest; I’m afraid His Majesty and State Preceptor Hong Shenshang won’t just sit back and watch Su Yi kick up a fuss.”
He actually saw Su Yi’s behavior as “kicking up a fuss”. From this, it was obvious how little regard the elder had for him.
“Or perhaps he sees you as just another one of the Ten Great Xiantian Martial Ancestors? He might well be foolish enough to think he can contend with you.” Having said this, the old man couldn’t help but laugh.
He knew better than anyone just how terrifying Su Hongli was!
“There’s no point in discussing all that. He openly and brazenly wrote me a letter, and he even gave me a month-long time limit. His goal is, unquestionably, to fight the Su Family here, in the Jade Capital, and see just how many means I have of countering him.” Su Hongli’s eyes filled with dense disdain. “It’s nothing but a childish trick.”
The elder in Daoist’s robes thought, then said, “Then how do you plan to respond?”
Su Hongli said casually, “Earlier, I gave that unworthy son of mine time to consider his next steps, but now, he’s turned around and given me a month right back. Fellow Daoist, what do you think I ought to do?”
The elder shook his head. “Your heart is unfathomable as the depths of the ocean; one such as myself cannot comprehend it.”
Su Hongli smiled. “He has his intentions, while I have my rules. We’ll proceed in accordance with my rules. Until the fifth day of the fifth month, he can kick up as much of a fuss in the Jade Capital as he likes. Even if he truly shows up at our door and throws a tantrum, I won’t execute him.”
He paused, and his gaze frosted over. When he next spoke, his tone carried austere murderous intent. “But on the fifth, I will surely end him!”
Reading between the lines, he was saying, “I said I’d kill you on the fifth, so I’m going to kill you on the fifth. I absolutely won’t kill you any earlier, and I absolutely won’t kill you any later.”
This was an absolutely contemptuous, confident way of thinking, but it was also the principle by which Su Hongli carried out his affairs.
The elder in Daoist robes naturally picked up on the implications, and for a time, his eyes filled with a strange light.?On the fifth day of the fifth month…
Are this father and son truly going to kill each other?
No, according to his letter, Su Yi will arrive at the Su Family estate on the morning of the fourth to gather offerings. That will inevitably lead to bloodshed between him and his father!
But then, Su Hongli said he’d end this on the fifth, so even if they fight on the fourth, he won’t strike the killing blow.
As he reached this conclusion, he suddenly realized something. He couldn’t help but say, “Fellow Daoist, don’t you think you and Su Yi are somewhat similar?”
Su Hongli was stunned. “Daoist Brother, what do you mean by that?”
The elder took a moment to consider his words, then said, “You are father and son, and the way you carry out your affairs is shockingly similar. You each have your rules, and you each told the other your decision, clearly and openly. You’re both extremely domineering, and neither of you is willing to play by the other’s rules.”
Su Hongli merely laughed dryly in response. “How could you possibly compare me to my unworthy descendant?”
He then furrowed his brow. “Daoist Brother, going forward, don’t bring this up again. I’ve already given him an opportunity. Unfortunately, he chose not to cherish it. Now, come the fifth day of the fifth month, I won’t?stay?my hand in the slightest, not even if he repents and kneels before me.”
It was obvious that he thought the elder’s words were an attempt to convince him to show mercy out of consideration for their familiar bond.
When he saw this, the elder couldn’t help but grimace and shake his head. Still, he said nothing more.
…..
Beneath the same night sky, in the Jade Capital’s imperial palace.
In a lavish and resplendent hall decorated with gold and jade, State Preceptor Hong Shenshang sat upright, clad in long gray robes.
He had a distinctive appearance, and he wore his hair up, with a jade hairpin to hold it in place. His face was clear and his expression was mild, and he stood perfectly straight, like a solitary pine growing from out of a cliff.
The most striking part about him was his eyes: shockingly, they glowed faint gold. Whenever he looked around, they contained an intimidating power, as if he could see directly into your heart and discern your secrets.
“Your Majesty, this matter is no longer simply the Su Family’s internal affair. The way I see it, we’d best dispatch our experts and have them investigate Su Yi’s secrets,” said Hong Shenshang. When he spoke, his voice boomed like a morning bell or evening drum, reverberating throughout the grand hall.
There was a throne at the center of the hall. A man in long, dark, wide-sleeved robes sat atop it. He was handsome, and his long hair hung loose. He looked young. .𝘯𝘵
However, as his gaze shifted, his eyes carried a hint of the vicissitudes of life.
This was the current emperor of the Great Zhou!
He sat on his throne, leisurely and at ease, and sighed. “The Great Zhou’s nine non-Zhou kings have been reduced to only seven. Our eighteen non-Zhou marquis have now become just fifteen. This Su Yi was previously unknown, but based on today’s battle alone, his reputation will shake the heavens, and his name will be on the lips of every martial artist in the nation. This is what it means to become famous overnight!”
Hong Shenshang said, “But it’s highly likely that he’ll be a harbinger of disaster and disrupt the order of the Great Zhou.”
Emperor Zhou’s smile cooled, and he pondered, “State Preceptor, do you also suspect that something strange has happened to Su Yi?”
Hong Shenshang nodded. “On the path of cultivation, possession isn’t overly rare, but to achieve it, one must be at least a Spirit Dao expert….”
“The Spirit Dao….” Emperor Zhou was briefly dazed. “Hasn’t the mundane world’s path to that level long since been severed….?”
“There are no Spirit Dao cultivators in the Great Zhou,” said the State Preceptor. “But that doesn’t mean they don’t exist elsewhere. Your Majesty, don’t forget the true hegemon of the Azure Continent, the Great Xia! Their territory is surely home to Spirit Dao cultivators!”
The Great Xia!
The emperor’s gaze was suddenly as sharp as a hawk’s.
There were over a hundred nations on the Azure Continent. Of them, just one flourished beyond all others. That was the Great Xia!
The Great Xia was the unquestioned hegemon of the continent. Its subordinate nations alone numbered over fifty.
Rumor had it that the Great Xia’s imperial family was a true cultivation faction, in every sense of the word. They apparently possessed power sufficient to intimidate the entire continent!
As the highest authority figure of the Great Zhou, Emperor Zhou was naturally well aware of how powerful a behemoth like the Great Xia was.
Compared to the Great Xia, both the Great Zhou and its neighbors, the Great Wei and the Great Qin, were like ordinary vassal states.
If not for the fact that the Great Zhou’s territory was tucked into a corner and that they were located far away from the Great Zhou, they likely would have been annexed a long time ago.
“But I’m afraid the Spirit Dao cultivators of the Great Xia would disdain possessing a mere youth of the Great Zhou. The way I see it, the strangeness surrounding Su Yi is likely due to something else,” continued Hong Shenshang. “If we can get to the bottom of this, we might well learn just what power Su Yi relied upon to grow strong enough to slay Xiantian Martial Ancestors in just two months.”
The emperor’s expression was suddenly unreadable. “State Preceptor, do you recall how, in his youth, Su Hongli’s cultivation grew by leaps and bounds upon a fortuitous encounter on Sifting Darkness Yao Mountain?
“Why is it that I feel Su Yi’s experience is much like his father’s was?”
Hong Shenshang’s expression turned somewhat strange. Before he could respond, the emperor made up his mind. “We’ll leave this matter for Su Hongli to resolve.”
He paused, then laughed. “Furthermore, I trust that Su Hongli will give me a satisfactory response.”
Hong Shenshang was silent.
He might have had a different view of the situation, but he was well aware that when the emperor of the Great Zhou made his decision, no one could change his mind!