When he heard Su Yi’s words, Situ Gong’s eyes narrowed slightly, and his cold, bloodthirsty aura intensified.
The young man in the indigo shirt, Li Gui, shuddered. His heart surged with irrepressible terror.
The imposing aura of a Xiantian Martial Ancestor was unquestionably terrifying, to the point that they felt the urge to flee for their lives.
The golden-robed man beside him felt much the same; terror and uncertainty were written all over his face.
Miss Xiaohe pursed her lips, but she was much calmer by comparison. Her bright eyes stared at Su Yi with immense curiosity; it seemed she wanted to know just who this young man who dared face down the Bloody Butcher Knife was.
Throughout the hall, the atmosphere was tense and oppressive.
After a moment of silence, Situ Gong burst into laugher, his gaze deep and solemn.
“I won’t lie to you, we, too, are here to seize your good fortune. But we’re different from the others: we’d like to gamble with you.”
Su Yi took a sip of wine, then put the gourd away and asked with great interest, “What do you mean?”
Situ Gong said, “I’m here with my friends, four in total. All of us have climbed over a mountain of corpses and emerged from a sea of blood. Yet all of us, me included, have been trapped in the Anāsrava Realm for years, unable to realize any further breakthroughs….”
He said this, then sighed, a hint of barely discernable somberness in his gaze.
Reaching the Anāsrava Realm made him what the people called a Xiantian Martial Ancestor. He’d cleaned his flesh and marrow, undergoing a form of rebirth and nourishing xiantian qi. He was only one step away from becoming an Earthly Immortal.
It was just one step, but it was like an uncrossable chasm!
This was especially true in a mundane realm like this. Those who broke through that barrier and stepped into the Origin Dao were as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns.
Of those who succeeded, some had fortuitous encounters, while others were blessed by fortune.
Less than one in one hundred Earthly Immortals got there through sheer hard work alone!
Situ Gong suddenly straightened his back, his cold, sinister aura increasingly imposing as he stared directly at Su Yi. “We hope that whatever stroke of fortune you’re hiding will help us break through. Thus, we’ve decided to gamble. We’ll determine victory and defeat through a duel.
“If we lose, we’ll each give you ten tier-four spirit stones. If you lose, you’ll offer up your good fortune. How about it?”
When he finished, he watched Su Yi in silence.
When they saw this, the elder in ornate robes, Wen Zhongyuan, was dumbstruck.?Five Xiantian Martial Ancestors have come for just one young man??Isn’t that a bit too much?
If he hadn’t heard and seen this for himself, he wouldn’t dare believe that such an unreasonable declaration had come from the mouth of someone as renowned as the Bloody Butcher Knife, Situ Gong.
And the young men in blue and gold were stunned too.
Ten tier-four spirit stones? Isn’t that equivalent to a thousand tier-three spirit stones?
Even for Martial Dao Grandmasters, tier-three spirit stones were rare and precious.
Tier-four spirit stones were even rarer. Rumor had it that even Xiantian Martial Ancestors couldn’t bear to waste them; they saw them as treasures, saving them for when they made breakthroughs in their cultivation. Only then would they put them to use.
Yet now, each Xiantian Martial Ancestor was offering up ten such treasures as stakes for a bet. ｎ𝚘𝚟ｌ.ｃｏ𝚖
Added together, that was fifty tier-four spirit stones!
This far surpassed their imagination. They felt much like a beggar might upon hearing the phrase “ten thousand taels of gold.” They’d never seen that much wealth before; it was so much that they couldn’t even imagine it.
Li Gui and the others also realized that if it caught the eye of someone as prominent as Situ Gong, the young man in blue’s good fortune was surely extraordinary.
The way they looked at Su Yi instantly changed, and their backs were instantly drenched in cold sweat.
Earlier, they saw him as a young man they could freely rebuke and disdain. Who’d have thought that a young man like him was qualified to gamble with Situ Gong, one of the Ten Great Xiantian Martial Ancestors?
This was simply too terrifying!
When they thought back to what they’d said earlier, their hearts clenched. They were beside themselves with lingering terror.
Their only comfort was that it seemed that Su Yi was in for trouble; he wouldn’t have time to waste getting even with minor characters like them….
As for Miss Xiaohe, her brow was furrowed with deep concern, as well as a hint of rage.
She simply couldn’t understand how someone as prominent and influential as Situ Gong could be so shameless.?How can he call this ‘gambling’? This is blatant robbery!
But Su Yi merely laughed dryly. “The five of you are Xiantian Martial Ancestors, and you’re working together, yet you still insist on gambling? Don’t you think that’s a bit gutless?”
His tone carried unconcealed mockery, but Situ Gong remained calm; it seemed he didn’t mind in the least. “Young Lord Su, you slew the Firedome King easily. No Grandmaster in the nation can compare with you, so it’s only natural that we’d proceed with caution.”
He killed the Firedome King??Wen Zhongyuan, Li Gui, and the others were dumbstruck. They were so stunned that they couldn’t even move; they had no idea how to respond to that.
“You might be using gambling as a pretext, but you’re still here to rob me,” said Su Yi. “If all we’re gambling is a handful of spirit stones, let’s not bother.”
Situ Gong’s brow furrowed. “Then what would you rather gamble?”
“Our lives,” said Su Yi without so much as pausing to think. “If I lose, you can do with me as you please. If you lose, your life and death are mine to decide.”
It was just one light, airy sentence, but the atmosphere within the hall was instantly tense as could be.
Wen Zhongyuan and the others were so nervous that they could barely breathe, and their astonishment was written all over their faces. Even if you hit them over the head, they never would have imagined that a teenager like Su Yi would be?this?domineering!
Situ Gong fell silent. He couldn’t agree to something like this on his own.
“Bet with him,” said a distant voice from within the darkness. “I said it a long time ago; we needn’t go to all this trouble. We should just attack and be done with it.”
A withered, sparsely-haired elder in yellow appeared alongside the voice. His eyes were cloudy, and he carried a cane.
As he drew near, the air suddenly turned searing hot, like a great furnace burning heaven and earth. That despotic, searing, terrifying heat offset the yellow-robed elder’s already supremely terrifying aura.
The Yang Ardent Daoist!
Wen Zhongyuan practically recognized the yellow-robed elder at a glance.
He was a Xiantian Martial Ancestor of the older generation, and he’d become famous decades ago. He’d once acted as a provincial governor, and he’d fought on numerous battlefields. His name was famous throughout the empire!
Su Yi remained seated. He merely glanced at the yellow-robed elder once, then looked away.
He didn’t know who the old man was, nor did he care enough to ask.
However, what he’d just said was enough for Su Yi to mentally sentence him to death.
“Brother Situ isn’t willing to resort to killing people to seize their treasures. That’s why he chose this roundabout method. However, it’s obvious our young friend doesn’t think that way. Since he insists on gambling with our lives, let’s go ahead and gamble,” said yet another voice.
Immediately afterward, a stunning woman in colorful clothes walked over. Her make-up was bright, but it couldn’t hide the toll years of wind and frost had taken on her.
Her gaze was cold and sharp, and her eyes crackled with electricity. As soon as she appeared, she looked at Su Yi, her voice carrying a hint of pity. “I just hope our young friend won’t regret his decision.”
Madam Paulownia Blossom!
Wen Zhongyuan’s heart clenched violently, and his expression shifted dramatically. This was an infamous demoness, a heretical cultivator. Thirty years ago, her name shook the land. Even now, countless martial artists paled at the mere mention of her name.
In truth, all three of them—the Yang Ardent Daoist, Madam Paulownia Blossom, and the Bloody Butcher Knife Situ Gong—had effectively gone into seclusion, and in recent years, they almost never appeared publicly.
Cultivators of the younger generation might not have heard their names, but Wen Zhongyuan naturally had!
A faint, nigh-imperceptible arc formed on Su Yi’s lips. “Aren’t there still two more of you? Have them come out too.”
The low, serene hum of a sword echoed throughout the night sky, just outside Roiling Cloud Temple.
They could faintly discern a gaunt man in white standing far away, his fingers brushing against the flat of his blade as he muttered, “Those like me have long since ceased to fear death. Gamble with our lives…? Why not?”
Wen Zhongyuan looked over, and saw a man in white, so tall and upright he resembled a sword. Just standing amidst the darkness, he seemed to pierce the dome of the heavens. Wen Zhongyuan’s heart shook.?This… Which Xiantian Martial Ancestor is it this time?
And just as the gaunt man in white finished speaking, a burst of coarse, hearty laughter boomed throughout heaven and earth—
“Come on then! Come on out and fight!” His voice resounded like thunder, shaking the windows and rattling the tiles of the Daoist temple.
The four younger generation disciples accompanying Wen Zhongyuan felt their eardrums prickle and their blood and qi flow in reverse. They felt dazed and shaken.
Upon closer inspection, yet another figure had appeared within the darkness, a man in an iron crowd and crimson Daoist robes. Purple qi permeated the air around him.
His eyes flashed with torches, intimidating the soul.
.
The Cloud Province’s Purple Mountain Killer, Mo Qingcang!
Wen Zhongyuan recognized him at a glance. He was so startled that his eyes widened; this was a madman no weaker than Situ Gong. Mo Qingcang was a seasoned, frenzied killer infamous far and wide.
Years ago, his infamy was comparable to Hua Liuye, the vice sect leader of the Deathbringer’s Gate!
Now, five Xiantian Martial Ancestors had appeared, both in and out of Roiling Cloud Temple.
Su Yi saw this, then rose from his wicker chair and put it away. “Let’s go outside and fight. Don’t bother the innocent.”
He then strode out of the temple, perfectly at ease.
Situ Gong and the others glanced at each other, then followed him out.
As a result, Wen Zhongyuan, Li Gui, and Miss Xiaohe were completely ignored.
They were nothing but a bunch of small fries. Who’d pay attention to them?
Being ignored like this was, naturally, an affront to their dignity. However, they rejoiced over it.
It was far better than getting dragged into the fray!
But when they recalled how Su Yi had warned them that this place was dangerous and that they should leave, only for them to refuse, mock, and verbally attack him, they couldn’t help but feel bitter and regretful.
Who’d have thought they’d encounter something so terrifying out in the wilderness?
The night was dark and heavy, and the radiant moon hung overhead, bathing the world below in its clear glow.
Everything around Roiling Cloud Temple was still and tranquil; even the bugs were quiet. However, the silence was suffocating and oppressive.
Su Yi stood alone in a clearing. Situ Gong, the Yang Ardent Daoist, Madam Paulownia Blossom, Mo Qingcang, and the gaunt man in white stood not far away.
Five Xiantian Martial Ancestors. Each of them already stood at the peak of the Great Zhou, and their power and prestige were enough to push any Grandmaster to the brink of despair.
Any Grandmaster, that is, except for Su Yi.
“Young Lord Su, if we gamble with our lives, anything could happen. Are…. Are you sure you want to insist on this?” Situ Gong sighed, his gaze conflicted.
When he saw the young man in blue’s calm, lofty bearing, he couldn’t help but admire him, and a part of him blushed with shame.
A young man so courageous was truly rare!