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The woman’s hair was white as snow, and she had a bright red mark between her eyes. Her figure was illusory and ethereal, like an immortal beauty with a transcendent charm.
But after hearing Su Yi’s words, she seemed a bit uncomfortable.
A little while later, she pressed her lips together. “Aren’t you worried that the Cui Family will do everything in their power to stop you?”
Su Yi laughed. “If I forced you to come with me, there’s no way they’d permit it, but if you wanted to leave, how could they possibly keep you?”
The woman before him was the spirit born of the source of the Tree of Ten Thousand Daos. She’d gained sentience in ancient times, and she’d cultivated within the tree ever since.
Occasionally, she traveled the human world, experiencing the ups and downs of worldly affairs.
However, she spent most of her time focused on her cultivation within the tree.
Generations of the Cui Family called her the Grand Basis Spirit Sovereign.
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The “Grand Basis” referred to the primordial, to the very beginning. It was a fitting title for the woman who lived alongside the Tree of Ten Thousand Daos.
However, Su Yi knew that the woman had chosen a name for herself, too—
Po Suo.
On its own, the name meant “to swirl”, or “the swaying of leaves and branches," but it also referenced a line of poetry: “Serene in solitude, whirling through the human world.”
She was born of the source of the Tree of Ten Thousand Daos, in this tranquil realm reminiscent of an immortal paradise. However, from time to time, she also wandered the mundane world, experiencing its ups and downs.
Her name was thus a perfect representation of her mentality.
The woman blinked. “Fellow Daoist Su, you also said you wouldn’t resort to coercion. Is that still true?”
“Of course,” said Su Yi.
The woman’s red lips rose in a faint arc. “Then I still need to think it over. That is, unless you’d be willing to take me to see your Grotto of Abstruse Force.”
The Grotto of Abstruse Force was where Su Yi cultivated in his past life, as well as the name of the orthodoxy he’d founded.
Su Yi smiled.
When he first came to Jinluo Grotto and met Po Suo, he wanted to run off with her and have her cultivate in his Grotto of Abstruse Force instead.
After all, she was the spirit of the Tree of Ten Thousand Daos, a unique lifeform. Even more precious, she was as tranquil and elegant as an orchid and as charming as an immortal. Su Yi truly admired her.
However, Su Yi wouldn’t push her.
He thought for a moment, then said, “When the day comes that I return to the Wilds, I’ll naturally invite you to come with me. It’s up to you to agree or not.”
Po Suo subtly inclined her head and smiled. “I suspect Cui Longxiang won’t be happy. You’d best prepare to get through him first.”
When she mentioned Cui Longxiang, Su Yi furrowed his brow. “That old fox left not long ago. Did he tell you anything first?”
Po Suo thought it over. “He just said that if Su Xuanjun showed up, I wasn’t to let you seduce me into running off with you. He said that you had a ‘buttload’ of love debts left from your past life, and that if I followed you, countless women would view me with enmity…”
Su Yi’s smile stiffened slightly, and he grimaced. “The old fox is slandering me! In my past life, I wholeheartedly pursued the Dao? What ‘love debts’ is he talking about?”
Po Suo reminded him, “Fellow Daoist Su, never mind the others, but here in the Netherworld, Miss Ye Yu has been waiting for your return for a long, long time.”
“....” Su Yi rubbed his forehead and sighed. “A flower falling into a stream might have feelings for the water, but the current won’t return the sentiment. In my past life, I wholeheartedly pursued the Dao. It was difficult to avoid disappointing a few women.”
Having said this, he shook his head. “Never mind that. I came here because I need to spend some time cultivating in front of the Tree of Ten Thousand Daos. You don’t mind, do you?”
Po Suo laughed. “Even if I minded, I wouldn’t dare stop you.”
With that, she swept her hand through the air.
A table, round cushion, and soft couch appeared out of nowhere. There was even wine, refreshments, and a tea set on the tabletop.
“Fellow Daoist, this jug contains wine I brewed personally, and the tea leaves were a gift from Cui Longxiang’s clan uncle. Apparently, they’re Firecloud Needles harvested in Fire Illumination Divine Palace’s forbidden ground. The refreshments were made from the young shoots of the Tree of Ten Thousand Daos…”
She spoke gently, introducing everything available. “If there’s anything else you’d like, Fellow Daoist, please let me know.”
Su Yi sat cross-legged on the cushion. “If you’ve got free time, brew some tea and pour my wine. That’ll be plenty.”
He wasn’t the least bit polite.
Were the ancestors of the Cui Family to find out about this, they’d turn in their graves; not even a coffin lid could hold them back.
After all, to generations of the Cui Family, Po Suo was the divine spirit protecting the Tree of Ten Thousand Daos.
Yet now, Su Yi was ordering her about like a servant girl!
Po Suo couldn’t help but smile; it seemed she didn’t find this the least bit strange. “Fellow Daoist, although you’ve reincarnated to cultivate anew, your personality hasn’t changed at all.”
As she spoke, she picked up a little tool, then sat on one side of the table. She extended a slender, jade-like arm and filled Su Yi’s cup, then reached for the jade box of Firecloud Needles and started making tea…
She didn’t mind how humble this seemed in the least.
Su Yi didn’t stand on ceremony, either. He went for the alcohol first, then tasted the refreshments before saying, “Make sure you don’t interrupt me while I’m meditating.”
As he spoke, he’d already closed his eyes and started to circulate his cultivation base.
Whoosh~
The Tree of Ten Thousand Daos swayed, and its leaves rustled, bathing Su Yi’s tall, upright figure in the wisps of the light of the Grand Dao.
After brewing tea, Po Suo had nothing to do, so she sat to the side, elbows on the table, her head tilted and propped up on her hands as she watched Su Yi.
Her clear, profound gaze shone with a faint, strange light.
Five hundred years ago, Su Xuanjun passed away. When she heard the news, Po Suo’s first reaction was, “that’s not possible.”
Her impression was of a sword cultivator whose legend dazzled the heavens. His cultivation base was unmatched in its power, but that wasn’t all: his mental state and spirit were even stronger!
Even if someone like that were to die, he couldn’t possibly just up and die out of nowhere.
Seeing Su Yi now, the distinctive youthful vigor of an eighteen-year-old was on full display in both his features and his aura. Furthermore, no secret art could hide his age from her.
This was why Po Suo finally dared believe that, after tens of thousands of years of searching, the man who’d once reached the far end of the Imperial path, standing above all other Emperors, had indeed uncovered the secrets of reincarnation. He’d achieved his goal of reincarnating to cultivate anew!
He’s only eighteen years old, but he has the mentality and experience of his past life’s 108,000 years. I’m afraid not even the enemies he tricks and kills would dare believe it…
As she thought this, a smile tugged at Po Suo’s lips.
But a moment later, a question occurred to her. The Swordmaster of Abstruse Force ‘died’ five hundred years ago. If he reincarnated to cultivate anew, shouldn’t he be five hundred years old? Why is he only eighteen?
Don’t tell me he spent the hundreds of years prior to his rebirth undergoing samsara?
No matter how much she racked her brains, she couldn’t wrap her head around it, so Po Suo set those thoughts aside.
The one thing she could say with certainty was that, if Su Yi wanted to disguise his identity, even those closest to him in his past life would have trouble seeing through him.
After all, the gap between his age and his “time of passing” was far too enormous.
For instance, earlier, when Su Yi and the old blind man arrived at the Tree of Ten Thousand Daos, Po Suo sensed their arrival, but she didn’t realize Su Yi’s identity.
It was only after Su Yi used a secret soul art to make contact with her that she dared say with certainty that this young man in blue was the reincarnation of the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force!
Something suddenly occurred to her. Hm! If I attack now, I bet I’ll be able to beat him up with ease!
But a moment later, she laughed and shook her head. That would be juvenile of her.
Hm?
Po Suo suddenly sensed Su Yi’s qi undergoing a startling transformation.
Three supreme auras of the Grand Dao shot out of his body.
One was like the light of dusk, boundless and dense, with a primordial air.
One was as fleeting and vast as the cosmos, and it brought with it the dazzling light of a new dawn.
One was reminiscent of the starry skies beyond, distant and grand, vast and immeasurable.
These three auras were the Dao Intents of Genesis, the Void Cosmos, and the Supreme Palace.
However, Po Suo only recognized the first, the Dao Intent of Genesis. She knew it was formed by combining three peerless Dao Intents—the five elements, Yin and Yang, and wind and lightning—into one.
However, the other two felt utterly unfamiliar. She couldn’t help but be astonished.
After all, she was the spirit of the Tree of Ten Thousand Daos. When it came to relative understanding of the power of the Grand Dao, she left the vast majority of Emperors sighing over their own inferiority.
However, despite her knowledge and experience, she couldn’t recognize either of the Mysterious Truths that Su Yi had mastered. Of course she was surprised! How could she not be?
Boom!
Before Po Suo could wrap her head around what she was seeing, the sound of the Dao reverberated throughout heaven and earth, booming like thunder. The Tree of Ten Thousand Daos swayed, and its leaves rattled.
Po Suo shot to her feet, radiant light flashing across her starry eyes.
The three Mysterious Truths that had appeared around Su Yi were actually starting to fuse. It was like the first parting of primordial chaos. The light of the Grand Dao surged and fell like rain as starkly different Dao Intents interwove, resulting in one strange and unbelievable phenomenon after another.
The skies darkened as if the apocalypse were imminent, then shone as if the morning light were pouring down from the cosmos. The galaxy—the river of stars—seemed to break through a dam and flow onto the world, stirring up the starry sky. The five elements manifested all manner of landscapes, Yin and Yang outlined creation, and wind and lightning gave rise to all manner of life…
These strange phenomena corresponded with one another as they manifested, drawing the power of the Tree of Ten Thousand Daos’ source to undergo a strange fusion with Su Yi’s cultivation base.
Fortunately, Po Suo had used the power of the Grand Dao to create a barrier around the old blind man. Otherwise, this disturbance would surely have disrupted his meditation.
Just what kind of Dao is he pursuing? He’s still a Spirit Dao cultivator. How could it be this terrifying…?
Po Suo’s expression shifted erratically, her beautiful features full of astonishment.
This Grand Dao had only just started to fuse, yet it had already manifested such rare and shocking phenomena. It even drew upon the source of the Tree of Ten Thousand Worlds!
She couldn’t even imagine just how unbelievably strong and unfathomable the brand-new Mysterious Truth Su Yi had mastered would be once it finished forming!
After a while, Po Suo thought to herself, This, perhaps, is the Grand Dao he longed for but could not acquire in his past life, when he was strong enough to declare himself supreme beneath the heavens…
….
Time slipped by. One day passed after another.
The fusion of Su Yi’s power of the Grand Dao showed continuous signs of progress.
Po Suo watched in silence, her initial astonishment gradually fading. Although she’d regained her calm, her curiosity and anticipation grew with each passing day.
She was eager to know just what Su Yi’s three Mysterious Truths would become after completing their fusion.