The ninth room of the third floor of Cloud Tower Treasure Ship.
âTens of thousands of years have passed, but Iâve finally returned to the Netherworld! I just wonder if anyone still remembers Ye Xunâs illustrious name?â Ye Xun was sometimes emotional, and sometimes wistful, but sometimes, he just clutched his stomach and laughed.
The Netherworld Asura Emperor, the man whoâd founded the Deathbringerâs Netherworld Palace on the Azure Continent, was obviously beside himself with excitement upon learning that they were currently in the Netherworldâs Ghost Lands Territory.
Not far away, Su Yi leaned casually against the bed and said distractedly, âIf you keep up that nonsense, donât blame me for tossing you back into the Seed of the Azure.â
Ye Xunâs grin froze, and he hurriedly smiled apologetically. âBrother-in-Law, Iâve been stifled for too long, so I⊠lost control of my emotions.â
Su Yi took out a jade slip and tossed it to Ye Xun. âTake a look and tell me if you recognize those three.â
âGot it!â Ye Xun obsequiously approached, accepted it, and inserted his divine sense.
After a moment, he looked a bit confused. âBrother-in-Law, is there a problem with those three?â
âYou donât recognize them?â
Ye Xun shook his head.
âUnless my eyes deceive me, all three are Ghost Serpents,â said Su Yi.
The jade slip was carved with none other than the thin man Su Yi had seen earlier, as well as his two companions.
Ye Xun was stunned as he realized that something wasnât quite right. He furrowed his brow. âBrother-in-Law, is there something off about them?â
Su Yi thought for a moment, but decided not to hide it. Â He then concisely recounted everything heâd heard in the treasure shipâs restaurant.
Something had happened in the Dark Capital!
The Yin-Yang Road was severely damaged!
The Falling Feather Spirit Empress Ye Yu was trapped!
And there was unrest in the Ghost Serpentsâ ranks!
Ye Xunâs expression shifted as he realized how grave the problem was.
A while later, he let out a breath of turbid air and muttered, âAnd here I thought this was some kind of disaster. So, thatâs all it is?â
Su Yi couldnât help but find this strange. âArenât you worried?â
Ye Xun tittered gleefully. âBrother-in-Law, with you here, what could I possibly have to worry about?â
With that, a massive weight seemed to lift from Ye Xunâs shoulders, and he visibly relaxed.
â???â Su Yi hadnât expected that. Does he really think Iâm his brother-in-law?
Ye Xun pounded his chest and said, âBrother-in-Law, all you need to do is tell me how you need me to cooperate with you!â
The corners of Su Yiâs lips twitched imperceptibly. Thereâs an idiom about hitting a snake, only for it to crawl up your staff. They were talking about people like Ye Xun.
But then, he isnât wrong. The Ghost Serpents are in turmoil. If only for Little Leafâs sake, I canât possibly just stand back and watch.
âLetâs see what the Ghost Serpentsâ situation is like when we get to Tianya City, then talk,â said Su Yi after a momentâs thought. âMost importantly, we have to see whether your uncle Ye Nanzheng is around or not.â
Ye Xun didnât even pause to think. âBrother-in-Law, leave it to me!â
Tens of thousands of years had passed, but he was still a main-line descendant of the Ye Family. It would be easy for him to ask around the clan for information.
Su Yi glanced at him. âThis isnât thirty thousand years ago, and youâre no longer the Netherworld Asura Emperor who could command the wind and rain on the Azure Continent. You do realize that with your current cultivation, if you reveal your identity, someoneâs sure to beat you to death, right?â
Ye Xunâs expression shifted.
Tens of thousands of years ago, he fought a grand battle against a jailer, almost losing his life in the process. In the end, only a battered remnant of his soul survived.
Heâd drifted aimlessly ever since.
It was only last year when, with Su Yiâs help, he finally recovered his âremainsâ from the Azure Continentâs Glittering Ghost Domain and refined the source power therein. Only then could he begin rebuilding his body.
However, he still hadnât had enough time to recover. Even though heâd absorbed quite a bit of the Azure Continentâs source power, and even though heâd been cultivating within the Seed of the Azure ever since, his cultivation was less than a thousandth of his former peak. He was at most comparable to a Spirit Dao cultivator.
Furthermore, thirty thousand years had passed since departure, and time changed everything. Who knew how the Ghost Serpents had changed in his absence?
Especially since they were currently facing internal unrest.
Given the circumstances, if he revealed his identity, he really would most likely face an unpredictable storm!
After a little while, Ye Xun gnashed his teeth and steeled himself. âBrother-in-Law, with you here, what do I have to be afraid of?â
â....â Su Yi couldnât help but facepalm. Finally, he decided to seal Ye Xun back up for now and wait until the time was right to make arrangements for him.
Otherwise, with Ye Xunâs personality, he would undoubtedly cause all sorts of trouble!
âBrother-in-law, why⊠are you looking at me like that?â Ye Xun discovered that Su Yi was staring at him, and he couldnât help but feel a bit uneasy.
Su Yi said, âThose who talk too much are prone to errors, and loose lips lead to disaster. Do you understand?â
Ye Xun instantly realized that this wasnât looking good. He hurriedly cried out, âBrother-in-Law, I promise. Agh, Brother-in-Law, donât, IâŠ!â
Before he could finish, Su Yi knocked him unconscious and tossed him back into the Seed of the Azure.
Quiet returned to the world.
Su Yi let out a breath of turbid air, calmed his heart, and started meditating.
His cultivation was currently in the early-stage Spiritual Revolution Realm, and his mastery of the Mysterious Truths of the Apex of Genesis was still rudimentary.
He had a long road ahead of him before he could prove his Dao and become an Emperor.
But Su Yi wasnât in a rush.
After all, it had been only a little over a year since he reawakened the memories of his past life.
Heâd started from the Four Realms of the Martial Dao, and he was now in the Spiritual Revolution Realm. This cultivation speed was astonishing enough already!
âŠâŠ
Late at night.
The first room on the third floor of the Cloud Tower Treasure Ship.
âYour Excellency, Iâve already investigated. There are one thousand and nine cultivators on board this vessel. A little over twenty of them have reached the Spiritual Revolution Realm. Of course, itâs possible that some are hiding their cultivations, but there shouldnât be more than a few such people.â
Beneath the lamplight, the saber-wielding middle-aged man, Tu Yong, said at top speeds, âCultivators aside, there are about thirty ordinary mortals on board.â
âOrdinary mortals?â The thin, sickly man couldnât help but exclaim.
âThatâs right. Theyâre all children. The oldest are twelve or thirteen, while the youngest are only five or six. Theyâre the hand-picked talents for cultivation chosen from the general populace by a sect called the Netherworld Spirit Sect. Theyâre on their way to the sect to begin their cultivation,â Tu Yong said solemnly. âI checked them all, one by one. There are no problems with any of the children."
The skinny man nodded.
He vaguely remembered the Netherworld Spirit Sect. They were a third-rate faction of the Ghost Lands, and they werenât worth worrying about.
Tu Yong hesitated, âYour Excellency, I still think that young man in blue we saw when we first boarded is fishy.â
The skinny man was stunned. âDid you discover something?â
Tu Yong shook his head. âItâs just my intuition.â
The skinny man laughed. âIf he were really our enemy, do you think heâd just let us discover him?â
âErrâŠâ Tu Yong couldnât help but fall silent. That was the very thing he couldnât wrap his head around.
âBut caution isnât a bad thing,â said the skinny man. âWeâll just have to be careful on the road ahead.â
Tu Yong nodded his agreement.
âAlso.â The skinny man looked at Tu Yong. âIf anything unexpected happens, use that secret treasure, take Boheng, and flee.â
Boheng, or rather, Ye Boheng, was the young man in purple.
Tu Yongâs expression shifted. âYour Excellency, IâŠâ
The thin man didnât let him finish. âThatâs an order.â
Tu Yongâs expression shifted, but finally, he clasped his fist and bowed. âYes, sir!â
The thin man smiled. âThatâs only if the worst comes to pass, but I hope⊠nothing unexpected happens along the way.â
âŠâŠ
Three days later.
The Cloud Tower Treasure Ship stopped at a place called âCarpenterâs Square City" for an hour. Some passengers disembarked, while others got on board.
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Then, the ship set off once more, soaring through the night sky and into the distance.
There was a massive viewing platform at the highest point of the ship.
Su Yi stood there with his hands behind his back, gazing into the night sky.
A silver full moon hung in the night sky, casting its gentle radiance.
Not far away, a group of children played. There were more than ten of them, both boys and girls. The oldest were around ten, while the youngest were only five or six. At this age, they were still naive and innocent.
A white-haired elder in black stood by the railing, holding a pipe and bag of tobacco. As he breathed out clouds of smoke, he silently kept watch over the children.
Further away, in a shadowy corner, a young man and woman conversed in secret.
The young man was dressed in purple, with eyebrows sharp as swords and starry eyes.
Su Yi remembered him: this was the same young man whoâd boarded the treasure ship alongside a thin older man and a middle-aged man in warriorâs robes.
The young woman wore a black dress, and her skin was fair as snow. She was movingly pretty.
The sight drew Su Yiâs attention.
If he remembered correctly, the young woman had boarded the ship earlier today, outside of Carpenter Square City.
Both she and the purple-robed young man looked as if they didnât want to be seen. They were hiding in a dark corner, and they conducted their conversation entirely through transmissions.
Who knew what they were talking about, but the purple-robed young manâs brow was tightly knit, and his expression was racked with worry.
The young woman in black was obviously trying to comfort him.
Before long, the young man sighed, turned, and left.
The young woman, however, waited a while longer before emerging from the shadowy corner.
When she looked at the playing children, she couldnât help but smile.
âBig sister, you sure are pretty!â a roughly six-year-old girl with pigtails looked up at the young woman and exclaimed.
The woman in black caressed the childâs cheek and said, âWhat a sweet little girl you are.â
She then looked up and saw Su Yi standing not far away. She walked over to him, seemingly coincidentally, then stood about ten feet away from him. As she twirled her dark locks around her finger, she muttered, âThe moon sure is pretty tonight.â
Su Yi feigned deafness, ignoring her completely.
The woman in the black dress laughed, not the least bit concerned, and leaned languidly against the railing. She then turned and took in Su Yiâs profile.
âYoung lord,â she whispered, âEver since I boarded this treasure ship, Iâve had a strange feeling. Would you like me to tell you about it?â
âNo,â said Su Yi.
â....â
The woman fell silent, but a moment later, she burst into laughter, as beautiful as a flower in bloom. âAre you nervous, young lord? Donât be; weâre just chatting. Itâs not like Iâm going to eat you.â
Su Yiâs gaze remained focused on the distant skies. He paid her no heed.
In the face of his cold indifference, the woman in blackâs smile faded, and her willowy eyebrows knit together.