First Immortal of the Sword
Chapter 1174: Karma

Heavenly Prayer’s expression shifted, and she looked over.

There, she saw a tall, upright figure approaching from afar, his hands behind his back, as leisurely as if he were out for a casual stroll, with an unfettered, broad-minded air about him.

But he simultaneously seemed entirely unassuming, as if he’d achieved a return to simplicity. His charm was entirely reserved.

Heavenly Prayer couldn’t see through him.

Still, after experiencing last night’s “torment,” she couldn't repress her shame and humiliation, and she clenched her pearly teeth.

Her beautiful eyes were instantly unfriendly.

“Lass! Don’t forget what I told you on our way here!” Nine Planets’ warning emanated from within the bronze kettle. He was unusually solemn, and there was even… a faint tremor in his voice.

Heavenly Prayer’s beautiful eyes narrowed, and she sank into silence.

It seemed Su Yi didn’t care in the least. He smiled and said, “You must have disguised yourself earlier. Otherwise, my disciples would surely have recognized you at a glance.”

He couldn’t forget their encounter in the Azure Continent’s Meteor Abyss. The young woman before him had appeared then too, within that illusory blood moon, and she’d tried to take Qing Wan away.

Heavenly Prayer pursed her lips and disregarded him. Inwardly, her emotions were in turmoil, and she worried that if she spoke, she’d lose her temper.

“And you.” Su Yi glanced at the bronze kettle. “It’s been so long since we last saw each other. Why is it that all you can do is hide in that little Truths and Illusions Dao Kettle? Last time I saw you, you were as domineering as could be. You even dared attack me.”

The bronze kettle swayed violently.

“You’ve misunderstood, Your Excellency the Temple Master!!!”

Green smoke emerged from the kettle alongside this panicked voice, transforming into a thirty-foot-tall, stalwart figure.

He was dressed in green armor, and he carried a glittering silver spear. He seemed unparalleled in his valiance.

As soon as he appeared, the wind and cloud shifted, and the air was thrown into disarray.

This was the same tall, stalwart figure who’d shot out of the blood moon to attack Su Yi back then.

However, as soon as he appeared, he withdrew his majestic aura, lowered his spear, and bowed deeply to Su Yi, as if panicking.

Only then did he explain. “Your Excellency, back then, this humble one didn’t realize who I was up against. Otherwise, I would never have done anything so foolish. I’ve been overcome with regret ever since, unable to eat or sleep in peace. I’ve longed for nothing more than an opportunity to apologize to you…”

He was fully thirty feet tall, and his aura was terrifying beyond measure.

Yet now that he stood before Su Yi, he lowered his head so far that it almost hit the ground. He looked regretful, uneasy, and even servile.

Heavenly Prayer couldn’t help but feel flabbergasted, and her eyes widened. Isn’t he… Isn’t this a bit much!?

Earlier, she predicted that her Uncle Nine Planets would wimp out the moment he laid eyes on the Temple Master’s reincarnation, but she wouldn’t have guessed it’d be this extreme!

Su Yi laughed. “No need to discuss that trivial interlude any further, but I am confused. How did someone as lofty as the greatest god of war of the Deep Crimson Star Realm wind up without a fleshly body?”

The Deep Crimson Star Realm was one of the hundred great star realms of the Eastern Profound Star Domain.

And Nine Planets was its greatest god of war. At his peak, he possessed Cosmic Enlightenment Realm cultivation. He was one of the peak experts of the stars.

Yet now, all that remained of him was a soul living inside a Truths and Illusions Dao Kettle. This really was surprising.

“I won’t hide it from you, Your Excellency. This humble one’s physical body was destroyed in the Starjade Forbidden Grounds,” Nine Planets said respectfully.

“So that’s it.” Su Yi nodded.

The Starjade Forbidden Grounds were one of the seven great forbidden grounds of the starry skies. There, even Cosmic Enlightenment experts faced almost certain death.

“And what’s your connection to her?” Su Yi glanced at Heavenly Prayer.

Nine Planets didn’t even pause to think. “I owe the Supreme Leader of the Nine Heavens Pavilion a favor, so I agreed to stay by Little Heavenly Prayer’s side to guide and protect her.”

“Oh,” said Su Yi. “In that case, do you know her origins?”

Before Nine Planets could respond, Heavenly Prayer said icily, “Why should we tell you? Uncle Nine Planets, don’t tell him anything!”

But Nine Planets disregarded this and continued, “Your Excellency, Little Heavenly Prayer’s status is highly unusual. Throughout the Nine Heavens Pavilion, only the Supreme Leader knows her origins.”

“???” Heavenly Prayer felt utterly frustrated. No matter how she looked at it, Nine Planets seemed like a traitor!

She couldn’t count on him at all! She even suspected that if Su Xuanjun told him to take her down, he’d do it without so much as furrowing his brow!

“Very well,” ordered Su Yi. “You wait to the side for now.”

“Got it!” Nine Planets felt a massive weight lift from his shoulders. He lowered his head and stepped aside.

“You came here to see me. What do you want?” Su Yi looked at Heavenly Prayer once more, his expression subtle and inscrutable. It seems she sensed everything we did last night…

Su Yi’s gaze made Heavenly Prayer thoroughly uncomfortable, and she longed for nothing more than to throw all caution to the wind and give him a good beating.

But in the end, she repressed the impulse and said stiffly, “I hope you can return Qing Wan to me.”

“And why would I do that?” Su Yi asked with great interest.

Heavenly Prayer said icily, “Given your powers of perception, surely you’ve realized that Qing Wan and I were originally one and the same. It’s only natural that I take her with me.”

Su Yi laughed and shook his head. “Wan’er’s been my woman for a long time. Whether she comes or goes is up to me.”

His tone was casual, yet incontrovertible.

Nine Planets was standing off to the side, but he couldn’t help but clap excitedly. “That’s truly as wonderful as could be! Catching your eye is unquestionably her good fortune. Why, you could accumulate karmic merit for eight lifetimes without ever being so lucky!”

“!!!!!” Heavenly Prayer was so angry that she longed for nothing more than to send Nine Planets packing. Bad enough that you aren’t helping me, but now you’re helping someone else screw me over?

What kind of uncle are you?!?

“And what if I insist on taking Qing Wan with me?” said Heavenly Prayer.

“Little Heavenly Prayer, whatever you do, don’t try anything stupid!” Before Su Yi could say anything, Nine Planets couldn’t help but interject. “I have ample reason to believe that your master views you as a pawn, or rather, a tool to learn more about the Temple Master. He’s definitely plotting something! Otherwise, why would he have sent Qing Wan to the Dark and Gold Star Realm? And why would Qing Wan appear beside His Excellency the Temple Master? I’m sure… there are secrets behind it all!”

“....” Heavenly Prayer suddenly realized that there was truly no room for discussion. If nothing else, Nine Planets wouldn’t permit her to oppose the Temple Master’s reincarnation!

“Had I known it’d be like this, I wouldn’t have brought you with me!” Heavenly Prayer felt stifled to the brink of madness.

“You suspect the old codger of the Nine Heavens Pavilion is plotting against me too?” Su Yi looked at Nine Planets in surprise.

“Your Excellency, this matter was highly suspicious to begin with. Anyone with a bit of a brain would have sensed that something wasn’t right,” Nine Planets said hurriedly.

“Right? It would be obvious to anyone that something was strange here, but how could the old codger fail to realize that?” said Su Yi. “Yet he went ahead and did it anyway. It seems he isn’t at all afraid of me seeing through him. I’m afraid there’s still a lot we don’t know going on here.”

Nine Planets said tentatively, “Your Excellency, I suspect it’s connected to you and Heavenly Prayer’s origins!”

“Her origins really aren’t simple,” said Su Yi. “I checked, and her soul contains an extraordinary Spirit Birthmark, one unique to the descendants of the Xiantian Spirit Races.”

“The Xiantian Spirit Races!?”

Nine Planets looked stunned. “Out amongst the stars, there are only two known clans of Xiantian Spirit Races: the Xu Family of the Heavenfire Spirit Race and the Feng Family of the Blue Luan Spirit Race. Furthermore, both are among the Eastern Profound Star Doman’s mysterious Ancient Guardian Clans of the Dao!”

Su Yi subtly inclined his head.

The Eastern Profound Star Domain was originally home to seven Ancient Guardian Clans of the Dao.

They included Zhong Ruoxi’s Zhong Family, and Qing Tang’s now-deceased Jiang Family. Of course, following the Jiang Family’s annihilation, only six Ancient Guardian Clans of the Dao remained.

Of them, the Xu and Feng Families were both Xiantian Spirit Races. They had a transcendent status, and they had mysterious foundations.

As she listened to the two men discuss her background, Heavenly Prayer gradually calmed down. “I’m not from either of those Ancient Guardian Clans.”

Su Yi said casually, “Of course you aren’t. Your Soul Birthmark is completely different from theirs. Even I’ve never seen it before. I suspect that your clan of origin isn’t from the Eastern Profound Star Domain at all.”

Heavenly Prayer’s bright eyes focused, and she was obviously surprised. “There are star realms beyond the Eastern Profound Star Domain?”

“There are.” Su Yi nodded. The Temple Master’s memories were enough to confirm the existence of worlds beyond the Eastern Profound Star Domain.

However, a barrier sealed off the paths to these other worlds completely. The only way to get there was through the Battlefield of the Distant Beyond!

But Su Yi didn’t explain all this. He could roughly guess what the Supreme Leader of the Nine Heavens Pavilion was after.

He was most likely trying to “give” him a karmic fetter he couldn’t refuse!

And this karmic tie involved Qing Wan and Little Heavenly Prayer’s origins.

Most likely, it involved his seventh incarnation, Shen Mu, too!

After all, when he was still the Temple Master, the Supreme Leader of the Nine Heavens Pavilion called him “heartless” and "unfaithful" on numerous occasions.

No one would hate him like that for no reason.

When he met with the awareness of the Temple Master’s power, the Temple Master warned him that the Supreme Leader of the Nine Heavens Pavilion most likely already knew of his connection to Shen Mu.

Thus, Qing Wan and Heavenly Prayer’s appearances were within his expectations.

If Su Yi wanted to learn how Shen Mu died, he could start his investigations with the Supreme Leader of the Nine Heavens Pavilion!

Simply put, whether he wanted to learn the secrets of Shen Mu’s passing or the truth of Qing Wan and Heavenly Prayer’s origins, he needed to start with the Nine Heavens Pavilion.

This was the “karma” their Supreme Leader had foisted upon him!

Why had he done this?

Su Yi wasn’t sure, but he was sure that touching this karma risked burning his hands!

Furthermore, due to his current relationship with Qing Wan, there was no way he could remain uninvolved.

The Supreme Leader of the Nine Heavens Pavilion undoubtedly knew that, too.

Heavenly Prayer’s appearance here was most certainly his attempt to probe the way ahead, as well as a message. He wanted to know that this karma had already stained him, and he’d have to accept it whether he liked it or not!

“Your Master is a skilled schemer. He picked you up to use as a pawn a long time ago, and he arranged a trap for me. And the crux of this tap is Qing Wan.” Su Yi looked at Heavenly Prayer. “He’s already succeeded. As for the life and death of his pawn? There's no need for him to worry, because he knows that I can’t kill you. Qing Wan can’t live independently of you.”

Heavenly Prayer’s expression shifted, but she obviously didn’t believe it. “Why would my Master… Target you?”

Su Yi smiled. “I want to know that too. Why didn’t he dare to clash with me openly in my past life? Why insist on plotting and resorting to methods like this to stain me with this karma?”

Here, a hint of a chill appeared on his lips. “When I proceed into the stars beyond the Wilds, I’ll naturally find him to settle the score!”