First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 1225 - Flying Cloud Tower’s Bounty

To the side of a nearby alleyway, a row of figures hung from iron hooks.

There were more than twenty of them, men and women of all ages. They were covered in bleeding wounds, and the iron hooks ran right through their bodies, holding them aloft like slaughtered pigs.

Such a bloody spectacle appearing on such a lively street was startling and soul-stirring.

“Aren’t those Emperors from the Dark and Gold Star Realm a bit too unfortunate? They’ve been hung up like livestock for all to see. It’s worse than death!”

“The people who did that to them wanted them to live lives worse than death as a warning to the rest.”

“What outrageous crime did the cultivators of the Dark and Gold Star Realm commit for them to have been targeted like this?”

“Not sure.”

....Some of the cultivators in the surrounding area were discussing the matter in hushed whispers.

In some worlds and planes, Emperors were akin to gods. Yet now, twenty of them had been hung like livestock for all to see! It would have been hard for this not to draw attention.

“They’re all... cultivators from the Dark and Gold Star Realm?” Qing Wan’s eyes widened, and the look on her beautiful face shifted.

Meng Changyun subconsciously glanced at Su Yi, only to discover that Su Yi was as calm as ever. His eyes didn’t so much as ripple with emotion.

But it was this very composure that left Meng Changyun feeling stifled.

How could Skyblue City be so brazen as to target cultivators of the Dark and Gold Star Realm with such ruthlessness? They were simply seeking death!

Suddenly, Su Yi walked up to the place where the cultivators were hanging.

A striking bounty list was pasted to the wall.

“Alive, a Profound Illumination Emperor of the Dark and Gold Star Realm is worth three hundred Star Vein Spirit Crystals. A Profound Serenity Emperor is worth eight hundred, and a Profound Unity Emperor is worth three thousand!”

“Dead, any Emperor of the Dark and Gold Star Realm is worth one hundred Star Vein Spirit Crystals!”

It was signed “Flying Cloud Tower.”

Su Yi’s eyes narrowed, and he examined the surrounding area, only to discover that there were no other wanted posters or bounty lists around.

There was no doubt about it. They were exclusively targeting the cultivators of the Dark and Gold Star Realm!

“Ol’ Meng, go ask around and see what you can learn about this bounty request,” Su Yi ordered casually.

“Understood. Please wait, Young Lord!” Meng Changyun hurried off to carry out his orders.

In truth, there was no need to go to much trouble. The first passerby Meng Changyun asked explained the full story.

It started about a year ago. One of Skyblue City’s peak factions, Flying Cloud Tower, suddenly announced that every Emperor of the Dark and Gold Star Realm was wanted! That was when they first posted the bounty list.

In the year that followed, every Emperor of the Dark and Gold Star Realm in the Dark Nightmare Realm was effectively reduced to a rat on the streets. They were ruthlessly pursued and suppressed.

The twenty Emperors currently on display were only a small portion of those who’d been targeted. Many of the others had died while resisting capture!

“A year ago...” Su Yi’s brow furrowed. Isn’t that when the curtains fell on the battle of the Sea of Falling Stars?

“Why did they do this?” asked Su Yi.

Meng Changyun whispered, “Young lord, I asked, but no one seems to know their reasons. Even the experts working for Flying Cloud Tower just say they’re simply following orders.”

Su Yi nodded. “Keep asking around. Investigate Flying Cloud Tower and its background. Qing Wan and I will go find an inn first.”

“Got it!” Meng Changyun solemnly assented, then scurried off.

“Young lord, you... aren’t going to save them?” whispered Qing Wan.

Su Yi smiled. “They’re neither friends nor relatives. Why should I save them?”

“Because.... Because you’re...”

Qing Wan was just about to continue when Su Yi shook his head. “You don’t understand, Wan’er.”

It was true that in the Wilds, they honored him as the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force, and that he was now honored as a legend of the Dark and Gold Star Realm.

But those were ultimately just empty titles. That didn’t mean he had to step in every time someone from the Dark and Gold Star Realm got into trouble.

Besides, Su Yi hadn’t forgotten that leading up to the Battle of the Sea of Fallen Stars, when the powerhouses of the stars beyond threatened him, many of the onlookers urged him to go to his death so that they might live!

Su Yi had long since realized the ugliness of the human heart and the cold, fickle nature of human relationships.

He naturally wouldn’t make trouble for those people. Still, he had his own principles, and he wouldn’t act emotionally and casually interfere in matters that had nothing to do with him.

“Uh...” Qing Wan lowered her head.

Su Yi tousled the young woman’s hair and said gently, “The human heart is unfathomable, and worldly affairs are dangerous and cruel. Endless bloodshed occurs even between inhabitants of the Dark and Gold Star Realm. Now that we’ve left, I can’t possibly help them as I would my friends just because we’re both from the Dark and Gold Star Realm.”

Qing Wan nodded obediently. “I’ll remember that.”

Su Yi smiled. “Come on, let’s find an inn and get some rest.”

They’d spent the entire past month traversing the stars, and Su Yi was a bit tired. He wanted to relax properly.

But before long, Su Yi stopped, wrapped his arm around Qing Wan’s slender waist, and placed her behind him.

Qing Wan was stunned, but a moment later, Su Yi’s voice echoed in her ears. “Wait right there. Don’t move.”

Qing Wan’s bright eyes focused as she realized that something wasn’t right.

A moment later, she saw that the twenty-or-so hanging Emperors had silently disappeared without a trace.

Qing Wan froze. Someone is secretly rescuing those Emperors?

“Hmph!” A cold snort boomed like thunder.

In the skies above the alleyway, space suddenly collapsed into pieces.

A figure staggered into view, then fell to the ground.

Upon closer inspection, he was an old man in Daoist robes. His hair and beard were white, and he held a bronze treasure tower in his palm.

The moment he hit the ground, he shot toward the city gates so quickly that it almost seemed as if he were teleporting.

Clang!!

A low saber hum rang out, and a streak of saber qi condensed out lightning exploded into being, blocking his path.

The old man’s expression instantly shifted, and he shot in another direction.

“You can’t escape, old-timer.” A burst of soft laughter filled the air. Firelight flowed, and a flaming whip cleaved at the old man.

Like a fire dragon descending from the heavens!

The old man in Daoist robes couldn’t dodge in time. He could only block it head-on.

Bang!!!

A deafening impact rang out, and the old man in Daoist robes staggered back, his blood and qi churning. The ground collapsed beneath his feet, spraying mud.

Practically simultaneously, three figures appeared around the old man in Daoist robes, each in a different direction.

An imposing, majestic man in python robes. He gripped an electric purple saber.

A charming, fiery, mature beauty with snowy skin. She carried a flaming whip as thick as her thumb.

A thin old man in black robes. He carried a dragon-headed staff.

As soon as the three of them appeared, terrifying pressure spread out, enveloping the entire area and locking firmly onto the old man in Daoist robes.

Shrieks repeatedly echoed throughout the surrounding area as the pedestrians fled in panic, escaping further away.

Su Yi didn’t run.

He and Qing Wan stood before the bounty list. By perfect coincidence, they were right outside the battlefield’s perimeter, the distance so precise it seemed as if it had been measured with a ruler.

Standing here, they wouldn’t suffer the aftershock of battle, but they could see everything clearly.

Su Yi had naturally done this on purpose.

The mature beauty holding the flaming whip seemed to sense something. She couldn’t help but take a second look at Su Yi, but a moment later, she retracted her gaze.

“The Emperors we hung on the streets have finally come in useful. We’ve finally caught ourselves a big fish.” She narrowed her eyes and smiled.

“The Profound Serenity Realm, that’s all. I wouldn’t call him a big fish.” The python-robed saber wielder shook his head, seemingly a bit disappointed.

“In all this time, he’s the only prey from the Dark and Gold Star Realm to dare slip into Skyblue City. That’s already pretty good,” the black-robed old man with the dragon staff said slowly.

As they spoke, the three of them inched closer to their target, the old man in Daoist robes.

The atmosphere was stifled and murderous to the extreme.

The old man in Daoist robes took a deep breath and asked, “Are you from Flying Cloud Tower?”

“Death is imminent. Why waste time talking?” As the man in python robes spoke, he attacked ferociously.

Boom!

He waved his lightning saber. The power of the Laws interwove, fierce and tyrannical.

The dark-robed elder and beautiful older woman attacked at the same time.

In the blink of an eye, the old man in Daoist robes was badly wounded and covered in blood.

However, perhaps for fear that he’d risk it all if they forced him into a corner, or perhaps simply because they wanted to capture him alive, the dark-robed elder and his companions didn’t strike the killing blow.

Instead, they toyed with him, like cats toying with a mouse. They tormented him repeatedly, intent on suppressing him.

The old man in Daoist robes seemed to realize that he wouldn’t escape disaster this time, and his expression filled with grief and indignation. He rasped, “Before I die, can you at least tell me why you’re targeting the cultivators of the Dark and Gold Star Realm?”

His voice was full of unwillingness.

No one paid him any heed.

The black-robed old man and his companions’ gazes were calm and indifferent, as if they were gazing on already trapped prey.

The old man in Daoist robe realized this, and he couldn’t help but sigh bitterly. He’d obviously given in to despair.

“Yong He, capture him. Remember not to take his life,” ordered the old man in black robes.

“Yes, sir!” The man in python robes nodded.

But just as they were about to take action, a calm voice rang out. “If your ancestor were here to see what a good-for-nothing you are, I’m afraid he’d be so angry that steam would come out of all seven apertures of his face.”

The group was stunned. All of them looked over.

There, not far away, they saw a young man in blue robes walking toward them.

His entire body emanated the characteristic aura of a Profound Illumination Emperor.

“You’re seeking death!” shouted the man in python robes. His eyes flashed with murderous intent.

“Wait a moment. Let’s see whether or not that kid and the old-timer are together,” ordered the old man in black.

“A good-for-nothing?” The old man in Daoist robes froze, stunned.

And here he thought he’d escaped this disaster. Who’d have thought a young man would appear out of nowhere and accuse him of being a good-for-nothing?

“You’re right, Fellow Daoist. I.... really am a good-for-nothing....” the old man in Daoist robes said bitterly.

Su Yi continued to rebuke him coldly. “You’re not just a good-for-nothing; you’re blind, too. You couldn’t even see through such a simple trap? You thought you could save them, not realizing that in the eyes of those who put them there, you too were nothing but prey.”

The dark-robed elder and his companions looked at each other. Inwardly, they felt quite strange.

Who is this kid? He actually stepped in to chastise that old man at a time like this? He’s sure got a mouth on him!

The old man in Daoist robes froze, the harsh rebuke leaving him completely stunned.

He was about to be captured, yet now, someone was mercilessly insulting him. This feeling... left him on the verge of collapse.

“At least you have rare hotbloodedness and spirit. Your intentions were good too. Otherwise, I couldn’t have been bothered to save you,” said Su Yi, his expression considerably warmer.

The old man in Daoist robes trembled from head to toe. He just berated me so thoroughly, and now he wants to save me?

The old man in black and his companions weren’t just not alarmed. On the contrary, all of them grinned.

Interesting! Yet more prey has emerged from hiding.

What a delightful surprise!