FIRST IMMORTAL OF THE SWORD

Chapter 993 - Nine Great Legacy Disciples

Broken Souls Ridge.

Ni Shuang, Shangguan Jie, and Cheng Tiankun waited frantically.

Whoosh!

Ye Luo appeared out of thin air.

“Martial Uncle!” Ni Shuang and the others were visibly delighted.

However, before they could speak, Ye Luo asked, “Where are the people you came here with?”

“They’ve already withdrawn,” Ni Shuang said without so much as pausing to think.

“Hah. They were quite quick to run away.” Su Yi laughed coldly, but he wasn’t particularly upset about this.

They were just a handful of Profound Illumination Emperors from the Wilds’ Six Great Daoist Sects. Even if they got away, they couldn’t stir up any waves.

Ni Shuang couldn’t help but say, “Martial Uncle, earlier, that Su guy killed…”

Ye Luo waved for silence. “I already understand what happened. Also, the ‘Su guy’ you speak of is actually… your grand-master, the founder of our lineage!”

Their founder!!!

Ni Shuang and the others felt as if they’d been struck by lightning. All of them were completely rooted to the spot.

When Ye Luo saw this, he couldn’t help but sigh. He already dared say with certainty that Ni Shuang and the others hadn’t known Su Yi’s true identity.

“What I’m about to tell you might be difficult for you to accept, but I think it’s necessary that you learn the truth,” said Ye Luo before launching into a concise explanation of what had happened within the Divine Cave of the Six Paths.

By the end of his explanation, Ni Shuang and the others seemed dazed and disconsolate. Disbelief was written all over their faces.

Their Martial Uncle Huo Yao was actually a traitor to their sect and to their master!

And even their master, Pi Mo, was most likely a hypocrite and traitor too. He’d founded the Abstruse Force Alliance using their founder’s name, but in truth, he’d long since betrayed his master!

This reality was far too shocking.

How could Ni Shuang and the others accept it all at once?

“I told you this because I don’t want you to end up like me, kept in the dark continuously. That said, your future paths are entirely up to you,” Ye Luo said gravely. “After all, Pi Mo is your master. However, I can tell you directly that if you choose to remain loyal to him despite knowing the truth, you’ll become enemies of the Grotto of Abstruse Force!”

With that, Ye Luo took to the skies, shot through the air, and left.

Quite some time passed before Ni Shuang and the others reacted as if awakening from a dream. Their eyes met. All of them had bleak, uncertain looks on their faces.

They’d always taken pride in becoming Pi Mo’s disciples, and in proclaiming themselves inheritors of the Grotto of Abstruse Force. They worshiped and revered their founder, the former sole sovereign of the Wilds.

Only now did they realize that they were likely the disciples of a traitor!

“How is this possible? This can’t possibly be true. Martial Uncle Ye Luo must be lying to us,” hissed Shangguan Jie. He couldn’t accept the reality of the situation.

“But why… Why would Martial Uncle Ye Luo deceive us?” Ni Shuang looked uncertain. “Don’t forget that earlier, Senior Apprentice Brother Gu kept a lot of information from us!”

“What’s the point of thinking about all that? If we go back and ask Master, we’ll know the truth, won’t we?” said Cheng Tiankun!

“Don’t even think about it!” Shangguan Jie and Ni Shuang said simultaneously. A moment later, their eyes met. Both of them realized what the other was worried about.

Cheng Tiankun was stunned. “Why is that?”

“If Master really is a traitor, he might well do things we’d never imagine him capable of.” Ni Shuang took a deep breath, and she looked conflicted. “After all, he founded the Abstruse Force Alliance in our founder’s name. If the other members find out that he’s a traitor, who among them… who among them will remain loyal?”

Shangguan Jie said bitterly, “If Master is really a traitor, he’ll want to keep the truth under wraps. There’s no way he’d let this information leak.”

When Cheng Tiankun heard that, he shuddered from head to toe, and a certain phrase rose unbidden to his consciousness: silencing witnesses.

“Then… what should we do?” Cheng Tiankun couldn’t help but ask.

“For now, let’s just watch from the sidelines and stay out of it!” Ni Shuang’s eyes flashed. “According to Martial Uncle Ye Luo, the founder of our lineage has already reincarnated. Sooner or later, he’s sure to return to the Nine Provinces of the Wilds. When the time comes, all will become clear. Then we’ll know whether or not Master really is a traitor!”

Shangguan Jie and Cheng Tiankun nodded.

That really was a good idea.

“But what if we can prove that Master really was a traitor…?” Shangguan Jie couldn’t help but chime in. “Remember, we’re his disciples, and Master was the one who educated us and taught us the Dao. Furthermore, he’s never once mistreated us.”

Ni Shuang and Cheng Tiankun fell silent. Their hearts were tied up in knots, and they felt completely lost.

They revered their founder, and they proclaimed themselves inheritors of the Grotto of Abstruse Force, but their master was most likely a traitor to their sect. What were they supposed to do?

Sometimes, the cruelty of worldly affairs left one helpless!

……..

Beneath the night sky.

Su Yi strolled through the darkness, clothing fluttering around him, looking elegant and detached.

“If Pi Mo finds out about what happened today, I’m afraid he won’t be able to eat or sleep in peace,” whispered Ye Luo.

He no longer called Pi Mo “Eldest Apprentice Brother.”

“I’m sure he’ll eat and sleep just fine, but there’s no way he’ll admit that I still live. Even if I appear right in front of him, there’s no way he’ll acknowledge who I am,” said Su Yi, his gaze distant.

Ye Luo was stunned. “Why is that?”

“The Abstruse Force Alliance was founded in my name. If its experts learn that Pi Mo long since betrayed me, there will be no need for me to take action. The Abstruse Force Alliance will fall apart on its own,” Su Yi said casually. “There’s no way Pi Mo would be able to accept such an outcome. I’m sure he’s aware of this possibility, too. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have come to the Netherworld personally to investigate my reincarnation back then.”

Only then did Ye Luo understand. “But Master, if you return to the Nine Provinces of the Wilds, refusing to recognize you will do him no good!”

Su Yi shook his head. “Don’t underestimate your eldest apprentice brother. He’s steady and deeply shrewd, and he plans his every move. If he learns what happened here today, he’s sure to take all manner of precautions. He’d rather attack first than put himself in a passive position.”

Pi Mo!

Su Yi’s first disciple, and the one he trusted most. His disposition was as firm as iron, and his heart was as steady as a rock.

Pi Mo conducted himself thoughtfully, and he killed decisively. He’d established an illustrious reputation for himself throughout the Wilds a long time ago, and even old monsters with deep, lofty cultivations feared him.

Pi Mo was also the disciple Su Yi worried about the least.

He never caused trouble, never showed off, and no matter what he did, he was always meticulously careful. His junior apprentice brothers deeply respected and relied on him.

In years gone by, when Su Yi left the sect to explore the outside world, he typically left Pi Mo in charge of the sect’s affairs.

And Pi Mo never let him down. No matter how long Su Yi was away, Pi Mo always kept the sect running in a smooth and orderly fashion.

Yet a disciple like this had chosen to betray him. Even now, Su Yi found it difficult to accept.

But Su Yi was well aware that regardless of what had led to Pi Mo’s betrayal, there were surely numerous secrets hidden behind it.

Given the circumstances, if Pi Mo learned he was still alive, he was sure to do everything in his power to squelch anything disadvantageous to him before it happened!

Ye Luo fell silent.

He knew his master was speaking the truth. Still, he’d been closest to Pi Mo ever since joining the sect. The thought that Pi Mo had betrayed them made him feel a tightness in his chest.

A long time passed before Ye Luo said, “Master, I’m not trying to argue on Pi Mo’s behalf, but I suspect that he wouldn’t choose to betray you without reason. There’s got to be something we don’t know behind all this.”

Su Yi nodded. “There’s a reason for everything. In the future… I’ll naturally give Pi Mo the opportunity to explain himself.”

Ye Luo couldn’t help but ask, “After learning the truth, will you let Pi Mo off?”

Su Yi’s gaze remained calm. “No matter their reasons, traitors must pay for their betrayals.”

Ye Luo’s heart shook, but he nodded.

As master and apprentice conversed, they shot toward the Mausoleum of the Gods.

Along the way, Su Yi learned a lot from Ye Luo. For instance, Huo Yao and company really had come to the Netherworld on Pi M’s orders.

Apparently, after learning of the changes in the Sea of Bitterness and realizing that the Burial Ground of the Dao most likely hid the secrets of reincarnation, Pi Mo sent Huo Yao and Ye Luo to investigate personally.

And after Huo Yao and company arrived, they used the information that Gu Ziming and the other disciples gathered to capture the old blind man on his way back to his sect’s ancestral grounds. It was from the old blind man that they learned about Su Yi and his accomplishments.

And that was why they’d set up an ambush for him.

However, Ye Luo, Ni Shuang, and almost everyone else involved were completely in the dark the entire time. Only Huo Yao, and later, Gu Ziming, knew the truth.

Su Yi also learned that his fourth disciple, Jin Kui, had joined the Abstruse Force Alliance alongside Huo Yao and Ye Luo.

According to Ye Luo, in the five hundred years since Su Yi’s “passing”, Jin Kui had been in seclusion, and she paid no heed to worldly affairs. Ye Luo couldn’t say with certainty whether or not she’d assisted Pi Mo in helping external enemies invade the Grotto of Abstruse Force.

And the Grotto of Abstruse Force had been under Qing Tang’s control this entire time.

During the past five hundred years, Qing Tang had given herself the name “Queller of Rebellions.” She’d gone on to execute countless foes, practically all of them people who’d betrayed and fled the Grotto of Abstruse Force after Su Yi’s reincarnation.

Including some of Su Yi’s former honorary disciples, as well as experts of the Abstruse Force Alliance!

The way the cultivators of the Wilds saw it, the real targets of Qing Tang’s revenge were Pi Mo and the Abstruse Force Alliance he’d founded.

On one side, there was the enormous organization founded by the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force’s eldest disciple. On the other, there was the faction working beneath his youngest disciple, Qing Tang. They still called themselves the Grotto of Abstruse Force.

The two of them got on like fire and water!

Conflict and bloodshed had erupted between the two camps on numerous occasions over the past five hundred years.

Su Yi didn’t find that strange. Pi Mo saw Qing Tang as a traitor, and he wanted to reclaim the Grotto of Abstruse Force.

Qing Tang naturally saw Pi Mo as a traitor as well, and she was out to punish him.

But there was one thing that Su Yi found difficult to understand. “None of your sectmates remained by Qing Tang’s side?”

Ye Luo shook his head. “Second Senior Apprentice Brother once tried to resolve the enmity between her and Pi Mo. He visited the Grotto of Abstruse Force personally, only for Qing Tang to send him packing. They say that this hurt Second Senior Apprentice Brother deeply, and he left on a journey. No one knows where he went.”

Su Yi couldn’t help but sigh. “Only your second senior apprentice brother would be foolish enough to try something like that.”

Jing Xing was pure and kind by nature, and he detested fighting and killing. He was more of a bookworm, and he much preferred reasoning with people and convincing them through virtue.

His rarest, most precious quality was his heart as pure as jade. He was honest and kind.

This was also what Su Yi most admired and valued about Jing Xing.

A cultivated gentleman ought to have a heart as pure as jade!

“And what about your fifth and eighth apprentice brothers?” asked Su Yi.

He’d reunited with his seventh disciple, Xuan Ning, back in the Azure Continent. Now, he’d reunited with his sixth disciple, Ye Luo, too. However, neither of them had brought up Wang Que or Bai Yi.

Su Yi couldn’t help but find this a bit hard to understand.