Personality

Although Su Yu had not seen Luo Qianyu, the Cloud Sword Sect Grand Elder's personal disciple, again, he could still hear some rumors about her in Cloud Mountain Market.

Luo Qianyu possessed extraordinary talent and was already showing signs of becoming the number one person among the Cloud Sword Sect's inner disciples.

There had also been no shortage of rumors concerning the Cloud Sword Sect lately.

The one drawing the most attention concerned the Cloud Sword Sect's True Person patriarch.

Things were no longer as they had once been. In the past, the Cloud Sword Sect had produced a prodigy who led the sect to contend with the Great Moon Palace of Great Moon Prefecture, matching it blow for blow.

But ever since that prodigy had fallen, the Cloud Sword Sect had steadily declined.

Recently, rumors had even spread that the Cloud Sword Sect's True Person had little lifespan remaining!

Once that person fell, the Cloud Sword Sect might be left with no successor!

That was the root reason so many Demon Path cultivators and Bandit Cultivators had appeared within the Cloud Sword Sect Territory lately.

And if one dug deeper into the matter, one might discover that this was not merely a threat posed by Demon Path cultivators and Bandit Cultivators.

Why had those Demon Path cultivators and Bandit Cultivators flooded into the Cloud Sword Sect Territory at such a time?

Why had the conflicts and turmoil among the various cultivation families and even independent cultivators throughout the Cloud Sword Sect Territory become more frequent and far more intense during this period?

And why had Blood Saber Daoist Luo Bang tried to seize the Incomplete Supreme Artifact, the Heavenly Net Umbrella?

Su Yun said in a low voice, "It is said that the Cloud Sword Sect's True Person patriarch has not appeared for a long time. Now, the Cloud Sword Sect Master and the Grand Elder may appear harmonious, but their hearts are at odds, so the relationship between the Sect Master's faction and the Grand Elder's faction is extremely tense."

"Xiao Zhi is on rather good terms with Luo Qianyu, the Cloud Sword Sect Grand Elder's personal disciple. Perhaps that is why the Jiang Family approached the Su Family."

Su Yu pondered for a moment, then asked, "What kind of person is the Jiang Family's eldest legitimate son of the main branch? What is his cultivation?"

Su Yun replied, "His name is Jiang Zhou. He is forty-nine this year, with one wife and six concubines, as well as more than a dozen descendants. He is currently at the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining."

As Su Yu listened, although he himself was already forty and only at the Seventh Layer of Qi Refining, he did not bother concealing his contempt for this Jiang Zhou.

"A useless breeding stallion like that thinks he is worthy of taking Sister Zhi as an equal wife?"

"Even I could slap him to death with one hand now! I'm a hundred times better than him!"

This was the first time Su Yu had spoken such 'arrogant' words.

But within the Su Family, he was now qualified to say them.

Keeping a low profile did not mean being truly cowardly, or cowering forever, much less living like a dog.

It meant cultivating when it was time to cultivate, standing firm against others when one could, enduring if one could not win and cultivating for another hundred or thousand years—then, once one could win, you fucking dare provoke me?

That was Su Yu's personality.

The moment he said this—

Everyone present stared at him in astonishment. Su Peng, Su Zhi's father, wore an especially strange expression.

Those words—

Something about them felt off.

After his brief surprise, Su Yun recalled that Su Yu was a high-grade Rank 1 alchemist, a High-grade Rank 1 Talisman Master, and a high-grade Rank 1 Puppet Master, and could not help nodding.

Su Yun said, "'Slapping him to death with one hand' would indeed not be a problem."

"But he is the Jiang Family main branch's eldest legitimate son. It is fine to say you want to slap him to death here, but do not say it outside for now."

The Su Family was still too weak to take on the Jiang Family.

"Of course. I'm not stupid." Su Yu nodded shamelessly in agreement.

Su Peng, Su Chang, Su Ruosu, Su Jingbang, and the others could not help laughing. The atmosphere was no longer as tense as before.

Su Peng looked at Su Yu and asked, "What do you think should be done about this?"

Su Yu shrugged. "Naturally, we refuse. Sister Zhi is a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator of the Cloud Sword Sect. If the Jiang Family wants to use our Su Family to drag her into this, that road will not work."

"As long as we put them off and tell the Jiang Family to go to the Cloud Sword Sect to find Sister Zhi and let her make the decision herself, there is nothing they can do to us."

"As for Sister Zhi, I refuse to believe the Jiang Family would dare act recklessly against a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator of the Cloud Sword Sect."

"No matter how much hair grows on the Jiang Family's courage, they would never dare throw their weight around against the Cloud Sword Sect."

"Of course, the family's defensive formation must be strengthened. We still need to take precautions. If the Jiang Family does act recklessly, a stronger defensive formation will let us hold out until we can ask the Cloud Sword Sect Grand Elder's faction for aid."

Su Peng sighed softly. "The ancestor said the same thing as you. But if we do this, Xiao Zhi will be under considerable pressure."

Everyone fell silent for a moment.

Excluding Su Zhi, the Su Family still only had Su Bin as a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator.

Even with the full support of the Su Family, Su Bin had only broken through to Foundation Establishment Stage Two.

Yet between the Su Family and a major cultivation family like the Jiang Family lay a vast, uncrossable gulf.

Beyond the disparity in strength and influence, there was also the difference in accumulated foundations.

Every so often, the Jiang Family could gather materials on its own and refine Foundation Establishment Pills. Their foundations, accumulated over many years, had allowed them to break through the blockade imposed by great sect forces such as the Cloud Sword Sect.

The Su Family was different. It still languished at the bottom beneath that blockade.

Aside from the flawed Foundation Establishment Pill they had purchased for more than five thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones back then, they had not obtained another one in over a decade.

Not even another flawed one.

As for the core materials needed to refine a Foundation Establishment Pill, Su Yu had only gathered three types so far.

After a while.

Su Peng looked at Su Yu and said, "You previously said that you wanted to leave Cloud Mountain Market and go to Moon Worship Immortal City. Now that you have returned this time, are you planning to go?"

Su Yu nodded. "Cloud Mountain Market can no longer help me much. Moon Worship Immortal City may be better."

Su Peng seemed to want to say something, but ultimately shook his head. "Moon Worship Immortal City is rather far from the family. If you want to settle there, then most of the time, you will only be able to rely on yourself."

He had originally wondered whether the family should follow Su Yu to Moon Worship Immortal City and establish another Alchemy Pavilion outpost.

But after thinking it over, Moon Worship Immortal City was too far away. The family simply did not have the ability to attend to matters there.

Rather than that, it would be better to let Su Yu decide for himself.

As he spoke, Su Peng looked at Su Yu and said, "Of course, if you go alone, miscellaneous matters may tie you down. Do you want to choose a few people to bring with you?"

After thinking for a moment, Su Yu still politely declined. He wanted to go and take a look by himself first.

Su Peng asked Su Yu to remain at the family residence for a while longer.

Night fell.

Su Yu sat cross-legged in the courtyard, looking up at the stars filling the night sky. Suddenly, he thought of Lin Dong, his former maidservant.

After asking around, he learned that Lin Dong had married more than ten years ago. She now had three children, the eldest already twelve and the youngest three—a little girl with a low-grade Water spiritual root.

"A Water spiritual root?" Su Yu thought of the Water attribute cultivation technique and spells he had obtained from a member of the Lin Family long ago.

Under cover of night.

Su Yu delivered the cultivation technique and spells, along with ten Low-grade Spirit Stones, to Lin Dong.

By calculation, Lin Dong was nearly forty now.

When he saw her again, she was no longer the cute and pretty young girl she had once been, but a middle-aged woman.

"Immortals and mortals are different." After returning, Su Yu silently thought to himself, Perhaps I should find a maidservant with a spiritual root and decent cultivation talent.

If a maidservant was a cultivator and had reasonably good cultivation talent, she could at least accompany him for decades, perhaps even a hundred years.

But for now, he could only think about it.

Why would a female cultivator with decent talent be willing to follow him as a maidservant?

And ordinary female cultivators did not catch his eye.

Su Yu stayed with the family for a month. Aside from cultivating, he wandered around Azure Mountain and Jiang City, and also took a trip around Spirit Moon Lake.

Spirit Moon Lake was considered a place of spiritual beauty, capable of producing spiritual creatures such as Moonlight Fish.

Yet after making a full circuit of Spirit Moon Lake, Su Yu could not tell what made it any different from an ordinary lake.

Perhaps only an earth master could see something.

A month later, Su Yu bade farewell to his master, the Family Head, and the elders before setting off for Moon Worship Immortal City.