Storytelling Willow Deity! Seven Trips In and Out of the Foreign Realm!

"Common?"

Su Chen let out a scoff.

"Reversing yin and yang defies the laws of Heaven. It's a forbidden act."

"Across the entire Three Thousand Provinces of the Upper Realm and even the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, those capable of such a feat are as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns."

"They only achieved such fortune because they were Shi Hao and Shi Yi, the most blessed prodigies under Heaven."

As he spoke, Su Chen snapped his folding fan shut.

Seeing that the crowd in the hall still couldn't regain their composure, he lifted his teacup and wet his throat.

By now, the audience below could no longer hold back their questions.

Yu Yuanzhen stood up and looked at Su Chen on the dais.

"Mr. Su."

"If Shi Hao and Shi Yi were both reborn in the Upper Realm..."

"Then when they meet again, won't they keep fighting?"

Hearing Yu Yuanzhen's question, Prince Xue Xing nodded repeatedly in agreement.

"Exactly."

"Shi Yi was beheaded in front of everyone. Who could swallow such a deep grudge?"

"If those two fight again in the Upper Realm, who will win?"

By Douluo Continent's understanding, such a life-and-death feud meant a fight to the death, even if one had to chase the other to the ends of the earth.

Hearing their questions, Su Chen set down his teacup and smiled faintly.

"Keep fighting?"

"You're thinking far too narrowly about the Upper Realm."

Su Chen shook his head, his gaze sweeping over the audience.

"Back in the Great Wilderness, Shi Yi dug out Little One's Supreme Bone, incurring a tremendous karmic debt."

"In the Void God Realm, Little One destroyed his body and Soul Spirit, bringing that feud to a complete end."

"The karma was settled, and the old grudge drifted away with the wind."

"In the Upper Realm, those two brothers didn't fight each other to the death again."

"In fact, when they later faced enemies from beyond the realms, they fought side by side and stood together against the outside threat."

At these words, the people in the hall exchanged bewildered glances.

Fighting side by side?

Those mortal enemies, who had dug out bones and severed heads, could actually end up standing together?

It completely upended everything they thought they knew.

Just then, Bibi Dong, seated in the front row, couldn't help but scoff.

"Fighting side by side? Settling their feud?"

"Mr. Su, I doubt Shi Hao was simply magnanimous."

Bibi Dong stared coldly at the dais, her voice full of the arrogance of someone who thought she saw through everything.

"Shi Yi was taken away by the Ancient Double-Pupil Woman. That means he has a true powerhouse backing him."

"Such an ancient expert has power that reaches the heavens and penetrates the earth."

"Shi Hao, no matter how talented he is, was still just an orphan who came from a remote, destitute village in the lower realm."

"He has no one behind him. What could he possibly use to challenge a fully accomplished Double Pupil Woman?"

"If they really fought, and he angered her, incurring such overwhelming karma, Shi Hao could have ten lives and still not have enough to die."

Bibi Dong paused for a moment.

"In the end, Shi Hao was simply wary of the backing behind his opponent and didn't dare make another move."

After Bibi Dong finished speaking, quite a few Spirit Masters in the hall nodded along.

That certainly fit the rules of survival on Douluo Continent.

Without a background or a sect to rely on, no matter how talented you were, you could only keep your head down.

Shi Hao was just a boy from a village in the lower realm. Once he went to the Upper Realm, how could he afford to provoke someone as powerful as the Double Pupil Woman?

Yet when Su Chen heard Bibi Dong's confident analysis, he suddenly laughed.

"Wary?"

"Backing?"

Su Chen looked at Bibi Dong, who thought herself so clever, and slowly rose to his feet.

"Bibi Dong, your narrow vision is truly pitiful."

"Do you really think Little One survived the perilous Great Wilderness on sheer luck alone?"

"Do you really think that so-called Ancient Double-Pupil Woman would dare lay a finger on Little One?"

Su Chen's two questions left the entire hall stunned.

Bibi Dong furrowed her brow.

Could Little One have some mighty being backing him, too?

With a snap, Su Chen opened his folding fan.

"Today, I'll tell you about..."

"The one backing Little One."

"I'll tell you about an unrivaled existence who, across the Three Thousand Provinces of the Upper Realm and even the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths..."

"Just hearing her name is enough to make countless Immortal King Giants tremble."

As Su Chen's voice fell, the illusory scene in midair shifted in an instant.

Everyone in the hall stared intently at it.

The scene showed no majestic immortal sect.

Nor did it show some ancient powerhouse treading on the stars.

All it showed was Stone Village, a broken-down settlement deep in the Great Wilderness.

At the village entrance stood a charred stump, struck by lightning and reduced to a mere remnant of a Lightning-Struck Wood.

Only one delicate willow branch remained on the stump, swaying gently in the breeze and giving off a faint green glow.

Xue Ye was stunned at the sight.

Bibi Dong let out a cold laugh.

"Mr. Su."

"Is that the backing you spoke of, the one that makes Immortal Kings tremble? A rotten stump that's nearly dead?"

The people in the hall were bewildered, too.

A tree?

What earth-shattering power could a rotten willow have when even its trunk had been struck away?

Su Chen paid no heed to their doubts.

He simply gazed at the willow branch, glowing with a soft green light, and his voice grew solemn.

"In your eyes, this may be nothing more than an ordinary Lightning-Struck Wood."

"But in that distant Immortal Ancient Era..."

"She once charged alone into the Foreign Realm, going in and out nine times, and slew the Foreign Realm's Immortal Kings until their blood stained the skies!"

"She bathed in the blood of gods and demons, facing the encirclement of countless worlds without so much as batting an eye!"

Su Chen's voice thundered through the hall.

"Her name is Willow Deity!"

"She is the supreme Sacrificial Spirit of Stone Village."

"And she is the true guardian of the Dao for Little One, Shi Hao!"

Boom!

At the words "Willow Deity," the seemingly withered Lightning-Struck Wood in the scene suddenly erupted in ten thousand feet of green light.

Then a vast, indescribable pressure swept through Listening Rain Pavilion. Even separated from it by an illusory scene, every Spirit Master felt their whole body shudder.

Nine trips in and out of the Foreign Realm? An Immortal King slain until his blood stained the skies?

What kind of monster was this?

"Such peerless grace, such unmatched might..."

Su Chen looked down at Bibi Dong.

"You think a mere Double Pupil Woman would dare harm someone under her protection?"

"Do you know how much karma that would incur? That would truly mean a fight to the death!"

At that, the entire hall fell utterly silent.

Everyone was so shocked they couldn't even speak.

Su Chen, standing on the dais, simply picked up the Gavel.

Clack!

"If you wish to learn just how defiant the past of the supreme Sacrificial Spirit, Willow Deity, truly was..."

"Or how she would protect Little One and make the powerhouses of the Three Thousand Provinces of the Upper Realm tremble in fear..."

Su Chen smiled faintly.

"Then..."

"Let's hear the rest next time."

As soon as Su Chen finished speaking in that casual tone, the people who had been immersed in Willow Deity's peerless bearing, eager to hear how the supreme Sacrificial Spirit had slaughtered her way through her foes, immediately grew anxious.

"Don't stop there, Mr. Su!"

A sect leader in the front row smacked his thigh in a panic.

"How did Willow Deity go in and out of the Foreign Realm nine times? Please tell us more!"

"Exactly! You've barely started. How can you leave it for next time already?"

"I'll pay double... no, ten times the price for tea! Please tell us more!"

Groans and wails rose one after another throughout the hall.

Having their appetites whetted only to have the tale suddenly cut short felt worse than being killed.

Yet even as the audience below clamored in protest, Su Chen merely folded his fan and remained calm.

"Too short?"

Su Chen glanced at Xue Ye and Bibi Dong, seated in the front row.

"If people hadn't started a fight outside Listening Rain Pavilion this morning and delayed me..."

"I could naturally have told you more today."

A trace of coldness entered Su Chen's voice.

"The rules here are simple."

"If anyone causes trouble outside again and delays the storytelling..."

"Then that day's storytelling will be cut straight down to the time it takes one incense stick to burn."

At that, the hall fell silent at once.

The audience members who had been complaining turned reproachful looks toward the few bigwigs in the front row.

Xue Ye's old face flushed, and he gave an awkward cough.

Bibi Dong's expression stiffened, too, a flash of guilt and regret in her eyes.

If she'd known this man had such a temper, she wouldn't have gotten into a clash with Tang Xiao outside that morning.

Now she hadn't tested his strength, and she'd only angered him—leaving herself unable to hear the rest of the story, too.

Seeing Su Chen turn to leave, Xue Ye grew anxious. He hurriedly stood up, hoping to seize another chance to recruit him.

"Mr. Su, please wait..."

Bibi Dong, unwilling to fall behind, was just about to approach him as well.

"Dear guests."

The young attendant in blue stepped forward at just the right moment, directly blocking the two bigwigs.

He bent at the waist, wearing a polite smile that couldn't be faulted.

"Today's storytelling has ended."

"The gentleman is going to rest. If you wish to hear a story or have other business, please come back early tomorrow."

Xue Ye and Bibi Dong both frowned at the attendant blocking their way.

On any other day, a servant who poured tea and water daring to stop them would have been dragged out and beheaded.

But in Listening Rain Pavilion, they had to treat even a dog with courtesy.

"Since Mr. Su needs to rest, I won't disturb him."

Xue Ye sighed helplessly. He could only suppress his impatience and leave with Xue Qinghe.

Bibi Dong glanced deeply at the curtain leading backstage, but in the end, she didn't lash out.

"Let's go."

As the important figures departed one after another, the audience in the hall could only leave, still yearning for more.

At that moment, in the top-floor lounge of Listening Rain Pavilion,

Su Chen pushed open the door and walked over to sit in the armchair by the window.

Once the crowd had dispersed from the hall, the crisp system notification rang in his mind right on cue.

[Ping! Today's storytelling has ended. Popularity points have been tallied!]

[Congratulations, host! Today's storytelling has caused a huge sensation!]

[You successfully shocked Bibi Dong, the Pope of Spirit Hall, and Xue Ye, the Heaven Dou Emperor, and suppressed the members of the Clear Sky Sect in the street!]

[Popularity gained this time: 8,000,000 points!]

Hearing the number, Su Chen nodded in satisfaction.

As his fame spread and so many important figures had shown up in person today, his popularity had indeed soared.

[Ding! The host currently has 8,800,000 popularity points.]

[Would you like to activate the God-Level Lottery Wheel?]

"Activate it. I'll draw twice for now."

Su Chen gave the order without hesitation.

[Ding! 4,000,000 popularity points deducted. The God-Level Lottery Wheel is spinning...]

As the system spoke, the ancient-looking wheel appeared in Su Chen's sight once more, spinning rapidly.

A moment later, the pointer slowly came to a stop.

[Ding! Congratulations, host! You've drawn an item from Perfect World: a pure-blood Green-Scaled Eagle egg, a Primordial Remnant (unhatched)!]

[Ding! Congratulations, host! You've drawn a cultivation technique from Perfect World: a low-grade Ferocious Beast Bone Text Precious Technique!]

A Green-Scaled Eagle egg?

Su Chen raised an eyebrow and retrieved the egg from his system storage.

A giant egg, nearly half a person's height and covered all over in blue-green scale-like patterns, appeared silently on the floor of the room.

Ancient, violent runes flowed across the shell, and from within came the faint sound of an exceptionally powerful heartbeat.

Although the Green-Scaled Eagle wasn't considered a top-tier Ferocious Beast in Perfect World, it was still an exceptionally powerful presence in the early stages.

If it were placed on the Douluo Continent, a mature Green-Scaled Eagle could tear apart those so-called hundred-thousand-year Titan Giant Apes with its physical strength alone.

"This one has the makings of a fine guard."

Su Chen smiled and waved a hand.

The profound Unique Cave Heaven slowly manifested behind his head.

He tossed the Green-Scaled Eagle egg into the Unique Cave Heaven.

Nourished by the Cave Heaven's incomparably dense essence of creation, the egg would hatch much sooner.

Then Su Chen examined the low-grade Bone Text Precious Technique.

It was an extremely basic cultivation method for Ferocious Beasts, detailing how to convert the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into runes and imprint them onto the bones.

For someone like Su Chen, who possessed a Unique Cave Heaven and Thunder Emperor True Blood, this low-grade technique was as useful as chicken ribs.

"I'll keep it for now. Maybe I can use it as a reward for someone later."

Su Chen casually tossed it into his Spatial Ring.

By the time he had finished all this, it was already completely dark outside.

Just as Su Chen was about to get up, wash, and rest,

a servant's faint knock suddenly sounded at the door.

"Shopkeeper, are you resting?"

Su Chen returned to the table, sat down, and poured himself a cup of warm water.

"Come in and tell me."

The servant pushed open the door and came closer, looking a little uneasy.

"Shopkeeper, two strange guests have arrived outside. They insist they have something extremely important to discuss with you."

"They're dressed rather roughly. They don't look like nobles from the city."

At the servant's report,

Su Chen's hand paused slightly around the teacup, and a meaningful smile curved his lips.

"They don't look like nobles from the city?"

Su Chen took a sip of water, his tone calm.

"Of course they don't."

"After all, they aren't human."

Actually, while telling stories earlier that day, Su Chen had already noticed the two extremely subtle auras in a corner of the hall.

Those two auras had been exceptionally well concealed.

Even peak powerhouses like Bibi Dong and Golden Crocodile Douluo, both at Level 98, hadn't noticed them in the slightest.

But they couldn't escape the perception of Su Chen's Unique Cave Heaven.

The two overlords of the Star Dou Forest.

The Sky Azure Bull Python and the Titan Giant Ape!

"Let them in."