Testing the Sword in the Mortal World
Su Yao flew on for about ten li and came to a stop above a valley.
Below, an old Daoist in blood-red robes was chasing a woodcutter. He was clearly a Foundation Establishment cultivator who could live for five hundred years, one who, exerting his full strength, could divert rivers and level mountains. Yet his eyes were full of mockery as he toyed with the woodcutter like a cat playing with a mouse.
Su Yao was about to intervene when the prism in his Qi sea suddenly gave a warning, startling him.
Law Power surged into the prism, and a faint, multicolored light appeared in his eyes.
Then he looked closely. That was no woodcutter at all: the man was plainly dressed in a mountain god's robes, much like those of a fourth-rank civil official in the mortal world.
A chill ran through his heart. How long had it been since he came down the mountain?
The probing had come so soon.
This god was probably the mountain god of Qixia Mountain.
Three thousand years ago, Devil Cultivators had marched north from the South Sea. Qixia Temple, situated on the South Sea's shore, had naturally borne the brunt of their assault. Nearly all its Purple Mansion True Persons had perished, along with Qixia Temple's own mountain god of Qixia Mountain.
This man had originally been a subordinate of Qixia Temple's previous mountain god. Seeing that the cause was lost, he had taken advantage of Daozheng's battle with the newly enthroned Devil Lord of Blood Homeland Heaven and, egged on by several neighboring powers, seized the position and authority of Qixia Mountain's mountain god.
Afterward, Daozheng had used an edict of the Daoist schools to prevent him from controlling Qixia's ley lines and exercising its many other wondrous powers. All he had left were the five-thousand-year lifespan that came with the mountain god's position and the strength of the Purple Mansion Middle Stage.
Su Yao had considered many things since deciding to come down the mountain, but he had never imagined that the first to probe him would be a servant who had betrayed his master.
His heart tightened. Though Qixia Temple's Purple Mansion True Persons and the former mountain god had all perished, there were still quite a few Purple Mansion spirits and monsters in the mountains, as well as Daozheng, the pillar that held Qixia Mountain steady.
It was just that Qixia Temple had no Purple Mansion immortal cultivators, and its temple master had also perished that year. With no temple master, nearly all its disciples lost, and pressure from the Jade Void Palace, the Heavenly Court, and various other quarters, Daozheng had been forced to close the temple and seal the mountain, and so things remained to this day.
Watching the mountain god and Devil Cultivator perform below, Su Yao could not help sneering inwardly. They had counted on Qixia Mountain walking the righteous path and being unable to stand by when faced with such a scene.
As for whether the other party would attack him?
Su Yao was not afraid. If the man harbored the slightest improper thought, did he really take Daozheng, who watched over the mountains and rivers for ten thousand li around, for someone who merely ate his fill and did nothing?
If he attacked, Daozheng's Wu Earth Calamity would descend from Qixia Mountain the very next instant.
So Su Yao reached for Zhengji at his waist.
He drew the sword, stroked its blade with two fingers, and murmured:
"The east first brightens, the sun's chariot begins to rise. Morning clouds become rain and bathe my golden court. By decree!"
As soon as his voice fell, a streak of golden morning clouds appeared on the horizon, with immortal palaces and golden towers faintly visible within it.
In the blink of an eye, guided by the Zhengji sword, the clouds turned into countless drops of golden light that poured down upon the figure shrouded in surging blood Qi.
The Devil Cultivator was already being controlled, his mind clouded, and only now reacted. Besides, the person hidden in the shadows clearly wanted him dead quickly, so the stage could be set for the play.
He did not struggle much. He merely sprang into the air with an angry curse, then raised the blood Qi around him, turning it into a sheet of bloody cloth that hung before him.
Su Yao sneered.
Golden Palace Morning Clouds was a seventh-grade Law Technique, and he had cast it with a ritual sword once used by Dao Ancestor Yuqing himself. How could its power be ordinary?
In a single breath, the bloody cloth turned to ash.
The golden rain of light fell upon the Devil Cultivator without obstruction. In an instant, he vanished completely in the rosy light, leaving only a few blood crystals to fall to the ground as the lingering blood-red mist rose and dispersed.
Seeing this, the woodcutter was overjoyed. He kowtowed and bowed toward the falling rain of rosy light.
"Many thanks to the immortal master for saving my life."
Su Yao remained concealed beneath the Grand Yin Law Robe and spoke softly.
"I saw injustice on the road and drew my sword to help. It was nothing worth mentioning.
Go on, go on."
The woodcutter's expression did not change. He continued to cry out:
"Immortal master, I have no way to repay you for saving my life today. I hope you will show yourself, so that I may return home and make a statue of you to worship, in repayment for your immortal grace."
Seeing that the man remained stubbornly intent on probing him, Su Yao withdrew the concealment of his Law Robe and revealed himself.
His immortal foundation, Draped in Rosy Radiance, stirred at once. Strands of rosy light draped over him like a cloak, and a point of rosy light shone brilliantly between his brows.
Since you want to probe me and put on a play, I'll see it through with you. But don't blame me if you lose face in the end.
After all, even without the prism, he would have intervened, but he would not have seen through the woodcutter's true nature. It would have been troublesome to be placed at a disadvantage. Down the mountain was not like up on it: one wrong step or a few wrong words could bring about eternal ruin.
The woodcutter was delighted to see Su Yao reveal himself.
"Many thanks to the immortal master for saving my life!"
Su Yao picked up on his words.
"Why do you make such a fuss? As a direct inheritor of the Jade Pure One, I saw this devil wreaking havoc in the world today. Naturally, I had to draw my sword and help."
With that, he made as if to leave.
The woodcutter hurriedly said, "Immortal master, I shall never forget your grace in saving my life today. Now that I have seen your immortal visage, I hope you will honor me by coming to my humble home for a simple meal and a couple of cups of wild mountain tea. I can also invite the finest local craftsman to make a statue of you, so that I may worship you daily and keep the incense offerings burning without end."
Su Yao stopped and said calmly:
"I am an immortal cultivator. I practice Grain Avoidance and cultivate immortality, eating none of the mortal world's grains and drinking none of its tea. I partake only of immortal spirit fruits, spirit meals, spirit pills, and spirit tea.
"Besides, we immortal cultivators are not the likes of earth gods, stove gods, or mountain gods. We do not feed on incense offerings, so what use would yours be to me?
"I helped you today only because I attained the Dao in a human body and could not bear to see you fall into a devil's hands. Why must you stand on ceremony?"
The mountain god disguised as a woodcutter felt a chill in his heart.
Could this Qixia Daozi have seen through something?
Had Su Yao belonged to some ordinary minor school or sect, the mountain god would already have secretly used his Fate Divine Ability. But the man before him was the Qixia Daozi. If he dared harbor the slightest improper thought, Daozheng's Wu Earth Calamity would be upon him the next moment.
When that happened, not only this incarnation of his, but even his true body and his mortal relatives would come to grief.
After all, although he had gone to Jiankang five hundred years ago and had not been here, he knew perfectly well what had happened here then.
Only after seizing the position back then had he learned how terrifying Daozheng was. There was not a moment when he did not think of returning to Qixia Mountain's service and listening to immortal decrees, but he had no way to make his wishes known and had even been humiliated several times. On top of that, the lavish gifts sent by the neighboring powers had been far too generous, so he had decided to probe the situation for the sake of his future.
Besides, the Dao Child was only at the Foundation Establishment realm and might not really be able to see through him. And five hundred years ago, when True Person Guangli had come down the mountain, had he not fallen into a trap as well?
So he steeled himself and continued:
"What the immortal master says is quite right. It is just that this old man makes his living gathering herbs and chopping wood in Qixia Mountain, and I have obtained a few things touched by immortal Spiritual Qi. I have no way to repay you for saving my life today, so I wish to present them to you. I hope the immortal master will do me the honor of accepting them."
Seeing that the fish had taken the bait, Su Yao pretended to yield with reluctance.
"In that case, I shall go with you.
"But do not deceive me, or you shall have to take a trip to the Netherworld! Lead the way."
The woodcutter nodded repeatedly.
"I would not dare deceive the immortal master. Please follow me!"
With that, he headed north.
Su Yao followed.
In the Great Void, a figure concealed by the power of Greater Yin watched everything Su Yao did in the manifested world and could not help crying out inwardly:
Daozheng has done me harm!
Although he had not had much contact with this Dao Child, he had spent years quietly watching from the shadows on the mountain. How could he not know how much trouble the Dao Child had been capable of stirring up as a child?
Only in recent years, as he had grown older, had he reined himself in somewhat. But from the look of things now, that troublesome nature had probably never faded.
On the mountain, with Daozheng keeping him in check and his own standing as the Qixia Daozi, he had naturally restrained himself as he matured. Now that he had come down the mountain, his true nature had emerged all at once. Thinking of the twenty years of arduous duty he had accepted, the watcher's distress could well be imagined.