A Martial Dao Grandmaster!

Elder Li’s expression changed dramatically, and his bellyful of anger “grew wings and flew away.”

This time, even Chen Jinlong and the others finally sensed that something strange was going on here.

Seeing this lofty expert, they instantly understood the source of the purple-robed youth’s confidence. 

There was no doubt about it: the young man in purple had noble status far beyond the masses! 

But what left Chen Jinlong and the others baffled was why such lofty figures would be so…. So utterly respectful when they talked to Su Yi.

When he saw the weathered elder, Huang Qianjun’s eyes widened. “Brother Su, isn’t that the old fisherman we saw when we disembarked? He… He …. He really is a Martial Dao Grandmaster!?”

It was no wonder he was surprised.

Down at the pier, Su Yi had merely casually pointed and said the elderly man washing out his fishing nets was in fact a Grandmaster.

Huang Qianjun hadn't believed a word of it. He assumed that Su Yi was just trying to make a point, and that his goal was only to teach him that differences in perspective and position led to bias and conflict.

Who would have thought that the man was in fact a real Martial Dao Grandmaster?

When he realized this, waves coursed through Huang Qianjun’s heart. He finally understood what it meant to have eyes yet fail to recognize a treasure, or to miss the forest for the trees. 

When he heard Huang Qianjun’s exclamation, Feng Xiaofeng was dumbstruck.

A Martial Dao Grandmaster!

That was an existence akin to a heavenly dragon!

Even in the Cloudriver Prefectural Capital, they were massively influential figures who could shake an entire region with a single stomp of their foot!

“Greetings, Young Lord Su.” Once Zhang Duo and the guards walked in, they approached Su Yi and greeted him respectfully.

They'd witnessed Su Yi’s graceful bearing as he slew a Martial Dao Grandmaster aboard the tower ship.

In doing so, Su Yi had saved Zhou Zhili, but he’d saved them too. Now that they met again, how could they not be respectful?

“This old man is called Mu Zhongting. Greetings, Young Lord Su.” The gaunt elder greeted Su Yi with a smile and a clasped fist.

When Su Yi first entered the House of Prosperity, he attracted the guards, Zhou Zhili, and Qing Jin’s attention. After hearing Zhou Zhili’s recounting of events, Mu Zhongting understood how Su Yi had turned the tides on the tower ship, and he already admired him deeply.

When they saw this group pay Su Yi their respects, who could miss that the situation had changed?

They almost felt as if their eyes were playing tricks on them. Their hearts felt shaken and agitated.

Madam Cuiyun suddenly clasped her fist in greeting. “So, it turns out His Lordship Mu has graced our humble establishment. Please forgive me for not realizing earlier and for failing to greet you at the door. I humbly request your forgiveness.”

Elder Li’s extremities went cold, and his face was ashen.

Mu Zhongting was the governor of the Harmony Prefecture, a glorious second-level Inner Furnace Realm Grandmaster. Of course he’d heard of him!

“If you’ll take my advice, a single tongue is likely already the lightest possible penalty. If you refuse, I’m afraid not even I will be able to protect the House of Prosperity.” Mu Zhongting looked at Madam Cuiyun, his words full of implicit meaning. 

Madam Cuiyun shuddered, and her beautiful eyes instinctively flitted toward the youth in purple.

Then, she glanced back at Su Yi, who’d been sitting there, calm and composed this entire time. She finally realized that Su Yi’s earlier behavior was in no way “brazen.” 

He really didn’t need the Purple Jade Token to intimidate people with another’s prestige. He had confidence in himself!

Madam Cuiyun took a deep breath, then looked at Elder Li. Her expression had already frosted over. “Elder Li, do you recall what I told you earlier? I said that you were not to act recklessly and that if you spoke out of turn… Well, deal with the consequences yourself.”

Elder Li’s expression was bleak. He muttered, “A loose tongue really does lead to disaster. I was blind. This is the price I ought to pay!”

Skwish!

His expression contorted with agony as he tightly clutched his bleeding mouth.

Then, he removed a severed, still-bleeding tongue from his mouth with trembling hands. He turned toward Su Yi and lowered his head.

This bloody scene left Chen Jinlong and the others pale with fright.

They recognized Elder Li. They knew he was Madam Cuiyun’s most trusted subordinate, a long-famous Qi Accumulation expert.

His status was high enough to sit as equals at the same table as leaders of many of the city’s prominent families.

Yet now, he had no choice but to bite off his own tongue and lower his head in apology!

“Young Lord Su, is this resolved to your satisfaction?” Zhou Zhili asked with a smile.

Su Yi just waved, too lazy to even say anything. 

Zhou Zhili then nodded at Madam Cuiyun. “Have him leave for medical treatment. You stay here; we have other matters to discuss.”

Madam Cuiyun sighed to herself, then hurriedly gave Elder Li his orders.

He left, his silhouette bleak and desolate.

Su Yi rose, then glanced at Zhou Zhili. “Since you say you want to repay your debt from last time, I’ll leave tonight’s incident up to you. I have only one request: I want no word of this to spread. Not even a peep.”

He’d only just arrived at the prefectural capital today. If word of what happened tonight spread, and if his old enemies found out, they’d likely go straight into hiding. Su Yi didn’t wish to see that happen. 

Zhou Zhili said in exasperation, “Young Master Su, how could a trivial matter like that be enough to repay all that you’ve done for us? Rest at ease and leave this matter to me.”

Mu Zhongting’s eyelids twitched. This Su Yi even dares to order about the sixth imperial prince? But it seems His Sixth Highness is quite receptive to it….

This only made him increasingly aware that Su Yi wasn’t simple. 

“Let’s go.” Su Yi got up, called his companions over, then left, pushing Feng Xiaofeng’s wheelchair.

When he stepped through the main gate, he recalled something. “There’s no need to make this any harder on Madam Cuiyun than is necessary. She’s a clever sort.

“Also, I’ll leave the bill for tonight’s banquet up to you. Don’t forget to pay my tab.” 

With that, he, Huang Qianjun, and the others left.

A heavy silence bore down on the vast private dining room. 

All of them, from Chen Jinlong and his cronies to Madam Cuiyun, gazed at Zhou Zhili.

Now that Su Yi was no longer present, Zhou Zhili’s attitude was much colder. He casually took a seat, then said, “Tell me what happened here tonight. Keep it simple; I don’t like wasted words.”

Madam Cuiyun immediately told him everything she knew about what happened, keeping it simple and to the point.

“So, the Lanling Xiao Family is trying to rope Su Yi in too?” When Zhou Zhili heard that Su Yi had used the Xiao Family’s Purple Jade Token to gain access to the House of Prosperity’s ninth-floor Mountain and River Palace, he couldn’t help but lament. “I wonder, just which member of the Xiao Family has such keen eyes? They actually beat me to the punch.

Madam Cuiyun’s heart shook. “Just now, Young Lord Su said it was Xiao Tianque who gave him that command token.” 

Zhou Zhili’s gaze was suddenly more serious. “So it was Elder Xiao! That sounds about right. Only someone as wise as him could tell just how exceptional Su Yi is.” 

“Xiao Tianque….” Even Mu Zhongting couldn’t help but be stunned.

This was the former “Lanling Marquis.” He’d once waged war across the land, achieving enormous military merit. His name was famous throughout the empire!

Regret coursed through Madam Cuiyun. The funny part was, she and Elder Li thought Su Yi was lying.

But now it seemed highly likely that Xian Tianque had in fact given him the Purple Jade Token!

The implications of this were terrifying!

“Su Yi just said that you’re a clever sort. I naturally won’t make this hard on you,” said Zhou Zhili, his tone casual. “But still, we have to resolve tonight’s incident properly. At the very least, I can’t disappoint Su Yi. What do you think?”

Madam Cuiyun said in a low voice, “Everything will be as you say, Young Lord.” 

Zhou Zhili smiled faintly, then glanced at Mu Zhongting. “Your Lordship, my status isn’t quite appropriate for this. How about you take this particular trouble upon yourself?

Mu Zhongting smiled. “That’s but a trifle. I’m the governor of the Harmony Prefecture. No matter who wants revenge, they’re welcome to come and try me.”

Zhou Zhili nodded, then turned to Madam Cuiyun. “You got that, right? The person who killed the two of them tonight was His Lordship, Mu Zhongting. As for his motives? You come up with something yourself.” 

Madam Cuiyun was inwardly shaken. She nodded repeatedly.

Even someone as influential as Mu Zhongtong could only obey Zhou Zhili’s orders; there was no way she’d miss how terrifyingly lofty Zhou Zhili’s status was. When she thought back to how Su Yi had treated Zhou Zhili, Madam Cuiyun felt a bitter taste in her mouth.

“These people….” Zhou Zhili glanced at Chen Jinlong and the others.

Zhang Duo’s expression was dark and imposing as he suggested, “Just kill them and be done with it. The fewer people who know about this, the better. It’s the best solution.”

Chen Jinlong and company were so scared, they practically fainted. They all started begging for mercy.

“Indiscriminately killing the innocent is no good.” Zhou Zhili paused, then said with a smile, “Instead, record each of their backgrounds. Make sure to get clear answers about both their friends and family. Then, if word of this incident gets out, regardless of which of them leaked it, eliminate all of them, as well as their extended families.”

The punishment for loose lips would extend to their entire families! This was undoubtedly the most cold-blooded, hard-hearted approach. It even had some of the callousness of an emperor.

But at least this gave Chen Jinlong and the others a chance at survival. 

Once he said this, Zhou Zhili rose and left with Mu Zhongting. He left the rest to Zhang Duo and the guards. 

By now, Madam Cuiyun didn’t know whether she ought to be happy or depressed. She felt deeply conflicted. 

...

The Vast Desert Palace.

“Is everything settled?” When they arrived, Qing Jin was leaning against the balcony and staring off into the distance. She turned to look at Zhou Zhili and Mu Zhongting.

“It’s settled,” said Zhou Zhili with a sigh. “Unfortunately, this incident was too small. It was nowhere near enough for me to show my stuff. Otherwise, I might very well have moved Su Yi with my sincerity and convinced him to work for me."

Qing Jin snickered. “Even if you hadn’t gone, someone like him could have resolved this on his own. I even suspect that your arrival was as unnecessary as drawing legs on a snake.”

Zhou Zhili grimaced. “Martial Aunt, don’t hurt me like that, okay?”

“I’m serious. I’m just trying to remind you that someone like Su Yi isn’t going to care about your paltry bit of authority. His goals are likely the same as mine: cultivating the limitless Grand Dao, the path to true eternal life.”

When she recalled her interactions with Su Yi, Qing Jin’s gaze was somewhat uncertain.

“Eternal life? Does this level of attainment in the Grand Dao truly exist?” Mu Zhongting couldn’t help but ask.

“It does!” said Qing Jin without so much as pausing to think.

Then, she shook her head, turned, and looked out the window, gazing down at the scenery below once more. She sighed lightly, “Alas, throughout its history, the Great Zhou has at most given rise to Earthly Immortals. No peerless expert capable of wandering freely through the heavens has appeared…. Perhaps… That’s what it means to be a true immortal?”

Mu Zhongting found himself unwittingly fascinated. 

He knew about Earthly Immortals, but what about the immortals of the heavens? How impressive were they?

No one knew!

It was then that Qing Jin caught sight of Su Yi’s party leaving the House of Prosperity. 

Qing Jin stared at Su Yi’s lean silhouette. He seemed solitary and detached.

She muttered to herself, “He really does have the bearing of a fallen immortal, except he’s too arrogant.”

I think it’s come up a few times already, but have we talked about the term “fallen immortal”? 

This is a term with a long history. The idea is that immortals generally live far removed from ordinary people, alongside other immortals, but that sometimes they commit crimes and get exiled, or otherwise have to leave and return to the mortal world. Such “banished” or “fallen” immortals may or may not retain their immortal magics, but they still have their knowledge, giving them abilities that seem impossible for a normal person to have.

Historically, the best example of this is the poet Li Bai. I’m not saying that he was literally an immortal among men, but he was called that with some regularity. He was just that good at poetry, I guess. 

In modern pop culture… You see this concept the super-cool (but unfortunately untranslated) food Donghua, “食神魂” or “Soul of the Food God”, as well as in the popular BL/Danmei series “Heaven Official’s Blessing”. 

(The link to Soul of the Food God is to the full series, on a Chinese site. You have to wait like a full minute to skip the ad. It’s in the upper right corner. In the bottom, a bit to the right of the download button, there’s an option to turn off the floating comments. ALTERNATIVELY you can just watch the 30 second opening here. The ending features Chinese food and at least one “anime” cat girl if you’re into either of those things, haha.)