The boundless ringing of the bell reverberated throughout heaven and earth.

The crowd felt bewildered, and a long time passed before they regained their senses.

Between the start of the duel to when the curtains fell, it had been one unexpected development after another, with all kinds of twists and sudden variables. It had been perilous to the extreme, as well as terrifying to the extreme.

At first, Su Hongli took to the skies, soaring into the Earthly Immortal Realm with foundations so firm that he was stronger than even a long-established peak Grain Avoidance Cultivator like You Tianhong.

Despite this, he was no match for the Grandmaster Realm Su Yi.

Afterward, he directed the power of their surroundings, like the ruler of this stretch of heaven and earth, intimidating even the Earthly Immortals.

Su Hongli was still no match for Su Yi.

Then, he seized the Daoist elder’s life force and wielded a peerless, cursed sword. Everyone thought that Su Yi would lose beyond a shadow of a doubt. 

After all that, Su Hongli still was no match for Su Yi.

In the end, he cast aside all other concerns and allowed a demonic spirit to invade his flesh. It activated the black bell, its sinister might such that, even from a distance, it made the Earthly Immortal onlookers’ hearts palpitate.

Yet, against all expectations, Su Yi still emerged victorious!!

This series of developments only served to highlight how terrifying Su Yi was.

Now, when they gazed up at that tall, lean figure hovering in the sky, the onlookers’ gazes all carried deep awe and dread.

“This battle is worth describing as the grandest in the past hundred years. It’s unprecedented throughout the Great Zhou, Wei, and Qin!” sighed the Cloudstone Venerate.

“You Tianhong fell beneath Su Yi’s sword on Nine Millet Mountain. He… didn’t lose unjustly.” Yue Shichan muttered, her bright eyes dazed.

“He… How exactly did he do it? Who can answer me? Why is it that a Grandmaster has such heaven-defying combat strength?”

Shi Fengli, Lonely River, Yun Zhongqi, and the other Earthly Immortals were all bewildered.

Earlier, when they thought Su Yi was doomed, they even thought it a pity that they wouldn’t get the opportunity to kill him themselves.

Yet now, when they saw Su Yi attain a complete victory, their hearts surged with dense bitterness.

Only they understood how it felt.

Before the duel began, no matter how highly they’d appraised Su Yi’s abilities, they could never have anticipated that Su Hongli couldn’t so much as injure him even after being possessed by a demonic spirit. 

When Su Hongli activated the black bell, he could effortlessly kill Earthly Immortals like them!

Yet in the end, Su Yi emerged entirely unscathed, and he’d even taken the black bronze bell for himself…

Lonely River wondered, He’s still just a Grandmaster. Given more time, who in this world could possibly be a match for him? 

He dared not say this out loud for fear of attracting Su Yi’s attention. However, numerous other prominent figures were thinking much the same thing. 

Su Yi was only seventeen, and he was only a peak-level Grandmaster, yet he was already so unreasonably strong. Going forward, as his cultivation boundary increased, how terrifying would he become?

Just thinking about it made their hearts shake!

“Brother Su won!” Mu Xi, Pu Yi, and the others finally smiled.

This battle had made their hearts quiver with terror and surprise. On several occasions, they were too nervous to even breathe. Now, they could finally relax.

“This is wonderful!” Lan Suo’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

“What a great feeling!” Chang Guoke couldn’t help but grin.

However, this time, his master, the Pineflame Daoist, couldn’t be bothered to rebuke him.

“He… Is he really invincible…?” Qing Jin looked conflicted, and her eyes were full of bewilderment.

…

Meanwhile, up in the sky.

Su Yi looked at Su Hongli.

Su Hongli’s qi, spirit, and essence were depleted, and he looked withered. His eyes were dim as could be, as if he’d lost his soul. A long time passed before he came to his senses.

When he sensed Su Yi’s gaze, he raised his head, the movement a struggle. A series of hacking coughs escaped his lips; he truly looked like a candle flickering in the wind. It was clear he was on his last legs.

“Why… Why not kill me?” asked Su Hongli, gasping for breath and weak as could be. 

Su Yi asked right back, “Back then, why not just kill my mother and me?”

Su Hongli clearly hadn’t expected that. His eyes filled with reminiscence, and he murmured, “To tell the truth, at the time, I disdained doing so. I might have hated your mother to my very bones, but I had no intention of killing her myself. Even if I didn’t, I knew she wouldn’t live long…”

He then broke into another bot of hacking coughs. He hacked so violently that his back arched, and his figure teetered.  The sight was worrying; it was clear that he might die at any moment.

“As for you…” Su Hongli took a deep breath, and his expression filled with self-mockery. “You might not believe me, but I still have to say it: the man I was then couldn’t have killed his own son. In the years that followed, although I kept the Netherworld Thunder Punishment Bell’s power under control, I gradually discovered that I was becoming less and less like myself…”

Bitterness and self-deprecation appeared on his face. “Your mother was right. The Netherworld Thunder Punishment Bell was too strange and too dangerous. Its power corrodes and influences all who draw near it. In the end, I became an entirely different person…”

This time, Su Hongli’s face filled with remorse. “Your mother warned me about this, but I couldn’t suppress my greed. When your mother lowered her guard, I stole her demonic treasure anyway….”

Su Yi’s gaze was cold. “Do you regret it?”

Su Hongli shook his head. “No. I, Su Hongli, am not afraid to die, nor do I regret my mistakes. What I regret is that I cannot face your mother…”

His dim eyes shone with agony. “When your mother learned that I stole the Netherworld Thunder Punishment Bell, although she was extremely angry and disappointed, she didn’t end our relationship. On the contrary, she taught me methods to control and restrict the bell’s power.

“It was because of this that, over the years, I managed to use my cultivation to suppress that demonic spirit….” Su Hongli murmured, “Thinking about it now, I let your mother down in so many ways. Even after she died, I never once went to visit her….”

He said this, then fixed his gaze on Su Yi and said in a low, raspy voice, “You hate me to the bone. I don’t blame you, but if you kill me, you’ll have to bear the name of patricide for the rest of your life.”

Su Yi’s eyebrows rose, and he was just about to say something.

Only for Su Hongli to laugh. “I… Am unworthy of being your father… but… I can at least save you from being cursed as a patricide…. I think that if your mother knew…. She wouldn’t hate me as much….”

The more he spoke, the weaker his voice got. His life force receded like the tide. Soon, it vanished completely. His body, already on its last legs, disintegrated into ash.

The head of the Jade Capital’s Su Family passed away, just like that.

Su Yi’s expression was indifferent, with neither joy nor sorrow.

He stretched out his hand and gathered up the ashes that were once his father.

“What does dying here amount to? Tomorrow, I’m taking you as an offering to comfort my mother’s departed soul…” 

He had no sympathy for Su Hongli. It didn’t matter that, in the last moments before his death, he came to his senses and admitted to his mistakes. It was difficult for something like that to move Su Yi in the slightest.

Su Yi gazed off at the distant Su Family estate, at You Qingzhi and Su Boning.

Both were already as terrified as could be.

When she sensed Su Yi’s gaze, You Qingzhi’s entire field of view went dark. She collapsed to the ground, so scared that she fainted.

As for Su Boning, he seemed to break down. He shouted, voice hoarse, “Su Yi! You killed Father! People will curse your name for eternity. You’ll never be able to stand up straight ever again!”

His eyes bulged and his expression contorted hideously as he completely lost control.

Su Yi said nothing. He just stretched out his finger and flicked.

Splurt!

A streak of sword qi shot through the air, taking the roaring, hysterical Su Boning’s head clean off.

Immediately afterward, yet another streak of sword qi descended and decapitated the unconscious You Qingzhi.

From beginning to end, Su Yi didn’t say so much as a single word. 

This startling, bloody scene left the other Su clansmen quivering with fright.

“Tomorrow morning at dawn, the Su Family is to deliver offerings to the Pinewind Villa. If you do so, I won’t pursue our past grievances,” said Su Yi calmly. “You ought to know full well who’s offended me and who hasn’t. If I’m dissatisfied with your offerings, I’ll take all your lives as offerings instead.” 

When they heard this, the majority of the Su Family felt as if they’d received an imperial pardon, and they instantly relaxed. This was because they knew that they’d never done anything to offend Su Yi.

However, those who knew they’d offended Su Yi collapsed in despair, their knees thudding to the ground as they kowtowed and begged for mercy. They were too scared to think straight; some of them even pissed themselves. Others wept and wailed, while some…

Su Yi paid them no heed.

His gaze swept across the area. In the end, it landed on Yun Zhongqi, Lonely River, and Shi Fengliu. “Would you like to take this opportunity to get revenge?”

He asked this very question back on Nine Millet Mountain too, after killing You Tianhong. 

Just like last time, Yun Zhongqi and the other Earthly Immortals stiffened. Their expressions shifted, and they sank into silence.

They dared not even meet Su Yi’s gaze!

This was the prestige he’d earned through killing. The Earthly Immortals might be hegemons of their own domains, but now, they had no choice but to back down!

“I know that, so long as you get the chance, you’ll definitely get your revenge against me, but rest assured. Whenever you’re tired of living, you’re welcome to come looking for me.” His words were rife with disdain; it was obvious he didn’t take these Earthly Immortals seriously at all.

With that, Su Yi turned and was just about to leave when an aged voice emanated from afar.

“Fellow Daoist Su, please, wait up. If you’re still holding up, why are you in such a hurry to leave?”

This voice spread throughout heaven and earth.

The onlookers then watched as a group flew in from the distance. 

Lonely River, Yun Zhongqi, Shi Fengliu, and the others’ hearts stirred, and their eyes flashed.

Right! Su Yi had long since recognized their enmity for him, so why wasn’t he attacking them?

It seemed that the only logical explanation was that after overcoming such an intense struggle, Su Yi was drained and exhausted. He was long since an arrow at the end of its flight!

After all, his cultivation was still merely in the Grandmaster Realm. After everything he’d been through, how could he not be exhausted?

They couldn’t even discount the possibility that he’d been injured, and that it was just that no one had noticed.

It was obvious that this had occurred to the Cloudstone Venerate, Yue Shichan, Ge Changling, Mu Xi, and the others too, and their expressions instantly changed.

Just one sentence, yet it made the atmosphere strange and stifled, with hints of dark undercurrents flowing beneath the surface.

The group was fast approaching.

Before they arrived, they dispersed, as if to surround Su Yi and block off all possible escape routes!