Immortal Sword Badge, Storms on the Horizon

Su Yu waved his hand. "I don’t know what each of you was thinking, having Changqing do this. The moment Evil Sword Immortal said that if he died, Qing Wei and the others would die too, Changqing wouldn’t destroy him. Then Evil Sword Immortal just had to sweet-talk him a little, and Changqing would let him go."

The Heavenly Emperor froze for a moment, then sighed. "A miscalculation… I thought Xu Changqing would steel himself to destroy Evil Sword Immortal for the sake of all living beings. I never expected…"

Su Yu looked toward the distant Heavenly Pool. "People cannot be without feelings. Enough of that. I’m heading to the Mortal Realm first."

"My lord, please help rid this world of Evil Sword Immortal," the Heavenly Emperor quickly said.

Su Yu rubbed his chin. "I’ll consider it."

The Heavenly Emperor gritted his teeth. A blue badge appeared in his hand. Its front was blank, while a longsword was engraved on its back.

The badge flew toward Su Yu and entered his body. It arrived beside his Divine Core, and the words Immortal Sword appeared on its front. Then, together with Dou Po, it began revolving around the Divine Core.

Su Yu smiled at the Heavenly Emperor. "Heavenly Emperor, thanks. Don’t worry, I’ll deal with that Evil Sword Immortal, just not yet. I’m leaving first."

With that, Su Yu’s Taigu Yiyin Qin appeared. Su Yu leaped onto it and rode the qin out of the great hall.

After Jing Tian and Tang Xuejian found Xi Yao, they returned to the great hall. Once they heard from the Heavenly Emperor that Evil Sword Immortal had escaped, they immediately returned to the Mortal Realm as well.

Mortal Realm

After returning to the Mortal Realm, Su Yu did not go looking for Xu Changqing. It was better to let Xu Changqing follow the plot; that way, he could still end up with Zi Xuan.

Su Yu rode his qin toward Shu Mountain.

Qing Wei and the other four all sensed something. Their faces were filled with worry. Evil Sword Immortal had been born from the five of them, so they could still sense something when he escaped.

Su Yu descended from the sky and landed directly before the five. Qing Wei looked at him and asked, "Young friend, you’re back? Where have you been these past days?"

Su Yu gave a bitter smile. "Don’t mention it. The Heavenly Emperor noticed me appearing in the Mortal Realm, so he called me to the God Realm for tea. I completely forgot that one day in heaven was one year on earth, and then I disappeared for so long…"

The five were instantly dumbfounded. They had guessed countless possible reasons, but never this one…

"Ah, young friend, Evil Sword Immortal has escaped. Do you know what happened?" Qing Wei asked with a sigh.

Su Yu nodded. "I do. Changqing let him go. You should be able to guess the reason."

The five froze, then repeatedly sighed. Qing Wei said, "How could five old men like us compare to all living beings… Changqing was foolish…"

Su Yu silently watched the five old men without speaking. After a moment, Qing Wei looked at him and asked, "Young friend, where is Changqing now?"

"He has already returned to the Mortal Realm, but I won’t tell you exactly where. Someone has already gone to find him," Su Yu replied.

Qing Wei asked, "Jing Tian?"

"No. Zi Xuan," Su Yu said directly. There was no need to hide it.

Qing Wei and the others exchanged glances, then said, "It’s good that Zi Xuan has gone. What about Jing Tian and the others?"

"They should be on their way back now. If there’s nothing else, I’ll return to Yu Zhou City for a look. Oh, and before long, Evil Sword Immortal will pay a visit to the Demon Lock Tower. Make your preparations. Let me remind you: Jing Tian has a way." With that, Su Yu left directly.

To everyone else, it practically felt like the end of the world. But to Su Yu, everything was exactly as usual. He was not worried about a mere Evil Sword Immortal at all. As long as Evil Sword Immortal did not come looking for trouble, Su Yu planned to let him live a few more days.

Yu Zhou City

Su Yu entered the city. At this point, the people of the world still did not know that a calamity like Evil Sword Immortal existed, and each continued living their ordinary lives.

Su Yu arrived at Old Man Meng’s home on West Street. The moment he reached the door, he heard waves of guqin music.

Smiling, Su Yu pushed open the door. When Meng Qi saw him, he immediately cried out in delight, "Master, you’re back!"

As he spoke, Meng Qi came before Su Yu. Su Yu smiled and rubbed Meng Qi’s head. "You didn’t slack off in your cultivation while I was gone, did you?"

"No, Master. I can now unleash five hundred yellow Sound Blades!" Meng Qi said happily.

Su Yu smiled. "Not bad, not bad. You’ve improved greatly. By the way, where’s Little Ha?"

"Uncle Wolf and Grandpa are both at Tang Mansion. There’s no room to practice Sound Blades there, so I come back alone every day to train," Meng Qi replied.

Su Yu nodded slightly. After he had left, Tang Kun had brought Meng Qi, Old Man Meng, and Wolf Lord to live at Tang Mansion.

"I see. Stop practicing, then. Let’s go to Tang Mansion," Su Yu said.

Meng Qi nodded, then carried his guqin and headed toward Tang Mansion with Su Yu.

Tang Mansion

The moment Su Yu arrived, someone immediately went to report to Tang Kun. Tang Kun hurried out in excitement, grasped Su Yu’s hands, and said, "Little Yu, you’re finally back. Where’s Xue Jian?"

"Xue Jian and the others went to Shu Mountain. She should be back to see you before long," Su Yu replied.

"Good, good, good. Come, let’s go inside and talk." Tang Kun smiled as he pulled Su Yu inside by the hand.

Su Yu really wanted to pull free, but seeing how worried Tang Kun was about Tang Xuejian, he thought about it and decided to let Tang Kun hold on. It was not as if it would cost him a piece of flesh.

Meanwhile, after Jing Tian and Tang Xuejian returned to the Mortal Realm, they found Mao Mao and the others. Then the group hurried toward Shu Mountain.

Jing Tian had no idea what to do now, so he could only go to Shu Mountain to find old man Qing Wei, or seek out Su Yu. But he had not expected Su Yu to run off so quickly without waiting for him. Xu Changqing was not by his side either, so all the burden now rested on his shoulders.

A few days later

Jing Tian and his group arrived at Shu Mountain. At the same time, Xu Changqing immediately notified his junior brother Chang Yin that Evil Sword Immortal was about to head to the Demon Lock Tower to absorb evil thoughts. Chang Yin hurriedly informed Qing Wei and the other four. The five had already known about it, so they did not panic. They had made some preparations, but they knew full well that those preparations would be futile.

The five remembered what Su Yu had said that day: Jing Tian had a way. So the moment Jing Tian returned, they pulled him over and stared at him one by one.

Jing Tian felt his scalp tingle and said, "Hey, what are you five old men trying to do!"

Qing Wei said, "Jing Tian, Evil Sword Immortal will soon come to Shu Mountain. His goal is to enter the Demon Lock Tower and absorb its evil thoughts to grow stronger. Do you have any way to stop him?"

"You’re asking me about something this huge?" Jing Tian said, stunned.