Chapter 214 - 243: Look, He’s Even Giving Me Gifts! A Handwritten Manual and the Heaven-Sundering Golden Halberd
"Trying to run?"
The Black Lotus Elder’s body disintegrated right before his eyes, seemingly killing him. But Su Bai simply reached out his palm.
Amidst the dispersing wisps of black light, Su Bai seized a faint, almost undetectable strand of Divine Thought Residue.
The Black Lotus Elder was a crafty one, deliberately shattering his own body right before Su Bai’s eyes.
In reality, it was all an act—a scheme of the Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell.
VMM!
Sure enough, in the next moment.
The strand of Divine Thought Residue in Su Bai’s grasp bloomed with a profound black light, gradually taking the form of the Black Lotus Elder.
However, the elder who materialized this time was much weaker, his face deathly pale and his aura significantly diminished.
His expression was hideously grim. Just as his lips parted to speak,
with a single thought, Su Bai imprisoned the man directly in his Dharma Tripod Prison!
And just like that, he had fulfilled his earlier promise: to reunite the Black Lotus Sect’s Immortal Elder and its Saintess... in prison.
Then, as if remembering something, Su Bai’s figure flickered.
When he reappeared, he was standing before the instigator—the gray-robed man.
The man was still reeling from the shock of seeing Su Bai annihilate five Nine Tribulations Realm Great Powers with a wave of his hand, unable to pull himself together.
His eyes were glazed over, and his body trembled uncontrollably.
Su Bai didn’t bother with pleasantries. He struck him with a single palm, severely injuring him, then suppressed and tossed him into the Dharma Tripod Prison.
Next, his gaze shifted to a certain spot in the void.
His eyes fell upon a white-browed elder whose gaze was flickering, looking a bit dazed.
Su Bai sensed a Vast Sword Intent emanating from him.
Judging by his attire, he was likely a senior Sword Cultivator from the Celestial Net Sword Sect.
Su Bai took a step forward, and with a single flash, he was before the elder.
Without a word, he raised a hand and reached for the old man.
The elder snapped back to his senses the moment Su Bai moved.
His aged face twitched violently, his expression changing drastically. He scrambled backward, crying out urgently, "Senior Boxing Saint! Please, don’t attack!"
"I am the Celestial Net Ancestor of the Celestial Net Sword Sect! I am not one of those demonic fiends!"
The white-browed elder’s beard quivered as he hastily declared his identity.
"Hiding and skulking about, being all secretive. That’s the behavior of a petty man."
"How is that befitting of the Righteous Dao?"
Su Bai paid him no mind, continuing to extend his right palm as he spoke casually.
However, he held back eighty percent of his power in this strike. While it still looked formidable, it was meant more as a deterrent.
Cold sweat beaded on the white-browed elder’s forehead.
His mind was in turmoil.
To be blunt, he had a guilty conscience.
After all, he had originally come to the Great Xia Dynasty’s territory to confront Su Bai.
His first purpose was to rescue the Vice Sect Master of the Celestial Net Sword Sect, Wang Zhengxin.
His second was to lecture Su Bai a bit.
But as it turned out, he "happened" to encounter the gathering of five Nine Tribulations experts along the way and decided to watch in secret.
This was how he had the good fortune to witness a crushingly one-sided battle that shattered his worldview.
Now, how could he possibly dare cause trouble for Su Bai?
He’d be thanking the heavens if Su Bai didn’t cause trouble for *him*!
Unfortunately, he had been so lost in shock that he hadn’t managed to run away in time...
And that’s how he got caught!
’Zhengxin has already been captured by this Lord of Heavenly Punishment. If I get caught by him too...’
’Wouldn’t our Celestial Net Sword Sect’s claim to be part of the Orthodox Lineage become a complete joke?’
’How could our disciples show their faces in public in the future?’
The white-browed elder’s brow furrowed deeply, his mind racing through one idea after another to get out of this mess.
He was burning with anxiety.
And just as Su Bai’s deliberately slowed palm was about to land on the man’s shoulder,
someone finally stepped forward.
"Senior Boxing Saint, please listen to this junior’s words!"
The middle-aged Sword Cultivator from the Celestial Net Sword Sect stepped forward, his face full of terror.
Su Bai’s right hand paused. He then looked over at the man and said in surprise, "You have something to say?"
The middle-aged Sword Cultivator’s face turned pale under Su Bai’s gaze, as if a dozen sharp blades were pressed against his head.
Sweat poured down like rain.
He forced himself to speak, "Actually..."
"The Ancestor and I have come this time to offer our apologies to you, Senior Boxing Saint."
"We heard that Vice Sect Master Wang Zhengxin acted on his own accord regarding the matter of the Dual Sacred Artifacts in the Imperial City, and in his recklessness, he incurred your displeasure."
"So... we thought to come and pay our respects to you in person."
"Is that so?"
Su Bai glanced at the white-browed elder, who was drenched in cold sweat, a look of surprise in his eyes.
The Celestial Net Ancestor of the Celestial Net Sword Sect quickly seized the opportunity and nodded. "It’s absolutely true!"
"I did indeed come here to pay my respects, Senior."
"Zhengxin acted recklessly and caused a great disturbance in the Imperial City, which is what incurred your displeasure!"
"I am here, on Zhengxin’s behalf... to apologize to you, Senior."
Seeing Su Bai lower his hand, the two men’s eyes flickered, and they breathed a sigh of relief inwardly.
The next moment,
Su Bai asked with a smile, "Since this is an apology."
"I assume you two have brought ample gifts, then?"
As soon as he said this, the two men froze!
"This..."
Fortunately, the middle-aged Sword Cultivator at his side reacted instantly, letting out a laugh. "Of course, we have!"
As he spoke, he secretly shot a meaningful look at the elder.
The white-browed elder clenched his jaw, his expression shifting rapidly.
Finally, he took an ancient manual that glowed with a silver light from within his robes and presented it to Su Bai.
"Senior, this is the personal handbook of our Celestial Net Sword Sect’s founding ancestor. Please accept it as our gift of apology!"
Beside them, the middle-aged Sword Cultivator who had just been signaling with his eyes saw the item, and his own eyes went wide, as if he’d just caused a huge disaster. He was completely stunned.
At that moment, his mind was buzzing.
A wail of grief echoed in his heart.
’It’s over...’
Su Bai took in their expressions.
He then reached out, took the ancient manual, and said with a smile in his eyes, "Since you are so sincere."
"Then I will accept this."
After saying that, Su Bai didn’t speak to them further.
In the blink of an eye, he vanished from the spot.
The moment Su Bai disappeared, the Celestial Net Ancestor clutched his chest, his face a mask of profound pain.
He beat his chest and stamped his feet in anguish!
That was the personal handbook of the Celestial Net Sword Sect’s founding ancestor!
Its value was no less precious than the Celestial Net Sword and the Mingfeng Saber!
Meanwhile, the middle-aged Sword Cultivator who had tried to help de-escalate the situation was now trembling, his face full of shame as he whispered, "Ancestor!"
"It’s all my fault. I... I never thought things would turn out like this."
He had been the one to invite the Celestial Net Ancestor here. Now that the personal handbook was lost, he naturally bore an inescapable responsibility.
The white-browed elder hung his head in anguish for a long while before slowly looking up.
His face was full of sorrow as he said, "Forget it!"
"You’re not to blame for this."
"That personal handbook..."
"It’s given. It’s not truly lost, anyway."
"Let’s just... let’s just consider it to be in that senior’s safekeeping for now."
The elder consoled himself, though his words lacked conviction.
Then, he couldn’t help but sigh. "For the handbook to fall into the hands of such a world-shaking figure..."
"It cannot be considered a pearl gathering dust."
"When our founding ancestor established the Celestial Net Sword Sect, he told us."
"Always... think thrice before you act!"
"This time, I was the one who was rash. I thought too highly of myself."
The elder sighed deeply, then flicked his sleeve and said,
"Let’s go!"
The middle-aged Sword Cultivator behind him quickly straightened up and followed closely.
He muttered under his breath, unable to resist asking the white-browed elder what they should do about the Vice Sect Master.
In the end, he only received a single sentence from the elder in reply.
"The virtuous are blessed by heaven!"
...
The two had walked less than a few miles in the direction of their sect
when they suddenly saw a familiar white-robed figure appear before them once again!
’Why is it him again!?’
The white-browed elder’s eyelids twitched violently.
But in the next moment, he couldn’t help but force a gentle smile as he proactively walked forward to ask the reason for the visit.
Su Bai smiled, glanced at the two of them, and then spoke.
"I was in a hurry before and forgot something."
"The next time you two come to visit,"
"remember to bring me the grandfather of that Celestial Net Swordsmaster, so I can fulfill my promise."
"To let the grandfather and grandson have a nice reunion."
After tossing out those few sentences, Su Bai’s thoughts stirred, and he dissipated this Divine Thought Incarnation.
As soon as he said this, the two men were stunned!
’So...’
’Just handing over the personal handbook wasn’t enough?’
’He also wanted us to return to the sect and personally tie up an ancestor to deliver to him!?’
’This, this, this...’
’What kind of mess is this!’
...
"Not bad. This ancient manual not only contains the essence of the Sword Dao, but also Merit."
Su Bai looked through the silvery-white manual he had just obtained, a hint of joy on his face.
"And there’s quite a lot of it."
Su Bai absorbed just a single wisp of the silvery-white starlight hidden within the manual and saw his Merit Points increase by more than one hundred!
’Look at that!’
’What a good person!’
’Not only did he come in person to apologize to me,’
’he even brought me a gift!’
’A decent treasure.’
With a thought, Su Bai put the item away.
Then, he began to draw from the prize wheel and for cultivation techniques.
Of the five people from before, Su Bai had only killed the man in the red robe at the very beginning; the other four were all imprisoned in his Dharma Tripod Prison.
Therefore, the rewards he could draw this time were only from the Red Robe man.
After a short while, Su Bai obtained 30 million Experience Points and 300,000 Tier Two Experience Points.
After that, he began to draw for Cultivation Techniques and Divine Techniques.
A large, golden orb of light flew into Su Bai’s mind.
Su Bai began to inspect the man’s memories.
He discovered that this Red Robe man was originally a Nine Tribulations Realm ancestor from the Blood Sun Sect, a part of the Demonic Lineage in Cangzhou.
At the gray-robed man’s invitation, he had agreed to join forces with several other experts of the same Realm to come to the Great Xia Dynasty and eliminate the great threat that was Su Bai.
From the man’s memories, Su Bai also found a secret.
The Grand Sacrificial Ceremony!
According to the memories, it was a grand ceremony personally presided over by a descendant of the Demon Venerable, scheduled to take place in half a month.
However, the man didn’t know the specific details of the ceremony. With his status, he wasn’t privy to such secrets.
Coming back to his senses,
Su Bai began to examine his gains this time.
[Cultivation Technique: Heaven-Sundering Golden Halberd! (Ninth Grade!) Realm: Returning to the Essence! (4,000,000!)]
A decent Ninth Grade Halberd Technique.
After testing it out briefly, Su Bai found its power to be quite decent.
Just as he was preparing to return to the Great Xia Imperial City,
he suddenly noticed something in the eastern sky.
A faint aura had flashed by and vanished.
’Is that the mysterious Great Sect Elder?’
Su Bai’s thoughts stirred.
Then, he flashed away in pursuit.