Chapter 133 - 132: Black Horn, Invitation, Terrible Wound! Golden Purple Token
Seeing Chaos defeated, the red-eyed woman let out a shrill cry, transformed into a black Exotic Beast, and with a WHOOSH!
She shot off in the direction the red figure had been sent flying, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye.
"ROAR!"
Seeing the enemy escape, the Black Demon Dragon jumped about anxiously, immediately urging Su Bai to give chase!
But Su Bai shook his head. He grasped the black beast horn that had fallen and said calmly,
"There’s no need to chase. It would be very difficult to kill it."
It was, after all, a great evil of ancient times, a peerless Demon Lord of the Dao Palace Realm, with an extraordinary bloodline and powerful Divine Techniques!
Su Bai had discovered this the first time he’d struck his opponent.
The hide on that Chaos beast was even tougher than he had imagined.
If his Cultivation could break through to the Divine Platform, or if his Immortal Golden Body could reach the Third Transformation!
Then, perhaps, he could have killed it with a single palm strike.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t quite there yet on either count.
It was easy for Su Bai to suppress his opponent, but killing it would have required significant effort.
Still, Chaos took a palm strike from him at the end. Its skull shattered. Even if it wasn’t dead, it had to be gravely wounded.
But the most important thing was!
Su Bai raised his right hand, his expression grave, and said to the Demon Dragon, "Haven’t you noticed? I’m already injured."
The Demon Dragon froze for a moment, then its eyes widened.
It searched carefully in Su Bai’s palm.
Sure enough!
A terrible wound had actually appeared in Su Bai’s palm, about a centimeter long and three millimeters deep!
"ROAR?"
The Demon Dragon tilted its head slightly, letting out what seemed to be a confused, low roar.
"You don’t get it. Caution is always the top priority!"
"When you reach my age, you’ll naturally understand!"
Su Bai patted the Black Demon Dragon’s head, lecturing it earnestly.
His tone was grave and earnest!
Besides...
Su Bai weighed the black horn in his hand. It came from the ancient beast, Chaos, and was so sharp it had even pierced his Immortal Golden Body.
If forged into a weapon, it would undoubtedly be of the highest quality, with immense power!
Even without being forged,
Su Bai held the horn in his hand and gave a gentle swing forward.
It sliced a fine, black fissure into the void.
’Not bad at all!’
’Chaos may have slipped away, but getting this horn means it wasn’t a total loss.’
Having sent Chaos flying, Su Bai lowered his gaze, which then fell upon the old monk, Wu Tianming.
This old man, dressed in a cyan official’s robe, exuded a deep, decaying aura. He also had the air of a sly old fox, one of the same stock as Longbo Hai, yet clearly a cut above.
Su Bai could naturally tell that this old monk was from the Great Xia Imperial Palace.
SWOOSH!
He landed in front of the old monk.
The blood-stained black beast horn in his hand glinted with a ferocious black light under the sun!
Wu Tianming’s eyelids twitched violently!
Before Su Bai could say a word, the old monk hurriedly bowed low, facing Su Bai and saluting with deeply clasped hands.
"Senior!"
"A misunderstanding! This is all a misunderstanding..."
"I’m not one of them!"
"I am a dying old servant of Great Xia’s Emperor’s Guard Hall. I came to intercept the Qitian Demon Lord after sensing him enter the Imperial City’s borders, but alas, I was no match for him!"
"Thankfully, that fellow was blind enough to provoke you, Senior..."
Su Bai found the old monk’s flustered expression amusing.
He laughed, lowering the black horn. "I’m from Great Xia as well!" he said casually.
Su Bai actually quite enjoyed dealing with sly old foxes like Wu Tianming.
After a lifetime of being beaten down by reality, the sharp edge in their hearts hadn’t truly vanished.
Instead, it was buried deep inside.
In its place was a worldly smoothness and a knack for sizing up a situation.
Right now, Wu Tianming was smiling, but a storm was raging in his heart!
Standing before Su Bai, he could clearly feel the aura emanating from the young man. It was like the brilliant sun rising in the east at seven or eight in the morning!
It was surging and vigorous! Brimming with youthful energy!
Young!
Extremely young!
There wasn’t a single trace of the decay of old age.
’He might even be...’
’Less than a hundred years old!’
To be able to so easily repel the Qitian Demon Lord—that ancient beast, that Unparalleled Strong Person of the Dao Palace Realm—at under a hundred years of age!
For a moment, Wu Tianming was at a loss for words.
He could only sigh internally.
’The world is vast, and I’ve been no more than a frog in a well!’
’Before this blazing sun, he finally knew there was always someone greater!’
There were so many people and so many things,
that despite his long life,
he could neither see clearly nor comprehend.
"Emperor’s Guard Hall."
’Su Bai had never heard of this organization before. He figured it must be a secret power within Great Xia.’
Emperor’s Guard Hall!
’As the name suggested, he could guess its purpose without asking.’
’They protected the reigning Emperor!’
Hearing Su Bai mutter the name of the Emperor’s Guard Hall, Wu Tianming’s heart stirred, and he couldn’t help but make a proposal.
"Senior, since you are from Great Xia and live in seclusion here, I wonder if you have any interest in joining the Emperor’s Guard Hall?"
"Please rest assured, Senior!"
"There are no restrictive rules in the Emperor’s Guard Hall. You would only need to be a member in name, Senior."
"We would not trouble you to act unless absolutely necessary. And you would lack for nothing in terms of salary and resources."
"Even if you wished to use Dragon Qi to cultivate, that could also be discussed..."
Wu Tianming’s posture was extremely humble.
Despite being so ancient he’d likely lost count of his years, his body old and frail, he addressed a young man of not even twenty as "Senior" with the utmost respect.
’He was, after all, a man who had once been a Scholar’s Attendant.’
’What a Scholar’s Attendant could do, a Martial Venerable could naturally do as well.’
Su Bai simply smiled upon hearing this, neither refusing nor agreeing.
’To be honest, the current Emperor Xia’s reign wasn’t bad.’
’He might not be considered an enlightened monarch, but he couldn’t be called a foolish one, either. He was average.’
’But what did any of that have to do with him, Su Bai?’
’He had no interest in participating in the power games of the Royal Family.’
’It was only natural for mortal dynasties to rise and fall.’
’As for who sat on the dragon throne or who would be the next Emperor of Great Xia—what did any of it have to do with him?’
’In this life, it was a blessing just to be able to live one’s own life well!’
Although Su Bai hadn’t refused, Wu Tianming understood his true thoughts from his smile.
Understanding this, he naturally didn’t press the issue.
He then took a Golden Purple Token from his robes and respectfully presented it to Su Bai.
"It is of no consequence if you are not interested, Senior. If you ever have a need for this old man in the future, you have but to ask."
"Haha! And if one day this old man kicks the bucket, you can use this Token to command anyone in the upper echelons of Great Xia."
"They will serve you with the loyalty of a faithful hound!"
Wu Tianming was indeed more than a cut above Longbo Hai.
Not just in terms of Cultivation, but more so in his conduct and worldly wisdom.
Longbo Hai, though respectful on the surface, still harbored his own petty schemes. Wu Tianming was different; he truly humbled himself completely.
Perhaps this was also related to their different origins.
After all, one was a former prodigy, born into a prestigious family, blessed with outstanding talent in the Martial Dao, who looked down upon the world!
The other was just a lowly Scholar’s Attendant with mediocre aptitude.
Birth determines one’s horizons and disposition.
That saying wasn’t necessarily true, but there was a certain logic to it.
"I’m off!"
Su Bai didn’t refuse. He accepted the Token, shaking it lightly in his hand.
Then he turned, rose into the air, strode upon the clouds, and rode the wind away.
"’There is always someone greater... always someone greater...’"
Wu Tianming murmured continuously as he watched Su Bai’s departing figure.
After a long moment, he looked up at the sky, smiled, and let out a soft sigh.
"’Truly a heaven-blessed genius...’"
Then.
He clasped his hands behind his back.
And riding the wind, departed with carefree grace!