Chapter 1686 – The World-Burning Grotto Sutra

The crowd’s expressions filled with uncertainty.

Shen Mu was far too domineering!

After defeating Yu Linfeng, he directly declared war on every single person here!

All of them found this an affront to their dignity. Their hearts filled with indignation. Now, when they looked at Su Yi, their expressions were decidedly unfriendly.

But then, Zhuo Yun said, “This humble monk will withdraw!”

Whoosh!

All eyes were instantly upon Zhuo Yun. Everyone was flabbergasted. They would never have imagined that the black-hearted monk of Lotus Temple would wimp out like this.

“Zhuo Yun, aren’t you cultivating the ‘fearless heart of a golden vajra?’ Why are you the first of us to back down?” Weng Changfeng furrowed his brow and sneered.

Zhuo Yun said with the solemn countenance of a Buddhist statue, “Fearless doesn’t mean ignorant. I know that I am no match for Fellow Daoist Shen. It’s only right that I back down.”

Then, with the utmost compassion for all of creation, he said to Weng Changfeng, “Daoist Brother, I suggest you heed this humble monk’s warning and step back as well.”

“….” Weng Changfeng was so angry that he almost laughed. Bad enough that the bald donkey wimped out. Now he wants me to wimp out too!? How shameful!

“I won’t participate either,” Tang Yuyan said coldly. “Out of consideration for Shen Mu, I will not be helping him. I don’t want to ruin his fun.”

“….” The crowd was stunned. How much confidence must Tang Yuyan have in Shen Mu to say something like that?

“Would anyone else like to withdraw?” Su Yi asked, then took a sip of wine.

No one responded, but their expressions were full of uncertainty.

It was truly frustrating. He was just one person, yet he’d broken their lasting stalemate, and now he’d gone on to declare war against every last one of them.

Who wouldn’t have been infuriated?

“In that case, please come at me. Be quick about it; I’m in a hurry. If no one attacks within ten snaps of my fingers, I’ll take it as an admission of defeat,” Su Yi said calmly. “If anyone dares attack after that, I guarantee a swift, severe punishment!”

The crowd instantly exploded into uproar, like a pot blowing off its lid. Bad enough that he’d provoked them. Now he was issuing ultimatums?

“Very well. Let’s attack together and teach him a lesson!” Cen Baili of the Church of the Pure One said coldly.

“Very well!”

“We should have done that a long time ago!”

The others chimed in, one after another. All of them were seething with murderous intent.

“Wait!” Suddenly Gong Nanfeng interjected, “Please allow me to be the first to test him!”

A single stone could create a thousand waves. The entire area was in uproar. None of them would have guessed that Gong Nanfeng would request a one-on-one duel!

“Senior Apprentice Brother…” Cen Baili frowned and was just about to discourage him when Gong Nanfeng waved dismissively.

“I can win with grace,” he said. “Naturally, I can lose with dignity too, should there be someone capable of handing me a loss.”

With that, he stepped forth, clothes billowing around him. His tall, upright figure was like a solitary mountain in motion. He put enormous pressure on everyone around him.

The crowd was stunned. Gong Nanfeng’s display of courage surprised them all.

It’s actually no wonder that those Immortal Kings think so highly of him. His bearing is far beyond the others, Tang Yuyan thought to herself.

Su Yi was a bit stunned. He couldn’t help but take a deep, hard look at Gong Nanfeng. “You’re a scion of the Misty God Mountain Gong Family, and you have such a proud heart, so why do you willingly serve the Church of the Pure One?”

The Church of the Pure One experts frowned. What the hell is that supposed to mean? Does he have a problem with the Church of the Pure One?

Gong Nanfeng’s eyes narrowed. “I’m both a scion of the Gong Family and a disciple of the Church of the Pure One. Your question seems entirely unnecessary.”

“Oh,” said Su Yi. “To the best of my knowledge, prior to the Age of Fallen Immortals, the Gong Family and the Church of the Pure One were like fire and water, so why are they so tightly knit now?”

Many of those gathered laughed coldly. Is he feigning ignorance, or does he really not know? Surely everyone knows that the Church of the Pure One saved the Gong Family from disaster during the cataclysm of the Age of Fallen Immortals!

Su Yi disregarded their reactions and watched Gong Nanfeng.

Gong Nanfeng furrowed his brow. “No need to draw this out. I’ll just ask you this. Dare you fight me?”

Su Yi didn’t waste any more time. He just nodded. “Attack, then.”

Boom!

Gong Nanfeng took a step forward. Heaven and earth swayed around him as the unstoppably forceful, radiant power of the Laws burst forth and condensed into a snow-white saber.

As soon as he gripped his weapon, Gong Nanfeng’s presence transformed. His aura was suddenly so sharp that many of the onlookers felt prickling pain in their eyes. Their hearts palpated with fright.

Most surprising of all, ten illusory immortal grottos appeared behind Gong Nanfeng, creating a perfect, continuous divine ring. Each of the grottos housed an illusory golden crow. Endless lava and flames swept forth with every beat of their resplendent wings.

Boom!

All ten grottoes orbited around Gong Nanfeng. The surrounding skies distorted and collapsed as unparalleled, searing hot divine majesty swept throughout the nine heavens and the ten earths.

“The World-Burning Grotto Sutra! That’s one of the ultimate legacies of the Gong Family. They say it’s based on an ancient sutra that the Eternal Night Immortal Sovereign himself revised. It can be cultivated all the way to the legendary Great Realm. It’s extraordinarily wondrous and full of endless profundities!” someone exclaimed.

The crowd was instantly in uproar.

Gong Nanfeng seemed far, far too powerful, and so sharp that he could slice through the heavens!

You’ve managed to cultivate ten grottos, huh…? Su Yi’s gaze was inscrutable. Gong Nanfeng really is a rare genius. It’s just a pity that he serves the Church of the Pure One.

He sighed to himself.

Boom!

Gong Nanfeng struck with valiant force, saber swinging.

The ten grottos rumbled and boomed as they erupted with endless light. Explosive saber intent descended with a bang.

The entire sky seemed to melt. Everything caught ablaze.

The nearby Immortal Lords had no choice but to retreat. They were so startled that they broke out in cold sweats.

Su Yi neither fled nor dodged, and his gaze was as tranquil as the waters of an ancient well. He simply raised his right hand, used his hand like a sword, and slashed the air.

It looked like a casual, understated strike, but it contained unstoppable force. It cleaved through the heavens, splitting Gong Nanfeng’s incoming attack in half.

Crack!

A massive explosion shook the heavens, and the surging flames split and fell apart.

The aftermatch reached Gong Nanfeng, ripping the hems of his clothes.

His expression shifted. He had few opponents within the Saint Realm, and when he struck with his full strength, he could force even the other unrivaled Immortal Lords back. They wouldn’t dare meet his attacks head-on.

Yet now, Shen Mu had casually broken his ultimate saber strike. Of course Gong Nanfeng was surprised. How could he not be?

“Burning the Firmament!”

Gong Nanfeng bellowed, his force and momentum increasingly terrifying as he swung his saber once more.

It was as if a coursing sea of flame were seeping through the sky, full of endless, tyrannical saber intent. It seemed as if the entire area would melt beneath that sheer, overwhelming heat.

But just like before, Su Yi waved his sleeve and crushed Gong Nanfeng’s attack.

It couldn’t even budge him!

Every heart shook. Every last onlooker was stunned.

Even Zhuo Yun’s heart quivered with lingering terror. Thank the Buddha that I admitted defeat quickly when we fought. Had I pushed it, he would’ve beaten me to a pulp!

“Burning Skies!” bellowed Gong Nanfeng. He was giving it everything he had. He’d cast all thoughts of victory and defeat aside. The full extent of his essence, qi, and spirit, was concentrated in this strike, and his mind and body were fully unified.

Boom!

It was as if Gong Nanfeng had transformed into a god of war wielding the saber of heaven. With every slash, fierce, tyrannical flames shot forth.

The ten illusory grottos behind him rumbled, boomed, and erupted with divine flames. The indistinct cries of golden crows resounded throughout the dome of heaven.

In that moment, Gong Nanfeng was indeed worthy of the title “unrivaled!”

Alas, to his current opponent, an attack like that was no more dangerous than a gentle breeze blowing past his face.

The reason for this was simple. Gong Nanfeng’s legacy, the World-Burning Grotto Sutra, had been created by Wang Ye. It was he who’d bequeathed it to the Gong Family.

Su Yi understood its secrets far better than Gong Nanfeng. Given the circumstances, Su Yi didn’t even need to think to know how best to respond, and he could react to Gong Nanfeng’s moves before he made them. It was as if he had precognition!

It was inevitable that Gong Nanfeng wouldn’t present much of a threat.

The crowd watched as Su Yi just stood there casually, unmoving save for a single hand. A single light, airy gesture, and he completely neutralized Gong Nanfeng’s attack!

His casual, understated bearing left countless onlookers overcome with astonishment. Even Gong Nanfeng couldn’t help but feel surprised, and frustrated, too.

He’d long since sensed that no matter what he did, Shen Mu saw through his attacks at a glance, breaking them with ease!

It was simply shocking, unheard of!

Gong Nanfeng felt as if all of his secrets had been laid bare.

“No wonder you’ve yet to become an Immortal King,” whispered Su Yi. “You haven’t grasped how to fuse the ten grottos into one.”

As he spoke, he waved his sleeves.

Boom!

The saber light filling the sky shattered, and the endless divine flames burst.

As heaven and earth swayed, Gong Nanfeng was sent flying back. He flew several thousand feet before finally managing to steady himself.

Everyone was astonished. They couldn’t help but gape.

Gong Nanfeng’s hair was disheveled, and his face was pallid. The ten illusory grottos dimmed and swayed behind him. That “casual swing of Shen Mu’s sleeves” had clearly taken a massive toll!

But Shen Mu still hadn’t even been knocked off balance. He hadn’t so much as moved from his starting position since the battle began.

He was like a ruler passing judgment from on high!

“Why not use your treasures?” asked Su Yi.

Gong Nanfeng took a deep breath and said coldly, “This is a clash of the Grand Dao. We’re fighting to see who’s stronger. If you don’t use your treasures, I naturally won’t lower myself by using mine!”

Su Yi laughed dryly. “In that case, you’ve already lost.”

Gong Nanfeng fell silent, and his expression shifted erratically. How could he not know that? He hadn’t just lost. Had Su Yi gone all out, he’d have been disqualified already!

Despite his ironclad Dao Heart, he couldn’t help but feel frustrated. He couldn’t even imagine how such a terrifying opponent could exist in this world.

“Senior Apprentice Brother, let’s attack together!” Cen Baili said through gnashed teeth. “I refuse to believe we can’t take him down!”

Gong Nanfeng shook his head. “I said it earlier. I’m not a sore loser!”

He looked up at Su Yi and said, “I don’t know why you keep insulting the Gong Family for its service to the Church of the Pure One, but I can tell you this. I, Gong Nanfeng, have never brought shame upon my ancestors!”

With that, he shattered his life-saving talisman and disappeared before this staunch declaration had even finished echoing through the air.

Gong Nanfeng had admitted defeat and left the Divine Hunt Demon Mountains!

Waves of emotion coursed through the onlookers’ hearts. They couldn’t calm down.

None of them could have imagined that one of their most eye-catching competitors, the unrivaled Immortal Lord Gong Nanfeng, would fail to even shake Shen Mu. He’d had no choice but to admit defeat and leave!

Su Yi muttered to himself, You say you haven’t brought shame upon your ancestors? I hope that’s true…