First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 1765 - The Prisoner's Dilemma

Lei Yunting’s soul sat alone in a quiet, empty hall on the centermost peak. He stared at the jade slip in his hands in silence for a long, long time.

It described the explanation Su Yi had come here for, just two questions.

First, why did they send Tao Qian and the other Immortal Kings to kill him?

Second, what was the truth behind the Bi’an Spirit Race’s demise?

When he saw these questions, Lei Yunting knew with certainty that they wouldn’t escape disaster today!

After a long silence, Lei Yunting let out a deep sigh. He wasn’t afraid to die, and he was already in such dire straits. Even if he didn’t answer Su Yi’s questions, he had no hope of getting out of this alive.

What good would fear of death do him at a time like this?

No, he wasn’t afraid to die, but he was afraid of a life worse than death!

A life worse than death. It was just a few simple words, but the thought alone was enough to make Lei Yunting shudder.

What did it mean to live a life worse than death?

It meant longing to die, yet being unable to do so! It meant being trapped in perpetual agony, a fate worse than death. It meant enduring the most brutal of torments for all eternity!

Lei Yunting could picture it already. If someone of Su Yi’s capabilities wanted him to lead a life worse than death, he had countless means of doing so!

By comparison, death would be a form of release.

As the leader of the Endless Swords Immortal Sect, Lei Yunting had witnessed many of the world’s most brutal tortures. He’d even seen numerous prominent experts beg for a quick death after experiencing untold torment! All they wanted was release!

In truth, Lei Yunting had already repeatedly attempted to end his own life.

But to his despair, even suicide had become a luxury far beyond his reach!

Su Yi had completely sealed his soul.

“I wonder if the others will reveal those secrets of the past...” Lei Yunting’s expression shifted.

Earlier, Su Yi had said that he planned to interrogate him, Ancestor Shen Shang, and the other Immortal Kings separately.

Those who answered his two questions would be given a dignified death, while those who refused would face the torment of a life worse than death.

The very idea was ironic. Even death had become a tantalizing offer!

But Lei Yunting knew that in the face of inescapable torment, a clean death... really was tempting!

At the same time, Su Yi said that if he interrogated them and found that their answers didn’t line up, anyone whose answer differed would similarly meet with a life worse than death!

This was simple psychological warfare, but it was effective.

All of them were in despair, and they’d been separated. They had no idea whether the others had lowered their heads and obediently answered Su Yi’s questions or not. Under such circumstances, most people would choose whatever benefited them the most.

To Lei Yunting and the others, a dignified death was the most beneficial option of all. If they wanted to seize the opportunity to die, they had to answer Su Yi’s questions obediently!

Lei Yunting didn’t know what the others would choose, but he feared that none of them would willingly accept “a life worse than death...”

This was what really filled Lei Yunting with despair. Everything was under Su Yi’s control. They had no choice but to lower their heads!

Lei Yunting was starting to regret not charging fearlessly into the fray earlier. Dying in battle would have been far worthier, and far cleaner!

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps rang out, and Su Yi walked into the dimly lit hall.

“Your turn.” He took out his wicker chair, casually sat down, then looked at Lei Yunting. “Remember, I don’t want to hear any nonsense.”

Lei Yunting’s expression filled with uncertainty.

A while later, he slowly nodded his head.

......

About ten minutes later, Su Yi got up and put his wicker chair away. “You’ve passed—for now.”

Lei Yunting felt a massive weight lift from his shoulders, but then, his expression turned bleak. “Might this old man be so bold as to ask if the others chose to tell you the truth too?”

Su Yi’s eyes shone with a hint of mockery. “All of you said the same thing. None of you dared to lie to me.”

Lei Yunting seemed to find this hard to believe. “Ancestor Shen Shang...”

“He, too, fears a life worse than death,” said Su Yi. “He even shared additional secrets with me. I’ll just have to confirm their veracity one by one.”

He paused, then said, “I’ll come back to confirm things with you later, too.”

With that, he turned to leave.

Lei Yunting sat there woodenly, his face hideous. Sometimes, his expression was dark. Other times, it was full of grief...

In the end, he just sighed in dejection.

He now fully understood. The others were vying for their chance at a clean death, so they were sure to offer up additional secrets to Su Yi if they could!

And given that Su Yi would verify everything they told him, none of them would dare to lie to him!

Lei Yunting finally understood on a visceral level just how foolish they’d been to oppose Su Yi. Even though he was “just” the Eternal Night Immortal Sovereign’s reincarnation, his strength was more than people like them could contend with!

......

Enough time to burn a stick of incense later.

The centermost peak, amidst a churning sea of clouds.

“Ol’ Brother, it seems you’ve benefited from your misfortune. After achieving such merit, how could you not experience a meteoric rise?” said the Zhuyou Great Peng, spit flying from its mouth as it prattled on excitedly. It was as warm and welcoming as could be; it even called Qi Fufeng “Brother.”

Qi Fufeng shook his head. “Serving the Eternal Night Immortal Sovereign was my duty to begin with. I’ve never harbored any extravagant thoughts of a ‘meteoric rise.’”

The Zhuyou Great Peng clucked its tongue. “You’re already clinging to His Excellency’s legs. One day, you’ll be able to travel the Immortal Realm with impunity, like it or not!”

Qi Fufeng furrowed his brow. He felt that the wicked bird was completely fixated on finding a “higher branch to roost on.” It was simply too low class!

He decided to change the subject. “I just don’t know what the Sovereign will do with the Endless Swords Immortal Sect.”

The Zhuyou Great Peng grinned. “Relax! If he wanted to destroy the sect, it’d be level ground by now. Not even rubble would remain.”

As the two of them conversed, footsteps suddenly emanated from afar.

Su Yi was headed their way.

“Have you resolved everything, Your Excellency?” The Zhuyou Great Peng whipped around and welcomed him toadyishly.

Su Yi subtly inclined his head. Shen Shang, Lei Yunting, and the others were dead, and he had the answers he was after.

Everything was connected to the cataclysm of the Age of Fallen Immortals!

The Endless Swords Immortal Sect’s vitality was badly damaged, and its peak experts lost their lives.

Back then, the Immortal Realm was beset on all sides. A cataclysm ravaged them from within, while the demons of the Beyond broke through the Nine Gates of Heaven and invaded, bringing disaster to the whole world. The flames of war reached the Endless Swords Immortal Sect, too.

The Endless Swords Immortal Sect faced the threat of annihilation. At a critical juncture, the Church of the Pure One, the Church of Supreme Oneness, and the Church of Divine Flame intervened, helping them repel their external foes and quell their internal unrest. They’d saved the sect from certain doom.

But the three sects only offered their aid on the condition that the Endless Swords Immortal Sect submitted!

In other words, they’d been plotting this all along. Their “aid” was really just a ploy!

The top experts of the Endless Swords Immortal Sect staunchly refused their terms. They vowed to die rather than submit.

In the end, the three prominent sects brutally suppressed them.

Shen Shang, then the leader of the sect, ultimately chose to compromise. He agreed to lower his head to the three prominent factions!

The Endless Swords Immortal Sect remained an outwardly independent faction, but in truth, they’d served their three “saviors” ever since.

All of this was top secret. Only Ancestor Shen Shang and the Immortal Kings knew about it.

This was the source of it all. Knowing this, everything else made sense.

For instance, the Endless Swords Immortal Sect had sent its Immortal Kings after Su Yi because the Church of the Pure One commanded them to!

As for the Bi’an Spirit Race’s demise?

That was the work of the Church of the Divine Flame!

Twenty years ago, Sect Leader Nan Wujiu of the Church of Divine Flame secretly gathered experts and led a group of Immortal Kings in ambush against the Bi'an Spirit Race.

They crushed the Bi’an Spirit Race that very day, slaughtering close to thirty thousand of their clansmen. The ground ran red with rivers of blood, and their ancestral home was reduced to burnt rubble!

Several Immortal Kings of the Endless Swords Immortal Sect participated in the massacre, too.

According to Lei Yunting, the participants weren’t limited to the Church of Divine Flame and the Endless Swords Immortal Sect. Immortal Kings of the Jade Firmament Immortal Palace of the Eastern Seas, the Floating Mountain, and several other factions were involved too.

Apparently, there were over a hundred Immortal Kings involved, never mind everyone else!

Their goal was to wipe out the Bi’an Spirit Race in a single go and rip them up by the roots to avert future problems!

And indeed, they’d all but succeeded.

Furthermore, the Church of Divine Flame sealed off all word of this incident. Even now, throughout the Immortal Realm, only those who’d participated directly knew what had really happened.

The ordinary disciples of the Endless Swords Immortal Sect had no idea that Immortal Kings of their sect were involved.

Qi Fufeng was pursued because he’d drawn the sect’s higher-ups’ attention by attempting to investigate the Bi’an Spirit Race’s demise.

However, there was one thing neither Shen Shang nor the Immortal Kings knew: why the Church of Divine Flame wanted to crush the Bi’an Spirit Race.

Su Yi was certain that none of them would have dared to lie about this.

Furthermore, learning the full story made Su Yi recall numerous other incidents. When the cataclysm of the Age of Fallen Immortals swept the Immortal Realm, far too much had happened.

And much of it was connected to Su Yi’s past life.

For instance, during the Age of Fallen Immortals, Wang Ye’s Academy of Eternal Night was invaded by demons on the Beyond and was summarily destroyed.

Su Yi already knew that experts of the Church of Divine Flame had participated in that attack too!

Also, the Misty God Mountain Gong Family once served under Wang Ye’s banner, but after the Age of Fallen Immortals, they pledged themselves to the Church of the Pure One instead.

And the Black Dragon Dao Monarch, the former master of the Black Dragon Market, had died a brutal death at the hands of Jiang Tai’e, the founder of the Church of Supreme Oneness!

The Central Immortal Court was destroyed, and Mount Taiwu inexplicably disappeared. All of this happened during the cataclysm of the Age of Fallen Immortals.

The Bi’an Spirit Race was destroyed just twenty years ago, but the Church of Divine Flames was behind this, too!

These leads might have seemed tangled and disparate, but upon closer inspection, all of them were connected to Su Yi’s past life, and several prominent factions hostile to him—the Church of the Pure One, the Church of Supreme Oneness, and the Church of Divine Flame—were inextricably involved!

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