After Escaping From Death, He Went Even Crazier By Criticizing Black Lotus Chapter 6

Chapter 6: His Hatred for Him and Joining the Immortal Sect Assembly

Later, Xiao Jianming watched coldly as those few people fought Su Huan—or rather, it was just a casual act of routine bullying that all disciples tacitly accepted, and he just happened to stumble upon it.

Before this, Su Huan and the others had been friends for several years.

Their ill-fated relationship began on a beautiful, sunny day.

The sun was large, round, and scorching that day, and the sky was clear for thousands of miles. Su Huan had been thrown into the mud when Xiao Jianming, sword in hand, descended from the sky. He rescued Su Huan and his young brother from the bullies, appearing like a peerless hero. Holding his sharp longsword, he instantly captured the young boy’s attention.

“So you are the Chief Genius Eldest Senior Brother everyone talks about!”

After learning his savior’s identity, Su Huan’s eyes lit up. His amber eyes sparkled, and his heart felt as warm and bright as the sunny day.

Since mortals were not permitted into the Xuanji Sect, Su Huan simply took little Chao to live in the desolate area of the Back Mountain. There was a path next to their small wooden house, and the disciples who passed by daily talked most about this astonishingly talented Eldest Senior Brother with the Heavenly Spiritual Root.

He never expected that not only was this person exceptionally gifted, but he was also willing to right wrongs and draw his sword to help.

What a truly good person!

Su Huan thought, passionately patting his chest, “Eldest Senior Brother saved my life today. From now on, if you ever need me, just give the command. I will brave fire and water for Senior Brother, even if it means dying ten thousand times!”

Xiao Jianming’s tightly sealed lips parted slightly, and he let out a cold snort, uttering three words: “No need for that.”

Su Huan sheepishly rubbed his nose. If he had looked closely, he might have noticed the unpleasant temper hidden beneath the well-dressed exterior of the man opposite him. However, at that moment, the young boy was overwhelmed with gratitude and couldn’t detect the disdain and impatience in the other’s eyes.

Perhaps he had caught the eye of the genius Eldest Senior Brother, for from then on, the Eldest Senior Brother often came to find him. Sometimes they cultivated or took on missions together, and sometimes they talked about trivial things, just like friends.

It was precisely because of this that if someone mentioned the fourth disciple of Lichen Peak, the Xuanji Sect disciples might not know who it was, but if they spoke of the Chief Eldest Senior Brother’s friend, everyone knew it was Su Huan.

Unknowingly, their friendship spread throughout the entire Xuanji Sect, and Su Huan truly regarded him as his closest friend.

Until another sunny day arrived, and little Chao’s congenital illness suddenly took a turn for the worse, becoming terminal and beyond the reach of medicine.

“Brother.”

Little Chao was thin and small, lying in bed. A smile appeared on his pale face, and when his dark eyes saw Su Huan enter, they brightened with a hint of cheerfulness. But his voice was weak, like a newborn lamb, utterly listless.

Su Huan’s heart ached terribly, but he could only comfort him by stroking his head, soothing him with a smile, “Little Chao, don’t be afraid. You’ll be fine after a good sleep.”

He thought that once little Chao fell asleep, he would go back up Zihuan Peak to plead again, hoping to move Chongjiang True Lord and obtain a life-saving elixir.

But when he arrived at the foot of Zihuan Peak, he was told that little Chao, being a mortal, would only explode and die if forced to take an immortal elixir.

Little Chao had no spiritual root in his body; even if he started cultivating immediately, he could not enter the Dao.

Su Huan dropped to his knees with a thud at the foot of Zihuan Peak, his voice filled with sorrow, attempting to morally bind Chongjiang True Lord: “True Lord is the Medical Immortal of this age, capable of bringing the dead back to life and regenerating flesh from bone. You must have a way! Please, True Lord, save him, please save my brother…”

He knelt for three consecutive days. Perhaps finding him too noisy, Chongjiang True Lord sighed and reluctantly told him of a wicked method—a way to exchange one life for another.

When Xiao Jianming found out, he frowned and asked, “You must save him?”

Su Huan’s lips moved, and he whispered, “I am his older brother.”

Xiao Jianming stared at him intently for a long time, an inexplicable surge of anger rising in his heart. That child was merely a mortal. Mortals were destined to die; this was just a few years earlier. Was this worth such profound grief?

Especially the way this person was bowing his head, looking as if life would lose all meaning if the child died. The more he looked, the angrier he became. He couldn’t help but let out a cold laugh, his tone frigid, “Then you truly are a good elder brother.”

Then, with a cold face, he turned and left.

Unfortunately, little Chao did not survive.

When Xiao Jianming arrived, the child’s face was already ashen, and he had stopped breathing.

Xiao Jianming leaned against the doorway, watching Su Huan kneel beside the bed, his eyes vacant, his voice nearly broken and hoarse: “I killed him…”

On the ground, half of a Golden Core rolled, stained with blood. The Dantian was the life gate of a cultivator; even a slight mistake could lead to complete annihilation. The so-called wicked method was merely for Su Huan to carve out half of his own life to give to the child.

But a mortal body, even that of a blood relative, could hardly withstand the cleansing and transformation of the flesh caused by half a Golden Core. Only one or two out of ten thousand could survive.

The young boy’s chest was now stained with blood, and he was missing half a Golden Core and half a life. Yet, he still felt no malice, not even a trace of hatred or resentment.

Xiao Jianming glanced at the half-Golden Core slowly dissipating on the ground, his heart blazing with fury. He almost questioned him aloud: Did he truly degrade himself like this for the sake of a mortal?

At the critical moment, Xiao Jianming suddenly changed his mind. After a long silence, he slowly said, “I once read in an ancient text that the prize for the champion of the Immortal Sect Assembly, held once every ten years by the Hundred Immortal Families, includes a Glazed Immortal Herb grown on Penglai Immortal Island. This herb, supplemented by a secret technique, can resurrect the dead.”

Su Huan suddenly looked up at him. Xiao Jianming straightened up, meeting his gaze proudly: “In your current state, you cannot win first place.”

The lost young man’s eyelashes fluttered upon hearing this, his eyes momentarily stunned, and he said, “No.”

Su Huan slowly uttered a sentence: “I will take first place.”

Xiao Jianming’s expression had initially been composed, his eyes faintly showing a hint of pleasure, as if waiting for something. Upon hearing Su Huan’s words, his face suddenly became extremely ugly.

Su Huan lowered his head to arrange little Chao’s remains and didn’t notice.

He only heard Xiao Jianming, before leaving, offer no parting words, only a cold laugh filled with extreme anger.

After this, Xiao Jianming came a few more times. Each time, nothing good came out of his mouth, infuriating Su Huan until he could bear it no longer and publicly broke off their relationship.

Since then, the two never spoke another word.

This hatred he held for Su Huan came inexplicably, yet it also seemed reasonable.

*

On the first day of the Immortal Sect Assembly, banners fluttered fiercely in the wind beneath the clear sky. The Hundred Immortal Families gathered at the Xuanji Sect. The entire Dao Discussion Arena was magnificent, with endless clouds surging.

Su Huan arrived early with his fellow disciples to wait for the Assembly trials to begin. As soon as he entered the Dao Discussion Arena, he felt an intense gaze fixated on him.

Looking up, he saw Xiao Jianming, who had shed his usual narrow-sleeved combat attire and donned formal ceremonial robes. Standing beside the Sect Master, he exuded the solemn dignity of a Chief Disciple. His ink-black eyes stared at Su Huan, his gaze indifferent and cold, like a stranger, yet so solid that it made Su Huan’s spine burn, forcing him to instinctively look away.

Su Huan lowered his eyes and pursed his lips, thinking that Eldest Senior Brother had been roped in as a ceremonial helper and wouldn’t be participating in the trials.

The anxiety in his heart couldn’t help but subside.

Unexpectedly, the person who should have been standing on the high platform with the Sect Master to welcome the guests from various sects suddenly flew down and landed beside him.

Su Huan: “O.o?”

Before he could resolve his confusion, a mighty sound echoed through the clouds—

The Immortal Sect Assembly officially began with a thunderous blast of the sacrificial horn. The disciples of the Four Great Immortal Sects participating in the trials were already assembled in the Dao Discussion Arena, all standing tall with immortal grace, radiating a vast, youthful spirit.

In the center stood the host, the Xuanji Sect team. To their right was the Jianqing Sect, whose uniforms were stark white, like mourning clothes. To the far right, the most conspicuous were the scarlet robes of the Lingxiao Sect. And to the far left were the brightly colored, flowery robes of the Wanxiang Sect. Following the teams of the Four Great Immortal Sects were the Hundred Immortal Families, a vast crowd of sects and aristocratic families, with banners covering the sky for miles, stretching as far as the eye could see.

In the Xuanji Sect team, Su Huan quietly shifted one step to the side.

A cold gaze instantly shot over.

Su Huan froze, reluctantly moving back to his original spot. His peripheral vision was once again dominated by the luxurious yet dignified blue and gold satin robes. A cultivator’s heightened senses allowed him to clearly see the gold thread cloud patterns on the robe, which, connected to the embroidery on the sky-blue collar, formed array patterns, shimmering like flowing gold.

A crimson gold jade belt, strung with multicolored spiritual beads, cinched the wide robe, revealing the dangling set of jade pendants at his waist. Among the translucent spiritual jade beads, which shimmered with light, was a water spiritual bead as large as an eyeball, half-hidden beneath the hem, emitting a clear and cool water spiritual energy that drew attention.

In short, Xiao Jianming was incredibly handsome and magnificent at this moment.

Su Huan couldn’t help but take a light breath, thinking to himself that it was fortunate he was a Xuanji Sect disciple; otherwise, Eldest Senior Brother’s precious attire, reserved for entertaining outsiders, would truly incite resentment towards the rich.

A white light entrance appeared out of thin air. After a flash of glare, Su Huan was randomly teleported into the trial secret realm. At this moment, he still couldn’t stop calculating the value of that eyeball-sized Five Elements Spiritual Bead.

One must know that a Five Elements Spiritual Bead the size of a grain of sand was worth millions of spirit stones on the market, and even then, it was priceless and rarely available.

In the blink of an eye, the surroundings changed.

Su Huan stepped into the Dense Forest grassland. The roar of demonic beasts came from deep within the woods. Pairs of hungry vertical pupils glowed in the darkness of the surrounding low bushes, creeping and spying, making rustling sounds, yet fearing the pressure emanating from the prey and daring not to attack rashly.

Su Huan was multitasking. While mentally estimating that the water spiritual bead could fetch tens of millions at auction, he drew his sword. Second Senior Brother had told him that the demonic beasts in the secret realm were also quite valuable.

As the sword light flashed, corpses littered the ground.

But it wasn’t Su Huan’s sword.

*

Su Huan raised his hand to dissipate the residual sword energy, his brow furrowing. The next second, he heard a surprised cry emerge from the woods:

“Young Sect Master, there’s someone up ahead!”

In a flash, a white-robed youth leaped over the tree canopy and landed in front of him. He had bright eyes and white teeth, and a jade-inlaid scabbard hung from his waist. In his right hand, he held a three-foot, three-inch longsword, which was brimming with spiritual energy, clearly indicating its immense value and high grade.

Noticing the sky-blue uniform unique to the Xuanji Sect on Su Huan, the youth raised an eyebrow and said, “So it’s someone from the Xuanji Sect.”

“Hey, are you alright?”

Su Huan’s frown deepened, but then he heard a pleasant, cold voice from behind the youth:

“Jiusi, do not be rude.”

Another white-robed youth emerged from the woods. He was tall, with a dignified and composed demeanor. He held a silver square sword, like a gentleman carving jade. His handsome face featured beautiful eyes that seemed to warm all things, showing a hint of apology. He nodded slightly towards Su Huan, politely apologizing for his junior brother:

“I am Nangong Yi, a disciple of the Jianqing Sect. This is my junior brother, Yue Jiusi. I sincerely apologize for what just happened. He is a bit impatient and accidentally startled Fellow Daoist, but it was absolutely unintentional. Please forgive him, Fellow Daoist.”

Su Huan looked up sharply. He had heard of the other person’s reputation. This was the son of the Jianqing Sect Master, the proud young master of the Nangong family, a world-renowned genius sword cultivator, and one of the hot favorites to win first place in this Assembly.

Because he was born with a compassionate heart, the world evaluated him as “one who, having experienced few hardships, still pities the suffering of the common people.” He had always enjoyed a good reputation.

He was also a formidable opponent.

Su Huan did not want to clash with him right from the start, so he accepted the olive branch offered by the other party and conceded, “It’s fine. I will go elsewhere.”

The Immortal Sect Assembly was hosted in rotation by the Four Great Sects. The trial was stipulated to last one month, during which no disciple was allowed to kill or injure another. The ranking would be determined by the resources obtained at the end.

The trial secret realm utilized by the Xuanji Sect this year was the most vast and abundant among the Four Great Sects, yet it was also the most perilous, with the highest number of casualties in past Immortal Sect Assemblies.

Therefore, he had to conserve a great deal of strength, accumulate power, and search for the most precious secret treasures in the realm to win.

Su Huan was about to leave when he heard Nangong Yi speak, stopping him: “Fellow Daoist, please wait.”

He said, “I see no fellow disciples of yours nearby, and this forest looks extremely dangerous. It is not safe for Fellow Daoist to travel alone. Why not join us temporarily until we reach a safe place before parting ways?”

“Young Sect Master—” Yue Jiusi drew out his voice, the first to object: “He’s not a disciple of our Jianqing Sect, why should we bring him along!”

Su Huan was unfamiliar with them and instinctively wanted to refuse, but he realized that a dense fog had somehow risen around the forest. In the blink of an eye, visibility was less than ten meters, and the surrounding vegetation was visibly beginning to wither.

The danger was evident.

Su Huan had no choice but to accept the temporary olive branch extended by this hot favorite contender.