Su Yi smiled and said, "You'd better leave quickly."
Zhou Zhizhen couldn't help but say, "Young Master Su, let me ask you this: in today's Great Zhou Empire, besides my father, who else can guarantee your safety?"
The old man in the red robe also spoke, "Young Master Su possesses the strength to kill Earthly Immortals and is indeed fearless of ordinary dangers. However, Young Master may not be fully aware of how dangerous the Imperial Capital is now. In any case, I advise Young Master to think twice."
The woman in splendid attire said, "Young Master Su, you are talented and have a boundless future ahead of you. Why would you willingly put yourself in a life-or-death situation? Moreover, choosing to pledge loyalty to the Emperor and the Third Prince brings countless benefits and no harm. Intelligent people should know what choices to make."
Just as the middle-aged man holding a sword was about to speak, Su Yi waved his hand to interrupt, saying, "You may leave, and I won't see you off."
With that, he strode towards Song Feng Manor.
"You..." Zhou Zhizhen's face darkened.
The old man in the red robe snorted coldly, "Young Master Su, the Third Prince came here with good intentions to offer assistance, and this is how you treat the Third Prince?"
Su Yi stopped in his tracks, turned around, and looked at them coldly, saying, "All you want is for me, Su Yi, to bow down and serve you during this situation. Is that your idea of help? I advise you to leave immediately, or else don't blame me for being impolite."
Zhou Zhizhen's expression grew even gloomier.
He didn't expect that he took the initiative to come here, yet Su Yi showed him no respect. His arrogant attitude seemed as if he didn't even regard him, the Third Prince, with any importance.
The old man in the red robe furrowed his brow, feeling puzzled as well.
From what he knew, Su Yi had previously served under the Sixth Prince. He thought that with the Third Prince intervening and promising to help resolve Su Yi's dangers, Su Yi would pledge loyalty to him.
Who would have thought that Su Yi would react like this!
"Impolite? Su Yi, this is the Imperial Capital, under the Emperor's feet. You can't even protect yourself, do you dare to lay a hand on us?" the woman in splendid attire sneered confidently.
She naturally understood that Su Yi's combat power was terrifying, but she didn't believe that in the Imperial Capital, Su Yi would dare to offend them.
After all, even normal individuals would understand the severe consequences of such actions!
Su Yi glanced at her and said, "If you dare to say another word, I will kill you. Don't believe me? Give it a try."
The woman in splendid attire burst into laughter and said, "You..."
Puff!
A strand of sword aura suddenly appeared, piercing through the woman's throat.
Her eyes widened in disbelief, her face expressing astonishment. She made gurgling sounds from her lips and finally collapsed to the ground, clutching her neck with both hands, looking up at the sky.
Thud!
A heavy sound echoed, hitting the hearts of those present like a hammer.
Zhou Zhizhen, the old man in the red robe, and the middle-aged man holding a sword all had their faces change color. None of them expected Su Yi to act so decisively!
In fact, they couldn't even see how Su Yi made his move!
It was too fast, leaving them with no time to react, let alone stop him.
"Su Yi, do you know who she is?" the middle-aged man holding a sword roared angrily, his eyes filled with fury.
Previously, he had remained silent, but now, he was overwhelmed with rage due to the death of the woman in splendid attire.
"If you say another word, I will kill you as well," Su Yi said calmly.
The middle-aged man holding a sword stiffened, his cheeks turning pale with suppressed anger, but he dared not speak any further.
Zhou Zhizhen took a deep breath, as if he was about to say something.
At that moment, Su Yi's gaze turned towards him, and he said, "You too."
Zhou Zhizhen was stunned, unable to imagine that Su Yi would dare to threaten him, a prince, in the same manner!
But faced with Su Yi's calm and emotionless gaze, he couldn't help but shiver all over, swallowing the words that were about to come out of his mouth.
The old man in the red robe, seeing this, didn't dare to say anything more either.
"Take this corpse and leave," Su Yi pointed to the body of the woman in splendid attire.
Zhou Zhizhen was visibly on the verge of exploding with anger. As a prince, even in the Imperial Capital, he received polite treatment from Earthly Immortals. When had he ever suffered such humiliation?
However, he didn't dare to speak up, didn't dare to gamble with his own life. The overwhelming anger and shame bottled up inside him made him feel uncomfortable all over.
In the end, he gritted his teeth, glared fiercely at Su Yi, and turned to leave.
The old man in the red robe and the middle-aged man holding a sword quickly carried the body of the woman in splendid attire and followed suit.
Throughout the whole encounter, no one dared to utter another word.
It was only when they had left the Peach Talisman Lane and were far away that Zhou Zhizhen's angry shout, filled with rage, reached their ears:
"Su Yi, when you're dead, I will personally come to collect your corpse!"
Su Yi smiled and paid no attention, turning around and walking into Song Feng Manor.
Those who vented their frustrations with empty threats were often the most powerless.
Back in his room, Su Yi sat cross-legged and took out a jade bottle, pouring out a sparkling and translucent pill with radiant flowing light.
It was the Nine Apertures Dragon-Tiger Pill!
One of the "Four Great Elemental Pills" mastered by the renowned "Danqing Sect," the number one alchemy sect in the vast wilderness.
It was also the top-grade spiritual pill used by cultivators to establish their foundation on the path of elemental cultivation, renowned throughout the world.
And now, Su Yi was using such a precious pill to refine his Grandmaster realm cultivation.
Since leaving the Baosha Demon Mountain on the seventh day of the fourth month, he had been refining one pill every three days.
By now, he had already refined three pills.
If it were in the hands of a cultivator in the Fasting Phase realm, a single Nine Apertures Dragon-Tiger Pill would be enough to lay a solid and robust foundation in the Dao.
But for Su Yi, refining three pills of this kind only brought his cultivation to the pinnacle of the Grandmaster Fourth Stage, far from completion.
The core issue lay in the fact that his foundation was too solid and majestic, and his understanding of the Dao was unparalleled in all ages.
"If I can cultivate the 'Five Essence Spirit,' I will be able to wield my sword and display the 'Great Five Elements Territory Sword.' By then, with a single strike, I can kill opponents like Feng Liu, who have refined their sword intent as if plucking things from a bag..."
"In addition, when the Five Essence Spirit is achieved, the five organs will become like a furnace, and the strength of my physique will be comparable to the Buddhist's crystal-like golden body. With a casual gesture, I can easily crush the secret swords of the elemental cultivators."
"As for the power of the divine soul, I can cultivate the 'One Qi Slaughtering Deity Technique.' Its power surpasses that of the Great Void Soul Sword Technique, especially when dealing with the divine consciousness of elemental cultivators, it can unleash a devastating destruction."
"However, the 'One Qi Slaughtering Deity Technique' is too domineering, and the consumption of divine soul power is immense. It is advisable to use it sparingly unless it is a critical moment."
Swallowing a Nine Apertures Dragon-Tiger Pill, Su Yi pondered while cultivating.
The true transformation of the Grandmaster realm occurred at the Fifth Stage.
The first four stages were accumulations, and only at the Fifth Stage would a qualitative transformation occur.
At that time, the five organs would become a furnace, giving birth to the Five Essence Spirit, causing a tremendous change in one's divine soul, physique, and cultivation.
Only at this stage would there be enough foundation to display certain secret techniques.
For example, the "Great Five Elements Territory Sword" was a profound sword technique created by Su Yi in his previous life, listed among the "Thirty-Three Scriptures of the Vast Wilderness Sword Dao."
The mysteries within it involved the supreme application of the Five Elements Dao.
Those below the elemental cultivators were simply not qualified to cultivate such a sword scripture.
Similarly, if Su Yi couldn't refine the "Five Essence Spirit," a profound foundation of the Dao, he would naturally be unable to unleash the true power of this extraordinary sword technique.
Another example was the "One Qi Slaughtering Deity Technique," an ultimate technique of soul cultivation. It couldn't be considered highly profound, but it was a secret art specifically aimed at divine consciousness power, overwhelmingly domineering.
With Su Yi's current strength of the divine soul, he could still display this technique, but it would leave his divine soul in a weakened state with a single strike.
However, if the power of the divine soul were to break through again, he would be able to effortlessly wield this technique.
In any case, for Su Yi, as someone with the experience of his previous life, he already possessed countless secret techniques and marvelous methods, not lacking in combat and battle techniques.
Of course, the premise for all of this was that his cultivation had to match up.
"In accordance with my current cultivation speed, it should not take more than seven days for me to truly enter the Grandmaster Fifth Stage..." Su Yi secretly contemplated.
He didn't rush things.
Even though the Yujing City was filled with danger, he didn't pay too much attention to it. With his current power, he was more than capable of dealing with any danger.
For Su Yi, the most important thing was to gradually cultivate a profound foundation in the Dao that far surpassed his previous life, through the process of reincarnation and re-cultivation.
...
In the imperial palace.
Within a magnificent and solemn palace hall.
Dressed in a dark robe, Emperor Zhou sat on the dragon throne, rubbing his temples and sighed, "How did I end up with a son like you?"
As he spoke, he sat up straight, his gaze deep and terrifying. "A young man capable of killing immortal cultivators on land, and yet you went and made him pledge allegiance? Do you really think that cultivators would fear the mundane imperial authority?"
The third prince, Zhou Zhizhen, knelt and trembled, shivering with fear. He said, "Father, the child also wanted to take this opportunity to recruit a young expert for you..."
Before he could finish, Emperor Zhou sneered, "Nonsense! All I want to know is whether you chose to do this yourself, or were you instigated by someone else?"
Zhou Zhizhen opened his mouth to say something, but Emperor Zhou coldly interrupted, "I want to hear the truth! If there's even a single word of falsehood, I'll strip you of your status right away!"
Zhou Zhizhen trembled all over and kowtowed, "Father, last night the child was drinking with my second brother. My brother mentioned, by recruiting Su Yi and making him serve us, we can strengthen the might of Great Zhou and have another capable person by your side..."
A glimmer flashed in Emperor Zhou's eyes as he sighed, "Indeed, a fool like you is only fit to be used by others."
He waved his hand, "You may leave now. From this day forward, stay in your own mansion and reflect on your actions. Without my permission, you are not allowed to step out!"
His voice was filled with disappointment and disgust.
Zhou Zhizhen suddenly felt like all his strength had been drained away, lost and hopeless.
He realized that he would probably never get close to that dragon throne in his lifetime...
After Zhou Zhizhen left, Emperor Zhou suddenly spoke again, "National Master, what do you think? If I personally intervene, can I make use of this Su Yi?"
Hong Canshang, who had been standing on the side of the hall, remained silent for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, that depends on whether Su Yi can survive under his father's, Su Hongli's, hands."
Emperor Zhou nodded and said, "Su Yi has already arrived in Yujing City. Is there any news from the envoys of the Kingdom of Wei and the Kingdom of Qin?"
A profound and compelling gleam flickered in Hong Canshang's golden-colored eyes as he said, "Your Majesty, there's no need to concern yourself with those matters. As long as Su Yi is in Yujing City, sooner or later, someone will be unable to resist and will come forward!"
Emperor Zhou smiled and said, "In that case, let's just watch from the sidelines and see when this drama will unfold!"