Chapter 392: Taking Control of Taiyi Gate

“Is there a difference between a path to survival and a path to death?”
Although Tai Xu’s head couldn’t move, his gaze turned to Chen Xu’s face. “The ‘path to survival’ you speak of means becoming a puppet like him, obeying only your commands—worse than death even.”
Before Su Che could reply, Chen Xu spoke up: “Fellow Tai Xu, you’re wrong. I’m not a puppet. I still possess my original thoughts and memories. Everything from the past remains in my heart; I haven’t lost anything. I can continue on my immortal path. Moreover, I feel that my current cultivation level is far superior to before—free from distractions, with clear thoughts and no inner demons…”
“That’s terrifying!”
Hearing this, Tai Xu was even more shocked. “You’ve been so bewitched by him! With everything from the past still in your heart, you still choose to submit to him. It’s truly terrifying.”
Su Che then smiled and said, “If you find it terrifying, I can erase all your memories and turn you into a dull, human-shaped puppet. But I wonder… would you be willing to become that?”
Tai Xu remained silent, still shocked by Su Che’s terrifying methods. That Chen Xu, despite retaining his original thoughts and memories, showed such extreme loyalty and devotion. Such a thing had never been heard of in the world of cultivation.
At the thought of being transformed like that, Tai Xu was filled with endless fear: Would I still be myself after that?
“Headmaster Tai Xu, you know that under the current circumstances, it’s easy to kill you,” Su Che said gravely. “And after killing you, with my thirty-plus subordinates at the Yuan Ying cultivation level, it will be effortless to wipe out Taiyi Gate completely. I give you ten seconds to consider. If you refuse to submit, I’ll kill you first and then destroy the lineage of Taiyi Gate, making you a notorious criminal in the history of cultivation on Qi Yuan Star—someone who can never wash away the shame of destroying their sect.”
“Huh?”
Headmaster Tai Xu was stunned, realizing now that the situation was thousands of times worse than he had imagined.
“Yes. If I die, only Tai Hua remains. How can he alone stop these thirty-plus Yuan Ying cultivators from carrying out a massacre…”
Su Che emphasized, “Whether Taiyi Gate survives or perishes depends on my decision. And right now, your choice will determine my decision. In the end, it’s still you who decides.”
“You…”

The Patriarch of Taixu was left speechless, able only to cry out in despair inwardly, “This Tianyu is truly Taiyi Sect’s nemesis by birth! Why did heaven create such a person?” To this day, he still believed that acting according to the orders of the Spirit Realm was in line with heaven’s will, and he should be protected by it. But then why did Taiyi Sect fall into such a dire state?

A supreme sect with a heritage of over 30,000 years was about to be destroyed by his own hands?

Su Che sat down on a chair not far away, claiming to give him only ten moments to consider, but in reality, he gave him dozens of breaths to make a choice. Yet the old man remained silent, so Su Che’s eyes flashed with determination as he sharply uttered one word: “Kill!”

This “kill” referred not only to Taixu’s own life but also to the hundreds of thousands of disciples of Taiyi Sect.

Of course, Su Che wouldn’t actually commit such a grave atrocity. He would simply capture those who deserved it and send them to the Immortal Prison, allowing them to settle there and rebuild their lives in the world of the Immortal Prison. That would be fine.

Fortunately, the first layer of the Immortal Prison was already about the size of Qiyuan Star, yet it remained desolate and lifeless. It indeed needed many living beings to populate it.

Although trapped in the prison of energy, Taixu could still clearly sense the intense murderous intent emanating from Su Che. He truly believed that this devil would completely destroy Taiyi Sect and erase it from existence.

“Wait!” The Patriarch of Taixu shouted. Tears streamed down his face as he finally made a choice to preserve Taiyi Sect’s teachings—sacrificing himself to save the sect, even if it meant being turned into a loyal slave like Chen Xu by Su Che.

“Tianyu, I can submit, but you must promise not to kill innocents or destroy my sect’s teachings,” Taixu roared, his eyes red with fury.

“I can promise that,” Su Che nodded gently. “I’m not one to kill indiscriminately. If it weren’t for you coming to provoke me, have you ever heard of me killing an innocent?”

Taixu was stunned. After a brief reflection, he could only silently admit in his heart that although Tianyu had a famous reputation, he really had never heard of him killing anyone. In fact, he could be considered one of the few in the cultivation world who had spilled the least blood.

Su Che said again, “Within three years, Taiyi Gate will drop to the status of a large sect. But after all, it’s a sect with tens of thousands of years of heritage and vast resources. In just a few years, it should be able to produce two or three Yuan Ying, and regain its status as a super sect. I just hope those successors won’t repeat the mistakes of their predecessors by coming to stir up trouble with me for no reason.”
“Alright, I believe you!”
Tai Xu let out a deep sigh, sealed off his entire cultivation level, and completely gave up resistance.
Once he stopped resisting, Su Che could imprison him in the Immortal Prison.
Swish!
Everyone in the room disappeared, leaving only Su Che, Tai Xu, and over thirty Yuan Ying servants, all imprisoned in the Immortal Prison.
“Done.”
Su Che also felt relieved. Sometimes, outwitting someone was even more effective than using force.
Tai Xu, once captured and thrown into the fourth floor’s Soul Slavery Space, reappeared before Su Che in just fifteen minutes. He knelt on the ground immediately, speaking with utmost respect and devotion, “Your humble servant, Tai Xu, greets his master.”
“Get up.”
Although Su Che’s tone was calm, he was somewhat unsettled by such a huge contrast. Just a moment ago, they were mortal enemies locked in battle; now, Tai Xu, the leader of Taiyi Gate and one of the most senior figures in the Qi Yuan Star’s cultivation world, openly called himself Su Che’s master, his loyalty beyond doubt. It was like a dream, and even Su Che felt dazed.
“The Immortal Prison Pagoda is truly miraculous…” At this moment, Su Che was once again deeply grateful for having obtained such an extraordinary treasure.
What followed was straightforward. With Tai Xu now a fiercely loyal servant, Su Che used his position to summon the Supreme Elder Tai Hua to the sect leader’s inner chamber. Su Che hid in a secret room inside, leaving it to Tai Xu to handle matters related to Tai Hua.
Facing his closest senior, Tai Hua was completely unguarded and unaware of any danger. Tai Xu slowly talked about sect affairs while approaching Tai Hua from behind…
“Yes, that’s exactly right, Senior Leader…” Tai Hua nodded humbly when suddenly everything went dark before his eyes, and he collapsed to the ground. Being in the early stages of Yuan Ying, he had no defenses at all. Tai Xu struck him on the back of the head from behind, knocking him out instantly. Another Yuan Ying-level servant was now in the Immortal Prison!

“So, known enemies aren’t scary. The most terrifying ones are those who are right by your side—those you trust the most—only to plan to harm you. It’s truly impossible to guard against.”
What he saw made Su Che realize deeply that in this world, apart from Lao Hei, he would never fully trust anyone else.
Because sometimes, the person closest to you might intend to harm you, not out of their own will—just like Tai Xu now, who had no choice but to obey Su Che’s orders unconditionally.
From now on, the entire Taiyi Gate would be under Su Che’s control, even more thoroughly than the Tianxuan Sect. He could decide its fate—let it live or perish!
Putting aside future plans for now, Su Che was most eager to learn about those messengers from the Spirit Realm.
“Tai Xu, can those messengers from the Spirit Realm really descend to the mortal world alone?”
Inside the inner hall, Su Che sat on the throne that used to belong to Tai Xu, while Tai Xu sat on the seat reserved for subordinates during audiences.
It was already quite generous of him to offer Tai Xu a seat.
With ‘Haoyuan’ seated on the throne, Tai Xu sitting below in utmost respect—such a scene would likely shock anyone else in the Taiyi Gate to the point of fainting…
Tai Xu replied, “Yes, master. Not only can they descend alone, but they will do so soon. I estimate it could happen at any time within three months.”
“Do you know what cultivation level that messenger has?” Su Che asked further.
“That’s currently uncertain,” Tai Xu replied. “I really don’t know which messenger from the Spirit Realm is coming. I know nothing about their identities, statuses, or cultivation strengths. To be honest, I don’t even have the right to inquire about such things.”
Su Che nodded slightly. Indeed, in the eyes of those in the Spirit Realm, those at the Yuan Ying stage in the cultivation world were nothing but insignificant ants. If it weren’t for searching for treasures in the mortal world, they wouldn’t even bother dealing with these lowly beings.
However, Tai Xu added, “But based on my intuition, it’s most likely a powerful cultivator at the Lianxu stage. If I were in charge of this mission, I would send someone capable—after all, those at the Huashen stage are nothing in the Spirit Realm and don’t deserve to be called ‘capable warriors’.”
“That makes sense!” Su Che nodded emphatically. “It’s very likely to be at the Lianxu stage.”

The reason it is set at the Refining Void stage is that the next higher cultivation level after that is the Calamity Crossing stage. In the Spirit Realm, the Calamity Crossing stage is equivalent to the Yuan Ying stage in the Cultivation Realm—both represent top-tier figures who certainly wouldn’t personally go down to the mortal world to handle such trivial tasks.

Above the Calamity Crossing stage lies the Mahayana stage, where one is preparing to ascend to the Immortal Realm at any time, leaving even less energy to deal with mundane affairs in the mortal world.

“It’s possible they might descend to the mortal world at any time within three months…”

Su Che thought to himself, “That means I must complete my plan entirely within a month to create a time gap with the envoys from the Spirit Realm.”

After that, Su Che said to Tai Xu, “Go and empty the entire treasure vault of the Tai Yi Sect and bring it to me.”

“Yes, I shall obey,” Tai Xu replied with respect, bowing before leaving.

Su Che certainly wouldn’t miss out on the vast wealth accumulated by the Tai Yi Sect over more than 30,000 years. Leaving this task to Tai Xu was sufficient—he didn’t need to go personally, as Tai Xu’s loyalty was beyond doubt, and he would never hide or keep anything for himself. Even if he did, he couldn’t conceal anything from Lao Hei’s mind-reading skills once in the Immortal Prison.

What pleased Su Che the most was that the two Dao artifacts of the Tai Yi Sect would surely also belong to the Su family. In particular, the mid-tier Dao artifact, the Tai Yi Dragon Sword, was an offensive magic weapon that could perfectly compensate for Su Che’s slightly weak offensive power.

Of course, this referred to Su Che’s own offensive power, not including Xiao Hei.