Chapter 458: Another Self-Destruction

The situation was now quite clear—the projected forms of the Four Heavenly Lords had returned to the cultivation world, and with the help of the Master of Juechen Valley, they intended to capture Su Che and take him to the Spirit Realm. For now, Su Che was trapped in that strange space, unable to move or escape, like a beast in a cage.

“Elder Juechen, I am extremely grateful for your generous assistance,” said Lord Lintian first, bowing in thanks. The other three Heavenly Lords followed suit, treating the Master of Juechen Valley as their junior. This showed that they generally knew the Master’s true identity came from the Immortal Realm—he was a genuine immortal who had descended to the mortal world, currently at a low point in his life but destined to return to the Immortal Realm sooner or later.

“There’s no need for thanks,” replied the Master of Juechen Valley with a faint smile. Waving his hand lightly, he added, “As long as you keep the promises you made to me, there will be many more pleasant collaborations between us in the future—mutually beneficial and satisfying for both sides.”

With the cooperation of those in the Spirit Realm, the Master of Juechen Valley no longer cared about the spatial artifact that Su Che possessed. His mindset was similar to that of other true immortals in the Immortal Realm—he held no regard for so-called treasures of the mortal world. If it happened to be useful, he might try to obtain it; otherwise, even if countless mortal treasures were placed before him, he would disregard them. Of course, if he truly understood the wonders of the Immortal Prison Pagoda, he probably wouldn’t think this way…

At this moment, Su Che was trapped within the Master of Juechen Valley’s power domain, practically captured alive. The Four Heavenly Lords only needed to use a little effort to take him to the Spirit Realm. Even if the strange incident of their projected energies being consumed happened again, it would be too late to stop them.

Lord Lintian said with a smile, “A mere Yuan Ying cultivator requires us to go through such trouble. Tianyu, do you still plan to use my life to resolve the crisis through self-destruction?”

Su Che remained silent, but the anger and resentment in his eyes clearly expressed his grief and fury.

As Su Che’s gaze shifted among the four Heavenly Lords, they all grew wary, thinking, “It’s likely that strange phenomenon of consuming projected energies will happen again…”

But after a long while, none of their projected selves sensed anything unusual. The Four Heavenly Lords couldn’t help but wonder: “Could it be that what happened last time was just a coincidence? Or perhaps he can only unleash that divine power once and has no ability to do it again?” Without further hesitation, the Four Heavenly Lords decided to act. Their method of capture was simple—just seal off the power of the Valley Master Juechen and take control of it temporarily. In just an instant, they could capture Su Che alive. At that moment, Su Che raised his head and gazed at the endless starry sky, as if speaking to the heavens: “I wonder, is it wrong to keep a promise?” The Valley Master Juechen, who was watching from the side, naturally understood the true meaning of his words: Tianyu was clearly unwilling to give up, which was why he questioned the heavens like this. He adhered to the principle of keeping promises and fulfilled the agreement he made with Juechen ten years ago, but that very principle led him to a desperate situation. “Good people don’t live long, Tianyu…” The Valley Master Juechen murmured to himself, “You understood this principle a bit too late; as for me, I was much luckier than you.” Though his voice was soft, Su Che heard it clearly. He laughed heartily a few times, then turned his gaze back to the Four Heavenly Lords and replied, “Lord Lintian, you were half right just now. There will be another self-destruction today, which will turn your wishes to dust. Only, the one who commits self-destruction won’t be my subordinate anymore.” “What?” The Four Heavenly Lords and the Valley Master Juechen all changed expressions. They saw true determination in Su Che’s eyes. “Tianyu, you can’t…” Lord Lintian raised his right hand and shouted loudly. But before he could finish, boom! Su Che, trapped within the power barrier, turned into a blinding white light and exploded violently. With a roar… the power barrier dissipated, and the Valley Master Juechen, who was only dozens of feet away from Su Che, was sent flying hundreds of miles away. Whoosh… The Four Heavenly Lords acted simultaneously to suppress the explosive force that had surged forward. After all, it was just a self-destruction by someone at the mid-stage Yuan Ying stage—nothing that could affect them at all. After a dozen breaths, the light faded away. In the void, there was no trace of Su Che left, not even a shred of debris. With both his Yuan Ying and physical body exploding, not a single trace remained. “Is he dead?” For a moment, the Four Heavenly Lords couldn’t accept this outcome. If they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes, they would never have believed that Tianyu, such a stubborn little guy, would resolutely choose self-destruction.

“How could this happen?”
“How could he die like this?”
The Four Heavenly Lords exchanged glances, feeling as if this couldn’t be real.
Before long, the Master of Juechen Valley flew in from afar. Despite experiencing a severe shock, he wasn’t injured. Instead, he laughed heartily and shouted toward Wu Huangxing, “Tianyu, I really underestimated you.”
Upon hearing this, the Four Heavenly Lords perked up and quickly asked, “Elder Juechen, do you mean the person who self-destructed just now isn’t the real Tianyu?”
“That’s right. It was just a substitute.”
The Master of Juechen Valley nodded. “But this substitute imitated him very well. I never doubted his identity until now. However, through this self-destruction, I’m sure the dead person isn’t him. I’ve fought against him before and know something about the energy within him.”
“It’s good that he’s not dead.”
Only then did the Four Heavenly Lords feel relieved. As long as he was still alive, there was still a chance to capture him.
Sure enough, soon after, Su Che’s message came through the Five Elements Locking Star Barrier: “Juechen, our agreement is void. It’s not me who broke it—it’s you. You’ll pay for this!”
Then, Su Che shouted at the Four Heavenly Lords, “You four have descended to the mortal world twice using your projections, yet you’ve failed both times. As late-stage cultivators, is that all you can do? How disappointing! Well, goodbye.”
After that, there was no further sound.
The Master of Juechen Valley and the Four Heavenly Lords could only stare blankly at Wu Huangxing, which was as dark as a black hole with not a hint of light. Even if they had ten thousand times the courage, they wouldn’t dare to chase in.
A few breaths later, the real Su Che returned to the Wu Huang Tribe. He thought to himself, “One day, I’ll capture Juechen and send him to the Immortal Prison so you can torture him thoroughly.”
“Just thoroughly isn’t enough. I need to torment him for hundreds of thousands of years to satisfy my anger,” Old Black said in a deep voice. “Anyway, this guy’s lifespan is almost infinite. A few hundred thousand years means nothing to him.”
At that moment, Su Che was also secretly relieved: “Fortunately, I understood early on that one must always be wary of others and prepared in advance. Otherwise, if I had foolishly rushed out, things would have turned out terribly.”
That ‘Su Che’ who self-destructed was just a servant at the middle stage of Yuan Ying in the Immortal Prison—a mere scapegoat for the most heinous crimes.
Knowing that the people in the Spirit Realm wouldn’t give up, how could Su Che risk going out so easily? Especially for someone like the Master of Juechen Valley, it wasn’t worth the risk at all.

So, Su Che chose a Yuan Ying slave, taught him his top-level disguise technique from the Tian Yin School, and also passed on the small method he had learned from Lin Feng for adjusting spiritual energy fluctuations. This slave then took on Su Che’s appearance; even Lao He found it hard to spot any flaws at first glance. Next, Su Che ordered the slave to fly into the starry sky to meet the master of Jue Chen Valley, while he and Lao He hid inside the Five Elements Barrier. Through the soul connection function of the fourth layer of the Immortal Prison, they could remotely control the slave to converse with the master of Jue Chen Valley. In this way, it could even be said that the slave’s body became Su Che’s temporary avatar, which prevented a cunning figure like the master of Jue Chen Valley from suspecting anything. “But to be honest, even though I was wary of Jue Chen, I really didn’t expect it to be him who revealed my whereabouts,” Su Che said, shaking his head. “Yeah, he’s completely unrelated to this. Who would’ve thought it would be this bastard doing this?” Lao He waved his sharp claws in the Immortal Prison, as if he wanted to tear Jue Chen to pieces to vent his anger. Bai Lao Mo, holding a feather fan, nimbly jumped aside to avoid being injured and said to Su Che, “Master, through this incident just now, I’ve thought of a possibility that could be quite advantageous for you.” “Oh? Go on then,” Su Che replied in his mind. “That Jue Chen just said that the people in the Spirit Realm agreed to help him conceal his presence from the heavens, and even hide his existence in the cultivation world from the Immortal Realm…” Bai Lao Mo analyzed carefully, “That means, very likely, they will also hide the special relationship between you and the Witch Clan from the Immortal Realm.” Su Che wasn’t stupid either; he understood quickly and inferred, “That’s because those people in the Spirit Realm don’t want the immortals in the Immortal Realm to target me, right?” “Exactly!” Bai Lao Mo laughed. “They’re worried that a prize like you might fall into the hands of certain people in the Immortal Realm, leaving them with nothing after all their plans and efforts.” “That makes sense!” Su Che was pleased. “My opponents in the Spirit Realm are already a headache. If there are more real immortals added, life will be unbearable… I hope Bai Lao’s reasoning is close to the truth.” “There shouldn’t be any mistakes,” Bai Lao Mo said confidently, waving his feather fan. “Shut up!” Lao He immediately criticized, “Haven’t you made enough mistakes? Stop acting like a so-called military advisor.”

Lao Bai didn’t dare argue with Lao He; he could only smile and disperse like the wind. His magnanimous heart hardly seemed that of an outer realm demon.
“Lao He!”
A clear voice suddenly rang out. In the blue sky of the Immortal Prison world, two graceful figures arrived on clouds.
Fairy Fei Yun and Snake Woman Ye Lan.
Lao He naturally knew that these two beauties surely weren’t here to find him, but rather to look for…