Chapter 581: Inside the Thunder God Temple

After Xueyu appeared, Su Che had an idea in mind: If there truly was an opportunity on Thunder Star that could benefit me, I hoped to use it to get rid of this utterly annoying woman, Xueyu. That would make me happier than obtaining any treasure!

This thought, akin to a prayer, kept appearing in Su Che’s mind as he eagerly hoped it would come true.

Lao He, however, seemed completely unaware of Su Che’s pain and even joked, “Master, I feel Xueyu’s attitude toward you has changed greatly. She even uses a somewhat coquettish and teasing tone when speaking… Could it be that since Sister Tianyin is not here, she thinks she has the chance to take advantage of the situation and try to win your heart with softness?”

Su Che was furious—not only because Lao He used the word “heart” to describe him, a man, but also because he dared to associate Xueyu with such things. The joke was really too much.

“Lao He!”

Su Che roared inwardly, “If you beat yourself up right now or hit the wall three thousand times, you might still earn my forgiveness.”

Lao He just laughed heartily, showing his refusal to obey.

After that, no matter what Lao He muttered in Su Che’s mind or what Xueyu said in his ear, Su Che remained silent, responding only with utter silence and a gloomy expression.

The Thunder God Temple was incredibly large. After passing through numerous corridors, ascending layers of buildings, and walking through various halls, Su Che seemed to wander aimlessly for hours without finding anything.

Everything was empty, giving the impression that this ancient castle-like complex had no logical structure. It didn’t seem to be built for living; rather, it was a haphazard collection of structures, with any architectural style imaginable.

Just the stone pillars alone—varying in design, shape, and style—numbered nearly a thousand. There were even over a dozen pillars of completely different shapes crammed into one hall, lacking any sense of beauty and only conveying a bizarre and absurd feeling.

As he walked, Su Che suddenly slowed down and soon walked side by side with Xueyu. He then asked in a low voice, “After walking for so long, what’s your opinion?”

Even in a hostile relationship, Su Che had to admit that Xue Yu was after all at the pinnacle of the Mahayana stage—her insights and experiences were surely far beyond his own.
“I think you’re wandering aimlessly.”
Xue Yu replied seriously, “If I keep walking like this my whole life, I doubt I’ll find anything.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
Su Che naturally knew she was deliberately provoking him, but he still asked seriously, “I mean, what’s your opinion on this Thunder God Temple?”
“That’s exactly it!” Xue Yu gave him a slight glare. “If you’re willing to talk to me properly, I’ll answer you seriously too.”
Only after saying that did she reply, “From what I can tell, a building like this has nothing to do with those true immortals in the Immortal Realm who control thunder punishment. The so-called Thunder God Temple is just an illusion created by mortal cultivators. It’s even possible that even if we find something here, it has no direct connection to ‘thunder’.”
Su Che nodded silently first, then, after some thought, asked, “Are you very familiar with the Immortal Realm?”
“Please don’t try to pry into my privacy,” Xue Yu said immediately, not falling for it. “Let’s just talk about what’s right in front of us.”
“Okay.”
Su Che nodded and then changed his question, “Do you really think I’m wandering aimlessly and will never find anything?”
“Not at all!” Xue Yu said frankly, “I just did that to annoy you. In truth, I don’t even know how to proceed. If I had any ideas on this, I would have told you long ago.”
“Don’t you have a compass?” Su Che continued, “Why not use it now?”
“I’ve already figured out that if there’s any opportunity here, it belongs to you, not me. Since it has little to do with me, my compass isn’t useful at all.”
At that, she smiled again and said, “But if I come across something good, even if it’s supposed to be yours, I can still snatch it from you. So, there’s no need for a compass—just follow you.”
Before Su Che could respond, she added, “That’s right. I intend to keep following you, pestering you, tormenting you. Sooner or later, you’ll give in to me because you can’t bear it anymore.”
Su Che nodded and said sincerely, “I can only say that all the ugliest words in the world are still not enough to describe you—such a waste of your beautiful appearance.”

Xueyu burst into laughter. “In this world, only you judge me like this. Everyone else only has praise for me. So it proves that the problem lies with you, and the mistake is also yours. You should reflect on yourself.”
After all that chatter, Su Che’s earlier question was completely pointless, proving that arguing with her was unwise and yielded nothing else.
Let’s keep going!
“Actually, you really don’t need to feel inferior.”
Not long after they set off, Xueyu blurted out such a statement out of nowhere.
“When have I felt inferior?” Su Che didn’t want to pay her attention but couldn’t help but retort, “In front of you, I feel extremely noble.”
“In some aspects, you have every reason to be proud.”
Xueyu’s expression and tone remained that ethereal and carefree, completely indifferent to Su Che’s reaction. She said, “Those cultivators at the Mahayana stage who went to capture you back then—because of you, only three of them survived… And the other two lost all confidence due to your rapid progress and had no choice but to give up. You, still at the Lingxu stage, have already achieved so much. I really admire you.”
“Has Li Jiu left?” Su Che asked curiously.
“Yes,” Xueyu nodded. “The year after you left the Zhongtang Dynasty, he ascended to the Immortal Realm.”
“Ascended to the Immortal Realm…”
Su Che murmured in admiration, “What wonderful! A cultivator’s ultimate dream has finally come true. Even in the Immortal Realm, there will be even greater dreams, but for a mortal, the path of cultivation has already yielded a perfect outcome.”
At that moment, he glanced at her stunning beauty and said, half-jokingly and half-seriously, “You should be able to ascend at any time, right? Let’s go. There are many wonderful things waiting for you in the Immortal Realm. Don’t waste time and energy on me. There are all kinds of top-tier immortal artifacts in the Immortal Realm, waiting for you to collect them. Why waste such effort over a mundane thing? Maybe what you manage to get through all means can’t even be taken to the Immortal Realm.”
“Thank you for your earnest advice, but…” Xueyu smiled gently. “I won’t fall for it! I know very well that the use of that pagoda surpasses any immortal artifact in the Immortal Realm. It can create…”
She suddenly stopped and changed her words to, “You know best what its function is. There’s no need for me to say more.”

Su Che did not defend himself on this point, knowing that whatever he said would be useless. Instead, he asked, “Then tell me, how did you people discover that pagoda back then?”
Su Che was naturally extremely interested in the origin of the Immortal Prison Pagoda. Unfortunately, almost all those at the Mahayana stage had died in the Devouring Heavens Realm, leaving very few who knew the full story.
Su Che had always believed that the Immortal Prison Pagoda had not attracted the attention of the Immortal Realm; rather, only a small number of people in the Spirit Realm had persistently searched for it. This suggested that the pagoda most likely originated in the Spirit Realm, not the Immortal Realm.
Today, it was rare to have a proper conversation with Xue Yu. If he could figure out the origin of the Immortal Prison Pagoda, it would be a great achievement.
“You’ve really asked the right person about this.”
Xue Yu replied softly, “But first, I must say that when this pagoda was created, my sister was the first to find it, discover it, and possess it for a short time… Do you believe that?”
“It doesn’t matter whether I believe it or not. That’s not important,” Su Che replied indifferently.
“No!”
Xue Yu said seriously, “My sister lost her life because of this. If you, the successor of this treasure, don’t acknowledge that, how can you honor her memory? If you don’t make a clear statement, I won’t tell you the truth. You should know that there are only three people in the world who truly know the whole story: my sister, me, and the third person—someone you’ll never know if I don’t tell you.”
“How can I know if what you say is true or false?” Su Che raised an eyebrow.
“You can only choose to believe me. Otherwise, all the mysteries will remain unsolved forever,” Xue Yu said proudly.
“It doesn’t matter. I won’t ask anymore, nor do I want to know the answer!”
Su Che would never yield or compromise on anything related to the Immortal Prison.
Although saying superficially, “Alright, I believe it. I believe your sister was the first to discover the pagoda,” might seem indifferent and just a perfunctory reply, with an indifferent attitude inwardly—after all, the pagoda was already in his hands, and everything that had happened before was meaningless—such a thought was likely extremely wrong!
It involved cause and effect, fate, and certain unfathomable factors. Even a casual remark could lead to unpredictable major changes.

“The Immortal Prison Pagoda belongs to me! I refuse to admit that anyone else has ever possessed it! I am the ruler of the Immortal Prison; my words determine everything—they are the truth!”
This was Su Che’s determination, one that no one could change.
“You really are…”
Faced with Su Che’s stubbornness, Xue Yu showed rare signs of anger, as if his behavior had insulted his sister.
Just as she was about to say more, she suddenly turned her head toward a deeply mysterious passage on the right.
Almost at the same time, Su Che also turned his gaze toward that passage, because Lao He had already sensed that something was wrong inside!
In the deathly silent Thunder God Temple, a special situation had finally arisen…