Chapter 457: Goodbye, Juechen

“I guess he’ll put forward some conditions…”
Su Che nodded, signaling him to continue.
“The first condition is that he wants me to return on my own, and then, at an unspecified date within a month, he’ll come to Wu Huang Star on his own,” Heng Yi slowly explained. “In my opinion, this condition simply shows a lack of trust in me—he doesn’t want to travel with me, perhaps fearing that I might lead him into a pre-set trap.”
“Yes, that guy is very cautious,” Su Che nodded faintly. “Back then, I could calm him down just with words.”
Heng Yi continued, “The second condition is that he won’t enter the Five Elements Locking Array of Wu Huang Star; he’ll only meet the master outside the array. Clearly, he’s afraid of those Wu clan warriors on Wu Huang Star.”
“Meet him outside?”
Su Che murmured, “That would be extremely risky for me.”
Heng Yi remained silent. Such decisions needed to be made by the master himself; as a subordinate, he couldn’t bear that responsibility.
After a brief pause, Heng Yi took out a star map, enlarged Wu Huang Star on it, and pointed to a certain location. “I agreed with the master of Juechen Valley that he would wait for you at this location at an unspecified date within a month.”
“Understood.”
Su Che silently memorized the location. Whether to enter the starry realm to meet the master of Juechen Valley required careful consideration before making a decision.
After that, Su Che asked, “How do you think his strength is after meeting him this time?”
“On the surface, it’s only at the peak of the late Yuan Ying stage,” Heng Yi replied. “If, as the master said, he has withdrawn all his magic seeds back into his body, then it’s hard to say. But based solely on intuition, I doubt I could be his match.”
Su Che nodded silently. Immortals’ intuition is often very sharp, especially for cultivators like Heng Yi. He then asked, “What has become of Mu Lan Star?”
“Almost no immortals can be seen on the entire planet; only countless ordinary creatures remain,” Heng Yi answered.
“Hmm, it seems he still showed me some respect by not persecuting those ordinary creatures…”
Having asked everything he needed to, Su Che sent Heng Yi back to the Immortal Prison. He then took out a few pieces of Demon God Bone, absorbing them while pondering the matter of meeting the master of Juechen Valley…
A month passed in the blink of an eye. One day, Heng Yi, who was responsible for scouting, reported to Su Che, “Master, the master of Juechen Valley has arrived. He’s right at that location.”

“I understand.”
Su Che made all the preparations needed. Half an hour later, he flew alone out of the Five Elements Locking Array that surrounded Witch Yellow Star.
In the starry sky, thousands of feet away from the barrier created by the Five Elements Array, the long-absent Master of Dustless Valley floated quietly, wearing a kind smile as he watched Su Che approach.
“How have you been?” the Master of Dustless Valley asked with a smile.
“Not very well,” Su Che shook his head and pointed at Witch Yellow Star behind him. “As you can see, I’m trapped inside and can’t leave. Even coming here to see you is a very risky move.”
“Yet you still came,” the Master of Dustless Valley smirked. “Do you trust me that much?”
“To be honest, it’s not out of trust.”
Su Che shrugged casually. “Witch Yellow Star is a planet inhabited by the Witch tribe. It’s understandable that you, as a cultivator, can’t enter. Besides, I can’t break the oath I took to my inner demons, so apart from coming here to see you, I really can’t think of any safer way… Fortunately, this place is so close to Witch Yellow Star’s atmosphere that if danger arises, I should be able to dodge it in time.”
“Is it that close?”
The Master of Dustless Valley said insinuatingly, “Sometimes, what seems close can actually be worlds apart. You should be more careful.”
“Thank you for the reminder.”
Su Che nodded and asked, “Regarding the ten-year agreement, what do you need me to do today to help you conceal the truth from the heavens?”
“I indeed need your help…”
As he spoke, the Master of Dustless Valley slowly approached, moving from hundreds of feet away to just dozens of feet. Then, in a mysterious tone, he said, “Do you know why those people in the Spirit Realm were able to find you?”
At these words, Su Che was shocked. He instinctively stepped back and demanded sharply, “What do you mean? Could it be you?”
Boom!
Suddenly, a deep roar erupted from the void behind Su Che. It seemed as if an invisible force spread out, instantly creating a strange space covering hundreds of feet.
Inside this seemingly small strange space, there were all sorts of extremely bizarre forces.
Su Che tried to retreat and escape into Witch Yellow Star’s atmosphere, but a strong push force came from behind him. For every foot he moved forward, he was pushed back two feet.

Dodge to the left, and a strange pulling force appears on the right; fly upward, and an invisible giant hand grabs you tightly from below. For a moment, Su Che couldn’t figure out any pattern in these forces—seemingly, there was no pattern at all. But their ultimate goal was to trap Su Che in place, preventing him from escaping. As long as Su Che remained still, suspended motionless, he wouldn’t be affected by these forces.
“How do you feel?”
The Master of the Dust-Free Valley was also in this strange space, yet he wasn’t affected at all. “This is a power domain of my own creation. If trapped inside, the strength of the forces interfering with you will be equal to your own strength.”
A hint of pride appeared on his face as he gestured around the space and continued, “Actually, it’s not that complicated. I can tell you that the forces restraining you come from within you. As long as you stay still and don’t exert any force, those forces will cease to exist. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“It doesn’t matter whether I understand or not, because I have no interest in your supernatural powers,” Su Che said, his chest rising and falling slightly as he tried to calm himself. “I just want to know if it was you who betrayed me.”
“The word ‘betray’ is utterly inappropriate!”
The Master of the Dust-Free Valley’s smile turned sly as he waved his hand. “Our relationship isn’t that of relatives or friends. In fact, there was even a minor conflict between us… So, I’m just using you, scheming against you—not betraying you.”
“Enough of this nonsense. I just want to know the reason,” Su Che said, his eyes filled with anger.
“Very well!”
The Master of the Dust-Free Valley casually flicked his sleeves, crossed his arms, and said leisurely, “After you left Planet Blue Gate, you didn’t realize that I had used a secret technique to follow you the whole time. I saw you meet that woman from the Snow God Palace. After you parted ways, you went to Planet Witch Yellow on your own, right?”
“You’ve been following me the whole time?” Su Che was shocked. Across hundreds of millions of miles of space, he had been followed without even realizing it. But then he thought, after all, he came from the Immortal Realm, not even a reincarnated being—just severely injured with his cultivation level greatly reduced. As the saying goes, a thin camel is still bigger than a horse. His abilities were far beyond what ordinary cultivators could fathom…

The Master of Juechen Valley continued, “Since then, I guessed that you had a very close relationship with the Witch Clan. Combined with the great calamity that would strike in a hundred years, many things became easy to figure out.”
Su Che then asked, “Alright, even if you’ve guessed all this, why would you reveal my relationship with the Witch Clan to those in the Spirit Realm? What benefit does it bring you?”
“There are quite a few benefits,” the Master of Juechen Valley replied slowly. “Billions of years ago, when I fell into slumber, there wasn’t even a Spirit Realm back then. When I woke up this time, I didn’t know the rules of the Spirit Realm either. I never expected that the demonic disaster I created on Mulan Star would cause the Spirit Realm to open a passage to the lower world, allowing a group of cultivators at the Lingxu stage to descend and punish me…”
At this point, he laughed self-mockingly, “Back in the Immortal Realm, I was also feared and revered, with a status far above others. Now, I have to endure punishment from a bunch of insignificant Lingxu-stage pests.”
Hearing this, Su Che realized: Indeed, his demonic disaster had almost completely destroyed the cultivation world on Mulan Star. How could those in the Spirit Realm responsible for overseeing the lower world stand by idly? They would surely intervene!
At that moment, the Master of Juechen Valley continued, “But they underestimated me greatly. Only a dozen or so young Lingxu cultivators came down, and with a little trickery, I captured two of them. I used the soul-searching technique on those two captives, intending to learn more about the so-called Spirit Realm. Unexpectedly, one of them had a secret related to a black pagoda hidden in his mind.”
He stared at Su Che meaningfully and said, “If my guess is correct, that pagoda is the spatial artifact that belongs to you and forms its own realm, right?”
Su Che narrowed his eyes slightly, neither admitting nor denying it, but instead asked, “Why force the secrets hidden in someone else’s mind to be linked to me?”
“Without any reason!” The Master of Juechen Valley tapped his own forehead. “Some things don’t require evidence, nor even reasons. Since I think it’s you, then it must be almost certainly true. Tian Yu of Qiyuan Star, never underestimate my wisdom. After all, the wisdom in this head isn’t that of an ordinary person.”
“Alright,” Su Che waved his hand. “Please continue.”
“The rest is quite simple.”

The Master of Dustless Valley shrugged and said, “I transformed those two Cultivators of the Void Realm into higher-grade mana seeds, ordering them to return to the Spirit Realm and keep an eye on the situation on Planet Qiyuan. Eight years ago, when I heard you had fled Planet Qiyuan, I sold the information about Planet Wuhuang to the Spirit Realm, gaining many benefits for myself. The biggest benefit was that they would help me conceal the truth from the heavens, allowing me to live freely in the cultivation world and even the Spirit Realm, gradually restoring my strength…”

“Of course, I also have a series of other collaborations with those in the Spirit Realm, which are definitely more profitable and safer than cooperating with you. I know your method of enslavement is even more peculiar than my magic of corruption. If I’m not mistaken, if I were to enter your magical artifact space to avoid divine punishment, my ultimate fate would be to become one of your enslaved subordinates. Am I right?”

“You’re right!” Su Che nodded calmly. “Indeed, it’s not the wisdom of an ordinary person. I must admit that if I were in your position, your choice would be correct.”

“Haha…”

The Master of Dustless Valley laughed heartily. “I’m starting to like you a bit now.”

With his loud laugh, swish! swish! swish! swish!

Four figures suddenly appeared—none other than the projected forms of the Four Heavenly Monarchs, returning once again…