Chapter 1715: Conditions for Exchange
In the immortal residence garden of the Cave of Golden Light, Patriarch Bodhi sat opposite to Taiyi Zhenren. As for Wu Yu, he stood humbly diagonally behind Patriarch Bodhi.
"Zhenren, your Cave of Golden Light is truly as beautiful as an immortal painting. Each time I’m here, I’ll enjoy myself so much as to forget to leave!"
Patriarch Bodhi was full of praise for the immortal residence. Throughout the entire sky palaces, there might not be a second place like this. It was especially so for the lotus flowers blooming across the place. The aroma that lingered in the air was sufficient to intoxicate oneself.
"Patriarch, you are too courteous! Your Mettle Sky is a place desired by many as well! Sigh~ How I hope I could be allocated several more levels of sky palaces! How great would it be if I could decorate them with different styles? What a shame!" Taiyi Zhenren shook his head. With his teenager’s looks, it was pretty hilarious.
Nonetheless, Taiyi Zhenren had an interesting personality. It was just that this was the first time Wu Yu was meeting him and had a favor to ask for. Therefore, he was anxious for the whole time.
"Take a look!"
Taiyi Zhenren lifted his hand, shook the foldable fan slightly and a seven-colored rainbow emerged across the sky above the serene garden.
Several scenes displayed above the seven-colored rainbow like moving screens. To their surprise, they were showing Wu Yu’s battles with various opponents in the recent Immortal Emperor Trials.
The first scene was Wu Yu defeating the son of the Father of Thunder and Mother of Lightning, Lei Tianyuan. After, he defeated the son of Marshal Tian You, Zhou Niancang, with a single strike, challenged Peach Cloud Fairy, Li Tianji and Yang Qiang. One could say Wu Yu had gone against all expectations, defeated his opponents and emerged victorious for each match.
Throughout the Immortal Emperor Trials, Wu Yu had been constantly improving. From unlocking the first seal to the third seal of his Ruyi Jingu Bang, he uncovered Vertigo and Vajra Shield. This elevated his strength above all the immortal kings, eventually defeating Li Tianji, Yang Qiang and other elite immortal emperor descendants.
"Impressive! Truly impressive!"
While watching attentively at Wu Yu in the battles, Taiyi Zhenren smiled and praised, "Wu Yu, the golden rod you held is truly exceptional. Without the epochal immortal treasure, you might not have won the Immortal Emperor Trials."
"Senior, you have really sharp observation. You are right," said Wu Yu while nodding slightly.
As the scenes above the seven-colored rainbow changed, it started showing the battles between Dancing Flame Phoenix Lord. One was before they had become immortal emperors while the other was after.
In the first match, Wu Yu was overwhelmed by Dancing Flame Phoenix Lord. For the last match, Wu Yu rebounded strongly. With his exceptional Mystiques after becoming an immortal emperor, he defeated Dancing Flame Phoenix Lord and earned back his name.
Both the Immortal Emperor Trials and the battles between Dancing Flame Phoenix Lord and Wu Yu were the focus of the sky palaces over the recent period. It’s normal that Taiyi Zhenren would have noticed him.
However, Wu Yu couldn’t understand the intentions of Taiyi Zhenren for showing these scenes.
Patriarch Bodhi sat silently with a benevolent air around him, drinking the flower tea that Taiyi Zhenren had served.
After, Taiyi Zhenren looked at Wu Yu and asked with a smile, "Wu Yu, your standing in the sky palaces has skyrocketed from before. Moreover, you have Patriarch Bodhi as your master. May I know what could this old coot be of help to you?"
This was the critical moment.
Wu Yu was a little anxious but still humbly paid his respect before answering, "Senior, I have a younger sister. In my early days of cultivation, all that was left of her was her spirit remnant. I heard Zhenren has a paramount immortality art that could bring the dead back to life. Therefore, I’m here today to request senior to save my sister, Ming Long. I’ll be indebted to you forever!"
By describing his relationship with Ming Long as siblings, his story would make more sense and be more acceptable by others.
"Bring someone dead back to life?"
Taiyi Zhenren kept his smile and showed no surprise at all. It was as though he knew what Wu Yu had in mind all along or perhaps he had deduced his purpose for the visit. After all, there were few matters in the sky palaces that he could achieve that Patriarch Bodhi couldn’t.
Wu Yu’s visit and request for him to use the Deathless Lotus to give life to someone was of the most likely reasons.
"The Deathless Lotus is an ultimate immortal essence in this world. It wasn’t easy to get it, even for myself."
Taiyi Zhenren continued fanning himself slightly and spoke gently, "Wu Yu, if you want to save your younger sister, there’s still a way. However, the condition is for you to give that golden rod weapon to this old coot. Only then would this exchange be reasonable!"
When he said those words, Wu Yu’s heart skipped a beat.
He wanted Ruyi Jingu Bang in exchange?
This caught Wu Yu by surprised completely.
Ruyi Jingu Bang had been in his body since he started cultivating in the Heavenly Sword Sect. It had followed through his growth and he had only gain usage and unlocked the first seal of Ruyi Jingu Bang recently in Sage’s Equal Sky.
Ruyi Jingu Bang was something with special significance to Wu Yu.
From the Milky Way Suppressing Godly Metal Treasure to the epochal immortal treasure with three seals unlocked, the Ruyi Jingu Bang was the equivalent to Wu Yu’s arms. Once he lost it, he would experience a drastic fall in strength. More importantly, its significance to Wu Yu was too, too great.
This was the most precious item that Sun Wudao had left him in the past. That old man was the one that led Wu Yu to the path of cultivation.
This was also the most important object in Great Sage, Heaven’s Equal’s legacl. The legacy he inherited was embedded in the Ruyi Jingu Bang and formed the foundation of his cultivation thus far.
This might be one of the clues should he pursue the path of Great Sage, Heaven’s Equal. If he lost Ruyi Jingu Bang, he might not find the truth in the past, including the death of Great Sage, Heaven’s Equal and the annihilation of the entire Demon Immortal Realm.
No matter which aspect one look at, Ruyi Jingu Bang was too important to Wu Yu.
And if he gave the Ruyi Jingu Bang to Taiyi Zhenren, Wu Yu foresaw he would basically had no chance of ever getting it back. Once he lost it, it would be forever.
But......
Wu Yu thought of Ming Long, the granny that had been with him since he started cultivating. Now, she had fallen into slumber and perhaps might never wake up again.
To watch the spirit remnant of Ming Long dissipate? Wu Yu couldn’t do so.
However, Ruyi Jingu Bang was really important to him. At this moment, he couldn’t make a decision.
His inner heart was inclining to giving Ruyi Jingu Bang up. After all, it was just an object no matter how important it was to him. On the other hand, Ming Long was someone that had been with him all along. Over the years, she had become his kin.
Just as the thought arose, a weak voice sounded in his mind. "Wu Yu, don’t!"
To Wu Yu’s surprise, the weak voice was from Ming Long who had not shown up for a long time!
Perhaps she had woken up from her slumber when she heard Wu Yu discussing about her. She seemed to have recognized the circumstances and made her intentions known to Wu Yu. "Don’t give up on the Jingu Bang...... If you hand the Jingu Bang out, I...... I won’t be pleased even if I’m resurrected. I’ll definitely...... Definitely not give you peace!"
She was just like before, threatening Wu Yu maliciously. Unfortunately, she was really weak now. So weak that her voice wasn’t intimidating at all.
Wu Yu couldn’t help but feel his heart aching. "Don’t come out. Rest well."
He could sense how weak Ming Long’s spirit remnant had become. Even the message she was conveying was intermittent. This had never happened before.
All signs are pointing towards the fact that Ming Long did not have much time left. Her spirit remnant might even dissipate any time now.
If that was the case, Ming Long would vanish from the world completely. Everything about her would be erase by the passage of time.
Wu Yu stood rooted to the ground.
In the immortal residence gardem blooming with lotus flowers, Wu Yu lost his decisiveness.
Ruyi Jingu Bang or Ming Long? This choice was too challenging! It was especially so after he heard from Ming Long that she would rather see Wu Yu ascend to the pinnacle of the Heavenly Domain and even avenging Great Sage, Heaven’s Equal and others over her own life.
Furthermore, Ming Long’s spirit remnant had been inside Ruyi Jingu Bang for a long time and had since taken it as her home.
Perhaps, she would rather vanish forever than seeing her "home" fall into the hands of another immortal.
This choice was too difficult and Wu Yu couldn’t make up his mind.
He couldn’t possibly watch Ming Long’s spirit remnant vanished. However, he wasn’t willing to lose Ruyi Jingu Bang as well. If he really had to choose one, he would undoubtedly choose to save Ming Long.
"It’s hard to make a decision? This old coot understand your difficulties."
Taiyi Zhenren smiled faintly and said, "Unfortunately, there’s no trade without a cost in this world. If you want something, you would definitely lose something too, right? Moreover, that’s the only thing I’m interested in."
He wasn’t wrong. It was just that Wu Yu would have a hard time explaining to Ming Long once he made this decision.
Although Ming Long felt really weak, her attitude was clear. She definitely wasn’t willing to see Wu Yu hand his Ruyi Jingu Bang over.
Wu Yu showed signs of reluctance. "Senior, I might need more time to consider."
"Not an issue."
Taiyi Zhenren was easy-going and waved his hand. He wasn’t pressing Wu Yu to make a decision immediately.
However, he looked at Wu Yu and asked, "Why don’t you let me take a look at your little sister’s condition? So you and I can make preparations too."
"Alright."
Wu Yu nodded solemnly.
Ming Long’s condition was shown to Taiyi Zhenren. Sensing the extremely weak spirit remnant, Taiyi Zhenren shook his head. "Her days are numbered. Wu Yu, if you don’t wish to see your little sister’s spirit remnant dissipates, you have to make a decision soon."
His words added weight to Wu Yu’s heart.
He naturally knew Ming Long was weak. In fact, she had been in slumber for hundreds of thousands of years. However, when Taiyi Zhenren pointed it out, Wu Yu suddenly felt how pressing the issue was.