First Immortal of the Sword

The surrounding area fell silent.

The stench of blood permeated the air.

Su Yi felt a bit melancholy.

When he was still in the Origin Dao, Spiritual Manifestation cultivators like them were still worth fighting, albeit just barely.

But now that he too was in the Spiritual Manifestation Realm, even the mighty Spiritual Manifestation Realm disciples of an ancient faction like Hidden Cloud Sword Mountain were completely unworthy of his notice.

However, there was something that could perhaps comfort him: after undergoing his Tribulation of Spiritual Manifestation, his combat prowess was indeed far beyond his past self!

Back in the Wilds, Holy Maiden Yan Suni of the Nine Extremes Profound Capital was praised as establishing firmer foundations in the Spiritual Manifestation Realm than anyone else beneath the heavens.
They said none could compare to her.

But were she here in front of me, she’d be my inferior by no small margin, thought Su YI.

After mulling it over, Su Yi realized that even with the knowledge and experience of his past life, he couldn’t think of a single worthwhile opponent of the same cultivation!

Was he truly invincible among those of his level? It was hard to say. But at the very least, both in the Wilds and here in the Azure Continent, Su Yi figured that if he called himself “the second best Spiritual Manifestation cultivator around,” no one would dare claim first place.

It seems that if I want a worthy opponent, I’ll have to try Spiritual Incarnation experts, or even Spiritual Revolution experts…

After reaching this conclusion, Su Yi gave the matter no further thought.

It was then that Ye Xun dashed up to him and pointed at his sealed mouth.
His expression was pleading.

To Ye Xun, having something to say, yet being unable to say it was no different from torture.

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“Gather up the spoils first,” ordered Su Yi.

Ye Xun hurriedly nodded and got to work.

Once Ye Xun finished his task, Su Yi said, “Lead the way.
Take me to where you left your corpse.”

Ye Xun pointed at his mouth as if begging, but Su Yi ignored him.
This time, he just had to teach this chatterbox the meaning of the phrase “silence is golden”!

When Ye Xun saw this, he couldn’t help but look resentful, but there was nothing for it.
He could only force everything he wanted to say back down and obediently lead the way ahead.

Before long, the two of them disappeared over the horizon.

From beginning to end, they both completely ignored Yue Xingshan, Sun Shangliu, and the other onlookers.

“Those Hidden Cloud Sword Mountain experts actually all died…” Guan Tieshan shuddered, then murmured as if awakening from a dream.

And here he’d been smug and self-satisfied over an opportunity to serve as Chu Yunke and company’s guide.

Now, however, his heart was full of dread and uncertainty.

“So, that young man was Su Yi…” Yue Xingshan said in a daze.
“But the rumors said Su Yi was afraid of reprisal, and that he fled the Great Xia months ago!”

“So, that legend… has returned…” Sun Shangliu said gravely, his expression dazed.

The man in dragon-embroidered robes and the onlookers all looked astonished and bewildered.

Over the past few months, as the spiritual energy of heaven and earth recovered, Su Yi, the former legend, had almost been forgotten.

In the current Great Xia, it was the dazzling geniuses of the Ranking of Stars that drew the most attention, as well as the movements of the seven great ancient factions and three great otherworld factions.

The world’s cultivators had long since pegged Su Yi for a windswept, battered has-been.

Yet now, Su Yi had reappeared!

And he’d already personally slaughtered seven Spiritual Manifestation cultivators of Hidden Cloud Sword Mountain!

This gave everyone a certain premonition——

Word of what had happened here today was sure to spread across the world.

And Su Yi’s name would surely shake the Great Xia’s world of cultivation once more!

Indeed, that very day, news of today’s battle spread as if it had grown wings.
Soon, everyone in the Glittering Ghost Domain knew what had happened.

……

Demondark Mountain. 

An almost barren, dried-out mountain range rose and fell, but nothing grew on its withered surface.
It seemed the area had been devastated a long time ago and that it had never recovered.

Deep within Demondark Mountain was a forbidden zone.

Everything was shrouded in dense, baleful, blood-red mists.
From time to time, the mists cracked with terrifying and strange gray lightning.

Not long ago, a group of experts from the Deathbringer’s Netherworld Palace ventured into the mountains.
It seemed they’d discovered a grand stroke of fortune in this strange, forbidden place.

Thus, they locked the entire area down.

“Brother-in-Law, it’s up ahead!” When he saw Demondark Mountain up ahead, Ye Xun instantly grew excited.

Su Yi had already removed the “Gag Technique” from Ye Xun.

Still, after this lesson, it seemed that Ye Xun was starting to understand the importance of considering his words carefully while traveling with Su Yi.

“Is this where you fought that jailer back then?” asked Su Yi.

“That’s right,” Ye Xun sighed.
“If not for his ability to control the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness, how could I possibly have been reduced to a wisp of soul and forced to flee….?”

“What did the jailer look like?” asked Su Yi.

“He looked quite young.
The most eye-catching thing about him was the golden totem between his eyes.
It was shaped like a vertical eye, and it was extremely evil-looking,” said Ye Xun.
It seemed he was trying to recall as much as he could.
“When he fought, whenever he called upon the power of the Prohibition of Ancient darkness, the golden totem between his eyes would transform into a revolving whirlpool.
It had an extreme, intimidating effect on our souls.

“When we fought, it was like fighting the heavens themselves.
I felt stifled, insignificant, and overcome with despair.
He even had an enormous restrictive effect on my cultivation base.” His face was already full of dread and lingering terror; it seemed he was picturing his brutal, desperate struggle against the jailer.

“A golden imprint shaped like a vertical eye… that could intimidate and suppress the soul, and influence opponents’ combat strength…” Su Yi muttered thoughtfully.
“It seems that his power wasn’t inborn, but rather, some sort of unique legacy’s distinctive secret art.”

He silently committed this clue to memory.

Later on, when that creature lurking deep within Meteor Abyss came looking for him, he planned to confirm whether or not it was the same jailer who’d come close to killing Ye Xun.

As they conversed, they arrived deep within Demondark Mountain.

They saw the forbidden zone shrouded in bloody, baleful mists off in the distance.

“Brother-in-Law, I can sense it!” Ye Xun suddenly cried out in delight.
“The body I left here still retains a portion of its source energy! It hasn’t all dispersed!”

It was no wonder he was so excited.

Tens of thousands of years had passed in his miserable, bleak state.
Even his current body was nothing more than someone else’s corpse.

If he could recover the source power within his lost body, he could create a new body for himself.
In doing so, he even had hope of returning to his former peak!

“I urge you not to get overly excited.
Even if you recreate your body, in your state, recovering your former peak cultivation will require overcoming difficulty after difficulty,” said Su Yi.
“After all, you’re just a wisp of soul.
Your former cultivation and power have long since been lost.”

“….” Ye Xun said nothing. 

It was then that someone shouted, “The Deathbringer’s Netherworld Palace has already sealed this place off.
Leave right away, you two, or else we’ll cut you down without mercy!”

Two figures appeared in the distant bloody mists.

The first was a man in white shrouded in dark fog.
His eyes were green and monstrous.

The other was a withered old man.
His hair was sparse, and he was dressed in hemp clothing.
He carried a bone pipe, and he was currently breathing out smoke.
His gaze was cold and imposing.

Both were in the Spiritual Manifestation Realm!

The Deathbringer’s Netherworld Palace had assigned two Spiritual Manifestation Realm cultivators to keep watch here.
From this, it was clear how highly they valued the place.

“It seems your disciples and grand disciples have long since discovered the body you left behind.
It’s even highly likely that they’re gathering your…remains as we speak,” mocked Su Yi.

Ye Xun’s face fell.
“Brother-in-Law, that joke isn’t funny at all.”

“Let’s go take a look,” said Su Yi.
He continued ahead.

“I said I’d let you two leave, but you dare come closer? Do you really insist on seeking death?” the man in white said with obvious displeasure.
His green eyes swept across Su Yi and Ye Xun, and his entire body surged with waves of murderous intent.

Su Yi ignored him and looked at Ye Xun.
“These are, after all, your disciples and grand disciples.
How do you think we should handle them?”

Ye Xun had a conflicted look on his face, and he said somberly, “It’s been tens of thousands of years.
Things have changed, and I have little connection to the current Deathbringer’s Netherworld Palace, but…”

Here, he paused, then said hesitantly, “But I don’t want to see them die over this.”

Su Yi nodded.

Off in the distance, the old man in hemp clothes puffed away on his pipe.
He said expressionlessly, “Hurry up and leave.
The Glittering Ghost Domain is full of good fortune, so don’t lose your lives here.”

“Oh?” said Su Yi.
He raised his right hand and slapped the air.

Thud!

The old man in help felt as if a divine mountain were crushing him.
It forced him ruthlessly to the ground, and his entire body convulsed.
In the end, he directly lost consciousness.

“This…” The man in white went rigid, and he almost jumped in freight.

Just who are these people? How could they be so strong?

Before he came back to his senses, Su Yi struck once more.
It was yet another light, airy, slap from afar.

Thud!

A moment later, the man in white lay unconscious on the ground.

From beginning to end, neither Deathbringer’s Netherworld Palace Spiritual Manifestation cultivator could so much as put up a fight!

It seemed that to Su Yi, this was so trivial that it wasn’t worth mentioning.
He just said, “Let’s go.”

Ye Xun hurriedly led the way in.

Meanwhile, deep within the region shrouded in bloody, baleful mists.

A tall, stalwart man in Daoist robes stood before a vast chasm, his hands behind his back.

Four newly-established bronze altars stood on the sides of the chasm.

There were several sealed treasure fragments placed atop each altar.

Four Spiritual Incarnation Realm cultivators of the Deathbringer’s Netherworld Palace sat nearby, one in front of each altar.
Their hands formed seals.

Streams of dark light surged out of each of the bronze altars, forming an enormous net that covered the depths of the enormous chasm.

The tall, stalwart man in Daoist robes watched this play out, undisguisable eagerness and fervor all over his face.

“Elder Gu, how much longer do we have to wait?” said a young woman in black standing beside the man in Daoist robes.
She was beautiful, with snowy skin.

“Don’t panic,” said the man in Daoist robes.
He thought for a minute, then said, “It seems that we’ll be able recover His Excellency the Netherworld Asura Emperor’s remains in less than half a day!”