First Immortal of the Sword

The night was dark as ink, and bloody mist permeated the air.

Wei Yun stared at the thirty-six bronze lotus platforms in awe.
“According to the ancestors of the Wei Family, the famous Swordmaster of Abstruse Force placed this formation here personally tens of thousands of years ago! It’s powerful enough to exterminate even Emperors with ease!”

The Swordmaster of Abstruse Force!

When they heard this title, the old monsters all looked shocked.

Even the strongest of them, the Heaven-Slaughtering Ghost Monk, the One-Armed Demon, and other top elites of the heretical path looked moved.

This was a peerless, unmatched, legendary figure.
Even Emperors had to avert their gazes before him!

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“The Swordmaster of Abstruse Force?” Cui Jingyan’s eyes lit up.

He was a peerless legend, the man her grandfather respected most, and a sovereign amongst Emperors.
All in all, he was a terrifying existence. 

The old blind man was inwardly conflicted.
He couldn’t help but glance at Su Yi.

If Su Yi weren’t so young, the old blind man might well have suspected that he was one other than the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force!

Only Su Yi thought nothing of this.
He just stood there in silence, his hands behind his back.

“If the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force placed a formation here, does that mean he sealed some treasure inside?” The Jade Heaven Water Monarch’s eyes blazed.

The Swordmaster of Abstruse Force had once dominated the heavens with his sword.
How rare and powerful must the treasures he’d left behind be?

“It could be treasure, but it could also be something else.
No matter what it is, to us, it’s a rare stroke of good fortune, the type that can only be happened upon by chance,” Wei Yun said solemnly. 

This statement won everyone’s approval.

Pick any of the Swordmaster of Abstruse Treasure’s treasures at random, and it’d be something even Emperors would drool over.

For instance, years ago, there was a momentous and grand auction.
The auctioneers proclaimed that one of Su Xuanjun’s masterpieces of calligraphy was up for sale.

It was just a line of text, yet it drew Emperors from all over.

The auction was a gathering point for major powerhouses.
Whoever could afford being there was someone who could shake the Netherworld with a stomp of their feet.

Those beneath the Imperial level weren’t even qualified to participate. 

In the end, an old fossil from the Fire Illumination Divine Palace suppressed the other Emperors, paid an enormous, unknown price, and obtained the calligraphy.

The calligraphy in question was just eight characters, a single sentence.
It read: “the heart of heaven is like the moon illuminating my full cup.”

It wasn’t a treasure, nor was it a legacy.
It was just a piece of calligraphy.

Yet the old-timer of the Fire Illumination Divine Palace sighed with gratification and proclaimed this line of text a display of the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force’s broad-mindedness and valiant spirit.
He said that examining it closely would provide inestimable benefits, and that it far surpassed the world’s other treasures!

This strange tale was well-known in the Netherworld.

Now, it turned out that Su Xuanjun had placed the sealing formation before them long ago, and that it most likely hid good fortune he’d left behind.
Of course the old monsters were tempted! How could they not be?

Su Yi took all of this in.
He couldn’t help but find it funny.

“City Lord, what should we do next?” Some of the old monsters couldn’t bear to wait any longer.

Wei Yun took a deep breath, then said gravely, “Everyone, come with me.
Remember: on the path ahead, do not make any reckless movements.
If you do, you’ll invite instantaneous annihilation.”

With that, he led the way into the valley.
The others followed shortly after.

The old monsters proceeded with the utmost caution.
All of them were completely on guard.

Su Yi and his companions walked at the tail end of the group.

The bloody mist was dense, but after arriving in the valley, the scenery suddenly changed.
They now found themselves in the seemingly endless darkness of an eternal night.
Everywhere they looked was shrouded in dense blood-red fog.

The fog blotted out both their vision and their divine sense.
They couldn’t tell where they were going at all!

This sent a chill through the old monsters’ hearts.

Nothing was more terrifying than the unknown.
When their divine senses were obscured, any sudden danger would catch them completely off guard!

But then, Wei Yun took out a copper lamp.
A faint flame burned at the tip of the wick, instantly dispelling all the mist within ten-or-so feet of them. 

Then, he continued leading the way ahead.

Su Yi glanced at the copper lamp but said nothing. 

Wei Yun raised his copper lamp amidst the silence.
He led the group ahead, stopping at one of the hundred-foot bronze lotus platforms after about ten minutes.

When they arrived, Wei Yun visibly sighed in relief.
“There’s a cave at the center of this lotus platform.
It leads to the forbidden ground we’re after.
However, if we want to go in, we’ll need the Pure Yang Fire Perch’s help.”

As he spoke, he took out the nine fish Su Yi had given them, then tossed on one each of the lotus platform’s nine petals.

When they saw this, quite a few of the old monsters’ eyes flashed, and they couldn’t help but take another glance at Su Yi.

The platform had nine petals, and Su Yi had given them nine Pure Yang Fire Perch exactly.
Was this a coincidence? Or had he long since anticipated this?

Cui Jingyan and the old blind man were stunned too.
However, both of them dared say with certainty that this was no coincidence!

Weng!

The nine bronze petals surged with misty light, and complex talisman glyphs and Dao Marks rose into the air.
The nine Pure Yang Fire Perch were instantly incinerated, disappearing into nothingness.

And the bloody mist pouring endlessly out of the lotus platform’s center suddenly disappeared without a trace. 

Wei Yun said at top speeds, “Everyone, please come with me.”

As he spoke, he led the way, leaping into the entrance at the center of the lotus platform.

When the others saw this, they naturally dared not dilly-dally.
All of them charged after him.

In the blink of an eye, their vision blurred, and they appeared in a strange hidden realm. 

The hidden realm was only about a thousand feet across, little different from a gigantic hall.
The ground was dark as ink.

At the far end of the hidden realm stood a ninety-foot altar.

There was nothing on it save for a black umbrella.
There were no other treasures in sight.

Rather, throughout the entire thousand-foot hidden realm, there was nothing but an altar and an umbrella.
It seemed extremely crude.

The old monsters’ eyes quickly converged on the black umbrella. 

It was four feet long and pitch-black throughout.
The top was closed, and it was unclear what it was made of.
It was dark as ink, without the slightest speck of dust, but its aura wasn’t at all unusual.

Rather, it seemed no different from the umbrellas mortals used to block wind and rain, a ubiquitous sight in the mundane world.

But when Su Yi saw the umbrella, he looked a bit surprised.

Earlier, outside the hidden realm, he noticed that someone had already undone the seal.
At the time, he’d felt a sense of foreboding, and he subconsciously assumed that someone had already run off with the treasure he’d left here.

Who’d have thought it’d be here after all?

“What exactly is that? Could it be that the strange, matchless phenomenon that appeared not long ago was connected to that black umbrella?” the Jade Heaven Water Monarch couldn’t help but ask.

Wei Yun nodded.
“That’s most likely the case.”

He’d only just said this when a miserable shriek rang out——

A middle-aged man in brocade robes was thoroughly enveloped in bloody mist.
In an instant, his flesh, blood, and bone were reduced to ash

Nothing remained of him!

But his miserable shriek continued echoing throughout the hidden realm.

The group was instantly alarmed and on guard.
They immediately took out their treasures and circulated their cultivation bases.

“What’s going on?”

“Old Ghost Six-Yin was in the late-stage Spiritual Revolution Realm.
How could he die just like that?”

“Where did that bloody mist come from?”

….The old monsters’ expressions shifted as they realized that this seemingly crude hidden realm actually hid unknown peril!

Even Cui Jingyan and the old blind man felt chills course down their spines. 

A long-established elite heretical cultivator had exploded out of the blue.
It wasn’t cold, but the sight was enough to make them tremble. 

Cui Jingyan couldn’t help but transmit, “Brother Su, do you know what’s going on here?”

She’d noticed that his expression was just as calm as ever, as if this came as no surprise. 

“Earlier, he attempted to use his divine sense to control the black umbrella and suffered a backlash from the altar’s power,” Su Yi said casually.
“That’s what destroyed him, body and soul.”

The young woman couldn’t help but be alarmed.
Her pretty face paled, and she muttered, “If you knew the altar was dangerous, why didn’t you say so earlier?”

Su Yi patted her shoulder.
“With me here, what’s there to be afraid of?”

Cui Jingyan pursed her lips. 

“Everyone, be careful.
I can tell there’s something strange about that altar.
Don’t use your divine sense to examine it!” Wei Yun suddenly called out a warning. 

The old monsters’ expressions filled with uncertainty.
They, too, had guessed that the altar was somehow involved in the middle-aged man’s death. 

“City Lord, can you tell what’s so dangerous about the altar?” the White-Faced Daoist asked suddenly. 

“It’s my first time here too.
How could I know?” Wei Yun shook his head.

The One-Armed Demon said coldly, “That’s not possible.
This danger zone is several thousand miles from Wei Family territory, but it’s still within Yama’s Floating Mountains.
Besides, your Wei Family knows the secret art of catching Pure Yang Fire Perch.
It wouldn’t be at all difficult for you to enter this place.”

When they heard this, all eyes turned toward Wei Yun.
Each had a different expression.

The atmosphere silently grew tense and stifled.

These were monsters from all over the world, and none of them were pushovers.
It would have been obvious even to an idiot that, unless Wei Yun offered a satisfactory explanation, they’d almost certainly attack him en masse.

Wei Yun said gravely, “I said it on our way here: the power of the seal only started wavering a few days ago, making it possible for us to enter this place.
Before that, never mind us; not even an Emperor could have taken a single step inside!”

He paused, then added, “Besides, if I were trying to trap you, why would I risk myself too?”

The old monsters’ eyes flashed; they only half believed him.

Earlier, they’d examined the sealing restriction, and it was indeed ancient.
It seemed quite likely that it really was the work of the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force. 

This verified Wei Yun’s words.
Had the Wei Family been able to enter this place, there was no way they would have waited all this time.

However, the old monsters also knew that Wei Yun hadn’t invited them to join him in obtaining this good fortune simply because the Wei Family couldn’t do it on their own.
He likely had other, still-hidden intentions.

Of course, any struggle for good fortune was inevitably accompanied by danger.

No one knew who would emerge as the ultimate victor until the very end.

That was why the old monsters had nonetheless chosen to work with Wei Yun. 

Was this a plot? Did he have ulterior motives? It didn’t matter.
In the end, what mattered most was their ability. 

Suddenly, the One-Armed Demon said, “Fine! I’ll go see if I can take that black umbrella.” 

The others couldn’t help but hold their breath and watch intently.
All of them were on guard in case something unexpected happened.

Su Yi, however, just stood there in silence, as if this had nothing to do with him.

He just watched coldly from the sidelines.