First Immortal of the Sword

“What are the Wuhuan Water Monarch’s Origins? What’s his cultivation?”

Ning Sihua, Qing Wan, and Jin Xiaochuan walked over as well.

Tao Qingshan could tell that they were traveling with Su Yi, so he dared not be negligent. He said respectfully, “They say that in life, the Wuhuan Water Monarch was a Grandmaster who fell in combat, and that afterward, his lingering ferocity and resentment were nourished in the battlefield’s tainted river of blood. This led to him becoming a vicious ghost.

“He’s occupied Ninebends City, which lies beneath the Great Azure, for about a hundred years. His current cultivation should be roughly equivalent to a third-level Grandmaster.

“However, they say he’s proficient in various wicked and heretical secret arts and that he controls the mysterious underwater formation’s power. If they enter Ninebends City, even a Martial Dao Grandmaster will be helpless against him, like a lamb to the slaughter.”

A third-level Grandmaster? And here Ning Sihua thought this Wuhuan Water Monarch was something special. After hearing this description, she immediately lost all interest.

“Might I inquire why you’re here, Mystic Master?” inquired Tao Qingshan.

“I’m looking for someone,” Su Yi said offhandedly. “A few days ago, a ship sank in this stretch of water. One of the passengers was someone I care deeply about.”

Tao Qingshan’s heart shook, and he was just about to say something when the kneeling, stick-thin man beat him to the punch.

“Mystic Master, it’s surely the work of Old Ghost Wuhuan! Who knows how many vessels he’s capsized over the years? Who knows how many innocents he’s harmed?” He spoke with righteous indignation and vehemence; he even changed the Wuhuan Water Monarch’s title.

Tao Qingshan hurriedly nodded. “Mystic Master, please rest assured. The Wuhuan Water Monarch is violent and ruthless, but he’s also scrupulously cautious and crafty. He only dares attack ordinary folk.”

“Lead us inside.” Su Yi made up his mind. “Hm, just act like we’re your attendants.”

He turned and addressed Jin Xiaochuan, “You stay behind. Find yourself a safe place and wait until we get back.”

Jin Xiaochuan hurriedly agreed.

“You can get up too.” Su Yi glanced at the still kneeling gaunt man.

The stick-thin nature spirit instantly relaxed. “Thank you, Mystic Master. Thank you!”

Tao Qingshan seized the opportunity to say, “Mystic Master, this is Teng Yong. He’s from Harmony Prefecture’s Spiraltooth Mountain, and his true body is a thousand-year Goldenthread Vine. He was once fortunate enough to absorb power from a mysterious spirit spring, thereby attaining sentience and the ability to take on human form…”

When Su Yi heard this, he couldn’t help but re-evaluate the gaunt man. “Goldenthread Vine is only a tier-four spiritual material, yet due to a stroke of fortune, you awakened sentience. That’s rare indeed.”

Ning Sihua added, “Fellow Daoist, Goldenthread Vine is rare and extremely useful for crafting spiritual armor, especially after a thousand years of age.”

Teng Yong quivered from head to toe, so scared that his face turned green. Nature spirits like him might seem grand, but in the eyes of true cultivators, they were nothing but spiritual materials.

Su Yi laughed. “He’s gained sentience, so he’s no longer an inanimate object. It’s no longer appropriate to view him as raw materials.”

Ning Sihua nodded her agreement. “You’re absolutely right, but if he somehow meets with calamity and perishes, I’d be absolutely delighted to help dispose of the corpse.”

Teng Yong had only just sighed in relief when he heard this, but now, he was so scared that jade-green, luminous leaves sprouted from his head…

When he next looked at Ning Sihua, his eyes brimmed with deep-seated terror. This woman…. is just too terrifying!

“Qing Wan, go back into the gourd,” ordered Su Yi.

“Mm.” Qing Wan transformed into a swath of light and disappeared back into the Soul-Nurturing Gourd.

The purity of her soul body was extremely rare for a ghost. If she appeared in a cesspit of evil like Ninebends City, she was certain to provoke inestimable uproar.

Then, before the others’ astonished gazes, Su Yi’s aura underwent a stark transformation; he was actually surging with threads of yao qi!

Tao Qingshan was visibly stunned, and he couldn’t help but blurt, “Mystic Master, don’t tell me you’re actually—”

“I’m not.” Su Yi cut him off. “I’m just using a secret art to alter my presence.”

Tao Qingshan sighed. He couldn't help but find it a pity. Wouldn’t it be great if the Mystic Master really were a mighty yao cultivator…?

Ning Sihua was a bit stunned. “Fellow Daoist, this method of yours is truly rather intriguing.”

“Want to learn? I’ll teach you.”

“Then…. I’ll just have to thank you for your generosity.” Ning Sihua’s bright eyes sparkled with anticipation.

Su Yi then immediately launched into a series of obscure Daoist incantations, using the power of his soul as support.

Before long, Ning Sihua looked enlightened, and her aura silently changed. Now, she too emanated hints of the unearthly charm of a yao.

As she sensed this change, Ning Sihua was nowhere near as calm as she looked on the surface. This looked like a simple little magic trick, but it was miraculously subtle, like seizing fortune from the heavens. It was simply unbelievable!

If I had a secret art like this, how could I possibly bear to reveal it? Yet that guy taught it to me at the drop of a hat, as if it meant nothing at all…

Should I take that to mean that he has so many unbelievable secrets at his disposal that he doesn’t care about this one in the least? If so, he’s far more terrifying than I imagined… Ning Sihua pondered to herself.

Su Yi naturally wouldn’t have guessed that a paltry little spell would provoke so many questions and speculations. At the moment, he was just worried about Wen Lingxue’s safety.

“Let’s go.” Su Yi decisively took action without any further delays

Immediately, Tao Qingshan and Teng Yong led the way into the misty whirlpool on the river’s surface.

It looked like they were walking on water, but in truth, a formless power surged out of the river, so they were effectively walking on solid ground.

When they entered the center of the misty whirlpool, they instantly plummeted, but at the same time, a soft and gentle energy enveloped them. They fell for ten thousand feet, then landed stably on the ground below.

This was the power originating from the underwater formation, linking the power of the current and the layout of the mountains. It was subtle and miraculous.

Before long, Su Yi and the others appeared in a dark space. Everything was grey and overcast. Off in the distance, there stood a massive city, its walls alight with surging green flames that cast their eerie light over the entire area.

It was truly an ugly color. Su Yi inwardly furrowed his brow.

“If I hadn’t seen it for myself, I would never have guessed that a world like this lurked beneath the Great Azure.” Ning Sihua surveyed the area in surprise.

She could tell at a glance that this “world” was actually the intersection of the mountains of Thousand Whirlpool Ridge and the waters of the Great Azure. It was filled with dark, oppressive energies.

“This is the power of nature, but for that Wuhuan Water Monarch to have found and claimed this place suggests he’s actually a bit capable.” As Su Yi spoke, he gazed at the city off in the distance. Malevolent energy billowed into the heavens, sinister and imposing.

Then, he looked toward Tao Qingshan. “In a bit, you’re to make an appearance and ask about the person I’m searching for.”

Tao Qingshan hurriedly nodded his agreement, and the group proceeded into the city.

As they drew near, they saw a name carved in dripping, bloody characters: Ninebends City!

There were ghost soldiers swathed in sinister mists stationed on both sides of the city gates, their entire bodies surging and roiling like smoke. Their faces were hideous and terrifying.

When the leader of the ghost soldiers saw Tao Qingshan and Teng Yong, he immediately called out, “Mountain Monarch Tao of Mother Ghost Ridge and Mountain Monarch Teng of Spiraltooth Mountain have arrived!”

A pallid lady ghost in colorful clothes immediately flew out of the city and curtsied. “This humble servant greets you, distinguished guests.”

Tao Qingshan said flatly, “Lead us to the Assembly in Paradise.”

“Yes, sir.” The colorfully-dressed lady ghost turned and led the way. Su Yi and company stuck close to her.

As soon as they entered the city, they saw one dark, oppressive building after another, like row after row of giant coffins. The walls and eaves were all pitch-black.

The streets were lined with strings of white lanterns, all of them casting eerie blue-green light.

Ghosts floated up and down the streets, including yin souls and haunts, as well as vicious spirits and vengeful souls surging with malevolent energy. They were all over the place, with no end to them in sight.

The sound of ghostly chattering rang out continuously, interspersed with weeping, frenzied laughter, mournful wails, and weeping….

It really was a seemingly endless ghostly domain.

Were an ordinary martial artist to come here, they’d almost certainly wind up scared out of their wits.

Su Yi and Ning Sihua, however, seemed calm as ever. At most, they faintly scrunched up their brow; they detested the sinister, chaotic, broken down feel of the ghostly domain.

As they walked, they passed numerous ghostly street vendors, but their massive iron pots stewed human heads, still covered in soft, rotting flesh, skin, and hair.

Children bounced and played in the streets, carrying still-bleeding severed arms and chasing each other. From time to time, they’d lunge at their playmates, bare their fangs, and rip into each other.

Some of the peddlers sold eyes, others sold rotting organs. All kinds of flesh were up for purchase.

There were old women sewing in front of displays built of white bone. The shelves and racks were full of clothes of all types, all of them made from human skin.

And there were….

It was just one bloody, cruel scene after another, as if this were just daily life to these ghosts.

Suddenly, Su Yi noticed an old man in white paper clothes. His skin was entirely blue, and half of his head was missing. He was seated by the side of the road and busy computing something with an abacus.

Upon closer inspection, the abacus's frame was made of radiuses, ulnas, and skeletal fingers, while the beads were made of teeth.

“What are you calculating?” Ning Sihua noticed this, then immediately paused to ask.

“I’m balancing the books,” said the old man without so much as looking at her.

“What books?”

“The records of how many people have died in Ninebends City.” When the elder said this, his blue face broke into a bizarre grin. “I’ve roughly calculated that in the past one hundred thirty-nine years, eight months, and nineteen days, at least one hundred and thirty thousand living people have died here in Ninebend City. Their numbers include over thirty thousand women, over ten thousand children, over fifty thousand adult men, forty thousand elders…”

He went on and on, like a bookkeeper rattling off figures, his strange smile filled with indescribable satisfaction.

When she heard this, Ning Sihua’s brow furrowed, and she couldn’t help but glance at Su Yi.

“If it displeases you, when we leave, we can simply eradicate the place,” said Su Yi flatly.

In his past life, he’d grown accustomed to this sort of hell on earth. He’d even ventured into the netherworld; he’d experienced more brutal and terrifying things than this.

But even though he’d already seen it all, he still felt an instinctive aversion to everything he saw now.

The colorfully dressed lady ghost turned and said icily, “Distinguished guest, mind your tongue. If the Water Monarch hears….

Before she could finish, Tao Qingshan snorted coldly, “You’re just a servant girl, yet you dare act impudently? Would you believe me if I said that I could eliminate you here and now, and that Old Man Wuhuan wouldn’t dare so much as say a word against me?

The colorfully-dressed ghost quivered and fell silent.

It was then that cold laughter emanated from not far away.

“How long has it been since we last saw each other? Tao Qingshan, you’ve sure gotten brazen. Do you really think relying on the Great Zhou’s Sea-Swallowing King means you can run amok?”

Seth's Thoughts

I often run unfamiliar place names through Baidu/Google, just to be safe. “Nine Bends”, or “Jiuqu” looks like a common place name generally associated with the Yellow River, as well as shorthand for the “Yellow River Nine Bends Lamp Formation” which is a folk tradition associated with the lantern festival.