First Immortal of the Sword

Su Yi felt great.

It was as if this battle had ignited his will to fight; he felt his blood heat up for the first time in ages.

Meeting a worthy opponent was joyous indeed.

Up until this point, he’d resolved most of his battles with a single swing of his sword. After a while, it was inevitable that Su Yi would feel a bit lonely.

But now, although Sutra Crane had only just broken through, he was still an Earthly Immortal. Facing off against him, Su Yi could finally taste the thrill of battle.

Sword cultivators were born for combat.

How could he sharpen his Dao Heart without it?

The onlookers then watched as—

Su Yi danced about the battlefield, swinging his sword in high spirits, free and unfettered as an immortal.

In his hands, the Abstruse God Sword clanged and hummed—the music of slaughter.

Some of the streaks of sword qi Su Yi unleashed were like rivers of stars pouring down onto the world below.

Others were like radiant suns and moons, illuminating everything around them.

Others seemed to demarcate purity and filth, or wander throughout the ten directions.

And others….

In Su Yi’s hands, the profundity of the Rejoicing Sword Sutra was on full display.

As he fought on, Su Yi became completely immersed. His spirit, mind, and qi fused and connected, and the more he fought, the better he felt. It was as if all his latent potential had finally obtained unprecedented release.

By comparison, the young monk, Sutra Crane, turned graver and more solemn the longer the battle drew on.

By the end, he couldn’t stop alarm and bewilderment from appearing on his face.

After breaking through, he was initially full of smug pride. He thought he could effortlessly take down both Su Yi and his companions.

Who’d have thought that Su Yi, a young Grandmaster, would stop him in his tracks?

No matter how many of his ultimate skills and killing techniques he unleashed, Su Yi stopped them, one by one, no exceptions. Sutra Crane had even called upon several secret and divine skills of Buddhism to no avail.

If it weren’t that, throughout the course of their battle, Su Yi’s aura repeatedly proved that he was indeed a second-level Grandmaster, Sutra Crane would never have believed that such a heaven-defying monster could exist in this world!

What Sutra Crane found even harder to believe was that the longer they fought, the sharper and fiercer Su Yi’s blade. Su Yi was only getting more and more terrifying.

Now, even Sutra Crane felt pressured, and the pressure was only increasing!

How is this possible?

Is this guy even human?

When did such a monster appear within the Great Zhou?

Don’t tell me he’s really some old monster possessing a young man’s body?

A whole sequence of questions and doubts filled Sutra Crane’s mind, and he couldn’t get them out of his head.

This is no good! I can’t go on like this!

Sutra Crane had just realized that if he didn’t change tactics, Su Yi was highly likely to turn the tides. As soon as this thought occurred to him, he gnashed his teeth, and his eyes shone with ruthless determination.

“Condense!” Sutra Crane’s aura changed, and the golden flames enveloping him expanded; it seemed he was drawing upon all of his energy and infusing everything he had into his snow-white saber.

Boom!

The hall trembled. Both Su Yi’s companions and the surviving monks keenly picked up on the change in the surrounding energy currents; something seemed to be guiding them. They charged deeper into the hall, gathering around Sutra Crane in a mad frenzy.

They then watched as Sutra Crane hovered, surging air currents gathering around him, forming a windstorm of origin power.

Golden Buddhist flames still blazed within the storm.

From a distance, the young monk Sutra Crane seemed like a Buddha standing amidst wind and flame, his presence mighty enough to make one’s heart tremble.

“This….” Ning Sihua and the others all sensed the extreme danger.

But when Su Yi saw this, he couldn’t help but shake his head. “Burning your own essence to forcefully control the ambient energies of heaven and earth? How is that different from seeking your own destruction?”

He sighed. “Fine. Since you refuse to be my whetstone, I’ll just send you on your way.”

Whoosh~

Su Yi stretched, and the sound of a surging current emanated from within his body. His skin was lustrous and clear as jade, but it now surged with the charm of the Dao.

His soul, qi, blood, cultivation, and the power of his physique now fused completely, more concentrated than ever before.

“Cut!” Sutra Crane had been building up power all this time. Now, his expression turned solemn as he swung his saber.

Boom!

The vast, imposing origin energy of heaven and earth he’d gathered around him burst, like floodwaters breaking through a dam. It then swept toward Su Yi alongside his saber.

The power was vast and majestic, far beyond the onlookers’ imaginations.

The first floor of the tower was spacious, but it shook beneath the pressure, and a several-hundred-foot rift appeared in the air.

The unparalleled saber qi shone as if it were on fire. Its momentum was so despotic, it seemed capable of tearing anything and everything.

When they saw this, the monks and Su Yi’s companions all felt suffocated. They all looked over.

This saber was tantamount to stealing fortune from the heavens!

How could Su Yi possibly block it?

But then—

Su Yi remained calm, and the look in his eyes didn’t so much as waver. A thread of long-accumulated killing intent burst deep within his heart.

Clang!

The Abstruse God Sword shook with a strange, clear hum as Su Yi stabbed forward.

His attack was simple, without the slightest flourish. It had no momentum to speak of.

This was because all the power accumulated within this strike was compressed to the extreme; not even the slightest thread leaked outward.

This was why, at a glance, it looked so entirely unassuming.

However, when he stabbed…

Boom!

The onlookers felt as if their souls had been pierced. They watched in a daze as sword qi swept upward, seizing the power of the heavens. This looked like the work of a celestial immortal; it didn’t seem like something a human could achieve.

This was, naturally, an illusion born of the momentum of Su Yi’s stab.

Meanwhile, Sutra Crane’s heaven-splitting, earth-cleaving slash descended, colliding with Su Yi’s stab in the air.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Amidst a series of booms like thunder descending from the nine heavens, the hundred-foot-long streak of saber qi shattered bit by bit, while the force whittled away at Su Yi’s stab.

In the end, the saber qi collapsed, and the power of Su Yi’s stab ran out.

Their attacks were actually evenly matched!

Before the crowd could react, Sutra Crane let out a long shout, waved his saber, and charged through the air. It was as if his entire body were on fire, and all of his energy had fused into his weapon. His gaze was utterly decisive.

This was the type of calm that arose when you saw through life and death and feared neither victory nor defeat.

Su Yi’s brow furrowed slightly, but he couldn’t help but snort. He stabbed the air once more.

Rumble!

The terrifying clash of sword and saber shook the entire hall and enveloped the entire area with light. The impact stung the onlookers’ ears, rendering them temporarily deaf.

They could clearly discern a raging torrent of destruction between the two combatants. It instantly spread out around them, blowing through the hall like a hurricane.

Even the shockwaves of their clash were threatening to the extreme.

Ning Sihua and the monks had no choice but to stop fighting and retreat. All of their faces filled with shock, tension, and surprise.

Who won? Who lost?

The way the monks saw it, after breaking through and becoming an Earthly Immortal, then going so far as to burn his own energy to unleash a single attack, Sutra Crane’s attack was so strong that even others of his level wouldn’t dare meet it head-on.

Su Yi might be strong, but even if he were stronger, he was still just a second-level Grandmaster. At his cultivation, even if he blocked Sutra Crane’s attack, he ought to emerge with devastating injuries!

Even Ning Sihua, Mu Xi, and Lan Suo had no confidence in the outcome.

They’d grown accustomed to watching Su Yi slay Xiantian Martial Ancestors with ease.

But now, his opponent was an Earthly Immortal, albeit one who’d just broken through. Sutra Crane was a mighty existence who transcended the limits of mortality!

And in the end, Sutra Crane poured everything he had into his saber, attacking without regard for his own life!

How could Su Yi possibly resolve a threat of his level?

His companions felt their confidence waver.

“What?” Suddenly, the white-eyebrowed monk’s expression changed dramatically. The seven other surviving monks reacted almost immediately afterward.

As for Su Yi’s companions, their eyes bulged, and they were rooted to the spot.

They watched as—

The smoke and dust dispersed, and the torrents of power disappeared. The light faded, and the youthful-looking Sutra Crane fell back onto the ground.

He lowered his head and gasped for breath. His snow-white saber had split into pieces, which lay scattered not far in front of him.

Su Yi’s tall, lean figure stood before him, alone and transcendent, with all of his former aloof, casual ease. He didn’t seem injured in the slightest.

There wasn’t much distance between them, only about three feet.

But one had fallen, while the other stood proud. It was obvious who’d come out on top!

“I never would have thought that the day I became an Earthly Immortal would also be the day I died… Fortune plays tricks upon us all…” Sutra Crane gasped for breath, regret and desolation all over his face.

Then, he struggled to raise his head. His dimming eyes focused on Su Yi. “Before I die, might I ask you a question?”

“You may.” Su Yi nodded.

Sutra Crane took a deep breath. “You… are you an old monster living again by possessing another?”

Su Yi was stunned. His companions all looked over to see his response.

“I’m not,” said Su Yi without a second thought. “Had you achieved full spiritual awakening of the apertures, opened your Hidden Meridian, and realized Dao Astral Force in the Qi Accumulation Realm, or nourished five-colored spiritual light in the Inner Furnace Realm, you could have a cultivation like mine too.”

“I’ve heard of full spiritual awakening of the apertures, but the Hidden Meridian? Dao Astral Force? Five-colored spiritual light… What are those? Do the Qi Accumulation and Inner Furnace Realms really hide such profundity?”

Bewilderment was written all over Sutra Crane’s face. He froze, dazed.

He’d hoped to get some answers before he died. Then, he could rest in peace.

Who’d have thought that Su Yi’s answer was just another series of riddles? This cast him even deeper into confusion and befuddlement.

A little while later, Sutra Crane grimaced and sat in silence.

His life force receded like the tide, and just a few breaths of time later, he was a corpse. Even in death, his confusion lingered on his face.

This elder of the Great Qin’s Shanglin Temple’s Taming Dragon Hall had perished here.

But he didn’t really die at Su Yi’s hands. Rather, he’d put too much energy into his saber, using up all his blood and qi. He could no longer sustain his life force.

Today was the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, and the fifth day since Su Yi began his journey to the Jade Capital.

Today, Su Yi fought his first battle against an Earthly Immortal since his reincarnation.

In the end, he won with the cultivation of a second-level Grandmaster!

Ning Sihua, Mu Xi, Lan Suo watched from afar. They felt shaken, as if they were gazing upon a deity.

The monks’ faces were ashen; it was as if they’d lost their souls.

And Su Yi? His gaze turned toward a corner on the far end of the hall—

There, a golden dragon several dozen feet long had poked out its head. It was looking around, as if trying to find an opportunity to escape amidst the chaos.