First Immortal of the Sword

Whoosh!

Su Yi streaked through the air at incredible speeds.

The Controlling Currents Evasion Art!

This was a top-notch movement technique derived from the innate bloodline talent of the Heaven Plundering Sparrow, a divine beast.

When used, the body was like a streak of flowing light. The user drew upon the energy of the surrounding emptiness as they moved, resulting in shocking speeds.

Its core mysterious truths lay in the Dao of Wind. Thus, upon comprehending the Dao Charm of Wind, Su Yi could already display this movement technique famed throughout the heavens.

Whoosh!

As he flew through the air, the surrounding air currents transformed into clear, immaterial wings. He completely ignored the air resistance, and in a flash, he’d already traversed a thousand feet.

As he disappeared from his initial location, he left faint traces of his escape in the air.

Never mind an ordinary person, even a cultivator couldn’t possibly have locked onto Su Yi without using their divine sense. 

He was just too fast!

When Su Yi first clashed with the Nirvanic Winds Holy Son in Little Ghost City Fengdu, the Holy Son used the Art of Hiding in the Wind to disappear into the sky without a trace. He was quick as lightning, and he struck as suddenly as a ghost. The combination was sinister and terrifying.

However, in terms of raw speed, the Nirvanic Winds Holy Son’s Art of Hiding in the Wind was obviously a big step down from the Controlling Currents Evasion Art!

“Can you escape?” Su Yi’s gaze was cold and indifferent. His divine sense had already spread out, and he’d already locked onto that distant, fleeing figure.

It was a young man in gray. His appearance was perfectly ordinary, and he had a black bow strapped to his back. As he flew through the air, his figure was indistinct, and his speed was shockingly quick.

In Su Yi’s shoes, any other cultivator would have lost him. Yet Su Yi was gradually closing the distance between them!

“Su Yi, if I admit defeat, can you give up the chase?” The gray-robed youth’s voice emanated from afar.

“I can’t,” said Su Yi without even pausing to think.

“I just knew this would happen. Forget it. We’ll see who wins and who loses in the end!” The young man in gray sighed.

“You’re wrong,” said Su Yi flatly. “This shall determine who lives and who dies.”

“Hahaha, okay, okay!” laughed the assassin. “We’ll fight to the death, as you wish!”

Whoosh!

Before his laughter even finished echoing throughout the dome of heaven, he plummeted down to earth like a shooting star, then shot into a stretch of mountainous wilderness.

Su Yi shot after him, landing before an ancient forest in a flash. The dense canopy blotted out the sun, casting the forest floor into darkness.

The young man in gray had already fled into the seemingly endless primordial forest.

“This place is actually extremely suited for ambushes and assassinations. Alas, to me, the scenery is little more than decoration.” Su Yi shot into the forest

“Rise!” Suddenly, the green light of the wood element surged around him, and his distant, calm gaze shone with faint green radiance.

The Dao Charm of Wood!

His soul and aura instantly resonated with the trees, flowers, and grasses along the way.

Whoosh~! Whoosh~!

Everywhere Su Yi passed, trees swayed and branches danced in the air.

It was as if each and every plant growing in the forest had become Su Yi’s eyes. He now knew the path ahead like the back of his hand; every detail flooded into his sea of consciousness.

Before long, Su Yi discovered the traces the youth left behind as he fled, and he shot after him.

However, a moment later, he suddenly stopped in his tracks, as if he had precognition.

Rumble!

Three hundred feet ahead of him, the ground suddenly exploded, and countless fire arrows fell like rain and blanketed heaven and earth.

It was a killing formation, and it had clearly been placed here a long time ago. Its destructive aura was enough to effortlessly destroy just about any Gathering Stars Realm cultivator.

The fiery arrows fell like rain, but Su Yi had stopped three hundred feet away, and they couldn’t damage him in the slightest. 

“It seems this was no spur-of-the-moment assassination attempt. He’s obviously been preparing for quite some time…” Su Yi’s eyes flashed, his expression suddenly murderous.

Who was it? Who had sent an assassin to kill him?

The Zuo Family?

Perhaps they weren’t the client behind this, but they were unquestionably involved!

Otherwise, the assassin couldn’t possibly have prepared so thoroughly. First, he struck on the Zuo Family’s back mountain, in their clan meeting hall. Then, he lured Su Yi into a dense forest, hoping the meticulously-placed traps waiting there would finish the job!

“The Dao Charm of Wood? No wonder he could dodge in time…” In a distant patch of forest, a grave look appeared on the assassin’s face.

That grand formation was composed of thirty-six incomparably precious formation diagram talismans. Its killing power was shocking, yet now, it had all gone to waste.

This made the gray-robed young man’s heart ache. When this operation is over, I’ll be sure to make my client compensate me for my losses many times over!

As he pondered, he shot further away. As one of the foremost Gathering Stars Realm assassins of the Sea of Bitterness, the gray-robed young man’s methods naturally weren’t so simple. 

A little while later.

Su Yi had chased him all this way, passing through the dense forest to arrive at a valley surrounded by craggy, strangely-shaped peaks.

Rumble! Boom!

Suddenly, the mountains swayed, and stones rolled downhill. It was as if the sky was falling; countless boulders crashed down like a tidal wave. 

Su Yi’s energy circulated around him, his aura suddenly permeated with the boundless figure of the earth element.

An unbelievable scene followed. The dense onslaught of crashing boulders suddenly froze in midair, as if the entire world had come to a halt!

Then, Su Yi swung his sleeves.

Bang-bang-bang!

The countless suspended boulders burst into powder.

Almost simultaneously, Su Yi exerted strength through the soles of his feet and stomped.

Boom!

It was as if an earth dragon were rolling over underground. Everything within ten thousand feet suddenly caved in, and even the towering mountaintops collapsed.

Heaven swayed and the earth shook. Clouds of dust permeated the air.

A gray silhouette shot out from underground, cutting a sorry figure as he fled into the distance.

“Dammit, this guy has mastered the Dao Charm of Earth too?” The gray-robed youth’s expression darkened. He now looked utterly solemn.

Earlier, he’d hidden himself deep underground. When Su Yi had stomped, the aftershock had reached him, making his blood churn. Worse, he had been almost buried alive!

Su Yi’s calm, casual voice resounded from afar. “If that’s all you’ve got, you’ll die beyond a doubt.”

The young man in gray snorted, ignored him, and charged ahead with all his might.

However, his heartache only increased. The formation he’d placed in the mountains was comprised of seventy-two formation disks and thirty-six talismans, all linked together. It was far more precious than the fire arrow formation he’d placed in the woods, and it was strong enough to trap multiple Gathering Stars Realm cultivators at once, even if they worked together!

Yet it, too, had amounted to nothing. Su Yi had simply destroyed it….

I’ll be sure to recoup my losses many times over! The young man in gray gnashed his teeth.

Su Yi gave chase once more, looking leisurely and at ease.

It had been less than ten minutes since the chase had begun. He was actually rather curious to see what else this would-be assassin had up his sleeves.

If someone had to describe Su Yi’s current mental state, they might well say he was a cat chasing a mouse; he wanted to play with his food before killing it.

Shortly afterward.

Su Yi stood before a vast river flowing between the mountains.

The opposite bank was covered in hills.

Lush trees and vegetation stretched out as far as the eye could see.

White clouds floated beneath the dome of heaven. It was a tranquil, quiet scene.

Su Yi shook his head, seemingly a bit disappointed. He muttered to himself, “You’re far inferior to the assassins of the top guild of the Wilds, Yama’s Floating World…”

He strode into the air, and as soon as he reached the skies above the river, the waters surged, forming a massive whirlpool. It was as if a primordial savage beast had opened its gaping maw. The surging waters flew toward Su Yi as if intent on devouring him.

The whirlpool roared, unleashing a terrifying devouring force.

Were it to catch them off guard, even Gathering Stars cultivators would amount to little more than worms, helpless to resist as the whirlpool devoured them. Even a Spiritual Manifestation cultivator would have been affected; the suction would restrict their movements.

At the same time, the white clouds floating overhead suddenly wriggled and overturned. A dense rain of white poured down, each as sharp and bright as the edge of a sword. They blanketed the world below, tearing countless rifts in the sky and producing deafening wails.

A massive whirlpool surged out of the river, while a rain of white light fell from the heavens. This was an unquestionably terrifying death trap!

However, Su Yi’s eyes shone with a hint of disdain. He stepped into the air, formed a seal with one hand, and slashed with the other.

Boom!

The hand seal brought with it the boundless power of the Dao Charm of Water. It was like the river of stars pouring back down onto the world below as it slammed into the massive whirlpool.

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The whirlpool suddenly swelled, like an overinflated rubber ball. In the end, it could hold out no longer, and it burst apart. Water scattered and dispersed, like a sudden downpour.

Rumble!

And Su Yi’s slash? It formed a ten-thousand-foot arc through the sky, and it was imprinted with the wondrous truths of the Dao Charm of Fire. As it swept forth, it cleaved through the rain of white light, scattering it.

In the blink of an eye, one palm and one slash effortlessly broke through this deathtrap.

That unstoppable bearing was reminiscent of a deity. Just by raising his hand, he calmed the raging waves!

Su Yi, meanwhile, had already taken to the skies, quick as a gust of wind. He soon arrived on a lush hilltop.

Whoosh!

Clear sword qi swept forth, carrying limitlessly sharp sword intent. Before it even landed, that terrifying murderous aura burst the nearby vegetation into powder. 

“Dammit!” An alarmed cry rang out, and a gray silhouette shot out, dodging by a hair.

The sharp descending sword qi left a perfectly straight rift precisely in the place he’d been hiding mere moments before. The chasm was a full hundred feet deep. Mud and dirt flew through the air.

This sight startled the Ferryman so badly that he broke out in cold sweats.

Alarm and grave solemnity were written all over his face. How could he dare linger? He immediately turned tail and fled.

Three of his meticulously-crafted killing formations in rapid succession would have been enough to destroy any other Gathering Stars Realm cultivator!

Even against a freshly-broken-through Spiritual Manifestation cultivator like Daoist Mu, they would have done heavy damage.

Yet now, against Su Yi, the killing formations each seemed as fragile as paper. He broke through them with ease. Of course the young man in gray was startled! Of course he was terrified!

When he saw this, the young man in gray extinguished all lingering hope he had of assassinating Su Yi.

If he couldn’t do it, he wouldn’t try!

Assassins weren’t barbarians, nor were they brave warriors fighting to the death. They weren’t valiant heroes, either. If he tried doing something despite knowing it was beyond him, he would be unfit to work as an assassin!

Whoosh!

A streak of sword qi flew through the air, scattering into thousands of subtle, misty, flowing lights. They were hazy and ethereal, yet the carried unstoppable momentum as they flew toward the distant assassin.

The Rejoicing Sword Sutra—Wandering the Ten Directions.

My sword wanders the ten directions, from the blue dome of heaven to the Yellow Springs below!