First Immortal of the Sword

The Zuo Family higher-ups finally relaxed.

They’d feared they’d have to pay five times the agreed-upon amount of treasures. By comparison, losing a mysterious rock without any apparent uses to obtain the same result was unquestionably quite good.

Of course, they weren’t stupid.

They knew that Su Yi's willingness to make this trade meant the piece of jade was far more precious than that vast sum of treasure. 

But to the Zuo Family, it didn’t matter how precious the mysterious jade was: it wasn’t any use to them. They could give it up without any heartache.

Su Yi naturally wouldn’t explain just how rare and valuable the mysterious jade in the wooden box was. Spirit stones alone were insufficient to measure its value!

Before long, Zuo Xinghe gave a storage treasure and the wooden box to Su Yi. The storage treasure contained the resources needed to purchase the Jadeseed Spirit Chrysalis: three thousand tier-six spirit stones, eight hundred stalks of tier-six spiritual medicine, one hundred spirit jades suitable for refining talismans, and five hundred types of tier-six spiritual materials!

Even if you emptied their coffers, this was more than many factions could provide!

“This time, your Zuo Family was indeed rather fortunate. I hope you won’t engage in such stupid behavior going forward. If you do, no amount of luck will save you from death and bankruptcy,” said Su Yi calmly.

He meant every word.

When he came back, he didn’t plan on letting the Zuo Family off this lightly. That was why he demanded five times the agreed-upon amount as compensation.

He would never have guessed they had such a rare and mysterious treasure in their possession!

It was what changed his mind.

Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

“Let’s go.” Su Yi wasn’t the least bit concerned about the Zuo Family higher-ups’ unsightly expressions. He just turned and left.

Yuan Heng and Bai Wenqing were the first to follow him.

Wen Xinzhao, however, was a bit hesitant. So much about this assassination remained a mystery, but it seemed like Su Yi had no plans of conducting any further investigations.

Huo Yunsheng, Qian Tianlong, and Sun Feng inwardly sighed in relief.

And here they’d been terrified that the truth would get out and Su Yi would seek revenge against them! Now, it seemed… That Su Yi didn’t know who the Ferryman’s client was.

“Brother Zuo, we’ll bid you farewell too.” Zhang Yuntao clasped his fist and waved goodbye.

After such a disaster befell the Zuo Family, it wouldn’t do for outsiders like them to linger. 

“Brother Zhang, we embarrassed ourselves in front of you today. If possible, we hope that you can refrain from spreading what happened here. Otherwise… I’m afraid our Zuo Family won’t be able to hold its head up high in the Jade Bottle Province ever again….”

Zuo Xinghe sighed. It seemed as if the head of the Zuo Family had aged several years in the blink of an eye.

Zhang Yuntao nodded, but just as he was about to leave, something occurred to him. He said, “Brother Zuo, sometimes, an opportunity to resolve your problems with money is fortunate in its own right. When a man dies, he loses everything. The way I see it, this wasn’t a bad way for this incident to end.”

Zuo Xinghe’s heart shook, and his expression shifted back and forth.

How could he fail to realize that Zhang Yuntao was warning him to give up on any thoughts of revenge?

“Fellow Daoist, many thanks for your guidance.” Zuo Xinghe clasped his fist.

It was only after watching Zhang Yuntao and the others leave that he let out a long sigh.

The Zuo Family had paid far too heavy a price this time!

“Fortunately, Su Yi is actually the type to keep his promises; he didn’t take that Jadeseed Spirit Chrysalis with him…”

This was the only way Zuo Xinghe could comfort himself.

“Family Head, the third elder was killed, and our mysterious jade was stolen, and we even paid such an enormous price for the Jadeseed Spirit Chrysalis. Are we… really going to let this matter end here?” The grand elder approached, his face ashen.

“If you ask me, we ought to inform Xingqiong. Between his status as a Maha Temple Elder and his Spiritual Manifestation Realm cultivation, destroying Su Yi is well within the realm of possibility!” said another family higher-up murderously.

The Zuo Family had suffered an enormous setback. All of the higher-ups had bellies full of pent-up fury.

“Shut your mouth!” Zuo Xinghe rebuked him, his expression icy. “The Ferryman once assassinated the Spiritual Manifestation Realm Daoist Mu, yet it’s highly likely that he’s already fallen at Su Yi’s hands. Do you really think my little brother, Xingqiong, is invincible?

“Even if we ask Xingqiong to intervene, what will happen if he fails to kill Su Yi? Could we possibly bear the consequences of that?”

His voice was dignified, yet furious.

The gathered higher-ups fell as silent as cicadas in winter.

“Zhang Yuntao was right. This wasn’t a bad way for today’s incident to end at all. Our Zuo Family… cannot endure any more of such upheaval….” muttered Zuo Xinghe.

Of course he wanted to get revenge! Of course he wanted to kill Su Yi!

But he was painfully aware that trying would lead to unpredictable results: it could bring either fortune or disaster!

…..

A treasure ship flew beneath the dome of heaven.

Su Yi was in his room, seated in his wicker chair as he examined the piece of mysterious jade.

Rather than calling it jade, it was more apt to call it a seed.

It was a seed born of the world’s origin!

In the Nine Provinces of the Wilds, such treasures had another name: Xiantian Dao Seeds!

These were different from the Origin Power Seeds Grain Avoidance cultivators established within their bodies.

Xiantian Dao Seeds were the seeds of Divine Xiantian Lifeforms. They were born of the world’s origin, and they were a treasure that could be found only by chance, not sought!

Divine Xiantian Lifeforms, from the moment of their birth, possessed an innate source of the Grand Dao and mastery of its charm. They were profound and inscrutable. 

The Sahā World Tree growing in the top Buddhist holy land of the Wilds, the Little Western Paradise, was a Divine Xiantian Lifeform.

Every branch was a vestige of the Dao, and every leaf was an awakening. It was the foremost sacred tree of Buddhism, and it was seventh on the Wilds’ List of Divine Beings!

And the Sahā World Tree was born of a Xiantian Dao Seed!

Xiantian Dao Seeds could give rise to Divine Xiantian Lifeforms like the Sahā World Tree, but they could also become Xiantian Divine Weapons.

In the Wilds, the most famous Xiantian Divine Weapon was the sword Su Yi carried in his past life, the Tiny Heart of the Cosmos.

It, too, was once a Xiantian Dao Seed. After using countless secret methods and divine materials as fertilizer, it gradually grew roots and sprouted, becoming a vine of bottle gourds.

The vine first flowered after three thousand years. Then, another three thousand years later, it produced a single green jade gourd. 

The gourd’s interior was permeated with Xiantian Dao Qi, and its innate Dao Source formed a three-inch Dao Sword. It was as empty and ethereal as the dome of heaven, and from the moment of its inception, it had a natural connection to the Heart of the Dao!

This was why Su Yi named it the Tiny Heart of the Cosmos!

The sword was ranked third in the Wilds’ List of Divine Beings!

During his time fishing at the Netherworld’s Pool of Rebirth with Old Ghost Coffin-Bearer, the old man drooled over the Tiny Heart of the Cosmos and tried to get Su Yi to gamble it away.

However, in Su Yi’s eyes, the Tiny Heart of the Cosmos was far more precious than its rank on any list. Of all his swords, it was the one most connected to his heart and will!

In summary, throughout the heavens, Xiantian Dao Seeds were precious treasures, the likes that could only be happened upon by chance.

They were born of the world’s origin, and they could grow into Divine Xiantian Lifeforms like the Sahā World Tree, or into Divine Xiantian Weapons like the Tiny Heart of the Cosmos!

However, that was not all there was to it. As rare and precious as they were, not every Xiantian Dao Seed produced a matchless treasure or lifeform. Su Yi knew of many laughable examples of this.

For example, the Wilds’ top faction of demonic cultivators, the Demons’ Elysium, once announced that they’d discovered a rare, precious Xiantian Dao Seed. After taking care it for almost one thousand years, putting in enormous effort and sacrificing vast quantities of heavenly materials and earthly treasures, they finally succeeded in raising…

...a colorful old rooster!

This made the Heavensdeath Demon Emperor so upset that she stewed and ate the bird.

Afterward, she muttered to herself, “That was most likely the most expensive chicken in the Wilds’ history, while I’m the first person to ever eat such a chicken. I’ve set a new precedent; none have accomplished this before, and none shall repeat it in the future!”

Similar examples weren’t at all rare.

In summary, Xiantian Dao Seeds were a bit like Spirit Source Ore. Before they bloomed, there was no way of knowing what kind of Xiantian Lifeform would emerge. 

However, no matter what, both Imperial Realm experts and the Wilds’ peak-level ancient orthodoxies saw them as absolutely priceless treasures. Their value wasn’t measurable in mere cultivation resources alone.

This was why, when he saw the Xiantian Dao Seed at the Zuo Family estate, Su Yi sighed over the Zuo Family’s good fortune. This was also why his attitude toward them changed.

Otherwise, he couldn’t possibly have let the Zuo Family off so easily.

He just didn’t know how they would react should they discover just what kind of precious treasure the mysterious jade really was.

Would they beat their chest and stomp their feet with regret?

Or would they throw all caution to the wind to get it back, even if it meant becoming his enemy? 

Both were possible.

But Su Yi knew that in the hands of the Zuo Family, the Xiantian Dao Seed was a useless treasure.

The reason was simple: growing a Xiantian Dao Seed required a unique and secret method, as well as an enormous amount of time and effort. Furthermore, it required an ocean of heavenly materials and earthly treasures as nourishment!

Even in the Wilds’ ancient orthodoxies, growing a Xiantian Dao Seed took years of preparation.

Ordinary factions of cultivators couldn’t wait that long, nor could they withstand the necessary expenditures.

As for the Zuo Family? They were just a cultivator clan of the Azure Continent. Even if they knew the miraculous secrets of the Xiantian Dao Seed, they could only gaze at it helplessly.

There was nothing for it; conditions wouldn’t allow them to do otherwise.

With my current methods, I cannot make the Xiantian Dao Seed bear fruit anytime soon either.

But when I step into the Spirit Dao, I can use a secret art to seal it within my sea of consciousness and borrow the aura and power of the Sword of the Nine Hells to nourish it.

That way, the Xiantian Dao Seed should sprout and bear fruit within just ten years!

….

Su Yi sank into thought.

In his past life, he’d obtained more than one Xiantian Dao Seed. It was only later that he had inadvertently discovered that the power of the Sword of Nine Hells could greatly reduce the time needed to make the seeds grow.

Furthermore, it eliminated any need for heavenly materials and earthly treasures as fertilizer!

Alas, he had discovered this secret more than ten thousand years after obtaining the Tiny Heart of the Cosmos. 

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have needed to go to such trouble to grow the Tiny Heart of the Cosmos, nor would he have had to wait almost six thousand years.

“Brother Su, what did you want to discuss?” Just as Su Yi was pondering, Yuan Heng led Wen Xinzhao to his room. There was a hint of confusion on her picture-perfect face.

Su Yi put away the Xiantian Dao Seed and looked at her. “I can say with certainty that the person who hired the Ferryman is on board this ship, so I wanted to ask you a favor.”