First Immortal of the Sword

Ying Que’s words left Li Miaohong quivering with fury. He was so enraged and embarrassed that he almost wanted to die. 

Throughout all his years of cultivation, he’d never once been humiliated like this. He felt as if his sense of self-respect had been trampled all over!

For a moment, he really did feel the urge to fight with everything he had. However, in the end, he suppressed that impulse.

That palm strike was far too terrifying. It made him realize just how enormous the gap between him and Ying Que was. 

If he weren’t mistaken, Ying Que was an old monster at the very peak of the Spiritual Manifestation Realm. How could he fight someone like that?

As his thoughts raced, Li Miaohong took a deep breath. His face was ashen as he said, “The Qingyi Sect shall settle this score sooner or later!”

Before his voice even finished echoing through the air, he disappeared in a flash.

He was running away!

This scene caught Zhang Yuntao, Wen Xinzhao, and the others completely off guard.

However, Ying Que burst into laughter. “I anticipated that you’d run. How could I have possibly failed to prepare for this?”

He suddenly raised his foot, stepped into the air, and uttered an inscrutable Daoist chant.

It reverberated throughout heaven and earth like the roar of a dragon, shaking the mountains and rivers in all directions. The layers of cloud crumbled and dispersed.

It was visible to the naked eye: formless power fluctuations rose and fell like ripples, spreading continuously outward.

Boom!

The onlookers felt as if heaven and earth were shaking. The surrounding landscape was in chaos, and it seemed as if everything in front of them were crumbling. 

They couldn’t help but tremble. What level of miraculous skill is this!?

“It’s truly a waste…” Su Yi couldn’t help but facepalm. He really didn’t know what to say.

When Ying Que attacked, he circulated his entire cultivation. His Spiritual Manifestation aura enveloped his surroundings, but at the same time, he drew upon the force of the landscape. That’s how he produced such a grandiose scene and how he made it seem as if heaven and earth were at his beck and call. 

This method might have seemed overpowering, and its momentum might have been shocking, but it was an unnecessary waste of energy.

Was there any need to cause such a disturbance just to kill a fleeing mid-stage Spiritual Manifestation cultivator?

One surefire strike was enough!

However, Su Yi could tell that Ying Que had done so primarily to show off his abilities. Killing Li Miaohong was secondary…

Su Yi was speechless, and he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Is it really necessary to go to such lengths just to win my approval?

Bang!

Formless ripples spread out. Tens of thousands of feet away, Li Miaohong was ruthlessly forced back into view. He staggered, his face deathly pale.

Shit! His sleeves billowed as he immediately took out a clear, lustrous, purple copper mirror. It burst with radiant light as he held it protectively in front of himself.

The Purple Air Defending Mountains Mirror!

This was an utterly miraculous Spirit Dao treasure. When attacks landed on it, it could easily and efficiently block their power.

It was enough to block even the full-force attack of someone of the same cultivation!

Crunch!

However, just a moment later, a boom rang out, and Li Miaohong’s life-saving trump card shattered like glass.

It was a clawed forelimb covered in black scales that destroyed the mirror. The forelimb was the size of a millstone, and its claws were as sharp as divine weapons. They emanated monstrous yao qi and destructive power. 

This was the innate talent of Ying Que’s flood dragon bloodline. It had the terrifying power to tear the skies and shatter mountains and rivers.

After destroying the treasure, the black claws continued toward Li Miaohong. 

“Break!!” Li Miaohong cried out in alarm. His blood and qi surged as if they were on fire, and he blocked with everything he had.

Bang bang bang!

The scaly forelimb struck like an axe through bamboo. Its claws were like five sharp blades; Li Miaohong’s defensive power and treasures burst apart beneath them.

Amidst the scattering misty light, the claws ripped Li Miaohong’s body to pieces, like a metal comb through a block of tofu. They tore him into even-sized chunks, which splattered to the ground like rain. 

This bloody, brutal scene shocked Ren Youyou so badly that her knees turned to jelly and she fell to the ground. Even her soul practically left her body.

Even Zhang Yuntao, Wen Xinzhao, and the others felt their hearts palpitate in terror.

This was just too brutal! A single swipe of the claws had cubed a Spiritual Manifestation Realm cultivator!

It was then that Zhang Yuntao and the others realized something. Although he seemed mellow and amiable, and although he had a noble bearing, when Ying Que attacked, the vicious, bloodthirsty nature of a flood dragon was on full display!

If Su Yi weren’t around, someone of the flood dragon’s temperament couldn’t possibly have been so modest and polite with them. 

Heaven and earth stilled, and everything returned to its former tranquility. 

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

When Ying Que returned, his vicious, explosive aura had already disappeared. His sleeves fluttered, and he looked like a god or immortal. And when he faced Su Yi, he was modest and reverent. He said sheepishly, “Master Su, I used too much force earlier, and I carelessly destroyed Li Miaohong’s soul, too.”

The onlookers were dumbstruck. 

How could he call such an explosively brutal killing method “careless”?

Su Yi glanced at him. “If you killed him, you killed him. I didn’t have anything to ask him anyway. What about you? Aren’t you worried about offending the Qingyi Dao Sect?”

Ying Que said solemnly, “Had they offended me, I would have held my nose, endured, and made concessions. After all, they’re no ordinary faction. Their roots are deep and ancient, and their ranks include numerous mighty elders. However, this time, they offended you. That, I naturally cannot tolerate!”

Even Yuan Heng, Su Yi’s attendant, couldn’t help but sigh with admiration over Ying Que’s boot-licking skills.

Su Yi said, “I had you agree to do me three favors. Today, you killed Li Miaohong for me. That counts as one of them.”

Ying Que said respectfully, “Master Su, never mind three favors. Even if you wanted me to serve you for the rest of my life, I’d be all too happy to agree!”

Su Yi couldn’t help but laugh dryly. “Enough. We’re leaving now.”

With that, he turned and headed toward the treasure ship.

“Master Su, take care! When I successfully break into the next realm, I’ll be sure to visit you for further guidance!” Ying Que bowed.

Without so much as turning his head, Su Yi tossed a palm-sized Buddhist statue over. “This little trinket is no longer of any use to me, so I’ll leave it in your care for now. Should I need it in the future, I’ll come back for it.”

Ying Que hurriedly caught it in both hands. 

The statue was seated in meditation. The monk depicted had his hands crossed in front of his abdomen, forming a lotus hand seal. A true dragon was wrapped around his back, its head resting on his shoulders. It was vivid and lifelike.

When he first laid eyes on it, Ying Que’s entire body went rigid, and he almost lost control and cried out.

This statue was actually made from the natal bone of a true dragon!!

Ying Que’s heart swelled, and his tawny eyes shone. He was so excited that his hands quivered. 

As a flood dragon, in his heart, true dragons were unparalleled existences. They were like legends, and undergoing metamorphosis to become one of them was the ultimate, nigh-unattainable goal of every flood dragon!

When he was little, Ying Que often listened as his father told all kinds of stories about true dragons, but those were ultimately just legends. 

Even his father didn’t know whether the legendary true dragons actually existed in this world or not.

Yet now, Ying Que was holding a true dragon’s natal bone in his hand!

It almost didn’t seem real; Ying Que felt as if he were dreaming.

A long time passed.

When Ying Que recovered from his daze, he saw that the treasure ship was already soaring through the skies, rising like a whirlwind. Before long, it disappeared from view completely.

The night receded, and the first light of dawn broke through the darkness.

When the first beams of sunlight bathed the mortal world, the entire landscape seemed to awaken from its slumber. Everything was bright.

“Mystic Master, I’ll spend the rest of my life repaying your benevolence!” Ying Que solemnly knelt, holding the true dragon’s natal bone in both hands, and kowtowed three times. Only then did he rise and re-enter the boundless waters of the Angry Dragon.

……

On board the treasure ship.

Su Yi lay comfortably in his wicker chair, his eyes closed in meditation. 

Tonight’s encounter at Broken Dragon Cliff didn’t lead to any great harvests, but he at least got rid of Li Miaohong. That meant one less latent threat.

I ought to begin preparing to advance to the Origin Palace Realm soon, Su Yi muttered to himself.

The Origin Palace Realm was the second of the Three Realms of the Origin Dao.

Upon reaching this realm, a cultivator could open an origin palace in their dantian, in which they could accumulate origin energy and connect with the power of their surroundings. The more secure the Origin Palace, the firmer one’s foundations in the Grand Dao.

The cultivation base would undergo a cosmic shift upon reaching this realm.

Su Yi was now in the late-stage Grain Avoidance Realm. He had no lack of resources, so of late, he’d tempered his cultivation day and night. He was steadily approaching the peak of the realm. 

Assuming everything went as expected, he’d reach the true pinnacle of the Grain Avoidance Realm in less than a week. 

When the time came, he’d have the accumulations needed to attack the Origin Palace Realm!

This realm naturally wasn’t unfamiliar to Su Yi.

The Origin Palace referred to something much like an immortal cave carved into the dantian. It served as a gathering point for one’s cultivation and accumulations.

That aside, it was only by nourishing the Origin Power Seed in the Origin Palace that it had a chance to take root and sprout. When one broke into the Gathering Stars Realm, the sprouted Origin Power Seed could condense Origin Power Stars within the Origin Palace.

In simple terms, the Origin Palace Realm served as a bridge connecting the realms above and below it.

Without the Origin Palace, the Origin Power Seed condensed in the Grain Avoidance Realm couldn’t take root and spout. Without undergoing that process, it naturally couldn’t condense Origin Power Stars during the Gathering Stars Realm. 

The quality of the Origin Palace determines whether or not the Origin power Seed can grow into a towering tree. Based on the Wilds’ standards of evaluation, Origin Palaces are divided into three grades: upper, middle, and lower.

Only an upper-grade Origin Palace can quench Grand Dao Origin Light. Grand Dao Origin Light is a symbol that a cultivator’s foundations within the Origin Palace Realm are among the very best.

In my past life, I achieved Grand Dao Origin Light ‘as radiant as the misty glow of dawn, with the quality of divine jade.’ I was at the pinnacle of the realm; only the peerless holy sons of ancient orthodoxies could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with me…

Alas, my attainments in the Origin Palace Realm weren’t truly unmatched or invincible.

Su Yi silently pondered, But this time, I’ve already achieved the unprecedented Strongest Dao Seed. I just don’t know what kind of Origin Palace I’ll create within my dantian as I step into the Origin Palace Realm….

Su Yi couldn’t help but feel a bit helpless.

His Strongest Dao Seed was unprecedented, so even with the cultivation experience of his past life, it was hard to predict what level of Origin Palace would appear when he entered the Origin Palace Realm. 

Soon, Su Yi smiled, and his eyes shone with longing and anticipation. It was the element of the unknown that made this interesting. Wasn’t this the very path he sought when he chose to reincarnate and cultivate anew?

It was only by surpassing his past self at every realm that he could ensure that this time, he would walk far further down this path than before!