First Immortal of the Sword

It was the middle of the night, not far from dawn.

It was drizzling, and the skies were misty. The number of pedestrians gradually decreased, and few of the city’s many lanterns remained lit. 

It was an early autumn rainy night, and there was already a trace of a piercing chill in the air.

As the carriage rolled across the blue stone streets, the wheels clattered. From time to time, a gust of night winds picked up fallen, yellowing leaves and carried them into the curtain of rain.

Su Yi sat upright, a light flickering in the depths of his gaze.

Someone was hurrying toward his carriage!

Whoosh!

A jade slip flew in through the curtain; someone had tossed it inside. 

Su Yi reached out his hand and grabbed it. There was only one sentence written on it: “Dare you meet me at Cloudcomb Lake?”

Su Yi put away the jade slip, then said to the carriage driver, “Take me to Cloudcomb Lake.”

The lake was in the eastern part of the city, a place where inns were as numerous as trees in a forest, and the residences were tightly packed. The vast majority of cultivators who entered Nine Tripod City chose to settle here.

In this district, fish and dragons intermingled, and there were people from every walk of life and school of thought.

When Su Yi’s carriage arrived at the banks of Cloudcomb Lake, it was already just before dawn. The skies were still as dark as ink and misty with rain. The winds carried a sharp, knife-like chill.

Su Yi paid the driver twenty tier-five spirit stones, and the man smiled and gave him an oil paper umbrella. Su Yi opened it and walked into the curtain of rain.

Cloudcomb Lake was enormous and flecked with fishermen’s fires and scattered lanternlight. A handful of passenger ships were dimly discernible on the water’s surface.

There was a teahouse built on the shore. Enormous red lanterns hung on all four sides, making it particularly eye-catching against the night sky.

However, it was so late that only a single, solitary elder in gray kept watch over the place. There was a zither resting on the wooden table beside him.

Su Yi was briefly stunned. He then strolled over to the teahouse. 

The gray-robbed elder rose, smiled, and clasped his fist. “Fellow Daoist Su, we meet again.”

This was none other than Weng Jiu!

“What are you doing here?” exclaimed Su Yi.

It was late at night. The lights were out, and it was raining, yet here Weng Jiu was. Su Yi couldn’t help but find it strange.

“Young Lord, to tell the truth, whenever anything happens in Nine Tripod City, so long as I am inclined to investigate further, I’ll know once step ahead of everyone else.” Weng Jiu smiled modestly in a clear display of respect. “For instance, this time, I learned that Cloudsky Divine Palace’s Grand Elder Huo Tiandu ordered his experts to invite you to Cloudcomb Lake.” 

 Su Yi was enlightened, but at the same time, he couldn’t help but frown. “Didn’t I say I didn’t want you to get involved?”

Weng Jiu smiled. “Fellow Daoist, please rest assured. I’m simply here to pass on a message. No matter what happens here afterward, I shall not intervene.”

Su Yi nodded. “Your master’s actually quite considerate.”

Weng Jiu said solemnly, “Fellow Daoist, with your unmatched talent, tens of thousands of years might pass without encountering your equal. My master and I dare not treat you irreverently.”

Su Yi pointed at the zither resting on the table. “Are you proficient in the Dao of Music?”

Weng Jiu said modestly, “I wouldn’t say ‘proficient’; I only understand a little.”

“Do you know the song ‘Ambush on Ten Sides?’”

“I do.”

“In a bit, should fighting break out, how about you play it for me to add to the fun?”

Weng Jiu smiled. “It would be my honor.”

Su Yi nodded, then left the teahouse, carrying the umbrella. He walked right up the rainy, overcast riverbank.

The lanterns of one of the passenger ships floating on the distant surface of the lake suddenly lit up.

A purple-robed middle-aged man stood at the head of the boat. He said gravely, “Are you Su Yi?”

“I am.” 

As he spoke, Su Yi had already stepped onto the surface of the water, and he was walking right toward the boat. One hand held his umbrella, while the other was placed behind his back. His blue robes swayed around him, and although the water rippled beneath his feet, it was as if he were walking on dry land. He was as unrestrained as a fallen immortal.

“I’m surprised you dared show up,” said the middle-aged man in purple. His eyes flashed like lightning as he peered through the darkness, his gaze inquisitive. “Aren’t you at all afraid something unfortunate might happen to you?”

Su Yi had never liked wasting words, and he naturally couldn’t be bothered to respond to that. He just walked up and looked around. “Is Huo Tiandu here?”

The purple-robed middle-aged man’s pupils constricted. “You already know the Huo Family is after you?”

Su Yi stopped one hundred feet away from the ship and frowned. “So he’s not here?”

Their conversation was clearly quite strange. No matter what the purple-robed man asked, Su Yi’s response didn’t answer his questions.

This left the man feeling inexplicably ignored and ashamed, and his expression darkened. He said coldly, “If you can get past me, the ancestor shall naturally reveal himself!”

Su Yi snickered. “You’re sure putting on airs. Fine. I’ll slaughter you first, you little small fry, then deal with your clan’s ancestor.”

As he spoke, he took another step forward and shot toward the passenger ship.

Boom!

The moment Su Yi stepped forth, ten figures burst out of the lake, stirring up towering waves.

Their ranks included a mix of men and women. All of them emanated the distinctive aura of the Gathering Stars Realm, and all of them surged with murderous intent.

Rumble!

It was obvious that they’d been preparing for quite some time. The moment they appeared, they directly activated their various treasures and secret methods. Every last one of them was targeting Su Yi.

Their attacks shattered the boundless tranquility of the night and dispersed the misty curtain of rain.

Misty light surged above Cloudcomb Lake, radiant and colorful.

More than ten types of treasure flew through the air: sabers, spears, swords, halberds, copper bells, alms bowls, jade rulers… Each brought with it dazzling, multicolored radiance, and their light dispersed the darkness.

Their terrifying, majestic power was concentrated in one place, erupting with the force of a volcanic eruption. The sheer force and noise was startling.

But that wasn’t all; numerous secret arts accompanied the treasures, and they carried the profound and inscrutable Charm of the Dao. They manifested wind, clouds, thunder, and lighting. Some condensed into palm imprints or fist light, while others manifested all manner of strange and terrifying phenomena…

All of these disparate sources of power gathered together, and the sheer magnitude of this joint attack created limitlessly terrifying currents on the lake’s surface. The sight was enough to make any Origin Dao cultivator tremble and give in to despair.

Rumble! Boom!

Heaven and earth changed color, and the lake water churned as if infuriated.

Weng Jiu watched this play out from a distance, and his brow furrowed. This really is an ‘Ambush on Ten Sides.’

I’m afraid that not even a monster of the ancient era like Sikong Bao would dare face so many opponents head-on.

Su Yi is just one person. How will he handle this?

Does he have some trump card in reserve? Or will he temporarily choose to flee?

Weng Jiu fixed his gaze on Su Yi and watched with bated breath.

He most certainly hadn’t forgotten what Su Yi said during their visit earlier that day. He wanted enemies to come looking for him so that he could use them to sharpen his blade!

Was he boasting? Or did he really have the skills to back up his words? After this battle, all would become clear.

He then watched as Su Yi’s tall, lean figure stood there on the lake’s surface, like an unmoving boulder. 

He didn’t move, but distant, ethereal sword intent rose around him.

Heaven and earth seemed to freeze in place. Everything—the dispersed curtain of rain, the magic treasures dancing through the air, the explosive secret techniques—froze in place as a formless majesty restricted and bore down on them. 

“This…” Weng Jiu’s pupils constricted.

Practically simultaneously, Su Yi took a step forward and waved his sleeves. Boom!

The moment he took that step, it was as if heaven and earth switched positions. The ten-plus magic treasures hurtling through the sky each suffered a heavy blow. A series of wails rang out, and the treasures scattered.

The elemental attacks, fists, palms, and strange phenomena manifested by the ten-plus secret arts burst apart, scattering a rain of light, as if a storm had ripped right through them.

It was just one step, but the combined destructive power of more than ten Gathering Stars Realm cultivators burst apart like paper mache.

And when Su Yi waved his sleeves—

Whoosh!

Threads of rain drifted down from the sky, and the waves churning in the lake transformed into dense, indomitable, seemingly limitless sword qi. An impassioned sword hum rose into the heavens, blanketing the entire stretch of sky.

The sword qi was like a curtain of rain, like waves, like an inescapable heavenly net!

When he saw this, a sentence rose unbidden to Weng Jiu’s mind: “A swing of his sword, and the river of stars descends upon the human world, clearing the firmament of dust!”

Its sheer momentum left him sighing with admiration. He truly couldn’t imagine how lofty one’s attainments in the Dao of the Sword must be to produce such power; it was like seizing fortune from the heavens!

Splurt! Splurt! Splurt! Splurt! Splurt! Splurt! 

The curtain of sword rain filled the skies, and a series of bloody, brutal scenes unfolded.

It was as if the Gathering Stars Realm experts had suffered death by one thousand cuts. Every one of them did everything they could to defend themselves, but the limitless rain of sword qi nonetheless sliced them to ribbons.

Their defensive treasures and protective aura burst apart, and the sword qi cut into them like tens of thousands of sharp blades. Soon, nothing remained of the cultivators but countless finely-minced chunks of flesh, which fell into the lake.

The onslaught was initially accompanied by shrieks of terror and despair, which reverberated throughout the night sky. 

But soon, the cries came to an abrupt halt.

Why? Because the onslaught of sword qi had already executed every last Gathering Stars cultivator!

The dead, of course, could no longer scream.

Rumble!

The surface of the lake churned as the sword qi stirred up billowing mists. 

Blood mixed with the fog and drifted onto the lake, eye-catchingly red. For a moment, there was no way to tell the true color of the autumn rain.

Su Yi stood on the surface of the lake, just as calm as before.

However, the purple-robed middle-aged man on board the passenger ship was already so startled that his soul seemed to leave his body. The blood drained from his face. It seemed he couldn’t believe his eyes, and that he was terrified out of his wits.

One step, one sweep of his sleeves, and thirteen Gathering Stars cultivators were destroyed, body and soul!

That bloody, tyrannical scene seemed like the work of an immortal from on high. How often did something like this happen in the human world?

“Sikong Bao… really didn’t die unfairly….” Weng Jiu watched from the shoreline teahouse and sighed. Even he would never have guessed that the Origin Palace Realm Su Yi could display such divine power in a single attack. His swordsmanship was unquestionably terrifying!

How many young Origin Dao cultivators could match this feat? Weng Jiu feared he couldn’t find any, not even if he searched everything beneath the heavens!

The rain continued pouring down, and Cloudcomb Lake slowly regained its former tranquility, save for the dense stench of blood still permeating the chilly autumn winds.

The lake was surrounded by numerous inns and homes. Lamps lit in rapid succession, and a series of startled cries and conversations emanated from afar.

There was no doubt about it; the commotion had already attracted numerous people’s attention.

“Have I ‘gotten through you’ now?” Su Yi said softly, still holding his umbrella as he admired the beauty of the lake. His expression was calm, and he looked perfectly at ease.

The purple-robed man on the distant passenger ship was so scared that his teeth clattered, and he shook from head to toe. Dread, alarm, and unease were written all over his face.

When he heard Su Yi’s question, he crushed the jade talisman hidden in his sleeves without hesitation.

Bang!

A dazzling flame ripped through the night and surged into the dome of heaven.

For a moment, the skies above Lake Cloudcomb were as bright as they were at midday.

However, a single breath of time later, the flames dispersed, as if the darkness had swallowed them up. Darkness and autumn rain were the sole backdrop of the world once more. 

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Before long, Su Yi seemed to notice something. He gazed into the distant darkness and thought, Are you here? Finally…!