First Immortal of the Sword

Who in Nine Tripod City could possibly be ignorant of Huan Shaoyou’s frenzied, ruthless nature?

He acted without reservation, and he was domineering as could be. While participating in the Orchid Terrace Dharma Assembly, he left everyone he fought with severe injuries.

A few of them had even been crippled; he'd destroyed their foundations in the Grand Dao.

Neither monsters of the ancient era nor geniuses of the present day were willing to fight this vicious madman unless absolutely necessary. 

Yet now, at the entrance to Orchid Terrace, someone was directly threatening Huan Shaoyou. He’d provoked him, too.

The onlookers found this difficult to believe. 

Who in the Great Xia would provoke Huan Shaoyou despite knowing who he was?

“It’s Su Yi!” Not far away, Jiang Li, Yu Wenshu, and the others recognized him. Their expressions shifted uncontrollably.

Even among the monsters of the ancient era, Huan Shaoyou was an extremely dangerous and terrifying existence. 

But Jiang Li and company knew that although Su Yi might seem unassuming, he was at least as dangerous as Huan Shaoyou, if not more so.

Some of the other monsters of the ancient era and geniuses of the present day were mixed into the crowd. They noticed this too, and all of them were paying attention.

It was amidst this tense, oppressive atmosphere that Huan Shaoyou suddenly laughed. “I don’t know who gave you the courage to repeatedly provoke me like this, but none of that matters.”

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He stared at Su Yi, nothing but smiles, then said emphatically, “After I’ve obtained a Sumeru Talisman, I’ll be sure to have a lovely romp with your friends.”

His words were rife with hair-raising killing intent.

Huan Shaoyou then turned and left.

The crowd was flabbergasted. None of them knew what was going on. The temperamental, frenzied, ruthless Huan Shaoyou had actually… endured?

“His ‘madness’ is, ultimately, superficial.” Su Yi furrowed his brow.

Huan Shaoyou’s decision to back down might have seemed shameful, but Su Yi knew that people like him were the most troublesome and dangerous of all. 

“Frenzied” didn’t mean “reckless” or “stupid.”

In his past life, Su Yi met numerous paranoid, frenzied old demons, each more vicious and troublesome than the one before.

Huan Shaoyou, descendant of the Demonic Huan Family, was ruthless, aggressive, and domineering, but he absolutely wasn’t stupid. 

“Let’s go.” Without so much as another thought, Su Yi led Yuan Heng and Yue Shichan inside.

The nearby cultivators instinctively cleared a path for them, as if afraid Su Yi would taint them by association and that they, too, would suffer the Huan Family’s wrath.

“I wouldn't have thought that Huan Shaoyou would back down.” Jiang Li’s phoenix eyes focused. She was a bit surprised.

Yu Wenshu said thoughtfully, “Huan Shaoyou is someone the Huan Family took great pains to nurture. He’s naturally no mere madman. Perhaps he sensed that something was amiss during his confrontation with Su Yi?”

As they conversed, they proceeded into Orchid Terrace too.

“Does anyone know who that young man in blue is?” 

“I’m not sure, but what I can say with certainty is that he didn’t participate in the Orchid Terrace Dharma Assembly. Otherwise, someone would have recognized him a long time ago.”

“No matter what, both Fairy Shichan and Yuan Heng are accompanying him, and even Huan Shaoyou chose to back down after their cultivation, at least temporarily. Whoever he is, that blue-robed youth can’t possibly be ordinary.”

“Hah? No matter how amazing he is, you heard Huan Shaoyou. After the Orchid Terrace Dharma Assembly ends, he’ll go make trouble for that young man in blue. Who knows? That blue-robed guy might be dead before the night is through.”

Discussions rang out throughout the surrounding area.

“Su Yi actually cast aside all pretenses of cordiality with Huan Shaoyou?” Gu Cangning’s eyes shone with a strange light.

He was in the crowd earlier too, and he'd witnessed Su Yi and Huan Shaoyou’s entire exchange.

However, given his understanding of Su Yi, he knew full well that Su Yi’s behavior meant that he wasn’t concerned about the potential threat of the Huan Family. 

“I can tell that the guy who just confronted Huan Shaoyou is a deeply hidden expert, and an incredibly capable one at that. Even I would like to fight him!” Zeng Pu’s eyes lit up with the will to fight.

This was the gray-robed young man who’d once defeated the Spiritual Manifestation Realm Tang Xiaoshan barehanded over Goldenscale Lake. The battle shook Nine Tripod City, and he was seen as a heaven-defying figure even among monsters of the ancient era. 

“That so? Alas, it seems he isn’t participating in the Orchid Terrace Dharma Assembly.” The young woman beside Zeng Pu shook her head. Her hair was short—it didn’t extend past her ears—and her eyes were sharp as knives.

She was dressed in military attire, and her graceful figure was worth taking pride in; she was slender, with curves in all the right places. Her skin was fair and lustrous as jade, and twin scabbards hung from her squeezable waist. One scabbard was white, the other black.

The most striking thing about her was the coiled, serpentine, white-bone earring hanging from her left earlobe.

It gave this otherwise pretty, valiant-looking young woman a strong sense of wildness.

Chi Jiansu.

Just like Zeng Pu, she was a peak figure even among monsters of the ancient era. She’d relied on her Profound Netherworld Twin Sabers to effortlessly achieve victory in every bout thus far, without so much as a single loss.

She too was among the favorites to take first place at the Orchid Terrace Dharma Assembly.

“Oh? It really is strange. An expert like that, but he’s not participating in the Orchid Terrace Dharma Assembly?” Zeng Pu couldn’t help but feel dazed and confused.

“Why worry about that? Huan Shaoyou said he’d make trouble for the guy after the competition ends. When the time comes, we can just follow him and watch,” said Chi Jiansu. Her slender, jade-like legs were already carrying her into the distance.

She was straightforward by nature, and she hated beating around the bush.

“Haha, Chi Jiansu, aren’t you worried you’ll encounter me in battle today?” Zeng Pu laughed and hurried after her.

Unlike Chi Jiansu, he seemed playful and mischievous, and he was always smiling. However, he had a tendency to say absolutely shocking things.

After defeating the Spiritual Manifestation Realm Tang Xiaoshan at Goldenscale Lake, he proclaimed that any Spiritual Manifestation Realm who didn’t like the look of him was welcome to come looking for him.

And during the Orchid Terrace Dharma Assembly, he frequently said things that left his defeated opponents unbearably humiliated. 

In short, he might look like he wouldn’t hurt a fly, but he had a poisonous tongue.

“It’d be great if we met on stage,” said Chi Jiansu without so much as turning to look at him. “I’d cut you up.”

Zeng Pu laughed; clearly he thought nothing of it.

The entrance to Orchid Terrace.

“Fellow Daoist Su, this way, please.” Weng Jiu was already waiting for him, and when he saw Su Yi arrive, he walked right up to greet him.

“You don’t need to see my invitation?” asked Su Yi.

Weng Jiu laughed. “Others must show their invitations, but you don’t. Otherwise, what would I be doing here?”

As he spoke, he led Su Yi inside.

Orchid Terrace covered an enormous amount of land, and it could seat over ten thousand people. The interior had seventy-two scattered arenas, and spectator platforms lined the periphery. 

The central jade platform stood at the center of the terrace’s eastern edge.

This was the last day of the Orchid Terrace Dharma Assembly. Today, the top hundred would determine their final ranking.

There were numerous influential figures in attendance, including the leaders of all four great orthodoxies: the master of the Fulcrum of Heaven Sword Sect, Lu Daoting; the master of the Qingyi Dao Sect, Daoist Master Moyang; the leader of Cloudsky Divine Palace, Yu Jiuzhen; and the abbot of Maha Temple, Buddhist Master Jinyuan.

In addition to them, the leaders of the Great Xia’s three top clans, as well as several influential members of the imperial family, were also in the stands. 

It was no exaggeration to say that the most prominent and illustrious members of the Great Xia’s cultivation world were all due to attend today’s grand occasion.

Furthermore, all of these peak-level figures were seated on the eastern wall’s central jade platform.

When Su Yi followed Weng Jiu into Orchid Terrace, he saw that the spectator stands were densely packed. There were already ten thousand people there.

Only the central jade platform looked relatively empty. Still, there were quite a few people seated there already.

Su Yi led Su Yi directly to the central jade platform.

There were imperial guards stationed throughout the area to maintain order. As Weng Jiu and Su Yi passed, the guards lowered their heads in greeting.

This drew numerous gazes, and soon, lots of people noticed Weng Jiu and Su Yi.

When they arrived at the ninety-foot central jade platform carved entirely out of white jade, quite a few people looked flabbergasted.

A commotion followed. “Isn’t that the young man who clashed with Huan Shaoyou earlier? Just who is he? To think he could ascend the central jade platform!”

This was the last day of the Orchid Terrace Dharma Assembly. Those qualified to sit on the central jade platform were either leaders of peak-level factions or heads of prominent clans.

Never mind ordinary people; most of the nation’s Spiritual Manifestation cultivators weren’t qualified to sit there.

Yet Su Yi, a mere youth, had appeared on the central jade platform. It was inevitable that this would draw attention.

Indeed, it’s just as Father said. Su Yi’s background isn’t simple, thought Jiang Li.

There was no way she’d forget. After Su Yi killed Zhou Fengzhi on Goldenscale Lake, her father, Jiang Xiaosheng, appeared to seal off all word of what had happened.

It was then that Jiang Li realized that an extremely terrifying faction stood behind Su Yi.

What she now was unquestionable proof of this. 

“That guy sure is something!” Gu Cangning stared intently. 

He could have anticipated Su Yi gaining admission to the spectator stands, but he wouldn’t have guessed that Su Yi would be so grandiose as to sit on the central jade platform.

“Tch. No wonder he dared face down Huan Shaoyou,” clucked Zeng Pu. “This guy’s backing obviously isn’t simple.”

“Even if his background were more impressive, without sufficient personal strength, it’s meaningless,” said Chi Jiansu crisply.

“No, he is strong. Strong enough that the mere sight of him stimulated the power within my body and ignited my will to fight,” muttered Zeng Pu. 

Chi Jiansu’s sharp eyes narrowed, but she said no more.

“Master, look! That’s Fellow Daoist Su!” Wen Xinzhao’s beautiful eyes lit up, and her matchlessly beautiful face shone with delight. “He really is here! And he’s seated on the central jade platform, even.”

Daoist Master Coldsmoke was stunned. 

It was only last night that she met Su Yi for the first time and heard him say things she still couldn’t quite believe.

Yet now, here he was, seated on the central jade platform. Daoist Master Coldsmoke couldn’t help but feel surprised.

“Does Su Yi have some sort of illustrious background?” 

She felt increasingly baffled.

Practically simultaneously, Huan Shaoyou noticed that Su Yi had ascended the central jade platform. His pupils constricted, and a sinister look flashed across his face.

“So, that guy really isn’t ordinary.”