First Immortal of the Sword

The Xia Emperor was now wearing simple cloth robes. He stood there with his hands behind his back and a calm look on his face.

However, upon his arrival, the atmosphere silently changed, becoming austere and still.

Even top geniuses of the ancient era like Huan Shaoyou, Yan Jingyun, and Mo Xingzhe restrained themselves.

There was a hundred-foot round black altar at the center of the ancient ritual grounds.

Nine pillars stood around it, forming a nine palaces formation.

Each stone pillar was ninety feet tall and covered in elaborate totems and cloud markings. The patterns included all manner of life and celestial bodies, representing the full magnitude of creation. The markings had a primitive, desolate, and coarse presence to them.

This was the Altar of Teleportation.

When the emperor arrived, he gave the order to activate the altar. Weng Jiu promptly stepped forth carrying a formation disc. His hands shifted, and he muttered an incantation.

Bzzzz~

A series of obscure energy fluctuations followed, and the nine stone pillars seemed to awaken from a deep slumber. The markings covering their surfaces surged with the power of a formation, which flowed into the altar at the pillars’ center.

The entire altar burst with radiant light.

A rain of light floated down from above the Altar of Teleportation, outlining an illusory door of flowing, colorful light.

This was the first time some of those present had ever seen an ancient transmission formation of this level, and they couldn’t help but exclaim over it. 

However, the monsters of the ancient era remained relatively calm.

Thirty thousand years ago, the Azure Continent’s peak-level orthodoxies all had transmission formations connected to various regions. They’d long since grown accustomed to this.

“Everyone, this way, please,” Weng Jiu said gravely.

The group then proceeded toward the Altar of Teleportation.

“My lord, we’ll be on our way.” Weng Jiu walked up to the formation and bowed to the nearby Xia Emperor.

“Go on.” The Xia Emperor nodded.

Boom!

The Altar of Teleportation burst with radiant light, and in the blink of an eye, everyone on it disappeared into the thin air. Afterward, it gradually returned to its former dormant state.

“I just wonder how many of them will return from Sumeru Immortal Island alive….” muttered the emperor.

“Fortuitous encounters and danger go hand in hand. The more heaven-defying the opportunity, the more unimaginably terrifying the associated peril,” said Elder Shui, a strange look in his eyes. “Besides, who among the youths headed to Sumeru Immortal Island lacks life-saving trump cards? They should be enough to avert calamity.”

The emperor said, “No matter what, I anticipate that when they return, several of them will have broken into the Spirit Dao during their time on Sumeru Immortal Island… When the time comes, I’m afraid the older generation of Spirit Dao cultivators won’t be able to compare to them…”

His voice carried a hint of ruefulness.

Times were changing!

Only small, subtle changes had happened thus far. When the Radiant Epoch was truly upon them, the world would undergo an enormous transformation!

“My lord, that’s not necessarily the case,” whispered Elder Shui. “According to the intelligence our forces have been gathering throughout the continent, mighty experts of the ancient era have recently started cropping up. They, too, are young. It would not be an exaggeration to call them monsters.

“However, unlike Huan Shaoyou and the rest of the first group of monsters of the ancient era, everyone in the second group is already a Spirit Dao cultivator. Every last one of them is strong enough to effortlessly suppress other cultivators of the same realm, and they’re in possession of ancient secret arts and treasures. Each is mightier than the one before.”

When he heard this, the Xia Emperor’s eyes narrowed. “How many members of this second group have awoken thus far?”

Elder Shui said at top speeds, “Seven that we’ve confirmed so far, but according to our analysis of recent intelligence, in the days to come, more and more members of this second group of ancient monsters will awaken.”

The Xia Emperor fell briefly silent. He couldn’t help but sigh. “These really are… tumultuous times.”

The first group of monsters of the ancient era had awoken over the past ten years. All were in the Origin Dao, so they weren’t overly terrifying.

However, the second group to awaken were all in the Spirit Dao. Their strength and accumulations were incomparably powerful. This was enough to threaten the world’s various cultivation factions; they couldn’t help but fear them!

“All of this is ultimately due to the imminent descent of the Radiant Epoch,” said Elder Shui with an inscrutable look in his eyes. “It’s as the prophecy circulating throughout the world says: the sealed power will one day break free of the earth. Everything that is shackled will one day escape its bonds. The grand events and bloodshed of days long gone will return even grander than before…”

He paused here, then whispered, “Everything happening now is a sign of what’s to come.”

After a moment’s silence, the Xia Emperor said, “How are repairs on the Nine Tripod Suppression Barrier Formation going?”

Elder Shui reported, “We’ve repaired less than ten percent thus far,” said Elder Shui.”

The Xia Emperor furrowed his brow. “That’s too slow. We have to pick up the pace.”

Elder Shui said helplessly, “My lord, with our power and the method Fellow Daoist Su granted us, we’ll need a year at least. Even then, we’ll only be able to recover half of the barrier’s former might.

“Recovering the strength it had at its peak… Is completely beyond us. As you’re well aware, the Nine Tripod Suppression Barrier Formation is an imperial-level killing formation. Even though Fellow Daoist Su taught us how to fix it, without an Imperial Realm cultivator’s help, or perhaps the assistance of an unparalleled grandmaster of formations and talismans, I’m afraid the barrier will never be what it once was.”

The Xia Emperor’s expression shifted erratically.

He’d long since anticipated that as the various ancient orthodoxies awoke from their long dormancy, the world would cease to be the Xia Family’s domain.

There was nothing anyone could do about this.

The world was changing dramatically; it was inevitable that the distribution of power between the continent’s various factions would undergo a thorough reshuffling. The former, long-stagnant order of the world would thus be overturned!

“We’ll just do as much as we can,” whispered the Xia Emperor.

All the imperial family could do now was gather sufficient power before the impending change arrived. They could at least ensure they didn’t sink to becoming prey for other factions!

Elder Shui hesitated, but in the end, he couldn’t help but add, “My lord, in my humble opinion, once Fellow Daoist Su returns from Sumeru Immortal Island, we should request further guidance as to how to reduce the time needed to repair the Nine Tripod Suppression Barrier. If he lends a hand personally, that would naturally be even better.”

The Xia Emperor was instantly tempted, and he nodded.

……

Heaven and earth were overcast.

This was a scorched wasteland beset by baleful winds. Dust and sand filled the air.

The place seemed abandoned, and nothing grew here; the land had long since lost its vitality.

A heavy, oppressive atmosphere covered every inch of land.

At the center of this enormous, barren landscape was a vast abyss, like the world’s gaping maw. It was so deep that there was no bottom in sight.

Meteor Abyss!

Rumor had it that when the thirty thousand years of the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness first began, a single star fell from the dome of heaven, slamming into this stretch of earth and creating this enormous, eye-catching abyss.

It had been one of the Great Xia’s three great forbidden grounds ever since. Endless dangers lurked here. Never mind ordinary people; even Spirit Dao cultivators dared not venture here lightly.

Above Meteor Abyss, high in the gray, misty skies, they could vaguely discern a gray, indistinct, hovering spatial doorway. It didn’t quite seem real; it almost felt like an illusion.

This was the entrance to Sumeru Immortal Island!

Terrifying, celestial winds howled and roared around the dim gray doorway, producing low, thunderous rumbling. The dark, oppressive landscape was enough to make one’s heart quiver.

Bzzz!

The energy fluctuations of a formation streaked through the air not far from Meteor Abyss.

An Altar of Teleportation covered in a thick layer of sand and dust stood there. It stirred as if awakening from its long-dormant state, then burst with radiant light.

The glow dispersed the accumulated sand and dust. 

Before long, an illusory gateway formed amidst the energy fluctuations, and a group emerged from within. 

The group headed to Sumeru Immortal Island.

“Is this Meteor Abyss?”

“Quick, look up at the sky! That gray doorway should be the entrance to Sumeru Immortal Island.”

“This place is devoid of life force, and everything is dim and gray. Rumor has it that it suffered the terrifying corrosion of the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness; it’s since become dead, abandoned ground.”

….The sound of conversation rang out. Everyone, regardless of whether they were a monster of the ancient era or a genius of the present day, was visibly on guard. All of them evaluated their surroundings.

“An air of calamity…” Su Yi pondered out loud. The moment he arrived, his gaze was drawn to the enormous Meteor Abyss.

He didn’t even need to examine it to sense the extremely strange, terrifying, calamitous power surging within its depths.

Weng Jiu suddenly said, “Don’t approach Meteor Abyss, or the forbidden power within will surely devour you!”

As he spoke, he picked up an enormous boulder and hurled it toward the abyss.

Bang!

As soon as the boulder neared the edge of Meteor Abyss, it burst apart, scattering and dispersing into tiny fragments.

The onlookers couldn’t help but gasp.

The instant the boulder burst, their keen senses picked up on a strange, invisible power. It struck like lightning, instantly devouring the massive rock!

“Did you see that? That’s what makes Meteor Abyss so terrifying. Once, a Spirit Dao cultivator attempted to draw near. In the end, he was instantly devoured, body and soul. He never knew what hit him, and he didn’t even have time to struggle,” Weng Jiu said gravely.

Everyone’s hearts shook.

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An air of calamity surges within the abyss. I’m afraid that whatever’s hiding in there can’t possibly be ordinary, thought Su Yi.

“Everyone, this is the entrance to Sumeru Immortal Island. All you need is to hold your Sumeru Talisman, and you’ll be able to enter,” said Weng Jiu.

He looked up at the indistinct gray door beneath the dome of heaven. “I’ll wait near the Altar of Teleportation for three months. Please, come back in time. Otherwise, I’m afraid you’ll have to leave this forbidden ground on your own.”

As soon as he said this, someone immediately hurtled toward the dark gray doorway.

Whoosh!

With a flash of misty, illusory light, that person disappeared through the gray doorway.

When the others saw this, they launched into action, one after another.

“Su Yi, whatever you do, don’t chicken out and flee! I’ll be waiting for you on Sumeru Immortal Island!” Mo Xingzhe’s eyes flashed like cold, silvery lightning. He glanced at Su Yi, then he too shot ahead.