First Immortal of the Sword

“It’s finally here…” 

Mo Xingzhe stood on an icy mountaintop, his hair and clothing fluttering around him.

He raised his head, his silvery eyes gazing into the dome of heaven, where the inky black tribulation clouds gathered in a mad frenzy.

A stifling, destructive air spread throughout heaven and earth.

Mo Xingzhe wasn’t the least bit afraid. On the contrary, his expression filled with undisguisable excitement and eagerness.

He’d lain dormant for thirty thousand years. Today, he would finally enter the Spirit Dao!

Boom!

Before long, the tribulation descended upon him.

Mo Xingzhe took the skies, charging right into it.

It was on that day that Mo Xingzhe, a monster of the ancient era from the Deathbringer’s Netherworld Palace, underwent tribulation on the peak of a snowy mountain. He stepped into the Spirit Dao, becoming a true advanced cultivator. 

When he successfully overcame his tribulation, the outline of a grand and strange black sun illuminated him. Dark and imposing visions of the netherworld appeared with it.

This strange phenomenon could be called a “Black Netherworld Sun”!

……

“Open!”

Late at night, a vast, open plain. 

Huan Shaoyou stepped into the air, threw back his head, and roared into the sky.

His purple hair danced madly around him, and his clothing billowed. The power sealed and repressed within his body was now fully unleashed. Demonic flames appeared above him and shot into the depths of the cloudy sky.

Rumble~

The night sky trembled, and the clouds on all sides showed signs of collapse.

Monstrous and terrifying tribulation lightning poured down like a waterfall, illuminating the world. The air of an impending tribulation enveloped the entire area. It was enough to make one’s heart shake.

This was Huan Shaoyou’s Tribulation of Spiritual Manifestation. 

He was a direct-line descendant of the Demonic Huan Family, and Heavenly Demon True Blood coursed through his veins. It hadn’t been long since his cultivation and foundations underwent a qualitative shift in the Demonification Pool, either.

Now, he unleashed his full potential and cultivation beneath this unparalleled grand tribulation.

A little less than ten minutes later.

The tribulation clouds dispersed and disappeared.

Huan Shaoyou stood in the sky, blood-colored demonic flames hovering around him. The tyrannical aura of a Spiritual Manifestation Realm cultivator emanated from his entire body.

“Is this the power of the Spirit Dao? I’m much stronger than I was before. Indeed, the primordial energy of an ancient world within Sumeru Immortal Island means that cultivators who overcome their tribulations here can achieve a truly perfect breakthrough…” Huan Shaoyou muttered to himself.

His eyes shone with bloodlust. “Su Yi, how will you fight me now?”

……

Mo Xingzhe and Huan Shaoyou’s breakthroughs acted as a sort of signal.

Over the next few days, a series of experts who’d long since reached the peak of the Gathering Stars Realm invited their tribulations and broke through, entering the Spirit Dao.

Like Jing Lingzhen, a monster of the ancient era from the Burning Sun Sect; Zeng Pu, the suspected descendant of the Profound Bone Demon Emperor; Chi Jiansu, a monster of the ancient era with mysterious origins; Maha Temple’s Buddhist Son Chen Lu; and Li Handeng, the leading figure of the Qingyi Dao Sect’s younger generation…

These were the cream of the crop among the monsters of the ancient era and geniuses of the present day. They’d immersed themselves in the Gathering Stars Realm for years.

One of their goals for their time on Sumeru Immortal Island was to break through, and they’d made ample preparations before arriving here.

Given the circumstances, it was to be expected that they’d break smoothly into the Spiritual Manifestation Realm. 

Furthermore, this was different from breaking through in the outside world. 

With the support of Sumeru Immortal Island’s ambient primordial energy, all of their Tribulations of Spiritual Manifestation were so terrifying that they almost surpassed the bounds of the imagination.

However, so long as they succeeded, they achieved a flawless breakthrough.

In doing so, the foundations they established were far beyond ordinary older-generation Spiritual Manifestation cultivators!

…

The seventh day of the tenth lunar month.

The collapsed ruins of an ancient forest of stone steles.

Ge Qian looked up at the distant dome of heaven. He couldn’t help but mutter, “It’s thundering again.”

There was clear worry on his brow.

That was the sound of tribulation lightning. The accompanying thunder reverberated throughout heaven and earth.

After leaving the valley and its lotus pond behind, they followed Su Yi as he investigated this hidden realm.

In just five short days, they’d sensed the power of tribulation lightning at least ten times.

This meant that at least ten experts had welcomed their Tribulations of Spiritual Manifestation!

“If things go on like this, those of us still in the Origin Dao will absolutely find ourselves in a tight predicament. Never mind seeking out good fortune; the moment we encounter an enemy, they’ll see us as prey ripe for the slaughter.” Ge Qian sighed.

“Could you please say just a little less?” Wen Xinzhao glared at him. “Don’t jinx us. You acted like this back at the Dao-Gazing Lotus Pond, and look what happened! Feng Zidu ambushed us.”

Ge Qian was instantly embarrassed. He said sheepishly, “I’m just worried about our situation. After all, your cultivation is the highest in our group, Miss Xinzhao. You broke into the late-stage Gathering Stars Realm just yesterday. Miss Shichan is second; she’s now in the mid-stage Gathering Stars Realm.

"His Excellency Su Yi and I are still one step away from entering the Gathering Stars Realm! We’re all still within the bounds of the Origin Dao. Just looking at our cultivations, we’re a full ‘Dao’ beneath all those Spiritual Manifestation Realm experts.

“It’s to be expected that I’d be worried, given the circumstances.” 

Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

Having said his piece, he sighed. 

The Origin Dao was divided into three realms: Grain Avoidance, Origin Palace, and Gathering Stars.

The Spiritual Manifestation Realm, however, was the first of the Three Realms of the Spirit Dao; it completely transcended the Origin Dao! How could its power possibly be ordinary?

Ge Qian’s words left Wen Xinzhao and Yue Shichan’s hearts feeling heavier than before.

The Origin and Spirit Daos were completely different.

As the monsters of the ancient era and geniuses of the present day stepped into the Origin Dao, one after another, their strength would undergo a world-shaking transformation. They would become true advanced cultivators!

Meanwhile, both Wen Xinzhao and Yue Shichan were still in the Origin Dao. How could they not worry?

“You cannot determine strength purely based on someone’s cultivation boundary.” Su Yi’s calm voice emanated from before. He was currently examining a stone stele. “When cultivating and seeking the Dao, you must build stable foundations at every step; you cannot be hasty. If you proceed without first stabilizing your foundations, you’re doomed to compound your mistakes with each additional step you take, which will ultimately limit your achievements in the Grand Dao.”

In his past life, he was the sole sovereign of the Nine Provinces of the Wilds, with cultivation at the very pinnacle of the Imperial Apex Realm. Why, then, did he reincarnate to cultivate anew?

His reason was simple: he had regrets about his earlier pursuit of the Dao!

After reaching the pinnacle of his past life, the only way to rectify these mistakes was to reincarnate and cultivate anew. It was obvious how great a cost that entailed. 

This was a lesson learned through blood and tears.

It was for this very reason that in Su Yi’s eyes, there was no greater taboo than blindly seeking breakthroughs at the cost of overlooking one’s foundations.

“As for your concerns, they’re completely ungrounded,” said Su Yi. “If, as you fear, Huan Shaoyou and his ilk really think they can do whatever they want just because they’ve broken into the Spiritual Manifestation Realm, they’ll die miserable deaths.”

Having said this, he continued studying the stele in front of him.

After arriving at this collapsed forest of steles, Su Yi deduced that this was a “Stele Forest of Contemplation” the Sumeru Shrine had prepared for its disciples.

Every stele was emblazoned with traces of a Grand Dao.

When cultivators sat and contemplated before a stele, they had hope of comprehending its profundity and mastering a new type of Dao Charm.

There were over fifty steles here, but more than half were ruined.

The years had corroded those that remained intact, and the remaining traces of the Dao were already indistinct.

In the eyes of most cultivators, the steles had little value left.

However, this place hid the very Dao Charm Su Yi needed——

Lightning!

The stele he was now contemplating was originally emblazoned with traces of the Dao of Lightning. Although they’d long since been rendered indistinct, traces still remained.

To Su Yi, this was enough to comprehend the profound truths of thunder and lightning!

Time slipped by.

Su Yi sat unmoving before the stele for a long time. As night fell, he suddenly retracted his gaze and stood up.

Hm?

His companions were waiting nearby, and they all looked at Su Yi.

As Su Yi moved, it was as if he broke through a layer of shackles, and his energy expanded, like young bamboo shooting up after the rain. 

By the time he stood fully upright, his energy rumbled and boomed around him, like wind and lightning.

And then——

Ripples suddenly coursed through the night sky, as if the formless power of the Grand Dao were descending. Daoist chanting, like the music of the heavens, emanated from deep within the sky. It was mystical and ethereal.

Beneath his companions’ astonished gazes, a vast galaxy appeared in the depths of the night sky. Countless radiant stars circulated within it, bursting with intense light. 

Immediately afterward, the stars filling the sky silently outlined a grand and mystical diagram—

It was based on the river of stars, as cyclical and perfect as the Yin-Yang, the symbol of the supreme ultimate. Half the stars were Yin, and half the stars were Yang. They went round and round, manifesting infinite transformations.

It was faint, but within the Yin-Yang formed of the galaxy, the orbits of the stars seemed to take on the shape of a sword.

This was a sword that could draw upon the river of stars, manifest the supreme ultimate, demarcate Yin and Yang, and pierce purity and filth. It was a sword with facets as numerous as the grains of sand on a riverbed!

“This…” 

Su Yi’s companions stared in wide-eyed astonishment, as if they were witnessing a miracle.

However, this unprecedented phenomenon only lasted the blink of an eye before disappearing.

Everyone was just as it was before.

Not far away, Su Yi stood with his hands behind his back. He looked up into the dome of heaven, his blue robes fluttering in the night breeze. He was the very picture of a banished immortal: transcendent and detached. 

And his aura had undergone an earth-shaking transformation. 

When the Dao Seed sprouted in my Origin Palace, ninety thousand stars hung in the sky! Su Yi thought to himself. That’s far, far more than I achieved in this realm in my past life…

A hint of ruefulness appeared in his expression.

This time, he broke through smoothly, like water overflowing a cup. He didn’t push it at all; the breakthrough happened naturally.

But with the knowledge of his past life and his understanding of the Gathering Stars Realm, Su Yi naturally understood: throughout the long history of the Nine Provinces of the Wilds, the foundations in the Grand Dao he’d established in the Gathering Stars Realm were unprecedented!