First Immortal of the Sword

The grave wasn’t large, and nothing grew there. It stood there all on its own. 

Su Yi barely glanced at it before turning his attention to the corpse seated in front of it.

The corpse wore Daoist robes with a golden belt, and he had the head of an ape. His life force had completely dried up, and he was covered in dust. Who knew how much time had passed since his death?

Clang!

Celestial Blue wailed in Su Yi’s grip, as if sobbing in grief.

Su Yi’s eyes narrowed, and his heart shook.

There was no doubt about it. This was the corpse of Yuan Motian, the Sumeru Yao Emperor, the once world-famous founder of the Sumeru Shrine!

But why would someone like him fall in a place like this?

When Su Yi examined Yuan Motian’s corpse, he saw no sign of wounds. So much time had passed since his death that his flesh had long since shriveled, and his remains were hard as stone.

Hm? Su Yi suddenly noticed something. After sweeping away the layer of dust covering the ground, he saw a line of text written in the dirt.

“Great terrors lurk deep within the starry skies!”

The text was written in an ancient yao script, and they were extremely coarse; he’d obviously written them in a hurry in the last moments before his death.

Su Yi’s eyebrows shot up.

This was someone who’d cultivated and combined Buddhism, Confucianism, and Demonism. He was a powerful and influential Emperor. How much despair must he have faced to leave such words behind in the last moments of his life?

‘Great terrors lurk deep within the starry skies’? Could it be that Yuan Motian’s death was connected to the great terrors hidden deep within outer space? Su Yi sank into thought.

In the eyes of the Wilds’ top Emperors, the starry void of outer space was seen as forbidden ground. Throughout history, those who ventured into the starry skies almost never returned alive.

In his past life, Su Yi had reigned supreme over the Nine Provinces of the Wilds, and he’d once gathered numerous secrets and clues regarding the “starry skies beyond.”

Without exception, all of this secret intelligence mentioned the same thing——

Forbidden grounds were dispersed throughout the void of outer space. They contained calamities of the Grand Dao!

There were conflicting accounts as to the scale and nature of these calamities, and most were mere conjecture.

After all, only top experts could even attempt to venture into the stars, and practically none of them returned alive. Who could say with certainty what was hidden out there?

When Su Yi began his pursuit of greater heights of the Dao, he had two choices. He could venture deep into the stars and seek out those unknown forbidden places.

Or, he could seek out the legendary path of Samsara and reincarnation.

In the end, he chose the second method.

It wasn’t that he didn’t dare venture into the stars, but that he’d combed through his path of cultivation and discovered numerous imperfections. He’d left many regrets along the journey.

If he reincarnated to cultivate anew, he could make up for these regrets and deficiencies and surpass himself at his former peak. When the time came, he might well break through the barrier of the Imperial Apex Realm and find an even higher path.

It was because of the choices he’d made in his past life that Su Yi had the opportunity to cultivate again. 

However, Su Yi would never have guessed that the Sumeru Yao Emperor’s death would be connected to the horrors lurking beyond the stars. 

A while later.

Su Yi looked at the tombstone behind the corpse and deduced that Yuan Motian had left it there for himself.

Perhaps, before he died, he guessed that he was likely to die when he faced the horrors lurking deep within the stars. Did he choose to prepare a grave for himself just in case?

Su Yi shook his head and gave the matter no further thought.

He wasn’t at all interested in how the Sumeru Yao Emperor had died. 

He’d come here first to seek out clues about the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness, and second in search of that Xiantian Divine Lifeform.

Su Yi continued ahead.

Along the way, the power of the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness was like fog. It enveloped everything around him.

In his shoes, no one else would dare venture into a place so dangerous.

However, its power was no threat to Su Yi at all. 

During his trip to the Sea of Chaotic Spirits, he slew three of the Four Perils: Thunder Monarch Oblivion, Old Yao Bone Eater, and Fire Demon Lihuo. It was then that Su Yi discovered that the Sword of the Nine Hells could neutralize the power of the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness.

There was no need for him to take action; all he had to do was use his divine sense to connect with a wisp of the Sword of the Nine Hells’ presence. The mist formed of the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness would then scatter and disperse!

A little less than ten minutes later, Su Yi abruptly stopped in his tracks.

The path ended up ahead; any further, and he’d enter the limitless dark void of outer space.

The roots of the enormous, star-laden tree extended deep into outer space. There was no end in sight.

It seems the sealed door leads to a landmass hovering in the void, and not a true world… Su Yi finally understood. 

This landmass was surrounded by the endless void on all sides.

And the tree covered in the corpses of stars wasn’t truly a part of this landmass; rather, it was rooted in outer space.

It was just so huge that when he first arrived, he mistakenly assumed that it was rooted in the ground.

“Su… Fellow Daoist Su!?” 

Support us at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

Suddenly, a weak voice emanated from afar.

Su Yi looked over and saw a figure curled up on the nearest, mountainous tree branch.

She was a charming young woman dressed in faint purple. Her skin was fair as snow, and her figure was slender and graceful.

This was none other than Dou Kou!

However, the young woman’s face was pallid, and she was curled into a ball. Her face was a mask of apprehension and unease.

When she saw Su Yi, she instantly perked up, and her watery eyes filled with delight, like a drowning woman grasping at straws.

“Why are you here?” exclaimed Su Yi.

He still remembered encountering Mei Yanbai and company shortly after entering Sumeru Mountain. They said that they’d heard a strange murmuring, and that afterward, Dou Kou inexplicably disappeared. 

Afterward, Su Yi heard that strange sound too, and he stabbed it, striking the mysterious power ambushing Ge QIan from within the mist.

It was that mysterious power that left the golden blood behind.

At the time, Su Yi deduced that the blood came from a Xiantian Divine Lifeform!
In other words, both Dou Kou’s inexplicable disappearance and the power that attempted to ambush Ge Qian were both connected to the same Xiantian Divine Lifeform!

However, Su Yi wouldn’t have guessed that Dou Kou would appear here, atop the star-laden giant tree!

“I… I don’t know how I got here…” Dou Kou’s expression revealed apprehension and lingering terror. “All I remember is entering Sumeru Mountain with Mei Yanbai and the others. We were wandering through a formation when suddenly, everything went black. I lost consciousness, and when I came too, I… I was already in this horrible place.”

She was obviously scared out of her wits, and she stammered as she spoke. 

Su Yi thought for a moment. “Are you hurt?”

Dou Kou shook her head. “I’m not.”

“Did anything happen to you while you were trapped here?”

Dou Kou shook her head again. “No.”

She then looked pitifully at Su Yi. “Fellow Daoist Su… could you please rescue me? I beg you, I… I really don’t want to get stuck in this horrible place…”

Her voice was timid, and her charming face was pallid but full of hope. 

“Don’t resist,” said Su Yi as he reached through the air.

Whoosh!

He pulled Dou Kou toward him, and she landed steadily on the ground in front of Su Yi.

“Thank you so much, Fellow Daoist Su!” Dou Kou was obviously excited, and she bowed to him.

However, it was then that Su Yi reached out and grabbed her by her snowy white throat, then held her aloft.

At the same time, his left hand struck like lightning, taking hold of her right hand and twisting it.

Dou Kou grunted in agony, and a thin, sharp, silver hairpin slipped from her grasp and onto the ground.

“You want to ambush me? You’re a bit too inexperienced for that,” Su Yi said calmly. He stared deeply at Dou Kou.

An eerie smile suddenly appeared on the girl’s charming features. “Is that so?”

This time, her voice was shrill and raspy. Her eyes silently lit up with unearthly blue luster, and she looked at Su Yi.

Boom!

Waves rocked Su Yi’s sea of consciousness; it was as if he’d been struck by lightning.

However, a moment later, the aura of the Sword of the Nine Hells spread out, eradicating the disturbance.

Su Yi said thoughtfully, “Earlier, did you use a secret soul technique like that to invade Dou Kou’s soul? Your power’s actually rather decent. Just about any other cultivator below the Imperial realm would surely have fallen prey to your schemes.”

“But you… How is it that you’re not affected!?” Dou Kou’s shrill, raspy voice was full of disbelief.

“I’m different from other people, of course,” said Su Yi. A little blue sword short out from between his eyes and cleaved into Dou Kou’s sea of consciousness.

Swoosh!

A wisp of strange gray light suddenly shot out of Dou Kou’s head, then formed a palm-sized bird. It was no different from the sparrows of the mundane world.

Except for its eyes: they shone with faint gold light. It was obviously extraordinary.

“Hahaha, you think you can hit me? Don’t even think about it!” The sparrow shot through the air and landed on a distant, star-laden branch. It was so quick that it almost seemed as if it had teleported.

The sheer scale of the branch only further offset the sparrow’s tininess. 

However, it seemed very pleased with itself as it beat its wings and stared at Su Yi. Shrill, unpleasant laughter emanated from its beak, like the cawing of a crow.

Su Yi ignored the gray sparrow, then re-evaluated Dou Kou before placing her on his back.

She was unconscious, but fortunately, she wasn’t seriously injured. 

To prevent her limp form from sliding to the ground, Su Yi had no choice but to support her thighs and support her butt with his left arm. Only then could he ensure she wouldn’t affect his movements. 

Over on the distant tree branch, the gray sparrow’s laughter came to an abrupt halt.

This was because it suddenly realized that Su Yi’s earlier actions weren’t intended to harm it, but rather, to rescue the young woman whose soul it had occupied…

He’d succeeded, too. There was no doubt about that.

The sparrow was smug over its success, but now, it felt awkward…

Su Yi’s gaze then landed on the bird, and he said calmly, “Let’s hear it. Why did you ambush me?”

The gray sparrow laughed derisively and preened its gray feathers with its beak. It said disdainfully, “Why should I answer you? You’re nothing but a paltry little Gathering Stars cultivator. You’re no different from an ant. Who are you to make this lofty one answer your questions?”

As it spoke, it opened its beak and spat, looking utterly unbridled and arrogant. 

Su Yi’s eyebrows shifted. This little sparrow… really is nasty!