First Immortal of the Sword

Little Leaf had a younger brother. His name was Ye Xun.

He was unpredictable, wildly arrogant, and unrestrained, the “demon king” of the Ghost Serpent Race. He feared neither heaven nor earth, and he had superhuman fortitude.

After meeting Su Yi, Ye Xun became even more unbridled.

Su Yi remembered that in his past life’s expedition into the Netherworld, whenever Ye Xun caused disasters, he’d immediately call on Su Xuanjun’s name.

He was even shameless enough to call Su Yi his brother-in-law!

At the time, Ye Xun’s behavior caused numerous misunderstandings.

Some of the Netherworld’s prominent experts sent Su Yi wedding gifts and congratulated him on tying the knot with Little Leaf…

Even some old-timers of the Ghost Serpent Race played dumb and chose not to deny it.

As a result, Su Yi taught Ye Xun a painful lesson. However, the kid was incorrigible. Even after a beating, he didn’t mend his ways, and he still did whatever he pleased. He seemed dead set on borrowing Su Yi’s prestige.

Thinking back to those incidents now, Su Yi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

However, when he realized that someone like that was most likely the founding patriarch of the Deathbringer’s Netherworld Palace, the Netherworld Asura Emperor… It made him feel a bit strange.

“Is he called Ye Xun?” asked Su Yi.

The holy maiden froze, stunned. “Fellow Daoist, you’ve heard the Netherworld Asura Emperor’s illustrious name?”

As expected.

Su Yi looked stunned. “Didn’t you want to know why I left you a path to life?”

“I did.”

Then, she realized something, and her eyes widened. “Don’t tell me it’s connected to His Excellency, the Netherworld Asura Emperor?”

“No, it’s because of his older sister,” said Su Yi casually.

The first empress of the Ghost Serpents?

Holy Maiden Jade Angelica had never heard anything so absurd in her life. She truly couldn’t connect Su Yi, a young man, with the legendary empress of the Ghost Serpents, someone who’d risen to prominence in the Netherworld tens of thousands of years ago.

The disparity was too enormous!

Xuan Zhi sighed lightly. “Forget it. Fellow Daoist, it’s fine if you’re unwilling to tell me.”

It was clear she thought Su Yi was just fobbing her off.

Su Yi blinked, a bit dazed, but he didn’t explain any further.

Even if he told the holy maiden about his past life, there was no way she’d believe him.

He thought for a moment, then asked, “Thirty thousand years ago, when the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness broke out, where did Ye Xun go?”

When she heard him call the Netherworld Asura Emperor directly by name, without the slightest politeness, Xuan Zhi couldn’t help but grimace. Is he really that fearless?

“They say that when the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness began, the Netherworld Asura Emperor led the Thirteen Divine Emissaries in search of the Well of Ancient Chaos. They were searching for a way to combat the Prohibition’s power,” said Xuan Zhi. “However, they never returned… As a result, over the years that followed and beneath the corrosive effects of the Prohibition, the Deathbringer’s Netherworld Palace fragmented and split apart…”

She couldn’t help but let out a long sigh.

He went searching for the Well of Ancient Chaos? Su Yi furrowed his brow. The so-called “Well of Ancient Chaos” was actually the Ninth Star Ruin!

There was no doubt that Ye Xun never found it. After all, the Sumeru Yao Emperor of the Sumeru Shine controlled the only way into the Ninth Star Ruin.

So where had Ye Xun gone?

Could it be that he’d already perished beneath the effects of the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness?

Here, something seemed to occur to Xuan Zhi. “However, according to my seniors, it’s highly likely that the Netherworld Asura Emperor and the Divine Emissaries returned to the Netherworld. It’s just that there’s no way of confirming whether that’s true or not.”

Su Yi nodded and gave the matter no further thought.

Far too much time had passed since then. Later on, should the chance arise, he wouldn’t mind investigating more.

But for now, even if he wanted to investigate, he wouldn’t be able to find any leads.

“I killed Mo Xingzhe on Sumeru Immortal Island. Doesn’t the Deathbringer’s Netherworld Palace plan to seek revenge?” Su Yi asked, changing the subject.

Xuan Zhi’s beautiful eyes focused. “I won’t lie to you, Fellow Daoist. Our current palace master has already sensed the changes to the ambient spiritual energy, and we’re currently gathering our power and preparing to welcome the descent of the Radiant Epoch. We’re unlikely to cause trouble for you in the near future.”

“It seems your palace master hasn’t let his anger muddle his head,” said Su Yi thoughtfully.

Xuan Zhi hesitated, then said, “Fellow Daoist, you mustn’t get complacent. The palace master said that you killed Holy Son Nirvanic Winds and Mo Xingzhe, and that sooner or later, you’d pay for it.”

Su Yi laughed. “That so? I’m actually rather looking forward to it. It’d actually be a good opportunity to visit your Deathbringer’s Netherworld Palace as a guest.”

“....”

“Alright, then. If you have no other business with me, let’s part ways here,” said Su Yi. They’d already passed through Yin Mountain City’s gates.

“Fellow Daoist, here. Take the painting back.” She tried passing it to him.

However, Su Yi waved her away. “I already know who he is, so there’s no point in keeping it. You might as well take it back.”

He most certainly couldn’t be bothered to keep a portrait of that punk Ye Xun around.

“Let’s go.” Su Yi then turned and shot toward the distant Cloud Python Mountains. Yue Shichan and the others followed hot on his heels.

Xuan Zhi watched their departure, a faint, conflicted look in her beautiful eyes.

She naturally didn’t believe that Su Yi had spared her on account of the legendary empress of the Ghost Serpent Race.

However, she had a certain premonition that Su Yi really did have a deep connection with the Ghost Serpents!

Even in the sect, almost no one knows the Netherworld Asura Emperor’s name, yet it seems Su Yi’s known it for a long time. When I get back, I’ll have to peruse our archives and see if I can uncover any clues.

“Miss.”

Suddenly, someone appeared in front of Xuan Zhi out of nowhere, startling her so badly that she instinctively took a step back.

When she looked up, she saw a slovenly, elderly Daoist in worn-out robes. 

“Do you have business with me?” she asked, visibly on guard.

The old Daoist smiled, his eyes narrowing into crescent moons. “Don’t be afraid, miss. In this life, I treasure nothing more than a fair maiden, but I would never do anything unpleasant.” 

As he spoke, his gaze shifted around Xuan Zhi’s body, completing a full circle.

He looked licentious to the extreme.

Xuan Zhi was revolted, and she immediately turned and left.

“Hey, wait up! I have something I’d like to ask you…” the old Daoist started, but before he could finish, Xuan Zhi blurred into a streak of light, shot through the sky, and disappeared over the horizon. 

“Is this humble Daoist really that detestable?” The old man rubbed his face, seemingly angry. “You’ve got eyes, but you don’t recognize the treasure in front of you!”

After a moment’s hesitation, he let out a long sigh, then shot toward the Cloud Python Mountains.

……

After leaving the Great Xia, Su Yi and his companions continued toward the Great Zhou, starting and stopping along the way.

Seven days later, the fifteenth day of the eleventh month.

The Great Qi, the middle of the night.

The moon was round, icy, and bright as it hung overhead.

It illuminated a corpse-strewn wilderness where blood flowed like a river.

Piercingly cold gales howled amidst the darkness, the sound reminiscent of sobbing and wailing. It was extremely unsettling.

“The world really has changed…” Su Yi stood amidst the darkness, atop a mountain, gazing at the blood-stained battlefield. His brow furrowed slightly.

Since leaving the Great Xia, they’d passed through three mundane nations. They saw scenes of carnage and warfare wherever they went, including several large-scale battles!

The reason was simple. As the spiritual energy of heaven and earth gradually recovered, the spiritual materials and medicines in the wilderness increased.

To the point that even some formerly ordinarily-looking mountains were now pervaded with shocking spiritual energy!

When people tried to seize the spiritual materials and medicines, it inevitably led to bloodshed and conflict.

It was to the point that factions of cultivators set aside all pretenses of cordiality with each other and fought all-out to occupy those mountains permeated with spiritual energy before anyone else could. 

In one of the cities, Su Yi saw the ground suddenly crack and split as a spiritual spring formed. It attracted numerous cultivators, who fought over it, turning the sizable city into a mountain of corpses and an ocean of blood.

Another time, deep in the mountains, he saw a faction of cultivators clash with the yao who made their homes there. They fought and killed under the cover of darkness, and both the sun and moon seemed to lose their radiance.

Similar scenes played out throughout the world of cultivation.

These were days of turmoil and bloodshed. The masses were suffering!

This was what happened when the spiritual energy of heaven and earth recovered. 

Regardless of whether they were mundane martial artists or cultivators, everyone took action. Everyone was trying to seize the resources popping up, and they were doing all they could to obtain good fortune and strengthen themselves.

The world had remained at peace for a long time, but it was becoming increasingly turbulent.

Take now, for instance. The distant, corpse-strewn battlefield was the result of two factions fighting over a spiritual mountain. The conflict escalated to bloodshed, leaving the ground charred and covered in dead bodies. 

“I just wonder how the Great Zhou has changed…” said Yuan Heng, a bit worried.

When cultivators fought, they were like battling gods or immortals; the aftermath was devastating to the common folk. Such battles had an enormous impact on the mundane world. 

The Great Zhou was only a tiny, remote kingdom. Should such turmoil occur there, signal fires would illuminate the sky, and the populace would face grave peril.

“The times are changing, and no one can do anything about it. Only by acting in accordance with the world’s changes and strengthening themselves can one find stable footing in the new age. Only then can one aspire to greatness,” said Su Yi calmly.

He’d seen far too many such scenes in his past life, and he naturally didn’t find them at all strange.

“Brother Su, look at that,” Yue Shichan suddenly spoke up. Her clear gaze was locked onto a distant battlefield.

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They saw a figure tiptoeing through the corpse-strewn carnage beneath the moonlight. Upon closer inspection, he was a teenager in coarse cloth robes, and he carried a little blood-colored cauldron.

Upon arriving on the battlefield, he first cautiously evaluated his surroundings, then crossed his legs and sat down, placing the cauldron before him.

His hands formed seals, and he started chanting.

Suddenly, Yin winds swept throughout the battlefield, and baleful energy permeated the air.

Immediately afterward, remnant souls floated out of the corpses strewn across the battlefield, then flew into the youth’s blood-colored cauldron as if summoned. 

“He’s so young, but instead of studying properly, he’s gathering remnant souls to cultivate with. How is he any different from demonic and heretical cultivators?” Yuan Heng furrowed his brow.

“What you see isn’t necessarily the truth. Let’s watch a little longer,” Su Yi said thoughtfully.

Yuan Heng froze. Don’t tell me I misunderstood?

Time slipped by.

Baleful energy pervaded the entire battlefield, and ghostly figures overlapped. Those watching lost track of how many Yin spirits and remnant souls the young man’s crimson cauldron absorbed.

Suddenly, a group soared over from the distant sky, leaving streaks of dazzling light in their wake.

It was a group of cultivators, and they were fierce and overbearing.

Before they’d even arrived, an infuriated roar emanated from the distant night skies.

“Brazen! Who dares practice heretical secret arts here!?”