First Immortal of the Sword

The underground world had been permeated with darkness, and a bloody, decaying aura hung in the air. However, as Su Yi chanted, it suddenly transformed, becoming holy and auspicious.

The corpse spirits surging toward them in a murderous wave froze in place as the radiant, searing Buddhist light washed over them.

All of them suddenly looked dazed.

And the vicious, bloody, baleful energy emanating from them was purified beneath the Buddhist light, disappearing at speeds visible to the naked eye…

It was an unbelievable scene.

Su Yi sat in the lotus position, like the legendary Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva watching over hell, his aspirations unwavering as he unleashed the immeasurable power of the Dharma, all for the sake of cleansing the sins of the dead.

Ning Sihua watched in a daze, an indescribable emotion welling deep within her heart. 

Was there anything in this world Su Yi couldn’t do?

“....wisdom in the sutras, amidst auspicious clouds, elevating the suffering masses of the afterlife, proving by my example that they too can become Buddhas….”

As Su Yi reached this part of the sutra, he silently opened his eyes.

The thunderous chanting still echoed throughout the underground world.

Off in the distance, the corpse spirits all seemed clean and pure, with an auspicious air. There was no longer any sign of filth or malevolence.

They suddenly seemed to recall their lives, and all of them looked at the light that had granted them release.

The avian corpse spirit said with gratitude, “Fellow Daoist, thank you for performing a miracle and granting us release!”

The others immediately turned toward Su Yi and bowed, one after another. “Fellow Daoist, thank you for performing a miracle and granting us release!”

As their grateful voices rang out, the corpse spirits trembled and disintegrated into ash.

Witnessing this made Ning Sihua’s heart shake. A feeling she couldn’t put into words arose within her, and she fell into a daze.

In this world, nothing was crueler than longing to die yet being unable to do so.

In life, those corpse spirits had been disciples of the Immortals’ Sword House. They’d disappeared from this world completely, but wasn’t that a true form of release?

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“Fellow Daoist, in doing this, you’ve accumulated an abundance of karmic merit,” whispered Ning Sihua. Her beautiful eyes turned toward Su Yi.

Su Yi shook his head. “There’s nothing more insubstantial than karmic merit. I redeemed them, but that was to repay a kindness, that’s all.”

As he spoke, he walked over to the distant palace.

It was vast and formed out of perfectly uniform chunks of stone. It was both ancient and magnificent.

The gates were tightly shut, and they were carved with an intricate formation diagram. Although the years had eroded the markings, they emanated an intense, imposing pressure.

“Yet another defensive formation.” Su Yi stood on the steps and examined the gateway. He couldn’t help but recall what the avian corpse spirit had said: “The sect leader ordered that all trespassers in the Final Resting Place are to be executed without mercy.”

The Final Resting Place!

Could it be that this was a place the experts of the Immortals’ Sword House had prepared… to die in seated meditation?

Those cultivators who failed to break into the Imperial Realm might enjoy extended lifespans, but they couldn’t endure as long as the sun and moon, much less live forever!

As Su Yi pondered, he swooshed his sleeves.

A streak of clear, misty light swept outward, striking different places on the tightly-sealed gate. A low, muffled boom rang out.

The gates had been sealed and accumulating dust for countless years, but now, they slowly swung open.

Inside, they saw no adornments or furniture. There were, however, seventy-two towering altars. Each was ninety feet tall, thirty feet wide, and pitch-black. They were covered in mysterious formation diagrams.

There was a cocoon-like object at the top of each altar.

When he saw this, Su Yi was briefly stunned, but he quickly understood. 

This place was, perhaps, first established for experts at the ends of their lifetimes. They could enter seated meditation and pass away in peace.

However, it was later converted to a place for their disciples to lie dormant!

“Fellow Daoist, have you realized something?” Ning Sihua couldn’t help but ask?

“Those platforms—altars of sealing, you could say—each hold something that looks like a cocoon. Those are Exquisite Chrysalises the Imperial Realm experts of the Immortals’ Sword House prepared,” Su Yi said casually.

“The altars of sealing have, as the name implies, a sealing power. They can ward against interference and damage from the outside world.

“Cultivators can enter a dormant state within the Exquisite Chrysalis. The cocoons seal their cultivation and life force, maintaining their youth and ensuring that time cannot touch them. Then, when the time is right, the cultivator within can naturally break free of their cocoon and re-enter the world.”

Ning Sihua said in astonishment, “Such divine objects exist in this world?”

“Divine object? I wouldn’t go that far,” said Su Yi. “As you know, numerous monsters of the ancient era have re-entered the world. How do you think they survived the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness?”

Ning Sihua was briefly stunned, but she quickly understood. “You’re saying that the monsters of the ancient era all used treasures like the Exquisite Chrysalises to enter a dormant state? And that that’s how they survived thirty thousand years of the corrosive effects of the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness?”

“That’s right,” said Su Yi. “However, things happen, and the world has its ups and downs. If anything unexpected happens, it’s entirely possible that those lying dormant will never reawaken.”

As he spoke, he walked toward the palace. Ning Sihua instinctively followed him.

When they reached the nearest of the altars, Su Yi looked up at the ten-foot Exquisite Chrysalis. His eyelids twitched.

There was a jarringly obvious slash on the cocoon’s surface!

Furthermore, he could tell that it was the work of the same weapon that had killed all those corpse spirits!

Su Yi spread out his divine sense and examined the other altars. Without exception, a sword had slashed and destroyed every last Exquisite Chrysalis!

No wonder no monsters of the ancient era have appeared within the Immortals’ Sword House. So, their Exquisite Chrysalises were destroyed a long time ago!

Even Su Yi had a visible emotional reaction to learning this.

It was clear that, thirty thousand years ago, when the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness befell the Azure Continent, the Immortals’ Sword House did, in fact, prepare for it.

They’d even gone far as to place seventy-two Exquisite Chrysalises within their Final Resting Place, all in hopes that their seventy-two hand-picked disciples could one day re-enter the world.

However, someone had ruined all their arrangements!

Just who had done this?

As Su Yi pondered, he suddenly noticed a dried-up corpse deep within the palace.

As he drew closer to it, he saw that the corpse was dressed in purple. The body was withered, but despite countless years of corrosion, it showed no sign of decay.

The corpse sat on the ground, head hanging, right pointer finger touching the dirt.

When Su Yi looked over, he saw a line of text written in blood. The letters were an ancient yao script, and time had taken its toll; the words were dim and indistinct.

However, when he looked closely, he could still read them.

“Divine Misfortune turned on its master and ended the long history of the Immortals’ Sword House. I, Bai Changhen, am ashamed to face my forebearers!”

When he saw this, Su Yi’s heart shook, and he looked enlightened.

This corpse belonged to the third-generation leader of the Immortals’ Sword House, Bai Changhen!

During his first trip into the ruins, Su Yi saw scenes from thirty thousand years ago recorded in a jade slip.

These scenes included Bai Changhen and the Heavensphere Yao Emperor!

Divine Misfortune turned on its master… It seems it was originally Bai Changhen’s natal weapon… Su Yi muttered to himself.

Two months ago, outside the ruins of the Immortals’ Sword House, he slew Qing Luo. It was then that he learned that Qing Luo was really just a slave the sword had chosen to nourish itself.

Qing Luo’s fate was under the control of the yao weapon hidden within his spinal column, Divine Misfortune!

At the time, Su Yi guessed that Qing Luo had appeared outside the ruins under the influence of Divine Misfortune.

After all, the Immortals’ Sword House was a faction of yao cultivators, and they had the word “sword” in their name.

Divine Misfortune was obviously a supreme treasure of the yao path, it was in possession of a fully realized yao spirit, and it had appeared just outside the ruins of the Immortals’ Sword House.

All of that was almost unquestionable proof that it was connected to the Immortals’ Sword House in some way.

When he saw Bai Changhen’s corpse and the hasty message he’d scrawled in blood just before his death, how could Su Yi fail to realize what had happened?

“Fellow Daoist, don’t tell me you recognize that corpse?” asked Ning Sihua.

Su Yi nodded, then explained what he’d figured out to her.

Thirty thousand years ago, when the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness befell the Azure Continent, the cultivators of the Immortals’ Sword House were in peril. Their leader, Bai Changhen, led its experts to build seventy-two sealed altars here in the Final Resting Place.

He planned to leave something in reserve, and he hoped that the disciples lying dormant within the Exquisite Chrysalis would one day reawaken.

However, Bai Changhen could never have anticipated that as he made these arrangements, his own natal weapon, Divine Misfortune, would suddenly turn on him!

The seventy-two Exquisite Chrysalises, as well as the hundred or so corpse spirits outside, had obviously all been murdered by Divine Misfortune!

Su Yi’s narration was simple, but after learning the truth of the situation, Ning Sihua was so startled that a chill coursed down her spine, and the look on her beautiful face changed dramatically.

She couldn’t help but say, “A sword, that’s all. How could it… How could it be so terrifying and malevolent?”

“This is the danger of nourishing a sword with your body,” said Su Yi. “Doing so lets you use your essence, qi, spirit, and cultivation base to nourish your natal weapon and improve its quality and power.

“Doing this can indeed allow your natal weapon to explode with unimaginably terrifying power. However, the disadvantage is that if you can’t keep the weapon spirit suppressed, you run the risk of it turning on you. If that happens, it will strip you of your memories, cultivation, and even your life. Your sword will devour you completely.”

Su Yi glanced at Bai Changhen’s corpse and continued, “If I’m not mistaken, setting restrictions around the Exquisite Chrysalises was enormously draining for both his soul and his cultivation base. This gave Divine Misfortune an opportunity to exploit, resulting in this grave calamity.”

Ning Sihua’s heart quivered with fright just listening to this, and she felt a chill in her hands and feet.

A sword had actually killed the former leader of the Immortals’ Sword House and ruined its response to the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness!

This was unquestionably unbelievable!

But what terrified Ning Sihua the most was that Divine Misfortune still lived!

Furthermore, it had shown up outside the ruins not long ago. If Su Yi hadn’t arrived just in time, Divine Misfortunate might well have made it into the ruins!