First Immortal of the Sword

The Deathbringer’s Netherworld Palace.

The palace master sat there in silence.

After a while, he sighed. “Xuan Zhi, your recommendation was right on the mark. If we hadn’t chosen to endure, we would have suffered an enormous loss…”

Beneath the bronze mask obscuring his face, he couldn’t help but look celebratory.

“I knew that Su Yi was dangerous to provoke, but I wouldn’t have guessed he was already strong enough to kill Spiritual Revolution cultivators.” Holy Maiden Xuan Zhi said softly. She stood not far from the palace master.

Her emotions were in turmoil.

Su Yi had slain six Deathbringer’s Netherworld Palace Spiritual Incarnation cultivators in the Glittering Ghost Domain, and he'd even run off with their founder’s remains.

This had enraged the entire Deathbringer’s Netherworld Palace.

But none of them could have anticipated that the five allied ancient factions’ Spiritual Revolution cultivators would be no match for Su Yi at all!

“Hmph. It might be cruel to say this, but thirty thousand years ago, those five would have been the lowest of the low within the Spiritual Revolution Realm,” the palace master snorted coldly. “Only the Pure Emptiness Buddhist Sect’s old bald donkey was worthy of notice; he’d condensed his Grand Dao Spirit Wheel, so he was a level above the other four.”

Holy Maiden Xuan Zhi asked in confusion, “Your Excellency, all five were in the Spiritual Revolution Realm. Why do you see them as… the lowest of the low?”

The palace master said, “It’s simple. Thirty thousand years of the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness took a far greater toll on those old-timers than on others. Just surviving this long was challenging enough. How could their cultivation possibly compare to the Spiritual Revolution Realm experts of thirty thousand years ago?”

He paused, then said, “It’s not just them. That goes for all of the Spiritual Revolution cultivators who survived the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness. Even the strongest of them are at best a bit tougher than Pure Cloud.”

Only then did Xuan Zhi understand.

The crux of the matter was that while the Spiritual Revolution Realm survivors of the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness appeared as if they stood at the pinnacle of this world, their cultivation had long since been affected. They were the weakest of the weak within the Spiritual Revolution Realm.

“Doesn’t that mean that Su Yi is invincible in the modern era?” exclaimed Xuan Zhi.

“Invincible?” The palace master snickered and shook his head. “Although the battle before Nine Tripod City drew the world’s attention and caused an uproar, thirty thousand years ago, it would have been considered a small-scale skirmish. Few would have paid attention to it."

He paused, his expression suddenly cold and grim. “Just wait. The true struggle for the Grand Dao won’t begin until the onset of the Radiant Epoch! When the time comes, the ancient factions will reveal their true trump cards in a bid to seize good fortune. Furthermore, peak factions of other worlds will arrive to seize opportunities to prove their Dao and break through.

“This will be a golden age for cultivators, as well as an age of slaughter and upheaval! They say that pigs fear getting fat and men fear becoming famous. Su Yi might seem incomparably glorious and outstanding now, but when the time comes, it remains to be seen whether he’ll survive!”

His words echoed throughout the dimly lit grand hall. 

Xuan Zhi’s heart shook once more.

…..

On the tenth day of the third lunar month, Su Yi cut down five Spiritual Revolution Realm existences outside Nine Tripod City and obliterated the forces of the five allied ancient factions.

This news shocked the entire nation!

Su Yi’s reputation was like the midday sun, illuminating everything beneath the heavens!

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The world’s cultivators sang his praises and honored him as “Banished Immortal Su”!

Meanwhile, another major news story spread——

The long-anticipated Radiant Epoch would arrive in a month at most!

This provoked an unprecedented uproar. The world’s cultivators were all talking about it and rubbing their hands with anticipation. The cultivation factions distributed throughout the world all lay low, biding their time until the Radiant Epoch.

As a result, in the days that followed, the world was unusually peaceful.

However, everyone knew that this was the calm before the storm!

……

The Great Zhou, the Jade Capital.

It was dusk, and the skies were overcast with spring rains.

The pedestrians near the city gates hurried to their destinations, umbrellas in hand.

A thin, graying middle-aged man in long robes walked toward the city leading a donkey.

He looked about forty years old, with robust features. When his eyes moved, they shone with the vicissitudes of the years.

“Excuse me sir, might I ask how to get to the Su Family estate?” The middle-aged man stopped an old man, smiled, and clasped his fist.

“The Su Family? You mean that Su Family? The formerly illustrious one?” asked the old man.

“That’s right.”

“They… Heh. They’ve long since fallen into ruin,” sighed the old man. “Last year on the fourth day of the fifth month, Imperial Preceptor Su fought his way into the Jade Capital and single-handedly defeated Family Head Su Hongli. From that day forth, the Su Family fell from grace. Others divided up their territories, and the clan fragmented. When a tree falls, the monkeys living in it scatter…”

The old man rambled on and on, but the middle-aged man smiled and listened patiently and attentively.

It was only after the old man finished that he asked warmly, “Is the ‘Imperial Preceptor Su’ you speak of perhaps Su Hongli and Ye Yufei’s son?”

The old-timer nodded. “He is indeed.”

The middle-aged man clasped his fist. “Many thanks.”

With that, he led the bony donkey into the city. 

It was drizzling, and mists hung in the air, but that did nothing to detract from the Jade Capital’s prosperity.

The long-robed middle-aged man appeared in teahouses and taverns, continuously seeking out information about the Jade Capital’s Su Family. 

When night fell, the man appeared not far from the imperial palace. He patted the donkey gently and said, “Find a place to wait for me.”

The donkey nodded obediently, picked up its hooves, and wandered off.

The middle-aged man, meanwhile, walked confidently into the imperial palace. 

There were numerous imperial guards defending the palace interior, but none seemed to notice him. He slipped in right under their noses.

Zhou Zhili drank alone in a glittering, resplendent hall.

He’d become the emperor of the Great Zhou. He reigned over his nation and wielded vast authority. He had countless concubines, and the citizens envied and revered him.

However, he often felt alone. This was what they meant when they said, “It’s lonely at the top.”

“Isn’t drinking alone awfully dull? How about I accompany you?” a gentle voice rang out.

Zhou Zhili suddenly raised his head. He wasn’t sure when he’d gotten there, but a graying middle-aged man in long robes now stood in the hall.

“Sir, might I ask who you are?” Zhou Zhili rose, his eyes flashing. Whoever this person was, he’d appeared in the imperial palace’s forbidden grounds silently and without a trace, and in the middle of the night. He was undoubtedly an expert!

“Don’t be nervous. I’m just here to chat with you about Su Yi,” said the long-robed middle-aged man. As he spoke, he’d already entered the grand hall. He casually sat beside one of the little tables, took out a gourd of wine, and smiled. “Don’t mind if I do.”

With that, he threw back his head and took a drink.”

“Su Yi?” Zhou Zhili’s pupils constricted. “Are you out for revenge?”

The middle-aged man shook his head. “No, I’m searching for a relative.”

“A relative?”

Zhou Zhili asked in confusion, “To the best of my knowledge, Brother Su hails from the Jade Capital’s Su Family. Are you perhaps a member too?”

The middle-aged man shook his head. “This has nothing to do with you, so please don’t ask. All you need to know is that I have no ill intentions.”

Zhou Zhili silently returned to his seat. “Then… what is it you wish to know?”

The middle-aged man thought it over, then said, “You’re the emperor of the Great Zhou, and you and Su Yi have interacted before. Tell me what you know about him.”

Zhou Zhili inwardly sighed in relief. And here he’d thought the middle-aged man was after secret intelligence. So, he just wanted to hear about Su Yi!

That was easily arranged.

Zhou Zhili thought for a moment, then said, “It’s a long story. Brother Su and I first got acquainted on a tower ship headed to the Cloudriver Prefectural Capital…”

The words flowed out of him. As he described everything that happened that year, he couldn’t help but get emotional.

The middle-aged man smiled and listened attentively. From time to time, he raised his wine gourd, and the two of them shared a drink.

Once he’d heard about all of Su Yi’s legendary accomplishments and experiences in the Great Zhou, the middle-aged man put the gourd away. “Many thanks. I’d best get going.”

With that, he turned and left.

“Forgive my rudeness, but are you planning to seek out Su Yi?” Zhou Zhili hurried to his feet.

“That’s right. I came to the Azure Continent to visit family in the first place.”

Before his voice had even finished echoing through the air, the long-robed middle-aged man disappeared without a trace.

Zhou Zhili was stunned. A moment later, he suddenly realized something.

The long-robed middle-aged man had come from another world!

Rumor has it that Su Hongli’s wife, Su Yi’s mother, Ye Yufei, was an otherworlder. Could that have been one of Ye Yufei’s relatives?

When this occurred to Zhou Zhili, his heart shook.

It was already late at night, and faint raindrops were still falling. Mist still hung in the air.

Outside the Jade Capital, in the Green Prayer Mountains.

The dense mountain forests were especially cold and gloomy beneath the rain.

The long-robed middle-aged man stood before Ye Yufei’s grave. His donkey stood quietly not far away.

“It’s all my fault for not making it back in time. It’s my fault they wronged you, that those old fogies used you as a chess piece, and that they forced you to risk yourself by coming to the Azure Continent in search of the Origins of the Azure…”

The man’s face was full of grief and hurt. “I wouldn’t have thought that by the time I found you, you’d have already left this world….”

The middle-aged man sighed, his eyes bloodshot.

“And here I planned to avenge you. Who’d have thought your child would have long since beaten me to the punch?” The middle-aged man sighed and muttered, “But rest assured. I’ll be sure to help you rid the clan of those old bastards. They used you as a chess piece and cast you into the Azure Continent all on your own. They’ll pay for what they did to you!”

The man’s features bore the mark of the vicissitudes of life, and his face filled with dense, imposing murderous intent.

The nearby mists trembled, and throughout the wilderness, the leaves on the trees rustled. A terrifying, oppressive aura spread out.

Even the donkey was agitated and uneasy.

After a while, the long-robed middle-aged man let out a long breath of turbid air and said gently, “I’m going to go see Su Yi now. Your blood flows through his veins; he’s naturally qualified to inherit the ‘Ancestral Origin Divine Canon.’

“Those old fogies did everything they could to stop you from inheriting it. Now, it’ll have to go to your son instead.”

“Rest assured. I’ll pave his path ahead, no matter the price!”

As he muttered this, the long-robed man turned and left.

The donkey silently trailed after him.

The air was misty with rain, and the night was increasingly dark and deep.