First Immortal of the Sword

As his head flew through the air, astonishment and bewilderment were written all over Ye Changchun’s face.

It seemed he would never have guessed he’d die so quickly…

Thus!

Both head and headless body fell into the lake, creating a ring of red.

The entire area was deathly silent.

When Su Yi swung Abstruse Celestial, he cleaved through the lightning filling the sky, destroyed the Blue Lightning Daoist Seal, and slew Ye Changchun!

And he did it all practically in a single breath, so quick that it was almost unbelievable.

It was to the point that when Ye Changchun’s head flew through the air, the crowd almost didn’t get time to react.

This scene was truly unexpected.

When Ye Changchun called upon the full power of his Natal Spirit Treasure, its power and momentum shook heaven and earth. Everyone present broke out in cold sweats on Su Yi’s behalf.

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Many of them even wondered if Su Yi would be in danger.

Who’d have thought that Su Yi would cut Ye Changchun down just as he revealed the pinnacle of his strength?

“He’s dead!?” someone couldn’t help but blurt. It seemed they couldn’t quite believe it.

Everyone else present felt dazed and shaken.

Ye Changchun was dead! A single slash had decapitated a Spiritual Revolution cultivator far mightier than the likes of Huan Tianxu!

“He…” Shen Suiyun’s expression shifted, and he could no longer keep his cool. Waves of emotion coursed through his heart.

Su Yi’s attack had no bells or whistles. It was as simple as could be, but it struck with an overwhelming, terrifying momentum.

Shen Suiyun’s hair stood on end. Even if he wasn’t willing, he had no choice but to admit that he’d been startled too…

“What kind of slash was that?”

Ye Yunlan froze in midair, his expression full of astonishment.

Earlier, he’d leaped into the air, and he’d been just about to intervene, but Su Yi never gave him the opportunity. He killed Ye Changchun in the blink of an eye.

“That’s impossible! That’s absolutely impossible! How could a Spiritual Manifestation Realm cultivator possibly kill the seventh elder…?” Ye Xueting couldn’t help but mutter to herself. She seemed to have suffered an enormous shock, and she was still unwilling to accept reality.

“You’re the only one left now,” said Su Yi as he turned to face her.

At his current strength, killing someone like Ye Changchun meant little to him. It was no different than killing Huan Tianxu and the others back then.

Ye Xueting shuddered beneath Su Yi’s gaze, and her pretty face paled. She said in a quavering voice, “Fifth Bro, we’re family. Can you please ask Su Yi to spare me just this once? I… I really don’t want to die…”

“Fifth Bro” was directed at Ye Yunlan.

Ye Yunlan sneered. “So, Ye Xueting, you too fear death?”

Ye Xueting pleaded, “Fifth Bro, I was wrong. So long as you let me leave here alive…”

She was about to go on, but the forceful hum of a sword interrupted her. Su Yi had already swung his weapon!

Ye Xueting instantly fled in panic.

“Su Yi, just you wait. There’s no way the Kunwu Mountain Ye Family will let a little beast like you off!” she shrieked with incomparable resentment.

As her voice rang out, she crushed a secret talisman.

A glittering golden rain of the Grand Dao enveloped her, and she disappeared without a trace.

“A Golden Cicada Molting Talisman might be wondrous, but how can you escape the Nine Tripod Suppression Barrier Formation?” A mocking jeer tugged at Su Yi’s lips. 

His qi suddenly circulated, connecting with the power of the Nine Tripod Suppression Barrier blanketing the area. He leaped forward and pressed down on the air.

Boom!

The power of the formation rumbled around Goldenscale Lake.

Immediately afterward, a startled cry rang out, and the power of the formation forced Ye Xueting to reveal herself.

Practically simultaneously, Su Yi attacked from afar.

“No——!” Ye Xueting cried out in panic and used her full power to defend herself.

But her strength was at best comparable to Ye Fenghe’s. How could she possibly be a match for Su Yi?

In the blink of an eye, she was dead.

Now, all three experts of the Ye Family had perished!

The crowd was astonished, and they sank into a long daze. Barely any time had passed since the start of the battle, but the combat prowess Su Yi had on display was overwhelming.

Ye Fenghe and Ye Xueting were both top Spiritual Incarnation experts, but neither could take even a single blow.

And Ye Changchun, the mid-stage Spiritual Revolution cultivator? It might have seemed like he could contend with Su Yi, but when it truly came time to determine victory and defeat, he couldn’t take a single hit either. One slash was enough to decapitate him!

“If Yufei were still alive to see this, she’d surely be gratified…” Ye Yunlan muttered to himself, looking dazed.

He had now witnessed Su Yi’s strength firsthand, and his heart shook. Try as he might, he couldn’t calm himself.

“I wonder just how strong Fellow Daoist Su has become,” muttered the Xia Emperor. He could tell at a glance that as strong as Ye Changchun was, he couldn’t even force Su Yi to reveal his full strength!

“Just… Just what kind of terrifying foundations in the Grand Dao does this guy have?” Shen Suiyun watched in a daze.

After witnessing this battle, the monster of the ancient era who’d kept a solid hold on the top spot of the Ranking of Stars was astonished too, to the point that he found it hard to believe. His heart sank, and a feeling he couldn’t quite put into words coursed through him.

He couldn’t even imagine how a Spiritual Manifestation Realm cultivator as powerful as Su Yi could exist in this world. He was so strong it was downright unreasonable!

“It’s your turn.” It was then that Su Yi turned around and fixed his gaze on the distant Shen Suiyun.

Shen Suiyun stiffened as he suddenly came to his senses. His expression was graver than ever before.

Everyone instinctively looked at him.

However, their expressions were a bit strange.

When Shen Suiyun arrived in Nine Tripod City, he publicly challenged Su Yi to a duel over Goldenscale Lake. At the time, everyone was incomparably excited, as they assumed an unprecedented duel was about to unfold.

But after watching Su Yi kill Ye Changchun and the others, everyone’s feelings had changed. They couldn’t help but wonder if Shen Suiyun still dared to challenge Su Yi. 

When you ride a tiger, it’s hard to get back off. Shen Suiyun’s in a tight spot, thought the Xia Emperor.

It was Shen Suiyun who’d proposed this duel. If he dared so much as shrink back, it would deal a devastating blow to his reputation. If he dared fight, it was highly likely that Su Yi would cut him down.

This was what it meant to be trapped on both sides.

However, it was then that Su Yi suddenly changed his mind. “If you lower your head and admit defeat, I’ll let you leave.”

Everyone was dumbstruck.

The Xia Emperor and Weng Jiu were stunned too. Since when was Su Yi so agreeable?

Even Shen Suiyun was dazed, and his heart wavered.

“You cannot admit defeat!” Suddenly, a low, raspy voice rang out. “He wants to destroy your Dao Heart! If you lower your head, raising it once more will mean overcoming difficulty after difficulty!”

This voice spread throughout the entire area.

Shen Suiyun broke out in cold sweats.

It was true. If he lowered his head now, it would be equivalent to admitting he was afraid of Su Yi. That would inevitably leave an almost inerasable shadow on his heart.

If, in the future, he got the chance to defeat Su Yi, that would naturally do the trick.

But if he couldn’t? So long as Su Yi lived, the shadow of this concession would erode and destroy his Dao Heart!

When cultivating and seeking the Dao, there was no greater taboo than problems with your mental state!

The Xia Emperor and Weng Jiu suddenly understood. So, Su Yi’s words were intended to attack his opponent’s heart!

Then, the low, raspy voice rang out once more. It reverberated throughout heaven and earth, and it was difficult to tell just where it was coming from. “Su Yi, so long as you agree to delay this duel by a month, I promise that Hidden Cloud Sword Mountain will never oppose you or the imperial family ever again.”

“What does Hidden Cloud Sword Mountain think it is, to dare suggest such a condition?” Su Yi said coolly. “But I can indeed agree to that.”

He then looked at Shen Suiyun once more. “I’ll give you a month. I hope that when the time comes, you’ll be stronger than you are now.”

With that, he put his hands behind his back, turned, and left.

Shen Suiyun shouted, “If you’re not afraid of Hidden Cloud Sword Mountain, why not attack now? Rest assured, even if I die in battle, I won’t flee!”

He spoke with staunch conviction, and he sounded incomparably determined. 

“I had no interest in this duel to begin with. The reason for my disinterest is simple: you’re too weak. I’m not at all interested in fighting you.

“Right, if you’re still this weak a month from now, I won’t let you waste any more of my time talking nonsense. I’ll cut you down before you can finish a single sentence.”

As his voice drifted through the air, Su Yi’s tall, upright figure vanished down the far end of the alleyway.

“Too weak…” Shen Suiyun stood there, rooted to the spot.

He was the top expert of Hidden Cloud Sword Mountain’s younger generation at the monster of the ancient era first on the Ranking of Stars. He was famed throughout the nation.

No one had ever called him a weakling before!

“Too weak?” The crowd almost dared not believe their ears.

Shen Suiyun’s strength had long since become common knowledge.

Otherwise, why would everyone have spent all that time arguing over whether Su Yi or Shen Suiyun was stronger?

Yet now, Su Yi had gone and given up on the duel, not because he was afraid of the threat that Hidden Cloud Sword Mountain represented, but because he thought Shen Suiyun was too weak to be worth fighting!

Who wouldn’t have been surprised?

“Xia Emperor, Hidden Cloud Sword Mountain shall keep its promise. We shall not oppose the imperial family any longer!” said that raspy voice. “Suiyun, we should leave. The Radiant Epoch shall arrive in seven days. When the time comes, Hidden Cloud Sword Mountain will strive to obtain a rare stroke of good fortune for you! Then, a month from now, you and Su Yi can fight to see who’s superior!”

Shen Suiyun’s expression filled with uncertainty. 

After a while, he took a deep breath and said with determination, “A month from now, you are not to intervene, not even if I die in battle!”

With that, the monster of the ancient era in first place on the Ranking of Stars strode into the air and left.

Every cultivator who witnessed this was inwardly rueful.

It seemed that in the end, Shen Suiyun and Su Yi weren’t going to duel today.

Even so, who could fail to realize that Su Yi had pulled ahead of Shen Suiyun?