First Immortal of the Sword

Cui Jingyan asked in confusion, “What could possibly be amiss about his background?”

Here on the Azure Continent, Su Yi was an extremely dazzling, heaven-defying figure, and the people still spoke of his legendary exploits.

This had naturally drawn Meng Po Palace’s attention.

However, no matter how they looked at him, Su Yi’s origins seemed perfectly ordinary and unexceptional.

He was from a tiny clan in a remote nation. His father, Su Hongli, was just a Xiantian Martial Ancestor, and his mother, Ye Yufei, had long since passed away.

There was nothing strange about any of that.

Furthermore, everyone had long since ascertained that Su Yi wasn’t the possessed puppet of some old monster, nor was he a monster of the ancient era who’d survived the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness.

Nothing about his background was worthy of notice.

This was why Cui Jingyan thought it so strange that the Ninth Libationer and Xue Ye thought it was Su Yi’s background that had drawn her grandfather’s attention.

The Ninth Libationer calmed himself, and his expression turned a bit strange. “Su Yi is a peerless genius of the younger generation; the more ordinary his background, the stranger it is.”

He then launched into a detailed analysis. “Don’t forget, last year, he was a rejected scion of his clan, and he’d lost his entire cultivation base, becoming a live-in son-in-law and a laughingstock…

“But ever since the second day of the second lunar month last year, he’s been like a completely different person. That day marked the start of his unstoppable ascent to prominence!

“Over the course of a year, he rose to the top of the Great Zhou’s younger generation, suppressed the Great Wei’s top faction, the Wheel of the Moon Sect, and intimidated the Great Qin’s three top sects…

“Then, he arrived in the Great Xia and…”

The Ninth Libationer’s low voice reverberated throughout the room as he listed practically every last one of Su Yi’s legendary accomplishments, one by one.

Although Cui Jingyan and Xue Ye had already been aware of much of this, they listened attentively, showing no sign of impatience.

“Although he’s only in the Spiritual Manifestation Realm, here in the Azure Continent, he’s the strongest Spiritual Manifestation cultivator around! With him around, even modern Spiritual Revolution are suppressed to the point that they almost can’t raise their heads!

“And all of these changes took place over just a little more than a year, that’s all!”

In a little over a year, a young man from a remote nation, someone without a cultivation base, soared to prominence like a comet illuminating the skies of the Azure Continent, becoming the world-famous Banished Immortal Su. 

It was practically a miracle!

Even in the Netherworld, for all its long history, there was no precedent for this!

“In the face of these miraculous, unbelievable truths, who would dare believe that Su Yi’s origins were ordinary?” asked the Ninth Libationer.

Cui Jingyan and Xue Ye had nothing to say to that.

“And don’t forget: the inheritor of the Ghost Lantern Sarcophagus Bearers has appeared beside him,” added the Ninth Libationer. “In the Netherworld, their founder, Old Ghost Coffin-Bearer, is an incomparably mysterious top expert. His abilities and methods are no inferior to those of His Excellency the Adjudicator of the Netherworld.

“But now, one of his inheritors didn’t just appear on the Azure Continent; he appeared at Su Yi’s side. That’s out of the ordinary too!”

Cui Jingyan could no longer suppress her astonishment and bewilderment. “Don’t tell me his background… is somehow connected to the Netherworld?”

“That’s surely the case,” Xue Ye suddenly interjected. “Don’t forget: he knows Meng Po Palace’s legacies and secret arts like the back of his hand, and even the Adjudicator of the Netherworld seems to have long since taken note of him. Otherwise, why would he have had you bring that pendant and come with us to the Azure Continent?

“And that inheritor of the Ghost Lantern Sarcophagus Bearers is from the Netherworld too. All of these clues prove that Su Yi’s origins are deeply intertwined with the Netherworld!”

By this point of their discussion, the mysteries hidden within numerous points of suspicion were gradually starting to take shape.

However, the Ninth Libationer and Xue Ye were only more confused than ever.

It was as if they’d discovered a secret shrouded in dense layers of black mist. Every lead pointed to the Netherworld, but there was nothing to help them deduce the secret behind the mists.

“There is no Su family in the Netherworld,” said Cui Jingyan, her brow furrowed as she thought with all her might. “Someone my grandfather is paying attention to, with the surname Su…”

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Suddenly, her beautiful eyes widened, and she said in a daze, “Could he be Su Xuanjun!?”

Su Xuanjun!

The name was like a taboo; both Xue Ye and the Ninth Libationer trembled from head to toe as if shocked and terrified.

A moment later, they both shook their heads, denying it without hesitation.

The Ninth Libationer firmly rejected the idea. “That’s not possible!”

Xue Ye laughed bitterly. “Jingyan, please, please, please don’t joke like that. To tell the truth, it didn’t seem like a joke; it’s like you were trying to terrify us.”

Su Xuanjun.

The name represented an unmatched legend, the sole sovereign of the Wilds, the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force.

The man who suppressed the heavens, the Master of Ten Thousand Daos.

The man the world’s cultivators saw as a sovereign among Emperors!

Even the leaders of the various regions of the Netherworld saw him as practically invincible, the top expert of the Dao of the Sword!

A long time ago, Su Xuanjun had ventured into the Netherworld, alone save for his sword. He’d forced various major powers to meekly avert their gazes; they dared not even lose their tempers!

Even now, tales of Su Xuanjun’s legendary accomplishments still circulated throughout the Netherworld.

“What do you mean, ‘trying to terrify you?’” Cui Jingyan said in displeasure. “It would take a legendary figure like Su Xuanjun to draw my grandfather’s attention, and only someone like Su Xuanjun could get an inheritor of the Ghost Lantern Sarcophagus Bearers to serve him. Furthermore, Su Xuanjun would indeed know our legacies and secret arts like the back of his hand!

“Besides, while there are plenty of people out there surnamed Su, of them, only Su Xuanjun meets all those conditions!”

The Ninth Libationer and Xue Ye’s smiles were increasingly bitter after they heard this. 

The Ninth Libationer patiently explained, “Jingyan, the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force passed away five hundred years ago. Everyone in the Netherworld knows that. Besides, Su Yi is more than just a realm or two beneath the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force when it comes to cultivation, and their statuses are as far apart as the mud and the clouds.”

Cui Jingyan shook her head. “You’ve misunderstood me. I suspect that Su Yi is Su Xuajun’s reincarnation!”

His reincarnation!

The Ninth Libationer and Xue Ye’s eyelids twitched.

A moment later, Xue Ye shook his head. “That’s impossible. The secrets of reincarnation are as fleeting as a legend even in the Netherworld. Practically no one has ever achieved rebirth. The Swordmaster of Abstruse Force explored the Netherworld tens of thousands of years ago. He, too, was in search of the secrets of reincarnation. But in the end, he didn’t achieve his goal.”

The Ninth Libationer added, “Rumor has it that anyone who reaches the far shore of the Sea of Bitterness will find the secrets of reincarnation, but as everyone knows that the Sea of Bitterness is boundless! As mighty as Imperial experts are, even they find it difficult to return from the depths of the Sea of Bitterness alive, never mind reaching the far shore.”

He paused, then looked at Cui Jingyan. “But the real crux of the matter is that the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force passed away five hundred years ago. Even if he had reincarnated, he’d already be five hundred years old. How could he possibly have become an eighteen-year-old like Su Yi?”

When she heard that, Cui Jingyan instantly realized that there was a problem with her hypothesis. It might seem logical, but it didn’t hold up to scrutiny.

She grimaced and muttered, “But if he isn’t Su Xuanjun, just what are his origins?”

“Perhaps only His Excellency the Adjudicator of the Netherworld knows the answer to that,” said the Ninth Libationer. “When we return to the Netherworld, you should ask him in person, Jingyan. Then, all will surely become clear.”

Cui Jingyan pursed her lips. “There’s no other choice.”

Xue Ye suddenly said, “Perhaps we can make contact with Su Yi? If we learn anything from him, it might be enough for us to figure out his origins.”

Cui Jingyan’s eyes lit up. “That’s not a bad idea!”

The Ninth Libationer said gravely, “His origins are fishy, and he’s like a bundle of mysteries. We cannot become his enemies. If we approach him, we must do so without any ill intentions.

Cui Jingyan said irritably, “Ninth Libationer, he extorted six Yellow Springs Spirit-Condensing Pills out of me. Are we just going to let that go?”

The Ninth Libationer smiled. “We can use that as a pretense to approach him. Besides, since he recognized the Adjudicator of the Netherworld’s pendant, it’s quite likely that he’s the person the Adjudicator of the Netherworld is searching for. He naturally won’t become your enemy.”

Cui Jingyan’s beautiful eyes shifted. After a while, she said, “That’s true, actually…”

The Ninth Libationer then made his decision. “Three days from now, the Azure Continent’s Radiant Epoch is sure to arrive. Once we’ve obtained the Seed of the Azure, we can go visit Su Yi!” 

……

The Ninth Star Ruin.

The roots of an enormous tree stretched into the void of outer space, and its branches were covered with the fragmented corpses of stars. The tree was already withered and heavily damaged.

Even its trunk was covered in eye-catching, startling cracks; it looked as if it might fall apart at a moment’s notice.

“Little Sparrow, we ought to leave.” A’Cang stood on a branch, her expression full of grief.

She wore cloud-patterned skirts, and her long, snow-white hair hung loose. Her jade-like feet were bare, and a perfectly round, bright and clear illusory ice wheel was reflected behind her, offsetting her ethereal mysteriousness and grace.

On the other side of the branch, a gray little sparrow sank into a long silence, then said, “I’ll go gather up the monkey’s remains.”

It then flew off and arrived at the distant, vast continent hovering in the void.

A single, solitary grave stood there, the words “Here Lies Yuan Motian” carved on its surface.

This was the grave Su Yi had left for the Sumeru Yao Emperor, Yuan Motian, upon leaving this place.

The gray sparrow beat its wings and effortlessly opened the grave, then used a secret ability to gather Yuan Motian’s remains, seal them in a box, and take them away.

“A’Cang, where are we going?” asked the gray sparrow.

“I want to see Fellow Daoist Su, whispered A’Cang. 

She’d long since planned to do this.

“Are you going to get the Seed of the Azure back?” asked the sparrow.

A’Cang shook her head. “Only someone like him can protect the Seed of the Azure. I just want to ask him a few questions. Come on, let’s go.”

She’d already started walking away.

The gray sparrow hurriedly shot after her, then landed on her shoulder.