First Immortal of the Sword

The Spiritual Revolution Realm represented the pinnacle of power beneath the Imperial level.

In both the Azure Continent and in other worlds and planes, Spiritual Revolution cultivators were the backbones of major factions.

When Emperors weren’t involved, they were the strongest around!

And Pu Jue was a first-rate figure within the Spiritual Revolution Realm. He even had a shot at proving his Dao and entering the Imperial Realm!

But now, Su Yi was showing signs of suppressing him. Of course Pu Surong was astonished!

This was why, when she heard Su Yi speak up, she made her choice without hesitation: the other four Spiritual Revolution cultivators were to enter the fray as well!

All four Spiritual Revolution experts, one woman, three men, immediately soared into the sky.

Every one of them had a monstrous aura!

But it was then that——

Pu Jue frowned and called them to a halt. “This battle ends here!”

His grave voice reverberated throughout heaven and earth.

Everyone present was flabbergasted.

Pu Jue had already lowered his hand, and his expression was complicated, with a hint of admiration in the mix. “Fellow Daoist Su, your talent is unmatched, and your abilities are deep and unfathomable. My cultivation is no match for yours.”

This declaration provoked an uproar amongst the onlookers, who found it hard to believe.

The four Spiritual Revolution cultivators fell silent.

Pu Surong was unwilling to accept this. “Elder Pu Jue, you still haven’t….”

 Pu Jue shook his head. “No need to say more.”

He looked at Su Yi. “I just don’t know if Fellow Daoist Su will accept my admission of defeat?”

He was one of the five strongest Spiritual Revolution Realm cultivators in the Bright Sky Realm, and he seemed extremely magnanimous.  

He was forthright even when admitting defeat!

But this only increased the distant onlookers’ astonishment.

Were there any chance of victory, how could Pu Jue possibly concede?

Pu Jue, meanwhile, was already certain. Even if the other four Spiritual Revolution cultivators fought alongside him, they couldn’t possibly come out ahead!

Su Yi took a deep look at Pu Jue, then said, “You know when to retreat and when to advance, and you do so decisively. With such intelligence and breadth of spirit, it’s no wonder you’ve reached your current level of attainment as a body refiner.

Pu Jue stiffened, and for a moment, he felt as if he were seeing things. 

It was as if he weren’t facing a teenager in the prime of his youth, but rather, an existence as terrifying as the Purple Moon Foxes’ Imperial ancestors. It seemed Su Yi could see into his heart effortlessly!

But before long, that feeling disappeared.

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Su Yi continued, “Since you’ve admitted defeat, I won’t make trouble for you. However, if you attack later, don’t blame me for my poor manners.”

Pu Jue inclined his head. “Rest assured, Fellow Daoist.

He then led the other four back to the ground.

“We lost again…” Pu Surong grimaced, feeling not at all pleased.

“You should get your emotions under control and wait for the show to begin,” transmitted Pu Jue. “Before long, a large-scale battle will begin, one directed at Su Yi.”

Pu Surong was briefly stunned. She looked up at the heavy curtain of dusk and the boundless landscape. Far, far away, near the gates of Nine Tripod City, countless people had gathered already.

Pu Surong then recalled what Su Yi had said earlier.

People had been keeping tabs on Su Yi throughout the past few days. They planned to catch him off guard while he underwent tribulation, disrupt him, and ruin his breakthrough!

Furthermore, Su Yi had said earlier that he was on the verge of undergoing tribulation! 

When she thought it over, Pu Surong quickly realized that Pu Jue’s admission of defeat wasn’t as simple as it appeared on the surface.

“Are you borrowing someone else’s knife to kill him?” transmitted Pu Surong.

“You’ve misunderstood. In a competition of the Grand Dao, I’m truly no match for Su Yi. I have no qualms admitting defeat,” Pu Jue transmitted back. “The thing is, I don’t want to find myself at the vanguard of the effort to disrupt Su Yi’s tribulation, or for his enemies to take advantage of our duel.”

“Let’s go. For now, let’s leave this dangerous place.” As he spoke, he was already walking into the distance. “The show will begin when Su Yi undergoes tribulation.”

The group quickly left the area. Su Yi made no attempt to stop them.

He just returned to the little hill, put away his wicker chair, and said to Weng Jiu, “You should leave the area too. Go find the old blind man and the others. If you run into danger, seek refuge within the city.”

Weng Jiu said with concern, “Fellow Daoist Su, you should return to the city and undergo tribulation there too.”

He could sense dark undercurrents flowing throughout the surrounding area; a storm was coming, and it would obviously be different from those before it.

“What could be more joyous than slaying my enemies while undergoing tribulation?” laughed Su Yi. “Besides, if I don’t give them an opportunity, they might well come up with who-knows-what wicked schemes or dirty tricks.”

Although he’d spent the past few days cultivating quietly atop the hill, he wasn’t entirely unaware of what was happening around him.

He’d long since sensed numerous suspicious characters appearing around Nine Tripod City, and he’d roughly guessed what they were here for.

The Seed of the Azure was far too enticing!

“So, you’ve already planned for this, Fellow Daoist.” Only then did he realize that Su Yi was using himself as bait. He wanted to undergo tribulation here to lure out his hidden enemies!”

This method was dangerous and bold, but based on Weng Jiu’s understanding of Su Yi, he knew that Su Yi wouldn’t try it if he weren’t certain he could pull it off.

Besides, if something really did go wrong, Su Yi could just flee into Nine Tripod City. The power of the Nine Tripod Suppression Barrier would be enough to neutralize the danger!

With this thought in mind, Weng Jiu no longer hesitated. He bade farewell and left.

The light of the setting sun bathed the world below, dyeing the majestic ancient walls of Nine Tripod City orange.

The hill Su Yi was on was quite a ways from the city gates, but cultivators could cross that distance in a flash.

Were someone to look down from the heavens, they’d discover numerous figures near the city gates. 

Similarly, there were clusters of cultivators on other parts of the hill, gazing at him from afar.

However, from beginning to end, none dared approach.

“His Excellency has dug a pitfall trap, and he’s just waiting for his opponents to throw themselves into it,” said the old blind man, with a strange look on his face. “Just wait. When his Tribulation of Spiritual Incarnation descends, those people harboring ill intentions will surely jump into the open.”

“What do you think we should do, Fellow Daoist?” the Xia Emperor asked gravely.

“Watch the show,” the old blind man said without so much as pausing to think.

The Xia Emperor was stunned, and he couldn’t help but find himself at a loss for words.

It was obvious that the old blind man had, well, blind faith in Su Yi!

“I think we ought to be careful. We can’t hold Brother Su back,” Wen Xinzhao warned.

The Xia Emperor agreed completely. “That’s only natural. If anything unexpected happens, I’ll activate the Nine Tripod Suppression Barrier Formation right away and protect us all.”

As they conversed, thunder suddenly rumbled through the cover of dusk blanketing the dome of heaven. It was extraordinarily jarring against the boundless, otherwise silent landscape.

Everyone’s heart quivered, and they looked up at the sky.

Deep within the dome of heaven, inky clouds surged forth, silently spreading. In just a few breaths of time, leaden tribulation clouds blotted out the sun.

It was as if the skies had been instantly plunged into an eternal night.

The surrounding one hundred thousand feet were shrouded in dense tribulation clouds, with the little hill Su Yi sat on at their center.

The dark clouds bore down on the city, as if about to break it!

Throughout the vicinity of Nine Tripod City, their terrifying aura was particularly apparent. It was as if the apocalypse were imminent; even the mighty Spirit Dao cultivators couldn’t help but gasp, and their expressions changed dramatically. 

“What a terrifying calamitous aura. What level of Tribulation of Spiritual Incarnation is this, to have such a powerful aura?” murmured an older-generation cultivator, his heart shaking.

“When I stepped into the Spiritual Incarnation Realm and faced my tribulation, it was nowhere near this powerful. This is comparable to what I faced while breaking into the Spiritual Revolution Realm!” Pu Jue muttered to himself. He looked shaken.

Pu Surong and his other companions reacted too. Their hearts and minds shook.

Throughout the surrounding area, countless people whispered amongst themselves and readied themselves for action.

Atop the little hill.

Su Yi had his hands behind his back as he gazed up at the sky, a hint of a strange light in the depths of his gaze.

It was just as he thought. His Tribulation of Spiritual Incarnation was rife with a strange, taboo aura, just like his Tribulation of Spiritual Manifestation had been!

With his 108,000 years of experience, he could tell that his Tribulation of Spiritual Manifestation was similarly worthy of the title “unprecedented”!

Even if he searched the Wilds’ long history, he’d find nothing like it!

But Su Yi wasn’t at all worried. He’d been waiting for this day for a long time.

Strictly speaking, he’d been waiting for this here on the hill since the fourth, when the curtains opened on the Radiant Epoch.

He’d refrained from breaking through earlier, but that wasn’t to give his enemies time to gather on his doorstep.

Rather, he was pondering something.

A certain… trivial matter… related to undergoing tribulation and breaking through.

But now, he understood completely.

Thus, his tribulation arrived naturally, and everything was within his expectations. 

When a flower bloomed, butterflies would come of their own accord.

Suddenly—

A rueful voice echoed throughout heaven and earth. “Fellow Daoist Su, you’re courageous indeed. You’re obviously well aware that many of those gathered nearby bear ill intentions for you, but you nonetheless dare undergo tribulation here. It would be difficult for others not to admire such valor.”

Then, a figure appeared out of nowhere about one thousand feet away from Su Yi.

He was a thin man in Confucian robes and a lotus crown, and he had the air of an immortal.

“The Bluecloud Tower Master?” There was an uproar throughout the surrounding area as many people recognized this new arrival. This was none other than the leader of Bluecloud Tower, the Bluecloud Tower Master, Fu Qingyun!

The world-famous Ranking of Stars was the work of Bluecloud Tower.

In the eyes of the world’s cultivators, Bluecloud Tower was a faction aloof from worldly affairs. They kept a low profile, and they were extremely mysterious. They’d never once participated in any sort of conflict.

Yet now, as Su Yi was about to undergo tribulation, the Bluecloud Tower Master was the first to make an appearance!

Who wouldn’t have been surprised?

Su Yi glanced at Fu Qingyun from afar. “Are you here as my enemy?”

From the crowd’s discussions, he’d already learned Fu Qingyun’s identity, and he couldn’t help but find it strange. Bluecloud Tower typically stays out of worldly disputes. Don’t tell me they’ve set their sights on the Seed of the Azure too?”

Fu Qingyun inclined his head in greeting. “Fellow Daoist, you’ve misunderstood. I have come simply to bear witness to what happens here today.

Su Yi said thoughtfully, “Does your Bluecloud Tower cultivate the path of the Annals of Red Dust?”

Fu Qingyun was stunned; he seemed utterly flabbergasted. “You’re quite perceptive, Fellow Daoist!”

Inwardly, his heart shook with emotion, and he could no longer remain calm.