First Immortal of the Sword

As someone knocked on the courtyard gates, an aged voice emanated from the doorway.

“I am the Ninth Libationer of Meng Po Palace, Rui Yang. Dharma Protector Xue Ye and Legacy Disciple Cui Jingyan have come to request an audience, Fellow Daoist Su.”

The old blind man furrowed his brow. “Your Excellency, we’ve got ill-intentioned guests.”

Su Yi laughed. “No, there’s no way they’re here to cause trouble. Open the door and let them in.”

The old blind man was confused, but he nonetheless rose to let them in.

Su Yi, meanwhile, lost all interest in breakfast. He arrived beside the fish pond and sprawled out in his wicker chair as usual.

It was a clear spring morning, with a gentle breeze and beautiful sunlight. Throughout the courtyard, the vegetation flourished, brimming with life.

As Su Yi lay in his wicker, he couldn’t help but recall something.

Last night, when the Xia Emperor and Weng Jiu visited, they brought with them the spoils of war. Combined, the various treasures’ value was inestimable.

And some of the spiritual materials could be used to enhance the wicker chair…

As he pondered, the old blind man led over the Ninth Libationer, Cui Jingyan, and Xue Ye.

“This old man is called Rui Yang. Fellow Daoist Su, congratulations on overcoming your tribulation, proving your Dao, and breaking through your enemies’ encirclement!” The Ninth Libationer greeted him with a smile.

Su Yi remained seated. He didn’t move at all, save for a gentle nod of the head. “No need for pleasantries. Sit wherever you like.”

Cui Jingyan’s willowy eyebrows knit together, and she pursed her lips. “You sure know how to put on airs.”

Although she said this, she walked over to a boulder and sat down.

She was dressed in purple, with the beauty of an immortal and the charm of a yao. When the sunlight shone down on her slender figure, she was beautiful beyond measure. 

The Ninth Libationer and Xue Ye looked at each other, then casually took a seat.

“Not even your ancestor would dare accuse me of putting on airs,” said Su Yi with a dry laugh. He could tell at a glance that the young lady of the Cui Family was outwardly prickly but soft on the inside.

Cui Jingyan was stunned. She subconsciously asked, “You… You know my grandfather?”

Su Yi laughed but said nothing. Instead, he looked at the Ninth Libationer and Xue Ye. “Did you come here to ask about that?”

The Ninth Libationer’s heart shook, and he said with admiration, “Indeed, there’s no deceiving you! We sensed your extraordinary origins, and we dared not be negligent. Thus, we came here to visit you.”

Su Yi asked with great interest, “I have extraordinary origins? What makes you say that?”

The Ninth Libationer took a moment to calm himself, then considered his words. “It seems to us that you know the legacies of Meng Po Palace like the back of your hand. Furthermore, a fellow Daoist of the Ghost Lantern Sarcophagus Bearers is accompanying you. This proves that, while you may not be a denizen of the Netherworld, you at the very least have deep ties to the Netherworld.”

Su Yi smiled. “Is there anything else?”

The Ninth Libationer hesitated, then said, “More importantly, you recognized Jingyan’s pendant at a glance and inferred her background. This is what made us realize that you were no ordinary person.”

Su Yi nodded. “You’ve analyzed quite a bit. You actually put a fair bit of thought into this.”

When he heard Su Yi’s tacit acknowledgment, the Ninth Libationer’s heart shook, and his expression was increasingly solemn. He clasped his fist and inclined his head. “Please, forgive my impudence, but just who are you?”

Cui Jingyan and Xue Ye both looked at Su Yi. Even the old blind man couldn’t help but prick up his ears.

All he knew was that Su Yi was the debt collector of the Ghost Lantern Sarcophagus Bearer lineage, and it seemed Su Yi had deep ties to their founder, Old Ghost Coffin-Bearer.

But just what were Su Yi’s origins? The old blind man couldn’t even begin to guess.

“I’m no one in particular,” said Su Yi, an inscrutable light in his eyes. He sighed, “I’m no more than a humble sword cultivator drifting aimlessly through this world.”

His past life was his greatest secret. It wasn’t that he dared not tell anyone, nor did he disdain to speak of it. Rather, it was highly likely that revealing his secret would taint others with his karma.

The consequences of that karma would surely be more than they could bear. Su Yi didn’t wish to see that happen.

“A humble sword cultivator?” Cui Jingyan was obviously disappointed. She pursed her shiny red lips and muttered, “You’re so young, so why do you have to imitate those old fogeys and pretend to be all profound? You’re acting as mysterious as my grandfather.”

The Ninth Libationer and Xue Ye were a bit stunned too. However, they’d long since known that Su Yi wouldn’t give them answers so easily, so they weren’t overly disappointed.

“Your grandfather adopted that ambiguous manner of speaking because he doesn’t want to offend the heavens, the earth, or anyone around him. More than that, he doesn’t want to offend the masses, so he’s spent his whole life trying to remain detached from worldly affairs. He fears nothing more than the skies collapsing around him and bashing a hole in his skull,” jeered Su Yi. “I’m not like him.”

The Ninth Libationer and Xue Ye gasped. Their hearts shook.

Who else would dare mock His Excellency the Adjudicator of the Netherworld!?

But Su Yi acted as if he were delivering a casual anecdote.

Cui Jingyan was stunned. “Su Yi… is that something a junior like you ought to say?”

She found this rather absurd.

A teenager was mocking her grandfather without the slightest reservations! She’d never encountered anything so ridiculous in her life.

“Do you think I’m wrong?” laughed Su Yi.

Cui Jingyan opened her mouth to argue, but she had nothing to say in response.

It was just as Su Yi said. Her grandfather really seldom paid worldly affairs any heed. He said that as a member of the Cui Family, they ought to distance themselves from the cage of worldly entanglements and remain aloof. Only then could one truly experience the secrets of adjudication.

She held it in for a while. Then, Cui Jingyan glared viciously at Su Yi. “I’m saying there’s a problem with your attitude!”

Su Yi smiled. When a woman was good-looking, even her anger had its own distinctive beauty.

He suddenly said, “You came to the Azure Continent on your grandfather’s orders. Is that right?”

“I…” Cui Jingyan was about to deny it.

However, before she got the chance, Su Yi continued, “According to the rules of the Cui Family, main branch descendants are not to leave the Netherworld except for matters of the utmost importance. You are naturally no exception, and with your status and cultivation base, not even the master of Meng Po Palace would dare send you here without your family’s permission.”

Cui Jingyan had nothing to say to that, so she forced her words back down.

However, waves of astonishment coursed through Xue Ye and the Ninth Libationer’s hearts!

Su Yi hadn’t just figured out that it was the Adjudicator of the Netherworld who’d allowed Cui Jingyan to come on this expedition. It seemed that he knew the Cui Family’s affairs like the back of his hand too!

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This was unquestionably unbelievable!

But Su Yi paid the changes to their emotional states no heed.

Instead, he looked up at the dome of heaven, rubbed his hands against his chair’s armrests, and sighed. 

“Your ancestor used a piece of the Tree of Ten Thousand Daos as a divine material, then used the Celestial Net Capturing the Heavens to refine this pendant. If he had you carry it on your person, he was obviously fishing. He did it on purpose so that I’d see it.”

His brow furrowed; he seemed to have realized something. He sank into contemplation.

The atmosphere was instantly heavy and silent.

Cui Jingyan’s beautiful eyes stared intently at Su Yi, and her face filled with irrepressible bewilderment.

This guy actually knows about the Celestial Net Capturing the Heavens!?

Throughout the entire Cui Family, only their ancestor, her grandfather, cultivated it. Most of the others didn’t even know it existed!

“Fishing…? So, Su Yi has long since guessed the Adjudicator of the Netherworld’s intentions?” 

The Ninth Libationer and Xue Ye could no longer remain calm.

They’d thought long and hard before hypothesizing that the Cui Family had sent Cui Jingyan to the Azure Continent as “bait.” It seemed highly likely that the Adjudicator of the Netherworld was fishing for something!

Who’d have thought that the “fish” had long since realized this?

By now, how could the Ninth Libationer and Xue Ye fail to realize that the person Cui Longxiang was trying to find was none other than Su Yi?

They even dared say with certainty that there was a deep connection between Su Yi and the Adjudicator of the Netherworld!

“You… You really know my grandfather?” Cui Jingyan couldn’t help but ask. 

Instead of answering, Su Yi responded with a question. “When you left, did he mention why he was sending you to the Azure Continent?”

Cui Jingyan shook her head.

“Let me see your pendant,” said Su Yi.

She hesitated, but ultimately, she took it from her waistband and passed it to him. As she did, she warned him, “Don’t try anything. With your power, there’s no way you can activate it, and if you try, it’s highly likely you’ll suffer a backlash…”

She’d only just said this when her eyes widened, and she froze in place.

Su Yi had just tapped the pendant’s surface gently with his fingertips. Flecks of light, each as fine as the hairs of an ox, bloomed like flower petals and enveloped the pendant.

As the flecks of light sank into the pendant’s surface, a streak of dazzling purple light flowed around it, transforming into lines of mysterious Daoist glyphs.

The group was unwittingly transfixed. 

The symbols were each as small as grains of rice, and they were complex and mysterious, contorted and strange. They seemed to contain spirituality, and they flickered in and out of view.

Cui Jingyan muttered in a daze, “How is this possible? Why didn’t I have any idea that such secrets were hidden within the jade pendant…?”

The Ninth Libationer and Xue Ye fell silent, but endless waves coursed through their hearts.

They’d lost track of how many times they’d been shocked since entering this courtyard.

But now, when they saw the Adjudicator of the Netherworld’s pendant change in Su Yi’s hands, they felt completely dumbstruck.

Even if you’d hit them over the head, they could never have guessed what kind of mysterious origins Su Yi must have to possess such unbelievable abilities!

“How did you do it?” Cui Jingyan couldn’t help but ask. She looked utterly flabbergasted. The young man before her seemed as if he were shrouded in layers of mist and chock full of secrets.

Su Yi ignored her.

Instead, he stared at the lines of strange, contorted glyphs, his expression shifting and uncertain.

This was a type of Daoist markings condensed of the Celestial Net Capturing the Heavens. Even most Emperors would have had a hard time discerning the meaning therein.

But this naturally couldn’t stop Su Yi.

Rather, Cui Longxiang had deliberately placed this message here so that Su Yi would see it!

The text read:

“Old Monster Su, great changes have come to the Netherworld, and I have to take a trip deep into the Sea of Bitterness. It remains to be seen whether or not I’ll return alive.

“I know you’re not afraid of anything, but if you go back to the Netherworld, don’t reveal your identity, no matter what. The Netherworld is not what it once was.

“I have no other requests. My only hope is that when you return, you won’t break Little Leaf’s heart ever again!”