First Immortal of the Sword

The moonlight was as soft as water, and the trees of the peach grove rustled.

Fu Qingyun recounted everything in the Reflections on the Stars relating to the Nine Great Star Ruins.

The Nine Great Star Ruins had existed since antiquity, like nine great natural ramparts distributed throughout the boundless void of outer space.

At the center of the starry skies lay the Nine Provinces of the Wilds.

The Nine Great Star Ruins occupied the periphery. 

The Ninth Star Ruin, where the Azure Continent was located, was one of them.

The Reflections on the Stars described the Nine Great Star Ruins as a massive circle. The Wilds was located at the circle’s center.

The Reflections on the Stars said nothing about the space beyond the Nine Star Ruins.

It did, however, list the names of the worlds attached to each of the star ruins.

There was the Blue Snow Realm, and the Mysterious Blue Realm, and of course, the Azure Realm…

After learning all this, Su Yi keenly detected something interesting.

Every single one of the Nine Star Ruins had the character “苍”, which meant “deep blue” or “green.”

There was no way this was just a coincidence.  

Furthermore, the Reflections on the Stars recorded the exact location of the Wilds. Su Yi found this rather surprising.

However, it confirmed his initial hypothesis: from the perspective of the cultivators of the Wilds, the worlds associated with the Nine Star Ruins were indeed located in outer space!

Leaving the wilds and venturing into the starry skies required first traversing the Nine Great Star Ruins. Only then could one truly reach the depths of outer space.

The Nine Great Star Ruins form a circle, with the Wilds at their center. Why does it feel like the Wilds have been surrounded…? Su Yi muttered to himself.

He recalled what the Divine Monarch of Tragedy had told him: every expert who left the Ninth Star Ruin and proceeded further into outer space was seen as an escaped convict by the jailers!

The Divine Monarch of Tragedy had arrived on the lifeless world of the Sixth Star Ruin after traversing outer space. It was there that a jailer captured him and imprisoned him within the Den of Caterpillars.

Su Yi now knew that the Sixth Star Realm’s world was called the Yellow-Green Realm.

Similarly, according to the Divine Monarch of Tragedy, anyone, no matter who they were, who attempted to leave the Nine Great Star Ruins and proceed further into the starry skies was seen as an escaped convict and captured!

All of this only increased Su Yi’s conviction that something wasn’t right about the arrangement of the Nine Great Star Ruins. 

No matter how he looked at them, they seemed like nine giant cages arranged in a circular starry sky. And the heart of the circle, the Wilds, seemed trapped in layers of seals!

But if that’s true, the reality of the situation is just too cruel… Su Yu furrowed his brow.

The Divine Monarch of Tragedy called the mysterious jailers’ unknown faction the Will of Heaven Sect.

This was because within the Den of Caterpillars stood a stone stele. The words “the Dao of Heaven subtracts where there is excess and adds where there is deficiency” were written on its surface.

What was an excess?

The answer was simple. In the eyes of the jailers, those who left the Nine Star Ruins and proceeded deeper into the starry sky were superfluous. They saw them as escaped convicts and treated them accordingly!

Of course, all of this was just Su Yi’s current hypothesis.

He couldn’t learn the full truth or get clear answers from these leads alone. 

Right, the Radiant Epoch has already begun. I’m afraid the entity deep within Meteor Abyss will show up before long.

It’s highly likely that he’s the same jailer who gravely injured Ye Xun back in the Glittering Ghost Domain.

When I left Sumeru Immortal Island, he sensed that I was carrying the Seed of the Azure. That means that if he leaves Meteor Abyss, he’s sure to come looking for me sooner or later.

What I ought to do now is sit back and wait for my prey to fall into my lap. So long as I capture him, I can learn the jailers’ origins, as well as the secrets of the Nine Great Star Ruins and the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness.

Here, Su Yi cast his scattered thoughts aside, faced Fu Qingyun, and inclined his head. “Many thanks for your guidance. This information is very important to me.”

Fu Qingyun hurriedly waved his gratitude away and laughed. “It’s just some information recorded in a few ancient tomes. You needn’t be so polite.”

Su Yi then asked about the hostile faction’s challenge. After taking a moment to think it over, he said, “The factions in question suffered a bitter defeat just a few days ago, but they’ve already formed an alliance and issued a joint challenge. It seems they’re completely confident. Why is that?”

Fu Qingyun’s expression shifted inscrutably. “It’s not that they’re fearless, but that they’re worried you’ll show up on their doorsteps, one by one, and get revenge.”

He then launched into a detailed explanation.

On the eleventh day of the fourth lunar month, Su Yi underwent tribulation and broke through, slaying twenty-five Spiritual Revolution cultivators in one fell swoop. This caused an enormous, nationwide uproar.

At the same time, the factions hostile to Su Yi were so shaken that they could barely eat or sleep.

After all, the hostile factions’ strongest experts were still only in the Spiritual Revolution Realm.

Su Yi could kill whole slews of Spiritual Revolution cultivators on his own. Of course the hostile factions were panicking!

It was precisely because they were afraid that Su Yi would come after them one by one to settle the score that they immediately clustered together. They formed an alliance and challenged Su Yi to settle this, once and for all.

Once Su Yi heard the full story, he couldn’t help but laugh. “And what if I refuse to accept their challenge?”

After a moment’s silence, Fu Qingyun said, “Then they’ll divide and conquer. They’ll each disband their factions, and they’ll lie dormant in various places throughout the continent, watching and waiting until the time is ripe to get revenge against you, Fellow Daoist.”

He paused, then added, “If that happens, they’ll naturally have no reservations. If they can’t beat you, they’ll do everything in their power to target those connected to you. If that happens, it’s sure to lead to endless trouble. I trust you don’t wish to see that happen either.”

Su Yi’s smile faded, and he nodded. “That really does sound like endless trouble.”

He’d already decided to leave the Azure Continent and go to the Netherworld with Meng Po Palace’s Ninth Libationer in six months. 

If he didn’t deal with these latent threats before he left, both the imperial family and the others close to him would be in danger.

“That’s why they’re certain you’ll agree,” said Fu Qingyun. “Actually, it seems to me that settling this with a single battle will be good for you too. Of course, that’s assuming you can defeat them.”

“Given all that, why did they choose the fifth day of the fifth lunar month?” asked Su Yi.

Fu Qingyun mulled it over, then said, “Most likely, they’re using this time to prepare. After all, they’re not stupid enough to just rush to their deaths. They dared issue a challenge, so I’m sure they’ve got a plan.”

Su Yi smiled. “That’s pretty much what I was thinking.”

Fu Qingyun then seized the opportunity to ask, “Are you going to accept their challenge?”

“Where do they want to settle this?” asked Su Yi.

Fu Qingyun didn’t so much as pause to think. “The Glittering Ghost Domain!”

Su Yi said thoughtfully, “When armies face off, they must know both themselves and their adversaries and strike when the time is right. Do they perhaps think the Glittering Ghost Domain will give them a geographical advantage?”

“I’m not sure whether or not the geography will give them an advantage,” said Fu Qingyun, “but to the best of my knowledge, the Glittering Ghost Domain has changed since the onset of the Radiant Epoch. The most eye-catching of these changes is the appearance of the remains of several Imperial experts!”

Su Yi’s eyelids twitched.

He and Ye Xun had visited the Glittering Ghost Domain together, where Ye Xun retrieved the remains of his original body, which he’d left there thirty thousand years ago!

And Fu Qingyun’s words made him recall that long ago, Ye Xun wasn’t the only Emperor to have fallen in the Glittering Ghost Domain!

Was the one who killed those Emperors the same jailer that hurt Ye Xun so badly? 

“Fellow Daoist, if you’re uncertain, there’s no reason you can’t visit the Glittering Ghost Domain now and have a look.” 

Su Yi shook his head. “They’ve chosen to fight me there, so I’m sure they’ve made preparations. No need to confirm that for myself.”

He paused, then said, “Fellow Daoist, might I trouble you to tell the involved factions that I’ll be there on the fifth?”

Inwardly, he felt a complex mix of emotions. It was so much of a coincidence that it almost seemed fated: the fifth day of the fifth lunar month was the anniversary of the day his mother lost her status and was consigned to house arrest.

“Alright.” Fu Qingyun straightforwardly agreed.

After chatting a while longer, the Bluecloud Tower Master bade farewell and drifted off.

Su Yi , however, sank into contemplation.

After a while, he reached a conclusion: the allied factions really had joined forces for fear that he’d take them each out individually.

And they really did want to use the battle on the fifth to end the grudge between them once and for all. Otherwise, so long as he was around, they’d live in perpetual fear, unable to eat or sleep in peace. 

But if they dared issue a challenge, they had to have some measure of confidence. It was even highly likely that they had a trump card capable of destroying him!

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But what kind of trump card could it be?

Su Yi couldn’t figure it out, but he couldn’t be bothered to give the matter any further thought.

In terms of sheer cultivation, he didn’t fear any of this world’s Spirit Dao cultivators.

If they pitted their trump cards against each other…

How could he possibly be afraid?

That very night, Su Yi left Falling Petal Mountain with Wen Xinzhao and returned to Nine Tripod City.

…

That same night.

The Sea of Chaotic Spirits.

The gray-robed young man, Qing Luo, stood in the air near the entrance to the Immortals’ Sword House.

His eyes shone with unearthly, icy luster as he mumbled, “Tian Li, this time, I’ll definitely take you away from the Final Resting Place. Then, nothing will ever separate us again…”

As he spoke, Qing Luo’s thin figure burst with transparent silver flames.

His long black hair turned white, and his skin dimmed and cracked, as if his life force had been depleted, and he’d instantly aged countless years.

He reached behind himself with his right hand, as if to draw a sword. A snow-white light flashed as it emerged from his spinal column, dazzling the world and illuminating the night sky.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

With each section he drew, there was a flash of snowy light and a murderous, earsplitting clang, like a devil grinding its teeth. It wasn’t cold, but the sound alone was enough to make one tremble.

At the same time, Qing Luo sensed a threat, and the Heaven-Sealing Formation of the Nine Absolutes blanketing the entrance of the ruins suddenly rumbled.