First Immortal of the Sword

“What is it, Master?” The young man in white sensed that something was amiss.

After a moment’s silence, the old man said, “Wang Ting, do you remember five great grotto-protecting Edicts of the Wilds’ Six Great Daoist Sects?”

Wang Ting nodded. “I remember. They’re supreme Edicts that absorb the auspicious power from their surroundings to maintain a grotto’s good fortune. They are, respectively, the Five Sacred Mountains House Protection Edict, the Bridge of the Big Dipper, the Goldenjade Firmament Edict, the Eight Views Supreme Clarity Edict, and the True Unification Edict.”

Here, Wang Ting seemed a bit confused. “Master, why would you suddenly ask me that? Don’t tell me….”

The old man’s expression was shifting and inscrutable as he said, “The text over that doorway is emblazoned with the true essence of the Five Sacred Mountains House Protection Edict!”

Wang Ting froze, rooted to the spot.

The Five Sacred Mountains House Protection Edict!

This was a supreme Edict of the Nine Extremes Profound Capital, one which was not shared with outsiders. Only the sect’s old fossils had mastered it!

Yet now, this supreme Edict’s power had appeared on the Azure Continent, and in a tiny, unremarkable little village at that. Of course Wang Ting was surprised!

“Master, is this… is this for real?” Wang Ting found it hard to believe.

“I’m not blind,” snapped the old man. “How could I be mistaken?”

Wang Ting was instantly sheepish, but waves of emotion coursed through his heart. “Master, do you think an old monster of the Nine Extremes Profound Capital descended upon this world and left the Edict here to protect this village?”

The old man’s expression shifted. “That’s possible, but… this wasn’t necessarily the work of one of the old-timers of the Nine Extremes Profound Capital.”

Having said this, he shook his head.

Although Wang Ting was incomparably curious, when he saw that his master didn’t wish to discuss it, he held back.

It was then that the old man suddenly took a deep breath, faced the line of text, and inclined his head in greeting. “My apprentice and I came here with no intention of disrupting the peace. Fellow Daoist, should you sense our presence, please don’t take offense.”

Then, without so much as another word, he gripped the white-robed young man by the shoulder, turned, and rushed away.

After they left Grassy Creek Village, a massive weight seemed to lift from the old man’s shoulders, and he let out a breath of turbid air. “The land’s blessings are only for the village, Cao Ping, and Cao An. Should anyone else attempt to seize it, fortune will transform into disaster, and they’ll face calamity and grave peril!”

Wang Ting had been confused earlier, but when he heard that, he broke out in cold sweats.

How lofty of an existence was his master? Yet he seemed to dread a line of text. He held it in awe and kept his distance!

Only then did Wang Ting understand why no one had disrupted Grassy Creek Village’s tranquility.

With the essence of the Five Sacred Mountains House Protection Edict present, no one, neither human cultivators nor yao, demons, ghosts, and monsters would dare cause trouble.

“Those siblings are truly fortunate to have received such an expert’s calligraphy. They might be ordinary mortals, but they will live out their lives in peace, without worry or calamity. They’re far freer and happier than the likes of us,” sighed the old man.

“Master, you… you’ve already guessed something, haven’t you?” Wang Ting couldn’t help but ask.

The old man shook his head, “Perhaps, but I cannot speak of it. You and I are but passersby in the Azure Continent. We’re only here to find the Pawnshop of the Heavens and acquire the opportunity you need to prove your Dao and become an Emperor.”

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As he spoke, he slipped a snowy, jade-like turtle shell out of his sleeves.

The shell was covered in natural Dao markings, and it was extremely strange.

The old man calmed his heart and sensed it.

After a while, his eyebrows rose. “About two months ago, the Pawnshop of the Heavens appeared on the Azure Continent, but we arrived too late. It’s long since left this world…” He couldn’t help but let out a long sigh.

Wang Ting couldn’t help but ask, “Master, there’s something I’ve never understood. Why does proving my Dao and becoming an Emperor require making an exchange at the Pawnshop of the Heavens?”

The old man patted Wang Ting on the shoulder and said softly, “You’re different from other people. Your path is unlike anyone else’s. All I can say is that without the pawnshop’s help, the day you prove your Dao and become an Emperor will be the day you die.”

Wang Ting instantly fell silent.

His master had already led him to countless planes, and they’d spent years bitterly searching, all so that he could prove his Dao and become an Emperor.

Not long ago, they finally found a lead about the “Pawnshop of the Heavens”, which was why they’d hurried to the Azure Continent.

They would never have guessed that they’d still arrive too late!

“It doesn’t matter that we’re a bit late. So long as we can trace the pawnshop, we’ll find it sooner or later,” said the old man. With that, he bit through the tip of his right forefinger and outlined something on the snowy turtle shell at top speeds.

Weng!

Bloody light circulated, and the snow-white shell quivered.

The old man looked a bit pallid, and beads of sweat formed on his brow.

A while later, the snow-white turtle shell quieted down, and the Dao markings on its surface shifted. In the end, it formed a strange and inscrutable mysterious diagram.

The old man was stunned. After discerning the secrets within the mysterious markings, he muttered, “Strange! The Pawnshop of the Heavens has gone to the Netherworld!”

The Netherworld!

Wang Ting had a strange look in his eyes, and he grimaced. “Master, we’ve been searching for it for over ten years. Who’d have thought we were completely wasting our time…?”

He and his master were from the Netherworld to begin with!

The corners of the old man’s lips twitched.

After a while, he muttered, “Rumor has it that throughout antiquity, wherever the Pawnshop of the Heavens appears, unpredictable and shocking changes are sure to follow.

“Not long ago, the Pawnshop of the Heavens appeared on the Azure Continent. Shortly after, the continent welcomed an unprecedented Radiant Epoch.

“And now, the pawnshop has appeared in the Netherworld… is the Netherworld about to face similarly enormous changes?”

As he said this, the old man’s expression turned solemn, and he immediately made a decision. “Wang Ting, we must leave!” 

“Master, there is no path to the Netherworld from the Azure Continent. Even if we want to go back, we’ll have to take a roundabout route through other worlds to get there,” said Wang Ting.

“No need for a detour,” said the old man. “Let’s go to the Great Xia and request assistance from Meng Po Palace.”

Wang Ting exclaimed, “Master, how do you know members of Meng Po Palace are in the Great Xia?”

“Now that you mention it, it’s actually quite the coincidence,” laughed the old man. “Not long ago, while searching for traces of the Pawnshop of the Heavens in the Great Xia, I inadvertently recognized some disciples of Meng Po Palace. They might have been able to hide their distinctive auras from denizens of the Azure Continent, but they couldn’t fool me.”

Wang Ting looked enlightened.

“Let’s go,” said the old man.

Before they left, he couldn’t help but turn and take one last look at the village shrouded in darkness.

Just who had placed the Five Sacred Mountains House Protection Edict there?

In the end, the old man repressed his curiosity and led his disciple away.

Master and apprentice gradually faded into the distance.

Siblings Cao Ping and Cao An were fast asleep in their straw hut.

The words “peace is a blessing” seemed to contain a spirit that protected the entire area, silently gathering the auspicious energy of the mortal world.

This was the Five Sacred Mountains House Protection Edict Su Yi had left behind. It was intended to maintain the good fortune of a blessed ground, and it could connect with the traces of the auspicious power of fate dispersed throughout heaven and earth.

Su Yi had written its power into the words “peace is a blessing.”

However, Cao Ping and Cao An knew none of this. They still didn’t even know Su Yi’s name.

This, perhaps, was the true meaning of “peace.”

It silently nourished everything, grand, yet without shape. 

……

The sixth day of the fifth lunar month.

It was the end of spring, the beginning of summer, and a baking heat hung in the air.

The plants of Azurecloud Court were increasingly lush and vibrant. The bamboo rustled, and the flowers and grasses flourished.

Su Yi reclined by the pond in his wicker chair, emptying his mind.

Yesterday, upon returning from the Glittering Ghost Domain, he immediately sat down and started meditating. It was only at noon today that he just barely managed to recover his nigh-exhausted cultivation base.

However, his soul’s expenditures were recovering extremely slowly.

These were the side effects of drawing upon the Sword of the Nine Hells.

At this level, using even just the barest trace of its aura was exhausting to him.

With his peak early-stage Spiritual Incarnation Realm cultivation, he could hold out less than ten minutes at most.

“Brother Su, when will Miss A’Cang wake up?” Wen Xinzhao placed a little bench beside Su Yi and sat down. The knees of her long, jade-like legs touched, and she rested her chin in her hands as she tilted her head to look at Su Yi.

She was dressed simply, without any adornments, like a hibiscus blooming beneath the light of heaven. The sunlight illuminated a delicate face unmatched in its beauty and extraordinarily charming. 

“Three to five days at the bare minimum, but it could be as much as two weeks,” Su Yi said casually. “Fortunately, her injuries aren’t severe. She’s just severely exhausted her vitality. In the end, she’ll recover.”

The day before, after they'd returned, he had removed A’Cang’s seals and entrusted her to Wen Xinzhao’s care.

“It’s my first time seeing such a delicate, charming beauty. I can’t help but wonder how stunning she’ll be after she wakes up,” whispered Wen Xinzhao.

Su Yi laughed. “A single flower in bloom doesn’t make spring. It’s much the same for beauties: it’s best that each has her own distinctive charm. You, for instance. You’re completely different from other women.”

Hearing Su Yi compliment her to her face, Wen Xinzhao felt a bit uncomfortable, but also beside herself with delight.

Gentlemen were willing to die for those who understood them, while women made themselves beautiful for those who delighted in them.

No matter how beautiful a woman was, she liked hearing others compliment her extraordinary appearance.

Of course, assuming she liked the person doing the complimenting. If she didn’t, she’d only turn up her nose at him…

Wen Xinzhao suddenly asked, “Brother Su, if you go to the Netherworld, can you take me with you?”

She looked up, her bright eyes shining with hope.