First Immortal of the Sword

Three days later.

The depths of the Blackwater Forbidden Grounds.

Boom!

The surface of the ground split. Immediately afterward, a radiant, dazzling mineral vein rose into the air and landed in Su Yi’s outstretched palm.

It was several thousand feet long and as thick as a mountain. It had been buried deep underground, but now, Su Yi had pulled it to him from afar.

“It only contains a dozen or so pieces of Cloud Soaring Divine Essence.”

Su Yi was a bit disappointed. The mineral vein was enormous, yet it only contained an insignificant amount of Cloud Soaring Divine Essence. By the time he’d finished cutting it open, he’d only acquired about a dozen fist-sized chunks of the precious material.

“I’ve got to try somewhere else.” Su Yi shot ahead and disappeared in a flash.

Three days prior, after leaving the blood-colored wastes, Su Yi and A’Cai had parted ways. Before leaving, Su Yi had given A’Cai half of the Void Annihilation Immortal Lightning the Divine Replenishment Furnace had refined.

But Su Yi hadn't returned to the Plains of Welcoming. Instead, he now focused his attention on searching for Cloud Soaring Divine Essence, a treasure found only in the First Battleground.

……

Seven days later.

Su Yi sat cross-legged atop a mountain.

The Divine Replenishment Furnace rumbled and boomed beside him, the Sword of the Human Realm hovering within it, bathed in glittering golden light.

Over the past few days, the Divine Replenishment Furnace had completely refined the Heaven-Adjudicating Grass. The Sword of the Human Realm was now absorbing its chaotic source power.

But that wasn’t all. Even the Void Annihilation Immortal Lightning essence was fusing into the Sword of the Human Realm.

“Once the Sword of the Human Realm has finished fusing with the Heaven-Adjudicating Grass, it’ll undergo an earth-shaking transformation!”

He predicted that after its transformation, its power wouldn’t be one whit inferior to even the greatest weapons of the Immortal Dao!

……

Half a month from now.

When Su Yi finished refining all the Cloud Soaring Divine Essence he’d gathered, he reached the pinnacle of the Manifesting Truth Realm.

But it was also then that his cultivation encountered a bottleneck!

“Of late, I’ve repeatedly acquired wondrous good fortune, but it’s for that very reason that my cultivation is showing signs of instability.” Su Yi was instantly alert; he’d realized that he’d been breaking through too quickly. He needed to take some time to stabilize his cultivation base to prevent instability in his foundations.

He’d obtained far, far too much good fortune since entering the Domain Boundary Battlefield.

The Third Battleground had Nascent Divinity Source. The Second had Grand Dao Profound Jade and Five Aggregates Stone, while the first had Cloud Soaring Divine Essence.

All of them were wondrous treasures unobtainable in the outside world.

Of late, Su Yi had relied on his own strength to obtain one stroke of good fortune after another. In the less than four months since he’d entered the Domain Boundary Battlefield, he’d already gone from the peak of the Manifesting Mortality Realm to the Manifesting Truth Realm.

Now, he’d already reached the pinnacle of Manifesting Truth!

This rate of advancement was astonishing and unheard of! If another Transcendent were to see this, they might well die of shame.

After all, never mind a major breakthrough, even making the slightest progress within a given realm typically took years of hard work.

It was to the point that someone who ran into a bottleneck could work for tens of thousands of years without any guarantee of progress!

By comparison, it was obvious how quickly Su Yi was advancing.

But advancing too quickly was sure to do more harm than good. After all, both in the Human Realm and in the Immortal Realm, top factions had an enormous abundance of cultivation resources. If they wanted their juniors to advance rapidly, it was no problem.

But doing so would make their juniors’ foundations in the Grand Dao unsteady, like building a tower on a base of air. It could crumble at a moment’s notice. Such cultivators would never get far.

Thus, the greater an orthodoxies’ accumulations, the more emphasis they put on tempering their juniors’ foundations in the Grand Dao.

Haste led to failure.

Those who advanced steadily walked the furthest!

Su Yi naturally understood this better than anyone. When he sensed that he’d reached a bottleneck, he was instantly on guard, and he knew he needed to take some time to temper and stabilize his cultivation base.

From that day forth, Su Yi put away all of the Cloud Soaring Divine Essence he gathered. He planned to use it later, when it was time to break through.

……

Time slipped by. Soon, a month had passed.

Su Yi returned to the Plains of Welcoming. He planned to share some of the Cloud Soaring Divine Essence he’d gathered with Sword Immortal Qingshi and the Universal Emptiness Sword Buddha.

But when he returned to Eastern Profound Peak, he discovered that someone was already there waiting for him.

Ren Changqing!

He was the leading expert of the Southern Flame Star Domain’s camp, and back home, he’d been unrivaled amongst Cloud Soaring cultivators. He was a legendary existence.

“Your Excellency Su, Ren Changqing first visited half a month ago," said one of the Eastern Profound Star Domain cultivators. "He says he wants to visit you to discuss the Dao and determine a victor.”

Su Yi subtly inclined his head to express his understanding.

“Fellow Daoist Su, I didn’t come to the Domain Boundary Battlefield to suppress the competition. No, I came here in search of a worthy opponent!” Ren Changqing approached, calm and composed, and clasped his fist in greeting. “Thus, I’ve come knocking on your door. All I ask is to discuss the Dao together and determine a victor!”

His eyes blazed, as if countless stars were surging in the depths of his gaze. His will to fight was readily apparent.

Numerous Eastern Profound Star Domain cultivators were watching throughout the surrounding area. The crowd couldn’t help but look eager.

If His Excellency Su suppresses him, the cultivators of the Southern Flame Star Domain will never be able to raise their heads in front of us again!

But all of them knew that Ren Changqing was no ordinary expert.

After all, he’d singlehandedly achieved supremacy amongst the Southern Flame Star Domain’s Cloud Soaring cultivators. People like him were, without exception, blessed with good fortune and in possession of terrifying, unfathomable foundations!

But against the crowd’s expectations, Su Yi just glanced at Ren Changqing and said, “You’d best leave.”

With that, Su Yi turned to walk away.

The crowd was stunned. Does his Excellency Su… disdain to even fight someone like Ren Changqing?

Ren Changqing was stunned too. A moment later, he said gravely, “Fellow Daoist Su, why aren’t you willing to fight me?”

He’d come here to look for Su Yi practically every day for the past month. This had long since caused uproar amongst the four camps; everyone knew about it.

Now, Su Yi had finally returned. Who could have guessed he’d directly refuse to duel him?

Su Yi stopped in place, still facing away from Ren Changqing, and said, “Good medicine is bitter, and honest counsel stings the ears. Are you sure you want to hear the answer?”

Ren Changqing said with natural ease, “Please, speak directly. I won’t lose my temper over mere words.”

Su Yi no longer held back. “I knew this the moment we first met, and it hasn’t changed. In my eyes, you aren’t worthy of being my opponent, nor have I ever thought of you as such.”

“.....” Ren Changqing fell silent.

The crowd exchanged glances,

A strange silence descended. It would have been obvious to anyone that Su Yi’s answer was sure to sting.

But they wouldn’t have thought that Su Yi had never, at any point in time, taken the leading expert of the Southern Flame Star Domain into account!

This was complete disregard. There was no mockery, disdain, or contempt. It was as if Su Yi were simply stating a fact.

But that’s exactly what made it so hurtful! After all, the only thing more tragic than being trampled was when someone couldn’t even be bothered to trample you!

Ren Changqing’s expression darkened. For all his self-restraint, hearing Su Yi so casually express his utter disregard filled his heart with irrepressible fury.

Here, Su Yi added, “That goes for the others as well.”

“.....” The crowd fell silent, but fortunately, they knew their limits. They knew they couldn’t compete with someone like Su Yi, so his words barely stung.

But Ren Changqing couldn’t help but say, “In that case, why did you agree to duel Yu Chen?”

Su Yi shook his head. “I didn’t. All I said was that if he could withstand one of my strikes, I’d make an exception and duel him.”

Ren Changqing took a deep breath and said, “In that case, I’d like to try taking one of your strikes too. Please instruct me, Fellow Daoist!”

As soon as the words left his lips, his qi rumbled and boomed, scattering the clouds and enveloping the surrounding skies in a terrifying, austere aura.

The crowd shuddered.

Even those on the Plains of Welcoming’s other four peaks looked over and saw combat intent soar into the firmament above Eastern Profound Peak.

Soon, everyone around was paying attention.

Meanwhile, Su Yi furrowed his brow. He was starting to lose his patience. “Must you bring suffering upon yourself?”

Ren Changqing laughed, an imposing light in his eyes. “In clashes of the Grand Dao, the valiant come out ahead. I’ve waited half a month. If I lose, I’ll lose without resentment or regret. But if I give up without a fight, it’s sure to torment me for the rest of my life!”

He spoke with firm conviction. The crowd was moved. Indeed, that’s how an expert ought to think!

“Very well. In light of your words, I’ll give you what you want.” Su Yi still hadn’t so much as turned his head. His back still to Ren Changqing, he swung his right hand behind him.

A perfectly straight streak of sword qi shot toward Ren Changqing.

Simple and clean, without the slightest flourish. Outsiders couldn’t see any of its mysteries. It seemed entirely unassuming.

But Ren Changqing saw something entirely different. The power within this slash filled his heart with irrepressible terror!

Boom!

Ren Changqing circulated the full extent of his cultivation base. His essence, qi, and spirit practically caught on fire, and he drew on more power than ever before.

But it was still no use!

When that slash arrived, Ren Changqing had a premonition. Unless he used his killer weapon, it wouldn’t matter how hard he tried to defend himself. Struggle as he might, he wouldn’t be able to block that slash!

But if he used his killer weapon, how could he call this a clash of the Grand Dao?

Ren Changqing’s thoughts raced, but he had no time for further consideration. Acting practically on instinct, he prepared to fight with all his strength.

But just as he took action——

Boom!

Sword force enveloped heaven and earth and descended upon him like a tidal wave or avalanche.

Ren Changqing stiffened, and his heart palpitated. The pressure left him almost suffocated, to the point that he couldn’t even think of resisting.

This is bad!

Ren Changqing visibly lost his composure. But then, that streak of sword qi came to an abrupt halt just three inches from his throat. A moment later, it disappeared into a rain of light.

“When you emerge from the shadow that strike cast upon your heart, perhaps… your comprehension of the Grand Dao will rise to new heights.”

As Su Yi’s calm voice rang out, he put his hands behind his back and walked off, entirely unperturbed.

From beginning to end, he never even looked at his opponent.

Deathly silence followed. Even the birds ceased their song.

Ren Changqing, the leading expert of the Southern Flame Star Domain, stood there like a clay statue.

His clothes were completely drenched in cold sweat!

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