First Immortal of the Sword

The night gradually deepened.

Su Yi sauntered out of the House of Little Joys and walked off.

Qing Wei, Wei Ming, and the others stood in the doorway, watching him fade into the distance. It was only after he’d faded from view that they retracted their gazes.

Wei Ming rallied his courage and whispered, “Your Excellency, was that really…”

There was no need to finish the question; everyone understood who Wei Ming was asking about. All of them focused and listened with bated breath.

“That’s right.” Qing Wei nodded, looking dazed. She whispered, “‘Seeing me is like seeing the heavens.’ The First Immortal of the Sword…”

The crowd’s hearts shook. They subconsciously drew back their heads.

Even though they’d already guessed this, having their guesses confirmed left even immortal experts like them shaken.

“Let’s go.” Qing Wei turned and walked back inside. “Wei Ming, contact the managers of the Jing Province’s other eleven branches of the House of Little Joys. Have them gather the medicinal ingredients the Immortal Sovereign needs. If anyone dares be negligent, I’ll have their heads!”

“Got it!” Wei Ming rushed off to carry out his orders.

Meanwhile, Qing Wei returned to her residence and flipped her hand. A jade slip floated into the air. Su Yi had given it to her before he left, but Qing Wei had yet to examine it.

When she looked at it, it was as if Su Yi’s voice were echoing through Qing Wei’s ears once more.

“You’re doing me a favor. I can’t accept your help without doing something in return. If I did, and if your Yao Sovereign Xiao Ruyi found out about it, she’d laugh at me. Consider this jade slip a token of my appreciation.”

I wonder what’s written inside. Qing Wei could no longer suppress her curiosity, so she inserted her divine sense and had a look.

Moments later, she was dumbstruck. From the outside, it looked like she’d been electrocuted, and she started quivering uncontrollably. Beneath the white gauze, her ample mounds heaved.

Irrepressible, mad delight coursed through her entire body, making her lose control of her emotions.

She’d been stuck at a bottleneck for countless years, unable to advance any further. No matter how hard she racked her brains or bitterly sought solutions, she couldn’t budge it.

She knew that if she couldn’t break this bottleneck, her path of cultivation would end here!

That was why she’d summoned all her courage to offer herself as a vessel for dual cultivation. If she helped Su Yi, she could use this as an opportunity to receive his guidance.

But…

She would never have thought that despite not getting to serve Su Yi in the bedroom, Su Yi had noticed the obstacle blocking her path and chosen to offer her a solution! With this, she’d be able to break her bottleneck!

The jade slip recorded Saint Realm-level enlightenment and experiences in the Grand Dao. The revelations therein let her break the bottleneck that had confounded her for so long!

I’m afraid the Immortal Sovereign saw through my petty intentions, but he didn’t fault me. Instead, he helped me resolve my difficulties…

Qing Wei’s heart shook. I’ll repay this kindness even if it takes me my entire life!

……

“Senior Apprentice Sister.” Chang Lexing entered the grand hall to meet with A’Ning.

“How’d it go? Did you learn anything?” A’Ning had been waiting a long time, so she got straight to the point.

Chang Lexing shook his head. “I didn’t.”

A’Ning sighed in relief. It seems there really isn’t a problem with Su Yi. That couldn’t be better!

“Senior Apprentice Sister.” Chang Lexing hesitated, then whispered, “Seems to me that someone like Fellow Daoist Su couldn’t possibly be a villainous sort. For him to instruct Miss A’Li in the Dao is absolutely a blessing, not a misfortune!”

With that, he turned and left, as if terrified that A’Ning would ask follow-up questions.

A’Ning was stunned. She indeed found this quite strange and hard to understand. After all, on their way to Sky Tripod Immortal City, Chang Lexing had repeatedly said that Su Yi’s origins were suspicious and that he was obviously up to no good. He’d insisted they needed to be on guard.

Yet now, he’d completely changed his tune!

Don’t tell me that Chang Lexing saw something tonight that completely changed his perception of Su Yi? A’Ning frowned. But then, she shook her head and gave up. Forget it. It’s fine so long as he isn’t a bad person.

She was currently most worried, not about Su Yi, but about whether or not A’Li would be able to pass the various tests and trials she’d face tomorrow.

I’ve already asked Master to speak up on her behalf. The examiners are elders of the Northern Frost Sword Sect. Even if they don’t give face to the monk, they ought to give face to the Buddha, right? They shouldn’t make things hard on A’Li…

It was just as Su Yi said. A’Ning had a guilty conscience, and she wanted to do everything she could to make things up to her sister. Thus, at this year’s Seven Stars Immortal Assembly, she wanted to do everything she could to ensure her little sister’s future prospects!

……

After Chang Lexing returned to his room, he sprawled out in bed. Perhaps because he was overcome by exhaustion, it wasn’t long before he fell fast asleep.

But it wasn’t long before he had a nightmare. In it, a group of immortals gazed at him with cold mockery, as if he were no more than an ant. And Su Yi sat high above the immortals, atop the dome of heaven!

Indescribable despair and helplessness coursed through him like a tidal wave, assailing his heart until he practically suffocated!

He was startled awake, and he found his breathing ragged, and his entire body covered in sweat. His complexion was pallid and unsightly.

Just… Just what kind of existence did I offend? Chang Lexing’s eyes were full of bewilderment.

Even the strongest experts of the Jade Firmament Immortal Sect, the ones he called “ancestors,” were only Void Realm True Immortals.

Yet tonight, he hadn’t just met a Void Realm True Immortal. He’d met a bewitching Immortal Lady, too!

Most unbelievable of all, that Immortal Lady treated Su Yi with the utmost respect…

How could Chang Lexing fail to realize the implications? He was celebrating the mere fact that he’d made it back alive!

Because of this, he buried everything that had happened deep within his heart, not daring to divulge a peep. He feared that if he leaked what had happened, someone would find him and get even!

I just hope Senior Apprentice Sister A’Ning understands what I was getting at. This is someone even an Immortal Lady respects. How could he possibly plot against a little girl like A’Li?

……

The following morning, before the sun rose, A’Ning took A’Li from their temporary residence, and the two of them set off for the tests and trials.

That very day, Lunar Sky Tower announced that they were auctioning off an immortal pill recipe!

News took Sky Tripod Immortal City by storm. Rumors and discussion were on every corner.

The rumors soon reached the residence the experts of the Jade Firmament Immortal Sect were staying in.

“What prodigal son would put an immortal pill recipe up for auction? If I were his father, I’d have to annihilate my own kin in the name of righteousness!”

“It really is feckless, but then, that’s why it’s thrown the entire city into uproar. I heard that the seven factions participating in the Seven Stars Immortal Assembly have all set their sights on the recipe.”

“Lunar Sky Tower will be holding the auction in two days. By then, the Seven Stars Immortal Assembly will already be over. We might as well go have a look!”

The higher-ups of the Jade Firmament Immortal Sect were all discussing it.

Although they were the sect’s higher-ups, they were actually just a group of Transcendents. The strongest of them was a middle-aged man named Ma Xingkong. He was a sect elder in the Cloud Soaring Realm.

The Jade Firmament Immortal Sect was one of the seven greatest immortal factions in the Jing Province. Under ordinary circumstances, their immortals seldom made an appearance.

As for their Void Realm True Immortals? They were the sect’s pillars, and they were mysterious and elusive.

Take this year’s Seven Stars Immortal Assembly. Although it was enormous in scope, the participants were just World Kings of the younger generation.

Only the hosts, the Northern Frost Sword Sect, had tasked one of their immortals with overseeing things.

“Everyone, do you think that little sister of A’Ning’s is fated to be a cultivator?” Someone suddenly changed the subject and brought up A’Li.

“It’ll be difficult,” someone said softly. “I checked personally. Her spirit root, aptitude, and foundations are mediocre at best. Furthermore, she’s been feeble from birth. She’s innately deficient. Even if she forces herself to pursue the path of cultivation, she isn’t destined to get far.

“What do we do if A’Ning stubbornly insists on bringing her little sister into the sect to cultivate?”

“We act in accordance with the sect’s rules. Those with no talent can forget about cultivating; they’ll only waste the sect’s resources! If we let her join the sect, would that be fair to the other disciples? Such blatant favoritism would be unacceptable!”

“Don’t say that to A’Ning’s face.”

“Of course.”

…The higher-ups conversed amongst themselves, not bothering to hide any of it. Chang Lexing stood in their midst, and he heard every word clearly. He almost couldn’t resist the urge to laugh.

He could have sworn to the heavens that he highly respected his seniors.

But when he heard them comment on A’Li like that, and how averse they were to letting her join the sect, he suddenly felt that they were a pack of fools!

No, they were blind! So what if A’Li’s aptitude was lacking?

With the mysterious Su Yi backing her, her prospects were enough to leave these Transcendents sighing over their own inferiority.

“Lexing, go call that Su kid over,” said the strongest of the elders, Ma Xingkong.

Chang Lexing was briefly stunned. A moment later, he jolted to his senses and said, “Elder, what do you want with Fellow Daoist Su?”

Ma Xingkong said with mild displeasure, “I told you to go, so go! Drop the nonsense!”

Chang Lexing inwardly cried out in distress. I have to come face to face with that terrifying existence again…

In the end, he steeled himself and left to do as he was told.

When he found Su Yi, Su Yi was sprawled out in a wicker chair, gazing up at the dome of heaven and leisurely staring into space.

Chang Lexing’s heart clenched, and his entire body stiffened.

Before he could say anything, Su Yi’s voice rang out. “What did you come back for?”

Chang Lexing shuddered, then nodded and bowed low at the waist. “Senior, this junior is here on Elder Ma Xingkong’s orders. He’s requested that you come see him.”

Su Yi asked distractedly, “What does he want to talk about?”

“I don’t know.”

“I’m not going.”

Chang Lexing was stunned. He refused so directly?

But when he thought about it, it made sense. Of course. He’s a mysterious existence even Immortal Lords treat with the utmost respect. Why would he go see a Transcendent just because they told him to?

“Understood!” Chang Lexing turned and left.

When he recounted Su Yi’s refusal in full, honest detail, Ma Xingkong’s expression darkened.

“How dare that little brat be so rude!?” Ma Xingkong said in fury.

The other higher-ups frowned too. He’s just some kid hanging onto A’Ning, yet he dared refuse our request to see him. Simply preposterous!

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