First Immortal of the Sword

The disheveled old man looked ill at ease. He sighed in exasperation, “All I can say is, I really don’t know how they did it.”

Su Yi stared intently at him, “I’m asking you who else asked you about this.”

The disheveled fortune teller fell silent, then sighed. “It was Immortal Sovereign Xing Zhao!”

“So it was her,” Su Yi said softly. The image of a woman with long hair as red as blood arose in his sea of consciousness. She stood amongst the stars, bathed in starlight, cold, aloof, and prideful as a goddess!

Qing Wei was seated silently to the side, but inwardly, she was startled too. Sovereign Xing Zhao! One of the Three Great Yao Sovereigns of the Dark Northern Sea!

Su Yi, meanwhile, recalled something.

During his time exploring the Epoch of Demonism, he encountered an Immortal Lord known as Mu Jing. He was from the Green Mulberry Mu Family, and his ancestors had once watched over the Dark Battlefield at the orders of the Immortal Realm, earning unrivaled military merit!

One of Mu Jing’s ancestors, Mu Chaosheng, had even served at Wang Ye’s side!

It was then that Su Yi learned that Mu Jing had infiltrated the Blood Firmament Immortal Sovereign’s camp on Yao Sovereign Xing Zhao’s orders!

The reason for this was simple. When a group of Wang Ye’s enemies attacked him, the resulting battle shook the Immortal Realm. Everyone thought the hegemon of that era, the Eternal Night Immortal Sovereign, had perished.

But Xing Zhao didn’t believe it.

She’d been planning for a long time, and she’d long since secretly made contact with numerous immortal factions, arranging for experts to infiltrate Wang Ye’s enemies’ ranks.

These experts included Mu Jing, who’d been sent to infiltrate the Blood Firmament Immortal Sovereign’s ranks!

“She really is considerate. She actually went to all the trouble of seeking you out to ask about that, you old scoundrel.” Su Yi sighed with emotion.

The disheveled old fortune teller was gnawing meat off a bone, and his cheeks bulged with half-chewed food. He muttered indistinctly, “That was a long time ago. I haven’t seen that unblinking killer of a woman since the Age of Fallen Immortals began.”

He sighed. “This is what they mean when they say that the place is the same, but the people are different. The flowers are the same every year, but the faces are all different!”

Su Yi silently took a sip of wine. “Let’s set the past aside for now. Why have Blood Firmament and the other old-timers at the peak of the Immortal Dao gone into hiding? What kind of disaster are they trying to avoid?”

Qi Fufeng had mentioned that the top experts of the Immortal Dao had all gone into seclusion, and that he suspected they were hiding from something! But it seemed the old fortune teller dared not discuss it. He just dipped his fingertip in wine and wrote two words on the tabletop: “Divine misfortune!”

Su Yi’s gaze focused. “Are the gods involved?”

The disheveled old man nodded. “There’s only been a few signs thus far, but no one at the peak of the Immortal Dao dares disregard them because…”

Here, he lowered his voice and revealed a shocking secret.

“Thirty-nine thousand years ago, Old Monk Qing Qu of the Elephant Province’s Lotus Temple met with a tribulation that destroyed his cultivation base overnight. His fleshly body was corroded, and his soul was shattered. In the last moments before his death, he left these last words: ‘If you can’t overcome the five signs of decay, you cannot become eternally indestructible!”

Su Yi was instantly solemn.

Old Monk Qing Qu was also known as the Dharmadeva Buddha. He’d reached the pinnacle of the Immortal Dao a long time ago, making him a legendary living fossil. Who’d have thought that such a legend would perish beneath a strange tribulation?

“Does this so-called ‘divine misfortune’ have anything to do with the five signs of decay of heavenly beings?” Su Yi pondered out loud.

The disheveled old fortune teller sighed. “I don’t know. All I know is that all the old-timers who survived the Age of Fallen Immortals have gone into hiding. For fear of following in the Dharmadeva Buddha’s footsteps.”

Su Yi proceeded to ask numerous other questions, but the disheveled old fortune teller was crafty. He kept his answers vague, and he spoke with reservations. When Su Yi pushed him, he clammed up and said nothing at all.

There was nothing Su Yi could do, either. He knew that some things, the old man really couldn’t tell him. If he could, he wouldn’t have been so secretive.

When the old man had a reason for not telling him something, there was no prying answers out him, not even if he beat him to death.

“Here’s my final question. Just who is the Red Dragon Dao Monarch overseeing the Black Dragon Market?” asked Su Yi.

The disheveled old man froze, stunned, and his expression turned strange. He tittered, “I promised not to divulge their origins, but if you see them, you’ll be able to discern their origins at a glance.”

He wiped the grease off his face with his sleeves and continued, “I’ve already broken too many of my precepts and said too many things I shouldn’t. I ought to leave.”

“Where are you going?” asked Su Yi.

The disheveled old fortune teller didn’t even pause to think. “So long as I won’t bump into you, anywhere’s fine.”

“....” Su Yi stroked his jaw. “Have you perhaps discerned anything after seeing me?”

The old man shook his head like a rattledrum. “Surely you understand that I can perform divinations for anyone in this world, except for you!”

His voice was tinged with resentment.

Su Yi laughed. “Very well, I won’t push you.”

The disheveled old man rose to leave. Su Yi didn’t stop him.

Before the disheveled old man got far, he paused, hesitated, then turned and said, “I’m glad to see you’re still alive, you star of disaster!”

Then, before his voice had even finished echoing through the air, he slinked off and disappeared.

Su Yi laughed. The old scoundrel hasn’t changed a bit!

“Young Lord, was that old fortune teller someone incredible?” Qing Wei couldn’t help but ask.

Su Yi shook his head. “No, he’s just a cunning old scoundrel who fears nothing more than trouble, misfortune, and an early death. He has numerous terrible habits.

“His only redeeming quality is that his divination skills are unparalleled in the Immortal Realm.”

Su Yi’s eyes shone with reminiscence. “Once, a long time ago, numerous old-timers sought him out to get their fortunes told. They hoped to use his predictions to avoid disaster, seek fortune, and change their destinies, only for him to predict their untimely deaths…”

Qing Wei froze, then burst into laughter.

Su Yi laughed too. “It’s for this reason that others know him as the Bearer of Bad News. Some even call him the God of Plague.”

Qing Wei couldn’t help but be curious, “So why doesn’t he dare tell your fortune?”

“He tried it once,” said Su Yi. “But he suffered a backlash that almost cost him his life. He’s seen me as a walking catastrophe ever since, and he fears nothing more than getting mixed up with me. The moment he lays eyes on me, he’s sure to flee as far and fast as he can.”

Qing Wei understood.

When other people wanted their fortune told, it cost money.

When Su Yi wanted his fortune told…. It cost lives!

After eating and drinking their fill, Su Yi and Qing Wei left. Shortly after, they arrived at a store called the Generalists' Tower. Su Yi planned to sell off his extraneous treasures here.

After explaining his intentions to an attendant, Su Yi was led to a secret room obscured by formations. Qing Wei waited outside.

An old man with a goatee was languishing in the secret room. He was one of the Generalists' Tower’s appraisers.

When he saw Su Yi, he got straight to the point. “I heard you have quality goods for sale, and lots of them. Bring them out so I can have a look. Then we can talk about the price!”

Su Yi swung his sleeve.

Whoosh!

A glittering mountain of treasure filled the room with resplendent light.

Most of these were immortal treasures of all types, the trophies Su Yi had gathered since arriving in White Deer Mountain’s Ascension Grounds.

Although they were precious, they weren’t useful for Su Yi’s cultivation.

The man with the goatee was briefly stunned. He promptly sat upright and started looking the treasure over.

Su Yi sprawled out in a chair to the sidelines, waiting patiently.

A long time passed before the old man with the goatee finished going through it all, steadied his heart, and returned to his seat. “Forgive my bluntness, but although there are a lot of treasures here, few are particularly precious, and they won’t fetch a high price.”

Su Yi chuckled. “You’re trying to bring the price down, but don’t bother. I don’t like haggling, so I’ll just give you a number. Ten thousand high-grade immortal jades, and all of these treasures are yours.”

A piece of high-grade immortal jade was worth one hundred immortal stones.

Ten thousand high-grade immortal jades was the equivalent of a million immortal stones!

This price made the elderly appraiser’s eyelids twitch. He snorted coldly, “Sir, I’m afraid you don’t understand how we do business here in the Black Dragon Market. Besides, most of your treasures were obtained illicitly. Even if we sell them, they’ll only fetch sixty percent of their value…”

Before he could continue, Su Yi just said, “If you think it’s a bad deal, forget it.”

With that, he put away the mountain of treasure and turned to leave.

Quick and direct.

The old man with the goatee immediately lost his cool. “Wait!

Su Yi stopped and said, “Don’t waste my time. All I want to hear is, do you accept my conditions? Or not?”

The old man’s expression shifted erratically, but in the end, he said, “Fine!”

Only then did Su Yi turn to look at him. He smiled. “Don’t act like you’ve been cheated. My price is low enough that you’ll still be able to flip these for a considerable sum.”

The elderly appraiser froze, briefly stunned, then laughed. “I can tell you understand our business, but it’s strange. Why haven’t I seen you in the Black Dragon Market before?”

Su Yi said flatly, “Trying to investigate my origins?”

The elderly appraiser considerately asked no further questions. “One moment, please.”

With that, he got up and left the secret room. Before long, he returned with a storage treasure, which he passed to Su Yi. “Ten thousand high-grade immortal jades. Please, have a look.”

Su Yi casually examined the treasure’s contents, then nodded and handed the appraiser the treasure.

Without any further ado, he got up to leave, but then, he suddenly recalled something and placed five hundred immortal jades on the table.

“This is to buy your silence. If word leaks, you’ll face the consequences.” Su Yi gazed intently at the old man with a goatee, then turned to leave.

The old man with the goatee stood there, his expression shifting and uncertain. This guy doesn’t just know how to do business. He’s obviously very familiar with the Black Dragon Market’s unspoken rules.

Take that “hush money.” Even frequent customers often didn’t know of this practice!

When someone sold stolen goods, buyers could infer a lot of secrets by examining them. And these secrets could in turn fetch incomparably enticing sums. This was one of the market’s hidden rules, one few understood.

Especially this time!

The old man with the goatee knew that if he sold information regarding these stolen treasures, making contact with the Church of the Pure One and Cloud Apparatus Immortal Manor through secret channels, he could earn a fortune!

The temptation left him deeply conflicted.

To sell, or not to sell?

Seth's Thoughts

This is something that happens to celestial beings as they near death. The exact signs are variable, but as per this source: 1) their clothes become soiled, (2) the flowers on their heads wither, (3) their bodies become dirty and smell bad, (4) they sweat under the armpits, and (5) they do not feel happy, wherever they may be.

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The tower's name is kind of interesting in Chinese. 不器 literally means "Not a tool/instrument/utensil." It comes from the Confucius quote, "君子不器" or "the cultivated gentleman is not a utensil."

As per this annotated translation of the Analects, this means "the Superior Man is not a technician, to be used by others to do a single job. On another level, his mind is not narrowly oriented by a specific task."

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