First Immortal of the Sword

An abandoned street corner in the Black Dragon Market.

A disheveled old man sat there, his chest heaving violently as his sallow, waxy face flushed red. Veins bulged on his forehead.

“Curse you, heavens! I’ve hidden myself and lived in despair for countless years, but you still won’t let me slough off this karma!”

The old man breathed in ragged gasps, as if beset by illness. He had no strength left in his body, but he was still cursing up a storm.

Suddenly, a fair, slender hand appeared before him. There was a glittering blue pill in its outstretched palm.

“Try this medicine, Senior. It’ll make you feel better.”

A young woman stood there, as if she’d appeared out of nowhere. She crouched down and looked at the disheveled old man in obvious concern.

Her clothes were plain. Her long hair hung loose, and she was petite and thin, with elegant features. She looked around fifteen years old.

Most striking of all were her dark golden eyes!

“The pills of this world cannot treat my illness.” The old man sighed, then pushed the girl’s hand away. “You’d best hold onto it. It’d be completely wasted on me.”

As he spoke, he glanced at the girl’s feet. Each of her slender ankles had a circle of blood-red chains about as thick as a human thumb. They were extraordinarily eye-catching.

The girl silently put away the pill, then crouched beside the old man. She seemed quiet and reserved.

The old man, meanwhile, took out a pipe and started puffing away. Smoke billowed into the air, partially obscuring his sallow, waxy face.

A while later, the old man tapped his heel with his pipe and breathed out a puff of smoke. Only then did he say, “You’ve been trapped for countless years, but your opportunity to break your fetters has finally arrived. Lass, you’d best make sure to seize it.”

A hint of hesitation appeared in the girl's elegant features. “Senior, what happens if I fail to seize this chance?”

The disheveled fortune teller fell briefly silent before saying, “Then you’ll live and die without ever finding another opportunity to kill Jiang Tai’e!”

The young woman silently clenched her fists, and her dark golden eyes shone with imposing light. “I understand.”

The disheveled fortune teller hesitated, then added, “Don’t use too much force. Pushing too hard will only achieve the opposite effect.”

The young woman sank into silence, then grunted in acknowledgment.

The fortune teller said, “Don’t rush things, either. You’ve already been trapped here for countless years. Waiting a little longer won’t do any harm.”

His words seemed to stir something in the young woman’s heart. She pursed her lips and said, “Senior, I’m not afraid of waiting. I’m just afraid…”

The disheveled old fortune teller seemed to guess what she was about to say. He couldn’t help but grin. “You’re welcome to distrust me, but you have to trust him!”

He sighed. “Over the course of my life, I’ve witnessed countless experts rise to the pinnacle of the Immortal Dao, and I’ve even clashed with gods who’d jumped out of the River of Epochs before. Although I’ve lived a wretched life, as pitiful as a dog, and although I’ve provoked countless karmic tribulations and disasters, I’ve always managed to survive. I made it through the long Age of Fallen Immortals to see the present day.

“Even if you search the entire Immortal Realm, when it comes to sheer longevity, none can compare. If I proclaimed myself second oldest, no one would dare claim first place!”

Here, the old man’s expression turned solemn. “Throughout the course of my long life, only a tiny handful of people have been truly worthy of my attention.”

“I understand,” said the young woman. “He’s one of that select few.”

The disheveled old man shook his head. “No, that number doesn’t include him.”

He pointed to himself and said, “When I stand before him, I feel that my horizons are too narrow.”

The young woman was stunned. Waves coursed through her heart.

The fortune teller continued, “You might not understand now, but one day, you will. There might well be others in this world capable of taking ol’ Jiang Tai’e down a peg, but only one man can leave Jiang Tai’e too scared to eat or sleep in peace! He alone can make Jiang Tai’e pale at the mere mention of his name!”

He spoke with incomparable, incontrovertible assurance.

The young woman’s eyes filled with confusion. “But now, it seems he’s…”

The fortune teller’s gaze was rife with meaning. “Yes, it’s exactly as you think, but you wouldn’t have gotten this opportunity otherwise. Don’t you think so?”

The young woman shook. She instantly understood. Were that person at the pinnacle of the Immortal Dao, as he was back then, how could she possibly have found an opportunity to approach him?

The disheveled old man broke into a coughing fit so intense, it seemed he was about to cough up a lung. His wrinkled face contorted with agony.

The young woman gently patted his back. “Senior, I understand what you’re trying to say. I absolutely won’t let this opportunity slip through my fingers.”

A while passed before the old man finally stopped coughing, but he had to breathe heavily for a while before he said, “I’ve already divulged secrets I shouldn’t have to give you this opportunity. Now, I have a leave. Otherwise, I’m afraid I won’t be able to endure the resulting karma any longer!”

He rose. “What happens next depends on your luck.”

“Senior, where are you going?” The young woman rose to her feet.

The disheveled old fortune teller sighed. “So long as I won’t bump into him, I can make anywhere beneath the heavens my home.”

He paused, then laughed with smug glee. “Earlier, I performed a divination. It seems the cursed heavens are finally on my side for once; I discovered a grand, fortuitous omen!”

His elderly face filled with longing. “I plan to head straight for the White Reed Province. If all goes as I expect, there’s no way that guy will find me, and I might well manage to get my hands on extraordinary good fortune!”

Were Su Yi here, he would surely have said, “What a coincidence!”

“In that case, you must take care, Senior,” the young woman said solemnly.

“Relax.” The fortune teller waved dismissively. “I said it earlier, didn’t I? When it comes to sheer longevity, no one in the Immortal Realm can compete with me.”

As he strode off, he looked so scrawny that it seemed a strong wind might well blow him away.

The young woman stood there in silence and watched as he faded from view.

A moment later, she took out a fortune stick.

Not long ago, the disheveled old-timer paid a grievous price to tell her fortune.

However, receiving this fortune cast away the dark clouds hovering over her. Her destiny had kept her trapped in the darkness, but now, she finally saw a thread of the light of hope!

Her fortune stick only had one line on it: “When you see a dragon in the fields, the time is right to meet with a great man!”

…….

Elsewhere in the Black Dragon Market, a group of Church of All Spirits’ higher-ups gathered in an ancient hall.

Their ranks included Holy Son Zhong Qi.

A Daoist with a willowy beard sat at the center of the room. His skin was fair and pristine, his eyes were long and thin, and he had a graceful air about him.

Xiao Ju.

He was an Immortal Lord of the Yao Path and an elder of the Church of All Spirits. He wielded massive authority.

“Seven Immortal Lords and forty-nine Void Realm True Immortals of the Yao Path will be participating in this assembly.” Xiao Ju’s dignified voice resounded throughout the hall. “Most have already agreed to join the Church of All Spirits! But three stubborn holdouts have refused to express their stance. They are, respectively, Immortal Lord Nine Cranes of the Luo Province’s Goldenlight Mountain, High Elder Immortal Lord Talisman Flame of the Hua Province’s Cloud Pine Temple, and Immortal Lady Qing Wei of the Jing Province’s House of Little Joys.”

Xiao Ju chuckled. “Immortal Lord Nine Cranes is an easy fix. He just wants to squeeze a Saint-level immortal treasure out of the deal. When the assembly begins, just agree to his request. Immortal Lord Talisman Flame is a stubborn one. His request is rather stringent; he wants an Immortal King-level Daoist canon. But he’s agreed to attend the assembly, which suggests that his terms are at least up for discussion.”

“The real problem is Immortal Lady Qing Wei.” Xiao Ju’s brow furrowed. “She’s backed by the House of Little Joys, and their foundations are incomparably firm and ancient. They say that aside from Yao Sovereign Ruyi, their backers include three other top experts!”

The hall was instantly in uproar.

Holy Son Zhong Qi couldn’t help but say coldly, “After the Age of Fallen Immortals, most formerly mighty factions have toppled. Although the House of Little Joys survived, its vitality is badly damaged, and besides, their Yao Sovereign Ruyi disappeared long ago, well before the Age of Fallen Immortals. There’s been no word of her even after all this time. Their current leader is Immortal Queen Liu Yun. She’s met with an irresolvable disaster; she’s been in seclusion for close to three thousand years, and she still can’t leave.”

Here, Zhong Qi paused and said emphatically, “Given the circumstances, Qing Wei will have no choice but to lower her head, like it or not!”

Xiao Ju laughed. “The House of Little Joys isn’t what it once was, but a half-starved camel is still bigger than a horse. Although our Church of All Spirits isn’t afraid of the consequences of a falling out, it’s still best avoided.”

Zhong Qi said coldly, “That depends on whether or not she knows what’s good for her! Two days from now, Libationer Yun Qiong will arrive in the Black Dragon Market. With her here, we’ll be able to force Qing Wei to cooperate with ease!”

Here, he scanned the gathered higher-ups. “That woman is the key to evolving my Qilin bloodline. No matter what, I have to have her!”

He spoke with staunch conviction, and the crowd nodded.

Holy Son Zhong Qi had a Qilin bloodline, but it was mottled and impure. If he and Immortal Lady Qing Wei became Dao Partners, that would solve that particular problem!

The reason for this was simple. Qing Wei was the descendant of a Bai’ze, a White Marsh!

If Zhong Qi used her as a dual cultivation furnace to reforge and temper his bloodline power, he’d see unbelievable results.

“Right, did the Red Dragon Dao Monarch agree to participate in our assembly?” Xiao Ju suddenly asked.

The thin middle-aged man beside Zhong Qi shook his head. “We’ve sent three invitations, but the Red Dragon Dao Monarch refused them all.”

He paused, then laughed bitterly. “I won’t lie to you all. I still haven’t so much as seen the Red Dragon Dao Monarch’s face. However, the Black Dragon Guards agreed to send one of their higher-ups to attend the assembly.”

Xiao Qu sighed. “It’s a pity about the Red Dragon Dao Monarch, but there’s no need to push. Here in the Black Dragon Market, the monarch stands above all others. I’m afraid only our leader could convince the monarch to make an appearance.”

The Black Dragon Market was unique. As one of the Immortal Realm’s three great black markets, it had an extraordinary influence on the Immortal Realm’s yao cultivators!

A simple example of this influence was the fact that everyone who entered the market, no matter their status, had to follow its rules!

Never mind Immortal Lords. Even Immortal Kings wouldn’t recklessly cause a commotion here!

Seth's Thoughts

“When you see a dragon in the fields, the time is right to meet with a great man!”

This is an I Ching quote, which is fitting, as the I Ching is often used for divination and fortune-telling in real life. You can find translations/commentary on the quote here.

That said, the original context probably doesn't matter much here. We have a dragon, a great man, and a fortune teller.

Were Su Yi here, he would surely have said, “What a coincidence!”

Lots of place names getting thrown around, so no shame if you forgot. This is where Su Yi plans to meet with Qi Fufeng, as well as where Su Yi and Daoist Master Red Cloud agreed to meet up.

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