First Immortal of the Sword

When he heard the girl grumbling, the corners of the old man’s lips twitched. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“Bao’er, we and that young man simply crossed paths along the road. It’s to be expected that he’d refuse your invitation,” said the old man. “This is the Luo River Forbidden Zone, one of the most dangerous places in the White Reed Province. It’s perilous and unfathomable. Everyone who enters this place…”

The girl said hurriedly, “Grand Uncle, I get it, I get it! I know not to judge people by their appearances and to stay on guard and all that. Come on, let’s go already!”

The old man glared, but he couldn’t bring himself to chastise her. All he said was, “On the road ahead, you must obey my orders!”

As they conversed, the two of them proceeded into the Midsummer Mountains.

Mists permeated the air. Heaven and earth were overcast.

Countless peaks rose and fell. All were shrouded in mist year-round. Those who entered felt as if it was nighttime; everything was murky and gray.

This was a forbidden ground, so countless perils were hidden throughout the mountains.

……

A stalk of immortal medicine was embedded in the rock. It was about the size of a fist and snow white, and it spewed misty starlight.

Suddenly, a figure appeared out of nowhere and approached cautiously.

He was a man in black, and he’d hidden his presence.

When he was still a thousand feet away from that stalk of immortal medicine, he raised his hand and flung a rope into the air. It instantly wrapped around the plant.

The man’s eyes lit up with delight.

But it was then that a streak of saber qi suddenly shot out of the mists atop the cliff.

Splurt!

The man in black was split directly in two. Fresh blood splattered the air.

The saber qi was so sudden and forceful that the man didn’t even have time to scream before he died

Once he was dead, a shadowy figure shifted in the mists and transformed into a middle-aged man in azure robes.

The man didn’t hesitate to loot the man in black’s bisected corpse.

The girl with almond-shaped eyes, a pink skirt, and an apricot blouse witnessed this from far away. Despite herself, her eyes widened.

“So that immortal medicine is a trap!” the girl transmitted to her grand uncle. “That guy’s despicable! He’s using medicine as bait and waiting for prey to fall into his lap.”

The old man said calmly, “Keep watching.”

The girl was stunned. A moment later, she gasped.

The azure-robed middle-aged man was still looting the corpse when he suddenly shrieked, turned, and fled.

But he was one step too late. A swath of divine flames appeared out of nowhere and enveloped him, instantly reducing him to ash!

And a man in black appeared out of thin air, the same one the azure-robed middle-aged man had just “killed.”

“Wha….” The girl almost dared not believe her eyes.

She suddenly realized that the one the azure-robed middle-aged man had killed was actually just a lifelike puppet in human skin!

The real man in black had been hiding in the shadows this whole time.

Chills coursed down the girl’s spine.

One used a stalk of immortal medicine as bait to lure his prey to him. The other used a decoy to lure the snake out of its lair!

The violence came out of nowhere, and it was the very picture of craftiness and insidiousness. It was a startling sight.

“See that? Danger is commonplace when you explore forbidden grounds,” the old man said softly. “In a struggle for good fortune, everyone is prey. Most brutal of all, some ruthless types don’t even try to seek out good fortune. They just use these places as their hunting grounds and steal others’ treasures instead.”

A moment later, he changed tacks. “Of course, what happened just now was but a little scuffle, entirely unworthy of notice. The truly powerful disdain such petty tricks.”

He’d only just said this when his eyebrows rose. Off in the distance, the man in black had only just picked that immortal medicine when something else unexpected happened.

A young man in blue shot over from afar. He looked calm and composed, as if he were here to enjoy the scenery. He made no attempt to disguise his presence whatsoever.

When he passed by the cliffside, he glanced at the man in black, then continued on his way.

“Ee? It’s that handsome guy!” the girl exclaimed.

“I’m afraid he’s in for trouble now,” the old man said with a frown.

“Why? He didn’t do anything to provoke the man in black,” the girl couldn’t help but say. “And he didn’t try to take that immortal medicine either. He just left. That really isn’t good enough?”

The old man’s gaze was inscrutable. “When you bump into something like this, you can’t just leave. If everything goes as I expect, the man in black is going to try to silence him. After all, there’s no glory in trapping and killing others like this. If word of his actions gets out, it’s highly likely that others will seek revenge.”

As expected, a moment later, the man in black appeared out of nowhere to block the young man in blue’s path.

“Please wait, sir,” the man in black said with a reserved smile.

Su Yi just glanced at him and said softly, “Scram.”

The man in black’s smile froze, and the depths of his gaze surged with murderous intent. “Sir, don’t misunderstand. I…”

But before he could finish, Su Yi swung his sleeves, and…

Bang!!!

The man in black exploded into bloody chunks of flesh.

But it wasn’t over. Su Yi slashed the air, and an agonized shriek emanated from the air over the cliffside.

Immediately afterward, a corpse fell down to earth.

The old man and young woman immediately realized that it belonged to the man in black!

There was no doubt about it. The one who’d tried to intercept the young man in blue was actually just another puppet!

“He’s awesome!” The girl’s beautiful almond-shaped eyes lit up.

She could tell that Su Yi had long since realized where the man in black was really hiding. Thus, after cutting down his puppet, he immediately slew the real thing.

The old man was impressed too. “He’s bold enough to explore the Luo River Forbidden Zone by himself. He’s naturally no ordinary person. Besides, he’s so young, but he’s already a Universe Realm Immortal!”

Universe Realm Immortals were nothing special.

The crux of the matter was that Su Yi was still in his twenties, yet he’d already established himself in the Universe Realm. That was far too rare!

The old man hailed from a massive faction, and he’d lived for countless years, but he’d only seen a tiny handful of Universe Realm Immortals so young.

Furthermore, all of them were peak geniuses, and in the years to come, most became prominent, influential experts.

There was no doubt about it. That young man in blue was a monstrous genius too!

“I wonder which faction’s junior he is? With the strength he just displayed, he could easily take a spot in the top ten of the Universe Realm Immortal Rankings, or perhaps… even higher?” The old man was suddenly intrigued.

The girl’s eyes lit up. “Grand Uncle, you can’t tell where he's from either? How unusual!”

The old man laughed. “How enormous is the Immortal Realm? Even those at the pinnacle of the Immortal Dao aren’t omniscient, let alone this old man.”

He paused, then looked at the girl and said warmly, “Of course, he can’t compare to our Bao’er.”

The girl accompanying him had an extremely rare talent for the Grand Dao. She was the most talented junior to emerge from their clan’s ranks in the past thirty thousand years; no one else was even close.

The faction’s old-timers saw her as the apple of their eye, and they did everything they could to train her. She’d monopolized all manner of good fortune from a young age!

She hadn’t let them down, either. Throughout her cultivation to date, she’d crushed every obstacle in her path, leaving her competition in the dust.

Never mind others her age; even some older-generation experts paled by comparison!

The girl pursed her lips. “Why compare us? How dull! Right, Grand Uncle, do you think he’s after the lost legacies of Academy of Eternal Night too?”

The old man nodded. “It’s entirely possible.”

The ruins of the Academy of Eternal Night lay within the Luo River Forbidden Zone. Although this place was home to endless perils, it hid all types of enticing good fortune, too!

The old man and the young woman were here for the legacies of Academy of Eternal Night.

“Let’s go. We have to reach White Frost Peak by tomorrow to meet with our fellow Daoists,” said the old man as he led the way ahead.

“Who are we traveling with this time?” the girl asked curiously.

“Some other old-timers, and a few people about your age. All of us are after the legacies of the Academy of Eternal Night, but if we travel together, we can look out for each other.”

“It seems we’re going somewhere dangerous," said the girl.

“Of course. Otherwise, why would we old-timers have joined forces? According to our secret intelligence, where we’re going, those beneath the Immortal Realm are doomed never to return!”

“Doesn’t that mean that handsome guy we just met is in danger?” The girl furrowed her brow.

“We just happened to cross paths. We’re neither friends nor relatives. Why concern yourself with his safety. Come on!”

“Oh…”

The pair continued along their journey, passing through numerous danger zones. Ordinary immortals would have died a long time ago.

But the old man was clearly treading familiar ground. There were a few scares along the way, but with him leading the way, the pair avoided numerous dangers in the nick of time.

Even so, after seeing all the danger along the way, the girl’s hair stood on end. Despite herself, she was more alert than ever. This blasted place really is terrifying. Any random patch of grass can hide danger great enough to end your life!

Along the way, the girl saw two Void Realm True Immortals step on an inconspicuous piece of rubble, only for black baleful fog to billow forth and destroy them instantaneously!

The sight alarmed her so badly that she broke out in cold sweats.

But such terrifying sights were commonplace here.

At first, the girl hadn’t been convinced, but now, she finally had to admit the truth. Had her grand uncle not led her here, she would have died many times over by now!

Suddenly, the old man stopped in place and raised his eyebrows. “Eh? That young man actually beat us to White Bone Swamp.”

The girl looked over.

There, off in the distance, she saw a swamp swathed in pale gray mists that stretched as far as the eye could see.

And a tall, upright figure in blue stood atop a leafless tree, extraordinary and ethereal.

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