First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 581: Asking and Receiving

Su Yi pondered momentarily. Then, something occurred to him, and he said, “I can agree to do this for you, but you have to agree to a condition first.”

The gray sparrow’s eyes bulged.?She wants to give you such an unparalleled stroke of good fortune for free, you punk? It’s bad enough that you’re not prostrating yourself in gratitude. Now you’re… you’re actually giving her conditions!?

It almost couldn’t resist the urge to launch into a series of expletives.?Kid, you’re simply blind with greed! This is too much!

A’Cang, however, just said softly, “Please speak directly, Fellow Daoist.”

“I want some of your blood,” said Su Yi. “I don’t need much. Three drops will be enough.”

The gray sparrow’s expression shifted, and it finally couldn’t hold back. “Junior, you’re over the line!”

A’Cang was stunned. An inscrutable light appeared in her calm, distant, starry eyes. “So, you’ve long since discerned my origins.”

Su Yi nodded and said calmly, “But if I coveted you, I wouldn’t just request three drops of blood, would I?”

A’Cang pondered briefly, then agreed. “Alright.”

She flicked her fingertips, and three drops of fresh golden blood shot forth, each as radiant as immortal gold. They glowed, and each contained shockingly dense fluctuations of life force.

The gray sparrow was alarmed and furious just watching this. “A’Cang, your blood…”

A’Cang shook her head. “I’ve already decided.”

A’Cang then sealed the three drops of blood inside a black stone bottle, which she sent to Su Yi through the air. “Fellow Daoist, please accept them.”

Although she’d only given him three drops of blood, her misty, beautiful face was now noticeably paler.

Su Yi accepted the black stone bottle, looking a bit surprised. He couldn’t help but glance at A’Cang again. “Fine, then. I accept the Seed of the Azure, and the karmic ties that come with it. As for these three drops of blood? They’re the start of positive karma between us.”

A’Cang broke into a smile, and she bowed slightly, looking utterly delighted. “Many thanks, Fellow Daoist!”

She then sent the stone box sealing the Seed of the Azure over too.

The gray sparrow watched this play out in a daze. It sighed deeply.

“When the Origins of the Azure fade away, if you have nowhere else to go, you can come find me,” said Su Yi casually as he put the box away. “I trust that with your abilities, it won’t be hard to locate me.”

With that, he turned and left, still carrying Dou Kou on his back.

“Should the opportunity arise, I’ll naturally visit you, Fellow Daoist,” said A’Cang softly.

Suddenly, Su Yi stopped before Yuan Motian’s corpse. He thought for a moment, then swung Celestial Blue, cutting open the gravesite.

He then personally buried Yuan Motian inside and re-covered the grave. Next, he took out a giant rock, carved it into a tombstone, and placed it at the head of the grave.

Kch! Kch!

Fragments of stone scattered. Su Yi used Celestial Blue as a brush to carve a line of ancient yao glyphs: “Here lies Yuan Motian.”

There was no preamble or epithet.

With Yuan Motian’s glorious legacy, he had no need?of such?things.

Any cultivator of this world only needed to see the name to know who was buried here, and how lofty of an existence they were.

Celestial Blue let out a faint, clear hum. It sounded grateful.

When he saw this, Su Yi smiled. He was taking Celestial Blue with him. Burying Yuan Motian so that he could rest in peace was a way of returning the favor.

“Right.” Su Yi was just about to leave when something occurred to him. He took out a blank jade slip and carved it with his divine sense.

He then tossed it to the distant A’Cang. “Since we’re establishing good karma, I naturally have to do my part too. The secret method inscribed in this jade slip might well be useful to you.”

Having said this, he no longer lingered. He strode out, his blue robes swaying around him as he gradually faded from view.

It was only after Su Yi was no longer visible that A’Cang muttered softly, “It’s been thirty thousand years, but I’ve finally waited long enough. I’ve finally found a chance to turn this around…”

The young woman’s voice contained heartfelt joy and ruefulness.

The sparrow, however, was furious. “A’Cang, it’s obvious at a glance that that punk is no good! He must have figured you out; that’s why he wanted those three drops of blood. But you actually agreed, and you even gave him something as precious as the Seed of the Azure? You’ve simply… simply lost your rationality!”

The young woman laughed, and her cloud skirts swayed as she walked up to the sparrow and said gently, “This is a stroke of good karma as grand as the heavens themselves. You don’t get it, Little Sparrow, but later… you’ll surely understand.”

“Later?” The gray sparrow laughed coldly.?It obviously?didn’t understand. “I just want to know why you made such a choice!”

A’Cang fell briefly silent. “Because he’s just a young Gathering Stars cultivator, but he perceived so many secrets and saw through my true nature. Because he so easily neutralized the power of the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness resulting from the Starstorm.”

She paused, then said softly, “More importantly, my intuition tells me that the unfathomable power within him is sufficient to protect the Seed of the Azure and ensure that the Origins of the Azure’s life force won’t be lost to history!”

The gray sparrow paused. After a while, it said, “I admit that that junior is special, and he’s far beyond most of the world’s cultivators, but… A’Cang, don’t you think you’re overestimating him?”

The bird lowered its voice and continued, “Don’t forget that the little monkey was in the Profound Serenity Realm when the Starstorm swept through, but he perished nonetheless. Surely you don’t think that kid is stronger than the monkey?”

A’Cang sighed. “The little monkey couldn’t block the power of the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness.”

The gray sparrow fell silent. It couldn’t argue with that.

Some time passed before it suddenly asked, “A’Cang, hurry up and see what’s in that slip he gave you.”

.

A’Cang teased, “Don’t you look down on Fellow Daoist Su? How could you possibly be interested in something he gave me?”

The gray sparrow snorted coldly, “I’m most certainly not interested! I just suspect that the kid has wicked intentions. What if he left a love letter expressing his admiration for you in the jade slip? I would hate to see a kind girl like you fall into the clutches of a greedy scoundrel like him.”

“....” A’Cang raised her hand to beat the incorrigible little creature.

The gray sparrow immediately beat its wings and dodged, shouting, “What are you freaking out about? It’s just a suspicion; nothing happened! Hurry up and look at the jade slip!”

A’Cang pursed her lips, but she understood the bird’s character and couldn’t be bothered to pursue this any further. She flipped her palm, and the jade slip floated up.

She then inserted her divine sense.

Mere moments later, the beautiful, misty young woman couldn't help but freeze. Her serene, starry eyes widened, and her fair, lustrous hands trembled uncontrollably. “This…”

She looked bewildered. Shock and disbelief were written all over her delicate face.

The sparrow’s eyes widened. It couldn’t help but say, “What happened to surprise you this badly. Don’t tell me… it’s just as I predicted? Hurry up and let me see too!”

As it spoke, the sparrow rushed closer and inserted its divine sense into the jade slip.

Shortly afterward, it reacted as if it had been struck by lightning. It staggered backward, and its feathers stood on end, puffing up like an agitated cat. It stammered, “He… He…”

It was too?shocked?to even speak clearly.

A’Cang took a deep breath. “Now… Do you understand what a wonderful opportunity this good karma was?”

The jade slip contained a secret art called the “Truth-Tempering Divine Accumulation Incantation.”

It was an unparalleled secret incantation, and it was specifically designed to help Xiantian Spirits temper their cultivations!

According to A’Cang’s memories and understanding, if Xiantian Spirits like her wanted to cultivate, they had to start with the world’s various orthodoxies.

Yuan Motian was much like her, and he’d combined Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism into one to enter the Imperial Realm.

The Truth-Tempering Divine Accumulation Incantation was different. It was a supreme Daoist canon specifically prepared for Xiantian Spirits. It was a complete path of cultivation uniquely suited to them!

This was just too rare!

At least, to the best of?A’Cang’s?knowledge, even in the Azure Continent of thirty thousand years ago, such legacies were practically unheard of.

Otherwise, Yuan Motian wouldn’t have resorted to cultivating at the world’s great orthodoxies!

The gray sparrow gulped, then muttered, “A’Cang, do you think it’s too late for me to chase after that kid and ride on his coattails?”

A’Cang had nothing to say to that.

…

Outside the sealed door.

Bzzz~

An inscrutable fluctuation rippled and spread across the bronze door as Su Yi walked out and returned to the dark and vast underground world.

He was in no rush to leave. First, he returned to the ten-thousand-foot ritual grounds and set Dou Kou down. Then, he sat cross-legged, took out a bottle of recovery medicine, and started meditating.

Before entering the Ninth Star Ruin, he’d had to continuously resist the invading power of the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness. This meant he had to continuously circulate the Sword of the Nine Hells' aura.

He’d already expended much of his soul’s power.

Fortunately, this expedition had gone rather smoothly, with surprises but few real dangers. Furthermore, he’d made an unimaginably enormous harvest.

He’d gotten answers to many of his questions about the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness, the Origins of the Azure, and the Radiant Epoch, and he’d also obtained two grand strokes of fortune, the type you could only obtain by chance.

Su Yi hadn’t anticipated this before arriving on Sumeru Immortal Island.

As he meditated, Su Yi pondered.?The Seed of the Azure is a portion of the Origins of the Azure’s life force. Obtaining it means accepting the accompanying karma. However, its value unquestionably exceeds its cost.

The greatest karmic tie associated with the Seed of the Azure was this: should the day come that another Starstorm descended from the depths of outer space, it would surely attempt to destroy this portion of the Origins of the Azure’s life force!

Since it was in Su Yi’s position, it would surely implicate him.

Should something like this become a reality, it would be an unquestionably terrifying calamity!

Who knew how many ancient factions had perished in the face of such calamities? Not even Imperial Realm cultivators could defend against them.

Yuan Motian’s death was an example of this!

However, Su Yi wasn’t actually worried about all that.

With the Sword of the Nine Hells, he had no need to fear the corrosion of the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness.

Worrying about all that now would be premature.

Compared to its “karmic entanglements”, the Seed’s benefits to his cultivation were inestimably great.

To the point that even Imperial Realm cultivators could only dream of obtaining such a stroke of “Daoist Fate”!

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