First Immortal of the Sword

A moment later, Cui Chang’an realized something——

According to Uncle Su, the Bloody Desolation Netherworld Sovereign, Qu Boling, still hadn’t recovered his former peak cultivation base after losing to his father!

Otherwise, given the old-timer’s vindictive nature, he most likely really would have come for them as soon as he learned that Cui Longxiang wasn’t around.

In the Six Paths Royal Territory, only four factions were capable of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the Cui Family: the ancient Qu, Hong, Tantai, and Xing Families.

In ancient times, these four clans oversaw the Hell, Hungry Ghosts, Beast, and Asura Bureaus of the Netherworld.

But of the four, only the Qu Family was truly qualified to contend with the Cui Family. The other three were a bit inferior.

This was because the Cui Family had the Adjudicator of the Netherworld to hold down the fort, while the Qu Family had the Bloody Desolation Netherworld Sovereign!

“What you said earlier was true; if the Qu Family is attempting to enter the ruins of the Bureau of Adjudication, it’s highly likely that they want to open the seal and let those long-imprisoned malevolent entities loose,” said Su Yi. 

He thought for a moment, then asked, “Do you have the Key of Adjudication on you?”

The Key of Adjudication was needed to enter the ruins of the Bureau of Adjudication. The founding ancestor of the Cui Family had created it using a secret method.

Without the key, not even Emperors could enter the ruins.

“I’ve got it on me,” said Cui Chang’an. “Uncle Su, do you plan to go in and investigate?”

Su Yi nodded. “I left a treasure there to help suppress those malevolent spirits, but now, the time has come to retrieve it.”

Here, he smiled, his expression rife with meaning. “It’s actually quite the coincidence. The Lantern Festival is imminent, and the treasure I’m after will be enormously useful then.”

Cui Chang’an was briefly stunned. A moment later, he asked with uncharacteristic excitement, “Uncle Su, you’ve agreed to help us avert calamity?”

Su Yi smiled faintly. “Didn’t your father tell you that if I remained a bystander, you were to ask Little Leaf for help?”

Cui Chang’an was stunned. A look of admiration appeared on his face. “You really do understand my father well, down to the slightest details”

Su Yi sighed. “What ‘slightest details’? I just know how he does things, that’s all.”

Cui Longxiang, the old fox, is always meticulously prepared for a rainy day.

Su Yi didn’t even need to think to know that if Cui Longxiang had sent Cui Jingyan to the Azure Continent with his jade pendant, he had already anticipated that Su Yi would visit the Cui Family upon his return to the Netherworld.

That way, no matter what adversity the Cui Family faced, Cui Longxiang could have Su Yi resolve it for them.

“Uncle Su, so long as you’re here, it doesn’t matter how unpredictable this year’s Lantern Festival will be. Now I can rest assured,” laughed Cui Chang’an.

“Quit flattering me and give me the key already,” said Su Yi.

Cui Chang’an promptly slipped a seven-inch bronze box out of his sleeves and proffered it with both hands.

Su Yi took it, then put it away without so much as bothering to check its contents. “For now, the old blind man and I will take up residence in the Cui Family. Arrange a residence for us. Also, don’t divulge either of our identities.”

“Got it.” Cui Chang’an straightforwardly agreed, then hesitated, “Uncle Su, my wife has most likely guessed who you are…”

Su Yi found this rather funny. “Do you really need my guidance to handle something so trivial?”

With that, he rose, then headed outside.

“Uncle Su, where are you going?” Cui Chang’an hurried to his feet, then waved his hands, dispersing the power of the formation surrounding the pavilion.

“I’m going to take a stroll through the city. While I’m at it, I’ll visit the ruins of the Bureau of Adjudication,” said Su Yi without so much as a second look.

“Do you need someone to accompany you?” Cui Chang’an caught up to him, then said softly, “If you’re unfortunate enough to run into anyone blind enough to offend you, the Cui Family’s status will resolve the problem with ease. You won’t have to take action personally that way.”

Su Yi paused, then nodded. “That works too. Right, bring the old blind man to the Tree of Ten Thousand Daos to contemplate the Dao after I return. I’ll need to temper my power of the Grand Dao too.”

His mastery of his three Mysterious Truths, Genesis, Void Cosmos, and the Supreme Palace, had already reached perfection.

He was just missing the last step, in which he fused these three Mysterious Truths together, creating a new, unprecedented Grand Dao—

The Apex of Genesis!

The start of genesis, the apex of the spirit. The Apex of Genesis is realized, and the Grand Dao returns to its origins!

In his past life, Su Yi never made contact with such an unbelievable, mysterious Grand Dao. He was naturally incomparably eager. When he successfully cultivated it, its profundities were sure to be extraordinary.

Cui Chang’an nodded his agreement without so much as pausing to think.

Although no one knew it, when the leader of the Cui Family was still a young man, he’d worshiped the sole sovereign of the Wilds, the legendary expert whose sword suppressed the heavens, more than anyone.

He’d even begged his father to put in a good word for him so that he could cultivate under Su Yi!

Although he never got his wish, the further he advanced down his own path, the more unfathomable his Uncle Su’s cultivation base seemed.

Even now that he was the esteemed leader of his family and a famous authority figure in his own right, Cui Chang’an still revered the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force!

Looking up to him was as natural as looking up to a tall mountain!

Never mind the trivial matters Su Yi had mentioned; even if he’d asked Cui Chang’an to climb a mountain of blades or traverse a sea of flame, he likely wouldn’t have even furrowed his brow.

……

“Brother Su!” A clear, crisp voice rang out.

Beneath the misty light of dusk, Cui Jingyan looked like an immortal beauty amongst mortals. She dashed over, eyes bright and teeth pearly, as beautiful as a painting.

“What are you doing here?” asked Su Yi, a bit surprised.

“My father told me to accompany you on a stroll through Ziluo City,” said Cui Jingyan with a charming smile.

Only then did Su Yi understand. “Alright, let’s go eat first. How about that Fragrant Cloud place you mentioned?”

The young woman happily agreed.

When the two of them left the Cui Family estate, they saw an ornate carriage already waiting for them. An elderly servant invited them to board, and the carriage carried them into the lively, bustling distant streets.

Although night had yet to fall, the streets and alleys of Ziluo City were already thoroughly lamplit. The sight of pedestrians rushing through well-lit streets was lively indeed.

This was one of the largest and most ancient cities of the Six Paths Royal Territory. It was naturally far more prosperous than other places.

This was a gathering point for numerous clans and species, as well as cultivators from all over the Netherworld. Everywhere Su Yi looked, he saw prosperity.

When the Lantern Festival arrives, if the Cui Family can’t handle that strange, inauspicious power’s onslaught… I’m afraid Ziluo City will become hell on earth… As Su Yi sat in the carriage, his thoughts raced.

There were countless danger zones in the Netherworld’s vast territories, but places where cultivation factions gathered became lively and prosperous.

Ziluo City was massive, yet it had stood here since antiquity. The Cui Family, as the clan formerly in charge of the Bureau of Adjudication, had indeed played a pivotal role in this.

Su Yi was well aware that the dangers Ziluo City faced during the millennial Lantern Festival far surpassed those of other places.

This time, without Cui Longxiang to hold down the fort, the Lantern Festival would be a major trial!

Although I can help alleviate disaster, ultimately, I’m only in the Spiritual Incarnation Realm. I’ll have to rely on external power, thought Su Yi.

Countering that strange and inauspicious power’s attempts to invade shouldn’t be an issue. What worries me is that those ancient clans might forge an alliance and attack. If they do, it’ll surely result in upheaval.

The Cui Family did have other Emperors in residence, but no peak experts like Cui Longxiang.

Were Emperors to clash, Su Yi didn’t think the Cui Family would make it out unscathed.

After all, this was no one-on-one duel, nor was it a competition for the Grand Dao!

Rather, it was a natural disaster combined with threats from several ancient clans!

Of course, Su Yi figured he could still help avert the Cui Family’s crisis; he just couldn’t guarantee they wouldn’t suffer enormous casualties first.

It seems I have to find a way to keep the Cui Family’s losses to a minimum. If that old fox Cui Longxiang finds out that I let the Cui Family suffer massive casualties, I’m afraid he’ll be pissed at me… Su Yi couldn’t help but rub his forehead.

The disadvantages of his meager cultivation base were most apparent at times like this.

In his past life, a trivial matter like this wouldn’t have amounted to anything. But now, Su Yi was well aware that in the face of a threat big enough to threaten the Cui Family, his current cultivation base was pitifully useless.

That meant that if he wanted to resolve this, he’d need to rely on external power!

I can use the power of the Tree of Ten Thousand Daos, and the Xiezhi and Bi’an statues outside the city gates. Then there’s the treasure I left in the ruins of the Bureau of Adjudication. That should be enough to ward off that strange and inauspicious power…

But I’ll need to find another way to deal with the ancient factions’ experts.

Forget it. If I really can’t think of anything else, I’ll go pummel the malevolent entities sealed within the ruins of the Bureau of Adjudication into submission, then have them kill my enemies for me.

Su Yi stroked his jaw.

He naturally had no shortage of methods of borrowing external power.  

Furthermore, so long as he commanded it, both the Netherworld Abyssal guarding Meng Po Palace and the soul of the Vermillion Bird sealed within Yama’s Floating Mountains would fight for him without hesitation.

If it really came down to it, and if he went all out, he could access even more terrifying powers.

But Su Yi didn’t plan on doing any of that.

For one thing, it would reveal his identity.

For another, the imminent Lantern Festival didn’t warrant going to such lengths.

“Brother Su, we’ve reached the Fragrant Cloud!” Cui Jingyan suddenly called out in her melodious voice, startling Su Yi out of his reverie.

She still called him “Brother Su”; she obviously still didn’t know who he was.

But Su Yi didn’t mind that.

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After all, in his current incarnation, he was only eighteen years old…

Su Yi looked up and saw a jade tower so tall it pierced the clouds. It was illuminated with glittering lanterns and misty firelight. Beneath the curtain of dusk, it was a magnificent spectacle.

This was the Fragrant Cloud!

It was one of the most famous, luxurious spots in the Six Paths Royal Territory. Rumor had it that it was run by Taotie, and that its delicacies were unsurpassed.

“Hm?” However, before Su Yi had even left the carriage, he suddenly saw an entirely unexpected, familiar figure walk into the restaurant.