First Immortal of the Sword

Po Suo reached out to accept the damaged feather. After staring intently at it for a moment, she said, “The feather’s source power has already disappeared completely. All that remains is a trace aura of calamity…”

Here, she paused. “Huh?”

It seemed she’d discovered something new.

As she pondered, the bright red dot between her eyes rippled and revolved, and her distant, starry eyes shone with flecks of gold light.

A little while later, Po Suo exclaimed, “The feather hides an almost indiscernible strange imprint. Please have a look, Fellow Daoist.”

Her slender finger brushed against the surface of the black feather.

Weng!

The feather trembled, then surged with wisps of gray flame, condensing into a taboo rune. The rune flashed, outlining a mysterious wheel.

However, the wheel of light was illusory and ethereal. Even the runes were indistinct.

But Su Yi could tell at a glance that when the Nine Serenities Netherworld Crow fled, it used the power of this very taboo wheel!

“I heard that in ancient times, the Netherworld King controlled nine taboo treasures, which were called ‘the Netherworld King’s Nine Taboos.” Su Yi stroked his jaw. “One of them was shaped like a divine wheel and carved with a diagram of the six paths of reincarnation. Its interior was carved with a scene of the Nine Serenities. They called it the Wheel of Destiny. Could this be it?”

The Netherworld King’s Nine Taboos!

In ancient times, these nine taboo divine artifacts were enough to strike terror into the hearts of even Emperors. 

However, after countless years, the Netherworld King’s Nine Taboos had been reduced to mere fleeting rumors.

When exploring the Netherworld in his past life, Su Yi had never encountered any such treasures.

“I think so too. Furthermore, I am pretty certain that this strange, taboo power is connected to the Wheel of Destiny,” Po Suo said softly. “Because according to rumor, the Wheel of Destiny can foretell the future, shatter the karma of the past, and neutralize disasters. It can help its user avoid calamity and obtain fortune.

“Perhaps it was the wheel’s power that enabled the Nine Serenities Netherworld Crow to escape from you.

Po Suo was a spirit born of the Tree of Ten Thousand Daos, and she’d existed since antiquity. She naturally knew far more secrets than any ordinary person.

Su Yi said thoughtfully, “In that case, the Netherworld King that terrorized the innumerable inhabitants of the Netherworld in ancient times really is still alive. Furthermore, he’s most likely hidden within one of the City of the Wrongfully Dead’s forbidden grounds.”

Po Suo put away the battered black feather and returned it to Su Yi with a smile. “Fellow Daoist, if you’re interested in this, why not visit the City of the Wrongfully Dead yourself?”

Su Yi sprawled out in his wicker chair and sighed. “My current cultivation base is too weak. It’d be easy for something to go wrong.”

Po Suo looked at him strangely. “What would the Emperors who died at your hands tonight think if they heard that?”

Su Yi laughed. “I won tonight by borrowing external power, that’s all. That said, if you were willing to accompany me to the City of the Wrongfully Dead, I’d be utterly delighted.”

Po Suo couldn’t help but laugh too. “I can’t! What if I unwittingly find myself kidnapped along the way? What would I do then?”

Su Yi furrowed his brow. “Do you think I have bad intentions for you?”

Po Suo batted her bright eyes, then said gently, “That’s what Cui Longxiang thinks.”

“.....” Su Yi laughed bitterly. “Very well. No need to discuss it any further.”

He then took out the Heaven’s Writ Lotus Lantern and passed it to Po Suo. “There’s a skeleton spirit and a Dark King of Purgatory trapped inside. The former is covered in the power of sin, while the other has the power of a Grand Dao connected to the source of Purgatory.

Po Suo was briefly stunned. “Putting me to work again?”

Su Yi, “The capable are always busy. Your power far surpasses that of a Spiritual Revolution Realm small fry like me.”

Po Suo giggled. “Su Xuanjun, if you’re a small fry, how pitifully inept are all those major powers far inferior to you?”

She didn’t care at all how high or low Su Yi’s cultivation base was.

How could you gauge someone like Su Xuanjun by his cultivation boundary?

As she spoke, she accepted the Heaven’s Writ Lotus Lantern and looked it over. “Refining all this sinister power will take quite some time.”

Su Yi nodded, then rose from his wicker chair. “I’ll be leaving Ziluo City soon and taking a trip to the Ghost Lands Territory. If you want to take a tour of the world, you can come with me.”

As he spoke, he sauntered off.

This guy is still trying to lure me away… Po Suo grumbled inwardly. Out loud, she said, “What are you planning to do in the Ghost Lands?”

“I’m going to visit the Ghost Serpents,” said Su Yi. By the time his voice finished echoing through the air, he’d already left Jinluo Grotto.

The Ghost Serpents? Is he going to look for Miss Ye Yu? Po Suo was quite surprised.

……

When the light of dawn broke through the darkness enshrouding the Netherworld, it marked the end of the millennial Lantern Festival.

As the darkness receded, so too did the countless strange and evil spirits throughout the Netherworld.

Beneath the light of dawn.

Outside Ziluo City, the landscape was in ruins. Throughout the mountains and rivers, the vegetation had been reduced to ash, and the ground was riddled with scars.

And within the city, countless streets lay in ruin, and countless buildings had been flattened.

All of this was a testament to how tumultuous and brutal the battle had been last night!

Despite this, every member of the Cui Family was lively and spirited.

All of them knew that, after overcoming last night’s grand calamity, it wouldn’t be long before Ziluo City recovered its former prosperity!

On that very day, word of the “Battle of Ziluo City” spread like wildfire, causing an enormous uproar.

This news shook the entire Netherworld!

Some people were astonished. “Who’d have guessed this? The Cui Family didn’t just survive the Lantern Festival; they won an overwhelming victory!”

In the days leading up to the Lantern Festival, all eyes were on Ziluo City and the Cui Family and the grand struggle due to unfold.

Everyone had understood that, between Cui Longxiang’s absence and the return of the Nine Serenities Netherworld Crow, the Cui Family was sure to meet with disaster; it might even be destroyed.

No one would have anticipated this result. Ziluo City hadn’t fallen, and the Cui Family hadn’t been destroyed. On the contrary, the vast horde of evil spirits had been destroyed, and the Emperors of the allied ancient clans had all perished!

This was unquestionably terrifying! 

“Fourteen Emperors died in battle, including four Profound Serenity existences!?”

“Throughout the Netherworld’s history, has such a terrifying, bloody battle ever taken place before?”

“The Profound Dao is like the heavens, and Emperors are like gods. All of them are top experts of their era, yet an entire group of them just died in Ziluo City! It’s unbelievable…!”

Similar commotions erupted throughout the cities of the Six Paths Royal Territory.

Every cultivator who heard this news felt as if it weren’t quite real. It was almost as if they were dreaming.

It was quite rare for an Emperor to die.

But tonight, an entire group of them had fallen. This was simply shocking!

As word spread, the public became aware of certain details.

“The thing that killed those Emperors and eradicated the evil spirits… was a portion of power the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force left with the Cui Family!”

The cultivation world of the Six Paths Royal Territory practically boiled over when they learned this. Everyone was in uproar.

The Swordmaster of Abstruse Force!

This title represented the invincible legend who’d once dominated the heavens! A sovereign even among Emperors!

In the eyes of sword cultivators, he represented the highest possible levels of attainment. He was unique and unsurpassed, without equal!

In the eyes of the Netherworld’s major orthodoxies, he was the Master of Ten Thousand Days, the only one to reach the very limit of the Imperial Apex Realm!

When they learned that it was Su Xuanjun—or rather, the power he’d left behind—that averted Ziluo City’s crisis, slew a group of Emperors, and eradicated a horde of evil spirits, everyone was astonished. But at the same time, everything suddenly made sense.

With the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force’s power to protect them, how could the Cui Family possibly fall?

How could those Emperors and evil spirits possibly fight back?

Sure, everyone knew that the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force had died inexplicably five hundred years ago, but how could anyone forget how terrifying this undefeatable legend had been?

And who could forget that, when he wandered the Netherworld, its top orthodoxies all lowered their heads before him? Who could forget those glorious years? He’d been like a god!

Word quickly spread beyond the Six Paths Royal Territory and into the other five territories and thirteen realms. All were in uproar.

Although the legend no longer lived, who could forget his name? Who could forget his strength?

That same day.

The Qu, Hong, and Tantai Families, as well as the Shentu Territory’s Denglong Clan, were similarly in uproar.

The atmosphere was desolate and bleak, as if they were attending their parents’ funerals!

They’d each lost a Profound Serenity Emperor, as well as numerous Profound Illumination Emperors! 

This was an unquestionably heavy blow for any peak orthodoxy. It was enough to shake their very foundations!

After all, Emperors were no mere cabbages. Even among Spiritual Revolution cultivators, very, very few ever managed to prove their Daos and become Emperors!

And Profound Serenity Emperors were the pillars of peak orthodoxies. Losing one was an incomparably devastating blow!

It was later that very day that all four factions received letters from Family Head Cui Chang’an.

Their contents were practically identical.

First, they were to release the captive Cui clansmen.

Second, they were to apologize and compensate the Cui Family for its losses.

Support us at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

If they didn’t meet both demands within ten days, the Cui Family would do everything in its power to get revenge, no matter the cost!

…

As the world was in uproar, outside Ziluo City, the sunset illuminated the devastated landscape.

A ten-thousand-foot-long treasure ship bore through the dusky clouds, flying toward Ziluo City.

A group of experts clustered around a middle-aged man in purple, like stars gathering around the moon. This highlighted just how extraordinary the middle-aged man’s status was.

He was tall, stalwart, and dignified. His hands were behind his back as he gazed at the distant, grand silhouette of Ziluo City.

After a while, he said softly, “We really came at just the right time. The inheritor of the Ghost Lantern Sarcophagus Bearers is in the Cui Family estate, and my master’s master’s power appeared there just last night, helping the Cui Family turn the tides and defeat their foes…”