First Immortal of the Sword

The distant landscape.

Thirty-six snow-white blades guarded a thousand-foot stretch of sky. Their edges glistened coldly beneath the light of the heavens.

It was like a cage of blades, and its aura of the Grand Dao of Adjudication blotted out the sun.

Tao Qianqiu was trapped inside.

His hair was disheveled, and his face was ashen as he rasped, “Cui Chang’an, the Abstruse Force Alliance has no enmity with the Cui Family. Why kill us?”

Not far away, Cui Chang’an raised his hand and beckoned.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The thirty-six blades hummed, then suddenly gathered together, transforming into a single long, thin blade shaped like a crescent moon. Its hilt then shot directly into Cui Chang’an’s grip.

Only then did Cui Chang’an answer this question. “What do you mean, no enmity? You want to capture the old blind man, while we want to protect him. That makes us enemies.”

Tao Qianqiu’s expression shifted dramatically. “But isn’t the Cui Family afraid of offending my master?”

“Your master?” Cui Chang’an said coolly. “Him? Hah! A bastard who betrayed his master isn’t worthy of my fear.”

As he spoke, he stretched out his hand and pressed down.

Boom!

His terrifying power of the Grand Dao bore down like the descent of a primordial divine mountain, trapping Tao Qianqiu on the ground with ease. Even his cultivation base was thoroughly suppressed.

Then, Cui Chang’an approached, picked Tao Qianqiu off the ground, turned around, and walked off.

With his cultivation, taking down a pearl early-stage Profound Illumination Emperor like Tao Qianqiu was as easy as could be.

“Cui Chang’an!! My master’s master did your Cui Family an enormous kindness. It was his power that saved you from calamity just last night! You… How dare you treat me like this?” Tao Qianqiu completely lost his cool and cried out.

It would have been alright if he hadn’t said all that, but as soon as he did, Cui Chang’an felt the urge to laugh. Even now, this scoundrel is trying to use Uncle Su’s name to put pressure on me? How ludicrous is that?

Whap!

He ruthlessly slapped Tao Qianqiu across the face, leaving him seeing stars. Even his cheek swelled up.

Actually, Tao Qianqiu was now quite famous among the Wilds’ Emperors.

His Imperial Realm cultivation was low, but he was the seventh disciple of War Emperor Pi Mo. His title was the Cloudsky Sword Emperor.

Even in the Netherworld, higher-ups of peak orthodoxies would treat him with respect out of consideration for his master.

Yet now, he was like a lamb to the slaughter. His predicament was dire.

“I urge you to shut your mouth. Or else, I wouldn’t mind slapping you a few extra times,” Cui Chang’an said flatly.

Tao Qianqiu gnashed his teeth with fury, and his eyes bulged, but in the end, he dared not utter another word.

Before long, Cui Chang’an carried him over to Su Yi.

“Uncle Su, I’ve caught him.” Cui Chang’an then deposited him on the ground in front of Su Yi.

“Uncle Su?” Tao Qianqiu’s eyelids twitched. He felt a bit dazed.

How could this unreasonably strong Spiritual Revolution Realm young man possibly be Cui Chang’an’s senior!?

And it seemed Cui Chang’an would carry out his every order without question, too!

Su Yi stood there with his hands behind his back, gazing down at Tao Qianqiu. “Answer my questions. If you cooperate, I’ll leave you a path to life. If you don’t, I wouldn’t mind granting you a taste of the Bureau of Adjudication’s tortures first.”

Cui Chang’an couldn’t help but laugh and evaluate Tao Qianqiu. He said with great enthusiasm, “Uncle Su, why not just bring him to the ruins of the Bureau of Adjudication? I guarantee that I have at least a thousand methods capable of making him spit up all his secrets.”

Tao Qianqiu shuddered, and his hair stood on end.

The Cui Family oversaw the Bureau of Adjudication. How could Tao Qianqiu possibly be ignorant of how terrifying their tortures were?

He took a deep breath, then couldn’t help but say, “You… will really let me live?”

Cui Chang’an snorted coldly. “You only have one chance. I urge you to treasure it!”

“Very well!” Tao Qianqiu gnashed his teeth and agreed. The way he saw it, he had no secrets he absolutely couldn’t afford to tell them; he wasn’t worried about revealing anything of importance.

Furthermore, he wanted to know just what the young man Cui Chang’an called “uncle” was up to.

Su Yi took out a jug of wine and drank before asking his first question. “When did you become Pi Mo’s disciple?”

Tao Qianqiu didn’t so much as pause to think. “Three hundred and six years ago.”

Things went on like that for a while. Su Yi asked, and Tao Qianqiu answered.

What confused Tao Qianqiu was that the answers to all of Su Yi’s questions were practically common knowledge in the Nine Provinces of the Wilds. For instance, the Abstruse Force Alliance’s distribution of power and how many disciples Pi Mo had.

However, Cui Chang’an understood full well that his Uncle Su had reincarnated five hundred years ago, and he knew almost nothing about the Abstruse Force Alliance.

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Now that he’d captured one the traitorous Pi Mo’s disciples, he naturally needed to get a clear picture of things.

However, Tao Qianqiu’s answers surprised Cui Chang’an too. He wouldn’t have guessed that the Abstruse Force Alliance had already become one of the greatest factions in all the Wilds!

This was a coalition of the Six Great Daoist Sects under Pi Mo’s leadership. Their auxiliary factions included first-rate yao and Demonist orthodoxies as well.

Their ranks included over a hundred Emperors!

They were a massive coalition of numerous factions!

Five hundred years ago, four top orthodoxies presided over the Wilds. They were called the Four Apexes of the Wilds.

The Four Apexes included the top Daoist faction, the Nine Extremes Profound Capital; the top Buddhist faction, the Little Western Paradise; the top Demonist Faction, the Demons’ Elysium; and Su Yi’s own faction of sword cultivators, the Grotto of Abstruse Force.

Each had an Imperial Apex Emperor in residence, which meant that they transcended all other factions.

Of them, the Grotto of Abstruse Force was naturally the greatest.

Numerous factions existed beneath these four great orthodoxies. They too were divided into numerous levels.

The Six Great Daoist Sects of the Abstruse Force Alliance were each a first-rate faction in their own right. And now, the Abstruse Force Alliance could stand alongside the Four Apexes of the Wilds as an equal!

How could Cui Chang’an not exclaim over this development?

He would never have guessed that, in just five hundred short years, Pi Mo had created something so massive!

Tao Qianqiu seemed to sense the change in Cui Chang’an’s expression. He said in a low voice, “Cui Chang’an, there’s no enmity between us. Our earlier conflict was a misunderstanding. I hope… I hope we can bury the hatchet. It would be a shame if a misunderstanding soured the relationship between the Cui Family and Abstruse Force Alliance.”

His words sounded meek, but how could Cui Chang’an fail to realize that Tao Qianqiu was effectively threatening him with the Abstruse Force Alliance?

He laughed coldly, “Ludicrous! It seems to me that the Abstruse Force Alliance has grown so massive in just five hundred years largely thanks to its name! After all, who in the Nine Provinces of the Wilds doesn’t respect the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force?

“But what if the world found out that your master was nothing but a traitor? Would the factions subservient to the Abstruse Force Alliance still let him order them about then?”

“How could my master possibly be a traitor!?” shouted Tao Qianqiu. “He ought to be the most loyal of his master’s disciples. The true traitor is the one who seized our ancestral ground and everything the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force left behind: Empress Qing Tang!”

He spoke with vehemence, and he seemed agitated.

Cui Chang’an smiled, but didn’t explain.

However, Su Yi’s expression was a bit complicated.

There was no doubt about it. In the five hundred years since his reincarnation, Pi Mo, the traitor who’d once colluded with the Six Great Daoist Sects, had continuously exploited the name of Su Xuanjun.

Pi Mo had fooled even his own disciples.

But then, it makes sense. Using my reputation has let him rope in far more factions. Add the support of the Six Great Daoist Sects to the mix, and it’s only natural that the Abstruse Force Alliance would rise to prominence, thought Su Yi.

“You carry him. We’re going back to Ziluo City,” said Su Yi. Then, without any further delays, he turned around and walked off. 

He’d already learned everything he needed to know.

For instance, Tao Qianqiu had been sent to the Netherworld on Pi Mo’s orders three hundred years ago. He’d cultivated in the Netherworld Sky Sect ever since.

His purpose in coming here was to help Pi Mo seek out word of the Ghost Lantern Sarcophagus Bearers.

Tao Qianqiu had also told them that him aside, five others had been sent to the Netherworld. All of them were Pi Mo’s disciples.

And each of these six disciples were accompanied by experts of the Six Great Daoist Sects.

Tao Qianqiu was accompanied by experts of Divine Peak Sword Court. The others had similar arrangements.

Su Yi had already committed the other five disciples’ names to memory: Gu Ziming, Shangguan Jie, Cheng Tiankun, Ni Shuang, and Jiang Yingliu.

Su Yi took particular note of Jiang Yingliu.

Because in the three hundred years since she’d arrived in the Netherworld, she’d cultivated amongst the Ghost Serpents!

When he learned that, irrepressible killing intent arose within his heart.

Long, long ago, all of the Netherworld’s top factions had known that he had an extremely deep bond with Little Leaf of the Ghost Serpents.

Pi Mo was unquestionably aware of this too. That must have been why he’d sent Jiang Yingliu to the Ghost Serpents.

Su Yi didn’t even need to ask to know that Jiang Yingliu was there to seek out word of Su Xuanjun!

And Little Leaf…. She’d known for a long time that he was after the secrets of reincarnation, and she had always been convinced that he would one day return to the Netherworld.

If Jiang Yingliu learned about that, Pi Mo would unquestionably find out about it too!

But Su Yi wasn’t afraid of Pi Mo learning that.

What he feared was that Pi Mo was using his name to exploit Little Leaf!

That was what Su Yi truly couldn’t tolerate.

“Didn’t you say you would spare my life!?”

When he saw that Su Yi and Cui Chang’an were taking him back to Ziluo City, Tao Qianqiu couldn’t help but cry out in panic.

Su Yi didn’t even look at him.

“Rest assured. Once we’ve erased your memories of what happened today, we’ll let you go.”

They’re going to erase my memories!?

Tao Qianqiu inwardly cried out, but just as he was about to say something, Cui Chang’an delivered a palm strike to the back of his head, instantly knocking him unconscious.

“Uncle Su, Emperors have primordial spirit avatars, and they’re protected by the power of Profound Dao Laws. With the power at my disposal, I’m afraid it’ll be difficult to erase his memories,” said Cui Chang’an as he picked up Tao Qianqiu and chased after Su Yi.

“You can’t do it, but don’t tell me your wife can’t do it either?” Su Yi said casually.

Cui Chang’an froze, then said a bit sheepishly. “For a moment there, I actually forgot about that.”

A long time ago, his wife, Xue Huaning, was one of Meng Po Palace’s Emissaries of the River.

She naturally excelled at erasing memories!