First Immortal of the Sword

Su Yi facepalmed, but he couldn’t bring himself to be angry.

The girl in black robes was young and inexperienced. Sure, she was disregarding his warning and acting willfully, but she had a kind heart. That was a rare and precious thing.

Stepping out now was little different from throwing her life away, but she nonetheless couldn’t bear to watch a group of unfamiliar cultivators meet with disaster.

Whoosh! 

The young woman in black stepped forward and exited the grand hall.

It was then that Xie Yanyun and the others reacted as if awakening from a dream; they finally understood.

“Don’t tell me that girl… is the ‘Ling Zhen’ those terrifying ghosts spoke of?”

“I’m sure of it!”

“Doesn’t that mean we’ve been saved?”

It was as if the cultivators of the Blue Firmament Sword Sect had been on the verge of drowning, only to see hope of rescue. All of them were excited.

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“What’s there to be happy about? I most certainly can’t watch that girl face this peril on her own!” Xie Yanyun said coldly.

As she spoke, she drew the sword strapped to her back, turned, and left the temple.

The others looked at each other, but none of them dared step forth and face the danger alongside Xie Yuyan.

Su Yi saw all of this, but he said nothing.

This was just how people were.

He rose from his wicker chair, but his hands behind his back, and walked outside.

Earlier, he’d warned both the young woman in black and Xie Yunyan not to intervene. He’d told them that all they needed to do was watch.

But both of them nonetheless stubbornly stepped forth, choosing to risk their lives to fight their enemies.

How could Su Yi be angry with them for that? He naturally wouldn’t just stand back and watch, either.

When he saw Su Yi head outside, that Junior Apprentice Brother Yue couldn’t help but glower. “What are you going for? Are you just trying to add to the chaos?”

Su Yi ignored him. He couldn’t be bothered to argue with someone beneath his notice.

Outside the temple.

The black-robed young woman’s delicate frame hovered in midair, her entire body shining with faint golden light.

Xie Yunyan stood beside her, sword in hand, ready for battle. Her expression was utterly grave.

In the distance, the landscape swayed, and bloody, baleful mists churned.

The five most terrifying apparitions—the Jade Blood Ghost King, Blood Enchantress, One-Eyed Ghost Monarch, the Corpse Scholar, and the Vampire Bat King—stood around Vast Sun Peak, sealing it off on all sides.

A dense swarm of lesser vicious ghosts and evil spirits surrounded the peak as well, blanketing the skies and blotting out the sun!

An oppressive, austere atmosphere spread throughout heaven and earth.

This was what Su Yi saw when he emerged from the temple.

He stood there, looking perfectly at ease. Inwardly, he was a bit confused. Where exactly did these ghosts come from?

“Little Sister Ling Zhen, you’ve hidden in the Peach Haven Hidden Realm all these years, not daring to come out. Still, you’ve surely realized that without your master to protect it, the Peach Haven Divine Tree’s power has been corrupted, and the formations covering Vast Sun peak are already damaged and incomplete,” said the Blood Enchantress. “So long as you give up the Peach Haven Divine Tree, I promise not to harm any of you in the slightest.”

She paused, then laughed. “Otherwise, don’t blame us for our poor manners.”

The other ghosts’ eyes locked onto the young woman in black. Some looked greedy, others, passionate, cold, or murderous. 

As for Su Yi and Xie Yunyan? They ignored them both completely.

The black-robed young woman’s eyes flashed with icy light. “Even if I have to die with you, there’s no way I’ll give you the Peach Haven Divine Tree!”

She then raised her wooden staff and said emphatically, “If I sacrifice my life for it, I refuse to believe that I can’t take you scoundrels down!”

Her black robes swayed around her, and her jade-like feet stood in the air.

Her pale blue eyes shone with conviction.

The smile on the Blood Enchantress’s face froze. The other ghosts frowned as well.

The Jadeblood Ghost King said coldly, “Over the years, many of the cultivators who’ve ventured into Peach Haven Mountain have obtained your help after taking refuge in Vast Sun Temple, thus escaping with their lives. But if you dare go all out tonight…”

He swept his gaze across Su Yi and Xie Yunyan and said imposingly, “We’ll just kill these inconsequential characters, then destroy Vast Sun Peak!

“Even if you take us down with you, the Peach Haven Divine Tree will be doomed without you there to protect it!”

This, too, was a threat, and furthermore, it was entirely undisguised and incomparably forceful.

The black-robed young woman’s face was pallid, and she bit her lip, hard. There was no doubt about it; the Jadeblood Ghost King’s words hit her right where it hurt!

The Blood Enchantress said softly, “Little Sister Ling Zhen, how about this? So long as you take a step back and let us take a portion of the Peach Haven Divine Tree’s heartwood, we’ll leave right away, and we absolutely won’t make any further trouble for you.”

“That’s right. We guarantee it!” The other terrifying ghosts voiced their agreement, one by one.

The black-robed girl was instantly hesitant.

Su Yi couldn’t help but shake his head. She’s still just too naive. She doesn’t understand how dangerous the world is. Why even consider such an offer?

Give them an inch, and they’re sure to demand a mile.

Besides, these apparitions’ promises are no different from toilet paper; once their promise serves its purpose, they’ll throw it away like trash. You’d have to be an idiot to believe them.

Su Yi couldn’t be bothered to watch any longer. He promptly strode into the air and said flatly, “Even if she agrees, I won’t.”

One sentence, and all eyes were on him.

“It’s like this guy is dead set on getting us all killed!!!” Within the dilapidated temple, Junior Apprentice Brother Yue was practically beside himself with fury.

The others’ expressions were shifting and uncertain as well. Agreeing to the ghosts’ conditions would give them a chance at life; that was naturally their best option.

Yet Su Yi just had to intervene!

The young woman in black was stunned, as if she wouldn’t have guessed that a stranger like Su Yi would dare step forth at a time like this.

He… really isn’t a bad person? The young woman in black muttered to herself.

Xie Yunyan was quite surprised too. Where did he get the courage to step forth at a time like this?

Isn’t he worried that those ghosts will kill him to vent their fury?

Indeed, just as Xie Yunyan wondered this, she noticed that the terrifying apparitions had all fixed their gazes on Su Yi, and they made no effort to conceal their killing intent.

“Are you sick of living, you little whelp?” The thousand-foot-tall One-Eyed Ghost Monarch’s voice boomed like thunder, reverberating throughout heaven and earth.

The skeletal chains warped around him rattled, emanating piercing, ghostly wails.

His momentum shook heaven and earth!

The young woman in black looked frantic, and she said to Su Yi, “Quick, step aside! Don’t act tough! If you do, I won’t be able to protect you!

Su Yi laughed, but thought nothing of it. “But I can protect you.”

With that, he stretched out his right hand.

The black wooden staff the young woman had been holding tightly suddenly flew from her grip and landed in Su Yi’s outstretched palm.

“What are you doing?” exclaimed the young woman. She was just about to try and seize it back when Su Yi grabbed her shoulder and positioned her behind himself.

He said gently, “Just watch. I’ll show you how Fire Comb True Intent is meant to be used.”

The young woman in black was stunned.

Xie Yanyun looked a bit bewildered too.

Then, she watched as Su Yi gripped the black wooden staff and stepped forward, his blue robes swaying around him and his sleeves billowing. He seemed utterly proud and contemptuous.

“Kid, you sure… are seeking death!” said the Jadeblood Ghost King.

“So let’s send him on his way!” The One-Eyed Ghost Monarch’s voice boomed like thunder as he raised a blood-red axe the size of a house and swung it at Su Yi.

Boom!!

The blood-colored axe shone with monstrous, baleful light. As it tore through the skies, the surrounding air rumbled and wailed.

The young woman in black raised her right hand without hesitation, ready to rush to Su Yi’s aid.

Xie Yunyan gripped her sword and prepared herself.

The Jadeflame Ghost King and the others simply smiled coldly and watched; in their eyes, Su Yi was already dead.

And within the dilapidated temple, Junior Apprentice Brother Yue couldn’t wait to see Su Yi chopped to death!

But it was then that Su Yi attacked.

He raised the black wooden staff he was carrying and gently tapped the air.

A streak of firelight as dazzling as the sun passed through the staff and bloomed in the sky.

In that moment, a vast sun rose through the inky darkness and baleful, blood-colored fog. Its light was dazzlingly radiant, and it illuminated everything in all directions.

Wherever the firelight passed, the baleful, bloody energy evaporated into nothingness, and the darkness receded.

And the massive red axe swinging at Su Yi melted beneath the dazzling flames. As the drops fell through the air, they evaporated into white smoke and disappeared.

Its wielder, the One-Eyed Ghost Monarch, let out a heaven-shaking, agonized shout.

Countless golden flames bloomed throughout his thousand-foot frame, like blooming peach blossoms. All of them emanated a terrifying, searing aura.

In the blink of an eye, the One-Eyed Ghost Monarch was covered in wounds, all of which billowed with turbid black smoke.

The entire area was deathly silent. None of them had anticipated this.

Without exception, the Jadeflame Ghost King and the other terrifying ghosts circulated their cultivation bases. Only then did they avoid the dangerous aftermath of this attack.

Even so, when they saw the One-Eyed Ghost’s miserable state, all of their expressions changed!

“He… He can actually use the Fire Comb Spirit Staff my master made…” The black-robed young woman’s eyes widened with utter disbelief.

The Fire Comb Spirit Staff was refined from Peach Haven Divine Tree heartwood, and it contained natural Fire Comb True Intent. Furthermore, it was the key to wielding the Peach Haven Divine Tree’s source power.

Were an ordinary person to acquire this treasure, they still couldn’t unleash its true power; that required understanding the secret method of circulating Fire Comb True Intent.

The young woman in black would never have guessed it, but when Su Yi used the Fire Comb Spirit Staff, its power was inestimably greater than when she used it!

“Dammit!!!” An infuriated roar rang out, but the severely injured One-Eyed Ghost Monarch surprisingly didn’t retreat. Instead, he charged explosively toward Su Yi.

“An ant trying to shake a tree.” Su Yi shook his head, then swung the wooden staff.

A streak of golden firelight swept forth like a bolt of cloth, then flashed through the air.

The One-Eyed Ghost Monarch’s thousand-foot frame suddenly split in two at the waist. His top half was still charging ahead even as his lower half fell uncontrollably to the ground.

Then, both halves of his body lit up with dazzling golden light: Fire Comb True Flame.

A single breath of time later, both halves had been burnt to ash.

Just like that, the One-Eyed Ghost Monarch had been destroyed.

All that remained was a thousand-foot, perfectly straight golden rift hovering in the sky, flickering on and off.

That was the mark Su Yi’s swing had left behind.

A long time passed before it dissipated.

Everyone who saw this was stunned, and all of them couldn’t help but gasp.