First Immortal of the Sword

The City of the Wrongfully Dead was one of the most dangerous forbidden zones in the Netherworld. When cultivators spoke of it, their hearts filled with terror and dread.

In the City of the Wrongfully Dead, nine forbidden zones were more dangerous than the others.

The Cliffs of Overwhelming Sorrow were one of them. 

Rumor had it that the cliffs stood at an intersection of the pure and impure. They were ten thousand feet tall, connecting heaven and earth.

The Great White Bone River flowed beneath the mountains, while their peaks were shrouded in Netherworld Hell Thunder. This variety of lightning was fierce and insidious. When struck, even Emperors struggled to overcome it.

Even more terrifying were the terrifying lifeforms that inhabited the Cliffs of Overwhelming Sorrow year round: Soul-Swallowing Birds.

Rumor had it that every Soul-Swallowing Bird was formed from the soul of an Emperor who’d perished within the City of the Wrongfully Dead. Without exception, all of them had terrifying strength comparable to an Imperial expert’s.

Thus, over the years, Emperors who exploded the City of the Wrongfully Dead almost always preferred to go around the cliffs. Few dared draw near.

This was the origin of the phrase, “not even Emperors can cross the Cliffs of Overwhelming Sorrow.”

Yuan Linning had naturally heard these rumors too.

“Fellow Daoist Su, why not go around?” she couldn’t help but suggest.

“No need to go to all that trouble.” Su Yi shook his head and continued, not the least bit concerned. “It is rather dangerous, but it’s the fastest route to the Little Necropolis. Furthermore, as we pass through the cliffs, I need to gather some of the Netherworld Hell Thunder.”

Yuan Linning’s beautiful eyes slowly widened.

She vividly remembered her martial uncle Lu Changming warning her before they’d left. He said that, no matter what, she was not to approach the Cliffs of Overwhelming Sorrow; it would be tantamount to suicide.

Over the cliff’s long history, even old monsters of the Profound Serenity Realm had died there!

Yet now, the Spiritual Revolution Realm Su Yi was insistent on going there. No, he wasn’t just headed right for the cliffs; he even wanted to gather Netherworld Hell Thunder!

“Fellow Daoist Su, do you know how terrifying the Cliffs of Overwhelming Sorrow are?” Yuan Linning chased after him and probed tentatively.

“Terrifying?” Su Yi was briefly stunned. Then, he said flatly, “The cliffs are indeed terrifying. Ordinary Emperors have no business there.”

When she saw how calm and composed he was, Yuan Linning seemed to realize something. “Do you have means of overcoming the cliffs’ dangers?”

Su Yi nodded.

Yuan Linning couldn’t even begin to guess where he got all this confidence, but hearing Su Yi’s affirmation still made her sigh in relief.

“On the road ahead, all you need to do is watch and carry out my orders,” said Su Yi.

Yuan Linning instantly realized something: Su Yi thinks I’m asking too many questions!

She couldn’t help but laugh bitterly to herself.

Ordinarily speaking, she was cold and aloof, a woman of few words. In any other situation, how could she possibly freak out over every little thing like this?

The City of the Wrongfully Dead was just too terrifying. Even with her Imperial Realm cultivation, she had no choice but to be careful.

Yet Su Yi was completely fearless and composed. He walked through the City of the Wrongfully Dead as if on a stroll through his own backyard.

And he even planned to go right through the Cliffs of the Wrongfully Dead.

Given the circumstances, how could Yuan Linning be anything but astonished? How could she not worry?

It was hard to avoid asking more questions than usual.

Before long, the scenery changed abruptly. A ten-thousand-foot mountain towered over the horizon, like a natural barrier.

Lightning rumbled and boomed overhead, shaking the landscape.

The entire mountain, top to bottom, was covered in explosive black lightning clearly visible to the naked eye. It was like a waterfall of lightning pouring down from the heavens, forming strange arcs of black electricity that ripped the surrounding space into disarray like countless falling knives.

Despite the distance, Yuan Linning sensed a lethal threat; it practically smacked her right in the face. The look on her beautiful face shifted immediately, and goosebumps rose all over her clear, snowy skin.

It was just too terrifying!

The power of that lightning was far more explosive than what she’d faced when she proved her Dao and overcame her tribulation!

And she could even dimly discern a flock of vicious birds flickering in and out of view in the currents of lightning surging around the peak.

There was no doubt about it: those were Soul-Swallowing Birds!

Terrifying lifeforms comparable to Imperial experts!

“One, two, three…”

Yuan Linning suddenly heard a voice. When she looked, she saw Su Yi standing there, hands behind his back, lips moving. It seemed as if he was counting the Soul-Swallowing Birds.

His expression showed no sign of fear. If anything, it carried a hint of eagerness.

“Not bad. I wouldn’t have guessed it, but after all these years, the cliffs have finally given rise to a new batch of Soul-Swallowing Birds,” Su Yi said a bit ruefully.

Back in the day, when he and Little Leaf explored the City of the Wrongfully Dead, they passed through the Cliffs of Overwhelming Sorrow. They captured thirteen of the Soul-Swallowing Birds born amidst the Netherworld Hell Thunder in one fell swoop.

Nine of them, he gave to Little Leaf. She refined them into a Ninespirit Thunder Staff.

The remaining four, Su Yi refined into Baleful Thunder Calamity-Cleansing Pills. One, he kept for himself. The other three, he gave to his first, sixth, and ninth disciples—Pi Mo, Ye Luo, and Qing Tang. The pills were wondrously useful when they first condensed their Profound Serenity Dao Platforms.

Although tens of thousands of years had passed, returning to familiar ground and seeing the Cliffs of Overwhelming Sorrow once more filled Su Yi’s heart with visions of the past. How could he not be rueful?

“Fellow Daoist Su, don’t tell me you plan to… Uh, forget it. I won’t ask.” Yuan Linning only got halfway through her question before recalling Su Yi’s earlier warning, and she promptly shut her mouth.

Su Yi had already guessed what she wanted to know. “When you enter a mountain of treasure, how can you possibly leave empty-handed? Anyway, stay within ten feet of me. Don’t wander off.”

With that, he continued ahead.

Yuan Linning naturally dared not be idle. She followed hot on his heels.

When they were only about a thousand feet away from the mountain, Yuan Linning suddenly noticed Su Yi flip over his hand and take out a palm-sized bronze page.

It was old-fashioned and unadorned, but it was covered in strange Dao Markings reminiscent of a cold, imposing eye.

And as soon as it entered Su Yi’s hand…

Weng!

A swath of formless and profound Dao Light exploded into being, transforming into a barrier that surrounded Su Yi and Yuan Linning.

The Dao Light had an obscure luster, like chaos itself, and it emanated a cool, mysterious aura.

As the light barrier protected her, Yuan Linning sensed that the destructive lightning aura released from the Cliffs of Overwhelming Sorrow was silently neutralized. It could no longer sway her mental state.

What kind of treasure is this? Yuan Linning exclaimed to herself, but she considerately refrained from asking out loud.

Boom!

As the two of them gradually approached the Cliffs of Absolute Despair, a waterfall of black lightning descended, cleaving and exploding the air. The surrounding area trembled. 

That terrifying might was enough to make even an Emperor quiver.

Yet when it descended, the mysterious light barrier neutralized it with ease. It couldn’t influence the people inside in the slightest.

This unbelievable scene left Yuan Linning astonished, but more than that, she was increasingly aware of just how incredible the treasure Su Yi was holding was!

“Wait a moment.” When they reached the base of the mountain, Su Yi stopped in his tracks.

Then, he plucked the three-inch gourd hanging from his waist and flung it.

It circled in the air, casting clear, illusory radiance of the Grand Dao. A moment later, it suddenly expanded, growing until it was more than ten feet tall.

A terrifying suction appeared at the mouth of the gourd.

What is that? Yuan Linning’s eyes bulged, but before she could figure it out…

Boom!

The Netherworld Hell Thunder blanketing the mountain was terrifying and explosive already, but this seemed to provoke it. It descended from the heavens, slamming into the green-skinned gourd.

It was as if the firmament were collapsing, or the river of heaven were breaking through a dam. As the explosive lightning poured down, it seemed intent on destroying the entire landscape.

Looking up from the ground, it was enough to make one give in to despair. There was nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.

Even Yuan Linning was alarmed.

But then, she was dumbstruck.

The imposing onslaught of Netherworld Hell Thunder slammed into the gourd, but it couldn’t so much as budge it. On the contrary, that incomparably explosive, baleful lightning was relentlessly devoured.

It seemed as if the gourd were a black hole; it was continuously devouring the lightning!

“That gourd…” Yuan Linning’s mind buzzed. She felt as if everything she were witnessing had completely overturned her perception of reality. It was beyond imagining.

After all, even a Profound Serenity expert most likely couldn’t have faced that terrifying thunderbolt head-on.

Yet the green gourd had simply absorbed the Netherworld Hell Thunder, like a whale swallowing the sea!!

“It really could use a little replenishment,” whispered Su Yi.

The green gourd nourished the Tiny Heart of the Cosmos, and it was the fruit of a Xiantian Divine Lifeform in its own right.

And the Netherworld Hell Lightning was a manifestation of the Laws of the City of the Wrongfully Dead’s Source. It was the perfect energy source for nourishing a Xiantian Divine Lifeform.

In his past life, Su Yi had carved all manner of mysterious and inscrutable Edicts into the gourd’s interior. This was to absorb power and improve the Tiny Heart of the Cosmos.

These Edicts included one of the Yayu True Spirit Divine Beast lineage, the Thunder Corrosion Edict!

“Don’t tell me that gourd contains a mighty treasure spirit?” Yuan Linning asked in a daze.

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“Nope.” Su Yi shook his head. 

The Tiny Heart of the Cosmos did have spirituality, but not a sentient weapon spirit.

It… doesn’t contain a treasure spirit…? Yuan Linning felt completely baffled.

She suddenly realized that, the more time she spent with this mysterious Spiritual Revolution Realm youth, the more she revealed her own ignorance…

No wonder he said I was stupid. His understanding and the powers at his disposal are far beyond my comprehension…

Yuan Linning couldn’t help but sigh to herself.

When Su Yi first accused her of stupidity, she hadn’t been convinced. But now, seeing the numerous abilities Su Yi had on display, she couldn’t bring herself to argue any further.

“You’re seeking death!”

Suddenly, a shrill cry boomed throughout heaven and earth.

Yuan Linning suddenly looked up and saw a massive, vicious bird charge explosively out of the churning sea of thunder and lightning over the peak.

It had a thirty-foot wingspan, and it was as pitch-black as if it had been forged out of divine iron. It had a hideous human face, with vicious, bright red eyes, and its entire body was swathed in dazzlingly radiant lightning. 

A Soul-Swallowing Bird!

As soon as this vicious creature comparable to an Imperial expert appeared, monstrous, baleful energy enveloped the entire landscape.

Another Soul-Swallowing Bird followed the first, then another, and another. 

These unparalleled, vicious creatures born of the sea of electricity were charging at her and Su Yi with intent to kill.

This terrifying scene left Yuan Linning’s hair standing on end.

She finally realized why the phrase “not even Emperors can cross the Cliffs of Overwhelming Sorrow” had circulated continuously throughout the ages!