First Immortal of the Sword

As the Nine Serenities Netherworld Crow’s feather burned, an invisible and obscure energy fluctuation rippled through the formation of blood sacrifice, then surged into depths of the mist-shrouded Great Chaos Ruins.

Old Yao White Eyebrows’ heart shook inexplicably, and his expression shifted.

A terrifying aura was awakening from dormancy deep within the Great Chaos Ruins. It had yet to fully awaken, but it was already enough to make one’s heart shake.

Boom!

The black mists churned, and heaven and earth shook. Streaks of blood-colored lightning spread like tree branches, splitting and ripping the skies.

“Even after all these years, the Netherworld King’s aura is still so terrifying. Don’t tell me… he’s really a god?” Old Yao White Eyebrows couldn’t help but gulp, and he felt a chill in his hands and feet.

Boom!

The power of the Laws enveloping the Great Chaos Ruins seemed startled, and it began suppressing the reawakening, terrifying power.

All of a sudden, thunder rumbled through the skies, lightning flashed, and black fog ran rampant. The violent, explosive power of the Laws swept outward, like the descent of the apocalypse. 

When Su Yi saw this, even he couldn’t help but narrow his eyes.

Suddenly, the awakening, terrifying energy fell silent. Immediately after, the alarmed source power of the Laws dissipated.

Then, a cold, indifferent voice emanated from deep within the Great Chaos Ruins. “Little crow, why did you burn your natal feather? Don’t tell me something went wrong with your mission?”

Every word reverberated throughout the landscape.

Old Yao White Eyebrows was dumbstruck.

Su Yi was obviously stunned as well, and his eyes glinted with strange light.

Because that voice obviously belonged to a woman!

In other words, the Netherworld King, the sovereign who’d struck terror into the hearts of everyone in the Netherworld in ancient times, was a woman!

This was truly unexpected.

After all, while exploring the Netherworld in his past life, he’d heard tales of the Netherworld King on numerous occasions.

But no one had mentioned that she was a woman!

“Your Majesty, something indeed went wrong with the blood sacrifice.” The Nine Serenities Crow drooped, looking both uneasy and awed.

After a brief silence, the Netherworld King’s voice resounded once more. “Did something happen to the Executioner?”

The Nine Serenities Netherworld Crow lowered its head in dejection. “Indeed.”

“Who did it?” The Netherworld King’s voice was obviously colder than before.

Su Yi instantly ran out of patience. He had no desire to listen to their question-and-answer session, so he said directly, “I did it.”

It was just three light, airy words, but they echoed throughout heaven and earth.

The Nine Serenities Netherworld Crow seemed terrified that the Netherworld King would lose her temper. It said hurriedly, “Your Majesty, His Excellency Su Xuanjun would like an audience with you!”

“Su Xuanjun!?”

The Netherworld King’s voice revealed her surprise.

Then, the distant skies above the Great Chaos Ruins shook violently, and a rain of blood-red light appeared within the black mists.

As the light fell, it gradually outlined a scene. The scene depicted a dimly lit hall empty save for a throne assembled entirely out of bones. It stood at the center of the hall.

 A slender, graceful figure sat atop it.

She had a head of long, blue hair, which she’d tied up behind her head. She wore a simple, unadorned dress as black as ink. Although it had no embellishments, it highlighted her snowy, lustrous skin.

She sat with her long, straight legs crossed. One hand casually rested on the throne’s armrest, while the other supported her jaw.

She sat at the highest point of the hall, on a hideous throne constructed entirely out of bones, yet she seemed both indolent and relaxed. Despite this, every inch of her emanated the imposing majesty of a sovereign.

But when he saw her face clearly, Old Yao White Eyebrows looked a bit dazed, and his mouth felt dry.

She was just too beautiful!

Her face was as exquisite and pure as a young woman’s, but the contour of her eyes and eyebrows had an unearthly charm. Her lips were red as fire, her eyes like glistening pools. She was simply the unmatched top beauty of her generation!

But when he met the woman’s gaze, it was like staring at a cold, indifferent goddess. Old Yao White Eyebrows instantly felt a prickling pain in his soul, and his hair stood on end, as if he’d plunged into an icy abyss.

He subconsciously lowered his head, and his back broke out in cold sweats.

The Netherworld King!

He dared say with certainty that the stunning, unmatched beauty languishing on a skeletal throne was none other than the Netherworld King who’d intimidated everyone in the Netherworld back in ancient times!

It was also then that Su Yi saw the Netherworld King’s appearance clearly. At first, he too couldn’t help but feel dazzled.

She had a highly distinctive disposition. Her appearance was shocking and extraordinary, yet she was as cold, cruel, and aloof as a goddess. She seemed indolent and charming, yet every inch of her emanated the forceful, tyrannical aura of a sovereign.

When Su Yi met the Netherworld King’s gaze, he felt pressure bearing down on him. It was as if a thunderstorm manifested of the might of the heavens were bearing down on his heart and soul.

But a moment later, the Sword of the Nine Hells neutralized this sense of oppression completely. After that, Su Yi didn’t feel much discomfort.

A moment later, Su Yi noticed that the black palace reflected in the rain of light was blanketed in the mysterious and inscrutable energy fluctuations of the Laws. They seemed to have condensed into mists that enveloped every corner of the grand hall.

There was no doubt about it: although it looked like the Netherworld King was languishing atop her skeletal throne, she was, in fact, trapped by the laws enveloping the black hall.

That she could activate a secret art to display this reflection above the Great Chaos Ruins was unquestionable proof that the Laws suppressing her were weakening!

It was also then that the Netherworld King noticed Su Yi, as well as the Nine Serenities Netherworld Crow he held aloft.

A moment later, she furrowed her brow. “He’s in the Spiritual Revolution Realm?”

The Nine Serenities Netherworld Crow said hurriedly, “Your Majesty, His Excellency Su has reincarnated and achieved rebirth!”

Reincarnated!

The languishing Netherworld King promptly sat up straight, and her beautiful eyes shone with fiery, blood-colored light. A look of surprise appeared on her exquisite face.

She stared intently at Su Yi for a moment before her fiery lips parted. “Interesting. It seems the sovereign of the Netherworld didn’t lie back then; the Netherworld really really does hide the power of reincarnation!”

It seemed discovering this secret was highly satisfying, as she muttered in a bit of a daze, “How many years has it been? So much time has passed, and the world has changed. I’m still stuck here, but I finally know that reincarnation really does exist…”

There was even a hint of madness in her gaze.

“So, the Executioner was telling the truth. You really are from the Nine Heavens Pavilion, and you really did come to the Netherworld to seek out the secrets of reincarnation. Is that right?” Su Yi pondered out loud.

The Netherworld King’s gaze focused, and her former emotionless bearing returned. “Are you… the one who killed the Executioner?”

Instead of answering, Su Yi asked, “Your position in the Nine Heavens Pavilion is most likely higher than his. Are you a Warden? Or perhaps a Heavenly Libationer?”

The Netherworld Brow’s distant mountain eyebrows furrowed. “He even told you about that? What on earth could drive him to violate his Grand Dao Oath?”

Neither of them answered the other’s questions. Instead, they used the information the questions let slip to probe for details.

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This verbal clash left Old Yao White Eyebrows inwardly alarmed. Su Yi, however, laughed. “You really are from the Nine Heavens Pavilion.”

The Netherworld King’s beautiful eyes blazed with blood-colored flames, but she didn’t seem concerned. “Su Xuanjun, don’t tell me you wanted to see me simply to confirm that?”

“I indeed have another goal.”

The Netherworld King was instantly visibly intrigued. “Then you might as well tell me what you’re after. Who knows? We might well be able to cooperate.”

“You’re overthinking this,” Su Yi said casually. “I just wanted to see whether or not you had hope of escaping confinement on your own strength.”

The Netherworld King’s eyes focused. “What do you mean?”

Su Yi said flatly, “Before I came to the City of the Wrongfully Dead, I agreed to help the Night Watchman remove some latent threats and prevent you from escaping. I naturally cannot go back on my word.”

A mocking jeer tugged at the Netherworld King’s red lips. “Back then, the monarch of the Infernal Palace joined forces with the Bureau of Adjudication and the masters of the Bureaus of the Six Paths. They used divine artifacts like the Records of the Netherworld, the Netherworld Judge’s Writing Brush, and the Six Paths Disc, but even then, they only managed to imprison me here.

“If I hadn’t been trapped here all this time, no one would ever have called you a sovereign!” She paused, then stared intently at Su Yi, her tone disdainful. “Besides, you’ve reincarnated. What can you accomplish with such a paltry cultivation base?”

She was a woman, but she spoke and carried herself like a monarch presiding over the world. Her bearing was proud and contemptuous.

Old Yao White Eyebrows was as silent as a cicada in winter.

Had anyone else said that, he would have seized the opportunity to rebuke them and flatter Su Yi.

But this was the Netherworld King whose name had shaken the ancient era; he didn’t even dare disagree with her.

Su Yi, however, couldn’t help but laugh. Members of the Nine Heavens Pavilion relied on the Laws of Heavenly Prayer. This was their greatest source of confidence.

Unfortunately for them, his Sword of the Nine Hells was the bane of the Laws of Heavenly Prayer.

Besides, he was confident that at his former peak cultivation, he could have contended with the Laws of Heavenly Prayer even without the Sword of the Nine Hells!

The Netherworld King’s words might sound extremely threatening to others, but to Su Yi, they were no more than a joke.

“What are you laughing at?” The Netherworld King’s gaze was increasingly indifferent. It seemed she was displeased.

Su Yi squeezed the Nine Serenities Netherworld Crow’s neck. “Little crow, go ahead and tell your esteemed Netherworld King why I’m laughing.”

“Uh… Err…” The Nine Serenities Netherworld Crow shuddered, then hesitated before steeling itself and saying, “Your Majesty, although His Excellency Su’s cultivation base is currently on the low side, he can control the power of the tombstone. Furthermore, earlier, he effortlessly suppressed His Excellency the Executioner in a single attack…”

The crow’s voice trailed off.

The Netherworld King’s contemptuous expression froze in place, and she fell silent.

She’d been confined in the Great Chaos Ruins for countless years. This was primarily due to the tombstone’s presence. That was why she’d ordered the crow to try everything in its power to remove it.

Who’d have thought that Su Yi would be capable of controlling its power?

The Netherworld King was naturally well aware of what that implied.

“What do you think of my ‘paltry’ cultivation base now?” Su Yi said flatly.

After a moment’s silence, the Netherworld King subtly raised her head and laughed.

It was as if an iceberg piled high with snow had melted, or as if a spring breeze had brought new warmth to an endless winter. Her smile was so charming as to bewitch the masses.

She stared intently at Su Yi, her beautiful eyes shining with frenzied, bloody light. However, her voice was gentle and sweet. “Fellow Daoist Su, now that you’ve said that… I naturally have to test you for myself.”