First Immortal of the Sword

Boom!

Su Yi’s sleeves billowed around him. Endless stars seemed to revolve around his tall, upright figure, producing a grand, immeasurably powerful boom.

Tides of Dao Light rose and fell, coursing across the surface of his skin and illuminating the sky. It was forceful and sharp, like the edge of an unrivaled sword emerging from long dormancy at the bottom of an abyss.

“This…” Tang Bao’er instinctively rubbed her eyes and stared in disbelief.

Tang Lingqi was unwittingly stunned, and his scalp went numb.

Earlier, Su Yi’s aura was withdrawn, and he was outwardly unassuming, almost like an ordinary mortal.

Yet now, he was like a completely different person. Every time his eyes opened and closed, they revealed his unrestrained will. He was like a god of the sword gazing down upon the heavens with contempt.

Heaven and earth were thrown into upheaval, and even the wind and clouds shifted!

“The Universe Realm?” The man was stunned. This discovery was entirely unexpected!

The man sighed. “You’re a Universe Realm Immortal in your twenties, yet you slew five Immortal Lords of the Church of Divine Flame. To tell the truth, despite having lived since the days prior to the Age of Fallen Immortals, I’ve never even heard of someone like you, let alone seen one with my own eyes.”

Tang Lingqi and Tang Bao’er agreed completely. Throughout the world and throughout the ages, who’d ever encountered someone so unbelievable before?

Su Yi said flatly, “Cultivation levels are like jugs of wine. Some jugs can only hold a little over half a catty, while others can contain rivers, lakes, or even oceans.”

The man’s eyes flashed like torches as he stared intently at Su Yi. He chuckled. “So you’re saying that the ‘jug of wine’ of your Universe Realm cultivation can hold an ocean?”

Su Yi shook his head. “Not just an ocean. It can hold rivers, lakes, and oceans, but also the starry skies. If need be, it can encompass everything between heaven and earth.”

“....” No one knew what to make of that.

The Sword Fanatic threw back his head and laughed. “What spirit! Everything between heaven and earth, huh? Indeed, that’s how a sword cultivator ought to be!”

Tang Lingqi and Tang Bao’er exchanged glances. Their hearts shook. Who could have failed to realize that the Sword Fanatic approved and resonated with Su Yi’s seemingly incomparably arrogant statement?

He even felt that he’d found a kindred spirit!

But Su Yi shook his head once more. “How could a sword cultivator’s spirit be limited to that?”

The listeners were stunned.

The Sword Fanatic’s smile receded, and he asked solemnly, “Then what do you think a sword cultivator’s spirit ought to be like, Fellow Daoist?”

Su Yi smiled faintly. “If you’re still alive after we’ve fought, I’ll tell you.”

The Sword Fanatic couldn’t help but laugh. Earlier, he said that if Su Yi could block three of his strikes, he’d let Su Yi go, and he wouldn’t mind discussing a bit of the past with him. Yet now, Su Yi had turned his words against him!

“Very well. I’m already itching to fight you. Let’s see whose Dao of the Sword is stronger!” The Sword Fanatic flicked the flat of his sword, and its hum reverberated throughout the nine heavens.

He was unbridled and frenzied, and his eyes blazed like twin suns. The terrifying sword intent blazed around his entire body suddenly contained an additional, startling murderousness.

Su Yi said flatly, “I’m not concerned with who’s stronger. I just hope you won’t disappoint me.”

His presence shifted too, becoming even stronger!

Tang Lingqi and Tang Bao’er tensed up once more.

“That’s right,” said the man with a burst of laughter. “My name is Xiao Mo. A long time ago, people liked calling me the Sword Fanatic!”

The Sword Fanatic? Su Yi was briefly stunned, but a moment later, he recalled why that name was familiar. Back in the Eastern Profound Star Domain, Daoist Master Red Cloud mistook him for the reincarnation of an Immortal Lord known as the Sword Fanatic.

Wait, wasn’t he supposed to be the greatest of the ten great Immortal Lords of the Central Immortal Court?

Before Su Yi could give the matter any further thought, the Sword Fanatic attacked in full force. His sleeves billowed around him, and his sword rumbled and boomed. Explosive murderous intent swept through the air.

Whoosh!

Throughout the surrounding three hundred thousand feet of heaven and earth, countless rifts formed.

Sword qi full of destructive power burst from the Sword Fanatic’s sword, and the entire area transformed.

It was as if countless resplendent fireworks bloomed at once, an utterly stunning sight. The landscape paled by comparison.

Great beauty was too wondrous to describe in words.

This sword intent was glorious to the extreme, yet utterly terrifying.

This attack was called “Flames of a Turbulent World!”

It was one of the three attacks the Sword Fanatic took the most pride in. He’d poured his heart’s blood into developing it, and all of his attainments in the Dao of the Sword were fused into it. After countless years immersed in tempering it, he’d reached the pinnacle of mastery with this attack, and he could use it with confidence and ease!

When it struck, it was as if countless endlessly dazzling fireworks blanketed the dome of heaven!

In the face of this strike, Su Yi couldn’t help but throw back his head and laugh. He leaped into the air and shot forth like an arrow, with his palm acting as a bowstring. When he drew in his elbows, he pulled the “bowstring” taut.

Terrifying power of the Dao of the Sword concentrated between Su Yi’s fingers. He took a step in the air, and swung his palm downward.

Boom!

Heaven and earth shook violently.

Su Yi’s palm strike was simple and direct, yet it shook heaven and earth. He was like a god slamming the table, shaking the entire Immortal Realm.

The resplendent sword qi filling the air was like the cups and plates covering the tabletop; when his palm descended, all of them shattered.

When a god slammed the table, everything in all directions shook, filling the blue dome of heaven with ten thousand miles of dust!

To the distant Tang Lingqi and Tang Bao’er, it seemed as if Su Yi’s palm were a wind sweeping away the remnants of cloud, cleansing the nine heavens and extinguishing the flames of a turbulent world.

The word “tyrannical” was insufficient to describe it!

The Sword Fanatic was stunned. He couldn’t help but throw back his head and laugh. “When the eastern wind blows, thousands of lanterns bloom like flowering trees, and fireworks fall like rain. Fellow Daoist, your attack destroyed my technique with raw power, as if it were made of rotten wood. Impressive!”

After seeing this, he finally realized that although this young man in his twenties was “just” a Universe Realm Immortal, his strength was so heaven-defying and his swordsmanship so terrifying as to be absolutely unique.

This fully ignited the Sword Fanatic’s will to fight, filling him with excitement. His murderous intent and thirst for battle boiled within him.

All Su Yi said was, “Don’t hold back any longer. Show me the true pinnacle of your strength.”

“Very well!” shouted the Sword Fanatic as his sword swung through the air.

This attack was simple, without the slightest flourish. It was the opposite extreme of his prior, utterly resplendent attack.

Everything extraneous had been washed away, a return to simplicity.

It was as natural as lilies swaying in the wind, or pearls of dew dripping down a leaf. It was like the first light of dawn breaking through the darkness and illuminating everything beneath the heavens.

This was a simple, unadorned, utterly natural and unaffected sword intent.

It was also the epitome of murderous power of the Dao of the Sword. There was no need for any decorations or adornments!

This was what a return to simplicity ought to be like!

Heaven and earth trembled and wailed. The mountains and rivers swayed, and the thunderclouds enveloping the ruins silently dissipated without a trace.

A heart-palpitating sword force permeated every last inch of sky!

Tang Lingqi shuddered and broke out in cold sweat. He felt as if he’d been plunged into an icy abyss. He was an Immortal Lord, and he was watching from a great distance, but even so, the mysteries within that slash made him feel suffocated with overwhelming despair.

Tang Bao’er clenched her jade-like fists and circulated the full extent of her cultivation base, but it wasn’t enough to stave off that terrifying sword force. She felt prickling pain all over her skin, and her soul quivered uncontrollably.

This slash was far too terrifying!!

In that moment, the Sword Fanatic seemed to slough off everything extraneous. He was like a supreme sage of the Dao of the Sword. This supremely simple attack had the power to connect heaven and earth!

And this supremely simple attack... put enormous pressure on Su Yi.

His long hair billowed around him, and his calm eyes lit up. He wasn’t startled. No, he was delighted.

This Sword Fanatic is no ordinary sword cultivator. His attainments in the Dao of the Sword are the greatest I’ve seen since I reincarnated!

This was Su Yi’s strongest, and most delightful, opponent to date!

He didn’t hesitate. He took a deep breath, rose to his full height, pressed his fingers into a sword, and tapped the air.

It was a casual, understated gesture, without the slightest flourish.

Yet this casual tap blocked the edge of the Sword Fanatic’s weapon.

A moment later——

Boom!!!

The skies exploded and collapsed at the point of impact. Destructive power of the Dao of the Sword swept outward, collapsing the entire area. Everything was thrown into disarray.

The surrounding ruins and hills caved in and crumbled to powder.

Tang Lingqi sensed the danger and immediately led Tang Bao’er further away.

They then watched as a current of destructive power swept outward. There was nothing it could not break, and nothing it could not destroy.

Tang Lingqi’s scalp went numb watching it, and his hands and feet quivered uncontrollably.

This duel was far too terrifying. He had to admit to himself that an Immortal Lord of his caliber would have long since been slain on the spot!

Su Yi staggered ninety feet back amidst the light and smoke before finally managing to steady himself.

His handsome face was a bit pallid, and his vital energy was in turmoil, like boiling water.

At the same time, the Sword Fanatic swayed on his feet, and his sword hummed and trembled nonstop. His thin face was full of disbelief.

He blocked it?

This slash was called “Skill without Artifice.” When he poured his full strength into it, it was far stronger than Flames of a Turbulent World.

But he still couldn’t defeat his opponent!

“Within the Immortal Lord level, that strike is top-notch. Your skills in the Dao of the Sword are truly masterful. It’d be fair to say you’re unrivaled among your contemporaries.” Off in the distance, Su Yi brushed off his clothes as he commented. His words came straight from the heart.

The Sword Fanatic sighed. “But you still blocked it. What did it amount to? Besides, I still haven’t forced you to draw your sword. It’s truly… unreasonable.”

After this second clash, he was increasingly aware of just how unbelievable of an opponent the young Su Yi was.

There was no judging him by his cultivation base!

But this only increased the Sword Fanatic’s excitement. The depths of his gaze burned with the frenzied will to fight.

He was infatuated with the sword. That was why others called him the Sword Fanatic!

But it was because he was so infatuated that his skills far transcended his contemporaries and tales of his heaven-defying strength spread across the four seas!

This was what they meant when they said there was no success without insanity!

Su Yi smiled. “If I draw my sword against an opponent like you, this will no longer be a contest. It’ll be a duel to the death! Furthermore, what you’ve shown me thus far really isn’t enough to make me draw my blade.”

His words were calm, without any intent to humiliate.

But Tang Lingqi and Tang Bao’er felt completely dumbstruck. They couldn’t even imagine what kind of confidence Su Yi needed to say such a thing!

The Sword Fanatic pursed his lips, then suddenly laughed. “After encountering a like-minded individual in the present day, I have no fear of death, nor do I care about victory and defeat. All I seek… is satisfaction!”

Seth's Thoughts

"When the eastern wind blows, thousands of lanterns bloom like flowering trees, and fireworks fall like rain."

This is a line of poetry by 12th century poet Xin Qiji. You can read the full thing here.

The raw text says "a thousand trees bloom", but the annotations on modern Chinese translations say that they aren't talking about literal trees so much as "fire trees and silver flowers", which look something like this.