First Immortal of the Sword

It was late at night, and all was silent, making the boundless ringing of the bell extraordinarily striking. It seemed to touch the heart directly.

“Someone actually overcame the Blue Cliff Twelve Towers?” exclaimed one of the Blue Cliff Academy Elders.

Numerous others were confused.

“It was Fellow Daoist Su!” Meng Xinguan quickly realized what this meant. “Seniors, I’m sure of it. It was Fellow Daoist Su Yi!”

Su Yi?

The Blue Cliff Academy higher-ups suddenly recalled that a few days ago, Elder Tang Lingqi and Tang Bao’er, the daughter of the Tang Family’s leader, came to inform them that a young man called Su Yi would soon come to attempt the towers’ trials.

“But it’s only been a little over two hours. I would never have thought he’d succeed so quickly,” Meng Xinguan murmured in astonishment.

The Blue Cliff Academy higher-ups were stunned too. Just a little over two hours, and he overcame the Blue Cliff Twelve Towers?

That’s simply a miracle!

The sixty-three people who’d overcome the trials over the years had all taken at least three days!

Some had even taken as long as ten days!

Ding——Dong——！

The bell rang again and again, echoing through the night sky.

“The bell rang twelve times. That only happens when someone really overcomes the Blue Cliff Twelve Towers!” someone exclaimed.

But it wasn’t over yet.

The bell rang again and again, completing another full set of twelve rings!

The Blue Cliff Academy higher-ups were dumbstruck. Disbelief was written all over their faces.

“The bell rang twenty-four times?”

“Has anything like that ever happened before?”

“Never! Not even once!”

The crowd was in uproar. A clamor of voices arose on all sides.

Nie Weirui and the other Pine Hut College experts exchanged glances. All of them were stunned. Who could have failed to realize that someone had overcome the Blue Cliff Twelve Towers, and accomplished an unprecedented miracle? They’d actually made the bell ring twenty-four times!

A white-robed middle-aged man jeered. “Do you think that kid we saw in the Traveler’s Rest Stop is the one who overcame the Blue Cliff Twelve Towers?”

Before he’d even finished asking the question, he burst into laughter. The others laughed along.

Only Nie Weirui glared at him icily. “That joke isn’t at all funny.”

“Come on, let’s go to Blue Cliff to check it out!” Some of the Blue Cliff Academy higher-ups could no longer hold back. They immediately rushed toward the source of the disturbance.

Meng Xinguan hurried after them.

“We’ll go have a look too,” said Nie Weirui. She was already soaring through the air.

Following the Age of Fallen Immortals, the former greatest Confucian orthodoxy beneath the heavens had rapidly waned. Its strength was far from its former peak.

It was now far inferior to their Pine Hut College. Thus, Pine Hut College had come here to take their place and become the publicly acknowledged leader of the Immortal Realm’s Confucianists.

Given the circumstances, it would be terrible news if a heaven-defying, monstrous genius had appeared in Blue Cliff Academy. Such a person was sure to be a latent threat!

After all, despite the passage of countless years, only sixty-three people had ever made it through the Twelve Towers of Blue Cliff Academy.

And all sixty-three of them grew into dazzling, prominent experts. Most became Immortal Kings, and several had even reached the Great Realm!

Now, someone capable of overcoming the Blue Cliff Twelve Towers had appeared, and he’d even made the bell ring an unprecedented twenty-four times. This was clear proof of what a monstrous genius he was.

Even Nie Weirui couldn’t stay calm. She wanted to see this monster with her own two eyes.

……

Blue Cliff.

“I wouldn’t have guessed that after overcoming the Blue Cliff Twelve Towers, my cultivation would reach the pinnacle of the Universe Realm. All I need now is the right opportunity to break into the Void Realm!”

A hint of a smile tugged at Su Yi’s lips.

He’d acquired considerable rare and precious good fortune while overcoming these trials.

Like the Nirvanic Might that excavated his potential, the Righteous Haoran Qi that tempered his soul and aura, the Innate Merit that had a wondrous effect on his heart, the Xiantian Auspicious Rain that quenched his Immortal Origin Space, the Endless Transformations Essence that strengthened his flesh, and the Chaos Universe Power that further strengthened his soul!

All of this combined brought Su Yi benefits far beyond a simple increase in his cultivation. It had elevated his latent potential, mentality, and spirit!

These were his greatest harvests.

But before Su Yi could take his time to sense the full extent of his transformation, a group of old monsters rushed over.

“This old man is Immortal King Zhao Yunfeng of Blue Cliff Academy. My young friend, might I ask your honorable name and surname, and who your master is?” said the leader, an old man in hemp clothing. He took it upon himself to clasp his fist in greeting.

The other old monsters were nothing but smiles. All of them approached to greet Su Yi in turn, their eyes hot and intense.

“My name is Su Yi. I have no sect, nor do I have a master. I’m a rogue cultivator.” Su Yi introduced himself, then smiled faintly. “So, you’re the ones who were watching in secret as I overcame the Blue Cliff Twelve Towers.”

The old monsters were stunned but also a bit embarrassed.

But they were all old-timers who’d lived too many years to count. None would be bashful at a time like this.

Their leader, Zhao Yunfeng, laughed. “You’ve got good eyes, my young friend. No wonder you’re the first genius to overcome the Blue Cliff Twelve Towers since the Age of Fallen Immortals.”

Another old-timer added, “He isn’t just a ‘genius.’ My young friend, you’re simply unique, unprecedented, and unrivaled! I’m absolutely certain that no one has ever achieved such a feat, and that no one ever will again!”

“That’s right! You broke the record in all twelve trials. You’re like a natural-born sage, the first in history. No one else can compare!”

“Well said!”

…the old monsters were all talking over each other, seizing the opportunity to heap on enthusiastic praise. They were simply overflowing with admiration.

Any other Universe Realm Immortal might well have felt intoxicated if such a group had heaped such lavish praise on them.

Alas, Su Yi was different from other Universe Realm Immortals. He’d once stood at the pinnacle of the Immortal Dao, basking in endless glory. How could a little flattery get to his head?

He just laughed and said, “You exaggerate. I couldn’t have overcome these trials so smoothly without your support.”

He was calm and neither proud nor servile. This only made the old monsters all the more pleased with him.

One of them couldn’t help but say, “We’re here, first, to congratulate you on overcoming the Blue Cliff Twelve Towers, and second, because we’re hungry for talent. If you’re willing to stay here to cultivate, we promise to do everything in our power to give you everything you need to cultivate!”

“That’s right!”

The other old monsters chimed in too, offering generous, enticing conditions. It was to the point that Su Yi suspected Blue Cliff Academy would go broke if he really chose to stay.

When Meng Xinguan and the other higher-ups arrived and saw this, they were unwittingly stunned.

It had been years since these old monsters had left seclusion, but it seemed they’d long since been startled into action. They’d actually beaten everyone else here!

And it seemed they were dead-set on recruiting this young man, no matter the cost!

Of course, everyone knew that this was entirely worthwhile!

After all, this young man was the first to overcome the Blue Cliff Twelve Towers since the Age of Fallen Immortals, and the first in history to make the bells ring twenty-four times. He was a heaven-defying genius!

But before Su Yi could respond, another clamor of voices emanated from a distance.

“It was really that kid?”

“It really is him!”

“I wouldn’t have guessed it, but we really misjudged him earlier.”

…Nie Weirui and the other Pine Hut College experts arrived. When they saw Su Yi, they immediately recognized him as the young man they’d encountered at the Traveler’s Rest Stop.

They remembered him saying he’d come here to challenge the Blue Cliff Twelve Towers, but they took him for a fool ignorant of the height of the heavens and the depths of the earth.

Now, they suddenly realized that they’d been not just wrong, but way off!

Even Nie Weirui couldn’t help but be stunned, and her beautiful face looked a bit ill at ease.

This was because she’d initially dismissed Su Yi, as if he weren’t even there.

She took a moment to steady herself, then walked up to him and said, “My young friend, if you’re willing to join Pine Hut Academy, I promise you the position of Holy Son!”

The clamor of voices instantly died down.

The experts of Blue Cliff Academy were visibly enraged. They would never have thought Nie Weirui would try to excavate talent here, in their territory!

But Nie Weirui disregarded their anger. Her beautiful eyes were focused on Su Yi. She continued, “Furthermore, I guarantee you that all sixteen Immortal Kings of Pine Hut College will personally guide your cultivation, and that our libraries and cultivation resources will be at your disposal, with absolutely no limits!”

The crowd was in uproar.

Zhao Yunfeng snorted coldly. “How dare you try to snipe talent right in front of us! Don’t you think you’re over the line?”

The air was instantly rife with tension!

A white-robed middle-aged man from Pine Hut College laughed. “Please calm down, Senior. Everyone knows that Pine Hut College is now the greatest Confucian orthodoxy beneath the heavens, right? It’s only at our Pine Hut College that our young friend can realize the full extent of his potential!”

He paused, then continued, “If he stays at Blue Cliff Academy, he’ll be like a pearl buried in the mud. You’ll only damage his future prospects!”

This wasn’t the least bit polite. Everyone in Blue Cliff Academy’s camp glowered.

Nie Weirui was the next to speak up. “Everything Blue Cliff Academy can offer, Pine Hut College can offer too, but we can also offer things you can’t. Simply put, if our young friend agrees to join Put Hut College, we won’t be stingy!”

Her voice was icy, clear, and full of conviction.

The experts of Blue Cliff Academy instantly exploded in fury.

Pine Cloud College had sent their experts here today to claim the Haoran Ruler. Blue Cliff Academy was already furious about this.

Yet now, they wanted to snatch this young talent from right under their noses! Who wouldn’t have been furious after all this blatant disregard?

When he saw that a fierce argument was about to break out, Su Yi couldn’t help but rub his forehead. “Would you like to hear what I have to say first?”

The crowd was stunned. All of them looked over.

“Please, go right ahead.”

Zhao Yunfeng and the other old monsters of Blue Cliff Academy couldn’t help but tense for fear that Nie Weirui’s offer had tempted Su Yi. What if he really joined Pine Hut College?

“We trust that our young friend will make the wise choice. After all, this concerns his future prospects,” Nie Weirui said softly.

She and the other Pine Hut College experts all looked eager.