First Immortal of the Sword

Outside the Divine Hunt Demon Mountains, the ritual grounds.

Space rippled, and two Immortal Lords appeared out of thin air.

The Immortal Kings were unwittingly stunned. It’s been less than four hours since the start of the Divine Hunt, but people are already washing out?

“Sect Leader, Senior Apprentice Brother Jing Feng was killed!” an Immortal Lord cried out in grief.

Jing Feng was the azure-robed man Su Yi had thrown into the lava.

“What?” Uproar ensued. The Divine Hunt only just began, but someone’s dead already?

A fierce-looking middle-aged man said with ashen look on his face, “Who did it”

“If I’m not mistaken, the culprit was Shen Mu!” An Immortal Lord said through gnashed teeth.

Shen Mu!

The name meant nothing to most of those present; they’d never heard of an Immortal Lord by that name before.

Tang Lingqi’s eyelids twitched. Inwardly, he grimaced. Fellow Daoist Su, aren’t you a bit too ferocious?

“The winner is a king, and the loser is a bandit. In the Divine Hunt, when you’re weaker than your opponent, you cannot avoid the risk of death. Surely you two aren’t out for revenge?” Tang Lingqi said gravely.

Many Immortal Kings nodded their agreement.

Without rules, everything would simply fall apart. If people got revenge every time someone died during the Divine Hunt, everything would devolve into complete chaos.

Before long, yet another round of spatial ripples appeared, followed by Ma Kun and his companions. All of them were injured, and all of them looked wretched.

Yet another round of uproar ensued. More competitors washed out? How is that possible?

And this time, seven people washed out at once!

“Ma Kun, what happened?” an Immortal King of the Church of the Pure One asked gravely.

He was a thoroughly majestic man in imperial robes, and his name was Wu Lingkong.

“Martial Uncle, it was Shen Mu who did it! His methods were extraordinarily insidious. One word out of turn, and he struck to kill. If we hadn’t fled in time, we might well have died!” Ma Kun said hatefully.

Shen Mu again!

The Immortal Kings were unwittingly stunned. He was just one person, yet he’d forced so many people to drop out so quickly. That was no simple feat!

“Daoist Brother Tang, if I recall, it was the Tang Family who gave Shen Mu a spot in the Divine Hunt. Is that right?” Immortal King Wu Lingkong looked at Tang Jinhong, who was seated in the centermost, elevated seat.

Tang Jinhong. Within the Tang Family, he had shocking seniority. He spent most of his time in seclusion, and he’d lived through the cataclysm of the Age of Fallen Immortals.

When the Tang Family decided to host this Divine Hunt, they called the old-timer out of seclusion to oversee things.

“That’s right,” said Tang Jinhong. His expression didn’t so much as waver. “Shen Mu is a rare genius. He’s no weaker than the so-called unrivaled Immortal Lords. There’s no shame in losing to him.”

The crowd was stunned. No weaker than unrivaled Immortal Lords!?

This revelation was beyond most of the crowd’s expectations.

An Immortal King sighed ruefully. “The Tang Family sure hid him well. Had I known Shen Mu was so extraordinary, I would have bet on him to take first place earlier!”

An Immortal King asked curiously, “Does that mean the Tang Family has already recruited him?”

Tang Jinhong shook his head in frustration. “We’d love to recruit him. Alas, his ambitions are too grand and far-reaching. He’ll never work for us.”

The Immortal Lords were unwittingly stunned, and their expressions turned strange. Shen Mu actually refused the Tang Family’s attempt to recruit him?

Only Tang Lingqi’s expression was strange. Ancestor Jinhong was not lying, but the crowd had naturally misunderstood. It wasn’t that Su Yi had refused the Tang Family. Rather, they dared not attempt to recruit him!

In the Tang Family, only he, Tang Bao’er, and Tang Jinhong knew that Shen Mu was really Su Yi. Thus, they knew better than anyone what would happen if his identity was revealed. Even the Immortal Kings gathered here wouldn’t be able to resist going to look for him!

“That just makes the Divine Hunt more interesting. I’m eager for a few more dark horses like Shen Mu to show up and make it even more unpredictable!” laughed an Immortal King. “That’ll make our bets far more suspenseful. What could be more fun?”

A burst of laughter followed.

Ma Kun and the other Immortal Lords that Su Yi had disqualified were dumbstruck. Bad enough that they’d washed out, but now, they’d been reduced to bumbling clowns. All they'd done was make Shen Mu seem even more impressive. Now, even Immortal Kings were paying attention to him!

What a humiliation!

……

The Divine Hunt Demon Mountains.

Su Yi left the lake of lava and continued on his way.

The Netherworld Icefire Lotus is a rare earthly treasure. After I break into the Void Realm, I can use it to stabilize my foundations, thought Su Yi.

He was fidgeting with an apricot-pit-sized core. He’d acquired it from the black serpent, and although it didn’t look like much, it contained pure Ba Serpent True Blood!

Its value was far beyond the two cores he’d acquired earlier!

This core can be used to temper the qi, flesh, and blood. It could be useful during my breakthrough, too.

Su Yi put the core away, placed his hands behind his back, and sensed his surroundings before continuing ahead.

An hour later.

Boom!

A dense swarm of silver bats suddenly shot out of the clouds. There were tens of thousands of them, and they swept forth like a silver windstorm.

They were headed right for Su Yi, fangs bared, bodies swathed in bloody, baleful energy. They were a fierce, terrifying sight.

The bats let out strange shrieks, forming an avalanche of sound waves. Combined, they could easily shatter the souls of even Immortal Lords!

Su Yi neither dodged nor fled. He just met the swarm head-on.

Clang!

Sword qi flew through the air, illuminating the nine heavens. Radiant, forceful sword intent pierced the mountains and rivers, and with every strike that fell, whole groups of silver bats perished.

Su Yi was just one person, but he was like a raging gale dispersing the crowds. He fought alone, yet he scattered the swarm of bats, drenching the earth with waterfalls of blood.

It wasn’t long before he’d finished. The air was permeated with the stench of blood, and the ground was littered in silver corpses.

In the end, Su Yi gathered thirty-nine cores. Their quality was merely ordinary; none were anywhere near as precious as the core containing Ba Serpent True Blood.

The creatures of the outer perimeter are ultimately rather lacking. I'll have to go further in to acquire more cores. They’ll be higher quality, too.

Su Yi continued on his way, never once stopping. When he encountered ferocious beasts, he just killed them. He had no intention of fleeing or avoiding them whatsoever.

He encountered a few Immortal Lords along the way too, but he saw no sign of Gong Nanfeng or Chu Batian.

A day later, Su Yi stopped before a valley filled with black fog. He finally realized something. He’d been using the talisman Tang Yuyan gave him to find her, but she was on the move too. She was headed deeper and deeper into the Divine Hunt Demon Mountains!

What kind of good fortune is she looking for? She hasn’t stopped even once. Su Yi’s brow furrowed.

After a moment’s thought, he continued on his journey. He was headed further into the wilderness anyway, so what did it matter?

After passing through the fog-shrouded valley, the world cleared up in front of him, and he saw a stretch of rising and falling hills.

As well as something rather strange.

An extraordinarily handsome monk in Buddhist robes stood in front of a hill, holding an alms bowl and a square treasure seal.

A group of Immortal Lords stood in front of him, trembling from head to toe. Unease was written over all of their faces.

“The Buddha is merciful, and I strive to be compassionate. I do not kill, and when I walk, I can not bear to crush even the humblest of ants. You needn’t be afraid,” said the monk. He had the countenance of a Buddhist statue, and a gaze full of compassion for all of creation.

An Immortal Lord stammered, “Buddhist Son Zhuo Yun, if you’re so compassionate, why… did you use that divine ability to confine us here?”

Zhuo Yun!

He was an unrivaled Immortal Lord from Lotus Temple, innately clever, a Buddhist Son recognized by every Buddhist faction beneath the heavens. He was blessed with good fortune, and his cultivation base had long since reached the pinnacle of the Saint Realm.

Zhuo Yun said compassionately, “Please don’t misunderstand, everyone. I kept you here to solicit alms. I sincerely hope you can donate your demonic cores to this humble monk.”

“...”

A moment later, an Immortal Lord roared, “Fuck! You’re just trying to rob us. Alms? Seriously? You’re too much, you damned bald donk—”

Bang!

The square treasure seal slammed into the Immortal Lord, sending him staggering backward. He fell to the ground, seeing stars, and a bump swelled on his forehead as he yelped in pain.

The crowd was petrified. Zhuo Yun looked handsome, amiable, and compassionate. Who’d have thought he was this ruthless?

He was no different from the violent hooligans of the mundane world. When he struck, it was crisp and direct.

Even Su Yi was unwittingly stunned. This monk… sure is black-hearted!

Zhuo Yun walked up to the Immortal Lord he’d just struck and said gently, “Benefactor, please be compassionate and donate your demonic cores to this humble monk.”

As he spoke, he proffered his alms bowl.

The Immortal Lord shuddered, but in the end, he slumped and obediently placed every last core he had on him into the alms bowl.

Zhuo Yun smiled. “Amitabha! You’re compassionate indeed, Benefactor, and selfless too. You’re sure to be blessed with good fortune.”

The Immortal Lord longed to curse him out. Compassionate? Selfless! Fuck that! And fuck your so-called good fortune!

This is the Buddhist Son of the famous Lotus Temple? Feh! He’s nothing but a hooligan! His compassion is just a sham!

“It’s your turn, dear benefactor.” Zhuo Yun as he glanced at another Immortal Lord.

Soon, all of the Immortal Lords submitted to their fate and obediently offered all of the demonic cores they’d collected.

One of them tried to just hand over a portion of his loot. He figured he could trick Zhuo Yun, but the monk saw through him at a glance. His square seal slammed into the offender, leaving him battered, bleeding, and crying for his mommy and daddy. In the end, he too obediently offered the monk all of his cores.

After seeing this, Su Yi finally understood that this Zhuo Yun guy was an altogether different type of monk. He wasn’t just ruthless. He was shameless, too.

Su Yi had only just thought this when he noticed that Zhuo Yun was looking at him!

“Fate brought us together, dear benefactor. Please wait!” said Zhuo Yun, seemingly afraid that Su Yi would run away. He took a step forward, and a lotus bloomed beneath his feet, instantly carrying him to Su Yi.

A gentle smile spread across his handsome face.