First Immortal of the Sword

Su Yi’s gaze was still tranquil and ethereal. He showed no sign of awakening whatsoever.

However, an earth-shaking transformation was taking place within him. His Immortal Origin Space was expanding seemingly beyond measure, like an endless abyss.

The Immortal Origin Space contained the cultivation base. The deeper one’s cultivation, the firmer and larger the Immortal Origin Space, and the more Immortal Origin it could contain.

The Immortal Origin Space was incomparably profound, like a self-contained universe. It could contain all manner of Grand Daos and manifest celestial bodies, the cycles of the earth, and creation in all facets.

Those with particularly firm foundations could even transform their Immortal Origin Space so that it took on different shapes!

Then, as their cultivation deepened and their control over their Immortal Laws increased, they could materialize the wondrous transformations of their Immortal Origin Space in the outside world!

Wang Ye, for instance, had manifested a thirty-three-layer sword domain within his Immortal Origin Space. Upon reaching the pinnacle of the Immortal Dao, when he circulated his cultivation base, he could effortlessly manifest this thirty-three-layer sword domain externally!

Once Su Yi stepped into the Universe Realm, his Immortal Origin Space took on the shape of the Sword of the Nine Hells!

However, back then, the Sword of the NIne Hells condensed out of his power of the Laws was illusory and indistinct, and it just hovered there in silence.

Now that he’d broken into the Void Realm, this “Sword of the Nine Hells” was increasingly solid, and it seemed weightier!

It was shaped like a sword, but it hovered in the endless void, eternal and undying, capable of suppressing the heavens, all worlds, and all ages both past and future!

As Su Yi’s cultivation base transformed, his physique and soul transformed with it. Every last inch of his skin shone with the light of the Dao, and even his breathing took on a wondrous rhythm of the Dao.

“Is such an aura really possible for a Void Realm True Immortal?” muttered the Zhuyou Great Peng. Its eyes bulged out of their sockets with sheer astonishment.

It had witnessed Su Yi’s transformation in its entirely. The more it saw, the more astonished it felt.

By the end, it almost felt as if its perception of reality had been overturned.

The Void Realm was the second major realm of the Immortal Dao.

“Void” represented emptiness and falsehood.

Those who reached this realm had to glean enlightenment into truths and falsehoods and differentiate between them!

Only by seeing through that which was false could they further transform their comprehension and perception of the Grand Dao.

This was why those who broke into the Void Realm were called True Immortals. They were immortals who’d seen through truths and illusions to find a path suited to the fundamental nature of their Immortal Daos!

Only those who reached this level could fuse their powers of the Grand Dao into a cohesive whole!

But Su Yi’s transformation and aura were so incredible that the Zhuyou Great Peng couldn’t believe that he was really a Void Realm True Immortal!

“You’re kicking up a fuss over nothing,” said the Divine Fortune Teller. In truth, he was startled too, but he feigned calm. “In the Universe Realm, he could slay unrivaled Immortal Lords with ease. With his terrifying foundations, it was inevitable that his Void Realm cultivation would be far beyond other people. And don’t forget how calamitous that tribulation he just overcame was!”

The Zhuyou Great Peng nodded repeatedly. “Then do you think he’s strong enough to defeat Immortal Kings now that he’s broken into the Void Realm?”

The Divine Fortune Teller’s eyelids twitched at the thought of it. After a moment’s silence, he said, “It’s hard to say. After all, Immortal Kings are, as the name implies, kings among immortals. As I’m sure you know, the Miracle Realm is far, far beyond the Saint Realm.

“It might seem like the two are just one step apart, but in truth, they correspond to starkly different levels of the Grand Dao.

“Fellow Daoist Su has only just stepped into the Void Realm. He isn’t even a Saint Realm cultivator yet. Even if his foundations were even more heaven-defying… the gap between him and an Immortal King is just too enormous.”

But here, the Divine Fortune Teller sharply changed tacks. “But then, Fellow Daoist Su is different from other people. He can make up for his low cultivation base with his strengths in other areas, like his attainments in the Dao of the Sword, his divine abilities, and his unbelievable combat skills and wisdom.

“Simply put, all I can say with confidence is that clashing with an early-stage Miracle Realm Immortal King shouldn’t be too much of a problem for him!

The Zhuyou Great Peng couldn’t help but be rueful. “If that’s true, then it’d be no exaggeration to say that there’s never been anyone else like Fellow Daoist Su! After all, I… I’ve never even heard of a Void Realm True Immortal capable of clashing with Immortal Kings.”

The Divine Fortune Teller agreed completely. But then, he knew better than just about anyone that you couldn’t judge Su Yi by his cultivation base!

The deaths of those Immortal Kings at the Seventh Gate of Heaven proved that, as did the six dead Demon Kings of the Beyond.

How could Su Yi’s cultivation base alone account for that?

Time slipped by, and soon, half a day had passed.

Su Yi finally opened his eyes and sighed. “All this time, I was practically looking for fish in the trees. I searched for a donkey, not realizing I was already riding one.”

In both this life and his past lives, he sought greater heights of the Dao of the Sword.

But after stepping into the Immortal Dao, he fell into a ludicrous mental trap in his contemplation of the Grand Dao.

The reason was simple. He kept trying to find a power of the Grand Dao that could encompass both of his taboo abilities, Reincarnation and Profound Ruin, and fuse them together.

He was searching for a "furnace" capable of holding them both.

Reincarnation and Profound Ruin were taboo; they were both supreme and unrivaled mysteries of the Grand Dao. Given that, how was he supposed to find a Grand Dao capable of fusing with them both?

But now, after his enlightenment atop the Dao Contemplation Platform, Su Yi combed through his cultivation and repeatedly divined his powers of the Grand Dao. In the end, he suddenly came to his senses.

He’d been wrong. He hadn’t gone down on the wrong path, exactly. Rather, the whole concept of searching for the right power of the Grand Dao to fuse his abilities into was fundamentally mistaken.

There was no need to search, nor was there any need to rack his brains.

He was a sword cultivator!

All of his powers of the Grand Dao, no matter how forbidden or lofty, could fuse into his Dao of the Sword. There was no need for anything else!

In other words, his Dao of the Sword was the very furnace he’d been searching for, a furnace capable of fusing all Daos into one!

I attached too much importance to the Laws of Reincarnation and Profound Ruin, leading to this mental blindspot. I made a juvenile, ridiculous mistake, Su Yi muttered to himself. But it’s because of all that time I spent searching bitterly that this realization hit me so deeply and pointed directly to my Dao Heart!

Others might think everything he’d been through to reach this conclusion was ridiculous, but in the eyes of a true top expert, his experiences were precious indeed. He’d effectively achieved a “return to simplicity” within his cultivation.

When you began your cultivation, you understood things on a superficial level. Mountains were mountains, and waters were waters.

Then, as you accumulated all manner of experiences, witnessed the alternations of worldly affairs, and surveyed the countless Daos of the heavens, mountains were no longer just mountains, and waters were no longer just waters.

It was only after reaching that level that you could see through those superficial transformations, peel back the layers of doubt, and see things as they were once more.

Only after experiencing complexity could you return to the origins of the Grand Dao and achieve a return to simplicity. Only then could you fully grasp that mountains were indeed mountains, and waters were indeed waters!

All Daos return to a common source. My Dao of the Sword is

that common source! In this way, my sword can manifest all Daos, and break through all abilities!

Everything seemed clear as Su Yi rose from the Dao Contemplation Platform and drifted to the ground.

The Dao Contemplation Platform forged of Chaos Essence Stone instantly cracked and crumbled into fragments.

“Fellow Daoist Su, what did you mean when you said, ‘I searched for a donkey, not realizing I was already riding one?’” the Zhuyou Great Peng couldn’t help but ask.

“You wouldn’t understand,” said Su Yi. He took a sip from a jug of wine and said, “I ought to get going. Do you want to come with me?”

The Divine Hunt had reached its end, and he had to leave. Still, when he thought back to everything he’d experienced over the past month, Su Yi felt he hadn’t made this trip in vain.

He’d captured Chu Batian, acquired the six-inch stone coffin, broken into the Void Realm atop the Dao Integration Platform, and figured out how to combine all Daos into one…

And that’s even before factoring in the ocean of demonic cores and other treasures he’d acquired!

“It’s best that we don’t. If we show up outside, those Tang Family old-timers will be so ashamed that we snuck in that they’ll lash out and set their sights on us. We won’t know peace in the Middle Province ever again,” said the Divine Fortune Teller.

He and the Zhuyou Great Peng had snuck into the Divine Hunt. The moment they revealed themselves, they’d invite endless trouble.

The Zhuyou Great Peng coughed dryly and said, “Fellow Daoist Su, the old scoundrel said you could help me break into the Great Realm. Might I ask… is that true?”

The Divine Fortune Teller’s lips twitched. How can you ask him that to his face!?

Just as he expected, Su Yi was a bit stunned. “Proving your Dao and entering the Great Realm depends on you and your cultivation. Others can only add flowers to brocade or speed up a boat already traveling with the current. Don’t put the cart before the horse.”

The Zhuyou Great Peng smiled sheepishly and said, “Then if I’m ever capable of breaking through, might you give me a push in the right direction?”

The Divine Fortune Teller couldn’t stand to watch any more of this. He smacked the bird and cursed, “Don’t be so shameless! Who do you think you are? How is a bird brain like you worthy of Fellow Daoist Su’s assistance?”

But against all expectations, Su Yi said, “Should you ever truly reach that level, I wouldn’t mind lending a hand so long as you vow to protect the Nine Gates of Heaven for one hundred thousand years.”

“One hundred thousand years?” squawked the Zhuyou Great Peng.

The Divine Fortune Teller gnashed his teeth. “You fool! So long as you reach the Great Realm, one hundred thousand years will mean nothing at all!”

The Zhuyou Great Peng instantly came to its senses and said hurriedly, “I was just surprised. Of course I’m willing to accept that! Never mind one hundred thousand years. Even two hundred thousand would be fine!”

Su Yi laughed but said no more. He just walked out of the hall.

The badly battered Combat Soul Puppet Lei Ze followed him like a shadow without a word.

“Lei Ze.”

“Yes, Master?”

“Can you transform into a Puppet Command Medallion?”

“I can!” said Lei Ze. As he spoke, his roughly ten-foot frame rapidly shrank into a fist-sized command medallion and fell into Su Yi’s palm.

Su Yi turned around and said, “Ol’ scoundrel, where do you plan to go next?”

“I’m….” The Divine Fortune Teller opened his mouth to answer him, then laughed dryly. “I’ll go where the wind takes me and take things as they come.”

“Oh,” said Su Yi. “Well, if fate wills it, we’ll meet again.”

Crunch!

Without another word, he shattered his life-saving talisman and disappeared into thin air.