First Immortal of the Sword

Su Yi wasn’t lying. He really did have various cards left to play.

Earlier, before the experts of Sword Sovereign City showed up, he’d planned to take Heavenly Sovereign Ku Xuan and seek refuge in Fangchun Mountain’s ancestral grounds.

Even if the Heavenly Sovereigns managed to give chase, on Fangchun Mountain, he was in charge. He might well have been able to use the numerous formations that Grandmaster Bodhi and the Fangchun Mountain disciples had placed to kill the Heavenly Sovereigns.

When Lonely Heights showed up, he silently changed his plans. He planned to take out the Book of Destiny and ask the Monarch of Endless Tribulations and the Buddha of Non-Existence to help him open the Abyss of Ceaseless Destiny and let all the old monsters trapped there out.

That aside, Su Yi had been ready to use the Sword of the Nine Hells, the rusted sword sheath, and several other treasures.

If he was risking it all anyway, he naturally wouldn’t hold back. He’d even been prepared to fuse with Xiao Jian’s Dao Imprint.

But at a critical juncture, Su Yi decided to ask his first incarnation’s heart devil for help first. This was for the simple reason that Su Yi guessed that the heart devil had arranged for the experts of Sword Sovereign City to come here.

In other words, the heart devil had obviously long since realized that this situation wasn’t ordinary, and he’d made plans in secret.

Since Lonely Heights and the other experts of the Far Shore were so certain that his first incarnation was gone for good, Su Yi naturally didn’t mind giving them a “delightful surprise.”

That was what led to this current scene.

Zhi Wuzhong’s jaw hung slack, to the point that the seeds he’d only just stuffed into his mouth fell back out.

Lonely Heights’ eyes widened, and his smile froze.

Yun Wuxiang and the other experts of the Far Shore froze in place. It was as if they’d been struck by lightning.

All eyes converged in the same place, or rather, on the same person!

He was a tall, thin man, but his figure was somewhat indistinct. His hands stretched toward the firmament as if he were stretching, and he looked languid, as if he’d only just awakened from a nap.

The suppressed experts of Sword Sovereign City all looked stunned. Even the famously calm Sword Monk, Gu Hanzhou, couldn’t help but gasp, his eyes widening with shock.

Complete silence greeted the mysterious figure’s arrival. You could have heard a pin drop!

Only the Heavenly Sovereigns were confused. Who is that? He looks like a mere avatar of will, so why are the experts of the Far Shore acting like they just saw a ghost?

Su Yi’s gaze was a bit conflicted. One look at the crowd’s response, and he yet again sensed the heights of his first incarnation’s prestige in the All-Profound Dominion.

“Daoist Brother, you’re... alive?” Even Zhi Wuzhong was too shocked to keep eating his sunflower seeds.

The question broke the deathly silence. Everyone jolted back to their senses, their expressions shifting and uncertain.

Zhi Wuzhong was a known eccentric. He believed that all those weaker than him should all address him as “Daoist Brother.” In the Sect of Endlessness, even the ordinary disciples addressed him as such.

Zhi Wuzhong, in turn, only used the title “Daoist Brother” for those stronger than him, but in the All-Profound Dominion, such experts were so rare that you could count them on your fingers.

Yet now, the founder of the Sect of Endlessness had just addressed someone as his Daoist Brother. What expert of the All-Profound Dominion could fail to realize the implications?

“What is life? What is death? I’m here now, aren’t I? So how could I be dead?” The heart devil rolled his eyes. “So many years have passed, but your perception is as lacking as ever. ‘Wuzhong’ might mean endless, but it seems to me that we’d be better off calling you ‘brainless.’ Your name is ‘Zhi Wuzhu’ from now on.”

He was insulting Zhi Wuzhong in several ways at once, as “zhu” was also a homophone for “pig.”

Zhi Wuzhong froze, stunned, his eyes wide with disbelief. “Daoist Brother, why do you seem completely different from before?”

The Big Boss of Sword Sovereign City was cold, aloof, and antisocial. He was always either out wandering or deep in seclusion. Countless years might pass between his appearances in the city.

When he didn’t want to speak, he might go tens of thousands of years without saying a word. His cold, aloof temperament was common knowledge in the All-Profound Dominion.

Yet now, here he was, cursing and insulting Zhi Wuzhong with abandon. Of course Zhi Wuzhong was surprised!

The heart devil said calmly, “I’m no longer me... in the same way that a white horse is no longer a horse. You don’t understand anything. All you know how to do is come looking for me every time you encounter a bottleneck.”

Zhi Wuzhong didn’t know what to say. He was at a complete loss for words. He was seriously starting to doubt whether this was really the famously taciturn Big Boss of Sword Sovereign City.

It wasn’t just him, either. Lonely Heights, Yun Wuxiang, and even the experts of Sword Sovereign City had similar doubts.

This was far too out of character for the Big Boss of Sword Sovereign City.

The Big Boss was a man of such few words that even old Buddhists famed for the practice of silence could only sigh over their own inferiority.

Yet now, the Big Boss had appeared, only to act completely differently from before. Who could have accepted that so easily?

“Is he... perhaps a fake?” murmured Liu Wutian.

Among the experts of the Far Shore, he was only a junior. By the time he started cultivating, the Big Boss had long since entered the cycle of reincarnation. Thus, his understanding of Sword Sovereign City’s ruler came entirely from rumors and ancient records. Now, when he saw how starkly different the heart devil was from the description, he couldn’t help but suspect that Su Yi was playing some kind of trick on them.

“A fake?” The heart devil suddenly turned to look at him.

Practically simultaneously, Lonely Heights’ eyelids twitched, and he said gravely, “Are you seriously going to make trouble for an ignorant junior, you closed gourd?”

Bang!

Liu Wutian’s eyes exploded, blood bursting from the sockets. He couldn’t help but scream in agony.

Everyone looked on in horror. He didn’t even move. How did he destroy Liu Wutian’s eyes? Doesn’t that imply that if he’d wanted to kill Liu Wutian, he’d be dead already?

Only then did the heart devil look away and grin. “You have eyes, but you cannot see. Your eyes clearly aren’t doing you any good anyway, so why bother keeping them?”

Lonely Heights furrowed his brow. “If I’d acted like this, all those survivors of Sword Sovereign City would be dead already!”

The heart devil’s gaze shifted toward the trapped Sword Sovereign City experts. Gongye Futu, Baili Qingfeng, and the others' hearts were full of excitement. They dared say with certainty that this really was the Big Boss! His personality had changed, but his style and demeanor were just as they’d remembered.

Against all expectations, he suddenly started cursing them out. “I told you to come here to help. Look at yourselves! You seriously let that charlatan Lonely Heights suppress you? You’ve disgraced me!”

All of them were flabbergasted. Ye Hongye, Ming Jiu, and several others lowered their heads in shame.

“I can tell that your cultivation bases haven’t progressed a bit since I entered the cycle of reincarnation. Otherwise, how could someone like Lonely Heights possibly defeat you? How could I have had to come wipe your asses for you personally?”

The pelting rain of insults continued. The heart devil was ignoring everyone else here completely.

With that, he waved his sleeve, and the power suppressing the experts of Sword Sovereign City vanished.

They immediately rose, lowered their heads, and said nothing. They had no complaints. On the contrary, they... were happy and excited!

Because in the past, even when the Big Boss was angry, he wasn’t willing to say so much as a single word...

Things were different now. He might have been criticizing them, but who could possibly have failed to notice the implied concern?

Gui Nian even went so far as to grin.

The heart devil glared at him. “You still have the face to smile, little turtle? Where are my swords? Why didn’t you bring them? If Small Serenities were here, I might not be able to kill that charlatan Lonely Heights, but I could at least beat him half to death!”

Small Serenities!

That was the sword that had accompanied the Big Boss the longest. Its sword spirit was famed for attainments in the Dao of the Sword second only to the Big Boss himself.

In Sword Sovereign City, that spirit was known as “Little Boss!”

The Big Boss often went into seclusion or left the city to explore. Either way, he paid no heed to its affairs. Fortunately, Sword Sovereign City had the Little Boss. He both oversaw all of the city’s daily operations and transmitted the Dao. He taught the city’s sword cultivators, answered their questions, and resolved their doubts.

It was fair to say that Sword Sovereign City could keep running no matter who left—except for the Little Boss. They absolutely couldn’t do without him!

When Zhi Wuzhong heard the name “Small Serenities,” his gaze turned a bit strange. Small Serenities really wasn’t one to provoke lightly. The sword spirit was the true administrator of Sword Sovereign City.

With Small Serenities in hand, Lonely Heights couldn’t possibly have dominated the situation.

Gui Nian’s smile froze. He lowered his head, then hurriedly transmitted an explanation. “Your Excellency, don’t tell me that you’ve forgotten? You told me to send Miss Hongpao to cultivate with the Little Boss, and you said that only your reincarnation was qualified to invite the Little Boss to leave the Cavern of Swords. You said that no one else could do so... no matter who.”

The heart devil instantly realized that he’d been wrong to criticize Gui Nian, but there was no way he’d admit it. Instead, he waved. “Enough. Shut up and step back!”

It seemed the heart devil had gotten his fill of cursing out his subordinates. He looked askance at Lonely Heights. “You thought I’ve been dead for so long that you can bully my people as you please, huh?”

Yun Wuxiang and the others instinctively tensed and prepared to face a powerful foe. Yun Wuxiang in particular had once been slain by the Big Boss of Sword Sovereign City. Now that he faced that terrifying existence once more, his heart filled with unease. This was a lingering shadow over his heart. His “death” had left a terrifying mark on his heart!

Zhi Wuzhong had started munching on sunflower seeds. He stood there, calm and at ease, seemingly eager for a spectacle.

Lonely Heights faced the heart devil calmly, then said, “A neglected cup of tea goes cold, and time changes all things. Sword Sovereign City has long since fallen. What do we have to be afraid of?”

He paused, then continued, “Besides, if I’m not mistaken, you’re just a heart devil. What’s there to fear?”

A heart devil? The crowd’s expressions shifted. If that’s just the Big Boss’s heart devil, it seems... there’s no need to be so afraid?

Zhi Wuzhong couldn’t take it anymore. He called out, “Daoist Brother, there’s no way I’d tolerate it if Lonely Heights were provoking me like that!

The corners of Su Yi’s lips twitched. He’d initially assumed that Wang Zhiwu’s personality would change completely after becoming the founder of the Sect of Endlessness.

Who’d have thought that they both loved to fan the flames? In this regard, they weren’t at all different.