First Immortal of the Sword

Su Yi gazed at the dome of heaven and said, “How about I take a guess?”

“A guess?” The Threelives Buddha’s eyes flashed. “About what?”

Su Yi said casually, “My guess is that if I refuse, your true body will deliberately refuse and allow Heavenly Sovereign Wen a chance to kill me.

“If I beat Heavenly Sovereign Wen, you’ll adapt on the fly and retreat decisively. If Heavenly Sovereign Wen defeats me, you’ll negotiate with him instead and do your utmost to acquire a share of the spoils.

“That way, you’ll both ‘borrow another’s hands’ and ‘reap the benefits of another’s duel.’ You’ll be in an undefeatable position, and profit considerably in just one move. Am I right?”

The Threelives Buddha blinked in surprise, but he didn’t deny it. Instead, he corrected Su Yi. “You’re missing something. I’ll benefit most from your battle if both you and Heavenly Sovereign Wen wind up badly injured.”

Su Yi laughed and shook his head. “You’re as insidious as ever, you bald donkey.”

The Threelives Buddha laughed, too. “No matter how many schemes I prepared, you still saw through them all at a glance, didn’t you? Go on, then. Tell me: How do you plan to respond?”

Su Yi took a sip of wine. “If you want to visit the Abyss of Endless Tribulations, it must have something to do with the Buddha of Non-Existence. In that case, why not let him decide for himself?”

The Threelives Buddha blinked, then exclaimed in a rare loss of composure, “You mean you... have my master with you?”

Su Yi flipped his palm, and the Book of Destiny rose into the air.

The Threelives Buddha’s expression shifted once more; he obviously couldn’t keep his cool. “The Book of Destiny? I would never have guessed that you’d take a trip to the River of Destiny, only to return as Destiny’s Chosen!”

His brow furrowed as he stared intently at the Book of Destiny. He was feigning calm, but it was clear that he’d had no idea that Su Yi carried the Book of Destiny.

The Threelives Buddha said probingly, “Surely you aren’t trying to tell me that my master is in the Book of Destiny?”

Su Yi nodded approvingly. “You’re perceptive indeed.”

As he spoke, an inscrutable rain of light fell from the book, and an aged, benevolent voice emanated from within. “I heard every word of your conversation with Fellow Daoist Su. I’m not sure what you’re thinking or what you’re after, but stay away from the Abyss of Endless Tribulations!”

“Master? It really is you...” said the Threelives Buddha.

“Yes, but you are no longer you. You’ve fused three lives into one and stepped onto an all-new path. What need do you have to call me ‘master’ going forward?” The Buddha of Non-Existence’s voice emanated from within the book. “Besides, I was at most your guide in your pursuit of the Grand Dao. Our bond as master and apprentice ended long ago.”

The Threelives Buddha fell silent.

“Fellow Daoist Su, he’s no longer my disciple, so you needn’t take me into consideration while negotiating with him,” the Buddha of Non-Existence said with a sigh. “I cannot dissuade him from trying to kill you, either. I humbly request your understanding.”

Su Yi inclined his head. “I understand.”

The Threelives Buddha said, “Master, even if you don’t acknowledge me, I have to acknowledge you. I’m now responsible for all of Spirit Mountain Buddhist Court’s affairs. Please set aside your preconceptions of me and allow me to meet with you, if only out of consideration for our sect!”

The Buddha of Non-Existence instead turned to Su Yi. “Fellow Daoist, do you think bringing him to the Abyss of Endless Tribulations would benefit you or harm you?”

“There are both advantages and disadvantages,” Su Yi said casually. “If you can’t decide, why not leave it up to me?”

“Very well,” said the Buddha of Non-Existence.

The Threelives Buddha frowned, then let out a melancholy sigh. “Master, I could never have anticipated that we’d one day wind up so thoroughly estranged.”

Su Yi put away the Book of Destiny and smiled at the Threelives Buddha. “I’ve decided how I’m going to handle this.”

The Threelives Buddha seemed to guess what he meant. “Aren’t you worried that I’ll choose to ally with Heavenly Sovereign Wen?”

Su Yi said calmly, “I just know that there’s no possibility of the two of us working together.”

He rose, then put away his wicker chair. “Also, I can say with certainty that you knew that already. You only said all that to probe for further information.”

The Threelives Buddha asked with great interest, “Probe? What do you mean by that?”

Su Yi snorted coldly. “Still pretending?”

The Threelives Buddha laughed, then slowly rose. “You’re clearly quite confident, Fellow Daoist. Probing you is futile.”

It was true. He really didn’t expect to work with Su Yi! It was just as Su Yi said. Their entire conversation had been a way of probing Su Yi for information. He was trying to figure out whether Su Yi had reason to be fearless or if he was just bluffing!

All that talk of his true body and Heavenly Sovereign Wen was just a way to increase the pressure. He wanted to see whether or not Su Yi could bear it, and whether or not he’d get flustered.

Alas... Su Yi was just too calm, and he stayed that way from beginning to end. Thus, all of the Threelives Buddha’s attempts to probe him ended in failure.

“You’ve changed, but your cautious, insidious nature is just like the Dipankara Buddha I once knew. In that regard, you haven’t changed a bit,” said Su Yi. “Your tricks might work on other people, but if you try them on me, you’ll only be inviting your own humiliation.”

The Threelives Buddha shook his head slightly. “I see you as my greatest enemy; that’s why I’m so cautious. If I recklessly struck to kill... I risk failure and yet another defeat.”

“If you get too hung up on victory and defeat, you’ll only paralyze yourself with indecision. Should the day come that you faced me openly in a life-or-death battle... I’d actually think better of you,” said Su Yi.

The Threelives Buddha laughed but said nothing.

His clone silently caught ablaze, then scattered into ash.

“A clone, that’s all, but you weren’t willing to let it die by my hand. How petty.” Su Yi shook his head slightly, then put his back and waited in silence.

The fierce battle of Heavenly Sovereigns and the resulting divine majesty had already faded away.

Within moments, the sky darkened, and terrifying pressure enveloped the firmament, sweeping outward like a windstorm. It instantly covered the entire Great Aberrant Ruins.

Practically simultaneously, a dazzling arc of light descended from the heavens, then transformed into a grand, imposing figure.

Heavenly Sovereign Wen!

As soon as he arrived, his eyes flashed like cold lightning as he locked onto the distant Su Yi.

“So, a big fish has left the river. No wonder that bald donkey showed up in the Divine Wandering Continent,” said Heavenly Sovereign Wen, his voice shaking everything on all sides. His presence was just too terrifying; his very breath shook the mountains and rivers and threw the sky into disarray.

Su Yi gazed at him from afar. “The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. Aren’t you afraid that the Threelives Buddha will be the one to benefit from our battle?”

Heavenly Sovereign Wen chuckled. “This is the Divine Wandering Continent. There’s no way he can do that!”

As he spoke, he approached Su Yi. “I’m different from that bald donkey. I have no taste for verbal battles. Since you dared enter my territories, I naturally ought to show you the full extent of my hospitality!”

Boom!

Before Heavenly Sovereign Wen’s voice had even finished echoing through the air, heaven and earth collapsed, and countless thick, dazzling chains of the natural order descended, then condensed into natural barriers and surrounded Su Yi on all sides.

Every barrier was like a wall between worlds, and each emanated an unshakable aura. Together, they thoroughly sealed the area off.

Anyone trapped inside would have felt as if they’d been plunged into a many-layered cage. There was nowhere to run; the barrier encompassed the sky and the bowels of the earth, too!

Then, Heavenly Sovereign Wen stretched out his hand and tapped.

An immeasurably grand Daoist palace descended from the heavens, bathed in the dense light of the Grand Dao. It cleaved through the skies as it hurtled toward Su Yi.

Huangting Palace!

Heavenly Sovereign Wen’s Eternal Throne was known as Huangting Grotto. This palace was condensed out of the Laws of Huangting.

In other words, the battle had only just begun, but Heavenly Sovereign Wen was holding nothing back.

Barriers of the natural order encompassed the entire area, and the Huangting Palace came in for the kill!

Such a combination would have been enough to threaten even other Heavenly Sovereigns, yet now, he was using it to threaten Su Yi.

It was thus obvious how seriously he took Su Yi, and how eager he was to kill him.

Su Yi felt a strong sense of impending crisis. Without hesitation, he used Seizing Destiny, and his aura expanded.

Nine in Third swung through the air, swathed in monstrous sword force, practically pulling a river of stars through the air.

But its sword qi shattered in a flash. The Huangting Palace was just too terrifying. The pressure of a Heavenly Sovereign was so intense that Su Yi could barely breathe.

Boom!

The entire stretch of heaven and earth tore like paper, then collapsed. Everything was plunged into destruction.

But Heavenly Sovereign Wen’s brow furrowed. He’d just noticed that Su Yi had dodged by a hair, narrowly avoiding the Huangting Palace’s suppression. He dodged just as he was on the verge of being suppressed.

This was entirely outside of Heavenly Sovereign Wen’s expectations. Su Yi was an Immeasurable Realm cultivator, yet he’d managed to dodge a Heavenly Sovereign’s full-force attack. If word got out, it would only make the Heavenly Sovereign in question seem inept!

Heavenly Sovereign Wen snorted coldly, and the barriers of the natural order rumbled and boomed, then relentlessly closed in on Su Yi, shrinking the space he had to dodge and maneuver.

Meanwhile, Heavenly Sovereign Wen waved his sleeve through the air, and a waterfall of lightning came crashing down. Electricity interwove, and thunder boomed. Both emanated an air of destruction.

In combination with the rapidly encroaching barriers, Su Yi had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. He was beset on all sides, like a beast in an electric cage.

How could he possibly dodge?

Su Yi’s mind was suddenly unprecedentedly clear. The depths of his gaze were calm and clear as he took out the Book of Destiny and unleashed Ceaseless Damnation. At the same time, he poured all of his strength into the Medallion of Past Karma.

Within the landscape of his heart, his Heart Soul shot to its feet, and the Contented Heart Scepter transformed into the Sword of Proximity. He then used his Natal Heart Lamp’s power to launch the strongest attack he could muster.

Boom!

The outline of an indistinct, enormous abyss appeared, covering heaven and earth. It seemed endlessly vast, as if it encompassed all of creation.

Everything went dark before Heavenly Sovereign Wen’s eyes. He felt as if a curtain of night had suddenly blanketed everything on all sides.

His layers of barriers and the lightning of the Laws of Huangting were both blocked by the sudden appearance of an abyss. It was as if a black hole had appeared out of nowhere and devoured everything!

But Heavenly Sovereign Wen quickly relaxed. As terrifying as the mysterious abyss was, it proved ineffectual at devouring his barriers and lightning. It couldn’t really break his attacks!

But before Heavenly Sovereign Wen could give the matter any further thought, he took a heavy blow to the heart. An unstoppable streak of sword qi had cleaved directly into it with such force that even he, a Heavenly Sovereign, couldn’t help but let out a muffled, agonized grunt. Beads of cold sweat formed on his forehead.

He didn’t hesitate in the slightest. With a mighty bellow, he circulated the full extent of his cultivation base and stabilized his heart by force, preventing a collapse.

Even so, his heart churned. It was so agonizing that he wanted to cough up blood.

When his heart took a heavy blow, his essence, qi, and spirit felt the impact. The effects spread throughout his entire body.

How could his heart be this terrifyingly strong? Heavenly Sovereign Wen was astonished. There was no denying that he’d been caught off guard.

Fortunately, a long, long time ago, he’d fought Outsider Celestial Demon Sovereigns, and he had an abundance of experience in battles of the heart. This let him neutralize Su Yi’s ambush in the nick of time.

But it wasn’t over yet. Before Heavenly Sovereign Wen could steady his heart, a second attack slammed into his heart like a windstorm. He defended himself with all his might, but he still came out looking utterly wretched.

His heart cultivation was limited; he’d condensed a Heart Soul, but no more than that, while Su Yi had ignited his Natal Heart Lamp. Judged purely by their hearts, Su Yi was a full two levels higher!

If not for Heavenly Sovereign Wen’s terrifying cultivation base and Heavenly Sovereign-level Laws, his heart would have broken already!

It was no exaggeration to say that while Su Yi’s cultivation was only in the Immeasurable Realm, his heart was strong enough to astonish even Outsider Celestial Demon Sovereigns!

And Heavenly Sovereign Wen was suffering as a result. Su Yi relentlessly assailed his heart, and that in turn influenced the powers of the Grand Dao he was using to fight back.

This gave Su Yi opportunities to exploit, and he struck with unstoppable force, piercing one barrier after another. He’d broken free of his seemingly impossible predicament!

But there was no denying that Heavenly Sovereigns were terrifying. Even as his heart was under attack, Heavenly Sovereign Wen unleashed one terrifying ability after another. They might not have been as strong as before, but they still dealt massive damage to Su Yi.

In just a few blinks of an eye, Su Yi was left riddled with wounds, his flesh torn in numerous places. Tendons snapped, and bones cracked throughout his body, and his blue robes were now stained red.

But Su Yi didn’t even seem to notice. He was still charging ahead.

He’d put the Medallion of Past Karma away. As terrifying as this Ancestral Destiny Artifact of the Negative Karma Destiny Demons was, it was useless against Heavenly Sovereigns.

Rather, it was useless against Heavenly Sovereigns in Su Yi’s hands. It wasn’t that the treasure wasn’t strong enough, but that with Su Yi’s limited cultivation base, he couldn’t release its full power.

It was far less effective than the wooden sword, Nine in Third.

Kaboom!

Heaven and earth were in complete chaos. The disturbance triggered strange phenomena throughout the Divine Wandering Continent. Unbelievable visions of calamity unfolded beneath the firmament once more.

The populace was shocked and terrified. What’s going on today? Just who could be fighting Heavenly Sovereign Wen?

Meanwhile, a white-robed monk watched in silence from just beyond the battlefield, his gaze distant and profound as he took in this fierce conflict.

There was no disguising the astonishment on his brow.

Who could have imagined that an Immeasurable Realm sword cultivator could have fought a Heavenly Sovereign like this?