First Immortal of the Sword

Thud!

Le You fell to the ground and coughed up blood, his face pallid. There was now a startling, bloody hole in his chest. It was about the size of a bowl, and it went all the way through his body.

This was the result of Bo Yunjun’s earlier finger thrust. It was incomparably tyrannical, and it effortlessly pierced Le You’s defenses. As it punctured his flesh, terrifying power spread throughout his body, dealing even heavier injuries!

Su Yi’s brow furrowed slightly as he paused his movements.

The power of Bo Yunjun’s strike was outside of his expectations. He recalled Bo Yunjun’s duel with Yun Du. Bo Yunjun had used a similar finger strike to break Yun Du’s strongest attack with ease, too. Yet now, he’d done the same exact thing to an utterly terrifying monster like Le You!

“Interesting! So very interesting!” Heavenly Sovereign E said with a cold glower, speaking slowly and clearly. “We old-timers completely misjudged this Bo Yunjun!”

Le You was his ace. Now, he’d suddenly been forced out of bounds and disqualified. Of course Heavenly Sovereign E was furious!

But he wasn’t wrong, either. None of them had realized that Bo Yunjun was this strong. The Heavenly Sovereigns weren’t at all calm. They felt as if they’d spent all day hunting geese, only for one to turn around and peck their eyes out.

“A dog capable of biting doesn’t need to bark!” exclaimed Wang Zhiwu. “I wouldn’t have guessed there’d be someone more capable of hiding than Le You!”

The entire venue was in uproar.

Against all expectations, the defeated Le You shot to his feet and pointed at Bo Yunjun as if about to say something. It was obvious that he was utterly enraged, but in the end, he shut his mouth, turned, and left without a word.

Bo Yunjun smiled. “Now that one of you is out of the way, I have no need to worry about getting ganged up on.”

Su Yi re-evaluated Bo Yunjun. “You endured all this time, and you’re only now revealing your true strength. It can’t have been easy.”

Bo Yunjun looked at him strangely. “Isn’t that true for you, too?”

He shook his wide sleeves and smiled. “Let’s re-introduce ourselves. I’m a Confucian, an unaccomplished, humble scholar. I’m not here for the Yitian Eternal Throne. I’m here to compete with you.”

The crowd sank into silence. All of them were bewildered. He doesn’t want to become a Heavenly Sovereign? He’s just here to duel Su Yi?

They found this difficult to understand. They couldn’t even imagine it. How great must his obsession be if dueling Su Yi matters more than becoming a Heavenly Sovereign!

Only a select handful interpreted things differently. In this world, only those experts from the Far Shore of Destiny think so little of an opportunity to become a Heavenly Sovereign!

“Is there a grudge between us?” asked Su Yi.

Bu Yunjun gestured to Su Yi. “Please instruct me!”

Su Yi had nothing else to say, and he couldn’t be bothered to concern himself with Bo Yunjun’s identity or intentions. He just took a step forward and slashed with his hand.

Bu Yunjun waved his sleeve, and talisman markings surged into the air, like a revolving millstone. It effortlessly ground Su Yi’s slash away. His strength was obviously starkly different from before. He could easily neutralize Su Yi’s offensive!

“Show me what you’ve really got. All this probing is pointless,” said Bo Yunjun.

His sleeves billowed as he stretched out his hand, as if plucking the moon from the sky. A thick volume of scripture appeared in midair. It had an ancient, mysterious quality to it, as if it had lain still for countless years, only to descend upon Su Yi with heart-palpitating momentum. The battlefield shook violently, and countless formation markings surged forth.

This was the first time since the Struggle for Heavenly Fate began that someone’s attack was terrifying enough to affect the formations around the arena! It was thus obvious how terrifying Bo Yunjun’s attack was.

And Su Yi was indeed under immense pressure. He swung his sword without hesitation, and the ancient tome split. However, much to the crowd’s shock, the tome didn’t simply fall apart or dissipate. Instead, it transformed into countless characters imbued with the Grand Dao, which combined into a punishment ruler and descended upon Su Yi.

This strike was unbelievably terrifying. It actually forced Su Yi back, his blood and qi churning.

But the ruler didn’t relent. It stirred up countless mysterious, inscrutable characters seemingly penned by ancient sages and attacked repeatedly.

It was as if Su Yi had sunk into an endless sea of books. Everywhere he looked, he saw text capable of grinding away the Grand Dao. It stung his eyes and relentlessly assailed him, seemingly intent on crushing him to bits.

The onlookers couldn't help but gasp, astonishment written all over their faces. What kind of unbelievable legacy of the Grand Dao is this?

“Go!” Su Yi suddenly leaped forward with sweeping, unstoppable momentum.

Kaboom!

His sword qi transformed into inscrutable light. Wherever he went, he crushed the classic texts with unstoppable force.

Bo Yunjun let out a long laugh, like an arrogant scholar who held all of creation in contempt. He used his finger as a brush and the air as paper, freely “splashing ink” across an invisible page. All manner of mysterious classics surged forth in a wave, like floodwaters bursting through a dam, connecting heaven and earth. In doing so, he instantly blocked Su Yi’s offensive!

The power of his writing had reached unbelievable heights. Every character was imbued with the power of the Laws. It was like clashing with Great Righteousness of Spring and Autumn or the annals of history. They were dazzling, endless, and unstoppable!

It was even stronger than Yu Xiu’s ultimate attack.

He’s still a Heavenly Monarch, but his attainments have seriously reached such heights? Su Yi was surprised, but even as his thoughts raced, he dared not hold back. His qi rumbled and boomed as his sword intent underwent an astonishing transformation.

Boom!

The countless mysterious characters exploded, like stars disintegrating into powder. Dazzling divine radiance swept outward, enveloping the entire arena.

Su Yi, meanwhile, charged through everything in his path and shot toward Bo Yunjun.

A heaven-shaking impact rang out as Bo Yunjun retreated explosively, his blood and qi churning. Blood flowed from the corners of his lips.

He wasn’t angry. On the contrary, he laughed, swung his sleeve, and attacked once more.

The entire arena seemed to transform into an ancient scroll. Bo Yunjun waved his brush over its surface. With a casual tap, suns, moons, and landscapes sprouted at the tip of his brush. When he drew its tip along the page, he conjured lightning, wind, and fire. He was like the master of all creation, producing wondrous transformations of the Grand Dao with a brush in hand.

These strange scenes dazzled even the Heavenly Sovereigns. This is no mere technique. He’s truly manifesting the Grand Dao! Were he in the outside world, those rivers, moons, mountains, and rivers would all become true existences!

The divine majesty of the Grand Dao imbued within these acts of creation was naturally extraordinarily terrifying.

“With strength like that, he could shake our avatars of will...” murmured Heavenly Sovereign Changhen, disbelief all over his face. “In other words, Bo Yunjun is stronger than should be possible for a Heavenly Monarch!”

The other Heavenly Sovereigns’ hearts churned with emotion. None could remain seated.

The disparity between Heavenly Monarchs and Heavenly Sovereigns was like an insurmountable chasm. Throughout the ages, none had ever managed to cross it. But Bo Yunjun’s strength showed faint signs of touching that “insurmountable chasm.” It was utterly shocking!

The onlookers watched in a daze. None of them could have imagined that the finals of the Struggle for Heavenly Fate would be this ridiculous. All of the previous matches and participants dimmed by comparison. But there was one thing the crowd could never have imagined. Su Yi was at no disadvantage even in the face of Bo Yunjun’s incredibly powerful offensive!

“To think that a peak Heavenly Monarch as strong as you existed in this world,” said Su Yi. “It’s truly outside of my expectations.”

The depths of his gaze lit up. “We’ll just have to see where your true limits lie!”

He leaped forward, then slashed. A massive chasm tore open on the “scroll” of heaven and earth.

The impact affected Bo Yunjun’s movements. The characters in front of him shattered, and the scroll withered, crushed beneath that terrifying sword qi. As the unstoppable sword qi spread, it reached Bo Yunjun, tearing his clothing.

His brow furrowed. He was like a sage expounding on the classics and displaying his glorious power. When he raised his hand into the air, heaven and earth resonated, manifesting a grand and mysterious treatise on morality.

This attack was obviously terrifying, but before it could display its full power, Su Yi slashed through it!

Bo Yunjun felt the impact. He staggered backward, his expression full of disbelief.

He was the famed mightiest Heavenly Monarch of the Far Shore of Destiny, the legend who manifested the ages. His prowess startled even the progenitor of Confucianism, who praised him as the mightiest Heavenly Monarch ever to exist!

Of course, all of that had happened a long time ago, but it proved how terrifying his attainments as a Heavenly Monarch were. They were utterly unparalleled.

Yet now, he was fighting as a Heavenly Monarch, yet he’d faced one setback after another. The most unbelievable part was that his opponent was only in the early-stage Immeasurable Realm!

Before Bo Yunjun could give the matter any further thought, Su Yi attacked once more.

Unlike before, Su Yi attacked first. His momentum was utterly unreasonable. Every strike forced Bo Yunjun back and worsened his injuries. There was nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.

Su Yi’s ninth strike forced Bo Yunjun to the edge of the arena.

Bo Yunjun coughed up blood, staining the lapels of his robes. His hair was disheveled and his face pallid. He looked utterly wretched. But just as it seemed he was about to lose, he stretched out his hand and tapped in much the same way he had when he’d defeated Yun Du and injured Le You.

The onlookers’ hearts clenched, only to widen in shock a moment later.

Because Su Yi had blocked Bo Yunjun’s finger with one of his own!

Bo Yunjun’s joint cracked with a spray of blood, and he was sent flying backward, then landed in a heap outside the stage.

The crowd was overcome with astonishment. All of them fell into a daze.