First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 1437 - Past Glories Erased by the Fierce Winds and Pelting Rain

Heaven and earth were overcast. Everything was desolate and bleak.

The deeper they went into the Starjade Forbidden Grounds, the more perilous and terrifying it was. Strange, natural calamities lurked on every corner.

Furthermore, the power of the blood-red lightning blanketing the skies gradually grew all the more imposing.

It was manifested of power left behind during the End of the Dharma, and it was full of a calamitous, destructive aura.

Even the Void Realm True Immortals dared not touch it lightly.

Crunch!

A massive, branched bolt of blood-red lightning fell, filling the skies with stingingly powerful light and tearing open numerous long, narrow rifts.

Su Yi took out the Divine Replenishment Furnace and met it head-on. Purple immortal light swept outward, gathering all of the blood-red lightning filling the skies.

The Divine Replenishment Furnace trembled violently, as if wailing in grief. It would have been obvious to anyone that as mystical as this treasure was, it had absorbed more lightning than it could take. It wouldn’t hold out much longer.

But as soon as the furnace landed in Su Yi’s hand, it quieted down. Even the blood-red lightning surging within it condensed, then stilled.

The Void Realm True Immortals gasped just watching this. They couldn’t even imagine how Su Yi, a junior who’d only recently stepped onto the Path of Transcendence, had achieved such a thing.

“Fellow Daoist Su, have you seen through the End of the Dharma’s secrets?” the old man in beast skins asked with a smile.

Su Yi thought for a moment, then said, “I can’t see them yet, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out eventually.”

The group instantly lost interest, and they paid his efforts no further heed.

After all, the power of the End of the Dharma had once swept the entire Human Realm. Countless dazzling experts of the Immortal Dao had attempted to discern its secrets, but without exception, all such efforts ended in failure.

They most certainly didn’t believe that a junior in the Nascent Divinity Realm could discern anything.

“Red Cloud, it won’t be long before we reach the Endless Treasure Grounds. Shouldn’t we prepare before going any further?” The cloaked Yu Ning said suddenly. “I can say with certainty that Xiao Changning and his allies have already spread word of our arrival. It’s highly likely that there’s an ambush ready and waiting for us at the Endless Treasure Grounds!”

The others were instantly solemn.

Daoist Master Red Cloud looked at Su Yi. “How do you see it, Fellow Daoist Su?”

The others were instantly at a loss for words. Why ask a junior his opinion about something so important?

Su Yi was sipping from a jug of wine. When he heard that, he said dismissively, “Unless something truly unpredictable happens, such schemes are nothing in the face of absolute power. It’s not even worth discussing.”

Daoist Master Red Cloud nodded. “I feel the same.”

The group fell silent. After Daoist Master Red Cloud said that, they’d lost their chance to argue.

......

A little less than ten minutes later, a swath of dazzling light appeared between heaven and earth.

Upon closer inspection, it was a surging sea of fog. It blanketed the sky, blotting out the sun.

Countless resplendent arcs of light surged within the fog, flickering in and out of view like electricity. Their radiance tinged the fog with their bright, colorful hues.

The Endless Treasure Grounds!

During the End of the Dharma, immortals saw this mysterious place as a refuge. They suspected it hid a true path to life.

Alas, even now, no one had ever uncovered the Endless Treasure Grounds’ secrets, nor had anyone found its reputed “path to life.”

But this only made the Endless Treasure Grounds seem all the more mysterious.

There were also rumors that the catastrophe of the End of the Dharma had originated here!

During the End of the Dharma, experts of the Immortal Dao searched the Endless Treasure Grounds and discovered a mysterious stone stele.

It was completely covered in a cursed aura that stretched between heaven and earth. Furthermore, it was strikingly similar to the aura of the End of the Dharma!

In the days that followed, immortals—now immortal revenants—investigated further, only to discover that the cursed power covering the stele was the same as the curse binding the revenants!

And their curse originated from the End of the Dharma.

On top of all that, the vast, fog-shrouded Endless Treasure Grounds were full of similar cursed auras!

Daoist Master Red Cloud had invited Su Yi on this expedition because Su Yi controlled the power of reincarnation. This let him counter and erase the cursed power binding revenants!

Of course, their true goal was finding enough resources to sustain their cultivation, but it would naturally be even better if they could find that rumored path to life!

“Those are the Endless Treasure Grounds. To us, they are the birthplace of catastrophe, a land of endless peril!

“But fortune and danger go hand in hand. This place is more likely than any other to hide enormous good fortune, enough to satisfy the needs of our cultivation!”

Yun Huaqing’s eyes flashed, and his expression filled with both longing and undisguisable dread.

To them, the spiritual energy in the human realm was like a dried-up pool. It was difficult to maintain their cultivation in such an environment, let alone make progress!

If they couldn’t find enough cultivation resources, as time passed, their cultivations would fall, until eventually, they withered and died.

“I wouldn’t have thought you’d really dare show up!”

A burst of cold laughter rang out.

A figure shot out of the fog of the Endless Treasure Grounds’ periphery.

This was none other than Xiao Changning!

Immediately afterward, one figure after another appeared throughout the surrounding skies. There were more than ten in total, and their ranks included Zhou Zhe and Xue Qiaozhi.

After they appeared, both they and Xiao Changning clustered around that tall, stalwart man in Daoist robes patterned with wind and fire.

His hair was tied in a Daoist topknot, and his features were clear and beautifully handsome. Sheathed swords hung at his sides, and he seemed as proud and dignified as a god!

When his eyes opened and closed, they crackled with blue lightning, an incomparably imposing sight.

Xiao Changning and more than ten other Void Realm True Immortals clustered around him, making his extraordinary status all the more obvious.

Gu Yuanque!

The holy son of a peak faction of the Immortal Realm, Vast Ocean Mountain!

When Yun Huaqing saw this lineup in the distance, he couldn’t help but gasp. Bao Wentai’s eyes narrowed, while Zhe Yin and Yu Ning looked solemn.

It was just as they’d expected. Gu Yuanque and the others really were waiting for them here!

“Brother Gu, that’s Su Yi! The one who controls the power of reincarnation!” Xiao Changning pointed at the distant Su Yi and said icily, his voice rife with hatred, “The Saint-level treasure I acquired landed in his hands, too!”

Whoosh!

All of a sudden, around a dozen Void Realm True Immortals all looked at Su Yi, their eyes blazing with blatantly unconcealed intensity.

As if they’d set their sights on incomparably enticing prey!

Heaven and earth were rife with murderous intent. The atmosphere was tense and oppressive.

Holy Son Gu Yuanque of Vast Ocean Mountain merely glanced at Su Yi before focusing on Daoist Master Red Cloud. He smiled and inclined his head in greeting. “Long time no see, Celestial Red Cloud.”

Her expression remained tranquil. “We aren’t familiar.”

Gu Yuanque said leisurely, “Many in the Immortal Realm know your name, but only a select few know your origins.

“I heard from some of my seniors that your background isn’t simple. You once appeared at the Central Immortal Palace’s Immortal Peach Banquet, and they even seated you in the Central Palace. Moreover, a senior of my sect once saw you at the Night Banquet of Immortal Kings. That senior couldn’t discern your origins, but still, this is clear proof of your extraordinary status.”

As he spoke, Gu Yuanque couldn’t help but feel rueful.

The entire area fell deathly silent.

Both Gu Yuanque’s companions and Daoist Master Red Cloud’s companions were stunned.

Most of them were learning for the first time that Daoist Master Red Cloud had participated in the Immortal Peach Banquet, and she’d even been invited to dine in their Central Palace!

The Central Immortal Palace only hosted an Immortal Peach Banquet once every thousand years, and every single person they invited was a prominent expert of the Immortal Dao!

Furthermore, if your status didn’t meet their standards, they wouldn’t let you into the Central Palace, not even if you were an Immortal Lord!

And Mount Buzhou's Night Banquet of Immortal Kings was even more extraordinary. Only Miracle Realm Immortal Kings were qualified to participate!

Rumor had it that each Miracle Realm World King was only permitted to bring two juniors with them to the feast.

Yet Daoist Master Red Cloud had participated in both the Immortal Peach Banquet and the Night Banquet of Immortal Kings. Who wouldn’t have been astonished?

“I wouldn’t have thought Celestial Red Cloud had experienced something so extraordinary...” exclaimed Yun Huaqing. The way he looked at her changed.

But it wasn’t just him. The same was true of Bao Wentai and the others. They hadn’t known any of this!

Only Su Yi stood there, hands behind his back, as tranquil as ever.

After fusing with Wang Ye’s memories, he immediately discerned Daoist Master Red Cloud’s origins, and he naturally didn’t find any of this surprising.

“All of that happened a long time ago,” Daoist Master Red Cloud said lightly. “Surely you didn’t bring so many people to block our path just to have a chat?”

Gu Yuanque sighed. “It’s true. All of that is ancient history. During the Age of Fallen Immortals, calamity befell the Central Immortal Palace, and they vanished into the long river of history.

“In the end, the fierce winds and pelting rains erased their past glories!”

Here, Gu Yuanque sharply changed tacks, locking onto the distant Daoist Master Red Cloud. “Celestial, have a look at our fellows. Who among them isn’t a pitiful revenant?

“Times have changed. I said all that simply to tell you that we’re dead set on acquiring the power of reincarnation, and we hope you can help us fulfill our desire!

He spoke with staunch conviction and contemptuous confidence. His words brimmed with overbearing majesty.

“That aside, I’d like to request that you return that Saint-level immortal treasure. So long as you agree to my conditions, I absolutely will not oppose you on this trip to the Endless Treasure Grounds!”

Xiao Changning and the others instantly fixed their gaze on Daoist Master Red Cloud.

From beginning to end, neither Gu Yuanque nor his companions paid Su Yi any heed. They completely overlooked his existence.

The atmosphere was stifled and tense. The air was rife with tension.

Yun Huaqing and the others’ expressions were unprecedentedly solemn. The pressure increased many times over.

The enemies’ lineup was too enormous. Their ranks included a full sixteen Void Realm True Immortals, and their leader was Gu Yuanque, an unrivaled, ruthless figure!

But Daoist Master Red Cloud remained as calm as ever, as if she didn’t even notice.

She just said to Su Yi, “Seems to me that it’s best we fight directly. What do you think, Fellow Daoist?”

Su Yi nodded. “We should have done that a long time ago. If they’re our enemies, better to just kill them. Why waste our breath talking to them?”

Yuan Huaqing and the others’ hearts shook. We’re going to fight? Just like that?

Off in the distance, Gu Yuanque, Xiao Changning, and the others were stunned too. They couldn’t believe that Daoist Master Red Cloud would make such a haphazard decision.

And they certainly wouldn’t have expected a junior like Su Yi to be so arrogant!