First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 1449 - The Aura of a God

“This is a so-called divine emissary?” Su Yi’s gaze was rife with disdain.

He sneered, then returned to the fifty-third stone step. He’d already broken the spacetime power of the steps below, and there was naturally no need to restart his climb from the beginning.

In the distant skies, the old bald man in long robes had an unsightly look on his face. “You have less than twenty hours left. If you don’t pick up the pace, that woman will die beyond a shadow of a doubt!”

It was as if Su Yi didn’t even hear him. He just sat there cross-legged and kept meditating.

The old bald man no longer dared to disturb him. He just glared hatefully, but there was nothing he could do.

An hour later, Su Yi opened his eyes.

“Not bad. Fighting on this staircase has actually been a rare opportunity to temper myself!” Su Yi could sense it clearly. His recent assiduous cultivation had culminated in a smooth breakthrough into the mid-stage Manifesting Mortality Realm!

Furthermore, as his cultivation increased, his strength underwent a shocking transformation.

Without any further delays, Su Yi proceeded toward the fifty-fourth stone step.

By now, his opponents were extremely powerful. However...

This couldn’t stop Su Yi. It just slowed him down a little.

The fierce combat let Su Yi continuously temper and improve his control over the Laws of Reincarnation. He benefited considerably.

Moreover, he now had access to his sixth lifetime’s combat experience, letting his combat strength and control over the power of the Grand Dao reach unbelievable heights.

Before, he would have had to use his full strength and borrow the power of the Sword of the Nine Hells to slay a Void Realm True Immortal revenant in a single slash. But now, he could do it even without the Sword of the Nine Hells. The mysteries of reincarnation and the strength of his own cultivation base were enough to suppress and kill opponents of that level!

......

Another four hours passed.

Su Yi reached the sixty-ninth step. The enemies he encountered were getting stronger, and they were starting to put real pressure on him. Thus, he took out some immortal medicine and started to meditate once more, only continuing his ascent after he recovered.

His climbing speed had slowed. Each step took longer to overcome than the one before.

Another six hours had passed by the time he’d reached the eightieth step. Furthermore, he was injured while overcoming the world manifested upon this step! His wounds weren’t severe, and they couldn’t in any way affect his ability to fight.

But when the old bald man watching from a safe hiding spot saw this, his spirits soared, and he felt much more relaxed!

Watching Su Yi ascend the staircase as if invincible had left him feeling incomparably stifled. Now that Su Yi was finally injured, the old man realized that Su Yi would soon face the threat of annihilation with every step he took!

The divine emissary couldn’t help but warn him, “Little Fellow, you’ve got less than eight hours left, but you still have nineteen steps to climb!

“Look up! If you don’t pick up the pace, the calamitous power gathering beneath the firmament will erupt, destroying that woman completely!”

Su Yi disregarded this. He’d long since noticed that spiderweb-like spatial rifts were spreading through the skies above the Path of Endless Trials.

Calamitous power had condensed into dense thunderclouds, which now formed a dark red vortex. Its power could pour down at any moment. And when that happened, the first to suffer would be the woman bound to the bronze pillar at the far end of the staircase!

But Su Yi didn’t rush. He calmed his heart, meditated, and started treating his wounds. Only then did he resume his assent.

From that moment forth, every step Su Yi climbed resulted in increasingly severe injuries!

His opponents were increasingly strange and terrifying. Even though the power of reincarnation countered them, they could still threaten Su Yi.

However, they were just wounds, and to Su Yi, injuries were as unremarkable as his daily meals. He didn’t care in the slightest.

Four more hours passed.

He’d reached the ninety-first step!

But he was severely wounded, and his clothes were stained red with blood. Even his handsome face was translucent.

“It’s a pity, but you’ve lost your chance!” The long-robed bald old man stood beneath the distant dome of heaven and laughed.

Only a little over two hours remained, but Su Yi still had eight stone steps to climb!

And he was still badly injured! How could he reach the end of the staircase like this?

“Giving up now would put all of your effort to waste and doom that woman! But if you don’t give up, she’ll still be doomed!” Delight was written all over the old man’s face. “You can neither retreat nor advance. Isn’t that the greatest torment to be found in the Human Realm?”

But he’d only just said this when his smile froze in place.

Overflowing vitality surged around Su Yi’s severely battered frame, like withered wood in spring. A few blinks of the eye and Su Yi’s wounds knit back together. Even his aura rose to new heights.

“He... He broke through again!?” The old bald man’s eyes bulged with complete and utter astonishment. He looked as if he'd just swallowed a fistful of juicy dead flies.

Su Yi really had broken through. He’d just reached the late-stage Manifesting Mortality Realm!

It was only after stepping onto the eightieth step that he faced a true challenge. Each step after that required fierce combat and presented a severe threat.

It was no exaggeration to say that he’d fought bathed in blood!

But this type of tempering through combat was rare and precious for Su Yi. In the modern era, he was already all but invincible. Even those Void Realm True Immortals struggled to threaten him.

Finding such worthy foes felt extremely luxurious to him.

But things were different here. After the eightieth step, it felt as if he were facing one unrivaled, powerful foe after another, setting Su Yi’s will to fight fully ablaze.

Although his wounds were heavy, his heart was satisfied!

And this tempering combined with the immortal medicines he’d been refining had transformed his cultivation base at startling speeds.

In just a few blinks of the eye, and he’d gone from the early-stage Manifesting Mortality Realm to the late stage!

“There really isn’t much time left...” Su Yi glanced up at the dome of heaven. The skies had already cracked, leaving them collapsed and contorted. Startling currents of spacetime power flowed through the air.

It seemed as if the entire stretch of sky had been eradicated.

A vortex of tribulation clouds surged beneath the collapsed skies, like dense, blood-red ink. It was about to descend!

“Oh well. Saving her comes first.” Finally, Su Yi reached a decision and gave up on this rare opportunity to temper himself. Instead, he’d get through this as quickly as possible and save Daoist Master Red Cloud before doing anything else.

Thus far, he hadn’t once drawn upon the Sword of the Nine Hells. He wouldn’t hold back any longer!

......

“What’s going on!?” The old bald man let out a strange shout. His eyes bulged, and he was at a loss for words.

Su Yi suddenly seemed like an entirely different person. His climbing speed had increased many times over!

He passed each level of the staircase in less than ten minutes! And he showed no further sign of injuries! It was nothing like the wretched, grievously wounded state he’d been in earlier.

“The last nine steps are covered in the most calamitous and mysterious of divine markings. Their power is far beyond that of the other steps, so why... How... how is this possible?”

The old bald man’s mind went blank.

Just an hour later.

Su Yi soared up the steps, leaving a trail of dust in his wake, passed the ninety-ninth step, and reached the top of the Path of Endless Tribulations.

He was greeted by an elevated platform, upon which stood an ancient altar and a bronze pillar. Daoist Master Red Cloud was bound atop it.

When Su Yi arrived, Daoist Master Red Cloud slowly raised her head. Her long hair hung loose, and her face was pallid, with an uncharacteristic hint of shame. She said softly, “I troubled you, Fellow Daoist.”

With the inscrutable divine chains binding her, she looked utterly wretched. This was in stark contrast with her typical detached tranquility.

She’d always seemed invincible, and she’d helped Su Yi avert numerous disasters. Countless powerful foes paled at the mere mention of her name. Yet now, she was a captive. Her situation left her feeling bleak, and it came as a heavy mental blow.

“I suspect the gods are behind today’s death trap, and that they were targeting me. I implicated you, so I’m the one who ought to apologize,” Su Yi said gently.

As he approached, he examined the pillar, then shattered Daoist Master Red Cloud’s chains.

Practically simultaneously, something unexpected happened——

The ancient altar suddenly rumbled and boomed, and a streak of mysterious, boundless tribulation light shot into the firmament.

Boom!

The sky was already cracked and distorted. As this mysterious tribulation light fell, the skies split completely.

As if carving a massive hole in the sky!

The dense tribulation clouds covering the surrounding area underwent a startling transformation. Shockingly, they outlined a mysterious tunnel, which connected to the massive hole in the sky.

Su Yi’s eyes focused. He immediately picked up Daoist Master Red Cloud and said, “Hide for now.”

With that, he placed her safely into the Antique Dealer’s bronze pagoda.

He’d only just done this when——

Boom!

The massive altar burst with terrifying tribulation light, enveloping the elevated platform and sealing it off completely.

Su Yi was effectively trapped in a cage!

“Hahaha!” The bald old man teleported over, threw back his head, and laughed. “I said you were doomed the moment you stepped onto the Path of Endless Trials!

“See that? The true danger was never the path itself, but rather, what lay at its end!”

The old man seemed quite smug, high-spirited, and elated.

“That said, to tell the truth, I would never have guessed you’d make it to the end of the path alive. All these years, and no one has ever accomplished such a feat! This alone would qualify you as an unprecedented figure.”

He stood in the air, gazing up at the firmament. “It’s a pity. The gods do not tolerate reincarnation. As you now bear this power, you are to be completely eradicated!”

Su Yi’s gaze was perfectly calm and indifferent. He said softly, “I’m afraid methods such as these won’t be enough to keep me here.”

“You’re right.” The bald old man nodded. “If we want to erase the taboo power of reincarnation from existence, I’m afraid only the power of a god from beyond the heavens will do.”

Su Yi’s gaze focused, but then, he seemed to realize something. He suddenly gazed up into the depths of the firmament.

An utterly terrifying presence had appeared at the far end of that mysterious corridor, and it was getting closer!