First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 1457 - The Ten Thousand Demons Imperial Talisman

Su Yi really was a bit wretched.

He’d run into a spacetime windstorm while crossing the River of Spacetime. Had he not circulated the aura of the Sword of the Nine Hells at a critical juncture, the raging spacetime power might well have ripped him to shreds.

“Forcing my way across the River of Spacetime without first stepping into the Immortal Dao really was overly risky.” Su Yi rubbed his nose in self-deprecation.

Fortunately, he’d reached the Epoch of Demonism safely in the end.

He let out a breath of turbid air, then looked around.

It was already late at night. The distant Ancient Wilds Demon Mountains were shrouded in darkness. The peaks rose and fell, like a massive dragon sprawled across the ground.

“I wonder if the Demonic Court of Ten Thousand Domains still exists.” Su Yi gazed at the distant Ancient Wilds Demon Mountains and sank into thought.

A long, long time ago, his sixth incarnation, Wang Ye, explored the Ancient Wilds Demon Mountains.

At the time, Wang Ye recruited a group of subordinates to help him uncover the origins of the Epoch of Demonism’s culture of cultivation. They were tasked with gathering ancient tomes from throughout the world.

One of his subordinates was the founder of the Demonic Court of Ten Thousand Domains, and these mountains were the sect’s territory!

It was no coincidence that Su Yi had appeared here upon arriving in the Epoch of Demonism.

The spatial node Wang Ye had committed to memory had first been carved here in the Ancient Wilds Demon Mountains.

“It’s been several hundred thousand years... I wonder if my subordinates are still alive...?”

As Su Yi pondered, he heard the sound of figures whooshing through the air.

“That’s where that disturbance originated from!”

“Eh? Someone actually beat us there?”

....Several radiant streaks of light appeared accompanying these voices. A group of cultivators!

Two led the group, a man and a woman.

The man wore a tall hat and a broad belt. He was dressed in imperial robes, and he had a proud, indifferent look on his face.

The woman’s long hair was tied up, and she was dressed in purple. She was beautiful and dignified.

In the blink of an eye, the whole group whooshed over. All eyes were instantly on Su Yi.

“No cultivation base at all? A mortal?” The woman in purple couldn’t help but re-examine Su Yi, only to discover that the young man in blue truly showed no sign of a cultivation base!

“A mortal? Not necessarily.” The man in imperial robes looked at Su Yi, his eyes flashing. “What mortal would dare venture this close to the Ancient Wilds Demon Mountains this late at night?”

He then stroked his jaw and looked at Su Yi. “Little fellow, there was a disturbance here just now. A dazzling rain of light appeared. Did you see it?”

Su Yi instantly understood. My arrival must have caused an enormous disturbance, drawing these cultivators’ attention.

“Don’t just stand there! Answer me quickly!” The man in imperial robes said coldly.

Su Yi’s eyebrows rose, and he was just about to say something when the woman in purple frowned in displeasure. “Rong Wen, mind your manners. Throwing your weight around before a mortal is beneath you, don’t you think?”

The man froze, then couldn’t help but argue, “That kid doesn’t seem at all like a mortal! How about... I test him myself? If he’s really an ant-like mortal, there’s naturally no need to concern ourselves with him. But if he isn’t, there’s surely something fishy about him!”

With that, he fixed his unfriendly gaze on Su Yi.

The woman in purple frowned, her beautiful face frosting over as she rebuked, “Enough! Don’t forget what we came here for. Don’t even think of causing trouble!”

She then turned to look at Su Yi. “Young man, this place borders the Ancient Wilds Demon Mountains. It’s dangerous, so you’d best leave as soon as possible.”

She then turned to the others. “Let’s go.”

Without delay, the woman in purple led her group into the distant wilderness of the Ancient Wilds Demon Mountains.

When they left, the man in imperial robes was obviously unwilling, but he dared not disobey the woman in purple’s orders. In the end, he just shot Su Yi an icy glare and left bitterly.

“It’s a pity...” Su Yi watched them fade from view, then let out a soft sigh.

“What’s a pity, my young friend?”

A bony old man appeared out of nowhere beneath the distant night sky. He was dressed in hemp, and his eyes were an eerie bright green. His entire body emanated a sinister aura.

He slowly approached Su Yi, his eerie green eyes staring intently at him. His gaze was inquisitive, like a poisonous snake flicking its tongue. The sight was enough to make one shudder.

Su Yi glanced at the old man, then answered honestly. “Had they attacked earlier, I could have captured them in good conscience and searched their souls one by one. Perhaps I would have learned some of what I want to know. Alas, they chose not to attack me.”

“????” The old man in hemp was baffled. Is that... any fucking way for an ordinary mortal to talk?

His steps came to an abrupt halt, and his aged face filled with uncertainty. “My young friend... you’re not joking, are you?”

“What do you think?” Su Yi asked distractedly.

The old man in hemp coughed dryly. “I think I’d best be on my way. Farewell!”

He then slipped off as if there were nothing but grease beneath his feet, shooting into the wilderness at extraordinary speeds.

But before he’d gotten far, laughter resounded in the hemp-clad old man’s ears. “If I let you go too, wouldn’t it be an even greater pity?”

The old man shuddered, then opened his mouth to speak. “I...”

But before he could finish, a hand seized him by the throat and held him aloft like a chicken!

The old man instantly panicked. A chill coursed down his spine, and beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

He scrunched up his face and said, “Senior, I had no intention of offending you. Please, show mercy!”

By now, how could he fail to realize that he’d kicked an iron board?

“You obviously approached with ill intentions. You were clever enough not to attack, but that doesn’t change anything.” Su Yi laughed. “How about this? Once I’ve searched your soul, I’ll leave you a path to life. How ‘bout it?”

The old man slumped and said bitterly, “How could this little old man dare refuse?”

About ten minutes later.

Su Yi kept his word and let the old man go.

He’d already learned a fair bit from searching his soul.

Long ago, the Demonic Court of Ten Thousand Domains occupied the Ancient Wilds Demon Mountains. Back then, they were among the greatest factions of the Profound Eternity Realm, practically its sovereigns!

Yet this enormous faction had long since vanished!

So much time had passed that by now, almost no one knew just how the Demonic Court of Ten Thousand Domains had disappeared.

Now, this once mighty sect lay in ruin.

However, Su Yi learned from the old man’s memories that in recent years, numerous cultivators had uncovered good fortune in the Ancient Wilds Demon Mountains.

Like broken weapons and ancient scriptures.

It was to the point that the Ancient Wilds Demon Mountains had become a treasure ground in the eyes of the world’s cultivators.

Of course, there were numerous dangers lurking in the mountains too, so ordinary cultivators dared not try their luck.

After learning all this, Su Yi instantly understood. That group of cultivators was most likely after the mountains’ good fortune.

“Time really changes all things. This place remains, but the people have changed.” Su Yi sighed, took out a talisman, and carved it.

He was completely focused on his work, and soon, a strange, intricate diagram of the Demonist school of thought silently appeared on the talisman.

A Ten Thousand Demons Imperial Talisman!

Long ago, Wang Ye used this type of talisman to summon and command his subordinates!

After a moment’s thought, Su Yi put the talisman away and shot toward the mountains. “Forget it. I’ll take a trip to the Ancient Wilds Demon Mountains first and see if I can find any leads first. It won’t be too late to use the talisman later.”

......

Deep in the wilderness of the Ancient Wilds Demon Mountains.

“Kill them!”

A fierce battle raged.

Treasure light rumbled and boomed between heaven and earth. Divine radiance swept forth in waves, spreading in all directions.

Over a hundred cultivators were charging at the gates of a grand, ancient palace, each doing their utmost to beat the others there.

The palace floated above a lake of lava. It was a thousand feet tall and forged entirely out of what looked like divine gold, making it seem holy and austere.

An enormous ritual ground stood before the palace, lined on both sides by ancient stone statues.

But now, the stone statues seemed to have come to life, and every last one had a terrifying aura. They were currently locked in fierce combat with over a hundred cultivators, and they were doing their utmost to prevent them from approaching the palace.

Boom!

The ritual grounds were in complete chaos. The battle was incomparably brutal. From time to time, cultivators perished and fell to the ground in bloodied heaps. Pools of blood covered the ground.

But the remaining cultivators seemed to know no fear. All of them charged as if they’d gone mad.

When the woman in purple and the man in imperial robes arrived, they took in this scene from afar, and they couldn’t help but look solemn.

“We’re late...” The man in imperial robes whispered, his expression unsightly.

“Are we late? Haven’t you noticed that none of those old-timers have made it into the divine palace?” the woman in purple said softly.

The battle was so fierce and brutal that her heart jumped just watching it. Chills coursed down her spine.

“The stone statues protecting the ritual grounds are Demonic Golems refined by experts of the Demonic Court of Ten Thousand Domains. They’re terrifyingly strong. At their peak, they could have contended with even Cloud Soaring Realm existences!” the man in imperial robes said, his expression shifting erratically. “The passage of countless years has severely weakened them, but ordinary Transcendents are still no match for them.”

He could see that no small number of Transcendent old-timers had already died brutally on the battlefield!

As for the Demonic Golems? As of yet, only three had been destroyed!

The woman in purple said, “Perhaps we can play fisherman and reap the benefits. Once they’ve killed all the golems and cleared the path, we can charge right into the palace.”

Her suggestion instantly won her companions’ approval.

The man in imperial robes couldn’t help but laugh. “Right! That’s how we ought to do it. It seems like we arrived late, but in truth, we’ve profited enormously!”

His gaze heated up.

That building was called the Divine Palace of Ten Thousand Domains!

Rumor had it that it contained all of the accumulated wealth of the Demonic Court of Ten Thousand Domain: too many ancient treasures to count, wondrous and profound scriptures, and a mountain of immortal medicinal ingredients and divine materials!

The divine palace had only recently emerged from the lake of lava and re-entered the world.

In a sense, they too were among the first to arrive here in search of its good fortune!

Meanwhile, Su Yi watched from a distance. He gazed at the palace floating atop the lava, and watched the battle raging on the shore.

A hint of a daze appeared on his face.

I wouldn’t have thought that even after all these years, that palace... would still be here!