First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 1477 - Elites Take the Stage

“Master, are you really going to leave just like that?” Qing Tang couldn’t help but ask, her beautiful face full of reluctance.

After they parted ways, who knew how long it would be before they saw each other again?

“Rest assured. A year from now, the impenetrable barrier between the Human and Immortal Realms will disappear. Once I’ve established myself in the Immortal Realm, I’ll naturally come for you all.” Su Yi smiled and tousled Qing Tang’s hair.

At present, only Transcendents could enter the Domain Boundary Battlefield and take the Road of Welcoming.

But that would soon change.

With Su Yi’s methods, it wouldn’t matter how high or low his friends’ cultivation bases were. There’d be no need for them to pass through the Domain Boundary Battlefield; he could guide them directly into the Immortal Realm!

“Bro, I sure am reluctant to see you leave,” said the Antique Dealer, his expression lonely and bleak.

But Illuminating Emptiness laughed derisively, revealing the Antique Dealer’s true thoughts without the slightest politeness. “You’re just worried that no one will serve as your pillar of support after he’s gone!”

The Antique Dealer’s expression froze in place. He snapped, “With the heavens as my witness, I swear that I’m not that kind of unscrupulous profiteer!”

Daoist Master Red Cloud said calmly, “Relax. I won’t be leaving for another year. If anyone bullies you in the meantime, you can come looking for me.”

The Antique Dealer instantly lit up. “Thank you so much, Senior! With you here, I can rest assured.”

Illuminating Emptiness laughed. “See? You changed your tune completely the moment you found a new backer!”

The others couldn’t help but chuckle, and the sorrow of separation faded.

“Young Master, take care!” Old Cripple Wei gave Su Yi a jug of wine and grinned. “You needn’t fear loneliness on the road ahead, for who beneath the heavens doesn’t know you?”

Su Yi accepted and rained the jug of wine, then said to Wei Shan, “Take good care of your foster father while I’m away.”

Wei Shan nodded solemnly.

“Wan’er, work hard on your cultivation,” Su Yi said to Qing Wan.

“Mm!” Qing Wan nodded firmly.

Before long, Sword Immortal Qingshi, the Universal Emptiness Sword Buddha, and the others condensed their identity tokens too.

“Let’s go.” Su Yi waved, then stepped into the air.

He’d always been free and easy during partings. It wasn’t that he was heartless, but that this separation wouldn’t last forever. There was no need for undue grief.

Sword Immortal Qingshi and the Universal Emptiness Sword Buddha set off immediately after.

The crowd watched them soar into the air, waves of emotion rocking their hearts.

“Here in the Human Realm, my bro the Temple Master is an unrivaled existence. Indeed, his sword points at the three thousand worlds of the stars, suppressing foes both past and present,” murmured the Antique Dealer.

It was true. Here in the Human Realm, there had never been anyone capable of contending with Su Yi’s strength!

Meanwhile, beneath the same night sky.

The entrance to the Domain Boundary Battlefield had appeared throughout the star realms. Everyone who’d stepped into the Path of Transcendence was overcome with excitement, and they raced toward the entrance as if afraid others would get there first.

All at once, a rain of beams of colorful lights illuminated the night sky.

Even the Transcendent revenants of ancient orthodoxies rushed to participate!

......

The Primordial Unity Daoist Sect.

“The time has come,” said A’Cai, the Undying Spirit Venerate. She soared into the night sky swathed in a rain of colorful light.

Her true body was an immortal silkworm born of chaos, and she controlled the extremely rare Undying Dao Intent.

The Domain Boundary Battlefield contained a grand stroke of fortune enough to let her undergo a complete and utter metamorphosis.

She’d been waiting for this day for far, far too long....

“I imagine Fellow Daoist Su has already gone to the Domain Boundary Battlefield,” she whispered to herself.

......

Boom!

A woman in coarse gray robes and a ponytail walked amidst the waves of the surging River of Spacetime. Her face was obscured beneath a bronze mask.

She carried a long spear, and she was extraordinarily quick. No matter how the river water assailed her, it couldn’t damage her in the slightest.

The cultivations of bygone epochs have declined. It’s only in the present day that I can remedy my Dao of the Spear, and my opportunity lies in the rapidly changing Immortal Realm. I have to enter it as soon as possible. No matter what, I have to seize a divine flame, prove my Dao, and acquire a divine Dao Fruit. Only then can I repair my Grand Dao and achieve a perfect breakthrough!

When the time comes... Hmph! What will gods and Buddhas amount to?

As the spearwoman pondered, she shot forward, passing the surging current of spacetime to enter the stars.

Boom!

The power of the Laws surged as if provoked, then descended upon the spearwoman.

But it was as if she had precognition. She abruptly withdrew her aura, continuously suppressing her cultivation base. Finally, when she suppressed her cultivation all the way down to the Cloud Soaring Realm, the power of the Laws disappeared without a trace.

Three years have passed, and these stars really have changed. The Path of Transcendence has reappeared, but that’s not all. The Laws even contain traces of the Immortal Dao. It seems my initial guess was right on the mark. Only the cultivation civilizations of the present day can give rise to such variables!

And in the Immortal Realm, the gods have long since destroyed the natural order. Its countless years of stillness have actually resulted in an unprecedented transformation!

Hah. The gods wanted to throw a stone only to end up dropping it on their own feet. Going forward, the Immortal Realm’s changes will be completely outside of their control!

The spearwoman stretched, then gazed into the distance.

There, she saw a portal to the Domain Boundary Battlefield!

I just wonder how that kid who mastered reincarnation is doing. Only three years have passed. Has he stepped onto the Path of Transcendence yet?

The image of an extraordinary and detached young man in blue rose unbidden to her mind.

A moment later, she couldn’t help but recall scenes of how she’d lost to him with an evenly matched cultivation base. Irrepressible shame and indignation arose within her head.

She hadn’t just lost. No, that guy had grappled with her, and their bodies had intertwined into utterly shameful, awkward positions.

The spearwoman gnashed her teeth. “If I run into him again, I’ll crack his skull open!”

Whoosh!

The spearwoman shot ahead and disappeared through the entrance to the Domain Boundary Battlefield.

......

The Southern Fire Star Domain.

Atop an enormous mountain of ice and snow.

“Young Leader, the hopes of every cultivator beneath these heavens rests on your shoulders in this expedition to the Domain Boundary Battlefield. This old man is certain that you’ll rise to the top of the ranks and suppress the competition!” an old man said with a laugh.

A tall, upright figure in plain white robes stood at the edge of a snowy cliff. He was as elegant as a dragon or phoenix, with an unrivaled bearing.

“Suppress the competition?” The elegant young man shook his head. “That’s not what I want. What I want is... an opponent who can defeat me!”

As he said that last sentence, his eyes blazed with startling divine radiance, as if tens of thousands of stars were surging in the depths of his gaze.

Ren Changqing!

He was the greatest Transcendent of the Southern Flame Star Domain, as well as its greatest saber cultivator. To date, he was undefeated!

He’d earned numerous dazzling titles and accolades over the years, but he’d never taken them to heart.

All he wanted was an opponent who could truly compete with him!

Alas, despite searching far and wide for the past eight hundred years, he’d never once encountered anyone capable of that.

This was what they meant when they said it was lonely at the top.

But now, the Domain Boundary Battlefield had finally reopened. Ren Changqing saw new hope of encountering worthy rivals!

......

The Western Chill Star Domain.

A sacred pure land.

“Countless years have passed, but the Domain Boundary Battlefield has finally reappeared...” Qin Suxin murmured.

Her skin was as smooth as jade, and her beauty was unparalleled. Her black hair was casually tied up, and her entire body was shrouded in faint white mist, making her seem all the more extraordinary.

An old woman approached and said softly, “Young Leader, the nine greatest factions of the Western Chill Star Domain have already agreed to have their Cloud Soaring experts follow your orders after entering the Domain Boundary Battlefield.”

Qin Suxin subtly inclined her head. “So long as they do as they’re told, I wouldn’t mind granting them my protection.”

The old woman smiled. “Rest assured, Young Leader. An opportunity to work alongside you is a dream come true. None of them will dare defy your will.”

In the Western Chill Star Domain, Qin Suxin was an incontrovertible legend!

Even in the Nascent Divinity Realm, she was unrivaled on the Path of Transcendence. Even long-established experts could only lower their heads before her.

Now that she’d stepped into the Cloud Soaring Realm, her strength had reached unfathomable heights.

Numerous old-timers were certain that, if not for the Domain Boundary Battlefield’s long disappearance, someone of Qin Suxin’s aptitude would have long since proven her Dao, become an immortal, and dazzled the Immortal Realm!

There were even rumors that Qin Suxin’s strength and foundations in the Cloud Soaring Realm were enough to contend with Universe Realm Immortals!

......

The Northern Abyss Star Domain.

“Long ago, when the Domain Boundary Battlefield opened, our real opponents were never the experts of the other three star domains,” said a thin young man in Daoist robes. He gazed at the starry sky and said, “It’ll be that way this time too.”

He had a simple, pure quality about him. His gaze was clear and peaceable, and his entire body emanated a tranquil charm.

“You’re absolutely right, Senior Apprentice Brother,” laughed the graceful beauty in colorful clothes. “Our real opponents are our longstanding enemies in the Northern Abyss Star Domain. But of course, as strong as they are, you’re absolutely more terrifying than any of them!”

She spoke with absolute confidence.

The young man in Daoist robes shook his head and refrained from commenting.

Instead, he said, “Suppressing my cultivation for so long has taught me something. Becoming truly invincible in the Cloud Soaring Realm isn’t a competition of foundations, talent, cultivation, treasures, divine abilities, or combat experience.”

“What is it, then?” the colorfully dressed woman asked curiously.

“Willpower, spirit, wisdom, and your mentality,” said the young man in Daoist robes. “Of them, your mentality is the most important.”

The colorfully dressed woman was stunned.

“You don’t understand? Here, I’ll give you an analogy. I’m actually not all that interested in competing against others of the same cultivation. That’s dull,” the young man in Daoist robes said calmly. “What I’m most eager to do is find an immortal, knock him to the ground, and ask... how the fist of this cultivator of the Human Realm feels.”

The woman was inwardly startled, and she couldn’t help but sigh. “The ancestor was right. Senior Apprentice Brother, your daring is truly far beyond other Cloud Soaring Transcendents!”

The young man in Daoist robes shook his head. “This isn’t daring, nor is it self-conceit. When your strength and mentality reach my level, you’ll naturally want to do the same. You ought to see this as perfectly normal.”

He was neither conceited nor rash, and he seemed as tranquil as water.

The colorfully dressed woman laughed. “But that only makes it even more obvious how incredible you are, Senior Apprentice Brother.”

His Daoist Title was “Yu Chen,” or “Transcending Dust.”

Here in the Northern Abyss Star Domain, his accomplishments were legendary!

......

Weng!

A strange spacetime rumbling reverberated outward. The scenery twisted like a distorted belt of light, mottled and colorful. Strange visions flashed by.

All of this happened in the snap of the fingers. It was as if the stars shifted positions. Su Yi’s entire body felt light as he broke free of the power of time and space and arrived in a boundless stretch of heaven and earth.

Su Yi examined his surroundings.

Beneath the distant dome of heaven, mountains rose and fell. It was a primeval landscape, as if he’d arrived in the world shortly after the first parting of chaos.

The clouds, the earth, the mountains and rivers—everything was swathed in misty immortal qi.

Even the perfectly ordinary vegetation glowed with vibrant life force and abundant spirituality far beyond the outside world.

“This is the Third Battleground where Nascent Divinity Transcendents duke it out? I hope the good fortune here won’t disappoint me,” Su Yi said with a hint of eagerness.

He’d suppressed his cultivation base all this time in hopes of acquiring the Third Battleground’s unique good fortune, an opportunity reserved for Nascent Divinity Transcendents!