First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 1573 - The Primeval Gate

Immediately afterward, Su Yi stood before the second stele and started pointing out the flaws of its formation.

Inwardly, he couldn’t help but recall visions of the past. Way back when, he, the Black Dragon Dao Monarch, and a group of friends feasted and clinked glasses here. It was a joyous occasion.

They’d also contemplated the source Dao Markings of the Nine Steles of the Primeval Era and argued until they were red in the face. On numerous occasions, they almost came to blows.

It was to the point that Yu Xuanji, the man they called the greatest master of talismans and formations in the Immortal Realm, cursed Wang Ye out in front of the crowd, calling him an ignoramus with no understanding of the mysteries of Dao Markings.

But in the end...

Wang Ye managed to crack the mysteries of the Nine Steles of the Primeval Era one step ahead of him.

Su Yi vividly recalled how Yu Xuanji had run his fingers through his beard as he sat there like a stone statue, his aged face alternating white, green, purple, and red. It was a truly wondrous scene.

Wang Ye burst into laughter and shouted for joy.

In truth, Wang Ye managed to discern the steles’ secrets largely thanks to Yu Xuanji’s inspiration. At the time, Wang Ye admitted this, too.

But Yu Xuanju just smacked Wang Ye in the shoulder and cursed him with a grin. “My skills are inferior to yours, so why feign modesty, you bastard?”

When Su Yi thought back to that day, he couldn’t help but be rueful.

There was no denying that although the Immortal Realm called Wang Ye the Tyrant, and although his hands were stained red with blood, he had a group of like-minded friends, people willing to fight and die alongside him!

It was in this rueful, nostalgic state of mind that Su Yi proceeded to explain the mistakes on every single stele. He showed no sign of impatience.

At first, the old monsters could understand the mysteries behind Su YI’s words. They were sometimes shaken, other times excited, and other times ashamed.

But as time passed, all of them were increasingly confused, and they found his explanations increasingly difficult to understand.

Even Mo Canqiu, a grandmaster of formations and talismans, struggled to understand it all. He just stood there in a daze.

Everything was deathly silent except for Su Yi.

When he finished explaining all of their mistakes, Su Yi took out a jug of wine, threw back his head, and drained it.

When he saw the crowd’s befuddlement, he couldn’t help but shake his head and laugh dryly.

Had he “played the zither for a cow?”

No, it wasn’t that. It was that these old-timers weren’t as capable as the old-timers he’d drank with then.

Qing Wei stood not far away. She’d heard and seen everything. When she saw Su Yi chuckle and shake his head, she couldn’t help but sigh to herself. I’m afraid... the Sovereign must be quite lonely.

Like a master of the zither without an audience!

A long time passed before the old-timers shook themselves out of their daze. They exchanged glances. All of them were convinced by Su Yi’s skills!

Mo Canqiu even went so far as to bow and say, “Might this old man be so bold as to request that you crack the Nine Steles of the Primeval Era’s secrets? Please let us bear witness to your abilities.”

“Very well,” said Su Yi. He’d come here in search of this place’s good fortune of the Grand Dao; it couldn’t be found anywhere else! He didn’t mind letting these old-timers watch him do it.

He promptly stepped forward and started drawing a formation diagram.

Weng!

Dao Light revolved, and wisps of radiance poured from Su Yi’s fingertips, intertwining in the air as they gradually outlined a coarse formation diagram. The process seemed as smooth and natural as flowing water.

It was like a naturally formed sculpture, with no sign of a chisel.

Before long, the finished formation took shape before the crowd’s eyes. It was grand and mysterious, intricate and profound.

From a distance, it seemed as if countless flowing lights had intertwined into a stretch of starry sky. Light and shadow rose and fell, and the Dao Markings revolved along different trajectories, fusing into each other and reflecting each other’s light.

When Su Yi stretched out his finger and tapped the formation diagram...

Whoosh!

The formation diagram seemed to come to life. It burst with radiant light that soared into the heavens.

The Nine Steles of the Primeval Era trembled, and the markings covering their surface rippled with the power of the Grand Dao, producing a wondrous resonance with the formation diagram before Su Yi.

Moments later, the entire Forest of Steles started shaking. It was like the humming of countless swords!

Over on the peak of the Dragon’s Retreat, the meditating Red Dragon Dao Monarch was briefly stunned, but she quickly returned her attention to her contemplations.

Was this strange?

Not in the slightest.

It had been obvious to her right from the start that Su Yi would be able to grasp the mysteries of the Nine Steles of the Primeval Era.

The Black Dragon Guards stationed on the mountain were startled into action. All of them were in uproar, and all of them cried out in surprise.

“Quit making a fuss over nothing!” shouted Xing Yu as he stopped them from going to investigate.

In truth, he was astonished too. That distinguished guest of ours has yet to step into the Immortal Dao. How did he grasp the steles’ mysteries so quickly?

No wonder the Dao Monarch respects him so much! You really can’t judge someone by their appearance!

Meanwhile, at the heart of the Forest of Steles.

The towering Nine Steles of the Primeval Era rumbled and boomed as it erupted with divine radiance. The light outlined an ethereal portal in the sky.

The old monsters’ breathing sped up. It was as if they were witnessing a miracle!

The Primeval Gate!

It only appeared when someone fully grasped the mysteries of the Nine Steles of the Primeval Era! Rumor had it that a mysterious ground full of the ancestral source energies of the primeval era lay beyond the gateway!

“I plan to go into seclusion inside. You and Fang Han can just wait on the Dragon’s Retreat in the meantime,” Su Yi glanced at Qing Wei and ordered.

“Got it!” Qing Wei inclined her head.

Su Yi, meanwhile, stepped into the air and passed through the Primeval Gate. In the blink of an eye, he was gone.

The Primeval Gate disappeared after him, and the Nine Steles of the Primeval Era returned to stillness.

But the cloud platform burst into uproar, like a pot blowing off its lid.

The old monsters clustered around Qing Wei, and all of them started asking questions at once.

“Fellow Daoist Qing Wei, just who was that young lord? How could he solve the mysteries of the Nine Steles of the Primeval Era at such a tender young age?”

“I’ve never heard of anyone solving the steles’ mysteries since the days prior to the Age of Fallen Immortals!”

“Incredible! Is that young lord perhaps some unrivaled expert’s closed-door disciple?”

“My horizons have truly been broadened! Compared to that young lord, the divinations we’ve performed over the years were a joke. They aren’t even worth mentioning!”

...All the old monsters were excited, and all of them were desperate for answers regarding Su Yi’s origins.

Qing Wei smiled but said nothing. In the end, she just told them Su Yi’s name, but she refused to say a single word more. Her lips were sealed.

The old monsters’ hearts itched with curiosity, but there was nothing they could do.

Only Silent Truths, the chief elder of Lotus Temple’s Discipline Hall, seemed to have realized something. However, he too said nothing.

Has that legend truly returned through reincarnation...?

His eyes looked dazed. His Buddhist heart was as clear as glass, yet now, it was rocked by waves of emotion.

Lotus Temple was one of the mightiest factions in the Immortal Realm! They could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the likes of the Church of the Pure One and the ancient Tang Family. They were even lauded as the greatest Buddhist faction in the Immortal Realm!

As the chief elder of its Disciple Hall, Silent Truths naturally was privy to numerous secrets.

For instance, he knew that not long ago, one of the ascendants who’d appeared in White Deer Mountain’s Ascension Ground was the suspected reincarnation of a top expert!

Both the Church of the Pure One and Cloud Apparatus Immortal Manor had offered generous bounties for information regarding him!

He also knew that, prior to the Age of Fallen Immortals, Ancestor Qing Qu of Lotus Temple, an expert at the pinnacle of the Immortal Dao, said that the Eternal Night Immortal Sovereign hadn’t really died in the Battle of Eternal Night. Ancestor Qing Qu suspected he’d undergone reincarnation instead!

Unfortunately, although Ancestor Qing Qu made it through the Age of Fallen Immortals, he met with divine misfortune and perished thirty-nine thousand years ago.

In the last moments before his death, he said, “If you can’t overcome the five signs of decay, you cannot become eternally indestructible!”

If Ancestor Qing Qu were alive, he’d surely have known at a glance whether or not Su Yi really is that legendary existence reborn, sighed Silent Truths.

Seeing Me Is Like Seeing the Heavens, the First Immortal of the Sword!

Long ago, prior to the Age of Fallen Immortals, there were dozens of experts who stood at the pinnacle of the Immortal Dao, but only he shone like the midday sun, illuminating the entire Immortal Realm!

No matter what, I have to report this to the temple as soon as possible. If that existence really has returned through reincarnation, the Immortal Realm’s new golden age will inevitably be accompanied by unpredictable bloodshed!

When the time comes, those old-timers who’ve gone into hiding to avoid divine misfortune will tremble.

Ancient records stated that in the Battle of Eternal Night, the Eternal Night Immortal Sovereign single-handedly fought off thirty-three experts at the pinnacle of the Immortal Dao.

Although he met with disaster in the end, he slew twenty-one of his enemies, fighting until heaven and earth collapsed and all of creation was stained red with blood!

It was the bloodiest battle of experts of the pinnacle of the Immortal Dao in recorded history.

It led to a reshuffling of the Immortal Realm’s balance of power, ending the age in which the Eternal Night Immortal Sovereign reigned over the Immortal Realm, sword in hand.

If that existence had really returned through reincarnation, it was obvious that his former enemies would pay for what they’d done in blood!

No wonder the Church of the Pure One is trying so hard to find him. Their founder, the Blood Firmament Immortal Sovereign, was among the few top experts who initiated the Battle of the Eternal Night!

Silent Truths had only just reached this conclusion when someone asked out of nowhere, “Have you perhaps realized something, Silent Truths?”

Qing Wei’s charming, beautiful eyes were fixed on the old monk.

Silent Truths’s heart shook. He cast aside his scattered thoughts and said with a self-deprecating laugh, “The shock was so enormous that this humble monk is struggling to stay calm, and I fell into a bit of a daze. I’ve embarrassed myself in front of you.”

Qing Wei pursed her red lips and chuckled. “To the best of my knowledge, Buddhists strive for hearts free of confusion, unbound by worldly affairs. Only then can you remain free from the fetters of passion and desire. If you had a heart as clear as glass, this wouldn’t have affected you.”

Her words sounded like heartfelt guidance, but Silent Truths could tell what she was getting at!

He fell briefly silent, then inclined his head. “You’re absolutely right, Fellow Daoist.”

Qing Wei smiled and said no more.

Meanwhile, Su Yi found himself in a hidden realm like a stretch of chaos.

Countless primeval source energies rose from the chaos, transforming into mists that surrounded him on all sides.

When the chaos mists surrounded Su Yi, he felt as if he’d gone back in time to the first parting of the primordial chaos!