First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 1576 - The Banquet in Soaring Cloud Tower

This new arrival was dressed in black, and his handsome face was nothing but smiles.

Xue Hongfeng! Su Yi remembered him. They’d met on the eighth floor of the Black Dragon Market’s Cave of Trials. He’d been short on immortal medicine, and he requested that they duel in hopes of acquiring some.

“So it’s you.” Su Yi nodded calmly.

In stark contrast, Xue Hongfeng seemed downright delighted. He clasped his fist and said, “I’m fully convinced of my defeat. After I left the Cave of Trials, one of my seniors told me that you made it all the way through the ninth trial without stopping or failing once. Truly impressive!”

But Su Yi thought nothing of this. “A trivial accomplishment, that’s all. It’s not even worth mentioning.”

A trivial accomplishment? Xue Hongfeng had a strange look in his eyes. You made it through all nine floors of the Cave of Trials, and you even killed Pu Heng, the top Universe Realm Immortal of the Six Directions Daoist Temple. You call that trivial? If word got out, I’m afraid every Universe Realm Immortal around would tremble!

After all, Pu Heng was a genius on the Universe Realm Immortal Rankings. Sure, his rank was on the low side, but there are countless Universe Realm Immortals in the Immortal Realm, and he was among the greatest of them!

Xue Hongfeng thought for a moment, then said, “Since you boarded this vessel, are you perhaps on your way to the White Reed Province too?”

“Mm,” said Su Yi.

“What a coincidence. Me too! But I’m going back home,” Xue Hongfeng said with a hearty laugh.

Su Yi recalled Xue Hongfeng mentioning that he was a member of the White Reed Province’s Divine Cloud Mountain Xue Family.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Xue Hongfeng said, “Fellow Daoist, our meeting was a stroke of fate. How about you join me for a drink at Soaring Cloud Tower tonight?”

Here, he flashed Su Yi a mysterious grin. “It’s going to be quite lively tonight! Hua Xingchen, the guy ranked sixteenth on the Universe Realm Immortal Rankings, is hosting a banquet. The attendees include three other top geniuses. All three are on the Universe Realm Immortal Rankings too!”

His face was full of longing and eagerness.

Hua Xingchen was a chosen son of heaven from the Blood of the Underworld Demonist Cult. He was its top Universe Realm Immortal, and his place on the Universe Realm Immortal Rankings was clear proof of his strength.

Pu Heng had been ranked too, but he was far from comparable to Hua Xingchen!

Su Yi just shook his head. “I’m not interested.”

And indeed, he wasn’t interested in such a banquet at all.

“If there’s nothing else, I’ll be on my way,” said Su Yi. He was already starting to lead Fang Han away.

Xue Hongfeng was stunned, and he rubbed his nose awkwardly. I brought that snub on myself. This is someone even Immortal Lord Xing Yu treats with the utmost respect; despite his youth, he’s got to have extraordinary origins. It’s only natural that he’d look down on such a banquet...

He and his sect elders had already discussed the incident in the Cave of Trials.

After killing Pu Heng, Su Yi openly admitted it right to High Elder Li Songfu’s face! And yet in the end, Su Yi didn't need to lift a finger. Immortal Lord Xing Yu intervened personally to help him quell the storm!

It was this incident that made Xue Hongfeng realize that Su Yi was more than just heaven-defyingly powerful. His origins were shocking too!

Xue Hongfeng silently made up his mind. A hidden expert like him is the perfect friend. I’ve got to spend some time with him on the way to the White Reed Province!

......

Su Yi and Fang Han were in the most ordinary of rooms. The furniture was sparse and crude, and there wasn’t much space—in fact, it felt cramped.

But Su Yi didn’t care. He just sprawled out in his wicker chair, took out the Divine Replenishment Furnace, and examined it.

When he left the Black Dragon Market, he placed the two-hundred-plus ingredients for refining Goldenmist Aperture-Cleaning Pills into the Divine Replenishment Furnace. The Goldenmist Aperture-Cleaning Pill was the top pill for establishing firm foundations in the Immortal Realm!

The ingredients combined were worth over a hundred thousand immortal jades. Su Yi was practically burning money.

Su Yi didn’t care. It'd all be worth it if he could refine a batch of Goldenmist Aperture-Cleaning Pills.

The Divine Replenishment Furnace was still refining the medicinal agreements. When Su Yi inserted his divine sense, purple light intertwined, forming a line of text within the furnace.

“I’ll finish refining the Goldenmist Aperture-Cleaning Pills within three days. When the time comes, watch over me while I fend off its pill tribulation.”

Su Yi chuckled. This medicine furnace born of the chaos of the Immortal Realm had obviously regained some of its awareness. It was far more aware than before.

“Work hard. One day, I’ll be sure to help you recreate your artifact spirit.” Su Yi raised his hand and gently tapped the furnace.

This was a wondrous Xiantian treasure, but it had taken enormous damage during the Age of Fallen Immortals. Although it successfully fled the Immortal Realm, its vitality was badly damaged, and even its artifact spirit was destroyed.

It was only just starting to recover its awareness.

Another line of purple text appeared within the furnace. “Excellent! If you can help me recreate my spirit body, I’ll even be willing to worship you as my ancestor!”

Su Yi’s expression was strange. The Divine Replenishment Furnace would never have said that if it believed he could actually help rebuild its spirit. But he didn’t say anything.

Suddenly, Fang Han said, “Hey, I want to go out for a walk and buy some stuff.”

“What do you want to buy?” Su Yi asked in surprise.

Fang Han said irritably, “Do I seriously have to tell you what I’m buying?”

With that, he rose and went outside.

Su Yi rubbed his forehead. Fang Han was stubborn, and he was still on guard against him.

“Do you need money?” asked Su Yi.

“No need,” said Fang Han without even turning his head. Before long, he’d disappeared from view.

“Ah, that’s right. When we left the Black Dragon Market, the Red Dragon Dao Monarch gave the kid a generous gift. He naturally has no shortage of cash.”

With that, Su Yi sat and started meditating, giving the matter no further thought.

He’d already reached the pinnacle of the Manifesting Void Realm, and his powers of the Grand Dao had reached the highest level of mastery possible at his cultivation. All he needed now was an opportunity to break through!

Su Yi had a certain premonition that it wouldn’t be long before that day arrived!

......

Shortly before nightfall, Fang Han left a shop.

He let out a deep breath, and his eyes lit up.

The days since meeting Su Yi had been like a dream.

He’d been captured to be sold as a slave. When they caged him like a beast and tried to auction him off, his heart gave in to despair. Life seemed endlessly bleak.

But then, Su Yi appeared, and everything changed.

The point that it didn’t seem real!

The enchantingly beautiful Immortal Lady Qing Wei earnestly guided his cultivation as a big sister might, and she even looked after him and made sure he was housed and fed.

Su Yi might be incomparably proud and prone to boasting, and he might be so brazen as to criticize the gods, but he really was capable, and he’d never mistreated him.

Then, when they left the Black Dragon Market, the Red Dragon Dao Monarch gave him an enormous gift!

Fang Had had suffered the loss of his entire clan at a young age, and he’d endured endless setbacks and humiliations in his short life. Even now, his time with Su Yi didn’t feel real.

The thought that he was on his way back to the White Reed province made his heart feel lighter.

Big Sister, when I find you, I’ll be sure to tell you everything that happened. I’m sure you can help me figure out if Su Yi really is a good person or not, thought Fang Han.

Night fell, and lamps lit up the streets.

I’ve been gone for four hours already. I wonder if that guy’s afraid I’ve run off... Fang Han gripped the hems of his clothes and dashed off.

But then, a figure blocked his path. “We meet again, my young friend.”

He was a gaunt, thin-faced middle-aged man in golden robes. His eyes were an eerie shade of pale green.

Fang Han was instantly on guard. “Who are you?”

As he spoke, he took several steps back.

The golden-robed man grinned. “I noticed you the moment you boarded the ship, and I’ve been watching and waiting all this time. Now, I’d like you to come with me.”

As his voice rang out, his eerie green eyes shone with unearthly light, like twin vortexes focused on Fang Han.

Fang Han’s soul trembled, and his eyes went vacant. He nodded like a soulless puppet.

The golden-robed middle-aged man pressed down on Fang Han’s shoulder, sinking his sharp fingernails into the boy’s flesh. Beads of fresh blood gushed forth.

The golden-robed middle-aged man licked the blood off his fingertips, and his eerie pale green eyes lit up with delight. He murmured, “The heavens are on my side! He really is a pureblooded descendant of the Bi’an Spirit Race!”

From beginning to end, Fang Han just stood there as if he’d lost his soul. He didn’t react in the slightest.

A man in black walked up and transmitted, “Elder, do you need me to investigate the person accompanying the boy?”

“You mean that young man with no sign of a cultivation base? No need. Judging from his bones, he’s at most in his twenties, and he could only book the cheapest of rooms. He obviously isn’t anyone significant.”

The golden-robed middle-aged man had only just said this when he suddenly felt uncertain. He frowned, thought for a moment, then said, “Very well. I’ll bring the boy and report to the Young Leader. You investigate his companion. Take care not to alarm him. If anything unexpected happens, do it cleanly. Have him disappear from the Cloud Ship completely. Got it?”

“Got it!” The man in black solemnly assented.

Meanwhile, the middle-aged man took Fang Han, and the two of them quickly disappeared from the bustling street.

Soaring Cloud Tower.

This was the greatest tower on board the cloud ship, and it was fully nine stories tall.

A banquet was underway in a lavishly decorated hall on the tower’s top floor. A man in purple robes, a jade crown, and a golden belt sat casually in the centermost seat, with the force of a coiling dragon or crouching tiger.

Hua Xingchen!

He was the greatest Universe Realm Immortal in the Blood of the Underworld Demonist Cult, the monstrous chosen sixteenth on the Universe Realm Immortal Rankings!

His cultivation base was terrifying, and his status was lofty. Even Void Realm True Immortals had to treat him with respect.

It was Hua Xingchen who’d convened this banquet.

Him aside, there were three other ranked Universe Realm Immortals in attendance, two men and one woman. All of them had impressive backgrounds. The other attendees were all either wealthy or noble too.

Xue Hongheng was here too, and he was seated near the front, just behind the three ranked geniuses.

The crowd drank and clinked glasses. Conversation and laughter rang out without end.

Naturally, Hua Xingchen was the center of attention! Even Xue Hongfeng frequently toasted him.

Suddenly, an elderly servant rushed in and whispered something into Hua Xingchen’s ear.

“Young Leader, Elder Yue returned, and he brought with him a little fellow from the Bi’an Spirit Race!”