First Immortal of the Sword

The man in black felt a chill course through him, as if he’d been plunged into an icy abyss.

He opened his mouth as if to speak, but he couldn’t even utter a peep. Terror was written all over his face.

The monk said with pity, “Don’t be afraid, benefactor. I am a monk with compassion in my heart. Once I’ve searched your soul, I’ll personally grant you release from the endless strife of worldly affairs.”

A gentle gatha[1] rang out, and the man in black felt a piercing pain in his soul. Everything went black, and he lost all awareness.

Shortly afterward.

The monk withdrew his divine sense and whispered, “They say that a lesser hermit secludes himself in the wilderness, while a greater hermit can seclude himself even in a city. It turns out that the Blissful Heavens’ base is in a mundane gambling house. I wouldn’t have expected that.”

A bundle of pure, holy nirvanic flames surged at his fingertip, instantly reducing the man in black to ash.

...

Late at night, as the lamplight dwindled.

A barefoot monk in hemp clothes and a conical hat strolled confidently down a remote alleyway.

Deep into the alley, far from the main streets, there was a gambling house. Despite the late hour, it was still lively and boisterous inside.

When the monk arrived, a servant said with a mocking sneer, “Monk, have you come to gamble? Or to borrow money?”

The monk smiled faintly. “I’ve come in search of the Hired Blade.”

The servant’s pupils constricted. “Sir, this is a gambling den.”

“And I’ve come to gamble with my life,” said the monk. “Lay your cards out on the table.”

“A moment, please.” The servant turned and went inside.

Before long, a white-haired elder emerged. He looked the monk up and down and frowned. “A revenant?”

“When the Blissful Heavens do business, do they ask a customer’s origins?” asked the monk.

The white-haired elder fell briefly silent, then gestured for the monk to follow. “This way, please.”

With that, he walked into the gambling den. The monk followed him inside.

After passing through a hall filled with an air of depravity, they entered a winding corridor. After numerous twists and turns, they finally reached a tranquil courtyard.

An osmanthus tree grew here, and a crescent moon hung overhead, its light cool and pure.

“Please wait here for a moment, dear guest.” The white-haired old man turned to leave.

But then, the monk suddenly asked in confusion, “Might I ask where I let the cat out of the bag?”

The white-haired old man’s expression shifted, and he immediately disappeared in a puff of smoke.

But then, the monk tapped the air.

Bang!

The surrounding air exploded, and the old man staggered back into view, his entire body covered in blood.

“Attack!” bellowed the white-haired old man.

Whoosh!

The osmanthus tree swayed, and the crescent moon hanging beneath the dome of heaven quivered, scattering a rain of dreamlike light.

The entire courtyard instantly transformed, becoming a hidden world!

Within the hidden world, heaven and earth were overcast. Mountains rose and fell, and a pure and bright crescent moon hung from one of the peaks.

A lamplit palace bathed in sacred light stood beneath the moon.

Before the monk could react——

Whoosh!

Dozens of figures appeared out of nowhere and charged explosively at him, like streaks of black lightning. Their auras were strange and ferocious. Beneath the darkness, they flickered in and out of view like ghosts.

The monk stood there, unmoving, and clasped his palms together.

Boom!

Countless dazzlingly white lotuses bloomed around him. Amidst the immortal light, stingingly bright sword qi erupted from the flowers.

Its radiance instantly illuminated the entire stretch of heaven and earth.

All of the charging figures were instantly annihilated mid-charge!

The white-haired elder’s hair stood on end as he cried out in terror, “You’re... You’re in the Cloud Soaring Realm!”

The monk inclined his head. “I am indeed.”

As soon as the words left his lips, the monk shot toward the distant palace.

A wisp of Buddhist fire appeared behind him, transformed into the edge of a sword, and cleaved into the white-haired old man, reducing him to ash.

The entire area was in upheaval. More figures charged, all of them the most elite assassins of the Blissful Heavens. Over the years, they’d slain too many World Kings of the present day to count.

But against the monk, they were no more than moths to the flame. All of them perished in an instant.

Just a few breaths of time later, the monk reached the mountaintop.

The crescent moon was bright and pure, like a silver hook.

The grand palace built on the mountaintop was bathed in seemingly holy light.

Hm? The monk suddenly frowned. He caught a whiff of blood from within the building.

Practically simultaneously——

Boom!

A figure shot out and swung his saber.

The monk’s gaze focused. His sleeves billowed around him, and a sword shot into the air.

Clang!!!

The resulting impact shook both heaven and earth. The monk staggered back and retreated.

His assailant was swinging his saber once more. He struck like lightning with terrifying momentum!

Upon closer inspection, he was an armored man built like a mountain. He gripped a long black saber covered in flowing, blood-red immortal light.

But the most terrifying part was the aura emanating from him!

Overflowing power of the Laws of the Grand Dao swept outward like a tidal wave or avalanche, manifesting a strange, calamitous aura.

And when he swung his sabers, he struck with force comparable to a Cloud Soaring Realm expert!

Boom!

The monk burst with radiant light. Nirvanic flames soared into the heavens, and his aura was instantly incomparably terrifying.

“Go!”

The monk swung his sword. Soon, he and the enormous man were locked in fierce combat.

Is this the leader of the Blissful Heavens, the Hired Blade? The monk frowned. Something wasn’t right here.

His opponent’s aura was far too strange. He looked like a living person, yet he was like a lifeless, withered corpse. Only that tumultuous, chaotic air of calamity emanated from him.

But there was no denying his terrifying combat prowess!

Due to the restriction of the Laws, Cloud Soaring Realm revenants could only display about forty percent of their strength.

The monk’s body no longer bore a curse. He was still subject to the restriction of the Laws, but they impeded him less. This let him display about seventy percent of his strength.

Even so, he couldn’t take this opponent down quickly!

The monk’s eyes flashed as he drew upon his hidden trump card. “I can’t afford any more delays. Descend!”

He flipped his palm, and a sword rose into the air.

In the blink of an eye, a massive streak of radiant light rose. Sanskrit chanting and Buddhist light filled the air. That one sword gave rise to an illusory thousand worlds!

Boom!

Heaven and earth were in chaos. Divine light rumbled and boomed.

This slash sent that mountainous figure flying back. His bronze armor split, and he cried out in agony. It sounded like the roars of a wild beast.

What surprised the monk most was the body beneath the army. Upon closer inspection, it was covered in seams, almost like cracked porcelain. Black threads were holding the pieces of his body in place!

This guy isn’t even a revenant. No, he seems more like some kind of puppet!

The monk looked stunned.

He leaped forward to deliver a follow-up attack, only for the tall man to let out a strange demonic invocation. His tall, stalwart figure then transformed into a black flame and disappeared.

Boom!

The monk swung his sword at an angle.

Thousands of feet away, the skies split and burst.

The black flame fell down to earth and split, but mere moments later, it fused back together and disappeared.

“Is he unkillable?” exclaimed the monk. That strike had obviously torn the tall man’s body into pieces. Yet against all expectations, mere moments later, he was good as new. Now, he’d vanished without a trace.

“That was no ordinary puppet,” said the monk, a grim look on his face. He was a peak Cloud Soaring Realm powerhouse of the lost ancient era, but this was his first time encountering such a strange opponent!

He was like a lifeless corpse or a puppet. Even his aura was chaotic and strange to the extreme.

After a moment’s contemplation, the monk proceeded into the palace. It was thoroughly lamplit and lavishly decorated.

But there was a bleeding corpse sprawled out on the throne at the center of the hall!

She was a woman, and an absolute beauty at that, but there was a hole through her chest. Upon closer inspection, she was still alive, but her vitality was fading rapidly.

“Why... Why send a Hidden God Guard... to kill me, Master? How could you... be so ruthless?”

The woman’s face was deathly pale, and she was shrouded in a dense air of death. Her feeble voice started and stopped, resounding throughout the hall.

The monk took a step forward. “You’re the Hired Blade?”

The woman looked up with great difficulty, her vacant gaze turning toward the monk. Her lips moved as if she were about to say something, but in the end, she died without another word.

The monk furrowed his brow. There was no doubt about it. Someone had killed his target before he’d arrived!

“A Hidden God Guard? Could she have been referring to that enormous man I just fought?

“And if that woman was the Hired Blade, the leader of the Blissful Heavens, her master... was most likely the Tailor!”

The monk was finally starting to understand.

The Tailor had sent a Hidden God Guard to kill his own disciple, the Hired Blade. This was to sever all links to him and prevent Su Yi from learning where he was hiding.

“He even killed his own disciple. The Tailor sure is ruthless,” sighed the monk.

In the end, he’d arrived just one step too late. The monk found this extremely difficult to accept.

......

Meanwhile, in the estate of the Wen Family of the Ancient Guardian Clans of the Dao.

“You know what befell the Yun Family, and I trust you’re already aware that it was Fellow Daoist Su who sent me here. I’ve come to see Wen Yong. Once he’s answered a few of my questions, I’ll leave immediately,” said Sword Immortal Qingshi. He stood alone outside the Wen Family’s gates.

The Wen Family higher-ups’ faces filled with uncertainty.

“Might I ask who you are, sir?” an old man asked gravely.

“Me?” Sword Immortal Qingshi smiled. “A humble sword cultivator of ancient times, one fortunate enough to have survived to see the present day.”

As he spoke, he stretched out and flicked his fingers.

Clang!

An incomparably dazzling streak of sword qi rose into the firmament, illuminating the mountains and rivers and dispersing the dense darkness of the night.

That terrifying sword force made the gathered Wen Family higher-ups’ expressions shift.

“A Cloud Soaring Realm powerhouse!” someone couldn’t help but shout.

“Everyone, might you assist me? Don’t make me have come all this way in vain.” Sword Immortal Qingshi gently clasped his fist.

The Wen clansmen looked at each other. Finally, an old-timer took a deep breath and gravely issued orders. “Family Head, go bring Wen Yong over. If he has anything to say, he can say it in front of this senior.”

“Got it!” The leader of the Wen Family nodded his assent.

But it was then that a panicked voice resounded from the gates. “This is terrible! Ancestor Wen Yong is dead!!” “What!?”

The Wen Family higher-ups were visibly stricken.

Sword Immortal Qingshi’s heart sank. Wen Yong is dead? Could it be that the Tailor decided to silence him before I arrived?

1. In modern Buddhist practice, a gatha is a kind of verse recited mentally in rhythm with one's breathing as part of mindfulness practice ☜

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