First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 1447 – The Path of Endless Tribulations

It was a mysterious hidden world. Everywhere Su Yi he looked, he saw collapsed, ruined buildings. The landscape was ruined and withered.

Dense, catastrophic power of the End of the Dharma transformed into blood-red lightning bolts and blanketed the dome of heaven. The dense lightning bolts shot across the sky, like fierce beasts waving their claws and baring their fangs. The low rumble of thunder boomed throughout heaven and earth, filling the sky with an air of destruction.

Standing here was enough to make one suspect they’d returned to the End of the Dharma!

Su Yi stood in the air. Chains manifested of catastrophic power surrounded him, but it wasn’t long before they broke and dissipated.

It was clear what had happened. As he entered this place, invisible catastrophic power manifested as chains, binding him from head to toe. But when he activated a secret art, he broke these chains of catastrophic power with ease!

A gradually disappearing portal hovered behind him. There was a figure approaching from not far away, but his footsteps came to an abrupt halt, and he let out a startled cry.

He was a hunched, bony figure just two feet tall—none other than the elderly dwarf!

He wouldn’t have guessed that Su Yi would break free of the calamitous power with such ease. Despite himself, his expression shifted, and he took several steps back.

“Want to catch me off guard and ambush me?” Su Yi glanced at him coldly.

“I….” The dwarf was just about to say something when an invisible hand seized him and pulled him over to Su Yi.

“Please, show mercy!” a voice rang out.

But Su Yi disregarded it. He tightened his grip, and…

Bang!

The dwarf exploded into bits, eradicated by the power of reincarnation.

“A little punishment, that’s all. I doubt he can die so long as that stele still stands,” Su Yi said calmly.

As he spoke, he gazed into the distance, where a man stood amidst the ruins and barren devastation. It was Gu Yuanque!

Well, strictly speaking, it was the divine emissary’s servant occupying Gu Yuanque’s body.

The sight of Su Yi destroying the dwarf without the slightest politeness made Gu Yuanque’s expression darken, but it was as if Su Yi didn’t even notice. “And where is this divine emissary you speak of?”

“Come with me,” said Gu Yuanque before turning and walking into the distance.

Su Yi followed, and before long, a path to the heavens appeared before them. It was a staircase built entirely out of black stones, and it rose into the firmament!

An ancient sacrificial altar stood atop an elevated platform at the far end of the staircase. A bronze pillar stood before the altar, and a delicate figure was bound to it. Upon closer inspection, it was Daoist Master Red Cloud.

Her long hair was disheveled, and gray chains bound her from head to toe. Her head drooped in apparent unconsciousness, and she didn’t stir in the slightest.

A stone staircase rose into the heavens, leading to an altar and Daoist Master Red Cloud bound on a pillar!

This scene made Su Yi frown.

“We finally meet, Fellow Daoist!”

Dark red light of the End of the Dharma churned above the staircase, and a lightning-like beam of tribulation light came crashing down.

Then, the light transformed into an old man. He was dressed in dark golden robes, and his aged frame was gaunt. Arcs of blood-red lightning wrapped around him. His entire body emanated an air of calamity!

His head was completely bald, without so much as stubble. His eyes shone like twin blood moons, cold and unearthly. Standing beneath the dome of heaven, he was like a god of calamity gazing down upon the nine heavens and the ten earths!

“Are you the so-called divine emissary?” asked Su Yi.

“I am indeed.” The bald old man inclined his head, his eyes shining with delight and excitement as he sighed, “Do you have any idea how long I’ve awaited this day? You can’t even imagine how happy I was the moment I laid eyes on you!”

“Happy?” asked Su Yi.

“Wholeheartedly so!” the old bald man said with complete seriousness. “The moment you entered this place, reincarnation was doomed to be wiped from existence. Once it’s gone, I…. will no longer need to watch over this place. I can return to my god’s side!”

Su Yi’s gaze focused. And here he’d thought the so-called divine emissary wanted to seize the mysteries of reincarnation.

Now, it seemed he’d guessed wrong. The divine emissary wanted to wipe reincarnation from existence!

And he’d been waiting here for a long, long, long time just to achieve this goal!

This really was outside of Su Yi’s expectations.

Su Yi thought for a moment. “Reincarnation is forbidden by the Contract of the Gods, and you call yourself a Divine Emissary. Do you perhaps serve the gods of rumors?”

The old bald man laughed. “I know you have questions. Alas, this involves the secrets of the gods. Forgive me, but I cannot answer you! However…”

Here, he sharply changed tacks and gestured at the stone staircase rising into the heavens. “If you step onto that path and reach the altar successfully, I wouldn’t mind giving you some answers.”

“Oh,” said Su Yi. “And does that path hide any secrets?”

The bald old man smiled inscrutably. “Try it, and you’ll naturally find out.”

Su Yi gazed at Daoist Master Red Cloud, who was bound on the bronze pillar at the far end of the stone staircase. “It seems I cannot refuse.”

The old bald man smiled with obvious delight. “Naturally, none of this would have happened if you’d never come here, but now, there’s no way out!”

Su Yi suddenly shot forward and soared into the air.

Boom!

He circulated the mysteries of reincarnation, using his fingers as a sword to slash at the bald old man.

“Hahaha! It’s useless! I might fear the power of reincarnation, but here in the Abandoned Monument, I can hide from you with ease!”

Su Yi’s attack hit nothing but air. He frowned, then calmed his heart to sense his surroundings, only to find that indeed, there was no trace of his target.

“You really are as cowardly as it gets, old-timer,” jeered Su Yi.

But the old man’s words made him realize something.

This almighty Divine Emissary was completely and utterly terrified of the power of reincarnation. He dared not fight Su Yi personally!

That explained why he’d bound Daoist Master Red Cloud at the top of the stone staircase. The stars surely hid dangers sufficient to threaten Su Yi! In other words, the divine emissary had placed all his hopes of destroying Su Yi on the stone staircase!

But if Su Yi wanted to rescue Daoist Master Red Cloud, he had no choice but to climb it.

“The gods forbid the power of reincarnation. How could I underestimate it?” 𝗳r𝐞ewbn𝚘ve𝚕.c𝗼𝗺

The bald old man floated beneath the distant dome of heaven. He said leisurely, “I don’t mind telling you that the stone steps rising into the heavens are called the Path of Endless Tribulations. They’re full of all manner of perils prepared just for you, the Reincarnator!”

“If you don’t hurry up, your companion is sure to die within twenty-four hours.” Here, the old man couldn’t help but laugh. “Of course, you’re welcome to refuse, but…”

He raised his hand and pointed into the distance. “Look.”

Su Yi looked over and saw one startling, soul-stirring rift after another appear above the distant horizon!

“I completely undid the power sealing this place. Within three days, the Abandoned Monument will crumble and disappear completely into a spacetime windstorm.” The old man smiled faintly. “When the time comes, I’ll be able to leave, but you and your companion will die beyond a shadow of a doubt. Simply put, the moment you entered this place, your fate was sealed!

“This is what they call a single wrong step leading to certain doom!”

The bald old man laughed uproariously, the sound full of gratification and smug flee. He made no attempt to disguise his feelings whatsoever.

There was no longer any need to hide!

Off in the distance, Gu Yuanque shuddered, then turned to flee.

Boom!

Boundless reincarnation sword light descended, annihilating Gu Yuanque on the spot!

Naturally, this was Su Yi’s work.

“Go on, keep laughing,” said Su Yi. “Don’t stop.”

The bald old man’s expression darkened. “Reincarnator, taking your anger out on a servant is beneath your status. Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?”

Su Yi laughed. “You call yourself a divine emissary, yet you’re using my companion to threaten me. If the god you speak of learned of this, he’d be so ashamed as to slit his own throat. That is, unless he was as shameless as you.”

“Impudent!” bellowed the bald old man. “You’re blaspheming against a god!”

Su Yi shrugged. “Oh no, I’m so very sorry. Anyway, these gods don’t permit reincarnation, so one day, this lofty one will just have to eradicate every last one of them.”

The old man fell silent.

Then, he took a deep breath and said coldly, “Let’s see if you can make it out of here alive first!”

Whoosh~

He disappeared into thin air once more.

The boundless, desolate landscape was now empty save for Su Yi, and Daoist Master Red Cloud, still bound at the far end of the Path of Endless Tribulations.

Su Yi knew that the Divine Emissary had hidden himself somewhere, and he was undoubtedly watching his every move. But no matter what secret and unrivaled perception technique Su Yi used, he found no trace of him. Finally, his brow furrowed.

“The old-timer’s got to be hiding in the depths of the calamitous power in the sky.”

The calamitous power filling the skies seemed without limit. A curtain of dark red thunder clouds blanketed the heavens. Looking for his opponent would be like trying to fish a needle out of the ocean.

And that’s even before considering that there was no way the old man would just stay put and wait to be found.

Su Yi immediately reached a decision. “Forget it. I’ll save Red Cloud, then play with the old man.”

He then shot straight up the Path of Endless Tribulations. He had no intention of taking the steps one at a time.

But the moment he tried to fly over them, the black stone Path of Endless Tribulations expanded, stretching endlessly into the sky.

Boom!

The tribulation clouds manifested of the power of the End of the Dharma surged, and slammed into the pillar at the end of the path.

The captive Daoist Master Red Cloud cried out in agony, her delicate frame shaking violently.

Su Yi’s gaze focused as he realized the problem.

If he tried to fly over the Path of Endless Tribulations, it would be Daoist Master Red Cloud who suffered!

When he drifted back to the ground and approached the stairs on foot, the Path of Endless Trails descended to meet him on the ground.

Su Yi’s eyes flashed with cold light. He didn’t even need to think to know that a certain old codger was controlling the path from the shadows.

This meant that he had no choice but to climb the stairs one at a time!