First Immortal of the Sword

Every time he was attacked along the way, Su Yi just fled. No matter how many times he was intercepted and surrounded, he never once killed any of the Immortal Kings.

For one thing, his situation didn’t permit him to waste time and energy killing his enemies.

For another, right from the start, he’d planned to close this net around all of them at once. He would endure until the time was right!

In other words, he was using himself as bait and leading his enemies by the nose! Admittedly, their pursuit had left him looking awfully wretched, and his wounds were incomparably severe. He was practically dancing on the edge of a knife, his life and death hanging in the balance.

But Su Yi dared say with certainty that after all this, his enemies couldn’t possibly give up the chase.

In their eyes, his wounds were increasingly severe, and he was increasingly weak. He was less and less of a threat with each passing moment, and it wouldn’t be long before someone captured him. It could happen any minute now.

Furthermore, they’d shed immeasurable blood and tears, and waited here for a long, long time, all to capture him. Who’d give up lightly?

This was Su Yi’s goal! He was using himself as bait and feigning weakness, all to lead his enemies into a trap!

In Su Yi’s eyes, his pursuers were now more than fish already on the hook, just waiting to be reeled in!

In truth, the whole pursuit had been a set-up right from the start. If Su Yi didn’t want them to find him, they could have excavated all forty-nine provinces of the Immortal Realm without ever finding a trace of him!

Su Yi had only just thought this when his heart palpitated, and he sensed an impending lethal threat.

They were chasing him again!

Su Yi silently disappeared into thin air, as ethereal as a shadow.

Boom!

The moment he disappeared, an explosive, terrifying waterfall of divine flames fell from the heavens, burning the ancient mountain forest into nothingness.

Everything within a thousand miles had been incinerated!

A group of Immortal Kings shot through the sky, seething with murderous intent.

“He’s over there. Get him!”

“See that? He won’t last much longer!”

“We absolutely cannot give him the chance to catch his breath!”

The Immortal Kings bellowed and chased Su Yi with all their might. Before long, they’d disappeared over the boundless horizon.

……

“Shen Mu has already been fleeing for twelve hours. He’s been intercepted over a hundred times, and surrounded twenty-nine times, but he’s always managed to escape in the end. It’s simply unbelievable!”

The two experts of the Church of the Pure One, the old man in Daoist robes and the woman in the plain dress, appeared out of nowhere.

“I’m afraid that in his shoes, Miracle Realm experts like us would have fallen a long time ago…” murmured the woman in the plain dress. “He’s only an Immortal Lord, yet he’s held out all this time. Who’d dare to believe such a thing?”

“It really is unexpected,” said the old man in Daoist robes. “But he’s been piling on increasingly severe wounds this entire time, and he’s had numerous close brushes with death. He’s obviously an arrow at the end of its flight. He could fall at a moment’s notice!”

He said that last part with incomparable conviction, but the woman in the plain dress fell silent.

Dozens of Immortal Kings from nine different factions were all chasing a single Immortal Lord, yet their target was still alive.

This was already so unusual that it seemed downright inconceivable. If word got out, it was likely no one would believe it!

“The Immortal Kings of different camps have surely long since realized that Shen Mu’s at the end of his rope. None of them will give him any chance to catch his breath!” the old man in Daoist robes said firmly. “In other words, he’s doomed! It’s just a question of which faction is the one to take him down.”

He’d only just said this when he noticed his companion’s silence. He couldn’t help but ask, “What’s wrong?”

The woman in the plain dress rubbed his forehead and said, “Something doesn’t seem quite right here.”

She flipped her palm, and a beast skin map floated into the air. It described the mountains and rivers of the Dark Province, including the locations of its sects, cities, and forbidden zones. Everything was marked in full detail.

The woman in the plain dress stared intently at the man, then traced Shen Mu’s escape route with her fingertips, a winding, twisting path. When her fingertip reached their current location, it paused.

From here, Shen Mu had fled to the east!

The woman in the plain dress stared at the map, her gaze instinctively traveling in the same direction as Shen Mu. frёeωebɳovel.com

A moment later, her pupils constricted in apparent realization, and she blurted, “It… it looks like he’s headed for the Abyss of Dark Fog!”

The Abyss of Dark Fog was the greatest forbidden zone in the Dark Province, and one of the most dangerous places in the Immortal Realm!

It was a perilous place even for Immortal Kings. Those beneath that level faced certain doom!

The old man’s heart shook. “That’s entirely possible! The depths of the Abyss of Dark Fog are perilous and unfathomable. It’s home to dangers more than sufficient to threaten the lives of Immortal Kings! If Shen Mu makes it into the abyss, it will be much, much harder for his pursuers to capture him alive.”

The woman in the plain dress couldn’t help but look impressed. “Shen Mu really is quite terrifying. He’s obviously seeking a path to life in the face of all but certain doom! Even nearing the end of his rope, he’s managed to come up with such a method. It’s truly impressive!”

The old man in Daoist robes furrowed his brow. “But from our perspective, this is an enormous, unforeseen variable. If he somehow survives the abyss….”

The woman in the plain dress said, “Seems to me that we’d best wait for him at the entrance to the Abyss of Dark Fog and capture him there!”

The old man’s eyes lit up. “You want to place a net near the entrance?”

A smile tugged at the woman’s lips. “That’s right. All this time, we’ve been watching tigers fight from a safe distance. Now, it’s time to give him a delightful surprise!”

……

Six hours later, in an uncultivated plain shrouded in fog.

“Quickly! It seems he’s headed for the Abyss of Dark Fog. We absolutely can’t let him get there! If he makes it into the abyss, capturing him alive will become far more difficult!”

“Let’s get him!”

The Immortal Kings soared after him, seething with murderous intent.

After chasing Shen Mu all this time, they finally realized that he was most likely headed for the Abyss of Dark Fog!

The abyss was already close at hand. If Immortal Kings like them gave it their all, they could reach it in moments!

If their target made it into the Abyss of Dark Fog, it would lead to numerous dangerous and unforeseeable variables. Thus, none of them would permit that to happen!

“Quickly! Send word to the others. Have them rush to the Abyss of Dark Fog and intercept Shen Mu at the entrance,” someone ordered.

“No matter what, we cannot let him enter the Abyss of Dark Fog!”

…The Immortal Kings of other factions hurriedly took action. None of them were stupid. It was now obvious to all of them where Shen Mu was headed!

One dazzling streak of light tore through the firmament at once. All of them were headed toward the Abyss of Dark Fog!

“Hm? Fellow Daoist Xue He?”

Along the way to the Abyss of Dark Fog, the five Immortal Kings of the Church of Divine Flame noticed a bloodied, battered man with blood-red hair hurtling toward the abyss.

“How are you still alive?” exclaimed Meng Zhe, the leader of the group. His companions were stunned too.

They’d been waiting outside the Datura Barrier the experts of the Church of the Exquisite Goddess had placed, and they’d watched as Su Yi killed his way to freedom.

After the barrier fell, they watched Immortal King Gu Zhaolin die. They’d assumed all five experts of the Church of the Exquisite Goddess had died a long time ago.

They would never have expected to encounter Xue He again now!

“Who told you I was dead?” Xue He said with obvious displeasure.

Meng Zhe’s expression froze, and he said apologetically, “Please don’t be angry, Fellow Daoist. After the battle earlier, we just assumed…”

“No need to explain!” Xue He snorted coldly. “I’m in no mood to listen to your nonsense!”

With that, he shot ahead, closer and closer to the Abyss of Dark Fog!

“What a temper on that guy!” grumbled the man in beast skins.

“It’s to be expected. Shen Mu practically wiped all five of them out. Xue He was the only one fortunate enough to survive. Were you in his shoes, would you be in a good mood?” the red-robed Daoist said with sadistic glee. “Of all the factions out to capture Shen Mu, the Church of the Exquisite Goddess was the unluckiest. We ought to be understanding.”

The others couldn’t help but laugh.

As they conversed, they rushed ahead with all their might. Before long, the landscape dimmed before them, and mountains shrouded in dense, dark fog came into view.

Deep within the mountains, the slopes continued deeper and deeper into the ground, forming a tunnel into the earth. That was the entrance to the Abyss of Black Fog!

Rumor had it that an enormous hidden realm, a world in its own right, lay at the bottom of the abyss. Furthermore, it was reputedly full of strange, inauspicious perils.

By now, numerous Immortal Kings had gathered at the entrance to the abyss, but there was no sign of Shen Mu!

“I can clearly sense that the kid’s aura disappeared in the vicinity of the abyss.”

“Doesn’t that mean he’s most likely already gone inside?”

“That’s most likely the case.”

The Immortal Kings of different camps all had overcast looks on their faces.

“We cannot afford any delays, and we absolutely cannot give Shen Mu the chance to catch his breath. Come on, let’s go!” Someone immediately made a decision and led his allies into the Abyss of Dark Fog.

“Two of you should stay behind to watch over the entrance. Everyone else must come with me!” said another Immortal King. He was relatively cautious, so he left a few people at the entrance just in case before continuing into the abyss.

“Hurry! We can’t let the others seize the initiative!” someone said frantically. It was obvious to all of them that Shen Mu had reached his limit, and he might break at any moment!

Thus, none of them wanted to waste any time. They couldn’t tolerate Shen Mu seizing the opportunity to flee!

Besides, they’d put an enormous amount of time and effort into pursuing him, and he was so close to falling. Who’d give up at a time like this?

More importantly, the different camps were competitors. All of them wanted to be the first to capture Shen Mu alive.

Thus, they used every method at their disposal, all of them scrambling to get to Shen Mu first for fear that others would snatch their prey.

The Immortal Kings of other factions all took action at once.

Before long, only a few Immortal Kings remained outside the entrance to the Abyss of Dark Fog to prevent Shen Mu from fleeing.

The old man in Daoist robes and the woman in the plain dress had been waiting there in secret for quite some time. Both were unwittingly stunned.

What’s going on?