First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 2000: A Dao of the Sword Like a Never-Ending River

Moonlight poured over the courtyard, streaming through the trees and casting its mottled glow on the ground.

Everyone gathered over hot pot, drinking, laughing, and chatting. The atmosphere was joyful and harmonious.

“Master, what did you experience in the Immortal Realm over the past six years?” Qing Tang couldn’t help but ask.

The others pricked up their ears as well, but Su Yi just laughed and waved the question away. “You’ll find out when you follow me to the Immortal Realm.”

He was enjoying a rare reunion with old friends; he naturally didn’t want to bring the ever-shifting affairs of the Immortal Realm into this. That would ruin the mood as surely as burning a zither to boil a crane.

Illuminating Emptiness grinned. “Brother Temple Master, who is that mysterious senior who protected us for the past six years?”

The monk was still accustomed to calling Su Yi “Temple Master,” and he couldn’t break the habit. Su Yi never minded, either. On the contrary, he was gratified.

After all, Illuminating Emptiness and the Antique Dealer were dear friends he’d made during his life as the Temple Master.

“An errand boy,” Su Yi said casually. “Enough, no more such talk tonight. Come on, drink up! We won’t stop until we’re drunk!”

The banquet continued well into the night. They drank together, fully in the moment, and the world faded into the background.

The following morning, Su Yi lifted Universal Emptiness Temple, shattered the void, and carried it away.

When he first left the stars, he promised to come back and usher his friends into the Immortal Realm once he’d established himself.

Now, it was time to make good on his promise.

…

A month after Su Yi left, the portal between the Human and Immortal Realms opened. A group of immortal experts descended into the Human Realm, bringing with them news of everything that had happened over the past five years.

And of this news, word of Su Yi drew the most attention!

“In just six years, Sword Venerate Su dominated the forty-nine provinces of the Immortal Realm and soared to the pinnacle of the Immortal Dao. He executed his powerful foes, quelled the Immortal Realm’s internal conflict, and brought lasting peace!”

“He’s a uniquely brilliant figure of the Immortal Dao, unprecedented in any era!”

“He slew gods in the Immortal Realm!”

“He’s the strongest expert of the Immortal Dao, the mightiest immortal in all of creation!”

…Tales of Su Yi’s feats in the Immortal Realm took the stars by storm, spreading to all four star domains, all star realms, all worlds and all cities with the utmost speed.

In just six years, the man who once dominated the stars had established himself at the pinnacle of the Immortal Dao. He was now supreme in the Immortal Realm!

This development left countless people wide-eyed and tongue-tied. They almost suspected that they were dreaming.

The enormous Human Realm shook. Everyone in it was astonished.

Legends of Su Yi’s accomplishments would circulate for countless years to come, like an undying legend. No matter the alternations of history, no amount of time could wash away his glory.

……

The Immortal Realm, the Academy of Eternal Night.

“Master, tomorrow, your disciple shall host the Central Immortal Court’s re-opening ceremony. The leaders of every prominent orthodoxy in the Immortal Realm are to attend in person,” reported Lin Feng.

“Mm,” said Su Yi. He didn’t have anything else to say.

Re-establishing the Central Immortal Court was effectively restoring order to the Immortal Realm. The monarch of the Central Immortal Court was thus effectively the ruler of the Immortal Realm.

Lin Feng was to lead the new Central Immortal Court. Su Yi decided that a long time ago.

Lin Feng hesitated, then said, “Master, at the ceremony tomorrow, your disciple shall become the first monarch of the new Central Immortal Court. I’d like to ask you to place the crown upon my head personally. It’s just a ceremony, and you might not care, but I nonetheless hope that you can grant this humble request of mine.”

The request caught Su Yi off guard, but he smiled. “Sure.”

Prior to the Age of Fallen Immortals, every time the Central Immortal Court crowned a new leader, they required Wang Ye’s approval, and Wang Ye personally bequeathed them their title and placed their crown upon their head.

A coronation was a simple ceremony, but an utterly solemn one, a symbol of authority.

Su Yi hadn’t anticipated that Lin Feng would care about such ceremonies, but he naturally wouldn’t refuse his disciple’s request.

Lin Feng beamed. “Many thanks, Master!”

Before long, Lin Feng set off. Tomorrow, he’d personally host an Immortal Peach Assembly, and when the time came, he’d announce the re-establishment of the Central Immortal Court. Thus, of late, Lin Feng was the busiest he’d ever been.

Not long after Lin Feng left, the Divine Fortune Teller came looking for Su Yi. He said with unease, “Fellow Daoist, do you really plan to entrust a Mystery of Chaos like the Book of Karma to my care?”

Last night, he and the Zhuyou Great Peng came to visit Su Yi. He would never have expected that Su Yi would turn around and give him the Book of Karma.

The Divine Fortune Teller barely got any sleep at all that night. The reason was simple: he was overcome with excitement.

It was to the point that even now, he almost dared not believe it. He almost dared not accept a gift of such magnitude.

Su Yi laughed. “You and I have known each other for a long, long time. How could I possibly joke about such a thing? The Book of Karma is enough to let you walk much farther down your path of divination, and it can help you neutralize the various tribulations afflicting you. One day…you’ll even be able to use karmic power to prove your Dao, become a god, and compete with the likes of Old Man Providence and the Dipankara Buddha!”

The Divine Fortune Teller’s bony chest heaved violently. Some time passed before he took a deep breath, faced Su Yi, and bowed solemnly. “Thank you!”

Su Yi waved his gratitude away. “No need for all that politeness. How about you stay in the Academy of Eternal Night for now? You can look after everyone here in my absence.”

“Of course!” The Divine Fortune Teller didn’t even pause to think.

Su Yi smiled. He was already thinking about how he’d depart the Immortal Realm and proceed to the River of Epochs as soon after the Central Immortal Court’s re-commencement ceremony.

Not long after the Divine Fortune Teller left, some old friends came calling: Tang Jinhong, Tang Lingqi, Tang Bao’er, and Tang Yuyan, as well as many of the Tang Family’s higher-ups. They were here to attend tomorrow’s Immortal Peach Assembly, and they naturally wanted to seize this opportunity to visit Su Yi.

“Senior Su, it really isn’t easy to get an audience with you nowadays,” Tang Bao’er said ruefully. She had the least seniority of anyone here, but she wasn’t all that reserved or uneasy around Su Yi.

The others were different; all of them sat perfectly upright, and all of them were visibly awed. It wasn’t hard to understand why, either. Su Yi’s prestige had reached unprecedented heights. Never mind them, even Great Profound Stage powerhouses would have felt like they were walking on thin ice!

“I have no interest in diverting my attention with trivialities, but since you’re here, I naturally have to welcome you,” Su Yi said with a smile.

While exploring the Immortal Realm in this incarnation, he got acquainted with no small number of people. Their cultivations and origins were all over the map, but Su Yi had never been concerned about all that.

Given his position, he had absolutely no need to be concerned about others’ status!

Thus, he was delighted when his old friends from the Tang Family visited.

Here in the Immortal Realm, he was alone in his pursuit of the Grand Dao, but he had no shortage of friends.

Su Yi was busy until nightfall. Only then did he get time to relax.

It was also then that his avatar of will returned from the Human Realm.

That night, Su Yi personally hosted a banquet to welcome Qing Wan, Qing Tang, and the others after their journey across realms.

……

The following morning.

Dawn had only just broken when the Immortal Peach Assembly the whole Immortal Realm was waiting for began.

Countless immortals had gathered, including the leaders of prominent orthodoxies and legendary experts of the older generation. They came from all across the Immortal Realm. No one wanted to miss this!

Only a small portion of them could truly attend the ceremony, but the limited seating did nothing to diminish the crowd’s enthusiasm. Hundreds of thousands of experts had long since gathered outside the academy.

Even if they couldn’t attend this grand occasion, they could watch from a distance. To them, that was worth the trip.

The skies were blue and clear.

Qing Wei led Qing Tang, Qing Wan, Illuminating Emptiness, Old Cripple Wei, and Su Yi’s other friends from the Human Realm to their seats at the assembly.

The top experts of the Immortal Dao instantly took note of their arrival. After all, it would have been obvious to anyone that these people had yet to even become immortals, yet they still had seats at the Immortal Peach Assembly. That was clear proof that their backgrounds weren’t simple!

Meanwhile, the grand occasion put enormous pressure on Qing Tang and the others. Their minds went blank.

Last night, they’d gotten a rough understanding of what Su Yi had done in the Immortal Realm over the past six years. It was like hearing a legend; the shock was so great that they barely managed to get any sleep.

Now that they took their seats at the Immortal Peach Assembly and took in the immortal majesty of the experts seated with them, they understood on a visceral level just how terrifying Su Yi’s current prestige and influence were!

They felt like people from the countryside visiting the big city for the first time: flustered and ill at ease.

After all, they’d only left the Human Realm last night. Now, the following morning, they were seated at the Immortal Peach Assembly, the event the entire Immortal Realm was paying attention to. Everyone else in attendance was a prominent expert of the Immortal Dao!

Apparently, the vast majority of immortals weren’t qualified to even witness the ceremony…

The change was so enormous that they struggled to adjust. Even the typically unrestrained monk, Illuminating Emptiness, seemed far more reserved than usual.

The sound of a bell resounded through the air, and the commencement ceremony began.

Lin Feng appeared on the jade platform built on the mountaintop, instantly drawing the crowd’s attention. Everyone stopped what they were doing and rose.

When Qing Tang and the others saw this, they hurriedly did the same.

“Big Sister, who is that?” Qing Wan whispered.

“That’s Sword God Lin Feng, a true deity. He’s to become the first monarch of the new Central Immortal Court,” Qing Wei explained with a smile. “Right, Sword God Lin Feng is also Sovereign Venerate Su’s disciple.”

A god!

Qing Tang, Qing Wan, and the others’ eyes widened. The discovery that Su Yi had a god for a disciple left them stunned, and their minds went blank.

Perhaps because it was all just too shocking, they remembered almost nothing of what Lin Feng announced afterward.

It was only when the Sword-Bearing Ape’s solemn voice boomed throughout heaven and earth that Qing Tang, Qing Wan, and the others came back to their senses. “Now, I’d like to ask Sovereign Venerate Su to crown his disciple, Lin Feng!”

All eyes in the Immortal Peach Assembly instantly looked in the same direction.

A young man in blue robes was headed their way, as if he were out for a leisurely stroll. He soon arrived on the mountaintop.

This was none other than Su Yi!

The crowd fell completely silent. Everything was solemn and austere.

Beneath countless fervent, reverent gazes, Su Yi walked on stage, extended his hands, straightened up Lin Feng’s clothing, and placed a crown on his head. Then, he passed the jade seal representing supreme authority over the Central Immortal Court to his disciple.

Lin Feng accepted it with both hands, then bowed with the utmost respect. “You have my utmost gratitude, Master. Your disciple won’t let you down!”

His voice boomed throughout the entire area, touching the heart of everyone present.

Some of the older-generation attendees recalled the days prior to the Age of Fallen Immortals, when Wang Ye personally crowned each and every new monarch of the Central Immortal Court.

Everyone knew that the re-establishment of the Central Immortal Court marked the start of a new chapter in the Immortal Realm’s history!

“Congratulations, Monarch Lin Feng!” someone called out excitedly.

A chorus of congratulations followed, like a tidal wave or avalanche of voices.

“Congratulations, Monarch Lin Feng!”

“Congratulations, Monarch Lin Feng!”

……Their voices spread far beyond the cloudy dome of heaven. It was a grand spectacle.

Su Yi smiled and took it all in. He felt that his ambitions for the Immortal Realm in this lifetime had finally been realized.

Meanwhile, Qing Tang, Qing Wan, and the others looked at Su Yi. They finally understood just how dazzling Su Yi’s achievements in the Grand Dao over his six years in the Immortal Realm were!

In the Human Realm, he dominated the stars, standing atop all worlds.

Now, in the Immortal Realm, he wasn’t at all lacking. He presided over the present-day, his sword dominating the heavens!

He was writing the continuation of his legend!

……

Time slipped by. Seven days passed in a flash.

The re-establishment of the Central Court and descriptions of the Immortal Peach Assembly had long since spread throughout the Immortal Realm, leading to countless conversations.

During these seven days, Su Yi set all thoughts aside and spent all of his time with his old friends.

Of course, at night, he had Qing Wan to accompany him, so he was never lonely or bored. They went together like a reed pipe and a bamboo flute. This was the music of the night.

Today was the day Su Yi had decided to begin his journey.

Everyone had anticipated that this day would soon come, and they were mentally prepared. Still, they couldn’t help but feel reluctance and melancholy.

But to Su Yi, this was no life-or-death farewell. He felt lingering attachment, but little grief or distress in parting.

Just like before, he tossed the little monkey into the Divine Replenishment Furnace, waved the crowd farewell, and set off.

The very picture of unaffected composure.

“My bro the Temple Master hasn’t changed. He’s as relaxed as if he were just leaving for a night on the town. He isn’t the least bit upset to part ways,” murmured Illuminating Emptiness.

The others chuckled, and the grief of parting subsided considerably.

Six years after arriving in the Immortal Realm, Su Yi set off alone to seek greater heights of the Dao in the River of Epochs. Only his friends and allies knew of his departure.

But none of them knew how many years would pass until they met again.

Before he set off, Su Yi left a line of calligraphy in his former quarters. He’d written it in a moment’s inspiration the night before, after drinking to intoxication.

He wrote just one sentence:

“It is only with a chest full of soaring ambition that my Dao of the Sword can flow like a never-ending river!”