First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 2719 – A Rusted Sword Stands Upright, Dry Bones Become a Buddha

Ol’ Devil Golden Spirit didn’t ask any follow-up questions.

Su Yi pondered briefly, then said, “This place is no longer safe. Care to follow me to the River of Destiny?”

Ol’ Devil Golden Spirit looked at him strangely. “Surely you know that the moment inauspicious spirits draw near the River of Destiny, they vanish?”

“I naturally have means of preventing that,” said Su Yi. Turbid water flowed around his fingers.

“This is the Yellow Springs Dao Intent of the Laws of Reincarnation. It can cleanse sins, exorcise malevolent beings, and neutralize your inauspicious aura. If you’re willing, I can help you here and now.”

Ol’ Devil Golden Spirit shook from head to toe in obvious astonishment.

But in the end, he sighed. “I appreciate your good intentions, but no thank you. If I leave, what will become of my subordinates in the Golden Spirit Hidden Realm?”

Su Yi gazed intently at him. “When people die, they cannot come back to life. The same is true of inauspicious spirits. However, I can give you an opportunity to restore flesh to dry bone. It’ll effectively be a second life. With it, you can continue to work toward realizing your grand ambition.”

He closed his hand, condensing the Yellow Springs Dao Intent into a walnut-sized pearl.

“What comes first? What truly matters? Weigh it and decide for yourself. If you decide to come with me, just refine this pearl,” said Su Yi.

With that, he laid both the pearl and the calligraphy on the ground, rose, and left the pavilion.

“I’ll be leaving soon. If you don’t come with me now, you won’t get another chance,” said Su Yi. His figure quickly faded from view.

The handsome, white-robed Ol’ Devil Golden Spirit sat there, his expression shifting and uncertain.

Suddenly, he rose, walked over to the wall, and tapped. The wall split, revealing a black lotus platform.

The bones of an old monk rested on the lotus platform, cross-legged, a rusted longsword standing beside him.

These were his remains and the sword he’d wielded in life. After inauspicious spirits tore his heart and soul to shreds, his body and sword lived on. He’d simply placed them here for safekeeping.

Ol’ Devil Golden Spirit gazed intently at the bones, his expression shifting and uncertain. Just what kind of person was I before I died?

Who was that senior who guided my cultivation? Why did I vow not to sheath my sword so long as inauspicious spirits remained in this world?

He’d asked about all this earlier, during the wedding banquet, but in the end, he learned nothing at all.

Now, an opportunity stood before him. He’d receive a second chance at life, but more than that, an opportunity to visit the River of Destiny and find the answers he’d been looking for!

What should I do? Ol’ Devil Golden Spirit suddenly looked over to where Su Yi had been sitting before, at the pearl and scroll.

…

At the foot of the Mountain of Blessings.

“Fellow Daoist Su, I already gathered the spoils. Here, take them.” Qin Suqing handed Su Yi a plain black storage ring as soon as he arrived.

The ring was a storage treasure, but unlike other similar treasures, it was imbued with an Eternal aura. Su Yi accepted it, examined it briefly, and took out a portion of its contents, which he handed to Qin Suqing.

“We’re travelling together, so it’s only right that we split the spoils. These are for you and Senior Luan.”

Qin Suqing was instantly stunned. Luan Yunzhong, meanwhile, visibly sighed in relief. Su Xuanjun really does see us as his companions!

But then, he laughed bitterly. “Fellow Daoist, your methods are vast and far-reaching. I am unworthy of being addressed as your senior.”

Su Yi chuckled, then shoved the trophies into Qin Suqing’s hands, leaving no room for argument. “Let’s head out.”

The dome of heaven had split, and the entire Golden Spirit Hidden Realm would soon collapse. There was no hope of repairing it.

Qin Suqing lowered her head slightly, then apologetically clasped her fist. “Fellow Daoist, earlier, we suspected that you might silence us upon your return. It seems we judged you by our own petty standards.”

Luan Yunzhong nodded.

Both cultivators of Sky Profound Court were obviously much more reverent and reserved when they faced Su Yi.

When Su Yi saw this, he couldn’t help but feel exasperated. “You might not believe me, but just now, that calligraphy possessed my body. I have no idea what happened earlier.”

“It possessed you?” exclaimed Qin Suqing.

Luan Yunzhong clapped his thigh. “I just knew an Unfettered Realm cultivator couldn’t possibly be so strong!”

He laughed as if everything finally made sense. “If I’m not mistaken, you froze when Ol’ Devil Golden Spirit used that calligraphy to attack because the scroll’s power intimidated your heart and soul, right?”

Su Yi nodded along.

Luan Yunzhong smiled and stroked his beard. “Yes, I see it now! That calligraphy’s power possessed your heart and soul! Now everything makes sense!”

Qin Suqing looked enlightened, too. But then, something occurred to her, and she furrowed her brow with concern. “How are you feeling now, Fellow Daoist Su? Did it hurt you?”

Su Yi shook his head. “Everything’s alright now.”

When he saw the concern in her eyes, he couldn’t help but feel a bit bad for lying to her. It seems a bit unkind of me to keep the truth from her like this, but there’s nothing for it. If I told the truth, all that strangeness would only make her more suspicious and afraid.

Better to just sweep it all under the rug.

Something seemed to occur to Luan Yunzhong, who asked, “Fellow Daoist Su, is Ol’ Devil Golden Spirit still alive?”

Without the calligraphy, the three of them would be no match for such a powerful inauspicious spirit!

“He’s still alive,” said Su Yi. “But he won’t hurt anyone anymore. As for why… well, it probably has something to do with that calligraphy.”

Inwardly, he shrugged. I’m just going to have to blame everything on my second incarnation’s calligraphy.

“That’s for the best,” said Luan Yunzhong. “We shouldn’t delay any further. Let’s leave this dangerous place immediately!”

Qin Suqing nodded. Su Yi naturally didn’t refuse, either.

The group promptly set off. They left the Golden Spirit Hidden Realm without an obstacle.

Qin Suqing and Luan Yunzhong sighed in relief; they knew they’d just survived a close brush with death, and they never wanted to come here ever again.

Su Yi looked into the distance as if waiting for someone.

“What are you looking at, Fellow Daoist Su?” asked Qin Suqing.

“It’s nothing. Let’s go,” Su Yi said with a laugh. “I’ve never been to the River of Destiny before, so I’ll have to ask you two to guide me. Sorry for the trouble.”

“Trouble? It’s no trouble at all. This old man won’t just guide you; I’ll even invite you to the Great Qin Empire as our distinguished guest, where we’ll walk arm in arm and drink until we pass out!” laughed Luan Yunzhong.

After their shared adversity, the typically irascible old sword cultivator had acknowledged this vibrantly youthful man in blue.

Qin Suqing smiled, too.

But just as they were about to continue, the sound of rumbling and booming emanated from the Golden Spirit Hidden Realm.

The three of them looked over.

An unbelievable scene greeted them.

Countless motes of golden Buddhist light descended from the Golden Spirit Hidden Realm’s fractured dome of heaven. It was like a misty golden sword rain. As each droplet hit the ground, it bloomed into a swaying lotus.

Every inauspicious spirit remaining in the Golden Spirit Hidden Realm was enveloped in a golden lotus. Shortly after, they vanished completely.

The collapsed Mountain of Blessings and all its buildings were enveloped in holy golden light.

A white-robed figure appeared, swathed in golden Buddhist radiance. He held a scroll of calligraphy in one hand, a spirit pearl in the other.

He walked into the opening in the wall, climbed onto the lotus platform hidden inside, turned to face them, and then smiled with relief. “There’s good, and there’s evil. I’ve always striven to do good!”

He raised his hands, and the spirit pearl silently dissipated, transforming into the power of the Yellow Springs and fusing into his body.

The calligraphy, meanwhile, blurred into a beam of light and vanished into the rusted sword standing on the lotus platform.

Ol’ Devil Golden Spirit instantly transformed into a rain of light, then fused into that cross-legged figure.

Heaven and earth shook violently. The sound of Sanskrit chanting rang out as the skeletal remains on the platform shone with hints of gold.

The humming of a sword swept forth like the tides.

A rusted sword stood tall, and dry bones became a Buddha!

…

“What’s going on?” exclaimed Qin Suqing.

Luan Yunzhong was unwittingly stunned, too.

Within the Golden Spirit Hidden Realm, Buddhist light fell like rain, and lotuses bloomed all over the ground. It was like a vision of an otherworldly pure land; they felt as if they’d been transported to a treasure temple.

“It’s the power of karmic merit, profound and inscrutable, yet all around us and spread throughout the Laws of Destiny,” whispered Su Yi.

It was just that not even Su Yi had anticipated that Pu Xuan had accumulated so much merit in life—and in death. This was a shocking abundance!

The power of karmic merit had redeemed every inauspicious spirit in the Golden Spirit Hidden Realm, granting them release!

Su Yi remembered Ol’ Devil Golden Spirit telling him that in life, he’d been a sword cultivator who contemplated the Dao through Buddhist practice.

“I once read that those who do good won’t necessarily be rewarded immediately, but that heaven and earth will remember their merit, and that destiny will reward them in the end! This is what they mean when they say that everything is preordained,” said Qin Suqing, a dazed look in her eyes. “I took all that for insubstantiated rumors. I wouldn’t have thought it was true.

“Good and evil have cause and effect. They’re naturally inextricably tied to the Dao of Destiny,” said Su Yi.

He suddenly saw a figure hurrying out of the Golden Spirit Hidden Realm.

A handsome man in robes whiter than snow. He carried a longsword on his back, and his robes billowed around him with every step, dashing and elegant.

The handsome man clasped his fist and smiled. “Fellow Daoist Su, Miss Qin, Fellow Daoist Luan, my name is Pu Xuan. Forgive my boldness, but might I accompany you on your way to the River of Destiny?”

He was so elegant, charming, and handsome that Qin Suqing was stunned. This is Ol’ Devil Golden Spirit!

Luan Yunzhong seemed to realize something, but his heart quivered at the thought of it. Ol’ Devil Golden Spirit was an inauspicious spirit. How could he have attained a new life?

There’s no faking that dense, coursing vital energy!

“What do you say, Miss Qin?” asked Su Yi.

Qin Suqing instinctively asked, “What do you think, Fellow Daoist Su?”

Su Yi laughed. “I see no reason to say no.”

The man in white, who now went by the name Pu Xuan, smiled and approached.

The Golden Spirit Hidden Realm silently split and collapsed behind him.

At the same time, two figures watched from far, far away, peering through the dark mist. No one knew they were there.

Their gazes were icy and full of murderous intent.