First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 2774 – Li Muchen of the Blueleaf Sword Sect

Lian Luo felt a bit strange.

He’d long since noticed Su Yi’s conversation with the white toad. His first thought was, “This is bad!”

Su Yi, his master’s “good brother,” was most likely in grave peril!

The white toad was the size of a millstone, and it stood atop the waves. In Lian Luo’s eyes, this mighty yao cultivator of the River of Destiny was clearly dangerous!

A toad capable of standing on the waves was surely the ruler of this stretch of water. Such beings had the ability to stir up the current, dragging cultivators to their watery graves.

After all, cultivators couldn’t withstand the current of the River of Destiny. Even Heavenly Monarchs would be doomed!

A common saying circulated through the Eternal Heavens Domain: Traversing the River of Destiny is like undergoing a life-or-death tribulation!

Lian Luo wasn’t afraid of the toad in a direct fight, but here atop the River of Destiny, he was at a distinct disadvantage.

Because the toad could stir up waves and sink into the water’s depths!

Even a Heavenly Sovereign would be unable to defeat the toad without paying a heavy price if it hid at the bottom of the river.

Lian Luo had been ordered to escort Su Yi to his destination. If anything happened to Su Yi, Lian Luo would struggle to escape blame—and punishment!

Fortunately, once he’d calmed down, Lian Luo realized that Su Yi and the toad were just talking. No conflict had arisen.

Lian Luo hurried over. When he greeted Su Yi, he snuck a glance at the toad. It was obvious that he was on guard.

The toad grinned, not the least bit upset. On the contrary, it admired Destiny’s Appointed more than ever. Look at that! That’s the subordinate of a Heavenly Sovereign, but he’s so concerned about the safety of Destiny’s Appointed. It’s obvious how illustrious Destiny’s Appointed is!

“I ought to get going,” said Su Yi. He handed the toad a jug of wine. “I don’t have any treasures to speak of on me, just a bit of wine. Please don’t disdain it.”

The toad grinned. “In my heart, the weight of this jug of wine exceeds the entire River of Destiny!”

It carefully put the jug away, then clasped its webbed front feet. “This humble one dares not delay you, Senior. Allow me to simply congratulate you for your accomplishments in advance. The Grand Dao is yours to seize!”

Su Yi smiled. “You too.”

Lian Luo stared, his mind going blank. ‘This humble one?’ And… did that toad just call him its senior?

The toad is the ruler of this stretch of waters. How could it be so humble?

“Let’s go.” Su Yi looked at Lian Luo, who immediately set all other thoughts aside, waved his hand, and summoned a glittering silver boat. It quickly carried him and Su Yi into the distance.

The toad waved repeatedly, reluctance written all over its face.

As experienced as Lian Luo was, waves of shock coursed through his heart at the sight of it.

It was only after Su Yi had vanished from view that the toad looked away and slowly sank back into the water.

When it returned to its nest, it took out the wine and looked at it with great satisfaction, but it didn’t drink any. It just opened it, took a deep sniff, and thought, This was the best decision of my life. I went all in, and now, my prospects are unlimited!

The loss of the Toad Palace Pearl made its heart ache, but that didn’t matter a bit compared to establishing a positive karmic connection with Destiny’s Appointed.

Oh? Destiny’s Appointed said he’s going to the Literati Continent. Isn’t that where the old peacock’s territory is? How about I pay him a visit, and while I’m at it, see if I can cross paths with Destiny’s Appointed again?

The Star Toad sank into thought.

……

The little silver boat rode over the waves of the River of Destiny.

Su Yi sat cross-legged at the tail end of the ship, drinking and watching the scenery go by.

Crossing the River of Destiny was perilous, but he could tell that Lian Luo wasn’t worried about a thing.

After a lengthy silence, Lian Luo could no longer hold back his questions. “Your Excellency Su, how did you subdue that toad earlier?”

He truly couldn’t wrap his heart around it. Why would a terrifying creature of the river’s depths be so humble in front of Su Yi?

“I didn’t subdue it. We just happened to cross paths and establish a positive karmic connection,” Su Yi said positively.

He didn’t explain the details because they involved the yellowed scroll that Xiao Jian had given him. He naturally wouldn’t tell Lian Luo that the toad saw him as “Destiny’s Appointed,” either.

Lian Luo realized that Su Yi didn’t want to explain and considerately refrained from asking any further questions.

This was, after all, Jiang Wuchen’s reincarnation, as well as the winner of the God Domain’s Battle for Order, in which even Heavenly Sovereigns suffered a crushing defeat.

Su Yi might only have been in the Unfettered Realm, but Lian Luo knew better than to underestimate him.

And even if Su Yi really was just an ordinary Unfettered Realm Dao Lord, Lu Hongpao had commanded Lian Luo to escort him safely to his destination. Lian Luo dared not be negligent.

“Your Excellency Su, my master arranged a new identity for you to use when you arrive in the Literati Continent. Please have a look.”

Lian Luo took out a jade slip and passed it to Su Yi, who started reading seriously.

……

Three months later. The Literati Continent, the Blueleaf Sword Sect.

This was one of the continent’s thirteen peak Heavenly Monarch factions. It had deep, powerful foundations, and it was home to one hundred thousand sword cultivators.

However, only about three hundred had truly stepped into Eternity.

At its peak, it was one of the top five Heavenly Monarch factions in the Literati Continent. However, over the past one hundred thousand years, a lot had happened, and the Blueleaf Sword Sect had declined. It hadn’t fallen all the way to the bottom of the rankings, but it was at best somewhere in the middle.

The old-timers of the Blueleaf Sword Sect were all deeply concerned about this.

Snowy Pine Peak was one of the thirty-nine peaks of the Blueleaf Sword Sect’s ancestral grounds. This was where the inner sect disciples went into seclusion, and its surface was covered in caves. The caves’ quality was highly variable, and cultivating in different caves produced significantly different outcomes. You could thus judge an inner sect disciple’s strength and status by the quality of their cave.

An ancient ritual ground stood on the peak. A sparring competition between inner sect disciples was currently underway.

One of the combatants was a white-haired man wielding his natal weapon, a sword as colorful as peacock feathers. When he swung it, thirty-three streaks of sword light shot forth, like peacocks spreading their wings to create a perfectly round sword curtain. The sword’s name was Colorful Plume. It was a peak weapon within the Unfettered Realm.

The white-haired man’s opponent was a thin man with pale blue long robes and a Daoist topknot. His skin was fair, and his features were ordinary. He wielded a sword forged out of Divine Thunder Bamboo. The bamboo sword was green, but it emanated dazzling golden lightning. Every slash was like an electric waterfall, sending arcs of destructive power through the air. It was called Blue Lightning.

A group of inner sect disciples watched from outside the arena, as well as the one in charge of the sparring competition, Elder Yun Husheng. He was an elder of Snowy Pines Peak, as well as an Immeasurable Realm Dao Lord.

The Heavenly Monarchs of the Blueleaf Sword Sect practically all had seats in the ancestral hall, and they all had key roles in the sect. There were also a few who spent their days deep in seclusion, heedless of worldly affairs.

It was the Immeasurable Realm Dao Lords like Yun Husheng who really ran things.

Snowy Pines Peak was a key part of the inner sect. Only those who’d stepped into Eternity were worthy of coming here. Those yet to achieve Eternity were all considered outer sect disciples. Even Master Gods were, at most, peak figures among outer sect disciples. Their position was far inferior to that of the inner sect disciples.

A clamor of voices suddenly arose as a victor emerged in the sparring competition.

The white-haired man had lost.

“Senior Apprentice Brother Yue lost?”

“I wouldn’t have guessed that our Junior Apprentice Brother Li was so strong!”

“With this, he’s accumulated enough merit to choose a third-tier cave to cultivate in!”

The “Junior Apprentice Brother Li” they spoke of was the man in blue, the one who wielded Blue Lightning. He was a newcomer to the sect; he’d joined just two months prior!

But this newcomer wasn’t simple. He passed all nine tests in the entrance examination with top marks, an extraordinary accomplishment.

For this reason, Li Muchen was admitted directly to the inner sect and given a place on Snowy Pine Peak.

This was unprecedented and highly controversial. After all, a newcomer was a newcomer, no matter how impressive he was.

This special treatment didn’t just draw attention; a lot of people weren’t convinced, and many chose to provoke him. But Li Muchen’s response surprised the sect once more.

Over the next two months, Li Muchen accepted nineteen challenges. Twelve were private, one-on-one spars of the Dao of the Sword. Li Muchen won every time. The remaining seven were formal “discussions of the Dao” on the mountaintop.

The outcomes of these matches were recorded, and the victor earned merit. Accumulated merit could be used to buy all manner of things at the Palace of Treasures, including higher-level cultivation grounds.

Li Muchen won all of his formal spars, too!

By now, no one in the inner sect dared think of him as just a newcomer. He was a dark horse! He was sure to rise to prominence, becoming a dazzling sword cultivator of the Eternal Dao! Now, Li Muchen had just won yet another match, continuing his unbroken streak.

More importantly, his opponent was one of the thirteen strongest experts in the inner sect, Shi Qingfeng. He had considerable prestige and had hope of becoming a core disciple in the near future. Yet now, he’d lost to someone who’d joined the sect just two months prior! Who wouldn’t have been astonished?

“Well fought.” Li Muchen, or rather, Su Yi, clasped his fist modestly.

Shi Qingfeng glowered, then turned and left without a word.

Su Yi naturally didn’t mind a bit. If not for the Nine Luminaries Dao Assembly in three years, he wouldn’t have bothered sparring with someone like Shi Qingfeng at all.