First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 379: My Lord

Su Yi didn’t notice Hua Xinfeng’s surprised gaze. Instead, he turned his gaze to the stone pillars to the sides of the palace gate.

After a cursory inspection, his eyebrows arched. “This couplet is actually somewhat interesting.”

“Young Lord, don’t tell me there’s a secret hidden within the couplet on those stone pillars?” asked Hua Xinfeng.

“No, it’s a couplet intended to manifest the author’s Dao heart. Most likely, the founder of the Immortals’ Sword House left it here,” said Su Yi. He then read the couplet aloud:

“I sleep in the western skies, laughing at the past and present; laughing at the north, east, west, and south; laughing as I come and go. Who knows the vastness of the world of dreams?

“I slumber alone in pure lands, observing the world around me; observing heaven and earth, the moon and stars, up and down; knowing only that the years are long.”

Hua Xinfeng couldn’t help but repeat the couplet and mull it over for a while. Finally, she said in a daze, “What deeper meaning does that have?”

“Unless you’ve reached the author’s realm, you cannot comprehend the couplet’s meaning. If I had to describe the author’s mental state in simple terms, I’d say it was like ‘spring flowers in bloom, or the heart of heaven, round as the full moon.’”

“From this, I can tell whoever wrote this was in the Imperial Realm. Rumor has it that a Yao Emperor with vast, far-reaching power once emerged from the Immortals’ Sword House. He’s most likely the one who wrote that couplet.”

Hua Xinfeng gasped.

From a single couplet, just a few lines of text, he discerned the author’s mental state and said with certainty that he was an Imperial Realm expert!??Isn’t his eyesight a bit too good?

Also, he can even read the nine types of ancient True Spirit Glyphs? And he knows their origins?

Is there anything in this world he doesn’t know?

As they conversed, Qin Dongxu and the others made their way up the stairs, jumping between levels. Each step was nine feet tall. An ordinary person would have needed to climb them if they hoped to reach the top, but cultivators like them could effortlessly leap between steps.

Su Yi scanned the sixty-six statues lining the thirty-three steps. His gaze focused, and he transmitted, “Get your substitution talisman ready.”

Hua Xinfeng’s heart shook. She took a deep breath, then silently gripped the substitution talisman Su Yi had given her in her palm.

.

“No need to be overly nervous. I saw earlier that the power sealing the palace doors is still intact. Most likely, no one’s broken in yet,” transmitted Su Yi. “If we discover fatal danger, we can just slip into the palace first and seize the good fortune within.”

Hua Xinfeng was stunned.?Don’t tell me this guy has already figured out how to break the power sealing the palace gates?

As she pondered, the group advanced smoothly to the last and highest step.

The uppermost step was extremely spacious, and although they didn’t know what divine material it was made of, the floor was as smooth and reflective as a mirror, and it emitted a divine radiance. Just standing there, they felt as if they were standing in a sea of rosy clouds.

Further ahead, the palace gates were a full ninety feet tall. They were forged out of what looked like divine metal, and their surfaces were engraved with scenes of the wilderness.

There were divine birds soaring through the skies and ferocious beasts charging through mountains and rivers.

There were swaying ancient trees supporting entire worlds, their branches extending into the void beyond, and their roots extending into the Netherworld below.

There were also countless images of ancient people bowing before towering altars, their heads touching the grounds and their expressions pious.

The depictions of yao were so grand, just looking at them made one’s heart tremble.

Su Yi’s brow furrowed slightly.?In these images, the humans are all bowing piously, like ants worshipping yao gods.

This really is a faction of yao cultivators.

Yao cultivators always thought highly of themselves, especially when they compared themselves to human cultivators. They had an innate sense of pride and superiority.

Of course, most human cultivators thought poorly of yao cultivators too. They thought them nothing but wild birds, beasts, and nature spirits born of trees and grass.

In short, human and yao cultivators looked down on each other.

Of course, they had one thing in common: both groups worshipped the strong.

Whoever had the biggest fist could “win people over with their virtues.”

Boom!

Qin Dongxu used a secret method and attempted to force open the tightly-sealed palace gates. In the end, a burst of the restriction’s power surged forth, directly nullifying his power.

The impact sent Qin Dongxu staggering back, and he was almost sent flying.

“This…” When the group saw this, their expressions shifted involuntarily.

“Allow this humble monk to try.” Clarifying Truth stepped up, pressed his palms together, and started chanting sutras. Golden Buddhist light surged around him, condensing into a radiant, glittering lotus seal that slammed into the palace gates.

The Restriction-Breaking Treasure Lotus Seal!

This was a secret art specifically designed to neutralize seals and restrictions, and it was truly miraculous.

Bang!

But just a few breaths of time later, before the group’s stunned gazes, the golden lotus seal burst apart like paper mache.

Their hearts sank.

Clarifying Truth was the elder of Shanglin Temple’s scripture repository, one of their three Origin Palace patriarchs, and one of the few senior monks of the Great Qin.

Yet even his attempt was little different from an ant trying to shake a tree!

You Changkong, Gu Qingdu, and the other prominent figures all tried too, but without exception, they couldn’t move the doors by so much as a hair.

Their hearts sank.

Shang Luoyu suddenly glanced at Su Yi and said, “Why not give it a shot, Fellow Daoist Zhou?”

The crowd couldn’t help but shake their heads. Even those top experts couldn’t manage it, so how could some kid from the Great Xia pull it off?

“There’s no harm in trying,” said Su Yi. He walked right up, and his fingertips shone with clear, misty light, which he used like the tip of a brush, outlining something on the palace gates at top speed.

In just a few blinks of the eye, a profound and inscrutable formation diagram appeared before them. .𝘤𝑜𝑚

Against all expectations, the diagram seemed to merge with the seal on the palace gates, producing a series of strange ripples. Misty light circulated, searing and radiant.

“This…..” Qin Dongxu and the others’ eyes widened.

However, before long, the ripples disappeared into nothingness. The gates remained tightly shut, just as they had before, without moving in the slightest.

This dashed their hopes just as they were starting to get excited.

“And here I thought that, since Brother Zhou was from the Great Xia, he must possess all manner of miraculous methods. After all, he found a golden jade slip hidden within a painting. I figured he could neutralize the power sealing the palace gates too, but now… It seems I was getting ahead of myself.” Shang Luoyu shook her head in apparent disappointment.

Hua Xinfeng was so angry, she wanted to slap Shang Luoyu across the face.?Every word is a veiled insult. She’s simply hateful!

But Su Yi paid her no heed.

In his eyes, Shang Luoyu was no different from a corpse.

It was then that a sigh suddenly rang out—

“You’re all peak-level experts of the Great Qin’s cultivation world. I wouldn’t have thought the palace doors would stump you too.

“But then, it’s to be expected. After all, the palace is where the founder of the Immortals’ Sword House, the Heavensphere Yao Emperor, once cultivated. Not just anyone can open the doors.”

Who is that!??Qin Dongxu and company were instantly startled, and they immediately readied themselves for battle.

They then watched as a group emerged from around the distant corner of the palace.

The leader was a pale man in a black cloak. His eyes were unearthly green, and a long, bright red, coiled whip hung from his waist.

A group of about seven or eight people trailed after him, a mixture of men and women. All of their auras were terrifying.

So, it’s him.?Su Yi remembered that, back when they first entered the Sea of Chaotic Spirits, the Transforming Mountain Tower Ship was ambushed by a flock of Ghost-Faced Hummingbirds.

And it was highly likely that the black-cloaked man emanating yao qi was behind the attack.

Su Yi vividly remembered the way the man in black had grinned and waved at him from afar…

“Tong Xinghai, Old Yao Sky Serpent, Water Monarch Blu Shark, and Old Demon Corpse! So, you old-timers really are here!” There was a disturbance among Qin Dongxu and his allies’ ranks as they recognized the group behind the man in the dark cloak.

Meanwhile, Hua Xinfeng explained their identities to Su Yi at top speed.

Tong Xinghai.

He was the leader of the Great Qin branch of the Deathbringer’s Gate. He looked like an elegant schoolteacher with his feather headdress and jade ruler. He had a willowy beard, and his cultivation was at the peak of the Grain Avoidance Realm.

Old Yao Sky Serpent, Water Monarch Blue Shark, and Old Demon Golden Corpse were all long-famous, notorious old devils of the heretical path.

Old Yao Sky Serpent was in the Origin Palace Realm, while Water Monarch and Old Demon Golden Corpse were in the late-stage Grain Avoidance Realm.

In addition to these four fiends, three others accompanied the man in the black cloak.

One was a pretty young woman with a long silver spear. The other two were a young saber wielder in purple and an old man in a high-brimmed hat and old-fashioned robes.

Although their auras revealed their Grain Avoidance Realm cultivation, each seemed mightier and more unfathomable than the other. They were no inferior to Tong Xinghai. They were likely superior, in fact.

Su Yi could tell at a glance that the three of them were just like the man in the dark cloak: all of them were Possessed!

“Hehe, long time no see, Fellow Daoists,” laughed Sect Leader Tong Xinghai of the Deathbringer’s Gate with an amiable smile.

“Are you the ones who killed Liu Mohen of Purple Wind Sword Manor, Mo Hanzhi of the Eight Extremities Sword Manor, Luo Tu of Cloudcliff Mountain, Red Crow Ridge’s Tie Mochu, and their companions?”

Clarifying Truth furrowed his brow.

“That’s right,” said the leader of the group, the man in the black cloak. His voice was clear, sonorous, and unhurried. “I gave them the opportunity to serve me, but they were stubborn, so I… Could only send them on their way.”

Qin Dongxu and his allies felt a chill course through their hearts.

“Dare I ask your name, Your Excellency?” asked Clarifying Truth, his expression grave.

The man in the black cloak smiled and said, “My name is Chu Xiu, and I’m but a humble cultivator, that’s all. The fellow Daoists accompanying me have, out of respect, accepted me as their master, and they call me their lord.”

Tong Xinghai chimed in, “My lord, you’re too modest. In our hearts, we believe that even if we searched this entire world, we wouldn’t find your equal when it comes to understanding of the Grand Dao.”

The others nodded in complete agreement. None of them put on any airs, and all of them were meek and respectful.

The sight made Qin Dongxu and his allies’ hearts quiver.

Tong Xinghai and the other heretical cultivators were all notorious, long-established experts of the heretical path. They had explosive tempers, and they were ruthless and despotic.

Chu Xiu had won their complete submission, and they treated him with the utmost respect. This was clear proof of how terrifying he was!