First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 433: A Sudden Change Five Hundred Years Ago

Qing Ya said in delight, “It’s been three years since I last saw my little martial aunt! I wonder how she’s been?”

Ling Yunhe said, “At just fourteen years of age, she was already the most talented sword cultivator of our One Sky Sword Pavilion’s younger generation, and the people of the Great Qi called her the ‘Little Sword Demon.’ They say that her comprehension and mastery of the Dao of the Sword are both monstrous.

“At fifteen, no one in the One Sky Sword Pavilion could guide her cultivation of the Dao of the Sword any further. Left with no other choice, High Elder ‘Patriarch Cold Mountain’ got personally involved. He sent your little martial aunt to the Cloudsky Divine Palace, one of the Great Xia’s four great orthodoxies, to continue her cultivation.

“When Cloudsky Divine Palace tested her attainments in the Dao of the Sword, they dispatched eighteen Grain Avoidance cultivators at once. Together, the eighteen of them formed the Heaven’s Net Divine Sword Formation. They told your little martial aunt that, so long as she lasted long enough to brew a pot of tea, they’d accept her as an inner sect disciple.

“In the end…” Ling Yunhe’s face filled with pride. “Just a few moments later, your little martial aunt effortlessly fought her way out of the Heaven’s Net Divine Sword Formation, making those eighteen Grain Avoidance Realm cultivators fall flat on their faces.”

Qing Ya gasped. “I really didn’t know about that!”

Ling Yunhe laughed. “At the time, you were still little. You just wanted to play and eat, and you had no interest in cultivation at all. How could you possibly have known about this?”

Qing Ya laughed a bit sheepishly.

Yuan Heng and Bai Wenqing heard every word of their conversation, and they were both shaken. They realized that Qing Ya’s “little martial aunt” was unquestionably a rare genius.

Ling Yunhe continued, “That battle shook the higher-ups of Cloudsky Divine Palace. Even?Daoist?Master Coldsmoke, a Spirit Dao cultivator who’d been in seclusion for thirty years, broke seclusion in hopes of taking your little martial aunt as her closed-door disciple.

“And do you know what your little martial aunt said at the time?” Ling Yunhe smiled and looked at Qing Ya.

Qing Ya?stared, looking dazed. “She agreed, of course!”

Ling Yunhe shook his head and sighed. “She said that she’d only come to Cloudsky Divine Palace to cultivate the Dao of the Sword, and she asked Daoist Master Coldsmoke if she was capable of teaching her swordsmanship.

“Daoist Master Coldsmoke didn’t get angry. No, she burst into laughter and said that, should the day come that she could no longer instruct her, she’d dissolve their ties as master and apprentice and let her leave.”

Qing Ya said admiringly, “That?Daoist?Master Coldsmoke is really open-minded!”

Ling Yunhe said, “Your little martial aunt started cultivating by Daoist Master Coldsmoke’s side that day… Three years have passed since then. Three years ago, she was a mid-stage Grain Avoidance cultivator, but with her talent and foundations, combined with three years cultivating at Cloudsky Divine Palace, I’m afraid she’s long since transcended the Grain Avoidance Realm.”

When Yuan Heng heard this, he couldn’t help but exclaim, “Fellow Daoist Ling, who is this ‘little martial aunt’ you just told us about?”

Before he could respond, Qing Ya beat him to the punch. “Her name is Wen Xinzhao.”

Wen Xinzhao?

The name was unfamiliar to Yuan Heng and Bai Wenqing.

However, to the cultivators of the Great Xia, the name of the Little Sword Demon, Wen Xinzhao, had long since dazzled the nation, like a comet soaring through the heavens

……

Meanwhile, in another room, Su Yi leaned back into a chair and gazed at the old blind man. “To the best of my knowledge, the legacy of the Ghost Lantern Sarcophagus Bearers has always had few descendants. The path you pursue is unique, your requirements for inheritors are incredibly stringent, and each of you only takes on a single disciple. Tell me, what’s your connection to Old Ghost Coffin-Bearer?”

As soon as he entered the room, the old blind man bowed and lowered his head, his hands at his sides. He looked utterly polite, reverent, and modest.

However, when he heard the name “Old Ghost Coffin-Bearer”, he trembled, then said hurriedly, “Young Lord, the ‘Old Ghost Coffin-Bearer you speak of is my master’s master, the patriarch of the Ghost Lanterns legacy, while I am its third-generation inheritor.”

Su Yi asked with great interest, “The third generation? Then who is your master?” ．

The old blind man answered respectfully, “His Daoist title is ‘Five Burials’, and in the Netherworld, they call him ‘the Master of the Blood Coffin.’”

“The Master of the Blood Coffin?” Su Yi furrowed his brow and struggled to remember who that was, to no avail. He thought for a moment, then tried another question. “And you? How did you get to the Azure Continent? Don’t the rules of your lineage state that you are not to leave the Netherworld except to escape annihilation?”

At first, the old blind man was still somewhat skeptical about Su Yi’s status as “the Debt Collector.”

But now, hearing Su Yi bring up their founding patriarch, Old Ghost Coffin-Bearer, as well as their lineage’s rules against leaving the Netherworld, he dared not doubt Su Yi any longer.

Bitterness appeared on his aged features, and he said, “Young Lord, you don’t know this, but our legacy… was indeed faced with annihilation. If I’d escaped any slower, I might well have perished in the Netherworld. Although I made it to the Azure Continent alive, my body is in ruins, and I’m only barely clinging to life.”

“Annihilation?” exclaimed Su Yi. “Who in the Netherworld would dare act against the Ghost Lantern Sarcophagus Bearers? Weren’t they afraid your patriarch would bear?their?coffins next?”

Old Ghost Coffin-Bearer was a legendary figure of the Netherworld, and he’d mastered all manner of secrets. He was constantly on the move, and he appeared unpredictably, like a spirit or a ghost.

Ordinary Imperial Realm experts dared not offend him lightly.

In his past life, in preparation for his imminent reincarnation, Su Yi ventured into the Netherworld on numerous occasions. He hadn’t just met Old Ghost Coffin Bearer; the two of them had even gambled once.

If Su Yi lost their bet, he had to give up his sword, the Tiny Heart of the Cosmos.

If Old?Ghost Coffin-Bearer lost, he had to give up the Coffin of the Six Paths of Reincarnation.

Their gambling method was rather unusual; they competed to see who could catch the biggest Rebirth Fish in the Pool of Rebirth.

Rebirth Fish were born of the power of rebirth, and they were extremely mysterious. Throughout history, they’d only appeared a few times.

Su Yi and Old Ghost Coffin-Bearer sat beside the Pool of Rebirth, enduring one hundred years of boredom. In the end, Su Yi used the Grand Dao as a fishing lure to entice a Rebirth Fish.

The fish got away in the end, but Old Ghost Coffin-Bearer nonetheless had no choice but to admit defeat.

However, he still shamelessly avoided making good on his promise by saying that he didn’t have the Coffin of the Six Paths of Reincarnation on him. Rather, it was buried deep within an unknown part of the Netherworld. He said that, whenever the treasure reappeared, he’d fetch it and deliver it to Su Yi.

Thus, Su Yi became Old Ghost Coffin-Bearer’s “Debt Collector.”

Su Yi hadn’t?seen Old?Ghost Coffin-Bearer since.

When he decided to ask the old blind man questions, he could never have anticipated that such a fate had befallen the old ghost and his inheritors!

“The patriarch disappeared years ago. According to my master, he went searching for the Coffin of the Six Paths of Reincarnation. The calamity that befell us occurred five hundred years ago, after he left.”

When the old blind man said this, his expression was a complicated mix of lament, dread, and uncertainty.

Five hundred years ago!

Su Yi’s heart shook.?Isn’t that the year I reincarnated?

“What exactly happened?” asked Su Yi.

The old blind man shook his head. “I don’t fully understand it myself. I just remember that I was cultivating in my immortal cave when my master suddenly returned. He said that an expert of the Imperial Realm, Pi Mo, had barged into the Netherworld, and that he wanted to discuss something with the patriarch…”

When he heard this, Su Yi’s pupils constricted. Pi Mo!?

That was his eldest disciple’s Daoist title!

In his past life, he was the one who gave Pi Mo his title.

The name meant “a heart free of worldly desires.”

Despite this, when Su Yi reincarnated, his eldest disciple betrayed him by colluding with external enemies…

This incident had long since left a scar on Su Yi’s heart!

When he first reawakened the memories of his past life, he decided to settle this score when he returned to the Nine Provinces of the Wilds,

Who’d have thought he’d hear his eldest disciple’s name coming out of the old blind man’s mouth?

The old blind man had no idea what waves were coursing through Su Yi’s heart, so he kept going. “It had already been years since the patriarch disappeared. Pi Mo couldn’t find him, so he decided to take my master with him instead. He said that, so long as he took my master captive, the patriarch would show up sooner or later….”

“But how could my master possibly be willing to become Pi Mo’s hostage? In the end, he used a secret art at the price of destroying his own cultivation. He escaped from Pi Mo’s clutches and returned to the sect, but he was already gravely injured and on the verge of death.”

The old man’s face filled with vehemence and grief. “To ensure the continued inheritance of the Ghost Lantern, Master activated a portion of the will the patriarch left behind, using the power of the ‘Divine Wheel of the Netherworld’ to send me out of the Netherworld…”

The old blind man sighed. “I would never have guessed that the power of the Divine Wheel of the Netherworld would be so tyrannical. I made it out of the Netherworld, but it eroded my flesh and cultivation. My three Yang souls and seven Yin souls practically dissipated.

“By the time I made it to the Azure Continent, I only had one ‘Yang soul’ and one ‘Yin soul’ left. My injuries were so severe that I had little choice but to engage in hocus-pocus in Little Fengdu’s ghost market just to stay alive…”

By the time he finished his tale, the old blind man looked lonely and disconsolate.

He’d already hidden this entire incident deep within his heart for a long, long time. He’d assumed that no one on the Azure Continent could possibly recognize the inheritance of the Ghost Lantern for what it was.

Yet today, someone recognized him after all. Furthermore, he was quite likely the descendant of the Debt Collector!

After hearing the entire tale, Su Yi furrowed his brow. “So, you don’t know why Pi Mo wanted to find your patriarch either?”

The old blind man shook his head. “We were so pressed for time that there were many things Master never got the chance to tell me. Even now, I don’t know who Pi Mo is, or why he targeted us.”

Su Yi fell silent.

Five hundred years ago, he reincarnated to cultivate anew.

Strangely, that very year, Pi Mo barged his way into the Netherworld to get information out of Old Ghost Coffin-Bearer. As a result, the Ghost Lantern Sarcophagus-Bearers only narrowly escaped destruction.

Su Yi couldn’t help but suspect that his eldest disciple was hoping to ask about him. That would explain why he’d sought out Old Ghost Coffin-Bearer.

Is it because they didn’t find my corpse or the Sword of the Nine Hells after I reincarnated? Is that why Pi Mo suspected something?

It makes sense. The traitor heard me describe my experiences in the Netherworld, and he knew about my relationship?with Old?Ghost Coffin-Bearer. It’s quite possible Pi Mo went looking for him to ask about my reincarnation…

When he reached this conclusion, the depths of Su Yi’s eyes flashed with cold light, his gaze calm yet terrifying.