First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 1761 - Ancestor Shen Shang

“Everyone, work together! Pour everything you’ve got into the Xuanyi Dao-Smelting Furnace!” roared Lei Yunting.

None of the high elders dared be negligent. Everyone gave it their all.

Boom!

The furnace rumbled and boomed. The fiery power of the Laws reflected within it suddenly expanded.

But this could at best help to defend them. Su Yi was like a beam of flowing light flitting through the sky, erratically shifting positions. Lei Yunting and his allies couldn’t possibly lock onto him.

However, Su Yi wouldn’t be able to break through the furnace’s defenses so easily.

The Great Martial treasure’s power was just too overwhelming, and with a whole group of Immortal Kings pouring their strength into it, it was like an unbreakable turtle shell. There was no opportunity for Su Yi to exploit.

But Su Yi didn’t just give up. On the contrary, he drew the Sword of the Human Realm and attacked with full force!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

One streak of terrifying sword qi after another came crashing down like pelting rain. Each strike slammed into the Xuanyi Dao-Smelting Furnace’s defensive power.

The entire stretch of heaven and earth was thrown into turmoil. Sword qi crisscrossed, and the sky tore like canvas, filling with overlapping, narrow rifts.

In the face of this onslaught, the furnace shook violently.

The Immortal Kings sustaining it suffered repeated impacts. They managed to neutralize each streak of tyrannical sword qi, but every time, their qi churned within them. It was thoroughly unpleasant.

“Is this guy really an Immortal Lord!?” someone cried out in alarm. The power of Su Yi’s Dao of the Sword was just too tyrannical. The Immortal King didn’t even need to think to know that without the furnace protecting them, they would have fallen to Su Yi’s onslaught a long time ago!

“How could you take the Tyrant’s cultivation level into account even now? Don’t you think you’re being an idiot?” said another Immortal King, his expression unsightly.

That was the Tyrant, Wang Ye!

The unrivaled legend of his era, an unparalleled expert of the Dao of the Sword!

So what if he was just an Immortal Lord now? Even if he were a mere mortal, it wouldn’t do to underestimate him!

“Sect Leader, can’t you lock onto the boy yet?” someone cried out frantically.

Su Yi’s offensive was like a relentless pelting rain. If things went on like this, the furnace might endure, but the Immortal Kings wouldn’t be able to take it!

Ultimately, even if they joined forces, they struggled to display the full extent of the furnace’s power. That, combined with their inability to target Su Yi effectively, meant they couldn’t even fight back!

“Wait a little longer. I refuse to believe he can prevent us from locking onto him forever!” Lei Yunting said through gnashed teeth. His face was ashen, and his hair and beard bristled with anger.

And here he’d thought he’d placed an inescapable net and that victory was certain. Who’d have thought Su Yi would use some slippery and elusive movement technique to break his “inescapable net” with ease?

Worse, even now, he couldn’t lock onto Su Yi. Their situation couldn’t have been any more passive.

Boom!

Sword qi flowed like a waterfall, then poured from the dome of heaven.

Heaven and earth were increasingly tumultuous. A raging waterfall of sword qi ran rampant, like divine thunder rumbling overhead. The aftershock reached the nearby peaks, and the mountainside crumbled. Buildings were reduced to rubble, and clouds of dust and smoke filled the air.

The commotion startled the entire sect once more. Countless experts took to the skies to watch the battle from afar.

“Who is that guy?”

“How... How could he be so terrifying?”

“This is bad! It looks like the sect leader and the others are trapped!”

The crowd was astonished. All of them were visibly overcome with disbelief.

This was the heart of the Endless Swords Immortal Sect; it was covered in who-knew-how-many killing formations and protected by Immortal Kings.

Throughout the ages, no such grand battle had ever been fought here!

Yet now, one man, armed only with a sword, had fought his way to the central peak. Moreover, he’d pushed the sect leader and the other Immortal Kings so hard that they could only rely on the Xuanyi Dao-Smelting Cauldron to defend themselves.

It was simply shocking! And appalling!

“This is the Endless Swords Immortal Sect! Yet now, a sword cultivator has attacked, and not even our leader can fight back...” someone said despondently.

The Endless Swords Immortal Sect was the greatest orthodoxy in the Wen Province, and they were universally acknowledged as one of the greatest factions of sword cultivators beneath the heavens. Prior to the Age of Fallen Immortals, they’d been among the Four Great Sword Sects!

In terms of legacies, their foundations were unquestionably top-notch.

Yet now, some young man in blue had marched in with a sword of all things and fought until their Immortal Kings had to bitterly struggle just to hold on. Who wouldn’t have been surprised?

This came as a heavy blow to everyone in the sect! Sword cultivators were confident and proud. Every last one of them had a powerful spirit!

Yet now, someone had shaken their sharpness!

“Just who is that person?”

“How is this possible? What... What should we do?”

Most of the onlookers were at a complete loss. They were overcome with surprise and fury.

It was obvious to all of them that if they tried to help, they’d be no more than moths to the flame.

But staying out of it left them thoroughly ill at ease!

“The sect is in peril! As one of its disciples, how could I just stand back and watch? Even if I die, I ought to die valiantly. I cannot let my sect down!”

Suddenly, some of the disciples roared, their eyes bloodshot, and leaped into the air.

“Stop!” Some of the older-generation cultivators bellowed and immediately intercepted them, preventing those fearless disciples from charging to their deaths.

“Fools! Do you think you’re the only ones unafraid to die? If you must die, make sure your death means something!” roared a bearded middle-aged man. “We sword cultivators are no barbarians! You know you cannot help. Trying would be the height of foolishness!”

Many of the onlookers clenched their fists in grief and rage.

“Well said! Sword cultivators ought to maintain hearts and minds as clear as snow! Even infuriated to the brink of madness, we ought to take the whole picture into account, including our own limits!”

Suddenly, Su Yi’s calm voice resounded from beneath the distant dome of heaven. “If I wanted to kill you all, I could have just turned around and done it by now. If I wanted to resort to schemes, I could use the threat of slaughtering you as leverage to force those Immortal Kings to lower their heads. And had I wanted to destroy the Endless Swords Immortal Sect, the moment I set foot in the Blue Firmament Immortal Mountains, the ground would have run red with rivers of blood!”

......

His words resounded throughout heaven and earth, every syllable full of contemptuous pride.

The experts of the Endless Swords Immortal Sect felt their hearts shake. Their expressions shifted erratically. All of them understood what Su Yi was trying to say.

He was showing mercy!

He disdained laying hands on small fries like them!

And he had not, at any point, employed tricks and schemes. Rather, he’d fought openly and forthrightly, relying only on his sword and his own strength to wage war atop the central peak!

All of this was indeed a heavy blow to their dignity, but they knew this was no mere empty posturing. It was obvious to all of them that the young man in blue really could have made the mountains run red with blood had he wanted to!

And it was obvious that he could have used them as hostages to threaten the sect elders, too!

But he\'d done no no such thing.

No matter how hostile they were to Su Yi, and no matter how much they hated him, no one in the Endless Swords Immortal Sect could criticize his forthright bearing and pride!

Boom!

Even as Su Yi spoke, he kept swinging his sword. He continuously flitted about the battlefield, quick as lightning.

Whenever the Sword of the Human Realm fell, a tidal wave of sword qi burst forth. A dense volley of attacks slammed into the Xuanyi Dao-Smelting Cauldron’s surface.

Lei Yunting and the high elders’ situation was increasingly perilous. Their blood and qi were in turmoil, and many of them bled from their mouths and nose, their faces pallid.

Every last one of them looked grim!

Su Yi’s strikes fell like rain, shaking the nine heavens, contemptuous, tyrannical, and fierce.

In stark contrast, they were like beetles in a jar, at risk of getting crushed at a moment’s notice!

All of this left the entire sect frantic with grief and anger.

But then——

A sigh resounded throughout the dome of heaven.

“Step back, all of you.”

Invisible, terrifying force accompanied this voice. It surged out of the forbidden ground on the sect’s back mountain, reverberating throughout the nine heavens and ten earths. The sheer force made the entire landscape quiver without end!

Su Yi’s gaze focused, and he whipped up his head for a better look.

Off in the distance, a thin middle-aged man appeared out of nowhere. He wore a Daoist topknot and gray clothing, and had a purple sword on his back.

His temples were graying, and his eyes were sunken. Whenever they moved, they shone with the vicissitudes of countless years, and despite his thin frame, he seemed capable of supporting heaven and earth on his shoulders. His power filled heaven and earth, and he seemed majestic enough to gaze down upon all of creation!

“A Great Martial Stage expert?” exclaimed Su Yi. A moment later, he realized that something was amiss. There seems to be a problem with the old-timer’s aura!

Meanwhile, Sect Leader Lei Yunting and the other higher-ups were as excited as if they’d been saved from the brink of drowning.

“This disciple is ashamed. I didn’t just fail to kill our enemy. I even let him disturb your cultivation!” said Lei Yunting.

He and the other higher-ups hung their heads in shame. The Endless Swords Immortal Sect was being bullied, and badly at that!

Everyone in the sect practically boiled over with excitement. Their chests heaved, and their eyes lit up. Even those who didn’t recognize the thin old man could guess who he was.

Ancestor Shen Shang! The pillar of the Endless Swords Immortal Sect, and a legend of the Dao of the Sword famous even prior to the Age of Fallen Immortals!!

Countless years had passed. It was thanks to Ancestor Shen Shang that the Endless Swords Immortal Sect had held onto their position as the greatest faction in the Wen Province all this time.

No one had ever once shaken their position!

The thin middle-aged man shook his head. “It’s not your fault. It’s just as our Fellow Daoist Su said; in the face of absolute strength, no amount of plotting and scheming makes a difference.”

As he approached, a terrifying power of the Dao of the Sword permeated the air, making the skies wail and shake. Even the mountains and rivers trembled as if unable to withstand his imposing aura!

When he reached the skies over the centermost peak, his gaze sharpened, his eyes like twin divine swords, cleaving the air asunder as he looked at Su Yi.

He’d locked onto him, and his murderous intent was terrifying to behold!

“I am Shen Shang, a nineteenth-generation disciple of the Endless Swords Immortal Sect. I’d like to duel you, Fellow Daoist.” The thin man’s gaze was steady and indifferent. “We’ll determine victory and defeat and decide life and death.”

He got straight to the point, and every word clanged like the humming of his sword, brimming with austerity and murderousness.

Heaven and earth were silent and still.

All eyes were instantly upon Su Yi.

Su Yi stroked the Sword of the Human Realm and looked at the thin man. “Ultimately, you too are lacking in spirit. I can already just about see why you’ve declined this far.”

As he spoke, he shook his head, his gaze revealing a hint of disappointment.