First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 1744 - The Weeping Ghost

Celestial Palace Mountain was nowhere to be seen. The entire area had been reduced to rubble, and the ground was covered in scars.

The stench of blood permeated the air, assailing the nostrils.

The fragmented corpses and treasures were readily apparent, strewn throughout every last corner of the wreckage.

The experts of the Jade Light Pure Lands were already busily hunting the ruins for spoils. All of them were enthusiastic and in high spirits.

The experts of the other two pure lands were completely dumbstruck. They felt as if their brains couldn’t quite keep up with it all.

What... What’s going on here!? Don’t tell me...

Immortal King Kong Ye walked over from afar and clasped his fist. “My apologies. We made you come all this way for nothing. Fellow Daoist Su finished crushing the Church of All Spirits fifteen minutes ago. You arrived too late to watch the battle.”

“!!!”

The new arrivals exchanged glances. They were increasingly bewildered. The Church of All Spirits was flattened fifteen minutes ago!?

“Fellow Daoist Su... really crushed the Church of All Spirits all by himself?” asked one of the experts of the Divine Fulcrum Pure Lands.

Kong Ye nodded and sighed with deep emotion. “That’s indeed the case. If I hadn’t seen it myself, I would never have believed that his strength was so terrifying. It’s like he’s invincible. No one else can compare!”

A series of gasps arose. The experts of the other two pure lands suddenly felt an indescribable mix of emotions wash over them. Astonishment, bewilderment, shame...

But it was as if Kong Ye didn’t even notice. He just continued describing the battle in detail, entirely unperturbed.

He didn’t spice the story up, either.

Even so, when they understood what had happened, the experts of the other two pure lands were completely rooted to the spot. Even their hands and feet quivered.

Alone save for his sword, Su Yi fought his way across thirty thousand miles of hostile territory, crushing thirteen of the Church of All Spirits’ auxiliary bases in rapid succession.

Then, he’d struck with unstoppable force, destroying the Vast Emptiness Heaven-Sealing Formation and crushing tens of thousands of yao cultivators before moving on to the Nine Extremes Heaven-Executing Formation and slaughtering over three hundred Immortal Lords!

He’d even cut down nineteen Immortal Kings!

Even the church’s ultimate, sect-protecting treasure, the Tian Wu Divine Seal, couldn’t withstand a single hit!

Who wouldn’t have been astonished by such wondrous feats? And who wouldn’t have been terrified?

When they recalled how poorly they’d thought of Su Yi’s chances, their fear of getting swept into a storm, and how they’d come prepared to flee if need be, the experts of the other two pure lands felt a wave of shame and despondency wash over them.

They suddenly realized that although it seemed they’d just missed out on an opportunity to witness the battle, they’d actually missed out on the perfect opportunity to establish positive karma with Su Yi!

It was this that really left them so down in the dumps.

“Right. Fellow Daoist Su said that when he crushed the Church of All Spirits, a few fish were sure to slip through his net,” said Kong Ye. “If it’s not too much trouble, I’d like to ask my fellow Daoists of the Divine Fulcrum and Divine Jade Pure Lands to help us hunt down the survivors to forestall future problems.”

The crowd was briefly stunned, but a moment later, they reacted as if awakening from a dream. All of them straightforwardly agreed.

When a tree fell, the monkeys scattered. The Church of All Spirits had already been crushed. Only a few small fries remained. They were no longer a threat!

This was a prime opportunity to conduct a thorough cleanse and seize the Church of All Spirits’ former territories!

“Fate did not permit us to witness Fellow Daoist Su’s magnificent bearing for ourselves. It’s truly the regret of a lifetime,” sighed one of the higher-ups. “But out of consideration for the respect Fellow Daoist Su has shown us, we’ll do our utmost not to let him down!”

The others nodded.

The destruction of the Church of All Spirits had eliminated the greatest threat to the other two pure lands. They no longer needed to fear being swallowed up and assimilated!

In truth, even if Kong Ye hadn’t said anything, they wouldn’t have hesitated to seize this opportunity to get even with the survivors of the Church of All Spirits.

Kong Ye smiled. He understood full well that now, the old-timers of both the Divine Jade and the Divine Fulcrum Pure Lands were completely convinced!

......

It was a dark, moonless night. No stars were visible.

Su Yi continued deeper into the Buzhou Mountains, carrying the High Chief Libationer in one hand and a jug of wine in the other. Despite venturing through a perilous stretch of mountains, he seemed perfectly at ease.

It was as if he were out enjoying the scenery.

“What kind of good fortune is your sect leader searching for?” Su Yi asked along the way.

After a moment’s silence, Wei Xun said, “A chance to prove his Dao and break into the Great Realm.”

“Oh,” said Su Yi. “It seems he’s yet to realize his breakthrough. Otherwise, he would have returned a long time ago.”

Wei Xun snorted coldly. “Even if he hasn’t reached the Great Realm yet, there’s no way you’d be a match for our leader! I’m not afraid to tell you that the sect leader is a divine emissary chosen by Divine Venerate Tian Wu himself! Our leader carries out our god’s will in the Immortal Realm, and he has no need to fear even Great Realm experts!”

Su Yi laughed and said casually, “He’s just another of the god’s lackeys, that’s all. His power is merely borrowed from his god. He might be able to threaten other people, but in my eyes, he’s really just a contemptible dog.”

Wei Xun’s expression was instantly unsightly.

“You destroyed the Church of All Spirits,” Wei Xun said suddenly. “You really aren’t afraid of our god’s reprisal?”

Their sect leader had poured an enormous amount of effort into creating this faction on Divine Venerate Tian Wu’s behalf. It existed to work on the god’s behalf.

Yet now, Su Yi had destroyed it. Wei Xun didn’t even need to think to know that Divine Venerate Tian Wu was going to be furious!

Su Yi took a sip of wine and said, “If I were afraid, I wouldn’t have flattened your sect in the first place.”

Wei Xun had nothing to say to that.

“How much further in do we have to go?” Su Yi gazed into the distance. They were already deep within the Buzhou Mountains. The lands ahead were barren and shrouded in darkness. Everywhere he looked, long, narrow spatial rifts floated in the air.

Some of the rifts were hundreds of thousands of feet long, like wounds torn open in the sky. Explosive spatial power ran rampant within them, producing a sound like the rumbling of thunder.

They were a startling sight.

Wang Ye had explored the Buzhou Mountains many times over. Su Yi knew that if they went any closer, they’d enter the most dangerous place in the Buzhou Mountains.

Even Wang Ye risked all but certain doom there. A moment’s incaution, and Great Realm experts could take lethal damage!

Wang Ye had visited the most dangerous place in the mountains once in search of the legendary Tree of All Worlds. Along the way, he encountered numerous strange perils.

“Are you afraid?” Wei Xun laughed coldly, his eyes glinting with mockery.

Su Yi glanced at him. “You’re leading me here hoping I’ll get myself killed, aren’t you? You want to borrow your leader’s hands to destroy me, so you might as well cooperate.”

Wei Xun’s expression shifted. Finally, he gnashed his teeth and said, “There’s a secret map in the pendant hanging from my waist. The sect leader gave it to me when he left. It records the path to that mysterious plane.”

Su Yi snatched the pendant and inserted his divine sense. Just as Wei Xun said, it contained a map!

After looking it over carefully, Su Yi’s gaze focused.

The destination indicated on the map was one of the danger zones at the heart of the Buzhou Mountains.

Su Yi was quite familiar with the place.

They called it the Weeping Ghost. It was one of the most dangerous places in the Buzhou Mountains, as it was perpetually shrouded in turbulent spacetime currents. They were incomparably violent, and they could easily rip even Great Realm experts to shreds!

Wang Ye had tried to approach the Weeping Ghost many times, employing all manner of methods to test the road ahead, but nothing worked. He couldn’t pass through that stretch of spacetime currents.

Su Yi would never have guessed that the leader of the Church of All Spirits was here of all places!

He couldn’t help but wonder if the sect leader was really there in search of a chance to break into the Great Realm.

After all, the Weeping Ghost was a forbidden ground too perilous even for Wang Ye at the peak of his power.

The leader of the Church of All Spirits was just an Immortal King. Where did he get the courage to seek an opportunity to break through in a dangerous place like the Weeping Ghost?

After a moment’s silence, Su Yi stared intently at Wei Xun. “You’re lying to me.”

Wei Xun’s heart palpitated beneath his gaze, and his expression shifted. “I swear I’m not lying! Our sect leader really did go there! Furthermore, the map within this jade pendant was given to us by Divine Venerate Tian Wu. There’s no way it’s wrong!”

Su Yi’s eyebrows rose. “Your god gave you that map? But how could Divine Venerate Tian Wu know of the Weeping Ghost?”

Wei Xun shook his head. “I don’t know. Divine Venerate Tian Wu is a lofty, unreachable existence, and our leader is the only divine emissary in the sect. Only he can make contact with our god. Thus, only he knows the true reasons behind it all.”

Su Yi said coldly, “Does that mean that your leader isn’t here in search of a chance to break through after all?”

Wei Xun’s expression shifted, but in the end, he hung his head and said nothing.

“Tell me, then,” said Su Yi. “What is that Divine Venerate Tian Wu instructed your leader to find?”

Wei Xun hesitated, then said, “Most likely... something to do with the Tree of All Worlds.”

Su Yi’s heart shook. A god unable to enter the Immortal Realm is searching for the Tree of All Worlds?

Where on earth did Divine Venerate Tian Wu learn that the Weeping Ghost of the Buzhou Mountains supposedly hides leads to the tree’s whereabouts?

Alas, Wei Xun’s knowledge was limited, and he couldn’t give Su Yi any answers.

After a moment’s pondering, Su Yi set off once more. He planned to have a look around the Weeping Ghost for himself.

They encountered numerous strange and perilous obstacles on the way.

Spatial rifts split open, devouring entire stretches of sky. Some almost reached Su Yi.

Burning lava erupted from the heart of the earth, sweeping through the sky and practically melting everything in the surrounding area.

But those were just a handful of the terrifying natural disasters that befell them. Each could destroy an Immortal King with ease. It was enough to make just about anyone tremble.

Su Yi had exploded this place numerous times in his past life, but even so, he proceeded with the utmost caution, not daring to get complacent.

Along the way, Wei Xun couldn’t help but be startled. This was an extremely perilous place, yet Su Yi seemed as if he were re-treading familiar ground!

Don’t tell me he’s been here before? Otherwise, how could he sense every lethal danger just in time? It’s like he has precognition!

Anyone else would have died many times over by now!

An hour later, Su Yi stopped in place and gazed into the distance. “No wonder your leader dared come here. This place has changed a lot.”

A bleak, barren landscape shrouded in darkness appeared in the distance. Fragmented spatial power danced through the sky, like slowing beams of light, flickering in and out of view.

This was the Weeping Ghost!

One of the most dangerous places in the Buzhou Mountains!