First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 1775 - Immortal Kunwu

A murky gray heaven was connected to a murky gray earth by swathes of mist formed of the colorful power of the five elements. The mist hovered in the air, a resplendent, beautiful sight.

A towering tree stood at the center of this space, its trunk as thick as a mountain. Its dense branches were like an umbrella covering the dome of heaven. Every leaf was the size of a millstone, and they were the gray color of chaos.

The power of the five elements poured down from the tree like a colorful waterfall that swayed in midair.

The Kunwu Divine Tree!

One of the six great divine trees of the Immortal Realm alongside the Cangwu Divine Tree, the Jian Tree, the Fusang Tree, the Tree of All Worlds, and the Tree of All Daos.

Of them, the Kunwu Divine Tree was the most famous, but it was nowhere as mysterious as the other five.

This was because the tree had given rise to a spirit who proved his Dao and became an Immortal. He called himself Immortal Kunwu, and he spent a lifetime fighting beneath the Eternal Night Immortal Sovereign’s banner. His name spread throughout the Immortal Realm!

But now, thousands of immortal experts were busily assembling a ritual ground in front of the Kunwu Divine Tree.

Two terrifying figures stood at the far end of the ritual grounds.

The first was a thin man in cloth robes. Two sabers rested crossed on his back, and his eyes were as sharp as a hawk’s.

The other was a Daoist with a tall hat and delicate, pretty features. His robes were apricot yellow, and he wore a dark turtle shell on his back.

The thin saber wielder said softly, “We’ll have completed work on the Grounds of Divine Sacrifice within two weeks. When the time comes, all we have to do is insert the formation flags given to us by the Divine Venerate and sacrifice the Kunwu Divine Tree’s power....”

Here, he suddenly clamped his jaw shut and said to the Daoist beside him, “Senior Apprentice Brother, do you think we need to send a report back to the sect right away?”

The Daoist shook his head. “It won’t be too late to invite the sect leader after we’ve finished our preparations.”

“That works too.” The thin saber wielder nodded. “No matter what, we’ve already poured years of time and effort into this, and we’re about to succeed. I’m eager to see just how glorious the divine son we’re ushering into the Immortal Realm really is.”

Indeed, his eyes shone with anticipation.

“I feel the same,” said the Daoist, his eyes lighting up. “The sect leader said that with the divine son’s help, we’ll have opportunities to prove our Daos and break into the Great Realm! I just... I just hope that’s true!”

As the two of them quietly conversed, over a thousand immortals were working with all their might to construct the black ritual grounds. It was quite a lively scene.

Meanwhile, off in the distance.

When Daoist Master Red Cloud and Xing Que saw the towering Kunwu Divine Tree, their hearts shook.

Rumor had it that the Kunwu Divine Tree was born of the source power of the five elements, and it had numerous wondrous and innate divine abilities. Its power was unbelievable!

Moreover, the spirit born of the tree, Immortal Kunwu, was an unparalleled Great Realm powerhouse, with unmatched power over the elements. There was no one else like him!

Before the two of them even approached the tree, a five-colored rain of light surged into being and enveloped them completely.

Moments later, a handsome, silver-haired young man in white robes appeared out of nowhere.

“Who gave you that jade slip?” the man in white said excitedly. Despite his apparent youth, his eyes shone with the vicissitudes of countless years as he stared intently at the jade slip.

Daoist Master Red Cloud’s heart shook, but she maintained her external calm. “Might I ask who you are, sir?”

The man in white said gently, “Don’t be nervous. Prior to the Age of Fallen Immortals, everyone called me Immortal Kunwu.”

Immortal Kunwu! That world-famous Great Realm powerhouse of the days prior to the Age of Fallen Immortals!

Xing Que couldn’t help but gasp. The dog would never have guessed that it would get an opportunity to lay eyes on a living legend so easily.

Daoist Master Red Cloud couldn’t help but be stunned too, but she nonetheless feigned calm. “How do I know you’re who you say you are?”

The man in white gestured to the slip, then said, “The diagram carved within it is known as the Five Elements Origin-Suppressing Edict. In this world, only I and the Eternal Night Immortal Sovereign know how to carve it. If not for the Edict’s power, you two could never have entered this hidden realm.”

Daoist Master Red Cloud was finally starting to believe him. She sighed in relief, then said, “That’s right. The slip was given to us by the Eternal Night Immortal Sovereign. He...”

Before she could finish, the man in white lit up with delight. He was too excited to control himself. “Wonderful! Wonderful!”

He seemed to have completely lost his composure.

But then, he realized something. He glanced at the Kunwu Divine Tree in the distance, lowered his voice, and said, “This isn’t a good place to talk. Come with me.”

With that, he waved his sleeves, and the three of them disappeared into thin air.

The three of them instantly vanished, only to reappear in an old-fashioned hall a moment later.

A millstone-sized leaf hovered at the center of the room.

The Dao Light of the five elements emanated from the leaf, reflecting what was happening in front of the Kunwu Divine Tree!

Over a thousand immortals were working together to build a ritual ground. The workers, the distant thin saber wielder, and the Daoist were displayed in full detail.

“Who are they?” exclaimed Daoist Master Red Cloud.

A complicated look appeared on the white-robed man’s face. “They’re experts of the Eastern Seas's Floating Mountain. They entered this place a long time ago, and... Ah, never mind. It’s a long story.”

Here, he let out a deep sigh, raised his hand, and grabbed. The leaf instantly transformed into a beam of light and shot into his sleeves.

The man in white invited Daoist Master Red Cloud and Xing Que to take a seat before saying, “Might you let me have a look at that jade slip?”

Daoist Master Red Cloud passed it to him.

The man in white looked it over, his expression an incomparably complicated mix of excitement, delight, and indescribable grief and sorrow.

A moment later, he burst into tears, wailing and sobbing with such intensity that he drenched the lapels of his clothes.

Daoist Master Red Cloud and Xing Que were gobsmacked.

Even if you’d hit them over the head, they would never have guessed that just seeing the jade slip the Eternal Night Immortal Sovereign had given them would make Immortal Kunwu lose his composure like this!

Quite some time passed before the man in white dried his tears, took a deep breath, and said apologetically, “I didn’t scare you, did I? I won’t lie to you. I was so overcome that I forgot myself for a moment. If you’d experienced those long years of torment, unable to truly live, yet unable to die, you might understand why I... lost control of myself like that...”

Daoist Master Red Cloud and Xing Que were silent. There was nothing to say to that.

The man in white then launched into small talk, but most of the conversation revolved around Su Yi.

However, Daoist Master Red Cloud said little about Su Yi, and she revealed none of his accomplishments in the Human Realm.

This was their first meeting. Even assuming the man in white really was Immortal Kunwu, she couldn’t wholeheartedly trust him.

Suddenly, she heard soft footsteps from beyond the old-fashioned hall.

The man in white looked stricken. He transmitted, “Don’t make a sound, you too! I have to hide you!”

With that, he waved his sleeves. He, Daoist Master Red Cloud, and Xing Que disappeared from the old-fashioned hall.

They’d barely left when a man in red walked inside. He looked exactly the same as the man in white, as if they were identical twins.

However, his eyes blazed with fiery luster, and his aura was explosive and imposing. His red robes swayed around him like churning flames.

When he reached the hall, he flared his nostrils and scanned the area. A playful grin tugged at his lips. Have outsiders arrived?

......

Time slipped past.

The Underground Palace of Seeking the Profound, the Spring and Autumn Space.

Thirty days had passed in the outside world. That amounted to thirty years inside!

When most immortals went into seclusion, it wasn’t at all unusual for them to cultivate for hundreds or thousands of years. By comparison, thirty years was like a snap of the fingers.

But this was the longest Su Yi had gone into seclusion in this lifetime!

Over the course of the past thirty years, his assiduous effort accumulated, and he’d already reached the peak of the late-stage Saint Realm!

His Saint Realm Laws had already been condensed to perfection.

That aside, he’d combed through his attainments in the Dao of the Sword and fused them. The Sword of the Human Realm had also been improved once more. Both had reached the limit of strength possible for Su Yi at his current level.

All he needed now was the right opportunity, and he’d be able to prove his Dao and enter the Miracle Realm, becoming an Immortal King!

However, during his thirtieth year of seclusion, Su Yi ran into a bottleneck. His cultivation, physique, soul, and powers of the Grand Dao couldn’t advance any further. It was as if he’d hit an invisible wall.

Su Yi wasn’t at all surprised by this. The road of cultivation had never been a simple matter of accrued hours.

Some old-timers lived for countless years, but they were still only Saint Realm Immortal Lords.

The reason was simple. When seeking the Dao, cultivators encountered all manner of dangers and obstacles. Secluded cultivation alone wasn’t enough to overcome them.

Breaking through required entering the world and gathering experience. It required clashes of the Grand Dao, and strong powers of comprehension. Moreover, it required vying for good fortune and opportune moments. Most of all, it required diligent exploration and striving!

Thirty years in seclusion had already helped Su Yi realize repeated breakthroughs and significant advancement, but he’d never hoped to break into the Miracle Realm and become an Immortal King in this way. However, when he did break through, these years of cultivation would serve as the firmest possible foundations!

“Forget it. It’s time I left.”

In the end, Su Yi decided to leave the Spring and Autumn Space. He’d originally planned to cultivate for a full sixty-year cycle, but now, he could only give up on the idea.

For one thing, he’d encountered a bottleneck in his cultivation. For another, the past thirty years of cultivation had exhausted almost his entire supply of cultivation resources!

Spending any more time in seclusion would just waste his time.

Hm?

As soon as Su Yi left, his eyebrows rose, and he slipped a jade slip out of his sleeves. It was flashing.

“Immortal Kunwu?” Su Yi froze, stunned, then recalled that when he left the Human Realm, he gave a jade slip to Daoist Master Red Cloud. He told her to seek out Immortal Kunwu after she arrived in the Immortal Realm.

This flashing jade slip was connected to Immortal Kunwu!

Su Yi inserted his divine sense and instantly saw a line of text.

“Your humble subordinate Immortal Kunwu has met with certain doom. Your Excellency, I humbly request to see you one last time before I die!”