First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 1872 - The Three Stages of the Great Realm

Chapter 1872 - The Three Stages of the Great Realm

When he saw that resplendent rain of light envelop Su Yi, Lin Feng’s expression grew strange.

Although he’d hidden himself in the Sky-Covering Boat earlier, he too witnessed that calamitous and taboo Great Realm Grand Tribulation. He saw the gods from across endless space and time, and he even saw them join forces and attack. The sight was so astonishing that he almost suspected he was dreaming!

Unfortunately for him, shortly after, he lost all awareness. He didn’t see the Sword of the Nine Hells rising into the firmament.

Naturally, he didn’t see the master he revered appear above it and force the gods to retreat, either!

Even so, what he did see was enough to make Lin Feng realize how extraordinary his master’s reincarnation was. His mere Great Realm Grand Tribulation ripped through Divine Venerate Tian Huang’s Laws of Annihilation with ease. Even the gods made an appearance!

But by far the most extraordinary part was that Su Yi survived and successfully proved his Dao!

All of this completely overturned Lin Feng’s imagination and perception of reality.

But because of this, he was increasingly convinced that Su Yi had accomplished this because he was Li Fuyou’s reincarnation... It seemed to him that there was no other explanation.

“Master will reawaken. I’m sure of it!” Lin Feng murmured to himself. “Don’t you think, Brother Boat?”

The boat just hovered there, shrouded in chaos. It didn’t respond in any way.

But then, Lin Feng hadn’t expected it to. This Mystery of Chaos was highly spiritual, but it wasn’t intelligent the way the Book of Karma was.

“By recognizing him as my master, you’ve already done me an enormous favor. I can finally see a thread of hope!” Lin Feng whispered. “Going forward, I won’t need to live tormented by endless regrets. I’ll do everything I can to rebuild my body and wait for Master to fully reawaken!”

......

Whoosh!

The rain of light boiled, like overflowing lava, and poured into Su Yi’s body, where his cultivation base was undergoing an earth-shaking transformation. His physical body, soul, cultivation base, and power of the Grand Dao were undergoing a transformation akin to rebirth. The process lasted a full seven days.

A week later, Su Yi's eyes opened. He was still hovering in the air in the exact same spot, unmoving.

Boom!!

In that moment, heaven and earth shook, and all of creation trembled. Even the mountains and rivers swayed.

The sky surrounding Su Yi was thrown into upheaval. Violent spacetime power rose and fell like the tides.

An indescribably terrifying pressure rose from Su Yi’s tall, upright figure and spread outward.

Heaven and earth trembled. The very air itself seemed to prostrate itself in submission.

Throughout heaven and earth, only I stand supreme!

On board the Sky-Covering Boat, Lin Feng was stunned too. When he saw the terrifying pressure emanating from Su Yi, the pressure was so intense that he instinctively held his breath.

That aura... It’s even more imposing than a Great Profound Stage expert’s!

He was an unparalleled Great Profound Immortal Sovereign in his own right. Numerous figures rose unbidden to his sea of consciousness: Eldest Senior Apprentice Brother Luo Changning, Second Senior Apprentice Sister Ning Xiu, Fourth Junior Apprentice Brother Dong Xuan.

He recalled several other prominent and influential Immortal Sovereigns of the Primeval Era.

However, after meticulously comparing them, he concluded that none could match Su Yi’s majesty. It was greater than any of the Great Profound cultivators Lin Feng was familiar with, himself included!

When Su Yi stood tall, the terrifying pressure enveloping heaven and earth receded into his body. His aura was instantly calm and tranquil.

Supreme beauty was impossible to describe in words. The greatest phenomena were invisible, and the greatest music had the softest notes. The same applied when one’s cultivation base reached the pinnacle. Its splendor gave way to a return to simplicity; all extravagance was washed away.

Heaven and earth returned to stillness. The landscape was tranquil and calm.

Su Yi stood in the air, his aura formless and intangible, yet somehow in perfect alignment with heaven and earth, like a cloud flowing over the horizon or the plants dotting the ground below. He was one with heaven and earth. Every movement was perfectly natural, like the Dao acting in accordance with itself!

“Hah~” Su Yi let out a long breath, then took out a jug of wine and drank with relish.

Cultivation was a matter of seeking great freedom, ease, and detachment. Every breakthrough brought a cultivator a sense of transcending former limits and rising further above the dust of mundanity in their unfettered pursuit of the Grand Dao!

The Great Realm was at the pinnacle of the Immortal Dao. It transcended the Universe, Void, Saint, and Miracle Realms.

The Great Realm was subdivided into three stages: Great Martial, Great Unity, and Great Profound.

Since the Primeval Era, the Three Stages of the Great Realm had been all but legendary. This was the peak of the Immortal Dao, something countless immortals could only long for and never attain!

In the Great Martial Stage, cultivators condensed Divine Platforms in their Immortal Origin Spaces.

In the Great Unity Stage, cultivators plucked the power of the Grand Dao from the Laws, formed their own Hidden Realm of the Grand Dao, and condensed a Divine Flame atop their Divine Platform. As long as the flame burned, their Dao would exist in perpetuity.

Then, in the Great Profound Stage, cultivators ignited their Divine Flames over their Divine Platforms to condense Great Profound Laws, transforming the power of the Immortal Dao to their own ends!

What were Great Profound Laws? They were the most fundamental, primordial power of the Laws of the Immortal Dao. Upon condensing Great Profound Laws, they could control the Laws of the Immortal Dao covering the Immortal Realm. In other words, they could transcend the natural order of the Immortal Realm!

Thus, only those who reached the Great Profound Realm could leave the Immortal Realm through their own power and walk the River of Epochs, a place that transcended the Immortal Dao!

These were the three stages of the Great Realm. They weren’t separate or independent. They were linked, and together, they formed the complete Great Realm.

Now, Su Yi had stepped into the Great Realm. He’d entered the Great Martial Stage!

......

Whoosh!

The Sky-Covering Boat shot past.

Eventually, Lin Feng couldn’t take it anymore. “You’ve broken into the Great Realm. Have you awakened Master’s memories yet?”

Su Yi put away his jug of wine, thought for a moment, and said, “They’ve most likely already awakened, but I can’t fuse with them yet.”

Li Fuyou’s Dao Imprint awakened during his tribulation, and he manifested to wield the Sword of the Nine Hells and sweep through the gods!

But, much like when Su Yi first awakened Wang Ye’s Dao Imprint, he hadn’t really fused with Li Fuyou’s Dao Imprint yet.

Lin Feng didn’t understand the subtleties. He asked in confusion, “What does that mean?”

Su Yi took a deep, hard look at Lin Feng. “Listen... I know you want me to become your master, but to me, your master is just one of several past lives. Awakening and fusing with his memories will be like inheriting his mantle, no more and no less.”

Lin Feng’s expression filled with uncertainty. “Does that mean my Master... won’t be coming back?”

Su Yi’s gaze shifted inscrutably. “Not exactly. When I fuse with his Dao Imprint, I’ll reclaim the memories of my past life, including his experiences and memories. In a sense, I’ll be your master, won’t I?”

Lin Feng froze, stunned, but before he could respond, Su Yi continued, “The only difference is, I’ll still be me.”

Lin Feng furrowed his brow and said nothing. He found his outcome hard to accept.

Su Yi said, “Think it over carefully. My past lives and I are the same person. The only thing separating us is that we lived starkly different lives. Is a difference like that really all that important?”

With that, he smiled and headed back to the halfway point of Spiritual Desolation Mountain. He’d stepped into the Great Martial Stage, and he needed to take his time to strengthen his foundations in the Grand Dao. While he was at it, he’d need to transform his Immortal King Laws into Great Martial laws, too!

At a time like this, there was no better place to cultivate than in front of the Dao Manifestation Chaos Stele.

On board the Sky-Covering Boat, Lin Feng sank into a daze as he pondered what Su Yi had just said.

......

Su Yi sat cross-legged in front of the Dao Manifestation Chaos Stele, his expression as tranquil as the waters of an ancient well. He effortlessly slipped into a wondrous state of enlightenment.

As his cultivation base rumbled and boomed, wondrous but fleeting visions appeared above him.

The Six Paths of Reincarnation appeared, creating perfectly round shadows that overlapped and revolved behind him. Flowers bloomed on the Far Shore, and oblivion lay in wait in the Sea of Bitterness. Life and death alternated, and the world withered and flourished... All manner of grand and mysterious phenomena manifested out of the power of reincarnation.

It was like a complete, continuous cycle of reincarnation.

Before long, it disappeared, and an endlessly vast ruin appeared, like an abyss or the pits of hell. It was enormous beyond measure. This was the power of Profound Ruin, mystical and inscrutable, with profundities upon profundities.

Immediately afterward, Su Yi’s other powers of the Grand Dao—Apex of Genesis, Manifesting Life, Flying Light, Restricting the Profound, the Light of the Universe, and Undying Power—appeared and cycled, one after another.

In the end, all of them fused into one, then took on the shape of the Sword of the Nine Hells behind Su Yi. Countless transformations of the Grand Dao condensed this illusory “Sword of the Nine Hells” even further.

Within Su Yi’s Immortal Origin Space, a chaos-like Great Realm Divine Platform appeared. It looked paltry, but it emanated a grand, indestructible charm.

This was the unique Great Realm Divine Platform of the Great Martial Stage. It was concentrated from Su Yi’s foundations in the Grand Dao and cultivation base, and it was in perfect harmony with his body and soul!

When he circulated his cultivation base, his Grand Dao Divine Platform rumbled and boomed. Boundless, dense power of the Grand Dao swept forth, and his entire Immortal Origin Space boiled over.

Were any other Great Martial Stage cultivator here to see this, they’d surely have lowered their heads in shame and sighed over their own inferiority.

The overwhelming majority of Great Martial Stage cultivators’ Great Realm Dao Platforms were illusory and indistinct when first formed. It took an enormous amount of time and effort to materialize them. But Su Yi’s newly formed Dao Platform already looked as if it had been forged of divine gold and immortal iron! It was as firm and heavy as a mountain, and it seemed indestructible and unshakeable.

Cultivation base aside, Su Yi’s body and soul had undergone a qualitative transformation too. In every respect, he was like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon.

Within his soul, his sea of consciousness was vast beyond measure. His soul avatar was like the sun, illuminating the past, present, and future with an indestructible, eternal charm.

Within his body, his blood coursed like lava, and his bones looked as if they’d been carved out of divine jade. The wondrous charm of the Dao coursed through his flesh, and wisps of light rose from every pore!

This was nothing like the Immortal King Realm. They were as far apart as heaven and earth, as different as the mud and clouds!