First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 1874 - An Ill-Fated Encounter

Chapter 1874 - An Ill-Fated Encounter

Su Yi rose from the Dao Manifestation Chaos Stele.

He’d decided to leave. First, he’d stop by the ruins of the Dragon Palace to check on the Red Dragon Dao Monarch. Then, he’d stop by Jade Firmament Immortal Palace.

Before entering Spiritual Desolation Mountain, he sent a Great Martial Stage expert of Jade Firmament Immortal Palace to inform his sect that Su Yi would be visiting them soon. Su Yi was planning a "reunion" with Immortal Sovereign Sky-Killer, Chu Shentong, one of Wang Ye’s enemies.

He said he'd come, so Su Yi naturally wouldn’t go back on his word. Besides, he’d already spent a month on Spiritual Desolation Mountain. It was time he left.

“Do you understand yet?” Su Yi looked at the nearby Sky-Covering Boat.

“I don’t.” Lin Feng appeared on board. “Perhaps I’ll only understand... after you’ve fused with Master’s Dao Imprint.”

Su Yi could tell at a glance that Lin Feng was still unwilling to accept that he was his master.

“Very well.” Su Yi didn’t push him. Instead, he announced his decision to leave.

Lin Feng fell briefly silent, then said, “Then how will I find you again?”

Su Yi laughed dryly, then tossed Lin Feng a talisman. “You can use this to find me.”

Lin Feng accepted it, and he visibly relaxed. “I’ll be going into seclusion on Spiritual Desolation Mountain for a while to rebuild my physical body. I won’t need the Sky-Covering Boat any longer. You’re welcome to take it with you. It’ll help keep you safe.”

Su Yi shook his head and refused. “No need. Hold onto it. If enemies somehow sneak into Spiritual Desolation Mountain, it’ll help you avert catastrophe.”

Here, something occurred to him. He took out the command token that was Lei Ze, as well as some of Spiritual Desolation Mountain’s treasures, and passed them to Lin Feng. “I’ll have Lei Ze keep you company going forward. Those treasures can help you rebuild your body and repair Lei Ze’s soul.”

With that, he waved and drifted away.

Lin Feng watched him fade away. Inwardly, he murmured, If he were master, he would never have said anything of the sort. He’d have... argh!

Lin Feng sighed deeply. This Su Yi was, ultimately... not his master!

......

After leaving Spiritual Desolation Mountain, Su Yi returned to the outside world He instantly sensed the oppressive, calamitous power intermingled with its Laws.

This was divine misfortune!

During the Age of Fallen Immortals, the gods joined forces to place it within the Immortal Realm’s Laws. It specifically targeted experts of the Great Realm.

It seems it’s just as Xi Ning said. The power of Divine Misfortune is gradually weakening... I’m now at the Great Martial Stage, but so long as I withdraw my aura, I can avoid being targeted, thought Su Yi.

This was proof that the power of Divine Misfortune had weakened. Not long ago, Great Martial Stage experts had no choice but to turtle up and hide. They in no way dared show themselves in public.

At this rate, it will really disappear within just three to five years, thought Su Yi.

He controlled the power of reincarnation, and he had nothing to fear from divine misfortune. He was only concerned about this because it affected his future plans.

Now that he’d reached the Great Realm, rapidly advancing his cultivation would be far more difficult than before. If he relied on assiduous cultivation alone, then let alone three to five years, even three to five thousand years wouldn’t necessarily be enough to reach the Great Profound Stage.

Thus, Su Yi could only focus his efforts on acquiring good fortune.

But he wasn’t actually all that stressed about it. The Immortal Realm was vast. Good fortune suitable for Great Realm experts was rare, but it’s not like it was nowhere to be found.

Even if he couldn’t find good fortune in the old-fashioned way, he could always make good fortune by killing others.

The powerful enemies of his past life had no shortage of rare and wondrous treasures. Orthodoxies like the Church of the Pure One and Church of Supreme Oneness even had large quantities of Great Realm cultivation resources.

If he destroyed them, he could avenge Wang Ye to sever his lingering grudges and acquire the cultivation resources he needed. Two birds, one stone.

Of course, Su Yi was still in the planning stage. He wouldn’t do anything hasty. After all, food was best enjoyed one bite at a time. Swallowed whole, it was inevitably flavorless.

......

Three days later, Su Yi returned to the ruins of the Dragon Palace.

The Red Dragon Dao Monarch was still cultivating inside the Dragon Progenitor’s Cauldron. She showed no sign of awakening.

But then, this was to be expected. For ordinary experts of the Immortal Dao, cultivation was perilous and difficult, and it took long years of bitter striving. It wasn’t at all unusual for immortals to go into seclusion for hundreds or thousands of years at a time.

Su Yi, ultimately, was an exception. There was no one else like him.

In the end, he lingered in the Dragon Palace only briefly. He left the Red Dragon Dao Monarch medicines for strengthening one’s foundations in the Great Realm and a letter, then left on his own.

......

“When I get to Jade Firmament Immortal Palace, can you use your powers to determine where Chu Shentong is hiding?” Su Yi asked the Book of Karma on his way to his next destination.

The Book of Karma floated into the air, and a single word appeared on the blank page. “No.”

Su Yi’s eyebrows rose. “What are you even good for?”

“???” The Book of Karma was so furious that it almost swore at him. Does he think I’m useless?

“Su Yi! This lofty one is an Epoch Treasure! I control the Laws of Karma. Even gods covet me! I helped Ao Chiting prove his Dao and become a God, and even the Dipankara Buddha of the Past tried and failed to acquire me!”

The book was frantic with anger. New lines of text appeared, anger apparent in every stroke. “Who are you to look down on me?”

“Oh,” said Su Yi. “Can you fight like the Sky-Covering Boat or Sword of Proximity?”

“....” The Book of Karma said nothing. Isn’t it common knowledge that the power of karma isn’t suited for combat?

Su Yi sighed. “I thought I could use your power of karma to divine and exploit others’ karmic ties toward my own ends. I even thought I could make those who tried to acquire you suffer a karmic backlash. But now, you can’t even find one man. What a disappointment you are!”

The Book of Karma quivered with agitation. “That’s because of you, you anomaly!”

“Me?” Su Yi was stunned. “What do you mean by that?”

“I said it earlier. You’re an anomaly not subject to karmic fetters. Thus, unforeseen variables will arise around anyone and anything you’re involved with!” the Book of Karma explained hurriedly. “Take this expedition to Jade Firmament Immortal Palace. Isn’t their survival entirely in your hands? If you want them to live, there’s no way they’ll die. If you want them to die, there’s no way they’ll live, and you’re the one variable I cannot predict! All shall be as you decide!

“If you weren’t involved, I could naturally use my karmic power to divine the outcome. There’s no way anything unexpected would happen, either. It’s as I said earlier: it’s all because of you, you anomaly! You’re the reason I’m so useless here, so how could I possibly help you?”

Its words were tinged with dense resentment and indignation.

Su Yi thought for a moment, then quickly understood. The secrets of the heavens were not to be revealed. Cause and effect were determined by fate.

This impinged on the loftiest, most inscrutable secrets of destiny.

It was much like how the Book of Karma divined the fate of the experts who entered the Dragon Palace before the operation even began, only for Su Yi’s participation to lead to unanticipated developments.

Su Yi suddenly recalled something else the Book of Karma had told him.

Other people’s karmic ties were like a complex, interwoven web of thousands upon thousands of threads. Even if something changed, so long as it happened within the web’s bounds, there was no escape. Everything was predetermined.

The Book of Karma was like a spider in its web. It could foresee and control every change in the web’s threads, and it could create its own karmic ties, too. But Su Yi, as someone who could sever karmic ties, was like a bundle of flame. His appearance effectively set the web of karmic ties on fire, making the outcome impossible to predict!

When a spider’s web burned, the spider burned with it.

Su Yi couldn’t help but sigh after thinking it all through. “Ultimately, you might well be one of the Nine Mysteries of Chaos, but in my hands, you’re completely useless.”

“...” The Book of Karma had nothing to say to that.

Su Yi thought for a moment, then added, “Fortunately, nothing in this world is truly useless. I can at least see two ways of putting you to use.”

The Book of Karma’s spirits soared. “What two ways?”

“First, I can use you to screw others over,” said Su Yi. “What expert doesn’t long to acquire a Mystery of Chaos like you? But if they successfully acquire you, they’re sure to suffer a karmic backlash. Later, when I deal with those powerful enemies of mine, I can use you to lure them out of hiding. They’re sure to take the bait, and when they do, a karmic backlash is sure to follow.”

“??” The Book of Karma didn’t know what to say. He’s using me to trap others? Like fish bait? You insidious bastard!!!

Su Yi continued, “Second, you can block gods’ attacks for me, and no matter how useless you might be, I can at least swing you like a brick.”

A shield? And... a brick?

The Book of Karma fell silent. If it could have, it would have wept. It was completely distraught. Why did the two of us cross paths? What an ill-fated encounter!

......

Jade Firmament Immortal Island.

This was the site of the ancestral ground of Jade Firmament Immortal Palace, one of the most ancient and powerful factions of the Eastern Sea. To the cultivators of the Eastern Sea, Jade Firmament Immortal Island was an unsurpassed holy ground!

The waves churned, and the sky was clear and blue. Su Yi rode in on a little flat boat, traversing the turbulent waters only to discover that the island was silent and empty. There wasn’t so much as a single person left behind!

But that was far from the most unbelievable part.

Jade Firmament Immortal Island was originally covered in spirit mountains and blessed lands. Jade Firmament Immortal Palace’s ancestral ground was located within these blessed lands. Yet now, all of them had vanished without a trace. It was as if someone had ripped the spirit mountains up by the roots and taken them away!

Su Yi fell into a daze. An absurd thought occurred to him——Don’t tell me they fled because of my threats?

Su Yi put his boat away and drifted onto the shore. His divine sense swept out like the wind, spreading in all directions.

Indeed, there wasn’t a single living person to be found!

“Was it worth it? At the time, I’d yet to even step into the Great Realm, yet you still couldn’t withstand my threats? They were enough to make you gather your entire sect and flee?”

Su Yi couldn’t help but rub his nose. He was at a loss for words.

Suddenly, a wisp of divine radiance surged forth and condensed into a tall, stalwart figure!