First Immortal of the Sword

Sect Leader Lu Ye’s voice boomed throughout heaven and earth.

Everyone in the sect felt a wave of emotion wash over them. All of them bowed in greeting and called out in unison, “Welcome back, Founder!”

A long time passed before the echo faded away. The atmosphere was austere, even holy.

This was the respect of the greatest Heavenly Monarch faction beneath the heavens. All of them welcomed their founder’s reincarnation from the bottom of their hearts!

Su Yi stood there in his blood-stained robes, a bit dazed. He scanned the crowd of familiar faces one by one, then looked at the unfamiliar disciples of the younger generation.

In the end, he smiled. What a wonderful feeling! But rules are rules.

Su Yi left the ritual grounds, then said to Sect Leader Lu Ye, “I’ll start the second trial in three days’ time.”

Lu Ye was stunned. Is there really any need for that?

He mulled it over, then nodded. “I shall assiduously carry out your orders, Master!”

......

Three days later, atop Candlelight Point.

Here, the sect had established a forbidden zone covered in an enormous formation.

“Have you recovered from your wounds, Master?” asked Sect Leader Lu Ye.

Su Yi subtly inclined his head.

Three days prior, he’d been badly injured, to the point that his body was almost destroyed.

However, that fierce battle had let him further excavate his latent potential, letting him further temper his cultivation base. He was just one step away from the late-stage Silent Realm!

“Let’s begin,” said Su Yi.

Sect Leader Lu Ye took out a sword-shaped medallion, then waved it through the air.

A wondrous energy fluctuation swept out, and a grand, ancient treasure tower appeared floating in midair.

It was one thousand feet tall, octagonal, and divided into thirteen stories. It had flying eaves and interlocking wooden brackets, yet it simultaneously looked naturally formed.

It was blue-gray throughout, and as it hovered there, it emanated a steady, ancient air full of the vicissitudes of countless years.

The old-timers gathered here all gazed at the treasure tower with respect.

The Sword-Testing Tower!

This was one of the Heart-Tempering Sword House’s most important treasures, as well as the only treasure of the Primordial Era that Jiang Wuchen had left to his sect.

It was divided into thirteen stories, each containing a hidden realm—and a trial.

Each trial was emblazoned with imprints of the Dao of the Sword. Their numbers varied from floor to floor, ranging from a dozen to over one hundred. All were left there by powerful sword cultivators of the Primordial Era.

After Jiang Wuchen acquired it, it became the foremost trial ground of the Heart-Tempering Sword House.

Whether they wanted to conduct tests or temper their cultivation bases, the Sword-Testing Tower was their top choice.

Moreover, one’s performance in the tower impacted their placement in the sect. For instance, only those Heavenly Monarchs who’d overcome the sixth floor of the tower were qualified to become Mountain Lords.

Those who made it through the seventh floor could become pavilion masters in any of the four pavilions, while those who overcame the eighth floor could become elders in the Dao-Seeking and Heart-Inquiring Halls.

In other words, if members of the Heart-Tempering Sword House wanted a promotion, they had to prove their strength in the tower first!

If they weren’t strong enough, it didn’t matter if they were the founder’s legacy disciple. They were still unworthy of important roles.

The reverse was also true. So long as they could prove their strength, even those disciples of humble backgrounds could rise to prominence, like carp leaping over the dragon’s gate.

Su Yi’s second trial was to be conducted here, in the Sword-Testing Tower. The rules were simple: he had to reach the tenth floor in the time it took to burn a stick of incense!

If they hadn’t witnessed Su Yi’s strength in the first trial, no one would ever have believed that Su Yi could pass this test.

Throughout the long history of the Heart-Tempering Sword House, barely anyone had ever reached the tenth floor. It wasn’t unheard of, but it was rare.

However, to date, only four people had ever managed to reach the tenth floor in the time it took to burn a stick of incense: Jiang Wuchen, the Malevolent Sword Venerate, Sect Leader Lu Ye, and High Elder Shen Xing!

All four were late-stage Piercing Illusions Stage Heavenly Monarchs with terrifying foundations and strength.

Ordinarily speaking, no one would have believed that a Silent Realm cultivator like Su Yi could match that feat.

But after witnessing his terrifying strength firsthand, no one doubted him any further. On the contrary, they were certain that the second trial would be no problem for him!

This was proof that their perception of him had changed. His display of strength three days prior had won over everyone in the sect!

Su Yi examined the thousand-foot-tall Sword-Testing Tower.

Every floor was a trial ground, but starting at the eleventh floor, the rules changed. The last three floors were completely different from the first ten.

According to Jiang Wuchen’s memories, the eleventh floor contained the imprints of the founders of three peak orthodoxies of the Dao of the Sword from the Primordial Era.

The twelfth floor contained just one imprint. It belonged to someone known as the Primordial Sword Devil. Rumor had it that he’d been a terrifying figure in life, and that he’d survived multiple Heavenly Sovereigns’ attempts to hunt him down and kill him. He was utterly heaven-defying.

Su Yi thought back to the distant past. It was after Jiang Wuchen made it to the twelfth floor that he earned his reputation as “the Greatest of the Unthroned.”

But the most terrifying of all was the imprint left by a Primordial Heavenly Sovereign on the thirteenth floor!

Unfortunately, Su Yi didn’t know the Heavenly Sovereign’s name or origins.

This was because in life, despite having visited the thirteenth floor to temper himself on numerous occasions, that mysterious Primordial Heavenly Sovereign had defeated him each and every time.

Su Yi insisted on attempting the second trial, not simply to overcome the first ten floors, but for the sake of the imprints on floors eleven through thirteen.

He also wanted to see what floor he could reach with his current strength.

Without any further delays, he walked into the tower as the crowd watched. Once he’d vanished into it, Sect Leader Lu Ye waved his command token, and the formation covering the forbidden grounds activated with a boom.

Now that it was active, no one outside would sense anything that happened in the Sword-Testing Tower, no matter how great a commotion it caused.

This wasn’t to stop the sect’s disciples from spectating, but rather, to avoid the Aberrants of the Heavenly Aberrant Hidden Realm from sensing the disturbance.

The old-timers gathered together to discuss Su Yi’s trial in hushed whispers. “How long do you think it’ll take the founder to reach the tenth floor?”

“In his past life, it still took him almost twenty minutes to reach the tenth floor. It seems to me that as heaven-defying as his reincarnation is, he’s not yet as strong as he used to be. It takes about half an hour to burn a stick of incense, so he should just barely make it,” someone said softly.

“That isn’t necessarily the case.” Someone else shook his head. “Founder’s past and current lives are different, and they seek different Daos. Their cultivation bases are different enough that it’s not so simple to compare the two of them.”

Someone else chuckled. “Your thinking is too superficial. Seems to me that the founder isn’t simply looking to reach the tenth floor. He’s sure to see how far he can go!”

“Never mind all that,” Gu Zheng said with a sigh. “To tell the truth, ever since the founder returned, I’ve felt that even if the heavens fall, we’ll have nothing to worry about.”

His words touched the others’ hearts. They felt the same way.

The Heart-Tempering Sword House needed a pillar of support, someone capable of supporting the “greatest Heavenly Monarch faction beneath the heavens!”

As capable as Sect Leader Lu Ye and the other old monsters were, that was a level they couldn’t reach. Only their founder, Jiang Wuchen, and his heart devil, the Malevolent Sword Venerate, were capable of that!

But now, their founder had returned through the cycle of reincarnation. Su Yi could fulfill that role, too!

By themselves, the people here would be powerless to resist Limitless Palace’s attempts to hunt them down.

“He started!” someone said suddenly.

All eyes were instantly on the Sword-Testing Tower.

Dazzling sword light appeared over the thousand-foot tower. That meant that Su Yi had entered the first floor and begun his trial!

Within a snap of the fingers, that dazzling sword light advanced to the second floor.

No one found this surprising. They could have done the same.

Su Yi then proceeded to overcome each floor in the time it took to snap his fingers, advancing with ease.

It was only when he reached the sixth floor that the higher-ups ceased their conversation and watched with bated breath.

The sixth floor was a dividing line. From this point on, even Heavenly Monarchs were under enormous pressure.

But against all expectations, Su Yi overcame the sixth floor in a snap of the fingers, too.

“This...” Everyone exchanged glances.

“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten? The founder challenged the tower in his past life on numerous occasions. He knows it like the back of his hand. It’s not at all strange that he can do this,” someone said gravely. “For the founder’s reincarnation, the true pressure will likely hit on the eighth floor.”

The crowd nodded. This explanation seemed to make sense.

As they talked, Su Yi overcame the seventh floor and arrived on the eighth.

And indeed, just as they expected, here, his speed slowed. Still, just ten snaps of the fingers later, Su Yi made it to the ninth floor!

This time, the old monsters lost their cool. Ten snaps of the fingers!? Even in his past life, I don’t think the founder could have overcome the eighth floor so easily!

Even more astonishing, although Su Yi’s advance slowed yet again on the ninth floor, he overcame it in less than ten minutes.

He’d reached the tenth floor, passing the second trial in less than fifteen minutes.

It typically took about half an hour to burn a stick of incense. Su Yi had used less than half of that!

He’d advanced considerably faster than even Jiang Wuchen in his peak.

The old monsters’ expressions shifted. All of them were stunned. Waves of emotion coursed through their hearts.

This outcome was far beyond their expectations, and it came as a ruthless shock.

Sect Leader Lu Ye said calmly, “If you could judge the founder’s reincarnation by his cultivation base, how could he have defeated us all three days prior?”

Although he said this, Lu Ye was sighing inwardly, too. That was perversely quick! It’s simply obscene! Just what kind of terrifying Dao of the Sword is Master pursuing in this lifetime?

Enough time to brew a cup of tea later, Su Yi overcame the tenth floor and reached the eleventh.

Here, he met the imprints of the founders of three mighty orthodoxies of the Primordial Era.

Of course, Su Yi had Jiang Wuchen’s memories, so they felt like “old acquaintances."

It was then that Su Yi’s long-accumulated will to fight caught fully ablaze.

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