First Immortal of the Sword

The sword cultivators of Sword Sovereign City had always been this way. All of them took pride in their fearlessness in the face of death, and saw shrinking back as shameful.

In their eyes, a sword cultivator’s pride mattered more than his life!

Su Yi had seen his share of the wind and waves over the years, but even he felt his heart surge with valiant passion, and his blood boil.

Before he could express these feelings, Lonely Heights sighed softly. “I knew you’d act like this. Being too unyielding... isn’t a good thing, you know. Well, if this is how it is, I’ll just have to handle things myself.”

He took a step forward, and heaven and earth swayed. Invisible pressure swept outward like an avalanche or tidal wave, bearing down on every expert of Sword Sovereign City with such force that they could barely breathe.

Boom!

Ming Jiu was the first to attack, sword swinging. He wasn’t the least bit afraid to die.

But Lonely Heights just gently swung his jade ruler.

A muffled impact rang out as Ming Jiu was sent flying, sword and all. Before he could steady himself, a swath of purple and gold power suppressed him, pinning him in place.

But this didn’t scare his allies. Baili Qingfeng, Ye Hongye, and Gu Hanzhou attacked in turn, each more decisive and fearless than the one before. All of them used the powers they typically kept in reserve, but... all of them were nonetheless crushed!

Lonely Heights took a step forward, calm and composed, and swung his jade ruler, suppressing all of these powers.

Risking it all didn’t work. All of them were instantly suppressed.

From a distance, the experts of Sword Sovereign City were like moths to the flame. They knew they would lose, but they charged in anyway.

Lonely Heights was like a towering, unshakable tree. Wherever he went, he crushed everything in his path.

That invincible bearing left the onlookers astonished, their scalps numb with fright.

“When an ant tries to shake a tree, we mock it for overestimating its strength, but it’s that very quality that makes it worthy of respect, too.” Lonely Heights sighed. “Sword Sovereign City has been destroyed, but you haven’t lost your spirit. How truly unexpected.”

As his voice rang out, he drew closer to Su Yi. The only thing between them was Gui Nian, who hadn’t retreated even a single step.

When Lonely Heights approached, Gui Nian swung his fist without a single wasted word. It threw time and space into disarray, and heaven and earth changed color.

That tyrannical fist force seemed intent on destroying all of heaven and earth with its unstoppable momentum.

Lonely Heights raised his jade ruler, then effortlessly blocked this fist. His gaze was strange, and he said in a daze, “It’s you! I still remember you as that little crybaby of a turtle. I wouldn’t have guessed that ‘closed gourd’ kept you with him.”

“Closed gourd” was how Lonely Heights referred to the Big Boss of Sword Sovereign City. The meaning was simple: the Big Boss of Sword Sovereign City spoke so infrequently that thousands of years might pass between utterances. He was indeed as closed off as a sealed gourd.

He was so silent that it was terrifying.

Gui Nian glowered and attacked once more, but in the face of an expert like Lonely Heights, his fists seemed weak and ineffectual.

Within moments, the jade ruler reached him and sealed him in place.

Lonely Heights had suppressed every last expert of Sword Sovereign City with ease!

The sight was enough to make the onlookers’ hearts quiver. Even the Heavenly Sovereigns, who were seeing Lonely Heights for the first time, looked at him with irrepressible astonishment, their hearts full of dread.

It was just too terrifying.

If they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes, they would never have guessed that someone so terrifying existed in this world. His Dao was indeed “loftier than the heavens!”

Because Lonely Heights had done more than just suppress the experts of Sword Sovereign City. He’d single-handedly sealed off even the power of the area’s Laws, and he’d done it all without any backlash from the natural order of destiny!

There was no longer anyone between Su Yi and Lonely Heights.

Heavenly Sovereign Ku Xuan gnashed his teeth and was just about to step forward when Lonely Heights glanced at him.

A bone-piercing chill coursed through Heavenly Sovereign Ku Xuan, starting from his head. He froze in place, his face pallid.

It was just too terrifying! When he faced Lonely Heights, a single look was enough to overwhelm him!

Lonely Heights retracted his gaze, looked at Su Yi, and chuckled. “I know you’ve yet to awaken your memories, but that doesn’t matter. I’ll take you with me and give you a chance to reawaken.”

Unlike the others, Su Yi felt no pressure when he faced Lonely Heights, nor did he sense any kind of threat.

But that only made his heart even heavier. He couldn’t see through Lonely Heights. It was like peering at flowers through the fog or gazing at the moon’s reflection in a mirror; he didn’t seem quite real.

But Su Yi’s instincts screamed that Lonely Heights wouldn’t take “no” for an answer!

“Ah, but I’d like to see whether or not you’re capable of taking me away first,” Su Yi said softly. The depths of his gaze didn’t so much as ripple with emotion, and his heart was extraordinarily clear, as if he’d cast aside all scattered thoughts.

Lonely Heights’ eyelids rose, but just as he was about to say something...

Crunch!

Something cracked, breaking the deathly silence.

It was as if someone had carelessly broken through layers of accumulated ice and snow, or as if a bird’s delicate claws had suddenly crushed a long-rotten branch.

The sound was faint, but Lonely Heights whipped around and gazed into the distance.

There, he saw Wang Zhiwu and Mu Yu.

They’d stayed out of the earlier stand-off. Even when Lonely Heights appeared, they stayed out of it.

Wang Zhiwu now carried a handful of sunflower seeds in one hand, while the other gripped the discarded shells of those he’d already eaten.

When Lonely Heights looked over, Wang Zhiwu smiled apologetically. “You two can continue. Don’t mind me.”

Lonely Heights’ brow furrowed. “Zhi Wuzhong?”

Zhi Wuzhong? A series of gasps rang out. In the All-Profound Dominion, that name represented an absolute, unsurpassed legend!

This was a man who personally founded a progenitor-level orthodoxy!

There was no counting his accomplishments, all of them astonishing.

But no one could have anticipated that Wang Zhiwu, who’d been disqualified in the first round of the Struggle for Heavenly Fate, was connected to that legend.

It seemed far too ridiculous!

Even Yun Wuxiang, who’d only just threatened Wang Zhiwu and Mu Yu, was unwittingly stunned.

“It’s all because of this bad habit of mine. I always like to be eating something, but the sound interrupted you.” Wang Zhiwu sighed, but he was already stuffing more seeds into his mouth.

The crowd’s gazes were solemn.

Zhi Wuzhong was a known eccentric, but his love of fruit and seeds was one of his more famous quirks. He never stopped, not even in the middle of battle.

Su Yi was stunned, too. Wang Zhiwu... became Zhi Wuzhong?

He silently put away the treasures he’d prepared in his sleeves.

The earlier standoff had been incomparably perilous. He’d already been prepared to risk it all. He would never have expected that the situation would change with the crunch of a sunflower seed shell!

“You interrupted me?” Lonely Heights sighed. “You obviously did it on purpose.”

Wang Zhiwu, or rather, Zhi Wuzhong, finished his handful of sunflower seeds, then clapped his hands in satisfaction. “Give me face and end this here, alright? Just take your people and leave.”

A stifled silence descended over the area. Yun Wuxiang and the others looked both surprised and angry.

Even if you’d hit them over the head, they would never have guessed that Wang Zhiwu would present such an enormous variable at this critical juncture.

“The Big Boss of Sword Sovereign City was your enemy in your pursuit of the Grand Dao. Why step forward and intervene at this juncture?” Lonely Heights said with a frown.

Zhi Wuzhong shook his head. “He’s no longer the Big Boss of Sword Sovereign City. How could he possibly be my enemy in my pursuit of the Grand Dao?”

Lonely Heights said with displeasure, “Don’t waste my time with that kind of talk.”

The onlookers were speechless to discover that even under these tense circumstances, Zhi Wuzhong couldn’t resist the urge to snack. He took out a handful of peanuts, then said with his mouth still full, “Shall we fight, then?”

“Very well!” said Lonely Heights. “Let’s take Su Yi and find a place to duel. If you win, I wouldn’t mind letting you take Su Yi with you.”

Zhi Wuzhong pondered briefly, then said, “I naturally have no objections, but I don’t know how Su Yi feels.”

He smiled at Su Yi. “This is the limit of what I can do for you. After all, I don’t want anyone to think that I’ve become one of your lackeys.”

It was obvious to everyone that Zhi Wuzhong was offering Su Yi a choice.

If he agreed to go with them, he’d effectively be betting on the outcome of Zhi Wuzhong’s duel with Lonely Heights. The outcome of their battle would determine his fate!

It would be enormously risky, but it was also undeniably an opportunity!

Yun Wuxiang and the others’ hearts filled with dense bitterness. The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind, huh?

None of them had anticipated that Zhi Wuzhong would show up just as this clash neared its end, or that it’d come down to a one-on-one duel to determine the outcome!

But against all suggestions, Su Yi shook his head and refused Zhi Wuzhong’s offer.

“I’m not sure whether you have good intentions or ulterior motives. Either way, I appreciate the offer,” Su Yi said calmly. “But my life and death are my responsibility. There’s no way I’d entrust my fate to another!”

The area descended into silence. Everyone looked askance at him.

Lonely Heights couldn’t help but applaud. “What spirit! In this, at least, you’re not one whit inferior to that closed gourd! Zhi Wuzhong, you have no more business here than a dog has catching mice. Leave us to it!”

Zhi Wuzhong’s gaze shifted inscrutably. He sighed. “I just knew my suggestion was extraneous.”

Lonely Heights looked at Su Yi, then said calmly, “Earlier, you said I should try to take you with me and see what happened, but I’d like to say this to Zhi Wuzhong’s face. No matter your hidden cards, to me, they’re no more than eggs flinging themselves against rocks. That is...”

He paused, then chuckled, as if he found something amusing. In the end, he burst into laughter. “That is, unless that closed gourd is still alive!”

Many others laughed along. After all, Su Yi couldn’t possibly have existed if the Big Boss of Sword Sovereign City were still alive!

The experts of Sword Sovereign City had bleak looks on their faces. If the Big Boss were still here... How could this have happened? How could Sword Sovereign City have fallen? And how could the Eternal Pact have broken?

Su Yi didn’t laugh. He just looked down and whispered, “You hear that? Someone seems to think you’re dead and gone. Can you tolerate that?”

“Of course not!” A low voice emanated from Su Yi’s sleeves, and a figure emerged, then stretched languidly.

Zhi Wuzhong’s smile instantly froze in place.

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