First Immortal of the Sword

The Threelives Buddha’s head flew through the air as tyrannical sword force crushed his body. It crumbled into powder, then scattered to the winds.

As his severed head flew, it transformed, condensing a new body. It was just that this one was illusory and ethereal.

When he saw Su Yi ready another attack, the Threelives Buddha realized he couldn’t possibly dodged, so he simply gave up the struggle and laughed. “You’ve won.”

But this time, Su Yi stayed his hand. He stood nearby, then sighed. “That feels much better.”

The Threelives Buddha’s gaze was inscrutable. “After the Struggle for Heavenly Fate ended, someone told me that if you use your trump cards, you can overpower even Heavenly Sovereigns’ clones, but it seems you’re even stronger than that.”

Su Yi could access River Ancestor-level strength, and he possessed unfathomable powers of the heart.

There was also that seemingly ordinary, yet utterly murderous and terrifying wooden sword.

When Su Yi attacked earlier, his combat strength and capabilities didn’t just catch the Threelives Buddha off guard; they overwhelmed him, making it difficult to defend himself!

All of this told the Threelives Buddha that Su Yi had had new, wondrous encounters since the curtain fell on the Struggle for Heavenly Fate!

“You can go ahead and tell me how you became a Heavenly Sovereign now,” said Su Yi, taking a sip from a jug of wine.

The Threelives Buddha was no longer a threat in this state. He was just a clone on the verge of destruction. Moreover, destroying him would have little impact on his true body.

“You really want to chat with me at a time like this?” asked the Threelives Buddha. “Aren’t you worried my true body will show up?”

Su Yi just took out his wicker chair and sat down. “In that case, let’s just wait for your true body to arrive.”

The Threelives Buddha blinked in obvious surprise, then took a deep look at Su Yi. “You’ve changed in the years since I last saw you.”

Su Yi said casually, “I’m me, and that has never changed. I just don’t want to miss out on a chance to clash with a Heavenly Sovereign. I might not be able to win, but there’s no harm in losing.”

The Threelives Buddha mulled that over, then sat on the ground, crossed his legs, and began his tale. “There were thirteen Eternal Thrones during the devastation. Two were destroyed, while the other two were lost in the Sea of Fate and the Abyss of Endless Tribulations.

“The Eternal Heavens Domain has been ruled by the nine remaining Heavenly Sovereigns ever since.

“But things are different now. You acquired the rebuilt Yitian Eternal Throne, Fellow Daoist, while I...” The Threelives Buddha grinned. “I acquired the other Eternal Throne destroyed during the Devastation.”

Su Yi nodded. “Just what I thought."

Spirit Mountain Buddhist Court was the Eternal Heavens Domain’s leading Buddhist faction. They, too, were a Heavenly Sovereign faction.

However, they kept a far lower profile than other Heavenly Sovereign factions and seldom meddled in worldly affairs, for the simple reason that their Eternal Throne had been destroyed during the Devastation.

Rumor had it that they had most of the fragments, but they were still missing a few pieces. Without them, they couldn’t possibly repair the destroyed Eternal Throne.

But now, it seemed the rumors weren’t trustworthy, as the Threelives Buddha was now a true Buddhist Heavenly Sovereign!

“It seems you guessed it already,” the Threelives Buddha said casually. “Spirit Mountain Buddhist Court actually repaired its damaged Eternal Throne a long time ago. They were just waiting for me to grasp the mysteries of the past, present, and future and return as the Threelives Buddha.”

Su Yi thought back to his years of conflict with the Dipankara Buddha in the God Domain. “I have to say, you’re the only enemy I’ve ever had who’s managed to surprise and delight me so consistently.”

The Threelives Buddha smiled. “I feel the same way about you. Throughout the Eternal Heavens Domain, you’re the only person I can bare my heart to. It’s only with you that I can speak freely.”

His voice was tinged with ruefulness. Su Yi had only just severely damaged this clone, but it seemed he didn’t mind in the least.

Su Yi suddenly asked, “Why not show yourself during the Struggle for Heavenly Fate? I thought you’d seize the opportunity to loot a burning house, so I prepared several countermeasures just for you.”

The Threelives Buddha couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m truly gratified that you think so highly of me. To tell the truth, when I learned that the factions of the Far Shore of Destiny planned to get involved, I predicted that none of the Heavenly Sovereigns had any hope of acquiring the Yitian Eternal Throne, so I saw no point in risking myself.”

His gaze was suddenly strange. “The outcome proved that I was right on the mark. The Heavenly Sovereigns have successfully fooled the general populace, but I know that the ultimate victor of the Struggle for Heavenly Fate wasn’t any of the Heavenly Sovereigns, nor was it a faction of the Far Shore. No, it was... you, Fellow Daoist Su!”

Su Yi shook his head slightly. “Perhaps, but it was an unsatisfying victory.”

The Threelives Buddha sighed. “Indeed. The Struggle for Heavenly Fate devolved into a clash between factions of the Far Shore of Destiny. Everything was out of your control. Although you won in the end, you paid an enormous price for your victory. It’s only natural that you’d find it unsatisfying.”

Su Yi blinked in surprise, then gazed intently at the Threelives Buddha. “Does that mean you’ve known all along that I had yet another identity?”

The Threelives Buddha inclined his head. “The Big Boss of Sword Sovereign City is famous throughout the Far Shore of Destiny. Of course I’ve heard of him.”

“Is that the extent of it?” Su Yi said thoughtfully.

“Are you asking why I’m not afraid of Sword Sovereign City?” asked the Threelives Buddha. “It’s simple. In the All-Profound Dominion, Buddhism has a progenitor-level faction of its own, and it isn’t one whit inferior to Sword Sovereign City.”

He paused, then smiled. “Besides, we’re currently on the River of Destiny, and the Mountain of the Secluded Ones no longer permits factions of the Far Shore from intervening in what happens here. Sword Sovereign City is naturally no exception. Under the circumstances, I have nothing to fear.”

Su Yi pursed his lips and took a sip of wine. “You’ve really thought this through.”

The Threelives Buddha suddenly asked, “Aren’t you curious how I managed to find you here?”

These were the Great Aberrant Ruins, a remote, seldom visited place. It was because they were so remote that the Heart-Tempering Sword House had chosen to hide here.

Su Yi said casually, “There’s no point in getting into that now. I just want to know who’s behind all this.”

The Threelives Buddha said solemnly, “How about we make a deal? I’ll help you investigate what happened here if you take me with you when you visit the Abyss of Endless Tribulations.”

Su Yi blinked in surprise. “I knew you were after something, you bald donkey.”

He now understood. The Threelives Buddha wasn’t here to kill him, but rather, to accompany him to the Abyss of Endless Tribulations. His goal was simple, too: He wanted to see his master, the Buddha of Non-Existence!

The insult “bald donkey” didn’t provoke the Threelives Buddha in the slightest. He just said, “We might be enemies, but that doesn’t mean we can’t work together. It’s enough that we each get what we want.”

Su Yi laughed coldly. “Does that mean that your true body isn’t really on his way here?”

The Threelives Buddha shook his head. “My true body really is headed our way, but not to kill you. He’s really here to prevent Heavenly Sovereign Wen from interfering.”

The Threelives Buddha gazed into the dome of heaven. “The majesty of a Heavenly Sovereign is as grand as the heavens, and the Divine Wandering Continent is Heavenly Sovereign Wen’s territory.

“I’m a Heavenly Sovereign too, so the moment I appeared here, my presence alerted the heavens. Heavenly Sovereign Wen has undoubtedly sensed the disturbance.

“Had he interfered, we couldn’t possibly have gotten an opportunity to chat like this.” The Threelives Buddha fixed his gaze on Su Yi once more. “Fellow Daoist, as my old enemy, I hope you’ll forgive a little shameless boasting: you’d better not underestimate any of the Heavenly Sovereigns! They’re the rulers of the Eternal Heavens Domain. Their foundations and abilities are nowhere near as simple as you imagine!”

Su Yi fell briefly silent, then sloshed the wine in his jug and sighed. “I just about understand why something happened to the Great Aberrant Ruins.”

Heavenly Sovereign Wen had sensed the Threelives Buddha’s arrival in the Divine Wandering Continent. That meant that Heavenly Sovereign Wen had sensed it when Heavenly Sovereign Ku Xuan came looking for him here, too.

Su Yi even dared say with certainty that Heavenly Sovereign Wen had been involved in whatever had happened here!

The Threelives Buddha blinked in surprise, then sighed. “The ancients were right; excessive talk really does lead to slips of the tongue. They say that the Big Boss of Sword Sovereign City often went thousands of years without speaking, and that he was even quieter than Buddhist experts who’d taken vows of silence. Only now do I see the wisdom in that.”

Su Yi looked at the Threelives Buddha. “The terms you offered are no longer valuable to me.”

They really weren’t; he could just as easily ask Heavenly Sovereign Wen about what had happened to the Heavenly Aberrant Hidden Realm.

The Threelives Buddha sighed and was just about to say something when he gazed into the dome of heaven.

Su Yi sensed something and looked over, too.

Two terrifying powers of the Grand Dao came into view beneath the dome of heaven.

One was dense and heavy, like a windstorm of the nine heavens sweeping across the starry skies, throwing the Laws into chaos. The light of the heavens dimmed by comparison. It was like the winds of the apocalypse.

The other was searing Buddhist light, boundlessly radiant. It condensed into a glittering, golden rain of the light of the Grand Dao.

These two starkly different powers of the Grand Dao clashed repeatedly, the resulting disturbance spreading through the skies of the Divine Wandering Continent. Every last one of its inhabitants noticed the disturbance, and all of them were startled!

“Heavenly Sovereign Wen isn’t giving me any face at all. To think he’d just attack like that,” the Threelives Buddha said with a soft sigh, his brow furrowing.

Su Yi understood. That must be the Threelives Buddha’s true body clashing with Heavenly Sovereign Wen.

As the two Heavenly Sovereigns’ powers spread, they affected the Laws of the surrounding area. This in turn led to strange phenomena of the Grand Dao appearing throughout the Divine Wandering Continent.

“Fellow Daoist, there’s not much time left. Let me show you the full extent of my sincerity. All I want in exchange is a chance to accompany you to the Abyss of Endless Tribulations,” said the Threelives Buddha. He gestured to the dome of home. “Agree, and I’ll help you demand an explanation from Heavenly Sovereign Wen and uncover the truth of what happened here.

“Moreover, so long as the disciples of the Heart-Tempering Sword House still draw breath, I’ll do my utmost to save them. I can all but guarantee that Heavenly Sovereign Wen will agree to give up his prisoners!”

He was calm, but his sheer composure betrayed his complete and utter confidence.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!