First Immortal of the Sword

The Silvermoon, Wind Ray, Goldenflame, and other ancient factions were similarly discussing whether or not Su Yi would head for the Ancestral Demon Grounds alone.

Without any prior discussion, all of the Nine Great Demon Races chose to attack, and they all chose Nightslayer Ridge as the battle’s location!

……

The Ancestral Demon Grounds.

Li Changsheng stood atop a black mountain shrouded in chaos energy. After reading the message he’d just received, a strange light rose unbidden to his eyes.

He whispered, “Just as I thought. You haven’t changed, Tyrant. You’d rather risk yourself than hide away and endure.”

He looked like a handsome youth with a head of long silver hair. There was a natural red lotus birthmark at the center of his forehead, and he was dressed in black, with an otherworldly air.

Prior to the Age of Fallen Immortals, Li Changsheng, the ruling expert of the Formless Demons, had fought Wang Ye personally. He understood his old enemy’s disposition.

“It’s a pity, but times have changed….” Li Changsheng fiddled with the jade slip and muttered, “I fear that you won’t simply be forced back at Nightslayer Ridge. This time, you’ll never leave!”

The jade slip shattered into powder.

Li Changsheng rose and shot off. He planned to discuss the situation with the other old-timers stationed in the Ancestral Demon Ground and decide how best to prepare.

About ten minutes later.

Li Changsheng met with several other old-timers in an ancient palace. There were thirty-nine of them in total. All hailed from the Nine Great Demon Races, and all of them had shocking seniority. All of them had been in seclusion in the Ancestral Demon Grounds since the days prior to the Age of Fallen Immortals.

There were other old monsters in the Ancestral Demon Grounds too, but their statuses and seniority weren’t quite as high as those gathered here.

“I imagine that you’ve all heard of Su Yi’s arrival, so I’ll cut to the chase. What do you think of this?” Li Changsheng swept his gaze across the crowd.

“He’ll die beyond a doubt before Nightslayer Ridge. Why concern ourselves with him?” someone chuckled. He really wasn’t at all concerned; Su Yi’s arrival didn’t seem like much of a threat.

Many of the others felt much the same way. The Ancestral Demon Grounds were the greatest forbidden zone in the Spirit Domain, that much was common knowledge, but practically no one knew how mysterious—and terrifying—they were. Only those old-timers stationed here year-round knew that beneath the god level, anyone who tried to trespass would be doomed!

Moreover, the forces of the Nine Great Demon Races had already taken action. They were ready to intercept Su Yi in Nightslayer Ridge, the same place they’d once forced Wang Ye to retreat. They were confident that this time, Wang Ye wouldn’t just lose. He’d never leave Nightslayer Ridge alive!

Li Changsheng nodded. “I feel much the same way, but I still think we’d best make some preparations to avoid any nasty surprises. After all… The Nine Progenitors have reached a critical juncture of their efforts. We cannot afford even the slightest mishaps.”

The crowd was instantly solemn. It was true. The Nine Progenitors’ hopes of achieving divinity were on the line. Nothing could go wrong!

“What kind of preparations did you have in mind, Daoist Brother?” someone asked.

Li Changsheng thought for a moment, and was just about to respond when a shrill, cold voice resounded from outside the hall.

“Divine Emissary Star Dragon has learned that the Heretic Reincarnator is on his way to the Ancestral Demon Grounds!”

A pallid, gaunt old man in dark robes marched inside. Li Changsheng and the other old-timers rose to welcome him.

This old man in black was one of the thirty-six divine emissaries working under the gods. His name was Zuo Mu, and he had a lofty, transcendent status.

The “Divine Emissary Star Dragon” Zuo Mu spoke of was the leader of the thirty-six divine emissaries. Even the Nine Progenitors’ spirits treated him with the utmost politeness.

“Your Excellency, might I ask how we can assist His Excellency Star Dragon?” asked Li Changsheng. The others looked at Zuo Mu as well.

Zuo Mu said gravely, “Divine Emissary Star Dragon said that he’s at a critical stage of helping the Nine Progenitors rebuild their bodies, and that he cannot be disrupted. Thus, he’s asked that you stand guard outside the Ancestral Demon Grounds. No matter what happens, you are not to take even a single step back!”

The crowd exchanged glances. All of them nodded.

……

The Spirit Domain was in uproar.

And Su Yi, the one who’d caused this storm, was on his way to the Ancestral Demon Grounds, just as he’d announced at Celestial Wolf Gate.

Whoosh!

The Sky-Covering Boat carried Su Yi through the air at top speed. It left perfectly straight rifts in the air and sliced through the clouds in its wake, but by the time the gashes appeared, the boat was long gone.

It was easy to imagine how fast it was.

I suspect the top experts of the Nine Great Demon Races are already on their way to ‘Nightslayer Ridge.’

Su Yi sprawled out comfortably at the head of the Sky-Covering Boat, drinking with enthusiasm.

He couldn’t help but feel a bit rueful about the name Nightslayer Ridge. It was true that Wang Ye had halted his advance there, and that he’d been forced to retreat and leave the Spirit Domain. Still, it was no way the crushing defeat demons touted it to be. In the battle that preceded his departure, Wang Ye killed until heads rolled across the ground, and the earth ran red with demon blood. All of the Nine Great Demon Races suffered massive casualties!

And although he was intercepted and forced to retreat to Nightslayer Ridge, he slew numerous Demon Sovereigns first. How could that possibly qualify as a “disheartening defeat?”

Had Wang Ye truly lost, the Nine Great Demon Races would have celebrated and bragged about it, but they’d done no such thing. The truth of the matter was that the demons saw Wang Ye’s one-man invasion as the most humiliating battle in the Spirit Domain’s history!

At my current speed, I should reach Nightslayer Ridge within three days. I ought to be able to give the demons a delightful surprise this time, thought Su Yi.

Now that he’d broken into the Great Unity Stage, he had no opponents left among Great Realm experts.

In the Spirit Domain, the strongest experts were from the Nine Great Demon Races. Su Yi actually rather hoped that they’d progressed over the years. If he encountered the same enemies as last time, Su Yi would be a bit disappointed.

Su Yi suddenly recalled something. Right, I’ll be passing by Thousandflame City. I might as well stop by.

When Wang Ye waged war in the Spirit Domain, he conquered numerous territories. When he passed through Thousandflame City, he met an old woman from the Immortal Realm.

In Thousandflame City, she lived as a beggar. She was filthy, with a putrid odor, and so gaunt that her bones jutted out. Most humiliatingly of all, she had the word “slave” branded on her forehead.

As soon as Wang Ye saw her, he recognized her as an expert of the Immortal Realm’s Bi’an Spirit Race!

Wang Ye quickly learned that the old woman was once a general of the Third Gate of Heaven, but she’d been captured alive in battle against the demons. Her captors crippled her cultivation base and worse, sold her into slavery in Thousandflame City.

The old woman said she’d endured her life of degradation in hope that she could one day see the Immortal Realm once more. She wanted to die on the Immortal Realm’s soil.

Her words moved Wang Ye, and he planned to take her with him when he left.

Unfortunately, although he passed through Thousandflame City during his retreat from Nightslayer Ridge, he discovered that the old woman had frozen to death in a ditch, her body gnawed to bits by stray dogs.

In the end, Wang Ye could only bring her ashes back to the Bi’an Spirit Race for a burial.

Her death had an enormous impact on Wang Ye. He swore that one day, he’d annihilate the Nine Great Demon Races and crush the Spirit Domain beneath his feet. He also swore to liberate all captive citizens of the Immortal Realm.

When Su Yi thought back on it, waves of emotion crashed through his heart, and he decided to visit Thousandflame City once more.

He was revisiting, not for entertainment, but to return to the mental state he’d had back then. He wanted to recarve past humiliations into his heart!

Half a day later.

Goldenflame City.

A long, long time had passed since Su Yi’s last visit, and the city had transformed completely. Su Yi walked through it like a traveler visiting for the first time; he saw no marks of the city he’d known. He lingered for a while, then shook his head and decided to leave.

He was a stranger in a foreign land. The Spirit Domain was not his home, and there was nothing here worthy of nostalgia.

After passing through the city gates, Su Yi was about to continue his journey to the Ancestral Demon Ground when he saw a grand procession shooting through the sky.

A group of demon experts escorting manacled figures.

Su Yi could tell at a glance that the captives were descendants of immortals, as all of them had a bright red slave brand on their foreheads. There were over a hundred of them, and their captors herded them like livestock toward Goldenflame City.

“Why? Who can tell me why we were born descendants of immortal slaves? Why must we be sold off like livestock?” someone sobbed.

“My heart is full of hatred!” A delicately handsome young man gnashed his teeth. “I hate the immortal blood flowing through my veins. If my mother weren’t a lowly immortal slave, how could I have ended up here? This world… is far too unjust!”

Someone else shouted, “Your Excellency! I’m willing to fight and kill our enemies in the Immortal Realm. I’ll kill every last that despicable immortal scum down to the last man. All I want is to spend my life in service to the demon race!”

But most of the slaves had numb, wooden expressions, as if they were resigned to their fates.

When Su Yi heard the immortal descendants’ conversations, his brow furrowed. You hate the immortal blood flowing through your veins? You see your own mother as a lowly immortal slave? You want to fight on the demons’ behalf and kill citizens of the Immortal Realm?

Rage welled in Su Yi’s heart.

Whoosh!

He appeared out of nowhere, blocking the procession.

“Who are you? Why block our path?” bellowed a demon expert.

Su Yi waved his sleeve through the air, and the demon experts exploded into ash.

As effortless as sweeping dust off the table.

The hundred-plus captive immortals were startled and instantly in uproar. All of them stared at Su Yi in disbelief.

“Thank you for saving us, Your Excellency!” The delicately handsome young man in gray robes was so excited that he flung himself to his knees and kowtowed.

Numerous others did the same. Some even wept tears of gratitude.

But others remained standing. They watched Su Yi with caution.

“Did you just say that you hate the immortal blood running through your veins?” Su Yi walked over to look at the kneeling young man.

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