First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 1349 - A Toast per Severed Grudge

The winds howled, rustling Su Yi’s bloodstained robes.

It was as if he didn’t even notice the severity of his wounds. He took out a jug of wine, raised it, and toasted the distant Yan Daolin.

“I know you aren’t like the Tailor. I understand.” With that, Su Yi threw back his head and drank.

Yan Daolin’s gaze shifted inscrutably. He couldn’t help but burst into laughter, as if incomparably gratified and emotional. “Having an enemy like you in my life was my good fortune!”

With that, he attacked from afar. His entire body was like a sword as his cultivation, essence, qi, and spirit all caught ablaze.

The crowd was stunned. They would never have guessed that Yan Daolin would burn his own life force and cultivation base, all to end things with the Temple Master!

How terrifying would it be when a top-notch early-stage Nascent Divinity Transcendent self-destructed?

Boom!

The dome of heaven shook, and the skies split. The spectators felt a stinging pain in their eyes, and their hearts felt stifled. They watched in a daze as Yan Daolin seemingly transformed into a sword that slashed at the Human Realm from on high.

However, Su Yi just let out a soft sigh. It was only when Yan Daolin’s attack drew near that he raised the Sword of the Human Realm and struck the air.

Bang!!!

The entire stretch of sky was thrown into disarray.

The divine flames bursting from Yan Daolin’s body gradually dimmed, then went out.

Only then did everyone see that Yan Daolin was suppressed just three feet from Su Yi, his body cracked like dropped porcelain. It was splitting apart, inch by inch!

Everyone present was shaken. Without exception, their eyes widened.

Yan Daolin had sacrificed his life and cultivation base, but he still couldn’t shake Su Yi!

“Do you have anything else you want to say?” asked Su Yi.

Yan Daolin started to speak, then stopped himself. He shook his head.

He was about to die. It didn’t matter if he spoke or if he kept his words to himself. Ultimately, it was all over.

“Farewell.”

Su Yi lowered the Sword of the Human Realm, and Yan Daolin’s body disintegrated completely into ash.

The Supreme Leader of the Nine Heavens Pavilion, an expert whose name had shaken the stars for countless years, had fallen.

Waves of emotion rocked the crowd’s hearts. They’d just witnessed the end of a legend.

“Temple Master, I have an attack to show you. Please, have a look!” Deng Zuo said suddenly.

It seemed he was going all out. He looked calm and composed as his clothing billowed around him.

“Very well.” Su Yi inclined his head.

Deng Zuo gently caressed his broken sword, then suddenly shook his head and threw it away. His life force shockingly soared, as if it had broken through some kind of bottleneck.

Startled cries rang out throughout the area. “He's breaking through mid-combat!”

The Transcendents all looked stunned. They could tell that Deng Zuo’s cultivation had smoothly advanced from the early-stage Nascent Divinity Realm to the mid-stage Nascent Divinity Realm!

As fellow Transcendents, who among them didn’t know how difficult it was to break through mid-battle?

There was no doubt about it. Deng Zuo had encountered a bottleneck, but the fierce combat earlier had stimulated his latent potential, letting him see through its riddles and break through in a single step.

“Such a breakthrough deserves a toast!” Su Yi raised his jug of wine into the air, toasted Deng Zuo from afar, then threw back his head and took a big swig.

Deng Zuo clasped his fist. “I have you to thank for giving me this opportunity to break through, Fellow Daoist.”

Su Yi smiled. “Go ahead and attack.”

“Very well!” Deng Zuo took a deep breath, his gaze as expressionless as the waters of an ancient well as he stepped into the air.

He looked as if he’d risen above it all, like an immortal untainted by the smoke and fire of mundane life. He pressed his fingers into a makeshift sword, and a dot of unbelievably sharp light gathered at his fingertip.

The edge light grew increasingly radiant and intense. He was pouring his entire cultivation base into it, and as he emptied his energy reserves, he grew weaker and weaker. In the end, exhaustion appeared on his brow.

But his eyes shone with determination.

Heaven and earth shook as terrifying destructive power spread from Deng Zuo’s fingertip like a tidal wave or avalanche, sweeping in all directions.

He hadn’t even unleashed it yet, but its power nonetheless shook both heaven and earth!

Su Yi sensed all this. He couldn’t help but sigh with admiration. When it comes to proficiency in the Grand Dao, Deng Zuo is unquestionably the greatest of my old enemies.

When he was just ninety feet from Su Yi, Deng Zuo bellowed. “Cut!”

His voice was like the roar of a dragon echoing throughout the firmament.

The incomparably radiant and sharp light at his fingertip shot forth. In that moment, heaven and earth dimmed, and all of creation trembled.

Many of the distant onlookers subconsciously closed their eyes, not daring to gaze at it directly.

The power of this slash had reached unbelievable heights. It could even shake their senses and attack their hearts!

Even the Transcendents had to circulate their cultivation bases to neutralize the power unleashed by this powerful strike.

Deng Zuo couldn’t help but smile, straight from the heart. He’d poured everything he’d achieved in his life into that strike. It was the strongest he’d ever unleashed, the strike he took the most pride in.

He’d spent his life pursuing the Dao. After unleashing such an attack, he could die without regret!

Meanwhile, although no one knew when, Su Yi had already put away the Sword of the Human Realm. He stood there unmoving, his hands forming a seal as he struck the air nine times in rapid succession.

Boom!!!

How radiant and tyrannical was the incoming streak of sword qi? Yet for all its power, as Su Yi’s seals landed, they wore it down. Finally, when it was just three feet from Su Yi, Deng Zuo’s attack froze, unable to advance so much as an inch further.

Then, this first streak of sword qi shattered and broke, inch by inch.

This left everyone feeling completely dumbstruck.

Su Yi was so grievously injured already, yet even after Deng Zuo broke through and poured everything he had into this attack, he still blocked it!

Off in the distance, Deng Zuo was obviously stunned too. A moment later, he laughed bitterly. “That was the attack I took the most pride in. Who’d have thought it’d amount to so little...?”

He could tell that Su Yi had deliberately gone easy on him by putting away the Sword of the Human Realm, but that was exactly what made this so frustrating.

“This sword was quite impressive. Several months ago, I would have had to unleash my full power to neutralize it,” Su Yi said with complete seriousness.

After a moment’s silence, Deng Zuo looked directly at Su Yi. “Thank you.”

It was as if he had aged countless years instantaneously. His skin wrinkled, split, and shattered into ash as if he were made of dried-up wood.

Su Yi froze, stunned, his gaze conflicted.

Deng Zuo had poured his whole freshly advanced cultivation base into that attack. It had drained him, yes. But that wasn’t enough to kill him. Deng Zuo had chosen to end his own life!

He’d rather kill himself than die beneath Su Yi’s sword.

His bone-deep pride and determination were on full display. Rather, you could say that he’d chosen the most dignified death he could.

“Farewell,” Su Yi said softly.

The distant onlookers struggled to understand Deng Zuo’s mentality. When they watched him die, they felt only shock and astonishment.

What the Transcendents really couldn’t understand was why the Temple Master was still so strong despite the obvious severity of his injuries. It looked like he might topple at any moment.

But no matter what, Deng Zuo was dead.

The High Elder of the Primordial Unity Daoist Sect, the man who single-handedly held up one of the top sects of the stars, the man who’d gazed upon all star realms with pride, leaving behind countless legends, had died atop the Violet Heavens Platform, just like the Painter and Yan Daolin!

From beginning to end, the Fisherman never attacked. Now, he was the only one left.

The look on his face was difficult to describe: grief-stricken, desolate, frustrated, melancholy... It couldn’t have been any more complicated.

“Fisherman, I know you’ve never wanted to kill anyone more than you want to kill me,” said Su Yi. He took out his jug of wine and smiled. “After all, I suppressed you for countless years, forcing you to endure a life worse than death. I destroyed your sect’s ancestral ground, too. Still, no matter what, you didn’t run away. You’re worthy of a toast, too.”

With that, he threw back his head and drank.

The Fisherman sighed. “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. It really is time for these ancient enmities to end.”

He paused, then let out a self-deprecating laugh. “Besides, even if I wanted to flee, I doubt you’d let me.”

Here, he took out a jade slip and tossed it to Su Yi. “Hold onto this.”

This was the jade slip the Tailor had left. It recorded the answers to some of Su Yi’s questions.

Boom!

The Fisherman’s aura surged violently around him. He no longer hesitated, instead attacking directly. The Gods of the Earth Seal descended upon Su Yi swathed in appalling immortal light.

He was a top expert, and he’d long since experienced his fill of the wind and rain. He’d lived too long to count. His mental strength and spirit were far beyond any ordinary cultivator. He certainly wouldn’t slump or give in to despair simply because the others had died.

This was the bearing of a top expert of the present day!

Had these top experts been born in ancient times, all of them could have stepped onto the Path of Transcendence with ease. They could have even transcended mortality and risen into the Immortal Realm to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the leaders of its top sects!

Alas, they’d been born at the wrong time. That was simply all there was to it.

Even if you had astonishing talent, if you were born in an era without a Path of Transcendence, you could only stagnate on the Path of Heaven’s Ascension, gaze into the sea, and sigh!

By comparison, although the revenants Su Yi had killed might have had higher cultivations in life, when it came to foundations and breadth of spirit, they were nowhere comparable to the Fisherman, Yan Daolin, and other top experts of the present day.

Su Yi didn’t try to dodge. He just swung his sword and clashed fiercely with the Fisherman.

Moments later, one of his slashes cleaved through the Fisherman's torso. Red blood sprayed the blue dome of heaven!

In the last moments before his death, the Fisherman couldn’t help but ask, “You’re so badly injured. Are you certain you can fight your way out of here?”

Countless powerful foes surrounded the Violet Heavens Platform like a pack of ravening wolves. Danger lurked on every corner.

And Su Yi was badly injured. Even though he’d won, who dared say that he’d be able to leave this place alive?

When they heard the Fisherman’s question, everyone pricked up their ears.

Su Yi thought for a moment, then transmitted to the Fisherman, “I came all the way here, so I won’t leave until I’ve killed to my heart’s content.”

The Fisherman was stunned. But then, he couldn’t help but burst into uproarious laughter, as if incomparably delighted. “You're right, you are indeed the person I most want to kill. But, although you don’t know it...you’re...also the person...I admire the most....”

His voice started and stopped, then trailed off until it was barely audible.

His body had already shattered. Now, even his soul origin had dissipated. Nothing remained of the leader of the Church of the River of Stars.

Now, the leaders of all four top sects of the present day, top powerhouses of the stars, had fallen!

Heaven and earth lay in ruin, devastating the mountains and rivers.

Su Yi stood alone, proud and upright beneath the firmament, his entire body stained red with blood.

Without exception, the distant onlookers’ hearts quivered. A long time passed before they came back to their senses.