First Immortal of the Sword

“Sixth Brother Book, tell me, how do I convince Third Brother Sword to accept me as its master?”

When the Book of Karma heard that, it cautiously distanced itself from the six-inch sword coffin before hurriedly writing a line of text.

“There are two ways. First, you can pummel him into submission. Second, you can find Second Brother Blade and help Third Brother Sword fight him!”

Su Yi was stunned.

The first method wasn’t at all feasible. This was a naturally formed Epoch Treasure, one of the Mysteries of Chaos. It could suppress even the Epoch Treasures the divine children carried. Even Su Yi had needed the Sword of Proximity’s help to deal with Fu Tianyi's backup plan.

Given the circumstances, how on earth was he supposed to give the sword a convincing defeat?

“Is the 'Second Brother Blade' you’re referring to the second of the Nine Mysteries of Chaos, the Blade of Heaven’s Loathing?” asked Su Yi.

“The very same!” explained the Book of Karma. “Second Brother Blade is far too vicious, and he’s among the most lethal of the Nine Mysteries of Chaos. He’s truly loathed by the heavens and detested by the gods!”

“Way back when, he bullied me and the other Nine Mysteries of Chaos! Third Brother Sword likes no one less than Second Brother Blade. Way back when they first arose from the chaos, they came into fierce conflict on numerous occasions. They get on like fire and water. They’re absolutely irreconcilable!”

Su Yi couldn’t help but be stunned, and intrigued, too. “Which of them is stronger?”

“Second Brother Blade has won more bouts, but he always takes worse injuries. Third Brother Sword wins less often, but his injuries are milder. Seems to me that the two of them are roughly comparable in strength.

“But Second Brother Blade certainly doesn’t think so. He thinks that since he’s second in seniority, he ought to be stronger than Third Brother Sword.”

“Third Brother Sword strongly disagrees. He thinks that Second Brother Blade is second among us purely because he was the second to emerge from the chaos, not due to superior strength. Third Brother Sword doesn’t think he’s Second Brother Blade’s inferior at all.”

Su Yi couldn’t help but find this amusing. They were a pair of chaos treasures, but their competitive spirit was so strong. It was truly unexpected.

“Then which of the Nine Mysteries of Chaos do you think is the strongest?” asked Su Yi.

“Me, of course!” said the Book of Karma.

“....” Su Yi didn’t know what to say.

It seemed that the six-inch sword coffin couldn’t watch this any longer. It swayed in midair, ready to strike.

The Book of Karma quivered, then hurriedly changed its tone. “Actually, all of us have our unique wondrous qualities, and we excel in different areas. In terms of combat power, Second Brother Blade and Third Brother Sword are the strongest. In terms of speed, the Sky-Covering Boat is the greatest, while the Yin-Yang Diagram has the strongest defenses. We’re all different, so there’s no comparing us.”

“And what about the Writing Brush Of Genesis?” asked Su Yi. “What secrets does it have?”

The Writing Brush Of Genesis!

The first of the Nine Mysteries of Chaos, and the most mysterious.

Su Yi had asked the Book of Karma about the Writing Brush of Genesis before, but the Book of Karma had little to say.

All it said was that “Eldest Brother Writing Brush” was the first of the Nine Mysteries of Chaos, and that he was full of unfathomable mysteries. He disappeared as soon as he was created, and there were practically no rumors surrounding him.

That was all, plain and simple. The Writing Brush of Genesis was a complete unknown.

“I don’t know,” wrote the Book of Karma, just as Su Yi expected. “By the time I was born, Eldest Brother Writing Brush had vanished.”

Su Yi rubbed his forehead and asked no further questions about the brush. Instead, he asked, “Then do you know where I can find Second Brother Blade?”

Suddenly, the six-inch sword coffin rose into the air and wrote a line on the Book of Karma, using itself as a brush. “When you reach the Great Profound Stage, I’ll bring you to see him!”

Su Yi’s spirits soared. Indeed, using Second Brother Blade to entice the Sword of Proximity into action seems like it’ll work!

“Ouch! Ouch! It hurts!” The Book of Karma quivered and said, “Third Brother Sword, if you have anything to say, I’ll say it for you. There’s no need for you to defile my body!”

Su Yi disregarded the book’s pain and said with great interest, “Why wait until I reach the Great Profound Stage?”

The Sword of Proximity kept writing. “You’re still too weak.”

The Book of Karma’s pages crinkled with agony, and it launched into a stream of curses, but it dared not have a true falling out with Third Brother Sword.

This was true frustration.

“Too weak…?” Su Yi was at a loss for words. Who’d have thought that even a sword would look down on me?

……

Time slipped by. Soon, fifty years had passed in the Spring and Autumn Space. Su Yi’s cultivation base had undergone a startling transformation.

He’d reached the pinnacle of the Great Martial Stage, and his body and soul had been tempered to perfection.

His powers of the Grand Dao had fused into one. He’d reached the limit of mastery at his level!

That aside, refining numerous Great Profound Stage immortal treasures had increased the Sword of the Human Realm’s grade. It wasn't just comparable to Great Profound treasures, but a Great Profound treasure in its own right. Even the Divine Replenishment Furnace, the one doing all the refining, had benefited enormously from the process. It had become a Great Profound-level treasure before the sword did.

This came at the cost of most of the spoils from the Immortal Peach Assembly. The majority had already been used up.

But it was worth it!

Without ample resources to support the endeavor, there was no way he could have tempered his cultivation base to such an extreme after just fifty bitter years of seclusion. The very idea was madness.

Cultivating within the Three Stages of the Great Realm was just too difficult!

Great Realm cultivators could spend over ten thousand years in seclusion without any guarantee of progress. Without the right opportunities and resources, spending even longer in seclusion would be in vain.

This was why Great Realm experts were so rare despite the enormous number of immortals in the Immortal Realm.

Su Yi required resources to grow, but so did the Sword of the Human Realm and the Divine Replenishment Furnace. Without those unparalleled Great Realm immortal treasures to melt down, there was no way the two treasures could have increased their level in just fifty short years!

Just one more step, and I can prove my Dao and enter Profound Unity. Su Yi silently opened his eyes. I just wonder when I’ll find the opportunity I need to break through. No matter what, it's better to seek it out than just sit around and wait for it!

As he pondered, he got to his feet. He could stay in the Spring and Autumn Space for another ten years if he wanted to, but there was no point.

It’d just waste his time.

Su Yi left seclusion that very day.

……

Fifty years had passed in the Spring and Autumn Space, but only fifty days in the outside world.

However, the ruins of the Academy of Eternal Night had undergone a complete and utter transformation during that time.

When Su Yi went into seclusion, the place had been desolate. Collapsed buildings lay strewn all over the place, and the immortal cultivators of the White Reed Province saw this place as a forbidden zone.

Yet now, it glowed with new life!

Pagodas stood amidst the mountains, as numerous as the trees in a forest, alongside all manner of buildings. There were wondrous flower gardens and fields of medicinal herbs growing all over the place.

Immortal cranes soared through the sky, and auspicious clouds hovered overhead.

Formations covered the academy on all sides, drawing in spiritual energy from throughout the surrounding landscape. The ruins of the Academy of Eternal Night now seemed like a blessed ground, an otherworldly pure land suitable for immortals.

This was what immortal cultivators were capable of. They could move mountains, fill oceans, and transform the landscape. Within just fifty days, they’d created a blessed ground from the ground up!

It helped that those working under Su Yi included no small number of Immortal Kings. In the present-day Immortal Realm, they might not compare to Great Realm experts, but they were still top experts.

With Liu Yun, Qing Wei, Immortal Kunwu, and the others working together, a brand-new Academy of Eternal Night was rising from the rubble!

“Not bad at all,” said Su Yi as Qing lei led him around the academy.

Qing Wei flashed him a reserved smile. “Sovereign, this junior is confident that with your leadership, the Academy of Eternal Night will only get better and better. I’m certain that it will reclaim its former glory—no, that it’ll surpass it!”

Her eyes shone with heartfelt anticipation.

Su Yi smiled. “I’ll leave the Immortal Realm sooner or later. Whether or not the Academy of Eternal Night can rise to prominence shall ultimately depend on all of you.”

“You’re leaving?” Qing Wei froze, stunned.

Before she came back to her senses, Su Yi kept walking. “But all of that’s in the future. I’ll naturally make arrangements before I leave.”

Qing Wei hurried after him.

As she moved, her slender legs created startling curves beneath her skirt, each gone as soon as it appeared.

A beauty was most beautiful when some things were left to the imagination. A layer of fabric was enough to set one’s thoughts racing.

“Sovereign, while you were in seclusion, experts of the various prominent immortal factions visited to offer their congratulations. All of them brought generous gifts.”

Qing Wei’s red lips parted, and she explained what had happened over the past fifty days.

The Immortal Realm descended into upheaval after the Immortal Peach Assembly. The Church of the Pure One, the Church of Supreme Oneness, and other top factions were shaken and terrified. They had no choice but to suppress their bluster, gather their forces, and hide.

They were obviously scared out of their wits.

Meanwhile, throughout the Immortal Realm, the winds rose and the clouds gathered. Everyone realized that the long-established order of the Immortal Realm had broken after the Immortal Peach Assembly. The curtains had opened on a new era!

But there was no doubt about it. The White Reed Province’s Academy of Eternal Night had drawn the most attention by far!

The ancient Tang Family, the three Pure Lands of the Buzhou Mountains, and numerous other ancient orthodoxies had sent emissaries with generous gifts to support the academy’s re-establishment.

Some factions, despite having no connection to Su Yi whatsoever, had even come to build connections, all in the name of “helping with the academy’s construction.”

People were gathering here from all over the Immortal Realm, like pilgrims to a holy hand!

More factions came to pay their respects with each passing day, and immortals gathered here from all over the world. No small number of youths eager to cultivate in the Academy of Eternal Night had come, too.

Although over a month remained until the day Su Yi had decided for the opening ceremony, tens of thousands of cultivators were already gathered outside their gates!

Some were here simply to witness the grand re-opening of the Academy of Eternal Night. Others wanted to be among the first group to gain admission and cultivate here.

Either way, the Academy of Eternal Night was now the center of attention. The whole world was watching!

Su Yi learned all this, but he simply laughed it off. There’d never been any shortage of rubberneckers in this world. The masses were responding to the Academy of Eternal Night like this purely because of him.

He hoped that one day, the Academy of Eternal Night would have the foundations and strength to earn the world’s attention in its own right.

Suddenly, Su Yi asked, “Have any of the divine children caused a disturbance while I was in seclusion?”