First Immortal of the Sword

The home of the ancient Feng Family.

The air was stifled and oppressive. Everyone looked bleak.

When Feng Wuji saw Su Yi, still under the guise of Vice Palace Master Xiao of Wandering Night Palace, he was delighted. "Brother Xiao, I didn't anticipate that you'd come to my aid."

He personally invited Su Yi into a grand hall and welcomed him as a distinguished guest.

Once Su Yi was seated, he said, "I remember that last time we met, I gave you a secret map. Don't tell me it was useless?"

Feng Wuji sighed. "The map you gave us is incomparably precious, and it's helped enormously, but there's something you don't know. The Extreme Lightning Demon Cave has changed dramatically."

Here, he launched into a detailed explanation.

The map Su Yi gave him wasn't fake. It marked a path through the Extreme Lightning Demon Cave, and it marked every last danger zone along the way.

But so much time had passed that, although the Extreme Lightning Demon Cave's geography hadn't changed much, it had given rise to numerous new, unforeseeable dangers!

The forces of the ancient Feng Family had attempted to use the map to explore the Extreme Lightning Demon Cave on numerous occasions. They were trying to find the Rahu Yao Ancestor.

But they hadn't found any leads, and worse, they'd suffered massive casualties!

"That blasted place is just too terrifying, and it's full of strange, calamitous, vengeful spirits and malevolent ghosts." Feng Wuji's brow furrowed with deep-seated concern. "According to my clan elders, even Undying Realm Master Gods are at risk of dying in there!"

"Then what does the Feng Family plan to do next?" asked Su Yi.

Feng Wuji grimaced. "What else can we do? All we can do is keep trying and see if we can figure out where my ancestor is trapped."

He looked at Su Yi. "What about you, Brother Xiao? Aren't you afraid that you'll die in the Extreme Lightning Demon Cave?"

Su Yi laughed. "I came all this way. Naturally, I'm fully prepared."

Feng Wuji's spirits soared. "Actually, we were already planning to send another group to explore the Extreme Lightning Demon Cave soon.

"This time, in addition to a group of our clan's experts, we'll be sending a group of experts recruited from the outside world! It would naturally be just wonderful if you joined in!"

"When do we leave?" asked Su Yi.

"Tomorrow morning!" said Feng Wuji.

"Alright." Su Yi inclined his head.

That evening, the Feng Family arranged a temporary residence for him, and he spent the night.

......

Late at night, the Feng Family's ancestral hall.

"Father, I know Xiao Jian is only a Lesser God, but don't let that fool you. He's incredibly capable, and his combat strength is heaven-defying! It hasn't been long since he crushed all of the competition in Qingwu Divine Court's sparring match with the Severed Heavens Demon Court!

"More importantly, it was Xiao Jian who sold me that map back in Spring and Autumn City.

"Seems to me that Xiao Jian knows the situation in the Extreme Lightning Demon Cave like the back of his hand. If he joins us, I'm sure this expedition will go well!"

Feng Wuji spoke with complete conviction.

Feng Changyuan, Feng Wuji's father and the leader of the Feng Family, inclined his head. "Very well. I permit you to join this expedition personally."

Feng Wuji was instantly delighted. "Many thanks for granting my request, Father!"

"You must be careful," said Feng Changyuan. "Whatever you do, don't get complacent."

It was then that a black-robed, white-haired elder said, "Rest assured, Family Head. I'll personally accompany Wuji on this expedition!"

Fang Changyuan was briefly stunned. "Elder, we need you here to oversee things. You—"

Before he could finish, the old man waved away his concerns. "Wuji is our young leader. We cannot let anything happen to him. If I go with him, I'm sure I'll be able to assist."

Feng Changyuan had a complicated look on his face, but in the end, he sighed. "I'll just have to trouble you then, Elder."

Feng Wuji, meanwhile, was delighted. The black-robed, white-haired old man was called Feng Yunxiu. He was an Undying Realm old-timer of the Feng Family, and a long-established Three-Tribulation Master God!

......

The following day at noon, the sky was clear, without a single cloud in sight.

A treasure ship left the ancient Feng Family estate, soaring through the skies. It was headed toward the Extreme Lightning Demon Cave.

There were five members of the ancient Feng Family on board, including Feng Wuji and the elder, Feng Yunxiu.

Feng Yunxiu was a Master God. The others included one Fortune Realm Greater God and two Limit Realm Mid-Rank Gods.

Only Feng Wuji was a lesser god.

The nine others on board were experts of different factions. Most had come because the Feng Family was offering generous rewards.

Several of them were rogue cultivators, and they were utterly ruthless, the type to lick the blood directly off their sabers. Each ruled over their own territory, and they were infamous amongst the masses!

The strongest were two Fortune Realm Greater Gods, while the others were Mid-Rank and Lesser Gods.

Combined with the experts of the Feng Family, this was a first-rate lineup by the standards of the Southern Flame Divine Continent. Most people would in no way dare to provoke them.

Even Xiao Jian, a "mere" Lesser God, had the status of vice palace master of Qingwu Divine Court's Wandering Night Palace. No one would dare to look down on him, either.

A day later, the group reached the entrance of the Extreme Lightning Demon Cave.

Heaven and earth were overcast. The entire area was devoid of life.

A massive lightning vortex hovered in the sky. As the vortex churned, lightning scattered, and arcs of electricity shot through the air, emanating all-encompassing waves of destructive power.

This was the entrance to the Extreme Lightning Demon Cave.

Only gods could enter. Those beneath that level would be obliterated the moment they drew near, their bodies reduced to powder.

"Biheng, you and the two of them should stay here and be ready to receive us. I'll go with the young leader and the others," ordered Feng Yunxiu.

Feng Biheng, a Greater God, and the two Feng Family Mid-Rank Gods stayed behind.

The rest of the group followed Feng Yunxiu through the entrance to the Extreme Lightning Demon Cave. In the blink of an eye, they'd vanished.

The Extreme Lightning Demon Cave.

This was one of the most incomparably perilous forbidden zones in the Southern Flame Divine Continent. It was far more dangerous than the Barren Mountains of Divine Calamity.

Ordinarily speaking, not even gods dared venture inside.

Half a year ago, the Rahu Yao Ancestor entered the Extreme Lightning Demon Cave in search of good fortune. In the process, he was badly injured, and no one knew whether he was alive or dead. This incident had caused widespread uproar.

A long-famous, peak Nine-Tribulation Master God had gotten trapped inside the Extreme Lightning Demon Cave. It was thus obvious how perilous of a place it was!

Meanwhile, Su Yi and company arrived in the Extreme Lightning Demon Cave.

This was a world enveloped in dark thunder clouds. The skies were overcast, and the ground was utterly barren. Nothing grew here, not even an inch of grass.

There were strange, craggy mountains in the distance. They were thoroughly enveloped in dense, bloody, baleful mists.

It was like walking through an abandoned world of darkness. Everything was desolate and oppressively bleak.

From time to time, lightning flashed through the clouds, illuminating this overcast world in full, unsettling and strange detail.

There were fragmented corpses, some fully one hundred thousand feet long, strewn across the ground. Their bones were covered in blood-red flowers.

The red flowers swayed, emanating strange whispers, like ghosts conversing secretly amongst themselves.

There was an enormous tree rooted in the clouds, but it had long since withered. Its branches were bare, and they were covered in layers of rotting flesh and blood.

The sound of immortal laughter and Buddhist chanting emanated from afar, echoing through the air, but there was a strange, unsettling quality to these voices. Just hearing them was enough to make one shudder.

When the lightning vanished, all of these scenes vanished. Even the voices came to a stop.

The only sound in the entire overcast, barren wilderness was the wind, and it sounded almost like sobbing.

Many of the gods gasped, their expressions shifting. This place was just too sinister and strange! Even though they were all experienced gods, just being in this forbidden zone put enormous pressure on them.

"Brother Xiao, what do you think we should do?" asked Feng Wuji.

The others looked at Su Yi, too. On their way here, Feng Wuji had told them that the vice palace master of Qingwu Divine Court's Wandering Night Palace knew the Extreme Lightning Demon Cave like the back of his hand.

"I'll lead the way from here on out, but let me say this first. Don't pin all your hopes on me," said Su Yi calmly. "You'd all best take care on the road ahead."

The group nodded, and soon, they set off, Su Yi leading the way.

Crunch!

Not long after, lightning flashed overhead, illuminating the dark landscape once more. Those strange, unsettling scenes instantly came back into view.

"No——!" someone suddenly cried out in terror.

The group whipped around and saw a gray-robed man clutching his head. His features were hideously contorted, and he cried out like mad. It seemed something terrifying were happening to him.

Whoosh!

A streak of sword qi flashed through the air, and blood splattered the gray-robed man's hair.

When the group looked closer, they saw that the blood belonged to a black worm about as thick as an ox hair and as long as a forefinger. It looked little different from a strand of hair.

Yet now, it had been severed cleanly in two. Both halves of its corpse fell off the man's head.

The shrieking, maddened man instantly calmed back down, but his face was deathly pale, and his forehead was covered in sweat, as if he'd just narrowly escaped disaster.

The others' hearts shook.

Feng Wuji asked, "Brother Xiao, what the hell was that worm?"

It was Su Yi who'd intervened. He said casually, "A Demonic Babble Worm. When they invade the body, the soul is plunged into a dark abyss, and the host descends into muddled, frenzied terror. If the worm isn't killed, the sheer terror will break the host's mind, and they'll lose themselves to obsession and perish."

He paused, then continued, "The worm itself isn't scary. The scary part is that they can silently attach themselves to a god's hair, entirely unnoticed."

The group felt enlightened, but they couldn't help but feel lingering terror.

A Demonic Babble Worm!

They'd never even heard of such a thing in the outside world, let alone seen one!

"Thank you for saving me, Daoist Brother!" The gray-robed man walked up, practically weeping with gratitude.

Su Yi smiled. "We're traveling together. It's only right that we look out for each other."

"You're absolutely right, my young friend," Feng Yunxiu nodded approvingly.

As Su Yi led the group further in, the others grew increasingly cautious.

"Strange. Why is it that every time the lightning flashes, that same strange scene appears? It's like it's following us, and there's no leaving it behind." Feng Wuji frowned.

No matter how far in they went, every time the lightning flashed, those unsettling scenes returned. This was far too out of the ordinary.

Su Yi took a sip of wine and was just about to say something when—

Boom!

Yet another dazzling lightning bolt tore through the darkness, illuminating the landscape. The moment it appeared, a streak of murky gray divine radiance shot directly at Su Yi and his companions.