First Immortal of the Sword

A black tree only about a foot tall grew in a stretch of ancient mountain forest shrouded in fog.

The tree looked as if it had been forged out of bronze, and its surface glowed with an air of divinity. Three quail-egg-sized red fruits hung from its leafless branches. Each emanated a resplendent rain of light.

Nothing grew around it, not even an inch of grass. Even the fog dared not draw near.

Suddenly, a slender, graceful figure silently forged her way through the mist. Her skin was like suet, and her eyes were bright and beautiful. She was a true beauty, but she was cold and aloof, like an orchid growing in a secluded valley.

This was none other than Tang Yuyan.

She carried a short purple saber, and her aura was withdrawn. She walked in silence, stealthily drawing closer to the foot-tall black tree.

A group of six Immortal Lords were hidden deeper in the fog. Two were from the Tang Family. The other four were from the Tang Family's allied factions.

All of them were among the greatest Immortal Lords of the present day.

Every last one of them was ready and waiting for battle. They watched Tang Yuyan intently, ready to leap into action at a moment’s notice.

When she was less than a hundred feet from the little black tree, Tang Yuyan silently stopped in place and extended one of the fingers of her left hand.

A gentle flick, and a translucent thread as thin as an ox hair silently wrapped around the base of the tree’s trunk.

But a moment later, the ground split beneath Tang Yuyan’s feet, and a large, skeletal hand grabbed her by the ankle.

Whoosh!

Tang Yuyan swung her saber, shattering the skeletal hand. Almost simultaneously, she shot into the air.

Boom!

Countless skeletal hands burst from the bowels of the earth, like halberds rising into the air.

Every last skeletal hand was swathed in a bloody, baleful aura. They could rip Immortal Lords to shreds with ease.

The skeletal hands surged forth, enveloping the surface of the earth. The Immortal Lords hiding in the fog couldn’t help but gasp.

It was immediately obvious that if Tang Yuyan hadn’t taken to the skies at the first sign of danger, the skeletal hands would have surrounded and trapped her!

Who could have imagined that such peril lurked beneath the surface of this ancient forest?

“Break!” Tang Yuyan waved her saber. Glittering golden saber force whooshed through the air and descended with a bang.

The entire area shook. Countless skeletal hands shattered, and saber qi ran rampant. Several of the towering trees nearby were reduced to powder.

Tang Yuyan shook her wrists.

Kcch!

The string wrapped around the little black tree pulled it out by the roots, and Tang Yuyan seized it. Her eyes lit up with delight.

I finally acquired this good fortune!

Suddenly, a strange voice emanated from the distant fog, like bones scraping together.

Immediately afterward, a hundred-foot figure appeared in the distance. Churning, bloody, baleful energy poured down around it, and a heart-palpitating aura swept through heaven and earth.

“What the hell is that?” someone couldn’t help but exclaim.

Their divine senses told them that the figure was a battered, rotting corpse. Its bones were visible beneath the decaying flesh, and its head was covered in wounds.

Baleful energy poured from it like a waterfall, and its ferocious aura shook heaven and earth.。

The Immortal Lords’ hearts shook as he felt a strong sense of imminent crisis.

Even Tang Yuyan couldn’t help but look solemn.

Nonetheless, her beautiful eyes lit up. It’s so powerful! What kind of core will I acquire once I’ve killed it?

Boom!

Off in the distance, the hundred-foot corpse took action. A swing of its hand, and the surrounding bloody, baleful energy transformed into countless chains and shot toward Tang Yuyan.

They blanketed the sky and obscured the sun.

As that baleful power spread, even the skies rotted.

Tang Yuyan didn’t hesitate to charge into the fray.

Clang!

Her purple saber burst with misty light, and soon, she and the corpse were locked in fierce combat.

Heaven and earth shook. Dazzling saber qi swept through the sky, destroying the surrounding forest. Explosive, bloody, baleful energy ran rampant.

Tang Yuyan was strong. The majestic bearing of an unrivaled Immortal Lady was on full display. Wherever her saber pointed, her tyrannical power split both heaven and earth.

But the hundred-foot rotting corpse was even more terrifying!

It manipulated bloody, baleful power, manifesting all manner of explosive attacks. Its power was such that the Immortal Lords watching the battle from the shadows couldn’t help but lose their nerve.

Just what kind of monster is this?

Shortly afterward, numerous wounds appeared all over the giant corpse. It was already battered beyond recognition.

But Tang Yuyan was injured too. Some of the bloody, baleful power had swept across her, leaving her face deathly pale.

Her allies charged out of the shadows, fully intending to rush to her aid, but Tang Yuyan stopped them. She refused to let them fight.

It wasn’t that she was acting tough, but that she knew that with their strength, her allies would be of little use against an unparalleled monster like this.

“Die!” Tang Yuyan charged once more.

Her injuries were increasingly severe, but the corpse obviously wouldn’t be able to take much more, either. Cracks spread across its massive body, like dropped porcelain. Before long, it would shatter.

The battle was so fierce that the Immortal Lords couldn’t help but sweat on Tang Yuyan’s behalf.

But then, against all expectations, the corpse suddenly turned and fled!

“You think you can flee? You’re dreaming!” Tang Yuyan gnashed her teeth, gripped her short saber, and charged.

But it was then that a black spear shot over from afar, running the hundred-foot corpse through.

Boom!

The hundred-foot skeleton exploded into pieces.

A tall, stalwart male figure shot through the sky, stretched out his hand, and plucked the fist-sized blood-red demonic core out of the sky.

Everyone was stunned. Someone actually slipped in to run off with our spoils?

But when they recognized this new arrival, their expressions shifted.

Chu Batian!

The unrivaled Immortal Lord of the Eastern Seas’ Jade Firmament Immortal Palace, a pure-blooded descendant of the Kui Ox Spirit Race, and a heaven-defying, tyrannical expert!

“Chu Batian, I wouldn’t have thought a man of your caliber would sink so low!” Tang Yuyan’s beautiful face frosted over, and she gnashed her teeth.

She’d paid a heavy price, defeating that skeletal fiend with great difficulty, only for someone else to strike the killing blow and make off with the spoils. Who wouldn’t have been angry?

“Nonsense!” Chu Batian put away the core and snorted coldly. “I saved you out of the goodness of my heart. If anything, you ought to thank me!”

“...” The crowd didn’t know what to say.

Tang Yuyan’s beautiful face was ashen with fury, and she seethed with murderous intent. “Why not admit what you’ve done?”

Chu Batian grinned. “I saved your life. Why won’t you admit that? Saving a life is an enormous act of benevolence. Grateful or not, you must acknowledge that debt!”

Tang Yuyan took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. “I’ll remember this. Next time I see you… just you wait!”

She was already badly injured, and although she had companions, she knew she wouldn’t get off lightly if she fought an unrivaled Immortal Lord like Chu Batian.

On the contrary, if they came to blows, they’d be the ones to suffer for it!

“Wait!” Chu Batian said expressionlessly. “I saved your life. Don’t you think you ought to offer me a reward?”

The crowd was stunned. They would never have guessed that an unrivaled Immortal Lord like Chu Batian would act like such a hooligan. Bad enough that he’d just “looted a burning house.” Now he was even trying to extort Tang Yuyan!

“A reward?” Tang Yuyan was so angry that she laughed.

“That’s right. Seems to me that the little black tree you just acquired would be just about good enough,” said Chu Batian. “Give it to me, and we’ll be even. Then you can leave.”

“Chu Batian, you’re pushing us too far!” someone couldn’t help but bellow.

Clang!

Chu Batian shook his spear, and murderous intent seethed around him. “How can you refuse to repay an act of benevolence? I’ll just ask you this. Will you give it to me? Or not?”

The Immortal Lords were so angry that they felt as if their lungs were about to burst.

After a moment’s silence, Tang Yuyan took out the little black tree, tossed it to Chu Batian, and left without another word. Her allies turned to follow her.

This time, Chu Batian didn’t stop them. As he watched them leave, he couldn’t help but throw back his head and laugh uproariously.

Tang Yuyan and the others felt stifled, but for all their indignation, there was nothing they could do.

After they’d left the forest, one of the Immortal Lords said, “Chu Batian is simply too much! He’s detestable to the extreme!”

The others had unsightly looks on their faces too.

But by now, Tang Yuyan had calmed down. “This is just how struggles for good fortune are. No need to nurse a grudge. This is a setback, but all of us are still alive. It’s fine. Once my wounds heal, I’ll be sure to find him to settle the score!”

She spoke calmly, but in truth, she was in no way calm. After a long, bitter struggle, someone had run off with her spoils. It was far too stifling.

Especially after factoring in Chu Batian’s tyrannical pride and twisted logic made her want to slice him to ribbons.

Suddenly, someone approached from afar. An unassuming young man in dark robes and a Daoist topknot sauntered their way.

“Shen Mu?” One of the Tang Family Immortal Lords recognized him, and he couldn’t help but exclaim, “You sure got here quick.”

He’d already heard from Tang Yuyan that they’d be traveling alongside Shen Mu.

Furthermore, he knew that Shen Mu had only gotten into the Divine Hunt due to his connection to the Tang Family. In other words, he took Su Yi for a nepo baby. He was outwardly polite, but in truth, he viewed Su Yi with the utmost disdain.

Who among the participating Immortal Lords hadn’t passed numerous trials to gain admission? How could someone who’d won their place fairly possibly respect someone who’d gotten in by pulling strings?

“Why are you injured?” exclaimed Su Yi. He’d just noticed that Tang Yuyan was injured, and she looked downright wretched.

“What does that have to do with you?” Tang Yuyan said coldly.

She already had a bellyful of fire, and she already found Su Yi distasteful. She naturally wasn’t at all friendly.

Su Yi smiled and thought nothing of it. He could tell that Tang Yuyan had suffered a major loss and that she was frustrated and upset. That’s why her temper was so poor.

“What exactly happened here?” Su Yi looked at one of the Tang Family Immortal Lords, a thin man in blue robes. His name was Tang Hanfeng.

Tang Hanfeng said impatiently, “Cousin Yuyan already told you: it has nothing to do with you. Stop asking.”

But another Immortal Lord hesitated, then explained, “Fellow Daoist Shen, earlier…”

After hearing the Immortal Lord’s concise recounting of events, Su Yi’s spirits soared. “Chu Batian? Do you know where he went?”

Even before entering the mountains, he’d made up his mind to capture Chu Batian alive.

This might well be a rare opportunity!