First Immortal of the Sword

The Zhuyou Great Peng watched until Su Yi faded from view. Finally, it couldn’t hold back any longer. “Old scoundrel, why didn’t you tell Fellow Daoist Su you were taking me back to the Buzhou Mountains?”

It was from the Divine Fulcrum Pure Lands, and it originally followed its founder, Immortal Sovereign Feng Tu.

The Divine Fortune Teller sighed. “Fellow Daoist Su is like the eye of a storm. Wherever he appears, chaos and strife are sure to follow. If at all possible, I don’t want to get swept into it.”

The Zhuyou Great Peng snickered. “Relax. The Buzhou Mountains are many, many tens of thousands of miles from the Middle Province. He’ll need to rest and fill his stomach before undertaking such a journey.”

“Fair enough, but you never know,” said the Divine Fortune Teller. “Come on already, let’s hurry up and go.”

With that, man and bird scampered off.

……

Outside the Divine Hunt Demon Mountains.

Today was the last day of the Divine Hunt.

One spatial ripple after another appeared over the enormous ritual grounds, each bringing with it an Immortal Lord.

“Why don’t I see Shen Mu?”

“Don’t tell me he realized he offended too many people and that he no longer dares to show himself?”

“It’s not just a matter of offense. It’s a blood debt! Eight Immortal Lords have died at his hands during the past month alone!”

…Everyone was talking about Su Yi. The gathered higher-ups were paying attention too.

Rather, all of them were waiting for “Shen Mu” to show up!

“Ancestor, when Su Yi arrives, I’m afraid we’ll be in for trouble,” transmitted Tang Lingqi. He was fraught with worry.

The Tang Family was the host of this Divine Hunt, but the other Immortal Kings gathered here weren’t in any way ordinary either.

The Tang Family was an ancient, powerful clan even by the standards of the Immortal Realm as a whole, but they were a level below top factions like the Church of the Pure One, the Church of Supreme Oneness, and the Church of Divine Flame.

In the present-day Immortal Realm, Great Realm experts couldn’t leave seclusion, so everything came down to how many Immortal Kings a faction had.

And in this regard, the ancient Tang Family was inferior!

‘No need for concern. This is the Divine Hunt, and everyone is watching! If they dare to try anything, I’ll be the first to object!” Tang Jinhong transmitted calmly back. “But when Fellow Daoist Su arrives, you’d best warn him right away. Have him keep a low profile. Better to lower his head now. So long as he doesn’t cause any further trouble, I can take care of the rest.”

Tang Lingqi froze, stunned, then grimaced. “Ancestor, you don’t understand Fellow Daoist Su. He… isn’t the type to endure in silence.”

Tang Jinhong was flabbergasted. “He can’t even take a single step back? After all, the Immortal Kings gathered here are backed by top factions. If he insists on flaunting his strength, the situation really will be difficult to resolve. It’s even possible…”

He paused, then frowned. “If it really comes to a falling out, our Tang Family won’t get off lightly.”

Tang Lingqi understood that as well. If they insisted on protecting Su Yi no matter what, they’d come into conflict with those top sects. Even the Tang Family would have to carefully weigh the consequences of that!

He thought for a moment, then said, “Ancestor, I’ll explain our position to Fellow Daoist Su. He might be proud and aloof, but he isn’t an unreasonable sort.”

Tang Jinhong inclined his head. Tang Lingqi had told him about Su Yi, and he knew how extraordinarily monstrous and heaven-defying this young man was.

He even had guesses as to Su Yi’s true origins. This was why he broke precedent to let Su Yi participate in the Divine Hunt, and why he was willing to defend Su Yi despite knowing that the other Immortal Kings were targeting him.

Were Su Yi anyone else, Tang Jinhong couldn’t have been bothered. He would never have gone to so much trouble.

Suddenly, one of the Immortal Kings asked, “Why hasn’t our sect’s Chu Batian arrived yet?”

He was a thin, white-haired man with tawny eyes and long golden robes. He hailed from the Eastern Seas’ Jade Firmament Immortal Palace. His name was Chi Meng, and he was an Immortal King famous in the Eastern Seas’ cultivation world.

Uproar followed this question.

Now that you mention it, why hasn’t there been any word of Chu Batian?

“Half a month ago, someone saw Chu Batian on the shore of the Baleful Demon River, but there’s been no word of him since. Don’t tell me that…. Something unexpected happened to him?” Immortal King Xie Kuiyuan of the Church of the Pure One asked gravely.

Chi Meng’s expression darkened. “Impossible! Our founder, Immortal Sovereign Sky Killer, placed a seal in Chu Batian’s soul. Had something happened to him, I’d find out immediately!”

An Immortal King of the Church of Supreme Oneness laughed. “There are no absolutes in this world. The Divine Hunt Demon Mountains are full of unpredictable peril. Things can go awry at a moment’s notice.”

The speaker’s name was Li Beique. He had a willowy beard, and his robes were embroidered with dragons.

“Could he too have fallen prey to Shen Mu?” Xie Kuiyuan asked suddenly. “After all, we now know that Shen Mu can defeat even unrivaled Immortal Lords with ease.”

Chi Meng’s eyelids twitched.

Tang Jinhong was the first to object to this accusation. He snorted coldly and said, “Fellow Daoist Xie, such words are beneath you! There’s no enmity between Chu Batian and Shen Mu. How could he possibly have killed him?”

“Besides, as Fellow Daoist Chi Meng said, Chu Batian’s soul contains a seal placed by Immortal Sovereign Sky Killer. How could Shen Mu possibly have killed Chu Batian undetected?”

His expression was overcast. He seized the moment to sweep his gaze across the gathered Immortal Kings. “Everyone, I know your hearts are full of anger, and that you’re displeased with Shen Mu, but don’t forget: this Divine Hunt was carried out entirely in accordance with the rules!”

Over in Lotus Temple’s camp, a bony, decrepit monk said, “Well said. Accidents and strife occurred in past Divine Hunts too. Our young friend Shen Mu has become the most eye-catching, leading figure of this year’s hunt. We ought to reward him generously, not punish him! We cannot let our emotions run wild, and we cannot jump to conclusions!”

Immortal King Zhen Yan!

He was the chief elder of Lotus Temple’s Religious Disciple Division, and his seniority was terrifyingly high.

Many of the other Immortal Kings furrowed their brows in surprise.

Li Beique snorted coldly. “Weng Changfeng told me that your black-hearted, ruthless Buddhist Son and Shen Mu were thick as thieves. You’re colluding with him, so it’s no wonder you’d speak up on his behalf!”

His voice was tinged with mockery.

The Immortal Kings were at each other’s throats. The atmosphere was silently much tenser.

The Immortal Lords who’d returned from the Divine Hunt Demon Mountains felt it too. All of them sensed the brewing storm.

When Shen Mu returned, the storm was sure to strike in full force!

Zhuo Yun clasped his palms, as solemn as a Buddhist statue. “Senior Li Beique, isn’t it beneath your status to speak like that of a junior?”

He then glanced at the distant Weng Changfeng, “Besides, all I did was swing my treasure seal a few times. They shattered their own talismans. They have no one to blame but themselves for washing out early!”

Weng Changfeng’s expression was instantly unsightly. Li Beique frowned and was just about to say something when Chi Meng bellowed, “Stop arguing! Right now, all I care about is Chu Batian’s whereabouts!”

His entire body seethed with startling murderous intent. Everyone was instantly solemn.

Chi Meng’s eyes flashed like cold lightning as he looked at Tang Jinhong. “If Chu Batian doesn’t show up before the Divine Hunt ends, don’t blame me for investigating Shen Mu’s belongings!”

Tang Jinhong’s expression darkened. “What are you implying?”

Chi Meng said, “If I look through his belongings, I’ll know immediately whether any of them belong to our Chu Batian. If they aren’t in Shen Mu’s possession, it will prove his innocence, but…”

Chi Meng’s eyes glinted with murderous light. “If I find anything, don’t blame me for my poor manners!”

His sheer domineeringness made the crowd’s hearts quiver.

Tang Yuyan had been watching this entire time. Her heart thudded in her chest, and she inwardly cried out in alarm. She knew better than anyone else here that Su Yi had captured Chu Batian alive!

“Chi Meng, you don’t take the Tang Family seriously at all, do you?” Tang Jinhong’s hair and beard bristled with anger. “All you have is conjecture. You have no proof of wrongdoing, but you want to search Shen Mu? You’re crossing the line!”

“It’s just a search to prove his innocence,” Chi Meng said expressionlessly. “Do you have any idea what it would mean for the Tang Family if something happened to Chu Batian?”

Chi Meng swept his gaze across the crowd and said slowly and clearly, “He’s the great-grandson of Immortal Sovereign Sky Killer, and he has a pure Kui Ox bloodline. Our sect’s higher-ups have high hopes for him. They’ve decided that once he becomes an Immortal King, they’ll break precedent and promote him to junior palace master!”

Then, he looked at Tang Jinhong once more. “If something happens to him during the Divine Hunt… will your Tang Family be able to bear the consequences?”

Whap!

Tang Jinhong smacked the armrests of his chair, his expression overcast. “Everyone risks unexpected danger at the Divine Hunt. Do you think you can hold the Tang Family accountable just because it happened to one of your own? Are we just soft persimmons you can squish as you please?”

The atmosphere was stifled and tense, to the point that the gathered Immortal Lords struggled to breathe.

Xie Kuiyuan of the Church of the Pure One, Li Beique of the Church of Supreme Oneness, and the others spoke up to dissuade them.

“How about this? When Shen Me appears, let’s have him reveal all his treasures to prove his innocence,” said Xie Kuiyuan gravely. “That way, we can dispel Fellow Daoist Chi’s concerns and resolve our confusion. After all, we have ample reason to suspect that there’s something strange about Shen Mu’s identity!”

“That’s right.”

“We ought to do just that.”

“Fellow Daoist Tang, we have no intention of harming Shen Mu. We just want to investigate. If we confirm that everything’s as it should be, we’ll have no further objections!”

…One after another, the Immortal Kings spoke up in support of Xie Kuiyuan.

Tang Jinhong’s heart was increasingly heavy. How could he not realize that Su Yi’s background couldn’t withstand such scrutiny?

There was no need to even question it. The moment people realized that “Shen Mu” was the Su Yi who’d slain Garrison Master Shen Qingshi and the several other Immortal Kings at the Seventh Gate of Heaven, there’d be no ending this peacefully!

What do I do?

Tang Jinhong was an experienced older-generation expert. He’d seen his share of wind and waves, but even he found this troublesome. He couldn’t help but tightly furrow his brow.

But it was then that space rippled, and Su Yi appeared out of nowhere.