First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 1357 - The Nebula Talisman

Li Zhong watched Daoist Master Red Cloud’s lightning-quick, tyrannical methods from a distance. He sighed to himself as intense unwillingness rose within his heart.

And here this should have been a perfect opportunity to deliver coal in a blizzard. Now, it seemed he’d missed his chance! Who wouldn’t have been bitter?

But I can’t blmyself for this. Who’d have thought the reclusive, aloof, and detached Celestial Red Cloud would leave the Impermeable Demon Ocean?

Li Zhong’s gaze was complicated. Celestial Red Cloud was a mysterious descendant of immortals with an extraordinary status. She’d cto the Human Realm prior to the End of the Dharma.

But her background and origins were incomparably mysterious even now.

Rumor had it that she was the young mistress of an Immortal Lord clan of the Immortal Realm. They said her status was too valuable for words, and that even immortals had to treat her with respect.

But there were also rumors that said she was the closed-door disciple of an Immortal Emperor.

Despite the conflicting rumors, Li Zhong knew that way back when, even the immortals of the Human Realm spoke of Celestial Red Cloud with dread. They said she was no ordinary descendant of immortals!

“It seems Celestial Mo Qingchou knows sof the inside scoop. How will she react when she learns that Celestial Red Cloud stepped in to help Su Yi?”

Li Zhong shook his head, turned, and left.

All he could do now was report to Mo Qingchou and let her decide what to do next.

......

When the yellow mutt Xing Que heard Su Yi sigh, it walked up to Su Yi and said with displeasure, “My mistress didn’t just save your life. She also gave you sof her newest wine to sample. What are you sighing about?”

Su Yi smiled, crouched, and kneaded the dog’s head. “You don’t understand.”

The dog bared its teeth. It only just barely resisted the urge to take a bite out of Su Yi. That bastard’s patting my head again! It’s too much!

Meanwhile, Su Yi opened the jug of wine and had a sip. A clear, mellow fragrance bloomed at the tip of his tongue, then burned as it entered his throat and spread throughout every nook and cranny of his body.

His every pore opened. It was as if drinking this immortal brew had made his heart and body lighter. The sheer comfort was indescribable. The wounds he’d sustained during the earlier battle knit back together at speeds visible to the naked eye, and even his exhausted cultivation base recovered rapidly!

“This wine... is truly excellent.” Su Yi couldn’t help but go back for another sip.

The dog gulped, its eyes red with envy. “What a waste of breath! Over a hundred types of Transcendent spirit medicines went into that. How could it be anything but excellent?”

As soon as the words left its lips, it pulled back its head, as if afraid Su Yi would pat it again.

Su Yi laughed, then looked at Daoist Master Red Cloud. “To tell the truth, even if you hadn’t stepped forth, they couldn’t have hurt me.”

Daoist Master Red Cloud nodded in apparent agreement. But then, she said, “Earlier, you revealed sof your hidden cards. You can’t let your enemies get a clearer sense of your true limits. Otherwise, next tthey cfor you, they’ll be sure to cprepared to kill you. The disadvantages of finishing that battle yourself outweighed the advantages.

“Furthermore, I believe that as satisfying as destroying enemies with external power can be, it’s detrimental to one’s cultivation. Those enemies were excellent whetstones for you. It would have been a shif you’d used external power to kill them.”

Su Yi agreed completely. “Well said.”

He felt as if he’d found a kindred spirit. There was no doubt about it; both he and Daoist Master Red Cloud pursued the Dao with their own strength instead of relying on external power. Their horizons were far beyond the likes of Fu Dongli, a spoiled second-generation immortal with a superabundance of treasure.

“In the near future, I plan to visit a hidden immortal ruin. If possible, I hope you can join me,” Daoist Master Red Cloud said suddenly.

Su Yi was stunned. “To seek out immortal fortune?”

“You could say that,” said Daoist Master Red Cloud. “The ruins are connected to a prominent figure of the Immortal Realm. However, the tis not yet right. Anyone who enters now is doomed. I estimate that within six months, the world’s changes will be enough to disperse most of the power of the immortal formation sealing the ruins.

“But I suspect that revenants of former immortals are hidden within the ruins, so I hope to request your aid.”

Here, she added, “Of course, I won’t make you help for nothing.”

Su Yi shook his jug of wine. “This was payment enough.”

A hint of a smile rose unbidden to her lips. “If you like it, I’ll bring you more next time.”

How could Su Yi possibly refuse? “Then I’ll just have to thank you in advance.”

The yellow dog sneered. This guy sure is thick-skinned!

Daoist Master Red Cloud took out a three-inch jade talisman and passed it to Su Yi. “Take this. When I’m ready to leave for the immortal ruin, I’ll be able to find you so long as you’re carrying this.”

The talisman obviously wasn’t simple. It was carved with intricate, inscrutable markings of the Immortal Dao, and the aura emanating from it made it seem as majestic as a mountain and as deep as an abyss.

On the back, there was a carving of a nebula.

“This talisman can also save your life,” said Daoist Master Red Cloud. “That said, unless an immortal revenant or a Cloud Soaring revenant not bound by the Laws appears, you shouldn’t need it.”

Su Yi smiled. “Let’s hope so.”

Daoist Master Red Cloud then bade farewell and left.

Before their departure, the dog hurriedly transmitted a warning. “Kid, you’d best be careful. Whatever you do, unless it’s truly life or death, don’t use that talisman. It’s a precious....”

But before it could finish its warning, Daoist Master Red Cloud grabbed it by the scruff of its neck and carried it away. “We’re leaving.”

She took a single step forward, and both of them disappeared without a trace.

Su Yi gazed down at the jade talisman, suddenly aware that this treasure had extraordinary and wondrous origins!

“An immortal ruin? I wonder what kind of fortune lies within...” As Su Yi pondered, he put the talisman away, turned, and left.

By now, this entire stretch of heaven and earth lay in ruin. Everywhere he looked, he saw a vision of devastation.

Both Mount Pitaya and the Violet Heavens Platform had crumbled during the unparalleled battle waged here, as if wiped from the face of the earth.

This battle was sure to affect the trend of the future!

......

“Mistress, why did you give the Nebula Talisman to Su Yi?” the yellow dog couldn’t help but ask.

Daoist Master Red Cloud said casually, “Why shouldn’t I have given it to him?”

The dog was instantly silent, and it seemed painfully stifled.

A while later, it said in a low voice, “I admit I don’t understand why you’re doing this, but if the talisman gets lost—”

“If it gets lost, it gets lost,” said Daoist Master Red Cloud. “When that catastrophe befell the Immortal Realm, immortals fell like rain. Who knows how many powerful factions met with annihilation? We’re stuck here in the Human Realm. Even if we one day have a chance to return to the Immortal Realm, we can never return to the past. So why concern ourselves with a talisman?”

The dog’s gaze dimmed, and it sank into silence.

They chere from the Immortal Realm to seek refuge, only for a different catastrophe to befall them in the Human Realm. Now, both of them had been reduced to revenants, neither fully alive nor fully dead.

“Mistress, will we really have an opportunity to return to the Immortal Realm?” asked the dog.

“Of course,” said Daoist Master Red Cloud without even pausing to think. “Times are changing. The Path of Transcendence has already re-entered the world. Within two years, the Domain Boundary Battlefield will reappear as well. Soon... nothing will be impossible!”

......

That very day, word of the battle over the Violet Heavens Platform spread, taking the world by storm and causing unprecedented waves of commotion.

“The Temple Master actually didn’t die?”

“He didn't just ‘not die.’ He was surrounded by enemies, but he killed them all!”

“My heavens!”

Countless people were astonished. Their eyes widened, and they fought themselves at a loss for words.

Atop the Violet Heavens Platform, the Temple Master single-handedly cut down the Fisherman, the Painter, Deng Zuo, and Yan Daolin, the leaders of the four top sects of the present day!

Then, he fought one against a hundred, slaying a whole group of Transcendents!

This accomplishment was far too glorious, to the point that it didn’t feel real.

Sof the older-generation cultivators said with astonishment, “This battle would have been dazzling in any age. It’s no exaggeration to call it unprecedented! After this, who would dare proclaim that the Temple Master is soon to beca washed-out has-been?”

“Over a dozen ancient orthodoxies, three of the Ancient Guardian Clans of the Dao, and numerous top factions of the present day joined forces against him, only for the Temple Master to rout the lot of them! Is the Temple Master... really a World King?”

Numerous people felt their minds go blank after hearing the news.

“This is what it means to be invincible and unparalleled! This is what it means for your sword to suppress the entire era!”

“The Temple Master is unbeatable! He was unbeatable then, and you can trust that he’s still unbeatable now!”

The world boiled over completely. Countless cultivators cried out excitedly.

“The Temple Master is an eternal, undefeatable god!”

Sof the younger-generation cultivators’ reverence reached extrheights.

To the top factions of the stars, both ancient and modern, the battle at the Violet Heavens Platform was like a warning. They couldn’t calm down. All of them were shocked.

The Zhong Family of the Ancient Guardian Clans of the Dao.

Zhong Tianquan and several other higher-ups had perished in battle. When word of their deaths arrived, it shook the entire family. Countless people were overcwith grief and fury.

“They were defeated? How could they possibly have been defeated!?”

Who knew how many old fogies were beside themselves? They couldn’t accept this!

......

The Zhou Family of the Ancient Guardian Clans of the Dao.

The entire clan was dressed in funeral garb.

“If we don’t avenge this grudge, how can we speak of establishing ourselves in the new world?”

“Just wait for now. Even though Su Yi won this time, he’s effectively established a grudge with every major faction of the stars. They’re sure to get even with him another day!”

Similar conversations rose and fell throughout the Zhou Family.

......

The Xu Family of the Ancient Guardian Clans of the Dao.

They too looked desolate, bleak, and mournful.

Their defeat at the Violet Heavens Platform cas far too heavy a blow. They didn’t just lose a whole group of Transcendents. No, their reputation had been badly damaged too.

Nothing like this had ever happened before!

And this battle cas an enormous setback to Illusory Sword Immortal Tower, Yellow Springs Demon Mountain, the Hidden Skies Immortal Sect, and other ancient orthodoxies. After this crushing defeat, they had no face left.

They’d lost far too badly.

Over a hundred Transcendents had fought, but shockingly, not one survived!

This was an enormous humiliation. No one could possibly have just let this go!

But both the ancient orthodoxies and the top factions of the present day knew that now that the curtains had fallen on this battle, the Temple Master’s prestige was sure to reach unprecedented heights!

Anyone who wanted to attack him would have to think it over carefully and make sure they could bear the consequences!