First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 973 - The Heaven-Illuminating Edict

“A young Spiritual Revolution Realm cultivator?”

Upon receiving word from Fu Donghua, Gu Ziming was astonished, but more than that, his eyes shone with a strange light.

Ni Shuang, Shangguan Jie, Cheng Tiankun, and the others were quite surprised too.

“Wei Hong is a deacon of Nine-Star Sword Mountain, a Profound Illumination Emperor. How could a Spiritual Revolution Realm cultivator possibly capture him in a single attack?”

“There really is a big problem with that boy!”

“Even an older-generation expert like Fu Donghua couldn’t see through him. That really is strange.”

The crowd discussed the matter amongst themselves. But Gu Ziming then swept his gaze across the group, a hint of a smile on his lips as he said leisurely, “I have a certain premonition that… that boy is the very person we’ve been waiting for!”

The grand hall instantly fell deathly silent, and the crowd’s hearts shook.

Gu Ziming rose, his eyes flashing. “It’s time we got started.”

……

The Burial Ground of the Dao was a ruin that had existed since ancient times. In truth, it was a vast continent, a world in its own right.

In this world, day and night switched places only once a week.

Daylight was brief; it only lasted twenty-four hours. However, that was when the Burial Ground of the Dao was the safest, and almost nothing strange or dangerous would happen.

However, when night fell, it lasted a full seven days.

And during those seven days, all manner of unpredictable dangers arose throughout the Burial Ground of the Dao.

Valiant souls from ancient times would emerge from the ground; strange and terrifying evil spirits roamed en masse; all manner of destructive, calamitous powers erupted. These could take the lives of even Emperors with ease.

And it was currently nighttime in the Burial Ground of the Dao. Even an Emperor would have proceeded with the utmost caution, one step at a time.

But all of this meant little to Su Yi.

In his past life, he explored every section of the Burial Ground of the Dao in search of the secrets of reincarnation, and he knew its forbidden grounds like the back of his hand. He knew where danger lurked and where he could not draw near. Places others saw as almost certain doom weren’t at all scary to him; he felt like he was revisiting his home turf.

Whoosh!

He strolled leisurely throughout the boundless landscape. His only companion was the silver full moon, and he faced no surprises or dangers along the way.

I wonder where Old Ghost Coffin Bearer is trapped? But it won’t be too late to search for the old codger after I’ve found the old rooster.

As for proving my Dao and becoming an Emperor… I could actually do it atop the Platform of Rebirth. That place is a gathering point for the most fundamental source energies of the Laws, and it's linked to the Reincarnation Pool.

Although the Reincarnation Pool have been destroyed, numerous traces of the secrets of reincarnation remain on the Platform of Rebirth. If I prove my Dao there, I’ll be able to pick up on traces of the cycle of reincarnation once more.

Su Yi pondered as he walked.

Four hours later.

A ten-thousand-foot-tall black mountain entered Su Yi’s field of view.

Broken Souls Ridge!

According to Fu Donghua, the experts of the Abstruse Force Alliance were stationed there.

After gazing at it for a moment, Su Yi silently turned away and continued ahead.

A plain swathed in bloody mist lay up ahead. The mists blotted out the sun and obscured the skies. The silver full moon was now only dimly discernible.

As he walked through the bloody mist, Su Yi’s pace noticeably slowed, and from time to time, he came to a complete stop.

Every time he stopped abruptly, long, narrow spatial rifts silently arose within the crimson mist. Countless rifts intercrossed, filling the sky. Spatial power flowed slowly within them.

The flow of spatial power seemed slow, but Su Yi was keenly aware that the moment he touched a rift, incomparably explosive power would flood outward. It was enough to reduce even a Profound Illumination Emperor into tiny pieces. Even a Profound Serenity Emperor might die, and if they survived, they’d at least lose a layer of skin!

But Su Yi was already accustomed to such things. He walked, starting and stopping, for an hour before emerging from the lands shrouded in bloody mist.

Off in the distance, beneath the silver moonlight, six mountains appeared in the air. They were connected at the base, and one peak pointed in each of the cardinal directions: north, south, east, and west. There was also one peak pointing up, and another pointing down.

Each of the six mountains was ten thousand feet tall, and they were clustered together, like a massive mountain range glommed together and hovering in midair. The sight was utterly unbelievable.

A rain of black light poured down like a waterfall from each of the six peaks. This made the entire landscape murky and disorderly.

The sight shocked the eyes and startled the heart.

This was the Divine Cave of the Six Paths!

One of the most dangerous forbidden zones in the Burial Ground of the Dao!

It might look like “just” six mountains, but there was actually a world carved into the cave where the bases of the six mountains converged.

That inner sanctum was the most terrifying at all.

Su Yi examined from a distance, then shot toward the Divine Cave of the Six Paths. He only stopped when he reached the eastern peak.

The entire mountain was blanketed in a boundless waterfall of black light. The “droplets” were full of the destructive power of the Laws.

Only Profound Serenity Emperors could contend with their power. Those beneath that level would die instantly!

But this naturally couldn’t stop Su Yi.action

He flipped his palm, and a bamboo mallet with a handle about as thick as his thumb appeared out of thin air.

The Immortal-Beating Mallet, one of the Timekeeper’s supreme treasures!

More importantly, according to the Timekeeper, the mallet could resist and neutralize the vast majority of the dangers spread throughout the Burial Ground of the Dao.

With a casual wave of the Immortal-Beating Mallet, a streak of the darkness of an eternal night shot forth.

Whoosh~

The rain of black light falling from the peak instantly split down the center, and the steep mountainside entered Su Yi’s field of view.

Upon closer inspection, there was a road as winding and narrow as a sheep’s intestines. And at the end of the road, halfway up the mountain, there was a cave. This was the entrance to the Divine Cave of the Six Paths!

Whoosh!

Su Yi shot forward, disappearing into it in a flash.

The cave was actually a dark tunnel, and it was full of faint gray mist.

Su Yi flipped his palm, and a bronze lantern floated into the air: the Heaven’s Writ Lotus Lantern. This supreme Buddhist treasure was the work of Buddhist Master Hidden Leaf of the Little Western Paradise, and it had the miraculous ability to exorcize evil spirits.

Whoosh!

The wick swayed, casting holy golden lamplight. It rippled throughout the thirty-foot radius surrounding Su Yi.

Only then did Su Yi continue ahead.

Kccch! Kcch!

Wherever he passed, the lamplight dispersed the gray fog. Deep within the darkness, skulking, indistinct figures fled as if in panic, disappearing without a trace.

Su Yi paid none of this any heed.

The tunnel leading deeper into the Divine Cave of the Six Paths gave rise to Turbid Yin Qi capable of corroding the blood, qi, and souls of even Emperors. It was utterly tyrannical and mysterious. It was also home to vicious creatures known as One-Footed Ghosts. They survived by devouring the corpses and remnant souls of those who died here. They were utterly vicious and terrifying.

One-Footed Ghosts excelled at ambushes and assassination. If they weren’t careful, even Profound Serenity Emperors could lose their lives! But Su Yi knew that One-Footed Ghosts feared nothing more than treasures capable of exorcizing evil spirits. And indeed, when they sensed the Heaven’s Writ Lotus Lantern’s power, they fled far away, not daring to draw near.

Su Yi held the lantern aloft as he continued through the tunnel.

After a little less than ten minutes, the scenery changed abruptly. There were now paths on all sides, spreading into the darkness like the strands of a spider’s web. Strangely, all of the paths were slowly shifting, as if they were alive.

Su Yi’s gaze was just as calm as before.

All of these paths, without exception, led to the heart of the Divine Cave of the Six Paths. However, only one path was safe. Tribulations lethal enough to slay enough Emperors lay in wait on all the other paths.

Hm?

After a cursory examination, Su Yi was stunned. Someone had carved a strange and elaborate Edict near the entrance to the one safe path.

A Heaven-Illuminating Edict…. That’s a secret legacy of Dragon Tiger Dao Mountain, one of the Wilds’ Six Great Daoist Sects. It seems the forces of the Abstruse Force Alliance have already entered the Divine Cave of the Six Paths. I suspect they’ve already reached that bronze temple…

Su Yi’s eyebrows rose.

With this Edict in place, no matter how the paths shifted, it would be easy to locate the one safe path.

Did that imply that the old rooster had arrived there too?

After a moment’s thought, Su Yi stepped forward, took out the Immortal-Beating Mallet, and gently tapped the Heaven-Illuminating Edict.

Bang!

The diagram engraved on the floor instantly disappeared, scattering into a rain of light.

Then, Su Yi picked another path, used the Immortal-Beating Mallet as a brush, and carved a brand-new Heaven-Illuminating Edict. The two were completely identical!

Once this was complete, a hint of satisfaction tugged at Su Yi’s lips. If the experts of the Abstruse Force Alliance returned, they were sure to fall flat on their face.

Then, without any further delay, Su Yi proceeded directly onto the one safe path.

……

Meanwhile, outside the Divine Cave of the Six Paths.

A group of cultivators whooshed over.

The leaders were none other than Gu Ziming, Shangguan Jie, and Ni Shuang, three of Pi Mo’s disciples.

They were followed by more than ten terrifying experts, each mightier and more majestic than the one before.

“Junior Apprentice Sister Ni Shuang, set up an ambush in the surrounding area. Remember: in the time that follows, no matter who attempts to enter the Divine Cave of the Six Paths, you are to pay them no heed,” ordered Gu Ziming.

“Got it.” Ni Shuang immediately agreed.

Gu Ziming nodded, a leisurely look on his face. “That ought to be enough to make sure nothing goes wrong.”

He’d already arranged for his Junior Apprentice Brother Cheng Tiankun to lead a group of cultivators to watch over Broken Souls Ridge.

Without any further delays, Gu Ziming led those not staying with Ni Shuang into the Divine Cave of the Six Paths.

“Open!” A white-haired elder took out a golden, glittering Daoist Seal, splitting the power of the Laws covering the six peaks on all sides.

The group then seized the opportunity to shoot into the cave halfway up the mountainside.

They walked as if the path were familiar to them, using various methods to avoid the dangers along the way. It was obvious they’d come here before, and more than once at that.

Before long, countless spiderweb-like paths entered their field of view, including the one with the Heaven-Illuminating Edict carved at its base.

Just as Gu Ziming and the others planned to continue ahead, a middle-aged man in a feather headdress suddenly seemed to sense something. “Wait! Something’s not quite right here!”

The others stopped in their tracks, their hearts instantly solemn.