First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 1726 - The Curtains Fall

Boom!

As the sword-bearing ape closed his grip, he ripped Coiled God Ridge right out of the ground. The nineteen killing formations covering the mountains crumbled into nothingness.

Tai Zheng, Xue Hongshan, and the other Immortal Kings shot through the air, fleeing like mad.

The ape, however, didn’t give chase. Instead, he gazed at Su Yi and said, “How about we just leave them to Huang Tuo?”

“Sure, but bring the one from the Endless Swords Immortal Sect back alive,” said Su Yi.

The Endless Swords Immortal Sect originally had three Immortal Kings, but Su Yi had just killed Liu Shuijing and Yu Wenqi. Only the third and final of their Immortal Kings, Tao Qian, still lived.

The sword-bearing ape just nodded and turned to Huang Tuo. “Get it over with quickly.”

“Got it!” The massive Huang Tuo promptly led the throng of strange life forms and got to work.

“Come on, let’s go to my place and have a drink,” the ape said with a laugh.

Su Yi said with exasperation, “Let me treat my wounds before we start drinking.”

The ape couldn’t help but chuckle. “Very well.”

The two of them promptly set off, venturing further into the Abyss of Dark Fog.

The moment Su Yi lost interest in polishing his Dao of the Sword, the battle was already effectively over. It was just as the ape had said: the outcome had been determined a long time ago.

As for Tai Zheng, Xue Hongshan, and the other fleeing Immortal Kings? There was no way they could escape the Abyss of Dark Fog. All that awaited them was death.

The sword-bearing ape wasn’t incapable of killing them himself. Rather, he disdained bullying such weaklings personally!

Su Yi understood that too.

After all, the ape was someone who’d been able to cross blades with Wang Ye prior to the Age of Fallen Immortals! Killing Immortal Kings was no different from squishing ants!

As for Su Yi? He naturally couldn’t be bothered to hunt the Immortal Kings down one at a time, either.

......

A swamp deep within the Abyss of Dark Fog.

“Before I die, can you tell me why an existence of your level would serve someone like Shen Mu?” said an Immortal King. He was covered in blood, and his face was full of despair.

A group of terrifying ancient corpses and terrifying creatures had intercepted and chased him. By now, he was on the brink of death, and he knew he wouldn’t last much longer.

“This guy still doesn’t know who the Sovereign is?” exclaimed a corpse with a split skull.

Another corpse, this one disemboweled, said, “Idiot. If they knew, how could they possibly have opposed him? They’d have been too scared to even try it.”

“Hehe, that’s true enough.”

“An Immortal King, huh? I don’t have many memories left, but I remember that they’re the strongest experts beneath the Great Realm.”

“Yes, but to the Sovereign, they aren’t even worth a fart!”

...As the corpses chatted amongst themselves, the Immortal King’s mind went blank. Sovereign!? Shen Mu is just an Immortal Lord. How could they possibly honor him as a Sovereign?

But before he could wrap his head around it, the ancient corpses swarmed around him, eradicating him in one fell swoop. Even his body and soul were refined and devoured.

“Careful! Don’t destroy his treasures. Those are the Sovereign’s spoils of war!” an ancient corpse cried out. “Even if the Sovereign doesn’t mind, if His Excellency Huang Tuo finds out you’ve damaged something, he’ll crush your skull!”

......

The Abyss of Dark Fog, the outskirts of a forbidden zone blanketed in lightning.

“Dammit! I’ve tried a thousand times already. There’s no sending requests for aid from the Abyss of Dark Fog!” Xue Hongshan’s expression was dark and overcast.

He was accompanied by two other Immortal Kings. They’d fled all the way here, overcoming numerous attempts to intercept them. All of them were injured.

One of their companions had been ripped to shreds by a skeletal bird along the way, dying an explosive death.

They’d shattered numerous talismans in a bid for reinforcements, but none of their messages had gone through.

They couldn’t help but give in to despair.

“Who could have imagined that a Great Realm expert of terrifying origins lurked in the Abyss of Dark Fog?” one of the Immortal Kings said bitterly. “And who would dare believe that the strange creatures here would obey a young man like Shen Mu?”

Another Immortal King gnashed his teeth so hard that they almost broke. “Shen Mu was leading us into a trap right from the start! He fled all this way on purpose just to lead us into the abyss and kill us all!”

They were Immortal Kings. What winds and rains hadn’t they experienced? But it was thanks to their vast breadth of experience that they understood that there really was no way out this time...

“Why aren’t you saying anything, Elder Xue?”

The other two Immortal Kings suddenly realized that Xue Hongshan was strangely silent. His aged face was terrifyingly overcast.

After a lengthy silence, Xue Hongshan finally let out a deep sigh. “At this point, there’s no need to keep it from you. Before we left on this expedition, the sect leader shared a certain hypothesis with me.”

“What hypothesis?”

“He thinks... that Shen Mu is most likely the reincarnation of the Tyrant, Wang Ye!”

The reincarnation of the Tyrant, Wang Ye!

Both Immortal Kings felt an explosion go off in their minds, and both were rooted to the spot. It was as if they’d been struck by lightning.

Everything they knew about Shen Mu flashed through their minds. Suddenly, a lot of things that confused them suddenly made sense. Their expressions shifted erratically, going from bewilderment to despondency.

Indeed, it all made sense now. How could a mere Immortal Lord possibly be capable of killing Immortal Kings? And why would the sword-bearing ape obey an Immortal Lord?

It was simple. That “Immortal Lord” was really Wang Ye!

The master of Mount Taiwu, the Little Heavenly Court, the Eternal Night Immortal Sovereign, the man who once dominated the entire Immortal Realm!

Even now, countless years after his passing, tales of his legendary accomplishments were spoken of throughout the Immortal Realm. He was like an undying legend. The passage of time had done nothing to diminish his reputation! “No wonder, no wonder...” murmured one of the Immortal Kings as his hope turned to ash.

It was no wonder they’d lost!

The other Immortal King roared in fury, “Why? Why didn’t you tell us earlier? You knew he was the Tyrant. Why didn’t you warn us?”

His infuriated voice resounded throughout heaven and earth.

Xue Hongshan’s expression shifted. “Earlier, it was mere conjecture, and I didn’t take it seriously. Furthermore, even assuming Shen Mu really is Wang Ye’s reincarnation, he’s just an Immortal Lord. Who’d have taken him for a real threat?”

His heart was full of bitterness.

It wasn’t that they’d gotten complacent, but that they could never have guessed that Immortal Kings of nine factions could fail to take down a single Immortal Lord even after joining forces!!

Throughout the ages, who had ever heard of such a thing?

Rumble! Boom!

Strange creatures with terrifying auras charged over from afar.

At the same time, a swarm of twelve-winged blood mosquitos appeared on the road ahead, blanketing heaven and earth.

Xue Hongshan and his allies were visibly stricken. They ceased their conversation and fled with all their might.

But in the end, they couldn’t escape. One died a brutal death, then another.

“Had I known, I would have agreed to duel him. Even if I died, losing to Wang Ye would have been much better than being ripped to shreds by these monstrosities...” Xue Hongshan sighed.

He regretted it! He regretted letting Tai Zheng dissuade him from dueling Su Yi.

But it was too late for regrets. The strange creatures charged, and before long, Xue Hongshan and his companions were dead.

......

“Bring that guy back!” commanded a skeletal bird.

A swarm of black ants whooshed forth, carrying the half-dead, unconscious Tao Qian.

Despite his valiant, unyielding pride, this Immortal King of the Endless Swords Immortal Sect was ultimately captured alive.

......

“Die!” Tai Zheng’s hair and beard bristled with fury, and he fought Huang Tuo with all his might.

Bang!

A moment later, he was smacked to the ground. His mind buzzed, and the impact left him seeing stars. His body almost burst into pieces.

Huang Tuo’s blood-red, lake-sized eyes flashed with derision.

“You... just what is your cultivation level?” Tai Zheng’s face was ashen and full of bitterness.

The hundred-thousand-foot giant devil was far too terrifying. Despite Tai Zheng’s late-stage Miracle Realm cultivation, he couldn’t fight back at all!

Huang Tuo looked thoughtful. A moment later, he said, “It seems that, long ago, I was... in the Great Realm?”

A moment later, he shook his head. “That was far too long ago. All I remember is that... Uh, I think I fought a god once?”

“????” Tai Zheng didn’t know what to say. A Great Realm expert who’s waged war against a god!?

He suddenly found himself on the brink of a mental breakdown. This is blatant bullying!

“It’s just a pity that compared to the gods, I was far too weak. Were I stronger, how could I have sunk so low?” Huang Tuo looked down at the black chains binding him with grief and bitterness.

Tai Zheng’s expression shifted. “Might you spare my life if I admit defeat?”

Huang Tuo shook his head. “You offended the Sovereign, so you have to die.”

Tai Zheng was flabbergasted. “What Sovereign?”

Huang Tuo didn’t explain. He just swung his fist and destroyed the late-stage Immortal King on the spot.

In the last moments before his death, bewilderment, rage, and bitterness were written all over Tai Zheng’s face.

......

That day, the curtains fell on the grand battle in the Abyss of Dark Fog. That in turn meant that the Immortal Kings’ pursuit of Su Yi had finally ended after two weeks.

Thirty-seven Immortal Kings from nine different factions—the Church of Divine Flame, the Church of the Exquisite Goddess, the Church of Supreme Oneness, the Church of the Pure One, the Endless Swords Immortal Sect, the Profound Blue Daoist Sect, Jade Firmament Immortal Palace, and Qianyuan Sword House—suffered a crushing defeat!

Only Gong Yuxun of the Church of the Pure One and Tao Qian of the Endless Swords Immortal Sect were still alive. The other thirty-five had all been killed!

The dead included top experts like Tai Zheng and Yu Wenqi!

During their pursuit, Su Yi overcame numerous attempts on his life, and he was injured on numerous occasions, but he still emerged as the ultimate victor.

Even his cultivation base had broken through following this tempering of fire and blood. He’d gone from the early-stage Void Realm all the way to the late stage!

His bid to “gather all his enemies into a single net” had been a complete success.

He could already foresee that when word got out, it would shake the entire Immortal Realm and trigger inestimably enormous waves!

After all, in just half a month, more than thirty Immortal Kings had perished. It had been a long, long time since a battle so bloody and grand had taken place in the Immortal Realm!