First Immortal of the Sword

The Magnetic Origin Light swept throughout heaven and earth.

Su Yi gripped the Crescent Moon Blade and blocked its onslaught head-on.

There was no denying it. This Epoch Treasure was quite something, but it was still inferior to the Book of Karma. It was far less useful for blocking Magnetic Origin Light.

The golden fishing rod in Gu Yunchan’s hands was obviously an Epoch Treasure capable of blocking Magnetic Origin Light too.

Qing Wu had lashed out at him before she died, injuring him badly. His flesh was in tatters, but now, his wounds knit back together at shocking speeds.

“Alas, all your efforts were in vain.” Gu Yunchan flipped his hand, and the Book of Karma floated into the air. “The Mystery of Chaos has fallen into my hands, and you… have nowhere left to run!”

“Is that so?” asked Su Yi. “Why not attack, then?”

He could tell that Gu Yunchan was stalling for time, both to heal his wounds and to probe the extent of Su Yi’s abilities!

Gu Yunchan smiled, his gaze heavy and his eyes glinting with imposing light. “Don’t be in such a rush. I’d like to chat before I kill you.”

“What would you like to chat about?” asked Su Yi.

Gu Yunchan said, “Before I left for the Immortal Realm, Master said that if you were willing to lower your head and offer us the secrets of reincarnation of your own accord, we’d leave you a path to life. I think you ought to at least think it over.”  

Su Yi rubbed his forehead and sighed. “Earlier, Xi Ning said you were an extremely dangerous opponent, and she warned me to be on guard against you. I can’t help but feel let down.”

“Let down?” Gu Yunchan furrowed his brow.

“That’s right,” said Su Yi. “I know that when someone is really convinced of their victory, there’s no way they’ll waste so much time on talking. What is excessive caution if not cowardice by another name?”

Gu Yunchan laughed coldly. “When you kill your enemy, it’s best to proceed slowly but steadily to ensure you don’t give them any openings to exploit. Way I see it, your attempts to provoke me are what’s really laughable here.”

He paused, his gaze inquisitive. “And if you have means of overcoming this situation, why haven’t you used them by now?”

Su Yi laughed. “I’m stalling for time, just like you.”

Gu Yunchan’s gaze focused, and he probed, “Don’t tell me you think someone’s coming to save you?”

“I said it earlier,” said Su Yi. “I never entrust my life to other people.”

Gu Yunchan’s eyes flashed. “Does that mean you have other cards up your sleeves?”

“What do you think?”

Gu Yunchan snorted coldly. “You’re just acting mysterious!”

Su Yi took out a jug of wine with his free hand and had a sip before responding. “Go ahead and open the Book of Karma. Have a look inside.”

Gu Yunchan couldn’t help but snort coldly. “Don’t even try those unseemly little tricks on me. Do you really think I’m ignorant of the Book of Karma? It has innate control over the Laws of Karma. Any non-deity who attempts to interact with this treasure is sure to suffer a karmic backlash.”

Here, he let out a long sigh. “Unfortunately for you, I've cultivated the Dao of Karma from the day I began my cultivation. Throughout creation, aside from my master, only I am qualified to own the Book of Karma!”

Su Yi smiled and put the jug of wine away.

But then, the Book of Karma suddenly opened in Gu Yunchan’s hand. Chaos energy billowed into the air, and a line of text appeared on the blank white page: “Greed is the source of countless tribulations. If you act to obtain my karma, you’ll inevitably suffer my karmic backlash!”

Gu Yunchan’s pupils constricted.

Chaos energy surged from the page, and wisps of bright red karmic power burst forth, boring into Gu Yunchan’s hand like tentacles.

“I control the power of karma. How could I possibly fear a karmic backlash?” Gu Yunchan snorted coldly and circulated the full extent of his cultivation base, neutralizing the karmic power invading his body.

But to his astonishment, his efforts were to no avail! 

The wisps of red karmic power were utterly strange, and his cultivation base had no effect on them whatsoever. They invaded his body, then spread out like a net, traveling along his meridians and between his acupoints and hurtling toward his Immortal Origin Space.

“Impossible!” Gu Yunchan finally lost his composure. No matter how hard he tried to block with his cultivation base, it was useless!

A new line of text appeared on a blank page. “Mine are the most fundamental Laws of Karma born of chaos itself. You’re nothing but a little pissant striving for the true Dao of Karma, yet you think you can become my master? You’re mentally deficient!”

Gu Yunchan’s expression was incomparably unsightly, and his heart filled with rage and humiliation.

Even if you’d hit him over the head, he would never have guessed that the Book of Karma would insult him like this!

But he had no time to give the matter any further thought. Strands of karmic power were invading his body. It was like an onslaught of divine misfortune. If he didn’t stop it immediately, it would severely impact his foundations in the Grand Dao!

Even so, he didn’t toss the Book of Karma away. Instead, he put the golden fishing rod away and formed a secret seal with his free hand.

“Condense!” Gu Yunchan’s voice boomed like spring thunder as he pressed down on the Book of Karma with the secret seal.

The Seal of Karmic Severing!

Earlier, he’d used this divine ability to neutralize the karmic power in Qing Wu’s body. That was how he’d gained her trust.

Bang!

The Book of Karma shook violently and flipped through its pages.

But when the next line of text appeared, it read, “What a fool you are, little pissant. Hahaha! This is my first time seeing someone brazen enough to attempt to use karmic power to suppress me!”

Gu Yunchan was so furious that he felt as if his lungs might burst, but he couldn’t concern himself with that now. He used all manner of abilities relating to karma in a frenzy, trying his utmost to suppress the Book of Karma.

But it was useless.

And that wasn’t even the end of it. The book’s karmic power transformed into red mist and enveloped him completely.

“How is this possible? Master said that if I used my karmic power, I’d earn the Book of Karma’s recognition. How could it possibly lash out at me like this?” Waves of shock coursed through him, and his expression was unsightly. He couldn’t accept this.

Suddenly, he pointed at Su Yi and roared, “Did you do this?”

Su Yi couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re the one who snatched the Book of Karma. You can’t blame me for that!”

“You…” Gu Yunchan bristled with fury.

Su Yi laughed. “Blessings and disasters are not predetermined. People bring them upon themselves. Admit it: you screwed yourself over.”

Splurt!

Gu Yunchan coughed up blood. But this wasn’t due to anger; rather, the karmic power within his body flared up, making him suffer a terrifying backlash. It even invaded his foundations in the Grand Dao.

He no longer dared to hesitate. He raised the Book of Karma and flung it away!

At least, he tried to. Against all expectations, it stuck to him like chewy sesame candy. Try as he might, he couldn’t toss it away.

A new line of text appeared on a blank page, the writing tinged with disdain. “You’ve been stained with my karma, and you must now bear the consequences of your actions. Little pissant, let me put this in a way even you can understand: if you don’t want to die, don’t dig your own grave!”

Gu Yunchan flew into a rage and tried to rip the Book of Karma off his hand, but it was useless. There was no getting rid of it, nor could he damage it in the slightest.

Boom!

It was then that Su Yi raised the Crescent Moon Dagger and attacked explosively.

A dazzling streak of light appeared, like a crescent moon descending into the world below. It was pure and resplendent, and the taboo power of a god coursed through it.

Gu Yunchan flipped his right hand, and the golden fishing rod flew through the air as he blocked with all his might.

Clang!!!

A deafening impact ensued. Su Yi was forced back, his blood and qi churning. He couldn’t help but frown.

Qing Wu’s death throes injured him, and the Book of Karma’s negative karma invaded his body, but he’s still this strong! It’s no wonder Xi Ning said he was a troublesome, dangerous opponent. He really is terrifying!

“I’ll kill you first!” Gu Yunchan’s eyes were bloodshot. He seemed to have sensed that Su Yi was the key to overcoming this situation, so he disregarded the Book of Karma’s backlash and attacked with all his might.

Su Yi retreated. Instead of blocking head-on, he poured everything he had into the Tree of All Worlds and slipped away.

Kaboom!

Heaven and earth were thrown into upheaval as Gu Yunchan attacked like mad, unleashing the full extent of his Great Profound Stage cultivation base. He was completely relentless.

Su Yi looked wretched, but he was clear-headed the entire time. He was waiting for an opportunity to counterattack.

The Book of Karma’s pages flipped, and chaos energy billowed into the air, relentlessly invading Gu Yunchan’s body.

Splurt!

Suddenly, he coughed up another mouthful of blood. The karmic power gathered within his body was severely corroding his cultivation base, and the resulting backlash was increasingly severe.

His skin was tinged red, and his life force was rapidly fading away!

It was then that Su Yi attacked explosively out of nowhere.

“You fell for it!” Gu Yunchan broke into a hideous grin. The golden fishing rod took to the air, erupting with even more terrifying power than before. One strike, and it broke Su Yi’s offensive and sent him flying back.

A fishing line shot out of the tip of the golden fishing rod, a translucent fishing hook dangling from the end. It instantly landed on Su Yi.

Kcch!!

The fishing hook was extraordinarily strange. It smoothly disappeared into Su Yi’s body and erupted with terrifying karmic power that spread out like a net, sealing his cultivation base.

“Haha! Once I’ve killed you, the Book of Karma’s backlash won’t matter in the slightest. I’ll survive it, and in the end, I'll come out on top!” Gu Yunchan burst into laughter, shook his wrist, and waved the fishing rod about. “Activate!”

Whoosh!

Su Yi was like a fish dangling from a hook, pulled uncontrollably closer to Gu Yunchan.

One hundred feet.

Fifty feet.

Thirty feet.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

As Su Yi drew near, Gu Yunchan’s eyes erupted with murderous intent, and his expression filled with delight. This was the joy of a fisherman who’d just reeled in a big, fat fish.

But a moment later, his pupils constricted, and his heart filled with foreboding.

It was then that——

Bang!

The fishing line hooked on Su Yi snapped.

Su Yi had been struggling weakly just moments prior, but now, he suddenly raised the Crescent Moon Blade and slashed furiously. There were just ten feet between him and his opponent, and when he struck, he struck with unbelievable speed.

It was as if a brilliant crescent moon were slashing through the sky.

Gu Yunchan panicked; this development caught him completely off guard. There was no time for him to think. Relying purely on instinct, he raised the golden fishing rod and Book of Karma to shield himself, all the while fleeing with all his might.

But it was then that something else entirely unexpected happened.