First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 2261 – The Dao Transformation Blood Cave

Off in the distance, the beauty covered in wounds lowered her head, a complicated look on her face.

Li Fuyou! That unparalleled sword cultivator who killed his way into this ancient battlefield all those years ago has actually returned. What… what is he after this time!?

“You’re just a face now. If you dared lie to me, don’t blame me for destroying what’s left of you when I return,” Su Yi said calmly.

That’s right. This beautiful face was just that—a beautiful face, hovering in midair. She had no body left. It was an incomparably strange sight.

Similar strange entities were commonplace on this mountain.

“I know how incredible your abilities are, Your Excellency. I wouldn’t dare to lie to you,” the beautiful face said with a stammer.

Su Yi said nothing. He just turned and left.

It was only after he’d vanished from view that the beauty sighed, as if a massive weight had lifted from her shoulders.

“Madam Mei, was that really Li Fuyou?” A massive, gaping maw appeared in the sky, countless worms wriggling inside it.

“That’s right. Didn’t Li Fuyou die a long time ago? How did he come back to life?” A high-pitched, piercing voice emanated from the crack in a rock. It was indistinct, but a flashing skeletal hand was visible inside.

“Fortunately, I sensed that there was something unusual about that guy and refrained from attacking recklessly. If I had… the consequences might have been dire beyond imagination.”

One voice after another arose throughout the mountain. There was no doubt about it. These were the sealed ancient divine wraiths!

And they obviously knew Li Fuyou; all of them spoke with incomparable dread.

“If that wasn’t Li Fuyou, why would I have been so awed and reverent?” The enchanting woman, Madam Mei, snorted coldly. “Don’t tell me you think I’m blind?”

“But he looks completely different, and he’s still so young, and his cultivation base is only in the Creation Realm. Compared to the Li Fuyou we knew… he’s just far too weak,” that gaping maw said in confusion.

“That’s right! What exactly is going on here?

The other ancient divine wraiths all started talking at once.

“Weak?” Madam Mei sneered. “Why don’t you try to kill him, then?”

All of them instantly fell silent. No one dared speak.

“A long time ago, everyone in the outside world was talking about how Li Fuyou died in the Boundless Battlefield, but now, it seems obvious that he’s grasped the most taboo power of all: the Grand Dao of Reincarnation. He’s returned through the cycle of samsara to cultivate anew!” murmured Madam Mei. “Now, he’s returned to this ancient battlefield. I don’t know what he’s after. I just hope that this time… he doesn’t kill until the battlefield is covered in rolling heads…”

Countless ancient divine wraiths quivered in fright. They thought back to when Li Fuyou visited this place all those years ago.

After a little while, that gaping maw said, “The Dao Transformation Blood Cave changed leadership several years ago. Even if that person really is Li Fuyou’s reincarnation, if he recklessly ventures inside…”

“Silence!” Madam Mei’s gaze was instantly icy. “Is this something the likes of us are fit to discuss? If you want to die, fine, but don’t drag the rest of us into it!”

The gaping maw instantly clamped its jaws shut.

Before long, Madam Mei, the gaping maw, and the other ancient divine wraiths vanished.

Everything was deathly silent.

The mountain was still covered in dense, bloody mists. It was as if nothing had happened.

……

After traversing the strange mountain covered in wraiths, Su Yi arrived at a boundlessly vast black plain. There was no end in sight.

The ground was scorched black, and dark clouds hung beneath the dome of heaven.

Even the winds stood still.

But when Su Yi arrived, he actually relaxed and tossed Feng Wuji aside. “Do you understand now?”

Feng Wuji’s face was deathly pale, and he sat there, head hanging. Some time passed before he said bitterly, “I really don’t understand. Why would Ancestor Yunxiu join forces with those people to kill me?”

“When a pack of dragons is without a leader, turmoil is inevitable. Ol’ Man Rahu is still stuck in the Extreme Lightning Demon Cave, and no one knows whether he’s alive or dead. It was inevitable that trouble would arise within the Feng Family,” Su Yi said casually.

“And you’re the future leader of the family. It might seem like a lofty, prestigious position, but it also puts you right in the line of fire. Killing you will both hurt your father and give others a chance to appoint a new young leader in your stead.

“To those eager to loot a burning house, this is a chance to kill two birds with one stone. Why wouldn’t they try to kill you?”

Feng Wuji had an unsightly look on his face. “You’re right. Ever since my grandfather got stuck in here, countless disputes have arisen within the clan. I just never considered that they’d be so ruthless. Aren’t they afraid that my grandfather will get even with them after he breaks free?”

“But what if Ol’ Man Rahu never returns?” asked Su Yi.

Feng Wuji instantly fell silent.

Su Yi took a sip of wine and said, “Feng Yunxiu planned this out carefully. He arranged for a group of outsiders to join this operation and assist him. Had you died by their hands, no one would have blamed him for your death.

“And the outsiders he hired would have all been doomed. After all, Feng Yunxiu wanted to pin the blame on them. How could he possibly have let them leave this place alive?

“Had he succeeded, he’d have both borrowed others’ hands to kill you and avenged you. Who’d ever believe that he was the true culprit all along?”

Feng Wuji’s gaze was bleak, and his eyes were full of bewilderment as he murmured, “What the fuck am I supposed to call this…”

Suddenly, he seemed to realize something. He looked up and stared intently at Su Yi. “Brother Xiao, why do I get the sense that you… don’t seem at all like a descendant of the Torch Dragons? And why is it that you rather remind me of one of my friends?”

Su Yi nodded inwardly. He isn’t stupid after all. Who else would be willing to get mixed up in your clan’s nonsense?

There was no further need for him to hide the truth, so he just said, “No need to go into it. It’s enough that you’ve figured it out.”

Feng Wuji quivered from head to toe. The bleak look on his face vanished, and his expression shone with newfound radiance.

He leaped to his feet and excitedly slapped himself across the cheek. “I was blind! I can’t believe I only just realized who you are!”

Even though he’d slapped himself across the face, he was grinning from ear to ear. “Haha! Hahaha! I finally understand. After all, no one treats me better than Brother S-… Err, Xiao. You’re the best!”

Feng Wuji had totally lost his composure, but Su Yi understood how he must be feeling. Everyone who’d accompanied him on this expedition had betrayed and tried to kill him. This was an enormous shock. Anyone else might have long since given in to despair.

Given the circumstances, learning who “Xiao Jian” really was had helped Feng Wuji see the light of hope once more.

“Now do you believe that I’m not trying to hurt you?” teased Su Yi.

Feng Wuji drew a line across his throat and said solemnly, “Even if you killed me on the spot, I’d trust that you were doing it for my own good!”

“….” Su Yi didn’t even know what to say. “Enough nonsense. I plan to head straight for the Dao Transformation Blood Cave next, but even if I find your grandfather, I won’t save him. As I’m sure you’re well aware, he and I are irreconcilable enemies.”

Feng Wuji froze, stunned, and the light in his eyes dimmed. He forced a smile and said, “I… understand.”

How could he not understand?

A long time ago, his grandfather had joined forces with the Dipankara Buddha, the Angler, and several other powerful experts. All of them wanted nothing more than to see Li Fuyou dead.

Their grudge ran so deep that they wouldn’t rest until the other was dead. There was practically no hope of reconciliation!

In Su Yi’s shoes, Feng Wuji would never have shown mercy on the Rahu Yao Ancestor.

But… Feng Wuji wasn’t Su Yi. He was the Rahu Yao Ancestor’s grandson, and he was stuck in the middle of their grudge. This was naturally incomparable torment.

“Let’s go. No matter what happens, since we’re traveling together, I won’t just leave you to die. I’ll be sure to bring you back home alive,” said Su Yi, continuing ahead.

Feng Wuji stuck close to him. He was uncharacteristically silent, and on several occasions, he opened his mouth to speak. However, he stopped himself every time.

“The enmities of the prior generation have nothing to do with you, and you needn’t get involved.” Su Yi sighed. “Of course, I won’t blame you if you hate me.”

Feng Wuji shook his head. “If at all possible, I’ll do everything in my power to resolve this grudge.”

Su Yi glanced at him, but in the end, he just said, “Your filial piety is admirable.”

Feng Wuji smiled bitterly.

Even though they ran into a few incomparably strange and dangerous lifeforms, with Su Yi leading the way ahead, they always managed to emerge unscathed.

A while later.

The two of them arrived at the entrance to the Dao Transformation Blood Cave!

The dome of heaven was shrouded in darkness, and the ground was barren and withered. A black lake shaped like a crescent moon appeared in the distance.

The lake was full of strange, churning black water, like ever-shifting ink. It sprayed into the air, blanketing the surrounding area in black, baleful fog.

The surrounding skies were corroded and stained dark gray.

The area near the lake was littered with countless fragmented bones. Some were human, while others belonged to other races. They were piled high, like dense hills of bone.

“Are those… Don’t tell me those are divine bones?” exclaimed Feng Wuji.

The bone fragments were incomparably firm, and even though time had long since worn away their divinity, it wasn’t hard to tell that they’d belonged to mighty experts of the Divine Dao.

“That’s right,” said Su Yi. “The entrance to the Dao Transformation Blood Cave lies at the bottom of this lake.

“The name ‘Dao Transformation’ comes from its ability to decompose all of the myriad Daos of the heavens. Even Master Gods’ Undying Laws are susceptible to its corrosive effects.

“This is the most dangerous, forbidden zone in the Extreme Lightning Demon Cave. If everything is as I suspect, the Rahu Yao Ancestor was trapped inside. There’s no way of knowing whether he’s alive or dead.”

Su Yi looked at Feng Wuji. “Step back for now.”

Feng Wuji agreed without hesitation. As he moved further away, he asked, “Brother Xiao, what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to break through. Then, I’ll take a trip into the Dao Transformation Blood Cave,” Su Yi said casually.

Break through? Feng Wuji’s mind went blank. This is the most dangerous, cursed place imaginable. How could you break through here? Aren’t you afraid that something unexpected will happen?

But before he could give the matter any further thought, Su Yi stopped just one thousand feet away from the crescent moon–shaped lake.

Then, he waved his sleeve through the air.

Boom!

Sword force flew into the heavens, dispersing the black clouds covering the sky.

Crack!

Dazzling lightning surged forth, and the strange scenes that had followed them ever since they’d entered the Extreme Lightning Demon Cave reappeared.

This time, however, they’d obviously changed!