First Immortal of the Sword
Chapter 1176: An Ambush

The atmosphere was so tense and stifled that even the birds fell silent.

The cultivators who’d taken on the airs of a senior and urged Su Yi to turn back all felt incomparably awkward. They could have died of sheer embarrassment.

And those who’d thought him brazen, reckless, and too foolish to recognize others’ good intentions were visibly shaken. All of them felt chills in their hands and feet.

As for the purple-robed elder, Wang Beiting…

Bean-sized beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

Su Yi turned to look. He couldn’t help but exclaim, “What are you doing here?”

This new arrival was none other than the Heavensdeath Demon Empress. Her red dress swayed around her, and there was a smug grin on her charming face. “I predicted that you’d leave without me, so I’ve been waiting here for you all this time.”

Su Yi rubbed his nose. What could he say to that?

Meanwhile, Wang Beiting seemed to come back to his senses. He bowed deeply and said in a quavering voice, “Your Excellency Su, I offended your dignity earlier. Please don’t take offense!”

He really hadn’t seen Su Yi’s appearance before. Otherwise, there was no way he would have committed such a basic error.

“You had good intentions. How could I possibly make trouble for you?” Su Yi laughed, then turned and shot toward the entrance to the Graveyard of Fallen Immortals.

The Heavensdeath Demon Empress hurried after him.

“Brother Su, I know you’re worried I’ll run into danger, and that’s why you acted alone, but I’ve long since made up my mind to investigate. How could I possibly be afraid of death?” said the Heavensdeath Demon Empress, her voice soft. “Relax. Once we’re inside, there’s no way I’ll make trouble for you.”

“It’s not trouble I’m worried about,” said Su Yi. He pointed at the distant entrance to the Graveyard of Fallen Immortals. “Once we go inside, we’ll effectively have entered a constantly shifting spatial tunnel. Even if we travel together, we’ll be transported to separate regions of the Graveyard of Fallen Immortals.”

He’d come here several times before, but he’d only explored the perimeter. Even then, he’d almost died on several occasions.

He naturally knew full well how terrifying the Graveyard of Fallen Immortals was.

“If we were traveling together, I’d be able to help you, but it’s too dangerous for you to travel on your own,” said Su Yi.

The Heavensdeath Demon Empress said solemnly, “I’m not afraid.”

Su Yi instantly realized he’d have little luck dissuading her. Instead, he took out a jade slip and used his divine sense to carve a secret map inside.

As he passed it to her, he said, “This contains a map of the outer perimeter of the Graveyard of Fallen Immortals. I’ve already marked it. Once we’re inside, you should proceed to the Black Blood Ruins. I’ll come find you there.”

The Heavensdeath Demon Empress accepted the jade slip and straightforwardly agreed.

Before long, the two of them shot through the entryway and disappeared.

Off in the distance, the gathered cultivators felt a massive weight lift from their shoulders.

Wang Beiting wiped the cold sweat from his brow and stiffened his back. He laughed dryly, “Don’t you think His Excellency Su is surprisingly easy to talk to?”

The other cultivators looked at each other. ‘Easy to talk to?’ We were scared practically half to death!

After all, that wasn’t just the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force. The founder of the Demons’ Elysium, the Heavensdeath Demon Empress was there too!

When no one responded, Wang Beiting was a bit sheepish. “His Excellency Su was right in front of me, but I failed to recognize him. I…have truly embarrassed myself….”

……

An ancient, primitive landscape. Everywhere you looked, it was the picture of desolation.

Dense mist hung in the air, like bands of silk. It was as if the landscape were shrouded in gauze.

Spatial ripples spread outward, and Su Yi appeared out of nowhere.

He looked around, only to discover that he was in unfamiliar territory. He’d never been here before.

Kcch!

Before Su Yi could take his time to sense his surroundings, a streak of firelight appeared out of nowhere and shot toward him.

Upon closer inspection, it was a fire-red ant about the size of a pinky. It looked as if it had been forged out of molten copper, and its face was as hideously contorted as a monster baring its fangs.

As it charged, it left burning rifts in its wake, and a terrifying, devouring aura spread outward.

Shockingly, the ant’s aura was no weaker than a Profound Serenity Realm Emperor’s!

Su Yi stretched out his hand and grabbed the fiery ant. The sealed insect fell into his outstretched palm.

“A Spirit-Devouring Fire Ant? These insidious lifeforms still exist…?” Su Yi exclaimed.

Spirit-Devouring Fire Ants were an ancient variant species. The vicious creatures could shuttle through space freely, devouring the souls of even Emperors with ease.

Moreover, they typically traveled in groups…

Su Yi had only just thought this when the distant air suddenly trembled, and a swath of firelight surged forth. A swarm of countless Spirit-Devouring Fire Ants surged forth, like countless flaming stars.

Su Yi sucked in a breath of cold air, turned, and fled.

It wasn’t that he was afraid, but that Spirit-Devouring Fire Ants were extremely troublesome, and moreover, there was practically no end to them. Once the fighting began, he wouldn’t be able to extricate himself anytime soon.

More importantly, these vermin’s bodies were no treasures. Their shells could be used to refine weapons, but only just barely.

In Su Yi’s eyes, they were no more valuable than chicken ribs. Killing them wouldn’t benefit him at all.

Boom!

The skies violently collapsed as if incinerated.

The swarm of Spirit-Devouring Fire Ants chased after Su Yi, relentless and ferocious.

Along the way, wherever these vermin passed, space caught ablaze and the landscape was reduced to ash, leaving nothing behind but scorched earth.

The swarm was enough to terrify even an Imperial Apex Emperor.

But it wasn’t much of a threat to Su Yi.

Still, he quickly sensed that something was amiss.

Another swarm of Spirit-Devouring Fire Ants appeared up ahead, blanketing heaven and earth, sweeping toward him like a blazing current.

Just as Su Yi planned to change directions, he discovered that everywhere he looked, radiant flames were soaring into the air.

All of them were swarms of Spirit-Devouring Fire Ants!

“Did I stumble into the Spirit-Devouring Fire Ants’ territory?” Even Su Yi was flabbergasted. He’d only just arrived in the Graveyard of Fallen Immortals, and this was still the outer perimeter, yet he’d already encountered an obstacle like this. There was no getting around it; he was really unlucky!

“Then I’ll just cut a path of blood.” At first, Su Yi had no intention of wasting energy here, but now, it seemed there was no other choice.

But it was then that someone sighed.

“And here I thought we’d caught a big fish. Who’d have thought it was just some kid?”

The voice was full of disappointment.

Following this voice, the massive swarms of Spirit-Devouring Ants stopped, as if they’d received orders, and hovered in the air.

“Young lord, this kid isn’t simple. Although I can’t discern his exact cultivation base, I can tell that he’s a very young Emperor. In the run-down, dilapidated Wilds, that’s quite impressive,” said a cold, raspy voice.

“That so? Then how about I accept this prey as a servant?”

“Catching your eye is his good fortune, young lord.”

…As they conversed, a pair appeared in the distant landscape, a young man and an elder.

The elder was dressed in gray, with withered features and eyes as sharp as a hawk’s.

The young man was handsome and clad in bright yellow robes. He carried a blue-green jade flute.

When the two of them appeared, the countless ants filling the surrounding landscape buzzed, like ministers lowering their heads in submission.

“So, you’re beast masters. I just don’t know which sect of the starry skies you hail from,” Su Yi said thoughtfully.

Beast mastery was quite common out amongst the stars, and numerous peak factions had such legacies.

“Young man, you’ve already been surrounded.” Off in the distance, a gray-robed elder said in a calm, raspy voice, “But you’re quite fortunate, as you’ve caught our young lord’s eye. He’s willing to accept you as his slave. Well? Why aren’t you kneeling in gratitude yet?”

He spoke with lofty superiority, as if looking down on Su Yi.

But Su Yi laughed, not at all concerned. “Such confidence! Are you perhaps from the Spirit Mastery Pure Lands?

The Spirit Mastery Pure Lands!

Out amongst the stars, they were the uncontested number one orthodoxy when it came to beast mastery. Furthermore, they were the hegemons of the Untamed Clouds Star Realm. Rumor had it that they raised all manner of divine beasts and strange creatures. Their foundations were deep and ancient.

The gray-robed elder was stunned. He exclaimed, “You’re a cultivator of the Wilds, but you know about the Spirit Mastery Pure Lands?”

“I know a little,” said Su Yi, a bit disappointed. “But I can tell that you aren’t cultivators of the Spirit Mastery Pure Lands after all.”

The gray-robed elder was a bit displeased. “It’s true that we aren’t from the Spirit Mastery Pure Lands, but we still aren’t someone a paltry little native savage like you can afford to provoke!

The young man in long yellow robes looked at Su Yi, his eyes flashing like lightning as he said with conceit, “I can tell that you know a little about what goes in amongst the stars, so listen up! We’re from Thousand Spirits Demon Mountain!”

His voice was full of pride.

“Thousand Spirits Demon Mountain?” Su Yi thought for a moment, then shook his head. “I… really haven’t heard of that one.”

The gray-robed elder and the long-robed young man’s expressions were instantly a bit unsightly. What’s that supposed to mean? You know about the Spirit Mastery Pure Lands, but you don’t know anything about us at all?

“It seems your sect isn’t one of the peak factions of the hundred great star realms, nor is it some ancient, secluded powerhouse. Otherwise, I would definitely have heard of you.” Su Yi sighed.

After inheriting the Temple Master’s memories and experiences, he naturally knew the factions of the stars beyond like the back of his hand.

But even after racking his brains, he couldn’t recall anything about Thousand Spirits Demon Mountain. That proved that in all the Temple Master’s years of cultivation, he’d never heard of this faction!

“???” The gray-robed elder was stunned. Is that punk looking down on Thousand Spirits Demon Mountain?

The long-robed young man was flabbergasted too. A savage from the Wilds is seriously looking down on us?

“Never mind. I’ll just ask you this. Has your Thousand Spirits Demon Mountain sent any stronger experts to the Graveyard of Fallen Immortals? Answer my question, and I can let you live,” said Su Yi. He couldn’t even be bothered to clean up small fries like these, so he hoped to take down the experts behind them directly.

But his question enraged the two of them to the point of laughter.

The long-robed young man rubbed his ears, as if he dared not believe what he was hearing. He said coldly, “Uncle Ming, kill that native savage. There’s no more need for mercy!”

“Exactly what I had in mind.” The gray-robed elder was beside himself with fury too, and he seethed with murderous intent.

As he spoke, a bone flute flew from his sleeves, and he swung it through the air.

An impassioned note cut through the still silence of the landscape.

Boom!

Throughout the surrounding area, countless Spirit-Devouring Ants instantly took action, like a surging wave of fire sweeping toward Su Yi.

They blanketed heaven and earth, their force and momentum shaking the skies.

But when Su Yi saw this, he sighed. People nowadays are just more and more temperamental.