First Immortal of the Sword - Chapter 1443: The Meaning of Intimidation
The thin man in Daoist robes was called the Gale Master. He was among the greatest of the Void Realm True Immortals present.
When they heard his suggestion, many of the Void Realm True Immortals hesitated. It wasn’t that they were suddenly tempted or overcome with eagerness, but that the Gale Master had given voice to what they were already thinking!
Admittedly, Su Yi’s strength struck fear into their hearts. But they might well stand a chance at capturing him if they worked together.
The Gale Master seemed ready to go all out. He said gravely, “Don’t tell me you’re willing to just leave and give up the good fortune here?
“Don’t forget why we came here. We’re trying to find the path to life in the Endless Treasure Grounds! There’s no other way out!”
His voice was firm and determined. It spread throughout the surrounding area.
A white-haired elder in green robes gnashed his teeth and said, “The Gale Master is right. We’re already revenants. If we don’t find that path to life, our cultivation bases are doomed to plummet and wither away! Our only other choice is a life of degradation. Why not risk it all?”
There was uproar amongst the crowd. The way the Void Realm True Immortal Revenants looked at Su Yi had shifted inscrutably.
Su Yi stood there, hands behind his back, taking all of this in. He made no attempt to stop them. He wouldn’t kill someone just because, but if they insisted on seeking out their own demise, he didn’t mind sending them along!
Yun Huaqing, however, couldn’t take it anymore. He bellowed, “Gale Master, you’re going to get people killed like this! Got it? I’ll lay this right out in the open. Even if you attack together, you cannot possibly be a match for Fellow Daoist Su!”
He spoke with firm conviction.
Yu Ning spoke up too. “There’s no grudge between you and Fellow Daoist Su. Why must we resort to violence? Lower your heads and take a step back. If you do, Fellow Daoist Su might well think better of you. It’s even entirely possible that you’ll have a chance at breaking your curse!”
After Yun Huaqing and Yu Ning spoke, some of the Void Realm True Immortals hesitated.
“Yun Huaqing, you’re a Void Realm True Immortal, yet you’re going against your conscience and spouting such shameless lies just to curry favor with Su Yi. I’m ashamed on your behalf!” The Gale Master snorted coldly. “One more word out of you, and you won’t escape death either!”
He then looked at Yu Ning. “That goes for you too. Bad enough that you’re helping Yun Huaqing deceive us. Now you’ve gone and urged us to lower our heads before a junior? You ought to die for that!”
Yun Huaqing and Yu Ning’s expressions darkened.
Su Yi, however, furrowed his brow. He’d finally run out of patience. He hated nothing more than verbal sparring like this!
A moment later, Su Yi attacked directly, launching himself at the Gale Master.
“If any of you want to die with him, go right ahead!” Su Yi said coolly. As he spoke, he swung his sword at the Gale Master.
Boom!
The air was thrown into disarray. Sword intent soared into the firmament.
Just like before, Su Yi was tyrannical to the extreme.
“Get him!” bellowed the Gale Master. He drew a fiery Dao Sword, took the skies, and attacked in full force.
“Get him!”
Meanwhile, some of the other Void Realm True Immortals took action, charging into the fray alongside him.
“Those fools! No medicine can cure stupidity!” Yun Huaqing laughed coldly.
Yu Ning sighed. “Are they fools? Weren’t you and I just as blind and foolish before witnessing Fellow Daoist Su’s strength with our own eyes?”
Yun Huaqing was instantly sheepish, and he felt rather awkward.
It was true. Their knowledge and perceptions were different; it was no wonder the attacking immortals had reached starkly different conclusions.
The Gale Master and the other old monsters attacked because they thought their victory was assured. Were they stupid?
No!
But some of the other Void Realm True Immortals had yet to attack. They moved further away instead of getting mixed up in the fighting.
Rumble! Boom!
A grand battle broke out. Immortal treasures whooshed through the air, and the light of the Dao rumbled and boomed.
No one dared to get complacent, even though their opponent was a single young man. All of them had overcome a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood to reach their current heights. Who’d dare to get complacent after watching Su Yi kill Bai Lichuan?
The Gale Master and the others attacked with the intention of unleashing a single, overwhelming joint attack. Each displayed the strongest methods at their disposal, revealing every last one of their trump cards!
Their terrifying power sent a chill coursing down Yun Huaqing and Yu Ning’s spines. Their hearts clenched.
They had to admit that in Su Yi’s shoes, they’d have retreated long ago. They would never have dared clash with so many experts head-on!
In the blink of an eye, Su Yi was surrounded on all sides and in grave peril.
But his gaze was calm and indifferent, without the slightest trace of panic.
“Activate!”
The Divine Replenishment Furnace took to the skies, hovering above Su Yi’s head. Endless purple immortal light flowed from the opening, blocking the attacks arriving from all sides.
The Sword of the Human Realm hummed in Su Yi’s grip and lit up with a burst of strange, inscrutable light. In the blink of an eye, countless streaks of sword qi were flying through the air.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Heaven and earth trembled. A grand, mysterious vision of reincarnation spread through the air. The Reincarnation Pool, the Path of the Far Shore, the Infernal Palace, the Tree of the Ten Thousand Worlds of Samsara… All manner of grand visions melted into one another, creating a realistic Samsara Domain that enveloped the entire landscape.
As well as all of Su Yi’s enemies!
“Reincarnation!” The hearts of the Gale Master and his allies shook. Their expressions changed dramatically. Revenants like them feared nothing more than this taboo power of the Grand Dao!
“Let’s hurry up and fight our way out!!”
Roars rang out repeatedly.
All of the old monsters sensed the danger, and they fought with everything they had, attacking like mad. All manner of immortal treasures shot forth, making the Samsara Domain tremble.
“See that, everyone? The power of reincarnation isn’t invincible! Get him!” bellowed the Gale Master. A waterfall of immortal light poured down around him, and his momentum was terrifying to behold.
“Get him!”
The Samsara Domain swayed violently. It was showing signs of falling apart.
Yun Huaqing and Yu Ning couldn’t help but get nervous.
“Ants trying to shake a tree!” Su Yi snorted coldly.
He stood in the air, a rain of the chaotic light of the Grand Dao revolving around him, making him seem like a proud and majestic sovereign presiding over the cycle of reincarnation.
As he pressed the Sword of the Human Realm into the Samsara Domain manifested of countless streaks of sword qi, the Sword of the Nine Hells rumbled within his sea of consciousness. Su Yi drew upon as much of his power as he could, and a mysterious, inscrutable aura soon seeped into the Sword of the Human Realm, then surged into the Samsara Domain.
Boom——!
An unbelievable scene followed. The Samsara Domain instantly seemed realer. Countless mysterious fluctuations of the Laws rippled throughout it, and the visions of the Reincarnation Pool, Path of the Far Shore, and Sea of Bitterness resurfaced.
The turbid waters of the Reincarnation Pool flowed, giving rise to mist. It was like a geyser releasing the springwater of the depths of the Netherworld.
Countless blazing flowers drifted onto the Path of the Far Shore. The sound of the Grand Dao resounded throughout that long path into the darkness, like hushed whispers guiding the souls of the dead into the next world. The waters of the Sea of Bitterness surged. Countless bones churned within the roaring waves….
The Gale Master and the others felt as if they’d been plunged into the true cycle of reincarnation! They felt more helpless, insignificant, and hopeless than ever before.
This is bad!!
The old monsters panicked and struggled like mad, but it was to no avail.
Some of them fell into the Reincarnation Pool, their bodies enveloped in fog and reduced to countless chunks. The bone-chilling Laws of Rebirth dissipated them.
Some were guided to the Path of the Far Shore, their bodies set ablaze and reduced to ash in the blink of an eye.
Still others were dragged into the endless Sea of Bitterness. They rose and fell within its turbid waters, unable to escape but unable to die, their souls plunged into unimaginable torment.
Terrified shrieks, unwilling roars, and frantic cries rose and fell in waves.
A chill coursed through Yun Huaqing. His eyes were full of deep-seated dread. “Reincarnation…”
It didn’t matter that he’d already received Su Yi’s help breaking his curse. The sight of so many Void Realm True Immortals cast into torment amidst the cycle of reincarnation still filled him with indescribable terror.
“Even the Contract of the Gods forbids this power. It really is… just too terrifying…” murmured Yu Ning. Despite herself, her jadelike hands clenched.
The Void Realm True Immortals who’d chosen not to participate couldn’t help but tremble!
Sometimes, a single choice could determine your life and death.
It was because they’d chosen not to participate that they lived to see the other Void Realm True Immortals die brutal deaths within that all-too-real world of reincarnation. They were overcome with astonishment, but more than that, they couldn’t help but celebrate their choice.
Boom!
The Samsara Domain shook violently. A streak of light tore open an exit, and someone promptly shot right through it. It was none other than the Gale Master!
But his hair was disheveled and his body was badly battered. He looked incomparably wretched.
The onlookers couldn’t help but look stunned.
“What can reincarnation… do to me?” The Gale Master threw back his head and roared.
Bang!!!
The Divine Replenishment Furnace descended swathed in boundless purple immortal light. The Gale Master exploded into pieces on impact.
The crowd was at a loss for words.
They were silent, but the Gale Master’s final roar still echoed through the air. His last words now seemed utterly ironic.
The Samsara Domain gradually receded. Both the Gale Master and the dozen-or-so immortals he’d led into battle had perished within moments!
Everyone present was so astonished that they sank into a daze. A long time passed in silence.
Su Yi stood in the sky, every bit as indifferent as before, gazing down upon the immortals like a sovereign.
Suddenly, he turned to look at the remaining Void Realm True Immortals and said flatly, “Anyone else want to try me?”
No one dared to meet his gaze. And no one dared to accept his challenge!
Su Yi shook his head slightly, then drifted to the ground, sat cross-legged, took out some pills, and started cultivating. All the while, he disregarded them completely.
He made no attempt to hide from the distant Void Realm True Immortals.
Yun Huaqing and Yu Ning were instantly solemn. They silently approached and stood aside him, serving as his dharma protectors.
But against their expectations, even when they realized that Su Yi was in the middle of recovering his strength, no one else dared to challenge him!
The two of them couldn’t help but sigh to themselves. Even if Su Yi had really exhausted his cultivation base, so what?
He’d completely intimidated the Void Realm True Immortals. None dared test him recklessly!
And from beginning to end, Su Yi made no attempt to hide anything. He just sat there and meditated out in the open!
Yun Huaqing and Yu Ning couldn’t help but sigh over his ridiculous composure.
Meanwhile, the distant Void Realm True Immortals’ hearts churned, their expressions conflicted. It was just as Yun Huaqing and Yu Ning thought. Even if Su Yi was really in his weakest possible state right now, no one would dare attempt to loot a burning house.
Earlier, Bai Lichuan assumed Su Yi was bluffing, only for his skepticism to cost him his life.
Then, the Gale Master assumed Su Yi was bluffing. He rallied a similarly skeptical group of old-timers to fight alongside him. In the end, every last one of them perished.
They’d become an example to the rest. Who’d risk their lives to test Su Yi now?
Meanwhile, deep within the fog of the Endless Treasure Grounds, Old Monster Yellow Eyebrows gulped with great difficulty.
Fuck! If I hadn’t been so quick-witted earlier, I’d be dead by now!
Seth’s Thoughts
The author is waffling on whether the Reincarnation Pool or the Platform of Rebirth represents the Laws of Rebirth when Su Yi manifests visions of the Netherworld. He’s also waffling on the name of the Chinese name of the Laws. (转生 vs往生). I’m going to unify the name of the Laws (they’re the same thing) and leave his choice of “representative vision of the netherworld” in place.” Hopefully that’s not confusing. It should always be consistent within a given chapter at least.