First Immortal of the Sword

Old Man Providence’s youngest disciple was an extraordinarily famous figure among the God Domain’s Great Realm experts.

Well, maybe the better word was “infamous.”

His name was Gu Yunchan, and his true body was a Gu Huo Bird. He was crafty, ruthless, and unfathomably powerful. Among the God Domain’s yao cultivators, he was ranked among the Ten Great Yao Sovereigns, and his name shook his entire region. Countless deities of the Yao Path thought highly of him and believed he was sure to one day sit among them.

“Where is he?” Xi Ning’s eyes glinted with icy light, her expression utterly murderous.

She’d borne a deep grudge against Gu Yunchan for a long time, and she hated him to the bone.

This was because, during one of the God Domain’s Great Realm Sparring Battles, Gu Yunchan had brutally killed Xi Ning’s younger brother, Xi Yu!

She’d hated him ever since, and back in the God Domain, she’d tried to avenge her brother several times over. However, Gu Yunchan was hard to track down, and he was as crafty as a fox. All of Xi Ning’s attempts ended in failure.

Now that she knew that Gu Yunchan had come to the God Domain, her heart filled with hatred.

“A’Ning, don’t be impulsive,” Luo Tiandu said hurriedly. “I only just received the news, and I still don’t know where Gu Yunchan is.”

His voice suddenly filled with staunch determination, “But you can rest assured that since I’m here, the moment he dares appear, I’ll capture him alive and let you deal with him as you please!”

Gu Yunchan was powerful, with a crafty, ruthless disposition. He was an extremely dangerous character. Luo Tiandu wasn’t at all comfortable with Xi Ning seeking revenge on her own.

Xi Ning fell briefly silent, then said, “I’ll avenge this grudge on my own.”

Luo Tiandu laughed. “Then I’ll help you!”

He paused, then said, “Actually, I assumed he’d participate in this expedition into the ruins of the Dragon Palace. After all, his master, the Angler, achieved divinity through the Dao of Karma, and the Book of Karma is a supreme treasure of the Dao of Karma born of chaos. It’s extremely enticing to the Angler. That’s why I came to the Eastern Sea to find you. I was afraid you’d cross paths with Gu Yunchan. But strangely, there’s no sign of him anywhere.”

Xi Ning froze, stunned. Only now did she realize that Luo Tiandu had come looking for her because of Gu Yunchan.

“That was actually quite thoughtful of you,” she said, her voice considerably warmer.

Luo Tiandu keenly detected the change in her attitude, and his spirits soared. He smiled, “A’Ning, your problems are my problems. How could I not put my heart into them?”

His attentiveness left Fan Zhui inwardly rueful. He knew that this famous, unparalleled lunatic wasn’t so polite or thoughtful with anyone else.

Around anyone else, Luo Tiandu was an incomparably tyrannical madman!

“The Book of Karma…” Xi Ning suddenly realized something. “Does that mean that Gu Yunchan is likely to target Fellow Daoist Su?”

Luo Tiandu’s smile froze. Why is she bringing that Su guy into this again?

For some inexplicable reason, he felt a bit uncomfortable. He took a moment to steady himself, then said, “There is indeed that possibility. A’Ning, the others are waiting for us in the Elephant Province. It seems to me that…”

Xi Ning seemed to realize what he was worried about before he’d finished talking. “I made an agreement, and I naturally won’t go back on my word.”

Luo Tiandu instantly sighed in relief. All’s well so long as she doesn’t go back to see Su Yi.

But then, she took out a talisman and sent word about Gu Yunchan to Su Yi. After doing this, she visibly relaxed.

Luo Tiandu rubbed his nose and said tentatively, “A’Ning, did you just send Fellow Daoist Su a message?”

“That’s right,” Xi Ning said openly. “Gu Yunchan is far more dangerous than Qing Xiao and his cronies were, so I had to warn him.”

Luo Tiandu sighed, a bit stunned. “Fellow Daoist Su sure is fortunate to have you look after him like this.”

Fan Zhui could hear the hint of melancholy in Luo Tiandu’s words, and his expression turned a bit strange. Is he… perhaps jealous? This is the dazzling, unparalleled divine son of the ancient Luo Family, but even he's jealous!

Xi Ning glanced at Luo Tiandu. “Did you know that earlier, I asked Fellow Daoist to spare your life the next time he ran into you?”

Luo Tiandu looked moved, as if he found this difficult to believe. “A’Ning, so, it turns out you’re concerned about my safety after all…”

Xi Ning continued, “Do you know what Fellow Daoist Su said to me?”

Luo Tiandu didn’t particularly care, but he said with feigned curiosity,” What did he say?”

“Fan Zhui, you tell him.”

“Got it.” Fan Zhui solemnly recounted everything Su Yi had said without the slightest embellishment.

Despite his initial disinterest, after hearing the full story, Luo Tiandu was unwittingly stunned.

“I don’t want him to die. I need worthy opponents. It doesn’t matter if they’re my enemies or not. The stronger he is, the happier I’ll be. If, one day, he manages to kill me, very well. It’ll just mean he was stronger than me. I won’t resent him for it.”

When he heard those words, Luo Tiandu felt as if he could see Su Yi—composed, calm, with the prideful bearing of one with absolute confidence in his strength.

He instantly fell silent.

Sometimes, a few words or a simple gesture were enough to reveal someone’s character and breadth of spirit.

Luo Tiandu suddenly felt that he’d never really understood Su Yi.

Xi Ning said no more on the matter. She’d already made her stance perfectly clear. What Luo Tiandu did next was up to him.

……

The ruins of the Dragon Palace.

Su Yi received Xi Ning’s message on his way back to the treasury.

Gu Yunchan!

This was an unfamiliar name, and Su Yi wasn’t overly concerned about him. Even if he was one of the Ten Great Yao Sovereign’s of God Domain, to Su Yi, he was at most another potential enemy. No, what really drew Su Yi’s attention was Gu Yunchan’s master: Old Man Providence.

So, it’s the Angler again… Su Yi suddenly recalled his time in the Domain Boundary Battlefield. Back then, not long before ascending to the Immortal Realm, he and A’Cai joined forces to pluck a stalk of Heaven-Adjudicating Grass in a forbidden zone.

But then, Su Yi discovered a fish hook attached to it.

The moment he touched it, he saw a wisp of the Angler’s aura. It transformed into an old man in cloth robes. His hair and beard were scraggly, and the endless starry void was reflected behind him. Countless stars revolved within it.

That was Su Yi’s first encounter with the Angler.

Afterward, he learned from the mysterious spearwoman that the old man was the Angler, a god otherwise known as Old Man Providence. He controlled the power of karma, and his fish hooks were called Karmic Hooks.

The moment Su Yi touched a Karmic Hook, the Angler set his sights on him!

The mysterious spearwoman also said that being targeted by the angler was enough to give even other gods a headache. She said that if Su Yi begged her, she would help him resolve this latent threat.

But Su Yi controlled the power of reincarnation, and he wasn’t at all afraid of that level of karmic power, so he refused.

However, at the time, Su Yi didn’t rush to neutralize that karmic power. Rather, he used it as bait to see just what kind of fish he could reel in.

As a result, not long after he ascended to the Immortal Realm, Cloud Apparatus Immortal Manor tried to capture him, and a divine emissary, Hei Mo, intercepted him!

It was after that encounter that Su Yi confirmed that the Angler was behind Cloud Apparatus Immortal Manor, as Hei Mo was one of Old Man Providence’s divine emissaries!

Then, not long after the grand battle at the Seventh Gate of Heaven, it was revealed that Cloud Apparatus Immortal Manor was colluding with the demons of the Beyond. They became the public enemies of the Immortal Realm, and other major factions joined forces to destroy them.

Cloud Apparatus Immortal Manor had since disappeared from the face of the earth. Su Yi hadn’t heard anything about them since.

This was his first time hearing that the Angler had sent his youngest disciple, Gu Yunchan, to the Immortal Realm!

Xi Ning said that Gu Yunchan was likely after the Book of Karma, one of the Nine Mysteries of Chaos, as the Angeler had become a deity through the Dao of Karma.

But the way Su Yi saw it, Gu Yunchan’s goal couldn’t possibly be so simple. He was most likely also tasked with destroying Su Yi, and of course, he was after an opportunity to prove his Dao and become a god, just like the other divine children.

It seems the Angler is an extraordinarily powerful figure even in the God Domain… thought Su Yi.

According to Xi Ning, the Angler was an extraordinarily terrifying and mysterious yao god! His true body was a beast with unparalleled vision, a Dijiang Bird!

Even his youngest disciple, Gu Yunchan, was infamous in the God Domain for his ruthlessness.

That spearwoman isn’t simple either… thought Su Yi.

When Su Yi first learned of the Angler from her, he didn’t attach much importance to it.

But now, he was increasingly cognizant of how extraordinary the spearwoman’s origins were. She didn’t just recognize the Angler’s treasures; she even knew how to neutralize his karmic power!

Qing Xiao, Jin Zhuliu, Qing Wu, and the other divine children all seemed inferior by comparison. They might well have had means of neutralizing karmic power, but they couldn’t possibly do so quickly!

This made it obvious how extraordinary the spearwoman was.

She and A’Cai left the Domain Boundary Battlefield and ascended to the Immortal Realm ahead of us. I wonder where they are now… The spearwoman is likely after an opportunity to become a deity. Similarly, A’Cai is looking for a chance to become a butterfly and achieve divinity. Well, anyway, perhaps I’ll learn the truth next time fate brings us together.

As Su Yi pondered, he reached the treasury of the Dragon Palace.

The Dragon Progenitor’s Cauldron rumbled and boomed. Divine light coursed through it. The Red Dragon Dao Monarch was still cultivating inside, and she showed no sign of awakening.

Su Yi let out a long breath, cast aside his scattered thoughts, and focused on his cultivation.

There were numerous perilous forbidden zones throughout the ruins of the Dragon Palace. Su Yi saw them as perfect places to temper himself.

He planned to go into seclusion here for a while and strive for another breakthrough!

Seth's Thoughts

Gu Huo Niao, or Gu Huo Birds, are relatively obscure mythological creature. Most of the English sources I'm finding are about the Japanese variant, the Kokakuchō, and most (all?) suggest that Gu Huo Niao are female. Birds by day, women by night. From an article on Chinese ghosts:

"A Gu Huo Niao is a woman who died during childbirth, subsequently becoming a creature with shape shifting abilities alternating between bird and woman. Due to grief from her grim pregnancy, this bird-woman creature craves for infants, especially males."

That said, Gu Huo Niao are obscure enough that I wouldn't necessarily read anything into that.

__The Dijiang (bird) is a creature from the Classic of Mountains and Seas described as "a legendary face-less being of primal chaos." They say it has "a red aura of cinnabar, encompassing an emptiness like the cosmos."

That sounds really badass until... well, open the link and have a look at it.

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