Chapter 111: The Beginning

Page 1/3

Just as he was marveling, a streak of escaping light shot toward him. The deer was a rare White-Horned Immortal Deer, treading the void midair, with wisps of white clouds sprouting beneath its hooves. The rider halted ahead, scrutinizing Zhou Qian from head to toe, apparently surprised by the youth’s pale complexion, then suddenly asked without preamble, “Is that you?”

Zhou Qian nodded—was he not here for this very reason? The rider said, “Then come aboard.”

At that, he tossed out an object that transformed midair into a wooden raft. The White Deer held a leather thong in its mouth, and Zhou Qian obeyed, stepping up and tapping the deer’s forehead, soaring into the sky.

Cold wind brushed his face, white clouds swirling between his fingers—an experience neither the Divine Shuttle nor the Boat Talisman could offer. Man and deer drifted between mountains and rivers, the rider occasionally nodding in greeting to passing sword immortals. After flying over a dozen peaks, they descended onto one in particular.

This mountain peak was peculiarly shaped—wide at the top, tapering sharply below like an inverted stone cone, about a thousand zhang tall, unremarkable yet surrounded by faintly encircling mountain ridges, making it easy to defend but hard to assault.

Outside the mountain, wisps of smoke curled around. The rider alighted at the summit, murmured a few words, and a stone cavern appeared among the rocks. Signaling for Zhou Qian to follow, he descended slowly.

The hollowed interior of the stone cone was carved out, with four or five sword lights circling within. The two men and the deer ascended a stone staircase etched into the wall, stopping before a chamber carved into the rock face. The rider said, “Go in, but don’t wander off. Someone will bring you meals.”

‘Someone else? I’m not alone here?’ Zhou Qian wondered, but kept moving forward.

The chamber was small; a glance revealed five others inside. Upon noticing a newcomer, they exchanged looks.

Two wore simple clothes, with broad hands and feet and dark skin—obviously peasants. Another wore silk with delicate skin and jade bracelets that were no ordinary trinkets, a scion of a wealthy family with official rank; Zhou Qian’s sharp eye recognized the jade pendant at his waist as an imperial gift after passing the prefectural exam.

Two remained: one looked plain but had a slick gaze—Zhou Qian instantly identified him as a wandering swordsman, a type he knew well. The last had a jade-like face and wore clothes unlike commoners, with a calm demeanor—perhaps a disciple of a sword immortal, though Zhou Qian dared not assert it.

“Only six of us?” the last man suddenly whispered.

“I’m Ma Xiaoliu from Sichuan,” the swordsman spoke up, “I just woke up and was brought here by that immortal. My head’s still fuzzy. Does anyone know what’s going on?”

“My brother and I don’t know either,” one peasant replied. “We only know the immortals want us to do something important, gave us silver, and we followed. On the way, we even saw immortals battling demons!”

“Could it be we’ve encountered an immortal’s fate? Perhaps the Sword Immortal wants us as disciples?” The wealthy youth, somewhat educated, indulged in fanciful thoughts.

The group, all bound by a shared fate, grew friendly and chatted earnestly, many expressing aspirations to cultivate immortality—some words amused even Zhou Qian, a mere mortal. Only he and the refined-looking man remained silent.

“Hmph! Cultivating immortality isn’t so simple. Among you, only the new arrival and the rich youth have immortal bones; the others are insignificant!” the refined man suddenly interrupted.

Zhou Qian narrowed his eyes, now certain this was a top-tier sword immortal, possessing exceptional discernment.

An awkward silence followed. After a moment, one peasant grumbled, “What do you know! If the immortals didn’t want us as disciples, why would they bring us into this immortal mountain?”

Page 2/3

The man sneered but said no more. The wealthy youth, reading the atmosphere, smiled broadly and quietly moved beside Zhou Qian, cupping his fists. “I am Shi Si. May I ask your name?”

Zhou Qian was not indifferent and returned the gesture. “Zhou Qian. Greetings, brother.”

“Haha, ‘brother’ is too much. We just asked around—everyone here was born on the same year, month, and day. You must be the same.”

“Zhou Qian? You’re Zhou Qian! The young Sword Immortal Zhou Qian?” Ma Xiaoliu suddenly stood, astonished.

“Same name, just coincidence,” Zhou Qian denied deliberately. The greater the fame, the more trouble. At this moment, discretion was best.

Ma Xiaoliu was half-convinced, but Shi Si was not skeptical. “Brother Zhou, your refined and handsome appearance surely marks you as a scholar like me. How could you be the cold-blooded butcher of the jianghu? They say that Zhou Qian stands eight feet tall, with an eight-foot waist, and loves to eat human flesh—one meal can devour a whole pig!”

Zhou Qian awkwardly scratched his nose, curious where such an absurd rumor began.

The cultivator glanced deeply at Zhou Qian, closed his eyes to rest. Gradually, the group began chatting intermittently. They were all young and lacking guile. Except for Shi Si, who seemed disdainful of the peasants, everyone else mingled freely.

“Do you feel it? The weather seems to be heating up!” Ma Xiaoliu suddenly said.

The others felt it too. The mountain was usually cool, especially in autumn, but now the heat was like sitting on a blazing iron plate, scorching as if gold and stone were melting. Soon, sweat drenched their bodies, dripping onto the ground and turning into white mist.

“Brother Zhou, aren’t you hot?” Shi Si wiped his face with his sleeve, asking.

“It’s fine. Brother Shi, you’d better take off your clothes,” Zhou Qian advised. He had a Dan Embrace physique; his pores closed at will, easily withstanding heat.

“That would disgrace my refinement! Absolutely forbidden!” Shi Si twisted his thin cloth like a rag, enviously eyeing the three others stripped bare, lamenting heroically.

“Yuan Yang Immortal Mirror! Is it finally beginning?” the cultivator suddenly looked up and whispered.

Outside, a strange spectacle illuminated the sky. The sun, once visible only as the size of a copper coin, now expanded to the size of a cartwheel and still grew, visible throughout the mortal realm, stunning all.

Within the Jade Immortal Peak’s seclusion, the Wine Daoist opened his eyes, surprised. “Chi Jingzi dares even sacrifice this sect’s treasured Yuan Yang artifact? To absorb the sun’s essence, weakening the Supreme Mother’s soul-seizing array.” Chi Jingzi was the sect leader of Lianshan.

The sun’s descent withered vegetation, dried the earth, and parched rivers. This scene played out across the world until the fiery orb reached a hundred zhang in diameter and ceased growing. Without shelter from the sun, ordinary people perished from the burning heat, leaving corpses strewn everywhere.

Far away in Chang’an’s Daming Palace, a yellow-robed elder looked up, lamenting, “General Li, is it my incompetence? Why does Heaven punish mortals so?”

Li Guangzhi was silent for a moment, then coldly said, “Immortals fight, mortals suffer. It has nothing to do with Heaven and Earth.”

Page 3/3

From the peaks of the Lianshan Sect, hundreds to thousands of streaks of escaping light shot northward, while far off at the Celestial Gate, various changes unfolded.

The boundless, surging black mist within the Supreme Mother’s Soul-Seizing Array gradually dispersed beneath the sun’s radiance. After half a day, though largely diminished, it still covered a hundred-li radius. Within the array, a figure soared, rushing toward the red sun.

His escaping light spanned a hundred zhang, with wails of ghosts and spirits rising. The righteous immortals hurried to follow or unleash treasures, but he was too swift—only a dozen of the hundreds of sword lights could keep pace. The figure paused midair, reversed course, and unleashed a hundred black dragons of sword light roaring downward. Their collision shook heaven and earth; several sword lights wailed as they recoiled, the rest were devoured.

“Celestial Demon Execution Sword!”

“It’s Lu Mingzi!”

Many sword immortals cried out in alarm. Lu Mingzi scanned his surroundings and ascended again, but the delay allowed two sword lights to block his path—Emei Sect’s Golden Light Immortal and Zhao Tianshi of the Dragon-Tiger Maoshan Sect, both powerful souls.

The former shot out sword lights a dozen zhang long, full of immortal energy, the quintessential Emei style. The latter summoned a giant spirit clad in gold armor and helmet, wielding a Fangtian Huaji spear. By comparison, Lu Mingzi was like an ant.

But with one turn, black mist surged from his body, forming two hundred-zhang tall demonic shadows—his soul’s true form: the Yin-Yang Demon God.

In a single clash, the outcome was decided. Yin and Yang energies enveloped the Emei sword, intertwining, stirring earth, fire, wind, and water. The sword shattered into fragments. The giant spirit was crushed by a punch from the demon god.

“You’re no match! If you want to stop me, where are the seven sect leaders?”

Seizing the moment, Lu Mingzi soared skyward. The two immortals could not stop him—not because they were weak, but because he was too strong. Having slain Grandmaster Dayue and Grandmaster Taiyi, both second-tier heavenly tribulation masters, and dozens of righteous soul cultivators, his ferocity shook the heavens. Rumored as the greatest of the demonic path, it was strange that despite his power, he served two generations of demonic grandmasters loyally—a true anomaly among demons.

Though six sect leaders united to forge treasures, the righteous side was not without defenders; they simply had their own calculations and held back.

The sun’s essence gathered at the Celestial Gate, igniting the void with fire and boiling heat, blocking the demonic array’s overflow. The seven sect sword immortals formed a hundred formations outside: Emei’s Great Sumeru Two-Polarity Sword Array, the Heavenly Dao Gate’s Langya Immortal Array, Qingcheng’s Azure Cloud Sword Array, Dragon-Tiger Maoshan’s Ten Thousand Beasts Fierce Array, Fire Island’s Capital Heaven Flame Array, Lianyun’s Ten Thousand Mountains Sword Array arranged in the Big Dipper formation, layered with divine thunder arrays, bamboo mountain arrays, Five Elements Divine Thunder arrays, and more. At once, thousands of sword energies shot forth, fiery gods and thunder boiling the heavens, beast souls stirring the earth, heavens’ waters cascading downward, earth’s qi surging upward—within tens of thousands of li, vital energy fluctuated wildly. The mortal realm suffered earthquakes, firestorms, floods, and disasters in many places.

Outside the battlefield, the void suddenly split open with countless gaping mouths. Countless demons and spirits poured into the mortal world, flying toward the battle. The sky darkened, demonic energy surged—this was why the demonic grandmaster chose this spot for his formation. The Celestial Gate, towering tens of thousands of zhang, connected heaven and earth, the netherworld, and the Six Desires Heaven. By breaking the void with demonic magic, he could summon their aid.

Among the demons and monsters were many evil sect leaders and fierce demon lords: the Old Ancestor of the Azure Lotus, the Dragon Slaying Grandmaster, the Seven Emotions Ancestor, the Poison Dragon Master, the Withered Wood Old Fiend...

[End of excerpt]