First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 1676 - Captured Alive

Chu Batian grinned and waved. “Miss Yuyan, we meet again. We truly are connected by fate.”

Tang Yuyan’s whole body seethed with murderous intent. Her allies’ expressions were incomparably unsightly too. 

During their last encounter in the woods, Chu Batian sniped their prize, and as if that weren’t bad enough, he even extorted them!

At the time, Tang Yuyan was so badly injured that she’d had no choice but to swallow her anger, endure, and give in to Chu Batian’s demands.

Now, Chu Batian was up to his old tricks again. He’d seized yet another opportunity to rob them blind. Tang Yuyan and her allies were so furious that steam practically billowed out of the seven apertures of their faces, and they gnashed their teeth so hard they almost shattered.

“Chu Batian, you’re pushing us too far!” Tang Yuyan gripped her short saber and attacked.

Clang!!

A heaven-shaking impact rang out as Chu Batian swung his spear to block her onslaught.

“Tang Yuyan, you’re injured, and your allies can’t block even a single one of my hits. How can you possibly fight me under the circumstances?” Chu Batian threw back his head and laughed. “Would you believe me if I said an all-out confrontation would only make your situation even worse?”

The Immortal Lords looked stricken. All of them were both startled and furious, but it was just as Chu Batian said. They’d finally defeated the Demonblood Flood Dragon, but after all that fighting, they were at the end of their rope!

“I’ll drag you down with me if it’s the last thing I do, you shameless bastard!” said Tang Yuyan. She swung her saber and attacked.

She was completely enraged. This was already Chu Batian’s second attempt to swoop in and steal her hard-earned spoils. By now, she didn’t care about anything except pummeling him.

“Don’t be angry. Anger won’t help you defeat me, now will it? So why bother? Besides, I already have what I want, and I have no plan to stick around to fight you. Farewell! Hahaha!” Chu Batian laughed uproariously, then turned and dashed off.

“All of you, stay here and wait for me!” ordered Tang Yuyan before hurrying after him.

The other Immortal Lords were frustrated and worried. Their expressions shifted erratically. 

“That rat bastard Chu Batian is just too fucking despicable!” someone cursed. “I’ve never seen such an insidious, scheming unrivaled Immortal Lord!”

Someone else said with concern, “Miss Yuyan is too impulsive. How could she chase him like that? What if something happens to her? Wouldn’t that…”

“Don’t worry. Miss Yuyan is a top expert too. If it really comes down to a fight, Chu Batian will have to pay a heavy price if he hopes to defeat her.”

“Wait, where did that Shen Mu guy go?”

Someone had just noticed that there was no longer any sign of Su Yi.

“Don’t tell me that moocher got so scared he ran away in panic?”

“Feh! He really is a spineless craven!”

“How could someone like him boast about bringing up the rear? He’s all talk and no substance!”

…The Immortal Lords had finally found a safe target for their venting. One after another, they hurled insults at Su Yi.

About fifteen minutes later, Tang Yuyan returned. Her face was ashen, and she looked utterly dejected. There was no doubt about it; she never caught up to Chu Batian.

Her allies rushed to comfort her. They hoped she could let this loss go.

Tang Yuyan looked around and asked, “Where’s Shen Mu?”

All of them started cursing him at once, saying Shen Mu was a mouse-hearted craven who’d fled in panic at the first sign of danger.

Tang Yuyan furrowed her brow and sighed. “Fine, never mind him for now. Let’s explore the riverbed and see what good fortune we can find.”

The crowd’s spirits soared. Chu Batian had stolen the corpse of the Demonblood Flood Dragon, but the good fortune lying at the bottom of the Baleful Demon River remained. They’d lost out one prize, but they’d still profited.

……

Meanwhile, beneath the overcast dome of heaven, Chu Batian used the Big Dipper Thousand Opportunities Incantation to flit through the cloudy skies like an ethereal wisp of light.

“What a wonderful harvest!” Chu Batian was nothing but smiles. He’d already examined the corpse, and the Demonblood Flood Dragon’s entire body was a treasure. Its combined value was worth cities.

“No wonder that woman was so angry. Who wouldn’t be overcome with fury at the loss of such valuable prey?”

Chu Batian couldn’t help but sputter with laughter at the thought of it.

“There’s no need for violence during the Divine Hunt. As long as I pick the right moment, I can just swoop in and steal treasures beyond my wildest imagination!”

Chu Batian’s thoughts raced. “But next, I’d best head to the Land of Divine Abomination. They say Gong Nanfeng, Weng Changfeng, and several others headed there several days ago. If it’s as I suspect, they’ve already passed through the Land of Divine Abomination, and they’re already investigating that hidden realm leftover from the primeval era….”

Chu Batian had only just thought this when he sensed a powerful impending threat, and his hair stood on end. He dodged without the slightest hesitation.

Kccch!

A streak of sword qi whooshed past him, slicing a hole through the sky and collapsing ten thousand feet of clouds.

Chu Batian broke out in cold sweats. That sword qi had appeared too suddenly, and it came dangerously close to catching him off guard. It would have hit him just now if not for his abundance of combat experience and extraordinary combat instincts!

“Who is it?” Chu Batian bellowed and gripped his spear. His eyes blazed like golden lamps, and his entire body surged with murderous intent. An enormous, illusory Kui Ox appeared behind him, its hooved limbs like pillars. Its every step crushed the dome of heaven.

“Don’t be afraid. I won’t kill you.” Su Yi appeared out of nowhere and walked over.

“Hm? Why is it you?” Chu Batian recognized him at a glance. This was the guy in Daoist robes he’d seen at the banks of the Baleful Demon River. He was most likely one of Tang Yuyan’s allies!

Suddenly, Chu Batian noticed that Su Yi was fidgeting with a talisman. He froze, stunned, then instinctively glanced at his waist.

A moment later, he visibly lost his composure. The talisman hanging from his waist just moments prior was missing!

“Did you ambush me earlier to steal my talisman?” roared Chu Batian.

“That’s right.” Su Yi nodded and admitted it. “I was afraid you’d run otherwise, so I had no choice but resort to little schemes.”

When Chu Batian took in his sheer fearlessness, his eyes flashed, and he realized that something was amiss. “You’re afraid I’ll run? Don’t tell me you plan to fight to the death?”

Su Yi laughed. “You’ve misunderstood. I just want to capture you alive, that’s all.”

He wanted to capture Chu Batian alive! The very idea of it was humiliating! 

Chu Batian was enraged, but he was increasingly aware that something was amiss. He forced his fury back down, then said, “Who are you? Why do this? I don’t remember there being a grudge between us. Is this… perhaps a misunderstanding?”

He was trying to buy time and fish for more information.

Su Yi thought for a moment, then said, “There really isn’t a grudge between us, but there’s an irreconcilable enmity between me and ol’ Chu Shentong.”

“???” 

Who in the Immortal Realm didn’t know that his great-grandfather was the famous Chu Shentong, an expert at the pinnacle of the Immortal Dao, Immortal Sovereign Sky Killer?

Yet now, a mere Immortal Lord dared proclaim that there was an irreconcilable grudge between him and Chu Shentong!

This had to be a blatant lie. Whoever this person was, he was trying to create a grudge where there was none, by any means necessary.

He was simply sick in the head!

Chu Batian took a moment to calm himself, then said, “Might you… explain in more detail?”

Su Yi said, “First, can you tell me where Chu Shentong is hiding?”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Chu Batian laughed coldly. “You’re only an Immortal Lord. Surely you don’t plan to go looking for him?”

Su Yi rubbed his head. There was no doubt about it; he could forget about getting any useful information out of Chu Batian simply by asking questions.

He approached without any further hesitation, then said flatly, “When I go to the Eastern Seas to settle my enmity with Ol’ Chu, I’ll be sure to take you with me.”

Chu Batian’s eyes flashed with murderous intent as he charged explosively and thrust his spear, striking before Su Yi got the chance.

Boom!

His spear lit up, bursting with appalling murderous intent and manifesting the faint, nigh imperceptible image of a Kui Ox crushing the heavens beneath its hooves. Its roars ripped the curtain of the sky.

Heaven and earth shook on all sides, and the clouds collapsed.

There was no denying that Chu Batian really was an unrivaled Immortal Lord. His strength was far beyond ordinary cultivators of the same level.

Su Yi estimated that he was roughly as strong as the former unrivaled Demon Noble of the Silvermoon Demons, Yin Beiwu!

Unfortunately, an opponent like this presented little threat to the current Su Yi.

Su Yi’s sleeves billowed around him as his qi rumbled and boomed. He threw three punches in rapid succession. 

The first punch struck with the momentum of a god hoisting a primordial divine mountain into the air before flinging it onto the world below. It crushed the sky and slammed explosively into Chu Batian’s spear.

A deafening impact followed, and the weapon flew from Chu Batian’s grip.

The second punch was like an arc of white light piercing the sun, quick as lightning. It destroyed Chu Batian’s defenses as if they were made of rotten wood and slammed into his chest.

Flesh caved in, and bones cracked with an audible snap. Chu Batian was sent flying back, bleeding from all seven apertures of his face. He was injured to the brink of death.

The third strike was like a cage of the Grand Dao, divine chains binding the sky. Beneath this strike, Chu Batian’s cultivation was shaken and thrown into disarray. Before he could react, fist force erupted within his body, sealing him so completely that he plummeted from the sky.

Su Yi stretched out his hand, seized him by the throat, and held him aloft as if he were a chicken.

Chu Batian shrieked in agony. The impact left him seeing stars, and his entire body was in agony. His mind buzzed; the three strikes left him completely dazed.

Who is he?

Chu Batian was the unrivaled Immortal Lord of the Eastern Seas’ Jade Firmament Immortal Palace, the great grandson of Immortal Sovereign Sky Killer, and a prominent expert famous throughout the Immortal Realm in his own right!

He wasn’t just heaven-defyingly strong. He had an extraordinarily lofty status too. Even most Immortal Kings had to avert their gazes respectfully before him! Yet now, someone had captured him in just three strikes! 

Moreover, from beginning to end, he couldn’t even fight back. Despite his staunch heart, he couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed with helplessness and despair.

Who the hell is this guy? Why is he so strong?

Why didn’t he help Tang Yuyan earlier on the bank of the Baleful Demon River? Why did he wait this long to intercept and attack me?

Countless questions flooded Chu Batian’s mind. He didn’t even know Su Yi’s name!

Before he could react, the young man in Daoist robes smiled. “I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to endure for a little while.”

He then raised his hand and knocked Chu Batian unconscious.

Just as I thought, there’s a seal in his soul. Su Yi briefly examined his captive with his divine sense, then withdrew it. His eyebrows rose.

Chu Batian was an unrivaled Immortal Lord. Su Yi had long since anticipated that it’d be all but impossible to search his soul, but he wouldn’t have guessed that Chu Shentong would have placed a seal there personally.

The seal was the work of a Great Realm expert. Not even Immortal Kings could break it!