In the vast, boundless, endless universe, there is a place located at the center of all galaxies, and that place is called Dai Hong Vu.
Dai Hong Vu has a total of thirty-three heavenly layers, divided into three realms from lowest to highest: the Lower Heaven Realm, the Middle Heaven Realm, and the Upper Heaven Realm. The Lower Heaven Realm is further divided into ten layers, from the first heaven to the tenth heaven. The Middle Heaven Realm is divided into thirteen layers, from the eleventh heaven to the twenty-third heaven. The remaining ten heavenly layers, from the twenty-fourth to the thirty-third, belong to the Upper Heaven Realm, which is the abode of the supreme beings in the universe.
Mount Duc Thuy is located in the southern part of the thirteenth heaven, a majestic and magnificent mountain range stretching over nine hundred miles. It comprises hundreds of mountains, large and small, undulating, overlapping, rugged, and treacherous. Small mountains have peaks less than a hundred meters high, while large mountains are so tall that the naked eye cannot perceive their summits. These peaks are covered in white clouds year-round; from below, all one can see is cloud after cloud, nothing else.
There are a total of nine such mountains. Among them, eight mountains are situated in the eight cardinal and intercardinal directions: East, Northeast, North, Northwest, West, Southwest, South, and Southeast; the remaining mountain lies at the center, as if to connect the other eight mountains and all other peaks of the Duc Thuy range. If one could look down from high in the sky, they would surely see that this is no ordinary mountain range, but rather one imbued with profound mystery and depth, like an extremely sophisticated formation created by heaven and earth.
In this Duc Thuy mountain range, there is a cultivation sect named Thanh Ha Kiem Phai.
The Thanh Ha Kiem Phai takes the sword as its soul, regarding it as life itself. Everyone in this sect, from disciples to the sect master, cultivates the sword, and every cultivation art is dedicated to the way of the sword.
It is said that the first sect master – the founder of the Thanh Ha Kiem Phai – was a woman. No one knew her origins or true name. It was only known that she ascended from the mortal realm, possessed peerless talent, was of unparalleled beauty, and called herself Thanh Ha. People often referred to her as Immortal Thanh Ha, and she was once the catalyst that plunged both the righteous and demonic paths into a storm of blood and gore.
That year, when the founding ancestor of the Thanh Ha Kiem Phai first set foot in the thirteenth heaven, she stirred up a romantic storm that later generations still occasionally speak of.
“Beauty is the root of disaster.”
That saying has been passed down for millennia, and its truth or falsehood has been proven over countless generations. Such was the case for the founding ancestor of the Thanh Ha Kiem Phai.
Thanh Ha was a woman whose beauty surpassed frost and snow. Her eyes were bluer than the purest jadeite, her hair blacker than the darkest night sky, her hands as soft as if condensed from the water of the clearest, freshest spring, and her face—that was not the face of a mortal, it could not be a mortal’s, for it simply did not belong to this human world…
A woman so beautiful was enough to make countless men shed blood and lose their lives for her. What’s more, she was not only beautiful but also exceptionally talented. Her cultivation arts and sword dao were so profound they inspired awe. Since arriving in the thirteenth heaven, Thanh Ha, with just one person and one sword, had defeated countless elites from various sects and aristocratic families.
Among the younger generation of the thirteenth heaven at that time, everyone believed that only Co Nguyet of the Co Clan and Thai Thieu Bao of the Heaven Slaughter Palace possessed the strength to defeat Immortal Thanh Ha.
At that time, Thái Thiếu Bảo and Cổ Nguyệt simultaneously arrived at Mount Dục Thúy to seek Thanh Hà, wishing to compete and see who truly deserved to be called the foremost talent of their generation in the Thirteenth Heaven. However, something no one expected was that upon witnessing the beauty and aura of Immortal Thanh Hà, both Cổ Nguyệt and Thái Thiếu Bảo were as if lost in a maze, unable to extricate themselves. Both were captivated by that gaze, that cold and arrogant aura…
Immortal Thanh Hà agreed to duel with the two. Accordingly, the first battle took place with Cổ Nguyệt on Mount Dục Thúy. But due to his affection for Thanh Hà, Cổ Nguyệt did not use his full power, and the two sides had barely begun to compare their techniques when Thanh Hà stopped.
Without a word, she turned and returned to her cave dwelling, leaving Cổ Nguyệt and Thái Thiếu Bảo standing there bewildered.
Some time later, a decisive duel occurred that shook all the sects and noble families of the Thirteenth Heaven. But it was not a duel with Immortal Thanh Hà, but a contest between Cổ Nguyệt and Thái Thiếu Bảo.
From that day, after returning from Mount Dục Thúy, both Cổ Nguyệt and Thái Thiếu Bảo could not forget the girl named Thanh Hà, noble as a secluded orchid. Both wanted to become her husband, and after many disputes, they both agreed that only the foremost man was worthy of the foremost woman. Therefore, the decisive duel erupted.
Cổ Nguyệt and Thái Thiếu Bảo, truly worthy of being called the strongest of their contemporary young generation, were also representatives of the two factions, righteous and evil, of the Thirteenth Heaven. One was the most beloved grandson of the Cổ family patriarch, Cổ Minh Hạo – the leader of the righteous faction. The other was the son of the Thiên Sát Palace Master – the head of the evil faction.
Therefore, this was not merely a battle for love, but also a war between the two forces of righteousness and evil. It carried extremely significant meaning, as it could be the factor that shattered the current balance of power.
“That was a spark that ignited the lost souls.”
Many later commented thus.
The battle lasted for two days and two nights. Cổ Nguyệt's saber was like a fierce dragon, shattering everything in its path. Saber strike after saber strike, like a raging storm, splitting a thousand-mile stretch of ocean in two, causing sea creatures and aquatic monsters to tremble in fear and scatter everywhere. Meanwhile, Thái Thiếu Bảo was not to be outdone, holding the Heavenly Slaughter Ghost Soul Banner in his hand. With one unfurling of the banner, ten thousand ghosts snatched souls, its eerie power immeasurable.
Both fought until the heavens crumbled and the earth split, until dawn was about to break on the third day. Cổ Nguyệt, holding the Moon-Severing Golden Saber in his hand, stood atop a wave. Behind him, a colossal Dharma Idol materialized, wielding a great saber over a hundred meters long.
With one swing of the saber, ten thousand souls dispersed…!
Thái Thiếu Bảo was dead!
But things did not end there. Thái Thiếu Bảo's death meant the evil faction's defeat at the hands of the righteous faction. Because Cổ Nguyệt and Thái Thiếu Bảo were precisely the next in line to inherit the righteous and evil paths. With Thái Thiếu Bảo dead, no one in the younger generation of the evil path would be strong enough to contend with Cổ Nguyệt. The long-standing balance of power was at risk of being shattered, and a conflict between righteousness and evil would be difficult to avoid.
The Thiên Sát Palace Master at that time, Thái Bất Thái, believed that his son's death originated from Immortal Thanh Hà. He wanted to kill Immortal Thanh Hà and bury her with Thái Thiếu Bảo to console him and to fulfill his son's dying wish. Therefore, Thái Bất Thái personally led his subordinates to storm Mount Dục Thúy, intent on killing Immortal Thanh Hà.
Co Nguyet, upon hearing the news, rushed to Duc Thuy Mountain to assist, and it was there that the war between good and evil erupted.
Both sides fought so fiercely that blood dyed the Tuyet Ninh Huong blossoms crimson. Perhaps it was for this reason that the Tuyet Ninh Huong, originally snow-white, later became a flower with a vibrant, blood-red hue...
Bodies piled up on the rocks, floating in the streams. One by one, people fell. Each life taken became a lost soul of Duc Thuy Mountain. Every leaf, every blade of grass, was stained with blood. The scene was utterly tragic.
Amidst that hellish scene, deep within a verdant bamboo forest, in a small house, Thanh Ha Immortal let out a sigh. With a flicker, she stood atop a bamboo branch a thousand meters high, her eyes fixed on the slaughter.
A jade-green sword appeared in her hand.
The sword swung.
One sword pierced the void!
The vengeful spirits and malevolent ghosts about to devour Co Nguyet suddenly vanished. Co Nguyet, after a moment of astonishment, immediately retreated, looking towards the young woman in blue standing on the bamboo branch.
“She saved me.”
“You are Thanh Ha Immortal?” Thai Bat Thai scoffed coldly.
“It is I.”
“I thought you had left Duc Thuy Mountain. It turns out you are also a brave woman. It seems my son did not misjudge you.”
Finishing his words, Thai Bat Thai brandished the Thien Sat Quy Hon Phan, and countless vengeful spirits and malevolent ghosts shrieked as they surged towards Thanh Ha Immortal. Each ghost soul exuded dense demonic energy, at least at the level of a Feathered Ghost Soul.
Facing thousands upon thousands of terrifying ghost souls, Thanh Ha Immortal remained calm. She swung her sword, and the sword energy transformed into a vortex that swallowed all the incoming ghost souls...
The battle lasted less than half an hour before Thai Bat Thai found himself at a disadvantage. Against Thanh Ha Immortal's sword energy, which swept across like pear blossoms carrying rain, Thai Bat Thai was covered in wounds, both large and small, his spiritual power barely able to resist.
Finally, Thai Bat Thai lost. However, Thanh Ha Immortal did not kill him; instead, she merely told him to lead his people back, making him swear an oath from his heart never again to instigate a war between good and evil that would plunge lives into misery...
After a great calamity passed, the thirteenth heaven returned to peace.
It was only then that everyone learned Thanh Ha Immortal's formidable spiritual power had reached the Flying Heaven Realm. She only needed to overcome six more tribulations to become an immortal, eternal, living as long as heaven and earth. As for Co Nguyet, knowing the vast distance between himself and Thanh Ha, his heartfelt wish was severed from that point on, and he retreated into seclusion for cultivation.
Some time later, Thanh Ha Immortal officially established her sect, choosing Duc Thuy Mountain Range as its mountain gate, founding the Thanh Ha Sword Sect. It was divided into nine branches, with each branch guarding one of the nine highest peaks of the Duc Thuy Range...
Another four hundred years passed, and Thanh Ha Immortal broke through the six stages of the Flying Heaven Realm, overcame the six tribulations, and ascended to the immortal realm.
That year, Thanh Ha Immortal was not yet seven hundred years old. According to records, Thanh Ha Immortal was also the youngest person to achieve immortality since the primordial era...