First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 1211 - The Owner of the Skeletal Hand!

“It turns out that... all my years of hatred... were just me jumping to conclusions...”

The old man in hemp, the one Venerate Flooding Heavens had called Kong Shen, looked completely stricken. His aged face shifted erratically.

It turned out that his grudge was completely unsubstantiated! This came as far too great blow; even the old man’s Dao Heart was thrown into turmoil.

“Old Peacock! Quick, snap out of it!” the dark-robed Officiant bellowed, his voice full of the power of the Dao. It touched the mind directly.

He could tell that Kong Shen’s mental state was at risk!

But it was as if the old man didn’t even hear him.

“He has to overcome this himself. No one else can help him,” Su Yi said casually.

Suddenly, the old man in hemp whipped around to look at Su Yi. He said in a daze, “Earlier, you said that my Dao of the Sword was underwhelming, and that you disdained to fight me any further. What exactly did you mean?”

The man in dark robes was stunned. He wouldn’t have thought the old peacock would bring that up at a time like this.

But Su Yi just said plainly, “A sword cultivator ought to be fixated on his swordsmanship, not on grudges or enmities. By nursing a grudge all these years, you’ve effectively imprisoned yourself. You can neither retreat nor advance. A Dao of the Sword like that is naturally unworthy of attention!

“Were I in the Cosmic Enlightenment Realm too, I wouldn’t even need to draw my sword to defeat an opponent on your level.”

He spoke without the slightest politeness, but he hit the nail on the head.

The old man in hemp trembled from head to toe, his expression shifting and uncertain.

“Fellow Daoist, can’t you speak a bit more pleasantly?” The dark-robed Officiant was frantic.

Su Yi shook his head slightly. “He can only cut through his cage and free himself from his heart demon if he faces his heart directly. Only then can he attain release. If he didn’t still have at least some of the bearing of a true sword cultivator, I wouldn’t have even bothered instructing him.”

The dark-robed Officiant froze, but before he could respond, the old man in hemp paled and muttered, “I’ve gone down the wrong path, and I created my own heart demon... haha... hahaha....”

He threw back his head and laughed, as if he’d gone completely insane. Then, without another word, he staggered away.

The dark-robed man’s expression shifted. Don’t tell me the old peacock’s had a complete mental breakdown?

“Don’t stop him,” sighed Venerate Flooding Heavens. “It’s just as Fellow Daoist Su says. He has to overcome this himself. You have to break before you can build.”

Su Yi said, “He hasn’t lost the comportment and baseline of a sword cultivator, so it shouldn’t be a big problem. On the contrary, if he truly overcomes this, he might well make further breakthroughs in his swordsmanship.”

The dark-robed man instantly fell silent.

A Profound Unity Emperor was commenting on the problems with a Cosmic Enlightenment World King’s mental state. In the past, the dark-robed man would surely have laughed.

But he had already realized that this was no joke.

Su Yi was just an Emperor, but his horizons and perceptions made even a World King like him feel inferior!

Before long, Kong Shen had disappeared from view.

“My avatar of will won’t last long. Is there anything you’d like to ask, Fellow Daoist?” Venerate Flooding Heavens turned toward Su Yi.

“I do indeed have questions,” said Su Yi. “I hope you can provide answers, Fellow Daoist.”

Venerate Flooding Heavens subtly inclined his head. “I’d be delighted.”

A little less than ten minutes later, Su Yi finally understood a few things.

First, that white-robed man who’d crossed the River of Time to arrive here had called himself Qin Chongxu.

He wasn’t of this epoch. It seemed he was from a spacetime domain known as the Epoch of Illusions.

Second, the owner of that skeletal hand was indeed the senior Venerate Flooding Heavens spoke of, but he didn’t know her origins.

All he knew was that she called herself Luo Yao. She watched over the Netherworld’s cycle of reincarnation, but no one knew why.

When Su Yi asked how they’d gotten acquainted, it turned out that Venerate Flooding Heavens had met her a long time back. Before he’d even proven his Dao and become a World King, the Infernal Monarch of the Netherworld invited him to the Netherworld as a guest.

It was then that Venerate Flooding Heavens met the senior even the Infernal Monarch treated with the utmost respect, Luo Yao.

It was only afterward that Venerate Flooding Heavens learned that not even the Infernal Monarch knew Luo Yao’s origins!

It was easy to imagine how mysterious this Luo Yao person was.

Furthermore, when Venerate Flooding Heavens described her, he spoke with entirely unconcealed awe and respect. He saw her as a pathmaker of the Grand Dao!

During the onset of that mysterious catastrophe, it was Luo Yao who intervened at the final moment, defeating that expert not of this epoch, Qin Chongxu!

But during that battle, one of her hands was severed.

According to Venerate Flooding Heavens, Luo Yao took damage from the River of Time, and an inauspicious, forbidden power locked onto her. Thus, after defeating Qin Chongxu, she had no choice but to retreat immediately.

When she withdrew, she left her severed hand behind. She told Venerate Flooding Heavens that she’d one day return to retrieve it.

This was the severed, snowy, skeletal hand he’d sealed within that bronze box.

Even now, Venerate Flooding Heavens had no idea where Luo Yao had gone, nor when she would return.

After learning the full story, Su Yi increasingly felt that Luo Yao was far too mysterious. Furthermore, she was unimaginably powerful. She could even rip open the curtain of heaven and reach directly into the River of Time!

She’d even dealt the terrifying Qin Chongxu a massive setback!

Third, Su Yi learned that although that era’s Infernal Monarch preserved the mysteries of reincarnation, he ultimately didn’t survive that catastrophe. He too perished, his Dao destroyed.

The reason was simple. In the end, he couldn’t take it, and he decisively returned to help Venerate Flooding Heavens face that catastrophe.

In the end, both Venerate Flooding Heavens and that Infernal Monarch perished beneath the catastrophe!

Venerate Flooding Heavens chose not to inform Kong Shen of this. Otherwise, he feared completely triggering Kong Shen’s heart demon!

After all, Kong Shen’s heart demon arose due to his grudge over the Infernal Monarch’s failure to help them fight off that mysterious catastrophe.

The man he resented had actually gone valiantly to his death. It was easy to imagine how great a blow this realization would be.

Unfortunately, at this point, Venerate Flooding Heavens’ avatar of will obviously wouldn’t hold out much longer. It was on the verge of breaking down and dissipating.

In his last moments, Venerate Flooding Heavens hesitated, then asked Su Yi, “Fellow Daoist... have you perhaps undergone reincarnation?”

Su Yi didn’t hide it. He nodded.

“So, you really did it...” Venerate Flooding Heavens looked enlightened, and he told Su Yi another secret.

In that lost era, the Infernal Monarch controlled the power of reincarnation, but due to external restrictions, he’d never truly opened the Path of Samsara!

It seemed this was due to the Contract of the Gods, or perhaps that mysterious senior, Luo Yao.

Venerate Flooding Heavens was effectively telling Su Yi that even in that lost, ancient era, Su Yi was the first and only person to successfully undergo reincarnation!

“I can already foresee that when Senior Luo Yao returns, she’s sure to come see you. When the time comes, she might well be able to clear up some of your doubts,” Venerate Flooding Heavens said softly.

He hoped that Su Yi would take good care of that skeletal hand.

Finally, Venerate Flooding Heavens’ avatar of will dissipated. He left his legacy behind and asked Su Yi to take it with him to ensure it wasn’t lost.

“Venerate...”

The dark-robed Officiant was visibly grief-stricken and despondent. He knew that now that the venerate’s avatar of will had dissipated, they were unlikely to ever see him again.

The sparrow sighed too.

Su Yi wasn’t overly rueful, but he did find it a bit of a pity. He still had lots of questions he’d yet to get answers for. If they’d had more time, he would have loved to discuss the path beyond the World King Realm.

Unfortunately, countless years of dormancy had frittered the venerate’s avatar away. It hadn’t been easy for it to last long enough to awaken today.

Su Yi put away Venerate Flooding Heavens’ legacy, then let out a breath of turbid air. He’d decided to go into seclusion in the Sea of Chaos.

“I’ll lead you there, Fellow Daoist.” The dark-robed Officiant took it upon himself to lead the way. Before they left, he ordered the spirit sparrow to keep an eye on Third Officiant Kong Shen.

......

The four levels of the path of trials were a hidden realm manifested of the power of the Laws.

Overcoming the path of trials had brought Su Yi immense benefits.

In the first level, he obtained an unparalleled divine medicine, an immortal peach.

In the second level, he acquired the Dark and Gold Fortune Vine and comprehended three supreme Laws of the Grand Dao: Manifesting Life, Flying Light, and Restricting the Profound.

In the third level, he received the skeletal hand of the mysterious Luo Yao.

In the fourth level, he received the legacies of a whole group of legendary experts, including Venerate Flooding Heavens, and he learned numerous secrets regarding that mysterious catastrophe!

Now, Su Yi planned to enter seclusion and attempt a breakthrough into the World King Realm.

......

Heaven and earth were overcast, and creation was withered.

Deep within the Graveyard of Fallen Immortals, everything was bleak and gray, a vision of devastation.

On the way to the Sea of Chaos, Su Yi learned that the dark-robed Officiant was called Lu Yan. He was once one of the experts under Venerate Flooding Heavens’ command.

Only he and the old man in hemp, Kong Shen, had survived that mysterious catastrophe.

Over the years, they’d upheld Venerate Flooding Heavens’ will, following the rules he put in place and protecting the heart of the Graveyard of Fallen Immortals.

As they conversed, they heard the low rumbling of thunder off in the distance. It reverberated throughout heaven and earth, shaking the sky on all sides.

When they looked over, they saw a boundless sea of lightning.

Chaos mists churned, and explosive arcs of lightning flashed. It was a terrifying scene.

“Fellow Daoist, this is the Sea of Chaos. It’s the manifestation of the remnants of the Dark and Gold Star Realm’s chaos source,” the dark-robed man, Lu Yan, said with a conflicted look on his face. He sighed, “This was the primary battlefield during that mysterious catastrophe. Countless dazzling, legendary experts stood here, losing their lives in this very sea...”

Su Yi looked up and stared intently, feeling shaken.

Dense Dark and Gold Essence drifted all over the boundless Sea of Chaos!

Countless ancient, primeval Laws rose and fell in multi-layered waves. Thunder rumbled and boomed, hurricanes ran rampant, and all matter of destructive auras and strange phenomena of the Grand Dao surged forth, making the sea explosive and perilous.

“But all of that happened a long, long time ago. Come on, let me take you somewhere safe to cultivate.”

They then shot toward the Sea of Chaos under Lu Yan’s leadership. Before long, both of them had disappeared from view.