Chapters 2926 - Ten Years in a Day
The Spirit Platform Chapter was a legacy for cultivating the heart, while the Zhukong Sword Sutra focused on applying the secret power of the heart in battle through the Dao of the Sword.
The two were fundamentally different.
Su Yi had used the power of the heart to kill enemies before, and he’d tried fusing it into his swordsmanship, but he’d never found any legacies related to this before.
Things were different now. The Zhukong Sword Sutra was a bridge between the secret power of the heart and the Dao of the Sword. Studying it made Su Yi feel as if he’d been enlightened.
Ultimately, it wasn’t that the Zhukong Sword Sutra’s attacks were that impressive, but that it focused on applications of the secret power of the heart. Moreover, it contained a path to true mastery!
When Su Yi realized this, he felt as if the door to a whole new world had opened before him. Numerous revelations hit him all at once.
For example, he realized how he could apply this legacy and the secret power of the heart to his pre-existing legacies of the Dao of the Sword.
He also realized how to control his sword in battle without drawing on his cultivation base, soul, or body. He could now use the pure power of the heart to guide his weapon.
And he figured out how to use his legacies of the Dao of the Sword to temper his heart soul!
When you mastered one skill, your proficiency in others improved, too.
With Su Yi’s current horizons and cultivation base, the revelations he gained from the Zhukong Sword Sutra were far more valuable than the legacy itself.
A long time passed before Su Yi emerged from his state of enlightenment. He rose and scanned the boundless “sea of books,” his heart full of emotion.
He’d spent the past ten years reading here. He’d long since lost track of how many legacies he’d read, or how many secret arts and divine abilities he’d studied.
They’d led to revelations, numerous gains, and self-reflection. They’d helped him comb through and consolidate his Dao.
During this time, he forgot himself completely. His heart and cultivation base settled.
To other cultivators, ten years were nothing. They were gone in the snap of a finger.
But to Su Yi, these ten years of reading and contemplation had been indescribably valuable.
Now, he rose and quietly sensed his changes. Only then did he realize that in just ten short years, his cultivation base had crossed two new thresholds without him even realizing it. He was now in the late-stage Silent Realm!
This speed was shocking and unheard of.
Moreover, Su Yi was only now realizing the extent of his own progress.
He’d sat there for ten years. Now that he had awakened and looked back on his gains, he realized that his cultivation base had changed.
Were I to fight Lin Xun’s avatar now, I’m sure I could beat him! Su Yi said to himself.
But Su Yi keenly sensed that his heart power had changed too, not just his cultivation base. His Heart Soul was increasingly concentrated, and his Light of the Heart was increasingly dazzling.
His Heart Soul now shone like a lamp, glowing with the Light of the Heart and illuminating his internal landscape.
When Su Yi saw this, he recalled the next stage in his cultivation of the heart—the Natal Heart Lamp!
His heart had obviously grown closer to this mysterious, profound realm. He might well successfully condense a Natal Heart Lamp at any moment.
When the time came, he’d be able to open the second page of the Book of Destiny with ease. Then, he’d be able to discern the mysteries of the Abyss of Ceaseless Destiny.
Ten years! And I have no idea what happened in the outside world while I was gone. Su Yi quickly came back to his senses. The thought that there were people waiting for him outside made him feel rather conflicted.
Now that he’d assumed control over Fangchun Mountain’s ancestral grounds, he’d realized something.
First, Fangchun Mountain’s ancestral grounds were in a stretch of time and space separate from the River of Destiny, much like the Abyss of Endless Tribulations. It, too, had no fixed location.
He also needed to wait at least a year each time he entered or exited. Moreover, each attempt would require extensive preparations and expend an enormous amount of the secret power of the heart. Only then could he open the portal to Fangchun Mountain’s ancestral grounds.
Second, he realized that he’d need a higher level of attainment in his cultivation of the heart before he could bring the sect into the present day.
Su Yi predicted that he’d have to cultivate until he’d condensed a Destiny Heart Avatar at the bare minimum. That was a level beyond the Natal Heart Lamp. To Su Yi, it still seemed endlessly far away.
Third, although he’d assumed control over this place, he couldn’t take anything with him. That meant that he couldn’t even bring a few books with him to read later.
In the end, Su Yi reached a decision. Forget it. Cultivating the Grand Dao isn’t a race. I’ll just have to find another opportunity and come back.
......
The Five-Colored Hidden Realm.
When Su Yi exited the hall, everyone noticed right away. The Qiongqi Mountain Lord, River Ancestor Shen Xiao, River Ancestor Lu Shu, Wang Zhiwu, and the others rushed over.
“You left seclusion so soon?” Wang Zhiwu exclaimed.
“Soon?” Su Yi blinked; he could tell that something wasn’t quite right here. “How long was I in there?”
Wang Zhiwu extended a finger. “One day.”
Su Yi didn’t know what to say.
River Ancestor Shen Xiao added, “Strictly speaking, it’s been less than a day. It’s closer to eighteen hours.”
“!??” Waves of emotion coursed through his heart as he realized that time flowed differently in Fangchun Mountain’s ancestral grounds. Otherwise, how could he have spent ten years in seclusion, only to discover that less than a day had passed in the outside world?
Su Yi was instantly completely out of sorts. If only I’d known! I could have stayed a lot longer! I would never have rushed out like this!
Unfortunately, it was too late for such talk. If he wanted to re-enter the ancestral grounds, he’d have to wait a year!
“What’s wrong, Brother Su?” Wang Zhiwu could tell that something was a bit off about Su Yi’s expression.
“It’s nothing.” Su Yi shook his head, took a deep breath, and suppressed his dejection.
It had already happened, so it was too late for regrets. He had to look forward. Su Yi wasn’t the type to sulk over something like this.
Wang Zhiwu hesitated, then lowered his voice and said, “Brother Su, earlier, the Qiongqi Mountain Lord told me about recent developments in the Eternal Heavens Domain. Something big happened.”
“What is it?”
“It’s about the Heart-Tempering Sword House,” said Wang Zhiwu. “But it’d be best to let the Qiongqi Mountain Lord tell you himself.”
Su Yi looked at the Qiongqi Mountain Lord, who visibly hesitated, then took out a jade slip and passed it to Su Yi. “Read this and all will become clear.”
Su Yi took the jade slip, then examined its contents. He couldn’t help but feel stunned.
It turned out that right around when he left the Literati Continent, a major incident shook the Eternal Heavens Domain—the Malevolent Sword Venerate attacked everyone in the Heart-Tempering Sword House in a fit of madness.
Then, after killing everyone in the sect, he committed suicide!
The Heart-Tempering Sword House was the greatest Heavenly Monarch faction in the Eternal Heavens Domain. There was no close second, either.
Yet the Malevolent Sword Venerate, the one impersonating Jiang Wuchen, had destroyed it personally overnight. Of course people were paying attention!
To Su Yi, this was absolutely dire news. He had, after all, fused with Jiang Wuchen’s Dao Imprint. He was keenly aware of how important the Heart-Tempering Sword House was to his second incarnation.
Jiang Wuchen had poured his heart’s blood and an immense amount of time into his sect, raising it to prominence one step at a time.
Yet now, the Malevolent Sword Venerate had destroyed it with his own two hands!
How could Su Yi not be furious?
He’d previously planned to adopt a pseudonym and cultivate in the Heart-Tempering Sword House at some point, but now, it seemed he’d never realize that plan.
“Did the Malevolent Sword Venerate really kill himself?” Su Yi frowned.
The Qiongqi Mountain Lord nodded. “Several Heavenly Sovereign factions went to investigate the ruins of the Heart-Tempering Sword House. They’ve already confirmed the Malevolent Sword Venerate’s death.”
“How is this possible...” Su Yi asked in a daze.
Given his understanding of the Malevolent Sword Venerate, he would never have done something so sick and depraved.
The very idea that he’d committed suicide was an affront to the Malevolent Sword Venerate’s dignity!
“There are also rumors that his backer killed him,” explained the Qiongqi Mountain Lord. “It was the Malevolent Sword Venerate who arranged the battle in the Literati Continent, rallying numerous Heavenly Sovereign factions to his cause, only for all of them to suffer heavy casualties.
“Some say that the consequences displeased his backer, who demanded that the Malevolent Sword Venerate pay for his failure with his life.”
When Su Yi heard that, he realized something. “And who was the Malevolent Sword Venerate’s backer?”
The Qiongqi Mountain Lord’s gaze shifted strangely. “It seems he had connections with Three Purities Temple.”
Su Yi’s eyes narrowed as he recalled something.
Before he went into seclusion, the Qiongqi Mountain Lord defeated Li Shouhu’s clone and sealed its soul.
And Li Shouhu was from Three Purities Temple!
“There is indeed a lot that’s suspicious about this entire incident,” said the Qiongqi Mountain Lord. “The Malevolent Sword Venerate left a stele in the ruins of the Heart-Tempering Sword House. It reads: Judge my faults and merits as you will. I have a clean conscience.”
A clean conscience, huh? Su Yi laughed coldly. You slaughtered the disciples of the Heart-Tempering Sword House, ruining the product of Jiang Wuchen’s lifetime of effort. It’s not that you have a clean conscience; you’re simply devoid of conscience.
But then, the Qiongqi Mountain Lord continued. “Afterward, someone discovered that only a portion of the Heart-Tempering Sword House died during the massacre.”
Su Yi froze, then asked, “A portion?”
“Right,” said the Qiongqi Mountain Lord. “That’s what makes the whole thing so suspicious. The Heart-Tempering Sword House has many recorded members, but only around three hundred people died by the Malevolent Sword Venerate’s hand.”
Su Yi instantly realized the problem. “Then where were the rest of them?”
“The Malevolent Sword Venerate ordered them to carry out missions outside the sect prior to the battle in the Literati Continent,” said the Qiongqi Mountain Lord. “That includes the sect leader and many of the sect’s higher-ups.
“However, even now, those sent on missions outside the sect have yet to show themselves. That’s naturally out of the ordinary, too. After all, their sect was destroyed. They ought to be more frantic than anyone, yet none of them have come out of hiding, nor have they made any attempt to uncover the truth of the Heart-Tempering Sword House’s destruction.”
Su Yi was vaguely starting to understand. “Are you saying that the Malevolent Sword Venerate prepared for the worst before the battle in the Literati Continent began, and that he arranged an escape route for his sectmates?”
The Qiongqi Mountain Lord nodded. “That’s most likely the case. Many factions of the Eternal Heavens Domain see it the same way.”
Su Yi was now completely calm. Assuming all of this was true, there was more to the Malevolent Sword Venerate’s “heartless massacre of his sectmates” than met the eye!
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