First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 2932 - The Cauldron of Fate

In a single snap of the fingers, Heavenly Monarch Xiu Hu met with disaster, his body destroyed and his soul captured.

At the same time, even after unleashing a forbidden escape technique, Heavenly Monarch Qiong Ye died inexplicably, destroyed in both body and soul!

Heavenly Monarch Shui Ni was utterly astonished. Her beautiful face was pale and disconsolate.

As Heavenly Monarchs of the Court of the Southern Heavens, they were famed throughout the Five Great Continents. Who’d dare to provoke them?

Yet now, both of her companions had been suppressed with ease; this young stranger beat them like dead dogs. Who wouldn’t have been shocked?

“I...” A whole passed before Heavenly Monarch Shui Ni came back to her senses. She said softly, “I thought you’d chase Heavenly Monarch Qiong Ye, and that I could use that opportunity to escape. I never thought...”

Su Yi instantly understood. I see. She figured it was ‘better him than me,’ so she planned to use Qiong Ye as bait. She just never considered the possibility that he’d die so quickly. There was no opportunity for her to seize!

“If you spare my life, I’ll... cooperate!” Heavenly Monarch Shui Ni said in a quavering voice, her eyes full of pleading.

“How do you plan to cooperate?” asked Su Yi.

As he spoke, he silently tossed Heavenly Monarch Xiu Hu’s soul into the first page of the Book of Destiny.

Heavenly Monarch Shui Ni frantically grasped at straws. “You must have been following Heavenly Monarch Xiu Hu for a reason. So long as it’s within my power, I’ll help you as best I can!”

Su Yi took a sip from a jug of wine. “Very well. In that case, follow me to the ruins of the Heart-Tempering Sword House. Answer some of my questions, and so long as you’re honest, I wouldn’t mind leaving you a chance at life."

Heavenly Monarch Shui Ni nodded repeatedly.

Su Yi laughed, his gaze rife with meaning. “Don’t forget that I still have Heavenly Monarch Xiu Hu’s soul. If I discover that you’ve lied to me...”

Heavenly Monarch Shui Ning stiffened, then said bitterly, “Rest assured. If I say so much as a single untruthful word, I’ll accept any punishment!”

Su Yi no longer hesitated. He turned and shot toward the ruins of the Heart-Tempering Sword House.

Heavenly Monarch Shui Ni followed immediately after. She didn’t dare to flee, not after sensing Heavenly Monarch Qiong Ye’s death.

Su Yi was a bit frustrated, too. He’d originally planned to just kill Shui Ni, only for something unexpected to happen within the Book of Destiny.

Before the Monarch of Endless Tribulations and the Buddha of Non-Existence could intervene, Heavenly Monarch Xiu Hu’s memories shattered, and his soul crumbled and dissipated.

There was no doubt about it. Heavenly Monarch Xiu Hu realized his situation and used a secret technique to destroy his own soul. He’d chosen suicide.

Su Yi had to admit that this ruthless determination improved his impression of the man.

But it was because of Xiu Hu’s ruthless determination that Su Yi couldn’t get any leads out of him. He had no choice but to spare Heavenly Monarch Shui Ni.

“The Court of the Southern Heavens is rooted in the Unfettered Continent, so why come all this way to target the survivors of the Heart-Tempering Sword House?” asked Su Yi.

Heavenly Monarch Shui Ni didn’t know that Heavenly Monarch Xiu Hu’s soul had been destroyed, so she naturally dared not lie, not out of concern, but for fear that Su Yi would compare their testimony and realize she was lying. Thus, she said honestly, “We’re here on our sect leader’s orders. Apparently, we’re supposed to find a jade cauldron known as the Cauldron of Fate.”

Su Yi blinked. “The Cauldron of Fate? Is that somehow connected to the Sea of Fate in the Southern Sea?”

The Eternal Heavens Domain had thirty-three continents and four seas. The Southern Sea was one of the four.

The Sea of Fate referred to the most terrifying, forbidden section of the Southern Sea. Rumor had it that a lost Eternal Throne had fallen into its waters during the Devastation.

Lu Hongpao had brought it up, too. When they left the Literati Continent, she wanted Su Yi to lie low in the Southern Sea, in part to avoid attention, and in part so he could hunt for the lost Eternal Throne while he was there.

Of course, they were then ambushed by a group of Heavenly Sovereigns, so her plans never became a reality.

“That’s right,” said Heavenly Monarch Shui Ni. “According to highly secret intelligence, Jiang Wuchen’s heart devil, the Malevolent Sword Venerate, once explored the Southern Sea. He was there for a full hundred years, and in the end, he left with a jade cauldron he found in the Sea of Fate. Rumor has it that the cauldron contains a lead to the lost Eternal Throne!”

Su Yi’s eyebrows rose. He searched Jiang Wuchen’s memories for information about the cauldron, but came up empty. The Malevolent Sword Venerate had obviously acquired this good fortune entirely on his own.

There was no denying it. Both Jiang Wuchen and the Malevolent Sword Venerate were like the favored sons of fortune. Both frequently acquired good fortune others could never even dream of.”

Something suddenly occurred to Su Yi. “If this is such a secret, how did the Court of the Southern Heavens find out about it?”

Heavenly Monarch Shui Ni’s eyes shone with strange light. “When the Malevolent Sword Venerate killed the disciples of the Heart-Tempering Sword House, one of its elders, Feng Qing, left behind a jade slip inscribed with information about the Sea of Fate. In particular, it recorded scenes of the Malevolent Sword Venerate acquiring the Cauldron of Fate.

“Later, we investigated and discovered that Elder Feng Qing had accompanied the Malevolent Sword House to the Sea of Fate. Those scenes are unquestionably authentic.”

She paused, then continued, “The Court of the Southern Heavens isn’t the only faction to have learned this. Word has reached the other Heavenly Sovereign factions, too.

“Now, the Malevolent Sword Venerate is dead, but no one knows where the Cauldron of Fate wound up. We suspect that the Malevolent Sword Venerate entrusted it to another member of the Heart-Tempering Sword House for safekeeping.”

Su Yi was gradually starting to understand. The destruction of the Heart-Tempering Sword House had shaken the world, and its ruins were now a gathering point for experts from all over the Eternal Heavens Domain.

Some had come to vie for the territories the Heart-Tempering Sword House had left behind, while others were scouring the ruins for treasure.

But the Heavenly Sovereign factions were here for the Cauldron of Fate, because it contained leads to a lost Eternal Throne!

Limitless Palace had declared the surviving experts of the Heart-Tempering Sword House wanted on account of the Cauldron of Fate.

It was also for this reason that Heavenly Monarch Xiu Hu and the other experts of the Court of the Southern Heavens had targeted “the old man and the youth.”

“I’ve got to say, the Malevolent Sword Venerate is really quite something. He actually managed to keep word of the Cauldron of Fate a secret for so long.” Heavenly Monarch Shui Ni sighed with admiration. “If he hadn’t slaughtered so many of his sectmates and left so many treasures behind, I suspect that the world at large would still have no idea that he’d found a taboo treasure connected to an Eternal Throne in the Sea of Fate.”

“Do you admire him?” asked Su Yi.

Heavenly Monarch Shui Ning froze, obviously a bit hesitant to answer.

“You can just speak directly. I won’t take offense,” Su Yi said casually.

Heavenly Monarch Shui Ni said, “The Malevolent Sword Venerate might have been able to fool the masses, but he couldn’t fool us experts of Heavenly Sovereign factions. All of us know that he was really Jiang Wuchen’s heart devil, a malevolent, murderous, cold, unfeeling monster.

“Still, there’s no denying his strength or capabilities, and without him to take over after Jiang Wuchen died, who knows what would have happened to the Heart-Tempering Sword House?” Here, she laughed coldly. “They’d have been like dragons without a leader. Their ranks would have collapsed years ago, and there’s no way they’d have lasted this long, let alone managed to hold their position as the greatest Heavenly Monarch faction beneath the heavens.”

Su Yi couldn’t help but fall silent. He knew she was right, and he couldn’t argue.

When a Heavenly Monarch faction lost its leader, internal strife and decline inevitably followed.

That was especially true given that they shared the Divine Wandering Continent with the mighty Limitless Palace.

The Malevolent Sword Venerate had developed his sect right under Limitless Palace’s nose, yet he’d nonetheless maintained its position as the greatest Heavenly Monarch faction around. That was naturally an extraordinary feat!

“In the past, Jiang Wuchen was the pillar of the Heart-Tempering Sword House. Later, the Malevolent Sword Venerate took over,” said Heavenly Monarch Shui Ni. “Unfortunately, he suffered a crushing defeat in the Literati Continent, infuriating an expert of the Far Shore. It was the Malevolent Sword Venerate who arranged that battle, so he was naturally the one to pay the price.”

Su Yi furrowed his brow. “Are you saying that the Malevolent Sword Venerate personally slaughtered his sectmates and destroyed his sect because of an expert from the Far Shore of Destiny?”

Heavenly Monarch Shui Ni inclined her head. “This is no secret. The expert in question made no attempt to hide it, either. Ultimately, the battle in the Literati Continent was an unsightly, crushing defeat. As its primary strategist, the Malevolent Sword Venerate had to bear responsibility for his failure.”

Su Yi rubbed his forehead. He was finally certain that there was more to the destruction of the Heart-Tempering Sword House than met the eye.

“I’ve got to say, the Malevolent Sword Venerate sure is something. Even our founder, Heavenly Sovereign Changhen, sighed with admiration, saying that he’s a true elite of his era. Men like him are seldom seen,” said Heavenly Monarch Shui Ni. “He seemed to realize that he wouldn’t escape disaster after his failure in the Literati Continent, so he prepared thoroughly beforehand, sending his sect’s core members to safety without anyone realizing it.

“Those he killed were all either spies for other factions or sinners against the sect. Many had long since betrayed the sect and become double agents.

“We investigated those who died by the Malevolent Sword Venerate’s hands, and in the end, we discovered that not one of them died unjustly,” said Heavenly Monarch Shui Ni, her eyes full of heartfelt admiration. “That’s the most terrifying part! Even though an expert of the Far Shore forced the Malevolent Sword Venerate to his death, he managed to save the true legacy of the Heart-Tempering Sword House. Who wouldn’t admire someone like him?”

Waves of shock coursed through Su Yi’s heart. He struggled to stay calm. Is that what really happened?

He couldn’t help but think back to the Nine Luminaries Forbidden Zone, when the Malevolent Sword Venerate proclaimed that he wanted to end things once and for all between them.

At the time, Su Yi didn’t believe it. He thought the Malevolent Sword Venerate would resort to any means to achieve his ends, and that he wasn’t at all reliable.

But looking back on it now, the Malevolent Sword Venerate had obviously planned for the worst before launching the trap in the Literati Continent.

It was because he’d planned for everything that he dared try to end things with Su Yi in the Literati Continent!