First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 2940 - Past and Present Lives, How Do You See Me?

Yan Xiaosheng left, while Ling Wenxuan sank deep into thought. His attendants couldn’t calm down, either.

Su Yi had reappeared in the ruins of the Heart-Tempering Sword House, killing multiple Heavenly Monarchs. That was already more than shocking enough.

Who’d have thought that Heavenly Monarchs Yun Du and Yan Xiaosheng had been watching the entire time?

But the most shocking part was undoubtedly the information about the Yitian Eternal Throne!

A little while later, Ling Wenxuan came back to his senses, swept his gaze across his companions, and said, “Let’s go.”

He didn’t explain anything. He planned to return to the Xuanli Celestial Capital, then ask his father himself.

The others’ hearts were full of questions, but they knew better than to ask. After all, an Eternal Throne was on the line; not just anyone was qualified to learn more.

......

A little boat flew beneath the dome of heaven. Su Yi sat languidly at the tail end, leaning against the rail as he drank and admired the scenery.

The Divine Wandering Continent was one of the Five Great Continents. It was naturally enormous, and there was a lot to learn just watching the scenery go by.

Rumor had it that it took even Heavenly Monarchs a hundred years to measure the sheer enormity of the Divine Wandering Continent, and that’s assuming they traveled day and night.

The Five Great Continents were far beyond the others. They were famously closer to the Will of the Heavens of the Eternal Heavens Domain than anywhere else.

That was true of the Divine Wandering Continent, too.

Here, Limitless Palace reigned supreme, intimidating all other sects and factions.

But there were still countless other cultivation factions, clans, and races populating this enormous landscape, and some were quite powerful in their own right. Pick any of its Heavenly Monarch factions at random, and it was sure to be far from ordinary.

The Heart-Tempering Sword House was, until recently, the greatest Heavenly Monarch faction around. It had enormous prestige in the Divine Wandering Continent. Its founder, Jiang Wuchen, had an inextricable relationship with the Divine Wandering Continent. It was here that he’d done most of his cultivation in his lifetime.

Alas, the Heart-Tempering Sword House had fallen, and now, even its ruins had been destroyed. Its lands were barren and dead.

All of this meant that Su Yi felt no joy at this return to familiar ground. He now planned to go looking for the survivors of the Heart-Tempering Sword House.

He’d asked Wen Feng and Fei Qiu several questions and learned a lot. For instance, he knew that the survivors were hidden somewhere, and that Sect Leader Lu Ye had taken responsibility for all of the sect’s affairs.

He knew that all of the sect’s most important legacies and treasures had been preserved. They hadn’t been lost with the destruction of their ancestral grounds.

Su Yi was finally certain that the Malevolent Sword Venerate had thoroughly prepared for the battle in the Literati Continent. The sect had been destroyed, but most of its people and legacies lived on.

However, when Su Yi asked where specifically the survivors were hiding, he got no answers. Wen Feng and Fei Qiu were both extremely cautious. Even knowing who Su Yi was, they didn’t trust him completely. They just said that they’d take him to see their leader.

Su Yi understood their caution. After all, their ancestral grounds had only just been destroyed, and the survivors were wanted by Limitless Palace. Given the circumstances, everyone in the Heart-Tempering Sword House was concerned for their safety. They were like a flock of easily startled birds, their situation extraordinarily dire. If someone found them, it would lead to disaster.

“How do the higher-ups of the Heart-Tempering Sword House see the Malevolent Sword Venerate?” Su Yi asked suddenly.

Wen Feng and Fei Qiu exchanged glances. Both of them were hesitant.

In the end, Wen Feng answered the question in his capacity as Mountain Lord of Expanding Heavens Peak.

The Malevolent Sword Venerate had always been a controversial figure in the Heart-Tempering Sword House, to the point that he’d split the sect into two camps.

One camp saw the Malevolent Sword Venerate as the primary culprit behind Jiang Wuchen’s death and an incarnation of his negative karma.

The other believed that even if the Malevolent Sword Venerate was their founder’s heart devil, he was still ultimately their founder.

It was true that the Malevolent Sword Venerate had suppressed those old-timers who opposed him, but he’d had little choice. If they’d let them continue to defy him, the whole set would have split.

It was perfectly logical that the Malevolent Sword Venerate would suppress them in the name of unity.

That aside, the Malevolent Sword Venerate never carried out any massacre. He instead either imprisoned or exiled the dissenters.

For example, the Qilin Divine Race were his staunchest opposition, but they were merely exiled from the sect.

Moreover, it was thanks to the Malevolent Sword Venerate’s presence that no enemies had seized the opportunity to invade! Without him, the sect would have been like dragons without a leader. They’d have struggled to hold onto their power, territory, and prestige.

Even those who opposed the Malevolent Sword Venerate couldn’t argue otherwise. After all, all of them knew that without the Malevolent Sword Venerate, they’d have been beset by crises both inside and out in Jiang Wuchen’s absence.

Simply put, although the Malevolent Sword Venerate had always been a controversial figure, no one doubted his contributions to the sect.

Learning this improved Su Yi’s impression of the Malevolent Sword Venerate once more.

Maintaining the Heart-Tempering Sword House’s position as the greatest Heavenly Monarch faction in a place so full of powerful sects hadn’t been easy.

After pondering a while, Su Yi asked yet another question. It was something he’d been curious about for a long time. “And how does the Heart-Tempering Sword House see me?”

Both Heavenly Monarchs’ expressions shifted slightly. After an extended pause, Wen Feng answered simply, “We’re happy, but also worried.”

Su Yi pondered briefly. “I can just about guess why you’d be happy, but what exactly is it that you’re worried about?”

Wen Feng no longer hesitated. He said directly, “We’re worried that although you’re our founder’s reincarnation, your temperament, mentality, and way of thinking will be starkly different from our founder’s.”

Fei Qiu added, “And we were worried that your strength or talent would be inadequate by comparison, and that you’d be unworthy of bearing heavy responsibilities.”

Wen Feng and Fei Qiu both felt conflicted about it. The Heart-Tempering Sword House’s higher-ups had convened meetings to discuss Su Yi on multiple occasions.

It was naturally wonderful that their founder had returned, but just as Wen Feng and Fei Qiu said, many were worried that Su Yi and their founder were different people, and that they couldn’t trust Su Yi with heavy responsibilities!

Many of the old monsters were quite conflicted. They wanted Su Yi, their founder’s reincarnation, to return, but they didn’t want him and the Malevolent Sword Venerate to fight to the death.

After all, if the Malevolent Sword Venerate died, the Heart-Tempering Sword House would lose its pillar of support.

They couldn’t tolerate Su Yi dying, either, but all of them knew that the two were destined to fight to the death in the end.

That was the most troublesome part of all this.

Su Yi couldn’t help but rub his nose. After all that talk, they were really just worried that he’d be too weak or otherwise unworthy of his position.

After all, if he were lacking compared to Jiang Wuchen, yet still coveted the authority and benefits of the founder of the Heart-Tempering Sword House, the sect would find it hard to accept.

When he noticed Su Yi’s silence, Wen Feng explained, “But that’s just how they all felt before. Given your talent and strength, I’m sure they’ll change their mind after you’ve met with the sect leader!”

Fei Qiu nodded. Su Yi was no longer just some junior. He was someone capable of killing Heavenly Monarchs!

Su Yi smiled. “No need to explain. I understand. After all, your founder was my past incarnation.”

His gaze was complicated, and he was inwardly wistful. He’d inherited Jiang Wuchen’s Dao Imprint, including his feelings and perceptions.

The thought that he’d returned to the sect he’d poured a lifetime into, yet many of his sectmates didn’t acknowledge him, left him feeling indescribably conflicted.

I’ll have to see how Lu Ye feels when I meet with him, thought Su Yi.

Jiang Wuchen took three disciples in his lifetime. The first, Lu Ye, was now the leader of the Heart-Tempering Sword House.

His second disciple, Luo Yan, had left the sect alone after Jiang Wuchen reincarnated. There’d been no word of her since.

His third disciple, Jin Xuan, had become an inauspicious spirit. Su Yi had since saved him, and he was now cultivating under Lu Hongpao’s arrangements.

“Fellow Daoist Su, there’s something you should know,” Wen Feng said suddenly. “A long time ago, our founder’s heart devil made a rule. He said that one day, the two of you would fight to the death, and that if he emerged victorious, no one in the Heart-Tempering Sword House was to doubt his status ever again.

“But he also said that if he died, we should invite you back to the sect. However, he said you must win our acknowledgment before assuming our founder’s authority and status.”

Su Yi was stunned. He asked with great interest, “And did he explain how to go about earning your recognition?”

Wen Feng shook his head. “The sect leader ought to know better than anyone.”

Su Yi smiled. “I understand. No wonder none of you have been willing to address me as ‘founder’ despite knowing I’m your founder’s reincarnation. It’s because I’ve yet to earn your true recognition.”

Wen Feng and Fei Qiu exchanged glances. Both of them felt a little awkward, but he was right.

As if worried that Su Yi would jump to conclusions, Fei Qiu explained, “We already see you as our founder, but...”

Su Yi waved dismissively. “I understand.”

All of this talk of "acknowledgment" just meant that they were worried he was unworthy of the position of founder, that’s all.

Su Yi wasn’t upset by this, nor was he at all interested in pursuing something so trivial. It didn’t matter whether others opposed him or disapproved of him.

What mattered was that the sect that Jiang Wuchen had poured a lifetime of effort into couldn’t be allowed to fall like this!

Su Yi pondered briefly and was just about to ask more questions when his brow furrowed, and he silently rose.

The little boat stopped and hovered in the boundless sea of clouds, while Su Yi gazed into the distance.

Wen Feng and Fei Qiu were instantly solemn. Don’t tell me something happened?

They’d only just thought this when sword light lit up in the distance, as radiant as a star.

A perfectly straight rift formed in the clouds, and a thin man with a red sword-nourishing gourd appeared out of nowhere. His robes were worn, his feet sandaled. He walked through the path of parted clouds with a big, powerful stride.