Chapter 1340: Chapter 1338: The Decline after Prosperity (Part 1)
In the five hundred and twenty-second year after Shi Xiaole’s disappearance,
Yao Yuxuan, who had long since become the most formidable being in the eyes of the world, came to the yard where Xi Xianglei resided, lifted the hem of his robe, knelt on both knees, and solemnly kowtowed three times, remaining bowed for a long time.
"Senior Sister-in-law, thank you and Master for these years!"
With the sound of footsteps, Xi Xianglei walked out, her expression slightly sad. She sighed and said, "You are preparing to return to the Bear Pure World?"
"Forgive your unworthy disciple, Xuan’er."
Yao Yuxuan said in a low voice.
Shi Xiaole had told him that even though the Outer Heaven Demons that were publicly known in the Bear Pure World had been eradicated, no one knew whether some might still be hidden.
Yao Yuxuan felt that his power had reached a bottleneck, and he didn’t think there were many in the Sixteen Worlds who could threaten him. He knew it was time to leave!
"Be careful on your journey."
"Thank you, Master’s wife."
"Before you leave, make a trip to the Chaos Sword Valley. This is your master’s last wish."
After kowtowing three more times outside Xia Yunxi’s yard, Yao Yuxuan, alone, entered the Chaos Sword Valley. He had been here many times before, but this time was different.
Unexplainably, Yao Yuxuan arrived at the foot of a mountain and was startled to find that the peak in front of him was the very place where his master had taught him swordsmanship in his youth.
How quickly time passes.
Hum!
A surge of righteous and awe-inspiring Sword Qi suddenly burst forth from the mountain peak, like a stream of clear water entering muddy currents, unaffected by the influence of the Chaos Sword Way.
Yao Yuxuan was greatly surprised.
He could tell, of course, that this was the result of the Chaos Sword Way making way of its own accord, but to be so at ease within it was enough to prove that this was a unique divine sword in the world!
Like a divine weapon descending from the heavens, the sword light landed in front of Yao Yuxuan. Instinctively, he reached out to draw the sword, and at the hilt, he saw two characters, as tiny as flies — Righteous Path.
"Righteous Path Sword, Master!"
Yao Yuxuan couldn’t help trembling all over as tears streamed down his face.
Even his Third Senior Brother didn’t have a divine sword by his side, yet his master had prepared this gift for him in advance. How was he to repay such kindness?
"Master, your disciple will always remember your teachings, to uphold righteousness as the path, and never lose the heart of chivalry!"
After one last look at the mountain peak and the distant Ten Great Villas, Yao Yuxuan soared away.
With his talents, he naturally passed the trials of Moral Mount and found Yao Caidie and others in the lands beyond the heavens. In the end, he returned to the Bear Pure World with a group of experts and established an unprecedented foundation.
Year after year.
The number of Supreme Lords in the East Victory world had grown from the previous sixty to seventy to an astonishing three hundred after a millennium.
Beneath the Supreme Lords, many formidable figures emerged, Heaven Kings, each more dazzling than the last, fated to become Supreme Lord candidates.
Indeed, in the three thousand years that followed, the number of Supreme Lords reached five hundred, setting a historical record for the highest number of Supreme Lords in the East Victory world.
But that was not the limit.
The spiritual energy of heaven and earth continued to grow, and the rules of the world improved day by day. In the six thousandth year after Shi Xiaole left Nine Profound Mountain, the number of Supreme Lords in East Victory had reached a world-shocking eight hundred and ninety-two.
Given the current environment, breaking through to Supreme Lord was far easier than before. Everyone believed that the future would be even more prosperous, and the martial path of the East Victory world would reach an unimaginable summit!
But on this day at Nine Profound Mountain, sorrow filled the air, especially in Divine Sword Villa, which was enveloped in an oppressively melancholic atmosphere.
The Villa’s young mistress, Su Yanru, lay on her bed, at the end of her life.
Looking across the entire world, Su Yanru’s talent was only average, she couldn’t even cultivate to the Divine Barrier Realm, and her life should have been spent long ago. It was only because of the vital energy of the Life and Death Valley that she had lived up to this day, beyond six thousand five hundred years.
But ultimately, there is always a limit to things, and even Shi Xiaole’s skills couldn’t reverse life and death.
Su Yanru, dressed in red, remained as beautiful as ever, with black hair like a waterfall and skin white as snow. Kneeling by her bed were Shi Wuyou, Zhang Mengyun, Xi Xianglei, and Xia Yunxi.
Qu Wuyan, Zhu Ling, the couple Niu Dali, and others stood to the side. Many acquaintances were traveling the world and had not received the news.
"It’s time for me to go," Su Yanru said with a smile.
Shi Wuyou tightly grasped his aunt’s hand, his heart wrenching.
In this world, his aunt was undoubtedly the person who loved him the most, even more than his parents. She never allowed him to suffer even a little hurt or hardship.
During the lonely nights of relentless training over the years, whenever he returned to his study, there was always a bowl of delicious medicinal meal on the desk. Later he learned that it was personally prepared by his aunt.
The wedding clothes he wore when he married Zhang Mengyun were also hand-sewn by his aunt, stitch by stitch. It’s said that in her quest for perfection, she even learned embroidery, creating thousands of samples.
Shi Wuyou had vaguely heard about his aunt’s past with his father. He held no scorn or disgust for her—only heartache and regret.
His aunt knew that there could be no future between her and his father, and it would only cause embarrassment for his mother and stepmother, so she buried her love deep in her heart. Who could know her pain and loneliness?
"Auntie..."
Shi Wuyou didn’t know what to say. The Supreme Lord, the head of the Divine Sword Villa, formidable throughout the lands, was now with red eyes, so fragile and powerless.
"It’s a pity I won’t see yours and Mengyun’s child. I’m afraid I won’t last long enough."
Hearing this, Zhang Mengyun also bowed her head and wept.
"Auntie, you will get better, you must..."
Xia Yunxi had long since been crying, tears streaming down her face.
Ever since she came to Nine Heavens Mountain, she had interacted with Su Yanru, and their friendship over more than six thousand years was irreplaceable—such elders and friends would never be found again in the future.
Xi Xianglei remained silent, her eyes also brimming with tears.
"I was not supposed to live past five hundred years, to live six thousand more is already luckier than most. What else could I be dissatisfied with?"
Su Yanru comforted everyone.
Was she truly content?
In Su Yanru’s increasingly blurry eyes, a figure of majestic bearing suddenly emerged. He was her lifelong pride and emotional sanctuary.
From his babbling days to his time sent to Huajian Sect on Mountain Luyan, and his triumphant return, undergoing a magnificent transformation, Su Yanru would never forget each and every moment she spent with Shi Xiaole.
His smile, his loneliness, the pressure he couldn’t share with anyone—she only hated her own incompetence for being unable to share his burdens.
Lele, where are you? Your auntie is leaving, and I really wish to see you one last time!
A stream of tears fell from the corner of Su Yanru’s eyes as she softly murmured Shi Xiaole’s name. Seeing this, even the couples Niu Dali and Hua Yiyun, Gui Fuling, and others couldn’t help but feel a twinge in their noses, almost shedding tears themselves.
The air in the room was thick with emotions, and suddenly a figure appeared at the bedside, even Shi Wuyou had not sensed his approach in advance.
"Auntie!"
Shi Xiaole’s face was filled with sorrow as he gazed at the woman whose life force was gradually fading away. Realizing that something momentous was happening, he who was in the midst of reincarnation, returned to Nine Heavens Mountain.
"Father!"
"Lord of the Villa!"
Cries went up from the crowd.
Su Yanru’s eyes instantly lit up with a brilliant light, and a joyful rosy glow suffused her pale cheeks. Her hand broke free from Shi Wuyou and clutched Shi Xiaole’s with unprecedented strength.
"Lele, your auntie is truly content now, truly without regrets."
She stared intently at Shi Xiaole, just as she had when he was a little boy, and then, her smile was forever fixed on her face.
To outsiders, Su Yanru was simply enjoying unparalleled glory and fortune for having adopted Shi Xiaole.
But in her heart, she perhaps wished more that Shi Xiaole was not so extraordinary because then her Lele would have always been only hers.
Different people have different pursuits; what Su Yanru sought was that unique love. Unfortunately, she never received it in her lifetime.
The room was filled with sobbing.
Shi Xiaole, looking at Su Yanru’s satisfied smile, felt an agonizing pain in his heart and murmured, "Auntie, there were so many wishes you didn’t get to fulfill. I promised to travel the world with you. How can you break that promise? I won’t allow it!"
With a flicker of thought, Shi Xiaole, cradling Su Yanru in his arms, came before the Life and Death Pool. At the bottom of the pool, there were four people, and now, there were five.
Suppressing his sorrow deep within, Shi Xiaole entered the cycle of reincarnation once again.
Lifetime after lifetime, he experienced different lives: sometimes a mere soldier, other times a hero of the Martial World, and at times a high-ranking court official... He encountered all kinds of people, struggling in the worldly dust for name, for wealth, for power, for passion, yet unable to escape the shackles of the mundane.
The world of East Victory was prospering even more.
In the nine thousandth year after Shi Xiaole’s disappearance, the number of Supreme Lords broke through the one thousand mark, and by ten thousand years, the count reached one thousand two hundred sixteen.
This number had already surpassed the peak period of Outer Heaven.
Thus, the martial destiny of the East Victory world truly reached its pinnacle since ancient times, with its spiritual energy so abundant and rules so complete, it was hailed as the crown of the sixteen worlds!
However, following the peak came the decline, an inevitable law that all things could not escape.
In the eleven thousandth year, a message suddenly circulated in the Martial World: a Supreme Lord had perished, not by combat, but by natural death. He was the Purple Sun Supreme from one hundred sixty thousand years ago.
What puzzled the other Supreme Lords was that Purple Sun Supreme’s lifespan, at best, was just under one hundred ninety thousand years. With more than ten thousand years left before the two hundred thousand years limit, how did he suddenly die?
"I feel that there is a force in the heavens and earth dissolving my life force; I cannot resist it. You all must be careful!"
Before dissipating, Purple Sun Supreme personally relayed this chilling message to the Immortal Scholar, Saintly Love Young Master, and others.
Even more terrifying events were yet to come.
Within a thousand years of Purple Sun Supreme’s death, many of the powerful Supreme Lords from one hundred sixty thousand years ago reached their limits inexplicably and died. Even hiding in the Ten Great Dangerous Places, where the Seal Heaven Array had been removed, was futile.
Because the heavens and earth at that time could still accommodate Supreme Lords, the rules did not permit an exemption from the law.
It was not only Supreme Lords who were affected; many Martial Emperors in the Void Origin Realm also found that their life force was being extracted by some inexplicable power from the heavens, causing a great reduction in their lifespans.
Some of the aged Martial Emperors in the Void Origin Realm died on the spot, vanishing into a pile of ash, gone with the wind.
"How could this be?"
"What on earth happened to this world?"
"What’s causing these anomalies?"
Countless individuals were terrified.
Ordinary people, common martial artists, and even Earth Immortals of the Divine Barrier Realm felt nothing unusual, but those in the Void Origin and Sky Origin Realms were living in fear.
