First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 1727 - Luo Changning’s Origins

Deep within the Abyss of Dark Fog lay the ruins of an ancient battlefield.

A statue of the Buddha had fallen to the ground long ago, and it now lay amidst the mottled, fragmented weapons and armor.

A mountain range hung upside down in the sky. Everything was deathly silent, desolate, and bleak.

A simple stone hut was built just outside the ancient battlefield. The land surrounding it was flat and scorched black. A single ancient tree had laid its roots here, and it was now fully one thousand feet tall. It looked as if it had been forged out of molten bronze, and its jade-like leaves scattered a rain of dreamlike, ethereal green light.

Su Yi sat cross-legged, bathed in the misty light as his wounds knit together at speeds visible to the naked eye.

The sword-bearing ape emerged from the stone hut, took out two jugs of wine, sat by the stone table, and looked at Su Yi.

Despite himself, his gaze was a bit strange. Hundreds of thousands of years had passed, but his old friend had successfully returned through the cycle of reincarnation. Even the sword-bearing ape found this astonishing.

“Your Excellency, we’ve finished gathering the spoils.” A skeletal bird shot over from afar and respectively proffered a bronze chest.

“Leave us,” said the ape. “Do not disturb us again unless I summon you.”

“Understood!” The skeletal bird beat its wings and flew off.

Shortly after, Su Yi awakened from his meditation. The ape promptly tossed him one of the two jugs of wine. “Come on, drink up!”

Su Yi accepted the jug with a smile, threw back his head, and took a big swig. He couldn’t help but exclaim, “Isn’t this the Goldenwind Brew I left with you back then?”

The sword-bearing ape burst into laughter. “Exactly!”

He took a big gulp from his own jug before continuing, “You left me one hundred and thirty jugs, but these are the only two I have left. I’ve never been able to bring myself to drink them. I’ve been saving them to share with you when you returned.”

Su Yi was moved.

Countless years had passed, and the world had changed, but the sword-bearing ape was the same.

The two of them drank and chatted about the past. They couldn’t help but be wistful.

Before long, the ape asked, “Was that the power of reincarnation you used when you defeated Yu Wenqi?”

Su Yi nodded. “It was.”

In the ruins of the Academy of Eternal Night’s Underground Palace of Seeking the Profound, he combed through his attainments in the Dao of the Sword and created a sword attack that perfectly incorporated the mysteries of reincarnation. It was called “A Moment of Silence.”

He’d used that very move to defeat Yu Wenqi. It was currently the strongest attack at Su Yi’s disposal.

“You really have mastered reincarnation,” said the sword-bearing ape with a strange light in his eyes. “I’m certain the gods have long since set their sights on you.”

Su Yi laughed. “They have, but to date, the ‘lofty and superior’ gods have been helpless against me.”

The sword-bearing ape burst into laughter. “It’s because they’re so lofty and superior that they’re subject to the fetters of the Laws and the natural order, unable to enter our world. But...”

Here, his expression grew solemn. “During the Primeval Era, divine misfortune befell the entire Immortal Realm, and the power of the gods appeared in his world, creating a cataclysm that targeted every Great Realm expert beneath the heavens.”

“A few Great Realm experts fled before the cataclysm fell, leaving for the River of Epochs. Practically everyone else was slaughtered!

“You’d best be careful. The gods forbade reincarnation even then, but no expert capable of it ever appeared. If the gods know that you control this forbidden power, they’re sure to do everything in their power to destroy you!”

Su Yi couldn’t help but say, “It sounds like you don’t know that the will of the gods has long since permeated the Immortal Realm.”

He shared several secrets with the sword-bearing ape, including that several factions that served the gods had arisen in the Immortal Realm, like Cloud Apparatus Immortal Manor and the Church of All Spirits.

And that the Great Realm experts of the present day had long since gone deep into seclusion to avoid divine misfortune.

Su Yi also shared word of the Immortal Realm’s impending golden age, and that the gods were likely to one day destroy the Laws and enter the Immortal Realm.

Furthermore, the path to divinity was likely to reappear!

After learning all these secrets, the sword-bearing ape couldn’t help but frown. “If that’s really the case, doesn’t that mean the Immortal Realm is in for unprecedented, enormous changes?”

After all, the gods had never really been able to enter the Immortal Realm, not even in the Primeval Era!

“That’s far from the end of it. Outside the Immortal Realm’s Nine Gates of Heaven, the demons of the Beyond are champing at the bit.” Su Yi took a sip of wine. “I can see it already. When these changes take place, the entire Immortal Realm will descend into unprecedented upheaval.

“If the gods descend, they might well come to kill me. But their descent will surely bring with it an opportunity for Great Realm experts to achieve divinity! The Great Realm old-timers who’ve gone into hiding won’t let an opportunity like that slip through their fingers!”

Su Yi looked at his old friend. “Of course, this is a rare opportunity for us, too!”

The ape’s eyes lit up, but then, he sighed. “Yes, but this will also lead to unprecedented turmoil and bloodshed. Countless innocents will be swept into it.”

Su Yi instantly fell silent.

Before long, he took out the golden beast skin and passed it to the sword-bearing ape. “This is a treasure I acquired not long ago. It contains the secrets of achieving divinity. Have a look.”

He then concisely explained how he’d acquired it and everything he knew about it.

The sword-bearing ape’s heart shook. He took the skin and examined it

A while later, he shook his head. “I can’t grasp its secrets. As you know, prior to the Age of Fallen Immortals, a calamitous power befell me, damaging my cultivation base. I’m already on the verge of losing hold of my Great Realm cultivation.

“And the secrets recorded on the golden beast skin are only comprehensible to experts of the Great Unity Realm or above.”

The ape let out a deep sigh. Frustration was written all over his face.

The Great Realm was subdivided into three stages: Great Martial, Great Unity, and Great Profound.

Together, they were known as the Three Stages of the Great Realm!

Long ago, the ape was a top powerhouse of the third stage of the Great Realm, the Great Profound Stage.

But after countless years of confinement in this ancient battleground, his cultivation base had waned. He was on the verge of falling out of the Great Realm completely.

“Actually, between us, we’ve just about grasped the secrets of achieving divinity already,” said Su Yi before sharing what he knew with his old friend.

Godhood was a path above the Immortal Dao. Only experts of the God Realm could walk atop the River of Epochs, free from the fetters of the alternating of the ages, eternal and undying. That was why they were considered deities!

Gods controlled Epoch Laws, and they lived without fear of the passage of time, unmarked by the passing years. In the eyes of the masses, they were rulers of the natural order, masters of heaven’s will, and they transcended the civilizations of all eras and epochs.

Experts of this level were strong because they’d condensed Godheads from the Laws of the epochs and forged Divine Thrones!

If a Great Realm expert wanted to prove their Dao and become a God, there were three steps they had to take: igniting their Divine Flame, condensing a Godhead, and forging a Divine Throne!

The sword-bearing ape had heard about all this, and he didn’t find it all that surprising.

But the next secret Su Yi shared left him stunned.

“I can now say with certainty that the gods are actually afraid of threats to their position. They’re afraid of falling off their lofty Divine Thrones and landing back amidst the dust of mortality,” said Su Yi. “Similarly, they’re afraid that the power of reincarnation will return, as it can strip them of their control over the natural order of the epochs!

“The moment a deity’s Godhead is stolen, their Divine Throne is claimed by another, and they’re cast back into mortal dust!”

The sword-bearing ape couldn’t help but exclaim, “The gods are afraid? Why?”

Su Yi patiently explained, “Simply put, there’s a limited supply of Godheads and Divine Thrones because of the nature of the River of Epochs.”

The River of Epochs was divided into numerous epochs great and small. Each epoch’s Laws of the natural order could only support a small number of Godheads and Divine Thrones. Thus, only a select few could become gods!

If anyone else attempted to achieve divinity, they threatened those who’d long since reached that level.

After all, anyone who wanted to condense a Godhead and forge a Divine Throne had to go through the River of Epochs, and the vast majority of the Laws of Epochs had been claimed by those who’d achieved divinity long ago. Who’d willingly offer their spot to another?

The sword-bearing ape’s expression filled with uncertainty. He muttered, “It all makes sense now. Cultivators of the Great Realm are one step away from achieving divinity. It’s no wonder the gods see us as the greatest threat.”

He completely understood.

But a moment later, his expression turned strange. “Doesn’t that make your predicament even more precarious?”

The power of reincarnation was an even greater threat to the gods, as it could strip them of their control over the natural order of the epochs and cast them from their thrones and into the dust of mortality!

“Why not say that makes the gods’ predicament even more precarious?” asked Su Yi.

The sword-bearing ape threw back his head and laughed. “Indeed!”

The two of them launched into a discussion about attaining divinity. After a while, Su Yi asked, “Have you heard of Luo Changning?”

Although practically no one knew it, the sword-bearing ape was a Great Realm expert who’d lived since the Primeval Era. Furthermore, he’d once been extremely famous.

Long ago, Wang Ye had asked the ape about the Primeval Era, and he’d benefited considerably from their conversation.

“I know of him,” the ape said without pausing to think. “Luo Changning reached the Great Realm long before I did. He was one of the mightiest Great Realm experts of the Primeval Era, Sword Sovereign Changning. He was one of the four most famous Sword Sovereigns of the Primeval Era!”

Su Yi couldn’t help but exclaim, “I wouldn’t have guessed he had such an illustrious reputation! How does your Dao of the Sword compare to his?”

The sword-bearing ape sank into silence.

A while later, he said, “They say that at the height of his power, Luo Changning drew even the gods’ attention and that they personally intervened to stop him from attaining divinity. Based on that, I... am not his equal.”