First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 2493 – If You Want It, I’ll Give It to You

Beneath the dome of heaven.

Lu Shi gazed down at his wounded body, a hint of exasperation on his lips.

He could keep fighting, but if he did, he’d do unpredictably severe damage to Master God Yun He’s body.

And if problems arose in Yun He’s body, he’d have no hope of achieving Eternity during the Dark Days of Legend!

“Very well. Let’s end this battle here,” sighed Lu Shi. “I admit defeat.”

He clearly found it a pity; he sounded like he’d yet to get his fill.

“In a duel of the Dao of the Sword, you cannot simply admit defeat,” Su Yi said calmly. “If you want to admit defeat, you must first destroy Yun He’s body, then end yourself. I’ll acknowledge that our duel is over then.”

Lu Shi was stunned, and his brow furrowed.”Don’t you want the chaos source in the Divine Stele of the Dao of the Sword?”

“It’s already mine,” said Su Yi. He stretched out his hand and grabbed.

The stele towering in the distance, the only thing still standing amidst the devastated landscape, rumbled and boomed. Mysterious chaos Dao Markings arose on its surface, and the humming of a sword rose and fell in waves.

Then, a streak of chaos firelight shot out of the stele. The sky split, forming a perfectly straight rift.

Lu Shi’s eyes narrowed.

That was a chaos source, but it was as sharp and forceful as the edge of a sword. The aura emanating from it alone was enough to pierce the nine heavens and tear through Yin and Yang!

It was mysterious, sharp, tyrannical, and full of the indescribable wonders of the Grand Dao.

As a sword cultivator, Lu Shi felt as if the chaos source were awakening his qi. It silently coursed through him.

He was instantly astonished. This… is the chaos source I’ve been trying and failing to acquire all these years? A supreme… natural power of the Dao of the Sword?

Boom!

Heaven and earth shook. The chaos source whooshed through the air, like a swallow returning to its nest, and landed in Su Yi’s palm.

The Divine Stele of the Dao of the Sword fell silent, and all strange phenomena faded away.

The chaos source floating over Su Yi’s palm revealed its true shape. It was a bundle of misty light swathed in a sharp, mysterious aura of the Grand Dao, like countless stars flickering on and off.

Looking at it caused stabbing pain in the eyes, and it plunged the soul into a seemingly endless stretch of chaos and stars. Countless streaks of sword light whooshed past, rumbling and booming!

“This power born of nature and nourished in chaos has existed since the earliest days of the God Domain’s history. It’s always lain dormant. None could acquire it, so who could have imagined that it… would recognize a master of its own accord…”

Lu Shi stared intently at the chaos source, his gaze shifting erratically. There was no disguising the bitterness in his voice.

Way back in the earliest days of the God Domain’s history, he’d set his sights on this chaos source. Even after stepping onto the River of Destiny and becoming Eternal, he couldn’t truly let go of it.

Thus, throughout the ages, he’d repeatedly arranged for others to investigate the Tianxiu Sword Shrine’s secrets, all with the goal of one day gaining control over that chaos source.

But all such attempts had ended in failure.

This time, he’d gone to great lengths and paid a considerable price to borrow four of the Five Supreme Source Powers. He’d thought that with them in hand, he finally had a chance of acquiring that chaos source.

Who’d have thought that… Su Yi would beat him to the punch?

He hadn’t prepared or sacrificed anything at all. He didn’t even face any difficulties. All he did was beckon, and the chaos source dormant since the earliest days of the God Domain’s history flew into his palm of its own accord.

The disparity was unquestionably far too enormous. As strong as Lu Shi’s heart was, he felt frustrated and astonished. This… was hard to accept!

Why is this happening? How could this have happened?

Lu Shi forcefully suppressed his emotions and took a deep breath. Only then did he manage to avoid losing his composure.

“Now that I think about it, I have to thank you. I couldn’t have acquired this without you,” said Su Yi. “Our clash awakened the chaos source. That’s what let me clearly sense its existence.”

Lu Shi was stunned. “Just like that?”

“Just like that,” Su Yi said casually. “Fortune goes to those fated to receive it. The chaos source acknowledged me, so it naturally won’t reject my ownership.”

Lu Shi’s expression shifted erratically. After a while, he sighed. “Fate gives, and fate takes away. Who can force it?”

It was just two sentences, but they were full of ruefulness, frustration, and a nigh imperceptible hint of melancholy.

It was obvious that Lu Shi attached incomparable importance to that chaos source. That was why he was struggling to suppress his emotions, and why his words let his true feelings slip.

“Do you want it?” asked Su Yi. “I’ll give it to you.”

These light, airy words made Lu Shi quiver. “You’ll… give it to me?”

“Yes,” said Su Yi. “I pursue my own path. As incomparably wondrous as this chaos source is, it means nothing to me.”

Lu Shi was stunned. Su Yi made it sound so ordinary and casual, but his words were like a massive hammer slamming into Lu Shi’s heart!

The thing he’d longed for even in his dreams and racked his brains for ways to acquire… was so worthless to Su Yi that he’d casually offer to give it away.

This sort of formless blow was the most hurtful of all!

Because it wasn’t just a matter of a few sentences. Their attitudes revealed the stark difference in their foundations and horizons!

Even a famous antique dealer with a lifetime of experience might sometimes misappraise an item, while an emperor accustomed to splendor could differentiate between true and false treasures at a glance.

This was the difference in their horizons.

The treasures an antique dealer saw as precious were naturally of little importance to an emperor, and he could part with them casually.

This was the difference in their foundations!

Such was the difference between Su Yi and Lu Shi.

Lu Shi was the most dazzling and unparalleled figure of the early days of the God Domain’s history, a legend who’d stepped onto the River of Destiny, and one of the pillars of Di E’s camp.

But his horizons and foundations in the Grand Dao were far inferior to Su Yi’s!

The things he longed for in his dreams were commonplace to Su Yi!

Because the Grand Daos of Reincarnation and Profound Ruin, as well as Su Yi’s Dao of the Sword, were all powerful enough that Su Yi had no need to bother with this chaos source!

But that wasn’t true for Lu Shi.

That’s why Su Yi’s casual offer to give it away came as such a blow to Lu Shi’s dignity, and why it had such an effect on his Dao Heart.

Now, he understood that, although his cultivation base was far, far beyond Su Yi… in terms of his foundations, horizons, and spirit, he was inferior!

And by no small margin at that!

“Are you trying to throw my Dao Heart into chaos?” Lu Shi’s eyes flashed with sharp, imposing divine radiance. He’d been thoroughly provoked, and his gaze was cold and indifferent.

He’d never once been this angry during their duel!

Su Yi glanced at him. “You’re jumping to conclusions. If you want it, I’ll give it to you. If you don’t, you’re welcome to refuse.”

Lu Shi’s brow furrowed. Accepting the chaos source would mean that he cared about it. It would be a tacit acknowledgement that his horizons and foundations were inferior.

But if he refused, he’d be going against his true desires! After all, were he really capable of letting the chaos source go so easily, why would he have remained so fixated on it for all these years?

Su Yi’s seemingly casual offer presented a thorny predicament. He could neither advance nor retreat!

This was a battle of the heart. It was invisible, as on the surface, it looked like no more than conversation. In truth, it was incomparably perilous, even scarier than spears and sabers.

That was especially true for an Eternal. When problems arose in their hearts, Karmic Tribulations inevitably followed!

But Lu Shi quickly regained his composure. His eyes flashed like knives as he said calmly, “Thank you, but if I want something, I’ll acquire it with my sword and why own two hands. I don’t need your charity.”

“Oh,” said Su Yi. He put the chaos source away. “Let’s keep fighting, then. I won’t let you leave until we’ve determined a victor.”

He was actually quite surprised. The terrifying strength of Lu Shi’s heart was far beyond his predictions.

The more you cared about something, the more likely it was to become your weakness. That was why Su Yi had chosen to offer Lu Shi the chaos source; he was testing his opponent’s Dao Heart.

Now, Su Yi was certain that Lu Shi really was different from most of his past enemies. His heart was so firm that it was practically unassailable!

If he wanted to defeat an opponent like Lu Shi, there was just one way to do it. He had to crush him with absolute strength!

“If you please.” Lu Shi gestured to Su Yi.

His gaze was deep and heavy, and his aura silently transformed. It had no heaven-shaking majesty. Rather, it was as deep and vast as an ocean, with endless dark currents churning beneath the surface.

Su Yi’s gaze shifted slightly. He nodded without a word.

Boom!

His sleeves billowed around him, and he took a step forward. Just like at the beginning of the battle, he pressed his fingers into a sword and made a simple slash.

Lu Shi did the same. Both attacks were as plain and simple as could be.

It was a repeat of the start of their duel.

But this time, Luo Qingdi, who was watching from far, far away, gasped and retreated once more.

He’d now left the bounds of the Tianxiu Sword Shrine!

But before he’d even steadied himself on his feet, something unbelievable happened.

The sky cracked like glass over the Tianxiu Sword Shrine, then silently came crashing down. The endless skies fell like shreds of paper.

A terrifying air of destruction descended over the area, and the ground caved in, then sank, deeper and deeper!

Like tofu beneath an iron hammer.

Then, endless sword light erupted, illuminating the nine heavens.

Luo Qingdi felt a piercing pain in his eyes, and everything went white. All he heard was a heaven-shaking rumbling and booming.

The clanging hum of a sword resounded throughout the nine heavens and the ten earths.

Apocalyptic visions appeared throughout the Spirit Firmament Divine Continent, triggering yet another round of uproar.

An unknown amount of time passed before the commotion gradually died down and Luo Qingdi’s field of vision gradually regained its clarity.

But before he could get a clear handle on the situation, he heard someone sigh, “I lost.”

The voice was without sadness, despondency, or bitterness.

Instead, it had an indescribable rueful quality about it.

That was Lu Shi’s voice!