First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 2505 – The Limitless Beauty of the Setting Sun

Auspicious Delights had an ordinary name, but the restaurant had been in business for close to one hundred years.

It was noon on the dot. The restaurant had only a smattering of customers seated in groups of two or three.

The proprietor sat in a chair behind the counter, holding a fat black cat. The cat’s fur was sleek, and its eyes were narrowed in contentment as it dozed off in the man’s arms.

The proprietor’s attention was focused on the spot near the window. A man in blue was sitting there. He’d ordered an appetizer and a jug of wine, which he was enjoying by himself.

Time slipped past. Soon, more than half of the jug was empty.

The fat black cat seemed to have gotten its fill of sleep. It leaped onto the counter, spreading like a meat pancake as it basked languidly in the sun pouring through the doorway.

The proprietor hesitated, but in the end, he rose, took out a jug of wine, and set it on the table near the window.

“What are you waiting for, sir?” asked the proprietor.

He was thin, with a graying beard and mustache. His eyes were turbid, and his whole body emanated the air of a man in his twilight years.

“I’m in no rush. I’ll keep waiting,” said the man in blue. He took a sip of wine. “I’m waiting for a schoolteacher to teach his final lesson, for a husband to cook a pot of congee for his wife and daughter, for a physician to treat his last patient, and for a youth to finish his last round of sword practice before the sun sets behind the mountains.”

He spoke casually, as if he were talking about his old friends, but the proprietor fell silent. He stood there for a long time, unmoving.

The man in blue didn’t so much as glance at him. He kept drinking on his own, languidly admiring the scenery through the window lattice.

When he looked down at the streets, he saw the bustling human traffic, as well as the verdant mountains in the distance.

It was a scene full of the red dust of mundanity, like the new spring agitating the frozen soil and giving rise to new life. It was clearly detectable even through the window.

After a lengthy silence, the proprietor sighed. “Back then…”

The man in blue stretched out his hand, indicating for him to stop. “Don’t bring up such depressing things while I’m drinking.”

The proprietor’s gaze was conflicted. He opened his mouth as if to speak, then trailed off. In the end, he sighed deeply, returned to his spot behind the counter, and sat there in silence.

As time slipped by, the number of diners steadily decreased. In the end, only the man in blue remained, drinking alone as if all of this were perfectly normal.

It seemed that, unless something happened, he might well sit there in perpetuity. He looked extraordinarily leisurely and composed.

As night drew closer, a group of youths walked into the restaurant.

“Proprietor, quickly bring us something to eat and drink.”

Come on, let’s continue the feast!”

The youths gathered around the table, laughing and chatting over cups of wine. It was a joyous scene. The silent restaurant was instantly lively and boisterous.

“Hey, friend. We saw you outside the city earlier today. It seems we’ve crossed paths yet again.” A young man in white rose, then walked up to the blue-robed man’s table.

“We have,” Su Yi said with a nod and a smile. These were the very youths he’d run into outside the city.

“Have you resolved your business?” The young man in white smiled and clapped the man in blue on the shoulder. Then, without so much as waiting for a response, he raised his cup into the air. “Come on, have a drink! All meetings are a stroke of fate, and since this is our second meeting, that goes double for us!”

Then, he raised and drained his cup.

Behind the counter, the proprietor’s eyelids twitched. How impudent!

But against his expectations, the man in blue wasn’t the least bit bothered. He just smiled and drank a cup of wine.

“Isn’t sitting and drinking alone lonely? Why not join us?” said the white-robed young man with a smile. The other youths called out, too. All of them urged the man in blue to join them and celebrate together.

But the man in blue smiled and refused.

When they saw this, the white-robed young man and his friends made no further attempts to persuade him. After all, they were mere passersby, and he’d refused them twice.

“Quit bringing up Sword Venerate Su. I’ve heard those stories so many times that my ears are growing calluses. Can we talk about something else for once?”

“Then let’s talk about the Dark Days of Legend?”

“Sure!”

“Seems to me that when the Dark Days of Legend arrive, Sword Venerate Su will face unforeseeable threats!”

“Ugh! Sword Venerate Su again. Don’t you get sick of it?”

…The sound of the youths’ chatter filled the restaurant.

The proprietor listened in silence, his heart full of complex emotions. In the present-day God Domain, what discussion of cultivation could avoid mention of ‘Sword Venerate Su’?

Suddenly, the proprietor reached a decision and rose from his seat.

……

Beneath the light of the setting sun, a schoolteacher finished his last class of the day.

The students were eagerly waiting for class to end.

But then, the schoolteacher sighed. “This is the last lesson I’ll be able to teach you. Starting tomorrow, I… won’t be coming back.”

The classroom instantly fell silent. The students exchanged glances.

The schoolteacher had been teaching here for years, his vast reserves of knowledge like an endless abyss. He had quite the reputation, and everyone in the school adored him.

None of them had anticipated that he’d announce such a thing out of nowhere.

When the schoolteacher saw the reluctance on his students’ faces, his heart felt bleak. He shook his head, but he didn’t explain. He just turned and left the classroom.

“It’s a teacher’s job to guide and inspire, but it’s a pity. Over the years, I’ve failed to produce many great talents.” The teacher sighed to himself.

……

A pot of congee burbled on the stove of a family home.

The wife was busy tidying up, while the daughter was sprawled out in bed after a busy day of playing. The light of the setting sun illuminated her little face. It was an adorable sight.

The husband crouched beside the stove, taking it all in. Deep reluctance welled within his heart. If I leave, what will become of my wife and daughter?

The rims of his eyes silently reddened.

Nonetheless, in the end, he forced down his bitterness and reluctance, rose silently, and set the ready pot of congee on the table.

Then, he walked over the sleeping little girl’s side. He gently caressed her cheek, looked at his busily cleaning wife one last time, and left in silence.

He didn’t say goodbye.

He couldn’t bear to.

Using immediate relatives to temper my heart inevitably led to backlash. In the end, I… overestimated my Dao Heart…

The man walked off, the light of the setting sun illuminating his melancholy and torment.

……

Inside one of the city’s clinics.

A physician sent off his last patient of the day, then silently glanced at the setting sun and left.

He was a miracle doctor famed throughout the city. He could save patients on the brink of death and treat the wounded. He’d done a lot for the people here, and they loved and admired him deeply.

Thus, wherever he passed, people called out to him in greeting.

However… although none of them knew it, all of that time he’d spent treating the wounded and sick was actually an act of penance.

……

Cloudy Hill Sword Manor.

A young man swung his sword, his swings like a pelting rain as he meticulously ran through his entire practice routine.

When he finished, he didn’t return to his residence as he usually did. Instead, he turned and headed out of the sect.

Those he passed along the way looked at him with pity, or in some cases, mockery.

Because all of them knew that the young man was the least talented member of the entire sect. He’d been practicing his swordsmanship for countless years, but he still had yet to grasp its true meaning. He was useless.

Many of the sect’s higher-ups had urged the boy to leave. They thought he wasn’t fated to cultivate the Grand Dao, and that no matter how hard he worked, he’d be wasting his time.

Suddenly, the sounds of a fierce argument rang out.

The young man stopped in place, then looked over at the arena, where a duel of the Dao of the Sword was underway.

The top disciple in the sect had challenged one of the sect’s elders. Everyone was paying attention.

The young man pursed his lips and watched for a while before ultimately turning to leave.

The moment he passed through the sect’s gates, he gazed back at the path behind him and whispered, “The truths of the Great Dao lie in ultimate simplicity. I’ve already found the threshold, but… alas, time is not in my favor.”

Boom!

Within Cloudy Hill Sword Manor, ten thousand swords rumbled as one. Everyone’s swords shot into the heavens, like countless eyes watching as the young man left.

This interrupted the battle raging in the arena, as both combatants’ weapons wrested free of their grips and took to the skies.

Everyone was gobsmacked. What on earth is going on?

……

It was sunset on a spring day, radiant and picturesque.

A schoolteacher, a husband, a doctor, and a young practitioner of the sword walked into Auspicious Delights, one after another.

The proprietor rose.

“Come back,” the proprietor said calmly. “Don’t let the Master of Sunset Perch Island, or rather, the one they now call Sword Venerate Su, look down on us.”

His voice wasn’t loud, but the entire restaurant instantly fell so silent that you could have heard a pin drop.

The partying youths froze mid-conversation. All of them looked at the proprietor. Sword Venerate Su? What is he talking about? Don’t tell me Sword Venerate Su is here?

“Proprietor, what are you trying to say?” the young man in white robes couldn’t help but ask.

He’d only just said this when an unbelievable scene unfolded before his very eyes.

The schoolteacher, the husband, the physician, and the young swordsman blurred into beams of light and fused into the proprietor’s body.

The decrepit old man suddenly transformed completely. He was now tall and thin, with a disposition as steady as a mountain. His whole body emanated a dignified air.

He raised his hand and tapped.

The fat black cat sprawled out on the counter transformed too, becoming a black wooden sword that landed in the man’s palm.

Formless pressure spread out, filling the restaurant.

This unbelievable scene left the young men and women stunned. Their intoxication cleared instantly, their clothes now drenched in cold sweat. They felt chips in their hands and feat.

Don’t tell me that the proprietor of Auspicious Delights is actually a terrifying existence?

Meanwhile, in the seat facing the window, the man in blue gazed at the fiery light of the setting sun and said, “You refine your heart amidst red dust, and temper your sword with those you love most. This path is not easily walked.”

He rose, walked up to the stunned youths, raised his last cup of wine, and smiled. “Our meeting was a stroke of fate. A toast to you all.”

With that, he drained his cup, placed his hands behind his back, and left the restaurant. “Come on. Let’s end our old grudge before the sun sets in full.”

The proprietor gripped his black wooden sword and followed the blue-robed man out of the seemingly ordinary restaurant.

They walked into the distance, towards the fiery setting sun. It was endlessly beautiful, but nightfall was fast approaching…

Meanwhile, within the restaurant, the youths still stood there in a daze. All of them looked bewildered.

What exactly is going on here?