First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 2528 – Life Soul Profound Jade, Chaos Inscription

“Your Heart Soul took shape?” The heart devil in the rusted sheath was flabbergasted. “If I’m not mistaken, it’s been less than five years since you broke into the Undying Realm, right?”

“Strictly speaking, it’s been four years,” said Su Yi.

“Tch!” The heart devil sighed and clucked his tongue. “You really are my reincarnation! You haven’t disappointed me!”

“…” Su Yi didn’t know what to say to that. You’re seriously using this as an opportunity to show off?

The heart devil seemed to sense that enough was enough, so he got back on track. “When the Heart Soul takes shape, it radiates the light of wisdom. You can now act freely without fear of overstepping. Now, even without the power of reincarnation, you can use the power of your Dao Heart to stave off the Karmic Tribulations of the Path of Eternity!

“This is a level that countless Limitless Dao Lords of the River of Destiny long to reach, but most will live and die without so much as touching the threshold of this level.

“Yet you have yet to even become Eternal, but you’ve already developed a Heart Soul. If word spreads… heh. Those Limitless Dao Lords will die of jealousy!”

The heart devil paused, then said, “That aside, the Heart Soul is full of mysteries. When you step into Eternity, you’ll discover that when you traverse the flow of the River of Destiny, the Heart Soul will act as a lamp, dispelling the mists and illuminating the path to the Far Shore of Destiny. That’s the most wonderful, mystical part of a Heart Soul!”

Su Yi couldn’t help but be impressed.

Eternal Thrones were like boats in that they carried their owners safely over the River of Destiny, but the Heart Soul was like a lamp. It could illuminate his path through the River of Destiny!

In that sense, the power of a Heart Soul was even more mystical than that of an Eternal Throne.

Of course, that was only in the context of striving for greater heights in the Path of Eternity. In a true battle, Eternal Thrones still represented supreme power among Eternals.

“But you can’t get complacent,” said the heart devil, his tone strange. “A light that dispels the darkness risks inviting moths and other covetous creatures. Similarly, those Eternals in possession of a Heart Soul risk drawing the attention of inauspicious beings.”

Su Yi was stunned. “What do you mean?”

“You’ll understand later,” said the heart devil, avoiding the topic. “This is the Grand Dao I strive for. Advantages and disadvantages go hand in hand, and disaster always accompanies good fortune. The Heart Soul will benefit you enormously, but you must accept the corresponding dangers.”

He sighed. “No matter what, condensing a Heart Soul in the Undying Realm was beyond my expectations. I didn’t manage that back then either.”

Su Yi was satisfied. He’d been waiting for a comparison like that!

“Right.” Su Yi suddenly recalled something. “A few days ago, I met a woman of highly mysterious origins.”

He concisely recounted his meeting with Sovereign Venerate Ling Ran.

The heart devil wasn’t overly interested in the Hellfire Heart Jujube. He just casually commented that they were good for the Dao Heart.

But when Su Yi told him about the feather-shaped jade pendant, the heart devil was obviously intrigued. He asked Su Yi to use his divine sense to show it to him, and when he saw it with his own eyes, he was unwittingly stunned.

“Do you recognize it?” Su Yi couldn’t help but ask.

“No,” said the heart devil. “However, I do have an impression of the divine flame totem carved on the pendant. It’s most likely a Grand Dao Totem related to destiny… Uh, let me think.”

Time slipped by. After a while, the heart devil finally said, “The pendant isn’t worthy of my attention. Even if the flame totem is connected to the workings of destiny, it doesn’t matter.”

Su Yi sneered. All that talk, and you really just don’t know its origins.

The heart devil laughed coldly as if sensing his thoughts. “Even if I gave you worthwhile leads, with your current horizons, you wouldn’t be able to understand them.”

“Let’s hear them anyway,” said Su Yi.

“Very well,” the heart devil said casually. “The jade pendant was carved from Life Soul Profound Jade, a naturally occurring divine jade that’s incredibly rare. On the River of Destiny, it’s the sort of thing you can only happen upon by chance.

“It’s so rare that only I recognize it. Ask anyone else, and they’d have no idea what it was made of!”

Su Yi instantly looked thoughtful. He committed the name “Life Soul Profound Jade” to memory.

“That aside, although the text carved on the back of the pendant is damaged to the point of illegibility, I can tell by its vestiges that it’s a Chaos Inscription.”

“You don’t understand, do you? Chaos Inscriptions are a form of ancient text once found on the River of Destiny, but they’ve long since been lost. Long ago, when I was still exploring the River of Destiny, Chaos Inscriptions were already extremely rare.”

The heart devil spoke with the utmost confidence. He wasn’t just showing off, though; he was seizing this opportunity to take Su Yi down a peg. By showing off his vast breadth of knowledge and experience, he was highlighting Su Yi’s “ignorance.”

Su Yi naturally didn’t care about that. What surprised him was that Chaos Inscriptions were already rare when his first incarnation was alive!

Su Yi found it hard to even imagine. A jade pendant, that’s all, but it was carved with a divine flame totem connected to the workings of destiny and made out of a material so rare and precious that you could only happen upon it by chance even on the River of Destiny.

Now it turned out that even the pendant’s illegible text was a rare form of writing that had all but been lost completely, a Chaos Inscription!

Sovereign Venerate Ling Ran was the ruling figure of the God Domain’s Age of Supreme Simplicity. How could she possibly have been in possession of such a jade pendant?

“The Sovereign Venerate Ling Ran you told me about really does have an extraordinary background,” said the heart devil. “If the opportunity arises, let me get a good look at her. I might well be able to discern her origins.

Su Yi said casually, “We can talk about that when it comes up.”

“What, are you intimidated by her background? Hah! Why not stop to think about who you are?” the heart devil said with pride. “As my reincarnation, how could a little girl like that compare to you? Argh.. How could you…”

Here, his voice came to an abrupt halt, because Su Yi put away the rusted sword sheath without waiting for him to finish his sentence.

His first incarnation really was different from his first incarnation’s heart devil.

His first incarnation was so quiet that he might go tens of thousands of years without saying a word, yet his heart devil was extraordinarily chatty…

Su Yi and his first incarnation’s heart devil had long since gotten familiar. He knew there was no need for excessive respect or politeness when they interacted.

Su Yi went on to sprawl out in his wicker chair and sink into thought.

If his first incarnation’s heart devil understood the mysteries of the Heart Soul, that implied that his first incarnation had reached that level, too.

According to the heart devil, even Limitless Dao Lords of the Path of Eternity seldom tempered their hearts to this level! It was thus obvious how great this realm’s mysteries were!

But Su Yi was more concerned about the heart devil’s warning.

Those with Heart Souls risked inviting the attention of strange, inauspicious calamities!

There was no need to concern himself with that now, but later, when he stepped into Eternity, he’d have to be cautious.

That aside, Sovereign Venerate Ling Ran’s background had piqued his interest. He’d originally thought that no matter how special her origins were, she was at most connected to some expert or faction of the River of Destiny.

Looking at it now, it seemed her origins were nowhere near that simple!

Later, when she and I meet again, there’s no reason not to tell her what I’ve learned about that pendant, thought Su Yi. I did, after all, eat three of her Fire Jujubes.

Su Yi naturally hadn’t forgotten her extraordinary hospitality.

……

Seven days later, Su Yi and Lu Qingmei returned to Sunset Perch Island.

He, Lu Qingmei, and Yi Chen were all here. In a sense, it was a family reunion.

But… those involved knew that this “three-person family” wasn’t like other families.

Still, no matter what, when Yi Chen reunited with his mother, he felt a massive weight lift from his shoulders. He couldn’t have been any more delighted.

Lu Qingmei was delighted, too. She’d gotten to see her son again; there was nothing else she could ask for. She no longer dared to even fantasize about fixing things with Su Yi.

As for Su Yi himself…?

He felt at peace. The only thing he couldn’t tolerate was Yi Chen following in this lifetime’s footsteps. He’d let the rest go.

That very day, Su Yi went back into seclusion. He paid no heed to worldly affairs, instead wholeheartedly cultivating the Grand Dao.

……

Time slipped by. In the blink of an eye, three years had passed.

Everything was calm and peaceful on Sunset Perch Island.

“Over the past three years, not a single Undying Realm expert has dared venture into the world?”

“That’s right.” Wan Zitian nodded.

Over the past three years, the Qilin Trading Company would gather news from across the God Domain and deliver it to Sunset Perch Island at regular intervals. Thus, although everyone had gone into seclusion, they still understood what was going on in the world.

But in truth, nothing big had happened in the past three years whatsoever.

Because the world’s top factions had all turtled up and closed their gates, effectively vanishing from the world.

Everything beneath the heavens was in an unnatural state of calm.

Even the world’s lower level cultivators knew that this was the calm before the storm. There was no telling how many dark currents were flowing beneath the surface!

All of this was in preparation for the Dark Days of Legend to come!

“Isn’t that true of us, too? We’re waiting patiently on Sunset Perch Island, seizing every available moment to cultivate,” Demon Ancestor Treasure Leaf said with a smile.

In the past, he and the other old-timers would sometimes venture into the Endless Ocean, but over the past three years, they’d stayed on Sunset Perch Island, seldom leaving.

All of this was in preparation for the Dark Days of Legend.

“The calmer things are now, the more terrifying and tumultuous it’ll be when the storm finally arises.” Su Yi took a sip of tea that the Lord of Sleepless Nights had brewed personally. “And Sunset Perch Island is sure to be at the center of it all. There’ll be no avoiding it.”

Everyone fell silent. None of them doubted it.

All of this was because Su Yi was here.

When the Dark Days of Legend arrived, all of Su Yi’s enemies, and all of the factions and experts who coveted his power of reincarnation, were sure to rush over!

“But I’ve made some preparations, too,” Su Yi said casually. “Worst case scenario, we lose Sunset Perch Island, but protecting those on it shouldn’t be difficult.”

He spoke calmly and with the utmost confidence. The others found this confidence infectious, and they felt much more relaxed.

This was Su Yi. No matter what was happening, any words that left his mouth filled his companions with confidence!