First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 890: The Tiny Heart of the Cosmos

As the hum of a sword rang out, Torchlit Darkness Mountain’s dark power of the Grand Dao rose like a wave.

As if the mountain formed from the massive body of a Torch Dragon were awakening from its ancient slumber.

Ye Qinghe and Ye Xun were alright, but the old butcher felt an oppressive power bear down on him. Despite himself, his expression shifted.

But just as he was about to circulate his cultivation base to neutralize the pressure, Su Yi’s voice rang out. “Don’t resist. If you do, when the Laws of Torchlit Darkness Mountain truly burst forth, you won’t be able to take it.”

The old butcher’s pupils constricted, and he dared not act recklessly.

Su Yi, however, stepped into the air, then gazed at the cliff halfway up the mountain. A hint smile tugged at his lips. “Fairy You Xue, long time no see.”

Whoosh!

Just one sentence, and the coursing wave of serene dark power receded in a flash.

A streak of misty light shot over from the cliff, transforming into an illusory, graceful figure.

Her ink-black hair was tied up, and she wore old-fashioned, wide-sleeved white clothing. She looked about sixteen or seventeen, with spirited eyes and fair skin.

Wisps of dark Dao Light condensed into water droplets, drifting down from her slender, elegant figure. This gave her a cold, serene charm and aloofness.

And her eyes were as dark and impenetrable as the skies of an eternal night. Even gazing at her from afar was enough to make one’s heart tremble, much like when an ordinary mortal gazed up at the darkness of the night sky.

She stood in midair, like the deity overseeing Torchlit Darkness mountain, overseeing the masses from on high.

Ye Xun and Ye Qinghe trembled from head to toe and bowed. “We are descendants of the Ghost Serpents. Greetings, Your Excellency You?Xue!”

You Xue.

The spirit of the Ghost Serpents’ clan-protecting divine artifact, the Tianya Dark Torchlight.

The old butcher couldn’t help but gasp.

An artifact spirit, that was all, yet her momentum and imposing aura were like that of a monarch!

Even someone as accustomed to bloodshed and upheaval as the old butcher felt stifled!

“Su Xuanjun?” exclaimed the woman they called “Her Excellency You Xue.” Her impenetrable gaze shone with imposing light. “So, you really are alive.”

Su Yi rubbed his neck. “I’m not accustomed to looking up when I speak.”

The young woman waved her arm.

Boom!

The dark fog enshrouding Torchlit Darkness Mountain suddenly parted, revealing a path to the cliff halfway up the mountain.

“If you please.” The young woman gestured to them, then shot forward. In a flash, she drifted onto the cliffside.

From beginning to end, she didn’t spare Ye Xun, Ye Qinghe, or the old butcher a single glance.

But none of them dared object.

Even the old fossils of the modern-day Ghost Serpent clan were juniors in front of You Xue….

Su Yi didn’t stand on ceremony. He simply led the way up Torchlit Darkness Mountain.

The others followed.

The plateau halfway up the mountain was extremely spacious, at least ten thousand square feet, like a large-scale ritual ground.

A courtyard was visible through the mists permeating the serene darkness. Its short walls were made of cut black stone.

There was a stone hut inside, with a pond, a Cangwu tree, and a patch of fiery spider lilies near the courtyard walls, like a gorgeous red jade belt.

There was a stone table and chairs beneath the Cangwu tree. A jug of wine sat on the table, as well as two cups and a plate of fire dates.

You Xue sat on the right, shrouded in faint, overcast rain of light, like a lady immortal in seclusion, separated from worldly affairs.

When she saw Su Yi and companions arrive, she said coolly, “You three wait outside.”

There was no need to ask who “you three” referred to. Ye Xun and the others considerately remained outside.

Su Yi naturally wouldn’t concern himself with such things. He walked right into the courtyard, then scanned the area. His gaze landed on the pool.

It was only ninety feet across, with a black lotus platform at the center. A bronze lamp was placed at its center, and strange, worm-like Dao Markings floated around it. Its wick was shaped like a coiled dragon. As it swayed, it scattered a dim rain of light.

A mysterious, ancient power of the Grand Dao spread outward.

The Tianya Dark Torchlight!

It was refined from the essence of heavenly fire a Torch Dragon had once carried in its mouth. Its power was inscrutable, and it was a true Xiantian divine object!

Su Yi gazed intently at it, then shifted his gaze toward the water’s depths. “You’re using the source of Torchlit Darkness to seal the Tiny Heart of the Cosmos. That’s actually quite clever; in that case, no matter who barges into this place, they won’t be able to take the sword without your permission.”

As he spoke, Su Yi turned, approached the Cangwu?tree and sat down on the other side of the table.

“It was Ye Yu’s idea. When she left for the Dark Capital, she was most concerned about your sword. That’s why she asked me to hide it at the base of the pool,” said You Xue in her mild but cold voice.

Her bright but inscrutable gaze evaluated Su Yi for a while. Finally, surprise arose on her extraordinarily beautiful face. “I didn’t think you’d really find the secrets of reincarnation and achieve rebirth.”

Su Yi smiled, picked his cup off the table, drained it, and savored its strong flavor.

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After a little while, he said, “I can tell that you’re quite interested in reincarnation, but I’m afraid there’s not much I can tell you.”

You Xue was stunned. “Why is that?”

Su Yi set down his cup, then stared into those bright eyes reminiscent of the impenetrable darkness of the night. “It’s not that I want to hide it from you, but that the secrets are impossible to describe in words. Only those who’ve experienced its mysteries for themselves can truly fathom them.”

After a moment’s thought, You Xue suddenly broke into a charming smile. “I’m a treasure spirit, and I live and die with the Tianya Dark Torchlight. Even if the cycle of reincarnation were right in front of me, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to realize rebirth. I’m already delighted to see you achieve rebirth and return, Fellow Daoist.”

When she wasn’t smiling, her presence was as cold as ice and as dignified as a goddess.

But when she smiled, she was as charming as the springtime sunlight reflected on the surface of the water, beautiful enough to make one’s heart shake.

Su Yi, however, tapped the table and frowned. “If you keep acting like that, I’m going to get angry.”

“What do you mean, ‘acting like that?’” You Xue’s eyes shone, and her pink lips were pressed into an inquisitive smile.

Su Yi sighed. “I’m only here to take away the Tiny Heart of the Cosmos. There’s no way I’m taking you with me.”

“Oh,” said You Xue. The young woman’s smile disappeared, and her presence was cold and serene once more.

“I anticipated this heartlessness, so I can’t say I’m surprised.” You Xue stretched out her jade-like hand, picked up the jug of wine, and poured Su Yi a cup. “But do you still remember what you promised me all those years ago?”

Su Yi was stunned. “What are you talking about?”

An inscrutable light flickered in You Xue’s eyes. “Forget it. It won’t be too late to discuss it later.”

Su Yi stared intently at You Xue for a moment. “Very well.”

However, he was still curious. Did I really promise her something back then?

You Xue rose, then arrived beside the pond and stretched out her hand.

The Tianya Dark Torchlight whooshed into her outstretched palm.

The formerly calm surface of the pond instantly surged, and a wave of impassioned humming instantly rang out.

Outside the courtyard, Ye Xun and the others’ hearts shook. All of them looked toward the source of the sound.

Startling rifts appeared in the skies above the pond, like splitting cloth. The tears spread out in all directions.

A streak of dazzling blue sword light shot into the heavens, splitting through the skies, and piercing through the inscrutable Laws blanketing Torchlit Darkness Mountain!

Boom!

The ancient hidden world suddenly shook, and a streak of sword light illuminated the overcast landscape, dazzling everything in all directions.

An indescribable, terrifying sword force then permeated the air.

As if a long-sheathed edge were now re-entering the world, revealing power enough to make everything beneath the heavens tremble!

Ye Xun’s expression changed dramatically, and he quivered from head to toe. He felt a prickling discomfort on his eyes, all over his skin, and even in his soul. He instinctively lowered his head, not daring to look at it any further.

Ye Qinghe’s back broke out in cold sweats. The sharpness, forceful sword light made even his Profound Illumination Realm Dao heart palpitate with terror, and he felt a bone-piercing chill.

Had Old Monster Su stabbed me with that sword back then, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be alive now… The old butcher gasped, beside himself with astonishment.

The three of them didn’t see the weapon the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force was most pleased with, but all of them knew that this unsurpassed divine weapon had now re-entered the world!

Inside the courtyard.

There was an inscrutable look in You Xue’s starry eye as she muttered. “The Tiny Heart of the Cosmos. The heart of the sword is the heart of the cosmos, and its blade bears ten thousand ancient Daos. But I heard it was once called ‘the Three-Inch Heart of the Cosmos.’ Why was that?”

Su Yi sat there, picked up a handful of Fire Dates, and took a bite. He said casually, “Three is the number that gave rise to all living things, to all worldly phenomena, and to all Daos. The number symbolizes limitlessness and flawlessness.

“Buddhists say that ‘Mount Sumeru can contain a mustard seed, but a mustard seed can also ?contain Mount Sumeru.’ They say that every rock and every grain of sand is a world in its own right. Daoists too speak of controlling size at will, and holding entire landscapes in the palms of their hands.

“As we walk the path of cultivation, in the end, as small as we are, we must strive to grasp the enormity of the Grand Dao.” Su Yi laughed. “Of course, I really called it that because the sword was just three inches long when it was first ‘born.’”

Before his voice had even finished echoing through the air, he rose, gazed at the pond, and beckoned.

Whoosh!

A streak of blue light flashed in the pond’s depths, then broke through the water’s surface and landed in Su Yi’s palm like a swallow returning to its nest.

Resplendent blue light illuminated the heavens, too dazzling to gaze at directly.

“Rein it in a little,” Su Yi said softly.

The blue light illuminating the overcast darkness of the landscape trembled. Moments prior, both that omnipresent, bone-chilling sharpness and the impassioned hum filling the air disappeared without a trace.

Ye Xun, Ye Qinghe, and the old butcher inwardly sighed in relief. They felt as if a massive weight had been lifted from their shoulders.

Earlier, that sword force was far too terrifying!

Now, a green-skinned gourd just three inches long floated above Su Yi’s palm. It was crystalline, translucent, smooth, and unblemished, as if it had been carved out of ancient divine jade.

This was a sword gourd.

The Tiny Heart of the Cosmos was born from this very green gourd!

When Su Yi gazed at it, the depths of his gaze shone with the gratification of a reunion after a long separation. “I kept you waiting, old friend.”

The green sword gourd shook, and a faint hum rang out, as if it were responding to him.

When You Xue saw this, her gaze was inscrutable.

The Tiny Heart of the Cosmos had no weapon spirit.

But its spirituality was nonetheless shocking!

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