First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 1011 - Different Roads to Rebirth

After a lengthy silence, Su Yi took out a jug of wine and took a swig.

Then, he put away the Tiny Heart of the Cosmos and looked up at the illusory figure hovering in the distance like an immortal. “I’ll naturally have to investigate this myself.”

The Temple Master nodded, his voice warm and clear. “You’re alive, which means that I have long since undergone rebirth. There couldn’t possibly be two of me out there. The ‘me’ you see now is merely a rapidly dissipating remnant of my will.”

He paused, then continued, “It’s fine if you can’t accept all of this all at once, and it’s fine if you only half believe me. But I don’t have much time left. I hope you can remember what I’m about to say, because I am your past incarnation, and you’ll one day have to face my karmic entanglements.”

Su Yi’s brow furrowed slightly. “Go on.”

He thought back to everything he’d experienced with his own rebirth.

It was only at seventeen years of age that he recovered the complete memories of his past life as Su Xuanjun, the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force.

Perhaps the Master of the Temple of the Human Realm was yet another of his past incarnations, but he definitely hadn’t awakened to the memories of that particular past life.

“I once possessed the Sword of the Nine Hells too.”

The Temple Master’s first sentence immediately shook Su Yi’s heart. He cast aside his scattered thoughts, calmed his heart, and listened attentively.

“From the moment I began my cultivation, it lay dormant in my consciousness. It was only much later that I dared say with certainty that the divine chains the sword suppressed each contained imprints of the Daos of my past lives!”

The Temple Master’s eyes shone with strange light, but then, he sighed. “Alas, despite doing everything in my power, I couldn’t see through the secrets of my past lives.”

Here, Su Yi couldn’t help but interject. “Even you couldn’t do it?”

The way he saw it, the Temple Master’s cultivation had long since surpassed the bounds of the Profound Dao. Su Yi had no way to even guess just what heights he’d reached.

“I couldn’t do it.” The Temple Master shook his head. “I’ll be direct with you. I deduced that unlocking the secrets of the divine chains wasn’t a matter of increasing my cultivation. What I needed was the right opportunity.”

“‘Opportunity?’”

“That’s right. An opportunity connected to my mental state and cultivation. I realized that if I reached unprecedented, supreme heights within a given realm of cultivation, I might well have a chance to reveal the secrets of one of my past lives.”

Here, the Temple Master’s eyes shone with melancholy and frustration. He sighed, “Alas, by the time I realized that, I’d already proceeded too far down my path. There was already no way for me to re-temper my cultivation or achieve perfection in prior realms.”

Waves of emotion swept through Su Yi’s heart.

He finally realized why, as he underwent his Tribulation of Profound Illumination and became an Emperor, he managed to unlock the Dao of his past life.

There was no doubt about it. If what the Temple Master was saying was true, he’d achieved utter, unprecedented perfection in the Profound Illumination Realm!

But a moment later, a certain doubt flooded his heart. “In this lifetime, I lost my entire cultivation at seventeen years of age, and I was reduced to a cripple, yet I managed to awaken my memories of my life as Su Xuanjun. That doesn’t seem to match what you’re telling me.”

The Temple Master’s gaze was inscrutable. “No, you’re wrong.”

“What do you mean?” Su Yi’s eyebrows rose.

“As Su Xuanjun, you deliberately entered the cycle of reincarnation, which enabled you to reawaken those memories as a young man,” the Temple Master said a bit ruefully. “That’s what made your past incarnation so impressive. Of course, it had something to do with the Dark and Gold Star Realm you live in, too. After all, even I can now say with certainty that throughout the stars, only the Celestial Ruins of the Dark and Gold Star Realm have the power of reincarnation.”

Su Yi couldn’t help but exclaim, “You’re saying that your rebirth was different from mine?”

The Temple Master nodded. “It was indeed different. When I realized that I’d reached the limit of my cultivation boundary, I achieved resonance with the aura of the Sword of the Nine Hells. It was from the sword that I gleaned enlightenment into a unique secret of rebirth.

“With it, I could sever the Dao of my current incarnation and achieve rebirth through the power of the Sword of the Nine Hells! In this way, I was reborn, and I began my cultivation anew. The Dao of my past life transformed into a chain, which remains with the Sword of the Nine Hells.”

Su Yi didn’t quite understand. “In my past life, I spent countless years divining the sword’s secrets, but all I got were a few Mysterious Truths. I never discovered any secrets relating to rebirth. Why is that?”

“It’s because in your past life, you faced a bottleneck at the Imperial Apex Realm,” said the Temple Master. “That was far from enough to let you grasp the sword’s power of rebirth.”

“...” Su Yi finally understood.

When the Temple Master reached a certain level of strength, he realized that unlocking the divine chains of the Sword of the Nine Hells, the Dao imprints of his past lives, wasn’t just a matter of raising his cultivation.

Rather, he had to achieve unprecedented, supreme strength within a given realm.

But as he reached this conclusion, the Temple Master realized it was already too late, so he chose rebirth.

But the Temple Master’s rebirth was different. Su Yi had actively sought out the secrets of reincarnation in his past life to realize his goal of rebirth.

That was what let him reawaken the memories of his past life in this one, even after losing his entire cultivation base!

“Living within the Dark and Gold Star Realm ultimately did me a huge favor…” Su Yi muttered.

The Dark and Gold Star Realm was now known as the Celestial Ruin, and most of the starry sky had forgotten about it.

Even someone of the Temple Master’s caliber was only now certain that reincarnation truly existed here!

This let Su Yi’s past incarnation as the Swordmaster of Abstruse Force take an entirely different path to rebirth!

Kcch! Kcch!

Cracking noises suddenly emanated from the Temple Master’s illusory figure, and flecks of light split and scattered like rain.

“Time is short. There are three things you must remember.” The Temple Master solemnly exhorted Su Yi at top speeds.

The first of these three things was about the man in the conical hat. According to the Temple Master, he wasn’t the Sacred Emissary of the Celestial Palace after all. He was, in fact, the leader of the Church of the River of Stars!

The Temple Master called him “the Fisherman.”

His abilities were vast and far-reaching, and his cultivation was deep and unfathomable. With his mastery of the Laws of Cosmic Silence, he was one of the strongest old monsters throughout the stars.

Furthermore, he’d nursed a grudge ever since the Temple Master defeated him.

And that black treasure shop was called the Ship of Ten Thousand Stars. Half a lifetime of the fisherman’s cultivation base was sealed inside!

With the Sword of the Human Realm here, it didn’t matter if the ship were under the fisherman’s control. It would still restrict the fisherman’s true body, and he had no way of freeing himself.

Simply put, the Sword of the Human Realm was like a cage. So long as it suppressed the Ship of Ten Thousand Stars, the fisherman’s true body wouldn’t escape.

But it was different now. Earlier, he’d summon the Temple Master’s remnant will, which had forcefully activated the sword’s power to defeat the fisherman. This had expended the sword’s power.

It was as if a crack had appeared in a previously impenetrable prison.

As time went, the crack would grow. According to the Temple Master, the fisherman’s true body would be able to break free within a century!

The Temple Master’s intended meaning was simple. He wanted Su Yi to retrieve the Sword of the Human Realm and defeat the fisherman before that happened!

Su Yi couldn’t help but frown and ask why the Temple Master had imprisoned the fisherman instead of killing him.

The Temple Master avoided the question. Instead, he told Su Yi that he’d understand his reasons after unlocking the divine chain representing his Dao imprint.

The second thing the Temple Master had to say was related to Su Yi’s cultivation.

When the Temple Master chose rebirth, his greatest regret was his failure to achieve a supreme level of strength in the Profound Unity Realm. This left flaws in his Dao.

He told Su Yi that in the Profound Unity Realm, fusing numerous Grand Daos into oneself wasn’t enough. He had to connect with the source of a star realm and comprehend its profundities, too. Only then could he achieve a true, perfect metamorphosis when he broke through.

Su Yi felt enlightened.

Actually, back in his past life, he’d pieced something similar together, albeit roughly.

His failure to achieve greater heights in his cultivation was because the Dark and Gold Star Realm was fragmented. It had been reduced to a Celestial Ruin a long time ago!

This made it impossible for him to grasp and glean enlightenment into the complete profundities of the star realm’s source. In that case, how could he break through?

But the Temple Master told Su Yi that although the Dark and Gold Star Realm had long since withered and fallen apart, the secrets of reincarnation remained. Furthermore, a long time ago, this star realm had been utterly dazzling, the ancestral source of the myriad Daos of the starry sky.

If Su Yi could discover the true source power of this ruined star realm, he could divine its complete celestial laws through his own efforts!

To Su Yi, this was like a wake-up call or a sudden enlightenment.

He’d reincarnated to seek greater heights in the first place, hadn’t he?

Now, he at least had a clear goal!action

“The third and final thing I have to say is that if you venture into the stars, watch out for the old timer they call ‘the Tailor.’ He’s the patriarch of the Dream-Eating Tapirs, but he has another, unknown identity. I suspect he works for a mysterious faction.

“The old timer is extremely strange. Once you’ve grasped the Dao Imprint and memories I left within the Sword of the Nine Hells, you’ll understand.”

Here, the Temple Master’s illusory figure was suddenly increasingly fragmented and indistinct. The scattering, ethereal light seemed as if it might fall apart completely at any moment.

The Sword of the Human Realm wailed, as if with grief.

“It’s not like I’m really dead. What’s there to cry about?” The Temple Master chastised it with a laugh, then looked at Su Yi. “Remember, unless you become as strong as I once was, don’t reveal your identity.”

Su Yi found this warning quite displeasing, and he said flatly, “Rest assured. I’m above borrowing another’s prestige to intimidate others.”

The Temple Master couldn’t help but throw back his head and laugh. “I am you, and you are me. How is that borrowing another’s prestige? Once you’ve fused with everything I left behind, there’ll be no difference between us.”

Here, he seemed to realize something, and his smile abruptly faded.

But his illusory figure had already burst into pieces.

“Whatever you do, remember: you can be me, and you can be Su Xuanjun, but in the end, you’re you. Don’t let your past selves replace you!”

His voice sounded urgent, with unprecedented solemnity and gravity.

The Sword of the Human Realm shook and let out a low hum full of reluctance and melancholy.

Su Yi, however, was stunned. A chill coursed down his spine.

The Temple Master’s warning might have seemed contradictory, but it alerted Su Yi to a certain problem.

Can the Dao imprints suppressed by the Sword of the Nine Hells really replace my current self?