First Immortal of the Sword

Both the old monsters and Ying Qi fixed their gazes on Su Yi. They made no attempt to disguise their hatred, but none of them tried anything reckless.

Su Yi had already mastered the second page of the Book of Destiny, and this was just his avatar.

Mo Hanyi glanced down at the wooden sword protruding from his chest and said, “The cultivated gentleman is industrious all day and cautious even at night. This sword is my shame, and I leave it here so that I might never forget my grudge.”

He looked at Su Yi with exasperation. “But now, it seems that even though the previous Destiny’s Chosen is gone, our hopes of escaping the Abyss of Ceaseless Destiny have been extinguished...”

There was no disguising the melancholy in his voice.

But Su Yi thought nothing of it. “You’ve been biding your time, huh? Surely you don’t think that Xiao Jian left you alive simply because he was incapable of killing you?”

Mo Hanyi laughed, his bearing composed. “No matter what, we’re still alive, and Xiao Jian is dead. Those are the facts.”

Su Yi wasn’t here to argue, and he had no interest in a debate with Mo Hanyi, so he got to the point. “Xiao Jian didn’t kill you because he hoped to one day find a way to mend the Negative Karma Destiny Demons’ ways and turn them toward the path of righteousness. That’s why he imprisoned your race in the Silent Annihilation Forbidden Domain instead of killing you all, but... I’m different from him.”

Mo Hanyi’s pupils constricted as he realized the implications. “Are you saying you plan to kill our entire race one day?”

The other old monsters’ expressions darkened, too.

Su Yi didn’t respond directly. He just said, “It’s hard to say what’ll happen in the future.”

He then disregarded the old monsters confined here and used his secret power of the heart to examine the Abyss of Ceaseless Destiny.

Xiao Jian had told him that igniting the Natal Heart Lamp was the key to opening the second page of the Book of Destiny, but that grasping the second page’s secrets came down to Destiny Soul Power!

The Abyss of Ceaseless Destiny was full of formless Destiny Soul Laws. They were like a curtain of night enveloping every last inch of the place. The Spirit Platform Chapter’s second section and the mysteries of the second page of the Book of Destiny were all hidden here.

Suddenly, Mo Hanyi said, “Little Chosen, you realize that all of our innate talents and divine abilities revolve around slaughter and destruction? Where there’s life, there’s death. Yin and yang always exist in tandem. The same is true of creation and destruction. Without destruction, there is no new life. Even on the path of cultivation, you must break before you can build!

“This is the foundation of our Grand Dao, as well as the very foundation of our people. How could we possibly agree to change?” Mo Hanyi sighed. “This is our fate, as well as the arrangements of destiny! If you think you can change it, you’re doomed to failure!”

Su Yi said casually, “This is the only choice left to you: amend your ways, or vanish from this world forever.”

Mo Hanyi’s brow furrowed, and the other old monsters’ expressions darkened, but Su Yi paid them no heed.

Xiao Jian told him that changes to the River of Destiny would lead to the Negative Karma Destiny Demons escaping the Silent Annihilation Forbidden Domain, entering the world, and bringing ruin to all living beings.

He also said that Su Yi, with his powers of reincarnation, might well manage to do what he could not and lead the Negative Karma Destiny Demons onto the path of righteousness.

Su Yi wasn’t fixated on any of that. He was no great sage who harbored compassion for all beings, nor had he ever desired to be any kind of messiah.

Even if the heavens fell, there was no reason he had to be the one to prop them back up. After all, there were still plenty of Heavenly Sovereigns and River Ancestors around.

But Su Yi knew that the moment he assumed control over the Book of Destiny, he became irreconcilable enemies with the Negative Karma Destiny Demons. That meant that even if he had no interest in being any kind of benevolent savior, he’d have to settle the threat of the Negative Karma Destiny Demons sooner or later.

The same had been true of Xiao Jian, who’d single-handedly sealed the entire race deep in the Silent Annihilation Forbidden Domain.

“It seems you don’t realize that there’s no way to kill us all,” Mo Hanyi said with a laugh. “We’re born of destiny itself. Unless the River of Destiny dries up, we’ll emerge from its waters in an endless flow! Why else would Xiao Jian have resorted to imprisoning us instead of simply killing us?”

Su Yi’s brow furrowed, and he looked at Mo Hanyi once more. “It seems you’re quite fearless.”

Mo Hanyi said calmly, “Everything I’m saying is the incontrovertible truth.”

Su Yi’s gaze shifted to Ying Qi. “Ying Qi knows me and my accomplishments well. Why not chat with him? Learn what kind of person I am, then see if you’re still confident enough to say such things to me.”

Only then did Su Yi silently vanish from the Abyss of Ceaseless Destiny.

Given his current heart power, there was no need for him to send an avatar. So long as he held the book in hand, he could sense the mysteries of the second page.

Once Su Yi’s avatar had left, Mo Hanyi laughed. “The Little Chosen obviously came here for a reason. If I’m not mistaken, he thinks that mastering the second page means he can order us about. It’s even possible that he wants to make us submit.”

The other old monsters pondered briefly, then guessed what he was getting at.

“It’s a pity, but compared to Xiao Jian, he’s still too green,” said Mo Hanyi, running his fingers along the wooden hilt protruding from his chest. “At the very least, Xiao Jian was capable of defeating me in open combat...”

The others’ expressions grew complicated at the mention of Xiao Jian. There was lingering hatred, as well as undisguised dread!

That bookish sword cultivator had fought in the Battle of Silent Annihilation, single-handedly suppressing their entire race!

Even now, their hearts palpitated with fright at the thought of him.

“So, you know all about the Little Chosen, huh?” Mo Hanyi whirled around to look at Ying Qi.

“Sovereign Preceptor, I put considerable time and effort into researching him before I attacked,” Ying Qi said respectfully.

“Excellent. It’s not like we have anything better to do, so we might as well hear it all,” said Mo Hanyi, clearly intrigued. “I’ll be interested to see if learning of his accomplishments and conduct really does change my attitude toward him!”

...

Meanwhile, Su Yi sprawled out comfortably in his wicker chair, holding the Book of Destiny. He was completely immersed in a state of enlightenment.

Given his abilities, he could have easily eavesdropped on Mo Hanyi and the others’ accomplishments without them noticing, but there was no need to go to all that trouble.

River Ancestor Sparrow beat his wings and flew through the coursing current, as meek and well-behaved as could be.

A day later, Su Yi grasped the second section of the Spirit Platform Chapter. Just as Xiao Jian had said, it was all about the mysteries of cultivating the Destiny Soul.

When the Natal Heart Lamp lit, the Destiny Soul endured in perpetuity.

Destiny Soul Power was, in truth, a power of the Grand Dao that touched upon vital source energy.

Life, the heart, and destiny were inextricably intertwined, so cultivating Destiny Soul Power was ultimately a matter of tempering the heart.

The greater a lamp’s oil reserves, the more dazzlingly it shone. It was only with sufficient reserves that it could shine in perpetuity.

That aside, the three legacies in the second section of the Spirit Platform Chapter were all connected to Destiny Soul Power.

The first was called Ceaseless Damnation. It used Destiny Soul Power to open the Abyss of Ceaseless Destiny and create a suction for vital source energy.

All living beings had vital source energy, which meant that Ceaseless Damnation could suppress and devour them all!

This was the divine ability that Su Yi had used to suppress Ying Qi during their battle.

It was also the easiest of the three to master. It was just a matter of igniting the Natal Heart Lamp, grasping Destiny Soul Power, and holding the Book of Destiny.

The second divine ability was called the Seal of Light. It condensed the light of the Natal Heart Lamp into a seal, transforming its power into a seal of unfathomable power. It could be used mid-battle to kill one’s enemies.

If used against the denizens of the River of Destiny, the Seal of Light could reflect their true names, invisibly intimidating and suppressing their power. This was enough to severely limit his opponents’ strength.

And when the Seal of Light descended, it could slam into an opponent’s heart, sealing their true name completely!

When Su Yi learned the mysteries of the Seal of Light, he was unwittingly impressed. He instantly realized how terrifying this ability was.

This was a lethal weapon against those enemies with true names!

The third divine ability was a bit strange. It was called Lamplit Replenishment, but when Su Yi tried to examine it further, he was surprised to discover that his heart was not yet strong enough to glean insight into its mysteries.

Is it because I exhausted too much of my heart power? I was, after all, injured badly while fighting Ying Qi, and my heart was severely depleted. Using Seizing Destiny instantly exhausted about half of my heart’s strength, and then I used Speaking Divine Writ immediately afterward. I’ve yet to recover, and my heart power is still on the brink of running dry.

But no, it’s a divine ability. Grasping its mysteries shouldn’t be a matter of how much heart power I have in reserve. It’s most likely because I only just ignited my Natal Heart Lamp, and my mastery of the mysteries of the Destiny Soul is far from sufficient.

Judging by the name ‘Lamplit Replenishment,’ I suspect it's a way to repair Destiny Souls... But of course, that’s just a hypothesis. I also get the distinct sense that its mysteries are nowhere near that simple.

After a while, Su Yi put away the Book of Destiny, took out a jug of wine, and had a sip.

The first page of the Book of Destiny contained three divine abilities: Speaking Divine Writ, Directing Destiny, and Seizing Destiny.

The second page had three divine abilities, too.

All of these divine abilities were part of the Spirit Platform Chapter, the legacy divided between the book’s three pages. The Book of Destiny had only three pages, so the Spirit Platform Chapter naturally had only three sections.

What kind of divine abilities lay in wait on the third page? And just how was this taboo treasure of the River of Destiny connected to the Abyss of Endless Tribulations?