First Immortal of the Sword-Chapter 2073 - Visitors

A little stream flowed past, and immortal cranes soared through the air over an old-fashioned courtyard.

This was Second Libationer Qin Wenxiao’s private cultivation grounds.

“Didn’t you say that Su Yi was brazen, unrestrained, and fearless? And that he never took any rules into account? So why did he stop this time?” Qin Wenxiao furrowed his brow.

He had a willowy beard and an otherworldly air about him. He was enormously tall and powerfully built, so even seated, he seemed like an unshakeable, towering mountain.

“He really handled things differently than he usually does. Perhaps... it’s because it’s his first time here, and he doesn’t understand the situation yet?” said a man in purple robes.

Ren Beiyou, a Greater God of the Three Purities Daoist Court!

“No matter what, our plan never came to fruition. So long as Su Yi attacked, I could have employed every means at my disposal to take him down, but now... we’ll have to figure out something else.” Qin Wenxiao frowned. “That aside, I’m sure the Third Libationer is nursing a grudge over how I used Lie Leng.”

“None of that matters,” Ren Beiyou said gravely. “I’ve already made contact with my fellows from other prominent factions of the God Domain. All of them promised to stand with you and do their utmost to fulfill any commands you have!”

Qin Wenxiao’s eyes flashed. “You came here with the Three Purities Ancestral Talisman. Naturally, I have full confidence in you. I also know that taking down Su Yi is of the utmost importance, but even I must follow the rules. I cannot act wantonly.”

Ren Beiyou smiled. “Everything is entirely up to you, Second Libationer. We’ll simply do as you tell us.”

Qin Wenxiao fell briefly silent. “Once we’ve succeeded, everyone can share the secrets of reincarnation, but the Epoch Spark must be mine!”

Ren Beiyou’s pupils constricted, but after a moment’s silence, he smiled. “As you say, Second Libationer.”

Qin Wenxiao looked at him, then smiled faintly, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I know that you prepared thoroughly before entering the Path of the Ancient Gods. Still, I feel I must warn you.”

“Please speak openly, Fellow Daoist,” said Ren Beiyou.

“Remember that this is the Path of the Ancient Gods, and that here, all who enter from the outside world are outsiders!” Qin Wenxiao said slowly, “Even dragons must lower their heads before local serpents. In your eyes, we’re living in bygone epochs, but to us, we’re living in the present, while you’re from the future.”

This sounded contradictory, but Ren Beiyou quickly understood.

They were looking at it from different angles. Naturally, their views of the past, present, and future were different, too.

This was one of the wondrous aspects of the Path of the Ancient Gods. Through it, you could travel into the past and reach long-vanished spacetime planes. From the perspective of those living here, outsiders really were from the future!

“All of you will leave this place sooner or later, but that’s on the assumption that you survive, now isn’t it?” said Qin Wenxiao, his gaze deep and inscrutable as he looked at Ren Beiyou.

Ren Beiyou laughed. “I understand. Rest assured, Second Libationer. We know what we should do and what we shouldn’t.”

Qin Wenxiao laughed, then retracted his gaze. “I hope that’s true. You can leave. Share what I just said with the others.”

Ren Beiyou then bade farewell and left.

“Someone go fetch Zhou Bing,” ordered Qin Wenxiao.

Before long, Zhou Bing, the guard who’d accompanied Lie Leng and stared Su Yi down, appeared before Qin Wenxiao.

Thud!

He immediately flung himself to the ground and said in a quavering voice, “Your Excellency, your subordinate knows what he’s done wrong!”

“Oh? And what did you do wrong?” Qin Wenxiao said leisurely.

Zhou Bing paled, then said bitterly, “I was inept, and I failed to carry out my mission.”

“Then are you willing to make amends for your mistakes?” asked Qin Wenxiao.

Zhou Bing was instantly excited. “I’m willing!”

“Excellent. There’s something I need you to do for me,” Qin Wenxiao said warmly. “Once you’re finished, I won’t pursue what happened today any further.”

“Many thanks, your excellency! Many thanks!” Zhou Bing kowtowed repeatedly. He felt a massive weight lift from his shoulders.

Second Libationer Qin Wenxiao might have seemed warm and amicable, but Zhou Bing knew better than anyone just how ruthless and cruel he really was!

......

The City of the Beginning was full of numerous ancient buildings, almost all of them ownerless.

The experts who entered the city could freely select one for their own use. After all, before long, they’d set off and proceed to their respective trials.

The City of the Beginning was like a harbor connecting the Path of the Ancient Gods to the outside world. This was where outsiders’ journeys began, as well as where it ended.

“If I weren’t injured, I could simply fight through everyone blocking our way and lead you out of the city, but now, I have no choice but to take a more long-term view of things.” Luo Xuanji, still disguised as an ordinary woman, sighed in exasperation.

She’d suffered a severe backlash from the Laws at Ancient God Ridge, and her vitality and powers of the Grand Dao were both damaged. She couldn’t possibly recover anytime soon.

She and Su Yi were seated in a formerly empty residence. She’d already shared some new information about the City of the Beginning with Su Yi, like the three libationers’ identity, background, and responsibilities, as well as the distribution of the guards.

Notably, when outsiders left the city to explore the Path of the Ancient Gods, they left for different places. There were, roughly speaking, three separate paths of trials.

One path was for those beneath the Great Profound Stage. Another was a true path to divinity created expressly for Great Profound Stage cultivators, and the third was created for gods!

That meant that outsiders, regardless of their cultivation, all had a chance to explore a path suited for them.

But no matter which path you took, you had to acquire an identity marker from the city lord’s manor first.

With it, you could pass through an ancient transmission array to arrive in the trial ground best suited to you.

That aside, a year after you arrived, you could use the identity marker to return to the City of the Beginning and leave the Path of the Ancient Gods.

But Luo Xuanji had analyzed the situation, and she was convinced that Su Yi’s enemies wouldn’t let him leave the city so easily!

“I held back today. If they keep pushing, they can forget about blaming me for my heartlessness.” Su Yi took out a jug of wine, then sprawled out languidly in his wicker chair. “I plan to set off tomorrow. When the time comes, we’ll see which muddle-headed fools dare to step forth and throw their lives away.”

Luo Xuanji’s eyes darted about. “And if the three libationers take action? They’re the rulers of the city, and they preside over its law and order with taboo divine artifacts. Even Greater Gods must tread carefully here.”

“I’ve never feared a competition of external treasures,” Su Yi said calmly. “That aside, if they dare act against me in flagrant disregard of the rules, it’ll prove that the City of the Beginning has changed completely and that it is no longer just and fair. In that case, I’ll have no further reservations.”

Luo Xuanji sighed. “I once fought my way out of a vanished epoch, finding a path to life, surviving amidst turbulent spacetime to reach the present day. There are aspects of the Path of the Ancient Gods I understand far better than you.

“I can see it already. Even if you make it out of the City of the Beginning, on the road ahead, you’ll be like a torch in the darkness. Your light will draw countless dangers and difficulties. After all, whoever captures you can seize control of the Epoch Spark and use the power of reincarnation to traverse time and space, breaking through the barrier of the past to arrive in the present day, as I once did! That’s a lethal temptation to any expert of the Path of the Ancient Gods. Few will be able to resist!”

Su Yi just smiled in response. He’d anticipated this situation a long time ago, and he wasn’t worried about it.

“There’s something I’ve been curious about all this time,” said Su Yi. “Why are people like you so desperate to escape your lost eras?”

Luo Xuanji fell briefly silent. “When the path ahead is severed and your epoch civilization of origin is fading away, who’d be willing to just fade away and perish with it? Turbulent spacetime gives people like me a chance. Our old paths are severed, so we fight our way into the future, breaking free of our epochs of origin to find a new path!”

When she said this, her gaze shifted inscrutably. “Of course, such opportunities are inextricably connected to the disappearance of reincarnation.”

Su Yi smiled and sighed. “That has nothing to do with me.”

Reincarnation really was the cause of all these variables!

A long time had passed since the power of reincarnation vanished, leading to the gradual decline of the River of Epochs. That in turn led to turbulent spacetime and a breakdown of the natural order of the past, present, and future.

Now, everything both past and future had a possibility of appearing in the present!

Take the Path of the Ancient Gods. It connected the lost epochs of the past.

It was cruel to say it, but these lost epochs should have vanished a long time ago, and everyone living in the Path of the Ancient Gods was, in fact, already dead.

But that’s exactly what made the whole situation so strange. Everyone living here on the Path of the Ancient Gods was still alive, and they weren’t illusions, either!

The only constant was that the inhabitants of the Path of the Ancient Gods couldn’t leave or go to the present!

But Su Yi’s arrival was like a variable. He made the impossible possible.

This was because of his Epoch Spark and power over reincarnation. With them, the inhabitants of the Path of the Ancient Gods had an opportunity to escape the past and enter the present!

Who wouldn’t have gone mad over such an opportunity?

“From our perspective, we’re living in the present, while the inhabitants of the Path of the Ancient Gods live in the past. But the people of the Path of the Ancient Gods see it differently. To them, they live in the present, while we come from the future! This is the strangeness of turbulent spacetime,” Luo Xuanji said softly. “As well as why I want to ask you a favor, Fellow Daoist.”

“You want to return to the past and bring those you care about out of the Path of the Ancient Gods so that they too can live in the present day,” said Su Yi.

“Exactly.” Luo Xuanji nodded.

“Should the opportunity arise, I’ll lend you a hand,” Su Yi said casually.

Luo Xuanji sighed in relief, and a massive weight lifted from her shoulders. A moment later, she said solemnly, “Fellow Daoist, rest assured that I won’t let your assistance go unrewarded!”

She spoke with staunch conviction, but Su Yi just smiled, not at all concerned.

But just as he was about to say something, a warm, rich voice emanated from the residence’s gates.

“This humble one is Lie Xingqu, Third Libationer of the City of the Beginning, and his nephew, Lie Leng. We’ve come to see Fellow Daoist Su Yi, and we humbly request an audience!”

Su Yi was briefly stunned.

Luo Xuanji’s eyes flashed, and she transmitted, “They wouldn’t come here for no reason. Do you want to see them, Fellow Daoist?”

“I’ll see them. Why wouldn’t I?” said Su Yi without missing a beat.

“Wait a moment. I’ll go welcome them.” Luo Xuanji promptly rose and went to welcome the guests personally.

When Su Yi saw this, his gaze turned a bit strange.