Chapter 2596 - The Old Turtle, Three Swords, Li Sansheng

Beneath the night sky, Su Yi silently came to a halt. “You’ll help me reach the River of Destiny?”

“No, there’s no need for you to take action personally,” said the heart devil. “Three Purities Temple is located within a mysterious realm. Even experts of the River of Destiny struggle to locate it, but that poses no barrier to me.”

“Oh,” said Su Yi. “One day, I’ll go there myself.”

The heart devil sighed. “Why is that necessary? An old mongrel of the Daoist school of thought bullied you so badly. You might be able to tolerate it, but I can’t.”

Su Yi couldn’t help but find this surprising. “You... can’t?”

“That’s right! I can’t take it!” said the heart devil. “You and I are ultimately the same person, yet Three Purities Temple dares bully you like this? What is that, if not a slap in my face? I’ve got to punish them!”

Su Yi shook his head slightly. “I don’t need that sort of help.”

With that, he took out a jug of wine, had a sip, and continued on his way.

He suddenly felt a powerful urge to find a quiet place and have a drink. Ideally, an unknown inn in an unknown city. He’d sit there alone, facing the night. That would be perfect.

“Are you worried about owing me a favor or growing dependent on me?” asked the heart devil. “If that’s it, you can rest assured. I disdain taking advantage of your adversity like this.”

Su Yi shook his head. “I’m not as weak as you seem to think. No need to bring it up again.”

Three Purities Temple?

One day, he’d flatten them, too!

The heart devil seemed to sense Su Yi’s determination. He instantly fell silent.

Su Yi said no more, either.

But although he didn’t know it, inside the rusted sheath, his first incarnation’s heart devil stroked his jaw and frowned deeply.

After a while, he rubbed his furrowed brow and murmured, “It doesn’t matter if you don’t want my help, but for a disciple of that old charlatan of Three Purities Temple to bully my reincarnation... is really too much for me to endure in silence.”

The heart devil seemed to have made a decision. He directly rolled up his sleeves, raised his fingers, and made a strange Daoist seal, all the while chanting under his breath.

In the end, he gently pushed the seal, which silently vanished.

Only then did he sigh in relief. “I feel much better.”

......

The River of Destiny.

An island floating in a sea of electricity.

“I only like talking to ants, because no matter what I say, they can only listen. They cannot argue or talk back, because if they do, I can crush them to death with a single finger,” said a swarthy, disheveled man. His gaunt frame was crouched in the dirt, and he was using a blade of grass to scrape up a group of ants.

Whap!

The disheveled man took a slap to the head.

𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

A fair, beautiful, but utterly ferocious woman stood behind him, laughing coldly. “Cut the crap. All you know how to do is bully ants, you coward!”

She might have looked fierce, but she had a natural amorous quality about her, and although she was dressed like a peasant, there was no hiding her ample curves.

The thin man laughed, then got up and smacked the dust off his butt. “You’re absolutely right, dear. I only dare to bully ants. Why am I such a coward in front of you?”

“Quit grinning at me like that!” The woman rolled her eyes. “I was once the beautiful daughter of an unparalleled family. I might not have been

unenequaled,

but I was, at the very least, one of a kind. How did I let a coward like you trick me? I must have been blind!”

The thin man just listened and grinned. He wasn’t the least bit upset.

“Don’t just stand there! Come home and eat!” The mature beauty turned and headed back to a house in the distance.

The thin man followed obediently, but eyes making their rounds all over the mature beauty’s big butt and slender waist. His heart was full of satisfaction.

Back in the day, he went to great lengths to win her hand in marriage.

When they got home, the old man was greeted by four piping-hot dishes already on the table. His wife deftly filled two bowls, then placed one in front of him and said, “Eat!”

The thin man hurriedly took a seat, then said pitifully, “A’Liu, pour me a cup of wine, okay? I’m craving something to drink!”

“Yeah, right!” She glared at him.

The man instantly laughed dryly. He didn’t dare to ask again.

He was just about to eat when he suddenly stiffened, then slowly set his chopsticks back down.

“A’Liu, I have to go on a long journey.” The thin man’s smile vanished, and he looked at his wife solemnly.

Her brow furrowed, and she was just about to say something when she noticed the calm, serious look on his face. She instantly fell silent.

After a while, she looked down at the food on the table and said, “Eat first, then go.”

The thin man shook his head slightly. “I’m afraid I can’t afford any delays.”

His wife lowered her head and pursed her lips. All of her earlier ferocity silently faded away.

“Okay. Go,” she said, taking out a jug of wine and setting it on the table. ‘When you come back, I’ll pour your wine personally. I’ll let you drink to your heart’s content.”

Her husband grinned. “Wonderful.”

He got up, then said, “A’Liu, when I get back, I don’t just want to drink. I want to take you to bed!”

Bang!

She flung her chopsticks at him.

He laughed and dashed off, practically vanishing in a puff of smoke.

“Shameless old bastard!” She cursed under her breath, but when she saw the untouched bowl of food on the table, she fell into a daze.

She knew that the husband she chided for his cowardice had always been lonely.

I wonder who’s looking for him this time... I hope that, at the very least, the disturbance is a small one, and that everything goes smoothly so he can come home as soon as possible...

Her gaze was utterly tender.

When her man had business outside the house, she never asked questions, nor did she try to stop him. It was just like how he heeded her every word at home.

Their roles were clear and distinct.

......

Three Purities Temple wasn’t on the River of Destiny itself. Rather, it was on the Far Shore of the River of Destiny.

But the thin man knew that Three Purities Temple had a base located on the river. It was important, too. They called it their Lower Court, and they were Three Purities Temple’s hands and feet in the River of Destiny.

After the thin man left the island floating in a sea of lightning, he stepped directly onto the River of Destiny.

With every step, he traversed entire worlds. Spacetime energy rose from the River of Destiny beneath his feet, condensing into waves that carried him forward.

It looked as if he were walking atop the river, but in truth, he was shuttling through time and space.

Each step carried him so far that the stars overhead were entirely different.

Thus, he really was traversing entire worlds with each step.

After passing through a stretch of churning lava and blazing fire, the thin man silently came to a halt, put his hands on his hips, cleared his throat, and shouted, “Old Turtle, bring me the swords!”

Arrogant and haughty.

An incomparably massive figure rose from deep within the sea of lava, like a continent rising from beneath the waves of flame.

The entire stretch of heaven and earth shook violently.

Kaboom!

A turtle’s head emerged from the lava, like a towering mountain filling every last inch of sky.

Its eyes were as enormous as twin suns, and they blazed with imposing golden light.

It was just too enormous. Only a portion of its back was visible above the lava, but it was nonetheless like an endlessly vast continent. It was impossible to even imagine just how big the rest of its body, the part still submerged in lava, really was.

“Are you worthy of taking the swords, you henpecked craven?” The turtle’s low voice rang out, its eyes glinting with mockery.

The thin man instantly rubbed his hands together awkwardly. “I just dote on my wife, that’s all. She disregarded her parents’ wishes and eloped with me, and she’s suffered so much...”

“Shut up!” interrupted the turtle. “Want to take a sword? Fine. You know the rules. You either have to best me or...”

The thin man flipped his palm, and a mysterious diagram floated into the air.

The turtle froze mid-sentence, its blazing eyes widening. It couldn’t help but blurt, “H-he... sent you?”

“‘He?’” The thin man growled, “Be politer! That’s the boss respected by everyone in Sword Sovereign City! The greatest expert of the Dao of the Sword!”

The turtle swung its head about in obvious excitement and murmured, “I just knew that a coward like you wouldn’t dare to leave your wife and home, much less come all the way here for a sword unless you had reason to be confident. It turns out... that you received his Natal Sword Seal!”

The thin man wasn’t the least bit upset. On the contrary, he looked smug. “That’s right. This is Boss’s Natal Sword Seal! No other exists in this world. Well? Dare you refuse to bring out the swords now?”

The turtle fell silent.

After a while, it said, “Has your boss really returned?"

The thin man didn’t miss a beat. “He might not have returned yet, but he definitely will later!”

He shook the Natal Sword Seal and urged, “Quick, bring out the swords! I dare not delay. Boss’s message in the seal said, ‘Li Sansheng, if you don’t destroy the Lower Court of Three Purities Temple’s sign within the hour, we’re through!’”

The thin man, Li Sansheng, was obviously frantic.

The turtle, however, was in no hurry. It said slowly, “He wants you to destroy their sign? Just what did they do to infuriate him so badly?”

Li Sansheng glared, his mustache and beard bristling. “How should I know? I don’t care to find out, either. I just know that if you keep wasting my time, I’ll have to beat the crap out of you!”

The turtle laughed. “Your sword can kill people as easily as if they were ants, but I bet it can’t leave so much as a single mark on my body. If you can, consider it my loss!”

“Aiyo!” Li Sansheng rolled up his sleeves. “Let’s try it, then!”

He took a step forward and was just about to attack when the sky shook and three swords shot forth and floated in front of him.

The first shone like the misty clouds of the nine heavens, emanating divine radiance of the Grand Dao.

The second was as dark as ink. Its blade was thick, and it reflected no light. The name “Snow Cap” was carved on its hilt in characters the size of a fly’s head.

The third sword was only seven inches like. It was a flying sword as thin as a willow branch, and as it flew, miniature stars fell like rain. Its blade was thoroughly wrapped in blood-red cloth, preventing anyone from seeing its true appearance.

Li Sansheng froze in place, staring intently at the swords, like a hungry ghost eyeing the three most sumptuous delicacies in the world. Even his breathing sped up.

“Tch. Look at you! All you’re missing now is the label ‘worthless’ on your forehead!” jeered the turtle. “Quick, pick one and get the hell out of here.”