Chapter 2746 - Pu Xuan’s Identity

Su Yi just smiled in response to Yang Lingxiao’s anger.

The Malevolent Sword Venerate still referring to himself as Jiang Wuchen had both advantages and disadvantages. It certainly was no disaster.

After all, Jiang Wuchen had entered the cycle of reincarnation, but with the Malevolent Sword Venerate there to oversee things, the Heart-Tempering Sword House had remained standing.

The disadvantage was that the Malevolent Sword Venerate ultimately wasn’t Jiang Wuchen, but the being who’d taken over his body. Over the years, countless loyal followers of the original Jiang Wuchen had suffered brutally at his hands.

“I’ll let you go when I leave the Blue Peak Continent,” said Su Yi. He was already flipping through another book.

Yang Lingxiao opened his mouth as if to speak, only to decide against it and leave.

Pu Xuan appeared silently shortly after.

“You know who you were in life. How do you feel?” Su Yi asked casually.

“It feels like it’s all been a long dream,” sighed Pu Xuan.

Pu Xuan had heard every word of Su Yi’s conversation with Yang Lingxiao. As he listened in, he finally learned who he’d been before becoming an inauspicious spirit.

Jiang Wuchen had accepted only three disciples in his lifetime: his eldest disciple, Lu Ye, his second disciple, Luo Yan, and his third disciple, Jin Xuan.

Eldest Disciple Lu Ye was now the leader of the Heart-Tempering Sword House, a Heavenly Fate Realm Dao Lord famous throughout the Eternal Heavens Domain, a dazzling, unparalleled Sword Monarch.

His second disciple had left before Jiang Wuchen entered the cycle of reincarnation, vanishing from the Eternal heavens Domain. However, his name was still in the records in the sect’s ancestral hall.

His third disciple had met with misfortune while Jiang Wuchen was still alive. They said that he’d had an accident while tempering himself outside of the sect, but no one knew precisely how Jin Xuan had died.

According to Yang Lingxiao, everyone in the Heart-Tempering Sword House knew that the founder favored Jin Xuan the most out of his three disciples.

Jin Xuan’s death had also hurt his master like nothing else.

Apparently, Jin Xuan died while still in the Silent Realm, and when Jiang Wuchen heard the news, he was so overcome with anger that he immediately took up his sword and left the sect.

He was gone for three years, and when he returned, he said nothing about what had happened. All he did was place a memorial tablet for Jin Xuan in the sect’s ancestral hall.

It was only then that the rest of the Heart-Tempering Sword House confirmed that the founder’s favorite and youngest disciple really had died.

When Yang Lingxiao told this story, he spoke with incomparable lament. Senior Jin Xuan had apparently taught many of the sect’s disciples in his master’s stead. Many of them had now become prominent members of the Heart-Tempering Sword House in their own right, and even now, they were wistful whenever they spoke of Jin Xuan.

Even Sect Leader Lu Ye was struck with grief whenever he spoke of his junior apprentice brother. He remarked that had Jin Xuan survived, he’d have become the next sect master instead.

After hearing this story, Su Yi asked, then found out that Mountain Lord Wu Qing of Heavenquench Temple was indeed among those Jin Xuan had taught back in the day.

A lot suddenly made sense. Pu Xuan was originally Jiang Wuchen’s third disciple, Jin Xuan.

There was even a clue hidden in his name, as Pu Xuan's name was based on Jin Xuan's.

During the three years Jiang Wuchen left the sect, he was in that inauspicious zone outside the River of Destiny, teaching the inauspicious spirit that was once his third disciple the Dao.

Jiang Wuchen had originally given that calligraphic scroll to Jin Xuan.

Now, Su Yi finally understood why Wu Qing’s avatar of will had chosen to retreat outside Blue Peak Port.

It was simple. Wu Qing had almost certainly recognized Pu Xuan!

“Do you want to go back to the Heart-Tempering Sword House?” Su Yi asked with a laugh. “You are, after all, their founder’s disciple and their leader’s junior apprentice brother.”

Pu Xuan shook his head. “Jin Xuan died a long time ago, and the Malevolent Sword Venerate isn’t my master. I certainly don’t acknowledge him as such.”

His expression suddenly grew strange. “Fellow Daoist, don’t you think it’s about time you told me about your connection to my master?”

Su Yi laughed. “I’m just a newcomer from a lower realm, a humble Unfettered Realm sword cultivator.”

Pu Xuan rolled his eyes. “As if I’d believe that!”

But Su Yi was clearly unwilling to linger on the topic. “Before you became an inauspicious spirit, you were in the Silent Realm. What about now?”

Pu Xuan smiled. “As you said, that senior who spent three years teaching me the Dao was my master. During those three years, he taught me Buddhist cultivation practices. That’s how I began pursuing a Buddhist Dao of the Sword.

“My master said that it was only through Buddhist legacies that I could neutralize my inauspicious power. He said that once I fully dispelled it, I could break through it and rebuild myself, achieving rebirth.

“He said that when the time came, the accumulations of years of Buddhist practice would lead to an unbelievable transformation in my path!

“But I’m afraid that not even he could have guessed that, countless years later, you’d show up and help me achieve a new life instead, Fellow Daoist!

“To tell the truth, I haven’t fully mastered my cultivation base,” said Pu Xuan. He pondered briefly. “But once I’ve mastered it, I shouldn’t be any weaker than Sword Monarch Mu Qing.”

Su Yi clucked his tongue. “A Heavenly Fate Realm Buddhist sword cultivator! Impressive! Impressive!”

Pu Xuan sighed. “Fellow Daoist, your powers of the Grand Dao are as deep and unfathomable as an abyss. Compared to you, what do my paltry abilities amount to? It’s as insignificant as the light of a firefly before a full moon. I cannot even begin to compete!”

Su Yi hurriedly stopped him, feeling a bit exasperated. He didn’t understand why Pu Xuan insisted on flattering him at every available opening.

Pu Xuan was instantly melancholy. “Woe is me! I spoke straight from the heart, with the utmost sincerity. How could you accuse me of flattering you? Who else in this world is worthy of my heartfelt admiration? No one! I...”

“Scram!” Su Yi said irritably.

“Okay!” Pu Xuan turned and left.

Su Yi, meanwhile, sat before his desk and sank into thought.

Jiang Wuchen’s first disciple, Lu Ye, was now the leader of the Heart-Tempering Sword House. How did he see the Malevolent Sword Venerate?

And where had his second disciple, Luo Yan, gone?

After a while, Su Yi shook his head and gave the matter no further thought.

He knew that he and the Malevolent Sword Venerate were irreconcilable enemies. Only one of them could live!

He could worry about the rest after he’d killed the Malevolent Sword Venerate.

......

Meanwhile, in another pavilion on board the tower ship, Mu Qing and Yu Guangjun were talking.

“Martial Uncle, just where did Su Xuanjun come from?” asked Yu Guangjun. His wounds had yet to heal, and his face was still deathly pale.

Mu Qing took a sip of tea. “I’ll tell you when we get back to the sect. For now, you just need to remember not to hold a grudge against him.”

Yu Guangjun laughed bitterly. “I won’t. I naturally understand that he showed mercy during our duel.”

He suddenly lowered his voice. “Martial Uncle, I heard that Su Yi, the one who controls the Epoch Spark and power of reincarnation, survived the God Domain’s Battle for Order, and that he’s already set course for the River of Destiny. Do you think... that Su Xuanjun is really Su Yi?”

Mu Qing’s eyelids twitched, but before he could say anything, Yu Guangjun shook his head. “No, that can’t be it. How could such a coincidence exist in this person? Besides, how terrifying an existence is Su Yi? He caused countless disturbances in the Eternal Heavens Domain before ever setting foot in it!

“They say that even Heavenly Sovereigns intervened in the Battle for Order, but not even they could stop Su Yi. It’s obvious how terrifying he is.

“Su Xuanjun is severely lacking by comparison, and he didn’t even know what a Divine Hunt Edict was. He’s truly... ignorant.”

Mu Qing inclined his head in agreement.

Even in the Five Supreme Continents, Su Yi was a legend. The stronger a faction, the more clearly they understood what his name represented.

The Heavenly Sovereign-level factions had covered up and hidden most of the details of the God Domain’s Battle for Order, but everyone knew that there was no keeping something like that fully under wraps.

Everyone knew that Su Yi had emerged as the ultimate victor!

And that was more than enough to shock the Eternal Heavens Domain.

“If you were Su Yi, and you wanted to hide your identity, would you choose a name as likely to provoke misunderstandings as ‘Su Xuanjun’?” asked Mu Qing.

“I wouldn’t!” Yu Guangjun shook his head.

“That’s right,” Mu Qing said with a laugh. “Forgive my rudeness, but if Su Xuanjun turns out to be Su Yi, I’ll eat my own hat.”

Yu Guangjun laughed.

I didn’t realize Martial Uncle had such a sense of humor.

But then, he sighed. “Still, Su Xuanjun is quite something. I have a strong premonition that his name will soon appear in the top hundred of the Unfettered Ranking. His position won’t be low, either!”

Mu Qing nodded. There was no need to even question it; one look at Yu Guangjun’s wretched state was more than proof enough.

“We’ll reach the Mountain of Bitter Rains within two weeks. You’d best hurry and tend to your wounds,” ordered Mu Qing. “The Blue Peak Continent has been a remote backwater for a long time, but the emergence of this stroke of good fortune has drawn the attention of numerous factions of the Five Great Continents! I’m afraid we’ll run into many powerful opponents on this expedition.”

Yu Guangjun nodded.

The rest of the journey was uneventful. Su Yi spent his time reading, cultivating, and tempering the Sword of Proximity.

Pu Xuan, meanwhile, often chatted with Yang Lingxiao to learn more about the Heart-Tempering Sword House.

...

Ten days later, a streak of golden light suddenly tore through the sky. It was like a bridge, with a group of cultivators standing atop it.

The leader was a middle-aged man in coarse hemp robes. He carried a massive black sword.

𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

The middle-aged man suddenly stamped his feet when the tower ship was still a considerable distance away, and the golden arc came to a sudden halt.

The middle-aged man drew and swung his massive sword.

Boom!

One hundred thousand feet of sky collapsed and split.

Unstoppable sword qi flew forth, like black lightning of the nine heavens slamming into the world below.

The treasure ship shook violently. As sword qi swept outward, formations exploded, and buildings collapsed.

Practically simultaneously, everyone on board shot off the ship and moved further away.

As they dodged, the entire ship exploded into countless fragments of wood.

Sword qi swept through the sky, filling the air with dazzling light and clouds of dust.

When the middle-aged man who’d attacked the ship saw this, he couldn’t help but burst into laughter. “Mu Qing, you couldn’t even protect your own ship, yet you think you can get your hands on the good fortune of the Mountain of Bitter Rains? You’re dreaming!”

The middle-aged man grinned. “Heed my advice and get the hell out of here!”