Chapter 1673: Fate

“Not bad.” The Dao King raised his eyes at the stroke and nodded.

“Just not bad?” Jian Bu’er stopped, his sword less than a millimeter away from the Dao King’s forehead. It was close enough to cut hair.

“Indeed, not bad,” the Dao King nodded again.

“Then I won’t hold back with my second stroke.” Jian Bu’er shifted and took several steps backward.

“Come at me with everything you have.” The Dao King waved his hand.

Jian Bu’er took a few more steps back before his rusty sword exploded with radiance, illuminating the void. He struck at the Dao King again, an open and aboveboard move that encompassed everything he knew about sword dao, the meaning of a sword, and sword dao combat arts.

Lu Yun stared intently at Jian Bu’er’s stroke. The move was very slow and fully demonstrated all of the sword dao it contained. Although Lu Yun had given up sword dao, he was still fascinated by Jian Bu’er’s understanding.

The Dao King’s eyes were bright and he didn’t move. His only reaction was to remain looking quietly at Jian Bu’er’s domineering stroke.

It stopped in front of him once again, just one millimeter away from his forehead. It was frozen in the same spot as the first stroke.

“…I have lost.” Jian Bu’er dejectedly withdrew his sword, shaking his head with a sigh.

“And why have you lost?” The Dao King remained smiling.

“My cultivation is less than yours and my understanding of dao is less than yours.” Jian Bu’er’s eyes brightened. “But I know that one day, I will become stronger than you!”

The Dao King nodded. “A word to the wise. While you’ve accessed eleven levels of sequence, only nine are allowed to be utilized in this part of the known expanses.”

Jian Bu’er started. He was an eleventh level expert just like Dongfang Mo and had never encountered this kind of restriction before.

“The emperor of the original Hongmeng accessed eighteen levels, but since he was unable to make use of this kind of strength here, he left,” the Dao King explained. “The Curse King wanted to destroy the Hongmeng and take the seeds of nothing from it. Even then, his replica only utilized up to nine levels of sequence.

“I will not be able to protect you if you use more than nine.”

Lu Yun suddenly thought of Dusk Province in Nephrite Major of the world of immortals. Golden immortals and above hadn’t been able to enter the province due to the immortal restriction. It would seem that a similar strength existed in the known expanses.

Dongfang Mo had also once said that with the destruction of the Hongmeng, none of the beings here could access sequence above ninth level.

Jian Bu’er’s heart palpitated with fear. When he sparred with the Dao King, he’d only utilized his comprehension of dao. Thank goodness he hadn’t sought to call upon his strength, or he’d be in irredeemable trouble!

“Indeed… some undesirable changes have occurred in the local orders…” he said haltingly after taking in his surroundings.

“Alright then, don’t bother me since you don’t need me to create a world of the mind.” The Dao King glared at Lu Yun and sat back down, seemingly sulking.

“Ah, while the wise senior doesn’t need to create a world of the mind, the position of headmaster of the Formula Dao Academy still requires the venerated elder’s presence,” Lu Yun grinned broadly.

“Wise senior? Venerable elder? Am I that old to you??” The Dao King’s glare deepened. He appeared to be a dashing, elegant eighteen year old man, a far cry from someone who should be addressed by those honorifics!

Jian Bu’er maintained a stoic expression and didn’t permit a laugh to escape his lips. Lu Yun stammered for a response.

“But I can do that,” the Dao King looked into Lu Yun's eyes. “If you stop Mo Yi when she wants to head to the unknown expanses.”

“Mo Yi wants to head to the unknown expanses?” Lu Yun paused.

“Yes,” the Dao King nodded with deep worry. “She wants to seek out the original emperor, but you mustn’t let her! She’s going with a will to die.”

“I see.” Lu Yun knew where Mo Yi was. When she left the Disordered Hell for the fourth realm, she’d done so to travel to the unknown expanses.

Only, formula dao had been on the rise then and she was the guardian of formula dao, so her plans had been temporarily shunted aside. Now that the little fox had finally obtained the Hongmeng Tower in the third realm and immortal dao was beginning to take root, it was a pivotal moment that required Mo Yi’s supervision.

“You must stop her! Don’t let her go to the unknown expanses!” the Dao King repeated solemnly, alarmed by Lu Yun’s absentminded response. “I’m sure you know what the consequences are if Mo Yi dies!”

Lu Yun’s heart skipped a beat. The Dao King had died thirty-three times for Mo Yi in previous loops and she, too, ultimately perished when she shielded Lu Yun from the entity in the Imperial Seal.

“She’s gone to find the Imperial Seal!” Lu Yun took a deep breath. “She still wants to destroy what’s inside!”

There was an unknown demonic creature in the seal, one that he’d failed to identify even after crossing paths with it thirty-three times. It wasn’t the original emperor, but an even earlier existence. Mutual destruction with it seemed to be Mo Yi’s fate. She sped to her destiny even in this reincarnation cycle.

After she killed the creature, Lu Yun would reach his peak in life. However, his final ending was to accompany immortal dao’s withering in the endless void.

“But the Tome of Life and Death has resolved the curse of the withered wood. Why is Mo Yi fixated on destroying what’s inside the Imperial Seal? What’s inside it? It was a seal in every loop, so the thing inside died at Mo Yi’s hand in every instance of the long river…”

The Imperial Seal was a seal and a massive medium that carried Lu Yun’s replica… as well as something else.

“I don’t have the Imperial Seal this time around and its last owner was the original emperor. So the owner before him was…” Lu Yun whirled around and left the Dao King and Jian Bu’er behind, plunging into the Central Hongmeng.

“The greatest heavyweight among the Sword Clan now is Sword First. You should go meet him,” the Dao King looked merrily at Jian Bu’er.

“Sword First?” the man blinked. “I only call myself ‘Not Second’, but this guy calls himself the first?”

etvolare's Thoughts

Ah, Jian Bu’er came from the Sword Clan a longass time ago. Jian = Sword. But... he's not the manifestation of a divine sword...? Or is he? I struggled with naming him when he first appeared because I didn't want to call him Sword Notfirst *facepalm*. I read a few hundred chapters ahead and didn't seem to find a connection to the Sword Clan of the fourth realm, so he was named what he was named.

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