Chapter 262: Chapter 136: The First Killing Skill

Of all the creatures Su Chen had ever seen, the only one that could compare was the Demon Mountain Master, the terrifying Mountain Sea Giant Turtle.

"Where have you been all these years?"

"By comparison, what’s truly astonishing is that in just fifty short years, you’ve neared the Nascent Soul realm. With a lifespan of ten thousand years, you’re close to standing at the very peak of this domain."

Su Chen was in a bit of a trance.

Back then.

High above Great Liang, the Immortal Whale soaring through a sky blanketed in a blizzard had left him in a state of unprecedented shock.

He never expected that to be the case even now.

A Golden Core Immortal Whale!

Exotic Beasts, Immortal Beasts, Spirit Beasts, and Demon Beasts might have long lifespans, but their growth was always slow. This Immortal Whale was a complete anomaly.

"No."

"I journeyed to the Five Domains Battlefield."

"Oh, right."

"Among you Human Race cultivators, it is known as the Outer Heaven Battlefield. It is also called the Heaven-Striking Land—the remnants of the War of Demon Slaying."

"There, I found some Divinity Transformation Remains and devoured some Heavenly Dao Marks. Only then did I realize that I was wrong. We, the Void Demon Whale clan, were never meant to be servants of the Celestial Dao. We were meant to be its mortal enemies..."

Immortal Whale Xueluo continued his story.

He had been too lonely over the years—so lonely that he had a great deal to say with no one to listen. And so, he poured his heart out to Su Chen, his enemy of old.

The Heaven-Devouring Demon Whale clan is born with memories, tasked with the mission of plundering Little Worlds, seizing the Treasures left behind by fallen Great Cultivators, and sacrificing them to the Heavenly Dao Sovereign.

Unfortunately.

That was not the truth at all.

After devouring the Heavenly Dao Marks within the Divinity Transformation Remains, Xueluo awakened the even more ancient memories of his Void Immortal Whale ancestors.

Back then.

They were called the Heaven-Devouring Immortal Whales!

The whale pods were the Celestial Dao’s fated enemies.

Now, one hundred thousand years had passed.

The Immortal Whales had been reduced to a legend.

Only the domesticated Void Demon Whales remained, proclaiming themselves followers of the Celestial Dao, no longer able to devour Heavenly Dao Marks.

Until he appeared.

A throwback, a true Heaven-Devouring Immortal Whale!

"What should I do?"

The Immortal Whale looked at Su Chen, lost.

For ten thousand years, the Void Demon Whales had plundered the Small Human World, becoming the sharpened blade of the Celestial Dao. They stood in opposition to the Great Cultivators of the Human Race, and their clansmen had suffered innumerable casualties.

This was not the way of the Heaven-Devouring Immortal Whales.

They were meant to yearn for freedom, to soar through Chaos and the world. All the creatures of heaven and earth were supposed to be their friends.

He wanted to correct all this, yet he feared it.

In response, Su Chen said, "If I were you, my path would be whatever my heart desires."

"But I am not you."

"This is a choice you must make for yourself!"

At this, Immortal Whale Xueluo closed his eyes in anguish.

’Once this truth is revealed, the Void Demon Whale clan will be thrown into turmoil! Who knows how many of my kin will die? We’ll even have to face the mighty Heavenly Dao Sovereign.’

’Should I really do this?’

"I don’t understand!"

"I don’t understand!"

"Celestial Dao, why must you domesticate and humiliate my Heaven-Devouring Immortal Whale clan like this!"

Immortal Whale Xueluo sank back into the cold, deathly silent waters of the Endless Sea, as if this would allow his thoughts to freeze just like the ocean around him.

"The path forward exists only if you wish to walk it."

"If you are unwilling..."

"...then there is no path forward in this world."

The faces of old friends surfaced in Su Chen’s mind, his expression growing even more complex.

No one ever knows if the step they take or the choice they make is the right one. But once a move is made, there can be no regrets. No matter the choice, one must walk the path to its end.

He left.

He made his way toward the Daqian Imperial Capital.

There.

He saw a Treasure Tree, soaring up and propping up the sky, standing tall as if it were the spine of the world, holding up the entire Human World.

The boundless fortunes of the world, the All Living Beings’ Fortune, and the Mountain River Fortune of the Dynasty swirled like immense clouds, gathering around this tree to form a celestial ocean.

A genuine Heaven-Reaching Tree! Nourished by the Three Fortunes of the Palm of the Human World, it radiated a terrifyingly potent aura, already comparable to the Core Formation Realm.

"You have come..."

Upon Su Chen’s arrival, the hundred-thousand-zhang-tall Heaven-Reaching Tree rustled its leaves. It seemed overjoyed to see him, its emerald foliage waving as if in greeting.

Seeing this,

Su Chen’s gaze grew complex.

Once, in the Library Pavilion of the Daqian Imperial Palace, he had planted a cerulean Spirit Seed from Huzi. Ten years later, it had grown into the Xuanyuan Treasure Tree, bestowing upon him the Xuanyuan Fruit that allowed him to ascend to the ranks of the Immortals.

Twenty years later, it stood before him as the spine of the World in the Palm—this terrifying, hundred-thousand-zhang-tall, Heaven-Reaching Tree.

He now understood how the Palm of the Human World was able to bear the presence of a Core Formation Great Cultivator. It was all because of this Heaven-Reaching Tree.

With this tree standing tall, as long as it continued to grow, the Palm of the Human World would one day become a true and independent Human World, just like the Mountain Sea Realm.

Forget Core Formation Great Cultivators; by then, it would even be able to support those at the Nascent Soul realm.

「Three years passed in Daqian.」

Everything was as it had been. The wind, the snow, the very mountains and rivers of the Dynasty—all remained unchanged.

Su Chen stepped into the Imperial City, a dazzling metropolis where countless heroes and champions from across the land converged.

Here, he saw a youth draw his sword to slay a corrupt official in a fit of rage, only to fall to a flurry of blades himself. He also saw a young official stand up for the common folk, putting countless evil squires to the sword.

He saw a Painted Boat Courtesan whose enchanting dance could topple a city, her dazzling performance drawing in countless scholars, Jianghu Heroes, and powerful dignitaries, all willing to spend a fortune for a single word.

And there, atop the Forbidden City Peak, he saw a man in a purple robe. Wielding a Peach Wood Sword, he dominated all the Innate masters of the world, earning the title of Sword Venerable. A new generation had replaced the old, and he had even surpassed the Three Sovereigns of Daqian.

His name was Chen Xuan.

The same Little Eunuch who, years ago, had trailed beside the Purple-robed Thousand Years, his eyes filled with nothing but awe.

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