Chapter 264: Chapter 137: Fourth Year of Tianqi

On the lone island, peach blossoms covered the mountain, dotted with Hibiscus Flowers. An ever-present wind and snow swept over all.

The night was still, the moon hung high. A youth in a Profound Robe, looking like an Immortal, brushed the accumulated snow from a gravestone. It was a picturesque scene, just as it had been in years past.

For a moment, an old man in his twilight years, who had arrived on a small boat carrying a jug of old wine, found his murky eyes growing hazy. He was momentarily stunned by the sight.

A Profound Robe in a muddy world, a youth like an Immortal. Even though he had been gone for three years, the world still remembered him.

The endless, lingering wind and snow had come for him, adorning the island’s scenery. The youth still looked the same; fifty years had not left a single mark on him.

"Lord Su, just how powerful is your sword?"

A smile played on the old man’s lips as he shuffled forward.

He was Long Xuanjun.

Three years had passed, but for him, it felt like thirty. He was too old, so old he was at death’s door. Even if he continued to struggle against the heavens for more time, he could no longer extend his lifespan.

"As long as a sword remains unsheathed, no one can know its true strength."

On this lone island, Su Chen had buried Zhuo’s mortal remains right beside Jie’s coffin. The two sworn enemies from the Heavenly Fall Era, an Immortal and a Demon, were now bosom friends in death, reunited once more.

He felt a pang of dislocation. Ten years had passed, and he was beginning to forget what Void looked like. All he remembered were those crystalline eyes, a Black Dragon Emperor Robe, and a figure waiting for him before the Palace Gate.

They had been friends.

’But in the end, I was the one who brought him harm.’

"Lord Su, your favorite White Confucian Wine."

Long Xuanjun brushed the accumulated snow from the stone table and warmed the wine for Su Chen, gazing with a sentimental sigh at the youth who seemed to have stepped out of a painting.

Lifespan... a blade hanging over the head of every living creature.

Now.

That blade was about to fall.

He was about to reach the end of his life.

Before he died, he wanted one last look at the most vivid and unforgettable figure of his life. *The wind howls, the snow falls, the Sword Immortal arrives.* He sometimes wondered what might have been if Su Chen had been born in the Great Zhou Imperial Palace.

Perhaps.

He, too, would have been a friend by his side.

Perhaps.

Everything in Great Zhou would have been different.

But there are no what-ifs.

"The Empress said that once Lord Su has concluded his business, you are to leave as soon as possible."

"Jue’s immortal and demonic aspects have gathered. This World in the Palm will soon travel to the Central Capital to complete the final stage of his revival. It’s not appropriate for you to be here..."

Long Xuanjun trailed off before changing his tack.

"Don’t you still have unfinished business in the Eastern Domain?"

For a moment, the wind and snow fell silent.

Su Chen did not reply.

"I will leave you to it."

Long Xuanjun left the warm White Confucian Wine on the table and departed.

In the distance.

The small boat drifted away.

His Longevity Fire was extinguished.

Long Xuanjun had died of old age.

On the small boat, he was smiling. It seemed that one last glimpse of the legendary Wind Snow Sword Immortal from his memories was enough to grant him peace in death.

’Another old acquaintance, gone.’

A complex emotion flickered in Su Chen’s eyes.

They weren’t friends, nor were they rivals. In his entire life, Long Xuanjun had never even been qualified to be his opponent.

Still, he was an old acquaintance.

An indescribable emotion began to stir within him.

’Is this... sadness?’

Within Su Chen’s body, the Longevity Dao Tree stood tall upon his Dao Foundation, radiating a crystalline Spiritual Light. A piece of broken bone was now wrapped around it.

This was none other than the Divinity Transformation Remains that Su Chen had once swallowed whole!

At this moment, as if having found the perfect Nourishment, root-like Tree Whiskers coiled around the bone. This caused the Tree Whiskers to release their hold on Su Chen’s heart, no longer feeding on his emotions.

In that instant, it was as if Su Chen’s heart had come back to life.

’Heavenly Dao Marks.’

’The Great Dao of Divinity Transformation... These Relic Bones contain Heavenly Dao Marks. This is the best form of Nourishment for the Longevity Dao Tree.’

On this day, Su Chen journeyed to the Green Fall and Yellow Springs within the World in the Palm. To his surprise, another piece of the Relic Bones stood here—a colossal skull.

It did not belong to Jue.

It was from the same source as the severed hand inside Su Chen’s body, belonging to that very same Extreme Dao Heaven Divinity Transformation God Venerable.

HUMMM!

The Tree Whiskers surged.

As they coiled around the skull, the Longevity Dao Tree seemed to rejoice, feeding a vast and majestic power back into him.

Unfortunately.

It was a drop in the ocean.

It wasn’t enough to help him break through to Foundation Establishment Perfection.

It seemed as if the Foundation Establishment Late Stage was his limit.

’Why is this happening?’

Su Chen didn’t understand.

He was walking a path no one had ever walked before. With no clear road ahead, he could only feel his way forward.

"Perhaps it requires a ritual."

"Just like for the First Grade."

The pages of the Wordless Book turned.

A deep voice emanated from it.

Far away in the Daqian Imperial Palace, within the rebuilt Heaven-Ascension Tower, a storm of wind, rain, and lightning converged. The Great Yu Library, which had been awake for many years, could not hide the shock and amazement in its complex gaze.

Years ago, when they had first met, the man had merely been at the Second Grade of cultivation.

Now.

In just thirty short years.

And now, seeing him again.

He was in the Foundation Establishment Great Realm, a terrifying Sword Intent concealed within him, like an Immortal Dao Giant whose might could overwhelm the very heavens and earth.

It had never seen such a prodigy.

Never before.

"What do you mean?"

Su Chen asked.

Holding the Wordless Book, he had crossed thousands of miles in an instant to appear here.

"Core Formation is the culmination of one’s personal path."

"As for why you have stagnated, you must ask your own heart. Go and do that which you wish to do, but have not yet done!"

The Great Yu Library explained.

That night, Su Chen seemed to have an epiphany. He bowed deeply in gratitude to the Great Yu Library, then turned and strode away. He headed for the Endless Sea, transformed into a Void Demon Whale, and vanished.

As for the matter of its seal, Su Chen didn’t mention it, and the Great Yu Library didn’t ask.

They both knew.

If it truly wanted its seal broken, there were plenty of people in the Daqian Imperial Capital who could accomplish the feat. The fact that Mr. Dayu Shu remained sealed within this Gate meant that it simply did not wish to leave.

Perhaps.

Mr. Shu had never been a Heavenly Fall Immortal to begin with.

’Was that the right thing to do?’

’If I hadn’t given him that pointer, he might have remained stuck at Foundation Establishment. Perhaps that would have been for the best. At least then, he might have lived out a full life and died of old age...’

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