Chapter 1: Memorial Hall
Memorial Hall.
An ancient bronze coffin lay within, etched with primordial patterns—birds, beasts, insects, fish, sun, moon, stars.
A young woman knelt before it, dressed in plain white mourning robes. Her beauty was transcendent, yet her expression, forehead pressed to the ground, held no sorrow or joy. It was unnervingly calm.
Beyond the Hall stretched a Pure Land Secret Realm. Within it, figures of terrifying god-like majesty clashed in ferocious battle. Heaven-shaking roars echoed. Divine blood rained.
Yet inside the Hall, silence reigned. The woman remained prostrate, undisturbed.
“Hah… So this is after my ‘death’…”
Chen Xuanyuan chuckled low, a glacial chill in his gaze. Only glances towards the woman brought a trace of softness.
In life, he had traversed the cosmos, his sword subduing starry skies, his will dominating realms. He had battled across the universe, reigning supreme. He was revered as the sole “Teacher of a Hundred Sages” in the Vast Nine Provinces. To Sword Dao titans, he was the unparalleled “Celestial Pivot Sword Venerable”.
But his death changed everything.
“Hahaha! Melt the heavens! Refine the Great Dao! Chen Xuanyuan’s ‘World-Scorching Cauldron’ is mine!”
A booming laugh, thick with delight, echoed through the Secret Realm.
Chen Xuanyuan looked.
A Crimson-Feathered Great Peng. Wings like storm clouds, molten gold in color, radiated light intense enough to crush mountains. Its massive claws clutched a furnace blazing like fire.
“Even this little sparrow betrays me…” Chen Xuanyuan sighed, recalling.
Eighty thousand years ago, it had prostrated outside his gate, kowtowing ten days and nights, begging to serve. Touched, he let it stay.
Now? It dared use his name and snatch his treasure. A traitor!
“Chen Xuanyuan owes our ‘Featherflight Sword Pavilion’ eight hundred ninety-three lives! He stole our ‘Eight Desolations Sword Canon’! Today, we collect! Any who stand in our way die!”
Amidst rolling thunder, a crimson-robed Daoist roared, killing intent flooding the heavens.
Chen Xuanyuan was stunned.
Featherflight Sword Pavilion? Once an obscure minor sect. Its founder was merely one of his thirty-six registered disciples. Solely by leaning on hismight did it rise to become one of the Six Great Immortal Sects.
And now they came? Eight hundred ninety-three lives? Pure fabrication! The ‘Eight Desolations Sword Canon’? Hebestowed it!
Clearly, hearing of his death, they concocted a pretext to plunder.
“The baseness of human nature…” Chen Xuanyuan shook his head, melancholy gripping him. He had never mistreated those close.
“Hear this! Chen Xuanyuan was the ‘Teacher of a Hundred Sages’ we revered! We won’t tolerate you looting his legacy!”
Amidst bloody rain, imposing figures roared.
“Bullshit! Spouting noble words? Aren’t you grabbing treasures too, now Old Demon Chen is dead?”
“Hypocrites!” others sneered.
“Look at you! The Jasper Glow Divine Tree! The Infinite Ruyi! The Nine Suns Divine Fire Lamp! The Thousand Illusions Amethyst Vase…! All peerless Dao treasures Chen Xuanyuan left!”
“If you cared, why not bury them with him?” Many countered coldly.
Heaven and earth quaked. The mightiest beings of the Vast Nine Provinces clashed, a scene of apocalyptic horror.
To Chen Xuanyuan, it was contemptible absurdity!
These wretches, once obsequious grovelers, now showed such faces!
“Life and death… truly different,” Chen Xuanyuan murmured. His gaze settled on the woman kneeling before the coffin. Warmth touched his expression. “At least… Lin Yao remains…”
Lin Yao followed him since thirteen. Nearly nineteen thousand years. In the Vast Nine Provinces, she was “Yaoguang Empress”. To outsiders, an exalted sovereign, commanding nations, inspiring awe.
But before Chen Xuanyuan? Always that little girl, serving with gentle humility.
“Junior Sister! You’ve kept vigil seven days! Leave now, or we fall!” A tall figure strode in, robe tattered and bloodstained. Terrifying power emanated from him.
Shi Feng! Head disciple, “Panshi War Emperor”. Followed Chen Xuanyuan thirty-nine thousand years.
Lin Yao rose slowly. Her voice was icy. “Senior Brother, Master instructed all nine disciples to depart. Why… did youreturn?”
Shi Feng frowned, projecting righteousness. “How could I watch traitors destroy Master’s legacy? You refuse to leave. As Senior Brother, how could Idepart?”
Lin Yao turned fully. Her beautiful eyes fixed on him, sharp as daggers. “Even now, you refuse the truth?” Shi Feng’s pupils constricted. “What do you mean?”
“What do I mean?” A mocking smile touched Lin Yao’s lips. “Others may not know, but I do… Senior Brother, you’ve always coveted Master’s ‘Netherworld Sword’.”
Shi Feng stiffened. After a silence, he laughed coldly. “Junior Sister, dare you claim yourvigil isn’t for that sword?” Lin Yao didn’t deny it. Her face remained serene. “Senior Brother, mistaken. My purpose extends far beyond the Netherworld Sword.”
“What else?” Shi Feng asked.
Lin Yao’s gaze swept the s*******r outside. Her voice was flat. “Everything Master left behind…”
“I claim it all!” Spoken with casual calm, yet as she finished, an imperious aura radiated from her.
“All of it…” Shi Feng stared, then burst into derisive laughter. “I never imagined the most voracious appetite belonged to my little Junior Sister! If Master saw this… he’d never foresee his beloved Lin Yao so… greedy!”
Unseen, Chen Xuanyuan watched coldly.
The betrayal of the Great Peng and Sword Pavilion didn’t surprise. Nor the enemies. But seeing Shi Feng and Lin Yao, each harboring covetous plots…
He remained silent.
Treasures… driving disciples against each other. Tragic!
Clang!
Lin Yao struck. Her sword flashed. Shi Feng was grievously wounded!
“Treacherous b***h! You hid your strength!” Shi Feng seized a sliver of chance, voice shocked and panicked, escaping the Hall. He hadn’t anticipated her cultivation.
Chen Xuanyuan startled. She broke through…
Shi Feng fled instantly.
Lin Yao didn’t pursue. She stood alone before the coffin, scorn curling her lips. She murmured, “If Master knew… his head disciple colluded first with the Six Great Sects… how it would wound him.”
“Third Senior Brother Zhao Yan… stole the ‘Primordial Mystic Mirror’. That alone could propel him to Imperial Realm…”
“Pity… Master is gone. He won’t see.” Lin Yao sighed softly.
Chen Xuanyuan’s expression darkened.
Only now he realized Shi Feng betrayed him, opened the gates!
Only now he knew Zhao Yan stole the Mirror stabilizing this Realm!
No wonder the traitors breached easily…
Anger warred with loss.
Lin Yao stepped out.
Her figure stood apart. Indifferent eyes swept heaven and earth. Her voice rang cold:
“From this day, the Vast Nine Provinces knows one sovereign: Yaoguang!”
Whoosh!
Ancient azure sword intent erupted, flooding the sky. Emerald sword light rained down, effortlessly slicing through terrifying figures.
In moments…
The world was a canvas soaked in divine blood!
Survivors were horrified, frozen.
“Submit,” Lin Yao’s voice pierced the terror, echoing throughout the Nine Heavens, “or perish.”
“We pledge allegiance to the Empress!”
“We submit!”
Crushed beneath her majesty, celestial overlords bowed.
This girl…Chen Xuanyuan’s eyes narrowed. His heart churned. Her cultivation shocked him.
As Master, he should feel pride.
But now… only desolation.
His beloved disciple hid her true self.
Lin Yao walked back in.
Her gaze returned to the coffin. She bowed, voice calm. “Master, disciple Lin Yao kept vigil seven days. Suppressed traitors and enemies. Fulfilled the master-disciple duty.”
“From today… I inherit all you left.”
She stepped forward, hand on the coffin. Voice soft, final.
“The Netherworld Sword cannot be buried. When I unravel its secrets… I return it. Master… do not blame me…”
Thud!
The lid flung aside.
Lin Yao, composed until now, showed shock.
“How…?”
The coffin was empty.
No sword. No body.
Witnessing this, fury boiled within Chen Xuanyuan.
He had prepared mentally before reincarnating…
But rage surged.
Slowly, the fire in his eyes receded. Replaced by absolute indifference and icy detachment.
“When I return… pray you wretches still live…”
His unseen form dissipated, vanishing.
......
Year 10,800, Vast Era.
Chen Xuanyuan, “Celestial Pivot Sword Venerable”, dominator of the Vast Nine Provinces, perished. The Provinces shook.
Seven days later.
Lin Yao, disciple, Empress Yaoguang, swept the land, pacified the heavens, became sovereign.
Five hundred years later.
Great Xia Kingdom, Qinghe County, Linfeng City.
Dusk. Sunset blazed.
Outside Qingyun Sword Academy.
Chen Xuanyuan stood alone, waiting for his sister-in-law, Li Jingxue.
