Chapter 401

Chapter 401: Chapter 400 Sword Elder, the creator of the Xuanyuan Sword, was an old man whose cultivation and age were indiscernible. Of course, the Sword Elder in front of Ye Tianchen was no longer a tangible person, but merely a spiritual imprint within the Xuanyuan Sword.

Ye Tianchen had now clearly understood the situation. He was brought into the body of the Xuanyuan Sword by the power of the Holy Path, in conjunction with the Taie Sword and the Fish Intestine Sword. Now, he had only two options: the first was not to try to possess the Xuanyuan Sword, which meant he would never leave the sword’s body and be trapped inside until his life ended; the second was to take a risk and successfully possess the Xuanyuan Sword. However, the success rate was less than half, and it was almost certain to be a fatal outcome. In essence, these options were just a choice between dying sooner or later!

"No way, did even a Late Stage Martial Saint master die?" Ye Tianchen couldn’t help but exclaim in shock.

"Yes, but I have already told you, whether or not you can subdue the Xuanyuan Sword, strength is only one aspect. What is more important is enlightenment, the ability to receive recognition from the Xuanyuan Sword. Even an ordinary person could achieve incredible feats!" Sword Elder said seriously as he looked at Ye Tianchen.

Ye Tianchen was stunned for a moment, and as he observed the appearance of Sword Elder, it seemed more and more like the old man was deceiving him. Once Ye Tianchen agreed to try to subdue the Xuanyuan Sword, it would mean certain death, and he still didn’t know how to go about the attempt. Just thinking about it made him shudder. Death wasn’t something Ye Tianchen feared, but that didn’t mean he was foolish enough to joke about his life constantly. Remember, a Late Stage Martial Saint’s cultivation could be considered equal to a Late-stage Divine-level peak in the realm of superpower users. In the era of the apocalypse star, Ye Tianchen, as a Divine-level superpower expert, was merely at the beginner level; advancing further in cultivation was more difficult than ascending to heaven. As cultivators reach later stages, the journey becomes a hundred times more challenging, and breakthroughs were not something that could be achieved overnight.

Having once been a Divine-level superpower expert, Ye Tianchen was well aware of the gap between minor realms, which could be vast as the heavens and the earth. Moreover, he wasn’t even at the Divine Level Realm yet, just at the peak strength of the King Realm, with an entire Emperor Level Realm separating him from trying to possess the Xuanyuan Sword. Wasn’t this seeking death?

Initially, Ye Tianchen was reckless enough to want to see if the stone coffin actually contained the Xuanyuan Sword; now, he even had to think twice about trying. The difference was too great; it was entirely not the same situation. Desperate to see what was inside the stone coffin without knowing about life and death, and now, seeing Sword Elder’s trickery, it seemed almost certain to be a death sentence. Surely no one would be foolish enough to engage in an almost certainly fatal endeavor, right?

"Really? I say, Elder Sword, you wouldn’t be tricking me, would you? Even a Late Stage Martial Saint master died, and you want someone barely at the Martial King Realm’s strength to give it a try? Isn’t this courting death?" Ye Tianchen said, seeing Sword Elder’s seemingly sly smile, he immediately displayed a displeased expression.

Sword Elder couldn’t help but be stunned, clearly not expecting Ye Tianchen to see through him like that. His expression became awkward, but he quickly regained his composure and resumed his serious senior expert demeanor: "As a junior, you should listen more to your seniors. I have eaten more salt than the rice you have eaten. Think about it; Emperor Huang was merely an ordinary man, perhaps even a wild man, who obtained the Xuanyuan Sword. With the sword, he greatly enhanced his wisdom and achieved immortal merits. He is still worshiped by people to this day. Isn’t that an eminent prestige? Do you want to spend your entire life waiting to die here?"

Regardless, Ye Tianchen increasingly felt that Sword Elder was unreliable. Although the old man didn’t seem malicious or have any evil intent, he consistently gave off the impression of being duped. Ye Tianchen always suspected that Sword Elder had some hidden agenda he wasn’t sharing, still insidiously egging him on to go meet his death.

Emperor Huang indeed achieved great merits with the Xuanyuan Sword and, thousands of years later, still enjoyed people’s respect and veneration; this much was true. However, according to Ye Tianchen’s conjecture, the ancient Records of the Grand Historian stated that the gods collected gold and bronze from Shou Mount to forge the sword for Emperor Huang. This point was definitely incorrect since the Xuanyuan Sword was crafted by Sword Elder; it couldn’t have been made by the gods for Emperor Huang. It was clear that this detail was either a misconception or a fabrication. Ye Tianchen vaguely guessed that back then, some extraordinary cultivator obtained the Xuanyuan Sword and presented it to Emperor Huang. The "gods" were likely just a fictional account, probably referring to people with high cultivation levels.

Over the five thousand-year history of China, many details have been incomplete or missing, especially in the tens of thousands of years at the very beginning of human history, which were not recorded and submerged in the annals of time. Many things are unverifiable, only imagined and fabricated by later generations. The real records show that the Xuanyuan Sword was passed from Emperor Huang to Xia Yu; a thousand years later, it finally came into the possession of Shang Tang, who defeated the three great ancient demon blades. The golden ancient sword, reputedly the godly sword bestowed by heavenly gods to Emperor Xuanyuan to defeat Chiyou, contained infinite power and was a divine weapon for slaying demons and exterminating evils.

The Xuanyuan Sword is a Divine Sword, a fact that Ye Tianchen did not doubt. With the power of the Holy Path within the Xuanyuan Sword alone, it was sufficient to qualify as a Divine Sword, capable of evolving the universe and setting down rules—truly a one-of-a-kind divine weapon in the world!

"You’ve eaten more salt because you’re foolish. Besides, what does Emperor Huang’s veneration by later generations have to do with me? Nothing at all. I say, Elder Sword, I think there are still some things you haven’t fully told me yet. Should we open the roof and speak frankly?" Ye Tianchen said, clearly annoyed.

Originally, Ye Tianchen thought that Elder Sword was a decent senior, but from his words and gaze, Ye Tianchen still discerned some clues. To prevent being duped by this old trickster, Ye Tianchen spoke at a measured pace. It would be even better if he could extract some more words from Elder Sword’s mouth.

"Is this the tone you use when speaking to a senior? I ask you to try for your own good. Don’t you really want to leave a name in history and be admired by thousands?" Elder Sword also looked at Ye Tianchen with annoyance.

"I don’t want to!" Ye Tianchen replied succinctly.

"Then what do you want to do?" Elder Sword really hadn’t expected that Ye Tianchen, this guy, was so clever, it seemed as if he had seen through his own plans, and it made him tremble with anger.

"Being worshipped by people, admired by generations, is just as dead people are. True power seekers should pursue eternal life, so what you’re offering holds no attraction for me!" Ye Tianchen shook his head as he spoke.

Elder Sword was stunned and stared intently at Ye Tianchen, as if trying to see through him. What he hadn’t expected was that this young man harbored such grand ambitions, aiming not for the ultimate power but for the Longevity Skill, which everyone dreams of mastering.

"Hahaha, what audacity! Throughout history, in the entire Great Universe, countless power seekers have pursued the path to eternal life without any proven success. Even Emperor-level experts, who can call the wind and summon the rain, who can pluck stars and seize the moon, being the foremost authorities in the entire Great Universe, will ultimately end their lives in melancholy, their bodies decaying. Eternal life? Since the evolution of the universe, it has been the pursuit of countless individuals, yet no one has achieved it. Are you merely talking nonsense?" Elder Sword scoffed disdainfully at Ye Tianchen as he regained his composure.

"Just because no one has achieved it before, does that mean no one can ever achieve it? Who can guarantee that?" At that moment, Ye Tianchen was full of confidence. He had once been a Divine-level Superpower Expert. In facing more powerful forces, higher realms, and longing for the Longevity Skill, this was, after all, a world where the strong are revered. The entire Great Universe was the same; only the strong could avoid being exploited, only the strong could touch the more profound and mysterious things. Ordinary people could only indulge in mundane pleasures and suffer the cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death.

The two main reasons why Ye Tianchen still aspired to achieve eternal life were, first, he wanted to allow the parents and sister of this life to live longer because in the apocalypse star where he grew up as an orphan, he never felt the warmth of a family. Now that he had such an opportunity, he did not want to miss it or give up. After settling these trivial matters, he planned to find a way to explore Emperor Star. Second, Ye Tianchen hoped that after finding the Longevity Skill and becoming the strongest person in the universe, the Great Dominator, he could comprehend some secret technique to resurrect his friends and relatives who had passed away on the apocalypse star, a pain that forever lingered in his heart.

"I don’t care, I want you to try now to see if you can tame the Xuanyuan Sword, or else I’ll have no choice but to kill you, as your cultivation is far inferior to mine!" Elder Sword suddenly changed his demeanor, from initially friendly to later displaying the demeanor of an expert, and now his face turned fierce as if he was about to force himself on Ye Tianchen, all in the blink of an eye.

Looking at Ye Tianchen, facing Elder Sword’s threat, if it were someone else, they would have already been scared off their feet, kneeling and begging for mercy. For wasn’t Elder Sword the forger of the Xuanyuan Sword, the creator of a Divine Sword? How could he be an ordinary person? But Ye Tianchen merely glanced disdainfully at Elder Sword, his eyes filled with contempt, and sat down on a wooden stool next to him, yawning as he said, "Old man, I think you should just be honest. What exactly is this place? Who exactly are you? Most importantly, what are your intentions? Tell me, and perhaps I can still help you. Otherwise, it’s time for us to part ways!"

"You... You brat, aren’t you afraid I’ll strike you dead with one slap?" Elder Sword, looking like he wanted to strike Ye Tianchen, said angrily.

"If you really had the power, you would have struck me already and tamed the Xuanyuan Sword yourself. There’s no need to wait for me to try. It seems that those who previously had the Xuanyuan Sword just possessed it simply and never made it here. As for the six absolute experts who followed one after another, they were all killed by the likes of you. What a pity for their heroic lives!" Ye Tianchen shook his head as he spoke. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to recommend and vote on Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)