Chapter 1: Yunhai Brings Opportunity (1)
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The White Bone Mountain Range in the Central Region stretches for ten thousand miles, silent, dark, surrounded by desolate, uninhabited deep mountains, enclosing a bottomless abyss.
The renowned Moonfall Lake lies right here.
Throughout the entire world, whether mortal or cultivator, all know that within this Moonfall Lake resides the Ten Thousand Demon Sect, a sect known across the three thousand realms.
It was midnight, and the deep waters of the abyss reflected the myriad stars. In the starlight’s reflection, the White Bone Mountain Range appeared in a different light.
The black-tiled wooden palace was brightly lit all night long. The Ten Thousand Demon Sect was strictly hierarchical, with lower-level demon cultivators resembling worker ants, shuttling through massive skyscrapers to serve their respective masters.
At this moment, Lingruo Zhenren, a prominent figure of the Ten Thousand Demon Sect, received an extraordinary piece of news from a familiar palace maid in the Emerald Palace.
The Sword Sovereign is dead.
Yan Jingqiu is dead!
If this news were to spread, not to mention the entire world, even several nearby smaller worlds would be thrown into chaos.
Speaking of Yan Jingqiu, he was undoubtedly a genius of the cultivation world for thousands of years.
He was praised for many things, but his most well-known achievement occurred a hundred years ago. It was during the crucial moment of the final battle between immortals and demons when Yan Jingqiu, who was not yet five hundred years old at the time, was entrusted by the Tai Xu Sect under the Yan family’s command to break through the siege.
With one sword, he broke open the demon realm’s Forge of Demons, severing the foundation of the demon realm that had lasted for millennia, thus settling the chaos between immortals and demons.
For this, he was hailed as the Sword Sovereign, the Little Immortal Sovereign.
Although countless years had passed without the emergence of another Immortal Sovereign in the cultivation world, according to the prevailing view in the cultivation world today, Yan Jingqiu’s breakthrough to become an Immortal Sovereign during the Tribulation Crossing Stage was just a matter of time. If even someone like him couldn’t overcome the Ninth Heaven Tribulation, who else in this world could ascend to the position of Immortal Sovereign?
How did such a figure suddenly die?
The maid from the Emerald Palace looked uneasy as she said, “It’s hard to say.”
“You know me well. I’m engaged to Yan Nanchuan, the third son of the Yan family’s seventeenth branch. I only found out about it recently.”
“The Yan family kept it hidden for quite a while. I’m not the first person to receive this news. They knew they couldn’t hide it any longer. I reckon this news will spread throughout the three thousand realms by tomorrow, and even the demon cultivators in the demon realm will eventually find out.”
Lingruo Zhenren asked, “But why did the Sword Sovereign die?”
Even though they were in a private cave, the maid from the Emerald Palace still covered her mouth with a water-blue fairy sleeve. After glancing around for a moment, she continued fearfully, “I heard that the Sword Sovereign sought death with all his heart.”
“He was trapped in his realm of life and death, beyond rescue. No one could save him except himself,” she said. “A few days ago, I went to the Yan family and heard it from Nanchuan.”
The realm of life and death, rather than being a specific place, is more like a state of being, a trial. It’s the final hurdle of the Tribulation Crossing Stage, one could say just a step away from the ultimate step.
“He had reached the Tribulation Crossing Stage?!”
Lingruo Zhenren was unsure whether to marvel at the Sword Sovereign’s talent or lament the unpredictability of life. How could such a genius, at the crucial moment, seek death with single-minded determination?
“It was a long time ago. There were rumors that he had reached this realm two hundred years ago,” said the maid from the Emerald Palace.
“But why?” asked Lingruo Zhenren.
The maid from the Emerald Palace said, “Who knows? After all, this was the final tribulation of the Tribulation Crossing Stage. He was too young and had not experienced the pain of worldly entanglements. To be trapped in one’s own life and death realm, it’s easy to understand.”
“That’s true,” said Lingruo Zhenren.
Since birth, Yan Jingqiu had been the legitimate son of a prestigious family, shining brightly. When he began cultivation, he had innate talent for the sword, his body was naturally attuned to the Dao, and he faced no bottlenecks. He was admired and adored, seemingly encountering no setbacks.
Lingruo Zhenren didn’t continue speaking. There was no point in saying more. Cultivation was always against the natural order, and moreover, it had been thousands of years since anyone had reached this realm in the immortal world. No one knew what kind of calamity awaited within the realm of life and death.
It’s possible that Yan Jingqiu was prepared for the final attempt, but he still failed here. She was just a demon cultivator in the Nascent Soul stage; it was ridiculous for her to measure the tribulations encountered by the mighty beings with her own perspective.
Perhaps feeling a bit uneasy, the two female cultivators who were close friends avoided this topic in their subsequent conversation. They held hands and simply continued chatting about some interesting events that had happened recently.
After three sticks of incense, a paper crane flew into the cave dwelling of Lingruo Zhenren.
The maid from the Emerald Palace said that the elders had taken care of matters and came to urge her to set off. The two bid farewell reluctantly.
After seeing off the palace maiden, Lingruo Zhenren also left the cave dwelling on a cloud. There was an auction tomorrow at the largest Treasure Gathering Pavilion on Middle Realm, and she wanted to buy some spirit pills to consolidate her cultivation. In order to secure a good spot, she had to leave early.
She had ascended from a small world and was originally a rare single-horned jade dragon in the Azure Wave Spirit Realm.
Although her rare bloodline and astonishing talent were considered remarkable in the small world, they were hardly worth mentioning in the grander world. Being able to join the ranks of the Ten Thousand Demons Sect as an inner disciple with Nascent Soul cultivation, and not being captured and tortured thanks to the protection of the sect, was the most fortunate thing to happen to Lingruo Zhenren in a hundred years.
The resources in the grand world far surpassed those in the small world, and with the backing of the Ten Thousand Demons Sect, she shouldn’t have lacked resources.
However, for Lingruo Zhenren, she was constrained by her aptitude. Since reaching the Nascent Soul stage, each breakthrough in realm had become increasingly difficult, making advancement nearly impossible.
For several days in a row, there had been demon cultivators ascending from the small world. With limited slots available for inner disciples in the Ten Thousand Demons Sect, Lingruo Zhenren had nothing impressive to showcase in terms of combat skills or techniques. She had known early on that these demon cultivators, who were also at the Nascent Soul stage, were eyeing her challengingly, hoping to use her as a stepping stone to enter the inner ranks of the sect.
Just now, when Lingruo Zhenren heard the news from the maid from the Emerald Palace, she couldn’t help but feel the difficulty of the cultivation path. Even the Sword Sovereign had fallen; what chance did she, just one among countless beings, have?
Thinking of the Sword Sovereign Yan Jingqiu, Lingruo Zhenren also remembered a prominent figure within the inner ranks of the Ten Thousand Demons Sect.
Lingruo Zhenren raised her head and gazed towards the direction of the Starview Pavilion, one of the central locations within the Ten Thousand Demons Sect.
Throughout the sect, everyone knew about the person residing in the Starview Pavilion, and everyone knew how much they detested the Sword Sovereign of the Yan Family.
Speaking of the occupant of the Starview Pavilion, there were some interesting aspects.
People dared not speak openly about it, but in their hearts, they all felt that the most beautiful person in the Middle Realm should rightfully be Bai Chunsheng.
He’s the grandson of the Supreme Elder White Phoenix, Bai Jianghan. In the last war between immortals and demons that lasted nearly a thousand years, Elder Bai Jianghan’s Dao companions, son-in-law, and daughter all died one after another on the battlefield, leaving only one grandson behind. In such circumstances, Elder Bai Jianghan naturally doted on her last descendant excessively, and it’s not an exaggeration to say that Bai Chunsheng acted lawlessly within the Ten Thousand Demons Sect.
Moreover, Bai Chunsheng possesses the bloodline of the White Phoenix lineage, with extraordinary aptitude for cultivation. Before he turned five hundred, he had already broken through to the Nascent Soul stage, achieving the status of a true prodigy.
The problem lies precisely here: he is just a prodigy.
Above Bai Chunsheng, there is still Yan Jingqiu.
With Yan Jingqiu’s presence, people naturally only know Yan Jingqiu and are unaware of Bai Chunsheng.
The most memorable thing for Lingruo Zhenren was when she head that while the war between immortals and demons was still ongoing and Yan Jingqiu was in seclusion before facing the life-and-death tribulation, Bai Chunsheng took advantage of Yan Jingqiu’s unawareness and issued many challenges to him.
Later, when Yan Jingqiu single-handedly quelled the chaos in the demon realm, Bai Chunsheng immediately sneaked off to the Yan Family’s residence and intercepted a letter he intended to send challenging Yan Jingqiu to battle. It’s said that later, the Sword Sovereign replied with a letter, but it frightened Bai Chunsheng so much that he ran back to the Ten Thousand Demons Sect overnight and didn’t dare to leave for a year.
Although everything was Bai Chunsheng’s own doing, it didn’t stop him from considering it a great shame and swearing to make Yan Jingqiu pay one day.
Now that Yan Jingqiu is dead, aside from the demons and evil creatures, Bai Chunsheng is probably the happiest person in the entire cultivation world.
Lingruo Zhenren’s thoughts were almost spot-on.
Above the tall tower of the Starview Pavilion was a warm pool made of warm jade, filled with spirit-infused Lingchi water. Milky-white mist wafted gently throughout the pavilion, and the clear light from ice-like lamps illuminated everything within.
On the high platform, a man dressed in white was kneeling on soft brocade cushions. His hair was as black as ink feathers, his skin fair and translucent, his lips plump and rosy, and his features handsome and charming.
He had his eyes tightly closed, his hands clasped together in front of his chest, sitting very casually. He was murmuring something under his breath, counting the time.
After a while, perhaps it was the appointed time.
Bai Chunsheng covered his eyes with both hands, his eyes as black and bright as lacquer. He peeked quietly through his fingers at the ranking list of the Heaven’s Pride Board floating in front of him.
This was a replica of the ranking list of heavenly and earthly spiritual treasures, automatically searching for individuals in the grand world whose bone age was less than a thousand years, and ranking them in real-time based on specific events they had experienced. Rather than calling it the Heaven’s Pride Board, it was more like a “fame” ranking based on life and death and bone age boundaries. It ranked individuals based on people’s admiration or disdain, and although there were occasional biases, most of the rankings were accurate.
The handwriting of the name “Yan Jingqiu” at the top gradually faded away, and after a moment, it completely disappeared. Then, the name of the second-ranking suddenly jumped forward.
Bai Chunsheng couldn’t contain his joy as he raised his eyebrows. Finally, finally, the person ranked first on the Heaven’s Pride Board had changed from Yan Jingqiu to him, Bai Chunsheng.
To witness this scene, Bai Chunsheng had been waiting since yesterday noon. No, it should be said that ever since he first heard the name Yan Jingqiu, he had been waiting for this moment.
Being a spiritual demon, Bai Chunsheng was born with early intelligence. He had been raised and praised by people since childhood. However, when he walked out of the gates of the Ten Thousand Demons Sect at the age of twenty-five, he discovered to his dismay that there was still that damned Yan Jingqiu in the Yan Family.
Yan Jingqiu overshadowed him in everything, and over the years, Bai Chunsheng had been harboring a belly full of resentment.
While there wasn’t much difference in their cultivations in the earlier years, and they could still be compared in some aspects, after Yan Jingqiu achieved Nascent Soul stage, just a few years passed before everyone acknowledged that there was no one in the world who could rival him.
Yan Jingqiu had broken through to the Tribulation Crossing Stage two hundred years ago, while Bai Chunsheng had only just started to comprehend the Dao at that time. From then on, the gap between them widened more and more.
Fortunately, Yan Jingqiu was finally dead.
Indeed, the path of cultivation is long and arduous. In the end, it’s about who has the longest lifespan to have the last laugh.
Bai Chunsheng let out a long sigh.
Huge shoutout to @_nyanmaru_ on Discord for commissioning this! The chapter will be posted regularly, show your support for Ciacia at Kofi.
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