First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 2645 – The Strange Tale of the Ancient Cauldron

Such little Buddhist parables were common worldwide, to the point that even most mortal schoolchildren could have rattled off a whole list of similar tales.

But those who hadn’t experienced such things for themselves struggled to grasp the profound truths within these seemingly simple principles.

Every cultivator had heard phrases like, “The greatest forms are without shape, the Grand Dao is without name, the greatest sounds are hard to hear, and the greatest wisdom seems foolish.”

But how many cultivators truly understood the profundities and truths within that saying?

Such stories weren’t at all new or rare to Shen Jue. He’d heard similar tales, perhaps not quite a thousand times, but certainly at least eight hundred times.

Yet now, hearing Su Yi tell this story as he was trapped, unable to even die, Shen Jue fell silent.

He sank into a daze.

Su Yi, meanwhile, waved his sleeve through the air, and the power suppressing him vanished.

But Shen Jue didn’t even seem to notice. He just stood there, expression shifting erratically.

The Heaven-Combating Fiend Ancient didn’t interfere.

Su Yi stood there and drank.

All was silent on all sides, the atmosphere utterly tranquil.

Suddenly, Su Yi said, “You can keep the butcher’s knife in your heart. There’s no need for you to set it down. Whenever you want to fight, you can come looking for me.”

Shen Jue shook from head to toe, then looked at Su Yi, seemingly shaking off his daze.

He sighed. “It’s true. I’m inferior to that monk; I cannot set my butcher’s knife down so easily. Still, after this battle, the story moves me in ways it didn’t before.”

He said solemnly, “Thank you!”

Su Yi waved his gratitude away. “I’m not comparing myself to that Buddha, and I have no intention of enlightening you. It’s just a story. I simply don’t wish to see you seek out your own demise.”

When Shen Jue recalled the way he’d begged for death, he instantly felt sheepish. “No matter how high someone’s cultivation is, there’s no avoiding the occasional lapse in judgment. Take now, for instance. I still cannot set down the butcher’s knife.”

He sighed. “Everyone knows that if you set down your butcher’s knife, you can become a Buddha on the spot, but few understand that the ‘knife’ doesn’t represent malice, but rather, the heart’s obsessions and negative karma.”

Shen Jue’s obsession was avenging the woman he’d loved.

He suffered because the target of his revenge was someone he respected and admired. Thus, he’d decided to seek a quick death in battle.

But Su Yi had pointed out another path.

He wasn’t urging Shen Jue to be magnanimous or to set aside his grudge. Instead, he told him to maintain his grip on his “butcher’s knife” and life to fight another day.

Shen Jue knew that he might well never manage to defeat Su Yi, and that he might one day manage to set down his butcher knife.

But all of that was in the future. For now, at least, he was convinced of his defeat, and no longer in anguish over his heart’s obsession.

Su Yi asked suddenly, “You loved Ling Yue, and she became your heart’s obsession, and now, you seek revenge on her behalf. Were you two perhaps Dao Partners?”

Shen Jue shook his head.

Su Yi was stunned. “Then… Did you love and understand each other deeply?”

Shen Jue shook his head once more. A moment later, he let out a self-deprecating laugh. “Liking someone doesn’t always mean you’ll get together, now does it? Since when does it require mutual interest?”

“…” Su Yi paused to mull that over, then nodded approvingly. “In this regard, I’m far from your equal.”

Shen Jue laughed. “I’d actually love it if infatuated fools like me were less common, or better yet, non-existent. That way, we’d avoid others’ mockery, and save ourselves all that anguish and torment. In the end, we’re only hurting ourselves.”

Then, he clasped his fist and bade farewell. “Take care, Fellow Daoist!”

With that, he turned to leave. He seemed dashing and carefree, but Su Yi could tell that he felt alone and forlorn.

“An opponent worthy of respect,” murmured Su Yi.

“You know, he’s been looking to die from the moment he first came looking for me,” the red-haired Heaven-Combating Ancient Fiend said suddenly. “He knew he had no hope of winning your duel.”

“I know,” said Su Yi. “If he had hope of victory, he’d have asked me to resolve your karmic tribulation before we fought, not after. After all… had I died in battle, how could I possibly have assisted you?”

The Heaven-Combating Ancient Fiend paused, stunned, then sighed.

He was right.

“Come on, let’s go find a safe place to neutralize your karmic tribulation,” said Su Yi.

“I’ll just have to trouble you then.” The Heaven-Combating Ancient Fiend nodded.

……

Two hours later, in a mountain cave covered by a formation.

“It’s done.” Su Yi let out a deep breath, then lifted his hand from the Heaven-Combating Ancient Fiend’s back.

On the River of Destiny, every karmic tribulation was different.

Even so, the Heaven-Combating Ancient Fiend’s karmic tribulation was unusual. It had taken on the form of a thin black chain that wrapped around her blood and qi, effectively fettering them. The black chain ate away at her blood and qi, intent on devouring them fully.

When Su Yi inserted the power of reincarnation into her body, he discovered that the black chains originated in her vital source. They were extremely difficult to remove.

Fortunately, she was extremely cooperative, and she wasn’t at all on guard against him. That let him focus on using the power of reincarnation to remove her tribulation.

“Thank you.” The Heaven-Combating Ancient Fiend rose and bowed to Su Yi.

Her clothes were as white as snow, and her long, blood-red hair extended all the way to her slender waist. She looked young, with pure, beautiful features.

Her eyes were especially striking. They shone with unearthly, blood-red light, and they had an extraordinary charm.

No one who saw her would ever have imagined that she was an ancient among chaos fiends, the only one of her kind!

Much less that her name was “Dou Tian,” or “Combating the Heavens.”

“As thanks for saving my life, I’ll guide you Beneath the Nine Abysses,” the Heaven-Combating Ancient Fiend said with the utmost solemnity.

Su Yi was briefly stunned, then curious. “Why are you so certain that I want to visit Beneath the Nine Abysses, anyway?”

“Aren’t you interested in that ancient cauldron?” asked the Heaven-Combating Ancient Fiend.

Cauldron? Su Yi paused, then quickly realized what she was referring to.

Back then, a fierce battle broke out on Red Pine Mountain. Numerous experts of the River of Destiny got involved, all of them hoping to seize an ancient tripod cauldron.

But in the end, the cauldron vanished.

Rumor had it that the cauldron was hidden Beneath the Nine Abysses.

But there were also rumors that someone had secretly acquired it a long time ago.

No matter what, there was one thing he knew for sure: it was this battle that triggered the Great Extinguishing, the cataclysm that destroyed the entire Central Divine Continent!

“You’re saying that the cauldron is Beneath the Nine Abysses?” asked Su Yi.

“That’s most likely the case,” said the Heaven-Combating Ancient Fiend. “We chaos fiends were born of the God Domain’s chaos source, but according to our collective memories, that mysterious cauldron appeared there long before we were born, deep within the chaos source Beneath the Nine Abysses!”

“No one knows its origins. We call it the Ancestral Chaos Cauldron, but we don’t know what it’s really called or where it really came from.

“We’ve tried to find it on numerous occasions, but we never even got close.” The Heaven-Combating Ancient Fiend’s eyes shone with reminiscence. “It was only later, when we ancient fiends started to interact with those from the River of Destiny, that we started hearing rumors of that cauldron.”

Su Yi couldn’t help but be curious. “What kind of rumors?”

“They say that every epoch civilization has its own root, that is, its chaos source, and that every chaos source begins as an Epoch Spark,” said the Heaven-Combating Ancient Fiend. “That mysterious cauldron is most likely the ‘seed’ of the present epoch.”

Su Yi was stunned. He couldn’t help but think of the Epoch Spark fused into his foundation in the Grand Dao.

“But there are also rumors that the cauldron’s origins are even more extraordinary than an Epoch Spark’s. They say that it appeared in the lost epoch civilizations of the past, too,” said the Heaven-Combating Ancient Fiend. “But no one has ever managed to control it, and no one knows its origins.”

Su Yi couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. A cauldron that’s appeared in every epoch civilization of the past?

In that case, it’s far more special than an Epoch Spark, and far more unbelievable!

“Those experts of the River of Order fought like mad to acquire the cauldron because they say that whoever manages to control it will become the true ruler of the River of Epochs. They’ll preside over all epochs, past, present, and future!” said the Heaven-Combating Ancestral Fiend, revealing yet another secret.

But Su Yi got the sense that things weren’t nearly so simple.

After all, Eternals had long since transcended the River of Epochs, and they had nothing to fear from the alternation of the epochs. Why concern themselves with the ability to rule all epoch civilizations?

Admittedly, such an opportunity was rare and unique. Seize it, and you’d be the one true ruler of the epochs.

But an Eternal had no use for such power! There had to be more to this than met the eye.

Furthermore, he could say with certainty that Eternals wouldn’t have risked their lives to seize it unless it had wondrous applications useful for them!

“Actually, you needn’t concern yourself with any of that,” said the Heaven-Combating Ancient Fiend. “This Battle for Order is a struggle for supremacy. If you wish to become the Bringer of Order, you must first control the chaos source at Red Pine Mountain.

“I’m afraid that if things continue like this, history will repeat itself. The fighting will ultimately extend to Beneath the Nine Abysses!”

“And I…” The Heaven-Combating Ancient Fiend gazed intently at Su Yi. “I can guide you Beneath the Nine Abysses.”

Su Yi finally understood why she’d just to repay him in such a way. As an ancient among chaos fiends, she understood Red Pine Mountain, the chaos source Beneath the Nine Abysses, and even the Battle for Order far, far better than most.

Such a reward was indeed hard for Su Yi to refuse!

Just as he was pondering, he heard something from beyond the formation over the cave. Someone was shooting right toward them.

Moments later, a deep male voice rang out. “Judging by the vestiges of battle, the one who killed Zhao Baihou is most likely still nearby.”

Immediately after, an icy, aged voice rang out. “You’re saying that the killer is hiding nearby? That saves us a lot of trouble! I’ll simply flatten everything within nine thousand miles. I refuse to believe I can’t force the criminal out into the open!”

“Good!”

…meanwhile, in the cave, Su Yi and the Heaven-Combating Ancient Fiend exchanged glances. Both were a bit surprised.