Chapter 415: The Ancient and Modern Recorder (26)

Su Chen gazed at the emptiness before him.

Across hundreds of millions of years, he had walked through the rise and fall of eras, witnessed the birth and destruction of universes, and seen the final end of spacetimes.

The heart that had never once wavered now stirred for the first time.

Just as he had said… for a being of his level, emotion was an extremely luxurious thing.

To him, Dongfang Yunxing was not merely a disciple but a fellow traveler on the same path, a confidant who had walked with him through these long years.

In one fleeting moment, the thought arose that he might overturn this entire spacetime and force Dongfang Yunxing to continue forward with him.

In the end, he abandoned that thought.

Dongfang Yunxing was tired.

When Su Chen had been targeted by great enemies and forced into endless cycles of reincarnation, even he himself had nearly become lost. No one could say how many eras had passed since the great war of the heavens. Dongfang Yunxing had once waited for him through those long years as well, yet that waiting had gradually grown numb with the turning of one era after another.

Su Chen did not know how Dongfang Yunxing had managed to persist until now with only a single thread of will.

So Su Chen remained silent.

If he truly acted to force Dongfang Yunxing to continue, would that be a good ending for him?

It would only be a cruel form of torment.

"True Immortal… True Immortal… even Immortals cannot attain true freedom and ease."

Complex emotions surfaced beneath the bronze mask.

"It is this master who has failed you."

Su Chen murmured in a low voice.

This spacetime began to flow from existence into nothingness.

Su Chen stood outside of time and never left.

He needed to see for himself exactly what kind of successor Yunxing had chosen!

...

On Clear Wind Mountain, Dongfang Yunxiao remained half-believing and half-doubting.

His master had always been unreliable.

What normal master would send a disciple out to rob people for birthday gifts, or snatch roasted chicken from that same disciple?

How could Grandmaster be such a petty person, flying into a rage simply because he had secretly hidden two roasted chickens?

It must have been that Master failed to take out the roasted chicken in time to entertain Grandmaster and thereby angered him!

Dongfang Yunxiao felt he was quite clever and had already drawn close to the truth of the matter.

He did not know what kind of person Grandmaster was, yet how could he not know what kind of person his own master was?

Unfortunately, from that day onward, he never saw Grandmaster again.

Dongfang Yunxiao grew up.

In the year he turned sixteen, his master drove him off Clear Wind Mountain. For Dongfang Yunxiao, this was exactly what he had longed for. He shouted toward the direction of Clear Wind Mountain, "Clear Wind Mountain, you old man! This young master is finally going out to roam the world! This young master will not disgrace the name of Clear Wind Mountain. I will make certain that everyone under heaven knows who I am!"

On Clear Wind Mountain, Dongfang Yunxing listened to the youth's impassioned declaration and could not help laughing as he cursed, "You stinking brat, if you dare lose this master's face and leave me unable to answer to your Grandmaster, then never return to Clear Wind Mountain again!"

Dongfang Yunxing watched the departing figure of the youth and stood dazed for a moment.

The corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

Just like a youth in his prime.

...

The years flowed on.

After leaving Clear Wind Mountain, Dongfang Yunxiao swept through every obstacle with almost no true opponents.

He defeated Quasi-Emperors and Rulers, suppressed the Three Thousand States, and attained enlightenment beneath the Myriad Burial Abyss.

He met the heroes of the age, crushed the prodigies of an entire era in the great genius war of the myriad realms, repeatedly turned danger into safety amid life-and-death crises, and at the end of the era comprehended life and death itself. His cultivation reached the realm of creation, and in a single leap he became one of the Emperor Lords of the present age.

Beyond spacetime, Su Chen watched all of this unfold.

At that moment, a crack appeared in the originally boundless void, evolving into another fragment of spacetime. From past to present, countless living beings were awakened. Within that other spacetime, several True Immortals stood guard. They joined forces to manifest the present world and invade the temporal node where Dongfang Yunxiao stood.

Su Chen watched the scene without intervening. Even though that other spacetime was stronger than the one Dongfang Yunxiao occupied, this too was a trial for him.

As the spacetime cracks merged, the two different fragments of spacetime began to complete their order. For experts of higher realms, this would increase the hope of breaking through to Immortality.

On the battlefield, Dongfang Yunxiao faced many powerful enemies. He was hailed as the genius with the greatest hope of becoming an Immortal.

To the other spacetime, this was not good news.

A tragic war erupted. Experts from past and present across the heavens besieged a single man.

More and more traces of the Great Dao circulated across Dongfang Yunxiao's body.

Those traces transformed into one silhouette after another upon him.

"I remember… I remember everything!"

Countless memories surged into Dongfang Yunxiao's mind like a tide.

At that moment, a long spear pierced straight through the long river of years, intending to erase Dongfang Yunxiao's past and obstruct his path to the Dao, even if it meant bearing enormous karma.

On Clear Wind Mountain, a white-haired young man focused his gaze and looked up.

"What gall! They actually dare to reverse karma and attempt to erase Yunxiao in the past!"

To kill a True Immortal about to achieve the Dao in the past was a karma that even a giant could not bear. Dongfang Yunxing did not know whom Dongfang Yunxiao's future had offended to draw such a terrifying upheaval!

There was no time for further thought. He prepared to act at once and block the strike for Dongfang Yunxiao.

As the remnant sword was drawn, spacetime trembled.

A soft voice of surprise and doubt came from the other spacetime.

"I did not expect a remnant Immortal was still lingering here. Yet a remnant Immortal is still only a remnant Immortal. Having lost status, how can you possibly block this Immortal's hand?"

The voice shifted from initial surprise to a cold laugh. He intended to erase Dongfang Yunxiao at the very instant of his Immortal breakthrough, even if it meant vanishing for it!

"This is…"

The cold laughter abruptly ceased.

At that moment, a figure wreathed in black qi suddenly appeared without the slightest warning. The iron sword Dongfang Yunxing was about to draw was frozen along with the stagnation of spacetime.

Seeing the familiar bronze mask on the newcomer's face, Dongfang Yunxing was both shocked and overjoyed.

The arrival was none other than Su Chen, who had been drifting beyond the two spacetimes.

"Does your Excellency intend to interfere?"

The True Immortal who had acted showed wariness in his eyes. They had sensed this strange True Immortal drifting outside spacetime, yet seeing that he showed no intention of stepping into either realm, they had paid him little attention.

Su Chen paid the True Immortal no mind. He spoke mildly to Dongfang Yunxing. "If you use that sword, you will vanish at once. Leave him to this master… All you need to do is witness the moment Yunxiao breaks through."

Such casual composure caused the True Immortal from the other spacetime to darken his expression. "Your Excellency is truly arrogant. Bearing so much karma, do you actually intend to obstruct this Immortal in this spacetime?"

Su Chen closed the book in his hands. The heaven and earth beneath his feet inverted and transformed into a golden torrent that floated both beneath and above the two of them.

"I… am karma itself."