Cohabitation with Sword Spirit

Chapter 516 - 17: Zhao Chenlu Pervades Everywhere

Wang Jiu’s summary of this pattern had actually been widely debated during the Jiuzhou Era.

However, back then, people’s focus of debate was solely on Wang Jiu himself.

As for legendary charm, in fact, the Nameless Sword God of that time surpassed the First Generation Sect Leader of the Saint Sect.

In that era of highly developed and prosperous Immortal Dao civilization, where cultivators were as common as dogs, people’s understanding of cultivation and cultivators was already very deep.

Under what conditions what kind of talent could be nurtured was almost a result that could be derived directly using formulas. While cultivation aptitude had some randomness—a genius cultivator’s offspring might be mediocre, yet a mortal mountain village might give birth to a prodigy. However, as one continuously ascends through the Immortal Cultivation Realm, this randomness is leveled out by environmental orderliness.

A simple example would be, between a genius born into poverty and a mediocre person from a scholarly family, who ultimately achieves higher academic success?

If it’s just a matter of competing in basic arithmetic or literacy, the genius from poverty naturally has a high chance of winning, but as the academic layer begins to deepen, the disparity in educational resources will rapidly reflect in their achievements. One can easily absorb the wisdom accumulated over hundreds and thousands of years, while the other can only rely on personal strength to contend with the ancient sages of thousands of years, so the outcome is evident.

This orderliness made it so that there hadn’t been so-called surprises on the Jiuzhou Continent for many years. What kind of person could become a Great Cultivator, what kind could lead a sect or a family in the same era. Whether a family would prosper or decline in the next hundred years, everything was incorporated into a fixed trajectory.

Then, a child born in the Sword Pool shattered this trajectory.

With a posture exceeding common sense, in fifty years stood at the peak of Immortal Dao, touching the gateway to the immortality realm that countless people dreamt of.

If not for the outbreak of the war between Immortals and Demons, the Nameless Sword God would undoubtedly have become the Jiuzhou Continent’s first cultivator to ascend to the Void.

And that was more than five hundred years ahead of the most optimistic expectations of the Myriad Immortals Alliance at the time.

Even if the laws of heaven and earth adjusted optimistically, constantly moving in a direction favorable to cultivators, it would still require at least another five hundred years of accumulation on the Jiuzhou Continent to birth a true Void Realm cultivator. The step from the peak of the Heaven Shattering Realm to the Void is so challenging that some even describe it as a distance farther than from mortal to Heaven Shattering peak!

To truly break the barrier, one must accumulate Immortal Dao theory, accumulate more resources, nurture higher-quality talents, perfect the entire Immortal Cultivation System, requiring the entire continent to strive for five hundred years.

However, this whole theory failed on Wang Jiu. He didn’t receive any elite family’s resources, nor did he have an all-out planned path for cultivation since birth, not to mention he broke barriers through self-understanding. Such a person ultimately far surpassed everyone else, causing people to be curious about how he came to be?

No one believed it was merely a coincidence, especially since the war between Immortals and Demons broke out just as Wang Jiu’s fame rose, and people’s speculations soon mixed with malice.

Ultimately, it was the Jiu Immortal Venerables’ sheer force that terminated such speculations and debates and eventually, alongside Wang Jiu, they won the war between Immortals and Demons. But Wang Jiu himself memorized that entire discussion profoundly, and even more so remembered the theory with which the Jiu Immortal Venerables rebutted doubts at that time.

What decides whether something is suspicious is not its unprecedented nature but its lack of subsequent recurrence.

That is to say, an event suddenly occurring that never happened before isn’t necessarily surprising, for historical mutations are actually quite common. For example, the first cultivator who comprehended the Immortal Dao carries more historical significance than someone like Wang Jiu who advances further from an established height,—was he also the product of a conspiracy? In the long history of cultivation on the Jiuzhou Continent, there is no shortage of prodigies leading their era with their own efforts. Instead, the orderliness seen during the Myriad Immortals Alliance era appears to be an anomaly.

The occurrence of mutations is likely due to previous generations overlooking some elements, which leads them to perceive sudden events as anomalies. But in reality, as long as there’s a first instance, a second and third will soon follow, such as the first person to understand Immortal Dao—even if he hadn’t, the strengthening of Heaven and Earth Spirit Wind and human proliferation would inevitably lead others to comprehend Immortal Dao.

Wang Jiu’s situation was indeed similar; soon after birth, he was abandoned to the Sword Pool, and even if such a thing happened ten thousand times, there would at most be one baby who survives. But once someone sets this precedent, given the developmental level of human civilization, someone will inevitably replicate it.

In fact, during the war between Immortals and Demons, Zhao Yuming and Shang Lanfei jointly conducted preliminary experiments and achieved interim results.

Hence, even the Celestial Divine Sword miracle is not really an exception. But the First Generation Sect Leader of the Saint Sect exhibited anomalies that were perplexing.

——

"So, now to unravel these mysteries, it’s best to find the secret records of the First Generation Sect Leader and see how they actually explained their behavior."

After hearing Wang Jiu’s arguments and demands, the Saint Sect Leader fell into prolonged silence, then chuckled wryly: "...The diary of the First Generation Sect Leader? Sadly, no such thing exists. Actually, it makes sense, doesn’t it? Given they never disclosed it even in their most selfless days, how could they casually leave it for future generations to appreciate?"

Wang Jiu said, "If it’s not meant for someone else to appreciate, why make the record at all? With their cultivation, isn’t it enough to keep things in their mind?"

The Sect Leader was rendered speechless.

Indeed, perhaps for ordinary humans, convoluted daily details must rely on other mediums to be fully recorded, but cultivators with enhanced divine sense have memories far superior to humans.

If the historical records of the Shang Family are true, and the two first generation sect leaders indeed privately recorded something, then it must be meant for others to see.

"But as far as I know, there really is no such record," the Sect Leader said. "Each past sect leader, when transferring power, would leave most of their assets to their successors. And before they entered chaos and began their final explorations, they would generously offer everything they possessed, so the relics of past sect leaders are all preserved within the Saint Sect, including those of the first generation sect leader, yet there is nothing resembling a diary among them."

Wang Jiu listened but still refused to give up: "Take me to see."

"...Alright."

The Sect Leader nodded, agreeing to Wang Jiu’s request without much hesitation.

Although the relics of all past sect leaders of the Saint Sect are stored within the forbidden zone, for someone he is preparing to designate as a sect leader successor, the forbidden zone does not hold such strong taboos.

Moreover, Wang Jiu’s near-obsessive suspicion of the first generation sect leader compelled him to take this matter seriously.

If anything went wrong, the Saint Sect’s two thousand years of pristine reputation could be tarnished, so he preferred to handle the affair more meticulously, leaving no flaws. If the Celestial Divine Sword wants to see the relics, then let him see them. No one has found any issues for the past two thousand years, could he... really find any issues?

Could those two sect leaders, recognized as saints by the world, really have an unknown side?

——

Soon after, the Sect Leader led Wang Jiu to the entrance of the Saint Sect’s forbidden zone.

Contrary to the imagination of most outsiders, the forbidden zone of the Saint Sect was not hidden in some remote, inaccessible place, nor did it have layers upon layers of mechanical traps. It was merely a five-story square tower standing on an open ground, the entrance guarded by an elderly white-haired man seated like a stone lion behind a square table.

The Sect Leader sighed upon seeing him.

"Martial Uncle, you’re sleeping on the job again."

The old man merely opened his eyes, remained silent, while his hands continued to meticulously transcribe scriptures on the table, putting on the appearance of a diligent worker.

The Sect Leader walked over and tweaked a beard hair from him, causing the old man to shiver and exclaim, "Which bastard... Hey, Sect Leader, it’s you? I wasn’t slacking off!"

As he spoke, his hand continued to transcribe scriptures with steady and strong strokes.

The Sect Leader grabbed the brush, only to see that, though without human control, it continued writing and drawing in mid-air nonstop—it wasn’t the old man writing at all, but the magically enhanced brush that was guiding the old man’s hand to transcribe scriptures, feigning alertness.

"...Martial Uncle, you used this trick when I was a child, no one is fooled by it now. Please try to stay alert during the day. You are quite old now, if you sleep too much, you might not wake up."

"Hahaha, Sect Leader, don’t worry. Before setting a new longevity record, I won’t die. Since joining the Saint Sect, I haven’t contributed much, let me at least add one more record before I die."

The old man laughed heartily, then pulled out a painting album with a cover of a seductive woman, reading it engrossedly, all the while slipping a hand into his clothing...

The Sect Leader immediately snatched the illicit book away.

"Enough, Martial Uncle, your vitality is already waning, don’t waste it on unnecessary bodily fluid loss! I brought someone today to view the relics of the first generation sect leader, please help us with the registration."

The old man nodded begrudgingly, took out a register, and seriously began the registration process, writing as he spoke: "Checking the first generation sect leader’s relics again? You’ve looked at them three times in the past two days, have you found anything?"

The Sect Leader was suddenly puzzled: "Three times, when?"

The old man paused, hurriedly flipping the register to the previous page: "Look, just last night, you brought City Lord Zhao Chenlu to the tower to inspect the first generation sect leader’s inheritance, then ten minutes ago you came with her again... Eh, strange, there’s no record of you leaving, was I asleep just now?"

Hearing this, the Sect Leader’s face suddenly turned ashen.