Evil Venerable of the Sword Dao
Chapter 267 - 145 South Desolate First

Chapter 267: Chapter 145 South Desolate First

"Let me introduce myself again, I am ’Zhuge Wuwei’, and they all call me ’Wu’. You can do the same.

Gu Yan, named ’Zhuge Gu Yan’, is my son."

"This..."

Zhou Yan thought of the name ’Wu’ and he was taken aback, because it reminded him of ’Yao’, which was also a single character.

But soon, he let it go.

He finally understood why his father always had opportunities, because without the protection of the Heavenly Mechanism Lineage, his father simply wouldn’t have survived.

With Li Cangsheng targeting him, how could Zhou Wangchen possibly live peacefully? How could he have had the chance to obtain the Supreme Forget Love Swordsmanship?

Now, he had found the answers to everything.

Yet, Zhou Yan hated and didn’t hate.

The Tianji Clan had such methods but allowed his father to suffer; such methods were indeed too cruel.

But it must be said, cruel methods were more suited to this world.

Without the Tianji Clan, there would be no Zhou Yan today. But if it weren’t for the Tianji Clan, Zhou Yan believed he wouldn’t have ended up in such a state.

"Do you hate me? I watched Feng Lingqing fall into the Void’s turbulent flow and didn’t intervene. Because if I had, you wouldn’t have sought strength with such fervor."

"Not only that, to make you grow, I would even send people to kill any of your relatives and friends."

Zhuge Wuwei once again delivered a very heavy answer.

"You hate me, you resent me, but this is what I owe you. I owe it to you on behalf of my son."

"I don’t care if you hate me."

"What a pity, I couldn’t kill Jiang Yuning, but that Ping’er, I’m afraid she no longer has any hope of being alive."

"That Gu Xi, she entered the Thunder Flame Breaking Path Mountain. She can be considered my granddaughter. But while I indeed cannot bear to kill her, I will suppress her memories and strip her of her emotions."

"For the Holy Daughter’s marriage contest, I will send the Tianji Clan’s genius disciples to vie for her. If you have the ability, defend against them, or take the Holy Daughter for yourself."

Zhuge Wuwei said bit by bit.

His tone was very slow, and there wasn’t the slightest bit of hatred.

But his words sent chills down one’s spine.

"Why... why must it be this way? Don’t I know myself that I need to be strong? Do you understand better than I that I need strength?"

Zhou Yan didn’t want to look into Zhuge Wuwei’s eyes, because it would be fatal.

But he still did.

At that moment, he saw a pair of dead fish-like eyes, grey and dim, without any flow of emotions, and without any luster to speak of.

In them, there was also no creation or destruction of worlds, nor the intersection of time.

He was like a blind man, because he didn’t want Zhou Yan to see his eyes.

"My child, who has understood life and death, has comprehended my ’Wuwei’ principle. Now he has obtained an opportunity, but he has also become entwined with you and your father in the karma of Heaven and Earth. As a father who is incapable, the only thing I can do is cultivate you with all my might.

And my way of cultivation is very cruel. Because in this cruel world, a man can stand above all, but cannot tame a woman.

No strong man is a match for the ultimate Holy Daughter of her lineage.

Women are calamities.

They always have been.

Strong men, not one, has not died at the hand of a woman for various reasons.

I’ve already made one mistake, which led to the demise of the Emperor Qi Sword Body amidst Heaven and Earth.

That day, blood dyed the Sword Burial Ancestor Star red and also tinted my eyes red.

This time, I will not make a mistake."

Zhuge Wuwei’s voice was too calm, like an ancient well without ripples.

But Zhou Yan felt an icy chill in his heart.

"If that’s the case, what’s the point of being strong? If you become strong, but lose everything."

Zhou Yan took a deep breath and said calmly.

"Have you lost anything? If you’ve never had, you can’t talk about loss."

Zhuge Wuwei said calmly, and then, with his hands behind his back, showed a desolate silhouette as he said, "This is a world of the Void Body, what you see may not be real; what you hear may also not be real. Even what you sense might not be genuine.

This includes what I’m saying to you now; it’s all the same.

If you think it’s real, then it’s real. If you think it’s fake, then it’s fake...

Nine Origin Reincarnation will not appear in a few short years; it’s a long process. In this process, all geniuses of this generation will grow at least to the level of Void Nine.

After Void Nine, they will face the Heavenly Dao Tribulation and All Heavens Thunder Tribulation. Those who pass will find a new world.

Those who fail will become discarded pieces. You can’t imagine how tragic the destiny of a discarded piece is.

But right now, you don’t even have the qualifications to be a chess piece, let alone a discarded one.

Because you have not yet been able to condense a Sword Soul.

Condensing a Sword Soul and growing up, that is what’s real. Everything else is not as important as you think."

Zhuge Wuwei spoke with implications.

Zhou Yan fell silent.

He was no fool, he understood that Zhuge Wuwei’s words even included ’Yanyan’.

Master Zhuge Wuwei was actually saying that Yanyan is not as important as Zhou Yan thought.

But...

If one truly abandons everything, can they still be called human?

Zhou Yan was a bit confused, but soon, he solidified his own Tao, and with it, his heart.

In his heart, he affirmed his current path, unaffected by the words of Master Zhuge Wuwei.

"I understand all this now, that’s enough. Thank you for the guidance, Master Zhuge."

Zhou Yan said thoughtfully.

Then, once more, he gazed at the silhouette of Zhuge Wuwei and spoke, "Now, I would like the answers to a few matters."

"I have said before, the answers you seek may not necessarily reflect reality. And what I tell you may not necessarily happen in the future."

Zhuge Wuwei’s voice was calm and emotionless like still water.

"It doesn’t matter. I’m just looking for peace of mind. Please tell me what you believe to be the answers."

Zhou Yan said straightforwardly, hiding nothing.

"Sigh, it seems your training is still insufficient," Zhuge Wuwei let out a sigh.

"Insufficient as it may be, I still have to ask. First, has Uncle Gu Yan recovered his memory and no longer wants to see me? Or has he gone to cooperate with Cai Ling, plotting against me?"

"If someone wants you to see certain things, they will naturally make you see them. But that does not mean they are true. Real or false, it is up to you to discern. Gu Yan has recovered his memory and is enduring hardships in the Ten Thousand Ghosts Sword Tomb. He would not design schemes or traps against you, not even in death.

There is someone there known as ’Ancestor of Ten Thousand Ghosts,’ with whom you share some fate.

There is also a sword there, one of the dual swords of Ice and Snow, the main sword of Cai Ling’s void projector Feng Lingqing. Obtaining it would bring you great benefits."

"Okay, I believe this matter. The second question, is Feng Lingqing dead? Is the child within her really mine?"

"The life and death of Feng Lingqing are not within my calculations; typically, such a situation suggests she is still wandering between life and death. Her child... Your question, I foresaw it when you arrived.

Listen carefully to my answer now. The child is yours, but that child has already chosen to end their own life.

She gave up her life because, at the time of her birth, she already possessed thoughts. And it seems her thoughts have already experienced a painful lifetime. Therefore, she herself cut her umbilical cord, giving up the chance to come into this world."

"What?!"

Zhou Yan’s voice trembled.

"Whether it is so, I do not know. I can only make predictions, not have knowledge. And to predict this, I have already lost the strength of an entire realm, and my eyes are destroyed in the Tao.

If I continue to predict this matter, I will lose the qualification for the Nine Origin Reincarnation opportunity. So, I hope you will not make it hard for me.

Additionally, every universe has a different method of calculating time. The world within the womb is a universe unto itself. If fate allows, you should find a way to enter and discover the reasons yourself."

"Fine, I won’t ask about this problem anymore. My third question is, what realm are you in now?"

"Those with the true qualifications of Nine Origin Reincarnation are all Nine Origin Sword Saints. This I do not need to tell you; you will inevitably come to know it."

"I understand."

Zhou Yan nodded but then suddenly laughed coldly, "You are all playing chess, all calculating this game where everyone is a piece, an ant, all expendable!"

"But you did not consider that not only have you joined the game, there are also more terrifying individuals involved. And when choosing pieces, there might be one or several mighty individuals picking the same powerful piece, hence the game is in chaos."

"However, to you, pieces are pieces, even if they are a bit stronger, they remain pawns! They are ants, indistinguishable from ordinary ants."

Zhou Yan grew agitated, but after a few sentences, he calmed down again.

He shouldn’t have been so agitated because it wouldn’t change anything.

"Think whatever you like. I will only do my best to make you powerful, to motivate you. I am merely your ’guide,’ choosing the methods most conducive to your growth to intervene.

But I cannot help you solidify your Sword Soul.

If you don’t want to become just a piece, or even worse, an abandoned child, then you must first become a strong piece yourself. Only then, without becoming an abandoned child, can you contemplate stepping out of the chess game.

Those mighty ones, with tens or even hundreds of thousands of years of cultivation and wisdom accumulative, naturally they know everything you do.

So, cultivate in silence, don’t foolishly attempt anything. If you believed your few decades of wisdom could surpass the accumulation of tens of thousands of years of others’ wisdom, then you wouldn’t be here in front of me.

Cultivate well, solidify your Sword Soul quickly, for more and more mighty ones are beginning to emerge. And because of the rules and agreements, those stronger than the Void Realm will not appear for now. So, become the South Desolate First when you’re able, and you will learn much more."

"South Desolate First?"

Zhou Yan fell silent.

With the cultivation of Master Zhuge Wuwei, there was no need to deceive him.

It was like Yao: the difference between them was like that of the bright moon and a firefly; not even the necessity to deceive exists.

"Yes, South Desolate First. Above the great houses of the world, there are ’Four Deserts, Heavenly Water Three Islands, Yin Yang Dark Domain’—three places in total. Together they make nine and manifest a supreme territory. Only by achieving the status of the top individual in one of the deserts can one progress further."

"You should know that the Void Realm is not the endpoint of cultivation. Beyond the Void Realm, one must transcend the Heavenly Dao, Fate, and other All Heavens Thunder Tribulations. But in this world right now, no one transcends tribulation, nor does thunder spontaneously appear. This is because the powerful beings of higher realms have all perished."

"Even if ancient geniuses arrive in this era, they too start from below ’Tribulation Realm,’ from ’Void Realm,’ and begin their arduous cultivation.

Nine Changes of Sword Void, Nine Refinements of Sword Tribulation.

On the path of cultivation, the gaps between geniuses are not stretched too wide. This is the Heavenly Dao of Sword Burial Ancestor Star."

"It is rumored that Sword Burial Ancestor Star evolved from the bloodline and body of a supreme Sword Dao being. His eyes transformed into the sun and moon, his bloodline into mountains, rivers, and streams, his hair into forests, and his flesh became the very earth. Those secret realms and other ancient traces on Sword Burial Ancestor Star are the transmutations of the Sword Dao powerhouse’s acupoints, concealing essence within them.

Another rumor suggests that this Sword Dao powerhouse had a cluster of purple flames at his brow, harboring Primordial Magnetic Pole Light. Inside, there are supreme Sword Dao essences hidden. This secret realm might be related to the City of No Tears.

Should one obtain it..."

Master Zhuge Wuwei heaved a sigh, and at this point, his words halted.

He looked up to the sky as if yearning for that enigmatic land endlessly.