Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 1086: Sword Left in the Mortal World

High in the sky was an ancient Summer Immortal. He had existed at the apex of Deep Earth and had walked his own path. He was a hero to Deep Earth, as he had led the cultivators from there to open up new horizons in Revered Ancient. He had crushed the Brilliant Heaven Godfolk, given rise to heavenly daos in Revered Ancient, and ensured that countless Deep Earth cultivators also had the chance to reach the apex.

For the purpose of protecting Deep Earth, of advancing the path of immortals, and of advancing the limits of the cultivation system, he and his companions had ventured out into the unfamiliar starry sky. They had sought enlightenment and destined opportunities. It had been a journey that lasted untold years. Now, one of them had returned.

Underneath that same sky was a new Summer Immortal. Though he could not quite compare to the Summer Immortals of the past, he had walked his own path, and was also a hero to humankind. After Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity left, he had killed gods, he had conquered other species, and he had waged war for the sake of keeping humankind safe. He had sacrificed everything for the sake of humans. To him, Deep Earth wasn’t important. The countless other species weren’t important. The only thing that mattered to him was humankind!

As of this moment, an old Summer Immortal and a new Summer Immortal locked eyes. When they did…

Heaven collapsed. Intense rumbling sounds echoed out as ripples filled the sky, making it look like undulated fish scales. They rippled so dramatically that spots started to appear. Then, accompanied by deafening booms, the spots shattered. The entire sky was affected. It almost looked as if a host of enormous devil’s trumpet flowers were blooming.[1]

As those flowers bloomed, an ancient voice spoke from beyond the heavens, a voice that filled Revered Ancient. The sea of Revered Ancient seethed. Countless species trembled. Every god that was under the level of a True God, including countless Godfire Gods and even Altar Gods, were all shaking. Even the extremely rare True Gods in their resting places… shivered inwardly.

That was because… the pressure in this voice surpassed the level of a peak Summer Immortal, and was infinitesimally close to that level which was equivalent to a God Lord. An Immortal Lord.

“It’s not impossible for you to be resurrected.”

Xu Qing inhaled sharply. The empress looked up, her heart, which had been full of desolation, suddenly stirring with hope.

“Submit to me. Take me into Revered Ancient to acquire what I seek. Once I dispel the fog in front of me and seize Immortal Lord personhood, then I can truly resurrect you.”

Silence reigned for a short time.

Then Swordsage spoke in a soft voice. “I grew up hearing stories about the nine of you Seniors. Your names are etched deeply in my memory. Your deeds brought light to my heart. I have great respect for all of you, even right now, oh exalted Ji Zun.”[2]

Swordsage bowed deeply. When he straightened up, his eyes glinted sharply. And when he spoke, his voice was more aggressive than before.

“But… are you really the exalted Ji Zun’s true form? I find it hard to believe that the nine Seniors who left Deep Earth, conquered the Brilliant Heaven Godfolk, and founded Revered Ancient, they with such pure emotions, would end up falling into this level of disgrace. I find it hard to believe that they would raise the butcher knife over their own descendants, all for personal gain. In fact, I refuse to believe it.”

Grand Emperor Swordsage spoke with decisiveness that could sever nails and chop iron.

Up in the sky, the black-robed old man on the high tower in the heavenly-level holy land looked down expressionlessly at Revered Ancient. With eyes locked onto Grand Emperor Swordsage, he coolly said, “Considering how difficult it must have been for you to push your cultivation to this level, I’m going to explain a few things to you.

“When it comes to Revered Ancient and Deep Earth, you could say that the entire cultivation system was created specifically for me to attain Immortal Lord personhood. It’s a profoundly meaningful thing. And all of the hard work that led to this point is for the purpose of creating a bright future.

“And thus, Junior, you are being too narrow-minded in your heart, mind, and will. Great daos are emotionless. If you want to continue making advancement, you need to keep your eyes fixed on what’s ahead.”

His voice boomed like thunder in Revered Ancient. Everyone heard him. Everyone understood what he meant. Some people agreed with what he said, others didn’t. But in the final analysis… everyone now knew why this holy land had suddenly shown up.

Unfortunately, it was easy to guess what this Summer Immortal sought, and the reason why the war had played out as it did. What he needed… was not some physical object. It seemed most likely that he needed life force. A blood sacrifice. Death…. It was hard to say the specifics. But everyone knew that it had nothing to do with the gods.

And this person was not planning to settle down in Revered Ancient. The broken face was not something he could fight against. Therefore… the arrival of this holy land, as well as the actions taken by the terrestrial- and celestial-level holy lands, just made things more obvious.

Swordsage shook his head. He looked away from the sky and to the surrounding lands. Gazing at humankind, he softly said, “I’m too narrow-minded in heart because all I care about is humankind.”

He lifted his hand and pointed The Emperor’s Sword toward the sky. “I’m too simplistic in mind because all I care about is humankind.”

Winds screamed across the lands, creating a tempest with Grand Emperor Swordsage in the middle. It spread dramatically. “I’m too immature in will because, yet again, all I care about is humankind.”

Grand Emperor Swordsage’s eyes gleamed with mysterious light that was a mixture of determination and decisiveness. His hand tightened on The Emperor’s Sword. And his aura was rising explosively. Wild colors flashed in heaven and earth. Thunderous rumbling sounds filled Revered Ancient.

“Great daos might be emotionless. But that doesn’t mean emotions don’t exist. As we tread onward, we don’t just keep our eyes fixed on the path ahead of us… we also enjoy the scenery around us, as well as the company of our loved ones. If walking this path means trampling on the corpses of my own people and drinking their blood… well… I’m not willing to do that!”

As those last words left Grand Emperor Swordsage’s mouth, his eyes blazed with brilliant light, and he looked up, his gaze passing into what lay beyond the heavens. His aura raged to the highest heights. The power and life force he had absorbed from all of his enemies, including the Grand Emperors, burned with great intensity, all despite the increasing strength of his aura of death.

All of a sudden, the vortex surrounding Swordsage swelled, filling region after region. At the same time, Swordsage himself grew dramatically taller until he was an enormous giant. The Emperor’s Sword in his hand became massive. Hefting it, he said, “My sword skills evolved during different stages of my life. In total, I created five techniques. The first four are Earth Treasury, Rending the Void, Heavenly Palaces, and Star Splendor….

“In the battle in which I defended my Summer, my life force was clearly sputtering out, so I had no opportunity to use the fifth one. But today, that sword will finally make its appearance in Revered Ancient.

“It’s called… The Human World!”

As Swordsage murmured those words, ancient memories welled up in his mind. Within those memories, he saw a glorious world. There was no war. There were no gods. Countless species rose to great heights under the leadership of the Ancient Emperor.

This was the flourishing human world before the broken face came.

Sighing, Swordsage hefted his sword and then slashed it toward the sky. A sword that contained all of the majesty and life of the human world shot upward. Next, Swordsage envisioned what happened after the broken face arrived and Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity left. It was a dark age. Corpses littered the earth, and howls of grief and anguish filled the sky everywhere. The sky went dark, and humankind descended into despair.

That was… the anguish of the human world.

Swordsage bitterly swept his sword out again, sending forth a sword move that contained the despair of all living beings. It shot toward the sky!

Next came the difficulties of the human world after Emperor Eastglory was defeated.

Then the struggles of the human world in the era of Sageheaven.

After that, the revival of the human world under Mirrorcloud’s control.

And then the tenacity of the human world when Dao Life reigned.

It was followed by the struggles of the human world for the thousands of years that Dark War ruled.

As the memories of the different time periods of the human world flitted through Grand Emperor Swordsage’s mind, they caused glittering swords to appear in the canopy of heaven.[3]

Finally, the image of Empress Summer Departure appeared in Swordsage’s memories. After she ascended the throne, the human world rose to prominence!

Swordsage smiled. “This is the human world that I have safeguarded.”

His body blurred as the aura of death covered him completely. As that happened, a sword shot forth that was filled with the glory of the human world, risen to prominence.

Up in the dome of heaven was the history of humankind that Swordsage had experienced. It was embodied in a host of swords that merged together into one massive sword that was The Human World. As Grand Emperor Swordsage called on all of his remaining strength, he slashed that sword at the dome of heaven, at the area beyond the heavens, at… the holy lands!

The sword split the sky, crushing everything in its path with impunity. Spectacular force glittered, the likes of which couldn’t be surpassed.

If that ancient immortal represented the will of heaven, then this sword represented the will of humankind, ready to battle with heaven! In the blink of an eye, it broke out from Revered Ancient and smashed into the four earthly-level holy lands that posed the first obstacle.

Outside of Revered Ancient, sound was consumed by the void. But all living beings could see what was happening, and it was a sight that shook them to the core and created an unforgettable memory. Four earthly-level holy lands… trembled violently. The momentum of their descent was halted, and they were sent tumbling away. They had been defeated with one attack!

Regret appeared in the eyes of the ancient immortal.

“That’s an outstanding sword move. If you weren’t in your current state, and were an actual Summer Immortal, then that sword would strike fear into my heart. But right now….”

The ancient immortal extended his hand toward the sword. He was going to destroy it. But then, his gaze hardened as his hand closed onto nothing. It was because….

The sword wasn’t actually targeting him! Instead, it was targeting the sealing mark up above that prevented all living beings from leaving Revered Ancient!

Sword light glittered, carrying with it the will of the human world and the will of Swordsage, which pierced into the sealing mark. Then it shifted to point toward the broken face of Eminent Desolation, the eyes of which were closed. If the sword shot forth, then the broken face would be struck, and the eyes would definitely open. As for what would happen after that, nobody knew. Whatever happened, nobody would be able to control or stop it.

The immortal’s face fell. He could see that The Human World had been set up with him in mind. It wouldn’t do much to anyone else, but if he got close to the sword, it would explode. His eyes shifted from the sealing mark to Grand Emperor Swordsage.

“Well done, youngster. There was still a chance you could have been truly resurrected, but you gave that up to delay my arrival. Well, that’s fine. The will of your sword will only last for half of a sixty-year-cycle…. I don’t mind letting you wait that much longer. I’ll be waiting out here for the sword will to vanish.”

The immortal slowly faded from sight. The heavenly-level holy land and the four earthly-level holy lands retreated.

1. The flower mentioned here is Datura stramonium, a poisonous flowering plant. The flowers sort of look like trumpets. Here’s the wiki page for the flower, which includes a picture. In Chinese, the name of the flower is a transliteration of a sanskrit word, so the specific characters aren’t really important per se. ☜

2. Ji Zun: This is an odd name. Ji is a surname which also means “to draw/suck up water.” Since there is another surname Ji that’s important in I Shall Seal the Heavens (that clan was even mentioned in the ISSTH reference I linked to a few chapters ago), I should probably point out that this is NOT the same Ji from that novel. It’s a different Ji entirely. Zun is a complicated character that is often used as a title. In other words, this name could be interpreted as a daoist name. In the comments in Chinese, the top comment was someone speculating that the name means “a respected person who sucks the life out of all people.” There were many other comments that were essentially making jokes about the “sucking” aspect of this character. Madam Deathblade had the same reaction. Given how unusual this name is, there’s a possibility it’s a daoist name. Similar to how I’ve handled other names, I am going to put a mental bookmark here and reserve the right to come back and change it to a translated daoist name later on if that makes sense. At the moment, there isn’t enough evidence to say definitively how it should be handled, and I don’t want to bother the author about it. ☜

3. The stories of the various emperors were first recounted in chapter 401. They were all mentioned in many contexts in other chapters, but probably the most important were the revelations in chapters 950 and 951. ☜

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