Su Yi listened to Innocence’s explanation, then said, “What would you do if the Profound Blood Demons came to bring you back?”
Innocence didn’t hesitate. “They’d be doomed to disappointment!”
“What if they said they have uncovered and killed the culprit already?”
“It’s too late!” said Innocence, her eyes full of hatred. “Countless years have passed since the Devastation came to a close, and none of them ever came for me. Why should I forgive them just because they came to get me now?”
She then looked at Su Yi and gazed intently at him. “Master, you don’t understand the Celestial Demons. There’s never been any sort of familial bonds between us. There’s only cruelty, competition, and slaughter. I can say with certainty that if I return, my clansmen will do everything in their power to strip me of my progenitor bloodline!”
Before Su Yi could ask, Innocence patiently explained the situation.
The Celestial Demons were divided into clans big and small. Their numbers were enormous, and they lived all across the Void. No matter the clan, everyone who lived in the Void was ruthless. Celestial Demons were more than willing to kill even their closest relatives in the name of growing stronger! This was common knowledge among them, and they were accustomed to it. They thought it was simply the way of the world.
The Outsider Celestial Demons had a strict hierarchy, with insurmountable chasms between ranks. In the face of this strict hierarchy, familial bonds meant nothing at all.
All of this was connected to the nature of their cultivation. Celestial Demons were bodies formed out of heart devils. The only way for them to grow stronger was to devour other heart devils!
Thus, the Void was plagued with battles year-round, a constant storm of bloodshed.
All of the fighting was for the sake of their cultivation. They slew their enemies to strengthen themselves.
The rulers of the Celestial Demons, the Demon Sovereigns, had all slaughtered and devoured countless other Celestial Demons on the path to becoming Demon Sovereigns!
“When I still lived with my clansmen, I had a lofty status, but I knew that it wasn’t because I was strong, but rather because I had the progenitor’s bloodline,” Innocence explained calmly. “Similarly, I knew that both outsiders and my clan elders coveted that bloodline, and that they were just waiting for me to awaken it. The moment I awakened my bloodline, they’d have struck without hesitation and tried to claim it for themselves!
“I won’t lie to you, Master. Cultivating by your side is far, far better than returning home. At the very least... I don’t need to worry that I’ll awaken my talent, only to lose my life.”
Su Yi finally understood. Innocence’s hatred wasn’t simply because she’d been betrayed. She felt no allegiance to her people. On the contrary, she saw her clansmen, and every other Celestial Demon, as a potential enemy!
All of this was due to the nature of the Celestial Demons’ Dao. They were each other’s natural enemies, and they saw each other as prey to help them break through and cultivate.
Su Yi pondered briefly, then asked, “If the Void is embroiled in battle year-round, and if you’re always devouring each other, doesn’t that mean your numbers are doomed to shrink?”
This was a question of their race’s long-term survival.
Innocence shook her head. “Whenever a cultivator of the River of Destiny gives rise to a heart devil, a heart devil is born in the Void. So long as cultivators exist in this world, new heart devils will arise in the Void and condense into new Celestial Demons.”
Su Yi was briefly stunned. He suddenly recalled the time he’d discussed this very problem with his first incarnation’s heart devil.
The Void was the ancestral ground of all heart devils. So long as cultivators existed, heart devils would too. Their connection, naturally, was full of endless profundities.
It was much like how, when a cultivator underwent tribulation and broke through, there was a chance that they’d invite an Outsider Celestial Demon. If their body was invaded, they risked losing themself to obsession, and that’s if they got off lightly. If things went wrong, they might even die!
His first incarnation’s heart devil even said that if he went to the Void, the Celestial Demons would have no choice but to prostrate themselves before him.
Innocence continued, “Celestial Demons are like chives. They grow endlessly, but if you harvest them too aggressively, you could cause a temporary shortage.
“When our numbers decrease too sharply, especially if it threatens the Sovereign Clans, the Demon Sovereigns will work together to send our armies into the River of Destiny instead!
“Cultivators’ heart power is fuel for their cultivation, too.” Here, Innocence paused, her expression strange. “If the Demon Sovereigns knew how strong your heart was, Master, they’d undoubtedly see you as a supreme, unparalleled stroke of good fortune.”
Su Yi blinked in surprise, then laughed. “To tell the truth, I feel the same way about them. I see Outsider Celestial Demon Sovereigns as wondrous supplements for my cultivation of the heart.”
Innocence grinned. This was Su Yi’s first time seeing such a natural, radiant, and pure smile on her face. This was the smile of “true innocence.”
Something suddenly occurred to him. “You’ve been in seclusion for years, undergoing some sort of metamorphosis, but you’ve yet to truly break through. Does your transformation perhaps have something to do with awakening your progenitor bloodline?”
Innocence nodded.
“Cultivate in the Book of Destiny going forward,” said Su Yi. The power of Divine Wrath was immeasurably, wondrously useful for tempering the heart. Now that Innocence had won his recognition, he naturally wouldn’t be selfish.
Innocence was briefly stunned. After a brief pause, she said, “Mm!” then lowered her head and stared at her toes, unwilling to let Su Yi see how truly overcome with excitement she was.
......
Su Yi spent another three days in the Golden Frost Forbidden Zone. During that time, he conversed with River Ancestor Lu Shu, River Ancestor Shen Xiao, River Ancestor Sparrow, and the others one by one, making various arrangements.
He also repeatedly visited the spring to see if any further Celestial Demons crossed over, but his hopes were dashed. In the end, he just placed a formation over the spring.
The formation wasn’t intended to kill his enemies. It would simply inform him and his allies the moment Outsider Celestial Demons crossed over.
Three days later, Su Yi bade the group farewell and left the River of Destiny alone.
......
A group of young disciples was traveling with one of their sect elders. They were tempering themselves atop the River of Destiny.
“Be careful, all of you! Whatever you do, don’t act without permission! Let me tell you: every wave on the river’s surface is dangerous enough to bury us all!” said the black-robed old man leading the group, his expression stern as he explained the River of Destiny’s perils.
“Martial Uncle, is it true that only Heavenly Sovereigns can enter the River of Destiny safely?”
“That’s right!” the old man in black said staunchly. “Anyone beneath that level who tries it is doomed!”
Boom!
As they conversed, a storm arose on the distant surface of the river, and a swarm of strange ghosts appeared, fangs bared and claws waving about.
The old man looked stricken.
Waylay Ghosts!
They were a terrifying spirit of the River of Destiny. They lurked in the current, and they specialized in waylaying cultivators who traversed the river.
That storm contained at least a hundred of them!
“We’re finished!” said the old man. His hands and feet went numb with fright. Given his cultivation, he was no match for so many Waylay Ghosts, especially not here on the River of Destiny.
The young disciples watched in horror, all of them rooted in place.
Kaboom!
The storm raged, and the swarm of Waylay Ghosts shot forth, grinning hideously as they attacked.
But before they got far, the whirling storm froze, and the churning waters sank into a sudden, unnatural stillness.
The lunging Waylay Ghosts were like bugs caught in a spider web, unable to advance any further.
The old man in black and his young companions watched in confusion, only to see something even more unbelievable a moment later.
The distant surface of the river split, and a young man in blue robes sauntered out of the gap, hands behind his back. He seemed as if he were out for a casual stroll, but he reached the river’s surface in a flash, then waved his hand.
Boom!
The windstorm split, then dissipated.
The Waylay Ghosts plopped into the river like dumplings, then shrieked and scampered off in panic.
The stilled waters returned to normal, rejoining the boundless current, but there was no further sign of the storm, nor of the Waylay Ghosts.
But the young man in blue was still there. He surveyed the area, and it seemed he had something on his mind.
The old man and his companions watched, wide-eyed and tongue-tied, so stunned that they half suspected they were dreaming.
“Forgive the interruption, but might you tell me where I can find the nearest port?” asked the young man in blue, turning to look at the group.
The old man in black reacted as if awakening from a dream. He hurriedly clasped his fist and said, “Senior, the nearest port is ninety thousand miles away. It leads to the Azure Spirit Continent.”
The young man in blue smiled and nodded. “Thanks!”
With that, he turned to leave, fast as a beam of glowing light. In the blink of an eye, he’d vanished into the distance.
Only then did the group on board the treasure ship come back to their senses.
“Martial Uncle, was that... perhaps a Heavenly Sovereign?” someone stammered.
A Heavenly Sovereign! The group’s hearts shook. That’s right. Martial Uncle just said that only Heavenly Sovereigns can safely enter the River of Destiny, and that young man walked out of the river!
“I’ve never seen the nine Heavenly Sovereigns with my own eyes, but I’ve seen their portraits. None of them looked like him,” murmured the old man in black. His eyes were dazed.
A disciple said in a quavering voice, “Martial Uncle, I got a good look at that man earlier, and I think he’s... he’s...”
“Who is he?” the others urged.
The disciple finally worked up the courage to say, “Su Yi!”
Su Yi!?
A deathly silence descended over the group. All of them were flabbergasted.
Word of the Struggle for Heavenly Fate hadn’t spread, as the Heavenly Sovereigns had worked together to seal it.
Still, over the past several months, almost every Heavenly Sovereign faction declared a certain somebody wanted. And that was none other than Su Yi, the reincarnation of the founder of the Heart-Tempering Sword House, Jiang Wuchen!
This development had led to countless debates.
But who among those on board could have imagined that the blue-robed young man who’d saved their lives was the famous Su Yi?
The old man in black gnashed his teeth and said, “Su Yi? There’s no way. You must have been mistaken. That senior couldn’t possibly have been Su Yi!”
The disciples were stunned, but before any of them could respond, the old man growled, “You are not to leak a single word of what happened here. If you do, it won’t just implicate you; all of your friends and families will be implicated, too! Do you understand?”
All of them were startled as they realized what the old man in black was trying to say.
...
Elsewhere on the River of Destiny.
Su Yi rushed along, his robes billowing around him.
It had been almost a year since the curtain fell on the Struggle for Heavenly Fate. He’d been in the River of Destiny ever since.
It felt almost as if a lifetime had passed since he’d last set foot in the Eternal Heavens Domain.
I wonder how the disciples of the Heart-Tempering Sword House are faring... thought Su Yi. He’d been in such a rush to leave the River of Destiny precisely because he was worried about the Heart-Tempering Sword House.
He knew that now that he’d acquired the Yitian Eternal Throne, there was no way the Heavenly Sovereigns could tolerate his continued existence.
Not long after the Struggle for Heavenly Fate, the Heavenly Sovereigns had colluded with several River Ancestors, sending them after him and his allies. When that didn’t work, they worked with Ying Qi to target him once more.
As soon as the Heavenly Sovereigns learned of his return, they’d attack like mad. There was no way they’d leave him any path to life!
They were also sure to do their utmost to hunt down the survivors of the Heart-Tempering Sword House, all for the sake of luring him into the open. It was also entirely possible that they’d target Heavenly Sovereign Ku Xuan and the Taiwu Sect! After all, that was the only way they could force him into the open.
Strange. Why hasn’t Ol’ Brother Ku Xuan responded to my message? Don’t tell me that something happened to him?
Su Yi’s brow furrowed. When he left the River of Destiny, he used a message talisman to contact Heavenly Sovereign Ku Xuan, but he’d yet to get any kind of response.
But Su Yi wasn’t all that worried about Heavenly Sovereign Ku Xuan’s safety. After all, one Heavenly Sovereign could defeat another, but it was extraordinarily difficult for them to actually kill each other.
A day later, Su Yi appeared in one of the Azure Spirit Continent’s numerous cities. Here, he learned of two recent developments that had shaken the entire Eternal Heavens Domain.
First, numerous Heavenly Sovereigns had issued a joint proclamation of war against the Taiwu Sect of the Blackwater Celestial Capital!
Second, numerous Heavenly Sovereigns had declared Su Yi wanted. He was now wanted throughout the Eternal Heavens Domain!
...
Half a month later, Su Yi returned to the Divine Wandering Continent and made his way to the Great Aberrant Ruins.
But when he reached the entrance to the Heavenly Aberrant Hidden Realm, he was left unwittingly stunned.
The entrance had long since collapsed. He wasn’t sure when, but the entire Heavenly Aberrant Hidden Realm had been destroyed!
The vast, desolate landscape had now been burnt black. There was no sign of anything else at all!
Su Yi stood there, taking this in, and sank into a lengthy silence. Who did this? Who destroyed the Aberrants’ home? And what happened to the surviving disciples of the Heart-Tempering Sword House? Are they alive or dead?
A wind blew past, stirring up clouds and dust. The gales howled as if wailing and weeping.
Su Yi stood there, all alone, as silent and still as a clay statue.
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