First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 1170: In My Past Life, I Was the Temple Master. In This Life, I Am Me

Su Yis brow furrowed, but he got the gist of it.

Are you afraid? asked the Temple Master.

Su Yi said casually, Do I need to be afraid?

The Temple Master was stunned. Arent you afraid that a possession of sorts might take place while you inherit and fuse with my Dao imprint?

Su Yi didnt even pause to think. If that really happens, Ill just kill myself. Then, both of us can forget about living.

.... The Temple Master fell silent, but a moment later, he stuck up his thumb. Ruthless!

Su Yi laughed. Thats only in the worst-case scenario. While I fuse with the imprints of my past lives, Ill try my best to be polite and use my own abilities to conquer them.

The Temple Master smiled. Youve got sufficient courage.

He paused, then pondered, If you inherit my Dao, youll inevitably be fettered by the karma of my past life, but you will still be you, not me. You neednt pay those karmic ties any heed.

Su Yi fell silent, then suddenly asked, Do you have any unrealized wishes?

The Temple Master sighed, his gaze a bit conflicted. I lived my life free and unfettered, swinging my sword as I pleased. I never married, nor did I ever have children. I accepted Qing Tang as my disciple, but her aside, I had only an elderly servant for company.

I called him Old Wei. Hes lame in one leg, but hes always stubbornly refused treatment. Out amongst the stars, others call him Old Cripple Wei.

The Temple Masters voice was suddenly low and bleak. If you see him, please greet him on my behalf, and treat his leg. Tell him to walk his own path and that he neednt wait for me any longer.

Su Yi nodded. Definitely.

The Temple Master fell silent once more, as if he ultimately just couldnt let go. Qing Tangs origins are truly unusual, and her life has been full of misfortune. Youll understand why her clan was annihilated after fusing with my Dao Imprint. If at all possible, I hope you can help her.

Su Yi froze, stunned. Very well.

Qing Tang was the Temple Masters one and only disciple. But wasnt she his last disciple too?

Here, the Temple Master seemed to have found release. He smiled, Very well. Those are all the things you couldnt have learned from my Dao Imprint. Now that Ive shared them with you, your future path is yours to consider.

Before his voice had even finished echoing through the air, his figure turned extremely indistinct and illusory, and it gradually faded from view.

The eighth divine chain trembled violently on the Sword of the Nine Hells, then shattered into a rain of countless motes of light.

In that instant, Su Yi keenly detected the power of the Dao Imprints on the other seven divine chains, as if they were awakening from its ancient dormancy. All of them rumbled and boomed.

Dont tell me the imprints of my other past lives have sensed the change to the Temple Masters Dao Imprint? Su Yis heart shook.

The Sword of the Nine Hells suddenly let out a deep, boundless sword hum. The divine chains instantly sank back into stillness, as if theyd been suppressed.

And the rain of the light of the Temple Masters Dao fused into the Sword of the Nine Hells and became an imprint.

Its just as I thought. The Sword of the Nine Hells really does exist to suppress the power of my past lives!

He was increasingly certain of something: in this lifetime, he really was the owner of the Sword of the Nine Hells!

The imprints of his past lives were all sealed firmly within the Sword of the Nine Hells. That prevented any possibility of the imprints reawakening. Unless, that is, he encountered the right opportunity or achieved a certain level of cultivation. Then, he could awaken the imprints of his past lives and make them his own!

Without any further hesitation, Su Yi started sensing the power of the imprint the Temple Master had left in the Sword of the Nine Hells.

Moments later, an enormous flood of memories poured into Su Yis awareness. Countless scenes flashed by like shadows, appearing within Su Yis sea of consciousness.

These scenes werent at all strange to him. Rather, they seemed unprecedentedly familiar, as if the memories hed unsealed were the Temple Masters, but. Also his own!

The Temple Master was born into poverty. He traversed the mountains each day, a thirty-mile round trip, to get an education. He frequently went hungry or foraged for food in the wilderness, drinking from mountain springs. No matter the season, he lived outdoors, with no shelter from the wind and rain.

Due to his background, the students of the private academy disdained to interact with him.

Its teachers frequently criticized him for his stupidity, but he always took it respectfully.

He studied for nine years, then passed the county examinations, the prefectural examinations, and in the end, he came in second place in the national examinations!

At the time, he was just seventeen years old. A country boy had ascended to the imperial palace overnight, becoming an instant celebrity!

His former classmates all took pride in their acquaintance, and his former teachers beamed with joy.

At nineteen years of age, the nation was in turmoil. Natural disasters struck without end, and the populace struggled to get by. His parents, who still worked their farm in the mountains, died brutal deaths at the hands of bandits.

When he lost both of his parents, the Temple Master renounced scholarship and joined the military.

At twenty-three years of age, he had a chance encounter with a cultivator, and he learned about cultivation.

The Temple Master had spent the first twenty-three years of his lie experiencing the ups and downs of mortal life. Only then did he finally begin his path of cultivation.

In the years that followed, the Temple Masters pursuit of the Grand Dao was triumphantly successful.

Sometimes, he dined on the wind and drank the morning dew, traversing the wilderness on foot. Other times, he partook in the flames of war.

He faced perilous, life-and-death struggles, and achieved rebirth through destruction.

Ten years.

The Temple Master established himself at the peak of the Imperial Realm.

A hundred years.

Throughout the worlds of the various star realms, everywhere cultivators gathered, they spoke the Temple Masters name.

A thousand years.

The experts of the starry skies saw him as a legend and averted their gazes before him!

He once said, I observe the Grand Dao of heaven and earth from the human realm, and I observe the countless facets of the human realm from beyond the heavens. The Temple of the Human Realm watches over the human world.

He once said, Throughout the ages, no worry or concern has withstood the edge of my sword.

He once said, Even if there are immortals in heaven, they wouldnt dare visit the human realm!

And he said that none of the joys of human life surpassed pursuing the Dao of the Sword!

Countless experiences and memories coursed through Su Yis heart like tide waters.

The Temple Masters entire life fused completely into Su Yis. Nothing strange happened, nor did he encounter any danger.

Because the Temple Master was his past life. He and the Temple Master were one and the same!

Inheriting the Temple Masters Dao Imprint was just like awakening the memories of his life as Su Xuanjun in Guangling City at seventeen years of age.

There was no separation, nor was there any conflict.

This made Su Yi increasingly confident of something: the Temple Master was above using possession to turn Su Yi into another him!

I am you, and you are me, but I am ultimately myself. Its naturally up to me to realize the desires of my past lives! Su Yi whispered to himself.

In the time that followed, Su Yi replayed and combed through the Temple Masters memories and experiences

They said the stars were home to one hundred great star realms!

But only the top ten contained factions viewed as the peak powerhouse of the stars.

These included the Heavenly Prayer Star Realm, the home of the Nine Heavens Pavilion, the Big Dipper Star Realm, the home of the Studio of the Heart, and the Primordial Unity Daoist Sects Thousand Opportunities Star Realm

Those factions considered top powerhouses were each home to a peak Cosmic Enlightenment Realm expert.

The Supreme Leader of the Nine Heavens Pavilion, the Painter of the Studio of the Heart, the old charlatan of the Primordial Unity Daoist Sect, and the Fisherman of the Church of the River of Stars

There were also worlds outside of the hundred great star realms. Collectively, these worlds and the hundred great star realms were known as the Eastern Profound Star Domain.This chapter was originally shared via --Bi(j)n.

The Temple Masters knowledge of the Three Realms of the Path of Heavens Ascension, his mastery of the Dao of the Sword, his secret arts and legacies Su Yi had inherited them all.

Boundless enlightenment and countless revelations, those Mysterious Truths as boundless as the sea, his knowledge and understanding of the universes countless Daos, all of it flowed into Su Yis mind. It was like an endless treasure trove.

The Temple Masters most famous sword was called the Human Realm.

His greatest legacy of the Dao of the Sword was called the Drifting Sword.

His strongest power of the Grand Dao was called the Light of the Universe.

In the Temple Masters life, he roamed the hundred great star realms, exploring their worlds and plains. Hed explored too many hidden realms to count, and he understood many, many secrets.

At the same time, hed established all sorts of karmic ties.

Only now did Su Yi learn that Qing Tangs surname was Jiang, and that her Jiang Family was once among the most mysterious clans of the starry skies. They were one of the so-called Ancient Guardian Clans of the Dao.

The Jiang Familys foundations ran so deep that even some of the top factions of the stars paled by comparison.

Yet they met with disaster, and all of them were annihilated overnight. Aside from Qing Tang, every last one of them was dead!

The faction that destroyed the Jiang Family was a powerhouse known as the Sacred Sword Court of the Firmament!

But strangely, in the years following the annihilation of the Jiang Family, the Sacred Sword Court of the Firmament met with disaster too. Not one member of the sect survived!

The Temple Master investigated, only to discover that an even more mysterious faction was most likely behind it all.

The faction in question was like the hand of darkness, controlling everything from behind the curtain. They used the Sacred Sword Court of the Firmament to destroy the Jiang Family, then destroyed the Sacred Sword Court of the Firmament, too!

Furthermore, the Temple Master was fairly confident that the Tailor, one of the most dangerous experts of the stars, was working for this mysterious faction!

It was for this reason that the Temple Master had never told Qing Tang the truth. He feared that if she investigated any further, shed endanger herself.

At the same time, Su Yi finally understood who Ruoxi, the young mistress of the Studio of the Heart, really was.

Her full name was Zhong Ruoxi. The Zhong Family was an Ancient Guardian Clan of the Dao too!

Furthermore, the Zhong Family was extraordinarily mysterious and powerful. They were far beyond even most top factions of the starry skies.

Even a faction like the Studio of the Heart was somewhat inferior when it came to their accumulated foundations.

That aside, the Painter of the Studio of the Heart had a deep connection with the ancient Zhong Family. That was why Ruoxis status was so extraordinary.

But the aforementioned matters were only the tip of the iceberg. Countless shocking secrets were hidden in the Temple Masters memories!

For instance, that the Temple Master had used the Sword of the Human Realm to suppress the Fishermans true body in a forbidden ground called the Impermeable Demon Ocean.

Now, Su Yi was sifting through those memories and fusing with them.

During this process, his knowledge and perception of the world underwent an earth-shaking transformation.

He could already predict that when he fully fused with the Temple Masters Dao Imprint, hed be the Temple Master!

And the Temple Master would be him! But ultimately, he would still be himself.

Su Yi, who pursued greater heights of the Dao of the Sword in this lifetime.

Seth's Thoughts

Got a bunch to say about this one, but first, heres a note from Xiao Jinyu:

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This chapter implies that Qing Tangs real name is Jiang Qingtang, but Qing Tang could also be a straight-up pseudonym. No way to know unless youve read ahead!

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To watch/observe, watchtower, viewing platform, and Daoist temple are all the same Chinese character, . The Temple Master plays with that a lot in this chapter, and the wordplay is lost in translation. Heres one example:

=the Temple of the Human Realm

=Watching over the human realm.

, = The Temple of the Human Realm watches over the human realm.

Thus, the nature of the Temple Masters title and his faction is ambiguous in the raws, but IMO intentionally so. I think Xiao Jinyu chose these names to create mystery and set up future wordplay. Still, to make this work in English, I had to pick one interpretation and stick with it. I chose the "standard" meaning for this genre, "Daoist temple", hence "the Temple Master."