551: Chapter 551 Sword Ancestor, Defeated Emperor

Wuyou Realm.

It remained shrouded in darkness, much like Chaos itself.

The village was as it had always been, without the slightest change.

The man held the pig-slaughtering knife in his hand, hacked down a pitch-black monster, and began to carve the meat.

He sliced the meat extremely thin, to the point where it looked like it would melt the moment it entered one's mouth, but it was so pitch-black that it killed any appetite.

Yet, the man, having finished slicing, didn't care at all and placed the thin, black slices of meat directly into a large bowl beside him.

The large bowl shone with immortal light, emitting a rich, medicinal fragrance. The black slices of meat within constantly writhed as if trying to achieve Fusion, while emitting bursts of hissing roars.

"Hmm～"

"Not bad, not bad! This is the taste! If my daughter were here, this one wouldn't be enough to eat today."

The man murmured softly.

At this moment, a voice came from outside the courtyard.

"She has stepped onto that path."

"I can be certain that she has already encountered a variable."

Before the words had even faded, an old man pushed open the wicker gate and walked in.

He was an old man, and he was holding a smoking pipe in his hand.

"She stepped onto that path, did she?"

"Good, good, good... As expected of my daughter, she is far better than those in Hebi Village."

The man smiled with gratification, grabbed the meat slices from the bowl, and ate them in large mouthfuls.

Seeing this, the old man's expression became solemn.

"Are you prepared to draw your blade?"

"As the dignified Saber Ancestor, born from the very first strand of killing Saber Qi at the inception of Heaven and Earth, if you don't even have the courage to draw your blade, you are not as good as the latecomers."

Hearing these words, the man's movements stopped; he didn't even continue chewing the meat slice stuffed in his mouth.

The meat slice writhed in his mouth like a snake, but it could not escape no matter what.

"This strike must be made. Only by splitting this place open will everything come to an end."

The old man stared at him.

"What exactly did you see back then? What made you and that person next door who practices fist techniques so afraid to even make a move?"

The man was silent.

The pig-slaughtering knife beside him trembled slightly, and the cracks covered by cloth strips on the hilt were faintly visible.

"That punch, that strike... overwhelmed the ages and shrouded the heavens."

After a long time, he continued, "It is not that I dared not, but that I have forgotten how to strike."

The old man took a puff of his pipe, the ghostly blue firelight illuminating half of his face.

"And what about now?"

The man stuffed the remaining meat slices in his hand into his mouth, chewed until it sounded like bones and tendons were shattering, and swallowed.

"Now, perhaps I have remembered."

"Perhaps not."

"You are a latecomer, you don't understand... From beginning to end, I have always felt that he did not pass away, but merely disappeared for a time."

The blade body lit up with a cold light in the darkness.

"His blade, it hangs above all living beings, it is invincible."

"Yet even he was not an opponent... Heh... Am I really of any use?"

Heavenly Tower.

The second floor was very spacious, resembling a great hall, with various patterns on the walls.

Those patterns were left behind by the sages of the Human Race.

In the distance, there was a passageway emitting blue light, resembling a tunnel through space and time.

"Brother Wushang."

"That leads to a starry sky, a starry sky of Legacy. Those with affinity can see the past Great Emperors of the Human Race."

"There are records on the walls too, but most are incomplete."

Qin Wushang's gaze swept over the four walls and landed on a huge totem.

A person stood on the back of a Black Tortoise.

The Black Tortoise was like a mountain, its four feet supporting the ground.

The person stood with hands behind his back, his clothes fluttering, his gaze looking calmly into the distance.

Beside the ancient image were densely packed ancient characters.

As Qin Wushang looked at them, the characters automatically transformed, turning into meanings he was familiar with.

Great Emperor Bai Wu, a Human Race Great Emperor who achieved Dao through an Alternative Great Emperor path on the Emperors Path.

He fought ten thousand battles in his life and never once won.

The world jokingly called him the Useless Emperor of the Human Race, mocking him for having the name of an Emperor but not a shred of the bearing of a heroic lord.

Qin Wushang raised an eyebrow and continued reading.

Every time he was defeated, he would review his opponent's strengths, extracting the Law of Defeat from his crushing losses.

Victory has an end, but defeat hides ten thousand phenomena.

He did not seek total victory, nor did he yearn for the Peak.

He entered the Dao through imperfection and achieved Dao through frustration, tempering a unique Law of the Dao of Defeat from countless defeats.

He lived against the heavens for three lifetimes, and in all three, he almost achieved Fusion with the Heavenly Mandate Stone.

Seeing this, Qin Wushang gave a thumbs up: "Awesome! He really is a character!"

Such a person is a true Great Emperor.

Not one who advances triumphantly in favorable circumstances, but one who carves a bloody path in adversity.

Ten thousand battles and ten thousand defeats, ten thousand defeats and ten thousand battles; he never won, but he never stopped.

He lost his whole life, yet in the end, he stood at a height that others could not reach even if they won their whole lives.

Lin Ziyao pointed to the small characters on the side and whispered: "Actually, he was not weak."

"It's just that in those eras, the opponents he encountered were too monstrous."

"Look, in his first life, his opponent was an Innate Sacred Body Dao Embryo, the same Physique as Brother Wushang."

"That guy could live too long, suppressing the heavens for three eras; how could he have had a chance to stand out?"

She continued, "This loss was not unjust."

Qin Wushang was silent for a moment, looking back at the figure standing on the back of the Black Tortoise on the totem.

Losing to an Innate Sacred Body Dao Embryo was nothing to be ashamed of.

To be able to stand up after losing a whole life, to be able to live against the heavens for three lifetimes, and to be able to achieve Alternative Great Emperor status.

This person was not fighting against his opponents; he was fighting against himself, fighting against fate.

He was not actually a failure his whole life!

He had wins!

Time and time again, he defeated his past self; otherwise, he would not have reached this height!

"The Alternative Great Emperors here, I feel, are not quite the same as the Alternative Great Emperors of our current era. The described strength seems to have a gap."

Mu Bingyun whispered.

"I think so too, which is why I did not achieve Dao outside, but instead waited for the opening of the Emperors Path."

Lin Ziyao nodded.

Every generation of Innate Sacred Body Dao Embryo can achieve Dao as a Heavenly Mandate Great Emperor.

She had never thought about competing with Qin Wushang; she just wanted to achieve Alternative Great Emperor status on the Emperors Path.

"Perhaps the rules of heaven and earth on the Emperors Path are different."

"However, I am more inclined towards the method of achieving Alternative Great Emperor status; strength also depends on this method."

"Just like Revered Master, she achieved Alternative Great Emperor status, and she is also terrifyingly strong."

Qin Wushang expressed his thoughts.

He did not think that Chu Yuehua, as an Alternative Great Emperor, was weak; she was far stronger than those Alternative Great Emperors in the Immortal Domain.

"How could merging with the heavenly dao moon be weak."

Ye Hongfu smiled bitterly.

Merging with the heavenly dao moon to make up for the Origin of the Heavenly Dao—this method of merging with the Dao would not be weak in any era.

"...It is actually from Great Chu. It seems the Chu Clan is not simple either."

Qin Wushang's gaze landed on an ancient image in the distance of someone wearing imperial robes.

That was the Emperor from Great Chu, the guy he had seen before!

"I wonder if I can still see the Old Ancestor!"

Qin Wushang immediately thought of the owner of the Desolate Tower.

"That doesn't matter. I think, Brother Wushang, what you should see are the Great Emperors of the Innate Sacred Body Dao Embryo from past generations!"