Chapter 1912: Folded Bamboo

A single word can make a world of difference.

Sword Ancestor understood the young man's unspoken meaning. He remained silent for a long time, then slowly raised his hand to cup a snowflake drifting down from the sky, his expression subtly dimming. The snowflake melted in his palm, dissolving into tiny water droplets, which soon evaporated under the sweep of the cold wind.

"Snow changes constantly from its formation to its melting." Only then did Sword Ancestor raise his head, his face devoid of expression, as if stating an eternal truth: "Young friend, so too are people. Life, from its very beginning to the end of its cycle, is never unchanging."

Jin Ren also stretched out his hand and cupped a snowflake. His palm was cold, and the snowflake lay silently in his hand, not melting into water.

"But old man, snow is snow because it has no sentience. Its change depends on environmental temperature, not on itself. Humans are different. They possess self-will. Even with a sudden change in temperature, a person cannot simply be evaporated into nothingness. I can understand the weak being unable to turn the tide or resist their environment, but even you, Sword Ancestor, cannot?"

Sword Ancestor fell silent. Jin Ren looked straight at him: "I'm asking about you, not the snowflake, old man."

The Five Domains sensed something. Lord Shou was clearly asking "to change is to progress," and Sword Ancestor was answering "whether one has changed or not," but everything was certainly not as simple as it sounded.

"Change, change, change..."

"Big change? Small change? What are they even talking about?"

"Of course, Sword Ancestor has changed, but what else could he become? The Demonic Ancestor, perhaps? Haha, ridiculous!"

Let alone the Five Domains not understanding. Hua Changdeng, Gou Wuyue, and others also barely understood. Only Eight-Venerate, who had been forewarned by Xu Xiaoshou, knew what this fellow was truly asking.

Sword Ancestor smiled: "This old man contemplated progress, so naturally, I have changed."

"Oh?" Jin Ren nodded, "And then?"

Sword Ancestor gestured towards the Sword Pagoda behind the Gate of Profundity, shaking his head slightly, and said no more.

"No 'then'?"

"No."

"Is that it?"

"Yes."

Even this "yes" did not trigger the passive system's lie-detection function or pop up any message, which caused despair. The Sword Pagoda was completely controlled... Even Sword Ancestor's residual will was in the Demonic Ancestor's hands, unable to make any waves, hence the despair?

Jin Ren's brows furrowed; he was unwilling to accept this. He released heat, and the snowflake in his palm rapidly melted, turning into water which then evaporated. "But even when white snow melts into water, and water evaporates into gas, it doesn't completely disappear. Only when the temperature changes again will it condense into mist, then rain, and then fall as snow. Snow is still stubborn; ancient sword cultivators have unyielding pride. How much more so should you, Sword Ancestor, yet you say you are content to stop here?"

Who could be content with this...?

Sword Ancestor looked at this sharp, outspoken young man, his eyes filled with increasing lament. He was no longer himself. This era was no longer his era. With a mix of gratification, regret, and helplessness, Sword Ancestor smiled with resignation: "The world constantly renews itself. Young man, my era has passed. Your path, you must walk it yourselves."

Fading into old age! Jin Ren truly wanted to slap some sense into this old man who had willingly fallen from grace. On second thought, perhaps the old man wasn't content, but rather resigned—had he exhausted all his abilities, only to still end in failure? Even so, Jin Ren felt a surge of frustration.

He turned around, flung his sleeve in anger, and, facing the Five Domains, roared:

"A humble duckweed, yet it devours the vast sea into its belly.A humble thistle speaks not, yet it laughs as the pillar of heaven breaks in the autumn wind."

The Five Domains were astonished. These two lines, overflowing with arrogance, were Lord Shou's own, yet they didn't sound like something he would utter. Could ivory come from a dog's mouth?

Sword Ancestor heard this and felt a pang of melancholy. He naturally detected the sarcasm. These two lines were penned by him long ago on East Mountain, before his ascension to the Heavenly Realm, when he planted jade bamboo and agave and chronicled his life's achievements. They were the very sentences from the "Introduction to the Sword Scripture" passed down through generations. He had imbued them with a certain influence; only sword cultivators of extraordinary talent could comprehend them, while others would find them unsettling and fail to grasp their meaning, a characteristic throughout the entire scripture.

Xu Xiaoshou... This young man, as expected, had remembered everything after hearing it just once... His talent was astounding. His temperament was even more pronounced than his own back then. Insulting him from behind with those two lines wasn't enough; he turned around to directly taunt him to his face:

"A mosquito larva, though unequipped, still devours the Heavenly Dao.With three incense offerings, one dares to make an ancestral god bleed."

Pausing, Jin Ren looked at Sword Ancestor before him, shaking his head and murmuring in extreme disappointment: "Old man, it's truly difficult to reconcile your current state with what you once wrote. You're like two completely different people."

Sword Ancestor remained calm and silent, neither proud of his past achievements nor ashamed by the insults and mockery, unaffected by external joys or personal sorrows. He was simply doing what was "correct" in the present moment.

On Lingyu Mountain, Gu Qingyi looked up at the sky, at Xu Xiaoshou and Sword Ancestor—one young, one old; one spirited, one disheartened—his heart filled with mixed emotions. He remembered reading the "Sword Scripture," whose introduction soared with ambition and whose main text contained profound wisdom, making him eager to revisit it and unable to put it down. The Sword Ancestor he imagined should have been like the legendary Eighth Sword Immortal in his reckless youth: when injustice arose, he would draw his sword and cut it down. But now that Sword Ancestor had truly been summoned by the renowned sword "Twenty-One," he was quite different from what was expected. In fact, if not for Xu Xiaoshou's intervention, 99% of the people in the Five Domains would still be deceived by him.

Gu Qingyi understood the general situation and vaguely gathered what Xu Xiaoshou was implying. He only felt melancholy and loss. The very source of his pursuit of the Dao, upon seeing it now, was utterly incomparable to Xu Xiaoshou—what difference was there between this and the sky collapsing?

"Snow..." Gu Qingyi spread out the snow in his palm. The snow melted, and the god-like figure in his heart seemed to have vanished as well.

On the peak of East Mountain, Wen Ting, in a white robe, blended into the snowy mountain scenery like a painting. When Sword Ancestor descended upon the Five Domains, he too had bowed. Now, looking out towards Lingyu Mountain in the Central Domain, his eyes were also filled with sorrow, deeply disappointed.

"Snow..." Snow lay in his palm. He had to keep his palm cold, unwilling to let the falling snow melt, yet he knew he couldn't hold onto it. Like quicksand, the snow eventually slipped away. He opened his hand, the white snow in his palm the same color as the peak of East Mountain.

Beside him was agave. Behind him was a jade bamboo forest. The East Mountain agave, one of the ancestral trees, represented Sword Ancestor's glorious achievements from back then, an unstoppable drawn sword. The jade bamboo forest, green and white, embodied the integrity and unyielding pride of ancient sword cultivators, fearless even in bitter cold, growing straight upwards, long rooted halfway up the mountain, vying for glory with the white snow on the peak.

"Crack! Crack!" Standing here today, Wen Ting was constantly annoyed by the sounds in his ears. The agave wept softly, saddened by Sword Ancestor's change; unlike Qing Ju, it wept without tears, wept without sound. The incessant noise came from the jade bamboo forest, unchanged for millennia, now constantly emitting cracking sounds from behind him—everything was ruined.

"Broken bamboo..." Wen Ting scoffed, sighing and shaking his head. He raised his hand, and the white snow in his palm was lifted by the wind. Unlike Sword Ancestor and Xu Xiaoshou, he did not let the snow melt; he let the snow return to being snow. When he looked up again... the myriad snowflakes in the sky merged into one. Like willow catkins, swirling and dancing.

"Hearing the bamboo break, one knows the snow's weight..."

Wen Ting was not Gu Qingyi. Standing already at the peak of East Mountain, he saw more, and more clearly. He knew how difficult the situation was, and his disappointment and melancholy were only temporary. As he swept his sleeve and departed, this most unassuming of the Seven Sword Immortals from yesteryear, his gaze had broken through the icy cold, becoming intensely fervent, his steps as resolute as iron, his aura rising with each stride.

"When a whale falls, all life flourishes!"

"Sword Ancestor." Eight-Venerate spoke for the third time. Nearly every one of Xu Xiaoshou's interjections had, either directly or indirectly, elicited the answers he sought. He no longer needed to contemplate the broader situation. Just as he had once used Xu Xiaoshou to disrupt the situation in Dongtian King City, now Eight-Venerate had only one thing left to do. Not to be a troublemaker, but to proceed at his own pace, slowly and firmly pushing the situation in the intended direction.

"Behind the Gate of Profundity, what wonders lie?"

While the people of the Five Domains couldn't remember the "Introduction to the Sword Scripture," they all knew Eight-Venerate's three questions from earlier. Sword Ancestor had answered the first two questions. This last one had little to do with the lower-ranked ancient sword cultivators of the Five Domains, yet it was the constant obsession of everyone aspiring to the highest levels.

Sword Ancestor turned his head and looked at Eight-Venerate. Unlike the insolent young man who was skilled at indirect insults, this person held true virtue and was equally spirited. He had failed. He had undergone reincarnation. Leaves returning to their roots, new sprouts emerging—that is true legacy. The source of Sword Ancestor's tranquility lay here: in every person who dared to question or challenge him, he saw reflections of his past self. The Way of the Sword had never been severed. The spirit and integrity of sword cultivators might have been bent, but never broken.

"I once sought the heights of the Dao, the completeness of the sword, yet a dark mist obscured my vision, and my heart became stained with dust..."

As soon as these words left his lips, everyone in the Five Domains detected a subtle shift. It was as if the "humanity" that Saint Huajian's presence had brought to Sword Ancestor had completely vanished with his prolonged absence. Sword Ancestor had reverted to "Sword Ancestor." He had reverted to the state he was in the moment he first emerged from the Gate of Profundity. This was also why Lord Shou had prevented Saint Huajian from performing the grand kowtow, and why he had followed up with a series of aggressive questions.

"Sword Ancestor has changed, he is no longer Sword Ancestor." All cultivators in the Five Domains had gleaned this answer from Lord Shou's earlier interrogation; the only thing unclear was what Sword Ancestor had become. Of course, it wasn't anything good!

As Sword Ancestor spoke, he raised two fingers, and the Sword Pagoda within the Gate of Profundity behind him grew increasingly solid, radiating a fatal allure. Potent Sword Dao resonance permeated it, driving ancient sword cultivators mad with desire, making them flock towards it, wishing they could rush in immediately.

"Greed blinds the self. Thus, I forged twelve swords, stripping away the dark mist and clearing the dust, binding them to the Sword Pagoda." At this point, Sword Ancestor paused, then changed his tone, directly addressing Eight-Venerate's third question: "Beyond the twelve swords of the Sword Pagoda, I contemplated the profound mysteries, letting my divine thoughts wander, leaving the scenery both before and behind the gate within a single image..."

The Ten Swords Suppressing the Pagoda Diagram!

At the foot of Lingyu Mountain, Liu Fuyu's heart stirred. She was a member of the Sword Pagoda and often gazed upon the painting hung on the wall on the ground floor of the pagoda, yet she had never gained anything from it. The painting depicted night, a pagoda, a moon atop the pagoda, reflecting a silhouette—the Sword God, Solitary Pagoda Shadow. This painting had circulated throughout the Five Domains long ago for unknown reasons; it was said that a certain generation's sword guardian of the pagoda got drunk... In any case, whether the process was true or false was unknown, but the result was that the ancient Way of the Sword in the Five Domains was restarted, passed down through generations, eventually giving birth to You Tu, and from then on, the Way of the Sword resounded loudly. Sword God, Solitary Pagoda Shadow was not his true name; this respectful title came from the "Ten Swords Suppressing the Pagoda Diagram."

"The twelve swords are at the pagoda's peak, the moon-gazing diagram is at the base. Weapons are in hand, the Dao is underfoot. Within the pagoda, one can receive the legacy."

Above the Sword Sea, Sword Ancestor had not yet stopped. He spoke with a smile, turning to point to the profundity behind the gate. His intention was not just for Eight-Venerate, but also for Hua Changdeng, Gou Wuyue, and Jin Ren: "If you wish to behold the scenery behind the Gate of Profundity, enter the Sword Pagoda and gain everything."

Again? Jin Ren now saw Sword Ancestor as nothing short of a servant ghost of the Demonic Ancestor—abetting evil, nothing less.

"Eight-Venerate, you know what I want to say." He immediately transmitted his voice. Yet he saw Eight-Venerate looking at the Sword Pagoda behind the Gate of Profundity, his eyes actually gleaming as if he were captivated. Guidance? No, that couldn't be... This fellow was not weak to begin with. If he couldn't resist the Ancestral God's guidance, he wouldn't even be able to lead the Saint Servants. So, this meant he wasn't compelled to be moved, but rather thought too highly of himself, believing he could transcend? Do you think you're a god?

"Eight-Venerate, don't go in!" Jin Ren said decisively.

Eight-Venerate finally turned his head but didn't immediately agree with Xu Xiaoshou's words. He merely smiled slightly, offering no reply. What was this guy thinking...?

His perception swept over Hua Changdeng and Gou Wuyue. It was precisely after he, Jin Ren, had bluntly pointed out Sword Ancestor's abnormality that these people still dared to be tempted. Knowing there's a tiger on the mountain, yet deliberately heading towards it? They're all crazy, aren't they!

"I'm not going." Jin Ren was the first to state his position. He had only come to make a small impression. His true self's mission for him was merely to provide the Blazing Serpent and assist Eight-Venerate. As for what came after—feigning weakness, concealing himself, exploiting Sword Ancestor's reappearance, seizing opportunities to cause mischief, providing indirect guidance, and incidentally undermining the alliance of the three ancestral figures from outside the borders—he would do as much as he could, without forcing it. A dike of a thousand li can collapse from an ant hole. One must chip away at the corner slowly; there's no rush. Though this body was weak and its death not regrettable, it still had to die for a meaningful cause. To throw himself away for nothing, and possibly even be controlled, Jin Ren would never dare to be so reckless.

Seeing the unfavorable situation, and seizing the moment while Hua Changdeng was captivated by the Sword Pagoda's image, he immediately chose to disappear. But he didn't use a disappearing act to leave; he merely retreated from the high altitude, signaling his detachment from all subsequent developments, and arrived beside Mr. Siren. The old man had a large hole in his chest, in precarious condition, and was awaiting rescue. Delaying for so long was already a bit excessive.

"Eight-Venerate..." His only concern was Eight-Venerate's somewhat impulsive idea. But Eight-Venerate wasn't a dead end; he had his own understanding, and with a wife and daughter, he should know not to sacrifice himself for nothing. So, he wouldn't worry about it. Let this "stirring stick" stir things up himself. Whatever happened next, his true self would handle it; it had nothing to do with Jin Ren.

Hua Changdeng watched Xu Xiaoshou leave, without mockery. This junior was already genius enough; no senior had the right to mock him. Even if he chose to retreat at this step, given his nature, it might not be a true retreat; perhaps he had another interpretation.

Sword Ancestor also watched the young man descend onto the mountain, nodding in understanding, then looked towards the other three: "To withdraw bravely from the torrent is not cowardice, but a wise act of self-preservation. All three of you have achieved much in your respective Ways. The jade from another mountain can, after all, only polish one's own jade. So, are these few retreating or advancing?"

Jin Ren didn't expect Sword Ancestor to be so ruthless as to scold even himself. Who did he learn this from? Just now, he seemed so well-mannered.

Hua Changdeng and Eight-Venerate exchanged glances, each finding the answer in the other's eyes. Both then simultaneously looked at Gou Wuyue. The one-armed Gou Wuyue had been standing silently on Lingyu Mountain the entire time. Even though Sword Ancestor had looked his way multiple times, no one actually knew who Sword Ancestor was looking at—after all, most people couldn't even clearly see Sword Ancestor's appearance or figure. Not until Hua and Ba's gazes settled did everyone suddenly realize: so this third person had always been Sword Immortal Wuyue?

Immediately, discussions erupted:

"Although, Sword Immortal Wuyue is also one of the Seven Sword Immortals."

"But compared to Hua Changdeng and Eight-Venerate, Gou Wuyue has achieved little, hasn't he? What virtue or ability does he possess?"

"Do you all remember? Earlier, Sword Immortal Wuyue also refused the Dao resonance and radiant light of the Gate of Profundity!"

"So what? We're talking about mastery in the ancient Way of the Sword. Hua Changdeng is the sole Lord of Fengdu; Eight-Venerate is proficient in all Ways, opening profundities with his sword. Gou Wuyue... he's just Gou Wuyue. What does he have?"

"Who gave you permission to insult our Wuyue Baby? He who does not sing will strike like thunder! Do you understand? Do you understand?! I'll beat you all to death!"

All eyes were on him. Gou Wuyue, with his single arm behind his back, one sleeve fluttering in the wind, only pondered for a moment before subtly raising his chin and speaking softly: "We, ancient sword cultivators, advance without fear."