Chapter 2778: Swallow Me as the Sun and Moon, Eat Me to Become a Celestial Immortal

The bright moon did not shine solely on the River-Observing Platform.

The Divine Land was quiet, the East Sea peaceful. Across the entire existing world, day had turned into night. There were no clouds, no haze, no stars. In the boundless, vast, and clear night sky, neither wind nor rain stirred. Only a single bright moon hung.

Everyone in the world gazed at the moon!

Within that immortal bright moon, which reflected both ancient and modern times, a human figure seemed to appear. Mortals who saw it would ponder, only to eventually forget. This profound sense of wistful loss would then transform into legends about the bright moon.

But those who were divine and enlightened could perceive—

The hum of the sword was music, and the solitary figure in the moon moved with its tune.

That figure held a wine pot upside down and flicked a flying sword with a finger. As if using the bright moon as a screen, it left humanity with an image, drunken and stumbling, yet wildly unrestrained. It was like the ravings from over three thousand years ago, storing aged wine, traversing countless silent nights, and finally echoing in the bright moon for all to hear.

"Once, for love, a jade disc shattered;A resounding crash, a dramatic show.I cannot escape it to this day.Once, drunk, I slept beside the Heavenly River;A night of stars arrived, then a night of snow.I awoke draped in moonlight.What is life's purpose across a thousand autumns?It's all but a drunken haze. In a fleeting glance,Earthly kings and nobles, heavenly immortal palaces,Myriad generations, floating duckweed, ice and snow...A hundred years of flying swords—They are merely a cup of moonlight!Come, come, come! Drink with me!"

The last half-sentence suddenly transformed into a chant, the word "drink" drawn out extremely long and melodiously. Endless melancholy and arrogance were contained within it.

This was the peerless sword strike of Forget-Me-Not Sword Lord Taishu Bai.

An unprecedented flying sword performance!

One person, one moment, one moon, countless stars!

Who could contend with this? Who could halt humanity's irreverent tribute to the cosmos? The onlookers could not process it all.

Yet beneath the stars and moon, above the sea of fire, Jiang Wang advanced.

An ancient and profound contemplation followed behind him, leaving a trail of jade-like light and snow. Grand Monarch Su Sai drifted through the depths of Zuo Luo Sea, moving with swaying but powerful strides, as he walked through thousands of figures engulfed in flames.

He was the eternal pine, the undying flame.

He simply walked forward, meeting an appointment with a swordsman.

Life and death are the romance of those who wield swords; the emptying of life is the impassioned song of idealists.

He gazed into Yan Chunhui's eyes, while also looking at the starry sky and admiring the bright moon. Around him, motes of dust began to fall. They were shaped like dust, yet they fell like collapsing mountains. Seemingly drifting and scattering, they thundered and rumbled.

The obstinate Demonic Ape, the aloof Immortal Dragon, the indifferent Celestial Being, the compassionate Monk of All Beings, and a renowned sword of the world that hovered before him, moving ahead of his steps! These four figures stood in four directions, opening up a pure land for him, impervious to the invasion of stars and moon.

And then they all collapsed like mountains.

All forms disintegrated, scattering into mountain-like Dao qualities, which then converged into a surging torrent!

With a roar like mountains and a surge like seas, they chanted his name.

The Three Treasures, Burning Truth... and Sword Immortal!

Jiang Wang raised his hand and gripped his sword.

This sword had accompanied him in battles across various realms and myriad directions. Yet it still felt as if he held it for the first time, still providing him with reliance and strength. At this moment, endless moonlight and boundless starlight cascaded upon him. This infinitely brilliant rain of light poured down for him alone.

Holding his sword, he looked up at the starry sky, his eyes clear as starlight, the moonlight purifying his face. Once the dust of years had been blown away, his countenance was still as it had been.

Ye Qingyu, from below the viewing platform, recalled that night many years ago when this person flew back all the way from the Maze Realm, once again covered in military honors, supposedly returning in glory. He said he hadn't forgotten their previous promise and had come to celebrate her birthday. Yet after embracing her, he hid his face in her shoulder and wept. She never asked Jiang Wang why he wept, as if he had never cried.

But she had always known...

She knew how Jiang Wang had traversed this path, how his hair had turned white because of Maple Forest. Jiang Wang's silent tears were not just because of loss. It wasn't just because his comrades who fought alongside him died in the Maze Realm, nor because none of his personal guards survived, nor because of Fang Yuanyou, the commander of his personal guards, nor even because Yu Beidou, who was both his mentor and friend, had died!

It was because that war, and the world-renowned general named Qi Xiao, shattered his illusion of endless generations of dukes and marquises and peaceful times, using the cruelest method to make him clearly see the truth of the world. He understood that there were things in this world he could never change. No matter how hard he tried, no matter how much he did, those were eternal, impassable chasms. Many things he cherished, many people he valued—his subordinates, his friends, even his hometown and old neighbors... all were mere dust! All were expendable sacrifices. So many human lives could be refined into a single pill. This world was a giant Maple Forest City. Youthful ideals would ultimately shatter in the bloody reality. Youthful treasures would invariably be trampled into worthlessness.

But after that night of bitter weeping, what did he do? He still walked forward. Just like today, he walked forward in the Sea of Calamity. From this day forward... can you change the world? Change the world that people say can never be changed. Change the despair of that boy outside Maple Forest City, who couldn't even cry out! To prevent those things... from ever happening again?

What angered Jiang Wang was Lu Ye; what compelled him to draw his sword today was the massacred Wei Commandery. Stories repeated, tragedies replayed. Humanity had not changed! It was time to change.

"Let them see..." Ye Qingyu murmured, "the future you envision."

Chongxuan Sheng clenched his belly, staring intently at the platform. He knew the danger of this battle, and also its necessity. When you have the possibility of changing the current situation, they will want to extinguish the danger. When you truly possess the power to change the current world, only then will they respect you and sit down to listen!

"Gazes have weight"—Jiang Wang had always remembered this saying. The gazes cast upon him at this moment were precisely the weight of the entire existing world.

Yet, gripping his sword, he simply walked towards Yan Chunhui. Starlight was a sword, moonlight was a sword, and even the stars themselves were falling towards him! The Forget-Me-Not Flying Sword, unparalleled in the human world.

But all sword light approaching Jiang Wang was first torn apart by the heavenly wind. The Dao quality named Buzhou, born from the perfected tempering of the Heavenly Sea Dao Principle, was the sword of the Celestial Being. The ethereal figure of a Celestial Being, with eyes of golden sun, snow, and moon, wielded a sword at the zenith, separating all the boundless starlight and moonlight with a barrier "beyond heaven."

Buzhou, Three Treasures, Lingxiao... all Dao qualities gradually fell onto his sword, then onto his body, trailing flames... they were burning! The various Dao principles he meticulously tempered day and night without ceasing, and all his insights into the Celestial Demon Sky Sword, actively burned in this battle, demonstrating his determination to turn himself to ash.

Dao qualities are the steps for a peak cultivator to ascend to the final stage, and also a barrier used to separate from the mortal world. The accumulation of Dao qualities can, to some extent, influence the outcome of a battle, especially when Dao Principle levels are similar and they are used to deplete fundamental power. However, the power of a True Monarch is not solely demonstrated by the accumulation of Dao qualities. Huang Weizhen killed You Yuheng at Mount Kunwu, and Jiang Mengxiong, barely a hundred years old, also slew Duke Xuannan with a fist in the Demon Realm. If You Yuheng had, from the start, adopted a stance of depleting Dao qualities at Mount Kunwu that year, one would imagine Huang Weizhen would have had to yield a step and let him take the first move. This is the advantage of those with long years. Conversely, if a younger True Monarch possessed a method to consume longevity and could contend with an older True Monarch by depleting their lifespans, the latter would certainly yield in that exchange. As steps for transcendents to ascend, the importance of Dao qualities is beyond doubt. But ultimately, they are merely steps; building them higher does not necessarily indicate a cultivator's greater strength. At the step of ascending to the supreme, some can reach it with a single step, while others find the ascent unreachable! The former, for example, is Huang Weizhen. The latter are the many True Monarchs throughout history who exhausted their lifespans. Some are free of attachments and need no separation from the world. Others, even if they pile Dao qualities into rivers, lakes, and seas, cannot escape the karma of the mortal realm. To contend against those with long years of accumulated Dao qualities is like competing with Yan Fu in wealth or battling Chongxuan Sheng in wit—it is not a wise battle choice.

Yan Chunhui, as the "powerful one" with abundant Dao qualities, immediately sought to contend with Jiang Wang. Jiang Wang should have avoided it, but he forcefully met it head-on. Because he refused to yield even half a step! Because he aimed for complete suppression; he intended to directly break this peerless flying sword and secure this victory before his Dao qualities were exhausted!

The sword, long dormant in its scabbard, now hummed. The peak of today's champion was not just to defeat Yan Chunhui, but to win for all to see—to let everyone witness what kind of sword he used to protect the Dao! Now, as before, he wanted to win an undisputed victory, at this moment burning his Dao qualities, making the heavenly drum thunder. All the apertures of his body opened simultaneously, and the myriad immortals within him resonated.

"The so-called Heavenly Dao! If it is not the backbone of heaven, it is its punishment.The so-called Immortal Dao! Mortals ascend to act as Heaven's will, perfecting all beings.The so-called Human Dao! All beings, grass and trees, mutually complete each other, for myriad ages, born with spirit!The so-called Sword Dao! My sword, forged by myriad families, used for all under heaven.The so-called Demonic Dao! Burn greed, anger, ignorance; express extreme joy, rage, sorrow; see me even in the dust, my true nature unchanged!"

This was a public exposition of the Dao. Jiang Wang explained to all who watched him his understanding of cultivation, his feelings about the Dao, how he had touched upon various Dao Principles, and how he had perfected them one by one, tempering Dao qualities. His Dao path was his journey, and his Dao qualities were the interpretation of his life.

He thus raised his sword and leaped towards the moon river and star rain, meeting Yan Chunhui's sword! "Starlight refines me, moonlight refines me, sword light refines me—come forth, all of you! I shall not die by a hundred calamities, but shall achieve greatness through a hundred calamities!" At this moment, endless sword light had already submerged him. He was like a lone boat in a sea of swords, swaying precariously. Yet he stood firm on his small vessel... riding the wind and breaking the waves!

When five Dao qualities were borne upon his body and burned as one...

The true change only then occurred.

The River-Observing Platform was shaking, the Long River was churning, and the entire Divine Land subtly trembled. Even the nine ancient towns of the Long River, eternally enduring, swayed and resonated. He actually used the power of the nine towns to stabilize his very being! The entire world was witnessing a magnificent transformation—at this moment, with the nine towns as a furnace, the heavenly sea tempered his spirit, the sword sea forged his body, the Long River nourished him, and the Human Dao uplifted him... The immortal body of myriad immortals refined into an elixir!

"Today on this path, let all who bear me hatred come forth!Swallow me to become sun and moon, consume me to become a Celestial Immortal!"

Before all in the current world, without concealment or hesitation, he refined himself, achieving a peak sublimation. He was the one who blocked Yan Chunhui's Dao, and Yan Chunhui was also the one who blocked his. But Yan Chunhui could no longer stop him! Who else would come?

At this moment, he was a primordial immortal elixir, perfectly complete. As he had stated, consuming it could truly make one a Celestial Immortal! Even if one could not truly become the eternal sun and moon, consuming him could bring one significantly closer to immortality.

In any other situation, some would inevitably be unable to restrain themselves. But this was the River-Observing Platform. If another strong person of Yan Chunhui's level were to block the way, Jiang Wang's elixir would inevitably be destroyed and his Dao vanish—that was precisely what Chongxuan Sheng had always worried about and had been trying to resolve. But today, he was unrivaled. Supported by all under heaven, he was thus unrivaled.

Out of thin air, a gate of flames was pushed open. Draped in princely robes, holding a sphere of flame like a blazing sun—Zuo Xiao had already arrived! As twilight circled the platform once more, Mu Fuyao was protecting the Dao.

The battle was clearly so intense, yet the River-Observing Platform fell into a strange tranquility. Those protecting Jiang Wang's Dao silently prepared for battle, while others dared not move slightly to avoid misunderstanding. In this atmosphere, Hu Yan Jingxuan, who had traveled far, had to stop outside the Pillars of Six Harmonies, peering at the details of the battle from the entrance. The Qi Emperor had already made his stance clear, the Monarch of Mu Chu needed no words, and the three Sons of Heaven from Jing, Qin, and Jing were all silent. The world thus found peace.

Hong Junyan was silent at first, then shook his head and smiled. Why did Jiang Wang not care that the top competition in the Inner Palace section of the Yellow River Meet had been suspended? Why did he not, after forcing Hong Junyan to retreat, request Hong Junyan to release the Dao Fruit of the Yellow River, allowing him another ascension before the decisive battle?

Because he did not need that step. Although he single-handedly promoted the changes in this Yellow River Meet, he did not need the uplift of the Yellow River Meet. Many thought this was his Dao path, but they didn't realize it was merely his passage. This was simply the natural course of his Dao. He, who inherently pities grass and trees, why would he seek anything from sentient beings? He merely passed through here, and thus there was the Yellow River of today!

Wei Xuanche's five fingers moved, then he gently turned his hand over and rested it on the armrest. "Lingxiao is also my friend," he thought. The Wei Kingdom should offer more support for the Cloud-top Trade Route.

The spirit of wine and heroism, the spirited intent of Taishu Bai. Starlight and moonlight, Yan Chunhui's sword light. This peerless flying sword seemed capable of sweeping away everything in the world. Yet the person directly facing this sword was cleansed and shone ever brighter.

The Sword Immortal stirred the winds of Buzhou, ignited the fires of Burning Truth, and stepped into the Lingxiao Heavenly Palace, refining the three treasures of the human body—finally, from all the apertures of this Immortal of Myriad Immortals, an unprecedented brilliant light burst forth! Upon closer inspection of the palaces within, all the immortals participating in the Dao held an elixir. Some were ethereal, some tangible, but universally present. This elixir was primordial and infinite, perfectly complete and flawless, lacking no spirits. The elixir was like the sun and moon, and within it, a small figure sat cross-legged. With eyebrows and eyes present, all five limbs complete, it was precisely Jiang Wang's appearance. One hand in a meditation mudra, one hand in a sword finger gesture. Opening its eyes, it was one immortal, one demon! A celestial seal hung between its brows.

This was also the Dao quality, the culmination of the True Self Dao Principle—that "self" tempered to perfection. He finally obtained the True Self Dao quality. All Dao principles uplifted him, and with this True Self... he ascended to sainthood!

Outside the Long River Dragon Palace, unlike those within, Fu Yunqin, who had once again donned his helmet and armor and was ready for expedition, slowly sat down, muttering, "This place truly feels like... the resonance of transcendence." His voice gradually quieted, carrying a surprising sorrow. Of course, he was not qualified to truly understand the power of transcendence, able only to describe it as "like transcendence." But he truly felt a sense of lofty distance, understanding that True Monarch River Suppressor had reached a very distant stage.

And Jiang Wang's long sword was already out. At the moment his being was most blazing and complete, Longing's Roar also resonated in this world.

A lone boat crossed an endless sea of fire; a single sword spanned the entire starry river.

Heavenly Dao Killing Sword - Heaven's Will Denied!

All sword light rushing towards Jiang Wang instantly became like birds out of formation, scrambling in disarray, even colliding with each other. That figure, drunkenly singing wildly, suddenly fell into the human world. The eternally shining bright moon suddenly wavered and became hazy, as if trapped in water. The Milky Way was brilliant, yet it seemed to move far away, like a flying dragon.

Yan Chunhui's ascending figure suddenly halted before the zenith. His loose hair fell! Looking back at the sword light scattered across the sky, the sorrow in his eyes was surprisingly like that of a lost goose. All sword lights were unsatisfactory, and all his desires came to naught. This was truly an unimaginable sword strike; Heaven's will swayed people's hearts, yet people's hearts often went astray. He actually felt that this sword strike was precisely his destiny, meant to welcome him here, and thus, at some point in the past, it fell into Jiang Wang's hands.

It is rare to find a kindred spirit in the world. Indeed... Heaven's Will Denied!

He looked up at the sky, and that brilliant starry sky became increasingly distant. The heavenly steps were broken, the Star Sea path exhausted. The raft that traversed the Milky Way still became a horizontal sword light, resting under his feet and lifting him into the air.

"The boat route is exhausted; the Milky Way cannot be ascended by raft!" He lifted his foot, trying to walk further up. But crack! His body... shattered!

Tonight, light rained down.