First Immortal of the Sword - Chapter 1416: Wang Ye!

Su Yi’s sea of consciousness.

His soul avatar appeared before the Sword of the Nine Hells.

“Hey, you. Time to keep your promise,” whispered Su Yi.

The sixth divine chain swayed, and Su Yi’s sixth incarnation’s voice rang out. “‘Hey, you?’ Can’t be a bit politer?”

Su Yi laughed. “You and I are the same person. No need to get hung up on titles.”

“No, before you fuse with my Dao Imprint, you’re you and I’m me. We have to differentiate clearly,” said his sixth incarnation. “Remember this. My surname is Wang, and my given name is Ye!”

Wang Ye?

Replace “Ye” as in “night” with “Ye” as in “lord”, and you had the phrase “Your Highness.”

Su Yi couldn’t help but comment, “That name of yours really takes advantage of other people.”

His sixth incarnation fell silent. In life, those who knew his true name were all unrivaled powerhouses. Who among them would dare comment so freely on his name?

Those who hated him but didn’t know his name called him a tyrant.

The greatest tyrant of the Dao of the Sword!

Those who respected him called him “sovereign.” The sovereign of the ages!

Yet here Su Yi was, criticizing his name….

For a moment, his sixth incarnation couldn’t help but feel exhausted. As the old saying goes, you couldn’t talk strategy with a buffoon, nor could summer insects could speak of the ice and snow!

“Come on, be quick about it. I’m pressed for time,” urged Su Yi.

His sixth incarnation sighed with waning interest. A moment later, a wisp of divine light appeared and transformed into a brand that hovered before Su Yi.

“This contains all of my cultivation-related experiences relating to the Path of Transcendence. Once you’ve fused with it, you’ll be able to fully perceive the fundamental secrets of Transcendence.

“After you’ve finished, I’ll transmit a unique secret method for breaking through, one unknown to anyone throughout the ages, as well as….

“A truly unprecedented Path of Transcendence!

“Should you step onto it, you’ll be comparable to gods and immortals even clad in mortal flesh! And should you one day prove your Dao and become an immortal, you’ll be able to rise above immortals of all other paths, forging a Grand Dao other immortals cannot hope to match!”

Wang Ye’s voice revealed a hint of fervor and eagerness.

But then, he said, “You have to be careful. The combined weight of all my experiences and knowledge of the Path of Transcendence could easily destroy your mind. After all… you’re currently just a World King.”

“Oh,” said Su Yi. He stretched out his finger and gently touched the brand.

Boom!

A boundless flood of memories surged into Su Yi’s soul, practically ripping it apart!

There were just so many of them. This included all of Wang Ye’s cultivation knowledge and experiences. No other World King could possibly have endured. Their souls would have instantly exploded!

All Su Yi felt was a moment of rending agony before he accepted the flood of memories completely.

It was as if he were living another life, seeking Transcendence as a sword cultivator named Wang Ye!

All types of revelations and experiences arose within Su Yi’s heart. These memories didn’t belong to him, yet it was as if he were experiencing them personally.

The preparation prior to breaking into Nascent Divinity, the perils of undergoing tribulation, and the transformation that followed…

Su Yi sensed it all in full detail.

Knowledge gleaned from books was shallow without practical experience.

Prior to this, although Su Yi had learned about the full Path of Transcendence from the ancient tomes in Shen Mu’s memory, and although he’d received guidance and sparring sessions from the Universal Emptiness Sword Buddha and Sword Immortal Qingshi, all of that was mere surface-level understanding.

This was different.

He was experiencing the secrets of Transcendence, as if he’d really lived through it all!

Pursuing the Dao, the revelations accompanying a breakthrough, the struggles, the ups and downs, the new understandings and transformations accompanying each advancement… It was as if everything had happened to him.

When you read a book, you gained knowledge.

But now, it was as if he’d become the main character and were experiencing the book’s story for himself!

The Three Realms of the Path of Transcendence were Nascent Divinity, Dao Integration, and Cloud Soaring.

The secrets of each realm, its essence and fundamental nature, played out within Su Yi’s mind.

For a moment, Su Yi really felt as if he’d already stepped onto the Path of Transcendence, and as if he were simply combing through and fusing with his past experiences and revelations.

He was entirely unaware of the passage of time.

But then, he suddenly jolted back to his senses!

He still hadn’t broken through. These experiences were all relived memories; none of this had really happened to him.

It was much like after reincarnating to cultivate anew. Although he still had the memories and experiences of his life as Su Xuanjun, in this new lifetime, he had to walk the path of cultivation himself!

If he lost himself in Wang Ye’s memories, how could he speak of surpassing his past selves?

“I am mentally stepping onto the Path of Transcendence. Its secrets are mine, but I cannot let this throw my Dao Heart into chaos!”

Su Yi cleared his head completely, then continued fusing with his sixth incarnation’s memories. From that moment forth, although he still felt everything that was happening, he was simultaneously like an observer watching coolly from the sidelines.

It was in this state that he finished fusing with the brand’s memories, making them his own without letting them confine his heart in the slightest!

“You refined it completely?” Wang Ye’s voice rang out within his sea of consciousness. His voice was tinged with surprise, as if he hadn’t anticipated that the process would go so smoothly.

Su Yi quietly sensed it for a moment, then nodded. “It didn’t seem overly difficult.”

His sixth incarnation was at a loss for words.

Su Yi continued, “Also, I confirmed something. When you stepped onto the Path of Transcendence, your foundations and strength were far inferior to where I am now.”

“….”

Su Yi continued, heedless of his sixth incarnation’s silence, “That means that even if I had broken through during the battle atop Mount Luowu, my accomplishments on the Path of Transcendence would have far surpassed yours.”

Here, his sixth incarnation couldn’t take it anymore. “Bad enough that you’re ungrateful. Can’t you at least be polite?”

Su Yi laughed. “No matter what, your experiences were extremely helpful to me. They were no less than a stroke of enlightenment. Now, I know how to leave you in the dust when I step into Transcendence. Thanks a bunch.”

“???” His sixth incarnation was baffled. Is that an attempt at politeness? And do you call that thanking someone!?

When he saw his sixth incarnation sink into a long silence, Su Yi couldn’t help but remind him, “Shouldn’t you tell me about that unprecedented Path of Transcendence now?”

Wang Ye let out a deep sigh. This was the melancholy of a tiger on an open plain; in the jungle, he was unrivaled, but out in the open, even a dog could bully him…

Finally, he steadied his heart and said, “The typical Path of Transcendence might well lead to the Immortal Dao. It might well let you establish an immortal legend all your own. It’s even possible that you’ll become the greatest expert of the Immortal dao to ever live.

“But ultimately… you’d wind up just like me, restricted to the Immortal Dao, unable to advance any further.”

His sixth incarnation’s voice was somber and tinged with bleak bitterness. “I searched everything above and below the heavens in order to break through. I read an ocean of ancient tomes, sought out countless long-vanished legends, and even… searched for the Path of Godhood long-eradicated by the Contract of the Gods!

“But when I reached the pinnacle of the Immortal Dao, I discovered that the path had been severed!

“It wasn’t that I wasn’t strong enough, but that destiny was not on my side. The time was not right!”

Hearing this filled Su Yi’s heart with emotion. He’d experienced much the same thing.

He thought back to his time as the sovereign of the Wilds, and all the time and effort he’d poured into his bitter search for the Path of Heaven’s Ascension.

All that work, only to fail in the end. Why?

Because the Dark and Gold Star Realm simply didn’t have the Path of Heaven’s Ascension!

And hadn’t it been the same during his time as the Temple Master?

The End of the Dharma had destroyed the Path of Transcendence and severed all opportunities to become an immortal. It didn’t matter if you were an unparalleled talent. There was nothing you could do about it!

This was fate! This was the importance of good timing!

There was no doubt about it. Wang Ye had encountered a similar predicament at the pinnacle of his life.

A moment later, Su Yi’s heart stirred. “The Contract of the Gods eradicated the Path to Godhood? Does that mean that the God Realm stands above the Immortal Dao?”

“Godhood? No, that’s just what we call it,” said his sixth incarnation. “To experts of the Immortal Dao, ‘gods’ are a symbol of unsurpassed power. They can be people, but they can also be powers of the Grand Dao or spirits of unrivaled might.

“It doesn’t matter what form a god takes. In the Immortal Realm, there’s a long-established consensus that anything that can break past the bounds of the alternating of epochs and exceed the limits of immortality is a god. And the existence of the Contract of the Gods is proof that such powers truly exist!”

Su Yi suddenly recalled something. Back in the Divine Kingdom of Illusionists, the Illusionist of the Epoch of Illusions had spoken of godhood as well.

In the eyes of the Illusionist, the gods represented an ironclad, unsurpassed natural order.

The will of the gods connected the past, present, and future. It transcended all ages and epochs.

The Contract of the Gods was supreme and unsurpassed, beyond a cultivator’s ability to comprehend!

And it seemed Wang Ye saw them that way too. They were a symbol of unrivaled strength not to be blasphemed against.

The only way to become a god was to break through the ever-shifting ages and surpass the bounds of the Immortal Dao!

“These are all just rumors, and they’re far, far removed from you. Perhaps you’ll be able to glean insight into the secrets of godhood upon reaching the pinnacle of the Immortal Dao, as I once did,” said Wang Ye. His tone abruptly shifted, and he laughed. “Of course, if you lose our mental battle, you’ll never get the chance.”

Su Yi couldn’t be bothered to ask anything else, so he said directly, “The path beyond the Immortal Dao is sealed. Can the Path of Transcendence you found break past that seal?”

“It can!” Wang Ye didn’t even pause to think. “No greater taboo exists, and throughout the ages, everyone who attempted to step onto this path perished, their souls dispersed and their Daos destroyed.”

“A path to certain doom?” Su Yi was flabbergasted.

“No. Well, it might be a path to certain doom for other people, but you’re an exception. That’s because this path goes against the power of the Contract of the Gods, but you control the power of reincarnation, so you have no need to fear!” his sixth incarnation said with confidence.

Su Yi’s eyes flashed. “You never stepped onto this path, so how can you be so certain?”

“The answer lies in the Sword of the Nine Hells!”

Su Yi was stunned. “The Sword of the Nine Hells?”

His sixth incarnation’s tone suddenly contained a complicated mix of emotions. “This sword… is a wondrous divine artifact in its own right, with far, far too many secrets. Don’t you think?”

Su Yi agreed completely. The greater his cultivation, the more deeply he understood just how mysterious and unique the Sword of the Nine Hells was!

Seth’s Thoughts

Wang Ye?

Replace “Ye” as in “night” with “Ye” as in “lord”, and you had the phrase “Your Highness.”

______

Su Yi’s sixth incarnation is called Wang Ye. In Chinese, that’s “王夜 (wángyè).” 王 is a very common surname, but it also means “king” and is a component in words like “kingdom” and “monarchy.”

王爷 (wángye/wángyé) is an honorific. I’ve seen it translated as “prince”, “marquis” and “your highness.” If you separate the characters and treat “Wang” as a surname, it could also mean “Boss/Lord Wang.”

So Su Yi is basically saying, “Dude, your name sounds weirdly similar to ‘Your Highness.’ Just saying your name makes it sound like I’m submitting to you.”