Volume One, Chapter 19: A Pair of Old Chopsticks Concealing the Eternal Spirit of the Sword Dao
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Her gaze fell upon the phantom image of the white jade plate that had held the “Tomato and Egg Stir-Fry” before Little Black swallowed it whole, plate and all.
As the Jade Lake Empress, she governed order and ruled over the myriad realms. The “order” she understood was founded upon rigid hierarchy, absolute authority, and rules that brooked no challenge.
Yet within that dish, she had glimpsed an entirely different kind of “order.”
It was the order of life.
The phoenix’s power of rebirth, drawn from the Undying Divine Phoenix, and the primal vitality of the Bloodheart Sacred Fruit had, beneath the cooking of the Genesis Flame, achieved a perfect harmony.
Life and death were no longer opposites.
Destruction and renewal formed a flawless cycle.
Within that dish, the breaking of an egg was not an ending, but the beginning of a feast. The death of a fruit was not withering away, but nourishment for a higher form of life.
This was true “order”!
It did not rely on force to suppress all things. Instead, like spring rain quietly nourishing the earth, it allowed every living thing to occupy the place best suited to it, follow the laws written into its very origin, and move freely and harmoniously—ultimately becoming part of one vast, ever-renewing whole.
“I… was wrong…”
Ji Ruxue murmured to herself. In that moment, every trace of the Empress’s majesty faded from her. In its place was the clarity and stillness that came after a great awakening.
The order she had spent so long establishing and preserving within the Jade Lake Sacred Land—an order forcibly maintained through power and rules—was, compared with the realm contained within a single home-cooked dish prepared by the Young Master, nothing more than an infant’s childish game.
Uncle Fu observed the changes in both women, a trace of relief passing through his cloudy old eyes.
As expected of those whom the Young Master had chosen to keep at his side, their comprehension was extraordinary.
It seemed that the Ancestor’s seemingly casual actions held a far deeper meaning than merely enlightening a few old fellows like themselves. In this subtle, imperceptible manner, he was also educating those around him.
Perhaps this was the true meaning of what the Ancestor called “lying flat.”
True strength did not lie in actively doing anything. It lay in the mere existence of the strong, which could cause everything around them to evolve naturally toward something better.
At that moment, a faint ripple of spatial energy came from beyond the courtyard.
Uncle Fu’s brows drew together slightly. With a single step, he arrived outside the gates of the Gu residence.
In the void, a figure gradually solidified from nothingness.
It was an old man dressed in an ornate black robe embroidered with gluttonous beast patterns. His body was corpulent, and his aura was as deep as the sea. His eyes glittered with a sinister light that held both greed and fear, fixed upon the Gu residence. His throat bobbed again and again, as though he were enduring some ultimate temptation.
“The… the Ancient Ancestor of the Gluttonous God Clan?”
In the shadows, several masters of forbidden regions who had been roused by the fragrance yet dared not approach recognized him. Every one of them was struck with terror.
He was an ancient monster who had survived from the previous epoch, infamous for devouring all things. He had once swallowed three Immortal Dynasties in a single bite and possessed a fearsome reputation.
Even he had been alarmed by the fragrance!
The Gluttonous Ancient Ancestor stared fixedly at the residence. He could sense that the source of the scent—enough to make his Dao-heart tremble and his appetite boil—lay within.
At the same time, however, he also sensed a lethal danger powerful enough to annihilate his soul completely.
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His gaze ultimately fell upon Little Black, the old yellow dog dozing at the gate.
Then it shifted to the collar around Little Black’s neck—a collar woven from the chains of laws belonging to three thousand worlds.
The Gluttonous Ancient Ancestor’s pupils suddenly contracted to the size of needles.
What had he seen?
Three thousand complete laws of the great worlds!
Each one was heavy enough to crush an entire star region. Yet those three thousand laws had actually been woven into a collar and placed around the neck of an utterly ordinary-looking mongrel!
What extravagance was this?
What terror?
This was no longer mere ostentation. It was a naked act of contempt toward every powerful being in the heavens and myriad worlds!
The fat on the Gluttonous Ancient Ancestor’s body trembled all over. It was not excitement, but fear.
The Devouring Great Dao he prided himself upon was as fragile as a sheet of paper before that collar. He had no doubt that if he dared take even one more step forward, the dog would not even need to awaken. A single wisp of aura leaking from the collar around its neck would be enough to erase him completely at the level of his very origin.
“This junior… this junior had no intention of offending you. I was merely passing by and became captivated by the elegant scenery here. I lost myself for a moment. I humbly ask that Senior forgive me!”
The Gluttonous Ancient Ancestor instantly withdrew every trace of his aura. Facing the gates of the residence, he bowed deeply, his posture humble beyond measure.
Uncle Fu appeared before him like a phantom, his tone calm.
“My Young Master is taking his afternoon nap. He dislikes noise.”
Those words brought the Gluttonous Ancient Ancestor what felt like a reprieve from death—and filled him with even greater horror.
Young Master?
A being who could use the laws of three thousand worlds as a pet’s collar actually had a “Young Master”?
What kind of unimaginable existence, then, was this Young Master?
“This junior understands! This junior will leave at once! I guarantee I will not make the slightest sound!”
The Gluttonous Ancient Ancestor scrambled away, tearing open space and fleeing in utter disarray at a speed millions of times faster than his arrival. In the blink of an eye, he vanished without a trace.
Uncle Fu did not even glance in the direction of his departure. He simply turned and returned to the courtyard, as though he had done nothing more than chase away a fly.
He walked over to the stone table and prepared to put away the pair of chopsticks.
Seeing this, Ye Qingxian spoke almost without thinking.
“Uncle Fu, these chopsticks… would it be possible…”
Uncle Fu glanced at her, as though he had seen straight through her thoughts, and smiled faintly.
“My Young Master dislikes extravagance. He makes all his utensils himself whenever the mood strikes him. These chopsticks were carved a few days ago from a branch of that crooked tree in the courtyard. He said they felt comfortable to use. Since the Young Master has already used them, they are of no further use. If you like them, young lady, you may take them.”
With that, he paid her no further attention and continued tidying the tea set.
With trembling hands, Ye Qingxian accepted the chopsticks.
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A branch from that crooked tree in the courtyard?
Her gaze involuntarily turned toward the corner of the courtyard, where an ancient tree stood on the verge of dying, its trunk bent heavily to one side.
Was that not… the World Tree, said to have collapsed and vanished at the dawn of primordial chaos?
He had casually carved a pair of chopsticks from a branch of the World Tree?
Ye Qingxian felt as though her soul had once again been shaken into countless fragments.
At that very moment, an ancient bronze token hanging from Uncle Fu’s waist suddenly glimmered.
His movements paused. He picked up the token and sank his divine sense into it.
A moment later, for the first time, an expression of indescribable complexity appeared upon his placid face.
He lifted his head and gazed toward the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, murmuring softly to himself.
“Skywolf Star Region… Gu Fan…”
“The collateral descendant who was sent away all those years ago is coming back?”
The Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, Skywolf Star Region.
This was a vast and boundless expanse of stars composed of tens of thousands of great worlds. Its laws intertwined, its divine radiance blazed, and it was one of the most supreme sacred lands of cultivation in the myriad heavens and worlds.
At that moment, in the very center of the star region, a colossal teleportation array spanning nine great worlds was slowly activating.
“Buzz—”
Countless runes flared to life. The laws of space twisted violently like boiling water, converging into a pillar of light that reached through heaven and earth.
At the far end of the pillar, it seemed to connect to an even more ancient and fundamental dimension.
Outside the teleportation array, the overlords of every supreme power in the Skywolf Star Region hovered respectfully in the void, their expressions tense yet expectant.
They were waiting for one person to return.
A legend.
Gu Fan!
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