Chapter 358: The Story of the Saint Master
Inside the stone house, the firelight of the green lamp illuminated the old man's face, flickering between bright and dark. He slowly raised his head, a glint of reminiscence flashing through his turbid eyes: "The Saint Master... was not originally a person of this world."
Lin Wan's pupils shrank slightly.
"In his own words," the old man's voice was hoarse, "he called himself a — Transmigrator."
"When the Saint Master first arrived in this world, he was merely a mortal with no cultivation."
The old man's withered fingers traced a mark on his knee. "But he had a failing — he liked to cause trouble. Wherever he went, trouble followed."
In the halo of the green lamp, a blurry illusion emerged.
A young man in common clothes, whose features could not be clearly seen, walked swaggeringly into the Scripture Pavilion of the Xuantian Sect. Within three days, he memorized the sect's guardian techniques perfectly, and before leaving, he did not forget to draw a ghost face on the portrait of the Patriarch.
"He always called himself the Child of Destiny, saying he would turn danger into safety no matter what he encountered. Once, he secretly infiltrated someone's Holy Land and stole a sip of millennium Dragon Saliva Wine. Drunkenly, he hugged the Holy Son who came to find him and called him brother."
The old man grinned, revealing his remaining three yellow teeth. "As a result, he was chased for thirty thousand li. In the end, he hid inside a volcanic crater and instead comprehended the Great Sun Burning Heaven Art."
"However, it seems just as the Saint Master said, even the Heavenly Dao sheltered him. It seemed that no matter what he did, others were always the ones who suffered in the end."
The illusion shifted, revealing a scene where the youth was besieged by several sects working together.
He broke through while fleeing; wherever his sword light passed, mountains collapsed. He did not forget to look back and mock: "Thanks to everyone for helping me break through the realm!"
"Three hundred years to achieve the Heavenly Human Realm, five hundred years to break through to the Saint Realm." The old man shook his head and smiled bitterly. "In these five hundred years, he plagued every major sect."
Lin Wan was speechless; wasn't this just the script of a Transmigrator, the orthodox Child of Destiny...
"And... the thing the Saint Master loved to do most was to drill into desperate situations." A strange light gleamed in the old man's eyes.
In the green lamp illusion—
The youth ventured alone into the Nine Heavens Thunder Pool, surrounded by thousands of thunder dragons.
Just as his soul was about to scatter, he suddenly comprehended the Nine Heavens Thunder Sword Art and instead refined the thunder dragons into his own sword qi.
"Subsequently, he was trapped in the Northern Sea Desolate Land for seventy years. When he came out, not only had his cultivation greatly increased, but he also abducted their sect's Guardian Divine Beast."
The most dangerous time, the Saint Master mistakenly entered a spacetime rift. Inside was a desperate world where mortals were besieged by endless fierce ghosts. To protect the remaining mortals of that world, he created the strongest defensive sword technique under the heavens — the Sword Against Heaven.
"Every time we thought he was dead for sure," the old man sighed, "he would always come back bringing even greater trouble."
The old man's voice suddenly became heavy: "Until — the Upper Realm invaded."
The green lamp shook violently, and the illusion turned blood-colored.
Countless fireballs like meteors fell from the sky, each carrying an aura of destruction.
The earth cracked, rivers flowed backward, and the cultivators of the Lower Realm wailed in the sea of fire.
"The Upper Realm wanted to completely swallow the Lower Realm. The Lower Realm sects fought independently and were defeated in every engagement. No one expected that the first person to stand up and unite the Lower Realm cultivators to counterattack would be the Saint Master, whom no sect welcomed."
"But the Saint Master had profound cultivation and won every battle. Gradually, more and more sects and families trusted him, willing to fight side by side under his leadership and rise up in resistance!" The old man clenched his fist. "That battle lasted for a full three hundred years, forcing the Saint Realm experts of the Upper Realm to come out in full force before they could suppress the Lower Realm again. Moreover—"
In the illusion, the youth stood atop a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood; the long sword in his hand was already broken.
He whistled towards the sky, and dazzling light suddenly erupted from his entire body.
"Just at the Lower Realm's most desperate moment, the Saint Master broke through to the Immortal Venerable Realm!"
"Not only that, the Saint Master in the Immortal Venerable Realm was actually not repelled by the Heavenly Dao of the Lower Realm. In that battle alone, he slaughtered half of the Upper Realm's Saint Realm cultivators! He fought the Upper Realm cultivator alliance until they nearly retreated back to Buzhou Mountain."
"But just when the Lower Realm cultivators thought victory was in sight—"
The old man's expression suddenly became complex: "Then... that existence appeared."
The flame of the green lamp suddenly turned a dark blue color.
In the illusion, a blurry figure walked out of the void. His entire body was shrouded in starlight; his features could not be seen clearly, only a pair of eyes, like two rotating galaxies.
"He told the Saint Master that the Upper Realm had ten Immortal Venerables. For the Saint Master, a mere Immortal Venerable, to oppose the Upper Realm was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot." The old man's voice trembled. "But he was willing to give the Saint Master a chance for a fair contest—"
"And that was to use the world as the chessboard and all living beings as chess pieces."
"He wanted to play a game of chess with the Saint Master!"
The illusion shifted, revealing a Small Thousand World floating in the void.
This world was full of vitality, with mountains, rivers, and the rise and fall of dynasties, and even its own Heavenly Dao laws.
"The Saint Master agreed, so that existence took out a complete Small Thousand World to serve as the chessboard." The old man smiled bitterly. "Both sides agreed to each place five chess pieces, and the game began."
"Throughout the Saint Master's life, even in the most dangerous times, he had never suffered a loss. So the Saint Master was careless." The old man suddenly choked up. "He never thought that among the five pieces he played... two were traitors buried long ago by the opponent."
The illusion clearly showed:
The first "chess piece" was the disciple the Saint Master trusted most, but at the critical moment, he defected and pierced through the Saint Master's layout with a single sword strike.
The second "chess piece" was actually that woman in red; she personally destroyed the final chance of survival the Saint Master had left.
The green lamp suddenly extinguished, and the room fell into darkness.
"And so — the Saint Master was defeated." The old man's voice echoed in the darkness. "Defeated thoroughly and completely."
...
"And then?" Lin Wan stared at the old man and asked.
A look of bitterness appeared on the old man's withered face: "According to the agreement, the loser loses everything."
A glint of reminiscence flashed through his turbid eyes. "But at the final moment, the Saint Master said many... strange words when bidding us farewell."
"What words?" Lin Wan leaned her body forward slightly.
The old man sighed, imitating the Saint Master's tone from back then:
"Come to think of it, you three: one is a renegade disciple of the Demon Blood Sect, one is an elder of the Joyous Union Sect, and one is the sect master of the Carefree Sect. Just hearing that, you are destined to be villains! Born with the Stepping Stone Saint Body! I am the Child of Destiny, but you aren't. That was a miscalculation..."
Lin Wan raised an eyebrow.
"Also, why is it that when other people transmigrate, the villains they meet all have lowered intelligence, but the ones I meet are all cunning old foxes!" The old man tried his best to mimic a tone of annoyance. "That chessboard was also problematic; my brain must have twitched to agree to that game."
In the firelight of the green lamp, it seemed to reflect the uninhibited figure from those years.
"However, if there is a next time—" The old man's voice suddenly became serious, and a strange light flickered in his eyes. "I absolutely cannot be so reckless anymore. I must lie low while gathering a whole bunch of true Children of Destiny."
"If we have to play a game then, I will definitely annihilate him completely! I'll teach him how to behave in every sense of the word!"
...
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