Successor

Chu Ming fell silent.

He looked at the broken sword without speaking.

Jian Wuxin continued, "These words have been passed down by every successive Sword Sect Master for thirty thousand years. Every generation of sect masters has waited, waited for that person to appear." "Some waited their entire lives and never saw him before they died. Some grew impatient and went searching themselves, only to die outside.

"Others simply refused to believe it, claiming the Patriarch had been delirious on his deathbed, that his words could not be taken seriously."

He smiled, and that smile held both bitterness and relief.

"But this old man believes."

He looked at Chu Ming, his gaze deep as an abyss.

"From the moment you slew those three Abyss Lords on the Myriad Laws Platform, this old man began watching you.

"Later, when you broke through to the late third step at Stargazing Cliff and drove back Yan Qiong with a single palm strike, this old man knew that you might be the person the Patriarch spoke of." "And later still, outside Fallen Dao Abyss, you killed a False God in one move and forced back the three factions. This old man personally went to the scene and sensed the aura you left behind." He paused, his tone becoming even more solemn.

"That aura was exactly identical to the aura on this broken sword left behind by the Patriarch."

He raised a hand and pointed at the broken sword.

"That is the aura of the Origin of Order."

Chu Ming looked at the broken sword.

Sure enough.

He had not examined it closely before, but now that he focused, he could indeed sense an exceedingly faint trace of aura lingering upon it.

That aura was so faint it was almost impossible to detect, yet it