Turned into a Stepping Stone

How famous was Southern Sword Su Huan'an?

Even disciples from small mountain sects like Tan Shuchang had heard Su Huan'an's name like thunder in their ears. That alone showed just how extraordinary his reputation was.

And from that, one could also see just how precious this map scroll was.

The places marked on this map were likely not only extremely detailed, but also included many locations most people knew nothing about.

At the very least, many of the places marked as dangerous on this map were things Tan Shuchang had never even heard of.

"Thank you, Senior Sister Li."

Tan Shuchang took his leave, because his purpose in coming had already been achieved. The little thief who had stolen his diary was most likely Miss Dong.

"She went down the mountain a month ago because the Dong Family was arranging a marriage for her, so she left overnight... Heh. Why was the timing so rushed, so coincidental?"

Tan Shuchang smiled without any warmth.

Because a month ago was when his Cultivation Diary had begun spreading everywhere.

"Don't worry. For the sake of the years we've known each other, I promise I won't beat you to death!"

At this moment, the Sword Disciple Mountain disciples returning from Clear River City had already made it back to Sword Disciple Mountain. Though Sword Disciple Mountain lay in North Peace Prefecture, with an entire prefecture between it and Yue Prefecture, as a holy land of sword cultivators, it naturally had special methods for travel. Even disciples unable to fly on swords could still travel swiftly.

Thus, their journey from Clear River City back to Sword Disciple Mountain had taken only two hours.

Before long, Sword Disciple Mountain's sect master and elders learned that an important link in the Righteous Path Grand Plan they had established had met with an accident.

"Blackheart Elder is dead?"

"Though the Seventy-Two Sword Aspect is immensely powerful, when merely disciples cast that technique, it cannot harm that devil's foundation. Not to mention that he possessed the Spirit-Communing Treasure, the Chaos Fate Orb!"

Several elders of Sword Disciple Mountain found this hard to believe.

It wasn't that they acknowledged Blackheart Elder's strength, but that they acknowledged the might of Spirit-Communing Treasures.

Other than a handful that had been forged after the fact, all Spirit-Communing Treasures were creations of heaven and earth. And within every one of them were inscribed the principles of heaven and earth.

"Enough. Qing Xu wouldn't lie about something like this, and there would be no point in such a lie. All we can say is that Blackheart got his eyes pecked out after hunting geese all day—he capsized in the gutter." Su Huan'an spoke, cutting off the elders' discussion.

"Sect Master, with Blackheart Elder dead, that Chaos Fate Orb is presumably masterless again. What should we do?" An elder who had never spoken stepped forward.

"How can you be sure it's masterless? What if it's in Tan Shuchang's hands?" another elder immediately retorted. It was clear the two usually didn't get along.

"Why don't you listen to what you're saying?" The elder who had been refuted instead laughed. "The Chaos Fate Orb requires one's parents to be disloyal and unfilial, while their descendants must be especially filial, before it will grant recognition. If Tan Shuchang has children, then after raising them for a while, we could send them to the Chaos Fate Orb to be chosen."

The elder who had spoken in rebuttal was left speechless. His earlier objection had truly only been because he bore an old grudge against the other man.

Seeing that the two elders had no intention of continuing their quarrel, Su Huan'an spoke at the right moment. "There is no need for the two of you to quarrel over this. Blackheart Elder was qualified to enter the plan for two reasons: first, the Spirit-Communing Treasure; second, his reputation. Blackheart Elder submitting to Sword Disciple Mountain would undoubtedly have been a matter of enormous influence. But since Blackheart Elder has been killed, we'll settle for the next best thing. It just so happens that when the Heaven's Chosen personally designated by the Patriarch descends the mountain, he'll need someone to make his name known."

"Sect Master, do you mean we spread throughout the Jia Five Realm the matter of Tan Shuchang killing his master, Blackheart Elder, giving him some fame, then have the Heaven's Chosen personally designated by the Patriarch kill him in the name of eliminating demons and defending the Dao?"

"Precisely. What do you elders think?" Su Huan'an nodded.

"The Sect Master's plan is indeed fitting. We had originally selected several devils as well, but compared with Tan Shuchang, none were as suitable, seeing as they had ties of kinship and friendship with the Jian Gorge Sect. However, without the Spirit-Communing Treasure Chaos Fate Orb, the Heaven's Chosen designated by the Patriarch will encounter twists and turns if he wishes to gather the grand momentum of the world."

In Blackheart Elder's hands, the Chaos Fate Orb could only be used to preserve his life and repel enemies. But in the eyes of those from Sword Disciple Mountain, it had far greater uses.

And in truth, that was this Spirit-Communing Treasure's true purpose.

The core of the Chaos Fate Orb naturally lay in disrupting fate!

However, many people in the Jia Five Realm knew that Blackheart Elder possessed the Spirit-Communing Treasure Chaos Fate Orb, yet they didn't know that although he had acquired it, he actually only had three chances to use it.

How could Blackheart Elder possibly tell others about something that concerned his own life?

If he hadn't been certain at the time that Tan Shuchang was dead, and if the Chaos Fate Orb hadn't been about to depart, then no matter how resentful he had been, he would never have said those words.

"A few hardships and setbacks are only to be expected. Though the Patriarch personally designated the Heaven's Chosen, if this Heaven's Chosen wishes to grow, his path naturally cannot be smooth sailing. But we all know where the Chaos Fate Orb is. In the future, we can simply have more disciples of the sect go and try. Perhaps after its experience with Blackheart Elder, this Spirit-Communing Treasure's requirements for choosing a master have already changed."

"Yes, Sect Master!"

Naturally, Tan Shuchang had no idea that because he had killed Blackheart Elder, he had been brought up for discussion by a present-day holy land of sword cultivators, which had even specially arranged his "future path in life."

By now, he had returned to Blackheart Mountain.

Though due to his own peculiarities, he only needed to capture two more fierce ghosts to gain twelve years of cultivation, he would not stop his daily habit of cultivation because of that.

When faced with a certain death crisis, he had been able to kill Blackheart Elder largely because he had refined a fierce ghost himself. But without his previous unceasing, diligent cultivation, he would not have been able to accomplish it either!

And so, after waiting patiently for two days, Tan Shuchang finally received the Weird Game invitation he had been longing for!

"What one never forgets will surely answer in return!"

Tan Shuchang was overjoyed, just short of letting out another "Woohoo!" to express his excitement.

After all, as long as he entered this Weird Game, he could find the cultivation resources he needed most, and every single one of them was of exceptionally high quality!

Tan Shuchang had also once coveted other people's ghosts, but the fierce ghosts in their hands couldn't compare to those in the Weird Game. The only place whose ghosts could perhaps contend with those in this Weird Game was the Netherworld.

As the distortion of his surroundings gradually ceased, Tan Shuchang immediately surveyed the area around him—and then he couldn't help revealing a look of surprise.